It had been a long while since I'd taken a real holiday, a true break away (not working and also not thinking about work) from work or school since I started working and then returned to Grad School. I'd never bothered to take a break during Christmas-New Year since I started Grad School. We (my family and I) don't celebrate Christmas either; hence it's either I spent the holidays with my family or I was alone in a foreign country chilling at home, in fact I went in to the lab during the last two Christmas.For the first time ever after I came over to this country (started Grad School), I decided to take some time off from work. It came out as a surprise to my supervisors when I told them I would be away as they expected I would be working hard in the lab when most of the people here in this continent celebrating this festive season with their family and loved ones. Although work's been pretty messy, all I really wanted was to spend the holidays with my Travel Companion and his family.
I must say I had a wondrous holiday. Not that we went anywhere this time. My Travel Companion and I have been jetting off to some places for our past holidays, although those holidays were fun and exciting, I must admit I was feeling a bit exhausted from all those traveling. Thus this time we decided just to have a do-nothing holiday, well at least it came out to be a true R&R holiday for me.
The holiday was splendid though we did nothing. I was literally living like a piggie. I seriously put on weight in the past week. I was so well fed; my Travel Companion's parents are really good cook. I was able to sleep in and woke up whenver I felt like it. Then the moment I appeared in the living room, my Travel Companion's mom had breakfast ready. It was funny that she was constantly making and offering delicious food for me. I spent most of my holidays being a couch potato watching all the HK soap operas with her. I am not exaggerating; I was lying on the couch and watching TV days and nights while my Travel Companion's mom was constantly offering me with food. She's so sweet and nice. And yes I was so spoilt. I had not been so spoilt before, at least it's been awhile. Even when I was at my parents' place for vacation, I was not so spoilt to this extent. Boy, my Travel Companion's sister even made the bed for me. Yes, I know I'm really spoilt.
I felt really rested during the holidays. All my lack of appetite, sleep deprivation and occasion insomnia were all automatically cured instantly. I really kept work minimum and refrained from blogging. I only allowed myself to check my work email once a day. I ended up not doing any work. In fact I brought a folder of papers and a memory stick storing some files that I planned to work during the holidays when my conscience of procrastination surfaced. I did try to read some papers lying on the coach after feeling a bit bored watching the HK soap operas. But that only lasted a couple of minutes. The feeling of not thinking about work was blissful during the holidays.
Since my family do not celebrate Christmas as it is viewed as a religious thing in my country, we are not used to the concept of Christmas gifts. As for myself, I don't usually receive Christmas gifts. The only person I had been receiving Christmas gifts was from my English teacher back in those days and randomly from a friend or two in a particular year, which I did not reciprocate. Well, told you the concept of Christmas gift was not implanted in my culture. However this year, surprise surprise, I received Christmas gifts from my Travel Companion and his family. They were some incredible gifts, not in terms of price or anything creative but some pleasant gifts that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling; a sweety pink scarf from his mother, which will keep me warm, a really cute soft vinyl toy that I like but probably would probably not buy for myself as I was not aware of this toy series, and a compilation of my type of music. Wow. How could she guess my style of music? I feel really bad for not giving them Christmas gifts in return. I was checking out with my Travel Companion what his family members would like to have several times before Christmas; but all he told me was it was not really important to his family to exchange Christmas gifts. I was thinking to chip in for the presents he was getting or already got for his family. But after a second thought, I felt that it was really insecere for doing so. I always think that you want to give a gift that you think a person would like it but not because you are supposed to do so for a certain occasion.
It was an unexpected surprise to receive Christmas gifts from my Travel Companion. Believe it or not, I was not expecting anything from him during this occasion as compared to events like my birthday or some anniversaries. He really scored well this time. Not only he got me something but they were gifts that really made moved my heart. This is the first time that I received a gift that made me cried. It was a book - a collage of our latest trip together that he put them together artistically and sent for printing. The awesome book was a masterpiece of artwork. I didn't know he could be such an artist. While flipping every page very carefully and gently as though it was a fragile baby, I could feel the hardwork and effort in producing this book. He must had spent a lot of time in selecting the pictures (turned out those were my favorite pictures) and arranging them in a meaningful way. I was holding back my tears when I found out he did sacrifice his precious sleeping time staying up late to complete the book.
I thought that was the only gift. Then he opened the drawer and took out a small paper bag. I was not paying attention to what was printed on that special paper bag. He took out a small box and then all I saw was a neclace of a heart shape. All right it was from Tiffany. So before this I did not know what was a big deal about Tiffany. Well, it happens that I am one of those rare XX species who are not too crazy about jewelleries. I have not bought any actual jewelleries for myself before. The necklace I was wearing (before I put on the one from him) was from my sister that she lent it to me to match my dress for a banquet and then in the end decided to give it to me whereas another necklace I was wearing before that one was from my parents; it was a tradition gift that served like a blessing from them when I left home at 17. Back to the necklace from my Travel Companion. I'm not a material girl but geez that was the rare moment he made me feel like a girl. Little did he know that I was actually thinking about getting a necklace for myself lately.
