Wedding Invites

Went to collect the wedding invites the other day. 

I guess it's real now huh? 

Hee Hee

Gifts

My gifts for the brothers arrived the other day.

For an inexplicable reason, I didn't buy one for myself. Weird.

Neighbours

Before we moved in, we felt a little bad that our extensive renovations were going to affect our neighbours and make them hate us even before we moved in.

So before renovations started, we bought boxes of Ferrero Rocher and gave to the three units on our floor as well as the unit directly below us.

I actually cant remember if i had blogged about that before.

Two of the three units on our floor are rentals so that was a little waste of money but the nearest unit beside us owns the apartment. They have three sons with the oldest being quite close in age to us.

All three sons have great bodies. And you know what? I have never seen the oldest son in a shirt before. He comes back from the pool in his trunks (with his girlfriend in a bikini), he goes jogging topless, etc.

When I went over to pass some new year goodies to them to reciprocate the gifts they brought over, the third son, whom i saw for the first time then, was in tight boxers and his body is oh so tight. If i had gay persuasions...

Second son isn't as hot.

Do you know the scene from "Date Night" when Steve Carell told Mark Wahlberg to just go put on a shirt after the latter opened his door thrice topless? It's the exact feeling i get.

Anyway, they're nice. Invited us for beef steak the other day and it was HUGE!

They also shared some gossip with us about other neighbors. 

And then just now, they heard us coming home and called out to us. To pass us a happycall thingy they bought for us cos we spoke about it during the said steak dinner. They only took the money cos we said we refused to hold the thingy if they didn't accept it. 

How nice is that??!?

Watches

I have been looking at buying a nice watch for some time now. But every time i get near to buying one, I either see something else nicer (and invariably more expensive) or dont have the guts to take the plunge. I thought rather than posting the watch that im eying, I thought I'd post my other watches too.

Here's the first watch i bought when i started work. When the battery died many many years back, i never changed it. I recently changed it and the watch shop man said that this is now a rare watch cos Seiko doesnt do Titanium anymore.

Here's a Swatch by Phil Collins. You can see a caricature of his face there.

 Here's one by Armani.

 
 Another by Armani but Product (Red)

 

I bought this Breitling when i got my first bonus in my working life.

But the stupid thing is, because it's so valuable i didnt want to wear it that often so i bought this Seiko quite soon after.

 

This is the ipod nano i mentioned that i got as a surprise gift just a couple of weeks back, fitted with a watch strap.

 
 Here's a watch that i ordered the other day because there was a discount.

And this, is the latest IWC im eying. The spitfire 2012.

Why?

I blog so rarely nowadays that sometimes i wonder why you guys check back every day or so. Is it out of sheer habit or is it out of sheer voyeurism?

Lego!

There was a time in my life I used Lego to fill the void in my life. I bought many sets, which after a while, i found that i didn't have space to construct and display them. Therefore, some of them, especially the larger ones are still mint in their box or MITB in geek-speak. Someone was jealous that i bought a new car and she also wanted one. She has a ferrari at the back of her car and it is now crumbling. So i dug out my old lego sets and found the MITB Ferrari i never opened. No time to make it for her yet.

New Product

Someone sometimes sends the stuff she orders online to my office as i always have someone manning the reception. So when i received this parcel on my desk this morning when i came back to work after one week of traveling, I assumed it was one of those stuff she ordered. Mid-way through the day, Someone called and asked if i was in the office. I was. "Did you receive anything?" "Yes, one of your stuff." "Look carefully!" "Yeah, it's my name there." "Open it!" Here's what i found: A limited edition Red Product iPod Nano. Great for my jogs! What a good surprise! WHOPPEE! Another new product to my ever-growing Mac family.

