Chris News Network

CNN on Blogspot has ended its run...

2006-08-04T02:41:00.000+08:00

I have finally gotten down to migrating this blog to Wordpress instead, although I will still keep this piece of virtual neighbourhood ('cos I am kiasu).

There are a few reasons why I have done so:

1. Having my vacation and therefore more time to do it

2. Wordpress allows me to catagorise my blog entries

3. Wordpress makes it easy to import my blog entries

4. I need a change

With effect from this day, 4th Aug 2006 Friday,

Chris News Network will continue under a new name, Kancheong Spider, via its new URL: http://christph.wordpress.com/

Do visit Kancheong Spider from now onwards...

The Devil Wears Prada

2006-08-02T00:15:00.000+08:00

I met up with my secondary mates and we were at NYDC for our customary dessert and chatted over mudpie and cappucino. My good friend happened to be just in front of this stuff toy and I thought it cute to take a "superimposed" shot.

It kinda reminded me of the book "The Devil Wears Prada" and well, my friend did carry a Prada bag... haha. That's where the similarities end though, nothing like the impossible boss in the book.

Still considering whether to buy this book to read or just wait for the movie to come to my part of the world. Read the review and find it to be quite an interesting story about the impossible boss of all impossible bosses... hmmm, if it is set in a school's setting, I can think of a few Principals who could vie for top honours.

Talking about movies, I am trying to talk D into watching "The Lake House" (a remake of a Korean movie) with me. A lovey sappy movie that is different from the usual violent and action-packed ones he enjoys though.

Diving @ Pulau Dayang (28 Jul to 30 Jul)

2006-07-31T13:58:00.000+08:00

Finding the best possible position to have a comfortable sleep on a rackety diving boat late at night whilst on the way to Pulau Dayang is quite a challenge. We left Mersing Jetty around 12 midnight and it would be another 4 and a half hour before we reach our destination. When we finally reached Dayang, it was still quite dark and my fuzzy sleepy mind wasn't in the best of moods.

I had asked my instructor friend if the resort is 5-star, and he retorted it could be 5-STARfish or maybe 5-Sea Urchins... anyway, it was a plain no-frills (not even blankets or towels; toilets/bathroom facilities are communal) quad-sharing bunk. I put aside my urban/Mauritius 5-star Spa resort mentality and slept the next 2-plus hours. It was only for 2 nights... the dive and beach had better be worth it.

In the morning, Dayang revealed itself to be a lovely place, clear turquoise waters with nice soft sand to step on and dig into (like the ones in Mauritius), food was quite good (the enciks fried some nice goreng pisang for tea). The waters were a nice 28 degrees C, and although the dive sites can't be compared to Similans, the viz was still a good 12 to 18m.

I am happy to swim with my first turtle; observed the flickering colour changes on my first reef cuttlefish up close and personal; stayed a distance away from a school of juvenile Barracudas swimming in formation; held a Spanish Dancer which was so comfortable that it refused to leave my glove; tried to feed a Moray Eel with a dead fish.

We did 6 dives altogether and besides the initial problem D and I had with our loaned BCDs (we had to oral-inflate the BCD cos the hose connectors didn't fit the ones on the BCDs), it was still a good experience. A friend of ours was there for his Open Water Training and D buddied him; whilst I was his girlfriend's buddy, who incidentally caused me to put my DM training into practice.

We are going there again this weekend with another group of divers who are doing their Open Water and Rescue Diver trainings. D will be going as DMIT, i.e. Dive Master In Training, while I will be there as a DMIT(a), fewer responsibilities compared to D but would need to put my DM training into some use.

Here's the video of the young turtle (pardon the jerkiness towards the end):

FInally get to watch TV... And More Bks

2006-07-26T20:30:00.000+08:00

I have finally, finally got the chance to watch TV in my own house. The simple situation is that if my MIL (mother-in-law) is watching TV in the living room, I will not be able to watch it. Well, actually, I suppose I could if I ask her, but I can't do it. Whether it's out of respect or whatever, she has the priority.

Here's the situation:

Yes, she has a TV in her bedroom but it doesn't have cable unlike the one in the living room. She watches lots of TVB serials (i.e. soaps from HK) which used to be on video tapes that are delivered to her from some video rental shop on the video tape player in her room. However this trip back, I found that the tapes have now evolved into VCDs which can only be played on the home theatre system we have in the living room.

Anyway, I was home early today so I could just plonk myself on the rosewood couch (not as comfy as my Moby D beanbag in HK) and watch Ron White's "They Call Me Tater Salad".

Ron is a stand-up comedian, who drinks whisky and smokes onstage while delivering his jokes, sometimes punctuated with the occasional f*%*#@ words. D had introduced me to Ron White via the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" which is an absolute riot to watch.

As I am typing this, I am watching the S'pore Idols Season 2 ... just to see the quality of our local potential singers.

I bought some more books at the Campus Crusade Bookstore to continue with my biblical/revelations/end of the world collection this afternoon. I love this genre particularly, it intrigues me and makes me think hard about what is to come.

"Here By Me" (By 3 Doors Down)

2006-07-25T22:54:00.000+08:00

I hope you're doing fine out there without me 'Cos I'm not doing so good without you. The things I thought you'd never know about me Were the things I guess you always understood

So how could I have been so blind for all these years?

Guess I only see the truth though all this fear,

And living without you

CHORUS:

And everything I have in this world

And all that I'll never be

It could all fall down around me.

Just as long as I have you,

Right here by me

I can't take another day without you
'Cos baby, I could never make it on my own
I've been waiting so long, just to hold you
And to be back in your arms where I belong
Sorry I can't always find the words to say
But everything I've ever known gets swept away

Inside of your love

Repeat Chorus

As the days grow long I see

That time is standing still for me

When you're not here

Sorry I can't always find the words to say

Everything I've ever known gets swept away

Inside of your love

Repeat Chorus

Maybe I should be listening to happier songs, sappy and sentimental ones aren't helping.

The song "Here By Me" by 3 Doors Down basically sums up my feelings right now. It's just one of those crappy days when the distance between D and I gets into me quite abit. It's a measly 2 weeks apart compared to the hideous 9 months separation we had in 2004.

D, I miz u lots.

And when I am in one of my pensive moods, I think a bit deeper for both of us, maybe slightly more for me.

I feel like I am neither here nor there when D isn't here besides me... it feels kinda odd that I am physically in this apartment called "home", but I somewhat feel I am not at home. It's a different feeling unlike our little den in HK which feels homely and cosy; the HK home has our love, care and attention. Whereas this one in S'pore... I feel like I am a guest, maybe even an intruder stepping back into a different life. Perhaps it's because this is more like my mother-in-law's domain; it's more like we are staying with her, and not the other way round. Afterall she has been staying here much longer than I have, and all its decor and the entire system of managing this place is done according to her way.

So maybe it's the sum of all things... I really don't know if I could return to such a life if D and I return to S'pore. It's good to know there is quite a big roof over our heads and we are fortunate that we have a domestic helper in S'pore 'cos of my D's mum. Frankly, I would give that all up, live in a smaller place and clean the place myself, as long as it's our personal space just for the 2 of us (and kids when they come along).

Books & Silly Pens

2006-07-23T23:49:00.000+08:00

I was at Borders and all books were going at 20% off the original prices. Bought 2 books (LOTR and Lynn Hill's Climbing Free) while I was there.

I was googling for a pic or link to Lynn Hill's Climbing Free book to show D via msn, and came across her blog (I have inserted it under "Bloggies Links"). I realised that I could have purchased her book via her website and she would have signed on the book and shipped it to me... DRATS. I have a postcard of her climbing on my table in school, and she is a real inspiration. Not that I will be like Lynn Hill, she is way advanced but it's good to know that there are female climbers out there who can do much better than lots of male climbers... yeah, it's my feminist side talking.

LOTR... loved the book and the movie. I remembered watching Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers on the big screen and decided to borrow the book from the library, read the entire book including Return Of The King before this final instalment was screened at the end of the following year. It's an amazing book, slow in the beginning but JRR Tolkien is a genius.

Before this, I had bought 2 other books from Kinokuniya. Both D and I miss the libraries and bookstores in S'pore, 'cos English books are both expensive and difficult to find in HK. We will usually buy about 10 bks each visit and ship them back to HK.

Earlier this week, I came across this pushcart store at Parco Bugis selling silly pens. I am still thinking whether to get the one with the middle finger and the other with the victory sign...

Back Home... Can Finally R&R

2006-07-23T20:46:00.000+08:00

After taking 44 pupils out daily on outings and excursions for the whole of this week, it's good to finally take a breather from the stress of leading each field trip. The stress is not due to these pupils (who incidentally are wonderful bunch), but mainly because of my boss who came along each day.

A couple of places that I enjoyed during this outings/excursions week are the Kranji Memorial Park and the Laborador War Tunnels. It's funny how I never actually bothered to visit the Kranji Memorial Park, but only visited it when I am back from HK. It's a peaceful, solemn place that is so full of history and pain, but it is 'cos of what these youngsters did back in WWII that allowed S'pore to still be around. I am not sure how much of my pupils actually understood the significance of this place, but I hoped the experience and the exposure helped.

Another place that I enjoyed is the recently discovered Laborador War Tunnels. It is my first time in Laborador Nature Park, and I would be interested to go there again. The kids were a bit squeamish about the dark and narrow tunnels, but I think they did enjoy the historical experience.

For the past 3 days, I had been feeding myself with my favourite local hawker fare, Hokkien Prawn Mee, Mee Pok, BBQ Sambal Stingray, Oyster Omelette... Together with another colleague, we visited the newly opened Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre, the temporary Chinatown Hawker Centre near Outram MRT Station and Glutton Bay @ Esplanade.

Can't wait for D to come back next week, so that we can go and eat some more. Going to gym tomorrow, tennis and swim on tuesday to work it all out.

NE SHOW (National Day Parade Preview For Pupils)

2006-07-17T00:32:00.000+08:00

Funny how life has it that I should watch my first NE Show with pupils from HK and as someone who is working and living overseas. Somehow in my years of teaching in S'pore, I wasn't required to attend the NE Show.

Together with 2 colleagues, we met at Kallang MRT Station earlier to walk to the National Stadium so that we will know the route well. Along the way, an army guy who was driving by stopped and asked me if we wanted a lift. I had to politely decline even though he was kinda cute, the car was kinda cool and we were all very hot.

When we were at the stadium, I asked a couple of cute army guys (from the Guard Unit) for directions to Gate 4. Once we reached there, I asked another Guard if he knew of an easier route to walk to the National Stadium from Kallang MRT, and he directed me to Captain Adrian Lim, who took down my number, gave me his namecard and told me he would check for me. Captain Lim had a pair of Oakley and looked quite stern and expressionless. While on our walk back to Kallang, I received a few text messages from him which were quite casual and friendly, totally opposite from my 1st impression.

After the show, while walking back to Kallang with the pupils, another Guard came up to me and asked if he could help me with some of the bags I was carrying. I felt tempted but declined again, and told him to help my other boss (the Principal's Assistant).

My colleagues began making fun of me of how guys are helping me (they forgot that they will benefit too) and reminded me I am still married. DUH...

Anyway, the NE show was quite impressive; the atmosphere is definitely different watching it live as compared to watching it on telly. My favourite is still the fireworks display, and I must say that this year's theme song is very nice... brings tears to my eyes 'cos the lyrics, although simple, are meaningful. I am giving it 4.5 out of 5 Popcorns.

Back Home for 3 Wks Of SHIP Work

2006-07-17T00:06:00.000+08:00

In a way, it's good to be back, even though I am mostly back 'cos it's compulsory as I am involved in this year's SHIP, which stands for Singapore Holiday Immersion Programme. Well, it could stand for Singapore Holiday Immersion Trip, but I suppose, the acronym isn't too nice a word to be printed in the list of my current school's programme.

This year, there are 44 pupils (from Primary 1 to 6) whose parents have signed them up for SHIP. In short, the pupils will have a week's worth of outings to see the sights and get to know the culture. After that, they will be attached to various schools of their choice for 2 weeks. As for us teachers (5 of us together with the bosses, i.e. Principal & her assistant), we will be with them from for at least 8 hrs each day during the 1st week of outings and excursions (mind-zapping). During the next 2 weeks of school attachment, we will visit the pupils in their various schools to see how they are doing, talk to the teachers to find out if our pupils are adapting well etc.

I wish I am on some island, like Fiji or something, diving and zoning out on the white sandy beach.... sigh.

Together with 2 other colleagues, we did a lil' recce on Sunday, making sure the route from Suntec to Esplanade to the new National Library building is ok for my pupils tomorrow, and found it to be quite a refreshing walk. It's funny how being away from S'pore for awhile makes me miss S'pore and that everywhere seems to be so new and different, as if I am seeing the buildings and streets for the first time.

The basement in Raffles City has changed, many new shops and the former Jason's supermarket has reduced in size, and I am so happy to see a Gloria Jean's Coffee outlet there... yeah, that's going to be my new haunt.

We went up to the Roof Terrace at the Esplanade (it's my 1st time) and found the view to be quite nice. We stayed there for a very short while, and had to seek refuge in the cool aircon comfort of the Esplanade building.

The new National Library at Bras Brasah is very impressive, about 14 storeys in all, and we kept riding up the escalators looking for the Children's section. We were on the 8th floor when we found out that the borrowing section for adults and children is at Basement 1 (the other floors are the various reference sections and one for the Drama Centre). I came across this Possibility Room and found out later that there is an Imagination Room somewhere too... gee, kind of an oxymoron, cos possibilities and imagination are going to be quite tough to be kept within the boundaries of walls.

Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed that the pupils will enjoy themselves, especially the 2 bosses.

D is still in HK and will not join me in S'pore till the 28th Jul. It's going to be a long 2 weeks without him, but duty calls.

It's Not A Matter Of If, It's When...

2006-06-27T10:05:00.000+08:00

Drats... I always, always tell myself, "This will be THE phone, I will not change it for at least 2 years!" But something else comes along, with its MTV-styled ads and huge showy billboards that constantly remind me that nothing lasts, things changes, technology improves. Especially in HK, the latest style and fad enter the market very quickly and everywhere I turn, I am hit right in the face by them. Argh, it's an evil place to be in. I have to constantly remind myself not to be suck into this neverending, sometimes sneaky whirlpool. If I am not careful, I will be suck right into this abyss of consumerism. Focus, focus... I suppose I am a real sucker for technology and gadgets, especially phones. And this ONE has caught my eye this year with every neurons in my brain telling me, "It's time for a change; the photos and video functions are much better and clearer than your 7610; good for your blog; it's the ONE... at least for one year!" So which is this amazing thing that has caught my eye now?

The Nokia N80

(see Cnet Asia Review ) I reckon I will get it next month, after paying off my bills first. Just spent abt HK$6k on my PADI DiveMaster course, books and all. Yeah, the yuppie lifestyle, it's quite good... but need to remind myself that I have to focus on the long term, making sure there is enuf cash to sustain a relatively simple lifestyle when I stop working and when kids come along the way. So since I can afford it now, I should just reward myself once in a while for the hard work that I have put in so far.

X-Men The Last Stand

2006-06-25T23:24:00.000+08:00

We decided to catch X-Men: The Last Stand before it closes in HK. It was kinda last minute decision last night and the online booking system took a while to process my reservations.

Movies here in HK are generally more expensive than back hm in S'pore, which also depends on the timings and the venues. Basically the ticket prices aren't standardise throughout, and you can get HK$25 tics even on a Sunday if you are willing to watch the movie around 10am at some far flung theatre.

D & I usually go to the theatre near our apt, in this mall called APM, which is considerably new since it only opened in the 2nd half of the year.

For shopping-crazy HK, it is just another huge mall with the usual stores, numerous eateries, a swanky movie theatre called Palace APM (comfy leather seats, good sound system, tasteful decor... very nice, better than most theatres in S'pore) and the occasional crazy indoor sub-artic temperatures. It is usually packed with shoppers and it becomes worse when some star or singer (eg Jay Chou, F4 etc) comes by for a roadshow, 'cos their fans will be screaming their heads off, and it's not just young girls... there are young blokes, mums and grannies too.

Anyway, we had caught the earlier X-Men and we reckon we might as well complete the series. The movie was generally ok, I thought this one had a more political and ethical slant than the earlier two. It is tough to give sufficient screentime to characterise each mutant, and some of the lesser ones end up more as cameos. Nonetheless, I quite like the movie, not to the extent that I will watch it again, but I would give it 3 out of 5 popcorns.

I was just disappointed that some of the main mutants had to die... so sad, and especially when Logan/Wolverine had to put aside his personal wants for the general good.

D somewhat stressed me out a little while we were waiting for the credits to end. I had told him that there would be a surprise at the end of the credits, something that I remembered reading somewhere. The thing about D is he can somewhat influence me, and make me doubt myself. The rest of the moviegoers started to walk out of the theatre, which obviously made me think that maybe I had misread or mistaken it for another movie.

Anyway, the credits finally ended, and well, I was correct. There is a surprise at the end, about 10 secs or so of it, but I dunno if that means there will be a X-Men 4.

