Happy Halloween Day 2008!!

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween Day!! Enjoy the Festive...

Love,

James & Esther, 31st October 2008, Beijing, China

SNEAK PREVIEW: 32262008 Studio Photo Album....

Preview of the 32262008 Studio Photo Album taken on the 30th September 2008... It is currently under editing, here are some of the sneak preview...

Coming soon...
The Full version of 32262008 Album

Over 300 Blog Viewers

It's over 300 blog viewers since the launch of the my blog on the 6th October 2008 (378 blog viewers as at 8:35pm, 28th October 2008) .

Let's keep the communication platform moving....

To both my dearest friends Roy Chin (who is in Kota Kinabalu) and Foo CT (who is in Auckland),

Happy Birthday and may your coming days be filled with Love, Health and goodwill.... Enjoy your 31st Birthday!! I am giving one birthday card to each of you as both of you celebrating your birthday on the same day... so just pick whichever you like, heeheehee...

With Love,

James & Esther

28th October 2008, Beijing, China

Celebrating Over 200 Blog Visitors

As at today, this blog is viewed by over 200 blog visitors since 7th October 2008...

cute puppy! Will keep updating the blog as frequent as possible...


All the very best to you guys....

Deepavali, The Festive of Lights Greeting

Wishing all my Indian and Hindu Friends

a Blessed and Healthy Deepavali!!

May the festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness.

Love,

James & Esther

27th October 2008

Beijing, China

NEWS: Penganugerahan Datuk Sheila Majid 《希拉馬吉被封为拿督》 Sheila Majid is now DATUK

(Photo 1, 2 & 3) Datuk Sheila Majid with husband Acis at the Award Ceremony held at the Pahang's State Palace.

(Photo 4) Datuk Sheila Majid and me at the JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur, 22nd April 2004.

(Photo 5) During the opening of 1Borneo Mall Kota Kinabalu, 9th June 2008.

Pekan, Malaysia, 24 Oktober 2008 – Ratu jazz, Datuk Sheila Majid yang menjadi artis tempatan tunggal menerima gelaran Datuk daripada Sultan Pahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah hari ini menyifatkan anugerah itu sebagai penghargaan kepadanya setelah lebih 20 tahun bergiat dalam industri seni tanah air. Sheila atau nama sebenarnya Shaheila Abdul Majid, 43, dianugerahi Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Mulia - Peringkat Kedua Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang (DIMP) yang membawa gelaran Datuk. Beliau mengakui terkejut ketika dimaklumkan mengenai penerimaan anugerah itu, namun amat berbesar hati dengan penghargaan yang dikurniakan Sultan Ahmad Shah itu. ‘‘Saya sangat bersyukur dengan anugerah yang diberikan, ia adalah satu penghargaan kepada kerja-kerja yang saya lakukan, bakat saya dan mungkin sumbangan saya kepada negara,” katanya ketika ditemui selepas majlis tersebut.

我崇拜的馬來西亞歌後希拉馬吉昨日被大馬政府封爲拿督了！

My No. 1 idol, Malaysian Top Singer Sheila Majid is now officially known as Datuk Sheila Majid!

Congratulation Sheila! 恭喜！Tahniah Sheila!!

Dinner with Esther, Simon & Karen @ Financial Street

As planned since last week, we (Esther, Simon and newly met Karen) had a wonderful dinner the Japanese restaurant located at the Financial Street, Beijing. After the dinner, we went to the nearby coffee house where I bumped into another ex ex colleague Johnny from The Westin Beijing, Financial Street. (Johnny and I went to Xi'an trip together in the late 2006). He called my name when i passed by but i didn't notice but i knew a guy was yelling something which i didn't care at all. The his friends tried to call me again with louder voices (hahaha) and when i turned around, I was shocked to see him. Johnny thought I forgot his name but I didn't. What a pleasant evening to have met few former colleagues from different firms... hahaha

Ernst & Young Hua Ming, Beijing

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from my former colleague from The Legation Quarter Beijing... (she is leaving LQ too in 2 weeks) asking for my other mobile phone numbers. She said she couldn't get hold with me. She was telling me that she has referred me to Ernst & Young Beijing and they are trying to contact me...... 10 minutes later, the HR from E&Y called me up and told me that they are looking for a Learning Programme Manager (something like Training Manager) and interested to know me more. We had about 20 minutes of discussion to understand more on the offer and job roles. They need a more detailed CV from me which I am doing it now as my soft copies are unable to access since my external hard drive is not functioning well... Let's see what will happen next with this one....

MOVIE REVIEW: Painted Skin 《画皮》

Watched the movie Painted Skin 《画皮》on the evening of 22nd October 2008 together with Esther...

