A good start do not necessarily leads to a good ending...

A good start in the morning had turned into a disappointment at the end for me today...

I was very lucky today as I got into a cab for work and almost immediately, the rain poured. I mean it really did poured as though thousands of pails of water were poured onto the street from up there. Today was the only morning among so many preceding mornings in June that I was spared from getting wet from having to walk in the rain. Rain in Hong Kong do not fail vertically down, it goes side ways most of the time and thus having an umbrella will only keep the upper part of your body dry at best. So, I was really feeling lucky and was almost hopeful that I will get my new employment contract with my new salary package ready for me to sign today at the office. I waited until 5pm...still no contract. I walked over to Admin, asked Mr. No and the answer I got was that the contract is still waiting for final approval from the MD. So, I am actually working with no official employment contract at the moment and I really wonder why am I still stuck in the office now?

*PISSED!*

Inspiration from Sex and the City

We are into the last season of Sex and the City and both hubby and I have decided that the character we like best is Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall. I think her personality in the series is fabulous and she will really be good to have as a friend. The part I like best was when she had gone to Miranda's and gave up her long-waited salon appointment to Miranda who needed a salon visit much more than herself. And she even offered to babysit Miranda's baby! What a generous gesture! Also, Samantha was never judgemental of her friends and was always forgiving to the negative aspects of the human nature. And I especially like Samantha because she was never afraid to show off her sexuality both in her language and in her physical ways. It was very interesting and entertaining to watch her go man-hunting.

On the other hand, we both dislike the Carrie character. We think that she was such a brat. She was insecure, difficult, selfish and totally irresponsible as an adult. I hate the part where she would call her friends to complain and wail about her relationships with her boyfriends but never really showed much interests in her friends' problems. She was lucky to have 3 such good girl friends plus a good gay friend. I have to admit, I am envious of her for having this kind of friendships...

For those of you like me who also didn't know, Kim Cattrall is already in her 50s and the rest of the 3 ladies are also in their 40s! Damn! They still look so good! Especially Kim Cattrall! Is it really the effects of Botox that she had claimed to swear by in the movie really true? I am inspired!

Cheating and forgiving.

I am into the 4th season of Sex and the City and like all series, it's beginning to feel like a drag...hubby was already either falling asleep halfway through or he was multi-tasking on his new game. However, I am determined to finish the whole series and get over with it by the end of the week.
I was particularly agitated with the episode when Carrie got back together with Aiden. She had cheated on Aiden with Mr. Big and he was totally heart-broken. They broke up for several months and then got back together when Carrie begged him to forgive her. Did she deserve the forgiveness? I would say NO. I think it's totally unforgivable when one cheat with his/her ex but if it's cheating with someone new, it's possibly forgivable. Well, both is bad but cheating with ex is really BAD! My rationale? It's simple really. If my hubby cheats with someone new, that new person did not come into his life before me and thus I can trust that the time when he was with me before he'd met her was 100% true to me. But if my hubby cheats with his ex, then I am quite sure that he must have missed, loved and couldn't forget his ex all those times when he was with me, thus he was never 100% true to me the whole and the vows would mean nothing but lies. This kind of cheating is totally unforgivable, right?

In the movie version, Steve cheated on Miranda but I thought that was totally forgivable. He had sex with someone else just once because he hadn't had sex with his wife for more than 6 months and he felt remorseful enough to confessed to Miranda himself. That to me is totally forgivable unless of course if his sex partner was actually his ex...that will make it difficult to forgive. To me, just being friends with an ex is unforgivable because I do not think that man and woman can be friends, not especially when they have had a relationship before. Extreme? Well, being friends and going out in a group occasionally is fine but being close friends who chats on msn regularly, meeting up alone to discuss life and relationships issues, etc. is definitely out. That kind of relationship with an ex is already cheating to me even when there's no sex involved...

Rain Rain GO AWAY!

