More cars and more dangers?

Lately, The HK Government is considering letting Mainland drivers the opportunity to drive from the Mainland into HK. Now, I have to admit that I'm one of those people who thinks that since 97, HK has been going going through a process of change that so far isn't too pleasing. But the future is always changing. I can see alot of problems. With the influx of mainlanders coming through on a daily basis into HK, traffic is very heavy. HK is very small in the first place. Now with more mainlanders coming through with their cars, it just makes it more congested and more dangerous.

We always hear horrific stories from the mainland about their attitudes and value on life. This is what concerns me. Greatly. This has caused a grave concern within HK, and I feel it is necessary. But I have no doubt that this act will pass, but I just hope that it passes with more concern for the safety and consideration it greatly deserves.

Taiwan, my next Japan.

Near the end of the year, we decided to go on a small trip, just for a few days, since the Xmas holidays were very close to the new year holidays. We decided we would go somewhere close by, and somewhere not to expensive, and found Taiwan to be the perfect destination.And it was.
Even though we had 4 days and 3 nights, automatically I wanted to come back again. I last went to Taiwan about 10years ago (I think), and my impression was that it was ok. So I really wasn't expecting much. What I got from those few days was a very polite, nice, clean and safe feeling,something I associate with Japan, one pc the other places I can never tire of.
People were willing to help if you were lost and the feeling of friendliness pretty much everywhere you went made it more fun to enjoy walking around and exploring.
Obviously not everyone you meet will be willing to help, but the atmosphere around is so much different to China and so mucj like Japan. Most of the services you went to, you were treated with a smile or politeness.
The weather during those days was pretty much like hk, abit dull and not that cold. There really isn't much to explore in Taipei, but the main (like everyone else) people go there for is the food. There is so much to try, especially street food, and it mostly very tasty.so would I go again? Definitely and I hope its sooner rather than later.

A year in review 2011

Wow, what a year. I nave to admit, this has been the most busiest year for me. So much has happened. And I am truly grateful to my girlfriend, because without her, none of this would have been possible.

Usually at the beginning of each year, I would make my resolutions and like every year, they would only last about 2 months. But somehow this year, I actually achieved more than I can have imagined, which is a great sign. I managed to try new things (doing a small Marathon), goto new places (Korea, Kaiping, Beijing), learn new things (swimming) and one of the most important for me (and I'm sure other people) lose weight, (17-18lbs). What a year. With 2012 here, 2011 is going to be very hard to beat. But with something already planned this year, I think this year is going be even better. Happy New Year.

My HCG diet.

I have been doing the HCG diet recently. I have lost a total of 15-16lbs in a space of 2 weeks. Sounds crazy? Well, I must admit its quite amazing, but it was quite hard. To do this diet you need to take HCG drops, 3 times a day. The drops help your hormones burn the fat inside your body releasing calories and weight. In order for it to work, you need to stick to a 500 calorie diet, which is incredibly low. You need to avoid foods that increase your weight such as sugar, and carbs.

You do this till you achieve your ideal weight, or for long as you want to. I did it for 2 weeks. It's not a lot, but you are putting your body through a major detoxing stage. I won't go into too much detail, except that it wasn't easy. For the first week, it was manageable with the vegetables but once you run out of ideas with food, it can be abit boring. So during the second week, for me, the meals were a bit of a task as I tried to find different ways of making the food interesting. On another note, to do the diet, you really have to love vegetables. I'm not one of those, but to lose weight, I felt it was worth trying. I made the mistake of not eating vegetables, if you don't eat enough, you can't get enough nutrients and most important, there is not enough in your body to burn. When that happens, your body will start burning muscles.which is not great, as you will feel easily tired and you will probably get aches. After describing the process, let me tell you how I felt, after the whole thing. I actually felt good because once you keep losing weight, you get a sense of achievement. But I didn't find it easy. One of the things you should always do is research. I just didn't do enough. Would I do it again? I have to be honest and say "not too sure". It's definitely worth it because you lose the fat, inches, and you have to go through a strict and discipline diet, but what you get in return is confidence, new self esteem and a new clean body to start with. It will take time like all diets but this is very effective because you are dealing with the core of the problem, which is burning much more than you can input. I would only recommend it if you took it seriously. Now back to a somewhat normal eating habit. I can enjoy crabs and sugar, but what the diet has taught me to be fully aware of what you eat and try to balance it with healthy eating.

