After so many Lunch and Learn (Leave) and presentations, it's refreshing to finally head to a real restaurant for recruiting. How I got that was even more interesting. A consulting firm was doing their presentation earlier tonight. I've interviewed and worked with one of the recruiters so I thought I'd drop by to say hi. Here was our conversation:
Me: Hi, xxx, nice seeing you again, how's life treating you?
Him: Nice seeing you too. I'm really tired.
Me: Oh, we can catch up at another time!
Him: Yeah, I'm going to get some rest. Let's catch up at dinner later tonight...
Me: Let me take a look at my schedule... hmmmmmmm
Him: Capital Grille at 8:30 okay for you?
Me: (CAPITAL GRILLE!?) Yes! (Erasing original dinner plans...)
4 hours later, I'm a satisfied man. Maybe it's cus I'm making comparisons with L&L and presentation food. Compare to Gibsons, Capital Grille was a disappointment. The medium rareness was very good but the meat was just a bit sub par for the quality that I expect. I had a filet mignon that just didn't have the juice and the bite. Compared to Capital Grille in Boston, the Chicago one was not nearly as good. Anyway, the appetizers were decent and the dessert was okay. Overall a disappointing experience. The wine was good though. I think our hosts had the same opinion of the wine and the food.
Either way, my first nice meal in Chicago. Should have recruited more. =)
Count
11/01/2006
10/31/2006
Movie Time!
In preparation of our Organizational Change class, we had to watch "The Thin Blue Line," a documentary about a police investigation gone horribly wrong. The professor had arranged to have the movie played before class and throughout the week. As the diligent student, I went to a screening last week... only to be late and fall asleep for most of the documentary. I was awake enough to sort of understand the story line, but probably not quite enough for class discussion quality. What can I say... typical second year!
Anyway, so when I heard that my friend PP had a copy of the documentary and she was offering to watch it together, I jumped at the offer. So I got to PP's at around 8ish... another colleague arrived within minutes. We happily get set up to watch the movie. Get our drinks, stick the video in, sit back, and enjoy.
Hmmm, something is off. This is sort of a Blink moment: something is wrong, but I can't quite nail it. The beginning is showing different police brutality news clips, then a man in a bunny suit is walking in a police station, then actor names start coming up. Isn't this a documnetary!? Recall that I did fall asleep in the first screening, so everything is a little fuzzy now. But I decided that it was the wrong video. PP takes it out and we sit around wondering what went wrong. Ah, 2nd years... we really have nothing better to do.
20 minutes later, we notice that the video is "The Think Blue LIE," not "The Thin Blue LINE." The funniest part is that if I hadn't showed up, they would have ended watching LIE instead of Line and got to class completely confused. Here's the alternative - instead of being confused, we'll go in knowing nothing.
Like I said, 2nd years. =)
Anyway, so when I heard that my friend PP had a copy of the documentary and she was offering to watch it together, I jumped at the offer. So I got to PP's at around 8ish... another colleague arrived within minutes. We happily get set up to watch the movie. Get our drinks, stick the video in, sit back, and enjoy.
Hmmm, something is off. This is sort of a Blink moment: something is wrong, but I can't quite nail it. The beginning is showing different police brutality news clips, then a man in a bunny suit is walking in a police station, then actor names start coming up. Isn't this a documnetary!? Recall that I did fall asleep in the first screening, so everything is a little fuzzy now. But I decided that it was the wrong video. PP takes it out and we sit around wondering what went wrong. Ah, 2nd years... we really have nothing better to do.
20 minutes later, we notice that the video is "The Think Blue LIE," not "The Thin Blue LINE." The funniest part is that if I hadn't showed up, they would have ended watching LIE instead of Line and got to class completely confused. Here's the alternative - instead of being confused, we'll go in knowing nothing.
Like I said, 2nd years. =)
10/28/2006
Ah, the interview...
This sounds kind of sick, but when I stepped into the xxx (heh heh) interview and got my first question, I found myself smiling a bit because I actually miss some of these interviews! Yes, I'm sick and disgusting, I know. Can we move on? Please?
The thing is... most interviews will come up with at least one question I never expected. Every time these questions come up, I learn something about myself that I didn't know before. And that makes me smile. This is my first interview of the season, and the first question quickly pushed me to the brink!
I think the interviews went okay. The fit parts really made me think about myself and my career (woohoo, first time this quarter!). Interesting cases that I eventually got to the bottom (I think) but not quite fast enough. Bottom line, I should have done much more to prepare myself for them. I blame the conference. Nah, just kidding, have to blame my lazy and tardy self. I hope they liked me enough. I certainly liked them. We'll see in a few days.
I bought a pair of Cole Haan dress shoes on the way back. They are so comfy. No, it wasn't therapy from a bad interview - I've always wanted a pair but never really walked pass the store at the right time. =)
Meanwhile, I said no to an interview for a position in the US. My mind is set. It's time to go to a place where I can't quite call home but could become one.
Oh, and the Cardinals just won the World Series. Can't wait to see the ratings on this one.
The thing is... most interviews will come up with at least one question I never expected. Every time these questions come up, I learn something about myself that I didn't know before. And that makes me smile. This is my first interview of the season, and the first question quickly pushed me to the brink!
I think the interviews went okay. The fit parts really made me think about myself and my career (woohoo, first time this quarter!). Interesting cases that I eventually got to the bottom (I think) but not quite fast enough. Bottom line, I should have done much more to prepare myself for them. I blame the conference. Nah, just kidding, have to blame my lazy and tardy self. I hope they liked me enough. I certainly liked them. We'll see in a few days.
I bought a pair of Cole Haan dress shoes on the way back. They are so comfy. No, it wasn't therapy from a bad interview - I've always wanted a pair but never really walked pass the store at the right time. =)
Meanwhile, I said no to an interview for a position in the US. My mind is set. It's time to go to a place where I can't quite call home but could become one.
Oh, and the Cardinals just won the World Series. Can't wait to see the ratings on this one.
10/27/2006
Re-engage
Man, it's so difficult to re-engage with school and recruiting after such hectic schedules all ended. With only one mid term and one interview, the week looked pretty good from Sunday. And yet here I am, on Thursday, wondering what the hell I did with the ~120 hours since Sunday. Let's count:
Sleeping: 35 hours, including Saturday night after 12am
Driving: 3 hours
Eating: 5 hours
Emailing: 5 hours (!?)
Lounge/Winter Garden: 10 hours
Corp Fin mid term: 1.5 hours (I skipped the second half due to trama)
Corp Fin studying: 6 hours in front of material, 1 hour actual studying
Negotiations: 3 hours of class + 1 hour of reading and case preparation
Org Change: 3 hours of class + 2 hours of reading and case preparation
Help OH interview: 2 hours
Post conference networking: 3 hours
Bank week planning: 2.5 hours
Consulting week planning: 2 hours
CAP co-chair meeting: 2 hours
Making feedback forms: 2 hours
Call with manager: 1 hour
Korean Club: 2 hours
Man, this is a great exercise. Okay, I'm up to 91 hours. What the hell happened to the 29 hours that I can't allocate to!?
Sleeping: 35 hours, including Saturday night after 12am
Driving: 3 hours
Eating: 5 hours
Emailing: 5 hours (!?)
Lounge/Winter Garden: 10 hours
Corp Fin mid term: 1.5 hours (I skipped the second half due to trama)
Corp Fin studying: 6 hours in front of material, 1 hour actual studying
Negotiations: 3 hours of class + 1 hour of reading and case preparation
Org Change: 3 hours of class + 2 hours of reading and case preparation
Help OH interview: 2 hours
Post conference networking: 3 hours
Bank week planning: 2.5 hours
Consulting week planning: 2 hours
CAP co-chair meeting: 2 hours
Making feedback forms: 2 hours
Call with manager: 1 hour
Korean Club: 2 hours
Man, this is a great exercise. Okay, I'm up to 91 hours. What the hell happened to the 29 hours that I can't allocate to!?
10/26/2006
Coup d'état
Before I start writing... check out this link, courtesy of the Sports Guy. Hopefully, this can help you procrastinate if you are a student... and hopefully it won't get you fired if you are at work. Considering how I chose my name, I guess it makes perfect sense.
Back to coup d'état... I'd just like to use some of the frameworks I've learned from life and business school to highlight how one should deal with a coup, a betrayal, a mutiny, and so on. This should be a rather more complete approach to similar situations.
You can tell it's not rocket science. But if one can have a framework in appraoching this type of events, one can be more comfortable in dealing with it. Remember the scene in Jerry Maguire where Maguire was just fired and he's calling all his clients to retain them while Bob Sugar is in the other room stealing all his clients? That's the scene of a coup/ mutiny/ betrayal. You're in a fishbowl and things are happening fast outside the bowl. What to do, who to call, etc etc, all have to be done right away. Anyway, hope this helps.
Some basic principles:
a. Remain calm. Coups happen because you don't expect it and you didn't prepare for it. So it will be tough to stay calm and respond. Nonetheless, stay calm. What happened has happened and the only way to salvage it is to stay calm and sort things out.
b. Speed, speed, and speed. Must act fast. Your opponents have planned their thing and are light years ahead of you. Once things roll, you must close the gap between the two sides and your speedy response will be absolutely necessary. If you can't close the gap, if you wait, you lose.
c. Have an objective. Paint the picture that you would want to happen. For example, this could be return to the status quo. Or it could be a compromise of the current situation and the status quo. Or it could be an entire different animal. Paint that picture. And then work to make that picture happen for you, which will be highlighted below.
Things that need to happen:
1. Sort out the facts and lies. In a confusing situation like a coup, you have to gather the facts ASAP. Identify people you can trust and gather facts from them. There will be lies along the way. Hence, face to face meetings are the best. Trade for information if you need to. Be genuine and be honest. Most people who are not involved are keen to share information if they know why they are asked.
2. List ALL the stakeholders. Make a list of all the stakeholders during a mutiny. All of those who will be affected should be on the list. Get the numbers for all these people. You will need to call them all, Jerry Maguire-style. Assess these stakeholders: people who are allies, people who are not, peopel whom you can influence, people whom you need to get on my side, people who aren't important but are still stakeholders. The next is to strategize.
3. Create allies on your side. Start with your closest ally. Make sure they are on your side. Detect lies. If you have lost your closest ally, you are probably going to lose the war. Seek refuge. After you secure your closest ally, prioritize other potential allies. Sometimes that involves a few peripheral players, sometimes it is the inner circle. It depends. In general, start close and work outwards. Again, being honest about the situation is the key to gathering empathy and support. Some stakeholders are going to be more supportive and are willing to go the extra mile for you. Find out what is important to them.
