Gerry - now 16 months

Gerry is now 16 months. As its been a while since I shared some pictures of Gerry with you, I thought that now would be a good time for an update. So here are some pictures of Gerry looking cute:

The more observant of you will realise that he looks just like me in the first picture ... when I'm eating that is!!

And here are some pictures of Gerry chasing dogs during our recent visit to Sai Kung. Lots of people take dogs for a walk in Sai Kung and Gerry wasn't afraid of them at all. I suspect he thinks that they are just big cuddly toys that he can play with!

And here is the obligatory father/son photo. For some reason, we both look like we're asleep!

The CIA - full of smart people

Just a very short post today - check out this link.

The article is quite a long article about how the CIA rescued 6 people from Tehran during The Iran Hostage Crisis back in 1979. Basically, the CIA created a fake Hollywood production company - with offices, film script etc. They then used this fake identity to get into Tehran and rescue 6 people.

To be honest, if you have read the article, then there's really not much more I can say. I am stunned by the lengths which the CIA went to in order to create a convincing lie.

Is Todd Goldman a scumsucking PoS?

Check out this link.

Basically, it is a collection of work done by Todd Goldman (and which is commercially sold) compared against work by other artists. I guess the point being to highlight instances where Todd Goldman may have plagiarised the work of other artists.

Anyway, without going into the whole history of this sordid business, a bunch of artists are claiming that Todd Goldman plagiarised their work. The above link shows some of the art which Todd Goldman has allegedly plagiarised.

Now, the above may be bad enough - but check out this link from Fleen. Basically, it appears that Todd Goldman not only doesn't deny the plagiarism, he also chooses to maliciously slander these other artists (his actual words are "Here’s my inspiration! Every month I paint the works of a pedophile.").

Then to top it off, after maliciously slandering these other artists, he then launches a legal attack against Fleen for having articles which "contain defaming, derogatory and malicious statements about Mr. Goldman". Again - another link for your viewing pleasure.

If the above is true, would you call Todd Goldman a scumsucking PoS? I would.

Geox

Today, I'm going to blog about shoes (strange topic, I know!). In particular, Geox shoes.

For those who have never heard of Geox, they sell a type of shoe with holes in them. Now, before you get all snippy on me, I am aware that all shoes have holes in them. The holes I am referring to in this case are at the bottom of the shoe.

Geox have a patented technology which allows your shoes to "breath" by way of holes in the bottom of the shoe. The shoes are designed in such a way that the insole absorbs sweat and then releases it as water vapour through the holes in the bottom of the shoe. The holes are big enough to allow water vapour out but are too small to allow water droplets in. Hence, your feet can "breath" (ie get rid of humidity in your shoes).

Anyway, I recently bought a pair of Geox shoes. I thought I would try this new groovy technology out to see if it really worked. Since I bought them, I have used them several times. Most noticably when I play squash.

As regular readers know, I occasionally play squash on Monday evenings. After my squash game, I change back into my street clothes without showering - which basically means sweaty feet back into my shoes. With the new Geox shoes, I thought this would be a great way to test out this new patented "breathing" technology.

I am very happy to say that based on my own experience, the shoes really do breathe! Every night, by the time I get home, I am still drenched in sweat. However, my feet are relatively dry. Obviously, they aren't completely dry (that's asking too much!) but they are definitely less humid than they were when I was wearing my old "normal" shoes.

The shoes themselves aren't cheap so I don't intend to replace all my shoes with Geox shoes. Particularly because, due to the technology, I can't replace the soles of the shoes or put in other insoles into the shoes when the existing ones get worn out. However, there are definitely situations where these types of shoes become very useful.

Definitely thumbs up from me!

Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant

Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to Jokemeister!
Happy birthday to me!

Today is my birthday. At the end of the day, I'm another year older!

In celebration, we went out to Sai Kung and my wife treated me to an expensive seafood lunch at Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant. The place is meant to be really famous and when we got there, we noticed lots of photos of different celebrities eating at the place. Surprisingly, I even recognised some of them!

As with all the best seafront restaurants in HK, we headed outside the restaurant and chose which seafood we would eat. Then we got some recommendations on how to cook them from the restaurant before we confirmed the order. When the seafood arrived, it was delish! As you can imagine, it was beautifully fresh and sumptuously cooked!

