Moving forward...

I was meant to publish this post 2.5months ago... O well, better than none...

I struggled big time when I lost LeiLei (a clever girl, mix spitz I think), our first family dog when I was a teenager.  We only got Lucky (a playful pug) 12 years after LeiLei has passed.  We were all devastated.  I cried for the whole afternoon and everytime I thought of her I cried.  This went on for a few years.

We got here, and then Gizmo stumbled into our lives.  He was our first dog in HK.  He left us too soon.  And I thought to myself, no more, not anymore.  But, everywhere we go, there he was, his smiley face, his silly moves.  It was really really hard.  So we have decided we should give it another shot.  We went for an adoption. 

We first tried HKDR, but they are worried about the dog being alone in the house during the day Mon-Friday and that it will become frustrated.  They obviously think that having some dogs isolated, kept in a 4' x 5' wired up area the whole day with 2 short walks a day and minimum attention is a good idea.  We pity the dogs.

Then we turned to LAP.  We have decided to stick to small breeds (not as small as Chiwawa!!) simply because of the size of the apartment.  LAP have a black Pom called Hope.  A female rescued from a breeder.  Hope spent all her life in a cage (except when she was on heat or after she has given birth) as small as she is until she was rescued.  Very timid little girl.  We decided to adopt her (if she was healthy enough, I don't have a strong enough heart to handle losing another dog anytime soon) and she was supposed to be desexed and checked last Tuesday.  But she started to go on heat before the vet got a chance.  It will take another 6 - 8 weeks.  But, there's another one up for adoption during their adoption drive 26/08 in Happy Valley.  And so we went.

It's another Pom.  2 years of age, multicoloured, very active and lovely.  She had to be given up (together with another dog, a poodle) because of some changed circumstances.  Her name, Tinkerbell.  But we both think that it's a bit long, it's like "terminator" (what we were considering when we first got Lucky), so I shortened it to Bell and Adrian thought Bella would be better.  And so she's now, Bella.  She's the new member of our family. 

Gizmo the Wizmo...

I've never blogged about Gizmo.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's because he had been keeping me busy whenever I'm home.

Gizmo is a Pomeranian, a little git.  Gizmo was born on the 15th of October 2009.  His first owner took him in for a while and then left him in a pet shop for sale - he spent just about 9 months in a cage.  Then, finally, he met his previous owner, one of Adrian's South African colleagues.  The family was going back to South Africa and would not bring him with them.  Poor sod was going to end up in a pet shop again.  we took him in, as we took the apartment over.  He was their toy.  I don't doubt their love for him but the poor sod was only walked once or twice a fortnight....

We first met on the 27th of January this year when we came and looked at this apartment.   We moved into this apartment on the 28th of February.  And that was the day we first officially lived together.

At slightly more than 2 years of age, he wasn't the fittest dog in the world.  We taught him how to sit and wait to be fed.  How to run, how to climb up and down the stairs and how not to worry about the manhole covers.  We walked him at least twice a day, slightly more than an hour a day in total, sometimes more.  He looked so happy and he looked forward to each and every single walk.  I would walk him every morning, and night if Adrian  couldn't do it.  Boy, did we enjoyed our walks.

Every time we walked through that door, he would be there greeting us.  Every morning when we woke, he would be greeting us promptly as well.  he loved the little biscuit snacks, the sofa, sushi rice, pasta, dumplings, fruits and everything else that we ate in the house.  He would demand for hugs and cuddles by scratching our arms non-stop as if he was saying, "hey, hug, hey, hug hug... hey...", well he'd only stop when he got the cuddle and he would kiss us back affectionately.

We also brought him to the park and the beaches, although he didn't like the water.  We even bought him with us to Stanley when Adrian paddled in the Dragon Boat race.  There we met the biggest dog we've ever met - a Great Dan called Harley.  It was so wonderful.  How our little git was behaving among people and other dogs.  We were so proud.  As if our child has graduated from university or something.  Aside from the fact the he still ate his own shit occasionally and pissed in the house at least once a day.

