the protest must go on...

people here are still protesting against the Lehman Bros minibonds incident back in 2008. 执著 vs. 固执??i only know it's a waste of time and tax payers' money! and of course i'm concerned since i pay HK tax too! bleah...

simple things that make me happy #4

the familiar sights and sounds of the Singapore office.

let the polls begin!

went to cast my vote in true blue Singaporean style - in shorts and slippers and after a hearty meal in the busy hawker centre..

election fever

82 out of the 87 seats in parliament will be contested this time - which means for the first time most eligible singaporean voters will get to exercise their right! it is also the biggest reason why there seem to be more involvement from the ground and this can be seen from the endless facebook status updates and wall posts coming from all my singaporean friends.

hmm... so, now with the parliament dissolved.. and assuming if the younger Lee loses his AMK GRC to the opposition - does it mean that he can no longer continue being the prime minister of singapore?? wow... i think we can expect to see the older Lee foaming in his mouth if this ever happens!.. interesting...

the PAP candidate in my GRC is MBT and i wish him all the best.

PAP vs WP

PAP: the worker's party said they want to be co-drivers, but they are co-drivers who are trying to tussle for the steering wheel and this is very dangerous...

WP: i think the PAP forgot that we are in the same vehicle, if we crash, we will die together! the co-driver is there to give the driver a slap when they drive off-course or if they are not doing a good job driving. if they are performing well, then the co-driver's job is to keep talking to the driver in case they fall asleep!

i love WP!

hung hom not hong hum!

so i was at the legendary HK hung hom indoor stadium where all singers aspire to have their own concert there... this is for Jackie Cheung's half a century concert. boy, this man can sing!! there's a reason why some people can just 毅力不倒..would never have gone for this concert if not for the insistence of 'the-men-don't-get-it' :)

first blood donation in HK

saw a mobile blood donation drive advertisement in the elevator leading up to the BB office. i lost count of the number of times i've donated but this is certainly my first in HK.

when they realise i wasn't native to HK they kept asking if i was pure chinese.. "are you chinese? are both your mum and dad chinese? are all your grandparents 100% chinese? ... seriously i don't understand how any of these affects the quality of my blood.

one thing which made me a little uncomfortable - they do not use gloves. the person who took my blood sample did not have her gloves on, and the same for the nurse who was helping me throughout the entire blood donation process. i was not too surprised though since i am hardly ever impressed with the hygiene standards of this country. afterall it's the birthplace of SARS, H1N1 and all the scary infectious diseases in asia.

in any case, still a good experience and i hope to give back more to the society of HK whilst i'm here.

damn one kind

been following the news about the upcoming general elections back home. just to show you how "damn one kind" our govt is, first they declared polling day to be a national holiday, then they made may 7th the polling day... except that may 7th is also a saturday which hardly anyone works anyway?!

next they give out cash to singaporeans and everyone would have the money credited into their bank accounts by may 1st... which gives people enough time to withdraw the cash, spend it on some fancy gadget, feel good about it then go to the polls few days after to make the 'right decision'.

seriously, why is it that we only hear about cash bonuses once every 5 years? the intention is obvious: to buy votes.

i think they must be the only govt that can get away with this, blatantly! it's crazy.

team night out in Aqua

had drinks at Aqua in tsim sha tsui to celebrate the end of Q1. as usual we're missing a few team members but the drinks must go on, heh...it was followed by dinner in hutong at 730pm - great improvement from the first team dinner where the angmoh boss booked for 9pm!!my attempt to kill the angmoh boss ---> FAIL.

the question is: HOW?

i finally found the answer i've been wanting to know...though obviously disappointed at what i saw... i feel i should make use of this information to turn things around.

hah.. the question is: HOW? sigh.

seriously.. the more i think about it the more upset i get... !!! it's not even funny.

on a side note though, i'm really impressed with my criminal thinking cap! haha!

simple things that make me happy #3

the new washer after being deprived for the past 8 months.

not say i want to say...

so i was watching the debate between the ruling party and representatives from the four opposition parties on channelnewsasia.. NOT SAY I WANT TO SAY...but i still have to say... sadly the opposition candidates were absolutely disappointing.

