Loose Change

John Tsang the Finance Minister reported a HK$110 billion surplus in this year's budget. While most governments end up in deficit, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong has for a consecutive year reported a surplus, with this years' surplus double of last years'. For the first time in my life, I paid attention to what was being said as I am officially a taxable person. While most budgets would drone on about increasing inflation and higher taxes, less public spending etc, John Tsang had a very interesting take in distributing the extra cash out to the population. Previous years' have seen tax cuts and rebates. This year, there were funny things like 1-month free rent, HK$ 3000 "fruits allowance" for the eldery, HK$1800 free electricity for all households, HK$6000 bonus for all employees earning less than HK$10k/month in their Mandatory Provident Funds, 1-month additional allowance for the disabled and tax free alcohol.

I like the tax free alcohol bit, but they shops are unlikely to totally drop prices and even if they did drop them, it would not be the full 28% taxable. What does this budget mean to me? Well, I get a 75% tax rebate capped to HK$25k. I think I got HK$15K excess non-taxable basic personal allowance last quarter when they announced a surplus in the last quarter of the year. But how many governments actually give a 75% discount in tax? It's like "wow!!" I love Hong Kong.

They are also investing HK$ 50 billion on providing for the health services. Hong Kong has an increasingly aged population. One in eight people in Hong Kong is above 65 years old, with this ratio decreasing to one in four in 2033. This would mean my profession would be in higher demand and if we don't do something about grabbing a piece of the 50billion cake we will not be able to cope with the demands that will be put on our service. While is it very noble for the government to throw out free money to improve the dire social services in the community, one also wonders if this will evolve into a welfare state like the many developed nations of the world. There is also the nagging thought at the back of the mind: How long will the ecomony last? It is a matter of when the bubble will burst. The inflation rate is going up and the value of the Hong Kong dollar is going down as it is pegged to the US dollar.

I think I should slow the shopping spree just a little. Who knows what the future holds? I need to save for a rainy day or at least find a rich guy.

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On a lighter note, I could grab an ice-cream. I went out for dinner with the medic yesterday and saw 'kitty' and 'pokemon' flavoured ice-cream. The 'kitty' one was pink and glittery while the pokemon one was a little more manly in yellow with multi-coloured swirls. I wonder what they taste like? Plastic? As licking a hello kitty would probably be?

Mango Napoleon

The challenge: Mango Napoleon Cake.

I signed up for a baking class on Saturday since:

a) I like cake.

b) I had nothing else better to do.

The class was in Kwun Tong and the address was in Cantonese, so it took a while to figure it out on the map. I got there eventually, one hour late and thought I may not be able to finish baking the cake in time. Unsurprisingly, the class was conducted in cantonese. The baker was nice enough to explain everything to me half in cantonese and half in English, thus I managed to get the gist of the class. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself tremendously. The cake turned out as good at the one the baker made and on time too!

The class

The pastry. I wanted to make a heart shaped cake to bimbo-fy it and make it a boy-repellent.

Pastry-chocolate-cake-coconut moouse-mango-coconut moouse-pastry-chocolate-cake-coconut-moouse and counting.

This mango was so cute! It was only 2 inches long.

My cake; Your cake.

I am good enough to eat!

I went out with the medic and the ophthalmologist as well as some friends who lived on Hong Kong Island and had come all the way to "rural" Shatin for Thai with us that night (they asked us what we did for entertainment in this part of the woods). I showed them the photo of my cake and the medic and ophthalmologist decided to check it out for themselves to see if the cake was real. -_- The engineer came along too as he heard there was cake *rolls eyes*. So the cake was gone before I could spell Mango. It tasted as good at it looked and I am definately going back for more lessons.

My pride and joy.

Sunday saw the lawyer and myself heading out to ShenZhen for our massage, facial and acryllic nails. It was her first time in ShenZhen and we had a ball prettying ourselves up. I love my manicurist! She is so good and makes my nails look ever so pretty. I also love my beautician and my masseuse. =) We are going back for hard core shopping in two weeks. The boys have planned an outing to the Swiss-themed park to pat the lion cubs and the massage palaces, so we are hoping to head there earlier to get the shopping done. It really makes a difference to have someone to spend money with! It also helps if they love purple just as much as I do! We are planning a cheesecake weekend this week. Who needs the boyfriends? If I ever get turned into barbeque meat, at least the cannibals will be able to enjoy a well-kneaded lump of steak.

