其實，愛情就像磨石子一樣， 或許剛撿到的時候，你不是那麼的滿意， 但是記住人是有彈性的， 很多事情是可以改變的， 只要你有心，有勇氣， 與其到處去撿未知的石頭， 還不如好好的將自己已經擁有的石頭磨亮，你開始磨了嗎？ 很多人以為是因為感情淡了， 所以人才會變得懶惰。 錯！ 其實是人先被惰性征服， 所以感情才會變淡的。 在某個聚餐的場合， 有人提議多吃點蝦對身體好， 聽到了嗎？明白了嗎？ 難怪越來越多人只想要談一輩子的戀愛， 卻遲遲不肯走入婚姻。 因為，婚姻容易讓人變得懶惰。 如果每個人都 懶得講話， 懶得傾聽， 懶得製造驚喜， 懶得溫柔體貼， 那麼夫妻或是情人之間， 又怎麼會不漸行漸遠漸無聲呢？

*所以請記住： 有活力的愛情， 是需要適度殷勤灌溉的， 談戀愛，更是不可以偷懶的喔！ 有一對情侶，相約下班後去用餐，逛街， 可是女孩因為公司會議而延誤了， 當她冒著雨趕到的時候已經遲到了30多分鐘， 他的男朋友很不高興的說： 你每次都這樣，現在我什麼心情也沒了， 我以後再也不會等你了！ 剎那間，女孩終於決堤崩潰了， 她心裡在想：或許，他們再也沒有未來了 同樣的在同一個地點，另一對情侶也面臨同樣的處境; 女孩趕到的時候也遲到了半個鐘頭， 他的男朋友說：“我想你一定忙壞了吧！” 接著他為女孩拭去臉上的雨水，並且脫去外套蓋在女孩身上， 此刻，女孩流淚了 但是流過她臉頰的淚卻是溫馨的。 你體會到了嗎？ 其實愛，恨往往只是在我們的一念之間！ 愛不僅要懂得寬容更要及時， 很多事可能只是在於你心境的轉變罷了！ 懂了嗎？

當有個人愛上你，而你也覺得他不錯。 那並不代表你會選擇他。 我們總說：“我要找一個自己很愛很愛的人，才會談戀愛。” 但是當對方問你，怎樣才算是很愛很愛的時候， 你卻無法回答他，因為你自己也不知道。 沒錯，我們總是以為，我們會找到一個自己很愛很愛的人。 可是後來，當我們猛然回首，我們才會發覺自己曾經多麼天真。 假如從來沒有開始，你怎麼知道自己會不會很愛很愛那個人呢？ 其實，很愛很愛的感覺，是要在一起經歷了許多事情之後才會發現的。 或許每個人都希望能夠找到自己心目中百分之百的伴侶， 所以，還是仔細看看身邊的人吧！他或許已經等你很久了 當你愛一個人的時候，愛到八分絕對剛剛好。 所有的期待和希望都只有七八分，剩下兩三分用來愛自己。 如果你還繼續愛得更多，很可能會給對方沉重的壓力，讓彼此喘不過氣來， 完全喪失了愛情的樂趣。 所以請記住， 喝酒不要超過六分醉， 吃飯不要超過七分飽， 愛一個人不要超過八分 如果你也正在為愛迷惘，或許下面這段話可以給你一些啟示：

愛一個人，

要了解，也要開解;

要道歉，也要道謝;

要認錯，也要改錯;

要體貼，也要體諒;

是接受，而不是忍受;

是寬容，而不是縱容;

是支持，而不是支配;

是慰問，而不是質問;

是傾訴，而不是控訴;

是難忘，而不是遺忘;

是彼此交流，而不是凡事交代;

是為對方默默祈求， 而不是向對方諸多要求;

可以浪漫，但不要浪費;

`*不要隨便牽手， `*更不要隨便放手

Why the video went crazy in HK:  There are a lot of pent-up frustrations with local Hong Kong people over the influx of mainland tourists in HK.  It really bothered HK people when Mainland tourists feel they are above the law, talking loudly and rashly, but the worst part is the attitudes and images they portrayed.  It is common seeing Mainland tourists dragging little kids in shopping malls and they will suddenly drop their pants and start urinating or defecating in the middle of a shopping mall.  It is common to see Mainlanders just butting into a long line, sidling up to people and pretending to be in the line.  When caught, all they do is start yelling and saying they don’t understand Cantonese and their mentality is “if I can keep screaming and speaking really loud, you guys will eventually just let me be”.  I believe at the end of the day, these are just minor issues locals in HK will gulp down and “take a beating to”, but when Mainlanders start rushing to HK to borne their babies to ensure their children will be able to access HK education and get HK citizenship, or snatching up all the infant formulas and bed space in hospitals, or overheating the property and real estate markets, many of the local HK can no longer tolerate because it truly affects their standards of living.

