Going Places X Meeting Aces: Summer Graces

27 March

exactly one month

from the summer of 2012

 

yeah.. so?

I set my own date for summer

 

finally today

officially signed up for the “summer plan”

 

I just can’t wait

and setting aside the whole bigger plan

I actually planned to “disobey” the schedule

during 27th~29th April

for a secret undercover mission

 

the most exciting look-forward-to event

of the month/season/year:

we call it “MCR2”

manager-client-reunion(MCR) @ Manchester(MCR)

 

aha… can’t you see that

everything coincides so well

even the name

 

here’s some snippets

to the bigger plan looks like

copyright of my school,

I don’t wanna get sued  or something

 

18th April

• Research tour to Buckingham Palace
• Canary Wharf
• Museum of London Docklands

20th April

• Research tour to the Olympic & Paralympics Venue

21st April

• Industry Visit to adidas Headquarters at Stockport

22nd April

• Industry Visit to HSBC Bank Plc at Mayfair
• Google, UK at Victoria

23rd April

• London Stock Exchange at Liverpool Street
• Museum of London
• St. Paul Cathedral

24th April

• Design Museum of London
• Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising at Notting Hill Gate
• MTV, UK at Camden Town

25th April

• London Transport Museum

26th April

• Greenwich Town

27th April

• Coca-cola Headquarter at Uxbridge

28th April

• BBC TV Studio at Whitechapel

29th April

• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) at Portland Place
• Mayfair Hotel at Stratton Street, Mayfair

30th April

• Royal Albert Hall

1st May

• Natural History Museum
• Victoria & Albert Museum

2nd May

• Windsor Castle

 

in a nutshell, there are

• research tours and industry visits
• talks given by people in the industries
• an integrated research project

 

well I can tell you

the 3 weeks is really hell-packed

9-5 kind of thing, Mon-Sun

 

but I really hope

I can make full use of the trip

I know right, sounds so fake

 

more important is to have fun

and a little shopping, maybe maybe

and the MCR2 which is going to take place

outside the schedule better comes true

 

last but not least

before everything can happen

I have to swim through 3 more weeks of

assignments, lectures, etc

 

in fact, on the week I am flying

I have 3 mid-term assessments,

and 2 presentations

 

the thing now is

not to get too excited

but start utilizing the summer plan as a motivation

in order to successfully climb through

the hurdle right in front

 

till I can officially shout

“LONDON, here I come!!!!”

Stephelle’s Kitchen: Handling Instant Noodle

when you’re away from home

all alone and miss home cooked food

eating instant noodle

is such a miserable way to cure starvation

 

when you’re at home

enjoying the gorgeous home cooked food everyday

eating instant noodle

is like such a “thorn among the roses”

weee… finally can escape from rice

 

no matter which category

you currently belong to

here are some tips on cooking instant noodle

more healthily

 

not that instant noodle is healthy

at least this is the less harmful version

I Pre Boil the Noodle

when you throw the noodle into boiling water

do not add in the flavourings immediately

get rid of the water, which should look quite “chemical”

expose the noodle under running water

before cooking again it for real

 

II Reduce the Flavourings

don’t throw in the whole pack of flavourings

or whatever they are giving you

reduce them into half

and for oil pack,

if possible,  just leave it alone

or you may just add in another slice of

plain noodle cake, vermicelli, etc

to dilute the flavours

III Add In As Much Vegetables As You Can

to balance up the meal

any vegetables will do

I love loads of half cooked bean sprouts,

crunchy, juicy

IV Leave the Soup Alone

it was on instant noodle TVC

sipping your soup till the bowl is clear

this is quite a bad influence

what else but MSG is swimming in the soup

V Choose Unfried Noodles

fried noodles tastes especially good

you even feel like munching it while cooking 

but you know what’s best for you

VI Do Not Store Too Much Instant Noodles

some people are in habit of storing instant noodles

for mid-night call, and other emergencies

but just like snacks,

the more you buy

the more you tend to eat

may try storing other healthier substitute

like instant oat, cereal bar

 

dad’s luxurious version

this tastes really sea-food

 

