Disappointed

I must say I am more than disappointed.

To begin with, I did believe he is really something, and has cards under his sleeves. He belongs to the party, and is the spokesman of the Sai Wan office – or receives orders directly from Zhongnanhai. He has a secret capability, and, with the blessing from the supreme authority, his orders would be duly followed; his sayings are reality. He is not a messenger of the Lord – he is the Lord. When he says Come with me and walk into the Red Sea, I shall split the water, I have the impulse to follow.


But no. Like what I told GS – our star teacher – some years ago, this man is not good at bluffing – just that he likes bluffing. You cannot see what card he is holding, because he does not have any. He uses a pen and a notebook to collect opinion from every citizen, because his own plan is a blank piece of paper. Behind the poker face I anticipate an excellent brain for transplantation, because it is 99% new – as it should have hardly ever been used. But no. When we look into his fundi, we find the occipital bone.

I want a real wolf.

Or, at least, a good dog please?

List

One evening, before we went to bed, I asked my wife, “My dear, when are you going to be on call next month?”

“I don’t know,” Vivian said, “The call list is not yet released.”

“Why? It is already 27th of June, and none of you know who is going to work when and where on 1st of July. As a major department in a tertiary referral hospital, it is slightly disappointing.” I remarked with dismay.

“Alas, they are always like this,” my wife was not annoyed by the least – she seemed to have get used to taking up unexpected duty with short notice.

“However, if you are going to run a city of 7 million people and your have the same problem of assigning the duty of your staff, I must say I am not particularly impressed by your capability of administration.” I said.


PS. The list was eventually released on 28th June. 

Topics

I must say I was surprised to hear L's suggestion.

"My friend, I could understand why basic scientists are not the best people to teach medical students anatomy or physiology, but, isn't it too much to say they are disruptive?" I raised my arms and protested.

"Alas, the conclusion is difficult to swallow, but it is nevertheless true," my friend insisted on his point, "The root of the problem is, they are employed as teaching staff. The two very consequences are, first, they are each evaluated for their teaching performance - may not be for promotion, but, to say the least, for substantiation of their contract - and, second, in terms of their department, the manpower depends on their workload on teaching."

I was speechless - beginning to see what my friend was getting at.

"You see? The combination of the two motives means that basic scientists will try to expand the amount of teaching they offer, but only on areas that they feel interesting and important. As a result, students may get 10 hours of lecture and tutorial on the theory and practice of a certain molecule, but only 30 minutes on the structure of our heart!"

Scientist

That evening, I told what I learn from that meeting to L.

To my surprise, my cynical friend appeared grave to what I said.

“You know, the problem is not as simple as you think,” he explained, “I suppose you know why a faculty of medicine needs a whole lot of basic scientists and a strong school of basic medical science. They boost up the research – grants, high impact factor publications, and what not.”

“Alas, I know just too well.” I said, “It is way easier to get funding for a basic research than a clinical trial, and journals for laboratory studies usually have a higher impact factor than their clinical counterparts.”

“The problem is, basic medical science is a misnomer,” L went on, “What it means is advanced medical science.”

“Quite right,” I chuckled, “In fact, since most of these basic, or in reality advanced, scientists have no training in our basic medical science, such as gross anatomy and physiology, how can we expect them to teach our next-generation doctors?”

“No, you miss the point,” L became serious again, “Basic scientists are not not helping with the teaching we need. Many a time they are actively disrupting teaching of that kind.”

“Why?” I could not believe my ears.

Basic

Had a meeting with P and S, two colleagues from our sister department.

We were supposed to talk about the teaching of Marxism for physicists. But, before we started, while waiting for the others to join the meeting, P kicked off with quite different a topic.

“You know, there is a real difficulty to teach our junior medical students basic science.” P sighed.

“Why?” One of us asked.

“Alas, because they could not find suitable persons to teach simple anatomy and physiology in the School of Basic Medical Science.” P went on.

“Many a time our basic scientists ask for our help to do their teaching – but we don’t even have enough people to do our own one!” S added.

“I guess that much when they planned to form the School,” I said to myself, “However, it may really be a good idea. Say, who is in a better position to teach clinical anatomy – a surgeon, or a cell biologist? The only question that remains is: If basic medical science – not basic science – is to be taught by clinicians, why should a medical school employ so many basic scientists as teaching staff?”