4. Create allies on their side. There are always weak spots in your opponents team. Exploit them. Use facts to convince and pressure; don't make it personal. Unlike creating your own allies, start from the outside and move inwards. Try and corner them and offer them one way out (i.e. your way). Be careful of this type of allies; they are sometimes on the wall and will just lean whichever way is better for their personal interests. Like all types of allies, find out what is important to them.
5. Painting that picture. The execution of salvaging a difficult situation is always the most difficult part. A lot of times compromises will have to be made. Not all stakeholders are going to want your picture. Hopefully, you have done your homework and you know what everybody needs. Compromise and draw that picture for yourself and for everybody else. When incentives are aligned, people on the wall choose sides. Sometimes, it's even simpler: some general rules would govern their behavior. Either way, you're executing.
6. Deal with the culprit. Do you need that person in your picture? If not, you might want to consider a harsher response. Otherwise, offer a way out. (note that these can all be in reverse and your opponent may be giving YOU a gracious way out) Offer a solution. Don't make it personal and be diplomatic. If you have succeeded in 1 to 5, this should be a relatively easy task. You would have created a scenario in which the culprit has no choice but to join your picture. That will not likely be the case though. But I believe the more you have done from 1 to 5, the more likely you can make this scenario true.
7. Finally, if you are in the unfortunate situation... good luck.
Back to coup d'état... I'd just like to use some of the frameworks I've learned from life and business school to highlight how one should deal with a coup, a betrayal, a mutiny, and so on. This should be a rather more complete approach to similar situations.
You can tell it's not rocket science. But if one can have a framework in appraoching this type of events, one can be more comfortable in dealing with it. Remember the scene in Jerry Maguire where Maguire was just fired and he's calling all his clients to retain them while Bob Sugar is in the other room stealing all his clients? That's the scene of a coup/ mutiny/ betrayal. You're in a fishbowl and things are happening fast outside the bowl. What to do, who to call, etc etc, all have to be done right away. Anyway, hope this helps.
Some basic principles:
a. Remain calm. Coups happen because you don't expect it and you didn't prepare for it. So it will be tough to stay calm and respond. Nonetheless, stay calm. What happened has happened and the only way to salvage it is to stay calm and sort things out.
b. Speed, speed, and speed. Must act fast. Your opponents have planned their thing and are light years ahead of you. Once things roll, you must close the gap between the two sides and your speedy response will be absolutely necessary. If you can't close the gap, if you wait, you lose.
c. Have an objective. Paint the picture that you would want to happen. For example, this could be return to the status quo. Or it could be a compromise of the current situation and the status quo. Or it could be an entire different animal. Paint that picture. And then work to make that picture happen for you, which will be highlighted below.
Things that need to happen:
1. Sort out the facts and lies. In a confusing situation like a coup, you have to gather the facts ASAP. Identify people you can trust and gather facts from them. There will be lies along the way. Hence, face to face meetings are the best. Trade for information if you need to. Be genuine and be honest. Most people who are not involved are keen to share information if they know why they are asked.
2. List ALL the stakeholders. Make a list of all the stakeholders during a mutiny. All of those who will be affected should be on the list. Get the numbers for all these people. You will need to call them all, Jerry Maguire-style. Assess these stakeholders: people who are allies, people who are not, peopel whom you can influence, people whom you need to get on my side, people who aren't important but are still stakeholders. The next is to strategize.
3. Create allies on your side. Start with your closest ally. Make sure they are on your side. Detect lies. If you have lost your closest ally, you are probably going to lose the war. Seek refuge. After you secure your closest ally, prioritize other potential allies. Sometimes that involves a few peripheral players, sometimes it is the inner circle. It depends. In general, start close and work outwards. Again, being honest about the situation is the key to gathering empathy and support. Some stakeholders are going to be more supportive and are willing to go the extra mile for you. Find out what is important to them.
4. Create allies on their side. There are always weak spots in your opponents team. Exploit them. Use facts to convince and pressure; don't make it personal. Unlike creating your own allies, start from the outside and move inwards. Try and corner them and offer them one way out (i.e. your way). Be careful of this type of allies; they are sometimes on the wall and will just lean whichever way is better for their personal interests. Like all types of allies, find out what is important to them.
5. Painting that picture. The execution of salvaging a difficult situation is always the most difficult part. A lot of times compromises will have to be made. Not all stakeholders are going to want your picture. Hopefully, you have done your homework and you know what everybody needs. Compromise and draw that picture for yourself and for everybody else. When incentives are aligned, people on the wall choose sides. Sometimes, it's even simpler: some general rules would govern their behavior. Either way, you're executing.
6. Deal with the culprit. Do you need that person in your picture? If not, you might want to consider a harsher response. Otherwise, offer a way out. (note that these can all be in reverse and your opponent may be giving YOU a gracious way out) Offer a solution. Don't make it personal and be diplomatic. If you have succeeded in 1 to 5, this should be a relatively easy task. You would have created a scenario in which the culprit has no choice but to join your picture. That will not likely be the case though. But I believe the more you have done from 1 to 5, the more likely you can make this scenario true.
7. Finally, if you are in the unfortunate situation... good luck.
10/23/2006
CAP Conference
I was thinking about how to write this post for days. Really, I was. Such a big event that a couple of us have placed so much effort in. I was dreaming about the moment when the conference ended. Would I just give a sigh of relief? Would I scream and release? Would I high five Dean Leftwich? Would I drink till I drop? Would I pat the behind of all the organizers (this would only happen if I drink till I drop)? Would I trade the silent wink with fellow organizers? Would I have that stupid grin on me for weeks?
Anyway, back to writing. Should I do a time line? Too long. Top 10 on what I learned? Maybe. Significant happenings? Perhaps. I really haven't thought about what to write, honestly.
Turns out I just gave a sigh of relief and then put a smile on my face for a night.
So let me just leave you with my impression of the conference: success. =) Not the smoothest of things, but certainly no complaints at all. Internally, we have much work to do to prepare for next year. Externally, there has been nothing but positive feedback from the attendees, save for they couldn't attend two panels at the same time. (um... wait till ALL of them give feedbacks, I bet there were some complaints)
Thank you to all the organizaers and volunteers to making this happen. The school was very supportive as well. And of course to all those guests who were willing to give their valuable time and effort for the sake of our attendees.
I will now become a student again.
Anyway, back to writing. Should I do a time line? Too long. Top 10 on what I learned? Maybe. Significant happenings? Perhaps. I really haven't thought about what to write, honestly.
Turns out I just gave a sigh of relief and then put a smile on my face for a night.
So let me just leave you with my impression of the conference: success. =) Not the smoothest of things, but certainly no complaints at all. Internally, we have much work to do to prepare for next year. Externally, there has been nothing but positive feedback from the attendees, save for they couldn't attend two panels at the same time. (um... wait till ALL of them give feedbacks, I bet there were some complaints)
Thank you to all the organizaers and volunteers to making this happen. The school was very supportive as well. And of course to all those guests who were willing to give their valuable time and effort for the sake of our attendees.
I will now become a student again.
10/21/2006
10/18/2006
Good and bad news abt my photography skills...
One picture I really liked from those taken in Japan and SF. Good news is that I knew my pictures weren't going to be very good since the lighting was always a problem and I was experimenting a lot. Bad news is that I was right.
10/17/2006
Shameless self-promo: Buy Tickets to CAP Conference!
Before the shameless self-promo, let me just say that this post is actually school related. You can buy tickets here. hehe. Last week during Fall Preview (i.e. event for MBA applicants), one of the applicants asked me how much time I spent with Chicago Asia Pacific Group (CAP). 40 hours or so a week. Business school is about priorities. Mine is currently not with classes.
Anyway, I thought a timeline would illustrate this the best:
Sunday
1000: Meeting to lay out all the issues with the day of the conference
1120: meeting with meghak for case interview practice (I give the case)
1230: Meeting over, back home for lunch
1430: At school, start editing website
1530: Start drafting kit for all conference speakers
1535: Finding map of Hyde Park Center and parking options
1545: Find directions to the HPC
1630: Draft response to press coverage
1645: Start putting together booklet for conference
2100: Done (sort of) putting material together
2130: Back home, watching football, good times...
2330: Very bad times: key speaker cancels trip
Monday
0100: Making contigency plans
0230: Edit website to reflect newest lineup
0300: Must... do... one... more... thing...
0330: Zzzzzz
0700: Up and shower
0900: Case interview with TT
1000: Case interview with SO
1100: Corp fin study group - I have no done anything; today is no different
1130: CAP meeting on conference and other activities
1330: Continue updating kit (and skipping class)
1600: Alphagraphics to update booklet
1700: Selling tickets at Gleacher Center
1745: Another speaker drops out
1800: Class
2100: Back home
2101: Gather email to update kit, website, and booklet
2300: Start blog...
2301: Phone conference with organizers to get latest info
2315: Continue blog...
Anyway, I thought a timeline would illustrate this the best:
Sunday
1000: Meeting to lay out all the issues with the day of the conference
1120: meeting with meghak for case interview practice (I give the case)
1230: Meeting over, back home for lunch
1430: At school, start editing website
1530: Start drafting kit for all conference speakers
1535: Finding map of Hyde Park Center and parking options
1545: Find directions to the HPC
1630: Draft response to press coverage
1645: Start putting together booklet for conference
2100: Done (sort of) putting material together
2130: Back home, watching football, good times...
2330: Very bad times: key speaker cancels trip
Monday
0100: Making contigency plans
0230: Edit website to reflect newest lineup
0300: Must... do... one... more... thing...
0330: Zzzzzz
0700: Up and shower
0900: Case interview with TT
1000: Case interview with SO
1100: Corp fin study group - I have no done anything; today is no different
1130: CAP meeting on conference and other activities
1330: Continue updating kit (and skipping class)
1600: Alphagraphics to update booklet
1700: Selling tickets at Gleacher Center
1745: Another speaker drops out
1800: Class
2100: Back home
2101: Gather email to update kit, website, and booklet
2300: Start blog...
2301: Phone conference with organizers to get latest info
2315: Continue blog...
10/15/2006
Sailing picture...
Apparently, you cannot upload from Picasa to Blogger after switching from Blogger to Blogger Beta (which by the way is a pretty good improvement over the non-beta version). Read about unhappy users here. The biggest downside besides the inconvenience is that I make adjustments to my pictures in Picasa and I cannot post them. Instead, I have to use upload in Blogger which doesn't have the edited picture. So frustrating.
Anyway, here's one of my first pictures from my new GF. You can see the rest of the pictures here (not edited, some are quite horrendous, but I didn't want to leave things out for the people on the trip). Judging from my sailing pictures and selected pictures from Japan, I really need to take some lessons to learn the tech side of photography. My days as an amateur photographer (definition: never received formal training) may soon be over once I have time to take some lessons.
10/14/2006
We are the Champions, we are the champions...
