Life Updates and Recent Reads

hand made wedding cake/bouquet topper : D I'm thinking of throwing this instead of flowers to the next bride-to-be

I peeled myself from playing Triple Town to write an entry in this blog. Actually, it didn't take willpower at all; I ran out of moves (for the unpaid version, moves have to 'charge' up). It's even more effective in eating up my productivity than Facebook.

New addictive game I've discovered:

My mom may be turning into momzilla (definition from urban dictionary: Similar to a Bridezilla, a Momzilla is highly controlling of the many elements to a wedding. ) She is becoming obsessed with my wedding and was more giddy than I was when I was trying on dresses for the photo shoot. Okay, I wasn't giddy. I was in fact rather annoyed that day at how the wedding industry tried to pry HK$900 off of me for a ball of fresh flowers just for the photo shoot. It's environmentally unfriendly, and really, $900 for a ball of flowers in my photos??? REALLY??! And plus, I don't like flowers.

The saleslady said, "hmm, you're less smiley than your husband-to-be. Hope your photos will turn out okay." Actually, unbeknownst to her, I had a set of good photos already. This is the "rehearsal engagement photos" that mom gave me for my birthday. According to my mom, both my fiance and myself have little experience in photo-taking and as such do not know how to pose properly and will need a 'rehearsal' before the real thing. Well, this first batch turned out better than I expected. Kelvin didn't look as filopino as he could have. I didn't look either angry or dazed, which I often turn out looking like in pictures.

We got kicked out of the church we chose to get married in because we weren't their members. As always, somebody else was more concerned about it than I was (this time, I think it's Kelvin's parents). We are now looking for Plan B.

Then, there is the secret, oh-so-subtle tug of war between my mom and my mother-in-law (although both would deny this; they are only thinking for our mutual best interests) in terms of where we are going to stay after we get married. Obviously, my mom wants me to stay closer to her, and the mother-in-law wants him to stay closer to her. As for me, I just want to stay somewhere affordable.

Work is slowly killing me. I've been getting headaches at 3 in the afternoon every day, my eyes have gotten worse again, and I'm just so tired and listless every morning. I actually tell people to stay away from me in the morning. I'm not sure what I can do except use annual leaves to make monthly holidays for myself. I don't have enough justification to switch jobs at the moment, especially after I sort of assured everyone at my workplace that I intended to stay until the end of our project.

What's been more exciting lately are all the great books I've been discovering (of course, through the convenience of my e-reader). There's no way I would have otherwise been able to read at such a rapid rate. While I do work closely to a library, I'm much too lazy to check books out and cart a chunk of paper around in my bag.

I read the Hunger Games with great expectations, since it was apparently all the craze, and has even made its way into the theatre (coming soon). I wasn't disappointed. Not bad. I may start reading the second book in the trilogy. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" was also a great one, and complemented "The Psychopath Test" quite nicely. Told from a journalist's point of view, it is funny, fascinating and frightening, all at the same time. Sheds some light on a perhaps little well known fact about some members of the human population. Sophie's world is a philosophy textbook hidden in the context of a novel. As such, there's not much of a plot. Interesting if you like philosophy.

visit of the superVIPs

After the relaxing week of sickness (as mentioned in the last post), I got down to work on making some visitors to our company as luxurious as possible down to the last detail (that is a huge story on its own, including fulfilling shopping lists and elaborate VIP rooms in which apparently I went overbudget on), but really I don't want to delve into that hugely stressful affair.

Fortunately, Chinese New Year is just around the corner, which will elevate everyone's moods and the number in my bank account. I'm feeling particularly broke at the moment, having splurged on a kindle for my fiance, and on a bag (oh wait, he paid for the bag), a new ipad cover (the ipad itself I got from my company through my boss as a christmas present--he was in a super generous mood at the time), wedding photos (to be done in march 2012), and on a few family-friend dinners that I was obligated to pay for.

I made a few resolutions:

1. take the CRE (a government-standardized chinese examination) in June of this year.

- I'm going to study during every lunch period in the library.

2. be more humble - not a very popular concept, but I realize that the greatest people in the world who commend respect are those who are humble, willing to learn and become wise. It's also easier to accept instruction, advice and even rebuke if you have a humble attitude.

³³ 敬 畏 耶 和 華 是 智 慧 的 訓 誨 ； 尊 榮 以 前 ， 必 有 謙 卑 。 - 箴 言 15:33

3. be more kind - this goes with number 2. if you are humble, you are more willing to serve other people, and you will do beyond what you normally would do for someone.