My Class, 5C, The Surprise

2006-06-23T14:36:00.001+08:00

Yesterday morning, a couple of girls from my class came and asked me if it was ok for them to take some time during my math lesson to give me a surprise. For one, it isn't much of a surprise since I had been informed; nonetheless, I told them to go ahead as long as it didn't take too long 'cos there was the Cube-n-ometry activity to do. Still, I wondered what in the world was my class up to and I felt kinda warm and fuzzy inside, especially since they had been respectful and polite by asking permission to do something. I suppose it was better for them to prepare me right in the beginning, otherwise I would have shed a tear or two. One of my pupils walked to the front and read an approximately 10-second speech thanking me for teaching them on behalf of the entire class. Following that, I was presented a handmade book containing pages after pages of gratitude that each pupil in my class had written. It also contained drawings of me climbing Everest... that's really cute. As I flipped through the pages, read each word to myself and thanked everyone, I felt that familiar heaviness in my heart and realised, for once this year, I didn't have the right words to say to them. Drats, I hate to be all sentimental and sappy about such things.

I asked them whose idea was it, but no one said anything. It was a collaborated effort, someone or a group of people had taken up the task and got everyone involved. I have been thinking more and more about my teaching career, wondering if there may be other things for me to do instead of teaching. It is times like these when it's good to be reminded that maybe, just maybe, I have done something worthwhile with my life.

Btw, CML, if you are reading this, the class doesn't want you to know that they did this for me... :)

A Brangelina Video

2006-06-23T00:30:00.000+08:00

Some people have too much time, but wah, the amount of effort that went into this little video.

There is a bit of paparazzi and curiosity in me, and I do hope that their relationship will last. They sure look good together and may I add that Angelina Jolie is the kinda woman that beats all stereotypes and so much of a paradox.

And Brad, I have liked him since "Legends Of The Falls"... *swoon*

My Ipod Mini Has Been Resurrected

2006-06-21T00:02:00.000+08:00

Remember my Ipod Mini had crashed some weeks back, and the silly visit to the service centre wasn't any help except a pathetic suggestion to purchase a new Ipod instead of repairing it. D did some research and found a way to change the original 6Gb Hard Disk on my dead Ipod Mini while he was in NYC. All I need to do was to pay for the replacement battery and a new hard disk, so that D could do the repair on his own. I had a choice between 4Gb or 8Gb hard disk, but decided to buy the 4Gb one. Reasons being: I will not really utilise so much memory space just for mp3; and most importantly, if the repair isn't successful, I will not feel the monetary pain. Anyway, the new batt and the 4Gb hard disk cost HK$250 and HK$730 respectively, which came up to a grand total of HK$980. Under HK$1k? Definitely better than the extravagant suggestion at the service centre. Last night, D spent some time to figure out what he needed to do while following the instructions given in the CD which came with the replacement batt. I went into his den a couple of times but didn't dwell too long 'cos D doesn't like to be disturbed when he is doing something. I saw his deep concentration, and later saw his broad grin as he gave me my Ipod Mini. It is working perfectly well today. I am so glad he had taken the time and effort to do this, especially since last night was my b'day. Fixing my Ipod is one present that really makes my day. I feel kinda bad that I didn't trust his skills enough to have chosen the 8Gb hard disk for him to fix onto my Ipod Mini. But then again, 4Gb is enough really.

Climbing DVDs - "A Day In The Life of 5 Women Who Climb" & "Inertia 1 & 2"

2006-06-18T15:03:00.000+08:00

I bought 2 climbing DVDs last night and watched "A Day In The Life". It is about 5 accomplished female climbers, their thoughts on climbing and life in general, and the obvious climbing/bouldering sequences. I think D may find there is too much talking in this dvd, but I find their views on life in general when applied to climbing and vice versa make lots of sense to me. This dvd was made in 2001 and it also include interviews done in 2005 on how life has changed for them since the dvd was made. I especially like what Tiffany Levin Campbell said, "Always flow before you force." She trained really hard to get to where she is in the climbing fraternity (imagine doing pull-ups on small footholds... thatz crazy) and she realised later that it is not just about strength and forcing each holds when climbing. I realise that is what I have been doing at times during my climbs, and also in my life. Do I always need grab the horns and tire myself out before I even start? Should I be so bothered about how my life will end up, whether in S'pore or HK, whether I am a mother or a wife, whether I am employed or further my studies, whether I should change my career or do something else?

I haven't watched Inertia yet, but it is more a guy's kinda dvd... lots of power, grunts and amazing climbing & bouldering scenes (according to the salesperson at the shop).

See >http://www.integrity7.com/ for more info on the dvds

Thank You Teachers Dinner (TYTD) "Hats Off..."

2006-06-18T14:05:00.000+08:00

Two nights ago, we had our annual staff dinner (organised by a core group of parents) at the usual venue, Aberdeen Marina. As part of this year's theme, all of us have to put on some kind of headgear. Well, I have my Ozzie hat that I bought last year at the Blue Mountains, so it was put into some use for such an occasion.

I dunno about the rest of my colleagues, but having to attend a dinner (a compulsory event since it has been put across to us that the dinner is in our honour) after a day's work does take some effort, especially since I am tired and that there are other things I could do on a Friday night. Anyway, it's a duty we have to fulfil, and I suppose I could find some fun out of this... besides there is the lucky draw which I never do win anything but I am happy that my colleague, who sat at our table, won the 1st prize (a Sony Ericsson PDA phone).

Just like any other staff dinners I have attended all these years, it seems to me that it is usually the parents who perhaps use these events to find reasons to buy new outfits, put on the latest styles and shiny bling blings, engage in small talk or widen their network.

The food was ok, it's a buffet but the long queues did put me off. The live band was alright, but the sound sux big time mainly 'cos we were seated at an awkward angle out of the speakers' range. The company was great at my table, and the entertainment, especially the "Super Supremes" was a blast.

After the dinner, we had about 6 to 8 songs for a "Lansing" (dancing) session, which kind of make the night more enjoyable. We must be really desperate to dance 'cos the band wasn't exactly very good, but we cheered, clapped and danced nonetheless.

Sad iPod icon with exclamation point

2006-06-08T21:49:00.000+08:00

This sad icon has appeared on my iPod Mini since Monday afternoon and it is a horrible sign. Having checked the Apple support info, and failing to reset my iPod, my worst fear have come true. The darn thing has died, kaput, finito...

I was hoping that it can still be saved when I went to the service centre in Causeway Bay the next day. However the news weren't good, in fact, this said icon indicates that the hard disk has crashed and if I wanted to get it service, the charges would be: HK$280 for the technician to open the set and another HK$2000 to get a new replacement 'cos it can't be serviced. The lady suggested that I buy a new one instead 'cos the iPod Nano 4Gb costs only HK$1900.

Obviously I am not going to buy a new one, just yet anyway. Afterall this darn set is barely a year old (bought it on the 7th April 2005, so the warranty is over), and it's just so crappy to be without music when I am out. I need to block out all those incessant noises that are ever present in HK, and the ridiculous loud conversations H0ngkongers engage in with one another or over the mobile phones.

Besides, things always seem to break down when D is out of the country...

So now, I have been playing Virtua Tennis on the PSP, but it is just not the same.

Bus Uncle

2006-06-04T13:58:00.000+08:00

This 6-minute clip (taken by a fellow passenger using his/her mobile phone) is currently one of the most-viewed, most talked about thing in HK and in a way described the kinda pressure cooker society that Hongkongers are in. Basically the young chap in the clip had asked the grumpy middle-age man to lower down his voice as the latter was talking too loudly on his phone. And that bascially triggered a whole lot of reaction from the old bloke. It's interesting to see how the young man kept his cool in the midst of all that craziness. (Warning: Vulgarities ahead) D mentioned that if it was him, he would have punched the old man. I told him that would make you to be on the same low level as the old man, it would be pointless to engage in any physical contact with the crazy old guy. I suppose I am not surprised to know of such things in HK, in fact, I had seen how quick guys here (young or really old) get into fist fights over small issues. Like the time when we were waiting for the train after the visit to Lowu, Shenzhen, and this old guy started screaming at another younger chap for jumping his queue. But the latter wasn't, still he reacted and punched the old man. When we finally got on the train, the police was there but the old guy was still going on and on.

It seems scary, especially since I come from the generally disciplined and law-abiding S'pore. Maybe it's the culture here, money-driven, me-myself-and-I society... more so in S'pore. The people here in HK are generally more vocal than back home, and would really make their voices heard, whether through demonstrations on the streets or on a smaller scale like the Bus Uncle.

I am not much for direct confrontations, so I reckon even if someone speaks so loudly on the bus, I would just choose to ignore it, comment to D how some people aren't civic-minded at all, turn up my IPOD and get off the bus at my destination. That guy has the right to speak on the phone, but I also have the right not to listen to your discussion, if only people are more conscious of others and not just think about themselves and their conveniences. Basic courtesy and respect not something people take very seriously anymore. And I am afraid that S'pore may turn out to be like that.

Discovery Bay Dragon Boat Race 31 May 2006

2006-06-03T18:08:00.000+08:00

Even though the weather was crappy unlike last year, rain kept falling and the sky was grey and overcast, Team Rainbow Warriors shone and performed loads better than last year.

As usual, our team has only about 7 men whilst the rest are girls. Nonetheless, we not just better our timings this year (compare 2min 40-something sec in 2005 and an average of 2 min 25 sec this year) over a distance of 430m, but most importantly, we actually qualified for the Finals.

D was one of the 2 leaders in the mixed team, and he had tried to squirm his way out of this 'cos it is very tough to be right in front and setting the pace for the rest of the team during the race. Just like D, I was doing the same thing for the ladies' team. It was a back-breaking effort, everyone's arms were used to the limit but we had a blast. The team spirit was present on that day and it was just a great and meaningful way to spend the public holiday actually.

Three major highlights for that day are:

1. Our best effort: 2nd Mixed Race Heats

In fact, we started off remarkably fast and was second for the first 300m, but couldn't keep up ('cos other teams were made up of mainly men and the minimum no. of girls, which is 7, while ours was the opposite) and had to settle for 3rd. In fact, we tied for 3rd place with a Disney team, and had a nail-biting time waiting for the results.

2. The start of the Ladies Race followed immediately after our Mixed Team Finals.

When I say "immediately", it basically means that once we got off our boat, the marshall hustled us back to another boat to start the Ladies Race. On hindsight, we could have protested, that it wasn't fair; we would be at a major disadvantage having just completed one race, giving our maximum effort for the earlier race, and seconds later had to prepare our minds and bodies for another. But we didn't do it, afterall it was for fun that we joined this. D, who was our little drummer boy for the Ladies Team, said that we had nothing more to give. I reckon we could have done much better, in terms of timings, if we had a short break before the race.

3. TVB Actors

A few of us spotted 3 TVB actors (I recognised all of them, but only know one of them by his name, Galen Lo) seated somewhere near the toilets/changing rooms. Dunno why they were seated at such a "strategic position", but anyway, we took some photos with them. Thanks to one of my colleagues and fellow Rainbow Warrior, who took the initiative to ask them 'cos some of us were too shy ;p Celebratory Toasts - D & I were asked by our team Captain to do the honours, but I had trouble with the cork. Our Team Captain, Ms Rainbow Warrior, Twiggy Chan After she was dunked by D and some other guys. Chilling out on the beach after the 1st race, still fresh... Me and my co-leader Ah Ying (Ladies Team)

I am Home Alone Again

2006-06-03T17:12:00.000+08:00

D is currently somewhere over the Atlantic, flying towards NYC with a short stopover at Narita Airport, Tokyo. He is there for work and I so wish that I am travelling with him. But duty calls, work beckons, pupils' exams and loads of practice paper to mark. Drats...

The paradox is if I am able to fly with him, it means that I am not working, therefore my time is very flexible; however it will mean that I don't have a regular income to enjoy the occasional splurge and become financially dependent on D, who may not really let me enjoy my breakfast at Tiffany's or the stroll down 5th Ave.

D sure has fewer things to pack for a week-long trip in NYC, a few boxers here, some shirts there and only 1 pair of jeans. Argh, I had to bug him to bring another pair of pants, which he did in the last minute, a Columbia hiking pants.

D didn't want to sleep last night, partly 'cos he has to take the cab at 6.30am to the airport and also 'cos he wanted to be on NYC time to reduce jetlag. I tried to stay up as long as possible, but had to hit the sack around 3am. Kinda tired out after the climbing I did earlier in the evening, and the late-night lurve-thingy we did. :)

I hate to be away from D, even if it is for a few days. I hope it's not a case of being clingy, but it is not exactly very fun when I am home alone.

Funny how it sometimes irks me to see D just slobbing away on his Moby Dick (the beanbag) and channel-surfing. How it pisses me off when he doesn't clear his stuff rightaway. Or when he hogs the PSP and play Virtua Tennis and only passes it to me when he loses, which by the way, isn't very frequent. (For the record, D has generously left the PSP at home, and has prepared a few DVDs for me to watch during this week.)

And now, I realise I do miss him lots... and he will not be back till late on the night of 12th June. Still, while I am home alone, it doesn't hurt to meet up with friends and have some drinks later tonight.

We've Done It...

2006-05-27T23:57:00.000+08:00

Just under 2 weeks ago, D & I have finally gotten down to doing it... having our first tattoo that is. We had been talking about it for some time now, years actually, but we never did it for various reasons.

D has always wanted to get a cross, to remind him of the bad patch he had couple of years back. His reason seems to be more obvious and real unlike mine. I just wanted to do something that I would not usually do. Maybe it is the rebellious streak that has been suppressed by my upbringing all these years and the thought of making this decision even if it is for no big reason feels somewhat gratifying and free. And I suppose I just want to do something before I become a mum, and also to remember this time that I have in HK with D. We joked that if our kids ever want to get a tattoo, at least we can tell them,"Sure can, but we had ours at 29 and 35, so wait till when u are of that age first."

I decided to get a small one (below, left side), length 10.5 cm and height 3cm and on my lower back; D's cross is bigger and higher up his back, just under his neck. I reckon I didn't want a big one right across my waist, just a small one in the middle part of the lower back, and a simple tribal-like design and have the letter "C" intertwined within it.

If you ask me if it was painful, I would say yeah, certain parts. Mine wasn't too complicated, and since it is small, the experience was only about 50 mins. However it still does hurt when the outline was done. The pain wasn't so much countless needle pricks and it doesn't hurt till I squirm or cry in pain, but I can't imagine doing a huge one that covers the entire back. That can't be done in one sitting anyway... D's took more than an hour 'cos it was bigger and more intricate, and he commented that it was painful when the needle was over his spinal area.

We went to see this female tattooist, Sze (a local hongkonger but mainly cater to angmohs, http://szectattoo.cjb.net/), and felt easy to talk to. Our main criteria is an unique design, and well, she delivered with her designs that were emailed to us to and fro with modifications and provided us with her professional and artistic viewpoint. The cost: HK$1300 for mine and HK$1800 for D's. I don't know what the rates are like in S'pore or even in HK, but I felt the important thing is for us to click with the person who holds the needle... and like D said, it is even more worth the money cos Sze is pretty... Haiz, and it's true. Even I think so too.

We have been watching this show called "Miami Ink" on cable, which is about a group of tattooists who come together to open a tattoo shop in Miami, and each has a certain tattoo specialty. Basically it is one of the many reality series that are currently on TV. Dunno if it is shown in S'pore.

Duh Foto @ YMCA King's Park

2006-05-14T01:46:00.000+08:00

Someone did use spell check but didn't use the thesarus.

Sinseh Visit & Votes

2006-05-06T23:47:00.000+08:00

Went to see a chinese physician (sinseh) this morning all the way at Tsuen Wan, New Territories. Had hurt my left knee on Tues and I have been hobbling about because of that. It has gotten better, but I reckon it will be a good idea to have a sinseh take a look at it. As HK has so many sinsehs, and I wouldn't know the difference in standards, I sought out recommendations to make the right choice.

D's colleague recommended this clinic, and took us there this morning. It was quite a good visit, but I realised that I happened to be the only young lady in the room filled with older folks, median age was probably around 75. Dunno what that implies, but I supposed I just saw my future in the elderly's eyes. Couldn't take any fotos during my treatment, felt that it will be an infringement of my fellow patients' privacy. Besides, I was busy tolerating the pain as the sinseh rubbed my knee with some yellow ointment.

Later in the afternoon, we proceeded to the S'pore Consulate at Admiralty to do our citizen duty. Taking the lift to the 9th storey, D & I left our mobiles with my colleague who had already cast her vote and was waiting for us outside the consulate. Aiyah, I was planning to take some shots of me casting the votes... for posterity. Hehe.

Anyway, after showing our polling letters and NRIC, we walked through another door to get to the conference room which housed the ballot boxes. When I looked into the conference room at first, the only thing that I saw was the ballot box and I was wondering why the officer that I had met earlier didn't give me any polling card. Actually there were 3 more consulate officers further on the left of the conference room, and this was the 2nd stage towards exercising our citizenship.

