What's it for?

See the chain hanging below the table?

Anybody know what is it for?

I was at Starbucks Coffee in Shenzhen on Tuesday and I found that under all the tables hang a chain... I wonder what it's for? Anybody know? One of my colleagues guessed that it's probably for the customers to hang their plastic shopping bags... I don't think so. But I really cannot think of any reason for having that chain! Do they have it in other countries too? It will be nice to find out.

10 Promises to My Dog

Yesterday after work, hubby and I went to Mongkok for a light dinner of Spanish Tapas and drinks at Langham Place. Then we went around to find some DVDs to watch on his newly bought Sony 5.1 stereo DVD set. And like seeing 12 of our collegues being laid off wasn't sad enough, we decided to watch "10 Promises to My Dog"...

It's a story about a 14 year-old girl Akari living in Hokkaido growing up with her Golden Retriever which was a present from her mother. Her mother has been diagnosed with cancer and was going to die but before she passed away, she gave Akari the puppy and made her abide to 10 promises to her dog. They named the dog Socks because she had whiter fur on one of her front paws which made her looked as if she had worn socks. When Sock was a puppy, she was really cute! Made me want to get a dog immediately! The saddest part was when Socks died of old age 10 years later...then I asked myself if I can take the heart pain when my dog dies...

I am a dog person, I love dogs and I have had 2 dogs so far in my life. And I will eventually have a dog or even 2 when the time is right again. I cry all the time at movies and especially heart-warming movies about the loving faithfulness of dogs. I cried when I watched "Quill", I cried even harder when I watched "The tale of Mari and her puppies".

Both of them Japanese production and based on true heroic stories of dogs being such hardworking, faithful and loving friends of humans.

And there is this Waltz Disney Pictures production on again a true story about the Sakhalin Husky sled dogs.

Who will emerge stronger?

I have just been through a week of intensive discussions that turned into arguments from one of my online classmates. I used "from" and not "with" because I did not argue with him and neither did any of our other classmates but he kept sending us argumentative statements whenever we gave opionions different from him. *Sigh* Some people just cannot take differing opinions...

I am doing "Managing International Business" and the first topic for discussion that the professor put up was "Where do you think the next generation of world-class competitors will come from and why?" That classmate of mine immediately mentioned China, India and Brazil with "supernatural" confidence that China will overtake the US as the world's leader by the year 2030. A few other classmates and I commented that we are not so confident about that due to the economic crisis that the whole world is facing right now. China who is the factory of the world is definitely not spared, the economic tsunami is sweeping down many factories in China. Many people are out of job and many more will soon be. Fresh graduates can't find jobs and the next batch will be out in a few months. According to the estimation, more than 6 million jobs have been lost last year in China and I wonder how can China create so many jobs for her people if foreign companies are not investing in China anymore. Many nations are giving tax breaks to attract firms to remain in their home countries so that their people will have jobs. In this economic siuation, it's only natural to practice Nationalism.

Example from my own company, I was asked to cut heads and the first target naturally went to the contract staff instead of the permanent staff. Then the other departments also started to lay off staff and the local staff were sacrificed. Yesterday, 12 local staff were laid off and it was really kind of sad to see it happening. I doubt that they will be able to find jobs any time soon in this economic situation. I just hope that all of them will be ale to ride it out. The Japanese expatriates however, are asked to take unpaid leaves but their jobs are secured.

I have joined this company for 7 years and I have been hearing from those staff who have been with us for much longer that this company do not lay off staff. We have been growing steadily in Asia from the 80s through the 90s and then into the 21st century. Despite the 1997 Asian econimic crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak, we continued to grow. However, this economic tsunami seems to have rocked us now. When will the situation become better? Which nation and which company will emerge stronger?

I believe those countries with rich natural resources, good infrasture, smaller but better skilled working population and a strong government will emerge from this situation stronger. What do you think?

Weekend Update - "Yes Man"

It was Valentine's Day on Saturday but I stayed at home the whole day trying to catch up with my readings. I will be taking another module from this week, so I really need to finish up the present module's reading soon!

I am not sure if hubby had wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day with going out for candle-light dinner or not, but I guess not. Valentine's Day has always been the day for the girls to get presents and flowers from their husbands or boyfriends, so I don't think my hubby will mind if I am not crazy about it. I think Valentine's Day is too commercialised and I have always been cynical about the real intentions of the guys. Oops, come to think of it, I had always wanted Valentine's Day be special when I was younger and single. Am I getting old or am I old already? It's quite amazing that my thinking can be so different now.

Went for a movie by Jim Carrey "Yes Man" on Sunday at Elements. As with all Jim Carrey's movie, it was very funny yet inspiring. If you have been scared to get out of your comfort zone kind of person, you should go watch the movie. Maybe you will get inspired to try something new and not procrastinate any longer. Hubby have decided that he wants to learn to play the guitar and maybe also learn a new language like Korean or French. I have decided that I want to finish my MBA as soon as possible so that I can get on with the other things that I want to do in my life.

From my window

On a clear day, I can see the FCC right in front of my bedroom window and even all the buildings in Hong Kong Island behind FCC. However today, the FCC disappeared into the fog... the Hong Kong Observatory says it's foggy but I think it's pollution.

