Yet Another First In Asia

Just imagine this:  having your own personal car porch that requires a car lift to park your vehicle next to your living room up in the sky.

What?  I heard you murmured.

The Hamilton Scotts -  a luxury high-rise residential project in Singapore that allows its residents to park their cars right next to their own units – even 30 storeys up.

Yes, you heard me. 

Parking is set to reach a whole new level, with a high-rise condominium where every apartment comes with its own private garage in the sky.

First of its kind in Asia (after New York and Dubai),  its residents are now able to drive their million-dollar baby (has to be), into a special glass elevator that will lift the baby from the ground floor to their 'porch' on the same level as their living rooms.
 

Any filthy rich billionaire only requires to pay a mere US$85M for a 3-bedroom flat to make this fantasy come true!

Moved?

Oh well, don't get too excited even if you have the money, because all of the flats were sold shortly after they were released out in the market.

Did The Economist say we are pretty much in recession?   They must have overlooked this crouching tiger!

The Trademark of Annie: Optimism

The notes of the familiar song “Tomorrow" has been reverberating at the back of my head for the last two nights after watching the delightful musical "Annie" - a light-hearted play, something I think everyone at any age can enjoy.

The plot talks about a little orphan named Annie who charms everyone's heart inspite a next-to-nothing start in the midst of the great depression of the 1930s New York. She is determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an Orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan.

Despite playing out against the backdrop of the era's misery and poverty, my favourite part of this musical has to be the fact that Annie is terribly optimistic.  She would always find the good side of looking at things, insisting the future will be brighter.

I remember she walks into one of the scenes, carrying a completely different perspective when somebody moans and complains having "empty pockets,"  she quickly suggests, "Well at least you've got pockets."

"Your fingers are cold?  Be glad you have those pockets!"

"You use newspapers for blankets?  Well you can read in bed!"


If a 13 year old can take the desperation, turn it around and bring lots of humour to it.  So can we.

My 8 Quirky Things To Be Thankful For

Oh it has been a terrifically hectic month for me and while writing out a cheque just then, I realised we are already four days into the month of June.

I want to stop and pause for a moment and be thankful for a few things before I forget them.

I am choosing to enchant you with my positive outlook instead of boring you to death with my whining - because - you are worth it. 

1. The bad times, because without them the good times would have no perspective.
2. Rain. It washed my linen but so as the streets, the trees and occasionally our soul.
3. Good and bad side of my father, both taught me something about me.
4. The enchanting creativity from young kids I met with.
5. Solitude. Because when am I ever alone?
6. The ability to fall in love - with a hobby that is.
7. The fact that my first edited book has been published and on sale is just pure exhilarating.
8. The much needed silence like - now.  A chance to reflect on this last month and all the things I have to smile about.

Go make your list and check it twice.  You don't have to wait till Christmas, you know?

Grandma's Wisdom

For the longest time way past my adolescent days, I have been told chocolate milk was made from fresh milk that turned bad.  I was being steered away from drinking chocolate milk.  I have faithfully heeded that advice until Google confirmed they can't find a hit in the www!

Till this day I still want to throw salt over my right shoulder (or is it my left?) after knocking over the salt shaker because my house-mistress said it would keep evil spirits away.

Oh, and here's a good one - you will go blind if you sit too close to the television, or if you cross your eyes, they will stay that way.

You do know the above aren't true (I hope).   I mean if they are true, I do wonder what my house-mistress would say about the salty evil spirits I have consumed over the years! 

I can, however, think of a few instances where the good old-fashioned "grandma's wisdom" has proved to work miracles.  


Non-stop coughing

Rub Vicks VapoRub on the bottom of the feet, cover them with socks at bedtime, can stop the cough almost immediately.  

Alternatively, try shots of whiskey.  It won't kill the germs but my grandpa swore by it as the best readily available cough suppressant one can get.
   

Bloated Stomach

Apparently, gently massaging the skin along the collar bone will release gas by either small burps or if you are persistent enough, big belches will follow.  

Sore Throat

Gargle with salt water - a remedy that works economically sound. 

Ache & Pain

There is nothing quite like a good old fashioned hot water bottle to comfort and soothe those shoulder aches and back pains.

Do you have some of your favourite Old Wives’ Tales to share or tips from your granny that have seen the arc of life? 

