2011/05/06

PIXAR - 25 Years of Animation

I got a 5-day long weekend because I was working in Dubai on May 1 - 2 while everyone is having fun during the Labour Day long weekend.

After my manicure session this morning, we went to the PIXAR Exhibition in Shatin. I told Ah Lun that i really have to go. Finally we made time for this today.

Even though today is Friday, the exhibition is packed with public visitors with a large crowd of school students. The drawings are amazingly beautiful, and we actually love the drawings more than the animation. I took some pictures with my DC until we knew that it is not allowed to take pictures. Oops!

A380 Business Class

Business class has become special if this is an A380!
Feeling grateful and lucky to have such a flying experience. I love Emirates!
I really like the mini bar next to me. There're Perrier, Evian, Cranberry Juice, Coke and a glass.
The little touch screen pad is a smart device for adjusting the angle of the seat.
It is a flat bed design, and the mattresses are just placed nearby the window. I love the inflight entertainment system by Emirates too. I can even start the movie before take-off.

Mothers' Day Celebration 2011

Finally, i am taking my family to 金潮小廚 tonight for the mothers' day celebration.
I just heard from my sister that it was introduced by TVB last week, no wonder the place was filled with people.
Mom and Dad loves the black pepper clam soup as the Tse's. We are eating slowly to wait for Kitty and Kong because we could only keep the table for 1.5 hour tonight.
Thumbs up by mom!
Dad and Sister
First round before Kitty and Kong come. We have 3 more dishes in the second round. 8 dishes only cost $634. It's affordable!

The Emirati Home - Visit on 4 May 2011

A female colleague of the DTCM Head Office invited all the overseas representatives to her house for a lady party on the last night of our trip. It was such a memorable event as it is my first time to visit the home of a local family.
Their "palace" was really big accommodating husband and wife, 4 daughters and 3 brothers. They live happily in this villa near the airport.
As this is a lady party, it is not nice to take the people shot, but i managed to take a couple of pictures of the big villa.
The majlis - the meeting place - is tastefully decorated. It is like a private karaoke room, as there is a guest toilet attached. i really love the lanterns on the ceiling. All the Arabic furniture are so nice too. There are much more at my back.
If you can peek from the door, there is a grand chandelier near the entrance. There are a number of living spaces outside for this majlis for guests. Most importantly, there is a big marble staircase in the middle of the villa, extremely grand!!
The party host arranged the catering company to take care of the F&B. it's like we are having the buffet in the hotel. This is the look of the villa from the garden.
They could actually host a party every week given that there is such a nice and spacious garden!


Recovering...

I got the accident on May 2, 10pm Dubai time.
It's been the 4th day after the accident.
The wound heals quite nicely, just having the bruises over my eye lid. I will remove the stitches tomorrow at the clinic.
**Before make-up**
**After make-up**
Honestly speaking, i feel quite proud of my make-up skill, haha!
It's not obvious after the make-up at all. My hair always cover the the wound as well.

2011/05/04

Be a lucky man

有福的人 ~鵑鵑原本在美國工作,公司給她的待遇很好,再加上單身,生活過得很逍遙。
前一陣子她住在臺灣的母親罹患腦瘤,開刀後復原得很慢。
鵑鵑立刻請調回臺,找了間公寓,把母親接到身邊就近照顧。
鵑鵑不是家中的獨生女,上有大姐,下有弟弟, 但是只有她放棄原本的生活, 承擔服侍母親的責任。
她大姐偶爾給她一筆錢,當作是孝親費,此外很少露面, 更別談關心自己母親的現況,好像出點錢就可以心安理得的把母親推給妹妹。
我們這些鵑鵑的朋友看不過去, 紛紛提醒她要找大姐和弟弟談清楚母親的事。
鵑鵑保持她一貫的優雅從容,靜靜的說:「照顧媽媽是我的福氣。」
原本為她打抱不平的我們,聽了這句話,頓時沉默起來。
難怪從來不曾聽她抱怨,自認享有「福氣」的人, 怎麼會向人訴苦呢?
她總是耐著性子尋找適合母親的飲食配方和復 健 機構,珍惜與母親相處的時光,鵑鵑忙著張羅都來不及了,哪有閒功夫喊累叫煩哪!
在鵑鵑細心打點下,病情不大樂觀的母親,身體竟一天天好起來,母親想要康復的意願也啟動了,甚至會離開臥房到屋外走走。
原本令人覺得沉重的擔子,因為鵑鵑懂得惜福, 居然化作豐盛的禮物。
現在鵑鵑成了大家的強心劑,每當我們遇到困難,或者受了委屈, 習慣性的退縮、放棄、抱怨或指責別人時,總會想起她的話。
在我們這一群朋友中,開始流行一種句型:「能多做一點是我的福氣。 」
「孩子不聽話,耐著性子引導他是我的福氣。 」
「擠公車沒位子坐是我的福氣。」
那麼能認識你也是我的福氣
說這些話的時候,我們多少帶著點自我解嘲的意味,有時也是開玩笑, 但不知不覺中,我們看待周遭人事物的態度有了明顯變化,原來好福氣也是會傳染的。
一句話人生的成敗,常常因為一個人、一件事, 甚至一句話而有決定性的影響。
尤其對人有用的一句話,勝過千言萬語。
古今中外有很多人因為別人的一句話而深受感動,甚至豁然開朗; 由於「一句話」而改變一生的事例,更是多不勝數。

