Laptop cushions

There's a huge market out there for computer accessories. The alternative accessory markets make good living, what more if your designs are quirky and mildly affordable. Look at the amount of sleeves and jackets that's available for laptops and mobile phones these days. It's all about looks, which is what Apple has going for them. It doesn't matter that the product might be missing some important applications, for example when Apple first launched their iPhone, it was missing a whole lot of applications which a much, much cheaper mobile phone could handle, but no... people snapped it up because the iPhone was just too good looking. It's all about looks and accessories help in making your electronic gadget more aesthetically pleasing.

Anyways, this blog entry is not about the bling bling for your electronic gadgets, it's about a laptop cushion.

The hubs was in search of a laptop cushion, not that he spends a lot of the time on the couch watching the TV while fiddling with his laptop, unlike me, but he might start to do that if he had a laptop cushion. I use a couch pillow, it's comfortable, already there and it doubles up as a pillow when not in use. The search was on and being a computer accessory, you will, more often than not, approach shops selling a majority of computer accessories. Apparently the quirkier ones start at $60 per piece. I can't imagine purchasing a cushion for $60.

We ended up purchasing one from Ikea for $18. You'd be surprise at the amount of things you can find in Ikea these days. We bought our Pussy Willow branches from there too.

Food Blog : Bishamon Express

The weekend for us is always a couple of lazy days. Odd waking hours and more often than not there's even an afternoon nap, lazy days just makes you lazier. Anyways, like every other weekend, we end up waking long after the sun has set after the afternoon nap. Today was no different. Sometimes we're too lazy to go out in search for dinner and order in or end up eating instant noodles. But today we decided to head on over to the IMM Shopping centre and since the hubs was feeling a little under the weather, we went there in search for some soupy noodles or porridge.

Dinner at Bishamon Express was not what I expected. But then again, you get what you pay for. It's a little kiosk which seats eight and originally they only serve curry rice. Ramen was recently added to their menu and it's about five dollars cheaper than the usual restaurant. The soup was watered down, noodles didn't taste like ramen, pork was dry and too thick and there was too much fresh garlic pieces in the soup. Overall not a place I'd go back to.

iPod Touch

*sigh* Sometimes I hate that technology moves at warp speed. I can't keep up. There's a flip side to this technology era we're living in.

I bought an iPod Touch sometime mid last year. About the same time as this MacBook, actually at exactly the same time as this MacBook. Which means that my gadgets are not even a year old. I can't believe that some of the applications, old and new, are not supported on my mini gadget. In order for me to use the application, I'll have to upgrade my operating system. Do you think it's just Apple's way of forcing everyone to upgrade? I'll have to pay for the upgrade to the new operating system, it's not free even though I have the mini gadget. Grant that it's not a huge fee, but isn't it good marketing to not make customers who already own the gadget pay for an upgrade?

iPad

I am an avid Apple (Macintosh a.k.a Mac) user. It was only when I started working that I had to really learn how to use the PC. Never mind that I took a degree which forced me to learn how to write arrays and formulas. If you asked me now... I can vaguely tell how to write a program... NOT! It was only one subject... for the year, I think.

Anyways, Apple has decided to launch a new phase in their line of electronic devices which stores and process data... the iPad. It's just a souped-up version of the iPhone and not pocketable. I don't know... it got me thinking of the pads that ladies use once a month... but that's just me. Besides, I'm a little behind in my tech update, I don't even own an iPhone.

Photo Blog : Christmas Frills

In keeping with the Chrissy theme

Frills at the base of my Chrissy tree

Photo Blog : Australia Day

I will celebrate all public holidays of Australia and Singapore this year, seeing that I'm not working *wink*

Happy Australia Day!

Publishing

Is it really all that difficult to get a book published?

I've been searching the internet and almost everyone tells me that the hardest part is to find a literary agent because publishing houses will most probably not open your manuscript if it didn't come from a literary agent.

