。

前幾天，我跟秘書上了深圳開會。每月一次的部門會議。

背景：我公司是一家“國際性，具有豐富跨國業務”（！）的中資機構。中資嘛，總部當然是在祖國啦。我們法務部有差不多10人，在中國公司來說，已算不錯。我們的新老闆（General Counsel）在外國讀書工作多年，所以作風很洋化，亦民主，（還是基督徒！），跟他工作挺愉快。 除了我跟秘書，其他人全都在深圳上班。

每次開departmental meeting， 老闆都會邀請一位“神秘嘉賓”出席，跟我們分享他們的工作心得。這些嘉賓大多是business divisions的人。所以當我們知道這次也有嘉賓出席，也不以爲然。

直到那嘉賓出現在會議室門口。

“咦，呢個肥佬咁熟口面嘅？”我心想。期時我身邊的人已經馬上站起來，恭恭敬敬的。有點不對路。（我呢，其實呢，真係幾笨）很久很久之後，便發現他就是我們整個集團的主席。就像Bill Gates 跟 Richard Branson 跟 Alan Greenspan 一樣，大人物囉。（也不能怪我認不出他，他真人比上鏡靚仔10倍呀起碼。）

主席坐下來後，先說了幾句客套話，什麽感謝我們對公司的付出啊（那麽就應該加人工啦），公司很重視我們的法律意見啊（講呀！business人常常不聼我們的，然後搞出大鑊粥，又要我們補鑊），諸如此類。然後他就叫我們逐一介紹自己。

首先是同事Ｓ。（除了我以外，Ｓ是唯一一個香港律師，但不知爲何，他選擇在深圳常駐。一定係包了二奶。）他詳細的介紹自己是“香港跟英國”律師（在我們的年代，只要你是Hong Kong qualified，便可以差不多自動拿到英國牌，但我們大多沒有advise UK law 的經驗，所以實際上不會說自己是英國律師），有多年的工作經驗啦，曾經advise 過什麽project啦，dala dala dala。

然後便是其他人作自我介紹。因爲其他同事是内地人，所以主席會多問幾句，譬如你家鄉在哪裏呀？在那間大學畢業呀？以前在什麽機構工作呀？遇到同鄉時，會多聊幾句。

當所有人都自我介紹完畢後，Ｓ突然當眾說“［我的名字］呀，不如我們告訴主席，我們在那家大學畢業囉，好嗎？”我完全不明所以（因爲介紹環節已完結，現在再説回來，十分awkward，再者，你要說便說吧，為什麽要拉我下水呢？），只好說“隨便你啦”。然後他便告訴主席，他曾在北京大學修讀法律，是“當年第一個在北京大學畢業的香港人。”

原來咁勁，怪不得一定要主席知道啦。（事後秘書告訴我，Ｓ其實在北大只讀了一個短期課程，跟他說的“在北大畢業”相距甚遠。令我想起另一個人。）

開完會，主席和我們一起去午飯。Ｓ原本一早説明要開另一個會不能跟我們吃飯，但他主動取消了會議，只為了能和主席同枱夾那件中式牛柳。唉。

其實不但是Ｓ，還有個別一兩位同事，也是很明顯地出盡力在討好主席，擦鞋師傅上了身。唉x2。

可能我真的是不太懂人情世故，可能這些討好話其實人人都在說沒什麽大不了，可能中國人公司就是這樣子，可能我這麽多年沒擦鞋也死不去只是我好彩，可能主席真的喜歡聼這些說話，可能我這種懞盛盛嘴藐藐見到老闆都唔識企定的人遲早聼炒。

但要我做到咁，真係唔得囉。

傻仔兩件

認識我們的朋友，都覺得我跟伯伯是那種大方得體（吓？？！），溫文爾雅（吓？？？！！）的人。但其實我們有些黑暗面是不爲人知的。

-------------------

譬如1：

某天我跟伯伯在銅鑼灣百無聊賴，盪吓盪吓的時候...

伯伯：嘩，大笨，你耳仔裏面有粒瘡呀，重有膿添呀！好核突呀！
大笨：唔係吓化？[伸手指入耳朵摸索後] 唓，邊度有唧？
伯伯: 有呀！不如我幫你唧咗佢吖！
大笨：哇，咁痛，唔制！我都見唔到有瘡！
伯伯：不如我用相機幫你影低佢吖？

結果，我們回家後，第一件事便衝入廁所照鏡，然後伯伯便用相機拍下我耳朵裏的瘡。（真的有喲！重有膿！）

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譬如2：

我們閒時會為對方拔白頭髮 （一邊拔一邊說些無聊話例如“嘩我有咁多白頭髮嘅！你睇你平時對我幾差吖！”諸如此類）。拔完以後，會把頭髮放在一個陶氏密實袋裏面。 不要問我爲何這麽做，伯伯說要把它們儲起來喎！

-----------

所以呢，我們其實呢，都幾白痴。

I hate therefore I kill

I wanted to write about my date with this yummy man, but that has to wait till later, when BB is less busy at work and can guest blog about it.

I am still in shock about yet another college shooting in the States. I was just watching on YouTube yesterday about TR Knight's interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show - he was talking about the incident last October where Isaiah Washington called him a faggot. Ellen, a homosexual herself, expressed her concern about this and said "people should not say hateful words to one another". She mentioned it again at the Oscars, saying that people should stop hating one another simply because of their race, religion or sexual orientation.

The shooting is a case in point. It may not have anything to do with the above things, but it is about hatred. And it shows what a powerful and destructive weapon hatred can be. I cannot imagine what could make this young Korean so angry and frustrated that he has to kill all his school mates. But whatever he went through in life, he must have been in pain. I feel sorry for him, as I feel very sorry for the victims.

My heart dropped a beat when I heard that the police first suspected the shooter was a Chinese man. But it's not any better that he's a Korean. It's tough being the minority in a foreign country, and when things like this happen, it just makes things worse. I hope the Americans will be sensible enough not retaliate against the Korean community.

Lies and deception may be a good thing after all

An interesting article, entitled "Truth or date?", appeared in the Post Magazine today. The text was taken from New Scientist. It talks about how misinterpretation, self-deception and biases can actually help us find happiness in love. I am still struggling to agree with what is said in the article (because it basically throws pure true love and romance out of the window), but some of the findings mentioned in this article do bear a degree of truth.

On soul mate --

"The idea that your sweetheart is your soul mate or one true love is unlikely on statistical grounds: we will meet only a few hundred or thousand of the billions of potential partners on Earth. So why do we kid ourselves?...If we were rational beings and looking for the best possible mate, we'd never stop - there are far too many people for us to assess...So we have to have some sort of mechanism that puts an end to the search, at least temporarily...Falling head-over-heels in love is one solution to the problem of mate choice."

"From childhood our experience of the world provides a template for the kind of person we think we are suited to...a "love map"...Then when you're looking around and find someone who fits within your love map, you are primed to fall in love...As a result, although we can list what we don't like about our sweetheart, we sweep these facts aside and focus on what we adore."

On how people view their partner --

"95 per cent of people...believed their partner was above average in appearance, intelligence, warmth and sense of humour."

On comparison between current and ex- partner --

"...people tend to paint their current partner as a "winner" - open-minded, outgoing and confident - and their former partner as losers - closed-minded, emotionally unstable and disagreeable...It can't be the case that the 300 people we studied all happened to now be with ideal mating prospects, while all their 300 prior partners were duds."

"...we have the evidence for what Chaucer said: 'Love is blind'."

According to the article, true love and romance is all about reproduction and evolution, and that we would unconsciously, and under the influence of hormones, fool ourselves into a relationship (which may or may not turn out to be a happy one). Kind of depressing, hmm.

Open market / Sunday afternoon / It's really all about food...or not

Today after the morning church service, BB and I together with our church friends, hoping to get away from the busy crowded streets of the city, went to the Cyberport Open Market.

It was a slight disappointment, as there weren't as many stalls as we expected, and a large number of the stalls sells non-food items (I was hoping it would be an organic food market like the ones we went to in New Zealand or Australia). I did still manage to find some treasure, and after dropping $300, I came home with this:

Not exactly a bargain, but it's hand-made, with beautiful trimmings, and a fair trade merchandise too! It feels good when you are helping to make this world a better place.

Despite the underwhelming number of stalls, I still think the market is worth visiting. Sitting under the sun, sipping bear and watching the toddlers and children laughing and running barefeet on the grass, it was a very relaxing day out.

mos burger and agnès b. le pain grillé - worth the wait?

After months of complaining, I, Dai Bun's husband, have been given permission to write today's blog.

We had marked today in our diary more than a month ago. DB had been calling and calling a certain French bistro (opened last year) and, after literally 15 phone calls, she had finally secured a table. While the day was filled with other things (more of which later), this was the highlight of the week. We pass by the restaurant every day, to and from work, and often gazed longingly through the windows wondering whether the restaurant really can deliver the perfect onion soup and duck confit...

Our first task of the day was to clear out my old flat in Island East in preparation for its sale. So we grabbed a taxi back to our old neighbourhood and, since it was lunch time, went to the newly opened Mos Burger just outside Jusco. There were 20 people queuing outside... so first we went to our old hang-out (Jusco) and ordered siu mai and curry fish balls. $10 each. Ever dependable, full and flavour and bringing back many happy memories of my time there.

We then decided to queue for a Mos Burger and, after 15 minutes, ordered our burger and chicken set. DB said that when it first opened, people were queuing for 2 hours! Mad, but this is HK where people queue for anything and everything. The chicken burger was pretty decent but the fried chicken was much better (excellent piece of meat, dusted in seasoned flour and deep fried). It's what I'd call the Japanese equivalent of Triple O and KFC. But, being a Japanese sensation, it has more "delicate" (i.e. smaller) portions. It was pretty tasty, but it's hard to beat the filling sensation that a Triple O burger or finger licking good KFC meal delivers.