I don't know if it was my imagination, but it seemed like those consulate officers brightened up when they saw me entering the room. Perhaps they were bored spending such a beautiful sunny Saturday in this room, with no TV or radio. I am wondering if they are paid to be on electoral duty today. Must give them OT pay, so poor thing.

When one of consulate officers looked at my polling letter and NRIC again and read out my name and some code to her colleague, I thought she was speaking to me and I answered her. What to do, I am a virgin voter.

Apparently, she had to read out my name and the code that identifies me so that the other officer can write the code on the side panel of my polling card, which she then tore along the perforated lines very carefully, folded the polling card into halves before passing it to me. I took the opportunity to confirm what I had to do, "Put a cross in the box right, not a tick rite? Then fold the paper again rite, into halves or can I fold it again? Then put into the box rite? This is my first time voting..."

So off I went to the ballot station, which seemed to me to be quite flimsy and picked up the blue pen within the station, and crossed out the box. D came a couple of seconds later than me, and he told me later that there were still quite a no. of voters who hadn't cast their ballots yet, according to the paper that the consulate officers used to take our attendance.

Right now, I am tuning in to Channel News Asia's live telecast of the results. So far, PAP has been voted in to form the next government (no surprises); the 2 opposition wards, Hougang & Potong Pasir, are still the opposition's; it seems like the percentages have generally lowered for the ruling party according to some analysts.

Virgin Voter

2006-05-05T22:56:00.000+08:00

So exciting, I didn't think I will ever get the chance to fill in the polling card and vote in my life. Tomorrow, 6th May 2006 Saturday, will go down in my life's history as a first-time voter, virgin voter siah. What's more, I am going to do it out of S'pore. Will "chronicle" that tomorrow when I go to the S'pore's Consulate in Admiralty, HK.

I didn't think I will be so into this entire polling/election thing. Afterall, it is a given that the ruling party will still be the ruling party. But it is very interesting, almost refreshing, to know that there are so many more opposition contestants this election. I do think it takes a lot for a S'porean to stand for elections, especially as an Opposition member. In a way, I have been brought up not just by my parents, but also by PAP via its various policies, education (PAP kindergarten) and as a civil servant. It will seem right to stand with PAP, whether out of loyalty, reciprocration or just fear of the unknown. So it intrigues me to know that there are people who become opposition members.

Anyway the responsibilty as a S'porean will rest on my shoulders, as I hobble to the consulate tomorrow on my twisted left knee, which has been hurt since Tuesday.

I'm a Lifer!

2006-04-25T13:08:00.000+08:00

Came across this test on my friend's blog, and took the test, cos I had "nothing better to do" at work. Well, not really, but it's just that I needed to do something silly to get my brain off the endless musical rehearsals. D-day this Friday evening.

To you, a job is what pays the bills. You put in your hours, follow the rules, and then go home. Occasionally, you consider quitting, but then you think of how bad the job market is and you reconsider. Whatever happiness you get, you get from your life outside the workplace. Relationships, family, hobbies, and outside creative pursuits are what really matter to you. You're probably taking this test at work because you don't have anything better to do.

Talent: 38% Lifer: 51% Mandarin: 44%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

The Bibliochaise

2006-04-20T16:54:00.000+08:00

According to its website (http://www.nobodyandco.it/), the Bibliochaise is "an armchair library for those who like to be immersed in deep reading. It contains 5 linear metres of books" and it can be easily assembled & dismantled.

What does "5 linear metres of books" mean?

Still, I think it is quite a cool piece of furniture, except that I would wish for it to have a higher backrest (to rest my head mah) and for the seat to be longer, so that it is like a recliner.

Actually the other piece of really cool furniture is the Librerie Bookcases (go see it on the website). If I have my own place, I will get the carpenter to make one, especially the one with the Pop theme.

Blessed Easter

2006-04-17T00:14:00.000+08:00

D and I watched "The Passion" on Good Friday, and tears fell when Jesus bore the scourging, insults, physical pain of bearing the heavy cross and the deep inner pain of being despised by his own people. I felt the pain of his mother, Mary, who had to see her son suffer and die willingly in obedience to God's will and to the mission entrusted upon his shoulders. D was teary watching it, while I was simply letting it all flow out. I remembered telling God, "I don't deserve it, but thank you for doing what You did." The Passion was a graphic depiction of what was stated in the Bible, but I reckoned it could have been worse on that day. The empty tomb signifies new life, a new beginning, which I must remember to take it seriously at all times. Given all the hype created by Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or any other theories about Jesus, it can be most confusing for everyone, even Christians who aren't strong in their faith.

But one thing for sure,

And I am grateful for that 'cos this means Jesus' mission is completed; death is defeated; our sins are forgiven; we are saved and we need to take this life more seriously than before.

"Do One Thing A Day That Scares You"

2006-04-15T06:58:00.000+08:00

Just fighting off my sleepiness before leaving home for diving in the waters around Sai Kung. I am not that keen to dive actually cos the waters must be darn frigid today. But D wants to go, and being his buddy, I have to brave the cold and go with him. Suddenly this weekend, the cold front from the north has descended upon us, and over just one day, the temperatures plunged from a hot and humid maximum of 29 degrees C to the current 17 degrees C. The wind chill effect obviously drives the temperatures southwards. Drats, I have washed and kept all our winter wear.

Originally we were supposed to go for a 2 days 1 night liveaboard to Pedro Branca (some 85 km away from HK), but the current is at 4 knots, which definitely brings back memories of our rough seas condition at the King Cruiser Wreck (Phi Phi Diving Trip). Due to the strong currents, the trip has been cancelled.

UPDATES FROM THE DIVE:

This is me prepping up for the 1st dive. Beneath that cool exterior is a really cold person who is having major shivers. We were on Diving Adventure's newest boat which has liveaboard facilities.

While we were waiting for the boat at the pier and being buffeted by the strong wind which gave me the shivers as I dug deeper into my hoodie pockets, I asked myself "Why the hell am I diving in this crappy and dreary weather?" And this line "Do one thing a day that scares you!" kept popping into my mind to answer my question. A adventure kayaker had said it on the A1 channel (A1 or Adventure One is a cable channel that we subscribed to here in HK, apparently this channel is not shown on Starhub). And the other obvious reason is the man whom I am accompanying.

To keep myself warm in the waters, I wore my NeilPrdye 0.5mm Rashguard beneath the Gul 3mm full wetsuit, gloves, boots and my new-purchased Ralf Tech 5mm hood. I borrowed another shorty to wear over my Gul and the result is a very clumsy-looking seal. However this seal was quite warm and moving about gracefully in the waters.

By the way, the Ralf Tech hood really kept my head warm. Very pleased to have bought it.

Later I found out from my dive watch that the water temperature was a balmy 20 degrees C compared to the 17 degrees C at the surface.

We were diving near Basalt Island which is about an hour ride from Sai Kung Pier. There isn't much to see actually except for lots of orange anemones and its inhabitants, the clownfish; some schools of small fish neutrally buoyant in the current.

Nonetheless, it's in this sort of places that you need to look beneath the rocks and that's where I saw my first octopus. Well, actually, D spotted it first and beckoned me to look beneath some rocks. The first thing I saw were 2 shrimps, but my eyes spotted a big dark round thing staring back at me deep inside the hole. And soon, I made out the familiar purple mass and white suckers underneath. Wow, that is cool... D and I observed this octopus for awhile, and it stayed in the safety of its sanctuary.

On our 2nd dive, it was almost the same scene, although I saw my first sea snake zipping away and D released some fish and a crab from an abandoned fishing trap before being tangled by the rope. I had to "rescue" D in the end.

What else am I afraid of, I have been thinking about this for awhile. Some are really obvious (death & terminal illness to me or family), to the silly (bungee-jump, sky-dive, major air turbulence on the plane, stuck in a lift with a huge flying cockroach) to the unforseen (being framed, stove exploding in my face, falling while lead-climbing).

I can be incredibly paranoid at times and I do think about the worst-case scenarios and role-playing the various possiblities and solutions in my mind. It's like there are so many things I am afraid of, but I think through them, whenever and wherever, so as to be somewhat prepared for the worst.

To have some kind of an action plan is better than none.

Anniversaries & Rehearsals

2006-04-05T20:12:00.000+08:00

Two anniversaries this April. One came and went, whilst the other is coming up at the end of the month.

1st April, 11 years ago, was our first date together. D and I had watched the movie "The Professional" at GV Tiong Bahru Plaza (can't remember the name of the french actor, but he is in Steve Martin's Pink Panther) and had dinner at MacDonald's that Saturday night. We had a long chat that night, and I had my first awkward motorcycle ride back home. D had to put on the helmet for me 'cos I didn't quite know how to secure the straps and it felt odd to be on the bike cos I didn't know where to place my hands. Obviously it was too early to be putting my arms around D's waist so they decided to hold D's shoulders. It took another few more dates during the weekends: waiting for D and his bike a few bus-stops away from my block ('cos my dad would have given me hell if he knew I was on a bike during the initial months); getting home before the unearthly curfew of 10.30pm, before we decided to take this relationship to another level.

This year, D and I didn't really do much to "celebrate" this anniversary. Actually, we don't really celebrate, not even our wedding anniversary (which is coming up on the 8th Jun). We had our shore dive at Deep Water Bay that morning, and dragon boat training in the evening on that day. I guess, we have been doing so many things together all these years, that it doesn't make any difference to plan something special just to spend time together in order to celebrate this anniversary. Or maybe we have grown lazy, like old couples. I would like to think that it's 'cos we have been having such fun together that we need not create any excitement so as to spice things up. Sometimes, nothing planned can be more spontaneous.

The next anniversary is related to my work. School is going into its major "rehearsals" mode for the coming 15th Anniversary. Yeah, it's just 15 years old (which I reckon is still an achievement) and the school is staging a major musical to commemorate the event. It's a major production because every pupil will have a part to play in the 1 hr musical, lead, main or chorus parts. I can't say I am enjoying every bit of the rehearsals, but it's necessary for the production to be smooth-going. In fact, it is more tiring taking care of my Scene 1 pupils during the rehearsals than teaching.

On Monday, we had our first complete rehearsal at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) and it was, to me, a nightmare to take the kids to the stage and back to their holding room. There was the human traffic jam to tackle since the stairway is narrow and packed with incoming and outgoing pupils from different scenes. The long waiting time and cramped holding room didn't quite make it fun either. More not-so-fun-bits-during-the-rehearsals: Staying back after school, hustling the kids to their positions, keeping them quiet, constantly thinking about how to complete my syllabus due to all these loss of curriculum time.

Can't wait for the month of May.

We look like some celebs...

2006-03-21T10:25:00.000+08:00

I had uploaded my (obviously, the nicest one) to this website http://myheritage.com/ which has a face recognition engine that will match my photo to a celebrity. And of course, I am pleased with the results, which included (hehe) Hillary Swank, Anastacia & Kylie Minogue respectively. I uploaded D's photo too and the results were a wee bit mixed. Celebs/famous people whom supposedly have D's features include Ichiro Suzuki (so cute), Enrique Iglesias, Choi Ji-Woo (so this is how D looks like in drag) & Sun Yat Sen (huh?).

Sergeant Chicken Rice @ Food Republic, Cityplaza Tai Koo Shing

2006-03-19T22:29:00.000+08:00

Heard from a fellow S'porean that another S'porean has opened an authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice Stall @ Food Republic, Cityplaza, Tai Koo Shing. The food court is very similar to those back in S'pore, and I believe it is opened by the guy who owns BreadTalk, cos there is also a BreadTalk outlet within the food court. Finally, I get to buy the famous floss bread - the normal, spicy and extremely spicy ones.

D had patronised the stall first and was so happy to inform me that the stall serves roasted chicken (something HK so-called chicken rice stalls don't serve), thick black sauce and most importantly the authentic chicken rice chili. Well, we have been there ever since, and especially this evening, after a long day at Tung Lung Chau. We had expended our energy successfully climbing routes which we didn't manage to last year, and needed to reward ourselves. A set meal for two (HK$80 which is about S$17, additional bowl of rice costs HK$5) includes the following:

(a) 2 bowls of rice

(b) 2 bowls of soup

(c) a plate of blanched caixin with oyster sauce

(d) the very important roasted and hainanese chicken

You can have both of the same kind, but D loves his roasted chicken and I love my hainanese chicken. And of course, I helped myself to the lovely chilli and black sauce. Yeah, it's expensive compared to chicken rice stalls in S'pore, but there is really no point in comparisons since we are not in S'pore.

Spring Has Begun

2006-03-18T23:19:00.000+08:00

I suppose last week's freaky, frigid and late winter days were the last ones we experienced for the year, and temperatures have been going up. Still, it is not too humid yet (July and Aug are the worst) and you know that Spring has arrived when the stores have put up the latest Spring/Summer collection. Pay day next week, and I already have a few items in mind.

Tomorrow, D & I will be going to Tung Lung Chau and climbing for the whole day. This will be our 2nd trip there (the maiden trip was done last year), and is organised by the YMCA Gecko Club. I had signed up for the both of us just a day before the deadline, and asked the lady how many people had signed up, and her reply was "Two", that is D & I. Oh ok... I told D later that the trip could be cancelled since it's just the 2 of us. So it's a nice surprise to know that the trip is on, cos I have fond memories of Tung Lung Chau. I am wondering where the guide will take us, cos if it's that wall near the raging waves, it will be quite an obstacle course to get there. I remember how clumsy I was negotiating the huge boulders, jagged and slippery at times, climbing up and down on my flip flops and fearing a slip would result in a sprained ankle or worst, a broken one.

D is currently packing our gear and preparing his 20D to take some shots while we are there tomorrow. I had just completed preparing tomorrow's lunch (sausage & mushroom sandwiches) that we will be taking along with us (cost at HKD100 pax doesn't include lunch).

Dragon Boat season is starting again, and some of us are rowing again... it is probably going to be a all-girl's team this year. Some of our previous rowers aren't taking part this year whilst we have new ones joining us. I doubt we will win anything, it is just for fun.

Got to snooze soon, and praying hard for good weather, clear blue skies, cool breeze and generally a safe climb.

The Big Three-Oh

2006-03-12T16:00:00.000+08:00

I was looking at the calendar earlier and realised that it will be just a couple of months before I reach the big three-oh. I remember when I was much younger, I had looked forward to the years of liberation and freedom (or so I thought) once I turned 21. But when that happened, I looked back fondly on those carefree and me-myself-and-I days, as I handled new responsiblities (life, finances, family etc) each day. The paradox of life...

Still I think that I have lived much better, more enjoyable, exciting and experienced a different type of freedom since I was married to D. I used to defer to my dad for counsel and decisions, and being the absolute "paranoid" dad that he is, there were lots of things which I couldn't do (not even do the girls' thing like stay overnight at my good friends' place or go clubbing). I suppose the most exciting thing I did while living in his house was to learn swimming, and forged his signature so that I could donate blood during the annual blood donation drive in my college days. Although I do respect him for all the things he has done for the family, living in those days was just a routine thing. I reckon there were lots of times I wished I could break out of his control, but didn't dare or perhaps I didn't want to go through all that anger, argument and trouble. In those days, I had looked at my friends' experiences and felt unhappy, envy and told myself, "When I grow up..."

These last four years, I have been trying to do as many stuff as I can, try as many things/activities, and most importantly travel as much as possible (particularly dependent on the dollars and cents). And I am glad that I have done them with D. I can't imagine doing it with anyone else, and it has been a wonderful ride. So in part, I am catching up on lost time (what have I been doing all those years?) and now, I am creating memories and stories that D and I could tell our children and grandchildren.

The Oscars 06

2006-03-06T08:46:00.000+08:00

Just want to put on record my predictions since it's like 10 minutes before the start of this year's Oscars... If I was still studying, I would have "pontang" (i.e. not attend lessons) to stay home and watch the proceedings.

Anyway, here's my predictions for the major awards:

1. Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain

2. Best Director: Ang Lee

3. Best Actress: Felicity Huffman

4. Best Actor: can't remember the name, but it's the lead in Capote

5. Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllanhael (will check the spelling later)

6. Best Supporting Actress: ???

Love Universal

2006-02-27T23:22:00.000+08:00

This scene held my attention and broke my heart as Ennis looked at the shirts with pain & regret over the things he could have. Never has small little things, unspoken things say so much. Even though the movie Brokeback Mountain is about gay relationships, the parallels are there: the happiness, the pain, the dreams and all those conflicting and sometimes unexplained emotions... Love is love whichever way you look at it, whoever you share with. D didn't watch the show with me 'cos it's not his kinda show (not action-packed enuf), but I have been telling him about the show, analysing the various scenes out loud to him. At least he listens and asks about it. I am never going to look at shirts in the usual way again. I am quite a sucker for these kinda emotion-driven movies - prior to Brokeback, English Patient was the other one that got me thinking deeply. It's not always that such good movies are made... kudos to Ang Lee.

Duh Foto - S'pore Cookies In Phi Phi

2006-02-27T23:00:00.000+08:00

We were staying overnight in Phi Phi after a day's diving, and were checking out the minimarts on the island when we came across some authentic and traditional S'pore Cookies... except that we had never seen these cookies in S'pore. Duh.

