kelong

suddenly, i am an "all round achiever".. hah.. ironies of life...

10 years down the road..

it has been exactly 10 years since we all graduated from TP!! although i wished for a better turnout it was still a very successful gathering! finally we did something different and toasted our successes over glasses of wine. very thoughtful of NN to bring with her the class roster from 10 years ago, which was full of warning letters from the school to our classmates btw!to see everyone 在各自的领域里打拼.. 我感触良多.. i guess jack neo's message in his movie 'I Not Stupid' was spot on - 我们大家都是有用的人.. alot of times it really is not all about how well you can study and the grades you got.. it is all about the attitude you have in life.

my friends, let us keep fighting to be better everyday..

是痛的 lor

my super ter kah has just gotten worse i think.. and i am not doing anything about it!! sucks to be injured.. it is my first injury since hmm, let me think... 2003!! my (almost) 30 year old leg does not like this.. SULK.

i want to DIE(t)

one of my new year's resolution is to "stop when i am full".. but Suph seems to think i should take it one level higher - "stop when i am not hungry.." walau.. win liao..

i also participated in R's "Say No to CNY goodies" movement this year. so far so good.. i was only naughty once - snitching on some of the bak guas at home but apart from that i haven't laid my hands on on a single all time favourites like: love letters, kueh bulohs and hae bee hiams!!

keep it up PQ!

spring cleaning 2012

ah siao 也免不了 "大扫除" 的命运!

it's all about choices

i was waiting to pay for my groceries at Wellcome this afternoon and there were two girls in front of me.. first one was an angmoh who was really fat so let us call her.. the 'American' :p and a Chinese girl who was quite slim.

the 'American' had in her basket: chips, cheese, sodas, ice cream and bacon.. while the Chinese girl had some veg, eggs and soy milk..

i looked at both of them and realised.. life is really all about choices. fat girl got to where she is today with the choices she makes everyday..

there's a reason how i got to where i am today as well and the reason is RICE haha..

i need to quit being fat.

the building i spend my 8 to 6 in..

ushering in 2012

so the theme that night was supposed to be 'nautical' though it almost turned out to be a 'jailbird' party when everyone came in horizontal stripes.. thank god we had Lian to save the day with her self made sailor's hat and the life bouy she brought as a prop..as usual, everyone was talking at the top of their lungs even though we were right in front of each other..you know it is a really good party when you had loads of fun without the need for lots of alcohol..

and they say: the pet takes after its owner

seriously, can someone give me an explanation??.. the mum insists she has not been over feeding him..i guess the only excuse i can think of is that as ah siao grows older his metabolism starts slowing down and takes longer to burn off the same amount of food.. OR maybe it is simply because he finished the packet of Lim Chee Guan bak gua i carelessly left unsealed on the coffee table last night..

this is not a cat, it is a pillow with four legs..

the best part is that everyone is telling me how he really resembles its owner, ie: LIMPEI .. THANKS!

christmas in the tropics

all i remember was: chuck, fuck and marry.. go figure!seafood risotto@The Rocks, The Sail, Marina Bay Singapore

最近是 suay 到...

first, the freakin toilet bowl decided not to refill itself with water. had to get the plumber to fix it and i totally felt scammed after that because he charged me 300 HKD without replacing ANYTHING... hate to be taken advantage of just because i sound like someone who was obviously not from HK.

then clumsy me had to drop the freakin house key into the elevator shaft!! ran a few streets down my place to get the locksmith to come and break the lock. what amazed me the most though, was that the locksmith did not even bother to take down my HK ID card, phone number or conduct any kind of verification before breaking the lock!! he only said to me two things: "which door?"... then 10 mins later "800 HKD.."

win liao.

that's 1100 HKD down the drain just like that.. MY LIFE SUCKS!!

the incredibowls

tonight we had a bowling competiton at HK Bowling City for the people in BB. we had 22 lanes booked out with more than 130 people participating! it was a great night for me because not only i was the organiser, i was also the winner of the female individual champion! (haha never kelong ok?) in fact my total pinfall was more than the male champion anyway :p...

this is my team and we named ourselves 'the incredibowls' heh... not bad as we managed to score 2nd place in team overall pinfall.

who is the richest man in HK?

