London's 8-minute Slot

While Beijing relied on vast numbers of participants to impress audiences in the Beijing Olympic Games, London used fame and pop culture in their 8-minute slot to fusion into the closing ceremony - heralding the start of the four-year countdown to theirs.

The child of London gave a football to David Beckham, who then kicked the ball to those Great Britain athletes gathered in the stadium.

Honestly, I had no idea what that meant in that instance.

I then searched online just now and found out this actually symbolized the power of sports to unite the world and the importance of sports for young people, a central theme of the London 2012 Games.

Was it only me? Did you guys get that, cuz I didn't quite.

Glorious Triumph

The three top-seeded table tennis players from China have duly booked their gold, silver and bronze medals with outstanding performances.

It's just an awesome feeling and prideful event to see China's national flags raised in the air....not 1, not 2 but 3.

Can history repeat itself tonight in the men's single?

Liu Xiang Limps While Nike Beams

Liu Xiang has been China's secret weapon - an athlete who bore the hopes of 1.3 billion people on his shoulders and simply not allowed to lose.

Well, yesterday in the Bird's Nest, incredibly, he lost.

Guess who's the biggest winner?
I'd say the advertisers.

Liu advertises everything from milk to Nike, Cadillac to Coca-Cola - are on every hoarding, on the side of every bus and features in numerous TV ads.

The bespoke pair of Nike Zoom Aerofly LX spikes, which made its debut yesterday got all the attention "on the side-track", as opposed to "on the track".

Not due to its distinctively colours, it was because Liu was limping and all cameras naturally zoomed in to the limping feet wearing the tailor-made spikes.

Didn't that alone enough to make Nike the biggest winner?

See You in London!

The entire nation looked forward to this moment for years - The defending Olympic champion lining up to run the 110-metre hurdles at the Beijing Games.

Liu Xiang made it to the lanes, but pulled out at the last minute. I'd think no one other than himself would be more desperate.

Well, we can only wish him well and see him back in shape in London in 4 years time.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Pictograms

You can see strokes of Chinese characters and a hint of Chinese tradition; you can feel a display of distinct and graceful asethetic motion mixed with an embodiment of modern graphics.




These are the pictograms of this year's Olympic Games - so recognizable, rememberable and easy to use - I think it is a very successful piece of marketing and communications tool - with style - and it's the best.

Boring, Mystifying and Soporific - Not

The words "Boring", "Mystifying" and "Soporific" spotted in headline news in the past days could signify the Olympic Equestrian Games currently hosting in Hong Kong hasn't got what it takes to persuade local spectators to hang around till the very end.

For me, I don't know anything about the trotting, passage, piaffe, pirouettes and what not. Nonetheless, I do utterly respect the trainers who teach horses to do Ballet dancing or make them to do Tai-chi!

To show support for my home city hosting its first ever Olympic event as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic, I decided I'd bid a ticket online and go enjoy a live game in Dressage.

One facet of the jewel in dressage has to be the harmony presented between the horse and the rider. It is that harmony which has kept me wide awake throughout the evening.

Ultimately, I'd say last night's dressage was the most gloriously enjoyable Grand Prix I've ever watched. It's like witnessing beautiful living sculptures dancing, conquering space and defying time.

The only downside was: I now need to sort out more than 600 shots taken in that 4 hours!

China Did It!

August 8 usually carry a 50% chance of rain in the city of Beijing and the $400 million, 91,000-seat Bird Nest has no roof.

The Chinese government just cannot sit there and let the rain ruin what could be the most spectacular Olympic Games Opening Ceremony ever.

While everybody just talk about the weather, the Chinese actually did something about it to guarantee clear sky for the Opening Ceremony last night, as they know a brilliant Opening means everything for the success of the Beijing Olympic Games.

They manipulated the weather by firing over 1,000 rain dispersal rockets on the day to blow away rain clouds. As a result, no rain during the entire Opening while the suburbs of Beijing had torrential rain throughout the evening.