Oh~ I really hate wet weather! Especially in Hong Kong where I have no car and have to take the public transport... I regret not buying the Hello Kitty rain boots I saw in Japan now...BIG MISTAKE! I thought I wouldn't have much chance to wear them but I guess I was wrong. Apparently this year is going to be the La Nina year of storm for Hong Kong and China, according to a well-known storm researcher...*Sigh*

And the roofs at both airport terminals are leaking! What a joke! And the leaks were said to be noticed since the Black Rain day more than 2 weeks ago!
"Democratic Party economic services spokesman Sin Chung-kai said the incident must have made Hong Kong look bad to visitors, but the airport has been operating for over a decade and wear and tear had to be expected." ...The Standard.
"Made Hong Kong look bad to visitors"? I bet it must really be an interesting sight to see so many buckets lying around the terminal collecting water from the leaks! I would suggest that they put up signs stating "Water Conservation Project - Rain Collection Points" around all those buckets instead of "Wet Floor". That may make Hong Kong look better, no? WAH HAHA!

Living in Hong Kong

I have become a fan of Sex and the City since watching the movie on Saturday. Well, not actually a real fan but I enjoyed the movie so much that I decided I wanted to watch the series from the beginning and I am wondering why I have not watched the HBO series last time. Oh well, I am now watching the series starting from season 1 and have reached the last few episodes of season 3 now. Looking forward to finishing season 3 tonight and then maybe move on to season 4. At this rate, I may be able to finish the whole series by the end of the week! Hubby has been real sweet, downloading the series for me and also watching it with me in bed. ;) He loves the sex talks among the girls...
Initially I think I don't have anything in common with any of the main female characters in personality but just enjoyed watching their fashion. A new dress for every date or every party, designer shoes, fanciful accessories and beautiful handbags...that's every women's dream, no? Now after 3 seasons, I think I can relate a little to each and every one of them afterall! That explains the tremendous popularity and success of the series clearly to me now. *Where have I been all these years?*

Last night, we watched season 3 when Typhoon Fengshen hit Hong Kong and hubby was especially excited about it. It was the 1st jackpot hit for us in 3 years and he was really hopeful to get a day off. He's disappointed now that he still has to go back to the office for the afternoon half of the day though...

Things at the warehouse are getting messy, the goods that arrived last night at the airport could not be taken out of the terminal yet and thus could not be delivered to us. And the goods that were suppose to go out to customers this morning could not be delivered. I start to think how can Hong Kong ever be a reliable logistics hub when there are natural disasters like typhoons and black rain and landslides and floods? I never have to worry about such incidents in Singapore! I am sure many other industries out there are struggling with the aftermath effects of the typhoon. Stock exchange had to be closed for half the day, I wonder how many millions are lost there. Schools are closed for the day, so what happen to the parents? Trees are blown down, many construction sites are destroyed, mud from the landslides are choking the drains...floods are inevitable. So that's what a vibrant city like Hong Kong offer you folks!

*Just bear with me 1 more year, darling!*

It has been quiet at home these 3 days now that mum and D have gone back to Singapore...It hurt so much that day at the airport as we were approaching the departure gate when D started to cry. He didn't cry openly, he just kept rubbing his eyes, trying so hard not to let his tears flow down. He remembered that he's a boy and "boys don't cry"...My own eyes were swelled with tears as I hugged him tight consoling him that he will see me very soon. Eventually, D had to go in and I hate HK airport. Why do they have to make the glass opague? Why can't they have the glass clear so that I can still wave to my son as he approach immigration like that of Changi Airport? *Stupid airport!*

We turned to leave and before we reached the Airport Express, D called...my heart broke for the 2nd time in less than 10 minutes. He just cleared immigration and was at the security check line for the bags. He didn't say much, he just called to call me mummy and to hear my voice so I kept talking, telling him that I love him and that he will meet me soon. What else could I have said? It's too late to bring D over now that hubby and I have decided that we will move back next year. So, we all just have to bear with the situation now. 3 years have passed, so what's another year? Right? I hope it's right but I guess human emotions are definitely more complicated that 1 is less than 3 and thus 1 is easier...

