Your files...
Someone asked for my resume a while ago and I thought it would be good to keep it up to date in case I need it for whatever reason. Well, turns out that I couldn't find my copy (after spending hours on it)! I know I have it but I just don't remember where I have put it. I guess I really should organize my data better so that it'll be easier for me to search for them in the future. This task has been on my to-do list for like years! Oh well, guess I won't update my resume until I really need it.
Labels:
Personal
One year anniversary
I've lived in my current place for exactly a year now. Time flies...
Labels:
Personal
Ahh...
I just had one of the worst online purchase experience ever (probably not the worst worst but close to). There is a sale going on for the Malaysia Airlines and since my friends and I are planning to go there, we just decided to buy the ticket when it's cheap (HKG -> KUL: $200 isn't bad at all considering that going from SEA to SFO would cost me at least $200 in most cases). While the price was good, the purchase experience was HORRIBLE:
Anyway, I got my ticket and I am happy but I am seriously worried about my credit card so I may need to cancel it...
- I don't know if they passed the PCI DSS security audit at all (or if there is such a thing in Asia). The site just doesn't feel very secure and I need to keep a very close eyes on my credit card transactions.
- I find it annoying that they need my passport info before letting me making a purchase. I suppose it's an international flight.
Anyway, I got my ticket and I am happy but I am seriously worried about my credit card so I may need to cancel it...
Hospital and Customer Service
A friend of mine had a surgery today and I was the one giving his ride back home. The surgery wouldn't start until 4pm and would take about 1-1.5 hours. The plan was to have my friend staying in the hospital until 5:30pm and then I would drive to pick him up (after work).
While I was very focus at work, I got a call from a nurse and that was about 4:25pm. She needed me to get to the hospital before 5pm. Why? Because, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get into the building as the elevator will be locked. If that was the case, couldn't she call me up earlier? Otherwise, why didn't she just let me in when I get there at around 6pm since I wouldn't be able to make it at 5pm? Maybe the nurse would be too busy to let me in. Anyway, I thought the surgery must have been done early so I just went.
After about 30 minutes of commute time, I got to the hospital at 5:15pm and I thought I would need to call her to let me in. Well, to my surprise, the elevators worked just fine. So I got to the reception and asked for my friend and it turned out that he's still in the operation room and still needed at least 30 mins! I was like WTF. You asked me to get to the hospital early to wait so that you don't have to get down to let me in. I understand that the nurse is just doing her job and she's probably very busy. However, from a customer's perspective (a friend reminded me that I am not really a customer and most users of the hospital are patients and patients' family members, so they don't really have a choice), that's a very bad experience. You know what, if the hospital allows operations to happen past 5pm, they have to figure out a way to let people into it after then. That's just simple customer service.
Anyway, hope I don't have to go there anytime soon.
While I was very focus at work, I got a call from a nurse and that was about 4:25pm. She needed me to get to the hospital before 5pm. Why? Because, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get into the building as the elevator will be locked. If that was the case, couldn't she call me up earlier? Otherwise, why didn't she just let me in when I get there at around 6pm since I wouldn't be able to make it at 5pm? Maybe the nurse would be too busy to let me in. Anyway, I thought the surgery must have been done early so I just went.
After about 30 minutes of commute time, I got to the hospital at 5:15pm and I thought I would need to call her to let me in. Well, to my surprise, the elevators worked just fine. So I got to the reception and asked for my friend and it turned out that he's still in the operation room and still needed at least 30 mins! I was like WTF. You asked me to get to the hospital early to wait so that you don't have to get down to let me in. I understand that the nurse is just doing her job and she's probably very busy. However, from a customer's perspective (a friend reminded me that I am not really a customer and most users of the hospital are patients and patients' family members, so they don't really have a choice), that's a very bad experience. You know what, if the hospital allows operations to happen past 5pm, they have to figure out a way to let people into it after then. That's just simple customer service.
Anyway, hope I don't have to go there anytime soon.
Trip to HK - confirmed!
My friend and I were talking about making a trip to HK earlier this year since I go back to HK once every two years and this year is "the" year. As with any thought, it was just an idea and we hadn't actually done anything about it until last week. My friend initiated the conversation last Wednesday and we spent about 20 mins discussing about the trip over the weekends. I then confirmed it with various folks (family, boss etc) yesterday, and then we got our tickets today! All this happened within a week for a trip that isn't going to happen until 4 months later. I thought it was pretty amazing especially for someone like me who has a commitment problem - I don't like to commit to any trip until the very last minute.
Anyhow, so I'll be back in HK this December if you would like to meet up, shoot me an email. I think I'll actually be in HK for only a few days and I'll be in Malaysia, Japan, and mainland China for the rest. I am very excited about it. Now that the HK trip is booked, we need to look into the Malaysia trip.
