Free Eye Exam? Yes I'm down for it because my insurance's gonna expire and I better score some free contact lens right?  $130 should be enough to get you the lens you need? Okay so I thought this is gonna be a no brainer.  BUT!!! Shit I just hate it when they're always hiding something from you.  Basically they told me it's a free eye exam BUT what they conveniently forgot to mention is that there's a $25 copay.  So it's FREE after you pay $25.  Then IT IS NOT FUCKING FREE BITCH!!!! What a buncha lies.  Oh and on top of that, to get contact lens you need to do a fitting test, which I thought is part of the exam.  Of course they're not gonna mention any of that during your "eye exam" session.  They're not gonna put up a big fat sign and announce it thru a PR system that will tell you "Your Eye Exam session is fucking over.  Over the next couple minutes this contact lens fitting test will cost you $100"  Nope, in true American medical fashion, not a word until the bill comes. And on top of that you have to pay for the lens too... 6 months supply is $140.  WTF.... so I got $130 allowance a year and that means I still gotta pay like $140+$100+$25-$130 = $135... Ngo dill la sing (excuse the cantonese cuss words but that's what I do when I get really pissed).  So much for trying to use up my VSP allowance. I'd get A WHOLE YEAR SUPPLIES of contact lens in HK for less than that, WITHOUT insurance AND exams are not mandatory.  They'll just ask if you'd like one, and yeah, if I do it's REALLY FREE...as in ZERO FUCKING DOLLARS! 

Look it up in dictionary dot com: Free - given or available without charge : free health care.

How ironic that they use health care in that example. This country's health care system is so broken. URRRGH!!!

One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is from the Movie Fight Club, it goes something like... you're not how much money you've got in the bank.  You're not your job.  You're not your family, and you're not who you tell yourself.... You're not your name.... You're not your problems.... You're not your age.... You are not your hopes

So here I am again, unemployed for the 2nd time in a row after a flopping startup changing their strategy.  But this time I'm calm as butter, cuz I've been around long enough to know that whenever a layoff happens, the problem isn't with the people who are getting laid off.  The problem is the management.  Basically a layoff is used to cut cost, to trim fat, to get rid of unwanted folks, to shift things in a different direction, to spice things up a bit. You name it.  But where does the cost/fat/mofos come from? You got it, the management allowed all of that to happen.  I've seen so many rds and that point is just proven over and over again. So I gotta tell all those who got laid off, it's time to rethink what you love and really use this opportunity to pursue your true passion.

Best of all, I've been finally clear up to work on my side project again.  Things happen in a mysterious way.  Just as I was starting to resume talks with my partners, the cut happens.  The timing couldn't be more perfect and I take it as a good sign.

While I was brainstorming, I thought that the most important realization in your career is when you know that it's not a job.  Too many times I hear people being asked: "So what do you do for a living" and people would respond with "I'm a sales" "I'm an account manager" "I'm a 3D artist" "I'm a software engineer" "I'm a CEO of company XYZ"

Where is the love? These people don't realize by saying that they aren't telling anyone anything about the passion in the things they do.  Maybe they don't even have it.

Next time when someone asks, maybe you should think about it and tell them that

"I do what I do because I'm excited to get people to fall in love with the product I sell"

"I create artwork that inspires people and make them fall in love with it"

"I get people around town to make everyone's day easier and couldn't be happier because I can tour my beloved city everyday"

"I make games for all the kids AND adults that needs a little bit more of fun in their lives"

Passion is what sells.  People aren't stupid anymore, scamming and tricking them into buying something isn't going to work in the uber-information driven 21st century.  If you put love in what you do and genuinely care about the people you sell to or give service for, it will definitely spread and only success will follow.

12/30 Touched down
Mom and Dad couldn't wait to pick me up, even though I mentioned that I won't be staying home this year.  Oh well, every minute is precious in their eyes.  Didn't even get to have dinner cuz Baggages were late coming out! Whatever, had a great meal on the plane earlier cuz it was biz class mwahahahaha.  Got to the boarding area and they just went ahead and shred my boarding pass to pieces.  I was bout to bust out a WTF before they kindly handed me a new boarding pass, and whispered: "it's business class, sir".  Of course I had to seize the moment and enjoyed the rest of my trip on multiple champagnes and a really decent Korean meal.  "You get what you paid for" just took on a whole new meaning

12/31
Frikkin b3@n had to forget to charge her phone so I almost ended up sleepin on the street @ 2am.  But I was resourceful enough to call Kit and got the address and password outta him. What a life saver! He deserved every bit of the 4 pound bag of veg. Roast Duck that I'm gonna bring back to him.  Got a nice Beef Stew meal at 3am in the morning, and walked around my new "home" for the next 2 weeks.  You know it's a cool place when you can get a full meal within 5 minutes walk.  Anyway the place was frikkin small, definitely not 400 sq. ft as advertised.  More like 200 sq. ft to me.
Got up the next morning w/ a couple things in mind - get a haircut @ Mina Dev' Ril, try out Hokkaido Milk Comp.  So our 1st dest. was CWB cuz everything can be done there, too bad that there're so many food stores on the way so I had to fill myself w/ all my beloved snack on the streets before I even get to the first place.  HC was cheap ($98!) but the food was so-so, n/m got it crossed off my list.  Went to the bank next and met the funnest private banker ever in Pauline, she's so positive even though I was uber unhappy with her bank's service and the trouble that caused me to fly all the way back to settle in person!  Got that shit done and decided to drop off some gifts @ Shadow's and check his baby out.  God damn it she cried on the first sight of me why do I look evil that day? Oh well at least the dog still liked me.  w/e I got back to CWB to plan the next thing, got our train tix to GZ on 1/3, and just "heh" w/ Shadow @ WC computer city till b3@n gets back on her new get up for the night and grabbed dinner @ Pom De Terre II http://202.45.131.241/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=8913 .  Again it was okay but nothing comp to the House or ISA back in the bay.  Finally met up w/ K after dinner and rolled some B @ the hotel before we GDB'd @ the alley way.  Hopped on a tram to Central to be @ the NYE party @ Zuma... met a buncha friends there but too bad Dickson couldn't make it.  It was a good place but because it was too crowded so I pretty much stayed outside @ the balcony area all night including countdown.  Met some cool folks from back in the bay and we ended 2009 on a high note...

