show me the 伯乐

sometimes it is funny how your perceived performance can change drastically in the same year without you changing the way you work at all.. sometimes what you really need is that special someone to look at your work and actually apreciate it. sometimes it sucks to know that no matter how hard you try you can never be the apple of his eye because of a thousand and one reasons which you have no control over..

人说千里马常有, 而伯乐不常有.

i say, make looking for the 伯乐 your life-long mission and never look back once you found one!

it does seems like, i found mine today??
we shall see how the story unfolds..

是帅的 lor!

it is not 夸张 at all to say that i grew up literally looking at him! this is the exact same picture which was mounted on the wall of the TKD national training center.. i would look at this along with the pictures of the rest of the seniors during training and aspire to be like them.well i guess i sort of came close to becoming like them in a way.. since i made it to one SEA Games and came back with a medal??.. hmm. anyways that is so not the point, the 重点 is, KJ sir was (and still is) damn 帅! ..他是我童年时的偶像!!! i very buay paiseh-ly asked KJ sir to post his 1993 SEA Games photos on his FB wall for my viewing pleasure.. heh!

random conversations #541

EC: i'll be flying to the Philippines on easter monday.. i feel like an air stewardess. in fact worse than them.
PQ: yeah worse than them, cos air stewardess usually quite pretty.

all i can say is i am VERY impressed with my sense of humour!! and poor EC, she probably does not know why she is still friends with me..

diversity and inclusion

CEO and me..dinner. diversity and inclusion: indeed.
it was a privilege to be included in this special night.

the dragon son has arrived!!

after 1.5 hours of drama by the sis (according to intel from the brother in law).. tadaah~~ i am an aunt AGAIN!

一场欢喜, 一场空

sian... the training we have been waiting for did not happen in the end. apparently HKU flew kite and the entire exchange programme in HK was cancelled. all the effort of getting people to help bring over my tkd belt and guards from Singapore were wasted. to think SY and i even bought new adidas handmitts and shoe! :( well, guess i was still glad i met with LS and SY for dinner.. SY introduced us to his new '马子'.. still cannot believe he used that term on his girlfriend!!

a training to prepare for a training

LS is bringing her SP TKD team to HK for an exchange programme with HKU next sunday. she asked if we (the TKDians in HK) would like to join in. we thought it was a good idea to have a training this sat to prepare for the training next sun to avoid being whacked up by some 20 year olds..

so it's a training to prepare for a training.. make sense?? haha!!

we needed some targets for our training obviously and i went to the get it. as usual.. i stayed true to my golden rule in TKD#1 - don't care can fight or cannot, buy everything Adidas first!!

btw, my suspicions have been confirmed after the training today - 不要怀疑也不要迟疑!.. I AM OUT OF SHAPE.

let's see how it goes during the 'actual' training next sunday in HKU, can't wait!

the key is: specialisation

so ELam and his new GF Mliew was in HK for a couple of days. Apart from the fact that we (including AW) had an awesome claypot dinner, a very inspiring conversation also took place. E was telling us how M's dad used to own a business dealing with marbles but had later sold it off..

M's dad is still known as a marble expert.. who now works on ad hoc projects. one of his recent jobs offered by RWS was to drill holes for the elevator buttons that sits on a marble slab.. the money: SGD 500 for one hole and the entire project is for 200 holes.. ie: SGD 100,000!! btw he is not even the person drilling it! he just needs to find workers, 'supervise' them and provide 'expert opinion' on the marble..

so people.. the key here is definitely: specialisation....!!

is this painful or is this painful?!

i would like to think this all adds up to my experience in HK - seeing an acupuncturist in a dodgy building with manual elevator doors (those with foldable metal gate kind) in Yau Ma Tei..

though to be honest, i am not sure if this is the kind of experience i enjoy having?!

anyways: do not ever let anyone tell you acupuncture does not hurt, because.. IT DOES! fuck!

i just want my poor leg to recover :(

need or want?

franc franc couch that fits PERFECTLY in my tiny living room... except that it costs 5500 HKD!hmm...

what's NEXT?

