Happy Labour Day-劳动节快乐-Selamat Hari Pekerja/Buruh

So, tomorrow is the day to recognise our efforts, our contributions to our teams, to our company, to our nation, to international trades, etc, etc, so, I need to say thank you, first to myself (because I work very hard for the company, I work very hard to proof and challenge myself and for the profession I choose to be in).

Happy International Workers' Day To Everyone and I am looking forward to the 3 days that I am going to have, to just relax a bit, chill a bit......................

Choong

Special Guests-Part 2

As promised, my guests over the weekend, and photos to be shared accordingly.

Ms. Ho has been mentioning that I should share the photos immediately to let all other friends in Acidchem especially, so that they envy them (bo lah, Ah ho bo kong 'envy'. She just said let them know only lor..). These two photos were taken at Jingshan park, as I told you before, only Emperors can visit. This place is a must visit location, as it has a good view of Forbidden city, and you are not considered done with Imperial Palace unless you come up to this little hill top and take a full view of the palace.

Anyway, talking about visit, timing was also very right, coinciding with their trips to Beijing by tour group and they came during the weekend, right after my trip from Hunan.

Sometimes, you can plan but that does not mean it will take place, like my friends from Japan, Goh-San, who was suppose to come end last year, to celebrate new year in Beijing but have to cancel it the very last minute due to some problems. Always believe in 天时地利人和-In English, right place at the right time.

And my Taiwan friend, calling himself Devil wanted to come over to, but then timing was not right perhaps...so, the next time lah.

As we have talked over during the weekend with Ho and SG, don't take time for granted, and enjoy while it comes along and be contented and happy....

Choong, Beijing.

The Beauty Of Nature

Actually, I intend to do a posting on my recent visit to Shaolin temple and I have wrote half way (cause a lot to write, right, Shaolin temple right, the realllllllll one, but then, one button, you make a small mistake with the intention to make look better, then, oopps, it is gone, forever. So sad. And it is too late to rewrite, hence I just choose some nice photos which I want to share, with friends.....lah. I will be back with the article on Shaolin temple later. Enjoy....
Sleeping time now.


Choong, Beijing

Good Host, Good Shopping Mate

Oh gosh, I think I am bit addicted in writing and updating my blog site. Maybe it is because I have encouragement from a lot of friends (is it ahhhhhhhhh) or may be because I derive a lot of self-satisfaction from doing this? I think this sounds more of me, the humble side of Choong SH.

I was a host for two guest from my homeland, and got compliment from them. And what makes it more interesting is that, today, one of this friends send a mail and complimenting me, and the mail mentioned that it was one of happiest trips she has ever had (she has been to many many trips overseas, expensive ones, cheaper ones (rojak-rojaklah) but the trip to my place was one of the nicest. A nice compliment isn't it...hooray, and thanks to my friend, Ah Ho. Now I know I am a good host or more convinced. And my another friend, SG said my hospitality and service is 'number one', hoooooooohhhhhhhhhhh, hhooooooooooooray, another compliment. But cool down lahhhhhh, being the humble me. Thanks, SG.

And much much before that and along the way, there were many friends who told they like my company, be it for shopping or trips together or having chit-chat at kopitiam, cafe (please do not imagine I sit in coffee shop the whole day okay....................like M'sians like to say, aku ada class punya tahu....acah aje). So, compliments again.

So, why, what makes us a good host (I also got not clue), but I think it all comes from your heart, first thing first, and secondly, from the chemistry and contact you have with the person (缘分).
OK lah, that's all to share for now......till I write some other thing later.

Choong, Beijing

牡丹花（mutan flower)-Luoyang and Beijing

,

This is my favorite flower, Mutan, the national flower of China. The place famous for this is Luoyang national park(洛阳, 国家公园） but surprisingly, in Beijing, I found out that Jingshan garden (景山公园）, the place where the emperors used to visit, have also very beautiful and fully blooming Mutan. The pictures will tell you a you everything I am going to write, but the feeling of being able to watch this and touch the flowers, is very hard to describe here. Seeing is believing saying goes. Actually I have more pictures for this, but I think it is enough to share with you here, a few of the pictures that I can find time load for now. More to come later (seems like I have a lot of articles to write, and ph0tos to share, and I am not sure when I can post all. Lets see.

Nite from Beijing.


Choong

Special Guests

hihihi and hi, sorry for the past 3 days I wasn't writing anything cause I have special guests to Beijing, and that is Ms. Ong (Siew Guat) and Ms. Ho (Ah Ho).

Now they are out to the park next door to my apartment with Ms. Chin and as they will be leaving tomorrow morning, I take some time off to write this article.

