2008 Retrospect

This was the entry I started writing on Dec 31, but couldn't finish it in the same day....Anyway, this is my retrospect

Okay, it is time to have a Retrospect of the last 366 days. I always prefer December 31 more than January 1. It is because December 31 is more relaxing, more laid-back, and you can still bear your flaws (because all the new planning, such as do more exercise etc. has yet launched).

Anyway, how can I describe my 2008? It was like riding a roller coaster, but now when I almost walk down from the cart, it seems everything is so far so good, not as exciting or frustrated as I felt at that moment.

I think the most unforgettable event is the birth of Linus. His birth was extremely dramatic. Precisely, both the pregnancy and the birth were really breath-taking. I still remember I was shivering on the wheel-chair in the hospital ward, crying and bearing the pain and shocking by the fact that I was laboring.

Except God, I do not know whom I should thank for the good health that Linus is having now. He grows up into a chubby and cheerful baby.

In this year, I experience the development of Lucas, my another sweet heart. He was a baby last year and now he is a handsome boy, but I still call him baby. Mommies are contradicting, they want their kids to grow up, but they miss the days when the children were still babies.

When I look at these two boys, I feel I am a very rich person.

******

"Change" is not only the theme of Obama during the president election, but can also be the summary of my 2008. The second big change is we had move into our owned apartment in November. I think Jeff and I are good partners because the preparation time was just 2 months but we managed to build a very cozy lovely net. The babies love this new real home a lot, and now I spent much more time in the kitchen..... Jeff said I am a real good wife now... well, men are all the same.....

Actually we had ordered several art prints and posters for www.allposters.com, but we still have no time to frame them up, our home can be more pretty after we hang up those pictures.

******

My readers may feel that I seldom talk about work in blog in the recent months. In this year, I do learn what “Let go” means. In this summer, I was totally frustrated and had gone mad because of the works and one of the teammates I work close with. My mood was up and down many times and finally “burst” when having an appraisal with the bosses. I think I cried unstopped for whole day. Then I woke up, let go my bad memory, let go those unfairness, accept that someone just dislike you with ridiculous reasons, and the most important thing is, I do not want to label myself as a “working mom” anymore and try to prove to the world that “working mom can be valuable smart in work place”. Now in office, I will perceive myself the same as others.

Of course, I should thank Samantha and Chrissee, who stayed close to me during my tough time, to listen to my babbles in the whole late summer. I am very lucky that I can make two real friends in a work place.

******

Thanks for reading the whole passage, the one who can read through this entry, you are really my good friend and someone who cares me a lot!!! Wish you have a joyful and adventurous new year!!

Awful hair style

I am getting tired to my medium-length hair style. I had it since mid August.

Now it is at the weird length… neither short nor long, just awkwardly surrounding my face… Not sure if I am gaining weight or not, my face looks like a loaf of bread…

Well, I do no longer want to keep the bob hair that means I should still bear this situation for quite some time.

I feel I look totally uncool and unfashionable……

Is there any magic helping hair grow faster?

A merry christmas holiday

I was having a very Merry Christmas holiday, spending all time with my family and friends.

I didn't exchange many gifts as previous years, but Jeff and I spent more on gourmet food - fine wine, chocolates, oysters and sushi, etc. I think we are getting older, older people spends less on outfits (I have not bought any party wear this year) but more to their stomach.

Hahah, this is just my assumption.

This was our event schedule in past few days:

Dec 24 evening - Christmas party at our home
Dec 25 afternoon - Christmas party at in-laws' home
Dec 26 evening - BBQ Christmas party with friends
Dec 27 whole day - A trip to Disneyland, it was snowing in the Main Street around every 30 minutes (which was made by foaming, but the babies thought it was real, it was so romantic)
Dec 28 - Samatha visited us in the afternoon, dinner with my mom and dad in the evening

When I was in University, I attended to Christmas balls and parties, but those were not my ideal Christmases. I usually dream that Christmas should be in a cozy house and sharing joyful moment with family and beloved one on a lovely carpet, with a nice aromain the air which is exclusively belonged to this festival.

I think I find my most favourite Christmas! Of course, a white Christmas will be even better.

Our Christmases

2002 Christmas

2008 Christmas

Sickness

I am feeling bad that babies and I are sick from time to time since September. I caught cold and coughing again in early December. I feel dizzy all the time. When I look at the mirror, what I can see is an exhausted, pale and soulless Manki.

Linus had fever again last time; it is really a torture to a Mommy. It is really heart-breaking to see my babies suffering from sickness. Thanks god he looks happier this morning and no more high temperature.

I have to be healthy again.

The 10,000-hour rule

I am reading the book "Outliers" of Malcolm Gladwell. It explains why a few people are successful- they are the outliers in a bell shape curve of normal distribution.

Based on many statistics, there is a only small portion of people excel in each area, from violin to programming. He discovered there is the 10,000-hour rule - if a person dedicates to certain thing up to 10,000 hours, he/ she can master on that aspect and out perform the majority exceptionally.

Bill Gates are Beatles are the two of the best examples. The former obsessed in programming since high school, while Beatles spent time on stage more than bands all over the world, since they performed in pubs in Germany red light district.

In your life, do you spend 10,000 hours on any single thing? 10,000-hour can be converted to 416 days, or 1.14 years.

What I believe is, it is not only time, but the interest of certain things 'haunt' people and drive them to be focused. People who have obsession are lucky, sometimes.

Buddies Gathering

People treasure friends more when you are older, especially whom you know for more than a decade, when you all were unpolished and plain. When you get older, you found the long term friendship is rare.

Billie organized a schoolmates’ gathering last night. Grace and Emily even brought along their babies. We all look far different from many years ago, but the feeling is still the same; they are still the bunch of young girls in school uniform I know well.

When I was in Form one, I had not imagined who I would be more than ten years later. I had no single ideas that I would work in a market research firm and having two babies in my 31 years old.

Life is interesting; you can never predict what will happen to you. It is blissful that all my dear friends are happy and the bonding still exists among us.

Billie, thanks for arranging the gathering!!

Lazy bone

I think laziness is human nature. I do not want to work on this sunny Friday.

I am in office, I was working hard in last hour, and now I want to be laid back. Just working hard one hour.....

I am wondering if I am getting old, exhaustiveness seems attaches to me always. Jeff said maybe I am too skinny and lack of energy, I have to make some change. I want to energize myself.

We will move into the new flat soon, I am very exciting. I am thinking how to manage such physically-demanded activity with two little monsters hanging around. Anyway, I am looking forward to move into our lovely nest!

How "mentally retarded" it can be?

I have read the below article from SCMP just now, about the chaotic education system in Malaysia which tortures students and parents, and possibly ruin the kids' competitiveness in the future.

I am wondering if it will happen in Hong Kong... You know, the government sucks. Even our friend who is a teacher said the Hong Kong Education Department is "mentally retarded".

I better send my babies to international schools, and I will work harder in order to pay the tuition fee. I will teach them Chinese by myself.