Mom’s home-warmth version

home-made stuffed fishballs

 

Steph’s green version

seriously.. how many years of hostel life

first ever pack of instant noodles bought

and probably the last

initial intention was to give it to my friend who

happened to mention that she loves this

then she rejected,

because this particular brand actually gives her headache

bless her,

she has been eating instant noodle

all-the-time at the good-for-nothing expensive

on-campus hostel

一念之間 X 幻變無限：弱水三千

“崑崙之北有水，其力不能勝芥，故名弱水。”

《山海經》載

 

古時許多淺而湍急的河流不能用舟船而只能用皮筏過渡，

古人認為是由於水羸弱而不能載舟，

因此把這樣的河流稱之為弱水。

 

因此在古書如《山海經》《十洲記》等中記載了

許多並非同一河流而相同名稱的弱水。

 

有些稱謂流傳到現在還在用，

比如甘肅省現在的地圖上還有一條弱水河。

“弱水”也用來特指位於西北的婆夷河或黑水河，

當然也只限於特定的地理學著作。

“蓬萊不可到，弱水三萬里。”

蘇軾的《金山妙高台》

這是弱水第一次與具體的數字連用。

古文學中逐漸用弱水來泛指險而遙遠的河流。

 

“縹緲珠幢愚衛，望蓬萊、初無弱水”。

張孝祥的《水龍吟·望九華山》中也有一句

其他的詩詞中就很少見弱水的句子了，

反到是後來的小說中用的比較常見些。

“三千”

蓋出於佛教三千大千世界，天台宗善言一念三千。

“導弱水至於合黎。”

出處:《尚書·禹貢》

孫星衍《尚書今古文註疏》：“鄭康成曰：‘弱水出張掖。’”

按：在古籍中，“弱水”一詞亦見於《史記·大宛傳》、

《漢書·地理志》、《後漢書·東夷傳》與畢沅注《山海經》等書中。

 

“一瓢飲”

出處:《論語·雍也篇》：

“子曰：賢哉！回也。一簞食，一瓢飲，居陋巷……”

 

“八百流沙界，三千弱水深，鵝毛飄不起，蘆花定底沉。”

《西遊記》第二十二回“三藏不忘本 四聖試禪心”

中有詩描述流沙河的險要：

這是第一次正式的“弱水三千”的說法。

“任憑弱水三千，我只取一瓢飲”

出處:《紅樓夢》第九十一回

“縱淫心寶蟾工設計 佈疑陣寶玉妄談禪”

 

黛玉道：“寶姐姐和你好你怎麼樣？寶姐姐不和你好你怎麼樣？

寶姐姐前兒和你好，如今不和你好你怎麼樣？

今兒和你好，後來不和你好你怎麼樣？

你和他好他偏不和你好你怎麼樣？

你不和他好他偏要和你好你怎麼樣？”

 

寶玉呆了半晌，忽然大笑道：“任憑弱水三千，我只取一瓢飲。”

黛玉道：“瓢之漂水奈何？”

寶玉道：“非瓢漂水，水自流，瓢自漂耳！”

 

自《紅樓夢》初有影響之後，

男女之間信誓旦旦就開始用“弱水三千，只取一瓢”的套話了。

比較易懂的意思是，很多的水，只要其中的一小部分。

引申為，對於愛情，很多的女子當中只為1個女子。

整句話就是說，

要對愛情專一。

 

“雖弱水四繞，孤立獨成，猶將如何如何……”

魯迅先生在他的《集外集拾遺補編·中國地質略論》說道

 

三千春江水 暫住寂寞天空

逛夠了世界 跌進了春風

林夕，2009

 

弱水三千 / 麥浚龍

 

