The weekend was rather eventful.... but I think I managed to vent most of my frustrations in time to face a new job. On training this week and it's quite enjoyable. Bearing in mind that I need to know how to use this system inside out by this time next week has given me a drive to pay attention and concentrate on the course and it's helping me to dampen all the other frustrations that surfaced on Saturday. This sounds like something that the TVB artistes will say when they are asked an awkward question by the press, but I am just putting my efforts into my work at the moment to make myself some money towards the holidays in March that I am really really looking forward to.

Thank goodness the news reports have settled down a bit now. I was getting a bit fed up on translating arguments all the time. Great piece that jo wrote for teeveebee that was taking the mickey out of the fights, had me in fits of laughter as I read it!

"Chicken Soup" has started filming - looks really good..... another series to look out for in 2004! Better than all the supposed classic martial arts or historical dramas that TVB has turned into light entertainment or romantic comedies. I watched the sales presentation clip to "Fan Lei Fa" the other day and it was awful. I was expecting something along the lines of the 80's "General Father, General Son" but no such luck there. It's some sort of hybrid with "The Legend of Love" with magic and CG and legends and silly rings. I'm surprised that TVB don't come up with some sort of "Condor Heroes meets Lord of the Rings" concoction with a bit of Al Bundy humour thrown in for good measure. "Fung Mo Heung Lo" looks promising though... it's about time we had some proper drama for a change.

Brr... starting to get really chilly here now. Time does really fly... it wasn't that long ago I was moaning about summer and hay fever on here!! Ah... my nice warm duvet is calling me now...

Feeling a bit stressed at the moment and as I am surrounded by nothing but empty desks and just the soft toys that live in my case to keep my company I think I'll take it out on my blog instead. It's either that or go to lunch with my invisible friend. I should be glad that this is my last lonely Saturday at work, but there are too many demands on me at the moment to feel anything but guilt and pressure.

When is your life not your life... when it belongs to everyone else around you.
Having to balance a full time job with being a dutiful daughter and faithful wife doesn't leave very much space for being myself. (paragraph of blind ranting has been deleted from here...) I feel like I just want to get the coach to somewhere like Inverness instead of Liverpool and just hide there until after Christmas. If only...

I wish people wouldn't send me on guilt trips. I am a sensitive person and they really get to me.

Click to donate!

Today was Children in Need day, usually I don't pay much attention to the 'fun days' that they organise at work for these National Charity Events, but I guess that with today being the last proper day in my current role, I was able to wander around a bit and watch some of the managers make fools of themselves all in the name of charity. The head honcho and a couple of department heads had their legs waxed and another guy got covered in baked beans and mushy peas. It was a good laugh I guess and lightened up my Friday afternoon. Plus I get to go to work in jeans in exchange for all the change in my pockets. Resisted the temptation to sit through the seven hour telethon though (it's still on...) - the CIN one tends to be a bit boring, I will usually watch Comic Relief from beginning to end though. Sad, but true...

The battle rages on in the aftermath of the TVB anniversary. At first it was quite entertaining, but it's just tiresome now. It seems like Maggie's straight talking has landed her in trouble again, but it's all publicity as far as these artistes are concerned and the fans going wild just helps to keep them in the papers that little bit longer. Most of the news articles tonight were just adding to the bitchiness, with Chilam entering the digs at TVB, so I did think twice about whether I wanted to fuel the fire any more. Then I decided to just do them - it keeps my hit counter running and tagboard busy if nothing else! Hahaha.....
*Em the cynic strikes again*

Another anniversary comes and goes for TVB, but I am pleased at the result. All the winners this year are very deserving and none more so than Roger and Maggie who have both worked so hard for so many years. They'll probably never read this, but congratulations to them both. Of course I am happy that after supporting good ol' Roger for so long he is finally getting the recognition and it is unquestioned. It's quite funny but at the same time so silly that there is always so much bitchiness and tit-for-tat after awards ceremonies. People have to make a big thing about passing remarks and little minor things, but I guess that's what sells papers. I'm yet to watch the ceremony (I'll wait for the tape... my PC might die if I even try to download it) so I'm not passing judgement on the 'oscar-nominated' acceptance acts and speeches, but my gut instinct is that for Roger at least, it should be pretty genuine. Oh and the awards look quite tasteful this year for a chance... no cheap perspex jobbies here thank you!

