Annie's Travel Guide

Brazil

2011-07-19T21:31:00.002Z

Have just finished my two weeks in Brazil!! It has been such a wonderfully fantastic trip, and I recommend everyone to go and experience the samba spirit at some point. When I left Taiwan I remember the faces of some people when I told them I was heading to Brazil, they looked as if I was crazy and heading to war in Afghanistan. Seriously, provide you are diligent and not flashing your wads of $100 notes around it has been such a comfortable and safe country. The happy spirit is everywhere, people burst into songs that binds strangers together on public transports, and if people are in the mood they just grab you and start dancing (it was quite a challenging dancing on the tram descending at 45degrees down the Corcovado Christ Redeemer hill), not to mention the Samba clubs at night at Rio!

Start from the beginning, those who knows my bad luck in travelling wont be disappointed by my way from Taiwan to Iguassu Falls. How naive was I to think that nothing would go wrong with a travelling plan from Taipei-Narita-Portland-Atlanta-Buenos Airies-Iguassu. As I smirked to myself on the plane from Atlanta to BA thinking I am doing extremely well with my transiting, I looked at the little plane icon on the map in horror as we did a sharp right turn and looked as if we were going to land in Santiago, Chile. Yes, the plane surely got diverted due to the volcanic ash and after travelling for 50 hours I was in the wrong bloody country! And to make the matter worse, apparently the pilot signalled to the Chilean govement before the plane landed that the plane was in fact being hijacked, so we landed facing a line of policemen and had to sit in the plane going through an extensive search, in which I had to explain why I have so many passports...So, about 70 hours later and transferring from Santiago to Sao Paulo to Iguassu I arrived at the Iguassu Jungle lodge in Argentina! (something else happened that even though I held the boarding card at Santiago, TAM airline claimed that some brazilian dude was sitting at my seat from Sao Paulo to Iguassu, luckily I screamed and kicked loud enough for them to let me on the last leg! I actually think I was having a nervous breakdown by that point thinking I cannot spend another night adrift...) I was quite lucky that the driver actually worked in Japan for 10 years and spoke Japanese as looking back at the two weeks, it is a bit suicidal to travel south america with no Spanish under my belt. Thank god YM spoke spanish good enough to get us by...phew!!

Iguassu was raining when I arrived, dampening the spirit just that little further. But the sky suddenly cleared as we took a boat ride underneath the waterfall and got drenched. Drenched is probably an understatement as my small camera drowned and refused to work for days. We got a glimpse of the beautiful constant rainbow that just hangs over the waterfall, which added colour to the the freezing and soaking wet adventure even more memorable! We also went to the bird park and saw the cutest puffiest toucan! I wanted to poke it but was afraid its giant beak might bite my finger off.

After Iguassu we went onto Sao Paulo on an overnight bus, which admittedly was quite comfortable compared to the unorganised, subzero temp ones of Uyuni Bolivia. We bought the most expensive blanket at the only opportunist store at the bus station, a whopping 40GBP!! But it served its life very well on our subsquent journeys to the beach as a beach blanket!

Paraty was one of my favourite colonial towns in Brazil. We stayed in a quaint little pousada built by the owners father a bit further away from historic centre. Most of the city centre lodgeings were booked out as we managed to catch one of the annual literacy festivals. On arrival the pousada receptionist sat us down and marked the only traffic light in town which is situated on a straight road between the pousada and historical centre. At first we were wondering why it was so important, but later realised its definitive importance of finding our way home when one has way too many cachcas and capirinhas. We enjoyed the outdoor music and dance everynight as everyone sat outside drinking their hearts out, YM and I both got hit on by guys! haha! And to add to the craziness we decided it was a good idea to slide down this skull breaking waterfall, where I had the option to either break my leg or bruise and scrape my bumb as i slipped and came down with the current at full speed...and the only consolation to make it better is by going to the nearby cachaca brewery to drink more to ease the physical pain.

We went to several beautiful secluded beaches and natural swimming pools. By the time we got to Ilha Grande the weather cleared up and the azure sky showed its face. YM and i decided to begin a trail of 8km to Dois Rios which intially seemed harmless, but later on became my ride of death as we decend the hill with large boulders and the most inadequate and ergonomically incorrect bike (the handle bar was shaped as if it is used for local to carry large fruit baskets upon, and i only had a front break with no backbreaks or lights). Everything was patched up as we came through the forest clearing to be met by the local police, and i nearly hugged him when he said the beach was 3 minutes away! It was a vast span of prestine beachline all to ourselves, and made the journey truly worthwhile.

I nearly drowned at the blue lagoon as stupid me didn´t know how to snorkel properly. I drank lots of pungent seawater which burnt my throat, but at the time we thought it was bacteria infection and decided to remedie the situation by chucking down more alcohol to sterilise the infection. Only about 2 days later when I started coughing violently feeling a flap of skin at the back of my throad did I realise I probably burnt it, and the additional gallons of alcohol probably didn´t really help...After taking a quick hour of samba lesson we head straight to Rio Scenarium and Democratus in the Lapa Samba Clubs district in Rio. Maybe it was the cachca and other concotions but we felt like we were actually dancing the Forro pretty well!! I just loved the happy music and happy spirit in everyone.

The last day was marked by us paragliding over Rio city, landing on one of the prestine beaches of Rio. People take real care of their public beaches, and it really was such a honour to be able to enjoy the smooth white sand and the nearly trashless beach. The proximity for people living in Rio must be a real bliss, able to walk to the beach and up the mountain and to the lake in less than 10 minutes. And the food and drinks had been more than wonderful, all you can eat sushi buffet, all you can eat gaucho grill, freshest fruit juice bars, for once my skin hasn´t gone to pots from all the travelling and actually is looking good with all the fresh vegetable and morango (strawberry) juice I have been intaking.

A note on Brazilian cocktails. The use of measuring shotglass is completely redundant. We watch the bartender constantly poured the cachaca into the cup, and watch it overflowing for the next 5 seconds. A glass of capirinha in Brazil probably contains 3 more units than British cocktails. I attempted to make a list of total alcohol intake, and here it is!
wine: 2 bottles
sake: 1 bottle
capirihina: 28
cachaca: 16
mojito: 4
cuba libre: 2
pina colada: 2
hi fi: 2
beer: 1

Shots
cachaca: 2
taquila: 4
vodka: 6
cachaca 42 (tasted rank and only costed 2R!): 2
dumeq: 4
random stuff which cant recall: +- 20

Tibet

2011-05-01T00:32:00.000Z

Travelling
-plane from Taiwan to Chengdu delayed for 4 hours resulting to late arrival into hostel. And the next day from Chengdu to Laksa was even better news. The plane engine is malfunctioning. Good job that i made a fuss and was allowed on the earlier flight otherwise would have been stuck in chengdu missing the beginning of the 10 day trip.

-didnt make it to lake namso as the roads were snowed in. Instead stayed with Tibetan family on the side of the road. it was freezing in tibet in march. out with all the heat pads and ski wear...the 6 year old little girl was looking after her baby sister and her little brother. So mature and diligent. I recall when i was 6 i was roaming the streets terrorising other street children...

-Yangpachen is an 'electricity town' built around a thermal power plant between Lhasa and Namtso Lake. Yangpachen borders on a flat area of hot springs covering 16 square kilometers. Yangpachen owns not only common hot springs and fountains, but also various geysers, boiling springs, and hot-water lakes, which is rare in the world. Now it has a thermoelectricity plant, green houses, and hot spring baths.

-trip from shigatse to base camp took 12 hours plus. There is about 90km bumpy road from Tingri to Rongpuk and bus is definitely the inadequate transportation. Did see a star filled sky with no light pollution, even spotted my first shooting star. Unfortunately it was flying across the sky too fast for me to say my wish three times. I hadn´t even have time to think of a wish yet before it dropped under the horizon.

-altitude: thought it´s about acclimatisation, but i am so wrong. Altitude sickness is one of those things that is like hay fever, you either have it or you dont. And sods law states that the fitter you are, the more likely you are to have altitude sickness, which prevents the fit people from going up himalyas at ease and having fun. Poo.

-lovely people during the trip. Roger in love with his shoes who bought 10 pairs of different shoes for the 10 days trip. Another guy who taught in Taiwan for 10 years and filled me in on all the great things to do in Taiwan.

-sundog: ever seen crystalised air particles creating a ring around the sun?? looks pretty amazing!

Food
-sweet yak milk tea. Warms you up in the dry bitter cold. Never have the salty yak milk tea. Taste like feet. Yak noodles is also very tasty. Other than that not much to eat in Tibet. Even the monks eat yak noodles and are not vegetarian, because there are no readily available crops for ingesting.

Arts & Culture
-tankas: love the intricate drawings of tanka either representing a mandala floor plan or of tibetan mythical gods and creatures. Each one must take at least a week to complete if a skilled artisan works on it 24 hours a day.

-praying wheels: lots of golden praying wheels at the peripherals of monastries. After 10 days in tibet my addiction of spinning the wheels has definitely been satisfied.

-people doing serious praying outside the jokhang temple. must remember to always go clockwise through the bakhor pilgrimage walk otherwise will be obstructive to people doing full body prostrations. Other devoted members will carry mobile praying wheels and spin for the entire pigrimage journey. The barkhor market itself is the most active in all tibet, and we bought these "vintage" looking omega clock pendants and other random pieces of jewlery from the market, trying very hard on our bargaining skills in the process.

-Tibetan buddism: 4 major schools of which the Gelug yellow hat is the most prominent with Dalai Lama as its spiritual head. But have also visited Black Kagyu sec Tsurphu monatry. There is also the red hat Nyingma and Sakya which didn´t hear much mentioning during the trip.

-8 auspicious symbols of buddhism:

	Right-coiled White Conch The white conch which coils to the right symbolises the deep, far-reaching and melodious sound of the Dharma teachings, which being appropriate to different natures, predispositions and aspirations of disciples, awakens them from the deep slumber of ignorance and urges them to accomplish their own and others' welfare.
	Precious Umbrella The precious umbrella symbolises the wholesome activity of preserving beings from illness, harmful forces, obstacles and so forth in this life and all kinds of temporary and enduring sufferings of the three lower realms, and the realms of men and gods in future lives. It also represents the enjoyment of a feast of benefit under its cool shade.
	Victory Banner The victory banner symbolises the victory of the activities of one's own and others body, speech and mind over obstacles and negativitities. It also stands for the complete victory of the Buddhist Doctrine over all harmful and pernicious forces.
	Golden Fish The golden fish symbolises the auspiciousness of all living beings in a state of fearlessness, without danger of drowning in the ocean of sufferings, and migrating from place to place freely and spontaneously, just as fish swim freely without fear through water.
	Dharma Wheel The golden wheel symbolises the auspiciousness of the turning of the precious wheel of Buddha's doctrine, both in its teachings and realizations, in all realms and at all times, enabling beings to experience the joy of wholesome deeds and liberation.
	Auspicious Drawing The auspicious drawing symbolises the mutual dependence of religious doctrine and secular affairs. Similarly, it represents the union of wisdom and method, the inseparability of emptiness and dependent arising at the time of path, and finally, at the time of enlightenment, the complete union of wisdom and great compassion.
	Lotus Flower The lotus flower symbolises the complete purification of the defilements of the body, speech and mind, and the full blossoming of wholesome deeds in blissful liberation.
	Vase of Treasure The treasure vase symbolises an endless rain of long life, wealth and prosperity and all the benefits of this world and liberation.

Potala palace grand audience halls, the jeweled and Golden burial chortens (stupa Tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, figures of the Buddha. Made of precious metal.

Drepung monastery is situated at the foothill of a mountain and was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416. It was once home of 10000 monks and Ganden podrang in Drepung is famous it was the government centre during fifth dalai lama and later moved to the famous potala palace during fifth dalai lama. Saw singing labourers compacting the roof in unison. Spent a long while outside on the hill with the prayer flags draped all over the hill as well as colourful writings of omamibabioom (? something like that)

Sera monastery which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa’s disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most attractive is that Monks debiting is held there in the courtyard. Big hype! They clap when they are asking a question and direct it to a person in the audience. If we didnt get that explanation we thought they were just chanting and dancing!

Yamdrotso lake was beautifully turquoise with the locals brining yaks and tibetan hounds out for a photo opportunity. On the return trip the lake was white out by the drastically changing weather. We were so lucky!

Kubum monastery in Gyantse, means 100,000 images in Tibetan, is the town's foremost attraction, The 35m-high chorten (stupa) with its white layers trimmed with decorative stripes and its crown-like golden dome and the magic eye, brings breath of fresh air to the temples we have been seeing

Tashilunpo monastery in Shigatse, one of the the six great Gelukpa institutions and was founded in 1447 by a disciple of Tsongkapa, Genden drup who was first dalai lama. Jamkhang Chenmo, containing the world's largest gilded copper image(26m high) of future god Jampa. This monastery is now the seat of the Panchen Lama (highest ranking lama after Dalai Lama).

India

2010-10-31T00:05:00.000Z

DAY 01 : DELHI Delhi was a shock to the system. i really did not expect a capital city to be in such a disorganised state. People were sleeping on the island inbetween the highways, rubbish everywhere and poorly developed infrastructure. People are very proud of India being the largest democratic country in the world but at this point I felt if there was a unified voice at least some form of system can be built and sustained as opposed to this total state of hectic chaos. The guide opening asking for tips, and on getting the tip asked for more didn´t really help to the general vibe gained at Delhi.

Visited Qutub Minar ancient site and Humayun´s Tomb - floorplan in which Taj Mahal was based.

Nearly got handed the torch for the commonwealth games. Mascot and paparazzi already taken position to snap the photo to go on morning newspaper. But was stopped by guide as it may potentially be politically sensitive...

DAY 02 : DELHI-JAIPUR Jaipur was a much more pleasant place to be. The guide was much more genuine and less "oily" than the guide we had at Delhi. After a days drive past vibrant trucks, dodgying oncoming traffic of cows and camels we arrived at the Pink City, capital of Rajasthan.

We saw the Hawa Mahal Palace of Winds which has these intricately delicately carved honeycombed windows so ladies can look outside without being seen.

We stayed in a beautiful economic Havelis and lived a night as Indian princesses. Watched an enteraining puppet show at the garden where entertainers set up a stool. Need to master this sleek tipping handshake business.

DAY 03 : JAIPUR Visited Amber Fort. Took the journey via brightly painted elephants. Very beautiful fort of which highlights were the Ganesh Pol or the Ganesh Gate, named after the Hindu god Lor Ganesh who removes all obstacles in life, is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas; the four seasons archway; the Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Victory) in the third courtyard glittering with mirrors that are cut to represent floral patterns; the magic flower fresco carved in marble at the base of one of the pillars around the mirror palace which is identified by two hovering butterflies depiction; the flower has seven unique designs of fish tail, a lotus, a hooded cobra, an elephant trunk, a lion’s tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion, each is viewed by a particular way of partial hiding of the panel with hands.

Really nice Thalis for lunch, curry was made with less water content as the region of Rajasthan is near to the dessert. Afternoon visit to the Galta Monkey Temple where monkey roamed around freely. Maybe I should visit the temple of rats one day but Galta Monkey temple seems a lot cuter.

DAY 04 : JAIPUR - AGRA Onward drive to Agra, enroute visit Fatehpur Sikri, one of the finest examples of Mughal architectural splendour at its height. Visit to the site has be to done barefoot, and children roam the place asking you to purchase items in contribution for their school fee.

DAY 05 : AGRA Sunrise visit the famous Taj Mahal built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his queen Mumtaz Mahal, made out of white marble took 22 years to complete (1630-1652 AD). The area again is to be visited barefoot, showing how clean they are maintaining the area. Marble intricate sculptures and murals were amazing.

After breakfast visit Agra fort. Built of red sandstone and overlooking the Taj Mahal. The Fort was built principally as a military establishment by Akbar in 1565 and was partially converted into a palace during Shah Jahan's time where he was taken prisoner by his own son to prevent him building a black Taj Mahal mirroring his love for his queen.

DAY 06 : AGRA- JHANSI - KHAJURAHO Tummy bug!!! After breakfast transfer to Railway station for Jhansi. In super pissed off state as the train was late and tummy was in torment. The train ride was better than expected and on arrival at Jhansi Railway station we then drove to Khajuraho enroute visit Orchha. "Orchha", meaning "Hidden" was the hallmark of Bundela dynasty. The origin of Bundelas in the 11th century is traced to a Rajput prince who offered himself in sacrifice to the mountain goddess Vrindavasini. It is believed the goddess stopped the prince from sacrificing and named him Bundela (meaning, the one who offered blood). Nice architectural building emcompassing muslim and hindu influences seen over the doorway.

DAY 07 : KHAJURAHO - VARANASI A trip to the Eastern Group temples of Khajuraho. The bold artistic statement of erotic sculptures and the splendidly structured monuments are really one of a kind. Our driver met his girlfriend here because she felt really in need of a guy after the site visit (er...too much information maybe...)

