bb's going to see white dolphins?? that's great! mm is sure that will be very exciting. mm only wish mm can go with bb, but mm's glad that bb is going. may be bb will take mm there next time when they visit aussi?

but mm hopes bb will be careful - with itself and the camera! mm looks forward to hearing all about it.

disneyland hk has begun advertising - some program will start from tomorrow evening for a few weeks (?) and the singer jackie chan has been appointed as its spokesperson, and will be mc for those episodes. besides, mm has already seen a lot of advertisements in mtr, newspapers and magazines. mm wants to go with bb soon after it's opened, but fear there may be a lot of person, and practically, no room to move. let's see what happens then.

in the meantime, mm will try to win some pocket money on sunday on mahjong table and enjoy those winnings with bb when she's back next week.

just as you might think where i've been - i've just returned from ifc, its cinema! - watching ... yes, you've guessed it - irobot - with ... that's right! i was saying that this trip was planned a few years ago, and finally, *finally* it took shape!

it's a good film. the graphics were good. the storyline is a little predictable - it's set in 2035 when robots become a bit like philippino maids in HK - getting into having one in every room. if you enter a lucky draw and if you win, you'll get a robot, although you don't get a philippino maid at this stage. the story began with the suicide of the creator of those robots, Dr. Langdon, who left a trail to the cop he knew to find the message he had left with him. All in all it's a nice film, decors and graphics were well made and the main actor and actress played well - but perhaps not well enough that would get themselves nominated for oscar. in any event, it does not seem the kind of film that would hit oscar big.

that's the first time i visited ifc cinema - nice! the seats are nice, more spacious - both length-wise and sideways. sound system was good. only $50 (may be it's before 5/6pm). mm would prefer ifc over pp. the cinemas are much smaller than those in pp, so less people. must take bb there. :)

mm darling, it doesn't matter for the towel lah, it's just a towel, and we decided that it was always going to be a bonus nice to have, but not so important.

Never mind about Singapore, bb can take mm someplace else, or we can visit another time. May be the last truip that bb makes to Sing this year, at the end of sept? of course we'd be going on our holiday then, so we can see ok?

bb fixed the website using the most primitive method, deleted both entries and posted a new one. hee. sometimes the most basic method is the best.

bb, bb's colleague, sherlock and gf are going dolphin watching on sunday. she debated long and hard whether to go, cos every time she goes someplace new or does something exciting, she feels a lot of guilt that it's not with mm. But she knows that she will have mm's blessing to enjoy herself :). The place is Port Stephens, about 2.5 hours away. Click on Attractions >> Activities >> Cruises >> Imagine cruises and it's cruise #4.

mm feels bad. mm feels that she has failed bb on a no. of counts:

1. Royal Doulton bath towel - mm was going to get that bath towel for bb today/this weekend, but when mm read the leaflet again, it says that the offer was open until yestserday! mm has called them this morning to see if they have any left and if so, ask them to exercise their discretion.

2. singapore - bb asked mm yesterday to join her in singapore for the last weekend of August. mm checked. that weekend seems to be difficult for two reasons (i) mm's brother said it's looking likely that they will be going to japan with mum, whether or not he gets a job offer at that time. they can't make it earlier because of the surcharge, nor later because sis in law's school starts. (ii) even if that reason would be gone, mm would still need to go with family to macau for daddy's b'day, which falls on Aug 30. so bad timing.

however, mm went to smartone last night, after having spoken to bb. nokia, sony ericsson and explorer have new models of mobile phones. the sony one looks quite nice, but it is not touch-screen, which mm is pretty used to. only explorer is touch-screen, which mm saw at book fair. nokia's new model is not attractive - it's shape is irregular, just like the one came out at the same time as bb/mm's mobile, but this time bigger! explorer looks quite nice, but it's not available from smartone. if bb prefers sony, then trading in price for bb's mobile is $2,170. if bb chooses a plan of more than $118 per month, bb would get $600 return, payable every month at $50 for 12 months. no contract is however required.

mm will do more research over weekend, and when bb's back, mm will probably bring bb to mongkok where they bought their mobiles - another option is, of course, trade in one and buy another. :)

ps mm noticed that bb has already fixed this website - smart bb - big smack for bb - *smack*

mickey seems to have desserted mm - mm wants to call to find out - does bb still think that is a bad idea, and that mm should be more patient? mm met with the lady on 21Jun, now more than a month ago ...

mm spoke to Edna. she would like to review portfolio with bb and mm, and discuss way forward. she mentioned that may be mm and bb should consider taking some of the profits made in sterling and in us sector, and move them to single countries like prc and india. mm thinks it's better if bb is there too. would Aug 14, 11 am suit bb??

before mm left home this morning, she wanted to write about special bb. but then she read bb's post, so may be mm should address the issue - how should bb be rewarded?

now that's a challenge. bb is so special - nothing seems to be good enough for bb. but mm thought something should be done to make an effort. what might that be, mm wonders. may be for one month, ensuring that the soup-noodles mm will be having with bb that there'll be no spring onion? or fried rice without peas? make sure mm gets the chance to cook chicken in bb style for mm? may be buy bb for a great cup of coffee? may be buy bb the best durian? or may be take bb to watch a chinese film? all are excellent suggestions, which no doubt bb will dearly loves, but the question is which to choose.

what is clear is that bb is spoiled for choice!

ps more than half of bb's trip is gone!