Breath

Sounds illuminating, eh?


Don't go that far. There are at least two questions to consider:

1. Is it really harmless to do away with mosquitoes, or is it a selected presentation of facts to support the WHO or other global health programs?
2. If it is a fair argument and eradication of mosquitoes really has little effect to the ecologic system, why couldn't it be extrapolated to other organisms - say, sharks, tigers, or polar bears?

An Aesop's Fable comes to my mind:

***********************

A man lost his way in a wood in a bitter winter night. As he was roaming about, a Satyr came up to him, and, finding that the man had lost his way, promised to give him a lodging for the night. As the man went along to the Satyr's house, the man raised both his hands to his mouth and kept on blowing at them. 

"What do you do that for?" said the Satyr.

"My hands are numb with the cold," said the Man, "and my breath warms them."

After they arrived at the Satyr's home, the Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before the man. When the man raised his spoon to his mouth, he, once again, began blowing upon it. 

"And what do you do that for?" said the Satyr.

"The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it."

"Out you go," said the Satyr. "I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath."

Extinction

My argument yesterday sounded convincing, right? Even mosquitoes have a role in global ecology.

But, no. Not necessarily.

It is now claimed by many experts in ecology and biology that mosquitoes represent an odd group of species that their extinction has surprisingly little deleterious effect to the rest of the world. Notably, most mosquito-eating animals would switch to other insects that, as soon as the good old blood-seeking bug is done away with, would emerge in large numbers to take up the place. With so many choices on the dinner menu, most insect-eaters do not need to tighten their belts in a world without mosquito. Similar replacing species would come up for the plants that the annoying insect helps in the pollination. There are actually good reasons to suspect that the contribution of mosquitoes and their larva to other animals' diet is over-estimated.

A succinct summary of the arguments could be found in A World Without Mosquitoes by Janet Fang, in the 20 July 2010 issue of Nature.

Mosquito

During a recent holiday, Euterpe, Vivian and I paid a visit to a small local farm next to Pat Sin Leng Country Park.

My princess did have a good time. On our way back, she and I started to scratch here and there. We soon found ourselves covered with tens of mosquito bites - face, neck, forearms, legs, and, wherever you name. Euterpe was so bad that on the next morning, when she was back school, her class-mistress thought that my daughter was having chickenpox!

I asked myself: What would happen if we successfully do away with all species of mosquitoes on earth?

Alas, Isn't that what the World Health Organization trying to do? After all, this annoying group of insect is responsible for the transmission of malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and no fewer than a dozen of other infectious diseases.

In theory, the effect could be profound. To many animals, mosquitoes are delectable things to eat and they're easy to catch. The very fact that (male) mosquitoes feed on blood implies that it is a distinctly nutritious food to its predator. For example, migratory birds that nest in the tundra could drop drastically without mosquitoes as their lunch. In fact, this tiny blood-sucking bug is the primary food source of many species of insect, spider, salamander, lizard and frog, and many species of fish feed on mosquito larva. 

Patrology

When you come to think of it, we know very little about what happened with the Christians before Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.

And, have you heard of Patrology?

Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, also known as the Church Fathers. The subject is such an orphan that I cannot even find the official Chinese translation of this term.

All I am sure is there were more than four Holy Bibles, and the ones we have today suited the purpose of the Roman Church best.

And, if the Christians could survive (and prosper) for nearly 300 years despite state persecution, there must be millions of untold and unwelcome stories.

Christian

I stopped for a while to catch my breathe after I finished with my mini-lecture on Chinese history.

Then, I began again, "You know, the best example of history being written by the victors is, unfortunately, the story of Christianity."

"Oh..." Vivian certainly thought I touched a sensitive area.

"My dear, I'm serious." I went on, "Even if we consider the Protestant a branch from the Roman Catholic Church, the latter is not the only descendant of Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles - we have the Orthodox..."

The sobering truth is, although I studied in Catholic schools for 12 years and did take formal bible class, I'd not heard of the Great Schism before I graduated from medical school.

Victor

(My discussion with Vivian continued.)

"My dear, although Chinese may be a people distinctly good at distorting what happened, ironically, the history of our country is largely not written by the victors." I said.

"Why?" My wife asked.

