Had planned to catch fireworks last night with my mum who's here for a visit but the rain put a dampener on things and we decided to stay in instead. But all's not lost, managed to catch some of it from my window over here at Taipa.
Labels: macau
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Had planned to catch fireworks last night with my mum who's here for a visit but the rain put a dampener on things and we decided to stay in instead. But all's not lost, managed to catch some of it from my window over here at Taipa.
Monday, September 24, 2007
I chuckled when I saw this description of me on my Facebook page, courtesy of Mr Derek Lau.
While it is no secret that my work consumes me (which I allow very willingly unconsciously somehow), the word "unrepentant" adds a negative touch to the term "workaholic". To repent is to "feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it", used usually with a sin, a vice. Is workaholism to be spoken of on the same level?
I don't know. But what I do know is that it is a timely reminder that I need to make room in my life for non-work related matters, especially with the crazy state of things at work these few months.
While it is no secret that my work consumes me (which I allow very willingly unconsciously somehow), the word "unrepentant" adds a negative touch to the term "workaholic". To repent is to "feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it", used usually with a sin, a vice. Is workaholism to be spoken of on the same level?
I don't know. But what I do know is that it is a timely reminder that I need to make room in my life for non-work related matters, especially with the crazy state of things at work these few months.
Labels: hmmm
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Absolutely unbelievable! The Macau International Airport actually offers free wireless access! I'm shocked beyond words. Wow. Even if it's just 10 free minutes courtesy of local telco biggie, CTM.
Wonder what happens after 10 minutes though -- do they prompt you to pay? Or can you re-login with that one standard username and password for all?
No time to find out. Plane just arrived!
Wonder what happens after 10 minutes though -- do they prompt you to pay? Or can you re-login with that one standard username and password for all?
No time to find out. Plane just arrived!
Labels: macau
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Finally. After hearing so much about this Sky 21 restaurant-bar with a view to die for atop our office building, it's finally soft launched. For the second time.
Something about a license issue forced its doors shut for a few months. And now, they've soft launched again, in anticipation of receiving its license within the month.
That's nothing new. Starbucks downstairs? They've been "brewing a new store" for the longest time due to a similar issue. Each time I ask the Starbucks folks at the other outlets, namely Wynn and Senado Square, it's always "next month". I can only wish that next month comes soon enough.
Labels: macau
Imagine. Fireworks in the sky between the blocks.
Was planning to go to the supermarket last night when I heard rumbles in the distance. Ooops, raining soon? Looked out the window and saw fireworks in the distance. Oh, the International Fireworks Display Contest. Forgot that it was starting yesterday as my mind was intent on catching the 25th one with my mum when she visits me in Macau then.
As Sheong remarked, I seem to be living in a "holiday resort". Not complaining. :)
Labels: macau
Made a quick trip back to SG for work last week and boy am I glad that I took an hour off to get my haircut at Shunji Matsuo at Wellington (not a fan of Icon). No matter what disasters I go to them with, they've always been able to repair it to a level of decency. The S$70 haircut tag is absolutely worth it.
Labels: well-being
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Every so often, I get overtaken by an impulse to just take off and go traveling unplanned, off the beaten track. Well, my beaten track of cities at least. Nepal, Mongolia, Tibet... Suffice to say that I've not been to all those places despite being overcome by impulse a few times. I put it down to work obligations but maybe, just maybe, it's the predominant planner and city gal in me that's stopping it.
Why am I writing about this now? Because I just ran for 10-15 minutes (yes, put the shoes to use for the first time) around my estate and am feeling a little ready for rugged living, despite feeling so ill since I haven't exercised in years, apart from the occasional yoga class.
Anyone up for Nepal, Tibet or Inner Mongolia? Email me and we'll see where it leads. ;)
Why am I writing about this now? Because I just ran for 10-15 minutes (yes, put the shoes to use for the first time) around my estate and am feeling a little ready for rugged living, despite feeling so ill since I haven't exercised in years, apart from the occasional yoga class.
Anyone up for Nepal, Tibet or Inner Mongolia? Email me and we'll see where it leads. ;)
Labels: hmmm
It's been 3 months since my LASIK op, and suddenly I had a dream last night about blurry vision in one eye. Amazing how our dreams are really affected by what occupies our mind, 真的是日有所思夜有所梦. Just before going to bed, I looked up from my computer after yet another late night and thought to myself -- gosh, I hope I'm not hurting this newfound perfect eyesight that I seem to have been taking for granted these days.
Well, final check with doctor in another couple of weeks. Will know then.
