2010/06/29

Shanghai Lawson

Lawson convenience store
In my memory, it's not easy to find a proper 24Hr convenience store in China, most of those so call convenience store are actually local store selling cigarette & wine, very dark without air conditioning, with one local people sitting in the dark & smoking behind counter. You have to pay extra attention to what you want to buy is what you've got. 

I had this experience in Dalian before, I was tired after leaving the site, the sky had already dark; I was hungry and very cold on the street, I need to buy my distilled water before I got back to the hotel to have my dinner; so I rushed into a convenience store instead of a supermarket (not close to my area)......of course I failed, when I looked closer to the brand name in my room, it's something else, but the package was almost the same. This was due to my 3 mistakes = too rush, too lazy to find a supermarket and too concern to use a torch.


So, when I discovered "Lawson" in Shanghai, you can imagine how excited I was. Yes, I am sure it is a franchise operation from the original one in Japan, because when I walked in, the arrangement was quite the same; neat and tidy, with oden near entrance, magazine zone and quite a lot of mini size convenient product.

Did I buy anything? Yes, one 3in1 Nestle coffee pack. Anything else? No, because this store has adequate lighting, so I know what I want to buy is not what I've got, except the one and only one brand Nestle coffee.



2010/06/21

Coffee diary 02

coffee inside to avoid rainy day
It's raining outside, quite heavy; I just finished my breakfast, and now, waiting for the rain to stop, with you - a cup of Japanese coffee brewed in Shanghai.
My friend told me that this is not a Japanese Cafe but a Taiwanese instead, I can't figure out, at least not at that moment; but never mind,I enjoy the timeless with you.

Sometimes I do have a strange feeling here, it looks like Hong Kong, I can find proper coffee shop, 24Hrs. convenience store or even Japanese curry shop; lots and lots of luxurious retail store and commercial center around, but at the end I still can clearly define that I am in China, may be the air is difference, the voice, the mood, or the colour of the city...I'm not sure.

This is the first day that I left behind after my job completed, a whole day to discover the city, starting from here, Shanghai in 2005 before the Expo, with a dash of human touch.

2010/06/15

Prince Bear

Prince Bear & the black cat
Hello! I am Prince Bear, I used to live in my palace with my parents, but recently I move to live with some of my friends, you guys may know them, Hea hea :) If you wonder why? it's simple, just live as a normal citizen, that's what every prince or princess will dream of.

It's not as happy as what you think to be a prince, although you have so many servants to serve you, nothing actually needs to be worried about, especially in terms of materials. You can do what you want (in a boundary), play or sleep whenever you wish; every body obeys you...that's the problem, you see : YES man!

While we grow up, we need advice, lots and lots of advice; not only when facing choices or difficulties, even during heart breaking and lost. If every body around us only provide the best living with a sweet mouth, it's not the real life that we can face in the future, it's not true, I don't like this.

I need someone who can direct me with their experience, telling me what I did wrong before I hurt somebody that may never has a chance to remedy.I need friends as my guidance or telling me that I should wait for a bit longer, think deep before act. Here they are, TRUTH and be TRUE to me, that's what I want and love, there is nothing in the world worth to exchange with a true friendship. I've got four, how about you?

2010/06/08

Sudden Escape

Balcony next to swimming pool in Phuket
Hong Kong people do have a weird habit : Shopping. You may say, why? this is normal, most of the people like shopping, don't you? I treat this as a weird habit because it happens during our long vacation as the major event, even our original plan is to take a break from our hard work so as to enjoy a pleasant moment with our loves. It finally turns out as a busy shopping trip, which is quite common in Hong Kong's  family and bring back an even more tired body when return home.

In year 2006, while I was still busy in a project, but accidentally discovered that there would be 4 days clear from the schedule. An idea prompted up from my head: if I turned away from my computer now, gave a call to my travel agent, might be I could find two tickets to Phuket.


It happened within 24 hours from waiting list to step onto the plane, and here we were - a remote hotel in Phuket.

When I was sitting there, I still couldn't believe I had already left my office chair. I had no planning of what to do here, no schedule but only a sudden escape that I wanted. The sky in front of me was so blue, the air was still and peaceful, so tranquil; it took a few hours for me to settle my mind, to turn off my working machine, so relax!


I think sometimes we do need to have such kind of "sudden escape" as I call it, no itinerary. Do whatever the first thing that comes up to your mind when you wake up each morning; enjoy the simple fresh breakfast, free sun light and sea breeze, listen bird song every minute, covered by a light aroma of lovely flowers everywhere, learn the speech of tree in the wind......I am afraid my thought is having a "sudden escape" now......

2010/06/01

Can we survive?

We all once dream to leave our parents, have a place of our own, a totally free and private area that we can enjoy our freedom.  

But when face of the reality, we can only gain a small space in high rent; we have to do our daily laundry, cleaning, maintenance, cooking...,etc, etc. All power goes to bundle of human issues, company politics, day and day traveling, leaving behind is an exhausted body sitting in our super mini apartment in front of our one and only one window.

What a difficult life? Is this what we want? 

Take a break, grab a cup of coffee and sit down, look around...I think, Yes! even this is not a luxury place, it is my tiny space that allow me to make my dream, to work hard for achieving my goal. I still can find a corner here to escape from hurt or sad......even it is not luxury.

Life may not be the same as those in fairy tale, but it is so real for us to experience...starting from our "dream corner".