Not too long after we got him, we realised that the little sod had weak tracheal rings in his windpipe.  Sometimes he would breathe as if he had asthma or something but would get better soon after.  Besides that, the common problem that the breed would have, he had - Luxating Patella, and we were planning to get that fixed by the end of the year.  Before all that, our little git had developed mange at the elbows of the fore legs after just about 6 weeks we had him.  And so the medication and solutions started.  We also needed to wipe his eyes, give him shower, take him to the groomer, etc.  Exactly like taking care of a kid.  The only difference is he didn't know how to talk and they do not grow up and become independent.  He slowly got better, the mange was gone and he was into his last week of medication and he would be spayed straight after he's off the medications.

And then, things got wrong.  he was struggling to breathe a little bit the night we got back from Stanley.  The next day, I sent him to the vet but they couldn't do much and then I had to send him to a 24-hour animal hospital.  They couldn't do much about that because whatever they do, they will have to give him anesthetic and he could stop breathing because of that.  What do we do?  It was a tough choice.  And the vet was going on holiday.  Great.

It was the 28th of June, 2012.  I was seriously doubting the hospital.  And straight after the noon visiting time.  I spent a couple of hours trying to make arrangement to get him to another hospital.  At 4pm in the afternoon, he passed.  They couldn't revive him.  Maybe it was his time.  We could never have known.  Bottom line is, he's gone.  And he was cremated today.  We said proper goodbyes to our little git.  Brought his ashes back to the apartment.  Where he spent the happiest times of his life.  Where we gave him all the love we could.

Walks down the roads in the area, lift rides in the building, coming back to the house, the kitchen, the bathroom, the dining and living area, the balcony, the parks, Stanley, Repulse Bay, bus & train & taxi rides, will never be the same, ever.  And we don't even need to leave a light on for him at night anymore... Losing him also reminded me of Lei Lei, our first family dog.  How their departure would leave a void in our hearts.

Rest in Peace, Gizmo.  You're missed dearly.

a strange place...

It's been a couple of years now, since we've moved to HK.  The longer I'm here, the less clue I can make out of this place... is it the people here?  or is it me?  No doubt, I have met some very nice and "normal" people here, but some of the things/people that I've come across really puzzle me.

In a housing estate, flowers and seed pods on kapok trees must ALL be plucked (removed) because some district council member thought that the fiber from the seed pods may be bad for the health of the residents in the area (the news report in Chinese here).  In another housing estate, frogs that make noise at night, on the podium of a few blocks, have to be removed because some residents complained about the noise (the news report in Chinese here).  Trees on a slope near where we live have to be chopped for no obvious reasons, and I'm not talking about branches that stretch over the road/sidewalk (some of them are big trees, obviously been there a long time).  AND, durians don't stink here (of course, to me it's scent, but, how??)!!  Obviously, a lot of people here cannot cope with nature!

And then, I notice that most girls/women have very fancy and expensive handbags that they don't carry -- their boyfriends do that for them.  Most women are descendants of vampires -- not only they  have to cover their faces with 5mm thick sun block, on top of that, they have to carry UV protected umbrellas and possibly face masks!  O, there's a sunroof in this shopping mall, I'd better open my UV umbrella!!  And when it rains, they make full use of their umbrellas as well, even on the covered sidewalks...

And then, there are people that don't buy sugar, tooth picks, salt, pepper, wet tissues, tissues, chili oil, soy sauce, etc... because whenever the family visits anywhere that provides these items for free (and individually packed), they would grab a whole lot... and this particular family owns a Mercedes Benz S-class, sent their children to universities in the UK (no, they didn't get a loan and the children did not get scholarship), who now have very well paid jobs.  And the most important thing is, this family still lives in a public housing unit.  

These are just a few of the many that I've seen/read recently.  I wouldn't want to list it all out...  that would mean that I have to write a few thousand words in this post.

Where you come from, is it the same?  Certainly, where I come from, it is different.  Well at the very least, flowers grow as they wish, frogs can make as much noise as they want, trees get removed after they have collapsed and durians stink (you can smell it 50 meters away!!), big time!

Proud wife Vernette

So Adrian has gone back into swimming lately - long distance ocean swims.  It's pretty hard core for me.  If I had to walk 5km on a Saturday afternoon (not in a shopping mall or something similar), I'd die within the first couple of km!  And my superman husband did it last Saturday, swam 5km from Stanley to Repulse Bay.  Pretty impressive, huh?

