What is your rating score??

Have you heard credit report, when I first heard I thought it is only for people who have bad records and reputation with bank or are in debt wish to find out the alternative ways to save their credit ability.

I think this is a very comment thought ‘as long as you own nothing, you should have a good credit rate’, but in reality it is not true. One of my friends applied for a credit card, he was just like one of us and thought he owned nothing was declined. He was advice to apply for his credit report with other party, after then he might be able to do something about and improving his credit rating.

I was surprised by the outcome as it is not just about owning money, it is also about for example: how many store cards do you apply and have, plus other general payments in relation to banks business, such as mobile phone bill, credit card bill (obviously) and all sorts of payment with money involved, you can see almost everything on the report, my friend told me.

I think I’ve learned the lesson from him to watch out HOW I spend/pay and by what methods in relation to the banks.

Singing in Live

Last month I went to see PiNK singing in live.

I have to say I was impressed by her voice and I also admired her determination of doing all the shows in no imperfections and I truly like her singing.

It was a weekend in October in Manchester Arena; during that night I followed the flow and queued next to the entrance and waited to be checked with ticket. About 15,000 to 20,000 of people came for the event and it was absolutely packed. I stayed in Park Inn Hotel just outside the venue about 5 minutes walk and was lucky as I booked far in advance which was allowed me to grab a room to stay over a night.

My feeling of going to Manchester is like when I look for a pair of shoes which bargain is necessary, it has to be reasonable price, comfort and is in a good condition. It does work when it comes to choose a hotel, as too much choice that normally I would like to stick with the previous one where I stayed before however, it is always overprice when it is on the peak time (although between the hotel and I, we never agree to have the peak time as we thought).

19:50 it started with the support act.

A band from NZ Evermore had warm up the audience which performed and song for almost an hour long, drumming, keyboarding and guitar performing. I thought they were very good performers particularly the drummer, I have to give him the credits of the amazing skills he has, he has no rest and drumming throughout the period of time. I enjoyed it every minute when they song.

New Start....... in November

It is another day and is another month.

The temperature is getting low, the sky is turning dark earlier comparing to couple of months ago.

What that tells me…........................., the winter is on its way.

I am thinking, this winter is going to be ‘cold’, and could be an icy cold due to the very bad economic. As a result, there are no other conditions or ways to make it better (ok, there is but takes long time to recover). However, for the people who are already employed, they may want to change their career; for the jobless of course they are keeping up and are looking all the time, somehow it is a very slow process (I think so).

For instance, internal jobs provide to employed staff and after they have applied but nothing have heard from the other end; external vacancies to jobless or employed staff, after they showed their interests, they still have not received any thing from other side too, so what is this going on……??

I don’t know how many people in England are trying to change / look for a job, because under the recession whatever job you have is ‘better than nothing’, I was told by many friends and colleagues.

For the employed staff, would you follow the desire you want to achieve which is looking for a new job or just do whatever is available for an income to keep you going; for jobless people, I would like to fingers crossed for you all and wish you all the best.

I am still thinking………

Casual Friday/Dress Down Day

For some, office is a place people wish to be; it is also a place people hate too. I work in the office environment for a number of years, and I am one of these people.

Received an email was circulated by Marketing Department with regard to Dress Down Day at workplace, we were requested to donate £1 on the day and I was asked to collect the donations for them. The activity takes place once a month and is a pain; members of staff are aware of to donate the money if they take part but, they temp to get away from the fact ‘no donation’ and are still dress down.

I wrote an email to the HQ, I clearly explained my position and the situation, in fact I told them off and asked them do NOT request me to do it ever again, if they want to be a begger themselves - be my guest.

Donation is a gift or contribution especially a sum of money given to a charity, it is NOT or should NOT be forced to do so; I just can’t figure out the reason when people abuse the system and still enjoy the dress down day benefit.

(boo)

Fish

Camping with friends in the Lake District: Northern England

I specially took a half day off for camping last Friday. We decided to set off at 3ish so I dashed back from work and started packing: food, drink and of course camping equipment.

My husband said he needed a pillow. “I have to have shower gel,” I said to myself, munching on some crisps (no time for lunch!)



The weather was not looking good, and on Thursday night I rang the friends who we were going with. I explained that we might not come depending on the weather, because they were going to bring food for us, and I didn’t want them to take too much.