So looking for a literary agent in itself is tough. Of course it is, if you're not in the circle of writers or know of any writers, chances are you won't know an agent. As I scroll through my list of friends on Facebook, I realise that I don't know anyone who's written a book or if anyone is a literary agent. There are a number of bloggers, one even makes some side income from it. But has she published a book?

I can understand the literary agent's situation too. Thousands of people can write and write they will. Whether it's good enough to become a bestseller is entirely up to the publicists or the people who pick up the book and actually read it. So how do they find the time to sift through the piles of manuscripts that arrive at their door and decide, "Okay, this one looks promising..."

Crossing all fingers and toes!

Transporter 3

The first one was okay... the second one... can't really remember much... just watched the third installment and it was highly unbelievable. Not a scratch on Jason Statham, he fought with 9 guys, bare knuckled at first, then with whatever instruments that were available in the workshop. Even had a one-on-one with someone who looked twice his size and a couple of feet taller than him, flew through a wall. Not a scratch. Bullets flying everywhere towards the end, not a scratch, or a nick. But what a bod! Yummy, yum, yum, yummm *grin*

Believable chase sequences with the bulletproof car, but towards the end, it was submerged in water... after a couple of tinkles, it was still drivable, like brand new. Audi makes good cars.

Another gripe is that I couldn't understand half the words Natalya Rudakova was saying. Her Russian accent was too strong! But I loved her blue, blue eyes.

Sleep

How many hours in a day can you sleep? All sorts of articles tell you that people with a basic 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day will function at their optimum. Well, not everyone is made the same. Some can survive with only 5 hours of sleep a day, but then again, some have been forced to follow that lifestyle. I think I'm a 7 to 8 hours of sleep kind of person.

I've done the 12 hours straight, with maybe a wake-up in the middle for a pee. I've also done the 3 hours only and survived the next day. I don't know if I can do both for a few days in a row... I haven't tried. I can't remember if I've gone without sleep for 3 to 4 days in a row thing. I might be too grumpy after the second day, not to mention the brain would be thinking, "Sleep mode... I've missed my sleep mode..."

On the other end of the spectrum, having to wake every 2.5 to 3 hours a night is actually not that bad. That's only because I get to do that for about 18 hours a day, at a time (I can't imagine doing that day after day, I think my back would give). I can understand the sleep deprivation that new mothers experience as they have to be awake for the rest of the day, after only doing night feeds for 6 hours in the night.

Photo Blog : Christmas Bauble

Something from our Chrissy tree which will remain up until Chinese New Year

Christmas Bauble

Expiration Date : Nuts

Nuts come under the category of a dried up seed. They carry heaps of nutrients, although they are dry, which are an alternative source of vitamins and nutrients for some. They are easy to munch on, so much better than potato chips, but so much more expensive.

Not all nuts are processed the same. Some have oily coatings from the way they were baked, roasted or cooked in preparation for sale. I've eaten expired nuts and they were yummy (not the peanut kind, those really go off if they've passed their expiration date). These nuts were still sealed in their original packaging. Had them baked in the oven (hopefully to kill any moss or bacteria or minute insects which might have started to grow) and ate them over a week.

The hubs and I are still alive *grin*

World Wide Web

There's a wealth of information on the internet.

Yes, everyday people can't even begin to fathom the amount of information there is. There are people, at every second of the day, updating the internet, stuffing it with more information, some might think it useless but you never know.

Millions of people use the internet. Astonishing.

Terabytes of storage space... information.

All you need is an internet connection and a computer.

I finally Goggled my name... thankfully, I'm not listed anywhere *grin*

But I did find an interesting website http://www.isthisyour.name/pauline_wong.htm

Pets

I've never really had a pet when I was young, which would explain the sudden want for one when I grew older. Now that I'm older than older, I've been thinking of getting another pet. More specifically a cat. We used to have fishes, but those aren't really pets; turtles, which we had to release; and my last pet was a cat that lived for about nine years. He was such a darling, always purring when he settles on me... ah... I hope he's in cat heaven now.

