a picture is worth a thousand words

and i have a few here.

hiring newbies

it all came too quick that my brain is still behind my actual daily schedule.

we are not exactly understaffed but we do need to hire some newbies to do all the basic work.

we posted a few ads, loads of CV came in.

all of them are born after 1990 for sure - yes, they have officially entered the labour market, making a new mark in the market and reminding us the cruel fact and necessity of being a responsible adult, every friggin day.

lots of them had overseas education, lots of them are from prestigious universities with "glamourous" specialisations. 

another cruel fact: degree inflation.

anyways, i selected, among the pile, 3 to have an interview.

wow, these people are so much more mature than i was at their age.

one of them is a student union leader, has rich experience in organising different events across different colleges etc. she just blahed away, talked non-stop. you can tell that she's been to all sorts of different interviews and is quite skilled.

the second girl came in the interview wearing a fluffy bright yellow sweater with bright-coloured leggings and matching neon coloured nails. she has a fringe that would possibly prevent her from seeing things.

she wants to have an intership with us because she feels bored filing legal documents and facing the walls of her cubic everyday.

yes, those two are the nos.

the yes one i decided to hire, is from a university with good reputation (yes, am shallow). although her major is chinese as a foreign language (is there such a thing? anyway, just like ESOL, but chinese), she wants to be in the marketing team. hmmm.

she's got good interview skills and is very polite, she was the only one who stood up to greet me when i entered the office for the interview. and stood up as well after we finished the interview when i was leaving the office.

not exactly pretty, no flowery words, not too talkative. is obviously bright enough to get herself on an exchange programme overseas and survived.

she started this week and i have my fingers crossed that she won't quit half way through. that's another story how my friend's sister, a gen-Yer, quit her job upon the 3rd month into it...

the labour market is not looking good, but our new comers are not as active either. they've had an easy life and been sheltered all through their life. why bother getting a job? their parents are so going to cover their living costs...

i dunno, maybe i am slowly turning into a responsible adult who picks on everything and everybody? 

sans titre

it would totally be too ambitious if i was to start over again reporting my Kansai trip.

i can't commit.

anyways, i will remember to write down cute little stories happened all along the trip.

maybe even share tips - like i have any to begin with. (rolling eyes)

well, for a start, it was a birthday present to myself.

i agreed with my friend almost 10 years ago that we'd travel together to Paris to celebrate our birthday this year.

turned out, we didn't go for various reasons.

but we did, start planning from Amsterdam and then around South France.

she even got guidebooks etc from Taiwan.

but we ended up heading north east to Japan.

spent a 2-week break in the mountains which reminded us so much of good old days back in sheepland.

here is a deer-shaped omikuji from kasuga taisha in Nara.

PIC of the day

had so much fun @ nishiki mkt, but didn't let my deep down housewife side get the better of me, unlike my friend, she's so gonna carry those rice all the way back to HK. ~ yeah

it's not about what you know but who you know.

sipping coffee and flicking through paper, something came to attention.

first here. then here, here & here.

what?! even here!!!

well, i thought it's a well-understood story that all high-level management posts are filled by such people. although i didn't expect that they were way ahead of my "understanding of the world in general" - they were already reaching out to hk offices, so long ago, too.

just another example of my finance professor's famous quote "the only way to get rich is to be rich to begin with." well i guess if you have a great dad/mum also helps enormously in this instance.

quoting TNYer, "there is a difference between 'knowing' something exists and seeing it laid out in the black and white of court files."

simple and naive me.

there are certain things you can't claim their non-existence just because you can't see them. e.g. wifi. 

quote of the day

yep.

sans titre

i've only realised that i haven't properly written anything about miss z's wedding. doh!

partially because i was so tied up with other random shit in life that i didn't bother making time recording this important moment of her life. (just joking.)

another part is that i still haven't adjusted to the fact that she's turned to a new page of life.

it was an elegant and exquisite wedding, minus the weather.

but lucky enough when she walked out of the car to get to the venue, it all stopped.

she walked down the aisle looking stunning in her champagne/ivory wedding gown being super careful (it was raining and the pebbled footpath isn't something on which hight heels are safe to walk), i was so happy for her.

when she took the vow, articulating each word, tears rolled down my cheeks. that moment, i felt like an old lady relative of hers who saw her growing up. and being so happy seeing her little cousin getting married.

i was honoured to be asked to deliver a speech, which, you would think was done ages ago and had had a couple of revisions already beforehand.

but truth to be told, i only did a 2nd revision night before.

i was having memory flashbacks all night, remembering the good old days of us skipping classes to go to all sorts of random places and the not-so-glamourous days of us being stressed and miserably unemployed - i will probably never forget about that horrible winter - all the rain and bad weather.

although i remember a lot of tears from her, and when we hugged, other than happy tears, i was crying on the inside, "gawd, why is this girl so skinny while i am so fat and still dig in every friggin meal."

till this minute, i am still waiting for the pictures taken by the very professional photographer on the day.

i promise to share with you some wonderful pictures when i actually get to see them.

the wedding took place at a vineyard and the environment was superb, english country club style.

big big heart.

i wish you a lifetime of happiness, z.

xxx

goodbye my friend

thanks for all the great time.

a dieu.

temporary tattoo, 2.

yup. being late again.

temporary tattoo

ditto.

get it from here.

i luuuuuv the watch tattoo, so random.

congrats mate!

for more, click here.

