I'm Empressed

It started with a youtube video suggestion.

They showed some excerpts from a Chinese drama entitled "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace."

One video turned to two, and three, and four, and more. Yes, it became a fodder for binge-watching!

The historical drama features the life of Empress Ruyi. I'm not really familiar with her or her character, but this drama piqued my interested.

The actual series had 87 episodes, but youtube only had bits and pieces of different episodes. Despite that, the story was clear, and the ending was heartfelt.

Hope they'll carry this on Netflix soon.

Fortune-ately

Found this while cleaning my room.

This was a gift to me by the HKG office after joining them back in 2005.

So, yes, this item is 25-years old.

But what is it?

It's a modern-traditional fortune teller.

Modern, because it's made by Shanghai Tang.

Traditional, because it's fashioned after a traditional Chinese way of telling fortune. You shake the container, open it, and get a stick. The stick has a number, and you find that number in the fortune telling book.

Tried it just for kicks and got the number 4. And here's my fortune:

I'm really feeling fortunate to have found this. I'll be randomly telling my fortune from here on in.

Handover Hangover

It's hard to imagine that it's been 27 years since HKG was officially handed over from the UK to China. Back in 1997, we were glued to the TV, watching this momentous event.

We've been going to HKG when it was still under British rule. It was actually interesting because it was an Asian country, a lot of the buildings have Chinese signages, but the people you see around were British. From the police men, to the shop keepers, to restaurant owners - they were all white folks.

It felt like it was the UK transplanted to Asia.

Watching the handover felt like watching an end of an era. 

And after visiting HKG post-UK, it really was.