My March Vacation itinerary

Work was really quiet last night... I get to contemplate in the meaning of life, happiness and the boundless universe... :D

nah.. I didn't think about those meaningful things. Instead, I had drafted the itinerary for my vacation in March and what Mr. MonkeyMan and I can do.

This year, we have decided to stay in Hong Kong instead of going abroad.

Here's the first draft of what I plan to do. :D

date	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday					Saturday
time	12/03	13/03	14/03	15/03					20/03
08:00:00 AM
09:00:00 AM									To the airport!
10:00:00 AM
11:00:00 AM			女皇銀禧紀念盃 -Link-	Hong Kong History Museum -Link-
12:00:00 PM
01:00:00 PM
02:00:00 PM
03:00:00 PM
04:00:00 PM
05:00:00 PM
06:00:00 PM	Meet at HK station	Seafoods at Cheung Chau	Dinner at Mom's friend's restaurant
07:00:00 PM				Secret of Pharaohs -Link-
08:00:00 PM	Check into hotel
09:00:00 PM
10:00:00 PM
11:00:00 PM
12:00:00 PM
01:00:00 AM
02:00:00 AM
03:00:00 AM
04:00:00 AM
date	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
time	16/03	17/03	18/03	19/03
08:00:00 AM
09:00:00 AM
10:00:00 AM
11:00:00 AM		Ma Wan Park -Link-	Ocean Park -Link-	Ride the open deck tour bus -Link-
12:00:00 PM	Glass floor Ngon Ping 360? -Link-
01:00:00 PM
02:00:00 PM
03:00:00 PM
04:00:00 PM
05:00:00 PM
06:00:00 PM	魚一丁 Japanese Dinner			北京樓 Dinner with the ladies? -Link-
07:00:00 PM		Seafoods at Cheung Chau	Dinner at The Peak
08:00:00 PM
09:00:00 PM
10:00:00 PM
11:00:00 PM
12:00:00 PM
01:00:00 AM
02:00:00 AM
03:00:00 AM
04:00:00 AM

Red Pocket Pageant

This year, I had the mood to help my mom put money into red pockets. :D I haven't done so for many years.

I forgot how much fun it was and it was somewhat a bonding experience with my mom. :D

I don't bond with my mom much. :D

As usual, different organizations would have different style of red pockets produced each year.

This year, I am holding a Red Pocket Pageant in my house. :D

Here are the first round of participants. :D

I will have the finalists by the end of the month when I finally can open them and enjoy the 'fruitful bounty' inside. :D

New Year Fair's Loot :D

This year I went to the fair alone.

Normally, when I am alone, I'd go nuts with buying useless trinklets and stupid cuishions and stuff at the fair. (That's why my father always insists on going with me to avoid me buying a huge tree and wasting money on useless junks.) :D

It's rainy this week, so I didn't have much enthuisium when I visited the fair. :) It's no fun walking around a crowded area with people doing umbrella fights with each other.

I only briefly walked along the toys and trinklet section earily on and then headed to the flower stalls to find my bonsai tree :D

But, being an expert on buying useless items, I didn't fail to found these cute little soft tiger stuffed toys. :D

I originally buy them for souveniers for my boyfriend's family when I see them in June, but the more I looked at them, the more I adore them. :D hehe

So I am keeping them for myself instead!! :D

I named the red one "Siu Hung 小紅 (Little red)" and the yellow "Wong Jai 旺仔 (Wong Jr.)" :D hehehe

More of them playing here :D

New Tree for my 4th Year of Tiger... :D (這是我第四個虎年了)

After 4 months of break, I figured I should come back here and write something on Chinese New Year. :D


A New Cycle, A New Year, A New Start.


The last 4 months was stressful at work and other things :D So I was neglecting my brain.. :D All my creative cell in the brain had shriveled up all this time.

This year, I have decided not to get the traditional peach blossom tree. I still want something that is growing instead of a cut bunch of flowers though.

