Greetings from Hong Kong!

I flew home for 5 days after landed in Hong Kong to quickly activate my training visa.

I flew back to Shenzhen (border city on the mainland side) on 14 Oct and arrived at my service apartment half past 9 pm. 3 days before my arrival, I received an email from local HR to confirm my accommodation. I was assigned to stay at Sheung Wan, Hong Kong island, a historical neighbourhood 10 minutes away by walk to Central. 

SIZE

I happened to learn about the crazy rent that my employer is paying as part of my expat package, from which I developed a modest expectation. "Good facilities, and the size of a pigeon hole as it is Hong Kong after all." I thought. The concierge guard opened my door and was 'Miss Li'-ing me the whole time, "Miss Li, This is your room!", he said. It was good facilities, but in a matchbox. And this matchbox occupies the whole floor of this building. My dad joked that then it is not a building, more like a chimney! 

This is all of my space except for the kitchen

DISTANCE
My office is right above the Kowloon MTR station which has a very good connection with the Central MTR station. The fastest way of travelling would be Sheung Wan  MTR(one minute from my residence) --> Central --> Kowloon. But I thought, why not walk 10 minutes to Central? The walk is on a flyover that lasted all the way from Sheung Wan to Central. It is always warm and sunny, and I got to breathe some air. But everyone else (except for my Dutch colleagues) reacted as "What? You have to walk? And for 10 minutes? That is so far!" 

I realized at that point that I have very different perception of distance (incl. the preference of walking) and size :)

OFFICE
I started immediately the 2nd day after my arrival. First of all, the office is at the ICC tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers in Hong Kong. The first few floors of the building is a very grand mall, Elements, with ALL the luxurious brands one could ever imagine. The closer one walks to the office section where all the tenants are big banks, the more expensive stuff she will see.For a brand that I would just see a few shoes in a corner @ de Bijenkorf, here there would be a whole store dedicated to it. SO MATERIALISTIC. Show your wealth, the more, the merrier. If I were a girl who really desires to own these fashion items, I would work for Goldman and still feel that I could never earn enough! 

Luckily I regard all the shoes and clothing as wearable art pieces, and everyday the walk to the office is like dancing through a gallery. 

Hello bankers, fancy a hat?

I forgot to take a picture of the office, but it feels like working in a 5-star hotel, high ceiling, plenty of space, everything is a bit shiny. In the toilet next to the sinks there are even hand lotions and Listerine mouth wash :P 

The view from Floor 70. I should have taken one of the gulf  

I found it very interesting that it is exactly the opposite to in Holland: the Dutchies make their home very comfortable and nice, but do not care too much about the office spaces; whereas in Hong Kong people live in very cramped place (and usually not very organized) but every day coming to the office is like walking into a wedding reception. This is what I would call 'prioritize your appearances above your inner comfort', quite typical Chinese. 

Or this could simply be the result of longer hours at the office? For 3 days in a row, I worked non-stop and only left after 7pm. And my manager said, 'you have arrived in a good time, because it is not busy..' Dear me. Normally I wouldnt mind if this happened in Amsterdam, because I have my boyfriend waiting for me at home and everything is set up. But for the past 3 days I have paid 0 visit to any supermarket/grocery store, and I need time to settle in..

I am lucky to know many friends in Hong Kong, from my primary school all the way to Cambridge times, I am already convinced that I will not be bored :)

A friend from old times took me to a Michelin 1 star restaurant. I love IB friends.  

Landed in Hong Kong

On Tuesday I took the KLM direct flight to Hong Kong. I bought flight sleeping pills for the trip and on the instruction it said use 2 hours before the desired sleep time.

It worked after half an hour and I was still desperately waiting for my dinner so my strong mental power beat the medication (and there goes the desired effect). But I did keep drinking and now despite I only had 3 hours of sleep, I am at ease and no symptoms of jet lags at all.

My first impression of Hong Kong was convenient and efficient. Everything at the airport was fast and smooth.

Taking the express train from the airport to downton, I kept checking the views outside the window. Living in Holland for such a long time, I am totally not used to seeing so many mountains!