Back to Agnes B. Soon. I dragged DB to a body combat class (my 2nd time) to pre-emptively burn off some calories. All credit to the instructor for giving us a great work out. At the end of the class (I had admitted at the start I was a novice), she gave me a few words of encouragement. Then again, it could have been sympathy when she saw how shattered I looked. DB and I spent the next three hours back at home recovering, too tired to even talk to each other.

So, the main event. For such an auspicious occasion, we had invited Mr & Mrs S. Where there's good food or a new restaurant, rest assured that they will be there! The menu (classic French bistro) looked great. Everything you could want. So we ordered everything. Soups (bisque, onion soup), salads (grilled bacon, grilled lobster), mussels (the smaller, sweeter ones rather than the over-sized green lips normally found in Asia), grilled lobster, duck confit (my choice - meat was succulent, falling off the bone), sole and more lobster, soufflés (very generous portions - by the end we were all stuffed) and a delicious looking apple tart tatin (ordered by Mrs S). Even though my chocolate soufflé was pretty good, the proverbial grass is always greener on the other side, and with hindsight I would have preferred Mrs S' tart tatin which Mrs S admitted was excellent. So excellent, in fact, that I noticed Mr S only managed to get a bite right at the end.
































I ought to wrap up and gather my thoughts as to what really has been a day of gluttony and, thank God, a carefree day where I have been able to rest and chill out with my wife and dear friends. What I will remember is just how damn difficult it was to book a place at Agnes B. What I have learned is that (and this is where I try to be Anthony Bourdain) food isn't necessarily about trying the most recent fad (be it Japanese or French). It's about what satisfies the soul. And for me, it was the humble siu mai/fish ball food stall which brought back so many happy memories of my time in Island East with, coming around full circle, Mr & Mrs S and DB.

One final note: thanks for DB for letting me write today.

BB

傳真記。

晚上10.30。一對夫婦在港島區某住宅書房裏，正處理關於樓宇買賣交割文件。此時發現需要傳真一些水電煤單給律師處理。

丈夫：[準備打一封cover fax] 等我create個我地既personal fax letterhead先。
太太：咩letterhead呀？駛乜咁煩唧？就咁fax d document咪得囉，cover fax 都唔駛寫啦，重搞乜鬼letterhead唧？
丈夫：整咗個letterhead，第時我地send fax就有自己既名同地址響封fax度，勁呀。
太太：[額角冒汗].....嗯，是但啦，你鍾意就整啦。

然後丈夫用了40分鐘去弄一個fax template。只為了傳真時可以“好勁”。唉。

弄好template之後，丈夫又用了30分鐘去寫一個cover fax （cover fax， 即是那些 “Dear xx, please see attached”三行寫完的fax。）

然後，要簽名。太太遞給他一支原子筆，丈夫竟然拒絕，然後從筆筒拿了另外一支水筆。簽fax咋喎！隨便一支筆簽都可以啦！ “But this is my signing pen!”丈夫面紅紅尷尷尬尬地說。[好彩他都知道自己麻煩]

再一次證明，這個男人是個101%完美主義者。[那麽他的老婆必然是又美麗又可愛又聰明伶俐又出得廳堂的十全十美好賢妻唧，呵呵呵呵！]

The holiday

One knows one is well rested over the holidays when one begins to look forward to going back to work. "One" being my husband. He was so restless over the Easter holidays (e.g. on one morning at 11.30 when we had finished our errands, he said "I can't believe it's only 11.30 and we've achieved so much already!" From then on things went downhill, and he began frantically to find something to do) that I have decided he cannot retire until he's 90.

And it wasn't like we were twiddling our fingers over the holidays. We have:

*reorganised the fridge / food cabinet / in-tray
*hosted a sake party at our place
*attended Good Friday service
*had several rounds of foot / body massages
*visited the newest casinos and witnessed the birth of the Asian Las Vegas
*eaten more than our share of the yummy egg tarts and pork chop toasts
*wined and dined here and here

People go to Macau to gamble (we didn't) and eat (we did, the whole time) so there's nothing much to write about, except that (i) we (the taxi we rode in) almost killed a motorcyclist and (ii) I overheard the most surreal direction-seeking conversation between a waiter and a tourist and and (iii) I realised (to my horror!) that I actually have a rather small appetite, compared to my travel pals (it's so unfair - I don't eat much but I still weigh 2000 tonnes).

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While we were away, I asked my parents to come over to our place and look after the cats. And when we came back I discovered that my dad has given our utility room a make-over! He's always complained about how messy our utility room was so I guess he helped himself while we were away. And my mom has tidied up my handbag cabinet! My parents rock! I am so spoiled hehe.

花師奶。

看到大少奶極力推介，便看看有什麽特別。嘩，一看便上癮！好久沒看過這麽好笑的卡通片！

如要觀看全部，可以到這裡。

真的好好笑喲。

!。?!。

星期日早上，跟伯伯坐的士返教會。 一上的士，便覺事態不妙。

司機：早晨，請問兩位去邊度？（我告訴他地址之後）係，多謝晒！
我（心想）：[嘩，超好禮貌喎。]
司機：冷氣OK嗎？ 會唔會太凍？
我(冷汗倒流）：....O...OK。 [好驚，係咪上咗賊車？邊有司機咁好禮貌？]

一路上，越想越覺得奇怪。然後看到他的工作證，上面有一行小小的字，寫着“2006年優秀的士司機”。噢，原來如此。

下車時，我對司機說，“好勁呀，我第一次坐優秀的士司機架車呀！希望你07年會再接再勵。”司機說，“我會繼續努力嫁嘞！” [簡直好似勵志電視劇的對白。]

遇到這些好司機，心情也特別愉快。

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返完教會，我和伯伯沒事做，便即興約了幾個朋友吃午飯。飯後，大家（好明顯都係悶蛋）討論下午要幹什麽。20秒後，得出結論。

試問有什麽好得過去睇示範單位？

於是一行五人，浩浩蕩蕩駕車向數碼港出發。

去到貝沙灣新樓盤門口，一下車已有兩個經紀上前mark住我們，跟着我們一起行去示範單位。雖然我們已經擺明鑿住“運吉”兩隻大字在額頭，亦似乎無阻經紀的熱情。

睇樓之後，有以下感受：

1。我知我知，幢樓係Norman Foster設計吖嘛。 我知我知，Norman Foster係著名建築師吖嘛，但係你不斷同我講“Norman Foster既設計，只有一隻字形容，就係‘貴’！”，真係好煩。不是講笑，這句對白經紀前前後後講咗超過8次！再說，貴不代表值，你不斷說他的設計很貴，只會令我更質疑我是不是你的水魚。還有，你說貝沙灣是Norman Foster在亞洲設計的第一幢住宅，難道你忘了淺水灣129號? 資料搜集呀大哥!

2。經紀說“明年奧運，香港樓市肯定勁升。你現在買，明年賣出的時候，我敢保證（！）閒閒地起碼賺一倍（！！）”。先不討論奧運跟香港樓價的正面關係能否成立，你說你保證，是不是你會簽一份guarantee？是否到時不對辦時，我可以向你追討差價賠償？作爲專業經紀，説話真的要小心，怎能隨便誤導客人？

3。那些示範單位，誤導程度，簡直出神入化。 所有間隔全部拆除，内裏除了最基本的梳化餐枱睡床差不多沒有其他東西。最慘是，即使這樣，單位也不見得很大（我們看的是1,800尺單位喎）。

4。睇樓要排隊。貝沙灣喎，閒閒地最平賣緊$12,000一尺喎，每個單位起碼過千萬喎。觀乎當天，好像我們運吉的人不多，大部分人也似袋裏有幾千萬，隨時可以落訂的樣子（事實亦真的有很多人即場落訂）。原來香港真的有那麽多有錢人？我們運吉五人組假假地都是專業人士，收入也過得去，但我們亦沒能力隨便買豪宅。得出結論是：工字真的不出頭，發大達要靠做生意。

5。經紀叫我們把車泊在路邊，他們會有同事幫我們看。但最後還是被炒牌！！！！！好激氣！！！

雖然我也喜歡做少奶奶

究竟工作的自身意義是什麽？

有人說，他熱愛工作。工作帶給他滿足感。

這句説話對我來説是本世紀最大的疑團，因我從來沒有這種感覺（儘管我曾經很努力希望得到這種感覺）。成功談判到一個項目，起稿一份完美的合同，幫公司賺大錢/避免嚴重風險，對我都不疼不癢。老闆的讚美會令我快樂半天，但不足以令我大叫“嘩，好滿足啊！”。

工作自身從來沒有給我滿足感，我的滿足感來自有工作的後果 -- 每月月底那份不太少但又不太多的薪水 -- 以及那份薪水可以為我帶來的有機快樂農場蛋漂亮衣服酒店晚膳出國旅遊罐頭貓糧乾洗找卡數做善事交稅助養兒童買東西給父母請朋友吃飯買匯豐股票對沖基金等等等等。

工作雖然規限了我時間上的自由，但它能帶給我物慾上的自主。而這種物慾自主帶給我安全感 -- 知道自己有賺錢的能力，戶口定時有進帳，一旦發生什麽事情自己也可照顧自己和身邊的人 -- 這種感覺使我睡得安穩。

雖然我也喜歡做少奶奶，由早到晚看電視跟貓玩弄蛋糕上網做運動發白日夢逛街看書聼音樂做家務煮晚飯，但我還是寧願聼聼電話會議，看看合同，跟自己客戶/對家律師吵吵鬧鬧好過。

Object of my desire

Have you ever had this feeling that you REALLY REALLY want something, and you want it so badly that you are willing to kill your family and pimp your dog/cat/turtle/goldfish in order to get it?

Lately I have been thinking and dreaming about this gorgeous thing day and night and I just could not stop myself.

Damn I wasn't in the UK right now, otherwise you would have found me camping outside Sainsbury already.

I am a happy bunny**

This has been a good week.

I worked from home two days this week and it has not been all that busy. Happy days.

BB and I went to this place for dinner on his birthday. I do not need to tell you how excellent the food tasted, how impeccable the service was, how we were impressed by the presentation of the dishes, how beautiful the Victoria Harbour and the night of Central became when overlooked from the window-side table on the 25th floor, and of course how I had a mild heart attach when the bill arrived. BB was very pleased, and so was I. Another happy day.