a new destination for your working holiday visa programme

喜聞樂見法蘭西終於也加入了工作假期計劃的大軍呢∼

所以現在除卻澳洲、加拿大、紐西蘭、愛爾蘭、德國，日本和韓國之外，法蘭西也榜上有名了呢。

說真的，那些英文國家真的會讓人感覺乏善可陳。

泡菜國，毫不吸引我。日本又會很貴，且畢竟離家太近，無甚挑戰可言。

德國和法國無疑是最吸引人的兩個目的地了！

趁自己浪費一整年的機會成本還不是很高的時候，走出門，換個環境，去異國深入地了解一下別人的文化和生活方式，的確很吸引人啊。

有過這樣的一段經歷，人生閱歷頓時豐富起來。

雖然將來，亦會在很多個無法入睡的夜裡，因為各種瓶頸感到焦慮，輾轉反側。

只是，當你回想起你在歐陸遊學的日子裡遇上的奇人奇事，一定會釋然。

做了別人想做而不敢做的事情——獨自遠走異國，放棄（高）薪（厚）職去面對一個全新的未知的世界。

這，難道不令人驕傲嗎？

adieu lady thatcher

i don't have much to say.

really.

maybe, stop making biographical movies about someone who's still alive?

え？

の。。のつ?

10

.

we miss you so

the long due post - part II

I have developed a new habit of numbering my thoughts, the quicker I tick off an item, the easier my life seems... it's not like am important or anything, just pretending to be logical... (wishful thinking, really)

I promise to write more often whenever possible.

1. what's the difference living in sheepland and outside Sheepland?

    the pace of the whole society. you will feel it instantly after landing into sheepland. kiwis seem to have all the time to do all sorts of random things. and they really enjoy taking it slow and do these in a laid-back way. this is a nice change when you need a break from the "centre of the crazy world" where making quick bucks is the only thing they care about.

2. was it difficult to get over the (reverse) culture shock? Why?

    it was... the "centre of the crazy world" is full of amazing experiences ahead of you. these things are not believable till you see them through your own eyes. i have not seen before a flight attendant snapping at a passenger because she took her headsets from business class (on purpose or not). maybe it's because i am not a white guy who looks like a potential marriage candidate (or a ___ buddy)? and all other sorts of weird things you (might) go through...

3. Positive sides on both sides?

    +ve sides definitely exist. one good example: the existence of taobao, the convenience of placing orders at midnight online and getting the goods delivered at door the next morning.

    +ve side of living in sheepland: the slow pace. the world's not gonna collapse if you do one thing over 5 days (typically these things can be done in 5 hours or less in the "centre of the crazy world").

4. If I had to make a choice again, what would i do?

    i say go for it. better do it then regret than regretting not doing it.

5. What parameters count in leading a life we want?

    especially true today: clean air, clean water, safe food... i kid you not. imagine having to keep the windows shut at all times... 

what? why!

the long due post

I've been meaning to write something for ages but didn't really have the time.
OK, this is a lame excuse… but after a day's work and commuting my energy level goes to 0, thinking about my feelings and make sth sensible out of it seems such a luxury.

I've now been away for about 2 years, half of which in France, the rest in China. And i came to seriously think about it now -

1. what's the difference living in sheepland and outside Sheepland?
2. was it difficult to get over the (reverse) culture shock? Why?
3. Positive sides on both sides?
4. If I had to make a choice again, what would i do?
5. What parameters count in leading a life we want?

(I'm seriously sleep deprived from a long haul flight, a night of hen's party and getting up early the following morning to be the driver and not having a proper laptop to type all these up…returning to sleep but will finish answering the above, soon)

つづく

try this out!

if you own an android phone.
try this: http://chrome.com/supersyncsports/
and type: g.co/super on your phone.
(it's understandable if you don't have an android phone, though a bit weird.
what do you mean you don't have chrome?! like, how else do you browse your webpages?)
have fun guys!!!
i might've laughed out too loud in my office.

每日一图

As promised.

pic credit: the Internet

路漫漫其修遠兮

因為《不結婚》(稍後附上多個有趣的截屏)，終於加入了日劇觀摩大軍。

有種臨「老入花叢」的感覺。

慢慢摸索著自學一點吧，從hiragana入手。

終究是不經常用腦導致退化，已經反复背誦了好久了，還是認不全。

心想著那些寫慣看慣拉丁字母的西人究竟是如何學習這門語言的。

見過10多歲小童的日文課本，統統都是羅馬字，讀上來也是個英文口音，煞是好玩。

只是這招雖然能用卻不是個長久的辦法。

將來要是去到日本旅行，就是個文盲啊！

只能硬著頭皮繼續奮鬥這毫無邏輯的字母表。

直到某日，發現了維基關於hiragana的詞條。

真相大白啊！

現在鄙人的狀況是從漢字倒推著死記硬背 -__-|| ……

總算是分得清 さ 和 ち 了。

它倆本是鏡中倒影對方吧？

當然也有特別容易記的，像れ長得和「礼」就很像啊！

全當自己是在激活腦細胞吧。

總比那些毫無頭緒，連筆劃順序都要從頭記起的西人好多了啊！

每日一篇正能量

良久未有更新。

sans titre

那個……最近在L小姐的影響下，開始看日劇了啊。

《結婚狂想曲》(《不結婚》) 裡的女主角，一直被我當成是黑木啊……囧。

另外，公司12月的電話會議帳單來了。

由於最近趕著完成項目，參與的人員又散落在各個不同地方，所以有了以下驚人的數字。

本月總計通話時間是3900多分鐘，或，65個小時……

通話次數總計18，即是，平均每次通話217分鐘，約3.62個小時……

打完電話，即使耳朵沒事，電話都燒起來了吧？

Happy New Year!

now what do we do that the world did not end in 2012?