Wherever you go and whatever you do these days, the talks are all about the general election that happened on March 8th. Anyone and everyone will have their share of views and opinions on this matter (try googling the topic) and the incident will eventually go down in history and be passed on from generations to generations just like 513... But to me, I see this as a great opportunity for me to really learn and reflect upon myself:

Change = Only Constant
For a party that has led the nation for 50 over years with a majority of 2/3 all along... It must have been shocking and unreal for them when the results revealed that they've suffered the worst ever defeat in history! But to the rest of us, it serves to remind ourselves occasionally that what worked before may not work again now... One needs to constantly evolve, shift paradigms and to really think out of the box! This was one of the things I learnt from my ex boss: Doing the same things over and over again but expecting different results? That's the definition of insanity!

Finger Pointing
It's so easy to finger point when things go wrong. Even a 3 year old with a pure innocent mind is capable of doing that... But what purpose does it serve to finger point? To state out the obvious? To cover ass? To look supreme? To be perceived as the victim? The lists are endless and we too have most likely done it before in our lifetime. But sometimes, I try to remind myself that it's better to just shut the fuck up and be the bigger person to just forgive and forget. Life goes on... whether you make a big hooo-haaah out of it or not...

Evaluate!
When you're high and mighty with people rushing to kiss your ass at every given opportunity, it does wonders to your self esteem and ego. So much so that one could easily be swept off feet and be completely detached from reality to differentiate what's right and what's wrong. In life there will always be plenty of advise from the people who really mean well down to the people who intentionally manipulate you towards their hidden agenda to those who are really just scheming patiently for your downfall for their own personal gains. The key is to evaluate, evaluate and evaluate every piece of info and advise and weight the pros and cons before embarking on them...

Shit Floats
The g-mt can disperse "illegal" gatherings and demonstrations on the pretext not disrupting the peace of the society. They can control and choose what to be reported in mainstream media... Heck, they can even throw you in jail for causing "nuisance". But really... the truth remains the truth no matter! Moral of the story? Don't cover your shortcomings... don't lie about your achievements... don't mislead and confuse others to detract them from the reality of the issues cos at the end of the day... shit floats! Might as well spend all your energy in trying to resolve the issues at hand and to mitigate them from future occurrence than to spend it fooling others. At the end of the day... you're only kidding yourself.

Be Humble
I don't like your face & I don't like your attitude - I believe that these are 2 different things! While you can't change who you are (unless of course you're loaded enough to go plastic), you can change your attitude which will in turn be reflected in your relationships with others... SV may have been a great guy with plenty of achievements to boot... but because of his lansi-ness... he ain't exactly your Mr. Popular. In fact... mention his name and see for yourself how many scrunched up faces you'll get... So ya... must remind myself to be humble... just like how another ex boss once preached: Jor lang hum hum (be humble in Hokkien).

The Building Blocks of Life (Gin Chuk Yau Ching Tin)




Casts

• Alex Fong Chung Sun as Chung Kwok Keung 鍾國強 (Isaac)
• Christine Ng as Ching Wai Yee 程慧儀 (Winnie)
• Tavia Yeung as Cheung Mun Zhing 張文政 (Freeda)
• Chung King Fai as Kwong Shing Yu 江承宇 (Preston)
• Chris Lai as Choi Zi Yeen 蔡志賢
• Natalie Tong as Kwong On Kiu 江安蕎 (Veronica)
• Power Chan as Yeung Zee Heen 楊子軒 (Brian)
• Anne Heung as Cheng Lay 張莉 (Lily)
• Kingdom Yuen as Chung Kwok Mei 鍾國美

Synopsis (from Wikipedia)

Interior design company owner CHUNG KWOK KEUNG (Alex Fong) used to be a favorite student of renowned architect KWONG SHING YUE (Chung King Fai). He gave up his dream of becoming an architect when his father passed away and he had to take up the family business.

As time goes by, the ambitious KEUNG has become an ambitionless man who has no opinions of his own. He has a prosaic relationship with CHING WAI YEE (Christine Ng), an estate agent who he has been going out for six years. He has to rewrite his blueprint in life with the appearance of CHEUNG MAN CHING (Tavia Yeung).

