I read an article on Yahoo! by George Hobica what they don't tell you in the plane safety demo and thought it was very interesting. While some about why we must put on the oxygen masks for ourselves first before aiding others I've guessed just as much (except less scientifically), and the part about no high heels are also common sense; the others are a pretty interesting read as well.
As usual, I also tend to read the first few comments after an article just to get some thoughts on the subject and as usual I'm not disappointed. There were some pretty funny sharing. Here are some of those that I liked:
A comment from Jason D: Southwest has the funniest flight atten. One said last week in case our flight should turn into a cruise you have a life vest under your seat.
Comment from Hey: We landed in one city where it took quite some time to taxi from the runway to the gate and at the end the attendant said "Just so you people know, Southwest is able to keep the lowest fairs because we fly you half of the way and drive you the rest."
Another good one was when a man was hitting on the young attendant and she goes up to his friend sitting next to him said "Make sure to put your mask on first and then your child."..
My own sharing is an experience on Air Asia (if not mistaken it was a flight to Langkawi). We had a particularly charismatic cabin crew who provided the voice of the safety demonstration given by the flight attendants. He peppered the whole safety briefing with light jokes e.g. "please looks at the beautiful flight attendants in front of you as they've been practicing very hard to put on this show for you" and so on and so forth. The one that took the cake though was "This is a non-smoking flight. Please refrain from smoking. If you are unable to refrain from the temptation, please step outside of the plane" and this statement was given when we're already in taxi waiting to take-off.
I think we would have more people interested in listening to the safety briefing if all crews are like this guy. :-)
Friday, 1 February 2013
The Heating Debate
I can see that it's tough managing a country the size of China and at the rapid / crazy growth seen in China. Before you can clear 1 issue, you find another 1 cropping up.
The "heating" debate which got heated up (pun unintended) right before the haze / pollution index stole the limelight was about the indoor heating facilities in the country. Currently, only the "North" (normally the line would be drawn based on the great Yangtze river - provinces North of the river are Northern China) have heating facilities indoors for all Public areas and central hot air / water supply to all neighbourhoods. While the South are without such "luxuries". As a result, the Southern cities i.e. Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan etc etc typically have very cold winters - not due to nature but because the buildings in these provinces were not heated. I was told that you need to be equally bundled up indoors as well as outdoors in the South. In comparison to the North where the winter can get very cold especially coupled with the infamous Northern-wind, the people tend to get nice and toasty as soon as they rush in-doors (e.g. mua in T-shirts & shorts at home in Beijing).
Hence the national debate sparked - shouldn't heating system be introduced to the Southern provinces as well? While there were many facts and fiction... oops! figures ;-p being tossed about, 2 statements caught my attention and I remember it as clearly today as when I first read it a couple of months back. One for all the wrong reasons aka it is ludicrous and one for being very thought provoking and not just applicable for this scenario. Though I can't quote back by verbatim, but I'm sharing both statements based on my memory of the gist of the message.
Silly version: The Southern folks are used to the cold and the natural environment of South winters. If we introduce something like heating systems available in the North; the Southerners will fall sick because they'll not be able to acclimatise to the environment created by the heaters. So they'll not want nor need such facilities.
My Remarks: The fact that this statement came from an educated representative of the people is just mind boggling. Heating system in the North is not something aged-old. The age of heating system in China is probably equivalent to an infant when compared to the long history of the population in this country. So considering it is a "modern" introduction - how is it possible that the Northerners are able to acclimatise and not folks from the South? I'm still baffled by the logic of the statement. Then again, such silly statements in my opinion doesn't deserve further utilisation of brain cells.
Thought provoking rebuttal: Is it right to say that when a person is poor, the person should remain poor and will not have any wants beyond that of a poor person? Does it also mean if a person currently feeling cold, should remain feeling cold because the person is used to it and hence will not want to have a warm home?
My Remarks: Bravo! Though I recall he went on to explain further but I felt that his analogy was just perfect with no further explanation required. In just 2 sentences, I felt that the whole debate didn't need to be debated further. And in just 2 sentences, the imagery was so stark obvious / vivid that it strikes a chord. It also brought the national debate down to the most common citizen where the decision matters him / her the most.
While I'm sure there are many other considerations to be made (e.g. electricity supply availability, cost to operate central heating facilities for the cities, cost to the environment etc etc) and hence it's not fair to judge a debate only based on these 2 statements; I just can't help sharing and appreciating a good rebuttal when I see one (nostalgic over my high school debating days). :-)
The "heating" debate which got heated up (pun unintended) right before the haze / pollution index stole the limelight was about the indoor heating facilities in the country. Currently, only the "North" (normally the line would be drawn based on the great Yangtze river - provinces North of the river are Northern China) have heating facilities indoors for all Public areas and central hot air / water supply to all neighbourhoods. While the South are without such "luxuries". As a result, the Southern cities i.e. Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan etc etc typically have very cold winters - not due to nature but because the buildings in these provinces were not heated. I was told that you need to be equally bundled up indoors as well as outdoors in the South. In comparison to the North where the winter can get very cold especially coupled with the infamous Northern-wind, the people tend to get nice and toasty as soon as they rush in-doors (e.g. mua in T-shirts & shorts at home in Beijing).
Hence the national debate sparked - shouldn't heating system be introduced to the Southern provinces as well? While there were many facts and fiction... oops! figures ;-p being tossed about, 2 statements caught my attention and I remember it as clearly today as when I first read it a couple of months back. One for all the wrong reasons aka it is ludicrous and one for being very thought provoking and not just applicable for this scenario. Though I can't quote back by verbatim, but I'm sharing both statements based on my memory of the gist of the message.
Silly version: The Southern folks are used to the cold and the natural environment of South winters. If we introduce something like heating systems available in the North; the Southerners will fall sick because they'll not be able to acclimatise to the environment created by the heaters. So they'll not want nor need such facilities.
My Remarks: The fact that this statement came from an educated representative of the people is just mind boggling. Heating system in the North is not something aged-old. The age of heating system in China is probably equivalent to an infant when compared to the long history of the population in this country. So considering it is a "modern" introduction - how is it possible that the Northerners are able to acclimatise and not folks from the South? I'm still baffled by the logic of the statement. Then again, such silly statements in my opinion doesn't deserve further utilisation of brain cells.
Thought provoking rebuttal: Is it right to say that when a person is poor, the person should remain poor and will not have any wants beyond that of a poor person? Does it also mean if a person currently feeling cold, should remain feeling cold because the person is used to it and hence will not want to have a warm home?
My Remarks: Bravo! Though I recall he went on to explain further but I felt that his analogy was just perfect with no further explanation required. In just 2 sentences, I felt that the whole debate didn't need to be debated further. And in just 2 sentences, the imagery was so stark obvious / vivid that it strikes a chord. It also brought the national debate down to the most common citizen where the decision matters him / her the most.
While I'm sure there are many other considerations to be made (e.g. electricity supply availability, cost to operate central heating facilities for the cities, cost to the environment etc etc) and hence it's not fair to judge a debate only based on these 2 statements; I just can't help sharing and appreciating a good rebuttal when I see one (nostalgic over my high school debating days). :-)
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Sam’s experience in China
I try to imagine Sam’s experience in China. I have always assumed that to a 15-month-old child (when he 1st arrived back in May), since everything is new to him, there shouldn’t be much (if any) culture shock to experience. But as I was updating my blog with my past few months’ experiences, I realize he actually has at least 1 “strange” experience in his short 23-months life that may have impacted him in some way (through my observation at least).
Strangers’ head peering into his stroller and go “Ohh…. Ahh…”
In Malaysia, no one will bat an eye if you go around with a baby in your arms / the stroller. Here, you get almost 50% of the people on the street peering into the stroller to ‘spy’ on the baby. If you have the hood on, they practically peer into the stroller to get a better look.
I try to imagine being Sam in the stroller and realize that it can indeed be a scary experience! Every few minutes you get a face peeking in front of your face with a wide grin / coo-ing away. Won’t you be scared witless too?
I guess it is the product of the 1-child policy here. Children / babies are a rarity. So coming across one is like meeting a celebrity! In Malaysia, we still have couples with 3-5 kids. What is another baby?