Our visit to Beijing

I made my first visit to Beijing 2 weeks ago, and it was amazing.

Beijing is a place that i need to go once, and never go back for a very long time. I went with my girlfriend for a week. We did all the main sight-seeing and that was truly amazing. We packed for w inter as we heard that autumn can be very cold, so it was better to be safe than sorry. We had planned this trip for quite a while, as I had one last trip on my visa, the choice was easy. Beijing and The Great Wall.

As the time came closer, I had began to get excited as not only would I actually get to take lots of photos to keep and cherish, but more importantly to touch and feel one of the great wonders of the world.

The plane journey from Hong Kong to Beijing took 3 to 3 and a half hours, which was very quick, which made it even better as it gave us more time to explore. As soon as we arrived, the first thing you usually notice off the plane is the weather. the weather in Beijing at this time was very dry, it reminds me of the uk. Dry and fresh, which is perfect compared to the humidity of Hong Kong.

We were lucky to book a hotel near the the centre of Beijing and also right next to one of the MTR stations. Since the Olympics, Beijing's MTR system is cleverly planned out for the tourist, it would be very hard to imagine how it was before when there was no underground stop to the tourist attractions. This I am very relieved for, as my mandarin is pretty much non-existant (!)

Even though there are stops for pretty much the main attractions, Beijing is still very big, and walking across the road can take a bit of time.

I have to say, looking back at the whole trip, out of all places we visited, The Great Wall is by far the best the most memorable and exciting. Even now, Can't really believe that I still walked some of it. I slowly learnt through this trip that its better not to have any high expectations of Beijing, as Beijing is still the same large city but with a polished exterior. In good and bad ways.

Overall, like I mentioned before, if you have never been to Beijing, then you have to go to see the sights, its a must, but once you've been, staying longer than a week, getting used to the people, food and customs may take much longer, and even then it may be not to your taste.

Achieving something important....

When I was young, like all young people, watching tv was my life. It was everything and everything after that. I loved watching sports as well, and while at school, apart from football, swimming was something that was heavily emphasised. All through school, all the swimming lessons i took inside and outside school didn't really do it for me. Whether it was the teaching or the location or the people, i was never able to get a focus properly. So even at this age (you are never too young or old to start learning, l always say!)  I never thought about learning to swim now or in the future. It happened as my girlfriend was going swimming at her workplace during the summer and me not having much to do after work decided to join her for some dip and batheing.  What a simple dip in the pool turned out to be a mission to learn to swim, once and for all. By observing others and the technique used and some research, i began to understand more and found that its really more about having the confidence to try and of course beating that fear of water.

Once you put your mind into overcoming the fear of water, you are already half way there. Our regular routine would be to go about twice a week. And everytime i would try abit more and learn and understand more. Now after 2 months, I am very happy to say that i can swim without my trusty float. For me that is a gigantic milestone. I allowed myself to just enjoy it as well. There was no pressure to learn it quickly either. I wouldn't have been able to do it so easily without my girlfriend. She has the patience to teach and explain things to me. For this i am very truly grateful.  I find myself very fortunate to have someone who can do so much for me.  So to finally achieve swimming, is amazing, but whats more important is finding that someone who you can share it with. Thanks my pretty :-)

9/11 Anniversary

Its been 10 years since 9/11, and the memory of that day is still fresh for me as I am certain also for the whole of America and even the world. With 10 years gone, its amazing how the threat of terrorism and unrest seems to be getting worse. Countries are going through a economic crisis, and so many people are unsatisfied with the way their governments run the country.  The future looks bleak.  I think if there is a lesson to be learnt is that we must not be the first to cast stones upon those who do not share our beliefs and ideals or who are different to us. We must learn from events and not follow them. To do so, we are no better then the people who did these acts of hatred cowardice. It is so much easier to hate then to welcome and embrace those who are different, but we can embrace this change and welcome it. There is a future and it is up to us to determine what sort of future we want.

In the midst of the 9/11 disater, there is also a lot of good, as well when we delve down inside ourselves, we can put aside our differences and help others who may need our help. We are willing for that second to decide to risk ourselves for their safety.  So there is always light where there is darkness.

