Playground London

Tagged

2007-07-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

I have been tagged by House Negro

Four jobs I’ve had:
* Sales assistant at Grace Bros highlight of which was when I did a 12 hr xmas shift in the men's underwear department
* Call center chick at in the lowest profit making division of Mac Bank, kind of like sweeping the floor of a factory really
* Intern at a psychometric assessment agency - I got to see all the psychometric assessments (and answers) that companies use as part of the recruitment process
* Credit risk analyst at UBS

Four movies I can watch over and over:
* Amelie
* Gone with the Wind (who can deny the charms of Rhett Butler?)
* Before Sunset
* In the Mood for Love

Four places I have lived:
* Kowloon, Hong Kong
* Blacktown, Sydney
* Chatswood, Sydney
* London, UK

Four television shows I love to watch:
* Grey's Anatomy
* BBC News, I used to watch CNN but no longer have access since the introductory offer expire
* STC (shameful but everyone has a vice)
* The Practice, I know it's over but I loved that show so much

Four places I have been on vacation:
* Japan
* Hanoi, Vietnam
* Istanbul, Turkey
* NYC

Four of my favorite dishes:
* Nabeyaki udon
* Red duck curry
* Joe's Moroccan chicken
* Mum's pork belly

Four websites I visit daily:
* NYT
* Google
* Reuters
* Facebook

Four places I would rather be right now:
* seeing my parents in Sydney
* partying with dear friends in Hong Kong
* lying on the beach in Barcelona
* visiting the Taj Mahal in India

Tuscany

2007-05-21T23:14:00.000+01:00

Here are photos of my recent holiday in Tuscany (full set posted on web album, right sidebar). Tuscany is lush and my photos do not do justice to its beauty. Will do a write up of the trip soon. Maybe.

My amazing friend Anne who organised the whole trip

Others in the travelling crew

Freakonomics

2007-05-11T16:45:00.000+01:00

Freakonomics was arguably my favourite book of 2006. The book details quirky studies carried out using economic models to explain the power of incentives to predict behavior. Rather than seeing individuals as always rational and solely motivated by the maximisation of wealth (countering the primary assumptions in traditional economics theory), they use statics to distill people's hidden motivations or behavioral patterns. It's economics mix psychology mix sociology at its best.

An excerpt on my favourite study:
In other words, a crack gang works pretty much like the standard capitalist enterprise: you have to be near the top of the pyramid to make a big wage. Notwithstanding the leadership's rhetoric about the family nature of the business, the gang's wages are about as skewed as wages in corporate America. A foot soldier had plenty in common with a McDonald's burger flipper or a Wal-Mart shelf stocker. In fact, most of J. T.'s foot soldiers also held minimum-wage jobs in the legitimate sector to supplement their skimpy illicit earnings. The leader of another crack gang once told Venkatesh that he could easily afford to pay his foot soldiers more, but it wouldn't be prudent. "You got all these niggers below you who want your job, you dig?" he said. "So, you know, you try to take care of them, but you know, you also have to show them you the boss. You always have to get yours first, or else you really ain't no leader. If you start taking losses, they see you as weak and shit."

Along with the bad pay, the foot soldiers faced terrible job conditions. For starters, they had to stand on a street corner all day and do business with crackheads. (The gang members were strongly advised against using the product themselves, advice that was enforced by beatings if necessary.) Foot soldiers also risked arrest and, more worri- some, violence. Using the gang's financial documents and the rest of Venkatesh's research, it is possible to construct an adverse-events index of J. T.'s gang during the four years in question. The results are astonishingly bleak. If you were a member of J. T.'s gang for all four years, here is the typical fate you would have faced during that period:

Number of times arrested 5.9
Number of nonfatal wounds or injuries 2.4 (not including injuries meted out by the gang itself for rules violations)
Chance of being killed 1 in 4

A 1-in-4 chance of being killed! Compare these odds to being a timber cutter, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls the most dangerous job in the United States. Over four years' time, a timber cutter would stand only a 1-in-200 chance of being killed. Or compare the crack dealer's odds to those of a death row inmate in Texas, which executes more prisoners than any other state. In 2003, Texas put to death twenty-four inmates-or just 5 percent of the nearly 500 inmates on its death row during that time. Which means that you stand a greater chance of dying while dealing crack in a Chicago housing project than you do while sitting on death row in Texas. So if crack dealing is the most dangerous job in America, and if the salary is only $3.30 an hour, why on earth would anyone take such a job?