Language barrier splits Malaysians into classes

English, Malay or Chinese and cost is the poser facing parents
Baradan KuppusamyUpdated on Sep 27, 2008

A visibly angry Maimunah Hamid shook her head in desperation as education ministry officials struggled to explain to angry parents gathered at a parent-teachers meeting at a national school in the city last week."I have had enough, I am moving my daughter to an international school," said Ms Maimunah, an accountant with Maybank, Malaysia's biggest bank. "I am sick of this flip-flop policy, why can't you all make up your mind?" Most of the 120 parents agreed with Ms Maimunah, 46, a mother of two daughters aged nine and 12."Make up you mind please ... English or Malay. Don't torture the children," said another parent Kanagaratnam Vellupillai, 39. "This issue has been going on for years and years." In fact the issue - English or Malay as a medium of instruction - has been hotly debated and remains unresolved since the British colonialists left in 1957.After acrimonious debate the matter was settled in 1967 that Malay would be the medium of instruction in all national schools, but that Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools could continue teaching in a mixture of Malay and their own mother tongues. However, in a decision in 2002, which was widely opposed by parents, officials, opposition lawmakers and even civil servants, Mahathir Mohamad ordered the return of English on the grounds that national education in Malay narrowed student minds, retarded economic growth and that if continued, Malaysia's competitiveness would collapse against Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.The return of English was widely supported by middle class parents such as Ms Maimunah and Mr Kanagaratnam, who were already westernised and inclined to want an open, English-based education for their children.However Malay nationalists, Chinese educationists and Tamil parents, who wanted Tamil as medium of instruction for Tamils, strongly objected to Dr Mahathir's desire to bring back English.The veteran politician offered a compromise - only science and maths would be taught in English. All other subjects would be in Malay and vernacular languages.That decision has been hotly debated ever since and the latest round erupted last month with academics, teachers and parents hotly divided over whether to continue Dr Mahathir's policy or revert to teaching all subjects in Malay.The matter remains an emotive issue in this multi-ethnic society divided by race, religion and now mother tongue education.Five years after Dr Mahathir retired in 2003 his successor, Abdullah Badawi, still finds it difficult to reverse the "science and maths in English" policy now widely described as a "silly legacy". At the time it was introduced, the move was strongly opposed by parents, educators and teachers, but Dr Mahathir pressed on. Opposition continued over the years and has reached a peak in recent weeks with top educators openly arguing that the five-year-old policy has seriously damaged students' grasp of not only English but also science and maths. "You cannot study a language by studying maths and science in that language," said Ungku Aziz, a former vice-chancellor of the University Malaya."The tragedy of our time is that students have no idea what is grammar and syntax, they are not proficient in English," he told an education forum this month, adding his weight to chorus of demands to end the policy."English or any language should be learnt as a language on its own right." National Union of Heads of Schools President Pang Chong Leong agreed with the argument against using English as the medium of instruction for science and maths."If the intention is to improve the pupils' English, then they should start with the arts subjects, such as moral studies, and also increase the number of English periods," he said at an education forum last week."Science involves a lot of thinking while maths does not use too much language and vocabulary. It goes against the principles of education and does not achieve any objective." Dr Mahathir reasoned though that by teaching the two subjects in English students would not only master the language but also science and maths to make the economy technology-driven, and implemented the policy against strong opposition in 2003, months before he retired after 22 years as prime minister.Neither aims, however, have been achieved, experts argue.They say English proficiency fell because less time was devoted to it in language study, while grasp of science and maths also suffered after the sudden switch from Malay.English originally was taught five times a week, 45-minutes a session in primary schools, but that time was reduced to once a week under the new policy. The saved hours were used to study science and maths in English, leaving teachers and students in the lurch.The government pressed ahead, spending billions changing school textbooks to English, training teachers to work in the language and at one time even importing scores of teachers from England to fill a shortfall.Over the years several government "review committees" have studied the issue and recommended to end the policy, but Dr Mahathir's influence in the political arena was so great that a final decision was always postponed.Another reason for the indecisiveness is that long-time education minister Hishamuddin Hussein is a Mahathir loyalist and unwilling to embarrass the former prime minister by ending the policy.However, at a teachers' meeting early this month, Mr Hishamuddin promised the government would make a firm decision - abandon English for Malay or continue the policy - by year end.Some parents, such as Ms Maimunah, are not prepared to wait for the government to decide."I want my daughters to have a wholesome, internationally recognised education so they can work and live anywhere in the world," she said."Later this year I am pulling them from the national school and registering them in an international one that follows the English semester system. It's expensive but worth it." However, parents like Mr Kanagaratnam, a City hall bus driver, cannot afford expensive private education. "English is a must for world commerce and the future. We must have a strong grounding in English," he said. "I hope the government keeps instruction in English just for science and mathematics. We don't want out children to return to Malay and play catch up all over again." The government appears reluctant to reverse the policy five years after spending so much money on textbooks and retraining teachers to switch science and maths from Malay to English. "We have already lost one generation switching from English to Malay. By reversing I fear we will lose another," said retired teacher Kathy Fong in a letter to the New Straits Times daily last week.");
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A visibly angry Maimunah Hamid shook her head in desperation as education ministry officials struggled to explain to angry parents gathered at a parent-teachers meeting at a national school in the city last week.
"I have had enough, I am moving my daughter to an international school," said Ms Maimunah, an accountant with Maybank, Malaysia's biggest bank. "I am sick of this flip-flop policy, why can't you all make up your mind?" Most of the 120 parents agreed with Ms Maimunah, 46, a mother of two daughters aged nine and 12.
"Make up you mind please ... English or Malay. Don't torture the children," said another parent Kanagaratnam Vellupillai, 39. "This issue has been going on for years and years." In fact the issue - English or Malay as a medium of instruction - has been hotly debated and remains unresolved since the British colonialists left in 1957.
After acrimonious debate the matter was settled in 1967 that Malay would be the medium of instruction in all national schools, but that Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools could continue teaching in a mixture of Malay and their own mother tongues.
However, in a decision in 2002, which was widely opposed by parents, officials, opposition lawmakers and even civil servants, Mahathir Mohamad ordered the return of English on the grounds that national education in Malay narrowed student minds, retarded economic growth and that if continued, Malaysia's competitiveness would collapse against Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
The return of English was widely supported by middle class parents such as Ms Maimunah and Mr Kanagaratnam, who were already westernised and inclined to want an open, English-based education for their children.
However Malay nationalists, Chinese educationists and Tamil parents, who wanted Tamil as medium of instruction for Tamils, strongly objected to Dr Mahathir's desire to bring back English.
The veteran politician offered a compromise - only science and maths would be taught in English. All other subjects would be in Malay and vernacular languages.
That decision has been hotly debated ever since and the latest round erupted last month with academics, teachers and parents hotly divided over whether to continue Dr Mahathir's policy or revert to teaching all subjects in Malay.
The matter remains an emotive issue in this multi-ethnic society divided by race, religion and now mother tongue education.
Five years after Dr Mahathir retired in 2003 his successor, Abdullah Badawi, still finds it difficult to reverse the "science and maths in English" policy now widely described as a "silly legacy".
At the time it was introduced, the move was strongly opposed by parents, educators and teachers, but Dr Mahathir pressed on. Opposition continued over the years and has reached a peak in recent weeks with top educators openly arguing that the five-year-old policy has seriously damaged students' grasp of not only English but also science and maths.
"You cannot study a language by studying maths and science in that language," said Ungku Aziz, a former vice-chancellor of the University Malaya.
"The tragedy of our time is that students have no idea what is grammar and syntax, they are not proficient in English," he told an education forum this month, adding his weight to chorus of demands to end the policy.
"English or any language should be learnt as a language on its own right."
National Union of Heads of Schools President Pang Chong Leong agreed with the argument against using English as the medium of instruction for science and maths.
"If the intention is to improve the pupils' English, then they should start with the arts subjects, such as moral studies, and also increase the number of English periods," he said at an education forum last week.
"Science involves a lot of thinking while maths does not use too much language and vocabulary. It goes against the principles of education and does not achieve any objective."
Dr Mahathir reasoned though that by teaching the two subjects in English students would not only master the language but also science and maths to make the economy technology-driven, and implemented the policy against strong opposition in 2003, months before he retired after 22 years as prime minister.
Neither aims, however, have been achieved, experts argue.
They say English proficiency fell because less time was devoted to it in language study, while grasp of science and maths also suffered after the sudden switch from Malay.
English originally was taught five times a week, 45-minutes a session in primary schools, but that time was reduced to once a week under the new policy. The saved hours were used to study science and maths in English, leaving teachers and students in the lurch.
The government pressed ahead, spending billions changing school textbooks to English, training teachers to work in the language and at one time even importing scores of teachers from England to fill a shortfall.
Over the years several government "review committees" have studied the issue and recommended to end the policy, but Dr Mahathir's influence in the political arena was so great that a final decision was always postponed.
Another reason for the indecisiveness is that long-time education minister Hishamuddin Hussein is a Mahathir loyalist and unwilling to embarrass the former prime minister by ending the policy.
However, at a teachers' meeting early this month, Mr Hishamuddin promised the government would make a firm decision - abandon English for Malay or continue the policy - by year end.
Some parents, such as Ms Maimunah, are not prepared to wait for the government to decide.
"I want my daughters to have a wholesome, internationally recognised education so they can work and live anywhere in the world," she said.
"Later this year I am pulling them from the national school and registering them in an international one that follows the English semester system. It's expensive but worth it."
However, parents like Mr Kanagaratnam, a City hall bus driver, cannot afford expensive private education. "English is a must for world commerce and the future. We must have a strong grounding in English," he said.
"I hope the government keeps instruction in English just for science and mathematics. We don't want out children to return to Malay and play catch up all over again."
The government appears reluctant to reverse the policy five years after spending so much money on textbooks and retraining teachers to switch science and maths from Malay to English.
"We have already lost one generation switching from English to Malay. By reversing I fear we will lose another," said retired teacher Kathy Fong in a letter to the New Straits Times daily last week.