So now that we don't have kids, I've been thinking of getting a cat for a long while. The reason why we haven't gotten one as yet is because I was always travelling for work, or going on holidays pretty often while I was working. But I haven't been working for a couple of years now and have been looking around for things to do. And the reason why I never really got down to looking for a cat to take care of is because we don't have a private garden. Cats need to roam, discover the world around them... I can't imagine having the cat in the apartment the whole time. Maybe I can take it out for walks, like all the maids do to the dogs that live here. But cats don't do well with harnesses, do they?

With that... I guess we're not having any pets, anytime soon.

Ironing

They say that Iron is good for you. Yes, I totally agree with that, it's one of the vitamins found in food which we consume a little of everyday, but what they don't tell you is that Ironing is bad for you.

How on earth did people walk around in creaseless clothes during the olden days? Do we have pictures? Maybe the black and white photographs hides the creases well, among other things. But the world which we now live in is not black and white. We can't walk around in crumpled clothes. Actually, we can, but we will be frowned upon and that's not something you'd want.

So back to my question. How did people iron so well before the modern day iron was invented? Does the hot coal in a heavy metal carrier really work? There's weight, it presses the cloth flat, 'ironing' out the creases... The modern day irons are lightweight, especially the travel ones. Which would explain why you'd have to put some pressure into each swipe of the iron on your clothes thus causing you to work off your arm muscles. Shall I test out the theory and look for an antique iron? Would I have to start a fire in my house to warm up the coals to put into the iron... there's a thought.

Sometimes I chance upon a street vendor trying to sell unsuspecting housewives the complete ironing system. One that doesn't require a lot of energy from the person using it and voila, your clothes are pressed in a jiffy. The only thing is that you'd have to buy the iron plus the ironing table and it will set you back a couple of thousand dollars. Hmm... do I really care if the clothes that I wear are slightly creased? I mean, I could buy plenty of things with that couple of thousand dollars instead of an instrument, no a couple of instruments, which doesn't work well without the other, which I'll only use maybe once every couple of weeks, seeing that we have plenty of clothes, in general.

Oh, by the way, in case you haven't noticed, I don't like ironing. I wish the clothes which I take off the hangers after they dry from the machine wash would not require any ironing. Is that too much to ask?

Channel Surfing

Alright... we have heaps of channels to watch, we have both the Free-to-Air, cable plus some basic channels with the other cable TV. So usually on weekends, there's really nothing to watch on the telly (this also reads as there's nothing interesting showing on the telly for me to watch)

So I've done the unthinkable and decided to watch The Biggest Loser - Asia. I know, I'm going to burn in telly-hell. It's just that there was absolutely nothing to watch on the other channels. What I didn't do is watch the whole episode, so maybe I'll just go to the anti-purgatory place and not directly to hell. Just in case you haven't seen any of the episodes, or read anything about it, The Biggest Loser just a reality competition between a bunch of overweight adults and the winner is the person who has lost the most amount of weight at the end of the show. Each week, one person gets eliminated. I think the show runs for two to three months.

Meanwhile, it's interesting to note that all you have to do is to keep exercising. They keep showing how many kilos each of the contestant has lost since they started being on the show. People who have never exercised in their lives... or adult lives, are losing weight by the kilos, per week! And after the initial burns and aches and pains, you get used to it, and your endorphins start to kick in and the next thing you know, you're addicted to exercising.

Pain? What pain?

Avatar 3D

The hubs and I finally went to watch Avatar in 3D. Most of the other weeks since it opened, the seatings were either the first or second row away from the screen. I vowed never to watch a movie that close again, even if it was only showing for one day. If you dig hard enough, you should be able to find a record of it on the internet.

