...*Jenn

New blog

2010-09-10T10:14:00.001+01:00

Please visit http://jennfc.com for more updated entries. Many thanks!

I am back

2010-03-21T18:27:00.011Z

Hi everyone! My current location is London.

As you may all have realised I didn't manage to update this blog when I was away in China. Blogger seems to be blocked in China. So I signed up to the famous Chinese chatroom - QQ. What a great software to download! Highly recommended. Personally think it's way better than MSN. At the moment I am addicted to QQ music.

Shantou, China

Rich's family were very nice. Stayed in Shantou for about 5 days and tasted many tasty dishes. But no offence, personally I still think Wuhan has much more tasty dishes to my liking. Well, as they say, photos say a thousand words. I have selected a few, enjoy!

We spent a night in HK before we headed to Shantou.
Martin's Dad's cooking is just unbelievably tasty!
Breakfast in a local HK restaurant, yum!
My favourite papaya sticky rice desert
Lunch

Rich's friends, and of course our dear Frank

Blossoms
Rich's high school, can you spot my super curly hair? Shantou is so humid!
Tasty local Shantou restaurant

My fav! Not so kin of this one, too oily.
Family cat, adorable!

Christina (rich's sister), her bf and me
鲍鱼面，好吃！
Fried beef, so tender, I loved it!
Most importantly, I got to meet up with Katrina! What a wonderful young lady. Even though the breakfast tasted very average, I did very much enjoy the company.
Overall, I had a good time in Shantou. The weather was warm/cool and humid but the people I met were very nice. It's great to meet Rich's family, his friends and find out more about his 'embarrassing' past (LOL). Next entry WUHAN!

A job and a trip back to China

2010-02-05T01:16:00.004Z

What more can I ask for? It's been hectic these 2 weeks. But I would first of all like to thank my loved ones. The people who have given me so much support and love throughout my miserable job hunting days. Thank YOU (who's reading my blog) for putting up with my complaining and describing every single job hunting experience I have had so far. THANK YOU ALL!

And as my dearest Ruby JJ has said: 'last but not least, I must thank myself.' HAHA! Thanking myself for working hard this month and securing a job position that I truly like. For giving myself a great present for Chinese New Year and not having to worry about job hunting when I am on holiday. (Thick skinned right? haha.... I'm sorry, but really, it's true, bare with me). I am proud to say I achieved 100% (PERFECT) for my numerical test on the day and went on to the interview stage. After a few hours, I got a golden phone call telling me I've got the job. How exciting. I couldn't scream to the top of my voice because I was on Oxford Street. Might scare a lot of people.

The job

Marketing Manager! Yes... Marketing! Something I adore, I think its been running in my blood. Haha. Let's just wait till I finally get to do it for real. I might have to eat my words. Opps. For now, I'll still want to enjoy my Chinese New Year with my beloved Grandparents and relatives. How I have missed them. It's been 2 years and a bit now! A very long time.

Chinese New Year

China! I'm leaving tomorrow! First, I'll be going to Richard's (my bf) hometown in Shantou to meet his family and his friends. Then I'll be setting off to Wuhan, my dear dear homeland! How exciting. I have been packing and packing but I still don't know what to bring exactly. Shantou is rather warmer than London but Wuhan is freezing cold. Sometimes I wish my room can fly with me. Why can't someone invent some kind of machine that allows us to bring our room everywhere we go? I would definitely invest in that.

Flight

My flight tomorrow is in the evening at around 9pm. So I'll be heading to Heathrow at around 3pm just to avoid the rush hour traffic. No make up, comfy clothes. I usually travel like that. Please excuse me if I do not update. I'm not abandoning blogging but I just have to check if I could write in blogspot in China. I've heard my blog is not accessible in China. We'll see! If I can blog, I'll definitely let you know straight away. If not, please stay tuned in for my March come back.

Photos:

It's time to celebrate!

Found this on the roundabout at canary wharf, a multi-traffic light. So which one do you look at first? Haha...

Cold

2010-01-26T12:51:00.005Z

Yes. I think I have finally caught a cold. Was pretty much expecting one sooner or later. My whole week of plans with meeting up with friends are ruined now. Just hope to get better before Thursday! Another big day of interviews.

First round - Maths Test :( it's amazing how fast you throw away all your maths skills when you finish your academic education. Tried doing a maths test that should take only 1 hour but I finished it in 3 hours. =_='' PANIC! NO! This is not the time to panic. More maths for me today! I'll make sure this works out.

Second round - interview (only when you pass the maths bit, so I better pass!)

Wish me luck guyssss... I need all the luck there is in this world to find a job I like at this time of the year.

Photos: This is how much Rich and I have been eating when I first moved down to London in October. I love to cook and I cooked loads. Both of us could finish nearly everything in one meal! =_= but for now, we have changed our eating habits and I am now a pro at making salads. haha.

On my way to London, on the train... what a beautiful sight!

Yantong's cooking is very good. Kimichi and Tofu goes together perfectly!

And due to the fact that Rich is away these few days to Bristol for work, he felt bad that he's not able to take care of me when I'm sick. So instead, these pink roses were meant to make up for his absence. :) big smiles.

Lesson learnt

2010-01-20T18:02:00.006Z

When you go for an interview, you have to do your homework.

In one particular industry, there's no one type of company. So as you can tell. I was not at the right interview I prepared for yesterday; 'wrong place, wrong time'. :) funny how I don't get disappointed anymore. It's like what Xuan (my Durham econ girlfriend) told me a few days ago, 'when you go for an interview, there's always a new problem popping up. ' I see what you mean now.

So I guess only when the day comes you have nearly experienced all sorts of terrible problems and conquered them, a career will then be secured.

Conclusion: I need to secure more interviews in this short amount of time.

Photo: This is a view of the O2 arena in London. Taken in my friend's apartment just upstairs to mine. My room view is actually partially blocked by the building you see on the bottom right corner. Beautiful view isn't it? I love the fact you can see the river every morning and every time you come home after a long day. It gives me 'a peace of mind'. What's your peace of mind?

What an interesting week

2010-01-17T13:26:00.007Z

Apologies for not updating for a few days. I have so many photos to share but have no time to sort them out and blog them for the time being. So I'll just upload photos at a slower pace than my entries. But don't worry, every entry will have photos. I'll make sure of that. "A picture speaks a thousand words"! Which also means I do not have to write another thousand words! HAHA!

Where shall I start?

This week has been hectic. I tried to go to the gym every day but failed to do so on Thursday and Friday. So Saturday was gym day!

Why was I packed for Thursday?
Wednesday I went to the gym as usual and got back feeling gutted I didn't ring back faster to get my temp job in a reputable recruitment agency. So I sat down in front my desk and started to apply for jobs one after another. Record! 10 companies from 5pm to 12 mid-night. CV and covering letters finished and sent. Feeling a bit better, I went to bed.

Thursday - 9am
Two phone calls for interviews. Does this mean I have a 2/10 chance to get a job with my applications? Two interviews for that very day. They guy told me 'no preparations needed, just come in for a meeting'. But when I got there, 25 smartly dressed young individuals were waiting in the lobby. UGH! I thought it was a short meeting?

NO NO No! Assessment centre!!!! The thing I was trying to avoid all my life. LOL.

