Friday 31 December 2010

Day 70: Potential Hangover

Saturday 25 December 2010

Friday 24 December 2010

Thursday 23 December 2010

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Sunday 19 December 2010

Saturday 18 December 2010

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Day 56: Vintage

London 15th Dec 2010

Day 55: Bling

London 14th Dec 2010
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Monday 13 December 2010

Day 54: From Aspinal with Love


London 13th Dec 2010

After years of being a loyal reader of Vanity Fair, this was their gift to me... an Aspinal coin purse. Only that it came after the weekend I bought my Miu Miu one.

Sunday 12 December 2010

Day 53: Bikini


London 12th Dec 2010

Playing with Photo apps. 

Saturday 11 December 2010

Day 52: Noah and I

Created with PhotoShake



London 11th Dec 2010

Day 51: Burberry Buddies


London 10th Dec 2010


Taken by sweetpea

Thursday 9 December 2010

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Day 48: Testing Phoebe


Tuesday 7th Dec 2010

Day 47: The Power Of Now

Taken with Nikkie 
Monday 6 December 2010

Another month has gone by and it is another book recommendation. This month I choose "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. As cheesy and “self-help” as the title may sound, this is one of the most enlightening books I have ever read; just fascinating. I think everyone should also read it (along with “Being In Love”).


If you feel you can’t stop thinking, planning or worrying, this is the book to read. We all seem to be nostalgic about the past or anxious about the future, why can't we just enjoy the present moment? Why do many people find it difficult to be alone or to be surrounded by quietness? Why do we choose to be constantly bombarded with some sort of noise, either music or television or whatever else that creates a sound?


This book makes you aware that present moment is so precious, why do we waste it by thinking about so much … crap? In a way it helps you to learn meditation through every day actions. By being in the presence more often, you will be more observant, more zen, which in turn makes you calmer and happier in this fast and furious world. Of course it doesn’t tell you to stop thinking or planning all together, but there is a time for work and a time for proper rest (watching crappy TV at the end of the working day/week does not count).


Through this book I have learned that I don’t need to listen to music or constantly reading something when I travel. I find pleasure in doing tedious things like washing the dishes or doing the ironing (which many people find weird but my boyfriend is also happy with it); including eating alone. I find myself calmer, happier; and more effective when I actually do work.


I hope whoever gives this book a try will find it useful! 



Sunday 5 December 2010

Day 46: Boy shows off new toys

Taken with Nikkie
London 5th Dec 2010 

Day 45: Carved Turkey

Taken with Nikkie

Saturday 4 December 2010

Thursday 2 December 2010

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Day 42: Late Thanksgiving Prep.

Taken with Canon IXUS 75
London 1st December 2010

.. i actually like the grainy bad-quality in this photo. Antique-look.

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Day 41: Winter Colours

Taken with Canon Ixus 75

Monday 29 November 2010

Saturday 27 November 2010

Friday 26 November 2010

Day 37: W2


I got this for WH for our 3rd year anniversary.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Thursday 25 November 2010

Day 36: Happy Family

Taken with Blackberry 

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Day 35: Carnaby Christmas

Taken with Nikkie 
London 24th Nov 2010 

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Day 34: Les Incontournables

Taken with Nikkie 
London 24th Nov 2010


Monday 22 November 2010

Day 33: Noah

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Sunday 21 November 2010

Day 32: Baby Joy

To my parents, Leah & Errick 

Parents & Ticke 

The picture today is a very old one. It was taken approximately a quarter of a century ago... I particularly love it because the cute baby in the polka dot outfit looks like both her dad and her mom. Not to mention she is me.

November 21st has now become a very special day. Not that it has anything to do with my parents and I but with someone else who is also very special. One of my close friends, Leah, has given birth to her little boy, Noah, at 9.25pm after being in labour for 12 hours. I haven't seen them and so there is no picture of baby Noah but I know I already love him like he is my own. I have known his parents since they met last year and been through their ups and downs with them, and have seen Leah's bump growing and growing. She is also the first friend at close proximity who has a baby so it is doubly special for me. Noah is going to be my practice for changing nappies and babysitting etc.

