Binge Drinking During World Cup

Every 4 years, 32 teams play 64 matches for one champion to emerge.  With that many matches going down, so as the amount of beer (and Kcal).

Half a litre of beer contains about 200 calories and because of that, I have gone for some refreshing alternatives recently like, ice cream cocktails, fresh fruit juice or even water infused with citrus flavours.

Let's face it, it's hard not to have a beer and some munchies with every starting whistle during the World Cup.  

Well...I figured we are only left with the quarter finals to go.  Let's drink up, cheer on, find new friends, make new enemies and sort out that extra calories later.

 

Here Comes Summer

Looks like today had it all: cloudy when I woke up and a bit of rain felt at 7am.  Lots of sunshine by 8am when I took this and the mercury cracked the 32-degree mark by mid-day.  

Summer has officially arrived - that's what I think.  

And we have got to hand it to the winter and the rain and be thankful.  Without them, we might not be so darned glad to see the sun rolled around - that's what I think. 

Lemonade Made of Lemons

There's this old and upbeat saying "If life throws you lemons, make lemonade".

As we grow older, we realise just how many lemons there really are in the world.  It's funny how we still choose to make sour remarks and bitch with biting tones, when all we need is stir in some positive energy, play the cards we are dealt with and smile about it.  

Easier said than done, especially on a Monday!  

But let's all give it try and consider we have more than enough lemons to give kick to a Gin/Tonic or two.

England's Going Home

Felt terrible wearing this jersey after the match.  Kept thinking how players of the quality of Gerrard, Rooney and Terry could come out so flat!

I miss David Beckham's right foot.  At the very least, England could have used his superior passing ability to deliver a decent cross or two.

England's just not going home.  They are returning to the homeland with their tails tucked between their legs in disgrace!

 

One More Watch Won't Hurt

I don't really need another watch like I need a third kneecap, but I couldn't stop the search for a binary watch after seeing it for the first time in an in-flight magazine. 

I have some acknowledgments to make regarding this latest purchase below - a model which is even better than what I saw earlier. 

• Thanks to a friend who helpfully tried to look for it in-flight but lucky she couldn't find it or else I would have bought an older model.   

• Another friend who confirmed the retail location in town for me.

• Last but not least, a friend who enthusiastically showed me hers, which really prompted me to buy.

Frankly, I have far too many wrist watches (always short of time still).  One more wouldn't hurt.

A Decade In Two Carton Boxes

After 10 years in this office, it took me 2 full days of tidying up, throwing away tonnes of piles and files, to come up with these 2 carton boxes left of my belongings.  

Heaven forbid I haven't thrown anything out that I might need it someday!

On my last day here and as I exit the office, I would like to thank all the people I have worked with previously.  Working in this office has never seemed like work really, but instead, a friendly yet challenging mental exercise among people I enjoy. 

It has definitely been a fortunate situation for me in the last decade and that most people, who see work as a pain in the butt, would not be able to share my gratitude.  

I do, however, hope you can find the beauty of work no matter how tough it is for you.  Remembering, work only is just a fraction of your life really.  

A Cognitive Thought on Alien Invasion

I spotted some cute aliens land themselves in Times Square waving hello to me as the lead up to the premiere of the brand-new Toy Story III.  

I watched Toy Story II in 2D, Toy Story III will be available in 3D.  

Can the Aliens tell me I can logically project Toy Story IV will be in....4D perhaps?

Good Omen

 

It doesn't get much better than pulling on an all red kit for the sixth time in their history and won Slovenia tonight.

England improved dramatically to get the win they needed to guarantee qualification.  They were desperate to make amends, but I think it has to be the lucky red.  

Go Three Lions - I will be wearing red to be with you all along in Round 2, facing the Germans next this Sunday.

Men vs. Women (and vice versa)

A friend told me her friend complained to my friend about her husband being a bit short in the romance department. 

My friend, who wanted their relationship to stay intact, tactfully and discreetly hinted her friend's husband to go look for a surprise for her dear wife. 

So there he went, returned home after a day and said "I tried, but I just couldn't find anything that I can buy as a surprise for her!"

Doesn't it sound all too familiar to picture this husband - who despises romantic movies, hates romantic getaways and complains about candle-lit dinners?  Sounds a bit like your husband too perhaps?  