one was an incoherent aunty who cares about the privatisation of wet markets (so "macro"), one was an idealistic young lad who also happens to be the assistant webmaster of his party(??), other dude was clueless half the time and spacing out. the indian guy was slightly better except that he also shared something in common with the rest - the lack of substance...

what can i say? i cannot agree more by saying our gahmen is doing a great job - yet at the same time i would like to see good quality opposition candidates who can exist as a check and balance. sadly but surely, oppositions still have a long way to go if they wish to contest.

ms. sylvia lim is the ONLY candidate from the opposition camp who is a worthy opponent of the ruling party. i wish more of such people can step up and form an alternative voice to the government of Singapore.

cycled

enjoying my one last ride in Singapore... i missed being out in the sun and all the outdoor activities soo much, i was willing to wake up at 7am to do this. am glad that i have a friend who was as willing to wake to do this together :)

三菜一汤

nothing beats a home cooked meal by the mum. all the freshness, nutrients, love, colours and tastes in one meal...served on a table top laid with newspapers - the old fashioned way.

其实我们的烦恼都是一样的

went to Shenzhen yesterday for a massage...the ladies who were serving us decided they were too bored and started bitching about work to each other.

masseuse A: it's so busy here everyday! we work such long hours but grossly underpaid!

masseuse B: the management has gone crazy, staff morale is really low and turnover rate is so high bla bla...

(now, this sounds REALLY familiar haha!)

masseuse A: i ask myself everyday...why am i still here? should i be out there trying something new? sigh...

masseuse B: (talking to me) hey so what do you do for a living? i envy people like you.. you are educated, you got the money and the time to enjoy life...

me: you know.. actually i also ask myself the same questions as you everyday: what am i still doing here? should i be out there trying something new?"...

me: see, actually all our troubles are the same...

LOL

and they said...

curiousity killed the cat.

i know i shouldn't have done it.
but i'm REALLLLLY dying to know!!!!

shit.

i hope i don't get killed.
haha.

anyways, there might not be a chance after tonight.

partial lollis reunion

it was unfortunate that we did not manage to get a FULL turnout of the "lollipops gang" in HK. would have been interesting if all of them could come!
anyways... there were only two things i remember from their trip 1) EAT.. 2) BITCH!! woah.. the bitching about work went on and on and on... on the plane (according to HY) on the bus, on the ding ding (tram), on the ferry, in the restaurants, in H&Ms (yes we obviously went to more than one H&M), in MY HOUSE!
haha.

for 3 nights in a row the bitching went on till 4am in the morning. i fell asleep listening to the gossips, i'm not even kidding. lesson learnt: never put more than 3 gossip girls in one room.

zhuhai reloaded

the angmoh boss decided it might just be a good idea to make a trip down to Zhuhai as a team. though not the entire team was up to it, but 5 out of 9 members was still quite a good turnout no?the ferry ride from HK to Zhuhai was just 1 hour 10 mins, we went straight to the shopping area after clearing customs. after purchasing all the pirated DVDs we needed something to eat. what better place to eat then the seafood street?! love the variety of live seafood...we felt like we had a bodyguard throughout the trip with SS the muscle man standing around the girls hehwe ended the trip with a massage at Harbour View World which was cheap and good. 1 hour massage at 60 RMB only. took advantage of the angmoh boss' inability to understand chinese - i got her masseur to manipulate her into different acrobatic positions while i took pictures of her. heh!

hk office spring dinner

i was told it is the very first time an office wide dinner was organised to conclude the CNY. we were supposed to turn up in any 'asian cultural' costume. i really wanted a south east asian theme but there was no way i could get anything in HK.

the singaporean girls pretty much all turned up on either a malay or nyonya kebaya.picked up the phone and called the mum - she went straight to the shops and got me the perfect nyonya kebaya! called DP who kindly picked up the kebaya from the mum and DHL-ed to me in HK. everything was settled in 2 days! - that's what i call teamwork heh!the angmoh boss bought herself a lovely cheongsam from Shangai Tang - good job!sales ended on a high note last year hence all these budget for such activities.. let's hope the good times will last!