Sitting in the student lounge on Thursday afternoon, I felt there was something odd going on. It's about 4pm and usually people come in and see if there's an empty table and then leave the lounge if none is available. Today was a bit different. They came and they stayed. Some were standing even. What the hell is going on...!?
Then the big screen started to come down (last time it came down it was for European Cup Championship... that's real futbol, for my American friends; prior to that it was Karaoke with Dean Kole, who complained that the song didn't sound the same as the one she knows from 30 years ago.) and it hit me: it's the announcement of business school rankings from Business Week! It was going to start at 4:30 for the live announcement.
Well... first of all, I don't really care; second of all, I needed to be at Gleacher to sell tickets for the conference; so I left... as some eager studentfrantically scrambled to get my table.
Fast forward to 2 hours later... I finally heard the buzz: WE ARENUMERO UNO. hmmmm... interesting. Suddenly, I do care about the rankings. =)
Nah, I don't. But it does raise my curiosity on how they ranked schools. Anyway, like any typical GSB person, once you're curious, there's no going back. Basically, it's 45% student/graduate satisfaction, 45% recruiter satisfaction, and 10% intellectual capital (measured by number of publications). But this isn't what I found interesting...
Based on responses, they further place grades on teamwork, communication, analytics (hmmm... this looks like how a certain consulting firm does their reviews...), teaching quality, and career services. Grades range from A+ to C. And what do you know... there is grade inflation inBW rankings! Top 20% is A+, next 25% is A: that's right, if you are above average, you are an A. Even more astonishing is that a a brief glance, none of the top schools scored A+ across the board. Curious, I scrolled down to find aschool who was A+ in everything. Only one winner:Fuqua at #9.
So... do you trust these rankings!? Of course... especially when you are #1. Oh yeah.
Then the big screen started to come down (last time it came down it was for European Cup Championship... that's real futbol, for my American friends; prior to that it was Karaoke with Dean Kole, who complained that the song didn't sound the same as the one she knows from 30 years ago.) and it hit me: it's the announcement of business school rankings from Business Week! It was going to start at 4:30 for the live announcement.
Well... first of all, I don't really care; second of all, I needed to be at Gleacher to sell tickets for the conference; so I left... as some eager studentfrantically scrambled to get my table.
Fast forward to 2 hours later... I finally heard the buzz: WE ARENUMERO UNO. hmmmm... interesting. Suddenly, I do care about the rankings. =)
Nah, I don't. But it does raise my curiosity on how they ranked schools. Anyway, like any typical GSB person, once you're curious, there's no going back. Basically, it's 45% student/graduate satisfaction, 45% recruiter satisfaction, and 10% intellectual capital (measured by number of publications). But this isn't what I found interesting...
Based on responses, they further place grades on teamwork, communication, analytics (hmmm... this looks like how a certain consulting firm does their reviews...), teaching quality, and career services. Grades range from A+ to C. And what do you know... there is grade inflation inBW rankings! Top 20% is A+, next 25% is A: that's right, if you are above average, you are an A. Even more astonishing is that a a brief glance, none of the top schools scored A+ across the board. Curious, I scrolled down to find aschool who was A+ in everything. Only one winner:Fuqua at #9.
So... do you trust these rankings!? Of course... especially when you are #1. Oh yeah.
10/13/2006
When does the snow come?
This season? October 12th. OCTOBER. This is madness. Not even Boston snowed this early.
Someone commented that I shouldn't be busy at all since I'm not doing much recruiting. You are half right and you missed a crucial component. I'm not doing much recruiting. But I am extremely busy with the Asia Pacific Conference. In fact, I might as well quit my day and night job as a GSB student and declare myself a full time conference planner. I can join the part time program and be discriminated against. Anyway, things I have done/need to do for the conference: marketing, sponsorship, logistics, ticket sales, volunteers, speakers, panelists, moderators, hotels, limos, etc etc etc. There you go: I am a very busy man. More than last Fall, in my opinion. I can't wait till the conference is over: I'd be a free man afterwards... just in time for full time recruiting. Arg. In the meantime, allow me to do some shameless self promoting:
The crucial component that many people miss is that other colleagues are doing consulting recruitings. Suddenly, my 10-week experience at a management consulting firm becomes bible to all consultant-wannabes. Everybody is asking for a case interview. I do my best to help, which takes up quite a lot of time!
So that's what I am busy with: conference and case interviews (for someone). Not exactly how I envisioned second year when I was a first year.
Someone commented that I shouldn't be busy at all since I'm not doing much recruiting. You are half right and you missed a crucial component. I'm not doing much recruiting. But I am extremely busy with the Asia Pacific Conference. In fact, I might as well quit my day and night job as a GSB student and declare myself a full time conference planner. I can join the part time program and be discriminated against. Anyway, things I have done/need to do for the conference: marketing, sponsorship, logistics, ticket sales, volunteers, speakers, panelists, moderators, hotels, limos, etc etc etc. There you go: I am a very busy man. More than last Fall, in my opinion. I can't wait till the conference is over: I'd be a free man afterwards... just in time for full time recruiting. Arg. In the meantime, allow me to do some shameless self promoting:
The crucial component that many people miss is that other colleagues are doing consulting recruitings. Suddenly, my 10-week experience at a management consulting firm becomes bible to all consultant-wannabes. Everybody is asking for a case interview. I do my best to help, which takes up quite a lot of time!
So that's what I am busy with: conference and case interviews (for someone). Not exactly how I envisioned second year when I was a first year.
10/11/2006
This man needs ACT and LEAD
G.W. Bush. North Korea had an underground nuclear test, so GW has a live news conference to explain what needs to be done. I just listened to him use "my point is" to start two consecutive sentences. Mr. President, you are speaking, so it is clearly your point. If you have to state your point a second time, maybe you should have done it in your first sentence.
Oh so painful to watch the most powerful man on Earth struggle with his presentation. I mean I can understand how a debate or a Q&A session (truly disastrous to watch him struggle to answer simple questions from reporters) could be difficult for GW. But you have had plenty of time to prepare for your own statement!
On another note, I'm trying to upload some of my pictures from sailing but my computer/Blogger beta/Internet wouldn't let me do it.
"I thank the [world] leaders, this is why I call them on the phone!" he says in answering a question on what he would tell the world regarding a nuclear North Korea.
Thank you, GW, thank you.
Oh so painful to watch the most powerful man on Earth struggle with his presentation. I mean I can understand how a debate or a Q&A session (truly disastrous to watch him struggle to answer simple questions from reporters) could be difficult for GW. But you have had plenty of time to prepare for your own statement!
On another note, I'm trying to upload some of my pictures from sailing but my computer/Blogger beta/Internet wouldn't let me do it.
"I thank the [world] leaders, this is why I call them on the phone!" he says in answering a question on what he would tell the world regarding a nuclear North Korea.
Thank you, GW, thank you.
10/09/2006
Sunshine
Per the request of my friend from Boston, a little more "sunshine" in this blog today. Literally. By the way, if I got a dollar for every time he and his gf kissed in front of me, I'd be a hundredaire; oh yeah, you knew you were going to make this blog one way or the other... back to the blog.
I went sailing today with the Sail Club of the GSB. Awesome day for sailing. I was compelled by my experience to bring a fleece as well as a wind breaker to boat. I only needed one of them. The sun was great despite the unfavorable weather reports. Nice wind too... wasn't too gusty, but enough to keep the boat moving at a crisp pace. Tom, our captain, did a great job in making sure everybody had a great time on board.
I busted out my new GF and she did not disappoint. I need to review her performance tonight (uh... I mean mine... I can't blame her). The only thing was that the time we were sailing, the sun was right over downtown Chicago, thus making picture taking of downtown very difficult. Instead, I concentrated back on the boat and took pictures of people.
I went sailing today with the Sail Club of the GSB. Awesome day for sailing. I was compelled by my experience to bring a fleece as well as a wind breaker to boat. I only needed one of them. The sun was great despite the unfavorable weather reports. Nice wind too... wasn't too gusty, but enough to keep the boat moving at a crisp pace. Tom, our captain, did a great job in making sure everybody had a great time on board.
I busted out my new GF and she did not disappoint. I need to review her performance tonight (uh... I mean mine... I can't blame her). The only thing was that the time we were sailing, the sun was right over downtown Chicago, thus making picture taking of downtown very difficult. Instead, I concentrated back on the boat and took pictures of people.
10/07/2006
You're either with us or against us
This is a picture from Death Valley sand and I am currently using it on MSN messeger. Not sure why I chose this picture for the post... maybe it'll be obvious to me after I finish writing. haha. I like it, that's why.Just read a friend's rant about how she was mis-perceieved as a pro-xyz person just because she was present at a xyz-dominated event. The automatic assumption of one person's belief and principle based on a few things is nothing new. Everybody does it. To be an objective person in this day in age is rare. We are influenced by so many things around us: the Al-QaeBush effect, fanaticsm, subjective reporting, sensational interviews, reporters that cater to the audience, advertising, personalized advertising (read: Google).
Anyway, back to my point. There is such a bias in the way we think regardless of how hard we try to be objective. Some don't even try at all, as my friend experienced. I can be with you (against terrorism) and against you (method of fixing terrorism) at the same time. And on issues I know little about, I can't be objective because I haven't done my research. For example, I think bankers are all a-holes. Just kidding. But they don't have time to read my blog, much less care about it, so I think I'm in the clear. Another assumption.
I felt bad for my friend, because it was her principle that got violated by simple assumptions. But consider the consequences. In order to avoid the mis-perception, one solution would be to avoid the xyz-group all together: xyz-group realizes that she isn't one of us; both parties go on their way; more misunderstanding between the two. Another would be to clarify her beliefs, which may lead to the same conclusions anyway.
Here's an interesting piece from Freakenomics on the bias that many carry.
Gear change. Since my weekends start on Wednesdays, I went playing poker on W and Th night. Nothing coming on W, and I went all in with dwindlign chips and my opponent hit a straight on the river. Th night was okay. I finished second place and got my money back. The chip leader had a commanding lead on me and there wasn't much I could do. Either way, Freaknenomic's Steve Levitt has a fascinating story to tell on his poker tourney.
10/04/2006
The Dark Side
Just read this amazing story on CNN. Many of you may not know that I was born premature by 2 months. I have, after all, grown quite a bit... and then some, damn it. I can probably fit my premature self into my current self, if that makes sense. Anyway, that makes me quite a survivor. Somehow, coming in at a mere two pounds, I fought my way (thank you, no name doctors) to be alive.
Alan would have been 25 today; he was born at a healthy eight to nine pounds on October 3rd 1981. Whereas I fought to survive at birth, he probably was kicking and screaming already. The past years were, at times, filled with questions. What I could have done, what happened, WHY. I will never have an answer. Lately, I blame The Dark Side.
You and I have all experienced The Dark Side. Anger causing us to "lose it," although most of the time we can control that Dark Side: it's intense, but not overwhelming. Common sense, for the most part, prevails and we continue on our merry little lives. But for the few times that The Dark Side takes over, you never quite know what will happen.