I stumbled across the authors' blog today - I would highly recommend for entertaining reading. Freakonomics.com

My two girls

2007-05-11T14:27:00.000+01:00

The primary school is only located 10mins away by train but it's worlds apart from the CBD environment. I think the term they used in the induction was 'socially impoverished'. Friday lunchtimes are now spent at the school playing number games with my two new friends, Paige & Ramou. Paige is a 8 - a bubbly, enthusiastic girl whose favourite colour is blue, likes to go shopping but dislikes fish & chips. Ramou is 7 - sweet and shy, with beautiful coco skin and braided hair, she smiles more than she speaks.

I had thought it would be hard work engaging and entertaining two young children but it turned out to be so effortless. They were so well behaved and beamed with such eagerness. I think the joy in being with children is the ease with which they can delight in the simple things. Their world is carefree, innocent and playful. Afterwards these two very small, very cute girls thanked me with hugs for spending time with them. It was the sweetest thing. But really they are the ones I should be thanking them for brightening up my day.

Merry go round

2007-05-07T22:02:00.000+01:00

I can hardly believe that the first four months of the year had so quickly passed me by. I am still very much enjoying my life in London but the feeling is somewhat akin to being on a merry go around. It's exciting (or at least still novel) but things are spinning by too fast.

There's been a few recent changes and of more notable worth are the moving in of new Flattie and recent arrival of my latest international guest. Flattie and I get along very well; he's good-humored, considerate, and at times quite a gentleman. Perhaps our relationship is helped in no-small part by fact that he's hardly ever home - being a consultant who is currently on site outside central London and an overly enthusiastic traveller who jet sets once a fortnight (at least). It's possibly rather hard to have friction when there's so little opportunity for interaction. And my latest international guest, who is actually an old colleague from Syd, reminds me acutely of what a cocooned life we had when we lived with our parents back home. And that's all I am going to say about him (for now).

Of the places I've visited recently there are some which I would not recommend to others, places which should be on the never-to-do-list. Unfortunately a few weekends ago, some of us* found out firsthand that LegoLand falls squarely in that category. Firstly, it does not have much Lego at all! Add to that discoloration from the many years of sun exposure, cobwebs from neglect, and a hefty entrance fee well over GBP20, it was a real disappointment even to the inner child in us all. The only worthwhile section was the MiniLand where there were small replicas of different cities. Here's a selection (full set of photos posted on my Picasa web album).

*I am constantly teased by my colleague, Mr B, for having travelled half way across the world to hang out with fellow Aussies. It's not a conscious choice or even a desired outcome. I would love to meet more non-Aussie, non-corporate, fun-lovers but where? Curiously my new friends of late are not Aussies but Honkies. I have never really identified myself as a Honkie nor got along particularly well with those who did. But now, I relish practising my broken Cantonese with them and happy to finally have friends who understand my love for Honkie soapies and music. And they have many funny tales to tell about their ruthless work environment that brings a reality to the tales of Anonymous Lawyer. I admire their ambition and drive to achieve in their career and endless energy to maximise everything that London has to offer - to work ridiculous hours most days of the week and then to travel every weekend is an achievement in itself.

Stop, revive, survive

2007-04-11T13:25:00.000+01:00

The past weekend away in Wales was a godsend providing much needed rest to relax and unwind. We stayed in this cute little farmhouse, surrounded by little lambs grazing on lush green pasture. Fresh crisp air, clear blue skies and walks along the beach - it was a much welcomed break from the city life.

