Friday, August 17, 2012
We want to be Toyologists, please!
It's been a busy few weeks, but with tea in hand and plenty of pictures of my babies on my screen, I sat down and wrote my review as part of the application to become ToysRUs Toyologists. If you have read my blog from the beginning, you'll know I have an opinion on a lot of things and especially love raving about things when they are good, so I think I'd enjoy this as much as the kids if we got this. Anyway, I know Geoffrey and his gang will be visiting this site at some point to look at the blog (Hi Geoffrey!), so I thought I'd dedicate a post to him and also put my review up for all to see!
Emerson
& Jasmine’s “Can’t Live Without” Toy…..
Taking pride of place in the centre of the playroom in all
its shiny blue plastic glory is our LITTLE TIKES BLUE WHALE TEETER TOTTER. It’s
a big name for a rocker, but we love it because it really does prove that
“Simple is Best” – especially when it comes to a pair of active twin toddlers!
Who are
we?
We are Emerson and Jasmine. We have just turned two and love
nothing more than running around in the garden, scaling the heights of the
climbing frame at the park and whizzing down the slide at nursery.
Unfortunately, we live in a country that is rather prone to rain and this
summer in particular has proven to be a very wet one, which means we end up
stuck inside a lot. Fortunately, we have
a great toy that we can play with any time, come rain or shine, indoors or out.
What is
it?
The Little Tikes Blue Whale Teeter Totter is a whale shaped
rocker and seesaw. There is a wave
shaped platform, where we can put our feet, and two yellow handles that are
just the right size for us to grab. When there is just one of us playing, we
can sit in the middle and use it like a rocking horse (or should that be
rocking whale?). When we both want to have a go on it, we can sit on each end
and play on it like a seesaw and when our best friend Sophie comes to visit,
she can sit in the middle and we can all play on it together.
Daredevil Sonny
Why we
love it….
Emerson loves this toy because it is blue and he loves blue
things.
Jasmine loves this toy because she can play, exercise and watch TV on it at the same time. Mummy says that girls are good at multitasking!
We love the toy because it has helped us build our confidence with trying out new activities. When Mummy first bought it, we weren’t too sure about it, but with some encouragement, we have really grown with it and now we like to show off by climbing on and off it ourselves and even doing stunts on it – “Look! No hands!” It makes Mummy a bit scared when we start climbing and rocking at the same time, even though we know exactly what we’re doing.
Another great thing about this toy is that it is always out in the playroom, so whenever we want to, we can climb on and have a go. Our favourite time for a quick go on the rocker is just before bedtime when we’re using up the last of our energy for the day.
Jasmine loves this toy because she can play, exercise and watch TV on it at the same time. Mummy says that girls are good at multitasking!
We love the toy because it has helped us build our confidence with trying out new activities. When Mummy first bought it, we weren’t too sure about it, but with some encouragement, we have really grown with it and now we like to show off by climbing on and off it ourselves and even doing stunts on it – “Look! No hands!” It makes Mummy a bit scared when we start climbing and rocking at the same time, even though we know exactly what we’re doing.
Another great thing about this toy is that it is always out in the playroom, so whenever we want to, we can climb on and have a go. Our favourite time for a quick go on the rocker is just before bedtime when we’re using up the last of our energy for the day.
Why Mummy
loves it (and some things she doesn’t like about it)…
Mummy loves the Teeter Totter because it is sturdy and made
from tough plastic that is easy to keep clean and has no sharp edges for us to
bump into. She thinks that the design of the rocking mechanism is very clever
because the wide wave platform stops our little hands from getting caught
underneath and the whole thing seems very safe because it is very difficult to
tip it over. She also likes it because it doesn’t need batteries or make any
annoying sounds.
Sometimes Mummy complains that the toy is a bit bulky and
takes up too much room in the playroom, but it is light enough to be moved
around and put away when she needs to tidy up. She also grumbled a bit about
the price when she bought it because there are cheaper versions of it around,
but really she doesn’t mind paying a little bit extra if she knows she is
getting good quality and reliability from a the clever, trusted people at
Little Tikes.
Most of all, Mummy loves the toy because we love
it so much, it helps us get plenty of exercise and have lots of fun playing on
it togetherLabels: family, kids, Toyologist, ToysRUs
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
To my beautiful Grandma, who taught me so much...
To my loving Grandma, who took so much care of me...
To my talented Grandma, who brought so much enjoyment to me...
To my smiling Grandma, who shared so many happy times with me...
To my dearest Grandma, who loved me so much...
Rest in heavenly peace, with Grandad by your side once again.
You will forever live on in my memories.
Goodbye and sweet dreams, with love.
婆婆﹐安息。
您永遠活在我心裡。
Labels: family
Sunday, April 20, 2008
哪吒回家 Nezha Comes Home
曲：黃家強 詞：周耀輝 編：黃家強 監：黃家強
Music: Steve Wong Lyrics: Chow Yiu Fai
贈我名字姓氏 和我日夜見面 你明白我嗎
望見爸爸的膊 望見媽媽的背 我懷念極大
還會沉默吃飯 未會誠實說話 我逃避你嗎
就怪代溝的錯 就怪時光的錯 我情願未大
很久已沒暢談 (約會多 電視花)
終於會內疚吧 (內疚到 似哪吒 要回家)
很久已沒坦白 (虔敬到 叫爸爸 叫媽媽)
終於再擁抱嗎 (不如再親近好嗎)
或有沉重往事 或有華麗信念 我明白你嗎
望見爸爸的眼 望見媽媽的髮 我遺憾極大
習慣沉默太耐 忘記誠實太耐 你原諒我嗎
就怪代溝的錯 就怪時光的錯 我情願未大
越來越難 是麻木還是怕 竟那麼隔 想了解那麼難
越來越忙 是時候就回家 竟有一剎 想削骨如哪吒
Giving me my name, See me night and day, Do you Understand me?
Watching dad's shoulder, Watching mum's back, I am filled with memories
Still dining in silence, Not able to speak truthfully, Am I evading you?
Generation gap at fault, Time is at fault, I'd rather I didn't grow up
It has been a while since we chatted - Too many appointments, TV is fuzzy
Finally I feel regret - So much like Nezha I have to go home
Too long since I was frank - so much I call for dad, call for mum
Finally can we embrace? Or just get close again?
Maybe we have deep experiences, Or beautiful beliefs, Do I understand you?
Watching dad's eyes, Watching mum's hair, My regrets are massive
Used to silence for too long, Forgotten honesty for too long, Will you forgive me?