美國著名的教育家和演講口才藝術家卡內基, 小時候是一個非常調皮的小男孩。
他九歲的時候,父親將繼母娶進門。
他父親向新婚妻子介紹卡內基時,如是說:「 希望你注意這個全郡最壞的男孩,
他實在令我頭痛,說不定明天早晨他還會拿石頭砸你, 或做出什麼壞事呢!」
出乎卡內基預料的是,繼母微笑地走到他面前,托著他的頭, 注視著他。
接著告訴丈夫:「你錯了,他不是全郡最壞的男孩,而是最聰明,只是還沒找到發洩熱忱地方的男孩。」
此話一出,卡內基的眼淚不聽使喚地滾滾而下。
就因為這一句話,建立了卡內基和繼母之間深厚的感情; 也因為這一句話,成就了他立志向上的動力; 更因為這一句話,讓他日後幫助千千萬萬的人一同步上了成功之路。
「一句話」很容易說,但重要的是要能讓對方受用。
給人一句好話,讓人生命奮起飛揚,何樂而不為呢?所以, 人要常說: 第一、給人歡喜的話;
第二、給人鼓勵的話;
第三、給人肯定的話;
第四、給人讚美的話。
多說好話,少說壞話。不經意的一句輕浮話,有時會自毀前程,而一句關懷別人的話,卻能讓沮喪的人有生存下去的勇氣。 因此人要經常檢點自己的口舌, 以免破壞了好因緣。

原來你也很富有
有一位青年,老是埋怨自己時運不濟,發不了財,終日愁眉不展。
這一天,走過來一個鬚髮皆白的老人,問:「年輕人, 為什麼不快樂?」
「我不明白,為什麼我總是這麼窮。」
「窮?你很富有嘛!」老人由衷地說。
「這從何說起?」年輕人不解。
老人反問道:「假如現在斬掉你一個手指頭,給你 1千元,你幹不幹?」
「不幹。」年輕人回答。
「假如砍掉你一隻手,給你 1 萬元,你幹不幹?」
「不幹。」
「假如使你雙眼都瞎掉,給你 10 萬元,你幹不幹?」
「不幹。」
「假如讓你馬上變成80 歲的老人,給你 100 萬,你幹不幹?」
「不幹。」
「假如讓你馬上死掉,給你 1000 萬,你幹不幹?」
「不幹。」
「這就對了,你已經擁有超過1000 萬的財富,為什麼還哀怨自己貧窮呢?」
老人笑吟吟地問道。
青年愕然無言,突然什麼都明白了。

心靈導航
親愛的朋友,如果你早上醒來發現自己還能自由呼吸,你就比在這個星期中離開人世的人更有福氣。
如果你從來沒有經歷過戰爭的危險、被囚禁的孤寂、受折磨的痛苦和忍饑挨餓的難受……。
你已經好過世界上五億人了。
如果你的銀行帳戶有存款,錢包裡有現金, 你已經身居於世界上最富有的 8%之列!
如果你的雙親仍然在世,並且沒有分居或離婚, 你已屬於稀少的一群。
如果你能抬起頭,面容上帶著笑容,並且內心充滿感恩的心情, 你是真的幸福了。
因為世界上大部分的人都可以這樣做,但是他們卻沒有。
如果你能握著一個人的手,擁抱他,或者只是在他的肩膀上拍一下。 你的確有福氣了。
因為你所做的,已經等同於上帝才能做到的。