Hmmm, wondering what bb's reward will be? as far as bb is concerned, being with mm alone is enough reward, sure mm feels the same way and bb is worth more than the reward (hint, hint ...).

mm got a bigger bonus than last year! Wow! So she shouldn't feel so neglected, she's being appreciated afterall. does it matter that her boss seems to treat her other colleagues like sweeter apples in his eye, he (or the group) has done something right for a change.

big *smack* for mm, from little bb.

missing bb as usual - trying to fill the gap.

mm has been bad - had not done anything today - not in mood.

hey, whilst typing this, the other partner of mm's group gave her an envelope - mm has a salary increase of about 5% plus bonus, a bit more than last year! mm wants to share with bb at once, hence this post. in the meantime, mm await bb's return to share the reward.

mm's sf has a new name - librarian. mm's sf gave her another book to read yesterday - The Jurors by John Grisham. He said he just finished it, and thought mm would enjoy that book. mm started a few pages yesterday.

however, there's still no trace of Demons and Devils by Dan Brown - not a word of it from sf anymore - odd, but that hasn't affected mm as she already has one from her boss :P

these days, mm's sf is very emotional. sf could be quiet, withdrawn and cross in the morning, but ok in the afternoon. sf is also easily annoyed. mm not sure what's up. may be work? sf spoke of the case for which he went to Canada last month - so it wasn't for his divorce, different from what bb had guessed earlier. but who know, it may be both!

sometimes mm thought sf had divorced already cos (1) this is what client had said (2) he never goes on holiday with them (3) sf only mentioned that he would need to move to a service apartment whilst the flat is being refurbished. same applies to sf's invisible, and almost fictional, daughter he alleged to have. may be sf put up this story to avoid or limit his numerous secret and open admirers sf allegedly has!

mm had a hot chocolate with sf yesterday. over that, mm mentioned her intended trip with bb in sept/oct to canada and us. mm's travel agent has been telling her it would not be a good time to go as that would be close to us election and there may be terrorist attacks, etc. mm's sf said election is in nov, so should be ok.

wondering what's bb's view. mm has been thinking of alternative destination, just in case. but mm's heart is still vancouver/la/san francisco/las vegas. alternatively, aussi and new zealand?

bb has a bit of dilemma for what to do this weekend, it's a long weekend here cos Monday is a bank holiday in New South Wales. Options are:

1. stay in Sydney — visit markets, go to the beach, nothing too exciting
2. hire a car and drive to somewhere nearby, like Hunter Valley
3. go to Melbourne — don't really want to, on her own, the guidebook says there's not a lot to see, only lifestyle to experience
4. go skiing — a bit ambitious and expensive, especially considering the single supplement for hotel room, but so tempting

If mm was here, what would bbmm do? comments please!

mm received an email from her boss, which was also circulated to other members of her group. that email sought to reply to areas which those members asked to receive training during their respective appraisals. The first area is presentation skills. ok, that's usual. but here are the two other areas together with an explanation:

"2. Client Development - again the request was made that as each of the more senior solicitors are looking to grow their own business and develop a platform to put themselves forward for partnership, they would be assisted in understanding more about "getting to know your client" and becoming a "best friend" of the client as opposed to merely a legal adviser."

mm's answer: clients are not looking for "best friends". they are looking for sound legal advice. "best friends" will b.s. with each other, but they won't turn round and send you a bill for the b.s. time!

"3. Assertiveness - whilst this is a difficult matter to encompass in words, it appears that what is being looked for is the ability to portrait confidence and self assurance in such manner that the clients have total confidence in the solicitor as their best friend/legal adviser."

mm's answer: mm's wondering who made this stupid request. clients would have confidence in their lawyers if they do not appear to be idiotic, do the work, don't take short cuts and don't pass the buck when something has gone wrong!