See FCC in the middle of the photo? (13:30)

In less than 10 minutes from the 1st photo, it has disappeared...(13:38)

At 14:10...

Friday the 13th....

In Hong Kong, they call this day "Black Friday" (黑色星期五) and it's really looking black and eerie outside with dark clouds covering the whole city. I had to on the lights to do my make-up this morning even though I opened the curtains which I usually don't have to on a normal morning. The dark clouds have been gathering for the past few days already and today because it's "Black Friday", it's really black...but it's not rainy. It just gives the city an eerie feel like something really bad is going to happen...

BLACK in the Chinese world is always associated with bad luck and death. During the Chinese New Year or any other festive occasions, we are never to wear black but it's almost mandatory to wear something RED. Why is black bad? I personally like black alot. I have many black clothes, shoes, bags and even accessories. Today, I am wearing black and white...

Just read a post from ECL's post on the Korean way of celebrating Valentine's Day. Apparently, the Korean and the Japanese have the same culture of the girls giving the guys chocolates during Valentine's Day to express their love and then wait until White Day (14th March) for replies! And in Korea, there's a "Black Day" which is the 14th April for those people who did not have any dates on both Valentine's Day and White Day to go out and console themselves! This is so interesting. So Black is also associated with being out of love?

Are you happy where you are?

I have done practically nothing the whole morning at the office. I was just reading news and blogs and thinking nonsense the whole time. I should be reading my notes but I am afraid that I may be getting conceited as I have been getting good grades with my studies so far. Anyway, business management study is really not that hard, it's all about writing the logical things and the best thing about it is that it's all on paper. In the real business world, it's not that simple as we are dealing with people and people are complicated...

I have been pondering about being happy for a long time. What makes you happy? Can being in a place makes you happy? Then where will this place be? Bhutan is said to be the happiest place on earth but looking at the pictures, the living conditions of the people there, I doubt I can be happy there... Can a person makes you happy? Many parents claim that their children make them happy which I think it's quite true. Some of my friends who don't have children say that their dogs make them happy which I think is also true. Lovers will say that their other halves make them happy which I also agree. So at the end of the day, no matter where you are and who you are, it's your love ones that will make you really happy!

Alan Tam and Hacken Li's Concert

Went to the newly renovated Hung Hom Coliseum to watch Alan Tam and Hacken Li's concert. Didn't realise it was the 15th day of the Lunar New Year which was also the Chinese Valentine's Day until Alan Tam mentioned it to the audience. Hubby and I had went for a very nice Okinawa dinner at Tsim Sha Tsui before strolling slowly to the concert. On the way, we had a nutella and banana crepe which reminded us of the ones we had in Paris which was SO~ DELICIOUS! I will consider V-Day celebrated. ;)

The stage before the concert

The stage fully "glamed-up"

The concert was quite enjoyable with quite a lot of stage works like fire and fireworks display. I only know a few of Hacken's songs but Alan Tam sang quite a few of his classic songs from the 80s which was nostalgic to me. I remember that I was still a secondary school girl when he was so popular then! How old is Alan Tam anyway? 50? My colleagues said that he is definitely older than 50 but he looks good and he was rather energetic on stage too. There was the classic act of him running around the stage with an over-size sling bag collecting red-packets from the audience. His hands were so fast! And he was singing all the while too! Quite admirable. I am always amazed with the singers for remembering the lyrics and dance moves. They make it all look so effortless!

I don't know why exactly but halfway through the concert, I thought of Leslie Cheung... He was just as popular as Alan Tam back in the 80s and early 90s before Jackie Cheung came up. I used to like the both of them which was quite rare as fans of Alan Tam will never support Leslie Cheung back then. If only Leslie is still around...he was such a talented singer and actor. And he was so handsome! Such a pity that he had killed himself. Why do people who seem to have it all kill themselves anyway?

Weekend Update - Movies

Watched 2 movies over the weekend with hubby; "Marley & Me", a heart-warming story about the lives of a couple and their very naughty Labrador Retriever Marley, and "Bride War", a bitchy comedy about 2 brides-to-be who were best friends but turned enemies because their wedding was booked for the same day and at the same venue.

"Marley & Me" was funny most of the time until the end when Marley died of old age. I wish they wouldn't show until then...I cried so hard! I am a dog person, I love dogs and I would really love to have a pet dog. There are so many movies on dogs! However, I am not ready for the sad part of having to see my dog passing away in old age, so I am hestitant. Maybe I shall have a dog when I am old, like when I have only 20 years left in my own life? That's just a foolish thought but it would really be nice to have a dog when I retire. :)

Other than the dog thought, "Marley & Me" also provoked some thinking. All his life, the character in the movie, John aspired to be a reporter but was given a column to write by his boss instead. He took the job because he has commitments and he needed the salary. He then wrote about his life with his dog which became very popular with readers and his boss doubled his salary. He was then able to move his family to a better neighbourhood but he was not happy. He still wanted to be a reporter and finally after about 10 years, his wife encouraged him to take up a job as a reporter in another city and the whole family moved with him. Then he found out that he wasn't really cut out to be a reporter. That's the irony in life. You can aspire to be this and that but sometimes, life may have other plans for you and accepting it may be a happier thing to do. So, I am not going to fret about whether I should go back to Singapore this year or not, whether I should have another baby soon or not, I am just going to let nature takes it course. If I have to stay another year, so be it.

