Reunionfication!
29/08/2007
Found a new word on Flickr today. Tried to look up a definition, but I guessed it from context and some inference. I think I did a fairly decent job defining it!
Reunionfication: where people gather for Reunion Dinner (the most important event in the Chinese Calendar) OR where countries that were once unwillingly signed over to the British revert to Chinese rule, both situations though involve a bunch of ethnic Chinese people who may/may not be Chinese citizens.
Usage: Celebration of 10 yrs reunionfication. The whole Nathan Road at Kowloon closed!
living, luggage, legacy
28/08/2007
Why is it the older we get, the more complicated life gets? It used to be so much simpler.
Now, attending to my daily needs can sometimes be an exercise in project management and hand-eye co-ordination.
Take having dessert: before I can have dessert, I need some clean cutlery. To get clean cutlery, I need to wash it. To wash my cutlery, I need to get it from under the pile of dishes, so I can reach it, so I might as well wash the dishes first. But to wash the dishes, I need to clear the drying rack because if I don’t, I’ll have no where to put the washed dishes. To clear the drying rack, I’ve to go and stack up all the clean dishes in the cupboard that’s above my head, and KF is in the way cos he’s cutting the fruit for my dessert!
How like that?
I guess that’s why I like bowling on the Wii. It makes me feel good when I can hit 10 pins with 1 ball.
more visitors!
27/08/2007
More visitors from the homeland! Ah, to be able to be understood again is so liberating.
I think I did fairly well for someone who doesn’t really know what’s where, we managed walk down Chinatown, find a place for lunch, go to Union Square, drive to Lombard Street (GPS did that), drive to the Golden Gate Bridge (again GPS guided), find our way to Sausalito, walk around and have second lunch, head to Target at Tanforan (GPS is such a lifesaver), then head down to Il Fornaio at Burlingame. Had a Grigliata Costa Smeralda – Grilled scallops, calamari and shrimp served with parsley sauce. Was really good.
At times it was surreal, the familiar feeling of knowing all these people, but being in a completely different place. I don’t know how to place it. But I’m tired. I had a good time and it’s back to reality again.
a week with new toy
23/08/2007
It’s been an exciting week for me. My new baby doesn’t wake me up in the middle of the night for feeds, but I have this incomprehensible urge to bring it everywhere.
And it’s heavy. That and my Dell in my spanking new Lowepro Compudaypack is probably a 8kg combination. But I still lug it anyway.
Made a trip to Napa over the weekend for a lobster boil. I subsequently learnt that that’s when they go and dump a heap of lobsters (live), crawfish (live), potatoes, corn, crab, sausage and other miscellany (artichokes) into a large pot and boil it. Then they throw everything onto a long table (sans cutlery, utensils and manners) and you just eat off the table with your hands.
Quite unglam.
But I met a Singaporean family there, and tried to score an invitation to dinner – who wouldn’t pass up on Singaporean food? Didn’t really work, but at least I tried to mingle a little.
Yesterday, a Singaporean couple stopped by the store, and we struck up a conversation. Halfway through, another Singaporean family drop in, and this time, the lady (I so blithely ingratiated myself to) offered to make some laksa and bring it over the next time she comes around.
Yay! Score!
Other than that, the universe had KF buy me a nice reward on our 1 month in SF anniversary. Here’s what happened.
Last Friday, he asked me where I last saw the T-Mobile top up cards. I said, I saw them at Best Buy. After some debating over which one to go to after he dropped me off at work, he finally went to the closest one, waited in line for the store to open, then decided to walk down the Gaming aisle for a quick look. Lo and behold, a little Wii waved back at him from behind the glass shelf. After some dodgey blocking (other customers) and a frantic search for an employee, he bought me a Wii, one of only four at Best Buy on Harrison.
When I finally received the news, I realised it was pure chance, and he happened to get it on 18 August, which would make it a month to the day we got here.
And considering he didn’t intend to even look for it, it then goes to reason that the Universe is trying to make him get it for me.
And I think it’s cos I’ve been good 
So thanks Universe. I love the Wii. I even made my Mii look like me (Wee!).
the baby has charged
16/08/2007
And I managed to get a few shots before it went dark. I am uploading the test shots as I type this. It’s taking longer than usual, but then again, these are large images.
So the new toy is my Canon 400D, coupled with a nice 100mm/f2.8 macro lens.
I love it. I also love the new lens.
L-O-V-E.
I love the bokeh. Love the couple. Love the feel. Love so much that I can’t bear to bring it with me to work until the camera bag arrives. Unfortunately the bag was shipped from a different merchant on Amazon, so I couldn’t get it in the same order.
Many thanks to – my engineer friends
Jeffrey – for finally tipping me over the edge with the whole “sensor size” tutorial
Eh Don, Ah Leongsan, Jetski (who’s almost an engineer) – for putting me on the edge
Eeevahn – for his perpetual enthusiasm, especially when it involves getting someone else to spend a lot of money
Always said that engineers (the software kind) are my favourite people in the WWW. This is why.
My new Gaiman books arrived too.
Qoo is happy again.
charging the baby up!
16/08/2007
:D:D
it’s here! it’s here! it’s here!!
16/08/2007
YAY!!!!!!!!!
More pics later! Flickr superstardom, here I come!!
mighty mouse is late
16/08/2007
I guess it’s a bit much if I post 15 minute updates. But then again. It’s my new toy we’re talking about!
Might Mouse is an hour late.
The build-up is killing me!
I look up at every truck that passes, my ears prick with every trolley I hear coming down the lane. I stand up, craning my neck to see if my new toy is here when I see stacked boxes moving in my direction.
I guess at the very worst, Mighty Mouse will deliver it when he comes over to pick up the deliveries at 4pm.
waiting for mighty mouse
16/08/2007
I love receiving packages. Today I’m waiting for possibly my most expensive to date, by the window, with a cup of tea.
I call the UPS guy “Mighty Mouse” because he looks like a mouse, but not quite Mickey. AL says Mighty Mouse makes deliveries between 10.30am and 11am, and according to the UPS tracking code, the shipment is out and about, waiting to jump into my hands.
So here I am, waiting for Mighty Mouse to show up in 20 minutes to deliver my newest toy.
Excited!
happy national day!
10/08/2007
Happy National Day, my Singaporean friends. While you guys probably got to watch the fireworks and the action on Marina Bay and the National Day pep talk from the National Library (nice change!), I updated a massive spreadsheet only to have the tech guy tell me he changed the format of the tables. Qoo is not a happy monster.
I thought about watching the webcast of the parade, I couldn’t wake up early enough. My patriotism, it seems, only comes into effect during my waking hours.
I was trying to explain what National Day was, but I couldn’t find a good description. It is somewhat like 4th of July, Independance Day, but I guess in our case, it wasn’t really Independance we sought. We just got kicked out of the federation.
Anyway. Funny conversation today at the store. I was showing a young American fella some green tea. He said he liked Dragonwell, and had actually been to the place where they manufacture Dragonwell. I tried to make conversation, and asked if he saw the dragon there, he said, oh well, it’s in Hangzhou (or something).
He then asked me, in Mandarin, no less, “Are you Chinese?”
Something about the way he asked me ticked me off. Also, if you ask it in Mandarin, the question is literally, Are you China person?
I guess I’m not cut out for retail and/or customer care. I spat out (without thinking, as usual) in English, “We don’t all come from China.”
Shocked blank look.
Still, a minute later he left the store with a quarter pound of tea.
