A friendship for life long or not?

When I was young, I was a Harold Robbins's fan. I keep some of his books, such as, The Carpetbaggers, The Stallion, Stiletto, Never love a stranger, Tycoon and so on. I must admit his characters influenced my teenage life to some extent, in terms of way of thought and dealing with friends. In the one book, it was stated that "how much can you trust on childhood friend?". As far as I remember, the character was a young tycoon. His childhood friend was a union leader trying to squeeze money from him while carrying a gun during the family dinner. Similar thing happened in my life. But I had well prepared for some reason. It may be because of the knowledge I gained from the fiction.

People say it is no doubt that making friend is a good thing to do in the life time. I agree that. At the same time, I have a small negative impression. Should we need to make friends all the time? Is it worth doing so? A few years ago, I managed my friend to come to the UK. She is such an extreme social being. She was able to make a big Burmese net work with over 100 friends in first 2 months after arrival. She had been on the phones morning, afternoon, evening and night and busy with occasions, gathering and monasteries. As a consequence, she was still jobless after 6 months in the UK with over £100 a month phone bills. (as I subscribed pay-monthly mobile phone for her, that made me a great burden) Later, she tried to take my money in improper way which is absolutely unacceptable. With a great disappointment, I had to stay away from her. Later I learned that she desperately married with one of her so-called friends, who had got a long term relation with someone else. Sometime I am still thinking if she is alright although circumstances have changed and we can not establish our previous friendship any more.

In fact, I have many friends in my life. But whenever I moved to a new place, and whenever I got to a next step of my career, I lost contact with them. Some of them left behind . Some are going parallel, finding it difficult to carry on our friendship. Living in different life styles means less opportunity to make friends to each other. For example, I am not a church goer or monastery goer. Not fancy Burmese gathering either. But I don't miss Christmas party. I join tennis club and enjoy cycling. I go to Europe twice a year. I am interested in sociology and financial matters, but not politics. I love animals and elderly people. I did not come to the UK to help Burmese fellows, but sick patients. I am not normally sorry to hear that someone has to go back to Burma or move to Australia because of whatever reason. Basically, if I can cope with life in the UK, I will live and enjoy. Otherwise, I would start my plan B or C.

By the way, I will be in Rome tomorrow.

Eating out and credit crunch

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has had to shut four restaurants, leaving 60 of his staff redundant.

He visited the businesses on Friday to tell employees their jobs no longer existed due to falling sales and problems in securing bank loans.

The TV chef, 57, turned to personal savings to help keep control of two other restaurants and a delicatessen.

He said he "experienced an unexpected but decisive fall in revenue across the businesses from September 2008".(BBC)

Nowadays, this kind of news is not uncommon. People's spending power has been falling down. This morning, I heard on BBC news that a multimillionaire couple spent only £27 meal at an ordinary restaurant. People appreciated. Basically a home made sandwich could save lots of money in a long run. Moreover, we can put stuffs what we prefer into bread. At work, I noticed that £100K Annam earners bring their own lunch. I also bring my food whenever I have a chance. That means I don't need to queue at restaurant. I can eat my own fresh food what I am sure it is healthy and clean.

When I arrived in the UK for the first time, my uncle who is a consultant physician in northern England, managed me to stay in London while taking exams and learning new things. I saw a couple of good friends who taught me how to stay in Britain and how to communicate with people. ( Making a friendship with one efficient person is more meaningful than than communicating with 100 of nuts, what I believe).

One of them who is a high earner general practitioner talked to me one time what I still remember is that I must not waste even a pound coin which has its own value. Believe it or not. My total expense on food, travel and mobile phone bill (while rent was free as I was staying in my aunt's spare house) in first 8 months was only £500, which is less than my 2 day business these days if I work weekend extra time. My first time in Mac Donald for a chicken burger meal was at about 1 year after I had worked. It is interesting that many Burmese these days can afford to eat out frequently, especially in Singapore, according to their blogs. Maybe it's cheap in Singapore. For me, £5 is nothing, but I am still thinking twice whenever I spend it for something although I donate to a variety of charities on a regular basis.

A friend of mine argued against me that what would be the point of people saving money and managing future as those efforts would be futile once they died. Death is what I am not scared of, but poverty is.

Weymouth and Portland

Sharing some photos as I got to Weymouth and Portland today. I was chasing a bargain boat for this summer, thinking about sailing.

