Sunday, April 13, 2008
溜冰阿叔 - cool skating old man
It has been a while since I posted on here. Today after eating lunch with some friends at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong (Hong Kong) I saw this cool old man skating, I filmed it on my camera and posted it on youtube, very entertaining!
posted by dean-dzai at 11:16 PM
0 comments
0 comments
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Disappointed but hopeful
Chinese University of Hong Kong where Reese has been studying has an immersion component to it where she travels to an English speaking Country for exchange. The options at first were England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She received her first preference which was Melbourne Australia, so excited I found the cheapest airfare I could to go along with her, for her the Government subsidise a lot of her trip which helps a lot. I made arrangements and booked my flight, so very excited.
Then the disappointment came, the University arranged in Melbourne rose it's prices amazingly high for non-essential tourist trips around the state and had not organised the home-stay accommodation, therefore the students were asked if they would like to pay the excessively high price or go to New Zealand. Of course everyone chose New Zealand except three (including Reese) who had friends or family there in Melbourne - disappointed, and especially so because I have booked my flight to Melbourne already.
On the positive side Reese's return trip from Auckland to Hong Kong has been arranged so that it is via Melbourne, with a stop off which is currently until the 9th of January. She arrives in Melbourne on the 15th of December so therefore we get to see my family, friend's, Church's, and the Belgrave Heights Christmas Convention which I am particularly excited about. Our expectation for this Winter holiday period (in Hong Kong, summer in Australia) is that it would go until late January like CityU where Reese studied prior to Chinese University. The problem is that I have rearranged my booking already until the 25th of January to find that Reese's course starts back on the 8th of January - yet more disappointment. My travel agent is going to hate me with all the rearranging of flight schedules, but I am hopeful of the time we will have in Melbourne together.
Then the disappointment came, the University arranged in Melbourne rose it's prices amazingly high for non-essential tourist trips around the state and had not organised the home-stay accommodation, therefore the students were asked if they would like to pay the excessively high price or go to New Zealand. Of course everyone chose New Zealand except three (including Reese) who had friends or family there in Melbourne - disappointed, and especially so because I have booked my flight to Melbourne already.
On the positive side Reese's return trip from Auckland to Hong Kong has been arranged so that it is via Melbourne, with a stop off which is currently until the 9th of January. She arrives in Melbourne on the 15th of December so therefore we get to see my family, friend's, Church's, and the Belgrave Heights Christmas Convention which I am particularly excited about. Our expectation for this Winter holiday period (in Hong Kong, summer in Australia) is that it would go until late January like CityU where Reese studied prior to Chinese University. The problem is that I have rearranged my booking already until the 25th of January to find that Reese's course starts back on the 8th of January - yet more disappointment. My travel agent is going to hate me with all the rearranging of flight schedules, but I am hopeful of the time we will have in Melbourne together.
posted by dean-dzai at 1:11 PM
2 comments
2 comments
Monday, October 8, 2007
eChannel, Hong Kong Immigration is the coolest
As an Australian who travels through borders a little I am very appreciative of the hi-tech city which is Hong Kong. I was first impressed with my Australian passport that it had a chip inside it to make processing quick and easy in Australia (and I am sure other Countries which also implement this technology).
Hong Kong has gone one step further issuing a card and using finger the finger print of the card owner to completely skip the need for a worker to process my passport. As an Australian I would just like to blog about how cool I think this is. This card is more then just for Immigration, it is used for a general ID, if you want any service just about in Hong Kong, also when you work you need this card.
On my card I find it a nice touch that I get my official Chinese name printed on it, it has been a kind of official feeling about my new Chinese name - this card was the first time I saw it printed on anything official. In Australia there has been talk of an Australia card but criticism has prevented it from happening, I know Australia isn't a Nation with borders we use all the time like is the situation in Hong Kong, however I give thumbs up for the usefulness of this form of ID.
Labels: Chinese Culture, Dean, Life
posted by dean-dzai at 4:28 PM
1 comments
1 comments
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Elvis (would you believe)
I often sing love songs to Reese, she feels so special and it has been something I have done ever since we first started dating. Sometimes we change the lyrics and make the love song slightly funny. Well last night Reese discovered my voice is the perfect depth to sing Elvis *haha*, so she has been getting me to sing Elvis to her (the song in the YouTube video is the main one).
Well, today we traveled to WanChai on a quest. One point during the day Reese asked me to sing her Elvis again (haha), so I sang for her. Another white guy was walking past, I didn't notice but Reese did as he gave me a very strange look. This entertained Reese all day.
At the Vietnamese consulate the guy who worked there Reese found very amusing, I thought so however I am used to Vietnamese people from having some Vietnamese friends in Melbourne. For me the most interesting place I have been to is Bangladesh Airways in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong. Soo odd.
So now, Reese wants to record me singing Elvis - we will have to see what happens *haha*.
posted by dean-dzai at 11:25 PM
3 comments
3 comments
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Dean Is Silly
Dean's Cantonese's getting better, and he can say more than he used to. So he started to get cheeky. The other day I told him to stop being silly. He said "Dim gaai or haai sor tsaai (點解我係傻仔) ?", which literally means "Why am I a silly boy?". However, in Hong Kong setting, that's often interpreted as "Why am I a retard"...
Labels: Chinese Culture, Language, Life, Reese
posted by RitzyReese at 9:49 PM
0 comments
0 comments
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Hallelujah
I don't know how many of my friends know that I like Handel's Messiah. I'm so nerdy about this production that one time I even borrowed a study of it. And of course I did study it. Actually, I don't remember much musical knowledge of the book *hehe* Well, that's not important. I like Handel's Messiah mainly because of the message it carries (in the lyrics).
Tonight I played it in the computer room while Dean was away. I knew Dean wasn't a big fan of classical music. But I didn't expect he'd come back so quickly... Anyway, he made a bit fun of the song. Hmm... I can't blame him, as it was the famous chorus - Hallelujah!
Most people have funny impression of this beautiful chorus. I think it's the media. This song's always used in sarcastic scenes on television or in movies. It's really a shame...
Tonight I played it in the computer room while Dean was away. I knew Dean wasn't a big fan of classical music. But I didn't expect he'd come back so quickly... Anyway, he made a bit fun of the song. Hmm... I can't blame him, as it was the famous chorus - Hallelujah!
Most people have funny impression of this beautiful chorus. I think it's the media. This song's always used in sarcastic scenes on television or in movies. It's really a shame...
posted by RitzyReese at 11:54 PM
4 comments
4 comments
Friday, July 6, 2007
10th Anniversary of the Special Administrated Region of Hong Kong
Original link in YouTube.
1997, July 1st HONG KONG was repatriated from England back to China. July 1st 2007 was the 10th Anniversary to celebrate this event which lead to the production of the above video. At the border going into Hong Kong today I received "special benefits", many of them I receive special price if my birthday is the 1st of July or I was born in 1997 - hm, 30th of June is pretty close to the 1st of July, I wish they would take that.
Train, bus, Airport, my estate, this song has been played everywhere. I have it in my head quite often although my personal grasp on Cantonese is poor. So funny, a friend of mine in Shenzhen (China) thinks it is a brain washing trick - haha, I never thought of that although I will tell you I am realising how powerful music is, this song is in my head quite often.
Pray for the leaders of Hong Kong and China that the next 10 years be as blessed as the last.
Labels: Chinese Culture, Dean, Music
posted by dean-dzai at 8:17 PM
0 comments
0 comments