I was good to have my first guests/visitors coming from Malaysia and visiting me here. The feeling is good and it is always nice to meet friends (old close friends) visiting from home country. And at the same time they also bring some Malaysian foods for us here (we are starving for Malaysian stuffs....Acah je). We went to a few places together, like Jingshan gargen, dajueshi, 798, dan-dan noodle lunch, and tonite I will cook for them, lagi best kan (it is better isn't it!).

As most of the photos are with Ah Ho (she took close to 1000 pics) for this whole trip, incredible isn't it, hence I will share the photos once Ah Ho's send it over to me. As for Ms. Ong, I am glad that she likes 798 a lot, especially with the pendants that she bought.

OK for now, and I will share more later.

Choong, Beijing

Morning (Luoyang to Xian)

A short posting today, before I go out to see our agent here in Xian.
Last nite, arrived very late, from Luoyang. And it takes about 6 hours journey by bus from Luoyang to Xian. Terrible. Last nite, in the bus, there were too guys (finally we found out that they are peasant-农民as they said, though I don't use this term very much. They just continue smoking inside the bus, and despite my colleague telling them not to. Luckily there is a window nearby, so, we asked him to open the window when he smokes. And to make the matter worse, when the outside temperature is only 16 degree Celsius near hillside, and wooh, you can imagine this journey.
But luckily, then stop, say after 2/3 of the journey, into some agricultural sites, jump off the bus and into the surrounding dark areas. Both my colleague and myself felt happy for sure, we clapped our hands.
Yeah, a long the way, from Luoyang to Xian, we passed by some hillsides, and you still see those people living in 'caves', albeit a modern one, some with nicely built-in doors. But I do not know whether enough sunlight comes in or not, and how it feels like when it rains. Water can sip through for sure, but since they have lived in these cave-like structure, I am sure they know better then any of us. Sorry guys, no pictures to share, but you just imagine along our North-south highways, they there are caves, with wooden doors, and people living inside it. How they cook etc etc, I do not know, cannot answer you.
OK, I got to leave.
I came to Xian before, and I will share some pictures later when I can find the time Now that I start blogging, I think I become very creative and have plenty of ideas, but lacking time.
OK, no complaint. By the way, my hotel room is really nice, RMB 460, it is like a mini suite (talking about hotel rooms, it will be another topic I would like to touch on.............I will be back, stay tuned, hohohoho...)

Bye for now, and warm regards from Xian.

Borak-Borak Time

Hi, seems like I received quite a few comments about my blog, someone said it is nice, someone mentioned that it is impressive, some asked me to keep up my good work, some said they will continue to comment accordingly, etc etc. Well, first of all, Kamsiah lah (for readers that do not know what Kamsiah is, it is thank you in Penang Hokkien, and you have to familiarise yourself with my multilingual capability (che wah), otherwise my article will be rated as not fun enough. Anyway, I am Malaysian first, hence, Malaysian are known to be creative with languages (or was it lack of it, hence they campur-adukkan-mix and matched, like bubur caca).

Yes, for the blogsite, efforts have to be put in, and it is my personal windowlah, to express myself and my point of view and what I want to share with my friends and acquaintances (may be enemy too, aku tak tahu lah, cause it is very hard to say, but I think no one will become an enemy of a lovely guy like me, isn't it? Betulllllllllllll Kan, that is what Rose Kanchil likes to say.

OK, back to my borak-borak issue today, ok, lets start from the time the day began for me.
I set my alarm clock (in my blackberry) but, a mistake happen lah. Instead of 5.20am, I put it as 5.20pm, you see sometimes, the more features you have with your new gadgets, lebih banyak masalah lagi, kan (more problems you will get). On top of this, I woke up 'prematurely' at 4am, hence, may be because of tiredness and the alarm did not ring as it should be, I continued with my sleep until 6.20am. Kelam kabutlah, but luckily, time and luck were with me. Syukurlah kan, 感谢天,感谢地......

Oh yes, before that, we rewind a bit back to the day before, and I was conducting an interview with my Senior Sales Manager. I am not going to talk about the interview itself, but the final part of the interview, after the formal conversation ended. And this interviewee asked a question.
Mr. Choong, may I asked what nationality are you? S'porean? Malaysian? And of course you know the answer. And next questions, how old are you? funny isn't it, still asking this question.
My colleague asked him to have a wild guess, and he said, 28-29 maximum. And he said, he was very surprised indeed to see a department head at this "young age". Okay, this is sort of quite normal. The next question was the one which made me laughing or smiling, whichever.
He said, I thought Malaysia is so hot, and you still can maintain your youthfulness with good skin, this is incredible. Haha, here you are. My colleague told him, that was because I do not come out when the sun is shining.... OK,ok, before anything else, I guess I better stop here.
Oh yeah, may be my second book, "How to look younger than your age, say if I can maintain this for the next 5-10 years, then I qualify to write lah, but presently, I think it is also okay right?
And again, when I reached customer's place in Zhengzhou, I was asked the same question, though not in the same manner. My colleague said, he has to surrender lah, sebab too many times being asked the same questionnnnnnnnnnnn. So, he made a self-declaration and proclamation..............

