New Findings in KL

Was in KL for business trip this week. One of the night, I went to Mid Valley, my usual shopping and eating place, for dinner. After dinner, I went to walk around Jusco and I was really surprised to see 乖乖, my child time favorite cookies. Lately, I found more and more Taiwan product products available in both Singapore and Malaysia. Great to know that Taiwanese products are penetrating into overseas market and they are really delicious.

Yesterday, my colleague and I took the early morning bus at Pudu Raya to Kuantan to visit one of our customers. The bus was 9am but we went to China Town (Pataling Street) for the nice congee for breakfast. Food in Malaysia is always nice especially this kind of old stalls. Along the way there, there are a few floral shops and I was surprised to see them having Winnie the Pooh as part of the flower sets. Creative!!

Authentic Finnish Creeps

It's really a very much sweet stuff weekend. After my chocolate cake yesterday, Chou invited a couple of friends to his place to enjoy the authentic Finnish Creeps for lunch. It looked like simple stuff but it's only nice when it's prepared with warn heart and good friends around.

Felt a bit down because of the different problems and issues on hand lately. Sometimes, I just hate the feeling of "being alone" though I'm a person who used to enjoy spending time with myself. It's really great to have friends around to kill another weekend for me. Trying my best to make the whole thing different now as I can't stand myself demoralized and unhappy for too long. Got to get back my up beat pace and happy mood very very soon.

Indulge

Was a bit down on Sat evening because of the up and down last week. So decided to go for my usual therapy, watching movie, to kill time. However, that was another one hour more to go and I was at Plaza Singapore where I can't find any interesting shops to shop around.

Therefore, I decided to do a sinful thing that I have stopped myself doing for quite a while. I went for a nice Chocolate Cake at Secret Receipt. What a sinful thing but I did get a bit happier after this indulge. Guess that's the reason why people say that most of women can't live without dessert. That's quite true for me.

My Jade Bracelet

Just broke my jade bracelet which I have been wearing for almost the past 10 years. My heart just sink when I saw it broken on the floor. It seems to be broken somewhere somehow like my jade bracelet now also. So hard yet so fragile.

Surprise

Last Monday when I just stepped into office after coming back from Vietnam, I got the biggest surprise I have this year. A card - A REAL CARD, A HAND WRITTEN CARD - from New York, from one of my close high school classmates. We have not seen each other for over 12 years I think.

I was really very very surprised and touched when I saw it. I have always known that I have good friends around me though they are not really next to me physically. We care for each other in our own way and I believe this is what we call life-long friends. Therefore, I also picked up pen to "WRITE" a card for her and that's something that I have never done for a few years. It's really very different from writing e-mail. Just like what's written on the card. It's not just "Hello" when it is written this way.

Planning to go US if I succeed in opening overseas market by the end of this year. Hope I can make it and meet up with you in New York.

Movie Marathon

Sort of breaking my personal record this weekend as I watched four movies: The Banquette on Fri, Miami Vice on Sat, P.S. and Imaging Me & You today. "Love" is such a popular topic that all the movies here are talking about it. One killed his brother because he loved or I should say desired the sister in law. One sacrificed herself in a way to be the stepmother or aunt because she wanted to save her lover's life. Love between a man from the justice side and a woman dealing with illegal stuff. Love between a 39-year old woman and a 20 plus man who looked like her first true love in high school but died early. Love between a newly wed woman who meet her MISS RIGHT during her wedding. All the different types of loves but what is love actually?

A question that I have been wondering for the past one day. People love by sacrificing, compromising, forgiving, forgetting. The other day, talked with a good friend about her Long Distance Relationship. People sacrifice or compromise to make the relationship work. Lately, heard from another good friend that she forgave to make the relationship work. I support all their decisions because they are working on what they want, but what am I working on?

Have been spending quite a lot of time alone, traveling, working, eating, reading, walking, sleeping, surfing, shopping, watching movie. There was a particular moment when I was watching movie today that I just wanted him to be next to me. Just want to feel his smell, his voice, his hand, his warm shoulder, but where is he? That's probably a question that I would never ask.

