Albert's Random Thoughts

My Blog Has A New Home

2007-01-10T00:18:00.000Z

Nothing wrong with Blogger, but decided to move my blog over to blog.albertchau.com, to see what that's like.... seem to have a bit more features to offer.

See you over there!

Albert Chau
xxx

Eye-Poking Fun

2006-08-27T13:23:00.000+01:00

I never like anything going into my eyes - no, not even eye-drops. It must be rather hilarious to watch me applying eye-drops into my eyes, as half of the drops would end up on my face. And it was the eye surgery documentary which I saw on television when I was young that put me off becoming a doctor.

Recently I went to the optician to get my eyesight checked, and I was told that the intra-ocular pressure (IOP), according to the puff test, was higher than normal. So got sent to see an opthalmic surgeon, who did all sorts of tests to check that the pressure was OK (one of the devices was the Goldmann Tonometer), the corneal thickness was higher than usual (that could explain the higher IOP) and I didn't have glaucoma, optic nerve damage or loss of vision. Even with the anaesthetic eyedrops, it was still quite difficult to keep the eyes open so that he could poke various instruments onto my eyes. Nevertheless, the doctor was absolutely brilliant with his patience and his steady hands.

Even went to have the fundus photography done. That was a bizarre experience as eyedrops were used to dilate the pupils, and for about 4 hours after that I could not focus anything at near-distance. So imagine not being able to read a book, nor read the menu at a restaurant, nor even tell the time on a digital watch, nor even read the computer screen. You would never have thought that something that you take it for granted could become impossible with just the dilated pupils.

So far, nothing wrong with me..... so fingers crossed. It would not be nice to lose the vision - imagine a world where you can't take photos, look at pictures, read, watch television, or even simply look at spectacular sunrise and sunset.

Big Brother's DisGrace

2006-08-15T17:15:00.000+01:00

Usually I would only watch Channel 4's Big Brother as mindless entertainment and don't really think much about the characters, but this year there is one participant who I found truly irritating and a total disgrace, and it's Grace. Nasty piece of work.

Just come across a rather interesting song about Grace though, and pretty much sums up what I thought of her too. Here's the lyrics:

You stab in the back,
But you smile to the face.
The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...you're a dis-grace.

You stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
oh Grace...
...you're a disgrace.

So whatcha gonna do now babe?
You're game plan went wrong,
We're all so happy,
Your bitch-ass is gone...
Enjoy your five minutes of fame,
and many years of shame...

How will anyone trust you again?
Cos you stab in the back,
But you smile to the face,
The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...you're a disgrace.

You stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
Wooah Grace...
...you're a disgrace.

Well I suppose you got a little lovin'
and made a good friend -
But I've just seen Mikey flirt with Imogen!
Girl your so damn malicious,
so jealous and vicious -
You're the one that has lost in the end...
Cos you stab in the back,
But you smile to the face.

The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...wanna slap your face...
Cos you stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
Wooooh Grace...
...I really wanna slap your face!

Oh, no, oh -
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.
No, oh, no...
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.
No, oooh, oooh...
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.

How To Boil An Egg

2006-07-31T12:04:00.000+01:00

I love boiled eggs. While I don't usually have any problems making soft-boiled eggs or hard-boiled eggs any more, I find this new invention of using heat-sensitive technology and invisible ink rather interesting, esp for those people who really can't boil an egg. OK, for friends I can forgive them, but I hate it when I ask for soft-boiled eggs at hotels, and I ended up with hard-boiled eggs - how am I supposed to dip the bread into a hard-boiled egg?

This new gadget will probably come with a higher price tag unfortunately. For the cheap option, here's what I suggest: Put the eggs into a saucepan of cold water, then put the saucepan on medium heat and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, then start the timer - 3 minutes for the soft-boiled eggs, and 7 minutes for the hard-boiled eggs.

Easy peasy!

Approaching the Fifth Anniversary

2006-07-24T14:20:00.000+01:00

This morning I got a large envelope from my accountant - it's the financial accounts and annual tax return forms... I do hate seeing these every year as they are so complicated and my accountant seems to have a knack of making me feel so inadequate when it comes to finance.

I suddenly realised that it's fast approaching the fifth anniversary of running my own business. I still can't believe that I had the courage in 2001 to quit a job that I liked and set up my own consulting business. One main reason for taking such a drastic step at the time boiled down to one promise I made after I left my first job in 1994 - if I ever took my work-related anger and frustration out on my friends in my personal life, I'd leave the job. Also it's about time to venture out of the big corporate green-house and set myself one of the biggest challenges in my life.

Somehow my staff at the time sensed that I would leave the job before I even sat them down and told them the news - they were so supportive. I still keep in touch with them and I am so glad to see them excel in their professions too.

I must say the last 5 years have been a roller-coaster ride. Being self-employed means that I am detached from office politics, but it brings in other worries such as "will I get enough work in the next few months", "are my clients happy with my work", "am I charging too much / not enough" etc. But certainly the whole experience so far has opened my eyes up a lot, and led me to opportunities that I would never dream of having before. And somehow work just seems to find its way to me. So I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all of those people who have helped me along the way (you know who you are), whether it's to recommend me to colleagues/friends, or to give me valuable advice on my business, or to lead a sympathetic ear when I go into one of my venting sessions.

Where will I be in 5 years' time? No idea! Just like the answer I would have given 5 years ago.

A Story Of The Red-Crowned Crane

2006-07-10T20:31:00.000+01:00

After a lot of searches, I finally got hold of a rare CD "Xin Le Fu" (I suppose the translation would be "New Music Academy"?) - it's a live CD of Dadawa (Zhu Zhe Qin), whose Tibetan-inspired debut album "Sister Drum" back in the early 1990's made an impact across the global music world.

This CD was a real discovery - it's the recording of the concert that took place in Beijing on 1 April 2004, and the voice of Dadawa was just amazing in this concert. One song that stuck in my mind was "A Story of The Red-Crowned Crane". I didn't know this song before I got this CD, but after some research, I found that this was actually Dadawa's debut hit back in 1990 (she was the first runner-up in a singing competition). And to make this song even more special, it was based on a true story, on a girl called Xu Xiujuan. The narrative at the start of the song summarised the story very well:

"There was a girl, who loved the red-crowned cranes since she was very young. After she graduated from university, she went back to the place where she kept the cranes. However, one day when she tried to save an injured red-crowned crane, she fell into the wetland marshes in an accident, and never returned."

I have not found Dadawa's video of this song, but I have managed to hunt down a cover version.

The girl in the true story was called Xu Xiujuan, who was born in October 1964 in the city of Qiqihar in Heilongjiang Province. She was from the Manchu ethnic minority in China. In August 1981, at the age of 17 she followed her father Xu Tielin (an expert in cranes) to the Zhalong Nature Reserve, and she took up a temperory job there.

Her father didn't really want her to work in cranes preservation, as he knew how tough the job would be. However, Xu Xiujuan insisted on working there, and with her dedication and hard work, she managed to remember all the details about every crane in the nature reserve within 3 days of working there.

