Have You Got What It Takes?

Julie and Julia was a lovely movie I caught in cinema in exactly a year ago and, a year later, I watched it again on DVD.

The plot is all about food, cooking and blogging.  It was indeed this movie which prompted me to start my Blogging Project 340.  

A year on, it is still a movie about food, cooking and blogging - which I am doing. 

I got a bit more out of it this time, seeing it as living life in real, about deriving joy and it's all about love.   It finally boils down to sharing love and joy with someone matters to you.

As I watched, I can't stop but wonder, if I don't have someone that truly matters to me to share with me my joy and love, does it mean I am not living a life?

I think it is as simple as that.  

If you are ever in that situation - you are screwed.  

Social Network

Have you ever noticed that not every one of your friends appears regularly in your facebook's Newsfeed?

Have you ever connected with friends who, for whatever reason, never seem to appear at all and yet, if you visit their personal Facebook wall, you noticed that they have in fact, been participating all along.  If they haven't already de-friended you, what happened there?

The truth is, Facebook does not provide you with a true reflection of the online interactions of ALL of your friends at any given moment in time.  Instead, they provide you with the content that they believe is likely to be most engaging.

It makes sense, because should they stuff you with a chain of uninteresting newsfeeds, it will just going to bore you away and you might stop visiting all together - definitely the last thing they want in their revenue generating model.

So, this leads to your next obvious question:  what does Facebook deem interesting and engaging enough content to appear in our newsfeeds then?

From my observation as a user, they place heavy emphasis on photos and on content that receives ‘likes’ and comments.

If you have recently considered viewing any of the Facebook’s “Photo Memories” where random pictures are posted on the top right hand corner of your photos page, the chances are, their freaky database behind their engine has got you - they have successfully dished out things that are of interest to you based on your usage.

They are no charity organisation my friend, they are a billion dollar company who have thousands of mouths to feed and...hopefully in the process, knows what they are doing too.  

Green Green Grass Of Home

With land being so scarce in Hong Kong, there really aren't many lawn that can be found in this congested city, let alone one you can leisurely sit and lie down.

It occurred to me immediately as a sensuous luxury to be able to lie on a grass lawn today...watching the time go away.

You can't become if you only say what you would have done. 
What you would find is that you have already missed a million miles of fun.

Stride For A Cure - walking one step closer to a cancer free future.  

See you there next year!

The Dukan Diet

From the land notorious for its delicacy comes a weight-loss diet plan that is sweeping the globe?

So you are telling me France is no longer famous for its croissants and winery but is fast becoming known for the Dukan Diet?

According to the first few pages of this book, dieters are required to flush 3 litres of water into the body each day.  

If that act didn't mentally freak you out - you could well be Pierre's target market.

Elevated Sneakers

An inch short in height?  Iijin's sneakers with a wicked hidden platform might be the answer for that extra reach that you are looking for.

The Korean designer got the idea to make elevated sneakers because she only wears high heels and has never owned a pair of sneakers - simply find flats too flat to wear.

Been shopping around in town for these. Found 4 places that carry this brand of sneakers and totally spoiled with choices on colours and styles. 

When I have decided on the pair I want, I must also locate the best price to get them because to complicate matters, all of the 4 outlets have different price tags, believe it or not!

Feeling Like A Million

When do you feel like a million?  If the answer is when you win the million-dollar lotto, then it could sadly be a forever wait.

I recently flipped through this book, the author says that if someone is a good listener, he or she stands a higher chance of winning the hearts and minds of others, making others feel pretty much like a million bucks. 

Can you recall the last time you felt something like that?  I do.

You see, listening is not just hearing the words people utter. If that's all there was to it, we probably don't deserve to be human. 


It involves not just accurately "hearing" what people say, but "listening" and getting a sense of who they are, how they view life, what they want to accomplish, what concerns they have, their fears, how they are feeling etc.

It even involves "listening" with respect to what they aren't saying directly to your face.  That's call reading between the lines - something I have yet to master well. 

I will make it one of my new year resolutions for 2011 - making people around me feel like a million starting from today.  It shouldn't be that hard, right?

You Can Do It!

A few things I think you should stop doing at work, let's give it some thoughts:

1. Being too busy for breaks (you’re almost always better at everything when you’re rested).

2. Replying to emails instantly (if they’re really waiting, they’ll call you).

3. Getting caught up in politics (it’s rarely worth it and never fun).

4. Pretending you’re saving lives (if you actually are, no need to pretend).

5. Refusing to give yourself uninterrupted time for work (they don’t need you that much).

6. Complaining about how little money you make (the people you’re complaining to can’t change it).

7. Forgetting to laugh and have fun (this can take work some days but is always worth it).

 

Bonus track thrown in: Stop eating lunch at your desk. You really deserve a walk, conversation with a friend, or a quiet hour away from your desk.