The Opening Ceremony was attended by thousands watched by millions more on TV last night. The nitty gritty details of the showcase, the breakthrough and the creativity within, are going to be the talk of town over the next few days or even weeks.

China did it. They explored and orbited the moon, suppressed the rain, organised their first Olympic Games.

I think they are up for anything now.

A Killer App in Facebook Killing Your Time

The Chinese version of the Mob Wars named "古惑仔 Online" is no stranger to many. It's an epic game of Mafia war game, played on Facebook.

The game earned quite a reputation within a short span of time introduced and has the ability to lure thousands of players online each minute of the day. Not only that, the game requires you to form alliance so players with more buddies stand a higher chance of winning in the gangster fights, granting you an advance to the next level.

That's what facebook is after - network participation - and there's no stopping it.

A word of advice, for those who are not prepared to invest your time online 24 hours a day, 7-days a week, don't attempt to go anywhere near it.

Players all started with petty thieves and work their way up the ranks to build their almighty criminal empire. I started playing this game a week ago and this has been the most sticky game in facebook for me so far.

For someone like me, who doesn't quite manage to master my assets in real terms, find it a challenge in doing so in the game.

For instance, I have bought weapons and arms which I don't need; made the wrong choice in cars and sold properties which can otherwise give me a better ROI.

Other times, I have wasted precious time on the wrong strategy and most often than not, have forgotten to deposit my hard earned cash in the bank before I logout at nights and ended being stolen.

The game is all about opportunity cost and this is what I like about the game.

It serves as a reminder in real life, that we are to make decisions every minute. We are faced with opportunity costs all the time and there's no time to sit back and regret about a wrong move you have mistakenly made.

That's life, you gotta move on.

In this game - the most you get is being knocked out and be unconscious for a while, you will wear out but no, you won't die after all that constant fighting.

I guess that's the only difference between online game and reality.

My 3rd In A Week

I've been to the cinema and watched 3 movies in the last 6 days. Now that's my personal record.

"The X Files: I Want to Believe" - is the third.

It's hard to admit to the fact how time flies, when this movie reminded me of how I used to glue to each episode, expecting the extra-terrestrial lives in the 90s.

This is still one of my best loved television series of all time, which explained why I need to watch this one-off monster episode before it comes down this week.

Mummy 3

Imagine Jet Li defeated by Brendan Fraser in a hand to hand combat.

Well, this was what happened in Mummies 3 - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

I have seen the first 2 Mummy films before and so I wasn't expecting too much for the third film of the series. To make a difference in the 3rd one, I gathered the director tried to throw in everything that they have got and hope it worked.

So what have we got? We have Yetis, we have an ancient Chinese emperor played by Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh as a witch. A setting in the Himalayas, Shangri La, England and Shanghai in the 1940’s. Wrapped with the mandatory special effects and English humour all over it.

I personally think the mix worked quite well, accept for 1 thing.

I miss Rachel Weisz as the plucky librarian/adventurer. Can anyone tell me why isn't she returning to reprise that role?

Transporting High-end Athletes

• These are athletes competing in the upcoming Beijing Olympics 2008.

• With their superb training, million-dollar price tags and excitable temperaments, many are celebrities in their own right.

• They are seasoned flyers and they fly with an entourage, a fleet with grooms and veterinarians.

• Their flight attendants attend to the smallest of details, from providing these athletes with 6-star service to making sure they wear protective foam boots and occasionally, ear muffs to block engine noise.

OK....they are not human, but equine.

I discovered that these horses are receiving super star treatments, way more humane than we humans have been getting.

First and foremost, in order to ensure the whole transport of these high-end athletes as smooth and stress-free as possible, cargo plane pilots need to use the full extent of the runway and get air traffic controllers to approve a flight path devoid of sharp, unpredictable turns.

