Pool at a 5 star hotel

I finally was to stay in Harbour Grand hotel again. My previous time was in 2010, when a friend of mine came over. I heard the pool was great  but wasn't able to head up there. This time I was prepared.

So at 11:30am, I hit the 20/21 button on the elevator. I get my towel, open the door to the pool deck and GLING!  the sun hits my face, i can't see, the sun penetrates my skin, like a rapist saying hello old friend. Ai, I hate being under the sun. What's worse than noon time sun is the fact that we are on the rooftop, hello, we are at least 21 stories higher than the usual sun exposure.

When I can finally open my eyes again. What I saw was a small lumpy cloud shaped pool at the size of around 25 x 40. Small pool. Not alot of my people were in the pool. a vast majority of the guests were on the sun-chairs..hmm...I don't even tan and I'm so much darker than them...plus, i thought this was a 5 star hotel, where is the Olympic sized pool, why doesn't a 5 star hotel provide the option of an indoor swimming pool? Should I just pack up and go to the gym? Oh nvm, it's probably going to be disappointing too, ill just head to California fitness later. 


 The laps were errr...short. I reached the other end in no time, and back. However, The view underwater was beautiful though. Okay, Spanky called and affected my flow of thoughts. The end.



My phone was out of battery, so I wasn't able to take pictures, so I took these from the internet. I read an article that discouraged the sharing of photos on the internet. In the article it said that What you have seen is one memory and induces a type of feeling, what you have captured creates another feeling, and what you share on the internet induces another. So the sensation that a person experiences is different or diluted and almost highlighted to those specific recalled images when put to display. Click Here for original article.


I got out after 3 minutes, the sun was too much for me.

Smart Recycling

For the past few days, I've realized how I was just constantly so forward looking that it stressed me to the point where the white parts of my eyes turned red.

Then I took a moment to look at the beautiful sunset on my way to 7-11 to get my usually black pepper chicken leg...On my way back to the computer rooms to continue my global marketing project, I saw a photography loving friend sitting on the steps to the building I was heading, facing the sunset. So I decided to say 'HI'. A Hi ended up being a long 45 minute talk about our summers, our attitudes towards getting grades, the subjects we want to take together...it ended when I really had to rush back to start my presentation, but we couldn't help but to gaze at the beautiful color blue mixing gradually with gold.

Anyways, I fell sick today, after I woke up from a nap, it was pretty much time to head to this talk and sharing session about how some young people started a business that helped improve the waste management system. I was really hesitation at first and since I decided to go for a quick jog and shower before I headed off, I felt hungry too.

Not so to my surprise, there were refreshments and cookies. Good ol' IFE always providing refreshments and snacks for attendees. (I helped myself to 2 chocolate cinnamon cookies, soooooo yummy, luckily, my palate can distinguish and dissect the cookie up to its raw ingredients and I secretly made a mental note to remember the recipe.)

To my very surprise, the guest speakers were very entertaining. The moderator came all the way from Shanghai to give speeches about promoting the pollution problems in Asia, and then passed the time to Hanley Li Although he stuttered a bit at first, his story was very entertaining to listen to, about his past as a naughty student, who then took a sudden trip to Egypt and started working in the advertising stream. From then he noticed a problem of the plastic bad problem, whereas in Egypt, they would give a customer a plastic bad per item they bought. How wasteful! Linking this problem to Hong Kong, large grocery stores, convenient stores and most retail stores all charge a $0.5 fee for a plastic bag. However wet markets do not have this charge. This may be because wet markets sell wet food literally fish, meat, vegetables, it would be terrible inconvenient to buy a fish with a ...reusable grocery bag. Just the thought of the blood contamination on the bag is gross.

Hong Kong alone has around 6 million wasted plastic bags, most of them come from wet markets. Hanley did some research and found that the plastic bags that the wet market sellers were buying was 0.05RMB for a bag, while the biodegradable ones were 0.2RMB. Integrating the his advertising background with the thought of biodegradable bags, he decided to seek out advertisers who were willing to have their ad printed on the bags, as he believes that the advertisements could directly target the buying population, housewives, domestic helpers, elderly...Meanwhile, he also sought out wet market sellers and asked them if they were willing to use biodegradable bags with advertisements printed on them, lo an behold formed his company CarryAD.

Someone that I used to know

On my way to the gym tonight, I passed by the usual vending machine where all the street dancers gathered to freestyle during the night time. Our campus had a joint university dance performance, although I missed it, it did motivate me to practiced a few of my rusted moves on some Tyga music...

