與大自然親近

We went to Lake Elizabeth for picnicking on Saturday. My skin was burning in the car while waiting for the group to arrive. Maybe the reason is because I was fired up due to Owen's 豬 mug mistake that resulted everything to be delayed. Christina was nice enough as usual to calm me down and keep me company. The park was pretty packed, but we found a perfect spot under the tree and facing the Lake to settle down. 一陣陣微風吹著, 我們慢慢地享受"美食", 人生一大樂事! We played volleyball for a while and my forearm 變得又紅又瘀. Ricky bought a kite and the guys were trying so hard to make it work; unfortunately the "Lady Bug" only lasted to fly in the sky for 10 seconds. Owen & I sneaked out from the group and biked around the Lake. It was very relaxing, yet trying to avoid rolling on the 鴨鴨便便. While our guys were practicing their footwork on soccer, the Mexican 小朋友 team challenged them. Score was 1 to 0, Neslie 醒目地大叫 half time. 年輕人果然活力十足, our group 殘餘半條人命, 友誼賽必須終止. A perfect gathering will never end without MJ. A minimum of "Fast Four" at Emily's home become a habit already. While 8 legs were fighting on the MJ table, I watched Christina gone crazy with the Wii sports. I wonder how she still has energy to play?
Our group involved SamSam, Ricky, Emily, Vincent, Neslie, Alex, Christina, Tony, Maggie, Owen & 老爺 this time. Wings $15, fruit $20, sushi $25; to enjoy a day with our friends & family...PRICELESS.

做朋友有三大忌

Patrick is very 攪笑, he gave us a lesson in the middle of dinner about 做朋友有三大忌. 更無僚的是I put more thought to it.
1 唔可以搶人男/女朋友
2 唔可以打架
3 唔可以爭人錢
No. 1 – Hmmm…. I believe a person should fight for what they love, but if that's my friend's man...too contradicting!
No. 2 – No comments…most likely won’t happen to girlfriends.
No. 3 – Totally agreed. From personal experience, this sometimes will hurt the friendship, or even hurt others' marriage too. It's not worth it.

好蠔呀!

It’s pretty amazing to see 16 of us were on time. We left the house @ around 9:30am and got to the oyster farm @ around 11:30am. The BBQ area is right in front of the water, pretty nice view. 太陽伯伯整天跟著我們. 大汗疊細汗. 蠔呀! 搶呀! We finished 150 oysters afterall. 生食加檸檬汁…BBQ加薑蔥…yum! 好彩冇人要用 “Lomotil”. We drove to the Point Reyes National Park after BBQ. We had to walk 300 steps of stairs to get to the Lighthouse. 一望無制既海洋, 澎湃既海浪聲…What a beautiful view! 好舒服呀! By the time we got back to the Bay Area was already 8pm…everyone was so exhausted, yet MJ definitely can refresh people’s mind for some of us. I wish everyone enjoy this day trip as much as I do.
恩愛夫妻組 - Emily & Vincent, Neslie & Alex, Vienne & James, Maggie & Owen
孤家寡人男子組 - Michael, Tony, Patrick, Marvin
小巧玲瓏女子組 - Stella, Christina
甜蜜情人組 - Michelle & Eugene

My stress therapy

Tomorrow is our day trip to the Oyster Farm. I've been looking forward to this outing and done a lot of planning on this event. Vincent & Owen thought that I was too nervous about the trip and I should relax...but then I acutally enjoy doing all these planning and preparation work. This is a way for me to forget my stress from work for a while. Thanks to Emily, Vincent & Owen. We bought all the food and drinks from 99 last night. The same question always pops up...enough food? too much food? Oh well... I wish everyone will have a good time and enjoy 與陽光玩遊戲.

Kick off meeting

Everything has finalized at today's kick off meeting with the banker. I was @ the headquarter again together with part of my team this time. Everyone has been introduced to the new operation systems, intranet and pricing engine, yet maybe only one or two showed their dedication. The rest...I have no idea. I know my people may get spoiled from the past. They never had to worry about how the whole process being done from the beginning to the end. Maybe this is a good time to get them involved.
Just so frustrated when they didn't even try to absorb the material seriously but just joked around. It's been almost five years, I never ever had any problem about how much I have to do, because I used to love my job, I really love going to work, seeing the people @ work. I notice my attitude toward my job has changed over time. In the last year, the industry slowed down...I lost my best buddy from the company...learned people called us friends cuz they want to use us...realized how much risk and liability we are taking up in this business... it's just so tiring.
I gotta go back! I need to be the happy Maggie @ work, so I can enjoy the days. I pray to God for wisdom and peace in me.

My nephew - Sky

He was 99% look like my dad, his grandpa when he first borned. Since he grow more hair now...starting to look more like my brother, his daddy. He's 19-month old and I think his best talent is giving real kisses on your face and "flying kisses". Soon, he will learn to call me "姑姑".

Changes @ work

Our company has come to a decision to merge with a bigger lending banker. The implementation should be done by next Tuesday. It is like a new start for our company with more securities. This banker will provide us with more lending options and now we can lend in over 48 states. I just attended the training for their operations system and met their staffs at the headquarter yesterday. This new system is more efficient and functional, yet I need time to get familiar with it.
I got overwhelmed from all the new materials and stressed out with the upcoming dumps and obstacles during the transition. I guess no one likes changes, yet time will help us surf through the uneasiness. Maybe I just worried too much, just one step after another…as long as we produce; everything is well-worth it. Money is the only drive in the business world after all.

