京都念慈菴川貝枇杷膏.. 一樽攪掂晒?

Although I don't feel very sick right now, but my throat feels like it's on fire. :D People sing that the "京都念慈菴川貝枇杷膏" "不但只咳化痰好, 煙酒過多, 睡覺不足, 喉嚨痛, 聲音啞, 一樽攪掂晒". :D

So I decided to buy one bottle of this surup to try. :D I had 1 spoonful today, although I am still coughing, but at least my throat is not burning. :D I will update you when I finish a bottle and see how well this work. :D

Sunflower craze :D

I like to take macro pictures of flowers. :D I think when you see a flower with your eye, you see the whole flower and its surrounding.  When I use my camera, I'd like to see things my bare eyes can hardly notice. :)

 

  

  

 

150 Males vs 100 Females

I was reading an article about the 'unbalance gender situation' in China this morning. It's not a new piece of news, but as I was reading it along, I couldn't help but thought to myself "What a lucky girl I am".

Although there's no one-child-policy in Hong Kong, my parents only had me! :D And unlike most many Chinese parents, they don't mind me being a girl. Although I am not a perfect daughter to them, but I think they are pretty content about how well they had brought me up. :D

They had bought me up right!

When parents did a good job on their children, why care much about whether they are boys or girls? :) After all, this world needs both male and female to continue.

Chinese people have this problem about continuing their family name by the male line. But what is in a name? It's not like it cannot be changed. If your male child didn't like you, he could just go to the immigration and change his last name from Apple to Orange. Why so uptight. :) (何必咁執著呢?)

I say male and female are different, but equal. :)

情迷百合

I bought some lilies lately, I thought they are quite exquisite. :)

Here are some pictures I took of this flower. The white one is my boss' flowers at the office. The pink ones sit on top of my cupboard at home, still blooming. :)

我愛 Bathroom Duck :D

I was digging up some old photos in my photo directory..  I just realize I have over 60.7GB worth of photos since 2006! :)

In the mean time, I dug up a picture which I took of my bathroom. How interesting unintentional patterns would show up on walls and ceilings. :)

Here is our bathroom duck. :D Can you see it?

心靈 '咳' 湯.

There's no one better than mom in this whole world. :D

My cough is still recurring and western medicine doesn't seem to cure it efficiently.

My mom then heard about this Chinese tradition remedy which suppose to soothe my throat and supress my cough.

Last night when I got home at 2am, I found the soup on my desk.

Instead of making me reheat it, she stored it in our mini-vacumn slow cooker. :)

Although the soup doesn't seem too effective, but my mom's effort makes me feel so warm and loved. :)

The soup is made of a chunk of pork, some fungus (靈芝), and some other Chinese herbs that suppose to do good to my cough. :)

Bride of Frankenstein

Heheh! This morning I got up early to go to the Hair salon to fix my hair! I thought the hair perming gadget at the salon was quite funny. :D

Although you can't see very clearly in this picture, but there are actually lots of dangling claws with hair ironing rolls holding my hair up. :D

I thought I look like some kind of monster in the world of Frankenstein. :D Or that mystic monster with lots of snakes on her head instead of hair... :D

Vacation October 2008!!! Part III Itinerary: Cheung Chau

Here's the itinerary of the Cheung Chau Part of our vacation. :D

	11/10	12/10	13/10
0600
0700
0800
0900
1000	Go to Cheung Chau		Maybe:
1100	Wander!		Science Museum?
1200		Some more Cheung Chau	History Museum?
1300		Visit Pirate Cave	Space museum?
1400
1500	Check in B&B
1600	Relax!
1700			Sampan thru Aberdeen Harbour
1800	Meeting Parents for Seafood Dinner at Cheung Chau		Jumbo Boat Dinner!
1900		Peking Duck Dinner (cousin's birthday)
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
0100
0200
0300
0400
0500

White spots on throat!?!?

I had a fever of 102.3 degree yesterday.. :D So I went to the doctor... here's the conversation between me and the doc..

