Fresh new start in 2008

I'm not a big believer of Chinese astrology, but it has been pretty correct in predicting my '07 as having big mood swing, no leapfrog but very busy at work, feeling lonely and being attacked by "little persons". '08 is predicted to be a much better year with advancement at work and personal finances. Of course the same fortune wouldn't apply to everybody who born in the same year, but it does more than just forecasting, but to console our devastation of being so unlucky.

As putting a tragically dramatic '07 behind and forward looking to a less dramatic '08, I am anticipating a turnaround in every controllable aspect of my life.

Although there's really no point looking back into the past but if just focusing on the positive aspect...what I have accomplished in 2007:
1) Job search started in January, sifting through different opportunities and finally settle with one within the same firm, celebrating my 5-yr tenure by hopping into 5 different role changes
2) Started this blog! writing an average of 10 entries a month, that's 1 entry every three days, not too bad!
3) Baking all over again.. fully utilize a brand new oven and put together my dessert portfolio
4) Flew my parents to Japan.. I wished to be there myself.. but that's a honeymoon for them.
5) Friends bonding and meeting new friends...partially facilitated by facebook.
6) Started volunteering...i am not afraid of kids anymore
7) Continued riding..started with bumpy cantering to smooth cantering
8) Read more....becoming a crucial part of my life
9) Improve my health...i have some strong biceps
10) Riding vacation in Spain....it would only be something less and less unlikely as you grow older
11) Wined and dined in Paris.. and brought back with "sweet memories" for people who I care for

My '08 resolution:
1) Beat the benchmark, be a 4 star analyst and initiate 20 stocks within one year
2) Travel to Czech and Austria..something that I have been talking about for more than 2 years and dream must come true this year
3) Learning to jump..not the lame 10cm cross
4) Family and friends bonding
5) Pass whatever exam I have signed up for
6) Better control of finances and manage PA
7) Building up confidence and improve presentation skills
8) Pick up painting again
9) Continue to improve my health, immune from viruses
10) Continue volunteering
11) One cake for each birthday.. quite ambitious but will try to make it happen!

Chocolate fondue

After two hours of butterfly catching and swinging of the rackets, we decided to indulge ourselves with chocolate and ice-cream.

Haagen Dazs chocolate fondue - there are 6 different ice-cream flavors, as I recalled...green tea, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, mango, chocolate; cubes of new york style cheesecake chucks, hazelnut an chocolate cookies; kiwis, banana and strawberry fruits to wash down the guilt; bailey sauce and chocolate sauce for dipping.

My friend told me if you order the chocolate fondue to go, they will give you the whole set with circular plastic plates just like how you would order in store. That's totally convenient for the love birds who would rather have some romantic moments at home..

Ultimate fashionista

Even the form of hydration has to be fashionable. That's a can of perrier from Cathay lounge in the airport.. it's too pretty to be crushed.

Who am I?

ESFJ - The Caregiver

This type is conservative and hardworking, values responsibility and service to others, is serious, trustworthy, and diligent, focused on duty and getting the job done, adheres to traditional values and dress, and is slow to accept new ideas. The SJ has a strict idea of how things should be done and frowns on deviation from it.

SJs make up the greatest part of the management of business organizations. Their attention to detail and preference to make decisions quickly lend well to the structure of larger organizations.

Guardians are polite and straightforward, respectful and more formal than the other temperaments. They talk in an unadorned way and include facts and precise details rather than generalizations.

SJs dress neatly and conservatively but don't focus on current trends. They tend to have good posture and walk briskly.

Handcrafts, collecting things (especially antiques), volunteerism, sports, jogging, and participation in service organizations.

Gets energized when they are around other people. love to chit chat, mingle, and socialize. Take in information using their senses and focus on things that are actually there. Decide by their heart. Prefer values, motivations and feelings. They are well structured and organized.

Do you agree?

Food marathon

Here it is.. my food jounral in Taipei.

Sat Dec 15, 2007

#1 - 度小月, Tainan food, well known for its noodles with homemade meat sauce. Everything is delicious and is a good start of our food marathon in Taipei...

Fried cuttle fish ball
Fried lobster roll
#2 - 太和殿麻辣火鍋, famous for its super spicy sichuan style hot pot. VERY spicy indeed..we couldn't even finish the lettuce because it all soaked with the spicy broth.. The cuttlefish is the best I've had with chucks of cuttlefish meat.