Strangers’ head peering into his stroller and go “Ohh…. Ahh…”
In Malaysia, no one will bat an eye if you go around with a baby in your arms / the stroller. Here, you get almost 50% of the people on the street peering into the stroller to ‘spy’ on the baby. If you have the hood on, they practically peer into the stroller to get a better look.
I try to imagine being Sam in the stroller and realize that it can indeed be a scary experience! Every few minutes you get a face peeking in front of your face with a wide grin / coo-ing away. Won’t you be scared witless too?
I guess it is the product of the 1-child policy here. Children / babies are a rarity. So coming across one is like meeting a celebrity! In Malaysia, we still have couples with 3-5 kids. What is another baby?
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Winter news
Hubby has very thick skin (and fat akin to whale blubber), so anything above 0C is tolerable to him in T-shirts, Bermuda shorts and strappy sandals. Thing is, as we walk out as a family, with me and Sam all nicely bundled up & lo-behold hubby in T-shirt & Bermuda, naturally people cocked an eyebrow. In other countries, that is about all the reaction you'll get.
Here we have so many people stopping us on our tracks and asking “你不冷吗?”(Aren’t you cold?). After being asked umpteenth times; hubby finally had it. The next day as we were dressing up to leave, he was with a jacket and long pants. I asked if he is finally feeling the chill. He said “No, I just want to stop people from asking me 你不冷吗?"
:-)
Here we have so many people stopping us on our tracks and asking “你不冷吗?”(Aren’t you cold?). After being asked umpteenth times; hubby finally had it. The next day as we were dressing up to leave, he was with a jacket and long pants. I asked if he is finally feeling the chill. He said “No, I just want to stop people from asking me 你不冷吗?"
:-)
Monday, 31 December 2012
And the experiences keep pouring in!
I was trying to recall the few culture shocks that I felt when I first arrived and 1 of them being the differences in socially acceptable etiquette here. I’m not trying to look down at the people of Beijing / China for that matter. Just pointing out some observations that may seem strange / a cultural “No-No” to an ‘outsider’ but may be totally acceptable locally in China.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
Lessons from a Suzhou tour guide
You get lessons in the unlikeliest of places. Hubby, Sam & I were in Suzhou last Sep and we enjoyed it very much. It is a laid back little town (by China’s standard, it is little; but it is bigger than JB I would think) where life took a much slower pace than Beijing. It’s a place where you felt sorry to leave… and already planning to come back for another visit before we even get on the bullet train / plane bound home.
We decided to take a 1-day tour of Suzhou just to capture all the key sites before doing our own exploration. So we signed up at the hotel and were herded from 1 site after the other. It would have been another one of the many tours we had been on had it not been the tour guide that we were given. What’s so special that warrants a mention on my blog? Well… apart from the usual explanation of the history / background of the places we visited; she threw in a lot of thought provoking societal issues / lessons and points to ponder – it’s a pity not many took notice of her words though. She made me realize that a tour guide is not just those who herd people around, chase after errant tourists and out to get your tip / commission from purchases done during her tour. A tour guide can play a far greater role in “societal education” too (belief it or not)!
Some of her memorable quips and points to ponder as follows:
1) Pls pay attention to me – it’s only going to be for today. Fate has arranged for us, strangers, to meet today. After today, you may not even recognize me on the streets of Suzhou. So why not make the most out of the time we have together? (As she was speaking in mandarin, this is a rough translation, but how poetically said!)
2) I know I’m just a lowly tour guide, but since you’ve paid for my service, you’d be maximizing your paid value if you pay attention to my explanation… (she must have got some pretty bad tourists in the past to have to give statements like this… )
3) Suzhou ladies are famed to be the fairest in the land. Emperors would visit Suzhou and Hangzhou to select their empress / concubines. So you may ask / wonder – but Ms. tour guide, you’re from Suzhou; yet you’re not beautiful… Why so? Ladies in the past are mostly women of leisure who just hid themselves in the house. They’re shunned from leaving their homes unless approved by their male guardian (i.e. father / husband) and normally only for special occasion with chaperone. Look at this house (we were touring one of the famed gardens of Suzhou called the “Humble Administrator’s Garden”), each building are connected by roofed corridors; shading the ladies from sunlight. Fast forward a few hundred years, women today have to go out to work. Especially tour guides like us are exposed to all weather conditions – be it rain / shine, dry winter wind / hot sweltering summer, we’ll still be out bringing guests. So the fact that I can maintain my current skin condition is already a miracle! (Haha…. This tour guide really has a wry sense of humour!)
4) I used to be a tour guide for international trips – bringing China’s tourists around Europe, Australia etc. Due to personal reasons, I’m now back handling local tours. What saddens me though, was not that I’m no longer handling overseas trips, but I’m saddened by the image of mainland China tourists outside of China. I’ve seen us Chinese being fined for wearing luxury-branded fake goods and I’ve seen us making such a racket, spit, have verbal-fight / abuse the sales person in high-end branded stores that some of the stores even have signs put up that no Chinese tourists allowed / welcomed into their stores. We have grown from a poor country, down-trodden and went through revolutionary change, into a country that produces so many rich people who can afford to buy armloads of luxury goods like Burberry, Prada & LV the way housewives buy “bai chai” (Chinese white cabbage) at the wet market. We have grown so rich, yet we’re not respected… We have taste for expensive goods, yet seen as having no class… We crave recognition, yet all we get are scorns… What has gone wrong? I think because we’ve been ‘poor’ for so long; now that we ‘suddenly’ got a bit richer, we want to show the world; unfortunately, more often than not, in a rowdy way. When we’re overseas, we’re ambassadors of China. It’s all in our behavior and how we’re perceived by our actions. We have to change; yet it may be too late to change for this generation. We come from illustrious ancestry steep in culture, poise and elegant politeness like the gardens of Suzhou; with history dating back to thousands of years. I’m sure we can get back to that illustrious era, but it all hinges on us educating the next generations in the right direction. I doubt we can achieve it in our time, but I’m hopeful in the generation currently in primary schools – when they grow into adulthood; and the generation after them. (Bravo! Well put! Well said! I translated maybe only half of what she said and the messages that I can still remember – but when articulated in mandarin, definitely more compelling than what I wrote here)
5) ‘I know I’ll be bringing you to factory visits later. Some of you may look at me with mocking eyes thinking “This tour guide is going to make big bucks again out of our spending”. Well let me declare right now that I’ll only be bringing you to 2 places – the silk factory and the jade factory. For each silk handkerchief you purchase, I only get yi-jiao (which means RMB0.10), for each silk blanket, I get xxx (I can’t remember how much but it’s pittance lar) – so your spending here is more for the local economy. In Suzhou you can be rest assured that all the things sold are original. No fake eggs, fake silks or fake jade. Suzhou is tourism industry based. We’ll be setting ourselves to doom if we tarnish our reputation by selling fakes. So rest assured, when we say it’s the real deal, IT IS the real deal. If it is fake, we will declare it is polyester made to look like silk etc etc. But if you ask my opinion between Jade and Silk, if I were to invest, I’d invest in a good silk blanket or silk underwear or silk sleepwear. Jade is just a rock, whether the value is indeed RMB100 or RMB10k, who knows? I can’t tell the difference between a high value stone vs. a cheap one. The other reason why Suzhou ladies are so beautiful is because they use silk for everything, including their face mask! Their beauty is not in their face / their body shape. It’s in their skin – as soft as tofu and as smooth as silk. And their secret is in wearing silk. (Wow… This lady really knows how to make a sales pitch!). So my advice, you can wear cheap jade, but pamper yourself with good quality authentic silk. Who cares if no one can see it, but if it is good for your skin, why not?’
