Honey Bee

To My Hot Hot G

2009-02-17T23:38:00.001-08:00

Thank You for such a sweet sweet Valentine's.
Thank you for Mr. Heart who will keep me sleeping tight every night.
Thank you for the 11 lovely roses + a chocolate one ^.^
Thank you for the Canon digital camera.
Thank you for the heartfelt wordings and the pop-up Valentine's card.
~~~Kiss Kiss~~~

***The camera goes perfectly with the gift I gave you. We will use it to capture all of our memorable moments and continue filling more pages in the scrapbook!***

25 Random Things

2009-02-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since my last post ... I guess I had utilize my blogging time on Facebook these days. Here's my tag on the 25 Random things on FB:

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I had received this tag from a number of people but I had been ignoring them until 5 mins ago that I read someone's Random things and decided to write my own.
2. I played piano since I was 4. I hated it but since I didn't want to disappoint my parents so I had been taking piano lessons and doing the Royal School of Music exams for over 10 years (until I came to the US and it's a perfect excuse to stop).
3. I inherit most of the facial features from my father.
4. I had asked my childhood nanny to use blankets to set up a tent for me on my bed so I could go "camping."
5. I didn't experience real camping until June of last year.
6. I don't like egg noodles.
7. I love Broadway musicals and the last one I just watched was WICKED.
8. I have a passion in art. I am very thankful for my parents who had put me through drawing lessons when I was young.
9. I wanted to be an interior designer, but somehow I ended up having a career in life science.
10. I was in private swimming lesson during a few of my childhood summer breaks because my parents wanted me to learn swimming so I wouldn't be drown like my grandfather who had never returned after going swimming on a beach.
11. I can only swim in swimming pools but I am scared of the ocean.
12. I have a fear of dental visits. My heart beats very fast every time when I lay on the chair at the dental office.
13. I have haircuts every 2 months.
14. The most respectful persons in my life (so far) are my grandmother and my previous boss. Their existence has changed my perspective of life. They will both be missed.
15. I always woke up with a X'mas gift in my stocking on Christmas Day until I went to college.
16. My younger brother and I had set up alarm clocks to try catching "Santa Claus" on Christmas eve but failed every year. Until now, my dad still doesn't admit he was the Santa Claus.
17. I had taken French for 5 years but I have forgotten most of it.
18. I love being in a lively city with lots of people and shops and restaurants (i.e. HK).
19. My first trip on a plane was going to the Disneyland in Japan.
20. My favorite color is burgundy.
21. I am scared of birds. Any kind of bird-like creatures. When a bird gets close (or even seeing a picture of a bird that shows its characteristics), I can feel a spine-tingling chill arises from the bottom of my feet and formation of goosebumps will follow.
22. Chocolate is my favorite flavor of icecream choice.
23. I dream almost every night, but I don't recall what the dreams are for the most times.
24. For the 5 accidents I had gotten into, I was hit by pickup trucks. None of it was my fault but pickup trucks don't seem to like me too much V_V.
25. McDonald's is still my favorite fast food restaurant out of all.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! ^3^

Happy 2009

2009-01-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's the New Year and here's what had happened in Disney ... Hahaha ^.^ (in my dream) ...

Good start of the year so far ... New year, new resolution. Nice!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho Ho ... Happy Holidays!

Recap of this month:

1. Same as the previous years, I had participated in the Family Giving Tree toy donation for the holiday season. I had purchased a Thomas train set for the 5 year old boy and a bottle of perfume for a 12 year old girl.

2. Company holiday parties ... Eat Eat Eat ^.^

3. Surprise Vegas trip from Hot Hot G!! It's a tiring but fun trip.
Thank you ^3^ ...

This will most likely be the last post of 2008. Everyone Happy 2009!!!

Thanksgiving of 2008

2008-12-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

What a tiring Thanksgiving holidays. We had done some crazy lining ups at the store at 3am on black Friday. Too old for these kinda stuff but we were able to get one item in a decent deal, so our time and effort weren't totally wasted. Here are what we had on Thanksgiving Day at a friend's place. I made the fruit salad and the Korean noodles (Jap Chae). I put in a lot of effort in making the fruit salad ... haha ... everyone said it's a Frog. What do you think it is?