Weymouth is situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey on the south coast of England. Isle of Portland is 5 miles south of Weymouth. Really lovely place.























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The funniest or the most nauseous ???

I received this forwarded email.I think this is the most hilarious wedding invitation I have ever seen. At the same time some questions came to my mind.

<1>Is it modernisation or exaggeration?

<2>Is it immatureness of such people?

<3>Do those people need to realise that we all are now living in 21st century of extremely globalisation era and it doesn't need to be proud of marrying?

<4>Do parents need to pay a respect to their children during a wedding occasion in Burmese culture although respecting to each other regardless of age is a sort of civilized manner?

<5>Do we normally write this sort of invitation in modern Burma?

<6>Should we say people achieved BE, MBBS, BA(economics) and so on from Burma, working in Singapore,UK and across the world in their professional fields doesn't meet world standard education?

Updated on 19/02/2009
Surfing across the world wide web, I just learnt that above wedding letter has been pretty popular. I must admit I felt nauseated. But now I think it is a bit funny. At the same time, I am thinking there must be a reason/ reasons behind it what I don't know. Some people criticised about marrying other people. For me, not. No point to do so. OK, I will update later again.

Sky sports said Nadal clebrates 'special' win

"clebrtes"

I spotted that word on google news page, wondering if it is a new vocabulary. So I clicked the link, showing me that Nadal won in the Australian Open after beating Roger Ferder.

It is obvious that people have been 100% relying on auto spelling checkers which is not normally work in the title box. In fact, it is the rare incident for a commerial medium like Sky.com. So I just recorded on my blog.

Heavy snow

According to the news, Britain has been braced for most wide spread snow storm in 18 years. Wind from Russia heading to British isle means destruction of the majority of travels across the country today.

Update 12:11 PM
More snow falling now. I can't use my car so far. Too mush slipery road surface.

Today East London


Nearyby park



Christmas trees?





No bus service today. Many tube services delayed. London city airport shut. South east train disrupted.

Revolutionary Road

Today, I am free before doing 4 night on-call which is a hell to me. I went to nearby Vue to watch a film. Basically I am not a movie fan. But I enjoy quality films. I prefer to watch at home where I set up 37 LCD with a surround system. I don't support poor quality download movie or pirated DVDs that Chinese-look people normally sell on the street in East London town centres. What happened last time was I had a chance to watch Mama Mia together with my friend in his place. I don't know from where he got that DVD. But it was very poor resolution and terrible sound quality. As a result, I felt tasteless on such a fantastic movie and went back in half show. Since then, I never try DVD if I don't buy properly from the shop.

At O2 Vue, I chose Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo as I heard on TV that she won Golden Globe award recently for her role in it.

Here is the breif story available on Wiki

Set in 1955, Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet) move to Revolutionary Road in a Connecticut suburb, and have a daughter and a son.

April is an aspiring but unsuccessful actress who is dissatisfied with her life as a suburban housewife. Frank despises his dull job at Knox Business Machines. From time to time they have bitter arguments. Frank has sex with a young secretary from the office in celebration of his 30th birthday.

April proposes a move to Paris to make their lives more exciting; she will have a job (she heard that secretaries of government agencies are paid well), while Frank can figure out what he really wants in life and start doing that. Frank agrees, and they tell colleagues and friends, who react politely, but find the idea rather immature.

In the meantime, Frank is offered a promotion, and April gets pregnant. April wants to have an abortion and has bought a device to do that herself; it is safe up to pregnancies of 12 weeks. Franks is against that, and emphasizes that there are still two weeks time to think about it.

They are friends with local realtor Helen and her husband Howard. They visit them sometimes with their son John Givings, who stays in a mental institution; he was a mathematician, but as a side effect of 37 electroshocks he forgot everything of it. He has no inhibitions to ask Frank and April direct questions and tell them his explicit opinions about the dull life in this town and about their marriage, to Helen's embarrassment. First Frank and April agree with John, but later Frank gets angry, after which John says that he feels sorry for them and their unborn baby. During an argument Frank tells April he wished she had had the abortion.

The emigration is cancelled. Later April has sex with neighbor and Frank's friend Shep Campbell. While Frank thinks the abortion is cancelled too, April carries it out in too late a stage of the pregnancy, and she dies. Frank moves away with the children. Helen talks negatively about the couple to Howard, but he turns his hearing aid off.

If you watch the movie, you will discover it is much more than that. There is a something nasty going on at the background.

Where are you from?

"Where are you from?"