Talented hobby-photographer took these stunning shots.

It's lambing season at the moment so there was a lot of new born lambs on the farm. Mr Owens here is holding one that was born only 10mins before the flash of my camera.

Mother sheep with her new born lamb (lamb was born the night before).

There is something very soothing and soul-nourishing about the simplicity of the countryside.

Czech this out

2007-04-02T23:17:00.000+01:00

Corny title I know.

Recent trip to Prague marks the end of my weekend Europe travels. The idea of jet setting off in the sunset to a European city on the weekend is oh-so-idyllic. Europe is beautiful and there is an eye-opening quality about everything. But the reality of weekend travels is often not so glam. Case in point, my recent Prague trip had me waking up at 3.30am to get to the airport and returning home past midnight on Sunday night. Add to that the 'maximiser' mentality to squeeze in as much sight-seeing, wining and dining as possible. So by the end of the trip, it often does not feel like I had a holiday at all.

So I am really excited about the upcoming road trip over Easter to Wales. Not least because it will be with some of my most favourite people in London. We will be staying at a farmhouse near the beach, no early wake up calls, no infuriating security checks at the airport, no peering at travel guides or maps. Just blissful rest.

I can hardly believe that the first three months of this year has already passed us by. Perhaps it's not so much as being London as it is being away from home (and being away from the comforts of home cooked meals and vacuumed floors). I can hardly lay claim to a wild, raging social life but time has flown like a roller coaster ride, and an emotional one at that.

My Georgie

2007-04-01T01:43:00.000+01:00

I thought I would do a little Wiki research to understand Georgie a little better (actually I was killing time whilst waiting for photos to load up).

Excerpt from Wikipedia
Female giraffes associate in groups of a dozen or so members, occasionally including a few younger males. Males tend to live in "bachelor" herds, with older males often leading solitary lives. Reproduction is polygamous, with a few older males impregnating all the fertile females in a herd. Male giraffes determine female fertility by tasting the female's urine in order to detect estrus, in a multi-step process known as the Flehmen response.

The males often engage in "Necking", which has been described as having various functions. One of these is combat... Another function of necking is affectionate and sexual, in which two males will caress and court each other, leading up to mounting and climax. Same sex relations are more frequent than heterosexual behavior. In one area 94% of mounting incidents were of a homosexual nature. The proportion of same sex courtships varies between 30 and 75%, and at any given time one in twenty males will be engaged in affectionate necking behavior with another male. Females, on the other hand, only appear to have same sex relations in 1% of mounting incidents.

Um.. perhaps it should be Roger the Rabbit and not Sexy Bunny for Georgie?

Now isn't Georgie just so cute?

Photos from Ebury

2007-04-01T01:41:00.000+01:00

Full set of photos from the night at Ebury are here.
I am not even going to attempt to explain myself or the photos.
Enjoy!

Goodbye my lover

2007-03-26T23:33:00.000+01:00

I miss you already. I regret the terrible cursing I've ever said to you. There were signs that things were not going well, but why was I so careless about your well-being? When it did happen, I was frantic and frightened, afraid of what my life would be without you, desperate to salvage whatever I could of our relationship and to tell you how much you meant to me.

The loss is so hard to bear, we've spent so many hours together, shared so many memories. The emails, photos, the music... the music, I want to lock myself in the bathroom and listen to Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" on repeat mode.

In the end, you left me with no choice but to give up. To start afresh. But this time I've learnt my lesson.

From now on, I will promptly back up all important data onto disk.

Random ramblings

2007-03-23T13:04:00.000Z

There is an interesting story about a family (the the Colin-Beavens) on Lower Fifth Avenue who is doing a yearlong lifestyle experience titled No Impact. The rules are not hard-set but basically includes:
- eating only organic food grown within 250-mile radius of Manhattan (reflecting the longest distance a farmer can drive in and out of the city in one day),
- no shopping for anything except food - though small purchases in thrift shops are allowed on special occasions,
- producing no trash,
- using no paper - this includes toilet paper,
- using no carbon-fueled transportation which translates to no microwave/coffee machine/trains/cars/elevator.

