Sundays With Kev

Update

2011-06-26T09:46:00.001-04:00

It's amazing, but there still seems to be people that are reading this blog (hi Mom and Dad!). So it's worthwhile to post some updates.

Multiple trips across SE Asia. I love the tropical islands around here, so easy to get to from SG and also fairly good value for money. I'm a big fan of those resorts where you don't have to think much and get all the food catered for.

Tried to do some diving again (in Redang, Malaysia) and in hindsight I should have done the refresher course. Had all this trouble staying at neutral bouyancy. It may have been due to me taking enormous and quick breaths! After one diver (where I came to the surface with a bloody nose) I've decided it's not my sport.

Going to Hong Kong next week, might even swing by Macau. Always good to see family and friends. And then NYC at the end of the month!! Should be fantastic.

Work continues to be quite enjoyable. I've come to the realisation that I do like mangaging people. I like talking to my staff, encouraging to do bigger and better things. I'm not sure how good I am at it, but it's definitely a learning experience. This coming year, I need to do more engagement with the people in country, and understand what ICT options they need. More video conferencing!

And as this year has flown by, it's time for another birthday. Next week, 33. I was talking to some friends the other day about internal contentment. Am I content? I am much more comfortable (and confident) with the person that I am. Not content because there is still so much more to achieve in life. I'm still young enough to hold a dance party! Jook revived in Singapore!

Here's to another great year.

Japan and Plan C

2011-03-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

It has (again) been a while since I've updated. Apologies to family members that have been waiting breathlessly for the latest news!
First off, Japan. Bringing skis is good in theory, but slightly annoying when having to carry three other bags. I was unlucky with the snow in Niseko, somehow getting the only 4 days of sunshine for Feb. Tokyo was a blast, eating, drinking, partying. I totally recommend going to Shibuya 109, the all female department store just to check out the cutey chicks! My new favourite look, the short shorts, off shoulder top and heels. Hot!
Hoping to get to Korea at the start of April, there's so much hype for that place!

On a completely different topic, I think I understand what being a "Plan C" for someone feels like. They enjoy your company, have fun conversations over chat, willing to say yes to dates, but they NEVER initiate. You never feel like it is quite right. In essence, you are not their "Plan A", and if they are your "Plan A", then it kind of sucks.
The question then becomes, can one move from being a "Plan C" to "Plan A"? From my experience, I think the answer is no. The only real method is to make them a "Plan C", through mental and emotional discipline, and pace oneself. Don't "give all your cookies away", as a friend once told me. (As an aside, telling them that you like them may not be that bad. At least everyone is clear on where they stand).
Such is life. To all the people that suffer this syndrome, you have my sympathies!

Reconnections

2011-01-23T09:17:00.002-05:00

One of the real joys of moving to SG has been to reconnect with old friends.

Reconnecting with my high school mates living in SG on a regular basis makes me feel that SG is so much more like a real home, as opposed to a place that I am just passing through.
They look after me through dinners, giving local advice when needed and living vicariously through my up and down social life. It has definitely made the transition to this city much easier.

I'm reconnecting with other friends here in SG, acquaintances previously but now good friends. Time and proximity does that to people!

I'm reconnecting with good friends in South East Asia, such as HK, Shanghai, Tokyo (in two weeks!). When traveling around is this easy, I should have no excuse not to visit.

I'm reconnecting with people have swung by SG in the last 5 months to visit, adding new memories to old memories. Everyone seems wiser, more comfortable with themselves. Some are putting a greater commitment to living the life they have, others are ambitiously planning a change to their current one. I'm happy for everyone's successes, and wish it upon myself as well!

Business Success

2010-12-23T10:16:00.004-05:00

It's been a while.

I just recently heard that a friend of mine got bought out by Groupon, in essence replicating the idea of "group buying" here in Singapore. Given that Google tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion, the offer Groupon made to my friend was pretty sweet indeed. Plus they made him CEO for their South-East Asia region!

It's funny cause I remember talking to him about it in New York, when he was getting himself set up and making trips to Singapore. It's fantastic to see him do good and achieve the success that he has received.

Of course this makes me think about getting myself started with some business ideas here. What it also made me realise was that it's all in the execution, even if the idea is modelled after someone else. Whilst the internet has made certain things easily accessible across the globe, there are still many location-based services that just need to replicated to a new location.

No doubt there will be sacrifices along the way. My friend dropped out of an INSEAD programme in order to get his business off the ground. What sacrifices would I be willing to make? Am I still too wedded to my job? I told another friend that my heart is still in my current job. Perhaps I need to accept that this job is what I want to at the moment...if that's the case, then I need to make sure that I am achieving everything I want to in this job.

Shanghai

2010-10-28T11:01:00.006-04:00

It's been 7 years since I went to Shanghai. The place has undergone a dramatic change, from all accounts. What made it good before still applies...the food (sheng jian bao, yum!), the view from the Bund, the French Concession. I remember vigorously partying the first time I was here. On that front, it seems like nothing has changed! Can't believe they opened up a Prive there. Fun to meet new friends, more places to visit around Asia.

Di and I went to an "art battle" event, where random artists are making artworks in front of you and you vote for the one your liked best. It's this kind of stuff that I don't think is available in Singapore, although perhaps I'm not looking hard enough.

Finally made it to the expo, on the second last week it was showing. I'm so glad I had connections to get into the Australia pavilion (our company built it) and the Taiwan pavilion (friend was VIP). Not sure if I would have lined up 4 hours to see these things, although if I had lined up for 4 hours for anything I'm sure I would have raved on about it just to validate that it wasn't a complete waste of time!

Spent time at the office as well. It always seems that hospitality is wonderful in these regional offices. I'm sure they get sick of random staff members coming in to visit, but they are so gracious about it. It's good to get some face time with these guys though, makes work easier when communicating or convincing them of a certain process.

Speaking of hospitality, thanks Di for taking me around! Hope you get your visa sorted out so you can visit me in Singapore!

Hips Don't Lie

2010-09-19T08:12:00.002-04:00

My last 1.5 years in New York were filled with forays into nightclubs around the city. What always attracted me to a place was much less about the physical qualities of the people there but much more about the quality of the music that was played. So I would willingly go to places that my friends deemed questionable in order to dance to my "pop-RnB" tunes.

Friends who have known me for a while (which I assume is every person who can be bothered to read this blog) know that I am quite happy to boogey away by myself, as long as the music is good. Those last 1.5 years have, I believe, improved my dancing abilities to a point that it gets recognised as a value-add item!

I was never quite sure what made my dancing good, having not had any training (apart from many 21st birthday party performances). The Economist has now shown the way. Indeed, all it comes down to is a willingness to "drop it like it's hot"!

It has been a both pleasant and unpleasant to find out surprise to find that Singapore does not have many people who I would consider good dancers. Guys especially seem rooted to one spot. Pleasant in that it makes me at least be better than average, unpleasant in that there are girls here who can't dance (side note: drunk foreigners here still love to do that mosh pit thing in the middle of the dance floor...both a dangerous (for the people around them) and idiotic exercise).

Ah, memories of Circle come flooding back!

A Servant Life

2010-08-30T10:27:00.001-04:00

One of the big pluses of being in Singapore is that I get to enjoy Jo's company. Whilst it can get silent sometimes, he does ask (or usually states) good questions, things worth thinking about.

He posed a question to me the other day, "I don't think you should stay in IT too long, as you are in a servant role, and it's not helpful in understanding how to grow a business".

I was initially a bit shocked. But it did get me thinking about it more.

He's quite right, internal IT is all about serving our business, and quite a reactive place. When the business grows, we grow. When the business shrinks, we shrink. It's a place of ideas, yes, but always of ideas to cut costs, not to increase revenues.
Granted, at my company, there is a small group of IT people with a focus on growing the "technology in property" part, but the focus is always on IT serving the business. And especially in construction, where the majority of people think that they can still build a building with just pen and paper.

And the pitfall with the service attitude is that creativity is more difficult to achieve. When IT is in reactive mode, it's comforting to not have to think and just do, just fix the problem at hand. We become great problem solvers for the problems that we can see. But growing a business usually involves fixing problems that are not yet visible, tapping the untapped opportunity.

So I need to think more holistically, and understand how the business wants to grow here. As a start, I need to think of how we can position our IT offerings to enable this growth. Perhaps business ideas will grow from there.

Should I totally step away from this servant life? A part of me quite enjoys this role, so for the time being it's the right thing. I do like the managing people part, that is where I'm learning a lot. I'm sure that will come in handy in the future.

Singapore Update

2010-08-16T08:08:00.003-04:00

Update:
1. Put a deposit down for an apartment, moving in end of the month. Funnily, I just found a video walkthrough of an apartment in that building that is the same as mine. However, mine doesn't have anywhere near that good a view (or come with that music!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDQh2wxKycs

2. Since I haven't moved in, not sure about quality of food in my new area. I'm currently close to a hawker food centre, so hitting that up quite often. I'm a cheap eats kinda guy :)

3. Meeting people all over the place. Obviously catching up regularly with Anton and Jo/Krystal, seeing Nic quite often as well. Making some new party friends, which is good for me not having to line up at parties. Will try to catch up with other people here...

4. Found myself a volleyball group, so playing on Sundays. Good players, and very friendly people, so getting some exercise.

5. Need to find more people to practice Mandarin with, not throwing it out there enough.

6. "Mini CIO" job is ok, reporting lines are a bit blurred, but I don't really care as long as I've still got some influence. I've settled into the job a bit more, got some runs on the board with a new initiative. Truth be told, I haven't heard much at all from my Asia CIO, so I should reach out to him more...

Overall, I'm feeling happy about this place. It's been very easy to settle in and get into the Singapore rhythm. Looking forward to traveling around Asia. Still missing friends in New York, but glad to have internet/BBM to keep in touch.

Farewell and Hello

2010-07-26T00:54:00.002-04:00

Pic from Boston / Cape Cod trip here. Thoroughly recommended.

As I count out my last days here in NYC, a friend asked me what I will miss most about the city.
I remember telling another friend ages ago that the one thing New York has above all other cities is the opportunity to do what I want at whenever I wanted. Through sheer numbers of people in this city (and especially Manhattan) there is always something going on.

So I will miss that feeling of opportunity. The feeling that "hey, something random and special will happen tonight!". Most likely it involves alcohol.

Of course, I will miss the friends, both new and old. From Aussie mates, to friends from work, volleyball, Company of Heroes and clubbing, everyone has been so welcoming. I would like to think that it's more than just the fact that my American friends like to hear my accent that they hang out with me, but who knows? My Aussie friends are like family now. I will miss them the most.

I have a few New Yorkers that have lived in this city and cannot think of moving anywhere else. Whilst I feel that I have made New York home, I was fairly sure that I would not settle down here. With the significant distance to family, if was always going to be a "time-constrained" experience. Experiences like acting, MOMA, Broadway shows, and Circle all add up to a lifetime of memories,

It's special to live in NYC, it's even more special to live in the city both as part of a couple and as a single guy. There is definitely enough things to do to satisfy either lifestyle, but if I was to pick one, I would say that New York is THE place to be a single guy :)

I have learned a lot about myself in the last 3 years and for that I am thankful. New York has forced me to try new things, see different perspectives and perhaps reinvent myself. New York has made me believe in me. Really, that is all anyone can ask for.

I believe that the transition to Singapore life will be smooth. Having good friends that already makes it much easier to fit in. Of course there will be challenges (one of which is the new role) but I am looking forward to it.

So farewell New York, hello Singapore!

Self Reverence

2010-07-03T10:19:00.000-04:00

As I celebrate another birthday (Boston and Cape Cod!), I read an article on the three pillars of a successful person: self reverence, self knowledge and self control.

The first one has always been a struggle. I did not notice it as much in my younger days, but similarly to when someone points out that you say "um" a lot, I see it in my writing and my actions. I use a lot of self deprecating humour, and whilst it is effective, sometimes I wonder if it means I don't value myself enough.

I wrote about this lack of self reverence a while back.

To take one light-hearted example, at clubs, I will quickly remove myself from pursuing a girl if other guys come in and have a shot at that girl that I like. Why?? Why do I rate myself so lowly against other (mostly Asian) guys that if I objectively assessed the situation I would consider myself an equal or possibly better?
I know that my personality is such that I do not like to make such judgments against people, plus I'm not too big on confrontations.

New York has taught me that there are some arrogant people here, super confident in themselves, perhaps to the extent that it isn't even true.
However, being an Asian Australian living in America bumps my "perceived quality" quotient up a few levels, due to a) the accent, b) the attitude and c) yes the accent. As my friend says, "get it whilst the getting is good!". I'm following her advice :)

I need to understand that the combination of my personality, career, outlook and looks all add up to a decent package. I don't think that enough, and given my new life in Singapore, it's worth a shot. Believe, and Aim High!

Strategic Thinking

2010-06-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

I recently attended a "management strategy and communications" course. I was initially drawn to the communications part, of learning how to properly structure the words to senior executives so that they understand the message and know what actions need to be undertaken.

I obviously did not read the course in much detail, or really the title of the course, as there was a whole day (it's a two day course) spent on defining management strategy.

