Just wondering man... I could so get used to this. Living the high life at the Grand Hyatt.
I wake up at 7.30 every morning. Pick one of three sets of newspapers (Financial Times, Herald Tribune or South China Morning Post) that are delivered outside my room every morning. Head downstairs for a hearty 280HKD buffet breakfast, while staff I meet always greets me with a smile. Walk out the building while doormen hold them open for me. Hop into a cab as the friendly doorman who remembers me instructs the cabby to take me to the office. Pay only 15HKD to the cabby for the ride which takes only 5mins.
Work at the office is tough, so lets skip to when I leave at about 9plus.
Take one of the many cabs plying the streets back to the hotel. Hit the gym, lift a few weights, then have dinner at one of the many restaurants that charge really exorbitant prices - but I don't care.
Take a nice hot shower in a huge marble-tiled toilet.
Then finally, rest in the comfy bed for next morning.
---
But what if I get used to this?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Singapore Weekend
Flew back to Singapore for the weekend. Pretty tight schedule - flew on Friday at 8pm. At 5.30pm, excused myself from the office (usually leave at 9pm) and rushed to the airport. Arrived Singapore at about 12midnight.
Next morning, went out with TJ, C, C, FL to Old Airport Road hawker center for a very HEARTY brunch/lunch. Otah, fried kway teow, hokkien prawn mee, wan ton soup, carrot cake, honeydew soya bean milk.. was more filling than a buffet meal!
Then headed to Holland Village essential brew. Quite a cool hangout. We each had a drink, and after that we shared a pot of chinese tea. C kept up the suaning - her excuse was Aggie wasn't around so I had to take her place. bah.
Then we went to botanic gardens cus KL and TJ were going to run. funny eh. i would have joined them too - if I had remembered to bring my clothes! So KL and TJ went to jog while C FL and I took a "leisurely" walk in the hot, humid park to this small cafe. The cafe was air conditioned, thankfully. The cafe had a very holiday chalet feel, which felt really comfortable.
Then I went to gf's place for dinner. yum!
Sunday met TJ FL and KL for lunch. JH came a bit late and we had eaten. But the food was superb again. Singapore is really food paradise - seriously, nothing beats it. Curry chicken mee, katong laksa, ba chor mee pok, claypot rice... mmm.. super good.
Then went shopping and bought 3 shirts from Raoul. Shiok stuff. Then bought 2 pants from Robinsons. I think i'm done with shopping for this year already.
--
Working abroad is tough. Separated from gf, family, friends is the toughest.
Yesterday I recalled I had set very ambitious, very unrealistic goals in the past. Probably still achievable - if I had several strokes of good luck - but more importantly, I realised how much less driven I have become as the years go by. But coming back to SG for the weekend I feel recharged for some reason. Thankful for the friends I have. :)
---
There's this group of mainland Chinese here at the airport with me. Sitting or squatting on the carpet floor in a circle playing cards. A group of aunties and uncles in their 40s or 50s making a lot of noise. Talking so loudly as though they're hard of hearing. Sigh these people probably a part of the reason why westerners have a very poor impression of the Chinese. Wish they will behave more... civilised.
---
I'm now back in HK. Lonely :P
Next morning, went out with TJ, C, C, FL to Old Airport Road hawker center for a very HEARTY brunch/lunch. Otah, fried kway teow, hokkien prawn mee, wan ton soup, carrot cake, honeydew soya bean milk.. was more filling than a buffet meal!
Then headed to Holland Village essential brew. Quite a cool hangout. We each had a drink, and after that we shared a pot of chinese tea. C kept up the suaning - her excuse was Aggie wasn't around so I had to take her place. bah.
Then we went to botanic gardens cus KL and TJ were going to run. funny eh. i would have joined them too - if I had remembered to bring my clothes! So KL and TJ went to jog while C FL and I took a "leisurely" walk in the hot, humid park to this small cafe. The cafe was air conditioned, thankfully. The cafe had a very holiday chalet feel, which felt really comfortable.
Then I went to gf's place for dinner. yum!
Sunday met TJ FL and KL for lunch. JH came a bit late and we had eaten. But the food was superb again. Singapore is really food paradise - seriously, nothing beats it. Curry chicken mee, katong laksa, ba chor mee pok, claypot rice... mmm.. super good.
Then went shopping and bought 3 shirts from Raoul. Shiok stuff. Then bought 2 pants from Robinsons. I think i'm done with shopping for this year already.
--
Working abroad is tough. Separated from gf, family, friends is the toughest.
Yesterday I recalled I had set very ambitious, very unrealistic goals in the past. Probably still achievable - if I had several strokes of good luck - but more importantly, I realised how much less driven I have become as the years go by. But coming back to SG for the weekend I feel recharged for some reason. Thankful for the friends I have. :)
---
There's this group of mainland Chinese here at the airport with me. Sitting or squatting on the carpet floor in a circle playing cards. A group of aunties and uncles in their 40s or 50s making a lot of noise. Talking so loudly as though they're hard of hearing. Sigh these people probably a part of the reason why westerners have a very poor impression of the Chinese. Wish they will behave more... civilised.
---
I'm now back in HK. Lonely :P
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Olympic Torch - email that turned into a rant...
An email exchange between a few friends in London
CA - A malaysian
R - a Chinese
SJ
CA - A malaysian
Anyone interested in seeing the Olympic torch?Me - half jokingly
http://www.london.gov.uk/torchrelay/london/map.jsp
There are carnival activites planned as well....I think it should be
interesting.
i will go if you provide me with a "FREE TIBET" T-shirt....
R - a Chinese
*cough* excuse me...SJ - another Chinese
Don't really understand why every single non-Chinese thinks people in Tibet want to be independent. A group of morons kill people, set fire, stole money doesn't necessarily reflect that the majority people in Tibet want to be independent too, I don't think.Me - Start of rant
There is just no single history book or media will report 100% truth. The history books and media were controlled by each country for ease of their rule of the country or for some other political purposes.
As Chinese, we were taught Tibet is part of China. As foreigners, they were told China invaded Tibet in 1959. But the thing is none of us lived at that time and also happened to be in Tibet, we need to do more research and hear stories from all perspectives to judge the issue more objectively.
I totally agree with you here, that no history book or media will report 100% truth. When America invaded Iraq a lot of people thought it was wrong but obviously the americans didn't think so. The American media didn't help either. Luckily there were other media sources like the arab channel (i forgot what it was called). Nowadays, half the war is about public opinion, and this can be affected by the media, which was why they (the americans) initially invited the press to iraq as well to build on the goodwill of the press. This propaganda effort is of course not just the isolated to the americans... The recent Myanmar/Burma riots come to mind - I saw a picture of the national news actually saying that they were trying to maintain stability and security and all that when they killed dunno how many monks and arrested thousands others. they blanked out all forms of media, eventually even shutting down mobile phones and the internet.
Singapore is also quite bad in media freedom. one of the worst in the world in fact. but from what I hear China is worse.
I don't know if this is true, maybe you can educate me... but China disallows access to the BBC. and to blogs like blogspot.com. it also denies access to youtube, except selected videos. Singapore doesn't do that at least - it may censor and pursue those who posted objectionable stuff within singapore but it has little juristiction otherwise. now, i'm sure you'll agree with me that such drastic censorship rules mean less media freedom which means more room for information manipulation.
So how do we judge what is true if we cannot believe the media and we cannot trust history books? Honestly, I don't know myself. I wish I knew. I read about the Christian crusade in the early ages. they were hailed as heroes etc but obviously thats because what we hear is mostly from the western side. Simarly, I had always thought if the Germans and Japanese had won the world war, they would have swamped the world with their propoganda and skewed history that today we might actually believe that they were a great power who united the world or what not.
so back to the crux of the problem. how do we know what is true, and how do we judge more objectively... following the majority isn't obviously the best option but its probably the least antagonistic one. Its like asking if you were crazy, how would you know you're crazy? - probably if you notice everyone else being very different from you. on the other hand, if everyone was the same as you except this one particular guy, then maybe this guy is crazy... so extrapolating from that, given that "every single non-chinese thinks people in Tibet wants to be independent", maybe its only the chinese that thinks tibet wants to be part of china? and that this could be due to the chinese propoganda?
and finally, in my humble opinion, its really difficult to dispute an invasion on whether it actually happened or not... people could uncover the truth (perhaps scrolls or artifacts or events recorded all over the world) about wars happening in 2000B.C.... what happened in 1959 shouldn't be possibly be disputed.
I draw another example to Iraq... if it was easy fabricate a story that China and invaded Tibet, I'm quite certain the Americans could have planted WMDs in Iraq, thus vindicating their unwarranted invasion.
SJ
I like W's attitude. :) Will not run out of things to argue about next time we catch up.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Irrational Markets
Was reading the economist when I came across this line. Pretty good:
"Statistics are like bikinis - what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital."
On another note altogether, somethings been really puzzling me. Its the irrationality of the markets.
Example A.
The US releases data showing that the number of new home sales have dropped dramatically and unexpectedly, pointing towards a recession.
Logically, the markets should drop on these news.
In reality, this data that points towards recession increases the possibility that the Fed may cut its overnight lending rate, and thus the markets actually went up. WTF?
Example B.
