BLOODY HELL!!!!!

Remember this?

I had plans to quit by the end of June and go visit my parents in Canada for a month... remember?

Well, during dinner last Thursday I told my aunt DD and she felt very strongly against the idea. She said I should wait until my results come out, since I just sit at work and do nothing anyway.

Then I asked around, and everyone seems to agree with her. Bloody hell!

The thing is : they are quite right. And I actually focus better in the office than at home anyway so I guess sitting in the office is better for my revision.

So this is what I did first thing this morning :

Dear May,

I refer to my LN below.

Due to personal reasons I would like to cancel my leave from 16/May to 1/June and the afternoon of 11/June, ie. to retain 4/June to 11/June (am)  for a total of 5.5 days.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Thanks and regards,
Christine

Gosh! I hope I am doing the right thing!

I spent all weekend at home revising. The exams are drawing near! OMG! I am really scared!!

 came home on Friday with this :

He said, "Whatever fatty wants fatty gets."

He was referring to me of course, and not himself! Ha ha!

On Saturday 's cousin J came over for dinner and we went to Pane Vino. This restaurant was highly recommended by my friend GK. It is a stone throw away from home and we did not have the chance to go until Saturday.

I must say we were really disappointed. First of all the service was poor. The waitress took our order without writing anything down, then she returned after five minutes and asked  what he had ordered for starters. When the starters came, J's mushroom soup became minestrone.

 ordered speck ham with cheese and he said the speck ham was really salty. My baked aubergine with tomato and mozzarella was alright. J liked her mushroom soup.

For main J and I both had pasta which were quite delicious.  ordered a rack of lamb which was dry. All in all he had a really bad dinner.

Desserts were alright. I had profiteroles and J had pana cotta and we both enjoyed it. did not have any.

I have heard comments that the food was really expensive. But I thought it was ok. There were 3 of us and we all had starters and main, J and I had desserts too, and we also opened a bottle of red. The total came to HK$1600. Not bad!

 went to the boat yesterday. He got home at 7pm and began cooking. OMG our roast chicken was not ready until 10pm!! It was a long wait but it was totally worth it!

My friend recently got dumped by her on-again-off-again boyfriend. She is devastated but I am happy for her.

He is 27y-o and never had a job until 2 weeks ago. He entered university in 1998 and still has not attained a degree. He lived off my friend for over 2 years. He refused to hold her hand or show any affection towards her in public until February when he was caught in her bed by her mum and had to make the relationship official.

From time to time he would go missing for a month or two. It happened when he got his eyes on some other girls. And when he ran out of cash, the girls fled, and he would return to my friend/ sanctuary/ ATM. She always welcomed him back with open arms regardless of how much he had hurt her.

This guy was totally using her. Everyone knew it, herself included, but she chose to live in a lie. Everyone advised against it but she just stuck with him anyway.

I am relieved that he has finally moved on to another 'victim'. I had a chat with my friend yesterday and she was hoping that he would come back for her. She even wanted to marry him, with her being the breadwinner. OMG.

I hope this time it is reall over for them!

I created a group on Facebook, as suggested by former classmates, called UCL Information Management Class of 2001. So far we have 11 members and I am sure we will be hearing from more.

I noticed that several of my old friends are now parents, some even have 2 children! OMG! Perhaps I would be a parent too had I stayed in London? Ha ha ha!!! In comparison, only 1 (that I know of) of my former classmates from primary school in Hong Kong has an offspring. Hmm...

It is amazing how these websites can help me "see" my friends again. I found soooooo many old friends on Friendster, including this guy I once went out with when we were 14!  It is great to see him grow into a handsome man, wayyyy better looking than the one I have at home! Ha ha ha!!! 

Thanks to Facebook this morning I finally saw the face of my loooooooong lost friend Sheena - the first time in 17 years!! We managed to find each other on ICQ  back in the late 90s but no one uses ICQ anymore and we lost touch. I am so glad I have found her again!! I am hoping maybe one day we can meet again!!

* * * * * E D I T * * * * *

OMG!!!!!

I have found another loooong lost friend Carly!!!

Facebook is amazing!!!!!

Now the picture from my 9th birthday in 1988 is complete :

From left : Sheena (last seen in 1990), Maria (still in touch) (standing = Maria's sister Miriam), Me, Carly (last spoken to in 1996)

I also mentioned this here.

I hope the sky will remain bright and warm throughout the weekend for my friend R's wedding tomorrow, and wakeboarding on Sunday!

Saw TVB news crew waiting to do a live broadcast on the news regarding the collapsed stalls down Li Yuen Street. The crossing was shut off but the sides of the road weren't. What was the point really?

