To be Fair

Giant Lego Game

Hong Kong Container Harbour, one of the world's largest and busiest containers' harbours, shifting and stacking wares and produces from the rich hinterland of China, ready for shipment to New York , Sao Paulo and as far south as the City of Wellington .

posted by Vegie @ 11:59 PM 4 comments

Every opportunity counts

No single piece of space is left unutilised. In the highly populous island of Hong Kong, where every opportunity counts, Sunday morning is probably the only time when the hardworking hawkers can put their mind at ease.

posted by Vegie @ 11:56 PM 0 comments

The Morning After

The morning after for Lan Kwai Fong, the Telawi 3 of Hong Kong. The air smelt of a concoction of cigarettes, alcohol and stale aircon. There was no one on the street except a few party goers who still linger around at one of the corner pubs.

posted by Vegie @ 11:54 PM 0 comments

Yummy Hong Kong Rice Dumpling

This yummy dumpling boasted a whooping price tag of RM14. I had a chicken rice once at Tsim Sa Tsui that costed me HKD 76 ( RM 38 ), enough for me to eat multiple serves of chicken rice 5 days in a row in Malaysia.

posted by Vegie @ 11:52 PM 0 comments

The Long Road to Fame and Fortune

Uemployment rate is high in Hong Kong and it is not easy for fresh graduates to get the jobs they desire . Even old people work in Hong Kong either waiting at restaurants, distributing pamphlets, or as street cleaners. Despite the harsh competition, it only helps to set aflame their ever intense obsession for fame and fortune .

posted by Vegie @ 11:50 PM 0 comments

When Traders Go to Sleep

It was 7am in the morning in Central, the heart of the banking district in the world. The hussle of bustle of last night has retired under a thin blanket of stillness. Some folks are walking to the tea stall. Come tomorrow morning, the whole place will again be swamped by bankers and traders , making a go at the world's busiet financial center.

posted by Vegie @ 11:48 PM 0 comments

No Money No Honey

Girl A : Hey, look at what he got me for Valentine's Day
Girl B : Wow this must be expensive .....( with envy )
Girl C : Huh, mine is better !

Valentine's Day is a highly commercial event in Hong Kong. Everywhere in Tsim Sa Tsui was packed with couples with the girls beaming in the arm of their "honeys" who had to balance huge bouquets and giant Hello Kitty on the other arm. I was told that on average every guy had to fork out RM1000 at least for Valentine's Day ( dinner, chocolate and flowers ). The essence of which is well summed up in this common phrase in Hong Kong: "No money. No honey" ( in Hongkie pronunciation please). Gee Malaysian guys, don't you count yourself lucky!

posted by Vegie @ 11:43 PM 0 comments

Her Sense of Humour is Timeless

This is the scene by the Malacca River, painted from a photo taken by Apollo, my Art Teacher.

Malacca was where my grandparents lived.My mom has 7 brothers and 6 sisters. Grandpa left China when he was 17 and arrived in Malacca to earn a living. He worked hard, married my Grandma via the arrangement of a matchmaker and ran a sundry shop lovated behind the Kuan Ying temple. His 15 children were his troop soldiers, responsible for cleaning onions, sorting out dried scallops imported from China, and unpacking freshly ground coffee beans from Granduncle's coffee factory located a few streets away. When we were kids, we loved visiting Grandma. Not so much for Grandpa for he was always the stern one and always caught us not holding the Chinese calligraphy brushes with the right grips.

Grandma however was funny, loving and cynical at time. She became our instant hero when she stepped on a cockroach with her bare foot, killed it without even a winch . I told myself then I had never seen anyone so courageous in my life. To Grandma, there was no fixed rules and nothing can be that complicated in life. She was funny, sarcastic and possessed a timeless sense of humor. Her remarks always made us laugh rolling on the floor even everytime when we talk about them.

Grandparents are no longer alive . I always vist their grave in Nilai on my way back to Johore. Grandma's picture on the tombstone always has this mischevious look from the corner of her eyes. Probably she had again succeeded to jibe at grandpa once again with her sacarstic views. I guess mom takes after her, who as an avid observer, has never failed to make us burst with her funny remarks about what she sees in everyday life.

Tomorrow I will be flying to HK to take on my new role as COO of a very large operation. I promise myself no matter what happen, I will not lose my sense of humour. Like Grandma, no matter how difficult the road ahead is, there is always a simple way out. When all else fail, the most rejuvenating nutrient of life is none other than our sense of humour.

posted by Vegie @ 11:46 PM 2 comments

A Pleasant Surprise

I spotted this bloom from my indoor bamboo plant in the living room. What a surprise! Never seen a bamboo flowered before ; not even from our relatively huge garden in Brunei , which I was convinced then was my parent's ploy to torture their 5 kids by making them water and attend to those hundreds of potted plants every afternoon when neighbours' children were playing.

posted by Vegie @ 11:37 PM 2 comments

True to the Spirit of Archeology

I have been studying the rays of the Malaysian sunset. Not that I am a sci-fi fiction writer nor a fortune teller.

During the tour to Eqypt, our tour guide Mr. Wael told us that that the shape of the pyramid is actually inspired by the obligue rays of the desert sunlights. When we finally arrived at the Sakkara Pyramid near the Sphinx , Mr Wael pointed to the sky. True to his words, the sunlights from the mid afternoon sun came down like a shape of a pyramid. According to Mr.Wael, the ancient Egyptian pharoahs worshipped God Rae ( the Sun God ) and believed that when they died they united with God Rae. When they saw the sun rays, they believed that that was the way to heaven. As a result, they built their pyramid tomb in the shape of the sunrays, with the belief that will help them ascend to Heaven.

Now back in Malaysia, I have been trying in vain to catch a glimpse of the Malaysian sunrays, trying to find its resemblance to a pyramid. Finally today on my way home to my apartment, I caught the sun setting behind my block. Holding my breadth, I pulled out my Olympus and clicked like a paparazi, fearing that setting sun rays will not last for more than a minute.

Here is the picture. Well, it does look some what like a pyramid - just that it is an inverted one !

posted by Vegie @ 8:47 PM 2 comments

Xin Nian Kuai Le

Mandarin oranges signifies gold and pomelo symbolises family unity. Here is my wish to everyone a happy chinese new year and happy reunion for the home-coming kids. May the Year of Dog brings everyone abundant good health and good wealth.

posted by Vegie @ 11:18 PM 0 comments

Smile , is just the usual balik kampung jam.

Chinese New Year and other festivals of the year are days when the traffic policemen can hardly breath. The North South Highway is packed with 12 km long of peanut butter jam - all because motorists are slowing down to watch the accident at the opposite direction of the road. Since there is not much one can do getting trapped in the bumpers to bumpers crawl, I reckon it will not be a bad idea to equip the next generation car with dynamic display board for emoticos like those we use in Yahoo chat. Not possible ? Here is one early prototype!

posted by Vegie @ 10:54 PM 2 comments