I know I've been terrible at updating my blog. If my sole reader (you know who you are!) didn't update hers, I wouldn't be writing this right now. Ever since I came back from my trip from Asia, things went back to normal with a dash (ok more a slab) of disappointment an annoyance in the professional level (5 interviews later, rejection, massive overtime at work, realizing i'm at a dead end job), I had an epiphany and decided to drop EVERYTHING I have here and try my luck on the other side of the world (literally). Drop my current job, family, friends, everything. Going into a foreign country with no job waiting for me on the other side. Scary you say? You betcha. Exciting? Hellz yeah!
It took me a while to realize that I have always been "babied" all my life and had a safety net called "parents". If something goes wrong, ask parents for help. If something breaks, somebody was there to clean up the mess I made. I was never fully independent. This is an opportunity for me to have a taste of independence, a 6 months trial. If all fails, I'm going back home. GO BIG OR GO HOME, at least that's what they said.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Ottava rima
From wikipedia:
Each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c pattern
I had to write one for a job application (don't ask)
Each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c pattern
I had to write one for a job application (don't ask)
a geek who loves to code and think
who designs, tests and debugs too
he also likes to play and drink
there are very little thing that he cannot do
strong are his skills in php, sql, and with r-sync
weak his poetry and rhyming is but not his kung-fu
before this ends, saying this he must:
all your bases are belong to us
Monday, October 4, 2010
Day 7 and 8: Singapore and the hostel life
Singapore. The port city. A city/country that I though had the biggest prohibition ever: no smoking, no drinking in public, people do not swear. You can imagine my reaction when the cab driver said: "This bus is fucking pissing me off driving slowly like that". I was even more shocked when I saw singaporian smoking cigarette in the streets and ex pats drinking wine on the bridge. I guess I have a lot to learn about this country. There is one thing I have to mention about Singapore: THE HEAT. Picture a summer humid heatwave, but CONSTANT all year long. I nearly passed out at the botanical garden.
This is the first time where I have stayed in a hostel, and I have regret not doing this earlier. No only that the rent is ridiculously cheap, with the proper research, you can find a very good hostel with incredibly clean washroom and very friendly staff. I also got to meet various people that are in different stages of their life. A Spanish civil engineer in his 30s looking for a job in Singapore, a brazilian (and VERY pretty :P) student who is travelling, two british girls who are on their graduation trip, a german orthodontist who quit working after 10 years, an american geek in his late 30s who left North Carolina to be with his singaporian girl friend who he met online during a game of MUD, the list goes on . They all have a different story to tell, all uniquely interesting and approachable. If i ever have to travel, I will stay in a hostel. No questions asked.
This is the first time where I have stayed in a hostel, and I have regret not doing this earlier. No only that the rent is ridiculously cheap, with the proper research, you can find a very good hostel with incredibly clean washroom and very friendly staff. I also got to meet various people that are in different stages of their life. A Spanish civil engineer in his 30s looking for a job in Singapore, a brazilian (and VERY pretty :P) student who is travelling, two british girls who are on their graduation trip, a german orthodontist who quit working after 10 years, an american geek in his late 30s who left North Carolina to be with his singaporian girl friend who he met online during a game of MUD, the list goes on . They all have a different story to tell, all uniquely interesting and approachable. If i ever have to travel, I will stay in a hostel. No questions asked.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Day 3, 4 and 5: Living the life of a TVB character, big buddha and Macau
I had a mild case of food poisoning on Wednesday so after popping some meds for safe measure, I passed out in my bed.
Day 3: Living the life of a TVB character
A few years back, I was a closet fob. I was listening to tw/canto/j/kmusic and was watching k/j/tw/ch/canto/sg drama (yes i kid you not, all of them). Now that I am actually in Hong Kong, I recognized several landmarks from various drama. There is a ferry that connects Kowloon to HK island called Star Ferry and I realized that every single drama has a scene where the characters are jumping on a ferry to get back home/go to work. While I was waiting for the ferry, I had a sudden epiphany that it was this exact ferry that they take! How awesome. Upon the arrival to the other side of the sea, I arrived on Hong Kong Island, the financial hub of the country. There can only be one word to describe my initial reaction: OVERWHELMING. Overwhelming in the sense of HOLY SHIT THERE IS 10X MORE PEOPLE THAN IN KOWLOON type of overwhelming. After getting lost on the small streets, I stumbled upon a very steep road where there is an escalator that goes up to god knows where (I stopped half way and I still don't know if that is a stairway to heaven) called Shelly Road (part of it leads to SoHo, yes, just like in NYC). Once again, a mental flashback of a drama scene came to mind and I then realized how common this area was too!