While on board, the flight groom pays full attention to their drinking preferences and make sure they do not show the slightest sign of dehydration. Water sweetened with Gatorade and apple juice is served from time to time without the need to ask.

"How do you like it Sir? You may nibble on wet hay, or take it dry"

Once they disembark in Hong Kong, they will be transferred right away (and I mean right away without delay) to air-conditioned trucks (temperature set at 73 degrees) for the 30-mile trip to the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The journey from the tarmac to the stables cannot exceed 100 minutes. By that time, humans are basically still queuing in the immigration or at most, collecting luggage at conveyor belts!

The World Deserted By The Civilization That Destroyed It

I watched the film Wall E today. It tells a story of a world deserted by the civilization that destroyed it and robot Wall E - was left on earth to clean up the mess.

It is much more than a Pixar animated movie and it's different from any other Disney's Pictures, it has a good cause to it and I think it serves as a wake up call for us all living on earth.

The characters in the movie are all obese, constantly in communication with each other but only through video chat. They don't take the time to get to know people sitting next to them and the notion of getting up and talking to their mate next to them? Forget it - all they really need was instant messaging!

Sadly - this is not alien to us at all and we are resembling that increasingly fast. The arrival of the movie is here to remind us that we are all wrapped up in a cyber world and fast forgetting how to live in the real world.

We should all learn a lesson from this heartwarming animation. Every once in a while,

• Take out those ears and listen to the amazing sound of nature around you
• Let those text-messaging fingers rest and take a minute to shake someone's hand
  
• Watch a movie on a real theatre, not on an iPod
  
• Laugh with someone in person instead of LOLing in IM

CJD - As Mad As Hell

It's been more than a decade since I last donated blood successfully, and just now, I was glad to see a mobile blood donation counter set up right in our office building.

The enthusiastic me then made sure I stuff myself and be prepared for the transfusion after lunch. Only to find out from Red Cross once again, that I am still not eligible to donate because I spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more in the United Kingdom between January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1996.

They claimed there's evidence from a small number of case reports that CJD can be transmitted through transfusion!

Symptoms of CJD or mad cow disease include: memory loss, personality changes and hallucination.

I seem to possess all of them from time to time.

May be it really is a safer bet to reject my generosity.

Real Cheap To Borrow, Where's The Catch?

I just received a call from my bank, luring me to accept an instant loan from them.

Knowing the economic equations, Banks always try their hardest to turn us into debtors and why on earth would I want to bear more debts than I should?

With the inflation rate staying at levels above the deposit rate, there really is a strong incentive for consumers like us to spend rather than to save. So this time, I thought why not and I listened patiently and waited for the catch.

USD100,000 Loan
USD400 interest per month
Repayment spread across 6 months

Where's the catch?

In an essay at the website of the monetary authority, it reads: "Generally speaking, negative real interest rate is an abnormal phenomenon that has implications for economic and financial stability. Given a choice, we'd prefer not to have negative real interest rates."

We don't have a choice, do we? Hong Kongers are bounded by the currency peg and must keep our interest rates low as the U.S., troubled by the fallout of the credit crisis, is cutting the cost of money to stave off a recession.

The catch is, we are currently in a negative real interest rate era. Be warned!

What Do They Have In Common?

Ratatouille (2007)
Cars (2006)
The Incredibles (2004)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
A Bug's Life (1998)
Toy Story (1995)

1. They share the same screenplay/story writer, Producer & Studio
2. I have watched all of them first time in cinema
3. Subsequently 3 times at least on DVD

Statistics tells me it will be no exception for WALL·E (2008).

USB Drive For The Paranoid

One of my USB Thumb Drives decided to wander away and I have not yet found it.

While I am still thinking where I misplaced it, or could it have actually been kidnapped, I came across this little neat invention.

Look at it -- it is a USB flash drive that's designed to resemble a torn cable.