Generation gap at fault, Time is at fault, I'd rather I didn't grow up
Harder and harder, Is it numbness or fear, So distant now, So difficult to understand
Busier and busier, Is it time to go home, A sudden moment, I want to slice my bones like Nezha
[In Chinese mythology, Nezha did a great wrong and in a moment of regret and to avoid implicating his parents, he sliced his bones in sacrifice.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDHVNgol5Fk
Some sad news from a good friend and coming across this song at karaoke yesterday reminded me that with everything going on in life, we still need to make time for our parents. Once you've flown the nest and have your own life, your own family and your own home - it's only too easy to become so absorbed in your own little bubble and forget about the people out there who really matter.
曲：黃家強 詞：周耀輝 編：黃家強 監：黃家強
Music: Steve Wong Lyrics: Chow Yiu Fai
贈我名字姓氏 和我日夜見面 你明白我嗎
望見爸爸的膊 望見媽媽的背 我懷念極大
還會沉默吃飯 未會誠實說話 我逃避你嗎
就怪代溝的錯 就怪時光的錯 我情願未大
很久已沒暢談 (約會多 電視花)
終於會內疚吧 (內疚到 似哪吒 要回家)
很久已沒坦白 (虔敬到 叫爸爸 叫媽媽)
終於再擁抱嗎 (不如再親近好嗎)
或有沉重往事 或有華麗信念 我明白你嗎
望見爸爸的眼 望見媽媽的髮 我遺憾極大
習慣沉默太耐 忘記誠實太耐 你原諒我嗎
就怪代溝的錯 就怪時光的錯 我情願未大
越來越難 是麻木還是怕 竟那麼隔 想了解那麼難
越來越忙 是時候就回家 竟有一剎 想削骨如哪吒
Giving me my name, See me night and day, Do you Understand me?
Watching dad's shoulder, Watching mum's back, I am filled with memories
Still dining in silence, Not able to speak truthfully, Am I evading you?
Generation gap at fault, Time is at fault, I'd rather I didn't grow up
It has been a while since we chatted - Too many appointments, TV is fuzzy
Finally I feel regret - So much like Nezha I have to go home
Too long since I was frank - so much I call for dad, call for mum
Finally can we embrace? Or just get close again?
Maybe we have deep experiences, Or beautiful beliefs, Do I understand you?
Watching dad's eyes, Watching mum's hair, My regrets are massive
Used to silence for too long, Forgotten honesty for too long, Will you forgive me?
Generation gap at fault, Time is at fault, I'd rather I didn't grow up
Harder and harder, Is it numbness or fear, So distant now, So difficult to understand
Busier and busier, Is it time to go home, A sudden moment, I want to slice my bones like Nezha
[In Chinese mythology, Nezha did a great wrong and in a moment of regret and to avoid implicating his parents, he sliced his bones in sacrifice.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDHVNgol5Fk
Some sad news from a good friend and coming across this song at karaoke yesterday reminded me that with everything going on in life, we still need to make time for our parents. Once you've flown the nest and have your own life, your own family and your own home - it's only too easy to become so absorbed in your own little bubble and forget about the people out there who really matter.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
One for the girls...
Bernie showed me this today, so I thought I'd share it with my female readers... thanks Bernie!! Roll on Mr Hong Kong 2007!!
New job means I have to get up early to get a seat on the bus, so I've been adjusting my body clock to try and go to sleep earlier. Well, that's my excuse for not blogging. The early rise and early nights seem to be doing wonders with my health though, that and the daily dash to the bus stop and playing Frogger with the traffic... and I am getting much more fresh (well, as fresh as it gets in the city) air on my lunchtime strolls.
Have been pretty good at resisting the urge to go shopping in my lunch hour, so far only buying a brown jumper from New Look, which was a bargain at a fiver. I think the fact that I am still getting used to wearing heels every day again deters me from venturing too far on the hard floors of the shopping mall that is 5 mins from my office.
It was my Grandma's 80th birthday yesterday, so the family went out for a meal on Saturday. As well as the usual lobster, scallops, duck, chicken, fish etc, we were also served these really cute (and tasty) Coconut Jelly Koi Carp. Pretty cool eh? Had to post the pic up as my blog is rapidly turning into a food blog! Hahaha!!
Bernie showed me this today, so I thought I'd share it with my female readers... thanks Bernie!! Roll on Mr Hong Kong 2007!!
New job means I have to get up early to get a seat on the bus, so I've been adjusting my body clock to try and go to sleep earlier. Well, that's my excuse for not blogging. The early rise and early nights seem to be doing wonders with my health though, that and the daily dash to the bus stop and playing Frogger with the traffic... and I am getting much more fresh (well, as fresh as it gets in the city) air on my lunchtime strolls.
Have been pretty good at resisting the urge to go shopping in my lunch hour, so far only buying a brown jumper from New Look, which was a bargain at a fiver. I think the fact that I am still getting used to wearing heels every day again deters me from venturing too far on the hard floors of the shopping mall that is 5 mins from my office.
It was my Grandma's 80th birthday yesterday, so the family went out for a meal on Saturday. As well as the usual lobster, scallops, duck, chicken, fish etc, we were also served these really cute (and tasty) Coconut Jelly Koi Carp. Pretty cool eh? Had to post the pic up as my blog is rapidly turning into a food blog! Hahaha!!
Labels: buses, family, food, hk celebs, shopping
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Move Aside Natwest Pigs...
I had a conversation with my bro today about buying a vacuum cleaner for my mum and dad's shop and it led quite naturally onto my suggestion of buying something a bit more industrial strength, like a Henry. At this point, the conversation turned a little surreal as we talked about Henry's mates, so being in the highly deluded state I am in after developments over the past few days, I looked them up and found George, Charles and James. When I was young, people collected Natwest piggy banks (although we were dedicated Midland Bank Griffin Savers - and I still have the dictionary to prove it) - maybe someone out there is trying to collect a full set of industrial strength vacuum cleaners now.
A few very good things have happened to me recently, but when they all come together, then they start interfering with each other and I am feeling a mixture of being overwhelmed and overly worried about things. I really hope I don't have to face a decision between work and family, because I would be totally torn apart. Oh well, I'll just have to see what other challenges life is going to throw at me. Why are things never so simple?
I had a conversation with my bro today about buying a vacuum cleaner for my mum and dad's shop and it led quite naturally onto my suggestion of buying something a bit more industrial strength, like a Henry. At this point, the conversation turned a little surreal as we talked about Henry's mates, so being in the highly deluded state I am in after developments over the past few days, I looked them up and found George, Charles and James. When I was young, people collected Natwest piggy banks (although we were dedicated Midland Bank Griffin Savers - and I still have the dictionary to prove it) - maybe someone out there is trying to collect a full set of industrial strength vacuum cleaners now.
A few very good things have happened to me recently, but when they all come together, then they start interfering with each other and I am feeling a mixture of being overwhelmed and overly worried about things. I really hope I don't have to face a decision between work and family, because I would be totally torn apart. Oh well, I'll just have to see what other challenges life is going to throw at me. Why are things never so simple?
