Jean Kee

Being able to work for such a global company is an opportunity that I'm very grateful for, especially in that it hasn't forced me to suppress my desire to constantly explore and travel. In fact, with John Hardy, I am encouraged to be inspired by new surroundings everyday. My business trips to Bali enable me to use the weekends to plan a get-together with friends for a mini-vacation, and this time around, we decided to go to Gili Air, a small island off the east coast of Bali, as none of us had been before. Gili Air is one of 3 islands that are car and motor free - the only way to get to the island is via boat, and around the island, by foot, bike or horse-drawn cart.

Last minute planning and booking ensued, and we embarked early on Saturday morning to Padang Bai to catch the highspeed boat. Amidst miscommunication, delays, confusion and general hullaballoo, we ended up actually missing our 9am boat ride to Gili, and were told the next one would be at 1pm. Disappointed and cranky, we marched over to the head office of the boat company we booked with to file a general complaint on lack of organisation and to our surprise, received a free brunch at a chic beach-side cafe as compensation.

The design team was given the amazing opportunity to organise a weekend trip to explore the east and west coast of Bali, areas that have not been overpopulated with tourists and that still maintain a large part of its heritage and culture relatively intact. 

We jam-packed as many places to go, things to see (and most importantly, food to eat!) as we could in the span of 3 days. Needless to say, we were completely exhausted by the end of the trip, but it was an experience that we would not trade for anything... except maybe to go back again!

(An added bonus being that I'd be able to enjoy all my favourite foods at the hawker centres in Singapore as well!)

Due to my pursuing 2 design degrees, this summer was spent taking classes, so that I could graduate on time in 2012, but also 2am trips to the Tybee beach, Savannah, where we played with fireworks. Props to Tim Hutto for capturing the good memories on camera, and Kristen Albrecht, for having the guts (or just being plain foolish) to go swim in the sea with me!

No matter how cliched it may be, work hard, play hard, will always be one of the values I live by.