Now, who on earth is going to steal a gadget which looks like nothing more than a slashed cable? Should replace my encryption-enabled thumb drive with one of these. Wicked.

Mao Off The Note

These people queued for days and are willing to pay hundred times higher than the face value of 10 yuan to obtain a newly issued bank note from the People's Bank of China.


You know why?


Mao's off the bills, replaced by a birdsnest.

Can I Unplug My Refrigerator At Home?

The refrigerator is very much considered to be a "must-have" appliance at home and on average, it accounts for more than 20% of the energy consumption per household per month.

A crazy thought came to mind today exploring the possibility of doing without one at home.

I am thinking for a second - it might not be as crazy as it sounds, and could well work for me.

Assumptions:

• I live in a city with 24-hours convenience stores just round the corner (cold drinks and frozen food easily within reach)
  
• I consume raw, perishable food (supposedly no overnight storage needed)
• I can survive without the indulgence of high saturated fat (such as butter, mayonnaise, peanut butter, cheesecakes, ice cream)
• I can live without the need to entertain guests (with chilled wine/ice wine/champaign)

This act is by no means in an attempt to conserve the environment nor save up elec bill. I just think this piece of under-utilised appliance is actually taking up too much of a space in my flat.

When you think about it, almost all other electrical appliances have some sort of technological advancement in the past decade that changes your life and somehow refrigerators remain as refrigerator and nothing more than a refrigerator.

I would hope to see some network attached to it and intelligence built-in in the near future, so I can abandon the thought of abandoning the poor thing.

An Internet Freak Without Internet

I usually start and end my day with my fingers at the switch of the computer. My daily routines will include accessing the internet to check emails, be fed by rss feeds; chat with friends, play games, not to mention the hours spent on googling odd facts, and basically just wasting time by staying online.

Last night was supposed to be like another nights, but internet failed to connect. I have eliminated all the usual suspects and possible root causes, freaking frustrated as I should be with a solution yet to be found.

Can anyone imagine a night without internet access? I tell you, that is considered hell to someone who demanded the internet service provider be the first to move into a new flat - even before Santa Fe movers got in and Electricity/Gas installed.

I'd like to know how others would have felt when their internet was off for no reasons.

A Wild Card Surprise

Zheng Jie was the first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in history and I am so thrilled.

She got into Wimbledon this year only because she was given a wild card. However, she has justified that by beating four seeds on her way to the semi-final clash with Serena. Her baseline bashes were awesome!!

Would definitely support her all the way, I have had enough of the Apes - The Williams sisters!

Changing Attitudes for the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Baby

I came across the below on my friend's blog and I just can't help but want to share with all my dear friends who are mothers and fathers - I assure you will nod your heads and smile as you read.


Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean & discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Swallowing Coins
1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: when second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: when third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!

Babies Meet The Aunts II

Too Much "Sex N The City" Lately

Right, since I have a date with the girls this Friday for the Movie "Sex And The City", I have been doing some last minute catch up with the gossips in Season 6 which I missed.

Swallowed too many episodes in 1 go before bed, resulting in the weirdest dream last night and the oddest thing was - I could remember subtle details of the dream.


I was in a wedding and I recalled literally word by word, the first paragraph of the wedding speech by the bride and....that bride was me and no, I ain't gonna tell you who the bridegroom was.

Readers must think I am desperate in getting wed and hence the dream. OK, fair enough, now I am blaming on the "Too Much Sex N The City Lately".

How I wish I could just write "Too Much Sex Lately", crossing out all the words in between "Sex" & "Lately".

Battles Amongst the Brits on Technological Advancement

After having dug to a depth of 10 meters last year, Scottish scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Scots, in the weeks that followed, English scientists dug to a depth of 20 meters, and shortly after, headlines in the newspapers read: "English archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the Scots."

One week later, "The Kerryman," a southwest Irish newsletter, reported the following: "After digging as deep as 30 meters in peat bog near Tralee , Paddy O'Droll, a self taught archeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing.