Labels: family, life, shopping
Friday, February 23, 2007
Welcoming the Year of the Piggy with Fourteen-day Flu...
I'll start my new year review by showing you some of the photos of this year's lion dancing, except doofus here forgot to take her camera with her due to the invasion of my respiratory system by some pretty virulent bugs (more about them later), so all I had was my new phone (yup, I finally have my Sony Ericsson W810i). The pics turned out pretty well though considering I could barely see what I was photographing and they showed the sunshine really well.
As usual, I spent Chinese New Year with my folks back in Liverpool, writing names in Chinese and selling paper dragons, windmills and hand drums to the wonderful people of Scouseland. The mild weather did its stuff as the sun came out and brought the crowds with it, so it was quite a lively and atmospheric celebration this year and for once, I didn't freeze out on the streets. Despite it being quite a long, hard day and we are all totally tired out for the few days following, I do actually enjoy working the stand at the new year because it's one of the rare times in the year where we pull together as a family to do something special. Even my young cousin (who is not so young any more) chipped in this year, proving that yet another of my grandfather's grandchildren has inherited his entrepreneurial genes!
I did take a short video, so with my newly found Youtube skills, here it is:
The day was completed by the young 'uns going out for pizza and cheesecake! Well, all the Chinese restaurants were packed, so we decided to go somewhere a little quieter!
Unfortunately, the last two weeks have been rather dogged by the flu/virus that I had picked up from somewhere. A tickly cough developed not long after returning from Prague and by the Friday, I felt so rough that I asked for half a day off work. The following weekend was spent tucked up in bed with aching joints and hot and cold sweats, drinking litre after litre of water, juice and tea. I could barely open my eyes on Monday morning, so I decided to take a couple of days off work. In my company, they discipline you if you take too much time off sick though, so I just booked them in as annual leave. On the Wednesday, I wasn't ready to go back in, but I wanted to be fit for the new year, so I dragged myself into work and sat all day sniffing, coughing and probably spreading my germs around. Thursday was better, but the virus had moved into my glands and I had very painful jaws for the next few days. The mad thing was that when I finally decided to see my doctor about my swollen glands (I didn't bother before because I knew that she would just tell me to rest, drink water and take paracetamol) she turned round to me and said: "You're okay, go and see a dentist if your gums hurt." I protested that my jaws were very painful and it wasn't my teeth, but she seemed to give the impression I was wasting her time. I ended up giving myself some self-diagnosis and after 20 minutes on the net, drew the conclusion that I had a viral infection of the salivary glands, kind of like mumps but without the fever. As it was viral, antibiotics wouldn't have done much for me anyway, so I just carried on with the paracetamol and water. Finally, by Thursday of this week, it finally subsided. And my teeth are absolutely fine... no need to pay £40 for a dentist to tell me that!
Anyway, that's the reason why I have been missing from here for the past couple of weeks...
Spent yesterday at my directorate's managers' conference at Bolton's Reebok Stadium. Getting up at 7am to get there and then sitting through 7 hours of 'motivational speeches' really took things out of me, so I have been in a state of dopiness since and am in severe need of sleep now. I spent the whole day being intrigued the Bolton Wanderers logo, which my sis had pointed out to me the day before looks like an upside-down Chinese 'Fook' symbol. See above and you'll know what I mean! Cheers sis... kept me amused!
TVB-wise, I have finished watching "The Price of Greed", which was okay as far as cheap and nasty TVB series are concerned but definitely nowhere near high quality. The storyline did not live up to its promise, Kate Tsui was not as annoying as she is currently in "The Brink of Law", but Sammul Chan's performance was pretty poor. The only redeeming factor was Bosco in his cute waistcoat really and the welcome appearance of Ben Wong later in the show. Have started on "Brink" now and it's nothing special so far. Much as I am a fan of Steven Ma and I love Michelle Yim and Elliot Yue, they are let down so badly by Kate, Ron and the youngsters Vin Choi and Yoyo Chen keep my fast forward button busy. I was so annoyed when Kenneth Ma's character died (sorry for spoiler, but it is predictable) because he was one of the more likeable characters in the show. Bernice is... to be perfectly frank, she is not doing anything for me up to now. It has been a disappointing start (I am up to ep 9) and even the 'sophistication' of the guys wearing glasses doesn't help.
May as well continue watching now and see if it gets any better...
I'll start my new year review by showing you some of the photos of this year's lion dancing, except doofus here forgot to take her camera with her due to the invasion of my respiratory system by some pretty virulent bugs (more about them later), so all I had was my new phone (yup, I finally have my Sony Ericsson W810i). The pics turned out pretty well though considering I could barely see what I was photographing and they showed the sunshine really well.
As usual, I spent Chinese New Year with my folks back in Liverpool, writing names in Chinese and selling paper dragons, windmills and hand drums to the wonderful people of Scouseland. The mild weather did its stuff as the sun came out and brought the crowds with it, so it was quite a lively and atmospheric celebration this year and for once, I didn't freeze out on the streets. Despite it being quite a long, hard day and we are all totally tired out for the few days following, I do actually enjoy working the stand at the new year because it's one of the rare times in the year where we pull together as a family to do something special. Even my young cousin (who is not so young any more) chipped in this year, proving that yet another of my grandfather's grandchildren has inherited his entrepreneurial genes!
I did take a short video, so with my newly found Youtube skills, here it is:
The day was completed by the young 'uns going out for pizza and cheesecake! Well, all the Chinese restaurants were packed, so we decided to go somewhere a little quieter!
Unfortunately, the last two weeks have been rather dogged by the flu/virus that I had picked up from somewhere. A tickly cough developed not long after returning from Prague and by the Friday, I felt so rough that I asked for half a day off work. The following weekend was spent tucked up in bed with aching joints and hot and cold sweats, drinking litre after litre of water, juice and tea. I could barely open my eyes on Monday morning, so I decided to take a couple of days off work. In my company, they discipline you if you take too much time off sick though, so I just booked them in as annual leave. On the Wednesday, I wasn't ready to go back in, but I wanted to be fit for the new year, so I dragged myself into work and sat all day sniffing, coughing and probably spreading my germs around. Thursday was better, but the virus had moved into my glands and I had very painful jaws for the next few days. The mad thing was that when I finally decided to see my doctor about my swollen glands (I didn't bother before because I knew that she would just tell me to rest, drink water and take paracetamol) she turned round to me and said: "You're okay, go and see a dentist if your gums hurt." I protested that my jaws were very painful and it wasn't my teeth, but she seemed to give the impression I was wasting her time. I ended up giving myself some self-diagnosis and after 20 minutes on the net, drew the conclusion that I had a viral infection of the salivary glands, kind of like mumps but without the fever. As it was viral, antibiotics wouldn't have done much for me anyway, so I just carried on with the paracetamol and water. Finally, by Thursday of this week, it finally subsided. And my teeth are absolutely fine... no need to pay £40 for a dentist to tell me that!