In May 1986, Xu Xiujuan completed her 2-year study at the Northeast Forestry University Wildlife Department, left home, went to the Jiangsu Yancheng Nature Reserve that covered large areas of the wetlands, grown over with reeds, salt marshes, making this a perfect habitat for the cranes. Xu Xiujuan's knowledge and expertise came in handy here, and it's here that she successfully talent be brought into full play. With her pioneering knowledge and application of the technology, she managed to breed and raise three red-crowned cranes in harsh conditions. With this success, she earned a lot of respect from other experts in the country.

On 15 September 1987, one of the cranes went missing, and despite the best effort from everyone, the crane couldn't be found that day. Xu Xiujuan insisted on looking for the crane that night, and also the next day. Somehow that day she fell into the wetlands and perished - no one knew exactly how the accident happened; whether she fell off the bike while searching for the crane, or she got off the bike and tried to swim to save the crane in the wetland.

Because of her dedication, she is now passionately known as the Goddess of Cranes.

There's a more complete story in simplified Chinese, but I hope this story has moved you as much as it has moved me.

One Year Ago Today......

2006-07-07T20:31:00.000+01:00

London is a bit of a sad city today, as it remembers the first anniversary of the suicide bombing on 7 July 2005. This day last year, London first woke up to the good news from the previous day that the city has been selected to host the Olympics in 2012; and then the whole city plunged from the happiest city on this planet to the saddest one, with the four suicide bombers murdering 52 people and injuring many more.

I still don't know what the suicide bombers tried to achieve - if the point is to inflict fear, then I don't think they have succeeded; Londoners are stronger than that. If the objective is to get people onto their side for whatever their cause is, then they failed miserably too. If anything, it has made me love London more.

I have no problem that they express their opinions, but hiding behind religion and killing innocent people, I certainly don't approve (and I don't think Islam would approve that either).

Taste Of London 2006

2006-06-19T17:35:00.000+01:00

Described as "an adventure playground for all those who enjoy eating out", the Taste Of London 2006 took place on 15-18 June 2006 at Regents Park. And of course, being a foodie, I would not miss the opportunity of this event. As I was away from London most of the weekend, I managed to rush back to the city for the Sunday evening session, which was the last session of the event - and I made damn sure that I did get back to London on time, as the platinum tickets for me and Russell didn't come cheap at all.

We got in relatively quickly thanks to the "fast track entrance" - and we wasted no time in sampling the dishes (so we managed to try out most of the things we wanted, while most people were still walking around trying to decide what to try). There were a few restaurants' stands that we avoided because of crap food or we go regularly enough that there's no need to sample the dishes (eg Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, Yauatcha, Zilli Fish, Carluccio's). Here's a list of dishes we have tried at the stalls (not in the order we tried) and my verdict on each dish:

Mango & Cardamon Brulee (Cinnamon Club) - A wonderful dish (see picture on the right). The mango was fresh and ripe, and it complimented the creme brulee well. One of the few dishes which we would have liked to have seconds.
Iced Dragon-Fruit and Strawberry Lollipop with Berry Compote (Imperial City) - I wanted to try this dish simply because of the use of dragon-fruit as the ingredient. Originally the dish was supposed to be "Iced dragon fruit souffle served in a chocolate cup with berry compote" which would have been a lot more interesting. Still, the lollipop was refreshing enough, though it lacked that spark I was looking for.
Valrhona Hot Chocolate Fondue, Marshmallows, Biscotti & Strawberry Kebabs(Boxwood Cafe) - Probably the best dish we've had in the whole event. Dipping the various things into the hot chocolate fondue was simply divine. It just shows that you don't need to have fancy cooking, just good quality ingredients would be sufficient to create a wonderful dish.
Braised Pork Belly with Chick Peas & Paprika Squid (Tom Aikens) - I usually try to avoid dishes with chick peas simply because most places don't seem to know how to cook the thing properly. But here the chick peas are moist and tasty, and made a great compliment to the "melt-in-the-mouth" pork belly and squid. To the right you will see me holding this wonderful dish.
Rice Noodles with Chilli, Prawn & Coconut Sauce with Fresh Herbs (Nahm) - A wonderful surprise. As expected, the dish was spicy but all the ingredients (down to the peanut sauce) blended in well together. If there was no one else around, I would probably have picked up the paper bowl and licked it all clean!
Salad of Smoked Duck, with Baby Beetroot, Walnuts & Pickled Shallots (Pearl) - The duck was tender, and the use of the various ingredients gave this dish an interesting mix of taste and texture. Even though I am not a fan of beetroots or pickled shallots, this dish got my thumbs up.
Mango Rice With Mango Parfait & Mango Mousse (Tom Aikens) - The only stall which got a re-visit from us really. This dish was refreshing and had got all the right sweetness and flavour of good quality mangoes. The vibrant yellow colour somehow reminded me of the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam! To the right you'll see Russell holding a cup of the Mango Rice before it disappeared into his stomach.
Sesame Seared Salmon with Black Bean Dressing (Zuma) - This one was a disappointment really. It was way too bland - OK, the salmon was nice but we couldn't taste the dressing. With the right dressing, it would have brought out the combination of the sesame and the salmon well, but it failed on this occasion.

In addition, with our tickets, we get to sit down in an exclusive area for the "Ultimate Taster Menu", which consisted of the following five dishes:

Seared Marinated Irish Organic Salmon with Lemon Confit, Artichokes and Mache Salad (Boxwood Cafe) - The lemon confit dressing was delicious and went well with the salmon. The texture of the salmon could have been better - if the salmon had been cooked in less time, I think this dish would have worked magic.
Thandi Tamatar Ka Shorba (Zaika) - This is a chilled tomato soup with an Indian twist. it was tempered with onion seeds, ginger and lime leaves, served with Goan spiced crab chutney. The soup was spicy, and the spiceness travelled round the mouth as soon as the soup hit the tongue, but the taste was short-lived. Probably the dish I liked least in this taster menu, and I was glad that I didn't try it at the stalls. Still, I finished the soup, but the couple sitting next to me barely touched the soup - they were also not impressed by the taste.
King Prawn Tortellini, Fennel Puree, Herb Vinaigrette (Angela Hartnett at the Connaught) - What I nicknamed "Giant Overcooked Wanton A La Italienne"! It would have been a very nice dish, if the king prawn inside the tortellini was not overcooked.
Rare Breed beef Off the Barbie, Hand Cut Chips (Smiths of Smithfield) - The beef was tender and juicy enough, but the sauce was not consistent. Part of it had too much of a horseradish kick to it.
Pannacotta Con Fruitti Di Bosco E Vaniglia (Zafferano) - A light dessert of pannacotta with mixed summer berries and vanilla to finish off this taster menu. Actually this was the best of the five dishes - simple, with good vanilla flavour. Just wished they had given the full glass of pannacotta rather than the half glass (there's a problem with the amount of pannacotta in each glass - some people seemed to have a glass full of the stuff, while some got short change).

After the taster menu, also managed to do a bit of walking around the stalls, and picked up some goodies to take home.