Anyhow, so I'll be back in HK this December if you would like to meet up, shoot me an email. I think I'll actually be in HK for only a few days and I'll be in Malaysia, Japan, and mainland China for the rest. I am very excited about it. Now that the HK trip is booked, we need to look into the Malaysia trip.
Labels:
Trip
Snow Leopard is coming this Friday
I have been a Mac user since 2005 and have been paying attention to all-things Mac since. I guess I am somewhat of a fan boy since I have a Mac Mini, a Macbook, and an iPhone. Anyway, in the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (held in SF in Jun 2009), Apple announced that the new version of Mac OS X (10.6 codename Snow Leopard) would be shipped in September 2009 for $29 [1]. I was very excited about it. By the way, there is only ONE version of OS in Mac as opposed to many in the Windows world (like Home Basic, Premium, Ultimate, and a lot more). Everyone in the Mac community always makes fun of Windows because of all these version.
Today, Apple announced that the new OS will be shipped this Friday (August 28, 2009) [2]. That's at least a few days earlier than the promised delivery day (they could have planned to release it at the end of September and that means it's a whole month earlier than expected). As a customer, I am happy and impressed with their ability to deliver software (as compared to the other OS company). Of course, I haven't tried out the new OS and don't know if it would be just a piece of sh!t but given Apple's track record, I am rather confident that it would be a fine piece of software.
Lesson learned: Set a lower expectation for your customers (under promise) and as long as you beat that expectation even just by a little bit (over delivery), people will think that you are awesome. It applies to your work too. However, you shouldn't do that when you set goals for yourself. You should always set a far-fetch goal and even if you don't get it, you would have achieved more than you could.
Today, Apple announced that the new OS will be shipped this Friday (August 28, 2009) [2]. That's at least a few days earlier than the promised delivery day (they could have planned to release it at the end of September and that means it's a whole month earlier than expected). As a customer, I am happy and impressed with their ability to deliver software (as compared to the other OS company). Of course, I haven't tried out the new OS and don't know if it would be just a piece of sh!t but given Apple's track record, I am rather confident that it would be a fine piece of software.
Lesson learned: Set a lower expectation for your customers (under promise) and as long as you beat that expectation even just by a little bit (over delivery), people will think that you are awesome. It applies to your work too. However, you shouldn't do that when you set goals for yourself. You should always set a far-fetch goal and even if you don't get it, you would have achieved more than you could.
Labels:
Technology
Depth or Breadth
Do you consider yourself as a Jack of all trades (aka master of none) or a specialist? If you are a specialist and if you are best in that field, you can command big bucks but then if that field is going downhill, you could be the same too. If you are a jack of all trades, it may be easier for you to adapt but then it may be harder for you to compete against all the specialists. Is it possible to be a jack of all trades and at the same time the very good in all these areas?
Labels:
Life
Homeless Running a Business
If you visit Seattle downtown, you would see quite a few homeless folks trolling through the streets. Some would just ask "Sir, do you have 50c? Could you help me out?". Some would actually do something to earn the money, like selling a newspaper called "Real Change" for $1. I came across one such person yesterday.
She told me that they actually have to pay 35c to get a copy of the newspaper. I am not sure if it's true as I can't verify it. Let's assume it's true for the sake of this post. Basically, the Real Change organization is trying to help the homeless people become self-sustained by encouraging them buying and selling products. That's good intention but I think the product, newspaper, is a bad one. Think about it, how many people read physical newspapers today? How many newspapers have closed down due to the competition on the web? News stands are having hard time selling newspapers and I think the homeless people will have a even harder time.
I don't think people would spend money on a crappy product (even with the intention to help the homeless); I think they would rather donate the money to charity (at least I would). So if charities want to help these homeless people become more self-sustained, they seriously need to offer a product that people actually want and would buy. What could that product be? I don't know but I don't think it's newspaper. I actually wonder if they have metrics to track how they are done.
She told me that they actually have to pay 35c to get a copy of the newspaper. I am not sure if it's true as I can't verify it. Let's assume it's true for the sake of this post. Basically, the Real Change organization is trying to help the homeless people become self-sustained by encouraging them buying and selling products. That's good intention but I think the product, newspaper, is a bad one. Think about it, how many people read physical newspapers today? How many newspapers have closed down due to the competition on the web? News stands are having hard time selling newspapers and I think the homeless people will have a even harder time.
I don't think people would spend money on a crappy product (even with the intention to help the homeless); I think they would rather donate the money to charity (at least I would). So if charities want to help these homeless people become more self-sustained, they seriously need to offer a product that people actually want and would buy. What could that product be? I don't know but I don't think it's newspaper. I actually wonder if they have metrics to track how they are done.
Labels:
Business
Population Control
The population is increasing rapidly and the world would be out of resources sooner or later. What can people do to solve or at least slow down the problem? It's either making people die faster or making people born slower (or somehow find another planet in the galaxy). Given that we are getting more and more advanced in medicine, it's unlikely that we can make people die faster (unless there is a huge natural disaster or a massive war among many nations). The only solution is really to make people born slower.
