I'm loving Lemar's new album The Truth about Love. There's something about his voice that sends shivers down my spine. I've loved him since Fame Academy, and even went to see the live show afterwards, just for him - is that sad? He was amazing though - the air was zinging with emotion. So on Sunday, when I saw an ad for his concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in April - how could I not buy tickets?! Yes, I have £11.37 left in my bank account, and £2.56 left in my purse. Still, pay day is on Thursday, and you're only young once..

Went to see the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks at the Theatre Royal on Haymarket, starring Billy Zane and Claire Bloom, on Saturday. Billy Zane plays a gay dance instructor, Clair Bloom, the student. It does what it says on the packet. It was a bit slow at first, but I enjoyed seeing the unlikely friendship develop between the two characters, and finding out the events that caused them to become who they are. I had a tear in my eye at one point, but that might have been because I had PMT. Never trust the reviews of a premenstrual girl. I think it was good.. :) No, it was, but it wasn't the best thing I've seen. [Girly aside]: Billy Zane was hot in Titanic - How has he lost all his hair already?! He plays a gay man rather well - Kelly Brook ought to watch out..

HK diner for dinner afterwards. The food is usually good in there, but I didn't rate the microwave-heated, greasy mulch on my plate this time around. They had us in and out within 25 minutes, what does that say to you, when we spent 10 minutes ordering? After snatching the plates from us and slapping down a bill before we'd even finished chewing, the waiters had the cheek to say "What are they still waiting for?". If you want a relaxed dinner with good freshly cooked food, where the staff have good manners, avoid this place.

Last night, spent one hour, forty minutes battling London traffic to get into central London to see Donkey's Years at the Comedy theatre, this time. Well worth it. 25 years after graduation, some friends return for a reunion dinner, with hilarious consequences. David Haig, better known for playing Inspector Grim in The Thin Blue Line (remember that..?) was brilliant as Christopher Headingley, and Karl Theobald (best known as Martin Dear in Green Wing) brought his special brand of spot-on awkwardness. This was rather clever slapstick at its best, and I definitely recommend it. It made Pandy laugh, and that's not an easy feat!

What else? That's about it, I think. I had 2 days off and I'm back at work, or rather, working from home reluctantly today. I had a week of respite from ME symptoms, but they are back again, and I'm back to being tired, grumpy, achy, weak, twitchy. Still, it was a great week..

I've always been very self-conscious, and as a result, there are certain things I won't do in front of other people. Some of these things are: getting undressed, dancing (unless we're in a club), and singing. The list used to be much longer - ridiculous things like not being able to apply make up or looking in a mirror in public (fear of being perceived shallow/vain). I even used to feel uncomfortable eating in front of people (paranoid that people would think, 'god, no wonder she's so fat'). Irrational, silly things, I know, but I've mostly grown out of that now, though I still have my days. I still feel awkward, knowing that one of my colleagues is in a cubicle in the loo next to mine, and can hear every tinkle.

Strange as that may be, another one of my peculiarities is singing to myself whilst having a wee. This, I will only do when I know no one's around. I don't know why I do it, but it's just a quirk of mine, I guess. Anyway, yesterday in the loos at work, I could have sworn there was no one in there. I did my singing thing, picking a song that's way too high for my little voice to reach, singing completely off-key and not being able to hit the higher notes. It was like a dog dying. Then I hear a scuffle of a shoe in the next cubicle, or it could have been a muffled laugh. How mortified was I? I couldn't get out of there quick enough! I practically ran back to my desk, red-faced and cringing. I really hope it wasn't a member of my team/my boss and that they didn't know it was me! How embarrassing..

I had a few giggles over it later on, with the best friend. The convo lead to many childish giggles about farts and poo and other such cringe-worthy tales. We're like a couple of 8yr old boys sometimes.. fun though :) My question is, can you recognise someone from their singing voice if you've never heard them sing before? I could have sworn people were sniggering as I came in this morning.. Hehe..

I took a half day off to go christmas shopping on Oxford Street yesterday. I'd hoped to get the bulk of it out of the way. So did I buy lots of presents? No... Did I buy anything for anyone else? No... Did I buy more clothes, shoes and accessories for myself, despite already over-spending this month? Yeees... I was very bad. I bought myself a metallic studded belt from River Island, two pairs of very pretty dangly earrings, some charcoal-coloured slouchy boots, a wrap-around cardy, and some sparkly mushroomy-coloured eyeshadow. I so don't deserve any christmas presents this year..

