Review of Lola - interim report

A week of fieldwork of Lola foundation and loose powder product test is completed, sample size =1 (me only, which is not representative enough, but I can only be the only respondent).

The overall satisfaction level is quite high (the one and only one respondent rated it point 4 - quite good in 5-point scale).

The comments from the respondent are:
'I love that sheer finishing effect while it doesn't leave you any greasy feeling.'
'I think that it gives my skin some clarity without causing blemishes.'
'The stunning design is one of the major reasons I go for this brand, and it receives very good evaluation in magazine.'
'It can really achieve the 'no-make up make-up'!!'

I enjoy using the foundation during the working days and it really brings me some fun and enlightens my morning everyday!! It is an interesting process when you select what colours to apply from your face.

Among all specific areas, Lola strikes the highest score in its 'lightness level', and 'fancy package', both received score 5.

To further improve the products, the user suggested that the SPF level could be higher (from SPF8 currently to SPF15) and to enhance the moisturizing effect.

Babel

Everyone has different message take-out from the movie 'Babel'.

For me, it is a demonstration of butterfly effect.

And about the blues and isolation among us.

Which character's' do you like most?

I like all kids in this movie, even the pair of naughty brothers.

I had upset stomach after I saw the film, as the camera was swinging so fast.

Today is Monday, I have no mood to work.

Cod (Oilfish)

Scenario: You want to prepare a candle night dinner for you sweetheart tonight. He/She wants you to make him/her cod fish as a main dish. You then go to Park n Shop and find several packages of fishes at the fridge. Some fishes look like cod.
You take it up, look at the label - it states 'Cod (Oilfish)'.
'Who on earth would know that Cod has two names?' You grumble. After all what you need is cod, so the package tells you that the stuff inside is cod, you now pick up one pack and go ahead to the cashier.
You cook the Cod (Oilfish).
You serve yourself and your honey the Cod (Oilfish).
You digest the Cod (Oilfish).
You and your honey have diarrhoea... the 'Cod' and 'fish' seems to be digested, but not the 'Oil'....
The situation continues for several days.
You get healed, you want to complain Park n Shop, then they reply you the fishes have no problem, it is your own stupidity causes you the sickness. It is YOU who did not study well in your biology class then YOU lost a chance to be a researcher or professor in University to study about the difference between Ruvettus pretiosus and Gadus.

And then Mr. Li tells you, "this is your bloody own fault, not us... I tell you what, I am going to donate a big buck to Biology department of the University of Hong Kong and I am sure the Vice Chancellor dares not to not putting my big name on that flashy building..."

Lola Lola

The weather is cool but I struggled to wake up this morning for quite some time.

Several reports piled up on my working desk and many tedious jobs I should complete this week. Luckily I took quite enough rest in last two days and today I do not have any Monday blue... maybe a bit sleepy, but am not feeling exhausted.

I bought a set of 'Lola' make up yesterday - make up prima, liquid foundation and loose powder... I keep trying to find the make up foundation which I can use everyday, many magazines stated that this brand is super good and is perfect to achieve those 'non-makeup' makeup (or nude makeup, that means you will look naturally good but no one can tell you wear any pigments on your face), and they contains skin care elements which beautifying and protecting skin at the same time.

Some psychologists had conducted a research and found that men prefer natural beauties, they do not really like girls who have make up... but when they are asked who the more attractive girls amongst a group are (e.g. by showing them some college or several girls in front of them), they usually pick those with light make up. Actually men are insensitive to face colours, they cannot really tell what hue you put on the eyelids, they just think you have applied something, do not expect them can identify if you lip colour is 'berry berry kiss' or 'satin cherry',. However, they can spot out the overall difference.

Well, let see if this Lola magic tool can really make me glow everyday.

Hilarious Jelly

Jelly is a crazy and mischievous boss. Yesterday when I tidied up the project folder, I found a file called Having a bad day.ppt. in a sub-folder where with all the reports and presentation decks. There is a picture you see here.

I checked out that no one had made such silly thing except Jelly. Then I asked if he felt trapped by the work and should express his emotion in such way.

He laughed loudly and replied me that actually he made this picture and send to his friend simply for fun.... I guess he then mistakenly saved it in the job folder. He is such a crazy person.

Doing analysis as a hobby

Yesterday we had phone conference with an oversea client, she wanted us to do a regression work. The lady told us that she had installed the program to her home PC to run regression, and doing analysis as a hobby in her leisure time.

A hobby!!!! My left eye brow raised when I heard about this.

She told us that she was also a market researcher before. Now I know what bosses always mention that 'Be passionate in market research and you will not mind to work 24x7'. Frankly speaking, doing a modelling (I mean statistical modelling, not fashion modelling) is not entertaining to me...