I am glad that I was able to spend the holidays with the special one and his family, who are also speacial to me. Nothing is more worthwhile to spend good times with the person we love. Thank you to my Travel Companion's family for welcoming me as part of their family. I certainly look forward to spend some time with them. Well that was all I wanted to share here. I hope you had a great holiday too. :P
♥ every page of my imagination
5 people traveled to my fantasyland
"You are a high value stock!" A guy was using the stock as an analogy to describe me."Oh thanks. But you know I won't treat you for dinner even if you meant your compliment."
"No, I'm serious. A potential high value stock with its price climbing high."
"Ok, thanks again but I think your wife is the true high value stock."
"Oh you both are."
Great, I was being referred as a stock; should I be flatterred? I know this guy coworker of mine is not known for flattery especially not for that remark. This is because earlier on he was trying to set me up with his younger brother. I gently turned him down. The way he promoted his brother was funny. "He is just a year older than you, I'm sure you guys will have a lot in common and he's a cardiologist." Last Christmas eve, I visited Mr. Nice and family for dinner. On my way home, Mr. Nice walked me to the subway station. During the walk, he said, "You have great charisma. I'm thinking about introducing you to my brother."
Two mothers apparently arranged to be seated at the same table in a wedding banquet. Both started a conversation. As mothers, naturally children will be the starter of the conversation.
Mother A: My eldest son is a lecturer in a prestigious university and my youngest son is an architect.
Mother B: Oh wow. One of my daughters is also doing a PhD. The other is also a Master holder. The younger one is now working in an international firm.
Mother A: Great. Let's arrange a time for the kids to meet up. Do you have your children's emails? Maybe I can pass the addresses to my sons.
Obviously these two mothers are doing some marketing for their kids; trying to trade a stock with potential value. Well, if the kids meet and things go well, then that's so a beautiful thing. But what if, it's not the case? And back to this stock concept. Do you only acquire a high value stock to be your life partner, the so-called soul mate? Personally I really don't think that works. Value to me is nothing. All I emphasize is personality and how well two person really click, the chemistry that we call. It does not matter how capable a guy is. Sure, I tend to admire someone who is intelligent. But when it comes to getting along with someone, someone who can understand you, who cares whether this guy is a professor, a genius or a millionaire? Sure good-looking people tend to capture our glimpse, well at least a glimpse from moi. But what takes further than just a glimpse is not just about a superficial outer appearance. A good personality is the gist. Yet what it differentiate your good friends with that special someone is not just about good personality. I believe all your good friends do possess good personality, if not you would not like to be friends with them. So what is it that is so crucial in making this special someone different than the rest of the people? It is really the chemistry, the clicking feeling. But even that alone is insufficient, the clicking has to continue when understanding, accepting and compromising will have to kick in to keep the chemical reaction going.
It is the same in getting the right pair of jeans. I just can't find a better analogy than this (refer earlier post)Brand or price to me is not in the list of consideration. All I care is whether am I happy with its design/color and comfortableness, and it fits on me. Branded or expensive pairs of jeans may not neccessary be the best or worse still do not look good on ourselves. We are the one who will be wearing the pair of jeans; we have to be happy about it.
Thank you to all my guy friends or to those who think I am a potential high value stock. Just when they are trying to write reviews about this potential high value stock (moi) and predicting who will be the lucky holder of the stock, my Travel Companion has a complete view about this stock.
Me: Hey congratulations for the good purchase of the stock. My guy coworker thinks that you are such a lucky man!
Him: Yeah, now I can sell the high price stock to make some money.
Oiy. Isn't it pathetic to hear such opposing view about high value stock from the buyer? Sigh.
♥ every page of my imagination
1 people traveled to my fantasyland
Sul mare luccia l'astro d'argento,Placida è l'onda, prospero è il vento
Venite all'agile barchetta mia...
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Con questo zeffiro, così soave
Oh! Com'è bello star su la nave!
Su passaggieri, venite via!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
In fra le tende bandir la cena
In una sera così serena!
Chi non domanda, chi non desia?
