The price for fashion

As a Greenpeace donor for more than six years and a long-term fan of Zara, I was indeed angry when I heard about Zara’s use of NPEs. The news broke last week, and members of Greenpeace protested outside several Zara’s stores in Hong Kong last week.  In fact, they dressed up (one of them dressed as a pregnant lady, holding a milk bottle) for the protest.

Just in case you did not know, a Greenpeace report was published earlier in November indicates that cloths made by Zara, a Spanish company, are contaminated with both NPEs and toxic amines. This is scary because NPEs can be toxic even if you absorb it through your skin – you do not need to swallow it at all.

I have always been a fan of Zara, I went there at least every two months when I was in Hong Kong. Somehow, I assumed they were socially responsible just because it was a European company, but clearly it is not. Luckily, I have not bought anything from Zara for my baby so far, otherwise I would feel so guilty.

So this is the brutal reality: you cannot assume a company is ethical just because it is a Western company, and such perception is not uncommon for many Chinese.  Now how do I find out which company is really socially responsible?  I came across an article on Mashable, and it talks about the websites that measure companies’ social responsibility. This is a must read for those who care. Enjoy!

Suggested articles:
Mashable - 9 Sites That Measure Companies’ Social Responsibility (http://mashable.com/2011/10/25/measure-social-good-business/)

March 30 @Stella's

March 30 probably does not mean anything to anyone, but to me it was a big day.

I had lunch at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and honestly the food was not very good. So I needed something sweet to cheer myself up. Naturally, I went to the nearest restaurant - Stella’s.
The restaurant was packed, and it was noisy. I was taken to a seat near the window by Portage, and on the next table I saw a guy talking to a woman, and they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. After deliberating for about 10 minutes, I decided to introduce myself. You know, I was (and still am) new to Winnipeg, and I would like to talk to people.

Anyway I found out the guy was a retired professor and the woman was retired too, they gave me tips about where to rent an apartment, and what I should watch out for. I was so engaged and happy that I had people to talk to, the ice-cream had melted on my lovely waffles before I started eating.

But it was not the end. Without even an invitation, the lady put her number on a piece of paper and gave it to me, and she said I could call her if I needed anything.

I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life, whether in Hong Kong or UK, the two places that I have lived. I was blown away.

However, for almost a week I was not sure if I should call this lady because she may have regretted giving me her number or something. Anyway I called her on the following Thursday, and I asked if she was interested in getting together for coffee. To my delight, she said yes!!!

It was then I realized she gave me her home phone number. It suddenly dawned on me what is one the number plates in this city – Friendly Manitoba. These are not just words, this is real.

Seven months have passed since I met Esper, I just want to say I am incredibly lucky to have Esper as a friend, and you will know why if you keep tuning in!

Perfect stranger

Bella is a stranger. Perhaps it is not a fair statement at all, since I learnt Bella’s name a few months ago; however, I have not met Bella in person yet. So, who is Bella?

Bella painted a picture for Alice. On the canva there is a dragonfly and this picture was given to me via Esper. Bella had not met me or Alice when she painted this picture, she painted this for Alice just because she had heard our story from Esper (the story requires more than a few paragraphs - how can I explain it quickly when I was almost killed by these two people when I first arrived in Winnipeg?).

I remember the day that I was given the painting by Esper, I was able to maintain a calm posture in her car, but I could not hold it in that night. Such a lovely picture, painted for Alice from a person that we had never met. Why are people so nice here? Why? Do I deserve it at all? I cried like a river while I was contemplating these questions. Alice was still at NICU back then, so I did not have to worry that she would see her mum crying.

Months have passed and this is now November, and I still have not had a chance to thank Bella in person. Guess what, I received another gift from Bella for Alice AGAIN today. This time is a pair of socks with butterflies on them. Bella is such a thoughtful person – dragonfly and now butterfly. The painting was supposed to give Alice strength as Alice is a dragon baby (this year is the year of Dragon for the Chinese), and now butterfly signifies that Alice has grown and flourished as a baby. This is beautiful. This is incredible.

Thank you. Thank you perfect stranger.

I miss my mummies...

I miss my mummies. Yes, mummies. My mummies at the British Museum in London.

As a student, I would visit the mummies at the British Museum at least once a year. I spent more than six years in the UK, which means I visited them at least six times while I was there. Then I went back to see them again about 10 years after I left the country. To tell you the truth, I almost felt like we were 'families' when I visited them in 2011.

Now let me tell you my 'love story' with the mummies. I literally fell in love with them the first time I saw time. I was only 17, and I was fascinated by them. Women, men and children. Some were from the royal families and some were rich people. I don't think any of them knew they would one day lie inside a display unit, and visited by millions of strangers from different parts of the world.