Paddy has therefore concluded that 300 years ago Ireland had already gone wireless."

Steve Jobs Says

It's an era where people listen to whatever Steve Jobs says and rush to purchase the "iWhatever" being pushed to the market. That is - virtually anything from Apple with an "i" in front will sell.

"For just $199, you can get your hands on a 3G iPhone in 22 countries in a month's time," said Jobs.

"It's amazingly zippy," Jobs said

"It also has built-in GPS," Steve added

"The new iPhone is thinner than the previous version," claimed Jobs.

Now this is where you need to be careful. Cuz I have been reading the specs - Although the new iPhone is a bit lighter (4.7 ounces vs. 4.8 ounces) and feels a little less bulky in the hand, it's technically thicker and longer than the older version. It is only thinner at the edges!!

Did Steve say that?

Wundervoll Anne-Sophie Mutter

Just came back from a fascinating performance, indulged the evening in the masterful Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with the Trondheim Soloists.

Programme started with the Divertimento by Bartok performed by the innovative Trondheim Soloists, followed by Concerto in E major by Bach, and then came the highlight of the show with Vivaldi’s timeless Four Seasons Concerto.

Like always, she was technically flawless in her crispy passagework tonight. Wundervoll!!

My Ferrari Lunch Today

Joke of The Day

仔︰阿爸，我點解會黎到呢個世界上面既??
爸 (上網中)︰遲少少先講你知好嘛??

仔︰爸爸，點解唔而家講呀?? 你講左先啦…
爸 (似回憶起一段憾事)︰好啦好啦，你聽清楚喇…

有 一日，當你阿爸阿媽兩個嚮房入面上網果陣，你阿爸 connect 左入去你阿媽度，跟住你阿媽重嚮我支 memory stick 度 download 左 D 野。當爸爸 upload 完 D 野之後，我地先發現原來我無 set 到firewall，你阿媽又無裝到anti-virus。果陣我想 delete 番既時候已經太遲，所以九個月之後你就黎到呢個世界喇，阿仔你明唔明呀…??

仔：哦~ 原來我是病毒.......

If I Vanish From The Earth

For those who know me, they know I am from Mars, I don't really belong on Earth.

For those who really know me, they would have heard me say many times, if I died one day and rot in the house, I don't think anyone will come to notice for at least a few days.

Most probably, my boss would be the first to get suspicious after leaving me dozens of unanswered phone calls and unreturned voicemails on day 1. Obviously, I couldn't have shown up at work on day 2 either, nor did I call in sick on day 3.

Would my family know? Well, according to the logic above, my boss will try to find out from HR on day 3 if I have indeed left them an emergency number which is buried somewhere in my employee record, if so, my boss can then contact my family. If I have given them a false number at the first place (never quite get to cross check that all these years), then - sorry no luck...might delay another day or two to find my rotten corpse.

I wonder if anyone would care if I vanish from this time in space - for 5 days.

Mariah Carey: Bye Bye

1 rule fits all: You may not like Mariah Carey, but you would like her music.

This one is from her latest E=MC²

Although the single appears to be about her deceased father, she wrote this song about death to be for anybody 'who just lost somebody'.

Jan's Talkshow Encore Always On

Although it has only been 3 months ago since the last show and having known most of the stuff will be a repeat, I still look forward terribly to this one with great anticipation as I know - Jan won't let his audience down.



He performed more naturally last night, carried a bit more flare than the last and physically much fitter, pumped up his volume with a noticeable "6-pack".

I had slight complaints about the last show. How about this time? Well...


Souvenir: A bit better (at least wearable) - thanks to McDonalds.
Songs: Still too long
Show: Far too short, never enough I guess.

Pop Concerts Brimming In Hong Kong

Hong Kong has fast become a popular venue for International entertainers and as a citizen, I am very proud of all the happenings here in town.


