Sunday, June 01, 2008

The Third Anniversary...我的部落格三周年....ブログの三周年....

Above: A Photo from my Childhood; a primary school trip to the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force Base) in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia, circa pre-1995...i love the blk and white photo but i dun know y its not in colour cos i'm sure they had colour photos by the mid-90s!! But i love the black and white feel, feels like a photo from the 50s or 60s, right??

Last month, May, marked the Third Anniversary of this blog...i missed out on posting on my 2nd anniversary so i thought i wouldn't miss out this time!!

Time flies quickly by, i've experienced alot and changed alot in that time and so has my blog...in the beginning, I didn't write much personal stuff or anything much about my life...then I started to include more things on my life and became more frank in giving my opinions on issues,etc as I've always wanted to present a good image of myself online and censor alot of what information i think i should and can share with readers, and what i would rather leave out...entering the second year, I posted my first sad personal post and since then, have posted a handful more only...I've also added an abstract profile pic of myself as well as a class photo from my childhood primary school days as well , a revelation quite groundbreaking in my opinion..I will however still keep my private life and any downside of my life out of this blog but I shall continue to allow the rare one or two posts in the future as i've done in the past years...cos i know readers ( and i know as a reader, i do) want to read about the real life of bloggers and enjoy frank and personal anecdotes of their life and do not wanna just read polished up images in blogs...so i shall continue to balance the need to set boundaries on my private life and what i can share with fellow readers as well as reveal the rare post or two which i feel my readers should know n should be able to share with me..


Also, I've changed the format and look of my blog in celebration of the third year anniversary and as you can see, the blog looks distinctively different now, and has had an extensive update and upgrading of functions, designs, and pictures, including a new header. I thought the blog needed a much-needed upgrade on functions as well as a whole-new look after 3 years of looking pretty much the same and hope readers like the new look!:)


I shall continue to upgrade and tinker with my blog for the next weeks to improve on it and will also be adding links to blogs, and other sites i visit or find useful (when i changed and upgraded my blog, all the previous blog/site links were deleted) in the coming wks...


Lastly, like I did on the occasion of my blog's 1st Anniv. please feel free to leave a comment with your email address or blog link if you would like to know me on a personal level or would like to have email correspondence with me. Like on my 1st anniv., I will be very willing to meet, email, and get to know my readers so do leave me a comment stating ur wish, dun worry, i shall delete all contact details when i copy them down (and if u own a blog, all u need is to direct me to ur blog email address!!) I only do this once a yr cos usually i dun correspond on a private level with readers/bloggers unless I email them directly cos i wanna know them or also read their blogs, or on an ad hoc basis at my discretion. And cos i missed out on my 2nd anniv. post, this is the first open invitation to all (bloggers, readers, passerbys) whom i shall reply ALL, in 2years...so grab the chance, or you'll have to wait another yr or 2!!!! I'd love to hear from you.:):)


I hope my blog life will have many more years to come...here's to Chinese Chic..!:)


Postscript: Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 has opened in Sydney!!! ( Finally! It opened 3 wks ago) I went to try it out this Fri night and boy was it packed!!! U wouldn't believe it! Cos i didn't make a booking (despite my fren asking me to cos i didnt think it'd be that popular) we had to wait 1 1/2 hrs for a table for 3 and it was still sharing with other ppl! I know, 1 1/2 hrs!! Thankfully my friend went first and got a waiting ticket and the food more than made up for it....gosh, i'll definitely be having Din Tai Fung like at least once a month now!! It's at World Sq second level, opens 7 days dinner time 5 30pm-9pm or 9 30pm depending on weekdays or fri/sat night. It was full of Asians/Chinese cos its on the 2nd level and not in the busy area n white aussies prob dun know how famous it is..we even spotted a HK famous director with his entourage eating there, talking with the owner of the Sydney branch..he is 高志森, Ko Chi-Sum, anyone heard of him?? food pics at my online photo album!!


Post-Postscript: I was also invited by my reader, aimlesswanderer, to go rock-climbing at St Leonards on Sunday (gosh!...i spent so much this week, din tai fung, karaoke, rock-climbing, lunch at italian place after rock-climbing...must save now..haha)..I had a great time and would like to thank him for the invitation, i just hope i didn't do too badly!! I enjoyed myself tons n am looking forward to going with him again in the next few mths time....he also bumped into a friend's friend of his at the rock-climbing place, and that friend brought along another friend, and boy, was he cute!! Hehehe..so i guess that was a bonus of this rock-climbing experience, there was even one time when we were standing right beside each other and he was so friendly (he didn't know me) started a (albeit v. short) conversation on how it wasn't tiring holding on the ropes and then later agreeing with me that it indeed was! hahaha...i was hoping he'd talk to me given that he knows his fren knows aimlesswanderer and he sure did, he was cute...yes, aimlesswanderer, i didn't mention this to u at the rock-climbing thing cos i didn't wanna freak you out, believe me, i was concentrating then , i wasn't looking at guys, just that friend's friend's friend of yours...haha, what was his name again?? gosh, he was super cute ( i think he's aussie chinese??), had a good body, and a nice, friendly personality:)

17 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
hcpen said...

mcls: ok, i will if i do:)

Anonymous said...

please delete my earlier comment as promised then

Anonymous said...