我們的對話

Maggie Poon: so did u ck the inti for hk?...ok 12/13 - 1/2 for u
Maggie Poon: me - 12/13 - 1/8 return with emily
owen.chao@shawgrp.com: That should be ok.
Maggie Poon: should i go 1 wk early 12/6 and return 1/9
Maggie Poon: like my dad, and fly with him ma
Maggie Poon: $200 cheaper wo
owen.chao@shawgrp.com: That's not the main reason, you know.
Maggie Poon: what u mean?
owen.chao@shawgrp.com: so you can stay another week longer ma
Maggie Poon: what do u think?
owen.chao@shawgrp.com: aiya, don't play innocent la. owen.chao@shawgrp.com: up to you la. Maggie Poon: i need some support owen.chao@shawgrp.com: I still say go on the 12th, better chance of getting that $400 for overbook
Maggie Poon: FINE!

始終有你

香港特別行政區成立十周年紀念 > 主題曲
點點燈火彷彿流螢　照亮百家姓　 成全這小島變巨星 東方跟西方的文明　邂逅了衝勁 / 獅子山觸得到長城　血脈裡感應　 繁榮這裡　遇上安定 /　和諧靠你　賦予生命 明艷紫荊風中爭勝　找對了路徑　 花瓣開得繁盛 人人能力大小也力拼 任誰留下血汗　就是個精英 香港始終有你　(香港始終有你) / (國︰因為你在這裡) 讓萬眾掌聲響一世紀 香港始終有我　(香港始終有我) / (國︰因為你在這裡) 十萬個驚喜多一世紀 感謝你　小天地　創天地 盛夏冷冬各種天氣　不捨不棄　 才會了不起　香港始終有你

七七事變

七七事變，又稱盧溝橋事變、七七盧溝橋事變，是1937年7月7日發生在中國北平的盧溝橋（亦稱蘆溝橋）的中日軍事衝突。七七事變是中國展開全國對日八年抗戰的起點。
背景 自1937年日本二·二六兵變以來日本國內政局動蕩不安，政府迫切需要轉移國內民眾視線，解決接踵而至的經濟、政治問題。而何梅協定簽定後中華民國政府在華北的勢力銳減，客觀上為日本發動戰爭提供了有利條件。1936年西安事變和平解決後，國民黨與共產黨達成協議共同抗日，兩黨再度走向聯合。
經過 1937年7月7日夜，日本華北駐屯軍藉口一個兵士失蹤，要求進入西南的宛平縣城搜查。中國守軍拒絕了這要求。日軍遂開槍開炮猛轟北平盧溝橋，向城內的中國守軍進攻。中國守軍奮起還擊。事件後第二天中國共產黨便發表抗日通電，要求國民黨儘快履行在西安事變時的承諾。蔣介石在7月17日在廬山談話會上宣佈準備應戰和必要時守土抗戰到底的決心。7月28日、7月30日，日軍相繼佔領北平、天津。中國抗日戰爭（又稱第二次中日戰爭）正式爆發。
參考資料:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%83%E4%B8%83%E4%BA%8B%E8%AE%8A

我是香港人,也是中國人

讀完一篇關於正宗香港人是說不出祖國的全名, 又不會唱國歌; 我立即反思. 我經常說愛國愛港, 原來只是紙上談兵. 我對自己好失望呀!
中華人民共和國 = People's Republic of China
國歌歌詞: 起來! 不願做奴隸的人們! 把我們的血肉, 築成我們新的長城! 中華民族到了最危險的時候, 每個人被迫著發出最後的吼聲, 起來! 起來! 起來! 我們萬眾一心, 冒著敵人的炮火前進, 冒著敵人的炮火前進! 前進! 前進! 進!
Owen 話我太執著, 也許沒有人明白中國人這三個字對我有多大的重要意義.
Owen: well, on the other hand, you might want to consider the meaning of this song to millions of people suffering in the hands of the communist party in the 70's...
Owen: 愛國 is good, but does that mean you should side with her when she might be wrong at times? The way you 愛國, seems like 太麻木, and that's what worries me, and that’s why I said not to be too 執著.
Maggie: whatever! 道不同, 不相為謀.

July 4th Gathering

Thanks to Stella, hosted a great party yesterday at her house. It was such a nice day...super hot though. We went early to swim and sun bathing. I swam 3 laps in the 3.5-ft session of the pool and Stella & Chrisee were laughing at me the whole time.
So much food was prepared and...we finished trays after trays of food. I was half-dead laying on the sofa after the meal.
We finally heard the firework sound, "BOOM! BOOM!" Firework show began @9:30. All of us ran out and stood in the back yard, overlooking the cityview and firework. It was beautiful and memoriable, especially watching the firework together with our friends and families.

自稱既 - 進步大獎

一個星期既苦練,禽晚終於...有啲成績.
I found more and more fun in hip hop dancing. At least I can follow the beat and steps last night, yet to dance like really hip hopping...still a long way to go. 努力呀!

回歸十周年

遺憾...是十年前沒有機會在香港見證回歸.

我不只是懂每年到港消費的過客. 我恨與每一個香港人共同經歷. 我愛香港!

誰能明白我的心?

Our day-out to Santa Cruz

Weather report said it would be only 51-71 degree in Santa Cruz. We went there yesterday and it was super hot! We should have bought our bathing suit for sun tanning. I wanna have a nice tan for the summer so bad ar.