The music scene in the past year or so has been brimming over with pop concerts offering fans of every stripe of precious musical moments.

I have jotted down all the International stars that have graced the stage in Hong Kong from the beginning of 2008 and took note of the upcoming ones I am aware of. How I wish I could attend all of them!

January

• My Chemical Romance The Black Parade Tour Live in Hong Kong 2008

February

• Björk The Volta Tour Live in Hong Kong 2008
• Backstreet Boys Live in Hong Kong

March

• The World's Greatest Tenor Plácido Domingo Live in Hong Kong 2008
• SANTANA - Live Your Light 2008 Tour
• INCUBUS Live in Hong Kong - Light Grenades Tour 2008
• Maroon 5 "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" Tour - Live in Hong Kong

April

• Duran Duran Live In Hong Kong

May

• Kenny G "Rhythm and Romance" Live in Hong Kong
• James Blunt Live in Hong Kong 2008
• We will Rock You
• Elton John Rocket Man Tour - Live in Hong Kong
• The Click Five - Modern Minds & Pastimes World Tour 2008, Hong Kong

June

• ABBA ARRIVAL - The MAMMA MIA Concert

July

• Alicia Keys As I am Hong Kong 2008

The Maths Anxiety I Have

Maths. Does mention of the word make you run the other way or raise your hairs at the back of your neck?

It has always been the case for me and the fear is more severe as I get older. Let me site an example:

There are 3 kinds of people in this world: Those that can count, and those that can't.


I began to learn there is a so called "Maths Anxiety Syndrome". How do you know if you are a sufferer?

Well, if you go out of your way to avoid anything to do with calculations or solving problems with numbers, then those are probably enough to constitute maths anxiety symptoms.

The good news is, I know I am not alone as fear of maths is more widespread than I thought, at least Google returns over 463,000 hits for "maths anxiety". That's a comfort to know.

The bad news is - I realised Maths has become a true divider in our society. In the past it was gender and class-based segregation. However, recent international renowned reports show that students from higher socio-economic backgrounds still have a distinct advantage in maths.

So hating maths is not so clever and definitely not a sound strategy at parties nowadays to say 'Oh, I was never any good at maths'. No one should go buy that T-shirt that has "I failed Maths" printed at the back.

Let’s stop maths bashing - This is for my own good.

The Good & The Bad of The Cybershot

Scanning back My Cell Phone Chronicle, life expectancies of my handsets are dropping drastically. An indication of its QC or simply due to a higher tendency to switch?

Anyhow, my previous camera phone decided to retire early, so here comes its new replacement.

The Good
My new luminous green Sony Ericsson K850i Cybershot has everything to become a true camera phone just as its predecessor K810i, only this time perfected with a higher resolution digital camera, 5 megapixels, automatic lens cover, Auto focus plus a xenon flash - enabling optimal satisfaction to lure serious camera phone user and impress picture snapper like me.

The Not So Bad
Though the nevigation and key pad designs aren't up to par, its Auto Rotate feature is making iPhone's less unique. I can simply move the handset vertically & horizontally and the image on the screen will toggle between portrait & landscape mode.

The Bad
It has the most bizzard accessory on offer - a magnetic adhesive add-on wide-angle lens! Now that's a nuisance cuz firstly, you won't bother putting that on when you do snapshots. Secondly, you would not want to spoil the stylish design with that lens sticking out from the glassy finishing, or would you?

Don't You Just Love & Hate Ronaldo?

The UEFA Cup Final never lack a moment of excitement, from the 26th minute Man Utd went ahead with Cristiano Ronaldo's superb header, to the deadly penalty shootout capped with thrills.


Many fans, like me, share a love-hate relationship with the 22-year old Ronaldo. Last night I placed bet on him as first goaler, loved him for his precision but hated him for how he missed his penalty wide and put the whole team at risk.

