Things are returning back to normal... slowy...

And so, things are returning back to normal... but slowly. All's good as long as it keeps up. Well, nuthing much happening lately - yeah, i still haven't gotten around to the main highlight of my Spain/Portugal trip... But it'll be coming up after i get a chance to sort through all my photos and find time to rejog my memory and thoughts. So, lately due to recent happenings - it's just between work and home for me.
I finally find time to catch back on PS2 (Persona3/ACE3) and finally have the chance to get back to my basement project. Here's some pictures of my progress so far - and yeah; that's a Home Depot rental car to transport all those drywalls back! Next in line? Flooring!

Fragile and insignificant humans

Hell yeah, I was freaked out.
Hearing stories, seeing from TV of things going wrong; and seeing them in reality is two very different things. Never had I feel so powerless and insignificant in my life before. All those things like trying to succeed in class (being so-called rocket man because of getting A grade), being aggressive, trying to stay under control most of the time, and striving to climb to the top regardless of in the office place or elsewhere - all faded away in a second's time. Seeing someone close get sick really hurts, and as mentioned earlier... made me feel very powerless as well. Spending nearly 17hrs in the hospital was like time spent in eternity.
I had once again questioned myself why did I pursued engineering and not medicine before. Maybe I can help, maybe I can do more, maybe I can avoid this from happening were questions that rang in my head. Well, I do understand that there's no 100% curing medicine, nor are doctors godlike figures who can cure all sicknesses; but I do believe that they make a big difference, and I am truly grateful. I am also not a religious person neither, but believed that there's some higher power who guides insignificant little beings like us to a 'better path' ; and today I truly prayed with all my heart. And in turn, I am happy that I did. Thank you.
(Picture taken from Spanish trip).

First leg to the trip - Portugal

After transitting through the messy Paris Charles de Gaulle airport where one would definately see the Laisser-Faire style of the slowly French causing missing luggages, communication problems coupled with angry passengers after flights were delayed due to slow customs work (Frenchies had only opened up 2 lines for 2 planes to go through their gate) - the beginning of the trip started in Lisbon Portugal. Portugal was nice, but somehow it wasn't what I had expected - I had thought that the fishing predominant country would feature small fishing boats dotting the shores and there will be lots of sardines, mackerels fresh from the seaside being sold in wooden houses along the golden coast. Well, maybe we didn't go far enough into the rural area. Nevertheless, the people there were nice and helpful (girls had smiles that can melt you away - esp the hotel stewardess when i asked her for map and directions). The architecture was interesting but not awesome but I still had a great time there; catching a glimpse of where Figo mastered his soccer skills to become best player 2 yrs in a row, lots of interesting countryside stories, roosters (depicting a lucky rooster story) on top of many buildings, and definately feeling the Portugese atmosphere where the traditional old man taking his dog out for a walk portraits we see all the time seem to be reality . We spent 3 days in Portugal and headed out over to Spain which as a long bus ride....... but here's some pics from Portugal first :)

I'm in Spain and Portugal...

Haven't updated my blog for quite a while already now... but latests developments have myself travelling to Portugal and Spain for a highly anticipated vacation. I just got to Barcelona today after touring Madrid, Lisbon and some other smaller attractions along the way. Spain is a very cultural city, and unlike all those fancy lights, glamour, excessive vanity, commercial aspects that one would see if other famous cities like Paris, New York, Tokyo, Toronto, Shanghai, etc... (not saying they're bad, just another style).
Spain boosts a country true to its roots, featuring buildings that one wouldn't find in other parts of Europe; interesting attitude (don't-care style), laid back lifestyle, and very historical architectures that can only be built by geniuses of middle age. The Moorish influence is also very evident and it would take a long time to really understand the historical changes that shaped this city starting with Islamic, Christianity clashes and the start of Crusaders. I couldn't believe how rich in background and relics that this place is... to an extent to more than other parts of Europe that I had toured earlier (England, Germany, Italy, Greece...)
It really got myself thinking once again, sometimes we choose our current paths since we have to; we balanced everything out and compare all the opportunity costs to arrive at our current stage in life. However, is this really what we want? What if I quit my job as a Sr.Design Engineer position; stay in Madrid for 6 months hopping between cities in Spain washing dishes yet learning about all of mankind's history of where a lot of cultures and civilizations originated? Just a thought....

