que pasa

I always thought I’d be a big fan of snow. You know, girl living at the equator, don’t get to see snow much. Snow is a rarity, almost like a luxury good, because I only get to see it on vacation (which means spending a decent amount of money). But my aching tailbone is telling me snow is no friend o' mine. 

Why do I have an aching tailbone? Because I slipped and fell on this sloping mountain road when I was walking on it.

Why was I walking on it? Because the driver of BMW I was in, was panicking as he made his way down. Icy roads. And my other bosses Mr. S and Mr. T felt that it would be safer if we walked.

Why was the driver panicking? Because he didn’t have the experience to deal with such road and weather conditions. Afterall, how often do you drive down 40 degree icy-road slopes?

Why were we driving down on the 40 degree icy-road slope? Because we decided to take the old mountainous roads to our destination.

Why did we decide to take the old mountain roads? Because we couldn’t get back onto the highway without waiting forever. The roads to the toll gate leading to the highway were jammed all the way back for a really long distance. Mr. T thought the old mountain roads wouldn’t be sealed off and we’d be able to reach our destination in better time.

Why were the roads leading to the highway so freakin’ jammed? (You’re starting to sense the frustration, aren’t you?) Because the highway was sealed off and the cops refused to let anyone on so as to avoid accidents.

Why was the highway was sealed off? Because they were icy.

Why were they icy? Because of the freak weather we’ve been having over this part of China. Snow plus little bit of sun (but not enough to melt it all away) plus cold winds = icy roads.

Therefore, by simple cause-and-effect logic, I conclude that snow is the cause of my aching tailbone, which is bothering me when I sit and even when I sleep.

The ironic thing is, after I fell down, we finally made it to the car which had reached a non-icy part. We made it back to the highway – they finally let cars through – and it was only supposed to be an hour’s drive more. But it was getting dark and the roads were starting to ice up again. And there was an accident way ahead. So the traffic stopped.

We waited for the police and tow truck to come clear the mess. But drivers were scared. And the police would only let one car on the highway at a time. So we ended up waiting 4 more hours in the car.

I spent a total of 16 hours in car for this journey. We stopped for lunch, but not dinner. Lucky for us, I had randomly packed some biscuits in my bag, so we ate that to stave off the hunger. We arrived at our destination at 2am, instead of the original 3pm.

I’m making my way back to Chengdu tomorrow, and for the first time, I’m wishing that it won’t snow!!!

I’ve always thought the best judge of quality is not what you think about yourself but how others evaluate your performance. In this case, the users have spoken about the Beijing airport.

And I’ve been there a couple of times, it’s a mess, I tell you.

An airport’s ranking isn’t just about the timely departure of flights because weather isn’t technically within the airport’s control, although they’ve been reported to have ready an “artillery” of weather-controlling weapons for the Olympics.

Things like the organization, look and feel, of the airport, how quick they get your luggage out, how quick you clear check-in and security, the facilities of the airport, the washrooms, and other factors mean something too.

And in any case, it’s not about being “so bad”, the point is there is a need to improve. At least the only way they can go is up, which is good news I guess.

I really liked this movie starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. It’s about 2 men who don’t have anybody to talk to in their lives, struggle with communication, and also about dealing with the post 9/11 trauma.

The story was good (touching yet with its bouts of funniness), the dialogue was meaningful, and the acting and chemistry were solid.

Among all of Adam Sandler’s movies, I like this one the most.

Lord of the Rings didn’t make me a Viggo Mortenson fan, but I think I’m one now.  He did a great job in this movie. 

This movie also has a pretty interesting story about the Russian mafia in London.   If you can, get the DVD to see the special features to see the interviews with the director David Cronenberg and understand the background of the movie better.

Read the 2nd mishap in this article.

I’m sorry, but I don’t see how the boar hunter could have misfired so badly. If he really thinks it’s a bear, does he hope to kill it by maiming its reproductive organs?

Doesn’t the rifle have one of those telescopic eye-pieces so that he has a better idea of what he’s aiming at?  If he has such bad eyesight, should this guy be let loose with a gun?

I suppose maybe the brother-in-law is really fat and huge and looks like a bear.  But I don't think you get that big if you're a rattan gatherer...

This movie stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two men who have told by the doctor that they have very limited time to live. Morgan Freeman’s character makes this thing called “The Bucket List” which is defined as a list of things to do before kicking the bucket. The two main characters then form a combined bucket list and start doing the tasks together.

Apart from the strong cast, good acting and storyline, the sights are also pretty nice. I recommend that you watch it.

It made me wonder why we should put all the things that we really want to do till the end rather than spreading them through out our lives.

Do you have a bucket list?

I took the Myer-Briggs Temperament Indicator test in high school and they said that you should take it periodically to see how your personality changes and understand yourself better.

I’ve changed since high school and I think it’s especially due to my circumstances and experiences in the past few years.

I can’t find the MBTI test anymore.  But I took another one that’s pretty good – the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. 

What are you like?  Take the test here.

Occasionally I tell people how my "retirement" job is to be somebody's high-powered PA.

It's already happened. Here.

Somebody try it out and tell me how good it is.

This article has some good ideas.  I think everybody should take a look and see if you can incorporate some practices into their lives. 

Life is sometimes hard and tough and we all could use little ways to make those rough times go down a little smoother.  Hope this helps.

I like Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, that’s why I picked up the movie. The acting and the story were good and I enjoyed watching both.

It’s basically about how this congressman and socialite exercise their influence in the States secure funding for weapons for the Afghans to fight off the Russians. These two quotes came from the movie:

“A boy is given a horse on his 14th birthday. Everyone in the village says, “Oh how wonderful.” But a Zen master who lives in the village says, “We’ll see.” The boy falls off the horse and breaks his foot. Everyone in the village says, “Oh how awful.” The Zen master says, “We’ll see.” The village is thrown into war and all the young men have to go to war. But, because of the broken foot, the boy stays behind. Everyone says, “Oh, how wonderful.” The Zen master says, “We’ll see.” – Zen master story

“These things really happened. We changed the world, then we [blew] the end game.” – Charlie Wilson

At the end of the movie, Charlie Wilson had requested a 1 million budget (in relation to the 500 million war budget) to build schools to educate the young Afghan people who had been roped in the war effort. Otherwise they’d come back and see the damage inflicted on their towns and have no way of dealing with it, and nothing to keep them occupied.

The committee turned down the proposal and the movie ends there. The movie implies that this lack of closure of the war effort directly or indirectly turned on America. In equipping the Afghans to fight the Russians, these same weapons were eventually used to equip the terrorist group which eventually attacked the States on 9/11.

While we may not be in a place to affect so many people, I think it is still true that our actions and decisions may have ripple effects beyond our perception and imagination. I can only hope the positive effects superset the negative effects. We’ll just have to see.