Rice

I want a good bowl of rice. Charcoal/branches, good rice, good water and a good iron pot. That's all I need. Sounds simple? I wish. I think I need to make a trip to Korea to get the iron pot that people used in the past. And I will need to collect branches from the mountain. Even if the equipment can be put in place, I still don't have good rice and water. Where can I get a good bowl of rice? I will be a very happy person to eat that with some steamed egg custard and a veg dish.

Deal fatigue

The client finally signed on the dotted line after seven months of hard labour. Someone commented that it's like having a baby. As a mum, I can tell you that you get premium pain killer when you give birth but you get nothing when you go through the last stage of a deal.

I am still waiting for the true copies to come back to me (So far, I have seen the scans only and one paper which is much needed is nowhere to be seen) and I feel exhausted. I am happy that I am seeing the light of the other end of the tunnel. At the same time, I am a little lost. One thing I know for sure is that I am finally calming down from the adrenalin rush because my stomach is not as bloated as before. It was to an extent that gastrogel didn't do the magic.

There are couple other projects on my desk. They seem to be more complicated structurally, I doubt if the process will be as intense. It's been a while since I last studied the ISDA definitions oage by page and I did it for this transaction. Well well, I think I should award myself with a big bowl of instant noodle tonight!

I want decent fastfood

Ok, I know the title doesn't make sense but if you walk around my office during lunch time, you will understand what I am talking about.

The options for lunch within the vicinity of my office is very limited. You either book a table at a restaurant (that means you may need to take a taxi/tram to get to the destination), bring your own lunch, or buy from one of the takeout places. Eating out is a luxury that I cannot afford to have more than once every two weeks. When you have a toddler at home, you end up spending all your lunch hours running errands, anything from going to the bank to fighting for the last pumpkin costume at the shop in Wan Chai. Bringing my own lunch can be disastrous. Either I eat that during breakfast time (and still need to get lunch) or I completely forget about it. The third and most "viable" option is to buy from one of the takeout places.

The location of my office is not great but the shops around were alright. There was a fastfood chain starting with a C that sold reasonably priced and clean food. They rotated the menu frequent enough that I rarely ate the same thing two days in a row. There were usually two to three items on the menu that I could choose from.

One day, the group decided to rebrand the shop. An upscale outlet occupies the same spot now. The decor is modern and you know they got some interior designer to fix the place up. The same group of staff are now in a different uniform. The price at least doubled. I was not happy about it. Why would I want to pay USD 7 for a lunch that isn't really edible? I am not a foodie but I know how I like my vegetables. Not drown in oil nor boiled to a mush. The spinach they sell at the upscale shop must have been cooked in boiling water for at least ten minutes. When I order sweet and sour pork, I don't mind the cubes are half meat half bone (in fact I like it that way) but definitly not fried dough. I don't care if they offer different types of cheese for my sandwich because I only like cheese that are good enough to be eaten on its own then something that has been sitting in a big refrigerator for weeks before making its way to the sandwich counter.

Can't I have my old shop back, a place where they sell reasonably priced and clean food? Am I asking for too much?

To speak or not to speak?

Changunnie seems to be fine with three different languages at home. She even translates in some occasions. However, she doesn't like to speak anything other than English at her playgroups.

Changunnie adores the teachers in her English classes. When it's Chinese time, she prefers to pace around (dang! That's what I did as a kid). Is it the schedule, the teacher, the content or she has no confidence when not speaking English?

The struggle I have is whether I should always use Chinese with her or English during the day, Chinese at night as some people suggested. Development experts said more than 2 languages can confuse a child and delay her verbal development. I don't think that's the case for Changunnie as she's been giving me instructions clearly in English since 20-month "Mummy! Baby like Teletubbies. Not this channel. Not this one!!!"

I am not hoping her to be able to do stand-up in eight different languages (her mum cannot even master one so mummy will be reasonable here) but I do want her to know about the Chinese and Korean culture as those are her heritages. It is therefore crucial for her to communicate comfortably in both languages. What's the optimal way to teach her? The last thing I want is for her to have an identity crisis.

You are welcome!