Anyway, that's the reason why I have been missing from here for the past couple of weeks...
Spent yesterday at my directorate's managers' conference at Bolton's Reebok Stadium. Getting up at 7am to get there and then sitting through 7 hours of 'motivational speeches' really took things out of me, so I have been in a state of dopiness since and am in severe need of sleep now. I spent the whole day being intrigued the Bolton Wanderers logo, which my sis had pointed out to me the day before looks like an upside-down Chinese 'Fook' symbol. See above and you'll know what I mean! Cheers sis... kept me amused!
TVB-wise, I have finished watching "The Price of Greed", which was okay as far as cheap and nasty TVB series are concerned but definitely nowhere near high quality. The storyline did not live up to its promise, Kate Tsui was not as annoying as she is currently in "The Brink of Law", but Sammul Chan's performance was pretty poor. The only redeeming factor was Bosco in his cute waistcoat really and the welcome appearance of Ben Wong later in the show. Have started on "Brink" now and it's nothing special so far. Much as I am a fan of Steven Ma and I love Michelle Yim and Elliot Yue, they are let down so badly by Kate, Ron and the youngsters Vin Choi and Yoyo Chen keep my fast forward button busy. I was so annoyed when Kenneth Ma's character died (sorry for spoiler, but it is predictable) because he was one of the more likeable characters in the show. Bernice is... to be perfectly frank, she is not doing anything for me up to now. It has been a disappointing start (I am up to ep 9) and even the 'sophistication' of the guys wearing glasses doesn't help.
May as well continue watching now and see if it gets any better...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Great food, Lots of fun, Fine company and the Love of my Family
This is for my dearest hubby to thank him for such a wonderful evening.
As I'll be in Prague for my birthday next week and it's been a while since we entertained my family at home, I decided to invite my folks, my sibs and their respective other halves to dinner tonight for an early celebration. My hubby offered to cook and he made some of my favourite dishes and excelled himself. I think even my mum was suitably impressed. Although my folks had to leave quite early, it was nice to have them round for a change and it was so much more enjoyable and homely than going out to a restaurant and spending lots of money.
My sibs stayed around for some Wii-ing and after a few games of tennis, we ripped into my birthday pressie from my bro and future-sis-in-law:
Three hours later, we were still enjoying it. Despite it's simplicity, it is such a great game and just the dancing microgame was enough to have us rolling around laughing, especially when you put it into fast mode. There is no better feeling than to just have lots of fun, forgetting everything for the moment and just enjoying each others company. Frothy hot chocolate rounded off a lovely evening surrounded by the people I love.
It's times like this that remind us of the more important things in life....
This is for my dearest hubby to thank him for such a wonderful evening.
As I'll be in Prague for my birthday next week and it's been a while since we entertained my family at home, I decided to invite my folks, my sibs and their respective other halves to dinner tonight for an early celebration. My hubby offered to cook and he made some of my favourite dishes and excelled himself. I think even my mum was suitably impressed. Although my folks had to leave quite early, it was nice to have them round for a change and it was so much more enjoyable and homely than going out to a restaurant and spending lots of money.
My sibs stayed around for some Wii-ing and after a few games of tennis, we ripped into my birthday pressie from my bro and future-sis-in-law:
Three hours later, we were still enjoying it. Despite it's simplicity, it is such a great game and just the dancing microgame was enough to have us rolling around laughing, especially when you put it into fast mode. There is no better feeling than to just have lots of fun, forgetting everything for the moment and just enjoying each others company. Frothy hot chocolate rounded off a lovely evening surrounded by the people I love.
It's times like this that remind us of the more important things in life....
Labels: birthday, family, food
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Plungers, Rabbids, Sword-slinging, Appraisals and Christmas...
The past few days have been a bit of a blur really and has left me in a state of confusion about whether I should spend today fighting the crowds in the high street to get myself a new diary for 2007 or whether I should just stay in the warmth and comfort of home and just get some rest for another day...hmm... in the meantime, I'll write up what I remember of the last few days.
Christmas Day was pretty quiet. My hubby cooked the roast and his family came round. There were no battles and I actually got to spend some quality time playing with our nephew. He can walk now, so he was busy doing circuits of our living room and thoroughly enjoying himself.
We headed back to Liverpool to see my folks on Boxing Day and we joined in the Christmas Party at the local Chinese Community Centre, where I have been meeting up with a friend for the last couple of years because she goes with her folks too - so we swap presents and have a good old catch up. (Contrary to popular belief, I don't go there for the Old Fogey's Karaoke Competition and we never win anything in the lucky raffle.) Volunteered to be the sound engineer again because my dad was having a time trying to juggle being photographer, sound engineer and president at the same time.
Dinner was at my parent's house in the evening and we had roast duck and pancakes, steamed fish and char siu. I do miss my mum's cooking so much nowadays, the only thing missing was her soup, but she didn't have time to make it after the party. My bro and sis bought me "Rayman Raving Rabbids" and an extra Wii-mote for Christmas, so I took my Wii over and we had a Wii-fest in the evening. Such great fun and that Rayman game is soo funny. I especially like the music game and the crazed nunchuk shaking games, reminiscent of the days of DDR and Bishi Bashi. The animation is soo funny as well, especially the end of level shoot-outs with the plungers!
Shame the evening had to come to an end as we were having so much fun, but a re-match is planned for New Year's Eve at my sister's house party.
It was back to work on Wednesday and my mission for the rest of the week was to get as many appraisals written up for my team. That's 10 x 6 page reports on how well my staff have been doing this year. Yawn.... I was sooo losing the will to live. You have to be positive or constructive with all your comments - that's not easy for some people who you don't rate at all. Well, after a long hard slog, I have just one left to do and that can wait until Tuesday because my brain is already mashed enough.
Have also been playing Zelda on the Wii and it is such a beautiful game. It's pretty addictive once you get into it and before you know it you have clocked up three or four hours gameplay on it. I'm not one of these who just whizzes through these games (some people claim to have completed it in 19 hours... madness and what a waste of money!) so I am taking my time.
I smell food...
The past few days have been a bit of a blur really and has left me in a state of confusion about whether I should spend today fighting the crowds in the high street to get myself a new diary for 2007 or whether I should just stay in the warmth and comfort of home and just get some rest for another day...hmm... in the meantime, I'll write up what I remember of the last few days.
Christmas Day was pretty quiet. My hubby cooked the roast and his family came round. There were no battles and I actually got to spend some quality time playing with our nephew. He can walk now, so he was busy doing circuits of our living room and thoroughly enjoying himself.