So I looked specifically for little bonsai like plants. I found this.

 
This is called "Japanese Quince" (Formally known as "Chaenomeles" 日本 海棠)

I think it's adorable and less messy than a big peach blossom. :)

Although there are enough blooming flowers already, I thought I needed to make it a little bit more festive. :D

I love little red lanterns. More festive looking this way. :D

So, here's my report on the new year flower. :D

I wish you all a fruitful year of the Ｔiger. :D 虎虎生威，　龍精虎猛，虎中作樂，　虎進金來, 虎父無犬子... :D

Summerizing the trip

• King Tut exhibit at De Young Museum
• San Luis Obispo Cal Poly visit
• San Luis Obispo night time farmers market
• Bubble Gum alley... eeewww...:D
•  Hearst Castle
• Colin finally sorta able to say "契媽" (God Mother) and keeps saying "My Michael" when he sees Mike. :D So cute.
• Saw 2 movies "Zombie Land" and "Paranormal Activites". I enjoyed them both.
  
• Cooking a 8 course dinner for Mike's gang. :D
• Oh! I even visited a farm to pick apples from tree too! That's a fun day
• Saw a shooting star on 26th Sunnyvale time!! :D First time in my life. :D So awesome.
  

Home

Finally got back to Hong Kong, 2 weeks of total relaxation and fun is over. :(

I am on a taxi home now, but encountering huge traffic jam, it's annoying. :D I am so hungry :D I simply skipped the meal on the flight from Tokyo to HKG. I want to raid the fridge once I get back. :P

I hope my parents has some left over food for me to devour. :D

I must praise the HK airport's efficency. :D The custom check out only took 5 minutes, and when I arrived at the conveyor belt to pick up my luggages, my trusty red luggages are already there waiting.

It was so smooth. :D Taxi is also waiting for me with a discounted fair. So painless and worry free. 

I do however begin to feel a bit of a sore throat, hopefully, drinking some five flower tea would help the situation. :)

must.. not... sleep....

Still 1 hour before boarding!!!

Must resist to nap... coz once napped, won't be able to wake up.. and will be like Tom Hanks in the movie "The terminial"......

The airport this time isn't too exciting. The shops are just barely opening up. I am tempted to go to "relay" to buy some magazines... but Imust also resist that coz magazine = waste of money.

I am so sleepy, I will definitely be able to sleep right when I find my seat on the plane.

Northwest airline is merged with Delta now. I am not sure wehther they would still provide ice cream bar as snacks. I think it's a great tradition and it should not be elimiated even after a merger. :D

I must now remeber to fly Delta at lease once every 24 months, because after the merger, my NW miles were automatically transferred to Delta's miles.. which only keep for 2 years if no activities within 24 months.  I am not sure there's a delta airline credit card in HK yet.

hmm... I think i will just go walk around, coz if I keep gluing my butt on the chair here, I will eventually doze off. Not good.

On my way to SFO

Hi there, my long lost readers... :D

I finally get out of my stressful cacoon and heading out to the airport. :) Isn't it amazing that I am writing this in the taxi? :P

I love the mobile internet just a little bit less than I love my boyfriend. :D

Anyways.. I am in hyper mode right now. I got off work at 2am, arrived home at 3, less than 2 hours, I just simply throw everything I needed to bring into the luggage and zipped it and go. :D  So hectic. :D

People at work were so nice, they all wished me a safe journey, and most of all, please return healthy. :P heheh

I think there is a gambling ring going on at work secretly betting whether I would be able to show up for work right on the day I land. :D

Suddenly fee very sleepy :D

The last time I checked, the flight from NRT to SFO was not full yet. Hopefully, nobody sit next to me. :D

Well... I will update again when I arrive the airport. Right now I will just chit chat with the driver to distract him. :D  I am such a socialable person indeed.

