touch wood, things go fine

Min has a placement in Star & Eagle Hotel, Marden, around and after Easter. She went for an interview. So I have to alter the date of her air-ticket again. Done. Never imagined we would be associated with Star & Eagle that close.

She has resumed calmness. We all have mood swings. Mothers are there to support children in all circumstances.

A treat from Boss yesterday. Cool! 2 tables for lunch. I like it, no doubt.

A has decided not to go to Taiwan. Min seems grown-up by voicing her opinion to Van.

Ms Fei Fei Day on 1 June in Vacouver.

Van & I will go to trip by end of April to FuKuoka, Japan for 6 days. She will plan the details but I should read up some materials, too.

Skipped taiji the 2nd class due to a meeting. Trade Unions dinner at Asiania. Met some retirees. Won $48 from mj game and won $50 from lucky draw.

Scarves made from India with enbroidery have a sophisticated style.

a very interesting workshop yesterday

Thankful for being employed and able to benefit from the training provided.

These were learnt yesterday:

"pace & lead", empathy, re-definition of others' behaviour, awareness and avoidance of triggering, physical "get-off".

Talked to Min. She is stressful about school works and exams. I hope this is the natural mood swings and she can settle down with greater confidence later.

Anxieties can be positive if she is alert and and gathers all her efforts to focus so to achieve. Otherwise, her pride is hurt and she keeps feeling withdrawn.

Praying for the best development of this darling fair lady. 2 young people are seriously thinking of working in Taiwan. Me? Must maintain good health & peace of mind. Struggling alone in Kowloon.

Lunch with several retirees these 2 days. All seem well. Nice to have connections with them.

Both Van & I went home unusually early - around 7:30 pm.

Talked to Pam and asked for her assistance to comfort Min. She will talk to Presland tonight. In fact, all 3 of us have problems of our own. Who hasn't?

Min SMS and said that she is feeling better today. She also told Pam that she is generally happy there, just that she is really anxious to attain very good results and it does not seem easy.

4 pcs of cakes to post-celebrate my birthday: carrot cake, cheese cake, tiramisu cup & lemon tart from The Great. They sang the happy birthday song. Wow! So pleasing to my soul. All troubles have to be put aside for some time.

pingpong, liola & porpor's home

Sunday - Pingpong at Victoria Park. Tea with Paus at TST. Nat has left Liola. Dinner at Porpor"s house. Gave Marga the dark green wrapping made in India. She likes it. Min was still in the B&B.

IDD Min this morning at 5:30 am, equivalent to her 9:30 pm. She has returned safely to school, doing homework. Just wish that she will enjoy her school life and have a smooth path for advanced education.

Meeting the whole morning. Lunch upstairs.

Could not ask for more

It would be very childish for a woman of my age to list out all the parties and gifts. But I am really overjoyed to have everyone and everything attaching so much kindness. The gift I arranged for myself is the trip to Singapore with Porpor.

A Kipling beige bag, a mango mousse cake from Conrad, a L'Occitane bath & shampoo foaming jelly, a box of Godiva chocolates, a February cup & saucer from Royal Doulton, meals in Lei Garden, Man Ho of Marriott and Cafe in Grand Hyatt. Tea in Kai Tin and food from Jusco. Lavender cream and a cake from Zoe. Cards (E or paper), msn and greetings .......... Min's greetings.

As a co-incident, I had a function party on my birthday, too. Another function before it and then another one after it. 1st taiji class fell onto the day also.

I am contented. I promise to be sweeter and more accommodating and maintain good humour.

When I should face difficulties, all these will be the cushions to comfort me and lessen my distress.

Where shall I go next? Vietnam or Japan or Korea? Thailand?

Blood-taking in the morning in UCH. A walk in my darling Sai Cho Wan Playground in the afternoon and dinner at home. First time in the last 10 days.

vacation ends & ct scan

Tuesday - bread and tea w/sugar & milk for breakfast. Lorraine drove Jerry to Ritz Carlton Hotel to meet a client. We took a walk in the Botanic Garden. Very pretty scarves made in India.

Had Fish Head vermicelli in soup, samal ngong choi and bitter gourd w/pork ribs in Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant.

Shopped at United Square and had the ice kuchang. Lovely and cute! Bought 2 CDs for Papa - one by Paula Tsui and one by Anita Mui.

Heard that Lydia Shum had died in QMH.

Flew back and Mike fetched us at about 8:30 pm. Jeff & Jason came along. We went back KT to have some hotpot.

Wednesday - worked in the morning. Fasted the whole day until I finished the whole process of CT scan the liver at 4:30 pm.

The affectionate trio treated me a delicious dinner at Kai Tin. Received a pack of Crabtree & Evelyn.

Cranberry juice is good for me. I will take it regularly.

I pray that Min would progress in her school work.

tiong bahru, ngee an city & din tai fang

Congee with fried dough and some Indonesian puddings at Tiong Bahru.

Shopped at Orchard Road, Ngee An City and Paragon. Had wonton noodles and pork ribs soup and baby dou miu with Porpor at Din Tai Fang. Very modern management. Lorraine back to office for a meeting and boys at school. Jerry flew to KL and will come home about midnight. Nothing is easy.

