I'm too old for this. I'm maybe only 22 years old but I need 9 hours of sleep per night. And if I'm not home by midnight, I turn into a pumpkin. 


Therefore, no surprises. We came back around 4h30am on Saturday night and even though I slept to 2pm AND took a 4 hours nap in the late afternoon, I felt like crap. Let's not mention other mornings when I needed to cancel my tutorials because of headaches.


Seriously Nis, you'll have to teach me how to become a true warrior.

I just beat my previous record of the longest shopping session on Fa Yuen Street (plus Argyle Center) which was 4 hours. I officially topped 6 hours...

"Writing patterns, or the socially accepted ways of writing, will differ significantly between cultures. 

In English and Northern European languages, there is an emphasis on organization and concision.  Here, a point is made by building up to it through background.  An introduction will often foreshadow what is to be said. In Romance languages such as Spanish, French, and Portuguese, this style is often considered “boring” and “inelegant.” Detours are expected and are considered a sign of class, not of poor organization. In Asian languages, there is often a great deal of circularity. Because of concerns about potential loss of face, opinions may not be expressed directly. Instead, speakers may hint at ideas or indicate what others have said, waiting for feedback from the other speaker before committing to a point of view."

http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/international_marketing.html

Steven's coming to HK in late December. Who's next? C'mon guys, you're doing good! More ticket booking!


P.S (Why are my 30 cents a pair of thin socks - to wear with high heels - make holes after I wear them 5 times... Ahhhh whatever, still cheap! I'll remember to buy 20 pairs next time I go shopping)

It all started with Math who REALLY wanted to hike in the New Territories. So he selected a section on the Wilson Trail and off we went.  

The section started in a village and with 3 big dogs barking at us because we were stepping on their territory. My instinct was to turn around and run as fast as I could. But Math caught my hand and told me to NEVER turn my back to dogs. We slowly backed off (I was sure one of the dogs would jump right to my face and bite it off) and decided to hike another section of the trail.

To Math's joy, we saw monkeys (his favorite). A LOT OF THEM. They were mostly close to wastebins searching for food. We even saw FAMILIES with mama, papa and baby :)

And this, you'll never believe it. We crossed the path of WILD cows. (Now you know I'm a city girl.) We saw them walking one after the another. After a couple, I'm like "Math, where's the owner? There's no one following them". To that, he responded "He/She must be slowly walking behind."

We then met some older hikers and I asked them if the cows belonged to them. They said "You're not from Hong Kong eh? They are like monkeys, wild. No one owns them" I was so amazed I kep asking questions such as "Where do they sleep? What do they eat?" Anyhow, while I was amazed by the wild cows, they were amazed by how small knowledge I have.

Moreover, Math and I finally understood where do the big poops (and I mean gigantic) along the road come from. 

even a calf!!! omg, so cute :)

It was our longest hike so far: 4 hours, 10 km and a lot of fun!

J'ai vu beaucoup de photos de mariées ces derniers temps à cause de ma cousine et de ses amies qui sont toutes prises dans la folie du *Merde, je viens de passer le cap de mes 30 ans et je dois me trouver un mari ASAP*. 

Mon père me disait tout le temps qu'une belle femme peut être belle avec ou sans maquillage, mais qu'une femme laide sera toujours laide. (Thus, no need to wear makeup since you can't do anything about it) Et bien, j'ai maintenant la preuve que c'est faux! Les laides peuvent être secourues non par un prince charmant mais avec l'aide des magiciennes/maquilleuses hong kongaises qui peuvent transformer un crapaud pustuleux en princesse adorable pour son jour de mariage. 

Now, I believe in miracles.

While I was looking at the library for French material, Math randomly picked a book from a shelf in the cooking section, his favourite. He doesn't like reading at all but was totally engrossed by this book which explains different techniques and theories about meat and the art of grilling...

I was thinking about dragging him out of the library when I reminded him that he can actually rent the damn thing. He then explained to me with great glee why the chicken has 2 kinds of meat while the duck has only one and the difference between a grill and a BBQ.

Julie will be in Hong Kong on the 26th of January 2011. Annis, how about you eh?

