H1 Success Celebration at Phuket

27-Aug-2023

I am writing this from the Phuket International Airport, waiting for the flight to Singapore. It was a good week with lots of wine. 😊

The top leadership team of ASEAN met in #Phuket this week from Aug 25th to Aug 27th. It was fun and at the same time able to connect with many faces we otherwise just talk on phone. We arrived on an early morning flight from Bangkok --> Phuket and checked-in at around 11:30am BKK. 

25-Aug-2023 (Time in Bkk)

• Arrived at JW Marriot around 11:30 am
• Lunch from noon to 2 pm 
• Business Sessions from 2 pm to 6:30 pm
• Dinner, drinks and karaoke 7 pm - 11:30 am - Humma song was a hit :)

26-Aug-2023

• Morning walk from 6 am - 6:45 am
• Breakfast 7:30 am - 8:00 am
• Business Sessions 8:00 am - 10:30 am
• 11:00 am - 5 pm Old Phuket town visit
• Dinner and drinks - 7 pm

27-Aug-2023

• Breakfast 7:30 am - 8:30 am (Had a good chat with Ankit, our CFO)
• To #Singapore 11:40 am - 2 pm SGT
• Meet up with Gangadhar - 4pm SGT +

I still found myself a bit lost and need to think carefully how to be more visible and make a mark on senior leadership. It will be a constant fight as being a non-TH, there will be some disadvantages. I can focus on business depth and delivery leadership. Need to find my way. 

After Anvay, it was Myra turn to settle in new school. We sorted out admission to Garden Internation School at Yenekat, and she has started to attend the classes from 25th Aug. 2023 should be called year of transition and travel. 

• Transition wise: 1) Anvay moved to college 2) Myra and Pallavi moved to Bangkok 3) Myra going to new school 4) I will be transitioned into new role (wip). 
• Travel wise: 1) Travelled to Miami, USA - May 2023 2) Bengaluru - July 2023 3) Phuket - Aug 2023 4) Singapore - Aug 2023... It's still 4 5 months to go. I am not counting numerous India trips. 

Coming back to resort, it was a nice resort with some nice food to spend quality time. I will bring in kids and Pallavi sometime here back.

My trading skills have gone from bad to worse. I am about to burn my hands again on a wrong option trade which went bad, and I did cut it for losses. I really feel bad about it. 

vA

Couple of firsts this week...

20-Aug-2023

The week went in very fast as it was a short 4-day week. I ended up with couple of firsts' this week. First was a Tesla ride (k Pete's drive a Tesla) and other one was attending a Thai Buddhist Funeral. 

Thai Buddhist funerals are short which start with Sanskrit prayers followed by Thai messaging. It takes only 30-40 minutes. You are expected to give some money in a packet and usually black is the preferred dress code.  As many of IBM leadership was present, we also went out for a dinner after that.

Earlier, we drove in Pete's Tesla to the place. It was first time for me in the car. Doesn't feel much difference in the rear seat for a 2.2m THB car but the display looks very nice. 

As flying to Singapore on 27th Aug, went in to apply for a SG visa. It's a smooth process, just had to wait for 10-15 mins outside VFS gate. I am looking forward catching up with few old mates. 

Myra and Pallavi are flying on 21 Aug night, so will be here 22 Aug morning. Too many things are running in office, and I am already feeling very tired. I thought about going for a day, but it will be just going and coming, and I won't be of any help. It's difficult to bear the emotions around this change. I am feeling too emotional about the people and the house that will be empty. I didn't feel it when we left for Singapore as Nitin was staying with us. For last five years, Pallavi, Adi and Myra were there along with my dad along with Pallavi's parents and me spending half the time there, so it didn't feel like leaving.

Also, had spoken to Nitin this week and got a feeling his Job is not going so well as expected. I never good about Indus Ind bank and his move to take a job there sounded rushed. Hopefully, it will go well for him.

Have a good weekend!

vA

Equity play week, and a long weekend

12-Aug-2023

Another weekend! In fact, it's a long weekend with Monday being a local holiday.

It was mostly work heavy week. No major challenges, but just too many open items on work side. I will call it a better week, as not carrying much for the weekend to think about. 

Aditya was in Bangkok, so we had breakfast and dinner on different days. I probably will see him again in Singapore when I travel on Aug 27 - Aug 30 for T3 CPM. 

Pallavi and Myra will now be travelling on 21 Aug. They could have traveled on 13 Aug as per original plan as they already got O visas on 11th Aug, but bags are not ready yet. 

Anvay seems to have settled in his college life as classes has already begun from 31st Jul. He is making new friends and exploring city. 

Next week, going to be another week and I will have to prepare for upcoming travel to Phuket and Singapore towards end of August. 

After the Q1 losses in F&O, I am doing more equity trades instead of F&O. It is going okay with #LIC generating around 42k of short-term gains. I also have adjusted #NBCC for long term losses with IDFC long term profits. It is something called as tax harvesting, but the losses were only approx. 20% of the gains. Therefore, I may adjust #YesBank long term losses at a later date. I am constantly adding YesBank equity with a bias that it will either perform very well in long future or subject to acquisition or merger. The average buying price should be close to spot price for any big losses. 

I have a feeling that equity works better for me than F&O, but the problem is of scale. Anyways, I am not giving up on options yet. 

Started binging #Made in Heaven - Season 2, it is intriguing, touching and entertaining at the same time. It challenges the society taboos and reflects, how we are still a very old school society. Too many kisses though. 

vA

Deployment time again

05-Aug-2023

Happy Weekend!!

I am back in Bangkok on 03 Aug morning as the big bang EIPP deployment this weekend. It's a 16+ hours runway but hoping for it to go smooth. It is unbelievable that it's already August and half the year is gone. It is going to be a busy H2 with new role and some travel. A good problem to solve. 

Anvay is settling in college and Pallavi and Myra preparing to move to Bangkok. Their visas should be sorted shortly, and they should be here by mid of Aug. 

The week was largely uneventful with work and home stuff as usual. The trading side was bit exciting as made some money on LIC Trade (~22k) and Bandhan Bank (~3k). I am still holding LIC (~500 qty) and hoping that will yield good results. Infosys trade is supplemented with the covered call and showing decent profits. 

I did play around options with very minimal three digits gain. The scare of loss is still very fresh in my head and it's making me do less trades. I think I am going to stick with equity trading more. 

vA