Anyways, the movie was alright. I was wowed for the first half hour or so and then I kept wondering when it was going to end. A slightly long story at 2.5 hours, it was kind of draggy in the middle. But the storyline got me thinking about people who immerse themselves in online games like 2nd life and World of Warcraft. What they would give to be able to have that life instead of the one they're living, and that's pretty understandable. I mean, Avatar's hero is a paraplegic in real life. He goes over as an alien who has full use of all his limbs and all his other senses are acute. He meets the daughter of the chief clan (which is like meeting the princess, high chance of him experiencing the better part of the alien life) and learns the ways of the aliens. Gets to fly on a pterodactyl creature and finally mates with the princess. Oh, what a wonderful life. And at some point in time, he wants his alien life to be his real life. Who wouldn't.

Meanwhile, the show would have ended differently if he were made a servant, to work the fields, not fed enough, tortured on a nightly basis, blah, blah, blah...

If I had to do it again, would I have paid the $13 for it? I am still undecided.

Photo Blog : Wires

There are plenty of things lying around my house at the moment, I don't think I would even change a thing. My mom would probably wrinkle up her nose at the mess, but it's my house. It's organised messed *grin*

Blue, Black, Red, Yellow and White on Silver

Firefly

It's a catchy name... for a budget carrier. Wait, they're not entirely a budget carrier. Firefly is Malaysia Airline's new low cost carrier and I think they're doing rather well for themselves. I've flown on a few budget carriers, in Asia and Australia and I have been fortunate to not experience 6 hour flight delays, or any flight delays (touch wood)

Every time I plan a vacation with a budget carrier, I worry about the connecting flights and the flight itself. Getting onto the Firefly plane was an adventure in itself. Firstly, they're not a normal boeing or airbus. They are a... erm... ATR 72-500 aircraft. It seats 72 people at the most, no standing room, a 2 by 2 and for the short flight of an hour, they serve you either a muffin or some nuts and a drink. Most budget carriers make you pay for your food and as I've recently discovered, it's not available throughout the flight. Once their sale time is over, it's over, you can probably try the lavatory water. Lucky they haven't started charging for the use of the lavatory. Your first 20kgs of baggage is also included in the price of the Firefly ticket, unlike some where you have to pay for check-in luggage or luggage that weighs more than 7kgs.

The sound of the propellers is loud, but not frighteningly so. When the plane zooms across the runway for take off, you tend to cross all fingers and toes hoping that the plane will smoothly take off. I read on their website that their maximum take off weight is 22,800kgs (Say an average passenger is 60kgs, and there are 72 passengers, that would bring it up to 4,300kgs, adding that each passenger has 20kg of luggage, that's only a total of about 6,000kgs, including the weight of the plane itself, jet fuel... phew...) The best part of this plane is the cruising height. It doesn't climb up to 30,000 feet where you can only see clouds when you look out the window, no, this one cruises at half that, just above the first layer of cloud, making the fields below plenty visible. Best seat in the house (outside of the flight deck) is a window seat next to the propeller. Expected the plane to bounce upon landing, but it didn't, both times... as smooth as the A380.

I wouldn't recommend budget carriers for flights of more than 4 hours... especially if you have children travelling with you. I can't imagine having nothing to entertain oneself on a 7 hour flight to Australia, let alone a 13 hour flight to Europe. Kids bawling left, right and center while parents trying to pacify them with no help from the service crew. Ah... you do get for what you pay for.

Male Models

It's true, I can't for the life of me name a male model. I can come up with heaps of female models names like Naomi, Heidi, Kate, Giselle, Tyra, etc, but not one male model. So I decided to Google 'male models' and yummy, yum, yum! Everything between the neck and hips *nods* Chiseled face meets chiseled body.

So I'm flipping through pages and pages of male models trying to find someone I recognise (it was like looking through a portfolio... I now know how advertisers feel when they want to find the right model for their shoots, hundreds, no thousands of pictures of faces and bodies... if you're not outstanding as Heidi says, "You're out!") and looking through the names and trying to relate them to the pictures, nothing is standing out, no one is standing out. I can't believe I don't recognise any of them (and one toned body after another, I got numb).

And by the way, I still can't remember one name!

ps. David Beckham doesn't count as he's a football player first!