Soc Gen discovers 4.9bln of losses made by a rogue trader, and discloses this information on January 23. Stock price drops 4.3%. Makes sense it dropped. What doesn't make sense is that they have only a 39bln market cap - that 4.3% loss is just 1.6bln, or about 1/3rd of the loss from the trader. In fact, now its almost back to its price on Jan 18th. The reason, it seems, is because Soc Gen is now being viewed as a likely takeover target, which boosts the share price. Logical conclusion from this is that their shareholders haven't lost a single cent from the rogue trader. Even losses to such a huge scale doesn't seem to matter - in fact, the larger the loss, the more likely its going to be taken over, and therefore the more likely the share price would go higher. Makes sense to you? Well it doesn't make sense to me.
"Statistics are like bikinis - what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital."
On another note altogether, somethings been really puzzling me. Its the irrationality of the markets.
Example A.
The US releases data showing that the number of new home sales have dropped dramatically and unexpectedly, pointing towards a recession.
Logically, the markets should drop on these news.
In reality, this data that points towards recession increases the possibility that the Fed may cut its overnight lending rate, and thus the markets actually went up. WTF?
Example B.
Soc Gen discovers 4.9bln of losses made by a rogue trader, and discloses this information on January 23. Stock price drops 4.3%. Makes sense it dropped. What doesn't make sense is that they have only a 39bln market cap - that 4.3% loss is just 1.6bln, or about 1/3rd of the loss from the trader. In fact, now its almost back to its price on Jan 18th. The reason, it seems, is because Soc Gen is now being viewed as a likely takeover target, which boosts the share price. Logical conclusion from this is that their shareholders haven't lost a single cent from the rogue trader. Even losses to such a huge scale doesn't seem to matter - in fact, the larger the loss, the more likely its going to be taken over, and therefore the more likely the share price would go higher. Makes sense to you? Well it doesn't make sense to me.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Random things
Random things to note:
1. Returning to London from SG/HK makes me realise once again how expensive London is. A Marks and Spenser microwave meal in London could pay for 2.5 char siew siew arhp fan with teh ping in HK, or 6 plates of 2 dollar chicken rice in SG. Went for lunch with two colleagues. Just a cheap thai restaurant in the area... came up to 10pounds a person. Cheap is a relative word man. Could pay for more than 4.4 char siew siew arhp fan with teh ping, or 10 bowls of super good wan ton mee.
2. The Bhutto assasination intrigues me. I want to find out who did it, but perhaps I won't find an answer (that I will be happy with)
3. After living abroad for so long, I find SG a little bit stifling. I can go on and on about this, but lets just say I won't be able to find pron dvds or magazines in the stores.
4. Some director at barclaycard got fired for making a stupid racist joke, "... are like muslims, some are good, some are shi'ite". While I think the joke was really silly and made in bad taste, I don't think he should be fired for that. People make racist jokes all the time, and some of them are genuinely funny. Making a racist joke doesn't mean a person is racist. For example, we make dumb blonde jokes all the time but that doesn't mean we hate blondes!
1. Returning to London from SG/HK makes me realise once again how expensive London is. A Marks and Spenser microwave meal in London could pay for 2.5 char siew siew arhp fan with teh ping in HK, or 6 plates of 2 dollar chicken rice in SG. Went for lunch with two colleagues. Just a cheap thai restaurant in the area... came up to 10pounds a person. Cheap is a relative word man. Could pay for more than 4.4 char siew siew arhp fan with teh ping, or 10 bowls of super good wan ton mee.
2. The Bhutto assasination intrigues me. I want to find out who did it, but perhaps I won't find an answer (that I will be happy with)
3. After living abroad for so long, I find SG a little bit stifling. I can go on and on about this, but lets just say I won't be able to find pron dvds or magazines in the stores.
4. Some director at barclaycard got fired for making a stupid racist joke, "... are like muslims, some are good, some are shi'ite". While I think the joke was really silly and made in bad taste, I don't think he should be fired for that. People make racist jokes all the time, and some of them are genuinely funny. Making a racist joke doesn't mean a person is racist. For example, we make dumb blonde jokes all the time but that doesn't mean we hate blondes!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year!
I had wanted to make some new year resolutions on the previous post. I know I probably won't remember them by the 1st week of January, but I'll try making them anyway just to focus on what I want to achieve.
- Get in touch with about 50% of my aquaintences. A superpoke doesn't count. At least a wall post.
- Be proactive and productive in my work. So far I've been passive in doing assigned jobs. But any well educated person can do that. I need to do more.
- Be a do-er in every aspect of my life. Too many times I have toyed with ideas or felt like doing something (such as organising a meeting with friends) but I simply procrastinated or felt it was too troublesome and then gave up the idea. I realise that some ideas cannot be pursued, but I will try harder not to hesitate and just do it
- Play less wow. *glurp*
- Care more about the other people around me. With the exception of my gf, I forget birthdays, I don't buy presents, I don't even pay attention on who's going away on holidays and when. To be honest I'm really surprised I have some amazing friends.
- Visit Paris. So many years in London and I've never been to Paris. I'm ashamed.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
From HK back to London
I'm flying today at midnight 30th December. The day before new years eve. At the HK airport now, sitting at a computer terminal typing this blog. Will be working an hour after I touch down in London. Not really looking forward to that... it seemed like a really great idea at the time, to extend as long as possible my stay in HK. But I'm really starting to regret my decision. I should have given myself at least the night to brush my teeth, wash my face, and sleep.
I probably wont have time to blog again in the coming weeks or months. So many things to do, including unpacking, sending digital pictures to friends, getting a Lust Caution dvd for L's bro, erm, installing a new graphics card I bought, and all that is in addition to my work. And World of Warcraft. So... if you don't see me blogging for sometime, I'm just busy (or lazy), not dead on the street...
It wasn't that difficult sending L off at the airport. Previously we had settled on a drop-off, quickly turn around and head off strategy. This works - there is hardly any time to cry before you have to show your passport to the staff and get through customs etc. The other party would also be distracted trying to look at cars and drive away. Usually though, after the distractions are over, the tears would start welling up. This time was similar. I was distracted with shaking hands with L's family and friends (in HK) that I didn't feel the pang of loss. Also cannot cry in front of other people right? But while walking along escalator alone to take the airport express back to the city, I felt the same familiar sense of loss. Sigh... so long already, so many times already, why still this loss?
...
aiyah. time for me to board the plane. Hope I have time to finish this post. in the meantime, happy new year!
I probably wont have time to blog again in the coming weeks or months. So many things to do, including unpacking, sending digital pictures to friends, getting a Lust Caution dvd for L's bro, erm, installing a new graphics card I bought, and all that is in addition to my work. And World of Warcraft. So... if you don't see me blogging for sometime, I'm just busy (or lazy), not dead on the street...
It wasn't that difficult sending L off at the airport. Previously we had settled on a drop-off, quickly turn around and head off strategy. This works - there is hardly any time to cry before you have to show your passport to the staff and get through customs etc. The other party would also be distracted trying to look at cars and drive away. Usually though, after the distractions are over, the tears would start welling up. This time was similar. I was distracted with shaking hands with L's family and friends (in HK) that I didn't feel the pang of loss. Also cannot cry in front of other people right? But while walking along escalator alone to take the airport express back to the city, I felt the same familiar sense of loss. Sigh... so long already, so many times already, why still this loss?
...
aiyah. time for me to board the plane. Hope I have time to finish this post. in the meantime, happy new year!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Leaving Singapore
I'm sitting in Changi Airport using my laptop with wireless access (free, but have to agree for some third party to spam adverts to your mobile phone... and you can't give them a fake phone number either, because they will give you the password through your mobile phone!) waiting for time to pass for my time to board the flight.
Just wanted to jot down that it was really fun to meet up with my bestest friends whenever I'm back. Its great to know that some of them even had go out of their way just to meet me. Erm, did that come out wrong? I don't mean its great that they had to, I mean its great that they did. Even better to know that a lot of them are doing well. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, and public slaves.. i mean, servants...
My mum used to tell me that a lot of my friends were going to be high flyers, the cream of the crop of singapore... That was when I was in Hwachong. I didn't really believe her. After all, our class in Hwachong had the dubious honor of being the "pillar" in the whole school. The term came from a bar chart showing the average scores of each class compared to the mean scores of the whole school. Most other classes had bar charts above the school average. We, however, were the "pillars" that "supported" these above average scores.
Gradually though, I started believing my mum. One day I called TJ at the hospital (he had called earlier, but I was on the phone with you-know-who. So I told TJ I'll call him back). The call was answered by a nurse, so the call went like this:
"Hello?"
"Dr XXX please"
"Who's this speaking?"
"W."
"Patient?"
"No, friend..."
"OK, hold on a moment please"
How cool is that? But maybe I shoud have pretended to be Dr W, a consultant from some other hospital. hehehe.. maybe I should have screamed "Get me Dr TJ on the phone NOW!" hehehehe
Side observation... I'm so sick of christmas songs. Really really really really really sick. They play it ALL THE FREAKIN TIME! In shopping centers, in food courts, in amusement parks, on radio in the taxi, and EVEN CHANGI AIRPORT.
ok, time to head to the gate. Here's wishing all of you a merry merry christmas, and a happy happy new year!
Just wanted to jot down that it was really fun to meet up with my bestest friends whenever I'm back. Its great to know that some of them even had go out of their way just to meet me. Erm, did that come out wrong? I don't mean its great that they had to, I mean its great that they did. Even better to know that a lot of them are doing well. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, and public slaves.. i mean, servants...