According to Wikipedia[1], the two most populous countries are China (1.33 billion) and India(1.15 billion); they account for almost 40% of the world population. In order to slow down the rapid population growth, China introduced the one-child policy in 1979[2]. Under this policy, each family can only have one child or they will have to pay a heft fine. Since a majority of families in China are poor, this policy really forced them to have only one kid, which really helps in slowing down the population growth in China. Of course, this policy caused a bunch of other problems, e.g. family would kill their newborns if they don't get the gender they want (mostly boys), but I am not going to talk about them today.
As for India, they don't really have any drastic policy like the one China has (please correct me if I am wrong) and analysts are saying that India will become the most populous country within 50 years (overtaking China) if the Indian government doesn't do anything. Well, the Indian government listens and they are actually doing something. So what is it? "Bring electricity to every Indian village so that people would watch television until late at night and therefore be too tired to make babies." [3]. Not sure if it'll really work but it's an interesting idea. If you look at some very busy countries/cities, the birth rate is so much lower. So I suppose if you can get people busy enough, they will really slow down in producing babies.
Source:
[1]: Wikipedia: World Population
[2]: Wikipedia: One-child policy
[3]: CNN International
According to Wikipedia[1], the two most populous countries are China (1.33 billion) and India(1.15 billion); they account for almost 40% of the world population. In order to slow down the rapid population growth, China introduced the one-child policy in 1979[2]. Under this policy, each family can only have one child or they will have to pay a heft fine. Since a majority of families in China are poor, this policy really forced them to have only one kid, which really helps in slowing down the population growth in China. Of course, this policy caused a bunch of other problems, e.g. family would kill their newborns if they don't get the gender they want (mostly boys), but I am not going to talk about them today.
As for India, they don't really have any drastic policy like the one China has (please correct me if I am wrong) and analysts are saying that India will become the most populous country within 50 years (overtaking China) if the Indian government doesn't do anything. Well, the Indian government listens and they are actually doing something. So what is it? "Bring electricity to every Indian village so that people would watch television until late at night and therefore be too tired to make babies." [3]. Not sure if it'll really work but it's an interesting idea. If you look at some very busy countries/cities, the birth rate is so much lower. So I suppose if you can get people busy enough, they will really slow down in producing babies.
Source:
[1]: Wikipedia: World Population
[2]: Wikipedia: One-child policy
[3]: CNN International
Labels:
News
Do you really want it?
Have you ever wanted something really badly but have never been able to get it? How does it feel? Isn't it a great feeling? I mean, most of the time, you really want that something because you have exceptional expectation about it and it serves great when you need something for day-dreaming. For example, you may have always wanted to go out with that girl you met in college, you may have always wanted to work for this awesome manager, or you may have always wanted to move to this exotic country to live for a few years.
Now, think about the times when you have got something you really wanted. How did you feel? Was there any disappointment? I would say, you have mostly like experienced some and the reason is that you had such a high expectation about that something to begin with so any minor glitches will make it a disappointment for you. Isn't it interesting how human brains work? It's all about expectations.
So next time, when you are about to be able to get what you have always wanted, think twice. It may be better to keep that ideal dream than to face reality.
Now, think about the times when you have got something you really wanted. How did you feel? Was there any disappointment? I would say, you have mostly like experienced some and the reason is that you had such a high expectation about that something to begin with so any minor glitches will make it a disappointment for you. Isn't it interesting how human brains work? It's all about expectations.
So next time, when you are about to be able to get what you have always wanted, think twice. It may be better to keep that ideal dream than to face reality.
Labels:
Life
Vancouver, Canada
No blog post for the past few days because I was up in Vancouver, BC, Canada (fyi, there is also a Vancouver city in Washington state). Why did I go there? It was for my cousin's wedding (on Friday) and decided to spend a few extra days over there to enjoy the place since I haven't been there for a while now.
Vancouver is pretty close to Seattle - it's only about 2.5hr drive (excluding border wait time). So if anyone of you decide to come to Seattle (and visit me), we can totally visit Vancouver (of course, you need your passport). When people talk about Vancouver, they usually refer to the Greater Vancouver area, which includes Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, and maybe a few other cities that I have never been to. Some of you may have heard that there are a lot of Cantonese-speaking folks in Vancouver. Well, that can't be more true; according to my cousin, 40% of the BC population is Chinese and they are mostly concentrated in a few spots. Seriously, you only need Cantonese to get around, especially in Richmond.
One of my favorite activities in Vancouver is to EAT (what else. haha...) as the food is pretty awesome. You can pretty much get all kind of cuisines (actually, other than Denny's, I don't remember seeing any other American restaurants...) and most of them are of pretty high quality. On this trip, I only had a catering meal, a formal Chinese dinner (for the wedding), dim sum, and Japanese all-you-can-eat. By the way, the Japanese all-you-can-eat place is of pretty good quality. A lot of sashimi & sushi selections and the fish was very fresh. I think my cousin and I had our fair share of food. haha...
