The Gift of Knowledge

I experienced a whole different level of happiness today. Special birthday gifts from 疼我的老妈！Call it cheap thrill （then again, it wasn't very cheap..hehe), but my Kindle 2 was enough to make my heart leap. Folks know there are very few things in life that I really want. I'm all for wearing the old coat but buying the new book, so just imagine how thrilled I was to receive the Kindle. There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot. Guess I was born with a reading list I'll never finish.

But seriously, it's like what Abraham Lincoln said, "The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read." Since I'm always on the move, I'm grateful for e-books, which ironically, was an idea I used to scorn at. A friend once said to me he would always ask 2 questions to the people he meet: what books they read, and what company they keep. There is much truth to his point that we're the same today as we will be in years down the road but for the two.

My summer package also arrived today!

A good thing about living in the USA is having convenient shipping (& hence, shopping!) at your fingertips!

I've always liked Robin Sharma's books (especially The Saint, Surfer & CEO) but this time round, I got the package because I was interested in the audio CDs & downloads that came with it. That way, I can listen to them while I walk to the train station and back. I know, I know... I'm completely utilitarian. But there's too much on my plate that I either have to make time for self-improvement, or to surrender myself to self-chosen ignorance.

So much to do, lots to read and not enough time but for now I'm definitely a happy camper!

Not very me... but it's a good change!

It's been a while so some key updates: I've moved to a new rotation working in the High Net Worth group (clients must have >$5m investable assets) but am still in Los Angeles. I also now call North Hollywood home- it is affectionately known as NoHo (cousin of SoHo in NYC maybe?) and I'm loving it more and more! I spent the weekend being a classic Maria - cleaning house, vacuuming, mopping, washing clothes, cooking, assembling my new furniture and BUILDING MY BED!!!

I also went grocery shopping for the first time in months and decided to eat healthily. For the first time, I bought a lot of fruits!! & all the stuff I bought today are ...... organic!!! Organic soy bean milk, organic juice, organic apricot, organic banana, organic plum, organic peach, organic nectarine, organic brown rice (!!!!), organic pasta, organic hand wash..omg, this is very not me! But i want to be healthy n love myself!!! heehee :) (Peiying darling, salutes n kudos to you! - she was the one who shared with me the goodness of organic food)

I have also just ordered Internet and Digital Cable (>200 channels) for my sparkling room. I've not watched TV for almost a year now so it's refreshing change to get my life 'connected' again. 何必要过得那么坎坷呢？It's all part of the Loving Myself campaign. hee. Anyway I'll be going to the annual GARLIC FESTIVAL in Gilroy this weekend (been hearing so much abt it!) so updates to come in a while!

Reasons to be happy :)

Just got to find reasons to be happy these days! I was holding back the purchase of Kindle DX until (1) my birthday arrives and (2) I've passed my CFA exam and hurray!! I've been blessed with a "sponsor" for my Kindle as my bday present!! ^_^ And then, yesterday I happened to work late and came across this ad in the elevator that said "Amazon has dropped price of Kindle 2 to $299" so I've decided to go ahead with Kindle 2 instead of Kindle DX and save the $200 to get 20 books downloaded instead! :-)

Pei'En and sis, Peishan just arrived last night. :) More guests but a lighter heart given that I've managed to clear some work this week.

I was praying hard about this and hoorah! Investments class on 4 Aug has been cancelled!! (Prof has never cancelled class in like 26 years!) It's a special day for me and I'm happy I can continue with my personal endeavor of not having to work on this day for the 3rd consecutive year of my working life. :)

Depending on the fate of my next rotation, earliest out of LA for me could be Oct 2009, hopefully latest out of LA = Mar 2010. :p Just got a super good discount to Argentina for USD$387 round trip (normal price: >USD$1000!) - Anyone interested in going to South America right after Sept 23? :) (Dates are fairly flexible for me, pls let me know!!!)

Last but not least, I could be a proud God mother soon enough! I chope the baby!! ^_^

Learning how to love myself

I blog because I need to get it out of my system. Hopefully when I look back at this a few days from now, I'll think it's really silly. -//-

How fragile are relationships. Once again, my theory of bf vs. gf is proven true. This isn't only about miscommunication; it's about no communication. It isn't only about assuming; it's about not caring. Sure I can be understanding (as I have already been); but it hurts to know I don't even deserve a phone call. Did I even pop into your mind as you were eating? having fun? stuck in traffic? I never imagined things could turn out this way; but I should have guessed you had very different prioritities from the last time we spoke. I trust and love you but I don't appreciate the way you've handled matters this time round. I felt you don't care; and I don't matter. -//-

Past few weeks have been crazy with family and friends visiting. Spoke with a friend today and he said, "On the bright side, at least you're loved by so many people." Ironically, too much love at the same time can hurt. I didn't enjoy the noble task of looking after everyone's needs and schedules - only finding out at the end that nobody really cares about me, how I feel, and the sacrifices and information I need to make to make things work for them. I really need to learn to love myself.

Swamped!!

Swamped looking for house, moving house, settling in, closing project, reading textbook, finding company for industry analysis, bringing folks around... These goodness are too intense!

OMGGGGG!!!

Mom told me to open the large plastic bags in the living room and pick whatever I wanted. I opened one of them and OMGGGG...I counted what was 40 Coach bags!!! >.<''' Craziness!!

I miss my family!!!