This morning I got up early, did two loads of laundry, read a gossip magazine, and came up with new 5-year plan which I wasn't sure if I could stick to. But I feel happy enough just to think about it.

When you are happy, the world looks pretty. Even the smog and drizzle doesn't bother you anymore.

Currently playing: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mozart Piano Trios K.502, 542, 548

**The drugs I have just taken clearly have some side effects on me.

The book of answers

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." --- Joshua 1:9

When I thought of you, this scripture came to mind.

窗外，天開始黑。

兩個人。兩隻貓。一個屋簷。

一個在廳；一個在房。各打各的電腦；各做各的工作；各開各的電話會議。偶爾閒談幾句，然後又回到自己的工作崗位。

平靜的星期一。

Cap nap

The most peaceful moment of my day.

I have been working from home the last few days due to my illness, and it was great news to the cats, who are overly affectionate and love to stick to you up close and personal all the time. With these two little creatures at home, very often I feel a lot like a mother caring for two babies (except that these two babies eat funny smelling dry food and shed their hair a lot).

適當運動和均衡飲食

伯伯下禮拜生日，但我仍然未想到應和他到哪裏慶祝。一直想訂座Agnes b Bistro，但每次打電話去，不是沒人接聼，就是説訂座最快也要下個月才有位（這麽誇張？）。Suggestions anyone?

過去6星期，身體差得不得了，又傷風又感冒，又食物中毒，弄到自己非常anti-social，很多朋友聚會也去不到，幾個朋友的生日也錯過了。現在打blog時也有點點頭暈，唉。已經再次join了California Fitness（對上一次join是3年前，後期覺得太多人所以退了會），希望多做運動身體真的會好起來。

Mille-feuille, anyone?

It's been a tough week at work, for both BB and I.

That's why I am most excited about our gals' night tomorrow. The food and drink and gossips and laughters will do enough repair to my tiredness and stress and headache.

Life is good when you have something to look forward to.

（太累了，想不到題目）

今天與一班法國人，台灣人，及大陸人開會。 （這個組合，是律師最大的惡夢）

當各人嘩啦嘩啦，你一句我一句，疲勞轟炸我的時候，我腦裏在想：

我在這裡究竟在做什麽？

我好想回家跟貓玩啊。

我家裏還有衣服要洗啊。

從香港去深圳，2小時。開會4小時。從深圳回香港，2小時。 回家後在開電話會議，2小時。然後再上網看公司電郵，3小時。

一天就這樣跑掉了大半。

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.

What if I have to stay in the hospital for Chinese New Year?

My back pain is getting worse. This morning I could hardly sit on the toilet seat (the first thing that came to mind: Sh*t if I can't sit on the toilet how can I pee?????) At the end I managed to do the thing but it's p-a-i-n-f-u-l (the sitting down part, not the action itself). And afterwards I spent 3 minutes trying to pull myself up again.

I am now sitting on my chair in the study but I can still feel the pain. When I was sitting down yesterday it was fine. Apparenty the antibiotics I am taking doesn't quite work.

And my damn x-ray results won't be out until end of the week.

I am officially worried now.

Update: It is 3 o' clock now and my mobility has improved a bit (I can go to the toilet now yipee) though it's still far from satisfactory. But at least the extra-strong panadol seems to be working.

Murphy's law

I have injured my back mysteriously. Everything was fine (ok there has been a slight uncomfortable feeling for a month or two but doesn't everyone have back pain?) until yesterday evening when I really started to feel it getting stiff and painful. Then this morning I could hardly get off my bed without screaming my head off. The pain comes from inside the spine; it's nervous pain rather than muscle pain, and therefore much sharper.

I have my spine x-rayed but results will only be available in a few days' time. Meanwhile, I am on Panadol and antibiotics. I cannot make big movements, I cannot bend my back, I cannot squat; I feel like a 70-year-old.

And did I mention I am having the flu too and my nose is runny and I am building a mountain of tissue balls on my desk?

Grrrrr.

星期一郊遊記

在鄉下返工的好處是中午可以去一些平常人只會在放假才去的地方吃飯（譬如深井）。

不過也要有一些在你附近返工，又有駕車，又會好好興致去深井吃午飯，仲會好好人車埋你一齊去食的朋友（譬如朋友G），才能成事。

陳記的燒鵝好好吃喲！

大笨黃昏新聞報告

朋友來電，帶來了一個消息，心裏暗暗擔心。要為這事狠狠祈禱。

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昨晚爸媽來探訪，連同伯伯一起做了我的白老鼠，吃了我弄的提拉米蘇。上一次弄這甜品已是五年前，當時家人的反應是 ---“嘩呢pat咩o黎？o甘核突o既”。那時候我知道，Tiramisu is a dessert of love for love --- 只有當我在戀愛中才能夠弄到一個好味的提拉米蘇（那個好味的提拉米蘇七年前在英國出世）。從此以後，只敢吃，不敢弄，這個咖啡蛋糕成爲我的死穴。

多年後的昨日，再次出擊。這次，就連平常不嗜甜品的媽咪也說“幾好味吖”。心裏快樂的不得了，這是我人生中第二個好味的Tiramisu。

戀愛萬歲。謝謝伯伯。

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昨天晚上看Discovery Travel & Living, Anthony Bourdain 在瑞典遊山玩水，令我想起朋友A。在她還在瑞典住的那幾年，我曾經特地飛去探望她。往後這麽多年，我們只見過一次面，還是我往倫敦時她特別從芬蘭飛來跟我會合。人與人的關係真的很奇妙，有些人你可能一生才見幾次，平時通訊也不多，但其實你很想念他們，而當你們碰面時一切又是那麽自然，細水長流的友誼，就是這樣。朋友A如是，朋友M也如是。

臨睡前給A發了一個SMS，今早收到她的回覆，開心了半天。

-----------------------------------------

早上伯伯給我發了電郵，什麽也沒說，只有一個“:-)”。知道什麽回事的我，又是開心了半天（所以我總共開心了一整天哈哈）。

I woke up at 7am, stood in the rain and smiled at strangers for 5 hours in return for this...

This morning, I, together with hundreds of other volunteers, helped this organisation raise funds by selling flags (for those who have not lived in HK, a flag is a sticker which is given to you when you make a small donation). The last time I sold flags was when I was 15 years old, so this time I was quite nervous. I was not sure if I would be thick-thinned enough to approach people and ask them for money, and how I would react if I was brutally rejected by people.

It turned out that I didn't do too badly. I sold quite a lot of flags and my money bag was so heavy that my arms are hurting now.

I am not going to bore you with the details of my morning (how it was raining most of the time so that people were more reluctant to stop and reach for their wallets; how some people, upon seeing me from a mile, took a complete detour just to avoid me; how some people looked at me like I was the dirtiest filth; how some people lied their way out of making a donation ("oh I don't have any money" when they were carrying various shopping bags); how heart-warming it was when some people said the kindest words of encouragement to me; how touched I was when the least-unexpected people approached me and made a donation). I will just say:

- there are many kind-hearted people, and there are also many nasty people
- however badly those nasty people treat me, and however much I wanted to tell them "you will rot in hell!", I should refrain from doing so because I shall not judge people. This right is reserved for the Almighty (when Jesus was ill-treated by his opponents he did not curse them...well I was just human)
- when I meet the kind-hearted people, I should be thankful and treasure those brief encounters, because they are the ones who make this world a better place
- as much as I love sleeping in on a Saturday morning, I was glad that I was part of the event today. Helping people and feeling great about it is more powerful than any big breakfast I can have.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me." -- Matthew 25:40

For the sake of BB's happiness...

I am quite relieved that I have made up my mind not to take the new job (though I still have not broken the news to my recruiter). If I take the job, I may not be able work on my cooking skills as much as I would like, and that would greatly reduce my chance of becoming the HK version of Nigella. Not good...

The Ring

I am still avoiding calls from my recruiter. I am just not very good at saying "no".

Maybe I should flip a coin

Got a call from my recruiter yesterday telling me the "good news" - the global sporting company that I interviewed with is ready to give me a job offer. The recruiter told me the major terms and if I say yes, they will go put together a formal written offer letter for me to sign.

I thought I was well-prepared for this day to come. I mean, you go for interviews hoping that one day an offer will land on your desk, and when it does, you should be overjoy right? This is not exactly how I am feeling. I think since the departure of my boss, things have changed a bit in my company and now I am having second thoughts about leaving.

Perhaps I should just do what a lawyer always does - make lists.

Current company

Pros:
- temporary boss is a good guy with good values; and he is a Christian
- really good hours (those who know me would know that I leave office at 6pm sharp most days)
- my acting boss is in ShenZhen so I am the only lawyer in the HK office, hence the freedom
- the work I do is almost no-brainer; perfect for a person with zero ambition

Cons:
- office is in the rural (takes over 2.5 hours in commuting every day)
- requires travelling to SZ (my mum is not too happy about it; she hears all kinds of horrible stories involving kidnapping or cutting up people)
- in absolute terms (i.e. without taking in account the flexible hours I enjoy) salary is not fantastic
- dealing with PRC clients can sometimes be extremely painful
- whenever people ask me what I do and I tell them the name of my company, they will go "Which company?" It doesn't feel good if you work for a company that no one has heard of, when it is supposed to be a household brand in China.

Global Sporting Company

Pros:
- truly household brand (I would seriously wonder where you have been for the past 20 years if you do not know this brand)
- office is 20 minutes from my home
- including a discretionary target bonus (which the company claims were paid out in full to every staff member in the past few years), there will be a 22% salary increase from my current job
- no need to have frequent day trips to China

Cons:
- I heard that my future boss is quite fussy about punctuality (if you come into the office at 9.01am or leave for lunch at 12.59pm, she would greet you with a black face)
- from the due diligence I've done, a few predecessors of mine left the company only after a few months... intriguing.
- I will not have my own office - it's all open plan (I have never worked in an open-plan environment before in my life; I need the quietness in an office to focus)

So there you go. Will have to think hard and pray hard about it. Will keep you posted.