Too late to chicken out now. We all sat around a huge conference table. The two recruiters sat on the side. And 'dreadful activities' came one after another.
1. We had to introduce ourselves to everyone in the room and say one interesting thing that you think other people do not have. (1 minute timed)
2. Interview the person next to you and vice versa, 1 minute, and you have 30 seconds to sell the person next to you to the recruiter in front of everyone.
3. Debate session, divided into two big groups and the recruiter got to pick who speaks next, so CONCENTRATION is highly necessary.

4. The recruiters went out and discussed who they want to keep and who they want to cut. I took a deep breath and felt rather relieved cause I did so badly I could not be kept for final round. Happily thinking I will not be late for my next interview with another company in 30min!

5. To my shock, I was the only female left in the final round. NERVES! A guy asked me 'so how does it feel to be the last girl standing'. I said 'fun!'.

6. Final round: Sell yourself in front of all the excellent candidates left and to the recruiter.

And then it was all OVER! I had to apologize to the other company for not being able to attend the interview that day and rearranged it for Friday (the next day).

Friday - 10.30am

Gutted again I might not have got through my final round yesterday, I decided to bring across what I learnt during the assessment centre to use for my interview today. I think I managed to shine as much as I could. haha. The people who interviewed called me immediately after the interview and arranged another interview for me with the managing director of a elite recruitment company for next Tuesday.

So that's what I have been doing.

PHOTO: My two flavoured spaghetti (in chinese: 鸳鸯意大利面); one side is special gravy, one side is tomato pasta sauce.

Try wheat spaghetti from M&S. They are healthy and taste a bit different than usual ones. ^^

Did you know

2010-01-13T19:04:00.003Z

Due to the severe cold weather in the UK at the moment the top websites visited are DATING websites. According to the recent survey by the BBC, local business like corner shops, budget stores have benefited the most through sales. However, furniture stores, industrial park shops have missed out tremendously.

The top product bought would be snow sledges and condoms! LOL. The winter breeze encourages both outdoor and indoor activities. So which one are you practising? I'm still going to the gym regularly because there's a lovely steam room which allows me to experience the heat during this miserable winter.

Today's Breakfast

2010-01-12T10:22:00.004Z

A bowl of Bird's Nest. Extremely tasty I must say and I made it all by myself! :)

First you have to soak the piece of bird's nest for more than 4 hours then use a special type of clay bowl and place it in a electric stew machine to cook it. Add some red dates, dried lily flower petels, lotus seeds, chinese sugar chunks and keep stew it for 2 hours.

As simple as that! :) Try it!

Bird's Nest - recommend you to buy it from Hong Kong.

Freezing

2010-01-09T18:11:00.007Z

It's been freezing these days due to the severe cold weather which is causing the non-stop snowing in many parts of UK.

However, yesterday I still managed to head down to Oxford street and do some serious shopping. Found this lovely hairband in accessorize and a cute white hat to keep my head and ears warm in China. Bought some presents for friends and family in China but I figured I still have somethings to buy in Harrods. This will have to wait for another shopping day.

Whilst shopping I received a SMS from Clarks telling me that the boots I ordered has arrived in store. Feeling pretty lucky I dashed to Clarks and tried for my size and bought the lovely leather boots. VERY satisfied with both the style, the quality and for that price.

Have got a lot of bargains yesterday so my whole day was happy happy happy.

Met up with pretty Nicole and Yantong (uni friends) in China town and had lunch at 梁山好汉 taiwanese restaurant. They were very friendly to have treated me the meal and even asked me to join them for some homemade Korean BBQ for dinner. So we walked to some Korean shops near her college accomodation and bought some meat for BBQ.

Met a new friend today. LSE postgrad. He was class. haha. Extremely hilarious guy. And they tried to get me drunk but failed miserably. So HAHA.

JOKE of the day:

刚刚和 Rich 去买菜，拿了一盒黑莓。我问多少钱，他说两镑。我思考了一下，说“hmmm……有点贵，Tesco是两盒四镑哦”。他“哦？！”了一下。算了大概3秒钟之后看了我一下，接着两个人在商店里面互相笑得眼泪都出来了。

Typically me.

Went with Rich to do some food shopping just now and he picked up a box of blueberries (our favourite). I asked 'how much is it?' he replied, '2 pounds'. I immediately said,'that's expensive! Tesco sells them for £4 two boxes.' Rich said, 'oh...' then he looked at me, I looked back at him and we laughed till tears came out.

First Snow of 2010 - London

2010-01-06T00:46:00.006Z

As I am writing this entry it's snowing so hard outside! I'm very fortunate to be indoors though. What a pretty sight. Rich showed me the tweets about the snow. It's amazing how people tweet so quickly about the weather. Not sure if it's a good idea to go out tomorrow. But I still really want to continue gym.

The view outside my window at this very moment.

Which reminded me of my sister's snowman photos on my iphone. Adorable.

The great thing about having a garden is that your snowman will never be destroyed by some irritating kids.

Quoting her - 'an improved and bigger snowman :)'

My mum's flowers are all covered in snow in the background.

Sales Season

2010-01-05T17:28:00.004Z

Another one of those crazy sales seasons after Christmas. So has anyone found any bargains you are very proud of? Let's see what I got this year.

*Rich:

French Connection Jacket - Super warm, great for the cold weather in China

A suit set and lots of ties - very good price for the quality

*Jenn:

Pair of leather boots from Clarks

And lots of tops from Zara and Miss Selfridge

Still hunting for:

1. A hat

2. Moisturiser that's very refreshing

3. Gym trousers

Things bought today :) haha....

1. bikini bottoms

2. underwears

3. Gym top

And yes! I have managed to continuously go to the gym for two days in a row! Will try and keep it up. Tonight's dinner: Richard's favourite bacon and chicken salad with a bowl of soup.

Photo of the day: We were off to KTV that night and we took a ferry there.

An inspiration

2010-01-04T17:11:00.006Z

There's a lot of people I admire in life and there's a lot of people that inspire me tremendously. Sometimes when life comes to a point when you've lost your sense of directions it's always helpful (for me personally) to dig into some autobiographies, to watch some educational movies or to meet up with some very interesting friends. And that's what I did.

Saturday, although cold but the weather was lovely. Went to Oxford Street to look around for a pair of lovely Clarks boots. Results - FOUND and ordered for the right size. Met up with some friends from Uni and they were such a joy to be with! Had a very tasty lunch in a Japanese restaurant called Sakura.

Sunday, met up with Kitty at London Bridge. It's been a while since we caught up. Such a lovely friend. She gave me a couple more directions in terms of career choices and I was so touched to the fact that despite her super-busy schedule and only sleeping for 3/4 hours a day she still managed to meet up with me before she heads off for her business trip. Our chat was extremely rewarding to me. Met up with Rich in Convent Garden and walked around those little cute shops. I just adore that area. The best part was we managed to discover a tasty place to eat! So if anyone is heading down to London, make sure you let me know. :)

Monday, woke up early and then went to the gym. Did some food shopping and headed back to cook some chicken soup and make some sticky-rice meat steamed meatballs for tonight's dinner. Whilst eating my smoked salmon light-lunch and my favourite cherrys on the side I watched a inspiring movie called Julie and Julia . By one of my favourite leading actress Merly Streep! Fantastic movie I will recommend it to anyone who's a fan of food and cooking. Truly inspiring! Loved it.