Pure Insanity

Have You ever had one of those days when you feel you are just completely spinning off the earth's axis?

Deadlines looming (or whizzing past), the phone keeps ringing, and your to-do-list just keeps piling up.  You have just spent the whole day dashing here and there and none of those on your list got ticked off at the end of the day. 

You go home, get some rest, and the next day you seem to have pressed the replay button of yesterday and you are haunted by the same scenario. Then comes the long-awaited weekend which is never quite long enough of course.  And then it is another week of the same. 

If this is too familiar - this serves as an alarm for you do something about this very contagious insanity. 

I don't have anything wicked to propose.  But since you feel like you are spinning off this crazy earth's axis anyway, why not try tilting the angle of your insanity and look at it differently, might be a sane idea for now.

Come back and tell me if this worked for you because if it worked for you, it might work for other human beings too! 

Come As A Guest, Leave As A Friend

Historically, coffeehouses were important places for groups to gather and discuss issues of the day.

Today we have arguably seen this experience diminished, forgotten.

Many of us get our daily caffeine boost at the local Starbucks or other commercial coffeemakers.  For the sake of waking ourselves up, we duck in, pay quickly, and on we go, head on with our lives.   Alright, in certain days, we might decide to plug in our laptops, appeared to be toggling with some office documents but really, it was for perusing Facebook profiles, and for that, we might linger on for a bit longer. 


With the overwhelming establishments of cafes in town, two friends of mine recently decided to join in the bandwagon and opened a small cafe.  Tough competition is obviously one thing, how to run the business is another.  While we applause their bravery, you don't read fear in them at all because - they have it all figured out. 

They have figured out the very one thing that is going to differentiate themselves from the rest.  And that is - the philosophy of why we drink coffee beyond our need for one. 

They believe what they have, is truly a place that separates from home and work; A neighborhood hub for meetings, socials and gigs.  Or, as they'd like to call it - a platform for guests to create new communities and connections. 

They would like to have you "come as a guest, leave as a friend".  

A motto as simple as that.  And they mean it.  

Think about it.  When was the last time you had great coffee, good buddies and great conversation?

Not Eating Properly?!

A patient walks into a doctor's office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear.

"What's the matter with me?" he asks the doctor.

The doctor replies, "You're obviously not eating properly!"

"I see. Lately I observed that I have been talking with my fingers too. Is there a cure for that, doctor?"
 
The doctor replies, "If you can discard your smartphones and revert back to your good old analog phone, that helps and you could be talking again in no time!"

In this era, email and texting are just plain handy isn't it?  You allow the recipient more flexibility in answering, usable amidst noise and even allowing to a certain extent, a medium of flirtation less invasive than a phone call but quicker than a snail mail. 

If you think about it, very few among us yearn for a world in which the only music is classical, the only dance is ballet and daily clothing requires corsets and waistcoats.

As such, we don't necessarily have to take the drastic approach like the doctor suggested above.  We might as well embrace a brave new world where we can both talk with our fingers, and our mouth.  And trust me - it certainly won't hurt to revisit the formidable letter-writing every now and then, should romance be missing in air. 

An Organic Saturday At School

Kwok Siu Lau Hall, for many of us old girls, myself included, is to be associated with solemnity of morning assemblies or perhaps the cold line-ups of desks during the season of examinations, if you asked me. 

The purpose of my recent visit provided a fresh new perspective to be appended to the nostalgic part of my school memories. I was back to school with a mission - as a mentor - and was struck by so many great moments worth accounting for. To start off with, the young lady who greeted me at the desk asked, "Are you our mentor?  We’d love to have you."

“Wasn't I lucky to be assigned to a group of courteous students”, I thought to myself.   The afternoon that followed was definitely one that was fun-filled, most valuable.   

A handful of old girls in my year volunteered to take part in the school's mentorship program and we were summoned to enjoy a Saturday afternoon bonding with our mentees while engaging ourselves with an entirely foreign, do-it-yourself activity - the making of organic lip balm.

Not knowing what constitutes as ingredients in the balm that we put on our lovely lips virtually every other hour or so, cooking up our own lip balm sounded like a daunting task to most of us in the first instance.  However, with incredible teamwork of trial and errors, coupled with hours of laughter, it was seriously quite easy. 

