Taken just for ah kwa.
Karen Kwa, all the more reasons for you to come to Hong Kong now!!!
Flagship leh! Faster come ah!
:D
Archive for September, 2008
Chatting to a 2 1/2 yr-old
Kirsten’s call to me this afternoon cheered me up immensely. Or rather, Sis called and Kirsten talked to me after. She was so cuteeeeeeeee. I had NEVER heard her speak so much to me on the phone before. And she spoke to me in complete sentences, using past tense ok!!! I was super impressed and while I was listening to her, I couldn’t stop grinning to myself.
“Hello Yi Yi, how are you Yi Yi?”
“You in Hong Kong looking for Annabelle, Yi Yi?” (She still thinks that!)
“Today raining, Kirsten put on raincoat and take umbrella and Mummy brought (BROUGHT!) Kirsten out.”
“YI Yi, you want? You want to take umbrella and go out with Kirsten? You come here?”
“Didi’s smiling at Kirsten because (BECAUSE!) Kirsten make Didi laugh. Yes, Kirsten did (DID!).”
“Daddy drive car yesterday. Bring Kirsten out. *Gibberish* Daddy drive car.”
All these from a 2 1/2 yr old. Aw, I seriously miss that girl too much right now. Want to hug her tight and not let her go when I do see her again. :(
One of my fave photos of Kirsten cos she looks so pretty here. And you can kinda make out how she'll look like when she grows up.
6-month anniversary
Matt and I celebrated our six-month anniversary the night before I returned to Hong Kong. He didn’t have much time to prep but he heeded Karen’s advice and took me for a dinner by the beach at Sentosa. There weren’t many people and it was relatively quiet. It was simple and nice being comfortable in each other’s company again and it reminded us of the first night we spent at Langkawi by the beach. So quickly, five months have passed.
The difference with this one is that we have fireworks. :) Two sets of fireworks that happened in the span of 30 minutes. I’m such a sucker for fireworks and I’ve to say it did elevate the romance level of our dinner.
He later revealed his gift to me. Hahaha, he actually ‘bought’ a star born on the day we met and named it after us. And he got advice on the choice of gift from dear Karen too and trust her to come up with such a cheesy idea. Hahahahaah
But that said, it’s really sweet of him to even go through the effort. No, a star is not something I can keep but it’s just kinda swell knowing there’s a star out there in the galaxy named after you.
The package of certificates and a personalised card arrived on my desk last Tuesday in a FedEx box. I love seeing such boxes on my work desk! I could get used to it! Hee. First, the lovely calendar from the girls and then now this.
Can’t wait to have him here in HK with me. :)
In the meantime, long distance can be such a bitch for relationships and friendships. I badly miss my family, my pals and Matt. :(
Good month, my ass
Susan Miller said September was gonna be an excellent month for me but I think she’s bullshit. It’s been a constant challenge every day with regards to every aspect of my life.
Sometimes I feel like giving up on them all.
Maybe I should.
No, I must muster the strength to fight on.
But it’s exhausting.
I don’t know anymore.
Want List
YSL had their postcard tote and clutch and they were oh-so-pretty and definitely covetable.
But I don’t desire them as much as I desire these ones from Kate Spade’s Holiday 2008 Collection:
But I reckon I wouldn’t want to part my money for a plastic tote bag so I think I’ll just fork out for the travel pouch since my clear plastic Kiehl’s pouch is growing small holes. But I’ll wait till Xmas to get it for myself as a treat. Or earlier. Or… who knows. It’s seriously how cute only!
Pom in HK
So I finally got to see Pom on Tues evening during Typhoon 8 on the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. It was funny. We saw each other and hugged while the wind was blowing and blowing. Hahahaa
We went back to her room at the very chic The Mira and Pom showed me her ‘computer’. It’s the room’s big-ass plasma TV with a wireless keyboard so she can lie in bed and check her email. O_o
She also showed off her huge fancy rain bath, which is like A3 size. O_O
We then met the rest of the journos (Adele and Yee Huay!) and Shiseido girls (Jerraine and Elaine. Sounds like twins). They wanted to ‘experience’ the typhoon so we stood outside the hotel lobby for a couple of minutes while they get the whole Marilyn Monroe effect on their dresses during the sudden and random bursts of strong wind.
Ooohhh, guess who we saw after a couple of minutes of hanging outside The Mira! A bunch of TVB stars! I only recognised Joe Ma but according to Pom, Charmaine Sheh was there too but was the first one to hop into her transport! DAMN. I like Charmaine Sheh. The rest of about 5 or 6 of them? Don’t know who but most are handsome and beautiful!
But this one who’s named Michael Miu (we did a bit of research after) was damn rude! Waved Jerraine’s and Elaine’s colleague away who wanted a snap with him and the second time she asked him, he rolled his eyes before putting on a fake smile for the picture. Such an ass! Gives Miu Miu a bad name.