My mum used to tell me that a lot of my friends were going to be high flyers, the cream of the crop of singapore... That was when I was in Hwachong. I didn't really believe her. After all, our class in Hwachong had the dubious honor of being the "pillar" in the whole school. The term came from a bar chart showing the average scores of each class compared to the mean scores of the whole school. Most other classes had bar charts above the school average. We, however, were the "pillars" that "supported" these above average scores.
Gradually though, I started believing my mum. One day I called TJ at the hospital (he had called earlier, but I was on the phone with you-know-who. So I told TJ I'll call him back). The call was answered by a nurse, so the call went like this:
"Hello?"
"Dr XXX please"
"Who's this speaking?"
"W."
"Patient?"
"No, friend..."
"OK, hold on a moment please"
How cool is that? But maybe I shoud have pretended to be Dr W, a consultant from some other hospital. hehehe.. maybe I should have screamed "Get me Dr TJ on the phone NOW!" hehehehe
Side observation... I'm so sick of christmas songs. Really really really really really sick. They play it ALL THE FREAKIN TIME! In shopping centers, in food courts, in amusement parks, on radio in the taxi, and EVEN CHANGI AIRPORT.
ok, time to head to the gate. Here's wishing all of you a merry merry christmas, and a happy happy new year!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Another interesting taxi uncle story
All in mandarin,
Taxi Uncle: See that guy there (points to an old man with a bike. His bike has like 10kg of cardboard boxes tied to the rack. Old man is struggling to get up the bike and cycle uphill against the traffic). Nice, at least 7 dollars.
W: Wah, like that got 7 dollars, not bad.
T: Yeah pretty good money hor? 4 trips like that in one day he'll get 28 dollars, more than enough to eat well.
W: Its still pretty tough work.
T: Yeah. But compared to newspapers, which are so cheap. You need a lorry to do anything worthwile with newspapers.
W: So where does he bring them to?
T: Oh, I'm guessing there's a collection point somewhere up there (points to the distance).
W: (not really grasping the distance nor the location) wah, so shiong
T: eh you heard about the garang guni man who stays in a bungalow?
W: no way
T: incredible eh? But its true
W: no way. its impossible.
T: its possible. He saved every penny.
W: (still thinking its impossible, but rather not insist on it) yeah, he's incredible then.
T: Yeah. These people work very hard to get to where they are. A lot of fighting spirit in them.
W: (nod)
T: For example, Mustafa. See his shopping center so big? Last time he was...
W: also a garang guni man?
T: no, he was selling stuff at selegie road (second hand market)
W: wow
T: yeah. But they don't tell you how many times these people have failed to get to where they are.
W: yeah I'm sure they had lots of failures in the past. Happens all the time in business.
T: Yeah this people have a lot of fighting spirit
W: mm (I seem to have heard this before)
T: Another example is Dennis Foo. You know who he is?
W: no? Who is he?
T: He owns basically the whole of St James. Yes, he also worked very hard and failed many times to get to where he is.
W: ah.
T: But you know why he's so successful? He's good with people. A lot of people help him. He wouldn't have gotten to where he is without help from others. Nobody would survive in this business alone.
W: so you're friends with him?
T: No la. Why would he mix with taxi uncles?
W: But I thought you said he doesn't have any airs and is very good with people.
T: He's a friend of my friend la. I don't hang around st james enough. If you hang around there more often, you'll be friends with him too.
W: You don't drink?
T: No la. I don't like to drink. I think its a waste of money.
W: Its nice to go with friends sometimes. Not for the drinking, but for the company.
T: Yeah I go sometimes, but I don't like to drink. After all, once it gets past here (holds his hand up and makes a chopping motion at his throat), there's no taste already. Whats the point?
W: Wah you think like that can save a lot of money.
T: yeah. its true isn't it, once it gets past here (again he does the motion at his throat) ... Correct or not? Once the drink gets past here (motions at his throat again), there is no taste anymore.
W: Yeah Uncle. How about eating? I guess you won't spend on expensive food either.
T: Yah. Once the food gets past here (again, motions at his throat) there is no taste anymore. But food gives you energy, so I don't mind spending more on food.
Luckily, soon after that we arrived at my destination. It seemed like I had gotten him stuck like a broken record. Taxi drivers are usually so interesting.
Taxi Uncle: See that guy there (points to an old man with a bike. His bike has like 10kg of cardboard boxes tied to the rack. Old man is struggling to get up the bike and cycle uphill against the traffic). Nice, at least 7 dollars.
W: Wah, like that got 7 dollars, not bad.
T: Yeah pretty good money hor? 4 trips like that in one day he'll get 28 dollars, more than enough to eat well.
W: Its still pretty tough work.
T: Yeah. But compared to newspapers, which are so cheap. You need a lorry to do anything worthwile with newspapers.
W: So where does he bring them to?
T: Oh, I'm guessing there's a collection point somewhere up there (points to the distance).
W: (not really grasping the distance nor the location) wah, so shiong
T: eh you heard about the garang guni man who stays in a bungalow?
W: no way
T: incredible eh? But its true
W: no way. its impossible.
T: its possible. He saved every penny.
W: (still thinking its impossible, but rather not insist on it) yeah, he's incredible then.
T: Yeah. These people work very hard to get to where they are. A lot of fighting spirit in them.
W: (nod)
T: For example, Mustafa. See his shopping center so big? Last time he was...
W: also a garang guni man?
T: no, he was selling stuff at selegie road (second hand market)
W: wow
T: yeah. But they don't tell you how many times these people have failed to get to where they are.
W: yeah I'm sure they had lots of failures in the past. Happens all the time in business.
T: Yeah this people have a lot of fighting spirit
W: mm (I seem to have heard this before)
T: Another example is Dennis Foo. You know who he is?
W: no? Who is he?
T: He owns basically the whole of St James. Yes, he also worked very hard and failed many times to get to where he is.
W: ah.
T: But you know why he's so successful? He's good with people. A lot of people help him. He wouldn't have gotten to where he is without help from others. Nobody would survive in this business alone.
W: so you're friends with him?
T: No la. Why would he mix with taxi uncles?
W: But I thought you said he doesn't have any airs and is very good with people.
T: He's a friend of my friend la. I don't hang around st james enough. If you hang around there more often, you'll be friends with him too.
W: You don't drink?
T: No la. I don't like to drink. I think its a waste of money.
W: Its nice to go with friends sometimes. Not for the drinking, but for the company.
T: Yeah I go sometimes, but I don't like to drink. After all, once it gets past here (holds his hand up and makes a chopping motion at his throat), there's no taste already. Whats the point?
W: Wah you think like that can save a lot of money.
T: yeah. its true isn't it, once it gets past here (again he does the motion at his throat) ... Correct or not? Once the drink gets past here (motions at his throat again), there is no taste anymore.
W: Yeah Uncle. How about eating? I guess you won't spend on expensive food either.
T: Yah. Once the food gets past here (again, motions at his throat) there is no taste anymore. But food gives you energy, so I don't mind spending more on food.
Luckily, soon after that we arrived at my destination. It seemed like I had gotten him stuck like a broken record. Taxi drivers are usually so interesting.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
But... But...
Conversation between L and I.
L: What should we do tomorrow?
W: Lets go pak tuo.
L: Good idea. I want to watch Lust Caution.
W: Oh yeah! Oh, but then its probably censored. At least thats what my friend told me.
L: Oh no... * open eyes bigger and looks at you starry eyed *
W: As I heard, when its censored...
L: no but? * looks at you with earnest eyes*
W: you lose...
L: no but?
W: the plot.
L: no but?
W: don't think you want to watch Lust Caution without the plot right?
L: no but?
W: what but?
L: Liang Chow Wei's butt.
W: mm.
L: *in a serious look* Its the whole point of the show. The butt.
W: not the plot?
L: I'm sure you want to see some scenes too.
W: So its not about the plot.
L: No.
W: I'm blogging about this.
L: Go ahead. Its not going to be funny anyway.
W: I'm blogging about it anyway.
So here's the entry. And we're not watching Lust Caution in Singapore. Not while its censored. Not without the butt.
L: What should we do tomorrow?
W: Lets go pak tuo.
L: Good idea. I want to watch Lust Caution.
W: Oh yeah! Oh, but then its probably censored. At least thats what my friend told me.
L: Oh no... * open eyes bigger and looks at you starry eyed *
W: As I heard, when its censored...
L: no but? * looks at you with earnest eyes*
W: you lose...
L: no but?
W: the plot.
L: no but?
W: don't think you want to watch Lust Caution without the plot right?
L: no but?
W: what but?
L: Liang Chow Wei's butt.
W: mm.
L: *in a serious look* Its the whole point of the show. The butt.
W: not the plot?
L: I'm sure you want to see some scenes too.
W: So its not about the plot.
L: No.
W: I'm blogging about this.
L: Go ahead. Its not going to be funny anyway.
W: I'm blogging about it anyway.
So here's the entry. And we're not watching Lust Caution in Singapore. Not while its censored. Not without the butt.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Better be blogging now, since got so much time now :)
Quite an eventful day today.
Went down to AIA to "surrender" my current investment policy. My mum needs the money and now is as good time as any to cash in any investments... so I did it. Expecting all kinds of sales pitches to keep my money, I was a little bit disappointed.
** what I was expecting **
- diverted to the sweetest looking salesgirl at the counter -
Salesgirl (SG): Sir, can I help you?
Me: Yes, please. I'd like to surrender my policy.
SG: May I know why sir?
Me: I need the money.