Wedding

I havent been blogging much because there is just so much happening in my life recently that any free time seems to be better spent just vegetating in front of the TV rather than sitting in front of the computer. In some ways, now i get why some people are a little phobic when their phones ring or their blackberries buzz. Naturally there isnt much progress on the wedding. Dinner menu isnt settled, invitation card design not settled, general logistics not settled, blah blah and the list goes on Because I want to keep it small, I didnt tell those friends whom im not inviting (duh!), but it doesnt help that friends tell other friends whom im not inviting. Now there's a conundrum of seating and everything. Life should be better spent with other stuff.

Health

Health is wealth guys.

Green Tea

Out of the blue, a client just sent me a box of Hangzhou Longjing tea. Good stuff actually. I think it came from the same place in my previous post that i wrote about Emperor Qian Long and the tea he planted.

iLife

After a disappointing run with the current blackberry, which has a sucky battery life as well as slow OS, i have decided to take the plunge to get an iPhone to complement my BB. This thus completes my family of apple products. I now have an ipod, ipad, macbook air, imac, iphone, airport express too.

India - An Odd Dichotomy

Growing up, I also heard from my father who went to India about the filth and grime and poverty that was India. 25 years on, when i first went to the world's largest democracy last year, I thought it would be better and it'd be different. Because the trip last year was so hectic, I didn't get to see much of the city. On the trip the past week, i did manage to see Delhi and Mumbai in greater detail. I think this picture shows what Im trying to say. Here i am high up in this decent five-star hotel and in the cityscape, i can see a shantytown on the right hand side of the picture and offices on the left hand side. I have read and learnt about shantytowns in pri/sec school textbooks but have never really seen one. They look all right from the top but when you're on street level, you can see the sire conditions they live in. India has some of the world's nicest hotels and yet some of the neighbours of these hotels are the poorest around. Quite sad really.

A little room

In the continuing series of weird places where i discuss my deals.

This time in a time little hotel room in India. Very colonial style and very small.

A little pat on the shoulder

After receiving news of my bonus, I went to buy this, as a proverbial patting yourself on the back.

It's relatively muted as compared as in the past because sometimes i think i give myself too many pats too often. Haha. 

Technology Connects?

Im all for technology.

Believe me, I carry an iPod, iPad, Kindle, macbook air whenever i travel.

Plus my idea of connecting with others is checking up on them and spying on their pictures on FB.

But this takes the cake when you're outside having lunch with your wife and either your dad or father in law, you are glued to the iPad watching drama serials.

Pretty absurd if you asked me.

Nanjing Scape

Another shot of where i went in Nanjing.

The view was quite breath-taking although i don't think the picture does it justice.

High-Tech Bak Gua

We passed by this shop who touted themselves as the supplier for Lim Chee Guan. You know the one where people would queue for two hours.

We were feeling greedy and the price seemed rather reasonable. And of course, we ate so many samples that it was a little embarrassing not to buy.

So we bought 500gm of Kim Joo Guan.

I don't usually blog about food nowadays but i thought this merited an entry.

The pack comes in a nice gold-ish paper bag.



The pack is air-sealed in this gold wrapping.



There's a plastic cover on the pack.



Then after your remove the plastic cover, you need to peel off another air-sealed layer.



Finally! Some meaty goodness after clearing so many hurdles.

15 Things

Interesting article I saw on Facebook. If this article were to be believed, I need to make some life adjustments.

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy 

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:

1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel. “By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that. “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly! “A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle 6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it. “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place. “The only fear we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Nanjing - Ming Dynasty Walls

Oddly enough i have three deals in Nanjing going on. That isnt ideal because i'd prefer them to be in three different cities than all being in one. But beggers cant be choosers. So that means I go to Nanjing very often. I like it because i like to see the Ming dynasty city walls. From this picture, you can see the walls. From where i was, i was within the city and beyond those walls was outside of the city. If you look clearly, you can see the city gates not unlike those gates you see in period dramas. I wonder how it was like living in those days. No internet, no electricity. Just running around all day and taking the city exams in the hope to be a 状元.