Doc: go Ahhh..
me: Ahhh
Doc: hmm.. 你喉嚨有D 白點嘅?? (hmm.. How come your throat has some white spots?!)
me: 吓!?! 白點!? 係咪即係'白喉' 呀?!?!?!?! (What?! White spot!? Am I having "diphtheria"?!)
Doc: *smirk* 吾係, 可能是上呼吸道感染引起扁桃體化膿o姐! :D (No, possibly is just the upper respiratory tract infection causes the tonsil to suppurate)
me: 噢! (Oh!)

哈哈！有白點就＝白喉, 我想個 Doctor 認為我白痴多D :D hehe

Vacation October 2008!!! Part II - Itinerary: Taiwan!

After a few days of pondering, I finally come up with the itinerary for our upcoming Taiwan Trip. :) Here's the first draft :D

	14/10	15/10	16/10	17/10
0600
0700
0800	get up & go to pier
0900	Must arrive at central	北投 - 春天酒店 hotspring day. Ride the 北投MRT	Ride the Speed train and visit 高雄
1000	arrive at HKG			西門丁 (buy duck tongue!)
1100		Soak in Spring	Visit 蓮池潭 + Confucius Temple	Lunch at Taipei 101 (no flip flops allowed)
1200	Fly out to Taiwan	Check out the origin of the spring (地熱谷)
1300		Lunch nearby	Back to the City for Lunch
1400	Arrive at TPE	Hotspring Museum	Take the Ferry to 旗津	Get back luggage and hit TPE
1500	Check in & rest at Cosmos Hotel	Back to Hotel and Rest a bit
1600				arrive at TPE
1700	中正紀念堂 open till 6:30pm
1800	Dinner at Taiwan Story Land (台灣故事館)	士林 night market. 北投MRT 劍潭站 exit1	Dinner at 六合 night market	Fly back to HKG
1900
2000		Ride the Miramar Ferris Wheel	Going home
2100			Back to Hotel
2200	Back to Hotel	Back to Hotel
2300
2400
0100
0200
0300
0400
0500

LaBean's Library (Stephen King Section)

Let's continue with my Library Tour.. :)

This is my Stephen King Section. Although I am not a loyal fan of King, he has a few novels I really enjoy.

"It" is story about a child killing monster. It's so chillingly horrifying that it made me scared of clowns and sewers and the dark! I highly recommend it if you want a good nightmarish scare. :)


I have read another book by King that is not shown here. It's called "The Stand". It's also one of my favorite King Novels. I think I left it in Canada, so it's prolly in Liza's garage right now. It's an Epic about Good Vs Evil, Survival and Death.... all those kind of intrigues.

Dream Chronicle IV: Journey to the Center of the Earth

I was sick the last couple of days... My old friend "URI" (Upper Respiratory Infection) has come back to visit me. I am being smarter this time. Once I start to cough, I went to see the doctor right away.

It's been the 5th day now, but the cough still doesn't seem to go away.

The medication seem to make me have vivid dreams though. :D

Last night, I dreamt about journeying to the center of the earth with Brendan Fraser just like the movie! :D hahahh. Only Brendan in my dream looks like Mr. Monkeyman though. :P hehe

A month or so back, I took my parents to watch this movie in 3D!!

It's quite fun! The objects were like flying right in front of you. I wanted to extend my arms to grab them many times during the movie.

I highly recommand watching these fun adventure movies in 3D!!

Lovely paper lanterns of the Mid-Autumn Festival

Shopping malls are decorated with paper lanterns. So festive.

There are lots of choices to choose if you want your own paper lanterns. :)

Look at this Giant White rabbit!! :) Legend says that a rabbit is living on the moon with the moon lady (Sheung Or).

A large billboard advertising all kinds of mooncakes. :D Sadly, just like pineapples, I don't eat mooncakes either :D

Ahhh.. the moon on the 14th of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. It's quite round indeed.

My Desktop is in a coma!!!

我個電腦不知何故, 在今早大昏迷!!! 現已送院治療, 現時生死未卜.... 看來佢要在院過中秋了. 提起中秋 , 我在街上看到很多紙燈籠, 比起前兩年興起的 plastic 電燈籠真的好好多.