They tend to be unaware that surprises do not have to come as a gift, it literally means something out of the ordinary, is it not?

To be fair though, I don't think men aren't romantic overall.  I think they do, but they often come across as unromantic because they have an analytical mind that hinders it.

My theory is, when a man watches a "romantic" movie, he will be looking at it logically, whereas women look at it emotionally.  Say when women see a man apologising to a woman with flowers in the movie and think "Ahhhh...that's so romantic!".

To him, when he watches the very same movie, instead of saying "hurting someone and saying sorry with some roses is romantic", he considers "listening to her and trying to communicate effectively, so that she doesn't get hurt in the first place, is indeed, MORE romantic".

After all, we believe to a certain extent that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, right?

Though "Martians" and "Venusians" are really only stereotypes.  I have a little suggestion for you here - Feel free to change the sexes in the above and I can assure you, you are bound to find it makes equal sense - to some you know!

Aversion To Blue Food

Did you know out of all the colours in the spectrum, blue is an appetite suppressant?

Try staring at this photo for a while. 

Would you find that appealing or appalling?   

Blue food just doesn't exist in any significant quantity as a natural food colour. 

I know the first blue food that just landed on your mind is Blueberries.

Well, they aren't exactly blue unless you blend them into something white like a cream!  

The rear occurrence of blue food in nature explains why Pret A Manger has most of their kitchenware in the hue of blue, so that their staff can be more aware of any non-food items in their food preparation process.  

Want a double whammy in a hurry for the summer?  

Can I suggest you consider adding a little colour to your weight loss plan by placing your food on a blue plate?   Don't forget to add a few blue MnMs for garnishing, or even better - dye your food blue! 

A Trip Down Memory Lane (3): Teachers

I was listening to the radio this morning and they talked about how our teachers or mentors are being remembered.

I have had awesome teachers in my life, along with some clueless ones and teachers who simply drove us nuts. We spent hours upon hours with these hateful adults each week, and at the end of the day, most often than not, you will find the tough teachers are the ones we remember after years of throwing away our books.

I am sure for those with me in St.Stephen's days, you would have no trouble forgetting the legendary Miss N and her creative "open mind" blackboard drawings. 

For those in Rosemead, we had "Coleman the mustard" Maths teacher who would never lend us a smile but that was how we got our Matrices right.  

At the beginning of my career, I was lucky enough to be hired by "L" who was all so famous for her super demanding chore.  Working with her made me feel like the dumbest person in the world.  She turned out to be my mentor over the years, who nonetheless taught me a thing or two applicable in life such as,

"Winners MAKE things happen; Losers LET things happen."

All in all, these people have inspired fear and instilled tears in me but I just can't be more grateful to their existence in my life.

How should I go about showing gratitude to them?  Would they be in Facebook by any chance?  Might be worth digging though.

A Trip Down Memory Lane (2): Childhood Games

Me, being the elder sister and also a few years older than all my cousins, supposedly and naturally should be the wise one to look up to.   Mother, I think it's confession time.  

We didn’t watch much movies or tele then, and we led a good, otherwise normal childhood life if, and only if you minus a few occasions when we have stirred and even poked a pond of gold fish using a stick; plucked tangerines from the plants then threw them up in the air and let them splash everywhere on the roof.  There were also a few occasions when we tried kicking shoes/slippers of our neighbour's down the stairs and made it looked like an accident!

Just what on earth were we thinking back then, I had no idea!

Our all time classic game has to be the "Danger Dashing" game.  The game basically required us to dash fairly quickly on the heightened and narrow space between the curtains and the window pane.  Pretending it was a dangerously forbidden zone, we swiftly dashed from one end to another and jumping up and down repeatedly.   A game that would consumed us hours of giggles and running around.  

Again, not quite sure what was the point but I think I invented it.  

We weren't that naughty all the time and there were games that were more decent and subtle.  Such as our love for Barbies and the wonderful Barbie houses with the numerous pretty dresses.  But what often happened at the end of our concentration span, was the mess up and the cut of Barbie's hair, had its clothes dressed inside out, twisted the arms and make it walk backwards or even upside down - looking very very funny.  More giggles. 

