Well, the snow has melted and we're back to good ol' British rain. Oh well, it was pretty while it lasted, even though it was absolutely freezing! And with the cold weather, the cold bugs are rife again at work as once again my nose begins to dribble and my throat hurts... ack!

Feeling uninspired today, but I got one of those questionnaire emails recently so may as well post some of the more presentable answers up here....

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME?
Emma ...
(If you need to know my full name, you will already know it!)

2. WHAT COLOUR TROUSERS ARE YOU WEARING?
Black

3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
VOH2 on the TV

4. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE ?
Vitamin pill

5. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?
Yellow

7. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My mother in law to tell her we were on our way

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
Where are my glasses?

9. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS?
Yeah, he is cool

10. HOW ARE YOU TODAY?
Tired after a long day, a bit sniffly but glad there is no work tomorrow....

11. FAVOURiTE DRINK?
Well, it kinda varies.... hot tea is good, also malt vitasoy, ribena, orange juice, apple juice, water.....

12. FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
Don't drink alcohol...

13. FAVOURITE SPORT?
Playing - haven't done any proper sport for ages!! Does ten-pin bowling count?
Watching - ice skating, sumo wrestling, downhill skiing...

14. HAIR COLOUR?
Black (never been dyed)

15. EYE COLOUR?
Brown (100% chinese chocolate eyes)

16. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Only for my wedding... glasses are comfy and after twenty years they have become an extension of my face now!

17. SIBLINGS?
One bro and one sis (real ones)
One god bro
and lots of virtual bro's and sis'

18. FAVOURITE MONTH?
February... my month!!

19. FAVOURITE FOOD?
Cheesecake, sushi, Cadbury's flake, pomelo, mum's cooking and grandma's cakes

20. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
At the cinema: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (fab film)
On DVD: Men Suddenly in Black (funny stuff)

21. FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Any day I don't have to do anything! Yes I am so lazy!!

22. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Not at all... but I don't need to now!

23. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Hmm.... cold vs hay fever - it's a draw!

24. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs and loads of them....

25. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
Relationships - silly question for a married woman

26. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Chocolate-vanilla

27. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
Too busy reading the news to read books...

28. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?
Translated the news, chatted with ppl online, watched the last episode of Hearts of Fencing and went to sleep....

29. FAVOURITE SMELLS?
Freshly baked bread, Johnson's baby bath, my mum's cooking...

30. WHO/WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Constructive feedback

31. BUTTERED, PLAIN, OR SALTED POPCORN?
Slightly sweet popcorn.... but not the totally covered in gunk stuff like Butterkist that gets stuck in your teeth

32. FAVOURITE CAR?
One that comes with a driver....

33. FAVOURITE FLOWER?
Any that I haven't had to buy myself!

34. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING?
Enough to make a hole in my coat pocket!

35. CAN YOU JUGGLE? IF YES HOW MANY?
Nope..... I am a klutz when it comes to these things.

36. FAVOURITE DAY OF THE WEEK?
Any day I am not at work....

37. RED OR WHITE WINE?
Don't drink!

38. WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY?
Worked on the Chinese New Year street market all day then went for a curry with my family!

39. DO YOU OWN A DONOR CARD?
Yup

40. WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH?
My dearest hubby....

Okay, start the pyschoanalysis..................

Brrrr.... it's freezing!

Snow watch - 5:30 pm, Em's back garden:

What a weekend that was! Only just recovered from writing a few hundred 'Your Name in Chinese' bits of paper for our English customers on Sunday afternoon! It stayed dry and not that cold, so despite a sore bum from sitting on a toolbox all day and a few aching limbs after five hours of solid selling, we all had a great day and a meal at the end of it. Well, that's our family's New Year tradition!

And here are some pics of the occasion:




A day late, the cold snap finally hit Britain this evening and brought with it a gentle splattering of snow that just kinda appeared sometime in between me arriving home after doing some more overtime and about 2 hours ago when I took this pic of the conservatory roof.



Then as I was in a kinda artistic mood with my camera, I decided to try some long exposure shots of the garden from my bedroom window. The red from the streetlamps made it seem quite eerie. What do you think?



