island dream

the Queen Bee has landed in Sarajevo

2009-12-16T06:14:00.016+08:00

forbidden no more . beijing olympics 2008.8

moscow meow . 2008.8

tibet . 2008.10

hello joni . hello pattaya again . 2008.12

hello phuket . wedding bells again . 2008.12

hello joni again . 2008.12

buongiorno roma . 2009.8

hello sarajevo . hello guava . 2009.12

I am the queen again!

2008-08-01T00:10:00.003+08:00

today marks the end of an era.
tonight I shall rest. perhaps a vision will come to me.
tomorrow I shall once again.. be vision queen.

new house, new life

2007-08-06T19:46:00.000+08:00

not as I planned it

my first attic

2007-07-23T23:08:00.000+08:00

on a little lane along taiyuan lu .. must be an inspiring space .. waking up to live music in the morning .. am I still dreaming ..

18 weeks

2007-07-04T00:11:00.000+08:00

and two days.. and still counting.

I miss it.

After a meal.

Over a drink.

When I'm taking a break.

When I've completed a task.

When I feel like it.

Like now.

bath time!

2007-07-01T13:50:00.000+08:00

once a year, babies, just once a year! and see how clean you smell now, little rosemary mints!

父亲节快乐!

2007-06-17T23:09:00.000+08:00

Happy Dada-day!

( 张家的帅哥)

Cocoa Island

2007-05-12T12:08:00.000+08:00

A new red-eye flight on route to Johannesburg takes us to Male. The small airport is not as rugged as I remember from 1989, but it is still simple and orgainized. A smart-looking young man called Toby greets us and walks with us to the 4-crew boat which was to take us 45min southwards on the Indian Ocean to our island home for the next 6 days. Toby says the island was hit by a ferocious storm in the previous night and according to our travelling companions, the forecast was for thunderstorms all week. But within 30min on the ocean, my anxiety was dispelled by a good omen. A spirited spinner dolphin (whom I'd like to believe is an old friend) greets us from a distance, making a small display of acrobats in the sunrise. From that moment on, I knew I was home again.

finally arriving at Cocoa Island

morning call by the resident crow

breakfast!

welcome to our "backyard"

our home for six days

bring your own trumpet!

our coast guards were baby black-tipped reef sharks

second floor view of the front of our dhoni #822

happy feet at the deck

let's romp around

our resident trumpet fish

sturdy sandcastle still standing after a stormy night

snapped by triggerfish!

me, myself & I

here's a happy heron

pool view or ocean view for you, madam?

our travelling companions, sok & sam (plus-one)

when the temperature cools down

drink at dusk, at the bar

I wish, I wish, I wish ...

Gone Fishing

2007-05-04T12:20:00.000+08:00

Cocoa Island, Maldives May 5 ~ 9

internal mew-nologue

2007-05-02T15:50:00.000+08:00

hmm.. looks like the little one is awake..

lemme check if his bum-bum is clean

yes, sweet-pea, it's just me..

sigh.. boys.. can't live with them

..can't live without them!

my all-time fave channel

2007-05-02T15:48:00.000+08:00

national geographic

fall in love with me...

2007-05-02T15:35:00.000+08:00

soft as morning dew

gentle as ocean breeze

and just when you think it's safe..

gotcha!

how much are the kitties in the window?

2007-05-02T14:47:00.000+08:00

rmb4,500 each for these little darlings... got 2 new toilets instead, for my two little darlings

one month later

2007-04-26T20:14:00.000+08:00

now I am ready to start not-smoking-for-one-year!

beezeero-1 here I come!

the muse A.K.A. soul mate

2007-04-23T21:58:00.000+08:00

There were nine immortals
Once in the land of Zeus
Each one of these lasses
Each one a spellbinding muse

From old Greek mythology
To ancient French and Latin
A muse breathing poetry
Can forever haunt your dreams

In this urban reality
Two kindred spirits entangle
Drawn by deepest affinity
If you believe it's possible

In a land of mediocrity
A mortal finds inspiration
When music meets poetry
This muse is my redemption

Look Ma! I can FETCH too!