I think this question is normal for the immigrants in Britain, whose look and whose English accent are different from natives. I have worked across the England, from London, Cambridge area, Norfolk, mid land to Yorkshire and Dorset. In London, most people don't care or don't have time to ask that question in first instance. But I was normally introduced with it especially in small towns where I also experienced a couple of people would stare at me as an alien in the town centre.

Ok, what I am trying to say is that I am a British citizen. I am a British tax payer. My pay slip shows PAYE (Pay as you earn) is over £1000 every month. I enjoy British breakfast. Fish and chip is my fav as well. (one time, someone from Norfolk asked me what kind of food I eat). I can drive in most parts of London very well while I have no more confidence to drive in Yangon. England has been my home.

But that question "Where are you from?" desperately reminds me my old country Burma (Myanmar) . In fact, I was raised in Burma. I was educated in Burma. I learnt medicine from Burmese patients in my early career as a doctor. What have I returned to them? What have I paid back to my old country? Are my old teachers still alive. Have I helped the world's poorest elderly from my home town in Burma? These are questions which come to my mind once someone asks me "Where are you from?".

Samsung U600 : user friendly or not?

Nowadays, with the advances in technology, incredible electronic devices are available in the market. Sometime, some people including me find it difficult to cope with those stuffs. A couple of days ago, I bought Samsung U600 from Car Phoneware house. It is stunning in look. Very thin and light. Black and Gold colour. 3.2 mega px camera phone with many advanced features. Moreover, it is not locked to any line, so working with any SIM cards.

My problem started on Day 1. It has 4 touch buttons in addition to normal press buttons. These are quite sensitive even though there are 3 levels of sensitivity you can choose. So whenever I opened this slide phone, part of my finger was on one touch button. As a result, recent call list came up. With a further subtle movement, my phone had already been ringing the last contact I made a call. It happened several times in my 48 hours use. When I tried to stop it, I had to unlock first by pressing the middle circular button. So just after 48 hours of use, you may check below. I broke it into pieces simply. I have no time to go back to shop to return or to exchange. Anyway, now I am in piece of mind. :)

I adopt a polar bear, will you?

I must say I am an animal lover. In most occasions, I feel they are much more innocent than human beings. I am normally upset when I see animals are suffering. Lately an advert on Sky attracted me. It was about to adopt a polar bear for only £3 a month. So I did check their website WWF. It is interesting and the amount of money is affordable for me. So I decided to donate £3 a month for these amazing creatures.

Basically, I have an old noodle bowl into which I put the 1P and 2p change after coming back from shopping. When it is nearly full, I go to supermarket where coin star machines exist. It counts automatically and I choose the instruction to donate for UNICEF and WWF in nearly equal amount. It is my regular thing. Cash amount is not too much, maybe £ 6-7 in total. But I think something is better than nothing.

Adopting an endangered animal is one of the best ways to protect it, and the whole species. You'll be providing help to an animal in great danger of extinction, and making a connection that lasts.

You can adopt from as little as £3 a month and we'll send you an animal adoption pack which includes:

• A gorgeous soft toy of your animal
• A fact booklet about your adopted species
• A print of your adopted animal
• A greetings card
• WWF's tips on reducing your own environmental impact
• 3 issues of Insight magazine, with updates on your adopted species

Please visit WWF @ http://www.wwf.org.uk/index.cfm

Thank you for adopting the

Thank you so much for adopting the for £3 per month. With your help we can continue to protect s and their habitats. Your donation will also help fund other essential WWF conservation work around the world. We'll send the adoption pack within 3 working days but please allow up to 10 working days for delivery to your specified address. This pack contains a personalised adoption certificate, a print of the animal and a soft toy. It will also include a fascinating fact booklet about the adopted species, practical tips on how to live a 'greener' lifestyle, a greetings card and WWF screensavers.

We will also send you a copy of Insight within the next few months, to keep you up to date on the work that WWF is doing to protect s and other conservation projects. Insight will be sent out three times a year.

Would you like to adopt another animal?

Have you considered becoming a member of WWF?

Worried about your impact on the environment? The way we use the planet's resources makes up our ecological footprint. Measuring yours takes less than five minutes and could set you on a life-changing journey. Try our Footprint Calculator

If you have any queries about your new WWF adoption, please contact our hotline on +44 (0)1483 426333 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) or e-mail supporterrelations@wwf.org.uk quoting this reference number: W000162-169-080809.