There, my two pennies about the TVB oscars are done. I've translated the articles, but I don't really want to say much about it in case I get hung, drawn and quartered my some of my more argumentative readers. Yes, I am too chicken.... I prefer to call it diplomatic.

More importantly, I got the frog job!
No more worrying about the next step for the next nine months at least, then who knows!! I am so pleased to finally find some stability in my career after jumping around from department to department for the last 12 months. It's little wonder that my CV spans three pages and is growing.

'Flu bug going around again..... stupid open plan offices. One person gets something and it works its way around the whole building. My hubby is suffering at the moment and my nose feels like it's about to lose the fight any time now. Just have to get myself pumped up on the paracetamol and apple juice. That's the thing when you get married, you are not allowed to be more ill than your husband, because you have to look after him when he reverts back to being three years old. Funny how the cold and flu bugs have this age-reversal effect on men. I think they call it 'man-flu'... it's like normal flu but it reacts with the male genetic make-up to make it seem ten times worse and everyone who is in earshot has to know about it. Then he rings his mum up and moans to her down the phone about how he is on death's door.... she subsequently instructs you on how to look after her son properly and make him a million different herbal remedies to nurse him back to full health, at which point he makes a sudden recovery because either he can't stand the stuff you're trying to feed him or there's an important footy match on the telly.

The end of 'Armed Reaction 4' was so disappointing. I gave up and just had it on in the background in the end. I now remember why I didn't bother with the first three series...
Started watching 'Seeds of Hope' today. I quite like Kenix, but Patrick Tam is so so... I'm hoping it gets better, the first twenty minutes weren't much to write home about.

Ooh just remembered, I have some sales presentation clips to watch... how exciting!

Labels: frog, TVB

Woo the TVB anniversary is tomorrow - I am not as excited as some of my readers, but I guess I was a young excitable teenager once, so I don't blame them. I think their hype has been enhanced this year with my reports so it's partially my fault. I just hope that the reports will be manageable. I don't like to disappoint them, but it has been a long hard slog these past few weeks with hour upon hour of news reports to read, digest, collate and regurgitate in another language. I even disappeared for a couple of evenings - just logging on to do the news and not even bothering to sign into messenger. Sorry if anyone was looking for me!

Been thinking about some of my old friends today. It was kinda weird...
I was sitting on the bus this morning thinking about a letter that a friend had written me way back in September and feeling really guilty about not replying, especially as she said she had been made redundant. I'd been sifting through some old stuff recently and found a card she sent me when I was at uni. In it she wrote 'Forever Friends' and really meant it, but I've been so poor at keeping in touch, even when we moved to the same town. I really ought to catch up with her. Then this afternoon I got a call out of the blue from another old friend who I haven't seen in months to say she is moving back to the UK. She was so excited and it was quite contagious. She is one of these friends where we can't stop talking to each other once we get started and it is so nice that we can finally have a good chat without an 8 hour time difference and expensive international phone charges. Plus it gives me another excuse to go to London more often .... as if I needed one!

Then I get home and I get some emails, including one from a new friend and fellow blogger who has linked this blog, so I will link hers too: hayleyplanet (Hi Hayley!!)
I also can't believe how many new friends I have made through the internet and how friendly and supportive everyone is - gotta say thanks to everyone for your suggestions on where to go on my hols and the gals who have offered to show me around your hometowns! Really appreciate it and if you ever venture to the UK, you know where I am!!

All this makes me feel a bit better, knowing that friends don't need to see each other all the time or be close by to make a difference. It's comforting considering most of my friends are so far away. I really should make an effort to keep in touch with everyone and use up those free calls on my mobile phone!

Oh, my interview on Friday went pretty well. I don't think I have said so much in an interview before. I guess being really relaxed helped with my confidence and the interviewer being my current manager was another plus (even though I have only worked for him for a short time). I should find out how I did by the end of this week. Fingers crossed.

Finally ... booked my hols to Singapore and Malaysia for next March!
Now I can get down to planning what I will be doing there, in between getting in loads of overtime to earn the pennies to pay the credit card company back for my plane tickets. Any suggestions of places to see and things to do, then leave me a comment!

Soooo excited, but still another four months to wait!
*takes deep breaths*

I have another job interview tomorrow, but no pressure on this one. Will just go in and enjoy it as best as I can. I have had so many interviews in the last twelve months my immunity is at a high and I just go into autopilot. It's only with my existing boss and the boss who I will be under if I get the job and there isn't much at stake really (same grade, same dept...). That's the thing with frog jobs like this one, I have to keep re-applying for stuff all the time. The walls of the well are getting slippier all the time.......