I'm starting to understand how "tactical" my job really is, focusing on deliverables and milestones. As part of the course, defining a strategy is always about understanding the market differentiators, what makes "us" better than the competition. From the market differentiators, this should (hopefully) lead to some insights that will determine the strategy and hence strategic objectives.
What was an even more shocking realisation is how little I understand or appreciate the ways that the company makes money. It was a revelation to see the breakdown of the profits (via our annual reports), and see the trends of where money can be made.

To me, "strategic thinking" is quite an foreign concept, but one that I should grasp and master if I am to do my next job properly. There's even a line "develop a vision for the region" which is causing all sorts of anxieties.

My boss defined "strategic thinking" as "testing a certain theory against as many scenarios as you can, and the one that gives the best outcome is the one you go with". Thinking about that a bit more, is it really the flip side risk analysis, when you think of everything that can go wrong by taking a certain course?

I'm glad I did this course. Perhaps I could become a strategic thinker in the future!

San Fran / Yosemite / Vegas / Grand Canyon

2010-05-23T12:47:00.002-04:00

Top ten things about San Fran / Yosemite / Vegas / Grand Canyon:
1. I got some new hiking shoes. Now whenever people invite me to hikes or places with ankle deep water trails, I'm all over it. Oh and a headlamp, those things rock.
2. I saw a bear! It ddin't look massive, so assuming young bear. Glad that the momma bear wasn't around to chase us.
3. It's infinitely more rewarding to have hiked a trail in order to get to some nice lookouts. Probably due to the fact that I slaved 6 hours with a massive backpack on to get there.
4. Camping overnight, seeing stars, cooking around a campfire. Not sure if I would do it again, but glad that I did it this time.
5. Winning at the craps table. I was up from the start and never looked back. Lesson for next time: when the hot roll finishes, immediately leave.
6. Setting up shots inspired by Sydney Dance Company pictures. Way less classy, but way more hilarious. With double SLRs, tons of happy snaps (check the pictures here)
7. Partying in Vegas is 100% dependent on the crew that you go with. This time, everyone was committed, which made for two great nights (see pictures here)
8. My first spa facial! I now know what extractions mean. I never knew that there existed a thing to cleanse your face using ultrasonic sound waves...
9. Cruising the highways from Vegas to Grand Canyon in a convertible Mustang. Even other tourists took photos of us!
10. Catching up with Waz. Good friends will always be good friends.

Bonus: Hearing that I might be going to Vegas again in June :)

Acceptance

2010-04-25T20:55:00.005-04:00

I've been reading a book recently called "Mojo: Hot to Get It, How To Keep It, How to Get It Back". It's (yes) another self help book, recommended to me by a person I met on the plane. Whilst it has the usually "how to achieve happiness and meaning in your life" stuff, there was some good advice on being aware of reputation and how it affects the choices you get in life.

What was more interesting was the concept of acceptance, and that if you can or are not willing to change either the circumstance or yourself, to "move onwards and upwards".
I like to think of myself as a fairly pragmatic guy, and so this resonated with me quite a lot. One of the pieces of advice from the book was the concept of a "lifetime pass". The question to always ask is: "is my life better off or worse off because this person is in it?"

Friends have asked me recently why I would still hang out with my exes. I struggled to answer the question, but now I know. I shared a very significant part of my life with them, and I know that my life would be worse off if she wasn't in it. And though I may wonder "why?" once in a while, whatever happened before is water under the bridge. She continues to make my life better, so I hope we stay friends.

Who is on your "lifetime pass"?

Photos: Uploaded photos from Aives and Pete's wedding. Love Opera Bar!
Photos: General Sydney trip. Good to see family again.

Vail 2010

2010-03-28T21:23:00.005-04:00

What I like about Vail is the vastness of the place, especially when it's a weekday and there's a lot less crowds. This was the one and only "west" ski trip this year (with new skis!) so had to make the most of it.

Weather was beautiful, but unfortunately Fay got himself injured on the first day. Jumps never work out well...

So I ended up skiing mostly by myself. I did take a "mountain tour" where some advanced ski instructor took me and another person around the mountain. In essence it was a quasi-ski lesson, at around 1/5th of the cost! I thought I was decent, but there are some people that are just awesome at this sport.

Of course, by the last day, I had to attempt some jumps. For some reason there is always the urge, but the fear factor is so high. I think the thing is that as a kid I never got to do this and so my body has never actually gotten comfortable with the whole concept of "air-with-skis-on".

After some initial success....

...came some failures.

I blame the poor camerawork by Fay! What could have be gloriously Warren Miller-style films turned out to be only just youtube worthy.

I'll miss Vail, I hope to come again sometime.

Might have to go to Japan again...

Taiwanese Dramas

2010-03-16T15:37:00.002-04:00

As part of my ongoing Mandarin learning, I thought I would try to watch some Taiwanese drama. Get immersed in it, hear it spoken around me. I could never understand, though, why my ex would follow it like some form of addiction. Having experienced Asian drama on the periphery, I should have known.

The one I got recommended was "Fated To Love You". (Fact: This series broke all TV watching records, garnering 10% of the Taiwanese population for one of its episodes). I was hooked. I watched multiple episodes in one sitting. I had originally planned to watch each episode twice to catch the words, but that went out the window after Episode 2.

Things that I have learned from watching Taiwanese dramas:
1. What RC said in the comments from that Korean movie post: "Persistence...is a necessary part of the dating process, to push yourself past what would normally be 'comfortable' by Western dating standards." This definitely holds true.

2. There is excessive "drama for the sake of drama" in this series. Some of the scenes, though, were indeed quite touching and I would admit that I welled up a bit during the first mom-daughter chat when she was leaving the household to live with her new family.

3. When you are a director of a vast family business, you don't have many day-to-day responsibilities, and can enjoy the luxury of time to do daily ceramic classes to woo back your girl.

4. The "instant replay" mode of dramatic scenes is heavily utilised for added effect. I think I heard one phrase repeated 7 times, from seven different angles.

5. No one has the ability to say what they really want to say or feel. The true feelings are always found out in some excruciatingly roundabout way, possibly via some recording (video/voice/letter).

6. Even the "not hot underdog girl" is quite hot.

I had a great time watching this series. As they say with many things, the first time is the most memorable. I still have the theme song in my head playing on repeat.

Judging from these shows, I think my approach to women has to definitely change if I'm going to Asia!

Oppotunities

2010-02-22T23:46:00.001-05:00

Throughout these last few years, I've struggled with the question of "what do I really want?" I have been able to experience working in many different roles, in two different countries. Career-wise, opportunities seem to present themselves to me. I used to think that it was luck, but I think I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that I am a valuable resource to the company.

There is a new opportunity. It seems like a step up, good for my career if I want to get into management.
If I take it, it fulfills some of my aims. I get to be closer to family, I'll get some "IT management" experience. I get to travel a bit and meet new people. It's a chance to work on my "strategic" mindset, which I believe probably needs some work. Whilst it's a challenging gig, it's a safe role.

The "unsafe" role would be to try to start a business (or buy one) and go out a make a living. It would be harder yet I think more rewarding at the same time. I thought I was ready for this path, but now with that job offer I'm not so sure. And now that I'm not sure, I keep asking myself, when will I ever be sure?

The fact of the matter is that there is little downside to taking this job opportunity, in my mind. I'll get to see if I really want to work and live in Asia or not. The only consideration is time, and as my friend said to me, it's the most valuable thing we have. Time to get something off the ground, time to understand the market, time to make a contribution, time to learn something new.

I think my timeline to get to Asia has just shortened.

Portraits

2010-02-07T23:04:00.002-05:00

I just started using the Face recognition feature on the new version of Picasa, it's a ton of fun.

Besides the fact that I seem to take photos of the same people over and over again, it's worth noting some of the following points:

1. I look quite unique (yes!) as Picasa does not suggest other people in my album. Perhaps this is because there is a greater sample space and hence the algorithm is better.

2. Boges matches up with anyone that has thick rimmed black glasses. That includes both men and women (sorry mate!).

3. My ex apparently can be confused with a whole set of other asian girls! Yes, they're all good looking :)

4. All babies look alike, Picasa cannot tell any of my nephews and nieces apart for the younger photos.

5. Mum, whilst incorrectly associated my aunties (her sisters), makes sense from a hereditary perspective.

6. Even the condom hat on Des' head cannot fool the system!

Hours of fun, this feature :)

Squatter

2010-01-24T23:21:00.003-05:00

I've had a squatter at my place for the last 3 weeks. Kev's on his 4 week medical rotation, working at Beth Israel hospital.

There is a "pay it forward" feel about this arrangement, as I had similarly squatted at Bjee's place for 3 weeks!

Whilst my place is a bit squeezy for two people to cohabit for any stretch of time, it's been awesome having him here. Good to catch up, recall old memories, share in new ones.

Old friends are such that there is an immediate comfort when meeting up, anywhere in the world. We've all grown a little bit older and hopefully a little bit wiser but the old jokes are still funny.

Kev and I share the same relationship status :) It's fun to live vicariously off someone else for a change! Too many late nights, but if one is in NYC for a short period of time, one has to make the most of it. Random pics will appear on Facebook for sure.

I've enjoyed the time, Kev. Thanks for coming to visit me in NYC. Hopefully you got the experiences your were looking for here! Circle will miss you :)

Hong Kong #2

2010-01-10T16:26:00.002-05:00

It was wonderful to see the extended family again, I can't believe how many folks made it over. I've been relegated to the "younger" kids table, not mature enough to hang with my older cousins (all of whom have kids). I did chaperon my younger cousins for New Years Eve, felt very responsible there :)

Had a fantastic seafood dinner, near Kwun Tong. There is a specific "seafood market" next to the restaurants where you get to choose the specific food that you want for that night. Yum.

Got to hang with Jay and Glorya, and see their business in action. I'm inspired! It's fun to talk to friends that have taken a different path, and the trials and tribulations that come with that path. I wish them all the best in the new year.

Of course there was some additional partying. Billion, Play, Vola, random other names of places I can't remember. For the first time my "don't talk, just dance" approach landed some success!
I have come to the conclusion that I need to be more of a baller. It's expensive to party in HK, possibly even worse than NYC. If only I was hot enough for other people to buy me drinks...

More photos uploaded of people and landscapes.

I miss the (relatively) warm weather already!

Hong Kong

2009-12-25T23:45:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine once said that every time she goes back to Hong Kong it's like going home.

I never used to feel that way about this place, even though I share the same ancestry and migration patterns as her. However, having stayed here for nearly two weeks now, I understand a bit more of what she meant.

I am starting to understand the jumble of streets in Central, the smells of curry chicken rice everywhere I go, the crowds of Causeway Bay, the random big nights in Lan Kwai Fong. I have also come to appreciate the serenity of the Outer Islands, the (relative) quietness of mid-Levels and that just wandering around Hong Kong is a great way to take in the city.

Yes, I could live here.

The trip has been fun because of all the different activities:
Trish and Roy's Wedding - lovely and heartfelt, and the first time I have seen one of those "chairman's suites" in a 5-star hotel;
Mary-Ann's birthday bash, seeing all my relatives, catching up with old friends, making new ones.
I still have a week to go, to see my immediate family and Por Por's 91st (!!) birthday.

It's been good to be able to do some thinking as to where and what I want to do next year. There seems to be a few options on the table, need to see what is best.

Thanks Bjee for letting me have the run of your apartment. It's an awesome place. And no, I swears I haven't had any parties here!

Glee

2009-12-13T22:58:00.002-05:00

I don't usually watch that much TV. Actually, the cable for my internet doesn't even connect up to the TV.
So it's lucky that they replay certain programs on internet to watch.

One of the shows that I am a big fan of is Glee. It's a high-school drama/comedy (mostly comedy), with lots of random musical numbers that people perform during the epidose. Glee Club, as it is known in US, is the equivalent of the Aussie "jazz ensemble".

The fact that they sing tons of catchy modern pop songs ("Thong Song", "Bust a Move", "Defying Gravity") is great. What makes it stand out is the Glee Club's teacher is very talented (both in singing and dancing), and all the kids in the club can really sing well. One of the main girl leads came from the musical "Spring Awakening", which was playing in NYC a while back. Side note: Don't watch Spring Awakening, I thought the storyline was quite bad, with nudity that really wasn't necessary in any way.

Now, many of you may associate Glee with High School Musical. Having never watch High School Musical, I can't comment on that, and hope that others may provide some insight into that comparison.

I think that liking Glee is probably for guys a bit of a "closet" thing (perhaps it's High School Musical and its association with wild teenage girls screaming for Zac Efron). There seems to be a certain shame in admitting that it's a great show and yes, that "I do sing along to the songs". To that I say, who cares?? It's good fun, buy the album :)

Here's to hoping Season 2 is as good as Season 1!

Cambodia, Thailand, Wedding

2009-11-26T15:57:00.003-05:00

In one word, fantastic. Let's break it down in more detail:

Cambodia
Angkor Wat and the temples around Siem Reap are definitely worth seeing. It's great that we are able to walk through the temples. Yes there are lots of tourists there, but not overwhelming and there is a serenity to the place that no amount of people can detract from. Angkor Ta Prohm (otherwise known as the "Lara Croft" temple) has melted back into the forest, with all the vines that grow through the stones. Banteay Srei Temple (otherwise known as the "Women's Temple") has some of the most intricate carvings in stone that I have seen.