Work, Taxes, Quality Life

2006-02-26T01:34:00.000+08:00

I hadn't been able to find the time nor the inspiration to write. Somehow, something else will take my attention and time away from blogging. School has started (again!!!) and we are into the 3rd week of the new school term.

But seriously, when I look deeper, I am not super duper busy. Just that the new American Idol season has started; I am doing my Lead Climbing course (6 lessons 3 hours each = 18 hrs) every Wednesdays; been bringing worksheets home to mark more frequently (cos everyone is rushing to complete the syllabus in view of the amount of time lost due to the school's anniversary celebrations & musical rehearsal); Amazing Race 9 will begin in March; continuation of Rescue Diver lessons... and the list continues. And I am supposed to learn driving, possibly after I complete the Lead Climbing course first.

Work has been ok so far, still keen to go to school each day, which I suppose is still a good sign. Afterall I have to remind myself, no work, no money equals to no holidays and pitiful liquid assets. I had received my HK income tax and to my horror, my taxes come up to a whopping HKD23k, which has to be paid over 2 instalments (the first which is due end of Mar @ HKD17k, and the balance later in the year). Drats that's like over S$4k, but then again, life's been pretty good and comfy in HK, so it's a payback to society for what it has given me. D's taxes are at least two times higher than mine, which means he feels the pain even more.

Hopefully the local govt here puts the money it has collected from us into good use, like providing for better care to the old folks I see always begging along the streets of Mongkok. It hurts to see them, reminds me of my granny, so I do give them some whenever I see them. I know some people will say that we shouldn't give them money as this will encourage them to beg even more, but heck what you think, that's the least I can do for them anyway.

D & I have decided to be more thrifty these next few months, more so than before due to the taxes we have to pay. In a way, it is good that we aren't going on any major holidays these next few months. Maybe a short dive trip during the Easter hols, or maybe climbing in Krabi... no firm plans yet.

My concept of work is basically to fund my/our next holiday... not very ambitious , very short-term. To me, it's just something I have to do, to fund a relatively good standard of living and to lead a useful life. I don't intend to use work to define who I am, I know some people whose work/career is their life and if you take it away (or if they lose it), they will be lost. So waking up each day, and still not dreading the fact that I have to work today, I count these as blessings that I am able to enjoy myself and my life even more in these last few years, and most importantly, I get to enjoy these things with D.

Diving Around Phi Phi & The Similans (2 Feb - 7 Feb 06) - Updated Entry

2006-02-09T10:16:00.000+08:00

We are back from the underwater world... it was amazing, especially the Similans. D & I saw a different view of God's creation and I sure hope that we didn't mess things up for the fishes, corals etc while we were there. They must be thinking, "Great, these dark-suited neoprene humans with aluminium tanks and exhaling bubbles are gone now." We saw the King Cruiser wreck in terrible currents and choppy seas (I lost my appetite there & was seasick), moray eels of all sizes, countless fishes (wrasse, parrotfish, puffers, triggerfish, my fav clownfish, thousands of glassfish, barracudas, blue-spotted stingrays etc), a huge (possibly 6m) manta ray and a leopard shark which I am pleased to say that I spotted it before anyone else did.

On our first 7 dives, we were taken to various sites around Phi Phi (Koh Doc Mai, Koh Bida Nai, Koh Bida Nok, King Cruiser Wreck, Shark Point, Maya Bay). I thought visibility was quite good at those sites. We did 4 dives on the 1st day, rested the night in the hotel on Phi Phi Island, and did another 3 more dives the next day before returning to Patong. All of us had an "obstacle course" experience when we were at Phi Phi. As our dive boat was berthed some distance away with a few boats between us and the pier, we had to climb on and off these boats (one of which was utterly smelly as it is used to transport trash) just to get to the pier. After that, we had to trudge for another 20 minutes along Phi Phi beachfront just to get to our hotel.

Clownfish Family - My fav foto Glassfish In a Swim Thru' Cavern - taken by Brandon Moray Eel After resting in Patong for another night, we left early the next morning to begin our Liveaboard experience onboard SSD3, quite a floating hotel, luxury living on 4-storey boat. This would take us around the Similan Islands and our dive sites included Koh Bon (where one of my dreams came true with the huge Manta Ray gliding across the waters), Boulder City (lots of huge boulders and saw my first Leopard Shark there), Shark Fin Reef (sharks used to be quite common there but no longer), the beautiful East Of Eden (akin to that of an underwater Japanese garden).

The Magnificent Huge Manta Ray Scorpion Fish Jelly Fish I had used my sony videocam in its Ikelite housing to film most of the things we saw, while fine-tuning my buoyancy, enjoying the clear visibility and diving my first deepest depth of 34m. D was busy taking loads of photos, but had to be really careful with his battery usage as he realised to his horror, that he had left his battery charger back in S'pore.

This has been an amazing holiday. Each dive was different and made special by the fact that I was given the opportunity to be there, a guest in the underwater world.

Seafood dinner @ Patong Apparently none of us felt a tinge of guilt tucking into bbq squid, butter prawns & crayfish after diving.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2006-01-30T10:34:00.000+08:00

Last night we watched Jet Li's latest and final kungfu flick, "Fearless", which chronicles Huo Yuan Jia's life. Not too bad, fight scenes were impressive, but it isn't a show which I will go and buy its DVD. Heard that Michelle Yeoh was originally part of the production, she had voiced the commentary on Huo's life in the movie, which was about 40min long. However, her part had to be snipped off cos people had commented that it was boring and contributed to making the movie about 2 hours long. Apparently Jet Li flew to HK to apologise to her about this.

It's that time of the year again, where D and I have to give out red packets amounting to quite a princely sum. We were back in S'pore in the wee hours of Friday morning (cos our Jetstar flight was delayed a lil') and since then, I really crave for sleep. Tired siah, and worse, I am nursing the infamous sore throat. Think it is due to the cigar I smoked on fri nite at this pub in Prinsep Street. So far, visits to relatives' homes have been ok. The usual topics will come up "When are you having a kid?", "Where are you staying now?", "How is HK?", "When are you coming back?" etc. Going to D's godma's house in a bit, and later to a friend's new place where we will see her and her lovely dogs, especially the saymoed Bianco.

Got to get changed...

Preparing Our Stall "Hang Me" Before The Fun Fair

2006-01-22T00:43:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, the PTA (Parents-Teachers Association) of our school organised a fun fair to raise funds for the school. Most of the stalls, particularly food stalls, were solicited by the parents in the PTA, while us teachers had to plan and manage some game stalls. Our game "Hang Me" is a simple one which requires pupils/adults to throw 5 clothes hangers to hook onto any part of the contraption we had constructed. As long as the player manages 2 successful hooks, we will give the player a ticket to exchange for a prize. Here are some fotos of us doing up the stall. Me and Patric with some of his favourite toys Btw, wrong date... the owner didn't change the date on her camera. At our stall: Hanged: We had put up Patric's toy collection on our neat little contraption and pasted pictures of animals to entice innocent little boys and girls to play our game instead of others. I reckon we did have fun doing up the stall but very tired at the end of the day.

When's the hols coming?

2006-01-22T00:14:00.000+08:00

It's been some moons since I last blogged... the usual's been happening anyway. Since D & I returned to HK from our Xmas break (which is about 3 weeks ago), I have been working hard, or maybe I should say, I have been trying to work hard.

Then I had a bout of bronchitis about 2 weeks ago, most probably got it when I was at the Outward Bound Camp in Sai Kung cos the temps dropped quite a bit to about 9 degrees and I supposed I didn't keep myself warm enough.

There are lots more activities and programmes the 2nd half of the academic year, and all these planning, preparation, execution of duties etc can really drain my energy. My only consolation is that I am not the ones who are higher up the hierachy, those in the leadership and/or middle management positions. Been there, done that, and it's simpler and easier to be the follower. Whatever people say, just do lor, as long as it doesn't go against my principles and value system.

Anyway, this coming week will be a short one, basically 2 days of teaching since Monday is the Math/PE Games Day (both my P5 classes have to put up a game each); Chinese New Year (CNY) Celebrations on Thurs till 1030 and school will close from 27th Jan to 12th Feb for the CNY Hols.

D & I will be back in S'pore on the night of the 26th Jan and stay for a few days visiting relatives and giving ang baos before flying off to Phuket for a weeklong diving trip. Originally we were supposed to go to Cebu, but the roof of the resort there has collapsed. So the trip has changed to a couple of days diving in and around Phi Phi Island, another couple of days doing a Liveaboard (i.e. staying on a dive boat) with dives in the Similan National Marine Park. Will be doing some videos underwater, using the 2nd hand underwater housing & video cam that D got for me from ebay.

Then it's back to S'pore for a few more days before returning to work and reality in HK.

The countdown starts...

Duh Notice @ Outward Bound

2006-01-08T22:43:00.000+08:00

Outward Bound 4th Jan to 6th Jan 06

2006-01-08T22:25:00.000+08:00

Together with 4 other colleagues, we accompanied the P5 pupils to the Outward Bound Campsite @ Sai Kung last week. Basically, the Outward Bound instructors took over those 3 days, while us teachers simply did nothing, except to take photos and look at whatever the kids were doing.

The pupils did an array of activities, namely raft-building, some ropes activities at the High Elements site rock climbing & bouldering, night hike, scavenger hunt and jetty jumps. The last one being most frigid, since temperatures dropped till around 10 degrees on last thurs night.

Saw this toy outside one of the instructors' office and found it cute... Talking about Outward Bound instructors, they (especially the guys) have this particular look and attitude: Tanned, muscular, sigh... Back to school tomorrow, and can't wait for the CNY break in another 3 more weeks. D & I will be back in S'pore again for about 4 days before going on our first overseas diving trip, tentatively in Cebu.

Xmas & New Year Break

2006-01-02T22:12:00.000+08:00

D & I flew back to HK this afternoon, after 10 days back in S'pore. It had been quite a good time of rest, fun and family. Somehow, returning home during the Christmas/New Year period takes on a deeper meaning. Maybe it's the actual act of making the trip back home which requires a greater effort; maybe it's the entire romantic concept of Christmas/New Year season, a time to reminisce and get-together... whatever it is, I realise I had taken things for granted while I was still in S'pore, and this homecoming is somewhat more poignant.

Today also marks my first year living abroad with D. There are lots to be thankful for, and I do think that I don't deserve all these. Still, it has been a good ride this year, and I hope 2006 will be just as wonderful as the last one. Thank you, God, for everything.

So Early...

2005-12-31T06:31:00.000+08:00

Definitely sleepy still, but had to wake up 'cos we have to be at the dive centre by 7am this morning. As usual, whenever we need to go anywhere early in the morning, I will be the one to wake up first while D is still in bed. Reason being I take a while to get ready, and will also be the one to make kopi for HRH.

Had a couple of wine last nite and had my first taste of the shisha, apple flavour. This is the middle eastern tobacco, smoked from a nice looking thing called a Hookah of Egyptian design. We were with D's ex-colleague (together with her other friends) at one of the Middle Eastern cafes in Arab Street/Bali Lane area last night, and I must say, the experience is quite interesting. In fact, the entire Arab Street area is worth a visit at night. Some of these cafes are really great places to chill out, where I really felt transported to another time and another place, like in the Arabian nights or as some one put it last night, "It's a harem". Hehe. Now, where is that cute Sultan?!?

So we had possibly abt 3 hours of sleep (and D is still sleeping while I am typing this... drats), and we have a dive later this morning. A continuation of the PADI underwater photography that we are taking with D's good friend, who is an instructor. I reckon the vis in S'pore waters will not be that great, but a dive is still a dive, I will still be able to see stuff. The common gripe by the locals, especially the younger divers, is that "there is nothing to see here", and most prefer to be certified in Malaysian waters. Of course it will be easier to look for stuff in crystal clear waters, but I feel, if a person likes to dive or professes to be a diver, will still be able to appreciate the underwater environment no matter what. So why the discrimination?

Drats, D is still sleeping... I can't believe it, he has more hours of sleep than me now.

It's New Year's Eve, D and I will be at my good friend's place (a secondary school friend of mine, 16 going on to 17 years of friendship, and back for the Xmas/New Year hols from Vancouver) later tonite for the countdown. Come of think of it, five years ago, we did the countdown together too while D had to work throughout New Year's Eve due to the Y2K bug situation.

Got to go wake D up before we are really late.

Lazy on Monday

2005-12-26T14:54:00.000+08:00

I just woke up about 20 min ago, although not exactly on my own accord... my mobile was ringing incessantly.

D & I have been back home in sunny and sudden stormy S'pore since Thurs night, and it's been days & nights of various activities: underwater photography theory lesson, parties, dinners, booze and hospital visitation ('cos D's mum has been hospitalised).

So it's "recuperation time" today, taking things easy and eating all the local food that I don't get to eat in HK. I think I will have my Ah Kun Toast & Teh-Ping later, and during the week, my BBQ stingray, local chinese carrot cake, satay...

Top News This Week

2005-12-16T21:51:00.001+08:00

2 more days before the end of the top news this week... WTO.

I was in Causeway Bay yesterday, on the way home, when I saw a huge crowd standing on the pavement and heard loud drum beats and shouts.

As I walked closer, I saw lots of police standing around, whilst further ahead were the Korean demostrators in straight lines and walked with military precision. This looked interesting, I thought, given that such demostrations could turn ugly, but then again, it's not everyday I get to see a demostration.

Lots have been said about the Koreans demostrators, and I do admire their strength and beliefs. Although I don't quite agree with some of their more extreme actions (violence towards others or suicide) to state their case, still it takes lots of guts to fight for your livelihood.

That day, the demostration was a peaceful one which required each individual to walk 3 steps before kneeling and kowtow. A Buddhist ritual.

There has been a more visible police presence and lots of preparation has gone into securing the area where the WTO is held. Besides, HK has stipulated areas for such protests and demostrations, and generally been tolerant to the huge no. of protesters who have come from all over the world.

I can't imagine S'pore hosting the WTO and allow the possiblity of such protests, perhaps all the possible protesters would have been "blacklisted" and not allowed to enter S'pore. Safety first lah and can't look bad in front of the important people you know.

Challenging Problem For Today

2005-12-13T14:11:00.000+08:00

If you are tied up like the guy in the picture, how would you save yourself?

Got this from a colleague.

If you have a solution, feel free to post your comments.

The solution will be posted at the end of the week.

Bird Nest Milk Pudding

2005-12-11T21:23:00.000+08:00

After sending D off at the airport early in the morning and attending service at another church, I had Dim Sum lunch with 2 colleagues. We went to this restaurant near Times Square at Causeway Bay, and to my surprise, the restaurant didn't have my favourite Char Siew Soh on its menu (even tho' the picture was on it). Our tummies still had space for dessert and we each ordered this interesting dessert concoction... food not for the soul, but for vanity. Real bird nest this one... although it probably isn't the top quality type.

You

2005-12-11T21:20:00.000+08:00

You see

the good in me

even when I am blind to it;

the pain that I can become

but you choose to ignore it.

You listen

with your ears

and your heart

through the storms that I rage

till it comes to past.

You touch

my soul effortlessly

each day;

spoken in whispers and hugs,

gentle and simple.

You and I,

how can it be?

Separate entities

together on

this ride of our lives

Home Alone Sunday Onwards...

2005-12-09T23:39:00.000+08:00

D will be away in Sydney this Sunday morning for work, and will only be back next Sat nite. Even though this is only for about a week, it takes me back to those awful 9 mths last year when we were miles apart. I just simply don't like the idea of being away from him.

I will miss his silly antics (the latest being the irritating cha-cha-cha dance), the hugs and kisses, the grins and cheesy jokes, the sarcasm and tucking me into bed each nite. Stilll, it is just for a week, but it is one week that I can't wait for it to end even before it starts. Worse, temperatures are projected to dip below 10 degrees C in the 2nd half of the week and D isn't around to keep me warm. Sigh.

Right now, D is typing furiously on his notebook and msn with a colleague somewhere. Channel News Asia is on with the daily news report. I am just trying to stay awake for as long as possible, at least till I finish this blog entry.

Watz New?

2005-11-26T11:54:00.000+08:00

Nothing much really... except that temperatures in HK has been going down south, it's autumn here. You know it's autumn in HK when jackets of all materials, woollen, goretex, ski-typed etc make their appearances; knee-high boots over jeans, pants & short skirts sprout up everywhere in the shops and on girls. It was a sudden change in temperatures, one day it was still humid and blistering hot, the next... brrr and windy.

It's still a couple of weeks before we return to S'pore for the xmas, but now it's the mad rush before the semestral exams... have to prepare these 50+ pupils to sit for the exams. It seems like teachers and parents are the only ones who are truly worried and stressed out before the exams. Sigh...

D has just started his MBA, and I am considering if I want to further my studies. There are so many different courses here in HK, and I don't really know which one to take. MEd, English Linguistics, IT ... which one?!? Or perhaps I should do something totally different, become a Diving Instructor.

