First day back at work and it felt like first day at school! I had my brand spanking new uniform (aka one of the suits that I buried deep inside my wardrobe when I left the CA world and its strict dress code behind and said Helloooo sweet sweet jeans in the more informal corporate setting) all ready to go and made my lunch last night. One might suggest that I look forward to the whole lunch packing process which involved going to the supermarket and buying all kinds of multipack treats to put in said lunchbox more than the job itself. One would be right!
Anyway I planned the whole Get-D-back-to-work Operation down to a T and arrived with plenty of time to spare at the carpark. So I had time to park Sam in a spot that I deemed safe (aka with as many sides protected from other irresponsible drivers who might haphazardly open their car doors and touch Sam in the process!!). I present to you: SAM!!
So the carpark is 4 storeys high and about 3 blocks away from the office. There is a closer carpark but it's 3 bucks more expensive per day. Being the tight beancounter that I am, I am going to park at this cheaper option everyday. I have to cross 7 traffic lights to get to the office from the carpark. I kid you not. Downtown traffic!
It figured that the day I started work would be gorgeous. Typical! I work in the building just in front of the clock tower. I've always wanted to work in the Viaduct area so this is pretty cool. But I don't really like working in town with all the logistics issues so 7 weeks working here should be just about long enough. I also figured that the daily to and fro between the carpark and the office should trim me down for the summer. Yahooooo! One can hope anyway!
I figured my first proper day at work after 10 months of holiday is probably going to be painful. So I wisely armed myself with a giant bag of food supplies for the day - nectarine, mandarin, muesli bar, fruit bar, carbonara for lunch and a big can of V. But it turned out that I only had time for the muesli bar as I spent most of the day at someone else's desk being trained up for the role I am covering and I was invited out to lunch with the girls.
We went across the road to Westin for lunch. It's the newest hotel in Auckland and it sure is puuureeeetty.
Entrance of the restaurant:
The dining area is sectioned off by these ceiling to floor curtains made of chains:
Everyone ordered the lunch special - Q Box. As explained to me by my co-worker, it's kinda like japanese bento boxes but fine dining style. So for $18, you get an entree, a veges dish, a mains and a dessert. We all chose angus scotch fillet for the main.
Entree was a big fat juicy scallop wrapped with bacon in a creamy sauce:
Side of steamed asian greens, broccoli and beans:
Tender medium-rare steak with a teeny tiny carrot as garnish and a wonton stuffed with something that tasted like meat but may have been finely diced mushroom?!:
Dessert was a chocolate tart:
The portions were perfect!! I was neither hungry nor full by the end of it. Just perfect.
Then I dragged myself back to work and it was pretty uneventful after that. I didn't even finish off my big can of V. Save it for tomorrow.
Welcome back to the real world to me!