記得小時侯我很喜歡和 next door 的小朋友一起煲蠟, 燒燈籠, 真是十分開心. 玩在由於安全關係, 已經吾可以煲蠟了. 真是可惜.

Vacation October 2008!!!

Yay!!! The October Vacation has been planned and set!! Here's a brief introduction of where Mr. MonkeyMan and I will be staying. :D

11/10	Cheung Chau B&B
12/10
13/10
14/10	Taiwan Cosmos Hotel
15/10
16/10
17/10

What soup do you prefer today??

Waiter: 小姐你今晚飲咩湯呀? (What soup would you like tonight?)
LaBean: 有咩湯飲呀? (What kind of soups do you have?)
Waiter: 有中, 有西的... (We have Chinese and Western...)
Colleague 甲: 吾洗'惗' 啦, 佢西人o來嘅, 當然飲西湯啦!!　:D (No need to consider!! You are a westerner [due to my superb English blah blah skill], give her the western soup la!)
LaBean： 錯!!! 我係個 '中女', 所以我飲 '中湯' 先 correct! :D (Wrong!! I am a middle aged woman! Therefore, please give me the Chinese soup. [ '中' in Chinese means "China" or " Middle ". People joke that those who are middled aged as "middle woman" :D hahah] )

註: 中女 吾係 "中國女子", 而係 "中年女子"　哈哈! :D

LaBean Sr.'s Calligraphy

My dad has been practicing Chinese Calligraphy. It's a good thing coz it really calm him down a lot. Before he took the Calligraphy class, he was ultra grumpy being retired. :D He doesn't seem to enjoy his retirement much. I guess it's quite boring to be retired. :D

The other day I asked him to write me the Chinese Character 忍, so i can stick it on my cubicle at work to remind myself. :D He also wrote me the above word, which means Quietness. :D

I gave the "quietness" to my boss, wishing the hotline will be less busy. :D

I think it made my dad very proud that his daughter appreciates his hobby. :D

LaBean's Library (Diet Book Section)

"Dieting" is such a controversial subject. :D

My boyfriend gave me the Paleo Diet book which introduce you to ways of healthy eating in a more natural and balanced way.

Liza, my best friend gave me Dr. Atkin's New Diet Revolution. Many people would think that Atkin's diet is a meat eating only diet, which is not true. You can still eat a restricted amount of 'carb' and lose weight by this lifestyle.

LaBean's Library (Dan Brown Section)

Although this is the Dan Brown Section, you would notice there are a few books that are not written by Brown. :D

Dan Brown is famous for his "Da Vinci Code" which is a story about Da Vinci, Jesus, Mary Magdalene and some other bible related stories and characters. :D It's an interesting read.

The other 3 books in the front are related to the Da Vinci code too.

I haven't read the Holy Blood Holy Grail yet. I think it's an investigative report about Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child together and hense the holy grail is actually not a grail, it's actually Jesus' bloodline. That kind of thing. :P

LaBean's Delight (Sea Food Feast)

To celebrate my first voting experience today, I decided I should cook! :D

Here's is my home cooking (私房菜).

The Menu:
Drunken Shrimps (醉蝦)
Steamed fish with black bean & garlic sauce (蒜頭豆豉蒸倉魚)
Garlic Steamed abalones (蒜泥蒸鮑魚)
Ginger and Bok Choy stir fry (薑絲炒白菜)


Drunken shrimps are easy to make. Just let the shrimps swim in Shao Shing Wine for 15-20 minutes. Then, steam them with the wine for 8 minutes or so.

Steamed fish is even easier. I used those Lee Kam Kee black bean and garlic sauce. Just spread about 1 tea spoon on top of the fish and steam for 10 minutes. :)

Abalone is a little bit of hard work, coz you have to scrub it clean for quite awhile. Then chop the garlic and spread on top. Usually, I would put some green onions and red chili pepper on top too. But I forgot to buy them this time. Steam time only takes 12 minutes. It's very delicious

Bok Choy stir fry with shredded ginger. :) I think I did good, coz I didn't cook them till they are 150% dead. :D If you over cooked the veggies, they turn yellow instead of remaining green.