Now, I'm blogging and once this is published, I'll be starting my job hunting of the day.

Photo of the day: I would love to have bought that hat if it wasn't for that ridiculous price tag.

Back in Business 2010

2010-01-03T00:43:00.008Z

I am back! A very Happy New Year to everyone!

It's been quite a while since I have updated here. Firstly, my personalised blog address was not updated which did not allow you to get into my blog through www.jennfc.com. Secondly, I was purely too busy to update and reflect upon my life. But I guess it's time to do some self reflection. Also some time for myself to think about what has been going on these couple of months after graduation.

Well, I have moved down to London. Which allows me to be closer to a potential job placement and also enables me to conveniently maintain my love life. All seems close to perfect now but there's still one thing that's keeping me away from perfection - a career.

Job hunting has proved to be a painful and depressing process in ones life. But this is definitely a stage that most must face. I'll try to avoid this boring topic on my first entry in 2010. Might write about this in the next entry. So stay tuned!

It's mid-night now. Bed-time. Good night guys!

My Graduation

2009-07-07T12:25:00.004+01:00

That day I will never forget! Surrounded by my loving family and my lovely friends. Enjoyed every single second of that day. Keep in touch everyone!!! Good times will forever be missed but never forgotten.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More photos on Facebook. ^^

Statistics can be beautiful

2009-06-01T20:45:00.006+01:00

When I saw this, I was like WOW! Got to share it with everyone. And actually, it's rather relevant for my next exam, in a way.

Click: Statistics are beautiful

Add oil and pepper and salt and SOYA SAUCE! :)

I am 27 in Twitterholic league tables

2009-05-30T08:52:00.002+01:00

'Top 100 Twitterholics based on Followers in Durham, UK'

LOL!!! Check this out: twiterholic

ok..I should be revising now. *tata

Thank you

2009-05-19T15:21:00.001+01:00

It's always lovely to receive surprises during this stressful time of life but good surprises that is like:

More events in my 2nd Term

2009-03-22T23:40:00.009Z

When Ruby came to town!
^^

Pretty Ruby and Martha!
Martha
La Tasca with Ruby
I look tired... :( need more sleep!

And when I was doing my dissertation one night.. I heard fireworks outside!!!
Dr. Jessie and Jenn
Spags
organising my journals...
keep on writing!
Jinyi's Bday
2 Pretty ladies - Nicole and Martha
Dinner at Italian

^^
LOL
Gong's Bday
the girls
Emma and Jenn
Yummy!
the funny boys!
Boning and Meng

It's been awhile...

2009-03-22T23:05:00.006Z

2009 Chinese New Year ^^
My final year of being the Master of Ceremony for the event! ^^ Thinking back, I was the MC from high school till my final year of University! What a journey to remember.

Martha, Angie, Jenn

Angie and Mayoress
Harvey and Rich
Harvey and Bobby (super cute!)
the girls and little Bobby...

The Mayor of Durham and Richard
waiting to go on stage
Performing the 'Butterfly Lovers'
Look at the Lion and the CROWD! ^^ Great turn up that day.

Martha and Jenn

Sisters...

When the whole family was busy preparing the chinese new year feast... Richard and Angela played around with the camera. LOL

Mother's Day

2009-03-22T22:57:00.003Z

Happy Mother's day to my dear Mummy. Although dad didn't come back today, but we still had a great time having dinner at Chiquitos; my favourite restaurant so far in Durham.

Happy Birthday Angela

2009-03-02T21:26:00.003Z

It is my sister's birthday today. But I have been so busy with work I could not go back home to celebrate with her. But we had a combined birthday party on Saturday.

I'm so proud to have a lovely sister like Angela. ^^

生日快乐！天天开心！身体健康！学业进步！快高长大！越来越漂亮！

Dissertation Questionnaire

2009-02-12T10:36:00.003Z

Hi lovely people! PLEASE FILL IT IN! I need as many responses as possible! ^^ THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! :)

Loading...

Labrador Retriever

2009-01-12T23:30:00.004Z

Yes! This is the dog!

Rich and I would want in the future. ^^ After a catch up with one of my high school friend who's now training to become a Vet Nurse, I finally found out the name of my favourite dog! Dalmations are too naughty and stupid according to my friend. So really Labradors are the most popular breed!!!

WAIT FOR ME, cute little pups!

The next BIG THING at CES 2009

2009-01-11T08:00:00.003Z

Gadget freaks or people, just like myself, who are not so interested in gadgets will all be amazed by the things displayed in CES. Held in Vegas, US every year. This year it's from 8-11th of January. Rich might want to go there one day, gives us an opportunity to tour around Vegas too! ^^ I don't really mind. Cause it's rather interesting to see things that's not out in the market yet but might be coming out soon.

So what do think about a watch mobile from LG? Personally I prefer it to have more functions as I am not a professional spy.

BBC videos:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7819738.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7821772.stm

My first 2009 entry

2009-01-09T13:15:00.004Z

Just realised it was my first 2009 entry! How time flies. 3 years are going to pass and I'm about to graduate. Well, let's hope that really happens to me. ^^ Will definitely try my best to work extra hard.

I hope that all my lovely friends will EXCEL in what they want to do. Wishing that my dearest Rich would get a quick promotion into Sales. Wishing my dearest Ruby JJ the best of health forever and ever! Wishing my dearest Angela the happiest and rewarding childhood/teenage years in Johnston. Wishing my parents good health, happiness and luck! Wishing myself a 2009 that's going to be wonderfully successful and that the 2.1 grade will definitely be on that certificate at the end of the academic year!

Bestest of Bestest wishes to my family and friends in China, Wuhan.

May God Bless you all always!

Living tomorrow

2008-12-29T14:40:00.003Z

Hotel of the future!
I so want to try this one....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7795601.stm

House of the future!!!! Looks hard to maintain though with all the technology. What if the white electronic board in the kitchen doesn't respond? What if people all get lazy and shop online for groceries? But this is the FUTURE!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7348940.stm

One of my hobbies

2008-12-03T16:49:00.007Z

Painted in 1559 of Lady Dacre (Mary Neville) and her son - It's rare to see a woman placed at the left-hand side of the painting. Traditionally reserved for the males authority. In the chinese saying, 男左女右。On the other hand, I was thinking that they are standing in the traditionally positions but just did not take into account that it'll be the other way round on the portrait! LOL - STUPID!

The Tudors. I could spend the whole day in the London National Gallery and read every single portrait. Especially the Tudors section. Absolutely adore their fashion and style. Each portrait had their own story, each person in the portrait had a different destiny.

The one I'm showing you today is one the recent jewels of the National Gallery in London, acquired for £997,500. Quoting from Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, "It is a great acquisition for the nation."

Will you buy less eggs now?

2008-12-03T13:14:00.008Z

Even though these things have risen. Do people really buy less of them? If everyone was so concerned with their spending and really follow the 'normal' economic theory of consumption, then there'll be a perfect market system where, in this case, people should demand less for eggs (as there's a 33.3% rise in their prices).

