A Toast to 2007!

It's the start of a brand new year again. Have you heard of the saying "Time flies once you are over 30 years old"? It seems freakishingly true. Perhaps as part of the over-the-hill community with lotsa of commitments that are perpetually clamouring for your time and attention, you feel that 24 hours is definitely too short! This is a more scientific and logical explanation to why time sped past for people beyond 30s. Hmm...on the other hand, if I am now in my retirement age, I could have felt otherwise. Hopefully, the pace has slowed down for me to smell the flowers by then.

So, the favourite question pops up. What's my new year resolutions for year 2007? Well, I couldn't wish for more than 24 hours a day, literally. Notwithstanding that, I read an article in Men's Health about 'polyphasic sleep'. It raves about the benefits of sleeping only a total of 2 hours a day. The 2 hour-sleep is spread out in duration of 20 minutes in 6 time slots (Say, 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm). The aritcle also reminds us that this is the preferred sleep mode of Einstein and DaVinci.

Ok, for the sake of convenience, I assume that on average, we sleep 8 hours a day. By cutting our sleep time to 2 hours, we will have extra 6 hours of waking time to learn or do whatever we fancy. Sounds fun? isn't it? For those who wanna moonlight, they will be rewarded with a fat account. For those who wanna blog or play internet games, they have more time at their disposal. For those engaged in intensive research, they have many more hours of precious research time. Reason for celebration! Until reality strikes. Errr...how many of us really have the discipline to pursue what we want when we have more time? And how many employers are liberal enough to allow you to take a nap of 20min during working hours? Although it really sounds inviting, this sleep pattern is more disruptive than integrative to our lifestyle. So, there goes my dream of having more time a day.

Perhaps I should wish for saving up enough money to go for Botox injections. But I heard that one will look more terrible than before-Botox phase once you stopped the treatment. I am not rich enough to sponsor myself with life-long supply of Botox injections, so I better wake up and drop the idea. It seems that I am left only with alternative therapy to enhance my looks. Ok, so to look really good, some beauty gurus advocate that one should incorporate holistic well-being regimes. That means regular Yoga and meditation classes. It works on your internal state of well-being and hopefully the balanced state of happiness will radiate from within. That's not new, I have been wanting to do that for the past 5 years...and it never happen, hehe. Maybe I should just rely on the doses of TLC from my loved ones to make me a happier person? LOL. How shallow! Giving TLC to other people is just as fulfilling. I should really consider resuming volunteering but I shouldn't make empty promises again.

So what? No resolutions? My colleague boasted to me about his relatively fat savings account that day. Maybe this is something more attainable. I should make sure I can save more this year. Make sure gone were the days that I am just breaking even every month or worse, seeing red, esp last year when I had many big-ticket expenses. I will keep my fingers crossed and hopefully by next year, I have something favourable regarding this department to report on!

Shanghai Tales Part 3

This should be my last installment on Shanghai tales. Wanted to post this earlier but the slowdown in internet access speed that affected Asia last week gave me a perfect excuse to procrastinate, hehe. Going to talk about some light-hearted matters: Food and entertainment.

Throughout my 4-day stay in Shanghai, I had breakfast at this restaurant called “东方既白”. I later found out that this restaurant chain is a subsidiary of KFC. They localise the menu by infusing Chinese food culture. I thought it was a success. The price is economical, the ambience is good and the service is EXCELLENT！Very rare in fast-paced Shanghai. I guess the staff members have undergone rigorious training. This is the only place where I can stand and look at the menu for as long as I can without being stared at. They even offered to help. When unreasonable customers kicked up a fuss about the speed of delivery, those youngsters greeted the complaints with mega-watt smiles and apologies. Impressive.

I am trying to make some inferences here, at the risk of generalisation. If this is a wing under KFC, I guess the restaurant must have imparted their western style of management to the locals, that probably explains the stark contrast in service quality. Globalisation has its fair share of merits and blasphemy (depending on which part of Earth you are residing) but in Shanghai, I am really grateful that I can find McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, Ajisen etc. Ok, I know globalisation results in some form of homogeneity but when you are a desperate traveller who is dead tired, quite broke and wanna enjoy decent service without paying rocket-high price, these are the places you can head to.

Here is a picture I took at “东方既白”. The dough and drink cost less than 10RMB. Unbeatable price. The Chinese dipped their dough in soy sauce, very different from us. We usually eat them plain. It's quite a refreshing change.

I also patronised this restaurant “鸭王”,which is popular amongst locals, tourists and even HK superstars alike. Thumbs-up for their roasted suck. I am never a "duck person" but this delicacy is so nicely done that I finished most of the serving. A value-for-money gastronomical treat. Took a snapshot of how the chef prepared the dish. Look at the dexterity of his fingers! Saw the thin layer of flour dough skin (placed in the container on the left)? You can choose to put the meat on the dough, topped it up with sweet sauce and chive-like vegetable, wrapped it up and you are done with your roast-duck popiah!

So much about food. Now this is on entertainment. This poster is dedicated to all fans of the duet vocal group, ukulele. I am overjoyed to hear that they have united again. They sing well but going solo doesn't bring out the best in them. The union is, without a doubt, good news! I fell in love with them since my JC days. Appreciate them even more now especially when you look at the present Taiwan entertainment scene which is bombarded by an influx of boy bands that can hardly sing (except May Day). Ukulele's songs usually have a depth that makes them evergreen and profound. Looking forward to their new release!