The Bet

Hi Chris: Please help me win a $10 bet with Z. I bet her that the first guy who takes her to lunch in SIN (where she begins Aug 10) will hold her chair as she sits. She says no way any guy in Asia will do that (only Americans!) but I am sure she is wrong. Please take her to lunch the first day, hold her chair for her, and I will split the $10 with you. Many thanks, Paul

Paul won the bet. :) How not to when he's the vice-chairman of the company and industry heavyweight? But to have someone so senior do this - it sometimes makes me think I made the right choice when I chose to leave SG. Anyway... I think I wasn't supposed to deface the bill...oops. -_-'''

Becoming an analyst

So...an article was written today... about my job.

"What qualifies university psychology majors, Fulbright scholars or students of medieval history to be part of Co. C? For one thing, they need to be exceptional at their endeavors.

Today, Co. C recruits globally and reviews several thousand resumés annually (for just 5 spots).

How are “smart” candidates identified? Of course, they must be accomplished academically, from a very young age. But that’s just one of many criteria.

“We look for super-curious people who are always exploring new things,” says Will. “We also want them to have strong, demonstrated problem-solving skills. Overall, we’re looking for those who are exceptional and have potential to be long-term contributors, but don’t know exactly what they want to do."

But ... I'm not sure if it's that straightforward as proving your worth as a long-term contributor. I'm feeling so lonely in SF now. This is just Day 3 of a 1 week business trip and I can almost hardly bear it. Maybe it's the dinner too - I hate eating alone. Wenwen told me, "You should not become an analyst, I think it is lonely". I agree.

Stars and Planets out there

A good buddy of mine said this to me today, in the context of a conversation where we were talking about just how uncannily similar we were -

"I have the crazy stamina perhaps for running/outdoors sports...you have the intensity and focus that I could only dream for...you work hard at working/studying....I work extremely hard at trying not to work...so the roots of our energies are similar, but their manifestations, starkly different. If you are from Venus, then I am from Mars. But we are both out there."

I thought it was really elegant. And I'm posting this as a reminder to myself that this is one thing (friend) I'll miss when I have to leave in 2 weeks... But at least something good's come out of these 2 years!

"The stars are out there for a reason, however. To remind us that it is not about us, it is about them...we are inconsequential in the larger scheme of things. So strive to be happy in the moment, and cherish the good times we do have right now:)"

When one door closes,

at least another opens. Or maybe if you look hard enough, a window opens. Hopefully, a window of opportunity? Sometimes you just can't be greedy. You have to say no to things/ people that don't matter, so that you can say yes to those that do.

Just half a month more and I will have to say byebye to the USA...time really flies... I'm feeling nostalgic already!

Fishy Business

There are few things left in SoCal that I want to do before I leave. One of them is to go deep sea fishing, the other is to learn surfing. So last Sunday, I decided to seize the moment and go fishing, even though that meant waking up at 4am (!!!). To put things in context, I had only arrived home at 2am the same morning when I drove to Hearst Castle.

But I know I'll shoot myself on the foot for being sluggish in bed, so I woke up and drove at a speed of 95miles/hour (150km/hr lol) to get to the boat before it took off. Of course, I ended up being really early!

Before the entire fishing trip even started, there must have been thousands of fish on our boat - all live bait transferred from another floating bait boat. (very cool! and you should have seen the birds go crazy!)

It was my first time handling live bait (or actually, even fishing!) and I just love these steep learning curve opportunities! Everything was new from learning how to set up the rods to knowing how to catch a bait, to knowing where to poke the bait so it'd stay alive, to casting the line, to reeling the line in...it was a blast!

Thank God for Jacob - a retired Israeli who taught me how to fish... He was SOOOO SUPER PRO! He ended up winning the jackpot for "Biggest Catch of the Day" and later gave me 4 of his amazing sea bass!!! (so I could bring them home and cook them! hehe)

After the trip (6am-11.30am), Jason and I checked out the Dana Point Harbor and it didn't take us too long to figure out that we had to refrigerate our catch! So...we did something quite, quite creative in my view - see below! Lol! Really C&G mann...Cheap & Good!

Once our fishy fishes were taken care of, we decided to check out San Juan Capistrano, which I have heard of since Oct 2008 when I first started work in Irvine.

It was one of many (29?) missions in California in the early years, but is the only one (and the most beautiful one of all!) in Orange County. You can easily see why -

All these breathtaking beauty aside, here's some....gore once I got home.