Photos around hk

Photography is one of my hobbies, that I like to do whenever I have time. Have been getting b&w lately. Abit strong on the contrast but it makes it more superior.I feel.

My football habit- 3 games.

The start of the new premiership is upon us. We are already into our 3rd week and my beloved Liverpool are doing ok. Well, with must playing 3 games, you can't really much into it, can you? Hmmm...after just 3,games of the premiership, my instincts tell, that me that united are going to be hard to beat (again), chelsea and arsenal aren't looking too good, man city are the ones who could be the only one to win the league apart from united and I think we will have a cracking season, that we will finish at least in the top six.

The good things about Liverpool after 3 games, suarez is looking good, Adams and downing are looking good. our overall play is looking more passionate and positive.

The not so good things after 3 games, Andy Carroll is not so good, Henderson is not so good, therefore they look way overpaid. Partnership and understanding needs to be worked on more and our defence is looking abit old.

Things are not bad but can improve. I'm optimistic.

A moving story.

Watch "天梯 C AllStar 原裝MV (1080P HD)" on YouTube

Recently I have watching and learning about the story behind this great song. I found that not only is this a very good song but the meaning and story make it extra special.

Roughly the story is about a young man falls in love with a woman who was recently widowed with 4 children. Being in a time of set traditions, the main problem was that she was much older than him. It is something that we rarely think about nowadays, but remember at this time, this proved to be a major problem with Chinese traditions.  They decided to move away from the gossip and rumours that followed them to a more remote place. For his dedication and love for this woman, he made and carved out roughly 6000 steps and where they lived because there was hardly anything around. This was their new life together. I gathered that the steps took them to the town, and it was to make it easier for her to travel. These steps took him around 50years to make with just his bare hands. It's quite a moving story to show ones love for one another. She still lives in the same house they built together. Sadly the man died a couple of years ago but no doubt without regret and much happier.

My small photos

Photography has been something that I find great delight in. I always like look at different types of photos whenever I have time. What's even better is sharing my photos with my friends.no matter whether its from my phone or from my dslr or even film.

My (first) trip to China-Kaiping

At the beginning of July, I went on a trip with a group of friends to Kaiping, China. I bracketed First, as this was not officially my first trip, but then again it was. The reason for this was because, my first official trip was to Shengzhen for about 2 hours, to get some books for my work, and so really didn't do much. So I whenever people ask me whether I have been to China before, I usually say this was my first time.When the trip was being organised, I was quite excited for my first time.

One of the few things that have put me off going to explore China was the ability to get a chinese visa or the whole process of getting a china passport. But it was one of those things that I had put off for too long, and it was the proper time to get it done! So within 1 week I had my China Visa (!) which being my first allowed me to gain entry to China twice! No matter, I was determine to get more later. going away for 3days, we really didn't reallhy pack much. My camera gear was much more heavier (!) As this was a great opportunity to take loads of photos. On the day, we had to get up early to get the coach. It was a direct route which took about 4hours (including queuing and going through passport counters). By the time we got to Kaiping, the weather was gorgeous. There was something quite amazing about the blue skies in China. It was kind of mesmerising. Not to mention, quite hot.

I won't go into too much detail of the whole trip but over the 3 days we were there, the Diaolou (old houses) were quite amazing. Some of the houses we saw were built during the Chinese Dynasties and some were built during the 20s, 30sand 40s. As heritage sites, all the bulldings were cleanly kept and looked after. as well as being built to live in, some were also built to sustain the battle and damages of war. I have to say, it is good to see these buildings, and is definitely worth a visit if you can, but it is not a visit that you are going to come back to in for a good few years. Overall, I was very pleased to finally go to china and experience life and culture there, even for a few days. and to get to see sights such as these, is truly worth the trip. I would recommend going to see these magnificent buildings. I cannot wait for my next visit to China.

A part of Hong Kong Culture-The Durian

Being in Hong Kong, there are so many beautiful, colourful, fun, exciting and amazing things around in the culture, that makes it such a great place to be in. One of the amazing things is the food. Chinese food is well known throughout the world, I won't bother trying to go through how good everything is, because so many people have done it. What I'm going to talk about is the food I love yet can't stand to smell. On the top of my list is the Durian. At first this weapon of destruction which if you just throw it at someone can literially do serious damage!) Don't let the outer hardcore shell fool you, inside this fruit is really 'the king of fruit' named for its richness in texture and taste.