We checked the weather forecast every day, which was quite useless as it changed almost every hour. We hesitated: should we go or should we not? There was a little voice in my head fighting for my laziness and freedom, but we finally went.

We met our friends at the campsite, and enjoyed nice food during a heavy downpour and gusting winds.

I finally went to bed and slept at 2330 but got up at 0600 when the sky was bright but cloudy. Later on/After breakfast I went to Beatrix Potter’s house, which is now a museum: a very nice cosy cottage with gardens and a stable.

Unfortunately the weather went bad again just when we were exploring the cottage, and the heavy downpour wet me through. I quickly finished the visiting, jumped back into the car and drove to the campsite. A wet but pleasant weekend!

Pacific Asia (2)

Following my last post dated 24th July, after Hsinchu, we travelled to the south of Taiwan – Kaohsiung by High Speed Rail (HSR).

Usually, when travel between the north and the south of Taiwan, it takes 7 hours on the motorway otherwise the quickest way to get there is to fly. And now, due to the fact that the HSR has been completed, the pattern of travelling through Taiwan has significantly changed; there is a much greater volume of people going to Kaohsiung for both business and pleasure.

We stayed in a hotel which was situated in the landmark 85 Sky Tower at the centre of the Kaohsiung city's new business and shopping district; we were staggered at the height and the layout of the hotel, and the elevator brought us up the 39 floors in 35 seconds.

At night, in order to experience a local nightlife, we accepted an invitation of a friend to a club downtown. The entrance fee was about £6 pp and… drinks were inclusive, smoking allowed in the premises. Isn’t that heaven for holidaying or clubbing people?? However, they did check ID before we went in and only allowed the age of 21 or 21+ to enter.

One of the famous attractions of Taiwan is Hot Springs. Different locations gave different formations and water type so, it is recommended to try as many as possible when you travel up and down the country.

Most Hot Springs keep skin smooth; others may claim holistic treatments. You are able to ask for a private room or mucking in the public pool with other visitors of the same gender. Sitting in the hot springs pool between 10 and 15 minutes, and plunging into the completely cold water pool for a few seconds gives your skin a sudden temperature massage, and also powers up your heart beat (perhaps for the people who suffer from heart disease these treatments are not recommended). It’s good fun and washes the tiredness away after you have done the whole procedure.

I’d say, I really had a good time in Taiwan, it is a small country but it has got a bit of everything that travellers want and fancy.

Pacific Asia

I went to Pacific Asia in June this year. In this journey, I travelled to Hong Kong and Taiwan. I was surprised by the towering skycrapers climbing from the busy harbour up the steep, jungle clad hills of Hong Kong Island are an unforgettable sight; I also amazed the High Speed Rail (HSR) in Taiwan. Both were the highlights I visited this time and I enjoyed the journey completely.

I like Hong Kong; it is a very much Chinese culture where we don’t really see and happening in England. About Hong Kong, it is not a newly city to anyone, lots of sights seeing and foods just in front of you. The city life is even colourful, whether you would like to go on THE PEAK TRAM, STAR FERRY, or visiting VICTORIA HARBOUR, there is just so much to do and keeps you busy. It wasn’t the first time for me and my husband went but was the first time in 10 years. We noticed there were so different compared to our memories.

One day, from the guide book, we found a traditional Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong Island, no waiting time but the fact was, we needed to find our own seats and shared a table with other 8 people. This old – style Cantonese restaurant on the corner of Aberdeen St, packed with older men reading newspapers, extended families and office groups, has decent dim sum served from trolleys. It’s a very local place, and you need to try harder before you sit down; it was like a battle which the fast you find seats and table, the quicker you will be fed. After a few days stopped in Hong Kong, we flew to Taiwan for the next adventure.

Taiwan is the most underrated tourist destination in Asia, is also an intensely traditional place, with Chinese and aboriginal festivals, and there are more surprised: such as six national parks, thanks to its volcanic past, numerous hot-spring resorts, sensational cuisine and fascinating cultural mix.

Hsinchu was the first city we stayed, it is about 86km south of Taipei (Capital City) and thirty minutes from Taoyuan (International Airport), is famous of the huge revenues generated by the Science Park (Technology Industry Park). It’s also the gateway to the heart of Taiwan’s Hakka country.