Long weekend

And so, it was a long weekend... a long weekend of work! It started off with myself working until 10:30pm on Friday, but that didn't matter as it was my buddies' wedding was on Saturday which turned out great. Billy and Elizabeth had finally decided to "pull the skylights" (or so they say in chinese) and got married. It was specifically happy since it was someone close, one of those buddies that I had known for a long time. Dating back, I've known this guy since kindergarden in HK, then we went to the same elementary school and high school in Toronto. After graduation in different universities, our companies were also aligned next door until Billy decided to head down to California with Eli. - talk about fate eh? They had dated since high school and it was one of those great moments to see them get together after a long time and with some hiccups (like all relationships do). And so, Sat was a great day; meeting up with all of my closest friends and having fun till very late.
Then comes Sunday, I had to go to work from 10-8pm, and to make things worst? I felt like I didn't accomplish much at all. My brain was spinning fast and thinking what went wrong that nite so I didn't get a decent nites' sleep at all. I headed back to the office on Monday (holiday) at 9am and worked until 1pm, just shortly after i arrived home and had lunch; i got some calls and emails dragging me back to the office until the end of the day. I guess it's alright, considering we finally got a break and got to the bottom of an issue. Oh well, the "long" weekend is still good I suppose; as it was great meeting up with close friends during the wedding, having awesome meals with family on both sat and sun; and the gathering at Ka & Coconut's place. It was a funny get-together as we shared pictures and laughter... thanks Corrie for organizing and letting us the noisy bunch into their home :)

Wasaga Beach Outing...

And so the gang finally had some time to get together from their busy lives and headed out to a day without work or emails. It was fun to gather everyone once in a while as there were friends who worked in other cities (including myself a while ago), busy at school, or occupied with work. We met up early in the morning for breakfast and headed out to Wasaga beach this time. It was around 2hrs of drive away from Toronto and the great thing was that the weather was great during our outing weekend :) We set up Ka & Coconut's propane stove and aligned three benches to form a huge train of picnic tables. I haven't been back to Wasaga for a whole year already and was glad to be back to enjoy the fun @ the beach, not to mention the bikini scenery, and the crazy water-sports that we had that day... Stupid B-gor tackled me several times making me swallow several mouthful of water, but i got my revenge as we were doing marathon run in the beach when I tackled him from behind... ha ha. This guy was my friend since kindergarden in Hong King, then we went to elementary and high school together in Toronto, and now he's getting married! Wow, time flies... Well, after a relaxing and fun day at the beach where we originally planned to leave around 5, time past so fast and before we knew it; it was 7 already when started packing up, and I still didn't get a chance to bring out my blades yet... Nevertheless, it was a good time away from work once in a while and just to share time between good friends :)

Hooked on Bleach

Wow, bleach is really a good series. Started watching Bleach and got hooked on it. My friend Phatty had been saying it's good for a whole year already although I have only started watching it. The series is based on a hit Japanese manga and is still being released right now. I've watched quite a few anime before in university and from the 20eps that I have seen so far, Bleach is also one of best ones I've seen. Hopefully it doesn't turn bad towards the end. It does provide me with some relaxation despite there's some nasty scenes here and there... Watching it did gave me some nolgistic feeling of Rurouni Kenshien as well, both being able to define its' own genre with its' attractive storyline. Anyways, back to the series to ease my mind! Waha :)

Costs of living shooting up

House prices are just crazily shooting up toomuch lately. Was looking at some new townhouses ranging 2500 square ft around the neighbourhood and it's selling for 670k!!! It does look pretty nice though since the new construction area wanted to mimic something that of a European style so there are small shops along the street, and a nice terrace on top of all townhouses. It's amazing how much the costs of houses has rocketed lately, the average salary of someone making a midclass salary really can't keep up with the appreciation of the costs. Maybe it's due to too much immigrants and people who are investing and making $$$ off the turnaround of selling houses. I wonder what kind of security that the government will do to protect its' citizens with the costs of living raising much more sharply than average salaries.

Reckless Fire?