Daylight Robbery

OMG, I have been living in this room for the past four months and I didn't know that I have free WIFI. How stupid is that? I checked once and did not get a signal then I didn't bother to check again. That is, until the ophthalmologist brought his laptop over for group porn and found it.

So now I can steal other people's internet and stalk blog more often. The joys!

Green Fingered I am Not

My shoots.

Gardening is a past time favoured by the people who can actually grow stuff. They can throw a sunflower seed in the ground and lo behold, a whole sunflower plant complete with amazingly huge ass flower the size of your face pops out. I hate those people.

Other people's shoots.

I bought a narcissus plant in January and was assured that even my pet cat could plant it. So I went home, put it in water and waited for it to grow. And it grew shoots, leaves and more leaves. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Until I saw everyone else's plants. -_-

They smell good too! =(

Why oh why, am I not green fingered?

My 'lalang'.

Chinese Valentines

Pink fingered.

The Asians believe in doings things twice, for double prosperity, double happiness and double luck... So the last day of Chinese New Year is also known as the chinese valentines day. I heard they do all kinds of funny things for this occasion, such as throw oranges into rivers and let the boys fish them out, let off lanterns into the sky and eat all kinds of funny food. Maybe chinese valentines is the opportunity for the boys who forgot to buy their girlfriends something the first time round to make amends. Either way, I spent the day working instead of throwing oranges into rivers. Besides, why throw an orange when you can go one bigger and throw a whole pomelo? =) Better chance of it getting fished out hahah...

Chinese New Year is a big thing and they well and truly pimp out places of worship.

If you walk around the cherry blossom tree in a full circle you will find yourself a boyfriend/girlfriend this lunar year. They didn't say to walk clockwise or anti-clockwise.

I was clearing out my phone and found a whole lot of photos that I have yet to put into files, so spring cleaning resulted in lots and lots of photos! My phone company has also been calling me the past few days. They probably want me to renew my contract but do not have the courtesy to get someone who speaks English to call me. Each time I pick up the phone, some one rambles off in Cantonese and when I speak in English they all slam the phone down. The people here are so rude its unbelievable! It is not the first time and will not be the last. They have no inclination of customer service eventhough you are speaking ''their language'' ie:

English: "I want a cheeseburger with coke and curly fries.''


Cantonese: '' Ngor xiong yew yat gor cheeseburger & coke & curly fries."

It is exactly the same!! And they can't figure that out. This makes Hong Kong the least tourist-friendly place in the world. They think the whole world speaks cantonese and if you don't speak cantonese then they won't speak to you. You can forget your cheeseburger and coke and curly fries.

Anyways, its the weekend and I am going to make full use of it. I have my cake making class on Saturday! =) Yay! Cake! =)

My CNY-themed nails. DQ, nice or not? =)

In the mango pudding shop.

They like their inflatables here.

Chocolate Pudding!

Mmmmmm.....

Ikan Bakar ala Shatin

I went fishing over the weekend. Well, I can't really call it fishing. I just stood there and ignored the fish. I was too busy eating cake. The doctors went out to play at Lan Kwai Fong and invited a whole random bunch of people. It was cool to meet someone who spent five times more on her curtains that I did *hahaha*. It made me feel good. =) We went to have beer towers and to exercise the beer bellies while breathing in horrible second hand smoke. I thought clubs in Hong Kong were supposed to be smoke-free? Oh well, it was not a pleasant experience. I prefer the bars on the street level where the smokers can stand outside and kill themselves and let me drink my cocktails in peace. It was, in all, a good night as I didn't get any blisters in my heels and I got a kebab and a piece of mars bar cheesecake and we went back at 5am, just before the sun rose.

