do you express yourself better in words or in writing? 

i was mildly ticked off by somebody today

and wrote him a frustrated email to tell him off

and while i was saving it in my "draft" folder

i discovered other similar emails that i've written to the same person in a fury but never sent out

pretty darn good emails too.  eloquent and all

now, re-reading them i wish i had the guts to shoot them off at the time.  could've really opened the doors of communication (but there was too much at stake! or so i thought at the time)

you'd think it doesn't matter anymore but as i was about to click "send" today, i bailed again.  didn't want to make a big fuss out of nothing (but was it really nothing?) what a whimp

Sunshine

Steve is right.  Life is good

i've been stumbling blindly around those dark cobwebbed corners far too long

Sunny Melbourne here i come!!

hmph.  looking for a good theme song.  suggestions?

there really isn't a world of difference between being pessimistic and being realistic, is there

my grandmother used to make me go to the chinese doctor's when i was sick

and i hated it

for those of you who've ever had chinese medicine you'll know what i'm talking about

black vile bitter poison that was pure torture for a 2 year old kid to swallow

my parents literally had to pinch my nose and force that shit down my throat, screaming and kicking

but you know what, the medicine really worked as i rarely got sick from then on till ... come to think of it, till i started working in IB

and from then on i'd get sick periodically.  every 4-6 months i'd be completely out of commission and had to spend up to a week at home. 

you know how they say that if you're not happy you can subconsciously make yourself sick?   i wonder if it's that.  i used to fake being sick when i didn't want to go to school.  now it's work (but i don't have to fake; i really get sick)

maybe we just never grow up ...

i like listening to this song when i'm sad.  it makes me more sad but somehow it's very soothing

| Download of the day: Joni Mitchell - Both sides now |

i've been having serious time gap issues recently ... like in my life chronology there are certain periods that i've completely forgotten or lost track of.  sped straight through with little or no recollection

like today hg and i went passed the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and saw a mob of ppl + cameras crammed into the west corner...  we puzzled over it for a few seconds before it hit me that i saw on the news this morning that

it's the 1-year anniversary of Leslie Cheung's death!

 shocking;  it totally feels like that happened only a few months ago

but i know it's been a year since i remembering getting a phonecall on this from my mom in the middle of nowhere in china (where i was traveling on a deal.)  and that was in feb/march.

think of sth that happened in march/april last year... there it doesn't seem like that long ago does it??

man where has my year gone?????? 

| Download of the day: Beatles - Nowhere man |

Can you tell me what's wong with this picture?

(taken at the Rugby Sevens this weekend)

Feelin' evil today

http://www.veryfunnydownloads.com/downloads/videos/DODO.MPG

 wheeeeeeeee

when is the weather going to improve?? 

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just spent 2 full days sitting the classroom upping my presentation and writing skills.  learnt a lot about buzz words and long convoluted sentence structures.  To learn how to write in good simple english, apply the Fog Test to your writing:

1) pick a word sample of ~200 words

2) count your average sentence length for the sample.  say 25 words

3) count # of big words per 100 words in the sample - this is any word that is 3 syllables or longer, excluding primary nouns or anything that's made 3 syllables by adding -ed at the end (like reported, supported).  say 5 words. 

4) add 2) and 3) together, multiple by 0.4.  in this example it's (25+5) x 0.4 = 12

that's your FOG idex.

this equals to the #of years of education a person needs to have gone through to understand your writing.

Keep in mind that anything >13 is considered difficult to read.   Times, the Economist have a FOG index of 11.  Legal documents usually have a FOG index of >20.

so how foggy are you?

Did you know...

...that everything comes from China?

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the origin of the word ketchup:

Ego-surfing

it's amazing the things you turn up when you ego surf.  with my name, the first link that comes up is "Dr. Wilson and Stella Chxx - Hong Kong Global Outreach Ministry" ... (nope that's not me)

i think i have at least  5 namesakes out there

my friend just emailed me this link (taken at my surfing class in Hawaii last year; had NO idea it was used). my first modeling gig on the internet. ya baby!

Engagement Chicken

I saw this on a mag at the hairdresser's.. cheesy as it sounds (apparently this dish has prompted "at least" 3 men to propose to their girlfriends aka the cooks) it sounds yummy so i'm putting it down. 

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (approx. 3 lbs)


• 2 medium lemons


• fresh lemon juices (1/2 cup)


• kosher or sea salt


• ground black pepper

Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 400¢ª.  Wash chicken inside and out with cold water, remove the giblets, then let it reaches room temp (about 15 minutes). Pat dry with paper towels.  Pour lemon juice all over the chicken (inside and outside).  Season with salt and pepper. Prick the whole lemons three times with a fork and place deep inside the cavity.  (Tip: if the lemons are hard, roll on countertop with your palm to get juices flowing.)  Place the bird breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan, lower heat to 350¢ª and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn it breast-side up (use wooden spoons!); return it to oven for 35 minutes more.  Test for doneness - a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180¢ª, or juices should run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork,  Continue baking if necessary.  Let chicken cool for a few minutes before carving,  Serve with juices.

Suggested side dishes

• new potatoes - boil and toss with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh copped parsley


• asparagus - cut off tough ends, steam until tender and top with a part of butter

Anne? come visit soon .. me hungry! 

| Download of the day: Archies - Sugar Sugar |