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Lee's Garden

2007-01-06T21:05:00.000+08:00

Krispy Kreme

2007-01-06T20:49:00.000+08:00

I couldn't bring myself to be on the same side of the street even. I was afraid that I might be sucked in and will never get back out. However, I quite like the front design though, a little bit of retro America in the middle of Causeway Bay.

Star Ferry

2007-01-01T14:20:00.000+08:00

There was once a KCR train terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, right next to where the Star Ferry pier is. People could just walk off the train and get on the ferry and go to Hong Kong island. The terminal was as grand as any train terminals gets. At least that was how I remember it. I remember standing in the middle of the terminal hall, looking up at the high ceiling.

It is of course gone a long while ago, but at least we have the good sense to retain the clock tower. I am not sure if the same can be said of the recently demolished Star Ferry terminal on the Hong Kong side. I miss hearing the distinctive hourly chime. I kick myself for not having the good sense to record it. I looked on the web but can't seem to find anyone else who did. The hourly chime is such a huge part of Hong Kong. I hope we kept the clock and the whole chiming mechanism. How I wish I can hear it again!

Here's an article in the ArchitectureWeek about the Star Ferry. It's also where I took this picture from.

Matrix turtles

2007-01-01T13:37:00.000+08:00

I walked through the park yesterday and noticed the turtles stacked themselves up and have their limb stretched out and frozen in "bullet time".

Terrific service

2006-10-30T18:38:00.000+08:00

This time around in Tokyo, I was met with absolutely terrific service. Not merely the "well trained, company sponsored" type, but the type that truly comes from the heart. To explain things a little bit, I have to start with the admission that even after traveling to Tokyo for a few times every quarter for more than a year, I still haven't yet figured out how to walk from the hotel to the office through the Tokyo station underground network. So this time around, I asked the lady at the reception as to whether they have a map of the underground. However, as I suspect, the underground passageways are probably so well known and so easy to navigate to the locals that a map is not even worth the paper it's printed on.

I thanked her anyway. I mean, it's late (2300) and it's really not that big of a deal. Anyway, when I got up the next morning, I found an envelope slipped under my door. Inside I found a neatly hand drawn map of how I can walk from the hotel to my office via the underground. It's perfect since it's a rainy morning. In the note that accompanied the map, the front office staff even offered to walk me over to my office.

When I got downstairs, I thanked her but turned down her offer to walk me over. Sure enough, I have no problems finding my way, and here's the little map.

Saturday morning

2006-09-24T16:13:00.000+08:00

Deep brown wooden tables and chairs.

Bright sunshine illuminates the grey sidewalks outside. Dark coffee shop, with four tables and a slow rock playing on the background. There's a cool breeze on this clear morning, autumn is definitely in the air. A double espresso sits together with my book on the table, listening to the steam hissing from the coffee machine behind me. Waving trees, baby giggles, a iPod nano plus a good pen, and yet the chatters of a jackhammer in the distance reminds me that I am still in Hong Kong.

Here's the other one ..

2006-08-30T00:25:00.000+08:00

Hi folks, I started another blog a little while ago. You might notice a difference in style but I'd say it's still in the making. Here it is : http://koncasj.zaadz.com/blog

I fully intend to keep both blogs going. At the end of the day, they are very different (Pisces have split personalities .. and I am the worst!)

Let me know if you like it!!! LEAVE COMMENTS!!!!!!!

Gate 32, Changi Airport

2006-08-27T22:24:00.000+08:00

"Please remain in the Lounge until boarding announcement is Mad."

These are the glass doors opening up to Gate 32 at Changi Airport (Singapore). In this supposely high security alert environment, the fact that no one notice it makes me nervous!

Singapore tit bits

2006-08-23T17:22:00.000+08:00

Has another ever tired "Peanut Pancake"? It's a crepe filled with a mix of peanut bits, sugar and other stuff. It tastes great but feels immensely unhealthy.

That's a typical Singaporean kopitian (咖啡店) breakfast : two soft-boil egg, a stack of kayah toast and a kopi-c. The eggs are soft-boiled, so please watch out as it might run. The toasts boast a thick slab of butter aside from the kayah (don't think about it, just eat, it tastes great) and the kopi is very thick with a wallop of condense milk on the bottom.

This is the Millenium Walk. I usually eat my dinners at the "Silkroad", a Beijing/Szechuan-ish noodles place, right inside.

Alain Yip

2006-08-19T21:44:00.000+08:00

I just saw an absolutely magnificent shot by Alain Yip : link. Check out the comments too .. he said this one can be shot with any digital camera, it's more of whether you are met with (and manage to catch) the moment or not.

As with most things in life, timing is everything huh?

Coffee @ Causeway Bay

2006-08-19T18:00:00.000+08:00

I was on my way up to Muji the other day, when I looked across the street and saw this new cafe called "Dream On" (you can find the address in this link). It made good use of the architectural features of an old Hong Kong style apartment building, took out the walls and turned it into an open cafe up in the air, in the midst of Causeway Bay. I haven't tried their coffee yet, but I love the creativity already.

Anyone knows anything about this cafe?

Tokyo in the daytime

2006-07-23T07:34:00.000+08:00

I always like Tokyo, but somehow this week, I really feel like I have been here a bit too often. I should go look for more places to go. I spent seven days here this time, hence I had the rare opportunity of spending a Saturday in Tokyo. It then occurred to me that in spite of how I felt, I rarely see Tokyo in the day time apart from the insides of my office.

Folks here has a great love for nature, especially fishes. This is an outdoor aquarium around Ginza, packed with mechanical fishes. Look at the crowd that it attracted!

This is the Apple store at Ginza. I am almost making it a point to visit the Apple Store in every city that I go to. The layout of the store of course, is pretty much identical to Apple Stores anywhere else in the world. The one exception is that they don't have a set of glass stairs in the middle that take you have to the 2nd floor where the live demos and "gurus" are. They have a glass elevator.

Here we are at the Tokyo International Forum. This is a cafe. It's nice how the glass extension is at the same level as the trees outside. Munching amongst the leaves!

