YOGAYUGA

…but is also the beginning of the new….

What did you do end of the year?

Typical me! I cleaned, washed and cut… Cleaned the old, prepared for the new!

And your hair need to be cut too, bibi!! By the way, she is fat. She is too fat to be true. Her little tummy almost touches the ground when she stands. I can’t imagine myself having such a fat dog as I am so slim. She only eats twice a day with enough amount of dog dry food. I got no idea why she turns out so fat perhaps she is too lazy to walk.

I love it. It’s fantastic. Slava’s Snowshow!! It’s a Russian play. A Japanese friend invited me to see the play. It’s something totally that make you happy, and smile in heart. Totally blow me away!! The show combines comedy and poignancy with stunning spectacle and breathtaking images. It’s something completely I have never ever seen in any plays before. Images include….a bed becomes a boat, a web of cotton enveloped the audiences, watering the audiences, a tiny piece of paper becoming a snow storm, huge rubber made balls rolling around the whole theater, tiny pieces of paper placed around the whole theater that created the snow scene, uncountable tiny pieces of paper falling down from the ceiling that created snow falling images…..The most unbelievable thing is I carried back home with lots of tiny pieces of paper in my hoop of my cardigan. I didn’t know at all. They fell on my hoop that I couldn’t see as I was wearing my cardigan the whole night. I hope that no one saw me with those little papers inside my hoop walking around on the street. It was indeed embarrassing. hahahaha silly me….but happy day!!

Snow storm image presented with tiny pieces of paper

A web of cotton enveloped the auidences

Huge rubber made balls rolling around the theatre

Everyone kept pushing the balls toward different directions

My stupid hoop….;-) I found it after I was back home.

I like it - Persepolis It’s animation, but I love the way it was presented. I am always curious about culture and thought related to Islamic so this film does give me some ideas for what I want to know. The whole story is about how a little Iranian girl went through the Islamic Revolution, and the war between Iran and Iraq as well as her experiences in the west. The way she experienced in Vienna, which explained so well about the conflicts between the western and Islamic culture. Those days the little girl spent in Iran, the whole scene was in black and white. Once she left her country, the scene was in colour. It’s a very intelligent idea for the overall presentation. It’s a very controversial story that worth seeing I highly recommend. It won the best foreign film award in the Golden Globes.

I totally understand now how to cook western style Chinese food after I watched “Take Home Chef”. Every time when I had Chinese food in overseas, I always found the taste and style are very different from our food in Hong Kong and China. The chefs of those overseas Chinese restaurants are also Chinese, so I don’t think there is any reason related to it. It’s definitely related to the way they cook. They cook in western ways that suitable for taste of westerners.

The Aussi chef of Take Home Chef showed how to cook Chinese barbecue porks on his show. The way he did it, which is totally different from our traditional way. We have the pork fired in the big oven, but he did it with a Chinese wok. Basically, he fried it with Cantonese style barbecue sauce. No wonder when I saw the Chinese barbecue pork in Chinese restaurants overseas that looks like stir fry sliced pork.

I like watching this programme as the chef spots strangers in the supermarket, and cooks them food at their homes. It may not be real, but they act so natural. It’s very entertaining. Western chef teaches how to cook Chinese food, which is the most interesting part of the show. He even showed how to make fortune cookie. This is funny enough. We all know that fortune cookies only appear in Chinese restaurants overseas regardless in the U.K., the U.S., N.Z., France and even Hungary. Perhaps, chefs of Hong Kong don’t even know how to make those cookies. This is such fabulous idea of the show. I love it!

Well, the photo is not clear enough to show what the western Chinese barbecue pork looks like, but I guess Chinese can tell.

A heart shape key chain with pink crystals in lovely red velvet bag from Helen Kelly, London……It’s very me!!

Yes, I made it!! My dad taught me. This is so complicated to cook. Well, certainly, I am not good enough for it but at least I tried. We bought the Chinese abalones last week, and prepared it for a whole week. I had them dried under the sun for several times during the past week. It’s very important that you have to be sure that they are absolutely dry before you keep them in a proper container. It has to be soaked in the water for few days before you cook it. This is how I did it:

After the abalones being soaked in the water, it became soft. I made soup with it together with chicken and dry scallops, then its flavour will be brought into the soup. After the soup has been cooked for more than an hour, I took the abalones away from the soup and cooked it separately. The abalones were still not ready on this stage, because they were not soft enough to eat. I cooked it with dry scallops again in another pot for almost another three hours. I served it on a plate without any sauce. It tastes good though I knew there was something missing. I didn’t prepare sauce for it. It’s better to eat it with Chinese mushroom in seafood sauce. It doesn’t look good without sauce, but it’s good to taste its pure flavour. I cooked four, so we had one each. It’s much economical to have your self made abalones at home because the same standard of abalones as what we had in the restaurant usually costs around HKD300.00 each. Anyway, I will make it even better next time.

