日誌。

昨天返深圳開部門例會。 會後跟老闆做我的appraisal。一直都知道老闆對我是挺滿意的（他亦不下幾次跟我說過），但好聽說話沒人嫌多的。昨天又聼了一次，哈哈。但我其實想說的，是我的老闆真的是個好人。從我們的對話中，你可以知道他是個為下屬着想，坦率，正義又有良好價值觀的人。（他常說，工作要盡心盡力，但家庭永遠比工作重要）。他也是個基督徒，不知道有沒有關係？

中午跟部門同事吃飯。老闆上任時，發起了每月生日午餐的習慣，我們每月開完例會以後必定一起吃飯，而如果當月有人生日，便會順便當生日會，還會有生日蛋糕。今期輪到我。

飯局中，同事談到中國近代史（除了我跟老闆以外，我的其他同事都是大陸人）。談文革，談六四。這是我第一次跟大陸人這麽深入地談政治。（其實是我聼他們談政治，因很多時候他們太興奮，講話太快，又夾雜鄉音，我聽到耳都側，莫說答嘴。）他們也談文學，談詩詞，談保育。我覺得，他們比我懂得多，文化根底也比我深。還好，他們全都是好人，沒有看扁我這個中國文學只有中三程度，對中國近代史一知半解，連天星皇后都沒法挽留的港燦。

其實只要我們摘下有色眼鏡，大陸人有很多方面是值得我們欣賞學習的。（這是說給自己聼的。）

We thought it was just another Sunday morning, but we were in for a surprise.

Yesterday at church, we saw an amazing choir performance by a group of Ugandan children from Watoto.

Watoto (which means "the children" in Swahili) is a project established in 1992 with the mission of rescuing children orphaned by war or disease in Uganda. By providing them with food and shelter, love and care, and more importantly, spiritual and academic training, Watoto equips these kids will the necessary live skills and moral values, so that they will one day grow up to make an impact on the future of Uganda, a country now struggling with disease, poverty and oppression.

And their children's choir was amazing. As described perfectly on their website, "Watoto's performances are a soulful blend of native African rhythms, contemporary gospel music and ethnic dance", and "through their lively and inspiring performances, the Watoto Children's Choir shares their unique experiences as well as their newfound joy and hope, which thrill and dazzle audiences everywhere". I, for one, was truely thrilled. These kids are so energetic and full of joy, and you wonder, except for God, who would have the power to bring such peace and happiness to these children, when each one of them had gone through so much tragedy in their life. When I see these children, I see God's glory. "I was without hope, but now God has given me a new life!", one of the Watoto kids said in his testimony.

Check out their website and see how you can help!

Do you know...

• Keep egg yolks in the refrigerator for up to three days by covering them with water.
• When you need a small amount of lemon juice, do not cut the fruit in half; just pierce it with a skewer, squeeze out some juice, and then refrigerate the fruit.
• To cure excessive vomiting, try two teaspoons whiskey, one teaspoon water, and one teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• Put a bay leaf in flour to discourage bugs.

And,

• When you set a table, the tines of all forks should be level with each other; spoons and knives should be lined up at the base of their handles.
• Soup is a beverage and must be both served and cleared from the right, like other beverages, an exception to the serve-from-the-left-and-clear-from-the-right rule.
• Coffee and tea cups are placed with their handles at four o'clock.
• The wine-glass goes goes above the point of the dinner knife.

(All taken from The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten)

Phuket.

Dinner at Baan Rim Pa. As BB said, you go there for the atmosphere rather than the food. As the restaurant sits on the cliffside overlooking the ocean (so it was totally dark out there at night), and we were seated on the balcony (closest to the sea!), and it was raining with thunderstorm, I spent almost the entire night worrying where we should hide when the tsunami hit (nowhere) and the chances of our survival if it did happen (none). I wonder if other people are thinking the same or if it's just me.

Lunch at Phuja Nirvana inside Central Festival Phuket. We walked into the restaurant with little knowledge about it (apart from the recommendation from the Luxe Guide) and even less expectation (there was only one other customer besides us), but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Highly recommended is their green papaya salad.