You know what, tell me you did something similar to these above when you were young and that would make me feel so much better and that I am not alone in this.   

What really felt good though was the chance to flash-back in time with my sister the other day.  The silly go-look-around-find-an-object-and-name-it-slightly-different game.

No one can decode that. No one but my sister. 

A Trip Down Memory Lane (1): My Sibling

One of the symptoms of aging, is you tend to reminisce the old days more and more. My sister and I have officially entered that phase of life as evidenced by the fact that we were able to laugh the night away, just by naming out the games we used to play.

My sister (3.5 years younger) has always been the bossy one.  It would come as no surprise that she had to be "Head-mistress" when we play "Teachers". I remember she enjoyed marking papers in red, giving out stingy scores and made us sit in front of her, while she ‘taught’ us subjects. (Not quite sure what the rest learned from her at the time though.)


Being a little bossy also have the tendency to bully anyone quieter, shorter, thinner and younger.  Inevitably that included every one of my cousins!

Just by way of an example, you wouldn't believe how she managed to paint my cousin's nails with a shocking red felt-tip; invented a barter-trade system so she could swap her tacky Barbie clothing with my cousin's more elegant nightgown version!

There was also this funny incident we recalled which further manifest this bully-ism.

There was once, my sis went to her room to quickly grab something in the dark.  The very same cousin (with shocking red nails), considerably switched on the ceiling lights for her.  My sis - being the bossy kind and a tad slow in response too, shouted no such need and so my cousin obediently switched off those lights for her. 

"Hey you, since it's on, leave it on!"  Without delay, my cousin switched those on again. 

I wish you could see the annoyed look on my sister!

To be fair, she was only about 6-7 years old at the time and to be square, it's about time I reveal some of my utterly scary ordeals as well. 

To be continued...

A Lego Tribute To R.Green's Whammy

Yes...Watching this clip can't help but inflict pain from Robert Green's blunder during England's first World Cup match against U.S.A.

Green made one mistake - a huge mistake, but then he also made one great save in the second half, so...let's stop blaming him and enjoy some fantastic animations here!

What Are The Odds?

The FIFA World Cup thus far, is providing me with an eclectic array of opportunities to lose as much money as humanly possible.

Like many, I have been rather sensationally predicting the blindingly obvious, relying on statistics to tell me history will repeat itself. 

As soon as the Spaniards lost 0:1 to the Swiss tonight, I am changing my tactics: I am going for the dark horse and the teams that emerge to prominence. 

I am saying, none of the above teams in this photo here will remain in the quarter-finals and...9/2 on North Korea conceding the most goals in the whole tournament - sounds like a very reasonable bet.

Are You Too Rigid?

Had an absolutely decadent meal with friends today and like all things, one would want to finish on a high note and ordering dessert or simply just a coffee would do justice in wrapping it up nicely.

Glancing from the menu though, an exotic drink wasn't what I had in mind, nor do I want the traditional Vietnamese coffee, which I knew it will be good but I was also aware that it will take forever to drip to perfection (and I didn't have time for that). 

As I was on the verge of giving up and decided to grab a cuppa from Starbucks next door, my friend suggested we ask if they serve some other coffees in there. 

"But I can't see anything else on the menu" I muttered. 

I was teased on the spot for a rigid assumption I made.  My defense: If we can order something OUTSIDE the menu, why would restaurant bother providing us with a menu in the first place?  Say if we find yellow curry a tad too mild and red curry a notch too spicy, does it mean we can order something in between say an "Orange Curry" perhaps?

Turned out, they were able to bring us 3 immaculate cups of Latte / Cappuccino. 

So much for the satisfaction (thanks to Ann), I reflected on the moral of the story: You don't ask, you don't get. 

It was just very natural for my friends to ask but it didn't even strike me the slightest to do so.  I am never the type afraid of asking questions.  The question is - am I too uptight?

 

I think I am neither extremely exacting nor terribly easygoing.  

Still, just as people are classified as introvert or extrovert, submissive or dominant, people should also be categorised as rigid or flexible.

I can't really associate myself with the word "docile" in any sort of dimensions, so....certified as "rigid" I am then.

For those who know me, what's your take on me?

Change of Skin

Suddenly feel like changing alampy's space's blog skin.  