National Flag

Went to Fullerton Hotel for a drink with friends yesterday night. After the drinking and chatting session, we decided to walk around Boat Quay area to enjoy the midnight breeze. After one round that we came back to Fullerton Hotel, we saw a very interesting and exciting scene as we saw TAIWAN NATIONAL FLAG flying up there. Not sure who is the important people staying there, but we are really excited to see our national flag flying at public area like this.

I like people calling me TAIWANESE and I like Singapore as they recognize my nationality as TAIWANESE.

Haha... Daddy Mommy Are Coming Finally!!

Finally, my parents are visiting me in Singapore after my 5 years plus stay here. They always said that it's better for me to go back and I can fly back twice if both of them are coming over. However, it's for my MBA graduation ceremony in Nov this time. There is no more excuse.

I just booked the ticket for them yesterday as I saw the special promotion on Singapore Airline's website. It costs only TW$3999 per person excluding tax and surcharge. Even with tax and surcharge, it's less than NT$6500 per person. Don't think I can find anything better than this for them.

Haha... Anyway, they are coming finally. I have started to plan for their trip here. The funny part is other than Night Safari and Santosa, I actually plan the whole trip based on the various types of food to eat. Can't really think of any other must-go places as they are not keen on shopping at all. So let's just eat eat and walk walk lu...

Forbidden City

Went for Forbidden City tonight and it's quite a good performance though I'm expecting some more from Kit Chen. Basically, the story went on quite well with the nice stage setting, humors and performance. Generally, I would say it's a good show worth watching and I'm happy that I bought the ticket quite early so I got some early bird special price and the seat was quite good. For those who have not yet catch, it definitely worth a try.

Part of the performance is talking about betray and why people are afraid of love because they know it would end with end somehow. Guess that's what I have believed so far and it's not easy for me to open up my heart. Not sure if I would change my view later but I do believe it doesn't worth the time and efforts if I know it's going to end anyway.

Vietnam Telecom 2006

This is my 3rd time visiting Vietnam and the 2nd time this year. This time, we took part in the exhibition to penetrate into Vietnam market. The response from the consumers on the products are quite positive but seems it's not that easy to penetrate into the distribution channel. Anyway, it's my challenge to open this market and guess I need to work harder to get our brand and products popular there. So I should be visiting Vietnam again soon.

We went there last Monday evening as we need to do the set up on Tuesday. This time, we stayed at a apartment near exhibition hall which is about 8KM from downtown. However, the amazing traffic makes this 8KM quite a distance to reach. First night, I walked around downtown with my colleague. I actually know a bit about this area because of my last trip. It's quite fun visiting these places again.

I always like to walk around whenever I'm traveling as I think that's the best way to get to know more about how local people live. So on the second day, we started to explore HCM City by ourselves. We walked around the local market to find our breakfast.



We tried the small cake baked by the portable charcoal stove, the French baguette and the Vietnamese pho for breakfast. That was quite a interesting start.


Later that night, we went for the authentic Pho recommended by Ms Wu with my director and colleagues. Body language is really useful as we simply pointed around to tell them what we want.

On sat, our last night in HCM city, we went to the famous Binh Thanh Market which is selling all kinds of different stuff such as food, accessories, textiles etc. It's my first time going inside though I have been there a few times as they normally closed around 6pm. This is really tourist place as they are selling SKY HIGH prices there. Can just go there for experience but for shopping, I would recommend those small shops a few blocks away. Those small shops are much better as they are offering their own design at a much more reasonable prices.




We tried the local carrot cake there at roadside. It's another portable charcoal stall. Though it's a small stall at the roadside, it's really quite nice and the business is quite good as there are quite a number of local people eating there together with us. Besides, we also tried that shop that I saw at my last trip. The fresh spring roll and the fried rice with chicken slice.



After that, we walked back to the central area and this is the best dessert that I had in this trip. Restaurants or shops here tend to decorate their places with the local arts and paintings which make them very unique. The creativity part here is really amazing.




This morning, we finally got to try the French baguette at the corner near our apartment. It's another small stall with a small stove inside to fry the eggs and that's really amazing to me. The baugette and cafe are quite nice though it's just a small stall at roadside. This breakfast should be a good ending for all my meals in HCM city this time.