也許當時年紀少

最近常常想起自己以往的所作所爲。一些不太光彩的事。不是什麽彌天大罪，都是一些你和我年少無知時會說會做的，而事後覺得自己無限白痴的事。

說過的差勁笑話（當時以爲自己好funny!）。 爲了接近/拒絕一些人而講過的謊話。爲了與某些人在一起而做的，自己以爲很偉大，卻把他嚇壞的舉動。為了挽留某些人而做出的各種愚蠢行爲。

以爲事過境遷，人與物也幾番新，少年愚昧應該不用太介懷，況且“舊事以過，都變成新的了”。但原來午夜夢廻，想起這些瘀事，還是會面紅耳赤，宜不得一世躲在被窩裏，不用面對自己面對人。

以前做事衝動，沒有思前想後，落得不堪下場，還可以賴“當時年紀少”。現在人大了，成熟了，同樣的錯便不能（亦沒有藉口）再犯。但人的成熟速度總比我們期望為慢，而地球依舊自轉公轉，我們也只可硬着頭皮，繼續走我們要走的路，然後暗自禱告，希望以後不要再癡那些康復中的孖筋，再做那些我們以後不知怎樣跟兒孫交待的低能行爲。

畢竟有些瘀人瘀事，真的一次也嫌太多。

最漂亮的叉燒

昨天晚上，老朋友（大家小學時坐同一校車）兼舊同事兼鄰居致電：“上來看叉燒啦！”我便匆匆從3樓爬上26樓。

老朋友剛誕下超可愛男嬰。他睡着的時候，跟他在媽媽肚子裏照4D超聲波時的樣子一樣。6磅半的身體，輕輕的，好像非常脆弱，但這小個子為一個家庭帶來翻天覆地的改變，也為這個家庭帶來無窮喜樂（即是如果這小男生長大後溫文爾雅，事業有成的話；否則就真的生舊叉燒好過生他了，哈哈）。

朋友一邊笑說着餵奶換片的苦況，我一邊看着小男孩睡着時的表情。小孩子總是非常容易滿足，連睡着時也好像是笑着的。

二人世界變成三人行，生命突然多了很多未知之數；前路終點不再一樣，但任何事情，有三個人一起面對，便“落雨不怕，落雪也不怕”了。

Baby Talk

I had a meeting with a recruiter after work a few days ago, and what was supposed to be a get-to-know-the-candidate-betting meeting turned into a 1.5 hour conversation (or monologue or preaching) about babies as soon as the recruiter found out I got married two months ago.

Recruiter: So are you planning on having babies? Because if you aren't, you'd better do so now!

Me: .....

Recruiter: You know what, don't plan! Just do it! If you ever plan about having babies you will never have them, and before you blink another two years will have flown by and you will then regret why you didn't do it earlier, when your physical and mental health was in better shape.

Me: My hushand and I have a vague consensus that we want to enjoy couplehood for a few years before considering having babies.

Recruiter: No don't do that! How old are you now? [I told her] See you're not young anymore. You really should be making babies right now. Trust me, your whole life will change and you will be so happy when you have your own babies.

Me: [Trying to be polite] Hm... I will definitely discuss it with my husband tonight.

Recruiter: Don't discuss, just do it! Buy some sexy lingerie, stop taking the pills, throw away the condoms, whatever! Just make sure you make babies!

The recruiter got married a few years ago and now she has two children. I can tell she is very happy. She showed me the photos albums of her kids, told me how she enjoyed going to the movies with her daughter, how cute her son was. I was quite surpirsed when she told me she's older than me, because she looked almost 10 years younger than her real age. She is also very pretty and slim too. "It's so unfair", I told her jokingly.

By the time I looked at my watch, it was 7.30pm already (our meeting started at 6pm) and we had barely covered anything remotely job-related. We finished our meeting and the recruiter quickly rushed home to see her kids.

Luke 9:23

'If one day you could see Jesus in person and you say, "Jesus, tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it.", you know what Jesus will say? Two words: "Follow me."'

Yesterday we attended the Sunday service at a church different from the one we regularly go to. The sermon was precise and concise, and presented in a very interesting way (involving a hammer and a mirror and some smashing). Considering I usually have the memory of a goldfish, I can still remember most of the sermon and the message. I remember in particular what the pastor said above. I remember tears welled up in my eyes when he said that.

愛愛愛

我愛貓咪。貓咪愛伯伯。伯伯愛我。貓咪愛我。伯伯愛貓咪。我愛伯伯。

ＴＨＥ　ＥＮＤ。

驚心動魄上磅記

過了整整一個多月的狂歡作樂，今天早上終於要與久違了的電子磅say hello。

兩腳踏上去後，後悔也來不及，小小的液晶体顯示器已經顯示了一個足叫我差點暈倒的數字。這也怪不得，我早就知道那些雪糕啊，薯片啊，芝士餅啊，各種各類的甜品啊，等等等等是世紀大魔鬼，奈何自己意志力長久薄弱，面對這些香甜軟滑或脆卜卜的魔鬼時，想也不想，半點掙扎也沒有，就如螞蟻粘蜜糖般衝倒過去。 我愛零食，就好像女人愛壞男人一様，明知下場坎坷，也要燈蛾撲火。

唉，減肥戰爭又再正式開始...

噢，或者等我星期六打完邊爐才開始吧。

The Birthday Party

After a week of indulgence with wine, cheesecakes, tiramisu, Christmas puddings, left over turkey, crabcakes and vegetables, etc., life is back on its normal track now.

We had a great party at our place on Xmas night, and apparently everybody had a good time. We did Secret Santa (it's a kind of gift exchange in which you were told beforehand whom you are going to buy the present for but the recipient does not know it's coming from you - hence the Secret Santa - and he has to guess who the present's from), and it was the highlight of the night, apart from the yummy food and cocktail prepared by our friends.

As for New Year's Eve, I am not going to tell you what we did, except that it involves a very nice dinner, champagne, wine, good friends, dancing, throwing up, laughing and an expensive bill. We have photo-documented the whole night but I am waiting for someone to bribe me not to post them :)

The Christmas and New Year's bash aside, I am very thankful for all the blessings I was showered with in 2006. Christmas is about hope and faith and love. We celebrate Christmas because it is the birthday of our Savior, a baby sent to us by God to save us, and therefore we are cleansed of our sins and can start our lives anew, if only we have faith in Him. This is the true meaning of Christmas.

And what is a birthday party without food and booze and good friends?

A few good men

I had a meeting with my boss, the Acting General Counsel, today in Shenzhen. He was hired a couple of months ago as an IP counsel for the company, but because of the departure of our GC, he was then appointed Acting GC until a replacement is found.

He is a nice guy. I knew it the very first moment I met him. He's Malaysian Chinese who has spent the better part of his life in the US. He's worked in a leading US law firm and in a major US company so his experience and exposure is more than excellent.

Most of all he is a good guy. I didn't have a chance to get to know him very well back when he started his job (he is based in Shenzhen, me Hong Kong; plus I started my marriage leave shortly after he joined) But today we had a long chat, and he reaffirmed my impression of him. For a GC, one may think he is too idealistic and optimistic, but hearing him say what he said, you can't help thinking that "hmm...this is good. We need leaders like him with passion and vision". He does not give you lectures and lessons, instead he shares with you his experience, with the help of some funny real and fake stories, to get the message across to you.

I was most impressed when he told me that "family always comes first. If you do what you think is right for your family and your company doesn't appreciate that, then maybe this company is not worth your effort. You can always change your job, but you can never change your family". To take up his position in Shenzhen, he had to relocate his whole family (wife + 3 kids) from the US. He certainly has a very supportive family.

When he first joined, my ex-boss (GC who has now left) and some other senior management had doubts whether he may survive this company, since he seems to be too idealistic and westernised to be working in a political and chaotic PRC company. But there is something about him that makes me believe that not only will he make a good boss, he may actually be able to win the favour and trust of our management, and therefore make all our little lawyer lives a whole lot better.

I have friends who, for all his/her life, works for bosses from hell. I have been really fortunate in this aspect, as most of my bosses are good leaders and nice people. Let's hope that it stays that way.

Interview II

This morning I went for an interview with another company. This is a world renowned sports company whose products have won the favour of millions of people, including my newly acquired husband BB.

The interview was very brief, with me meeting only the HR manager for about 15 minutes. The HR manager asked me the standard questions, and then went on to explain their corporate culture and management style.

I was told that the company is highly performance driven, and there have been, and will be, a lot of changes in personnel and company direction. The way she said it (plus her facial expression) suggested that the company is merciless when it comes to year end evaluation - if the company thinks you are not delivering results (revenue), you can pretty much start packing.

After the two interviews I had yesterday and today, I find that it really is a big bad world out there. And what has surprised me is how honest the interviewers have become these days. I remember a few years back, whoever I interviewed with would only tell me all the glorious things about their company. You have to conduct your own due diligence through your friends, or friends of your friends, who work in that company.

Despite the many complaints I may have about my current employer (lack of leadership and vision, undesirable corporate culture, poor management skills, the rudeness of some of my PRC colleagues, etc etc), I do enjoy really flexible working hours (many times my friends call me at 6pm and I am already on my way home) and I have kind of established myself in the company. Do I want to throw all these away and
rush to the unknown, where I may have to work 15 hours a day, or help the company generate millions of profits, so as to justify my existence?

I am not too sure now.

But I am not too worried about it. I have prayed about it and have lifted it all up to God. I am never sure what will be best for me, but God is.

When is too much too much?

I went for an interview today. The company runs what most people consider a very glamours business and is one of the biggest employers in HK. During the interview, the following conversation took place:

General Counsel (my potential future boss, should they/I decide to hire me/join the company): I've got to tell you, this company has the worst politics. You must come here with no expectation because whatever expectation you have as a lawyer you will be very disappointed when you see no one appreciates you. The legal function in this company doesn't command any respect. You have to fight for everything every day. We don't even have our own standing and have to sit under the personnel division. [GC went on to tell me horrible stories about their legal team being treated like crap]

Me: [Still smiling] I see. Sounds like your company is as chaotic as mine.