So what are mummies? According to Wikipedia, mummy is "a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold (ice mummies), very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions."

The fact that these people existed thousands of years ago and are still 'lying around' as I type this message sounds weird to me. And I love weirdness. I always ask myself what sorts of stories that these mummies could tell us if they could talk. Isn't that great especially for archeologists?

Now I am taking care of a baby I will not be able to go to the UK anytime soon, but my wish list is taking my baby to the UK before she is six. Yes, I will take her to say hello to the mummies at the British Museum on Tottenham Court Road.

My favourite St. Valentine's card ever

I saw this in Liberty in London in 2011, and this is by far my favourite St. Valentine's card ever. On the holes that you see on the wall, you can write a love notes and insert it into one of those holes. This is just romantic and classy, period.

Years ago I had this St. Valentine's initiative - I sent seven cards to my boyfriend back then in that February. I started on February 1, and I sent a card to him every two days. Can you imagine how he responded to the 7th card? You just can't, he was blown away. He thought the third was the last one but I just kept going. Basically no one has put in so much effort on a St. Valentine's Day for him, whether we before started dating, or after we split up (which happened seven years ago and I just realized he split up with his girlfriend literally five days ago on Facebook).

So, romantic gifts do not guarantee success on your relationship at all. Eventually we all have our destiny, but my motto is when you are in love in the person, give 100% no matter what it turns out later on. Love!!!

My first Mother's Day

It was about 2 weeks after I had Alice, and she had a major operation. I was prepared to lose her but to my amaze, she survived. Then it was almost the middle of May and the Mother’s Day was approaching. It was my first Mother’s Day, and the last time I celebrated the Mother’s Day was 22 years ago just before my mum passed away. I had waited for a very long time for this Mother’s Day.
You can see this card in my blog, and it was a card made by the NICU team at the hospital. I burst into tears the second I realized what the print was. It was Alice’s feet. So small they were smaller than my baby fingers.

She was about 800g when this print was taken, 800g. She was lighter than a bag of rice. For most mothers on this planet, this year’s Mother’s Day was probably just another Mother’s Day, but it was my first and possibly my only Mother’s Day. Can you even imagine how I felt? It was difficult, but I had faith in the NICU team, and I definitely had a lot of faith in Alice. She was a real fighter, and she would respond to constant poking for blood sample as if she was being kissed. Even now I am still amazed by her ability to endure the pain that she had to suffer when she was so tiny. The poking would make an adult scream, but she hardly did. I am incredibly proud of her.

This is almost December, and I look forward to my second Mother’s Day in 2013, and many years to come. For all the mothers out there, let’s cheers for ourselves!

One step forward, two steps back

Where I come from we are normally scared going to hospitals. Not just because of the whys but also because of the whats - doctors and nurses can be really scary. They do not look at you when they talk to you or when you talk to them, and when they take blood sample they can be brutal (ask my dad for his experience, he can spend half an hour with you), and yes, they just don't care. We have this joke among friends - when you go to doctors at a hospital, it is very likely that they do not know whether you are a man or woman by the time you leave - because they are not even bothered raising their heads when they talk to you.

Anyway, enough said about my horror stories in Hong Kong. I had my first (and possibly only) baby in Winnipeg this year, she came out three months earlier than she was supposed to. The night that she was born, I was under the impression that I would lose her anytime because she was 14 weeks premature and weighted less than two pounds. I had her at the HSC at about 8pm on a Sunday night, then she was taken straight to the NICU at the Children's Hospital.

She spent almost nine weeks in NICU, I went there everyday as if it was a full-time job. Each day I would need to pump twice in the morning (yes, she could not and still cannot take milk on the breast), grab something to eat before rushing to the hospital so that I could kangaroo care her. I got to know almost all the nurses at NICU. Each day I had my dinner at the hospital, I read my paper at the Ronald McDonald’s Home at the 3rd floor at the hospital, and I talked to complete strangers and we ended up praying for each other's family. Thanks to the NICU team, Alice, my precious baby, grew from a tiny baby to now a big baby (she is almost 13 pounds now)!

Back then Alice only had a 50 percent chance of making it, she would NOT be around without this team of amazing health care professionals. They told me I had to be prepared for setbacks, she may progress one day and then two steps back the next day. It was easy to say, but whenever Alice had problems, it was nerve-wracking. During the time that Alice was there, the nurses and doctors did not just save Alice, they helped me too. They would talk to me and ask me how I was doing everyday, as they knew I was in the city alone without any relatives. They were practically my 'family'.

You may not believe it, but to me, Winnipeg is next best to Heaven, it really is. If you don’t trust me, come to Winnipeg - or read my blog, then you will know why.