Farewell 2007

Was starting a post about a Recap of 2007, but got too side-tracked and of course it'd be late now... so, that will be posted under a separate post later. :)

In the meantime, I wish you a safe and fun New Year celebration welcoming a fruitful 2008 for all. :)

Mx reporting from the USA

Regret

It has taken me a long time, but I have finally learned the word "regret" on this trip.

My friend YH said that maybe I just like having drama in my life and having self-pity from time to time. But, whether it's true or not true, I do sincerely feel, that there is much to regret about. I don't know whether making this small trip is the right thing to do, or just a way to feel more sorry about myself. Instead of celebrating a colourful past, I feel sorrow and sadness. Is it the rainy weather? the familiar streets? the people? the season? or everything combined which remind me so much of it.

Life is hard.

American style Christmas, American Life

Reporting on location from the US, so I use English ga la (actually, the problem is I can't find the Chinese input method here...)

Arrived yesterday after a 12-hour flight... after unloading my stuff at home, went nearby to an American diner, and had a true American-style waffle with 2 eggs and sausages... YUM! Sorry, didn't take a picture... but I guarantee you it was really good. Nothing beats warm butter and real maple syrup.

In order to get over jetlag, I tried my best not to sleep during the day... so I drove our family's old Camry that has over 110k miles on it. Still runs perfectly, and in good condition. Do you notice that we don't have any old cars in HK? Of course not counting those classic cars. But it's hard to find many "cheen chut" in HK. Mostly it's because of registration requirements and the inconvenience of having to go through the required smog checks every year after the car turns 7 years old.

Anyway, after breakfast I went to the local gym, the REAL 24-hour fitness. It's a Friday and it's still quite packed during lunch. Like the no-frills style gym, almost looks like it's housed in warehouse. My take is... a gym is a gym. As long as it has adequate equipment in good condition, that's all I need!

Another of my favourite living in the US, is going to the bookstore. Barnes and Noble and Borders are two of my favourites. I like Borders better, because B&N is just getting too big. But anyway, after gym I headed to B&N and browsed through the periodicals sections. Always a good way to spend spare time, looking through gossips magazines, Travel and Leisure, Fitness, Real Estate and stuff. I also like looking through Robb Report Christmas edition, where they showcase the most outrageous Christmas gifts... this year, a Ferrari F1, a 300-carat diamond, million-dollar yachts, etc. Good to dream from time to time.

Went to a movie afterwards... "Enchanted".

Had been looking forward to seeing this movie since seeing its trailer in late Summer, and also reading it on Donald's blog. What a fresh approach to Disney classics. And the characters are so lovable! The little girl Morgan (played by Rachel Covey) is just so adorable. And though I've never been a "Grey's Anatomy" fan, Patrick Dempsey also did quite well, and is very charming,and what's there not to like about his character? Prince Edward (James Marsden)'s character is quite hollow, maybe written to reflect reality in fairy tales? That nothing is ever perfect. Marsden sings quite well though. Amy Adams is just a pleasure to watch, and of course how could you not love a fallen Princess in Sin City?

It's always a favourite thing of mine to catch movies in the US, because they don't get released in HK until months after. I'll probably also do:
The Savages

Charlie Wilson's War

I'm Not There

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

27 Dresses

No Country for An Old Man


Hope I've got enough time :)

2007 bye bye!!!

December is half way over, and as I mentioned back in October, the last 2 months of the year always fly by so quickly.

This is not a "Recap of 2007" post yet, but since I'm just COMPLETELY bored now, I might as well write some random thoughts down.

