五師兄字

重臨 McCafe

我第一次喝 McCafe，是在澳洲悉尼的麥記。九四、九五年左右吧。太久遠了，印象很模糊。近年再去，就是赤柱的麥記。記得飲了杯 Cappuccino，勁苦！之後就沒有再試。

今天午飯吃在麥記吃一號餐加 “the filling is Hot!” 的蘋果批。大刷一頓後，the feeling was great！但獨欠了「飯後一杯啡」。正在為這飯後啡盤算的當兒，留意到麥記的墊盤紙關於 McCafe 內不同種類咖啡的介紹。很 Pro！很 Starbucks！就憑這吸引、專業的墊盤紙使我對 McCafe 的印象改觀！

我如是者在 McCafe 的 counter 點了杯 espresso。$11的價錢，是比 Starbucks 和 Pacific Coffee 都便宜得多，但這個不是重點。重點是，這杯 espresso 香、非常香，而且很滑，espresso juice 可在舌尖中溜轉；但完全不苦澀！易入口但有個性！不熅不火！好一杯平易近人但有內涵的 espresso！而且竟是在麥記被我找到！

真的多得那新設計的墊盤紙。我以後不去 Starbucks了！

(picture sources: http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/chinese/mccafe/)>

我的「九型人格」

在亭思間見到這個「九型人格」，我又玩！

結果顯示，我應該是一個「學者」，而且是一個孤獨的學者： 曾否有人跟你說，你有藝術家的脾氣？這個自我型就正正是藝術家的性格-多愁善感及想像力豐富，會常沉醉於自己的想像世界裡。另一方面，由於你是感情主導的人，有些工作你唔”LIKE”就可能會唔做架啦，不會考慮責任的問題。 嫉妒、比較 自我型的你們其實都有點「藝術家脾氣」，對吧！自憐、覺得自己與其他人不一樣、喜歡沉醉於自己的想象世界>>很多時，第四型的表現會比較抽離，都是因為跟身邊人比較，覺得自己不同，其他人不會明白，又覺得其他人都擁有很多你們沒有的東西，所以在現實的社交圈子裡很難得到滿足。 自我沉醉、自憐 由於從現實生活中得不到滿足，自我型的朋友都會在幻想裡建構自己的世界，製造一些moody的環境，好讓自己的情緒得以發洩出來。不過，這樣一來，自我型的人都顯得比較情緒化，令其他人更不能明白你們，更孤立起來。所以你們要小心，不要讓自己過份脫節啊！ 心情highhigh時 自我型的朋友很敏感，與人相處很多時靠直覺，因為他們對自己、朋友及環境的需要及變化都很敏感！他們很喜歡獨處呢，因為他們很享受不斷內省，認識自己，尋找自我。曾聽有人說：「不懂獨處的人，不會懂得與人相處」,正正反映這種性格的表現。他們既能專注自己，也懂得尊重別人的特質和看法。 情緒downdown時 很容易，自我型的人會把自己在社交圈子中抽離，因為他們覺得自己跟別人不一樣，其他人不能體會他們的處境及心情。所以他們會沉醉之自己的想像世界裡，不願意打開自己。因此，他們可能會變得任性、傲慢、離群。 朋友看你是 「好有藝術天份」、「好特別」、「情緒化」、「唔知諗緊咩>」 提升有時努力努力 走向「一仔」，奱得冷靜而較為理性，做事有原則，而不會太感情用事。 後退有時注意注意 會跌「二仔」，會變得很任性，一意孤行，佔有慾強，而且行為反覆無常。

其他有趣心理測驗推介：
1. What Tarot Card are You? — 5th Apr 2007
2. 飛黃騰達心靈開運網！ — 3rd Sep 2006
3. 我是一代大俠張無忌！ — 7th Aug 2006
4. 我是【星期二男人】 — 23rd Aug 2006

Extra Readings: (source: http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/Typefour.asp)

free enneagram test

Profile Summary for Enneagram Type Four

Healthy Levels

Level 1 (At Their Best): Profoundly creative, expressing the personal and the universal, possibly in a work of art. Inspired, self-renewing and regenerating: able to transform all their experiences into something valuable: self-creative.

Level 2: Self-aware, introspective, on the “search for self,” aware of feelings and inner impulses. Sensitive and intuitive both to self and others: gentle, tactful, compassionate.