Other than food, you can also find hiking spots in Vancouver, much like in Seattle. This site will give you a lot of information about trails around Vancouver. I have actually never hiked in Vancouver until this trip. Where did we go? Since my aunt and uncle want to join us, we picked a rather easy one at Capilano Regional Park in North Vancouver. It was a very good and easy hike and I recommend it for those who can't really hike.
Overall, I like the trip and really wish I could spend a week over there to visit the outdoor more up there. If you are coming here and want to visit Vancouver, let me know. I may join you :). By the way, when you plan your trip, you should allocate time for border crossing as it could take forever! On my way back to Seattle on Sunday morning, I thought I was early and got to border at 9:50am. Well, I was wrong; It took me 80mins to get passed the border! I think the best is to pass the border at night on a non-weekend day. You can check this site for traffic status.
Enjoy.
Vancouver is pretty close to Seattle - it's only about 2.5hr drive (excluding border wait time). So if anyone of you decide to come to Seattle (and visit me), we can totally visit Vancouver (of course, you need your passport). When people talk about Vancouver, they usually refer to the Greater Vancouver area, which includes Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, and maybe a few other cities that I have never been to. Some of you may have heard that there are a lot of Cantonese-speaking folks in Vancouver. Well, that can't be more true; according to my cousin, 40% of the BC population is Chinese and they are mostly concentrated in a few spots. Seriously, you only need Cantonese to get around, especially in Richmond.
One of my favorite activities in Vancouver is to EAT (what else. haha...) as the food is pretty awesome. You can pretty much get all kind of cuisines (actually, other than Denny's, I don't remember seeing any other American restaurants...) and most of them are of pretty high quality. On this trip, I only had a catering meal, a formal Chinese dinner (for the wedding), dim sum, and Japanese all-you-can-eat. By the way, the Japanese all-you-can-eat place is of pretty good quality. A lot of sashimi & sushi selections and the fish was very fresh. I think my cousin and I had our fair share of food. haha...
Other than food, you can also find hiking spots in Vancouver, much like in Seattle. This site will give you a lot of information about trails around Vancouver. I have actually never hiked in Vancouver until this trip. Where did we go? Since my aunt and uncle want to join us, we picked a rather easy one at Capilano Regional Park in North Vancouver. It was a very good and easy hike and I recommend it for those who can't really hike.
Overall, I like the trip and really wish I could spend a week over there to visit the outdoor more up there. If you are coming here and want to visit Vancouver, let me know. I may join you :). By the way, when you plan your trip, you should allocate time for border crossing as it could take forever! On my way back to Seattle on Sunday morning, I thought I was early and got to border at 9:50am. Well, I was wrong; It took me 80mins to get passed the border! I think the best is to pass the border at night on a non-weekend day. You can check this site for traffic status.
Enjoy.
Labels:
Trip
8/12/2009 or 12/8/2009?
I had a discussion with a colleague today about how numerical dates are written in America (US and Canada) versus Europe (or even the rest of the world). In America, the numerical dates are written as Month / Day / Year, so today's date (August 12th, 2009) is written as 8/12/2009. In Europe, the numerical dates are written as Day / Month / Year, so today's date is written as 12/8/2009. As you can see, there could be a lot of confusion between Americans and Europeans when talking about dates. Does 8/12/2009 mean August 12th, 2009 or December 8th, 2009? Bad for communication...
I tried looking up the origins of these two representations but couldn't find any reliable sources. On the unreliable sources front, some people think that these numerical representations were simply shortened forms of dates written in English and the difference is simply the result of differences between American English and British English. In American English, dates are written as Monthname Day, Year, so today's date is written as August 12th, 2009 and the numerical (shorten) representation is 8/12/2009. In British English, dates are written as Day Monthname Year, so today's date is written as 12th August 2009 and the numerical representation is 12/8/2009. This explanation makes totaly sense but I couldn't find a reliable reference...
In my opinion, it's much better to use "2009-8-12" instead of the above-mentioned representations. Why? It helps your brain narrow down on the dates more logically as you read through it. Let's look at the European format (12/8/2009). As you read through it, your brain will learn that it's the 12th day of a certain month in a certain year (not very specific at all); then your brain will figure out it's the 12th day of August in a certain year (a little better but there are at least 2000 possible dyas). Now, let's look at "2009-8-12". As you read through it, your brain will learn that it must be some time in Year 2009 (only 365/366 days to consider), then your brain will find out it's some time in August of 2009 (31 days), and lastly, your brain will identify it as the 12th day of August in 2009. It's very logical and helps your brain narrow down on the specific day much quicker. Anyway, if you are interested, "2009-8-12" is referred to as the ISO 8601 standard. Come to think of it, Chinese actually uses this standard, 2009年8月12日.