不可多得的組合

大概只能在Juno’s的歌曲裡尋獲

Fiona Fung X 林夕 X 張亞東 X Jerald X Juno

 

弱水三千 / 麥浚龍 作曲：馮穎琪 填詞：林夕 編曲：張亞東 監製：Jerald．Juno   三千春江水 暫住寂寞天空 逛夠了世界 跌進了春風 ＊活著自活著 萬象在逝水中暢泳 偶爾愛上過一些倒影 流言流成河流 流過幾道名勝 浪停下像拿著鏡 難辨舊日風景 山水非山水 涷了變雪堆 山水般山水 遇熱若霧水 混雜絕望後便是淚水 衍生出心碎 狂潯約花絮 再醉了愛再醉 會跌進漩渦太虛 擠於渠裡 浸於浴裡 同樣落自春水 汗滴在血海紅不紅 散聚後味道餘殘濃不濃 那是快感還是痛 深海裡永遠看不通 靜靜地浮游在清空 一轉身可以化進了杯中 口乾了便喝盡那密雲 像喝掉如夢如幻信不信 REPEAT＊ 女：三千春江水 暫住寂寞天空 逛夠了世界 跌進了春風 清水苦水一樣暫住半空 女：水清不起花 萬物靜默夾道 碎了這塊鏡 照見了洶湧 眉頭才震動 汗滴在血海紅不紅 散聚後味道餘殘濃不濃 那是快感還是痛 深海裡永遠看不通 靜靜地浮游在清空 一轉身可以化進了杯中 口乾了便喝盡那密雲 像喝掉如夢如幻信不信 女：水慢慢飄升於天空 水慢慢將萬物玩弄 活著若是夢 是夢蝶讓水色震動 撇夠了冷雨 得到升空

Super Like X Wear It Right: Mango’s A to Z Spring Guide

this is just so awesome

it would just be perfect

if B is for baby blue, instead of baby pink

Bravo Mango X Ditto Daiso: Going Solo

Going shopping alone is such a miserable term

therefore from today onwards

I decide to call this particular activity cum hobby

marketing Survey, Solo

 

3 weeks in a row

I have been going out on Thursday

· Class ends at 11 a.m.

· New SpongeBobs come out today

· Friday is a hectic one

therefore I need a TGI Almost Friday mood

 

decided to just drop by at IOI mall

instead of going all the way to Mid Valley

it saves a lot of time, indeed

and I already had in mind,

where do I wanna go

 

there were a bunch of girls on the bus

it’s school holiday right now

with a huge gift box and D-I-Y birthday card

planning where were they going to buy cake later

and what’s for lunch

plus taking out a camera and snapped photos of each other

 

It has been a long time

I kinda miss high school moments like that

awfully dressed, awkward pimples and fats, noisy giggles

but who cares

 

and after I grow up

I found it difficult to hang out in group of more than 3

okay maximum of 5

because everyone just has got

their own motivations and directions

 

12 Noon

first stop, happy meal lunch at McDonald’s

I kinda expect a big crowd, since it’s the value lunch hour

ordered a take-away

but luckily found this anti-social corner

it’s more like a long, narrow lane

and there were actually a couple of loners like me

 

1 p.m.

groceries and supermarket survey

nothing much

I feel like buying carrots, green vegetables, tomatoes, etc etc

oh my,

grocery shopping is becoming more like an excuse for me

my vegetables are on the verge of rotting

stock has been piling up in the cabinets too

 

1.15 p.m.