One thing I noticed about hard core swimmers in HK lately - most of them don't have a tattoo.  Well, nothing visible to be exact, even when they had only small swimming trunks on.
So when I wait for Adrian to get back ashore, I'd look out for those old fashioned dragon tattoos - all arms were clean but his, besides, it's so difficult to spot him by just looking at the splashes!  His splashes is not that distinctive.  ;-p

I posted about Adrian's successful 5km trial on FB the other day and received some funny responses by his friends...

definitely not very impressed with the hippo suit comment...

He sure did make me proud.  I'm so glad that I encouraged him to get back into swimming.  And of course, claiming to be the perfect man, he got me a new handbag to thank me for the support! wahahaha  how good is that?  It is also a form of compensation for I had 8 bug bites whilst waiting for him on the beach and they are still bloody itching!!

He's going to be swimming in the real race in less than a couple of weeks and if he sorts out the cramps, I figure he could probably slash 5 - 10 minutes off his time.  Let's see how it goes.

company junk trip

from left, me, Ben, Bonnie & APAC boss, Joerg Zobel

Last Friday, was our company junk trip.  We all left for the junk trip at 12:30pm, you can opt for not going but if you did, you've just gotta stay in the office and work~!

Some of my friends think that this is absolutely a great company to be working for, well, I sort of think the same.  Put it this way, which employer would let all the staff have half a day off and then pay for a couple of junk trips for everybody?  Not that many I would guess.

Anyway, we arrived at Lo So Shing Beach (Lamma Island), played some beach volleyball, dipped in the sea for a bit, had a few beers and some form of food, karaoke sessions and a fall into the speed boat... hehehe

looking alright there...

Bruised! Around the knuckle of the right thumb.  The forearm felt bruised as well, just not visible that's all.  Should not have played beach volley ball at this age, especially it's been a couple of decades since I last played!!   Having said that, it was really a lot of fun.  Chasing the ball, doing the serve, falling over... fun fun fun!

I still remember we had to take tests for PE when we were in the girls' high school.  We had to do running, jumping, throwing, basketball, volleyball, soft ball and all!!  And those were not the only sports I did (not good at them at all though), I also was a gymnast (school team), trained at least twice a week; went swimming with my brother every Saturday, rode a bicycle everyday and played badminton quite often as well.  So, I was fit, skinny.  Now, if I walked up 20 steps quick I'd start panting!  But swimming is OK, cycling should still be OK, Yoga is OK, dancing to the right music with a few pints of Guinness is OK as well.  Hehehe

Anyway, we had an awesome time out of the office and hey, don't get jealous, let me know if you want to join the company hahaha

The long distance swimmer is back on the attack!

Yes, this day the 14th of August, 2011, Adrian completed his first long distance ocean swim in HK, in a long long time.  Close to 2 decades to be exact.

I have always known that he's a good swimmer, therefore encouraged him to go back to long distance swimming because he was a good swimmer when he was a teenager.  He swam in a relay team across The Channel twice when he was a teenager.  Put it this way, how many people do you know that has swam The Channel?  Though he was in a relay team but it is still impressive, and he did it not once, but twice.  Now, that, is something that you can brag about when you sit down with your grand kids when you're 60.  I always thought that it's a pity he didn't go further in swimming.  There wasn't a platform for him to do it, the school wasn't doing enough for their swimmers.  He thinks otherwise though, he said, "we wouldn't have been able to meet if I continued swimming and eventually make it to some international races."  Well, this I must agree hehehe for I did not know how to swim until I was about 14!

And so, with only a few sessions of swimming in the pool downstairs and some snorkeling in Pulau Tenggol, off he went to take part in The Deep Water Bay Ocean Swim.  It is a 1.4km swim, not a lot compared to what he did in The Channel but it was definitely a lot of hard work considering how long it has been.  Here's the course map.  

Before he decided whether or not to take part, I actually did some research on the past races and found out that the fastest bloke did it in just over 17 minutes.  But cheeky me told him 24 instead hehehe.  So he jumped into the pool and did some laps.  The last practice he had, he swam about 1.8km under 30 minutes.  But of course, that was just swimming pool.  It a totally different story when you swim in the ocean.

We got up, well Adrian got up at 5am and I got up just about 5:45am.  We got to Deep Water Bay at about 7am --  we were the first ones there.  Registered and then waited for the other participants to slowly turn up.  It rained for a little a bit just to terrorize me, the one who didn't bring any form of rain gear.  Of course Adrian wasn't worried because he's going to get wet anyway!  But luckily it only lasted for about 10 minutes.