HE is the richest man in Hong Kong!

til death do us apart..

was sitting in front of the computer at work today and blood just started flowing out of my nose like a running tap without warning! fortunately i was quick enough to not let the blood get on to my shirt haha if not i would have looked like a murderer with blood stained clothes! hai.. 这年头啊， 真的是可以死， 不可以病! business as usual after running to the toilet to clear up the mess..

mondays

am chilling by the pool after work and thinks all monday nights should be like this...

simple things that make me happy #6

7 dollars (SGD), 7 minutes to work.

looking for home outside of home..

was really craving for a taste of home and decided to see if i can replicate those familiar flavours in the foreign land - fried carrot cake with a generous dose of chai poh..wonton noodles chilli-ketchup style..believe it or not, i went on youtube and literally typed "how to cook tau suan" and followed the videos!! that's the power of internet!!

mui wo and the cows

the mum and the dad were in HK again for a visit. was stressing out over their coming to HK because we pretty much did everything that needs to be done as a tourist in HK last year! thank god it turned out ok, i brought them to all my favourite restaurants and i had a great time paying for all their meals because it makes me really happy seeing them enjoy their food.

this time we decided to be adventurous and went to mui wo for a day of cycling around. we were met with a group of cows unexpectedly which was really great!!everything went on well that day except that the mum fell into a drain while cycling hahaha!!!

milo 兵

it is almost customary now that every BB visitor from the Singapore office will have to sneak me a handful of milo sachets from the pantry...it is amazing how i have never ran out of milo sachets despite moving here more than 1 year ago!! i have these two loyal milo 'warriors' to thank hah!and to those who wonder why... it's because i do not drink ovaltine and the milo they sell here in HK are the 'Australian Formula' type which i hate!

i need more nostril hair!!

seriously, those dust would have been in my lungs if not for this extra filter over the aircon.. 3M aircon filter 是好的！ it's times like these i wish i had more nostril hair to filter out the evil polluted air.. haha!

W'TT'F Singapore?!...

i made my way to the consulate-general of Singapore to cast my first and very likely last overseas vote of my life..i was with two other Singaporeans and all three of us gave our votes to TCB. though we know votes from overseas electors are most likely not to have an impact on the result, we were still excited to exercise our rights as citizens of Singapore..

it was a super anti-climatic moment when the results were finally announced at 4am because there were so much news of TCB leading nationwide in the early part of the counting process. much to our disappointment, TCB lost by a mere 0.3% margin after a recount of votes. this was definitely not the kind of news we want to hear after staying up all night...

personally i really disliked TT... and was very disappointed at the results. well, conspiracy or not, Singaporeans have spoken and we just have to live with the consequences...

Please Respect Curry (PRC) day..

cooked and shared a pot of curry as promised.. invited NJ and HW to enjoy it with me at my place. i guess the biggest winner today from the online protest must be the indian man selling curry paste in the market in Singapore heh..also tried making sago pudding with gula melaka and coconut cream for desserts - it is the closest i can get to chendol to be honest. was glad that it turned out quite well!!

climb..

here i am, standing in front of the red bar in IFC..
i look up, and see this mega financial center towering over my head..in my hand, i hold a glass of mojito..
beside me, is the man rumoured to be next no. 1 man in BB HK..

majulah!

am feeling damn patriotic today!! cannot wait to rush home to the marching in ceremony of the NDP 2011..

50%

08.08 is the DAY i relocated to HK exactly one year ago... 50% of my two year relocation 'bond' is now completed... awesome!

am i dying to go back to Singapore? ... hmm.. not really. am i totally enjoying myself here in HK? hmm... not really too?!

haha we'll see. in any case, happy anniversary to me! and i'm looking forward to the next 08.08...

one down.. two more to go?

so my one year HK employment visa is expiring and it got renewed for another two years.. hmm is that a sign for me to stay until 2013??

same skyline, different meaning

am on board the star ferry from TST back to central. looking at these buildings after having lived here for a year now and actually knowing what goes on in each of them... the banks.. my clients.. the amount of money being transacted each day.. it just gives me a complete new meaning vs the time when i was just a visitor.

ahh.. HK.. HK.. no matter how fcuked up you sometimes may be, you are still a special place to me. haha!


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love-hate relationship with HK cabs

as much as i love to travel in cabs here in HK due to its availability and relatively low fares.. i hate them for they not only drive recklessly, the drivers are rude.. more importantly their cars are always either dirty or smelly or BOTH.. argh!!