Cartoons and Manga in my childhood

2006-06-14T16:20:00.000+01:00

When I was very young, I was brought up in Hong Kong. The television stations there used to play some brilliant Japanese cartoons / manga (all dubbed into Chinese, of course), and recently I have been doing a search on the internet for the various cartoons that I can remember.... Here I am introducing you to a few of my all-time favourites - these are all original Japanese versions but have got English subtitles:

(1) Doraemon

The cartoonist for this rather brilliant Japanese cartoon is Fujiko Fujio (his real name is Hiroshi Fujimoto). Doraemon is a mechanical cat from the 22nd century, but lives in the 20th century with Nobita, a rather timid and clumsy boy.... There's a pocket in front of Doraemon, where various useful (or useless, depending on how you see it) gadgets are stored and would come out.

(2) Galaxy Express 999

An absolute favourite.... The setting of this manga is futuristic, and it's about a train journey (Galaxy Express 999) for a young boy called Tetsuro and his female "guardian angel" Maetel. Tetsuro's goal is to get a mechanical body so that he can become immortal. Each episode is like a stop at a particular planet and the adventure that Tetsuro and Maetel would embark upon. It really captures my imagination at the time (can you imagine me playing with my lego train set, pretending that it's Galaxy Express 999 train flying off?)

Here's the very first episode of this cartoon in three parts.

(3) Dr Slump

If you think The Simpsons was ground-breaking at the time with adult jokes etc for a cartoon, think again. Dr Slump was way ahead of its time - it's about a mad inventor (Dr Slump) who thinks that he's handsome and intelligent (in fact he is short and fat) and his robotic girl (Arale) who has unlimited power and energy but completely naive. Here is the first episode in two parts:

Part 1:

Part 2:

(4) Q-Taro

Created by the same cartoonist as Doraemon, Q-Taro is a ghost that is rather useless and also ends up making a mess of things in life. Many of the characters in this cartoon share marked resemblance to the ones in Doraemon. The only video I can find on this one seems to be the opening theme song in Japanese.

MUSIC REVIEW: Our Time Has Come - Denise Ho

2006-06-14T15:33:00.000+01:00

I probably should have reviewed this album a few weeks ago, but as usual due to my laziness I have not got round to writing something about this till now.

This is the long-awaited follow-up album from Denise Ho (HOCC), after her rather brilliant musical The Legend Of The Next Lives Of The Butterfly Lovers. My first impression is that there's a mixture of good and bad in here - I am not convinced by her more rock-oriented songs.... Nothing wrong with her singing, it's just the tunes were not that good, and no matter how hard she tried, it's not going to make these great songs. See for yourself with this first track of the album:

Having said that, I got attracted to nearly every single ballad in this album from the start. "Faultless" (Track 8) was the first track to be promoted from this album - I wouldn't say the song is faultless itself, but it's certainly a strong track.

Another track that I have fallen in love with is "I Wish I Could Learn How To Let You Go" (Track 2) - Both the lyrics and her emotion in this song came across as very powerful, and I was listening to it more or less all the time last week.

But in the last few days, I have ended up listening even more to another track "Knocking On The Door In The Middle Of The Night" (Track 6) - no video yet, but I guess this track would be another one worth promoting.

Mountains of Brokeback Piss-Takes

2006-05-05T23:18:00.000+01:00

I must say that sometimes I do feel like I am in the minority - I am probably one of the few people in this world who don't think much of the "critically-acclaimed" movie Brokeback Mountain. There's nothing wrong with the movie - I just don't think it's that brilliant.

Still, obviously the style of the film commercial has caught on the imagination of the public. There are loads of spoofs of the commercial floating around on the net, and some of them are pretty funny. Here are a few of my favourites:

(1) Wallace & Gromit - Curse Of The Brokeback

Well, how could anyone have thought this one up? I wonder what Nick Park has to say about this?!

(2) Brokeback House MD

House MD is one of the drama series that I am hooked onto at the moment. This spoof is rather funny too.

(3) Brokeback March Of the Penguins

Again who would have thought this one up?!?!?! I do love Emperor Penguins though.

(4) Brokeback Titanic

I actually can't stand Titanic the movie - sure, the special effects are impressive, but Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet's acting??? Urgh! Still, this version really made me laugh.

No Congestion Charge please, we are Americans!

2006-05-02T23:59:00.000+01:00

I get asked a lot by my friends what I thought of the congestion charge in London, as they know that I drive into London quite a bit. The truth is, I actually don't mind paying for it if the money is put to good use - ie in improving the public transport system that London seriously needs. I know that the charge is hurting a lot of small businesses that have to go in and out of the congestion charge zone on a daily basis.

One thing I really don't understand is why the US embassy refuses to pay the congestion charge and ends up owing Transport for London (TfL) over a quarter of a million pounds! Why do they think that they are exempt from paying? It's not as if they can't afford to pay for a start, and why do they think they have this "privilege" when tourists who hire cars are still expected to pay? Just because they are diplomats???? Also when I drive in the US, I still have to pay for all the tolls.

Now get real - this is not a tax! Being a diplomat doesn't mean that you can have everything free!

Do Peacocks like Sherbet Fountain?

2006-04-30T17:48:00.000+01:00

For my birthday last week, I was down in Poole in Dorset - first time I went there. It's a nice seaside town but I bet it's hell on a busy summer day! The house prices in that area are verging on the ridiculously expensive - a 2-bedroom apartment by the seafront is going for just under half a million pounds!

Seemed to have spent a fair amount of time eating. Russell bought me dinner at the restaurant at Mansion House on Saturday evening - food was not bad but I was so full after the starter and main course, that I had to skip the dessert. Had pork belly for starter, and then duck as main course. All washed down with a nice bottle of Chablis (soooo predictable).

Then on Sunday we found a shop that sold sherbet fountain - I've tried the gourmet version at the Fat Duck, but this was the first time I actually saw the original stuff. So bought one to try it out - a bit of a disappointment really as it didn't really fizz, and the liquorice made my fingers rather sticky.... So gave up after a while and put the sherbet fountain in my bag for later.

Also took the opportunity to take the ferry across to Brownsea Island, which is a National Trust property. The island is full of peacocks, and all of them were not afraid of human beings. The peacocks seemed to enjoy following me, even when I was walking along the beach - one peacock was quite happy to follow me, and then I tried to keep it amused by showing it my unfinished sherbet fountain, and it just got so close to me that it wanted to have the snack. And then later on, there were 4 peacocks chasing me at the same time, all wanting to try the sherbet fountain.... needless to say, they didn't get any of it - somehow I don't think the National Trust would approve me feeding the animals with such fancy snacks!

Fat Duck Is Only Second Best

2006-04-10T22:37:00.000+01:00

It's official - Fat Duck in Bray is no longer the best restaurant in the world in the 2006 Restaurant Magazine survey..... And I predicted that about 10 days ago on here! El Bulli in Spain has once again returned to the top spot.