I'm not a very expressive person, I really am not; but i want to say that I am missing my family sooooo much!!! You know what's the weird thing? I'm missing them even more now that they are actually right beside me. I can't explain this. Is this what love really is?

Picked them up at the airport yesterday and it was crazy having to juggle work (with a presentation due this Friday) at the same time. Thankfully, I love what I'm doing; otherwise I'll drive myself nuts with having to give up family time for work stuff. :)

We had to stick religiously to the plan I made for them and brought them to Hollywood after we got settled down. They literally brought me food supplies that can last years of battle!! Hard to imagine as my mom & aunt are super health conscious folks who are against snacking!!

Brought them to Avenue of the Stars and Highland Mall to catch a glimpse of the famous HOLLYWOOD sign :) It was a pity the Chinese Mann Theater was closed for a movie premiere! But well, it was cool that they got to see a REAL MOVIE PREMIERE LIVE IN ACTION!! :)

Of course, we had to go to the Kodak Theater - home of the Academy Awards. Guess it'd be a whole new different feeling the next time we watch it now that we've been here :)

Decided to bring them to this yummy korean BBQ place near my home for dinner and here's my very cute little sister acting like a rabbit with the HUGE bowl of salad in front of her...

But before you think "wah...so healthy", this is the REAL SOLID STUFF!

By the end, we were sooooo full, we looked like that!

Amidst the fun, joy, happiness and reunion, there were actually many times I felt rather poignant. I looked at my parents and saw that they've really aged through the years. Much of their youth has been spent caring for us and it's not till I'm older now that I really appreciate their selflessness and 用心良苦-ness. I also thought of my grandma back home and boy! I really want to be back in Asia. Ang moh land is no fun. But I guess every extra day I spend here brings me closer to home by 1 extra day! So I'll be sure to make every moment memorable!

Sworns in Los Angeles

It's really 苦境干来, 先苦后甜！ Sworn came to LA straight after my CFA exam ended n we had such a blast! Besides just chilling out, yakking n catching up, we also had much fun attending a charity auction, checking out Santa Monica pier (one of my fave places on earth) and chasing characters in Universal Studios! :)

I remembered I first came to Santa Monica with Fayfee & cK 6 years ago and fell in love with the place instantly! I later read this book, "Five People I met in Heaven" and felt that it reminded me so much of Santa Monica pier; and voila! It was really inspired by the same pier! Never did I imagine I'd get a chance to come back again- much more, to bring my BFF over here! :)

Without going into details of our trade secret, I am really delighted with the last minute breakthrough in our SSP! :P
Goal of hitting it before turning 30 - lots to do, can't wait to get started! :)

Liberation time!

Yahoo! It's all over. Pun intended. ;) I just couldn't wait for the CFA exam to be over because it was Byebye Books and Hello Sworn! :) Picked her up from her hotel in Torrance and we went to Santa Monica for an atas charity auction then to Santa Monica pier, one of my favorite places on earth. That's not too bad for someone who hasn't slept for the past 36 hours!! -_-'''zZzZzZ

We had korean food for dinner but Sworn wasn't "satisfied" cos it was just one of those days when the carnivorous streak in her went completely berserk. :) So we went scouting for meat at 1am and ended up at..... TAADAA!!!

Got free fries somemore since we were their very last customers. :) Come to think of it, it's pretty interesting that I haven't been to any McDonald's the whole time I've been in the Land of Fast Food. That's not too bad for some 成就感！

And then ROUND 2 of my post-exam serious work started. It's SSP (Secret Sworn Project) time! Lots to discuss and plenty to think about...I think we could be on to something great!

It was real fun just catching up and laughing till our bellies hurt. I mean seriously, who would put a black marker in my coffee (& get away with it!!!) other than Sworn? lolx! I think she was subconsciously either trying to make me black coffee or trying to make the marker brown.

Well, for now, the cabin crew is jetlagged and the muggertoad is wiped out. We need to zonk before another crazy day starts! - we'll hopefully have a really nice breakfast, have some fun at Universal Studios, continue on with SSP and research, do some shopping and then chill at her hotel before MY FAMILY ARRIVES on Monday! Woohoo! I can't wait!!! :) This all feels too much like a perfect, magical dream that I really need.

Summer time never felt so goooooooooooooooood!
now that the hermit's out of the shell and the muggertoad's hitting the roads!

Procrastination...

Maths and I share a relationship similar to like poles of two magnets put together. Progress at studying today has been super slow in part due to binomial distribution and a splitting headache I attribute to brain fatigue.

I really love acquiring new knowledge, but that under the context of deadlines and exams just makes it a chore. :( So I'm treating myself to a cathartic release by blogging now. A few rewards are coming my way after this exam ends on 6 June!

1. Sworn is coming from 6-7 June

2. My family (including cousin, Derek and aunt - my eng) is visiting from 8 June - 29 June

3. Peiying my darling is also coming from 25 June to 5 July

4. Carmen xiao mei mei is arriving for internship in LA on 27 June- Sept

5. Peiying, Carmen and I are planning to look for Sue in Arizona over independence day weekend (2 July-5 July). Something tells me we're gg to head to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon again!!!

6. Buddy zj is coming to visit from Sept 13-18

Fun times! It will truly be 苦境干来！The not-so-fun part is having to juggle work, company/industry analysis, studies and house-scouting-and-shifting during the same time. My life is always so packed whether I plan for it or not...!!! Now I just need the CFA exam to end, but yet I don't want it to end so soon because that means it has to start, which also means I'm not prepared for it yet!!! -_-'''