"That's quite simple." I explained, "If you consider our classical Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史), they were all written after an empire collapsed - usually by people who had very little to do with the previous dynasty. For example, the Book of Jin (晉書) was compiled by Fang Xuanling (房玄齡) of the Tang Empire, and  History of Ming (明史) by Zhang Tingyu (張廷玉) of Qing. Yes, these people were hired by the conquerer and there might be some conflict of interest, and, since they were describing happenings long ago, they might not get all the facts complete and correct. Nonetheless, by and large their accounts were fair and impartial. The unfortunate exception is, however, the history of modern China. The conflict of interest here is a dominating factor, and I’m afraid, even if we want to have  an objective story, our country has lost the persons who have the guts and the spine to do so – maybe forever!”

History

During a casual discussion, Vivian asked, "Dear, would you fancy watching the TV series Scarlet Heart (步步驚心)?"

I supposed she was referring to my recent blog (see http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2012/04/scarlet.html), and I made a quick response, "No, thank you. If anything, I prefer going back to the good old Yongzheng Dynasty (雍正王朝). To say the least, the old series appears more real!"

"Yes, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it corresponds better to what actually happened," my wife was grim, "You know, history is written by the victors."

"My dear, that saying certainly has some truth in it," I smiled, "But, on the contrary, a good portion of our history was not written by winners, and it is more reliable than what you imagine."

My wife certainly could not believe her ears.

Leader

You may argue the story of Li Bai was an exception, and it is entirely logical to choose the best expert of a field to be the leader.

Alas, I'm afraid you read too much Jin Yong (金庸), and are obsessed with the romantic idea that leaders of all martial sects must be the best swordsman of the group; if a leader leaves - dies, steps down, or steps down in the passive voice - the successor of the post should be chosen by a fighting contest. As along as he fights well, he would suddenly becomes an outstanding leader once he takes up the post - like Mount Heng Sect (恆山派) under Linghu Chong (令狐冲).

Maybe Ming Cult (明教) under Zhang Wuji (張無忌) is more close to reality.

********************

As to Li Bai, there are rumors saying that Emperor Xuanzong did want to make him the prime minister, but the idea went in vain because it was strongly objected by Gao Lishi (高力士) - whom was badly offended by Li Bai when they first met in Chang'an.

When I read more about the life and career of Gao from The Book of Tang (唐書), I am convinced the powerful eunuch did make an objective advise to the Emperor.

Transcendent

Lunch with AL.

I shall not elaborate here what we talked about. Just that on my way back to the hospital, a story of Li Bai (李白) flashed through my mind.

*********************

I am sure very few of us would doubt Li Bai as one of the greatest poet in the history of China. In 742 AD, he was summoned to Chang'an (長安) by Emperor Li Longji (李隆基). In fact, Emperor Xuanzong (唐玄宗) was so impressed by the political view of our Poet Transcendent that Longji held a big banquet in Bai's honor. Li Bai served at the Hanlin Academy (翰林院) shortly afterwards.

You may ask, with his exceptional expertise in poetry and literature (Li Bai was born in Kyrgyzstan and could speak several languages of middle Asia), why didn't Emperor Xuanzong offered him a more senior position in the government - say, the Prime Minister?

Alas, if that's the case, I suppose the only political achievement of his would be waiving the taxation of wine and liquor in China, just like what a certain Henry did some twelve centuries later in our city!

Homework

During a casual conversation, a friend of mine asked, “Szeto, do you work at home? I have so much to do that everyday I feel guilty if I do not bring along with me some homework for the evening when the day is over!”

I smiled and shook my head. The classic story of Ronald Reagan and another vivid discussion between two of our colleagues  flashed through my mind. (See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2010/02/work.html)

“In essence, no, although I’d love to,” I explained, “You know, I have enough to do at home even though I always try to keep all work in the hospital.”

“Eh…?” My friend appeared surprised.

“Well, to begin with, I do help taking care of my two princesses – checking their homework, practising English, and all these. You know, I am even telling Euterpe a serial bedtime story every night,” I went on, “In addition, I write my blog after my daughters go to bed, and I read non-medical books for another half an hour before I call up Hypnos.”

PS. For the past two weeks, the bedtime story that I told Euterpe was The Adventure of Noah’s Ark. Yes, it’s all my clumsy invention. Nonetheless, it seems an excellent opportunity to talk about the character of different animals.

Guilt

I was silent for a moment.