Lots of fights on the tagboard recently... some people really have too much time on their hands. Couple that with another fight that is going on between a certain webmistress and her affiliates that I have kinda been watching it just makes me wonder if aggression is built into American culture so strongly that people can't even co-exist in a virtual world without coming to grief with each other. Or maybe it's just I am too laid back and absorbed in other things (like writing silly parodies for a spoof internet site) to really take too much of an interest. On a nicer note, I did get a lot of support from my readers the other day when I spent the evening booking my hols instead of doing the news and ended up upsetting some of the more addicted readers of the news. It was nice for at least some people to recognise that I am human after all and although it may not seem that way sometimes, I do actually have a life outside of the four walls of this screen.

teeveebee is taking off with some good reviews so far. Really letting my imagination run riot here... hee hee hee

Back to the apple juice again, but have run out for this week - found this on a random surfing expedition: Tesco Apple Juice FIVE STARS

Really must tear myself away from the PC now and finish watching AR4... or maybe getting some sleep would be a good idea as well.

2am blogging again - this time my excuse is that it's my day off tomorrow, but my insomnia has been pretty bad of late. Even when I climbed into bed at some inane hour of the morning last night, my body clapped out but my brain seemed really active. Maybe I need to invest in some wave noises or something to help calm down my overactive grey matter. Either that or some sort of heavy weight or hammer to knock me out.

After a couple of months break from that blasted TVB tvcity site, I am embarking on yet another translation project. This time it's the Anniversary series "Triumph in the Skies". Having worked through the plot of 11 episodes so far, I am finding it to be very typical TVB plot lines with lots of misunderstandings 3 and 4 part affairs, secret identities blah blah blah, but I am looking forward to it because of my abstract obsession with flying, or more precisely airports (second after my passionate interest in TV production) and also due to my die-hard TVB addiction. Thank goodness my issue with no longer being able to watch TVB after the new year has been sorted out... I was wondering how I would cope! Haha...

Oh quick plug for yet another venture I have gotten myself into : teeveebee
After the little foray into satire below, we decided to dedicate a whole site to occasions when we feel a little inspired to write parodies and other 'alternative' TVB stuff - funny or otherwise, so Metal and I have set up the site and are currently looking for similarly humoured writers to come and join in.

After three weeks of drinking apple juice, Tesco's latest soft drink special offer is on Lucozade. I wonder if this is what's keeping me awake at night? Too much brain energy?

Not much to say tonight, as I spent most of the evening on a load of news and then worked with fellow TVB addict Metal on this little masterpiece! After many chats about what we envisage TVB doing next, we decided to gather our thoughts and we had some fun writing these, so will share them here!

"The ALTERNATIVE TVB Sales Presentation 2004"
(By MetalAZNWarrior & Em)

"Virtual Harmony"
"These are the voyages of the USS Dung Mat Yuen on an ongoing mission to seek out new worlds and new civilisations and to boldly go where no TVB sitcom has been before….."

Nancy plays the Captain Machee of the starship as it charts the galaxies, helped along by her crew: logical first mate Frankie, pilot Michael and ship’s counsellor Bondy. Kingdom plays the friendly alien in the galley. Bernice reprises her role as the alien princess.

"Witness To A Prosecution III"
Bobby is good for finding out deaths of people, but a strange case is happening.. everyone who had been thought to be dead and buried have rewakened from the death??!! Bobby meets Mariane & Jessica again.. a love rectangle - how will this be solved? Everyone from the dead is revived - who is behind this? Can Bobby figure out how the person is revived?

"Triumph In Space" - due to the success of TITS, TVB will now explore space with a batch of experienced & new astronaunts where they will learn to fly rockets and make love in space, have accidents on Mars, and get high on zero gravity.

"All but a Pretty Face" - stars all the Miss HK who are all subjected to a terrible nuclear accident and have to endure thirty episodes of “ugly make-up” until Roger Kwok comes along and helps them all out with a miracle cure in exchange for their promise never to make series until they have been to acting school.

"Where The Legend Begins II"
The flower is carried down by the river's current. Lok Sun is caught between two men in heaven and finds herself punished and reincarnated again - in modern times??!! She finds herself awakened as a rich girl but her family quickly go bankrupt. She meets with Cao Cao, Cao Zhi, and Cao Pi, father and son of HK's richest family. The three of them are soon entranced by her beauty and intelligence. A fight for one girl's heart divides the family.... brothers turn again each other. A beauty's life of suffering.. a tragic sequel not to be missed.