An Intriguing Conversation

Today...in the midst of a busy afternoon and while I was juggling several things at once, my mobile phone rang.  I took a glance and it was from an anonymous caller. Ignored once, ignored twice....I eventually decided to pick up on the third time. 

"Speaking"

"Can I talk to you about that proposal?"

"Sure, anything wrong with it?"

"No, but we were in the middle of discussing that earlier."

"Oh ya. I did ask you to call back later."

"Anyway, is it a good time to continue now?"

"Yup. Fire away."

"You were saying you wish to retire in 20 years' time, right?"

"Wait a minute...I did say that, but I didn't say that to you, I think.  Wait...are you who I think you are?"

"I was the one who called you about an insurance proposal this morning."

"Oh...sorry, I think you've got the wrong number and you are not someone I meant to talk to."

"I am terribly sorry, but can I take this opportunity to introduce you to our various plans so you can retire in 20 years' time as wished?"

"I am rather busy at the moment, and I am going to hang up now."

"When will you not be busy? "

"I don't really know."

"When will you be free then?"

"Can I give you my boss's number, he might have a better idea than me."

A Friend's Worth

You know the people who, for some reason or other, welcome you into their lives?

Treasure them.

Make time to spend with them.

I really think it is those relationships that I will look back on with satisfaction when I get really old, dying perhaps, and begin to wonder what my life was worth.

Many of us spent far too much time thinking about how some material possession will improve our lives.  We forgot we have friends we can rely on.  And we certainly don’t need lots of relationships so driven by drama, that we often forget we have friends we can trust.  

An iPhone 4 would be nice, but try to enjoy things because they are useful, not because they are expensive. Friendships are priceless things - if you think you can buy friends, then you are totally off the point. 

Anyhow, a good friend is worth just about everything.  And you only really need a few good ones, you don't need that many.

When To Go Over To The Dark Side?

As an amateur, I am always interested to know at what point those who use full frame made the switch from crop bodies, APS-C cameras.  As I was told, "Once you change you will never look back."

That definitely sounds like the dark side to me. 

Does one see much difference in quality? Sometimes I think of trying it by maybe buying a used body online, but the added expense of replacing lenses weighs heavily in the balance $$.  Plus - the added physical weight of the body, I really need some serious convincing to go to that route still.  

At the meantime, selling my kit lens for a 24-70mm F/2.8; 50mm F/1.8 upgraded to F/1.4 - should do the trick for now.

Going Back To Our Roots

We had our thanksgiving dinner tonight and not only we were fed a delicious meal, my mother brought to the table some ancient photos she dig out from I don't know where.

The thanksgiving this year reminded us of my family history, our loved ones and kindled a desire in me to learn more about my ancestors.  The trace started logically from our family tree, on to some snippets from relatives who came from Shantou, China. Then my uncle from Chicago filled in the gaps spanning across 4 generations with his own precious 80-year old memories and everyone else kept adding in their own flavours to enrich its prosperity in the past.  

Thanks to all of them, the pre-war journey way back to the 30s was truly nostalgic and I felt like I was reading the most amazing history book I could ever lay my hands on.  

The Hay days: our family mansion in Shantou, China, 1940s.  Part of it still standing today. 

The prosperity at the time affording golf and tennis for my great grandpa. That's my auntie on the right standing in front of that same mansion. 

Their memoirs gave the notions of our tradition and values and I am ever so proud to say I have found my roots.    What about you?  Would you be inclined to find yours? 






 

Christmas Time Already?

Nothing heralds the beginning of Christmas season like spray paint.

Christmas Decorations in Times Square, Hong Kong

There's still 7 weeks to Christmas actually, but the whole town is already dressed up for parties as if Christmas is just round the corner.

Time to keep my eyes pealed for gift ideas! 

A Slice of New York

Hong Kong is said to be the heaven for foodies. This is definitely true to an extent.  I mean, it is certainly possible to find food from almost every corner of the world, but if I ask any of my Singaporean friends here, for example, they would tell you - variety and authenticity are disappointingly, not always present.

I went to a New York-style deli today and I think it is as close as one can get to the real thing from the Big Apple!

Authentic ingredients flown in daily from New York, the tiled floor, open kitchen, deli case, strung sausages, and the wooden furniture all add to the very 1950s New York style decor that put me in the right ambience. 

If you are a serious deli lover like me and want a slice of New York in Hong Kong, you will sure find plenty to love in here.  

A Critique On My Own Blog

After all the effort of writing daily, I thought it would make sense to perform some kind of analytics to my own blog to get to know a bit more about my readers.