The Video:  Comments to the incident on MTR made by a “so called” professor at the university of Beijing; very brash and rude languages used and repeatedly stating people of HK are dogs.  After his comments caused huge debates and tensions between people living in HK and China, he went on interviews saying he has NEVER CALLED PEOPLE IN HK DOGS when it was repeatedly said in the video.  Go figures!

His Comment:  If people in HK are discriminating against people in China, then let China not supply you people with water, vegetables, rice, let’s see how you survive

My Comment:  products supplied from China is constantly contaminated that there is no confidence for products that are “made in China”.  This vote of ”no confidence” is not just from HK, but the rest of the world as well.  As a tax-free capitalist city, China is not the only place HK source or trade with, I do not believe people in HK will starve if China is to stop supplying their produce and goods.  I believe many people in HK prefer to purchase overseas brands, because there is no confidence with the quality of products made in China.

His Comment:  There is nothing special about HK, all the advantages that HK used to have, well Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen are all catching up.  If it is not for people in China coming to HK to travel and to shop, you will be nothing, you cannot survive!

My Comment:  While tourism is a big part of HK economy, HK is also known as the financial centre and logistics hub in Asia.  While I believe majority of people in HK enjoy visitors and tourists from different parts of the world, what they do not enjoy is Mainland tourists coming to HK to buy milk powder, bottled water, cooking oil, and daily necessities to carry back to China because they do not believe in goods made in China.  While people in HK should pity and feel sorry for Mainlanders, at the end of the day, they are only left feeling frustrated because these insane volume purchases left babies in HK constantly without milk powder.  While tourists from Mainland might think they are doing HK a favor by pouring tourism money into the city, many people in HK feel they are worse off because their buying habits created many additional side effects such as landlord requesting additional rent, property prices exploding, and in turn, prices of goods rise because retailers need to pay high rent.  If one is to walk down the main tourist districts of Causeway Bay or Tsim Sha Tsui, they have all became shopping strips of high-end brands such as LV, Chanel, and Gucci, because only these international brands can pay the ridiculous rents requested.  Many outlets tailored to local HK people such as supermarkets and movie theatres are forced to close doors to make ways for these International brands.  So, at the end of the day, are these tourist money really doing the city a favor?

His Comment:  Why is HK clean?  It is because there is laws there that penalized people who litter.  The reason the city is in good shape is because it is regulated by laws, not because of the quality of the people who live in the city.  For a city to be regulated by laws tells me that the quality of the people is low because they cannot regulate themselves.  If they are not beaten, they will not be good.  One word to describe this behavior:  SHIT

My Comment:  Last time I checked, there is a law and regulating system in China, but of course, rather the people abide to it or not is another thing completely.  If following the laws mean the people in that place are of low quality, I would be happy in any law-abiding countries, because at least what is “right” and what is “wrong” are clearly stated.  If urinating and defeating in public, jumping a line, or pushing your way into public transportation are the acts of high quality people, I am happy to be considered low quality and need to be regulated by laws.

My thought:  I do acknowledge there is a certain degree of discrimination against people from China in HK, and that is nothing to be proud of.  At the end of the day, the common root is we are all Chinese people with brown eyes, black hair, and yellow skin.  I think everyone wants to be united and be proud to say HK is part of China, but I also believe that day will only come when some of the people from the Mainland can learn to “fine tune” their attitudes, behavoirs, thinking, and beliefs.  When living in HK, I always frowned and shake my head at some of the outrageous behaviors I witness from Mainland tourists.  I believe if you want people to accept you and to treat you civilly, you also need to behavior and act in a manner that allow others to respect you.  It is unfortunate seeing all these conflicts between people from the mainland and HK, but I honestly do not think they will stop.  If anything, I believe these conflicts will only escalate and get worst with all the pent-up anger and frustration from people in HK.  I believe a lot of local HK people feel like their way of living, their standard of living, their self-image and belief are being eroded as more and more Mainlanders come to HK and “impose” their way of living, thinking, and behavior to the HK mass.  There is a strong belief and hidden understanding in HK that the locals need to continue to show tolerance and acceptance to behaviors and acts they cannot accept from Mainlanders, and they are suffering as their image and quality of Chinese people is eroded at the international platform.

During the video, the professor has said repeatedly that HK people have been colonized so long by Britian that they have forgotten they are part of China.  From my point of view, I am happy to see Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 because indeed HK is a part of China and so this port city should not be governed by foreign forces.  However, at the same time, the reason it is not possible for HK and the rest of China to “merge” together and for the people living in these places to “merge” and see each other as so-called ”the same” is because EVERYONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND HK and China are indeed different.  When a developed and metropolitan city is to merge with a giant that is still developing, with lots of issues to human rights, corruption, and people with very different culture, mindset and beliefs; it is not truly possible to just “merge”.  People in HK freak out when they see on TV local citizens living in Beijing needs to be trained to form lines to get on buses because you do not just all blindly push and run onto a bus when it arrives.  This episode happened before the Beijing Olympics.   The following statement I am about to make is always and constantly playing in the minds of people living in HK, which is “I feel like I am downgrading myself by saying I am part of China rather than saying I am Hong Kong”.  I believe this statement runs very true to people living in Taiwan as well.