Patriotism and tainted milk scandal

After 11 years of the return of Hong Kong sovereignty to China, how do you tell others your identity? A Chinese, or a Hongkongese, or both?

Patriotism in China means loving the ultimate authority system of mainland, a dirty, corrupted system which allows tainted milk to poison their own next generation simply for the sake of fulfilling chimerical greed.

Can you love someone governs you but feeding you contaminated food? Can you accept someone who think it is appropriate to fake the public in the Olympic ceremony by replacing the little girl performer to a prettier one, for the sake of "maintaining the public image"?

Looking at that bureaucratic system of this country, I understand why independent thinking and honesty are precious.

To be, I feel ashame but I am a Chinese, I hope I can still be a Hongkongese, if Hong Kong can maintain its uniqueness and core values.

Returned from the Taipei trip

Haven't got strength and time to come back to this little piece of piece land - blogger in the past week.  

Me, Jeff and Lucas had been joining the company incentive tour in Taipei, and we stay behind in the city for another two days.  Both me and Lucas were having serious flu and coughing, we could still manage to have fun in the trip, even though we had totally burnt out.  (On the second day, we received wake-up call at 5:45am in the morning, that almost took our lives).

It was a totally interesting experience, especially for Lucas, after all, it was his first overseas trip, his first time to sit in an aeroplane.  People said he would have no memories of these few days ashe is too small, however, I know him well, I am sure the feelings, the excitement had already imprinted in his mind.

I had very good impression to Taiwan from this trip, people are nice and friendly, food is delicious, and you can experience both cosmopolitan and outdoor leisure life within three hours travel distance from the city centre.

Taiwanese just love reading, we can see 誠品書店 in many places, and books are much cheaper than Hong Kong.  We bought a lot of books, one is "THE COMPLETE PEANUTS: 1950 TO 1952" (the Peanuts comics), a discount offered and which is just cost NT$300.

We are planning another trip, this time we wish to bring Linus along.  We missed him terribly, next time we should let him to join us!!

My sons, I want you two to explore the world always, you know what, you two have your own national identity but you are also citizens of this global village, the more you experience others' cultures, the more open-minded you are, and the more happy you will be.

Mamma Mia

Today I am slightly better, the sore in throat seems vanishing, but still have dizzy feeling.

I have seen Mamma Mia last Friday and the melodies of those golden songs swirling my head always. I have seen the broadway show in Hong Kong several years ago, this movie is also captivating.

I love the two main casts – Meryl Streep (Donna) and Amanda Seyfried (Sophie). Meryl is 59 years old this year but she is just gorgeous. Self confidence is always the attraction of women in this age. I read something about “aged gracefully” from some articles before. Surely Meryl can achieve this.

Amanda fits the character of Sophie a lot, she looks mischievous and sweet, and her voice is the best in the movie. I can hardly believe she was one of the mean girls in the movie Mean Girls (2004) before. Definitely she is more charming in her honey tone skin.

This is a movie for everyone but I have a strong feeling it is more for women, a very feminine film about friendship, love and family – from female point of view.

I also spot that since the past decade women play more positive and wise roles in sitcoms and movies. Female are no longer just subordinate or sex objects of the main male characters, instead, some of them independent, intelligent, at the same time they don't lose the characteristic of women, they are sensitive and emotional.

I think all these changes are caused by the improvement of economic independence of women overall, and the increase of participation in the movie/ TV show production – not only in acting, but in directing and production, which make the world more interesting.

The hottest Mid Autumn Festival

In the hottest mid autumn festival holidays, me, Lucas and Linus felt sick, one by one. I didn't know I was the most serious one, until the doctor told me, I was the only one who needed to take antibiotics.

Anyway, I am feeling better now. Linus is as active as usual, Lucas is also getting better after bath tonight.