I started collecting data 3 months ago today to arrive with this overview below.

• Hong Kong is naturally where I would expect to see most of my pageviews come from, so that's a no brainer.
• My readers are sprawled in 10 different countries (I am quite sure there's a 11th: Blogger is banned in mainland China unfortunately).
• An average of 33.3 page views per day (not enough to attract Google adsense but more than I imagined).
• Interesting to see Firefox (45%) has overtaken Internet Explorer (28%) in becoming the most popular browser based on the statistics.
• 16% of my readers uses Apple's products, but not all of them uses Safari when browsing (only contributing 9% in total).   
• Surprised not to see any Android users captured here as according to Gartner's research, Android is now the second most popular smartphone OS.

In theory, if done properly, the analytics should help me buy the right keywords, target the best markets, engage with my readers more and hopefully convert some ad dollars to my pocket.

Well, that could be my next project to work on in the not too distant future.  For now, let's say we review the same set of data in the next quarter - just for fun.  

 

Sentence Your Clutters To Death Row NOW

Stop and take a look at your surrounding right this moment and what do you see?

I see documents and shortcuts on my computer desktop and old emails in inbox which are meant to go some time ago but still sitting there doing nothing.

I also see a clutter of stuff in a corner of my room.  Really - that is a clutter of delayed decisions.  A clutter of procrastination.  

This kind of clutter is representing unfulfilled commitments and unfinished projects; silently working behind the scene to create stress and mental drag for me.

It's the same thing as adding another piece of paper in that pile on your desk, telling yourself you'll deal with it later and as the piles grow, your energy can only become clogged.

 
De-clutter now if you haven't yet, my friend (and you know who you are), your mileage and karma will vary considerably - I guarantee you - no feng shui master needed!

Finally Adding Tokyo To My World Atlas

Tokyo has always been one of the most popular cities for the locals in Hong Kong when it comes to choosing a destination for a short getaway. 

I happen to know someone who would religiously go there every quarter and I often joke about it, commenting this peculiar behaviour more or less resembles the Muslims paying pilgrimage to Mecca!

While I have landed myself in places such as the mysterious River Nile, and been on a lavish cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, it never really strikes me to go visit Japan all these years - an all so familiar place to many; a mere 3.5 hours plane ride away. 

Opportunity finally came and I have got myself all these travel books to read about the metropolis.


I am going for some serious planning and getting ready to capture this eye-opener.  Let's see what I have been missing all these years. 

The Blooming Lily & Bloom

Heard so much about Lily & Bloom and finally get to check this place out.  

Tried 2 cocktails with a 23-year old rum in "Lily" upstairs - a painstakingly stylish interior setting and an ambiance to admire. The place was sophisticated yet casual and my recent visit was surely chilled and cool.

Downstairs is "Bloom" (yet to try), a casual brasserie-style ristorante with two-storey connected by a large atrium and a gigantic metal chandelier (which has somehow slipped my camera). 

While sipping the Old Cuban, followed by the Zacapa Old-Fashioned, I thought to myself: there really is no other place like this and I am so darn lucky to be living in Hong Kong.  

Head-Scratching Birthday Gifts

Birthday gifts for close friends are one of the most difficult purchases to make don't you think?

We have to consider what the person you are buying for is like.  And when all possible, discover what the person you are buying for already owns and their individual taste of course.   Are they adventurous or do they prefer to hang out around the house?  Shall we buy something for his/her hobby or encourage him/her to start a new hobby?   

Think about what it is that gives the person pleasure, what makes them happy, and work to find something that they can use in those kind of pursuits.


"A diplomat is someone who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.”


And I say, the truest friends don't need to be reminded by presents in birthdays. 

With that and starting from 2011, the 5 of us are going to skip the gut-wrenching exercise of coming up with birthday presents for each.  

We have agreed to just a birthday celebration meal at some fine-dining spot in town, there will be one in Jan, one in Mar followed by Apr, Oct and Nov.  


A good idea - from all of the diplomats above.

Should Work Be Fun? Part II

Having worked for that many years, there are some key constituents to what I considered a fun-filled work environment.  

Importantly, they are, having an open line of communications, each employee takes ownership of his/her job, and each person should know how to take appropriate risk in order to achieve higher targets, encourage creativity, boost mutual trust and respect.  

Now here's a real keen store keeper in North Cumberland, U.K. for a laugh.  

Put it this way, work CAN be fun.  

 

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Should Work Be Fun?

Many of us have a love hate attitude to our jobs. We need to work to pay our bills, feed the mouths and it can help us feel as if we have a purpose in life.   

This is definitely the fun part of my job today - much better than being stuck in one same office all day like most people.

Hard work, long hours but...I remind myself there is always a fun side of work. You should try to search for yours and derive joy from it.  

