Prediction does not count; Building the Ark does!

2006-03-29

Cambridge / Paris

And so it goes on... ...

I nearly get sucked in London and Paris... ...

1. there is a change in time in London on Sun 26 Mar 2006 and I nearly missed my Eurostar to Paris. Fortunately, the train got sucked due to engine problem

2. Riot in France.... Holy Shit!!! so lucky that I can get rid of Paris on schedule, or otherwise, I will be in GREAT GREAT GREAT trouble

Comment:

a. France is struggling and should there be no change in its system (policy/attitude..etc.), she will finish soon... afterall one shouldn't be too pround of her glorious past

b. "There's something about Mary" (I watched this again coincidentally).... where is my dear Mary? Probably she has gone and found someone else....poor me

c. Never be alone in France, its so lonely, though I can withstand that.

d. Travel with the HKSAR passport in Euro is so troublesome............fxxking you

e. Heritage in France is as good as can be

2006-03-24

UK - day 5

And so it goes on ... ...

Day 5 is extremely busy, for private and business.

I have toast and coffee for my breakfast as usual in order to awake myself for the forthcoming busy schedule, which was probably the most difficult part of this journey (the word trip is not used here for reason I prefer not to disclose). At 11:00, I met Mr. Smith of BMS again at the Lloyd's and was pleased to enjoy a cup of Latte at the famous Lloyd's coffee shop, the cradle of the modern insurance market where practitioners transact businesses, exchange information, and, of course, bluff. The trading hall of Lloyd's looks as if it was --- underwriters still work in the so called box with their assistants sit next to them and brokers are still asked to queue up outside the box for presentation (probably this is good topic for a paper) --- but only with computers and internet duly under operation and connnected.

Having lunch with the English gent is not easy (so does dinner) as you need to drink copiously for about 1 1/2 pints immediately before and at the time of lunch and another round after food, probably 1/2 pint. Of course, it is a matter of culture, however, as I have said repeatedly here and there, you need to respect it, even though you are not willing to do so.

Walking around the city is a great thing (that's what I have been told), especially 1.during office hours while others are concentrating on their assignments and 2. when you are accompanied by a gent. like Mr. Smith who is 100% Briton. Having a tower bridge and the London bridge circus is as nice as can be, though it is always a far greater idea if I was accompanied by someone else (you know...).

I were introduced to the H W Woods in the afternoon in a Wine Bar for a small talk with Mike V. and his colleagues (Borkers are born to be lazy and wine-prone?). The good thing for this is that I were exempted from wine this afternoon (but not for the evening) and have some sort of weather hahaha with the Briton, an event of high artistic value and wit, and an occassion to express pleasantry with the young pretty ladies.

Dinner of day 5 is a private gathering. I have dinner with Ben, as usual, and the soon-or-later the Parks in a Thai Restuarant. The food and drink are nice; the dining court is decent; and what's more the lady and gent are friendly, though I got 80% drunk finally (and that's why I get a half-day off on Fri when I spent my time on drafting this post)

2006-03-23

UK - day 4

And so it goes on ... ...

Day 4 is a little special. Unlike the past 3 days when I have only one appointment per day, today, I need to visit 2 patches of different insurers; one from the Lloyd's, the other from the P&I market. Of course you guys won't be interested in their operation, I am sure, but they do have one thing in common (perhaps that applies to the whole UK or even Western Civilization) --- they are heavy drinkers.

The volume of beer / wine they consume is terribly huge (from my perspective), 10 pints per meal are the standard, I were told, and as a gesture of "good-will" or as a respect of culture, I need to follow suits, though to a lesser extent (but the amount I took were already "substantial" to a green drinker like me). Believe it or not, my observation is that alcohol prioritizes first followed by English jokes and speeches (which are qutie unique) with the dumping food, being the less demanded consumables, drawing the line.

The schedule of Thu will be a duplicate of Wed -- lunch with the Lloyd's markets and dinner with the P&I Club --- and I am quite sure that I will be asked (pretend) to drink again.

And so it goes on ... ...

2006-03-22

UK - day 3

And so it goes on ... ...

Day 3 is a little relaxing than I originally anticipated as a lot of contingency happened; Mr. Smith (sadness to say not Mr. Pitt) is scheduled for an urgent meeting; Ben's luncheon is cancelled; Sharp, unexpectedly, invited us for a drink at tea time (yes, during tea time).

