Farewell Queen's Pier

Schedule of the day:
0900 to 1800 work
1900 to 2330 company event at Ocean Park
0030 to 0300 taking pictures pretentiously at the Ferry Pier

Work was okay and not too busy. After all it's Friday and we had an event after work. The Ocean Park outing was a lot of fun and I had a great time with my colleagues. But then obviously it was the hours spent at the Pier that made the day memorable.

Met up my two buddies Jur and Lo after midnight at the Pier. In the recent week people have gone crazy flocking there to take pictures, while the rickshaws and the newsstand guy turned superstars suddenly. I think this abrupt craze is also an implication of how fast we are going to pass over this Pier and Clock Tower, perhaps. There's nothing wrong but just very much of Hongkong style.

I need a decent camera and I didn't even bring a tripod. Anyway to me the pictures aren't as important as the last hours I was with the Pier, full of memories, but nonchalant.

My office is only steps away from the Pier but my personal connection with her was mostly before the 1997 handover. Deep down I always feel the Ferry Pier belongs the colonized days. Indeed I feel this demolishment is yet another move to get rid of the reminders of our past.

The Ferry Pier, the Queen's Pier and the City Hall are just not separable. They brought me back the memories when my classical music lover Dad brought us to concerts, when my family was on the way to the Peak for a Sunday outing, and the little space near the flagpoles was where we lined up waiting to get into the auditorium during Joint School Music Festivals.

However, weird enough, if you ask me what my impression on the Pier is all about, I would say it's the metal frames. It's not any great architecture, but I love its simplicity.

And the days when we buddies got together puking after many beers and having happy boat trips. Great that Jur took this picture...... it means something to me.

Byebye the Clock Tower.

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday I was having lunch alone somewhere in Mongkok. Suddenly the street outside was cleared and cops and firemen were rushing here and there. The waitresses peeped outside and said somebody was going jump off a building. Then I saw the firemen pumping up the huge yellow cushion thing. I was really scared as I was facing the door and would be witnessing the fall if the lady had made up her mind to do something suicidal.
Rushed out of the restaurant and was shocked to see there were actually a lot of people watching and somebody was even taking a video clip with his cell phone. WTF!!! I dunno wht is in his mind. Does that mean he was actually expecting or even hoping that lady to jump??? This is simply sick.
**********************************************
Took a nap in the Sunday afternoon and it was already dark when I got up from my bed. Daytime is getting short and it is getting cold too.
I wonder if anybody would treasure something historical. Shek Kip Mei Estate and the Ferry Pier in Central. They both mean something to me.
Heard 林夕 is going to publish a compilation of his lyrics. I hope he would not forget this piece.

擺渡的歲月
作詞：林夕 / 作曲：周華健

在操場內 玩耍中比賽
在試場內 挑戰著未來
在世途上 但願飛出天際
在旅途上 偏偏盼望回來
在鐘樓下 伴著知己感慨
在教堂外 多麼渴望戀愛

誰人在說 誰人在笑 曾在喧嘩嬉戲中惹禍是誰
誰人在叫 誰人在跳 誰讓光輝的記憶放在這裡
渡海輪上 萬家燈火裡
多少個的你或我 曾為這光景陶醉

And the new Season Opens!!!

至愛chicago在season opening客場大勝上屆總冠軍miami，仲要全隊有波入，開心丫。miami斷估未上力，不過今季chicago亦係時候go go go啦下話。

今時今日的chicago bulls係一隊令人滿懷希望既球隊，相較michael jordan時期的君臨天下屈機姿態，加陪的值得支持。john paxson幾年來的改造，令球隊年青，充滿活力和talent。換走eddy curry同tyson chandler，膽大心細，厲害。連續幾年draft到好野(尤其係nocioni同chris duhon)又請到好教練，証明領導層有vision又有做research。今年又有lottery pick同高質外援，yoohoo。芝加哥既民眾真係要開心到碌地，隊波已經完全走出post jordan時代既陰霾，仲愈來愈勁果野另人興奮。