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happy belated birthday to... ME!

my final 2x birthday this year before i turn 30 next year!!! did nothing for my birthday in HK except for lunch with couple of people from work. to my surprise, the lunch was secretly organised by the ex angmoh boss.. very nice of her.

the real celebrations started when i got back to Singapore! first was dinner with bunch of great people from BB Singapore at this new restaurant called Level 33 at MBFC.they were really nice to get me a cake with "21" candles on it haha!then another round of celebrations at G's new house where they first brought out a yam cake as a birthday cake! then dished out a second chocolate cake as the real deal..i love my friends.. and they are the reason why I MISS SINGAPORE!!!

i expected the unexpected

got an unexpected message from AR via facebook today.. we have not spoken to each other since 8 years ago(?). we are not even friends on facebook. from friends we turned into enemies... all because of...

in her message she asked me to give her a call.. she needed help. i was puzzled with what i saw - what help could she possibly need from me? it was with mixed feelings that i called. AR broke down the moment she spoke.. she was candid about what's going on now - the day i hope will never come actually came...

she apologized to me but it was no fault of hers really. i am glad i regained an old friend, but wished it was not under such circumstances. frankly, i'd rather we continue being enemies...

i said yes to helping her, that's the least i could do.

fourth year and counting...

today is my fourth year in BB!

hoorah!

loved GCUS, hated ADSK...
still figuring out what i feel about sales...

still, i wish for more happy years to come, because I LOVE BB!

hohoho...

conflict of interest

well.. conclusion is: do not expect everyone to go all out for you like how you went all out for them.

conflict of interest.. right.


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corner-kitchen.com

so the angmoh boss decided we should do something fun this time now that it's going to be our last team outing after the restructuring. we were booked for a dinner at this PRIVATE KITCHEN where you will cook your own meal under the supervision of the chef.we had to cook a three course meal - with coq au vin (chicken in red wine sauce) as the main coursenever knew how to make a souffle but now i know!toasting to past successes and future endeavours..

i am in China

was caught in the middle of a huge mass demonstration against the Chinese communist government.. was trying to get out of it and i could not! so i found myself part of the protest as i marched with the rest for the next 10 minutes.

then i realised today is the day HK was handed over to the Chinese government in 1997.. and, it struck me that... i am in fact living in China!

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simple things that make me happy #5

the taste of childhood even when 1599 miles away from home..

<创世纪>

so with the recent restructuring of the sales force, i realise everyone has their own set of conspiracy theories.. and everyone will bet their toes with anyone that their speculations are correct!

i had the urge to to re-watch <创世纪> just to see which character from the show can i play as i witness a similar drama unfolding in real life.. business politics can be ugly yet at the same time highly interesting! it's the BB game everyone has to play :)

personally i don't really care even if they decide to bring their entire clan of white people here to rule asia.. we are afterall an american company!! all i want is to do a good job, get recognised for my efforts and most importantly GET PAID WELL!

it's all about selling...

at first i was spoilt for choices.. the big boss, the bigger boss, and the boss from the 'other side' was all trying to sell me their ideas!

but before i knew it.. i realised i had no more choice!

i was so, so sad when the big boss told me that i will be taken away from the angmoh boss. i immediately went into mourning mode. so in a span of three hours i went from mourning to coping with grief then slowly overcoming the loss. no joke!

anyways so i met with the new boss today and he said: "just SELL"

stressed.

the game has changed - no more points for 'extra curricular activities'..
back to basics now: SELL

well ok, i still have ONE choice i guess - to go over to the 'other side' ???.. hmm

back to basics

was at this barbecue last night with some friends from work - alcoholic drinks, different cuts of meat, lots of seafood.. then i thought of all the school babecues i had in east coast park - small budget - humble menu of hot dogs, fishballs, fried beehoon, curry..

以前简简单单的时候也是很开心的.

happiness is what you make out of what you have..

clearly not an early adopter..

but i have finally figured out how to post a blog entry with my blackberry!!


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dragonboat festival 2011

it's so cool that dragonboat festival is actually a public holiday here in HK! BB took part in the corporate dragonboat race and i am so glad i was part of the team! we practiced for about 10 times (every saturday) leading up to the race...ironically, on the actual race day itself was the first time we had everyone on board.. all i can say is, you cannot expect too much from a recreational team can you?companies will rent yatches docked around the race area to celebrate the event. BB being a company who loves to show off and overbudget for events like these (which is a very good thing for us) we not only had the biggest yatch but also TWO of them! and we were the only boat with our private lifeguards and security officers..free flow of food and alcohol attracted alot of our clients onto our boat as well..the boat will then take us on a 1.5 hours ferry ride from stanley main beach to the causeway bay pier when the event ends at 6pm. i love boat rides especially when the sun is coming down. i saw a different side of HK and that's when i thought to myself - i never regretted coming here :)