Level 3: Highly personal, individualistic, “true to self.” Self-revealing, emotionally honest, humane. Ironic view of self and life: can be serious and funny, vulnerable and emotionally strong.

Average Levels

Level 4: Take an artistic, romantic orientation to life, creating a beautiful, aesthetic environment to cultivate and prolong personal feelings. Heighten reality through fantasy, passionate feelings, and the imagination.

Level 5: To stay in touch with feelings, they interiorize everything, taking everything personally, but become self-absorbed and introverted, moody and hypersensitive, shy and self-conscious, unable to be spontaneous or to “get out of themselves.” Stay withdrawn to protect their self-image and to buy time to sort out feelings.

Level 6: Gradually think that they are different from others, and feel that they are exempt from living as everyone else does. They become melancholy dreamers, disdainful, decadent, and sensual, living in a fantasy world. Self-pity and envy of others leads to self-indulgence, and to becoming increasingly impractical, unproductive, effete, and precious.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: When dreams fail, become self-inhibiting and angry at self, depressed and alienated from self and others, blocked and emotionally paralyzed. Ashamed of self, fatigued and unable to function.

Level 8: Tormented by delusional self-contempt, self-reproaches, self-hatred, and morbid thoughts: everything is a source of torment. Blaming others, they drive away anyone who tries to help them.

Level 9: Despairing, feel hopeless and become self-destructive, possibly abusing alcohol or drugs to escape. In the extreme: emotional breakdown or suicide is likely. Generally corresponds to the Avoidant, Depressive, and Narcissistic personality disorders.

Key Motivations: Want to express themselves and their individuality, to create and surround themselves with beauty, to maintain certain moods and feelings, to withdraw to protect their self-image, to take care of emotional needs before attending to anything else, to attract a “rescuer.”

On Diet Week 3

I didn’t plan 2 weeks ago to be Week 1. But being Week 3 today makes me feel that the mission has been on going for a while, and might fool me to think that it has already become a normal practice of myself. Furthermore, since I have already lost some weight since then, so I already could have some sense of achievement right from the beginning. Ha ha.

Anyway, after the salad yesterday, I lost 1.2 lbs as compared with 2 days ago. It was not that amazing, as my weight usually going up and down a lot within a week. So if I can keep this gap after a month, then that is a real achievement.

To make things simple, I would mark the real weight (1×4 lbs) three weeks ago as X lbs, and I tried to record my reduction of my weight on the blog as often as possible.

Since the number X was three weeks ago, so as of today, I am now 1.6 lbs away from X lar! My target is to reach at least 4.1 lbs reduction by end of next week. Usually it is easier to acheive big numbers at the start, so hope I could do that.

Thanks for the comment by MadDog, but yesterday I tried skipping breakfast, and not working too well for me, as my morning is quite miserable. Instead, this morning I tried Oak Meal as breakfast. So far my feeling is very good. But I don’t expect to see a good reason tomorrow, as today is my last day here and we will have party tonight. Party usually put weight on a person. Anyway, cheers!

First Kick

My sweet wife Chris worries about how my boy is slowing down in response. I could only share her feeling by how she describe to me and by showing me her joy with her facial expression. So I can’t tell what it feels like to have a baby inside.

She has been telling the baby to “kick” her or at least to show her some sign to reassure his existence. And he did. I guess he did, because Chris said that she could feel some strange feeling inside, like he is swimming around and turning. It is a very exciting moment. I also feel the joy too, because we can sense a life among us, within us, and as a result of us. The feeling is so great.

Give a chance for a life. A new life

30 minutes after I posted my thought, my wife share with me a very deep and touching thought about life (lives).

She said that the whole thing is about how we are giving a chance for another life to get started. It is not about how we need to control that life.

It is like how we are donating a ticket of Disney to a kid for him/her to enjoy (the assumption is that we also have enjoyed our time in Disney ourselves). We think that Disney is a good place to have fun, so we invite another soul to go there and enjoy. We might suggest to them which attraction and games to go for, we might even suggest the sequence and tactics to go for those attraction / games, but we should not be bothered if he/she would walked in the park differently.

Yes, it is a grace from God or who/what ever that we could be part of making the “Life” itself going forward and doing little bits and pieces of enhancement here and there for the whole race. It is like the philosophy of the open source software platform: everybody could, if willing to, have the chance to take part in the progress of the mankind. This feeling is great.