又要講kirk hinrich。係美國nba live 2004電視個廣告一見呢位朋友，就開始留意。又型又好波又有leadership，場外仲成個藝術家樣，憂鬱到痺。女子做趁beckham開始收皮，不妨亦留意留意。

Halloween and Johnnie To

首度參與海洋公園哈囉喂，場面熱鬧，中西交匯恰到好處，好玩。纜車之上，偶聞粗口之聲山間迴蕩，眾人大樂。畢竟，這才是我心目中的香港。迪士尼是太天真無邪啦。

***

終於看了放.逐，片子showcase成份甚高，但仍很有味道。正。

有時會想，在今日，我們就只可以在杜琪峰的電影內感覺這個城市的masculinity。可不是麼，近年雜誌電視上的男明星大都類似kenny啤梨李逸朗，或極需大姐姐送贈愛的側田。相較，鄭中基已是勁man了，吹唔吹脹。即使在精英雲集的中環，高大威猛的金融才俊之數目亦漸不如面色慘白著緊身cheap西裝加勁多logo的patrick cox斜揹袋之男性。香港女性在這樣缺乏選擇的環境，還得遭日花過多時間巡邏各網上discussion group的電車男標籤為港女不斷攻訐，真有欠公平。

寂寞

欠缺自律能力的我，很易感到寂寞。或許是因為秋季來了。

a day to remember!!!

yes!!! 有人即興發起，五個工作性質和office位置都九唔答八既中學同學食左餐開心既晏仔。

(甚麼故事)晨早榮耀

閒來揭揭英倫嬌雜誌，讀者嚴選史上百大金曲此碟竟獨佔三首，分別為不要憤怒地回望、神奇牆和香檳掃把怒蛙。立即把此專輯重溫一次，啊，綠州合唱團，真是無可否認係一代搖滾王者。

Sing Sing Sing!!!

剛在機場博覽館看完at17的演唱會，心內仍興奮。

該怎樣講起才好哩。總之，很享受演出的每一刻。能現場欣賞她倆本已是樂事，加上我一向喜愛的人山人海班底，整夜的音樂格調很合心意。用野花作intro和間奏的never been kissed固然是驚喜，a capella?命舞更不得了，到大開眼戒時，我想全場也在盼望那一刻可以永遠停留：那場景，那聲音，那感覺，已是經典。兩個多小時的演出，燈光和舞台效果相當簡單但效果很不錯。博覽館這給band show場地真的適合at17，紅館嘛還是給有大堆dancers圍著的舞台王者罷。

稍稍遺憾是她們沒有唱我喜歡的畫你和才女。用楊千嬅做opening則是污點，但大家也無比亢奮我也無謂boo了，唯有不鼓掌抗議。

雖然不是die hard fan，但也是at17的支持者罷。由剛進大學時的始終一天起，一聽就喜歡上了。幾年來聽遍了她倆的專輯和好些live recordings，eman的靚聲、ellen的吉他、二人的和音和幕後的talents總可以營造很多窩心的片段和感覺。

記得有個較我小一年的大學同學曾講過ellen是她的中學同學，那麼我和at17即是年齡相若了。但為何當聽到她倆躊躇滿志的唱著留住晴朗跳跳彈床那時，我會感慨自己不再年青？？？真吊詭，又或許那正是追逐夢想和坐在辦公室的分別。

若果今日踏上asia world arena的舞台是一個序幕，一個里程碑，那麼，我想at17在接下來也會轉變，不再停留在小妹妹的階段。I learnt the truth at seventeen，雖然我們這一代未成年已無所禁忌，成年後也不用立即養家，但十七歲究竟有其象徵意義。希望我多少年後，仍能帶著老婆仔女，見證她倆譜出很多片段，和一起回憶十七歲時的輕狂與美好。

I was once one of them

Back on campus in the heavy rain. Squeezing myself on the school bus, I saw a lot of happy faces. I even forgot that school started already. People were busy for orientation activities. Then I suddenly realized it was already 6 years ago when I was a freshman.