We have decided that we aren't going to enlarge our family this year, it's just going to be the two of us for now. D had asked me couple of weeks ago if I have "played" enough, given that I am getting better in climbing and that we are doing the PADI courses. I thought about it for a while, and wondered if all these extra-curricular activities are worth doing first before being a mother. Even though the maternal instincts have kicked in for a few months now, and I am afraid of all those medical issues that surround mothers in their thirties, I reckon I have decided to postpone it especially after what a good friend had advised - If it's in God's plan, it's in His plan.

We are going out soon, attending our Rescue Diver course... first step towards being a PADI Divemaster. And we should be buying our BCD and regulators too...

BBQ

2005-11-19T01:34:00.000+08:00

We had a HK-style BBQ just a week ago (yah yah, I know, very slow to post... been too busy). Realise that the HKers simply throw the charcoal into the half oil drum, set up the fire and immediately begin bbq without waiting for the fire to die down till red-hot coals. D, being the ex-scout, didn't think it was right or healthy to bbq with an open flame, spent some time to tame the fire and finally we were ready to bbq.

Another Duh Foto in HK

2005-11-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

Saw this when we had dinner after our Emergency First Response Course at Diving Adventure in Causeway Bay. Direct translation from Putonghua, a bad one.

Clownfish Attack

2005-11-06T22:55:00.000+08:00

We did our Enriched Air (aka Nitrox) dives today, one in the morning and another after lunch. In the especially clear waters around Shelter Island (off Sai Kung), we spent at least an hour in the waters for each dive. It was a nice warm day, lots of sunshine but wasn't overly humid since it's autumn in HK now.

We saw more clownfish (like those orange ones in the cartoon Finding Nemo) this time round, and being the inquistive sort, they will swim towards you to check things out.

Anyway, I found clownfish to be really cute and decided to just kneel on the seabed to observe two medium-sized clownfish which were about a metre away from me. Within seconds, two larger ones swam up by the side to join the ones which were already in front of me. For those few seconds, we were just facing each other, one diver and 4 clownfish having a staring match. I decided to swim over them so as to join D and another diver and that was when things went kinda wrong.

One of the larger clownfish swam up to meet me and with amazing speed, chomped on my index finger. Thank God I decided to wear my gloves. Gee, now what did I do to this guy? I flicked my hand vigorously and finally I got the psycho clownfish off my finger. My finger is ok, the gloves are thick. I sure hope I didn't knock that fish out or worse, kill it.

I read that clownfish are aggressive and protective over their young. It's probably their breeding season now, as there were many which I saw that were close to their anemones, protecting their homes and possibly their young. Nothing like the cute Nemo in the movie...

We are diving again this Sunday at another part of HK near the China border for our Peak Performance Buoyancy course. I definitely need to tune my buoyancy capability. I am growing to like diving, although climbing still takes the top position. And through these past few weeks of diving, I realise it's not that simple... you need ot do it often, much like climbing as the more you train, the better you become. One thing I hope to do is to dive with the rays... these are magnificent and amazing creatures. Slow, steady but graceful, as they cut through the waters, unlike me who is still a clumsy ox trying to be consistent with the buoyancy issue.

Cool Seat

2005-11-03T21:26:00.000+08:00

This is one cool Bouldering finish I have ever seen. Basically the climber has to complete the route using only those grips marked up by the specific coloured tape. The route, which is marked up by the orange tape (those orange squares), finishes with a nice seat about 3 m above ground. Cool ...

iLounge Holiday Buyers' Guide 2005-2006

2005-11-03T21:17:00.000+08:00

If you are part of the IPOD nation, click on the pic to visit the people who had put this 106 pages of "I Don't Really Need These Stuff But I So Want Them" guide and download it. I now have a copy of the Buyer's Guide and thinking about what to get next for my Mini.

Ipod Cookies?

2005-11-03T20:44:00.000+08:00

Yummy

Late Nites & The Sniffles

2005-11-03T20:43:00.000+08:00

I think I am getting abit too old to stay up late on consecutive nites...

Mon 31st Oct --> Halloween Bash @ Ocean Park (Fotos later):

D & I, together 5 other frens, were at Ocean Park in the evening and by the time I actually slept, it was about 1am. 5 hours later, I had to wake up to get ready for school. What made it worse was the fact that I didn't sleep well the night before, hence by Tues morning, I was a walking zombie.

Tues 1st Nov --> Nitrox Lesson @ Diving Adventure:

It started around 7.45pm, and we had to do the Knowledge Review (lots of complicated calculations) and a 25-qn test (more complicated calculations & tricky MCQs). Our instructor, Ah Shuen, went through the qns with us so that we understood where our mistakes were... by then, I was really squirming in my seat hoping that the session would end soon as I could feel the onset of a bad headache and droopy eyelids. The session ended just after 11pm and again, I went to bed ard 1am.

Wed 2nd Nov : School was generally a matter of counting down the hours, and nursing the pressure that was brewing at the top of my head and around my eyes... I was sniffing and my throat was on fire. Yikes, it's the dreaded cold again... I "survived" the meeting which was held after school. Against D's instructions, I didn't see the doc and thought my cold will go away after an early night's sleep.

Thurs 3rd Nov, Today: Saw the doc and got the medical leave... I asked him why is it that I am still suceptible to flu when I was just vaccinated against flu 2 weeks' back. The good Doc said that there is a wide variety of respiratory viruses, and the flu vaccine I had will protect me from the most serious variant but not the others. Also the term "flu" has actually been used as a generic term for all these different respiratory viruses but actually it refers to the most serious variant "influenza". So what I have been getting is the different respiratory viruses, and not flu per se.

Still I think it's basically a sum of all these late nights, close proximity to people who are sick around me, and the chili tapioca snack that I had eaten on Tues afternoon... sigh.

Mid-Term Break... Ending Soon...

2005-10-29T23:57:00.000+08:00

This week has been quite a good week of rest and relaxation. We didn't go anywhere out of HK; D went to work each day while I basically enjoyed my stay at home. It's the 1-week school holiday that I have been waiting for, and it's been just great doing absolutely nothing...

Well actually, not nothing... I did do the following things:

1. Pack our bookshelf

2. Sort my 2 shelves of clothes and trash some to make space for new ones ;p

3. Played my new PSP game: Lumines (bought 2nd hand)

4. Set the Math Semestral Exam Paper (finished Section C: Story Problems, and still

doing Section B)

5. Completed 2 weeks' of Mental Sums powerpoint slides and did my Lesson Plans

6. Completed the PADI Advanced Diving Lesson

7. Watched Lost #201, #202, #203 (not that TV show, but this one is somewhat like

the Amazing Race)

8. Woke up each day not earlier than 12 noon ;p

I like this life so far, but reality beckons as Monday approaches... it's back to school again.

Today, we invited D's colleagues (the ones we usually hang out wif) and spouses over for dinner, which meant I had to cook to feed 7 people including D and I.

Menu included:

1. Bak Kut Teh

2. Stir-fry green lettuce

3. Teriyaki Chicken with mixed greens and mushrooms

4. Thai-Style Salmon

5. Eoki Mushroom Rolled Beef

6. Tiramisu

I love to cook... it's the cleaning up that I really dislike. However D had been quite a great help. At the moment, D is seated before me and dozing off on his Moby Dick, a beanbag "chair" that we bought from G.O.D. (Goods Of Desire, similar concept to S'pore's Barang Barang). I got myself a Moby Dee, slightly smaller than Moby Dick, but good enuf to slouch before the TV or to do my work.

Talking about work, I was supposed to continue with setitng the darn Math Exam paper. I reckon it will wait till tomorrow.

What If Your Notebook Embarrasses You?

2005-10-25T23:19:00.000+08:00

Here's a funny clip that could happen to anyone when using the notebook in public.

Realise that the offending notebook is not the usual microsoft-compatible type... wondering if there was a hidden agenda when this clip was filmed.

Diving In Sai Kung Waters

2005-10-24T01:05:00.000+08:00

Here are some fotos of us doing our Basic Open Water Course about 2 weeks ago... we had already completed the course and right now, D & I are currently doing both the Advanced course and the Enriched Air Specialty course... more on that later on. Some underwater shots... lots of corals and anemones, small fish and curious but agressive clownfish, menacing sea urchins with long ugly black spines. Visibility on those 2 weekends was still bearable, although the visibility on the first weekend was quite bad. Nonetheless, we could still see stuff. Incidentally, we dived yesterday as part of our Advanced course, and the visibility was the worst so far. Hopefully, it will be clearer tomorrow. I am the one with the cyan mask and D is the other person next to me (we are the ones with the yellow LiveStrong wristbands). I wasn't that confident to take out my regulator just to smile for the camera... Can u see the "fear" in my eyes ?!? Actually it was quite ok, I had a problem initially getting my buoyancy right, but have gotten better the last 4 to 5 dives. So far, we had bought our own masks (Cressi for me and Tusa for D), snorkels (Cressi & Tusa), booties (Scubapro), fins (Tusa), gloves (Scubapro & Bare) and dive watches (Suunto). We are looking at buying our wetsuits (GUL) later in the year when we are back in S'pore. Regs and BCDs probably later, if we dive often enough which will make economical & hygenic sense to have our own rather than rent. D & I did the basic course with a few friends, and it was a good way to catch some rays, enjoy the other side of HK and get to know one another better. Ah Yun (the bald guy doing the peace sign ) in the picture below is the Divemaster who assisted our instructor Ah Mun... he is quite a funny character and made us all laugh most of the times. The fotos were all taken by him, pretty good actually given the lousy visibility.

Religious Cap & Lanyard For Your Shuffle?

2005-10-23T22:55:00.000+08:00

Came across this while surfing today... click on the picture to visit the website to place your orders. I especially like the idea, and found the name of this new accessory to be very creative. Incidentally, the verse found on the website isn't from the bible (there isn't a 2 Jobs).

"To Infinity, and beyond"

2005-10-11T14:17:00.000+08:00

I like this quote from Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear. The other one that I like to use when speaking to my pupils is "With great power comes great responsibility" (Spiderman's Uncle Ben). And how about "Resistance is futile" from Star Trek... nice quote to use when I feel like being the tyrant.

Back to Buzz's quote, I had been doing some self-reflection past few weeks and the one thing that kept coming back to my mind is that I am really enjoying myself here in HK with D. The people that I have known and still hang out with; the loads of activities that both of us have been doing these past few months; the nice freedom I am having now being away from my parents (who are overly cautious about things); our own space in our little 640 sq. ft. apartment. It's hard to figure out which I like most, it's the sum of everything I suppose. And thank God that He has been bringing all these into our lives, enriching us physically, mentally and spirtually too.

We have finally completed our PADI Open Water Diver course just 2 days back. It had taken quite a while, mainly 'cos the lessons had to be arranged to suit one of our coursemates' busy schedule.

Diving in the waters around Sai Kung is of couse not like waters in Palau or even Tioman. Visibility isn't very good, coral reefs aren't that colourful, mainly small fish, but it's still a good place to learn and being assaulted by agressive Clownfish (remember Nemo).

Finally, we are done with it, and will be doing our Advanced course in another 2 weeks. And in Nov, D and I are hoping to do the Lead Climbing Course with the Sports Climbing Association Hong Kong (SCAHK). Hopefully we will be accepted as the public courses conducted by SCAHK are quite popular as they are cheaper than those conducted by YMCA.

I reckon I am striving to do so much because too much time was wasted thinking about doing diving, climbing or anything, and ultimately, nothing was done. Besides, I want to complete as much as possible before D and I try for a kid in Dec. This will be the ultimate adventure I will be attempting... So many things to do, but so little time.

Unusual Names

2005-10-02T12:13:00.000+08:00

What's in a name? Whether it has been given by well-meaning parents and relatives or decided by the individual later in life, names are important or perhaps downright hilarious.

I am glad my auntie stopped my dad from naming me "Lim Bee Hoon" (in Hokkien which sounds the same as vermicelli). I am not going to be called some noodles for the rest of my life... whew.

D and I have come across some interesting names here in HK and China. I know it's bad to laugh at those names, but frankly, I am thinking, "What are these people thinking of?"

Yeah, uniqueness and being different are two things every individual strives for, but having the following names definitely took some courage or maybe just ignorance.

Still, I wouldn't want to be associated with someone who has a weird, negative or silly image. Maybe having a totally different name, something really different will be most sensible.

The question is, should we conform to what the general public thinks are proper names. I mean, what are proper names - David, John, Peter, Mary, Jane?!? Boring siah, every other person has that name. Who determines that traditional names are proper names anyway, unless one just simply wants to play safe.

Here's a list of interesting names we have been introduced to:

1. Gun

2. Rambo (Indivduals 1 and 2 should meet)

3. Superman (really, no joke)

4. Winter

5. Windy

6. Burns (maybe from the famous poet, Robert Burns)

7. Keats (another famous poet, John Keats)

8. Sphere

9. Strong

(Latest in this colour)

This list will be updated... can't think of any others right now.

D and I have decided on the names to call our kids, when we do have them (in case, friends are reading this, we aren't having any yet...), I like the names Tyler, Aidan and Jamie, the first two are for boys and the third one for a girl. D thinks maybe we should name our kids: "Boy" (for boy) and "Girl" (for girls). Duh!!!!

And should we have a dog and a cat, D reckons it will be most funny to name the dog "Cat", and the cat "Dog".

A conversation of the following will be resulted:

Friend: "So, what do you call your dog?"

D: "Cat"

Friend: "No, I mean, your dog?"

D: "Cat"

Friend: "Uh, no, not your cat, I mean your dog."

And so the saga continues...

Sigh, I am married to a clown...

Office Pets

2005-10-02T11:51:00.000+08:00

Remember last week I wrote about D who went to his office to clean up his company's fish tank... well, I was at his office later that evening as he had to do some work too. So there I was, bored as usual, played my PSP and took pics around his office, particularly the aquarium. Yup, this is the name of D's company. It's quite a small office, totally male-dominated (about 10 men of different nationalities) except for the auntie who drops by daily to clean the place. I haven't seen the fish tank in a while, and heard about the horrendous killings that were carried out by the infamous mini-lobster which these guys bought. The latest tragedy occurred when two small turtles-lookalikes (dunno the name in English, but its shell is not hard, is quite small, and have flippers like those wild sea-turtles) were mauled by the mini-lobster. It's quite a small aquarium, and since I am not a fan of fish unless it's cooked, I really can't tell one fish from another... to me, they are just fish. Anyway, there is a yellow puffer which spends its time bobbing up and down the side of the tank, looking at its reflection; a yellow fish which keeps bugging and snapping at the Bottom-Feeder; a crab, two fish which I think are Discus; that infamous mini-lobster which is actually an Australian Blue Yabby and some shrimps which are originally food for the fish but are now in hiding and surviving. Some pics of the aquarium: The Oz Blue Yabby: Incidentally, there are quite a no. of Ozzie Blue Yabby recipes on the Net. Hmmm.... D regularly gives me the Discovery/National Geographic updates on the well-being and the predator/prey situation in this fish tank. But really, should there be so much killing in a fresh-water fish tank?

Bored Siah...

2005-09-24T13:05:00.000+08:00

I am supposed to plan my lessons for the coming week, but find it such a drag to get started. I ended up playing a couple of rounds of Ridge Racer on my PSP and surfed the net.

D has gone to his office to meet a few other colleagues to clean the company's fish tank, which had seen a few massacres the last few months. I should finsh my work before I meet him later in the evening... if only I can just psyched myself and get down to the necessary.

Weather in HK hasn't been that great this week due to the impending typhoon, which brought about really hot weather in the early part of the week. Right now, the wind is really strong and I reckon the rain will come later.

I was looking at these thick clouds zipping across my window. Just a while ago, the sun was still shining bright, now it's all dark and overcast.

I was sick on Wednesday and took the day off on Thursday... people around me have been sniffing and coughing in school, and I reckon the crappy heat didn't help either. And the biggie ulcer on the side of my tongue has been irritating me since Tues.

Really bored now, suddenly there isn't anything to do on Saturday. The past few months, there is always something to do on Saturday, whether it's climbing, diving or meeting up with friends. Actually maybe I should get my butt off to the gym, it's been quite a while since I last went there.

So here I am, at home, with Astrud Gilbert, Michael Buble, Hillsongs and Matchbox Twenty keeping me company, while my work is still strewn all over the floor.

Bored...

It's times like this when I wonder how a kid will fit into my simple life. Maybe I should get back to work before my imagination runs over me.

TWINS

2005-09-19T00:32:00.000+08:00

Don't these two look alike?

D saw this cat at a Design Shop near the HK Convention & Exhibition Centre while on the way to church this morning. It was love at first sight... he just had to get the cat after the church service, which costs HKD159 (about S$30+). It's just that Cheshire Cat grin.

We reckon we will be tickled by this cat each morning before we go off to work; and when we are upset or down, it will lift our spirits up. It has its place on our couch and I use it to prop up my notebook when I am seated on the floor.

Currently, D is practising the grin whenever possible, legs and hands in the right positions too.

Felicific Life

2005-09-19T00:26:00.000+08:00

Took this pic at the Taipei airport... this banner was found everywhere and I absolutely had no idea what "felicific" meant. Found the definition of "felicific": fe·li·cif·ic (fl-sfk) adj. Producing or intended to produce happiness. I see... can't they use a simpler word?