Of course Angkor Wat is very impressive. I would recommend going to the National Museum before going to the temples, it provides a much needed background on why certain things were carved on the stones. I have a much better understanding of Hinduism and Buddhism now, although all those names of entities gets pretty confusing!

We also managed to get out and about in the touristy town part of Siem Reap. Women are aggressive there, probably because they are of the "working" type. Couldn't look at anyone in case they came up to say "what's up"!

Got to do a Cambodian cooking class, that was a ton of fun. My aim is to make some coconut sticky rice soon!

Pictures here.

Thailand (excl wedding)
I have been told that Thailand is much better outside of Bangkok. From a pollution perspective, they are probably right. However, some good things to see there: the Grand Palace is bling! It's as good as the palaces in Europe. It's impressive that Thailand still has a constitutional monarchy, that's probably why those palaces are so well maintained. Wat Pho (with a massive gold-plated reclining Buddha) is worth a visit too.

I rate the outdoor bar on the top of State Tower. Only in Asia, where safety concerns are much less of an issue than they are in western countries!

Of course there was the bucks, good bunch of guys that went out. Yes, I went to a "Thai show" and yes, I saw things that I don't think I ever want to see again. I wonder what makes people decide to train to shoot darts from there?? Apparently the show that the hens went to was even more fascinating to watch!
We even hit the town, Bed Supper Club was swanky. There's a rule in Bangkok that all clubs close at 2am, except for the dodgy police controlled ones!

Pictures here.

Tax & Dex's Wedding
After a massive Friday night out, on to the bus to go to Hua Hin, a beach resort town 2 hours south of Bangkok. The wedding was wonderful. There was a slight comical hiccup when the celebrant couldn't pronounce Dexter's name ("Doctor Liu"), but everything else was flawlessly executed. Outdoor dinners are always risky (due to weather etc), but it was starry, balmy night. With the beach, fireworks and great food, everyone was happy and celebrating, and that's the main thing.

Congrats Tax and Dex, see you in Feb hopefully!

Pictures here.

Friends
Finally, the best thing was catching up with everyone. From UK, HK, Aust and everywhere else, it was a grand gathering. Partying and reconnecting with old friends (until sunrise) is just plain fun. Even made some new friends! Those animated GIFs are coming. Here's a preview

Until the next wedding :)

Halloween

2009-11-01T22:58:00.003-05:00

A brief synopsis on getting a costume for Halloween

1. Don't think too hard about the costume until the day before the party.
2. Decide to change the outfit on the day of the party from normal pimp to Eastern European pimp
3. Proceed to wander around Chinatown looking for "fake Adidas" gear. Get blank stares from Chinese shipowners when asking for "sweatpants".
4. Receive inspired advice from a friend to go to Century 21 to buy discount sportswear.
5. Buy sports gear (only had Nike), move on accessories.
6. See the ridiculous lines outside Ricky's and other Halloween costume stores where everyone else is in the same boat, getting last minute stuff.
7. Inspired thinking on my own part to go to St Marks Place to look for fake bling.
8. For the first time in 2 years living in NYC, actually go into one of those St Marks Place "variety" stores that sell random crap.
9. Acquire fake gold peace sign necklace. Even bargained the guy down!
10. Get wig and sunnies off mate.
11. Also get wife beater singlet off mate.
12. After dinner, miraculously grow sideburns from black cosmetic outliner.
13. Decide that if I ever take off the jacket, I'll just have a singlet on. Proceed to desperately bulk up with a few push ups and pull ups.
14. Put the outfit together, drink and have a great time.

It's funny, being out in NYC during Halloween, you almost feel out of place WITHOUT a costume on. Some people go all out (I heard reports of a 12 foot tall Optimus Prime) so it's fun just to be costume wandering around. Good times, and more photos here.

New Record

2009-10-17T19:22:00.002-04:00

I have had alcohol in my system every night since Wednesday. It's Sunday morning now.

Luckily, most nights have been on the "gateway"-level of 3 drinks, which is the point where any further drinking will lead to a rapid decline in ability to stay coherent. The exceptions to this have been Saturday...and Thursday...and maybe Friday.

In New York, with such good infrastructure, thoughts of drinking and driving are never an issue. So that "ok, one more..." comment never really has any illegal activity attached to it. I expect that Hong Kong would be similar in ease of alcohol intake.

I am sure my tolerance for alcohol has increased substantially. However, that tolerance is only reserved for the following:
1. Malibu and cokes
2. Strong cocktails, of the type produced in speakeasy bars
3. Random tequila shots

I am a lightweight when it comes to beers and wines, keep that in my if you are taking me out.

Does this make me a (semi) alcoholic? I sure hope not. In my assessment of other people in NYC, I'm not even close. Drinking is so prevalent here...plus Dad says that it has to be 5 drinks a night minimum, so if I only do that once a week, I'm sure it's ok. Right? Right? Cheers!

Side note to family: This post in no way represents my abilities to be a responsible son / brother / uncle.

Chicago

2009-10-03T13:59:00.003-04:00

I like Chicago. I like the structure, the cleanliness, the hot Caucasian women that live there.

Two things struck me when I visited my cousin who is doing his MBA at Booth School of Business.:
1. Rent is cheap. The amount of space one gets is fantastic value, at least from the perspective of someone who is living in a small studio.
2. B-schoolers seem to be having a great time, living it up as uni students once again.

On the second point, it made me think once again whether I should do an MBA. However, I know that going to grad school just to hit it isn't going to do my career any good. And it's not for free (unless you get sponsored), that's a $150,000 party, not to mention lost income for the two years. If there is no expected career change or boost, then it's not really worth it. What one MBA'er did say was that it really opens your eyes to the breadth of opportunities that are out there in the world.

Go to check out a college football game. It felt more like "Friday Night Light" than the NFL. Northwestern (the home team) are apparently not that good a team, and yes they did lose. However, they did make a game out of it. Here's a clip of a touchdown that Northwestern (in the dark blue) scored. Action starts around the 20sec mark.

Good also to catch up with a friend who had moved back to Chicago from NYC. I'm impressed by the freshness of the sushi and sashimi I had at a place called "Coast".

I didn't need to do the touristy stuff (having done it last year) so it was a lot of chillin out and talking shit. That is sometimes the best thing for a holiday.

Age

2009-09-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

So the more I get out and about in NYC, the more I am meeting people of a variety of ages.
I started high with those Korean cougars in L.A. but things have gone progressively uphill/downhill (depending on your outlook).

Am now meeting 22 year old women and even 21 year old guys. WTF?

I don't think of age as an issue, and that comes from the fact that I would hang around people in the same age vicinity as me. I still think the same way. However, for some of these young'uns, there is some surprise and the "why aren't you settled?" question has indeed come up. I'm tempted to reply, "because life doesn't always work out you the way you think it does at the ripe old age of 21."

Trying to remember back to when I was that age, I would think the same way as them. However, that was Sydney where no-one goes out beyond 26 and this is NYC where older people party just as hard, so I do feel I'm not that much of an outcast!

I did hear once a friend of a friend lied about their age when they first met a girl (I think he's around my age) but he told the truth later and now they are all good as a couple. There's a part of me that thinks, surely putting a lie out there that early is not conducive to a good relationship?

Thank goodness for the Asian gene :) Most people think that I look younger than I am. So maybe the key is to avoid the topic altogether!

Red Cross

2009-09-07T00:19:00.001-04:00

I recently volunteered for the Red Cross. What surprised me was how strict they were in terms of making sure that the volunteers were proper, committed people. I'm subject to a background check as well as an interview. In essence, it's like applying for a new job! It's probably a good thing, it weeds out the people who thought "why not?" and sign up for it. And truth be told, a part of me is in that category. It's easy to volunteer for stuff, but it's harder to stay in it for a long period of time. Red Cross does emphasise the "we want you to be doing a job that you want" instead of the "throwing bodies at it" approach that many other agencies take.

So I did do some browsing and I'm thinking that the Disaster Response Reserves sounds interesting. I'd like to be able to use some of this project management skill (or lack thereof) to help out in disaster situations. And surely if I can work calmly in a disaster situation, everything else in my normal line of work will be a piece of cake!

I went to the orientation the other day, to get a history on the organisation and all that jazz. A few random facts:
- Red Cross symbol is the second most recognizable symbol globally, number one being Coca Cola
- Red Cross responds to about 8 "incidents/disasters" per day. Obviously a disaster is anything where bad stuff happens, right down to a family.
- Red Cross have about 4,000 volunteers in the Greater New York region, and they are aiming for 10,000. That's bigger than my company!

It will be interesting to see how this goes. My previous concepts of charity were more slanted towards teaching a person to fish, as opposed to giving the fish away. With disaster relief, it's really all about giving stuff away to make sure people get through the initial "survival" phase. Will see if it's fulfilling or not. Either way, any charity is better than none.

Poverty

2009-08-23T11:50:00.005-04:00

It's probably because of my personality, but I like books that provide clear step by step instructions on what they are about.
With "The End of Poverty", Jeffery Sachs does this, providing an operations guide for countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon in 2000.

What was interesting was understanding some of the causes of poverty, and getting rid of some of the myths, especially of African nations. Some causes, such as corruption and mismanagement, affect a countries state a lot less than I had previously thought, which geography, disease and nutrition causes countries to get stuck in the poverty trap.

What was also interesting was that birth rates for poverty countries are high most likely because parents understand that they will lose some of their children and in order to compensate have many more kids. This in turn leads to population growth that the country and land cannot support adequately. If mortality rates of children goes down, then there is less risk of losing their children and parents will naturally reduce their family size (similar to richer countries).

I read an article once about how the human mind has difficulty comprehending large numbers. When you see a statistic 1 million children die from malaria each year, it's sometimes harder to imagine that than the 4000 that died in the World Trade Centre. 1 million is a staggering number from a preventable disease, but these people are nameless, faceless. Say what you will about Bill Gates, he can comprehend that large number, and recognises that significant amounts of money needs to be invested to combat that disease.

Here's to hoping we reach those Millennium Goals by 2015. Given the financial crisis, it's going to be a tough ask.

Acting

2009-08-16T22:45:00.003-04:00

Acting class is still going strong. Having asked for some new material, my teacher pointed me in the direction of some plays written for American-Asians. Playwrights such as David Henry Hwang and Philip Kan Gotanda have contributed to plays that address the issues migrants face in belonging to this country.

Frankly I never knew that these types of plays existed! And it is refreshing to read scripts that I can relate to, at least on some superficial level. My previous attempt at a monologue had me as some "Southern gentleman", out of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie".

Of course, we still have some shockers, Hangover being the current movie that I can think of. Unfortunately, Asians are now being typecast not in their mannerisms but more so in their job line. Great example would be that nerdy analysis guy in "CSI", the nerdy Princeton Korean guy in "Harold and Kumar".

It's also great to see that there have been more non-stereotypical roles for Asians in cinemas these days. John Cho seems to be doing well, acting as all sorts of roles (yes, I am a fan, did you know he's 37?), from space cadet to some cop.

I still have an aim to get in a play here, but given the sheer talent of the people around me, it's going to take a lot longer to achieve the goal. Still, it's good to use that part of the brain, and once in a while we all want to be someone else for a change!

Perhaps the best indicator that we are on even ground is when people don't write about these issues any more. It's just, "he's a good actor".

Achievements

2009-08-02T23:04:00.003-04:00

Reading the book "Against the Gods" (thanks Baba!), it details the history of risk, and how society moved from thinking of the future as pure uncertainty to one where it can be (sometimes) quantified.

The book describes the many people that contributed to risk assessment, from philosophers who thought about probabilities in life to mathematicians that provided the theorems on calculating the utility and expectancy of events.

What was more remarkable was the amount of achievements that these people had acquired by such young ages. Fibonacci wrote his book Liber Abaci when he was 27. Edmond Halley was a member of the English Royal Society by the time he was 22. Daniel Bernoulli was Professor for Mathematics by the time he was 24.

I don't know if it's because the life span of people in those days were shorter, but people seemed to be awesome early. Of course, history would have a bias to people of note, so we only read about famous people who would have been the top 1% of their society.

We are definitely getting to an age where I can see some of my friends really powering ahead in their pursuits / professions, and it's fantastic to see that. It just makes me think that I need to do more with my life. What's my contribution? What can I do that will make an impact?

I could be approaching this the wrong way. Perhaps the better question should be "what strengths do I have so that whatever I do has the greatest impact?"

Of course, as I write this, having come off a massive night in town, perhaps the focus is in the wrong place at the moment!

I Feel Used.

2009-07-26T18:42:00.001-04:00

I've heard about it here and there, but never experienced it myself until last night.
Random girl comes up and dances up close. She's fairly cute, I'm a willing partner.

I suggest to go have drinks at the bar, she obliges.
One mixed drink, one shot, of course paid for by me, as I asked her to go to the bar. Conversation flows fairly easily, I learned that she's doing dentistry.

Back to the dance floor, a bit more dancing, then it's "I gotta take this call, will be back". Never comes back.