Cukuplah dengan topik berkaitan dengan 'youthfulness'. I arrived Zhengzhou, where the famous Shaolin temple is. I will write more about this later, but Shaolin temple is actually below my expectation or I would say, i was a bit disappointed with what I saw there (from airport taxi fare, etc etc). More stories later when I have downloaded the pictures I have taken and share my comment accordingly.
And I am now in Luoyang, the land where the national flower of China is, Mutan flower. If I can find enough time to visit some parks (have to pay for sure, nothing is free in China, another story later), then there will be stories later too.

Nite!

Choong, Luoyang

Another Imperial Palace-Shenyang (故宫)

Some beautiful pictures to share, in Shenyang, what they call as little Imperial Palace (compared to the one in Beijing). Size, for sure is smaller, but size is another thing. Here, the place is more original (a lot of structure were made of wood and have not been replaced I suppose or much renovations have been done). And I heard Emperor Puyi once stayed here, may be during the Japanese Occupation (not sure, need to check history again).

Enjoy the pictures, and oh yeah, while I was here, and because I did not wear the right shoes (for the snow) and while enjoying the scenery and running around, I fell down. Oopsssssssssssss, kesian kat I ini. Sakit....... It was painful and a bit embarassing. Tapi, as the saying goes, you can grow taller faster,.... but this is meant for a child isn't it? Luckily, all went well.

Choong, Beijing

Don't Take Things For Granted-What is Cheap Could Be Expensive

Small piece of comment that I intend to write today.
I just came back from wet market buying some vegetables. And lets not talk about imported fruits, which I usually bought. I will share with you some of the vegetables I bought, and you decide if this is cheap or expensive.

1) Two stalks of Lemon grass (for my curry)- Only two, please take note.
In case you are not sure, Lemon grass is our Changmou, -柠檬香草, or pokok serai.
And how much does it cost here, RMB 2/stalk, or RM 1/stalk.
In our place, sometimes, 1 stalk about RM 0.20. Sometimes, on the road side you can find this or in your own garden.

2) Winter melon (tang kua, or 冬瓜 or buah kundur) - One small piece, you know, like you usually buy from market to make soup for whole family, RMB 6 or RM 3 per piece.
In Malaysia, may be RM 0.50/piece or sometimes, you can get it free, from growing freely in your garden and Organic at the same time, betul tak.

3) Basil leaves (daun Kemangi,罗勒), u can buy this too, and I have grown in my garden before.
And they weigh this, but one chunk is about RMB 5. They add in a lot of stalks, but you don't eat stalks, you only take the leaves. So, imagine how much you can get from this. In Malaysia, RM 1, you can get a small plastic bag full of basil. In Vietnam, you can get it every where.

4) The same goes for Pumpkin. In our place, you can buy one whole fruit, cost almost close to nothing, right. Sometimes, again, it grows easily on the side of the road. Over here, it really cost us like gold, KIM kua.......... that's why it is called Kim Kua in hokkien, ha-ha.
But I did not buy it this time around.

OK for now.


Choong

As I Recall-One Of My Favourite Photos (Dubrovnik)

I think the pictures tell everything about this place. Historical place, mainly built using stones, and one of the oldest in Europe. I heard a lot of celebrities were here before (which also mean myself:) haha, celebrity in my heart lah, tak kisah).
Honestly speaking, when I arrived here, I did not know this place is in Europe. When I was a boy many many year back, I saw this scenery in one calendar (you know, back in Malaysia, during our younger days, and at the end of each year, we will have new calendars, from shops, shopping malls, grocery shops, whatever). And I happen to see this scenery before, and I was at that time very much attracted by this. And I was there two years back. The feeling was amazing and still it is. And a few more places, which I will describe later in my posting. This is hardly explainable. Anyway, certain things, you do not need to explain nor find the answers I suppose.
Happy viewing again, on of my favorites!

Choong, Beijing.

The Beauty Of Lotus Flowers

Today-What A Long Day

Okay, dear all readers, now, after a long (long) day, of interviewing 10 candidates, imagine talking and talking, non-stop, asking and keep on asking, exploring and exploring (korek-korek), with one purpose in mind to find the right candidate to help our office in Shanghai.
And the art of interviewing is important, otherwise, it will be crazy, asking for non-stop.

