The first thing I noticed was Rose Yin is a beautiful woman. Hair is long and midnight velvet with a satin sheen hints of navy blue, just like my mother's. I am Eurasian and my mother encouraged me to learn the Mandarin language and culture, she of course would help with any learning questions.
At high school I studied French in my early years and was good at it, but changed my focus to business, sciences and mathematics -- I think because my friends chose that study path, I wanted to hang out with them and learn and learn together as a group.
Many years later for reasons I do understand, something clicked inside me and I had a yearning to learn Mandarin, history and culture. Now that I think about it, I was so foolish not to have studied it earlier. I loved the musicality of the language and fell enchanted when I listened to natives speak it correctly and fluently.
So I was surprised when my cell pinged from the company I applied for a job, I had no expectations of landing the job. I was evidently successful after only one interview. I thought there would be a long winded screening and vetting process. I must of impressed them during the interview. I took a different approach to applying for this job. I thoroughly researched the Company and the Industry they operated in. I subscribed to business journals and trade publications on new best models for business practices in a changing and dynamic world. I did not know the job was operational. I asked questions and presented my charts and summaries of what I would enact to boost performance or perhaps for the company survive and new competitors entered the market.
I never heard from the Company after that interview. I wrongly assumed that I was not a good fit for the company. The truth of that matter was I did not really care about the job I applied for. I was told by many not to quit my day job because being a creative on your own is a tough gig. I ignored them even though they mentioned there are perks from working full time that you will never get as a freelancer. As it turned out I was layed-off any way. The world had changed due AI, one in four programming jobs disappeared. The layoff caught me short, as I needed a little more capital to set up business before eventually quitting my job.
So applied for a new job and here I am now talking to the beautiful Rose Yin. I can't believe my lucky timing.
"I am Rose Yin, Senior HR Manager and I will personally look after your orientation; the position is Senior, so please follow me".
"I am pleased to meet you Rose and thank you for hiring me"
"Sorry for the delay, we had eight hundred and eighty eight applicants. Your application stood out and moved to the top of the file" she said.
I followed her to the Boardroom where there was a projector and long mahogany table where we would sit. There was a notepad, pencil, several bottles of mineral water and juices.
"I will start the projector now. You can ask questions later, the screen time is forty minutes on the history of the company and our project plans" she said.
Already there was a warning sign, why a projector in this day and age ? - behind the times I would say. I settled in my chair and watched the show.
At the conclusion of the reel. I had two questions: why would a beautiful woman work for a ruthless, profit motivated company; that is, to add value for its shareholders only and not for staff, the community or environment.
There was no mention of compensation or benefits. As far as I could see their operations are not modernized. I could suggest many improvements but would not hang around for full implementation if they agreed on cost and time frames.
Rose switched on the light and said " I hope you have an understanding and overview of our company now"
"Yes Rose, very interesting and thank you very much". I said it in a friendly way as to not reveal or project my true sentiments though any unconscious untoward body language.
I had to bide my time for eighteen months, show interest and be of service to everyone, then quit. Then I would do my own thing as creative freelancer as I would have accumulated some decent capital to ride out the obligatory bumps of business cycles.
The first thing I had to do was settle in my job quickly and produce immediate value. I kept thinking of Rose and I had to be careful not to be distracted and upset my plans.
On the wooden table in the park reserve there is a paperback with a tasseled bookmark inserted about a quarter the length inside the Book's page. I can see it reveals a hologram of a black panther and depending on the viewing angle, it is either a snarl with bared fangs bared or a peaceful head on zoo gaze. The image changes constantly when your line of sight moves a little. Change.
Robyn stopped reading her book, White Ivy by Susie Yang and had placed the book down. My binoculars where in sharp focus and I could view the bird was poised on a branch and looked beyond the tree tops.
"look a bird with a red tail in the branches can you see it ?" I said.
Sweeping the tree tops with her binoculars to my surprise Robyn said that she can't see a thing.
"Look over there to the right it has jumped to a lower canopy. Again I see nothing she said.
I am puzzled how can she see nothing when there is something there ? in any case the bird flew away now.
Robyn picked up her book, removed the snarling bookmark and started reading as if the absence of a bird did not matter to her or at least had escaped.