DAY 08 : VARANASI – DELHI Morning sunrise boat cruise at the river Ganges to observe the way of life of pilgrims by the Ghats. Very interesting how people are cremating upstream of the river and then people bathing themselves downstream. Varanasi is the capital of Hindu religion, apparently more than 500 festivals take place here a year. So everyday is a festival by the different religious followers. There are people selling brightly coloured flowers before dawn, and the colours as the sun rises is one to be remembered.

Breakfast at the hotel and afternoon transfer to airport to connect flight for Delhi. Powercut in the airport, that was interesting.

New Motto

2010-09-26T06:50:00.001Z

Before 16, before grandma passed away, I had a very Chinese working mentality: Work hard now; accumulate the necessary experience and cash in order to live life to its full during retirement. The shock of the fragility of life made me think, arriving at an early teen, naïve yet energetic motto: ‘work hard, play harder’. This motto accompanied me through the late teens and early twenties, allowing me to accumulate an exciting portfolio of travelling experiences, party mayhems, and friends to keep for life. Coming to China has been a great shock to the system. The habit, working mentality, culture of people is extremely different. I miss the UK life with all my heart and soul. So it is ‘Back to basics. Live happily ever after'.

Life is one big project. Like a company that has mission, vision and value. If one changes the topline mission to life, then the subsequent action at the strategic and operational level will also require alteration. ‘Work hard, play harder’ is an easy motto to translate to an operational level: you work hard, earn lots of money, and spend it on things that make you happy, and the cycle goes round. ‘Live happily ever after’ is another story altogether. To start, I need to adjust my frame of mind...

Cinammon Kitchen & Anise

2009-10-07T11:19:00.007Z

The restaurant is situated at Devonshire square, a little atmospheric hideaway near Liverpool street. Increasing I have come across these little coves of quietness providing shelter against the noisey hubbub of the city, they are really gems of calm!

In my mind Indian food, as it is with Chinese food, should be quick and easy and cheap! So Cinnamon Kitchen & Anise challenges the traditional understanding, and I must say premium Indian food rocks - both pretty and tasty, just the way I like it :)

Houses

2009-10-07T11:15:00.003Z

Very cool houses - but will you live in them?? Not exactly sustainable housing nominees are they?!

2009-09-25T03:32:00.004Z

Even though Taiwan is technically 1/4 of my nationality, it feels almost completely foreign to be back in this country.

Usually when I come back to visit I lead a sheltered life of being transported around. Now I am having to start from zero and get to learn the roads and how to take public transport. Afterall, one cannot constantly travel around on taxi and private chauffeur service (aka dad).

Taxis. Cultural difference #1. Why is it that EVERY single taxi driver asks you the question: 'do you have a boyfriend?', and if unfortunately you receive a phonecall on the cab they will continue to probe: 'oh so your boyfriend is calling you', followed by: 'is your bf waiting at the destination?'. I understand the culture of making chit chats in Taiwan, but is this the standard question to be expected?

Korea

2009-09-24T20:35:00.001Z

Seoul
Namsam – seeing 大長今a la teddy bear style in the teddy museum, gazing at the hundreds of love locks on the fences below the tower.

Myeong Dong shopping – Hanskin BB cream and face mask. Actually after walking the entire area I only managed to purchase clothes from one shop. And I thought it is easy to shop in Korea.

Traditional Korean tea and teahouse – Tae’s little guidebook for Korean people took us to 壽山硯房, truly the best Korean tea place experienced. All menus are in Korean which reflected the lack of tourist influence and added to the authenticity of the teahouse. I love the décor; the old-day atmosphere allows one to sample teas in peace and tranquility. The tea house poetically named ‘the moon birds do not always miss the moon’ in Insadong featured little birds living in cages right next to the tables, albeit the selection and taste was less inspiring than壽山硯房.
Me trying五味茶 and Tae梨子茶

Traditional houses – having two people squeezed in to a 3mx2m space is a first. Shun had to jump around killing mosquitoes, and half way through the night I woke with the thought that given we cannot lock our doors ghost can readily come in…scary…but it is an interesting experience to stay in a room made essentially with wooden paper doors.

Best beef sashimi – to be found in restaurant 古宮situated in Insadong.

牌盃 at Gyeongbokgung and Chengdokgung – quite specific to Korean palaces I thought, not usually seen in Chinese architecture. The guidebooks are really very good, detailed and standardized in the same format across all the national palaces. The guides are free throughout South Korea, an excellent stimulus to allow tourist to have a more in-depth understanding of their culture, which brings my thoughts to:

Korean hospitality – swear to god South Korean are the nicest race of people to foreigners. They are always thoughtful, polite but not to an exaggerated extent that makes one feel uncomfortable or sense a slight edge of insincerity. In Gyeong-ju private one day hire, we wanted to add extra sights to our places of visit – most drivers would probably start complaining of extra petrol spenditure or the steer away from original itinerary, but our driver was happy to drive around exploring, asking people for directions, getting slightly off track but determined to take us to the places we wanted to see. He also gave us half of this lunch so we could try more different dishes (not that it is possible to finish what is in front of us anyway). On our way to Busan station, due to the Korean banking system we were not able to withdrawal cash readily and for the first time in my life we ran out of cash in the taxi!! And as we embarrassingly asked whether we could pay him using Japanese yen, he only smiled and accepted the foreign currency gracefully and waved us goodbye.

DMZ – South Korean soldiers are pretty cute! According to Tae they station all the good looking kids there so the tourist can have some eye candy haha. The conflict revolving around the tunnel and looking at the propaganda villages at the north/south border really brought to light the idiocy of North Korean policy. I stamped my passport with the stamps at the Dorasan train station, only to see the person standing at the counter shaking their head. Apparently an American tourist did the same and was later refused entry back into US on the basis that immigration thought he had been to North Korea. Ooops…

W hotel lounge bar – I love W hotel and its interior décor. I love W candles. I love W hotel lounge bar overlooking the Han river. I love the power B-52 shot that is essentially three shots in one. I love my best friend Tae!

Busan
Power suites – on the way to the fish market came across a really nice Korean cloth shop, apparently popular to news readers and celebrities. Tried on a few power suits which looked real good, but was surprised the price tag came in at around 350GBP, enough to buy an Armani! Luckily Shun stopped my impulse buy.

Playing with Shun’s 10mm lense at Busan tower – it is the coolest lense for taking wide angle shots! Feel like a pro haha! It’s great for him given he loves going to towers and taking panoramic view of cities.

Neon lights by the sea – it was really a surreal sight. In Europe I am used to watching the calm sea with an equally calming surrounding. Rarely do I see sky scrapers and flashing rainbow lights right by the sea. It was really nice to be able to just sit by the sea with one of your best friends and chat into the night, jokingly complaining about each other’s company and the lack of potential in one’s life; and asking silly Q&As and realizing he knows me better than I thought.

Best breakfast at Novotel hotel – Japanese sukiyaki, Chinese dumpling, Korean Kimchi, Fresh juices, Continental breakfast, English full breakfast, salad…you name it, they have it!

Gyeongju
Various stone Buddha – Ones with stone on its head, ones with detailed clothing carvings ones carved onto cliff face, ones made of marble and surrounded by disciples.

The moats signifying significant burial ground

Life has become a journey

2009-09-15T03:41:00.002Z

After 16 years of being in England, having undergo metamorphosis to becoming more British than Taiwanese, I am now moving my present and future back to Asia.

The main reason? Quarter life crisis coupled with the Confucian filial ideals.

This is the first time in my life where I have unwillingly surrendered to external pressure. Dealing with constant conflict of family and friends, I have made this uncertain decision of returning. It is hard to imagine what life would be like, nor whether I will remain the happy person surrounded by the friends I cherish.

Bolivia & Peru

2009-08-31T21:11:00.026Z

Bolivia

Stupid US transfer system - nearly missed the plane at Newark (to date am still trying to figure out the benefit of the stupid transit system requiring the passengers to collect the luggage only to drag it 10 metres and put it BACK IN to the SAME plane again)

Witch market – dead llama foetus are sold in abundance, apparently to be buried at the four corners of a new house to fortify the building. There are also assortment of colourful wax, plant/animal(?) parts that is to be burnt as sacrifices during prayer.

Altitude Sickness – in hindsight flying directly from London to La Paz at 3800m above sea level was not such a bright idea. Over confidence in one’s fitness level not nearly, but definitely killed me during my stay in Bolivia. The first day two girls had their head over a bowl of soup during lunch, with the restaurateur looking extremely worried that we will vomit in his restaurant. We had to abandon our original itinerary in our semi-zombie like state and opt for emergency lie down at a shabby hostel next to the restaurant, trying to get some oxygen whilst listening to the weird and wonderful Bolivian music blasting from the public speaker outside. Instead of acclimatizing the headache gradually got worse as we accented to 4700m. Waking up every morning was a real nightmare, as one’s head felt like being squashed at great force between two concrete walls. I even developed regular morning sickness routine that got Yi Fei wondering what I have been doing before I came, haha. Thankfully the wonder drug, Soroche pills, from a little Uyuni pharmacy saved me.

Night bus journey - the journal from La Paz to Uyuni saw one of the most disorganized systems, whereby locals and confused tourists try to locate the correct bus to travel, as prebooked tickets and travel references bear no correlation to the bus that has just come in parked on the side street. If Bolivia is to increase their tourism intake, they will need to improve their transport and accommodation infrastructure. It was freezing -15C and there was NO heating, NO hotwater at the places we were staying.

Changing landscape – No country has yet to offer such vast, spectacular scenery that change so dramatically from one day to another. The train tracks only run through from town to town, hence the only way to get around the rugged landscape was by jeep. The natural sceneries really cannot be faulted. The lack of tourist influence meant that the volcanic landscape, the salt plane, the various lagoons and the flamingos and llamas within them are seen in their genuine and unpretentious form. As the jeep takes us through Bolivia, the scenery changes like a picture flip book. I will trade these natural unspoilt panorama views for lack of development any day.

Driving a jeep through Uyuni salt flat – the salt flat formed through evaporation of the prehistoric lake Minchin. The vast panes of blue and white allows one to take optical illusion photos. We passed the Fish island full of dodgy looking cacti, and attempted to spell our name with salt blocks, but due to the lack of oxygen eventually contented ourselves with spelling the first letter of our name. Much against Yi Fei’s will, I drove the jeep through the salt plane. It is such a fun and liberating experience. Cannot wait to do the same on an American roadtrip!

Bolivian women dress code – don’t underestimate these fashion trend. Apparently the whole outfit can cost in excess of 1000GBP!

Honeymoon like travel – I will advise whoever doing the Peru & Bolivia combo holiday to go from Bolivia through to Peru. The lack of people taking this option meant we had our own catamaran with private cooks and bus transport to ourselves. The guide even questioned whether we were on honeymoon given the excessive luxury and private service associated. In reality we opted for group transfer, it is just that the rest of the 30 odd spaces were not filled. Highly recommend Transtourin travel company, who still operated with only two of us transferring.

Peru

Machu Pichu Hike – the Machu Pichu hike, recommended and yet feared by so many, was in fact the easiest part of the trip! The four day hike consisted the visit of various Inca ruins on the first and third day, and a day of steep climb on the second. Competitive nature came through the second day where Yew Ming and I raced ahead finishing two hours prior scheduled time. The third day JJ and I decided to go slow and explored all the Inca sites in detail, possibly the only trekker to get lost on the single-pathed hike. It is simply an exhilarating experience. After the four day hike, reaching the sun gate overlooking the city in the clouds is the liberating view that made the pain throughout all worth it.

We started from km 88, and after half an hour climb reached Llaqtapata - 'the town on the hillside'. The view of Llactapata down below was taken as we reached the edge of the hillside on the opposite side of the Kusichaca Valley.

Runkuraqay - 'the egg hut' is probably an Inca tambo or post house which got its name from its oval shape.

Sayaqmata - 'the inaccessible town' is more extensive than Runkuraqay and is built in an impressive setting onto the crest of a ridge (once again overlooking several valleys) with a view all the way down into Amazonia. This is where we decided to build a human pyramid!

Phuyupatamarka - 'the cloud level town'

Intipata - 'the sun place'. Most hikers by-pass it as the Trail descends steeply in what feels like many hundreds of steps to Wiñawayna which is a little bit further on and lower down. The terraces of Intipata have a convex shape whereas those of Wiñawayna are concave.

Winawayna - 'the forever young'. It has terraces down the mountainside, stone ruins up high and down low, a string of ceremonial baths connecting them and a beautiful waterfall as a backdrop behind the ruins.

Our tour guide as also name Freddy. And the funniest thing is, he wears a t-shirt with ‘Maks!’ on the front. In the beginning we really thought he was taking the piss! He taught as the game of Inca Power, though he is yet to win at his own game against competitive and efficient players like us.

Anita fainted at the top on the second day, only to be carried down by her hero porter Pancho. He’s so shy why Anita gave him a thank you kiss Awww

Amazon Rainforest – it was a shock to the system being told we had to get up once again at 4am in the morning to watch the parrots feasting on the clay bank. Surely the parrots can wait for us?! There was hundreds of parrots perched on hundreds of tree, yet the female tour guide said to Freddy, ‘Do you see the parrots?? They are on the TREE!’, at which point I can already see Freddy’s response in his head, ‘No actually, I’m blind.’

Animals and Plants - Hacking through the forest listening and identifying to various birdcalls, eating protein rich termites that left a minty woody after taste, waiting patiently for two hours for mammals to appear in the lodge, screaming at visiting frogs in cold showers, climbing the 20m tower to see the above the canopy, and visiting fruit farm trying copuasu that tasted like dui lian.

Brazil nut ice cream – Yummmmmmm. But as Freddy correctly pointed out, why do they grow Brazil nut in Peru? Haha

Kayaking and swimming in the Amazon – Kayaking leisurely through the rapids of the river, being dunked in the river by Mong Mong (should have known). Making a fertility statue featuring JJ on the bank of the Amazon stemming curious by passing tourists quizzing it significance. Having sand flies attacking us with Yew Ming and Anita being the ultimate victims.

This trip is no doubt the most physically challenging trip I have been on. Not because I cannot withstand the hikes that I signed on to, but the challenge came from having to complete the hikes whilst under all sorts of severe altitude sickness, diarrhea, headaches etc. Maybe I am more spoilt and acquainted to civilisation than I originally thought.

Economic Models explained with Cows

2009-07-29T20:50:00.002Z

SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
SURREALISM You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
A FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION You have two cows. One is mad the other has foot and mouth. AN IRAQI CORPORATION Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.
A SPANISH CORPORATIONYou have two cows.You sell to foreigners the land so cows can grow up. You sell so much land your country is full of f.... cows.
A GREEK CORPORATIONYou have two cows.You use them to make yogurt.Thats it.

Algarve

2009-05-28T17:53:00.016Z

What impressed me was the niceness of the local people. Even though we do not have a common language between us, through gesturing they managed to warn us not to park at the police parking space in case we get fined, and kayak instructors leaving us details and is keen for us to have a good time. Ofcourse some cynics would say that's just business, but I vote for the fundamental good nature of mankind.

Believe it or not, I'm beginning to realise travelling abroad at 3am on a Friday morning and coming back at 3am on the Monday morning ready for work the same day isn't really a good idea! Anyhow, no more crazy holiday travelling after this one, so might as well embrace what is to come.

Car's driving was excellent, and we certainly would have had a rough time trying to get from city to city without him. We flew into Faro, and with the interesting guidance from the GPS (SHARP left...turn left, and turn left, and turn left - isn't that just going in a circle?!) we arrived at Igrejade Sao Laurenco, Almancil. A brilliantly tiled church depicting the life of Saint Lawrence. After visiting the dinky church we head to Loule market, where we bought local peri peri sauce, honey and dried star shaped figs embedded with almonds. In the afternoon we visited Milreu Roman site in Estoi, where it is free to stamp on the tiles and hug the pillars. This site supposedly hosts one of the earliest Christian churches in the world, talk about lack of regard for conservation! The Rococo palace converted hotel at the top of the hill is definitely retreat destination, a point to note for revisit.

The second day we drove 70km west to Lagos, where the sea and cliffside sculped magnificent landscapes for photo opportunitites. Though the Baroque Igreja de Santo Antonio was fantastically embellished, the sun, sand and beach of Ponta da Piedad and Praia Dona Ana quickly stole our attention. We lazed by the beach before heading out to Sagres land's end, where we saw multiple sea carved coves.