4. take my work seriously and do everything to my best of ability, and be less half-assed.

- if I'm going to be working for the rest of my life, I might as well do it well, and do it with joy. And my action plan is to...intake more coffee. (haha kidding) I'm going to pray for the above and post relevant Bible proverbs around the house.

5. Make more plush

6. Become more flexible - joined a pilates class

7. Arrange some music - make piano arrangements for songs from Exaltios

New cute plushy (the sheep, which plays a lullaby when wound up)

shot from HK history museum...a crane badge signifying civil official of the 1st rank, obtained through taking imperial examinations
another shot from museum... hand written exam paper... so incredibly mind-boggling neat
ocean park trip from this month.
panda sticks face in a water canister.

A trip to Lantau Island with a super nice professor from harvard (where the airport and HK disneyland is, which is bigger but nowhere closely as populated as Hong Kong Island):

incense


old houses on stilts in Tai O, Lantau Island


the making of preserved salted egg yolks for putting in mooncakes and stuff...

Gundam expo:

Cute printed tissue and tissue box
random but pretty carousel
Bad english...

Sneakers under the wedding dress...sneaky!

big long overdue update...

~SICKNESS~

I had the best bout of sickness ever. The stomach flu worked for me in such positive ways I'm glad for it.

1. I got a day of sick leave, in which I did nothing but lie in bed and watch anime. There was the option of taking a second day off (which I didn't). I looked deathly (but didn't feel the part, haha!) for a day which elicited sympathy from people around me.

2. Because my body was focused on healing itself that I didn't give a flying crap about things that would normally be annoying, worrying or stressful. It was a therapeutic and enlightening experience.

3. I didn't eat solid food for 4 days (plus diarrhea to boot)...which means instant weight lost! When I could start eating food again, my stomach was still pretty queasy, which means I can eat whatever fattening foods I want without fear of it absorbing properly. It also gave me freedom to be picky about my food (I can tell my parents I don't want to eat something and they can't force me. haha!)

4. Restful 9 straight hours of sleep 3 days straight! The best part is... it wasn't like I felt sleepy when awake and doing stuff.

The buffet dinner my bf took me out for for my birthday (this was before the illness, and no it wasn't the cause)

These lobsters were actually consumed, but in such a skillful clean way that we were able to put them together again.

Went with friends to clean a beach in HK
Look what we found!

~WEDDING STUFF~
Okay, so wedding preparations update. So far, we've booked two photography places; one is an indoor shooting that my mom said was our practice run and her birthday present to me; and the other was the real thing, that will take the whole day (with Mona Lisa bridal). The real thing will be in March 2012 because apparently, it takes them 4 months to have ready our photos, and apparently, there are only two good seasons for photo taking outside in HK. I also went for some gown fitting, bought a girdle, and got the greatest wedding shoes ever....

These cost HK139. That's like 18 bucks Canadian. My mom will stick some blingish stickers on the front. Of course, nobody will be able to see clearly exactly what I'm wearing under my frothy dress. HohoHOho! Comfort and function is clearly very important.

Now we are starting to think of where we're going to live, which is contingent on a lot of factors, one of which is overall housing prices and government housing related schemes (these are probably unique aspects that couples have to think about, as the real estate market is very volatile here). Our mutual parents believe it's in our best interest if we were close to either of them.

~GRADUATION~

Finally, I've graduated from my Msc, the top student of my class. Alas, I don't get a scholarship... just a metal block to put at home. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly enthusiastic about graduating; only glad that I've gone through it and not have to go to class anymore. My only issue is that it feels more bought than earned. But it was a choice I made then to enroll, and I don't blame myself too much I suppose. That's why I would advise anyone thinking of going into a master's program (especially full time; mine was just part time), they should really think carefully and maybe gain more work experience first before taking the plunge.

~DEBUT!~

The christian music band I was involved in just made its debut! Check out the songs (most are cantonese): www.exaltios.com

Big decisions. Such as, which e-reader to buy?

The much dreaded deadline (contract end) for deciding has come. My boss beat me to the punch and approached me first about renewing it until 2013, which is a very long time from now career-wise (I'd be in my mid-twenties!), but in retrospect really isn't a very long time if you think about it. As you know, I have been wanting to change careers for awhile so this was prime time to talk about it. We had the conversation which lasted about 5 minutes, and settled on extending it for just 6 months during which time I would offload my work to another colleague and look for a new job. Great solution, and super happy it worked out. Now comes finding a new job... I will get my masters by then, but I don't know what to do with it.

Another decision I agonized over was which e-reader to get.