Therefore, supply will eventually exceed demand and thus after a couple of months the market will come to it's original equilibrium level where price of eggs will return to the initial amount. If this happens, the farmers who sell these eggs would be greatly hit.

However, in the real world, this scenario is extremely unrealistic.

Pre-budget Report 2008 - Personal commentary

2008-11-29T12:46:00.007Z

Labour creating a pure illusion

Cutting VAT by 2.5% will not help at all. Just as Paul Lewis has commentated, if my fish and chips was £7.95 then it'll only be £7.78. So do people really care about this 17 pence difference? I think not. Another example, if a wide-screen TV you wanted to buy was £299 will the shop actually cut it's price to £292.64? The answer is NO!

First of all, it's an awkward amount. Shops and consumers do not like to deal with the pennies.

Secondly, will the all shops really lower their price? NO, because they are not obliged to. If they were forced to, then yes, maybe we'll see a slight cut in prices but it's not going to be an significant amount anyway. So either way, we won't be able to benefit a lot.

Thirdly, Christmas sales is around the corner and some shops like M&S and Debenhams have already started their sales earlier to clear this year's stocks. So is there any point in having this VAT cut policy in the pre-budget report? No. But it's certainly a good way to please the public who do not look into this issue and have this illusion that 'yes I have more disposable income now, so I can spend more'. But few will think, 'hang on a minute, am I really that well off now?'

Furthermore, this VAT cut is actually cleverly balanced off with the 20% increase in National Insurance contributions. The Tories are arguing that you'll be hit the most even if you are earning £20,000 a year. But their figures were questionable. However, it is confirmed that if you are earning £40,000 a year (that's more than one and a half times of average wages around the UK) you'll be paying £423 a year more, starting from April 2009. That's a big rise in your tax and National Insurance (NI) is just a tax by any other name. Again, this is how politicians play around with their numbers. So basically, even though income tax has not been raised this coming year, you'll be paying more NI.

Actually, I could go on and on but I think that's enough for today. Got to get back to my 'The Economics of Staging the Olympics' by Holger Preuss. Aiming to finish this book by tomorrow.

Do feel free to leave comments about this issue. Tell me what you think? But if you don't, that's fine as well. This was just an issue that I was following this week and wanted to share some thoughts.

Go Cashless

2008-11-29T12:40:00.002Z

Just read this article: Man to go Cashless for a year I seriously cannot imagine myself doing that. But on the hand, it's a great experience to have. Having done that for 12 months, you'll spend much less than before. As years goes by, I just increase my spending every year because you just discover new things, make up, new style, new cute things, new shoes, new fashion and this will go on and on.

However, shopping does make me happier. So I guess I still can never live without money. ^^

Twilight

2008-11-28T14:35:00.003Z

Really want to watch this.
Coming out on the 12.12.08
The main actor is from Harry Potter! The cute senior who died :( but I'm glad he's in something else! ^^

Heavy

2008-11-18T21:43:00.003Z

I am impressed with this amount of books I have carried from the library today IN ONE GO! haha... crazy right? I think the people I met on the way think I'm a nerd now. But I'm proud of that, cause I have never actually been a nerd and I am looking forward to being one, FINALLY! It's really something that I have always dreamed of being one day.

In my final year of uni, I am proud to announce that I have finally grasped the art of our MAIN LIBRARY. ^^ 3 years not wasted! lol

Worth watching

2008-11-10T22:59:00.004Z

The Royal Variety Show

Hair Spray Musical:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iwJEBD9ozew

SO FUNNY! Little Howard and Big Howard
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DKBl3REpuKA

He's so HOT!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FRBFPXc03G4

Russell Brand (he got fired from BBC, quite a funny guy I must say)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nB43YdaBYQE

Royal Ballet (another must see in London)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlo2_lskC0

Shadow Show(VERY CREATIVE!!!)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xa4UhX0OVZA

Paul Potts (touching story, overnight success, yet such a humble man)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2NFXFpUil9E

Comedian - Al Murray (FUNNY!)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P3af_DdNp00

Comedian - Jimmy Tarbuck
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VS4sunapIyA

Les Misérables ( I want to watch this at WEST END LONDON!)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ODz1ErrOM

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables

Bon Jovi
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KypDAnZyXoQ

Get BACK TO WORK.....

Proud to present

2008-09-16T06:30:00.003+01:00

Richard's fulfilling summer trip:
http://www.dahuawang.com/localnews/showlocal.asp?no=109143

Keep up the good work ^^

Dubai

2008-08-11T08:40:00.008+01:00

Rich Rich country as seen from my air plane television and from the window....

Blue blue coulds...

My 17 hour journey starts here.

Lots of photos and stories to tell you guys. But for now, I only have the time to do this. So please wait patiently, I'll post photos, do more entries when I find the non-office hours. LOL. Working in the Central makes me feel much more mature and professional. And the best thing is I can wear very professional outfits every single day! And of course I have learnt how to wear high heels!!!

Life in HK has been so fulfilling and so interesting. So far so good. The best is still to come. *winks* *winks*

I can't wait!

Wales

2008-06-27T01:42:00.013+01:00

A family holiday to Wales. ^^ Been awfully busy these days with some 'stuff'. Haha. Will confirm with everyone once everything is settled. For now, please enjoy photos from Northern Wales. What a trip. What a surprise. ^^

that house was for sale! OMG. it looks absolutely amazing, and.....
this guy with the puppies own that house!!!!
Angie with her hot chocolate

warming ourselves with some coffees and teas

ahhhh!... the pony is coming...

they were going to kiss each other... mating season I guess
My first tractor ride Queenie the most massive and amazing white horse I've seen so far! 白马王子骑的哦！
Tram ride to the mountains
My mummy
the opposite mountain was so cool with people making patterns and a huge cross with pebbles or stones.
nice house!
seaside
Feeding goats. Their months are so soft. Basically licking my hand... I loved them! LOLMilk Milk time
my bunny rabbit!
Angie's bunny rabbit

mine was so sweet!

More like posing for nothing -_-'' but I'm still so HAPPY! lolbet my dad wants to live in that house where there's peace and quiet
my sister has the potential to be a great photographer!

dangerous cliffs, amazing scenery

Daddy, Angie
seaside

Food for thought - Baby camel

2008-06-14T13:08:00.004+01:00

What an email! Ruby JJ's emails have never failed to make my day! Here's another MUST SHARE comic.

Doubts of a baby camel

Moral of the story

LOL

2008-05-16T20:16:00.001+01:00

Richard Hong on BBC o......