Finally, I said grimly, "You may be right. Nonetheless, I have very little mercy for your landlady. After all, not every wrongdoings were the decision of the dogs. Just think of what happened in that exceptionally long May!"

"Quite true," L nodded, "In fact I think she began to keep more dogs than ever to run her house since that horrible event. And, now, she sees the problem. The house is not out of the control because of the cats, but, rather, the dogs!"

"So, it brings us back to square one - it's all her problem." I was forced to conclude.

"To make the thing worse, she is half mad," my friend went on, "The old woman has the insight that she did something terribly wrong in that May, but she is also sufficiently paranoid and couldn't bear anyone talking about what happened. That's why dogs appear on the stage and now take charge of the house. Even if she wants to admit guilty, she doesn't know how it could be done with her being respected. All she could do is, therefore, to continue with the house of beasts."

We were both speechless.

Dogs

(My conversation with L continued.)

My friend put up a curious smile and was silent for a moment. His eyes told me that he was not thinking of who hanged the unfortunate cat, but, rather, why I couldn’t see who did it.

Finally, he said, “You silly old boy. For god’s sake, it was the dogs, of course.”

“That’s the same. The dogs were kept by your landlady; she is the master and made all the orders.” I was puzzled.

“No, the dogs are the master.” L was grave, “They control each and every room and therefore the entire house. For obvious reasons, one or two of them thought that the cat yelled too much; they decided by their own will and silence the unfortunate pet permanently!”

I gasped. How could I say anything else?

My friend went on, “The unfortunate thing is my landlady has to shoulder the responsibility. She could do nothing about her dogs, and, even worse, she wants to give everyone the impression that she is the master. How could she told the others that she has lost the control of her house?”

Suicide

While I was thinking about how real Kanae Minato’s story was, I met my friend L again. As always, he looked grave and puzzled.

“Hey, man. What’s wrong with you this time?” I tapped on his shoulder, “Problem with your landlady again?”

“I suppose you’ve heard that much? Her cat died – hanged around its neck outside the window. She told everyone that that unfortunate creature killed itself!” L sighed.

“I know very little about this event I must say, but, as an onlooker, it seems to me quite impossible that the old pet would commit suicide – unless the verb was used in the passive voice!” I smiled.

“So, you prefer to believe my landlady used her own methods to do away with the cat?” My friend looked straight into my eyes and asked.

“Alas, what else could it be?” I was slightly uneasy to give the answer.

“My friend, if my landlady wants to get rid of that lovely animal, she had ample of time and dozens of opportunities to do it in decent and legal and justifiable and painless ways. The very fact that the pet lived to this age means that, however annoying it seemed to be time after time, the old woman preferred to keep it – so that fans of animal right have one fewer reason to protest.

“In that case, who hanged the unfortunate creature outside the window?” I was really puzzled.

N

My recent bedtime reading was N No Tameni (為了N) of Kanae Minato (湊佳苗).

Yes, the author of Confession (告白).

As usual, I borrowed this book from AL. (It's a long time since I last bought a detective fiction myself - hardly any seems exciting enough for me nowadays.)  In short, I finished with it in a few nights, and was not impressed.

The story was simple: A murdered happened; the facts were cut and dry as it seemed. Nonetheless, everyone involved had a story behind and they each had their own reasons to lie on a trivial matter. In the aggregate, of course, the story was very much distorted and truth was never unearthed.

As what we learn from the classical teaching of computer animation and virtual reality: It is scary to have things appearing too real.

Higher

Before I stop talking about investment, exponential growth, and the effect of inflation, there is one more thing that I must remind you:

The nominal inflation rate is always lower than the actual one.

There are two reasons. First, government officials and practitioners of politics have various methods of manipulation so that the numbers reported would not be excessively high - it just doesn't look good to them.

(I shall not elaborate on how government could twist the calculation of inflation rate. Interested visitors may like to read http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article8830.html)

And, in addition, the available method of calculating the inflation rate has an intrinsic problem, which I discussed some years ago.

Please refer to http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2008/01/inflation.html

I believe the implication of a higher-than-nominal inflation rate is obvious.

Risk

There is another implication of my estimation that may skip your eyes.

The idea is simple: If the inflation rate is 4%, and you compare the nominal investment return of 5% to the actual 1%, the difference is huge.

However, if the nominal return is 15%, the actual rate is 11% - a more agreeable loss.