• have been playing with my spangly new phone (Sony Ericsson w850i) - ooh shiny!
• have been playing with my new stereo - it has DAB radio, an MP3 port and feeel that bass, baby!
• have been half-blind with blurry vision and headaches - until I realised that I'd actually forgotten to take out my contact lenses and had just put new ones in - 2 days running..
• felt extremely silly in a team meeting when I inhaled deeply and swallowed my chewing gum, making a squeaky noise thinking I was choking and causing everyone to look at me.
• had a delicious lobster dinner - mmm, mmm, mmm..
• bought tickets to see Joe at the Brixton academy even though it cleared out the rest of my funds in the bank account. Pay day is 10 days away.
• have booked 2 and a half days off work for things like christmas shopping. With my overdraft I guess..
• started making a list of all the pirate DVDs I must buy from HK - good films that have been released this year. I can't think of very many - what do you guys suggest?
• Pirates of the Carribean2
• Da vinci code
• Memoirs of a geisha
• The break up
• Ice age 2
• Pride & prejudice
• The devil wears Prada
• X men 3
  

Come 20th December, I will be 80,000 ft in the air, on my way to sunny, warm, bustling Hong Kong, yayyy!

When I was younger, we would do this trip every Christmas to visit my grandparents and other relatives and friends. We always stayed at my maternal granparents' house, in the small, idyllic village of Sheung Wo Hang near the borders of China. Words can't describe how beautiful it is, and what fond memories it holds for me. Pictures don't do it justice, but nevertheless, I shall try and paint you a picture.

The village lies in a low valley between several green mountains. When I'm there, in the mornings, I get up before sunrise so that I can sit outside in the morning dew and wait for the sun wake up, orange and pink, between the mountains. This time of morning is my favourite - the air is pure and clean, you can still hear crickets and all manner of birdsong, but it is peaceful and tranquil - the perfect place for reflection. Then the sun rises higher in the sky, and I can feel it's gentle touch warming my skin and the air around me - bliss. Hong Kong in winter is rather like early summer in Britain, and I love it.

In the afternoons, if we don't already have plans (in HK, this usually means two things - shopping or eating), me and my sister will go down to the village stream - occasionally there will be wrinkly old women washing clothes or vegetables in the water. The water here is clear and clean, having been filtered by the mountains as it runs down. The river is flanked by reeds, bamboo and trees, and prettily coloured dragon flies buzz around. We've spent many a happy afternoon playing here, paddling our feet in the water, catching crabs, shrimps, frogs, and feeding the little fish with breadcrumbs. It is a delicious way to pass the time.

When we tire of the stream, we go walkies in the village. Everyone in the village has a dog - they run free and are curious things. Small wild cats lounge in the sun, but if you get too close, they'll dart away. I love walking the path that follows the stream. You have to cover up here, for fear of being bitten by vicious mosquitoes, but it is worth it. Big purple and white flowers grow where there is water, the bugs hidden amongst the green urge you to admire their singing, and occasionally you'll see things growing that you never do back home - the odd banana, guava, papaya, starfruit and even chow-chows and lychees. I've always been a city girl, but this is my respite.

In the middle of the village are some odd-looking trees that have been here for centuries. They are strange in that they have gnarly, root-like strands growing from their branches - these grow down to the ground, and when they touch the soil, they lignify and eventually thicken to become branches in their own right. This gives it a waterfall-like effect. Behind these trees is a hidden path which leads to another part of the river - the water is deeper here - my mum, aunties and uncles used to come swimming here when they were younger. Beware of snakes though!

The old village school still stands - a very basic building, where all the children, my relatives included, went to school. It's now a museum, and tourists come to see it, and our village. I love that the village has so much history. I love knowing that my mum grew up here and seeing all the places she used to spend time in. I love knowing that this is the birthplace of my ancestors, that everyone here knows everybody else, and are descended from two brothers who settled here from China centuries back.

I love this place to pieces, and one day, I would love to bring my children here and show them where their grandma and great-grandparents grew up. I'd like to expose them to Chinese culture as much as possible, especially growing up abroad, with so many other cultural influences jostling for room. The problem is - I may not get to come here this year, or the next. My aunties and uncles want to put my grandmother into a nursing home, and if so, there will be no cause to come here - to what will be an empty, dusty house that's such a commute to the city. Without my grandma here, it just won't be the same.

Although putting my grandmother in a home makes me very sad, it is a whole other post, and I won't talk about it now. There are so many memories here. Hong Kong, the city, isn't enough to keep me wanting to come back year after year. The village is what I long for when I think of HK - of sunny, lazy days - not the shopping, not even the great food holds much appeal when this setting is missing. I feel like you do when you finish a good book. This chapter in my life has finally come to an end.

These lobsters were brought back from the fish market last night. Aren't they beautiful? They were flailing like crazy, very much alive when we took them out. It seems like such a shame to eat them - not that I usually think twice when eating meat or seafood, but it's a different story when you've got to kill them. They've both female - both carrying eggs on the underside of the tail, as you can see in the picture. Isn't it fascinating? They're supposed to be a delicacy in parts of the world, it will be interesting to try.


There is much debate on the most humane way to kill lobsters, which mostly involve boiling. The Chinese, however, don't trouble themselves thinking about these things, and they're drained of urine (I won't tell you how), then chopped before frying or steaming. These two will be shallow-fried/steamed with ginger and spring onion. Mmm, I can taste the sweet, delicate flavours already..Does anyone know what to do with lobster roe? Should it be cooked separately or just left to cook with the rest of the lobster?


I suspect the wonderful Nikki might be able to answer this one!