We headed back to Liverpool to see my folks on Boxing Day and we joined in the Christmas Party at the local Chinese Community Centre, where I have been meeting up with a friend for the last couple of years because she goes with her folks too - so we swap presents and have a good old catch up. (Contrary to popular belief, I don't go there for the Old Fogey's Karaoke Competition and we never win anything in the lucky raffle.) Volunteered to be the sound engineer again because my dad was having a time trying to juggle being photographer, sound engineer and president at the same time.
Dinner was at my parent's house in the evening and we had roast duck and pancakes, steamed fish and char siu. I do miss my mum's cooking so much nowadays, the only thing missing was her soup, but she didn't have time to make it after the party. My bro and sis bought me "Rayman Raving Rabbids" and an extra Wii-mote for Christmas, so I took my Wii over and we had a Wii-fest in the evening. Such great fun and that Rayman game is soo funny. I especially like the music game and the crazed nunchuk shaking games, reminiscent of the days of DDR and Bishi Bashi. The animation is soo funny as well, especially the end of level shoot-outs with the plungers!
Shame the evening had to come to an end as we were having so much fun, but a re-match is planned for New Year's Eve at my sister's house party.
It was back to work on Wednesday and my mission for the rest of the week was to get as many appraisals written up for my team. That's 10 x 6 page reports on how well my staff have been doing this year. Yawn.... I was sooo losing the will to live. You have to be positive or constructive with all your comments - that's not easy for some people who you don't rate at all. Well, after a long hard slog, I have just one left to do and that can wait until Tuesday because my brain is already mashed enough.
Have also been playing Zelda on the Wii and it is such a beautiful game. It's pretty addictive once you get into it and before you know it you have clocked up three or four hours gameplay on it. I'm not one of these who just whizzes through these games (some people claim to have completed it in 19 hours... madness and what a waste of money!) so I am taking my time.
I smell food...
Labels: family, food, life, wii
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas!
Christmas Eve has been a quiet affair this year. The family gathering was pretty brief, but it was nice to see everyone again and look in wonder at how my cousins are growing up so fast! My little 6-year-old cuz Phoebe ran up to me and gave me a huge hug when she saw me and that made me feel all fuzzy inside. She is so lovely!
Will be catching up with family a bit more over the next couple of days, eating, lazing and just enjoying being away from work until I go back on Wednesday, but let's not think about that right now.
Pressies so far: haircut and massage from hubby, a book on beadworking from Secret Santa, shortcake & lucky packet from Gran, book token, memory stick, some chocolates and a DVD set...
Hope you have a great time this Christmas too, whatever you get up to!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Wii for Meeee.... hehe
Part of me was secretly wishing for my Wii not to sell, so I could play with it - especially after the mad advertising campaign on TV. It didn't, so it means I can finally get my hands on it, well, later on today when I get home.
Didn't make a profit on it, but at least I didn't pay over the odds for it and still have it for Christmas...
Wuhoo!!!
My Gran's out of hospital now finally and back to her old self again. She just needs to take it easy now, so I hope she will not let her hyperactivity put her health at risk again. Went to see her today at home, she is so glad to be away from those weirdos in her ward and nurses who didn't have a clue. Can't believe they asked a male nurse/porter to help her bathe - that's so wrong! The NHS has definitely gone downhill and I blame poor management, we pay so much in taxes and it all goes to a bunch of muppets who are more interested in squandering it on stupid things like publicity and propoganda when they should be caring about the patients and the standards of care and hygiene.
My hubby arranged a surprise Christmas present for me today, which didn't turn out to be a surprise in the end, but less said about that the better. Went for a haircut in a posh salon (waved bye bye to about 7 inches of my hair, but it does feel good - not used to how it looks yet) and a really relaxing massage. I was falling asleep at random times during the treatment and throughout the day, thanks to the therapist and she was targeting the tight areas of my back so much it felt like a Thai massage where they bring you out in bruises at first, but then you feel so good after a couple of days. The bottom of my back feels like it's been punched and bruised, but it's that good kind of bruising when you know it will be so much better because the strain has been brought to the surface. I will definitely be saving up for another massage - I think I should be able to afford one every two months or so if I cut down on buying breakfast at work and taking porridge instead.... will probably do my waistline some good as well.
Part of me was secretly wishing for my Wii not to sell, so I could play with it - especially after the mad advertising campaign on TV. It didn't, so it means I can finally get my hands on it, well, later on today when I get home.
Didn't make a profit on it, but at least I didn't pay over the odds for it and still have it for Christmas...
Wuhoo!!!
My Gran's out of hospital now finally and back to her old self again. She just needs to take it easy now, so I hope she will not let her hyperactivity put her health at risk again. Went to see her today at home, she is so glad to be away from those weirdos in her ward and nurses who didn't have a clue. Can't believe they asked a male nurse/porter to help her bathe - that's so wrong! The NHS has definitely gone downhill and I blame poor management, we pay so much in taxes and it all goes to a bunch of muppets who are more interested in squandering it on stupid things like publicity and propoganda when they should be caring about the patients and the standards of care and hygiene.
My hubby arranged a surprise Christmas present for me today, which didn't turn out to be a surprise in the end, but less said about that the better. Went for a haircut in a posh salon (waved bye bye to about 7 inches of my hair, but it does feel good - not used to how it looks yet) and a really relaxing massage. I was falling asleep at random times during the treatment and throughout the day, thanks to the therapist and she was targeting the tight areas of my back so much it felt like a Thai massage where they bring you out in bruises at first, but then you feel so good after a couple of days. The bottom of my back feels like it's been punched and bruised, but it's that good kind of bruising when you know it will be so much better because the strain has been brought to the surface. I will definitely be saving up for another massage - I think I should be able to afford one every two months or so if I cut down on buying breakfast at work and taking porridge instead.... will probably do my waistline some good as well.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Thinking of Gran, Christmas Shopping and Old Friends
Visited my gran in hospital on Friday, she's had a pretty bad setback and is coming to terms with not being able to live as active a lifestyle as she has been over the years. She was telling me about how she won't be able to sing Cantonese opera any more or go shopping in the market for the best cuts of beef and pork and I felt a lump in my throat, but didn't want to show her how sad I felt. She seems so weak at the moment - a far cry from the strong independent woman who looked after me as a child. I am glad that I managed to take her on holiday earlier on in the year, but I am sad that we won't be able to do it again. I hope that she will regain some strength soon and my grandad will look down from heaven and protect her.
Then yesterday I got dragged out by hubby to go Christmas shopping. I really wanted to just stay in and sleep, but I guess it's better to get the inevitable out of the way. Picked up some toys for the kids and wandered around Ikea after stopping for lunch there - we like the meatballs and the ice cream there. I wasn't really in the right frame of mind for shopping though because I wasn't in a spending mood, so I left all the spending to my hubby and kinda just wandered around in a bit of a daze. I perked up a bit in the evening when we visited another shopping centre and my credit card finally came out to get a couple of presents for people. In the evening I wrote out a load of Christmas cards for my mother-in-law to people who I don't really know, so I just kinda guessed what to write in them and hoped for the best.