The top 50 restaurants are as follows:

El Bulli, Spain
The Fat Duck, United Kingdom
Pierre Gagnaire, France
French Laundry, US
Tetsuya's, Australia
Bras, France
Restaurant Le Louis XV, Monaco
Per Se, US
Restaurante Arzak, Spain
Mugaritz, Spain
Can Fabes, Spain
Nobu, UK
Gambero Rosso, Italy
Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road, UK
Restaurant Alain Ducasse, France
Jean Georges, US
Le Cinq, France
Daniel, US
Oud Sluis, The Netherlands
Chez Panisse, US
El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
L'Astrance, France
Hof van Cleve, Belgium
La Maison Troisgros, France
L'Atelier, France
Charlie Trotter's, US
Le Gavroche, UK
La Colombe, South Africa
Enoteca Pinchiorri, Italy
Rockpool, Australia
Le Calandre, Italy
Le Bernardin, US
Noma, Denmark
Restaurant Dieter Muller, Germany
St John, UK
Hakkasan, UK
Martin Berasategui, Spain
Le Quartier Francais, South Africa
Chez Dominique, Finland
L'Ambroisie, France
Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany
Dal Pescatore, Italy
Bocuse, France
L'Arpege, France
Gramercy Tavern, US
Bukhara, India
De Karmeliet, Belgium
Oaxen, Sweden
Comme Chez Soi, Belgium
DOM, Brazil

Out of the three 3-Michelin star restaurants in the UK, Fat Duck fell from the top spot to 2nd place, Gordon Ramsay fell from 5th to 14th, and Waterside Inn didn't even get into the top 50 this year. I am a bit surprised to see Nobu to be featured at No. 12, but maybe the food has improved since I went there about 2 years ago - while their grilled black cod was nice, I could think of one Japanese restaurant in London that serves a better version at a fraction of the price.

Jean-Georges at No. 16???? Ah well, I definitely don't agree after my experience there last year - food was very good but some of the combinations of ingredients just didn't quite blend together well, and when the air-con was weak on a hot July evening.... it was a bit of a torture for me really.

£85 Sandwich

2006-04-10T16:31:00.000+01:00

I have been thinking in the last couple of years that the food in London is getting a tad too expensive, but £85 (About US$140) for a Wagyu beef sandwich is just getting a bit too ridiculous. As much as I like good food, I don't think I'd be prepared to pay that price, no matter how good the beef is.... Even if I want to eat the best quality beef, I probably wouldn't want to put it in a sandwich.

I'd rather spend £85 on a three-course meal at the Fat Duck or Gordon Ramsay!

What would London chefs come up next? Foie Gras and Caviar curry? Battered Lobster and chips?

All Around The World

2006-04-09T13:13:00.000+01:00

I seemed to have done quite a fair amount of travelling, but when I plotted out all the countries I have visited in the world, it looks like I've barely scratched the surface of this planet!

You can also create your own visited country map

There are many countries that I love, and for different reasons:

- China for its rich and diverse history and culture
- Kyrgyzstan for its beautiful unspoilt scenary
- Japan for its style
- France for its food
- Iceland for its scenary

What places would I want to visit next?

- Russia, esp the Trans-Siberia railway
- Kazakhstan, just heard that the scenary is beautiful there
- Iran, for the Persian history on the Silk Road
- Cuba
- most places in South America, but possibly Chile and Easter Island first
- Antarctica, to see the Emperor Penguins

Time to save up some money I guess!

The Legend of The Next Lives of the Butterfly Lovers

2006-04-07T00:16:00.000+01:00

The Butterfly Lovers (or The Love Story of Liang Shang-Bo and Zhu Ying-Tai) is a popular Chinese tale set in the ancient China. The tragic tale could be considered as the Chinese version of "Romeo and Juliet". The tale takes such a significant place in Chinese literature and culture that the Chinese have considered to submit it to the World Heritage.

Set in the picturesque town of Hangzhou, the only daughter (Ying-Tai) of a rich provincial lord disguised herself as a boy in order to go into higher education where she met Shang-Bo, a talented hard-working, but poor scholar. Neveretheless she fellin love with him. Not long after they met, she was ordered to return home because her parents decided to marry her into a rich family. It was then that she confessed to Shang-Bo of her love for him.

In spite of her declaration, Ying-Tai was forced home to wait for the day of her marriage with the rich man, whilst Shang-Bo went to the capital city to sit his exams.

Later, Shang-Bo received a post as a provincial officer and went to YingTai's family to propose marriage, but was harshly turned down because of his poor family background. Shang-Bo died in the misery for his love for Ying-Tai, and Ying-Tai was still made to follow the engagement her parents made for her. On the day when she was sent to the wedding ceremony, her carriage passed by Shang-Bo's tomb. She went down from her carriage to pay her tribute to Shang-Bo, a request she made to her parents. As she knelt in front of his tomb, the tomb opened and she stepped in...

Ying-Tai disappeared, and onlookers only saw two butterflies flying out of the tomb. It was said that they were Shang-Bo and Ying-Tai, freed from the bounds of tradition.

So why am I suddenly telling Chinese tales? One reason is because I recently discovered a very interesting musical from Hong Kong, called "The Legend of The Next Lives Of The Butterfly Lovers". It's not just the musical that surprised me, but the main singer / producer of the show, Denise Ho (also known as HOCC in Hong Kong), also.

The concept of the musical is rather interesting - the story takes place in modern time, and the two main characters have both been reincarnated and their paths cross again, except this time Shang-Bo becomes a guy called "Rolls", and Ying-Tai becomes another guy called "Royce". The musical follows the theme of the original tale - the confusion of the characters' sexuality, except this time it deals with the subject of homosexuality.

What draws my attention to the musical is some of the rather brilliant songs in there, as well as the superb live performance from Denise Ho (between the studio album and the live recording of the musical, I must admit the latter is even better). This musical has earned Denise at least three chart-toppers, and the lyrics by Wyman Wong have been very well-written - some of the songs tell their own stories, eg "Rolls. Royce" is already a story on its own (This is the MTV from the studio album version):

The first few lines of the rather powerful lyrics in "Becoming A Butterfly" have already sent me close to tears a few times - the literal translation is "There's no flower in front of the grave. Let me brush aside the soil and let the tears plant in it. Long-buried in it it's you, why didn't you even utter a word before leaving me? Please answer...":

"Coffee In A Soda Bottle" is the third hit from the musical:

To get an idea of the talent of Denise Ho, you really have to watch the live version on DVD to appreciate her singing. Not many singers in Hong Kong can sing live well, but Denise is one exception. And it's brave of her to cover one of Tat Ming Pair's classics "Forbidden Colour" - not easy to match the quality of the original version, but I think in a way she has actually taken the song one step further and made it even better than the original.

Denise Ho has been around in the Hong Kong music scene for 8 years, and I must say that I have not paid any attention on her music until now. This musical has shown the incredible amount of hard work she has put into it, and it has not gone wasted. With some more good songs in future, she could well be following the footsteps of her mentor, Anita Mui, to become a mega-star - certainly she has the talent to do so... whether her luck will take her there remains to be seen.

MUSIC REVIEW: No Protection - Justin Lo

2006-04-06T23:23:00.000+01:00

Until today, I didn't really understand the hype surrounding Justin Lo in Hong Kong. His first album, Justin, sold like hot-cakes in Hong Kong, though I always thought that his singing was a bit over the top. Yes, "Good Guy" did have a very catchy tune and was a very challenging song technically, which Justin did manage to pull it off very well. However, I found his first album dragging on a bit after a few listens.