Not bad lar. ^^

Click below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7404924.stm

You really made my day (a MUST share)

2008-04-09T20:40:00.003+01:00

Just as I thought my day was getting worse. My dearest Ruby JJ sent me this:

蜘蛛和蜜蜂訂婚了

蜘蛛感到很不滿意於是就問牠的媽媽:「為什麼要讓我娶蜜蜂?」
蜘蛛的媽媽說:「蜜蜂是吵了一點. 但人家好歹也是個空姐.」
蜘蛛說:「可是我比較喜歡蚊子耶!」
蜘蛛的媽媽說:「不要再想那個護士了,打針都打不好,上次搞到媽水腫.」**********************************************************
蜜蜂也感到很不滿意, 於是就問牠的媽媽:「為什麼要讓我嫁給蜘蛛呢?」
蜜蜂的媽媽說:「蜘蛛是醜了一點, 但人家好歹也是搞網路的........」
蜜蜂說:「可是人家比較愛螞蟻啊!」
蜜蜂的媽媽說:「別再提那瘦巴巴的工頭, 整天扛著食物東奔西跑, 連台貨車都沒有.」
蜜蜂說:「那隔壁村的蒼蠅哥也不錯.」
蜜蜂的媽媽說:「他是長得蠻帥的, 但也不能找個食屎的.」

OMG. I had a really good laugh! Thank you so much!!!!!

糟了

2008-04-04T01:44:00.004+01:00

最近发现自己英文烂了很多。
中文又没进步多少。
那我以后应该讲什么语言呢？不如，明年去学学手语，几年后变成哑巴也还可以和别人沟通。

恩，还挺聪明的嘛！凡事都有解决的方法。哈哈。

今晚要早点睡噜。大家晚安。

A bit of entertainment during this BORING time

2008-03-29T17:15:00.004Z

' I love you too. But I don't like you all the time.'

lol

Been rather productive in the morning. But kind of relaxed a bit in the afternoon. Better catch up with schedule in the evening.

中国妇联

2008-02-16T15:48:00.007Z

What an organisation. Powerful but elegant and professional performance in Durham. ^^ They only performed in London and Durham. So I guess Durham is really getting famous in China. Haha.
These kids are chosen from the top primary schools in Beijing and most of them are professional dancers and performers. I asked one girl and she told me she has learnt dancing for 7 years already. I'm so glad I haven't missed this event.

Chinese New Year Concert

2008-02-11T22:37:00.002Z

The host of the night! ^^ It was a fantastic experience having to be working with a professional presenter.

Event: Chinese New Year Concert (春节晚会）
Location: Newcastle City Hall
Organisers: Durham, Northumbria and Sunderland Universities

Ashley (Northumbria uni presenter), Gao Yuan (Sunderland uni presenter), Jenn (Durham uni presenter)

Elder Pfar representing the Christian Union

It was hard to believe a CCTV presenter from QingDao could have came here to study after 7 years of presenting experience. So I googled for Gao Yuan and it was true he is a very professional presenter.

Gossip Girls

2008-01-16T14:49:00.000Z

Addictive. One of the best US soaps ever! You'll get to see the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elites. So dramatic but yet so inspiring! The fashion, the style, the attitude, the look. Definitely my dreamed sense of style. But can't afford them now. Maybe when I start working.

I've finished Season 1 this week. Starting season 2 this weekend! lol

The beautiful London

2008-01-06T02:02:00.002Z

Sales = Shopping
New Hair Cut for 2008
Tower Bridge
The Parliament
The London Eye
I love this photo
The big red phone box

We met this professional photographer, and he helped us to take the PERFECT photo for free. Haha.
The very famous background of many films.

Big Bang ( In Chinese it's called 'Big Stupid Clock' lol)

My photography skills have improved so much, haha.

Series 1 - Relationship Tips

2007-12-19T00:32:00.000Z

This is going to the most personal thing I've ever written online. I guess it's an exception. As long as my readers like it. ^^ Cammy babes this is the longest reply!

Please note: I am not trying to sound boastful. This is purely personal experience and sharing my happiness.

How my relationship is "close-to-perfect"?

When you have met the right person, at the right time, with the right mind-set, I guess you can tell yourself, "I have found the ONE".

Introduction:
Relationships ain't easy. Good things never come easy. It takes time and patience. It takes respect, self-discipline, trust, honesty, care, kindness and many many more. So even though you might think my relationship has been so smooth, well, it hasn't. But along the way, both of us found each other and held on to each other. We treasured the happiness and got over the unhappy times. Quickly.

Love and Respect:
I must admit that Rich was very supportive all along the way. He taught me many things and encouraged me whenever I wanted to give up. He gave me inspiration, recommended me to read a couple of books, he taught me how I should develop myself during this crucial stage of life and be prepared for my career in the future. I have learnt a lot from him. And maybe that's one way to keep the relationship going. Not just LOVE but also RESPECT and looking up to the person.

I always tease him. "If you could do it, I could definitely do it and even BETTER!" Well, I still think that's true. Cause I truly believe my grades were all along better than his. As least I used to get the first in the year group. So that gave me confidence. Secondly, I'm his English Teacher! So I know my English is much better than his. Thirdly, I have more friends all over the world than him! Fourthly, I have travelled and studied in more places than him. So I guess, he respects me too. RIGHT, Mr. Hong?

My Angels:
A relationship with Angels watching over us. Yes. I think that's so true. Angels like my dearest Ruby JJ and Linda JJ. Both of them have helped me a lot along the way. Especially my Ruby JJ helping me with all the little ups and downs. Counselling me with love, care and concern. Teaching and advising me with the little tips in life. Personally, I think she's more suitable to write this entry! Yes, I could never have done it without you. (Hope you are reading this^^ and please get better soon with your cough and cold!)

Matching Personalities:
As I have mentioned previously, every moment with him still feels so fresh and interesting. Every time we meet we would have so many things to tell each other. So many experiences to share. I guess this is due to our matching personalities. We are both quite sociable and out-going. We both love to meet new people and make new friends. It's through this we both have stories after stories to tell each other. Of course, we never forget the old friends. And close friends are always the ones we meet at a regular basis. More often together. No offence to my own close friends in Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm just talking about the close friends Rich and I both met here in the UK.

Families approval:
Another main reason is that both of us take this relationship quite seriously. We have both told our families and even our extended families know about it now. Gossips travel a long way. Both my parents like Rich. My grandparents even asked me when I'm bringing Rich back to Wuhan, for them to have a look at this young man. Haha. They are so cute.

As I come from a rather traditional family. I do very much listen to my parents. And since they like the guy, I think that it's worth putting in the effort. But if they think that he's not suitable, then they are usually right. A little example, when I told my mummy about my ex bf - D, she said I had made the wrong choice then. I told her, yes mum, I know I had that's why I moved on.

Rich's parents and family seem to like me too. When I was in China during the summer, I made several phone calls to aunty and uncle Hong and chatted with them about all sorts of things. Of course not forgetting Rich's little sister Christina. Just like a little sister of mine. Tells me her worries and frustrations with studies. In the UK, I SKYPE with them when I'm free and his mum even sent over a big parcel to Rich and I. Ginseng. Beauty facial masks. Even nice silky pyjamas!

I just adore them to bits.

Conclusion:
I could go on and on. But let me just make this Series 1 of my relationship tips. Jenn really needs to be having her beauty sleep now.

Just remember! Good things never come easy.
As my daddy always tells me: " Don't always think that the grass is greener on the other side."

我怎么了？

2007-12-15T13:10:00.000Z

最近我不知道在走什么运。实在太幸运了，有点不可思议。哎哟。。。不说多啦！呵呵呵呵。。。。

JENN很满足。

A mixture of events

2007-12-11T12:21:00.002Z

There were so many parties and essay deadlines at the end of term. OMG. I have done so many things. Life has been very fulfilling I must say. Now that I've cleared all my formative essays, tests. It's about time to update here! ^^ Sorry for being so quiet guys. But as the Christmas Holiday is approaching. I promise to update more often.