Hong Kong-Anticipating another journey

A few months ago I applied for one rotation with the commodity team in Hong Kong, giving myself the opportunity to work briefly in China for the first time ever. After a month of hectic IT training and studying for (part of-) my Dutch naturalization exam, I am finally mentally getting prepared for the next 3 months! I hope it is fruitful, fun and most importantly, warm!

Now I have made and ticked many items on my packing list, planned my itinerary, waiting anxiously for my visa, one thing stays on top of my head: how do I survive the 12 hours flight on my own?

I know you will be shocked to read this. I have been flying these 12 hours since I was 15! There was not once I was not extremely exhausted in the end, because I just CANNOT sleep on the plane (not for more than 1.5 hours anyway). AND I AM SOMEONE WHO REALLY NEEDS MY SLEEP. 

You might say I could watch movies. But I do not see it as an entertainment, I see it as a sleeping alternative which makes me tired. And I love watching TV series, but they usually only show 1-2 episodes per plane. And watching TV/Movies make me deadly tired in the end, yet just not sleepy.

You might say I could use some alcoholic drinks. After all, I got a bit tipsy even from a tiny glass of Sangria. But for some reason, drinks fail to make me feel sleepy when I am up in the air. 

After some talking with friends and googling, I come up with the following ideas:

1. Bring my ultra comfortable travel pillow. Not the blow-in-air type, but the one with sandy particles inside to make it perfectly fit for whatever position I lie my head. 

 

2. Wear very comfortable clothes. Nike air with KLM flight socks, comfortable jeans (sorry no yoga pants for this one), a sports bra and a soft top with a zipper. Next time I would like to shop a pair of these when the pricing is a bit less ridiculous.

3. Stay hydrated. I intend to bring a water bottle with me, so that I could drink only water and resist the temptation of soda and juices..Many other girls will bring a facial mask with them to make sure their face stay hydrated as well. Well, I could only consider that if I can actually fall asleep, otherwise I will look horrible walking around with a mask on me. 

4. Take a very mild sleeping pill. I recently heard this from a colleague. They even use this to help fall asleep in business class. Christ, if only my company pays for a business class this time..I would actually worry a bit less about the sleeping problem. But nonetheless, seems like a good idea. Plus, I realize even my parents (who are extremely against dependent medication) use this on their long haul flights. 

I heard this would not be an OTC option for Germany, but luckily for the Netherlands it still is. So I will pay a visit to my pharmacy sometime this week.

5. Download many shows and e-books! I sometime (although not very often) develop a certain urge to watch 12 hours TV in a row or read a book non-stop for 24 hours (my Harry Potter days). A long-haul flight seems like a fantastic time slot to do such things. Therefore I will ask Niels to download the whole season 4 of Suits (which would last for 8 hours I hope), and I will look for a novel for my SONY e-reader. So in case all my previous plans do not work, at least I am not bored!

                               

6. Use the waking time to think about what I could do in the future to afford such a flight experience:

http://dereklow.co/what-its-like-to-fly-the-23000-singapore-airlines-suites-class/

Spend around EURO 14000 (one-way) to have your own suite on an A380.. I just read the article yesterday, and now looking forward to my 12 hour flight in the coach really sucks. 

Life moves on..and so am I

Now here is something super exciting: I passed my CFA Level III exam! I was very excited yesterday for about 30 seconds, only to think about no more long nights, endless studies and constant worries. The glory to put the 3 letters right after my name is only secondary. 

It was a great atmosphere when everyone else I know in my company who took Level III passed it, so colleagues were congratulating me without hesitation that they might hurt someone else's feeling.

Looking back, I take a lot of pride in myself for finishing all the exams in the shortest time period possible (1½ years). There was no budget and convenient resources for tutoring, and I had no study groups, and I typed over 800 pages self-study notes and drilled over 1000 exercise questions on my own; I was under enormous pressure (not to mention I changed employer once in between) and managed to pass everything in the 1st attempt. In my CFA inbox folder, there are only 3 results-related emails ;) (would have been more if I had to take multiple attempts)

There is only 1 person I would like to thank: my boyfriend. Every time he sent me to the exam hall, made  thoughtful and nutritious lunch (no big lunch curse) for me and delivered and cheered me up SO MANY times when I was doubting myself, having meltdowns and couldn't hold it together anymore. We had a great time in my final week of cramming-we went to Geneva together and I had a nice week studying in the garden in the mountains. This will always be a cherished memory.