Picture Blog : Picture blogs

They say a picture tells a thousand words... sometimes, you need words to go with a picture *grin*

To save myself from having to look for things to write about everyday (it's a tough life when you're spending 90% of your time at home) I've decided to take pictures of the things in and around the house. EASY! My place is full of 'rubbish' as my mom would say.

I've also decided to use the hub's camera instead of the PnS that I carry around... depth of field was just missing from my PnS and it was just lying around the place... calling out... "Use me, use me"

So to start off this first picture blog, from my Nikon PnS

Christmas present 2009

Soupy Noodles

I have a feeling that the air these days is more polluted than before. Germs, bacteria, viruses floating around too freely. How come these new strains didn't exist a hundred or even fifty years ago? Or do we have to blame the current generation for that? People not covering their mouths or noses when they cough or sneeze, scientists mixing and playing around with biological things that mutate when they leave the lab or just the change in climate. It is scary to think that one day, the planet will be extinct of all living creatures...

In a way, it's lucky that I'm home bound these days. I don't have to get up to go to work, take the public transport, breathe the same air as everyone within the confines of the public transport, talk to strangers who could be carrying gawd knows what and generally just leaving the house *grin*

So how do you explain this tickling in my throat today? Could it be due to an over abundance of curry that I had for both lunch and dinner yesterday? Has staying at home made my immune levels weaker? Staying at home can't be a bad thing... no... I don't want to believe that. I'll just stick to some soupy noodles for a while till the tickling in my throat goes away.

Junk Food

Midnight snacks are back but my place isn't properly stocked. I'm munching on some Cheetos Twisted Puffs at the moment. They kind of remind me of soft Cheezels but not quite there. There's either too much puff (as in the air within the snack) or just too much flour. It's back to the drawing board for the junk food of the season then.

The Apple of my Eye

This article is for all my friends who have spent at least a year in an Australian High School *grin*

I remember recess time while I was schooling more so than the lectures and tutorials (don't we all?!). Some of us would pack some snack from home, others who didn't have the time, brought some money to buy a snack (I still miss my chicko rolls and meat pies *yum*) A box of juice and an apple was almost always part of the snack brought from home. We were such healthy beings then.

All apple stems needed to be pulled out before we started munching on them. And there was a ritual to this, I found out one day. (I wonder if my friends made it up?) We would twist them off and at the same time count up the alphabet (I wonder if any of my friends counted backwards...). The alphabet that the count stopped at, as in when the stem broke, was the start of your future spouse's name! Talk about lame, but we did it everyday or every time we had an apple. Of course, when you're in high school, there's always someone you had a crush on *grin* (I love high school) I think some of us cheated and either slowly counted up the alphabet while furiously twisting the stem or yanked the stem off at the magic letter. There was no way we were going to let that stem determine a strange alphabet to be our spouse, oh no...

The reason why I suddenly thought about this is because I still do it, sometimes, when I'm having an apple. But now, as I count up the alphabet (I can't say the alphabet backwards!) I wonder what Christian name I should give the hubs *grin*

Re-runs

Watching American Idol season 8 at the moment. I must admit that I didn't quite follow the phenomenon while it was on air. It's just not my thing, reality telly. But I think the voters got it wrong because Adam Lambert can sing! And his on stage presence... it just wows me.

Super Power Me

I have always wondered what the best super power would be for me
Do I want to be able to fly?
X-ray vision?
Strength?
Invisibility?
Ability to read minds?
No, none of those simple super powers
I want to be a 'Jumper' *grin*

Is there any limit as to what you can do?
Where you can jump to?
Not in the telly kind of sense... *giggle*
I'll just go to sleep tonight dreaming of that, yes...

Customer Service

Having spent nearly all my working life as a customer service officer (CSO), I've found that I'm pretty bad when it comes to scrutinising every other CSO whom I meet. The only difference, as compared to some of my previous customers, is that I don't shoot the messenger. But I do impart my dissatisfaction, as you would, after all, you're already pretty pissed off with the lack of service being offered.