Now the fun begins.... I dunno what has happened or altered my chain of thoughts lately... but aside from regaining that drive and passion at work for myself; I've began looking at side things after work. Possibly after finding out that many friends have moved on after my trip back from Shanghai and Austin... I mean those expat and biz trips are helpful for my career; but I sometimes feel I am not doing enough as compared to close friends who are getting married, buying a house, making that big decision of relocating for work, etc... So, instead of procrastinating and looking back like not accomplishing anything, i'm moving forward and doing what I think i want to... regardless of small things ranging from jogging, to taking on a new project of renovating my parents' house basement, or starting to give that scam-off attitude to clueless people at work... Is this reckless fire? I don't know... but it sure energizes myself... and I hope i'm on the right path to make that successful next big step in life >:)

Long weekend in Vancouver

And so I headed out to Vancouver during the long weekend. The main thing was to meet up with relatives and visit grandma more than sightseeing and exploring the city this time. It was the first time for myself to try park'n fly but we had to use the service since the whole family was visiting. I was a bit weary that my car might get broken into or scratched, although I told myself that my VW was like 6 yrs old already - which sort of made myself feel a bit better. I had to transit through Calgary but was lucky enough to upgrade one leg of the flight to biz class from points earned from Aeroplan. After meeting up with the family in Vancity (we headed there on different flights since it was hard to book tix at the last min), we proceeded to pick up our rental car - a PT Cruiser. The pros to the car was that it looked pretty nice from afar due to its unique design, along with the fact that the car only got 2700 clicks on it. The cons however; was that the car lacked power (esp torque), requires a big radius for doing a U-turn, and various viewing angles were awkward.
Now, to the city Vancouver; lots of people told me that Vancouver is a nice city - one that is even better than Toronto, and also ranked atop one of the best cities to live in the world. The scenery was nice alright with the marina looking fairly nicely, lots of pretty girls possibly it's close to Asia, and of mountains overlooking the ocean view. However, the transportation infrastructure is just TERRIBLE! I can't beleive that their roads are mingled like spagetti, there are only limited alternate roads for detour, and there's no highway to most parts of the city. Motorists find themselves stuck in traffic for hrs if there's an accident or detour on one street. Other cons include lots of drug addicts in the city - interesting why the gov't decide to legalize drugs and also have drug houses offering free injection. My relatives told me that it was to control AIDs from spreading too quickly in the city as people were using recycled needles for drugs before they were legalized. Despite this fact, I think by doing so; people are encouraged to use them more and causing additional crime and prostitution in the city. Last observation was the slow pace of the city (motorists, getting served in a restaurant), I guess it's a retirement city afterall; and maybe i'll like it if i'm 70 or so... Eitherway, it's a nice short getaway from work and the hectic life in Toronto; and somehow i'm motivated again (not really from Vancouver trip)... but it's another story for another day :) Here's some pics!

Drive...

Drive is important. As humans grow older, they are more clear as to what they want and what they want to pursue... ranging from short term to long term goals. Everyone has something that they want to do, despite sometimes saying 'I don't know what I want in life.' I had, earlier... been in that situation too if you recall from my older posts. Even being confused and unclear; we all have that inner being that tells us what we really want... Lately, after returning back from Austin and settling in back to work here; I've been looking at people who work close to me... Interestingly, people with drive sure does make them stand out from from the pact. Even without knowing it; people shows flashes of strength and ability to what they do... I start to find driven people who has a goal to what they want to pursue regardless of outcome is attractive. A few of then lack this and take life as a joke. Why do they bother to go to work if all they do is fool around? They see me in deep thought and always ask me "Are you ok?" like i'm some workaholic yet all they do is goof around the office, surf around the net, flirt with the opposite sex, dun take responsibilities, and wait to get off with bare minimum hrs. I never knew that drive and having a goal (even a small one) is so important... well, until I see these mindless zombies at work just waiting to get paid. I hope I won't be like then, even during times of uncertainties >:p

Back in Tdot!

And so, I just checked in to the airport and am waiting for my flight back home. Although this businesss trip was more of a technical boost, somehow some of the things we already knew got to me this time. I was more than ever more convinced that one of the sayings that we all know is true and will help make us a better and stronger person: "Don't speak for the sake of just speaking, and don't just go somewhere for the sake of going." This is so true. Someones we find ourselves caught in the web just just blabbering on, starting conversations that we never meant we wanted to. Of course, there's no problem in using phrases to stir up a conversation. But it really amazes me that how many people just... talk, for the sake of it. Austin is a little town, and I had expected some really snobbish people before I headed this. Mainly because it is the 'new' silicon valley of the west with lots of talented people, home to headquarters to many world corporation, and rich CEOs with 40million houses. However, after I got here; I didn't expect to notice that the people here are very down to earth, and peak with their hearts - something harder said than done. No hiding, not saying just for the heck of it, and just being sincere. Of course, there's good and bad people everywhere as my colleague says there may also be some very racist people here as well. But, my getneral impression of Austin was that there were more 'sincere' people than in bigger cities. Ok, don't get me wrong; i still very much enjoy the life in bigger cities where there are more activities and events - but we have to stay true to ourselves and speak from our gut, talk when we mean to listen, visit somewhere when we really want to know, and just be true to ourselves. Some shots on my ride back to Toronto... Gosh, really brought out the little boy in myself, always marvelled at the aerospace industry...