Besides the motivation from his pending book deal with publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Mr Beaven sites "An Inconvenient Truth" as one of the sources of his inspiration for this project.

What is most interesting about their project is the way they have translated environmental consciousness into practical lifestyle choices. A bit extreme perhaps. And possibly attention-seeking and egocentric, but admirable and interesting nonetheless.

Project is diarised on his blog, No Impact Man.

On a completely different note, one which will disgracefully expose my superficial nature, Abercrombie & Fitch opened its London flagship store last night. I have spent many hours in front of the computer lusting for their clothes and perhaps for the models too (you will know what I mean once you've seen their website). Their tag line is "Casual Luxury" and their prices do reflect that, even when it is in pounds. Perhaps I can wait til my NY trip in late June. Meanwhile I will just feast my eyes on those sculpted pecs and melt-me eyes.

Birthday

2007-03-18T18:30:00.000Z

Just the photos for now, complete write up coming soon.

At the Piano Bar on Friday night.

Birthday and Helen's farewell drinks at the Ebury Wine Bar on Saturday.
I think Joe T made half the night for us with his delightful birthday gift which everyone else had so much fun with too. It was just oh-so-educational. Let it be made known that his gift is more a reflection of his character than mine okay? As the night wore on, more smoochy faces were made along with musical numbers from a drunk but cheerful guest and so many more inappropriate comments. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time, the night was a scream and I was amazingly happy. Thankyou all.

Full set of photos will be uploaded very soon. Promise.

Cambridge

2007-03-18T18:00:00.000Z

Cambridge was meant for another time, with another person. I like my plans so changes often unsettles me. But last Saturday's unexpected day trip to Cambridge was delightful, esp. when it's with one of my dearest friends. I can not think of a more relaxing and perfect way to have spent the weekend. Cambridge is such a quaint, romantic little town complete with beautiful colleges & chapels, lush green lawns (which by the way no one is allowed to walk on except for senior academics), and a rich sense of history. We spent the morning on a 2 hour walking tour, visiting the colleges & chapels, listening and absorbing the history of the town. The highlight of the day for me was in the afternoon when we went punting. The views by the river banks were breathtaking.

By the end of the day, we had both earnestly wished we could be back at university.

Istanbul

2007-03-18T16:07:00.000Z

A late post about my trip to Istanbul at the end of Feb.

Being my first time in an Islamic country, I found it fascinating. The sights were so beautiful. We had such a good time exploring the mosques and markets, and sampling the Turkish cuisine. One of the highlights was the cruise down the Bosphorous, the strait that forms the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part. It was a perfect blue-skied morning and the views were breathtaking.

Other noteworthy mentions - tasting proper turkish delight for the first time (so much better than the ones found in the 'Cadbury chocolate selection'), apple tea, Hookah - I loved the Hookah, Turkish baths which is better described as a sauna with hot marble slabs, and the friendly, or should I say over-friendly, locals.

Left to right, top to bottom:
1. Beautiful night view
2. Mustafa smoking apple-flavored hookah
3. Mosaic inside Hagia Sophia, it's very interesting in that both symbols of the Christian and Muslim religions can be found throughout the building
4. Blue Mosque - I think it's absolutely stunning
5. Hagia Sophia from across the beautiful park that lies between Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
6, 7, 8. Topkapi Palace
9. Mustafa & I at lunch
10. There were lots of shops selling pretty lights, glass-mosaic candle holders and tapestry
11. Outside the famous Grand Bazaar
12. Emily and I inside the Grand Bazaar. Poor Em, she got 'befriended' by one too many shop owners
13. Mustafa found his love for Turkish Delight
14. We went to a Turkish tea house one night after dinner to smoke hookah. One of the locals there was very kind and taught us how to play Backgammon despite difficulties in communicating - it was a very fun night.
15. View of the shore from the Bosphorus cruise
16. Um... lots of birds! I found it quite scary, like something from a Hitchcock movie.