SG: Oh, have you considered alternatives sir? We have this facility where you can take a loan against your policy as collateral...
Me: Oh, no. I don't want to take any loans.
SG: Oh, in that case sir, you can also suspend your policy for a period.
Me: I need the money.
SG: Alright sir, I understand. I'll just be checking your account now.
- a minute -
SG: Sir, did you bring your policy document with you?
Me: No.
SG: Oh no. I need that to process your account.
Me: No kidding.
SG: But for you sir, we'll make an exception. But the admistrative fee will be 2% of your policy value.
Me: Seriously?
SG: Yes sir. When would you want the money, sir?
Me: As soon as possible, of course.
SG: Understood sir. The soonest will be next week, when they liquidate your holdings. You'll be getting the cheque in one month.
Me: ... ah, thats fine I guess. Please go ahead.
SG: OK. Moment please
- brings out several forms from under the desk.
SG: Now sir, if you'll head over there (points to a standing only room crowded with people filling out forms) and fill out these forms, please. And then take a queue number again once you're done.
Me: No way. Seriously?
SG: I was joking sir. You'll also need to fill in these other forms as well (takes out another stack of forms).
Me: ...
- after taking an hour to fill out the forms -
Me: Here you go, miss. Now, is everything ok?
SG: Yes sir. Leave that with me. It'll be processed next week.
Me: ...
** Actual scenario **
- diverted to a bespactacled nerdy looking clerk.
Nerdy clerk (NC): Sir, can I help you?
Me: Yes please. I'd like to surrender my policy because...
NC: Understood sir. IC please?
Me: Here you go.
NC: Moment please...
- prints out policy value and passes it to me -
NC: This is the value that you'll be expected to recieve sir. Are you ok with that?
Me: Yes.
NC: Ok sir. Because its after 2pm..
- I took in a deep breath to prepare for the worst -
NC: ... the funds will be liquidated on Wednesday. Is that ok?
Me: Sure.
NC: Ok moment please...
- NC takes out two forms, fills them out speedily and passes them to me to sign. I sign them. -
NC: OK sir, the cheque will be mailed to you in 5 working days.
Me: Sure. Thanks. (I stood up to leave)
NC: Oh sir, would you like a desk calendar or a dairy?
Me: Yeah why not? I'd like a desk calendar please.
- NC disappers behind, and comes out with an envelope.
NC: Here you go sir. You've got the diary as well.
I was left puzzled. I got a gift for surrendering my policy... just how much are these guys making? But I was still pretty happy surrendering the policy was as simple as getting a queue number, bringing your IC, and signing two forms.
After that, I went to visit my company's Singapore office, since it was nearby as well and I wanted to check out the office and the people who work there. Man, the office is sooooo nice. Super modern, overlooking the bay, it was seriously one of the nicest buildings I've been in. Erm. Actually, it IS the nicest building I've been in.
They coincidentally had scheduled a team dinner that evening and asked me to join. I accepted of course. But it was still early, so I decided to head downstairs and walk around the area. You know, explore and shop a bit. After all, I've explored London, Hong Kong and Taipei's CBD but I've never EVAR explored Singapore. I felt like a tourist in my own country. So off I went.
And just as I stepped out of the building, I spotted a pretty young lady talking to a fat old man. Unsure of where to explore first, I looked left and then right, and then I saw the pretty lady waving in my direction, enthusiastically... Oh I couldn't know this person, I thought. So I turned around and looked for the person she was waving to. And lol, there was no-one but me.
"W!"
I turned around. Looked straight at her and squinted, trying frantically to remember. She knows me?!?!
"Its JJ!"
Ahhhhhhhhhh. Now I remember. Walking up close, I could finally recognise her. The man she was with excused himself and left. He was apparently a client of hers.
Its been such a long time since I've met JJ. She was my JC classmate. Could be almost 10 years. Actually not 10 years la. I'm not that old. But probably 8. And to think I couldn't recognise her at first. Wanting to catch up with her, I asked her for a coffee. She agreed. So we headed downstairs.
"So what coffee you want? Ang Mor or Chinese?" she asked?
"Er..." glancing at Pacific Coffee vs some no name snack bar, "Chinese style ba".
And we caught up a little. She's in finance too, so she understood perfectly what I'm doing, even what I used to be doing. And its odd, because my closest friends have no inkling.
"Sure la. If TJ tell you about some Cardio-whatever, you know meh?" JJ remarked.
Er... I recalled that time D was telling a story of a doctor in India prescribing some drug to a patient, like it was a terrible terrible thing. I was like, "This drug, is it like cocaine class or marijuana class?".
Anyway, although her appearance has changed quite a bit (she lost a lot of weight, and dressed a lot more mature compared to JC uniform of course) she's still very much the same in terms of her cheerfulness and teh-ness (oi, don't tell her hor). I commented about that to her and she says, "Aiyah, there will be a line of course with clients la. I won't be like that." haha, glad to know she doesn't treat me like a client.
I didn't learn much about her life now though, as much as I'd like to. I had the dinner to go to, and she had to go back to the office. We exchanged phone numbers (actually I still had her phone number from wayyyyyyyyy back - "You still using this number?", "yeah", "for how long already?", "haha.. probably 10 years lor!") and then parted. We actually tried calling TJ, but couldn't get through to him. So oh well...
Then I headed off to dinner with my SG colleagues. It was weird at first because I didn't know anyone there, except this one guy I met while I was in HK. Quite a cool friendly dude. But everyone was pretty nice, and as the dinner continued people started loosening up and it got more fun. The best part of the evening was when one female colleague (lets call her M) started bitching about a trader sitting opposite him.
"You know this guy ah, he talks so loudly! I can hear whatever he's saying on the phone. And the things he says ah, aiyoh!
"Not say I kaypoh or anything la. But he talk so loudly, with so much detail, how not to notice?"
The whole table listened in concentration.
"He will say something like, 'oh you're feeling hot? hot eh? heh heh heh'"
At this point I burst out laughing.
"Seriously you know!", she turned to me, probably her most entertained audience, "and he'll be walking around the office with his headset talking like that.
"He'll also say things like, 'I'm not going out with you tonight. You'll only cry!' So I'm guessing he's talking to his girlfriend lor
"He shouts at people all the time in the office and scolds them and can be so fierce. But when he's on the phone sometimes he'll be like, 'baby, you're not feeling happy? its ok, baby, go spend some money. as much as you like. would that make you feel happier?'"
At this point the auntie-secretary, a fiesty woman herself, joined in. "Yeah! There was one time he came over to me and said, 'I need some flowers! Now! 24 dollars, 48 dollars, whatever, I don't care. But I need the flowers now!"
M continued, "Whats funny hor, there was once I heard him say, 'Oh honey, what's the matter? You know I love you. You're like a brother to me!'"
At this point I really couldn't control my laughter. The whole table was also laughing away.
"Seriously?" I asked, "he said brother?"
"Yes! Brother!"
"So he's gay?"
"I don't know la. Probably bi"
So funny, this unrestrained bitching. If only they had stuff like this in Hong Kong. I felt everyone was so guarded in HK. Like you couldn't really talk to anybody about anything. Or maybe its just this team. Anyway, it was pretty fun. Nowhere near as fun as hanging out with old friends, but it couldn't really be much better with complete strangers.
And now I'm blogging about today. Long entry, but a pretty eventful day eh, considering it only started at 3pm. hehehehe...
Went down to AIA to "surrender" my current investment policy. My mum needs the money and now is as good time as any to cash in any investments... so I did it. Expecting all kinds of sales pitches to keep my money, I was a little bit disappointed.
** what I was expecting **
- diverted to the sweetest looking salesgirl at the counter -
Salesgirl (SG): Sir, can I help you?
Me: Yes, please. I'd like to surrender my policy.
SG: May I know why sir?
Me: I need the money.
SG: Oh, have you considered alternatives sir? We have this facility where you can take a loan against your policy as collateral...
Me: Oh, no. I don't want to take any loans.
SG: Oh, in that case sir, you can also suspend your policy for a period.
Me: I need the money.
SG: Alright sir, I understand. I'll just be checking your account now.
- a minute -
SG: Sir, did you bring your policy document with you?
Me: No.
SG: Oh no. I need that to process your account.
Me: No kidding.
SG: But for you sir, we'll make an exception. But the admistrative fee will be 2% of your policy value.
Me: Seriously?
SG: Yes sir. When would you want the money, sir?
Me: As soon as possible, of course.
SG: Understood sir. The soonest will be next week, when they liquidate your holdings. You'll be getting the cheque in one month.
Me: ... ah, thats fine I guess. Please go ahead.
SG: OK. Moment please
- brings out several forms from under the desk.
SG: Now sir, if you'll head over there (points to a standing only room crowded with people filling out forms) and fill out these forms, please. And then take a queue number again once you're done.
Me: No way. Seriously?
SG: I was joking sir. You'll also need to fill in these other forms as well (takes out another stack of forms).
Me: ...
- after taking an hour to fill out the forms -
Me: Here you go, miss. Now, is everything ok?
SG: Yes sir. Leave that with me. It'll be processed next week.
Me: ...
** Actual scenario **
- diverted to a bespactacled nerdy looking clerk.
Nerdy clerk (NC): Sir, can I help you?
Me: Yes please. I'd like to surrender my policy because...
NC: Understood sir. IC please?
Me: Here you go.
NC: Moment please...
- prints out policy value and passes it to me -
NC: This is the value that you'll be expected to recieve sir. Are you ok with that?