Speaking of nature earlier .. this is a mechanical praying mantis in the Oazo. The little girl on the bottom left who doesn't look like she's paying attention bowed to the mechanical insert after it's done moving through its routine.

I visited the famous Akihabara as well. This is what it looks like coming off the train. I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed at the end. The stores are cramped and dingy, and the products aren't particularily exciting. One interesting thing is that a lot of these stores have the same layout. They are multistoried, with the ground level always selling mobile phones. They have escalators leading up, but they have nothing to help you back down, you have to walk the stairs. I look a short round and jumped back onto the train.

On one of the weeknights I had dinner at Sorasio(Stodome) with my colleagues. It's an Italian restaurant, with a terrific house sake "空汐". Cool huh? This place, being on the 47/F, has the most specular view of the Tokyo Bay. We had a private room with a long table in front of a big window, it's magnificent!!

Tokyo, Apple, Mac

Flying Desks

2006-07-17T22:19:00.000+08:00

Ever worked at a desk in the sky? That's what I am doing right now although THIS is really not work. I am working at a real desk, sitting at a real desk chair together with desk lights and a printer under my right elbow.

ANA's Business Class has two working desks on the upper desk. It comes equipped with a desk chair (you can't roll this around the aisle) with safety belts. For anyone who's familiar with Boeing's layout, they have these desks facing the right side of the plane right at the top of the upper desk staircase where other airlines usually put two washrooms. No one's fighting to use them at the moment at most of my fellow passengers are either sleeping or watching movies. I feel like the radio operator on a WW2 bomber. This is pretty cool stuff.

Alright, I gotta cut this short and get some REAL work done.

Glamours of Travel

2006-07-05T22:35:00.000+08:00

Hee, hee, hee, hee .. hee ehee heeeeee .. ha ha ha ha ha ...

Hm?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha .. hee hee eheeh ..

Okay, I gotta finished this staff evaluation. Concentrate. "Communications" .. what should I put down under her "Communications"?

Hee hee heee HEEEEE .. Ha ha ha ha .. *gasp* *cough* *cough* *cough*

(Who is that?)

Right .. "generally communicates well, but ..."

Haw haw haw haw haw .. ooohhh.. he he he

(...)

Hee hee hee hee .. *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* *gasp* ..

Cool, may be this is gonna stop soon ..

Errmm ... "develop relationships with other departments, and be able to ... "

Heeheh heehe heeehe heeheheheheheh hehe ...

May be not.

Geez .. it's the woman in front. I wonder which movie she's watching. Wow, everyone's staring.

Heehehe heheheh ehee ehhehe eheeheh hah ahah aha ahhee

Okay okay, I am going to get this done. Concen .. hey - what the -??!

The "lady" to my right has just taken off her shoes and commenced an intense session of toe rubbing. Not just the toes, it's the cracks, gotta get those cracks ..

Oh Geeeeeezzzzzz

Hahhehahahehh heah ahheea hhahh ehehhheh eheee

Little Flowers

2006-06-11T16:09:00.000+08:00

It's good to be back in New York. It wasn't too long ago since I was here and everything feels comfortably familar. The weather wasn't too good though, it rained quite heavily during the week. The first thing I did after landing was to pay a visit to the new Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. A huge glass cube sits on top of a spiral staircase in the middle of a square, leading down to a big subterranean store. The place was packed. There were people everywhere, standing around big tables trying out different pieces of Apple hardware. There were Apple staff all over the place, all engaged in conversations with prospects and customers. It's not easy to get back out of this place without buying something, but of course, that's the whole point of it. I walked up to an iMac , fired up Photo Booth and took a picture of myself and emailed it to myself. That's my "I was here" souvenir.

Oh guess what? As part of the leadership training that I was doing this week, we had to do a "volunteer activity". It was to plant little flowers in the tree "pits" along 68th Street ( 68th & 2nd). The flowers serve a few important functions : it's to look good, it's to look good so that people don't litter into the tree pits and it's to look good so that people are less likely to use it as a dog toilet. I haven't planted anything since the veggies I did when I was about 10 hence it was a very refreshing experience. Nothing makes you feel more "at home" on a street than planting a few flowers along its length. One lady walked by and said "No one ever said 'thankyou', so thank you for the flowers!". I thought, that's nice. Then another lady walked by and told us how it is important to stay away from the pigeons (what pigeons?). Turns out there were a couple of baby pigeons sitting on a ledge nearby. I wouldn't have even notice them had she not said anything!

New York City, Apple, Mac

Left & Right

2006-05-28T20:27:00.000+08:00

I didn't realize in Tokyo, you can have a car with the driver's seat on the left as well as one with the driver's seat on the right. Apparently there was a time when more "prestigious" cars have drivers on the left - BMWs, Mercedes and the like. That makes for more interesting situations at highway toll booths where drivers have to crawl over to the right to pay. Then again, this is Japan where they have contraptions for everything : a plastic stick "thingie" that lets you put your money in and out the window.

I was last here only a couple of months ago but it felt like a long time since. I was a bit more "adventurous" this time around. I found a '7 Eleven' behind my hotel, the Marunouchi Hotel . I can't believe I almost starved last time when I was hungry late at night and learned that the hotel's room service stops at 23:30. I had to order a beer and hope for complimentary nuts (there wasn't any, I was the only nut in the room). I saw the signage for "7 Bank". I guess if you have branches all over the place, it makes sense to incorporate a retail bank as well.

Has anyone tried buying lunch or dinner at this chain called "Soup Stock Tokyo"? They are usually situated at the underground level and linked to the subway network by passageways. They sell a "Curry & Soup" set for 1050 yen which is very very good. You get a really good soup, a very good Indian potato and spinach curry and a drink.