Won over

2007-03-15T14:47:00.001Z

At first I was unsure, a bit hesitant, but now I'm truly won over.

Gwen Yip's website/blog is wonderful esp the London travelogue.

Thanks Chungkingexpress for the good recommendation!

Starbucks in Ethiopia

2007-03-14T13:40:00.000Z

After seeing a Starbucks store inside The Forbidden City in Beijing, I didn't think I could ever again be shocked by Starbucks' globalisation efforts. I guess I was wrong.

Customers wait for their coffee outside a local Starbucks Coffee shop in Mekele March 12, 2007. Ethiopia, Africa's biggest coffee producer and the birthplace of coffee, accuses Starbucks of blocking its efforts to trademark its Sidamo and Harar beans

Source: Reuters

I think this is made worse because they are pushing bad American coffee to the very country from which coffee originated.

Sleeping alone

2007-03-13T13:13:00.000Z

It often amuses me what makes it to the headline news. It was reported on BBC Breakfast this morning, with a panel of 'expert' guests no less. And the article about this very topic is currently claiming the #1 spot on NYT's Most Popular.

What appears to be grabbing everyone's attention is the increase in the demand for dual master bedrooms. The translation is that for many couples, they want their own separate sleeping nooks.

The notion makes good practical sense when one considers the number of men who snore (and thunderously at that) and different lifestyle patterns of modern day relationships - of one blackberrying late into the night and the other waking up at the crack of dawn to go to pilates class. But what of the romance of cuddling deep into the night and waking up to the person you love?

One older woman interviewed by Professor Rosenblatt* said she had her own bedroom because, “I’ve paid my dues. I’m old enough that I don’t want to have sex at 1 a.m.”

I couldn't help but laugh.

*A professor in the department of family and social science at the University of Minnesota

Editor's note: Oh, I forgotten to clarify why stories like this amuse me. If the 'most popular' online articles are any indication, then people are generally only interested in their micro environment and light-hearted matters at that. Perhaps I'm harsh and stories such as this serve as reprieve in a world where there are no shortages of tales about human tragedies and injustices.

Found one, lost another

2007-02-21T12:17:00.000Z

After what seemed like weeks of stress and ceaseless whining to friends, I've finally found a flatmate! He's a FoF (friend of friend), from Sydney and seems very nice and easygoing. He likes fish sauce, as well as OC, Dawson's Creek and Friends, and claims to be a "9/10" on the tidiness scale. My manager thinks he was just telling me what I wanted to hear and now that I've put it all down in one sentence, I am starting to have my doubts too. Perhaps I should have put him under the lie detector. I guess only time will tell but living with a boy will most certainly add a new dynamic to my London experience.

Spoilt, doublefold

2007-02-15T21:32:00.000Z

I was spoilt rotten last night. And I enjoyed every second of it. I am not sure why, from an evolutionary perspective, women desire romance so much. Surely romantic gestures such as a bunch of flowers, no matter how beautiful, will not increase our chance of survival or success in rearing our young. But it is uncontestable that romance we do desire. And flowers have the power to turn us into a happy, sappy puddle.

On another note, after hearing on the BBC Breakfast report that yellow roses symbolised infidelity, I got curious and searched for the symbolic meaning of other flowers. Here's a sample:

Tulips: perfect lover
Red rose: I love you
Primrose: I can't live without you
Lily - yellow: I am walking on air. False and gay (???)
Carnation - yellow: you have disappointed me, rejection
Poppy - red: pleasure
Violet - white: let's take a chance

Valencia

2007-01-16T22:09:00.000Z

It was another whirlwind weekend trip and this time it was to Valencia. We were greeted by beautiful sunshine which was a very welcome change from the gloomy, grey London skies. Everyone was in such good spirits (despite having woken up at 4am that morning to catch the flight) by mere fact of the warm weather.