Third day was jam packed! With a morning headed to Monique valley and the peak of Foia, the highest point in the Serra de Monique. I think rising at 8am on a Sunday morning was too early even for the locals; the only living things we encountered, aside from from the densely wooded canvas of eucalyptus, pine and cork treets, were one vendor selling potted honey at the back of this delapidated van, and one astrayed golden retriever on the cobbled street. We rushed back to Lagos and began our 3 hour kayaking session, seeing the cliff face from a different pespective. This had justified our peri peir banquet that afternoon, where our starved stomach inevitabily caused us to order way more food than we could possibly consume. With one peri peri chicken each in our stomach, we had the kilojules required to complete the rest of our itinery: Algar Seco rock formation at Carvoeiro, Sand festival at Pera, and finally arriving at Albufeira: seemingly the only town with in Algarve with an active nightlife. Unfortunately we were exhausted and didn't head out into town again...boooo

Last day! Woke up at leisure around 10am =p Went to a pretty little village Alte, with its cobbled streets, colourful window frames and cheery lemon treets planted at their front yard the village invvoked an unhurried air which was quite disarming. A few magnums later we headed out to find Sao Lorenco NATURE trail. It took us a good hour, following the convoluted instructions from the GPS, only to find ourselves driving through fields and fields of well groomed grass in the vacinity of golf resorts. Apparently some smart dude thought it a wonderful idea to integrate the nature reserve with nearby golf resort, and as one looked on the natural habitat of the wet mashland, you will be able to spot two giant forking trucks digging up the soil at the background. This has to be morally and ethically incorrect on all levels! After our shortest nature trail walk followed by the longest golf course trek, we head back to Faro to visit Capela dos Ossos - eerie little chapel filled with deceased monk bones...

Taiwan

2009-05-27T22:25:00.017Z

Second time back in less than half a year! And I'm going back again in September! It's been one of the better breaks back home, salute to Shun for coming to keep me sane!

Took the chance to go and take vain salon photos before my 26th. It is not easy being a star afterall. Five changes of clothes and makeover took almost 8 hours. Taking shots at desired camera angle almost require the body to be in advanced astanga yoga positions. I loved the makeup piled on me, though removing the caked layer at the end of the day required scrubbing my face three times. Here's a preview!

Believe it or not, it is the first time I independently travelled in my home town! After getting lost at the Taipei train station and nearly catching the wrong train due south instead of north east (hardly my fault, 瑞芳 and 瑞穗 are only one character apart!), we made our way to PingXi. It was really good to experience what culture Taipei has to offer, with nice friendly locals and shops set up right next to the rail track. It was almost the individual shop owners' responsibility to ensure over excited tourists do not get runover by the oncoming train whilst sending hopeful-message-packed skylaterns up to the sky. We also managed to catch fireflies before we departed for the food extravaganza at the 基隆nightmarket that is conveniently integrated in with the local temple. The highlight must be the glaring stare of the slushy ice store owner when Shun told her he wanted a list of ingredients in his dessert, only to be told to go next door to get a bucket because the biggest bowl she had to offer would not be able to cater for half of his options.

We also went for a six star massage in Taipei. It felt so nice and I almost wanted to go home and nap after the morning massage.

Yino took cousin and I to 苗栗, where we visited the strawberry village and the famous tofu street. We then visited the land her fiancee bought and it was really exciting to pick your own bamboos and peaches. We left the mountain enchanted by hundreds of fireflies. The scene is uber romantic and something that will be imprinted in our memories.

The last weekend was devoted to climbing of 承天禪室, the temple that I was named after. It is the season of 古桐花 and there were so many flowers falling like specks of snow as we hiked. It was really touching to know my auntie came to climb the mountain just to see me, even though she had only recovered from an accident..

Iceland

2009-05-03T16:07:00.007Z

Already a vague and distant memory from the Easter just passed.

Getting used to travelling directly to the airport and then to the final destination straight after work.

Golden Circle. After a stroll in the Thingvellir national park wich jagged stone cliffs, we head towards the Strokkur Geyser. The nature phenomenon begins with the temperatures near the bottom of the geyser rise to a point where boiling begins; allowing steam bubbles rise to the top of the column. As they burst through the geyser's vent, some water overflows or splashes out, reducing the weight of the column and thus the pressure on the water underneath. With this release of pressure, the superheated water flashes into steam, boiling violently throughout the column. The resulting froth of expanding steam and hot water then sprays out of the geyser hole. The air around the Gulfoss waterfall was freezing, makes me realise I was truely in Iceland.

Reykjavik city centre can be explored within 20 minutes. The Saegreifinn down by the harbour served delicious lobster tail soup with a wide selection of seafood kebabs. Two Asian girls occupied a good 30% of the restaurant space with our gourmet lunch compared to the buff locals with their one cup of lobster soup - that's a sight to see.

The blue lagoon was literally a giant onsen, where one can manuvre to different parts of the lake with respect to the central volcanic eruption to gain the most comfortable water temperature. All this without having to get out of one bath in the freezing cold and relocate to another as it currently is in a Japanese onsen. Volcanic mud face mask was also freely available for use at one of the stations. As much fun as a lagoon can be we soon grew tired of sitting in a pond of water and began snapping photos using my triple plastic bag layered Canon SLR.

B5 night lounge. With a giant horse and a lamp on its head at the window, it is suprising to see the fusia pink and ocean blue lined alcohol shelves. Along came a magician who lit up his wallet with fire, then sat next to us teaching card tricks and enlightening us about Icelandic life. Truely interesting evening.

Kaffitar: Iceland's own brand of Starbucks, only with more aromatic coffee beans and better brewing processes. Yum.

Glacier climbing. The jeep was so high to climb in! We really were not dressed for the part in my fitted coat, ugg boots and pom pom hat. The trip to the Snaefellsjokull glacier took almost the whole morning, which is later nicely refreshed by the two hour climb. We viewed the thousand year old black ice and dangerous seep holes.

The highlight has to be the oriental inspired Seafood Cellar. The seafood banquet just kept on coming. The presentation of the food was very pretty: a lobster tail platter with cream garlic sauce served in a chinese tea pot; lychee, mango sorbet served on a bed of dry ice. The food combination was also challenging to the tastebud: white cod served on plum and sake flavoured rice, lobster and truffle soup, fish roe served with lime froth and ponzu sauce. All this with excellent restaurant decor matches that of Fat Duck, only at a fraction of a price.

Bilbao

2009-04-16T22:32:00.010Z

Being told off by mum for not blogging my Bilbao travels. Didn't know she follows my travel guide closely (mental note: not to write anything offensive about mum).
Bilbao was a good getaway, though with the crashing exchange rate between the pound and the Euro things no longer seemed as cheap as before. We still managed to have our fair share of fun, bathing in the sunshine and enjoying the foreign air.

5 reasons to go to Bilbao:

1. Arty hotels: We stayed at Hesperia, an uber-stylish hotel with plush sofa and moo moo chairs to sit on in the entrance.

2. Frank Gehry's Guggenheim: Heavily advertised around Bilbao was Murakami's exhibition at the Guggenheim. It is not until late on Saturday I realised why the name sounded so familiar - Murakami designed last season's LV collection! The art collections featured in Guggenheim is never overwhelming, but somehow always manages to create a deep impact. The first floor housed permanent collections, second floor was dark and gloomy featuring a Chinese artist working with war and explosives. This is a stark contrast with Murakami's colourful collection on the third floor. The flowers and kiki kaikai were adorable, though was slightly disturbed by the side collection of sperm lasso...Siu Mun knows what I am on about =p

Also loved loved loved Jeff Koons' floral puppy guarding the entrance of the museum.

3. Historic Centre and Pintxos. The old town, Casco Viejo, was a wonderful warren of medieval lanes, home to and Plaza Nueva where the locals gather and children roam in the sunshine. This brings us to the myriad Pintxos bar featured around the Plaza Nueva. Pintxos are Bilbao's own version of Spanish tapas, usually more orientated towards seafood (not complaining) on bread. The best Pintxos bar was Zugan, each Pintxos was delicately made, colourful and tasty!

4. Hit the beach. A bus ride from Bilbao and we arrived at San Sebastian beach. Firstly we were hit by the lack of civilisation in town, only to realise we have marched into a residential area and away from the touristy promenade. The beach was sandy with azure coloured sky. Only if it was not freezing cold! Could not resist entering another local Pintxos bar for a bite, only to see the cutest Josh Harnett look-a-like. This trip is now complete, haha.

5. Late-night lounging. In a city obsessed with design hosts the best nocturnal hangouts. Public Lounge with its baroque-inspired interior and Veuve Chequot Ponsarin champagne bar was one of the best lounges I've been to. If only London had a few more places like this to chill.

Cotswold Falconry

2009-03-28T10:00:00.008Z

A day in the Cotswolds, learning interesting facts on birds of prey, being birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen vision. Most these birds glide across the sky using aerodynamics rather than flapping their wings which made it quite spectacular to watch from the ground as they soar 20metres up to the sky.

Chester

2009-03-07T09:30:00.007Z

Chester has the reputation of being the "English medieval city par excellence", much of the architecture of central Chester looks medieval and some of it is. But by far the greatest part of it, including most of the black-and-white buildings, is Victorian, a result of what Pevsner termed the "black-and-white revival". The city's central shopping area includes its unique Rows or galleries (two levels of shops) which date from medieval times and are believed to include the oldest shop front in England. The Rows are unique in Britain. They consist of buildings with shops or dwellings on the lowest two storeys. The shops or dwellings on the ground floor are often lower than the street and are entered by steps, which sometimes lead to a crypt-like vault. Those on the first floor are entered behind a continuous walkway, often with a sloping shelf between the walkway and the railings overlooking the street.

Some cute animals from Chester Zoo :)

十二生肖的意義

2009-02-13T18:58:00.005Z

中國人的祖先是很實在的，我們十二生肖兩兩相對，六道輪迴，體現了我們祖先對中國人全部的期望跟要求。

第一組是老鼠和牛。老鼠代表智慧，牛代表勤奮。智慧和勤奮一定要緊緊結合在一起。如果光有智慧不勤奮，那就變成小聰明；而光是勤奮，不動腦筋，那就變成愚蠢。所以這兩者一定要結合，這是我們祖先對中國人的第一組期望和要求，也是最重要的一組。

第二組是老虎和兔子。老虎代表勇猛，兔子代表謹慎。勇猛和謹慎一定要緊緊結合在一起，才能做到所謂的膽大心細。如果勇猛離開了謹慎，就變成了魯莽，而你沒有勇猛，謹慎就變成膽怯。這一組也非常重要，所以放在第二。我看著這些貴族，補上一句：所以當我們表現出謹慎的時候，千萬不要以為我們中國人沒有勇猛的一面。實際上，我們祖先追求的是一種和諧的智慧和圓融，從來不會單獨給一個要求和任務。

第三組是龍和蛇。龍代表剛猛，蛇代表柔韌。所謂剛者易折，太剛了容易折斷，但是如果只有柔的一面，就易失去主見，所以剛柔並濟是我們歷代的祖訓。接下來是馬和羊。馬代表勇往直前，直奔目標，羊代表和順。如果一個人只顧自己直奔目標，不顧周圍，必然會和周圍不斷磕碰，最後不見得能達到目標。但是一個人如果光顧著和周圍和順，之後他連方向都沒有了，目標也失去了。所以一往無前的秉性一定要與和順緊緊結合在一起，這是我們祖先對中國人的第四組期望。

再接下來是猴子和雞。猴子代表靈活，至於雞呢，以前的年代沒有鐘，都是聽雞鳴聲決定一天的開始，所以雞定時打鳴，代表穩定。靈活和穩定一定要緊緊結合起來。如果你光靈活，沒有穩定，再好的政策最後也得不到收穫。但如果說你光是穩定，一潭死水、一塊鐵板，那就不會有我們今天的改革開放了。只有它們之間非常圓融的結合，一方面具有穩定性，保持整體的和諧和秩序，另一方面又能不斷變通地前進，這才是最根本的要旨。

最後是狗和豬。狗是代表忠誠，豬是代表隨和。一個人如果太忠誠，不懂得隨和，就會排斥他人。而反過來，一個人太隨和，沒有忠誠，這個人就失去原則。所以無論是對一個民族國家的忠誠、對團隊的忠誠，還是自己理想的忠誠，一定要與隨和緊緊結合在一起，這樣才容易真正保持內心深處的忠誠。這就是我們中國人一直堅持的外圓內方，君子和而不同。

中國人每個人都有屬於自己的生肖，有的人屬豬，有的人屬狗，這意義何在實際上，我們的祖先期望我們要圓融，不能偏頗，要求我們懂得到對應面切入。比如屬豬的人能夠在他的隨和本性中，也去追求忠誠；而屬狗的人則在忠誠的本性中，去做到隨和。

My bestfriend's wedding

2008-12-08T20:19:00.002Z

Having been categorised as insane for going to Korea for a weekend, I arrived at Incheon airport. It was really nice for Tae’s parents to pick me up and accompany me to dinner even though they are clearly very tired from the wedding preparation.

On Sunday we woke bright and early at 5am and headed for the all encompassing salon. It is a makeup heaven, makeup for hair, make up for face, make up for nails…Apparently my hair’s falling out more than normal and should undergo hair follicle treatment before I turn bald.

The wedding was very swift, in and out in three hours. I caught the bouquet, in Korean tradition, the one person who is designated to catch the bouquet usually already made plans to get married in the next 6 months.. No wonder Tae’s friends kept on congratulating me. The added comoplexity to the tradition is that, if one doesn’t managed to get married in the next 6 months, then one will not get married for another 6 years. 6 years it is for Annie then.

After the wedding Tae jetted off to Guam, whilst Annie started a one man adventure around Seoul. It’s amazing how I managed to go to so many places in one night – the Gyeongbokgong, where I met the strangest American Korean woman who came from California because she wanted to see snow. Wouldn’t it be easier to go somewhere in America or Canada??…Ssaziegil was such a little romantic street, with people in pairs walking around hand in hand in snow. I managed to locate Yetchatjip, a little teashop at the hideaway streets of Isadong, decorated with vintage furniture and Korean scrolls on the ceiling. Potty trained budgies and assortment of teas add to the authenticity of the little cove. Jogyesa had the cutest Buddhist Buddha, and the Cheonggye stream was adoringly lit up with spotlights in the cold night. The next morning before my 12 hour journey back to UK, I went to Geodong Market, and the strong smell of ginseng was prominent from the tubestation! Hopefully through breathing in the fumes I could take off some years.

It’s been such an amazing weekend away. After seeing Tae getting married (and crying..her brother probably thinks I’m a freak…) I am all inspired, and I hope everyone finds love and happiness, forever and ever.

Snippets of Russian Memory

2008-09-23T07:00:00.003Z

Metro: truly it was a sight in itself. The tunnels are dig deep into the ground, forming a labyrinth of crossings which becomes a pain when one has a 15kg luggage. Often badly sign posted we relied on spotting the ‘man walking on stairs’ symbol as our north star equivalent for interchange. The metros are always congested as if rush hour lasts 20 hours a day, and yet given the number of people present it was eerily silent – we seems to be the only one ever conversing at any given time. The grandeur led to the irresistible action of photo taking, but we were arrested at Avoto station and taken on a field trip around the station to be introduced to all the no photo sign before taken to the police station to be fined. All this time SiuMun and I was busy changing our memory cards as JJ distracted the police, just in the case of them snapping our SD cards in half.

People: We have probably only come across two people who spoke English on the entire trip. Generally the Babushka (Russian Grannies) will speak loudly at you, and if you look like you do not understand them they will gradually increase their volume, through the mentality of ‘If I speak louder you WILL understand me’. =_=;; Luckily JJ and SM quickly took on the Russian cyrillics under their belt so we could at least read the basic signs such as restaurant (pectopah) to eat, and exit (выезд)to get out of the underground matrix. Russian men however are on a nicer note, as they are very willing to help us moving our suitcases up and down the underpass, despite the fact that initially this happened I thought they were running away with my suitcase and the blood pressure shot up.

Cuisine: Russian food was surprisingly welcoming. The pelmeni Russian dumplings, borsch beetroot soup and blini pancake with caviar and sour cream are definitely worth a try. Russians also seem to love jap food, there are always a stream of Japanese restaurants dotted all over the city. Savouring the food at Sakura in St Petersburg has shown that the cuisine is almost as good and Japan. With thanks to JJ, who came up with the idea of sampling all regional food, we also had some really lovely Azerbaijan, Uzbek and Georgian meals. The Georgian meal was specially memorable as I mistaken a Chicken bathed in sauce dish for the Chicken soup we ordered. And having drank nearly half of it the waiter really could not watch any further and came and helped us by serving it onto the plate. Communication is really vital to not make a fool out of one selves.

Architecture: In order of importance and culture shock: underground metros, Russians, Russian food, and now are the sights. The Hermitage was such a beautiful sight, and standing outside in the freezing cold was totally worth the wait. The rooms tend to incorporate an element of Chinese culture, but the décor and the vibrant colours switches rapidly from room to room: chandeliers, wall painting stretching from the floor to the ceiling, wooden mosaic floorings…the list goes on. Peterhof’s palace in comparison was less grand; though it is evident the fountain manic who owned the place has created some spectacular fountains. Taking the hydrofoil across the Gulf bay was an exciting route home. Moscow in comparison was much less traditional, and the major tourist sights are probably the Kremlin and Red Square. The Izmailosky souvenir market was a nice place to browse for more Matryoshka dolls, as the vendors allow you time to browse and enjoy their stalls prior to purchase, unlike the souvenir market in St Petersburg.