I haven’t been any proper cafe for long long time………I can’t remember since when, but anyway friend of mine suggested visiting one, so here we found an interesting one…called something Initial, which is actually a clothing store. It’s kind of a Japanese store. Their green tea coffee is nice with decoration of funny rabbit face. Their cakes are delicious too.

Many people were standing and watching something by a BMW car. I walked forward to see what’s going on, then found a cute cat sleeping on a car front. Hahaha, this is so funny. I guess she must be cold, so she chose to sleep on a car. She slept so well too, and totally ignored those who were watching her.

A charm with pain? I swallow? Slave? 3 somes? Are they pet charms?

I found these pet charms on one of my suppliers’ web site. They made these, and sell them, but I guess they don’t know what those words actually mean. I don’t think any pet lovers would buy such charms for hanging on collars of their cats or dogs. My god!

I am still reading The Rules of Life. There are some quotes I specially like very much about partner, family and friends. Would like to share with you all….

Rule 57: Always have someone - or something - that is pleased to see you

….We all need someone who is pleased to see us. It makes us feel it is all worthwhile. I love it when I have to go away for work for a day or two and then when I get back my love one stand there, with her hands outstretched with that lovely, “Have you brought me something back?” look on her face.

Rule 64: Treat your partner better than your best friends

“….because your partner is both lover and friend. And ideally best friend…..

I would have thought treating your partner better than your best friend would have been a given. This means not interfering, respecting their privacy, treating them like independent grown-ups. You only have to look around to see couples who treat each other like small children, nagging, scolding, arguing, criticizing, nit-picking. They wouldn’t do it with their friends, so why do they do it with the one person who is supposed to mean heaven and earth to them?”

Rule 65: Contentment is what you hope for after the elation has worn off

“…..because most of us want to fall madly head-over-heels in love. Big chemistry - fireworks, butterflies, unbelievable feelings. It’s brilliant. It’s extreme. But that intensity can’t and won’t last. You have to go back to reality sometime. You have to get on with your life. No one can live at that intensity, that lofty altitude all the time. Contentment is what you hope for after the elation has worn off and you settle back into a relaxed and happy simplicity. In fact, contentment is the worthier aim, because it lasts.”

Rule 67: If you are going to be a friend, be a good friend

“Being a real friend is a tremendous responsibility. You have to be loyal, honest (but not too honest), sincere, reliable, dependable, friendly (stands to reason really), pleasant, open, sociable, responsive, welcoming and gracious. You also have to be forgiving at times, be prepared to offer help, support and sympathy. Someone once said that a real friend is someone you can be having a conversation with as they get on a plane, you don’t see them for ten years and when they arrive back they carry on the conversation as they get off from the plane like a moment hasn’t passed. That’s exactly how it is between good friends.”

Rule 68: Never be too busy for loved ones

“No matter how busy your life is - and hopefully these rules will eliminate some stress and free up some time - you have to make time. You have to make quality time for all those around you to whom you make a difference. Those that love you get repaid in time - it’s a fair exchange. They love you and you give them something of yourself, something precious. Yep, your time and attention. And you do this willingly, not as a chore. You do this with dedication and commitment and wholehearted enthusiasm - or you don’t do it at all. So when the phone rings and it’s your mum, your grandmother, your lover or your old friend but you are really busy doing something , don’t keep them on the phone making ‘uh huh” noises; either put everything down and give them your full attention, or ask if you can call them back later - and make sure you do. One day they might not be there - and then you will so desperately wish you’d actually listened. But then it’ll be too late. So make time for the people who matter - today.”

We all have our own rules in life. We brush our teeth before we go to bed. We don’t eat two hours before we sleep. We don’t eat too much junk food because they are unhealthy. We all have something set in our life. Sometimes, we do forget the people around us. We always have our own priorities to do our own things, but these rules keep us remembering those who care and love us. We can’t forget them. They love us. We love them in return. What you will find in these rules is good old-fashioned common sense. There is nothing here you don’t already know. This book isn’t a revelation, it’s a reminder. It reminds us the Rules of Life are universal, obvious, simple. Do them, they work. I truly believe. It’s the way to learn how to live to the full.

Personally, when I go to sleep at night, I like to do a quick recap of my day and then, hopefully, I can say to myself “Yes, good day, did OK”, and feel satisfied with what I have done, rather than feeling regretful and dissatisfied with my actions and life. I want to be kind to people rather than hurting them. I love the one who I truly love with wholehearted. I love to see my love ones being happy and pleased with their life. Life is short, seize your day and cherish those who love and care about you. Don’t give yourself a chance to feel regretful.