Roadtrip to Houston and NASA

I always had been a close follower of the space program, and so this weekend I headed out to Houston in search for the Houston space station. It was a 3+ hr per way) from Austin but that didn't stop me. I woke up early at around 9:30 (tough during the weekends), packed up some light belongings not knowing if I want to spend the night in Houston if I'm tired, or if there's some really cool attraction. Grabbed a quick bite along the way and arrived in Houston around 1 o'clock. The downtown was smaller than I expected with only a handful of skycrapers, the Chinatown was also small - well, I just got back from Asian countries so it wasn't much of a comparison. I did found the highway structures pretty amazing though, along with those T-shaped oil-drills that looked huge from a far distance already. Anyways, toured NASA facilities and it was pretty cool although I had been to Floria NASA earlier. However, most of the exhibits were based on old technologies that most of us are aware already. The only exhibit with new news was only verbal explanatoin but was interesting itself. For some of you space program followers out there:
- The fleet of shuttles will be decommissioned in 2010 where there will be a new design coming. The new project, Constellation will be basd around lander capsules (Orion) and being propelled by reuseable fuesealage rockets.
- People aged 3-20 currently will have a chance for the beginning of spacetravel regularily.
- Currently the ISS (int'l space station) is having its new solar panels readjusted so that the panels will follow the sun at any moment. Instead of of turning the station, the 240ft long panels will rotate itself to absorb solar energy.
- ISS revolves around the Earth at an amazing speed of 17500km/hr, meaning astronauts aboard the station will see 26 sunrise/sunsets in one day!
- The next moonwalk planned in 2020 and a marswalk in 2030.
Hearing all these news of future plans really made me feel excited yet... old. Anyways, after touring NASA; headed to Galveston which as another hr drive from Houston. A small ocean city to the east before heading back to Austin.
BTW, the Mazda6's Cruise controls are pretty sweet. I think it's even better than the controls on my dubber. It was one of the features I highly used on this 8hr total roadtrip. Anyways, here's some pics!

Car review...

And so I bi7ched and complained... and it was worth it. As mentioned earlier, I was lucky and got a new Mazda6 as a rental car here. I have put around 900kms in 2 wks on it already, ho... It's a pretty nice car yet torque was a bit lacking mainly cuz the gearbox wanted to simulate a smooth Tiptronic transition as a family type sedan, so at times it was lacking power to overtake those endless trucks down here... ha ha. Speakin of cars, there's a new concept Audi for 08/09, and most likely i will get it as my next car... doesn't it looks good? Talking cars, there's also roadtrips of course! And over the weekend - went to Fredricksburg, the mountains were nice and there were lots of turns along the way. Can't believe that there were so much people - mainly visitors at the small town; and atmosphere was pretty lifely. The locals there were polite and merchants were still nice despite I was just lookin without buying. Kids were sitting around enjoying ice cream, dogs on leashes were out, and there were sidewalk sale everywhere.
I also went to another small town named Roundrock on Sunday, well - mainly to check out its' outlet mall... ha ha, anyways; highly lookin fwd to the next weekend. Anyways, another story for another time... i'm back to watching the Phoenix-San Antonio game now, and of course i'm cheering for Phoenix as that was a pretty bad harsh foul by Horry.... no way to play a game.

San Antonio Roadtrip....