Again, I've also NEVER gutted a fish. It's so crazy thinking of how moments ago it was just swimming in the sea, then it got caught, and now it's getting de-scaled and gutted. Being so new (I know, I know...) to it, I emulated what I saw on the boat (the crew were charging $1 per fish to fillet it) and watched some YouTube videos (lol!)

At the end of the day, everything went great and I had my sea bass and grilled saba! Really...unforgettable! Now I need to make surfing happen! :)

Hearst Castle "The Enchanted Hill"

I've long heard of Hearst Castle but never quite got the interest nor opportunity to visit until last weekend. I guess there's some truth in that when you live like you're dying, you really seize all the time you have. I have exactly 31 days to leaving the USA and I'm just trying my best to maximize my experience, particularly the weekends.

So last Saturday, Jennifer and I headed to Hearst Castle at 7am from Santa Monica. The castle was a mix of historic architectural styles that William Randolph Hearst admired in his travels around Europe when his mom brought him on a 1 year tour when he was 10 years old.

I learned a couple of things in this trip - besides learning about European architecture-

Lesson #1: If I ever have my old kid(s), I will definitely want to bring them on an extended trip to open their eyes to the world. Maybe something like a decadent decade experience every 10 years.

10 years old - when kids are soaking in the world

20 years old - when kids are still in college and willing to stick with you

30 years old - when kids are possibly newly married/ setting up their own family

40 years old - when they can bring their kids and I get to travel with my grandchildren

50 years old - when this is possibly my last big trip with them before the realities of life (aging) takes its toll

I recall how a portfolio manager and his family lives not in a mansion but in a boat in Hong Kong, and then the same one in Singapore. He related that the kids have learned so much about life - teamwork, communication, compromise, family support etc. in a small cabin space. They then sail around the world on their boat - very cool right? :)

Some of the A-list guests in Hearst's days consisted of Hollywood and political elite like Charlie Chaplin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. But after Hearst passed away, Hearst Corp donated the estate to the State of California and millions of people have visited Hearst Castle every year.

Lesson #2: Dreams are meant to be shared. Dreams also do come true if you work hard enough for it.

Given that we were not that far from the famous PCH elephant seals, we drove to let Jennifer catch a glimpse of these huge seals! The first time I saw them was when I went for the Gilroy Garlic Festival - never thought I'd get a chance to come back again. It's a really nice feeling. :)

Then we stumbled upon another nice discovery! The World Famous Pea Soup Place! lol.

Surprise begets surprises. We then stumbled upon another really cool place! Solvang- the Danish Capital of the USA, as I later wikipedia-ed and discovered!

Given that most shops have already closed by the time we got there (6+pm), I'll probably want to go back again in the day time if there's a chance and try the Danish pastries, Belgium waffles etc. haha....byebye organic detox!! lol.

Live Like You're Dying - Who do you think of when you hear this song?

Live Like We're Dying Lyrics

Sometimes we fall down, can't get back up
We're hiding behind skin that's too tough
How come we don't say I love you enough
Till it's to late, it's not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won't come
And we could make a feast from these crumbs
And we're all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you,
What would you wish you would've done

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying

[ Chorus: // We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to

Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying // ]

And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbye
Should be so careful who we live out our lives
So when we long for absolution,
There'll no one on the line, yeah

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying

[Chorus]

Like we're dying, oh, like we're dying..

[Chorus]

You never know a good thing till it's gone
You never see a crash till it's head on
Why do we think we're right when we're dead wrong
You never know a good thing till it's gone

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying

[Chorus]

Like we're dying, oh, like we're dying..

[Chorus]

Malibu // Career advice 101

Just had dinner with GCD at Gladstone, Malibu - a seafood place perched on the beach in Malibu. Lobsters, shrimps, mussels, calamari, fish, cerviche, oysters (yes, I finally had my 2nd raw oyster and actually liked it!), gosh - it was a feast. Bad for my organic detox, but more than a feast for the belly, it was a feast for the brain.

It's at times like this (which happens so often here in my company) that I feel like all the trials and struggles I've been through are worth it. There's so many outstanding people here at work whom I've known and learned so much from that I've also hopefully matured into a better person over the past 2 years.