He recently had a sell-out concert in Hong Kong Coliseum, which is very unusual for a newcomer. Two days before his concert, he released his second album "No Protection".

Based on first impression alone, this follow-up album is a nice surprise. The styles of the songs are more varied, breaking away from the mould of classic cantopop love ballads, and Justin's singing comes across as more natural. The first track was an old recording of Justin's singing while he was a kid - not exactly an innovative concept but it did show his talent in singing even at a young age. The second song "Battling Against the Spoilt Rich Kids" had a nice upbeat tempo, though the use of the cartoon-ish chorus could be a bit annoying after a few listens. Track 5 "Dream Girl" has a nice simple arrangement to give it a lounge music feel, and with Justin's singing, it seems to have worked magic. Track 6 "Volar" is a dance track but unfortunately it could have easily been a Justin Timberlake rather than a Justin Lo track - Did Mark Lui and Justin Lo just tried to copy the style of someone else, rather than coming up with their own sound? Track 11 "You'll Shine Again" is the English version of "I'm Not A Good Guy" (Track 2 off the first album). Here's the music video of the original Chinese version:

On the whole, "No Protection" certainly has established Justin Lo as a talented singer-songwriter. Whether his music or this album will have a lasting effect or not, I have no idea. However, this guy is talented and can definitely sing well live - have a look at this news report about his One Good Show concert at Hong Kong Coliseum:

Is Fat Duck still the best restaurant in the world?

2006-04-01T11:24:00.000+01:00

I went to the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray (Berkshire, UK) last night, after giving the restaurant a break for just over 6 months. For those who don't know about the restaurant, it was voted the best restaurant in the world in 2005, and it was my favourite restaurant in the UK last year. Its owner and head chef, Heston Blumenthal, is at the forefront in experimenting with food and its chemistry and comes up with innovative dishes such as Bacon & Egg ice-cream.

Now what's my latest verdict of this place? Well, I predict that the Fat Duck will lose its title as the best restaurant in the world this year. Has the standard gone down that much? No. However, if my dinner was the norm, it certainly no longer deserves the grand title. Don't get me wrong, the food is still very good and it'll no doubt impress many people, but when you can draw comparisons to previous experiences at the restaurant, you will notice the difference.

Differences / changes can sometimes be good, but I am not sure if the Fat Duck has tried too hard now. So what's wrong with it? Well, I had the tasting menu last night, and one thing I noticed was that the ingredients, especially the fish, were not always of the best quality. No matter how skillful a chef is, if the ingredients are not up to scratch, then the dish will never be that good. Depending on the day of the week and public holidays etc, I can forgive a slightly inferior quality in the ingredients due to the supply. However, on a Friday night, I expect top quality. The mackerel in the Sardine On Toast Sorbet with Ballotine of Mackerel "Invertebrate" was slightly off, judging by the texture of the fish.

Some of the dishes have lost the magic touch - either because the flavour has changed for the worse, or the kitchen has lost the care and dedication in making the dish. Don't get me wrong, I like food that's tasty with a good balance of flavour, but I hate it when the flavour of the sauce / marinade overpowers the actual ingredients (it's a bit like putting a very strong flavoured sauce on a not-so-fresh piece of raw tuna to hide the fishy taste at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, which, incidentally, I still think is over-priced, over-hyped and over-rated.). At the Fat Duck, the vinegar taste in the Pommery Grain Mustard Ice-Cream with Red Cabbage Gazpacho
was just too overpowering, leaving a slightly unpleasant taste in the mouth afterwards. And the Salmon Poached With Liquorice has lost its magic touch - the salmon was not evenly-cooked, and in general was verging on the "overcooked" side, which I think was due to the higher temperature the salmon was poached in rather than the time the salmon was cooked.

The new drink at the end, Hot And Cold Tea, was an interesting concept - this dish has only been featured on the menu for about 3-4 months apparently. For every sip of the tea, you get both the hot and cold sensation, which is quite unusual (I tried to see if I could just get the hot tea or the cold tea, and I couldn't - it was very much a mixture of the two in every sip). However, the sweetness of the tea caused a bit of problem - it left the same horrible aftertaste as the lipton ice-tea, and the tongue felt rough afterwards too (or maybe that was the purpose of this Hot And Cold Tea?)

Having said that, some dishes have been improved and the Fat Duck should be congratulated on that. The Oyster and Passion Fruit Jelly with Horseradish Cream and Lavender, and the Jelly of Quail with Langoustine Cream and Parfait of Foie Gras, have both gone from a "slightly bland" taste to a more fuller and intense taste without going overboard. The meat in the Poached Breast of Anjou Pigeon Pancetta with Pastilla of its leg was tender and juicy - more so than any other times I've had this wonderful dish. Even the dessert that I didn't like much before, the Mango and Douglas Fir Puree, has got better to the point that I actually now like this dessert - the shaving of lime zest (well, I didn't ask what it was, but I guessed it was lime zest) on top was a perfect addition to the dish, and really helped to bring out the flavour of the dish.

The service at the Fat Duck was always a bit less formal than other Michelin 3-star restaurants, but I usually don't have a problem with that. However, the staff seemed to be a bit less certain of what's happening and what they were doing last night. One of the wonderful experiences at the Fat Duck was the presentation of the dishes - No matter how careful the chefs put the dishes together, if the waiters and waitresses didn't take enough care on bringing the dishes out, the presentation would be ruined by their rush job, and that's what happened on at least 2 occasions last night.

For the after-dinner coffee and tea, I chose to have tea and was offered a whole choice, including a "white" tea. My first guess when I heard "white" tea was something along the line of "Shou Mei" or "Silver Needle" in the Chinese tea - the sort of tea my cousin would class as "Old People's tea", which I take to mean not a lot of flavour. So when the waitress said that the white tea was like jasmine tea, I thought it's worth a try to see what it's like. Alas, when the tea came, it was weak and not a lot of flavour, just like the kind of white tea I'd expect in the first place (not a lot of taste or fragrance really) rather than the kind of white tea the waitress described. Anyway, the staff obviously noticed my slight discontent and came to ask if there was anything wrong with the tea. In the end, one of the more "knowledgeable" waiters came to explain that it's Silver Needle, and so I just told him that in future, if it's Silver Needle, just say it rather than try to disguise it as something that it's not meant to be, like jasmine.

Would I go back to the Fat Duck again? Yes, of course. The food is still nice, and you will be impressed by the wonderful and creative tastes if you've never been to the place. Is it still the best restaurant in the world? In my opinion, that's more debatable..... It might have just lost that slight edge to Gordon Ramsay's based on my latest experience, and I'm looking forward to trying out Thomas Keller's Per Se in New York City soon - I am placing great hope on this place and so watch this space for a review some time in May or June.

Re-discovering old school friends

2006-03-28T23:22:00.000+01:00

Do you still keep in touch with many of your old mates from school? For me, I certainly haven't been doing that - it would have been nice with some people but then it's not easy when everyone in the world becomes so mobile these days. Trying to think backwards and see who I still keep in touch with....

From university days - well, my friend Steve D has just emigrated to New Zealand with his wife and daughter (see what I mean about people being mobile?!). Alice L is still around in the UK and I get to see her and her family once in a blue moon (she lives on the other side of London).