So we arrived, one of the earliest to be there, Adrian got himself registered and numbered and wristband on.  Looking good, eh?

The event started at 8:30am this morning.  There were 278 participants, aging from 10 to 60+.  We were quite intimidated by the amount of super fit people participating.  V-shaped bodies, six packs... But I said to Adrian, "that doesn't mean that they are good in the water (of course he knew that), but you are more streamlined to do it!"  My theory is, their stiff and squarish bodies get more resistance in the water than him.  Have you ever seen a skinny shark/dolphin/whale?  In fact, look at the fastest fish, they are not skinny at all!  ;-p

Despite the lack of training and the "age" factor, he completed the whole course in just about 26 minutes!  100th in the overall placing and amongst the 39 swimmers in his age group (35-39), he finished 10!  Not bad, eh?  He is quite impressed by the results as well, although he didn't think he did as well as he did when he first got out of the water.

catching his breath

And of course, we are all very proud of him.  And, Adrian, has decided to participate all 3 races next year!

Have a look at all the photos here.

My crocheting project - floral handbag

It was time consuming, a lot of different techniques but all in all, it was good fun.  This will be for my mom, and there'll be another one for my mother-in-law -- order placed by husband before I was even 10% into this project!  Of course, the deadline for the next one will be before Christmas hehehe

It took me more than a month to complete this but of course I spent about a week abroad on business and didn't bring it with me to work on.

First I started with the flowers - all 5 different types of them!!  11 different colours!!  5 different types of yarn!! Goodness!!  And material cost is less than a hundred HK Dollars...!!

Dang, I'm good!!

Mr. Bean in a wig!!

Ha!  Look what we found on one if the walls in Fat Angelo's TST!!

Look at the girl in the photo, doesn't she look like Mr. Bean in a wig??  Not clear enough?

Young Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) wearing a wig!

小米小书迷

昨天又去了书展听讲座，蔡澜的 “蔡瀾@微博妙答”。 

从草草不工的连载开始拜读他的文章，近而买他的书，好像认识了很久一样。 

香港人都很慢热，于是第一个举手上台玩了一下，也问了很想问的问题，没什么深度的问题，星期六下午，太严肃对不起自己!  还胆粗粗毛遂自荐要当他的徒弟。。。还留了联络。。。 everything crossed!  

喜欢看他写老友，他的老友都超有趣，羡慕！ 虽然我也有很有趣的老友，可是很多时候都是我比较有趣。。。  

这是其中一本蔡澜写老友的书，前天刚买的，昨天看完：

倪匡閑話--老友寫老友續篇

spider woman? naaa... just monkey....

photo taken by the beautiful Ms. Cat Mok!  Thanks, pretty!

The hair dryer was a lot heavier than normal today, in fact, last Thursday too.  Why?  Well, because I'm restarting sport climbing, after, slightly more than a decade!! 


It was introduced to me by a very good friend and I fell in love with it in an instance.  I still remember the first session I had -- I got home with crippled arms!!  I didn't even have the strength to scoop some soup out of my bowl!!  My mom ended up helping me!  I literally used up every bit of energy in my arms. 


Now I stopped for more than a decade because I did not have any support then, well I was young and thought that doing what the other half asked me to do or not to do was alright even though that was something that I really enjoyed doing.  It is different now.  I've got Adrian and I have his full support in the things that I do even if that means he won't be able to see me for a day.  He's such a wonderful man!

Back to this sport climbing thing, it's just climbing on some climbing walls, not on some real cliffs, I used to call it indoor rock climbing.  But it's obvious that it's called sport climbing now.... It's safer, more convenient, it's like an instant noodle in climbing.  No need to prep your trip and plan your route long before you climb.  You just turn up after work, in front of some climbing walls, with a couple of friends, and there you go, you can start climbing!  Ain't that wonderful?

Well part of the reason why I enjoy doing it is that it's not too physically demanding -- no jogging, running, sprinting, walking uphills... ya, ya.  I'm not a big fan of aerobic exercises maybe my heart and lungs are damaged goods haha  that's why I practice yoga and the only aerobic exercise that I enjoy is cycling.  hehee...

O ya, I get one special bonus doing it as well -- I got to know some very healthy youngsters (who loves outdoor activities and the challenge), they are soooooo different from the good old Hong Kongers that I know!!  Amazing!!