Unfortunately, this is the kind of standard offered by HK lawyers, even from the largest firm in HK! Word of advice - don't think that you'll get what you have paid for.

mm had a dream, and got woken up at 5:30am. she dreamt that her sis, paul and iris and her went to uk, and they were shopping, although her sis was ill. it went as far as mm suddenly gotten worried of the long return flight - whether her sis could sustain that. then mm realised that her sis had already left them and her last wish was to visit uk again, but she would never have that chance. she woke up and started crying. she felt and still feeling very sad and hurt. she's crying even whilst typing this.

strangely, mm did not dream of her sis at or around that time, but has started too dream of her fairly often. may be it took for this long to sink in.

mm will be having dinner with her parents and her younger brother tonight. It was arranged last week. mm and her younger brother was asked not to mention this to their elder brother, and she was told that all will be revealed tonight.

mm didn't write on weblog yesterday as she didn't have time - went to work, then had lunch with an old colleague met at school and visited her sis together. then went to book fair with brother and family - and of course, fat mark! by the time she got home, it was after 1am and she was dead.

got woken up by a phone call at 9:30am this morning - who else but client?? after that telecon, she went back to sleep and was unconscious until atroun 1:30pm. oops. lucky bb was not here or she might get jealous of Chow junior.

was very emotional yesterday - don't know, kept thinking of sis.

mm has a telecon this afternoon with counsel overseas. implicitly, mm was asked to lie to client by her sf that her sf will be joined to the telecon, when her sf told her to just give him a call after that. client told mm that sf was unwell, having trouble sleeping, ... etc. her sf did not mention anything to her, but he did not sound well on the phone.

switched on mobile and got bb's sms - how nice! bb is being missed too.

ps mm's already doing what bb's tips! :)

bb read mm's post and was sad, don't cry baby! Be careful of where you're reading, what bb writes here on pizzaorme and what she writes over at quiet thoughts are different, here is the more normal part of bb, and over there is a more surreal part, kinda what bb wants to be. Sad sometimes, but probably a bit overdramatic :).

Feel better this morning, didn't eat anything at the end, there were enough goodies at the executive lounge cocktail to fill little bb up. It's like the exec lounge at the Royal Park in Tokyo, drinks and finger sandwiches and cheese and fruit. After shower and watching a little TV little bb went to bed at 8.30pm. And woke up at 8.10am, with a small headache, which is going away after she drank a big glass of orange juice and water.

So my darling — don't be sad, wipe those tears away and think of her little bb.

Plan for today, visit the markets, go to the beach if there's time. Charged up the camera and the iPod so no worries about them running out.

ps tip for posting - if you're sure of what you're posting and don't need to review, change post status to publish and it'll post directly.

mm was caught up at a telecon during lunch, and when she got round to having her lunch box (barbacue pork), she surfed to see if bb has left a message for her.

What she read however filled her eyes with tears, even when she was typing the message to bb. She read bb's sadness and unhappyness et al. She read bb was saying that bb was a zombie. mm then thinks how selfish and neglecting she has been of bb's feelings - always just wanting to date Mr. Chow junior.

On analysis, she thought that bb can't be right in saying that she did not feel anything - the fact that she sworn betrayed her. bb would not have sworn if really nothing matters to her, right? if bb is sighing, or getting frustrated, whilst reading this post, the point is made!

What scared mm was what bb said how she felt - somewhere within mm, she has been feeling the same (although not because she's aging !). nearly everyday, and surely every time she thinks of her sis, she felt she was just playing along with the rest of the world, waiting for her time to come. sometimes she prays for that time to come sooner.

but she has also thanked god for giving her bb, that she could love, could feel love, and feels loved. mm's sf taught her this - better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

bb is tired, all she wants is the bed, which is very large but feels empty. She didn't get enough sleep last night and was sharp with the hotel receptionist this morning, but if she hadn't insisted she wouldn't have gotten the room so early. More details in the weblog.

In fairness she did walk for hours and hours, all along the shore and in the Botanical gardens. All the while she was recognising the places she and mm went to last time they came here. She really really want mm here and spent the walking time figuring out how to instantly build a portal so mm can jump through.

The dilemma now is, sleep or eat? It's 6-ish but body time is only 4-ish so bb isn't hungry yet. May be have a rest first, there's a large food court in the department store next door so food should not be a problem.

bb misses mm, sigh.

It's coming to the end of 5th day when bb is quite some distance from mm. whilst mm feels lost, she's happy because she just logged on and saw bb's post - which she noticed has just been posted! great minds or telepathy??

it's friday tomorrow but mm doesn't know what to do - no date ah. well, she has some choices, but none attractive. nothing's comparable to bb mah. mm has been spoiled.

mm has been considering writing something. she has been thinking what to write. probably some novel. the problem is - in what language? the first reaction may be chinese, but she doesn't know how to type chinese. english is a possibility but only academically as her vocabulary is limited - the reader would be bored within 5 pages of it. french? japs? others? no way.

bb flies to Sydney tonight, flight's at midnight. It's now 6pm and she's still in the office, trying to finalise the stuff for the meetings. Wondering what she should have for dinner. Hmmm. May be to further deplete the world chicken population.