I think having kids is an amazing experience, even though I haven't had my own yet and cannot wait my turn. The close relationship I have with my parents (plus all the precious photos we have of baby me); seeing my friends' babies grow up virtually (yes, I follow their development on the internet) nothing seems more rewarding; family just means a whole lot to me. I wish someone would have the courage to start one with me soon! :) 

Just want to send out congratulations to my friends Leah & Errick. I am incredibly proud of them, esp Leah. They will be such incredible parents. I cannot wait to see little Noah.



Day 31:Home-made Pho

Taken with Nikkie 

I am not always confident when it comes to cooking phở so I rarely cook it at home. The broth is particularly tricky. However, I am now proud to say I have mastered the making of phở gà  (chicken pho)... This was my last batch so the broth isn't as clear but imagine the first batch. It was rather divine :) WH enjoyed three days of phở and he wasn't even sick of it. But that's WH for you, my food is always good and there is no limit to eating phở. 

Friday 19 November 2010

Day 31: Without Fear or Favour

Taken with Nikkie 

If you are living in London and you know bits and bobs about the art scene, you would know that Ai Wei Wei's installation is causing quite a buzz with his 120million sunflower seeds at that Tate Modern. I also have my own personal photo collection of his work here.

I won't write much about Ai Wei Wei because there are some great materials out there about him. I just want to share this recent BBC documentary about him called "Without Fear or Favour". He is a very brave, bold (no, I don't mean his hair) and interesting artist... I really like his story. I am a big believer of a good, solid story! I wonder if there is a good biography about him out there? 

Day 30: I Am Always Horrified

To HH, my dear sis who shares my love for books (amongst many other things)

Taken with Nikkie
London November 2010 

For the past two days I have failed miserably at Project 365. I did not manage to take any photos. The project is coming along much more difficult than I had anticipated... Daylight is short these days and it's been so busy I hardly had a chance to look at anything. However, I am not giving up. I may need to approach it in a less challenging way. 

Day 30, I have a story for you. I got mail from HongKong this week. A friend of mine HH, who is currently studying there, sent me two stories and a lovely little message. I want to share one of them with you. It is taken from the book "An Apple A Week" by David Tang ( HH actually wrote an entry on this book here). According to her note, it sounds like I have a bit of a "reading obesity", something that my mum will be very proud to know. 

I feel very much the same way as David Tang about this topic. It is quite alarming that people aren't reading as much, and even more alarming the things some of them read. A lot of people I know personally don't read selectively, if at all. I am no one to judge but it does make me feel a bit sad. I have to say I didn't start out as a reader, my mum was always very unhappy about this. But somehow I found my way to books very naturally since I started college. 

As I don't have a photo taken for Day 30, I decided to use another one I took a while ago... very appropriate for the occasion. It is my stacks of book that have now been unpacked but no bookshelf-home to go to yet.

Thank you HH for sharing this nice little story. And did you buy this book in HK? It was a shame that there were quite a few typos non?

Hope you enjoy! 

---

I am always horrified by David Tang

Whenever I go into the house of others, the first thing I always look out for are books. A house without books is, for me, like a man without clothes on. Just as a man is what he eats,, I would say that he is also what he reads. Reading obesity is therefore a wholly acceptable condition. Conversely, a man with reading malnutrition is a man under literary nourishment, and sooner or later, he dies ignominiously. 

I am always horrified when I meet people who tell me they never read. I always ask, "Are you sure? Have you never read a book in your entire life?". "Never. I have never read a book in my life," they would reply. I find this proposition simply unbelievable. Once, a very well-known personality in Hong Kong was showing me his new home. It was vast. He had 10 bedrooms, 4 dining rooms, 3 sitting rooms, games room, cinema, sauna, steam-bath, swimming pool, tennis court - the whole lot. Yet I noticed, to my utter astonishment, that he did not have one single book on a shelf. He only had objects on shelves. He did have a couple of brand new coffee table books on a couple of coffee tables. But he did not have any proper books around. So I asked him why. "Why? I never read. I don't have the time. I have never read a book in my life." The first thought that came across my mind was utter disbelief, followed almost immediately with a huge sense of nausea and contempt; the intense irritation at the thought that here was a man rich enough to have a big schloss like the one he was showing off to me, yet so desperately poor in his grasp of books. 