Warning signs for the future:
1. The fact that she wanted to down a mix drink. Who does that??
2. The "let's get back on the dance floor" call quite soon after the drinks were finished
3. The (possibly fake, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt) phone call to move away from the dance area

Let that be a lesson for all you single guys out there! Still, the dancing was pretty good :)

New York - Jun and Vegas

2009-07-16T22:24:00.006-04:00

Catching up on pictures.

New York - Jun 09

Good to get some flower shots in again!

Las Vegas - Jul 09

Go the hungies!

Belated Birthday Review

2009-07-14T15:17:00.003-04:00

I did a search on "birthday" on my site to see what goodies came up. Quality posts!

Obviously things have changed a lot since last year, let's look at some "age-changing" factors:

Things making me feel older:
- Heavier drinking has made my liver older.
- General fitness has declined. However, having just gotten a bike (fixed gear!) I'll be looking to turn this one around
- More responsibility at work, more engagement with global teams, talking to more senior staff
- Living by myself.
- Thinking about my next step in life, and working out the future

Things making me feel younger:
- A somewhat more "lax" attitude to responsibility, or rather, saying "yes" to more things.
- Having no savings (due to moving costs, lease break fees, excessive holidaying) has made my bank account younger.
- Getting told at dance parties "I thought you were mid-20s!". Must be the dance moves.
- Getting booked in LA by Korean cougars.

So overall I'm about square! That sounds about right. Perhaps the Asian gene of looking "ageless" applies not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.

A quote from last year's post still applies:

I've heard that men are in their prime during their 30's, as they have got their shit together and are really making a decent contribution to themselves and to society at large. Perhaps this birthday milestone is just a sign along the road that I am traveling, an acknowledgment that things are now coming together and that I am finally starting to be a wise man.

New York Summer

2009-06-28T22:34:00.003-04:00

Summer finally hit this weekend with some glorious weather. It was great just to walk around, soak up the rays and enjoy New York. Things on the hit it list:

- Play some pickup basketball
- Go to Hamptons, need to get on the party list of a friend who has a timeshare of a condo there
- Go to upstate New York, apparently there is some apple picking thing to do.
- Kayak on the Hudson river
- Check out another Jones Beach concert
- Play some beach volleyball at Long Island city
- More public theatre shows. If I can score a Shakespeare in the Park ticket, I would definitely go
- Back on the exercise routine, surely there are enough days left in summer to get ripped and then still have time to show it off :)

Other activities that have occurred / already booked in:
- Watched Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds. I am impressed at the energy of that guy (given he is late forties?), as well as the number of hit songs that he has written. One thing was that when he did sing those songs together, it was noticeable that they all have a very similar beat and style. Highlight was some of the classic Boyz to Men songs
- Seeing Bei and Reenie in consecutive weeks. Always fantastic to have friends come and visit, I once again marvel at how easily we can travel globally. See you guys in November and thanks Reenie for the present!
- Seeing some relos come from Kingston in Canada for the weekend.
- Late night funky Jazz at Blue Note. Makes me wish I could play a saxophone, or any musical instrument, for that matter.
- I cooked! Steamed fish and choi sum! And amazingly, no one got sick!

I've taken to saying "yes" to pretty much anything, and it's been good fun. One thing that I have refused to do is to start any form of long distance running. That, to me, is just no fun, plain and simple!

Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong

2009-06-13T18:37:00.002-04:00

Photos are up.

Sydney

Ben & Syl's Wedding

Singas & HK

La-La Land

2009-06-10T23:34:00.005-04:00

I think weekend trips are brutal, leaving Friday, taking the red-eye back on Monday and straight back to work.

That being said, Los Angeles was great fun. It had all the makings of a good trip:

Key events ie NBA finals game 2 (go Lakers in OT!)
Stoopid photo opportunities at every turn
Travelling companion willing to go out, hitting random Korean clubs. Perhaps 2 people attempting to share one bottle of vodka was a bit too ambitious.

I think LA is too much car travelling. The pavements are empty, everything feels far away, it's not something I'm used to. Of course, if I did live there I would get some awesome car to cruise around in! It has this ecclectic mix of architecture, from spanish to modern to old school chateaus. This actually makes the neigbourhoods such as Beverly Hills quite fun to drive around.

Definitely need locals or friends of locals that can tell you where to go out at night, but that "close at 2pm, no more alcohol" rule is ridiculous. Remember, unlike New York, start early!

Would I live there? Nah, not my thing. Good to visit though.

Asia Trip

2009-06-04T17:29:00.002-04:00

I believe that going to Asia (Singapore and Hong Kong) is like going to an alternate universe where clubs are easy to get in, sleep is an option, and work is something people do on the side of living it up.

I didn't think that my body could handle four days where:
- 2 nights I had 4 hours sleep
- 1 night I had 1 hour sleep
- 1 night I had no sleep as I got home at 6am, packed and went to the airport to go to Hong Kong (thanks for having me at your place Anton!)

Not surprisingly, I slept 14 of the 15 hours on the plane, and then another 12 hours when I got back home. I read somewhere that you can make up for lost sleep if it is done within the week of when the lack of sleep occurred :)

It was great fun. Both more livable than I had previously thought (maybe I'm easily influenced) and offering more than just the standard party / shop / eat combo. I was surprised to hear of hiking trails around Hong Kong, and we went out on a boat cruise to Clearwater Bay, which was a very relaxing experience.

Of course, the best part was catching up with friends, both local and overseas visitors, as well as my family there. My grandma (my mom's mom) is as sprightly as ever. Best conversation of the trip:

Me: "So you have to tell mom that I've been good here in Hong Kong" (this was after my grandma sees me coming home at 10am)
Grandma: "You know that I can't lie!"
My Aunty: "Well, you could say that Kev was good during the times that you were awake."

Indeed!

Sydney

2009-05-19T01:55:00.000-04:00

The fact that I have a ton more work meetings in Sydney could mean two things:
1. People like meetings in Sydney and talk through collaboratively
2. I am a real nigel in New York.

It's great to be back, and having two weeks means, for both work and play, there is a bit more time to enjoy it. I have again sampled the goods of the fish market (so fresh!) and visited the old haunts of Privilege (so cheap!). Family is good, friends are good, work is good. Everything is just...good.

And perhaps that is why I'm not so keen on coming back here quite yet. It feels like settling and I'm not ready to settle. I feel like doing challenging things, to get out there amongst it, to have stories to tell my kids. Whether that is in New York or not, that probably depends on the job. But New York seems a good place to start.

The time constraint of my stay there had previously not felt as tight as it does now. It's time to hit it.

Sunday Art

2009-04-28T18:32:00.003-04:00

So I "performed" in a street art production on Sunday. Here was the instructional blurb:

Each participant will carry a sign bearing different slogans taken from my stream-of-consciousness writings. Participants will be posted a couple of blocks away and when instructed will carry their sign with conviction and determination towards the gallery to create a silent picket line that slowly swells from on lone picketer to hopefully a group of up to 20 picketers. They will silently move back and forth in this formation until the lead picketer walks away and they will disperse one by one away from the gallery until the space is left empty.

It was part of this Rececssional performance, where groups of people would tour around a few galleries and different "movement art" things would be happening. You can tell that I'm not an artist as I suck at describing these things.

It doesn't mention that I had to have masking tape over my mouth, but that's a minor detail.

Having never protested anything in my life, it's a strange feeling to be stared at when I'm holding up a sign. I can see how people would feel empowered by protesting, but it would be quite dismal if you were the only picketer. The lack of noise (with the masking tape and the silence of the crowd) made the performance stronger, I think.

Back to the to do list for NYC....Public performance: check.

Wii

2009-04-19T09:05:00.003-04:00

When people would as me about consoles, I would say "Wii was a console for party games such as Wii tennis, Wii boxing etc. It's good for a few laughs but it's not a true gaming console, as the single player games aren't that good".

So whilst in Toronto with my relos, there was a Wii console that my cousin had. Yes we played some tennis and boxing, but when everyone left I had to entertain myself. Luckily for me my cousin had this massive collection of Wii games.

And one game I played was Super Mario Galaxy. I was amazed at the execution of the game, and how well they used the contollers with their motion sensors. The sheer originality of the moves, from spinning the Wii remote to spin Mario, balancing Mario of a boulder to do a course, made it such an enjoyable experience that I ended up playing half the game until 2am :)

Is it worth getting a console for one game? Probably not, but I do have a lot more respect for the Wii now.

Dad

2009-04-10T18:05:00.004-04:00

Having my dad here has been great fun, good to catch up and talk about the usual things: stocks, work, family. Like all good asian parents, they will put freely give their advice on matters both personal and professional. Sometimes the advice is good, sometimes it is bad. In either case, it's up to me to act on any advice. We have gotten to a point where he knows I'm not going to do everything he says, but I also hope that he knows that I won't always do the opposite of it either.

I know they worry about me, and that I should be living closer to home. I think every single person that lives overseas has this feeling to "do the right thing" and be with family. One day I will, but not today. I think that being here forces me to work out what I want, without the easy support structures that Sydney provides. It's a learning experience I don't want to let go of.

Of course he is sad at what happened and I think he now knows all sides of the story. Honesty is a great thing, and I'm glad I shared with him the full story. There should be no secrets in a family.

Next stop is Toronto, to go and say hi to grandma and meet some other relos. I might even get some quality Chinese!

Rollercoaster

2009-03-29T19:37:00.004-04:00

If there's one thing that I have learned being single, it's that there is much less of a consistency to life. Really it is just higher highs and lower lows, and that's tough sometimes, especially when in a foreign city.

There is an unrivaled freedom in being single. Going hard on a Tuesday night, staying in on a Saturday, meet up with people on the spur of the moment...don't get me wrong, being in a relationship does not prevent you in any way from doing this, it's usually prior plans and consideration for your partner that would limit the number of those "why the heck not?" questions being answered in the positive. The calendar becomes a lot more fluid when I am single.

Of course, the loneliness can be quite depressing. Waiting for friends to call you back, staying in on Saturday because there are no plans, it's quite easy to spiral downwards with those "what am I doing here?" questions. This is the first time I have lived by myself as well, which magnifies these thoughts as there is no one to interact with. On the positive side, It is also a learning experience. To be able to rely on myself, back myself, it's something that I am slowly learning. At least my cooking is getting better!

The possible key is to just fill up the calendar with activities. Stop waiting for things to happen and make them happen myself. Let's see how that turns out. Acting class starts Monday.

Yoga In All Its Glory

2009-03-20T18:58:00.003-04:00

I've had a neck injury (putting on my shoe, of all things) that's stopping me from continuing on the P90X regime. For some reason the tweaked neck hasn't gone away, and it's been about 4 weeks since I stopped. It's quite sad, all that effort from the last few months gone.

Of course, I haven't given up yoga, so there's still some exercising.
I got myself a yoga mat for home, so I'm still hitting that DVD, although some of the moves are proving even more difficult than usual.

A friend of mine was amused that I'm doing yoga at home on a DVD. Perhaps I'm training up so one day I can go to these actual yoga classes around the city and look the part. She did shock me by telling me about naked yoga. New York, being the city that it is, has its own website on the matter.

It got me thinking...I'm having enough trouble with concentrating on the moves now, if some guy does the downward dog in front of me, how in the world is that considered relaxing and therapeutic?

Hiatus

2009-03-08T15:29:00.006-04:00

It's been about a month since the last entry. Many things have happened, some sadder than others. To everyone who has sent a "how you doing" email or call, much appreciated. Onwards and upwards is the motto.

So some enjoyable things that have happened over the last few weeks:
1. Attended my first Comic Convention (ComicCon) in New York. Surprisingly dominated by a lot of video game displays, although there were a substantial "Artist's Alley" where people were doing their sketching thing. Got to meet the authors of Penny Arcade, which was cool.

How awesome is this Yoda?

2. Skiing at Mont Tremblant. 8 hour drive across the US border through to Quebec. Unfortunately super cold temperatures (-20 celsius!) and a lack of snow meant that skiing was not that enjoyable, with multiple injuries to our party. Yes, I attempted another 180. No, it did not go very well. Yes, it was under a chairlift.

A panoramic of the place we stayed at.

3. Moving to the new place. East Village is where I'm now located, so no more walking to work, but I'm close to the train station so it's all good. I have made multiple trips to Ikea (the food there is great) and I'm getting much better at using a powerdrill. I'm quite happy with it, although my boss (visiting from Sydney) was shocked at what I was paying for rent, as all people who do not live in New York are! It's my place and it's good to settle in.

I've attached a view from the window out to the street. Probably the last of the snow for this year. Note: we had a "Snow Day" in NYC first time in 5 years, which means kids can stay home. It was only 9 inches.

Other things worth mentioning:
1. Boston vs Knicks game at Madison Square Garden (obviously Knicks lost)
2. Lovely roast beef made by Janey at Janey and Stephen's place
3. Yet another round of Benjamin Steakhouse. I think they recognise me now!

Full set of photos here.

Brick Fun

2009-02-02T22:12:00.003-05:00

The good thing about living in the Northeast is the accessibility of the snows. A $73 ticket gets you a bus ride and all day mountain pass to some decent places. Add another $35 for the gear, and you're all set.