You can check out Wikipedia - Calendar date for more information.
I tried looking up the origins of these two representations but couldn't find any reliable sources. On the unreliable sources front, some people think that these numerical representations were simply shortened forms of dates written in English and the difference is simply the result of differences between American English and British English. In American English, dates are written as Monthname Day, Year, so today's date is written as August 12th, 2009 and the numerical (shorten) representation is 8/12/2009. In British English, dates are written as Day Monthname Year, so today's date is written as 12th August 2009 and the numerical representation is 12/8/2009. This explanation makes totaly sense but I couldn't find a reliable reference...
In my opinion, it's much better to use "2009-8-12" instead of the above-mentioned representations. Why? It helps your brain narrow down on the dates more logically as you read through it. Let's look at the European format (12/8/2009). As you read through it, your brain will learn that it's the 12th day of a certain month in a certain year (not very specific at all); then your brain will figure out it's the 12th day of August in a certain year (a little better but there are at least 2000 possible dyas). Now, let's look at "2009-8-12". As you read through it, your brain will learn that it must be some time in Year 2009 (only 365/366 days to consider), then your brain will find out it's some time in August of 2009 (31 days), and lastly, your brain will identify it as the 12th day of August in 2009. It's very logical and helps your brain narrow down on the specific day much quicker. Anyway, if you are interested, "2009-8-12" is referred to as the ISO 8601 standard. Come to think of it, Chinese actually uses this standard, 2009年8月12日.
You can check out Wikipedia - Calendar date for more information.
Labels:
Life
Bad haircut...
Oops, I did it again. Having too short of a haircut. haha... So I'll go to a wedding in a few days and I thought I would get my hair cut before going (it's been like 2 months since my last haircut). Well, I fell asleep while having the haircut and the end result is super short haircut (like almost none). I like short hair but then I think it may not be the best hair styles to see all my relatives. haha... Lesson learned: don't fall asleep when you have you haircut. or even better, make sure you give clear instructions to your hairdresser (but then i dunno what to say exactly... I want my hair to be 8.5" long on 50% of my head and then 5" long on the other 50%. I also want to have a normal distribution. lol... getting kinda geeky now). By the way, I go to the same hair dresser all the time.
Labels:
Personal
Practice made perfect?
While I was walking to work today, I am asking myself if I remember what I read a week ago. How about a month ago? I had a hard time remembering it. I blame it on information overload and there are just so much you can read nowadays. In addition to books & magazine, you have all the blogs (like mine :), you can read and after a while, everything is the same...
How can I make whatever I have read stick in my head? Back in the days when I was still in school, I used to read a text book multiple times (I know it's boring but it's part of study) and that process really made the "stuff" stick in my head. Seriously, up till today, I still remember some content of some books I read back in school. It's strange but it's true (at least for me). However, ever since I graduated from college, I have never read an article, let alone a book, twice. Maybe that's the learning process that I have been missing since after school?
If you think about the homework we did in school, I would argue that it has a similar effect. Homework forced us to repeat applying the same knowledge again and again. Eventually, those knowledge will just get stuck in our head without knowing about it and we just get smarter that way. Now, if you look at your life after school, how many times have you done the same thing more than once? It's a rare event for me. Maybe the phrase, "Practice made perfect" is true. I think the book, Outliers: The Story of Success
mentioned one of the reasons someone is an expert is a field is that he just keeps doing the same thing again and again... It's on my to-read list. Will see when I read it...
How can I make whatever I have read stick in my head? Back in the days when I was still in school, I used to read a text book multiple times (I know it's boring but it's part of study) and that process really made the "stuff" stick in my head. Seriously, up till today, I still remember some content of some books I read back in school. It's strange but it's true (at least for me). However, ever since I graduated from college, I have never read an article, let alone a book, twice. Maybe that's the learning process that I have been missing since after school?
If you think about the homework we did in school, I would argue that it has a similar effect. Homework forced us to repeat applying the same knowledge again and again. Eventually, those knowledge will just get stuck in our head without knowing about it and we just get smarter that way. Now, if you look at your life after school, how many times have you done the same thing more than once? It's a rare event for me. Maybe the phrase, "Practice made perfect" is true. I think the book, Outliers: The Story of Success
mentioned one of the reasons someone is an expert is a field is that he just keeps doing the same thing again and again... It's on my to-read list. Will see when I read it...
Labels:
Life
What are you passionate about?
I just had a dinner with a friend and we discussed a very abstract concept called, passion. I am kind of going through a period of time when I question about my passion for something I do day-to-day so I am particularly interested in this topic.
What is passion? What does it mean when you said someone is passionate about something (let's say an activity for the ease of discussion)? Does it mean that he cares about that activity very much? Does it mean that he thinks about that activity all the time? Does it also mean that he would think about ways to be better at that activity? Does it mean that you can see sparks in his eyes when someone talks about that activity?