1. I love old pictures. Last week I bought an old vintage photo (real one, not a reproduction) for a friend's birthday. It's a photo taken in 1950 from Bowrington Road towards Leighton Hill, where he and his wife live now. It's not of anybody's interest unless you are into that sort of stuff, and since the location is so obscure (Leighton Hill was a former Government Staff Quarters site), it has never been published in any of those "Old Hong Kong" books. But I thought it was such a rare find, and my friend liked it much (or so he claimed, haha). The photo of course is quite expensive, but hey, to see that it's money well-spent, THAT's priceless. If you're ever into these old photos, reprints or otherwise, check out Picture This at Prince's Building in Central. This is where I bought that photo. I also found another similar store, but at a lesser known location, at the junction of Old Bailey Street and Hollywood Road. They seem to have a big collection, but not as "packaged" as Picture This. The name of this store just escaped me, but when you stand at that junction, you'll see its entrance at the foot of the steep decline that is Old Bailey.

2. Preservation of King Yin Lei seems to be a hot topic lately. I am for sure all for preservation of these built heritage, because most of our beautiful architecture are gone forever. That is why I like looking at old photos... you'll be amazed of what kind of buildings that once stood in HK. But then, we don't have a comprehensive policy to balance property rights and the need to preserve these places. If you think about it, these property owners, most likely investors, are "penalized" for owning a piece of beautiful architecture. There needs to be a way to create a win-win-win situation for all.

I've included a few of these buildings, still standing or gone forever, for you to check out. :)

3. The end of 2007 signals an end to many things. I really hope 2008 would be as eventful as it has been in 2007. :)

This mansion is now redeveloped into one of the most expensive piece of real estate in the world. You can own one of the 4 houses now stand here for a hefty HK$400m+.

This property, referred to as Kingslere Hotel, stood on Kennedy Road at the turn of the 20th century. I have yet to identify it exact location, but I suspect it to be somewhere near the present-day Monmouth Terrace.

Funny how we have to bring the train back to Tsim Sha Tsui after the demolition of this beautiful train terminus in 1978.

What is this today? Filippino Central: World-Wide House.

And this? You might be surprised. This is HSBC in the 1920s.

The old "Lo Chun Ting" is not the object of my fascination, it's that white humongous apartment building in the bottom right that is interesting. It looks exactly like an apartment block taken from London. This is present-day Peak Galleria.

Still one of the most classical building ever stood in Central. Don't know when exactly it was demolished, but back in my primary school days, it had already become an indistinguishable Government structure with a public car park and post office. Present-day location: part of Cheung Kong Centre where the retail space and the pubic toilet are.

Not far from the above photo, the building on the front left is now the benchmark of Central office rents and sales: No. 9 Queen's Road Central.

The future of this? Who knows?

Planning for Cherry Blossom?

Whoaaaaaaaaa..... (Courtesy of the website quoted below)

A plan discussed long ago, and a trip I've always wanted to make.... Now we finally begin some intial discussions and initial planning.

But seems like seeing cherry blossom in Japan as a group requires some ingenius planning...

1. Only long holiday in March is Easter, which is the 2nd to last weekend of March in 2008.

2. According to A Beginner's Guide to Cherry Blossom Viewing, on average, cherry blossom comes at the end of March/beginning of April for Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto.



3. When you involve more than 4 people in the planning it'd get VERY messy when it comes to airlines, hotels, or even WHICH city to visit.

Oooooooooooh!

Of course, the actual time of the trees blossoming varies depending on the weather that year. For example, in 2007 and 2006, Tokyo had her cherry blossom on March 20 and 21, respectively. Osaka/Kyoto had about 4-6 days later. So, we still might be just a tad early... and what a disappointment it'd be if we are just too early by a few days!


But anyway, maybe we'll think of another good reason to visit Japan... what about the food, the shopping, the new developments, the hot springs, the ryokans, or just being silly with a bunch of good friends on the streets of Tokyo? All sounds good to me. ;)

Ahhhhhhhh~~~~!

When are you a quitter, and when are you a realist?

Funny...

I had some free time this weekend, and watched some TV at home.... (it's something I don't do much of anymore, but once in a while is fun)


There was America's Next Top Model, and then there was Project Runway. I am NOT the fashion kind, AT ALL, but it's still fun watching these so-called "reality" series.


