Very Touching Drawing

A very touching drawing in an article in HKEJ, especially the part leaving behind the Noble Prize medal on the chair.

Money Aside

Seeing my current company going on the same old path as my previous company. Is this the fate of every company?

In the past, we thought we created value. After the tsunami, I wonder if we really create value, or we just create bubble.

Other than paycheck, I don't see much value in my job. I've asked other people: money aside, anything make it worth hanging on? I don't have even one person giving me an answer. A lot tell me not to think about this question.

I don't want to put myself in a situation that I need to do un-ethical things to survive.

What's the dividing line between persistence and wasting time on something futile?

Company Christmas Party

It's not an official company Christmas party, but the head of product team invited his team and some of the RMs for dinner. As he has invested in a trading company for wine and alcohol, he brought a lot of red wine, different kinds of vodka, and dessert wine for our tasting.

I had 2 half glasses of red wine, 1 glass of vodka with Cranberry juice, 4 shooter glasses of various kinds of vodka, 1 dessert wine on ice. Yet, I didn't have the slightest feeling of getting high, not to mention drunk. I didn't even have water in between. Guess I was just too alert. Don't like such feeling, but, at least, I am safe.

Nothing is given, includes being able to feel drunk.

Whatever

I felt so bad I did that again. My husband said he would come back after 4:30 today. So, I cover it up with those temporary tattoo. I saw him on msn at 7. He said he has stomachache and will stay in Shenzhen. Whatever!

Thank You

I start to feel it's okay I don't tell you my problem anymore. After all, I need to handle it myself. Strange, but I do feel better now.

I thought I've improved a lot, but I found out it's not as much as I thought. I guess it's like physical injuries, some will never recover. But it's okay. Nothing is perfect. It's fact of life.

Meet Joe Black

Read an e mail sometime ago about what happens when a person dies. A couple of people who were certified dead for a few minutes but then became alive again were interviewed. One common thing they all said is that they walked through a dark passage.

Since reading this e mail, when I turn off all the lights and get ready to go to bed, I always think of this is something I need to get used to. One day, when I am dead, I will face total darkness.

When I was in Canada, I read a short story about a girl picking up someone along a highway. They have a nice chat. The girl then finds out this person is dead sometime ago. The story then tells: on the next day's newspaper, there was a serious car accident the night before. There's one dead body in the car.

The highway in Canada usually don't have street lamps. For a period, I drove on the highway after I left work at 1 am. I worked night shift at that time. I looked at my empty seat next to me and hope there will be someone there. Then, I would be dead in a car accident, just like in the story.

Not aware that "Meet Joe Black" is made in 1998, 11 years ago. If death is like Joe Black, it's not bad. Maybe death after all is not bad.

White

The costume for the show is white top with blue Jean. Bought a long white top and a skinny jean. Will wear high heel on the day of performance as I want to look taller.

Impressive

Prof. Kao's wife is really impressive. She is the woman behind a successful man. Yet, when needed, she can speak elegantly in front to thousands of people (should be millions including those watching broadcast).

What I really like about this family is that they are so honest and open. They never try to hide the fact that Prof. Kao is sick. They don't mind being in front of the camera the way it is.

It's so sweet when they talk about their love stories. Mrs Kao still behaves like a shy little girl when she talks about her husband, saying he's always handsome. Prof. Kao is nervous when people ask if he will not recognize his wife one day. He said never.

Mrs Kao really set a higher benchmark for being a wife. Not only need to be 入得廚房出得堂廳, but also on stage and makes a highly technical and academic speech.

Dance Classes

Feel dance classes boring again. Probably because I have been with these teachers for a couple of years and the classes are more or less the same. Hope it will be better after the term break. Anyway, I've paid for classes until June next year. Just see how it goes. Well, still want to keep the discipline.

Fell

I fell when crossing the road. A shoe dropped off and I was afraid there were cars coming. So, I quickly got up and put on the shoe and ran off the road. Later I found I twisted my left ankle (again) slightly and skin came off my knee. Very minor injury.

I don't quite know why I fell but being able to get up quickly is important. I felt lucky I could get up quickly and ran off the road.

Singing Performance

I join the singing class mainly for the performance. My husband asks me to fight for more solo opportunity. The teacher asks if I can be the accompanist and I agree. So, need to look out for other singing performance opportunities.

Argentina Tango

Re-started doing Argentina Tango today. Did 2 classes, total of 3 hours. We forgot some of the steps but the feel came back after a while. This time, I reminded my partner to remember some of the steps so that we know what to do when we go to Milonga.

Pianist

I was the pianist for a funeral today. It's my boss's father. I played some slow movements from Mozart's sonatas and Beethoven's sonatas when people were arriving. Accompanied the grandchildren singing "Yesterday Once More". Played 2 hymns and finally the funeral march at the end. Glad that people find the music lovely and comforting.

The Pastor said in his message that "he's not dead, but just sleep". Felt so sad as it reminds me of her. One day, she will be the one in the coffin.

Surprise

They told the tea lady someone spilled over water in the pantry and needed her to help. Actually, people had prepared a birthday cake from Cova as it's her birthday. People sang the birthday song when she went in and she's really surprised and happy.

WSET Wine Course

After the FRM (Financial Risk Manager) exam, I was thinking of taking the CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) to average down as I put in so much money and effort in the FRM exam. The questions of CAIA look more normal. However, it's so expensive. There are 2 levels and each level cost US$1,400. On top of that, I need to buy the study materials. This qualification just doesn't worth that much money.

Then, I received information from Chinese University about the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) Wine course. It's only HK$8,800. It says I should be able to take the level 2 WSET exam. So, I decided to give it a try. Class starts January next year.

10K

I didn't run even once after the SC Marathon 2009. I enrolled in the SC Marathon 2010 and did the first practice tonight. Initially, I thought it must be really bad. Surprisingly, I was okay. No stomach cramp and I didn't need to stop running in between. Ran for 70 minutes. I guess vocal training helps as I have more training on my breathing.

My husband is now very into running and said we should join more runs, besides the SC Marathon, so that we will keep running the whole year.