asian cities gold cup 2011

went to watch this competition over the weekend! feels strange now that i actually live here. used to compete in this stadium in kowloon for many years! wonderful memories of this place.bumped into my opponent from 2004 and she's still competing! it's awesome. asked if she can bring me to the national team training she said YES! haha let's see how it goes :)ironically, i don't know the players from Singapore anymore except for just two of them. one very sweet pair of sisters - i've always liked them :)

same same but different II

so there were 8 of us in the room...
4 clients vs 4 BB representatives...

everyone who had to speak, spoke...
i listened to what each and everyone had to say...
i listened very carefully...

and i concluded that...

大家明明都是大学生...

但是...读过 Oxford 的真是不一样!!

all i can say is...i'm impressed.

the day i googled "tooth nightmare"

i was woken up by a terrible, terrible nightmare this morning. the images were sooo vivid and it's one of the very rare occasions where i actually remembered the dream after i woke up! i dreamt that someone was pulling out my tooth one by one and before i knew it, i was spitting out all my teeth!!

that's when i woke up.

:(

scary.

then someone suggested that i try to find out what the dream MEANT via google. so i did.

even scarier.

CNY 2011

CNY starts with... spring cleaning the house! love how we have patches of red everywhere.. heh...then it's all about spending time with family..C has grown up so much since the last time i saw her!yup and of course ah siao is also part of the family!

homecoming

i'm sitting in a plane which just wouldn't take off... if i have a pair of wings to fly back now, i would! i've never felt so eager to be back home - it's a peculiar feeling.

four words to describe exactly how i feel now...

归心似箭

i really want to go home.

...interesting!

wow... everyone in the HK office was given a box of assorted 'Kee Wah' cookies and a bottle of red wine for the upcoming CNY!

losing steam...

that's how i felt since December...initially shrugged it off as the "holiday mood"... then i blamed it on the winter "it's cold, i'm lethargic and that's normal". but what if this goes on even after winter's gone?? what else can i blame it on then?

i need to find a solution... but first - find the problem. **your search returned '0' results**..

:(

zhuhai - the meal we've all been waiting for

S & D crashed at my place for 2 nights and we headed out to Zhuhai for a eat-shop-eat-massage-eat trip. oh man, we seriously ate like we never ate before! in D's exact words "this is the meal i've been dreaming about you know? i really miss this restaurant!!" - damn kuazhang.

went to the famous "Seafood Street" where you first pick a restaurant then the waitress will bring you out to purchase your fresh seafood from the stall owners. you pay the vendors for the raw materials and the restaurants earn through a service charge imposed on every dish.seriously, it's hard not to think porn when looking at this!!!seafood was absolutely fresh and realllly cheap. baby abalones going at RMB5 each, fresh scallops at RMB4, fresh oysters at RMB6.. spent about SGD150 for tne entire meal which would easily cost SGD 350 in Singapore.

emo nemo...

"you totally epitomize the typical Singaporean!! when difficult, sian. when you pick things up, then become bored. i think you emo cos of the weather la.. and don't listen to the chinese songs... the 蝴蝶 song will make things worse!!"

蝴蝶眨几次眼睛...才学会飞行...

are you compliant enough??

so i sat through this bank compliance demo for our client. really an eye opener - compliance team seems to have 101 ways to search through messages and instant chats, sniffing out the 'non-compliant' conversations. even keywords such as "lai si" (cantonese word for red packets) were used to spot 'potential bribery'.

haha being such a NON compliant employee...who talks sh!t everyday.. me and the BB friends have come up with 101 ways to beat the system!!

if we tok sibeh singlsh hw they can understand our england? unless their system sibeh localized...

use alternative words: I HEAD my job and i want to QWEET!

everthing also must hv spewlling mistaekes...

thetricktoavoidcomplianceistoleavenospacesinbetween

ei ther tha t o r lea v e alo t of sp a ces in betw een

orrr spellll withh mooore lettttters?...and nuMb3rz

ni-ye-keyi-yong-hanyupinyin!