I would never have a friend, let alone a good friend, who doesn't read. All of my best friends read. If you don't read, you are dead, as far as I am concerned.  For how else can your imagination be excited? How else can your experience experiences all the things you would never experience? How else can you be stimulated and excited by things about which you do not know. The philistines will of course stupidly and moronically argue that you can get all that on television. What utter tosh. Reading a book is an entirely superior activity to watching something on television. IN reading, you have to be proactive all the time. You need to make an effort to get through the pages. You need to concentrate and soak up the images and language of the print. You pause and you think; sometimes you re-read and re-think. You hold the book in your hand and you go around with it, half thinking about it and half-opening it and reading it. The whole ritual is enjoyment itself. Sometimes, we would come across pages which we cannot put down or marvel at the beauty of the prose. In television, by contrast, you don't have to be pro-active at all. You can be totally passive, switched off, anaemic, senseless, and yet you could still catch what flashes before your eyes. Because of this lower, much lower level of concentration, we naturally do not learn as much from watching the telly as with reading a book. 

I find any home without books a home nor worth living in. In Hong Kong, I see so many fancy homes, costing billions of dollars, yet in so many of them, not a single book in sight; or in some cases, even worse, lots of books which are there obviously for mere decoration. That phoniness is perhaps even worse. Bookless homes really turn me off. I physically go sick when I think that people can go through life without reading. And they are often the ones who are bored easily. For me, my book is my best companion (next to my wife and dogs, just!), and I would regard life as not worth living if I were not able to read. When I died, I like the following on my tombstone: 

"When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
His sins were scarlet, but his books were read." 




Wednesday 17 November 2010

Day 29: Where's My Bus?

Taken with Nikkie
London 17 Nov 2010

... shame about the reflection 

Day 28:Sorting Memories

Taken with Nikkie
London 16th Nov 2010

Monday 15 November 2010

Day 27: Growing Old Together


Dedicated to most of them men

Taken with Nikkie 
London 15 Nov 2010

Along with this picture is a guide about how to take care of sick people, drawn from my own experience as a sick person. I was never taught how to and I guess not everyone was... I remember whenever my mum was sick, the household would turn upside down. Most things stopped functioning properly. I was always in a state of panic because I never knew what to do: how to cook congee, how to go grocery shopping or make ginger tea (I was in my early teens) etc.  I was a useless little kitten. Mum would get upset but then I never had to do anything until I have to do everything by myself...

This guide is not about what medicine to prescribe them but the general etiquette when treating the unwell.

1. Sick people like peace and quiet. They are self-absorbed, slow in responding, get upset easily so please do not ask many questions, just make sure you give them... a. something hot to eat, preferably home-cooked and not bought from the stores; b. orange juice; c. lots of attention & reassurance; d. gently hugs; e. remind them to take their medicine (if any)

2. Take the initiative in finding out what type of illness they have w/o them having to ask you to. This also helps you to know how to deal with their pain/discomfort.

3.  Make sure if your sick person stays at home alone, he/she has easy access to hot food, without having to walk to the store in freezing weather  or getting up to cook (soup is good as can always reheat)

4. Make sure there is an abundant fresh filtered water by their bedside 

5. Make sure they don't have to worry about household chores like doing the laundry or tidying up the room or ironing clothes

I really understand why my mum would get upset and said I was not observant. This is all common sense. Still, we all need a reminder from time to time.

Good Luck! 


Sunday 14 November 2010

Day 26: Little Pug

Taken with Blackberry 9700
London 14th November 2010 

Day 25: King Kong

Taken with Blackberry 9700
London 13th November 2010

Guess what Mr King Kong is made of out?

Day 24: Ladbroke Grove

Taken with Canon IXUS 70
London 12th Nov 2010

Thursday 11 November 2010

Day 23: Seagull

Canon Ixus 70
London 11th Nov 2010

I have been wanting to donate and get a poppy for a couple of days but I couldn't find any!!! I thought they would be more available than that.. The closest thing to peace I could find was a seagull... It does look a bit like a dove. No?

Hope everyone paid their respect with the  2-minute of silence today!