6) We were at a famous temple in Suzhou called the Hanshanshi (not pinyin accurate; am just typing according to the sound) and there’s a huge bell hung within a ornately decorated bell tower than can be seen from miles away. You pay RMB10 to strike the bell 3 times to make a wish. She shared ‘Strike it only if you can afford it. Don’t go over-zealous by paying many RMBs / beyond your means just because you want to ensure your prayers is heard. Some people thought, “since I paid RMB10, I want to make the most of it and bang really really hard” – sending huge sound waves throughout the whole temple, not to mention ear damage to the rest of us. Let me tell you, it’s not necessary. I’m sure the Gods will listen to everyone whether you can afford to pay to strike the bell or not and whether it is soft / loud sounding. Some people are greedy and also thought they want to make the best wish they can make from the 3 strikes and said (my apologies, my mandarin wasn’t so good so I can’t really explain the 3 wishes she described, but it roughly went along the lines of) “I’m not greedy, I just wish to have no worries in the world (i.e. no need to worry about not having enough money, not enough food etc etc)”. Well let me tell you now that you better wish that prayer are not fulfilled because who would have such a life? I ask you – who do you think has such a life? Yes indeed – a monk! A monk is supposed to not have any worries in the world, be it wealth, fame, glory etc etc. Just a belly filled with enough food to keep him / her healthy will suffice. So please, be careful what you wish for and don’t try to squeeze in everything into those 3 wishes & 3 bell strikes. Everything in moderation will bring you a long way.’
She managed to keep us ‘entertained’ yet seem to mock us (for those that “termakan cili” lar… The rest, found it funny) all at the same time! Yet I don’t think any of us felt offended due to the delicate way she put it. I felt like I must take oratory lessons from her!
Oh did I also mention that she can quote economic statistics? e.g. the Country GDP vs GDP of Suzhou, the size of tourism industry in Suzhou vs the rest of China, the tourism agencies practices in Suzhou vs. e.g. Beijing and hence why Suzhou and Hangzhou are voted to have the best and most ethical tour guides cum agencies in China etc etc… She’s just a trivia of information and she somehow managed to blend all these into her tour explanation of the beautiful gardens, the majestic temples and the serene water canals of Suzhou…
Morale of the story: Never under-estimate the things you learn from a simple tour… You may be surprised.
Oh…. In case you wonder how old is she, I’d estimate her in her late 30’s. Young huh…
We decided to take a 1-day tour of Suzhou just to capture all the key sites before doing our own exploration. So we signed up at the hotel and were herded from 1 site after the other. It would have been another one of the many tours we had been on had it not been the tour guide that we were given. What’s so special that warrants a mention on my blog? Well… apart from the usual explanation of the history / background of the places we visited; she threw in a lot of thought provoking societal issues / lessons and points to ponder – it’s a pity not many took notice of her words though. She made me realize that a tour guide is not just those who herd people around, chase after errant tourists and out to get your tip / commission from purchases done during her tour. A tour guide can play a far greater role in “societal education” too (belief it or not)!
Some of her memorable quips and points to ponder as follows:
1) Pls pay attention to me – it’s only going to be for today. Fate has arranged for us, strangers, to meet today. After today, you may not even recognize me on the streets of Suzhou. So why not make the most out of the time we have together? (As she was speaking in mandarin, this is a rough translation, but how poetically said!)
2) I know I’m just a lowly tour guide, but since you’ve paid for my service, you’d be maximizing your paid value if you pay attention to my explanation… (she must have got some pretty bad tourists in the past to have to give statements like this… )
3) Suzhou ladies are famed to be the fairest in the land. Emperors would visit Suzhou and Hangzhou to select their empress / concubines. So you may ask / wonder – but Ms. tour guide, you’re from Suzhou; yet you’re not beautiful… Why so? Ladies in the past are mostly women of leisure who just hid themselves in the house. They’re shunned from leaving their homes unless approved by their male guardian (i.e. father / husband) and normally only for special occasion with chaperone. Look at this house (we were touring one of the famed gardens of Suzhou called the “Humble Administrator’s Garden”), each building are connected by roofed corridors; shading the ladies from sunlight. Fast forward a few hundred years, women today have to go out to work. Especially tour guides like us are exposed to all weather conditions – be it rain / shine, dry winter wind / hot sweltering summer, we’ll still be out bringing guests. So the fact that I can maintain my current skin condition is already a miracle! (Haha…. This tour guide really has a wry sense of humour!)
4) I used to be a tour guide for international trips – bringing China’s tourists around Europe, Australia etc. Due to personal reasons, I’m now back handling local tours. What saddens me though, was not that I’m no longer handling overseas trips, but I’m saddened by the image of mainland China tourists outside of China. I’ve seen us Chinese being fined for wearing luxury-branded fake goods and I’ve seen us making such a racket, spit, have verbal-fight / abuse the sales person in high-end branded stores that some of the stores even have signs put up that no Chinese tourists allowed / welcomed into their stores. We have grown from a poor country, down-trodden and went through revolutionary change, into a country that produces so many rich people who can afford to buy armloads of luxury goods like Burberry, Prada & LV the way housewives buy “bai chai” (Chinese white cabbage) at the wet market. We have grown so rich, yet we’re not respected… We have taste for expensive goods, yet seen as having no class… We crave recognition, yet all we get are scorns… What has gone wrong? I think because we’ve been ‘poor’ for so long; now that we ‘suddenly’ got a bit richer, we want to show the world; unfortunately, more often than not, in a rowdy way. When we’re overseas, we’re ambassadors of China. It’s all in our behavior and how we’re perceived by our actions. We have to change; yet it may be too late to change for this generation. We come from illustrious ancestry steep in culture, poise and elegant politeness like the gardens of Suzhou; with history dating back to thousands of years. I’m sure we can get back to that illustrious era, but it all hinges on us educating the next generations in the right direction. I doubt we can achieve it in our time, but I’m hopeful in the generation currently in primary schools – when they grow into adulthood; and the generation after them. (Bravo! Well put! Well said! I translated maybe only half of what she said and the messages that I can still remember – but when articulated in mandarin, definitely more compelling than what I wrote here)
5) ‘I know I’ll be bringing you to factory visits later. Some of you may look at me with mocking eyes thinking “This tour guide is going to make big bucks again out of our spending”. Well let me declare right now that I’ll only be bringing you to 2 places – the silk factory and the jade factory. For each silk handkerchief you purchase, I only get yi-jiao (which means RMB0.10), for each silk blanket, I get xxx (I can’t remember how much but it’s pittance lar) – so your spending here is more for the local economy. In Suzhou you can be rest assured that all the things sold are original. No fake eggs, fake silks or fake jade. Suzhou is tourism industry based. We’ll be setting ourselves to doom if we tarnish our reputation by selling fakes. So rest assured, when we say it’s the real deal, IT IS the real deal. If it is fake, we will declare it is polyester made to look like silk etc etc. But if you ask my opinion between Jade and Silk, if I were to invest, I’d invest in a good silk blanket or silk underwear or silk sleepwear. Jade is just a rock, whether the value is indeed RMB100 or RMB10k, who knows? I can’t tell the difference between a high value stone vs. a cheap one. The other reason why Suzhou ladies are so beautiful is because they use silk for everything, including their face mask! Their beauty is not in their face / their body shape. It’s in their skin – as soft as tofu and as smooth as silk. And their secret is in wearing silk. (Wow… This lady really knows how to make a sales pitch!). So my advice, you can wear cheap jade, but pamper yourself with good quality authentic silk. Who cares if no one can see it, but if it is good for your skin, why not?’
6) We were at a famous temple in Suzhou called the Hanshanshi (not pinyin accurate; am just typing according to the sound) and there’s a huge bell hung within a ornately decorated bell tower than can be seen from miles away. You pay RMB10 to strike the bell 3 times to make a wish. She shared ‘Strike it only if you can afford it. Don’t go over-zealous by paying many RMBs / beyond your means just because you want to ensure your prayers is heard. Some people thought, “since I paid RMB10, I want to make the most of it and bang really really hard” – sending huge sound waves throughout the whole temple, not to mention ear damage to the rest of us. Let me tell you, it’s not necessary. I’m sure the Gods will listen to everyone whether you can afford to pay to strike the bell or not and whether it is soft / loud sounding. Some people are greedy and also thought they want to make the best wish they can make from the 3 strikes and said (my apologies, my mandarin wasn’t so good so I can’t really explain the 3 wishes she described, but it roughly went along the lines of) “I’m not greedy, I just wish to have no worries in the world (i.e. no need to worry about not having enough money, not enough food etc etc)”. Well let me tell you now that you better wish that prayer are not fulfilled because who would have such a life? I ask you – who do you think has such a life? Yes indeed – a monk! A monk is supposed to not have any worries in the world, be it wealth, fame, glory etc etc. Just a belly filled with enough food to keep him / her healthy will suffice. So please, be careful what you wish for and don’t try to squeeze in everything into those 3 wishes & 3 bell strikes. Everything in moderation will bring you a long way.’