There'll be a time difference of 2 hours, it always feels further away if there's a time different. She's so sure she'll miss mm very much, last time in Sydney was 5 years ago and it was with mm.

It's a holiday there on Monday 2 Aug, so she'll have the added bonus of a long weekend. A little part of her wants to ask mm to come join her, but flying such a distance for just 3 days, she's doesn't know how to broach the subject.

Haven't arranged rental car for the weekend, probably just walk around and eat some food. Haven't had time to surf the net either. Take it as it comes lah.

it's great to read posts - especially they are nice *and* from bb. bb's posts are a lot more interesting to read than mm's. mm's tend to be factual report of the day, or just more moaning. but reading bb's warm posts sends a smile to mm's face. now she feels bold and presumptuous!

mm's sf asked today if she'd seen harry report - yes! only if she could tell her sf who she saw that with.

wondering what bb will be having for dinner tonight - finishing off the chicken? or hainan chicken? or curry chicken? that leads to a professional and intellectual question - how soon would the chicken go extinct??! mm will be having yung kee goose - poultry also! what would the world be like if there is no more chicken and goose, or poultry altogether? no more quack quack quack, and coo coo coo coooooooooo in the morning? no more KFC?

i guess one thing for certain is that there would be no more news on tv that KFC's contractor farmer was found to have been cruel to the chicks - they have been thrown and kicked! wonder whether they bounced back, and if so, how far and what height ... ??

bb's dinner tonight was roast chicken sandwich. Huh? bb's in Singapore, home of chicken rice, satay, laksa, mee siam and all sorts of goodies and for dinner it's chicken sandwich?

bb went to carrefour the other day and got a roast chicken and cranberry bread and rocket salad, can't help it lah. The chicken is really tasty, spicy and peppery. SGD3.90 each, pretty good value.

mm will probably say "not as good as the roast chicken bb makes", then she'd have this really yummy expression on her face like she's actually tasting the chicken. And bb will get embarassed and say "no, no" but then relent and get smug and happy. And then she'd will try to give mm a kiss to show how she appreciates mm's appreciation.

*smack, smack*

had dinner with client last night - it's more like a banquet. assortment of shanghainese starters, huge yellow crab, chicken, soup, veg, dessert *and* fruit plate. I just had today's lunch - I think I am having indigestion. I felt that when I went to get my lunch box - pieces of chicken in sweet corn sauce, but somehow it's like a routine - you just have to do it. desperately needing some exercise. may go to gym if I'm not too tired and lazy tonight. I don't want to be so blown up that she does not recognise me when I stand in front of her. of course, it'd be a different story if I have slimmed down *so* much that she does not recognise me, but I know that's wishful thinking. may be the thinking itself is *some* exercise??!

client's subordinates were a lot more interesting and entertaining - tom fool did not say a word during dinner, nor did the other colleague. conversations "instigated" by the instigator was dry - how great he did in the case, what efforts he had put in, and that he's *the instigator* of the whole strategy, of course! client was polite to listen to all those crap, or may be the light is on, but nobody was home - I lost count as to how many times she'd heard all those, in writing *and* orally. perhaps that's a question for the instigator - you see, he may have a target !

Report on appraisal

mm just had her appraisal. she was told that she is good at working on large litigation. her boss asked her to focus on companies matter, rather than probate, as there are more companies cases than probate cases. so that should provide a better platform for partnership in the next year or two. that doesn't mean to dump probate, but should be kind of put in the bag. Another sweet talk?

mm was asked to focus on strategies, and to learn to filter what's necessary to read and know. the rest should be given to the junior members, who should be doing the running around. her boss said he will look to her re strategy and choice of counsel eg she should say to him that this counsel is not quite good, and may be another should be instructed. how realistic do you think that can be, given that those counsel are the boss's friends??

mm was also told that she was put forward for bonus again this year, although no guarantee as it has to go through various procedures. Also put forward for salary increase, but that would be nominal. giving mm's seniority, that's to be expected, I guess.

So, no surprise.

My bb's flight left on time yesterday. I hope the flight was smooth, and she enjoyed her perrier.

"Fat Mark" and his parents came to visit me yesterday evening. We had dinner at the Japs nearby. Service was good, but I think the quality of food has dropped somewhat since the first time we went there. So goose from Yung Kee still in fridge.

My si fu called yesterday afternoon, checking on progress. He said he was still depressed and lost weight as a result.

My boss asked about my holiday plan this morning. I said none, and reminded him that he asked me to be here while he is away - for one month! He said Marilyn will be on study leave from 9 Aug until 20 Aug. I thought - what better news than this!! All these make 20 Aug a special day - my boss and marilyn are returning, but on the bright side, bb will be home that day - yeah!