"For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him." Ecclesiastes 8:6

There are people who think it is perfectly legitimate to create senseless work for other people knowing full well it is a total waste of time. The motivation? They were pressured to produce some meaningful work. I was stuck in such a situation yesterday and am not pleased.

Someone decided to revive an old discussion on Friday night. By Monday morning, I had a string of emails from that same person proposing to do a transaction in a rather complicated way which touched on all the pressure point that I highlighted as dealbreakers. Nothing could stop the email stalker and I finally wrote a polite email that proposed two alternatives assuming we could lend a small amount to the client. I must have waived the magic wand or something as the email stalker asked to talk to me in person.

First thing that came out from the email stalker "Why are you taking it so seriously?"

What? Me taking it seriously? I would have ignored the discussion if the email stalker did not bombard me with emails!

"Your boss complained to my boss that I am not showing him opportunities from my coverage area. So, there you go, a deal that cannot be done."

Copy the boss and don't push me to waste time then. I have better things to do than being a part of someone else's grand political game plan.

The email stalker obviously misinterpreted Ecclesiastes 8:6 as a pass to do whatever considered as "the way that pleases me".

For me, I am waiting for the time when I can grab the folding chair before meeting the email stalker again. Perhaps, I can quote my favourite Pulp Fiction quote:

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

Spring is in the air, literally

I remember calling Spring "Jello Season" when I was young. Hong Kong is usually surrounded by really warm and humid air from the South China Sea in spring time. As you can imagine, the hills stop the humidity to diffuse to China. We ended up having really heavy fog for days. The air is so humid that I find it difficult to take a deep breath. Thus the term "Jello Season".

I woke up this morning and saw nothing outside of the windows. We live in the boonies by the country park and it was just like living on a movie set for something like "Lord of the Rings". Fresh air, yes. Heavy fog, also a yes. It was difficult to actually catch the bus this morning as I couldn't see which one was approaching. By the time when I could tell whether the bus was going to "Hang Hou" or "Sai Kung", it was too late for it to stop.

The sun is shy today (as Changunnie would say). Doesn't look like there will be any improvement any time soon. Maybe I should consider taking the bus home tonight. Should be safer that way.....

Closing a deal

This one started in June 2008. Whilst it is "standard" to work overnight as a janitor, the project from June 08 took more than that. It was excruciatingly painful on the documentation front (and the legal bill turned out, half way through the project, to be astronomical). The parties involved for some unknown reason was like a dysfunctional family. It was particularly unpleasant for me, the janitor. I had to clean crap for my side, the client and our partner. And mind you, I didn't get paid more because of the work load. In fact, was told off for "doing too much". The client put the deal on hold on my birthday in 2008, citing their need to reconsider the credit arrangement in light of the Financial Tsuinami. Oh, well! Life goes on.

Just when things at work were getting on track, the deal came back to live three weeks ago. We are now ready to sign the deal next week for closing by end of the week. I hope there's some closure to it. I will definitely lose it if we have to repeat Sept 08 again!

Compulsive Obsessive Bragger

The title is to remind myself not to be one when I talk about my Changunnie but how can I not be one when I look at how cute, loving, understanding, sweet........... (two paragraphs edited out)

We were chitchatting after dinner and Changunnie saw the old scar on Grandpa's arm.

"Halaboji aiya aiya! A pa yo?"

"It's ok, Changunnie"

"Call Dr Yip! Halaboji a pa yo. Baby give Halaboji a shot" (proceeded to get her doctor's kit and got the syringe out)

"Don't cry. It's ok" (and she gave Grandpa a shot on the scar)

"Halaboji, open the cream. Baby give medicine. It's ok now. Don't cry"

Grandma and I couldn't stop laughing and Grandma remarked that Grandpa has to be healthy and live long enough to see what Changunnie will do when she grows up.

Tearjerker!

Lesser Panda Lesser Human?

What's the brand name of the cigarette that our great leader Deng Xiao-Ping used to smoke? Panda!

Very business savvy Chinese merchants did not want to let go of such great marketing effort left behind by our great leader, another brand called Xiao Xiong Mao (小熊猫) was created. And I located a pack today in Beijing. The name in English is "Lesser Panda". Hmm.......

