With all the demonstrations in europe, it can't help but criticize that they lack some sense of social responsibility.  In big countries like America and China, the government promote nationalism very well for generations.  They work harder - for the good of themselves and also their country.  You maintain peace for your fellow men, you want the country to do well.  It is also their civic duty / personal responsibility / social responsibility.  Promotion and financial incentives are also common practises in the workplace to keep people working.  You have to work for comforts and luxuries in life.  Canada needs more nationalism too... "yeah right". 

Although many cynics say US's rebound is not optimistic, and China's system will not hold much more growth.  Despite their problems, I am optimistic with these two countries will not lose their place in our lifetime given how adaptive, hardworking, and nationalistic their people are. Yes they can.

This will be the 5th winter in Ottawa, but I have never spent my birthday there.  This year is not any different! hehe.

Using all my 16 days of vacay plus 1 day personal leave for Dec24-Jan23 --->  A good break from the harsh January Winter to Vancouver, and then Hong Kong (and some asian country).  If I can take Dec, Jan, and Feb off every year, I suppose I can stay in Canada for good.  Only the government will let me do that unless I work for myself...  Yeah, that's what I have been doing besides hanging out with friends - research how I can say good-bye to a 9-5 job (or 8 to 8 for private companies)... I even bought the book "4 hour work week", finding my ideal job, ppl send out hundreds of versions of cover letters and applications... gawd...  Everytime I go online, I go on some real estate website, and look at cars, schools, crime rates, useless stuff and facebook until I have to sleep. -__-"  No Self-control AT ALL.  Yeah, need to get a car and stocks.  Ugh..

Not being in Vancouver would be escaping Ottawa's cold and some Eastern Canada social norms I don't like, but back to family complications and influences that are not good for me and western canada social norms I dont' like.   

This vacation excites me until I have to think of which relative to live with, what to tell people about my situation and what is the right way to maximize my time there, how long I should spend time with my dad and Mel..  Sometimes I sound very cheery.  People think that I am a very cheerful, positive person who makes them laugh.  The truth is, my default mood is either average or down.  How do people get so happy and excited?  It has been as such for as long as I can remember...  Well, unless I am talking about escaping.  hahaha.. 

"I haven't learned a lot more about investing or making money since I was 25 years old. But I've learned a lot about human behavior. Let's play a game. If you had to pick 1 classmate, and you would earn 10% of what they will earn for the rest of their life, what would go through your mind? Their IQ? Their grades? What school they went to? Who's the best on the dance floor?... Or is it who's the most effective human being. Who do people admire and love to work for. Who is able to inspire and willing to give credit to other people for their successes.

If you had to short 1 classmate 10%, who would that be? What traits turn you off?

You'll realize that the qualities in the people you want are behavioral, not born in. You want someone who doesn't keep score, like 'I cleaned your room,... now you clean mine.' You want someone who people want to do things for."
-Warren Buffet

"You have but one real choice in life, curse the darkness or light a candle."

Survival and the pursuit of success are both about the willingness to learn, the willingness to change, combined with the energy you put in. - Marsha

After screening, I took 2 roommates for shorter terms.  I would have taken everyone if I could.. One female admin manager from Quebec, for 2 months, and one male engineer from a town of 1000 near Lille in France, for 3 months.  The guy has a super nice, 10 pointer gf, another guy I met is nice with a spiteful, mean wife.  I thought of some people in my lives.  Why can't they get what they deserved?  Why can't they all have successful relationships with ideal gfs instead of heartbreaks for just wanting to be with and doing things for a person they like?  Why is this happening?  Because polygamy is banned, b/c everyone makes mistakes, b/c not everything make sense, or does it make too much sense?  b/c of different goals and expectations, b/c the attitude towards it is not mutual, b/c of timing, b/c one is not settling, b/c there are too many factors in this world, but people always ask.. because survival of the fittest is a cruel reality, it is not just and not everyday is judgement day, b/c how much you have put in, and how much you deserve, are not always proportional to how you will be treated, what you will get, and how priviledged you will become... Relation is complication.  One can't budge on these things, as it greatly affects his/her life-long happiness.

PS: I can't stand judgemental people who are proud of their blind righteousness, and condemn you because you don't think like them.  I recall there were instances I was one of these people this past year, I hope their confidence have not been lowered because of me, because it was me who was being stupid and harmful.

PS: Ottawans cannot cut Asian hair is an URBAN MYTH.  I <3 my thinned-out long hair!

Peace, 

Surviver... but why the hell do I have to just survive here?  Jeezzz~  I came here to LIVE!!  Escape Plan, Stage II.

I hate talking to managers about wanting to leave.  Heck I hate talking to anyone about leaving.

I also hate choosing between paths on major life decisions - staying or leaving, and where.  hate hate hate.. whine!