"Perish in the Space of Love"
The long awaited SEQUEL to the classical love story where the DNA of Cheung Ping and Sai Hin are unearthed and cloned to recreate the Ming Dynasty, but on Mars. They are soon invaded by the newly cloned Qing, but this time, they decide to drown themselves in the Sea of Tranquility.

"Armed Reaction 5”
Mong Kok police station is whipped up in an electric storm and our heroes Sam Yuen, Ying Chi and Siu San are transported back four thousand years to the time of the Shang dynasty where they find that Ching Fung existed thousands of years ago as a tyrant who arms them with swords and forces them to fight against each other, but dies of boredom as Chi and San split up for the millionth time.

"The Legendary Four Beauties"
Female version of the popular "Legendary Four Aces".
Stars Bernice Liu, Tavia Yeung, Myolie Wu, and Michelle Ye.

Bernice, Tavia, and Myolie are the best of friends. Bernice is the daughter of the town's official, who is beautiful and every guy's desire in the town. She is highly independent and wants to seek her own love. She doesn't want to be "held down" and wants to depend on herself, not a guy. Tavia is her maid. Bernice saved her when they were younger. Myolie is a rebellious daughter of a rich family who owns a restaurant. Her family wants her to be a "perfect" lady - but she likes martial arts and plots to run away... Michelle is an orphan who is very good at martial arts. Raised by bandits, she is very skilled and is cold hearted towards love. Yet one day she is saved by Ron Ng, a cool fighter who turns out to be the son of the man who killed her parents??!! Meanwhile Bernice finds herself to be married with the scholarly Raymond Lam??!! Myolie also finds herself engaged in a relationship she doesn't desire with Sammul Chan??!! Bernice and Myolie meet secretly. Bernice and Myolie meet secretly to run away from their "romances" disguised as boys with Tavia following. Three hearts united, they set off for Peking and meet Michelle. They start off with a cold start - but after a tragic event, become closer. By chance, Tavia meets Bosco Wong, a rich son of a family. The two share a special bond but their social classes differ, how will this be overcome?

Meanwhile best friends Raymond and Sammul have also come to Peking for their imperial tests! Everyone meets in the capital with drama, romance, and choas!! What will become of this 60 episode, grand production, anniversary drama?!!

“TVBK-1”
Starring: Jessica Hsuan, Maggie Cheung, Kenix Kwok, Charmaine Sheh and all the rest of the TVB female artistes

After the fights for the “My Favourite Female Role” awards of the previous year, a top TV station decides to scrap the singing and dancing events for its next anniversary celebration and holds a giant mud-wrestling contest as our show covers the training of the two camps, led by Jessica and Maggie and how they prepare for the big finale fight to the death. A fly-on-the-wall documentary series reveals how they choose their leotards and outfits to the bickering behind the scenes until the big day comes on November 19th when they prepare and see who will emerge as the victor.

“Old McRonald had a Farm”
For this year’s young summer show, Ronald Cheng heads a group of young singers-turned-actors on a series based on how they must set about renovating and making a living on a farm with real animals. What they don’t know is that the production crew have built a completely closed set and they are locked inside and left to fend for themselves. As the cameras are left rolling, how will Ronald, Twins, Cookies, Boyz , Edwin and Bobo survive as they have to muck in and actually do some work. And how will they survive without make-up, mobile phones and their personal assistants?

"Aqua Heroes II"
After many years of training, the swimmers of AH are now the best in the world, doing stunts that only computer graphics would normally be able to do. One day sisters Bobo & Leila are on a cruise ship with Edwin & Bosco. Their ship sinks??!! However, they dont die but are actually saved??!! They awaken in "Mermaid World" are given powers to transform into superheroes! Known as "Aqua Heroes" the four fight sharks and other monsters that wreck havoc to the declining mermaid race! After saving them, the mermaids become powerful.. but the four want to return to the land! They go back to HK one day and love the land again, but their heart still resides in water and their love for swimming... Caught between the sea and the land, what will happen??!!
With lots of singing and dancing and super powers, this series is surely not to be missed!!!