Shampoo and blow dry with Porpor at a hair salon.

Lorraine fetched us. Got back the jeans shortened from Betty Barclay. Bought food from the supermarket at Shaw Centre. Japanese food is attractive. We had raw salad with olive oil & vinegar. Balsamic of Modena. I cannot take the ice wine as I am taking medicine. No alcohol.

Wenxi played tennis today. He has grown taller, slimmer and fit.

Dined at home. I love the boys and they love me. Most important ingredient of life.

Van has returned last night and resumed work this morning. Min is in London living in b & B with toilet and bathroom attached. Wingki has gone to Paris and will join them later.

I will go to the Hawkers Stall tomorrow morning and have ice kuchang.

Vangee is a good maid. Clean, diligent, disciplined and smiling.

Trina and Ching Hua will return tomorrow morning from Dubai. Samuel and Isabella are very well bred.

roti prata, holland road, river cruise & steamboat

Breakfast - Mr Prata - I had one with eggs & onions and another with kaya.

Visited Oei Tiong Ham Park. What a nice place! Lunch at Min Jiang for Beijing duck. We went to the wet market - Tiong Bahru. Smith Street is in ChinaTown. We bought Crocodile oil and and pain relief medicated oil from North Bridge Street.

We went to Lorraine's office in the afternoon. Then Singapore river cruise. Bank area and hotels. Casinos being built in Santosa.

We bought food home for steamboat & bbq.

Cranberry juice is delicious and nutritious.

3 days here already.

Played pingpong withe Wenxi downstairs. Sweating! Lots of fun.

How are Van & Min? Gungung is alone with the 2 boys at home during dinner time.

Ang Mo Kiu, Little India & Arab St

I had to go to see a doctor at Balmoral Clinic. Got some medicine.

Porpor had a very good sleep last night.

Had lunch at East Ocean for dimsum etc. Lorraine bought a pair of charcoal grey jeans (Betty arclay from Germany) for me as my birthday gift. Kwong is pleased to receive my return.

Bought some salty fish from Arab Street. Passed by the new Supreme Court, Jerry's office building and Wenxi's school building.

It is a very green city with excellent town planning and good orders.

Spent some time by the pool side doing nothing. Relaxing. Life can be so leisurely & sweet.

Min has gone to London with Rosa.

Van & A in Bali.

So tempted to travel more and more in the years to come.

Will go to Trina's house for dinner. Will bring a bottle of Inniskillin ice wine as a present.

Orchard Road.

Bought a pair of brown suede sandles for Wengbang. a pair of beige sandles for myself.

Nothing goes without money, healthy & good moods. I love the world and my neighbours.

The house of Trina and Chuun-hua is a dream house for many. Or that not many would dare for dream for a house like that. University Road. Much much impressed. One son + one daughter.

David Li has resigned for the cause of Insiders Dealing?

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day = meeting, business lunch, meeting and meeting. From 9 am to 8 pm.

Woke up at 5 am. Too excited, perhaps. Arrived HK airport at 7:30 am. Arrived Singapore at 1:15 pm. Lorraine drove us to her mother-in-law's place to pay her a visit.

Removed the padlock from Porpor's travelling bag. She left the key in HK. My Goodness!

Fetched Wenbang from the Singaporean Air Force Armour Centre. A tank was displayed outside.

The country has excellent town-planning. We passed a group of cemeteries - Chinese, Muslim and ......

Will go out for dinner for Hai Nan Chicken Rice. Jerry cannot join us. He has functions for the Chinese Uew Year.

Wenjun is a genius. He resolved the puzzles quick & many.

furla beige handbag

My wish is granted.

Had lunch with the regular group at Wanchai. Old timers. Casual chats, Comfortable.

Dined at home with Van. Today is the "Everybody's birthday" in the Lunar New Year.

The continuous cold only occurred 40 years ago. I remember when I was small, the winter was really freezing. People rushed to buy the cotton-padded jackets with silk shells.

Chatted with Min over Skype. She likes her school and her pals. She re-assures me that she is friendly with the folks around.

Pam really likes Min to stay in her house. But the young thinks differently.

Tomorrow is the Valentine's Day. There are flowers sold in Min's school. I asked whether she would receive any from anyone. She said she would not think so. Who will? She said. Sounds pessimistic.

L16 & Cheung Kee

Monday - lunch at L16 with Agnes, Tam & James. Everything was fine except the deep-fried chicken. Chopped into very small pieces. Messy look. Kei Kar-yan gave Kam & me a treat at Cheung Kee for dinner. Familiar food and fokis. Nice!

Tuesday - lunch at Hopewell Centre, Wanchai. Dinner at home. Van dined with A.

I am looking forward to receiving birthday presents.

The weather remains cold.

kung fu dunk

Breakfast - radish pudding and water chestnut pudding.

Lunch - noodle with abalone sauce. Sau Tao Brand - oiginated from Cheung Chau in 60s. Now moved to Shenzhen for manufacturing.

Collected money from Jockey Club, Kowloon Bay. Had hair coloured in Sea Wave. George looks more or less the same as 15-17 years ago. He said my hair condition is very good.