June Holiday ~ Bye-bye Kagoshima - 10th June 2008

There were just 2 more destinations on our tour this last morning at Kagoshima before we had to catch the afternoon flight back to Hong Kong. The weather turned bad this last day, making the journey up to Kirishima Shrine（霧島神社）very bumpy and difficult for me to play my NDS Lite game. In fact I got quite sick arriving at the shrine and had to take some motion-sickness pills to help me get over it. We didn't spend too much time at the shrine as it really was just a place for us to throw a coin into the offering box and make a wish or two. I didn't make any wish in particular, I just wished that my family will be healthy and happy always. I thank God everyday silently in my heart that my family is healthy and I try to make everybody as happy as I can possibly do.

Kirishima Shrine（霧島神社）

Takachiho Farm（高千穂牧場）

After the visit to the shrine, we went to our last stop for the day at Takachiho Farm where I had the most delicious sausages and softcream. The view from the farm was great too and there was even space for grass-skiing! I bet it will be a really popular place with the kids. Visit the cows and the sheeps, have fresh milk softcream, sausages and then grass-ski...FANTASTIC!

June Holiday ~ Kumamoto（熊本）- 9th June 2008

The morning of the 2nd last day of our tour took us to Kumamoto（熊本）and we saw the beautiful 400 years old castle of Kumamoto. I particularly liked the colours of the castle, it was in grey and white, and it went very well with the blue sky and the lush greenery surrounding it. We climbed up to the very top of the castle which was about 8 floors up to have a bird's eye view of the city. The weather was great that day, not a cloud in the sky and it was slightly breezy. After lunch, we visited a beautiful Japanese landscape garden which I had forgotten the name...*That's the problem when following tour!* Anyway, it was just a typical Japanese landscape garden with many carefully trimmed plants. I didn't like it so much because I thought that it was too "made-up".

Kumamoto Castle（熊本城）

Japanese Garden

In the afternoon, we were given approximately 2 hours at the shopping street of Kagoshima city where mum bought a blouse and I bought a cosmetic pouch from Agnes B. Shopping time was really not enough...

June Holiday ~ Huis Ten Bosch - 8th June 2008

Next destination was Huis Ten Bosh, a European theme park at Nagasaki. There was really nothing much to do there at Huis Ten Bosch except to take photos, so we only decided to go downtown to shop around. We had wanted to go to Nagasaki but the train journer would take 2 hours one way so we went to a nearby town instead and went shopping at the supermarket. We bought some fresh fruits and Japanese alcoholic sodas to supplement our seafood dinner. At 7:45pm, we went back to Huis Ten Bosh for the nightly fireworks show before our dinner in the room.

Fireworks display at Huis Ten Bosch

Fireworks show above the pirate ship

Our seafood arrived fresh from Hokkaido - King crab, Botan prawns and sea urchin.

June Holiday ~ Aso（阿蘇） - 7th June 2008

As usual when you follow a tour package, the morning call was 6:30am and departure was 8am. We drove from our hotel at Aojima（青島）to Takachihokyou （高千穂峡）where we saw the beautiful waterfall （真名井の滝）. We had lunch at one of the rustic restaurant near the waterfall and also tried our hands at the "flowing cold noodles"（流しそうめん）. It was real fun. :D We were arranged to sit along a very long bamboo laid at a gradient whereby one end was slightly higher than the other end of a long table. The bamboo had fresh water running down almost like that of a open pipe line. At the top end of the bamboo, the shop attendant started to load noodles in small quantities each time, letting the them flow down the bamboo where we people tried to catch them with our chopsticks. Once the noodles were caught with our chopsticks, we had to dip the noodles into a sauce made with soy sauce, sweet wine and fish stock before we eat them. The noodles were refreshingly delicious and we were all very happy and excited about the game. It's a tradition in Japan to eat noodles like that during summer. They even have a battery operated apparatus on sale at the supermarket for eating flowing noodles at home!