Let's say that activity is your job. What behaviors would you see from a person who is very passionate about his job? Would you see him finding his job more important than their family, for example? Would you see him having a grand vision about the product that he is working on and he is ready to execute on it? Would you see his leading his team to the direction he is envisioning?
How's about motivation? Is motivation the same as passion? Could a person who's motivated doing as good of a job as a person who's passionate? Could a passionate person give you more than a motivated person (like more ideas)? Do you need to have passion in order to do a phenomenal job? Does passion get someone a step further than the rest of the crowds? Does passion make someone a superstar?
Finally, is passion just a term to be used as an excuse when you did a poor job? What's your thought?
What is passion? What does it mean when you said someone is passionate about something (let's say an activity for the ease of discussion)? Does it mean that he cares about that activity very much? Does it mean that he thinks about that activity all the time? Does it also mean that he would think about ways to be better at that activity? Does it mean that you can see sparks in his eyes when someone talks about that activity?
Let's say that activity is your job. What behaviors would you see from a person who is very passionate about his job? Would you see him finding his job more important than their family, for example? Would you see him having a grand vision about the product that he is working on and he is ready to execute on it? Would you see his leading his team to the direction he is envisioning?
How's about motivation? Is motivation the same as passion? Could a person who's motivated doing as good of a job as a person who's passionate? Could a passionate person give you more than a motivated person (like more ideas)? Do you need to have passion in order to do a phenomenal job? Does passion get someone a step further than the rest of the crowds? Does passion make someone a superstar?
Finally, is passion just a term to be used as an excuse when you did a poor job? What's your thought?
Labels:
Life
Visiting Hong Kong
If you plan to visit HK and if you are not local, you may want to read this blog. I thought it's interesting.
Labels:
Links
Food...
I'll be visiting Vancouver, BC, Canada soon and have been coordinating with my relatives over there. Why am I going there? Of course, it's someone else wedding, what else could I be doing. hahaha... In addition, I'll do some hiking and eating. So I am checking out all the all-you-can-eat sushi places over there and man, there are A LOT of them and they seem to be pretty good too. Take a look at these pictures, don't they look delicious?
Labels:
Personal
Car Keyless Entry
I have been trying to replace my car keyless entries as one of them is dead and the other one is dying. I talked to a dealership yesterday and they were going to charge me $250 for a remote. I didn't like to pay that much but then I didn't have a choice. So I went there and hoping to get two new remotes. Well, it turns out that my remotes are after market remotes and they can't do anything about it! I have always thought that my remotes look weird but never dig deep into it to find out the details. This visit proved me right. Anyway, so I went this place call "Car Toy" to see if they could help me out and it turned out that, they couldn't neither. Bummer. And you know what, the salesman tried to sell me their shining remote system that would cost $300. I gently declined. What the heck. I am willing to pay but they can't help me out? Fine, I have decided to do all the research about car security/keyless entry system and will see if I can fix it myself.
Anyway, it's more like a rant. Pretty tired today...
Anyway, it's more like a rant. Pretty tired today...
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Personal
中學會考
特然想用中文寫這個日誌，但請大家包容我的中文因為我很久已没有寫作中文了。真的有點兒不慣。哈哈．．．
昨天是一年一度香港中學會考放榜的日子。在報紙上讀了很多令人鼓舞的新聞，例如有身體缺陷的學生克服困難考獲佳績（分別有六優，八優和九優），亦有迷逃學生改過自生而課獲得不錯的成績。他們的堅持都是值得我們學習的。
這個放榜也令我回想起我當年拿自己成績單的情況而那一次的成績也給我機會來美國進修。時間飛逝得，轉眼間我已在美國十數年了。有時真的在想：如果我没有來美國，我的生活會時怎樣呢？
（我真的很久没有寫中文和打中文，十分生疏．．．）
昨天是一年一度香港中學會考放榜的日子。在報紙上讀了很多令人鼓舞的新聞，例如有身體缺陷的學生克服困難考獲佳績（分別有六優，八優和九優），亦有迷逃學生改過自生而課獲得不錯的成績。他們的堅持都是值得我們學習的。
這個放榜也令我回想起我當年拿自己成績單的情況而那一次的成績也給我機會來美國進修。時間飛逝得，轉眼間我已在美國十數年了。有時真的在想：如果我没有來美國，我的生活會時怎樣呢？
（我真的很久没有寫中文和打中文，十分生疏．．．）
When did you cry?
I was talking to a friend today and she told me that she recently watched a movie, The Notebook
and cried quite a bit but her husband was like, "oh okay. am I supposed to cry?" (I kinda put words in his mouth :) Lol... I just find the conversation funny but anyway, it kind of got me thinking when I cried last and I have no freaking idea when it was.