 

Did not change since i-do-not-know-when and I think some of my readers have expressed thoughts that it is rather boring and getting a tad dull...yada yada.

So it's time for a face-lift...

TADA....Simplicity at its best.

This will do for now. What do you think?

The New 4-Seater LPG Taxi

I was on a taxi today and I observed the gear shift lever location of the taxi has moved from the usual steering column to the cabin floor!  

I asked the taxi driver "Is your taxi a new model?"

He enthusiastically told me it is and that this new model from Toyota provides the front seat passenger and driver with independent seats!  

"Oh...it is an official 4-seater taxi then" I uttered.  
 

The government got rid of them a while ago and somehow, they have decided to bring them back in town!  

Define: Football or Soccer (as the American calls it)

Son:  What is football, mommy? 

Mom: A bunch of guys run around for 90 minutes, rarely score and games often end in a tie and when they do, they break the tie with a single player kicking the ball against a single goalie.

Son: Why do they bother running around for 90 minutes then?

Mom:  I don't know, son.  The game just makes no sense to me at all!  

Son:  Why not just set up half a dozen goals and have half a dozen guys just keep kicking balls against half a dozen goalies at the same time?

Mom:  That will make the World Cup spin from 1 month to a day only perhaps.  FIFA, which consists of mostly men, will not allow that.

A story of victory in every jersey

I want to steal a quote from Roman bard Horace (65 BC to 8 BC), a great shirt is nothing but "poetry without words".

   

Did you know you can find 5 stars on the badge of Brazil's jersey; 4 on the Italians; 3 on the Germans; 2 on Argentinians and 1 on both the England squad and France's team?  

The number of stars indicates the number of times they have won the FIFA World Cup tournament. 

Every team needs a jersey with a story and if you are interested, here's the true value of the German national team jersey (from Adidas' website).

A Wicked Fact of Life to Share

If it's Thursday today, that means we are left with only one more day to go till weekend.  This week has essentially been a relatively long and dull one for me and it was this fact of life which injected a little grin on my face just then.

Can't help but share this here with you all!

Cry For Argentina?

Spain is presently the 9-2 favourites to win the World Cup.  Brazil is second at 4.7-1, Argentina third at 6-1 with England next at 13-2.

While my whole family is crying for Argentina, I do hope the bookmakers got the odds right on England and that they are as strong a contender as the market suggests.  

I think the chilly South African evenings will definitely add wind to the back of the England team, where baking heat had cost them at previous World Cups...so  

GO England GO!!

Which team would you cry for?

Binary Watch

I came across this watch in an in-flight magazine which uses binary code to tell the time. 

Love on first sight as it looks futuristic, stylishly lid by LEDs and it's in black.  Besides, I think wearing this watch will ultimately increase my adding speed. 

I hear you ask how.  

Alright...allow me. 

It has 2 rows of LEDs showing the hours and the minutes.

The upper row that indicates the hours has 4 LEDs and 4 numbers: 8, 4, 2, 1.   Say if the middle 2 LEDs are on (4 and 2) then you get 6.  It means 6 o'clock.

The lower row works the same way but it has 2 more LEDs: 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.

Wouldn't it be fun the next time when someone asks me for the time and I would smirk to myself and enjoy their bewildered expression when I flash my wrist emblazoned with glowing binary!

Definitely getting it in my next journey, because I can't seem to find it anywhere on ground level and from their website.

King of Clay

What did Roger Federer say last month after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Madrid final, that the clay season would be determined in Paris?


“I am in Paris. I won in Paris. I’m very lucky, and I was very fortunate in life to have had the opportunity of experiencing all this at the age of 24. Never in my wildest dream would I have dreamt of such beautiful presents. Life was very kind to me.”

Well, it’s been determined very emotionally yesterday. 

He cares more about winning tournaments than about what the computer thinks of him.


Having said that, Nadal is indeed...the most acclaimed King of Clay!

Free Hugs

Hong Kong shoppers and passersby have been bewildered to free hugs offered by a group who say they want to "bring human contact back into the lives of isolated urban dwellers". 

Apparently, they have been around for years and it's part of a social movement that belongs to the free hug campaign worldwide.  

Everyone can use a bit of a hug.  