"Bride War" was not worth watching, especially when there were 2 iritating Indian ladies chatting away behind us and kicking my seat. We had to tell them to shut up half way into the movie and they even had the cheeks to comment that we should sit in the VIP room for the movie instead since we were fussy! That was really infuriating. We were there for the movie, not to listen to their conversation! And I really do not like to have my seat moved! Is that being fussy? I really don't want to be prejudice against a certain race but I can't help but realise that these iritating people always come from the same race...the richer northern Indians. *sigh*

Lion Dance @ the warehouse

Had the annual Lion Dance arranged to perform at my warehouse last Friday. This is a traditional Chinese ritual for bringing good luck and prosperity to the workplace. The owner of the building where my warehouse is located is a Japanese man but he has been living in Hong Kong for more than 20 years and he observes this tradition dearly. He has several buildings in Hong Kong and he has his Lion Dance ritual perform at all of them every Chinese New Year. I guess the Lion Dance must have brought him much good luck all these past years. His business is expanding.

For the fun of it, I had the Lion Dance performed at my warehouse for the first time last year and repeated the ritual again this year. So has the past year been good for me or the warehouse? I really can't tell. Other than being quite sick towards the end of the year, I think most of last year has been quite okay for me. As for the warehouse, work has been stable for all until the end of the year when the sales dropped sharply...In this economic situation, I doubt no amount of Lion Dance rituals can make any miracle happen. We just have to ride it out and hope for the best. My wish for this year is that I can keep all the present workers I have at the warehouse and hope that the business will pick up from the 2nd half of the year...

The Lion Dance Group in front of the building @ 9am

Lion Dance @ the warehouse

"Cai Qing" (採青) performance (picking the greens)

We had the red packet and the lettuce pack hung up very high (more than 3 metres) at the warehouse for the "Cai Qing" 採青 performance. We made sure that the performers work hard for their rewards so that all of us get a good show. It was all for fun. :)

Cost-Cutting Measures

With many of our major customers recording unprecedented loses and retrenching staff globally, our headquarter is coming up with all sorts of cost-cutting measures in the company. They are cutting salary of executive staff, freezing pay-rise, retrenching redundant staff, encourage early-retirements, cutting down all business trips and entertainment, and forcing staff to go on unpaid leaves... Over the Lunar New Year period, production lines for discrete items at factories where countries celebrated were closed for the whole month and all the staff were forced to take unpaid leaves. I wonder if they will also plan to close down some factories or oversea offices?

Over here in Hong Kong, the president has tasked the Admin Manager to form a cost-cutting committee with members from every department to come up with ideas for cutting costs in the company. So far, my department has taken the initiative to cut costs. We have negotiated with the biggest network provider here in Hong Kong for a new network contract which is 34% down from the present contract price. I was asked to cut 11 headcounts from the warehouse but I managed to have my proposal of just cutting 6 being approved. The costs of the other 5 headcounts will be shared among the rest of the remaining contract staff who will have their hours cut. It's really all doom and gloom here but I think for those who have not acquire any assets, this is a good time to start looking around. Car prices are down, properties are down, many stocks are more than half the price they used to be when the times were good and there are sales going on everywhere! Hold on to your cash, folks and take the opportunity to invest wisely when the economy bottoms out. When? Don't ask me but I am sure that whatever goes down will come up again...

Feeling empty...

The last 2 months have been too much fun for me...I am feeling kind of EMPTY right now. I have been back in the office for 2 days but I have absolutely no mood to study and definitely no mood to work. I need time to gather up my heart and soul...

I came back to Hong Kong all alone on Sunday evening from Singapore after 10 whole days of the Lunar New Year celebrations with my family. During these 10 days, I have met most of my good friends from school, visited relatives, gave out plenty of red-packets to children and ate all my favourite Singaporean foods. I must have ate more than I should have but with the help of a new health food that my mother-in-law is selling, I actually didn't get an upset tummy! It's enzyme and I heard it will actually help me to loose weight! So, I am faithfully taking it~ ;p

On the last day in Singapore, I visited the Botanical Gardens with son and hubby after dropping N off at church. The garden has been there for more than 100 years but it is immaculately maintained. The entrance has been upgraded, there is an underground carpark, a food court, a botanical library and also an orchid nursery with window showcases for public-viewing. The swan lake is still there and there are 2 white swans who love posing in front of visitors' cameras. I remembered that there used to be a black swan too but I guess it must have died...There are also plenty of turtles and fishes in the pond. I have always loved the Botanical Gardens since young and I am loving it even more. It was a great day, warm and sunny, and we had fun enjoying the fresh air and the greenery that we won't get in Hong Kong. And the best thing about the garden is that visitors can bring their dogs quite unlike Hong Kong where all the public parks do not allow dogs to enter, on leash or not. With many happy dogs and children running around, the garden was just wonderful!