The whole process involved precision in the measurement and preparation of each and every ingredient in correct proportion.  The timing and coordination were also vital in the execution.  Our given task was to produce one lip balm per person and much of the fun was derived when we had to pick the best tube within our group to compete against the representatives from 15 others.  The job was particularly tough for us as our group was the largest of all, with 12 tubes of dazzling designs to shortlist from!

Not sure if you would agree but I feel like every time I needed to look for lip balm in my handbag, the tube would have grown legs and mysteriously walked away.  Very gladly, after an afternoon of concerted effort, we all went home with an extra tube.  We even imagined we can stop standing in line at stores to buy new ones, now that we have mastered how to make our very own organic one from scratch.

Our winning formula certainly caught a fair share of attention from the panel judges, even we didn’t win any prizes at the end, I found myself energised by the intense creative spirit, enthusiasm and sheer talent of everyone involved in this exercise.  

And to my glorious mentees - choosing to sit in a hall on a beautiful day beyond school hours – intent, eager to learn and ready to take on the world, all you youngsters who do not already know, are indeed winners! 

My Cell Phone Chronicle: 1995-2012

Do you remember all the mobile handsets you have owned?  

I did a stock-taking of mine out of oddity and here's what I have been through...

 
1995-1997: Motorola CD920
My first ever cellular handset (dual band: GSM900/1800)


1997- 1998: Ericsson GH337
Ericsson was a hit, it was fashionable and everyone carried one.




1998-1999: StarTAC 75
The so-called "wearable phone" was the world's smallest and lightest then. It weighed just 88g & it was an envy amongst my peer.
 
1999-2000: StarTAC 130 Slim
As if 88g was not light enough.

 
2000-2002: Kyocera 200
When everyone chose the trendy Japanese manufacturers, I had eyes on the Korean bet. I liked it light, practical and different.

 
2002-2003: Siemens SL45
Bought it as soon as it came out in the market - a rather expensive choice back then but was the first MP3 phone with reasonable audio quality - Felt rather good carrying a trend setter. 


 
2003-2003: Nokia 6600
My first handset with a camera - though I said I didn't want to be Nokia slave then.

2003-2004: Nokia 6100
Surrendered to the slim, lightness and the all-rounded feature of this handset.

2004-2005: LG 8120
My first 3G handset that can make video calls.

2005-2006: Sony Ericsson K608i 
Sony + Ericsson = first time when style & practicality got married.

2006-2007: Nokia 6288
Boomerang to the Nokia camp as this phone was a bargain and honestly flawless after all.


2007- 2009: Sony Ericsson K810i
Totally impressed by its Cybershot 3.2M & its AF function.



 
2009-2009: Sony Ericsson W995
Classic slider technique, a mechanism that was strangely addictive when I had it in my palm.



2009-2010: Sony Ericsson Aino
The Aino has pretty much everything - plus a simple-but-snappy touch media menu.


 
2010-present: Apple iPhone 4
Finally - the Apple defiant has converted to iPhone in 2010 and this device has become the longest I have hung onto till this very day.
 

Can't help but wonder...what would be my next pick?

What You Focus On Expands

There is an old saying, “What you focus on expands."

Have you noticed when you buy a car or...a pair of sneakers, you start noticing people driving, wearing the same model as you?

The same theory applies when we stared at every tick of the clock, the minute would always appear much longer than we thought.  

That is because we are hypersensitive when we focus on the very one thing we care.  It's all good if the thing in focus is a positive thing. 

I observed some Facebook friends of mine who would consistently use the same sort of vocabulary in their status updates.  

"Awful, terrible, horrible, sad, angry, pity."  You get the picture. 

Their daily drama revolves around their rather negative judgment of people and events that are, in their evaluation - awful or/and terrible.  Needless to say, their existence would also turn out to be resentfully sad as a result of their self-pity talk and projection. 

What you focus on expands.  And negative energy flows where negativity goes.


Another fine example - let's just say you are a "weigh-a-holics" and you weigh yourself daily at the very least.  You would be stepping on and off that bathroom scale of yours each morning several times in a minute, wishfully thinking that a lower figure might magically appear between your feet.  I wouldn't necessarily say you are insane because I happen to know a few including myself who do that religiously.  

I realised though, the morning weighing exercise can either make my day, or most of the time, break my day.  Two pounds can easily be vanished after a night of dehydration and the same can be added on after you ate a cow in your last meal!  Then I told myself, why let that affect my mental and emotional state of my day? 

