the earth is Yours: 2018

i don't talk about this often.

but after an afternoon of repaying my sleep debt, my mind is now clearer.

been dismissive of my bad work-life balance, frequently. but this isn't normal at all.

at some points during these 2 months, i just zoned in and out of conscious existence. the prolonged late nights had worn me out. i told myself 'never again' when ever i had to burn the midnight oil to get a report done.

overstepping boundaries:
3 days before my wedding, i was rushing a report till the wee hours of the morning, cutting into my leave.
the day that my niece was born, i took leave in the afternoon, but because of some field related things brought up by client (there was an ultimatum threat), and no one else was around to handle it, i worked through that afternoon.

and it has happened again and again.

6 reports, all from different projects, one after the other, trout slap me. and no, can i say no? what's the alternative? pass it on to someone else who is equally stretched?

i'm glad my time is up.

saving that spark of passion that i have of my job scope before it gets extinguished by the inhumane hours that i put in.

2008. sweet 20.

fell in love with hiyao miyazaki films, joe hisaishi soundtracks.

vowed to watch him live.

10 years on, my love made my dream come true.

caught him one day browsing concert tickets and he confessed to wanting to buy those insanely overpriced second hand tickets. he had been tracking ticket opening sales after they mentioned that joe was gonna perform in hk (he performs once a year outside of japan). on any normal occasion i would have dismissed the idea cos i don't believe in breaking our banks for concerts. but i just couldn't.. and hy must have known how much i wanted it, cos he's even more prudent than me with money.

it's been long since i did photo posts, but this was really a trip to remember!

workaholic!

probably one of few times in our lives. miles + 30% off off-peak. it was amazing.

only down side of this configuration is that i can't get to lie on his shoulders

most comfy noise cancelling headphones i've ever worn on a flight.

and multiple USB ports for my charging insecurities

boeing 777 - look at the leg room!

and caught "wonder boy" which i had missed.

brunch is served

i had the lobster thermidor from book the cook! <3

my love had the beef fillet! really tender.

mousse + white wine

flip the seat down and it becomes a bed.

yup, with my all time favourite jessica.

lying FLAT on a flight. that's a first.

:) :)

back to our lives as commoners

perhaps.. slots at gantries to collect these plastic cards?

hk housing

went out to get lunch!

hk markets.. live chickens. found out this combi didn't work well with me (over-active gag reflexes)

after much walking, got to Good Hope noodle in Mongkok. noodles were great, but the saucey meat.. mm

saw something singaporean. why no credit? maybe it's a hk thing too?

can't resist mcds anywhere

went back and got ready! sandals for a night of walking. brought heels there to change. on hindsight, we should have taken a cab.

with you <3

he looks like a bird here! heh cute at all angles.

finally at the hk cultural centre!

a sneaky shot

you are amazing joe hisaishi-san!

his compositions have always been simple, catchy, moving to the masses.

he also took a good 1/2 of the time with his debut piece, The East Land Symphony

super intense and a social commentary, it presented a deeper, somewhat darker side of him.

i still preferred his film compositions though!

playlist:

Summer

HANA-BI

Kid's Return

Castle in the Sky

One Summer's Day

Totoro

much love to my dearest date who learnt to appreciate hisaishi cos of me :)

you can't visit a city without some hiking! we talked about waking up really early, but hy had a headache the night before, and i really didn't think it was gonna work out cos we had such a late night. had shortlisted some parks but they were all so far away. settled for dragon's back but because we didn't wake up super early, we would have been stuck with the sunday crowd. it was also drizzling slightly/ post rain. tried my luck and looked at google maps for parks near our hotel, and found out from reviews that this place was a hidden gem. and it was!

totally tranquil on a sunday morning

finally found this elusive entrance after a 20 minute search. this was about 9am!

the easiest part of the hike.

some where half way there?

complaining like a kid

almost there and hy thought it was the peak and wanted to turn back.

i am glad i thought otherwise! there were twin peaks and this is the view of the other peak.

hong kong island on the other side.

hee

beautiful!

yay, we took about 1hr 40 mins for a 495m climb. not too bad cos its apparently a 3+ hr hike.

washed up and ready to start exploring!

before that,

filled our tummies with mcds, and went back for a quick nap!

YAS. out again for lunch.

had tried to reserve a spot at Tin Lung Heen after hearing good stuff about their Iberico pork char siew, but since it's michelin-starred, obviously it was all booked up and we were wait listed. was told that they would call us around 2pm if there were spots. no call, so we decided to head down to try out luck.