Unfortunately the gear was a bit rubbish this time (no edge on the skis) leading to a lack of ability to go down the slopes as quickly as I would like. Still, it was a sunny day, wasn't too cold, couldn't ask for more.

So not being able to hit the steep slopes (and it was a bit icy), the natural next choice is to go to the terrain park. My 180s are doing ok, but these brick walls were a new obstacle.

When one cannot visualise what the outcome of the trick should be, bad things happen.

The back of my skis actually caught into the snow at the bottom where the brick wall meets the snow and I landed on my ass. Man that hurt.

Of course, that didn't stop me from trying to go backwards into the brick wall. Lesson #101: Need speed.

December Photos

2009-01-18T18:50:00.003-05:00

Are up, click here:

Yes they are quality.

Recession Proof

2009-01-18T01:02:00.003-05:00

I got a strange rash swimming in a bay in South Africa (I was bitten by something in the water, probably a jellyfish or something). Ended up seeing a dermatologist to check out what was going on. The fees that they charge are phenomenal!
I checked out the invoice and found the following:
$180 - 10 min consultation (there was one visit where I swear the doctor spoke for 30 seconds and then left)
$250 - removing a wart, probably 2 min work.
Total bill: $430

Lucky for me the medical insurance I have covers the costs, so I end up paying $30.

Still, I can understand why people would want to do medicine so much. If you can charge like that, and people are always willing to pay for their health, it's all good!

Kevvy, I hope you hit this kind of earnings! :)

Fixing Up The Archives

2009-01-04T08:43:00.005-05:00

I was following the "Getting Things Done" method of archiving everything into one folder, and attempting to do that with my pictures proved slightly difficult, having about 6,000 photos. It was actually stuffing up my ability to backup that folder!

So now it's all fixed up, with specific years and actual dates to each event.
Tip of the day #1: I split the photos into years first.
Tip of the day #2: I write "05 - NYC" for all the pictures that I take that aren't part of a specific event for the month of May, "06 - NYC" for June etc. For events, I would write "06 26 to 06 29 - San Francisco", hence the folders will all show up in chronological order.

Going through old photos is always a very entertaining process. When did this idiotic thing with the ties at weddings start?

Bring It

2008-12-28T10:17:00.002-05:00

So I'm hitting this P90X training regime as part of my new goals for 2009. It's rough, I'm feeling it all over the place!

As to the reasons why I'm doing it? One is for the challenge of seeing if I can maintain this exercise discipline over 90 days. Two is that I had done some personal training before and got told by the personal trainer that it actually is quite good. And looking good isn't too bad a side benefit!

So how have I been going on it? Out of 3 weeks, I've missed probably 2 or 3 sessions. I'm replacing the plyometrics with my normal volleyball game (although I would probably say that volleyball is a lot easier than that plyometrics session!). It's a good mix of weights + using the body as the weight + stretching and ab work. I had one awesome week where I was waking up early to do this stuff, but that kind of ran out of steam pretty quickly :)

I'm quite enjoying doing yoga for the first time in my life, some of those moves are super difficult! I'm sure balancing on one leg whilst twisting and, as Bec puts it "turning into a pretzel" will do something for me flexibility.

Let's see how it goes for another few weeks. Next week is rest week, than goodness!

South Africa

2008-12-14T10:44:00.004-05:00

So I'm back from South Africa, straight to the chills of New York. It was a magnificent trip. South Africa top ten:

As the picture above shows (you can click through to the Flickr photos), there were a ton of animals to see. For those that care, I saw four of the big five, missed out on the leopard (apparently they are quite rare in the area I was staying at).
Things only in the wild, including baby hyenas and dead elephants.
The lodge was fantastic, and there were days when I was the only guest at the lodge. Plenty of time to relax and think things through on what I want for next year and beyond.
Catching up with Chester and Ka in Cape Town, who were wonderful hosts. Thanks to Chester for lending me a pair of pants (that actually fit me better than him :)) and t-shirts when my luggage got misplaced for two days.
Realising I had 30 min to spend US$200 of "delayed luggage allowance" before the luggage arrived! Only got time to buy one t-shirt. Unfortunately Ka was not able to find some sandals.
Table Mountain and Camps Bay are pretty spectacular, and Cape Town in general. Check out the pics here.
The lack of Crackberry access in the safari lodge made it very difficult to think about work, which was a blessing.
Interesting converstations about how the country is trying to address the inequality of the past by pushing for "positive" discrimination in all areas (business and government). However, the lack of education of those lower classes makes it quite difficult for blacks to fill certain technical roles, even though they have to allocate it to them. Hopefully continued education will address this issue.
Strangely enough, Asians get to benefit from this "black empowerment" policy (as we are considered a minority), so if I needed a job, I should go to South Africa!
Yes, I did see lions having sex.

Safari Ready!

2008-11-09T16:08:00.004-05:00

In two weeks I will be heading off to South Africa for the first time, to do a safari (Kruger National Park) and to visit two of my friends doing their bible college and mission work in Cape Town.
I have to admin that my preparations for this trip were haphazard at best. I had booked my flight to SA early (check) but the whole safari thing was relatively last minute.

Going to stay in one of the lodges inside the park, named Kambaku, for a few nights. I was planning on doing the safari tour, with the sleeping in the tents experience, but the thought of not being able to go to the toilet in the middle of the night was too traumatic to think about. The other option (lodges outside of the park) meant that even if the tracking of the animals was good, we would still have to leave the park at a certain hour.

Getting my vaccination shots was even more last minute. Got my Hep B, yellow fever, typhoid, tetanus/diptheria/something starting with "p" shots last week. I ashamed to admit that I had absolutely no idea what shots I have had, and having doctors in the family means that my medical record is so not up to date, as nothing gets written down. I have a feeling that the polio shot last week was probably redundant.
A word of advice for anyone doing this kind of trip, make sure you add to your budget the medical expense, those shots aren't cheap.

I think everything is all good now. Just have to pick up the malaria tablets this week, and get my photography stuff all sorted (just bought a new 70-300mm lens, woo hoo!) and I should be ready to go. It's going to lots of fun!

Sydney Visit Oct

2008-10-27T21:49:00.008-04:00

People at work were saying to me, "didn't we just see you?"
However, being on different work projects meant the people I interacted with were quite different. I believe it is always worthwhile to have the face-to-face meetings, things just done so much faster. The economy ticket I got was super cheap too!

What was also great was to catch up with everyone who had come back for Stu's wedding, as well as my family. Wonderful to see the kids still as cute as ever, and so touching to see that my friends still are as goosey as ever (both at the bucks and at the wedding). There is something to be said for 12 guys going to Karaoke and belting out Bon Jovi.

Having stayed at Yvonne and Jase's place, I am now totally familiar with the Wiggles, and can quite competently sing a few of their choice hits. Has anyone else (who has nieces/nephews that are fans of the Wiggles) noticed the drastic change in Anthony?? He's become super lean and mean!

Sydney doesn't disappoint with the scenery, as I visited Balmoral with family and Collaroy for the wedding. Ah, miss them beaches.

Congrats Stu and Yve, it was a fantastic wedding, enjoy the Maldives!
Photos for the trip can be found here.

As a intro, my fave kiddie shot from the trip (my nehpew Jono).

Back to Back...to Back

2008-10-08T00:28:00.003-04:00

It's always fun to have friends visit, and we welcomed Boges with open arms. There were also other visitors from HK (Joe) who came along at the right time, as well as some new transferees from Sydney (Steve).

I have to admit that there has been a perfect storm of events to lead us to last weekend's mammoth efforts. Bec and I meeting some party-goers recently, the rekindling of my dance party days, and the above mentioned visitors, hungry for some NYC outings.

So we stayed out till 2am on Friday morning, 6am on Saturday morning, and 5am the Sunday morning, and made it out to our local haunt on Sunday night for a nightcap. I don't recall having had this big a weekend in a long time. And it was wonderfully enjoyable. There was even some pre-game drinks at our place before we hit the clubs on Friday and Saturday nights! Good to have friends around who fire up and go hard.

So as one friend (Joe) leaves, another (Mary-Ann) comes to visit. I think I definitely need some more sleep in the next two days!

Success and Failure

2008-09-21T23:49:00.001-04:00

Success and Failure

I had my first trapeze class today. Two things about trapeze classes stuck out
1. The fact that they give you a 10 min information session and then staright away you are using the trapeze and doing tricks
2. The climb up to the launch platform is on one of the most unstable ladders I have come across! It makes the first attempt even more of a scare than it already is.

I have to admit that my heart was racing when I got up to the launch platform the first time. But there wasn't too much hesitation before I jumped off and started swinging, annd doing what they taught us. And it is exhilarating, as I'm upside down, doing a "catch" where I move from one swing to another (just like in the acrobatics shows! Of course, on a very VERY simple level), and generally having fun.

It was a success in my eyes, to have conquered that initial fear.

Contrast that with my failure the night before to play a proper wingman for a single friend of mine when we went out to a club. So there's a group of 4 girls who are dancing near us, and I'm with my friend (who's single) and another guy (who's not). I'm told to step up and approach those girls. Of course, having watched this series you would have thought I would have some kind of ablity here. Unfortunately, after 12 years of going out to these clubs, I still have nothing...no approach, not even a "hello". It was an utter failure to launch.

This surely begs the question, why am I quite willing to risk life and limb, but have stage fright to talk to random women, in which the outcome of that talk I really couldn't care less about?

To paraphrase the instructor for the trapeze, "it's just time on the trapeze, that will be what will make it easier for you. Of course the first time you do this, you'll freeze up and have panic/fear/trepidation, just keep doing it until it doesn't".
I think the ease of cold talking to new people is something that comes with practise. And I'm not just talking about talking to random girls at a club. It's more about being able to go into a room and starting engaging with people, and make it interesting.

Vow to myself: just do it! And to my single friend last night, I vouch that I'll be a better wingman next time!

Cayman Photos Up

2008-09-21T20:59:00.001-04:00

Stingrays feel like velvet!

Personal Trainer

2008-09-09T20:08:00.003-04:00

There was a special on for personal trainer hours at the gym in my building. It's my first time with a personal trainer, and the guy is brutal. He was especially brutal the other day, after a big night out.

Exercise regime that just occurred:
30 x jumping jacks
25 x squat and press with weighted bar
20 x side jumps across bar [2 sets with above exercise]
8 x long jumps
10 x push ups [2 sets with above]
3 x lunges
3 x side squats
8 x dips [2 sets with above 2 exercises]
12 x curl + reverse press with weighted bar
20 x cross over hops on weight bench [3 sets with above]
5 x side lifts (10 lb each arm)
5 x side drops (arm starts at shoulder height and drops half way) [3 sets with above]
8 x front lifts, swing out to side, and back down (10lb each) [3 sets]
20sec plank
20 x plank with leg extension out to side + 5sec plank (now that 5 sec was rough)
10 x plank with knee up (each leg)
20sec plank
20 x swiss ball crunches
12 x back lifts face down [2 sets]
30 x jumping jacks

Total exercise time: 50min
No wonder people get such better results with trainers :)

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T23:48:00.007-04:00

Labor Day weekend was pakced with quality expereinces:

Drinks night at K-Town (with special guest Nick Seeto). I'm down for those soju shots!

Tennis at the US Open. Tennis is so much better live, the ball goes so fast. Got to see Federer and Roddick, in picture perfect weather. More photos here:

Labor Day dinner, to sample Nick's cooking skillz. Am mightily impressed, Nick should do Top Chef :)

And in three days time, Cayman Islands!!

Value of Time

2008-08-24T14:10:00.005-04:00

Even though I had said earlier that my 30th birthday seemed to have come and gone without much impact, I'm starting to think of the value of time with slightly more seriousness.

Previously, given my current transfer situation, I knew I was committed to working in the company for another year, and after that, it's not much of a stretch to be around for two more years to hit my 10 year mark and enjoy the fruits of my labours. But suddenly I'm thinking that there could be other options and those extra two years seems like a long commitment.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the company is great, and the people there are wonderful, the question nowadays is "where next"? Staying a bit longer, there should be a managerial spot for me. Is this what I want? Can I see myself being the nurturing type for my minion employees? I think I've said before that my strengths seem to be on focusing on a deliverable and hitting the target ie project management. Trouble is, will there be many more interesting projects to deliver in the next few years, with the financial climate as it is?

Perhaps extra schooling might be the answer? Funny thing is the first question they ask on those MBA forms is "what position do you seek after graduation?", and I'm already stuck! I need more thoughts on the matter...

Deep

2008-08-11T22:16:00.004-04:00

"Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand is about celebrating what the author sees as the epitomy of man, a person who is "utterly selfish" and selfish in that every motive is internally driven.
Rand slams the concept of selflessness, claiming that if selflessness (or the sacrifice of oneself for others) was the best virtue, then we would necessarily need another's suffering to heighten our sense of selflessness. If everyone was selfish, everyone would be able to treat each other as equals, as two parties in a trade.

Of the characters, there is on by the name of Peter Keating. Peter is shown to be someone who finds their values based on the judgements of others and who does not have the ability to make it on his own, relying on another's skill to make him famous. He reflects other people's opinions and concepts, to a point where he has none of his own.

