Geez! The inflation is going nuts!!!

A few months ago, I remembered a bowl of octopus meat balls noodles only cost $22 bucks!!!

Last weekend, I went back to my favorite noodle house again and found out everything has hiked up in price!!!  Now this same bowl of noodles costs a bleeping $27!

A plate of chives used to costs $12 bucks, now $16!!!

Notice the make shift memo tags on the menu?  It's a sign that prices would go up anytime, and so often that the owner can't even keep up to make a permanent price sign anymore. :(

China Trip day 2 - needed 4 freaking stomachs to survive the day (17 Feb)

Itinerary:

07:30 - Morning call
08:00 - Head out to have breakfast (last year, old Lau and I skipped this, so last year's trip felt more normal)
10:00 - Head out to 觀音 goddess temple to have a hot pot brunch sponsored by the townsmen
12:00 - Start the firecracker ceremony and or climb up the mountain to visit the goddess' temple (it's on the mountain top)
13:30 - Leave the temple and head out to lunch!
14:00 - Eat that lunch! :D
15:30 - visit a local dessert factory .... (freaking taste test their dessert of course)
16:00 - souvenir shopping which includes a famous steamed milk dessert eatery (of course we couldn't resist to eat again!)
18:00 - Visit a local fish farm which is famous for its 2-3 feet long fish for Dinner!!!!!!!!

I know this is very shocking but this is what I did that day.

 

This is the sneak peak of what the foods we had. :D I will go into more detail about the temple visit and the big fish meal later. :D

WoW, my dad is somebody in Central! :D

My dad and I went to Central today to shop for tea. I never realize how famous my dad is!  Everywhere he took me, he was given discounts and chatted up a storm! :D

He first took me to his usual lunch spot (波記). This is like his canteen when he was still being employed... that's like 10 years since he retired. :D 

TOP LEFT: The restaurant is actually a make shift outdoor tent! 大排擋:D You can't find these type of eateries as many as it used to anymore. TOP MIDDLE: The Chef in action! :D TOP RIGHT: ratio of hot sauce to noodles is about 3:5 hahah I used up 1/2 bottle of their hot sauce paste. Sorry.  BOTTOM LEFT: The Menu. BOTTOM RIGHT: What we ordered:  Fish and greens flat noodles stir fry, and beef and soy sauce stir fry. :D

The eatery is famous for its stir fries. The beef noodles stir fry was done perfectly, not oily at all.

After this, he took me to a fruit juice store just a few steps away. :D I ordered the best melon juice I have ever tasted, no sugar added, just pure juice squeezed right in front of my eyes with an electric juicer as old as I am.

The lunch costed $50 (it should have been $53)
The juice costed $20 (It should have been $23) :D


address:
Alley next to 148, Queen's Road Central

Wow.. this is worth reading, I must share it.

"Infographics: A look into Hong Kong-mainland feud"

http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2012/02/infographics-a-look-into-hong-kong-mainland-feud/

Destress dinner :D

Aren't you jealous of me? :D

Assorted sashimi

Miniature rice box with salmon roe and sea urchin! :D the bowl is about only 3 inches in diameter and only about 1 inch thick of rice at the bottom! :D  3 bites, then finished! :D It's done just right. :D

In what way is this bus service enhanced?

Saw this at the bus stop the other day... I pondered at it for about 5 minutes before the bus arrived, I still failed to understand what changed.

So confident that my math and logic skills are poor, I decided to take pictures of the signs and ponder it longer.

Temporary sign at the bus stop

Old , seem to be out dated sign at the bus stop.

 I have come to this conclusion:

The only service enhanced is the more precise time table.

Old table (pictured in color) says first bus starts at 0640 hour. Then starting 0700 hour, bus will embark every 15 minutes Mon - Fri.

New sign (pictured in black and white) says First bus starts at 0640 hour and in 20 minutes (0700 hour), another bus would embark every 15 minutes Mon - Fri.

Correct me if I am wrong, this is trickery!

Tricking my fellow riders into believing the bus service has improved!!! But of course, unless maybe there are 2 freaking buses embarking at the same time at 7am, I am not buying this bull shit! :D

掛羊頭賣狗肉

Continue 講下今次北上逸事。

原來祖國 still allow dog eating legally. We of course wouldn't dare to order this!  How barbaric!!!!