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Mare sì placido, vento sì caro
Scordar fa i triboli al marinaro,
E va gridando con allegria,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
O dolce Napoli, o suol beato,
Ove sorridere volle il creato
Tu sei l'impero dell'armonia!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Or che tardate? Bella è la sera,
Spira un'auretta fresca e leggera,
Venite all'agile barchetta mia
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
@@@
This song sound familiar; I remembered the chorus, "San-ta--Lu-cia", it was a song I had heard during my childhood. Yet little did I know that it was related to winter only until I came to this country. Lucia day is a celebration in some countries in this continent. If you're interested, go to this site to have a read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Lucia.
Coincidentally our lab also had a christmas table dinner tonight. Christmas table is usually an annual event here in this country. It is meant for bosses to treat their subordinates, thanking them for their hardwork and contribution in the year. Well, we also have this in the Chinese tradition (in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and even in some chinese community in South East Asian countries), mostly for companies/firms. The Chinese call it the "last tooth" (from the direct translation). Typically Chinese bosses will invite their employees for a banquet sometime during the end of the Chinese Lunar calendar, before Chinese New Year. Whether is it the "last tooth" or Christmas table or a dinner/luncheon hosted by the employer, it is one of the few occasions employees look forward to. Well who would complain for having free food and of course good food? But that's still not the most important, what makes it significant is it is a way for the employers to express their gratitude to their employees and also it will be a good time for everyone in the unit to interact.
All right, I've made up my mind now. Just for the sake of the free food, I'll suggest to my boss to have more of this type of event.
♥ every page of my imagination
2 people traveled to my fantasyland
The other night, I was invited to one of my supervisor's house for dinner. Towards the end of the night as we were about to leave, her six-year-old daughter stopped us from leaving the house. She and her friend were writing "love" letters to us, the guests. So we waited in the living room witnessing these little girls to finishing the letter. "I'm done." After announcing to the world that they had composed the letters, she instantaneously sealed the envelopes skillfully by tucking out her tongue to allow her saliva to adhere to the sticky area of the envelope. The next second, she happily handed us a sealed envelope containing our "love" letter. I was giggling there. The special guest for that night, our collaborator visiting from another continent accidentally made a little exclaimation of disgust. I was giggling. It was not something surprising for me since I've seen my supervisor sealing envelopes or flicking pages of papers using similar way. Yes, she must have taught her daughter well huh? No, not really. I think it's more of her daughter learned too much from her mother.My dad is constantly making remarks about us; how that particular action of his eldest daughter or a certain expression of his youngest son look like my mom. My uncle once commented the way I hold a spoon was exactly as my dad. Now since when did we pick up all these from our parents?
Just today, a coworker of mine commented parents who are smokers are more influential to their children in picking up smoking later on. He himself is a smoker; he mentioned how puzzled he was when he observed a family whose parents are heavy smokers who happened to just smoke in front of their kids even when they were young. "The kids will take it as norm and pick up the habit later." Yeah we all learn fast from others, especially kids. I remembered when I was just a little kid, my dad kept emphasizing that smoking is an unhealthy habit. That concept strongly implanted in my mind. No matter how curious I am towards new things, I have never thought about inhaling just that one puff. Dad's words are so powerful to me eh.
With this whole topic brought up, I have a strong feeling that my Travel Companion's parents, either of them if not both must also share the same style in sealing envelopes. Why? Haven't you already figured out why I said so? I was totally shocked when I saw how my Travel Companion sealed envelopes when he was settling some bills. Much to my disgust, I yelled at him. I think I saw a blush of shame crept up his face. But to be fair to his parents, I shall confirm that with them.
♥ every page of my imagination
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
I am itching to do some traveling, especially after watching a few travel documentaries today.Just the thought of going to a foreign place, exploring the area, experiencing its local culture and tasting its local delicacies fills me with zest. You get to learn and experience life through traveling. You get to see a different perspective about life. You get to appreciate others' culture. All these are something we are not able to learn at school or through our education system.
I've met many people from various diverse backgrounds. In general, I do find those who are well-traveled tend to be more open, in particular those who have resided in a different country other than their countriy of origin. After some conversation and interaction with them, I could feel their vision tends to differ from those who have not been away. They seem to be more open to accept a different culture. Recently I was attending a talk, the speaker shared her cultural shock experience in working in another country. According to her, even the way of eating pasta differ in two countries of the same continent. "I did not know the Italians do not eat pasta with knives until I was there. This is so different compared to us."
When you take a bus, have you ever noticed what is the passengers' seating preference? Based on my observation, passengers in Asia tend to choose the aisle seat of two seats, whilst North Europeans will tend to choose the window seat out of the two seats. What about visiting someone's house? Do you take off your shoes or do you going around the house with your out door shoes on? This is something I never even consider until I left home because in my home country, we have to take our shoes off before we enter our house or others'. It is considered rude if you walk in just like that without removing your shoes. In contrary, you do not have to do so say if you are going to visit a Greek's. Well, I did not know that. I was removing my shoes at a Greek friend's place, but found that everyone including that friend of mine were wearing outdoor shoes inside the house. I quickly put my shoes on. Well I did not want to be the odd one in the gang. Another reason was I did not want to dirty my socks. Isn't that obvious duh?