Speaking of life of a TVB character, women characters are usually uber sweet or uber bitchy mean, i-am-going-to-fuck-you-up-if-you-are-in-my-way type of mean and jump on the first rich character. I had dinner with a friend who lives in HK and she's telling me how all the girls here are fighting to find a rich man and hope to marry him and not have to work ever again. Rather scary if you ask me
Day 4: Big Buddha (Tai-O)
To be honest with you, this is a destination where you do it once in your life to say "I DID IT" and carry on with your life. The highlight is there is a GIANT statue of Buddha and the scenery is BEAUTIFUL. That's about it. If i were to come back, it will be for hiking since there are a myriad of trails and the mountain sceneries are just breathtaking. I just don't know how people deal with the heat... imagine 20km of roads to walk.. in a mountainous area?
Day 5: Macau
Yet another greatly overrated destination. Sea sick people beware, the ferry ride can get bumpy and if you have a sensitive stomach, chances are, you'll get to see what you ate prior to the ferry. Macau is known for two things: cathedral/ruins and casinos. The ruins are literally ruins: one of the main highlight is a cathedral that is built next to one of the biggest fortress in Macau. The catch, all that is left of the cathedral is the front wall (And the arches) that's it. The rest burned down a few centuries back. The other ruins are the remains of fortifications. The casino itself are also pretty underwhelming. Maybe I had expected something like Vegas where there are BIG statues with lights and what not. I went to the Venitians and if it wasn't for the sign that says: "Venitian hotel", I would have never guessed. The outside looks like a typical 5 star hotel. Inside, it's golden, big and nice. The casino area has a surprising amount of bacarrat tables, a bunch of slot machines and your usual games (craps, blackjack, roulette etc) and ONE poker table area (with a 500$ buy in which is about 60$) where it's a cash game. My biggest beef is that people can SMOKE. Terrible.
Day 3: Living the life of a TVB character
A few years back, I was a closet fob. I was listening to tw/canto/j/kmusic and was watching k/j/tw/ch/canto/sg drama (yes i kid you not, all of them). Now that I am actually in Hong Kong, I recognized several landmarks from various drama. There is a ferry that connects Kowloon to HK island called Star Ferry and I realized that every single drama has a scene where the characters are jumping on a ferry to get back home/go to work. While I was waiting for the ferry, I had a sudden epiphany that it was this exact ferry that they take! How awesome. Upon the arrival to the other side of the sea, I arrived on Hong Kong Island, the financial hub of the country. There can only be one word to describe my initial reaction: OVERWHELMING. Overwhelming in the sense of HOLY SHIT THERE IS 10X MORE PEOPLE THAN IN KOWLOON type of overwhelming. After getting lost on the small streets, I stumbled upon a very steep road where there is an escalator that goes up to god knows where (I stopped half way and I still don't know if that is a stairway to heaven) called Shelly Road (part of it leads to SoHo, yes, just like in NYC). Once again, a mental flashback of a drama scene came to mind and I then realized how common this area was too!
Speaking of life of a TVB character, women characters are usually uber sweet or uber bitchy mean, i-am-going-to-fuck-you-up-if-you-are-in-my-way type of mean and jump on the first rich character. I had dinner with a friend who lives in HK and she's telling me how all the girls here are fighting to find a rich man and hope to marry him and not have to work ever again. Rather scary if you ask me
Day 4: Big Buddha (Tai-O)
To be honest with you, this is a destination where you do it once in your life to say "I DID IT" and carry on with your life. The highlight is there is a GIANT statue of Buddha and the scenery is BEAUTIFUL. That's about it. If i were to come back, it will be for hiking since there are a myriad of trails and the mountain sceneries are just breathtaking. I just don't know how people deal with the heat... imagine 20km of roads to walk.. in a mountainous area?