Disturbingly, or perhaps with clarity, I feel that I have a lot in common with Peter Keating. I think I am easily persuaded of an idea, and whilst I don't take on other people's ideas as my own, I would reflect their thoughts.
I remember a phrase that a project manager is a "conduit of other people's dreams" and I may have taken that to an extreme level (which may be why I am good at PM'ing!).

I did one of those personality analysis tests and from the strengths they listed I see myself as someone who tries to bring in others to the group and "win them over". The fact that I tried so hard to please would logically not make me as forthright in my own judgement and opinions.
However, there is a fear in me that I may look inside one day and come to the realisation that there isn't much underneath the surface...

So is this what the word "shallow" means? Do opinions make the man? Or is it something else that makes a person "deep"?

Should I balance myself out and start sprouting some more opinions? Or should I focus on my strengths and realise that this is who I am, and find what is best for me? Or maybe I should just think things through and whilst I don't have to sprout the opinion, know in my heart what I feel?

Yay for Go-Live!

2008-08-04T19:12:00.004-04:00

I like when projects go-live.
There is a certain satisfaction to be had when all the hard work comes together and a product is rolled out to the users.

Of course there are issues, I don't think any project goes to the users without something that someone would complain about. However, as long as the issues are not too many, or too severe, I would consider it a success. The comms out to the business was terrible (side note: I really do think that people in the business do not understand change management) but the usability of the system was enough that most people were up and away.
Funniest part: an email from one of the business units that said "Tomorrow is the dawning of a new era in internal communications" when in fact the system was already live today.

There is some really bad statistic that says that 40% (or is it even more?) of ICT projects don't see the light of day. So I have to make sure that the team celebrates. Think I might have to buy some thank you items!

Let's kick back, relax for a bit and savour the moment.

Memories From Last 3 Weeks

2008-07-27T17:54:00.004-04:00

Got some photos up.

Sydney was only a week ago, but it already feels far away. Great to see family and friends, and the best thing was to see that everyone was healthy, happy and enjoying life. And the kids are unbelievable! I just glad that our M&M shirts all fit :)

Toronto was great to see my Dad's side of the family. Mama looked like last time, but was even less responsive to our presence. It's sad for me to see her in this state, I'm sure it's even harder for her children to. However, I'm glad I got up there, I realise that I really should see my family here more often. My cousin is going to be studying in Chicago which makes it only a hop, skip and jump away.

A New Beginning

2008-07-23T18:44:00.003-04:00

It's been great to come back to NY. Resting in the apartment, feeling the summer heat, smelling those random odours, there's a feel to NY that can't be replicated elsewhere.

I think I'm also coming back to the city with a purpose to get out there and do more stuff. It was a semi-shocked feeling to think that I have already been here for almost 10 months, which means I'm nearly halfway through our secondment here. Work-wise the trip to Sydney was great in renewing old contacts and getting some global work. I should have charged the airfare!

Of course there is an option to extend, and I think we will probably take that option (if it's given to us). Even then I still have more of a realisation that the time here is not long at all.

Things on the immediate list:

US Open (tickets booked in baby!)
Trapeze class (thanks for the gift babes)
Bryant Park movies
Jones Beach out in Long Island
Caribbean trip

Enjoy this fleeting summer while it lasts!

Sydney Work Review

2008-07-14T03:11:00.004-04:00

As sad as this is, given I'm back in Sydney with family and friends, I'm writing a post about work.
Coming back to Oz I've been reminded how difficult it is to properly manage a project, especially a large enterprise one.

The amount of people to manager, issues to fix, risks to watch over and general grief counseling that is involved could make any PM insane. The problem is exacerbated by poor requirements, leading to one of the biggest scope creep issues I have ever seen. I'm coming here as a viewer of the storm, as opposed to being in the middle of it, so it makes for quite a learning experience. Time is a factor, and as crunch time nears for project delivery, communication really doesn't get the loving it deserves.

Thinking of the up and coming project on my radar, where I'll be trying to herd two quite different business units in all three regions of the globe will be quite a challenge. I need to make sure that I keep everyone engaged, or else there will almost a guarantee that things will be coming out of left field.

Of course, it's not like I was the best PM when I was here in Oz. Having talked to the guys that are now supporting the project I ran, I would have to say that there was a real lack of quality analysis on the work that was produced, and whether that is due to poor developers or poor BAs, the ultimate responsibility comes back to me. I'm just lucky that I have a PM friend in Sydney whom I handed over to, who is very good at working through these knotty issues. For someone who doesn't swear much, even he says that the solution I produced was "fucked", to use a technical term :)

In other news, it was wonderful to catch up with family and friends. I miss everyone here! Looking forward to XBox night on Wednesday hehe. Some things never change!

Feels Good To Be Home

2008-06-28T22:37:00.003-04:00

After a marathon flight across the Pacific (with the inevitable delays at JFK airport and customs in Sydney) I'm typing this up in the family home at West Pennant Hills. I had the Qantas song going through my head as we flew into Sydney, and we were drenched with a wonderful sunny day as we stepped off the airplane.

There's been some changes, especially in the roads around Lane Cove, but I was glad that our house remains as deathly cold as I remembered it to be. My parents are in good spirits, and that's the most that I could ask for. Looking forward to seeing my sis and the kids tonight for dinner.

We talked of many things on the way home, family news, shares, work in NY, other random gossip. I gave my parents their pressies, which they appreciated :) Dad showed me his latest gadget purchase (some Motorola phone that he doesn't know how to use) and Mum regaled me on how she doesn't ever want to change the TV, as she's finally worked out how to record stuff on it.

Feels good to be home.

A Sign Along The Road

2008-06-23T13:41:00.003-04:00

Bec asked me yesterday if I was feeling excited about my up and coming birthday. I thought about it for a while, and the answer is "meh...". It seems that I get older, the days go faster, and the birthdays don't mean as much.

Yes, I will be turning 30; yes, I will be ticking a different box on those random surveys; yes, the knees creak a bit more when I walk up some stairs. But essentially, do I feel different? A day does not maketh the man, or something like that.

I feel some of the major changes in my life were in coming over here to NY last year, to being fully committed to my relationship, to buying my new watch :) Turning 30 was not something I looked forward to, nor was it something I was scared of.

I've heard that men are in their prime during their 30's, as they have got their shit together and are really making a decent contribution to themselves and to society at large. Perhaps this birthday milestone is just a sign along the road that I am traveling, an acknowledgment that things are now coming together and that I am finally starting to be a wise man.

Consumption Over

2008-06-17T17:54:00.003-04:00

So it's finally done. The arduous journey that my grandma started me on is complete, and I have the ticking watch to prove it. It's strange how much time went into this purchase, and all the trials and tribulations that came with it (trying to get a watch ordered in, couldn't find the ones I wanted, haggling with the sales person etc etc). I wish I put this much effort into buying shares (and the worse thing is that the share purchases are much more than the watch!)

Still, it's all good now, and I have a sense of completion. Next step is to send a picture of the watch on the wrist to grandma.

I've never had a mechanical watch before, and I have to say that they ticking they make when it put it next to your ear is quite cool. I also like the fact that the second hand sweeps, and doesn't flick from one second to the next.

Yay for new goodies. Hoping this watch will last a lifetime :)

Opening A Set

2008-06-07T11:22:00.002-04:00

One thing that I've seen recently is this series called the "Pick Up Artist". Now, some people, when they first saw this series and told me about it, said that they automatically thought of me. Why?? :) Perhaps when I was a young turk I had many theories on relationships. Having watched the series, perhaps I should have taken some of those notes instead of making my own! Ah, water under the bridge.

What I did find interesting was the transformation of the guys themselves. To see them from when they first started to where they ended up at the end of the series was quite remarkable. True, the lines are hammed up, and sound a bit strange, but it all boils down to the confidence and belief of the guy in himself. I did like some of the moves, one where the guy spins the girl around, and in the process takes the seat she was sitting in. Gold!

So single guys, if you want some quality education in approaching girls, check it out. The series itself doesn't give that much material, but it's fun to watch.

Girls, if you ever hear the line, "so did you see the fight outside with two girls?", tell them "you mean the one where on of the girl's breast popped out?", that will stop their opening :)

Photo Update

2008-05-27T18:33:00.000-04:00

Washington photos are up on Flickr. Enjoy!

Week(s) in Review

2008-05-26T12:17:00.004-04:00

Ah, missed a week. Things in review:

Washington DC with Bec, Des and Jen was fantastic. I loved the spaciousness of the city, and the fact that all the museums were free! We had one seafood dinner (at Oceanarium) which was pretty good. Getting out of Manhattan added another 1.5hr to our trip, but for $40 for a 4-hour trip to a new city, it can't be beat. Oh, yes, I bought myself one of those space pens, the ones used by the astronauts. Now I can write upside down!
Poker night at a friends place, first time playing with them. Tournament style, came third out of 7. Annoying thing was second place got their money back, so I got nothing! Got beaten by a pair of 7's, when I had the flush draw and two overcard pair draws...not impressed. Will be going again, that was fun.
Some perfect storm of visitors to NY. We had Tax, Bei, Dex, Alan, Dave, Jo, Andrea, Gordon all coming to visit at once! Lots of drinking at our fave establishments, with a steakhouse and Korean fried chicken wings to supplement the alcohol. Good visitors are the ones who have done the touristy stuff already, are willing to go to new places and provide some service to us (thanks Dex for the BitTorrent setup :))

To top it all off, summer is definitely here. I'm walking around in my flip flops!

Good Friends

2008-05-13T17:17:00.003-04:00

*I'm getting later and later on my Sunday post!*

We've had the privilege of having Jen and Des over for a few days before they embark on their "Across the USA" tour. It's been great to catch up with them, and once again reminds me how hard it is to establish good friendships in a foreign city.

I was comparing with Des what it would have been like to move to UK instead of US, and the amount of events that I would get to go to with friends would have been quite high from the start. Whereas here in NY, there are times where we wouldn't have that much to do on the weekend. We would sometimes have to think hard about things to do. Whilst that gives us a great level of freedom, there are time when it's just the two of us.

From that perspective, Bec and I have come to rely on each other a lot more. It has been said that NY can be a lonely place if you're here by yourself, so I'm very happy that our relationship has gotten stronger with this increased "togetherness", for want of a better term.

Slowly, we're making better friends, and I'm glad to say that I actually have one or two decent American friends. It really is about effort and time to establish that bond with people. Perhaps that is why it takes a year to really settle down into a place.

Playing volleyball definitely helps with the socialising, and now that Bec is "in" with these funky bars we go to, perhaps we might finally get some free drinks!

Truly Settled

2008-05-05T22:21:00.008-04:00

I was asked by a colleague the other day about what I had done on the weekend, and I believe we have truly hit the settled phase of our New York stay by saying to her "oh, nothing much".

No trips to Miami, no big shows. But doing a regular weekend things, things that I could very much see myself doing in Sydney. I did some volunteer work delivering meals to elderly, dinner with friends, karaoke, lazy brunch, playing touch football, afternoon drinks with friends and late ramen Sunday dinner.

It's relaxing and enjoyable to walk around in the spring weather, and when I feel tired to go for an afternoon snooze at home.

New York, with all the glitz and glamour, still has a time and place to be worry-free.

For your enjoyment, some more flower photos.

Changes

2008-04-27T17:11:00.003-04:00

My company went through some major management changes this week. People who were replaced had been with the company for over 25 years. Whilst the announcements were sugar coated with "mutual agreement to leave" and "he's done a fine job" etc, the fact of the matter is that the main US guy for our company was removed.

As an outsider who had been here in NY for only 7 months, the employee meeting to discuss the departures was one of the most interesting things I have been to from a work/career perspective.
I have no affinity with the guy, but there are people who have been working with him for the last 20 odd years. I couldn't imagine the shock of it to those other senior managers.

There was a lot of "the board members are only concerned with the stock price, but we're concerned with a place for people to have a job and support their families" seems very us vs the big bad corporation. In the end, I believe we're all here so that we can make money, and if the guy is not performing or he's not the right guy to implement some improvements, then it's time for some new blood.

The strangest thing was the message the other senior guys were saying, that "things around here won't change much", and "NY is what we want the company to be". Given that the main guy was removed, you would think that change is in the air, and that if you don't toe the corporate line (as a regional business) you'd better watch out. The message from corporate was none too subtle.

As the financial controller said to me (again, he's a new guy to the company), this is just the beginning. Who knows what other changes are coming through.

I heard that when he was leaving, the main guy said that "I'll be back in a year to take this company". It's definitely an interesting time to be in the US!

Consistency Is Key

2008-04-20T21:13:00.001-04:00

I've come to the realisation that in relationships, consistent behaviour helps stablise a couple.

Think of it like a stockmarket. I would argue that consistent quirks (sometimes a bad behaviour, maybe something that annoys one partner) would not break a couple down. Perhaps consistently bad behaviour will break up a couple, like some death by a thousand cuts. Everyone has their own quirks, and each couple will have their own rules and behaviours. However when one person strays from that expected response, it casts doubt on their other areas.