For people who have never encountered a Durian, its definitely something you will never forget, the main reason is because of its smell. The smell is very hard to describe, for me, I know that the smell is nothing compared to the taste I think alot of people would just pull a face and shriek at the potent smell of this great fruit, which is quite funny. Try introducing this fruit to your western friends!  I really can't remember when I fell in love with the durian. All I know is that my family loves to eat it, and so I must have caught the bug off them. Once you get hooked, and get used to the rich flavours, there really is no turning back. Its gooey, smelly and absolutely gorgeous! You will be surprised that a majority of Hong Kong people enjoy this fruit, and the rest just can't stand the smell of it.

You either worship it or really hate it..there is no sitting on the fence with this one.

Once you put this in your mouth, the taste balances out the smell and aroma you get from it. Its a strong tatse yet not too overwhelming.  Like all fruit, the Durian is seasonal, which is why sometimes it can abit expensive to buy. The most popular places to import it from is Thailand and Malaysia. There are varities, some not too strong and some milder. I haven't gotten round to tasting the varities yet. But hope so someday.

"Too much of a good thing' can be bad for you, the Durian is no exception, because of its richness in terms of heat within the body, its wise not to eat too much at once. But hey, I laugh in the face of unhealthy bowels and stomach pains, and can't wait to pass a market where the smell of fresh durian is hanging in the air!

Backtrack-Elizabeth Taylor

Last week, Elizabeth Taylor died. Its quite sad to see such a big personality pass away. it reminds us that everything and everyone comes and goes. There will be big stars such as her who we think will live on, whom death doesn't notice, but she is just as real as you and I.

I'm not a big Elizabeth Taylor fan, so I won't pretend that she was the best thing etc etc, but I acknowledge the presence that she had brought with her to those in the Entertainment industry. I haven't seen all her films, I don't think I've even seen 5 of her films. Its not that she was not a great actress, maybe its because she wasn't in the time when I started to watch movies.

There is 1 film that I saw and I will remember this film for a very very long time, this is because it was an amazing film. Her acting was simply breath-taking. I have no doubt that she was more than just an attractive face. The film was 'Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf' with Richard Burton. What I found striking was her acting, every word, sentence emotion, was 'breath-taking'.

It's just salt...

Reading today in the paper about the 'salt hysteria' that we Chinese people are going through, makes me think of one thing, and that is "how can people be so scared?"  Dare I say it, the whole episode proves to me just another thing, that we really are sheep.Yes, sheep, in the term that we just follow what everyone else is doing, and not even bothering to checking the facts before we act. The article I read in the SCMP is a great example. The idea that eating salt would protect you from radiation because of the small amount of iodine in it, is to be frank, stupid. To quote, a person would have to 5g of salt in order to the amount of iodine in a iodine tablet, and to eat a lot of salt everyday would do you serious harm.

When the SCMP asked a customer why they were queuing, she said "I don't know what the salt can be used for. But people are snatching, so I'd better hurry.".

I really want to talk about how ignorant people can be. From the article, The craze started from rumours in China and as soon as salt ran out, these people started coming over to hk to buy salt. Soon, people started to queue up, and lines were formed. Which caused a price increase (typical). The people in Japan haven't even got to a panic stage like this. God forbid if anything happened to China or Hk, all mass panic would break out and most probably everyone would be out for themselves.
To not let panic control out emotions proves very important, and instead having common sense and regard for others. There is a lesson to be learned from how organisation can help benefit in terms of mass tragedy like this. This organisation helps provide a sense of order and unity which is very important.

So after my rant, if you still believe everything you hear, you can be like everyone else and go bid for that last bag of salt online or you could just read the news and check the facts to save some money and some grace. I know which one I'd rather do.

To sum up, one customer saw the queues and asked "why is it so intense? It's just isn't it?" So right, so right.