From school in the UK, I am afraid I've lost touch with everyone by now - gradually lost touch with the handful of people because of all the moves we've all been doing over the years.

From the school in Hong Kong, well, I still exchange e-mail with my good mate Ron K in San Diego.... and then the only other person I keep in touch with is Jeremy K (I knew him since kindergarten) - who got married last week and I got to be the best man (see picture). And er, that's about it.

Having said that, this year has been pretty interesting for me in rediscovering what some of my old friends are doing. At Jeremy's wedding, I met up with Ronald M whom I haven't seen for over 20 years! We only managed a brief chat (I was too busy running around like a headless chicken at the wedding) but it's interesting that we found something in common to talk about (OK, it's work-related but still.....)

And thanks to the internet. I stumbled across the names of two good friends from my primary school years by pure accident (lost touch with them since I left Hong Kong, a shame really) - Chris Ko who seems to be working for a Chinese radio station in Canada, and Agnes Man who is a part-time singer/songwriter for Christian contemporary music. Always knew that Agnes was a musical talent even at school, and it's really nice to see that she's already released two albums. OK, I may not be a Christian and so you would probably think that I have a biased view if I say something good about her albums. But from what I've heard from her website so far, the songs she has composed are way better than some of the so-called chart music, and this lady has such an angelic voice that she puts some of the singers to shame.

Now I wonder who I'll rediscover next?

Shaking hand with four-time Oscar winner

2006-03-17T00:41:00.000Z

The weather in London yesterday was bitter cold and wet, and yet I braved the weather to go into London to meet two of my heroes - Nick Park and Steve Box, the directors for Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of the Were-Rabbits.

It was an event organised by the Animation Art Gallery in London, and there were security guys at the door checking the names of the people on the guestlist. Fortunately I was on the list (well, buying some stuff there helps!). This was the second time I met Nick Park (the last one was back in 2000 I think, when I met him, Peter Sallis, Dave Sproxton and Peter Lord), and as usual he came across as a shy, quiet and modest man, but in my eyes he's pure genius. First time I met Steve Box and he appeared slightly less shy, but just as modest and equally friendly as Nick Park. There was a good turnout of people at the event, and everyone was obviously excited to see them. Even BBC London sent some crews to interview them.

I waited for well over an hour before I got a chance to say a quick hello and congratulate both heroes on their success of their latest masterpiece. Got my pictures signed, and I also got the DVD and my book from the 10th anniversary W&G exhibition in Japan signed too - so I was just totally over the moon. Felt a bit guilty asking Nick to sign these extra things though. I was in a bit of a trance at the time I think - not often I'd get to meet and shake hands with an Oscar winner, let alone a four-time Oscar Winner!!!!! And just think that I've shaken the hand of the creator of Wallace and Gromit, and godfather of stop-frame animation!

My only regret was that I didn't really say anything more to Nick or Steve really - I suppose I was just lost for words when I was standing in front of them. Still, I knew there was still a long queue of people behind me, and it wouldn't be fair to hold up and delay these two great guys leaving the gallery and going home.....

I wonder how long I'll have to wait before the next Wallace and Gromit film comes out, but I am already looking forward to it!

Another chance to bash the Pharma industry

2006-03-15T23:03:00.000Z

The pharmaceutical industry hasn't had much luck in recent years really. The latest incident of six young healthy volunteers ended up in intensive care unit at Northwick Park Hospital in London (which, incidentally, is my local hospital) after being injected with a single dose of a new experimental drug, just gave some sectors of the public more ammunications against the industry. I've been following the stories and various comments on the net in the last 24 hours, and it's quite interesting to read how some people mix in the argument against animal testing into this unfortunate incident - basically their argument is that there is no relationship between animal studies and human studies, because the species are different. But so far I have not seen any alternative solutions put forward by these people. Do they really think that drug companies enjoy spending money on animal studies if they are unnecessary? Also without animal studies, and the drugs go straight from the lab to human studies, there would be a lot more such incidents.

One of the books that I am reading at the moment is called Big Pharma by Jackie Law. This book is a collection of revelations of how pharmaceutical industry operates. Quite an interesting read and includes in-depth analyses on some of the recent problems the industry has faced such as the Vioxx case and the SSRI anti-depressants. Certainly got me thinking a bit..... In a way, have people in the western world become too reliant on medicines for any of their health issues, without looking into possible lifestyle changes. eg why do some people want a slimming pill to lose some weight when they can't even cut down or change their diets?

I've learnt that recently there's a film called Side Effects released in the States. It's a story about a sales rep working in the pharma industry. I haven't seen the film yet but would love to see it - just to see how much of it is true, and whether I'll cringe (just like how people cringe when they watch The Office - that's what made that comedy so successful).

Finally, just hope that the six men in the intensive care unit in Northwick Park Hospital will pull through and make a full recovery. Miracles do happen sometimes and I certainly hope that they will happen this time.

Wallace and Gromit snubbed by the Brits

2006-03-10T23:13:00.000Z

Now it's a bit of a shock that Wallace & Gromit didn't win the British Animation Award - how could it have lost to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride?!?! Still, at least Wallace & Gromit got the Oscar again which I think it truly deserves. Well done to Nick Park and Aardman. Personally I can't wait to meet Nick Park and Steve Box next week.

Bought my W&G DVD the other week and have watched it a couple of times already. Absolutely well worth buying it, especially when it's packed with all the goodies on top of the film.

Still think the Dogfight scene really funny - I laugh so much that I end up in tears whenever I watch that part of the film.

MUSIC REVIEW: My Love - Janice Vidal

2006-02-02T01:10:00.000Z

This album came out in Hong Kong at the end of 2005, but I didn't really have much opportunity to listen to it properly until 2006.

This is Janice's second album - her first album was exclusively cover versions of Leon Lai's songs (though the lyrics were re-written in English in some songs). I found her first album uninspiring, and the breathing was just a tad too heavy. This second offering, however, was a major improvement - her singing has dramatically improved and sounds a lot more natural. There's a half-cover version of a Leon Lai's song, "You Won't Come Here Tonight" (Track 3) - I still didn't like the idea of covering Leon's classics. However, the album is packed with a whole load of good songs - "Big Brother" (Track 8), which was featured in the 2nd edition of the first album, and the opening track of this album "Ten Of Him Is Not As Good As One of You" (Track 1) were both hits in their own rights. "Confused and Disturbed" (Track 6) reached the top spot in Hong Kong charts in January 2006. But the most impressive track by far is "My Love My Fate" (Track 7) - the emotions she has put into this song just came across in a very powerful way. Even the more upbeat songs such as "I Want To Fall In Love" (Track 9) were more than satisfactory.

Overall, Janice has come a long way since her first album. If she makes another big improvement in her next album, her third album could well become a real classic.