It is the "inconsistent quirk" that has the potential to threaten an otherwise stable relationship. The inconsistent quirk could be not standing up for your partner, or attempting to split a bill when usually we don't. That's the volatility that puts the relationship outside the normal bounds and makes people think more about whether this person is "really right".

Of course, all this does not change the fact that a bad behaviour is something that needs to be addressed, for a relationship to become better, not just stable. On that point, a unexpected surprise in good behaviour takes the relationship to the next level. And we all love surprises :)

Court Sense

2008-04-13T23:09:00.003-04:00

We recently had a friend try out for our volleyball team, and we decided that one of the issues he had was a lack of playing time and "court sense". I didn't know if that was being too harsh and whether people can pick that up quickly.

I'm now in the process of trying to answer my own question. I'm now playing some touch American football, and it's so hard. Skills-wise, I can catch ok, run ok etc. But positioning and anticipation are just terrible.

We play one-on-one marking, so I'm usually up against a guy. I'm constantly being outrun or outdodged (and the no-stud sneakers with are definitely not helping with gripping the ground) when I'm defending. When we're attacking, I'm not getting many passes, most likely because I'm not "in motion", and passing to a stationary target makes it a lot easier for the other team to intercept.

Will I learn in the next 4 games before the season finishes? Probably not. So was I too harsh in the "court sense" judgment for volleyball? Probably not, it does take a while to pick up.

Will I keep playing touch football? I'm a maybe on that one, dodgeball seems a lot more interesting!

Book Review: Speed Reading

2008-04-08T15:45:00.002-04:00

I just read a good book about how to read faster and the key point is to realise that most things you don't have to read every word. A quick skim of the contents, then the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph and conclusion will garner about 70% knowledge of what the article is trying to say, especially if it is well written.

The other point is that your mind subconsciously understands and recalls more than what you think it does, and that you can read faster than you can hear. Hence if you are talking to yourself when you read, usually it means that you're reading too slowly.

They have some smart suggestions of how to read faster, with grouping of words together (so you don't read every word), stopping your eyes a few cm before the end of the line (to maximise what your eyes are seeing), and doing the white card thing (but pushing down the pages so that you eyes are forced to move on).

There are exercises to do, but I have to admit I skipped most of them :)

Career Opportunities

2008-04-03T22:02:00.003-04:00

Argh, so much for a Sunday post, been in a conference the whole week.

A work friend told me a story that in his first year out into the corporate world, the tech bubble busted and he got laid off. Ever since, he's been a big believer that no one looks after your career except yourself.

This conference last week has made me feel a little bit different to that. As per my post a few weeks back about my project getting canned, I've been operating at a fairly low capacity, and doing mostly support work. I was starting to consider "what next?" and thinking of other possibilities (even outside of the company).

I came down to Charlotte for some other work, and ended up being invited to this global ICT conference. Within this week, I have been promoted to a Project Manager again, and gotten some global work. It was good to get nominated (without any suggestion from me) in front of the bigwigs as the person to do the job.

Perhaps managers do look after their staff, at least in this company.
Perhaps this comes from being able to deliver in previous instances, and past history in the corporate world counts as something.
Perhaps no one else wanted the role!

In any case, it's project time again. 6 weeks to go-live :)

Why Ski Jumps Aren't Me

2008-03-23T03:39:00.002-04:00

So Vail was fantastic, as I mentioned in the post last week. It's worthwhile to share some of my expeeriences there.
Spurred on by a long time skiing mate back in Oz, my skiing buddy (Waz) and I decided to hit the jumps on the last day of our trip there. The weather was perfect, bright sunny skies and I had promised my mate that I would attempt a few tricks.

I decided the trick about halfway down the slope towards the jump...

Emboldened by that success, I tried something a little bit fancier...

Sorry Kevvy, I didn't fulfill your task! Maybe next time :)

Interesting Things

2008-03-16T20:05:00.000-04:00

At a work seminar my friend attended, one of the facilitators dispensed with the small talk introductions and asked everyone in the room, "state your name and one interesting fact about you". My friend struggled with what to say, to find something short and sharp that would impress the people around him. Personally, I think it was just an ice-breaker, and he could have said anything he wanted and people would have believed him.

It got me thinking if I would be able to draw from something in my life that others would be interested in. Yes, I have moved to New York, yes I used to hold dance parties, yes I have enrolled to do some meals on wheels for the elderly (hope my application is approved). These things may be interesting but are they things I am proud of?

There are other things that I would say make me proud; making the rep team for volleyball, becoming a better project manager, and hitting the 3.5 year mark with Bec. However, a my friend quite rightly pointed out, these things really aren't that interesting to other people. It's things that are internal to me.

Ultimately, what makes a thing interesting to me in other people is the passion and enthusiasm that they talk about it and live it. A person who is a stamp collector is a "whatever", but if that stamp collector talks about her "$100,000 1904 stamp with the Queen on it", it can make for an interesting conversation.

So note to self: get enthusiastic, get passionate, and naturally people will want to hear more.

Separate note: Vail is fantastic (again!). We've had two days of glorious sun, and now it's snowing outside. Fresh tracks for tomorrow! I have come to the sad realisation that my legs are weak, as is my back, and general fitness. I'm blaming it on the altitude sickness :)

Canned Project

2008-03-10T21:25:00.002-04:00

I've had a project cancel on me before, but not one where I was the project manager. I think I didn't feel it as much because we were still in the pre-development stage, and everything I had done was only on word and pictures.

What's there to learn from it? A project manager should never be that fully invested into the project, and they should always be, as I learnt from one of my classes, "a conduit of other people's dreams". Any kind of change in business conditions, as witnessed these last few months, can turn a project on its head. Probably the other thing to learn is that a PM should always have contingencies and different scenarios thought through. If I'm constantly thinking "what if...?" I would probably be better prepared for what was going to happen.

However, my big boss has indicated he's keen on using ICT money to fund the project and have it ready for the business when they need it. I'm not so sure that is a good idea, but if the project gets revived, I'll be ready.

Pity, though, I now can't say I have another project under my belt. I wonder what I should write for my resume for a project that gets the shaft?

Gambling Tour

2008-03-03T17:16:00.003-05:00

Having missed out on the Macau gambling experience when we were there (surely I looked like I was money even though I had on thongs!), I have tried and tried to find people in New York to take me to Atlantic City. However, after my flaky friends bailed on me once again, I took matters into my own hands and went down there myself.

I was telling Bec that I would have never considered doing something like that in Sydney.
It's the equivalent of going to Canberra, a 3 hour bus ride by myself to gamble. Along the way, I met a wonderful old lady who was a hardcore blackjack player; serving women at the Borgata that had some shockingly busty tops; and $500 chips (oh they feel so good to hold :))

Going adventuring alone (that is not work related) is a new experience for me, I'm usually travelling with someone(s) else. It is quite liberating, it's always memorable. Especially from a gambling perspective, it is definitely better to travel alone, as I can say when I should stop and run with the winnings, instead of waiting for friends and losing more money. I'll be the first to admit that going to Atlantic City was no major stretch in terms of an "exotic adventure", but we all have to start somewhere!

And for those who care, I did get up in craps, but lost out in blackjack (I should never play that game) and limit poker. Luckily the craps paid for the bus ride and lunch and a bit extra for the dinner that night back in New York.

The best thing is I have now found some other friends who seem just as keen to gamble, so I'm sure there will be more A/C trips to come. Plus anyone who is super keen, Vegas!

Panoramic Shots

2008-02-24T21:33:00.005-05:00

I remember when we used physical film, there was a type of film that allowed panoramic shots. Nowadays, I would take three or four shots for a scene, but never found the way to easily merge them into a panoramic shot. With the Dell, I got a cool photo editing software called Adobe Photoshop Elements that actually does the merging for me. Here's a selection, they did end up something like what I thought they would!

Gold Coast Beach

Times Square

Spit Bridge

Yankee Stadium

Great Ocean Road

Pyrmont

Palm Beach

Tokyo

New XPS Laptop

2008-02-18T14:03:00.005-05:00

It's ironic that I'm writing this entry about my new XPS M1330 Dell on an Apple Macbook in the Apple store in Soho. I got delivery of the new XPS last week, on a deal that was pretty impressive. In total, I got around $900 off the retail price of the XPS (there was a big discount on the Dell website, and my company also offer an employee discount) so definitely was a bargain, compared to the hardware specs of a Macbook.

Dell have done better with their packaging nowadays, with a swanky leather book to keep all the installation CDs that come with the system. Plus it's all originals as well.

Of course, with these originals, the first thing I did was to reinstall the system. Yes, there were lots of things that were pre-loaded with the system that I really didn't need and made the computer a bit slow on startup, but upon reinstallation, it's very snappy.

Dell have actually included some decent software with the system, I was able to get Adobe Premier Photo Elements (full version) for free, which adds another $100 to the deal. So I've been porting my pics out of iLife and into Elements, which in itself is a bit of a learning curve.

The main things that have impressed so far:

HDMI output to the LCD at home works like a charm, and getting a 42-inch TV to edit photos will be awesome.
SD Card slot, so no need to plug in the camera anymore
Vista I think is not too bad, but just need a few tweaks to remove so of those stupid popup notifications. Aero interface looks slick.
Editing photos is so fast!! The 3Gb of RAM is so good for Elements.

I want to see how the computer handles games!

So no post-purchase dissonance, Dell has done a very good job with the XPS. Vista does take a bit more work to get to a state that works well, but I think MS will continue to improve it.

It's funny that at a stage when a lot of people are moving to Mac, I'm moving back to Windows.

On another note, that Mac Air is pretty sweet as a secondary laptop to run around with :)

Fantastic Vail

2008-02-14T17:56:00.011-05:00

Wow, Vail is enormous! I went up with a work friend after visiting Denver for the week and have two picture perfect days in the snow. Highlights of the trip:

The roads to Vail being closed off because of too much snow the day before we left, causing a backlog of people at Denver International airport. We got out of there one hour late
Seeing Vail (as a European style snow town) and then being disappointed in Beaver Creek, where we stayed (as a fairly industrial looking place with dive bars and the like). Still can't complain, as it was 1/3 of the price.
Booking a hotel that wasn't the one we got dropped off at. Luckily no problems getting a room at the new place. It was confusing, Comfort Inn as opposed to Comfort Suites!
The weather was so good. Didn't get to see/feel much powder as my friend was of only an beginner level, but the groomed runs were so easy to ski on. They even groom some of the black runs!
We covered only 1/4 of Vail in the days we were there. It's big. Looking forward to going back and doing the back bowls in mid-March.
Being allowed to take a day to get back home, instead of having to do a red-eye flight. I swear I did some work on the plane.
I can still do black diamond runs!
Still too scared to do trickz :)

Attempted panoramic shot:

Love and Memory

2008-02-04T14:43:00.001-05:00

I watched "The Notebook" the other day with Bec. Not a bad story, it's got a few funny parts and the overall film was very endearing.

*spoiler alert, for those that haven't seen in*
One part that did strike me was the tension between Noah and his kids when they come to visit Ali, who does not remember them at all. The kids were telling Noah "come home, we miss you" to which Noah replied "this (the nursing village) is my home now."

I had always wondered why Grandpa was move into the nursing village with Grandma even though he was in fairly good health at the time. Grandma, similar to Ali, was at the mid-late stages of Alzheimer's and was in need of constant care. Perhaps in his mind he could help her remember those things that she had forgotten, to "bring her back" to a world where she knew who Grandpa was.

It must be devastating to know that your wife of 50ish years cannot remember you. And to have those moments when all the memories and lucidity comes back to them (I don't know if this is true or not) and for it to leave again was be immensely painful for him.

I think I respect Grandpa a lot more as a husband now, and that his love and devotion to his wife was something wonderful.

Consumption Time

2008-01-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

One of the things my grandma thrusted onto me when we were in Hong Kong was some money to buy a new watch. I tried valiantly not to accept, but she is a spritely woman at the age of 88, there's hidden strength in her frame!

So I'm going to match her amount plus a bit and find myself a nice dress watch that I can show her when I visit Hong Kong next. The funny thing is that I've never really noticed watches before, and had no idea what was good or what was bad. Of course, being Asian, I know my Rolex (or "Roflex", as I saw them in the dodgy Hong Kong markets).
I do remember that I had known the Patek Philippe brand (I liked their ads in The Economist) but was told off by more serious watch people when I repeatedly referred to them as "Philippe Patek". I have also subsequently realised that the brand is way beyond my price range.

So now on my mission to find a watch, I have been looking at websites, buying watch catalogs and checking out watch stores. There are so many brands!! And there's such a massive price range! At least I now kind of understand the terminology of mainsprings, complications, balances, calibres, and other watch mumbo jumbo.

There's a few options that are looking good at the moment. If anyone is looking for a watch, I recommend getting the "Wristwatch Annual" catalog. It is very thorough.

My photos have been posted up on flickr: Miami, Brooklyn Bridge, and San Francisco.

New York Lovin'

2008-01-21T23:55:00.000-05:00

Previously I had talked about my lack of involvement with New York and what it had to offer.

The new year brought about some changes in my attitude, and I'm pleased to write that I've started by joining a local volleyball team. Whilst the courts are dusty and the heating is a bit non-existent for the sub-zero temperatures outside, it's a team sport and I'm thrilled to play. I'm also doing the photography thing, with a new project to capture a photo of New York worthy of our big picture frame.