Me: Yes.
NC: Ok sir. Because its after 2pm..
- I took in a deep breath to prepare for the worst -
NC: ... the funds will be liquidated on Wednesday. Is that ok?
Me: Sure.
NC: Ok moment please...
- NC takes out two forms, fills them out speedily and passes them to me to sign. I sign them. -
NC: OK sir, the cheque will be mailed to you in 5 working days.
Me: Sure. Thanks. (I stood up to leave)
NC: Oh sir, would you like a desk calendar or a dairy?
Me: Yeah why not? I'd like a desk calendar please.
- NC disappers behind, and comes out with an envelope.
NC: Here you go sir. You've got the diary as well.
I was left puzzled. I got a gift for surrendering my policy... just how much are these guys making? But I was still pretty happy surrendering the policy was as simple as getting a queue number, bringing your IC, and signing two forms.
After that, I went to visit my company's Singapore office, since it was nearby as well and I wanted to check out the office and the people who work there. Man, the office is sooooo nice. Super modern, overlooking the bay, it was seriously one of the nicest buildings I've been in. Erm. Actually, it IS the nicest building I've been in.
They coincidentally had scheduled a team dinner that evening and asked me to join. I accepted of course. But it was still early, so I decided to head downstairs and walk around the area. You know, explore and shop a bit. After all, I've explored London, Hong Kong and Taipei's CBD but I've never EVAR explored Singapore. I felt like a tourist in my own country. So off I went.
And just as I stepped out of the building, I spotted a pretty young lady talking to a fat old man. Unsure of where to explore first, I looked left and then right, and then I saw the pretty lady waving in my direction, enthusiastically... Oh I couldn't know this person, I thought. So I turned around and looked for the person she was waving to. And lol, there was no-one but me.
"W!"
I turned around. Looked straight at her and squinted, trying frantically to remember. She knows me?!?!
"Its JJ!"
Ahhhhhhhhhh. Now I remember. Walking up close, I could finally recognise her. The man she was with excused himself and left. He was apparently a client of hers.
Its been such a long time since I've met JJ. She was my JC classmate. Could be almost 10 years. Actually not 10 years la. I'm not that old. But probably 8. And to think I couldn't recognise her at first. Wanting to catch up with her, I asked her for a coffee. She agreed. So we headed downstairs.
"So what coffee you want? Ang Mor or Chinese?" she asked?
"Er..." glancing at Pacific Coffee vs some no name snack bar, "Chinese style ba".
And we caught up a little. She's in finance too, so she understood perfectly what I'm doing, even what I used to be doing. And its odd, because my closest friends have no inkling.
"Sure la. If TJ tell you about some Cardio-whatever, you know meh?" JJ remarked.
Er... I recalled that time D was telling a story of a doctor in India prescribing some drug to a patient, like it was a terrible terrible thing. I was like, "This drug, is it like cocaine class or marijuana class?".
Anyway, although her appearance has changed quite a bit (she lost a lot of weight, and dressed a lot more mature compared to JC uniform of course) she's still very much the same in terms of her cheerfulness and teh-ness (oi, don't tell her hor). I commented about that to her and she says, "Aiyah, there will be a line of course with clients la. I won't be like that." haha, glad to know she doesn't treat me like a client.
I didn't learn much about her life now though, as much as I'd like to. I had the dinner to go to, and she had to go back to the office. We exchanged phone numbers (actually I still had her phone number from wayyyyyyyyy back - "You still using this number?", "yeah", "for how long already?", "haha.. probably 10 years lor!") and then parted. We actually tried calling TJ, but couldn't get through to him. So oh well...
Then I headed off to dinner with my SG colleagues. It was weird at first because I didn't know anyone there, except this one guy I met while I was in HK. Quite a cool friendly dude. But everyone was pretty nice, and as the dinner continued people started loosening up and it got more fun. The best part of the evening was when one female colleague (lets call her M) started bitching about a trader sitting opposite him.
"You know this guy ah, he talks so loudly! I can hear whatever he's saying on the phone. And the things he says ah, aiyoh!
"Not say I kaypoh or anything la. But he talk so loudly, with so much detail, how not to notice?"
The whole table listened in concentration.
"He will say something like, 'oh you're feeling hot? hot eh? heh heh heh'"
At this point I burst out laughing.
"Seriously you know!", she turned to me, probably her most entertained audience, "and he'll be walking around the office with his headset talking like that.
"He'll also say things like, 'I'm not going out with you tonight. You'll only cry!' So I'm guessing he's talking to his girlfriend lor
"He shouts at people all the time in the office and scolds them and can be so fierce. But when he's on the phone sometimes he'll be like, 'baby, you're not feeling happy? its ok, baby, go spend some money. as much as you like. would that make you feel happier?'"
At this point the auntie-secretary, a fiesty woman herself, joined in. "Yeah! There was one time he came over to me and said, 'I need some flowers! Now! 24 dollars, 48 dollars, whatever, I don't care. But I need the flowers now!"
M continued, "Whats funny hor, there was once I heard him say, 'Oh honey, what's the matter? You know I love you. You're like a brother to me!'"
At this point I really couldn't control my laughter. The whole table was also laughing away.
"Seriously?" I asked, "he said brother?"
"Yes! Brother!"
"So he's gay?"
"I don't know la. Probably bi"
So funny, this unrestrained bitching. If only they had stuff like this in Hong Kong. I felt everyone was so guarded in HK. Like you couldn't really talk to anybody about anything. Or maybe its just this team. Anyway, it was pretty fun. Nowhere near as fun as hanging out with old friends, but it couldn't really be much better with complete strangers.
And now I'm blogging about today. Long entry, but a pretty eventful day eh, considering it only started at 3pm. hehehehe...
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Old Friends
Not friends who're old hor.
I actually wrote this down last night on a pen an paper, because I didn't have computer access and I didn't want to forget about it. But ironically, I didn't bring that piece of paper because I couldn't predict when I'll be in front of a computer blogging about my gathering last night.
I didn't have very high expectations of dinner. I knew it would be fun, but you know, I felt that as people got busier with their career and family (er this time the word "family" includes spouses lor...), inevitably things will never be the same. But I was wrong.
Met with TJ first. As usual, he was the most punctual (although also a little bit late.. but so was I hehe). We went shopping for a little bit, while heading to look for food. Somewhere a little quiet. But it was Saturday at Suntec... quiet? haha.
"It generally gets more quiet the more expensive the place is." TJ remarked. It was true, I had to balance quietness with cost... Anyway, he suggested Outback Steakhouse, so we went there.
Then I got a call from C, "Eh where are you all ah?"
"Oh, we're heading to Outback Steakhouse. At Millenia walk"
"Oh ok, see you there"
Then TJ and I went on walking along Millenia Walk randomly window shopping while talking about all sorts of stuff. Then he remembered this shirt shop, "Raoul" and brought me there. I was very pleasantly surprised with the shirts design and materials. Even the cuff links were cute and stylish. Its nothing like the shirts I find in London.
In London the shirt quality is quite good. Even a normal, simple white shirt can have so many different types, I realised. Say the cut.. even when they look the same from the hanger, it can look different on a person. The collar, the shoulders, the waist, even the way the sleeves hang down your arm. I'm not a designer nor am I an expert, but after wearing shirts of various brands, I can say the G2000 shirt cuts and the Zara shirt cuts are quite different. hehehe. Then the material.. Even a white piece of cloth can have so many types. Got those stripped patterned white, got those thinish almost see through white, got those cloth with horizontal/ vertical/ diagonal/ herringbone patterns that you can't see until you go up close...
But Raoul had them all. I walked into the shop and got drawn immediately by one particular red shirt, whose sheen was so lustrious, it looked like... er... the red fabric they use in advertisements... I don't know how to describe it. I would never wear that of course, I was just amazed that they actually had made a shirt of this material. And then there were so many more. From the classy party-going rich kids kind of shirts to the classy client-facing investment bankers kind of shirts....
Then C called, "Eh where are you ah?"
"Ah? You're at Outback already?"
"You're not there yet?!"
"Ah ah, coming!"
"Win lor, like that"
I found that particular short conversation very funny for some reason. "Win lor"... it doesn't make any semantic sense, but it just felt so familiar.
Anyway, after meeting up with C, TJ and I brought her back to Raoul so I could finish looking at the shirts. I very impulsively decided to buy 2 shirts, and tried them on for size. And C spotted some really cool looking cuff links. One pair was "Guilty" on one side, "Not Guilty" on the other. Another pair was a bottlecap on one side and a bottle opener on the other. I bought the pair that was super hilarious, the English Pound sign with bling bling.
The restaurant had called earlier to say that seats were now available... So I wanted to finish it up quickly and get to the restaurant. I told the salesgirl I wanted the two shirts and the cufflink. She very cleverly suggested that I break up the shirts with the cufflinks on separate receipts, since on any purchase above 200, I get 20% of that back as a gift card, that I can subsequently use to purchase the cufflink. Great! I was happy with that.
Then a complication. The salesgirl was like, "Sir, the giftcard is 50 dollars. The cufflink, after discount, is 48 dollars."
Not seeing anything wrong, I was like, "sure, no problem. Please go ahead."
Then C practically started screaming at me, "Its 2 dollars!!! What do you mean go ahead?"
"Its only 2 dollars!"
"Its 2 dollars!!!"
"Err..." I turned to the salesgirl.
"You can purchase some boxers? Or socks?" the salesgirl offered helpfully.