Infact, it even reminded me of a hip hop dancer who I used to date 2 years ago. I know he lives in my neighborhood, and that he practices near those vending machines (it was actually where we met). I've even seen him, once...or twice on the footbridge...Once I even saw him holding hands with, I assume was his girlfriend (who looked exactly like the girl who he celebrated his birthday with on his instagram) (Not that I, have his instagram) I was already dating and in love with Spanky at that time, but somehow, that image of them holding hands still flashes itself in my brain...This is why I only look at empty spaces when I walk on my footbridge now. I choose to not see anything (that upsets me)

Anyways, I thought I would keep my eyes out for familiar faces (some of my old colleagues freestyle there too)...and Lord and behold, the guy who broke my heart 2 years ago was there.

Actually, I was too exhausted from my day to care about some guy who I once dated briefly a very long time ago. At most, if he sees me, I'll say a hi.

However, it was his reaction that...really made me want to blog in the first place...

 Although he took his glasses off when he was dancing to (his weird electronic + hammering + drilling + construction NOISE) music, he recolonized me and grooved towards where I was heading (I was heading straight and he was heading sideways) his eyes never off from me, squinting to get a closer look to see if who he saw was someone who he think he just saw. uh-oh, I'm too hungry to think, why didn't I eat more?? I mirrored him and squinted back. This all happened in a duration of seconds, but we did keep migrating to a point (or to each other as observers would call it) , eyes on each other until we were so close that we could whisper and still hear each other.

This was when I shifted my glance and sped up my walking. Admitting that I was calm would be a lie (although it was mainly because of the shock of seeing someone that I used to know), because 5 minutes later, I lost my gym card ==" Damnit, that's 50 bucks down the drain.

In retrospect, I used to think that dating guys in quantity would be cool and that I would have a good "resume" of guys, but I guess I never thought about the consequences of seeing them afterwards...
Somehow I thought it would always be a "haha, look at me now, I am blah blah blah successful", but instead I felt uncomfortable, will he talk to me after I leave the gym? What should I say when he asks about my singing dream? Should I tell him that I am dating now? But that will be boasting? WIll he still think that I haven't got over him?

As uncomfortable as I felt about a person who I once cared so much about; it also made me realized how uncomfortable it must be for Spanky,to pester him about information on the people whom he once loved so much, but the relationship just didn't make it due to various reasons.

I learned (today). I'm sorry Spanky, I'll try to be less insecure of myself, and ask you less about your ex,(es), because although past feelings could never be erased, the past is the past and  we'll get over it. It's the present that really matters :)

Lawrence & Spanky hip hop remix

Here and now

Yesterday, I was given an opportunity to role play a therapist - client session for my counseling class. Afterwards, my assessor gave us a collective comment.

Something that really stood out for me was when she said, a lot of depressed people often look too much into the past; while people with anxiety look too much into the future. Then she stressed on the here and now state of being.

This reminded me a lot of the raisin experiment during the last counseling lecture . I experienced the here and now effect, it felt really relaxing, almost sleepy.

Anyways, I think the sky is beautiful today. I took a moment to stop and look at the beautiful sky above my campus grounds.

Dependence

I want to be independent. I want to be able to completely take care of myself regardless of my environment. 

I want to be financially independent, enough to the point where my income can satisfy my expenditure.

I want to be intellectually independent and I want to increase my opportunities to absorb the wisdom that will propel me to be the independent person.

I think with those mentioned above. I might be able to be one step closer to achieving self actualization.

- - -
Tbc

Graduation

Seeing people in graduation gowns (penguins outfits) never meant anything for me. College seemed nothing more than a place to bypass time, so that I could figure things out before I entered into the labor world.

This is exactly why 2 years, dressing up in a gown for my graduation ceremony in HKU space seemed like a waste of my time. I had a singing competition later in the evening. I don't want to waste my morning getting my pictures taken in a community college.

Currently,  I am in my final year in uni. I've been invited for a few photo taking sessions with my senior friends.   Talking to them gave me a realization that this would be me soon. That I will be graduating and leaving  the education world to a cruel cruel official cubicle working 9 to 6, alternative Saturdays and occasional overtimes, with no financial allowances from my parents and still residing with my parents.

So I've made a choice.  My path is mine.  I do weigh my consequences when I make decisions, but for the first time, I want to live independent of my parents and work in a place that makes both me and my parents proud.

I want to start a business of my own. I have a clear vision of what it is a lot I can see so many twists and turns and obstacles in my path. But oddly, I actually feel excited. I'm starting to see the world differently now. Like the role of my relationship with the world has changed from user to creator.  And I anticipate every day to come.

 It's both good and bad. The bad is that I am constantly tired. Maybe I'm not used to thinking so much... I also can't fall asleep at night. And I wake up super early in the mornings :(

I don't know how graduation story got to this. I should probably change the subject name.