Sunday was spent meeting up with people I have not seen over the Chinese New Year period and just chilling out. The church had narcissus that were in full bloom, compared to my weeds, gosh, let's not compare. And I was thinking I was doing a good job as there were leaves. =(

The medic and the ophthalmologist convinced me to break the No McDonalds resolution as mango pudding cancells it out. So I dutifully listened and went for my McDonalds as the doctor ordered. We were bored and wanted to catch a movie but too lazy to move. So we came back to the hospital and just veged out. At 11pm, the ophthalmologist knocked on my door to tell me that there was a fire outside the hospital and asked if I wanted to go see it. He was all equiped with his dSLR and so I prepared my snacks in anticipation of some excitement. We went outside and lo behold, the whole hill behind the hospital was on fire. The fire was at least one kilometre long and the flames were licking the trees pretty quickly. We could hear the crackling of the trees as they went down and smelt the smoke. We went first to the top floor of the nearest building and took some photos, then we decided to drop by A&E department to see if there were any victims, after all, we are health professionals, and we were on our way to the 7-11 to get more snacks to munch on while watching the fire. There weren't any victims of smoke inhalation that we could detect so we dejectedly went on to the 7-11 to grab some crisps and drinks then made our way to the hospital roof for a better view of the fire.

View of the hills. The hills behind were also on fire. The hospital is in the foreground.

So, for those who have never witnessed a real live fire... Here you go! It is very therapeutic okay watching a big fire, it's like watching the ocean; you have surges and you have low-tides. When you see a surge you go 'wow!!' then you whip out the camera and pose. There were very few people watching the fire. Hong Kong people must be so caught up with their own little lives that they don't bother to look out the window or they were probably in bed fast asleep. We didn't see any helicopters or jet planes going about fire-fighting. Maybe we should have taken the cab to the other side of the hills, we could have roasted some marshmallows.

How to take a photo with a forest fire: Wait for fire to heat up then strike a pose.

St Valentines exploited

I love Krispy Kreme

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It is that time of the year again when we girls are all preened and eyeing the Tiffany diamonds in the window hoping the thick-headed guys understand we want the 1 carat, solitare, princess cut, VS1, colour E diamond. And because it's Valentines, I shall post this in purple.

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The Doctor told me about some interesting sites that are available for the man who is too chicken to go to La Senza/Victoria's Secret to buy lingerie for their woman. KnickerPicker provides the discerning man with a choice of three models who will interact and try on lingerie to allow him to choose the most suitable at the click of a mouse. He doesn't have to brave the crowds and the critical eye of the women who are investigating the lingerie shops to see what kind of proper lingerie they can exchange the slutty lingerie for the next day. There is even a Boy's Buying Guide! Oh, the wonders of the internet!

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Anyways, I went in today junked up and ready to go and somehow managed to get through the day without mishap and probably too mellow to discharge many people. I went to Central for dinner with the medic. We had wantan mee, egg tart and Krispy Kreme. Well, I wanted egg tart and Krispy Kreme. The medic wouldn't wait 30 minutes for the limited edition Valentine's selection*pout* so we got normal ones, and they even ran out of the Chinese New Year selection and my favourite New York Cheesecake version!! Krispy Kreme is going to the dogs! I got some herbal tea to balance the calorie content of the donuts and we brought it home to share with the ophthalmologist. So yeah, valentine's day was pretty good as I had enough donuts to give me a hyper as well as ice-cream and crisps to wash everything down. I have a suspicion there is some kind of sensor on me that alerts people when I am around the Krispy Kreme store. My mum called to tell me not to eat KFC, McDonalds or other unhealthy food then asked me where I was. Another friend called me just as I was stepping into Krispy Kreme to clear the store out to select a donut. I can't buy donuts in peace! Gah! I should sent some inconspicious guy to buy them for me. Besides, donuts are not unhealthy, they are a whole food group.

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PS: I want the Krispy Kreme CNY chinse pigtail hat! :( It is so cool...

Of Pineapple Tarts and Drug Cocktails

It is the end of my trip back to Malaysia. I am well and truly depressed and sad that I have to go back to Hong Kong.
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Reasons for not wanting to go back:-
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1. I am sick. I feel ill within 24 hours of landing in sweet Malaysia and spent the entire holiday junked on drugs and sleep. It is not funny. I have not felt so lethargic in ages and I am sure there is something sinister going on in my feet. The clinics were closed and I managed to see a doctor on Monday and was told to 'eat more papaya' and 'drink less coffee'. I have not drunk more than one cup of coffee since I landed. I heard papayas were good for the boobs, but I didn't know they were good for when you are ill?