Torn between the varieties on the market, including the Kindle (3G?? Wifi only?? keyboard or touch screen?), Kobo, Sony PRS (and if so, which one?), Nook, and the gorgeous but pricey iRiver Story, I created the below chart, which was supposed to make things easier. (As you can probably tell, I did a lot of research about this, moreso than my wedding banquet. Speaking of wedding, I took a little break from planning/thinking about that.)

I even got into an argument over the e-reader with my boyfriend.

He was convinced that these things should be priced at below $1000 to which I vehemently disagreed. After all, they were black and white. Of course they are. That's why they're superior to things like ipads and tablets in my opinion...ie they don't kill your eyes or distract you from better things in life, like reading. Plus, you can't really compare the two kinds of products. I got angry at how dumb he was and slept late that night, waking up grumpier than usual. My colleague called me 'angry bird' the next morning as I consumed some mind and body soothing caffeine.

So the Sony PRS 600 won out according to the below chart. It was cheap at least on ebay, and other than the fact that it had no connectivity whatsoever, suited my needs just perfectly.

But I ended up getting the Kobo Touch, available in HK when my dad mentioned warranty. Warranty isn't included when you get stuff off ebay. My Nokia Xpressmusic, for example, which I drop on a regular basis on the floor by accident (this thing actually bounces), was fixed twice, covered by warranty. I love electronics that don't mind my abuse.

SO beautiful. What it needs next is a cover which I will probably make myself.

My decision chart.

Forgot if I ever posted the ring. Well here it is...













This is my artwork (it's plastic and transparent, to be stuck on glass). Pretty isn't it?

Some interesting snacks from colleagues from mainland china. "rare delicacies horsefaced fish".

I've graduated from Grade 3 Chinese...

Wedding Planning. Commences!

If wedding planning interests you even in the slightest, I think I'm going to post regular updates about it here. Maybe my experience will prove useful one day to you : )

I have gone to one bridal expo so far, as recommended by everyone, and was undulated with pamphlets and pushy salespeople asking us when the date is. I said "we don't have one... but it's going to be in 2013" to which they say, "it's never too early to take your wedding photos!! why don't you register with us right now?" I am also onto my fourth wedding magazine (in chinese, hoho!) and still don't have the faintest clue as to how all this wedding thing works.

"What kind of style of dress are you looking for?" They all actually look pretty similar... so I told my mom that I wanted a victorian style one, all lacey and conservative. She disagreed, saying it'll probably look bad on me. My mom complained about her friends complaining about the lack of shark fin soup in our menu. Being environmentally friendly doesn't mean taking the convenient way out. Too bad for her friends.

Communication about which banquet hall so far has been something like this: my mom's opinion -> me -> Kelvin -> Kelvin's parents who disagree -> Kelvin -> me -> my mom who disagrees with Kelvin's parents and proposes another option -> me -> etc. until we gave up and told them that we will be the ones making the decision and we welcome their input.

The thing I learned so far is that you cannot please everyone. Not everyone agrees with the time we've picked to get married (some says that we are too young) for example. It is important to consider everyone's opinions, especially your parents (ie marriage is actually a bonding of not two people, but two families), but ultimately it is my own wedding.

The thing I am ABSOLUTELY certain of at this point in time is I am DEFINITELY not walking down the aisle with swelling violins playing canon in D. I will be walking in to X JAPAN's Forever Love and I will walk in along with my husband to Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T60JphIj5ck&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijOL2dQBAew

Life:

Yesterday, I was very lucky. I got the last seat on the bus, taking me to chinese class (I have passed primary 3 and am now in P4). From my vantage point (the back of the bus), I noticed heads drooping and rising back up from the back of the seat, occasionally hitting the window and sliding down a bit, as sleepy people passed out on their way home.

Macdonalds is now serving their shake shake fries again. You basically get a packet of MSG and a bag for you to shake your fries in. Now in seaweed flavour:

Grab yourself a SlowBar for those slow moving days... or when you want to slow yourself down. Yeah actually I've never tried one but I'm tempted just to see what they're like. It'll probably taste like a chocolate wafter biscuit.

Soymilk based soup. This tasted like nothing, but this is when you know it's healthy.

This on the other hand is not so healthy. Egg with hollandaise sauce on waffle.

Dogs in a baby car.

Mid autumn festival was characterized by glowing lanterns and extremely fattening moon cakes that everyone was passing around (a quarter of a moon cake = one bowl of rice in caloric value).

Glowing kid

Ocean Park pics: that is a blurry image of a pufferfish which I saw blow up (next pic down, facing us)