I kept scanning the canopy and saw there is a definite bird there again and now it had company; two more birds and they were all looking in the same direction. I did not mention the birds to Robyn this time as she was engrossed in her reading.
It is a shame the Robyn did not see the bird, it reminded me of the time we hiked through a coastal forest to do some forest bathing and bird watching but we saw no birds all day. We understood later that wind turbines were responsible for upsetting wild life habitat.The birds were gone, nothing to see a whole day, feeling a foreboding of bleak future with.
Robyn turned the page and ignored her pulsing cell phone. She wanted to be in another world maybe with red tails.
Huh! I put down the morning paper and gazed outside to the incessant flow of foot traffic of the morning rush hour.
"Is this chair taken? -- can I sit here ?
I looked up and saw it was my friend Lingling holding a a cup of coffee and a ham and cheese croissant in a white paper bag. Her usual staple.
"No you can't there is somebody sitting there already" I said.
"No there isn't --there is nobody there !
"Oh yes there is -- can't you see my muse and I having a conversation ?
We both laughed.
So the usual chit chat started and she asked if I was still going to Shanghai to see Jingxiao
I said as a matter of fact I had to bring the trip forward for a new assignment that came up.
"How can she be so forgetful and leave behind her expensive gorgeous new tri-fold mobile phone at your coffee table ? " she said
" I think it was news of her Grandmother and she rushed to book a flight. Too much on her mind, You can't blame her" I said.
"Well I hope you do catch up together."
Thanks I said.
Embrace uncertainty that is what I did, I would make a change and say, just be consistent and show up every day, that half is half the battle I have found.
"And what about you Lingling" ?
" I think it is time to leave my job, I have become part of the furniture and taken for granted, I am not valued or appreciated. I missed out on two promotions to a lowly influencer who tries to sell products that she does not know hardly anything about; she just smiles with plenty of makeup on. How can my Laoban be so stupid ?"
"Oh this is news to me. So what do you plan do" ?
"I am looking at the Health Care opportunities or do some day/evening post graduate training ,it is projected to be a huge growth area with the retiring baby boomers."
"OK, good luck and half a great day Lingling - something will come up when you are ready"
"You too, say hello to Jingxiao for me. We will catch up when you get back OK ?"
"Yes for sure."
I opened the glass door of the cafe and felt the street draft. My mind turned on my new assignment and hoped I to find Jingxiao and grandmother to be OK. I would venture to ask her if she wanted any help. I started walking and soon was engulfed by a mass pedestrians. It felt like a wave pulling to some uncertain destination. I kept walking.
I was about to open the front door to ride my bike to the new Olympic pool. I taken up swimming reluctatly after a snowboarding accident at the Wuliashan Ski Resort. I should of gone to my first choice of Baoshan Ski Area and avoided this injury.
Swimming however helped relieve my muscle pain and opened up my airways to breathe deep lung full of rich oxygen. This had surprising beneficial effect of boosting my immune system and as a result I rarely caught the flu. So I included swimming in my regular fitness regime. I stopped in my tracks, when I noticed brown tips on my plant my mother gave me. I would call her later and ask her, did I water it too much ? too little ? or I used the fertilizer wrong ?
I recall, it was a horrible accident. We got tangled up in a knotted problem of snow boards, legs and arms. I stunned and had blurry vision for a moment, and then felt a sharp pain in my ankle and my knees felt stiff and could hardly move them at all. I grimaced and slowly I realized what happened: another snow boarder lost control and moved directly onto my ski path. My immediate thoughts as I rubbed my knees that I am going to report this reckless snowboarder to the ski club management and have him banned. I was about to yell and give him a piece of my mind.
No I didn't the snow boarder was a women not a guy.
When she untangled herself and faced me , I could see she was a Sandong beauty. She removed her red tinted snow goggles and saw that her eyes had specular highlights, they were obsidian black and full of mystery. My anger evaporated and I felt defenseless. Neither she or I made apologies, we kept looking at each other as if in a trance. I broke the silence and said
"I think I know you, we have met before ..."
"not likely, I have good memory for faces -- are you hitting on me ?
I did not know that word was and had to ask my daughter a while a ago when she was chatting on social media and I heard her use it when she was talking to her friend about a guy.