I went to " Bic Camera " at Yurakucho . Bic Camera is a big multistory shop chain that sells all sorts of electronics. It must be about 20:50 when I got there. They have signs everywhere declaring their operating hours as being from 10:00 to 21:00. I wondered if I should still go in or not but seeing so many people going up the escalators, I went with the surge as well. At about 21:00 a lot of store staff picked up little bull horns and started rapping off something in Japanese. Expecting it to the be the "get out of my store now" proclaimation, I turned around and was ready to head back down. However, no one around me was leaving, and people were still moving up the central escalators. I stayed! At 21:15 there was an announcement in English, I guess they have tourists with them all the time. "Our store hours are from 10:00am to 09:00pm, but "Take Your Time" .. ", I wonder what time people actually leaves that place. When I finally decided to head back to the hotel at 21:30, folks around me showed not the slightest intention of leaving. The store staff was working very hard still. Such great spirit!

If you decide to visit this store, don't forget that there's a huge Muji close by. They have the 2nd and the 3rd floor of a low level complex : Muji restaurant, clothes, stationary, furniture and household electronics!

Tokyo, Japan, Bic Camera, Marunouchi, Muji

Taxi ride, Hong Kong

2006-03-04T00:35:00.000+08:00

Kagurazaka, Tokyo

2006-03-02T16:24:00.000+08:00

She

2006-01-17T00:41:00.000+08:00

I pushed open the door quietly. The morning light was soft. The air was cool. There's a certain tranquility in the air, like a clear glass of water.

Our eyes met. She smiled softly, and said "Ba ba".

I said "hey, good morning", a big smile spreaded on her face. She is the loudest and the most active baby I have ever met, but at that moment, she's also the absolute prettiest girl I have ever met in my life. I have never seen, never have imagined, an object of purer beauty than her. She's almost elemental, God's perfect little angel.

What's her life going to be like? What is she going to do? Who is she going to meet? So many people will be so blessed to have met her, and I am truly blessed to be one of the first.

"Hey, how are you?"

Birds

2006-01-08T18:16:00.000+08:00

If you work in Central (Hong Kong) I am sure you have walked through Hong Kong Park. If you have a few friends who have gotten married lately, chances are they registered at the Red Cotton Drive Marriage Registry, which is right inside Hong Kong Park.

How many of you are aware of a rather nicely administered Avian Garden inside its premises? For something that's free to all, it's very nicely run. Satellite image (The grey net structure in the middle of the photo is it.)

It's towards the upper part of Hong Kong Park. You have a take a bit of a walk to get there. Once passed through the double green chain curtains, you walk right into the middle of a giant cage. At first, you might not be able to see any birds at all, apart from the ones in flight. Pretty soon you will notice scores of them perched up on branches. They are really pretty.

Diners

2005-11-20T01:55:00.000+08:00

It was a cold morning!! I walked out of the hotel at about 0900. It was about 0 C outside. It was sunny and crisp though, a perfect morning as far as I am concerned. I walked a few blocks looking for a good hot breakfast. I eventually wandered through a side street and found myself in an old style, all American diners.

I'd say diners are a unique American feature. I sat myself down at the counter and said "How ya doin'?" to the lady behind. The seat's red vinyl, the countertop's metal and the counter itself covered with bright yellow bathroom tiles. There are big metal plates standing on little pedestals placed at regular intervals all the way down the long countertop. Various sorts of pies and pastries sit quietly inside, protected by big acrylic plate covers. I ordered "two eggs, sunnyside up with sausages, white toast and a double expresso". The counter lady, satisfied, walked away. There were a few guys sitting to my left, munching on huge plates of french toasts and pancakes. I almost forgot how big the portions are in this country! They might as well be sitting alone, absorbed in their own little worlds, munching away. There was a couple on my right, the lady seemed to be enjoying her breakfast, but the man was on his cellphone nonstop. He was talking to his lawyer, and then he left a long message with his accountant. There was a cashier sitting close to the front, reading her magazine.

Back on my left and further off, there was a big long slit that runs along the wall. You can see the steamy kitchen through it. The cooks were passing dishes out and there was a constant chatter going on between them and the waiters. Hmm, someone yelled "Alla, Alla" .. and Alla appeared, apparently the food delivery man needed to talk to him. A big plate of food appeared at eye level, squarely in front of me. The counter lady poured me a big glass of ice water with big icecubes in it. Everything in this country is BIG, counter ladies included.

You know, big hot breakfast always tastes absolutely fantastic when it's freezing outside. Too bad the expresso was not hot enough. "Yaw all right honey? More coffee?" I thanked the lady and that was her cue to drop me my bill : $11.10, in big fat looping handwriting. "Can you call me back on this? I need more information about the status of our account receivable," the man on my right continued his marathon phone sessions. I concentrated on my food, munching away like the other chaps down the counter.

One cold Saturday morning in New York City.

Saturday in NYC

2005-11-13T06:10:00.000+08:00

Saturday in New York city! The temperative was about 5C, the skies were clear, the sun brilliant and the air was crisp. I decided to take a long walk today, from the 55th Street, all the way down Broadway to Church Street, where the World Trade Center site is (map).

I stopped at the Rockefeller Center. I walked through the already crowded Times Square. I ran into a protest at the Union Square. I went past Little Korea and I walked straight into Soho, and visited the Apple Store in New York. I have to say, just walking down Broadway takes you through a lot of very different neighbourhoods. Highly recommended when the weather is nice and if you don't mind long walks.

I finally made a right turn to the west from Broadway, and hit the World Trade Center site. The vastness of the site is absolutely stunning. You can just imagine the extent of the destruction. Around me, visitors were quiet, all taking in the immense sadness of it all.

I wanted to avoid the crowds on Broadway on my way up north. So I walked up Park Avenue instead. It's just one block over but you could immediately appreciate the tremendous difference in personalities between the two streets. The route took me through the Grand Central Station, the halls of which richly echos the romantism associated with train travel of yesteryears.

By the time I got back to my hotel, it was five hours since I started off this morning. I walked up to a street vendor and bought one of these famous hotdogs for US$2. GOSH .. it's hot, it's tasty .. it's soooooooooo good. PHEW!