Name one single thing that is good that happened last week! :D

I was talking to my dear boyfriend just yesterday, as usual, i rant about the horrible things that happened at work.. and other weird stuff that happened (such as the post about not working network drive below)...

After the ranting was done.. Mr. Monkeyman asked, "Was there any good thing that happened last week?" :P

After much consideration, I declared... "None" :D heheheh

I think I am at a low point in life right now. :D Nothing seem to go smoothly at work... and new toys (network drive) seems to be playing tricks on me too. :P

Anyways, I concluded to Mr. MonkeyMan that, "well, I see it as a blessing in disguise, because if my life is just a breeze, then I won't look forward to the 2 weeks vacation which is coming up in Mid-Oct" :P

This horrible period would make a great contrast to the happy time ahead. :D

Such an optimistic person I am! :D

Well... now I think of it, the one good thing that happened was that I get to have lunch with my pal, Old Lau. :D

What a crazy unnecessary day of wandering

It seems day off is never relaxing anymore!!! :D hehe

It's like everyday off means a day of going out and doing something such as today.

2 days ago, I noticed my mobile network flash drive not working. I have tried 3 computers at home, all 3 not working.

So yesterday, I called up the network hotline, they said that my a/c has no problem and suggested me to go to Mongkok's repair center to get it looked at.

So, what better to squeeze the most out of a day off. So I asked my best pal Vivian to come out and have lunch with me at TST first, then I proceed to Mongkok.

When I arrived at Mongkok at around 2pm, I was totally lost! :P I have no sense of direction in unfamiliar terrorities such as Kowloon.

I have been back to Hong Kong for 15 years, yet, I rarely frequent Kowloon. :P I hated crowded areas such as Mongkok. It's just very suffocating!! :P

Anyways, I got out of the Mongkok MTR station... no idea which way to head to... so I asked some random lonesome guy on the street...

I must say... gosh... If you don't know the area, please just say "no i don't know this area and please ask someone else"..instead of randomly pointing at a direction which is totally the opposit of where I needed to go!!!!

After wasting 1/2 hour wandering around in vain, I finally asked another dude, who seems to know where he is going and he said, "lady, you are at the wrong street!!! the Sai Yeung choi Street is on the other side of Nathan road!! (which was where I was from oringinal before I was mislead by the first guy!!!  ARRRGGHHHHH!!)"

Anyways, I went to the so called repair center at around 2:30.... turns out the repair center is just a 1 man desk.... and he is out for lunch until 3:30!!!! WTF!! :D

So I went downstair again and wander around.  I was quite paranoid about wandering in Mongkok, due to the recent news about someone would throw liquid that would burn your skin just randomly.   So I decided I should just go visit the mobile company's outlet and let them check what's up with the flash drive.

I went there, the store folks were quite helpful. They checked and checked, no problem with my accuont obviously, they tested my flash network drive, also found that they were unable to connect, so they reenforced me that i should visit the repair center.

So I did. :P

Upon arriving at the repair center at 3:30pm, the guy was still not yet returned. so I just sit at his desk and waited...

3:40pm, he is finally back...

very laid back kinda way, he stick the flash into his computer.... waaalaaa... it freaking worked for him!!!!!!!!

WTF!!! So I said let's stick it in my notebook too and try!!!

He stick it, and it worked!!! ARGH!!! You see the irony?? Both me and the mobile company people tested it, didn't work...

Why this repair centre dude have some magic up his sleeve and it worked for him!!!! ARGGH!!!

Such a stressful day..

Now I am at a starbucks and not willing to go home because somehow, I know once I leave the area, this flash drive will break again... :D heheh

Well...that's all for today.:P

$11000 tax!!!!! Screw the environment!!! :D

I freaking forgot to file my tax this year!!! So the Hong Kong Governement decided that I have not been feeding my dear parents and decided I should pay full tax this year, which is a handsome $11000 + !! :D

What the hack!!!