Everytime I go on holiday something major seems to occur – during ski trip JP bought Bear Stearns, and now in a span of a week Lehman went down and Merryll was bought. Being in Russia was a total segregation from all media sources, and we were busy buying watermelon when I received the text from YM telling me the big news.

Now it is back to reality and study time. Annie resumes her hermit lifestyle…

Polo & Prom

2008-08-31T21:03:00.012Z

Busy weekend indeedy. We left the newly opened Buddha Bar early in order to be in full form for the polo the following morning. But gave in to the temptation of watching Why Why Love to the early hours of Saturday. The NG cuts are so hilarious!

I can see why people say polo is an addictive sport, when I become rich and famous I will be looking to have my own farm and my own polo ponies! We learnt the basic tatics, and it was not for long until we mounted our own ponies and played games of chukkas. It was all very slow game, as the ponies strolled the grounds and us attempting to reach for the all too small 3 inch ball with our polo sticks. Love my pony, named Taxi!

Evening was spent eating at Matsuri and clubbing at Aura, a very cool club!

Sunday was devoted to watching Lang Lang and Mark Yu at the BBC Prom. I can't belive I cried at the end...tears just started streaming down my face. But I thought he was brilliant, maybe with bit exaggerated emotions, but very entertaining two and a half hours indeed.

Bordeaux

2008-08-29T01:55:00.007Z

Bank holiday!! Such a welcoming break. In true Annie military fashion we rose bright and early, took the 730am Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris-Bordeaux. I am so slow! Just realised Eurostar leaves from St Pancras and not from Waterloo anymore, apparently the change happened one year ago ^^;;

The train journey took a good 6 hours to Bordeaux, but given it is summer the night was still young after we checked in at 5pm. First stop was a deserted submarine base near the north west part of Bordeaux. Wondering around the deserted part of the city, we hurdled across many rusted metal baracades, encountered a seemingly contraversially named 'MacDonald's Gym', saw the cutest Pomerian puppy in the world. Walking along side La Garonne, we soon reached Antoine - the best patisserie in Bordeaux which sold canneles, macaroons and other delights. As I gaped at my housemates satisfyingly chomping down the coffee macaroons they purchased, we soon arrived at La Place de la Bourse and Miroire D'eau, a large square with a layer of water overlooking the Pont de Pierre. We splashed and ran in the water in true juvenile fashion till later, before heading for dinner, where yummy foi gras and giant sized scallops awaits..

Second day was a day at the seaside. Early train to Acachon, followed by ferry to Cape Ferret. We deliberately missed the first line of restaurants as we arrived at the Cape, knowing they are more likely to be tourist traps than not. As we head deep into the bay, the number of restaurants became scarce. Mr Mak started to worry that there are no oysters being served in the area until at last, the true definition of heaven decended upon as we encountered a fresh fisherie that sold all types of seafood. We purchased 3 dozen oysters for a mere 15euros and ate on the sandy beach. After spending the afternoon sunbathing we headed towards La Dune de Pyla, Europe's biggest sand dune. It's an amazing formation, and the feeling of pure sand under one's feet; without shells or gritty bits, the feel of coarse and fine at the same time; is a truely interesting sensation to experience.

On the last day we visited St Emilion. UNESCO heritage for its wine and vinyard, as well as hosting Europe's largest monolithic church. The tourist info is a truely useless one, first giving us

incorrect info on an opening of a vineyard, then told us the wrong duration for the underground tour. This caused large grief due to our likelihood of missing the train, and was most comical to see when Yifei literally overid JJ's politeness with the French information centre guy and shouted, 'I want a taxi, and I wanted NOW!!!' St Emilion was the birth place of macaroons, which started from the people staying with St Emilion wanting to earn a living. Unlike the commercialised macaroons, these are made of flour and almond and tastes very different, but very yummy indeed! After sampling the wine of St Emilion, we purchased three bottles of very nice sweet white Sautern wine (if only I could carry more). Annie was in true snappy happy form and took lots of photos of fluffy clouds, vineyards, grapes, wine etc.

惡魔在身邊

2008-08-15T00:07:00.004Z

雖然慢了普通人三年的時間來看這部片
但用了普通人1200%速度把整片看完
不吃不喝不睡的盯著螢幕
好久沒被電視裡的人電到嚕
居然比我小
看來時光不饒人
我已變成喜歡年輕小弟弟的怪阿姨
惡魔好帥幽!!!!

"再盛大的演奏會上
我把老師的世界名琴掉包成為最普通的小提琴
老師在大眾之下打開琴盒
發現了這事實
當時我以為他糗大了
沒想到他還是上了台把演奏會表演完
他跟我說了一段話我到今天都不會忘記
他說
不管他手上拿的是世界名琴還是再普通不過的琴
對他來說都不重要
重要的是
音樂的旋律已經在他心裡

就像那把琴依樣只有外行的人才會在乎這把琴的由來
同樣的
我何齊悅是什麼關係
是情侶還是姐弟
對我來說都不重要
因為
不管別人怎麼看我
齊悅
已經在我心裡"

Olympics Opening

2008-08-10T17:31:00.003Z

The Olympics opening was incredible.
Just incredible. £20 billion pounds spent, the number of LCD screens in the birds nest, the synchronisation of large scale performance, especially the drumming, the globe, and the three dimensional olympic symbol was truely touching...
London is going to die of shame in 2012...

Ginan

2008-08-04T21:45:00.004Z

A place that serves as comfort to the residents of 12 Jerusalem, a place where we go to maintain our staple Japanese intake on countless occasions.

Borough Market

2008-08-04T21:20:00.004Z

From regional British dairy products to olive oils, herbs, spices, cake varieties, cheese selections it's all enjoyment under one roof: the satisfaction of buying one's household provisions direct from the small artisan producers, growers, fishermen, farmers and butchers.
It is also possible to spot wondering tourists, admiring the giant brownie towers, feathered peasants, truffle mushrooms etc.
The market also serves as a good brunching point, serving top notch ostrich burgers, falafel pitta sandwiches, fresh farm apple juices, or simply binge on freebies at individual stalls.

Wall E

2008-08-03T22:38:00.003Z

Wall-E was sooo cute!! I thought he was going to die, and was on the verge of tears. Damn hod old am I?!?! After Finding Nemo and achieving underwater graphics, Wall E was another very visually stunning Pixar production set in space. I love Pixar, their animations always have very smooth colouring and texture transition giving a warm hue that makes one feels all happy inside :)

I always find it amazing when the idea of speech is substituted by visuals. Most of the characters in Wall E do not have actual human voices, but instead communicate with body language and robotic sounds that resemble voices.

There is actually a lot to think about in Wall-E, and it looks to have flagged many commentaries from the commentators. The obvious ecologically minded agenda was said to be leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind; the idea the corporation & government unilaterally provided its citizens with everything they needed, and this lack of variety led to Earth’s downfall; parallels to Pareto's idea of 'brains in vat' and not being able to see beyond; idea of steering children clear of obesity; reducing human overdenpency on machines...the thoughts go on...

Kyle smith, author and columnist for New York post, wrote that in depicting humans of the future as "a flabby mass of peabrained idiots who are literally too fat to walk", WALL-E was darker and more cynical than any major Disney cartoon he could recall. He compared the humans in the film to the patrons of Disney World, adding, "I'm also not sure I've ever seen a major corporation spend so much money to issue an insult to its customers".

Funny huh?!!

Nintendo DS

2008-08-03T22:21:00.004Z

Dot Dot lent me her Nintendo DS, and I found one of my favourite games Jane and I used to play in Japan - 太鼓達人!!!
I now have spasm in one finger and cramp in another from using them as drum sticks beating them at the DS screen...

Innocent Fete & Redbull Air Race

2008-08-03T21:01:00.006Z

Saturday was the weather for smoothie binging! We even had a sneaky preview for the new recipe to come - some mixture of nettle, spinach, kiwi and banana.
Looks like innocent is also trying to take tropicana's market share by producing orange juice, which was also our litre of suvenior given to us on our departure.
Managed to win a book of postcard from the lonely planet stand, by putting three landmarks correctly onto the European map. Carman came close to the free present too but had decided to dismiss my suggestion of Czech Republic, which was amazingly correct! I cannot believe I actually remembered the place!

So many cute babies all over the park - shame i can't have one with blonde hair and blue eyes...ai...
The fete was a perfect starting point for testing my new canon 450D! Loving my new toy!

Red bull air race was adrenaline-rushing-amazing! Wish I could be tailing the planes flying between pylons. You can still have plenty of fun not knowing a thing of what is going on and how the point scoring works. My camera lense looked positively weak against other one metre long ones, but I am content for now~~yayyy loving the new camera :D

Ascot!

2008-07-27T21:49:00.003Z

A super sunny and super hot day at the race course! I managed to win the first race by betting a grand total of two pounds on Humungous, at the odds of 7 to 1! With no prior racing knowledge the decision is simply made upon the jockey's kit colour - which was very much in season!
Boxi and her friend was on a massive winning streak - by placing two pounds on a 50 to 1 horse that managed to beat 26 other horses they managed to get over 100 quid!! I can see why if someone has no self control can end up betting their entire savings on this adrenaline rushing activity.
So tired...from having on 4 hours of sleep from previous night. This is going to be short blog. Fun weekend indeed!

Henley Music Festival

2008-07-14T21:58:00.004Z

Going back to Henley with Andy certainly brings back nostalgics, after all it was where I used to go with her for exeat weekends!
Literally 10 years later, we return to Henley (having nearly missed the train, running bare footed through paddington) for the music festival.
Slightly disappointed by the supposedly 3 star Michelin food, we nevertheless indulged ourselves in the lovely Lauren Perrier honey champagne, ultra brute and new world red.
Mrs Guo has such a wonderful character, and it is definitely a different experience to be amongst the top classes of Taiwanese people. Everywhere I look I can identify Marc Jacob, Fendi handbags, Chanel and Dior earrings. Everyone seems to have some form of tie with either the ex president or the current president. It is definitely a different world to what I am used to.
Haley Westenra is my new love! At the age of 21 she sings amazingly, and to be pitch perfect means she doesn't sing a note out of tune! Will definitely look into her albums at some point. She is apparently top selling young artist in Japan, a quick wiki-ing shows she has also released a single in Japanese...that should be quite interesting.
One thing I have noticed - nevermind how strong an artist has during their colloquial speech, when it comes to singing they lose all accents previously owned and just sing with proper English - why is that??

Butterfly House

2008-07-08T23:34:00.004Z

Such a busy weekend!
First of all, in denial of one's age, we decided to visit the Butterfly House outside the Natural History Museum. Built for age 3+, one must first walk through this giant tent made in the shape of a caterpillar into an artificial maze made out of posters. Reading fun facts on butterflies (catipillars have 4000 muscles comopared to human of 629) we collected stamps along our way until the entrace of this greenhouse.
Having marched into this not-so-large green house it was a truely pleasant suprise to see so many different types of tropical butterflies flying around. There were giant moths the size of my palm! Got very snappy happy taking pictures of the butterflies, and nearly beaten up this foreign kid who was trying to kick and stamp the butterflies on the ground. Talking about ill education of children. I would so have had a word with the parents if only they could understand English and what I was muttering.
Being London Architectural Month we quickly went to the V&A and saw Zara Hadid's chandelier, the beautiful herbiscus in full bloom and was unfortunately short of time to see the China Deisgn Now exhibition.
So want to be a designer!!

Vinotech

2008-07-07T21:41:00.005Z

A cosy restaurant that is good for sampling wine with a few close friends. The place can become quite busy as the evening develops thus booking is a must. Alternatively turn up at 6pm and start drinking...
Menu is regularly changing to include the seasonal ingredients, each menu items has a recommended wine. Once you tasted you can also buy a case to take home - a very interesting and enjoyable concept!

Wimbledon

2008-07-07T17:24:00.003Z

If tennis were a religion then Roger Federer would be God.

I don't care what everyone else thinks =p

I have temporarily lost my voice through screaming at a TV for the duration of the 5 sets. Arguably one of the best wimbledon games in modern history. Brilliant!!!

Working hard, and no travel :(

2008-07-06T18:59:00.015Z

My travel guide has been abandoned for such a long while. Partially due to laziness and partially due to lack of travelling.

The speed of ticking the countries travelled off the list has slowed with study and work but alas, don't despair as I reangle my travelling guide to more UK based adventures. Hopefully we will not lose too much glamour compared to previous. Let's wait and see.

So, how am I going to catch up on the previous year lost...haha, the lazy way ofcourse. See below snippets of excellence :)

May bank holiday at tate modern
Saw this picture in a story book once, general concensus is that such thing does not exsist. And behold, that after when I went for a stroll look what I found...
Below zero ice bar with yummy vodka mixer
Cans festival
Henry Moore at Kew Gardens

Gilgamesh

2008-06-23T07:28:00.001Z

The lavish, mega-planned restaurant has reportedly cost £12 mn to set up! As one ascends the escalator, the interesting decor spanned over the huge floor space definitely catches the eye. Though they seem to try and pack in as much egyptian style chair into the space as possible. Apparently the place also house a retractable roof! The food was set up nicely, though would definitely seem over priced had it not be for top table's 50% off deal.

Saki Bar and Food Emporium

2008-06-03T23:06:00.001Z

Yes, it is indeed Annie's quarter of an century birthday. Inevitability.

Saki has such an extensive menu!! And for some reason the waitor kept on bringing us food that we had not ordered. Having a contemporary creative menu meant that it was difficult to determine the nature of the food until one has sampled the dish, by which time it was too late to return the order. We must have got 3 plates of free food! Lucky me on my birthday :D

Food to try: Miso cod, green tea tiramisu, creative Kobachi cocktails and sashimi!

Decided to have a theme for my b-day, and am so so impressed by EVERYONE! It was such a laugh seeing sharks and tin man and scarecrow walking through the isle of a posh restaurant to the downstairs dining area. It was truely a test of friendship!! hahaha

2008-04-19T21:35:00.002Z

Fancy waking up first thing in the morning, trying to cross the first road of the day without getting run over and coming across a giant evil hand perched on top of the building on the road opposite. You think I am talking fiction, well look at that!

Borough Market

2008-04-14T19:31:00.002Z

The market is full of enjoyment derived from buying one's household provisions direct from the small artisan producers, growers, fishermen, farmers and butchers. From regional British dairy products to olive oils, herbs, spices and dried fruits, cheese varieties, cake selections, the list go on.
Tourists come to visit too, seeing the market also pose oppotunity to spot brownie towers, truffle mushrooms, alligator&zebra meat and feathered phesants.
It is also a great brunch/lunch destination. There's plenty of excellent stalls offering ostrich burgers, falafel pitta sandwiches, or simply binge on the free tasters by the individual stalls.

La Plagne

2008-03-22T21:52:00.002Z

Ate so much Foi Gras on hol...

Steak with blueberry sauce - very interesting combination and they complement each other soooo well!
Floatant = meringue + custard
BIGGEST snowflake i'm seen in my life!!
From right to left: Freddie, JJ, Cyn, YM (with angry brow) and a slightly clueless Annie

Highlights of the trip:

- Being catapulted by Fred out of a ski mobile, as he freaked out whilst going down a steep slope and accelerated instataneously from 10 to 80 miles per hour.

- Unlimited source of gorgeous food: steak with blueberry sauce, yum; foi gras, yumm; toasted goat cheese salad yummm!

- Being entered into the wrong class and forced down an off piste on the first day. Completely lost confidence as literally just tumbled down the uncompressed snow. Luckily a pair of good looking French brothers stayed behind with me and made sure that I was able to put my ski back on...maybe I should have just faked death and then they could have carried me haha. It was quite a painful experience actually, having twisted my knee and not being able to ski for a day. Hopefully that is a first and last.

- Playing pictionary and losing badly, vague memories of JJ drawing on my face that eventually made me look like an Amy Winehouse transvestite, and having to scrub my face with sandpaper to remove maxfactor lipfinity doodles off my face.

Wapping project

2008-01-19T22:33:00.005Z

Recent years see the increased concept of recycling in fashion retail stores. Wedgewood used broken ceramics, and Habitat looked into paper cutout lamp shades for their shop window decor.

Restaurants are no exception to the new fashion trend, as new dining spaces are born out of buildings with previous uses. The Wapping Project was previously a hydraulic power station. As one dines in the candlelit open space it is difficult to describe the strange feeling having observed the fusion of industrial characterics versus iconic furniture.

The adjoining art gallery adds further interest to the dining experience, with a tree of umbrella and an indoor autumn forest to be explored after desert.