Photos

New York City

2005-11-07T08:19:00.000+08:00

I am in New York!! I have been away for 5 years, and I am back. I am back and it feels just as good as before. I got off at Newark, which is very new and very modern from the last time I saw it. I definitely recommend Newark over JFK if you are going to New York City.

I flew over on a British Airway flight from London. BA's business class (Club World) has a very thoughtful and competitive setup. I find their process clean and well thought over, and their staff friendly and confident. The actual seating on their planes take a rather unique twist. You and the chap who sit next to you sit facing opposite directions! Take a look at the photo. With the screens up, which is the default configuration, each passenger actually gets more space and a lot more privacy. However, if you are flying with a colleague, you can interact with him/her a lot better by moving the screen down because you will be facing each other. I love all the creativity that went in and it is every evident.

Hmm, the process at the post 911 US customs is not as cumbersome as I thought. They want your left index fingerprint and then your right index fingerprint. Now I am one of those minorities in the population who has very faint fingerprints. So that took a while. They also used a Logictech webcam to take my picture as well. The whole process wasn't too tough though.

Going to New York feels so much like going home. I started having a really heavy argument with the limo driver about whether 911 was a US government conspiracy. He even showed me this Spanish book he bought in Ecuador that he is reading. He might or might not be right, but he definitely has a strong opinion. I got thing settled real fast at the hotel and went back down to join the crowds. HOT DOG stand!! I haven't seen those for a long time. Steam from underground vents coming off the streets, that's definitely a NYC feature. Dunkin' Donuts with its rows and rows of sweets, and the new Vanilla Ginger coffee. I sat down at what is possibly the world's slowest McDonalds outside of Italy. At least my burger as okay. A person on the street asked me for money and started swearing at my back 'cause I ignored him completely!! Ah, that DEFINITELY feels like New York, that warm homey feeling. I ran into Borders and bought 6 magazines withing batting an eyelash, whichever way you do the math, it's gotta be a lot more expensive buying them in Hong Kong.

I ordered CHINESE FOOD DELIVERY!!!! I got spring rolls, fried rice and hot & sour soup - standard US Chinese food setup. I even got a fortune cookie!! I am SO happy. :)

New York City photos

National Gallery

2005-11-06T01:15:00.000+08:00

I work up to an absolutely spendid day this morning. I went to the National Gallery for a stroll as a friend suggested. Allow me to share some of my favorite paintings!

Autumn

2005-11-02T06:59:00.000+08:00

It was a beautiful day. The air was icy like a fresh mountain lake. I was out buying a sandwich, trying to get some food before my noontime conference call with New York. I looked up and saw the autumn leaves, sparkling in the gentle sunshine, dancing in the breeze. They were orange and golden yellow, fringed with the prettiest green. The sky behind it was a clear glassy blue. I looked, time stopped and the world was one.

God's glory, on a busy Tuesday.

Scotland

2005-10-11T04:40:00.000+08:00

This is where I found myself not long after I got off the plane at Edinburgh. This was very early in the morning, and I figured I should go to Rossyln Chapel first. The Rossyln Chapel is about 30 minutes by bus to the south of Edinburgh, in a small town called Roslin. The regular bus that goes straight into Roslin doesn't run on weekends. So I took another bus which dropped me off at the closest possible stop and walked about 25 mins to the southeast. It was grey and it was chilly. The air was clear and fresh and the road was empty. The walk led through fields and over some rolling hills. I've never thought that I would be here, strolling through the fields in Scotland. Funny how life goes, as I always say. Look at this picture, it was so desolate that I could almost imagine an alien spacecraft appear over the horizon.

The skies broke open into brilliant sunshine when I came back out of the chapel.

The Edinburgh Castle rests on a huge volcanic rock. Look at the view it commands through one of its gun ports. The Castle Rock gave Edinburgh its name and is long been the most defensible location between England and central Scotland. For a while, even the Romans were frustrated in their failed attempts to drive by this rock. They decided that to push through this fortified rock was just not worth the hassle and so they built the Hadrian Wall to wall off Scotland instead (it's now still standing near the border of England and Scotland). The castle itself though is certainly worth the walk up the rock.

For the rest of the day I walked through the elegant architectures of New Town. I walked by the home of Robert Louis Stevenson( ("Treasure Island") and the birthplace of Alexander Graham Bell. It was closing into the evening and the cobblestone streets were all the more charming. You know, there are indeed a lot of folks walking around in kilts. They are usually young men, with a t-shirt or a rugby shirt and their hiking boots on. I also found that I couldn't understand what people are saying on the street. It's actually Scots and it certainly doesn't sound anything like English at all. It's almost easy to forget that you are in the UK.

When I got up the next morning it was the Old Town I was after. The streets leading from and around the Edinburgh Castle is considered the Old Town. It was about 0830 on a Sunday morning, so the streets were cold and deserted, which made it an absolute delight for me to poke around. The streets and alleys (called "wynd") are a lot narrower. They have a lot of little alley ways (called "close") that leads into inner courtyards or to the back of buildings. One of the things that struck me about Scotland is its strong military tradition, most likely to have sprung from its long struggle for independence from England (remember Willam "Braveheart" Wallace). The other is how much Edinburgh values its poets and writers. I saw as many statues of poets as statues of soldiers.

'For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life itself.'
- The Declaration of Arbroath (1320)

Pictures

Da Vinci code (Scotland)

2005-10-09T01:29:00.000+08:00

If you have read the 'Da Vinci Code', you will remember that the final hiding place of the Holy Grail is the Rossyln Chapel in Scotland. I was there today.

I couldn't find the big Star of David on the floor.

Rosslyn Chapel is in a little town called Roslin to the south of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The usual bus that goes to Roslin apparently doesn't run on weekends. I ended up taking a different bus, found out where to get off, and hiked southeast for 20 mins on a road through fields and some rolling hills. I have food and water with me so I was okay. I thought it's kinda strange to find myself hiking through the fields of Scotland.