If you look good, feel good and are in good health, who cares about a stupid number anyway?  If you are not, I trust your wits should know fairly well what ought to be done too. 

Positive energy flows where positivity goes.

Stay focus - only on the positives. 

No Means Yes

Among my group of friends, there's this lady of leisure who is currently in between jobs and she has this place she always wanted to visit.  It just happened that none of the rest of us in the group had the time to travel with her and hence, she decided to travel solo for the very first time.  

The place she was destined to go, was India - the destination of her dream.  For the bunch of us who didn't go, we had a friendly little bet without her.   Knowing she adores India but doesn't always prefer to do things alone, we bet that she either absolutely loathed the place, or loved it.  Nothing in between. 

10 days later, our little friend came back.  She told us she learned a few things in India and just when she was about to solve our puzzling eyes, she gave us an Indian wiggle of the head. 

"Like many of their neighbouring Asians, the Indians prefer not to say no," said Lady of Leisure.

"Right.  So did you not like the country," we asked.


She did it again!  She managed a very loose wobble of the head from side to side on the neck, which left us completely perplexed.  

Did she mean yes, no or anything in between? 

Looks like there is only one way to find out if I have won my bet. 

I might be better off consulting Google instead! 

An App Too Many

While I was bed resting and when I had nothing better to do facing the ceiling, fiddling the iPhone has never been proved so - exhilarating. 

That was when I discovered there really is an app for nearly everything nowadays.   

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to share with you a few outright bizarre apps that I have hence discovered during boredom.

Straight To Voicemail (STV)

How many times have you prayed that the person you are calling are not going to pick up your call?  Why on earth would you dread that way?  Well, think along the line of making excuses for not seeing your parents, or in times when you call in sick and don't want to deal with your boss directly.  Not in any way suggesting I have done that or you should do that, but you get the idea. 

This app arrows your call straight into someone's voice mail machine.  I have no idea how on earth they do it, but for $1.99, you can still get to literally call someone but not needing to actually talk to someone.  I say, one can see where socialising is heading. 


HangTime

This one is pure idiotic.  It measures your air-borne time!  You can have a go at throwing your fancy iPhone in the air, for it can track the amount of time before it comes crashing down again.   This is just great isn't it?  Make sure you are a good catcher, or the app will cost $1.99 plus the cost of buying a new phone!

Search UK Pay Phones

When it comes to applications, iPhone has it all.  Want to find the nearest pizza takeaway or public water closets?  Bam - there's an app for that.  When you are actively using your iPhone one day and you just want to find out where your nearest payphone is when in U.K.?  Whoola - This is just what you need.   Absolutely hilarious.

I say we readily need a superseding app to help us deal with the overflowing apps in our phones.

Everyone's Internal Pharmacy

I woke up yesterday feeling really lousy, so I decided to just sit around in my bathrobe, didn’t brush, didn't shower, watched TV a little, and by mid-morning I felt much worse with pain here and there, totally lacking energy, so I virtually slept through the whole day. 

Today, I got up feeling under the weather again but decided I should find something more constructive to do while staying home. Off I went, groomed and changed, hooked up with my long lost computer to do some rusty blogging and by mid-morning I felt much better!

Why was this?
 

I think I have just discovered a perfect panacea of how attitude can affect us physically.

Once, everyone thought the reason you felt better was purely mental, but now I know that it’s also biochemical.

By engaging in behaviours of being well - showering, getting dressed and going out - I actually changed my body chemistry, which then brought myself to feeling a bit better.

It’s a combination of the power of the mind AND our internal pharmacy department that can make a stark difference to the well-being of our bodies.

I am so glad I have figured that one out nice and early and hoping to share my 2 cents here with you too.

My Top 10 Blog Posts

There are pet peeves in life that can really get to my nerves, but on the other hand, gratitude - is generally how I feel about life in general and equally so -  how I feel about your support of my blog - alampy's space. 

However much I hate to have to announce this, I am going to be away for a much needed body repair work done.  And before I drag my bag of bones to the operation theatre where they knock me out for a good few hours, it is time to do the laziest blog post ever!! 

I have pulled out my 10 most-read blog posts from the past 6 months and listed them below, in order of popularity.  Feel free to have a bit of a munch during alampy's extended absence and perhaps you can amuse the would-be bedridden me by identifying your favourite piece.