And when you have different mindset, different views, different background, and different expectation, makes it more challenging. And interviewing in English is one thing, interviewing in Mandarin is another issue, nahhh. boh eng lu cai bo.
But okay la, finally, sudah beres dengan isu ini.

I am looking forward to fly back to Beijing, and then again, flight arrangement.
From Pudong or Puxi nah, tong or xi, and now it is Pudong.

Ok la, chat some other time.

Choong, Shanghai

Pictures-West To Eastern Of China

Some friends were asking me to share some of my photos, so, being so nice of me, I find time to post this lahhhhh.

A few sceneries, the first 3 pictures were taken in Dalian, in Tongbei-Northeastern China, very beautiful and cold. I was there in the last winter. You can see a picture (picture 2) with many steps, I think it is called millenium steps or something like that. And these were the steps of many popular and important people of China, as I was told. Seafood here is good, and they eat with simple boiling and then you take with with raw garlic, yes, honey, it is raw garlic.

The last 3 pictures were taken in Urumuqi, Xinjiang.

Here, they will say Assamulaikum, something like that, and you see a lot of those halal wordings (in Arabic and 清真). And being a Malaysian, you feel sort of back to 'home' again, as they have also many mosques around. The camel milk tea is superb and expensive. And then you can also drink sheep milk tea, horse milk tea, so, all sorts of milk teas. Only that they do not sell human milk tea (no offense intended here :). And here too, you can find a lot of dried fruits, and flowers too (sorry, forgot to take picture).

OK for now, happy reading. Any comments, please send it over.

Happy weekend.

Choong, Shanghai

Weekend Again-I want to sing a song

Sing......., sing a song...........(the carpenters)

Yesterday nite, I have seen comments from a few friends, and I was surprise to see Joyce Yeoh.

And my secondary schoolmates, PohJen and Ivy have both visited my blogsite.

Welcome nah, and if there is any nice issue or article to share, please sent it to me nahhhhh!

And yeah, Rose Kanchil sudah jadi Rose Hilux? Wow, grand nah,,,,,

And what happens to Joyce Ooi, now Joyce apa itu nama? Kereta apa yang dipandu sekarang?

Talking about all the Joyces, then I have to sing this song, tapi I need Dewi Chai (wait a minute, Chai is actually tea right? ),

Joy(ce) oren, Joy epal,

Mangga.. dan jambu batu....................

Joy untuk satu, Joy untuk dua, Joy untuk semua.................

That was one of the favorites from Joy packet drink, not sure if it is still available in Malaysia.

Hei, this morning, I macam ada satu ilham. I want to write a book, and the title is "Beijing-My Million Ringgit Stories"

What is the content all about, and why this title, tunggu lah ya, bila tiba masanya, dapatkan senaskah dari cawangan-cawangan kedai buku 'SoonHeng' yang terdekat dengan rumah anda..........kahkahkahkah:) Cool nah.

Have a good weekend......................

Choong, Shanghai

Not So Good News

I am away in Shanghai now, and could not find the time until now to write my this message.

First, though I have already sent my sms, and called my friend, KA on the sudden demise of his beloved father, I would like to offer him my deepest condolence.

I only can offer my prayers......

Then my friend, Ginny informed me that a colleague of hers, whom is also an ex-colleague of mine, Ms. Gan is suffering from lung cancer, and at the final stage. Again, I am sorry to hear this, and was not feeling good these few days. I hope she will make it through in the final stage of her battle with this disease and chemotherapy. And with friends support and strength given by her family members, hope she will make it through.

Friends who read this, please help to offer your prayers accordingly.

Thanks in advance.

Choong, Shanghai

MorePhotos-Inner Mongolia(内蒙古)

Choong, GZ

Beijing-More Photos (平谷-Pinggu)

Some photos to share, taken outside Beijing, about one and half hour away from Beijing city. It is Pinggu, and here you have some fruit orchards, but because now is still early Spring, you do not see any fruits as yet.
Surprisingly, over here, they also have a mini version of 石林， Shilin, which I posted an article before.

This is a mountainous area, and you have to hike up, and since Winter until now, I have hardly done any serious exercise, except some light Yoga. And it was quite exhausting, thank goodness, still manage to make it through, though not until the peak.


The sun was very strong, but the air was perfectly good (and in Beijing, we count the number of days with Blue Sky, which means clean air). So, I take the opportunity to 'breathe' as much as possible.

And before leaving, went for simple lunch and bought some dried fruits.
Joining along the trip were Yihsee and my company driver, Mr. Geng.



Note : Rose Kanchil, can you reach this blogsite, kalau dapat, sila beri Komen noh. Terima kasih.

































































Choong, Beijing.