We have become such a dog-and-cat petting society that we have almost forgotten how to pet the people who matter most to us!



Next time you write "XOXO" at the end of your note to your loved ones, how about consider giving the person real hugs and kisses?

Never Too Many

It is particularly hard to know when to say when. With winter coming to an end and summer round the corner, it seemed the perfect time to force the question - when is enough enough? 

Is it possible to have too many pairs of shoes?  Can a woman have too many of these?

That is...only if I lack storage space.   

So why are we so obsessed??

I think it is because our shoe size does not alter no matter how much weight we put on. My feet can always look good, no matter how the rest of me looks.  

So the conclusion: We can never have too many pairs of footwear.  It's more likely to NOT have the right shoes than too many.

Based on that - this pair followed me home today at Summer sales, they will happily be hyphenating in my shoe cabinet for a good half a year - till this Winter.   

The Finest Gentleman

I discovered a new English porter friend today that is so profoundly rich in character and tradition.  

I could taste chocolate, coffee and even a bit of vanilla on the tongue and immediately fell for him after our initial velvety encounter. 

It is said that more grain is consumed in England for making beer than for making bread!  Now I know why.

This English gentleman is so wonderfully amazing, I am abandoning my old Irish lover!

All That Jazzzzz

Full of crime in the plot, but it will be a crime to miss the lot, I think!

Astonishing dancing, smash-hit songs, flat out humour - incredibly entertaining throughout the razzle-dazzle.  

No wonder it is one of the longest standing Broadway musicals that has wowed the world, and me. 

Not sure why I waited so long to add this timeless piece to my list.  I am so glad I went for it tonight and...discovered it's Grease coming to town in October!!

Hey baby...Go, greased lightnin'!

A Convivial Companion for Foodies

I am fascinated with books like this.  More so when they were found so reasonably priced in a relatively expensive place like London!

A bit thick in size to smuggle under the table in a posh night out, but a companion that is surely convivial enough for me to just flip through randomly at leisure.

Vocabulary Deficiency

I was given an opportunity to learn French, Spanish or Latin as a hobby when I was young.  

I thought to myself, why would I want to master French when the French knows how to speak English anyway? 

Spanish stays mainly in Spain (and S.America), so I thought...I won't bother with that.   

I battled for a little while in Latin.

Realised soon enough that I really shouldn't waste time on a language hardly anyone speaks unless...I want to be a scientist, a Botanist, Zoologist or a Catholic Priest! 

Has it ever occurred to you that you wish you could order wine like a Frenchman or pasta like a true Italian though?

If you come across any crash courses that teach you how to pronounce the French on the menus of ethnic restaurants, or help us crack the Italian words in deciphering a recipe.  Let me hear them!

The West End In Weekends

When I was in London years ago, I would buy food that was hilariously disgusting to put in my mouth (believe it or not).   The price of a one-day travelcard brought on the vapours, but I would still choose to go into the city, just for a sniff of it. 

You would ask why when you know shopping has never been my domain.  

West-End Musical/Play/Comedy, nonetheless is (even if it costs me an arm and a leg!)

 

The reason I took this photo of a CD rack in HMV, was because it'd help me tally count in an orderly fashion, of the ones I have watched.  

1. Avenue Q
2. Beauty And The Beast
3. Billy Elliot
4. Cats
5. Cirque Du Soleil
6. Evita
7. Fame
8. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat
9. Les Misérables
10. Lion King
11. Mamma Mia
12. Miss Saigon
13. The Phantom Of The Opera
14. Riverdance
15. Stomp

There are still certainly numerous in my wish list.  

I went for the furry, dubbed "pants-wetting funny" Avenue Q last week.

It will be Chicago to add to the exhaustive list - in 3 days' time, and I can't wait. 

In Remembrance of A Great Artist

She could have easily been made famous should her wits in Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy been unearthed in her earlier years. 

This marvellous piece of painting is one of the many that was hand-painted by someone I genuinely and deeply admire - someone who is no longer with us today.  

Digging this piece out has its way of reminding us of her spirit of kindliness and generosity which, I am sure, will strive in all our hearts in years to come.

What is it about LEGO?

For those who knew me since young age, you'd know LEGO bricks have long been my favourite toy at home.  