Day 5: Macau
Yet another greatly overrated destination. Sea sick people beware, the ferry ride can get bumpy and if you have a sensitive stomach, chances are, you'll get to see what you ate prior to the ferry. Macau is known for two things: cathedral/ruins and casinos. The ruins are literally ruins: one of the main highlight is a cathedral that is built next to one of the biggest fortress in Macau. The catch, all that is left of the cathedral is the front wall (And the arches) that's it. The rest burned down a few centuries back. The other ruins are the remains of fortifications. The casino itself are also pretty underwhelming. Maybe I had expected something like Vegas where there are BIG statues with lights and what not. I went to the Venitians and if it wasn't for the sign that says: "Venitian hotel", I would have never guessed. The outside looks like a typical 5 star hotel. Inside, it's golden, big and nice. The casino area has a surprising amount of bacarrat tables, a bunch of slot machines and your usual games (craps, blackjack, roulette etc) and ONE poker table area (with a 500$ buy in which is about 60$) where it's a cash game. My biggest beef is that people can SMOKE. Terrible.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Day 2: Hong Kong - Lost, dazed and confused
After a somewhat good night sleep on a bed that is exactly 6 feet long (I am so grateful that I'm not a mutant like Yao Ming) and waking up at 6am (thinking i have over slept), I have ventured into the urban wilderness of Hong Kong. First thing I learned was to to look RIGHT before LEFT, something I have forgotten since my trip to the UK 4 years ago. I finally arrived in Mong Kok for the quest of a new cell phone (for those who do not know, my current cell phone is an ASIAN model, which means it lacks the 850 band which seems to be mandatory around my house). My coworker referred me to this placed called "Sin Tak" which apparently tells 2nd hand phones. What I didn't know was that it was a PLACE (ie mall) called "Sin Tak" and not the store.
The heat is another thing I'm having trouble coping with. Growing up in a country where the temperature is below freezing point for about 3/4 of the years, a 38 with humidity area is quite a shock for me. I think i downed about 1L of water within an hour and I had to buy more. This is something I have to get used to and quick because once I exhaust my desire to shop (which will probably end tomorrow), I have trips which involves walking around non air conditioned area and then I have singapore which is worst. Oddly enough, night time is as bad, minus the heat, but it seems that everybody comes out at night. It's like i'm living in a twilight movie or something :P
As for food report, there isn't much to report today. I am still taking it easy on the "exotic" food just to avoid weird surprises, so I went to Cafe de Coral (it's a fast food chinese chain) for char siu and duck and rice, and dinner was fried lo mien on a street corner. The language barrier is going to be rather tricky since I barely know any cantonese and my mandarin is mediocre at best. Speaking english is the equivalent of putting a huge "I'M A TOURIST" sign above my head.
Going to try to exhaust myself by staying up as much as i can and hope to get a good night sleep. My objective is to NOT crawl back into my hotel and take a nap. If i have to drink 10 coffees to stay awake, then dammit that's what i will do!!!
The heat is another thing I'm having trouble coping with. Growing up in a country where the temperature is below freezing point for about 3/4 of the years, a 38 with humidity area is quite a shock for me. I think i downed about 1L of water within an hour and I had to buy more. This is something I have to get used to and quick because once I exhaust my desire to shop (which will probably end tomorrow), I have trips which involves walking around non air conditioned area and then I have singapore which is worst. Oddly enough, night time is as bad, minus the heat, but it seems that everybody comes out at night. It's like i'm living in a twilight movie or something :P
As for food report, there isn't much to report today. I am still taking it easy on the "exotic" food just to avoid weird surprises, so I went to Cafe de Coral (it's a fast food chinese chain) for char siu and duck and rice, and dinner was fried lo mien on a street corner. The language barrier is going to be rather tricky since I barely know any cantonese and my mandarin is mediocre at best. Speaking english is the equivalent of putting a huge "I'M A TOURIST" sign above my head.