In this week's episode of ANTM, this gal Ebony decided that she's had enough. Despite her cool looks, slender and tall build, and very bitchy attitude, she decided that modeling is NOT for her. That is after begging Tyra Banks (Exec Producer) to pick her in her audition tape, and doing quite well in previous photo shoots. When she volunteered to be "voted out", Tyra said she "the most unattractive thing in the world is a quitter" (Yes, I just checked it from YouTube to verify), and so Ebony goes.

Of course I'm not providing commentary on this, but it just got me thinking... when is quitting OK because you realize that it's just not gonna work however hard you try? Now of course you can say, for work situations, you just try for a little while longer and in the meantime, look for something better. Which I agree. But what if this is about relationships? You can't do that absolutely!

Can you rationally make a decision that no, it's not gonna work, and break it off? And we all say, oh of course, why waste each others' time? But if you think carefully, wouldn't you try your best to see if it could work because there's already so much invested? Especially when apparently both sides are still into each other?
.......................
The property market has been on a rapid upswing for the last couple of months. But as most other investment tools, stocks, bonds, funds, etc., those so-called "experts" always tell us, we should set a target when to sell and when to cut losses. Does it apply to relationships too? hmmm.... hmmmmm.... hmmm... P-r-o-b-a-b-l-y...

Funny how we resort to songs we love for guidance. Then I think, what do those lyricists know? What make their lyrics a bible to love? Doesn't it belittle relationships because it's just a whole bunch of sappy words that rhyme? That was a joke. :) but honestly, what make these classic love songs reference materials of how we should handle relationships? Isn't that the beauty of human interactions, because everyone is different, so every relationship is different? But it seems not! Because the same issues always seem to come up. Stories you hear from friends, ones that you experience yourself. It is true, it's those sappy love songs on "Repeat" mode.

Here's one of those songs: "At the Brink of Love and Pain" by Faye Wong <愛與痛的邊緣>



A song I was listening to when I worked 'till 4am last week: "Getting Off By Mistake" by Sammi Cheng <落錯車>(that's a funny translation, eh? haha)



One of the newer Sandy favourites of mine: "Poor Communication" <詞不達意>



What we should aim to become? Sandy's "Goodbye Sadness" <再見悲哀>


再見悲哀 - 林憶蓮
作曲：Eric Kwok
填詞：林夕
編曲：Eric Kwok/Ted Lo
監製：Eric Kwok

＊再見悲哀因我不再計較任何結果
　甚麼都可以坦蕩未在乎誰是錯
　我兩眼合上失去甚麼　是與非也掠過
　別固執到問一切為何

　再見傷感因我不易被淚流留住我
　甚麼的境界都愛自自然地渡過
　去到最尾就如與物忘我　回復身心最初
　面對心鏡內一片平和
　鳥聲瞬間閃過　(這麼最好不過)＊

除了心　只有心　可以解心鎖
煩惱多　因我要得多
微似砂　輕似煙　怎會有風波
有惆悵　跌入了恆河

情路太彎　過就過　當是個經過
感動的愛　當做一次砌磋
沿途上遇上甚麼　都欣賞過
投入時便快樂一起過

REPEAT＊

傻也好　痴也好　因你記得多
忘記的　比你記的多

懷念最好　我便會　繼續愛惜我
花瓣飄過　美在不顧結果
人存活在世就似沙粒飛過
誰又曾為了誰褒貶過

REPEAT＊

這麼最好不過　全是一種經過

Have you cast your vote today?

本來都沒有特別留意、亦沒有心去投票。
但始終：投票權是作爲公民的權利，我們應好好運用。
在現有的機制下，這是我們唯一可以參與的民主選舉。所以投那個候選人都好，最緊要是你沒有白費這個不是世上人人都可以擁有的基本權利。

我今早已經投票啦！