Well, final check with doctor in another couple of weeks. Will know then.
Labels: lasik
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Aaaargh. Really need to finish my outstanding work before Monday rolls around but I can't help this need to rant before that.
Met for dinner on Friday with a visiting friend and her "good friend" from China. I've heard about her screaming matches with some of his family members who believe that Singapore belongs to China. Not a fan but on account of our friendship, I agreed to dinner with them.
Unsurprisingly, his chauvinistic remarks irritated the hell out of me.
First, he said that there was no need for women to undertake an MBA because unlike men, they have no use for the networking relations because their goals in life is family and maybe career whereas for men, it's only career. Doesn't help, as he said and I've heard elsewhere, that some women in China go for an MBA course with the sole purpose of getting a rich husband.
I told him that he was too sweeping and unfair ("一竹竿打翻一船人") with this view and he admitted that, but still stuck to his opinion. Fine, we can all differ in opinions based on different life encounters.
But what really got me all riled up is his claim that all Chinese in Singapore and everywhere else outside of China belong to China. We are Chinese Chinese because our ancestors came from China, even though our parents were born and raised in Singapore.
Didn't want to get into a fight over dinner, although I kept wondering why on earth I was sitting there listening to that shit. There are two aspects to his view -- nationality and race, and I find both ridiculous!
The current PRC was established in 1949. Chinese national, in the strictest sense, refers to the citizens of the established nation from 1949. By then, my grandparents and parents were in Singapore. My mum was yet to be born and my dad, born in Singapore, was just a toddler. So were the parents of many Singaporeans. And this is the only timeframe that we should be looking at, simply because before this milestone, China was a different place with a different regime.
If we choose to trace the roots beyond our parents to grandparents and before, then all I can say that they were residents of a war-torn era in the 1910s to 1940s, with China split among different warlords. If we went beyond that to the Qing dynasty, then sure, our ancestors came from somewhere in the mainland. But why stop here? Why not go back to the Ming dynasty, Qin dynasty, or maybe even before Qin Shi Huang to 7 states period or even before that to 5000 years ago? Question is, where in time do we stop and how do you justify the stop? With a few thousand years between, can I say that my ancestors came from Xiamen? No, I cannot. I do not know where they were before they landed in Xiamen, and where before that, and before, and before they were.
So, in that case, let's bring in the Koreans, Japanese and anyone vaguely Chinese looking. Do we all come from the same root despite speaking different languages? Or maybe Laos, Cambodia too? How about Dai tribe in Yunnan which has a closer cultural tie to the Thais than Chinese? Or any of the other 50 tribes in Yunnan. Or even Tibetans who look more like red Indians and the Australian oborigines than Chinese -- why do they claim that they are Chinese? Do we all originate from the legendary Peking man? And if yes, how can anyone say that the Peking man is Chinese when China did not yet exist? In fact, some say that the Chinese could have originated from the Africans. So there, if we're tracing the root, then let's go all the way and say that we may be Africans or who knows what.
As a race, this is an open question with no answer as historians and scientists continue to search for the truth; hence, his view cannot hold. As a nationality, his opinion is made more ridiculous by the fact that we belong to different countries. If anything, I'd say that we were first colonized Malayans, then independent Singaporeans. Nowhere in history did China come into play in this part of the world, apart from the occasional ambassadors.
I am me. I am willing to allow my identity to be defined by where I was born and raised, simply because that is the only root-related aspect that is relevant. Everything else is not.
It is a ridiculously narrow minded view that he has. And the sad thing is, he is not alone although I am consoled that I have met many Chinese nationals who do not think as he does.
Met for dinner on Friday with a visiting friend and her "good friend" from China. I've heard about her screaming matches with some of his family members who believe that Singapore belongs to China. Not a fan but on account of our friendship, I agreed to dinner with them.
Unsurprisingly, his chauvinistic remarks irritated the hell out of me.
First, he said that there was no need for women to undertake an MBA because unlike men, they have no use for the networking relations because their goals in life is family and maybe career whereas for men, it's only career. Doesn't help, as he said and I've heard elsewhere, that some women in China go for an MBA course with the sole purpose of getting a rich husband.
I told him that he was too sweeping and unfair ("一竹竿打翻一船人") with this view and he admitted that, but still stuck to his opinion. Fine, we can all differ in opinions based on different life encounters.
But what really got me all riled up is his claim that all Chinese in Singapore and everywhere else outside of China belong to China. We are Chinese Chinese because our ancestors came from China, even though our parents were born and raised in Singapore.