Didn't regret staying up all night for the Champions League Final and be able to witness how my all time favourite club snapped home the trophy for their 3rd time in UEFA Cup history.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

English Heavyweights Out To Make History

Who will take this cup back home tonight?

Man Utd seeking their third triumph while Chelsea has never made it this far before.

10 days since the Premier League campaign closed, Chelsea and Man Utd cannot wait to resume a rivalry that has outgrown their domestic game.

The European title is at stake for the 2 teams who have been English champions twice apiece in the last four years.

My placed bets:
1) Ronaldo to score the first goal
2) 2 goals in 90-mins

This is the only reason I am still up at this hour, anxiously waiting for the UEFA Finals in Moscow to kick-off in about 45 minutes time, played in front of 69,500 fans inside the stadium and a television audience of millions including myself.

A Collective Cry of Grief

This afternoon at 2:28pm, exactly one week after the magnitude 8.0 earthquake destroyed so many lives and communities, China asked its 1.2 billion people to observe three minutes of silence before sounding their car, truck, train, ship and air-raid horns in a collective cry of grief.

China also said it would order all flags to be flown at half staff and would suspend for three days the Olympic torch relay. China's missions around the world also were advised to observe the tributes and to offer condolence books for those who wished to express their sympathies. For the mourning period, the State Council, or Cabinet, also ordered all websites to remove entertainment and game sections and redirect users to pages dedicated to victim commemoration.

Yesterday, it raised the death toll to 32,476 in what has become a daily grim ritual of moving 3,000 to 4,000 from the missing column to the dead column. As health concerns intensified and aid poured in from across China and the world, the three days of mourning will commemorate the likely 50,000 deaths from this massive earthquake.

The Catastrophic Quake

A Chinese proverb has it that “heaven is high and the emperor is far away.” Beijing responded swiftly to the catastrophe to prove this saying wrong.

Premier Wen - a geologist by training, was at the scene of the earthquake in Dujiangyan, 15 miles from the epicenter, within 6 hours.

Did you know how long it took U.S. President Bush to visit the devastation of Hurricane Katrina? 4 days. Relatively impressive as it seems but...halt.

Although Wen and his military arm's swift response represented a genuine effort to rush aid to those in need, will he and local governments care to address the underlying issues of irresponsible construction and uncontrolled growth that may have indirectly led to the deaths of scores of children in Dujiangyan school, built only 10 years ago?

I read an analyst commenting the economic impact being limited, because the epicenter of the quake, Wenchuan county of Sichuan province has limited industrial and agriculture production.

For crying out loud, how about the ever-increasing death toll reported? They could have been the pillars of China's future economy!

If economic growth remains the standard by which Chinese political decisions are measured, I think the government must find itself engaged in a perpetual clean-up mission before anything else.

The Bucket List

Spooky as it seems but I felt I was being "summoned" to watch this movie on my way back from Shanghai. Morgan + Jack, can't disappoint, so I watched on.

As I did, I began thinking about my own mortality and also my best friend's, pondering wistfully about her then imminent doom and what things she might want to do before she died.

The climax of the movie has to be the moment when both terminally ill men stood at the top of Egypt’s pyramid and Morgan told the story of how the Egyptian myth goes about gaining entry into heaven. The custodians of the gate would ask two questions to decide who qualified for heaven:

“Did you find joy in your life?” and,
“Did your life bring joy to others?”

I will never regret spending any length of time with her, tried my best to bring joy to her last demise days in the ward. Indeed her last few months were my best. She changed my life and I didn’t know it then, but she knew.

She is now trying hard to show me again the river to happiness or what Morgan referred to as "Joy in life". Perhaps, I should really let faith decide, not my brain.

My present to Mom at Mothers Day

It wasn't the flight ticket for a weekend in Shanghai nor was it a dinner in a posh restaurant this year.

I came to realize nothing compares to a simple family get-together and a flash back of an appreciation in life. The warmth that these gatherings generate are priceless and can get you through the coldest winters and the toughest days.