Some Macau & Taipei Pics

2005-09-19T00:13:00.000+08:00

Here are some important Macau sights (Macau Tower & St Paul's) that I took while I was in Macau last month for the Staff R & R. Nothing much in Macau I feel, unless casino and interesting dance & show (the topless kind) are your kind of thing. Good for a day trip, although I heard there is a really solid Go-Kart circuit in Macau. Maybe next time when I m there, I will visit it and have a go whacking the circuit. In Taipei, D & I attended his colleague's wedding. Their wedding pic was projected all around the top of the banquet hall during the wedding presentation. The wedding was held in Taichung while our hotel was at Taipei, which was about 2 and a half hour bus ride. We took the inter-city bus service there and back to Taipei. The ride back was slightly expensive, given that we had nice upholstered comfy seats, which came with individual LCD screens with a good selection of Chinese and English movies (and also some Category 3 movies) and some computer games too. The seats are also massaged-enabled, just like those Osim chairs. Really cool.

Be Afraid, be very afraid...

2005-09-02T22:52:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I have gotten my own avatar. Saw 2 friends putting theirs on their blogs... quite like mine ;P

Anyway, it's been a long while since I last blogged. Life has gotten back to its busy state since school has reopened this week (I have survived the 1st week of school), but frankly, work began 2 weeks back from the 19th Aug till now.

I am now a form teacher for a Primary 5 class. Kids are generally ok, like them so far... hopefully their relative good-naturedness will last for a long time and not just for this initial period. Quite poor things, these kids... to have a crazy teacher like me...

The Staff Retreat at Macau was really fun, I totally enjoyed it 'cos of activities like climbing, abseiling, walking on the highwire 4-5m above the ground and climbing up this 9m tree trunk before jumping off it to hit a ball strung metres before my eyes. During the night, my colleagues and I would visit the Macau city and just check out the sights.

The next day, we were in our respective teams and played the Amazing Race. We were all soaking wet 'cos the rain just poured buckets. But my team came in 3rd and it was a job well done all round. Photos will be uploaded once I get my hands on it...

Anyway, I reckon I will be quite busy this academic year, but still keeping a low profile so that I will not be loaded with any more stuff. I am hoping that I will still have time to do my climbing twice or 3 times a week and diving once a while. Need to "play" as much as possible b4 "Project B" kicks in at the end of the year.

D & I collected our latest toy, the PSP last week. It's just a matter of time before we get it anyway. We had upgraded our broadband package to the 8Kpbs and it comes with the PSP, and since D's company pays for our broadband package, the PSP is as good as a freebie. It's quite a cool set and I am having fun playing Ridge Racer. The only downside is that there aren't enough PSP games yet.

The weekend is here again, and I am so grateful for these couple days of rest. It's stuffy, hazy and ridiculously hot in HK these few days, mainly due to the typhoons in the region. I can't wait for cooler temperatures (in another mth or so), 'cos the heat can be most unbearable. The one weird phenomenon I see around here is that the HK girls will still be wearing jackets and long-sleeved tops in such heat. Just looking at them in those outfits makes me perspires even more.

Going to try to finish my lesson preparation for the coming week before hitting the sack. The mind is willing, but the eyes are closing anytime. Zzzzz

Work & Hols

2005-08-18T12:28:00.000+08:00

The thing about holidays is, no matter how long it is, it is never enough. 3 days, 1 week, 2 months, it's just never enough. Even after going overseas for some R & R, the return home is a reminder that work is round the corner.

Just when I am used to waking up any time I want, slouch right before the TV, surf the net, reading, taking my time to prepare food for dinner and having it ready when D returns home, BAM... a letter from school reminds me of the various meetings and workshops which have been scheduled from the 19th Aug till 26th Aug (0830 to 1700 almost daily), and the new academic year on the 29th Aug.

It isn't that I don't enjoy my work, I do. Besides, I need the money too, whether it's to sustain my lifestyle, another hol elsewhere, baby fund, work is the necessary evil, the means to an end. Besides I am not really the typical expat wife who has decent monthly pocket money.

Frankly, how long of an holiday is enough? Is it till I am utterly bored of the daily routine? Or perhaps when my bank a/c has dwindled to such a depth that pragmatism overtakes idealism.

I always hear people saying that they can't wait for the hols, that they need a break from work, and I must have said these things many times myself. No one says "I can't wait for Mondays"; "I need a break from holidays", although I do know of someone who is a major workaholic.

I reckon the general population need to get away from the mundane and the routine, albeit for awhile, so that we can somewhat be recharged to go through each day at work. It's like the Duracell bunny which hits the drum repeatedly until the battery needs to be replaced. Besides, each day of work will bring me closer to another holiday, and the cycle continues.

So yeah, the next holiday will be in September, the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on Sunday and the following Monday is a public hol. And I am looking forward to waking up late...

Final Short Trips - Taipei & Macau

2005-08-18T12:23:00.000+08:00

This weekend will be quite fun, D & I are squeezing in one trip to Taipei on Fri (after staff meeting in school) and returning on Sunday afternoon. We will be there to attend his colleague's wedding at Taichung on Sat, which is also D's 35th B'day. Taichung is about 2-hrs away from Taipei by bus, and that is what we will be travelling on to and after the wedding dinner.

It's my first trip to Taipei, and although it is a short one, I don't really mind as long as I get to visit another country. Anyway the flight to Taipei from HK is just 1h and 20 min, which is worthwhile for a short trip overseas.

When we return on Sunday, I will have to pack for another 3 day 2 night stay at Hyatt Regency Macau. This will be a Staff Retreat with all my colleagues, lest you think it is a holiday with shopping, eating out and some spa sessions, not quite. The word "retreat" just means away from the actual school building in HK.

It is a camp in a way, with team building activities, planning sessions for the new academic year and hopefully we will all be well-fed. Still, I am looking forward to it, staying in a 5-star hotel and having some fun with my colleagues. But I will miss D.

1st Pool Diving Session, Bad Climbing Day & New CD

2005-08-14T23:39:00.000+08:00

D & I had our first diving pool session yesterday from 1.30-6.30pm. We were not exactly sure if the session was on, as HK experienced its first Typhoon Signal yesterday afternoon due to the approaching Tropical Storm Sanvu.

Well, I am looking forward to what Typhoon Signal 8 is like, as long as I am safely at home and not have to hole up somewhere till the danger is over. Apparently, if Typhoon Signal 8 is raised, everyone has to pack up and go home (holiday especially if it's a working day). Usually this signal is raised at least a few hours earlier, so that people have sufficient time to rush home.

BTW, it was pouring and I was feeling kinda lazy on a wet and slow Saturday, so I did hope that the lesson will be cancelled.

Anyway, it was on and was held at the indoor swimming pool at South Island School. It was quite an interesting experience breathing through the regulator and inflating/deflating the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) in order to float or maintain neutral buoyancy in the water (ie neither float at the surface or sink to the bottom). No pics this time, didn't have time to take anyway.

As usual, being the Clumsy Gecko in the family, I couldn't quite stay still at the bottom of the pool during the sign-language-enhanced lesson, which made D laugh quite a bit in the water. Imagine the seaweed or kelp swaying in the water, well, that was me. I couldn't quite kneel as I kept keeling over either to the left or right; and when I managed to sit down at the bottom of the pool, my heavy tank would pull me backwards. The instructor had to repeatedly hold me down and get me to hold someone's hand. Gee, so embarrasing... as it is, I am already clumsy on the ground, I can't believe I am equally so underwater. Drats.

After the break, I finally got the hang of it and managed to stay balance without looking like a silly kelp.

Today, we were supposed to go to church at YMCA and some climbing in the same building after the service. However, we were late for service, and since I don't like to attend church as a latecomer, we did climbing instead. Anyway, I kept making silly mistakes and my technique was in a mess, which pissed D off quite a bit. He was like the instructor from hell, and I know he meant well by pointing out my mistakes and telling me how to go about improving it, but seriously, I didn't quite like him then.

I am actually more pissed with myself for not doing things right, giving up too easily (especially after getting a lecture from D), not using my silly legs, banging my left knee repeatedly into the holds (a big ugly bruise has formed and going down the stairs hurt), fingers are sore and flaking skin, tired upper arms and neck, and more importantly a hurt ego.

D said if he didn't tell me off, I wouldn't learn and he wants me to learn so that I will not hurt myself. But he could have sounded a little nicer, a bit friendlier and sigh, I felt like I was a little girl being reprimanded by the father. And he knows by prodding my ego, I would have to prove him wrong.

After a 2 and a half climbing session, we dropped by at HMV 'cos I needed to look for the Deep Forest album which has the song "Sweet Lullaby". Yes, it's quite an old recording... old in the sense that it is a song from the nineties. Anyway, I did find the album (HKD 115) and was about to get it but reckoned I should check out compilation albums, especially those lounge/chillout kinds. And I managed to find this 3-CD album set called "Angel Beach The Third Wave" with a good selection of lounge/chillout music, and "Sweet Lullaby" is in it too... and all that for HKD88.

Excellent price, especially since I used my $50 HMV gift voucher to offset the original price. Yeah, I still buy CDs and rip the music to MP3 before downloading to my Ipod Mini... so I am quite legal in that sense.

Here's the list of songs, quite good stuff:

CD 1: Take Me To The Clouds Above - LMC & U2 Somebody To Love - Boogie Pimps Lady (Hear Me Tonight) - Modjo American Dream - Jakatta At Night - Shakedown Time Is Now - Moloko Turn On Tune In Cop Out - Freakpower Praise You - Fatboy Slim Teardrops - Lovestation More Than This - Emmie Summer In The Studio - Kinobe Good Life (Buene Vida) - Inner City Looking For Love - Lopez, Jay Far Away In San Antonio - Eden & Astrud Gilberto Les Nuits - Nightmares On Wax

CD 2: High And Dry - Cullum, Jamie Ruler Of My Heart - DDBB & Norah Jones Don't Know Why - Gilberto, Regina Night And Day - Everything But The Girl Fallin' - Holloway, Oleta Summer Sun - Koop Way You Dream - 1 Giant Leap & Michael Stipe/Asha Bhosle Aqua Marine - Santana Light My Fire - Feliciano, Jose Deep In It - St. Germain Mais Que Nada - Fernandes, Joao Friendly Pressure - Jhelisa Garden Of Earthly Delights - D'Note Moments In Love - Scirocco Sea...Eventually - Beautiful People

CD 3: Seven Seconds - N'Dour, Youssou & Neneh Cherry Give Me The Sunshine - Leo's Starshipp Facing East - Thievery Corporation Bob - Gilberto, Bebel & Otto Sweet Lullaby - Deep Forest When You Gonna Learn - Moreno, Clara Felicidade - Suba Outro Lado - Zuco 103 Crickets Sing For Anamaria - Bossa Nostra Going To California - David, John & Clear Spirit Tereh Bin Nahin Lagda - Partners In Rhyme Magaya - Spheeris, Chris Sunset - Goa Trance Authority Slow - Miami DJ Collective

What's With Guys & Games?

2005-08-11T01:23:00.001+08:00

As of now, almost 2 and a half hours, D the overgrown kid is still at it. Total attention on all the right buttons, all eyes on the beautiful images and sometimes grunting away to achieve his goals... Sigh, and all that energy and focus aren't on me. I am facing and listening to yet another stage of Halo 2, which D has just borrowed from his good friend, who incidentally has just included a PSP to his "buddies", the Xbox and PS2.

Besides me (his "playmate"), D has his PC games, Xbox games and PS2 games. I reckon if Sony improves on its PSP games collection, D will be tempted to get that too.

It's tough to pit myself against these games, afterall, I don't wield weapons as well as the characters in Splinter Cell or Mercenaries ; I don't have nice curves in the right places like Lara Croft or those in Grand Theft Auto; I don't have special powers or fly incredible machines...

It's tough being the wife in this technology-driven age, with all these multimedia and split second effects. I can't quite stop this overgrown kid from playing, at least he is playing with his joystick and game pads beside me, instead of entertaining himself in some pub or nightclub. Well, maybe this isn't the best comparison, but I suppose if I can't stop him, maybe I should join him. I did try, at least for games like Fifa Soccer or Gran Turismo, which I usually lose and only win if the overgrown kid is merciful and generous that day.

Well, I suppose I can't play the games he play, especially since I feel like throwing up each time I play these 1st-person-shooter games... motion sickness or just a lack of eye-brain coordination, which then messes up my balance and stomach.

I remembered playing Doom years back, and being the easy target, I became the main contributor to my guy friends' frag counts. After each game, I had to take some time to recover from all that motion sickness. Whatever happened to simple games like Pac Man and Lode Runner, which are easy on the mind and less stressful to my physical being. So Half Life and Counterstrike were out for me.

Later, I played Age Of Empire which I enjoyed very much, but I needed all those Cheat Codes to ensure that my empire remained throughout the ages. Sims came to my attention a few years later, which was such a refreshing game... totally different from all that fighting, shooting and killings. It didn't give me a headache or cause me to throw up, instead Sims engaged me so much that I created D as a Sim, created opportunities for him to know my Sim before we got married and had kids. Most importantly, Sims allowed me to build my own house and shop with neverending cash... yeah, cheat codes again.

D bought me Sims 2 and CSI when these games came out last year, to keep me occupied when he was away in HK while I was in S'pore. These 2 games are great fun, definitely engages the mind and allow me to get those brain juices moving through my system. And that's about all the games I actually play, unlike D the overgrown kid, who is still at it even now. Three hours liao, should I pull the plug?

Sigh, I will just go to bed without him...

We Are Learning To Dive

2005-08-06T10:20:00.000+08:00

Yeah, after years of pondering, we have decided to take up diving. Having experienced the mindblowing underworld in the Great Barrier Reef, D and I talked about learning to dive when we return to HK. And I suppose this is meant to be since a friend of mine called and asked me if we are interested to learn together with her. She had just completed the first theory lesson last week and we arranged for the instructor to come to our place later this afternoon for our 1st theory lesson. Private tuition in Cantonese (mainly) and Putonghua. I can't quite remember the details of this PADI certification course, except that there will be 10 hrs of theory lessons (wow, why so many?), about 5 hrs of pool lessons before a couple of open water dives... all inclusive at HKD2.6k per person.

I reckon having experienced metres above ground, we should try out metres underwater... but why do I still have nagging thoughts of sharks and Portugese Man-Of-War... darn movies like Jaws and the Killer Jellyfish/Octopus/Squid etc. Think happy thoughts, dolphins, Nemo...

Incidentally there are two diving articles in this week's HK Magazine (similar to the IS Mag in S'pore... those weekly free mags u get from cafes) . One is about diving in Palau, the island where the recently concluded Survivor was filmed; and the other on "How To Swim With Sharks". Hmm, just what I need.

"HOW TO SWIM WITH SHARKS:

Despite the media saturation surrounding shark attacks, swimming with the killers of the deep is a growing trend among adventure tourists, thrill-seekers and professional divers. Shark swimmer Voltaire Cousteau explains how to safely swim with the fishes.

Be sure you and everyone you're swimming with are not bleeding or have any open wounds - including bandaged wounds. Blood will elicit aggressive behaviour from sharks, even the docile species. Some sharks can detect a single drop of blood in 100 litres of water.
Don't try to touch the shark, especially on its eyes and nose. These are the most sensitive parts of the shark and you may trigger a full-scale attack.
Many sharks have poor memories so if you catch the attention of a shark, swim in a casual and slow manner and avoid any sudden movements that could distract the shark from your presence.
Assume an unidentified fish are sharks and avoid thrashing in the water, because sharks may take that as a signal to attack.
If the shark is swimming erratically or in zigzags, hide behind whatever is available - especially coral if there is any. Don't look the shark in the eye or start swimming frantically.
If a shark is charging and you've run out of options, try punching hard on the nose. This is a last resort and bear in mind that if the blow doesn't frighten the shark, it will make it angrier." (HK magzine No. 586, Friday Aug 5 2005)

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Fotos Excerpts)

2005-08-04T14:15:00.000+08:00

Here are some fotos that I took wif my trusty 7610... I luv this phone very much, really convenient to just whip it out and take some shots, which are clear enuf to post on my blog. D took lots of photos with his Canon 20D, which can be viewed in Webshots (Click on the highlighted titles to go there). Club Med Lindeman Island: Great Barrier Reef: Sydney: Enroute To Whereever on Trains, Buses & Planes: Katoomba, Blue Mountains: Rock Climbing @ Blue Mountains: My 1st Abseil (7m Wall): 1) Getting Ready With Dave The Intstructor 2) Safety Checks & Instructions 3) The Scariest Part - Stepping Over The Edge

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 4): Spiderman & Clumsy Gecko Rock Climbing

2005-07-31T18:10:00.000+08:00

Flat ground never looked so good... D and I spent about 6 hours climbing today at some rock walls at the Blue Mountains. After all that upward motion, sore fingers and tired muscles, parched lips and shivers, we made it back to safety and in one piece. Both of us had kind of conquered our fear of heights, in a way at least, having climbed 50-metres sandstone walls and perched precariously on ledges and little caves some 30m above the ground. I tried to take in the sights of the Jamison Valley and the surrounding huge walls that make up the Blue Mountains metres above ground. It's a beautiful and majestic sight from where we were, with the temperate rainforest far below... I remembered thinking to myself that it's a long way to fall. Well, I suppose I did somewhat conquer my fear of heights (possibly same for D), but the fear of falling is ever present in our minds. I remember looking at D when we were both seated in this little cave, waiting for our guide, David (this cute and tall Aussie guy), to give us the go-ahead to climb, when the wind began to howl all around us. We were about 30 m above the ground, having done the first pitch and waiting to climb the next 20m. I was shivering in the wind chill and wondered if I could continue the climb, with my fingers numbed from holding onto the ledge just above me, afraid that I would be blown off by the wind. D couldn't say more than 10 words and I could see fear in his eyes as we just sat there. Yeah, on looking back, it's stuff that we are going to remember for a long time to come, but at that moment, it's just nerve-wrecking and frightening. Why, u may ask, do we put ourselves into this? I reckon it's just that I don't want to be so caught up with fear that I forget to live. It's a necessary evil. Some people do bungee, sky diving or are just contented to sit around and not leave their confort zone, but I can't. I must not forget to live. Life's too short and besides, I want to create these memories & stories that D and I can reminisce and tell our kids and grandchildren. We had originally planned to do a two-day climb, but decided to utilise our time in Blue Mountains by doing the touristy things for one day and climbing the next. We met our guide, David (sigh, the day started well, nice blue skies, warm sun in the middle of Aussie winter & cute guy to look at) who had climbed for about 13 years. After the initial introductions and getting our helmets and harness, we packed everything and left in a van. D & I gave David our climbing background: we only started climbing in Mar; mostly climbed indoors and the highest height I had climbed was 13m whilst D had climbed 18-metres wall. Upon hearing this, David gave us two choices: 1) Two 50-m climbs: Simple enough for us at Grades 10 (Sweet Irish) & 12 (Eyrie which has that small lil' cave I mentioned earlier) respectively 2) Adventure climbing on a 150m wall near the Three Sisters We took the first one, thinking that we will just take this slowly. We had to hike down a bushwalk track with lots of loose stones, where certain sections were quite steep. And being the most clumsy gecko on the planet now, I was basically using my bum to move down those steep slopes gingerly.