Feel so tired but so get back to my work..

IT

Even though the whole world is experiencing a warmer winter this year, Hong Kong IT industry seems having a bitter cold winter. HSBC had laid off a large number of IT staff right before the Chinese New Year, which will probably further influence other professionals from the same field such as the overall income level.

The corporation cannot not guarantee if they will further downsize any of the supporting departments.

It is very pathetic that IT was one of the hottest subjects in University ten years ago, and Richard Li was an icon and a remarkable legend at that moment – elite school educated, young, wealthy and most important – an I.T. guy. The public obsessed to his everything including his dressing code and hair style.

The world is really flat. This is not a problem of Hong Kong education system; it just proves that globalization does affect everyone, even those highly educated professional workforce like us.

The message take out from this news is, never force your kids to take any subject you think it is good for him/ her. Let them choose what they are interested in. There is no guarantee that students from which subjects can get big bucks and which will end up unemployed. You can offer comment to them but do not force them to follow your wish; everyone gets the right to walk the life as they wish. You can never tell how the world will change anytime.

I have long sight at my left eye

Now I know how come I feel tired easily all the time. I just discovered that I got 175 degree of long sight at my left eye, in the last many years, I mainly depend on the right eye to see things... The sales person in that spectacles shop told me long sight is usually inborn, which has not relation to the deterioration of vision. However I don't feel this problem until I worked after the first year in my current job, and the problem seems getting intensified recently.

I just wonder whether those mistakes I made in reports are mainly located at the left hand side.

I will get my glasses tomorrow, I tried to avoid those styles which make me look like a fierce teacher - I call it Ms. Leung style. I cannot say the one I had chosen flatters me butit makes me look more like an OL and more gentle (this is what Jeff said). It even magnifies my eyes. No worry, I will post my book after I take the glasses from the shop.

It is really strange that while my vision is becoming blurred, Jeff's short sight improved. He has checked his eyes that day but found that he got no more short sight. We wonder the problem is offset by the aging of his eyeball muscle.

Luckily I do not have to wear the glasses every moment, I only need it when working and reading books.

Don't get us wrong, not everyone wants to marry tycoon

I am annoyed by the Hong Kong media. They think that every girl in Hong Kong is jealous to Cathy Chui because she can tie a knot with Mr. Lee, the son of a tycoon. It seems that the press believes marrying a rich guy is the ultimate goal of all Hong Kong women.

Amy is one of my favorite magazines, but I cannot believe the editors are so shallow... in the current volume they teach readers how to do a make up that can attract sons of billionaires… I feel so disappointed to them.

In Fashion and Beauty magazine Jan 07 vol., the chief editor wishes that all readers can become another Cathy Chui. She really overestimates the number of tycoon in Hong Kong.

Some insurance and financial institutions promote that an education fund for kids is important because Cathy’s parents spent so much to send her to study oversea, in order to cultivate a charming and intellectual lady, and eventually get a chance to marry someone who has good fortune …. Those financial ‘experts’ claim that this is a high return investment because the parents had only spent HK$5,000,000 and then receive more than a billion bride price. What the hell is happening in their mind? What is the ultimate goal of education? What kind of value that Hongkongese commonly believe?

Some newspapers and magazines attack Cathy and her parents and try to convey a message that they are greedy people. Well, I do think marriage is a person’s or two families’ business, can you guys mind your own?

I am not a feminist, but I do think all these tips and information belittled women. We are not born to marry an affluent person, especially nowadays.

It is so disgusting.

iPhone

Those apple guys are gurus of product design. iPhone is definitely the most fabulous gadget and change the concept of mobile phone from now on. Its innovative design plus the captivating outlook no doubt captures the hearts of 86% of men and 74% of the female segment of age groups 12+. (well I make the figures up, don't take it seriously)

I bet that in the soon future guys who used to use laptops in coffee shop will no longer show off their computers, because it would be perceived as outdated. Instead, the majority of them will be watching Prison Break in their flashy iPhones in a cozy big sofa, especially when there is an English-speaking young lady with gigantic ear rings sitting in the next table. The flavour of that cup of coffee is, as usual, not that important at all.

This is the essence of coffee culture here.

An unusual sense of humour

Sometimes I think my female boss Kelly Larry is bitchy (She admits this point, she says all women are bitchy), but I do admire her unusual sense of humour.

It is about a girl in our department who has 'special' art sense especially on colour combination of clothes (at least 3 different and contradicting colours appear on her body everyday). She forgot to send out the report to Kelly and made up a story that the Earthquake in Taiwan blocked the file delivery in the email system. Then Kelly threathened that girl if she could not send out the report in the next day, she will not allow her to wear colourful clothes anymore....