I was in a hurry to get to the restaurant right, so I was like, "Nah, its ok, just do it."
"NOO!! Its 2 dollars!!", C screamed. "Why not give it to TJ, since he's also going to be buying some?"
Hmm, can I do that? I thought. "How about I leave the card and the cufflinks and spend that extra 2 dollars on his purchase?"
TJ: "Er, then am I eligible for a gift card too?"
Salesgirl: "Er... no."
As you can imagine, how much precious time has passed by with this discussion over 2 dollars which isn't really REAL 2 dollars. (I have more to say about this, but lets not distract from the story) And we're back to square one.
Knowing C will scream at me again for giving up that 2 dollars, I ended up buying 2 pairs of socks extra. And I had to pay 5 more dollars of REAL money for that.
Then fastforward to dinner. JH joined us with his wife-to-be. Then D joined us with his wife. And we joked and talked crap and C was relentless in suaning. She didn't let anyone off, except TJ, for some reason. Why?
I felt so comfortable with them. Even with insults hurling all over the place (I accidentally er.. attacked a significant other.. sorry...) people were laughing and enoying themselves.
At the end of the gathering we were thinking of a place to meet again. So grateful that this bunch of friends are considering this gathering before I leave again.
I think I'm starved of friends in London and HK. Its good to be home.
======
Anyway, I did ask D and JH whether they would have given up that 2 dollars. Apparently, they would have done the same as me! Hrumph!
C tried to justify her stand with the true story of a Singaporean woman who couldn't afford to feed her kids, she had to buy soft drinks for them so that they could sip it through the whole day. But this is like the "Africa argument" (if you've never heard it before, it goes like this: "Don't waste food, think about the people who are starving in Africa") - regardless of whether I bought the extra pair of socks or not, the 2 dollars isn't going anywhere.
Now, here's my argument. The 2 dollars is sunk cost. It shouldn't ever be considered anymore, as it doesn't add any value to any decision making. The only thing I have to consider is that I can buy something else at a 2 dollar discount. So, socks that cost 7 dollars would now cost 5 dollars. And this is the issue, do I want to pay 5 dollars for a pair of socks?
For the sake of argument, if there were socks of as good quality selling next door for 4 dollars, what would you do, head over next door, or pay 5 dollars for socks so that you get to "use" that 2 dollars? Obviously you'll head next door right? So obviously, that 2 dollars doesn't count at all right? All you're considering is 5 dollars vs 4.
And as to why it isn't REAL money, its easy. You can do whatever you want with real money. But what can you do with a gift card? Can you get cash back from that gift card? Thats precisely the reason why a 50 dollar GAP voucher can't sell in Ebay for 50 dollars. Thats why I say it isn't real money.
But I gave in to C. She just felt so strongly about the 2 dollars, I had to get myself that pair of socks. And actually, I really do need them (I forgot to bring socks back! lol!)
I actually wrote this down last night on a pen an paper, because I didn't have computer access and I didn't want to forget about it. But ironically, I didn't bring that piece of paper because I couldn't predict when I'll be in front of a computer blogging about my gathering last night.
I didn't have very high expectations of dinner. I knew it would be fun, but you know, I felt that as people got busier with their career and family (er this time the word "family" includes spouses lor...), inevitably things will never be the same. But I was wrong.
Met with TJ first. As usual, he was the most punctual (although also a little bit late.. but so was I hehe). We went shopping for a little bit, while heading to look for food. Somewhere a little quiet. But it was Saturday at Suntec... quiet? haha.
"It generally gets more quiet the more expensive the place is." TJ remarked. It was true, I had to balance quietness with cost... Anyway, he suggested Outback Steakhouse, so we went there.
Then I got a call from C, "Eh where are you all ah?"
"Oh, we're heading to Outback Steakhouse. At Millenia walk"
"Oh ok, see you there"
Then TJ and I went on walking along Millenia Walk randomly window shopping while talking about all sorts of stuff. Then he remembered this shirt shop, "Raoul" and brought me there. I was very pleasantly surprised with the shirts design and materials. Even the cuff links were cute and stylish. Its nothing like the shirts I find in London.
In London the shirt quality is quite good. Even a normal, simple white shirt can have so many different types, I realised. Say the cut.. even when they look the same from the hanger, it can look different on a person. The collar, the shoulders, the waist, even the way the sleeves hang down your arm. I'm not a designer nor am I an expert, but after wearing shirts of various brands, I can say the G2000 shirt cuts and the Zara shirt cuts are quite different. hehehe. Then the material.. Even a white piece of cloth can have so many types. Got those stripped patterned white, got those thinish almost see through white, got those cloth with horizontal/ vertical/ diagonal/ herringbone patterns that you can't see until you go up close...
But Raoul had them all. I walked into the shop and got drawn immediately by one particular red shirt, whose sheen was so lustrious, it looked like... er... the red fabric they use in advertisements... I don't know how to describe it. I would never wear that of course, I was just amazed that they actually had made a shirt of this material. And then there were so many more. From the classy party-going rich kids kind of shirts to the classy client-facing investment bankers kind of shirts....
Then C called, "Eh where are you ah?"
"Ah? You're at Outback already?"
"You're not there yet?!"
"Ah ah, coming!"
"Win lor, like that"
I found that particular short conversation very funny for some reason. "Win lor"... it doesn't make any semantic sense, but it just felt so familiar.
Anyway, after meeting up with C, TJ and I brought her back to Raoul so I could finish looking at the shirts. I very impulsively decided to buy 2 shirts, and tried them on for size. And C spotted some really cool looking cuff links. One pair was "Guilty" on one side, "Not Guilty" on the other. Another pair was a bottlecap on one side and a bottle opener on the other. I bought the pair that was super hilarious, the English Pound sign with bling bling.
The restaurant had called earlier to say that seats were now available... So I wanted to finish it up quickly and get to the restaurant. I told the salesgirl I wanted the two shirts and the cufflink. She very cleverly suggested that I break up the shirts with the cufflinks on separate receipts, since on any purchase above 200, I get 20% of that back as a gift card, that I can subsequently use to purchase the cufflink. Great! I was happy with that.
Then a complication. The salesgirl was like, "Sir, the giftcard is 50 dollars. The cufflink, after discount, is 48 dollars."
Not seeing anything wrong, I was like, "sure, no problem. Please go ahead."
Then C practically started screaming at me, "Its 2 dollars!!! What do you mean go ahead?"
"Its only 2 dollars!"
"Its 2 dollars!!!"
"Err..." I turned to the salesgirl.
"You can purchase some boxers? Or socks?" the salesgirl offered helpfully.
I was in a hurry to get to the restaurant right, so I was like, "Nah, its ok, just do it."
"NOO!! Its 2 dollars!!", C screamed. "Why not give it to TJ, since he's also going to be buying some?"
Hmm, can I do that? I thought. "How about I leave the card and the cufflinks and spend that extra 2 dollars on his purchase?"
TJ: "Er, then am I eligible for a gift card too?"
Salesgirl: "Er... no."
As you can imagine, how much precious time has passed by with this discussion over 2 dollars which isn't really REAL 2 dollars. (I have more to say about this, but lets not distract from the story) And we're back to square one.
Knowing C will scream at me again for giving up that 2 dollars, I ended up buying 2 pairs of socks extra. And I had to pay 5 more dollars of REAL money for that.
Then fastforward to dinner. JH joined us with his wife-to-be. Then D joined us with his wife. And we joked and talked crap and C was relentless in suaning. She didn't let anyone off, except TJ, for some reason. Why?
I felt so comfortable with them. Even with insults hurling all over the place (I accidentally er.. attacked a significant other.. sorry...) people were laughing and enoying themselves.
At the end of the gathering we were thinking of a place to meet again. So grateful that this bunch of friends are considering this gathering before I leave again.
I think I'm starved of friends in London and HK. Its good to be home.
======
Anyway, I did ask D and JH whether they would have given up that 2 dollars. Apparently, they would have done the same as me! Hrumph!
C tried to justify her stand with the true story of a Singaporean woman who couldn't afford to feed her kids, she had to buy soft drinks for them so that they could sip it through the whole day. But this is like the "Africa argument" (if you've never heard it before, it goes like this: "Don't waste food, think about the people who are starving in Africa") - regardless of whether I bought the extra pair of socks or not, the 2 dollars isn't going anywhere.
Now, here's my argument. The 2 dollars is sunk cost. It shouldn't ever be considered anymore, as it doesn't add any value to any decision making. The only thing I have to consider is that I can buy something else at a 2 dollar discount. So, socks that cost 7 dollars would now cost 5 dollars. And this is the issue, do I want to pay 5 dollars for a pair of socks?
For the sake of argument, if there were socks of as good quality selling next door for 4 dollars, what would you do, head over next door, or pay 5 dollars for socks so that you get to "use" that 2 dollars? Obviously you'll head next door right? So obviously, that 2 dollars doesn't count at all right? All you're considering is 5 dollars vs 4.
And as to why it isn't REAL money, its easy. You can do whatever you want with real money. But what can you do with a gift card? Can you get cash back from that gift card? Thats precisely the reason why a 50 dollar GAP voucher can't sell in Ebay for 50 dollars. Thats why I say it isn't real money.
But I gave in to C. She just felt so strongly about the 2 dollars, I had to get myself that pair of socks. And actually, I really do need them (I forgot to bring socks back! lol!)
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Causeway Bay
I spent most of today at Causeway Bay. There's just so much to do / see / eat there. Its so happening, and its so blady crowded.