2007-04-23T21:56:00.000+08:00

Excuse me, are you a Jack Russell?

2007-04-22T01:33:00.000+08:00

3 weeks later

2007-04-15T16:05:00.000+08:00

attended the h&m kylie-glam party at the science & tech museum on wed.. "she looks good for her age" (1968 means she's 39y/o) .. god forbids that I ever get decribed like that..

..3 weeks later, I didn't even realize I was at a non-smoking venue!

80

2007-04-15T15:53:00.000+08:00

30 packets of instant noodles.. 30 double-a's batteries.. 30 half-straws from jz.. 30 triple-a's batteries.. 30 packets of asian gourmet seasoning.. 30 packets of rolling paper
and tadah! one sony cybershot h5
happy 80th birthday for someone who was born 50!

seven

2007-04-01T14:40:00.000+08:00

ok, so by now all the nicotine by-products are outa my system and the tap water in Shanghai does taste funky.. and in the next couple of weeks my blood pressure will go back to normal, which for me, probably means it'll be a bit low.. and my immune system will show signs of recovery ... ahhh... immunity.... will I become immune to incurable diseases like numbskullesion and dimwitology.. which leads me to quote this last line in the Children & Passive Smoking section of a certain .au.org site

"A child who eats a cigarette or cigarette butt can become very sick."

i don't even know how to respond to this..

B.Zero-1

2007-03-27T16:29:00.001+08:00

it has been exactly 47 hours since the fateful ride on 2gg's BatMobWil to Chek lep Kok

apparently, after 12 hours most of the nicotine is outa ma system
and after 24 hours, the carbon monoxide in my blood has dropped dramatically, giving my more oxygen in my bloodstream...

so how come I was so sleepy last night??? maybe it was just the over-zealous screwdrivers, piper pink & lychee martinis at armani bar on Sat night??

B.Zero-1 by the way is NOT another cocktail concoction ordered by ninja-ew-turtle.

B.Zero-1 is my guiding light for the next 29 daysB.Zero-1 will be keeping me focused.

B is for brainwave, B is for bold, B is for brenda, B is for brilliance and oh yah.. B is for bvlgari!

can't view my blog again

2007-03-21T22:20:00.001+08:00

damn!

cheer me up, NOW!

2007-03-21T22:18:00.000+08:00

two birthdays and a wedding

2007-03-21T22:16:00.000+08:00

I always cry at weddings. Crying after one?

witch craft!

2007-03-12T20:55:00.000+08:00

sms 06-March-2007 08:35, from one witch to another

"I dreamt soks pregant :) "

we held our tongues so we wouldn't break the spell...

And this little golden pig cried ee-ee-ee all the way home!

congee FAT boy!

2007-03-01T16:46:00.000+08:00

mama went home for chinese new year and papa went to boota-pest and left me & jiejie at home.. uncle tommy came everyday to feed me lotsa biscuits so now I am phat-boy!
ps did you de-code the title yet?? It's how I say 恭喜发财 in cantonese!

bosphorus, where east first met west

2007-02-09T00:48:00.000+08:00

after spending two intense days with my new italian family - inside the swissotel with an invitingly glorious view of the bosphorus, I finally got a take in a breath or two of Turkish air on Saturday afternoon, wandering around the old part of town, into the famous blue mosque that looks so much like something out of a fairy tale, where I half expected to see Rapunzal let her hair down..

one grand bazzaar and a shisha later, I was beginning to forget that I came to Istanbul for business - it helped that my peers were real people who like me, have a crazy appetite for life! Downtown in Taxim by the Mahmara, the traffic was buzzing with life at 3pm or 3am, where the snow doesn't dampen the spirits. And one brief hour in the Museum of Archeology takes you back into time, even before the Otterman, Constantinople and Alexander the Great, when the land was known as the Byzantine Empire.