All these years of playing with these Danish plastic blocks has nonetheless taught me a thing or two regarding - directions.

First, it taught me how to 1) follow directions - when I think about it now, it appears as real handy training material for assembling IKEA furniture, helpful in making sure your table won't fall apart!

It also taught me how to 2) discard directions -  i.e. build something creatively from scratch, tear it down and put some order into the chaos again.  It is terribly similar to re-writing rejected project proposals at work isn't it?

I recently came across some of the LEGO projects at my friend's house and started reminiscing this good old pastime.  Till this day, I still blame my mother for donating all my LEGO sets when I went boarding.  I think my love affair with this coal for the imaginative fire, will never cease to die.

Are you with me?

The 4-Legged Londoners

As a follow-up to my previous post on Elephant Parade London, here's an account of what a fantastic (not 1 but 2-day) I had, out elephant hunting in Central London.

Below are a few of my favourite 4-legged representatives: 

• One of my favourite designers - Paul Smith, 
• Best known for the astronomical fare in the world - London Black Cab, 
• The very iconic Union Jack, 
• The London Police which we all love and hate, 
• The criss-cross map of the London Underground and
• My beloved Fish n' Chips

The fun things about the hunt was I got to see a fair bit of London, some I have never visited before all these years.  Feeling terrifically accomplished was another, having managed to catch over 120 out of the herd of 260!

Special thanks to the Monkeys who drove me around.  Burnt like a lobster I was under the Sun, I have to say that was quite an absurd yet memorable pursuit afterall.


 

A Beady Eye For Oasis?

Liam Gallagher finally figured something out and it's Beady Eye??

Announced yesterday via the Oasis's website, this is going to be the new name for the band that their suffering fans are going to be adjusting to.

Is this ALL they can come up with - a good 9 months after his brother Noel quit Oasis just literally hours before the concert began in Paris last year?

Surely I will be getting his latest compilation when it's out in July, which promised to have all Oasis's smashing hits, but I just can't bear to think this new name is not ridiculous!

Feeling Naked?

London's Airport just installed security body scanners that produce naked images of passengers when they go through security checks. 

As you can imagine, many are against it and are placing the Human Rights issue on the table. 

When you think about it, the whole problem with Human Rights is that, they tend to contradict with one another.

In the circumstances, I feel that we must all be prepared to surrender our rights to privacy so to preserve our rights to liberty and personal security.

When a person is murdered for instance, photos of the naked dead are circulated among the jury in the court.

That to me, could be far more intimidating than that body scan - which I might get a chance to go through it later on when I leave the city.

SATC 2

Grab your stiletto, call the girls cuz....

THEY ARE BACK!

Can't wait to catch up the fun, the fashion, the friendship that moved on and see how on earth the girls' heels ended up in the middle of a desert!

Before that, it's DVD night on SATC 1.  

A Touch of London

This is not a prank. 

This is an official "hot weather alert" notice found in one of the underground stations in London today. 

Ah.....how very sweet!!

Don't you just love London!"

Fans Go Bladeless?

One of the annoying problems with my PC at home is the noise generated by the internal fans and I always thought a miniature blade-less fan might be a step towards silent computing in future.

Apparently, great minds do think alike.  

James Dyson must have the same idea when he came up with this blade-less table fan that is not only silent but safer too - no more nasty blades to get fingers caught up in!

This latest invention from Dyson looks super cool in the store, but when it comes to the matter of price: £220 - I'd say it is quite a steep entry fee for the very gentle breezes that emanate out of this plastic wind tunnel.

Got kids and fearful of fan-related injuries?

The name Dyson can't do no wrong. 

For £220 though, I'd want the thing to fetch me a cool drink too!

Here's a video from their engineering team.

Jamie's Italian

I am checking one thing off my to-do-list in London.  Been there done that with Jamie's Italian today.

The experience has largely lived up to the lovely-jubbly expectation and the prices of the food were incredibly competitive, with antipasti costing from £2.50 to £6.50, and mains from £9 to £16. 

Jamie's idiolect is all over the lengthy menu; from the "top Italian breads" and "lush basil pesto" to the "good old grilled steak" and "loadsa herbs", about which Jamie is so famously doolally.