In the meanwhile, snow, wind, blizzards, groceries, car, house, dishes, insects, garbage, cat.. Don't pick on me!!! 

My 9 days of vacation is going to an end.  Back to Ottawa's family berry picking weekend.  Fun...  I didn't realize Europeans like North America so much.  To them, it is a country of progression, a country which leads the rest of the world in thinking and technology.  They love american stuff from tv series and movies to songs to american fashion.  We like Adidas, they like Nike.

My folks' old schoolmates have travelled around the world.  They concluded that Vancouver, Sydney, and Melbourne are the top three cities to live in.  Factors include weather, comfort, crimes, medical, access to good stuff including asian food so believe or not, USA didn't make it to the list.

Vancouver seems so boring.. It is my hometown.. Hometowns are always boring.  I would rather live in crappy cities then.  I just can't imagine living in one city for life. 

----------------------------------------

Went to wedding, London, Paris.  Wrap up on everything I wanted to see and do in Paris.  Good, I never need to go to Paris again.  Only practical trips for the next year.  Met so many youngsters and had a decent time. 岁月无情。

Insanity doesn't have to be a tendency to scream or go bursurk... Nothing wrong with some insanity in life.  Might not reach the 'highest medium', but at least one can enjoy life... as long as you know when to keep yourself grounded.

I love my coworkers.  Such nice, capable people with good integrity and ethics, but kept those to themselves.

Torturing myself by listening to french radio.. sooo nostalgic..  Instead of avoidance, I welcome it.  I am sadistic.

Most articles and blogs that I've seen paint day trading in a negative light- associating it with higher risk and more akin to gambling compared to long term investing.

In a project mgmt course a few years back, I learnt that ppl always work on Quadrant 1 and 4, when Q2 is the one we should spend the most time on, and Q3 might cause problems if not dealt with.  Sigh, for me, I am knowingly violating.  Project managers are supposed to be highly effective people but...  I love Quadrant 4. hahaha. 

 "Proscratination is like masturbation, you are just facking yourself".

-------------------

London / Paris Aug 20th - 29th!!!  Been travelling too too much, but I really wanted to attend my cousin's wedding and have a good time with friends and the place.  I love people!  The next travel won't be till xmas to Vancouver and/or HK (with 16 work days).  Those tickets will be covered by air miles b/c I have been travelling so much.

Prologue: Been an exhausting week dove 6 dives in two days in the Saint Laurent, studied for sailing and passed (skipper as of tonight!), now packing to NYC.  Time to be a girl.  

My NYC trip is an inception by Novella.  4 days dream, and back to quiet roads and my office.  NYC is like HK in many ways.  They are both financial centers, capitalistic, stinks in some area, a core metropolis of 7 to 8 million but dense, opportunists, crowded, materialistic, ppl are not as nice, lights, lounges, anything you want to do, you can do.... Anyway, Novella and I ate in various new yorker restaurants, lounges/patios, visited NBC - Dr. Oz and saturday night live studios, the Met museum, shopped at times square and SOHO, took strolls in central park.. You know, living like a new yorker.  I almost forgot how small townish Ottawa is.  NYC has momentum which keeps you alive, just like HK.  and so we ate from downtown to uptown.  rent is ridiculous but house prices are just around Vancouver prices.  quite happy just to be in nyc, to feel the vibe, and to lounge around there with novella, imagining our future in nyc.  She would go broke shopping and I would try to be a Manhattan girl, we would stay at her future bfs' apartment or we would rent a 400 sq ft apartment, bunk beds.  Hahaha. Anyway, we had this conversation a few years ago but on HK instead.

NyLonKong: Among NY, London, and HK, NY I have the least roots, but I like being a minority there.  It forces you to meet not only work and laugh with other races, but to invite them into your everyday innermost circle, with no others.  That always makes one a deeper, better person.  You know it when you get good deals from fellow chinese just because, that there are stores selling chinese junk for sky prices.  Chicago, I heard it provides a metropolitan lifestyle except the bums/vendors and crowds and dirt and pollution of NY and LA.  LA is too spreaded out.. I like Boston and San Francisco.  London, while I am one of them on paper, I dislike its heavy taxes and it is so bloody expensive there I will feel uncomfortable losing my job.  It is more of a relieve when things are cheaper.  Hong Kong, some may say, it is just HK... You are just like the rest of the city, if not country.  that depends on the person.  For me, I believe my roots are there, and I do have an edge there.  My folks are there and I hear crazy/interesting thing all the time.  It makes me wonder why I stayed in Canada.  Yes, I don't like how the general public think, but that is dust compared to the familiarity, the results, having the whole network there for me already, cheap, potential etc... Realistically, Hong Kong would score the highest among the megalopolises, because HK can offer a US lifestyle if you want.  Shanghai would be a tier2 choice.  I love Vancouver the way people love their hometowns.  I would only live in places which speak english or chinese to be happy and to excel.  