Do you see where we are getting at? Yes, a high risk investment would become more attractive!

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not promoting high risk investment.

Just consider this: Once again, let's have $100,000 to start with. If there is no inflation, a 5% investment return per year would give you $162,889, while a 15% investment return would yield $404,555. In other words, moving from a conservative to an aggressive investment approach would result in 2.5-fold difference in the outcome.

But, when we consider an inflation rate of 4%, the actual yearly yield of the conservative and aggressive approach would become 1% and 11%, respectively. Ten years later, the amount of money you have would be $110,462 and $283,942, respectively - again a 2.5-fold difference.

In other words, inflation becomes a blind and temptation for speculation.

MPF

We may take MPF as another example.

Say, if you contribute $1000 each month for 30 years and has an investment return of 5% (after excluding management fee, et cetera), you can get $832,258 when you retire.

Sounds good? But, if you cross out 4% of inflation and are left with 1% return each year, there would only be $419,628 when you retire – simply put, a two-fold difference.

(The arithmetic is slightly complicated; you would need a financial calculator to work out these numbers.)

As soon as you see this amount, you would come to realize MPF could only help the retirement of one kind of people: the fund managers.

PS. We don't actually need much calculation here: If you put $1000 each month for 30 years into MPF, and, if, my goodness, the investment return could cross out the inflation plus management fee (difficult, eh?) we would get $1000 each month for 30 years after we retire.

You call that enough?

Contrary to what Mark Twain said, there are actually four kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, statistics, and financial analysis.

Compound

The very implication of my estimation yesterday may skip your eyes.

You see? The traditional wisdom of Albert Einstein was: The greatest force in the universe is compound interest. Yes, mathematically that’s absolutely correct. But, when we extrapolate and believe we could accumulate an amazing wealth by continual re-investment, we are deceiving ourselves.

The real thing that grows in an amazing rate with time is inflation.

And, for that reason, it damps down our real investment return by an unbelievable magnitude.

For example, if you have $100,000 to start with and an investment return of 5% per year, thirty years later it becomes $432,194. Not bad.

But, if the inflation rate was 4% all through the time, the investment return becomes 1% per annum. The money that you have thirty years later would be $134,784 – more than a three-fold difference.

The conclusion is, once again, simple: We invest, not because we want to become rich (alas, we do want to), but because we need to counteract the exponential force of inflation, which wears down the money in our pocket in an astonishing speed.

PS. Of the above example, strictly speaking, the money in your account thirty years later would be numerically more than $134,784 because of inflation, but the purchasing power would be the same as what you have with $134,784 at present.

Estimation

(Cont’d)

Let’s  consider the example I outlined yesterday: If you have $6 million and it’s put on some fixed-return investment with a yield of 4%, the yearly return would be $240000, or $20000 every month. In theory, your livings could depend on it forever, and, by the time you are summoned by Chairman Mao, there is a decent legacy left for your children.

The only draw back is: Inflation is not put into the equation. If the inflation rate is also 4%, $20000 twenty years later would be equivalent to $9127 now. (Interested visitors can try the computation yourself with a simple scientific calculator. All it needs is basic secondary school arithmetic.)

How can we get around the problem and have a realistic estimation?

Simple. What the above example tried to show is: If your investment return is the same as the inflation rate, you could cross out the two sides of the equation; the investment has zero return (that is, the money is simply put under your pillow), and there is no inflation. If there is a $6 millions of savings and you continue to draw $20000 each month for your living, it is sufficient for 25 years – and no legacy for your children.

You see? What we are getting at is some form of investment is always necessary – not for accumulation or acquisition of wealth, but, really, for getting rid of and guarding your savings against inflation.

Inflation

You may think my in-laws’ bitter experience with  Carrian is an extreme example. However, my suggestion of using HSBC as the benchmark of inflation was obviously at the other end of the spectrum. The inexcusable truth is: Things are getting more expensive with time.

Yes, this is inflation.

As a result of this annoying natural tendency, the eternal question for us is: How much money do we need for retirement?

The worry is easily explained. For example, if you think $1 million is sufficient for a new Porsche now, 30 years later, this sum of money may only be enough for travelling by bus. Similarly, if your financial planner says that your savings can give you $20000 every month, it may sound a reasonable income now for a retired person, but it may not add much to the fruit money when you become 80-year-old.