Overall, Jenn is a very happy and 幸福的 girl now. I miss my honey Rich and my dearest Ruby jj. Hope Ruby jj is having a great time in China with her dearest family! ^^

Hotpot lunch with Ruby, Yuk, Michelle and my honey Rich!!!

This is taken on the day when Rich was going to my house for afternoon tea. ^^ seeing my parents....
Teiko's Surprise Birthday party and Namjur, Thai restuarant.

The food was SOOOOO TASTYYYY! Worth the money!

Playing with his new toy! haha... a very expensive one!

Market place

Latin American Party

Dinner with friends and we found a big christmas tree! So decided to take a photo! ^^

Winter Disco Party

Teiko's surprise birthday party! Look how surprised she was!!!! Her boyfriend Sam has really done a great job with all this planning!

after the birthday dinner, we all headed down to the Winter Disco party!

AJS banquet.... the food was so-so this year.

With my pretty catherine

As I was walking

2007-10-25T19:23:00.000+01:00

...

HAHA... Look what I've found! I was like "is that a HUGE dog? Omg, it's not....aw......you cute little thing" ( I like talking to my myself) ^^ This was on my way home from my tutorial on Wednesday. Totally made my day.
Cute donkey. YOU MADE MY WEEK!!!!

It has been the most busiest week I have had since term started. So let's just drop the subject about work and mention some happy moments this week.

Sunday: cssa welcome party! I think it was successful! So many of my lovely friends were there. And I met so many new students and made lots of friends too! It was fantastic.
Yuk gg was definitely happy! ^^ haha...
Tutorials this week: 4 (OMG. I am knackered)

Must continue to work hard! And always look forward to a nice, in fact, perfect weekend ahead. *winks*

Teikyo Festival (lovely memorises... present and past)
My 2007 version... haha.. Candy and me
Japanese dancing
Making rice cakesPretty Martha and moiCalligraphy
Showing offoOo...who taught me the wrong word?
Mine is the one on the right!!! SO NICE RIGHT? Guess who's is on the left?HAHA
Our 2007 autumn
Lunch with Ruby, Michelle, and Shan Wu in Siglo, a spanish restaurant.
Big Saturday dinner
My cooking has definitely improved!
Beans with sweet corn and sausages
My new creation! Chinese omelette Last but not least, I proudly present my stewed pork with carrots and chestnuts!My spinach saladDarryl 's Singapore curry!

Dragon Boat Race

2007-09-30T15:19:00.000+01:00

It's a bit strange right? Dragon Boat Race during mid-autumn festival. Haha. I didn't really notice that till someone asked me. But oh well, it was VERY fun! Durham chinese school team won both the juniors and adults - FIRST PLACE!

The lucky red boat! warming up... haha, everyone 's not there yet
The cute lion.LOOK! They are the first all the time!The juniors the fit coach the mayor of newcastle WeEeeee... 2 trophies! My A level chinese teacher ^^ happy to have met her there too.

Wuhan - Food Edition

2007-09-27T11:48:00.001+01:00

My hometown. What else can I say! LOVE WUHAN SO MUCH!
Here's some of my favourite wuhan food photos:
First of all my grandma's beads, she made all theseand these are just part of her collection! Made me some lovely little bags as well. So pretty.
My favourites! Grandma's cooking, BEST IN THE WORLD!we even made soya bean milk every morning! Freah and healthy! Yingying JJ 's mum is such a good cook too! The bottom left table of food is when we went to her house for lunch. YUMMY!

my favourite snacks in wuhan. The cake, xiao mianbao (3pm everyday, freshly baked in the uni), the yogurt in wuhan is so yummy too!

breakfast, most important meal of the day in wuhan - 过早 - 户部巷

Some of my favourite dishes, VERY SPICY!
My cute little cousin 多多，妹妹，爷爷和小侄子(sister, granddad, baby nephew)

TianTian brought me to my favourite place to eat all these shells! YUMMY!

Lots of people invited my family for huge meals in China, this is one of them. Look the amount of food! And you know what, all of them are so tasty!

Some lovely memories

2007-09-25T14:49:00.002+01:00

Happy Mid-autumn Festival everyone! 祝大家中秋节快乐！

Let me do some rewinding back to my fantastic summer in China.

I was at this most amazing summer camp, being chosen to be one of the most talented Chinese students in the UK, 28 of us, haha, I got my place and enjoyed touring around IN STYLE! 4 star hotels, banquets with the Beijing and Shanghai Mayors, dumpling banquet in Xi An. OMG, where do I begin to describe those fantastic experiences. It was like Queens and Kings when we went to places. Hotels even welcomed us on their digital notice boards. We were THAT important. Wherever we went people would stare at us. Wearing the same T-shirts really helps us to stand out. Haha. The girls on this trip were all very pretty. So some Chinese people even asked whether this was a Beauty Contest tour. LOL. It felt so different to get that much attention wherever we went.

Well, I really can’t talk too much about the trip here. Cause I could go on and on about the actual performances and things we saw and did. If you ever get a chance to talk to me in person, I’ll tell you all about it! For now, I want to post some photos I took in Dalian and Beijing with my family. Basically, we went to these two places at the end of our China trip. Dalian is very famous for it’s seafood and handsome guys! I’m sure to recommend this beautiful and romantic city to all the girls out there. Also I was lucky enough to catch Dalian’s fashion week! All the models and clothes were amazing! The fashion atmosphere is Dalian was immense.

Please enjoy! ^^
Airport and night view of the city

Dalian Jail - Where the Japanese used to capture innocent chinese farmers. Horrible place!

A real skeleton (another hero)- basically they mean that if you don't kneel down to me when you're alive then you have to kneel down to me when you're dead, in that wooden container .The Dalian Ocean Park (personally , I thought it was rubbish, guess I've been to too many parks. Hong Kong Ocean Park is way better.)
MermaidsHoroscopes - Here's mine and the other one is Richard's

You have to look at the bottom right hand photo. Those amazing apartments! I'm going to get one of them when I get rich! ^^And guess the actual names for them - National Treasure 国宝大厦! hahaIt looks like Disney Land, but this pink castle is in Da Lian o!!!
So cute !!!!!!In Beijing...

The Great Wall Of China
Yummy Peking Duck
Beijing Zoo - look at those lazy animals!
Joy's House
The delicious Red Restaurant, very red inside! Felt just like celebrating Chinese New Year.

Look at that BBQ Lamb stick, so tasty!Huge Moon Cake behind Angie
Huge water melon

James' stay

2007-08-21T03:41:00.000+01:00

This is where I live!

Above photos are taken by James!

James stayed with me in Wuhan for about 4 days. We went to the famous Yellow Crane Tower, The new Chu Guo museum (really good!), ate supper, BBQed seafood, Korean and wuhanese BBQ, early big breakfast in the Uni, clubbing (great night), Hankou, KTV, boat ride, bus rides, taxi rides, tram rides, haha... and many many more!

