Harbin-ger of Cold

Went again to Harbin. Took my siblings there. Boy was it cold. But not as bad as I remembered it to be. Maybe this time I've acclimatized... but -17 deg is still pretty darn painful for the face and fingers! That's Dan in the H1N1 mask if you're wondering...claims it keeps the face warmer than the scarf. That white creature is an Arctic Fox that some tout was pushing for photos. I felt real bad for the poor cub who must have been taken from it's mum. And i know it's not right to encourage the tout by paying him for the photo but the cub was really so adorable!

Doing my fav thing each year... running away from misfired fireworks

Second time in 2 years.. this time was scarier because my back was facing the firecracker which toppled over and was shooting all around the road. I could see one shoot by my right and another by my left and straight ahead I heard my cousin yelling.. "RUN!!"

A reminder to live life

A uni classmate posted on facebook that another of our classmates passed away. It was rather shocking news... you never expect someone your age to pass away... At 20, you think you're immortal. At 30, you feel age creeping up on you and you begin to live healthier but Death still seems distant.

Well, a death among people the same age as you and especially among people you know and grew up with is especially shocking and tragic. The person who has passed on was the same age as I am. Apparently he passed away in the night after going to bed. Possible cardiac arrest. He leaves behind a wife and child. Though I haven't seen this classmate in 9 years, it's still extremely sad to hear this sudden news.

It's also reminded me that life is transient and very very short. I have to remember to spend more time with my family and to live every moment of my life.

Accent confusion

So yesterday at 6am I had a concall with 2 Americans with 2 distinctly different accents, an Aussie and an English lady.. I had a meeting in the afternoon with the same combination + one local Chinese.

Man! It was confusing... I don't have an issue understanding them but it takes a bit of brain work to figure out the slang and keep switching from American mode to British mode to Aussie mode to Chinglish mode. One word can sound different when these 4 people say it! e.g MALL sounds like Mal, Mole, More... Sheesh.

It's tiring enough trying to keep out the Singlish but's worse when you spend half the time figuring out what they're saying!!!!