500*edited*

Blog posting seems to be okay already.

-3 August 2009
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Oh and I went to Hong Kong for a short getaway. Was a love-hate affair I would say. Haha.

The trip to Hong Kong enlightened me somehow, somewhat.

Here are some pictures that I took along the way.

First. Women there dressed properly. I don't see any thrashy dress sense there. I believe it is a result of being at the forefront of fashion trend. Everybody always looked so nice, and I seemed to be the only under dressed one there. Lol.

Second.Heels + stairs + lots of walking = slim legs on the ladies! Haha. Stairs along the streets, 2nd level shop houses, endless walks while shopping, in the long term I do believe they tone the legs! Albeit the lower back pains and associations. Beauty at a price that is. Haha! :P

Third. Despite the fast pace life, the people there still managed to find time and effort in being gracious and polite. Shopkeepers will greet you upon entrance and go on to tell you about their ongoing promotion for sales. And they will not hesitate to bring you a basket for your shopping, if available. Even bring the clothes that you want to try into the changing room and hanging it nicely for you. Even if you leave empty handed, they would even send you off with a thank you and a smile. Even if it was all surface emotions, at least they took the effort to even do it. Do we even get these back home? Seldom I would say. We really have much to improve on our service quality. Most of the time, we locals are just simply too full of ourselves, thinking that we are already doing the best that we had to make improvements. Sigh.

Fourth.Mangoes. Mangoes are good. Heavenly. Sweet, sometime sour. Tasty with coconut or aloe vera, but best with both. Rich in nutrients and vitamins. Best taken three times a day. But do watch for side effects like overheating the body which may result in the disruption of bowel movements. :P

Fifth. Bad air. One thing that I will always miss when I travel to other metropolis will be the greenery that they lack. It is always a concrete jungle elsewhere. I am really proud of the result of the green urban planning. The trees really do seem to have a calming effect in the city. At least they break the harsh outlines of the buildings and vehicles and people. A little bit of foliage goes a long way. :)

Sixth. Crazy sales. Listed as Final Sales in most shops, discounts go for as deep as 70% off, making luxury brands that are otherwise unaffordable to me friendly on the wallet. But it created a problem on its own. Since the expensive goods will be almost the same price as the regular goods, I would be a lot more tempted to buy the now cheaper expensive goods. Yet it is not all the time that I can find suitable things to buy from both side. Hence explained the very little shopping. Sigh..

Seventh. Amazing hotel. It is called Langham Place Hotel. Got package of airfare from Cathay Pacific and room at a steal, was a credit card promotion. The best part was probably securing it just before getting down to the separate online booking of the hotel and airfare. Whee.

Eighth. Scenery. Didn't really do a lot of sightseeing. Visited the peak, some banks along the way, took the peak tram. I have no idea what the urban planning was based upon in HK, because the marriage between the modern and the old, thought oddball, has its own allure. Looking at how organised we are back home, they have their own allure in Hong Kong. Sweet in its own sense.

Ninth. Of the green mermaid and coffee. There is a Starbucks like almost everywhere. From the top of the peak to the streets at sea level. Can't see to escape its clutches. Lol. It got so many that I gave up logging it after the second day.

Ten. The level of hygiene in Hong Kong is very high. Clean public toilets. Door handles are sterilized every 1 or 2 hours depending. And people wear masks when they are ill. Like the Japanese. Wearing mask is not taboo, it is just being considerate.

Eleven. Stand right on the escalator if you are not climbing the steps. A little different from back home.

Twelve. The hotel's art sense is very Chinese.

Thirteen. I met Jason and Slyvia there.

Fourteen. H&M is so common that it is so big there. Lol.

Fifteen. There is a higher chance of the locals understanding you in Mandarin than in English when you don't speak Cantonese.

Sixteen. I love these little tags from our rooms.

Seventeen. It was my first time on Star Ferry.

Eighteen. And onto the peak too. The night shots from the peak turns out okay without a tripod.