CHING meets KEUNG through work. She has mixed feelings for him, but she forces herself to suppress them when she knows that he has a girlfriend. Yet the unexpected always happen. Firstly, she and YEE become close friends because of a traffic accident. Since then she has to try hard to avoid seeing KEUNG. Secondly, as if it was not worse enough, a new building project brings her and KEUNG together again. Love starts to blossom secretly between the two.

Meanwhile, with the help of YUE, KEUNG pulls himself together. He is confident of handling interpersonal relationship, too. But YUE’s help has upset another student of his, who pledges to frame KEUNG up. As for relationships, KEUNG finds it hard to leave YEE, who has stuck with him through thick and thin, for CHING, who he loves truly…

It's been ages since I last logged in to blog about things in my life. So much has happened in the past 2 months that within the blink of an eye, we're already halfway thru the end of quarter one in 2008!

• Mid Jan: I started the year tearing my hair off for a project that involved a celebrity and a whole truckload of project team members to deal with...
• Early Feb: Then came CNY... which came and went super quick... but leaving me a fat wallet
• Early Feb: Along the way bitch-from-hell came back into my life and made peace...
• Mid Feb: Then came the frustrating bit bout managing people, complexities, timelines and budget!!!
• Early Mar: And now I'm tearing my hair again at another project revolving yet another celebrity...

Back in 2007, life seemed so promising... with plenty of reasons to laugh and celebrate!!! But the good fortune seemed to dissipate into the thin air the minute I entered the CNY period. From then on, all I felt day in day out was frustration, anger, disappointment and bitterness.

Things were so bad that I had to print out The Secret's summary sheet and have it stuck in front of me to help me recall the fact that life can be beautiful if only you dare to think, ask and believe that you've already got it (in your mind) to actually make it materialize. It's really that simple and I've benefited tremendously from it before so why the struggle now???

I've gone from quite the "chio" looking chick to a haggard bitch with breakouts, dark circles and messy hair... I've gone from the talkative ever smilling person (at the time when I practiced The Secret) to an introvert who spends endless hours tinkling on this stupid laptop...

The only thing that remained unchanged was my relationship which has somewhat reached a new height this year. Apart from that, I spend my life working... and when I'm not working, I spend it thinking bout work... Is this it? Is life really all about work? If yes... I think I ought to give myself a big slap and to remind myself that I must be MAD to think so...

Sigh...

P.S. Will try to talk more bout happy things soon... but for now, I just needed to BITCH out LOUD!!! There's really MORE to life than THIS!!! REMEMBER THIS MAEMEE!!!

Word Twister's Adventures (Tit Jui Ngan Nga)

Casts

• Charmaine Sheh as Lap Lan Ching Ching
• Jordan Chan as Chan Mung Kat
• Michael Tse as Fong Tong Kan
• Sharon Chan as Consort Yee
• Kara Hui as Poon Bak Fung
• Yuen Wah as Sir Lap Lan

Synopsis (from Wikipedia)

The most difficult thing for an articulate legal expert is not to win a lawsuit but to bargain for a twist of fate. Plagued by a mysterious family curse, CHAN MUNG-KAT (Jordan Chan), who comes from a legal family, is forced by his mother to fool around and devotes all his time to running a brothel despite his great talent. As a result of a careless mistake, he is embroiled in a legal dispute, through which he gets to know the eloquent LAP LAN CHING CHING (Charmaine Sheh)[though Lap Lan Ching Ching was the only reason for the legal dispute and he knew her before) and the government opponent FONG TONG-KAN (Michael Tse). KAT has developed a strong hatred towards CHING and KAN since being innocently accused.