The Rossyln Chapel is nevertheless a very intriguing building. It's packed with (pagan) symbols that are not seen in other churches that I have been to. It was built before Columbus discovered America but yet amongst all the symbology it has sculptures of maize and cactus as well. It is therefore rumoured that Henry St. Clair, the builder, went to America before Columbus did. It was a very interested visit, I will load the pictures soon.

I then went to Castle Rock, or Dun Eidyn in Gaelic. Gaelic is language that is spoken in Scotland. Dun Eidyn is a big huge rock, much like the one in Gibraltar. Since ancient times it has been a key place for defending central Scotland. The English subsequently captured Dun Eidyn ('Dun' means 'castle' and 'Eidyn' means 'hill' or 'rock'), took the word Eidyn and tacked it onto the English word 'burh' also meaning 'castle' or 'fort', hence the name Edinburgh or Castle Rock.

It was a bit of a hike up the big old rock. I meant to take the bus as I'd bought a daypass, but when I asked the man at the bus station as to which bus to take, he said 'You lazy bum! The Castle is just right there!!! You can just walk up!!!!' Not to let Chinese people down, I did the hike up the big ~~~~~ing rock after the Roslin hike in the morning .. well it's good for me anyways. The Castle was well worth the hike, I will load the pictures when I get back to London.

I am in an internet cafe in Edinburgh (Scotland) right now.

More later.

I got shiny shoes

2005-10-07T04:50:00.000+08:00

I was working merrily away at my desk when right at midmorning a kindy voice asked "Shoeshine?"

I looked up. There was this short little wrinkled old chap with a big wooden shoeshine box and a plastic bag. "Shoeshine?" he asked. This gentleman is from Cyprus, I am told. He lost his job a few years ago and is henceforth running his own business doing shoeshining. He has even gotten himself our company's vendor ID. Now I am ashamed to admit that I have hardly ever shined my shoes. I said "Yes". He set his big box down, sat on one end of it and motioned for me to put my foot on the other end.

"Your shoes look like they should be for playing soccer."

I guess they are too casual? Or are they too beaten up looking?

He took out a tube of cream and carefully rubbed it into my shoe with his hands. That's supposed to soften up the leather, I am told. Then he started putting on the polish and all. The whole service lasted about the length of a phone call (I was workiing straight through and was it longer than I expected.

"I could have taken just a couple minutes. You can do that if you work at the station, but I come here on a regular basis. You are my regular customers." He explained. "If I don't take the extra care to do a good job, I lose my regular customers. So I take the extra time."

"See, they look BETTER than new!"

I have to agree. He asked if I have other shoes. If I do, I should bring them in next week so that he can shine them as well. What a great salesperson with a terrific understanding of customer service! He should be working for us!

The Baby went off for the ride ...

2005-10-03T02:02:00.000+08:00

This is Brighton beach! Brighton is a seaside resort town due south of London. There are regular trains going from London's Victoria Train Station to Brighton everyday and it general takes one hour and forty five minutes. I took the morning train there and took hours wandering up and down it's long beach. The unfortunate fact is that this beach is one of round pebbles and not soft white sand. However it's comfortable to sit on and in a lot of ways better than soft white sand as it doesn't go into your shoes and socks. I sat there infront of the sea for hours and ate the two ham and cheese sandwiches that I packed for this trip like a school boy. It was really quite liberating.

There's an amusement park built on a long pier. This reminds me a lot of some old fashioned amusement parks that I have been to, in Maine. In fact, this whole town reminds me of little American towns. Everything is so nice and relaxed. Clean air, blue skies and stretches of old wooden planks.

Pictures : Page 1(Start from the bottom half), Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Yeoman Warder & the Apple Store

2005-10-02T04:52:00.000+08:00

This is a Yeoman Warder (aka Beefeater). His job is to guard the Royal British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, one of the most famous fortified buildings in the world. I can't take pictures in there but it holds a library of crowns, state swords and scepters covered with jewels from around the world. We are talking 300+ carats (THREE hundred plus .. THREE HUNDRED) left, right and center. Oh, this is also the place where they held and executed scores of lords, queens and monaches through hundreds of years.

This is the Borough Market, an open air market south of the London Bridge. It's seriously crowded!! People were talking, bartering, selling and sampling honey, cheese, cakes, breads and chocolates. It would have been good to eat there but I just can't stand crowds. Friends know this about me, can't help it, but this is a great place if you go to London.

Bill reminded me of the Apple Store in London. (Thanks AGAIN Bill!) I decided that should be my next destination. See the interior! It's a huge place with Apple goodies all around. There were LOTS of customers sitting around discussing Apple products and inquiring about Apple products. There were scores of others around various benches trying out new products,. There was a big seminar going on as well, they were teaching how customers can make music on the Mac. I wonder how one can create a customer (fan) base like Apple's!

Since it was so clear and sunny today, I went to Covent Garden as well. This is a sign I bought there. I thought it will look good at my desk (flogging). :)

Pictures Page 1, start with the two pictures on the bottom right. Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Central London

2005-09-25T22:36:00.000+08:00

Sunday morning! I had six pieces of toast with my English Breakfast tea for breakfast. I then packed my gear and walked over the London bridge to the Fitness Exchange branch nearby that opens on Sundays. It's a pretty big one, it has a swimming pool and separate gyms for weights and for cardiovascular training. There were quite a number of people there for a Sunday morning, working hard. I walked slowly to the east along the Thames afterwards. Folks were already taking their Sunday morning strolls at that time. Restaurants were open for business as well, but everything is SO expensive in this town. I have never really went to a restaurant here yet!

I stopped at the Tate Modern museum and ended up being there for a couple of hours, looking at art that I don't quite completely understand. I figured I need some help with all this and so I walked over to this "Portable Audio Guide" centre. They have these long devices that looks like B&O phones which you can carry around. If you punch in the number that is posted under each exhibit, you will hear a narrative that explains what it is exactly that you are looking at. That proved to be a lot of fun.