Even though I didn't feel well, I was happy because I met many beloved one and old friends in last three days, with one more bonus of watching Mamma Mia with Jeffrey on Friday night.

Hope the kids get well soon. Lucas is looking forward for his first overseas trip - Taiwan on this Thursday.

Extremely exhausted

There is always something in good intention but with bad execution.
My relationship with this company is like a problem couple. Both side had taken some efforts to improve the situation but just not a perfect match. It is no points to torture oneself if finally it cannot work out between us over these years.

The only way out is to shape myself to fit in their style, but is it necessary?

The better choice to me is to put a full stop here, and then to take an adventure in another place. It is always a risk to take another path but this is where the fun in life. It is time for me to open up my eyes in the outside world. There are tremendous numbers of choices out there why I should be so stubborn?

It is also a time for me to lift down the burden of “working mom” label. I should not have to on behalf of this group to prove to the world that “working moms are super moms in both workplace and home place”. Why should I care others’ perception that much?

She is correct, I should let go.

Mother And Child

I heard the artist Gustav Klimt from the Discovery Channel  travel & living (yes, again).  I love his painting a lot.  We are going to hang the art print of this painting - Mother and Child in our new home.

We have bought the art print from www.AllPoster.com.

It is very sweet.

How big can it be?

I watched a story about a big family in Discovery channel (again...). Can you imagine a family with 17 children, with the 18th on the way? They are Duggar family.

Do you have interest to know how such a huge family can operate well in good order? The key points are "dedication" and "buddy system" - each children have a buddy to support each others to accomplish goals. The kids are sharing housework and behave decently. The Duggar is really good in teamwork and management.

http://www.duggarfamily.com/

The Diplomatic Corpse

I am reading “The Diplomatic Corpse”. The book name sounds scary but it is not a thriller, instead, it is a female comedy, I think.

It is about Jeremy, the British Ambassador to Vienna, was found dead of heart attack. Her wife, Maggie grieved until she discovered he died in the bed with a beautiful Viennese blonde Mausie.

This was just the tip of an iceberg, from the diaries of her husband (this is extremely dangerous for unfaithful people to keep diaries); she discovered that his mistresses/ lovers were all over in Europe, in each country they stationed before. She decided to take revenge… in total hilarious and creative ways, with the great help of their Hungarian driver Zoltan.

Being a wife of diplomat, Maggie was instructed to behave in certain manner, make certain friends and dress certain outfits. Since she became a widow, ironically she started to feel good and she re-defined herself in her favorite ways. Like what French said, a woman feels good in her own skin!

The revenge journey brought Maggie to many cities – Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Budapest. Maggie uncovered the real face of each place, and also herself. During the worst time in one’s life, she could still find something to amuse herself.

I still have 100 more pages to go. I could not wait to finish it as fast as I can.

I wanna quit

That is enough!!! Thanks her to push me to the edge and to make the decision faster.

Quote of the day

"Beijing has been giving very strong messages to Hong Kong to maintain safety. The pressure from Beijing could be even heavier than from the terrorists." from the Security Chief of Hong Kong, Lee Siu Kwong, commenting about the security issue of Hong Kong during the Olympic game.

Time flies....

This is my nephew Issac when he was one years old. Time flies, now he is six, and I am becoming a mother of two.

Hell and heaven

I felt totally frustrated in my job today. It is extremely difficult to deal with our highness, who thinks the world is running around her. She even disregarded the schedule we agreed with the clients, she wants to move the who timeline earlier. The only reason she will be around clients' country at that period!!! Hassles brought up today and she exaggerated it 10 times by sending everybody loads of emails with one can even fill in a whole page of word file, with words in font size 10.

I just get used to handle shits in these few weeks. Come on, I am getting used to it.

Although people in work piss me off, I feel I am being treasured by my family. The kids are expecting me to come home every night. The two to three hours I spend with my babies before sleep is really the most important time of my daily life. We treasure the quality of our time together.

Tonight, I worked until 8pm, then Jeff and Lucas waited for me in train station and took me for dinner. When Lucas saw me, he ran into me excitingly.

I know I am a lucky person. And, guess what, I will fight back, I am sure I can make change of my working life.

Great weekend with my family

Nothing is more precious than family life. I have just had wonderful time with all handsome cutie pies last weekend.

Last Friday, Jeff and I went to see the movie "Wall-E" after dinner, this was totally out of my expectation!!! What a great movie which delivering environmental protection messages by adorable robots. It is a good sign that environmental protection is becoming a basic education to our next generations.

After the film, we felt extremely hungry and had a second dinner. (We had two dinners at one night). We went into an exquisite restaurant & Bar at Salisbury's Road, TST, it is literally at a road because we sit along the pavement. We had ordered duck breast with caramelized apple, seafood Cesar salad, french fries and Creme Brulee. I also had a glass of strong Champagne cocktail, and Jeff had beer. We did have a fascinating late night supper until 2am!!!!! People passed by surely thought either we starved ourselves the whole day, or we wanted to double of weights.

On Saturday, Linus got running nose. Since he is a home lover and has no great interest to go out, we asked nanny to stay with him at home, then we bought Lucas to have almost all means of public transport ride (Bus, mini bus, MTR, tram, taxi, except airplane).

We had been Causeway Bay, Wanchai and Admiralty. In Wanchai, there was special Italian cuisine supermarket with dining place in the second floor.The interior design is cozy, I love the orange coloured walls. We took a rest there in the middle our exhausted trip. I was holding the sleepy Lucas for almost a hour, thanks god there was an air-conditioned place with nice European food served.

Lucas was totally content that day.

On Sunday, Linus was getting better, we bought the kids out for breakfast, and we went to the Museum. Lucas kept say Mu-se-um in the museum, to show off that he knew this word.

Lucas was highly interested to the exhibits and kept running everywhere. However, Linus seemed not very enjoy and kept vomiting milk everywhere. We wiped up the milk all the time...

In the evening, Jeff and I became chefs, we made delicious dinner.

What a weekend packed with events, I love family life.

Having good life

I have written many things here but just deleted them all. I am just get tired to write about job. I am frustrated to be told this is life, this is work, human being is like this blah blah blah...

I just found myself am having good life. The two babies are sleeping tight and I can lie comfortably on my bed, type silly things in my blog, while listening to music.

No matter how hard life is, grasp any chances to pamper yourself.

*********

I am reading Marie Claire UK edition Vol Aug 08. It is a bit weird to read something about August in July. Why fashion always walk faster than the calendar? It is ironic to see F/W apparel at shop windows while Hong Kong is under extremely hot and unbearable polluted weather in this late July.

Anyway, I bought this magazine because the cover girl is my another favourite actress, Anne Hathaway. I like her a lot since she acted Mia in The Princess Diaries. There is another topic attracted me - Wombs For Rent - an article about rich women paying some Indonesia women's belly to be pregnant for their babies. These women agree to do so because they could receive the amount equivalent 10 years salary. This is hot topic among social scientists.