Of course! After I received the Tax Return slip I freaked out like I never freaked out before! :D

I thought I had filed it!! Or.. I thought that when I didn't have to pay tax, the government didn't ask me to file... or some other weird reason!!!

Turns out that I actually selected the 'protect the envorinment, save a tree' option and opt out getting paper tax notice last year!!

Thank goodness the IRA agent I encountered a few days ago was quite nice. Didn't threaten to arrest me for failing to file tax etc.. :D

He politely ask me to refile it online and also file a protest, then they will resend me a new tax notes..

I just finished filing right now.. at 4am...

I clicked on the tax estimate just now and find that I still have to pay tax! Damn that HKCCA Award last year, I actually received about $2000 reward money from my employer which jacked my salary up the notch! :D

Well.. After getting that $11k tax estimate before, paying only a little bit more than $200 is a blessing! :D I am not complaining.

Now I switch back to the "kill a tree by receiving paper tax notice" again... Let's hope they re-estimate my tax payment in time. :P

本周 被 '打尖' 事件簿 (I hate being cut in!)

Dear Readers:

Please do not cut in front of me in the queue!!!!! I will stare at you with my evil eye, then I will sternly talk to you to line back up! I don't care whether you are 10 years old or 70! If there's a designated queue area, please go line the Fxxx up! :P

There is nothing irritating me more than people not lining up!!! I simply hate it!! It simply stir my middle-aged unwed woman symptom!

This week, unfortunately, for 2 HK residents, they get a taste of my lecture. :P

case 1

Location: A local 7-11
What was I doing? Buying a cup of ice cold tea and some fish meat balls.
The Accused: A freaking kid about 10 years old!
What happened: I was lining up at the counter waiting to order my fish meat balls. I was standing at a 1-man distance behind the customer in front of me. The criminal thought I wouldn't notice and sneaked in between me and the man before me!
What did I do? I politely told the kid, "Hey kid, The end of the line is not in front of me, it's behind of me, please go line up!" (小朋友, 條隊係我後面啵, 吾該排隊吖!)
What did the accused do? He pretend he didn't hear me. So I tapped him on his shoulder and said "Kid, I am talking to you" (細路, 我同你講緊呀!) , then I used my clan's ultimate stern stare power (demonstrated below by my clan's Elder, Old LaBean) and damage his nerves, so he finally lowered his head and got behind the end of line (which by now is 3 people away) :P

I must say, my dad has lose his staring power now since he's getting old. :D When I was a kid, his ultimate stare could give me a heart attack. :D

Case 2

Location: A bus stop
What was I doing? Waiting for the bus for work.
The Accused: A bunch of freaking school kids about 15 years old!
What happened: While there's obviously an already well developed line with people waiting for the bus, a bunch of school kids wearing school uniform just standing around the stop randomly. When the bus approached, they tried to get in front of me and the rest of the line to get on.
What did I do? I stopped them and said, "Kid, line is back there, everybody has lined up!" (小朋友, 個個都排緊隊, 龍尾係后面!)
What did the accused do?I guess they are older and smarter, they just gave me a strange look, but realizing I was right, they waited till all the people got on before they got on. So I only used a minimum of stare this time.




I really hate people not lining up!! I Really hate it!! It irritate me like an itch that I can't scratch!! :D


I will not go quiet if someone try to cut in line!!!!!!!!

Mobile Internet!!! :D Rocks!!!

Hahahha.. I am at work in the breakout area!! :D having dinner.. writing blog!! :D

It's typhoon #8 right now in HK... outside is like raining cats and dogs!!! awesome!! :D

Hehe it's so exciting!! :D I can play my mafia wars even at work now! :D

Too bad it's typhoon #8 right now. Most likely, I will have sponsored taxi ride home tonight :D So won't be able to test out the internet on a moving bus.. :D

There's always tomorrow. HAHAHAHAH

The Joy of Mobile Internet Anywhere in Hong Kong!