Career advice 101:

1) Always look for what you are good at, instead of thinking of where's the best place to be at

2) Never stop learning: the day you're not learning enough, ask for/ make a change

3) Look for ways to cross-pollinate and add value, think of your competition and look for ways to differentiate yourself

4) To develop, think growth, not costs - don't develop the Post Office Syndrome (getting trapped in silly policies)

5) Use analogies to communicate ideas - E.g. Co. as the Big Tanker - slow but powerful, massive hiring as drinking 8 shots of vodka - you feel great while at it but have a terrible hangover thereafter

Southern California (SoCal) really is a wonderful place and I'm so lucky to be living a few blocks from the wonderful Santa Monica beach/pier. I know I'll look back on my life years down the road and be grateful that I took up this challenge... even though I admit that the journey's not been easy and life's been fairly lonely...

Anyway, I always try to make the best of everything. So when Jason came, we took the chance to soak in as much beauty as we can. We visited Zuma beach, one of the top beaches in Malibu and the Leo Carillo beach (SoCal's #1 beach with amazing tidepools, sea caves, dramatic cliffs and sheer beauty) -

Given that it was Father's Day, my sister/previous landlord Maria invited me over to her place to celebrate Father's Day in what was a surprise party for Jack. Suddenly, life doesn't seem so bad. ;)

Getty Museum - an architectural gem

My friends know that I'm constantly on the go - doing/ learning something or having something that challenges me. I can't sit still and just do nothing. So it literally pained me that the weekend after my CFA exam was somewhat uneventful. I learned that sometimes, people disappoint/ life happens and it's not a good idea to build your house on shaky sand.

The weekend after that (which was last weekend) was pretty neat - Jason finally made it to LA and we went to the Getty Museum last Saturday (19 June) -

It was really nice, and intellectually stimulating with all the stuff I learned about the Renaissance period.

Weekends should be like this! :)

The longest day in the year

June 21 - the first day of the summer solstice. It's really refreshing seeing JC Physical Geography come to life with the 4 seasons in the USA. Today's the longest day in the year - the rest of daylight during summer will just get progressively shorter. Cool.

Today's also Day 3 of my 2 week detox but because I had existing lunch and dinner plans, the detox is not working!! :-( 我必须坚持下去！

Hollywood & Ice Age

Met Jennifer for an awesome visit to the La Brea Tar Pits & George C. Page Museum.

I went to work early (6am) and left early (3pm) and spending time outdoors and in the museum really made me feel like I was on vacation. Very heartening for the senses and soul!

It remains super fascinating to me how different Los Angeles must be 25,000 years ago - when Sabertoothed cats roamed, and Mammoth elephants trooped. I saw all these amazing Sabertoothed cats skulls and their crazy sharp teeth and was literally spellbound that 1) they exist(ed!) and 2) I could see my Childcraft encyclopedia come to life. I didn't even know it was from these tar pits that inspiration for the ICE AGE movies were drawn! But then again, duh...it's not surprising given that Hollywood's just 5 mins away!

On an aside note, today's special for 2 reasons: 1) It marks the start of my 2-week Organic Detox! and 2) You probably aren't reading this, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDISON!

The futile attempt

Really? It must be the influence of my dad's famous pigs. I'm not going to be a tofu over this one.

I don't like tofu

So...Guy in question emailed me today, telling me the following:

"My stomach is in knots with no appetite, my mood is very bland and down, and I can't think straight. Unfortunately, this is how I know my feelings for you are very real. I would not be feeling this way if I did not care deeply for you!"

He asked to meet up, to discuss. I'm a big softie (like tofu!) and I know that a typical me would have crumbled and tried to make the guy feel better. But I think it's a lesson I have to learn (and the same lessons truly keep happening to you until you learn them) that you can't take care of everyone's problems, and you just have to stand firm. As much as I don't believe in making one-party decisions, I think this is a call I have to make and trust that it's the best one for the both of us.

Loving oneself, loving you.

So...I did something totally out of my skin today. Literally. I went to this korean spa - where as the picture below suggests, errr... you literally dress in your birthday suit. First Korean Bath House experience. It was a therapeutic "love oneself" treatment after the crazy CFA exam, but also a personal challenge for me to overcome my shyness. lol I evidently did good and I'm proud of it. :) Maybe this is just one of those things I'll look back on re: Life in the USA and be glad that I did become a lot more open-minded. lol ;)


On an aside note, after my blissful spa treatment, I was supposed to be treated to a nice movie and dinner date. But but but...I ended up paying for the movie (and for the guy too!) and also for dinner (ok, maybe 60% of the dinner bill) ...which to me, was kinda weird. I can totally afford it, don't get me wrong. But but but....if the guy had asked the girl out, and the girl had bought the movie tickets, shouldn't the guy be buying dinner? No???