Going to try to exhaust myself by staying up as much as i can and hope to get a good night sleep. My objective is to NOT crawl back into my hotel and take a nap. If i have to drink 10 coffees to stay awake, then dammit that's what i will do!!!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Day 1: Hong Kong - The adventure begins
After over 7 years, I am returning to Asia, but this time, I'm going there alone. After the usual 20+ hour long flight, walking through a maze called HKG and having the shuttle bus drop you off at a corner where the hotel is nowhere to be seen, I have arrived in one piece! I'm hoping jet lag won't kill me tomorrow. I have already ventured around my hotel (which is conveniently located a block away from the Temple Street night market) and went on a hunt for street food, mostly something easy to eat (read snacks) and also to scout the area and see what there is to offer around here.
Between the overwhelming feeling of what seems like an infinite amount of stalls selling knock off tshirts, random accessories and cell phones and tourists, I found a few places which sells meat on a stick. With my incredibly limited cantonese, I pointed to squid and this thing that looks like sausage and said one of each. Quite interesting, the squid is not really my cup of tea though, boiling it isn't hitting the spot, probably grilling. It's amazing how there are so many tables outside taking over the corner of the street. One thing for sure, I'll check out those restaurants.
Speaking of food, I just have to comment that Delta Airline has one of the worst food I've ever had on a plane. My flight from Montreal to London on AIR CANADA was better. Note to self: when they offer a CHINESE and a WESTERN menu, stick to WESTERN. The chinese one was just a plain insult to the cuisine
Between the overwhelming feeling of what seems like an infinite amount of stalls selling knock off tshirts, random accessories and cell phones and tourists, I found a few places which sells meat on a stick. With my incredibly limited cantonese, I pointed to squid and this thing that looks like sausage and said one of each. Quite interesting, the squid is not really my cup of tea though, boiling it isn't hitting the spot, probably grilling. It's amazing how there are so many tables outside taking over the corner of the street. One thing for sure, I'll check out those restaurants.
Speaking of food, I just have to comment that Delta Airline has one of the worst food I've ever had on a plane. My flight from Montreal to London on AIR CANADA was better. Note to self: when they offer a CHINESE and a WESTERN menu, stick to WESTERN. The chinese one was just a plain insult to the cuisine
Monday, August 16, 2010
Changes...
Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed. ~Irene Peter
Phew.. wedding season is over for 2010. Two weddings, two weekends, back to back. Weddings are great occasions to meet new people but more importantly, catch up with people that we haven't seen in years, even decades. My cousin's wedding is a great example: it's the first time in almost a decade that the cousins have been in the same house. We all grew up and changed: one became (is going to be) a doctor, another one is in the air force. We are older but yet the complicity is the same, we still had fun reminiscing about the past (while having a few/lots of drinks).
Last weekend was one of my childhood's friend's wedding. I've known her for well over a decade. I also caught up with one of her cousins who spent every summer of his pre-teen life in Montreal (he was from Dallas). The minute we said hi, it felt like time has never stopped and we picked up where we left of, 15 years ago. There was no awkwardness nor weird silence. Just laughter and old stories.
We might all grow up and change physically and mentally, however, there is always that one element that defined us as a kid that will never change. No matter what we experience in life, a person will never change.
Phew.. wedding season is over for 2010. Two weddings, two weekends, back to back. Weddings are great occasions to meet new people but more importantly, catch up with people that we haven't seen in years, even decades. My cousin's wedding is a great example: it's the first time in almost a decade that the cousins have been in the same house. We all grew up and changed: one became (is going to be) a doctor, another one is in the air force. We are older but yet the complicity is the same, we still had fun reminiscing about the past (while having a few/lots of drinks).
Last weekend was one of my childhood's friend's wedding. I've known her for well over a decade. I also caught up with one of her cousins who spent every summer of his pre-teen life in Montreal (he was from Dallas). The minute we said hi, it felt like time has never stopped and we picked up where we left of, 15 years ago. There was no awkwardness nor weird silence. Just laughter and old stories.
We might all grow up and change physically and mentally, however, there is always that one element that defined us as a kid that will never change. No matter what we experience in life, a person will never change.
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