Ma-lut-los in Qingdao

Back from the Qingdao trip with D yesterday. This "chill-out" trip was a great rest for my body and mind as we were merely chitchatting and eating non-stop and never got up earlier than 11:00am. Hadn't even a sip of Qingdao Beer. It was a great place though, the architecture impressed me a lot. However the city would very likely be over-developed in the coming several years, and I wonder how would it turn out to be.

Memories and memories. I tend not to indulge.

A piece of terrible news made me very depressed today. I hope my long lost acquaintance would get through this. Though it is going to be difficult.

T-mac

年前，electronic arts揀了出道兩年的 wade做封面，結果他成了finals mvp，球隊亦奪總冠軍兼令一堆老將成功標尾會。兩個字-贏晒。
今年係tracy mcgrady，希望哩個pattern會繼續。

Days of being......

My long-waited Coke Zero. I dunno why its looks totally different from the pics I saw from the newspaper. Probably it has a different packaging design from that in the States. Weird enough, it tastes like diluted Coke. The original Coke is far too sweet and always think it goes best with a lot of ice, making it less sweetened and extra chilled. But then this Coke Zero thing missed the optimum taste.

Working in Shenzhen these days. I spend most of my time in the hotel and the client's office then almost nowhere else. Watched a lot of TV as I need some colours and sound to make work less boring and the room more lively. Recently Im pretty addicted to 愛情全保 as it's really hilarious. And I always feel I sleep even better than Im home, so Im very reluctant to get up on a daily basis.

又係母校情結

近來training比較悠閒。今日同一班同事去上整蛋糕class，對於一個只識煮公仔麵既人來講，無疑係瘋狂兼浪費金錢之行為。終於在導師協助下，本人製成士多啤梨蛋糕一個，拿返屋企孝敬父母。

下午一支公回去King's，因為係八十週年校友重聚日80th Anniversary Homecoming Day。個名好堅，不過參加者只有小貓三兩隻，可能老師仲多，瘀爆。不過家下做教師已經好辛苦，無謂再強求佢地搞呢樣果樣。梁sir在校長口窒窒講開場白之際來到，一d舊生立即笑晒衝過去寒暄，贏晒。

World Cup fever

Had quite a great time watching matches with some buddies and made a few new friends. I hope my team would achieve something great.
Surprised that I see a lot more people wearing Argentina team jerseys this year. Another great team.

Am a bit lost these days. Feeling hollow.

扭波踢波頂瓜瓜

拿，留意係所有球員十一個，勁過馬勒當拿同朗拿甸奴。我好懷疑佢之後仲可以做咩。或者要扭埋d隊友至得喇。

高橋陽一，你真係傳奇人物。不過我相信你一日願打，大家一日願捱。

無聊野

電視播左少少 james blunt live，連只愛古典音樂同60's民歌的老豆亦讚好，但係嫌條友把聲難聽，認為d歌應該比其他人唱。

問題 : 哪位公認靚聲男適合唱james blunt呢???
a. Josh Groban
b. John Legend
c. George Michael
d. Usher
e. Rain
f. 張偉文

個人認為 f。a 都唔錯，總之會好有火花。

Yippee

My 2nd company annual dinner tonight. I never expected this - two good years has gone by. Oh my. It was great though seeing my friends again and I turned out to be in a pretty good mood, taking pictures with my happy colleagues and drunk guys. Went for a round of beer before home.

Red bombs

It's my O'camp gorupmate Dickson's wedding today and he's the second married individual in the group. The ceremony was held in a Catholic church and the ambience was awesome, filled with solemn joy. I missed the alarm (at 2pm, shame on me) and yet luckily I managed to get there when the bride was slowly approaching the altar with her father and Dickson waiting at the end of the aisle. I really am not able to express in words but I was very much contented, the settings, the hymns, and the childrens' chanting, everything touched me deep down, overwhelmingly. Perhaps its the Catholic root since my childhood.

I hid myself in the corner and left at the photo session. Rejoined my groupmates for the feast in the evening. A night with laughs and a lot of good chats. Yelled like crazy when we saw our group picture on the screen on stage.

I always admire Dickson for his sense of responsibility to his another half, that he is not only saying it but is really trying his best to be a better person that could give his wife a shelter. This is wht a man should do.

