Updates on life, Hong Kong and Beijing

As always, I will lapse into periods where I stop blogging. I can't say that I am short of time, because to be honest I have quite a good work-life balance unless I am on field work. I guess it is more a matter that I am trying to figure out why I blog and what do I want to write here, and who do I want to be reading this, especially in this day and age of Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook and Twitter have no doubt changed the way we communicate and share things, but it is something I am growing weary of, especially now that everything I want to read requires them to access my details and then tell everyone what I read on their site. I am so sick of it that most of the time I don't even allow them to do it. And while Twitter is good for quick and dirty updates and news feed, it is hardly a forum to express deep thinking and ideas. Oh yes, Facebook is terribly bad at allowing us to search for our old posts, so things do get lost in the mess that is our timeline

I started blogging in 2001 (on this other old platform) because I wanted a space to write and document my thoughts and emotions. Somewhere along the line, I switched to a pen and paper diary where (surprise, surprise) I write everything down in Chinese. However this habit of introspection of mine kinda stopped previously because life really got too busy - work, family, friends; hardly have time left for myself!

So who I am writing for now that I am sitting here and writing this post? I guess I am primarily writing for myself, as a diary. But at the same time, I don't want to share 100% of how I feel exactly, because we know that is just a nasty place don't we? I kid. I guess it is more so because the internet is so open, that anyone can stumble upon this place. But the truth is also that I do want people to stumble here and see what I have to say. It is one of those contradictions that I can't resolve in my head right now.

What has been up with me?

1. Hong Kong Work Trip

Just a while, I went to Hong Kong for a work trip, and it definitely is the highlight of my career so far because it was one the best project that I have ever done. I went with a colleague to Hong Kong as the 2nd leg of a study of the silver segment and their attitudes toward health and health supplements. It was a very exciting and interesting study made even better because we entered the respondents homes to understand them even more, and also because of the great company I had in Hong Kong!

I had an excellent time exploring Hong Kong, and it made me realize that you do need to know at least some locals to tell you where to go and what to see. Had an amazing time weaving through the small streets and eating extremely local street-side food.

Took this along Central where the old ladies sit and gather to chat

I really love this shot because to me, this is the quintessential shot of Hong Kong

And that's Mo and I

2. Beijing Trip with mom

And just a couple of weeks before this, over the Good Friday long weekend, I took a couple of days leave and brought mommy to Beijing. Its my first time going on a long holiday with mom and this is something that I have been meaning to do for quite a while. I mean when I was young, my parents worked very hard to make sure that I got an education, they scrimped and they saved, and now that I am finally working, I think it is only right that I make sure they can get to enjoy themselves.

Stayed with my friend who is working in Beijing and we basically just went exploring. It was really lovely to just go around a place without the pressure of a time table. We went to many places and was really awed at how hugeass these places were. However, we were quite disappointed at how badly preserved the monuments and artifacts were. It was dusty and dirty, the artifacts were encased by glass which no one bothered to clean, the wood was old and dry, the colours were coming off. It certainly looked its age though.

The requisite photo of the Great Wall. This was the MuTianYu section

That's me doing the 'walking' shot!

And that's mom and I!

So that was a quick highlight of what's been going on. What might life be in the next week? Some cycling and some dates and I don't know, but I will be sure to update!

XOXO!

Long weekend and Universal Studios with Mommy

I was not making plans to go out over the long weekend at all, but alas my plans were foiled by the long weekend. Totally wrecked my I-am-not-going-out-in-September plans. I am like flat broke for a variety of reasons. But anyway over the long weekend I caught up with some old friends, and it was always a great pleasure to do so.

Started with catching up with D. Haven't seen her for almost half a year, so it was awesome to just meet and chat and had the most thoughtful service @ The Handburger, Raffles City. They sorta forgot the order, and checked on us after realizing. Aside from making sure that our food came pronto, they not only waived off the service charge, but gave us a 10% discount on top of that. Talk about being thoughtful.

the handburger with pesto mushroom

chocolate affrogato @ TCC for desserts

And on Friday was my friends whom I didn't get to see for awhile, and KTV didn't happen because HY had to go back and take care of J =(

Most pleasant surprise came in the form of a call with news of free tickets to Universal Studios on Saturday, complete with meal vouchers and retail vouchers. So despite my earlier quarrel with mommy, I was sorta excited to go out with her.

Mom and I have our silly tiffs and fights all the time, but I love her dearly. And its been a while since I've gone out with her, so we quickly finished what we had to do, put on our summer clothes and went to Sentosa. It was quite a lot of fun really. We even took a roller coaster. Mommy was so scared though. She kept her eyes closed and held on to my arms so tightly.

ABSOLUTELY worth mentioning is Steven Spielberg's Lights, Camera, Action. They showed us how they recreate special effects in the studio, and the special effect in question is a Category 4 hurricane in New York. It was quite awesome and amazing I must say. The lights and sounds and fire and water and wind really took my breath away. Not going to bore with the little details but I think these little family moments remind me of how blessed I am.

Like how seeing my little brother all grown up and entering NS, and us having a nice family dinner together right before he enters. Also seeing A's family having a feast at the same time, adds that loving warm touch. I guess when we all grow up, its so easy to just neglect the family, always thinking that they will always be around. In life, there is really little room for neglect. I am glad that instead of sticking to my original plan, this kismet of an event happened and I spent it with mommy.

Hopefully there'll be more family time with the rest of them. Remember to show your appreciation for the ones you love =)

新年快乐！

Its Chinese New Year! Its kinda my favourite time of the year, because its a time for family. Its also a time where I actually get to clean my room! And make everything nice and pretty. But ok, I am honestly a lot less superficial than that.

This CNY was spent with the usual reunion dinner at my gramps. Its always nice to see grandma, and I should really make an effort to visit at least once a month. For all the volunteer work that I do, I sure should also visit my grandma! She's getting on her years and her eyesight is not doing as well anymore. I will cherish all the time that I have and visit. What was the slightly more disappointing thing, is that reunion dinner is no longer something the extended family look towards. I still remember when I was a kid, I really looked forward to visiting my grandparents, but as we grew older, things changed.

I can't really pinpoint what happened, but I suppose a great deal had to do with 2 of my relatives having gone through a divorce, well technically one, but the other family is very dysfunctional and estranged from us. The family that has been through the divorce is still very close to our family, which is very heartening. But I suppose as we grew older, we all began to lead our own lives, and the increasingly infrequent meet-ups drifted us apart.

But its funny really, because I am much closer to my god-cousins. Maybe because our background are more similar? Or that we don't have the "burden" of being real cousins? I am not sure. I am only close to one of my real cousins. We hang out now and then, we share secrets, and just muse about life in general, and its all good. But of course there has been disappointing moments in all familial relationships, but that of course won't be shared here.

This new year, I went back to Malaysia to visit my maternal side of the family, and I must say that this is one of the best trips I've had so far. I am not really close to my maternal cousins at all, because we were brought up in very different background. But I think things are improving, we are getting closer, and my Aunt has become more sincere over the years. We even had a ton of fun at KTV, singing and drinking away. How AWESOME is that? I must say that for once, I look forward to heading back.

To end, here's a snap of me in my lovely New Year Clothes!!

my mother

i really don't know what to say. i love my mom alot. i really do. i just don't understand sometimes how to communicate. sigh