Clubbing China is just fantastic! I think it's much better than in the UK. The people here are as crazy but even more FUN to be with. Totally enjoyed the experience. Want to go again next time! And hopefully Rich would be going with me! ^^

Did you have a good time James? And have you got your credit on your phone sorted out? Haha. Have fun in QingDao and Beijing.

Graduation

2007-07-01T17:33:00.000+01:00

It's part of the journey to success...
Extremely proud of Rich. Finally a graduate! Ready for the real world. Durham University's graduation ceremony is just so traditional, so grand, so classy. All the lovely gowns, the photo shots, the walking into the cathedral, the speeches made by the authorities. What an event! And hopefully in 2 years time, it'll be my turn to experience them all.

2006-2007 Graduates Walking into the cathedral, by then all guests were in the cathedral waiting for them

rich and andy looking real smart

Coming out of the cathedral, after the congregation

The boys taking photos with Bill Bryson, our chancellor
the department
jon, rich, mariko
I'm so proud of you!
Congratulations to Ian, Rich and Andy
^^

having a lovely lunch with james and rich after the congregation.

Dairy Queen

2007-06-30T10:05:00.000+01:00

Getting hot! Ice-creams! Does everyone like ice creams? If you’ll going back to China this summer, I do recommend a shop that I’ve discovered online – Dairy Queen. The have many affiliated stores in America, Canada and China. Well to be exact, they are located in 22 cities in China alone; Shanghai and Beijing being two of the cities.

The difference between Haagen-Dazs and DQ is that one is cheaper than the other. But the quality of service and ice-cream is about the same. DQ makes soft ice-cream and they are less sweet. I’m so going to try it in Shanghai if I have the time during the exchange. Sounds so yummy. Check out their menu! Cheap but looks delicious!

Farewell DEAS... it's today.

Hannari はんなりToFu

2007-06-26T14:56:00.000+01:00

Currently I’ve read this really cute article online in Chinese. It’s worth sharing it in English so I’m going to roughly translate what they were talking about.

Basically, there’s this really cute Hannari はんなりToFu mobile stand. At the moment it’s the most popular cute gadget in Japan. ToFu actually comes as a hugging pillow too! And from more websites I’ve found out that they also come as a massage pillows as well! It’s crazy but its great news too! I just love super cute accessories/gadgets! Talking about gadgets I’m also really impressed with the gadgets that James’s dad has in his kitchen. I want that many in the future too! Love cooking! Back to main topic.

The mobile stand not only comes in 4 different colours but 4 different smells too. White for purely fried ToFu; Green for green tea Tofu (as usual, Japanese love their tea); Creamy yellow for orange ToFu and Pink for plum Tofu. They are all made from 80% cotton so has this baby softness feel when you touch them. How I wish to feel them now! ^^

And recently they also have a Hawaii collection of ToFu.

Massage pillows

These ToFu sets suddenly reminds me of Rich’s Mantou! The one James gave to him after his trip from Japan and I took it from him but recently gave it back to him. LOL. Yes I know. It did take a long time since Mantou went to the actual owner. Poor Mantou stayed in my under-bed storage for the whole term and the funniest thing is that I thought the cleaning lady took it away! The most ridiculous excuse I said to Rich was that I thought he took it away, because he loved Mantou so much which made me a bit jealous!

It's been awhile

2007-06-05T15:36:00.002+01:00

Yes, it's been awhile. Sorry about this! But after my Britishness test I kinda slacked a lot (I passed!) and caught up with lots of friends. Had neglected them during my exam period. Just felt really happy to have met all of them recently during parties and socials.

On the way to the test

Had a lovely talk with Ruby JJ and planning to go to YORK with her, Yuk gg, Rich this saturday. Should be lots of fun. Really want to try that restaurant and take lots of photos in that pretty little city.

Shuh's birthday was held in Sagawa restaurant newcastle. The food was YUMMYLICIOUS! HAPPY 23rd SHUH! Lovely guy.

On the way to Newcastle, enjoying the breeze...

Yummy
Shuh!
Hong Sheng's birthday is today. I think she's 19! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL! Still very YOUNG. BBQ party held in Ustinov beer garden.

My planned dates:
AJS boat party (if I could feel better tomorrow)
Swimming with Angela
York trip

On a lovely day, view of Durham Cathedral

Been cooking with Rich a lot these days.

Homemade Laksa (Singapore style)

Our fish dinner, the healthy option (Italian style)

Korean style dinner

Playing around
God Bless everyone who's sick at the moment. Hope everyone would get well soon!

Smart Women

2007-05-29T11:26:00.001+01:00

Miss Universe

2007-05-28T16:45:00.000+01:00

Miss Universe 2007 -- Miss Japan, Riyo Mori


Personally, I don't think she's pretty enough for Miss Universe, if you've looked at Miss Universe 2006, 2005 or 2004.
But, she's the first Asian Winner. So that's quite a good news!
So in contrast:

Miss universe 2006 -- Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera
Miss Universe 2005 -- Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova (my personal favourite)

Miss Universe 2004 -- Miss Australia, Jennifer.Hawkins ( another of my personal favourites)

Hello Kitty

2007-05-21T15:05:00.000+01:00

My all time favourites.

When I was a little girl, maybe still is, I was crazy about Hello Kitty! Look at the cool stuff that's been developed today with Hello Kitty designs! Don't you just want them all? I DO! I'm going to try all these things in the near future.

1. Hello Kitschy Sightseeing bus in Japan. You can catch them near Tokyo Station.

2. Taiwan airline Eva Air has painted one of its Airbus A300-200 with the big-headed cat and her family members. The plane will fly daily between Taipei and Fukuoka.

Not only does the interior of the plane interior feature Hello Kitty - boarding passes, baggage tags, dining utensils, and lavatory papers to flight attendant uniforms.

3. Hello Kitty Ma jong Set: this is so cool!

4. Craziest one ever: Hello Kitty Wedding (aw....)

5. Hello Kitty car

A few years ago I even signed up with Hello Kitty mail! LOL. I was obsessed!

Exams are still in progress, 4 down 2 to go! Finishing on this Thursday, I can't wait!

Mother's Day (US)

2007-05-13T15:30:00.000+01:00

Mother's day was celebrated on the 18th of March this year in the UK. But it's different for the rest of the world because they are celebrating Mother's day today.

I have a great article to share today. But it's in Chinese and I haven't got enough time to translate it. So please try your best to understand. ^^

有人说, 因为上帝无法照顾到每一个人, 所以才创造了"母亲".
这是一个最平凡,也是最伟大的名字.
我们最熟悉,却是最容易忽略她感觉的人.

世界上只有母爱是最无私的.
她要求的最少,付出的最多.
小的时候,我们依赖妈妈. 在她的怀抱里,是最温暖,最安全的.
慢慢长大, 我们却总想逃脱那种关怀. 以为外面的世界更精彩.
可是真的一个人漂泊时,却发现没有了妈妈的翅膀呵护,是如此的孤独,可怕.
才开始想念,有一种味道叫做...家.
那是妈妈在厨房做菜的身影,
是她唠叨的声音,是她微笑的眼睛.

你是我心里最完美的女神. 你聪明,美丽,率直.
小的时候,我总是偷偷的想,为什么自己像个臭小鸭.
为什么我的眼睛不像妈妈那样漂亮. 要是能像妈妈那样就好了.
后来,我越来越像你.