I took a walk across the Millennium Bridge towards St Paul's Cathedral afterwards. That is got to be the most unique bridge I have ever walked across! I then ran into this very artsy and modern green glass building with bible verses emblazoned all around. This is the new Salvation Army Headquarters (click on "View a photo gallery"). It's SERIOUSLY cool.

I crossed the road to the St Paul's Cathedral. This great cathedral was miraculously unscathed by the horrendous Nazi air bombing during World War Two. It is absolutely magnificient. Too bad they don't allow cameras inside! Anyway, I was really quite tired after that. I walked all the way back home (west) on Cannon Street.

More photos? Of course!!

Stonehenge & Bath

2005-09-25T03:52:00.000+08:00

I saw the Stonehenge today.

I have already seen pictures of it and I have always seen it in books. It's right there, an odd crop of huge stones standing in a circle on the vast Salisbury plains. The Stonehenge is dated earlier than the pyraminds (3050 BC) and some of the stones used were brought in from the Preseli Mountains in Wales, 385km away. They had to be, as the Salisbury plains is a vast stretch of flat, stoneless, chalk based soil.

I then went to Bath, a town not too far away. It's the source of natural hot springs that the Roman found when they conquered Britannica. Lacking of a scientific explanation of how it came to being, they considered the hot springs a sacred blessing from their god Minerva. They built an elaborate roman bath around it, their bit of comfort away from home.

The visits today are nice but the bus travel is long. I started off at 0845 and I didn't get back to my apartment until 1900. There was also a big Anti-War rally in London which locked up the traffic.

Take a look at the pictures (scroll to the bottom half). It's a beautiful day.

London Apartment

2005-09-21T05:45:00.001+08:00

I lost Internet access yesterday! It's so good to have it back now.

I have finally found a gym that will take a month by month membership subscription as well. It's about 5 mins from the office so I won't get too fat while I am in London.

Wanna see my new London home? Start here.

Food!

2005-09-18T23:25:00.000+08:00

I got food!!

Tiago, the building manager just paid me a visit. He got me a "starter" supply of milk, eggs, and greens. I have food! I can do spagetti tonight. That will be terrific. Tiago is Portugese. He once worked in Macau on an archeological project when he was 16, and visited Hong Kong more than a few times. He and 3 others run this company that operates 75 service apartments around London, and it does seem that he's having a really good time.

I booked myself a day tour to the Stonehenge next Saturday. :)

Landing in London

2005-09-18T20:10:00.000+08:00

I landed in London at about 0530 in the morning. I got out of the airport real fast, and as I was travelling from Heathrow to London, the sun was just breaking into a new day. It was very pretty. I haven't seen such an expansive horizon through such cool clear air for a long time.

The doorway between the Pret-a-Manger and the City Coffee Shop is the entrance to the service apartment that I will be stay at for the next 2 months. There is a Tesco Metro supermarket, a post office and a Citibank across the street. There's a Mark & Spencer, a Boot's (pharmacy) and a Sainbery supermarket around the block. I am about 25 mins from the office on foot.

This is the view outside my living room window. It is not much but the apartment's interior is very nice. Everything is there, I can cook and do laundry if I want to (rrrrrrriggggghhtt). I just need to get lots of groceries. The problem for me today is that all these shops close on Sundays and in a lot of cases, Saturdays as well. Anyway, this is just a temporary apartment that I am staying in tonight. I will be moving to a bigger one a few stories up tomorrow.

I am about 3 minutes on foot to the north of the River Thames. This photo of the Tower Bridge is taken with me standing on the London Bridge (Tower Bridge is to the east of London Bridge).

I need food, so I went down to the Tube to go to Piccadilly Circus, intending to do some shopping at Chinatown (shops there's gotta be open huh?). Turns out it's actually better to get off at Leicester Square.

Anyway, I couldn't really get any proper groceries. So I ended up bringing back 6 packs of instant noodles, 4 pineapple bun, 4 "wife" cakes and 6 traditional banana cakes. (Gosh, things here ARE expensive!) I should have taken a bus tour or something in the afternoon but I got a bit too tired. So I went back to my little apartment. The building manager is visiting at 16:00, which a complimentary bag of grocies, hmm, let's see what he has!

Causeway Bay

2005-09-17T16:12:00.000+08:00

I am flying to London tonight, so I went to my hairdresser at Causeway Bay (Map Cheung @ Handmade) to get a clip that's going to last me a while. It was about 12:30 or so, I was walking down Pak Sha Road when I heard behind me, hysterical screams and the click-clicks of a pair of sandals running up.

Instinctively I did NOT turn around. This plump (strong country woman size, or really BMW-class) woman ran past me screaming 'I am not going back! I am so tired! I am not going back!" (She sounds like some overworked housewife doesn't she? Or an overworked office employee for that matter.) She turned back around looking for someone behind me. The two of us and the bunch of people at a temporary outdoor book stall that was getting setup formed a brief triangle at the intersection .

She screamed and then snapped her left foot up. Her sandal shot up high in the air. Time stopped. Everyone at that intersection looked up at the sandal as it sailed lazily and gracefully through the sunny skies. The world stood still. I looked up and thought, that's a pretty blue sky today. Then as it arched past the top of its beautiful rise, I thought : am I going to get hit? Then I thought, naaaaaaa .......

You know what would have been funny? If I reached out and catch it. Not! Not a deranged woman's sweaty sandal.

WHAMMMM!!!! .. it came crashing through the crowd of people in front of the outdoor stall. People scattered. In a moment of lucidity this woman went to reclaim her sandal, turned around and proceed to run screaming and yelling down the street towards the Causeway Bay MTR station.

I thought, hmm ..

Okay, where should I go for lunch?

Clean Air

2005-08-21T20:11:00.000+08:00

Clean air! That's the first thing that I noticed when I get up for work in Singapore. I can see for miles. I can see real blues and oranges and reds. I can see without a gray haze in between. I CAN SEE!! In the medium to long run, the difference in air quality between Singapore and Hong Kong has to translate into real competitive differences between our two cities. Us folks in Hong Kong really need to pay more attention to our environment.