I was at that juncture a few days ago. So angry and furious that I did things I wouldn't have done otherwise. I deliberately (yet uncontrollably) hurt someone; blinded by frustration, whatever came to my mind went to my fingers. It was as if I forgot about decency and all the good times that I had spent with this person.
After the fact, I felt much better. Much more relieved. I know I didn't do the right thing; but whatever I did, it worked for me. Deep down, I think it might have worked for Alan too.
Happy birthday, Alan.
Alan would have been 25 today; he was born at a healthy eight to nine pounds on October 3rd 1981. Whereas I fought to survive at birth, he probably was kicking and screaming already. The past years were, at times, filled with questions. What I could have done, what happened, WHY. I will never have an answer. Lately, I blame The Dark Side.
You and I have all experienced The Dark Side. Anger causing us to "lose it," although most of the time we can control that Dark Side: it's intense, but not overwhelming. Common sense, for the most part, prevails and we continue on our merry little lives. But for the few times that The Dark Side takes over, you never quite know what will happen.
I was at that juncture a few days ago. So angry and furious that I did things I wouldn't have done otherwise. I deliberately (yet uncontrollably) hurt someone; blinded by frustration, whatever came to my mind went to my fingers. It was as if I forgot about decency and all the good times that I had spent with this person.
After the fact, I felt much better. Much more relieved. I know I didn't do the right thing; but whatever I did, it worked for me. Deep down, I think it might have worked for Alan too.
Happy birthday, Alan.
10/02/2006
Weekend after first class
Naturally, I couldn't get myself to do any real work during the weekend. With apologies to my colleagues, I do have my weekends starting on Wednesday afternoon. Nonetheless, there was plenty of fake work to do.
Saturday night was Maroons' victory party. About 20 showed up at various times (i.e. 40% of our cohort, which is pretty good!) and we didn't order enough drinks to cover the minimum charge for reserving space. So we ordered champaigne. Good times.
After the victory parade, I headed over to Regents for a poker game. Better lucky than good: so true, so true. My all in attempt with pocket Qs was, predicatbly, called by A-K unsuited. My lost when a spade came on the river and my opponent made a flush. Sigh. I need to start playing in those higher stakes Wednesday night games. I can swallow $20 easy... but $60...?
Sunday morning, after 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to go play tennis in Hyde Park. Perhaps I will play more this year. Just need the right tennis partner. We played mixed doubles, and there was an interesting game which went to duece #12. I was serving. I swear my arm was falling off at the end from serving so much.
So in the afternoon, I finally started doing some real work... and promptly fell asleep reading articles. It's uncanny. I woke up and finished my reading and went back home... where they were showing the Patriots Bengal game. You can guess what happened in the next 5 hours. haha.
Saturday night was Maroons' victory party. About 20 showed up at various times (i.e. 40% of our cohort, which is pretty good!) and we didn't order enough drinks to cover the minimum charge for reserving space. So we ordered champaigne. Good times.
After the victory parade, I headed over to Regents for a poker game. Better lucky than good: so true, so true. My all in attempt with pocket Qs was, predicatbly, called by A-K unsuited. My lost when a spade came on the river and my opponent made a flush. Sigh. I need to start playing in those higher stakes Wednesday night games. I can swallow $20 easy... but $60...?
Sunday morning, after 5 hours of sleep, I woke up to go play tennis in Hyde Park. Perhaps I will play more this year. Just need the right tennis partner. We played mixed doubles, and there was an interesting game which went to duece #12. I was serving. I swear my arm was falling off at the end from serving so much.
So in the afternoon, I finally started doing some real work... and promptly fell asleep reading articles. It's uncanny. I woke up and finished my reading and went back home... where they were showing the Patriots Bengal game. You can guess what happened in the next 5 hours. haha.
Goominating the World
I can't believe I never got myself to using the Google reader. What a wonderful piece of technology. On Google Desktop, I have a tool bar that loads all the web clips so I be up to date with different blogs. The only problem is that the fonts are a bit small and I have to scroll up and down to click into new entries. Fear not, the Google reader basically acts as an inbox in your email. Hmmm... an idea for Google, why not just load it in Gmail? Anyway, Google reader will load all the entries on a blog and mark them as read or unread (You see, like emails) and sort them by either date or by author. Awesome tool to help me keep up with some 30 blogs that I frequent.
Speaking of blogs, Blogspot now offers the option to tag our entires. So far, I've made tags for review, movie, book, and food. What else should I add?
10/01/2006
Illusionist
Always liked Ed Norton the actor. Like many movies that he is in, the story is okay and the actors are great. Wouldn't really recommend it though. I keep thinking to myself: you have the woman already, why do you have to rub it in!? It's obvious that the Illusionist doesn't care about his country and what not; why did he have to go through so much to eliminate the prince? Anyway, Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti did a good job in the movie. Wouldn't expect anything else.
A week of school has gone by, and you can definitely differentiate the enthusiastic first years from the lack luster second years. We need a few more weeks to soak it in and return to student mode. Those who have offers are in vacation mode right now; don't force us otherwise.
A week of school has gone by, and you can definitely differentiate the enthusiastic first years from the lack luster second years. We need a few more weeks to soak it in and return to student mode. Those who have offers are in vacation mode right now; don't force us otherwise.
9/29/2006
Guess the Company and Division
In a fancy restaurant in the West loop, there's a crowd of students, dressed business causual, surrounding a middle age white man in khakis and blue shirt. The 50-strong crowd is 95% male. Among the male, it is 80% Indians, 10% Asian, 10% token white guy. For my GSB colleagues,
What's the company?
What's the division?
In this certain presentation/reception, I suddenly thought of my hate for the "Backspace" button. So much raw emotions being censored by that button. Yet so many mistakes avoided. I'm torn. If I write blogs without using "Backspace" but for spelling and grammar, it would be much more entertaining.
Emotions of course triggered by not using the Backspace and making mean language. Should have used that stupid button. Oh well.
What's the company?
What's the division?
In this certain presentation/reception, I suddenly thought of my hate for the "Backspace" button. So much raw emotions being censored by that button. Yet so many mistakes avoided. I'm torn. If I write blogs without using "Backspace" but for spelling and grammar, it would be much more entertaining.
Emotions of course triggered by not using the Backspace and making mean language. Should have used that stupid button. Oh well.
9/28/2006
Classes, baby!
Until my first class, I never realized that I was back at school. Here's what transpired:
1:30 - in class, just in time...!
1:35 - professor starts introducing himself and the course
1:38 - dozing already...
Just kidding. It wasn't that bad, though you'll be hard-pressed to make a good case for me NOT to doze in Corporate Finance. Anyway, it was remarkable that I could have really used this first class in my case work during the summer.
Next up was Negotiations. Again, I could have used the first class material in my summer case. This is going to be a pretty good class. In particular, the first negotiation practice was quite interesting. I'm a seller with a bottom line and my task is to negotiate with a buyer. Since I do not know his bottom line, my strategy going in was to never make the initial offer. I was going to wait for the initial offer and then assess what the buyer's bottom line might be. This was, in fact, most seller's strategy. Whatever I did worked, as I sold 2.4 times my bottom line. Back in class, however, our professor disagrees with the strategy. Instead, we should definitely offer first and make that offer an unreasonable. Thus creating expectations for (anchoring) your counterparty for a high number. This will be a good class.
This morning was Organizational Change. What I hope to get out of class is a toolkit for organizational change that I may be able to use in consulting. The first class was rather promising. Funny thing was I never planned to take the class. Only after failing miserably in bidding for classes did I end up with this class. Class discussions are going to drive the quality, and the professor seemed pretty good at moderating. And hence my three classes of the Fall quarter. M T and W. Th and F off. I think this will be okay. hehe.
I seem to have missed this one class though... would have been worth the tuition for sure.
1:30 - in class, just in time...!
1:35 - professor starts introducing himself and the course
1:38 - dozing already...
Just kidding. It wasn't that bad, though you'll be hard-pressed to make a good case for me NOT to doze in Corporate Finance. Anyway, it was remarkable that I could have really used this first class in my case work during the summer.
Next up was Negotiations. Again, I could have used the first class material in my summer case. This is going to be a pretty good class. In particular, the first negotiation practice was quite interesting. I'm a seller with a bottom line and my task is to negotiate with a buyer. Since I do not know his bottom line, my strategy going in was to never make the initial offer. I was going to wait for the initial offer and then assess what the buyer's bottom line might be. This was, in fact, most seller's strategy. Whatever I did worked, as I sold 2.4 times my bottom line. Back in class, however, our professor disagrees with the strategy. Instead, we should definitely offer first and make that offer an unreasonable. Thus creating expectations for (anchoring) your counterparty for a high number. This will be a good class.
This morning was Organizational Change. What I hope to get out of class is a toolkit for organizational change that I may be able to use in consulting. The first class was rather promising. Funny thing was I never planned to take the class. Only after failing miserably in bidding for classes did I end up with this class. Class discussions are going to drive the quality, and the professor seemed pretty good at moderating. And hence my three classes of the Fall quarter. M T and W. Th and F off. I think this will be okay. hehe.
I seem to have missed this one class though... would have been worth the tuition for sure.
US vs. HK 2
After a very productive day at the Winter Garden (oh yeah, you know what I mean), I headed to Chinatown, which made me realize that I missed some crucial elements of comparing US and HK:
Haircut - that's it, Chinese barbers in the US really suck; all they want to do is to buzz all your hair off... and they don't care what you say. "Not so short, please..." "Buzz"
HUGE advantage: Hong Kong
Dinner at Phoenix - I expect the poor quality, but that 18% for parties over six really kills.
Advantage: Hong Kong.
Hopefully my hair will grow back in time for tomorrow's dinner reception...
Haircut - that's it, Chinese barbers in the US really suck; all they want to do is to buzz all your hair off... and they don't care what you say. "Not so short, please..." "Buzz"
HUGE advantage: Hong Kong
Dinner at Phoenix - I expect the poor quality, but that 18% for parties over six really kills.
Advantage: Hong Kong.
Hopefully my hair will grow back in time for tomorrow's dinner reception...
9/23/2006
GSB Life...
I have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which means I don't have classes on the first two days of school. So, what did I do? Go to school.
All those first years roaming the school... about a year ago, I was in the same position. Roaming the student activities fair, trying to decide which clubs I should join. I joined Management Consulting Group and Business Solution Group because I wanted to do management consulting. I signed onto Chicago Asia Pacific Group and Chinese Business Student Association because I wanted to return to Hong Kong for my summer internships. I joined sail club, poker club, basketball club, etc so I can tell myself I have a life outside of school and career.