This is the apartment we stayed this time. I was a bit shocked when I first arrived as this is sort of one man show operation so that it's quite different from the hotel set up that I used to stay. However, this is quite a nice and warm place to stay and I can't find any other place more convenient to the exhibition hall though there is nothing much around at night.

Last, this is what I got this trip. A nice handbag costs US$4, a nice skirt with embroidery costs US$22 and the Vietnamese coffee and filer.

Vietnam now should be quite similar to what Taiwan was a few decades ago. So I did not find it very different. Besides, with my experience in Malaysia, I found it quite easy for me to survive here. To summary, it's quite a fruitful trip and I would return again soon to continue my market penetration there.

Nancy's Wedding Pictures

Just got the link from Nancy for her wedding photos. She should be the earliest one to get married among us with the similar age. It's really nice to see good friends having found the person who can share and acompany her for the rest of the life. Seems I would be attending some more weddings later this year. Congratulations to all of you. : )

心

一直以為我的心已經在這世界的另一個角落
也一直以為那可能是個美好的未來
今天我終於承認我錯了

一直以為我是個意志強過於心的人
也一直以為只要我努力而且我想要沒什麼做不到的
今天我終於承認我錯了

無法再繼續這種期望與失望的生活
無法再接受這種似有若無似是而非的生活

今天我終於決定找回我那遠在他方的心
今天我終於決定找回我以往那平靜沉穩的心

再次過回我那沒有期望就無所謂失望的生活
我應該就此知足了

畢竟我曾踏出那一步
畢竟我曾衝動過
畢竟我知道我是可以真心付出的

Congratulations to Nancy!!

Congratulations~~ Nancy~~

Can't believe that you really got married yesterday. It's a pity that I can't be there for you but I can see you must be very happy from the pictures. It's really great to know that you found your Mr. Right and decided to settle down. We all have stepped into another stage of our lives. Guess soon the conversation topics would be all about the kids. : )

9th Aug

9th Aug is a special date for me. My first time visiting Singapore is on 9th Aug 1999 when I stopped over here on my way to South Africa. I always remembered this date as we traveled from Singapore to Malaysia on that day and the checkpoint was like crazy because all the Singaporean or Malaysian working in Singapore all wanted to go to Malaysia for the holiday. Five years ago, I reached Singapore on 8th Aug to start my traineeship. Today, 9th Aug 2006, is the first day of my 5th year in Singapore. Isn't it quite special or even memorable for me?

Anyway, it's a public holiday here though I'm still working to prepare for the coming exhibitions and presentations. Would try to relax and rest a bit in the afternoon. : )

Happy Father's Day

Sorry Daddy that I did not keep my promise to be back for every Father's Day and Mother's Day.

Was really tight up with all the exhibitions and important projects on hand. I only give myself six more months to bring up the business and I really want to make it. Please forgive me for this year and I promise I would be back with you next year for Father's Day.

Daddy!! I Love You and Happy Father's Day!!

My Favorite Teacher

Guess I have come to the stage to start to look back to my life. I started to look for my teachers who had a great impact on me during the period of time that I developed my personality and characteristics. I did it once last summer to visit my piano and primary five teacher, Ms Tsai, when I was back in Taiwan.

Yesterday, I was really surprised to see Vega's blog that our English teacher, 殷非凡, back in senior high school time retired two years ago and now lives in Sydney. The first thing came to my mind was that time really flies. My last time seeing her was almost ten years ago when I just entered university and now I have already graduated and started to work for five years. Secondly, she is really my "KEY SUCCESS FACTOR" to work and live in Singapore. I do not think I would get the chance to come over and adapt the life here as an English environment without the three years hard studying under her.

(From: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!iEb7x7yRAg6arpAdAkezufEM.p2D/photo?pid=56)

Thank you so much!! My dear teacher!!

Hope we got the chance to meet up again soon in either Australia, Taiwan or Singapore.

Suprise Birthday Party

Had a suprise birthday party for Ying last Sat at Breeze, the rooftop restaurant of Scarlet Hotel. Quite a nice place and heard that the food there is also quite nice. Really want to try their dinner one day but got to find a cooling day. If not, the tropical summer night in Singapore is quite hot and humid especially for outdoor place like this. Maybe should come during "WINTER". : )

Anyway, Happy Birthday to Ying Ying la...

