23 jan 2001

this was what i read in an article in the straits time... about the differences between men and women..... and learning how to understand the opposite sex.....

" men, being more goal-oriented, often mistake the conversation to be a woman's attempt to solicit help. So, they rush to provide solutions rather than a listening ear.

And when men encounter a thorny situation, their strategy is usually to think it through and come up with a solution all by themselves without having to utter a word. Translating their feelings into actions rather than words helps them feel more in control of their lives.

But women, who thrive on sharing, then feel rebuffed. The trick, says Dr Jolliffe, is that 'to understand men, a woman must think like a man and vice versa'.

For instance, when a woman expresses her feelings, she is simultaneously discovering her range of feelings and processing her thoughts to arrive at a solution.

But men get upset as they believe these feelings to be statements of facts rather than a woman's self-exploration. "

how about this from mel gibson.... "When I was a kid, some guy told me that men play at love to get sex, and women play at sex to get love."

22 jan 2001

i managed to upload all the new photos that i developed recently... there are new pictures of the trip to shiraoi.... also new pictures of snowmobile land sapporo.... enjoy !!!

this week... i have no exams.... it is time for me to rest and catch up with my work... i can finally take a breather.... i do have to prepare for my exams coming next week.... at least now i have one week to prepare for it.... 

did i mention that my binding for my snowboard broke... i have to get it replaced... weird isn't... broken just only snowboarding once.... anyway.... i want to go snowboarding again soon... wonder when i can find the time... have been so busy lately... either at school... or at work.... 

today is monday again.... i have my regular soccer sessions to attend.... have to keep fit.... ole ole ole ole.... now... where is the mexican wave?

20 jan 2001

i would really like to write up interesting stuff in my pages... but i have no time to do so at the moment... after coming back from work... i feel so tired.... i wanted to upload the newly developed photos... but i do not have the energy to do it now....going to bed in 5 minutes time... i have to wake up at 0530 next morning....

19 jan 2001

back to work for me today... we had the usual hong kong tour buses... but what was most interesting was that there were 3 hong kong tourist who were on free-and-easy... in fact... they came to hokkaido own their own... something like backpacking... they bought their own air tickets... booked hotel rooms... looked for places to go... all on their own... and they happen to be interested in snowmobiles... they decided that they wanted to try.... and ended up coming to snowmobile land sapporo.... since i was able to speak both english and cantonese... naturally... i was to become their instructor.... it was really enjoyable... to lead them through the course... and communicating with them during break time.... it was really interesting.... we took a lot of photos.... because the weather was good.... they told me that there are going to send back the photos to us... the 2nd customer to tell me that... cannot wait for the letters to come in feb.... 

i also now working on another homepage.... for me secondary class... still in the early stages of development... hopefully many people will help out and contribute to the pages.... 

i would really like to write down my thoughts... like how i perceive things... but in the end... i always end up writing a diary... i would like to write more about how i feel....guees i cannot do that on weekends... too tired to think

18 jan 2001

had my matrix test this afternoon.... it was so tough... i think i would probably have to sit for the second round.... whole lot of tests coming up in the next few weeks.... have to struggle for the next  4 weeks or so....

i attended a new year party.... which was a dinner treat by my boss... we went for yakiniku... which is like bbq... japanese styled of course..... it was nice seeing my colleagues.... after not seeing them for about one week... seems like so long ago since i last saw them.... now that term has started again.. i will only be working on weekends.... seems like we are getting more and more business.... especially tourist from hong kong.... 

i also had my regular soccer sessions... we play on mondays and thursdays.... it is a good workout for me.... i run for about 90 minutes... and i love soccer.... playing with the africans really improves my skills.... which reminds me.... of the recent form of liverpool.... i have to mention that i am really impressed by the young english players in the first team... especially steven gerrard and danny murphy.... murphy has been putting in the goals... and gerrard has been scoring spectacular ones... one against arsenal.... one against southampton.... one against villa... all scored from outside the box ... driven to just under the crossbar.... you just have to see the goals to realize how good gerrard is.... especially the one scored against southampton.... you have to see that goal....

16 Jan 2001

recently... there has been a lot of people telling me that i am amazing... the fact that i can speak many languages.... for the book... i can speak english... chinese... cantonese... japanese... read a little french.... and understand a little malay... i have always taken it for granted.... it did not occur to me that being able to speak many tongues is such a useful tool... i am really at ease wherever i go... because i am able to communicate... and that makes my life really interesting... i meet with strangers and make new friends every now and then... they almost never fail to show their surprise and envy in me being multi-lingual... it drives me on to be more competent in mastering various languages.... in school... i get to practice my japanese... at snowmobile land sapporo... i get to practice my cantonese... at home.. i get to practice my english and chinese.... learning does not necessary occur solely in schools..... 

15 Jan 2001

back to school.... had my french test.... feels different... working life and studying life... i feel more at ease as a student... i can afford to do everything at my pace.... but i have to prepare myself for my matrix exam this thursday.... that is stressful... it is a term exam.. i have to do well.... anyway.... i got my photos developed already.. the new pictures will be up in the pix section this weekend.... 

early this evening... i manage to help my friend set up a network in his office... it was not something that difficult to achieve... but i consider that an accomplishment for myself... again... it was another good experience for me... now i know how to set up networks... sharing of files and printers with windows me... 98... 95... one day... would like to try out windows2000... what i really want to try is linux... unix... guess i have to learn programming in the first place.... 

14 Jan 2001

i went snowboarding today.... for the first time... i bought my snowboard 2 days ago... i got myself the boots... binding... board... goggles... gloves.... and it all cost me 90,000 yen... which is more than $1,000.... the money i earned from my part-time job.... all went into the gear... i was thinking since i would be here in sapporo for 4 years... i might as well get myself something good.... anyway... snowboarding was really fun.... i fell a lot of times.... but when you really are able to ride the snow.... it feels so good.. today is my first try... i still am not confident of turning and stopping... but at least i got the hang out of it... given another 2 or 3 tries.. i am sure that i will be good... looking forward to having fun riding on fresh snow.... 

tomorrow... back to school for me... part 2 of the second semester... i am actually happy that school is re-opening.... i am pretty much tired of going to work...  having waking up at 6am... staying out in the cold for the whole day... coming back late and just sleep.... so going to school will be a good change and break for me.... looking forward to meeting my classmates too... wonder how they are doing.... anyway.. i do have a french test tomorrow... i am going to sleep soon... so that i can wake up early tomorrow morning and study for the test..... 

9 Jan 2001

rest day for me again.... i spent the whole afternoon playing pc games.... i have gotten to like shooting games again... now... i am playing delta force land warrior... graphics and sound wonderful.... there are also quite a number of missions and campaigns... i do really enjoy playing delta force... reminds me of my days in the army... 

i just came back from dinner.... i was with 2 japanese friends and a chinese friend.... they got to know that i was working as a snowmobile instructor.... and were so eager to try out... anyway... because i am working there... my friends do get discounts.... almost half price... we also discussed about going snowboarding... ice-skating... going to onsen.... there are actually so many things one can do during winter... thinking about it.... living in sapporo is really interesting.... summer is summer... winter is winter.... one really experience the 4 seasons.... looking forward to accomplishing what i want to do.... 

5 Jan 2001

2nd rest day for me... last night... i had dinner with my boss and two other collogues... i have to agree that talking to these people has given me insight on how japanese society works...they believe so much in this senior-junior relationship... indeed it has been a good learning experience.... just by listening to them... i learn so much.... well.... it is work again tomorrow... as usual..... 

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