The past weekend was a nice one... Firstly finished a TVB series (HK drama) so that freed up some of my time, finally got a card reader down here, met up with a cousin who lives in Austin (the hyde park fries was an Austin specialty with original batter recipe), and drove to San Antonio. Yup! it's around 1+ hr drive, but since i was having fun with the tiptronic to the new car and stopping to take pics here and there; it was a bit longer for me.... But it's all good, I guess i'm just like a small kid - really into cars. With the new ride, I was pretty hyped up to drive around the neighbourhood - I guess it does take a toll on ones' mentality :) San Antonio is big but the skyline can't really compare with other cities like LA, TO, SH, etc... I can't believe that the outskirts and the downtown was just separated by several blocks - not to say it's a small city; but the architecture between these areas was very different in only a small distance away. The main attractions include the Alamo (which actually was relocated off another location), and the riverwalk which was an artifically-channeled river flowing into the middle of the city. It's alright but maybe i've seen similar things in Venice and China (ZhouJiang) which were not as commercialized, so I didn't really find it that appealing.
Speaking of roadtrips, I'm planning a Houston trip to look at NASA since i'm a close follower of the space programs (Houston, we have a problem...), and Fredricksbery. I learned from my cousin that the ladder is a small German town located west of Austin and featured small shops and distinctive architecture styles. Somehow I can relate to a game I play back in Toronto - feeling like a character going around searching for unknown towns, too bad there's no trophies or artifacts. Anyways, as promised - here's some pics that i finally can post up after downloadin it off my card reader... ;)

In Austin Texas..

Since I haven't been updating - but as most of my longtime readers might know already, i'm in Austin. Austin is a small town in Texas US between San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. The city is blossoming with big R&D companies even now and can be compared to the likes of a miniature Silicon Valley. Work brings me here and now i've been in this south-central America location for 2 weeks already. The things at work are tiring, and very hardcore technical (it's crazy... i feel tired trying to catch up at work); but I guess it's something I want, before i head towards the mgmt direction. The food here comprises mainly of hamburgers, grill, mexican, BBQ, and steak. Comparing to Toronto, Shanghai, Taipei; there really isn't that much of a variety, but I do still try to keep myself eating healthy foods despite there's so much high-cholesterol foods out here. The downtown - 6th Street along Congress - is pretty small. It's just a short 2-3 blocks of bars and small shops and nothing really special. The people I met so far are actually pretty nice, maybe less prejudice and snobbish as people one would find in larger cities like New York, Toronto, etc... And so, there's not too (too) much to do here. Just some sightseeing and looking at wilderness (I somehow like city landscape more) with lots of outdoor activities. Oh, and did I tell everyone that I exchanged my rental car today? I exchanged the super big Dodge Stratus for a Mazda6 which is quite a good ride... No pictures yet, as I forgot my CF read back in Toronto - so please bear with me with this all txt posts until I lay my hands on one... ha ha

I'm back!

I'm back! Thanks for all those readers out there that's still visiting my site despite that I haven't updated it in a long time. Mainly because I feel that there's nothing special to update about.
Was there a time when you were unsure of yourself? Feel tired, not sure what you want to pursue in life, and start to question if this is where you want yourself to be? These were some of the questions that I have been pondering since I returned from Shanghai... and still am. Career-wise, it's a cool position to be in but it just feels like a 'job'... Socially, i do have lots of good friends I know will be there for me - but sometimes it's sad to see that many friends are distributed around the world (HK, US, and whatnot...) and it's hard to gather all the people in one place just to catch up. Family-wise, i'm on good terms with parents, relatives, and siblings; Toronto is still the place i choose to settle mainly because everyone is there. Romantic-wise, there's some better-than-normal friends here and there and I'm happy to be still single as I really hate to rush into things and regret over it later. Seeing that everything seems fine... but somehow the passion, the energy isn't there anymore. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining, since life really couldn't be better and I cherish highly of what I have right now... Maybe, it's just that time in life.... and all I need is time to see what we really want and how we want to pursue it for the rest of our lives.... Just a strange thought.

Corrupted by facebook

Been recently hooked on facebook, it's pretty cool! Try it!

