I love animals, more so than most humans. When I think about the problems about the world today; it is a 100% afflicted by people and greed. When I was young I became very convinced that I had a special affinity with animals. I understood them fairly well, I'd always knew which animals I could touch and those that are about bite. Movies that made me wept and bawled like a crazy woman involved animals and that is why I don't like watching movies about animals in pain.

In conjunction with Christmas, we have been having the Secret Santa game all month long at work. Throughout this month, you have to pay special attention to the person whom you are Secret Santa to. I sent an e-mail to my Secret Santa asking he/ she to sponsor Ah Dee, a three-legged dog living at the Society of Abandoned Animal....

Ah Dee.. three leg but plenty of attitude.....

On Friday morning, sitting pretty on my desk at work was a card from my Secret Santa telling me that my wish has been fulfilled. That must have been one of my happiest days at work. Thank you Secret Santa.

Early this year when Joanne wanted to have dogs, my suggestion was to go to the HK Dog Rescue where she and Rupert got two initially maniacal dogs, Ketchup and Pabu. When we bumped into them today, I am so happy so say that they both have mellowed and are now normal functioning dogs. Dogs, like every living flourish when they are loved.

Pabu and Ketchup chilling after a long walk

Sophie arrived home on Good Friday of 2006, we had seen ad at the local supermarket about a labrador for adoption.. I jumped and took home the ad because I was afraid someone might get her before me. Whilst we were walking home, I felt like a child carrying a box of chocolates, I told Rudi, I want to name her Sophie because I had just read Sophie's World. The next morning, I called and Chris picked up. I asked him questions about the dog who was then a little more than a year old. Toilet trained - excellent!!! I asked Chris, what is the dog's name and he said, Shu Qi, his wife named her after the actress. I gagged but was excited that I could phenotically tweak it to Sophie..Like they say, the rest is history.

If you know animals as well as I do, I can tell you that each of them is different and they possess with them this special way of diffusing your negativity..... Be fair to them, don't have a dog if you can't. If you think that you'd still like to help. You can sponsor an animal through - Society of Abandoned Animals

To sponsor an animal, it's only HKD$ 99 a month -that is just like three lattes at Starbucks.

http://www.saa.org.hk/public/contents/article?ha=&wc=0&hb=&hc=&revision%5fid=10505&item%5fid=2731

Whilst there are so many books and movies written and made about women trying to understand men, I don't think enough is said about men trying to understand women. I am glad I am not a man because I think that being a man is far more difficult than being a woman.

Off the top of my mind I can think of a few reasons substantiating my argument but however the main is probably awkward situations men land themselves in because they tend to think with their dicks than their heads.

I am not just saying it for the sake of saying it but look around you, the economics of the world is that the proportion of good looking women is just so much higher than good looking men. Why is there a need for a woman to look good at all times? Please do not give me BS like I like looking good for myself, a woman knows that looking good makes her a good commodity for men. And the better looking you are, the more sought after you become.

As a matter of fact, there is so much emphasis on how a woman should look, nearly all emphasis go purely to just that. And As a direct result of this, men often find themselves fatally attracted to good looking women only to find out at a later stage that everything they deemed attractive has been offset by freakish behaviors and the lack of mental stimulation.

Over my 1 hour odd lunch today, I had a man opened his heart and spilled out everything about encounters with the very wrong kinds on me. Having been married twice, he now wants to find a way out of the second one. One may ask, if you have been married once, wouldn't you have a better idea of what they want in a wife/husband? Apparently not.

I feel sorry for people like that, they seemed to have it ingrained in their heads that the idea of happily ever after usually involves someone molded to perfection along with great personality. I found the story of my friend to be somewhat an extreme source of paradoxical parody.

He warned me before he let his guard down, that I might think of him as a very mean person if he were to reveal the reason why he had divorced his first wife. She was as frugal as frugal could be. Whenever someone asked her for a piece of tissue, she would halved it and give the person half a piece of tissue. I can't believe it. I dread to think what she does to manage household toilet paper consumption ,does she restrict the length of paper she uses? I don't know. I don't blame the poor guy one bit. Imagine being married to someone who frets about menial things like that.

After lunch I did a lot of thinking about marriages and I asked men about things women do that completely makes them flip..

Women who size them up - What car do you drive? Where do you live? Most women never ask questions innocently.

Women who nag - do this and do that. My mother is prime example.

Women who expect too much - A woman takes a man into Dior, subtlety saying, oh this is pretty bag and what she really means is, buy it for me stupid!

Women who likes the attention, play games and then leave you out in the cold.

Women who say there is nothing bothering me when they are clearly unhappy about something - We like doing that a lot don't we? Haha!

Jobless investment bankers and hedge fund managers aren't the only thing that is flooding HK these days, single women are too. If there is a season for everything, this is my season of meeting single women and not just any women - smart, successful and very eloquent women; the type feared by a lot of men because they are just not good enough for them.

I am someone pretty opportunistic and lethally obstinate and when I see something I want, I will climb mountains just to get it. I have been brainstorming and analyzing ways to help my single girlfriends. I ask myself repeatedly- if I were single where do I find normal men who are at the same time fuckable.

Networking events - I went for this chamber event last week and for one moment I forgot I am notsingle, there were just so many yummy men. God and they come in all shapes and sizes. I would think that they are professionals because networking events aren't really attended by construction workers or delivery boys. Recommended chamber events - try the once every three months interchamber events then voila - you get a superb concoction of Europeans. I personally dig Aussie boys. They are usually laidback, have great bodies and love sports.

Get a dog- I have undoubtedly a pretty hot dog. Sophie is the social connector to all my neighbours. She has this thing, whenever we are playing ball and someone walks by- she will run to them and pass them the ball. However having said that, dogs don't descriminate and more often than not, she passes the ball to ugly/lonely freaks with bad body odour. It's a Sophie way of saying," It's okie no one loves you, I have bad breath myself, I don't mind you".

Find a sport you like and join a club - It has proven that we choose who we want as friends based on common traits. If you like running, join the running club. If you want a man with the right moves and bootylicious hip sways - join the social dance club... Shake, shake and it's shaking all the way to the bedroom.

Guyfriends - Christina's grandmother told her, it's okie if you don't like this boy, use him as a stepping stone to get to his male friends. I heard it when I was 18 and I still laugh my head off thinking about it. Yes, access his database and then organise parties for singles and if you look too suspicious, invite girls as well but make sure they are unavailable.

Hang out with ugly women and go out to paint the town red - Men love looking at women in a group and if you stand out in a group in a dark bar at Lan Kwai, your chances of getting noticed has just increased by 20 times if you are the crown jewel of the group.

Own your space and redefine personal hotness - Most people who are not that good looking owe it to their aura and personality to get laid. Be that centre of attention and own it.

Two Saturdays ago, Ruby, Keith and us - Rudi, Sophie and I went for a hike in Chi Wan San over in Kowloon.

I can say this over and over again, Hong Kong really baffles me. At the foot of the hill where we parked the car, you'd find tall intimidating housing estates and as we walked up, I felt as though I trancended into a different dimension. That hike was really an interesting one - throughout the walk, we saw people collecting mountain/spring water, a deer ( in the middle of HK, that's bloody rare), ancient grave sites and it was one of those days with rolling clouds- a day in Sound of Music where all your worries are far far away and the trees swayed rythmnically.