Musings At A Cafeteria
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2011/11/musings-at-cafeteria.html

Angel of Love
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2012/01/angel-of-love.html

The Various Friendship Kinds
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2011/11/various-friendship-kinds.html

Small Things That Make You Smile
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2012/02/small-things-that-makes-you-smile.html

Met With AIDS Affected Orphans
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2012/02/met-with-aids-affected-orphans.html

Lucky To Have You Mom
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2011/10/lucky-to-have-you-mom.html

Have A Big Heart
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2012/01/have-big-heart.html

Blogging Is Graffiti With Punctuation?
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2011/09/blogging-is-graffiti-with-punctuation.html

Can't See Can Tee?
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2011/12/cant-see-can-tee.html

Just Like It Used To Be
http://alampy.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-like-it-used-to-be.html

Mardi Gras: The Famous Rugby Sevens

Every one of my friends currently binge drinking at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens claimed it has been a great weekend for them so far – even though the specifics are a bit hard to recall.

None of them I knew play rugby, nor do they know the game rules, yet for years, they have been enthusiasts for the annual mardi gras in Hong Kong.  

As they say though, if you can remember what happened at the Hong Kong Sevens, you probably weren't there!

I certainly wasn't there. 

I was...stuck in heavy traffic. 

Draw Something

When I was a kid, I loved to draw.  Alright, scribble - to be more precise. 

Then I got old and too busy and just never quite get back to the old self.

Then came a game named Pictionary - loved that. 

I think many of us have been through the above cycle and that probably explained how the latest No. 1 game on iOS and Android "Draw Something" got so popular.  


It has racked up 30 million downloads in just about 6 weeks, generated about 2 billion drawings and are exchanging pictures at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 per second! 

I don't really consider that as a game really, as it does not have scores or leader boards, and players involved aren't actually competing against each other but playing in a cooperative manner rather.  And I think that - has played a major part in the immense success of Draw Something - emphasizing social interaction over some game mechanics.

You know what I think they should chuck in as well?  They should consider including an integrated chat (who cares if people use it for cheating), I mean most often than not, don't you feel you want to chat or express yourself after the guessing part?

The Typical Apple Arrogance

Consumers did not expect this.  It does not make any commercial sense either to launch a new product with snazzy features that cannot work in the market in which it is selling.

I am talking about the new Apple iPad, which was unveiled last week amid much exuberance.  The product hit this part of the world with razor-sharp text and images, among other cool features.

But here is the hitch:  the much-vaunted 4G tablet cannot hook up to 4G networks as the device is configured for different radio frequency bands used in the United States.

Just like Hong Kong, many Asia Pacific areas such as Singapore and Australia cannot enjoy the iPad's ultra-fast 4G capability due to different frequencies.  It can hook up with the 3G networks though but that is beside the point. 

It may seem strange that Apple has decided to launch a product with a feature that is incompatible with many markets.  No hardware manufacturer in its right mind would pull such a stunt, but then I guess Apple does not have to make sense, right?   

It has counted on, and can still count on die-hard fans to join snaking queues for the product because the brand has won the hearts of many consumers here and around the world - the typical Apple arrogance at work.

Queue seen forming 2 days before the sale started in Singapore.

I really enjoy Apple products, but the naming of this new one is kind of dumb, if I may say so.

My 4th iPhone 4

Hi readers, 

I am on my fourth iPhone 4 at the moment, believe it or not. 

The first iPhone 4 I purchased 1.5 years ago lasted several months until a battery defect overheated the hardware and would no longer hold a charge. The genius replacement iPhone 4 that I swapped out then, had a hardware microphone issue that I noticed only hours after leaving the store. The third kept crashing and just refused to talk to iTunes.  I am on my number four - going 2 days strong.

It has come to my attention that people who replaced their iPhones tend to go through numerous replacements whereas the rest of them still have a perfectly working original.  I mean it does make me ponder those like myself on our 3rd, 4th, 5th and so on iPhone, can't possibly have all the bad luck, right?   The rest of you seems to be suggesting that the problem could be with people rather than the phones.  

Anyhow, several things I learned from all these replacement exercise, in which you lucky people might not have otherwise discovered. 

1. Backing up data on a regular basis is absolutely essential
2. The AppleCare Protection Plan is definitely worth investing and
3. Decoding iPhone's unique serial number

Point no. 1 and 2 are self-explanatory.  Point no. 3 is quite interesting.  