Several construction workers helped out with the traffic and the recontruction of the road. Hang on... Shouldn't the former be the police's job?

I was waiting for  to come pick me up from work and I saw two dodgy looking men with dodgy looking little trolleys which carried dodgy looking paper boxes. Two policemen approached them and asked for their IDs. I observed the passer-bys. Almost everyone who walked past would take a moment to stare at the two dodgy men and their things.

We had barbie on the boat afterall. 's dad sent out final confirmation at 4pm. We were so thrilled it actually happened! I was already looking up recipes for chicken & broccoli bake when 's secretary called! I was too happy about the whole thing and forgot to take any photos like I normally would! Ha ha!! Here are two I took while travelling down Tseung Kwan O Tunnel on the way home. I sat at the back because we had gave 's dad's assistant a lift to Admiralty.

I am proud of myself for taking the first step to freedom.

My friend T had her exit interview this morning. She told me that it is better to clear out my annual leave before quitting because bitches at the Human Resources Dept are not pleased because she is not doing so.

I returned to the office, and decided to max out my annual leave for revision + exams. When I come back in June I will be free to quit anytime.

I know I haven't handed in my resignation letter, but this has given me more courage to do it when my exams are done.

Happeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

I had quite a busy day yesterday, compared to my usual days of home --> work --> home. Yesterday was home --> work --> Prince Edward --> Kowloon Tong --> Home.

 popped over for lunch. He is fat and does not like crowds so we usually go to The Lounge at Four Seasons. Here is a little secret in case you didn't already know : On weekdays The Lounge is only 70% full throughout lunch hours and you are bound to find a free table (a rarity in Central)!! We both had Hainanese chicken rice. The portion is usually just right for me, if not too little. But yesterday I was given a lot of chicken and I thought I was going to explode!!

Lunch ended early at 1:30pm so I went to look around at Zara, intending to buy something since  said his business has been good! Ha ha! It is obviously less popular now that H&M is opened, although I believe they sell different things. The long queue outside the changing room is long gone. Anyway I got the big fitting room at the end on the right... Again! Hee hee!! I didn't buy anything though. I must have put on a lot of weight recently and I looked fat in everything I tried on! I looked pregant in all of them, but I am not really. I have asked  to sponsor 50% of my expenses on a trainer + gym membership fee once my exams are done. I need to lose 15kg - the weight I gained in the past 3 years!

After work I went all the way to Prince Edward to try on a "sister dress". The building is called "Gum Doe" and it has nothing but shops relevant to weddings!

"Sisters" at a Chinese wedding is like a lower grade bridesmaid. A "sister" has to do a lot of work for the bride, but she doesn't get to lead her up the isle, or have special treatments. So basically me and several others will be the bride's little slaves during the day of her wedding. It is ok so long as I can find someone to marry me and when it happens I can make my friends my little slaves too ha ha!! How evil!!

My friend R the bride got her wedding gown and her bridesmaids dresses from a nicer shop, and she rented the "sister dresses" from a cheaper one. These gowns look ridiculous, and I assume are the best the shop can do since they are placed at the shop window. You can only imagine how lurrrrvly the ones I am wearing this Saturday! Can you see me with my camphone? Hee hee!

After dress-fitting we went to R's house for dinner and a meeting to decide what games to play on the groom and his "brothers" (yes, the groom is getting his own gang of little slaves too). We were given a detailed hour-to-hour plan for the day. It was already 11pm when I was allowed to leave R's place, and I finally got home at 11:30pm and was absolutely knackered!!

Friday

Dinner at Nadaman. We had sukiyaki and it was SOOOOOO good!! The beef was really tender it melted in my mouth! And also present were lots of onions!!! It was as heavenly as I had anticipated!!!

 wanted to have rice casserole. The waitress recommended one with sakura shrimps. Apparently these shrimps are only available in Spring. They look like Cantonese dried shrimps, except that they were alive when put into the casserole. Very cruel, I know, but also very delicious!

My old trainers which  got me in 2000 :

And new ones which  got me last Friday. I just realised that they are a little small. I hope the shop will allow exchanges. *fingers crossed*

Saturday

Stayed home all day until dinner. Remember this party last December? Well this time it was another party for the same bride. We are doing it again because despite being legally married last December, my friend R has not had her big reception/ banquet/ party yet. That will held be this coming Saturday. Anyway since it was her last weekend as a "proper" wife, her cousin J decided to host another party for her. It began with dinner at La Bouteille, a small restaurant on the top floor (or was it the roof) of an old building in Central. The food was really comci comca. I had really chewy duck breasts for maincourse, and there were only 3 pieces of them! How stingy! Service was slow and poor. There were 10 of us and the waitress brought out 5 bowls of soup and only remembered about the rest 10 minutes later. So I guess it is a no-no for me to visit again.