This is the most painful punishment for that girl, but is really amusing to all of us.

Women's forum

Last week I talked with Samantha that we can co-author a blog which reveals our voices on different topics. We form a perfect combination of two remarkable segments in a modern city - singleton and work moms. Our views on every aspect may be polarized or surprising similar, I am sure dynamics can be created.

Several names for this online forum are proposed:

• Women of the modern City
• The two major F segments
• SHE in the worksphere
• She tells you what she really thinks
• ......

I am thinking about where we can hoist our online talking place.

New Year Resolution

Alright, I should have been set the New Year resolution. Now is already the second week of January.

About myself:
Do exercise regularly.
Further polish my English – both written and spoken.
Be more optimistic.
Be appreciative.
Be gentler, try not to be too radical or attack those I think someone is stupid or ridiculous.
Read more books.
Sleep earlier.
Save more money.
Practice car driving.
Control my anger.

About family:
Be a good parent, enjoy the parenthood.
Accept Lucas of his everything, including his personality, temperament, preference etc, but be a good guider to him.
Love Jeffrey more and more.
Visit mom, daddy and my sister more.

About career development:
Be positive
Stand firm to my faith
Be more confident, willing to accept the challenges
Be open to others’ comment.
Find someone to teach me all basic things of statistics

Personally, I do not have any other great aim this year as I had put as much of my energy as possible to Lucas, but I have thought about studying journalism. Well, you know that god is fair and everyone only have 24 hours a day, I cannot afford to squeeze time on studying. Let just put it in my agenda first.

Google tells you how to do

I bet you are a frequent Google users and you have set your personalized Google page.

If yes, have you chosen the 'HOW TO OF THE DAY' to be shown in your homepage? I think it is really amusing and somehow useful. The topics of today include how to ask for a pay raise, and how to stop your biting nails.

Last time I read an article of how to write a short story... but it is really a long story to explain how to write something short, I just lost interest in the midway...

Transformation

Thanks to the nice filing system, I can track back how I look like in each of the January in the past 7 years, wanna have a look? Not getting aging so much, right?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=683&l=390d2&id=518052093

Sick leave on the first working day of 2007

I am having one of my worst sore throat in my life just now... I lost my voice this morning and should ask Jeff to call my office to report a sick leave. Actually I got the flu and muscle pain on Dec 27 and end up it develops such a voice-losing sore throat, I had a long long sleepless night yesterday, I had not fallen asleep for even 1 minute.

I visited a doc this morning and he asked me try not to talk today... Hope I could recover after the sound sleep (there is a pill which will make me drowsy and I should only take it before bed).

The learning from my story: 1. Consult a doc once you feel not well, 2. Do not have hot pot if you have sore throat. 3. Throat soothing candies would only sooth, not heal your throat.

2006 Review

I am having sore throat, thanks to the continuous late nights last week.

I should have to write the retrospect of my 2006 yesterday, now is still not too late, right? Well, am thinking about how to start it...

Okay, the proudest thing I had done last year was surely the birth of my adorable baby, it is the very dangerous yet holy thing I had ever done in my life. Being a mother is challenging and tough, and now I respect all moms much much more because acutally they must be very very smart and patience.

Talking about me and Jeff, the parenthood changes our relationship, it is not only sweety sweety as usual, but having much more responsibilities and challenges. The greatest part is that we are always in the same direction and share same set of value in parenting. This is what I call 'soul mate' to me.

I feel that I am a lucky girl because my daddy, mommy and Prudence were staying well and healthy in 2006, I wish you all stay sweet and well in 2007.

This part I hesitate to touch, but it is one of the biggest portions of my daily life - my career. Well, I am sure I achieve improvement in my working skills, and my bosses appreciated it somehow, but I did suffer a lot of trying to balance the family and career life, I am sure this is also one of the challenges I should face in the coming year(s). My friends always say I set too high expectation on myself, but I still want to be successful in both parts - I wanna be both of good mom and brilliant career girl.

I had not done much exercise after given birth, should resume regular exercise in the coming year.

Well, my mischievous Lucas just woke up and now scratching my arm, talk to you later, the 2007 resolution is coming up soon.

Happy New Year 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!




May I convey you all the best wishes in 2007. Very lame but really mean it - My wish is having the World Peace!



Actually I planned to have a 2006 retrospect today, but having a baby makes you difficult to stick with your schedule... Maybe I could do it tomorrow morning, follows with a new year resolution.



Sleep tight!!!!