GC: Yeah. Everyday is a battle. You have to deal with all sorts of people problems. It's trouble when they come to you for advice. It's even more trouble when they don't come to you until shit hits the fan.

GC then continued for another 15 minutes to talk about the pain of being a lawyer for this company, and then went on to talk about business trips:

GC: Business trips is part and parcel of this job. I don't expect you to travel a lot on a frequent basis but when you do, the business trips can be extremely demanding. I have more than once travelled long haul to a country, only to be there for a few hours and then I have to get on the earliest plane to come back to HK. And you are not allowed to have jet-lag. Oh and since your role is a world-wide role, you will have to work the Europe and US time zones as well, and when you have a global conference call, you sometimes have to get up at 5am to take those calls.

Me: [......]

GC: And senior management may wake you up in the middle of the night and ask you questions, and you have to give them answers there and then.

Me: [......]

While I truly appreciate the honesty of the GC in telling me the reality of the working environment despite the huge risk of scaring me away (he said, and I truly agree, that he'd rather tell me everything upfront for me to make an informed decision than for us to have a mismatch of expectation), I cannot help thinking how tough it will be working in such a position, having to deal with the sorts of challenges that were mentioned, and having to work 3 time zones and weekends and take late night and early morning calls. The remuneration package is not spectacular either. And did I mention that should I take the job, I will have to spend 3.5 hours each day commuting to and from work?

The upside of things is that their office complex is like a mini community, equipped with a gym, a theatre, a mini supermarket, a bank, and whatever you can think of in a local community. Oh and you get to see many many glamours people every day. That's not too bad.

無題

凡事都有定期。

萬事互相效力。

I see you, I see you not

如果眼睛是靈魂之窗，而你因爲戴了那些新科技小黑環隱形眼鏡而使瞳孔變得大了亮了，而如果有男生因爲你大了亮了的瞳孔而愛上了你，那你怎辦？難道日日夜夜也要跟這小膠片做朋友？你又有沒有欺騙觀衆之嫌？

眼睛會説話。我可以理解人們（包括我）希望用eye shadow, mascara, eye liner, 等等等等把眼睛弄得漂亮一點，但瞳孔是另一回事，它是一個人真誠的指標。如果隨隨便便的把這個指標加大改小，那和騙子又有什麽分別？ 我看見你但看不見真的你，那我還是不是看見你呢？

好書推介

《小事情》-- 陳慧

“別小看生活中這些小事情，小事情中有大道理。因爲每個人的生命，都是日日夜夜由如此這般的小事情交織而成。”

很久沒有看過一本叫我真正感動的書。如書名一樣，說的都是發生在小人物身上的小事情。陳慧一向擅長觀察和捕足生活的細節和感情描寫，這次沒有例外。

你和我都是小人物，看這書，你會驚訝有人可以這麽精准地了解你的内心世界。在地鐵裏看這書，好幾次弄得我鼻子酸酸。旁人怪怪的看着我，好不尷尬。

趕快看哪！

活着，多好

在風和日麗的下午，吃着自己摘的，紅紅的水果，看着不太嚴肅的書。









屋子被葡萄樹包圍，綠綠的，眼睛很久沒有這麽舒服過了。在草地上奔跑着，跟大黑狗玩角力，跟愛人踢足球，這種喜悅，不能言喻。









小羊Bob。看着他，想起家裏的貓。然後發現，自己惦念的人或物，只要回到家就可以看見，著實是一種福氣。









跟愛人在路上奔馳，他駕車我看地圖，聼着At 17，Madonna，Santana，Robbie Williams，又越過高山又越過谷。












在湖邊餵鴨子。牠們一看到麵包，就從老遠游到岸邊，團團的包圍着你。鴨仔歌伴着浪聲，比世上任何音樂還要好聼。









雨後的彩虹，久久不散。









看到無盡的山脈，看到蔚藍的天，看到上帝的大能。









一覺睡醒，迎接自己的，是美味的早餐。









與愛人看日落。









早上七點半，在農場的母牛，被帶進牛棚裏榨牛奶。不久，隱隱聽到牛棚外有叫聲，走出去看，發現小牛原來從老遠的農場走到棚外等媽媽，待母牛榨完牛奶之後，兩母子就一起緩緩地走回農場。每天如是。“牠們就好像人一樣啊！”農場主人說。











在一個別人要上班的下午，在餐廳隱蔽的後院裏，吃着青口喝着啤酒，感覺着皮膚被慢慢曬黑。（現在的我黑得像菲傭一樣）











你說，活着，多好。

Goodbye Kiwiland

BB and I are now at Kiwiland airport waiting to fly back home. This past two weeks has been a blast. We have done the adventurous things (riding on a 4x4 across a river!) and we have had time to just chill out and relax (and snap loads of pictures).

As much as I enjoy being pampered by good food and sunshine and blue sky every day, I am missing home now. More importatnly I can already think of 1,000 post-wedding/honeymoon chores I need to do when I am back.

So stay put. I promise I will come back with an update (and pictures) soon!

You know you are full of blessings when...

- the weather was superb on your wedding day (sunshine and blue sky!)
- your best men, bridesmaids and groomsmen, being ever so professional, help you take care of all of your worries so you can concentrate on being the bridezilla you want to be/can't help being
- your maids of honour, having known you for so many years and having seen the worst of you, are willing to subject themselves to a day of hard work and dealing with the drama queen, in the hope that they will also get to see the best of you (Amy & Susanna, I love you)
- your close friends and family are the witnesses of this important moment of your life
- you get to marry the love of you life, and spend the rest of your life with him, for better or for worse
- your marriage is blessed by God and He sure was as happy as you are on your big day

A big thank you to all of you who were there at the church wedding ceremony and/or the evening reception. Words cannot begin to express how much it means to both BB and me that you could be there to share our joy. A heartfelt thank you in particular to those who travelled all the way from all corners of the earth to attend our wedding. We love you all.

-------------------

BB and I are now in KiwiLand. The food here is superb and the scenery even better. People say sometimes a place is so beautiful you just have to point the camera and shoot, no matter where you're standing. KiwiLand is just like that. More later. Now I need to make myself a chamomile tea to help digest all the oysters and seafood I had. Don't be surprised when you see me become a balloon in two weeks.

Panic attack

I am starting to have the following nightmares about my wedding day:

(a) my make-up artist failed to turn up on the wedding morning and I had to do my own hair and make-up (disaster);

(b) I snoozed the alarm too many times so that when I woke up it was already 11.30, as opposed to 8.15 when I was supposed to get up (disaster);

(c) while I walking down the aisle, I tripped over my oh-so-pretty wedding dress and had the worst belly flop in front of all the guests and made a complete jerk of myself (major disaster).

Panic attack again. I need fresh air.

Questions (Part II)

How do you work with someone for whom you have zero respect?

How do you work with someone who asks you to replace the word "free" in the sentence "...Party A warrants that the products will be free from defect..." with something else because "people may think it means "free of charge""?

How do you work with someone who always interrupts a conversation so at any given time during a conference call you can hear at least 2 voices speaking simultaneously, and the noise is giving you a splitting headache?

How do you work with someone who is so stupid that you think it's a sin for him to exist in this world, and you actually feel embarrassed to be seen working with him?

I need a drink.

Revelations

(I)

昨天黃昏，放工途中，在地鐵裏如常地開始發白日夢，想着想着，忽然驚覺原來距離結婚日子，只有三星期不夠，心裏發毛，冷汗直標。

之前一直忙於新屋裝修的事情，籌備婚禮的工作擱在一邊，現在家也搬了，也就繼續婚禮準備。只是沒有想到，原來時光真的會飛逝，剩下的日子不多了，但好像很多事情還沒準備好。喜帖沒派完，鞋子沒造好，教堂程序表沒印好，皮膚還是很差（豆豆跟我仍是好朋友）...怎麽辦？

(II)

Last night on the way back home after our meeting with the videographers, BB said, shaking his head, "You really are a control freak". I tend to believe him, because I was getting that feeling too. From the house moving to the wedding preparations, I just have to be involved in every minute detail of things. From the colour of the paint to the way the door handles should be installed; from the style of my wedding dress to the exact timing the photographer should appear at our doorstep to the way I want my bouquet to be tied (hand-tied, not the round ones), I just need to be sure everything is under control, and that everything is to my liking.

I remember some years ago when I was lunching with my gal friends and we were talking about weddings and other gal stuff, all my gal friends agreed that I was gonna be one bridezilla. I didn't know what prompted them to say that, for I didn't think I was particularly fuzzy or demanding (on the contrary I thought I was rather easy-going). They said "yes you are easy-going, but when it comes to wedding, you will be a Bridezilla with a capital B". Damn, I hate it when they are right.

How I love my shiny kitchen

...and the bathrooms and the study and the bedroom and the guest room and the living room and the dining room, which are all new and shiny and smell of paint and new wood.

The housemoving could not have gone more smoothly, starting from Friday evening when we moved some of the smaller boxes to the new house (with the help of our friends), and ending with the big moving truck coming over and wrapping our sofa and dining table and mattress with super large cling film and transporting everything big and small to the new house on Sunday afternoon. The unpacking and tidying up took only a few hours (with the help with both my parents and BB's mom and the part time maid) and by 8pm Sunday the new house is 99% functional. We are so blessed in having such lovely parents and friends.

I am so glad this is now over. We can finally focus on the wedding preparations in the next few weeks.

--------------

P.S. I never realised I have expensive taste until Saturday afternoon, when we met with the florist / event co-ordinator to discuss our wedding decoration. When asked what kind of flowers we wanted to use for the wedding, I picked the flowers which turned out to be really expensive (e.g some rare specie of peony, amaryllis, and some exotic flowers the names of which I can't remember, etc). This wasn't intentional - I just thought they were super beautiful. Obviously, BB wasn't impressed (and kept rolling eyes at me), and at the end a compromise was reached, so that instead of using all the expensive flowers, we will also mix them with some of my less favourite, but more economical, flowers.