You can find my profile here

Recently... unmotivated

Don't know why..... but feels that planning isn't too important lately... prossibly due to the recent changes at work so I don't really do any planning anymore and stick with the 'Sh1t Happens' thoery now... ha ha. There's still the long term goals like saving for a house, nicer car, yadda yadda... but feel that short term planning isn't that important anymore since things change too rapaidly. Anyways, didn't update much since not much happened, but will be doing a major revamp of the blog soon. Some news:
- latest planned biz trip to US has been pushed now to April 22nd... may stay there for a months' time >_<. It's cool, but i'm not overly thrilled.
- went to David Tao's concert last weekend! Will post up some pics after i find some card reader for my new camera's mini-SD memory stick. Anyone know where i can find one cheap? Been comparing with prices in SH and gosh, things are definately overpriced here!
- bought a new toy for myself: Macross YF19... a very detailed plane, same with my VF1S from the Macross serise I got earlier. However, the colour is kinda yellow... thinking of repainting it to white :) Oh, and this things pretty expensive; can't imagine i spent so much on a toy :p
And the rest? Pure work work work, ffxii, work work work, K, and sleep. Not much in progress plans at all... oh well.

300... the movie.

I knew it would be bad, just not this bad. Went to see 300 with the university friends today since there was some reunion where we went for dinner and a movie after. The cinema was tightly packed with people even sitting at the front 2 rows, youngsters who were just mature to see a rated R film had their eyes glued to the screen. The movie featured 300 barbarians fighting in a war, killing lots of people, and ended up getting killed. Period. There were lots of unnecessary bloodshed, woman in skimpy clothes, mindless hacking/slashing - purely for fanservice. There's this scene that had an enemy monster with knives sticking out his hands going 'Rrrrrrr' and it reminded me of one of those creatures you see in PC games. I couldn't hold back and was giggling crazily until some teens turned their heads and gave me the 'look'. Opps, sorry; I didn't know they were so into the film. So, what happened to those movies that actually had a plot? Like Forest Gump, Catch me if you can, or even Troy on a similar note? Did our society fall so low with only demand of plotless mindless bloodshed? I guess i was one of those idiots who spent 9.50CAD on it fueling for more demand afterall - money better spent elsewhere (not to mention the things i can buy/see with 70RMB in hand back when I was in Shanghai). Anyways.... on a positive note, I finally joined gym at Sheraton today! A friendly good looking girl showed me around the facilities, and I signed up after learning that my company actually has a corporate rate. Did some weightlifting and cardio - hopefully it can help me focus more on my new role at work, and for myself to have more clarity into the path that I should pursue moving forward....

Spring is here!

Dang, don't know why i haven't updated my blog in such a long time. Yeah, it's been busy at work, but it's no excuse - probably I don't know what's to write after coming back from very different cities in the far east. Been in the new team, and the same story applies - politics, meetings, lack of budget/training, yadda yadda yadda... but good thing is that I'm learning things quickly which is the only cool thing i guess (gosh, i do need a better oscilloscope tho; hate to beg from other teams to borrow their higher bandwidth ones). Oh, also went to Niagra Falls the past weekend with the family - and it was cool... trees surrounded by ice since the ice pellets were forming around the branches due to the mist created by the Falls making it a very rare phenomenon. People were surrounding the trees pointing and taking pics, while children took off icicles from signposts and used them as lightsabers, and tourists gathered in awe talking pictures and having a good time. It was a good time and great to feel some human interaction in this otherwise cold fluctuating winter. Another thing is that I've made up my mind to pick up my guitar once more; time flies and before one know it - a long time have passed. But if I learn something that I like, then maybe several yrs down the road - i'll learn something^. Also made a pact with a friend from Shanghai where she's picking up piano at a mature age, and myself picking up guitar in a similar case; and who knows? Maybe sometime, someday; we'll join together for a chorus... ha ha, life's unexpected and interesting....

Busy busy lately

Whoa! Haven't updated for a while... mainly cuz quite busy with work after transitioning to the new team. During weekends, totally hooked up on FFXII and rogue galaxy which had been queued up for such a long time. However, I still think that the PC game Oblivion is better than the two games - mainly due to it's opened storyline and different human interaction. In FFXii or Rogue Galaxy, you pretty much know what people will say you meet on the street which somehow lacks AI intelligence and the storyline is too linear. So right now, i'm wondering what i should get; a kicka$$ PCIE gfx card or a LCD TV... ha ha, oh well; that will have to wait after i get back from Austin since these electronics drop prices anyways... PS. attached pic is a recent pic with my coworkers to K... release stress! :)

Cold weather...