Nothing really that special, the very typical huge budget "Chinese" ancient movie with lots of kung fu and actions. The story line is just ordinary... Nevertheless, I love the costume design... Personally, I would give it overall a 3.5 out of 5 Stars...

PERSONAL: I Miss my Car...!!!

(left) I miss my 2nd car, Proton Perdana 2.0L V6 (Brown Mica Metalic Colour) bought in March 2004............

(right) My 1st car, Proton Wira 1.5 Automatic (Silver Colour) bought in the year 2000

I feel so crippled out of a sudden... may be it's because I still haven't got used to the life with a vehicle in Beijing. Well, life here basically is about walk walk walk and walk. The moment I step out from my apartment, I have to use my bare feet, walk to the subway, walk to the main road to catch a taxi, walk to the nearby supermarket, so it's walk walk walk... Life back in Malaysia, especially in KK is about driving. the moment I step out from my house door, I immediately get into a car and drive to my destination. even if it's a 10 mintues walk of distance, we still drive... and basically, almost everyone owns a car...

hahaha... photo taken with siemee in front of my Perdana, 21st August 2004 (at the Wedding Ceremony of Georgina Luk and Gerald, St Simon's Chapel, Likas)

PERSONAL: What A Weird Dream (Nightmare) !!!!!?????

What a dream (nightmare) !!!??? I had a weird weird dream during last night...

In my dream, I was attending a funeral! A State funeral of Wen Jia Bao, the Chinese Prime Minister... and I was standing outside the main hall waiting... then, there goes an extra-ordinary HUGE coffin carried by a few people. Worried that they were unable to carry it (because it was really huge!!!), they turned back and re-adjust. There were many staircases to go down from the hall (the hall was situated on top), out of the sudden, they went rushing not through the steps but instead, they ran through the middle path where there were not steps... but the coffin went down safely....

Then... I woke up... heeheehee... Weird... Weird...

PERSONAL: Celebrating 100th Visitors!!!!

Celebrating 100th visitors!!! (since the launch of this blog on the 6th October 2008). Thank you for having the interests... Will keep the communication floor flows.... and check out for the latest updates!!

Wishing everyone a healthy and shining days ahead!!!!

PERSONAL: Tan Yunfung, Welcome Back to Beijing...!!!

Hey Yunfung, Welcome back to Beijing after a long holiday in Malaysia.... Let's get together with Esther and my brother Ellis this weekend...

Have a productive and great success in the coming semesters...



PS: This photo was taken in 2007

NEWS: 22y/o Boy Brutally Murdered by Harbin Police Over a Parking Lot

The incident happened on the evening (at around 10pm) of 11th October 2008 at around 10pm, where 6 Harbin City police officers and 4 youths were fighting over a parking lot. One of the youths named Lin Song Ling (林松岭) aged 22, a freshly graduate from university were brutally beaten up by the 6 police officers and was found dead later on. All 6 police officers denied the charges. The incident happened in front of a famouse bac named BOX in Harbin. It was reported that the incident happened right before both parties went into the bar. This news startled many people and it is being debated over the TV and blogs and websites. Some supported the police by accussing the youth as gengster and some are against the police by saying they have no right at all to end one's life.

May his soul rest in peace!!

PERSONAL: From Beijing 2008 to London 2012...

Photo 1 & 2: The Olympic Host City, Beijing 2008 >>>>> Photo 3 & 4: The Olympic Host City, London 2012

The Journey…

I arrived in Hong Kong from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on the 21st January 2005. Spent about a week there before heading to Beijing by express train (24 hours route). At around 4pm on the 28th January 2005, me and Ellis arrived at the Beijing Railway West Station. While were on the train, we passed by many suburbs and villages, we looked through the windows from the cabin, and we were shocked and scared to the outside scenes with all the farmers, farm houses, the dirt and dust, dry and freezing at neither of us had been to this city - Beijing... Instantly, we looked at each other and start wondering, we both know what we were thinking, my gosh! How are we going to survive in this kind of environment...!!??We kept quiet for a long time and start thinking that it will be better in the city since the Beijing was the Olympic host in 2008... As we are almost approaching the station Beijing Railway West Station, once again i tried to call up Samuel Wu, when both of us never met before. He was suppose to pick us up as we had no idea how to move around and no place to stay in Beijing.Samuel was a friend of my Malaysia high school and New Zealand mate, Roy. It was Roy whom i was chaating with one night back in Malaysia that he immediately responded that he has a China Chinese friend who is residing in Beijing after they graduated from England. I then asked Roy if he would do me a favour to call Samuel and tell him the situation and see if he would be able to host for me and Ellis for a while before we could find a place of our own... So everything was settled and we felt a slight relief knowing that someone will come and pick us up when we arrive...

The Meeting...