First, why the hell does the RAAF have a base in Malaysia? It's not like we have enough aircraft to spread around like the yanks. And the Malay Emergency was ages ago.

Today was the first day that my climbing related aches and pains have subsided. I think I was perhaps a bit over ambitious doing that overhanging climb after such a long break! You did well, with a bit more experience your technique and climbing muscles will develop. You don't seem like you do or enjoy much physical activity, and that kinda shows, but perhaps you can overcome that in time.

Hmm, so you were ogling the guys there. You really should look at the climber you are belaying at least, say, half the time, as their progress affects how you belay. On difficult climbs you should be paying close attention. Sadly there were alot more guys that girls there (as usual, unfortunately), so it was alot easier for you! His name is apparently Chris. Sorry I neglected to introduce you.

hcpen said...

aimlesswanderer: I do like exercise!!!!! I really enjoyed the rock-climbing experience, truely:) And yeah, it started to ache, but surprisingly, it wasn't that bad despite me being so thin and i recovered within 3 days. And i'm sorry about the belaying stuff, i was NOT looking at guys, i was looking at you BUT i didn't know how to control the speed so its a technique problem to master...i also assumed if u slipped it meant i had to put you down but OBVIOUSLY not..so i'll learn, it takes time:)
And lastly, if fine, no need to introduce, haha, he was cute Chris...yeah, not alot of ladies there unfortunately (for you)..or they're all too old!

hcpen said...

mcls: Thanks for the reminder, I've deleted ur earlier comment already.

Maddy said...

How many calories does rock climbing consume? is it more exhausting than a marathon or something and what kind of equipment did you people use?

sorry just out of inquisitiveness, i know this entry is unrelated.k

Anonymous said...

hcpen: You might, but the impression you give is that you are unfamiliar with it, and somewhat out of your comfort zone. I am glad you liked it, but in a few months any muscle you built up will all have leeched away! Though you should remember some technique. I don't think being skinny has anything to do with recovery time, it's how much you used your muscles. The more you used them the longer they will be sore.

Yeah, you will get better with more experience. I was annoyed because I should have told you, and because I was struggling with the climb. The belaying technique they teach you is simpler but it has its drawbacks. The way I do it you can tell if there is slack to take up, while you can't with both hands on the tail.

Yes, sadly they were either way too young or too old.

Maddy, I had a quick check and supposedly you burn about 770 calories an hour, equivalent to just over 1 big mac with cheese. You get tired very quickly, especially since you are using muscles which normally don't get used at all. If you go to an indoor climbing place they will have equipment you can hire and can show you what to do.

hcpen said...

maddy: ur question has been answered by aimlesswanderer.

hcpen said...

aimlesswanderer: nope, rockclimbing is new to me so it hasn't anything to do with exercising, its something anyone, incl. those whom do regular sports, may not enjoy or get used to.
The belaying they teach is indeed abit difficult (to know the climber's intentions i mean):)

Anonymous said...

Hope you now have a better understanding of the complicated monster that is the Australian tax system!

hcpen said...

aimlesswanderer: Nope, thanks for reminding me, i gotta ask some friends about it:) hey, u know where we could play paintball in sydney? cos i'm feeling like paintball recently but dun know where its available in syd:)

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, the alarming excitement of the tax system, you know you need it.

Well, the places are all on the outskirts or outside of sydney. What, you have an urge to run around with a gun and shoot paintballs at people? Google "paintball sydney".

There are actually laser versions of it, and the ranges are much longer. They sound awesome. You can also have different types of 'guns' too.

Wooby 无比(膏) said...

還記得我嗎?
跟你说哦,今天我在网站打我的中文名字,
竟然出现了你的名字。
突然唤起早前跟你的回忆~

hcpen said...

aimlesswanderer: Hi, thanks for the info, we should go there together sometime! also,hey, i need ur help for something, i'll call u sometime this weekend.:)

ooby: Hi;)好久沒見到你了呢﹐我當然還記得你。。過得好嗎?
這麼巧?!難道你和我的名字有如此相似嗎?在哪個網站又如何又找到回我的部落格的?很高興又見到你在我這裡留了痕跡﹐希望能常常來逛逛唷:)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you gonna organise a group of victims, err, participants?

Heh, wasserproblem? There are some things I can help you with, and some things I can't.

hcpen said...

aimlesswanderer: sorry i haven't called yet...hahaha....been busy, call soon!:)