So don't be surprised when you will see roses at our wedding reception.

Question

If my job requires me to:

(1) travel to China (by cross-border shuttle bus) on a weekly basis; and
(2) work with people who think they are always rights just because they happen to be your boss,

and I:

(a) have a massive headache every time I commute to and from China; and
(b) do not enjoy one bit working with those smart asses, who are rude and unreasonable to say the least,

should I then seriously consider quitting? But won't that mean I admit defeat? I am better than that. If I go somewhere else, does that mean I can avoid working with Chinese at all?

My head is spinning again.

----------------------

On a different note, WE ARE MOVING HOUSE TOMORROW! Our old house is now full of boxes, and apparently Siu Bo is very confused now, seeing all the boxes stacked up in our living room but having no idea what is going on. I hope he is not thinking that we are conspiring to abandon him.

My next posting will probably be made from our new apartment!!!

我我我我我

原來我很介意別人怎樣看我。

原來我很容易哭。尤其是受委屈的時候。

原來我很需要被我重視的人了解。如果我的說話被誤解，我會不厭其煩地解釋，直到對方明白（或怕我煩所以敷衍說明白）。

如果我一直當你是朋友，但你只把我當作你講是非的一個題目，我會很傷心。但我已經學會放手，畢竟我的朋友多的是，少你一個不算少。

原來我愛我的家人，比我想象更多。但我從來沒有表現出來。

原來在工作的層面上，我從來不是一個有野心，喜歡挑戰的人。一份朝九晚五，不需用腦的工作，其實最適合我。

原來我是很膚淺的（見到靚仔會開心半天！）。

原來我的意志力很薄弱。看我減肥減了這麽多年還是老樣子便知道了。

原來我是一個記仇的人。我可以原諒一個人，但他對我的不好，我一世都會記得。

原來我很怕看那些關於落後民族的紀錄片。一看到他們的大耳窿，畫花了的臉，吃樹皮（或其他奇怪的食物），我會毛骨悚然。我承認在這事上，我是徹底的種族歧視。

原來我不喜歡我的芝士被移動。“改變”跟我，從來也不是好朋友。

原來我非常極度十分不喜歡社交。 在社交場合，我可以表現得很好，但我一點也不享受。

最好的工餘節目是回家跟貓玩。看看電視也不錯。跟愛人家人朋友在家吃飯也很好。

原來我在這裡寫的東西，真的有人看。謝謝你們給我的回應與鼓勵。我開這個blog，就是爲了跟你們分享，這目的，現在總算達到了。

It's about time

My posting has been a bit sporadic lately, and it's likely to be the case at least for the next two weeks.

The renovation of our new flat is coming to an end and we are hoping to move in the next weekend. That means in the next ten days or so, we will spend all our evenings and weekend packing and bubble wrapping things. This is a stressful exercise. Fun, but stressful.

I'd better lose 10 pounds out of this.

A visit to the ultrasound room

OR "Oh-my-God-the-baby's-heart-is-beating!" or "Oh-my-God-it-has-the-cutest-lips!"

My friend B is 25 weeks into her pregnancy and this morning she and her husband C paid a visit to the doctor for her regular pregnancy check-up. I, the nosy one who enjoy being vicariously pregnant, tagged along. After some routine blood and urine sample collection, we were shown to the ultrasound room.

B and C must be very used to this, but I was very nervous, as this is the first time I get to see a real baby through ultrasound.

The baby had its face hidden by its hands most of the time, and we couldn't see clearly its features. In fact most of the time all I could see was a big circle (the head). But at the very end, for a few seconds, the baby removed its hands from its face and we could see its features. It has very cute thin lips and a big nose (CUTE!). I also heard its heart beating. It was awesome and I was almost speechless (except the arrrhhs and ohhhhhs).

The mystery of childbirth never ceases to amaze me. This is probably God's biggest and best manifestation of his omnipower.

Centre of the Universe

Since my university years, I have never enjoyed being the centre of attention.

When I was young, I used to get a lot of attention. I went to a very decent girls' school, I was always one of the good students who got good grades and never caused troubles. I was rather popular (at least when compared to the geeky ones) in school and had quite a lot of good friends (most of whom I manage to keep in touch till now, for which I am very proud of myself). I was a member of the English debate team and once I won the best speaker prize. I took part in the drama competition and enjoyed every bit of it.

Until I got into the university. The uni experience was really an eye-opener. In law school, you see all kinds of smart people, REALLY SMART people. Your classmates are from international schools so even though they are also locally born and bred like you, they speak impeccable English. Some are from really really rich families. And did I say they are smart?

The transition from secondary school to university years is a very humbling experience. You discovered that you were nowhere near being the cream of the people. I wasn't frustrated for I am not the competitive type, but since then I had this change within me, the change that tells me I should avoid being in the lime light at all costs, because I am never good enough when compared to some other people. This is not a sense of inferiority, this is just reality.

I write about this because more and more I feel that I am starting to get the attention now. I get asked questions about the wedding preparations, whether I feel nervous, and how they all look forward to seeing "the most beautiful bride", etc. etc. While I do really appreciate the care and concerns and compliments (and yes I also want to be the most beautiful bride, but first I need the stupid zits to leave me alone), sometimes I feel quite uncomfortable addressing these questions and comments, because the conversation would be all about me me me. Most importantly, I worry that the people who ask the questions may only ask them out of courtesy, and are therefore not really interested in what I've got to say, so I tend to keep the conversation brief. As BB said, telling a person who's not getting married anytime soon everything about YOUR wedding preparations may bore the hell out of him/her.

So next time when you ask me how the wedding preparations are going and I respond with a simple "it's ok lah", it's not because it's ok (wedding preparations are never ok, you have all sorts of complications), it's only because I don't want to bore you with the minute details.

But if you really are interested in what flowers I use for the wedding, what are the colors of my evening dresses, what hairstyles I would wear, etc. etc., you can always come to this blog. After all, a bridezilla would not be able to hold her excitement. Thank God for cyberspace.

Yippee!

Two more hours before the long weekend starts! This coming weekend will be very eventful - my biannual visit to the hair salon, inspecting the new house (the flooring and tiles are done!), buying accessories for the new house, pop concert, prison ministry, yum cha with my family and welcoming BBM from London!

Next week is Golden Week in China, that means my clients are on holiday and I will have less work!

There are days when you feel like shit, but today is not one of those days :)

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

老闆下星期離職，本來說好不會給我的處理的爛攤子統統卸給我，還鑊鑊新鮮鑊鑊甘....下星期還要和麻煩董事高層開會....遲些還可能要去波蘭收拾殘局！

哎呀,想死!

It is a bit late to post this but just so you know...

The protest is over, but the killing surely will not stop overnight.

This world would be a much better place to live in if we are more animal-friendly.

Earthquake

Had lunch with B and H in Central today (yes it's a long journey for me, covering 16 MTR stations). Over seafood linguine and Tiramisu, the topic of earthquake popped up, and I felt left out when I told them I didn't feel anything when it happened last Thursday in Hong Kong.

How could I miss it? It only happens like, once in a century! And the quake measured 3.5 on the Richter scale! According to some press description, "an earthquake has rattled Hong Kong, causing skyscrapers to shake and sending people running into the streets in rural areas". Some people said it felt like a plane crashing into their building. How could I not have felt anything?

At the time when the quake happened, I was AT HOME! COOKING! Just doing what all other people were doing when they felt the shake! My friend B said it must be because I had the kitchen hood switched on - the noise of the hood plus the fact that I was engaged in a battle (i.e. cooking) had made me oblivious to the shakes and moves outside my apartment.

Whatever the reason maybe, part of me feels bad for missing out on this "collective experience" (I have never experienced any earthquakes in my life (Thank God) but it would be quite exciting to feel it once, not the major fatal ones, but minor ones like what we just had), but at the same time I couldn't help but think that maybe ignorance really is a blessing sometimes. Something bad happens but I am ignorant of it, so life goes on, every one's fine and dandy at the end and we all live happily ever after.

Life cannot get any better than this.

The One

A Saturday afternoon. We just had lunch at home. You were sitting at one corner of the livine room, I the other corner. We were both reading the newspaper. You always let me read the City section first as you know I never read the Sports news.

We were just there, occupying our own little space, reading our own inked papers. We didn't exchange a word, not even a glance. And then I had a look at you, and a sudden sense of peace overwhelmed me. I thought to myself, "This feels good. I probably can do this for the rest of my Saturday afternoons."

At that moment, I knew I had found The One.

好好戀愛

我的天父 可否讓我好好的談戀愛 不再流淚 不再傷痛 不再聚合又要分開
我的天父 我只想要安穩的找個人來愛 請讓我知道 那個人在不在

我的孩子 難道你忘記了我就是愛 學懂愛我 學懂愛你自己 你就懂好好戀愛
我的孩子 何不嘗試安靜的慢慢去等待 你就會知道 那個人在不在

你是否願意相信 每時每刻都在我手裏 沒有事情 是太早或是太遲
愛我的主 我願意相信 萬事萬物都在你手裏 請教我順服 你的旨意

------ 好好戀愛


曾經有同樣的感受，同樣的疑問；天父亦給我同樣的答案，同樣的安慰。只要你能相信，順服，最好的其實一早已經為你預備好。在神的世界裏，一切事情也是perfect timing的。

在婚宴不會說的一些話

我跟男友分手，你看見我在哭，你比我更傷心。你對我說了一些話，讓我感動至今。

有時我心情不佳，對你説話語氣不好，但你永遠不會怪責我，事後又如常的對我好，令我内疚非常。

你一有空就會駕車過來陪我吃午飯，儘管吃完之後又要馬上駕車回家跟你的老友喝下午茶。

你知道我們不常煮飯，沒有湯水，便會多煮我們的一份，然後山長水遠駕車把飯餸帶過來。有時你還會照顧我的娛樂需要，把八卦雜誌也一并帶給我。

每逢打風下雨，氣溫稍降，你總是第一個打電話給我，告訴我要多穿衣服，帶雨傘出門。

從小到大，我的一切需索，你都統統給我滿足，我從來不曾缺乏。

你給我無限的自由，讓我做我喜歡的事，跟我喜歡的人交往。要給兒女這麽大的自由，其實是挺冒險的，但你們對我信任，知道我不會亂來，也知道即使我在外頭吃了苦，受了傷，我永遠可以回到家裏這個避風港。

謝謝你讓我知道什麽是無條件的愛。

After 12 squid balls, 3 pork chop buns, 4 bird's nest egg tarts, 2 African chickens, 1 birthday cake, and lots of champagne, laughters and tears...