And so, starting to feel that work has been consuming up most of my life lately.... How come as one grow up - we feel that there's lesser and lesser amount of time left? Is focusing too much on career over other things a bad path? Did I really make the right choices so far? These are some of the things that's in my mind lately possibly causing my lack of motivation. Oh well, I hope I'll snap out of it before I head down to Austin soon. Anyhoo... I'm just going to stick with my good friend's view: 'everyone tries to make the best decision when they need to, and it will be the best choice at the particular moment that they were made at. There's just too much uncertainties in the future to really understand the opportunity costs and consequences.' Yeah; I hope there's a time machine :p But, maybe if there's one - I may choose the same path again... ha ha. Oh well, here's some belated pics from my ski trip 2 wks ago (hoping to fit one more in before season ends), and also attached a McMaster invention on the air lately - an interactive CPR glove that can save lives. Cool! (WinWin - you know these folks?) ha ha...

Nuthing new

Don't know why i'm getting a lack of motivation and energy; maybe it's the change of environment, the lack of human interaction, or i'm growing old despite much as happened. So, in a nutshell; here's some recent developments:
- Officially reporting to Austin and will start forming up a new group in Toronto.
- Bought skiblades which was the highlight so far.
- Went skiing with the guys last Saturday and planning for another one soon.
- Had lots of reunions with Toronto friends lately.
- Attended an Agilent seminar today which was pretty cool.
- Lack of motivation to reply emails.
- Feel awkwardly uncertain of where I want to settle down.
- Bought Rogue Galaxy and Final Fantasy Xii that were on my Ps2 queue.
- Chinese new years endless gatherings and gained weight.
Oh... and feeling tired all the time... Mmmm.

Pure Adrenaline

Gosh, was stumbling across some car sites as I was getting tired of studying HW stuff all weekend (aside from Chinese new year activities). Saw the new Volvo C30... My my... it really is irresistible. Despite still having 2+ yrs before I can change my car, my eyes widen after seeing this car and it has highly shaken my thought of getting an Audi for my next car. A3 vs C30 vs IS? Gosh.

Busy back in Toronto

Being back to Toronto since last Saturday, I didn't get much time to rest up and recover from jetlag. Work has been quite busy right after I returned to the Toronto office on Monday. Since the merger, there were lots of meetings including conversations between Austin, Toronto, SRDC, and soon there's going to be more. I may also be transtioning to my new role depending on next weeks' outcome as well. Not having much time to recuperate, clothes and the massive amount of things that I bought from SH are still scattered throughout my room^^; and I also came home to find a totally virus infected system. It wasn't a pretty sight - I had to do fresh install 2 times, along with lots of spysweeping / adware / virus checkers and the ordeal lasted for 4 days before I finally recovered my desktop. It was a colleague at work who provided me with an application called Kapersky that finally detected and killed all my viruses / adware, those Symatec and McAfee are totally useless. Aside from a crazily busy week and missing SH lifestyle for a bit already, it's good to be home to spend Chinese new years with the family; along with meeting and finding out what old friends had been up to. Although there are still lots more friends that I still neet to meet and catch up with. Oh yeah, also picked up a new phone (Moto K1) as mines' was stolen in SH last Oct...

A new journey awaits

Wooo... the Mini-skirts are back! The weather was absolutely wonderful last several days with temperature shooting up to as high as 15deg Celcius in early Feb. Colleagues and friends suggest that it was abnormal for it to be so warm in the season but I'm still enjoying the nice scenery as klickitty heels and mini-skirts are back in the hood. Gosh, I'm going to miss this. As my term nears, I'm getting excited to head back to Toronto to meet up with friends, family, and hopefully do some skiing; yet at the same time I am getting mixed feelings as I know I'm going to miss Shanghai. Afterall; I had been here for 8-9 months on and off, building a group up from scratch, and getting to meet some wonderful personalities and see things I really enjoy (prev post of things I will miss) which guided me to understand more of myself. All too true now that it's nearing my departure as I will be heading back this Saturday - time does fly, and I thought I had only been in China for several months. Oh well, a journey ends and another one begins.... I'm not going to say goodbye since if opportunity knocks again, maybe I'll travel to this side of the world again. Till another time, but never say goodbye.....

Regaining clarity and momentum

Thanks for all those encouragement; Phen, Miki, Dee, and Michely :) A few words does make a big difference. Over last few days, I had been regaining clarity of what my goal is, I don't have a 100% picture but i'm getting there. If I never try I never know, my passion is ignited once again... even if I fail, no big deal... and who knows? Maybe I'll get a little closer in understanding myself, along with things that I am looking for in life... Targetted next destination: Austin.
卫兰(M.masser lyrics): 'do you know where you're going to? do you like the things that life is showing you?.. do you get what you're hoping for? when you look behind you there's no open door.. what are you hoping for? once we were standing still in time chasing the fantasies that filled our minds...'