She managed to keep us ‘entertained’ yet seem to mock us (for those that “termakan cili” lar… The rest, found it funny) all at the same time! Yet I don’t think any of us felt offended due to the delicate way she put it. I felt like I must take oratory lessons from her!
Oh did I also mention that she can quote economic statistics? e.g. the Country GDP vs GDP of Suzhou, the size of tourism industry in Suzhou vs the rest of China, the tourism agencies practices in Suzhou vs. e.g. Beijing and hence why Suzhou and Hangzhou are voted to have the best and most ethical tour guides cum agencies in China etc etc… She’s just a trivia of information and she somehow managed to blend all these into her tour explanation of the beautiful gardens, the majestic temples and the serene water canals of Suzhou…
Morale of the story: Never under-estimate the things you learn from a simple tour… You may be surprised.
Oh…. In case you wonder how old is she, I’d estimate her in her late 30’s. Young huh…
Friday, 14 December 2012
What else happened in Beijing?
I’d like to close the chapter on shopping, but this incident is also linked to a shopping experience. Hubby, Sam and I were in the apartment shuttle bus one day preparing to leave for our grocery shopping when a fellow resident joined us and we struck a conversation. She is in Beijing for a few months and has travelled to most countries in SEA and China. We then talked about the shopping experience in China and how it compares to the service level we get in SEA countries / even Hong Kong. She then made an observation that I felt hit the nail right on the head – “People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”.
I know what she meant. She’s not referring to “people” in general – that’s not a fair view. She’s referring to the sales people and the service level that the consumers get here.
To illustrate – We were shopping in a departmental store and I saw a really nice jacket. So I went to take a look & even tried it on when encouraged. Until I saw the price tag of RMB800 for a simple cotton-cum-elastic jacket; I was put off and said “It’s ok, this is not for me”. As I walked away with hubby, the sales lady pulled me back and gave a stage whisper “Don’t tell anyone. This discount is especially for you since I can see you really liked the jacket. 5% discount!!” Err… at RMB800, it’ll take at least 70% discount before I even bat an eye… So, I excused myself again and walk off. She continued to pull me back offering to reduce by another 5% (see what I mean about the myth of no bargaining in department stores?) and this time, hubby and I gave a firm no and walk off without a backward glance – not wanting to attract any more attention.
Then… “WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND ARE YOU. YOUR WIFE CLEARLY LIKED THAT JACKET AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO GET THAT FOR HER!! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAN! Come back here and I’ll give you a discount!”
Oh boy… If she thinks we’d even walk back after such a remark she’s dead wrong!!
Surprisingly, I don’t know if the consumers here liked being ‘scolded’ / ‘shamed’ by the sales person; but it seem to be a common thing as we were not the only ones treated that way and it’s also not because we’re foreigners! On our way out, I heard another local Chinese man being ‘told-off’ that he’s being such a pain for finding a changing room instead of trying on his coat right there in between the clothes rack. Yet he actually stood there and let her grumble on as he try on his coat – patiently explaining that he just didn’t like being looked at when trying on new clothes.
I thought his request was absolutely reasonable and he was not being difficult at all! What happened to the phrase “customers are always right”?
Finally, the last example that proved the phrase:
“People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”
My colleagues generally agreed that they prefer to go to Cantonese restaurants because the service is better. “You don’t need to shout & be ignored when you ask for free water (especially if you didn’t order for a paid drink)”. I pointed out that these Cantonese restaurants are all serviced by locals and not from the South of China? So why the different service level? The reply was “Oh, because they’re trained by the boss / operator from the South” *cock an eyebrow*
Okay Okay, admittedly that was my 1st impression of service level in Beijing. Then my view seem to improve a little over time as I come across more sales staff who are better mannered and even remembered to thank you for your patronage (I almost forgot that phrase that I took for granted back in KL); and was actually shocked when I heard it!
Not all of Beijing is inhabited by rude ‘people’. Unfortunately most of the tourist-facing ones are; hence the 1st impression. I have high hopes and equally high faith that Beijing can do better than what they have to offer now…
I know what she meant. She’s not referring to “people” in general – that’s not a fair view. She’s referring to the sales people and the service level that the consumers get here.
To illustrate – We were shopping in a departmental store and I saw a really nice jacket. So I went to take a look & even tried it on when encouraged. Until I saw the price tag of RMB800 for a simple cotton-cum-elastic jacket; I was put off and said “It’s ok, this is not for me”. As I walked away with hubby, the sales lady pulled me back and gave a stage whisper “Don’t tell anyone. This discount is especially for you since I can see you really liked the jacket. 5% discount!!” Err… at RMB800, it’ll take at least 70% discount before I even bat an eye… So, I excused myself again and walk off. She continued to pull me back offering to reduce by another 5% (see what I mean about the myth of no bargaining in department stores?) and this time, hubby and I gave a firm no and walk off without a backward glance – not wanting to attract any more attention.
Then… “WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND ARE YOU. YOUR WIFE CLEARLY LIKED THAT JACKET AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO GET THAT FOR HER!! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAN! Come back here and I’ll give you a discount!”
Oh boy… If she thinks we’d even walk back after such a remark she’s dead wrong!!
Surprisingly, I don’t know if the consumers here liked being ‘scolded’ / ‘shamed’ by the sales person; but it seem to be a common thing as we were not the only ones treated that way and it’s also not because we’re foreigners! On our way out, I heard another local Chinese man being ‘told-off’ that he’s being such a pain for finding a changing room instead of trying on his coat right there in between the clothes rack. Yet he actually stood there and let her grumble on as he try on his coat – patiently explaining that he just didn’t like being looked at when trying on new clothes.
I thought his request was absolutely reasonable and he was not being difficult at all! What happened to the phrase “customers are always right”?
Finally, the last example that proved the phrase:
“People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”
My colleagues generally agreed that they prefer to go to Cantonese restaurants because the service is better. “You don’t need to shout & be ignored when you ask for free water (especially if you didn’t order for a paid drink)”. I pointed out that these Cantonese restaurants are all serviced by locals and not from the South of China? So why the different service level? The reply was “Oh, because they’re trained by the boss / operator from the South” *cock an eyebrow*
Okay Okay, admittedly that was my 1st impression of service level in Beijing. Then my view seem to improve a little over time as I come across more sales staff who are better mannered and even remembered to thank you for your patronage (I almost forgot that phrase that I took for granted back in KL); and was actually shocked when I heard it!
Not all of Beijing is inhabited by rude ‘people’. Unfortunately most of the tourist-facing ones are; hence the 1st impression. I have high hopes and equally high faith that Beijing can do better than what they have to offer now…
1st Post from Beijing
Without realizing it’s already coming to 8-months I’m in Beijing and I’m only putting pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard) now; despite intending to share so many of my observations right from day 1 (which happens to be 1st of May 2012).
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
Friday, 25 November 2011
Photos of 3rd Day in Cameron 2011
Unfortunately they ran out of their Nasi Lemak which we remembered to be really good to this day. So settled with some English cakes & scones & tea... How pretentious! ;-p
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
夢醒時分 The moment when a dream is awakened..
Direct copy from author without further amendments (except blue fonts).
鄭丁賢•夢醒時分 你是否和我一樣，發覺身邊的親戚和朋友，似乎少了許多。 I wonder you feel the same as me ; all the sudden I realized friends and relatives around me seems to get less and less.
往接近過年時，各種聚餐排得滿滿的，而今年，似乎沒聲沒息。 Those years when the New Year drew near, all sorts of gathering appointments almost completely filled the diaries, but this year seems so quiet.
即使是平常日子，電話少了，與大家見面也少了。 Even in normal time, phone calls become less and less, face to face meet up also become much less.
也許，大家各忙各的；或者，目前流行“宅生活”，儘量避免出門。 Perhaps, everybody is busy with their own things, or perhaps, nowadays people prefer to stay in.