In this meal, we had the toughest chicken and medium rare fish, which was the most terrible meal in this trip. :D

Old Lau, Happy Birthday to you! :D heheh

To celebrate my newest unborn god son's mom's birthday, I present to you my masterpiece! :D hehehehe

99% humidity

enough said! :D 

Hmm.. I am getting nose bleeds even with this 99% humidity.... fine! I will get a specialist to check it out. :/

九江雙蒸博物馆 （Kiukiang Double steamed rice wine museum)

Next stop is the 九江雙蒸 museum.  It is not a museum you can just randomly walk into. I just found out from their website after this trip that you had to pre-book the time you would visit. :D So anyways, we went there as a group obviously. :D

I especially like this picture of my dad. :D He's truly enjoying himself.

I always thought 九江雙蒸 is merely a rice mom my mom use to cook with or sprinkle on the ground during the ghost festival. :D  I could not be more wrong!

There are many different kinds of wine, such as plum wine, rice wine, stinky rice rice wine, etc. I think they are recently brewing their own white and red too.

A museum is not a museum if there is no antique looking things. :D

The tour was about 1/2 hour long with a guide leading us to different locations which shows us how the rice was steamed and fermented into wine.

At the end of the visit, everybody was rushed to the shop, and of course, naturally, I could not control myself and did a bit of impulsive shopping.

I bought 2 sets of these for souvenirs for my colleagues. :) Aren't the decorations on the bottles adorable?? :)

Museum's official website: (Chinese language only)
http://www.kiukiang.com/chinese/pmg.asp

The hills are alive.....

After that satisfying meal, it's time to climb some mountains to burn off those calories.

Look how much my dad is enjoying the nature and fresh air!

 This mountain we climbed is called "大雁山", it's a province level park (省級森林公園)　in the 鹤山市. There are 2 ways to go up the mountain. One is from the very very long stone stairs extended from the bottom of the mountain to the top (no way we would enjoy that); the 2nd way is from the shallow mountain side paved rocky road. From the above picture, you can tell we opt for the shallow path. :D

 There are 7 attractions on this mountain, but due to time constraint of a guided tour, we only visited the temple,  "海會寺", on the mountaintop.

What did I do there? :D hehe I was helping them build it!  :D

With a donation of RMB$100 you get to buy a piece of roof for the temple and write well wishes on them. :)

It's a very tranquil place, we stayed there for a brief 45 minutes, said hi to the Buddhas and deities then left for our next designation.

Here are some more pictures of the place.

For more info (Chinese):
http://travel.heshan.gov.cn/html/2006/11/20061102164513-1.htm

Double chickens meal!

The first thing we did on this mini get away trip once we arrived China was to eat! :D ehehhe

It is the beginning of a series of satisfying meals on this trip.

Have you ever had 2 chickens served in a single meal? :D This restaurant, I forgot the name, was famous for its signature "game hens" (走地雞), so the guide ordered 2 chickens for each table! :D We initially thought the 2nd chicken was given to us by mistake. :D

My friends would tell you, I loathe non-frozen chickens. I hate its earthy smells and tough meat. :D But these chickens, although freshly slaughtered, were done just right!

The sesame oil covered the earthy smells.  The chicken was skinny and simply no fat in between the chilly crispy skin!

Ok, enough about chickens... let's show you other dishes I enjoyed.

Top Left: Famous Shunde fish balls 順德稷魚球 & pumpkin stew
Top Middle: fresh greens :D
Top Right: peanuts and green beans and pork stir fry
Bottom Left:  Watercress soup (Love it!)
Bottom Right: Steamed fish

Loot from the trip! :D

I must show you this!! :D hahahah  My mom said I am 古老當時興! :D

When I saw a bunch of these on the shelf at a Chinese rice wine museum I visited during this mini trip, I thought everyone of them were so funny! :D If I were like stinkin' rich, I would have buy every single one of them! :D hahah

But I of course am not stinkin' rich ... yet, so I only afforded 2. :D

Translation: "I would rather become moldy with pride than to date degradingly." I couldn't control myself when I saw this one! :D This will become my ultimate motto and the cup will be a permanent fixture on my desk!

I got this for my boss! :D We all should not forget to flatter our bosses to build a better work relationship at work! :D hehehe 旅行不忘托大腳!

There are other funny ones too, such as this one below I didn't get. :D

Translation: "Don't fancy me, I am merely a legend!" :D  This would make a perfect gift for my American friends. :D

No facebook/blogspot/youtube in China! WTF!

Although the last 3 days of trip was ultra fun, one drawback was that there was no access to websites I frequent!

Especially no blogspot! That's why I can't fucking update my blog while I am in China. Major disappointment!!

I was telling my dad I want to go to Xian next!! FUCK THAT!!!!

Living in China for 3 days without regular internet already made me on edge, imagine going to Xian for a whole fucking week.  I will probably go completely insane!!!

