meeting Chinese friends from HK

Min has met some boys and girls from Hong Kong. She has enjoyed a delicious dinner cooked in a block nearby. Good start.

I will be seeing Su and have a mj game today.

Irene told me about a club called Helena May. See if I am interested to join it. Near HK Park. English. Restaurant for lunch tea & dinner. Rooms to let at very competitive rates. Sounds tempting to have somewhere in the vicinity to bring Anis there. Children library, too.

angels & demons

I saw it on the plane returning home. Tom Hanks is one of my favourite stars.

Glad to see Anis b again. She took some time before she could remember me.

Talked to Min on phone. She is doing well. She took a bus in Central Bus Station to Woking and changed for train there. Back to Guildford Station and then cab. About 20 pounds. A new route for her. She will be knowing this well very soon.

Missing her. She only ate a sandwich with egg mayo yesterday. I wonder when she will receive the parcel sent out to her.

Good for her to have one fresher week to get to know people and buildings and facilities. She will wok in the Lakeside Restaurant in uniform. Very serious. Costs me another 80 pounds.

be brave, little girl

Manor Park - students are still moving in. Nando's, Wagamam and Olivetto ..........

High Street Guildford - Marks & Spencer, HW Smith, House of Fraser ...........

Popi, Ive, Ivan, Ella & Cindy, Margaret ........... Austin Pearce ------ IT supports and Lakeside Restaurant uniform .......

The Stag ........

Van will move in mid December.

God help me to maintain pece of mind and a cheerful life.

The Prince of Wales Theatre

Wonderful time in Coventry Street, Picadilly Circus. All absurdities and puzzles are wrapped up in jolly songs and dances.

The moral is we can live joyfully even with all problems, uncertainties and disappointments.

Happiness is always there. Friendship and love keep us afloat.

Entertainment!

We had lunch at Tokyo Restaurant at Leicester Square.

Mamma Mia!

Much tempted to see the comedy this evening. I just do not want to wait until 3 or 4 years later.

Not everybody on earth live up to 60 or 70. Is it a degradation to call someone "old"? Or is it a compliment to say someone has outlived many and probably been getting wiser? Women are more sensitive to age. Not sure of men.

Doing nothing is de luxe in a metropolitan city like London. I enjoy doing nothing, talking to nobody and hanging around in shops or strolling in quiet streets. A must in our lifetime.

It is a blessing that I treasure!

les miserables

Breakfast at The Muffin Man.

Lunch at the China Town. Vegetables are so expensive here. Beard Papa for a drink.

Shopping around at Oxford Circus in the afternoon. Dinner at Soho, a Mexican restaurant - tortilla wrapped with chicken and beef with salsa.

The musical was in Queen's Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue. Min's listening power has excelled her Mom's. I prefer "The Phantom of the Opera".

bugis street brasserie

On 20th, We took 4 hours' cab from Bethany to Nottingham. Lorraine met us at the registration point. Winki & Wenbang just live in the 2 blocks side by side. One Hollies and one Rowans. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Min stayed there and I stayed with Lorraine at the Britannia. There are 3 boys from Mainland China and 1 English boy with Wenbang. Nottingham has a population of 33,000 students and about 4,ooo staff. Double that of Surrey, more or less.

On the 21st, Lorraine and I had breakfast at a small restaurant called The Bank. Min joined us later. We took a walk at the city centre. My loving sis bought 2 traveller bags, made in France, one beige for me and one bluejeans for herself. Thrilled to have the gift. Lorraine bought a frill scarf from Marks & Spencer but found the hairs falling. So she returned it and got refunded. The system is good. However, there must be people who abuse it, say, girls after wearing the gowns and dresses in balls & parties return them for full refund.

We had lunch again in a Chinese restaurant. Dim sum and roast pork/char siu. We are hopelessly fond of Chinese food.

Another 4 hours' coach back to the Victoria Station. Cab back to Copthorne Tara. Dinner at the Bugis Street - a restaurant in the hotel providing Singaporean and Malaysian food. We had Hainan chicken rice, Singaporean laksa and stir-fried vegetables with shrimp paste.

Lorraine took underground for Heathrow.

I woke up early this morning washing clothes. Another day in London. See what we will have.

Cool! I am blogging in Min's MacBook Pro.

My prayer for family members and those whom I care for.

Anis b knows to mutter dad-dad and mama but Van thinks she does not know the meaning nor identity of parents yet. I miss Baby.

hi

All the way back to Kensington. Dined with Lorraine and walked her to the underground. Missing her so much. Each time we part, we are so sentimental.

Maidstone & Bethany

I asked Presland, "Min a good girl?" She smiled and said, "Most of the time. No child is good all the time." I like her saying that. Nobody is good all the time. We are all torn or worn somewhere and have dark sides hidden.