Every unit comes with a 11-digit serial number and it contains vital information of where and when the unit was manufactured.

aabccdddeef

aa = Factory and Machine ID
b = Year
cc = Production Week
ddd = Unique Identifier
ee = Color (A4=black)
f = size (S=16GB, T=32GB)

So for my replacement unit - reads a black iPhone 4 with 16GB - produced in week 52 of 2011.


Go check yours now! 

Cat And Router

As any owner will testify, cats will nap on virtually any warm spot around the house and treat it as their personal property.

There's this man who lives in England and has a cat at home.  His cat insisted on sleeping on his wireless router for hours, frequently knocking the aerial with her tail, crashing his internet connection.   The very annoyed owner made a joke about it and posted details and a photo of his problem on a discussion forum on the website of his Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Guess what happened next?

No, the cat didn't understand what his owner typed online (that would be quite an eerie story).

And no, the cat didn't compromise from then on either (they never ever do). 


Here is what happened.  The ISP responded to the post and offered a rather plausible solution.

They sent the miserable user a new router, which he plugged in next to the one his cat was so fond of.  In return, the ISP requested some form of proof that this is not a made up story and hence asked the user to send them more cute pictures of the aggressor!  

This is quite a customer service and quite a solution too - probably until the cat figures out she's no longer able to directly intervene with the internet, peace shall prevail. 

Suffering the same problem at home, are you?  Have a go at your local ISP and see if they would do the same for you.  You don't try, you don't know!

Small Things That Make You Smile

Every now and again, I see those small things that would make me smirk, things such as: elderly holding hands, the ability to make a friend to actually laugh out loud (not LOL) because it's pretty cute to see her laugh, heard jokes that aren't funny but are funny for that reason.  Even things like...it started raining just before I fell asleep.  Things like that.

Recently, a friend of mine told me a real story of two toddlers (age 4 and 3), a pair of lovey dovey seen walking down the street, holding hands tightly.  The elder boy led the way, the younger girl just willingly followed whenever he went.  At one point, the boy heard his mother yelled, 

"James, you are looking a bit hot, please take off your jacket".  

James looked at her mother, then looked at the girl next to him, clinging tightly to his hand, James appeared terribly confused.  The next minute, he looked at the girl in the eye and told her something unbelievably genteel.  

"Hayley, I have to take off my jacket now and I am going to have to let go of your hand for a minute".  

Before the girl could even respond to any of that, the boy continued,

"But don't worry, I will hold your hand again afterward".  

Hayley happily let go of his trustworthy hand, James took off his jacket and quickly return to Hayley's! 

Enjoy life's sweet little tidbits.  Share as often as you can too, if your will permits.

Just Like It Used To Be

We can get attached to people, things and places, you know...the tangible stuff. 

One can also get attached to feelings too if you care to admit.  

I do.  I would deliberately take a journey down memory lane and revisit places where I once belong, just to recollect.  I went back to a frequently-visited coffee house near my old office today, in search of something, a feeling rather.

It has been ages since I last stepped feet there - a spot where I used to watch people, hear politics talking, a station for reminiscing and bonding during my lunch hour get-away.  And today, I went back to purposefully look for Francis - the shop manager - whom we have become friends after a friendly bash regarding their appalling services years ago.

Good old Francis still remembers my name despite my sudden disappearance without bidding farewell.  Delighted to see me, I was welcomed from afar as soon as I approached the counter.  Not only did the lovely drink smells of wondrous gold and prepared just how I wanted it, a complimentary cake was thrown in for us mortals as well.

The lunch hour stretched long into the next hour without me noticing.  As if time has stood still.  

Everything is just like it used to be, but only better!  

They Certainly Didn't Teach Us That At School

As I was looking at the maps that spread across my dining table the other day when trying to pin down places I want to go in my next vacation, I thought, "wouldn't it be nice if there was a map of life" that could sort of guide us along our life's journey?

We do have to resign to the fact that things in life do not often go as planned despite our best intentions.  The thing is, our life has a way of teaching us lessons that we would never have learned otherwise.  Yup.  Definitely not learnt in school.   Some of life's lessons, unfortunately we would rather not have and some of what we learned we wish we never had to. 