**********

Music is so nice, it boosts up my mood, in this mid summer...polluted... night.

What...

What is market research? It is nothing?!

I am tired. Physically and emotionally.

A big fat good news

Last Saturday I was working at home till mid night, then I received a good news from another side of the planet. My friend P. Siu is going to tie the knot!!!!! Almost 4 years ago she gave up her job fearlessly and flew to London to study Movement, I am sure she had no idea that God had made a wonderful plan for her - she met her Mr. Right in this city.

Congratulation my dear, you are really something.

Any way out?

Have came back to this village for more than two months, I am still feeling isolated and invisible. All villagers are so nice to me. I still have to handle some eyesores, but I don't think any villages without shits. There is really no problem of this village, and I tried to join more activities here, but I still could not sweep away that unbearable feeling.

I always want to make some change, I want to move out but I am a bit scared to leave this comfort zone, Everytime when I try to walk away, I feel a bit shaky.

I must be crazy.

Lazy because of hard working

I am lazy to write blog recently because I work hard in working hours. How ironic.

I am stuck in this city for quite a long time, I want to have a long leisure trip to somewhere. Last time Discovery Travel & Living (Yes, I am a hopeless addictor of Discover Chanels) was showing all natural landscape in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, I do wish to bring my babies to every corner of the world, to experience the captivation of this planet.

Wish I can make my dream come true... soon.

Never feel shame because you are lucky

Today our highness offered a lecture to all of us. He is a believer of only-those-who-suffer-would-be-succeeded.

I know where he is from, but I could not totally agree with his ideology. It is not necessary to feel guilty because I have not suffered, such as having a difficult childhood or experienced poverty. Besides, having a blissful life does not make a person more vulnerable or less determinate. Being a parent, apart from polishing my kids in harsh way, I think LOVE is the much more effective way to cultivate a pure heart. LOVE give them the confidence and faith to face all challenges. LOVE is different from SPOILED.

Our highness said, if possible, we should send our kids to army to receive training, to let them feel the pains. I will not do this, I will tell them - 'love peace, no war!'

Divine Indulgence

I am writing a report about a luxury brand. I kept mentioning the word 'indulgence'.

What is divine indulgence? I am asking myself. A piece of velvety smooth premium chocolate? Or a 10 carats diamond on a delicate, manicured finger? Or a heavenly relaxing spa in Banyan Tree?

To me, none of these, so what it should be?

A sound sleep in my own messy bed.

But I am sure my boss thinking writing a report itself is a divine indulgence. We also tease that he releases his libido through conducting researches.

I wonder if he will decapitate me if he finds out what we discuss behind him.

But I will tell him this is actually a compliment for him. Hahahahahahahhah!!!

Thank you my sweetheart

Have came back home from the evening focus group. It was already the third one, another three are queueing up in the coming days. Every night, I miss all the three boys (my two babies and Jeff) terribly. However, once I enter the meeting room, I should perform professionally, because this is my responsibility, and I should treasure this learning opportunity.

Typhoon signal eight was hoisted this morning, at least I got half day to compensate my boys by staying with them and watching TV together. Simple is always beautiful.

Big kiss to my beloved hubby, sorry to let you handling the two demanding babies alone at home. I will behave as a gentle sweet little housewife this weekend.

Finding patterns

Jelly has just gone through the notes I have taken in the focus group last night. He teaches me Content Analysis.

It is always good to have learn something new.

Content Analysis is about grouping and categorization, coding and constructing maps of people idea and comment towards the issues.

"This is the essence of qualitative study." Jelly stressed.

I found this is the beauty of analysis. I also love finding patterns in a mess. This is similar to reading a detective story.

Still have five more groups in the coming nights, I miss my babies terribly, and also the big boy at home.

Jan 14- Jan 18 2008

I opened the page of week Jan 14-Jan 18 in my datebook mindlessly. The job lists were long. On Jan 18, I jotted a list of jobs that I should have to accomplish in the coming week.

It was quite a busy period, and I was pretty fragile, with the mixture of tiredness from pregnancy and stress from work.

Luckily (or unluckily, these two words carry multiple meanings in such context), I got rid of all these works since Jan 21 onwards, because Linus suddenly wanted to come out. All those burdens fell onto my teammates' shoulders until early May.

Okay, the feeling is a bit complex when looking at these particular pages again. I can feel I was so unprepared, unaware of the dramatic arrival of this new life.

Thanks god everything and everyone is on the right track again finally.

Girlish make up

Make up is more than simply applying some chemicals on face. It is an art, is like drawing a picture, to hide the imperfections and strengthen the attractive features, and also to toss some radiance on your appearance.

I loved nude style, but recently I am more interested in bringing twist of vibrant colours on face – such as gold, marine blue, orange, turquoise, etc. After all, summer is supposed to be colourful.

This morning I wear thick eye line and applied two coats of mascara. Blink blink.

In another day I bought the latest new product of Benefit – Posie Tint. I had Benetint before, the literally bloody red liquid in a bottle which provides long lasting natural blush and light stain on lips. Posie Tint is also a make up in bottle, but the difference is it gives the most girlish pink on face. I tried it last weekend; I can create a fresh pinkish look by fingertips.

A very user-friendly product, the colour is lovely, but do not expect there is any natural skin loving ingredient in it.

Rain

It had been raining for almost a month, I miss the sunshine.

The peak season is leaving. I feel a bit uneasy to stay in my cubicle without rushing or cultivating anything. I myself am really a pain in my ass, moan in both busy and idle periods.

I cannot ripe away the sense of lack of belongingness. Is it really the time to make some change? I thought I was a person preferring to be stable, but end up I am not, see the changes I have made over the past five years. I made robust, filp-over changing in my life.

Frankly, I do feel tired to the project I had managed for four years.

Four years, I am using four years always as an unit, why??

Rainy days really affect people's mood. Mine includes.

A research of market research

I am having a retrospect of my career development over the past four years.

Jelly treated us lunch today. I mentioned him an aggressive competitor emerged in the market recently. When I told him the company name, he claimed proudly that the guy who built that firm was working for him 15 years ago. He said he was the one who beat that guy up into the shape….. well…..

I said he also ‘beat’ me up in past four years but I had yet formed into the shape. He said because I kept disappearing (to give birth).

Well, he also kept disappearing (to handle his own more money generating business).

Anyway, go back to the first sentence of this entry. I found the interview notes with several directors when we were preparing the presentation during the young executive training. One of the questions was ‘must-haves of a successful market researcher’.

Here below are the criteria collected by our directors:

Be curious and inquisitive
Willing to ask
Hard-work
Knowledge in the whole research progress and client industries.
Read books from time to time
Learn the traditional way of thinking (theory, market norm etc) from books/journal etc, and formulate own recommendation based upon what we have learnt
Merge job with daily lives
More attentive to details and things happening around
Catch up with market information (e.g. read magazines etc)
Customer-focus (but not mean everything say yes)
Enjoy customer-focus
Sound technical skill
Like to think -> have strategic thinking to link up all the dots, which demands on fruitful experience
Positive
Willing to learn
Always remind a big picture
Always ask and learn, this is also the luxury of green peopleAnd the last but not least – be passionate to market research

Well… passion…it will be better if passion can get money returns.