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2. I only managed to eat one bowl of kuching kolo mee and one plate of tomato kuaytiaw. All the food traders do not believe in working for the duration of the Chinese New Year period. We should all limit the number of times we eat out so that they don't earn so much and take long breaks on public holidays. What a letdown.
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3. It is nice and spacey in my house of 3000+sf compared to my measy room of 230sf including my balcony. The feeling of being at home and with the family no matter how annoying they may get is priceless. Besides I have all my shoes and perfume and handbags.

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4. I get fed and watered and I don't even have to cook! It sure beats my steamed and microwave cooking the past 6 months. My grandmother is of the opinion that I am suffering from lack of proper nutrition there and I am not going to dispell her notions. My aunts have been feeding me pineapple tarts while my sister has been clearing everyone of their prawn crackers and acar.

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5. There are so many people I want to see, so many things I have yet to do and so many shoes that belong to me that I have yet to bring home from the shops. I need to find the motivation to shop in Malaysia. I have only entered 2 supermarkets since I came back; Duty-free in unappealing and I was too tired to go out.
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6. I need to get my braces adjusted.

I think these reasons are enough for me not to go back. I realised in my interaction with the people that I have not seen in years, that most people are inherently curious about what I do. My grandparents are as proud of my measy achievements as my parents. My relatives think I am making good money. My parent's friends think I have a bright future ahead and can only do better; my primary school teacher whom I have not seen in more than 10 years told me that I am an inspiration and a comfort to him in that I managed to be what I am today. I came out feeling awed that I can inspire so much hope in people, that I can be such a pride and joy to the people that mean so much to me. I also notice that my siblings are growing up without me and that I am no longer a constant influence in their lives. However, with my inpending departure and with no inkling when I next come back, I feel that Miss Lamby is well and truly feeling the loss as much as I am.

This trip has been an emotional experience. I see my grandfather with all the signs and symptoms of chronic illness yet I am unable to do anything about it. While my professional training rings the alarm bells I am only able to give advice and hope for the best. We know the prognosis is poor, yet we want to make sure he is not wallowing in self-misery and is able to live happily and eat all the durian he wants without my grandmother stopping him. I see my elderly relatives either made on the success of their offspring or still struggling to keep them. I see my father for what he is in the eyes of my relatives - a leader and an inspiration to work harder and strive for success without relying on the aid of others. It has brought home the fact that we are molly cuddled to such an extent we don't appreciate the sacrifices our parents make for our comfort. What I take for granted may have been at a great sacrifice for my parents. I am humbled by the humility and the hardwork of my parents and am thankful that I never had to scrimp and save for every penny to pay for the upkeep of the family. I am more determined than ever not to squander my money on unneccessary expenses.

Which, unfortunately is a resolution I didn't manage to keep for more than 24 hours. I landed in ShenZhen with a 14.8kg suitcase of maggi curry, mee daddy, kaya and slow-roast lamb chops. I know, I am such a sucker for food I even brought 'ma ni cai' from home. I went straight to the spa for a seven hour session of pampering. Needless to say, I am now much poorer but better rested. I did a bout of shopping too for the benefit of the Chinese economy. I will now live on bread and water for the next two weeks, or find some kind souls to feed me. Anyone want to feed me birds' nest? I should milk the Hong Kong guys for all they are worth.

Kobe Stella

I am at the airport! And my plane departs in one hour, my luggage is checked in at 11.6kg and I have a whole bag of wife cookies to munch on in the plane in case airline food doesn't like my stomach. I will be good and not spend too much money, I was tempted by the diamond in duty free already! But since Hong Kong is a duty free port anyway I can always get someone to get it for me in the city.

I went with the Aussies to ShenZhen for a last splurge before we all head for Chinese New Year. The medic told us about this amazing spa and the ophthalmologist and I wanted to try it out for ourselves. And it was goooooddd....