I laughed and said: " you are so wrong, what is it with you women as soon as guys ask a simple -- interesting question, you take it the wrong way and say things automatically like a steel trap without any reflection, like a programmed automata"
"Hold your horses now, you sound like you are a writer, I was being careful, as a matter of fact I do write; travel writing and fiction, that sort of thing. And also copy writing if I like the client and the money is excellent and worth my time " she said.
"well we have some thing in common then, apart from snow boarding. So what is you name ?"
"My name is Sophia Chang and I live locally"
She smiled and still did not apologize. I let it go and ignored my pain and discomfort.
I felt so defenseless and mesmerized by this beautiful, intelligent woman writer from Sandong. Something about her. She has a free spirit vein I am sure and would not be possible to develop any relationship. Many years of experience informed me that and has led me to my belief just because you meet someone out of the ordinary does not suggest or mean that it is all fate. My best approach was to be friends and that is how it turned out. Long distance great friends.
I told her my name and asked: "Are you OK, can you move -- all in one piece ?"
" I am all good thank goodness and you ? she said. First time she showed any interest in me.
"I live through it. Iám going back to ski lodge fireplace too lick my wounds" I said as my knee occasionally smarted when I started walking.
"Wait .. let me come too" she said.
When I arrived at the swimming pool, I looked around for any swimmers and saw that they were following their chosen lanes. I chose the right side of the pool that was empty and commenced my slow, leisurely free style. I swam a few laps and could feel my knees were getting better. Why did I ever stop swimming ? I swam at high school, but as they say life gets in the way. I continued this time back stroke. The swimming pool got noisier with more swimmers making splashing sounds, then I had a collision. Not again !
Was it my fault ? I heard a female voice when I faced the swimmer. I was surprised when she apologized quickly. I had to pause for a moment. She looked like Sophia Chang from Sandong? what a coincidence, how could that be ? those mysterious and engaging eyes with spectral highlights. My memory from the Wuliashan Ski Resort accident was still fresh in my mind and I did not ask her if she was Sophia. I dreaded the steel trap response just in case.
"Its OL, don't worry, I am probably at fault too" I replied.
"No, no, it is embarrassing. I am a Physics lecturer and I of all people should know about velocity and motion. Are you alright, can I get you something"
We both laughed.
"Well, I have finished my swimming program for the day and about to have lunch and coffee" I added.
"That is great, since it's my fault let me buy you coffee and join you, my name is Sonya" she said
I listened to her delightful conversation, she sure did look like Sophia from Sandong. I had to stop making ridiculous comparisons and decided to just enjoy the wonderful moment as I met someone very nice. A thought flitted by, that's it she has a twin ! what other explanation could explain the remarkable similarity ?
I smiled, and Sophia smiled too with questioning eyes.
"You know Sonya, I had a snowboarding accident a while ago. I took up swimming to iron out all the aches and pains and it works"
I did not mention the Sophia bit, just the accident details. Sonya said she has never tried skiing. We talked freely about many things and her love of ramen noodles.
"Have you been to Kajiken, the new Abura soba place in Melbourne - soupless ramen with the secret blend of sauces ? "
A very special story, curious and engaging with subtlety and the food themes with those mysterious eyes. You have topped it off and put the icing on the cake for a fine alluring story. It is impossible not to be absorbed ... and the ramen OMG.
A kind of a coincidence in this interconnected world ?
I noticed recently in the print media a famous Japanese cult ramen shop opening in Melbourne, it has been on my mind to visit, called Kajiken that serve a kind of dry, not broth, ramen called Abura Soba (soupless ramen).
It is located at Southern Cross train station -- I love trains { and the fine leather notebook I have with me writing anything that touches the soul ....}
The suggestion is as soon as you receive your order to use two large spoons to upturn the ramen as the sauces and spices are at the bottom, then eat quickly as the ramen cools off rapidly.
So there you have it, after your story, I'll have pay a visit and sample the ramen and .... maybe try not be obvious looking for any mysterious eyes that walks in - HAHA
The first thing I noticed was Rose Yin is a beautiful woman. Hair is long and midnight velvet with a satin sheen hints of navy blue, just like my mother's. I am Eurasian and my mother encouraged me to learn the Mandarin language and culture, she of course would help with any learning questions.