Hmm... now what shall I start watching after I finally finish "Hearts of Fencing"? I can choose from more "Virtues of Harmony", "Triumph in the Skies" or "Riches and Stitches"........ suddenly I am spoiled for choice!!

Hmm .... first day of the New Year and I end up doing four hours overtime!! Does that count as 'fat san nin choi' (New Year Riches)? Well as the artistes keep saying - having lots of chances to work and make more money while I am still young is a good thing! Hope I don't have to resort to working 365 days a year like S4 though....

(Read today's TVBspacenews if you don't have the foggiest what I am on about!)

It's all over the news that UK is going to have a major cold snap next week as temperatures plummet to about minus 14 degrees. We aren't built for temperatures that cold over here! Just hope the milder weather holds out until Sunday, otherwise you will have an em-cicle trying to type on Sunday evening/Monday morning after six hours standing in the street market. Oh well, at least I have Monday off to defrost!

Raaaah a three day weekend! What a luxury!!

Oops - I keep mistranslating this plant as 'plum blossom' when it should be 'peach blossom'. I wonder if anyone will notice!



Fa Hoi Fu Gwai / Hua Kai Fu Gui

Chinese New Year Eve and I have followed all the traditions this year - dinner with the in-laws, cleaned the house, put out the rubbish, washed with fragrant leaves, offered incense to the kitchen gods and ancestors.......... all set!

The only thing I don't have for the new year are some new clothes... oh well maybe I should go shopping this Saturday! Hee hee... any excuse!

Such a bummer that CNY is just like any other day here, so I will still be heading into work tomorrow and still be getting stress from my colleagues who will wonder why I have a red cardigan on and a box of chocolates on my desk with a red packet and a note saying "Happy New Year - please help yourself!" stuck to it. Just a little tradition of my own to celebrate the occasion even though I am at work!

All that remains is for me to wish all my readers a very happy and prosperous Monkey year!
Kung Hei Fat Choy / Gong xi fa cai !!!
I should give you a lucky packet, such a shame that the internet isn't that advanced just yet (thank goodness) so this rather cutey pic of Roger Kwok and Patrick Tang will have to do.
- yes, I have posted this pic far too many times in far too many places, but I don't care, because I just love it!

Hahahahah............

Whew! Another mad busy weekend and the Chinese New Year celebrations aren't until next week. I've let the news site go to pot a little as a result, but I really couldn't face doing translations on a 15 inch screen that cannot handle resolutions of more than 640x480. Plus we were busy assembling about 400 Chinese Zodiac Keyrings in preparation for next weekend's street market.

Thing that was nice though, despite the weekend being hard work, was spending time with my own family and doing stuff as a family unit again. Since getting married, I've really been torn between balancing time with my husband, his family and my own family. Heading out to visit my grandad's grave this morning with the five of us in the car - mum n dad in the front and us three siblings having a laugh in the back like the good old days... it may have been minus three outside, but being with my folks gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside like I was seven years old again. And no guilty feelings for leaving my hubby at home that would usually emerge - today was my chance to just be a daughter again and I was gonna enjoy that.

And I got my stash of TVB entertainment supplies! Decided to give "Vigilante in the Mask" a try on the recommendation of my sis who says that it is a real no-brainer, but is quite funny. Also got some VOH2 and the first half of "Riches and Stitches" - "Triumph in the Skies" will just have to wait! Hahaha....

It gets better - my comments are back thanks to Haloscan!

Better pad out the news site I guess before all the articles become locked out!

Labels: family

Day 12 of 13 ........ so tired!!
8am start tomorrow.......... on a Saturday is not good!

Need sleep..........
Zombie Em says news can wait...............

There's me thinking another two days and I will be able to spend Saturday morning lazing in bed recovering from the last couple of weeks and what do I get landed with? 'Em - can you come into work on Saturday morning please?'

As attractive as the sound of more paid overtime seems, on this occasion my warm duvet and comfy bed is more appealing. However, for the sake of this job becoming permanent and the want to help out my poor boss who has been working for 19 days straight so far, I agreed to give up my lie in and go into work on Saturday morning before heading back to my folks' place for some 'daughter living' (ie mother cooks!) and to replenish my supply of TVB series.

Blogspeak is down again - as advised by jo. I had a bit of a search this evening for a replacement, but I think that the doodle board will suffice for the time being. Plus there is always the blasted TVBspace tagboard or good ol' email if anyone really wants to talk to me!