I recently visited one such organisation which purports to build their customer base with excellent CSOs. Boy was I disappointed. Having secured an appointment a couple of days ahead, I was told upon announcing my arrival that the CSO was on medical leave. I lost it for a split second, something that's unusual for me (maybe I've been housebound for too long?) but the patient receptionist had a service recovery stored *kudos*. Everyone who ended up helping me was extremely professional and polite. After I left, I had half a mind to write a really long letter of complaint, something which will not work towards the extension of the bumbling CSO's employment but decided that karma will help me out instead *grin* I'm such a big believer in karma.

Celebrations

I have a few anniversaries to celebrate in a year and today marks the second oldest, first being my birthday, of course!

It was today, twelve years ago, that I decided to give in to an endearing dude's ('the hubs') persistence and said yes to dating him ('first contact'). Of course, in the months that followed, dating him wasn't as easy nor inexpensive as most couples would expect. See, he lived over 5200kms away from me. So the "Hey, babe, how about catching a movie this weekend?" thing didn't work quite so well. I wasn't going to pay over a thousand dollars to watch a movie, which included a total of 14 hours on a plane and a passport and neither was he. Not that we were tight with money, but it doesn't make sense to be spending that amount of money for a movie, right? But we did make the most of our time together whenever he came over for a vacation or I went over for one. Needless to say, it was an expensive year of dating.

Over the years, we make it a point to have a nice meal in a nice restaurant on our 'first contact' anniversary (and almost all our other anniversaries) and after tonight's dinner we realised that we have to be in the mood to celebrate (this is what getting older does to you). We tried a new Japanese Restaurant, Ippudo, after reading a couple of rave reviews and was sorely disappointed with the meal itself. Yes, the location is great, the deco made the place look expensive (chandeliers, a wall of various bowls, muted colours), but with customary shouts of welcome and thank-you-good-bye from the serving staff in Japanese, basso nova music playing in the background, idle chatter from customers... it comes across as an upmarket Japanese bistro. An expensive bistro serving unslurpable Ramen. Looks like we're not going back there!

The next anniversary will be the day we got engaged which so happens to be Valentine's day and this year's Lunar New Year so happens to fall on that day too. We usually do a home cooked western meal as we agree on not succumbing to inflated restaurant prices but this year will be different.

Twilight

Last month, while on vacation, I managed to catch the final 20 minutes of the movie, Twilight. Sad to say, it didn't really appeal to me as I had no inkling of the story never having read any of the novels. A week later, it was showing on cable again and this time I caught another 30 minutes of it (10 minutes into the movie) before having to leave for a dinner appointment.

Frustrated, disconcerted and a little piqued, I went to look for the novel. The phenomenon started sometime in 2008 if I remember correctly, and it didn't appeal to me then as I wasn't into written vampire fiction (the Anne Rice books were okay) although friends kept telling me that it wasn't the main theme... romance, a love so deep, blah, blah, blah. After a few hops into the various bookstores, I finally found a copy of the first book, Twilight. Something about where it was being filed in bookstores should have hinted to me the kind of language the book was written in (it was kept in the young adults section) but no, no alarm bells went off. Suffice to say, after half a day of reading, it's not a book I can re-read. Maybe I'll keep it in the bathroom instead of counting tiles.

Annyonghaseyo!

173 is my newest favourite channel on cable telly now. It's the number for KBS World. In case you didn't know what that would be, it's the channel for Korean dramas, primarily. The best part about this channel is, for instance what it has on its line up today, four episodes of the drama in a row. They are currently showing Full House. I think the actors are adorable, making their characters adorable too!

I started watching Korean dramas about 6 months ago, after not being able to find anymore interesting Hong Kong dramas. You could say that I'm still new to this. I am however surprised that I am interested in learning the language, as difficult as it may sound. Prior to this, South Korea was never on my list of countries to visit, but I'm beginning to change my view about it.