Black Friday

The data just doesn't make sense. Jelly and I thought about the criteria for weighting (actually he instructed me to run the data, based on his designed filter). Now, the actual amendment cannot align with the handcount figures. He got back to me and blamed me why I did the weighting in this way.

Hello? Isn't it you were the one who made the decision?

Parenting is totally exhaustive

I did not write any entries the past week because I was busy at work, and I was even more busy at home. Apart from my full time office work, I have taken a part time job - parenting in evenings and weekends.

Exhaustiveness can create anxiety and frustration. Jeff and I had several little fights over the weekend, always for minor things - such as buying a book or not, some mindless comments, etc.

It is not worth to ruin our relationship simply because we burn out by the two kids. We believe babies can bring us joy and new sparkles in the first place. I kept reminding myself to appreciate instead of blaming this perfect teammate. Yes, we work as a team. It sounds not very romantic, but it is the fact.

To remind ourselves to perceive each other not only a pair of super parents, we had a date on Saturday night - we watched Sex and the City in the Elements. I was the one who drove to the shopping mall from home, with the amber rain signal hosted.

The movie was great and as hilarious as usual. I am envy on the quad - these four 40-50 years old ladies, how can they maintain the friendship after all these years? In Manhattan? I do not hang out with girls a lot. I hang out with boys always - two small and one big..... but I am sure going out with girls is fun!

64

Another year, today is Jun 4.

More and more people try to forget what happened 19 years ago, but I will not.

When the kids grow bigger, I will let them know the history.

This is what education means.

I can't take my eyes off you

That night when I was going back home, the radio was broadcasting the song "I can't take my eyes off you". The melodies were waving in the air, like deep blue seawater.

When reaching the end, "I can't take my eyes off you" gently replaced by "I can't take my mind off you."

What a great sublimation.

This song perfectly matches with the movie Closer, I still remember Alice (her original name is Jane) in the film. She did not even disclose her real name to her lover.

How close can a couple be? And how far can they be?

Extreme Motherhood - The triplet diaries

This is my birthday gift from Samantha, but she said I should lend her after I finish the reading.

It is a real story of Jackie Clune, a stand-up comedian and a regular radio broadcaster, who is a mother of 4 kids - one big sister and a set of triplet, which is, as she said "an accident" to her...

As a new mother of the second new born baby, I can feel her happiness and sadness through the words. I passed through some of her experience, but hers times three of mine. (I could not stop laughing when she felt she was making omelet as one of her eggs split to a pair of identical twin and another egg was not split and form a fraternal triplet). I love all her jokes, no wonder she is an outstanding comedian.

This is my best reading everyday during my milk expressing.

If you are a mother, or you think you will be a mother one day, you will love this book.

Exhaustive work life

This is the third week after I resumed work.

Everyday I felt totally exhausted. Express milk, work, express milk, work, endure those poker faces and bad temper, off work, take care of two kids, express milk, sleep, and then another day, repeat all these things.

I cannot lie to myself, I do not feel very happy at work. However, I am still very lucky to have many colleagues support me, except the one who work closest to me... Well, the world is not perfect.

Lucas was having fever today. Doctor said he did not have any flu or cold, the high temperature may be caused by his allergic nose, which is pretty bizarre.

Linus is as chubby as usual, he always wants to be carried. I held him almost the whole night, except the time I played with Lucas in between.

I felt asleep when feeding Lucas at 10pm, and suddenly woke up because I dropped the bottle off.

Sleep deprivation is the pitiest thing all parents experience. Thanks god we have a nanny, our situation is already slightly better.

Give me a break!!!

I wonder if I am having fluctuating hormonal changes again, I feel totally fed up these few days. A single word, a sigh or a gesture can piss me off.

I would be swung back to the open area again where my research friends 'situated'. I would no longer sit next to Jelly. I am fine with this arrangement and the director of my department said he would fight for the good seat for me. The good seat means a seat at the corner.

Then one of my bosses came up yesterday said he would like me to sit next to the main corridor. I told Jelly the place was not my favourite, he asked me to fight for the seat I loved. I went back to that boss and he said it was fine.

Then this afternoon my FEMALE boss (women are really difficult) sent an email to this male boss and said I didn't make sense because if I tucked in that corner seat would cause inconvenience to Jelly if he wanted to visit me because he had to passed by some many people (technically, just 1 person in front of me if I sit in that corner seat).

Then my boss asked me politely if I could accept the 'offer'.

At that moment, I think it is enough. Just a seat my bosses, no need to send so much energy and time to discuss who should sit where, okay?

But the peak of this story is, Jelly insisted that I should confront, and FORCED me to write an email back to my male boss that Jelly himself is concerned about the confidentiality of the job I handled so he preferred me to sit in the corner seat.

Well, I wrote back to my male boss, with the beginning "I am fine with your arrangement", and there is a usual "but", and continued.

Sigh... just a seat my bosses!!!!!

Sichuan destructive earthquake

The earthquake catastrophe happened on the Buddha's birthday this Monday (May 12). The current death toll reaches 12,000. Many buildings collapsed especially schools which built by relatively poor quality materials. Enormous number of people are still under rubble.

Pictures in the news reveal deep grief in the quake-stricken areas. I feel sad.

Lucas's birthday is approaching. For those who read this blog and was planning to send him a gift, please donate the money to whatever charity for earthquake relief. Lucas is a lucky and he already has owned a lot.

Please bless Sichuan.

Driving is interesting

Driving is fun, if you have good skill and are prudent.

After the 10 hours driving lessons, I have my second practice this morning. The first time was from home to the Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong.

Today, I drove from home to the Science Park in Tolo Harbour, then went up to the Chinese University. After a relaxing breakfast with Jeff there, I drove to Shatin New Town Plaza to search for a swimming suit.

Well, I still encountered the same problem as last year (I also mentioned this in my blog a year ago), whom on earth are those Roxy and Rip Curl bikinis/ two-piece made for? I had tried on so many, but none of them covered my body decently. Finally, I bought a one-piece Arena in Marathon. After all, I was a swimming team member in secondary school, I do need a "professional" swimming wear, which REALLY allows me to stretch my limbs in whatever angle in water.

I, again, was being a driver during the back home journey. To be frank, I was a bit freak out when driving especially when switching line and parking, but I still managed to arrive home in one piece.

Quite a good achievement.

A nice start

Something positive is happening.

I have resumed work since this Monday. I feel excited everyday when I get back to office. I do not think I have experienced this before, even in my previous works.

I am working in this Market Research film for four years. In the past around 1500 days, I did not particularly love my work. I just always claimed that I did not hate this job.