Mango outlet

that’s more like the usual place for marketing survey

been here a couple of times

outlet = outdated cheap clothes

but seriously never found anything attractive because

 

Clothes here generally fall under these categories:

• Super cheap + outrageous = ewwww…
• Rm 10 for a pair trousers, shocking red/yellow
• Reasonable price + outdated = still lousy
• Rm 55 for a sheer blouse, but appearing to turn yellowish
• Cheap + in trend = no sizes available
• Rm 39 for a pair of jeggings of different colours, all sized 32
• In trend + suitable size = not-the-outlet price
• Rm 145 for a navy blue blazer

 

but hey looks like I am in luck today

right size / colour / price / style

bingo

 

look of the day

It’s complete yet complicated

tube dress + tank top tube + cardigan

 

spot the differences

tube dress on tank tube = tube dress

Tank tube on tube dress = tank top + skirt

I prefer the latter combination because

tube dress always gives me the phobia that

it’s falling, it’s falling soon

I don’t have the sufficient assets to carry a tube dress, I think

 

I could have just gone out like that

the safety pants has been incepted into our mind since young

still in practice today

it’s actually a pair of Dri-Fit jogging shorts

but it’s so comfortable

I can’t help it

this outfit exactly looks like the dress-up doll set

tank top grey/black/white

is a must-have for a girl wardrobe’s

now you see why

 

back to the fitting session

 

I took these for fun

knowing that I can’t fit in

Rm 45, with the belt

petite girls, i am totally so jealous

there was navy blue too, size 32 too

 

I came out,

putting the pair of pants on the counter

but because there’s no one there

I was not bothered to call out

went another round still

and I discovered a better pick

 

Spot the differences II

	A	B
Colour	Darker shade of brown	Lighter camel brown
Material	Comfy, but crumpled Definitely need ironing	Smart casual kind Straight
Price	Rm 45	Rm 55
Cutting	Straight boot	Skinny
Ori Price	Euro 23 or 25	Euro 39

 

 

I know right

Such a shopping mechanism

The whole table had been presented in mind

Within a couple of minutes

 

Then next stop, Daiso

I always wanted to get iStephru a new home

because the one she is currently residing

Is actually my travelling pouch

whereby I throw in all the chargers, lens pouch, notepad etc

she deserves better than this

and it’s a must to bring her along for a fitting session

 

Now baby blue or black?

	Black	Baby blue
Size	B5 / A4 Can throw in more stuffs for A4	Just B5 Just fitting nicely
Material	Softer	Soft yet staying in shape
Colour	It won’t get stain even you throw it in the mug	It stains easily, yet giving an organic look
First impression	Just a common, maybe even a freebies	Exclusive, striking

 

2.30 p.m.

another happy meal take-away

double check,

Yup, I want the Doctor SpongeBob

 

But after I ordered,

the girl told me it’s not available

She gave me a painter instead

 

Wait a minute

walking towards the signboard for a triple check

I have got my Painter last week

 

Oh come on

what do you mean by, you don’t have

I come all the way here during Day 1

so that I won’t miss it

 

forget about it

I don’t wanna be on a Youtube link shared on FB

“Unreasonable Customer Demanding for DR. SpongeBob”

Or ended up with bleeding nose because

My request upsets the crew

 

and later on

I donated that set of happy meal

which doesn’t really makes me happy

to a skinny girl, with her grandpa at the bus stop

she deserves the fat better than us

 

maybe it’s just destined

I deserve an extra painter Spongebob for myself

artistic and playful, kinda cute too

 

loots of the day

 

Micro fiber glasses cloth

one good thing about Daiso..

everything comes in baby blue, yeah

I have to buy this in the biggest size

because you won’t believe how many pieces I have lost

 

and was stomping my feet

when I lost the one, coming along with my FCUK shades

it’s not that it’s so expensive or something

all of them are complementary, anyway

but whenever I wear that shades

It’s just another painful reminder of how I lost the cloth

 

I guess it just slipped out of the camera pouch

I guess..

but never exactly know where and when did I lost them

probably if I am buying it with money

I would learn to take care of it more

 

For the tired eyes

okay I have spent quite some time reading before bed

but best of all

I did it on bed and on iPad

 

I can’t get rid of this addiction, really

just pray hard that I won’t turn blind

or i have to dictate my blogs content to a secretary

and oh my

how can i ever go for marketing survey, solo… again?