tbc

Using a translator, the term 幸福 loosely translates into Happiness, but if I use the same translator and re-translate "Happiness", I get 愉快. Okay, so does that mean those two terms are equivalent? Or there really isn't a word in english for 幸福.  What exactly is 幸福? To me, it's a state of mind that transcends mere happiness, it's what I was brought up to believe to be the ultimate goal in life.  This reminds me of that Will Smith movie - The Pursuit of Happyness.  I remember that the first time I saw that title I thought "hey there's a typo!", but after some research I found that the word Happyness is misspelled on purpose. It actually came directly from this line by Lemuel Haynes, who quoted Thomas Jefferson's exact same line line from the declaration of independence but spelled the last word with a y: "We hold these truths to be self-Evident, that all men are created Equal, that they are Endowed By their Creator with Certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happyness.". I think what Lemuel had in mind is 幸福 but couldn't find a word for it, so he needed to alter a word with a similar yet distinct meaning.

An interesting report recently came out of China, documenting people's 幸福 factor (I find it funny that statisticians ALWAYS feel the need to assign numbers to everything, but at least, it makes it easier to tell WTF they're comparing).  According to the article, your 幸福 factor goes up exponentially if your monthly salary reach a breaking point, in China that's about roughly 4000 RMB. The 幸福 factor is highest amongst the group that falls within the range 25-75% above that figure, which is about 5000-7000 RMB.  That relationship however is not proportional to income level once the figure gone above another threshold, as it is stated that the group of people who makes 15K~20K monthly have a high degree of inconsistency in terms of 幸福 factor.

I think I qualify for the equivalent of that middle group, which is the new definition of "middle class" for Gen-X's and Gen-Y's.  We're the people who don't own a business, have a somewhat high paying job but no management responsibility.  We can and like to do whatever and eat whatever we feel like and we have no financial burden because we don't have a mortgage and we're single. We pay alot of taxes, but yet we also have the highest spending power and is willing to spend more than 50% of our income on non-essential items. We get about 3-4 weeks of paid vacation every year, and usually spend more of those time traveling than getting in touch with our family (assuming you moved out already).  We spend alot of time surfing the web, watch TV and engaging in IM/SMS conversations.  We have hobbies that aren't related to what we do, but will be willing to go all out to satisfying the need for those hobbies. We read special interest magazine, news 'n blogs and we shop online/offline to fulfill our lives while we're not working.  We attract the advertisements created just for us for we are many people's cash cows.  That new pair of shoes? That new car from the famous European maker? That new laptop or cellphone? That opportunity to dine at the latest hip restaurant? Yes, I want it all, for there's an entire economy waiting for me and my fellow Gen-X's and Gen-Y's.

Intellectually, we like to ponder on topics such as: "will higher salary make you happy?" "internet censorship is wrong" "renting is better than buying" "being single is ok" "best places to eat @ your city" "where to go on a night out" etc etc... something that can fill our otherwise cramped minds that're already full of faces that does not associate with a name, passwords for all my alter-ego on the net, schedules for the next gig or outing, top 10 favorite dishes, whose blog to read...

This is still the time with relatively no family or career responsibility.  There aren't people's whose life and death depends on us.  In maybe just a few short years, our mindset will change yet again.  Our definition of Happyness is no longer the same.  We would be making more $$$, and we still ponder whether or not we're "happy-er" than before, or will we ever have the same feeling 幸福 for the rest of our lives...

Y'all know I've been taking my time off and really contemplating on what I should do next... some of the weird things that popped up during this 3 month hiatus include: getting a pilot license, becoming a frond end visual designer, being an entrepreneur in the web biz or street fashion design and merchandising, or start from zero... going to school... travel around (which I've done already)... and some more fantasies that you'd think I'm crazy for sharing... but the point is - I'm tired of what I was doing and wanted to try something new, and even if it's not something new, I want it to have the potential to lead into something new and exciting.  By now most of you who works in an office must know a few 40-year-olds that're neither too smart nor too dumb, neither fast nor slow, sitting right there executing their task to precise perfection, taking timely coffee breaks and induce just enough curiosity for a random chat here and there... all that just so they could put off some more of that paycheck to his/her 401k, finish off their mortgages and maybe saving it for their kid's college tuition or their family vacation at the end of it all.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, after all it's better than being the bum on the street, the drug-addict or {insert your favorite it'll suck to be working there job}.  But who's to decide what the definition of being successful is? This society wants you to follow orders, play by their rule, pay taxes and not commit any crime, get health care and fixed interest 30 year mortgages.  If you can do all that, you'll be well off.  So the illusion of choice is there but you're actually stuck doing one thing or the other for the rest of your life. 

What's the way outta this you say? Honestly I've no idea.  I wanna see what else I can do, take more risks, be in a position where I'm bound to fail but manage to find ways to turn the situation around.

So to be realistic I still gotta get a work, and there're offers from these places:

A) Startups with lots of risk, tapping in a unproven industry, without a clear business model
B) SMBs with a few years of track record, just starting to turn a profit and potential to blow up huge
C) Large, public corporates that has an established business, well-defined process and kickass employment equity

Should it be A, B or C?