2007-12-16T03:20:00.003Z

如果你開心和悲傷的時候，首先想到的，都是同一個人，那就最完美，如果開心的時候和悲傷的時候，首先想到的，不是同一個人，我勸你應該選擇你想和她共度悲傷時刻的那一個，人生本來是苦多於樂.你的開心，有太多人可以和你分享，不一定要是情人，如果日子過得快樂,自己一人也很好，悲傷，卻不是很多人可以和你分擔。你願意把悲傷告訴他，他才是你最想親近和珍惜的人

Banglore

2007-10-22T06:33:00.002Z

Having arrived in Bangalore we drove for two hours to the peripheral village: a world of no internet access, no electricity, no traffic, where monkeys and children roam around bare footed, singing and dancing traditional Indian folklores. We visited a local temple where the priest performed a welcome blessing ceremony before being allowed to walk around soaking up the pure ambience of simple living.

Everyday we would start the building work at 9am, laying bricks and digging foundations with the homeowners to create a home. Work was tough, emotionally more than physically. Team two picked the short straw, as an insecure mason drove us out of the house on many occasions to avoid our questioning of his skills. It was frustration, standing around not being able to begin what we came to do. We ended up doing a spectrum of tasks, digging foundations, transporting sand and pebbles, building bathroom walls for different homeowners. I leave the village feeling that I contributed, though very much envy the other two teams for having bonded with the families, as this would have intensified the experience to another level. I do not know whether or not to blame myself, for not having spoke sooner to the rep, and attended correctly to the delicate balance of being patient and being proactive.

The children were the loveliest. Looking at what they have, they are grateful, disciplined, and above all, refreshingly happy. Fascinated by the digital camera, they have learnt to say, ‘Annie auntie – photo photo!’ At the closing ceremony they effortless performed dances, and when given sweets they would not fight but happy to take one and pass the temptation on so that everyone gets their fair share. Comparing this to the relatively more fortunate kids at the care centre for quarry workers, the difference were evident. They started pushing and grabbing the stationary by the handful, and quickly took their victories to their own designated suitcase.

We also had our fair share of traditional culture, having been able to have Hanna done on our hands and wear a traditional sari to attend a dance gala performance. A quick visit to Bangalore Palace and the Minister’s residence on the last day we ended our IndiaBuilds Community Challenge. It was an excellent experience of self-discovery. Having been exposed to a tangible sociological problem we had the chance to get physically involved with the community to make a difference. Even though the difference may be small, we are incorporated as being part of a solution – Buidling homes, transforming communities, changing lives.

‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ – Mohatma Gandhi

2007 Ig Nobel Winners

2007-10-06T10:12:00.001Z

Medicine - Brian Witcombe, of Gloucestershire Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK, and Dan Meyer for their probing work on the health consequences of swallowing a sword.

Physics - A US-Chile team who ironed out the problem of how sheets become wrinkled.

Biology - Dr Johanna van Bronswijk of the Netherlands for carrying out a creepy crawly census of all of the mites, insects, spiders, ferns and fungi that share our beds.

Chemistry - Mayu Yamamoto, from Japan, for developing a method to extract vanilla fragrance and flavouring from cow dung.

Linguistics - A University of Barcelona team for showing that rats are unable to tell the difference between a person speaking Japanese backwards and somebody speaking Dutch backwards.

Literature - Glenda Browne of Blue Mountains, Australia, for her study of the word "the", and how it can flummox those trying to put things into alphabetical order.

Peace - The US Air Force Wright Laboratory for instigating research and development on a chemical weapon that would provoke widespread homosexual behaviour among enemy troops.

Nutrition - Brian Wansink of Cornell University for investigating the limits of human appetite by feeding volunteers a self-refilling, "bottomless" bowl of soup.

Economics - Kuo Cheng Hsieh of Taiwan for patenting a device that can catch bank robbers by dropping a net over them.

Aviation - A National University of Quilmes, Argentina, team for discovering that impotency drugs can help hamsters to recover from jet lag.

101%

2007-09-19T22:00:00.001Z

101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint -What Equals 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? What equals 100% inlife?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:

If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z are represented by numbers as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K will be represented by: 8+1+18+4+23 + 15+18+11= 98%

And K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-Ewill be represented by: 11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:A-T-T-I-T-U- D-Ewill be represented by: 1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 =100%

Now pause to take a deep breathe, THEN, look how far Love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E- O-F-G-O-D will be represented by: 12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, It's the Love of God thatwill put you over the top!ha!

Turkish Delights

2007-08-05T16:29:00.001Z

July 22nd – Arrival to Istanbul
Our first adventure began upon arrival to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airport: to get ourselves to the hotel despite being under the surprising circumstance where no one apart from the information desk spoke English! As we stepped out of the arrival lounge with a piece of note paper scribbled with Turkish instructions we had no choice but to hand ourselves in confidence to a Turkish passer-by, who then pointed vaguely in the direction of a departing bus. We got on, cynically thought we were being cheated and the bus was going to a different destination. But luckily everything worked out, and an hour’s bus journey and a quick tram ride later, we arrived at Hotel Pierre Loti. The evening was spent in the nearby restaurant district in Sultanahmet, where we sampled the famous Turkish apple tea. It was then back to the hotel in anticipation for early rise next day. In my dream state I vaguely remembered conversing with Rachel as she arrived at the hotel around 2am in the morning…

July 23rd - Istanbul & Bosphorus
Our visit began with a trip to the Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar, where we experienced the mystical smells of different aromas of various spices and met our first mandarin speaking Turk named Jacky Chan! His love for the Chinese people was clearly demonstrated by the fact that the fruit teas were marked as 20 lira per kg in English and stated in Chinese as 15 lira per kg above! It was ingenious! After the bazaar we were transferred to the harbour to board the regular city boat for a cruise on the Bosphorus without prior communication. Even though it is obviously for the best (due to Hagia Sophia closure on Mondays), I just wished people would give us more indication instead of just dragging us around by our noses! It was almost 45 degrees on the day, which we later found out was abnormal even for Turkey (the week we arrived was the week of historical heat wave – lucky us!). As we rolled down the shores of the Bosphorus, we saw the old wooden villas, Rumeli Fortress and Ortakoy Mosque to name a few.
After lunch in the afternoon, we visited the Topkapi Palace and Museum, the residence of the legendary Ottoman Sultans, now converted into a museum. It consists of several exhibition halls, such as he Treasury, the porcelain section, Armoury and Holy Relics. Fred was determined to visit the circumcision room, but was disappointed to found on arrival the room was closed for maintenance. The treasures lacked sophisticated craftsmanship compared to the Chinese collection of the same period, nevertheless they were very impressive, many of them adorned with super-sized jewels. The most impressive item in my mind was the 80-carat diamond ring (?!) The empire must have had trouble maneuvering with such gems on his hand.
With the evening at leisure, our evening mayhem, which Fred later learnt to regret, began! As we walked the streets in search for our dinner, a guy who lived in Taiwan for 4 years working as a chef stopped us – and we ended up eating a grand kebab extravaganza at his restaurant. In an attempt to aid digestion we continued our walks to the Hippodrome area for a drink, where we were stopped by another restaurant owner and ended up having our SECOND dinner at midnight! Having spent all the cash we brought we were ready to call it a day, but the evening continued with another restaurant owner opposite to where we sat deciding to offer us free Raki and kept on calling me his girlfriend (At the beginning this is all a flattering novelty, but as we will find towards the end of the tour it was becoming an annoyance). So we stayed drinking Raki with a bunch of random Turkish people, talking the most random talks (some of which involved random chat up lines and the guy even proceeded to give Fred sex pointers). The evening draws to a close, and as we depart we were farewelled in the Turkish way (one kiss on each cheek and the last one on the lip(!!)) – Rachel got a slightly worse deal though, the guy managed to grab hold of her and planted a hickie on her neck - ewww

July 24th - Istanbul & Bosphorus 2
We strolled around the historical Hippodrome where chariot races were once held, followed by a visit to the Blue Mosque, decorated with beautiful 17th century Iznik tiles. We then visited Hagia Sophia where the Christian church was converted to a mosque by Mahmet and later converted into a museum for current day tourists. The Christian-Muslim fusion décor was a refreshing difference after visiting a dozen mosques in two days. In the afternoon we visited Dolmabahce Palace, the final home of Ataurk – founder of Turkish Republic. The golden interior was so ornate and detailed, I especially liked the cutleries with small butterfly and bird carvings (yes, I’m a sucker for butterflies). The tour ended with a visit to the Grand Bazaar (Kapalicarsi), where many ceramic plates, Turkish teacups, belly-dancing costumes were sold.
That evening was scheduled for us to take an overnight bus from Istanbul central bus station to Selcuk. We were picked up by the mini van that had a broken window, non functional air con system and a rocking suspension. The driver did not know where to pick up all his customers so we drove around Sultanahmet five times, and later finally out of Istanbul, along dark alleys for an hour or so. Just as we were convinced we might be travelling on this dodgy vehicle to Selcuk, we arrived at the central bus station. As JJ didn’t’ make the trip, we had a spare seating on the bus. As it took us so long to get to the central bus station, Rachel and I hit the pillow as soon as we got comfy in our seat. In the middle of the night we were awakened, finding Fred in a massive quarrel with a bunch of Turkish guys! It was 2am in the morning, and we tried hard to sober up as we watched Fred fending off a Turkish guy trying to take JJ’s empty seat, shouting ‘CASH, CASH!!’. (The explanation that came later was that the bus company overbooked their seats, therefore one passenger wish to take JJ’s seat, but Fred insisted on refund for the seat first before letting the guy sit down). Very brave I must admit, we could have been chucked off the bus and be stranded in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night…If JJ knew Fred’s dedication in retrieving any refund possible for him she should be very touched!

July 25th – Ancient Ephesus
We arrived Selcuk central bus station early morning. It was getting hotter by the minute! After a brisk touch up at our hotel, we visited the Ancient City of Ephesus, one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman Cities in the world. After lunch, though our original plan was to visit the House of Virgin Mary we ended up going to the museum to visit the air conditioning system. Fred and another guy on the tour fell sleep on the museum entrance, people kept coming up to ask whether they had permission to take picture of display item no.1: the snoring duo. The museum staff was not too happy though! After the museum we were fortunate enough to pay a visit to the imam of a nearby mosque, who happened to be the tour guide’s very good friend. He chanted the first chapter of the Koran and explained the Muslim faith in detail to us.
Night time is upon us again! The trip is going to become wild! We found a quiet tea shop after dinner, expecting to play backgammon and maybe do a bit of wild Shisha-smoking before returning to the hotel. Little did we know we ended up taking a taxi to a club at Kusadasi with the shop owner and his cousin at 3am in the morning, and ended up attending a giant foam party! Fred, being the most sensible one, nearly had a nervous breakdown looking after the two drunken hyperactive crazy girls ensuring our safety and well-being. Turkish people are definitely friendlier than people of other cultures…

July 26th – Pamukkale Tour and bus to Cappadocia
Today we visited Pamukkale and the ancient site of Hierapolis. Here you will see a perfect Roman theatre, colonnaded streets, Hadrian's Gate and the Necropolis. Pamukkale or "Cotton Castle", is famous for its white lime cascades rise over 300 feet above the ground, with hot, mineral-enriched waters flowing down through the pools and rock formations. It was simply beautiful! As Rachel and I walked the colonnaded streets towards Agora, two policemen came up and wanted to take photos with us, and begged for a farewell kiss (on the lip) as they depart. It is like – hello?! You are supposed to be a professional!! How can you just ask random girls to kiss you whilst you are on the job?! Feelings for Turkish men are on the decline…

July 27th – South Cappadocia Tour
Cappadocia is well known for its Christian hideouts. We hiked through the Ihlara Valley, visiting some cave churches along the way. After lunch we visited the famous Derinkuyu Underground City – it was literally like an underworld. The networks are so well established – apparently about 10,000 people could live under for one whole month, they had their own water supply and the systems also link to other underground cities! It almost feels like Doraemon fantasy land! How cool would it be to live down there for leisure!.
In the evening we had pre-organised an outing to see the Whirling Devlishs. Upon hearing the evening ends at midnight Freddie breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing he could go to bed without having to worry. Little did he know…
During the evening Fred took up the all-you-can-drink offer and downed half a bottle of Raki with the tour guide! He held up good until we returned to our cave hotel, where he passed out to bed and that was end of the night for Fred. Rachel and I on the other hand, having had a fair bit of alcohol in our system as well, followed our guides out of the hotel as they promised to take us to see the stars on the Cappadocia hillside (ok – typing this in a sober state it seems like an obvious excuse, but at the time we thought it was a good idea…) So things got a bit nasty as you can imagine, apparently these tour guide are experts and expect full corporation, luckily we had a narrow escape in the end…

July 28th – North Cappadocia Tour
Fred awake not knowing what happened the previous night, only to be told that if we didn’t get to do a tour today no one was to blame me. Luckily a different tour guide turned up, and it was another full day tour of Cappadocia which started from the Devrent Valley where we found the world known fairy chimneys. We also paid a visit to Goreme Open-Air Museum where numerous rocks carved churches and monasteries situated. After a last glace at the panoramic view of Esentepe we headed back to our hotel, and later transferred to Kayseri Airport for a flight back to Istanbul.

July 29th /30th–Recovery in Istanbul
I think we calmed down after an adventurous week. A refreshing rain took away the heat wave, cooling us down physically and mentally. This marked the end of our trip. A few visits to the spice and grand bazaar, and we say goodbye to Turkey and its many delights.

Taste London

2007-07-16T00:22:00.001Z

In my ultra lazy state: one word, YUM!
(as justification it is 2am in the morning and I still have presentation to complete for tomorrow morning...)

全關節金屬小人

2007-07-14T10:03:00.001Z

花六年時間手工製作的全關節金屬小人全身關節可活動的機器人. ZOHO ARTFORM No.1，是由荷蘭的Mark Ho用了6年時間來設計、手工製造的，一個活動關節金屬機器人（銅和不繡鋼），直立時高43cm，重6公斤。共有920個部分組成包括85個可活動的部件。

Word Rearrangement

2007-05-27T12:59:00.001Z

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

It's been a while...

2007-05-23T23:39:00.001Z

It's amazing how many different ways I am able to distract myself when i have exams. My room becomes spotless and all the random chores that had been putt off for the past weeks instantaneously become complete.

Went back to Taiwan in April for two weeks. This is the first proper break I have taken since starting at Schroders. It was definitely a welcoming one - especially when BOTH of my parents took a break in the name of our first family trip in 13 years!

The first week was well planned, with a journey down south to Hualian.
The highlight of the trip included swimming with two adorable dolphins and enjoying a more rural living style. People generally have more time to climb mountains, encountering an old lady selling corn cobs freshly picked at dawn from her own plantation, reaching the top just before sunrise, and taking a big breath of that refreshing and rewarding morning fresh air.

Second week was much more a 'oh-my-god-i-only-have-one-week-left'week. Did the usual getting everything ready, shop and sing until I drop sessions. Being far too organised, also did some prepping for the exams to come. Nothing too special I'm afraid.

That was two months ago. Time really does fly when things get busy. It was a lot easier getting on with life in UK, going back to Taiwan and living another life almost disrupted my normal living pattern. Think, where would I rather be? An oscillating life remains a disturbance in life, making it hard to fogus. Decision should be made soon...

MyHeritage face recognition

2007-05-22T17:33:00.001Z

Kiss from Annie!

2007-05-16T20:15:00.000Z

http://www.carmex-kiss.de/index.php?meintanz=384321409667

Scotland 2007

2007-04-13T00:27:00.002Z

Our little adventure kicked off with a bad start as we grieve the lost of one of our comrades: Freddie did not have the correct reservation document for the journey and was held back by the railway staff L The overnight journey went briskly as we arrived in Edinburgh early Friday morning, in time for a quick vegetarian haggis breakfast and a 9am Macbackpacker tour start.

Jo, our tour guide, arrived in a miniskirt and gave us all a hearty welcome. She then stepped into the drivers seat and that is when we realised she will also be our driver for the tour! It was quite amazing how she manages to tell fascinating stories whilst driving a bus and periodically swears at the bikers that swirl in to overtake us en route. Talk about multi tasking.

The weather was beaming all weekend, and the sceneries became more beautiful and enchanting as we listened to the stories of the Jacobites’ uprising; the red coat soldiers; Bonnie Prince Charlie and the battle of Culloden. It was extremely disheartening to hear how the English slaughtered the highlanders in the eerie battlefield – many tombstones read ‘mixed clans’, as post the battle the English walked the field and butchered all those still alive. The highlanders bled so much to the extent it became impossible to distinguish their clans via the colour of their kilt.

For the entire day Jo has been suggesting the idea of going for a dip in Loch Ness. But it is not until we were 5 minutes away from the destination that we realised she was actually being serious. And of course, being Annie and always ready for any piece of insane action, I embraced the opportunity and went straight into the icy cold water. It was a numbing experience – I tried to stand up initially but neither could I feel or control my limbs! Oops, such an idiot but now it’s all done and I have another neurotic story under my belt for the years to come.