The other girls went clubbing after dinner. I went to meet with  and his dad on the boat. Taxi from Central to Sai Kung Pier cost me a bloody $230!!

Sunday

The weather was really weird. We got up early for breakfast then went wakeboarding at around 9:30am. It was sunny briefly but the water was sooooo cold. When we returned to the pier and there came the sun. Ha ha!

's parents got a minister to bless the boat and the speedboat. He said a prayer from Psalm then did the cross thing with his hand and said, "Don't blame me if it sinks! Ha ha ha!!!"

My friend Winnie's boat parks right next to 's. I don't think they spend that much time there anymore as it is always stationary.

I have been training myself to sleep less.

I understand that this is totally unhealthy, but I want to see how far I can stretch. And most importantly : I need more time to study!

Since the Easter Holidays I have been going to bed at 3am and falling asleep between 3:30am to 4am. I get up for work at 8:30am, which means I have 4-5 hours sleep, which I think is good enough. At first I felt dizzy at work, but after 1.5 weeks I am feeling energetic like I had slept a good 8 hours.

I have to work hard this week because my revision will be interrupted by my friend's wedding next Saturday. You see, we are having a girls night out tomorrow night, then a bridesmaids dress-fitting and meeting after work on Monday, and the wedding will take up all my time next Saturday.

I got my nails done during lunch. I have been having French tips for sometime now. I am getting bored. But  starts complaining whenever I try something new (eg. bright red, black). Damn.

I got bored with revision last night and began watching a Japanese comedy called Mokodono (a.k.a. superstar son-in-law). The episode I saw showed the actors having sukiyaki and it looked absolutely heavenly!! Therefore I begged  to take me out for sukiyaki tonight! Hee hee! Table booked for 7:30pm. Can't wait!

Today marks the 102th month of our relationship. I am pretty sure only girls are mad enough to keep count of this! 

I used this Gucci coin purse for over a decade. I believe I was given it when I was at primary school, ie. late 80s o early 90s.

In recent months the lining of the coin purse have started to come off. Every time I take a coin out it came with some black plasticky skin-like material. Few weeks ago the situation got out of hand. A larger piece of plasticky skin got stuck on the zipper, and it failed to function thereafter. As you can see, the zipper is totally stuck in the middle of the track! Ha ha!

I replaced it with this zipped up card holder. But it is not so convenient since it is too flat and I cannot see all the coins inside. And it is hard to pull a coin out with my fat fingers, especially when I have just had a manicure or something.

 had a little surprise for me on Tuesday : a new coin purse! And it comes with key rings too! It is a perfect gift because I have been putting my keys in my wallet which poses a high risk of losing them!

Hee hee!

I'm sure a lot of people have now come across shocking video clips made by Cho, the Virginia Tech killer. He was clearly troubled, unhappy, and mentally-ill. Sigh. I can't imagine how hard life will be for his family from now on. Losing a son is hard enough. Losing a son and having your son's photo on the cover of every newspaper in the world as well as non-stop news coverage saying how evil he was is just unbearable.

Same goes to local serial killer suspect Tsui Po Ko who allegedly killed 3 people and seriously injured 1. Yesterday the papers showed a heart-wrenching picture of his mother crying and bowing at the reporters. Let's not for get she also lost a son who was a huge part of her life. 

Finally a reminder of what Bree @ Desperate Housewives said to her son Andrew? 'I would love you even if you were a murderer.'

I don't know anyone from Virginia Tech, nor did I know of the institution before yesterday. I am sure a lot of people around the world who are strangers to the people there are just as shocked as I am.  

Students are supposed to be protected by their schools. They are supposed to be in a highly secured environment. They are supposed to feel safe all the time, like falling asleep on the grass within the campus. Most uni students have no experience with the real world and are vulnerable when they are placed in a potentially life-threatening position. Anyway, at least that was what I thought when I was at school.

It is extremely easy to hate the killer, but much harder to forgive. We should look into the reasons behind his acts. People with mental illness are often not themselves. My anorexic cousin is verbally abusive to almost everyone in the family and we never blamed her because she is not being herself half the time. Moreover, the killer is dead himself and we cannot make him "more dead" than he already is right?

R.I.P. And my utmost respect to the noble ones who sacrificed themselves to save others.