也不盡然如此。再想一想，很多老友和親戚，已經不在了。嗟！大吉利是，他們都還好好的，只是離開了馬來西亞。 However, it is not entirely like this, thinking further, actually old friends and relatives are not around any more. God bless, they are still alive and well, they just left the country, Malaysia .
去了中國大陸開工廠；王子不做工程師，移民到澳洲開小食檔；阿風離開本地大學，去香港做講師；青蛙去了台灣，開展事業第二春；還有的到了美國、英國，唔，還有去印尼的……。 They have gone to China to set factory; Ah Wang quit his engineer job and migrated to Australia to set up his little food store business, Ah Fong left the local University went to Hong Kong as a lecturer. 'Frog' went to Taiwan to pursue his second career life. Others went to America , England , even Indonesia ...
起初，以為這只是個別現象，逐漸的，旁人也有同樣發現；原來，這不是個別現象，而是社會現象；這不是少數，而是相當大的數目。 At first, I thought these are individual cases, but gradually, people around me realized the same, these are not individual cases but a general symptom of our society. they are not small numbers but the pretty big indeed.
外交部早前披露了一個數字，說明這個現象是多麼真實，多麼貼近。 Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures earlier, it confirmed the situation is real.
從去年3月到今年9月，已經有30萬大馬人移民他國；其中20萬 人是今年1月到8月出走的數目。 From March 2008 thru September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysian migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009. (in 8 months)
累積下來，已經有超過200萬大馬人移民，接近今天印尼外勞在大馬的人口。 Cumulatively, 2 million Malaysians migrated, this figure is close to the number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia today.
不同的是，移居他國的大馬人，多是專業人士、中產階級。 The difference are, those migrated are mostly professional and middle class people.
他們有很多出走的理由，追求事業發展，為了孩子前途，尋找個人更大空間……，概括一句：對馬來西亞失望。 They have many reasons to leave: pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life and environment... In one sentence, they lost hope of Malaysia .
50年前，大家說，馬來西亞真好，好過香港，甚至日本。 50 years ago people said: Malaysia is very good, better than Hong Kong and even Japan .
30年前，大家說，馬來西亞還不錯，比得上韓國、台灣（不提香港和日本了）。 30 years ago people said: Malaysia is not bad, comparable to S. Korea and Taiwan. (No mention of Hong Kong and Japan any more).
20年前，大家說，馬來西亞還可以，至少超越中國、泰國（不能和台、韓比了）。 20 years ago people said: Malaysia can do lah, at least better than China and Thailand (Cannot compare with Taiwan and Korea lah)
10年前，大家說，馬來西亞再差，還不至於像越南、印尼（中國已是不同級別）。 10 years ago people said: No matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam and Indonesia ok-lah. (China is already in a different category).
今日，越南和印尼的經濟成長率遙遙領先大馬， 社會活力和知識發展也勝過一籌；距離愈來愈近了。 Today, the economic growth rate of Vietnam and Indonesia already far exceeded Malaysia , Social activity and intellectual development of the country is also better, the gap between us and them is closing up.
怕甚麼，還有菲律賓和柬埔寨、緬甸。
Why worry? there are still Philippines , Cambodia and Myanmar behind us.
但是，一位經濟學家最近到菲律賓考察之後，認為再過20年，大馬可以取代菲律賓，出口馬籍女傭到全世界了。 However, according to an economist who recently surveyed Philippines, he think in 20 years' time, Malaysia can replace Philippines to become the World exporter of Malaysian maids.
半個世紀以來，馬來西亞是在大宅院裡，用封建方式，分配祖宗家業，消耗社會資源，浪費和逼走人才；不談競爭力，忽略生產力，討厭績效制。 Over half a century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continued to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drove away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglected productivity, and hated meritocracy.
亞洲金融風暴來襲時，大馬把門關起來，以為避過一劫， 有人還自我陶醉，自以為是天才策略。 When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, they even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well.
然而，其它國家面對風暴，走出風暴，進行體質改革，跨步向前，登上另一個水平；大馬卻還在原地踏步。 However, just look at other countries in our neighbourhood ; they stood up, faced the storm, and walked out of the storm. They overhauled their system, improved the processes and marched forward ; they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia , still walking on the spot . . !
馬來西亞，該醒一醒了。 Dear Malaysia , it's time to wake up ! We are very very late now !
So what am I doing here? Shouldn't I just grab the Beijing offer (despite the difficulties it poses) & leave? Have we no hope now that we need to resort leaving our home? That's so sad...
鄭丁賢•夢醒時分 你是否和我一樣，發覺身邊的親戚和朋友，似乎少了許多。 I wonder you feel the same as me ; all the sudden I realized friends and relatives around me seems to get less and less.
往接近過年時，各種聚餐排得滿滿的，而今年，似乎沒聲沒息。 Those years when the New Year drew near, all sorts of gathering appointments almost completely filled the diaries, but this year seems so quiet.
即使是平常日子，電話少了，與大家見面也少了。 Even in normal time, phone calls become less and less, face to face meet up also become much less.
也許，大家各忙各的；或者，目前流行“宅生活”，儘量避免出門。 Perhaps, everybody is busy with their own things, or perhaps, nowadays people prefer to stay in.
也不盡然如此。再想一想，很多老友和親戚，已經不在了。嗟！大吉利是，他們都還好好的，只是離開了馬來西亞。 However, it is not entirely like this, thinking further, actually old friends and relatives are not around any more. God bless, they are still alive and well, they just left the country, Malaysia .
去了中國大陸開工廠；王子不做工程師，移民到澳洲開小食檔；阿風離開本地大學，去香港做講師；青蛙去了台灣，開展事業第二春；還有的到了美國、英國，唔，還有去印尼的……。 They have gone to China to set factory; Ah Wang quit his engineer job and migrated to Australia to set up his little food store business, Ah Fong left the local University went to Hong Kong as a lecturer. 'Frog' went to Taiwan to pursue his second career life. Others went to America , England , even Indonesia ...
起初，以為這只是個別現象，逐漸的，旁人也有同樣發現；原來，這不是個別現象，而是社會現象；這不是少數，而是相當大的數目。 At first, I thought these are individual cases, but gradually, people around me realized the same, these are not individual cases but a general symptom of our society. they are not small numbers but the pretty big indeed.
外交部早前披露了一個數字，說明這個現象是多麼真實，多麼貼近。 Department of Foreign Affairs released the figures earlier, it confirmed the situation is real.
從去年3月到今年9月，已經有30萬大馬人移民他國；其中20萬 人是今年1月到8月出走的數目。 From March 2008 thru September 2009, a total of 300,000 Malaysian migrated to other countries, among them 200,000 left between Jan - Aug 2009. (in 8 months)
累積下來，已經有超過200萬大馬人移民，接近今天印尼外勞在大馬的人口。 Cumulatively, 2 million Malaysians migrated, this figure is close to the number of Indonesian workers in Malaysia today.
不同的是，移居他國的大馬人，多是專業人士、中產階級。 The difference are, those migrated are mostly professional and middle class people.
他們有很多出走的理由，追求事業發展，為了孩子前途，尋找個人更大空間……，概括一句：對馬來西亞失望。 They have many reasons to leave: pursue career development, for the future of their children, in search of better life and environment... In one sentence, they lost hope of Malaysia .
50年前，大家說，馬來西亞真好，好過香港，甚至日本。 50 years ago people said: Malaysia is very good, better than Hong Kong and even Japan .
30年前，大家說，馬來西亞還不錯，比得上韓國、台灣（不提香港和日本了）。 30 years ago people said: Malaysia is not bad, comparable to S. Korea and Taiwan. (No mention of Hong Kong and Japan any more).
20年前，大家說，馬來西亞還可以，至少超越中國、泰國（不能和台、韓比了）。 20 years ago people said: Malaysia can do lah, at least better than China and Thailand (Cannot compare with Taiwan and Korea lah)
10年前，大家說，馬來西亞再差，還不至於像越南、印尼（中國已是不同級別）。 10 years ago people said: No matter how bad Malaysia is, cannot be worse than Vietnam and Indonesia ok-lah. (China is already in a different category).