If life were predictable and always within our grasps, we will never grow.  The solace is, we can choose to learn and grow from whatever life teaches us, no matter what! 

It is okay to look back once and a while and visit "pity city" for a short stay, but we have to leave it all behind and walk on without fearing the unknown before us. 

It's easier said than done no doubt, but hang in there my friend.  And don't forget you have all of us who supports you and your family on your life's uphill, downhill journeys in which we have all benefited so much from being part of the bandwagon.  We learned miracles can happen every now and then as well - as a MERCIFUL thrown-in bonus! 

Add oil - as we all like to say !

Double Standards

You disrespect that woman who has just jumped your queue and hopped on to what ought to be your taxi.

You disapproved your husband when he can't be swift enough to grab one when you were standing outside the shopping mall with an armful of shopping.

You looked down on those kids and questioned how they were brought up when none of them gave up their seats when an elderly boarded the train.

You didn't want your own kid to give up her seat after thinking how heavy her school bag was and what thought to be a long day for her at school. 

If your girlfriend asked you for a back rub and you said no, you are being termed as a real ***hole unless you have a very pressing matter you have to attend to.  You automatically assumed that by this logic, the same rule would apply both ways.  If you are an ***hole for not providing her with a manual release of tension, obviously, she would also be one if she turned you down when you asked for a manual release of tension.


I am of course just saying these hypothetically here to make you laugh (and think hopefully) but as you can easily imagine, the list can go on and on.

We are all human being and human being are flawed - understandably.

We finger-point at people, forgetting when we do so, we actually have 3 fingers pointing to ourselves!

Therefore, next time when throwing stones and boiling tar, make sure lest you get stoned and sticky yourself.

J.Edgar: Best Picture Nominee?

Do you agree that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has pretty much been a staple in our list of TV drama series growing up?   


For me, it started with Twin Peaks in the 90s, followed by X-Files, then more recently, Without A Trace, Criminal Minds, just a few on the top of my head.  If you have been glued and been vastly interested with any of these just like me, not only proved that you are my age, you have one person to thank.  

He is J.Edgar - you can call him the first ever FBI Agent who founded the whole institution in the 1930s. 

Played by Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie gave us a look at the man right up to old age.  After watching it, you will then understand the popularity of detective stories all began from him, who took an active interest in ensuring his bureau was not only well-represented in the media, but that the FBI was depicted in a heroic manner in all instances.

So, is the movie worth a look?  Certainly.

Being a bit of a geek in secret agents and with DiCaprio starring, Judy Dench in it, make this movie a must-watch for me.  A good take-away, is to try your best to ignore the very awful makeup during the 2 hours+ screen-play.  Their makeup artists have somehow managed to totally mess up the looks of the elderly version of not one but everyone.  In return, you might be surprised to get a rather touching love story mixed in, which sort of, balanced it out!

Met With AIDS Affected Orphans

I first came across Chi Heng Foundation (CHF) 2 years ago and have been extremely touched by their charitable aim in trying to help children in the rural part of mainland China who have at least one parent who is living with or has died of HIV/AIDS.

Before that, I always thought helping other people or any charitable institution for that matter would cost me a lot - financially, but very soon, I came to realise lending a hand to those who are in need doesn't have to be expensive at all. 

Today, I have been given a golden chance to meet with a few of the orphans - in which I regard as a great new year present to myself.

Back in the 90s, a blood donation tragedy occurred in China resulting in almost a million people in Henan province alone, being infected with AIDS. Now there are hundreds of thousands of AIDS orphans and Judy is one of them, whom I have spent most of the time today chatting with. 

He grew up in a small village in Henan province and his parents got infected with AIDS and Judy lost them since very young age.  Life after that for him, long story short, has been nothing but miserable.

Talking to him reflected how fortunate my life has been, but the most delightful thing was to be able to hear him speak of his own story of transformation.  How a boy who struggled to hold his head up has now become a university graduate (thanks to CHF's sponsorship).  He is all ready to earn a buck or two as an engineer, but he would rather deploy wisdom in action and help the underprivileged.

I have full respect for this youngster who is full of positivity and energy.  It is things like this which reminded us just how strong we really can be.  We were given this life because we are strong enough to live it.  

As Kelly Clarkson's new song says,


"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,
stand a little taller,
doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone."


So...do what you can, when you can!