CONCLUSION:
system 是死的，人是活的!..
DO NOT LET ANYTHING STOP YOU FROM B!TCHING!! haha~

engine haven't start

i'm feeling this HUUUGEE inertia to start working....
totally still in holiday mood... and i just wanna chilllll!!!

but... cannot.
cos the angmoh boss already very on the ball.

urgh.

2011 is here...

went to this angmoh house party for the new year countdown... it's my first angmoh house party. i realise for such parties, you do not have to know everyone, in fact you do not have to know anyone... ACTUALLY, you do not even have to know the host!!

strange.

just walk through the door... and drink. it's alllll about... drinking.

sian.

still.. i had fun. cos i knew some.. bodies. the house was pretty, view was awesome, host was handsome. haha.

year end wrap

just when i thought 2010 was yet another year for me, the blog archives hinted otherwise - it was indeed quite an eventful year!

of my many holiday trips...
the BV gang kept to the ritual of one trip a year and this time it was Bangkok. no fancy destination - only feelin of being completely at ease with the gang. the poly gang finally got on a trip together to Penang after being friends for 12 years! near disaster trip for me, nonetheless, we made it there and back and somewhat remained as friends... also made it to Hong Kong, Phuket and Bali with the BB friends.

of my many friends...
facebook reunited me with my long lost childhood bestie AN - it was 16 years since i last saw her. 2010 also saw the marriage of G and J, who have been dating since we were 17. i'm still coming to terms with IV's motherhood as i was more unprepared of her becoming a mother than... herself. heh.

of my new experiences
first time i ever got sent on a business trip. went up to KL a couple.. had so much to eat, so much to talk with G and even had slept in KL westin's presidential suite! it was SICK! ... first time ever watching a TV recording - what made it really special was that the performers on stage were actually my friends! also the first time not recognizing it was orchard road i just saw on TV...

of my career...
my relocation offer to Hong Kong was undoubtedly the most significant event of 'em all this year. the decision making process was a journey of self-discovery in itself. i now spend time on things i never used to worry about... house hunting, going through immigration procedures, pay for utilities, tax planning and the list goes on...

career took a sharp turn after i changed role. all i can say when i look back at where i was from here is: i'm so glad i hadn't given up though so many times i had wanted to.

let's all toast in the New Year and here's wishing everyone and myself, NOTHING BUT THE BEST.

managing expectations

you've got to manage my expectations
i've got to manage your expectations
and i also need to manage MY own expectations...

it's all about... managing expectations.

the mum and the dad in HK

well we did all the must-do's and i'm glad the parents enjoyed their stay with me in my tiny apartment. the 6 degree weather the day they arrived kindof took them by surprise...soo glad i finally had the chance to bring the mum to Tai-O...everytime i visit this fishing village i wished that the mum was there with me to help pick and choose those gorgeous looking dried seafood AND bargain with the shop keepers! this time we finally did :)it's their first time visiting Macau.. and i've never really toured Macau properly so it was really good for all of us.

birds have ears

if there is one thing i learnt about birds after visitiing the HK wetland park, it is - BIRDS HAVE EARS ...and THEY CAN HEAR

blood vows in k.town

the very very tiny house - so tiny that S had to be OUTSIDE the house in order to like capture the entire living room.. heh

eco facility painting

this is the second community project i did with Ark Eden, the first one being International Costal Cleanup Day.

this time we helped to restore the walls of two dilapidated buildings they've recently acquired.we had to paint the walls with eco friendly paint after scrubbing them clean.i really like Ark Eden for their eco conservation efforts. simple acts like scraping that last bit of the paint that were on the paint brushes onto the walls...so that "the more paint there is on the wall means the less paint flowing into the rivers when we wash the paint brushes"...

really made me feel that they are truly dedicated to saving the environment and it's amazing i get the chance to do all these good deeds through BB.

"this" team

team dinner once more! i love hanging out with "this" team...had thai food for dinner at SOHO and the plan was to head back to the angmoh boss' place for more drinks after.popped a champagne...more drinks, great time, great apartment.the awesome boss - i suspect my hk relocation experience was artificially enhanced because of her?!! hmm....whatever it is - enjoy while it last!!