We spent our first day exploring the city center, indulging in tapas and relaxing over glasses of sangria. At night, we ventured out to the beach side for dinner. Having grown up in Sydney, the beach didn't really impress but the cheap cocktails at the bars certainly did. Dinner was fabulous at a traditional restaurant whose specialty is lobster paella (to my surprise, Spanish paella is really quite simply rice cooked in broth unlike the ones which I had back at home which threw in an assortment of veggies). However the real adventure was when we realised that we had missed the last metro / bus. After waiting for a very long time for a taxi and in our somewhat delirious / tired state, we accidentally tried to wave down a police car, thinking at the time, why does this cab have two lights instead of the standard one and why are the lights blue instead of green.

Second day was spent at their Science Museum which is massive and quite interesting (reminded me of year 10 science excursions). Spent the rest of our time eating, drinking, did more walking and drank some more.

I really enjoyed Spain - I love the architecture, the leisurely atmosphere of taking things easy (always a bonus when there's uplifting street music playing as well), the sun and the food / wine.

From left to right, top to bottom
Lots of map reading outside LOEWE (which I found out is Spanish) to decide where to go
At the produce markets. Valencia oranges anyone?
Bull ring
Lobster paella
Mary & I
Flee market
The cutest dog with the floppiest ears
City of Arts and Sciences
Street performer giving Karen's hair a restyle

And my favourite photo of all...

Happy New Year

2007-01-06T18:18:00.000Z

New year, new beginnings. Thanks to the kind encourage from my good friend (see comment to previous post), I am now back to posting my photos. Link to the full album is on the sidebar.

New year celebrations: Predrinks at Gonk & Binh's before heading out to Turnmills. Having bopped to RnB music at friends' Asian dance parties most of my life (shameful I know), I can't say electro / techno is my thing. But it was a good night with good friends and the club was very cool too.

Christmas celebrations: xmas eve at Gonk & Binh's and xmas day spent at Joe & Keith's.

Germany: the xmas markets in Munich and Nurnbery were very festive and delightful.

Budapest has a quiet charm, thoroughly enjoyed the food and relaxing at the Turkish baths.

Paris: it was very much like what everyone says about Paris - beautiful and romantic.

Just too hard :(

2006-11-07T22:42:00.000Z

It's just too hard to post photos on blogspot (in the format I want with the speed I want). I know this comment will undoubtedly reflect poorly on my less-then-developed computer skills but given that I may not have internet access in the coming fortnight, I don't have the patience to struggle.

Photos from Bath / Paris are loaded on Song ImageStation:
URL: http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/index.html
Member name: happy_pics
P/w: Access
Album: Bath & Paris

Belgium

2006-10-02T22:09:00.000+01:00

From top 1-2 Market Square in Bruges; 3 one of the beautiful canals surrounding Bruges; 4 Shirley & I with our delicious chocolate Belgian waffles (note to Alan & Marki - I had two waffles in my hands b/c one of them belonged to Kris who was taking the photo, they were not both mine!), 5-6 Grand Place in Brussels, 7 Brussels Stock Exchange (Kris insisted taking me there, not my idea), 8 Kris, my wonderful Belgian friend who took us on a Brussels-in-three-hours-windwhirl tour, 9 the royal palace in Brussels.

My London home

2006-10-02T21:16:00.000+01:00

This is the street where my place is.

My favourite part of the apartment is the upstairs living area :)

Helen & I are quite in love with our current place, it's a such a shame that we can't afford it. At GBP700 / week, we are not even close!

Goodbye Sydney

2006-09-29T18:31:00.000+01:00

It's hard to think that exactly one week ago (Sat morning 3.33am), I was in my Sydney home frantically packing and sorting out what to take to London in preparation for the moving company's arrival that morning at 7am. Fastforward one week and I am here in my Westminister apartment taking a rest pause from the activity of the past few days.

Big thanks to everyone for indulging me so generously with your time for my 'multiple' farewells (in my mind, there really was only one farewell) and all the well-wishes. I really enjoyed my last two weeks in Sydney bathing in special pre-departure attention of dear friends :) I will really miss you all!