Nineteen. Hong Kong implemented the no plastic bag scheme. You gotta pay 50cents for each plastic bag that you need if I am not wrong. Thus they are big on recycled bags. We really ought to learn from them.

Twenty. It was a humid and hot walk to Pottinger Street. Oh and. Chungking Express anyone? Haha.

Twenty one. It was some Mickey festival.

Twenty two.What is Hong Kong without milk tea and thick toast?

Twenty three. My flight was delayed for one hour, and we almost missed it even still because the boarding gate was changed. End of trip.

Twenty four. I am.

Anyway I think the wordpress layout for this is nicer. :))

I have a problem with my Posting interface here.
Can't seem to have the usual interface.
Am I the only one having this problem?
I've tried IE and Safari as well. Sigh.

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Hmm. Trying out Windows Live Writer now.

Everything seems to be back to normal. At lease I see my Post interface back to normal. Sigh. Will update tomorrow.

Remind me of the new toy, started out with a man and a woman and how the family grew, leading to more choices. Lol.

Good night all.

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Sunday. I still can't upload photos here. Nor blog properly. A sign for me to move.
Anyway, be right back. In a week or so.

I thought this is sweet. :)

Food

Tea party last night. Dim reading light, duck pizza, carbonara, weird tea, toothpaste tasting tea(is not ok?! ><), eavesdropping table next door, interesting guy, and interesting girl, of square and triangle and oval and circle and inverted triangle faces, all these in order not the miss the last bus. Fun as usual :))

Tonight was Ichiban Boshi. And then thick toast. Lol. Sinful. Feels like carbohydrate loading.

Anyway, if someone bought a bunch of bananas, probably around 8-10 in the bunch, and finished it in a single seating lasting around 1hour or so, what would you say?

Oh came across THIS just, thought it might be interesting for some. The timing was perfect. :P

In Camp Training

Where should I even begin? Hmm. Oh. In process at PRC. Haha. Early Monday morning. Wasn't that bad actually. In-pro, followed by canteen break and then the usual briefings and settling of detachment. Shifted back to the old familiar camp after lunch.

Tuesday was kinda slack with some lessons and major slacking. Ippt in the later after was one to forget. It gave me my back pain. Tmd. Wed, 8km route march never felt so long before. Lol, effects of being a civilian. Ambush mission in the night was a pain. Getting lost wasn't that bad, but combined with not used to it, it quickly became a killer.

Live firing on Friday was ok. 1st time I had to re-shoot my detail. Sian^99. Now I know there is a first time for everything. Haha. Lucky it turned out well. Saturday's too. If it goes as planned, I should see the $$ soon.

Monday was just to waste the day away. Surprisingly the dinner was great. Some catering for Japanese food. Out process felt good. :)

In the end, we all love our supper as usual.

I am off for In Camp Training. See you.

*edited*

I cut my hair. I looked different now. Lol.
Dinner @ Fish & Co. Seafood platter, jungle freeze, caesar salad. Yum. Full. Slow service though. The place was crowded. Coffee club, Hazenutte without the nutmeg taste. Surrogate pregnancy, weird and lame and random, neighbour (I meant us being weird and lame and random) Reminiscing the good old days. :)

I had a weird dream last night. I was walking in this dark alley until I came upon a carpark sort of clearing. And then somebody jumped off the building next to it, landing a distance away from me, but still the it splattered onto me nonetheless. Hmm. Does it qualify as a nightmare? Haha.

Anyway, if I was trying to make any sense out of it, I probably know what it is. Lol.

Going to cut my hair tomorrow. For reservist next week that is. Haha. Let's see, the last time I cut was probably 1 month before the Lunar New Year. :)

Sunday night, random outing to read ended with a very late dinner of sorts. Think sinful.
Monday was a gloomy day. Dark and wet and frightening. Haha. You get the picture.
Tuesday was great! Met some people for dinner @ Newton. Ice cream @ Island Creamery. Amusing talks and revealing chats. Haha.