Hot Hot G, let's add oil together. I'm looking forward to seeing "our dream" comes true ^.^

Weight Challenge (START)

2008-11-18T23:45:00.001-08:00

The holiday season is around the corner. Other than the joy and happiness shared with friends and familes, it's also a time to enjoy a lot of good food and drinks. Because of this reason, every year, my company would have a "Weight Challenge" program organized by the Fitness Center. The purpose of the program is for us to watch our weight and maintain fitted during the times from Thanksgiving, Christmas, to New Year. We have to form a team of 4 people and all 4 of us would step on a big scale together to record our total body weight. Then, after all the holiday celebrations, a collective body weight will again be recorded in early January. For the team which loses the most collective weight, each member on the team can obtain a 75 dollar gift certificate.

I was asked to be on a team. I agreed to join, but I didn't promise I would lose any weight ... haha ... Today is the day of obtaining the total body weight, so all 4 of us decided to pig out during lunch time and drink as much water as possible before we get on the scale. Some people decided to wear more clothes, change to a pair of heavier shoes ... And, our total body weight is 625.5 lbs. Let's see what the number will be in January.

My goal is to lose 2 lbs on myself ... haha ...

Go MetaboLights (our team name)!!!

Next Mr. President

2008-11-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

Go Go Obama ... our next leader of the country ...

Win the polls with flying colors ~~ Yeah Yeah Yeah ~~

Updated: Well, I'm just disappointed that Prop. 8 was passed. People shouldn't be so stubborn sticking to the traditional "definition of marriage." I think we're talking more about civil rights ... about the equality of life style each person deserves ...

<小酒窩> Little Dimple Cantonese Version

2008-11-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Cantonese version of <小酒窩> ... I still like the Mandarin version better.

Hot Hot G, I miss your 小酒窩 ^3^

Pre-Halloween

2008-10-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

I just had my first pumpkin carving experience! I know it's a child type of activity but I had never celebrated Halloween in Hong Kong when I was young, so I had never carved any pumpkin. Here's my pumpkin ... Next time, I'll remember to save the lid @_@

Hot Hot G's secret recipe clam chowder -- Best of the Best, of course!!! Hahaha ... I wish I had taken some back home so I can eat it for dinner now. Nicely done, Hot Hot G!!!

And pizza too ... Pumpkin shape Jack-O-Lantern pizza has become a Santa Claus after additional mozzerella cheese and mushroom and sausage! Yummy Yummy ^^

My stay in San Diego

2008-10-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm in San Diego!!! Actually, this is already my 4th night here ...

The hotel was such a nightmare. Here I'm, at the Country and Town Resort Hotel. What a nice name ... a "resort hotel." I didn't do any research on hotels prior to my reservation as the conference was taken place at the hotel and it made a whole lot of sense to reserve my room at the same place. Once I checked into my room ... I was like ... Gosh, is this where I have to stay, by myself, in the next 5 nights? Here's a description of the room:

The design of the room was old -- The carpet, the comforters, the curtains, the chairs were all dark blue in color.
There's no air circulation in the bathroom, so I needed to leave the door open during shower.
The TV was one of the smallest you could imagine ... 15 or the max 17 inch.
Internet connection was charged 10 dollars per day, and the signal was weak and unstable.
Light bulbs did not work well. One of the lamps went on and off.
Statics in the alarm clock. Whenever the cell phone rang or was placed nearby, it made this scary static noises.
Half of the wall behind the TV was a mirror.
A huge drawing of a little girl, in a 1920's dress, dark blue in color, was hung on the other half of the wall behind the TV.
Food at the restaurants in this hotel was ridiculously expensive! One egg costs 5 dollars on the breakfast menu. I believe you could get 2 cases of eggs at Costco with this price.

So, here's my choice. There were two beds in my room. Which one should I picked to sleep on? The one facing the little girl's picture or the one facing the mirror? I chose the one facing the mirror.

I guess seeing myself was better than seeing the little girl every morning when I woke up. No matter which direction I went, the girl's eyes seemed to follow. Well, I wasn't the unlucky one that got placed in such a room because all my coworkers' rooms were oriented the exact same way and with the exact same picture of the girl hanging on the wall. This drawing of the little girl had become one of the hottest topics we discussed during our social hangouts after the conference. Haha, one of my coworkers had hung a towel over it since the first night she arrived.

I'm usually pretty okay to be in the hotel by myself, but this one has scared me off quite a bit. I had a hard time falling asleep the first night. My last stay in San Diego was phenomenal, in terms of hotel experience. I stayed at the Omni Hotel in downtown SD last time and it was the nicest one I had ever stayed for my life! Here's the blog I wrote during my stay.

Last night for me in this hotel. I can't wait to get out. Don't get fooled by the view. It's just a snapshot outside the balcony of my room.