.. i hope the next 'milestone' will be 10B!!

i lost and i found

i knew something was amiss when i slammed that cab door shut without checking its back seats before letting the cab zoom away in the morning. I LEFT MY WALLET IN THE FREAKIN' CAB! pfff!

totally sian 1/2 - the green kate spade wallet was new! and the zhong dian is that my HKID card was gone too.. i waited all day to see if anyone would call or email me back since i had some business cards in it. this is the time where i pray of the many wallets and cell phones i returned to worried owners in the past - i will get mine back too!

it was almost 10pm before i had time to make a police report. hopped onto a cab only to be refused by the stupid driver because, "please bring me to the nearest police" means it was not a lucrative trip!! HK taxi number KJ 960 - i shall curse that the next drunkard you pick up from LKF throws up big time in your cab! that STINK will follow you for the entire night! hohoho!

but you know what? being kind pays off - i received a call from the police the next day as someone had returned my wallet to them!! woohoo! everything was intact.. the police will even help send out a 'thank you' letter to the kind soul on my behalf! full marks for customer service!

king of pop

the foot was still bandaged with a chinese medicinal plaster this morning when i woke up. as usual, i was rushing to the cab queue before the morning crowd comes and i could not care less about taking the bandage off before slipping into my shoes. it was only in office when i finally looked down on my foot and went.. O.M.G - i have a michael jackson foot!! --> EPIC FAIL.

simple things that make me happy #7

a pot of good tea and a friend who appreciates the same good food as me..这就叫: 知音人.

中看 does not equate to 中用！

i used to walk past this chinese bone setter clinic a lot whenever i go for dinner at my favourite Teochew stall. it looks really old school and something taken straight out of the HK TVB drama set!never thought i would have a chance to walk into the clinic until the unfortunate zek dio incident! but you know, certain things are really 中看不中用！the physician was crap and totally scammed me of my money!.. well the only consolation was i took some really cool pictures in his clinic haha..on the same night i went to see 'Tam Seefu' after a HK colleague recommended his clinic.it was in a really humble looking apartment where it was both his clinic and his home that this man gave me a round of punishment in the form of a good 10 mins forceful (yet skillful) rub on the ankle!

魅力 of HK..

bumped into YH at stanley street yesterday.. totally unexpected! he had just walked out of luk yu restaurant after a client's lunch. it was a 2D1N zip in and zip out kind of business trip for him this time. would not have met him if i had gone for lunch during my regular hours.. fated!

received a call from him at literally midnight for a drink. i got out of bed and my PJ.. before i knew it, i was at my favourite bar in wanchai in 10 mins. got home at 2am, woke up at 735am and at work by 8am via a 7 min cab ride.

this i guess, is the 魅力 of HK..

walk the talk

all i remember from this weekend was that we talked and we walked.. A LOT, especially for someone with an injured foot!the walk was well worth it i must say. S and D are back in HK again together but this time it was for work so we did not have time to catch up until the weekends.. i was pretty glad the both of them wanted to stay away from the crowd to enjoy a relaxing time.we started with ice cream at the peak followed by a slow, painful (for me), scenic walk down the sai ying pun trail..we then caught the ferry to lamma island for tau huay and more fresh air.. beautiful sights and gorgeous friends, i cannot ask for more.

HK.. everyday i am shuffling!

my january conversations with TWY

maybe you have polycystic ovarian syndrome you know???

i know what is your problem - you are trying to play the role of your boss!

if it was last time i cannot take it, but now i just do my job can already..

你要不要去看中医? (20 times)

good job ms chen! i am impressed!

R 要不要找 girlfriend?

simi simi simi simi sai...

and my all-time favourite: HA BA HANG HANG...

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!


Sent From BlackBerry

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!!

Sent From BlackBerry

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!!!