The top picture is taken at Siloso beach, Sentosa. Some folks say it's pretty artificial but I think it's perfectly fine. The water is clean and the air is clear. Getting a Walt Disney is one thing, if the government decide to clean our place up, I'll gladly help pay for it!

Check out the updated pictures here

Kopi

2005-08-17T22:19:00.000+08:00

I did more research on coffee in Singapore, but turns out it really didn't take much.

Kopi is the local variation of coffee. It's thicker and stronger. It's similar to vietnamese coffee and it actually taste better than a Doppio (double expresso) from Starbucks. Local breakfast

There are few variations :
Kopi-tiam > Coffee shop
Kopi-O > Kopi, sugar but no cream
Kopi-C > Kopi, evaporated milk & sugar (my favorite)
Kopi-Bing > Kopi on ice

Please click here for my reference.

Odaiba Shiokaze Park

2005-08-05T13:25:00.000+08:00

I went to the company Tokyo summer party last Saturday. It was held at the Odaiba Shiokaze Park which sits near the Rainbow bridge in Tokyo. I had a bit of time to wander around the Marunouchi area in the mornning. The first order of business was of course to find an ATM machine, get cash and to get breakfast somewhere. ATM's in Japan close at 2100 (0900pm), and the lot that I found doesn't recognize Hong Kong ATM cards. I finally found a Citibank branch. Finding a Citibank in cities around the world is like finding McDonalds. Once you walk in, everything works the same. The ATM machine even showed me my balance in HKD. I find that to be immensely comforting - they "recognize" me! I am not sure if it's totally true, but apparently Citibank ATMs are the only ones that works 24 hours in Japan. You know what? Old habit die hard - I had breakfast at a Starbucks. You know, people do leave their things all over the place in Tokyo. People leave their bags on tables and walk off to get their cappuccinos. What a safe city!! I am sure that's not the common practise in the whole of Tokyo, but wow, that's impressive.

The rest of the day went well. I figured out how to get from the Tokyo Station to the Shimbashi station, and to switch on to the Yurikamome line to Daiba. The Yurikamome line is an elevated train goes high above the streets. Yurikamome is apparently the name of a black-head seagull that lives around Tokyo Bay.

I took a long walk in the bayside malls before joining the party. I got myself a fake tattoo. It's a tibetan word apparently and has to do with prayers. Well, I ended up spending most of the afternoon playing volleyball outside and now that I have a tan and the fake tattooo is washed off, I have the word imprinted in "white" on my fore arm. I wonder what the word REALLY means .....

The last few photos here.

Different set of eyes

2005-07-10T10:57:00.000+08:00

I am definitely looking at Tokyo via a new pair of eyes this time. Things take on a different dimension since I know I am no longer on occasional visits but will be here often.

I had to start right upon arrival. The Airport Limosine and the Narita Express that I am so familar with was not available when I landed in Tokyo on Monday! I walked between several counters with my luggage and finally, between broken English and hand signals, figured out how to get on the Keisei Skyliner, switch to the JR Yamanote Line at Nippori and get to the Tokyo Station. In the process, I also learned how to get to Akihabara, which is an important place for getting the latest electronic toys. I am really thankful for the fact that I am in Tokyo though, I doubt that people will be half as patient with me if I am a foreigner in Hong Kong.

In the following few days, I figured out how to walk all the way from the Marunouchi Hotel to the office via underground walkways. The underground walkway / subway subsystem is larger than the one I am familar with in Montreal. That proved to be quite useful since it subsequently rained. I also figured out where Starbucks is, where to get breakfast and lunchboxes, I remembered to keep to the left on escalators, to wait for the green light when crossing the road and to use coins. I learned that the cleaning lady who walks right into the men's washroom all these years bothers my Japanese colleagues as much as she bothers me. I learned to take off my shoes (and pointing them outwards) when going into changing rooms and to not pull electronic products off the rack as that triggers the store alarm.

Until next time ...

Added new pictures
Satellite picture of the area where I work. The Imperial Palace is on the left

Desk

2005-06-22T22:56:00.000+08:00

Singapore

2005-06-20T23:52:00.000+08:00

IT IS SO HUMID!

It's been a while since I last visited Singapore. This time I take a different view. I am no longer just making an occasional visit. I am going to be here regularly for a little while! Things take on a different dimension if you look at them that way.

Walking around Singapore is like walking in a steam bath all day, right off the start in the morning! I found a place behind our office at Capital Square for breakfast. People like sitting outside though, something that is probably unimaginable for most Hong Kong people. It's SO MUGGY! Anyway, I sat down .. two eggs ('doo eggs'), coffee ('cor-hee' one), toast and kaya ('kai-yah'). So I had two eggs in hot water to which you add soy sauce. The toast and kaya is the absolute best! It's egg yolk, coconut milk, pandan and sugar. It's really good, and after a while, sitting outside doesn't seem so bad.

What's pandan?

Snapshots around town

Tokyo

2005-06-11T07:57:00.000+08:00

Cathay Pacific Lounge, Narita Airport, 0800 HKT

They have wireless broadband!! I don't it was there last November, not that I am complaining. I just loaded my few Tokyo snapshots to the internet. I didn't take many pictures. The last few days in Tokyo has been very very hectic.

As a matter of fact, I was supposed to have left yesterday, but all that was changed by a phone call I got from NY early in the morning. A new way of providing customer service online! It was a busy day.

I checked back into the hotel I checked out of that very morning. I had to run to a nearby GAP to get a new shirt though, as I have no clean clothes left. It was drizzling. There's a typhoon nearby, but residents will tell you that typhoons don't hit Tokyo. Hm, it was only the day before when we felt a tremor in the office. It turned out to be a 4.6 Richter earthquake nearby. No typhoons, but may be earthquakes?

An old friend of mine took me to a local sushi bar where you sit at the counter. The old chef behind the counter was babbling away. He was trying to show me how everything works though, how to eat like a proper Japanese. Gosh - fresh sushi! I almost forgot what that tastes like.