<小酒窩> Little Dimple

2008-10-01T23:15:00.001-07:00

For my Hot Hot G ... I know U will like this MTV ... >3<

Benny and the Red Bird

2008-09-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Don't you like these little figures? I think they're very cute and pretty, though I have no intention in starting a collection of them. Haha ... but my brother did. He had already set up a collection cabinet in the house. Honestly, I really don't think any of these worth the money each of it costs. For me, I get to enjoy looking at them without a cost out of my pocket ... though he won't let me touch any of them >.< |||

Spanish Feast

2008-09-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Spanish feast in SF ... The tapas are small, but all of them are quite yummy.

From left to right: Croquette, Crab cakes, Shrimps, Potato with squid, Calamari, Escargots

Woo --aa--la ... of course, my favorite has to be this seafood paella!

Touma Dunny or AC

2008-08-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

It's steaming hot today ... over 100 degree.

When the house was built, my mom wanted to save a few thousand dollars and decided not to wire it with AC because it is situated next to the shore so it is quite windy most of the days. For all these years, we didn't really feel a need of having air conditioning. There might be a day or two in the year that the area was stroke by a heatwave, but it's still tolerable with an electrical fan. Thanks to global warming that my house seems to get warmer and warmer during some of the days in the summer. It, indeed, has gotten a little unbearable ... especially in the rooms upstairs. The rooms have trapped the heat during the day time and it takes forever to cool down. By the time they're cooled, it's already sunrise again. So earlier today, my brother and I were talking about buying a portable air conditioner.

He did a quick search on the internet and realized that it's a bit pricey. The cost for an average one is over 300. He was joking that he should have exchanged his newly acquired 20 inch limited edition Touma Dunny figure for an AC. Heck Yeah, I totally agree. This thing costs 300 and it's really doing nothing but sitting at the end of the hallway outside his room. Not only this one, he had purchased an extra one and it's still sitting inside the box by the entry area.

How would you pick?

AC or Touma Dunny ?

Happy Birthday to my Brother

2008-08-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my little brother!!! Happy Happy Birthday To U ...

This year on his birthday, I had gotten my little brother a kidsrobot Touma Dunny Tee and the next season DirectTV NBA pass. Hope you like it and all the very BEST to come!

Company Picnic

2008-08-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have been lazy doing updates here ... Hopefully Honey Bee hasn't lost most of her visitors. Let's see what has happened to me lately that is worth noting ... Uhmm ...

I guess the company picnic took place earlier this month was definitely one. Since this was the first time I attended the company picnic after joining this company, I had no idea what to expect. When people talk about picnic, I thought of hot dogs, burgers, BBQ ... or the most, live music. Woah-la, when I saw it, I wouldn't believe what my eyes had seen. It's more like a carnival than a picnic. It's amazed how everything just took place in one of the company parking lots.

The theme of this year was "pirate." There were unlimited food, snacks, candies, cookies, ice-creams, etc. Once I stepped into the picnic area, I already felt the excitement of being in a carnival. I couldn't help but to check out what other activities were available. There were face and tattoo paintings, balloon twisters, inflatable jumpers and slides, scientific magic show, craft centers, carnival games, palm tree climbing and bumper cars!!!

The piggy bank was a product I made from the craft center.

Go Go China

2008-08-09T00:43:00.001-07:00

I spent the last 3 hours sitting in front of the TV watching the Olympics opening ceremony on NBC. Ever since the show started, I couldn't move my butt away from the TV. Such an amazing and spectacular event!!! Creatively done. Nicely directed. Perfectly organized. I couldn't imagine how great it could be if I was watching it live in BJ. It's definitely the best opening ceremony in history.

I tried to post some videos from YouTube but they're all removed by a "third party" due to copyright. I could only find one with a slide show. I believe clips are available on nbc.com. The performances prior to the national parade were fantastic and the lighting of torch at the end was creatively done. Each one came as a surprise. I'm very very impress. Go Beijing! Go China!

GOoooooD TRiP

2008-08-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

Don't be so silly as this bear bear. If you see one of them, remember to run as quickly as possible or pretend to be a bush ^.^ ... Catch some fish, enjoy the beef stew and ice-cream. Take some pictures to show me.

Be safe ... have fun ... and I will be missing U ^3^ ...