What's wrong with Sony Ericsson HK?? Or is it the same the rest of the world??

Adrian and I both use Sony Ericsson phones.  I have used maybe 4 or 5 already and this is his second one, well, third to be exact and his n-number of his Sony Ericsson Bluetooth device.  Whatever. 

He enjoys a bit of his music when he travels to and from work, when he goes to the gym.  It keeps him entertained without needing to purchase and carry another device called MP3 player or whatever that starts with an i.  That's all fine if he doesn't get annoyed with the long wires of the earphones.  No, he can't seem to find his marbles when the wires get in his way.  So a bluetooth device is the ultimate solution for the time being.  I personally don't mind the wires, they are there for a purpose.  Of course I can live without but an additional device is a device too much.  Also, it's not like you can skip the wires... if you know what I mean.

Options are,

1.  phone + wire + earpieces
2.  phone ... bluetooth device + wire + earpieces
3.  phone ... bluetooth device + single earpiece

the first option has been eliminated because of what drives Adrian nuts, also, it's valid because for his height, with his phone in his trousers' pocket and one end of the "hands free device" plugged in to the phone and the other into his ears, it sort of limits his body movement because if he turns his head too fast, the earpieces get unplugged from his ear/ears.  Simply because the brilliant designers are not tall people.  The 3rd option is eliminated because it's for music, not only for talking on the phone and also, I need both of his ears working so that I don't have to whine into only one ear and he can't pretend not to hear me when I whine hehe

Long story short, he was off to buy this new bluetooth device that seemed perfect for him: he can use it with another set of earpiece... apparently round-body wires are easier to break than the flat, rare and expensive ones.  Also, it's got a very long battery life, 10hrs according to the box.  He chose a Sony Ericsson bluetooth because we believe the it should work better when pairing with a Sony Ericsson phone, an android phone.  So it's not cheap at all.  But hey, as long as it works.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, he can't turn it on after it's been charged.  That thing was bought less than a year ago, well, actually, I remember this because he bought it after he joined Dragages and it's not been a year yet.  You'd think that it is still under warranty.  Nope, not with the receipt, knowing HK.  The warranty is only valid if you're able to produce the proof of purchase. 

My husband being my husband of course did not put the receipt together with the box.  So, without even needing to try,  I know he will not be able to get it fixed for free.  He thought he would try his luck since the thing is not even in the market for more than a year.  So he brought it to the Sony Ericsson service centre here.  They said to him, "we can have a look at it for you to see what's wrong, but it costs HKD120."  HKD 120 just to look at it.  F**k I'm gonna charge all those HK men HKD180 each who religiously stare at my cleavage whenever I wear a deep-V!!!  Imagine how f**king rich I could be!!

What's wrong with you people???  It's your product!!!  Of course you have to fix the bloody thing!!!  More so because it's bought less than a year ago, here in HK and you should fix it for free!!  Let alone just looking at it!!!!!!  We did not choose to buy your product just to be treated like some thieves or something! 

2nd part of Adrian's birthday celebration

Well, the first part, I haven't blogged yet hehehehe but the 2nd part was soooooo good that I have to blog it immediately after a nap that followed hehehehe

Well, I treated him with our 2nd Champagne brunch (we had our first one in Macau, in Aurora).  I brought him to Cucina in Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel in TST.  It was on the 6th floor and we were sat by the window with Victoria Harbour in sight, bright sun light, a bit foggy but I would still class it as a good day, by HK standard hahaha

not the best but good enough by HK standard, well the sun made it up

Although I haven't been a great fan of champagnes but I like the idea of having a slow morning/afternoon out of the house and a bit of booze and a lot of good food.

There was the very popular Hokkaido long leg crab, oysters, lobsters, great salami and ham and super delicious soups.  Also, the dessert line was almost perfect, and Adrian has had 4 coffees (I had to forbid him from ordering the 5th!!)........

All in all, it was great and I was thinking that we should do this when Steve & Rosana comes over to HK the next time and when Mendy & Chris come back to HK in June.

At about 3:30, we left the restaurant (though the brunch ended at 2:30, we stayed until the afternoon tea started.... baaaaad~~) and went home for a well deserved afternoon nap -- had to get ready for the rugby game tonight! 

And, now, we're off to our rugby game!!!

Our First Hyacinth

This is the first Hyacinth that I've bought, and it's sooooooo beautiful!  Smells good too!!