Now, unless freedom of speech changes for the better in that freaking country, I will think twice / 3 times before I visit there for an extended period! It fucking sucks!!!

Here's a list of blocked sites listed by wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

Being single does not mean being lonesome

I just realized I didn't feel bad about being single this Valentine's day! :D I guess my mind spent all its energy worrying about that work project! :D

Then I read this piece of news and seems it's becoming the norm for us independent single ladies to not worry about being single on V day! :D

Hurray !

China Mini get away!! :D

GO! GO! GO!

 I may or may not be able to update the blog in the coming few days. :D

It all depends on how convenient the internet is at the hotels. :D

See you in a few days, just in case.

黑色星期一事件溥

First off, my vacation was shortened 2 days!  then on Monday, below happened.

00:00. Discovered 2 complicated tasks at work which was initiated by another on 02/02 but just handed down to me which is due on 20/02. I have annual leave from 15/02 to 20/2. Which means I have to work at home with only 2 days to complete because of mini get away trip from 16-18/02!!!

18:00. Went to work, found out that my original iPhone electric outlet adapter was stolen from my desk at work! Fucking thief!!!!!

03:30. (this is actually tuesday)Arrived home after work. Visited bathroom, night light was not working. So, I tried to turn on the ceiling light. It suddenly made a "bob" sound and the bathroom went back into darkness.

03:40. Showered in darkness. Eerie.

Just felt awful last night. :(

But, bad lucky comes to an end on Tuesday because I've got a pay raise and bonus! :D I won't disclose the amount there! :D

Black Monday Yesterday...

My stuff got stolen! Black 13th!

No mood to talk about it now! :(

反私院容許雙非婦打尖生B!

I read a piece of news  (雙非婦打尖害港媽流產)
yesterday about a renowned private hospital in Hong Kong allowed a non-permanent  pregnant visitor woman from Mainland China cut in queue to get examined, resulted in the miscarriage of a local Hong Konger lady's BB.

I wasn't that much into the Mainland Chinese women coming to Hong Kong to poop out their babies  news before, but now that my dearest bestest of the bestest best friend, Old Lau's baby is due in July, I am a bit worried.

There's a Chinese saying, "You don't feel the pain until the needle really pierced you!" (針吾吉到肉吾知痛!), I joined the facebook group: "反對內地孕婦來港產子！10 萬人 Like 俾政府睇！"  too, to protest HK gov't not doing a single fuck about these legalized illegal babies!!!

http://www.facebook.com/itstimetosayno

I think, maybe, just maybe, I will take some days off around the due dates of my newest god son, so that I can fight off the VISA pregnant women with my powerful inner CHI at the hospital for old Lau!  With the fierce Grand mama of the baby and I, I am sure we are invincible!!!

After all, I am the Chief God Mom （首席亁媽！！）　of this new born! 吾係咩呀!!! 

Assistant Manager of 魚蛋檔。

吉魚蛋算是香港十大美食之一吧，包括我在內的香港人也許會閑來無事，行行下街便吉串如蛋食下。　

昨天在公司附近的魚蛋檔看到這麼一個招聘廣告：

留意那句： "表現良好有晉升"!!

怎樣才是表現良好呢？點升呢?

Let me set a S.M.A.R.T. KPI - 日吉魚蛋 5000　串，剪牛雜５００碗 。　:D

升咗之後做咩呢？　

就係 monitor 住吉魚蛋的那個嘅 performance 囉，　而且仲要想Ｄ新方案去幫助吉魚蛋的去吉好Ｄ，吉多Ｄ，提升service level :D

怎麼好像我的 career 寫照!? :D

One song; 2 moods. 一首歌兩種心情。

近期愛聽國語歌，發現有一首幾喜歡的，　let's 分享分享。

劉力揚 - 手放開

本來聽這歌是因為對劉力揚這位歌手的喜愛，想不到原來仲有個原唱者：李聖傑的 version.

李聖傑-手放開

真想不到，同一樣的歌, 沒改任何歌詞，　兩個不同的歌手唱是有兩種截然不同的感覺。

我比較喜歡劉力揚的版本,因為她唱的是分手後對那段感情的雖是有緬懷, 但總結還是輕鬆的 (I mean relieved) , 瀟灑, 脫胎換骨! 正正是我那時候的心情啊!

李聖傑 那 version 給我的感覺是 "他撇完條女, 仲係度呻等待 !!"  找死乎!?!?! :D :D


但李的 version 也挺好聽的, 他的聲音好有磁性, 有點滄桑, 好正!!!