Random thoughts

1. NBA regular seasons ended. To conclude -
- Im happy that the Bulls made it to the playoffs by winning many tough games towards the end. It really means something when it doesn't have a roster packed with stars but relying on some guys in their early 20s and some marignal NBA players. Things for them are going to be even more optimistic when they add better players next year.
- Shereef Abdul-Rahim finally gets his chance to be in the playoffs. He deserves that. Congrats!!!
- Things have been going very disastrous for the Knicks. Why could Isiah keep his job???
- The international players are getting dominant. Imagine a roster with C - Gasol, PF - Nowitzki, SF - Kirilenko, PG - Parker, SG - Ginobili. Invincible.

2. It seems Wyman is reaching his peak these years and has been producing a lot of very memorable lyrics. Though the standard of his works fluctuates, the good ones are really good. Im into this one recently. Very poetic. Let alone the writing, the idea itself deserves a grand prize in the year end ceremonies already.

流水很清楚　惜花這個責任
真的身份不過送運
這趟旅行若算開心
亦是無負這一生
水點　蒸發變做白雲
花瓣　飄落下游生根
淡淡交會過　各不留下印

老喇

多謝好友們的sms和免費飲飲食食，我終於和譚校長同齡了，實在百感交集。

pissed

早陣子一日，我在公司大堂等lift下樓，一會lift門徐徐打開，內裡僅可多載兩三人。大堂內我最早到達等候而且離那lift最近，但在那三數步內，後面一行三人突抽頭入lift，動作流暢自然。我即場一呆，唯有強行擠進，幸無過重。

我實在極端討厭此等行徑，惟此地愈來愈多。地鐵電車電梯，可謂三大不文明地段，各式人等均陰濕地爭先恐後。今回目擊大學畢業專業人士也是如此，豈能不感無奈。我也不明白，可能他們也是心理善良之輩，但在這些小節上，為何硬是要這麼樣。

想講的是，還是別再媽叉內地同胞，話大陸人唔排隊了。假若無告示牌無圍欄地下無畫線，你咪又係慌死蝕底有幾前攝幾前。相比起來，就是較聽話罷了。

Congrats to my dearest buddy

I was so happy when you announced that you finally secured a very good job offer that would lead you on the desired development path in the coming 9 years, and you would never know how relieved I was to hear that the position that you were denied was actually something you are not craving that much. Seriously, after all these tough years, you deserve everything. Wish you the very best in the future.

When was the last time I wholeheartedly felt happy for somebody??? I dun remember. It must be long ago. Yep I have always been the selfish guy.

the 80th anniversary

Back to King's open day alone this morning, surprised to find myself being able to get up early. Met a lot of schoolmates, some of which I really disliked back then. After a few years of separation, all of us ended up in cheerful conversations.

I must say though I am very much detached from my past schoolmates and affairs about my alma mater, every time I went back to the campus I got very sentimental.

It was also very nice to had lunch with the Yeung's couple and $. I was really close to the two guys in the secondary school days but have somehow lost contact with them since university. It was a pleasant surprise to know $ had moved to a place near King's. Same old feeling as I stepped in - amazingly clean, a place for a happy family.

Watched some ball games in the afternoon, had a good chat with my 5E sons and TKM. A great day.

Saturday night

今日因為要等人，一支公在ocean terminal內的pacific coffee看雜誌，那一杯咖啡的時間，坐在我身旁和我share同一桌子的，是林一峰。這若是在一年前發生，我可能會很激動的問他拿簽名。但今日我沒有任何反應。

看了藍奕邦讀立思考音樂會，他的live真的甚有功力。然而整個演出委實充斥很多cliche，可能我未能領會歌者心聲罷。但我也愈來愈覺得，如所謂非主流也是反來覆去那些東西，那麼主流不主流，也就意義不大了。

Taking a break from work

14/2 Franz Ferdinand Live in Hongkong

期待已久的FF concert，未至最後一刻也不知可不可去欣賞。場內90%以上觀眾為外籍人士，包括大量nick的狂迷。演出交足功課，唯以this boy做opening有些怪怪的。outsiders很正，eleanor put your boots on效果也好。show後和女朋友與sadie去飲野，也不失為一個不錯的情人節。