Freddie decided to take a train from London to Inverness to join us that evening, and it was so lovely to have him finally on board with us for the rest of the trip!

Second day was pretty much a ‘landscape browsing’ experience: visited Rogie falls and its nearby spiritual forest for a stroll in the woods; crossed over to the Isle of Skye for some coastal air, before making our way to Eilean Donan Castle for a picnic!

From the Victorian harbour town Oban we begin our third and last day of adventure. First stop – Moomoo safari!! They have such adorable mid-parting fringes! Fortunately or unfortunately, the babies have just been born and the mothers are being extremely protective and easily agitated – which meant it is impossible for us to have a close encounter. That would have been the finishing touch to a wicked holiday! The last place we visited was Stirling – the scene of William Wallace (who allegedly is not the true Braveheart – this title belongs to a man named Robert the Bruce who later became the King of Scotland…Mel Gibson managed to get a few details wrong in the movie it seems!)

The journey back was horrendous~ in my zombified state I heard the train grinding to a stop and the customer liaison officer coming back saying something along the lines of either ‘the engine stopped’ or ‘failure on the tracks’. All in all we were delayed by a good 4 hours – and as if that is not torturous enough – the door to the train was producing loud hydraulic noises all night long :@ I had to sneak into Fred’s sleeper cabin irrespective of the night patrol’s objection. I simply looked at her with mascara running down side of my face with a comment, ‘you can see me?…..’

New Motto

2007-03-31T07:20:00.001Z

My old motto has always been:
'Work hard and play harder'

I would like to renew my motto! Though with a tint of pessimism, reflects a more realistic view on my current method of living:
'Live each day with care and caution, as your past will haunt you in your present, and affect you deeply into the future'

測你(妳)是屬那個朝代的?

2007-03-18T10:17:00.000Z

1、你對現在的自己基本滿意嗎？
A、是（去2）
B、否（去7）

2、喜歡戰爭題材的作品嗎？
A、很喜歡（去7）
B、否或一般（去3）

3、有過強烈的無奈感、發覺生活中有些事是不得不接受的嗎？
A、是（去5）
B、否（去4）

4、相信善有善報、等價交換的說法？
A、是（答案A）
B、否（去5）

5、你的自我保護意識很強嗎？
A、是（去8）
B、否（去6）

6、比起游樂場來更喜歡名勝古跡？
A、是（答案E）
B、否（去8）

7、更喜歡對抗類的比賽（如籃球、擊劍）還是輕松的運動（如游泳、散步）？
A、對抗類的比賽（去12）
B、輕松的運動（去3）

8、你是個喜歡質疑現實的人嗎？
A、是（去10）
B、否（去9）

9、最近經常有迷茫的感覺嗎？
A、是（去10）
B、否（答案G）

10、你相信只要努力改變自己，自己以後會成為一個更出色的人嗎？
A、是（答案F）
B、否（去11）

11、偶爾會覺得一切都是虛幻？
A、是（答案D）
B、否（答案G）

12、有人說過你太理想主義了嗎？
A、是（去13）
B、否（去14 ）

13、"肮髒"這個詞比"罪惡"更讓你討厭？
A、是（答案B）
B、否（去14）

14、混亂對你來說意味著什麼？
A、可怕（去3）
B、機會（答案C）

A、傳說中的堯舜時代這是個美好和天真的時代，傳說那時的人們都純潔高尚、沒有險惡的勾心鬥角，大家幸福地生活在一起。相應地，你是個充滿夢想的孩子，不管實際年齡如何，至少現在你的心理年齡很年輕，可能在18歲以下。你相信世界的美好，喜歡"從此王子和公主幸福地生活在一起了"的結局，然而世界真的是你想像的那樣子嗎？

B、戰國時代戰國時代是一個比較復雜的時期，這一時期既充滿戰亂，又充滿各種思想的火花，盡管有許多殘酷的事，但高尚與優雅在這一時期依然受到很強的推崇。你是個不安於現狀的人，過久的和平讓你感到厭倦，也許偶爾你因此會被冠上"好戰"的名號，但其實你只是討厭沉悶罷了。你有脫離現實和在意形式的一面，美麗的事物對你很有吸引力。

C、三國時代比起同處戰亂年代的戰國時期來，這是一個更不擇手段的年代。你喜歡競爭，好勝心強，充沛的精力讓你對各種有挑戰性的事都很感興趣。但與戰國時代不同的是，和"美"這種抽像的東西相比你更注重現實，即使你是一個很道德的人，也不喜歡把道德掛在嘴邊，在你看來，能驗證一切的只有行動。

D、魏晉時代魏晉時代的特點之一是種種頹廢的風氣，由於經歷的苦難太多，人們變得開始不相信現實，感到在這無常的世界中，一切都是不可能的。生活在這一時代的你，同樣是個喜歡懷疑的人，有時甚至懷疑自己的存在。你對世界持悲觀的看法，現實對你來說常常是令人悲哀和無能為力的。但這並不意味著你是個消沉的人，所謂絕望的頂點是樂觀，你只是比別人更清楚地看到了世界灰暗的一面而已。

E、唐朝唐朝是安定和繁榮的時代，無論文化還是財富都達到了太平盛世的頂峰。生活在這個時代的你，內心也是安穩的，你喜歡平靜的生活，個性溫和成熟，具有較強的包容心。你應該經歷過一些小的苦惱，但卻沒有遭受過太大的打擊，可以說你是個幸福的人，也會給你身邊的人帶來幸福。

F、五四時代套用《雙城記》裡的那句話，這是個光明的年代，也是個黑暗的年代，我們的前方有著一切，我們又一無所有。你或許正處在思想上的轉變期，一些事讓你對過去的自己發生了懷疑，決定重新調整一下自己的生活方式。走過這段路之後，一切會變得更好的。

G、現代你簡直就是為我們的這個時代而生的！你並非不知道這世上有許多不盡人意之處，但你能把它們作為生活的一部分來接受下來，這讓你過得很好。你不喜歡紛爭，也會盡量避免不必要的紛爭。儘管有些事依然會困擾你，但基本上說來你對現代社會裡的種種問題多數能應付的比較好，也懂得如何在這紛繁的世界裡找到自己的位置，這說明你是個成熟且適應力強的人。

H、未來如果你在做這套測試時做來做去總是回到同一道題目上，那麼你是個奇特的未來人……

Germany Xmas 2006

2007-02-03T17:23:00.001Z

I must admit this blog is not my own work...but since I couldn't have put it any better I will let Amy's work reflect our good times!! (plus I am lazy =p)

Thanks to Amy and JJ for making the trip to Germany filled with fun and laughter xxx
*****************************************************************************

Miz L the most democratic, flexible and adorable 'dictator' on Earth – with her mobile alarm resembled Alice with her clock in the wonderland. We spent the days executing the routes and sites she diligently researched and planned with JJ the previous night, while I was most probably sound asleep [blush-ing]…

Our trip started in Luebeck

Luebeck is known for its brick-built style architecture. We followed a city walk route found on the internet, which set us off at Hoisten Gate. Walking through a maze of narrow and picturesque alley ways, we popped into St Peter’s Church and the Cathedral en route. The architecture in Germany, in general, was not as appealing to me as those in some of the other European cities. The brick-style in old towns such as Luebeck gives me an odd shiver now and then (or arguably it was because I was genuinely cold), while the post-WWII constructions in Berlin appeared equally unfriendly. We also visited Huxstrase – Lubeck’s shopping street - where JJ bought a chick and a mummy chick in one of the small and cosy crafts stores.

Shopping and gastronomy (and of course the attractions ~) dominate much of my attention during travels to places. This time, Christmas Markets (“CM”), an attraction in its own rights, combines both shopping and gastronomy! How thoughtful!

Opposite St. Mary’s church is the Rathausemarkt square and the Town Hall. This is also where the main CM in Luebeck was. We (JJ and I) lunched on stirred fried mushrooms, hotdog and beef curry kebabs (Miz L on mushrooms and well, curry sauce -- my poor dear>.<).

Paying a visit to the world-famous Café Niederegger was of course a must for anyone visiting the hometown of Marzipan. All sorts of marzipan cakes and tempting warmth boosters, such as Marzipan cappuccino were available.

The Ice World event was probably the highlight of the trip for Miz L and JJ. My special comprising shamelessly of 3 leggings + knee-high ski socks + denim (vs. them single layer of denim) didn't last a mere 10 minutes in the extreme coldness that was approx. -8ºC. Miz L and JJ however managed to ante my 'fun' by almost an extra hour! Those animals in ice from Ice Age 2 gave me an icy look as I dashed towards the (relative) warmth of the outside. Even wintery Germany didn't feel so bad in comparison after my brief stint in the ice tent.

A short train ride away, we arrived in Hamburg in the evening of our first day in Germany.

We strolled through the centre and through a deserted CM – we could only imagine the buzz there must have been during the daytime. The three of us indulged in a mid-night dinner at a riverside restaurant with a beautiful night view. The food was tasty and generous in portions. JJ ordered what we later found out to be a Hamburg speciality called Labskaus – which was a mash/mince comprising of corned beef, potatoes, herring, onion and beetroot. This was fortunate, as had it not come with two eggs on the top, JJ would have blanked it on the menu entirely. The potato and shrimps soup I had was yum and restored much warmth in me. Miz L's camembert looked runny and delicious, though I was too occupied with the spinach to deprive her of having the lot.

Exhaustion set in as soon as food hit the stomach lining. Whoever proposed walking back to the hotel probably forgot all about it him-/herself. I don't think any of us stirred a bit that night, I certainly didn't.

Waking up to Hamburg in the morning of Christmas Eve felt refreshing. We tipped the cabdriver very generously on the way to the local fish market (huhhuh Miz L). Situated at a junction between rivers (Elbe, with Alster and Bille), the seafood in Hamburg was cheap and fresh, with 1kg of fresh salmon roe (called “Kaviar”) selling at €19.99 at the fish market. JJ breakfasted on some fried fish, me on a herring baguette and Miz L on air.

Took a quick walk around Hamburg and particularly the warehouse complex, being the second largest portal city in Europe, the parts of Hamburg we managed to see in this particular morning conformed to its portal and industrial image.

Before leaving Hamburg, we went to a Burger King situated in the city centre. We lunched on the most random assembly of foods the world has ever seen. JJ had burger stuffed with salmon roe. If our trip happened before the Selfridges' creation of the £85 Wagyu beef, Brie de Meaux, foie gras and black truffle mayonnaise sandwich, we ought to have patented our idea, quit our respective jobs, and start a top-end restaurant selling none other than such burger extravaganza. Then the stories continues…we all make a fortune, with JJ being knighted and marrying a fairytale princess (the nice and pretty type and not the bragging type), and Miz L and I happily marrying some tycoons (the kind and considerate type and not the womanising and pompous type, who are hopefully brothers) so that we can realise our dreams of spending our days feeding baby pandas finally…

Taking the high-speed train to Berlin – It was the best train ride and the most punctual I have ever been on. Train leaves and arrives on the exact minute as scheduled. Impressive.

Berlin Berlin!

We arrived in Berlin in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. Numerous pictures at the illuminated corridor of Movenpick later, we went for a church service at a very modern church – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-Kirche. I hit to the pillows much earlier than the others. Waking up intermittently in between dreams, I did hear the crisp clinking sound made by the cutlery from JJ's fine-dining over his remaining salmon roe.

Morning in Potsdamer Platz, walked round Kulturforum, coffee at Café Josty – a café established in 1793. According to the cute foldable map given by the Café – the Potsdamer Platz was the centre of Berlin 100 years ago. The Café is rather legendary due to the visitors who used to frequent there, among whom were the Grimm Brothers – who wrote Hansel and Gretel. The Cafe Josty was reconstructed at its present site at Sony Centre some two hundred metres from its original location.

Power walked to the bell-tower next to the Carillon to catch the bell which, according to the guidebook, was supposed to be striking at mid-day. Reached there a couple of minutes past the hour, the bell stood as silent as the Jewish cemetery.

Went to the rooftop at Reichstag having queued outside for approximately one hour. Before walking the spiral walkway on top of the roof, we lunched at the rooftop cafe. The roof itself is quite an interesting structure, which allowed a panoramic view of Berlin. JJ came up with multiple deeply philosophical interpretations of the mirrors on the centre pillar, but unfortunately I don’t seem to recall them now.

Gendarmenmarkt in the Mitte District hosts the most famous CM in Berlin. Against the backdrop of a few cathedrals, it was both scenic and festive. It was also the most expensive CM we visited, and they even charged an entrance fee for it. It had a live band and a good variety of stalls selling all types of crafts and market foods, even 'you2 bing3' (!!!), but served with sour cream and cheese on the top rather than in the Beijing way.

Our favourite CM undoubtedly was the Winter World market at Potsdamer, where we invariably returned several times during our time in Berlin.

Our second day in Berlin started at Alexanderplatz, which was a seemingly dead corner of the town with a bird picking on a dead mouse or other; a place felt too chilly to linger much around. There was a very tall TV tower, whose tip was obscured by the heavy fog that morning. We didn't bother going up there.

The next stop was the Pergamon Museum, one of the five museums at the Museumsinsel (Museum Island). We visited two of the three wings. The Classical one contained monumental architectural reconstructions as well as Greek and Roman sculptures. The history of all this is way beyond me, but to regurgitate what was in the guide: the main attraction here was the Pergamon Altar dating from 170 BC; and the row of sculptures on the wall around the hall depicts the Battle of Gods and Giants. The attractions at the Museum of the Ancient New East were the (very colourful) reconstructions of the Ishtar Gate and the Babylonian Processional Way.

Out of the Pergamon museum, we visited another CM at the Opernpalais Unter den Linden. Feeling peckish, I overloaded myself with meat (including currywurst), as well as a chocolate crepes with bounteous (upon my insistence) Nutella.

We could not say 'bye' to Berlin without paying another visit to our favourite Winter World market. Miz L's attachment to this place probably grew half-hourly during our stay. It was also the last opening day of this CM. Well, there is always another Christmas just around the corner~!

想回家時間倒轉

2007-01-01T22:35:00.000Z

First blog of 2007, and as positive and upbeat as I like to start the year - this time I am afraid that I am going to start by saying:

'I miss home sooo much'.

I always feel guilty for wanting to go home. It seems a selfish intention after all my parents have given me to send me abroad. No one around seems to get homesick the way I do.

I feel consoled. I am not the only one that longs to be back to one's homeland after having left to experience life.

The Little Prince is on my side.

If I have a time machine, I long to return home and be a child once more. The idea of sublime infancy and understanding through innocence – at times we should all take a moment and attempt to see the world once more through less subjective means.

"But certainly, for those of us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference."

Seen 'One Litre of Tears'? A girl with a near-perfect life (Succeeded in getting into the top high school in Japan, the only first year student to be put in the high school basketball team, a sweet personality with a loving family) contracted one of the cruelest form of illness – muscular dystrophy. Having begun to taste the sweetness of success, she then has to endure the progressive loss of ability to move, to speak and eventually, become lost and confused of her purpose to live. Very sad…

'If a child's tears move you, they are windows opening on the vastness of the sea; for not those tears only, but the whole world's tears, are quickening your compassion, and that child is but one who takes you by the hand and shows you the sorrows of mankind.'

The Belief Cycle

2006-11-27T22:18:00.000Z

There is a more complex version, but I cannot seem to locate the literature online.

Essentially, Your Belief drives your Expectation. Your expectation in turn drives your Thinking, which drives your behaviour. Behaviour then determines the Outcome of an Incident, which confirms the original Belief.

The underlying idea is to reinforce positive Belief Cycle. And, through awareness of the cycle, to break out of the negative cycle if necessary and channel the energy into positive thinking.

Brighton

2006-11-20T21:53:00.001Z

After 10 days and 10 sleepless nights of slaving over financial maths, derivatives & options, accounting, regulatory markets, economics, asset management and equity research, I am finally free from my engagement and free to PARTY!!
This working style is definitely in sync with my motto - work hard and play harder! Straight after the exam comes the pub drinks on Monday, London city orientation and Tower 42 on Tuesday, birthday party on Wednesday, Paintballing on Thursday and Graduate drinks on Friday.

And then comes Saturday - instead of getting a good rest - we went to Brighton! It was a beautiful day, and even though everyone got up at 8am it was just nice to get out of the city and be at the seaside before midday. The sunny day really cheered us up, and with a stunning local tourguide we managed to visit the royal pavilion, brighton pier AND shopped for two pairs of shoes at the Laines before eating at Moshi Moshi, voted top 50 Japanese restaurants in UK. Such a relaxing day~~~I love brighton!

Cold...

2006-11-03T05:31:00.000Z

Winter's here...it is amazing how in the duration of 24 hours the temperature of central London dropped 10 degrees permanantly.

天將降大任於斯人也，必先苦其心志，勞其筋骨，餓其體膚，空乏其身，行彿亂其所為，所以動心忍性，增益其所不能.