At high school I studied French in my early years and was good at it, but changed my focus to business, sciences and mathematics -- I think because my friends chose that study path, I wanted to hang out with them and learn and learn together as a group.
Many years later for reasons I do understand, something clicked inside me and I had a yearning to learn Mandarin, history and culture. Now that I think about it, I was so foolish not to have studied it earlier. I loved the musicality of the language and fell enchanted when I listened to natives speak it correctly and fluently.
So I was surprised when my cell pinged from the company I applied for a job, I had no expectations of landing the job. I was evidently successful after only one interview. I thought there would be a long winded screening and vetting process. I must of impressed them during the interview. I took a different approach to applying for this job. I thoroughly researched the Company and the Industry they operated in. I subscribed to business journals and trade publications on new best models for business practices in a changing and dynamic world. I did not know the job was operational. I asked questions and presented my charts and summaries of what I would enact to boost performance or perhaps for the company survive and new competitors entered the market.
I never heard from the Company after that interview. I wrongly assumed that I was not a good fit for the company. The truth of that matter was I did not really care about the job I applied for. I was told by many not to quit my day job because being a creative on your own is a tough gig. I ignored them even though they mentioned there are perks from working full time that you will never get as a freelancer. As it turned out I was layed-off any way. The world had changed due AI, one in four programming jobs disappeared. The layoff caught me short, as I needed a little more capital to set up business before eventually quitting my job.
So applied for a new job and here I am now talking to the beautiful Rose Yin. I can't believe my lucky timing.
"I am Rose Yin, Senior HR Manager and I will personally look after your orientation; the position is Senior, so please follow me".
"I am pleased to meet you Rose and thank you for hiring me"
"Sorry for the delay, we had eight hundred and eighty eight applicants. Your application stood out and moved to the top of the file" she said.
I followed her to the Boardroom where there was a projector and long mahogany table where we would sit. There was a notepad, pencil, several bottles of mineral water and juices.
"I will start the projector now. You can ask questions later, the screen time is forty minutes on the history of the company and our project plans" she said.
Already there was a warning sign, why a projector in this day and age ? - behind the times I would say. I settled in my chair and watched the show.
At the conclusion of the reel. I had two questions: why would a beautiful woman work for a ruthless, profit motivated company; that is, to add value for its shareholders only and not for staff, the community or environment.
There was no mention of compensation or benefits. As far as I could see their operations are not modernized. I could suggest many improvements but would not hang around for full implementation if they agreed on cost and time frames.
Rose switched on the light and said " I hope you have an understanding and overview of our company now"
"Yes Rose, very interesting and thank you very much". I said it in a friendly way as to not reveal or project my true sentiments though any unconscious untoward body language.
I had to bide my time for eighteen months, show interest and be of service to everyone, then quit. Then I would do my own thing as creative freelancer as I would have accumulated some decent capital to ride out the obligatory bumps of business cycles.
The first thing I had to do was settle in my job quickly and produce immediate value. I kept thinking of Rose and I had to be careful not to be distracted and upset my plans.
On the wooden table in the park reserve there is a paperback with a tasseled bookmark inserted about a quarter the length inside the Book's page. I can see it reveals a hologram of a black panther and depending on the viewing angle, it is either a snarl with bared fangs bared or a peaceful head on zoo gaze. The image changes constantly when your line of sight moves a little. Change.
Robyn stopped reading her book, White Ivy by Susie Yang and had placed the book down. My binoculars where in sharp focus and I could view the bird was poised on a branch and looked beyond the tree tops.
"look a bird with a red tail in the branches can you see it ?" I said.
Sweeping the tree tops with her binoculars to my surprise Robyn said that she can't see a thing.
"Look over there to the right it has jumped to a lower canopy. Again I see nothing she said.
I am puzzled how can she see nothing when there is something there ? in any case the bird flew away now.
Robyn picked up her book, removed the snarling bookmark and started reading as if the absence of a bird did not matter to her or at least had escaped.
I kept scanning the canopy and saw there is a definite bird there again and now it had company; two more birds and they were all looking in the same direction. I did not mention the birds to Robyn this time as she was engrossed in her reading.