The great leader smoked Panda, ordinary people smoke Lesser Panda. So, leaders are human and ordinary people are lesser human? Or should it be the other way round considering the performance of lots of the leaders at workplaces (big fat CASH bonus!) and in the government (at least in HK. I do not agree with most of the stuff that supposedly came from the mouth of our senior officials)

It has been a long time since I laughed so hard and the picture shows the wonderful pack to prove I did not make the story up and for you to see the snow (No! It's not dirt on the windshield!)

It is snowing in Beijing today. It's the first snow in the city this winter and it is unexpectedly peaceful and nice. I spent 5 mintues standing in the snow this morning. The staff at the hotel probably thought I were crazy. I checked the wrong weather forecast and wore a summer suit for Beijing. The only warm piece of clothing I have is my Patagonia fleece. Luckily, it is warm enough for someone with natural insulator like me but more importantly, I blend in well with the people of Beijing. Where is my hair band?

What have they been smoking?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/11447/farm-lobby-threatens-to-sue-over-herb-list

In short, 13 herbs and plants labelled as hazardous substance type 1 by the Industry Ministry are neem, lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, Chinese ginger, African marigold, Siam weed or bitter bush, tea seed cake, chilli, Chinese celery, ringworn bush, glory lily and stemona.

I read about it over the weekend. My only comment was what have they been smoking? Duh!

Valentine's Day

Being a first timer in Pattaya. We started the day with a visit at the Pattaya Big Buddha, followed by a walk along Pattaya Beach. I know, the Walking Street is the seedy part of town but we thought it was day time and we were in a small group. The "What to do in Pattaya" magazine also said there're hidden camera everywhere. It should be pretty safe.

Our small group wanted to have Thai food for lunch and all we could find was "international restaurant" and pubs. It was noon and we already saw retired foreign guys holding hands with local Thai ladies. Some guys couldn't wait to go back to the room and were busy at dark corners at pubs. One young girl resisted it but the man wouldn't stop. The sight was disturbing. Why do tourists with some money in their pocket think they can treat the poor local without any respect?

We hurried back to the hotel for a nap. 4 hours walk under the sun can be exhausting. We went to the local night market near Jomtien Beach at night and had dinner at one of the street side restaurants which turned out to be part of a hotel. The food was not great and the sight was again disturbing for the same reason I mentioned. We hurried back again and ended the day falling sleep when ESPN is blasting in the background.

I doubt if I will ever want to come back to Pattaya. Next trip back to good old Phuket!

I could see the star

It is hard to know what we are missing without comparison. I knew the pollution in Hong Kong was bad. I am talking about air as well as light pollution. I still cannot comprehend why the government is wasting money for that stupid laser show in Central at night. It's not like everyone will stop what they are doing at 8pm to look up for the laser beams shooting in all directions from the top of skyscrapers along the harbour. Then, we moved to the boonies. Ah! I can see stars again. Well, I saw a real stary night last night in Pattaya.

There was an outdoor dinner at the local yacht club last night for my husband's conference. We walked around a bit after dinner and settled down in one of those nylon lounge chairs on the beach. I looked up and saw stars every where. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I didn't want to take any pictures because I worried the flash might disturb other people from looking at the stars.

Technology and money brought convenience to us but we don't seem to realise how much we have given up as a result. Simple things in life can bring so much joy but I suspect most people will not realise until the precious is taken away from them for good.

I don't think I can be very green but these are the things that I will make sure my family do

1. Bring our own canvas shopping bags and say no to excess packaging at supermarket. Plastic bags don't decompose and they smell and release toxic when burnt! (If lunch club members are reading this, you can call me the bag lady!)

2. Recycle. We bought a fertilizer drum. All leftover food (except meat) goes in there and 6 weeks later, we get fertilizer. It's been a long time since we last shopped for any lettuce. We are about to harvest some zucchini! It's good to grow our own veg in flower boxes on the rooftop and on the balcony. Reduce heat on the top floor too.

3. Use baking soda for cleaning

4. Walk more. I like running to the neighbourhood supermarket. 30 mins back ad forth and no need to pay for a gym membership

5. Use your own chopsticks if possible. If saving trees is not a good enough reason, ever saw documentary of some "wooden" chopsticks are made?

Step by step but we gotta go towards the right direction if we still want to enjoy what nature has to offer....