The highlight of the meal would be the scampi. Whenever I have had scampi in HK before, I have always been disappointed. For some reason, the scampi in HK is generally not very nice. I'm not quite sure how to describe it - but it just doesn't taste as nice as the scampi I used to have in the UK.

However, the scampi today was exceptional. It was very large (unlike the other HK scampi I've had) and the meat taste and texture was excellent.

After we finished the seafood, we had a nice long wander around the pier enjoying the sea air. After a nice stroll (wherein we had to keep a constant eye on Gerry as he kept chasing the dogs!), we headed over to Moon Kee Dessert. For those non-HK readers, Moon Kee is a very famous local brand dessert shop which originally started in Sai Kung and has now spread out over HK.

All in all, good service (though a little slow) and some great seafood followed by a leisurely stroll around the pier and finished off with a delicously fattening dessert.
:)

Beijing Hotel

Wow - missed two posts this week (my first time!). Got a lot of work to do to catch up! Luckily, I already have a topic to blog about today and tomorrow. Plus, I also have something for my game blog as well! 3 blog posts in 1 weekend followed by another post on Monday - will be a new record for me!

Anyway, I went back to BJ last week. As with all my business trips, I get the company appointed travel agent (Farrington Amex) to book my flights and hotels. Normally, this isn't a problem and things go quite smoothly. Recently, I encountered my first bump in the road.

As with my previous trips to BJ, I stayed in the Beijing Hotel. I arrived there on Wednesday and went to the front desk to check-in. I passed my passport to the nice lady at the front desk and she started to enter my details into their system.

"Excuse me sir, but is this the name you booked under?" she asked me after a couple of minutes.

"Should be", I said, but then quickly added, "but they might have used my english name". Its happened before so it wasn't a complete surprise when she couldn't find my chinese name in their system.

So I wrote down my english name and she checked their system again. After a couple more minutes, with the receptionist alternately entering in my chinese name followed by my english name, she finally gave up and questioned me further.

"I'm sorry sir, your reservation isn't in the system" she said. Okay, not much of a question admittedly but you could call it a plea for help! Maybe...

I considered asking if she was sure my reservation wasn't in the system. However, considering I saw her enter and check my details numerous times, I thought maybe this was a bit too cheeky so instead said, "I see."

Following this great comeback, she just stands there for a moment looking at me expectantly. Not quite sure what to do myself, I asked her if they had any rooms available. "Yes we do sir - would you like a room?" she quickly replied.

"Yes please, for two nights" I said. At least I won't have to sleep in the streets!

"No problem sir," she says cheerily, "the room rate will be RMB2,000." It was actually a little bit over RMB2,000 but I can't remember the exact amount she said as I was in shock at that point. In fact, the polo I was sucking on almost dropped out of my open mouth!

Now granted, I would be claiming any hotel expense I paid. However, as a general rule, I really don't like to feel as if I've been ripped off (who does?). So I ask the receptionist if I could book the room now but confirm the rate tomorrow - by which time I could get Farrington Amex to correct this error.

The receptionist, in her cheery voice, said "Of course sir, no problem. As soon as we hear from the agent, I will change your room rate for tomorrow to your corporate rate." She then smiled at me as if she had done me a big favour.

"What about the rate for tonight then?" I ask.

"Well sir, that will be RMB2,000. But don't worry, we can change your rate for tomorrow to your corporate rate." It took me another 5 minutes of explaining before she understood that I wanted the corporate rate for both nights.

"Oh, I don't know if we can do that sir" she said in a slightly worried tone. At this point, I have had enough and ask to see the manager (I know, I know - I should have done this earlier).

So the receptionist calls the manager over and he spends another 5 minutes checking their system to see if my reservation is in the system (it isn't). He even calls their reservation office to see if they received a reservation but hadn't update the system yet (they hadn't).

Once he confirmed that there was no reservation for me, he once again asked if I would like a room. At this point, I was beginning to get a real case of deja vu. So rather than waste anymore time, I immediately took command of the situation and explained to him what I wanted.