2011 Business Trip #3 - Dubai (Day 4)

The scar heals slowly after some 9 hours of sleep, and this is a good sign.
The 4 stitches actually looks bigger than the scar below.
Many people said today it looks like a fashion forward thing. it looks like a starry tattoo i have done close to my eyes. Hey, I am not that extreme!

2011 Business Trip #3 - Dubai (Day 3)

Seawings Dubai is the only seaplane tour provider here. Dubai is the best city to be viewed from the sky, thus, Seawings Dubai is getting more and more popular even though it is quite expensive. We have been sending media to this a couple of times in the past, and received a lot of great feedbacks. Thus, I am arranging this hosted tour to get an experience. The photos come on time for the June presentation.
We have very good weather today and the city looks amazing!

Burj Al Arab looks lovely from this angle!

flying parallel to the Dubai skyline. Burj Khalifa is amazingly tall.
I am the only person who comes alone.
Everyone was coming in pairs, and the couple sitting in front of me is very hot and rich! Every guest has a big window, so it's an equally interesting experience for all.

2011 Business Trip #3 - Dubai (Day 2)

It's a long long and unlucky day!

I ended up in the American Hospital in Dubai in the midnight after a long day of meetings in the exhibtion.

We had a dinner at Souk Al Bahar, a nice area near by my hotel, and i decided to have a short walk at the Dubai Mall after the meal. As Liz is having an early morning flight the day after, i did not ask her to go with me.

I entered a lovely shop called PotteryBarn which is a home decoration shop. The shop was about to close, so a staff is rolling down the iron gate. When i was leaving the shop, suddenly, another staff from my back said something to me, I turned back. I was then bumped into the iron gate which rolled down just at my eye level.

I felt so painful so i started to rub the affected area while i am leaving the shop. I realized that there's blood all over my palm!! I was so shocked when i arrived my room, beacuse i could see the wound in the mirror. SHIT!

What i could do is to arrange the hotel doctor, and call Ah Lun in the midnight which is around 2:30am at HK time. After all the crying, the doctor arrived the hotel in 30 minutes. After a short consultation, he suggested me to go to the hospital one stitche. He said the wound is small but it is quite deep.
When i arrived the best hospital in Dubai, American Hospital, it was already 11:30pm.
I finally got 4 stitches with the finest thread in the end, and I was asked to remove them in Hong Kong after 5 days.
Liz was in great shock when she read all the messages in the morning. I am really glad i went to the hospital, as the doctor said i will get a scar if i do not come for stitching

Got a plaster in the day time, but it really sucks!

我是刀疤玲...the bruises went to the eye lids. Cannot imagine where the blood will go tomorrow!

2011/05/02

2011 Business Trip #3 - Dubai (Day 1)

The trip was started in a good way as i got upgraded to the business class in the end. Apart from that, it was a A380 plane, my first time! On top of the usual flat bed, i got a mini bar next to my seat, and i can also hang out in the bar area at the back of the business class. I was lucky that i could have a 5-hour sleep on the plane, after the movie of "No Strings Attached". When we arrived The Palace Old Town in Dubai, the property was full house the night before, so we did not have a chance to get our rooms immediately. So we did not take any rest before we head off to our packed line up of site inspections. So that 5 hours of sleep on the plane was really important.
Nice spacious room at The Palace Old Town, overlooking the Burj Khalifa.
Nice balcony of my room.

We visited Satish at the DTCM new office, doing a cultural lunch at SMCCU, site inspection at Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, followed by a visit and dinner at Atlantis, The Palm.
It's been a long day, and i should get ready for tomorrow's packed schedule.

Enjoying the Cultural Lunch at Sheikh Mohameed Centre of Cultural Understanding. Very inspirational.
Finally, the last stop for today - Atlantis, the Palm. It's always good to see the skyline from the Palm Island.