Hey! Pay what you eat for lah!

We went out with some people* for a meal someday at a non-particular restaurant (except that it's prices were particular).

As usual, Olof and I were pretty modest with our order, meaning we did not order the most expensive on the menu and only the amount that we are confident of finishing. Our company of acquaintances, on the other hand, ordered a fanciful variety of dishes for themselves as well as their little ones.

Fine. It is, after all, your personal taste preferences. In a free world, you should be able to eat what you like.

And indeed our company of acquaintances took that ideology quite literally, except that they thought they can eat for FREE too, or at least partially paid for by their honest, modest and hardworking counterparts.

Perfect. So we paid 20% more than what eventually ended up in our stomaches.

I wish I had the courage to tell them straight in the face, in my most Singaporean to-the-point manner, "Oooii! Pay for what you eat lah! Why are we splitting the bill equally when obviously you guys ordered more stuff than we did?!"

Am I being petty? Am I? Am I?

Are they feigning ignorance? Are they? Are they?

Now I know why one of the couple acquaintances on that day asked us out for dinner a few times.

They are the clever ones. At times of economic crisis, you just have to be innovative of how to maximise inflow to and minimise outflow from your purse.

*I thought twice before deciding not to reveal who these people are, since there is a chance they may chance upon this post. But then again, if they indeed chance upon this post, I believe they will be able to induce from the writings that I AM TALKING ABOUT THEM!*

Skiing and networking

Hi,

Skiing in Beijing, is it possible? So far we have had no snow at all this winter.

I was invited to join a potential business partner from China Mobile for a day trip to Nanshan Ski Resort, only one hour's drive away from Beijing. It's all man-made snow, but they had more slopes than I had expected, and of all kinds.

It was 11 years since last time I went skiing in the Swedish mountains... Luckily, it didn't take long before I got into it again. It was a good warm-up in case I would go skiing in the real mountains some day.

Cheers, Olof

Moooooo....

We quietly ushered in Year of Ox last night with a simple (but not very tasty) meal at a Persian restaurant, but our many neighbours decidedly took fun to the streets and lighted up Beijing's skies with fireworks. We then cruised around the city in the car observing fireworks and firecrackers, starting from early evening. At midnight, back in our apartment on the 11th floor, we looked at the most amazing fireworks sky we have ever seen...

Company 10th Year Party

And I was there... It was pretty evident that food wasn't fantastic, but for those of you who know the company that I worked for, it was considered a spread. My colleagues and I had lots of "children" boozes - Yan Jing Beer at 3.6% alchohol concentration. 3.6%! That's why children's beer.

But we got high anyway, on quirky performances and on the fact that I won something at the lucky draw! Yiippee! I hope, though, I am not using up my last ditch of good luck before the Year of Ox rushes in.

1224

Nej, this is not a fanciful play of numbers like Wong Kar-wai's 2046 movie. This is the name of a threadmill running competition that is going on at the gym chain that we frequent.

Without a doubt, it is a marketing gimmick of a sport brand that is introducing its NEW running shoes, whose model number runs by the name of the competition, and is purported to give better BALANCE to you when you run. *I hope you have already guessed the name of the brand*.

So, the gist of the competition is to stretch your cardio limit on the threadmill, by measuring how far you can run within 12 minute 24 seconds. There will be ONE winner each from the male and female categories, who then get sponsorships to fly off to Seoul to participate in a real marathon.

Yes, you might have guessed it already. Olof and I took part in the competition. I ran 2230meters, and he ran 2980meters. *We pray for bad weather, so that little people will venture to the gym. If anybody should go to the gym, we pray for more Chinese-illiterate foreigners, because the competition promoter speaks no English. Ha!* Only THEN, we probably stand any chances of winning.

BUT, for two packs of nearly 30-year-old bones, I think we did not bad. Events as such really adds fun to training in the gym, especially in a city like Beijing, where outdoors sports are not very possible.

AND, kudos to us for not getting any muscle aches the next day.

Wedding Wonderful!

One of my best friends got married in November, and I was extremely honored to be able to participate in her wedding as one of the wedding sisters. Her wedding jerked back alot of memories of my own. The anxiety, sleepness nights, countless visits to the beauty salons, and of course the sudden, "excruciating" attentiveness to details like pens on every dinner table, all seemed so familiar. Ha! But as all who had been-there-done-that know, all will turn out fine in the end. And it did indeed!

What else is there left to eat?!

Milk powder - cross.
Liquid milk - cross.
Milk chocolate - cross.
Yogurt - cross.
Ice cream - cross.

Now comes eggs and chicken! The discovery of excessive levels of melamine in eggs in Hongkong is prompting authorities to now begin checks on chicken meat as well. We knew for a long time that chickens in China are probably injected with loads of steriods. But MELAMINE?! Apparently, experts suspect that the melamine originates from chicken feed. I am REALLY paranoid now. Because it seems any foods that "should" contain proteins are prone to manipulation.

Before we moved to China, I told Olof that my biggest concern in Beijing is food safety and it is a shame that I was proven right. Since months ago, we started buying organic foods and imported products. But there are limitations and inconveniences. We can't find organic beef, for example. Plus, we often have to go to different places to buy different things. Carrefour and Wal-mart don't sell organic poultry. Lohao City charges exhorbitant prices. The local food market from which we buy fruits from is not stone's throw away.

PLUS, who can be 100% sure that the so-called "organic" foods that are selling off the shelves are REALLY organic?

I am not being over paranoid, but I totally anticipate this possibility that unscrupulous businessmen will find ways loopholes getting the "organic-certified" sticker and happily paste it on his toxic vegetables.

No way out? Grow your own vegetables. Rear your own chickens and cows. But then again. What are we going to water the vegetables with? What are we going to feed the animals with? Should they, also like us, eat only organic feed? But how to ensure that the feed is really organic...

How pathetic are we as human beings! We poison the food cycle "river" that we drink from.

We leave behind a legacy that we have nothing to be proud of and which our offsprings will lambast us for.