Personal Review of 2005 - July to December

2006-01-22T17:56:00.000Z

July was a bit of a bizarre month in London really.... First the Live 8 Concert which I didn't go, but watched more or less the whole thing on telly in Winchester - poor Ingrid, invited me and a few others down to her place for a day out, instead we were just glued to the telly most of the afternoon and evening. Then 6th July came the good news about London winning the Olympics 2012 - really didn't expect London to get it, but at least now there's no excuse for halting any of the improvement projects of transports and regeneration of East London. And within 24 hours, London went from the happiest city on earth to the saddest one, with the tube bombings. I remember I was just sitting at home, trying to work and then starting to watch the whole thing unfold. I really have no idea what the terrorists were trying to achieve - fear? nope, not working.... sympathy? definitely not..... hatred? nope.

Anyway, went to New York City in mid-July for work.... In 2004 Ingrid, Ellen, Jyotin and I agreed to meet up in 2005 either in London or New York, for a 1-year anniversary celebration of closing out and analysing a very large clinical study - it wasn't the hardest trial I've ever done in terms of analysis, but the logistics and the management posed a lot of challenges and required rather innovative ideas. Still, we managed to do it, and so Ellen managed to book a table at Jean-Georges. It also coincided with Ingrid's 20th wedding anniversary and it was so funny to see the surprise on her husband's face when I turned up at the hotel lobby, as he didn't know about the trip until the day they flew out, let alone seeing me as their New York tour guide! I also took the opportunity of the trip to meet up with my uncle's family, some of my lovely ex-colleagues at Novartis (Vladimir, Linda and Val), as well as a few friends.

In August I went to spend the first weekend down in Brighton at Dorian's, and we went to the Brighton Pride which was a good laugh. And stupid me, brought all the digital camera stuff down hoping to take some good photos, only realising when I was there that I actually forgotten all my memory cards! Must be the sun and the heat, causing my brain to melt!

My sister Elaine came over to London with her hubby and kids in the second half of August, and while the kiddies were at summer camp, we took the opportunity to visit the top restaurants in and around London.... How about 3 visits to 3-star restaurants within a span of one week? Managed to go to Gordon Ramsay on a Monday, then Fat Duck on a Wednesday and finally Waterside Inn on a Friday. The first two never fails to disappoint, but must say that the food at Waterside Inn fails to inspire our taste buds.

I took the whole of September off work - went to Shanghai with Russell for a few days. I went to Shanghai back in 2000 and did a lot of the touristy things already, so this time there was no real rush for acting like tourists. The weather was not brilliant but it didn't dampen our enjoyment, esp on the gourmet front. Who else would be mad enough to go to Nanxiang for their dumplings for breakfast for 2 mornings out of 4? After Shanghai we headed to Hong Kong, as I needed to get my new identity card. And then Russell returned to London while Graeme arrived in Hong Kong to meet up with me for our trip to Nepal and Tibet. I'll write up about the trip separately when I get round to it, but Potala Palace in Lhasa was a slight disappointment, while the bronze buddha at Tashilungpo Monastery at Shigatse, and Mount Everest (or Mount Qomolangma as it is officially known) have truly impressed me. In the whole of September I took about 3300 photos, of which a selection can be seen in the photos section of my website.

Got back to London on the 30th September and so spent a fair bit of time in October catching up with work, as well as sorting through my 3000+ photos! So that month is a bit of a blur for me now really - all I remember is looking at the computer all the time.

Went to the DIA conference in Prague in November, as I was one of the speakers, talking about data warehousing and how the technique was applied to an academic collaboration. It was a bit unfortunate that my talk was the last of the day, and I was told to cut down from 25 minutes to 15. Still, I got some good feedback afterwards which was most important. Also managed to get to see Prague a little bit - wow, what a beautiful city.

As soon as I got back to London, I met up with Ken (a very good friend from Hong Kong who used to be in the same hall of residence as me back in the uni days) and his friend Joyce. Normally I don't get to see Ken very often but this was the 3rd time I saw him in 2005 (as I was in Hong Kong twice already, I managed to see him and his wife Carol both times). And somehow I managed to persuade Ken to bring Carol over for a holiday in December.... Yippee!

Also in November, I acted as the "official" wedding photographer for Jane and Gordon (thank you for asking....) - what an honour! I was a bit clueless of what I did though, as I never knew how to ask people to pose for cameras etc. Still, it was a good learning exercise, and they seemed to be happy with the results.

December.... hmmm, the party where everyone had to bring a dish. This has become a bit of an annual event really, when everyone who comes to the party has to bring some food they cook. It saves me from having to think of dishes to make, and slaving in the kitchen all the time. After the food mountain in 2004, this year we did a much better estimate, and yet the food that got brought along were just as exciting - tartiflette from Christine, moussaka from Jane, chocolate terrine from Maria, Hungarian goulash from Rob, Coronation chicken from Dorian, Mushroom tartelettes from Paul and Fin, goat curry from Genevieve and Delroy, stir-fry noodles from Shona and Keith, fish curry from Mark, bread and butter pudding from Dave and Roy (which I didn't get to try unfortunately), vegetarian chilli from Ginny and Ron, and the gigantic pile of crepes from Anne-Cecile and Tibault, and Jeremy and Linda cheated by buying a delicious cake from Patisserie Valerie. I had the easy job and made a Luang Prabang salad (which no one seemed to have touched - don't blame them.... it was the "healthy" option), fruit curry and some sushi. What a lot of fun.... there was some leftover food, but not much.

Personal Review of 2005 - January to June

2006-01-03T17:19:00.000Z

After a rather hectic and overworked 2004, I decided that in 2005 I would try to rectify the work-life imbalance.

In January Russell and I went on a 4-week trip round South-East Asia - visiting Thailand briefly before touring round Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Apart from learning to appreciate the importance of the Mekong River to these countries, I also fulfilled a dream of mine - to visit Angkor Wat. It was more spectacular than I could ever have imagined. My Canon EOS camera got well-used on this trip, and a selection of photos can be seen in the photos section of my website.

As soon as we got back from Asia at the beginning of February, we jetted off to Basel with Christine, Ged and baby Alex for Elisabetta's 40th birthday. She certainly didn't expect me nor Russell to be there - Well done to Neil and Christine for confusing her and leading her to think that we were still in Asia. As usual the party was good and well-organised. No sooner I got back from Basle I jetted off to Newcastle for work, and so by mid-February I had clocked up nearly 15 flights already!

Anthea and Peter came to London to visit in March as it was their 10th wedding anniversary celebration. We went to a few exclusive restaurants - including the very awful "Fifteen" opened by Jamie Oliver! The meal was expensive and even I could cook better than the staff there. I have no problem with cookery training schools and using trainees (in fact I am all for it) - but don't charge £60 and serve dishes that are not worth that price. Then we went to the Fat Duck in Bray for dinner - now that was only slightly more expensive but definitely a lot better. Me being so critical about the food, when the manager Didier asked me what I thought of the tarte tatin, I said "it's OK" and he thought I was not happy with the food, so he whisked that away and offered me a chocolate delice instead (little did he know that I was just full rather than not happy with the food - in fact the chocolate delice was a worse choice for me, as the gooey chocolate really hurt my nose - an undesirable side-effect from my tonsillectomy / uvula-palatoplasty operation in 2004). We could have gone to River Cafe for another dinner but Anthea got ill (after we did a day-trip to Paris).... so missed that one.