Reading www.nymag.com has shown a lot more things to do, plus my own attitude of finding out events has improved. Having just gone to Avenue Q, I would say it's the funniest musical I have ever seen and would recommend it thoroughly. NY Mag also led me to Beyond, which we saw during this weekend and visited a bar that had all these old school games ie Pac Man, Spy Hunter, Donkey Kong to play!

The city has always had these things going on. It's up to me to keep looking, and to keep experiencing.

Things To Say To The Boss

2008-01-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

He's coming for a visit on Tuesday. Things to discuss:

What's been good?

Get to learn about the way they do business here. Never knew much about construction until now.
Working in another culture. Americans are quite clear in what they want, so gathering requirements is slightly easier (maybe cause I'm working with existing systems)
Visiting different offices, meeting new people. ICT can get insulated from what happens out on the sites, it's good to get out and about.

What's been difficult?

Working by myself. Having no team around is hard to bounce ideas and work off the energy of each other. Reporting to a manager in another office makes the relationship quite distant.
Not working at full capacity. Could change when the project actually gets into gear, but I could do with some more work. Should I be thinking up and proposing new activities e.g. the money saved on a project using the tax exemption?

What questions to ask?

How's the ICT strategy going in terms of being implemented, now in its last year?
Are we addressing the business' need for ICT adding value? Have we been involved in any construction ICT work?
Where will the New York office be in a year or two? What kind of ICT service will we be providing to them by the end of my stay here?
How's the Sydney office going? And how are those new projects going along?

Family Affair

2008-01-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Seeing my parents in San Fran after 4 months was a great way to start the new year. They looked great, although Bec did notice that Mum was a bit skinnier. Funny stories of my dad bringing an empty suitcase to fill with the Hong Kong sales. He only had one pair of pants and a top from Sydney, and had to buy a button shirt to go out the first night. I swear he's unleashed some sartorialist within these last few years, and it's great to see.

We met up with my uncle's family as it was his 60th birthday. Great to catch up with my cousins (two brothers, and a son of another uncle), we are of the same age and roughly in the same place in life.
One of them is 6 months younger than me. The strangest thing is that given that we were raised on opposite ends of the earth, we are strikingly similar in our mannerisms, humour and outlook on life. And yes, he is especially keen on the craps table.

San Francisco has that relaxed feel - maybe everywhere is relaxed compared to New York - where the streets are wide, the people seem friendly and the Chinese food is yum. Would I live there? Maybe, it is THE place to work in my field of information technology. Pity I suck at technology and can only talk to people.

New Years Eve

2007-12-31T12:57:00.000-05:00

It's 11 hours before the ball drops in Times Square, and we're getting ourselves ready for the big event. They are locking off our street from 2pm onwards, so we need a pass to get back into our own building.

Looking down on the street - not Times Square, but next to it - it still seems fairly sedate,
so we're hoping that it's still ok for us to get into the thick of things.

Key concerns:
a) No toilets around Times Square. Could be a lot of trouble for my weak bladder
b) The crushing crowds will be suffocating, even for a urbanite such as myself
c) Did I mention the toilet issue?

However, this is vintage New York, so when in Rome...

I'll get some pics up in the next few days of the event. Happy New Year for everyone who has already reached 2008!

Edit 1 Jan 2008:
I'm impressed by my own bladder discipline! It was a wonderful event, the atmosphere and the number of people was incredible.

New York Pictures Are Up

2007-12-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's taken a new install of Mac OSX as well as five days of leave to get them ready, four of which were spent doing other things.

Enjoy!

New York - Summer 07
New York - Fall 07

Winter coming soon, I'm waiting for some more snow.

Festivus

2007-12-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas got off to a rocky start today, with my first NY accident.

Bec and I finally made our way to Brooklyn Bridge on a very sunny Christmas Eve. There are two distinct lanes on the bridge, pedestrians and bike riders. I wanted to get a better view of the Manhattan bridge that is just off to the side. Forgetting my "Crossing the Street 101" lessons, I looked one way on the bike lane and forgot the other. I only took one step forward before I heard a "Watch out!!", and the distinctly unpleasant sight of a bike rider going over his own handlebars.

Nasty stuff, having experienced that type of fall myself.

The guy was bleeding from his nose, with scrapes on his arms and legs. Luckily the clothing shielded him from some of the damage. The strange thing was that the guy went into the closest thing I have seen to shock, not being able to breathe or stand properly. We had to lie him down, and get him to calm down a bit. Called 911 - also a first - and they arrived very promptly, within 10 min. Glad to know that my NY tax is paying for some decent service.

They strapped him up and carried him off to the ambulance. I just hope that he's ok, with no lasting injuries, and that I didn't ruin his Christmas.

On a brighter note, our Christmas Eve home cooking was a marvelous success.
Have a wonderful holidays everyone, I hope you'll still be reading in the New Year!

Miami Fun

2007-12-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

I kept hearing that 'Shake Your Tailfeather' song as I stepped off the plane. At least it was a decent temperature, better than that -2 degrees we had in New York.

Two things that struck me about Miami; the vibe around South Beach with no honking and cars slowing down for pedestrians; and the oversized boobs on display - from women (real and fake) to mannequins (definitely fake).

The beach was calm, low waves and a stretch of sand as long as Gold Coast. It was a wonderful place to read and relax.

Bec and I ventured into a club - Mansion - as well as a boutique hotel - Delano - where Jamie Foxx had his 40th birthday the night before we went. $20 to get into Mansion was money well spent, that place was as close to a 'superclub' as I have seen. Plus more oversized boobs on display at the club.

I would recommend the stone crab as Joe's Stone Crab, if you come during the crab season, and make sure to order the large claws. I wonder, in a restaurant that could seat 300, and each person orders 3-5 claws each, and there's 3 rounds of people eating night, how many crab bodies do they chuck away in one night??

Check out Flickr once in a while, I'm still working on the photos.

Expectations of New York

2007-12-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

I always wanted to go overseas, to experience new things, meet new people, visit new places.
Have a chat to Bec the other day, and when asked "are you really happy here in New York?" my answer was "it's ok".

Is New York what I expected it to be? What did I expect to achieve in the first place? Why did I want to come here?

Going overseas to me was always a chance to refresh myself, to get that "newcomer" perspective that I did not have when in Sydney. Part of the "living overseas" need was from friends who had made the jump aready, and their "experiences" and (when I was a single man) their "escapades" aka hoey stories.

Given that the hoey stories is now not part of the equation, what "experiences" would I want, especially in the New York?

It's strange, I haven't had the urge to read up on the goings on here in New York, prefering the trusty www.smh.com.au. I don't know what's happening, I don't know what's good to do. Lucky for me Bec has made a lot more inroads in this part, so I'm still able to get out there and do new things.

Work has been fairly slow, so it hasn't motivated me to any high level (damn delayed projects).

I would like to meet more people, and I'm beginning to realise that this is a slow process:

Being a couple usually means I'm more than happy to chill out ourselves
There's so many friends overseas that I would like to keep in touch with but do not so not much energy is expended on meeting new ones.

Time will help establish some more friends here.

In the end, for me New York was a place, it sounded good, but I have no expectations.

No expectations => no way to measure results => no passion.

OK, gotta get involved then. Let's tick off some stuff:

I promised myself that I would do some acting classes here (it's Broadway and all that) so will add that to the list.
Picking up some volleyball will be good for me as well.
Having got into the photography stuff, New York is a great place to capture life. I would like to take one scene in New York, and capture it every week and see how it changes
Trapeze class! Wait till the summer
Read up websites like www.nymag.com and see what's going on (oh the snarky gossip hurts to read!)

Anyone else have advice on getting to know and love a city?

Exhibition Fun

2007-12-03T11:42:00.000-05:00

Georges Seurat was showing at MOMA. Better known for his dot paintings, he did do a lot of sketches during his short career. The exhibition focussed on those sketches, as well as how those sketches contributed to his final paintings.

So of the stuff he sketched was amazing, and the word sketch doesn't quite describe it. It was more of a tone on tone shading, and the differences between certain sections was what defined the shapes. The subtlety of where the shades changed was very impressive.

I've always liked the use of charcoal and graphite in paintings, because of the diversity of the product. There can be a sharpness and intricacy in the picture that brushes would be hard pressed to achieve. And, as shown by Seurat, a blending of shades that rivals mixing paint.

What was also great to see at the exhibition were all these amateur artists bringing in their sketch books and mimicking some of the drawings there. A few of them were really skilled! Made me want to buy a sketch book and get into it.

MOMA is a great place to spend the afternoon, especially when it was snowing outside. The more I live around Midtown the more I like the fact that so many of these places are accessible by foot. I'm pretty sure I don't want to move for a while :)

Karaoke Lovin'

2007-11-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

Having done a reinstall of my Mac, I was going through some old photos that I've imported. I miss my karaoke buddies! Special shout out to Simon "Skeet Skeet" Watt, whom I couldn't find a photo of.

Good Friends

2007-11-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

It's always fun to see old friends, especially coming to visit us in New York. This week we had Reenie, Andrea, Cheyne and Mel all loitering around the Big Apple for a few days. We have the pleasure of Reenie and Andrea staying with us for the next few days. The pad is slightly squeezy, there have been some "are you finished with the toilet?" calls, but on the whole it's been fine. Definitely glad that we have a one-bedder, I just feel bad that they don't have much privacy!

People always ask us about the friends that we have made here in NY. I would say that it's a hard thing to do, because:
a) There are many good friends we already have trouble keeping in touch with.
b) Bec and I, being a couple, can hang out together and do things, and not feel as much the need to meet up with others.

Perhaps in time, one will find better friends in new cities. I do remember one my friends who moved overseas a few years ago telling me that there is always a greater comfort level with some people back home than anyone you meet in your new city. Maybe you just don't share that "growing up" stage, and the memories are not as emotionally strong.

Meanwhile, I take this opportunity to hang with some old friends and share some new memories!

Accents, Nicknames and Sayings

2007-11-11T17:27:00.000-05:00

An Aussie work friend of mine was describing to a US colleague that there is a pattern in how Aussies make nicknames out of their friends. There are four categories:

The "a" ie Garry --> Gazza; Karen --> Kazza
The "ie / y" ie Stuart --> Stuey; Paul --> Paulie
The "o" ie Robert --> Robbo; Damien --> Daimo
The "completely random " ie Jo --> SaucyNugget

The funny thing was that this was quite a shock for our US friend, it must not be a prevalent here, the "completely random" category maybe, but the "a" version definitely not, most likely because their accents would not emphasise it.

On the other hand, I was a bit shocked hearing an Asian person I had just met cursing and talking as if he came straight out of a black movie! "Yo nigger....sup dog...that shit is wack!" (ok, that last one was my improv :)) I admit I say stuff like that once in a while for fun, but when it's part of someone's everyday speech, it seemed a bit out of hand.

Of course, that Asian-African thing is probably as weird to me as the Asian-Australian accent is to my new friends. As long as we both enjoy listening being entertained, it's all good.

Time To Refocus

2007-11-04T23:17:00.000-05:00

There's always something happening in our lives here. Previously it was moving to our new place, then it was buying furniture for our new place, then it was travelling for work, this week it was buying coats in preparation for winter (40% off, by the way!).

What I have found is that I've been very bad at keeping that promise I made to myself a while ago. There seems to be no time for it, or rather I'm still not very motivated to do anything about it. I don't know how to make it more of my life, or maybe the issue is that I'm still not sure what problem I really want to tackle.

All I know is that the problem should be addressed at increasing the ability of people to be given an opportunity to succeed, whether that be education, or cultural change, or financial means. Perhaps I'm thinking too globally, where there are plenty of opportunities here in New York. Just have to find the right trigger for myself to kick into gear.

Halloween Fun

2007-10-28T22:41:00.000-04:00

Halloween brings all sorts of strange characters out during the night. It's surprising how into it the people in New York are. We went to a night club, and practically 95% of the people there were dressed up, even though it was not mandatory. I saw Where's Wally, a banana, Sccoby Doo, Cleopatra (hot!), and a whole lot of short-skirted and busty women :)

As Bec and I walked to the night club, I was thinking this would be what frat or sorority dress up parties would be like. I thought that I would be too old for this, but it was actually a lot of fun, especially since everyone else was so enthusiastic.

And in case you were wondering....

Grandma

2007-10-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

I visited my grandma again last weekend. It was her 86th birthday.

It's a strange thing to see someone who is still alive, but fails to respond to any outside stimulus. The Alzheimer's has definitely taken its toll, with Grandma asleep most of the time. She woke up for about 10min, and then went back to sleep again. And by "awake" I mean she opened her eyes, but did not say anything, did not move, do not live.

Realistically, I know that she does not hear me, doesn't feel me holding her hand. But then we have to be positive, and think that each visit registers somehow in her brain, and that she still feels the love. Perhaps if she still had the power of speech she might convey what we are trying to convey to her.

The one thing I did come away with was that she looked at peace. Maybe she's soaring through the skies, wandering the galaxy, and got annoyed that she had to come back to see her grandson :)

I hope that's the case.