A King's Speech

Saw 'The King's Speech' last night, and it was very good. Colin Firth was excellent, but I found Geoffrey Rush even better. Like 'The Fighter', which is another excellent film, it was not what I expected. What I expected (of 'The King's Speech') was something more dramatic, and serious. But what I experienced was a very entertaining and enjoyable film. Its the sort of film, that you can easily get into. Most of the enjoyment comes from the performance of Geoffrey, who manages to turn serious matters into his character's comical attitude to life. Both actors are very convincing, Colin, whose stammers are so real, that you actually feel his stammers, and Rush, who is so good, he could have been practicing his methods part-time for extra cash. Helena also gives a very good performance,, though not involved as much, she makes us understand and makes us feel the problems that King has to face. She makes us sympathize for the king. One thing I also noticed was how well Timothy Spall looked as Winston Churchill. Timothy Spall, doesn't have the looks, but he is a very good actor, no matter how big or small his parts are in films. I respect his attitude and professionalism. 

Now how I mark a excellent film is quite easy, after leaving the cinema, I ask myself...'Would I want to buy this on DVD?'...and the answer here is definitely YES.

The tragedy of Japan

I'm sure anyone reading this will know what I am about to write about. This is just a small piece of what is going through my mind. The great sadness, my thoughts and feelings about what happened a couple of days ago. On Friday 12th march 2011, there was a massive earthquake north of Japan, it measured a staggering 8.9 on the richter scale. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, but this one was unbelievably big. The damage done by this was nothing compared to the aftermath. The aftermath was a large Tsunami, that destroyed most of the coastal towns and villages. Even a few days after, there is still no idea of the amount of people who have been taken away by this disaster, and it seems it will still be awhile till they will actually have an idea of the amount of people who have lost their lives. With the Tsunami destroying house after house carrying boats and cars and anything else, it will a very very long time till the Japanese can rebuild their livelihoods and regain a sense of normality. And still there was worse to come. The Nuclear Reactors at Fukushima have had explosions causing a potential meltdown. Radiation had been leaking through the day causing people to be evacuated, but now it seems the Reactors have been controlled despite there been more explosions. The idea of a nuclear meltdown would only add more fears to a devastated Japan.

It seems this is the sort of thing that could only happen in movies, but this is reality, and day by day, with more video footages and news of the devastation coming out, it makes me very sad, as it was just a few months ago, that we had visited the beautiful north of Japan. Japan is one of my favourite places. I have been about 4/5 times, and with each time, I never get bored but more amazed. The places are very elegant, peaceful and graceful, and the people I always find are pleasant, kind and proud, for me there really is nowhere else like it.

My thoughts and prayers are for the people and the nation, that they are able to get through this, as they have before through war and previous disasters. I do know one thing for certain, that once Japan is on the road to recovery, they will look back and be stronger as a nation and as a people.

Kids today....eh?

During Chinese New year, my family came over for 3 weeks for a nice holiday and that included my very young nieces. Being so young, at ages 3 and 5, you wouldn't have guessed that this was their 2nd and 3rd time here. And even now, looking at the photos I took of them when they were here the time before I coudlnt believe how fast they were growing in looks and attitude and especially how clever they become. I'm not talking the cleverness of knowing how to do things, or how fast they react to certain thing, no, this was manipulation on a scary scale, the scale that criminals worked on. and before you start accusing me of calling my nieces criminals, believe me, its not with a sordid name calling but of a admiration for how they be do that at such a young age. It really does make being a parent a even frightening prospect (!) When it comes to getting what they want, or exactly how things they want, the kids really show no mercy. My nieces are gorgeous, big cute eyes and looks of princesses. But delve deeper and you will find clever minds at work, already working on how they can get their uncle to buy them that new nintendo game, or watch their favourite programes without caring what you would want to watch.

When I was at their age compared to them now, I would be the small kid in the corner away trying to hide away from their sight...yes...of course I am over exaggerating, but not to be funny, even their parents have to question their every motive and action." Not hungry for dinner?..hmm..maybe they saw that cake I bought and was saving for tomorrow..." ...'Mom, its ok, I know you can't afford to buy me that toy, but I know Uncle can...'..(the second sentence REALLY happened but not exactly like that...

Having not seen them for 2 years it was fascinating to watch them. Being the Uncle, I would be wise to their every action, and while I would be proud to show my wisdom with words, the rest of my family would shrug and know all too well, there was a alternative motive...and watched me being taken in like the proud sucker in a con.