 

Love this Auto-Reply

It was a boring afternoon, but then I received this Auto-Reply from a supplier, LOVE IT!   I have highlighted the bit I love in Red...

Thank you for your Email. Unfortunatelly I am currently out of office with
limited access to my Emails. Your Email, therefore, will not be read.

One more funny thing is that at 16:03 I received his previous email asking questions about his $$, then at 16:51 I replied, and then a minute later, came this Auto-Reply...

Steve's comment, "a slippery character" hehe

1st Anniversary!

View all

Get your own

Yup, in a day, it's gonna be our anniversary! We celebrated it a couple of days earlier because Adrian won't be able to get home early enough to have dinner on the day itself... What to do, he's an important man... hehe

Feels strange and, what a year it has been!!  One down, a lifetime to go!!!

I'm almost a genius!

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

Ya ya, I took another IQ test this morning, after the one called Mensa Workout that I've taken last night at the Mensa website... I only scored 22/30, I think 2 of those that I didn't get was because my English is not good enough... eeeeeee!!

Well, looking at the Score Guide from the one I've taken this morning, I have an IQ or 141... And then I was told that I have to add some 5 - 10% on top of my score because English is not my native language (I wonder if there's anything in Chinese out there...).  That would make me... erm... a genius then!!! WAAAA~~~ I could be in the same category as Einstein!! 

I'd never thought that I could possibly be a genius!!  But, they say, IQ is less important than EQ these days.  I think that's just about right, coz being a woman, I usually don't make use of my IQ when I shop, eat, fall in love, drink... etc. etc.  and my EQ must be somewhere on another planet when I get angry... I think some of my friends, who know me well enough can tell.

Conclusion,  although I have an IQ of a genius, because I don't really have very high EQ, that makes me... errr.... just A NORMAL PERSON!!   But I'm going to tell my mom and dad about my IQ anyway, just to make them proud -- having a daughter with an IQ of almost a genius could make them quite happy hahaha!!


Challenged Brian Goode aka Brain Good (my x-boss in the RCT) to it because he's one of the smartest person I've ever known... After the test, he said, "... not sure what happened, only 156."  @___@

Is this seat taken?

We have shuttle bus service between the apartment and Hankow Road in TST every 15 minutes which is very convenient - saves a lot of walking and $$ as well.

Today, we went shopping in TST.  We jumped on the shuttle bus to get home.  The bus provides 29 seats and, all are double seaters but the last one at the back on the left. -- only a few seats left and none of them was together...  It was quite full by the time we got on the bus.  I guessed we had to sit separate.  I proceeded towards the back portion of the bus and found 2 seats alongside, separated by the aisle, perfect.  So I said, "Excuse me, ..." to the young woman who had the window seat and her shopping bags on the seat next to her (by the aisle) so that she could remove the not-a-big-deal shopping bag from the seat to her lap and I could sit down.  She wasn't impressed.  And to my surprise, the man across the aisle (yup, he was sitting by the window on the same row with an empty seat by the aisle as well), reached over and grabbed the shopping bags... ar... I see, they're together.  The man then decided that he would sit with his partner instead of my husband (Hong Kongers don't generally like to sit with big hairy gweilos if you noticed).  So, we had the double seater where the man was sitting.

Whenever we get on the shuttle bus, we would sit together no matter how much shopping we've got -- we once had a dehumidifier, cutlery set, adjustable rod (1.7m in length) and a few other shopping bags + my handbag, still sitting together seemed like the right thing to do.  Unfortunately, some ppl just don't do it -- can't sit with shopping bags on their laps -- too heavy!!

I suggested to Adrian, that next time, I should ask the man instead of the young woman, with a slightly stimulating tone of voice -- we were both very tempted to see the woman's face turn and how she would react to the situation (Hong Kong girls are naturally very defensive/agressive when another woman, quite attractive and in her super deep V top, intends to talk/sit/engage any kind of activity with her partner with or without her presence/consent).  Both Adrian and I were really torn with the idea.  haha!!

I know, I know, me baaaaaaaaaad!!

The Curious Diary of Mr. Jam

The Curious Diary of Mr. Jam is a blog that I follow on a daily basis ever since I first read Mr. Jam's articles in The Standard.  The stuff that he writes is really funny and so are the comments that follow.  I can understand why -- Great minds think alike.  hehee  And then I started posting comments on some of his posts -- can't help it, they're just so interesting sometimes you just want to be part of it.

