Shirley in Concert

Just back from the Shirley Kwan concert ... this may not be the most entertaining concert (I would vote for the 25th Anniversary Sally Yeh one), but definitely the most "touching" one I've seen so far.

I started off with little expectation ... after all, she hasn't really sang much in the past 10 years, and the few times she was on TVB's shows or charity events, she acted quite nervous most of the time. However, I really liked her show in 1995, and so, I wanted to see her concert again. Needless to say, I'm most happy to see her back to her old self again ... and not just that, she sang with her heart and the audience felt that. The crowd was really cheering for her and showed their support and appreciation throughout.

I do have one complaint though ... it's that after the first encore, I left the show (it was close to midnight already). But later I found out that she came back out and did a second encore ... would have loved to see that too.

I can say we were all deeply touched by her tonight ... and I would safely say that she was deeply touched by us too. As an artist, I think that's the greatest gift of all.

HK Economy is Good

This has become an annual event ... Aigle Private Sale ...

I can vividly remember last year ... when I was a much happier employee ... I "snaked king" to the Aigle sale with a friend. It was quite shocking indeed ... we were standing at the back staircase at Times Square ... lining up for about an hour to get to the venue. When we were there, people (mostly Mrs) were grabbing almost everything they see (especially for fleece jackets) off the rack. Later, it was even more shocking ... people were standing outside of the stockroom, and staff were throwing out fleece jackets (still in plastic wraps) while calling our their sizes. Hands were everywhere, grabbing them ... I remembered I was standing at the front row and still not able to get any because there were magical hands suddenly appearing in front of me everytime.

About a year later today ... I took the day off ... and went alone to stand in line. At least this time, the line was in the open area, so could breathe better. Again ... waited with mostly Mrs., again for about an hour. There were these 4 Mrs. behind me ... who were "pushing" me a bit already from the moment they arrived. I just didn't quite understand ... did they think they would get up there faster by keeping a distance of 1 inch behind me vs. 12 inches? I ended up turning around, saying "Do you really have to stand this close?" Then, when the guards said "go" ... we were "running" towards the elevators to go up to 13/F Food Forum. It was really kind of funny. I was not in such hurry to get up there ... but then again, I didn't want to let the 4 Mrs get in front of me ... hehe. And then sure enough, people were grabbing things off the rack like crazy ... and within 30 minutes, I saw little mountains of clothes (mostly fleece jackets again) on the floor or in those big shopping bags, courtesy by the company. Fortunately, it's not as crazy as last year. I didn't really have any "mission" this time, just to look for a fleece for b and maybe a fleece cap for myself. Others were "come what may". Needless to say, I overachieved. Good thing I had time restrictions (had to meet my aunt and family for lunch) ... otherwise damage could have been greater, I'm sure.

I later met with B.C. and gave her an entrance ticket ... and later she called, saying it's quite an experience for her too (although I'm sure not quite as exciting as mine).

Thinking about this, I always wonder what they did to make people go so crazy to buy their merchandise. You see that place, and you think things are "free"!! If my company can induce a fraction of the same kind of customer loyalty, then I'm sure there will be a lot more happier employees. What can I say ... Hong Kong economy must be good after all.

First Day

Today was first day at -7/F ... quite a different environment. Not that I should complain ... as I always say ... this is still much better than moving to the other building ...

Given that I had 3.5 boxes, I would say my packing and unpacking went very quickly. In less than an hour, I unpacked 2.5 boxes ... just in time for my conference call. Guess this is the advantage of putting most stuff in either hanging folders, binders, or big shopping bags ... so just grab and go. During the call though ... I started wondering if I need to stay home for these calls from now on. It was getting a bit noisy ... and I cannot mute since I'm the facilitator.

By afternoon, it got worse ... and mobile phones were ringing here and there and everywhere (ok, maybe a bit exaggerated) ... so got a bit distracted and ended up looking for C & D ...

Result? Yup ... I found them ... plus a friend ...



Question: So which one is Chip and which one is Dale????

Life has a lot of funny twists and turns ... when you are young, you want to grow up since you think you can have better "control" of your life ... however, I can tell by experience that when you are older, you are less in control of your life because of so many other variables ... maybe that's why people say ... Grow Up!!

Hmm ... maybe someday ... there'll be a movie called ... "Small"