I don't think I really thought about it that way, but it seems like I did a pretty good job in my first year as far as how I used the student groups. Management consulting in Hong Kong. Poker. Basketball. I miss the sail club event though. Should have gone to Virgin Islands. Also, should have gone to Galapagos Islands.
I can't really believe that a year has already passed.
All those first years roaming the school... about a year ago, I was in the same position. Roaming the student activities fair, trying to decide which clubs I should join. I joined Management Consulting Group and Business Solution Group because I wanted to do management consulting. I signed onto Chicago Asia Pacific Group and Chinese Business Student Association because I wanted to return to Hong Kong for my summer internships. I joined sail club, poker club, basketball club, etc so I can tell myself I have a life outside of school and career.
I don't think I really thought about it that way, but it seems like I did a pretty good job in my first year as far as how I used the student groups. Management consulting in Hong Kong. Poker. Basketball. I miss the sail club event though. Should have gone to Virgin Islands. Also, should have gone to Galapagos Islands.
I can't really believe that a year has already passed.
9/21/2006
My New GF
She's cute. She's beautiful. She's pretty cool. Bold, even. She's a bit heavy, but she has a great body. And I mean GREAT body. She doesn't know I have a blog, so I can pretty much write anything I want.
She let's me decide everything. When I don't feel like it, she'll make all the decisions for me. She's easy to read, yet there's a sophistication that I can't really understand (I'm trying). She's a bit flashy on the outside, but conservative inside. There's obviously a lot that I need to learn about her.
She doesn't really ask for anything, though buying her accessories is going to cost me big time. I think she's quite perfect, to be honest.
Her name is Nikon D80. My new toy. I love her. Maybe I can forget. Oh, and did I mention tomorrow is the first school day?
She let's me decide everything. When I don't feel like it, she'll make all the decisions for me. She's easy to read, yet there's a sophistication that I can't really understand (I'm trying). She's a bit flashy on the outside, but conservative inside. There's obviously a lot that I need to learn about her.
She doesn't really ask for anything, though buying her accessories is going to cost me big time. I think she's quite perfect, to be honest.
Her name is Nikon D80. My new toy. I love her. Maybe I can forget. Oh, and did I mention tomorrow is the first school day?
9/19/2006
Hong Kong vs USA
Well... since a big part of my career decision depends on geography, what can beat a HKG vs USA list!? Here goes, in no particular order:
Food: ...... nah, no need to compare
Advantage: Hong Kong
Work culture: HK - work hard, play hard; US - work hard, play harder
Advantage: Hong Kong
Hours: HK - til you drop; US - til dinner
Advantage: USA
Friends: HK - a lot, probably reached max; US - a lot, room for growth
Advantage: I can't really tell
Family: HK - there's some; US - there's none
Advantage: Hong Kong
Weight: HK - you need a diet; US - you lost weight
Advantage: Okay, I think I like US better.
Facial hair: why does my facial hair grow faster in HKG!?
Advantage: USA
Size matters: HK - I am Moses when entering the packed trains; US - my neck hurts from looking up
Advantage: Hong Kong
Air: HK - smog; US - blue skys
Advantage: US
Water: HK - needs to boil; US - ready to drink
Advantage: US
Poker: HK - many games, low stakes; US - some games, high stakes
Advantage: Hong Kong
TV: HK - no ESPN (but possible, I hear); US - ESPN
Advantage: US, slightly
Basketball: HK - size matters; US - go play in the kiddie court
Advantage: Hong Kong
Hiking: HK - any time; US - depends on location, far away anyway
advantage: Hong Kong
Photography: HK - smog; US - many places
Advantage: Europe =)
This is fun... but I need to sleep. Today was the first company presentation for me. Standing outside of the circle of students surrounding the recruiter who may or may not have the power to make a difference in you being interviewed or hired, I can't help but think why am I still standing there. There's an easy way out: sign on the dotted line! (Oh I really don't enjoy this recruiting thing!)
I have genuine concerns, that's why. The presenter today left one impression with me: go with your gut because you will never regret it; even if you fail, you will learn something about yourself; go with your head over you gut, you will regret if you fail. I just have to check all the obstacles to what my gut is telling me.
Do I need to count which place wins the advantages?
Food: ...... nah, no need to compare
Advantage: Hong Kong
Work culture: HK - work hard, play hard; US - work hard, play harder
Advantage: Hong Kong
Hours: HK - til you drop; US - til dinner
Advantage: USA
Friends: HK - a lot, probably reached max; US - a lot, room for growth
Advantage: I can't really tell
Family: HK - there's some; US - there's none
Advantage: Hong Kong
Weight: HK - you need a diet; US - you lost weight
Advantage: Okay, I think I like US better.
Facial hair: why does my facial hair grow faster in HKG!?
Advantage: USA
Size matters: HK - I am Moses when entering the packed trains; US - my neck hurts from looking up
Advantage: Hong Kong
Air: HK - smog; US - blue skys
Advantage: US
Water: HK - needs to boil; US - ready to drink
Advantage: US
Poker: HK - many games, low stakes; US - some games, high stakes
Advantage: Hong Kong
TV: HK - no ESPN (but possible, I hear); US - ESPN
Advantage: US, slightly
Basketball: HK - size matters; US - go play in the kiddie court
Advantage: Hong Kong
Hiking: HK - any time; US - depends on location, far away anyway
advantage: Hong Kong
Photography: HK - smog; US - many places
Advantage: Europe =)
This is fun... but I need to sleep. Today was the first company presentation for me. Standing outside of the circle of students surrounding the recruiter who may or may not have the power to make a difference in you being interviewed or hired, I can't help but think why am I still standing there. There's an easy way out: sign on the dotted line! (Oh I really don't enjoy this recruiting thing!)
I have genuine concerns, that's why. The presenter today left one impression with me: go with your gut because you will never regret it; even if you fail, you will learn something about yourself; go with your head over you gut, you will regret if you fail. I just have to check all the obstacles to what my gut is telling me.
Do I need to count which place wins the advantages?
9/17/2006
Little Miss Sunshine
I feel shameless if I leave comments on my own blog. Therefore, I will reply to your comments here: one can of course have different group of friends; my questions is if you have many groups, you may have less of a friendship than if you only hung out with one group. Especially among new groups. I know that I don't have to spend time with my middle school friends and they will continue to be good true forever friends.
I guess a Chicago way of asking the question is whether time spent with person (measured by some unit of time - either in hours or in frequency or both) is correlated to degree of friendship (measured by... uh... I don't know... money - how much are you willing to lend Eric without assurances he will pay you back), adjusted for current wealth and generosity (damn, can't measure that though!). Sorry, couldn't resist.
Just saw the movie Little Miss Sunshine. I loved it. Unfortunately, the moment of simple joy can never persist in real life. You always get sucked back into troubles in life.
Also on the list of movies I want to see but probably won't: Thank You for Not Smoking, Illusionist, An Inconvenient Truth, Hollywoodland, This Movie is Not Yet Rated (I think that's what it's called - too lazy to do background research)...
The Departed, starring an improbable cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson, will be on Oct 6. I'm very much looking forward to the American remake of the HK hit movie. I doubt that the replication can match the original, only because the emphasis on collectivism will probably not ring any bells among American audience. Or maybe they will heavily edit the movie, which actually won't be a bad thing at all!
I guess a Chicago way of asking the question is whether time spent with person (measured by some unit of time - either in hours or in frequency or both) is correlated to degree of friendship (measured by... uh... I don't know... money - how much are you willing to lend Eric without assurances he will pay you back), adjusted for current wealth and generosity (damn, can't measure that though!). Sorry, couldn't resist.
Just saw the movie Little Miss Sunshine. I loved it. Unfortunately, the moment of simple joy can never persist in real life. You always get sucked back into troubles in life.
Also on the list of movies I want to see but probably won't: Thank You for Not Smoking, Illusionist, An Inconvenient Truth, Hollywoodland, This Movie is Not Yet Rated (I think that's what it's called - too lazy to do background research)...
The Departed, starring an improbable cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson, will be on Oct 6. I'm very much looking forward to the American remake of the HK hit movie. I doubt that the replication can match the original, only because the emphasis on collectivism will probably not ring any bells among American audience. Or maybe they will heavily edit the movie, which actually won't be a bad thing at all!
9/16/2006
Good point, Shmoo...
I guess the question should be if I am not fully committed to a circle of friends, can I truly make good friends out of them?
TNDC...!
Good times, good times...
I do miss all my buddies in business school. Half of them I can see at TNDC; the other half I can see at Chinatown. Which brings me to some of my thoughts on making friends.
When I applied to college, I wrote about how I hoped to find a true identity for the boy who counts in Chinese but speaks in English. Ten years later (!!!!), I could write the same piece. I still count in Chinese, and English is still my default language. Just take a look at my circles of friends. At Chicago, I have, on one hand, the American friends. The crew hangs out at bars, talks (real talking) in school, studies moderately, and always has fun doing whatever. On the other hand, I have the Chinese crowd, separated into China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. These crews hang out at each other's homes, says hi and bye in school, studies hard, and always seems to be serious.
Makes me wonder a bit... if you are not committed to one crew, can you still make true friends out of both groups? If on Thursday night I choose not to go to TNDC (hence missing my American friends at the bar) because there's a poker game (or killer - arg, I hate that game) at a Chinese friends' house, or vice versa, would either group think less of me? Surely it makes some difference, right?
Hm... just writing this makes me feel young.
I do miss all my buddies in business school. Half of them I can see at TNDC; the other half I can see at Chinatown. Which brings me to some of my thoughts on making friends.
When I applied to college, I wrote about how I hoped to find a true identity for the boy who counts in Chinese but speaks in English. Ten years later (!!!!), I could write the same piece. I still count in Chinese, and English is still my default language. Just take a look at my circles of friends. At Chicago, I have, on one hand, the American friends. The crew hangs out at bars, talks (real talking) in school, studies moderately, and always has fun doing whatever. On the other hand, I have the Chinese crowd, separated into China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. These crews hang out at each other's homes, says hi and bye in school, studies hard, and always seems to be serious.
Makes me wonder a bit... if you are not committed to one crew, can you still make true friends out of both groups? If on Thursday night I choose not to go to TNDC (hence missing my American friends at the bar) because there's a poker game (or killer - arg, I hate that game) at a Chinese friends' house, or vice versa, would either group think less of me? Surely it makes some difference, right?
Hm... just writing this makes me feel young.
9/15/2006
Safety alert....!?
The following is a safety alert released by the U of C police:
Between 6:45 and 7:05 a.m., Monday, September 11, (reported on September 12) on South Kenwood Avenue between Hyde Park Blvd. and 52nd Streets, a woman was leaving her residence when she was confronted by a man who forced her against a gate and fondled her. He fled with the victim's lunch container when a passerby happened on the scene. The offender was described as an African American in his 20's, about 5'10", with a strong body odor and bad breath, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Police are investigating.