I started writing my own cards today and I realised how rubbish I am at keeping in touch with old friends who don't email or go on MSN. Sending them a card once a year with a few lines scribbled inside is about all the contact we have nowadays, but I guess that is better than not having any contact at all, which is the case with 99% of my primary and secondary schoolfriends. Sad, but true. I also finally got round to physically writing a reply to one of my old penpals who still sends me the odd letter once in a blue moon because she says it's nice to receive an old fashioned snail mail letter once in a while. Have to admit though that it took an awful lot of effort to pick up a pen and rack my brains on how to express myself with pen and paper and in Chinese too. Evolution in action - soon I will forget completely how to write and depend totally on this keyboard to express myself.
The Hong Kong press have been keeping me busy recently with the whole 'Gay Affairs' piece and surprisingly the other hot topic at the moment is who the traitor is who sold out on Sammul Chan and caused him so much bitterness that he has had to let it out as soon as he leaves TVB. All fun and games, but personally, I think he is being quite petty and childish about it all. He may feel justified in airing his views and he probably feels bad that TVB haven't even considered him for any awards this year, but to stamp his feet and throw his dummy out of the pram is not really the best way to build up your own image. The spearhead is pointed at Kenneth Ma, but I think that even though Kenneth isn't quite the innocent that he portrays, at least he is playing the game right, keeping to the rules and this in itself is deserving of an award. Face it Sammul, everything in this society is all about politics. You can't beat 'em, so if you don't join 'em, then you're out of the game. Same with any workplace really... including mine.
TVB-wise been watching 'To Grow with Love' and 'Dicey Business and am three-quarters into rewatching 'A Step into the Past'. Gotta take my hat off to Raymond Lam, even five years ago, his portrayal of the young First Emperor was exemplary. Raymond Lam, Louis Koo, Derek Kwok, Jimmy Au all in one series... what more could I ask for? Hahaha!!
Wii arrives in 5 days - to sell or not to sell, that is the question!
Visited my gran in hospital on Friday, she's had a pretty bad setback and is coming to terms with not being able to live as active a lifestyle as she has been over the years. She was telling me about how she won't be able to sing Cantonese opera any more or go shopping in the market for the best cuts of beef and pork and I felt a lump in my throat, but didn't want to show her how sad I felt. She seems so weak at the moment - a far cry from the strong independent woman who looked after me as a child. I am glad that I managed to take her on holiday earlier on in the year, but I am sad that we won't be able to do it again. I hope that she will regain some strength soon and my grandad will look down from heaven and protect her.
Then yesterday I got dragged out by hubby to go Christmas shopping. I really wanted to just stay in and sleep, but I guess it's better to get the inevitable out of the way. Picked up some toys for the kids and wandered around Ikea after stopping for lunch there - we like the meatballs and the ice cream there. I wasn't really in the right frame of mind for shopping though because I wasn't in a spending mood, so I left all the spending to my hubby and kinda just wandered around in a bit of a daze. I perked up a bit in the evening when we visited another shopping centre and my credit card finally came out to get a couple of presents for people. In the evening I wrote out a load of Christmas cards for my mother-in-law to people who I don't really know, so I just kinda guessed what to write in them and hoped for the best.
I started writing my own cards today and I realised how rubbish I am at keeping in touch with old friends who don't email or go on MSN. Sending them a card once a year with a few lines scribbled inside is about all the contact we have nowadays, but I guess that is better than not having any contact at all, which is the case with 99% of my primary and secondary schoolfriends. Sad, but true. I also finally got round to physically writing a reply to one of my old penpals who still sends me the odd letter once in a blue moon because she says it's nice to receive an old fashioned snail mail letter once in a while. Have to admit though that it took an awful lot of effort to pick up a pen and rack my brains on how to express myself with pen and paper and in Chinese too. Evolution in action - soon I will forget completely how to write and depend totally on this keyboard to express myself.
The Hong Kong press have been keeping me busy recently with the whole 'Gay Affairs' piece and surprisingly the other hot topic at the moment is who the traitor is who sold out on Sammul Chan and caused him so much bitterness that he has had to let it out as soon as he leaves TVB. All fun and games, but personally, I think he is being quite petty and childish about it all. He may feel justified in airing his views and he probably feels bad that TVB haven't even considered him for any awards this year, but to stamp his feet and throw his dummy out of the pram is not really the best way to build up your own image. The spearhead is pointed at Kenneth Ma, but I think that even though Kenneth isn't quite the innocent that he portrays, at least he is playing the game right, keeping to the rules and this in itself is deserving of an award. Face it Sammul, everything in this society is all about politics. You can't beat 'em, so if you don't join 'em, then you're out of the game. Same with any workplace really... including mine.
TVB-wise been watching 'To Grow with Love' and 'Dicey Business and am three-quarters into rewatching 'A Step into the Past'. Gotta take my hat off to Raymond Lam, even five years ago, his portrayal of the young First Emperor was exemplary. Raymond Lam, Louis Koo, Derek Kwok, Jimmy Au all in one series... what more could I ask for? Hahaha!!
Wii arrives in 5 days - to sell or not to sell, that is the question!
Labels: family, hk celebs, life, shopping, TVB
Saturday, September 23, 2006
A Day in the Life of...
Yesterday was a really weird day for me. I don't do many diary blog entries, but it was one of those days I feel need to be recorded for posterity.
I'd taken half a day off work and the other half was spent getting to one our other sites to go for a job interview for a job that I wasn't too bothered whether I got or not, but seemed (on paper at least) to be half like what I envisaged to be my 'dream job'. My other mission for the day was to head back to Liverpool for my sister's birthday.
As I did not want to risk motorway driving after several years off the road, I decided to take the bus and coach route to Leeds for my interview. I arrived at the bus stop at 10am, to wave goodbye to the earlier bus that was not the one I had planned on getting, so I wasn't too bothered that I'd missed it by about 2 minutes. So I sat and waited for the next one 15 minutes later, listening to my Ipod and went through my interview prep in my head. Suddenly this guy sits down next to me and says: "Good Morning". Not wanting to be impolite, I said Good Morning back to him and plugged my headphone back into my ear. Bad move... this guy proceeded on asking me rapid fire 20 questions about my background, China's political situation, whether I could speak Japanese, who invented electricity, whether Einstein was a physician and what I thought of Britain's transport system. In the end, I just ended up replying "Don't know" because I felt so uncomfortable. It was the longest 10 minutes ever and I was so so glad when his bus arrived and he left. I am so glad I don't work with the public any more - too many weirdos nowadays.