I was massaged all night and felt like a three year old in a candy store. There was free flowing juices, ice creams, fruits, drinks... and everything can 'bill to number'. When you go on you get seperated into showering and changing rooms by sexes. They provide everyone with jailwear inclusive of paper undies and swim pants if we want to swim in the 17 pools they have. They give us shower gels, toothpaste, hair spray. Heck, even the toilet seats are warmed and have automatic rotating plastic seat covers! My photos will be uploaded later but they don't do it justice. You can even pick your masseuse on this computer that shows their photos and statistics. Hahahaha..

Anyways, I am suitably mellowed and will have space to eat all the kolo mee I can stuff into my face. I weighed myself at the spa, I had lost 3 kilos and I am sure I can gain it back in kolo mee weight!

Take care folks! And have a happy and blessed Chinese New Year!

In 48 Hours...

In exactly 48 hours I will be in Kuala Lumpur. I know, I don't believe it either. But, unless it starts snowing in Hong Kong/Singapore duty-free keeps me from boarding my plane/I don't wake up in time, it will be coming true.

This is the longest I have been away from home. I know I harp this constantly and am no way close to the length of time some others have been away, but still... this IS the longest I have been away. I am dreading the coming back to Hong Kong already even before I depart! Maybe quitting my job and going to work in some dark, dingy basement clinic in some government hospital and earning pittance may make me come to my senses. Either that, or the humid weather and monsoon rains. I hate getting my feet wet.

I went out to ShenZhen on Thursday to get my nails done. I wanted to get a facial to make my face more presentable, but the spa was fully booked. =( So I got my nails done in silver glitter and cherry blossom trees! Very festive huh?

Friday saw me meeting other like-minded people from Malaysia. The medic introduced me to his friends and we went to TST to One Peking for drinks. The bar we went to was called Aqua Spirit and one of the top 5 bars that you must visit when you are in Hong Kong according to Lonely Planet. The cocktails were brilliant and the view across Victoria Harbour at night from the highest bar in Tsim Sha Tsui was nothing short of spectacular; until the management ruins it by playing loud music and turning on the smoke machine. -_- Some people may need dutch courage and blurred vision to fish for friends but it just spoils my view of the global-warming inducing lightshow put on for the benefit of tourists. It also ensures that Hong Kong can be detected by alien spaceships.

I went out shopping on Saturday for some stuff to bring back home. I should never ever go out shopping. I got me some lovely shoes, a ring, a necklace, 2 tops and a mouse shaped soft toy that doubles as a pillow. I am not that bad la, I managed to get all the stuff I needed to bring back. Needless to say, my sister has the biggest haul. I went to the Chinese New Year market in Victoria Park. It had been raining the whole day and the banker had blew me off for our dinner appointment. So I decided to brave the winds and rains and just check out the market anyway. The place was full of inflatables! Around 100+ stalls had been set up for the week preceeding Chinese New Year so that Hong Kong kids can fill their already cluttered homes with more soft toys/inflatables and useless objects. I saw a huge inflatable Ferrero Rocher that was 50cm in diameter, donuts the size of tyres, crackers with peanut butter filling one metre long, even fishballs and mini cocktail sausages on sticks that were 2 metres tall! They sure like fake food around here! There were also flowers and auspicious plants on sale for luck and chinese candy and cookies. I learnt quite a bit about the various traditional foods and cultures of the Chinese when it comes to welcoming the new year. This year is the year of the Rat, which means there were tons of Rat related toys/tshirts etc. I have my new lucky red 'Year of the Rat' underwear all set! Hahahah!

On a more sober note, this year denotes the start of a new cycle. I have lived two full cycles of the chinese zodiac. This is my third cycle and possibly the cycle that will denote the most change and upheaval. The past 23.3 years I have followed my parents where ever they go. This cycle is where I start making my own plans for my future. And I have to decide where I want to go, who I want to hang out with, what I want to eat (Yes, we had to eat everything that was laid out on the table, disgusting or otherwise) and whose credit card I want to max out. I know there are some people whom I will always want to be a part of my life, certain foods I can't live without and I welcome anyone's credit card for my disposal.

Footnote: My brother says I am old... Do I look old to you? Don't anwer me, I may feel wrinkly.