Impossible Shoes for Impossible Women?! :D

After having that weird haunted dream 2 days ago, I needed some antidote to soothe the scare, so naturally, "monitor shopping" (internet version of window shopping) would help! :D hehe

This pair of shoes caught my eye! Not that I want them, I was just thinking "Who would, in their right minds, wear these!" :D

I could only think of the Chinese phrase,＂人仰馬翻＂. Meaning, if I were to wear these, I would suffer a crushing defeat against the floor with my genetically engineered "trip and fall" trait. :D

 

夢。 綠牆紙的鬼屋。(下)

。。。續上文。

札醒後 cuss 了個同 "Yiu!＂差不多音的字，腦子裡帶著那詭異的笑臉再回夢鄉。

那個夢好像跳線 CD一樣,  重返到那笑瞇瞇婆婆相片那一幕, 唯今次老婆婆不只是陰笑, 且笑出聲來, 我當然是 "三十六着，走爲上着" 啦, 吾通仲企係度, 搏拉咩!

走呀! 走呀! 但那原本細小的房子, 不知怎樣成了直直的長廊, 沒見盡頭。

我一直跑，不敢回頭, 但那邪門的笑聲愈來愈近,我好 sure 呢個係夢, 因為在現實中我是沒可能跑這麼久的!　：Ｄ

那笑聲終於追了上來，　我一不小心，又仆街了！轉過身來時看到神主牌老婆婆的頭，　對，只有個頭，　向我迎面撲來，　後來還化成一縷綠煙！　

就在我掙扎的時候，　那個被我送閉門羹的男子在那綠煙中 materialized, 對我說，　＂我想 warn 你呀，　呢間房子不是你的， 叫你快走！但你現在是走不了喇，有排你受！＂

他說完後再化成綠煙，穿過了我的身體！感覺像 electrocuted, 動彈不得。

Whew！好在就這樣再次扎醒，　"Bill"冷汗!! 醒來時個心好像要跳出來地噗通噗通地響啊!

怕怕。

我媽仲語我那朝狂說夢話，　是英語的，　很驚青的語調呢!

有沒有人可以 analyze 下呢個 dream 呢？  


要找點什麼的來定驚。明天再談。

夢。 綠牆紙的鬼屋。（上）

今早發夢，是詭異的連續劇夢。是那種札醒了、瞓返又再續的夢。

夢中我們搬家了，去了一個疑似唐樓的單位，房間很細， 所有家私似是上一手留下的。牆紙是那種 faded green.

我們剛好settled in, 我正敞在 sofa 小休片刻，忽然門鐘響起。我開門時見到一個不似吳尊尊的中國男子，他表情忐忑不安，他想開口說話，　好像想 warn 我些什麼似的，但我並沒給他機會。我很大力地把門關在他面上。

我夢中的力氣也不少！夢幻中，我 bang 門那一刻，一塊之前沒有見到的牆突然出現，而我那爆炸性的力度境然把那面牆打碎！

我發現牆後面境然有個神枱，枱上有個神主牌，　神主牌上有一張一個我不認識的婆婆的相，她的眼珠像跟著我似的，　什是詭異。　我愈看愈入神，　境忘了那裡不應有這東西的，　當我回過神來時，　那相片中的婆婆境然對我陰陰咀，露齒地笑！　

嚇得我魂飛魄散！　醒咗！

。。。。　待續

iPad2 for dad! :D cheap pad for mom! :D

When we visited my favorite uncle in lunar new year, he gave my dad a gift (Pictured below) :D   My uncle called it a "Cheap Pad".  It's an imitation of some-brand's tablets, which runs on Android. :D

Gosh, all the functions of a smart pad are there, but it's just too slow and the touch surface is not too sensitive.  It's annoying when you try to swipe it, and it's not responding; when you try to tap it, it thinks it needs double tap. Anyways, it's functional, but it's just too damn slow even for my dad.

The problem is, once dad is introduced to a pad thingy, he won't give it up until I fix it! Fix it how?!?!?! "Make it faster!", "How to open this game?!", "How come I can't get to this game?!", "How to take pictures? (it only has a front camera, which is stupid)


Arrrrggggghhhhhhh!!! So, as a good daughter that I am..... :D (and to avoid "fixing" that cheap pad for dad every other minute) I finally bought dad an iPad2. :D

This is the cheapest version of an iPad2 I bought. HK$3xxx. 16G, only WIFI capable, no 3G (dad doesn't need to go online on the street anyways.)

Steve job once commanded his staff, "Make people fall in love with apple's products!", he had really achieved this goal!

