23 July 2018

Ok so I'm starting to really like instagram now, mostly because it helps me look at the world not from a funny point of view, but also from a beauty point of view. Like how can I turn what I'm going to into a photo and summarize my feelings?

So how are things? I've been working hard at writing material while traveling a lot. I was just in Shanghai this weekend doing English shows and we even did a Cantonese show! Yes, I know, Cantonese! After an awesome weekend of shows, the typhoon hits Shanghai and I find myself stranded at the airport...argh!

The last 10 days has seen so much happen, I don't know where to start! So we're 1 week away from Dr. Jason Leong's comedy show in Hong Kong!

The upcoming Laugh Festival has got a packed schedule with shows for 4 weeks and I am nervous but excited at the same time! I have 1 month to get everything sorted and make sure the whole world knows about the festival!!!

Anyway, other than that, my life is getting back on track finally. I spent a good amount of time trying to sort things back in order and managed to get my emails and to do list in order. Of course, my weekend in Shanghai kind of messed things up, especially since I was supposed to get my Sunday to work but found myself sitting on the tiled floors of the Shanghai Pudong Airport catching up on a bunch of netflix shows that I'd been meaning to watch.

My workouts are back baby! Still nowhere close to the fitness and mobility level I was 2 years ago but definitely better than this time last year. At least I'm getting back in my routine and even getting back into Yoga :)

So I told the special lady friend she needs to read The Art of the Start and turns out there is a version 2.0 of the book now! Wahah, crazy! I read the table of contents and it was quite awesome re-reading that and remembering some of the content. The main takeaway is that it made me convince myself that what I was doing would make the world a better place, a mindset you definitely need if you plan on creating something out of nothing.

I've also been noticing that I absolutely love the idea of creating something out of nothing. Like my comedy, or my photos on instagram or whatever, it's just the idea that I could have easily just ignored that and let it be, but I tried to capitalize on what I had in front of me. Like I don't go out of my way to pay money to book a venue just to take a photo or I don't go out of my way to do something just in hopes of turning it into a comedy bit. I guess there's just something I like about being an opportunist. ... yes another thing I learned from the Art of the Start like 10+ years ago when I read it first as I was starting myself in the world of self-employment.

Well, it's 10:37pm and I'm quite excited to see what happens in the next 10 days, I have a whole bunch of different things lined up that will happen or need to get done, who knows what happens after that. Heck in 10 days I'll be rehearsing for my part as the MC for Youtube Fanfest Hong Kong! Woah?! Speaking of which, I really need to find the time to make more videos and get my Youtube channel back on track. In 10 days?

It's on my to do list, but will it get done!? Stay tuned and find out in the next edition of "Let's write out what I can remember happened in my life".


posted by Vivek Mahbubani at 10:39 PM 3 Comments

11 July 2018

It's so hotter!!

OK so I guess every time it's time to write in my blog, I end up whining about how hot it is... well that's the thing, it's really hot! And I'm actually sun burnt (sure the photo's been exaggerated, but I'm actually burnt from the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Wish Carnival that happened on Sunday. Have to say, being around kids is awesome and makes you feel young again, up until they leave and you sit down realizing you're crazy tired from all that energy you spent to keep up!!!

So how are things guys? I managed to hit ZERO INBOX (emails that is) which, if you've been a follower, will know is a BIG BIG DEAL to me... am I less stressed? Well a bit, not in proportion to what I should be knowing I have no emails to deal with. Why? Because my to do list is pretty big, not in number of tasks but in the workload of each task! We're putting together the Laugh Festival this year and I've been tasked with putting together the shows, sorting out acts and stuff and I must say, this is some crazy work but it'll all pay off once the festival is on and I'll look back at this day with a smile knowing I have this story to talk about one day to my grand kids, or pets, or a drying wall.

So the last 10 days has been pretty intense, my mom is in India so I've been on my own which has made me shift my work schedule a bit to tend to things she'd normally be in charge of (namely, making sure I have food in my belly). The cool thing is I get to explore around town a bit more seeing what's available and I have a green card to experiment, but the bad thing is it takes up an extra hour of my day ahahah. I've squeezed in my time so much that an hour is like eternity to me really.

On the other hand, I've had to tell myself to start slowing down, I've come to realize I really am not getting any younger and it's times like these I need to be honest with what work I'm doing and which parts of it are the ones that deserve to be kept. I mean it was tough having to accept that I won't be playing drums and giving away my equipment but it was the right choice. In the same way, I don't take on web projects anymore simply because I've hit a point where I don't want to deal with the stress of managing a project of that kind anymore. I mean don't get me wrong, I absolutely love creating stuff from zero but having to keep up to date with the technical aspect of web technologies, let's just say it's not a race I'm up for anymore. On the other hand, I've found a new passion for re-learning my tools for video editing, photo editing and animations. Why? Well because as I can see from my instagram habits, I really do like creating stuff and trying to challenge myself to make something cool that is worth sharing. I mean I'm quite picky with who I follow and information I want to be informed about, I'd hate to waste people's time with generic stuff, after all, that's not how I write my comedy, then why should that be how I create anything?

Speaking of creating, I'll be hosting the Youtube Fanfest HK #YTFFHK again this year which is an honor, seeing as I am not as much of a youtube creator as the others on the line up that night...but at least it's good incentive for me to kick start something I suppose?

So I'm heading to Shanghai for some shows on the weekend of 20 - 22 July, then got my buddy Jason Leong's show coming up on 28 July 2018, then the Youtube Fanfest on 3 August 2018, a show with Clean Air Network on 11 August along with some other stuff then finally the Laugh Festival starting 8 Sept till 1 October...oh man, I am going to definitely need a big big big vacation soon.

Well here's to a crazy 3 months ahead but hopefully this time in 3 months a lot will have improved and I'd have created something epic! If not, web design again then? :P



posted by Vivek Mahbubani at 8:47 PM 1 Comments

01 July 2018

It's so hot!!!!

Yes, it's that hot. Seriously, today was HOT! But it was absolutely lovely! It's been ages since I went out with the special lady friend and just enjoyed the sunshine. I really do love spending time in the sun, at least I'm confident I'll be sleeping really well tonight!

But no matter how good the day is, my chores, my emails, my to do list is always there waiting for me back in my room. Speaking of my room, how the hell has it gone from super duper organized to a freaking mess again in just 10 days?!?! Seriously, I think once I get into work mode, any sort of "put this where it belongs" gets thrown out the window and all my brain is thinking is WORK! GET WORK DONE!

Well the last 10 days has been hot but also happening. I got to enjoy quite a few gigs, including my own show at the newly opened (well 1 month old) Tai Kwun! There's something magical about performing to an audience at a semi-outdoor area and having this super duper casual feeling to it.

Well this upcoming week is kinda packed for me as well, especially with the Laugh Festival coming in September and my buddy Dr. Jason Leong popping into Hong Kong for his show "Ambitious" on 28 July 2018!!!

So much going on this month!! The good thing is, my emails are.........near zero! I hit zero-inbox (long time blog followers will know this is a big, big deal to me!) and let's just say I didn't know how to feel when my inbox said "There is no new mail". However, a week later and boom, I'm back to like 9 emails left to sort out and like 30 items on my to do list to process. Ah such is life, much like this insane heat.

Although, I'd rather it be insanely hot than insanely rainy, nothing annoys me more than having soggy socks hugging my feet all day. OK, maybe forgetting to bring my own water with me on a sunny day would annoy me more....hmm.

Alright, back to work guys, happy 10 more days!

posted by Vivek Mahbubani at 11:04 PM 2 Comments