There is definitely so much to learn and see from traveling. At least I get to see another interesting thing of different ways of saying hello. If you are visiting an Asian country, don't give a big hug and especially not a kiss on the cheek to an Asia there as a way of saying hello. This is not something some of us are used to; I have seen some feeling awkward when they first stepped feet in a foreign country especially the West. Oh maybe you do want to see the funny expression of us huh?
♥ every page of my imagination
2 people traveled to my fantasyland
Let me tell you a real life story. Nope. Not a story of mine. But a story about a famous actress in Taiwan and Hong Kong, which was illustrated by the radio DJ."Do you guys know that *insert the actress' name* was once a singer?"
"She was signed up as a singer and produced an album. Yet it was never released with her company then as for some reason her boss did not like her and decided to "freeze" her and her ready to release album. After some struggle, a golden opportunity landed in front of her. She started her acting career. Shortly after that she won the Asian's Best Actress award."
Thanks Mr. DJ for filling me in this story.
We all are grateful to people who've helped us in one way or another. We are thought to be nice and helpful to others too. Yet in this cynical society, there are some who are slightly unkind to us sometimes. Should we be upset and angry about these people? It is difficult not to but we all should try to just ignore them. Take a look at the story of that famous actress Mr. DJ mentioned. If it weren't the unkindness gesture of her boss to her, she would not be searching for a change in her career and hence a glorious achievement now. Not only she is a successful actress, she is also moving up a gear in the singing business now with another company.
So next time, when someone is unkind to us, we should still be thankful to them. You never know that unkind gesture is actually some kind gesture in helping us later on. Thanks for being so unkind to me.
♥ every page of my imagination
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
During these past few months, many people have started asking me the same question again and again. "What are your plans after your degree?" "I'm going to find a rich man and get married." No I was just trying to impress people with my mischievousness. "I don't know. We'll see." is more of my standard answer to them.I have been in a constant debate for the past few months. What do I want to do next? All along I pretty much have a career aspiration, well an ideal career dream. Yet at the same time I am also second guessing my ability in particular I was and still am experiencing moments of frustrations during the process. Am I truly talented in this field? Will I be able to make it all the way? Some were forced to change career after being in the field for more than a decade. Some were changing lab to lab, institution to institution and even country to country. Some has to get their contract renewed every few months. The lack of job security due to limited funding, limited permanent position and also poor or negligible benefits in many positions have prohibited many from continuing the profession.
Some of my peers who think they would be able to continue the journey, especialy those smart and capable ones are already building a good track record of their achievements and performance ie doing great research work, getting their work published in the world's leading and prestigous journal and so forth. Some are even looking at for a high profile lab or whatever is considered as the hot potatos in the medical research field for their postdoctoral positions or for those who are not staying in academia research are preparing their next career move in alternative routes with good prospects. I am not doing any of those. All I was looking for at this stage is to start focusing and overcome all the hindrance I am facing in completing my degree.
I know I had a passion and deep interest in unraveling the mystery behind many human diseases. But dreaming is one fun thing whilst truly able to make it happen is another. Even if I want to continue in pursuing this as my career, there is no way to move forward if there is no job offer or in another words no funding especially this field has become more and more competitive.
I can tell you I will be hearing the question of "What is your plan after this?" more frequent from now on until I grant my degree. My parents are expecting a good job waiting for me. In fact when I told my dad that I probably would be jobless for a while after my degree or I would need to have a career change, he did not sound too impressed. My family thinks I will become filthy rich after this. But that is their misconception. "If you want to get rich, don't do research." I've been hearing this remark countless times from many seniors within this field.
So seriously what will I do next? I don't know. I may not be able to make a career in medical research. I may not be good enough to build a career in this field. But what I know now is when I had to deliver some documents to an office that apparently was located at the Radiology Department, a strong urge was flaming out of my heart when I saw the cancer patients waiting for radiotherapy in the building. At that moment I really wished I could do something to help. My passion was back. I do not care how not talented I am as a scientist. I do not care how incapable I am. But all I care is I want to use my knowledge and learn more to find out more about human diseases and eventually find a cure for those diseases.
I know I am an unskillful dancer in this field, but as Martha Graham said, "Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion." All I care is I want to dance in this field because I want to make some contribution in improving the health of mankind, albeit how little the contribution could be. That is the utmost part of my aim to dance.
♥ every page of my imagination
0 people traveled to my fantasyland