It is a shame the Robyn did not see the bird, it reminded me of the time we hiked through a coastal forest to do some forest bathing and bird watching but we saw no birds all day. We understood later that wind turbines were responsible for upsetting wild life habitat.The birds were gone, nothing to see a whole day, feeling a foreboding of bleak future with.
Robyn turned the page and ignored her pulsing cell phone. She wanted to be in another world maybe with red tails.
Huh! I put down the morning paper and gazed outside to the incessant flow of foot traffic of the morning rush hour.
"Is this chair taken? -- can I sit here ?
I looked up and saw it was my friend Lingling holding a a cup of coffee and a ham and cheese croissant in a white paper bag. Her usual staple.
"No you can't there is somebody sitting there already" I said.
"No there isn't --there is nobody there !
"Oh yes there is -- can't you see my muse and I having a conversation ?
We both laughed.
So the usual chit chat started and she asked if I was still going to Shanghai to see Jingxiao
I said as a matter of fact I had to bring the trip forward for a new assignment that came up.
"How can she be so forgetful and leave behind her expensive gorgeous new tri-fold mobile phone at your coffee table ? " she said
" I think it was news of her Grandmother and she rushed to book a flight. Too much on her mind, You can't blame her" I said.
"Well I hope you do catch up together."
Thanks I said.
Embrace uncertainty that is what I did, I would make a change and say, just be consistent and show up every day, that half is half the battle I have found.
"And what about you Lingling" ?
" I think it is time to leave my job, I have become part of the furniture and taken for granted, I am not valued or appreciated. I missed out on two promotions to a lowly influencer who tries to sell products that she does not know hardly anything about; she just smiles with plenty of makeup on. How can my Laoban be so stupid ?"
"Oh this is news to me. So what do you plan do" ?
"I am looking at the Health Care opportunities or do some day/evening post graduate training ,it is projected to be a huge growth area with the retiring baby boomers."
"OK, good luck and half a great day Lingling - something will come up when you are ready"
"You too, say hello to Jingxiao for me. We will catch up when you get back OK ?"
"Yes for sure."
I opened the glass door of the cafe and felt the street draft. My mind turned on my new assignment and hoped I to find Jingxiao and grandmother to be OK. I would venture to ask her if she wanted any help. I started walking and soon was engulfed by a mass pedestrians. It felt like a wave pulling to some uncertain destination. I kept walking.
I was about to open the front door to ride my bike to the new Olympic pool. I taken up swimming reluctatly after a snowboarding accident at the Wuliashan Ski Resort. I should of gone to my first choice of Baoshan Ski Area and avoided this injury.
Swimming however helped relieve my muscle pain and opened up my airways to breathe deep lung full of rich oxygen. This had surprising beneficial effect of boosting my immune system and as a result I rarely caught the flu. So I included swimming in my regular fitness regime. I stopped in my tracks, when I noticed brown tips on my plant my mother gave me. I would call her later and ask her, did I water it too much ? too little ? or I used the fertilizer wrong ?
I recall, it was a horrible accident. We got tangled up in a knotted problem of snow boards, legs and arms. I stunned and had blurry vision for a moment, and then felt a sharp pain in my ankle and my knees felt stiff and could hardly move them at all. I grimaced and slowly I realized what happened: another snow boarder lost control and moved directly onto my ski path. My immediate thoughts as I rubbed my knees that I am going to report this reckless snowboarder to the ski club management and have him banned. I was about to yell and give him a piece of my mind.
No I didn't the snow boarder was a women not a guy.
When she untangled herself and faced me , I could see she was a Sandong beauty. She removed her red tinted snow goggles and saw that her eyes had specular highlights, they were obsidian black and full of mystery. My anger evaporated and I felt defenseless. Neither she or I made apologies, we kept looking at each other as if in a trance. I broke the silence and said
"I think I know you, we have met before ..."
"not likely, I have good memory for faces -- are you hitting on me ?
I did not know that word was and had to ask my daughter a while a ago when she was chatting on social media and I heard her use it when she was talking to her friend about a guy.
