J meets the AS doctor!

The Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) patients in J's support group met up for an annual dinner thingy and this year, the hospital invited Dr Asim Khan. J was to introduce him before he gave his talk and after the whole event, he grabbed the opportunity to get the man's autograph!



When J was diagnosed with AS in 2005, we were desperate for answers. We found them in the book that Dr Asim wrote. It was the only copy in Kinokuniya, which probably explains why none of J's friends in the support group has read it. AS is a chronic, progressive, painful inflammatory rheumatic disease. However, because J does not complain even when he is in immense pain and he tries not to let the illness cripple his life, many of our friends and even our families don't know or think much of this disease. We are grateful that the attacks come on and off and he is not in excruciating pain 24/7. Plus, there are now drugs that can combat the pain to a great extent. The down side to the drugs? Possible heart failure. :(

Nevertheless, we are thankful for each day and certainly we draw inspiration from Dr Asim, the doctor who has the disease himself and devotes his life to finding ways to help others with the AS.

Read about Dr. Asim Khan's story here.

The exception

On a very rare occasion, a cute little girl allowed me to hold her hand. *beam*

I say rare because little people don't like me and much less want to hold my hand. I think they sense my fear uncertainty towards them and tend to gravitate towards J who has greater self-assurance when it comes to kids. That plus he exudes more warmth towards them.

Me? I don't really understand them at the pre-speech phase. I don't know their needs and leave them frustrated. If I have to play with them, I want to play fair and not let them win all the time. Apparently, that's not how they perceive play with adults. :P

Blessed is the teacher who is loved

My favourite guests every Chinese New Year!

These gorgeous people who make an effort to visit me every Chinese New Year turn 22 this year. I taught them when they were 11, 12 year olds. Time really flies. I mean one of them is already married! I have nothing but good wishes for them. In my heart, they will always be my lovely 12 year olds.

iPad iSad

My facebook wall is flooded with posts and comments on Steve Jobs' passing. The last time this happened was when Michael Jackson died. The power influence America has, you have to acknowledge it is great.



This is the work of Jonathan Mak Long (dated August 26, 2011) http://jmak.tumblr.com/post/9377189056
I quite like it. Kinda subtle, kinda says it all.

What's your first Apple product? I have to admit I'm not a Mac fan and mine is the iPod Nano. 2 iPods and 1 iPhone, Apple probably doesn't like me very much.

And here is Steve Jobs' Stanford Commencement 2005 speech. I bet you, me and millions of people have already watched it since the news of his death hit the Internet hours ago.

Sweet gesture

An ex-student wrote me a long email the other day. She asked if I would like to buy a 2012 calendar for 10 bucks. The money goes to some animal shelter (I didn't read it very carefully, the email was seriously long!) and she was trying to get as many people to help so she wrote everyone a personal email.

I like animals and didn't think $10 was too much to ask. Plus the student is a very big-hearted girl whom I have known to be an animal lover since she was 11. She is now 21 and even more of an animal welfare activist than ever.

I paid, she mailed the calendar, I opened the big brown envelope and saw this.


Awww... I wish I had bought a few more to give as presents!


So as I was flipping through the calendar, admiring the pictures of the cute cats and dogs, my heart completely melting into a pool, a red sticker caught my eye. What's the big deal about that date?



2 May. Ya, I actually did that. I read the date out loud and said: what's happening on 2 May?

Then it occurred to me that that's my birthday! LOL! Please don't ask how much stupidier I can get. You don't really want to know! But how sweet right?? Such a small gesture from my student but that really touched me. :)

Oh and if you want to play a part and get a copy of the calendar, go here. Please if you have $10 to spare, do get one!

Men!

Oh, these sure make me wonder if they originated from a different planet.


Yes, we know it's hot. Come on it's summer in China. But really? Rolling up your shirt isn't exactly cool.



Oh sir I know it's the trend but your sense of fashion baffles me!



This one is from the family of perennial idiots I am bound to meet on any holiday. The one who walks RIGHT in front of your camera while you are trying to take a picture. Hello?! Oh! Did you want me to take a picture of the back of your head? Wait, is that dandruff I see?? As you can see, this idiot doesn't mind someone blocking him when he takes a picture but not everyone is a sloppy photographer like him.



Here's another from the same family. He too wasn't even just passing by and happened to walk into my picture when I was trying to take a picture of a lady's swingpack (that one on the left). He had walked up in front of my camera and stopped to take a picture. What the @#&%?!?