Luckily, the manager had the authority to grant my request and I didn't have to go through the whole process again with a third person. In the end, I was able to get my room and Farrington Amex confirmed with them that I should be on the corporate rate the next day.

In the end, a bit of excitement in my otherwise dreary day. As they say - All's well that ends well.

Apple Mac

Ever since Apple announced that they were using Intel Core Duo processors, I have been paying more attention to Apple Mac computers. I've always liked the Apple Mac (I actually first used the Apple Mac before I used a PC - many years ago though) and this announcement made me pay attention. You see, currently, I prefer the PC for 3 main reasons:

1. PCs offer more upgradeability

However, in practice I hardly ever upgrade my PC. Normally, when I buy a PC, I set a budget and then get the best PC that I can afford within that budget. This normally results in a PC that will last me several years without the need for an upgrade - at which point, I just scrap the PC and buy a new one. So point 1 isn't really valid.

2. PCs offer better gaming (Have you ever heard of a Mac gamer? Yes? But have you ever seen one!?)

However, I understand that the next Mac OS will allow you to boot in either Windows or Mac OS. Furthermore, the Windows mode isn't a virtual Windows environment (which would really suck for gaming) - its an actual boot in Windows OS hence there will be no performance downgrade when using Windows. IF, and this is a big if, this is true, then point 2 is no longer valid either.

3. Its easier to fix a PC

If points 1 and 2 above are no longer valid, this is the sole remaining reason for my hesitation in getting a Mac. If anything goes wrong with your Mac, my understanding is that you have to go to an authorised Apple store (of course, this could just be FUD - if so, please let me know). With a PC, getting someone to fix it is easy - there are loads of shops in HK which will fix PCs although in practice, I will just go back to the shop I bought the PC from (my PC is custom built by a friend of a friend).

The key thing is - I have options. Options which I don't have with a Mac. How important is this reason? To be honest, I don't know. I have never dealt with Apple customer service so I have no idea how good or bad they are. However, reading articles like this and this really don't make me any more comfortable about switching to a Mac.

Gerry has a black eye :(

Very unhappy at the moment. Came home from Shanghai today and found that Gerry had a black eye!
:(

The maid said that she had put him in the cot last night and he had jumped up and down as he wanted to play a little more before going to sleep. However, he lost his balance, tripped and banged his head into the side of the cot. I'm guessing it must have been very painful as the lump around his eye was quite big. :(

The maid said he cried a lot. Poor Gerry.

Anyway, when I say him today, he still seemed very happy (I guess babies heal fast!). Still, I think the lump is still sore as I noticed him rubbing it occasionally. Will have to keep an extra careful eye on him this weekend.

Budget time

I had a look at my bank balance recently. Unfortunately, the amount is depressingly small. I remember reading somewhere that your bank balance should have at least 3 months worth of money – the idea being that even if you lose your job, you should have enough to last for 3 months so that you have time to find another job etc. Currently, I don’t even have 2 months saved up – and this was me looking at my bank balance just after payday!

Which brings to mind my wifes’ 3rd favourite complaint about me ie that I spend too much money. The first is that I spend too much time playing video games (I’ll leave this for a separate topic) and the second is that I’m lazy (eg I never help out with housework etc – this doesn’t bother me too much as she never does any housework either :p).

To be honest, I’ve always ignored this particular complaint from my wife. You see, in my opinion, I don’t spend frivolously (although some of my friends may disagree!). But if I’m right, how come I can’t save up any money? So recently, I’ve been looking at my spending pattern and thinking about where all the money goes. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you to tears with a detailed budget report!

Most of my money goes to expenditure either on Gerry or on the family. For example, school fees, utilities, maid’s wages, petty cash for buying household goods etc. I even have an education fund setup for Gerry which I pay money into every month. All in all, I really don’t want to scrimp on this type of expenditure as I want to give Gerry a good childhood. I want him to be able to look back at his childhood when he is older and smile.

So what are my options? I don't really spend that much on myself eg my annual budget for video games is less than 1 months school fees for Gerry (or even a new jacket for Sarah!). I don’t even spend that much on clothing. My last new piece of clothing was my leather jacket which was bought in 2005.

Where I can probably make the most cuts is food. I figure if I start going to more cheap local restaurants or eating at home more often, I should be able to save a chunk of money. Maybe I should also consider taking a pack lunch to work? What do you think?