At around 4.30pm on the 28th January 2004, we arrived at the Beijing Railway West Station with our 3 or 4 huge luggages. As I was collecting my luggages, someone came to approach me and walla.... he introduced himslef as Samuel... yet until now i wonder how he knew that I was James!!?? We took 2 seperate taxis as we had too many luggages... as we were walking towards his flat, I was praying and hoping that it would be a clean and decent place to stay although it was only for a short period of time... As we entered to his flat, to our surprise it was fabulous, clean and modernly designed apartment with 120 square meter and 2 rooms. Samuel let us have the bigger room (it's really huge) with a balcony where we could see part of the city view...

Time Flies so quickly and quietly without realising, it will be my 4th year in China this coming 28th January 2009!

Within these 4 years living and working in China, I have visited to many cities and suburbs, including the Manzhouli City (2km to the border of Russia), Hailar City in Inner Mongolia, Harbin City in Heilongjiang Province, Changchun & Jilin City in Jilin Province, Mt. Ever White and Lake of Heaven (Changbaishan) border of North Korea, Qinghuangdao (Island), Qingdongling (Emperor's Tomb of Qing Dynasty) in Hebei Province, Tangshan City in Hebei Province, Ming's Tom of the Emperial (on the way to Badaling Great Wall), The Great Wall Badaling Station, Shenzhen, HK, Macau, Xi'an City in Shanxi Province, Terracota in Shanxi, and the list goes on…

Professional Involvements… I have spent my late 20's and early 30's in China... I have worked with Zhuozhan Days Hotel in Changchun City and Shangri-La Hotel Beijing as In-House English Training Specialist in 2006 while involved with the 3 Pre-opening Teams in the Hospitality arena. The first one was with The Westin Beijing, Financial Street (Pre-opening Training and post opening Marketing Communication). This was followed by the appontment of Resident Manager at Manzhouli Holiday International Hotel and the lastest pre-opening was with Legation Quarter Beijing where I was commissioned as the Training Manager.LIFE in Beijing is very much different from where I grew up and while I was studying in New Zealand.

Eventhough I am Sino-Kadazan (my daddy is a Chinese and my mommy is Kadazandusun, one of the local minority ethnic group in Malaysia), culture is very different. I am so surprise that I had the cultural shock even in the Chinese city. I grew up in an environment where Malay, Chinese, Indian and ther minority ethnic mixed and mingled around. That's how Malaysian way of living. But China, particularly in Beijing - it's a totally different environment and mentality.

People, people, people everywhere! My first and virgin experience was taking a bus (Samuel actually brought me and Ellis to take a bus just to have a feel of taking a bus in China). The whole bus was packed. pack like a sardin cane. not just simply pack but it's DAMN packed. virtually everyone was sticking to each other and sometimes there isn't even a space for you to put your leg on the floor, now you can imagine when i say 'pack', it really means pack! I often told that this kind of scenerio can only be seen in Malaysia when there is a war, where everyone is rushing to save their life!

People stepping your foot, bumped on your shoulders or back or your belongings without saying sorry or excuse is a norm! Can you believe it? I barely can step on someone's foot or bumped to someone's shoulder or back from where i grew up. Well at least i would say sorry even if i did. Here, never and don't expect for people to say sorry... spitting in public is another issue, i even saw people spitting in the elevator, on the carpeted floor in the hotel, in the subway.

Queuing up is another issue, not to mention if they know what is line up. Basically when there is line up, anywhere be it in the bank or paying at the cashiers counter at the supermarket, everyone is lining up like sticking to your back! Most of the case the distance is not even up to 5cm. The moment you leave a tiny winny space, they will be someone to cut the queue.

During festive season, the main dish for the Northern culture of China is to have Dumplings. All sort of dumplings, beef, vegetables, seafood all kinds of variety but in Dumplings (Shui Jiao). So the whole table will be seafood dumplings, vegetable dumplings, beef dumplings, pork dumplings and dumplings. From dish one to dish 10 = dumplings.

They don't have the culture of giving out red-packet or "Ang Paw" (hong bao) to anyone who visited your house during the Chinese New Year or they would normally call it Spring Festival (Chun Jie). Not like in Malaysia where all married couple would be giving out the red packed with $$$ inside to the younger ones... To my surprise, there isn't any Lion Dance or Dragon Dance in Beijing and the rest of the Northern Part of China. What they normally do during the whole week of Chinese New Year's Holiday is to visit the "Fun Fair" alike (Miao Hui) where lots of small stalls selling food and games and other souvenirs. I have never seen even one Lion Dance or Dragon Dance in Beijing during the previous 3 Chinese New Years.

(To be continued......)

PERSONAL: Prison Break Season 4

Continued with the Prison Break Season 4 this Autumn 2008, just completed downloading episode 8, will watch it during the weekend and looking forward for the next episode to be downloaded from the internet.....
Let's find out how they will manage to gather all the scyllas...