For those of you who know me quite well should know that I am not a green drink"er" whom can get drunk for 1/2 pile of beer. However, as ill luck would have it, the Britton, I was told, are wine-phile, especially when they are not billed, who cannot withstand a beer free day! And the following are my observation I took during my lunch:-

1. Mr. Smith: 2 rounds, approx. 2.5 bottles of standard pub size beer

2. Robin: 3 rounds, approx 3.XX bottles, followed by 1/2 bottle of white wine with Sharp immdediately after lunch

3. Ben: 2 rounds

4. Poor Isaac: 1/2 round, hahahahaha

FYI: I am scheduled to visit Paris during weekend!!!! For those of you who are lookoing for LV, please let me know.

2006-03-21

UK - day 2

And so it goes on ... ...

I were assigned to meet a lady and a gentleman of the claims department of the Steamship Mutual, a Protection and Indemnity Club specializing in vessel liability policy.

The food is British, they said --- volumous, plain, and dull (my comment only) --- and the lunch last for 2 hours among which 50% or more of the time are spent on weather hahaha (oh my god, it seems that I need not to work here, though I do). Definitely the dishes are too heavy for me, especially after having a "full" breakfast with Ben, my host in UK, in the morning.

Sue Watkins, a 27-year-old little pumpy lady (to my surprise), is the sydicate executive and is responsible for the day-to-day claims administration e.g. dealing with Jerks like me; while his immediate supervisor, Mark Dawson, the sydicate manage, is responsible for, of course, the big stuff like handling the ungrounded claims from the insured.

Of course, I was not alone for the meeting. Linda, our company sect. to whom I correpsond with in HK for claims matter, accompanied me for this event. Being the most seasoned figure of the 4, her dominance was not unexpected and was definitely an added value to this lunch appointment, my debut in UK.

Everything runs smoothly here in UK

and so it goes on ... ... to day 3

2006-03-20

UK - day 1

And so as it goes on ... ...

Everything is fine in day 1 (anyway what can you expect from and for a 13-hour flight) except I can't enjoy a good sleep and suffering from a slight jet-lag.

The best thing I have encountered on day 1 is reading an article written by Amanda on her paper with regard to an acid poisoning in respect of Atkin's dieting.

Everything is fine here, from the weather to my colleagues, except the Blur-Bari

2006-03-12

小別勝新婚

18 號去英國出差, 2 號返港, 特此通告.

(要我幫手買0野0既好友, 請留言或致電相告)


===========

卡數因非經常性開支而瘋狂?升

(血流成河)


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The Mousetrap 依然未能成事... ...

壹"頁"堂賣112, 貴到暈; 最衰係"講大"圖書館都冇.

唔通要"捱"貴書?


===========

旺角越0黎越臭.

為避免整臭自己, 各位請以後唔好約我0係旺角等or見面


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尋晚去"粗菜館"食飯.

牛腩煲一流; 鹹魚豆腐正; 黃金蝦呢... 唔....都係大榮華0個個好味d.

有比較先知好壞

但, 同咩人去先係重點!!!

2006-03-05

閑暇二、三事

其一

彭浩翔的作品很有趣.

"AV"、"公主復仇記"、"大丈夫". 熱切期待 "isabella" (依沙背拉)



其二

第一次去"天勝"食晏(之前次次去dinner). 午餐份量恰好, 水準依舊高.

下一站... ...



其三

想買一本書, 唔知有冇人會俾個surprise 我

"The Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie



其四

The next station is ACII, please mind the study gap


其五

最近身痕, 總覺得新不如舊.

照理技術提升, d 0野應該會mature. 但有好多0野 (例如人) 的質素卻停濟不前. 囿於"窠臼"是"演員"的台詞, 唔係理由.


其六

想多放一點時間去了解華x的那單"工傷"案

2006-03-01

誤會

覆輝哥:

政府是次"收"雞行動是基本上唔需要賠錢的. 因為有關的法例是修改豁免治養20隻或以下禽畜的牌照的豁免權(係法例修改前治養20隻或以下是exempt/waive 的) 而非徵用私產. 在新例下, 一律要領牌, 冇得走"雞". 由於當中並冇剝奪私產, prima facie, 而有關收雞行動乃政府"協助"市民處理有關事宜, 所以賠償一事大有相榷餘地. 除非可以證明有關的修改影響到養雞者的產權, income right for example (0係hk有人靠養廿隻為生?), 不然, basic law 105 或judicial review 勝算機會不大.

isaac 字
*hku的一位law教授就有關之事宜在星期一(還是星期二?)的信報撰文分析(本文為該文的"summary" --- 希望我無理解錯). 文章簡單易明, 有空不妨參考參考.

 
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