See, I told you there were LOADS of geckos! I called them Mr Gabriel in the hope of generating familiarity and intimacy (but it didn't work). There are many many Mr Gabriels in Phuket.

Keith Floyd's Brasserie at Burasari Resort Patong. There is an open kitchen outside.

The French onion soup that the waiter strongly dissuaded me from trying. "But Hong Kong people will not like it, it's too salty!", he said it three times. He only gave up when I told him "But I am not normal Hong Kong people" (of course I am; I just like French onion soup too much), gave me the "oh-well-whatever-but-don't-complain-later-on" look and walked away. For the record, IT WAS GOOD.

The lobster thermidor that BB and I truly enjoyed.

Our last dinner at Phuket. Being part of the Lan Kwai Fong Entertainment Group, this restaurant, with its contemporary yet comfortable setting, delivers genuinely high quality Thai food. On our way out of the restaurant, we bumped into none other than the famous Father of LKF, aka Mr Ocean Park.

Going through these photos (except Mr Gabriel of course), I now long for another holiday again.

Happiness is...

this.

Now I want to take a nap too.

唔係吓化？

港大SPACE的意大利文course已經額滿！原來香港人真的那麽努力增值！

死啦，唔識意大利文，咁點睇餐牌叫嘢食呀？容乜易餓死？

好彷徨呀！！

p.s. 如有讀意大利文好介紹，請告訴我。

返工想放假。

我們返來啦。沒有被簷蛇咬死，沒有被雨浸死，沒有被雷劈死，只是差點食到滯死。快樂的旅行 。（看我多容易滿足！）（唯一不滿是我的Oliver Peoples只是戴了15分鐘！！！$3,200副眼鏡只是戴了15分鐘！！！！！慘爆。）

儘管我真的很喜歡泰國人（友善又真誠），很喜歡吃泰國菜（青木瓜沙律！），但我跟簷蛇真的不能做朋友囉。所以泰國（以至任何有簷蛇的國家）（但城市可能好一點）我只能久不久去一次，多點我都會心臟病發。

兩點有conference call。但我的心還在放假...

-----

開始為我們下年的意大利之旅準備：

1）減肥（騰出空間，把所有意國美食放進肚）；
2）學意大利文（看餐牌！）；
3）買guide book。

A Small History of Nearly Everything.

I know I know, I am on holiday and therefore I should be spending quality time cuddling and having sweet talks with my husband, instead of blogging ABOUT SOME BOOK. But I cannot contain myself.

A Small History of Nearly Everthing is probably the best book I have ever read in recent years. I bought this book a few years back, read a couple of chapters and then put it down, and only picked it up again and finished it recently.

Faithful to the title, the book talks about the universe, the earth and the sea, all forms of life, basically about nearly everything.

Having obtained only a pathetic "D" grade in my HKCEE biology exam, and with no physics or chemcial studies background, I should have no reason to read, let alone like, a book about science, which is packed with complicated information and 47-letter-26-syllable-jargons. But I adore this book.

When I read the last chapter, which I believe is the main theme and reason for Bill Bryson to write this book, I cried. And it made me love this book even more.

If you care about this universe and all things that live in it, get yourself a copy. You will be so glad.

--------

BTW there are so many geckos in Phuket!!! I love the universe and all that, but could somebody make the geckos leave our villa?

A chilled Friday.

After quite a packed couple of days (we arrived in Phuket on Wednesday evening), we are taking it easy and chilling out at the villa today.

On Wednesday night we went for dinner to Baan Rim Pa (one of the "must-go-to" restaurants in many guides) that sits on the cliffside. The food is Royal Thai, but I think you really go for the atmosphere - good bar, live music and the sound of waves coming in. The food was good, but not spectular (we ordered the usual Thai dishes which the waiter would probably have guessed we would order).

Last night was more interesting. Keith Floyd had opened a brasserie in Patong - the only restaurant in Asia that bears his name - so we thought we would give it a go. As you know DB and I are celebrity-chef groupies. It turns out that KF will be visiting this very restauarant for a week - but we had arrived a day early. Anyway, we tried the signature dishes: crispy aromatic duck leg on herbed salad (quite tasty, not too dry as some duck legs can be) and lobster thermidor (superb, a good size lobster with succulent pieces of flesh and a nicely balanced but not too overpowering cream sauce). The restaurant was quite busy with Europeans who, like us, were probably drawn to the KF name. As a kid, I had grown up watching KF on TV at home in England, and even now DB and I watch his shows on NowTV.