Didn't want to get into a fight over dinner, although I kept wondering why on earth I was sitting there listening to that shit. There are two aspects to his view -- nationality and race, and I find both ridiculous!
The current PRC was established in 1949. Chinese national, in the strictest sense, refers to the citizens of the established nation from 1949. By then, my grandparents and parents were in Singapore. My mum was yet to be born and my dad, born in Singapore, was just a toddler. So were the parents of many Singaporeans. And this is the only timeframe that we should be looking at, simply because before this milestone, China was a different place with a different regime.
If we choose to trace the roots beyond our parents to grandparents and before, then all I can say that they were residents of a war-torn era in the 1910s to 1940s, with China split among different warlords. If we went beyond that to the Qing dynasty, then sure, our ancestors came from somewhere in the mainland. But why stop here? Why not go back to the Ming dynasty, Qin dynasty, or maybe even before Qin Shi Huang to 7 states period or even before that to 5000 years ago? Question is, where in time do we stop and how do you justify the stop? With a few thousand years between, can I say that my ancestors came from Xiamen? No, I cannot. I do not know where they were before they landed in Xiamen, and where before that, and before, and before they were.
So, in that case, let's bring in the Koreans, Japanese and anyone vaguely Chinese looking. Do we all come from the same root despite speaking different languages? Or maybe Laos, Cambodia too? How about Dai tribe in Yunnan which has a closer cultural tie to the Thais than Chinese? Or any of the other 50 tribes in Yunnan. Or even Tibetans who look more like red Indians and the Australian oborigines than Chinese -- why do they claim that they are Chinese? Do we all originate from the legendary Peking man? And if yes, how can anyone say that the Peking man is Chinese when China did not yet exist? In fact, some say that the Chinese could have originated from the Africans. So there, if we're tracing the root, then let's go all the way and say that we may be Africans or who knows what.
As a race, this is an open question with no answer as historians and scientists continue to search for the truth; hence, his view cannot hold. As a nationality, his opinion is made more ridiculous by the fact that we belong to different countries. If anything, I'd say that we were first colonized Malayans, then independent Singaporeans. Nowhere in history did China come into play in this part of the world, apart from the occasional ambassadors.
I am me. I am willing to allow my identity to be defined by where I was born and raised, simply because that is the only root-related aspect that is relevant. Everything else is not.
It is a ridiculously narrow minded view that he has. And the sad thing is, he is not alone although I am consoled that I have met many Chinese nationals who do not think as he does.
Labels: hmmm
Fell in love with this pair of cross-trainer, bought it and it's been sitting in my shoe cabinet since. Fantasize about actually wearing them sometimes, like now, but so far, it remains an imaginery act. Hopefully, that will change soon.
The opening of The Venetian Macao is the largest event in Macau now and probably for years to come. This largest integrated resort in the world is set to change the face and economy of Macau.
With so much hype, it was with anticipation that a few colleagues and I set forth to explore this giant on the newly opened Cotai Strip. We expected teething problems and we were not disappointed.
First up, the menu at our chosen restaurant was beyond limited. Basically, we had a choice of burger, steak or pasta. Grand total of 3 options for mains. We were requested to visit them again in one week for the full menu. Rrrright.
When we moved off to Bellini (bar in the casino) for drinks, that's where it all went downhill. First off, it seemed that the staff were trained not to use their brain or have any initiative at all. Then we realized that the difference was in their nationality.
No offense to my China friends who read this blog, but none of the Chinese wait staff were any help at all; they might as well have had been statues for standing around with a blank expression. Requests were met with lots of on-the-spot left-right body swivel as they could not decide if they should walk away to ask for the answer to our questions or actually try to answer us. And when they do respond to us, they might as well had not.
One of our conversations went like this:
Me: Can we have some bar nuts?
Waitress: What is bar nuts?
Me: (noting her distinctly Chinese accent, switches to Mandarin) You know, at bars and clubs, the peanuts that are given out with drinks.
Waitress: (having understood the term "bar nuts" from my explanation, replies me in Mandarin) Oh that. We only give it out if you order alcoholic drinks.
Me: (incredulous but still patient, drew her attention to our glasses of alcohol -- vodka, red wine -- by pointing to our glasses) Ya, our drinks are alcoholic.
Waitress: Erm, no, we can only give it out if you order alcoholic drinks.
Me: Yes, our drinks are alcholic. Look, red wine, vodka, sparking wine cocktail.
Waitress: (stood there staring at me blankly)
She was seriously going to repeat that statement again when 1 of the only 3 wait staff who knew what she was doing swept by and excused her no-brain colleague, apologised and sent us bar nuts immediately.