而更重要的是, 你教会我做人的道理.
让我知道什么是真, 善, 美.
原来心里的美比什么都重要的多.

谢谢你教我怎样看待世界

祝天下所有的母亲健康快乐

Nine types of yummy food to help you lose those pounds

2007-05-11T15:37:00.000+01:00

As summer is approaching and by reading my friends’ blogs I could see that everyone wants to lose those winter fats. I NEED TO TOO! So here is my diet plan and little tips to share with everyone. Hope you’ll find them useful. ^^

1. Rice noodles (米粉)

Basically replace your everyday consumption of rice or any other carbohydrates with rice noodles. These noodles are low in calories and they improve your digestion systems. Furthermore, they even help you to cure and prevent adult related diseases.

2. Seaweed (海带or 海藻)

A very effective method – simply wrap the rice in the seaweed and only add vinegar or chilli sauce for flavour. When you feel hungry, seaweed could also be consumed as a snack.

Please take note that this method should only be used for a short period of time, as it’s very “cooling” to the stomach. People with a weak stomach should not even try this.

3. Cabbage (卷心菜)

For every 100g of cabbage, there’s only 40 calories. Moreover, it contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. Cut it into small pieces and put it in a plastic bag. Treat it as a snack. If you think it’s tasteless, add some ketchup.

This method is great for someone who always has constipation and also helps with your digestive system.

4. Apple （苹果）

Amazingly effective! However, requires a lot of self-discipline. You could only eat apples everyday. No other food is allowed. You could see yourself losing those pounds in just a week! HIGHLY EFFECTIVE! But in the long term, exercise is required because apples have high sugar content making you tired and sleepy. If you just go to sleep every now and then, your weight would remain the same.

NOTE: people with poor blood circulations and poor immunity systems should NOT use this method.

5. Grapes (葡萄)

This is similar to the apple method. Only eat grapes and nothing else. This is relatively easier to keep up to and is suitable for people with poor immunity systems. It won’t cause tiredness and it’s the best method for those people who exercise a lot but are still fat.

6. Watermelon (西瓜)

Highly recommended for this summer. This method is different to the apple method and does not have any side-effects. It not only improves your immunity system but also helps to clean certain wastage in your body.

7. Yogurt (酸奶)

Results might not be very clear. But for those who love yoghurt, you should try to replace your main meals with yoghurt. The amount you take in must be measured and limited. That way your weight would start decreasing. If you start to eat yoghurt as a snack then your diet plan has failed.

8. Corn (玉米)

When your weight is going down. Corn can be the best snack for those who can’t resist a nipple of biscuits or chocolates. This method is very suitable for people who have blood type A.

9. Korean cuisine (韩式料理)

Personally recommended! Preserved spicy cabbages (泡菜), traditional Korean sauce soup (大酱汤)! These are very effective and healthy slimming foods. Korean cuisine is low in calories and even helps to prevent cancer! Furthermore, it has proven to help prevent and cure many common diseases.

NOTE:

If you become too thin, you'll develop various incurable sicknesses. So find out your limit and don't force yourselves too much.

Testing your ability to identify BEAUTY

2007-03-27T11:38:00.000+01:00

GUESS: Which photo went on the cover page of a magazine?

Below are a few photos of a female artist (姜培林) who is going to be on a magazines cover page. Can you pick out the photo that was chosen in the end to be the cover photo?

If you got it right, then you do have the eyes of a professional photographer.
I got it right first time round! So can you! The answer would be published in my next entry. ^^

Have fun!

Eat Tea: The new skin care tip

2007-03-24T13:54:00.000Z

茶 I'm sure lots of skin-conscious people, like me, have heard that drinking tea is healthy and helps with the complexion of our skin. But have you heard that eating the tea leaves is even more effective?

According to some people who have tried this, their spots have disappeared very quickly and their skin complexion had improved immensely . Even the Chinese medicine doctors recommended this method to people who have lots of spots on their face. Eating tea: you can eat whatever kinds of tea but the most effective one would still be Chinese green tea. The method is very simple – just make tea like you normally do, after drinking the actual tea, don’t throw away the leaves, eat them! It’s as simple as that.

Note: Tea also prevent buildup of fatty deposits on artery walls. (Actually, tea suppresses your appetite and keeps the pounds from invading....Green tea is great for our immune system too)! But people with a poor stomach should not eat a large quantity of tea leaves at one go because tea leaves have a huge “cooling effect”. So take it easy.

Try it for yourselves. And tell me how the tea leaves tastes like to you? To me, they are rather easy to chew and taste….FRESH! ^^

Friday night dinner

Had a lovely family dinner last night.

Went into town with Rich to buy some ingredients to cook for the family dinner and brought him back home to have a happy dinner party with my family. Very enjoyable night. I think Angela loves the pork chop Rich made. It's certainly very tasty!

Next time I'll have to remember to buy RIPE Avocados. TIP: they have to have little brown bits on their skin and feel soft! Otherwise, they'll taste bitter. OppZzz... haha. My prawn cocktail was not as popular because of the slight bitterness.

Rich's Pork Chop with Mash

Mum's 8 treasure rice cake

My favourite aubergines

Orange flavoured Pancakes

Baked salted fish...YUMMY!

Health

2007-03-20T14:26:00.000Z

Recently, I've become more and more concerned about health issues. Maybe it's because of my loved ones health situations and so on. Just the other day, I came across 2 very interesting articles --

1. It's a miracle

A women in her vegetative state since November 2000 suddenly awakes for three days just last week or so. She told her loved ones that she is all well and even managed to see her grandchildren for the very first time. Doctors have not found any reasons why she could wake up after all those years. All they could tell the press now is that it's truly a miracle. The women's family members thanked God with no hesitation, to send her back every so often and tell them that she was fine. After the three days, the lady went back to her vegetative state again.

If every vegetative state patient could do the same, then this world would be a much happier place, don't you agree? Because what's worse than being alive like dead?

2. Anti-obesity program

Singapore plans to end its anti-obesity program in schools as parents complained that overweight children were being singled out and teased by classmates.

I find this very interesting because I've experienced this program myself when I was in Singapore. Everyone tried to keep fit not to get over weight because the PE teachers would weigh us every term. I'm lucky to have always been at the right weight for my height. Over weight students had to take a run around our school in the morning when we are reading in the Hall. Underweight students had to drink milk during our break times.

Every policy has it's advantages and disadvantages. Personally I like this programme. It's creating an incentive to keep fit fit fit!

Wishing everyone good health!

Princess Café

2007-02-11T14:46:00.000Z

Listening to the radio today, I heard a very interesting news about a cafe in Korea.

The Princess Café

Apparently, this cafe is the hottest social spot in Korea at the moment. Many young people, especially girls go there with their digital cameras and dress up like princesses. This cafe has lots of princess costumes for them to choose from. As long as you buy a drink worth £4 or more (equivalent), you could wear the princess costumes there and take as many photos as you like there.

I want to go there! Hehe.

Funny Babies

2007-01-23T20:26:00.000Z

This baby is too cute! Should be shared with all people. Check this out. Some people say this is child abuse but I think it's pure human nature. When you are depressed just click here and you'll definitely feel a bit better!