Today I went to work early to look for a new mobile phone plan. My old one has just expired, and I can freely bring my phone number to elsewhere to get a better deal.

After not much comparison done, I decided to use the "3" network. Not only did I bring my mobile phone over, I also joined their mobile network plan too! :D

It's actually cheaper than what I was using! :D

Old plan at old company:

HK$238 for 1600 minutes
HK$138 for 100mb of mobile internet on my cell phone

The New plan at "3"
HK$128 for 1600 minutes outsiders and 900 minutes inside the network
HK$98 for 50Mb of data, but max at $198 if you used over the quota, which basically mean $198 for unlimited mobile internet usage.

The flash drive on the left is the mobile network connector. :D It also comes with a sim card so you can stick it in your mobile phone when need :D

New Assistant Editor :P

Introducing a new Assistant Editor, Mr. T. :D

You can see here he is busy at work trying to maintain the blog. :D

The netbook he is using is my new Lenovo S10-2 netbook :D  Very very nice! :D

林黛電影放映暨文物展 Linda Linda!

今天仍然是假期, 我又出山看世界.. :)

今日嘅目標係 "香港電影資料館" - "林黛電影放映暨文物展".

It's my day off again today, so I decide to leave my hobbit cave and see the world. :) Today's destination is the "Hong Kong Film Archive". There is an exhibition going on about a super movie star in the 50s and 60s era. Her name is Linda (Lin Dai).

She committed suicide at the age of 30, the prime of her life. When a beautiful public personality died at such a young age, people feel extra pity for her. Same is true for Diana or Monroe or James Dean.

She is most famous for the movie, Love without end (不了情).

Other than the movies she had made during her lifetime, my dad most enjoyed to comment about her allegedly 18 inch waist?!

You can see why my dad would idolize her in this video below. Please pay attention to her less than 20 inches waist!!!

The exhibition didn't allow me to take any pictures inside, so of course, being a master of sneaking pictures, I took quite a few pictures anyways. :)

This is her bedroom. The bed was so tiny (maybe only 4 feet wide x 5 feet long) it made me wonder whether husband and wife sleep together back in those days. :P I kept telling myself, this bed barely fit just 1 of me. :P But then again, one of me = > 2 of Linda anyways.. hahhaha... so in the end, this small bed makes much sense. :P

Her make up desk. The picture is angled because of me having to hide my camera in my hands :P I wasn't aiming! :P

Her coats and shoes and purses. Very classic look. :)

A closer look at her high heels! How can someone walk on such a thin heel!?!?! :D If I were wearing such high heels, the heels would break no more than 2 seconds :P hahah

This embroidered cheongsam (長衫) looks so classy and expensive!

Being a fan of black and white prints, this is one of my favorite cheongsam in the exhibit.

These are her pretty perfume bottles, jeweled cosmetic boxes and hand box-purse. :) She had such romantic and classy tastes.

This is another corner of her room which displays her daily used items, such as her sunglasses, mascara, bracelet and earrings, etc.

A closer look at the diamond bracelet inside the glass jewel box. wow. :)

A few more pieces of her cheongsam and dresses were displayed. The center display is her wedding gown which is so simple but appropriate for the occasion.

When I took this picture, I couldn't help but exclaimed to myself, "What a petite lady she was!" These clothes is a tight fit for a small lady about 5 feet in height, not more than 100 lbs in weight!! Such a heavenly creature!

There are more to see in the exhibit, but these are the pictures I managed to sneak. :) If you are a fan of late night old black and white movies (國/粵語長片), this is a lovely exhibit to spend an hour on a hot summer day.

Here is a discovery channel documentary about her. :) Enjoy, it's in English.

For more of the exhibit, there is this video produced by TRHK.com that you can view on youbube.