one night in dubai, one week ago

2007-02-09T00:19:00.000+08:00

from the arabian gulf, into the dubai creek where trade began ~ now the old town of a new city. One hour drive south, along the coast, past prime private real estates, you will see Burj-Al Arab: epitome of modern-day dubai architecture, ultra sleek glass & steel, with its distinct coastal-ethnic style. Venture on to one of the palm-shaped man-made islands, and you witness the magic of money. Alas, one hour east, you will see what it was like just 30 years ago - endless miles of desert.. an amazing city, built by men with vision and imagination; which will undoubtedly will go down in history, as the metropolis representing the Golden Age of the UAE civilization.
driving into the sunset towards the Jumeirah beach, we found the Souk Madinat quite by accident - which is best described as the Xintiandi of Dubai (souk means market). I finally bought myself a dishdasha ("it's for men!" I heard the alarmed sales girl whisper) - a romantic white robe traditionally worn by the Arabic men. And driving back north along the coast, we had the good fortune to be cruising at snail's pace, alongside jubilant locals who were out in the streets, waving their national flags, hanging out from their cars and doing the victory dance - all these from winning the Gulf Cup. A first it seems; and a priviledge to be a part of.

sunday brunch in hong kong

2007-02-08T23:19:00.000+08:00

If i hadn't had so many good experiences with the customer service people in the past, I would most certainly have made a scene 2 thursdays ago at hsbc. Fortunately Jason & Kitagawa kept their cool & a sense of humour until we made it to the still-smoking-permitted Armani Bar (which Simone promised to take us in Milan but hadn't... humphh!). Then as usual, our eyes were bigger than our stomaches at Lei Yue Mun - I think lobster sashima came out of my ears afterwards. And as promised, 2gg's apartment has a view of the open sea - but lo & behold, those posh apartments at Cyberport have talking elevators which trapped Meng & myself in twilight zone, conversing with a digital recording of a women's spooky voice LET ME OUTA HERE!! NOW!!! (pleeeeaase 2gg, move back to the comforting mid-levels where we can walk up to the peak or down to lankwaifung)

Jordan

2007-01-09T22:02:00.000+08:00

"A ray of hope flickers in the sky
A tiny star lights up way up high
All across the land dawns a brand new morn
This comes to pass when a child is born

A silent wish sails the seven seas
The winds of change whisper in the trees
And the walls of doubt crumble tossed and torn
This comes to pass, when a child is born

A rosy hue settles all around
You got the feel, you're on solid ground
For a spell or two no one seems forlorn
This comes to pass, when a child is born"

Jordan Tan (Jan 9, 2007) , sister of godson Ryan (Jan 7, 2004) and baby girl to Linda & Richard

From the name of a river flowing between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן (Yarden), and it is derived from יָרַד (yarad) meaning "descend" or "flow down". John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ in its waters, and it was adopted as a personal name after crusaders brought back water from the river to baptize their children.

happy birthday to me!

2007-01-06T16:07:00.000+08:00

bang!

2007-01-04T00:50:00.000+08:00

another new year's celebration with 2gg! as usual, she was a superstar from the moment she landed in PVG - always happy to trot along doing this & that, always loaded with amusing stories, always game for mid-afternoon champagne & always jolly to meet new friends.
this time, jennie & sophie came along with jolyn and for one night and we even had cousin heng & may with connie... just imagine, women from 20something to 30something to 40something to 50something to 60something creating havoc from guyi to jz!

new year's eve at glam bar was... pretty perfect! i think martha had more fun than arnold - but then again, she always does!

resolutions get harder every year for me... offer my opinion only when asked for it! which means this is my only outlet to air my royal views! thank god for blogs!

finally, the most impt event over the weekend, 2gg bonded with her god-daughter & her little brother k2.. and after she left... this is the sms i got:

"Actually missing them a tini tini bit"

black-out

2007-01-04T00:33:00.000+08:00

6pm hh on thu with brenda... nothing unusual... 1 glass of red wine... massive download... nothing unusual... 3 glasses of bacardi coke... chatting with random people... nothing unusual... 10pm dropped off by brenda... nothing unusual...