An Easter Mickey

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all had a good time.

We took Gerry to Disneyland for Easter. Although the HK Disneyland is very small and tbh, quite pathetic for grown-ups as an entertainment venue, for children like Gerry - its still a great place to go to. Its relatively clean, the air is good, there aren't too many people and there is lots of room for him to wander around in.

Furthermore, playing the simple rides, like the carousel or the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups - although being tame for me, are still great fun for Gerry. So all in all, we had a great time.

Anyway, a couple of pictures of Gerry in Disneyland for you to enjoy.

As you can see, we managed to get some good pictures with some famous Disney characters. Mickey and Minnie have always been favourites of Gerry so we were very happy that those pictures turned out so well.

He also really liked the marching band. Here you can see him watching the band as they make their entrance. We also managed to get a pretty good picture with one of the girls in the band. Lucky as there are only two girls in the entire band.

This one is a family picture (taken by yours truly). Turned out quite well considering I had to guess at the composition.

Just before you go - one last picture I want to share with you (not related to Disney). What do you think he is doing in this next picture? Brownie goes to the guy who gives me the best caption!

Henry Tang

I saw Henry Tang yesterday when I was in the IFC mall. Normally, this would be no big deal - I mean, its not like he's a major personality or anything. However, for me, its very rare that I get to see anyone famous.

The problem is that whenever I walk around, I tend not to look at people. In the past, when I have been out with friends, they would suddenly turn to me and say "hey, that was xx" - xx being some kind of film star. Me - I never saw them - I just don't look at people.

This is also why if you walk past me in the street, I normally won't say hi. Its because I never saw you (not because I don't like you - honest!).

What this boils down to is that I rarely have brushes with famous people. In my thirty something years of life, I have only ever seen 2 famous people (and Henry Tang counts as one!) and have talked to none. Pretty miserable I know, especially when compared to my boss who says he once dated Kylie Minogue!

However, is my boss, the showbiz dater, normal? Or is my experience normal? How many people get to see, or speak to, famous people?

Broken plates

Today, Gerry reached another milestone in his development. For the first time ever, he broke some of our dinner plates.

This actually happened during breakfast. For breakfast, I normally have peanut butter and jam sandwiches and today was no exception. The way that I normally do this is that I grab a dinner plate, then place 2 slices of bread on it. I butter one slice with jam and the other slice with peanut butter.

Then put them together and voila - a peanut butter and jam sandwich.

This morning, after eating my breakfast, I wandered off to wash my hands, grab a drink of water etc. The next thing I know, I hear a crash. During the short time I was away, Gerry had managed to stand on his tippy toes and reach up to the dinner table. He was just tall enough to reach the plate and pull it onto the floor whereupon the plate promptly broke into a millions pieces.

Luckily Gerry wasn't hurt (can't say the same for the plate).

Although I thought I would be angry - the truth was that I was just relieved that Gerry was okay. Besides, considering how cute he is, I can't stay angry for long!

Anyway, here are some recent photos of Gerry to show how cute he is. All together now, awww!!

April Fools

As you all know, April Fool's Day was yesterday. In memory of this occasion, I thought it would be fun to make a post about April Fool's Day.

While wandering the net, I came across this list of April Fool's Day pranks. I haven't read all of the pranks yet (nor do I intend to). However, just off the top page, some of them show how incredibly naive some people are.

For example, in the no. 1 prank, the BBC show Panorama broadcast that Swiss farmers were having a bumper crop of spaghetti - this broadcast was accompanied by footage of farmers pulling spaghetti out of trees. Apparently, huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Yeah... Not much I can add to that really.

Whenever, I see pranks like the above, I always think, people nowadays are too smart to fall for something like that. I mean, that broadcast was in 1957 - probably at a time when people were less savvy and more gullible. Then I read prank no. 8.

In 1998, Burger King announced a new left handed whopper (for the 1 in 10 people who are left-handed). The left handed whopper would contain exactly the same ingredients - the only difference would be that the vegetables would be rotated 180 degrees to match left handed people. And again, the unwashed masses fell for it.

I wish I could say it was funny. Instead, it just seems sad.