So my bus arrived and I headed out to the coach station. The ride to Leeds was pretty uneventful, thank goodness. I'd planned to get some lunch in when I got to the office, but although I was not at all nervous about the interview, I didn't feel like eating. Instead I went in search of some familiar faces (and somewhere to dump my bag) but my counterparts in Leeds had been scattered and relocated. I must have looked either so dumb or suspicious as I trawled the offices looking for where my colleagues had been moved to. Finally I found them, but they were going for lunch and didn't have much time for me. I was sweating like a pig, probably a mixture of discomfort, stuffy rooms and hormones, so I decided to cool off a little in the washrooms before finding my interview.
Then I arrived to what was the weirdest interview I have ever attended.
It was like Good Cop Bad Cop meets the Reeves and Mortimer show as in between asking me the usual questions, Vic and Bob would spring into some kind of comedy routine of their own and I just sat and watched as they seemed to heckle each other about something totally irrelevant. Then after veering completely off topic for about 5 minutes, Vic would come back to the interview and ask me to continue with my answers. I was pretty confident through the interview as I have been to enough in my time to be able to reel off answers that fell into the company's requirements (and having been to the company's interviewing course), but this interruption was quite unnerving. Every now and then, Bob would come in with the odd question, which I can only guess was designed to throw a spanner into the thought processes, but they were all very negative and really gave me the impression that she didn't like me. That's all fine, but she ended up doing such a great job of putting me off that at the end of the interview, I came out thinking to myself that even if they offered me the job, I don't really want it now. If anything, the whole experience has made me feel even better about my current job (not that I had a major problem with it in the first place), so I think I will be staying put for now.
Anyway, I emerged from the interview, picked up my stuff and bade farewell to my colleagues before heading out of the office, which incidentally had been infested with hoards of daddy-longlegs (aka Crane Fly to non-Brits) into the pouring rain. Got the bus back to the coach station, again to wave goodbye to the previous coach, so I waited for mine and finally had something to eat. It was 4pm. I had a cheese and ham toastie and a hot chocolate - sod the healthy eating thing, I needed comfort food. At 4:20, I joined the queue for the half four coach back to Liverpool. At five o'clock, I was still in the queue for the half four coach. At 5:05 I was on the half four coach and at 5:15, the half four coach left Leeds. God bless the Great British transport system.
Despite my friend pointing this out to me some years ago as a 'British-ism', I don't usually notice that British people like to talk to complete strangers, but the guy sitting next to me on the coach started nattering on away to me as soon as he sat down. My patience was lacking a little by this point, so although he was not as weird as the earlier guy, I gave him a few curt responses before plugging my trusty Ipod into my ears, closing my eyes and pretending to sleep. Traffic was horrendous, weather was atrocious - what more could I ask for? The guy got off in Manchester and a woman carrying a toddler sat next to me. As far as young kids go, he was actually pretty bearable because at least he wasn't screaming. However, throughout the whole 50 minute journey, the little black kid had his wide dark eyes staring at me and it was quite unnerving. That and his mother allowing him to put his feet on my trousers and kick me on the leg was rather annoying. Unfortunately I am too British to say anything to her for fear of being accused of being racist or something like that, so I just wished and wished to hurry up and see the end of the M62.
There is nothing better after a long hard day than to come home to a welcoming home and caring family. I am lucky I have both at my parents' house. Everyone was busy doing their own thing, but to come back to an environment where there are no judgements or expectations is the best feeling in the world. Mum's home cooking, Dad's 'nice cuppa tea' and a good old belting karaoke session with my sis is all I need to put things right. Raaaahhh... as Snoopy and Woodstock would say.
Oh, and happy birthday to my sis today, who is 21 for the fifth time!
Yesterday was a really weird day for me. I don't do many diary blog entries, but it was one of those days I feel need to be recorded for posterity.
I'd taken half a day off work and the other half was spent getting to one our other sites to go for a job interview for a job that I wasn't too bothered whether I got or not, but seemed (on paper at least) to be half like what I envisaged to be my 'dream job'. My other mission for the day was to head back to Liverpool for my sister's birthday.
As I did not want to risk motorway driving after several years off the road, I decided to take the bus and coach route to Leeds for my interview. I arrived at the bus stop at 10am, to wave goodbye to the earlier bus that was not the one I had planned on getting, so I wasn't too bothered that I'd missed it by about 2 minutes. So I sat and waited for the next one 15 minutes later, listening to my Ipod and went through my interview prep in my head. Suddenly this guy sits down next to me and says: "Good Morning". Not wanting to be impolite, I said Good Morning back to him and plugged my headphone back into my ear. Bad move... this guy proceeded on asking me rapid fire 20 questions about my background, China's political situation, whether I could speak Japanese, who invented electricity, whether Einstein was a physician and what I thought of Britain's transport system. In the end, I just ended up replying "Don't know" because I felt so uncomfortable. It was the longest 10 minutes ever and I was so so glad when his bus arrived and he left. I am so glad I don't work with the public any more - too many weirdos nowadays.
So my bus arrived and I headed out to the coach station. The ride to Leeds was pretty uneventful, thank goodness. I'd planned to get some lunch in when I got to the office, but although I was not at all nervous about the interview, I didn't feel like eating. Instead I went in search of some familiar faces (and somewhere to dump my bag) but my counterparts in Leeds had been scattered and relocated. I must have looked either so dumb or suspicious as I trawled the offices looking for where my colleagues had been moved to. Finally I found them, but they were going for lunch and didn't have much time for me. I was sweating like a pig, probably a mixture of discomfort, stuffy rooms and hormones, so I decided to cool off a little in the washrooms before finding my interview.
Then I arrived to what was the weirdest interview I have ever attended.
It was like Good Cop Bad Cop meets the Reeves and Mortimer show as in between asking me the usual questions, Vic and Bob would spring into some kind of comedy routine of their own and I just sat and watched as they seemed to heckle each other about something totally irrelevant. Then after veering completely off topic for about 5 minutes, Vic would come back to the interview and ask me to continue with my answers. I was pretty confident through the interview as I have been to enough in my time to be able to reel off answers that fell into the company's requirements (and having been to the company's interviewing course), but this interruption was quite unnerving. Every now and then, Bob would come in with the odd question, which I can only guess was designed to throw a spanner into the thought processes, but they were all very negative and really gave me the impression that she didn't like me. That's all fine, but she ended up doing such a great job of putting me off that at the end of the interview, I came out thinking to myself that even if they offered me the job, I don't really want it now. If anything, the whole experience has made me feel even better about my current job (not that I had a major problem with it in the first place), so I think I will be staying put for now.
Anyway, I emerged from the interview, picked up my stuff and bade farewell to my colleagues before heading out of the office, which incidentally had been infested with hoards of daddy-longlegs (aka Crane Fly to non-Brits) into the pouring rain. Got the bus back to the coach station, again to wave goodbye to the previous coach, so I waited for mine and finally had something to eat. It was 4pm. I had a cheese and ham toastie and a hot chocolate - sod the healthy eating thing, I needed comfort food. At 4:20, I joined the queue for the half four coach back to Liverpool. At five o'clock, I was still in the queue for the half four coach. At 5:05 I was on the half four coach and at 5:15, the half four coach left Leeds. God bless the Great British transport system.