BTW, we're a fair distance from the main restaurants and areas of nightlife (30 to 45 mins by car!) so today we're going to chill out at the villa.

One last tip: the Luxe Guide is a great travel guide. Combine that with a Canto guide (for some maps and pictures), and you have a winning tourist guide combo. With Luxe, we managed to find a cool bar (Phuja Nirvana) for lunch on Thursday and a great massage place (Privilege Spa) nearby.

As for the non culinary bits of the holiday, more from DB by separate blog post.

-- BB

Hello rainy Phuket.

*sigh*

But the hotel people say it will be sunny tomorrow! :)

We are now waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the restaurant. I am looking forward to some really delicious Thai food.

More later.

Goodbye rainy Hong Kong (for now).

My life in the next five days will consist of constant beach strolling (how romantic!), morning swims in our private pool(!), and massive consumption of tong yum kung / satay / curry chicken / papaya / all the yummy Thai food that you can think of.

I will be back next week.

看戯。

星期六晚，大雨滂沱，我跟Mr & Mrs S看了暗戀桃花源。

兩個多小時，看着悲劇喜劇在台上連橫交錯，感覺良好。這劇在1986年首次公演，在當時來講，把悲喜劇放在同一個故事，同一舞台上，是絕對大膽的嘗試。明顯地，編劇兼導演賴聲川成功了。

賴聲川説，他不希望為這劇定調，而希望觀衆看後有自己的interpretation。（對我來説，這是一個關於“捨得”的故事。）（有機會的話，再跟你分享。）

又，我看的是香港版。蘇玉華和潘燦良演出精彩，特別是潘先生，他扮演年老江濱柳簡直入木三分，聲綫動作完全是一個老人家。他把江濱柳演活了。

早陣子看過了一大堆垃圾話劇，現在看了一部正正經經高水準的專業演出，心理豁然開朗。

P.S. Mr & Mrs S 的看後感在分別在這裡和這裡。

In case you didn't know (I certainly didn't).

From A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson:

• "[Luke] Howard divided clouds into three groups: stratus for the layered clouds, cumulus for the fluffy ones...and cirrus for the high, thin feathery formations that generally presage colder weather....He subsequently added a fourth term, nimbus..., for a rain cloud.
  
  Incidentally, the first...edition of [the International Cloud] Atlas, produced in 1896, divided clouds into ten basic types, of which the plumpest and most cushiony-looking was number nine, cumulonimbus. That seems to have been the source of the expression "to be on cloud nine"."

• "The indigestible parts of giant squid, in particular their beaks, accumulate in sperm whales' stomachs into substance known as ambergris, which is used as a fixative in perfumes. The next time you spray on Chanel No.5, you may wish to reflect that you are dousing yourself in distillate of unseen sea monster."
  

Oliver Peoples.

爲了我的布吉旅行，我買了人生中第一副（也應該是最後一副）這麽貴的太陽眼鏡。

有些東西，真的碰不得。試過好的（這個“好”是很主觀的）之後，要退而求其次，很難。

試戴過Oliver Peoples的太陽眼鏡之後，再走訪港九新界的眼鏡店，試戴其他牌子的眼鏡，但感覺就是不一樣。

代理這牌子的店鋪不多，結果我在一間以前打死都不會入的眼鏡店（因爲實在貴得離譜！）買了我的心頭好。

旅行回來後，要吃菠蘿包。

安全感。

在這個我每天必看的blog裏看到這一段：

“所以我知道，從很小的時候已知道，對人或對事，懂得放開手隨它走，是非常重要的一件事。而安全感這東西，是自己建立出來的。千萬千萬，別依賴別人來給予。”

很有意思。

想着想着，發現原來自己由細到大，安全感都不乏，無論是別人（家人/情人/朋友）給的或是自己建立的。“不安全感”這一詞，只出現在歌曲裏（不要扮年少無知啦，你知我知這是草蜢的歌），現實中自己從未感受過。

這樣幸福的一個女子，原來是我。