老灣仔遊趣 Exploring Old Wanchai

Ahhhh... Finally taking a break from Mafia Wars! on Facebook! I stand by my initial comment about facebook: It is ultimate evil! :D

I have day off today, so I figured I really should update my blog some. :D After all, lately I have been out and about when I am having day offs instead of staying put at home. :)

Last Thursday, 3rd Sept, I went to Wanchai to buy that awesome bottle of chilly sauce and met my parents for dinner.

Before we met, I wandered around the old Wanchai Market area.

I didn't have a chance to visit this historic building before its renovation. To say it's a renovation is not exactly correct. It's being 'restructured' so it can fit a high-rise on top of it.

It used to look like this (click for picture). But now it's all blocked up for construction.

I walked a little bit further and found another historic building called the Blue house. You can see why it's called that name in the picture below.

I think the government wanted to tear down this building too, but after much protesting, it is now one of the protected sites in HK. :)

The blue building also house the "灣仔民間生活館" (A privately owned museum about things in wanchai / HK).

I have entered the museum and chatted with the caretaker there for a few minutes. The museum is currently housing a collection of Chinese wedding related memorabilia. The exhibit changes every 4 months or so. :)

If you are interested in the pictures of the exhibits, please click here. :)

It's unbelievable that I haven't explored my native land Hong Kong too much. :D I have lived here for > 20+ years (not that I am only 20 years old... :D I just subtracted the years I was living in Canada to come up with this 20+ number! :D)

It was a fun, eye opening and relaxing stroll. :)

If you are interested in more old wanchai, here's a forum post that has lost of old... I mean antique pictures of wanchai. It's most interesting.

About Love! :P

A colleague at work forwarded me this picture.

It claims to be a piece of composition by an elementary school kid.


The Subject:

Write an article about Love.

Requriment:

1. Clean and simple words.
2. Must have a tragic ending.
3. No limitation on the number of words.

Answer from the kid:

Will you marry me?

"Bugger off!"

Hahha.. I find it funny and appropriate! :D

Killer Chilly Sauce!!!

Today is my day off. Ever since my office moved from Wanchai to Quarry Bay, it's been very inconvenient for me to get my favorite chilly sauce from a local fishball noodle house!!!

I must go and get it today!!!

You know what!!! The inflation in HK is really bad!!!

just 7 months ago, this bottle of awesome chilly pepper sauce only costed $22!!!! Now you guess how much it cost!?!

HK$ 30!!!!!!!

It sure is crazy!!!

But the hotness just suit my taste buds so well, I couldn't help but get one!! I just simply can't live without it! :D

In a 5 pepper hotness system, this hot sauce has the potency of a 8 pepper! :D hahaha that's how hot it is. 

Back when I was still working at Wanchai, I used to finish a bottle in a average 1.5 month! :D hehe

Now I will spread it through 3 months.. because it's just too expensive now!!!!

Soup or Dessert?

Do you think these are bowls of Papaya soup or Papaya dessert? :D hehe

It's really a tough choice! :D

It's a fish and papaya soup, but the papaya was sooooooo sooooooo sweet. The soup is full of papaya sweetness!!!

It's one of my favorite soup in the whole wide world! :)

It's a wholesome meal in itself because it has fish and fruits and liquid in it. :)

How the hack my mom can make such creamy white colored fish soup?!?!

My poor award! :D 我可憐的"最受歡迎女歌手" 獎....

I don't want to talk about it much...

But let's take a minute of mourning silence to mourn the damage of my once flawless HKCCA Award....

Acupuncdur

As I had mentioned yesterday that I had this awful persistent neck and shoulder pain. It was so bad that it rendered me 'mindless' throughout last 2 weeks.

Finally, my colleague sensed my explosive grumpiness and the lack of concentration at work, she recommended me this gadget called "acupuncdur" (智能針灸貼) to ease my suffering.

I originally had a great deal of doubt about these street formulas / machines. But when you are desperate, you'd try just about anything that might work.