Dad now won't even let me play it unless there comes a time when apps needs to be updated! :D He has officially joined the i-thingies addiction league.

Now the cheap pad goes to mom, she is not complaining :D


p.s.
With the iPad in my dad's procession, I can do facetime with my folks when I travel around the world. :D hehehehe. First trip to test it out would be in June when I visit USA :)

Is it so wrong to brag about red pocket money!? :D

讀完以下新聞後, 不禁 envy 現今的小朋友可以逗到成 $40,000 利事, 我仲以為我今年那　＄２０００　大元是不錯的了！　

雖然炫耀利是係膚淺些，但一年才一次，我倒認為，　現今社會，　Ｄ小朋友咁精靈，不用父母教都知道，　＂錢＂嘅 concept。　

所以，　我係 pro-炫耀的！昨日 meet 完老劉　＆　老林後，　我的 red pockets 又有新進帳喇。　嘻嘻！　 

我仲 complained 老李　不在香港也應 自動自覺地 snail mail red pockets to me for her own good luck!!! :D hahaha　

New alleged danger of breasts implants.

又有 ridiculous News 喇!!! 我都吾明好地地做咩鬼要僭建喞!! 家下仲衰到連累埋個 BB!!

我媽子話: "想要 心胸廣濶 好simple, 除了你老媽子我比你嘅 遺傳外,  食多D 木瓜鮮奶 咪得囉! 你細細個時都係咁食, 咪得你依家咁 "波濤起伏"呀!!"

各位 親愛的 reader, I swear 以上 quote is true quote from my mom, 我從來不知我媽子係咁生鬼嘅.

我也不甘示弱, 醒了她一句: "係囉, 我們好像 "榮華D臘腸咁, 真才實料, 凌舍不同" 哈哈哈!!!

English version here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/03/lucy-petagin-pip-implant-brain-cancer-daughter_n_1252260.html

大吉。利是。Candy wrapper origami

I found these interesting "Origami" exhibition at the "island resort mall" near my home.

They are made from candy wrappers and made quite lively.

I call this 大吉利是. :D　Because it's made of 利是糖糖 wrappers. :D

These are other origami plants made of candy wrappers. These are common new year plants, Fortune bamboos, peach blossom and water lilies

This is a candy wrapper intimation of the 9-dragons walls.  Each dragon's height is about 2/3 of a human adult, quite impressive I would say.

To translate this for my english readers.. "This 9-dragons wall is an intimation of the one in Beijing. This version is 675cm x 120cm.  It is constructed with more than 700 different parts and made with 999 Sugus candy wrappers. It took 3 months to complete this project. The dragon wall signifies happiness and good luck, simply put, all your wishes would come truth by just looking at the 9-dragons wall! :D   This internationally award winning art was made by Mr. Chan Hon Fai and with the assistance of 20 or so teammates. No one has ever made such an art piece in history."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today's fun news

Read this piece of news in the paper today. I thought it's interesting that cheap bastard could think of such a thing to avoid paying his due to his victims.

I wonder if his relationship with his girlfriend/adopted daughter went sour, can he simply just 'un-adopt' her to salvage his assets? :D

And can you legally have sex with your adopted child? Wouldn't it be incest? Ewwww.

Read the English version here:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/02/wealthy-florida-man-adopts-adult-girlfriend-as-his-daughter/1?csp=34news

The Loot!

Our family tradition allows me to open my red pockets on the 10th lunar new year day. :D I know some of you can open yours only on  or after the 15th :D hehehe

So, this year's tally:

$500 x2 (from my folks) :D hahahah
$100 x3 (one of them is even in RMB$ currency! Hahah  Hello, Chairman Mao!)
$50   x10
$20   x22
$10   x10

Not bad at all! :D I still have Old Lau and Old Lam to meet this Sunday... :D will have more pockets then. :D hahahah

Red Pocket Pageant 2012

This year's red pocket loots seem to be less than last year.....

Nonetheless, let me show you some of the red pockets I like this year.

Those on the left panel was the red pockets of DBS Bank in the past, the most current design on the right. This year, the boy and girl figures on the DBS red pockets seem to have grown up some. :D I like last year's more childish looking version much better.

From Left to Right: Red pocket from Galaxy hotel Macau. It's actually a 2 parts pocket. The gold part is inserted into the outer red paper sleeve which shows a traditional Chinese paper cutting pattern.  

Middle: the design itself isn't very special on this "Bank of Singapore" red pocket, the material is actually the star here.  It's made of some sort of silky material. That's why it sorta reflective under my camera flash.  

Right: This red pocket is actually produced by my favorite uncle's company, so it's special. :D hahah