 

okay

so i shall start taking care of my eyes from today onwards

no iBook-ing on bed, baby

never…

Crowd Hurdle X Can Handle: Shop-In-Bundle

i think the school holiday is about to start

as usual tourists flooded my place

 

and today is a special occasion in Mahayana Buddhist calendar

lunar calendar of  19th Feb

which is the birthday of Guan Yin

hence, that’s how crowded it is in the temple

11.00 a.m.

 

12 noon

then like what the normal tourists would do

if they couldn’t stand the sun any longer

we flooded the mall

and there is this particularly flooded store.. oh my

 

1 p.m.

waiting for mom to shop

that’s my look of the day

 

in fact

we kinda predicted the crowd

to prevent losing each other in the middle of the sea

we wore the same outfits for easy recognition

 

bumped into this cardigan i really like

but too bad the navy blue were left with size XS

which is a little bit too small for me

and my principle for cardigan/jacket etc

is always since you pay the same price

might as well get the large size

since ultimately you gonna wear something inside

i would have settled for grey

if mom is buying another blouse, since it is 2@88

she didn’t buy, so i didn’t too

 

loots of the noon

loads of facial mask

from the particular crowded store

each for 1rm

actually i didn’t wanna buy at first

mom was saying, you spend so much time making your own mask

just settle it with an one buck mask will do

therefore i chose those with rare ingredients

not-so-D.I.Y.-able at home

apple, you mean?

no i didn’t take that

probably mom took it, cos it is for anti-aging

 

4.30 p.m.

2nd round, with fellow market surveyor, Cheryl

same mall, because we won’t have much choice, do we

plus me vs my mom and me vs Cheryl

or even me vs my dad (we were here yesterday)

have different territories and motivations

therefore, i don’t really mind paying the third visits

within 24 hours

 

she was stuck in heavy jam

went around this miscellaneous store

where they sell hardware to baby wears

bought some random stuffs

that’s the thing for miscellaneous store

it created wants, even if you do not have the needs

it is always tough to come out empty-handed 

and i actually phoned up my dad

to check if he wants this

but too bad he didn’t pick up my call

therefore i took this

 

5.10 p.m.

half an hour has passed

after the jam, it was the parking issue

Cheryl was stuck in the middle of nowhere

waiting for vacant parking

i wandered to this part of the world

which i have hardly been, although i know of its existence

Bundle Clothes a.k.a. used clothing

 

and i actually found something quite lovely

for 5 rm, for 5 rm

i mean even the cloth material costs more than that

dresses.. all the long dresses

at 5 rm

 

and this one

i mean i always want a hoodies like that

where i can just put both of my hands into the pocket

and act indifferent, looking in all directions

but talking to the person right in front

 

and guess who else did we spot

a poor Snoopy with a love letter and heart-shaped balloon

i would have bought it

if i can just figure out how to give it a “nip-tuck”

 

6.30 p.m.

back to the crazy sales one buck store

the crowd never receded

and it was even difficult to get into the middle 

 

7.00 p.m.

found cha

saw it at Pavilion the other day

Eva actually said that it looked like a potato sack

reasonable right, since i love potato so much

i don’t mind carrying its sack around

 

our usual mirror

i have got rid of my hair

they won’t recognize i have been here twice, i hope

 

loots of the evening

a heavy grey recycled plastic bag

containing

 

everything for 20 rm

everything for 20 rm

and the tags confirmed my picks

 

not forgetting

this is going to last me for year

provided that my boss didn’t steal it from me

 

this is one of the best marketing survey ever

this is one of the best experience ever

on how i spent 50++ bucks away

on so much loots

 

isn’t a shame

when girls around me are buying blazers

while i am in my own heaven, hugging my Mickey and Nike hoodies

good things never discriminate against ages

and they most probably will last for ages