I have gone through times when I felt down, I have heard some really sad stories, I have also watched some really touching movies but I haven't cried in all those situations. In fact, tear was never in my mind. It's actually kind of strange now that I think about it. I wonder if most guys just unconsciously want to be tough so they don't cry (even if they try)? Or maybe guys just don't have emotions?
Now that questions to all the females, do you like a guy more if he cries? Do you feel like he is more romantic?
and cried quite a bit but her husband was like, "oh okay. am I supposed to cry?" (I kinda put words in his mouth :) Lol... I just find the conversation funny but anyway, it kind of got me thinking when I cried last and I have no freaking idea when it was.I have gone through times when I felt down, I have heard some really sad stories, I have also watched some really touching movies but I haven't cried in all those situations. In fact, tear was never in my mind. It's actually kind of strange now that I think about it. I wonder if most guys just unconsciously want to be tough so they don't cry (even if they try)? Or maybe guys just don't have emotions?
Now that questions to all the females, do you like a guy more if he cries? Do you feel like he is more romantic?
Labels:
Life
Caribbean Cruise
I just talked with a friend about my cruise vacation today and I thought why not sharing with my readers? Here you go and hope you can make good use of it.
Back in May of this year,
I went on a 7-day Caribbean cruise with my friends and the cruise boat was Carnival Valor. This link shows the exact cruise we joined. We got Ocean view cabin and each of us paid $625 for the cruise. Before I went on the cruise, I thought it would be one of the most boring vacation I would have ever had. Well, I was totally wrong. I have to say it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Why was it good? First of all, it was super relaxing since we really didn't have to plan for anything other than getting airfare down to Miami, booking the cruise, and booking some tours at port of calls.
To make it even better,
the food was pretty much bottomless! I love eating so much and the bottomless food just made me super happy. Mind you, they are not those crappy buffets that you get from college or some Chinese restaurants; they are definitely above (or even way above) average restaurants in most cities. Sit-in dining is a given every night and they serve a 3-course meal - appetizer, entree, and dessert. They have quite a lot of options for non-vegetarians and the best thing is that you can order as many as you want. Any example of food we ordered? Well, to name a few, we had lobsters, tiger shrimps, halibut, steaks, prime ribs, sushi, and all kind of fancy desserts (which I don't care much about since they were too sweet for me). Man, I feel very hungry now after thinking about them. I have pictures of some of the dishes and will post links here eventually.
Where exactly did we go and what excursions did we do?
We had four ports of call, Grand Cayman, Roatan (Honduras), Belize, and Key West (it was a replacement for Cozumel because of swine flu). At Grand Cayman, we joined a sailing tour to see the sting rays and to snorkel; sting rays were amazing and the experience was awesome. At Roatan, we joined a private tour to see the islands; we got to see the local people and try out some local fruits. We originally planned to snorkel over there but then it was too wavy so it got canceled. We went hiking in a jungle and chilling out around a beach instead. At Belize, we visited a Mayan ruin and did a river touring (kinda boring though). As for Key West, well, it's in the US so it wasn't that exciting and we just went to a beach to hang out. A piece of advice, it's much better to join a local tour than to join the excursions through the cruise as local tour is usually cheaper and better. Of course, you need to do some research to make sure that the tour has good review (see end of post on how to do that).
A lot of people asked me if it was boring to be
on the boat. Let me tell you, not at all. You know, you can always eat when you are bored :). Eating aside, you have a lot of other activities you can choose from. There is a main show every night; it could be a musical/dance show, a magic show, or a stand-up comedy. Other than the main shows, there are some smaller game shows (indoor or outdoor) that you can participate or be a spectator of. For days when you don't have any port of calls, you'll have formal nights - it's a night when you have to dress up for dinner. It was actually pretty fun and it was great for photos. If you want to be more active, there is a gym, a basketball court, and a running track (which is pretty awesome as you are jogging and looking over the ocean). By the way, the cruise boat has 13 levels and it is always fun to explore what's there on each level. To top it off, there are also parties, casinos, and clubs.
Considering how much cheaper it is now, if you haven't cruised before and have the time and money, you should consider taking a cruise. It's totally worth it. Carnival is awesome. If you do decide to plan for a cruise, I highly recommend the Cruise Critics froum. I learned everything from them. Of course, you could always ask me.
Back in May of this year,
I went on a 7-day Caribbean cruise with my friends and the cruise boat was Carnival Valor. This link shows the exact cruise we joined. We got Ocean view cabin and each of us paid $625 for the cruise. Before I went on the cruise, I thought it would be one of the most boring vacation I would have ever had. Well, I was totally wrong. I have to say it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Why was it good? First of all, it was super relaxing since we really didn't have to plan for anything other than getting airfare down to Miami, booking the cruise, and booking some tours at port of calls.To make it even better,
the food was pretty much bottomless! I love eating so much and the bottomless food just made me super happy. Mind you, they are not those crappy buffets that you get from college or some Chinese restaurants; they are definitely above (or even way above) average restaurants in most cities. Sit-in dining is a given every night and they serve a 3-course meal - appetizer, entree, and dessert. They have quite a lot of options for non-vegetarians and the best thing is that you can order as many as you want. Any example of food we ordered? Well, to name a few, we had lobsters, tiger shrimps, halibut, steaks, prime ribs, sushi, and all kind of fancy desserts (which I don't care much about since they were too sweet for me). Man, I feel very hungry now after thinking about them. I have pictures of some of the dishes and will post links here eventually.Where exactly did we go and what excursions did we do?