今日，越南和印尼的經濟成長率遙遙領先大馬， 社會活力和知識發展也勝過一籌；距離愈來愈近了。 Today, the economic growth rate of Vietnam and Indonesia already far exceeded Malaysia , Social activity and intellectual development of the country is also better, the gap between us and them is closing up.
怕甚麼，還有菲律賓和柬埔寨、緬甸。
Why worry? there are still Philippines , Cambodia and Myanmar behind us.
但是，一位經濟學家最近到菲律賓考察之後，認為再過20年，大馬可以取代菲律賓，出口馬籍女傭到全世界了。 However, according to an economist who recently surveyed Philippines, he think in 20 years' time, Malaysia can replace Philippines to become the World exporter of Malaysian maids.
半個世紀以來，馬來西亞是在大宅院裡，用封建方式，分配祖宗家業，消耗社會資源，浪費和逼走人才；不談競爭力，忽略生產力，討厭績效制。 Over half a century, Malaysians live in the big old imperial housing complex, closed up and survive on properties left behind by the ancestor; continued to consume up social resources, wasteful, and drove away talents; they never talk about competitiveness, totally neglected productivity, and hated meritocracy.
亞洲金融風暴來襲時，大馬把門關起來，以為避過一劫， 有人還自我陶醉，自以為是天才策略。 When Asia economic storm hit in 1997, Malaysia closed their doors, thinking we beautifully avoided a disaster, they even think of themselves as genius, being able to handle the situation so well.
然而，其它國家面對風暴，走出風暴，進行體質改革，跨步向前，登上另一個水平；大馬卻還在原地踏步。 However, just look at other countries in our neighbourhood ; they stood up, faced the storm, and walked out of the storm. They overhauled their system, improved the processes and marched forward ; they moved up to a new level. And Malaysia , still walking on the spot . . !
馬來西亞，該醒一醒了。 Dear Malaysia , it's time to wake up ! We are very very late now !
So what am I doing here? Shouldn't I just grab the Beijing offer (despite the difficulties it poses) & leave? Have we no hope now that we need to resort leaving our home? That's so sad...
Cameron Highlands Trip - Day 2
We really maximized our day. We woke up bright & early (thanks to Kun Sam - natural alarm clock) & started the day by going down to Ringlet to the Boh Tea Plantation cum Factory. Alas, we found that they're closed on Mondays. So we went to the cafeteria of Bharat Tea Plantation instead (mid-way between Ringlet & Tanah Rata). The view from the cafeteria is truly majestic! Hills & valleys of age old tea tree of almost the same height. It looked like a huge patterned green carpet!
Food is pricey though. You'd have thought that the tea being so near, it should be cheaper than KL! No Sir-ee! The teas (though wide selection) was so expensive. We took among the cheaper ones -Massala tea; which is really creamy & tasty & 2 packets of Nasi Lemak. It cost us nearly RM20 all in all. As much as I wanted the scones, butter & jelly set, it was too pricey too. So with breakfast nicely tucked in, we took a stroll down the steep steps towards the tea plantation. We snap some pictures with Kun Sam "busy" hitting the tea "bushes". It's really painful because there were many twigs growing upwards, so hitting it would be like having a wooden fork poking at your palms. Yet Kun Sam seem to be oblivious to all that & continue "whacking" like no body's business. I tell you... this boy is truly destined for the drums (no piano for him)!
After breakfast, we visited a strawberry farm & have strawberries! It was sourish, but delicious with cream. Kun Sam loved it so much, his face is all smeared with strawberry juices. Don't belief me? Take a look:
Yummy but so sour mummy! See my eye?
We then went up to Brinchang and had a simple lunch of rice, boiled vegetable with oyster sauce & stewed pork leg in vinegar, near the local farmer's market so it's not as pricey. Not knowing where else to go, we went to another strawberry farm (cum cactus cum rose garden cum hydroponic vegetables cum restaurant cum cafe etc) nearby. After walking around, we found that the scones set & pancake set in this cafe is much cheaper than Bharat. So, we took tea! A pot of tea + a hot scone + butter + strawberry jam + 2 pcs of pancakes with pieces of strawberries in the bater + vanilla ice cream & more butter & strawberry jam! Kun & daddy loved the fluffy pancakes with ice cream. Mummy is contented with the hot scones - ahh... finally...
After stuffing ourselves with sinfully delicious desserts, we visited a temple in Brinchang & took a meditative stroll around the compound. We then head back to the hotel room for a little snooze & clean-up Kun Sam.
We ended the day with dinner at Brinchang - a restaurant we've been eyeing the previous night but did not go because it was jam packed with people. I'm happpy we went there. It's really delicious. We had "Indonesian" fish curry, stir fried "dragon whiskers" vegetable (only available in Cameron apparently) & errmmm... can't remember the third dish... if not mistaken, it's mantis prawns. Kun Sam? Teething biscuits & milk for dinner. :-)
Really a relaxed family outing.
Believe It Or Not?!
In my last post I mentioned Kun Sam was sick right? He was having fever for 4-days despite taking paracetamol. So went to see the paediatrician who made a more detailed check & even take a blood test. We had to wait 45mins to get the result of the blood test (which is pretty fast actually), before going back to the Dr's office again to get the diagnosis. Nothing serious. Just viral infection of the throat & inflammation of the nose canal. Just some mild medication, no antibiotics required. All in all, the whole exercise took about 2-hrs.
On the way driving back, my mother-in-law is still feeling uncomfortable that Kun Sam's illness may be related to something paranormal. Rationale is that we always bring him out at night, so some evil wondering soul must be disturbing him - hence the fever.
To give her peace of mind, hubby drove in to a Taoist temple that she normally go to for "enlightenment". There's apparently a medium who's very "accurate" & good in resolving such paranormal disturbances. To be honest both hubby & I were skeptical. At least hubby roughly know how all this works. I was truly like a fish out of water. I don't know if I should sit / stand / pray / burn incense etc.
There's an old man at the right hand corner of the temple who got Kun Sam's information like his name, date & time of birth, place of birth etc. Then we're asked to bring the envealope to the medium who was seated in the middle. He just took a look at Kun Sam, pointed at him & said, "Kun Sam right? Listen carefully. He's not being hounded by ghosts or having paranormal disturbances. His nostril is merely blocked, hence causing his throat to be infected; which causes fever. Just give him this list of herbal medication & another herb to soothe his teething gums, he should be fine. I'm also giving him a "fu" (a strip of yellow paper with some characters written by the medium in red & 3 stamps of a wooden stamp), you should burn it, take the ashes & disolve in water. Use the ash water to make his milk. Understand? Hmmh ok."
That was it!
In only less than 10mins & he was able to rattle off all the Dr's diagnosis that took about 2-hrs & even issue a prescription too (albeit the dubious "fu" that we need to give its ash to a baby)!
I'm not sure if I'm a convert now... but WOW! Believe It Or Not?!
On the way driving back, my mother-in-law is still feeling uncomfortable that Kun Sam's illness may be related to something paranormal. Rationale is that we always bring him out at night, so some evil wondering soul must be disturbing him - hence the fever.
To give her peace of mind, hubby drove in to a Taoist temple that she normally go to for "enlightenment". There's apparently a medium who's very "accurate" & good in resolving such paranormal disturbances. To be honest both hubby & I were skeptical. At least hubby roughly know how all this works. I was truly like a fish out of water. I don't know if I should sit / stand / pray / burn incense etc.
There's an old man at the right hand corner of the temple who got Kun Sam's information like his name, date & time of birth, place of birth etc. Then we're asked to bring the envealope to the medium who was seated in the middle. He just took a look at Kun Sam, pointed at him & said, "Kun Sam right? Listen carefully. He's not being hounded by ghosts or having paranormal disturbances. His nostril is merely blocked, hence causing his throat to be infected; which causes fever. Just give him this list of herbal medication & another herb to soothe his teething gums, he should be fine. I'm also giving him a "fu" (a strip of yellow paper with some characters written by the medium in red & 3 stamps of a wooden stamp), you should burn it, take the ashes & disolve in water. Use the ash water to make his milk. Understand? Hmmh ok."
That was it!