Meanwhile, Pom has sharpened her skills as a paparazzi. She loves her US Weekly and now she’s so not shy and garang when it comes to taking pics of celebs, she should just start her own tabloid and I’ll happily be her HK contributor. Note to self: Good excuse to stalk Tony.
After we parted from the girls, Pom (oh, her real name is Pamela) and I chatted the night away and it was nice, necessary and honest. I’m glad I had that with her cos she just made me fell in love with her more.
Matt in HK again!
Matt returned to HK with me when I left SG last Thursday afternoon. This time round, I had the pleasure of Mum, Sis and the kids sending me off. It was really nice to be able to see the kids on three occasions over the week that I was back.
Before I left, I tested Kirsten again. I asked her, “What does Y stand for?” and she replied, “Y is for Yi Yi!” I was appeased but shortly after that, Kiks reminded me, “But Y also stands for Yo Yo!” Ok, you smart girl…
Kiks was super manja queen on Sunday night when Raymond and Sis were out negotiating their new house stuff. She went over to the neighbour’s to play and came home crying the house down. Apparently she had her two little fingers slammed on. Ouch. Poor baby girl.
But trouble was, she kept asking for Mummy and Mummy wasn’t around! In the end, her Yi Yi carried her but while I was carrying her, she resisted me and when I put her down, she wanted me to carry her. I was completely like OH. MY. GOD. I. WANT. TO. PULL. MY. HAIR. OUT. RIGHT. NOW. frustrated.
But I kept my cool and carried her for the next 20 minutes while Matt looked on, impressed. And also while my mum and the helper tried to cajole her. But that manja queen is super smart. The more you cajole her, the louder she cries cos she knows that’s getting her the attention.
But aiyah, I love that girl lah. Cannot just throw her down and don’t sayang her right? She kept asking for Mummy so I carried her downstairs to the swimming pool, pretending we went looking for Mummy. And I was completely shocked to really see Sis downstairs, walking towards us! Thank God man.
Wah Kirsten ah, that girl. She’s super smart and manja! The moment I carried her out of the house, she immediately stopped crying and was talking to me about numbers and animals. We walked by the pool and we pointed out the lanterns (it was during Mid-Autumn Festival) the kids were carrying. And TWO SECONDS after she saw Sis, she started wailing again. LIKE WHAT THE HELL? She was obviously ok already what!
But that said, I was super amused too. She’s so funny and smart, that it’s not… funny. I gratefully passed her over to Sis. My arms ached for the next hour. Not kidding!
And all these while, Seth was super unaffected. He was like “Whatevs, I’m going to walk in my walker.” He was so cute, I wanted to squish him so tightly.
Oh ok, it was supposed to be an entry about Matt’s weekend in HK. hahahaha
We went to pay the Big Buddha at Lantau Island a visit and we were really lucky it was a clear, beautiful day.
It was the perfect day and time to visit the Buddha. It was late afternoon, close to sunset and the premises closed by 6:30pm so it wasn’t crowded at all. The approximate 190 steps weren’t that difficult. Not when you have to climb at least 90 steps up back home every day, like I do.
Matt and I looked at the pictures of the tablets of the deceased and wondered about the lives they led. Anita Mui has a tablet there too! She had, of course, the most offerings and the biggest tablet. It’s been a few years since she passed on but she’s still very loved by the Hong Kongers.
Matt wanted to get Mum something so I suggested we can get her a little Buddha figurine or something. He picked a Laughing Buddha one since it was his favourite Buddha.
We took the train from Tin Hau to Tung Chung, past Disneyland stop and all in all, with the long walk at Central to change trains, it only took us about 40 minutes tops to reach Tung Chung. We discovered, to my pleasant surprise, that the shopping mall at Tung Chung is a factory outlets mall with shops from I.T., Club 21, Puma, Nike, Adidas, Giordano Ladies, The Body Shop and loads more!
I was also ravenous when we arrived. So hungry that I threatened to eat Matt up if he was gonna stop me from eating. And there was a Food Republic there too! I was a happy bunny with my Hainanese chicken rice but that Cantonese lady at the dessert counter just didn’t get it when I said I wanted my cheng teng cold!!!
At 7pm, we trundled home after making a quick stop at the supermarkets so I could prepare dinner. I had been looking forward to making dinner for Matt for a long time and was excited as hell that I could. Feminists would scoff at me but I really like the idea of being domesticated. Well, at least for now. Hahaha
Charmaine!
Yes, her name alone can warrant the entry title cos I haven’t seen her for two years! We were corresponding as usual, that far and between mails that we send each other on FB when she informed me she would be heading to HK with Chuen, her husband.
I first knew Char from my CLEO days. I was the features writer, she was the sub-editor. She sat directly opposite me and whenever I heard her go “tsk”, the alarm in my mind would go off and I would fear she was tsk-ing over my copy. She was tough as hell when it came to subbing our work but she was really just a bunch of fun. She was my board game ally back at CLEO and we would both make sure everyone brought their respective board game whenever we had a gathering at whoever’s place.