We had four ports of call, Grand Cayman, Roatan (Honduras), Belize, and Key West (it was a replacement for Cozumel because of swine flu). At Grand Cayman, we joined a sailing tour to see the sting rays and to snorkel; sting rays were amazing and the experience was awesome. At Roatan, we joined a private tour to see the islands; we got to see the local people and try out some local fruits. We originally planned to snorkel over there but then it was too wavy so it got canceled. We went hiking in a jungle and chilling out around a beach instead. At Belize, we visited a Mayan ruin and did a river touring (kinda boring though). As for Key West, well, it's in the US so it wasn't that exciting and we just went to a beach to hang out. A piece of advice, it's much better to join a local tour than to join the excursions through the cruise as local tour is usually cheaper and better. Of course, you need to do some research to make sure that the tour has good review (see end of post on how to do that).A lot of people asked me if it was boring to be
on the boat. Let me tell you, not at all. You know, you can always eat when you are bored :). Eating aside, you have a lot of other activities you can choose from. There is a main show every night; it could be a musical/dance show, a magic show, or a stand-up comedy. Other than the main shows, there are some smaller game shows (indoor or outdoor) that you can participate or be a spectator of. For days when you don't have any port of calls, you'll have formal nights - it's a night when you have to dress up for dinner. It was actually pretty fun and it was great for photos. If you want to be more active, there is a gym, a basketball court, and a running track (which is pretty awesome as you are jogging and looking over the ocean). By the way, the cruise boat has 13 levels and it is always fun to explore what's there on each level. To top it off, there are also parties, casinos, and clubs.Considering how much cheaper it is now, if you haven't cruised before and have the time and money, you should consider taking a cruise. It's totally worth it. Carnival is awesome. If you do decide to plan for a cruise, I highly recommend the Cruise Critics froum. I learned everything from them. Of course, you could always ask me.
Labels:
Trip
Reading
How many books did you read in the past 3 months? Do you have a list of books you want to read? How frequently do you check a book off that list (that's you have read it)? How many of them have been on the list for over a year? Let me share with you my answers to these questions. I've read ZERO books in the past 3 months. I have a list of books I want to read but I almost never check any book off the list. In fact, the list just keeps growing and I wonder why I bother keeping such a list. Come to think of it, at least 90% have been on the list for more than a year (I kinda stopped adding to it until recently).
I don't know if you face a similar issue - there are so many books you want to read but you almost never ever read any of them. I know it's just laziness but it's very frustrating. It's not like I don't want to read but then every time I pick up a book, I would fall asleep (granted I only read before I go to bed). I tried going to the audiobook route but it didn't work neither. I feel like I just can't focus or haven't tried setting time aside for reading. If you have figured a way to "solve" this problem, let me know. Actually, I wonder if there is a better way to read. Maybe I should just get a Kindle?
I don't know if you face a similar issue - there are so many books you want to read but you almost never ever read any of them. I know it's just laziness but it's very frustrating. It's not like I don't want to read but then every time I pick up a book, I would fall asleep (granted I only read before I go to bed). I tried going to the audiobook route but it didn't work neither. I feel like I just can't focus or haven't tried setting time aside for reading. If you have figured a way to "solve" this problem, let me know. Actually, I wonder if there is a better way to read. Maybe I should just get a Kindle?
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Personal
Outside Seating
I have been living in my new home for about 7 months now. On my way to work every day, I walk pass many restaurants (about 15 restaurants). I notice one common theme among them - they all have outside seating. These outside seats weren't being used during rainy winter season in Seattle but they are being used extensively during the nice summer season, which is what we have been having in the past few months.
Outside seating is nice but I think it's only nice if you oversee a lake or some nice view. Who would want to sit outside and look at a parking lot, a road with lots of traffic, and a street with lots of bums or drug dealers? Even worst, who would want to eat food that is covered with dust, which I don't think is a good thing? I seriously can't make sense of outside seating in the city. Maybe I just don't know how to enjoy life. Lol...
Outside seating is nice but I think it's only nice if you oversee a lake or some nice view. Who would want to sit outside and look at a parking lot, a road with lots of traffic, and a street with lots of bums or drug dealers? Even worst, who would want to eat food that is covered with dust, which I don't think is a good thing? I seriously can't make sense of outside seating in the city. Maybe I just don't know how to enjoy life. Lol...
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Life
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