Man, the States is awesome. Not.
Between 6:45 and 7:05 a.m., Monday, September 11, (reported on September 12) on South Kenwood Avenue between Hyde Park Blvd. and 52nd Streets, a woman was leaving her residence when she was confronted by a man who forced her against a gate and fondled her. He fled with the victim's lunch container when a passerby happened on the scene. The offender was described as an African American in his 20's, about 5'10", with a strong body odor and bad breath, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. Police are investigating.
Man, the States is awesome. Not.
Back in Chitown...
It feels good to be back home... ops, did I say home!?
Anyway, my first night back was already greeted by Bain returnees. They're hosting a dinner for all the Chicago Bainees. And tonight? Same thing of course. Bain returnees plus potential GSB Bainees (I think - there are so many Bain events I'm forgeting which one is which... all have free food though, so they do know my weakness).
Meanwhile, I've received several emails (uh... okay, the big 3 + Booz) about various consulting companies as well as a couple of phone calls on whether I'm still interested in management consulting. Reality checks in quick!
I finished the book Guns Germs and Steel. Shmoo mentioned that it was repetitive. He was right. Still a pretty good book that I would recommend though. The premise is noble -history, on a grand level, is basically science - but a bit too aggressive. To establish a theory that would explain all of human history would surely invite criticisms in form of exceptions. As I read the book, I nodded in my mind and I kept thinking of exceptions to the author's rule. And I could find many. This of course does not dilute his theory of how the current world is shaped. What I would be most interested in finding out is whether the theory is still relevant for the future.
Started "The End of Poverty" by Jeff Sachs. The book quickly refers to Guns Germs and Steel. So far so good. Sachs thinks we can end poverty (i.e. where people cannot survive on their own income) by 2025. Good luck.
Anyway, my first night back was already greeted by Bain returnees. They're hosting a dinner for all the Chicago Bainees. And tonight? Same thing of course. Bain returnees plus potential GSB Bainees (I think - there are so many Bain events I'm forgeting which one is which... all have free food though, so they do know my weakness).
Meanwhile, I've received several emails (uh... okay, the big 3 + Booz) about various consulting companies as well as a couple of phone calls on whether I'm still interested in management consulting. Reality checks in quick!
I finished the book Guns Germs and Steel. Shmoo mentioned that it was repetitive. He was right. Still a pretty good book that I would recommend though. The premise is noble -history, on a grand level, is basically science - but a bit too aggressive. To establish a theory that would explain all of human history would surely invite criticisms in form of exceptions. As I read the book, I nodded in my mind and I kept thinking of exceptions to the author's rule. And I could find many. This of course does not dilute his theory of how the current world is shaped. What I would be most interested in finding out is whether the theory is still relevant for the future.
Started "The End of Poverty" by Jeff Sachs. The book quickly refers to Guns Germs and Steel. So far so good. Sachs thinks we can end poverty (i.e. where people cannot survive on their own income) by 2025. Good luck.
9/13/2006
Since my last post...
A very good friend of mine got married... and we did not have a proper bachelor party...
I went hiking... for the first time this year, as sad as that sounded... and it wasn't even a real hike...
I felt really bad for a person...
I almost cried at the wedding...
I met a very pretty medical doctor...
I finished Guns, Germs, and Steel...
I started Say No to Poverty...
I felt really good for another person...
I vowed to blog more...
I became roommates with my old roommate from almost 10 years ago...
I was woken up at 625am by a conference call from Japan...
I was woken up at 900am by an insurance agent...
I played basketball...
I worked out...
I watched football... American Football...
I watched baseball...
I do miss the States, I guess.
I went hiking... for the first time this year, as sad as that sounded... and it wasn't even a real hike...
I felt really bad for a person...
I almost cried at the wedding...
I met a very pretty medical doctor...
I finished Guns, Germs, and Steel...
I started Say No to Poverty...
I felt really good for another person...
I vowed to blog more...
I became roommates with my old roommate from almost 10 years ago...
I was woken up at 625am by a conference call from Japan...
I was woken up at 900am by an insurance agent...
I played basketball...
I worked out...
I watched football... American Football...
I watched baseball...
I do miss the States, I guess.
9/08/2006
SF now...
I've come to my friend's wedding... instead, we seem to be in a perpetual bachelor party... good times all around. (G, I hope you're not reading... and if you are... this is just a big fat lie)
Japan was a lot of fun... enough fun that it warrants a dot on my website. =) stay tuned
I can't wait to get back to Chicago.
Japan was a lot of fun... enough fun that it warrants a dot on my website. =) stay tuned
I can't wait to get back to Chicago.
9/04/2006
Yokohama day...
Let's see... what exactly did I do in Yokohama? Nothing much, really... just walking around and aimlessly taking pictures. Yes, I have turned into a Japanese tourist. With no schedule and no rush though, so I do pride myself on that.
While going through a huge indoor mall searching for food, I did see Cold Stong Creamery. Yummy. There was a line outside so I didn't really bother. One thing different though... the ice cream packers started to sing and dance in symphony every now and then. I thought it was quite funny. The Japanese customers loved it.
1000Y to go to the top of Japan's tallest building... look, I've been to Japan's highest spot, Mount Fuji, already. No thanks.
Took a bus to the Sankaien Garden (三溪園). Got off at the wrong station but nonetheless managed to get to the Garden (By the way, the "en" in Sankaien means garden already, so the translations don't really work out). Beautiful garden with some awesome Japanese houses. Had a very Zen feeling to it. Meanwhile, Japanese tour groups whisked by at high speeds. The phenomenon of Japanese tourists is quite ironic actually: Japanese emphasizes patience and spending a lot of time on your craft (For a really bad example, see Tom Cruise's The Last Sumarai). There's something Zen about everything the Japanese do. I distinctly remember Alan admiring some Japanese video gamers who have made their play more of an art than entertainment. Anyway, Japan is also about JIT production and efficiency.
Back to the tour groups: Japanese tour groups seem to have become some manufacturing production line. They are fast and efficient. Ironically, at the Sankaien Garden, where peace and tranquility rule, where people are supposed to be quiet and enjoy the environment, where I reflect on life a little bit, tour groups drive by and snap their pictures and leave. Quite amazing.
These are areas where no one speak English... so when I left, I had no idea where to go. I didn't want to go back the original route, so I took another exit and spent the next hour walking beside a highway... until I finally hit the railroad station that I thought was a couple of minutes away from the garden exit.
While going through a huge indoor mall searching for food, I did see Cold Stong Creamery. Yummy. There was a line outside so I didn't really bother. One thing different though... the ice cream packers started to sing and dance in symphony every now and then. I thought it was quite funny. The Japanese customers loved it.
1000Y to go to the top of Japan's tallest building... look, I've been to Japan's highest spot, Mount Fuji, already. No thanks.
Took a bus to the Sankaien Garden (三溪園). Got off at the wrong station but nonetheless managed to get to the Garden (By the way, the "en" in Sankaien means garden already, so the translations don't really work out). Beautiful garden with some awesome Japanese houses. Had a very Zen feeling to it. Meanwhile, Japanese tour groups whisked by at high speeds. The phenomenon of Japanese tourists is quite ironic actually: Japanese emphasizes patience and spending a lot of time on your craft (For a really bad example, see Tom Cruise's The Last Sumarai). There's something Zen about everything the Japanese do. I distinctly remember Alan admiring some Japanese video gamers who have made their play more of an art than entertainment. Anyway, Japan is also about JIT production and efficiency.
Back to the tour groups: Japanese tour groups seem to have become some manufacturing production line. They are fast and efficient. Ironically, at the Sankaien Garden, where peace and tranquility rule, where people are supposed to be quiet and enjoy the environment, where I reflect on life a little bit, tour groups drive by and snap their pictures and leave. Quite amazing.
These are areas where no one speak English... so when I left, I had no idea where to go. I didn't want to go back the original route, so I took another exit and spent the next hour walking beside a highway... until I finally hit the railroad station that I thought was a couple of minutes away from the garden exit.
9/03/2006
Lost in translation
I finally left Hong Kong.
I didn't really properly say goodbye to Hong Kong because my mind wasn't really on it. Nor did I plan for my trip to Japan. Pre-occupied (still) by the break up... uh... the being dumped... I just never quite got my act together to plan things that weren't urgent.
Anyway, here I am in Tokyo's Asakusa area... happy that I got internet access, yet beating myself up for getting it in my room. Now I may just stay in all day to revamp my website! um... not.
I spent the last three days hanging with KB, an old friend from college who used to be my summer roommate. Somehow, she and I became good friends despite having very different personalities. My prudent party style has served her well in her wilder days, I guess, looking out for her all the time. We both liked to be around friends and organize events (less so for me now, I guess)... so there was the connection. Anyway, we went to her summer vacation house with a bunch of her friends.
The beach was really nice, the onsen was unbelievable. It's just that everybody spoke Japanese. They all speak English, but of course Japanese is the default language. Immediately I thought of Lost in Translation... thing is, I've been around enough Japanese people to recognize words here and there, but not knowing what they mean entirely. For them, it was a gathering of friends to talk about what they have been up to and stuff. For me, it was like watching a movie, only I didn't really understand what was going on the movie and that the movie sometimes called on me. =)
Nonetheless, I found myself more amused than frustrated. Japanese is a very cute language to learn.
Back in Tokyo, I checked into the hotel and first took a hot bath. Then it was dinner time. Here was our conversation:
Josekin (yes, I need a better nickname... how's about HKG, or Hong Kong Guy, in a tribute to SG, the Sports Guy?)...
HKG: Sumimase... (excuse me, aka the phase you use all the time at any place when you are talking to someone else) I'm looking for a restaurant to have dinner, do you have any recommendations?
Hotel girl: McDonald-u. Turn right-do, then turn left-do (using sign language with broken English to guide me)
HKG: Japanese restaurant-u?
Hotel girl: Gomene (sorry), restaurants all close Sunday night.
HKG: I can walk further away to find a better restaurant?
Hotel girl: Gomene (sorry)... (thinking)... Denny's, only 3 minutes walk away
HKG: ...... arigato (thank you)
Hotel girl: Turn right-do, then right-do... 3 minute walk
HKG: hurrying out before she walks me to Denny's and makes me eat there
I love Japanese who are trying to help. They keep thinking what is best for you and will do everything in their power to make it happen.
I ended up at a Japanese restaurant where I have to purchase my meal ticket from a vending machine outside the restaurant (can't read the Japanese, but can connect pictures to words), then go in and be served, return ticket to cook as he executes the orders from the vending machine, then eat standing up, then leaving, all done in 15 minutes. I tell you, Japanese are the most efficient.
Tomorrow I go to Yokohama.
I didn't really properly say goodbye to Hong Kong because my mind wasn't really on it. Nor did I plan for my trip to Japan. Pre-occupied (still) by the break up... uh... the being dumped... I just never quite got my act together to plan things that weren't urgent.