真名井の滝

After lunch, we made our way to the volcano of Aso where we saw the world's largest active volcano crater. It had smoke oozing out constantly and we could smell the strong sulfur in the air too. It was really an eye-opening experience for me! At night, we stayed at a resort with very interesting rooms. Every room was a dome structure made of stone with an oculus on top. Mum didn't like the room because she was awoken by the skylight at 5am...

Crater of the volcano of Aso（阿蘇の火山口）

Aso Farm Resort

June Holiday ~ Miyazaki (宮崎) - 6th June 2008

I had gone for a 5-day tour with mum alone at the beginning of June, leaving hubby alone with D in Hong Kong. I have been to Japan countless times but it was my first time in 九州 (Kyuushuu), so we joined a tour package. We landed at Kagoshima Airport 2&1/2 hours after departing from Hong Kong on the morning of 6th June and the tour bus took us went straight into Miyazaki Prefecture. Miyazaki is beautiful and famous for its beaches. We went to Aojima where part of the coastline looks like a washing board.

鬼の洗濯岩(The Devil's Washing Board)

青島神社 (Aojima Shrine)

Sunset at Aojima Beach

That night, we stayed at the Aojima Resort Hotel overlooking the sea and the hotspring was fantastic! :D

Networking

I was out last night to a networking dinner with some of the U21 Global's graduates and the CEO who was here visiting. They shared with me many of their experiences on why and how they had done the MBA program. One of them was a paediatrician and he shared with us that he had done the MBA program because he was really bored with his job. *Didn't know doctors will actually be bored with their jobs too!* He said 96% of his patients visited him only for the common flu and the rest of the 4% who might have more serious problems were usually referred out to government hospitals because of the medical costs. Another guy took 5 years to complete his MBA program, confessing that he had really taken it easy until his wife took her MBA program too. He then had competition to not lose out to her. Then there was a golf professional who is still doing his program and he came with his wife who was very supportive of his studies. He confessed that he will not study anymore after this though. Everybody told me that it was a challenging experience for them and although it was tough, it was fulfilling and they all thought that it was all worth it. *I am inspired!*

Women as explained by male engineers...

A girlfriend sent me an email with the below attachments...

Very interesting observations made by whoever is trying to explain the subject "women" to us. Yes I said us, because even we women would be very interested to know how are we being perceived. Honestly, I do agree with some of the points made below...

Let me know if you think otherwise. :D

Interesting equation...

Hilarious data sheet.

Quite a sad fact for men, actually.

Is it really so difficult to turn a woman on?

Notice that the female never went into Gap?

A visit to the Wetland Park

Another interesting place we found when we went exploring for new sights on 1st June was the Hong Kong Wetland Park at Tin Shui Wai. Commercialised as it may be, there is still a 60-hectares of "natural" wetland for visitors to explore. There is a 10,000sq.ft. visitor center where visitors can learn interesting facts about the living creatures of the wetland in Hong Kong and also about the ecosystem.

We did not have much time that day as we went in at 4pm and the park closes at 5pm. We sort of ran through the visitor center and went straight to the outdoors. I wished they had another route leading directly to the outdoors. But as usual for Hong Kong, they have to force visitors to see the souvenir shop and also the honorable sponsors' banners and logos displayed at the exhibition halls. *Sigh*

After rushing through the exhibition halls, we finally arrived at the outdoors and I liked what I saw. For once, I could see no tall building but just a wide area of greenery and water. We fed the fishes at the ponds with bread crumbs that we had saved for this trip. It felt quite good to be able to do something like this in Hong Kong. Reminded me of Botanical Gardens in Singapore where I used to bring the kids to feed the fishes and the swans on weekends. I also remember myself going to the Botanical Gardens as a kid with my own parents...happy memories of my beloved garden...

Oops, I am writing out of topic again...ok, ok, back to Hong Kong.