At a cost of HK$3xx, it's not cheap! ( I am sure My friend Old Lee won't endorse ) The thing was, the pain has made me not able to sleep well, cannot concentrate, grumpy and my eyeballs fell like they are popping out. My neck pain has expanded and caused headache too, so I thought, for a mere HK$3xx, it's worth a try :P

It's quite easy to use, just just stick the blue pad on the sore spot and it send electromagnetic pulse on your muscles and massage it for a interval of 20 minutes.

After 2 days of applying this, the headache is gone. On the 3rd day, I feel that I can finally sleep well and wake up refreshed.

Tonight will be the 4th. The soreness seems to be reduced a lot, my neck can finally turn easily without too much pain. :)

I think this is the best buy I had this year!! :D

The pad has some kind of herbal glue which suppose to help relief your soreness. :P It also help stick to your skin too. But it's not really sticky. I mean it stick on your skin fine for the massage, but when you remove it, the black stuff does not leave on your skin.

It's just very awesome! :D

尋人... Gone Missing?... :P

Thank you all of you who wonder where the hack I went all this time. :P

Well, it's summer time and it's a season for me to hibernate :P

Well, there are are several reasons for my stop writing.

1. work has been hectic. :P When you have to write long emails / complaint logs almost every night, you lose the appetite to write more stuffs when you wake up. :P
2. I have been suffering severe neck and shoulder pain. I think it's because I slept the wrong way or something. :P The neck pain was so bad it caused headache every single day. :D You can imagine I have foul mood all these time. My poor colleagues.. they had to tip toe on my explosive impatience everyday.   
   
3. As I have always say... Facebook is evil. :P I have fallen to the darkside! :P My colleagues invited me to join and there it is, this bejeweled game I always enjoy is free to play on facebook! :D So during my mindless hibernation, I went there to play.... day and night.... 

But the end of August is approaching, Summer break should be over! :P

Thank you for all your threatening/caring comments about me not writing :P Hehe

Crocs Carnival

It's my day today and it seems day off is always busy :P

This morning I went to the Hong Kong Convention Center again and attended the Crocs Carnival! :D

This is the email I received notifying me of such an awesome event! :D

Everything is on sale! :D As low as 90% off!!! Of course, as a fans of this strangely designed foot wear, I must go! :D I even convinced my parents to tag along too! :D

My parents was originally resisted to try any of these shoes because 1) expensive at local outlets, 2) they look weird 3) they had purchase some faked versions on the street before and it's not comfortable 4) fake ones are stinky :P

But I told them, Mom! You spent hk$30 bucks to buy some uncomfortable fakes A-貨, why not go to the carnival with me and see if they have a 90% off real deal? :D

This tactic worked :P

My dad tried on a pair of flip flops and loved it right away! He declared, "Wow, it's really makes a difference!! (嘩！著落去真係吾同喎！！)"

My mom always had the same comment! :D

So, after 1.5 hours of browsing around, we bought 9 pairs! :D 2 pairs for each of us and 1 pair for my lovely little god son, Colin. :)

Although, end up getting only about 60-85% off for the items, it's still worth it. :D

Imagine buying a pair of flip for for hk$298 originally, now only hk$98?! :D It's like stepping on clouds. :p

These are slippers for me :D

My dad left a happy customer! :D That's the most important part. :D

These are all our hoards.

My mom bought 2 pairs of this style of shoes. This is a pair of red one, another pair is black and grey. :D The one she is wearing now is a faked one! :D She was trying to demonstrate me how awful those fake ones are compared to her new comfy real Crocs. :P (can you tell I really don't want this company to go under!? :D)

Hehe This is just a comparison how Colin's shoe size measures up to mine! :D My shoes are such 'dragon boats' :D

These are dad's special edition pair of crocs and a pair of flip flops. :)

I am now officially a registered member of the Friends of Crocs club. :D I should get some kind of discount next time I buy crocs again. :P But these shoes seems quite durable... ...... Do I really need more pairs in the near future? :D hahaha

Maybe I will donate my $50 coupon to my best friend, Viv :P

The Book Fair Hoard

I bought 9 books in total in the book fair this year. :) 8 for myself and 1 for my dad. :D

It's so nice to have the books on sales for up to 30% :P

I even bargained my dad's book to 35% off!!! It's a book of many Chinese painters and calligraphers' works.