#3 - 明月湯包, not too impressed with the xiao long bao, they didn't steam it all the way through so the meat and the broth are not hot enough, but the skin is thin enough and comparable to shanghai quality. The onion cake is not good at all, the batter is so thick apparently they use too much flour but not enough oil and green onion.


Sun Dec 16, 2007
#1 - 同心圓水晶紅豆餅/奶油餅, we had the black sesame flavor.. it was soo good!! We were there when they made the first batch of cake for the day. We needed to wait for approx 5 min but totally worth it.. the melting sesame paste is not too sweet and goes well with the fluffy cake shell.


#2 - 冰館 for its shaved ice and fruit. Unfortunately mango is not in season so the mixed fruit is really only strawberry and kiwi.

#3 - 喫飯餐廳, my colleague recommend this place and have to have the rice with lard no matter how fat it is. So guilty but so declicious, chewy and so flavorful. I have almost half of the bowl. The garlic oyster also is very good.



#4 - 鴉片粉圓, i love tapioca, and this one definitely the best I have had.
#5 - 阿宗麵線, I was soo full by then already.. and it was only 4pm. Nobody visiting Taipei should miss this one because it has the most people waiting in line for a bowl of intestine. I was blown away by the thick flavorful soup....this is one of the best thing I have ever had, even though I don't eat intestine.

#6 - 福州世祖胡椒餅@饒河街夜市, people start lining up for their pepper bun on the street when the night market opens at 4pm. Not glamourous, no fancy plates and setting, no variety at all. Just the peppery pork bun itself wins the heart of Taipei residents and tourists. The buns are roasted in a tandoor wit hot charcoal fire. the ratio of green onion of minced pork is 1:1. I enjoyed every single bite of it and even wanted more after finished the whole bun which is slightly bigger than the size of my palm. The aftertaste of pepper lingered for the whole night inside my mouth. We decided to pay another visit before we leave for HK.



#7 - 東發飲食店 (蚵仔麵線), oyster noodles similar to the 阿宗麵線, the soup is less thick. still good but I prefer 阿宗麵線.
#8 - 麻辣臭豆腐, missing picture.

Mon Dec 17, 2007

#1 - 青葉餐廳@微風廣場, dining under the chandelier. This is a hip and fancy resturant serving contemporary taiwanese food. Everything is good on the table, the mullet roe fried rice score the highest point.








#2 - 福州世祖胡椒餅@饒河街夜市 again. Do I need to say more!!!


Review of my Taipei trip - I can really eat alot....

What an accomplishment

Any guinness record for the amount of food you can finish while traveling? I don't think I can possibly achieve more..

With only three days, 54 hours in the city of Taipei, I went to all restaurants/eating venues that my colleague recommend, eating something almost every other hours..stuffing my stomach full with traditional or contemporary taiwanese cuisine all the time.

I am impressed with the number of restaurants and food stands there are in taipei...you can find something to eat every couple of steps, you can smell food everywhere, at the airport, in the hotel, in the department store, on the crossover, in the bookstore.. how can taiwanese people eat so much? you see them walking on the street everyone must be carrying some kind of food, eating while walking, that seems like part of their culture..

I am also very impressed with their kindness and friendliness, comparing to hk people who tend to be angry and cynical... hk cab drivers have the worst manner, they do everything to make you feel guilty of taking a HKD15 cab ride..they will spin you in the cab with swift turns, scolding you with secret language via cab intercom, slamming the brakes that makes you fly like a batman...you feel like you should take a detour just to make it more than 15 only... on the contrary, we had the greatest chat with cab drivers in taipei...they gave us the most positive vibe while showing us the right places to go, giving us the most personalized service within 10 min of ride even though this is the only 10 min that we will see each other.. don't know why taiwanese people seem to be much calmer and less calculating..

Stay tune for tonnes of saliva stimulating food pictures from taipei... i am missing it already..

Number One

Everything is about ranking in HK, II votes, starmine score, performance evaluation, lipper ranking...

Especially the guys, each of them has a #1 in the office... unbelievably some even have a top 5 lists.

What I have gauged so far:
Mr. A - a colleague who looks like the girl next door, a little chubby, sweet and cute
Mr. B - an ex-colleague who is not that appealing.. a little bit pissy looking and with an attitude, but very friendly when engage in a conversation
Mr. C & D - a colleague who is tall and slender, party animal, arrogant looking, enjoy her own little world
Mr. E - another tall and slender girl, dark skin tone, very friendly, has good fashion sense but quite immature
Mr. F - another tall and slender girl, friendly looking, feminine, with good fashion sense, has an attitude problem

The result is basically all over the place..but the types that they most appeal to are nowhere close to their wives or girlfriends, I wonder why they can have such different standards and beauty yardsticks.. At the end of the day, they will only marry someone who are easy to domesticate and most compatible with.