I laughed and said: " you are so wrong, what is it with you women as soon as guys ask a simple -- interesting question, you take it the wrong way and say things automatically like a steel trap without any reflection, like a programmed automata"
"Hold your horses now, you sound like you are a writer, I was being careful, as a matter of fact I do write; travel writing and fiction, that sort of thing. And also copy writing if I like the client and the money is excellent and worth my time " she said.
"well we have some thing in common then, apart from snow boarding. So what is you name ?"
"My name is Sophia Chang and I live locally"
She smiled and still did not apologize. I let it go and ignored my pain and discomfort.
I felt so defenseless and mesmerized by this beautiful, intelligent woman writer from Sandong. Something about her. She has a free spirit vein I am sure and would not be possible to develop any relationship. Many years of experience informed me that and has led me to my belief just because you meet someone out of the ordinary does not suggest or mean that it is all fate. My best approach was to be friends and that is how it turned out. Long distance great friends.
I told her my name and asked: "Are you OK, can you move -- all in one piece ?"
" I am all good thank goodness and you ? she said. First time she showed any interest in me.
"I live through it. Iám going back to ski lodge fireplace too lick my wounds" I said as my knee occasionally smarted when I started walking.
"Wait .. let me come too" she said.
When I arrived at the swimming pool, I looked around for any swimmers and saw that they were following their chosen lanes. I chose the right side of the pool that was empty and commenced my slow, leisurely free style. I swam a few laps and could feel my knees were getting better. Why did I ever stop swimming ? I swam at high school, but as they say life gets in the way. I continued this time back stroke. The swimming pool got noisier with more swimmers making splashing sounds, then I had a collision. Not again !
Was it my fault ? I heard a female voice when I faced the swimmer. I was surprised when she apologized quickly. I had to pause for a moment. She looked like Sophia Chang from Sandong? what a coincidence, how could that be ? those mysterious and engaging eyes with spectral highlights. My memory from the Wuliashan Ski Resort accident was still fresh in my mind and I did not ask her if she was Sophia. I dreaded the steel trap response just in case.
"Its OL, don't worry, I am probably at fault too" I replied.
"No, no, it is embarrassing. I am a Physics lecturer and I of all people should know about velocity and motion. Are you alright, can I get you something"
We both laughed.
"Well, I have finished my swimming program for the day and about to have lunch and coffee" I added.
"That is great, since it's my fault let me buy you coffee and join you, my name is Sonya" she said
I listened to her delightful conversation, she sure did look like Sophia from Sandong. I had to stop making ridiculous comparisons and decided to just enjoy the wonderful moment as I met someone very nice. A thought flitted by, that's it she has a twin ! what other explanation could explain the remarkable similarity ?
I smiled, and Sophia smiled too with questioning eyes.
"You know Sonya, I had a snowboarding accident a while ago. I took up swimming to iron out all the aches and pains and it works"
I did not mention the Sophia bit, just the accident details. Sonya said she has never tried skiing. We talked freely about many things and her love of ramen noodles.
"Have you been to Kajiken, the new Abura soba place in Melbourne - soupless ramen with the secret blend of sauces ? "
"No but it does sound delicious" I said.
"Lets go there for lunch -- deal ? " she said.
"Of course, it is a deal, I want try it "
Remarkable, two accidents, two beautiful women.
What is that famous Bob Marley song ?
Ah, yes I remember it: No Woman No Cry.
Tres bien; feichang hao CY.
A very special story, curious and engaging with subtlety and the food themes with those mysterious eyes. You have topped it off and put the icing on the cake for a fine alluring story. It is impossible not to be absorbed ... and the ramen OMG.
A kind of a coincidence in this interconnected world ?
I noticed recently in the print media a famous Japanese cult ramen shop opening in Melbourne, it has been on my mind to visit, called Kajiken that serve a kind of dry, not broth, ramen called Abura Soba (soupless ramen).
It is located at Southern Cross train station -- I love trains { and the fine leather notebook I have with me writing anything that touches the soul ....}
https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/eat-and-drink/kajiken
The suggestion is as soon as you receive your order to use two large spoons to upturn the ramen as the sauces and spices are at the bottom, then eat quickly as the ramen cools off rapidly.
So there you have it, after your story, I'll have pay a visit and sample the ramen and .... maybe try not be obvious looking for any mysterious eyes that walks in - HAHA
Xie Xie.