Ganbarimasu!

(You can tell somebondy's slightly demented when she decides to write a post in three languages)

無家的小孩

2006-10-24T21:23:00.000Z

活了二十三年
過了十三年留英之日
有時像隨風而飄的自在浦公英
有時像失去燈塔的莫若漁船
想想
還得過幾年這樣的生活
才能有幸找到ㄧ個
可以稱之為家的所在地

Mouse Mania :S

2006-10-12T23:27:00.000Z

Today I experienced my first ever case of domestic mouse intrusion in our rental apartment. As I gently wound down for the day I sensed a certain movement in the peripheral. On closer inspection it turned out to be - a MOUSE!!

I couldn't believe my own eyes!! Our house was suppose to have been professionally cleaned prior move-in, and we have been very tidy and clean. I would never in a million years dream to see a mouse in my residence.

Terribly upset and screaming myself silly standing on the couch, I was so glad as JJ returned to the rescue. After many unsuccessful attempts of trying to corner the mouse with a browntape wall and random entrapment we finally captured the creature. However, instead of disposing it immediately we had the idea of taking it far far away the next day so it could not find its way back into our premise. Little did we know that mouse is hypersensitive to CO2 level - and half an hour later it died of asphexia...

Destroying a life form so carelessly left me feeling guilty until - I spotted ANOTHER mouse in the distance!! OMG OMG :@:@:@ I will definitely have to phone the exterminator tomorrow morning asap. Meanwhile our handyman JJ has produced a DIY mouse trap..fingers crossed.

A traumatic day...have done no study and it's already half an hour past midnight...

How cute are they?!

2006-09-24T08:59:00.000Z

中國九寨溝

2006-09-24T07:11:00.002Z

黃山歸來不看山九寨歸來不看水

傳說很久以前標悍的男神達戈用風雲摩成一面寶鏡送給心愛的女神色嫫不料魔鬼插足色嫫不甚打破寶鏡碎片散落到川西北的崇山峻嶙之中變成一百一十四個晶盈的海子行成了夢如詩的九寨溝

勤勞的藏族人民在這裡辛勤工作飄動的經幡古老的水磨訪純白的牦牛一切溶化在奇山異水藍天白雲之間

中國人的富裕懸殊驚人看到每天為了幾十塊人民幣而拼命十幾小時的當地人們想想與在國外遇到的中國朋友兩極的生活實在難以相比
但是在他們的辛勤當中能感到這簡單化的生活充滿著令人羨慕的活著的充實感

繞了一圈四川交了一群好友
跟團旅行有好有壞不必擔心行程但同時也失去了自由感
參觀與買土產的比率常常以2:1現身在與走山路的相伴隨下想著時間都到哪兒去了?
飯店等級好天天吃大餐 - 四川麻辣鍋藥膳 - 但幾乎是餐餐辣椒餐餐辣重口味的中國料理還是吃不慣

與爸爸出去玩真開心但又要回英國上班了真討厭
下次要進軍成都去看熊貓們且與媽媽一起上峨嵋看樂佛 ^_^

Taiwan

2006-09-11T13:23:00.001Z

Shun has come and gone T_T Time flies when you are enjoying yourself ^_^ I now have a IXUS 70 and am snapping photos as i go :D:D:D

Taipei 101 and its observatory was definitely an experience. If one goes to the 91st floor observatory one is admist the clouds and all one can see is white mist flowing across one's chest - such a weird feeling...

I have almost forgotten the 'taking law as reference only' attitude. Doing massive U turns on the high street with flooding mopeds; driving from the inner to outer side crossing 5 lanes under 150m; putting the foot pedal down when the traffic light turns red.

Given my experiences with UK medical services I have been doing most of my health checks here. I have managed to go to the optician, dentist, podiatrics, ear, nose, throat hospital all in one day :D It was really weird having your ear cleaned using one of those micro hoover - you can even see how it's been done on screen.

On a gross but hopeful note - I managed to pull out the root of my corn, which closely resembled a magot. It essentially acted as a plug and its removal initiaed a flood of puss - since then it has gone down a lot - So it should be getting better in the month to come.

The people that are against the president has been sitting infront of the president's palace for 60 hours now. That's all there is on the news lately. From my perspective I think neither party is right - just different shades of grey. But what's so stupid is the green (pro china) party who initiated the sitting actually called taiwan a 'country' and then later had to broadcast and say any 'mishearing' is due to the electronic interference of the rain - talking about trying to dig yourself out of a hole man..=_=;;

I always think riots are the most impractical form of objection - the use of sheer force coupled with brainless actions. And in a way it is not like China cares - their newspaper recently mistaken a guy as the vice president of Taiwan, and the president's mum as his wife. The vice president is a woman and the president's wife is disabled - and they cannot even distingush a 70 year old woman not sitting in a wheel chair with a 50 year old one that is sitting in one - really shows how much they care right??

New hairdo :D

2006-09-06T09:04:00.000Z

Wondered around the streets of Taiwan - the hairdresser is so hard to find - since when is 286th street to be found adjacent to 316th street and continuous of 151st street?! Makes absolutely no sense...

Well, I'm glad I found the place in the end ^_^v and a simple haircut turned into a wash, perm, treatment and cut! haha

Growing up

2006-08-22T20:03:00.000Z

When you are young, your whole life is about the persuit of fun.
Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious.
You could break a bone or a heart.
You look before you leap and sometimes you may not leap at all because there is not always someone there to catch you.
And in life, there's no safety net.
When did everything stop being fun and started being scary?
I decided it's time to leave fear in life and have some fun - Easily said than done I know.

New York (3)

2006-08-21T21:07:00.002Z

Back to UK - Arrived at 5am and went straight into work ^_^v I am still crazy haha

Photos are up! Let the rest of my holiday be told in picture form, afterall one picture speaks a thousand words =p Plus, I really should sleep.

Wanna thank Fred, Connie and Pony for making my week so accomodating and fantastical!! Muah love you all xxx

New York (2)

2006-08-16T00:04:00.001Z

Maybe I am getting old - but my hardcore travelling itnery is no longer a 12-hour marathon in the holiday destination. Instead, I take my time to wake up in the morning, eat a full on breakfast, put on make-up and dress to suite the mood before I march out of the house around 11am.

People say it takes a week to see New York, which is probably true taking it at this present pace. Strolled around Little Italy and China town today. The area around little Italy was flooded in three basic colours - green, red and white - this is true for restaurants, shops, parking meters and pavement fire extinguishers. In comparison, crossing Canal street one encounters the total chaos of China town. Assortement of dead fish covering the stalls, the pavement covered with cardboard litter...dare I say it was even more than I can bear! We hurried into a chinese ice-cream factory and sat down for some lychee and dragon eye ice-cream instead.

Walked up broadway towards TriBeCa. Discovered a Prada store with $40 million spent on its interior design. It is simply AMAZING - the flagship store has floating stairs which is both a passage and a display space, undulating walls, futuristic elevators and high tech dressing rooms with real butterfly specimens as exterior decoration. It is not suprising that the store houses every possible Prada design this season. I would put this on the top 10 DK must see list for Soho area personally =p

New York (1)

2006-08-15T00:44:00.001Z

Yes, where is the justice of naming one's blog a travel journal if one does not blog when on holiday?

True to Annie style, I once again encountered turbulence on my travel. The British just happened to reveal an extreme counter-terrorist attack in all airports two days prior to my departure. The best part of it all is: I had to carry a clear plastic bag, with no more contents than 1. my passport 2. tampons (only enough to cover the journey) 3. contact lenses (without solution). So there I was, carrying my see-through bag with my 2 tampons in clear view to the general public, stranded in the airport and enduring the 4 hour-plus delay.

Here I am, on my second day in New York. Day one involved a traditional Taiwanese breakfast with soya and steamed vege dumpling, followed by a stroll through Chelsea (meat packing district, Chelsea piers) & MOMA. It is very nice to just - stroll in New York - the simplicity of its mapping means all is as easy as a matrix.

Have seen my first broadway show: The Drowsy Chaperone was an unconventional piece of work. A three hour musical with no interval. The energy was sustained through a narrator who kindled the audience's spirit. The fact that the play had delibrate interruption only accentuated its impact once the pause was restarted.

Today has been a busy sampling day - there is free food everywhere in NYC! Had peach and tomato at the Green market near union square, followed by brownie Ben & Jerry milkshake. As I carried on my stroll through the city I hit an area known as Curry Hill, lined with restaurants and filled with intoxicating indian spiced air. It is very strange why a particular cusine has territories within the city, such that if one wants korean one would have to head down 43st. Is this an attempt to streamline and facilitate, or is it to compete and improve??

New House

2006-08-06T00:39:00.000Z

830am Annie and Yi Fei 'power up' for another potentially unproductive and exhausting day of house viewing - not for the unfocused and fainted hearted!
915am Arrive at Dautons ready for first viewing, only to be told keys has not yet arrived, postphoned viewing to Monday.
1015am In addition to half of the scheduled engineering work on the underground, the victoria line decided to follow the trend by malfunctioning. Made it to Clerkenwell on time for second house viewing.
1030am Realised place is too good to let go, try to secure property with landlord. At the time landlord was unable to make a decision.
1200pm Trekked across half of london from east to west. Viewed another brand new property in Bayswater.
1230pm Faced dilemma of which property to chose. Sat in starbucks and concluded to take Clerkenwell property.
200pm Oxford circus Natwest branch - only bank open late on Saturday - discussed and familiarised oneself with the potential liability to transferring deposit online. Withdrawl of cash for upfront payment.
230pm Back to Plimico to draft temporary contract, obtain check for payment.
320pm Return to Clerkenwell and secured OUR NEW PLACE!!! It's all worth it...2 months of house hunting has finally paid off!!! YEYYYYY ^_^

Recycling Actors

2006-07-30T16:12:00.000Z

Operation Sex and the City is temporarily on hold as awaiting for Car to bring me season 5&6. Meanwhile - have busied myself with CSI. It's shocking how many desperate housewifes actors I have seen so far!
Paul Young (Mark Moses) in Episode 1.10
Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) in Episode 2.3
Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross)in Episode 2.11

A successful actor/actress is versatile and able to play a spectrum of personalties. Apart from a very talented few, the majority of actors/actresses, contrained by their true self and moral grounds, may only be able to shift and stretch their personalities to suit a few roles. This is quite evident in CSI, as Mark took on the role of a man who secretly murdered his wife (deja-vu), Brenda as a psychiatrist (think soothing voice) and Marcia as leisurely shot her husband with a gun!

Sloane also featured in Sex and the City Episode 4.17 as Carrie's boss in Vogue! I know it has nothing to do with Alias...but every 10 seconds I was just waiting for him to throw the vogue magazine out of the window and yell RAMBALDI ROCKS!!!

Playing Poker

2006-07-22T00:42:00.000Z

打橋牌時要把我們手中所握有的這副牌
不論好壞都要把它打到淋漓盡致
人生亦然重要的不是發生了什麼事
而是我們處理它的方法和態度
假如我們轉身面向陽光就不可能陷身在陰影裡

When one receives a hand at poker, a good player will be able to extend and exploit the opportunities to the best of its ability.

Why should life be different? What is more important than happenings in life is the method and attitude we treat the events that we encounter.

If we learn to face the sun, it will be impossible to land ourselves in the shadow of darkness.

Handedness in Instruments

2006-07-22T00:32:00.000Z

Was having dinner with a friend who's left-handed today. Even though I write and eat predominantely with my left hand, I play racket sports with my right.

The conversation proceeded to playing musical instruments and she has highlighted how being a lefty has made it more difficult for her to play the piano - since her left hand is stronger, the base notes naturally sing out more than the right.

So, does that make piano an instrument designed more for right handed players?

I have always thought about playing musical instrument as a co-ordination exercise, but today it seems quite subtle that certain instruments are designed for right-handed player and some for left-handed players. Violin for instance is pretty much a left-hand focused instrument.

Interesting...no?

Space

2006-07-21T09:04:00.000Z

生活的空間須藉清理挪移而留出
心靈的空間則經思考開悟而擴展

By tidying and shifting, one created living space.
By contemplating and understanding, one subsequently created mental space and capacity.

Stonehenge & Bath - A Day at Leisure

2006-07-17T22:32:00.001Z

Today is a gift - that's why it's called the PRESENT ^_^

In control of one's time

2006-07-11T14:18:00.000Z

Yesterday I heard a great news - One of my very good friend is getting married!! It is such a wonderful piece of news and I cannot believe she didn't tell me immediately!

The conversation flowed naturally on to when the wonderful date would be...but it turned out to be 3rd week of October - Just when I am scheduled to be training with Schroders!! T_T As irrational as I am, maybe I should not contemplate ditching my new job in the first week to attend the wedding...

It is very unfortunate when extra special occasions that deserves a proper celebration gets misplaced in one's life for reasons of work. I have always been a firm believer that although work itself can be a stimulus to life, I would prefer to perceive it as complimentary to one's happiness. In these moments of conflict I sincerely hope that one day I will have the liberty or courage to make time for the ones I love - otherwise it would just be a sad living wouldn't it??

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I want to take this opportunity to say sorry to my bestfriend Tae - who has always been there for me: my graduation, my birthdays etc...
ps. she's not the one getting married!!! =p

Wimbledon

2006-07-03T22:26:00.001Z

Went to wimbledon this weekend with Dorothy. Having had worked and slept a little in the week I had decided to opt of the easy option of taxi. It ended up being more stressful than necessary. Instead of arriving at Wimbledon the taxi company had logged me as going ot WEMBLY PARK. WHY WOULD I WANT TO BE AT WEMBLY PARK AT 630AM??!! Yes, so I was naturally late and Dorothy ended up queueing by herself. Given there were two massive queues I spent the next 45 minutes on the phone trying to locate her in the queue!!

It was all worth it! We saw Venus and Hewitt and some new comings play!! It was all very exciting! We only managed to get the ground ticket, and they had closed the standing queue for court 2 since people were not moving. We therefore did a cunning plan of going to the back of court 3 and peered over!! From where we were seated, we could watch court 2 matches behind us, court 3,4,5,6,7,8 matches infront of us, centre court score on our left, and on top of all that, the guy next to us had a portable tv and was watching the england football!! Multitasking and was kept busy for the rest of the day!

I wish...

2006-06-29T10:47:00.000Z

Sometime I wish I was on a desert island - free from complex human interactions and vulnerable human emotions, thus experience the tranquility from within.

很多時候
我們需要給自己的生命留下一點空隙
就像兩車之間的安全距離
一點緩衝的餘地
可以隨時調整自己
進退有餘

Let not my past experiences of deceit, misunderstanding and betrayal haunt me, let not my experiences of grief doubt me, let my character grow strong as I stand back and view the world as a forever cycling system of cause and effect.

凡事感激
感激傷害你的人因為他磨練了你的心志
感激欺騙你的人因為他增進了你的智慧
感激中傷你的人因為他砥礪了你的人格
感激鞭打你的人因為他激發了你的鬥志
感激遺棄你的人因為他教導了你該獨立
感激絆倒你的人因為他強化了你的雙腿
感激斥責你的人因為他提醒了你的缺點

What are the break-up rules?

2006-06-27T15:53:00.000Z

Am currently addicted to Sex and the City. It is funny how soaps can relate much more appropriately and cause resonance in accordance to a certain counter, a particular time in life, and a specific place.

Neuropsychology terms it 'associative memory'.

Charlotte believes there are mathematical formulaes to love. Apparently to get over someone, it takes half the time one has gone out with the guy to feel better. It has been seven months now out of the 22 months~~and you know what? I am feeling 7/11% there!

On a related note, it is funny how little things triggers a wealth of remembrance from the memory bank.

Little things like: When I went to Manchester I saw Lowry's work and remembered my first ever art class in Godstowe. Or when I went to Nikko I saw the little deer ornament and remembered an exact same one my dad got for me when I saw three. I only remembered he went somewhere far far away for a week - now I know it was only 6 hours plane journey plus 2 hour car drive from Tokyo..haha not so far!

On a completely unrelated note: I LOST MY PURSE TODAY...T_T It could be stolen for all I know. I have lost all my photos which I have collected over the years...ai...
I now have no money and only ONE EGG in the fridge for dinner - being an optimist I guess that would be good for my diet.

I thought this is good...crude...but good ;p

2006-06-22T23:25:00.000Z

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS
Smart man + smart woman = romance
Smart man + dumb woman = affair
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

OFFICE ARITHMETIC
Smart boss + smart employee = profit
Smart boss + dumb employee = production
Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion
Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime

SHOPPING MATH
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

HAPPINESS
To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

LONGEVITY
Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIED
Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

Motivation

2006-06-21T22:21:00.000Z

There is a difference between taking it easy in order to look after oneself and being lazy.

I use to have a very busy life. But people came along and told me it isn't good to always push oneself to one's limit - one will eventually wear out. So I took it easy. Coming home and giving myself room to breathe and time to enjoy life.