We have waved our goodbyes to the Asian casino land. The hen trip was full of fun and warmth, and once again I am so glad God has blessed me with so many wonderful sisters.

Squid and fish balls











Pork chop bun








Egg tart with bird's nest








African chicken








A little surprise birthday cake -- well, it was meant to be a surprise, you know the way it works: the waiter brings out the cake and people sing the birthday song, but in our case the waitress came to our table and asked very loudly IN FRONT OF THE BIRTHDAY GIRL "Do you want us to bring the birthday cake out now?". Naturally, no tips for Miss Stupid.

Strippers, booze and wild sex...

is what we are NOT having for our hen weekend (well, maybe a bit of booze, but strippers? No thank you, it is so cliche). Counting down: 20 hours.

There are two brides-to-be (me and my friend K - we decided to do a joint hen weekend as it involves similar participants) so it will be doubly fun!

I don't know what we are doing except that we are going to Macau. I do believe it will involve a lot of yummy Portuguese food (and Port!).

On the other hand, the guys are having their stag night on Saturday. As expected, the two grooms (BB and R, K's fiance) insisted that they have separate stag nights (excuse to have two crazy night outs instead of one). Boys will be boys...

Will post some photos when I am back!

不准掉頭！

昨天終於拿到遲了足足2星期才起貨的請帖了。出奇地，沒有什麽錯漏（在過去6星期裏，我每天也在擔心，如果印刷出錯的話，便來不及再印，到時便“大檸樂”了）。可能神看見我這麽擔心，生怕如果真的有什麽出錯，祂這個女兒一定會爆血管，所以便大大保佑這事 ^O^

媽咪跟弟婦也很好，昨天特地到灣仔陪我去拿總共4大袋，厚典典的大小請帖啊，信封啊，利是封啊，諸如此類。

這代表漫長的入帖/寄帖/等回復/排座位表/確認回復/修改座位表/等等等等的重要工程正式開始。當然還有美容/減肥/試身/造鞋/教堂程序表/揀歌/試菜/場地佈置/等等等等的事宜要陸續處理。

嘩好忙啊！連食薯片和雪糕都沒時間！

Salt and Light

The cleaning lady just came into my office and gave me a little individually-wrapped cake. She said today is her last day at work. She is not an employee of our company, but works for a cleaning company that we engage to clean our offices. This lady only comes into our office at the end of each day to take out our trash.

I suddenly feel a bit sad. All this time my converation exchange with this lady does not go beyond the simple "Hello", "Thank you", "You going home soon? - Yes, about to", so I should have no reason to feel saddened by her departure. After all, people come and people go.

But the cake. Why did she give me the cake? And from the way she gave it to me (in a hush hush manner even though there was nobody else in my office), I figured that she gave the cakes to selective people, and I was one of the lucky few. What have I done to deserve the cake? I don't even know her name! I haven't ever asked about her, whether she has kids, how long she has been in this job. And yet she gave me this cake, perhaps thinking that in some way there is a connection between us (which I failed to notice).

It seems that the cleaning lady and I are in reversed positions. As a Christian, I should be the one reaching out to people, regardless of whether the recipient understands or appreciates such friendliness. But here I am, sitting in my office, receiving a cake from an almost stranger, while wondering why I should be getting this gift in the first place.

This has been playing in my head for the past 72 hours

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope;
Where the is darkness, only light;
And where there's sadness, ever joy

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand
To be loved, as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace
It is pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive;
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.

--- Make me a channel

I should say this to the people in my office building

"Do you ever hold the door open for somebody and they just waltz right through there? No eye contact, no thank you, no nothing. You're just standing there "Well you're welcome Your Majesty! Sorry I didn't sprinkle rose petals for you!""

---From Ellen DeGeneres - Here and Now

This stand-up comedy is brilliant! As always, Ellen rocks!

Questionnaire

I have completed this questionnaire. If you care enough for our fluffy friends, please help.

----------

Survey on HK's Aaimal Welfare
虐待動物法例問卷調查

The government has proposed heavier penalties on animal abuse in April this year. In order to gauge public opinion on the overall animal welfare
situation in Hong Kong, Animal Earth, an animal rights organization, wishes to collect your views through an email questionnaire.
港府於今年四月建議加強虐畜罪行的罰則。為了解市民對法例罰則和香港整體動物福利的看法，動物權益團體《動物地球》現進行一項電郵問卷調查。

Please help us by finishing this simple survey. The overall results will be published afterwards while detailed information will be kept confidential.
請大家花一點時間完成簡單的問卷。我們稍後將會公佈問卷答覆的整體分析及結果，但個別資料會絕對保密，謝謝。

http://www.my3q.com/home2/115/animalearth/86527.phtml

Thank you.

Dr House

Recently I have become a fan of Hugh Laurie, or Dr Gregory House in House M.D. Until House M.D., I never knew who Hugh Laurie was, but BB told me he was already very famous in the UK before House M.D. (he is British, which was a surprise to me because he speaks impeccable Amercian English in the drama series), and was in A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster and Blackaddar (where he plays the dimwit Prince George). I googled him (yes when I am obsessed I am unstoppable, just like I was with the pontikege, and btw I am over pontikege now, surprise surprise) and discovered that he is actually very multi-talented. He plays the piano, guitar and harmonica. He sings very well. He writes novels. He bikes. He rows. He also graduated from Eton and Cambridge.

Oh and did I mention he has the most incredible blue eyes? And I have seen him in interviews, his sense of humour amazes me, and he is nothing like the cranky Dr House character he plays.

There really is something about men named Hugh (Hugh Grant! and Hugh Jackman!).

Girl power

Last night, I went for a kickboxing trial class with a friend. I have taken kickboxing classes before, but those were the group classes held in a gym, where you jab and kick with 40 other people in a not-very-big room. The experience was not very pleasant.

Last night was a Rolls Royce experience when compared to the group classes I took before. First, it was a private lesson so it's just the coach and me and my friend. The gym itself is not big, like twice the size of a high school classroom, but it has a boxing ring (mini version I suppose - I don't know how big a proper boxing ring is), a few sandbags and enough spare room for you to run about kicking asses. Last night there were no other classes or students, so the coach, me and my friend had the whole place to ourselves. We spend the hour kicking and punching. Oh and we wore boxing gloves and kick real people (i.e. the coach)!!

Strangely, I didn't sweat a lot during the class but I could definitely feel I have had a good work out - today my arms and legs are hurting. But it feels good.

The private classes are not cheap, but being DBJ (and a closet shopaholic) I of course have signed myself up. I hope I can shape up my figure for the wedding. Better spend money on this than on a pair of Manolo right?

I will be an ass kicking queen! BB should be very worried.

辣手摧包

我最近愛上了吃麻糬（Pontikege），是瘋狂的那種愛，晚上睡覺時會掛念它，早上返工時會特地在公司三條街以外下車，只為去麵包店買它當早餐。這種小麵包由來已久，但不知道爲什麽我一直沒有看上它，直到現在。

Google了很久,也找不到關於麻糬的詳細營養資料，只知它也算健康食品，但健康食品總有脂肪，有蛋白質卦？就是找不到有關資料。

但也沒關係。觀乎我“新xx，三日香”的性格，大抵會每天吃麻糬，吃它一兩三個星期，然後熱情過了，就再也不會碰它。

The unbearable heaviness of being

In this week's Next Magazine, there is an article about a woman who suffers from delusional disorder, but the focus of the article is on the husband of the woman, who takes care of her all these years.

15 years ago, this woman killed her 13-year-old daughter with a knife and strangled the other daughter, who was 8 years old then. When the husband arrived home from work, he discovered the crime scene. The wife was later diagnosed of suffering from delusional disorder, an illness which led her to believe that the world is conspiring against her and therefore she needed to kill her daughters to protect them. She was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to psychiatric treatment.

The husband bears no hatred towards the wife. He quit his job to take care of her and he even blames himself for not discovering the wife's illness earlier and getting her the proper treatment.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, rumour has it that Kate Hudson is splitting with her husband after six years of marriage because of Owen Wilson. Allegedly Kate and Owen hit if off while filming a movie together.

I like Kate Hudson and I am not being judgemental here. I write about her simply because I read about it on the same day I read about the husband, and it strikes me.

What is true love? I think true love is a choice. You make a conscious decision and you stand by it. It takes a lot of faith and a lot of hard work.

Wah, true love is such heavy stuff. No wonder divorce lawyers are making so much money.

廣告時間

裝修

新屋裝修，公司也在裝修。每天電鑽吵過不停，令本來已經容易頭痛的我，更加辛苦。

也好，給我一個藉口早點放工哈哈。

88... and counting

I have a countdown calendar on my personalised Google homepage so I know it's 88 days before our wedding. The preparation progress has been very promising so far:

- we have booked all the important services like church, reception venue, make-up artists, wedding dress designer, photographer, videographer, decoration, and band.
- we collected the wedding bands yesterday.
- I am meeting with the wedding dress designer this Friday for a second fitting (i.e. I have to crash diet in the next few days to rid myself of the extra pounds I gained from all the crisps and movenpick ice-creams).
- meeting with the videographer is next week.
- we will collect the invitation cards from the printer this Sunday.
- we have started to put together the wedding schedule.

There are of course a lot of other small but important tasks that we need to take care of, but one thing at a time. BB and I have agreed that every day we have to make some progress on the preparation work, big or small. Yesterday it was finalising the wedding party, today it is calling the stupid "I-am-sorry-our-lines-are-busy-no-matter-how-many-times-you-call" Marriage Registry to arrange for the application of a marriage notice.