We also saw some very interesting crabs with odd size pincers, one big and one small. There were plenty of them moving up and down the mud, making the scene looked like blinking stars in the mud. We didn't get to see the birds though. The security guards were telling us that the birds will come in only during the winter months, so it may worth another visit in December. All in all, the Wetland Park is nice and interesting as long as you don't turn around to see the towering apartment buildings of Tin Shu Wai right across the road...

D and I feeding the fishes at the pond.

Lotus Pond

Getting the best out of less

June is always a good month for me. 1st of all, I was married in June, so I'll always have my anniversary celebrations and presents in June, and hubby has not failed at getting me presents yet. This year he got me a diamond ring, which was very pretty and it made me really happy because he only bought me chocolates last year...I love chocolates too but they are not forever and I will have nothing to show or to remember of...I didn't even take a photo of the box of chocolates...and I am regretting it now.

Anyway, June is also good because the kids will be having their school holidays and they will be here in Hong Kong with us. This year daughter N is not here, she has to go back to school for her modern dance practices, so she stayed back in Singapore. We miss her but I guess we have to start getting use to the fact that as she grows older, she will be with us lesser...I have to learn to let go...*Sigh*

Gweipo was telling me to give Hong Kong another chance commenting on my previous post where I wrote that I was getting bored with life in Hong Kong. She suggested many thing for me to do around Hong Kong, most of which I am already doing, like joining an association, going to film festivals, going for concerts, go hiking, etc. Honestly, there is nothing here in Hong Kong that Singapore does not have except for the typhoons, black rains, mountains and all sorts of pollution, which we don't really want anyway, do we? How many films and concerts can one go to in a year? How many times will one really go hiking unless one is a hiking fanatic? I am looking for better quality of life in terms of better living space, better air, better traffic, better education system for my children, better hygiene and better security. For all of these, Hong Kong does not measure up to Singapore in any way. Prove me wrong if anyone can.

Nevertheless since D is here and since it's going to be our last year in Hong Kong, we went out and about looking for more interesting sights. Sai Kung is definitely one of the few places I truly like in Hong Kong. The seafood is outrageously displayed in the water tanks outside of the restaurants to attract tourists. Many pet-owners will also bring their dogs for walks along the pier, so it's really a good place for dog-watching. :)

Seafood displayed outside the restaurant that we ate at.

Seafood displayed at another outrageous restaurant.

In Singapore, there's also a famous seafood place at East Coast Seafood Center where tourists and locals will go for the famous chilli crabs, black pepper crabs, drunken prawns, deep-fried dough-sticks with squid paste, steam fish aka Teochew style and lobster sashimi. In terms of the variety seafood and the marketing tactics, I must say Hong Kong is better. But in terms of the style of cooking, I still prefer the Singaporean way of cooking the chilli crabs whereby the sauce is finger-licking good and goes so well with deep-fried buns or baguettes. *Yummy* I seldom compare prices but I think Singapore should be slightly cheaper? But with the exchange rates nowadays, it may be different now.

Gain some, lose some...

I have done it! I have accepted the offer of admission to the U21 Global MBA program. Classes should start in July for me, so I guess I will be kept very busy for quite awhile now. I am glad about my decision since I will be realising my long time goal and I am getting bored with life here in Hong Kong anyway. However, I am still a little apprehensive if I can take the stress of study again after 15 years. I will likely need to give up on a lot of things that I now enjoy...golf vacations, bumming at home with my NDS Lite, reading gossips and blogging nonsenses, etc, etc, etc... There's no win-win situation, is there?

Why MBA?

I have been offered admission to the U21 Global MBA program and I have to reply by next Thursday. I am quite excited about going back to studying and finally realizing my goal of getting a MBA. However, the reason for getting a MBA is quite different now from many years ago. I do not need the MBA to get me a better paying job and I definitely am not thinking about changing jobs right now. So why MBA? I have been asking myself this question these past few days and I have been reading other people's reasons on the net.
I have consolidated my own reasons for WANTING to get a MBA in descending importance below:
1. Personal achievement, which is quite an egoistic want; my profile will look better with a MBA on top of my NUS degree.
2. Acquire more skills and knowledge in business management and administration.
3. Networking for more professional contacts.
4. Enhance my negotiating power with my boss with regards to my career.
5. Maintain the intellectual level with hubby.
6. Resolve the boredom I am facing now.
I hope nobody is getting angry with me by reading this because I know many people out there are trying to get a MBA because it is more of a need than a want...

