mom's first hike

Mom and brother came to HK on the 15th Jan 2010 to have a look at my apartment before I leave Hong Kong for Singapore in a couple of weeks. I can tell that they had a fantastic time because besides the normal things that you can do in Hong Kong such as shopping, eating and more shopping... I brought them to their first hike - the dragon's back hike in Shek'O.
At first I was a little worried because the moment we got there at the start of the hike, we were greeted by a very long, narrow and steep flight of stairs and my mom being 60 and has not done much exercise in her entire life, was panting and grasping for air. It was then I realised that it might not be such a great idea to bring her for a hike after all. We managed to rest a bit, while the rest of my mates carried on with the hike and we caught up with them afterwards. It was only after going through the bush trails, a couple of up slopes and more stairs that we came  to the peak of the climb and boy oh boy! What a spectacular view! We had such a fantastic view of the sea and Big Wave Bay and to top things up, the weather was excellent! It was chilly and windy, just perfect for hiking! It was as if we done a mini-great wall of China! Simply delightful! 
I felt like my mom was 40 again! She was tired but you can tell that she just wanted to enjoy the hike and somehow or rather I think she felt liberated too. Like she managed to achieve something after such a long time stuck in Singapore following a mundane routine. She felt accomplished and proud of herself. She didn't spell it out but it was certainly a feeling a daughter gets from her mom. 
I was bonding with her and my sweet brother who was just 24-7 sticking next to her making sure she is alright. Of course, the downside of things was that the next day she had both her calves suffering from muscle aches and I had to send her for a foot massage! Ha!
All in all they ate well, did quite a bit of shopping and wandered around HK and had a really good time. Bee was really happy too that he managed to spend some quality time with my family and get to know them a little better! 


The trip ended with the sweetest note my mom left me at my apartment and after reading it, I was bawling! 


This is what she said:
"Thank you Bee & Sweet Daughter. 
I left 2 pcs of tart for you both. Thank for this few days accompany us. Even my legs is pain, I feel good because I still can go hiking. My first hiking is my school day but now is senior day. Whenever I see high mountain I will got a memories there. See you take care, enough sleep and eat ok. 
Mamamiya"


*To keep the authenticity of this message, I refused to correct the grammar or structure of the sentence because my mom's english is not really good but she does make an effort and you do get what she is saying which is the most important point. 

Mommy in the MTR

mom and eric

I love these jumper shots! 

The scenic view from the top!! Worth the 2.5hrs walk!

Doesn't this looks like we are sky diving!?

New Year Resolution - 2010*

My New Year Resolutions. I have never kept new year resolutions growing up because I never seem to fulfill them, hence never appreciate the purpose of it, but in the recent years, new year resolutions have become a ritual, an annual must-do list, something that now seems close to my heart when it felt nothing a few years back. As I grow older, I have become a little more aware of the fact that I can make a list of things that I want for the year and make it happen. Meeting Bee has changed my perception of NYR and I discovered that everything in the world is actually possible because of him. So I thank him for that.

Before I start my list of NYR, I would like to quickly sneak in a few random things that I would like to share with ya'll. 

My first buy for 2010. Isn't it a beauty? Me heart this a million times!

Got these cool magic markers with a cup for Kris Kringle 2009. See what you can do with a cup and some ink? 

Love these colour magic pens that you can use on your tea cup. Throw it in the oven and viola!  You have a personalized tea cup and it's water-proof!

Home-made HUMBURGER & Korean Bul-gogi 

Some of my dinner recipes: Home-made burger with hand cut chips and Korean Bul-gogi with Onsen Tamgago Rice Bowl

Alright now back to serious business. NYR 2010. What do I want to do this year? Hmmm... 

Me and Bee normally break it down into categories. So let's follow the tradition and start off with:

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS 2010

Health 2010

* I really want to do Pilates. I am currently into Power Plates in HK but once I move to Singapore I should look for a Pilates Studio. 

* Dance class. I might want to look into Bollywood dancing class. Hey don't laugh. I am in love with the Bollywood dance and classical indian dance. If I have the time, I will take up Bollywood dance class! 

Travel 2010

*Am going to South Africa next month so at least one of my "Places To Visit Before You Die" has been fulfilled this year. Can't WAIT! 

*Melbourne in March attending Bee's first IFF 2010. This is something I am so looking forward to. Cant wait to catch up with all my friends and re-live my lovely days in Melb.

*Move to Singapore in March. 

*Hopefully I can do Bali when I move to SG. 

*Italy. I know I'm pushing it but hey, there is nothing wrong with aiming far and high isn't it? 

