May 29 ~ second day of work

2nd day at work...

hk = efficiency... its almost a definition... everything is about that... even in the work environment...it is only my second day ... and already i can see the difference...

the pace... (work/life/attitude)... is all so much quicker... being here.. i believe one "thinks" faster

i think i like it... it suits my attitude towards work...

so... to tell u a little bit about my last two days...first day was spent sorting out administrative things... setting up computer... assignment to a project/group/team...waiting for work... read thru manual/cad standards.... familiarizing myself with the project... (slow day)

second day... first thing of the day.. i was moved to a new spot to be with my team....then started working for another team with a deadline this friday... its gonna be lots of CAD-ding... fun fun... the work environment is getting exciting.. mostly men still.. maybe 1/10 women?... including sec... and cleaning lady.. haha... but.. i've met a few canadians already... always a pleasure....

also... starting with me was a group of 6 ppl from china... out of those 1 guy is in the same department/group as me... poor guy... only speaks mandarin... he has trouble communicating with ppl in his team... we are in different teams... but since we're both new.. we have lunch together...i've been speaking a lot of mandarin in the past two days... i think i'm improving fast...

plus... karin and i are gonna start taking mandarin lessons from this tutor... hopefully improve throughout the summer then...

now here's a few more pics i just received to recap: dinner with claudia and vincent last friday~
dinner at outback with karin/waidy and their friends... don's b-day!~

May 27 ~ second week of hk

hehe... i think i'm gonna stop with the counting of weeks in hk... soon i will lose track...

but.. since its still my second week only.. and.. work has not started.. i will recap what i've done la... as you will see.. many will include karin... haha.. i'm her new babysitter (dont ask)

may 21(rain): lunch with ray... take jerry around... shopped with him at causeway bay...i bought a pair of red shoes!!!!

may 22(rain): inside all day... heavy rain... didnt want to go out

may 23: lunch with jon and karin, went to see mary at her designer event at lane crawford, dinner with relatives, sing k with karin (very busy day)

may 24: yum cha with dad/mom friends...watched pirates of the caribbean....then went to the middle of no where for bbq with ricky.....

may 25: yum cha with relatives for lunch... dinner with vincent/claudia

may 26: hang out with karin... meet up with waidy for don's b-day party... wii all night at karin's... sleepover

may 27(rain): lunch with karin/waidy... hea-ing at home.. prepare for work

and.. some pics:

as i was passing through wanchai on friday... just thought i'll document it... i dun think we have pics of the store...
as u can see... don's b-day... (i just met him... he's waidy's wife wor...dun ask me.. this is like their family pic)
karin and i ~ dinner

after dinner... we went home to karin's place... playing wii
wii!!! ... looks like i'm flying?
waidy/karin/me...

i thought this was cute pic...

so.. thats it.. i start work tomolo... excited! bye

may ~ tulips days in ottawa

just to recap with some pics...

when i returned from europe... i was up in ottawa for a few days to be at a conference... and it was during the tulip festival... i am so glad to have seen it... i love tulips!


i especially like this color!
see.. matches my skin tones...
haha.. just resting.. (hea-ing) on the grass in front of the parliament...
this is the best time to be in ottawa...

May 20 ~ first week of hk

as i just typed in the title for this post...blogger reminded me that on may 20th.. i already had an entry of... in paris... tres beau...

already.. its been 1 year... wow... i cant believe it... i'm half way through my M.arch degree... one thing ends another begins.... i was still contemplating doing masters then... now i'm almost done... and.. next year.. this time?..... i'll be waiting... waiting for karin to come to my convo.. haha... (she promised)

anyways... back to now... i've been in hk for a week now.. almost.. still jet lagging... geez.. i suck

so.. recap what i've been up to:

(15th) tues: arrived... late afternoon... went to market with grandma... bought a fish for $10 hk... thats like $1.50 CAD.. not even... so.. we ended up having a good dinner....