Had lunch there with two old friends. Not friends who're old... friends whom I've known for a long time. They never let me pay for anything... I don't usually have this "problem"... Friend, if you're reading this please note: Allow me to pay sometimes...
Then I hung out with an ex-colleague who shares pretty much the same interests. We went to a "PC Room" (also known as Lan gaming centers, in other parts of the world) and played CounterStrike 3. Geeky eh. But fun!
This guy is funny. He pointed out an acute observation, which I subsequently verified... The current fashion trend (for girls) is to wear stockings/tights and a short denim skirt or a pullover kinda blouse with a band / elastic at the hem of the blouse. And knee length boots. Its true, almost half of all the trendy looking girls in HK are wearing that kind of outfit.
Then I went to buy some stuff for a Hong Kong friend based in London. She wanted some specific items - "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner" x 2 and "Lasting Radiance Whiten and Pinky mask" x 2. She didn't write chinese characters, and I forgot to print out the list and pictures. I forgot exactly what she wanted - but then I realised I could access my gmail through my blackberry.
So I went into Bonjour, this shop dedicated to selling toiletries, cosmetics and other beauty products. I went for the youngest (usually the young ones speak english) and most educated looking sales person, showed her the text "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner". And she asked, "what brand is this?".
"Opal, I think. O-P-A-L".
"Hmm, I think we don't have" - in broken english/canto mix.
"OK. Do you have this then?" I asked in Canto, showing her the "Lasting Radiance blah blah" text.
"Er.. Don't think so."
Sigh. I walked out of the shop, and went to Sasa, another shop similar to Bonjour. Again, I tried the same thing. Again, out of broken English, I got the same confused reply, and also "can these be found in Sasa?". My friend did mention that Bonjour and Watsons have them, so I thought maybe I should try Watsons.
So I went into Watsons. All the while playing with my Blackberry trying to get the pictures of the products (my friend must have predicted the problem I faced trying to find something based on the English name...). And finally I got the pictures. Happy with myself, I showed the picture to the nearest salesgirl, and asked "Li gor yau mou ah?" (This one got or not?). The response was FANTASTIC this time...
(In canto) "Yes we do! Over here!" and brought me to a shelf just behind her. Wah, I was so pleased with myself. I think she was pleased that I was so happy too, she tried to sell me a box of four of those Opal conditioner thing. Nah, I didn't want to buy so many. I scrolled down and showed her the other item - the "Lasting Radiance blah blah mask".
Again, fantastic response, "Got! Just downstairs!" (also in Canto). Anyway, long story cut short, they sold out of those. So I went back to Bonjour, showed the picture, and promptly got directed to the proper shelf. I finally found them (last two in the shop) and bought them, walking away immensely happy with myself, my blackberry, and my friend for being smart enough to email pictures...
oops, its talking to gf time. :)
Had lunch there with two old friends. Not friends who're old... friends whom I've known for a long time. They never let me pay for anything... I don't usually have this "problem"... Friend, if you're reading this please note: Allow me to pay sometimes...
Then I hung out with an ex-colleague who shares pretty much the same interests. We went to a "PC Room" (also known as Lan gaming centers, in other parts of the world) and played CounterStrike 3. Geeky eh. But fun!
This guy is funny. He pointed out an acute observation, which I subsequently verified... The current fashion trend (for girls) is to wear stockings/tights and a short denim skirt or a pullover kinda blouse with a band / elastic at the hem of the blouse. And knee length boots. Its true, almost half of all the trendy looking girls in HK are wearing that kind of outfit.
Then I went to buy some stuff for a Hong Kong friend based in London. She wanted some specific items - "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner" x 2 and "Lasting Radiance Whiten and Pinky mask" x 2. She didn't write chinese characters, and I forgot to print out the list and pictures. I forgot exactly what she wanted - but then I realised I could access my gmail through my blackberry.
So I went into Bonjour, this shop dedicated to selling toiletries, cosmetics and other beauty products. I went for the youngest (usually the young ones speak english) and most educated looking sales person, showed her the text "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner". And she asked, "what brand is this?".
"Opal, I think. O-P-A-L".
"Hmm, I think we don't have" - in broken english/canto mix.
"OK. Do you have this then?" I asked in Canto, showing her the "Lasting Radiance blah blah" text.
"Er.. Don't think so."
Sigh. I walked out of the shop, and went to Sasa, another shop similar to Bonjour. Again, I tried the same thing. Again, out of broken English, I got the same confused reply, and also "can these be found in Sasa?". My friend did mention that Bonjour and Watsons have them, so I thought maybe I should try Watsons.
So I went into Watsons. All the while playing with my Blackberry trying to get the pictures of the products (my friend must have predicted the problem I faced trying to find something based on the English name...). And finally I got the pictures. Happy with myself, I showed the picture to the nearest salesgirl, and asked "Li gor yau mou ah?" (This one got or not?). The response was FANTASTIC this time...
(In canto) "Yes we do! Over here!" and brought me to a shelf just behind her. Wah, I was so pleased with myself. I think she was pleased that I was so happy too, she tried to sell me a box of four of those Opal conditioner thing. Nah, I didn't want to buy so many. I scrolled down and showed her the other item - the "Lasting Radiance blah blah mask".
Again, fantastic response, "Got! Just downstairs!" (also in Canto). Anyway, long story cut short, they sold out of those. So I went back to Bonjour, showed the picture, and promptly got directed to the proper shelf. I finally found them (last two in the shop) and bought them, walking away immensely happy with myself, my blackberry, and my friend for being smart enough to email pictures...
oops, its talking to gf time. :)
Monday, December 03, 2007
Duck rice comparison
London's Hong Kong style roast duck rice is better than Hong Kong's Hong Kong style roast duck rice.
Its not fact yet, since I have only eaten roast duck rice in HK once... but thats my opinion for now.
Its not fact yet, since I have only eaten roast duck rice in HK once... but thats my opinion for now.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Too much good food...
I never used to think I could get too much good food... but seriously after I had eaten too much restaurant style food, all I really wanted was some good tasting, healthy, simple, home-cooked food.
So initially I thought of going to a Cantonese restaurant and ordering a Jiang Chong Zhu Rou Fan (Cheong Chong Ju Yok Fan - Ginger Spring Onion Pork Rice)... and started my exploratory hike down the hill, when I decided I should go visit a supermarket, just to see if there was anything interesting...
Then I saw interesting things... Instant noodles, for example. And fresh paper-thin slices of beef. And golden mushrooms. And then I couldn't resist. I had to cook my own "hotpot". So I got myself a basket and made a tour around the supermarket, buying anything I thought I'd like to try. I ended up buying:
Golden mushrooms, Shitake mushrooms, one other kind of mushroom that I dunno the name, some chai xin (I wanted something healthy, remember?), asparagus, the thinly sliced beef, some udon noodles (that came with soup base seasoning), cuttlefish balls, pork balls with dong-gu (winter mushrooms?) And that's for dinner. I also bought, for breakfast, a carton of orange juice, then... cheong fun, two packets of siew mai, one packet of har gao, one small box of hashbrowns and one packet of sausages...
So it was time to cook. Easy, just split everything into two portions and put them into a pot. The pot was a reasonably big one...
But the pot wasn't big enough... I had to scoup out some stuff onto a bowl so that I could boil the other stuff. And I ate the whole thing. It took a few "tries". i.e., I had to eat, take a break, walk around the room, burp, sit down and eat again, repeat... And even now I'm still feeling full.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna have a big full breakfast :)
So initially I thought of going to a Cantonese restaurant and ordering a Jiang Chong Zhu Rou Fan (Cheong Chong Ju Yok Fan - Ginger Spring Onion Pork Rice)... and started my exploratory hike down the hill, when I decided I should go visit a supermarket, just to see if there was anything interesting...
Then I saw interesting things... Instant noodles, for example. And fresh paper-thin slices of beef. And golden mushrooms. And then I couldn't resist. I had to cook my own "hotpot". So I got myself a basket and made a tour around the supermarket, buying anything I thought I'd like to try. I ended up buying:
Golden mushrooms, Shitake mushrooms, one other kind of mushroom that I dunno the name, some chai xin (I wanted something healthy, remember?), asparagus, the thinly sliced beef, some udon noodles (that came with soup base seasoning), cuttlefish balls, pork balls with dong-gu (winter mushrooms?) And that's for dinner. I also bought, for breakfast, a carton of orange juice, then... cheong fun, two packets of siew mai, one packet of har gao, one small box of hashbrowns and one packet of sausages...
So it was time to cook. Easy, just split everything into two portions and put them into a pot. The pot was a reasonably big one...
But the pot wasn't big enough... I had to scoup out some stuff onto a bowl so that I could boil the other stuff. And I ate the whole thing. It took a few "tries". i.e., I had to eat, take a break, walk around the room, burp, sit down and eat again, repeat... And even now I'm still feeling full.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna have a big full breakfast :)
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Whoahhhh
I just read my blog.... May... was that my last entry? Gosh I'm surprised blogger didn't terminate my account!
Anyway, here I am, in HK once again, having lots of free time because I'm not playing World of Warcraft. And I bought a laptop (will tell the story about it I guess)... and now after a hard week of working, I'm now in my service apartment with absolutely nothing to do. So.. I've decided to blog. Just to, you know, keep a record of my life.
But lets rewind back to May. When I last posted.
...
Hmm, to be honest I don't remember much...