I took the 0630 Narita Express this morning. Crawled on the train and fell asleep. Hmm.. I think we are about to board. Gotta pack up.

London

2005-06-01T05:10:00.000+08:00

London! I haven’t been to London for years. As a matter of fact, I haven’t really traveled for a long time, and along with this new job change, I will be seeing quite a lot of it.

I used to fly half of the month out of every month. Yet, this time around I am still a bit nervous. I actually got a lot of stuff by way of preparation. This new traveling schedule is going to pose a challenge on the family and also on my schoolwork as well, as I have about four subjects to go before graduating with my Master of Electronic Commerce degree at Hong Kong University.

As a matter of fact, I went to the Cathay Pacific lounge early (it’s always nice there) to do my homework. You know what? Aside from having to use the expensive PCCW connection, there’s a “Cathay Pacific” wireless broadband that you can use. Actually I am not quite sure whether it’s for the public or not. I asked one of the counter ladies about it, she passed me this half sheet of photocopied instructions and walked off picking up a phone call. Oh well, as long as I have a signal I am not complaining.

Snapshots around London

New Chapter

2005-05-29T11:35:00.000+08:00

I had to keep quiet for a couple of weeks but it's finally here. I have gotten myself a new role at work, and a new chapter is about to begin.

This role will involve a lot of travelling, primarily to Singapore and Tokyo. "A lot" means spending at least half a month every month on the road. For those who remember, I used to travel a lot to Thailand and Taiwan. I loved it and I missed that sorely upon my reassignment to Hong Kong. It's been almost 3 years since, and I am on the road again, this time more than ever!

Like they say, be careful what you wish for because you might actually get it! More from London later, I am taking the midnight flight tonight (CX255) and I am travelling with a tiny little camera, a brand new Canon IXUS 50.

See the review here.

Back to school!

2005-05-15T08:08:00.000+08:00

Going back to school again, after six months, at an ungodly Sunday morning. Here you see me having a double expresso. I bet I am gonna end up sleeping for the whole day in class!

Voodoo Knife Block

2005-05-08T14:40:00.000+08:00

Yup - a "Voodoo Knife Block" - and it's on sale for USD40. While I think this is rather creative, I have to admit that I'd be a little nervous if I spot it in someone's kitchen.

Nevertheless, I always like things that are different! :)

URL: Voodoo Knife Holder Now For Sale

Gap time

2005-05-03T15:49:00.000+08:00

I had a gap between meetings today.

Sixty minute gaps are ackward, but thirty minute gaps are nice. With
a sixty minute gap, you really wonder whether you should run back to
your office, but most oftentime, depending on where you are, you only
get about 10/15 minutes of productive time before you need to head out
again. Thirty minutes are nice, you are certain that it's senseless
walking back to the office, but you have amble time to walk around or
to find a cafe, sitdown and get a bit of stuff done.

That's why Starbucks are usually packed at these times. You get all
sorts of people here: salespeople, business people, random students
(why are they here?), and of course, rich tai-tais taking a break from
all the shopping. Towards late afternoon, you get insurance agents
and financial advisors making their pitches. I dunno, personally I
find it tough to make good financial decisions late afternoon in
cafes.

Anyway, I gotta go to my next meeting.

(Written at Starbucks, Exchange Square 2)

Mac OS Tiger Launch Party

2005-04-29T21:12:00.000+08:00

Apart from being at some of the ice hockey games back in the States, I don't recall the last time I sat with so many guys in a room.

Yes, this is the Mac OS Tiger launch party at the Happy Valley race stands. It's a big long room filled with fellow geeks like myself, watching and wowing at the latest features on Apple's latest OS. There are a lot of groundbreaking features, some of which the Windows world hasn't even begin to think about. I am honestly quite amazed.

I was half expecting to see live video links to California and some sort of sexy simultaneous worldwide launch (at 1800). Well, they don't have it, but the MC was pretty good anyways.

I will load the pictures when I get home.

Rumours: Tiger shipping early?

2005-04-26T14:06:00.000+08:00

Hey - I spotted a rumour on the internet today saying that Tiger might be shipping early. Here's the link. Hmm .. I haven't seen mine yet.

Disposable Contact Lens

2005-04-25T13:39:00.000+08:00

Hey - check out this post on Belle Liu's blog about last Friday's "Mac vs PC" talk. Actually, I just ran out to buy a souvenir for Bill as well.

Guess what? I dropped one of my contacts into the sink a couple of days ago. Yup, even though I had the sink water outlet half covered, it dropped straight in, without even so much as to roll around the rim a little! That launched me into the world of disposable contacts (yes, I am the old fashioned kinda chap). For HKD300 I get 30 pairs, one for each day of the month. All you have to do is to rip one open and pop them into your eyes. There's no cleaning, no rinsing, no soaking to get the protein deposits out - nothing! Makes me wonder why people go get their eyes soldered with live laser beams.

There must be something instrinsically very evil about disposable contact lens that I don't know about ..

Mac OS X Tiger

2005-04-24T17:45:00.000+08:00

Apple is going to launch the new Mac OS X Tiger this coming Friday (April 29)!! I am quite excited about it. As a matter of fact, I have signed up for the launch party that are going to have at the Happy Valley Race Course. There's no guarantee that I will be able to get tickets, but I am hopeful. I have never been to one of these global launch parties and I heard the atmosphere is quite good. We will see! Then again, it goes from 4pm to 8pm and I can't get out of the office til 6. I will miss a lot of it. I will let you folks know how it goes if they let me in.

By the way, I pre-ordered a few licenses already. They will be delivered on April 29.

Mac vs PC

2005-04-23T11:37:00.000+08:00

I pulled together an evening discussion on "Mac vs PC" last Friday. I got sixteen people in a small cozy room, and the two speakers we got turned out to be brilliant. One of them is the host of HKU's Mac User Group, Belle Liu and the other one's Bill So, a project manager who worked with her at Beansbox Limited. They highlighted the unique advantages and the inherent disadvantages to adopting Macs concisely and entertainingly. It's a terrific cap to a long week!