Apart from that, the bartenders were also clueless. I had 4 glasses of their signature sparkling wine cocktail, and that very same cocktail came with a peach for 2 orders and without for 2 orders. And at the very beginning, it only occured them to tell me after 3 chasers in 30 minutes that they had run out of green tea for my requested cocktail.
That's not to say that it's all bad. The air smelt wonderful as lots of oxygen were pumped in to keep guests awake and happy (and of course, bet more and for longer at the casino). And we were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Jeff Zhang Xing Zhe who performed a few songs as part of the opening celebration.
On a related note, the first impact on Macau that we've noticed is the lack of taxis as the already limited number of taxis in Macau now happily change their turf to Cotai Strip, leaving us helpless in Macau City.
With so much hype, it was with anticipation that a few colleagues and I set forth to explore this giant on the newly opened Cotai Strip. We expected teething problems and we were not disappointed.
First up, the menu at our chosen restaurant was beyond limited. Basically, we had a choice of burger, steak or pasta. Grand total of 3 options for mains. We were requested to visit them again in one week for the full menu. Rrrright.
When we moved off to Bellini (bar in the casino) for drinks, that's where it all went downhill. First off, it seemed that the staff were trained not to use their brain or have any initiative at all. Then we realized that the difference was in their nationality.
No offense to my China friends who read this blog, but none of the Chinese wait staff were any help at all; they might as well have had been statues for standing around with a blank expression. Requests were met with lots of on-the-spot left-right body swivel as they could not decide if they should walk away to ask for the answer to our questions or actually try to answer us. And when they do respond to us, they might as well had not.
One of our conversations went like this:
Me: Can we have some bar nuts?
Waitress: What is bar nuts?
Me: (noting her distinctly Chinese accent, switches to Mandarin) You know, at bars and clubs, the peanuts that are given out with drinks.
Waitress: (having understood the term "bar nuts" from my explanation, replies me in Mandarin) Oh that. We only give it out if you order alcoholic drinks.
Me: (incredulous but still patient, drew her attention to our glasses of alcohol -- vodka, red wine -- by pointing to our glasses) Ya, our drinks are alcoholic.
Waitress: Erm, no, we can only give it out if you order alcoholic drinks.
Me: Yes, our drinks are alcholic. Look, red wine, vodka, sparking wine cocktail.
Waitress: (stood there staring at me blankly)
She was seriously going to repeat that statement again when 1 of the only 3 wait staff who knew what she was doing swept by and excused her no-brain colleague, apologised and sent us bar nuts immediately.
Apart from that, the bartenders were also clueless. I had 4 glasses of their signature sparkling wine cocktail, and that very same cocktail came with a peach for 2 orders and without for 2 orders. And at the very beginning, it only occured them to tell me after 3 chasers in 30 minutes that they had run out of green tea for my requested cocktail.
That's not to say that it's all bad. The air smelt wonderful as lots of oxygen were pumped in to keep guests awake and happy (and of course, bet more and for longer at the casino). And we were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Jeff Zhang Xing Zhe who performed a few songs as part of the opening celebration.
On a related note, the first impact on Macau that we've noticed is the lack of taxis as the already limited number of taxis in Macau now happily change their turf to Cotai Strip, leaving us helpless in Macau City.
Labels: macau
Saturday, September 01, 2007
VIRTUAL POLICE PATROL CHINA WEB
Internet users will be reminded not to visit outlawed sites
Chinese authorities are to send two virtual police officers to patrol the internet, in a bid to combat "illicit activities", state media has reported.
The animated figures, a man and a woman, will appear on users' screens every 30 minutes "to remind them of internet security", China Daily said.
...
The virtual officers will appear either on foot, on motorbikes or riding in a car.
They would "be on watch for websites that incite secession, promote superstition, gambling and fraud", the China Daily said, citing Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau.
"It is our duty to wipe out information that does public harm and disrupts social order," the newspaper quoted the bureau's deputy chief of Internet surveillance, Zhao Hongzhi, as saying.
He said the virtual police officers would protect "netizens" from harm.
...
» Full story at BBC
SERIOUSLY, WHO IS PROTECTING WHO?!
Labels: news
The legendary Lady Yang Guifei could have really been onto something with the lychees. Bought this Lifecella Lychee Face Mask on an impulse while doing last minute shoppig at Sasa's in Hong Kong recently, and I must say, it is EXCELLENT!
Skin felt so soft and supple after use that I couldn't resist touching my own face over and over again. Talk about being narcissistic. :p
Labels: well-being