During the BK Era (Before Kid era), I felt extremely desperate to my job, I told Jelly I was totally burnt out and I thought about being a quitter, he did not agree because he saw my enthusiasm there, he believed I had just been deluded by the long working hours and comments from others. I do not think we were in the same page at that moment.

However, I find myself having a little bit interest in it now. When Chrisse offered her internal training about Projective Technique, I just felt, wow, qualitative research was amazing!!

I remember once Tin Tin told me, I might not be the most aggressive staff in the company as I was a mother of two, but I could enjoy the learning process. It was like in a marathon, I might not be a champion, but I chose the pace that I felt comfortable and enjoyable.

Well, it sounds so ideal but very difficult to implement it in reality, however I will try my best to achieve it. Wish I will make a record - to be a mother- of- two researcher in this company.

And... cross fingers that my enthusiasm towards market research would not be spoiled by the stress again...

Macarons

This is my first time to taste macaron. I tried Rose flavour, Jeff picked Citrus.

This French dessert looks cute, is like a little soap, but a bit too sweet to me.

The historical moment - Olympic torch relay in HK

I was 1 of 100,000 people who watched Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong today.

We arrived TST train station at 9:30am, luckily we did not have difficulty to walk to Nathan Road, the route where the third torch-bearer Andy Lau passed by. Although I couldn't see him in front of me as the place was extremely crowded, it was still nice to participate in such a memorable moment. Spectators greeted him ecstatically. The ambiance was filled with joyfulness.

After that we rushed back to train station and went to Shatin. We had spent two hours at Shing Mum River bank, before the flame appeared on the dragon boat. The 'runner' of this route was Sze Hang-yu, athlete (aquatics), she looked a bit shy, but totally delighted and honoured, was holding the torch tight and waving the cheering crowd along two sides.

At that moment, I just realized that Shatin was so beautiful, Hong Kong was so beautiful.

The mission of Olympic Game is "building a peaceful and better world", hope we can achieve this by embracing its core spirits of "friendship, solidarity and fair play".

Olympic Game, is belonged to everyone in this planet.

The photo of Sze Hang Yu with her Olympic torch is provided by the courtesy of Jeffrey Yuen

笑談補鐘趣事

承上篇網誌所說，我請了師父替我重操駕駛技術。

當我到駕駛中心報名時，我問那位姐姐我上堂時用的那架車是甚麼牌子。

「『吖郭』嚟架，細細架幾好揸。」她友善地回答。

我以為她說ACCORD，見到架車後先知道是ECHO...

******

上第一課，當我緊張地駛過黃格時，老師不停講「全，全，全呀！」

「全咩呀？」我驚問。

「全到嗰度！」師父說。

啊！原來是「前！」

Driving lessons

This is what I planned for quite some time, but just have time to take action recently.

I am talking about driving lessons. Actually I got my driving license in 2003 but I seldom drive in these five years. My dad said it was a frozen license.

Every time when I sit on the driver seat, I just feel dreadful. Jeff always tries to guide me when should do what, but end up we fight. I blame him for giving me the wrong direction, he complains me on not responding his instruction immediately.

Finally I make a wise decision, to have driving lessons with a professional instructor.

I have had 6 lessons in these two weeks. Finally I drive on highways next to those giant lorries, which I dared not to do 2 weeks ago.

My instructor told me he got his instructor license in 1959... wow, what an experience teacher. He is a little old gentleman, but his response, the clarity of his eyes are much better than young people.

4 more lessons ahead, will have a night class on next Monday.

High maintenance

5 more days then I will turn into 31. Well, it is not that overwhelming comparing to from 29 to 30.

I admit that I am a high maintenance girl. I "invest" a lot in skincare and strictly follow many beauty rituals - scrubbing, toning, deep cleansing, massaging, moisturising, good dieting, etc. My philosophy is it is wiser to spend your money on something that good for your skin than on a brand handbag that spend almost your one month salary. Trust me, most men have no idea whether you are carrying a B.V. bag or L.V. monogram bag.

I do not mean we beautify ourselves for the sake of men's attention. I just think radiant skin is much more attractive than a $18,000 bag with some logos on it.

Another area I "invest" a lot is books. Many years ago I read an article about beautiful women. The author thought many college girls were no longer pretty once they graduated, because they didn't read anymore after they left schools, they were lack of substance in their soul.

Well, I think there are still many girls who do not read but manage to be drop dead gorgeous, but it is not bad to read, I am sure a wise brain can enhance one's beauty, which could not create even by the best liquid foundation in the world.

That's why I read a lot.... I am really shallow....

Copper wire head

I feel so happy to receive lots of compliments of my new straight long hair style. The fringe on the forehead makes me look younger and more chic.

I do think we should reward the Nobel prize to the inventor of hair straightening technique. I know that hair under a 200 degree Celsius hair clipper will go lifeless totally. But guess what? This is what people with rebellious hair like mine want!!!!!

I am sure all my secondary schoolmates remember my 'copper wire head'. I practised swimming 3-4 times a week in those years, the chlorine water bleached and hurt my already uncontrollable hair seriously, you could tell how awful my hair became. Everyday, I could just combed back all my 'copper wire' into a pony-tail.

Actually I would love to try other hair styles, such as bob head with medium length, phone-cord-like curly hair etc, but I don't think I can handle these well... Let see if I will have gut one day and give a shot!!

Mackie Kitchen

Finally I could make to go there, and a bonus was with Doish along.

The restaurant is stylish, homey and cozy, I love the orange walls a lot. That 'book exchange corner' is surprisingly small, but I could still find a book I was interested in, at the same time, I left three chick lit novels on the shelf, they are "The Other Side of the Story", "The Nanny's Diary", and "Everyone Worth Knowing".

After the nice lunch there, we went to the Central to see loads of delicate shops in Soho, and H&M. Frankly, this is the first time I shopped in Hong Kong H&M, I could not believe you could find some great bargain apparel with nice design there. I bought a polka dot headband and a little summer dress.

A nice afternoon!!

Book crossing

I am a book lover. If Jeff and I have our own flat one day, we wish to have a library, or at least a 'reading corner' - many bookshelves stand against the wall, a comfortable armchair, a classic reading light, a floral pattern tea set, some crayons and paper.....

Every time when I duck into a bookshop, I would feel uneasy not to buy any books, so you can imagine how many books in my house.

I always believe it is a waste if a book can be read by one person. For a fantastic book, it is deserved to travel across different people, to influence and inspire each individual. www.bookcrossing.com totally matches my wish. It is a worldwide organization, and aims to assist books crossing around the world. Its members can put a provided sticker with words such as "FREE BOOK! LOOK INSIDE!" or "I'M NOT LOST - PLEASE READ ME! DETAILS INSIDE!" on the book, and place it in the public area, the sticker could tell others it is a free book and they are welcome to bring it back home. The second reader can also release it once he/she finish, and then pass it on.

This is what book crossing means.

I have joined the group but I wonder if it can work in Hong Kong, given that people tend not to take anything on the ground except cash.

