The Monday blues

has never been stronger.

It doesn't help to know that I will have to travel to Shenzhen three times this week for meetings.

Easter Easter, where art thou?

Chinese New Year

My CNY holiday started on Thursday afternoon, when my backpain relapsed while I was sitting in the office and I had to go home early on Thursday. I was quite worried that I had to spend my holidays in bed, but it turned out that as soon as I was out of the office, my backpain miraculously disappeared. (I think my back is allergic to work.) So I was a happy moving bunny during CNY.

But I would be happier if I did not have to spend hours and hours sorting the wedding photos which we finally received from our photographer. After screening 4,000 of them, some of the nicer photos are now on-line and I will drop you an email soon attaching the link.

On the 2nd day of the New Year, our friends came over for a 開年飯 ("hoi nin fan" or "year-opening dinner", to celebrate the beginning of a new year). Apart from the usual CNY festive food which we never seem to get bored with (turnip cakes, taro cakes, and of course my favorite, the sweet rice cakes), we had a great time playing tennis and softball and boxing on the Wii and killing each other on X-box 360.

Now it's back to normal. I am only due back to work next Monday so I can have a few more days to spend with my latest sweetheart, Ray Barone.

Life is good when you're on holiday.

我的朋友P

原來世界上真的有大好人。對我好，對一些他從未見過的我的朋友也同樣的好（“你的朋友也就是我的朋友啦”，他說）。不是細微細眼的好，而是百分之百的勞心勞力。正如我的受助朋友笑言，“他要不是一個頂級大好人，便一定是從中收commission”。 當然，他幫人完全是出自真心。

有這樣的一個老公，很替C開心。

36 minutes 12 seconds

Whoever can invent a juicer that doesn't take forever to clean should get a Nobel Prize (or free donuts for life).

It took me 5 minutes to cut up the fruits and vegetables, 1 minute 12 seconds to juice everything, 3 minutes to finish the health booster, and yet 27 minutes to wash the compartments!!

Oh you cute little ring.

I was watching Oliver's Twist tonight on TV. As usual, Sir Oliver was cooking something not particularly yummy-looking, and his weird British accent is still an acquired taste. But tonight he looks different. He is wearing a suit! But it's more than that...

He's wearing a suit AND a wedding ring!!

A decent looking man* in a suit with a wedding ring is passport to charmsville.

Since I got married, I have been increasingly attracted (NOT "romantically attracted", before you married women try to hide your husbands from me) to married men##. That wedding band on his finger represents commitment, responsibility and maturity. And most women, like me, find these qualities attractive.

Now I am beginning to understand why some women only date married men. But what these women do not realise is that if a married man has an affair, it takes all the good qualities away from him, and he is nothing but a b**t**d.

But a married man (again see definition) who loves his wife is a total gem.

BB, this post is dedicated to you. You are the cutest married guy on earth, and I am so glad I am married to you... OK so now where is my Valentine's present?


*Whether or not Jamie Oliver is a decent looking man is beyond the scope of discussion of this post.

**Definition of "married men": decent looking, caring, friendly, family-loving, well-mannered, funny guys who appreciates the finer things of life with promising careers which require the wearing of nice suits and who wear their wedding ring on their 4th finger on their left hand. This definition basically rules out 99.7% of the Hong Kong, or 80% of the global, married male population.

Things I learned over the past 120 hours

- Acupuncture is the world's best invention ever. Those little needles work wonders! Make sure you go to the good acupuncturist though; the bad ones leave your back bruised and swollen.
- Everything is about the flu. Apparently my back problem was triggered by the flu. Note to self: must wrap up and not drink cold stuff again.
- As much as I like gossip magazines, reading 5 in a day is somewhat too much.
- My mum is the world's best mum. She came over to our place last night to cook me dinner and look after me.
- BB really treats my family like his. Evidence: last night, after his shower, and apparently forgetting that we have guest, BB stepped out of the washroom and marched into the living room in his usual post-shower outfit - a dry tower wrapped around his waist. Upon seeing my mum, he said in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Your mum is my mum lah, I am sure she doesn't mind hehe". My mum must be very touched, for she was laughing non-stop.
- I am a freak. During the time when I could not bend my back, the one single thing that annoyed me most was "there is dust and hair on the floor! Sh*t I can't sweep the floor! How can I walk on dirty floor!!!" I even tried to pick up hair on the floor with my toes (it worked, in case you wondered).

More importantly:
- Never take things for granted. It takes a very healthy person to do simplest things in life, like getting off the bed or wiping one's bottom or scooping cat litter. When you are suffering from scoliosis and cannot move even an inch, you would realise how fortunate and blessed you were all your life simply being healthy.
- Things happen for a reason. When you are suffering from an illness, it puts your life in a whole new perspective. You also become more empathetic to people suffering from similar illnesses. It shouldn't be this way, but sometimes you really have to go through something to understand how it feels, in order to become more patient and tolerant to other people.
- Be thankful and count the blessings: all the good doctors recommended by my friends, love of my family and friends, having an understanding boss, and the fact that I am recovering and can soon become mobile again.