AIDS Walk 2008

2008-07-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's a cold morning. I managed to wake up and participate in the AIDS Walk at Golden Gate Park last Sunday. It's a good 6 mile walk, though my left leg was a bit sore, and I finished it in 2.5 hours. There were plenty of munchies during the whole way and that included chips, banana, power bars, frozen bars, and Gatorade. Overall, it's a wonderful experience and I think I'll do it again next year!

Xmas Party 08

2008-07-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

It’s a little too early to write about this …

I haven't been with this company for a full calendar year yet. I heard that last year was the first year the company decided to hold individual Christmas parties among departments. For mine, it’s a luncheon on a weekday in the Carnelian Room on top of Bank of America in downtown. No doubt about it … The view was fantastic; yet food was disappointing. It’s a very rush lunch to include the commute time. It didn't provide enough time for employees to mingle and chill and catch up with each other. And the only thing we got from the company was a bag of assorted candies. With the overall experience, I wouldn’t give it a very high rating.

Early this year, I received an email requesting everyone to vote for the type of Christmas party we would have this year. The options were as follow:
1. Dinner with employees + guests on a weekend night but only hors d’oeuvres will be served.
2. Dinner with employees only on a weekday night.
3. Luncheon on a weekday.
4. … which I forgot …
I decided to give up my vote because none of the option was too attractive.

Today, I got another email announcing the final decision for the Xmas party this year for my department. SO DISAPPOINTING … It’s option 3 and it will be held in the exact same place as last year @*#$#*& ...

So some of my coworkers said they thought the department had inadvertently sent out the same email as last year; some of them said the Carnelian Room must have offered 50% off for a 2nd time reservation; and some said that we should just go on a strike and not show for the event.

I mean, I don’t hate option 3 too much, but come on, give it a little more effort and find a new restaurant for this new year.

Feeling Lazy ...

2008-07-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

I am feeling so lazy lately. Maybe I should blame it all to the heat wave. We’re already half way through the summer. I originally thought that it’s a perfect time to slack off during the summer because most people would be taking summer time off and things should be slow. Yet things just happen in the exact opposite way. Because of more people taking time off, workload for each person becomes heavier due to the need of covering others’ responsibilities …

It’s like a never-ending cycle. Well, I guess work is supposed to be like this. I’m not sure why I’m complaining. I should feel blessed to be employed when the world-wide population is suffering from this recession.

Holidays are never enough. It is not too much of an entertainment when I find myself stuck here at work once again. I know, there’s always a next holiday to look forward. In the meantime, I need some motivation to put me back on track. OH boy, it must be the heat again.

Happy Birthday

2008-07-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday To my Dear Daddy, Happy Birthday to YOU !!! ^.^

Wishing you happiness, longevity, uncountable fortune, and all the very BEST to come!

Love U Always.

One of those moments ...

2008-06-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

I know, I know ... It's been quite sometime since I last updated.

I had been kinda busy with a lot of family activities in the past few weeks. I agree that I do treasure very much of the time shared with my folks. I love them a whole lot. Yet at the same time, I do find them a little annoyed when they're around. In a way, I understand that kids are always "kids" in parents' eyes. So beforehand, I had told myself to have extra tolerance in some of their daily annoying reminders such as "Go to bed early" and "Drink more water," etc.

After spending a couple of weeks with them, I probably have gotten a bit used to having them in the house. I do find the house has become a lot quieter everyday when I return home from work. Sigh, this surely is not something new that I am experiencing. This is just a post-feeling that strikes me almost every visit of my parents. Well, it's just one of those moments that I will get over soon ...

It's Too Early ...

2008-06-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

It’s only 5:30am and I’m here at work. I was here since 5am and tried to fall asleep again but I wasn’t able to because it’s freaking cold in my office. So I decided to come up here and update Honey Bee. To rationalize this, I seriously don’t think my brain is functioning fully yet at this moment to avoid mistakes made at work. More likely, I don’t think I should put in an additional 4 hours of work knowing that I will have a meeting to attend later in the afternoon that I can’t escape early.

Very sleepy now … ZZzzzZZzz … but I am looking forward for the weekend. I haven’t camped once in my life so I’m actually quite excited to explore how it would be like sleeping in a tent and hanging out in nature for 2 days. While on the other hand, I do feel a little anxious as I am not sure what to expect ... but I had already prepared myself in doing some internet searches.

I always have all the different scenarios that could happen to me in the wild. Such as:

After all, I am still pretty excited ... ^.^ Yeah Yeah Yeah ~

I Miss You

2008-06-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

^3^ Hot Hot G