MBA with Merit

Scoring has never been a big problem to me especially back at school time. So I have never really taken scores and those exams seriously other than the two big entrance exams for high school and university. After entering the school, seems I spend most of my time on other stuff. It was the band in high school time and AIESEC in uni. So I can say I enjoyed my student life quite a lot.

However, part time studying is a totally different study. I took on Graduate Diploma in Marketing in 2002 as I wanted to know if I have the capacity to take on part time MBA courses. After the one year course, I was quite confident in my time management so that I started my part time MBA in April 2004.

Today, I received the transcript and the result is that I have been awarded Master in Business Administration with Merit. At the very beginning, I did make Merit one of my goals in this course. However, when it came to the later part of the course, I was not that confident as I did not really like some of the courses so that I didn't take it seriously and aim for high score. However, with the hard work on some of the subjects and the management project, I did make it. I was really happy and excited this afternoon when I saw the result. I guess the whole thing became much more meaningful to me as this is part time course and it's really tiring to study while working. I'm very glad that I finished it and I really made it. : )

Now, I have started to look for other interesting courses or challenges. Seems I have been used to the life style with FULL schedule. haha...

Surprise

Have been walking around quite a number of shopping malls to check out the market situation as I felt that I have been away from Singapore market for too long. Besides, our company is also looking into some strategic locations to increase the brand publicity and exposure. So this weekend, I have visited Orchard, Raffles City, Suntec and the last, Marina Square. A lot of people told me that Marina Square is quite happening after the renovation. There are indeed a lot of people, a lot of shopping crowd.

However, what really surprised me is theses two shops at Marina Square. Firstly, I saw Azabu Sabo. It just looked very familiar to me at the first sight and I haven't really recognize it's actually 麻布茶房, which is one of the popular restaurants back in Taiwan. I just walked in straight away as I really missed the Red Bean Soup and I sort of needing something to replenish the blood that I lost these two days. I was really satisfied with the hot red bean soup and the rice cake.


After that, I started to walk around the mall and something familiar again caught my eyes. I saw a shop, Taiwan Lao Zhao Pai, selling all the Taiwan snacks such as the Sun Cake and all the others. I started smiling from the first sight I saw the shop until I walked one round and took this picture.

We have been always complaining that the food here is not as nice and we do missed all the nice food back at home. Now, seems I have much more options here to hill my home sick. Ha ha.. One more reason for me to stay a bit longer.

Office Drama

Had a big drama in office this afternoon. One of my admin colleagues was asked to visit our dealers to do some merchandising and stock count. I am not sure how the whole thing was presented to her but after that she started a big drama in office. She started to criticize the company ad the management that it is only a small company which pays her very little. She is not happy with the company and the management. She is prepared to go as long as the company retrenches her. She can find better jobs at other places if the company retrenches her. She also mentioned that the management are only talking to the younger group of people and did not treat the old staff fair.

I do not think the whole logical or reasonable to me but I might not be able to judged like this as I am not sure what had happened in the past twenty years and the talk this morning. However, I do not understand the logic why she cannot leave the company even though she is so unhappy about it just because the company does not retrench her. I always believe the person him or herself is the only one who can make the decision for their own life. You can't leave your life on others' hand. That is to say if you really find yourself miserable, you should either change the situation or adjust yourself to suit the situation. So if you are really not happy about the job and the company, you should just leave to look for what you want. Cannot really understand the reason why she does not want to leave unless she is looking at the money the company may give for the retrenchment or she simply cannot find any other better offer.

From my understanding, the company is trying to keep the older staff as I heard the director mentioned that the management wants to take care of them as they have devoted their youth and precious time to the company. I believe that is the reason why the management does not want to retrench the staff especially the older ones if they are not leaving by themselves.

At least to me, I still find my company and job interesting and rewarding in a way though it might not be the best or the perfect one. I cannot say that I would be with this company forever but I do believe that I would ensure myself work happily every day. If cannot, it might be time for me to move on. I would not let myself to become so miserable.