What Filthy Rich People Have In Common?

The world had 937 billionaires to its credit in 2010, according to Forbes.  Everyone would imagine that these richest people in the world would have a few things in common, besides their wealth.   Many would tell you that extreme wealth is a matter of hard work, determination, education, opportunity, and a little bit of luck. 

While all that may be true, if someone you know is a middle-aged, baby-boomer man, born in September, got a degree from Harvard and took his company public, then he might have what it takes to be a millionaire according to this interesting findings from Forbes.   


What they didn't disclose, is how many of these are still balchelors!

Love Thy Neighbour

Almost every one of us knows this phrase but how many of us know the names of our neighbours, let alone love them.  Unless he/she is a hot chick or some handsome dude - not much chance, huh?

Jokes aside, I think having a good neighbourhood is very necessary - looking out for each other, peace of mind, and who knows, the person living next door can become a good companion, especially if you are living alone. 

I have a good neighbour who I can't think of anything I can complain about, apart from perhaps a bit long-winded.  Once she starts talking, there's basically no stopping her.  She's an enthusiastic cook, I won't say she's brilliant, but she has a good heart, she will from time to time try home delivery to this side of the world, only to find I wasn't in. 

I am a lucky gal tonight...she's getting her hands into bakery classes starting this week and first in the series came beautiful Strawberry Mousse Cakes.  Just tasted it, not bad.  

She hasn't got a sweet tooth like me so, I look forward to inheriting her brownies and chocolate cakes in weeks to follow!





 

An Encounter At The Casino

 
"He who asks is a fool for a minute, but he who doesn't remains a fool forever."  -  A Chinese proverb which doesn't apply to this below question,
 
"Can I check your ID please?"

Some people may look younger or older than their real age, perfectly understandable.  How can someone be sooooo far off and thought I haven't reached the age of 18 - is just beyond me.  And am I to take it as a compliment?   Not really.  

Another curious case of Benjamin Button - me getting younger as the years go by?  That would be most absurd - rather worrying in fact.  




 

A Day in Two Cities

While on the train from Hong Kong to Shenzhen - a stone throw to the north of the border, I witnessed a woman on the phone discussing her trophies.

"What a harvest! I will need a bigger cart next time," said the woman, speaking loudly which caught my attention.

I took a nosy peek at her shopping cart - items were not luxurious cosmetics (which usually is the favourite for inland tourists to Hong Kong). Instead, the cart was a load full of food items and other stuff for daily use.


Only a few years ago it was Hong Kong residents who would come to Shenzhen to spend weekends shopping and dining. The RMB was much weaker then and the mainlanders would happily accept Hong Kong Dollars for any of our purchases.  

Many Hong Kongers even invested in holiday homes up there somewhere as they were dirt cheap compared to the crazy property prices in Hong Kong.  On any given day, you would see many locals pay multiple visits across the border, just to bring goods from the mainland to Hong Kong, making profits selling them at a lucrative margin. 

Those have fast become history.  How ironic!

Set Time For Yourself

There are never enough breaks in your life, with work and a home consists of 2 kids, 1 hubby and a dog - no time left for yourself.  When something has to be forgone, the one thing that gives is often SELF.  Typical isn't it?

Who doesn't know it is imperative that we set time to ourselves and make room for SELF in our time management?

Easier said than done.  

And who do I think you are?  Don't I understand that you have a job, a demanding one at that?  You are in an office all day, and therefore you can't be outside?  You are on sales calls everyday, and can't be inside. Or...You work from home, and therefore you can't have contact with peers.



Even if that means waking up earlier, or implies re-prioritizing tasks, next time when you plan, don't forget to factor in some time to be alone, undisturbed.

Just like the time set aside for - doing your daily big business!

Don't hope to find time, make time.

And I learned it the "Hard" way.
  

A Real Break For The Record

At the end, we didn't go to any place that exciting, but I was able to enjoy a real break because for the first time ever, I didn't bring my mobile phone with me!  

The aftermaths - a dozen of voice mails, another few dozens of missed calls, a handful of unanswered SMS and a few panicking friends who almost nearly called the police.

Despite of all these, you would be glad to know my vacation was restful, I didn't have to worry about my phone's where-about.  I didn't have to refer to it at all checking on and off to see if I have missed any calls. 

I really can get used to this - I think!

Where Would I Rather Be?

Good question.  

I took this week off work, didn't plan where I want to go.  I kept asking myself where I want to be and can't narrow down to a thought.

I don't have a destination as such but I am destined to spend some quality time with my family.

I was originally thinking of escaping to Mars but then I thought, anywhere on earth should be equally pleasant - as long as we are together. 

So that's the plan - alampy's space is shutting down for a few days.