Athough I do not mind being busy for a happy cause, what I really want now is fast forward to 3 months later, when the wedding is over, the house moving is done, and we are enjoying the lovely wines in the lovely vineyards. Oh honeymoon, honeymoon, I want you. Now.

It's not time yet

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

---Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

A few nights ago I dreamed that my dad had cancer and was dying. The dream was so real that when I woke up, I was in cold sweat and trembling. The dream also triggered the all too familiar train of thoughts, which, as it always have, left me helpless and lost.

It was obviously only a dream, but it could have been reality, easily. Every telephone conversation you have with your parents, every time you see them, could so easily be the last time. The world is too unpredictable, life is too fragile, there are too many crazy terrorists out there who spend their entire life thinking how to blow up planes, too many reckless drivers, too many new types of illnesses.

It takes a tremendously wise and faithful person like King Solomon to be able to understand the profound truth in life. The Book of Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon, tells us that God has ordered all things according to His purposes, and that a man's role is to accept these things as God's appointments. But sometimes, with some things, it is just too hard to accept.

Cream, Sea-shell, Ivory, Magnolia, Cosmic-latte...are all fancy names for white

Today BB and I and our interior designer went to Lockhart Road to sort out the various materials for the house renovation. Thanks to the comprehensive due diligence we did the previous few weeks (including countless arguments), today is a very smooth process. Within two hours, we have decided on the bathtub, wash basins, shower system, taps, kitchen tiles, washroom tiles, and floorboards. Considering both BB and I have very strong and different preference, I am really impressed with our progress today.

Of the 5,000 things we need to do with the new house, one thing is checked! Only 4,999 to go!

Am typing away in my study now. The weather today is perfect - it's been a long while since we saw the blue sky. Hong Kong has become so polluted that clear blue sky is a luxury now.



Meanwhile Mr. Bo is happily napping:



Happy is BB also. He just bought a new game. That means in the next few days I will be an XBox widow.

New apartment

Completion of our new apartment purchase has just taken place! In case you are not familiar with Hong Kong property law, this is how the sale of a second-hand apartment usually goes: once you and the vendor have agreed on the sale price of a flat, you sign a "preliminary sale and purchase agreement" and pay a 3% deposit. In the course of the next 10 days or so, you will need to pay another 7% deposit and sign a formal sale and purchase agreement. Completion takes place about 30-45 days after the signing of the formal S&P agreement, during such time you have to come up with enough money to pay the remaining 90% balance (borrow from your parents/friends/boss, rob a bank, win the lottery, whatever suits you).

Anyway we completed our purchase today, and from tomorrow onwards the decorators will come into the flat and start stripping the place. It's an 18-year-old building so the plumbing and wiring is quite old already, plus the previous owners' taste for interior design is not really our cup of tea, so the whole place needs to be gutted and renovated.

The next three months will be painful (oh the mess! oh the weekly inspection and meeting with decorators! oh another invoice!) yet sweet (oh a new place! oh a custom-designed kitchen! oh a bigger study!).

I am so excited.

得啖笑誓師大會

老闆剛進我的office，給我看一份memo，說“等你看看，笑下都好”。

Memo内容如下：

“xxx集團企業文化變革創新誓師大會

時間：2006年x月xx日（星期六）上午10:00 - 12:30
地點：深圳市市民中心禮堂

-----方陣人員組成及演唱會歌詞一覽表

第一輪演唱歌曲:
《歌唱祖國》/ 《沒有共產黨就沒有新中國》/ 《團結就是力量》/ 《學習雷鋒好榜樣》

第二輪演唱歌曲:
《掀起你的蓋頭來》

第三輪演唱歌曲:
《小草》/ 《大中國》/ 《龍的傳人》/ 《長江之歌》”

........memo裏還有其他的内容，包括這一句“各單位按分配名額參訓，不得缺席”。

老闆“幸運地獲邀請”帶同她的手下（即包括我）參加這誓師大會，但由於她當天有“緊要事”（她租了一條船跟朋友出海），故唯有“萬分抱歉，未能出席”。

嘩，我真是抹一把冷汗！如果要我去這些活動，唱這些歌，我怕我下半世都會發惡夢！（還要我星期六朝早去深圳？有無病！）

在中資公司打工，有些東西始終要慢慢習慣...

Shopping!

On Saturday we had dinner at MOG's place. After a satisfying 3-course meal and a few glasses of red and white, MOG said, "You wanna see my conquests in Europe?", meaning the suits/shoes/belts/shirts/bags/trousers/jackets/etc. he bought during his shopping spree in Milan/Florence/London in July.

In less than 10 minutes, the living room was covered with Prada bag/Christian Dior shirts/Dolce & Gabbana belts/Gucci suits/Tod's shoes/numerous other pretty things. "They were all at least 1/3 of the original price! Everywhere in Europe is on sale!", said MOG. We ooh-ed and aah-ed at these amazing bargains for the rest of the night.

I don't know about the others, but I was drooling with envy. It has been a long while since I last went on a shopping spree. Those who know me well would know this is almost a miracle. When I was younger, I once shopped so much in Paris that I returned with only GBP10 to spend until the next pay check arrived in a week's time (I was too thin-skinned to ask Dad to wire me money). My friends, witnessing my misery, jumped in to buy me lunches and dinners during that week. That was the first time I experienced the power of friendship. *sniff*

Seeing those pretty things at MOG's, the shopaholic inside me was screaming and bursting to come out. BB, who loves me too much to see my suffer, has promised to take me to Europe next summer:


DBJ: I want to go shopping in Florence! I want to buy that Prada travel bag!! Why don't we go to Europe next year? Or better still, we can go shopping in Italy, stop over in Lisbon to visit your grandpa, and then stop over in London to visit your parents! Isn't that perfect?

BB: Yeah.

DBJ: And we can go in the summer! The weather will be fantastic and we can shop all day!! And I can finally meet your grandpa and we can see your parents!! Isn't it great?

BB: Yeah.

DBJ: So is that a promise? Promise? Promise? PROMISE??????

BB: Yeah. Whatever.


As you can see, we are SO going to Europe next summer yippee!!!!

Regret is

after you have eaten a bag of crisps, feel a little bad about your lack of self-control, decide to hit the gym, and after 45 minutes on the stepper machine, realise you have only burnt 427 calories. You go back home and check the nutritional information of the crisps, and find that you have just invited 568 calories into you body.

Then you think "shit, I shouldn't have eaten any bloody crisps in the first place. What was I thinking?"

That, my friends, is regret.

This post should have been up long ago but for the stupid Blogger site glitches...

...OR "On the 11688th Day of My Life".

Birthday card from BB (yes that is a beaded ring):


Free box of Krispy Kreme donuts (distributed in Central to advertise the opening of their first shop in Hong Kong; ex-colleague got two boxes and gave one to me):


Where my precious 8 hours on this special day was spent:


present from my brother:


My birthday dinner at home:
a) they taste much better than they look, trust me
b) these photos were taken when the dishes were half finished - I kept reminding myself I should take pictures first before eating, but when the dishes landed on the dining table I forgot all about the photos

Stir fried king prawns with broccoli


Chicken in sweet soy sauce (Mom's signature dish)


Vegetables and dumplings and fishballs in seafood soup


Thank you all of you for the sweetest warmest birthday wishes (via telephone, email and SMS). You have made this day truly special.

給排球隊小隊長

你說爲什麽人長大了要考慮那麽多的事情，做那麽多的決定，年輕時不用那麽煩惱啊。

小隊長，這是你千千萬萬人生交叉點的開始啊。你現在要考慮，要決定的事情，跟你往後要面對的事情比較（選擇那一份工？應不應該跟他拍拖？興趣緊要還是生計緊要？跟他明明沒將來，應否為怕分手之後的彷徨而勉強自己跟他在一起？應否結婚？應否生小孩？應否原諒他？），其實不算太惱人。但這總是你人生中第一個比較重要的決定，所以你的猶豫，我能夠了解的。

但你要記緊啊，可以選擇，是福氣。能夠選擇，代表你已經長大；能夠長大，也是福氣。在選擇的過程中你會更了解自己，你會發現原來你擁有一些你從來不知道的性格，也擁有一些你不曉得的陰暗面。這個自我發掘的遊戲其實挺過癮的。

當你踏入要為自己的前途作決定的年紀時，也代表你有能力為自己的生命和選擇作承擔。“承擔”，說時重，做時輕。需要的只是那一點點對自己的尊重，那一點點的勇氣，那一點點的忍耐。尊重自己的選擇，勇於面對失敗，耐心等待成功的來臨。時下的年輕人常欠缺承擔，但你作爲排球隊隊長，應該十分明瞭並正身體力行承擔的精神吧。

記着啊，能為自己生命作決定，能選擇自己想走的道路，終究是好事。假如決定錯誤，選擇的道路有偏差，那也沒什麽大不了啊。 你的最大優點是年輕，沒有什麽錯誤或道路是不能糾正或回頭的。

最重要的是，你身邊有一個年紀比你大，做過的決定比你多，走過的歪路也比你多的姐姐嘛。你有什麽問題或想不通的事情，記得找她，她的意見未必中肯，但起碼你會知道，這條路，並不是你一個人在走。

P.S. 謝謝你的生日歌，雖然唱得很難聼，但心意搭夠啦。

邊爐美學

這是我看過對打邊爐最有詩意的揣釋：

“鍋爐的熱氣是最好的面具，讓人仍然看見你，但看不見真的你。其實除了熱氣，打邊爐的過程亦足成就另一種障眼法。各式肉菜擺滿了桌子，你站起身仔細端察，假裝把注意力放置於挑選食物之上，然後用筷子夾起其中一件，放進小箕，把箕子輕輕伸到爐湯之中；你的眼睛全神貫注地望着鍋裏層層冒起的熱泡，不會有人覺得你心不在焉。

打邊爐的美學在於“留白”，你不必急於用聲音填滿飯桌，在手忙腳亂裡，沒有人會逼你表露自己。”

-- 馬家煇 “愛戀無聲”

（好書一本，趕快看啊！）