To get to those 50-metres walls, we had to abseil down a 7m wall and hike downhill. This was my first time abseiling, and frankly I was filled with dread. I don't know why, but i reckon this was something that needed to be done. So, Dave "volunteered" me to abseil first and went through all the safety aspects, reassuring me that I was also tied to a safety rope which would protect me should I let go of my abseiling rope.

The hardest and scariest part of abseiling is the first step over the edge of the cliff, and I remembered each step I took towards the edge to be excruciatingly slow and every part of me screamed "This is dangerous!" Dave reminded me to keep my legs apart and parallel, feet against the wall, lean backwards into my harness, and allow the abseil rope to slip through my left hand slowly while "walking" down the wall. I kept my eyes fixed on the wall in front of me, and took baby steps down the wall. I finally made it on the horizontal ground 7 metres below, on a small rocky platform that was to be the beginning of the next stage of the climb. We had to abseil down this wall a few times during the next few hours as we continue our little adventure.

Anyway, D & I stretched our climbing abilities a few notches up, climbing these huge rock walls and in the Blue Mountains no less. Also, I had a taste of "cleaning" the walls of David's natural wall gears like the cams and nuts. After those 2 50-metres climb, I decided I had enough climbing and scares; while Dave persuaded D to climb another 50-metre wall (Grade 15). I was hooked up to a safety line and stood as close to the edge of this wall, alternating between taking stills and video. D was lowered onto the foot of the wall and proceeded to climb it. For a long while, D looked miniscule and only his white helmet and orange tee could be seen. I was worried for him but trusted Dave's skills. The crux of this wall was the holds were small and far apart, and D nearly gave up. In the end, after lots of pushing and encouragement from Dave, D made it past the crux and finally threw his tired body over the top of the wall.

We were both proud of each other after this experience, and feel that we had done something that we never thought we could, albeit the fear and worries. We had crossed the threshold, moved out of our comfort zone into a larger world out there. The adrenaline of going over the edge; pushing myself mentally and not give up readily ... we made it and it's such a wonderful feeling.

To reach the top of the wall, on our own, even when we thought it to be impossible, is something that will be etched in our minds for a long time, and which we will use to remind ourselves when the going gets tough.

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 3)

2005-07-30T18:56:00.000+08:00

This is the 2nd night that I am spending in Katoomba, Blue Mountains. D and I left Club Med Lindeman (very sad that we had to leave that beautiful island, lots of fun times and rich food... more on that later wif pics) for Sydney on 29th Jul Friday morning.

While at Lindeman, we went on an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef by ferry, did some snorkling in the cold waters and flew back to Lindeman Island on a helicopter (our most extravagant expenditure to date). We saw the magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef both in the waters and over the air, and I reckon this is one thing that I don't regret doing. Incidentally, I was considering repeatedly whether to snorkel there 'cos I was terrified of the cold, but after D's repeated prodding, I finally decided and spent an additional AUD25 to do a guided snorkel tour with a marine biologist who showed and talked about the "residents" in the Great Barrier Reef. There were also the endless sunbathing/napping in the sun at the beach & pool, sometimes interrupted by the occasional sailing competition and mass dancing at night.

It was chilly at times in Lindeman, around 21-25 degrees Celsius, but it's frigid in the Blue Mountains. Right now, it's at 7 degrees Celsius at night, and I am glad that both of us are nice and warm in the Youth Hostel (it has central heating and I can control the level in my room... wish HK apts have something like that during winter).

I woke up to the most glorious sun rise at 6-something and the rest of the day was excellent. Clear blue skies, quite cold temperatures but excellent to walk miles and miles at different Blue Mountains locations. We bought the Explorer Bus tics at AUD25 each which gives us unlimited boarding and alighting at different locations. Never walked so much in the past few days, definitely worked out all that rich Club Med food. D took lots of pics with his Canon 20D and I with my Sony Handycam. Lots of editing to do when I go back to HK.

Tomorrow, we will be doing our climbing course with an instructor attached to the Australian School Of Mountaineering. Looking forward to trying out some flagging, laybacks, crimpings etc at Blue Mountains. Will write again if I manage to survive tomorrow.

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 2)

2005-07-25T15:52:00.001+08:00

Weather here has been quite good, lots of sunshine but darn cold and windy siah... need to wear a jacket and air con is not needed.

Our first night in Club Med was quite a blast. We watched a trapeze performance and had danced the night away at the disco (theme: 60s and 70s... sound so familiar). Booze isn't a problem here, in fact, it's free-flowing and included in the package. Cool...

This morning, we basically woke up around 9.30am just in time for breakfast. After that, we hanged around the pool and did some sailing, which kinda freaked me out because the waves were so big, wind so strong and water a blistering 22-degrees Celsius. Cold siah.

Took some photos but I can only upload them when I get to some place where I can get better Internet access. Right now, I am using dialup.

Our plan so far is to just chill out, make no plans as much as possible and just rest lots. This is what holidays should be. Quite enjoying it so far, but I find not checking my emails and not using the internet to be quite disturbing.

Incidentally, there are 2 S'poreans, Doris & Izzie, working here and we chatted quite a bit, especially S'pore food. D and I consider ourselves fortunate to still taste some authentic chinese food but Doris and Izzie do really miss such food. Doris has been working for Club Med for a few years now, and has been with Club Med Lindeman as a Groups Coordinator (handle events etc) for about 14 mths. Izzie has been with Club Med for about 4 years and currently is in charge of the Cirus/Trapeze school here in Lindeman.

Tonight, the theme for dinner is "Pirates"and everyone in the Club Med team is involved in a stage performance. Saw the stage, quite impressive.

Club Med Lindeman Island, Blue Mts & Sydney (Part 1)

2005-07-24T06:34:00.000+08:00

Visa... what visa? D and I had our first shock of the day when we checked in at the Chep Lap Kok Airport. The nice guy manning the Australian Airlines counter wanted to see our visas and we were caught in a bind. We didn't know we needed visas to get into Australia; our fault actually since we didn't check assuming that our high and mighty S'pore passports would get us anywhere and everywhere. D was peeved that the Club Med customer service lady didn't inform us that S'poreans need visas to go to Oz; but when we double-checked our itinerary, we saw the finer print "Please check your passport has six months validity and you have a visa where required, depending on the citizenship","right at the bottom. Dang, drats, duh... the first thoughts were "Why didn't that Club Med lady tell/remind us of this detail?", "Call the lady and scold her"... but at the end of the day, we agreed that it's our fault and we shouldn't have assumed. In fact, it didn't occur to us that we needed to get visas. So the nice guy at the Australian Airlines counter told us to wait while he tried to apply visas for us. The next 10 minutes were quite torturous as D and I prayed silently on our own, hoping that this will be sorted out in a positive manner. I remembered thinking if we can't go, so be it... no point getting all upset and angry. Live and learn, it's our fault anyway. That guy came running towards us after 10 minutes telling us that it's ok, that he had applied for the visas electronically which were approved immediately because we are S'poreans. According to him, some countries are in this Oz Visa System, and I reckon Australia considers S'pore to be a nice and friendly country, and therefore our last-minute visa application was successful. He also advised us that should we have friends travelling to Oz, we should remind them to get visas. The flight was generally ok, a few bumps and rattles here and there, but I couldn't sleep even though we were on the plane from 7.15pm to 2am (HK time). Reason being my current bedtime is usually after 1 am, so this flight is really messing up my beauty sleep. As I am typing this, it's now 5.30am Cairns time, which is 3.30 am HK time and I still can't sleep. We landed in Cairns International Airport at 4am but we needed to wait another 3 hours before our transfer flight to Hamilton Island (Duration: 1h 20min) and thereafter a 25-minute catamaran ride to Lindeman Island. Security at Cairns Airport seemed tight, or maybe it's just us. Still it was way too early to have my passport checked by 2 different persons and answering lots of questions on "Where did we come from?", "What do we intend to do?", "What are our occupations?", "How long have we stayed in HK?", "How long have I been teaching?", "Do I have any friends in Australia?" etc. D thinks that I fumbled with my answers but this entire episode was just too much to handle in the wee hourso f the morning. Besides this isn't my idea of a good start to the holiday, especially after the visa issue. Hopefully the rest of the holiday will get better. So sleepy now...

iTunes Wiped Out My Songs... Argh

2005-07-19T15:59:00.000+08:00

I am writing this entry while the program, FreeRip, is ripping my CDs into MP3. This is a long drawn process since I used to have like 700+ songs on my iPod Mini, which have all been wiped out. And the fact is I had originally just wanted to update my Mini with the 2 new CDs I had bought, which shouldn't take too long I thought. It should take at most 20 minutes and I would be out of the house to pick up my work visa from school an hour and a half ago.

Now that I am in a zen mode and not spewing unrated language at my PC, I had analysed this entire matter.

It all boiled down to the fact that the hard disk on my other notebook had crashed the other day, and I couldn't used the iTunes on that notebook. My iTunes library, with the 700+ songs are stored on that hard disk, is now a goner. Drats. Thus I had to use the PC which has iTunes, and I vaguely remembered clicking "ok" to a message which appeared on the screen. Can't quite remember what the message was, though I saw the words "iTune Library" a few times and didn't bother to read it too closely. I reckon that just sent my 700+ songs to their digital demise.

Double sigh.

Secondary Mates

2005-07-14T23:12:00.000+08:00

The best years of my life were spent in MGS ... those tumultous stormy adolescent years; pigging out in fast food joints, waffles and Swensen's Earthquakes; going to the ladies not in ones or twos but in "gangs" of at least 5 girls. In between, we studied and did well. Of all those friends who came and went out of my life, there are still the few that lasted through the years like these gals... can't believe we are all way past teens, but we still look good, young and all.

Oisan & I

Elaine & Anthea

Till now, we would still meet at least a couple of times each year over more food and desserts. Just last evening, the four of us met at NYDC, Wheelock Place. Some things just don't change. There are actually 2 more members in this group, Charlene and Sharon, both of whom are in Vancouver and LA respectively. It will be great if we could all gather back together and just hang out like years ago. Do I think of the past often? Yes, in a way although sometimes things get a little hazy and I can't remember some things. Did I wonder, in secondary school, what we would all be like when we are all 29? Not quite since it was already tough thinking about the O-levels at that time. I don't really like to think too far ahead, 'cos plans do change, things do happen. Still, it is interesting to think about what we will be like in 10 years' time.

DUH Sign in S'pore

2005-07-12T23:55:00.000+08:00

Here's a sign that I saw somewhere in Tanjong Pagar, the financial district in S'pore:

Wassup with that sign? See the nice shady trees, paved walkways, green fields... it's such a nice spot in the midst of Singapore's financial district. What's the risk? And here's a list of "risks" my imagination has come up with:

1. Snapped tree branches that will land on one's head

2. Mysterious holes that will swallow unsuspecting pedestrians

3. Bermuda Triangle

4. Our capable and well-camouflaged "Thinking Soldiers"

Back In S'pore For Summer Hols

2005-07-10T18:13:00.000+08:00

Just a quick update... currently at my parents' place waiting for my mum to finish cooking dinner and for the bird nest soup that she prepared earlier to cool before D and I drink it.

Both of us left our respective workplaces last Friday around 3-plus in the afternoon to catch the 1830 SQ flight. Dinner on board was good, inflight entertainment was ok (watched a comedy which was quite funny but have forgotten the name at this point in time). We experienced some turbulence during the flight, especially during our dinner. Both of us were quite hungry so the "bumpy air" didn't affect our appetite too much.

The 1st thing we did yesterday was breakfast at Ah Kun and had kaya & butter toast, kopi and teh-peng, half-boiled eggs and Cheezy French Toast... missed Ah Kun lots. After that, I made some impromptu arrangement to meet up with some friends for Dim Sum lunch before dropping by at my ex-school. Reason being my friend had to report to school to take her class to the Padang for the NDP Preview. Later at night, we found out that an experienced parachutist from the Commandos had a bad landing and broke his leg during the NDP Preview.

After that D and I went to Creative in some far flung part of S'pore to replace his Zen Micro which has a faulty headphone jack. It was a free exchange as his Zen Micro was still under warranty.

The 3rd thing we did yesterday was to do some climbing at an indoor climbing gym called Climb Adventure... there were a number of routes with walls up to 5.5m high and most importantly, airconditioned.

Another week to go before we return to HK on the 17th Jul when D will return to work while I continue to bum for at least 6 weeks... yeah, summer hols is great ;) Can't wait to go for our Club Med hols at Lindeman Island and climbing in the Blue Mountains on the 23rd Jul to 2nd Aug. More on that when we get there... in the meantime, it's meeting up with friends and family in S'pore.

Play Shots

2005-07-04T22:56:00.000+08:00

Here are some shots I took for fun: 1. Entrance To A Pet Shop:

2. Beautiful Day in HK:

Dinosaur Fossils Exhibition

2005-07-04T21:57:00.000+08:00

After an extremely long SEM meeting today, I dropped by to view some dinosaurs and fossils at a shopping mall. For those S'porean trs reading this... I thought I had "escaped" from SEM, but didn't even tho' I am miles away from home. Btw, I am doing Criterion 2 Strategic Planning stuff. I can't say I enjoy it lots, tho' I learnt much about the school that I am currently teaching and its people. I used to do Criterion 4.5 Partnership With Suppliers, which is in a way easier to do than Strategic Planning. Just some background, these dino and fossils are from the Beijing Natural History Museum and the Sichuan Zigong DInosaur Museum respectively. Anyway, it's not always such dino and fossils are exhibited in malls, and well, it's FOC. Cheapo S'pore here. If it's back home and the exhibition is held somewhere like the Science Centre, I will not be bothered to visit. Here are some shots of the dino & fossils:

Swinging Sixties & Seventies

2005-06-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Austin Powers would have said "GroooooVy Baby!!!" Last night, the entire school attended the Teachers' Appreciation Dinner at Aberdeen Marina, and the theme for this year was all hippies, flower power and loud colours.

Well, I am not so garang or wayang a person, although I did keep my eyes opened for any cheap tops or pants that would "belong" to that era. I guess dress-up isn't my idea of fun.

Still, it was really fun to see people who actually dressed up for the occasion - tight shirts and flared pants, aviator or round-rimmed shades, headbands of various colours, peace signs... anything that screams 60's or 70's. With the "Fei Zai" Florence the Lady In Red Check out those psychedelic headband... Hippy Mayling & "Fei Zai" (aka Gangster) Arthur Yvan & Lisebeth Yvan as "Jimi Hendrix" Hippies - Olivier & Emma The sweet 60's look

Couple of days earlier, I managed to find a black top which has nice embroidery - some rock & roll emblems and the year 1968 on the right. Well, this is as close to the 60's that I am going to get, besides it was cheap enough (HK$190) for one night and it was something that I don't mind wearing again. I thought of buying a pair of bell-bottoms, but in the end, I decided to just wear the most scruffy-looking and torn Levis that belongs to D.