How could we get around this problem when we plan for our future?

The actual mathematical calculation is slightly complicated and definitely boring. Nonetheless, we can have a reasonable idea of the problem by considering some hypothetical cases.

Let me show you tomorrow.

Expensive

While I was thinking about the Euro crisis, we had our regular Sunday lunch with my in-laws.

As usual, we chatted on various matters of Euterpe and Adler.

"You know, everything is very expensive nowadays. For example, the tuition fee of Euterpe's piano class is over $1000 each month!" My wife sighed.

"Oh! I think it was around $500 a month when you were in the secondary school - and it was grade 8 piano lesson!" Her mother said grimly.

"Don't go that far," I smiled, "The stock price of HSBC is now around $60. Do you remember what it was in those days?"

"Yes, I remember very well," my mother-in-law was surprisingly accurate, "In fact I had seen it selling at $4."

"Too bad you didn't buy some in those days." I laughed.

"It's even worse - we used the money and bought the Carrian Group (佳寧)!" Vivian's father said with a bitter smile.

Debt

You may think my suggestion wouldn't work.

To put it simply, Germany holding astronomical sums of bond - government bonds or corporate ones - in Euro. If that double-crossed epsilon depreciates too much, many Deutsch banks would have to write off a substantial portion of their asset and face a huge loss.

But, the argument is flawed. If your debtor could not give you back the money, it doesn't mean that you have to lend them more - even if the new loan is for paying the interest of your old one.

And, to go one step forward, it is naive to believe German banks should see all the loss if Euro depreciate.

Do you know what is short selling, collateralized debt obligation, and repackaging?

NEuro

I suppose you see what I was getting at.

Yes, the logic is simple. If you join an organization and find that one of the members is not behaving, it is perfectly alright to propose sacking that delinquent person. However, when all of the others are not following the rule of the game, it is logical to withdraw and keep your hands clean.

In that case, Euro should depreciate and the PIGS could begin to solve their own problems.

*********************

Well, I agree not all the other countries in the Eurozone are heavily in debt. Finland and Netherlands are the notable exceptions - they should quit as well.

If they decide to form a new common currency, shall we call it NEuro? (A new Euro, a new Ro, or Neuro - whatever meaning you prefer.)

Alas, I'm afraid the remaining countries in the Eurozone should call their currency Psycho...

... of Alfred Hitchcock?

Euro

I recently came to realize that the page view rate of my blog was particularly high on those days that I talked about finance and stock market. Well, I know I should not be too serious about the number of people listening to my grumble, but, on the other hand, I believe even Joshua Bell would be keen for all measures that might attract more audience when he was playing violin in the rail station. (See http://vwswong.blogspot.hk/2012/05/appreciate.html)

************************

As to global economy, the hot topic recently is certainly Greece and Euro. For those who are not familiar with the story, the Greek government, as well as its entire banking system is heavily in debt. Money is urgently needed from the European Central Bank (which actually means from other Eurozone countries, notably Germany). The trade off is, in order to square the balance, the Greek government has to cut down drastically its expenditure, including social welfare and the salary of all government servants – a painful step for the Greek people, and a suicidal move for their politicians.

The very worry is, if the Greek government fails to settle the bill, it may be expelled from the Eurozone – a most severe earthquake in the history of Europe (if what happened in the States four years ago was a tsunami) that may shatter the basis of the European Union.

I consider this worry narrow-minded.

For doing away with Greece is a futile resuscitation – it does not eliminate the rest of the PIGS, which are all in hot water.

In my opinion, the country that needs to be expelled from the Eurozone is Germany.

Sweet

That evening, Vivian and I dined in an Italian restaurant.

I shall not elaborate on what happened. (Nothing really.) As usual, when I was back to work the next day, I lunched with LS, and I naturally reported my dinning experience to our emeritus professor of food and beverage.

"My friend, you should really try this with Raymond," I said, "Michelin three star, and not exquisitely expensive."

"That sounds good. Is it difficult to book a table?"

"It's almost always full, but it should be alright if you book it two months in advance. I remember your birthday is in early August. Isn't it?" I smiled.

"Em... that sounds a bit rush," LS seemed to be thinking of something else, "Raymond's birthday is in mid-July. Well, I shall have a try..."

I raised my eyebrow - what a sweet couple!