Anyway, here I am in Tokyo's Asakusa area... happy that I got internet access, yet beating myself up for getting it in my room. Now I may just stay in all day to revamp my website! um... not.
I spent the last three days hanging with KB, an old friend from college who used to be my summer roommate. Somehow, she and I became good friends despite having very different personalities. My prudent party style has served her well in her wilder days, I guess, looking out for her all the time. We both liked to be around friends and organize events (less so for me now, I guess)... so there was the connection. Anyway, we went to her summer vacation house with a bunch of her friends.
The beach was really nice, the onsen was unbelievable. It's just that everybody spoke Japanese. They all speak English, but of course Japanese is the default language. Immediately I thought of Lost in Translation... thing is, I've been around enough Japanese people to recognize words here and there, but not knowing what they mean entirely. For them, it was a gathering of friends to talk about what they have been up to and stuff. For me, it was like watching a movie, only I didn't really understand what was going on the movie and that the movie sometimes called on me. =)
Nonetheless, I found myself more amused than frustrated. Japanese is a very cute language to learn.
Back in Tokyo, I checked into the hotel and first took a hot bath. Then it was dinner time. Here was our conversation:
Josekin (yes, I need a better nickname... how's about HKG, or Hong Kong Guy, in a tribute to SG, the Sports Guy?)...
HKG: Sumimase... (excuse me, aka the phase you use all the time at any place when you are talking to someone else) I'm looking for a restaurant to have dinner, do you have any recommendations?
Hotel girl: McDonald-u. Turn right-do, then turn left-do (using sign language with broken English to guide me)
HKG: Japanese restaurant-u?
Hotel girl: Gomene (sorry), restaurants all close Sunday night.
HKG: I can walk further away to find a better restaurant?
Hotel girl: Gomene (sorry)... (thinking)... Denny's, only 3 minutes walk away
HKG: ...... arigato (thank you)
Hotel girl: Turn right-do, then right-do... 3 minute walk
HKG: hurrying out before she walks me to Denny's and makes me eat there
I love Japanese who are trying to help. They keep thinking what is best for you and will do everything in their power to make it happen.
I ended up at a Japanese restaurant where I have to purchase my meal ticket from a vending machine outside the restaurant (can't read the Japanese, but can connect pictures to words), then go in and be served, return ticket to cook as he executes the orders from the vending machine, then eat standing up, then leaving, all done in 15 minutes. I tell you, Japanese are the most efficient.
Tomorrow I go to Yokohama.
8/30/2006
Flash
Wow, after 4 hours of trail and error, I just published my updated website. For some odd reason, www.josekin.com doesn't work, but the movie starting page does. Anyway, prior to today, I had to email the designer to tell him what type of change I want and then he would make it. Now I can do it myself. Sort of. I'll keep trying!
Anyway, a bit of mixed success and failure. I got tired of trying to make some of the boxes smaller. I got tired of adding dots. I got tired to typing enough to fill the boxes.
So this is what you are going to get. I plan to update this a bit more often though!
Anyway, a bit of mixed success and failure. I got tired of trying to make some of the boxes smaller. I got tired of adding dots. I got tired to typing enough to fill the boxes.
So this is what you are going to get. I plan to update this a bit more often though!
8/29/2006
Family Dinner
There's not quite an English phase that spells 幸福. Here are some of the words I can think of: satisfying, gratifying, happy, fulfilling...
So last night my friends and I had a family dinner at one of our homes. Why? Ironically, one is to cheer me up, and the other is that we have two birthdays to celebrate! Anyway, two of us made most of the dinner. I did the dishes. It was a funny feeling where all six of us where sitting around the table, feeling the full effects of food coma, and then moving over to the TV set to catch the latest shows, only to be so bored that we again chatted about life.
That is 幸福. It's that simple. It's that easy. =)
J commented that my life is blue. Not true. Lately, I blog when I am blue. And now, I blog when I feel 幸福 as well.
So last night my friends and I had a family dinner at one of our homes. Why? Ironically, one is to cheer me up, and the other is that we have two birthdays to celebrate! Anyway, two of us made most of the dinner. I did the dishes. It was a funny feeling where all six of us where sitting around the table, feeling the full effects of food coma, and then moving over to the TV set to catch the latest shows, only to be so bored that we again chatted about life.
That is 幸福. It's that simple. It's that easy. =)
J commented that my life is blue. Not true. Lately, I blog when I am blue. And now, I blog when I feel 幸福 as well.
8/28/2006
聖保羅
偶然 (還是無意?) 之間, 看了英雄好漢. 中間有一段對白, 以前沒有注意到:
黑社會大佬: 我的女兒不聽話, 喜歡去Disco玩...
黑社會大佬的朋友: 我的兒子就好多了, 在聖保羅男女讀書, 每一年都是頭三名的!
Haha!
黑社會大佬: 我的女兒不聽話, 喜歡去Disco玩...
黑社會大佬的朋友: 我的兒子就好多了, 在聖保羅男女讀書, 每一年都是頭三名的!
Haha!
8/27/2006
Hero
"死, 要死的其所."
"你為甚麼不擋...?" "(因為) 這樣你就信了."
I watched the movie again. Will explain why in a minute. Anyway, rediscovered how a beautiful language Chinese is. Here are two memorable quotes. And, if you know Chinese, a bit closer to my heart.
After finishing my internship, I had to move out of the corporate apartment. I foolishly did not ask for more nights (beforehand, I felt bad asking in the last week since I do have a home to go to), haha! Anyway, I moved back to my parents... they are in the Phillippines right now, so I have all the space for myself. Since poker night (more on that later) started at 9, I decided to stick any DVD in our new 50 inch TV - dad had commented that he's never used the DVD machine; so I was determined to check it out. =)
Wow.
Poker night was a productive one. I took a cute friend of mine to the game since she loves to gamble and she has never played poker. I taught her some basics (Yup, I consider her the second student of mine) and started the cash game. The fellas were obviously pleased. And both of us won money at the end. Good times all around.
I also drove from home to Happy Valley to Kowloon to Kowloon Tong to Cheung Kwan O to North Point to home. If you know Hong Kong, you'll appreciate how much distance I covered. Anyway, driving is still a very convenient thing even in HK where cabs are cheap... maybe I will buy a car at some point.
"你為甚麼不擋...?" "(因為) 這樣你就信了."
I watched the movie again. Will explain why in a minute. Anyway, rediscovered how a beautiful language Chinese is. Here are two memorable quotes. And, if you know Chinese, a bit closer to my heart.
After finishing my internship, I had to move out of the corporate apartment. I foolishly did not ask for more nights (beforehand, I felt bad asking in the last week since I do have a home to go to), haha! Anyway, I moved back to my parents... they are in the Phillippines right now, so I have all the space for myself. Since poker night (more on that later) started at 9, I decided to stick any DVD in our new 50 inch TV - dad had commented that he's never used the DVD machine; so I was determined to check it out. =)
Wow.
Poker night was a productive one. I took a cute friend of mine to the game since she loves to gamble and she has never played poker. I taught her some basics (Yup, I consider her the second student of mine) and started the cash game. The fellas were obviously pleased. And both of us won money at the end. Good times all around.
I also drove from home to Happy Valley to Kowloon to Kowloon Tong to Cheung Kwan O to North Point to home. If you know Hong Kong, you'll appreciate how much distance I covered. Anyway, driving is still a very convenient thing even in HK where cabs are cheap... maybe I will buy a car at some point.
8/24/2006
Whenever I feel sad, distressed, stressed, frustrated, etc etc, I seem to get very busy at everything I do. Take now for example, it's 1:30 am and I'm typing a blog at home. I just got home about half an hour ago from work, my second night in a row working pass midnight. And I have a breakfast meeting at 8am this morning. Anyway, it did get me wondering about the correlation.
Being occupied is nice when you are having emotional problems. The brain doesn't have to think about the sad stuff and focuses on the task at hand.
This isn't a very organized blog. Um... I was thinking whether I deliberately make myself busy.
Then I thought more.
And more.
Oh... this is how it works: mind isn't focused on anything in particular, not even work, it's wandering around, and it takes longer to do everything... until things need to be done. I guess it's better to not be distressed.
Being occupied is nice when you are having emotional problems. The brain doesn't have to think about the sad stuff and focuses on the task at hand.
This isn't a very organized blog. Um... I was thinking whether I deliberately make myself busy.
Then I thought more.
And more.
Oh... this is how it works: mind isn't focused on anything in particular, not even work, it's wandering around, and it takes longer to do everything... until things need to be done. I guess it's better to not be distressed.
8/23/2006
I'm the chair.
I took this picture in May while in Michigan... I'm the chair. Sit on me, and you'll be alone looking out at sea too. Walk away, and you'll be back in the vacation house, looking out at the stationary me. Sigh...
Would love to type more about my current mood, but the irony of blogging kicks in. It's private, yet public. It's not exactly my tell-all personal email to my best friend...!
Would love to type more about my current mood, but the irony of blogging kicks in. It's private, yet public. It's not exactly my tell-all personal email to my best friend...!
8/18/2006
Asian Youtube
I have sort of a love hate relationship with Youtube, as you can see.
I think I blogged about this a while ago... silent library
I also blogged about 美女廚房 (Beautiful Cooking)... there's a lot of episodes here... I'm not sure which one I would recommend though.
Here's the Japanese version of Beautiful Cooking. The best part is at the end...
Why HK education is perverted.
I think I blogged about this a while ago... silent library
I also blogged about 美女廚房 (Beautiful Cooking)... there's a lot of episodes here... I'm not sure which one I would recommend though.
Here's the Japanese version of Beautiful Cooking. The best part is at the end...
Why HK education is perverted.
8/13/2006
8/12/2006
Awesome!
Cash game is pretty fun as well. This is my first time playing it seriously. The strategy is a bit different and the games, in my opinion, are a bit more challenging. You have to be much better at reading your opponents.
Winning money is cool, but this is awesome. I've been to all of them. How about you!?
Got at b3co.com!
Winning money is cool, but this is awesome. I've been to all of them. How about you!?
Got at b3co.com!
8/11/2006
Are you okay...?
The depends on the timing, really. Sometimes I feel great, sometimes I don't. Long term, of course I'll be okay! Meantime, just have to deal with emotional swings. Oh yes, the male sometimes isn't so different from the female. I told TGF that I am 90% logic and 10% emotion. The 10% creeps up every now and then... I can't really control it. Or can I?
Maybe use the logic? Oh, but I haven't got any basis for anything! Maybe use imagination? A very dangerous art (not act)... in fact, in the midst of anger and dispair, I wrote a pretty compelling piece of story; as I re-read my little piece, I was surprised at how far the mind can go when it lacks answer. I'm not sure if it was imagination or logic. Maybe both.