As I surf on the net for my tutorial classes, I realize how Internet is great for education. I wish I had interactive games to play with and these stackful of printables to work on when I was younger. Ahhh unfortunately, I only had a computer when I was in 5th grade and the web wasn't as developed as it is now.

Preparing for my first French lesson :)

This time, I've got 2 students about my age whom are leaving for France in January for their studies. Can't wait!

I thought I lost my wallet all over again and that Matt and Natt products were cursed. I really REALLY didn't want to go through the same hassle as in Belgium. But silly me, I just forgot it at home :)

Love hiking. We decided to explore a trail Math picked out from a book called The Serious Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong by Pete Spurrier. Turned out it wasn't as nice as we thought it would be because it was around a reservoir. Still, we saw a lot of stuff including a worm rolling on itself, a bunch of butterflies, small woodpeckers, spiders swimming and plenty of flowers. Yay for hiking!

The great reward of Math's gym training is his ability to hold on to 4 beers at a 90° angle for 3 min and a half. That got us 10 pints of beer and an ugly hat at some contest in Happy Valley Racecourse. 

Since sharing is caring, we offered some to another group who in return gave us pieces of a giant pretzel and even more beer. And that's how we ended up laughing our guts out because not only did a girl puked a day's worth of meals before passing out but her boyfriend thought it was hilarious and wanted us to take pictures while her friends continued cheering and drinking with us. I felt kind of bad so I offered my hair elastic so she could tie her hair up... Le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres?

(you can see her foot on the left hand side)

Fun song! Can't believe this girl is only 22 and has 5 albums under her belt... Makes you wonder what you have been doing for the last 5 years :)

It took our estate agent about 2 months to give us the key to access our mailbox. Yet, our washing machine has committed suicide yesterday by banging itself against the wall. Plus, our doorbell is still mute (not quite convenient for the handymen and the delivery guys). For a 150 sqft place, it sure has a lot of problems. 

Math and I have been looking for jobs since 2-3 weeks. It's quite annoying since they often ask applicants to be fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. If you master only English, they will still hire you if you have a lot of experience in your domain. So either way, we are screwed :) 

On a brighter note, I officially tutor 5 kids per week ranging from 2 to 6 years old. There's also someone who would like some French lessons before her studies in France. As for the second assignment which I'm supposed to complete by the end of November... eeeeee still not done... "working" on it... 

Woats! Xiuli is coming in 5 days. CAN'T WAIT :)

Just got an email from HEC promoting the next Campus Abroad 2010-2011: Brazil (the one I went to), Mexico (you need to master Spanish to be admitted), China (I'm already here), and they added this year, France (who cares, really?) and MOROCCO. Okay now, I'm officially jealous. Why did I graduate so early? It must be a crazy opportunity to learn from actual academics and entrepreneurs experienced in the fast-changing environment of Morocco...

Ugh rainy day...
I've ran out of excuses not to start the second assignment
Just when I thought I'd forgotten the pain of school work...

6 months since my laser eye surgery! Thank you Lasik MD! Seriously, best investment ever... and Math is the best to have pushed me to do it. I actually don't quite remember how it feels to wake up with a blurred vision or getting frustrated because I can't find my @*&/?% glasses.


Even though I don't need to wear sunglasses anymore when I go out during the day, I still do it out of habit :) 

Dinner at my auntie May, godfather Roland, 10-year-old cousin Sean and 14-year-old cousin April's place in Ap Lei Chau, an island south of Hong Kong.
Since auntie May is like my mother, hence, can't cook, she decided we were having hot pot!!!
Boy oh boy it was good :) 
We had fresh surf clams, fresh crabs, fresh shrimps, lamb, beef, veggies, all kinds of balls, fish cakes, eggs, etc. 
We ate from 6 to 9pm. By the end of the meal, the 2 kids were long gone since my uncle wasn't done telling us stories of his time in Montreal... (The couple lived in Canada for a while.)
One thing for sure: with him in the house, there's always entertainment! 

Venus (the mouse) and Chloe (the princess) had a birthday/Halloween party after their tutorial session with me yesterday. I helped them with their makeup ;)