I am also starting to pick the language up, recognising certain words and sometimes questioning the English subtitles. People tell me that it's possible to pick a language up if you expose yourself to it for long periods of time. Each drama is usually about 16 episodes long and each episode is about 72 minutes long. Do you think you'll be able to understand the language after watching 20 dramas? *grins*

Busy as a Bee

It has been a busy three and a half months. Can't wait to get a weekend to myself. Cross all fingers and toes that this weekend works.

Last October, I decided to help my previous company for a couple of months. It was a wee bit difficult to adjust after having stayed away from people and work in general for the past couple of years, but like riding a bicycle as the saying goes, you don't really forget. The best part of it all was that it wasn't a permanent position, no commitment, light at the end of the dark, dark tunnel. It was fun while it lasted, now I don't know if I can take another round of it, albeit a shorter one.

December proved to be a traveling month, where I jetted off to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau. As with all vacations, the time spent at each destination was too short.

There's always a food fest or hunt session when I go back to Malaysia, but due to the time constraint, I didn't get to taste all the food on my list. And the ones that I did... hmm... I've come to the conclusion that Singapore has yummier food to offer. Either that or my taste buds have finally succumbed to the Singaporean way of seasoning and what I remember from my childhood days doesn't ring true anymore (there's a distinct possibility that after 20 years, the chefs in Malaysia might have changed too)

Not only known for its multitude of casinos, Macau offered plenty to see and do for a non-gambler like myself (actually, I love playing roulette and blackjack, just not at casinos) I found that observing players and the games also brought some odd fascination, I could observe for hours on end but I had traveling companions who didn't share my fascination to think about.

Boasting a number of UNESCO world heritage sites, Macau is an excellent place for aimless wanderings. Hilly, cobbled roads, attractions full of tourists from the neighbouring country, a city small enough that sharing the streets on public transport with cars proved exciting. Bits and pieces of conversations in Cantonese very apparent and somehow comforting (could be due to the fact that I actually understood their conversations, even if I can't read the characters). Food was reasonably priced, we could have a decent meal of 3 dishes with fried rice for 4 people at a total of $30 at a local coffee shop.

Hong Kong a shoppers paradise, no doubt. Fake goods blatantly abundant, bargains galore, appetising smells from the plethora of street stalls and tall, tall architecturally pleasing buildings. Getting around the city and the central business district area was a cinch with the elevated walkways and the underground subway (MTRs). Food was not as easily accessible as compared to Macau unless you're on the Kowloon side of the country.

Where to next?

It's a New Year!

Automatically, resolutions always seep into people's subconscious around the start of the new year. It's the same for me, there's no denying it. But (there's always a but) I have to admit that I've never followed through on any of my resolutions, even if I didn't fully make them, thinking of them is kind of confirmation, no?

Anyways, one of my 'translucent' resolution is to type my thoughts down and hopefully to make it an ongoing thing. It's amazing the amount of thoughts that go through my head these days, not that I haven't been opinionated over the years, it's just that I don't listen to or voice them enough.

When I first started an online journal, I never thought I would have more than one. The last I counted, I have four in total. While I have to admit that it has been difficult maintaining them, plus my other journals are not for everyone's eyes *smile*

So why create another one? *grin*
I had fun reading through all my other ones (especially the hand written ones) and have decided that I rather enjoy reading my ramblings. What I think and what happens now, might not be what I might think later on in life.

So what's with the 'retired' thing?
I've been fortunate enough to find someone ('the hubs') who does not have any adverse reactions to the kind of lifestyle I want to lead (in this lifetime. I'm coming back as a different (better) person in my next lifetime... not that I'm supposed to believe in next lifetimes!)
I could say that I'm in between jobs at the moment. I am also pretty sloth-like in my hunt for the perfect job. I've done both the "Oooyay... it's Monday" and the "*groan* I don't feel like going to work today... what shall my excuse be?"
Maybe I should just write in my pajamas for a living and hope to get paid for it at some point in time!

So here's to 2010! A new year, a new beginning, a new career move!