Yesterday, Mr. Jam himself posted a comment on my blog...!!!  If you've noticed, no one really leave any comments in this blog, I just know so far, this blog has had more than 12000 visits and that's because I put a counter here.  Otherwise, I would think that only Adrian and a few of my closest friends read what I write.  Depressing?  Not really.  I think it's a very good way to improve my English and at the same time, practice typing.  Also, I don't only write in English, I sometimes write in Chinese and Japanese as well (that's very rare because Adrian would always ask what I have written -- that means translations needed... which I still find quite difficult to translate from Chinese/Japanese accurately) when I think that only Chinese/Japanese could express what I really wanted to say.

Right, back to Mr. Jam's comment.  It's really encouraging.  So I sent him an email to thank him and told him my surname (he asked, OK.).  And to my surprise, he found one of my photos taken at a charity ball organized by the International Ladies Club of Macau and with my consent, he posted it on his blog.  I'm really flattered.  Haha! 

Maybe I should start to wear make up to work?  Naa~~ then I'll have to wake up at least half an hour earlier... Not a good idea.

Another use of handouts...

On the streets of TST, just a 5-minute walk and you'll collect enough newspaper (in the morning)/flyers/name cards for your child's next "Make Your Own Recycled Paper" project.

Today, as we were making our way to our lunch, waiting for the little red man to turn green, right in front of us was a couple (a Caucasian man and a Chinese lady, although it's irrelevant to what we were about to witness, but being Chinese and having married to a gweilo, I felt like I could relate to... whatever).  The lady took a handout in the form of a name card a few steps before they stopped at the light.  It was quite sunny and the man has obviously sweat quite a bit while waiting.  Guess what happened next?  The lady wiped his sweat on the bold patch with the name card!!!  WOW!!  That's really creative!  I must admit I lack creativity when it comes to things like this... I thought only tissues/handkerchiefs/towels or even sleeves are used to do the job... or is it only me? 

But I guess wiping sweat for your better half is an act of love.  So who cares what you use?  Does it really matter if your better half gets a telephone number complete with name & company logo on his forehead?  I guess not in this case hehehe

Pity I was too shock to take a picture of it to show... ai!!

English Names

Traditional Chinese do not give their children English names.  So most of us grow up with Chinese names, normally made out of 1 to 2 Chinese characters.  The lack of an English name means that it is not easy for English speakers to remember us because it is difficult to pronounce our names and therefore, most of us, normally starting from high school (or as and when we feel we needed one), we get ourselves our own English names.  Although it's become a trend now for parents to give their children English names at birth, some still don't do it or they would prefer for the children to choose, whether or not to have an English name, or if they choose to have one, they can choose their own...

In Malaysia, the English names are quite normal, Kelvin, Kevin, Stephanie, Cindy, Tracy, Danny, Jonathan, Joey, Vincent, Irene, Helen, Elaine, Catherine/Cathy/Katherine, Eric... If you shout out one of these names in a supermarket, you'd probably have a least half a dozen of ppl answering...

And then I got to Macau, now HK... I can't help but notice some of the very unique English names the younger ppl have here:


Basically, there are quite a few catagories...

There are the ambitious ones like Million(!), Handsome(!)...
Then stationary/instrument... Staple, Paper, Piano (there must be a flute somewhere, or a trumpet...), Yoyo (a very common girls' name in HK/Macau)...

Then food... Orange, Spaghetti (OMG), Honey (uh-hm, this is my cousin brother's English name)...
Weather... Windy, Rain, Sky...
Adjective...  Mainly, Aware, Fancy (could be a noun as well...@_@)

Characteristic...  Sinner (one of my x-colleague, Sin is his surname...), Ego (what can I say?), Freeman, Fairy, Baby, Honey (yes, it's my cousin brother)
Body parts... Fanny, Pinky...

Then there are some that I don't know how to catagorize...  Weko, Midco, Fifi, Ginny (drinkable or simply Italian?), Shirty (who turns out to be a fantastic wife, mother and friend), Mask (yup, MASK, not Mark)... hmm...

Some sound really funny and I'm sure you've come across quite a lot if you've been here long enough or met enough ppl.  But hey, there's no way to figure out what the younger (Gosh I feel soooooooo freaking old already!!) generation has in mind...