CHING’s articulation has not only won her a legal gown bestowed by the Qianlong Emperor but also an arranged marriage (But this was not the emperor's will. It was part of Wo Shen's evil plan to ruin Fong Tong Kan. Wo Shen had told the emperor that he would arrange a marriage for Lap Lan Ching Ching and Fong Tong Kan, but instead chose the most disgusting man in the city, Chan Mung Kat.). Despite her love for KAN, CHING cannot decline the Emperor’s offer and finally agrees to marry KAT. The lovelorn KAN lingers at the brothel day and night, leading himself to get caught up in a murder. CHING tries to save KAN but in vain. Luckily KAT offers to help and manages to pull KAN out of the trouble. CHING has got a different impression of KAT and the incident has once again reminded KAT of the curse and the potential danger of getting involved in any kinds of lawsuits. KAT gets framed later on and CHING is left to deal with the case all on her own. To everyone’s surprise, the curse has now been shifted on to KAT…

Marriage of Inconvenience (Liong Cai Si Doi)

Casts

• Bobby Au Yeung as Kong Hoi-Chuen/江海泉
• Angela Tong as "Meow Meow" Miu Ling/繆鈴
• Toby Leung as Ng Yi Wu Jiu/吾爾烏焦
• Raymond Wong Ho-Yin as Ivan Yik Hei Ji/易晞智
• Power Chan as Lam Pak Sum/林柏森
• Astrid Chan as Carol Sin Bing/冼冰
• Winnie Yeung as Betty Yim Wun Bik/炎煥碧

Synopsis (from Wikipedia)

While the owner of a marriage bureau himself, the candid Kong Hoi-chuen (Bobby Au Yeung) nevertheless has no luck in finding a girlfriend. He meets Miu Ling (Angela Tong), who has just been disappointed in love, by chance. With his words of consolation Ling is able to get over her failed love temporarily.

Six months later, Ling agrees to marry Chuen. Yet just when Chuen thinks that he is the happiest husband in the world, he finds out that Ling is seeing her ex-lover, Ivan (Raymond Wong Ho-Yin). Burnt with anger, Chuen decides to divorce Ling. Unfortunately it is not as simple as he has thought. Ling, believing that she has been wronged, refuses to move out. Cheun has no choice but to arrange a fake marriage with mainlander Zhao Yang (Toby Leung), whom he agrees can stay at his place for free. With the help of Yang, Chuen hopes to fight with Ling to the finish. But he later learns that Yang is in fact the girl of a triad leader and her true name is Ng Yi Wu Jiu… On one hand, Chuen loves both Ling and Yang, who have completely different personalities. On the other hand, living with them has put him in a dilemma…

Of all the years I've known Alan, I've only been to his hometown once or twice to "pai tin kong". Thus, I never really understood why the celebration and what the offerings meant... but that was until I saw a cover story on this significant Hokkien custom... and here's an account on how it went...

To the Hokkiens, "Nin Chor Gau" (the ninth day of CNY) is the most important day in CNY where families come together to celebrate the birthday of Jade Emperor; known as "Tin Kong" to seek blessings with food and prayers.

The prayer usually starts after midnight... i.e. on "Nin Chor Gau" with elaborate food offerings that are arranged in a special manner:

• First comes 3 cups of Chinese tea
• Followed by 5 cups of Rice wine
• Then 3 large joss sticks flanked by 2 candles
• Food offerings would include 5 types of fruits specifically bananas (kean chio), pineapple (ong lai) which means welcoming luck
• Six types of vegetarian items like mushroom, fungus, tofu etc...
• Meat dishes like chicken, fish, pork, prawn...
• Finally sweets like candy, peanuts, "ang koo kueh" (red tortoise cakes) and "kee ya kueh"
• Hard boiled eggs dyed in red and "mee suah" (rice vermicelli) or noodles are must have items

After which, the prayer rituals begin with family members praying and burning their prayer paraphernalia just outside the house. This is then followed by a visit to the temple for more offerings and prayers.

Last but not least, everyone must eat a bowl of "mee suah" with hard boiled eggs... And that marked the end of the "pai tin kung" session. :)

Started work on "Nin Chor Mmm" and one of the most asked questions was this... "How was your Chinese New Year?". My answer? "It was great!!! Why? Cos I received plenty of 'ang paus' lor... hehehehe..."

Here's another view of the 'ang paus' I collected this year:

Lets just say I collected quite a lot la har to justify the reply... 4-figure amount wei! Now isn't that a great reason to be happy? Cos honestly, how often in life do you get money out of the blue! So ya, I love CNY!!!