A band played some good 60's and 70's rock & roll and funk. The dance floor was opened around 10pm and we had fun dancing away. But it was such a bummer when the band promptly ended playing 30 minutes later, and the karaoke session began. It would have been good if the music continued since karaoke wasn't something that most of us would do.

Functions like this, well, I attend it mainly 'cos I have to. There isn't much choice, is there? And it doesn't help that the seating arrangement has already been planned by somebody. It can't be helped that people like to be in their usual circle, it's like a support group of sorts during events such as this. Afterall, the company is important and it is good to know that the evening was well spent. I am thankful that I am seated with the hippiest this year. It was great fun and we shared a few bottles of Oz Riesling. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that it will be just as good, if not better, next year.

One Year Older...

2005-06-19T21:30:00.000+08:00

29 years have passed and after a while, birthday celebrations don't really matter much. Although I did ask D a couple of times what he planned to do to celebrate my b'day, not that I really wanted some kind of celebration, but it was nice to look forward to something. But alas, nothing was planned actually. Sigh, so much for 3 years of marriage.

So on this day, we basically woke up and got ready for our climbing session at a nearby indoor wall from 11pm to 4pm. This was the long overdue session we were supposed to have last month, the one which would give us the SCAHK (Sports Climbing Association Hong Kong) certification besides the YMCA one that we already have. The reason for this certification is that we felt it was more recognised (since it is affiliated to the International Mountaineering Body). Anyway the wall is about 9m high (slightly higher than the one in YMCA) but had a no. of routes which are challenging, particularly when the climber slips or wants to be let down, the climber will swing outwards like a big pendulum... it is quite daunting to have the wall on both sides coming straight at you while you are about 7-9 m above ground. I hate that swinging feeling especially the first few climbs, but I reckon this is something which I have to get used to.

I had brought my new toy, the Sony Handycam DCR-PC350E, to take some clips while D and I climbed. But I broke the no. 1 rule in filming: Forget To Insert Tape... so silly, I can't believe I had forgotten about the silly tape. So much for being one year wiser.

As for my b'day dinner, we had it at our usual food court at the shopping mall near our place... not very romantic, but it's ok. I don't really put much emphasis on things like this, since the more important thing is who I am spending the time with.

Batman Returns & Comic Heros

2005-06-18T21:29:00.000+08:00

D and I went to watch the latest instalment of the Batman movies this afternoon after booking our hols at the Club Med office in Central.

Pretty good movie on the whole; the initial part of the movie was very much devoted to developing Bruce Wayne into Batman... conquering his fears, pains and putting his money into good use, ie saving Gotham from its decadence and corruption.

I liked the very 1st Batman (Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfieffer); Val Kilmer's pouty lips were ok in the 3rd one and George Clooney was forgettable in the 4th. This latest one has done some justice to the falling Batman movie standards.

Actually, I don't really like these superheroes movies - Superman, Batman, Incredible Hulk etc... especially those with long-flowing capes and wear their briefs on the outside. Comic characters becoming 3D are quite a difficult thing to do, especially since everyone expect them to be, in all aspects, exactly like their comic-book twins. Talking about capes... I loved that little exchange Mr Incredible and Edna Mode had concerning capes when Mr Incredible went to Edna to mend his old outfit, but ended up discussing the design for a new one: Edna: It will be bold! Dramatic! Bob: Yeah! Edna: Heroic! Bob: Yeah. Something classic - like Dynaguy. Oh, he had a great look! Oh, the cape and the boots... Edna: [throws a wadded ball of paper at Bob's head] No capes! Bob: Isn't that my decision? Edna: Do you remember Thunderhead? Tall, storm powers? Nice man, good with kids. Bob: Listen, E... Edna: November 15th of '58! All was well, another day saved, when? his cape snagged on a missile fin! Bob: Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb... Edna: Stratogale! April 23rd, '57! Cape caught in a jet turbine! Bob: E, you can't generalize about these things... Edna: Metaman, express elevator! Dynaguy, snag on takeoff! Splashdown, sucked into a vortex! [shouts] Edna: No capes! Darn farny... that was like the best part in the show. I bought the extended edition DVD with the additional clip which showed what happened during that time when Jack Jack was left alone with the teenage babysitter, while his entire family was fighting for their lives on Syndrome's island... this part shows or hints the amazing powers that Jack Jack could have. Another hilarious bit.

Live Adrenaline ... Hols With An Edge

2005-06-17T00:05:00.000+08:00

I have been doing research on our coming hols and came across this really cool site with incredible activities... Just a lil' background: Our holiday plans for this coming summer are (1) 6 days 4 nights Club Med Lindeman Island (Australia) (2) Possibly 3 days 2 nights stay in Blue Mountains, outside Sydney for a Rock Climbing course (3) Couple of days in Sydney itself We had been waiting for D's boss to approve his leave and come this Saturday, we will drop by at Club Med to check out the details and hopefully everything will go as planned. But I digress... back to this site Adrenalin . I was finding out Rock Climbing courses in Oz and whether such courses will be held in the Blue Mountains especially during their winter season. And here's my Top 5 list of even more "solid", "Wah Piang" activities (money-no-problem one...): No. 5 - Air Combat USA (AUD 2 995) "You'll be fitted for a flight suit, helmet and parachute. Next, it's off to ground school to learn the tactical maneuvers you'll need in combat. Then you slide into the cockpit of either the SIAI Marchetti SF260, an italian-built light attack fighter, capable of sustaining up to +6 to -3 G's of force or the Extra 300L, a world-class aerobatic champion capable of +10 to -10 G's of force. You'll be seated at dual controls next to your instructor pilot. Although your instructor will perform the take-off and the landing, during the mission you will fly the aircraft 90% of the time. You will engage in six dogfights during your mission." No. 4 - Learn To Kiteboard (AUD140) "Combining traction kiting with windsurfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and surfing gives you an adventure sport that is easy to learn, allows total freedom, and pushes the boundaries as to what really is possible on water." No. 3 -Explore Antarctica (US$3 990) "The spectacular Antarctic Peninsula is the most accessible part of the continent. The rugged Transatlantic Mountains, flanked by huge glaciers, form the Peninsula's spine and a backdrop to a glorious maze of sheltered channels and inlets for us to explore." No. 2 - 100% Adrenalin NZ Heli Trip - Heli Skiing and Heli Ice Climbing

(AUD 4 795) ' "From 25-30 August 2005 join other snow seekers for 5 days of pure adrenaline in New Zealand on the 100% Adrenalin NZ Heli Trip: Heli Skiing/Boarding and Heli Ice Climbing! Feel your legs burn as you carve through untracked powder then feel your heart pump as you scale a frozen waterfall. This trip's all about the wild back country and the helicopter - chartered exclusively for Adrenalin! You just think about the adrenaline rush - we'll take care of the rest." No. 1(a) - Sub Orbital Space Flight (US$105k) "With the same anticipation and excitement that astronauts and cosmonauts experience before their orbital space launch, our flight specialists will help you don your flight suit and guide you through the final launch checklist. The launch will begin under the watchful eye of the pilot and precise control of system equipment. In an unprecedented sensory experience, rocket motors will boost the RLV (Reusuable Launch Vehicle) beyond the normal limits of flight to regions above 62 miles (100 kilometers). As the RLV nears maximum altitude, the rocket engines will be shut down and you will experience up to five minutes of continuous weightlessness and see the vast blackness of space set against the blue limits of Earth below." No. 1 (b) The Ultimate "Wah Piang" Activity - Trip To The International Space Station (US$20 million) " Now, in conjunction with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) and Rocket Space Corporation Energia (RSC Energia) Space Adventures has organised a new joint effort to conduct private spaceflights to the International Space Station (ISS)... Your launch vehicle will be the Soyuz-FG, the latest in a line of vehicles that have flown over 1600 times, far more than any other human-rated launch vehicle." But for now... rock climbing in Blue Mountains is more realistic... and affordable.

Rainbow Warriors Dragonboat Team @ Discovery Bay

2005-06-13T14:43:00.000+08:00

Tuen Ng Festival, 11th June 2005 Saturday

After only 5 gruelling training sessions at Ap Lei Chau, it was Race Day. Our first heat was at 8am, which meant the whole lot of us had to meet at the "unearthly" time of 6.30am at the DB pier in Central.

Weather was good, sunny but breezy... although it was blistering hot as the day went on. The dip in the waters was a great respite after each Heat (we took part in three).

Of course we didn't win but the important thing is we make it look good. The other teams were strong, physically... even the girls... we couldn't quite see the difference. ;P

Ours was the only team which had the largest no. of girls and only 6 guys whereas the other "expert" teams were made up of brawny men with the minimum no. of girls (eight by the way).

Our best time was 2 min 27 seconds, distance travelled was about 400 m ... not bad for only 5 training sessions

Thanks to Florence for her photos...

Rainbow Warriors

Rainbow Warriors - In Order Offerings & Dragons Getting Ready Onboard Moving Off More Shots

Mr and Mrs Smith

2005-06-12T17:23:00.000+08:00

D and I caught Mr and Mrs Smith on Fri night to round up our list of must-watch movies for this month.

On the whole, the movie was a satire of marriage and the what-ifs combined with lots of good-old Hollywood action and helmed by 2 good-looking and sexy actors. What if the husband/wife isn't who he/she really is? What if the things we choose to hide from our partners are the things which will somewhat help them? I enjoyed the movie, especially since Brad and Angelina are in it... The one part I liked in the show is when while Brad was pursuing Angelina after both found out one another's true identity and had to kill the other, Brad asked Angelina how she felt the first time she met him. Angelina didn't answer at first and asked Brad the same question. His answer (which made me sigh) was "It felt like Christmas morning." Double sigh... Angelina, on the other hand, answered "You were the most beautiful mark I had ever seen." Right after that, she hit her head against her car seat a couple of times, regretting that she couldn't say the truth, ie she loved him... There were some scenes in the movie which hinted on their love for one another, but they had to put up this strong front and act as if their only goal was to eliminate the other. Incidentally, I liked the house they lived in (decor and the walk-in wardrobe) and especially the superbly equipped kitchen... I think I am becoming too domesticated for my own good.

3 Years Of Marriage, 10 Years Together

2005-06-08T23:11:00.000+08:00

8th June 2002 ... D and I took our first major leap of faith into the unknown at 4 pm when we took our vows before God, families and friends.

It's been 3 years now, and we are still enjoying this thing called marriage. It takes lots of work, patience and some humour to keep this thing going. The one thing I learnt so far is although we spent lots of time together, we also need some time-out from one another so that we do not lose our original identities.

What did we do today? Nothing, actually... In fact, D had his regular Lead Climbing lesson while I was out with 2 friends from S'pore. Most unexciting... even now while I am typing my thoughts for this blog entry, D is using the other notebook and surfing the Net with the TV on between the both of us.

Actually it's quiet time like these that I enjoy... nothing fancy, just the 2 of us.

Frank Miller's SIN CITY

2005-06-07T09:32:00.000+08:00

D and I went to catch Sin City yesterday in the evening. I just had to find something to look forward to, cos it was such a slow Monday and marking 60-70 compositions (exams now) in the afternoon isn't my idea of fun.

I didn't know about Sin City the comic until this movie came along... D had told me that the movie is filmed somewhat in the style of the comic, I didn't know what that meant until I saw the show.

I must say, it is definitely different from the usual Hollywood action movie, all bang-bang, bullet spray, huge explosion and killings. It's quite arty-farty, very film noir, dark and disturbing storylines about crimes, passion, revenge (whether justified or not... the theme repeats throughout the movie) and sacrifice. One of the most disturbing character was Kevin (played by Elijah Wood, no lines in the movie but just looking menacing and evil) who was a cannibal and preyed on hookers. Together with his foster-father of sorts, an important Cardinal, both would feast on these hookers that no one would miss. And through the cannibalism, both weirdos would find intimacy with God... very disturbing. There were times when I had to cover my eyes when the killings become too gross; but because the movie is mainly in different shades of grey and white, even the "bloody" scenes were white. Catch the movie, it's really good. Waiting for the DVD to be out, one of those movies that I can buy and keep.

Ode To Pupils...

2005-06-05T09:27:00.000+08:00

Lil' Sneakers & Trainers

2005-06-04T23:26:00.001+08:00

I'm in trouble, big trouble. I'm captivated by these lil' sneakers and trainers each time I visit a sports store. And whenever I pick one up and shove it into D's face, gushing over how cute these lil' things look, D would have to "snatch" these things from me, and proclaim that I have been taken over by the Dark Side Of The Baby Kingdom.

In recent months, the thought of stepping into motherhood isn't as scary as I think it to be. D and I have been talking about it for awhile now, especially in these past couple of months. So far, we have kind of decided on a time frame (which is later in the yr); and I will have the kid back in S'pore ('cos it is cheaper and we both feel better to have my mum around during the initial months).

Looking at how things are now, D is happy with his job here in HK and I reckon we will be here for awhile. But there are a number of issues we still haven't quite ironed out yet, particularly who will be the primary caregiver when I return to work in HK.

D and I talked about this some days back, and I said that this will be the one time we will be totally independent and responsible for another person... Independent because we are on our own, away from our support group in S'pore. There will not be "Leave the kid with mum and dad when we go out", or "Ask mum and dad to look after the kid from Mondays to Fridays and we just take the kid back during the weekends". The easy way out.

Responsible because every decision we make will concern this new addition. This seems to be so much work.

Especially since I do think I should continue to work, as it is tough to live on one salary, but not impossible... just that we need to re-prioritise our needs and wants. But who is going to take care of the kid.

Now, life is really simple. Work, go out, watch a movie, late nights, rock climbing, sleep... it's just the 2 of us. I don't know if I want to complicate my life with another being... but at the end of the day, I do think something is missing. It's like a void, an emptiness at times, but I am not sure if having a kid will fill that.

During dinner today, I reminded D that we will be officially married for 3 years on 8th June and that also meant we have been together for 10 years, from the time we began the dating game till now. So I asked him what does he see us in the next 10 years, and he said, "Raising a kid".

In the meantime, I am looking at these cute lil' sneakers which I would buy for my kid, even if he/she outgrows them really quickly, but being the Nike fan that I am, how not to introduce Nike to them? Incidentally, I saw these cute Teva sandals for toddlers couple of days back, didn't know that Teva makes sandals for toddlers.

Hmmm

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

2005-06-04T22:48:00.000+08:00

D and I went to watch this show on Friday night and being a British production, the humour is so typical of Brit comedies. That is, it's dry and excellent use of words. Absolutely no slapstick (think silly Jim Carey & Robin Williams).

I had originally booked tics for Sin City, but it wasn't successfully done (only knew it when I went to collect the tics). So the alternative is HGTG. Loved the show, best show I have watched so far, not that I have watched that many these few months. The only other show we had watched was Kingdom Of Heaven, which was quite a disappointment... Orlando Bloom just doesn't cut it as a hero, maybe if he has long blonde hair, pointy ears and armed with bow and arrows, it would be better.

In HGTG, the character that really got into me is the suicidally-depressed robot, Marvin. He is such a blast, especially since he is voiced by Alan Rickman, and I believe Marvin has the best lines in the show... totally hilarious.

Must remember to get the storybook when I return to S'pore.

Accumulated Updates...

2005-05-29T22:13:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I last blogged... Last week, it was quite hectic and I was just so tired out after each work day. But I am glad that it had ended and all ready to tackle the coming one.

Exams are coming in another week's time, and I can't wait for the term to end (30th June... one more month).

I don't think I had written this, but after almost 2 months of having an easy life in this school (basically taught non-core subjects such as Social Studies and PE, and took care of 3 Primary 6 pupils in the Math Support Class), I was given a Primary 3 class and became its Form Teacher. There is a long story behind this, but the gist is that the ex-Form Teacher of that class left the school and since I am the "excess" teacher around, guess who had to take over the class.

Just to highlight - I was told to take over the class at 5pm on that "fateful" Tuesday and start my new duty the next day, without any textbooks or idea of what the pupils are like. Frankly, I hate to take over someone else's "mess" but what to do... So on that Wednesday, I became busy after a long time of R & R. Actually, I think it has got quite a lot to do with the fact that I told D repeatedly that "I am bored" during the initial months. And D thinks that God heard that loud and clear and decided to "unbored" me. Sigh...

But I have grown to like this class of 23 boys and girls, and am glad to say that I have "trained" them quite well... Will miss teaching them if I don't teach P4 the next academic year. May teach higher grade levels instead.

As for now, I am keeping as low a profile as possible, and be contended with doing the thing I enjoy most, i.e. concentrate on teaching and being with the kids. On the other hand, I am keeping my eyes and ears open for a job which will pay me well, allow me to sleep till 10am and come home early... hee hee. Anyone hiring?

Bo Bice Didn't Win

2005-05-26T22:35:00.000+08:00

Sigh, I was rooting for Bo. How could he not win? Even though I somehow knew that Carrie Underwood is the more deserved winner, she who is so young, nice smile, great voice and good character.... sigh. But he has the ATTITUDE. I have this soft spot for rock singers who have long hair and can be so taken in by the "rebel" attitude that these rock singers have, even if their singing is just lots of screams, shrieks and the occasional proper pronunciation. Sigh...