We used to joke at how Char resembles Faye Wong.
She married Chuen in Bali and till date, it was still the most spectacular wedding I’d ever been to. I remember the view on the edge of the cliff when they exchanged their vows during sunset, how the stars in the sky were literally jostling for space when it turned dark and the lovely jazz singer was crooning The Girl From Ipanema.
So when Char was here on Friday night, I couldn’t let go of the opportunity to make her play my new board game Risk with me and she turned out to be the winner of the night even though it was her first time playing!
Playing Risk
I love how we just chatted as if it wasn’t two years that passed by. She still laughed at me at the usual stuff and me, her. I’ve always love chatting to both Char and Chuen. So fun and always so full of advice.
Chuen’s work at DFS takes them to places. They were based in HK for two years till about 18 months ago. They’re now residing in Guam (in the Pacific. Apparently somewhere between Japan and Hawaii) in a house on a cliff, overlooking the sea with two doggies. Such life.
No idea when would be the next time we see them, maybe when we visit Guam?
To SG and back
So the eight days in SG and subsequently, the four days with Matt in HK have came and gone. They happened so quickly that right now, the days felt like a blur to me. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t over the moon to be back in SG, as I thought I would be. I was wishing the pilot could fly the plane faster when I was on the way to SG on 11 Sep and when I finally saw Matt’s smiling face at the arrival hall, I actually felt a little shy after having not seen him for a month.
I woke up next morning on 12 Sep feeling somewhat disoriented. It felt like I fell asleep in HK and woke up in SG. I woke up and it was quiet and though it was nice and peaceful, somehow, I felt like I didn’t belong. I spent most of the day packing for my return trip back to HK and as the day goes by, I started to feel odd both mentally, emotionally and physically.
By the time I got to the girls’ office to meet them for dinner, I had already sneezed my way through half a tissue box. I was determined to spend the night with them but when, as usual, dinner seemed to have to happen at a much later time than I thought, I decided to eat first rather than being all grouchy while waiting for them.
By the time Matt and I were done with our food, I was ready to fall asleep immediately. I asked him to bring me home and was fast asleep in the cab. I bailed on the girls for dinner and with the group of them, I always feel guilty even if they don’t say much. Sometimes I wonder if it’s healthy to feel this way amongst friends.
At 11pm, I got out of bed to join them for supper. I was still drowsy and felt physically awful but was excited to meet them and when I finally did, everyone must be too exhausted to make me feel the reciprocation.
A short 90 minutes later, we called it a night and by the time I got home, I felt like I was ready to barf. I took a hot shower and had some green tea and went to bed feeling significantly better.
I spent the next few days meeting business associates for breakfasts, lunches and afternoon teas and then different groups of friends for lunches, dinners and suppers. I didn’t realise how draining it was until the end of my SG trip. I didn’t realise how much personal time in SG I was craving for. There wasn’t a dinner planned at home to have my mum’s cooking and neither was there a dinner planned with Matt and it seemed like I took the people most dear to me for granted.
Thus, I asked my secondary school friends over to my place for dinner instead of going to my original request of a hawker centre. We had my mum’s cooking and it was great seeing how well they get along with my mum and Matt. I could see how they actually made an effort to chat to my boyfriend, got to know him better and went the distance to make him feel part of the group and I think that’s really sweet of them.
The low-down of the rest of my hectic stay in SG:
Sat – brunch with SG colleague, lunch w ed & joel then Christine’s wedding dinner.
Sun – with family
Mon – Office visit, lunch with biz associate, attempt to work in a cafe but screwed up Hotspot Internet connection, dinner with makan girls. and supper with Karen.
Tues – Breakfast with biz associate, lunch with Jules & Debs, photo-taking for work and dinner back at home w secondary sch friends.
Wed – Photo-taking in the morn, lunch with biz associates, interview, tea with biz associates, quick visit to Chiang’s shop, dinner w Matt just arranged e night before due to a miscomm w a biz associate.
Thu – More photo-taking in the morn and rushed back home to finalise packing then to e airport.
I was exhausted most nights when I got home and fell asleep immediately. I don’t remember much thoughtful conversations with anyone and I think that resulted in me feeling sorta empty right now. So many people but no quality convos. No food for the soul.
I know I sound a little depressed right now. There’re still stuff I can’t make sense of and time would probably show me the grand plan eventually. But meanwhile, Matt had left HK last night and I’m all home alone since Angel’s travelling. Pam’s in town but I don’t think her schedule allows me to see her as often as I would like to. I feel the emotional distance between my friends and I growing by the day and I feel helpless.
Work had me going around HK on my own taking pics of stores today and would continue to for the next three days and the more I get out there on my own, amongst all these strangers, the more alone I feel. I didn’t feel like I truly belong anymore when I was back in SG but neither do I feel like I belong in HK. It sucks not having the sense of belonging but I have this odd sense of belonging – that I belong here, in myself.
Now I’ve said it. Even though they sound like gibberish to most.
I promise happier posts to come.