The Video:

Some comments from people and government of HK:

pretzel refusing to come back into the apartment

extremely excited to come in because he heard the magic words "who wants a treat treat??"

haha, only to realize he has been duped....again!

if you come to kusu island just to look at the temple and tortoise, it would be a very boring trip

There are tortoise and temples everywhere, there is no need to take a 20 minute boat ride to look at it on Kusu Island.  So in order to have fun, explore the little island, whcih takes around 20 minutes, haha.  But also consider these great and fun activities!

take a walk along the sandy beach and a dip in the water

be an artist and create some sand artwork

enjoy a picnic or bbq with friends

climb up to the top of the island and receive a blessing from the two residents of a malay temple

act silly and become tarzan

This small island doens’t have a lot of visitors, so it’s great to spend some quiet and peaceful time close to nature.  It has some great scenic views.

very cool trees found on this island, shaped like a fan

While I feel very blessed to have grown up in developed Canada and lived in modern cities of Hong Kong and Singapore, the travelling I am doing continually open my eyes to so many amazing and crazy things that go on in the world.  In Vietnam, a family of four could all be seated on a motorbike while the mother carry a baby on her lap.  In the West, we freak out over car seats and baby proofing everything; but the babies in Vietnam grown up just fine without ever hearing about car seats or strollers.  In fact, if you have a stroller, that might be a dangerous hazard itself, I don’t know how you can possibly cross the streets.

Below, I share some pictures I took of this chaotic city that has taught me to cross the streets anywhere in the world.  Believe me when I say if you can cross the streets in Ho Chi Minh, you can cross the streets anywhere else in the world.

i realize my whole entry is pretty much about motorbikes, so I must show you what I am talking about

this is near Chinatown, close to the hotel we were staying at and close to where we sat at some plastic table with stools with a local friend sipping strong coffee with sweet milk

the saigon river is a strip of restaurants on boats and they will take you down the saigon river for a 45 min ride. It's very touristy, though the strip look nice on the outside, there really isn't much of a view to speak off across the saigon river and the food (western) isn't cool, I love local food way more!

the oldest pagoda in ho chi minh

the war remnants museum is really worth a visit to see what kind of war and pain the country has suffered

cool huh? a giant plate of donuts on top of the man's head

See my previous blog on Hue Cuisine  (imperial court cuisine) foods in Vietnam

Of course Vietnam is famous for its coffee and beef noodles (pho)–> both of which I ate a lot of!  But there are a lot more yummy and local foods I got a chance to experience and really like.  I find some of the tastes and foods are quite similar to Chinese food, but different at the same time.  I noticed with Vietnamese foods, it involves a lot of vegetables, dipping sauces, and wrapping of foods because the ingredients used are so fresh and can all be pretty much eaten raw!

this was such a treat for me, we were pretty much sitting on one the tables in the middle of the road and being served a cup of coffee while watching the city and motorcycles whizzed by. I really recommend all travellers to do this, but you do need a local around because there are no menus, you just sit on a stool and order away. My local friend was wonderful, while sipping the cup of coffee, we enjoyed some local treats she enjoyed on a regular basis.

this is a breakfast snack and I absolutely love it! It's a clear rice paste and inside are dried salty shrimps, it reminds me of Chinese Cheong fan (shrimp rice rolls), a dim sum dish, but I like the Vietnamese one, it looks so cool and it tastes very good

you would expect me to show a picture of pho (beef noodles), I had this at some outdoor eating shop, it was cool. In general, the pho I had outside of Vietnam are quite good, but I think it's because the soup base are all pretty much the same (MSG!!!), but I think the beef are better in Vietnam

Vietnamese drip coffee is famous, I had it everyday when I was in Vietnam. This is actually the civet coffee...you know the beans that went through the system of the civet cat?! Anyway, Vietnamese coffee tends to be stronger in general and we are not supposed to inhale and gulp the drink down like a lattee, rather you sip it and let it stay on your tongue, so it can take quite some time to finish the actual cup (though small) if done the right way

Here, we have the Vietnamese pancake, the one we ordered have mushroom and cheese inside. There is definitely French influence in Vietnamese food, but the Vietnamese love thier vegetables, so you actually use a fork to pull some of the pancake and put it on top of a piece of vegetable and then dip it in sauce before eating it, and it's very good

i cannot tell you how much snail I had when I was in HCM, this is snail cooked in sauce, but I love the minced up snail with stuffed meat the most, which I shared in my "hue cuisine" blog

on one of the evening, we went to a grill restaurant and had a lot of grilled food such as grilled fish and meat, and of course, you wrap all the grilled food in vegetables & dip in suace before eating ^0^

this looks cool huh? You will basically take some of the fish and put it on rice paper with veggies, wrap it and dip in sauce before eating....like I said over and over again, lots of wrapping going on with Vietnamese food, you got to work before you can enjoy ^0^