Education 2010

*When I move to SG, I will go further pursue my guitar lessons. Hopefully by end of 2010, I can play more than a birthday tune. 

* Further on, I hope to join a band to jam and play some music during my free time. 

* Vocal Jazz. This is must. When I get back I will go re-unite with the team from Jazz at Southbridge to polish up my Jazz singing..Wooopppieeee. 

* If I still have time, love to re-take my bike license and be able to ride a bike by end 2010. 

Work 2010

* I will be still doing what I am best at doing, producing and will hopefully be producing more award-winning commercials and less boring and mundane work. 

Charity 2010

*Will probably continue my sponsorship program with WorldVision and hopefully I can organize with Bee on my birthday another Charity birthday event that I can collect some money to either help with building a school somewhere or save some lives. 

*If there is an opportunity, would love to go with Bee to help out in a children's home in Cape Town when we are visiting. 

Materials 2010

* I want a car when i go home. I miss driving and it will be excellent if I can get myself my first car. 

* Hopefully after buying a car, I can still buy a beautiful Alexa Chung Mulberry bag and perhaps my dream watch, the Cartier Santos X-Large Men's. 

Personal 2010

* Since I will be moving back to SG, I will try to spend more time with family.

* And always on the look out for business opportunities! 

That's all for now. Stay tuned. 

xoxo

2010 - Space Year

When 2009 left and came 2010, it felt like I had entered a sci-fi era, that I will step out of my house and I will see an exact scene of Star Wars or Fifth Element where traffic is suspended in mid-air and
tubes running through buildings, greeted by robots and me in my ultra chic Star War's outfit.
Oh well, unfortunately or rather fortunately everything is still the same except I had an absolutely crazy New Year's Eve Celebration.
The evening started with me getting ready and rushing out with B to meet a group of mates at a Teppanyaki place called "Tekan" in Wanchai. We decided that we had enough of over-priced buffets at such time of the year and we opted for Japanese Teppan.
The food was really yummy and of course Japanese food never goes without Sake. I love Sake. It taste like yummy water and makes you happy without a heavy price to pay the next day aka hangover.
After we had god knows how many bottles of Sake, we stumbled our way to Habitat to join Adrian and his mates for his birthday celebration as an annual ritual and NYE countdown. Thank goodness we made it 5 mins before the New Year!

Of course, the night went on with heaps of drinking and photos taking and it came to a point we were just having a great time groovin', acting spastic and more drinkin'. It was 3am morning when someone decided that we should move on to the next club and the bunch of us all headed down to Mint to meet our mates and viola! Mint decided that because it's 3am in the morning and it's NYD, entrance fee for each pax should be 400HKD!?! So we gave it a pass and headed back to my place bringing a lot more people over ( at one point I think we had like 15 people in the house?) and continued drinking and dancing! I made a video of our celebration and I will probably try to do a mood board instead of trying to load it up as it's pretty heavy and I don't intend to jam up my blog.
I think we all ended partayin' till 6am in the morning before I managed to roll into bed at 7.
What a fun and awesome night! Thanks to all the lovely people that I'd spent my NYE with in HK, it wouldn't be fun without you crazy bunch!
Now 2010 is the space year, the year of the TIGER, the year that I am relocating back to Singapore and the year that I will visit South Africa and Melbourne. In the next few months, my life is going to be crazy busy as well as extremely exciting. Starting off my mom and bro will be visiting me in HK next week and then I will travel to Bangkok for work for a couple of days.
After which, me and B will go to South Africa for a nice getaway for 5 - 6 days and followed by 12 days in Cape Town for a TV commercial filming ( i'm really excited about this as going to South Africa has ALWAYS been one of the things in my must-do list). Once i'm back in Hong Kong, I will rest for a week and then I am heading to Melbourne! Very excited about this as well because B's company is hosting an Indian Film Festival in Melbourne ( Go visit: "Bollywood and Beyond" http://www.iff2010.com ) in March and both of us will be there to attend the event as well as to catch up with families and some very good old friends...
After perhaps a week in Melbourne, I will fly straight to Singapore and that's that.
HELLO Singapore, GOODBYE Hong Kong. God, am I going to miss Hong Kong or what? It's truly one of my favorite city besides of course New York.
I am very excited about 2010 because there's so much happening. But hey perhaps my next blog should be a reflection of 2009 and the new list of achievements for 2010.

Peace to the middleeast ( b, it's not yours! Sorry inside joke)
Mx

Tekan - A really good Teppanyaki place in Wanchai

The crazy bunch in Habitat in Wanchai

Counting down!

Awww...such a romantic moment

Spontaneous NYD house party

Guys, the chicken dance is so 2009.