Recently, however, it clicked. I am not taking it easy, I am now being LAZY. This laziness has ultimately caused the subsequent ill health. I was ill for a whole week, and never in my lifetime have I been ill for that long. I went skiing with a flu and walked across half of Snowdonia with a fever, and now I have a petty cough which I cannot even deal with in the optimum weather of the British Summer.

This is serious concern. With alarm bells ringing in my head I must regain my fitness!! I am getting to that age where I actually have to worry about my health...such is the cruelty of time.

Desperate Housewives

2006-06-18T18:53:00.000Z

I swear...gadgets and techno utilities have all been stamped with an intrinsic expiry date by their sneaky manufacturers. My beloved washing machine has decided to die on me, with what looks like a programming fault - it went from washing to spin back to washing to spin - leaving the batch of clothes torn and faded...

The good news is I now have a new found excuse to go shopping, the bad news - I will be spending majority of my budget on a new washing machine rather than any summer fashion in king's road/oxford circus.

In a desperate attempt to become more efficient at home, I have also removed my pretty nail work from Krakow - by soaking them in acetone brought back from the lab, thus saving up from having to go and get them removed by a manicurist in UK!! HAHA there are bonuses to working in a chemical engineering firm after all =p

Serendipity

2006-06-18T17:37:00.000Z

Serendipity: to make discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things not in quest of.

Today, I found my blue rose 'beheaded' as my Schroders employment handbook accidentally tipped over the bookshelf. I have cherished the momento and it has been stationed in the same spot for the past year. To suddenly find it destroyed at a time of uncertainty...Is everything a sign?

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Let's hope magic can still happen, if you let it; let fate or destiny steps in to lend a hand. But when it concerns love, and finding that special person you're going to spend the rest of your life with, should you really risk tempting fate with a test of that love or what is seemingly meant to be, or should you just follow your apparent destiny and embrace it?

Sometimes I want to live life following my heart and going wherever fate takes me. Just a rare thought on a lazy sunday afternoon - from a romanticist-wanna-be...

The Stalkers are Back...

2006-06-05T18:10:00.000Z

Oh, did I forget to mention I have a vibe for attracting weird people??

Went to an Indian Restaurant outside East Finchley today - I honestly think it's Tae's influence - but as she goes to collect my dry cleaning and I was paying for lunch, the waitor came and asked for my number. He also mentioned he couldn't help but notice Tae and I walking pass the restaurant the day before (yes, we were hunting for pizza).

He wanted to know where I work, where I live, who I live with...ARRRRHHHHHHHH get away from me!!!

Krakow

2006-05-29T22:19:00.001Z

Yet ANOTHER interesting trip to the airport! I was woken up by the sound of the taxi driver buzzing my door bell at 3am! Having fallen fast asleep waiting for the hot water to heat up at 2am I panicked BIG TIME! Rushed to Golders Green bus station, only to spot the national express bus stopped at a red traffic light in the distance. As usual I pegged after the damn thing and managed to look pitiful enough so the bus driver let me on...I wonder if I am cursed to rush all the time on holiday...

Krakow has now become one of my favourite cities of all time! I am definitely a sucker for wonderful food, jazz at night, concerts in church and cheap manicure session!
Teenagers performing fire roulettes in the Rynek Glowny old town

yes yes, my pretty nails~~~I spent 3 hours doing them instead of going to visit the World renouned concentration camp.

Art pieces on the side of Florian Gate

Last supper at the Wieliczka salt mine

Frankfurt & Geneva

2006-05-19T21:17:00.001Z

Having the privilege of a consultant without having to work the hardcore hours. I do not suggest it was a easy walk on my behalf, after all – no pain, no gain, right? –The preparation work and the expectation of being torn to pieces by senior development engineers and scientists in high profile companies did cause a view up-turned stomachs. Looking back, what I perceived to be a daunting experience turned out…not too bad! The BS skills acquired from my degree have just been upped a level =p
A gentle stroll through the city of Frankfurt and Geneva has led to the following:

sausages - a true starvation diet for the vegetarians

the town of heidelberg - seeked the opportunity and met up with Rachel for the weekend :D

University Library and its winding art nouveau stair case

Night view by the Jet d'eau

I’ve always wanted to play chess in the park like this…but I guess I have to learn how to play chess first! =p

Crufts

2006-03-11T18:16:00.001Z

If only I have a puppy, if only I have a large garden, if only I have time, if only...

New Year

2006-01-04T23:07:00.000Z

Once upon a time, new year use to be a festive occasion. As one grows old, such festive occasion turns into a burden.

When one is Twenty-something, one wakes up and hopes for love.
When one is Thirty-something, one wakes up and hopes for marriage.
When one is Forty-something, one wakes up and hopes for success.
When one is Fifty-something, one wakes up and hopes for wealth.
When one is Sixty-something, one wakes up and hopes for satisfaction.
When one is Seventy-something, one wakes up and hopes for health.
When one is Eighty-something, one only hopes to wake up.

Life would be so much better in reverse. From old age, one gradually turns younger and wrinkle free. One's five senses becomes sharper, memory becomes better. From a responsible individual one becomes more carefree, as schooling becomes easier. The facts and rules of the world simplify, as one eventually becomes a baby and return to the mother's womb.

Les Arcs Ski Trip

2006-01-01T19:51:00.001Z

So I worked right until 9pm on 23rd December, came home and threw all my ski gears together before going off early on 24th to Les Arcs, France. This is the first time I was not solely responsible in the organisation of the trip, and was able to relax and literally enjoy the ride :D Mr JJ Lew did a splendid job with the holiday logistics and we slowly proceeded towards our ski chalet. It was a very cute apartment at the edge of Les Arcs resort, with a little balcony and cooking facilities on the ground floor and room to sleep5 on the floor above.

As we arrived at 9pm on Xmas eve, we ventured towards town in hope to find an accommodating restaurant for the evening. French food is sooo yummy~~for 15 euros we had a three course meal with melted cheese for starters, tender steak avec le frites for main course, and home made vanilla ice cream-stuffed profiterole with intense chocolate sauce for dessert! Yum yum!! We also had a fondue and raclette feast! For those we are unfamiliar with Raclette, it is basically a piece of top quality cheese placed on a hot plate being melted and eaten..Spectators Yifei and Jimmy to the event both felt uncomfortably full after watching JJ, Fred and Annie battle through the mounts of cheese and consume at least 2kg in one single meal.
fondue mania

Though tempting, we were good and cooked in our apartments for the rest of the week. The supermarket stocked top quality products, despite its location 2000m above sea level it ironically contained fresher materials compared to supermarkets in London where I live. It was back to the student budgeting days as we cooked away every evening, forming a product line making sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Enough about food, the actual skiing part was brilliant too!! Les Arcs is such a beginner friendly resort!! I spend most of my time zooming down blue and red slopes gaining the adrenaline rush by the minute. I think I fell a total of 3 times this week on the slopes~~very confidence boosting :D:D:D My intermediate skiing instructor was sooo cute and young at heart! He taught us how to spin 360 degrees on our skis, how to parallel turn and break effectively in different snow conditions. He also took us on lots of different routes showing us the breath-taking views of the mountain ranges; following off piste rabbit and fox tracks at the spur of the incident~~In terms of information gathering, this has definitely been the most productive week I had during my very limited skiing career!
skiing above the clouds

There’s also a milka cow! He/she dishing chocolate on the ‘milka run’ down the mountains to children! I sighted this purple and white cow on my first day afternoon, having tempted to chase after the cow I got lost in the mountain with no map!! =_=;; Luckily with my very limited French and navigation skills I found my way back to Les Arcs 1800. Everyone else managed to take a photo with the cow except me L Despite my attempt to wait on the milka track for 20 minutes one afternoon pretending to be helpless and hungry~~so unfair!!!
milka cow!

We also visited an ice grotto at the top of the mountain. Despite the resort being packed full of people the grotto itself was eerily quiet. With a circus theme there was ice carvings of clowns, lions jumping through hoops, elephants, seals~~sooo cute :D

It’s been such a welcoming break…now I have to go back to work on Tuesday. I guess it’s all about…work hard and play harder!

London Underground System

2005-11-29T10:16:00.000Z

It is amazing how London, who boasts sophistication and regulation, cannot even get their trains to stop at the same place.

I know I probably shouldn't moan, but this morning was such a joke!! I had to let 5 trains pass me at Euston today and waited a total of 15 minutes on the platform. You would think that stopping where the last door was situated will ensure one to be the first to get on the next train, but oh no, the health conscious underground system is not about waiting stationary for the next train, it's all about running around like a headless chicken first thing in the morning, battling through the crowds whilst trying to guess out of the blue where the train will stop.

It worries me sometime to see that often drivers from the tiny train window possess a morning copy of the Metro...no wonder they cannot even stop the train at the same place. Or maybe there is no desegnated area for stopping, in which case I am damned and will just stop here...

To Succeed

2005-11-14T09:27:00.000Z

『少不多是』，也就是從不會去問公司給的任務有多困難，只問自己要如何去達成而已，練習久了，就會感覺到自己正快速地成長」。

『少說多聽』，也就是可以聽的時候絕不開口，讓自己不斷學習如何掌握重點與分析邏輯。練習久了，自然學會以後講話只需講重點的智慧」。

『少我多你』，也就是多想到別人，少想到自己，凡是以別人的角度來想，練習久了，自然培養出更大的雅量。」

『少舊多新』，也就是不再重覆做已經成功做過的事，否則不可能有新的突破，練習久了，就會不斷產生新的創意。」

『少會多讀』，也就是要求自己重新從什麼都不會的階段再開始要求自己，放空自己多閱讀，書讀多了，自然會看到自己還有很多本該謙虛的地方。」

Easily said huh...

Bicester Village

2005-10-12T08:43:00.000Z

Yes, I know it's pushing it classifying Bicester Village as a travel destination, but hey! I had fun :D
I have never really had a knack for girlie shopping - it requires attention to details, comparative skills and above all, patience. I on the other hand, would much prefer heading straight for the shop of choice and grab whatever is necessary.
However, that proved difficult at Bicester. One has to be either ultra skinny (size 23inch downwards) or ultra..sufficient in absorbing nutrients (size 36inch upwards) ?!?!?! I so wanted to fit into a pair of diesel jeans I even started trying on men's jeans ^_^;; haha it was such a laugh ^o^
Oh well, just another incentive to diet~~to fit into the jeans at Bicester!

City Break

2005-10-06T08:28:00.001Z

True to the title of my blog, I add another entry to my travel log.
This time, we are off for a short city break to the mussel land. In essence, there isn't much to do or see in Brussels, but Tae and I adapted happily to the 'mussel pot/frites/chocolate/waffles/fruit beer-binging' lifestyle :D
I don't know whether it's because of lack of formal hall practice, but I was indeed quite merry after a pot of white wine infused mussels! When I opened the lid I was immediately faced with a cloudy mist of alcohol vapour, and this continued until I finished the 1kg portion!! The variation to mussel pots continues...with selection of neutral/galic/curry/black pepper sauces. I am not too sure whether one would classify this as a creation and ingenuity or a lack of imagination for other types of dishes. I leave it for you to decide.

Hihi

2005-08-10T12:49:00.000Z

God, it took me 10 minutes to try the different combinations of my username and password to log on...for a split second I thought I am doomed ^_^;;

Anywayz, I have a good excuse for not blogging for such a long time, considering I have been busy keeping myself entertained with various engagements that includes my (first) financial internship, LSE summer course on Organisational Management and Strategic Game Theory :D Not to mention trips to Greece, Queen's Mayball and Legoland :D

I welcome my long waited week of holiday, having been doing things non stop since early May. Somehow I doubt this would be a stay-home-and-relax week though. Tae will be in Brussels for the next year (YAY MY BEST FRIEND IS FINALLY IN SIGHT!) and I have a slight incling that I would just pop over to the continent for the short visit at the very last minute! Wait and see

Date at Legoland!

2005-08-06T13:15:00.000Z

Of all places we could go, Jimmy and I decided to venture into the Windsor Wonder Land.

Upon arrival and a quick glace around the entrace area, we acknowledged and confirmed that fact that we two are probably the only two young adults there. It is not long before the inner child in us took charge that we quickly entered the park and started gleaming and the impressive lego pieces!

The various sculptures were sooo impressive! They pay attention to small details such that you will find lego geckos and spiders fixed to the wooden ledge of buidings.

Considering the rides were generally designed for one adult and one child, we found the safety bar an unnecessary item. It was hard enough to jamm our butts into the seat that once they are it is pretty much hard for either of us to go fall anywhere else!

PS. If anyone sees a place selling Cinnabon cinnamon sticks, try it!! it's sooo yummy!!

Queen's Mayball

2005-06-22T13:33:00.000Z

I fitted into my ball dress which only cost 18GBP from ebay!! I actually bought it last summer for trinity ball, but ended up too fat due to last minute binging during exams. Having restrained myself (a little) during the greece trip it's conforting that it fits :D

The picture says it all ^_^
we ate non stop until midnight, having queued up for 4 rounds of oyster and king prawns, one of hog roast, twice for burgers and steak!! The eating didn't end there though, as we continued with banana and orea smoothies and doughnuts after an entertaining session of JJ being hypnotised. It is not until later that we found out he was only acting (all that time we were wasting valuable memory card space filming him acting) ai...But one guy seems that he was for real, I wonder whether he is the hypnotist's affliation or not...hmmm

I went back to work after sleeping 1 hour after the ball. I think I am going to die due to toxin build up.

Greece

2005-06-19T12:56:00.001Z

Deep blue sea, bright sunshine, one Euro Gyros and a bunch of close friends. What else can you ask more??

I am definitely going to miss going travelling as a bunch of food loving and cheap travelling university students! It's so nice to have the energy and the opportunity just to possess a guide book and explore the country, not having to worry about ever getting bored or afraid of the opportunity cost lost.

I am so so glad that I have such a wonderful group of friends who I share so much in common (mainly the love for food =P) and lets hope the legacy goes on and we are within each other's reach throughout life ^_^

A close friend says it is an excuse to think that 'all good things come to an end'. I partially agree. Indeed, even though sometimes life naturally has its ups and downs, we shall try our hardest to cherish, however small, that very essence which gives meaning to life.

Just to prove that we DID do some proper tourist work: Here's the Acropolis in the background

New Year Resolution Revised

2005-05-04T23:02:00.000Z

This was one of my many 'improve lifestyle' new year resolutions:
-when at home eat a bowl of cereal for brunch and pot of yoghurt for supper.

As expected, that went to shreds, and as a result I've gained 5kg since my return from japan T_T

seeking radical improvement, I've decided to join gym. This is the wonderfully packed schedule:
monday: 5-6pm street beat, 6-8pm gym, 8-9pm street jazz
tues: 9-10am aerobics, 10-11am swimming
wed: 830-930pm salsa
thurs: 1015-1115am water workout, 1115-1pm swim/gym/sauna, 1-2pm pilates
fri: 9-10am aerobics
sat: 11-12am reebok deck
sun: DAY OF REST. Literally.

so far, I've kept up the good work for two consecutive days :D:D:D and I have aching butt and leg muscle, 3 blisters on my foot, my arms and head feels slightly detached from the rest of my body.

But it's great really~~^_^;; so she says...we see how long this one lasts...

Jimmy's Future Kid

2005-04-29T20:40:00.000Z

一山比一山高歐~~~
哈哈哈哈

Annie's Travel Guide

Brazil

Tibet

India

New Motto

Cinammon Kitchen & Anise

Houses

Korea

Life has become a journey

Bolivia & Peru

Economic Models explained with Cows

Algarve

Taiwan

Iceland

Bilbao

Cotswold Falconry

Chester

十二生肖的意義

My bestfriend's wedding

Snippets of Russian Memory

Polo & Prom

Bordeaux

惡魔在身邊

Olympics Opening

Ginan

Borough Market

Wall E

Nintendo DS

Innocent Fete & Redbull Air Race

Ascot!

Henley Music Festival

Butterfly House

Vinotech

Wimbledon

Working hard, and no travel :(

Gilgamesh

Saki Bar and Food Emporium

Borough Market

La Plagne

Wapping project

Banglore

2007 Ig Nobel Winners

101%

Turkish Delights

Taste London

全關節金屬小人

Word Rearrangement

It's been a while...

MyHeritage face recognition

Kiss from Annie!

Scotland 2007

New Motto

測你(妳)是屬那個朝代的?

Germany Xmas 2006

想回家 時間倒轉

The Belief Cycle

Brighton

Cold...

無家的小孩

Mouse Mania :S

How cute are they?!

中國九寨溝

Taiwan

New hairdo :D

Growing up

New York (3)

New York (2)

New York (1)

New House

Recycling Actors

Playing Poker

Handedness in Instruments

Space

Stonehenge & Bath - A Day at Leisure

In control of one's time

Wimbledon

I wish...

What are the break-up rules?

I thought this is good...crude...but good ;p

Motivation

想回家時間倒轉