What did I learn from this experience? 

First of all, believe in myself. I remember many incidents where I cried 'I cannot do this anymore, no way I am passing this..' (although I only had one minor incident for Level III) but yet I always managed to pass eventually with very good marks. That should mean more confidence in my own capability going forward.

Second, have human expectations for me. For level 1 and level 2 especially, I was constantly studying, and when I didn't study very effectively on weekends, I became very anxious and frustrated and had many thoughts starting with 'I could have..'. For level 3, I was a lot more comfortable if I could not focus very well on the weekend, instead I just relaxed and did something else for a few hours. I told myself: I am human, I need to rest, and I have my up's and down's, and this is a down moment to help me go up again. 

Finally, do not give up! When I was doing mock exams, I never needed to think for the 1st or 2nd questions cuz they were so basic, and usually some excellent opportunities to bank some extra time for the later, more difficult questions. However, in the real exam, the very first question, I choked. I was totally panicking that I have already wasted 3 out of 5 minutes allocated to the question, only to have nothing written down yet. I was screaming inside..'you might just walk out of the exam hall now and spare yourself from all the embarrassment..!!'

And then I checked my watch, it had been only 30 seconds! And I said to myself, 'calm the f*** down'..and then magic happened. The question became basic again, and I finished everything within one minute. And the morning went on very smoothly. I handled the enormous pressure well and got super good scores for the morning session!

(For my traineeship, I will write down some self-development points, I will jot down all of these for it :p)

What's next for me?

• A rotation in Asia and spend more time with friends 
• Read more books (I have half a dozen books I want to finish reading, including 'de prooi')
• Learn how to photoshop and possibly get a new camera
• Pass my integration Dutch course..(urhh more exams!)

I am just glad this phase is over, time to move on and become a better person in all aspects, one little step a day. 

The next ball

Whenever I am getting extremely anxious about almost finishing something (like the status I am in now), I am starting to lose patience. Rather than focusing on the quality of the work I can deliver, I just get overwhelmed by the thought that 'I just wanna get this done with!!'. I even feel too anxious writing this down. 

I remember when I started watching tennis as a young teen, one thing a commentator said really got stuck in my head that I should let it inspire me in my study:

"What is the difference between a good player and a great champion?"

That is, even in the most adverse situation or a match that is so close to the end, he or she does not think about winning or losing the game, set, match. A champion, at that moment, when he puts his feet on the court, only thinks about hitting the next ball. 

He stares at it, and that is everything he focuses on. The next ball. 

Apricot vs. Almond

To all of my English-speaking (only) readers, this is a post about almond, apricots, marzipan..it is not as yummi as it looks because I am constantly confused about which ones I do like and which ones I hate (due to the very confusing terms in my mother tongue), therefore I decide to devote some time to investigating the terminologies, but have to start with the ones in Chinese. 

If you are SO interested in my SUPER NERDY thinking world, let Chrome/Google translate be your friend. 

我爱吃甘草杏，爱吃美国大杏仁，可是完全不能接受“白果”杏仁和杏仁露。

"杏"的种类繁多，中文里的口语和学名有不少出入，加上西方饮食里涉及到的不同种类的杏，让我在偶尔想表达吃某种杏不吃某种杏的时候经常说不明白。

今天借助网络来脑补一下。

杏 apricot

1. 杏: 杏（學名：Prunus armeniaca），其果又稱杏子、杏實，是李属李亚属植物，其果肉、果仁均可食用。

本草纲目里说: 杏实. 【气味】酸，热，有小毒。生食多，伤筋骨（《别录》）。 颂曰︰杏之类梅者味酢，类桃者味甘。 宗奭曰︰凡杏性皆热。小儿多食，致疮痈膈热。 

这里面说的杏，应该就是我们俗话说的“桃养人，杏伤人，李子树下埋死人”的杏了。和李子是近亲。

英语里称为: Apricot 

杏果脯 dried apricot

我爱吃的甘草杏，就是用杏子做的果脯（fu3），土耳其也有做的，有机会尝试一下，英语对应的自然就是Dried apricot。









1.1. 杏仁：这个杏的果仁/种子/核（东北话不发he2，而发hu2），可以食用或入药。因为跟这个白胖胖的杏子直接挂钩，英语里对应的就是Apricot Kernel。