Victory lap

I declared a war, and here comes the victory lap.

Thanks those who have given me all the care and support along the whole process... you have been the greatest listeners to my whining and compliants.

I made my turn in the middle of a crossroad. There will be even more challenges in the future as my ability is now put into test. Whether the risk is warranted is yet to find out...but I am willing to commit and perform better than before.

Sichuan feast

Three Sichuan lovers ganged up and dined at a private kitchen. We had a fabulous night at Sichuan Dai PIng Huo, we loved every bite of spice and fire. Normally I need to take break from the heat in the middle of the meal, but this time I finished everything cohesively...I think I have just developed a different level of tolerance for spicy food.

I don't think Sichuan Dai Ping Huo offers the most authentic Sichuan cuisine..it is more gearing towards the avant garde catering to the younger crowd. There're 11 courses in total.. yes..no body leaves with an empty stomach unless you cannot tolerate the heat.

The whole dinner is full of aroma and spices, so stimulating you can smell the ingredients from afar.

Out of all dishes, I love the spicy fun pei and dumplings the most. The fun pei appetizer is probably too spicy for me but that's aiming to jump start our nerves.. like a kick in the bum to tell us to get ready for a spicy dinner. I also love the dumplings as a sweet ending to our hot meal, I am so addicted to the chewy dough and sweet sauce..it's like a pad on the shoulder cheering our success of finishing the whole meal.

Perfect guy

A couple of weeks ago, I helped PG to get his iPhone from the states. Although he is a guy who's keen on gadgets, his previous phone was actually 5 years old and he only put in his money if the gadgets represent some kind of technology breakthrough.

Sometime this year.. when SE880 first came out...
ME: PG, why don't you change your phone? a lot of new models coming out this year and your phone is breaking apart!
PG: Yeah, actually I wanted the SE880. That's the slimmest form factor with decent specs. I bought it but my wife likes it very much, so I gave it to her instead.
ME: You are so nice to your wife...

Two weeks ago, before PG left for Korea for business trip..
ME: PG, what happens to your iPhone?
PG: It is not a 3G phone so I cannot use it in Korea. I switched with my wife for the SE temporarily..
ME: I see, does your wife want the iPhone too originally?
PG: I asked and I even took her to one of those MK stores so that she can try it out and see if she likes it or not....she said she's happy with the SE880 and doesn't need an iPhone.
ME: Now getting used to iphone's big screen, looking at other phones the screen is soo small...
PG: Yeah.. it is actually quite hard to see.

A couple of days ago and PG was back to HK for more than a week..
ME: PG, what happened to your phone? how come you are still using your wife's SE?
PG: Remember I swapped phones with my wife for my Korea trip? After I got back she didn't propose to switch it back to me .. so I guess she wants to use the iphone now instead..
ME: really.. (looking at him sympathetically but didn't dare to say a word about it)
PG: this SE is actually not too bad...it is very light and small.
ME: ............... (speaking to myself..but you loves your iphone..)

This is a perfect guy I know who would always put his wife and family in the first place, sacrificing his desire and possession to keep them happy.

Vietnam trip

After three days of getaway in a primitive and under-developed city, I finally returned back to the civilized reality.

This is how I feel every time I venture out of the city, I depart with a mounting desire for a state of stress-free and anonymity. The first few days of adventure is usually refreshing and fun. Then, getting a bit homesick approaching the end of the vacation, and eventually getting tired of being in a strange country and eager to return home for the familiarity.

Ho Chi Minh is not a very exciting place after all and there's not much architectural wonder which I am most interested in when visiting a country. Unfortunately I am not that knowledgeable in terms of history and politics, and it's a shame to admit that my only memory of Vietnam is from Apocalypse Now and Forrest Gump.

I pretty much spending the whole weekend being relaxed, getting massage and spa treatment three days in a row, fanatically chowing down vietnamese and french cuisine, feeling depressed that there's no wifi access whatsoever, having lots of heart to heart talk with my friend, buying stuff without looking at the price tag because everything is so cheap.

Here is all the food I have eaten during the trip, including:
- Wrap N' Roll for Vietnamese finger food
- Le Bordeaux for fancy french three course meal
- Pho 24 for pho with beef
- Temple club for a fancy version of Vietnamese cuisine
- Quan An Ngon for all the Vietnamese street food