Out of Office

Perhaps I am not young anymore. Going to somewhere as close as Pattaya wasn't easy at all. Whilst other people got a free upgrade to Business Class, I was handed an Economy Class boarding pass at the check in counter. My husband gracefully offered his seat but I gratefully declined. It was a two and half hour flight and he's almost six inches taller.

I sat next to a Bristian Indian family. The children were very polite and the parents pleasant (we ended up chatting happily away for two hours). A pretty good start. We were all busy filling in the immigration card when the lady in front of me decided to lower her seat. My estimate on the very conservative side is that she's about six inches shorter than me. Extra room for her? I call that a unnecessary luxury. The TV screen on the back of her seat was practically in my face. How come the overhead light is not working? How come there's no light in the entire section? Wait!? What about the TV? For whatever odd reasons, Cathay Pacific decided not to show any movies on the not-too-short-haul flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok but I do want to watch Larry David even for 30 minutes and now the In-flight entertainment system is NOT working??

"Deep breath! Calm down, don't break anything..... "

My neighbour and I exchanged some complaints and we started to talk about the failure of the banking system. Is Gordon Brown really doing the right thing to save the economy in the UK? Is the media to blame for spreading the words that the world is doom and people ended up not spending? I believe consumer spending is key to sustain economic growth. Government stimulus package will only give a short term uplift but place us in deeper trouble. And the tax I paid is going to someone else's big fat bonus whilst I get a laughable deferred cash amount??

We arrived at the BKK right after we exchanged numbers and details of golf courses in Pattaya and Southern China. Now, that's when I realized I am old. The shuttle bus was nice and equipped with big speakers. The songs were my favourite golden oldies (I was told the threshold is pre-90s). The 1.5 hours drive to Pattaya was rough! I felt like I was reading Bouncy Castle in "Maisy at the Fair" for Changunnie. Took quite some effort to keep my double cheese whopper and popeye chicken and Ben & Jerry's in my stomach. Looked at the watch, Dang! It was pass eleven! I thought I left Central at 4:30pm......

Will try out the new camera tomorrow.

Shopping for a camera

Having a kid and a mortgage changes one's spending habit and I am a living proof of it.  I used to splurge on shoes and bags but those days are gone, long gone.

The digital camera I have is a freebie I received from Visa card application.  You know the story, plastic shell, 6 megapixel, takes 3 seconds to take a picture.....  All the nice pictures we have of Changunnie are either taken by professionals (We walked into the studio with a gift voucher for a photo session and one 5R picture and walked out with HKD20K less in the wallet!) or by friends with nice cameras (and actually know how to use them).  Since I got my pay cheque yesterday, I decided to buy a decent camera so that I can take nicer pictures assuming I can learn how to use the camera properly.  

Did my research on the internet and have my mind set on the Canon Powershot G10.  I held the G10 in my hands and it felt good.  The G10 was about to turn into my very proud purchase when

"What are you going to use it for?" asked the friend who took me to the shop and the sales person

"Snap shots of my baby."

"You need a single lens reflex camera.  3 pictures every second.  Kids don't stay still for pictures."

"Oh!" 

"Try the entry level Canon EOS 450D."

"Can it take video?"

"Take the IXUS too."

So, there I was, a small box turned into a big bag with boxes.....  Now I know what I am going to do tonight. It should be easier to read the user manuel of a camera than that of a Japanese baby stroller.  

Why I start this

It wasn't too long ago when I bought that black moleskine notebook to record my random thoughts for my baby. It was close to my due date when I walked into the book shop. It wasn't easy to walk around as my tummy was as big as having a 30 pounds watermelon strapped on my waist but I was determined.

Then, Changunnie was born and in a blink, she turned two last Friday. The notebook? I filled half of it. Perhaps it's easier to write online during lunch time and on my way home from work.

I am not qualified to say it is difficult to be a working mum as the grandparents look after Changunnie when I am at work. I don't need to rush Changunnie to daycare in the morning, no need to cancel meetings to pick her up again in the evening... It is, however, very difficult mentally to be away from my child. I stuck my face next to hers this morning and I got a "No thank you mummy!!" Hmm.... Mummy is not going to read Curious George tonight!