Kapow and a whole month just flew by.

With the Chinese New Year festivities happening and me being on my ownsome (family wise) in Hong Kong, I took the time to hang out with friends and play a lot of Mahjong !! Thanks to JinBear's family who came for CNY, I had dinner with them and also took the time to go with them to visit the temples on Lantau Island. Though I have been there before, it was great to be able to go to the private meditation rooms and see what they looked like on the inside and also have a great vegetarian meal. As the weather was freezing, I slept in a bit on the second day of the new year before meeting up with GANay to watch the fireworks from the office and going for dinner later. It was a pleasant surprise to bump into so many other friends there that night though I must say fireworks were kinda boring, and held little significance to me. After dinner, we even joined GASte for drinks, which led to a crazy but immensely fun night at Shore.

Woke up really early to make it to MrAl's house at To Kwa Wan, where we made our way to MrSim's place for two hours of poker. For me at least. That was because I had to rush to Tsuen Wan to play mahjong ! I think they played poker the whole day long ! When I reached MsDor's house, I was berated for being late but we played for 12 hours ! And it was one of the most successful Taiwanese mahjong sessions that I have had. Even had a couple of games which MsDor herself has not eaten. Wahaha. I am really getting the hang of it now.

After Chinese New Year however, it was back to work with some really bad news for my teammate MrThai. He tore his ACL skiing in Japan and had to be wheelchaired to his flight home. It was good for him to rest at home, but he spent the next three weeks at home before going to Thailand for an operation. In the meantime, I was crazy busy at the office as everyone went back into full work mode again. The only thing which kept me sane in this time were some games that MrTT downloaded onto my iPhone against my weak protests. In a fit of competitive mode, we tried to finish various games before the other person, and I must say, I have NEVER EVER played so much games in my life. I would spend my time on the bus, mealtimes, and even in bed, playing the games and trying to figure out puzzles or trying to make my fingers coordinate enough to win a game. I have never been good at this, as I have never played much computer games or video games for that matter, so it was a very humbling experience. Though now that I have completed a few titles, I am more confident. I think the key was that it was not so much playing the game that was fun, it was more fun to be competing with someone. MrTT knows that, so he waits for me to start a game at the same time that he does, so I still get the urge to play. Otherwise, I would just ignore the game, as I have a few games he had previously downloaded but finished before giving them to me.

The next big excitement is of course that we are now all going to Guam for MrTT and GABish's wedding !!!! Quite an exciting time and everyone who is going have been busy visiting the dentist, going for facials, buying new clothes and so on. Myself, I made a new suit (gray) and also made 2 new glasses as well as a pair of sunglasses. Very over the top, but gosh, spending money is too easy. I think I will not have to make any more glasses for 2-3 years !! I will also be stopping by Taiwan on the way back from Guam for a few days and that would also be interesting as it will be the first time for me in Taiwan as well ! So I kill two destinations with one stone !! Not to mention my April trip to Korea with MunBear !!! Tickets are booked for that as well, and when I come back from Guam, we will finalise our schedule and car booking !! And yes, I will be driving in both Guam and Taiwan and Korea and they are all left hand drive countries. Interesting............

During the marathon weekend as well, GATTY, SailorJeow, SailorIT, GAKS, GAYH, MrSC, MrLaw were all here in HK. They made it really fun and we all went on a little yacht to Sham Tseng for roast goose. This is becoming a yearly event ! Some of us even played Mahjong on the ride to ward off seasickness. Too bad it was really cold and rather wet, and the visitors from Malaysia and Singapore were freezing ! Haha. SailorJeow and I even made time to try the fusion chef's menu at Bo Innovation, which was surprisingly simple and yummy. Nevertheless, it strengthens my own belief, that fusion is not for everyone. I found it a bit lacking, and rather preferred full flavored French food instead of simple Chinese fusion, even though many courses were interesting as they were presented with much fanfare and is part of what they now call molecular gastronomy.

Speaking of French, I started my French classes in January and after a month of classes am really enjoying it. The grammar makes sense, and it is like magic how Eric, our teacher makes us speak sentences. Vocabulary is challenging of course, but I am definitely learning faster in class compared to my self learnt Spanish. It is a great thing to be learning and just like my Korean, this is really fun and is something that I want to further. After completing the PRM exams earlier in December, I really want to concentrate on languages in the next two years.

MrTT's bachelor party is tomorrow and I shall be flying off to Guam on Saturday !! Hurray !!

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