從頭做起，一切為自己。

I love Summer!  I am pretty happy that my summer this year is super long b/c I escaped the Ottawa winter Jan to March.  yay!!

Been very busy lately because Marsha is always busy in the summer.  What does this summer mean?  Summer blockbuster movies!  Patio time, street bumming, world cup in pubs, learning to sail, tree treking, picnic, outdoor sports :-/, gardening?, biking, DQ icecream!  got my roof done etc... Also learnt how to play mahjong. haha.  

The next few weekends, two boating exams, cousin visiting, dive, and I really really want to go to the new biggest waterpark in north america in August (just 45 min east of ottawa)!!!  looking forward to NYC civic long weekend!! also have to go to Montreal again in August - have to visit La Ronde with my friends!!  (yeah, my mental age is 10).  Rafting camp will have to be next year!!  Summer oh Summer!  Is that why cold countries' literacy rate is higher?  They have less time outside so they have to stay indoors to study and work? 

Anyway, starting to seek for a property somewhere in the world to buy.  This is a big project because there is so much to read up on.  Arguably, I should focus my secondary time (primary is play in teh summer! hhehehe!) on personal and career development because the timeframe for this one is tighter and good decisions here will open doors and bring happiness.  

Looking back, it really feels like a dream and I, no matter how active here, am living in reality now.  If you have never left Canada ever, you will think that Vancouver is the best place on earth, Canada provides the best first world comfortable lifestyle and think that gov't jobs are the best in the (read: your) world.  Yes, I agree that the above are all true, but only depending on how you value things.  Canada and government jobs, provide a stable, down-to-earth, humble, mundane, regulated lifestyle with comfort and relatively low stress. 

During my leave, I was very close to working in HK and SH.  Life in Asia, as I see it, is more unregulated, extreme and unprotected.  That's why you feel livelier and that's why it gives one hope...

0611: Original Post

When I get older, I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a wav'in flag... adn then it goes back.. and then it goes back....

Have a great FIFA World Cup season!! Just want to give you the football mood!!

PS: I'm with the frenchies b/c I have a french jacket from the last world cup.  Allez les bleus!!

Off to Montreal for World Cup and Formula One this weekend.  ^__^

0617: Week 1 Update

When I was young, my brother chose the Brazil glass from McDonald's, and I was left with Argentina.  Then the S. Korean chanting attracted me in '02, then France in '06.  Truth is, I don't have a favourite team, so I will cheer as I go. (but mainly Germany and some favoured people!) 

My predictions of the teams were so wrong.  The french is plain disappointment spirit-wise and performance-wise.  The Italians lost to the kiwis.. You really never know until the results.

Predictions        

A: Uruguay,Mexico,France,South Africa; MUFS                  B: Argentina, S.Korea, Greece, Nigeria

C: Slov, USA, England, Algeria; uesa                D: Germany, Serbia, Ghana, Australia

E: NED, DEN, JPN, CMR; NJDC                      F: ITA, PAR, SVK, NZL

G: BRA, POR, CIV, N. Korea; bcpk                                       H: ESP, SUI, CHILE, HONDURAS; ECSH

0625: Week 2 Update

These teams has made it to the top 16, and are fighting to be top 8. 

I am just happy to see the asians, americans, brits represented and made it to the top 16.

Seriously, they should have video cameras to review dives and off-side calls like hockey, and divers should get a red card!!   

0703: Week Three

Uruguay x Ghana                           Argentina x Germany

Netherlands x Brazil                                 Paraguay x Spain

What's the matter with the South American teams??  Brazil really lost it!  So sad for the losing teams. 

My bet on who is going to win the cup?  4 possible teams: Allemagne, Deutschland, 德國, Germany!!!  lol

I say, 1.Germany 2. Netherlands 3. Spain 4. Uruguay 

0707: Week Four

IMPOSSIBLE!     NED : URU      GER : ESP  OK, I have no interest in the cup now.  It is good that Spain or Holland can win the cup for the very first time.

2002 i watched it b/c my guy friends were watching it - going to their houses to watch the cup into the wee hours.  University summers - that was the peak of my youth!  Every world cup gives me a different feeling. 2006, i just moved to ottawa, cared a little less, but feeling that it is an important event, we went to Montreal for the final game to watch France Vs. Italy.  2010, super into it.  I wonder if it reflects that life is less interesting?  I definitely feel older. Interestingly, my friend felt exactly the same.  I guess we are all growing together as World Cups come and go. I am sure in four years, we will be in yet another stage and will feel that we were so young in World Cup 2010.

0711: The World Cup goes to Spain!