18/2 History Boys

也是期待已久，但也是未至最後一刻也不知可不可去看，我實在討厭我的工作。很有威力的play，每一句台詞也要反覆咀嚼。結尾時險些掉眼淚。

籮蔔糕的季節

年初一，新春大吉。

Close your eyes and fly

對台灣雖認識不多，但那一直是我的夢想國度。

若真的要問原由，那可能要從小時開始。媽媽有教美術科，不時會買些參考畫冊教材之類的放在家。其中一本台灣出版講校園海報設計的，不知怎的我看完又看。書內的海報範本不外罷那些宣傳民歌會秋季野餐，老老土土色彩鮮艷。但我就是覺得那和平時所見很不同，明明也是中文，也是顏色筆，也是美術課的作業，偏偏卻像另一個世界。

多年後上了初中，純情齋校男生也愛聽台灣歌，幻想被情傷扮怨男 - 周華健、張宇、動力火車、迪克牛仔、陳昇、杜德偉...... 也覺得蘇慧倫、冬菇頭陳綺貞、蕭亞軒等份外可愛。一放學拉隊乘巴士去灣仔188買碟，滾石唱片封套上的浮誇語句就是保證。還有張曼娟、三毛、朱少麟..... 雖格調迴異，但都令我們變了少年維特。

再過兩年，開始天真的勾勒未來，也開始領會真正的友誼。三五知己愛在海旁滄桑隊啤，或其中一個家中促膝而談。深宵電視播的music video內，我們一起發現一起愛上五月天。五個大學生在馬路上跑啊跑，跑出自己的路，令青年們沸騰，簡單的曲詞俘虜無數人心。對啊，兩三年後，我們也會是大學生了，之後即使各有各的去向，我們會也會找到屬於自己的路...... 那多好，那多好。

如今，愛情蒲公英式的迴腸盪氣自然也已靜下，但對台灣的種種，如旅遊雜誌內的文章照片、電視新聞播放的選舉宣傳旗海、書店內剛上架的新作...... 仍然有些敏感。現在方了解，那是因為我心中的台灣，一切也較我現處的社會多了一份原始的暴烈。無論好壞美醜，也更觸動我的心。

那日看同事在台灣拍的結婚相，有好幾幅正是兩口子在無人的畢直馬路上跑啊跑。我的心一下又沸騰起來，雖然身旁的人也好像不明白有甚麼好興奮。朋友們也不多見面，正因我們已各有各的路 - 但每次相會也有講不完的話，只因世界愈來愈瘋狂。自己已不再是躊躇滿志的小伙子，也終明無論你去不去找，路也不由你不走。

瘋狂世界 詞/曲：阿信

如果說了後悔　是不是一切就能倒退
回憶多麼美　活著多麼狼狽
為什麼這個世界　總要叫人常傷悲
我不能了解　也不想了解

我好想好想飛　逃離這個瘋狂世界
那麼多苦　那麼多累　那麼多莫名的淚水
我好想好想飛　逃離這個瘋狂的世界
如果是你　發現了我　也別將我挽回

想了你一整夜　再也想不起你的臉
你是一種感覺　寫在夏夜晚風裡面
青春是挽不回的水　轉眼消失在指尖
用力的浪費　再用力的後悔

我好想好想飛　逃離這個瘋狂世界
那麼多苦　那麼多累　那麼多莫名的淚水
我好想好想飛　逃離這個瘋狂的世界
如果是你　發現了我　也別將我挽回

當一切也已改變，就讓我閉上眼，再次穿梭於夜市和書店。

Happy New Year

噯如此這般又過一年。我有睡前寫日記的習慣，直至2005年最後一日，我在日記本右上角寫下2005這年份時，竟仍然有些別扭，彷彿尚未適應由2004至2005年那轉變。如今2006也來了，那一份怪怪的感覺就讓它永遠停在去年。

* * *

跌倒了，一定要爬起來。

新年願望。