Words Just Came Out Wrong

I thought I had a bad start at work today.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that my morning was one big mess, but very soon, I realised it was nothing as bad as what you guys have been through.

In my self-centred world I have ignored the vague hints that I should have called you earlier or something.  I decided to write a line or two in here to express my regrets.  I was looking for the answers and searching for the truth, which didn't even come close to expressing what I wanted the lines to be.

And when that moment came, the moment when we met, all words just came out so spectacularly wrong. 

Has anyone any faintest idea what I am talking about? 

Some say silence is golden.  Others say tears are words the heart can't express.  I don't even have tears run down, but rest assured that you are in our thoughts - always. 



 

Cafe Loisl - A Unique Find

Living in this concrete jungle in Hong Kong can be intense, but there are definitely ways to escape without leaving.

Greeted by European in decor with dark wooden furnishing, fitted with round marble tables, black and white tiled floors, and with one of the oldest newspapers in the world - Wiener Zeitung hanging on the wall, for a split moment, I could really imagine myself in a little cafe in Austria.  

Veering between needing my caffeine fix and bewilderment on a crisp morning, I went ahead and ordered an Einspanner, which consists of 2 shots of espresso with rich and thick whipped cream relaxingly lounged on the top.  They definitely know their craft and I promised the lady owner, Sirkka (during my last visit), that I will blog about this surprisingly authentic rendition here when I returned to the real world!  Well, it took me a little longer than that and in between, I have already visited them thrice!

Sirkka, a foreign yet pretty name to me, is apparently quite a common Finish name. Her husband and herself are seriously passionate about coffee drinking and they knew it is not easy to find such a quaint locale in the bustling city of Hong Kong and the lack of it prompted them to open this Viennese coffee house.   

Sirrka was able to expound at great length on the various coffees available in the city (abbreviated summary: there is no other good coffee available in the city).  Not only was I fed with excellent coffee, I learned that European coffee culture originated from nowhere but Vienna.

Legend has it that in the summer of 1683, bound by a treaty with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I against the Turks, the King of Poland led about 75,000 men to victory against the Turkish army that had for two months lain seige to Vienna.  The defeated Turks left behind bags of coffee beans which, upon advice of a spy, the Viennese then roasted. 

Thus, from the spoils of battle arose one of the greatest glories of - the Viennese coffee house, where even today citizen and tourists take their ease and restore themselves with gossip or solitude, newspapers, excellent coffee, and superlative pastries.

Cafe Loisl is a wonderful, unique find, pack full of character - a highly recommended coffee place.

The moment you step onto the small front terrace, I assure you can easily stay there all day and watch the time goes away.

Acquired Taste

I vaguely remember I used to absolutely hate coffee, veered away from spicy food, and never really enjoy binge drinking beer.  I am looking at my diet this week and observed where I stand right now.  All I can say is, I love them all.  Also, it used to all taste the same to me, but now I can tell the difference. 

Yup.  That definitely comes with age (along with the accumulating fat). 


As far as fat (I mean taste) is concerned, it definitely can be acquired.  I know personally for example, my first exposure to beer was in college and it was the typical crappy beer. I hated it of course but then you tend to act cool along with your peers so I would often be seen gobbling lager fairly quickly showing off!  Stupid move no doubt, because that was when they quickly handed you with a second pint!

Further down the road, I discovered just how many different varieties of beer there are in this wonderful world we are living in and found a few that I genuinely like and have stuck with them since.  Right now, needless to say is, quality vs. quantity (again, comes with age).

Same with coffee.  I remember working on the acquisition for the first few years I started work, the dreadful deal just didn’t go through.  Man it tasted bad, how can people take it in like water, I had no idea!   To me it was the strong association with wakefulness, alertness and productivity that got me gradually started.  Thanks to the over time and the burning midnight oils, these associations have caused myself to first be tolerant of caffeine and now actively can't quite live a day without.

Nowadays, it is also the association of coffee with a certain lifestyle, and realistically - I would say it is the "escape" moments in life which you so look forward to every now and then which created the need for it. It is also perhaps the pleasant company that you often have when having a cuppa which perfected the splendid acquisition.


I was curious what sort of "tastes" others have acquired and went around asking a few of my friends.  I have a few more to add to the list actually - Vegemite is definitively one and...along the line of non-food category, golfing pops up, crying babies can qualify and, interestingly, living alone per say, can be another! 

Can you think of anything else?