"A Step Into The Past II"
Even after a son and two wives, Louis is still not satisfied. He misses his old girlfriend in modern times. One night he goes to sleep, and rewakens in modern times??!! He goes exploring and realizes that he is in modern times!!! He meets again with modern Sonija... and discovers that the two still share a loving bond??!!
But, in Louis' heart he remembers Jessica and ancient Sonija. But how can he return to ancient times? After months in modern time, he is about to get married to modern Sonija. But on the wedding day he strangely disappears to ancient times??!!! Meeting once more with his wives and son, he feels at home, but longs for modern life??!! The next day, he finds himself in modern times.
Engaging in both modern and ancient politics and ongoings, Louis is caught between two worlds - something he can't control. But where does his heart belong?? And will he ever be able to remain in one place??!! This exciting 50 episodes sequel will have complicated relationships and love rectangles and lots of confusing drama! But the grand cast and production is surely one that everyone will enjoy!

"Better Halves II (Modern Version)"
Since every ancient series is turning modern now, BH will do the same! Wedding planners Steven, Maggie, Joyce, and Moses run a busy business helping all couples in the world have a good wedding. But each case is faced with some difficulty, but their mission is to make every couple happy and have a wonderful wedding day.
Caught with drama, love relationships, and thousands of weddings, BH 2 is just as good as the ancient version!

Bonfire night.... what a stupid occasion.
For some reason, bonfire night has always been a depressing affair in my life. I love watching fireworks, but for some reason, I have never really been able to go out and enjoy the displays. If it wasn't being left home alone or in the car as a child for one reason or another, it was getting ditched by friends and boyfriends at college. Just too many bad memories for what is supposed to be a fun night.

Then when I get married, I find that my hubby hates fireworks, so bang go my chances of him taking me out to a firework display (again, no pun intended) and I end up sitting at home again, just getting the odd glimpse of the taller ones over the rooftops through the window and getting annoyed with the constant bangs and screams of the bonfire parties happening in the neighbourhood. Whoopdedoo...

I think I'll cheer myself up by doing more research into my Malaysia and Singapore trip, add to the frenzy of excitement that I seem to be creating for myself..... yeah, seriously need a holiday!

Mmmmmm.......... fresh seafood!

Hmm... it's almost two in the morning. I have work tomorrow and by rights I should be really tired and sleepy, but my mind is wide awake. I'm wondering if the effects of the swim 'n' spa session were that good that it's tricked my body into believing I don't need to sleep tonight, or I am just a chronic insomniac. Perhaps if I try pulling out some of my old study material it might kick off the old selective sleeping syndrome again and send me to sleep. Then again maybe not as it seems so happy stuck back on the shelf away far far away from me!!

Oh, before I forget - my cousin Mike asked if I ever mentioned him in my blog. There just done it.... hahaha!

Hmm... just noticed that Ghosty over there resembles my body shape - he's a bit fat like me, maybe he should join me at the gym. (I do have legs as well by the way, otherwise I'd find walking around a bit difficult as I haven't mastered floating yet.) Thinking of stepping up the fitness regime and taking a trip down to the gym at the leisure centre. I miss the good old days at uni where I had to cycle everywhere. Even though it was bloody dangerous on rainy days (very common to British soil) and during rush hour (weaving through a traffic jam along with 200 other bikes at five to nine as everyone rushes to their first lecture was quite an experience), it kept me fairly fit. I only ever had two crashes in three years, pretty good going. Once was when I mounted a kerb on a rainy day, the tyre slipped and I dived over the handlebars saved from a fractured skull by my trusty cycle helmet. Seriously, you are daft to ride a bike without one! The other time was when I was trying and failed to avoid the gully by the side of the road outside college. Ended up sitting IN the gully with my bike wedged firmly between the sides. Daren't ride a bike in Manchester though, for a start the traffic is so horrendous I daren't even drive in it and anyway it'd probably get nicked with me still on it. Manchester is a lovely place to live... honest!

Talking of cycling in Manchester, there was a rather memorable incident once when I was younger and we had a rare occasion when my dad drove us over from Liverpool for a day out. As we were pulling into the city, my dad suddenly cried out very excitedly: "PSYCHOPATH!!!"
We all looked out of the window and called: "Where? Where?".
"There! On the side of the road!!" said my dad still sounding really shocked.
So we looked where he was pointing and lo and behold - there it was ... a brand new CYCLE PATH! (There weren't many of them in those days!)
We all looked at my dad who laughed and said: "See, told you there was a cycle path!"

OK it was funny at the time. Well, to my dad anyway....

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!

Labels: family