Friday, January 20, 2006

Who says shopping is not a sport!

I officially declare that shopping is a sport. Why? I got tennis elbow from shopping, and if tennis elbow is generally a sports related injury, then by definition, shopping is a sport... correct?

I've had this pain in my right arm since Christmas and I've been puzzled as to what cause it. Yesterday, I finally went for my health check (as required under my contract) and I consulted with the lady who was examining me. I described my symptoms, and she told me that I had tennis elbow. And the cure..... rest the arm. Well, how am I supposed to do that when I am right handed?

She advised me to get some anti-inflammatory gel and apply it twice a day. Apparently, it might take up to 6 - 9 months for my arm to be back to normal. So in the meantime, no heavy lifting with the right arm. I've even had problems opening a jar the other day.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Food glorious food......


I'm so happy that I got to visit with my parents in Hong Kong last week. They flew up from KL to join me for the week end before I had my meeting. They were exactly the same... (still picking at each other despite the fact that they haven't seen me in more than 4 months. Glad to know some things don't change).

I've also eaten my fill of Chinese food in Hong Kong. For the first time, I was completely organised and I knew exactly what I wanted to eat and where I would go.. of course, everything else was secondary. And the best thing... I even lost weight during that trip. I think it must be all the walking I had to do. It was seafood, dim sum, char siew and more seafood and dim sum all the way.. yum!!!!! Fantastic!

I had such plans to take my parents sight seeing in HK, but in the end, we did not manage to do that. Good thing they got a half day city tour as part of their Cathay Pacific Super City package. In fact, they probably saw more of HK that I did, in all my 3 trips combined. I did take them to the flower market cause Mom is absolutely crazy about flowers, and I had to stop her from buying anything. I kept telling her that it would not survive in the KL heat.

The shopping was not too great. Everything is so expensive in Hong Kong. Even the public transport is not cheap. I must have paid at least £15 every day just for the MTR alone (this includes fare for my parents). I must find a cheaper alternative the next time I go.

In the end, I bunked in with my parents for the 2 nights before my meeting. I could not get a room in any of the hotels near where my parents were staying (apparently there was a toy convention happening at the same time), and it didn't make sense to stay far away from them. It was a pretty tight squeeze, but hey, now that I've lost weight, I don't take up much space (hahahhaah).

I had terrible jet lag when I arrived on Friday. I could not sleep and I ended up sitting in the toilet reading my work stuff at 3 am because I didn't want to disturb my parents. It was so much nicer when I moved to the hotel where the meeting was held. It sure makes a difference when one room is USD100 per night vs USD230 per night.

Horrors of horrors..... I found a fly (one of those that hang around fruits) in my porridge at breakfast one morning. I fished it out and showed it to hotel person, and I made sure I wrote it down in my comment letter - and I got free breakfast the next morning. I'm just glad I didn't get sick.

I flew out on Tuesday night and arrived back in London on Wednesday morning (5am!) and went straight to a meeting. It was a wonder my brain was working at all. Needless to say, I went home and was in bed by 8 pm on Wednesday, and slept straight through to 6am the next morning.

It is now back to work and it promises to be busy busy busy for the next few months.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Hong Kong and eating.... here I come


I'm writing this from the British Airways Lounge in Heathrow. I'm about to get on my flight to Hong Kong..... I'm so excited cause I will be seeing my parents in Hong Kong. I will be spending Friday evening and the week-end with them, after which I have to do some work.

I have made all the plans for the time with my parents... eating plans that is. I have searched the web and marked down all the restaurants I want to go to. I figure I need to take in at least 4 meals everyday to complete my "eating" list. Good thing I did not binge during Christmas :-)