I kept looking around to see what other tables have ordered and what caught my eyes at one point, was this piece of toy they provided to kids.   

I nearly asked for one myself!

What I did asked daringly, was how often Jamie appear in his restaurants.

"Really busy, really not much."

 

Bubbling with Anticipation

Thanks for those who have kept their fingers crossed for me.

I have just checked in, scrapped the last aisle seat available and off I board the big metal bird, en route to London in half an hour!  

Gruelling from work for the entire week, I finally feel the vacation mood gradually kicking in from the moment I dropped off my luggage. 


Haven't plan things out yet, but I heard there will be fantastic weather awaits me.  Think I will just drift with the flow in the next few days, taking things nice and easy.    

Can I take some days off the blog as well? 

 

A High-Definition Window

I have almost forgotten how spectacular the harbour view looks like right out of my window as haze and smog have been dominating the sky for I lost track of how long.

The toxic cocktail masking the whole atmosphere has somehow become an inescapable part of life over here.

Just as I was starting to get used to the blurring and veiling effect of it all, thanks to the abrade by the torrential rain earlier on, this refreshing skyline returned with a vengeance.  

Can The View Be THAT Distracting?

Are you supposed to be doing something else right now?

You are probably in the midst of replying your emails and planned to just take a minute to send a tweet or update your Facebook status.  Then you came across this article and figured you want to read what I have to say about distractions. 

Hot Suzy in a basket of muffins, and I have successfully distracted you!

Don't you go away now please...continue reading!

It is perfectly okay of course, to be distracted. We all get distracted sometimes. 

In an office environment for instance, the most distracting factor in my opinion that affects my productivity, is noise distraction.  I did not know, however, that having a view behind your desk in an office can be considered distracting too. 

This scenic view, which they claim, is so potentially distracting (trust me, I have had much better view than this one before), that they have to put up partitions to block the windows.  That will of course be blocking half of the natural sunlight from coming into my office as well.  

Tell me I am not the only one disagreeing to this act.

Taobao...I woulda coulda shoulda

Taobao.com won't come alien to you if you are a shopaholic.  

You would have likely owned an account with them already if you are a shopaholic that shops online.  

And I can say it with certain degree of confidence that if you are a shopaholic that shops online and lives in mainland China, there's a high chance that you'd have purchased something from this eCommerce Goliath already. 

I have always been amazed by Taobao's wealth of products on offer. Their range is simply humongous and you can find virtually ANYTHING from aged collectables to the latest tech gadgets.  They recently went an extra mile to enable international shipping and payment and that was exhilarating.  I could have long tested the shopping experience myself, if only the site contents were in English, it would have been more inviting. 

The very exciting tie-up from June 1 between Taobao and Yahoo Japan Shopping will see Japanese consumers shopping on Yahoo Japan in a new section called “China Mall”.  

This C2C unit is no doubt a gem for Alibaba.com and I am saying woulda coulda shoulda bought their shares long time ago....with Taobao going international, I think this is still a valuable stock to keep an eye on. 

A clever drip from Japan

I just have to marvel at the design of this 'Mon Cafe' I had this morning.

Not only could it sit firmly above my coffee mug, it is head and shoulders over instant coffee... at an instant with no mess and no fuss!

Where else on earth but Japan can you find such a clever drip brewing system, complete with a unique coffee blend, on-the-fly? 


If the Japanese culture can be summarized in one behavioural phrase, it ought to be "attention to details."  Any half-baked execution in there of any sorts simply does not exist.   

A Genteel Pastime

Did you know Hong Kong has now attained the highest horse-racing turnover in the world?   I have no idea since when the game has creeped into one of my family's Sunday pastimes too.

Picking our favourite horses could not get any easier these days.  My father often places his at the Jockey Club's fully computerized betting terminals, I'd choose to do so at my finger tips online and my uncle always prefer the human touch and so he places his bet using a dedicated hotline.

Not only have we got differing channels to place bets, it's funny how we almost never end up with the same pick in each race.  So it is only typical that we each have to look out for a different Jockey Silk at the finishing line: be it squares, lines, circles or star.

I personally think nothing sets our home abuzz in the weekend quite like the thrill of watching horse-racing; with the unity made possible by the colour divergence in the horse racing apparel!