Once again, this proof my point! :D This is green!! :D The 'green' I saw at the election center today is definitely yellow! :D hahah

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to Vote I go.. :D

It's the Legislative Council Election of Hong Kong today. For the first time in my 30+ year humdrum life, I finally voted! :D

It started when I received my election notice a few days ago. It contained a voter's Poll Card, a map of your designated election center, a election guideline and a booklet about the candidates.










Heh! Notice the election center's name? "Fukien Secondary School" :D Together now, let's say the word "Fukien" out loud! :D

The process is actually quite painless and simple. You first get to walk to your designated center and show your HKID card. Then they would point you to your designated desk to pick up your ballot.

Now let me ask you a question, is the color of the square on the right hand side yellow or green?!? I was being pointed to a green desk to collect my ballot! I looked and I looked, I could not find anything green!! :D All I could see was the color on the right, which was very YELLOW to me! :D hahah

Another volunteer came over and guided me to the desk and we had sorta a little discussion of whether this was a green or a yellow color. :D In the end, he kinda agreed that it's more to the yellow side. It's like yellowish poopy yellow :D Kinda funny.

If somebody wasn't color blinded, the whole process should have taken only 2 minutes. :D It was good though coz it makes this experience all the more memorable for me. After all, I am no longer a voting virgin anymore! :D

Yay for being able to vote finally! :P

Here are some more pictures taken by my cell phone. :D


Candidate #9 Mrs Regina Yip with one of her supporters in Causeway Bay.


This is taken near my home. The candidates are trying their best to promote the election.


You can see the banners of the candidates under the shades of the trees.

LaBean's Library (Comic Book Section)

:D These are the comic books I have in my possession right now. I have a few others left at Liza's place because when I moved back from Canada to Hong Kong, there is no way I can carry so many books with me. :)

I had talked about the red one on the far right before. It's a funny story about a wedding. :D

And then the 3 books on the left are called "Train Man". It's a story about a awkward boy who found the love of his life. It's very funny. :D

LaBean's Library (Barry Trotter Section)

Heheh This is obviously a parody of the Harry Potter series. :D I haven't finished reading these yet.

If you asked me, there's a reason why J. K. Rowling gets to be the most profitable novelist of today while this writer only gets to write silly parody. :D

Nonetheless, I guess this could be a mindless fun read.

Labean's Library (Cultural Legends Section)

I love to study about people. I think everybody's life is a perfect story book.

Audrey was one of my favorite artists in the world. Her face and her voice and her grace just mesmerize me. :) So when I saw this photo book about her life, I must buy it! :P

And then there's the book about the King of Hong Kong. He's a legend in Hong Kong. It's sad that many of his calligraphy arts on the walls and electric boxes are gone since his death.

The book on the right upper corner is a photo book about Hong Kong's pop culture stars. Many rare photos of some actors who passed away are included. It's worth a look at.

And then, not to mention Superman, the man of steel! :D He's my favorite superhero of all time. :D This little book actually came with the "Superman Returns" movie DVD. I thought I'd throw it in here with other legendary characters section, after all, superman's story is also fascinating. :D

LaBean's Library (The Library Stamp Section)

Thank you for Mr. Chris Leung's comment about the stamp mark on the books. Let's come this way to the admin section of my library and I will show you. :)


Let me introduce you "the stamp" :D It's actually a stamp with my name on it. I had to smug it coz it contained my earthly real name... :D

I stamp it on most of the books I have owned. I guess it's just a pet habit of mine. :D

As Jedi Master Yoda would say, "Reveal my real name, I must not". :D

My other alias is "Tickly Hippo", that's why I have a hippo as a logo. :D

If I were to own a company someday, it'd be named, "Tickly Hippo International Inc." :D

This is the book I am currently reading. It's about Queen Elizabeth I and Lord Dudley. :D It's an interesting read so far. I had taken a little break right now with this book though coz I am researching about Taiwan. :)

Now, let's continue with our tour of the books.

LaBean's Library (Tolkien Section)

I have not heard of Tolkien's literature until I heard from my boyfriend and his gangs about "the Lord of the Rings" movies.