Another crossroad

Ever had a time that you felt uncertain and emotionally tired? Not sure why I feel this way, but I'm once again feeling like i'm at crossroad without a direction. Normally, I always have a goal in mind that I want to pursue regardless of career or personal life; but, somehow I still haven't figured out a clear goal that I want to work on this year yet... and it's Feb already! Maybe i'm just away from home for too long, or maybe it's getting close to the time I'm returning back to Toronto. The questions of what have I accomplished so far, and what I want to pursue and how I am getting close to my goal is surfacing in my mind lately. Mmmm... feeling strange man :S but thanks to Miki-san and Andy for hearing me out.PS. I may be heading out again soon after I'm back from SH, it's still early in the game so will keep everyone posted after things are confirmed.

Continuing to explore SH

And so, after treating the team for a dinner with lots of lamb (2 posts earlier), they insisted on bringing me to somewhere nice too (they are such a nice bunch man). We headed to 吴江路, a nightstreet in SH. If some of you remembered, I as in love with TW's nightstreet from a few posts back. The nightstreet in SH was similar, but not as clean nor did it have as much food - but it was great nevertheless as it satisfied my pampered tummy once more. It was a pity that I learned of the place after spending so long in China - doh! We had a great time enjoying oysters to lambsticks to cotton candy. BTW, there were some 'interesting' food that the guys urged me to try... but i'm not here to freak anyone out (non-insect), so feel free to give me a ping if you wanna know... ha ha. >There were also much street vendors selling small trinkets here and there although it was rainy the night we went so there were lesser stands. Despite climate problems; the atmosphere was great as you see sellers shouting prices, buyers haggling for a better price, and happy children. Of course, there's also the endless honking and people squeezing everywhere - well, i've somewhat gotten used to that as I am trained well on my subway comuute before :p

Things that I will miss in SH

The energy, the excitement, the dissapointment, the joy, the powerless feeling... once a friend told me that I have to be in China to really understand these feelings, and he was right. Being here on and off for 7/8 months already; here are the list of things that I will definately miss (some points I raised up before already):
1) Pretty girls; topping my list is what i've mentioned repetitively before. Having been to some places (Jap, Rus, Swiz, Fra, Eng, Gre, H'waii, most of NA, etc.), but never have I seen so much good-looking girls in my life - well, maybe TW. What can I say, i'm a guy :p and no pics, as I don't want to look nerdy. hahaha.
2) The human interaction: Being in this place, you feel human, just because you interact with so many people with various backgrounds. In Toronto, you may only get exposed to friends or people you meet being in clubs or religions; however, in China; you will never feel bored since there just too much people to see, to talk to, and to understand.

3) Food: there are alot of different food you can get here, along with many foreigners deciding to start a business here; you can also enjoy great flavors of food at a good price.
4) Mixed feelings: Feelings love and hate, pity and mad, getting scammed and getting helped - all packaged here. As from my last post, sometimes one can get pissed seeing all these everyday; however, most of the people just greet it with a laugh after seeing the other side. As my SHnese friend told me: 'you have to live everyday with a balanced and open mind in Shanghai or you'll burn up too much white blood cells as you fume up'. Very true.
5) Big scocial gap: Not that it's a good thing, you see a hugh gap between the rich and the poor: SL600s honking old men transporting water, 700RMB meals where people literally feed you and 1RMB for 10 buns, 1000RMB hotel suite/night and the same monthyly salary for a hotel stewardess... Seeing all these makes one appreciate how lucky we are, and to cherish life for what it is.

6) Elegant high heels: That clickity sound, along with pretty girls walking in high heels in rain and heat are absolutely elegant. Maybe I should start looking for a new job in downtown Toronto... ;)
Conclusion? China has it all. The poverty, the filthy rich, the powerlessness, the rude, the hidden dragons, and just... feeling human. During this outing, I definately felt like I have a clearer picture of where I fit in the world, and who am I. I don't know if it's something that's good as too much exposure is a 2 edged sword, but so far I'm learning from it. I'm sure that I will have more miss & hate points as I near my SH-departure date, but which one tops your list?