6am woke up in bed with ZERO recollection of anything after 8pm... huh? complete black-out?! what was that about??? super scary stuff!

thank my lucky stars the girls at velvet kept my computer bag safe for me!

xmas with mgg

2007-01-04T00:02:00.000+08:00

certainly dusseldorf is not a typical german city... even then, the excitement drove me to spend an entire day indoors to do mindless household chores for mgg!

but then again, given the chance to meet a nbf in the form of an syt... it was worth the trip!

thankfully we had the good sense to escape via choo-choo-train to amsterdam on christmas eve... window-shopping in the evening, self-administered facials, boots-a-hunting, pub-a-hopping, mad italian students, an american tourist of 6-years, a fireplace in the lobby of Hotel V, aimless wanderings from one square to another... the best parts of the trip? fighting over garbage & a farewell footrub!

so... the only 2 things I can moan about... not getting the chance to see amy & joel in london.

HOWEVER! Ryan Air did deliver my long-lost ex-wife to Milan for 9 british pounds! and as if it was at all possible, pam has become more entertaining & WORSE! even more beautiful post-sprogs... and so secure that she actually didn't get offended when I compared laura & audrey with my furry four-legged babies!

aida'd, nobu'd & milaned

2006-12-22T18:15:00.000+08:00

stinged by la scala aida

2006-12-14T01:16:00.000+08:00

finally on the long-overdue trip to milano... ciao!
seems my people are not connected with the seedy underworld to score me tickets for the most significant opera of the season, not even the Sting show at Santa Maria delle Grazie
hmphhhhh...
while I'm killing time.. maybe I can't try a brain exercise to remember names...
so... there were the Three Musketeers.. Marica, Christian and Anna
then there was prego-Valeria (intonated like malaria)
and preppy paolo of sao paulo.. and Beatrice the Bear for Disney
Susannah the reluctant porn-queen
Lucia.. the ONLY one who offered to go out for coffee or hh with us
(federico the fake-italian of course doesn't count)
then there's nontcio the can't-smoke-in-the-courtyard-guy..
this morning we had curly-hair Federica and very pretty Alice
then the Feverish-Francesco! Francesco! (sounds like a commercial)
then Scott the american (that's too easy)
And Frankenstein with his replacement .... excuse me, where can I get those gucci bags for under my eyes too? via nero? Grazie!

did I just lose my last blog...

2006-12-02T02:02:00.001+08:00

ok.. just checked.. posted as intended..

back with a vengeance

2006-12-02T01:22:00.000+08:00

one month of not being able to access my account, I'm back! wonder how long this window will be open..

just saw The Departed (again) by Martin Scorsese and am now fully convinced Leo can act.. and decided to check out the original film Infernal Affairs (tho the recent dvd supply has been rather weird) that's why I watched Mr & Mrs Smith (again) & Fab Baker Boys (again & again)

on feeling like crap last month - the reason for feeling like crap has not gone away but que-sera-sera!

how far have I gone in the past month? by far the best month all year with meeting worthy new people in shanghai

.. there's zheng & chang who swept me a away, watch this space

.. there's my "dream girl" who's in my phone as "phoebe-virgin" & her number actally begins with 159

.. there's rae with the bedsheets & too-much-cleavage-for-my-sensibilities-at-lunch

.. then there's baby ralph who made robert a daddy and the first catwomen is now a real mama (there's hope in this world when people like them sprog)

hmmm.. I should stop my dumping & gather my thoughts.. maybe start contemplating my new year's resolution.. so many possibilities..

ARGGGGHHHHHH... it's my "RETIREMENT YEAR" ie spend the rest of my good years doing what I KNOW is important! ok.

f.o.c.u.s!

Somebody Help Me!

2006-11-02T00:55:00.000+08:00

I haven't been able view blogs since the weekend.

