Bye bye, NPS!

On Friday, 17 Dec 2010, the entire NPS vacated the 14th floor and moved to the 13th floor to make way for NPTD’s birth. On Monday, 20 Dec 2010, I went up to the east wing to get a cable for my laptop and saw that the place was so empty – no lights, nothing on the desks, no chairs in front of the desks. It was like in the morning of Monday, 30 Oct 2006, when we came into the newly renovated west wing, where the lights were yet to come on, the desks were yet to be filled, and the chairs were just rolled in, still wrapped in dusty plastic sheets. Just that, unlike in 2006, this Monday signalled the end, not the beginning, of NPS.

I felt quite sad that day. Now, I don’t even remember if, after I left the east wing, I visited the west wing; I might have at most looked through the frosted glass door.

It has been a memorable journey. I really enjoyed the years from 2004* to early 2007. A lot of work, tough work, but I had a lot of fun too cos of the great company. We started with three and grew to seven of us. The times when we were setting up NPS in 2006 were especially fun. For quite a while, I would wake really early so that I could reach office at about 8 am or so to get a head start on work! That gave me more time in a long work day, or allowed me to go for dance lessons :)

* Ok, NPS didn’t happen until 1 Jun 2006 but hey, three chaps were around on a part-time basis since 2004!

But I was so tired after Sg Day 2007 that I could no longer wake early to reach office so early. Guess things just went downhill from there, especially after I took a holiday in September; came back to a mess that shouldn’t be..

The following year was busy but I was looking forward to it cos our “baby” was finally coming out after a looooong gestation! There was a lot going on – “baby” plus other stuff – and every day was a welcomed challenge, plus I was able to manage my life better. With more manpower in the office, I even sneaked off to the UK in June – for leisure :p It was really tiring in the final two months – I had to have Berroca every day to keep myself going with little sleep, and I’d never had that much coffee in my life.. But it was an amazing ride! That kind of dulled the next two years – nothing quite as exciting..

I’ve grown with the organisation, learnt a lot along the way, had my ups and downs. As NPS grew, it also changed. It already felt quite different from the beginning, even though the newbies were great fun too. Plus, I’ve been there for the longest time.. I mean, even my colleagues’ babies have outgrown their diapers and started primary school!

So it’s good that I’m away these two years. As the chapter of NPS closes today, I’m gone too. And when if :p I return, well, we shall see...