Anyway, I found one place in Hong Kong that providing a platform for book crossing - Mackie Kitchenhttp://kitchen.mackie.hk/venue-c.htm. I called the place, the girl told me actually there is just a little library with some books people left there, if I wish to, I could bring my book to place there and exchange one from the shelves....

Well, sounds not very impressive, but I wish to go anyway. I was planning to go in last few days but Lucas stuck to me like a magnet... I could hardly leave him behind...

Paper Doll

Girls from all generations love dressing dolls. This is why paper doll appears as one of the most popular toys. I do believe it enlightens our fashion sense since childhood.

My mom told me when she was a girl, most people are in poverty level. As there was no single extra penny for buying toys, girls recycled fabrics and strands to make their dolls. It is like what our local designer Prudence, the founder of Chocolate Rain did when she was young.

Recently, I learnt from an magazine about www.stardoll.com. It is a fascinating on-line paper doll game. Many Hollywood actors and actresses paper dolls are available, you can even create your unique one. You can dress them up with glamorous clothes from various luxurious brands.

I could find my favourite Natalie Portman and Jessica Alba on the list. Our local representative is Maggie Cheung. Clothes and accessories for stardolls are awesome - casual wear, evening gowns, hot pants, boots, blink blink jewelleries, all these make me exciting.

It's free except you want to buy some latest collections of clothes or makeup for your stardolls.

夜蒲被騙記

話說昨晚去諾士佛台跟中學好友相聚及吃晚餐，飯後謝菲來接我並去酒吧喝點東西。

我們選擇了那間表面上是兩層的酒吧，我以前去過，環境不俗，好像叫做Mekong。但這次門前greeter問我有沒有指定去那一層及會否吸煙，我說沒有及不會，她指示我上了樓上一間叫Q club的酒吧，她說那兒靜一點。

老實說，我己經很久很久沒有夜蒲，完全不暸解這種「集團式經營」。

Q Club很細，裝修一般但看得出花過心思。雖然那兒跟我原本想去的地鋪完全不同，但沒所謂吧。我不喝酒，所以點了Virgin Daiqiri，謝菲點了Tequila Sunrise。

飲品到後，我喝了數口，我知道那杯Daiqiri並不是Virgin，是有酒的，這時謝菲也說他邵那杯Tequila Sunrise出奇的「勁」。

我們叫了waitress來，但她堅稱我那杯是mocktail。

我沒有跟她爭抝，我很清楚，就算她們發現自己出錯也不會認。

而短短兩分鐘內，我體內酒精散出來，滿面通紅。waitress從遠處偷看我，再走到bartender跟前檢查桌上瓶瓶罐罐，之後再不敢行過來。

我們估計，他們可能將水和一種透明的酒搞錯了。謝菲喝了他那杯數口，也覺得酒精濃度出奇高。我們未喝完那兩杯混賬的飲品便走了，要在街上行30分鐘謝菲才敢駕車回家。

我們如斯有教養的人當然不會大吵大嚷地跟他們爭論，word of mouth己是懲罰他們最好的方法。我會online及offline地跟別人分享這奇特的經歷。

Mickey Mouse's Smile II

Oh actually I was going to tell you a joke about Mickey Mouse's Smile when I was writing my last entry.

The day after we had been the Disneyland, my nephew Isaac suddenly said to me, 'You know what? Mickey Mouse is not real'.

I replied, 'In what sense?'

'There is no a Mickey Mouse in the world, it is just a person in that costume.' he explained.

I opened my mouth, could not really find a word, I thought he thought Mickey Mouse was real... Well, he is not a kid who believes fairies or Santa Claus anymore.

'How could you figure it out?' I asked.

He said 'Because Mickey Mouse's mouth cannot close up...'

Mickey Mouse's Smile

We spent two days in the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on April 3-4. Almost everyone in my whole BIG family joined this 'magical journey', except Linus, he is just too small.

The buffet dinner in the first night was amazing. The four Disneyland characters were our hosts - Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy. They kept us busy by tickling the kids, taking pictures with us and wandering around. When one of my nephews asked me how come Donald Duck was not there, I explained to him because he didn't work here, he worked in the amusement park.

Then Jeff commented I was politically incorrect because I said Donald Duck WORKED there... it was supposed a wonderland.

Issac, my another nephew, also a junk food monster, was stunned by the chocolate fountain, ice-cream machine and unlimited supply of seaweed... he simply filled his stomach by these throughout the dinner.

We stayed that night in the Victoria Hotel. It was splendid, glamorous and glittery. You could see many beautiful Chinese type oraments perfectly blended into this castle-like hotel. I am not a fan of Disney but I also felt it is impressive, surely I would love to come again.

We went to the park in the next day. Lucas loved the place and he played Merry-go around, the flying Dumbo and the world of Winnie the Pooh with us. A new discovery was we did not need to queue up for the Space Mountain as we played as single rider. Once we passed through the corridor we could get into a cart with a stranger. A lady shared the cart with me screamed a lot, so funny.

When we were driving back home, I was so content. I felt my family was very affluent in all senses, I didn't only mean it in economic term. We are so lucky to have such a complete family. Although I am very naughty and do not always enjoy family gatherings, I totally appreciate my mom-in-law's great effort of pulling all of us together. I hope our next generation will treasure this.

Facial treatment

Finally I have had a facial treatment this morning.

It is good to have several hours to pamper myself.

It is also good to spend much time to commute, if you are not in rush and not in the rush hour.

Because you can read quietly with no little boys screaming around you or closing your book.

I am still reading A spot of bother... Yes, I take so much time to read it, the babies takes turn to stop me reading book. Anyway, it is really fascinating, I love books about insane people!!

Orange juice

I was making orange juice for the kids and someone criticized me wasting the fruit because each orange costs $5.

DAMN..................

Wait...Maybe he thought making orange juice would depreciate an orange and reduce its value. Wow, he is an extraordinary economist!!!

How about I suggest him to write an article called 'From orange to orange juice'?

Alone

I went out jogging for half an hour.

The air was moist and crispy cool. I think I was walking in a thick layer of fog, a cloud.

My lips could feel the tiny water droplets lingering in the atmosphere.

The feeling was really relaxing. I enjoy being alone, without any portable music gadget, just get a bit closer to the surroundings, to hear how wind blows, trees whisper.

When I started sweating a little bit, I felt genuinely happy, not because I was losing weight, but because I realized I was a big idiot.

Why the hell I thought about terminating my maternity leave suddenly? Why on earth I cared so much about my bosses said?

Should I end up to stay my whole life in a firm? No, so why don't I enjoy every minute I work in this company?

Not to care about how people expect you and how you expect yourself... Just ENJOY!

Because, I know I would not spend my whole life there. It doesn't mean this company is bad. It is just like one day you realize the person is not your ideal lover, you break up with him, but it does not mean either of you are bad person.

I feel very happy. If actually I am still being trapped in a mood swing, surely I am swinging up. Hope I would back to the ground, if cannot still at the top.