Thinking about the earthquake that has destroyed tens of thousands of families in mainland China, reunion for them could never happen ever again.

My present to mother is just to let her know that I am grateful for her proper up-bringing which led me to become who I am today. In return, I have demonstrated trustworthiness, great independence and uphold integrity in mind throughout the years. With that, I can be off-loaded from her heavy shoulders of responsibilities so she has 1 less member of the family to worry about.

I want her to be proud of that, because I am.

Some day, not for long, I hope my sister and father can say the same to my mom too.

The Unspeakable Stress in Shanghai

I have never had a sound impression of the city of Shanghai, from my leisure 3-day get-away, or from a busy week of work-related schedules.

To me, this place always have an interesting blend with communism and capitalism; traditional and modern; classical and quirky. These stark contrasts, have constantly proved to be too much for me to handle. I was told the art of searching the right balance in these, holds the key to living there, or else one could end up having "Unspeakable Stress" and at the end, fail to survive in the metropolis.

I hereby site some examples of my own experience in my recent visit.

Unspeakable Cultural Stress
It was not difficult to find KFC, Starbucks and McDonalds throughout corners of the major streets, however, I still can't find rear seat belts in taxi or a civilized or safe pedestrian crossing anywhere.

Unspeakable Heritage Stress
Even though hundred year-old buildings have been swallowed up by multi-billion dollar architectural icons, you can still witness human powered bicycle carts carrying loads and loads of goods to market - in a city that runs a magnetic levitation train traveling at speeds that exceed 400 km/h.

Unspeakable Geographical Stress
Shanghai is growing so rapidly that each time I went, a part of the older sections of the city would be completely demolished, making way for modernization. In order to get around, my advice is not to rely on your old map used 6-months ago.

I fully support my sis's career move to Shanghai how ever much I dislike the city. I really hope it is the journey that enriches her life experience, more so than the destination itself.

Who Becomes A Torchbearer Really Matters

The Olympic torch relay is happening in Hong Kong today and it will show the rest of the world what the China's world city is like in the 11th year after its return to the motherland. The fact that Sportsmen represent only about one third of the 120 torchbearers in the first leg of the torch's trip back in China tells you something unique about Hong Kong.

There is an apparent reason for allowing the celebrities from the city's glamorous entertainment industry, businessmen, lawmakers and politicians to make up the majority of the torchbearer team here in Hong Kong as the local government is consciously trying to portray a positive image of our city.

With a result-oriented play - The city today will be guaranteed worldwide attention, non-stop broadcasts and positive images that consist of seas of crowds wearing red, and with overwhelming participation of fans and citizens waving as the torch relay unfolds today.



To the rest of the world, what they will see is nothing but support, unity, friendship, peace - that's what matters, who cares who holds the torch!

Mobile Phone Anti-theft Software

I came across some mobile phone anti-theft softwares and its quite amazing what can be done these days.



Virtual Mobile Security (VMS)

In a nutshell, it is a solution that protects all the information on the phone, including photos, videos, phonebook and SMS. It can retrieve all the numbers on your lost phone via an SMS and can track down the location of the lost phone & monitor the mobile phone call.

And to make things really uncomfortable for the mobile phone thief, here's the cool part of it, the VMS software also activates the loudspeaker when the phone ‘owner’ calls. Worse still, the owner of the phone can listen to all the calls made by him/her and have a record of all the calls made by the person.

All these come for a one-time fee, the article didn't say how much.

Lost Mobile Tracking Software (LMTS)

It notifies predefined numbers about the contact number and the GSM tower of the person holding your stolen phone as he/she changes the SIM card. The notification will be sent to a cellphone via a message and to 2 email addresses registered at the time of downloading this software. Pretty neat but again, this software comes for an annual fee.

The concept is just like the in-build mobile tracker in some of the Samsung mobile phones in the market, but only neater. It could only translate to some serious business potential there!