After the first 10 days, I grew into their excuses and knew where they were coming from, and knew exactly when and how to reward them the way I wanted. Easy. no more getting their own ways. No more expensive things but simple activity books. Yep. This uncle was no longer a a sucker. but a more wiser and helpful uncle.

Its always amazing how time flies when you are on holiday. It seemed like they was only here a week instead of 3. After seeing them off at the airport, I went back to the flat, after they left, checking if they had left anything behind, and I noticed that the flat was covered in little stickers that you get with those colouring books etc. The Uncle then realised that the little devils had deliberatly stuck these stickers all over the place knowing the uncle had to remove them one by one....sometimes the feeling of not knowing you were suckered is better than knowing.

a happy new year

So 2011 is here. And 2010 is no more. Every year, I try to make some sort of resolutions to try and straighten my somewhat interesting and fun life. I have Lot of friends who don't really bother as it, they say "have grown out of" . I see it as not keeping things in control but also setting yourself challenges to do more. So, what sort of resolutions have I set myself this year? Apart from the basic, work hard and stay healthy, I have also set myself goals. I hope to run the marathon this year, save more money, and I hope to go to China this year. From years of trying to keep to resolutions, I find they tend to disappear during the first few months. So determined this year to keep them, I UBS already started preparing for them last year.yes, iits that bad that I had to start a year early. It would be interesting to find out if the older we get, do we take the resolutions more seriously or do we become more determined to achieve them? I know a lot of people try and some do succeed but its definitely a Challenge. I hope to report in about a few months time of my progress. But so far so good...now where were those applications for my China visa..

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Xmas time again.

I know its been awhile but I will try to write as much whenever I have time. So its Xmas time again. The time of giving and helping and giving some more. What better way to help the economy. When people just forget all sense of reasoning and just do what they like. Don't get me wrong, I love Xmas. But sometimes the thought of Xmas shopping just scares me...a lot. Before when I was young, it was great. All I had to think of was what did I want. But now, the thought of what to get, and where, isn't as fun. Luckily I don't get many presents this year, as I didn't really plan so far ahead. The thought of what to get my gf on our first Xmas together was a much harder task.
For times like this, the first time, I know it had to be special, because this is one of those times when you know you have to 'produce the goods' otherwise you will never live it down. The thought of sharing conversations with friends about what gifts was exchanged on your first date, or anniversary, was running through my mind.'so, what did you get your gr on your first Xmas?'...'oh some bath lotion and some perfume,...actually they were some very nice perfume.' Looks of amusement rebounded around. The truth of the matter is, gfs usually don't want something nice or expensive as long as its memorable and special. A subject matter for your gf and her friends to giggle at over dinner or coffee. what better way to do that then to think of something creative. Something that you actually put effort and work into. It's not the price but the effort and thought. This is said easier than done.
After wrecking my brains over what shall I make her, I decided to do something that I was good at. It makes sense, dosen't it?
I love drawing, so I thought I would do a drawing of her. I found out after hours of drawing, being naturally talented was not enough, I needed practise. After several hours of drawing a face, which I thought was a acceptable. I decided to give myself more grief by thinking it was not enough. So to be safe, I some simple origami, (sounds fancy,but believe me the most easiest things to fold took me a while.) And to be be extra safe, I bought her a nice necklace from a local designer, which meant you cant get these everywhere. Now I was ready to face the music. As Xmas day dawned on me, the time of gift exchanging came. After she opened my gifts, she had a nice surprise as the picture I drew really did surprise her. I could tell that I had to persuade her that it was her. Now even I know that if a picture of someone needed to be convince it was that person, then it really wasn't any good. Gfs being gfs, always show support, even though they know it won't do any good.'that's really nice' somehow I think she forced those words....'look its this picture I drew from, I was really trying to show some sort of insane reasoning for the drawing. Once you knew it wasn't worth it, you can pretty much stop talking. Luckily the origami proved more successful and you really can't go wrong with jewellery.
She smiled and she knew the effort I had put into the presents. I feel that Xmas really isn't about gifts or pleasing people, instead its about thinking of other people and letting them know that. This Xmas may not be the most memorable in the great sense but hey at least I tried. So what did she get me? Not something expensive, not something pretty but something meaningful so I am now content.

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