Oh well, off for a couple of games of columns before I settle down for my date with Mr Chow....

Day 8 of 12 and I am sooooo tired!
Like those people on the TV show 'Shattered' - they are okay, deprived of sleep but they just sit in a lab all day. I am deprived of sleep AND I have to get stressed out from people chasing me for this and that and do laps of the office! It has been a while since I have been so exhausted that I haven't been able to sleep, so been surviving on a half hour power nap and then five hours sleep at night for the past few days. My bones are starting to tell me that I am not kitted out for doing more than five days work at a time. Yeah, I am getting old.

Hopefully this month's pay will make my weary body feel better... that's after the government's benefitted from my extra slog. Just have to keep thinking of the beach and the spa in Malaysia and all that extra shopping that the excess pennies will be able to afford me. Yeah, it will all be worth it in March!

All this battering isn't doing my throat much good. Third week now and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Scared my colleague to death on Saturday when I choked on my saliva and couldn't stop coughing. I was starting to go blue and my eyes were streaming. He must have thought I was going to stop breathing and keel over! Poor guy!

TVB withdrawl symptoms are setting in - that's another reason why Saturday can't come quick enough. After a long lie-in, I go and get my next batch of tapes! Bliss......

Just finished poring over the many news reports covering Anita Mui's funeral today to choose a few items to add to lepra's report in HKENR . It's all very sad, but I find her a very inspirational figure and I admire her for her ability to touch and bring out good things in so many people with her charity work and her amazing performances. My personal memory will be in her songs -- my favourite is "ËÆË®Á÷Äê" - Years flow like water....

Staring out at a stretch of sea, No tears and no words
Staring up at the expanse of sky, Just feeling the mixed up memories
My heart is like a small wooden boat
Not seeing the distant scenery, but still sailing on ahead

Who is controlling me in my life, Fighting each day in the sea of people
Sighs in my heart, Years flow like water, Unable to grasp onto yesterday
Only strings of memories remain, forever clinging on

In the waves and storms, clouds and mist, I remember, Remember the old days
Appearances have changed early on, Surrounding also, But the love has never changed

Labels: hk celebs, TVB

First day back at work and it seems like I haven't been away. That's one good thing about being ill over Christmas, no-one else is at work, so your inbox doesn't get flooded whilst you're off!

Getting better, but still coughing and proving to everyone that I have genuinely been ill and not just skiving to get more days off. Found out have to work solidly for the next 12 days. What fun... not.

Woo some lunatic decided to set some aerosols and spirit bombs alight on Hong Kong's MTR system today. Luckily there was no-one seriously hurt, which is quite a miracle on a train carrying 1200 people. Must have been pretty scary though. My hat goes off to the quick thinking of the train driver and the excellent emergency procedures that they must have. Together with a confirmed case of SARS in Canton, it hasn't been the great start to the year that people in HK wanted really. Hope that the Chinese New Year will bring better things.

Took down my Christmas decorations yesterday and put up a few Fai Chuns in preparation for CNY. Brightens up the room a bit... think I will go and buy some flowers next week to bring some life into the house.



I look so fat in this pic taken by my hubby's best buddy when he visited us on Saturday... Hoyoyo look at the post from 03.01.04 for Fat Em!

What a great start to the new year!

Went to see the doctor on Friday after not seeming to be getting any better after a week on the cough and cold medicine and throwing up everywhere on New Year's Day. He took one look at my throat and diagnosed within 30 seconds that I had tonsillitis and prescribed me some antibiotics. Of the thousands of pounds I pay every year in National Insurance, all my GP can afford me is a 90 second consultation... and I still have to pay for the prescription.

Well the penicillin seems to be working on my throat, but I am still coughing my guts out at the moment as my body works hard to expel the remaining gunk that is lining my windpipe. I am feeling OK apart from the coughing has made my diaphragm, ribcage and shoulder muscles really sore now and it feels like I have been battered all over with a baseball bat. Thank goodness I managed to dig out a pack of Chan Pei Kumquat sticks in the cupboard to help ease the coughing. Hooray for Chinese preserved fruit and Aji Ichiban! I only wish I had found them earlier.



One more day of rest before I haul myself back to work....