Imelda Marcos: The hilarious world of the icon of excess!!!

"I don't have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.”

“Win or lose, we go shopping after the election.”

“I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.”
“People say I'm extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?”
“If you know how rich you are, you are not rich. But me, I am not aware of the extent of my wealth. That's how rich we are.”

“I think that's a very kinky issue with the panties and bras. That's the thing that they will display: shoes, panties and bras.”

“Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars.”

“They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt? God! I would not look like this if I am corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down on my system.”

“Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that the poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums.”

“I was born ostentatious. They will list my name in the dictionary someday. They will use 'Imeldific' to mean ostentatious extravagance.”

“I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness.”

“I get so tired listening to one million dollars here, one million dollars there, it's so petty.”

“God is love. I have loved. Therefore, I will go to heaven.”

“We practically own everything in the Philippines.”

“I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am.”

“It's the rich you can terrorize. The poor have nothing to lose.”

“My husband does not like me to give interviews because I say too much. No talk, no trouble.”

“Continuous persecution of widows and orphans is a crime. Even the Bible says there is a specific place in hell for those who oppress widows.”

NEWS: Corazon Aquino: Diagnosed Cancer

There' a health crisis for the woman who led the "people power" revolt in the Philippines that ousted Ferdinand Marcos. Corazon Aquino's daughter choked back tears as she announced on television that her mother has colon cancer. The 75-year-old former president went in for tests after suffering from high blood pressure, difficulty breathing and fever during the Christmas and New Year holidays and also began losing weight.

Corazon Aquino took over as Marcos' main challenger after her opposition leader-husband was gunned down at Manila's airport in 1983. Marcos won an election amid charges of massive vote fraud. Aquino was later swept into power after the military brass turned against Marcos. Usually dressed in her trademark yellow in public, Aquino has remained active in social and political causes. Most recently, she has been attending rallies calling for the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo.

Get Well Soon, Corazon!!

Newly Launched Logo & Studio Photo Album 32262008

The newly designed logo of our commitments, in-conjunction with our soon to be released studio photo album 2008 taken in Beijing, the people's republic of China on the 30th September 2008. The photo album entitled 32262008 which will be posted here by the end of Oct 2008....

My New Zippo Lighter 2008

(ZIPPO 2008 年新圣母玛利亚特别版 - model: 24350 )

I have just bought a very unique Zippo lighter... love it so much...

Purple colour with Mother Mary in front, very new and rare collection 2008...

Cocktail time @ The Emperor, Beijing...

Revisited The Emperor (nearby the Forbidden City) with Esther, Rimmax and Yuan Yuan after our dinner. It was quite chilling that night and the bar staff were very attentive and thoughtful that they provided us with small muffler/blanket to cover our knees...

From the roof top open space, can over see the Forbidden City and the Mountain Jing (Jing Shan).... love the concept of the hotel with different colour on each floor, very youthful and vibrant...

Happy Birthday to my only sister Irene!!

To my dearest sister Irene who is in Singapore:

May your Birthday be blessed with health and happiness!!!

Stay young!!!

XXX (muackkk!!),

James & Esther

8th October 2008, Beijing

National Historical Building

About to go in for dinner...
Interesting about this small restaurant is, the building was formerly the French Post Office during the Ming Dynasty...

They still remain the cabinets in the private function rooms... hmmmm, imagine you are having dinner in the former post office of France during the Ming Dynasty... how fascinating!!!

Beijing Welcomes You 2008

One of the small signs saying: Beijing Welcomes You 2008 in-conjunction with the 29th Olympic Games hosted by Beijing City (along Qianmen East Main Street)...

Lunch Break with Legation Quarter's Colleagues

Lunch Break with Simon, Kelly and Lilian... the Legation Quarter HR Team, August 2008...

Yumca + Dinner

Sakura Bar...

Trying out at the Sakura Bar nearby Silk Market at Yong An Li (Beijing), 26th July 2008.

Casual Dinner...

Trying out the various local and typical Beijing food with Esther, Ellis and YH...

Farewell Dinner for Liu Shuai... 2008

Having a farewell dinner at Jiu Tou Niao Restaurant located at Golden Resources Shopping Mall for Liu Shuai who is going back to Anhui...

Outing with LQ colleagues 2008...

An evening with Rimmax and Simon... First to the Gui Street (Gui Jie) tying out the Beijing local intestines.... followed by Hot Pot at the Resaurant of Ministry of Agriculture... and concluded with cocktail......

A Day of Window Shopping and Movie.......

Late Spring in Beijing 2008...

With Esther outside the Yonghegong Lhama Temple, Beijing.....