杏仁 Apricot kernal

杏仁含有扁桃苷，广告里被称为维生素B17，其实不是维生素，据说有治疗癌症的效果（但很有争议）。没有争议的是杏仁在某些条件下会释放出氰化物，所以不宜吃太多。

英文维基说： 

阿玛雷诺酒 Amaretti

The Italian liqueur amaretto and amaretti biscotti are flavoured with extract of apricot kernels rather than almonds. Oil pressed from these cultivar kernels, and known as oil of almond, has been used as cooking oil. 

我原来表达杏仁时候是说Almond，这个不是杏仁，是扁桃仁，桃仁大哥会在下一章闪亮登场。 看英文维基发现外国人也分不明白apricot和almond。

所以意大利杏仁饼 (amaretti biscotti)和阿玛雷诺酒(amaretti)都是含有杏仁的。


杏仁在中国又有南北杏之分，其实就是苦杏仁和甜杏仁的区别。





1.1.1 南杏仁: 

杏仁豆腐 Almond Jelly

 "南杏仁，又稱為甜杏仁、南杏。其含有豐富蛋白質、植物脂肪，有潤燥補肺滋養肌膚的作用。又因其内含豐富的維生素E、不飽和脂肪酸，能潤肺平喘、生津開胃、潤大腸，故有肺病、糖尿病、高血壓、高血脂、便秘患者如能長期食用，對身體健康大有裨益。" 


台湾的一道美食，杏仁豆腐(Almond Jelly/Pudding/Tofu)，就是以南杏仁作为主料。听说很好吃，不过估计还是我受不了的杏仁味? (PS..这英文翻译的，杏仁豆腐里面既没有Almond也没有tofu!)

1.1.2 北杏仁:

"相對于南杏仁的香甜，北杏仁則味苦，形狀較小，較厚，皮色略深，呈赤色。北杏仁一般都作為中藥使用，能止咳平喘，潤腸通便。一般中藥店可以買到。

北杏仁未經煮熟時會含有有毒物質氫氰酸，所以北杏仁一定要煮沸以去除毒性。北杏剝了皮與南杏頗為相似，可以味感做辨別。北杏食療效果與南杏相同，但治療氣喘方面則較有功效。北杏仁成人一日生食不要超過10克（30-50粒），服食過多就可使人致命。不過也不要太過緊張，只要控制好量以及用正確的加以煮沸，使用北杏仁是有益無害的。"

安陵容就是吃了北杏仁挂掉的。

杏仁茶里经常是4：1的比例混合南杏和北杏。一提起杏仁茶我就想起宜秀毒害纯元，总觉得那是皇后喝的养身之物啊--其实就是我闻都不能闻的露露杏仁露~由此可以推断我是不喜欢杏仁(apricot kernel)的。

2. 扁桃
扁桃才是英文对应的Almond，我之所以以为杏仁是Almond，是因为美国大杏仁的翻译明明是Almond啊。

可是我们一直被误导了啊，1970年代，美国产扁桃进口中国，错译为“美国大杏仁”。

我们中文还有一个译法，叫巴旦木(Badam)。

和其他李属植物（Prunus）如杏一样，有苦桃仁和甜桃仁之分，苦的也有毒。美国大“杏”仁是甜桃仁。

扁桃 Almond

巴旦杏木不是杏，而是蔷薇科桃属扁桃亚属植物，巴旦杏果小，扁圆，果肉干涩无汁不能食，主要吃巴旦杏的仁，即巴旦木（Almonds），其味道超过核桃和杏仁，有特殊的甜香风味。皮有厚有薄。“Badam”从学术上解释,起源于波斯语，表示“内核”的意思。汉语“巴旦木”是“Badam”一词的音译而非意译。巴旦木（Almonds）在全球众多国家都出产，如美国（加州）、澳大利亚、西班牙和中国新疆等，其中，美国加州是全球最大的巴旦木（Almonds）供应地,全球80%的巴旦木（Almonds）产自美国加州，并行销全球90多个国家。