宋雲軒藏品第八集

It has all kinds of calligraphy and Chinese paintings in the book. for a mere HK$150, my dad praised my bargain hunting instincts :P

潘紹聰 系列.

He is most famous for hosting Ghost/paranormal radio shows in Hong Kong. I download his show's podcast to listen on the bus before and after work. :D Since I am a fan of his, I must get his books! :D 30% off. It's a good deal.

歷史的大爆炸

This is a documentary about the June 4, 1989 Tienanmen Square Massacre. I was a teenager at the time. I think most of my peers in my generation who had experienced going on the street to protest with the students at the square share the same passion about this piece of tragic history.

Mao's Last Revolution

This is the only English book I managed to get at the fair. I think the subject was interesting. I am by all means not a commie. I tried to read it on the bus the last few days, but it seems after a few paragraphs, I always fall asleep. :P I will tell you what I think when I finish this book. :D haha

Last but not least!!!!

"我的低能.." 系列

These comic books are written by my friend Viv's friend, 馬仔 (Maggie) :D It's an enjoyable read. I finished both books on the bus ride home from the fair.

It's enjoyable, but I must say that "我的低能婚禮" is still my favorite. :D

我認為,"我的低能旅行" 可以再長D 就好了, 有點到喉吾到肺 的感覺. :)

而我的"低能大肚之道", 有趣, 但我對生仔呢家野沒有共鳴, 所以沒有 "婚禮" 那本咁正. 不過, 馬仔的書, 無論 topic 關吾關我事都好, 我一樣支持! :)

Fanatic Hong Kong Book Fair 2009!!

This year is the first time I have been to the Hong Kong Book Fair. This is the 20th anniversary of the event.


I don't know why, I have been back to Hong Kong for 10 years now? I have never been to the book fair before. :D


This year, very strangely, I had the urge to go. :D Very very strange indeed, coz I usually avoid crowded places.


I went there on the last day of the event because I have been working everyday since its opening and only have a day off on the last day (28 June, 2009)


Due to working late till 4:30am the night before, I only slept like 4 hours before I head out to the Hong Kong Convention Center located in Wanchai.


There's a a Chinese saying "People Mountain People Sea! :P 人山人海" describes exactly how the last day of the event was.

This is when I was lining up to get the ticket.

The arrangement was not so good that day. I went near the venue and asked a policewoman where to get tickets. She instructed me to go up to a shopping area to line up which I did.

But turned out that line was not for tickets, but for 7-11 snacks!!!! WTF :P

Good thing there is another policeman walking around that snack line and broadcasted, "People! This is not the line for the bookfair, this is the line for food and drinks. If you want tickets to the fair, you may go down stairs (where I just encountered that stupid woman police!)"

this is the snack line which wasted 15 minutes of my precious time! :D

After about 15 more minutes, I finally entered the convention center and bought my HK$25 ticket to enter the book fair. :) So exciting! :D

I arrived at the convention at around 12:30pm. :D At the time, there aren't that many people yet. But when the closing time approached, it got really crowded!!


:) You can look at the slide show here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ticklyhippo/Small#slideshow/5365931544388485138


I think I have encountered some celebrities at the book fair that day. But being out of touch of the local entertainment industry, I have no idea who these dudes are. :P

I left at 4pm to avoid the traffic. :D I end up buying 9 books. If I stayed longer till the end, I could possibly get more. The news that evening said that books are as cheap as hk$10 for a huge king size pillow case bag! :D But my home really has no space for them. :D

Happy Birthday Old Lee! :D

Happy Birthday, Old Lee! :D

Welcome to join the rank of Mid-Trigenarian!! :D haha