Now I am in the very room that Min lived when she was admitted two years ago. She spent one year here. The girls are giggling and chatting incessantly to catch up. They left me here and went into the next room for the exchanges that are not permissible to Mom.

The Best Western Russell Hotel in Maidstone is a quiet and old-fashioned place. Min & I had a walk after breakfast along the road outside. Tranquility. Should I spend my retirement life in such a quiet environment.

I called Lorraine this morning and Porpor, too. We will depart from Bethany by a cab at 1 pm, go straight to Nottingham. Lorraine & Wenbang will wait for us around 4 pm. Wenbang will live in the dorm. Min shares a room with Winki and me with Lorraine.

All 4 in HK had contracted swine flu. 2 boys have recovered with Mike & Maria still taking medication. Porpor worries about Gungung and cannot go over to take care of Anis b. The punishment is so unfair on her.

Leicester Square

Breakfast again in The Muffin Man Tea Restaurant. Winki came all the way from Heathrow to join us. We then shopped around and then met Tiffany and Davy in a restaurant in Chinatown. She is going to study in Reading. Now I am in Bethany School. Imagine that is 2 years ago that I brought Min here. Cab to the Charing Cross Station, then train to Marden and cab again.

I need to stop multiplying every sterling pound by 12 or 13 mentally. I met Mrs Presland again.

We will stay in Maidstone tonight. Could not book Star & Eagle. I am so pleased I can use Ching's notebook free. Internet assess is so costly in Central London.

London

17th September:

Flew the whole day, watched several movies, I liked "The Proposal". Slept like a log after check-in. Woke up at 1030 pm and went out to buy a quarter pounder from McDonalds in High Street. That was our dinner.

18th September

B/fast at the Muffin Man Tea Shop. Went to buy tickets for the play "The
Mouse Trap" at Leicester Square. Knightsbridge - Harvey Nichols, H & M and Harrods - a must. Yo Sushi and the Starbucks. 730 pm to 945 pm at St Martin's Theatre. It was recommended 2 years ago. We only saw it this time. We had soup at a restaurant in Chinatown.

Both Min & I know the time of gathering is so precious. We are closer to each other than any time. Winki will come tomorrow morning.

dont sweat the small staff ..... and it's all small stuff

Simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life.

Quoting:

"The quality of patience goes a long way toward your goal of creating a more peaceful and loving self. The more patient you are, the more accepting you will be of what is, rather than insisting that life be exactly as you would like it to be."

"To a large degree, the measure of our peace of mind is determined by how much we are able to live in the present moment. Irrespective of what happened yesterday or last year, and what may or may not happen tomorrow, the present moment is where you are - always."

"Make peace with imperfection. The need for perfection and the desire for inner tranquility conflict with each other."

"Whenever we are dealing with bad news, a difficult person or a disappointment of some kind, most of us get into certain habits, ways of reacting to life - particularly adversity - that dont serve us very well. We overreact, blow things out of proportion, hold on too tightly, and focus on the negative aspects of life."

"Be grateful when you are feeling good and graceful when you are feeling bad."

Eggs Benedict in a Club

A breakfast to be remembered.

Meetings - one after the other. The whole morning and the whole afternoon.

Cyclone no 8 hoisted around 6 pm.

Dinner at V's place.

See how it is tomorrow.

Inglourious Basterds

Morning walk in Quarry Bay Park. Fresh experience. Big breakfast. Between the sea and some trees. Breeezy and fine. Nice view. There is a fire boat museum. I must tell Pa about this.

Quentin Tarantino re-directed the 1978 film "The Inglorious Bastards". All for Brad Pitt. Not handsome but real cool. Heavily accented. Christoph Waltz played the role of Colonel Landa - the Jew Hunter. Dunno know much about the Nazi stuff. Cant evaluate the plot as compared to the history. Min likes the film very much. She is forever the intelligent and cheerful movie-goer.

World War II like any war was cruel.

Notre Dame

the taking of pelham 123

Terrific. Denzel Washington & John Travolta.

A hero may not necessarily a saint. He makes mistakes & has faults. He just happens to do something at the split of a second to make his conscience more at ease.

We like it.

Dr Tong works magic.

a time for everything .......

a time to search & a time to give up;

a time to keep & a time to throw away.

a time to tear & a time to mend;

a time to be silent & a time to speak.

The Hospital of the Holy Trinity, Guildford

Brothers Bloom - Prague Castle

Adrien Brody & Rachel Weisz. (An escape from burdens of life which screaming cannot help to relieve.) A group of con artists. The golden rule not to be broken is falling in love with the mark. Brody does. Weisz loves him even after she discovers the setup. Love could happen in the most unbelievable situation. It is a happy ending - Bloom eventually gets what he wants: Penelope.

It is a romantic comedy. Min finds Penelope too foolish. She is a lovely little girl who is yet to learn more about life.