Despite my friend pointing this out to me some years ago as a 'British-ism', I don't usually notice that British people like to talk to complete strangers, but the guy sitting next to me on the coach started nattering on away to me as soon as he sat down. My patience was lacking a little by this point, so although he was not as weird as the earlier guy, I gave him a few curt responses before plugging my trusty Ipod into my ears, closing my eyes and pretending to sleep. Traffic was horrendous, weather was atrocious - what more could I ask for? The guy got off in Manchester and a woman carrying a toddler sat next to me. As far as young kids go, he was actually pretty bearable because at least he wasn't screaming. However, throughout the whole 50 minute journey, the little black kid had his wide dark eyes staring at me and it was quite unnerving. That and his mother allowing him to put his feet on my trousers and kick me on the leg was rather annoying. Unfortunately I am too British to say anything to her for fear of being accused of being racist or something like that, so I just wished and wished to hurry up and see the end of the M62.
There is nothing better after a long hard day than to come home to a welcoming home and caring family. I am lucky I have both at my parents' house. Everyone was busy doing their own thing, but to come back to an environment where there are no judgements or expectations is the best feeling in the world. Mum's home cooking, Dad's 'nice cuppa tea' and a good old belting karaoke session with my sis is all I need to put things right. Raaaahhh... as Snoopy and Woodstock would say.
Oh, and happy birthday to my sis today, who is 21 for the fifth time!
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Tibspace
Tibby is my mother-in-law's cat.
Tibspace is dedicated to him.
It's probably the only cat in the world that I know well enough to stroke.
It also thinks its a dog...
When you give him loads of affection, he relishes it:
More from Tibby later...
Tibby is my mother-in-law's cat.
Tibspace is dedicated to him.
It's probably the only cat in the world that I know well enough to stroke.
It also thinks its a dog...
When you give him loads of affection, he relishes it:
More from Tibby later...
Labels: family
Monday, August 30, 2004
When someone departs this life forever to move onto the next realm, a reality check hits home and you realise once again that there is so much to do in this lifetime, but so little time to do it in. When the sadness and the void passes, then you remind yourself that it's time to think a little more selfishly and look out for yourself and those around you. Whilst I am full of admiration for those people who can live out their lives giving their all to others, unfortunately I am a mere mortal and even if I come back in the next life as a fly or am destined to eke out eternity in the 18th level of damnation, then at least I've had a good time while I am on this earth.
Unfortunately, I have to go to work tomorrow....
Unfortunately, I have to go to work tomorrow....
Labels: family
Sunday, January 18, 2004
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!
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
Sunday, November 02, 2003
It has been a few years since I last attended a wedding banquet purely as a guest, so going to my hubby's cousin's wedding feast today was a reminder to me of how tiring it is and also how many people in this small community actually know who I am (even though I have not the foggiest idea who the hell they are, despite numerous claims that they know my dad/mum/grandad/grandma/hamster/next door neighbour's second cousin twice removed). The food and company wasn't too bad, especially as I had my hubby to hold my hand and keep me sane and even having a glass of champers accidentally spilled over my dress didn't annoy me in the slightest, but what did make me cringe a little was 'a really nice auntie' (according to my hubby) coming over and telling me how well she knew my parents and what a pretty girl I was AND PINCHING ME ON THE CHEEKS!!! Jeez, I am twenty-seven years old, okay so I don't look my age but that is a bit far!
Then another 'auntie' comes over and rambles on about how she didn't matchmake my hubby and me. No, you're right, we met each other without the interference of the last generation, thank you. Talk about pointing out the obvious... then about ten million (ok slight exaggeration) other 'aunties' come over and start going on about either why we didn't invite them to our wedding, or why they couldn't come to our wedding or dropping hints to say 'you haven't had kids yet'.
I may rant a bit now, but I think that growing up totally exposed to this close knit Chinese community in Northwest England has made me quite immune to all this really. I think my generation has learned to just take it all in, smile sweetly, say nothing and nod. Then we get on with our lives in the way we want to. Maybe this is what makes the Chinese people here so tolerant with most things, well if you've had 18 years of the 'auntie' treatment, I think you've been conditioned to be apathetic in the most extreme of situations...
"Oh! The house just fell down? Really, that's nice!"
"Ten hours of lectures on the philosophy of paint drying? Intriguing!"
"You want me to go and count the grains of rice in your rice bucket? Okay, when do I start?"
Had to handwash my dress when I got back from the banquet to get rid of the stains from the drink, but as usual I didn't wear gloves and I think the washing powder is eating through my hands at the moment. That is unless the toilet cleaner from last time has made them immune to harsh chemical attacks. Wonder if the chlorine from the swimming pool tomorrow will have any effect on them? Forget Edward Scissorhands, you'll have Emma Chemicalhands soon... hahaha.
Yay! Back to the pool tomorrow if all goes well - and the sauna, steam and spa treatment sounds good as well! Aah... memories of the hot springs in China - must go back someday!
Then another 'auntie' comes over and rambles on about how she didn't matchmake my hubby and me. No, you're right, we met each other without the interference of the last generation, thank you. Talk about pointing out the obvious... then about ten million (ok slight exaggeration) other 'aunties' come over and start going on about either why we didn't invite them to our wedding, or why they couldn't come to our wedding or dropping hints to say 'you haven't had kids yet'.
I may rant a bit now, but I think that growing up totally exposed to this close knit Chinese community in Northwest England has made me quite immune to all this really. I think my generation has learned to just take it all in, smile sweetly, say nothing and nod. Then we get on with our lives in the way we want to. Maybe this is what makes the Chinese people here so tolerant with most things, well if you've had 18 years of the 'auntie' treatment, I think you've been conditioned to be apathetic in the most extreme of situations...
"Oh! The house just fell down? Really, that's nice!"
"Ten hours of lectures on the philosophy of paint drying? Intriguing!"
"You want me to go and count the grains of rice in your rice bucket? Okay, when do I start?"
Had to handwash my dress when I got back from the banquet to get rid of the stains from the drink, but as usual I didn't wear gloves and I think the washing powder is eating through my hands at the moment. That is unless the toilet cleaner from last time has made them immune to harsh chemical attacks. Wonder if the chlorine from the swimming pool tomorrow will have any effect on them? Forget Edward Scissorhands, you'll have Emma Chemicalhands soon... hahaha.
Yay! Back to the pool tomorrow if all goes well - and the sauna, steam and spa treatment sounds good as well! Aah... memories of the hot springs in China - must go back someday!
Labels: family