 'The Hobbit' is a fun little book about the adventurous Bilbo :D It's an interesting and fun read.

'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy is definitely an epic!!  Although the first 1/2 of 'The Fellowship of the Rings' is quite slow, but once you get to the middle of the book, I guarantee you won't be able to put the book down until the end!!

And then there are 'Silmarillion' and 'Unfinished tales", I haven't finished reading these though. :P  But I think they are also about the Middle Earth.

Many of the D&D role playing games people play nowadays are inspired by Tolkien's stories.  He even invented the languages for the different races in his book.  He's really an amazing writer.  

LaBean's Library (Harry Potter Section)

Harry Potter!! I bought the first one back in summer of 1999, back when I was still in Canada. It was a very good read. I like to read stories about a person (both fictional or non-fictional), because as you get to know the characters, they kinda become your friends.

I have followed Harry for 7 years (Harry Potter years), now that it has ended, I feel kinda empty.

These are the books I definitely would revisit again. :)

That's it for today. :) There are still some more sections to show you tomorrow. :)

LaBean's Library (Romantic Comedy Section)

Here's my romantic comedy section. :)

My favorites are "Bridget Jones Diary", "Just Friends" and "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers".

I forgot whether I read the book first or watched the movie first for the "Bridget Jones Diary", but both were good! :D

"Just Friends" is about a pair of old friends who turns into being lovers. :D Very romantic and very funny.

"The Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers" is a must read for any Non-Chinese guys who are dating a Chinese girl. :D HAHAHAH.

LaBean's Library (Classic Lit Section)

First, I must declare that I have the utmost respect for Classical novels. :D

Shamefully, I have to admit I have not finish these two famous novels of the century! :D

But, I had watched the movie of Gone with the wind a few times and adored the BBC adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice".

I think that count for something.... :D hahah..

I don't think my classic section would grow any bigger any time soon. :D

Now let's move on to the next section.

LaBean's Library (Eerie Section)

Welcome to the eerie section of my library. Many of my friends know that I am fascinated about the paranormal since I was a young kid. :D

In the last few years, whenever I travel to California, I'd try to look for some books about the haunting history of the place. :D

The latest addition is "Ghost Hunting" by the hosts of the Tv show, "Ghost Hunters", Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson. :D It was very interesting.

California has such a long history that the ghost stories would involve interesting bandits, cowboys and the gold rush. I myself had joined a few ghost tours around the State. I always thought that ghost tours are historic sites tours with a twist. :D

And then, there are the Chinese ghost stories. It's always fun to read about ghost stories in my mother language and about my home town. We Chinese are so superstitious that we believe ghosts live among us! :D

I wonder if there's any ghost tours in Hong Kong that I could bring my boyfriend to... :D I keep telling Mr. Monekyman that Chinese ghosts are scarier than western ghosts.. :D


And then, there's this ultimate Ghost bible! :D It's a book to take you through your PhD in Ghost Studies! HAAHAH

LaBean's Library (Anne Rice Section)

Inspired once again by Mr Chris Leung (梁煥松先生)'s book article, I decided to open my LaBean's Library today. :)

She is one of my favorite novelists. I think I have collected 96% of her novels. :)

So far I am only missing the latest, "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana". I don't know whether I would go out of my way to buy it though. I honestly say I don't like her last novel about the Christ. :D

It just seems weird she suddenly went from writing about Vampires, Witches and Demons to the holy son of god. :P

Among her books, I enjoyed "Interview with the Vampire", "The Mummy", "Memnoch the Devil" and "The Vampire Lestat" the most.

Quite frankly, back in the days when Tom Cruise was not such a weirdo, it was his "Interview with the Vampire" movie which made me want to read Anne Rice's first Novel.

Although I have most of her books now.. :D I only finished reading maybe about 70% of them. :D When I have time, I will pick them up to read again.

She had also written some exotic novels with quite a tinge of BDSM element in it. :P It's so explicit at times that I couldn't help but look over my shoulders to check whether someone is noticing about my reading word porns! XD

Now, let's move on to the next section. :)

Looking good! :D heh

I was stalking this guy before I go to work! :D Haha I just thought his shirt's funny. :D