...
OK, so after the trip to HK in May it was pretty much back to work. Due to various reasons in work, like (a) compensation, (b) learning opportunities, and (c) general dissatisfaction, I decided on a change in my career. Wasn't a big thing - was just a matter of speaking to my manager and saying "Hey boss, I would like a switch.". Because I'm popular and well liked, with tons of admirers and fans, I was granted the switch to a desk just a few meters away from where I used to sit. And I graduated from three screens to six. hehehe. The screens isn't so big a deal once you get used to it - but its always the first thing people notice. I just wish my wallet would grow as fast as my screens...
After the job switch I definitely felt more challenged. And I was definitely working much harder. I know I should be working harder - although a large part of me still wants to slack around... but I guess at my age, I should really be trying harder.
But I still couldn't give up on the WoW (World of Warcraft)...
So I was kept busy. And I could never find the time to update my blog.
Then opportunity came for me to work permanently in HK.
I had to consider. I have many friends in London. I've made my home in London. The headquarters is in London. But HK was appealing too. (a) food, (b) proximity to Singapore, (c) potential career opportunities, (d) MUCH lower tax rate, (e) change of lifestyle, (f) an excuse to finally give up the time sucker, WoW.
In the end, I took the opportunity and committed to HK. but alas... due to various work related political complications, that I myself struggle to understand, the big boss decided that I wont be coming here permanently, but temporarily - i.e., I get to travel every few weeks/months to HK. Which is not too bad also, actually, since everything is paid for. Serviced apartment, taxi rides, and a huge budget for food.
And so now I'm here. In HK sitting in the apartment, typing on a laptop I bought just 2 hrs after I landed. I knew I needed a personal laptop - so I just bought it. I didn't even do any research on the internet. I just walked into a store, browsed a little bit, took a fancy to the size/looks and specifications of this, and just bought it! The sales person probably thought I was the easiest customer he had. All the questions I asked were, "Does this come with warranty?", "Does it come with any accesories?" and "What about software?".
OK, now that I've brought you up to date... time for my musings...
1. Can't get used to people NOT holding doors open for you. In the UK, I always thought it was weird, although kinda nice, for complete strangers to hold the door open for you, even though you may be like 10 seconds to the door... Now I can't seem to get used to people not holding doors open! Like there was this incident I was heading back to my desk after going to the toilet and there was a fire door. The guy coming through the door DODGED through the closing door (someone else in front of him opened the door) and didn't even bother to lift a hand to hold the door open just a little bit for me! I was pissed. And then I thought... should I be pissed?
2. I hate friday nights when I'm alone. It sucks to walk through all the happening places looking for dinner and all you see are crowded restaurants, bars, and clubs with people hanging out with friends and having fun... I cannot imagine sitting in a crowded restaurant alone. I was forced to look for somewhere quiet... It was so sad. I never had a problem sitting in a restaurant alone. Now I realise it was because so far I haven't been to a crowded restaurant alone.
Anyway, here I am, in HK once again, having lots of free time because I'm not playing World of Warcraft. And I bought a laptop (will tell the story about it I guess)... and now after a hard week of working, I'm now in my service apartment with absolutely nothing to do. So.. I've decided to blog. Just to, you know, keep a record of my life.
But lets rewind back to May. When I last posted.
...
Hmm, to be honest I don't remember much...
...
OK, so after the trip to HK in May it was pretty much back to work. Due to various reasons in work, like (a) compensation, (b) learning opportunities, and (c) general dissatisfaction, I decided on a change in my career. Wasn't a big thing - was just a matter of speaking to my manager and saying "Hey boss, I would like a switch.". Because I'm popular and well liked, with tons of admirers and fans, I was granted the switch to a desk just a few meters away from where I used to sit. And I graduated from three screens to six. hehehe. The screens isn't so big a deal once you get used to it - but its always the first thing people notice. I just wish my wallet would grow as fast as my screens...
After the job switch I definitely felt more challenged. And I was definitely working much harder. I know I should be working harder - although a large part of me still wants to slack around... but I guess at my age, I should really be trying harder.
But I still couldn't give up on the WoW (World of Warcraft)...
So I was kept busy. And I could never find the time to update my blog.
Then opportunity came for me to work permanently in HK.
I had to consider. I have many friends in London. I've made my home in London. The headquarters is in London. But HK was appealing too. (a) food, (b) proximity to Singapore, (c) potential career opportunities, (d) MUCH lower tax rate, (e) change of lifestyle, (f) an excuse to finally give up the time sucker, WoW.
In the end, I took the opportunity and committed to HK. but alas... due to various work related political complications, that I myself struggle to understand, the big boss decided that I wont be coming here permanently, but temporarily - i.e., I get to travel every few weeks/months to HK. Which is not too bad also, actually, since everything is paid for. Serviced apartment, taxi rides, and a huge budget for food.
And so now I'm here. In HK sitting in the apartment, typing on a laptop I bought just 2 hrs after I landed. I knew I needed a personal laptop - so I just bought it. I didn't even do any research on the internet. I just walked into a store, browsed a little bit, took a fancy to the size/looks and specifications of this, and just bought it! The sales person probably thought I was the easiest customer he had. All the questions I asked were, "Does this come with warranty?", "Does it come with any accesories?" and "What about software?".
OK, now that I've brought you up to date... time for my musings...
1. Can't get used to people NOT holding doors open for you. In the UK, I always thought it was weird, although kinda nice, for complete strangers to hold the door open for you, even though you may be like 10 seconds to the door... Now I can't seem to get used to people not holding doors open! Like there was this incident I was heading back to my desk after going to the toilet and there was a fire door. The guy coming through the door DODGED through the closing door (someone else in front of him opened the door) and didn't even bother to lift a hand to hold the door open just a little bit for me! I was pissed. And then I thought... should I be pissed?
2. I hate friday nights when I'm alone. It sucks to walk through all the happening places looking for dinner and all you see are crowded restaurants, bars, and clubs with people hanging out with friends and having fun... I cannot imagine sitting in a crowded restaurant alone. I was forced to look for somewhere quiet... It was so sad. I never had a problem sitting in a restaurant alone. Now I realise it was because so far I haven't been to a crowded restaurant alone.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Caught this on camera...
Two girls on stage for some Miss HK beauty pagent.
So, I arrived in HK, checked into the hotel, and promptly went out looking for dinner. To my surprise, I came across some beauty pagent just 30m from the hotel...
Immediately, I liked HK already...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sorry for the abrupt end.
I mean my last post, i didn't manage to have the time to end it properly.
anyway, conclusion of the previous post - wicked is a really good musical. Its good not just because the sound, lighting, stage effects, story, entertainment etc.. its really good because it has some grounding in reality and mocks the government or authority as not always being as good as it seems to be...
ok, so moving on.
in the previous post, i was at heathrow airport waiting to fly to HK for business. "wahhhh" i hear all of you say. relax la, its nothing special really, they just want me to come down to HK so that I can help with a bit of work, get to know a few pple in person rather than just communicating over email etc...
and now, guess what, i'm at an airport waiting again. seems to be the routine huh, i'll only update my blog when i'm going overseas.. hahaha.. the reason could be that i can't find anything to do while waiting for my flight - i don't have my laptop, so i can't play wow.
this trip overseas has been really helpful to me. i feel i have learnt a lot, experience-wise. i got to know a little bit of the difference in lifestyle and work culture between taiwan, hk, london and singapore. i got to know a few really good people - not necessarily the successful people in their career, but good in the sense that they're friendly, honest, and sincere. Funny I find it so hard to find pple like that in London.
and i've been complimented a few times, on various little things, such as
- i've got a "good" smile. i got this said to me twice in the same day, by completely unrelated people. the "good" smile apparently gives the impression that i'm optimistic and cheerful.
- i adapt fast. nice to know.
- my spoken mandarin isn't too bad. though to be honest, i really really need to take mandarin courses if i'm to work in taipei/china. maybe i will just talk more to my chinese colleagues.
ok then, till next time...
anyway, conclusion of the previous post - wicked is a really good musical. Its good not just because the sound, lighting, stage effects, story, entertainment etc.. its really good because it has some grounding in reality and mocks the government or authority as not always being as good as it seems to be...
ok, so moving on.
in the previous post, i was at heathrow airport waiting to fly to HK for business. "wahhhh" i hear all of you say. relax la, its nothing special really, they just want me to come down to HK so that I can help with a bit of work, get to know a few pple in person rather than just communicating over email etc...
and now, guess what, i'm at an airport waiting again. seems to be the routine huh, i'll only update my blog when i'm going overseas.. hahaha.. the reason could be that i can't find anything to do while waiting for my flight - i don't have my laptop, so i can't play wow.
this trip overseas has been really helpful to me. i feel i have learnt a lot, experience-wise. i got to know a little bit of the difference in lifestyle and work culture between taiwan, hk, london and singapore. i got to know a few really good people - not necessarily the successful people in their career, but good in the sense that they're friendly, honest, and sincere. Funny I find it so hard to find pple like that in London.
and i've been complimented a few times, on various little things, such as
- i've got a "good" smile. i got this said to me twice in the same day, by completely unrelated people. the "good" smile apparently gives the impression that i'm optimistic and cheerful.
- i adapt fast. nice to know.
- my spoken mandarin isn't too bad. though to be honest, i really really need to take mandarin courses if i'm to work in taipei/china. maybe i will just talk more to my chinese colleagues.
ok then, till next time...
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