(16th) wed: settle bank account... got a hair cut... then went for an interview... (a lousy firm)

(17th) thurs: the real interview... l+o architects.. 8:30 am.. so early ... but.. by that afternoon.. i was hired :)

(18th) fri: i'm no longer jobless... and spent today.. heading up to shenzhen, china... for a massage.. wa...it was wonderful.... then... that night.. met up with karin.. and shopping/dinner/chat.. on and on... so good

(19th) sat: rolled out of bed late... relax... then met up with karin for lunch... then shopping in mongkok.. bought a few things for work... very happy.. so much fun...then.. jerry/ray/claudia found us.. and then.. more shopping.. and japanese dinner.. very good too.. we played this guess the bill game... very fun... u pay what u guess... and the lowest bidder pays the remainder... we should all try it...

and.. we are here... its been raining... raining.. since friday night... (yellow storm warning)... so.. all day today.. i just spend relaxing at home... have dinner to go to tonight.. so.. time to get ready lu... so.. bye bye...

Europe 2007 ~ Bern ~ Lucern ~ Vals ~ Lugano

hihi everyone.. sorry i took a month to update... i've been busy... now things are cooling down.. i can relax a bit...
finally have the time to post some pics from my europe travels after dsa... i will update the last days in bern .. and wrap up my swiss dsa blog...
so.. this is the starting blog/entry for my europe trip... its mostly pics of me.. at each city i visited... i will detail the architecture later... (i'm still workign through all the pics)

so.. this is bern... up on the gurten... lovely train isnt it... its for kids to ride... dun i look like a giant?.. hehe... so.. from bern.. i departed.. and started my trip... to lucern!!!
here's lucern on a quiet sunday morning... so peaceful.. unlike last time i was here during the carnival
this is on our way to vals...
and... lugano... on our way down to rome... this is the area in swiss called ticino.. its italian region... so beautiful.. its the south side of the mountains.. so warmer... and more tropical... borders with italy.. so speaks italian here.. lugano is land of mario botta!!!

from here.. we head to rome!!!!

Europe 2007 ~ Rome

rome... where to start... its just wow after wor....
first day... vatican!!!

st. peter's basilica.. and square....
eating lunch around the vatican.. actually best pizza ever
day 2... coliseum....
hehe... dun laugh
pantheon.. my favorite!!!
hehe...
i actually loved this plaza... i love how the corso in the middle divides rome into 2.. and on either side.. the two churches.. are mirrors of each other...
and.. day 3 dinner... in some plaza.. for got name... it has belini fountains.. very nice place for dinner

Europe 2007 ~ Pisa

on train from rome to florence.. then to pisa... it was early.. i was sleeping.. as usual....

lovely pisa... see the grass.. they dun let ppl on it... but.. after the police leaves... everyone jumps back in...
my favorite pic !!!!

Europe 2007 ~ Florence ~ Siena ~ San Gimignano

Florence!!! probably my favorite italian city during this trip!!! why?.. maybe less big ba... maybe cus of the lovely surrounding country side...

mailing postcard to all of u!!!
famous bridge and river... nice!!!
see the duomo in the distance!!!! very impressive dome... too bad.. closed during easter.. couldnt go up.. so sad
best gelato in florence!!! actually.. gelato is from florence!!! rice gelato.. have u tried that?

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from florence during one day.. we went to siena and san gimignano...very tight.. but we made it

siena famous shell shaped plaza... with tower...
here is me bored.. waiting for bus to san gimignano...
on top of a tower in san gimignano... its a medieval town... famous for the 92 towers it once had.. now there's 11 left i think..
haha. and the bell on top of the tower...

Europe 2007 ~ Venice

ah.. venice... here i am.. back again.. why?... (i dunno)


see the leaning tower of venice?!?.. haha um.. the best pasta dinner... it was a good day :P

Europe 2007 ~ Milan

ah.. milan... its not as wonderful as i imagined.. in terms of shopping.. but.. the duomo is probably one of my favorite... whats so special?.. the roof!!!!
outside the square in front of the duomo
under the flying buttresses on the roof
on the roof.. the main /famous pic spot
then.. subway.. i took the subway out to the new exhibition place.. by fukas.. its the very last stop.. so no one left on the subway.. :P
and here it is.... too bad no convention.. cannot go in

Europe 2007 ~ Monaco ~ Nice

from milan.. we took the train to nice... so long... but nice .. cuz its along the ocean... mediteranean... so.. from nice.. we visited monaco... it was much cheaper to stay in nice... visit monaco during the day...

monaco's coast.. look at all the expensive sail boats.. they are huge.. just like cruise ships...
cute sculpture outside monte carlo casino

monte carlo casino!!!
this is the train ride from milan to nice...
lovely dinner in nice... it was nice.. haha... (get it?)... anyways... the duck was really good
lovely beach/coast of nice...