Bought a CD for Gungung - Francis Yip and Johnny Yip.

Saw "Kung Fu Dunk" with Porpor. Then dinner at Lei Garden. I hope I can do as much as possible to keep her happy, healthy & secure.

Work tomorrow - Oh!

3rd Day of Lunar New Year

Had lunch with Ella at Taikooshing - Huang Jia Sa. Noodles.

Shopped around in the arcade and Wing On. No more Uny. Apita? Bought a pair of Rockport brown leather/suede walking shoes. Don't believe in not buying shoes during new year. I intend to wear this pair when I visit Singapore. Tina will host a dinner for us at her home. Must be fantastic and enviable house.

Went to Flora and Ah Yee. They worked so hard.

Dined with Gungung and Porpor. They are lonely old people. Fixed the radio/cd player for Gungung. He likes it. I put in Roman's CD for 16 songs.

When I returned home, I discovered that Van did not go out for the whole day.

We had won $280 from Mark Six. Last time, I won $60. A good start!

Enchanted by Walt Disney

Kwong sent along some photos of his house. Like those I see in movies. Snowy! Only strong men and women can live in it. Imagine the snow-shovelling.

Nita wore the long green coat and carried the handbag I gave her.

Went to see with Jeff at Palace APM. A cross-over with Snowwhite and the modern New Yorkers love story. Entertaining.

Took a deep-fried chicken fish with rice at the Jap Restaurant, APM. I bought some agnes b choclates.

Van & A came back to send greetings. We will dine at Porpor's place again.

Lorraine is very serious about our visit. She & the 3 boys prepared an itinerary for us. So gracious!

SMS is such a great invention.

Kei Ka-yan will treat me & Kam for dinner on Monday. I am glad.

New Year of the Rat

Do we always like Mickey Mouse instead of any rat?

Woke up as usual. My biological clock never learns that it is holiday. I went down to buy newspapers and magazines. Mike drove Porpor to our ParknShop. Bought 4 basses and 2 carrots for soup.

Paus came to have lunch with us. Then mj. I lost $30.00.

IDD Lorraine.

Dined at Porpor's house in the evening. The soup was so yummy with dried whelks and sweet dates and ginger. Gungung was feeling weak.

We ate lots of new year pudding - taro, water chestnut and the new year pudding made by cane sugar and coconut juice.

We all like the local films. Amusing though not genteel.

Received sms from friends. Blessings!

Min IDD. Jenny also tel. from UK.

Good-bye Year of the Pig

Lunar New Year Eve!

Had lunch by myself at Dan Ryan. Every other table seemed to be seated with merry groups.

Dined at home with Van. I bought liver sausages/ red sausages and duck legs from Yung Kee.

Many colleagues took leave.

IDD Lorraine. Wenxi knew about the porn scandal but Lorraine heard nothing about it. She is surely too pre-occupied with her work. Poor us!

Min sms to say that she had gone to London to watch "History Boy" which was quite funny. She would watch Ollie's drama tonight. She adores him.

CJ7

Jeff joined me at Admiralty and we watched it at AMC PP.

Chow has changed his usual character in the film. He played a very poor and uneducated construction site worker. The little girl playing his son is really cute.

Lunch at Zen with Tam, Lam & Hui. New place.

All prices in both the wet market & supermarket rise.

Dined with Jeff at home. Mike will fetch him later.

Many people took leave so the office was sort of quieter than usual.

manageable

Although I am busily engaged by both office works and private arrangements, I find it manageable.

Jap food for lunch. I was too cold and hungry and therefore found the rice very delicious. Even the beancurd soup was so nice.

Dined with Van. She bought 2 catties of liver sausages from Yung Kee.

I hope the Chinese doctor can do Marga good. I got the herb teas for her. Nita will deliver it to Dolly tomorrow. Mutual support is so important.

I went to Fortress to buy a heater but it was out of stock. Same with Kam in Tuen Mun.

No heat in HK. So it is damp and cold.

my hair permed

rbt has closed down cos of high rental upon expiry of tenancy. So no more weekend sago tea.

I have my hair permed in the evening of Saturday. A new look for the Lunar New Year!

Sunday:
Pingpong in the morning. Lunch at Wu Kong Shanghainese Restaurant with Van, and A + Irene + Joycelyn. Irene liked the "see yue" so much. She could not taste it in Shanghai during her last trip there.

Collected Jerry's watch. Bought a set of LeSportsac for Porpor - tree pattern - one hand-carrier and one shoulder bag.

Re-union dinner at Porpor's place. Gungung was not feeling well. Could not contact Min.

The woollen scarf is warm and light and smart-looking.

how to build stress resilience

Wednesday - sick leave.

Thursday - half day seminar on the subject in the afternoon in CSTDI.

Friday - Lunch at Lippo. Dinner at ICAC new office in Quarry Bay with Tsinghua pals. Beautiful seaview, high security. Chat, chat, chat.

Several of us have children studying in UK or some have completed. Much said about children.

Wenxi is excited about our visit. It makes you feel everything is worthwhile.

Cold weather continued. I have to wear the down jacket which has been shelved for many years.