Anyway, I'm a traditional. Yes, I have the earning capacity and yes, I can pay. I can gladly pay. But I also believe a guy who doesn't even offer to do that has failed to show that he can provide and that to me, is a no-go. No??? ;)

It's over!

It's over, both literally and figuratively. The couple of hundreds of hours of prep time amounted to just 6 hours on the test - hardly representative of the volumes digested. But I guess that's the same with life. You get just one shot at making it good.

Just caught Sex and The City at Universal Studios Citywalk and man, it felt great to be alive. Missed the times I spent in Abu Dhabi, with the Sheikh and princesses, desert moons and soft sand dunes... Felt like I really related to these girls in the show... Their vacation also reminded me it's now time for me to take a good vacation and get fit, eat healthy and just enjoy the blue oceans of Santa Monica. ;)

And... darlings - I miss you all so bad! Now I finally have some context about the SaTC conversation we've had re: who we resemble most! I can't wait for our getaway vacation, just the 4 of us. :) Sworn - ours just 2 people, so cannot do SaTC story la, but I'm looking forward to catching up b4 I leave!

The Good Luck Charm

By some strange deja vu, I actually saw this coming. What are the chances that I'll be out of gas (petrol) with all those road blocks in Korea town, finding Mobil and chancing upon my cellphone (on silent mode) and *the text* while refueling?

Barry

I got to know Barry today... unexpectedly, on a website, can you imagine? But sometimes, the best things are found when you least expect it, in the strangest of places. Can't wait to see how our relationship evolves.. :)

Pissed/ Scammed [?]

I am a HUGE DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER. If I ever ran a company, my first priority would be to make sure departments talked to each other. There is just so much inefficiency when billing doesn't speak with payment- doesn't speak with collections and then the poor customer ends up paying a fee because "we can't prove that you've paid".

Another classic case of how screwed up the USA system is. -_-''' I was so mad after spending almost 1 hour at Time Warner Cable speaking with both account representatives (in person) and customer service on the phone that I ripped up the collection notices I've received after I paid and left. In retrospect, damn, I should have taken photos of them and posted them on my blog first! ANGRYYYYYY siah!!

Turns out those collection letters I have received were also scam letters (found lots of fraud complaints online) charging me different fees for the same equipment that I've already returned. Can I blame the company if they're so inefficient that even scammers try to exploit those opportunities? I would be so *SO* so pissed if this whole nonsense still doesn't end after the poppycock this afternoon.

Brooklyn Bridge and Casa Mono

Decided to treat myself to some sunshine (blue skies after the snow storm!) after being cooped up all day yesterday reading through folders of research reports. I decided to check out the Brooklyn Bridge (was told that's a very New York thing to do..) -

But because of the uber long walk, I was 25 mins late in meeting with Charles- a really awesome friend/mentor. Fancy a millionnaire driving ~1.5 hours to meet me? Crazy. There are just some special relationships in life that you nurture... and although you don't see each other very often, it can be amazing how much you connect when you eventually meet.

I should know. I don't see many friends very much these days.

We had amazing tapas - I really need to go experience Spain for myself. :) Much of the time was spent talking about love, life, loss; entrepreneurship, strategy, passion; commitment, competence, confidence (you are pretty. Nobody says that to me. I still can't believe it).

I think there comes a point in one's life when you just want to help build people, build communities and build a legacy. Why not start early?

Sleeping Beauty -NYC Ballet

I believe we should insert mini-retirement days into our every day life. Why wait till the end of your life to begin enjoying it? So after work today (how ironic), I treated myself to a mini-retirement indulgence of classical ballet (really amazing!) and caught up with an old friend from Global Village. (Gosh, it's been 5 years since we last saw each other!)

I've always felt that old friends are gold. Today's conversation really reaffirmed that - it was really warmy-fuzzy to reminisce about old times, the love stories between villagers and all. Even I was that close to getting attached!

Time really flies. Our paths have diverged so much since college. What would I do differently if I could be 20 years old again? I think I'd have taken more shots in life. Live life closer to the edge. Take more risks. Dare to dream. And really dream big.