In only less than 10mins & he was able to rattle off all the Dr's diagnosis that took about 2-hrs & even issue a prescription too (albeit the dubious "fu" that we need to give its ash to a baby)!
I'm not sure if I'm a convert now... but WOW! Believe It Or Not?!
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Scared Shitless but Don't Know What to Do!
This month must be a very bad month for Kun Sam. He first had fever for 4-days. Then after seeing the paediatrician, his fever continued for another 2-days before finally subsiding.
After taking so much medication & so little milk, his face & some parts of his body broke out in rashes like spots. My mother-in-law said that it's due to "toxins" in the body trying to be excreted out.
Then... this morning he fell off the bed!
I left him on the other end of the bed towards the wall & he was sleeping; to quickly make a trip to the toilet. When I came back, he's already on the floor (on his stomach - crawl position)! I freaked out!! But.... I can't show that I'm freaking out inside because my mother-in-law is already on nagging mode. (e.g. "I've taken care of so many kids & not once did they fell off the bed!"). Well sorry to be such a bad mother!! As if I'd wanted such things to happen.
Sigh... I try... I really try... Maybe I'm truly a lousy mother...
Anyway, Kun Sam is fine (or at least that's based on the fact that he just cried for a while), he can move all his limbs, there's no nasty cuts / bruises on his head / body, not vomiting blood / bloody nose. He even started playing & smiling by the time I was ready to leave for work (yeah... I actually left for work, but that's to collect my laptop to be able to work from home later as I continue to monitor him).
It's 4pm now & so far he's eating, drinking, playing & sleeping as usual. I don't know... Should I bring him to the paediatrician again to check if he suffers anything from the fall? Scared SHITLESS!!
After taking so much medication & so little milk, his face & some parts of his body broke out in rashes like spots. My mother-in-law said that it's due to "toxins" in the body trying to be excreted out.
Then... this morning he fell off the bed!
I left him on the other end of the bed towards the wall & he was sleeping; to quickly make a trip to the toilet. When I came back, he's already on the floor (on his stomach - crawl position)! I freaked out!! But.... I can't show that I'm freaking out inside because my mother-in-law is already on nagging mode. (e.g. "I've taken care of so many kids & not once did they fell off the bed!"). Well sorry to be such a bad mother!! As if I'd wanted such things to happen.
Sigh... I try... I really try... Maybe I'm truly a lousy mother...
Anyway, Kun Sam is fine (or at least that's based on the fact that he just cried for a while), he can move all his limbs, there's no nasty cuts / bruises on his head / body, not vomiting blood / bloody nose. He even started playing & smiling by the time I was ready to leave for work (yeah... I actually left for work, but that's to collect my laptop to be able to work from home later as I continue to monitor him).
It's 4pm now & so far he's eating, drinking, playing & sleeping as usual. I don't know... Should I bring him to the paediatrician again to check if he suffers anything from the fall? Scared SHITLESS!!
Monday, 14 November 2011
Cameron Highlands Trip - Day 1
I know... it's stale news. What with my trip to Cameron being last month in Oct, but really didn't have the time nor the mood to write since coming back... Until now...
Before heading up, we had dim sum for breakfast, then took a slow drive via the trunk road towards Bidor. Upon reaching there, we stopped by to have a quick lunch of "wu kok" (fried savoury yam dumplings) & wan tan noodles at the famous "Pun Chun". The "wu kok" was as good as we remembered, but the wan tan noodles is really not recommended. I'd rather have only "wu kok" for lunch & nothing else than to attempt eating the noodles again. Kun Sam had his teething biscuits - boy he loved them. He had 5 sticks in 1 sitting!
After lunch, we continued our journey up the highlands via Tapah. Gosh... I was really sick on the drive up. I know I tend to have motion sickness but it's a first going up to Cameron - I didn't have it in my past trips. Partially thanks to Kun Sam actually. He just refuses to seat in his car seat. He has somehow learned to pull & kick & tug at the seat belt till it's so loose that he can squirm out of the seat belts & wriggle out of the car seat. I just can't describe it more accurately but suffice to say if I had left him to his own device he would have fallen out of the baby car seat & on the floor!
So I had no choice but to carry him. Bad move...
On top of the safety risk, he was just super hyper! I'm not sure if it's because he's super excited to be travelling & not cooped up at home or everything he sees out of the windscreen is just super interestingly new to him. He was jumping, clambering on & off my lap, peek at his dad over the rear-mirror, clamber to the window on the left & then to the right & the whole "process" repeats again. Golly... Upon reaching Ringlet, we just had to absolutely stop because I was really close to vomiting in the car! So Kun Sam... If you read this when you're older - you really owe mummy this!
Anyway, it was with much relief to all of us that we reached Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata safely & me without vomitting. The hotel is ok... A bit old, but it's spacious & has all the basic things we need - fridge, TV & clean bathroom. That's more than enough for me.
After putting down our bags & enjoying the fresh cool air from our balcony (yes we had a balcony but not much of a view though... It's facing the car park though, so at least we get to see our car); we left the hotel for Brinchang. We drove around just to survey the area & start planning (loosely... not a regimental plan) where we want to go in the next few days.
We then took a walk at the Pasar Malam - bought some fried mushrooms & steams sweet potatoes for Kun Sam. Poor Kun Sam by then was so tired that he fell asleep on dede's shoulder as we walked around the stalls of the pasar malam. Finally we adjourned for dinner at one of the restaurants in Brinchang. We had steamboat! It was nicely cold - not too cold that you'll need a sweater but cool enough to want a nice hot steaming soup. Not to mention it was drizzling slightly. Parking was atrocious though. We waited for nearly half an hour for a space to park.
With Kun Sam asleep in the stroller we had a nice steamboat for 2 consisting of prawns, fish, pork fillet, pork balls, fish balls, vegetable, eggs, noodles etc. We were so stuffed! Not to mention tired. The 3 of us fell asleep almost immediately after washing up, changing & feeding Kun Sam!
Before heading up, we had dim sum for breakfast, then took a slow drive via the trunk road towards Bidor. Upon reaching there, we stopped by to have a quick lunch of "wu kok" (fried savoury yam dumplings) & wan tan noodles at the famous "Pun Chun". The "wu kok" was as good as we remembered, but the wan tan noodles is really not recommended. I'd rather have only "wu kok" for lunch & nothing else than to attempt eating the noodles again. Kun Sam had his teething biscuits - boy he loved them. He had 5 sticks in 1 sitting!
After lunch, we continued our journey up the highlands via Tapah. Gosh... I was really sick on the drive up. I know I tend to have motion sickness but it's a first going up to Cameron - I didn't have it in my past trips. Partially thanks to Kun Sam actually. He just refuses to seat in his car seat. He has somehow learned to pull & kick & tug at the seat belt till it's so loose that he can squirm out of the seat belts & wriggle out of the car seat. I just can't describe it more accurately but suffice to say if I had left him to his own device he would have fallen out of the baby car seat & on the floor!
So I had no choice but to carry him. Bad move...
On top of the safety risk, he was just super hyper! I'm not sure if it's because he's super excited to be travelling & not cooped up at home or everything he sees out of the windscreen is just super interestingly new to him. He was jumping, clambering on & off my lap, peek at his dad over the rear-mirror, clamber to the window on the left & then to the right & the whole "process" repeats again. Golly... Upon reaching Ringlet, we just had to absolutely stop because I was really close to vomiting in the car! So Kun Sam... If you read this when you're older - you really owe mummy this!
Anyway, it was with much relief to all of us that we reached Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata safely & me without vomitting. The hotel is ok... A bit old, but it's spacious & has all the basic things we need - fridge, TV & clean bathroom. That's more than enough for me.
After putting down our bags & enjoying the fresh cool air from our balcony (yes we had a balcony but not much of a view though... It's facing the car park though, so at least we get to see our car); we left the hotel for Brinchang. We drove around just to survey the area & start planning (loosely... not a regimental plan) where we want to go in the next few days.
We then took a walk at the Pasar Malam - bought some fried mushrooms & steams sweet potatoes for Kun Sam. Poor Kun Sam by then was so tired that he fell asleep on dede's shoulder as we walked around the stalls of the pasar malam. Finally we adjourned for dinner at one of the restaurants in Brinchang. We had steamboat! It was nicely cold - not too cold that you'll need a sweater but cool enough to want a nice hot steaming soup. Not to mention it was drizzling slightly. Parking was atrocious though. We waited for nearly half an hour for a space to park.