And of course at the theatre watching an acrobatics performance, I had to sit next to a guy who took off his shoes. Mind you he didn't just discreetly remove his shoes. He did it with great gusto and then placed them neatly next to his feet. He was making himself so comfortable that I half expected him to recline in his seat and whip out a can of beer from nowhere!

Peaches

are everywhere in China!


This one is incredulously big! It's the size of a grapefruit, actually no, it's probably bigger than a grapefruit.



Lady selling the peaches insisted that J buy a whole bag for RMB12 (less than SGD3).



She's smiling because she probably fleeced us! The peaches were big but not sweet and apparently they were sold a lot cheaper elsewhere. But oh well, it's just a few dollars. :)

Ordinary has charm

This one is for a dear old friend. :)



I'm not sure if green is her thing but I love this! Am very tempted to get one for myself now. :)

Petals' purchase

also came in the parcel but after a whole week, it is still sitting in my room, waiting to be claimed!



Her Cobble Hill Serena in cream is really pretty and the soft leather smells heavenly. :)



It also has the book stripe lining but in gold and cream.



Now if only Petals and I can find a time between us and arrange for a meet-up before her handbag starts to turn yellow. :P

I wanna have Igor's love for his work

tirelessly

(Video source - www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX5lxAUci-A)

Look who carries the same bag!

Carrie carries the same kate spade tote. ;)

(Photo from http://celebritystyledaily.blogspot.com/)

Plus-sized

I don't know how much you love or loathe ironing but if ironing is one of your favourite pastimes, you may want to get this!

This ironing board is a real monster. It's easily 1.8m!

In case you have not figured out how huge this contraption is, let me tell you it comes with wheels because given its size, it is simply too heavy to be carried.

Seriously, you have to pay me to buy this!

Strangers part 4

Monday evening


He sits there intent upon his work, oblivious to the world.

Random thought of the day

Please don't celebrate mediocrity.

If I could say this aloud to you, I would.
But then, you would find me rude.

No?

This HK post is late! #4

As expected, fewer people turned up on the last day of the conference.


When it appeared to us that the keynote speaker was somewhat rambling, we left for J's paper presentation.

The highlight of the day was a school visit to the HK IEd Jockey Club Primary School. Interestingly, the school is within the compound of the Institute of Education. We found out that the primary school gets the best cut from the teacher training institution. This in turn means the school is quite sought after by parents.

The kids were really cheery, probably because it was the week before the Christmas break. I approached several children to pose for my camera and all of them willingly did so!

Lower primary kids are ever so happy!

Then we met a bunch of primary 6 kids who had drama lessons earlier in the day and hence the face painting.

This chap is made for the camera! He spotted me with my camera standing outside the classroom and waved. Later when I entered the room, he looked at me relentlessly until I pointed the camera at him and he gave me this the 'double victory' pose.



I have taught several batches of Primary 6 children but hell I don't remember my kids being so relaxed with strangers!


The students who led the school tour spoke fluent English although they were most comfortable with Cantonese and used that with their peers and teachers.


This has got to be my favourite picture. Look at the boy's hair! He has grown a tiny 'tail' and best of all he happily goes to school like that.

Shouldn't this be the way in our local schools too? Who cares what hair style you spot or what colour your hair is as long as you come to school and go away learning something. Oh well, at least this is how I feel. ;)

Faceless

Ondine finds some of my pictures funny. So here's 1 more for her amusement!

I realised I sometimes take pictures of J without showing his face. This one was taken at the Takashimaya sale last week. Now that Ondine's said it, the picture does remind me of Home Improvement where you can never see the face of Wilson, the neighbour. Hee hee...

恭喜老爷，贺喜夫人!

On this lovely day,
Seriously? wishes Petals and R a blessed marriage!

The many faces of Baby Q

The girls met up at Phoenix's place last week. For me, it was a time to do some catching up since I had missed the last get-together dinner in October. Meeting at Phoenix's also meant meeting her baby girl. The last time I saw the adorable one was when she was a month old!

I have little affinity with babies so it was a good thing I carried Lily with me. This meant I could busy myself taking photos!

This is Baby Q. Isn't she lovely?



I love her look in the next picture. :)

你看什么看?

Strangers part 3

We went to the Pompeii exhibition on Saturday and at one section, kids gathered for some arts and craft.

Here's a really sporting boy who put on his paper helmet for me to take a snapshot!

This is he! He gamely removed his helmet after the first shot and smiled for the camera again.