扁桃仁是一种食品，没有毒性，具有健脑、明目、助消化等保健作用，但是油脂成分多，食用过多容易腹胀。不具有润肺润肠的药效。

所以跟杏仁药性完全不同，所以我是可以吃Almond但是不吃Apricot Kernel，所以不要买美国大杏仁来止咳，不如去吃甘草杏……

纯元皇后也傻傻分不清楚才让宜修得手的……

Apricot kernel vs. Almond

那么扁桃在西方哪些饮食里登场呢？

以坚果的形态: 牛扎糖 (Nougat)等

以比较隐蔽的形态: 杏仁膏/杏仁糖 (Marzipan) 以及杏仁糊/杏仁酱 (Almond paste)..至此看中文里的扁桃仁还总是打着杏仁的旗号混吃混喝……

杏仁糖 Marzipan

杏仁糖和杏仁酱的扁桃仁含量是不同的。杏仁酱经常被用作巧克力以及糕点的夹心，我尝试过，受不了的味道。

杏仁糖的长相就好看多了，可以被染成不同颜色做成各种讨喜的形状出场。比如去年给我姥爷带了一盒，长得都是水果的形状，他觉得非常有意思。买的时候就是觉得卖相好，根本没意识到是扁桃仁做的 :)

3. 白果 

那么，在小学一年级成为我的噩梦菜的“白果拌黄瓜”里的白果，又是个什么呢？

是银杏核! 银杏就是育才北校区主楼前的两课大树，我的小学里也至少有一棵(搞不好这三棵都被挪死了，哭），奶奶家的院子里也有几棵。每年秋天白果落地，大家就都像寻宝似的去捡白果。白果臭臭的，据说对心脏好。原来核里面打出来的白色的东西就是让我一想到就恶心不已的悲剧……

人家银杏跟杏仁桃仁没关系的好么……

银杏 Ginkgo/Maidenhair tree

至此桃仁杏仁银杏的爱恨情仇，告一段落。皇后娘娘会说：一群无知的蠢货!

我才是人生的赢家!

Post-exam life update

So it has been a long time since my last blog post, and I would be lying to say my life has not been turned upside down ever since.

My last blog was after I took the hectic CFA Level 1 exam, and now the good news is: as of yesterday I was informed that I passed the CFA Level 2 exam, and with an exceptionally good mark indication as well!

I am not such a person to brag-but for once I cannot be more proud of myself. I have shown incredible discipline and diligence in the past year, because without these I could not have passed them. I remember the days when I arrived home around 6, finished cooking, eating, dishwashing by 8, started studying then, and went to bed around 11 or 12. Such a life style for a whole year.

I remember doing 1000 exercise questions in a month, crying and struggling through those endless exercises, but eventually I tend to forget about all my tears and pain in the dark moment, and look at the bright side of things and move on.

My calendar year (from Sep-Jul) post grad school: passed two CFAs in a row, now officially more than halfway done, alongside my ever first full time job. Tick!

Post-exam life: focusing on my big life main course (more details later), and the side dish is to watch Downton Abbey. I absolutely love the show: put aside the plot/drama/love, it gave me a sense into the historical evolvement of a variety of things, such as estate management, the class system. It was not so glamorous to be a lawyer/accountant at one time! But how come surveyors are quite a ‘posh’ thing? Now I know.

Also the show reminded me of my scholarship- it was awarded by Duke of Westminster, like Lord Grantham sponsored Freddie to go to Ripon Grammar School. It was essentially the money from estate management, from the land. Well I mean if you own the West End in London it is far more lucrative than owning lands in Yorkshire. Like the husband of our principal once joked with me, don’t feel indebted to Grosvenor-for the Duke this is only coffee money. Nonetheless I am eternally grateful of course :)

Also Downton Abbey gave me a break from only US shows, the majority of which are NYC-based. I was constantly amazed by the talented British casts.

God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God said, let there be actors. And there were the Brits.