In April Darcy and Bob came over for a visit - although Darcy came over for Christmas 2004, I managed to persuade her to come over again.... Using the Kylie Minogue's Showgirl Tour concert as the bait certainly did the trick. We really enjoyed the concert at Earl's Court. It was a complete shock to hear that after the UK leg of the tour, Kylie had to postpone all the Australian tour dates due to her breast cancer.

During Darcy's visit we also managed to squeeze in another nice restaurant visit - this time to Gordon Ramsay's. After this visit I changed my opinion of Mr Ramsay - on telly he came across as all arrogant and foul-mouthed, and so I was a bit skeptical about his restaurant, esp after the Jamie Oliver experience in March. But to my surprise, the food was excellent and the service was immaculate, and the price was not dissimilar to Fifteen.

It was the end of May when the air-con in my Renault Megane failed and I had to take it to the Renault garage in West London to get it fixed. Well, you would have thought this was a simple fix, but it took them 4 times to fix this. I was about to explode by the 3rd time and refused to cough up £750 - after a lot of negotiations I ended up paying £150 (on top of the £70 and the £110 I had to pay in the first 2 times).... it's only fair. Luckily Renault did not demand any payment when I took it in for the 4th time and they fixed it free of charge - otherwise I would have exploded!

In June, it's another visit to the Fat Duck - this time to celebrate Chris' 30th birthday. As usual the food was good.

MUSIC REVIEW: S/L - Sandy Lam

2005-12-15T00:53:00.000Z

Billed as the Cantonese "comeback" album from Sandy Lam, after her absence from the Hong Kong music scene in the last couple of years, this album bears all the hallmarks of the typical style of Sandy Lam, but with an updated sound to bring her well into the 21st century cantopop world.

The first track "Incomplete" was a dedication to Richard Lam, who wrote the lyrics of many of Sandy's hits in the past and unfortunately died of cancer a few years ago. The simplicity of this song without the lyrics actually is a perfect opening track for this album. The melodies of the next few tracks remind me of some of the previous big hits from Sandy - is she just trying to avoid being too innovative and experimental in order not to alienate her existing fans, or maybe there's no point in changing too much anyway if the formula worked well in the past?! In any case, her singing is as good as before, if not better and with a more mature sound.

"Why Would He Leave You" (Track 5) has been a major hit and it's not difficult to see why - a very catchy tune and there's no one in Hong Kong who can perform the track better than Sandy. "Original Colour" (Track 6) was the first hit pulled from this album, though why it is located in the middle of the album remains a bit of a mystery - it seems to have broken up the flow of the rest of the album really. "Wouldn't Dare To Change You" (Track 7) is surprisingly the most catchy song in the whole album - very crisp clean keyboard arrangement, though the ending was a bit too abrupt and kind of leave an imperfection to this otherwise brilliant song - again this song is right up the street for Sandy.

While this album may not be the best one in Sandy Lam's career, it's a strong solid album that will place Sandy back as one of the main players in the Hong Kong music scene.

MUSIC REVIEW: I Love My Name - Ivana Wong

2005-12-15T00:10:00.000Z

The follow-up to her brilliant debut album has not disappointed - Ivana Wong is probably one of the most talented singer-songwriter to emerge in the Hong Kong pop music scene in the last 20 years. I certainly can't think of another such talent since Anthony Lun started his music career in Hong Kong back in the mid-1980s.

So what's on offer on this album, titled "I Love My Name"? Her debut album's hidden track (Track 8) has already provided a preview on one of the best tracks - "Thunder & Lightning" (Track 3). The airy voice of Ivana coupled with the few surprises in the musical arrangement has made this a rather refreshing listening compared to the usual canto-pop. The other huge hit from this album is "Safeguarding Hands" and this comes in two version - a solo version (Track 1) and a duet with Hins Cheung (Track 11)... I can't quite decide which is a better version really - they both have their merits and shortcomings. Another potential hit coming from this album would be "Treat With Care - Fragile" (Track 2) and we'll have to see how this one fares in the various charts - will it follow the same success as the other 2 tracks?

In addition to 8 Cantonese tracks, this album also consists of 2 Mandarin songs as well as 1 English song "Love Has It All". Ivana wrote all the music and the lyrics (except the English Track) and they were all high-quality stuff.

Just like her debut album, it takes a few listening rounds to discover the gems inside this album; but once you've found them, you will keep loving them. Ivana's style is unique in Hong Kong, and her talent will prove to be a major asset to her success in the music scene.

Cantopop on a high in November

2005-11-22T23:47:00.000Z

What's happening to the music scene in Hong Kong? Two excellent albums released within a span of one week in November. First we have the first Cantonese album of Sandy Lam in the past 9 years (unless you count "Encore" in 2002 as a proper album), and then there's Ivana Wong with her follow-up album, titled "I Love My Name", to her brilliant debut earlier in the year.

I'll write up a proper review in the next few days but both albums do not disappoint. So they are constantly on my CD player at the moment.

On the other hand, CDs released in the UK seem to have been a bit of a disappointment. The new Robbie Williams album "Intensive Care" sounds tired and boring - the first single "Tripping" off the album just didn't have the spark at all and sounded as if he was struggling with the singing. The Madonna album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" has been hailed as one of her best albums in recent years - I need to listen to this a few more times before making my judgement on this, but after the first pass it didn't seem to contain that magic that I was looking for. We'll see....

The Curse of Wallace & Gromit

2005-11-17T17:44:00.000Z

Just learnt that the DVD for "Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbits" is due to be released in February 2006! Can't wait. I've already seen the film twice (OK, I am a huge W&G fan) and I thought it's easiest the best film I've seen in this millenium - it was so funny that I ended up in tears at one point (remember the dogfight scene, with Philip taking out the purse trying to find the loose change for Gromit?).

And what happened in America with the film? Despite topping the box office in its first week of release, the film hasn't done as well as Dreamworks has hoped. And I thought Americans love all things British.... maybe it's the accent and the quirkiness that they don't get.

Back in Britain, it seems that the madness of hunting for those elusive PG Tips Gromit-shaped mugs has died down a bit, but on eBay they are everywhere! I have bought a few from Tesco myself (and a few as gifts for friends), but to be honest, from a practical point of view it's not very good - it's designed for right-handed people (not that I am left-handed, but I do sometimes use my left hand to hold a mug). Otherwise there are other W&G collectables flooding the market at the moment - mind you, most of the stuff you see on the high street don't seem to be that nice. Certainly some manufacturers seem to have made Gromit look extremely ugly.... So I've been buying a few Philip collectables instead.

My First Post

2005-11-02T21:32:00.000Z

Right, after umming and arrgghhing for nearly a year, finally I have decided that it's time to just take the plunge and start writing my own blog, without caring too much about getting my website up and running again.

First of all, welcome to my personal blog. Whenever I get the chance, I'll post something on here. Don't count on a daily update. When I was young I had a go at writing diary, and the longest I ever did was just under 3 months. These days I tend to keep a diary when I go on long holidays but even that has become too much of a burden.

Still, there have been things in the past year that have touched me, and sometimes I wished I had already got a well-established blog and shared my thoughts and feelings with this world. I guess it has to start somewhere and so today is probably just as good as any other time.