Gotta get my tech guys to tell me how to bypass the local restrictions..

gggrrrr..

crap

2006-10-28T12:24:00.000+08:00

feeling like crap

hot chick

2006-10-27T01:04:00.000+08:00

Dragged my reluctant feet and Sok's lazy ass to the Lisa's gig for SH Tang. Somewhere in the midst of too many fashionable people, 2 bubbly ladies identified our accent & burst into the whole you-look-too-familar-which-school-did-you-go-to conversation.. poor girls were obviously missing Laksa..
But true enough, Germaine turned out to have gone to SAJC as well, one year my junior! According to her, I was the hot chick in school who was too cool to talk to anybody. And Brenda reassured her that I'm still quite the b*tch.
hah!

galivating with two young ladies

2006-10-27T00:38:00.000+08:00

Jo (Jenni's daughter) and her friend Teresa (Jo's ex-roomie in college) needed a place to crash so I decided to be a nice aunty.. take them out for dinner
Turns out it was Teresa's 29th bday and after a jug of Cosmopolitans at Xintiandi, a round of Mojitos at Face, more cocktails with a Bund view.. young Bryan managed to redeem himself at Glamour Bar with a little chocolate thingie with a candle - we gave the bday girl 3 genie wishes and I think I managed to hijack the 3rd wish. After more rounds of whatever, I managed to coax rmb100 out of Miss L'Oreal, aka Jane-who-hates-Tarzan who insisted i haven't collected enough wrinkles to prove my age (god bless her poor eye-sight!)
even though it was only just past the witching hour when we got done.. I ended the lovely evening as bad aunty.. banishing them to "bed" with just a bare tatami floor and zero pillows! hopefully they too were too-happily-intoxicated to notice..

meow! meow! meow!

2006-10-22T00:35:00.000+08:00

A dog doesn't want very much and is happy with that.
A cat doesn't know what he wants and wants more of it.
-Judge Mills Lane

365 nights

2006-10-20T21:31:00.000+08:00

one year ago tonight, a certain cutie followed me home & spent the night!
sat on my back for hours purring away while I was wondering if she'd poop on me?!
she was so small she could fit in my palms and now.. she's pang jie-jie!

we celebrated with tuna for supper!

home alone

2006-10-20T01:44:00.000+08:00

what do you do when you have rmb1280 (or usd162 = sgd256 = eur129) of credit on your spa card and it expires in a day?

stooopid options I was given at dragonfly:
(a) top up another rmb3,000 so you don't use your unused credit... doh!
(b) book a VIP room so you can blow it all on the private "Love Nest" charge

alternative options when you don't want to be ripped off
(c) bring 5 friends along for your fave treat of foot massage followed full body chinese massage, but seriously.. how can one orchestrate this at short-notice
(d) bring one friend (anita who is here from chicago on biz) along for a footsie followed by aroma-therapy by 2 masseuse at the same time... now how efficient is that!

hours later after a sip of wine with martha & jason at a blah blah wine place.. and unglam coke & water at glam bar with fritz... home alone.. at last!

meeeeow! how's dragon eye in down-gate??

1 + 2 + 3 + 4

2006-10-19T00:41:00.000+08:00

How many thirty-somethings do you know that have been married for ten years??
This guy has done his window shopping, web-browsing and today, he'll be flying back from Shanghai to Tokyo to take his wife out to pick out that very special rock! He's obviously wise after ten years - to know not to venture out to buy jewelry on his own (all the other amateurs should learn). Hey in case you catch this before your anniversary is over, don't forget the flowers!

go hosogoe go!

virgin blog

2006-10-12T00:07:00.000+08:00

there's always a first
for everything.

so this
is my first blog

it's called
meow mix

Meow Mix

Some say a dog person
Can never love a cat person
That why a couple like that
They fight like dogs & cats

A dog is man's best friend
He's loyal to the very end
A cat on the other hand
He thinks that's truly bland

A cat may never fetch
In fact he may even scratch
But when he meets his match
He knows it's quite a catch

A cat who finally finds his fix
One who knows how he ticks
He knows it's time he licks
He's very own Meow Mix