Getting bored with life in Hong Kong

Hubby was mentioning to me the other day that he was getting really bored with life in Hong Kong and really looking forward to going back to Singapore in a year. Most of you out there must be thinking, "Singapore is a more boring city to live in!" Honestly, for people like hubby and I who are not into clubbing and alcohol, there's really nothing much to do in Hong Kong. Maybe it's because we don't own a car here, maybe it's because we don't have that many friends here except for the colleagues whom we already meet every weekday for 8 hours, maybe it's because our family is not with us, maybe we are just bored with our jobs here in Hong Kong?

Whatever the reason, it set me thinking how different will it be when we go back to Singapore? Then I start to get worried... I have never lived with my mother-in-law and if we go back to Singapore, we will have to stay with her. My mother-in-law is not a difficult person, as long as I am willing to stop eating beef and will not refuse to offer joss-sticks to the Gods, she's absolutely fine. In my opinion, I think she is easier than my own mother who is very particular about hygiene and cleanliness. However, having been away and living with hubby only for so many years, I really wonder if I can adapt to living with somebody else in the same house. Well, the good thing is, at least the apartment in Singapore will be bigger than the one we are staying in right now. And we'll be having an ensuite bathroom, so I think I will survive.

"THE OLD CANNOT KILL THE YOUNG FOREVER"

This is what I have found out today on the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Sqaure protests of 1989. There is actually a "Pillar of Shame" (國殤之柱) erected at the podium of Haking Wong building at the University of Hong Kong. And on the base of the sculpture, history of the massacre are engraved in both Chinese and English. "The Tiananmen Massacre, June 4th 1989"(六四屠殺) and "The old cannot kill the young forever"(老人豈能夠殺光年輕人). For those of you who read Chinese as I do, the meaning in Chinese impacts the heartstrings deeply.

Apparently, there are 4 other "Pillar of Shame" erected in Rome, Mexico, Brazil and Berlin. These sculptures are erected to remind people of the shameful events which should never recur. What is interesting to me is the date when the pillar was first erected in Hong Kong. It was 1997, the year of Hong Kong's return to China. How had the Chinese government felt about it then?

19 years on, students at the University of Hong Kong are still having some events like painting slogans on the pavements to commemorate the massacre but I wonder how many of them are really just going through the motion. Honestly, I do not have much memory about the massacre except that I remember seeing on TV news that tanks were driven onto Tiananmen Square where the protesting students were and many students were executed. I was terrified with what I saw but I still cannot fully understand what was the cause of the protests. So many lives have been killed, so much criticisms have been made of the Chinese government but have anything changed? Did the Chinese governement officially announce regrets about the event? Many mainland Chinese friends I know have absolutely no idea of the Tiananmen Massacre because they have been brainwashed and the event has been literally erased from their history textbooks. Like the Japanese history textbooks, the history of World War II also distorted in favour of the Japanese. So who's the pot here calling the kettle black?

Asking for increment

I have done it today! *Pat my own head* I have finally opened my mouth and talked to my boss about my salary package! My pay package in Hong Kong was rather good when I first came over 3 years ago but with the Hong Kong dollars peg to the US dollars, I am getting lesser and lesser each month in terms of exchange back to Singapore dollars nowadays. It's approximately 26% lower now than 3 years ago and I am expecting it to worsen further.

Now that they are in the process of extending my contract for 1 more year in Hong Kong, I figured that I'd better open my mouth now before they set the contract to the same pay package again. He didn't promise me anything now of course but said that he will put in the request to the CEO later this week. *Cross my fingers*