With Kun Sam asleep in the stroller we had a nice steamboat for 2 consisting of prawns, fish, pork fillet, pork balls, fish balls, vegetable, eggs, noodles etc. We were so stuffed! Not to mention tired. The 3 of us fell asleep almost immediately after washing up, changing & feeding Kun Sam!
Friday, 11 November 2011
It's 11th November 2011 - Kun Sam is exactly 10 months old!
Wow! Time really flies. Not only 11-11-11 is a special day due to the many 1s; the significance to me is greater. Kun Sam is exactly 10 months old today! 11th Jan 2011.... 11-1-11...
I wonder if ppl celebrate 10-mths b'day? Hehe.... 1-yr birthday is juzz too normal & boring... ;-)
I wonder if ppl celebrate 10-mths b'day? Hehe.... 1-yr birthday is juzz too normal & boring... ;-)
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Pangkor Laut Resort
Day 1 at Pangkor Laut. This place is fantastic. If only it doesn't rain so much.
Kun Sam was fortunately behaving himself. He surprisingly allowed himself to be strapped in a lifejacket for the trip to Pangkor Laut too! He was so tired that he fell asleep half standing though, with his chin supported by my hand. :-)
Wish I can upload all the pix from here now, but alas I don't have the cable with me.
Jeez... It feels a little uncomfortable updating my blog in such a public space. Maybe I'll update when there are less people around me / after going back (hopefully I have the time!)
Can't wait to share all the beautiful pix of this area. If the pix didn't turn out nice, it's the camera & camera man. Definitely not because of this heavenly place.
p/s: heavenly if you can afford it... Not so heavenly if you can't! ;-)
Kun Sam was fortunately behaving himself. He surprisingly allowed himself to be strapped in a lifejacket for the trip to Pangkor Laut too! He was so tired that he fell asleep half standing though, with his chin supported by my hand. :-)
Wish I can upload all the pix from here now, but alas I don't have the cable with me.
Jeez... It feels a little uncomfortable updating my blog in such a public space. Maybe I'll update when there are less people around me / after going back (hopefully I have the time!)
Can't wait to share all the beautiful pix of this area. If the pix didn't turn out nice, it's the camera & camera man. Definitely not because of this heavenly place.
p/s: heavenly if you can afford it... Not so heavenly if you can't! ;-)
Friday, 21 October 2011
A Mother's Dilema: Am I Spoiling Him?
As much as I said I don't want to spoil my boy; sometimes it's quite hard keeping that resolve! It's indeed much easier said than done. Especially when he's your 1st and not to mention he came after many years of trying.
Last weekend, we went out to use up some cash vouchers we received as a present & what did we use it for? A "Bu Dao Ong" i.e. Self-righting-toy aka humpty-dumpty. Although it's only RM9.99, but still... is that spoiling him?
He loved it though... He laughed with glee when we hit it & the walrus-shaped bu dao ong bounced back tusk & all (no kidding, the bu dao ong is in the shape of a walrus with tusks!). It saved dede (daddy in Canto) a lot of effort when taking care of Kun Sam while mummy is on the computer working.
This week? Well, we're going for 2 coming trips as a family - Cameron & Pangkor. The hotel we're staying in Cameron has a pool as well, so I justified that it'll be great to bring Kun Sam swimming. Hence, we'll need a float! So off we went to buy a float. You can't imagine all the shapes, sizes, colours, cartoon characters etc that they have on floats now a days. We got the one that the middle of the tube had a seat so that he can sit in it rather than relying on his hands to cling to the float. I wanted the cute yellow duck that looked like the rubber ducky we float in bath tubs, but hubby said - "My son is not sitting on any Duck. He's no Duck!" (Cantonese nickname for a Gigolo is - you guessed it! - Duck). So we finally settled on a giraffe at RM14.
So.... am I spoiling him? He's only 9-months and look what I've already got for him! If I didn't control myself, I was sorely tempted to get him that push car in the shape of a tiger too (fortunately it costed RM140, so it was thankfully a huge turn-off)!
Now, the pertinent question - Am I Spoiling Him?
Last weekend, we went out to use up some cash vouchers we received as a present & what did we use it for? A "Bu Dao Ong" i.e. Self-righting-toy aka humpty-dumpty. Although it's only RM9.99, but still... is that spoiling him?
He loved it though... He laughed with glee when we hit it & the walrus-shaped bu dao ong bounced back tusk & all (no kidding, the bu dao ong is in the shape of a walrus with tusks!). It saved dede (daddy in Canto) a lot of effort when taking care of Kun Sam while mummy is on the computer working.
This week? Well, we're going for 2 coming trips as a family - Cameron & Pangkor. The hotel we're staying in Cameron has a pool as well, so I justified that it'll be great to bring Kun Sam swimming. Hence, we'll need a float! So off we went to buy a float. You can't imagine all the shapes, sizes, colours, cartoon characters etc that they have on floats now a days. We got the one that the middle of the tube had a seat so that he can sit in it rather than relying on his hands to cling to the float. I wanted the cute yellow duck that looked like the rubber ducky we float in bath tubs, but hubby said - "My son is not sitting on any Duck. He's no Duck!" (Cantonese nickname for a Gigolo is - you guessed it! - Duck). So we finally settled on a giraffe at RM14.
So.... am I spoiling him? He's only 9-months and look what I've already got for him! If I didn't control myself, I was sorely tempted to get him that push car in the shape of a tiger too (fortunately it costed RM140, so it was thankfully a huge turn-off)!
Now, the pertinent question - Am I Spoiling Him?
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Shameless Plagiarism?
They say Plagiarism is the greatest form of a compliment to the original author. I hope this Special Columnist of a Chinese Daily will view my article this way. :)
This morning hubby shared with me 2 very interesting articles from this Columnist.
1. Steve Jobs passing is a great loss to the US.
US has lost 3 great talents in recent history - Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and most recent of them all - Steve Jobs. They've left a great void in the music, entertainment & technology industry. What is more ironic is that, their passing also reflected the plight of the American. With them gone, the Americans are also left "Jobs"-less, "Cash"-less and hence "Hope"-less (as in out of / no hope not that they're useless).
What a clever play of words.
2. Three Apples has changed the history of mankind.
1st Apple - The apple that Adam ate
2nd Apple - The Apple that fell on Newton's head
** Hubby went on to add - imagine if it were a durian / a coconut! Newton wouldn't have been alive to share his discovery! Of which I replied - Duh! Where got durian & coconut at the place where Newton was born-lah!?! Come to think of it, what's the biggest fruit that can come crashing down on him? Apple? Orange? Pears? None that can cause permanent head damage.
3rd Apple - The Apple that Steve Jobs co-founded
Sometimes getting this interesting articles 2nd hand via hubby; & I'm sure there's a lot of missing nuances & messages that got lost in translations; makes me wish I know how to read Chinese characters. :p
This morning hubby shared with me 2 very interesting articles from this Columnist.
1. Steve Jobs passing is a great loss to the US.
US has lost 3 great talents in recent history - Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and most recent of them all - Steve Jobs. They've left a great void in the music, entertainment & technology industry. What is more ironic is that, their passing also reflected the plight of the American. With them gone, the Americans are also left "Jobs"-less, "Cash"-less and hence "Hope"-less (as in out of / no hope not that they're useless).
What a clever play of words.
2. Three Apples has changed the history of mankind.
1st Apple - The apple that Adam ate
2nd Apple - The Apple that fell on Newton's head
** Hubby went on to add - imagine if it were a durian / a coconut! Newton wouldn't have been alive to share his discovery! Of which I replied - Duh! Where got durian & coconut at the place where Newton was born-lah!?! Come to think of it, what's the biggest fruit that can come crashing down on him? Apple? Orange? Pears? None that can cause permanent head damage.
3rd Apple - The Apple that Steve Jobs co-founded
Sometimes getting this interesting articles 2nd hand via hubby; & I'm sure there's a lot of missing nuances & messages that got lost in translations; makes me wish I know how to read Chinese characters. :p
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