And you know what the ironic thing is? There are so many possibilities that whatever imagilogic comes up with is surely a thousand miles from the truth. I guess we all want to know why when sh!t happens... oh well.
I'll be okay... in the long term. (nope, I can't tell you what the long term or short term is)
=)
Maybe use the logic? Oh, but I haven't got any basis for anything! Maybe use imagination? A very dangerous art (not act)... in fact, in the midst of anger and dispair, I wrote a pretty compelling piece of story; as I re-read my little piece, I was surprised at how far the mind can go when it lacks answer. I'm not sure if it was imagination or logic. Maybe both.
And you know what the ironic thing is? There are so many possibilities that whatever imagilogic comes up with is surely a thousand miles from the truth. I guess we all want to know why when sh!t happens... oh well.
I'll be okay... in the long term. (nope, I can't tell you what the long term or short term is)
=)
8/08/2006
Alternative reviews!
Beautiful cooking - local HK TV game show invites beautiful stars to cook hard core chinese dishes. Wildly entertaining show. The guests are all male and they have a trash can behind them in case they need to puke. It's all very sexually degrading, but you can't deny that the premise is funny. The next step is the have HK male stars demonstrate how to fix up stuff around home. But... back to the gals. The "Iron Chef" lookalike is extremely well done with tricky ingredients; not so much because the ingredient itself (octopus, sea urchin, anything that is slimy and in general repulsive in live form), but because, as I said, they are all alive to begin with. The starlet has to grab the incredient while it's moving, kill it, and then cook it. One of the best moments was when an octopus latched on and refused to let go it its tenticles. Another is when ALL the guest stars had to puke upon one dish. There's a negative score too, so the poor gal got -110 (max is +120) score. Good times all around.
Death Note - Japanese comic about a kid who picked up a notebook from the Death World in which he can write names and kill people. He battles a detective who is determined to arrest this kid, who slowly thinks that he is god (not capitalized intentionally) and that his deeds will lead to a better world by killing criminals. Very underrated at first but quickly gained a cult following. I shall not spoil the ending for you (not that you'd ever read it)... but the comic does raise a very interesting point as to what is right and what is wrong. The kid who plays god against criminals that police cannot pin? Or the detective, a kid as well, clasically Japanese, who thinks the very act of not using the justice system is criminal? In the end, I think the author has a pretty clear view of who can play god. In fact, the author questions the authority of god and whether god can ever exist. Good comic book. There's a movie coming out as well; I wonder if we can show that movie at school or something.
Death Note - Japanese comic about a kid who picked up a notebook from the Death World in which he can write names and kill people. He battles a detective who is determined to arrest this kid, who slowly thinks that he is god (not capitalized intentionally) and that his deeds will lead to a better world by killing criminals. Very underrated at first but quickly gained a cult following. I shall not spoil the ending for you (not that you'd ever read it)... but the comic does raise a very interesting point as to what is right and what is wrong. The kid who plays god against criminals that police cannot pin? Or the detective, a kid as well, clasically Japanese, who thinks the very act of not using the justice system is criminal? In the end, I think the author has a pretty clear view of who can play god. In fact, the author questions the authority of god and whether god can ever exist. Good comic book. There's a movie coming out as well; I wonder if we can show that movie at school or something.
Distance
After my alone-lonely post, this is an interesting article.
In other news, I broke up with TGF. Last night was an interesting swing of emotions. Sometimes it felt very alone, looking inside myself; other times it was just plain lonely, not knowing whom I should talk with. I found the article quite fitting.
In other news, I broke up with TGF. Last night was an interesting swing of emotions. Sometimes it felt very alone, looking inside myself; other times it was just plain lonely, not knowing whom I should talk with. I found the article quite fitting.
8/07/2006
High Low
From my weekend trip
High: Heading to Shanghai!
Low: Dragon Air information on delayed flights...
High: None!
Low: Cancelled and delayed flights...
High: Shanghai!
Low: Hot...
High: Shanghai office!
Low: Shanghai office "offsite"...
High: Food!
Low: Price...
High: Internet access everywhere!
Low: Expensive Internet access everywhere!
High: Xintiandi! Park 97! RenJian!
Low: Same places next weekend... if I stayed...
High: Catch the Red Sox live on ESPN from my hotel!
Low: Javy Lopez grounds into DP with bases loaded with one out in the ninth...
Low2: Woke up at 8am to do so...
Low3: Woke up because phone ran out of batteries and charger needs a different plug for China...
Low4: Oh come on, it's not that bad...
An eventful weekend... not really given that its Shanghai and it should have been much more interesting.
High: Heading to Shanghai!
Low: Dragon Air information on delayed flights...
High: None!
Low: Cancelled and delayed flights...
High: Shanghai!
Low: Hot...
High: Shanghai office!
Low: Shanghai office "offsite"...
High: Food!
Low: Price...
High: Internet access everywhere!
Low: Expensive Internet access everywhere!
High: Xintiandi! Park 97! RenJian!
Low: Same places next weekend... if I stayed...
High: Catch the Red Sox live on ESPN from my hotel!
Low: Javy Lopez grounds into DP with bases loaded with one out in the ninth...
Low2: Woke up at 8am to do so...
Low3: Woke up because phone ran out of batteries and charger needs a different plug for China...
Low4: Oh come on, it's not that bad...
An eventful weekend... not really given that its Shanghai and it should have been much more interesting.
8/04/2006
Bathroom again!
Nah, just kidding. I noticed that the most comments were left on my bathroom posts. I want to talk about Lebanon instead.
Here's betting that nobody leaves a comment besides those who just want to spite me. hehe.
What is the "root cause" of the conflict, as the US and UK says and commend to eradicate? How's about going back way back when someone... um... US and UK... drew lines on a map of the Middle East and created the state known as Israel? Now... I'm a am a big fan of dealing with what is now, so I shall not go back to the root cause. But the irony is certainly not being touched by the mass media. Oh, while I'm at drawing maps: Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, etc were all drawn up.
As Spiderman's uncle once said, with great power, comes great responsibility. What the great power has done so far in his 6 years of governance is great responsibilities forgotten.
In asymmetric warfare (i.e. two sides of very different levels of capabilities), the smaller force has to find gaps to strike the bigger force. And because it cannot afford to line up troops on the same field and get run over, it has to attack where the larger force fears. Civilians, therefore, come into the line of fire. There is no justification for this, obviously, but as a smaller force in asymmetric warfare, they may not have much of a choice and will face defeat if they do not resort to these tactics. I am not defending organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah; merely stating an obvious that I learned from Fletcher a few years back.
On the other hand, the larger force has to eliminate where the small force can inflict damage. That means pushing back Hezbollah from the borders. Airstrikes are very much necessary. Facing a almost guerilla enemy, blanket bombarding might be a viable tactic that will cost little in terms of military lives. Then again, I'm not defending the IDF.
What happens is naturally both sides have civilian casualties. One incident has stood out so far: the bombing of a Qana village in which many villagers seeking shelter were killed in an airstrike. I don't want to get into whether Israel was justified to do what it did... but consider this: what if this happened in Israel? A Hezbollah rocket hits a building with Israel civilians, killing many including children.
What would the great power with great responsibility do?
What hurts me most is that we claim to be civilized and with values that terrorists are trying to defeat, we sometimes employ terrorist tactics and mentalities: that it's okay to bomb them because we're defending ourselves. True, perhaps... but the enemy is thinking the same thing. In order to defend themselves (a.k.a. poverty, says Colin Powell), terrorists need to make potential recruits believe that they need to join a terrorist organization. Every time the great powers act in favor of Israel (or anything against the Islam world), it is fuel for the terrorist.
Please use the great power for greater responsibility.
Here's betting that nobody leaves a comment besides those who just want to spite me. hehe.
What is the "root cause" of the conflict, as the US and UK says and commend to eradicate? How's about going back way back when someone... um... US and UK... drew lines on a map of the Middle East and created the state known as Israel? Now... I'm a am a big fan of dealing with what is now, so I shall not go back to the root cause. But the irony is certainly not being touched by the mass media. Oh, while I'm at drawing maps: Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, etc were all drawn up.
As Spiderman's uncle once said, with great power, comes great responsibility. What the great power has done so far in his 6 years of governance is great responsibilities forgotten.
In asymmetric warfare (i.e. two sides of very different levels of capabilities), the smaller force has to find gaps to strike the bigger force. And because it cannot afford to line up troops on the same field and get run over, it has to attack where the larger force fears. Civilians, therefore, come into the line of fire. There is no justification for this, obviously, but as a smaller force in asymmetric warfare, they may not have much of a choice and will face defeat if they do not resort to these tactics. I am not defending organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah; merely stating an obvious that I learned from Fletcher a few years back.
On the other hand, the larger force has to eliminate where the small force can inflict damage. That means pushing back Hezbollah from the borders. Airstrikes are very much necessary. Facing a almost guerilla enemy, blanket bombarding might be a viable tactic that will cost little in terms of military lives. Then again, I'm not defending the IDF.
What happens is naturally both sides have civilian casualties. One incident has stood out so far: the bombing of a Qana village in which many villagers seeking shelter were killed in an airstrike. I don't want to get into whether Israel was justified to do what it did... but consider this: what if this happened in Israel? A Hezbollah rocket hits a building with Israel civilians, killing many including children.
What would the great power with great responsibility do?
What hurts me most is that we claim to be civilized and with values that terrorists are trying to defeat, we sometimes employ terrorist tactics and mentalities: that it's okay to bomb them because we're defending ourselves. True, perhaps... but the enemy is thinking the same thing. In order to defend themselves (a.k.a. poverty, says Colin Powell), terrorists need to make potential recruits believe that they need to join a terrorist organization. Every time the great powers act in favor of Israel (or anything against the Islam world), it is fuel for the terrorist.
Please use the great power for greater responsibility.
7/30/2006
Donnie Darko and Guns, Germs, and Steel
Donnie Darko - fascinating movie. I liked it. Can't really recommend it though, since the movie would only suite those with the taste for sci fi. You can, however, see Jake Gyllenhaal of Brokeback fame in his first starting role (I believe). Destined to be a good actor, for sure. He's younger than me.
Guns, Germs, and Steel - I'm into Part 2, and it's a really really really good book. So far, I would rate it above the much more heralded Freakenomics. To be honest, I'm very intrigued by the assertions in the book... especially the preface about very "backward" people learning new technologies with relative ease. (i.e. anybody can do my job)
My life is being rocked these few days.
Guns, Germs, and Steel - I'm into Part 2, and it's a really really really good book. So far, I would rate it above the much more heralded Freakenomics. To be honest, I'm very intrigued by the assertions in the book... especially the preface about very "backward" people learning new technologies with relative ease. (i.e. anybody can do my job)
My life is being rocked these few days.
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