I am finally calm

Well the last few days have been extremely intense for me, schedule-wise because they have been packed to the top! But all for the right reasons. Last night finally marked the end to the Comedy Festival with the English Competition Finals where the competition was fierce. Everyone brought their A-game and so did I when I got my 5 minute guest spot at the end of the show. Congratulations to Rishi Budhrani for winning the competition and bagging himself bragging rights for being the funniest person in Hong Kong... while he goes home to Singapore.

A day before that, I got to watch Dayo Wong Chi Wah's show at the HK Coliseum and my hats off to him for a great show! A total of 3 hours with him on stage speaking for 2:20hrs was very impressive because I wasn't at any point feeling like the show was tedious. Sure my body was a bit uncomfortable near the end but I blame the seats rather than the show.

A day before that was the Chinese competition seeing previous winner Fab bag himself the title again this year. A fun show by all the comedians and it's interesting to see everyone get into the competition mode and right after the winner is announced, everyone's first thought was "Dinner on Fab!" :P (yes, even my mind thought that ahahah).

A day before that... ok you get the point, there was a lot going on.

On a brighter note, today has finally been a day where I could sit and be focused on myself and my work. I was offered to perform at MGM as an opener for the funny Ruben Paul but I had to decline because I knew I'd regret it when Monday came along and my workload keeps piling up.

I've been experimenting ever more with my daily schedule, trying to find the optimum time when my mind is juiced up for comedy writing, when it's excited to play some drums and when it's ready to work on my web design work. I've found that the best way for me to get about taking care of everything is to literally have a full plan the night before. I've been planning what time I do everything the night before and it's been working out very well.
Previously, I would write my daily schedule out and have blocks for different things. Like I would put 12:30 - 1:20 is drumming. It would be a block of time dedicated to drum practice. However, now I've gone and planned out what to do in that block the night before, which basically leaves me to just do the monkey work so I don't need to think about what to do, but just do. Then after a day's work and feeling good about what I've accomplished, I'm psyched at night to plan the next day's schedule and decide what I do in each chunk of time. So far so good it's seen me stay consistent and I've proudly logged my progress with 42goals.com (yes the need to log is in my DNA).

So far after having turned 30, I've had a struggle trying to stay afloat with work and everything, but at least I've come to terms that I'm not superman and hey, as long as I did more than I didn't do, I'm a happy man now. Well....for now.

Hello from the mountains. Here I am in the late afternoon of a cloudy Thursday sitting in the wing cooling down after a nice little hike up the hills. I sit in the very same place I used to almost on a daily basis, gathering my thoughts and simply searching for a moment of peace.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was how the vegetation around has grown and some of the concrete structure has crumbled from erosion and plantation pressure. The place I used to sit no longer has the view of the sky in front because it's covered by trees and greenery. I can't believe how fast everything has grown. Well, fast in terms of my memory, not so fast since it's been a while since I last came here.

(damn, I just killed an ant that was walking around my trackpad...oops?)

So the last 2 weeks have been another roller coaster for me as I saw myself having days where I sat at my computer with that joyful feeling of achieving all the to do's of the day, and also days where I sat at my computer exhausted thanks to a stomach flu. Either I'm getting old or used to this because this roller coaster is starting to feel like the flat road because it doesn't surprise me when it happens. The last few days have also seen me make some big adjustments to my work environment (ok, big as in I will be making big adjustments after the furniture and equipment I've ordered arrive)...

I've also grown a new interest in rap/hip hop music that seem to work very well with my projects. Namely Jay-Z's Public Service Announcement and Wu Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M. Check it out and imagine you're staring at a design or a bunch of code. Doesn't this make it seem so much more enjoyable?

I have also recently been hit with a case of the SSDD's (Same Shit Different Day) where I really just felt like every moment was me going through the motions rather than being excited for what awaits (which explains why I'm up here in the middle of the day).  I've come to realize these emotional issues are best dealt with time and time alone. The best way to beat SSDD is to do the opposite. Logic tells me I could be writing this post from my room, saving me 30 minutes time that could be used to catch up on my reading but heck, if I did that it'd be SSDD again. But at least the walk up here forced me out of my typical (not comfort, just typical routine) zone and hey, it's helping :). Lucky for me I have no gigs lined up for this weekend and thanks to his walk, I'm excited to just do something different on Saturday and Sunday, hopefully that'll charge me up for the week ahead.

Well, the sky's going grey and a few drops of water and coming down. I suppose that's a hint for me to get the hell up and head out. Then again, even if it isn't I really should be moving, I got a gig tonight! :P

Happy 10 days ahead!

PS. I just realized I never published this post (which was meant for like 3 weeks ago.... heh)
Oops.

Be brave.

Things have been hectic for me and I got smacked with the flu recently which had me lying in bed and burning up for 2 days...I never realized how long the day actually is until I was lying in bed all day just sleeping or watching something with half a brain. Someone recently shared the following video clip with me:

I absolutely loved it! What a great viral campaign! And man, after watching that, I sure as hell felt Carlsberg was a cool brand of beer to enjoy! After watching that video, I noticed a similar campaign they did in Hong Kong for Carlsberg:

Interesting idea, I really wonder what I'd do if I were put in that situation. I have a feeling I wouldn't wait until I was that close to make my decision if I were to turn around. But then again, who knows. But I like how it ended with bravery being rewarded.

Recently I've been noticing all the brave people around me. I don't mean brave like people who risk their lives, but brave as in people who are willing to take that leap of faith even when they don't need to. As Craig Ferguson said in his audio book American on Purpose, "between safety and adventure I choose adventure". Interesting where that has gotten him.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how brave I would be, I have to say, it's getting harder and harder for me to take a totally blind leap of faith (maybe they're right, if you want to be really brave, you have to sometimes be really stupid) partly because the older I get the more I have to lose or the more I'm thinking of the long term effects of my decisions rather than short term effects. Perhaps it's because after being human for so many years, I'm seeing long-term-results. Like noticing how my daily light stretches (ok I say daily loosely) have helped make me more flexible.

How things that were told to me many, many years ago, or things I experienced, are having an impact on me in the long term. I still remember burning hours and hours learning about GTD and man, if it wasn't for that, I'd be a dead man now, I'm sure my business would be half of what it is and I'd be overwhelmed and annoyed with myself. I could have settled for a typical way of simple job, clock in clock out and voila, but I went to brave route. Again, brave not as in I could end up dead, but brave as in out of the 2 paths, this was the less inviting and harder one. If I'd been in a steady job for the last 5 - 6 years, I'm pretty sure I'd hate my life. I just know I'm not that type of person, repeat anything too often and I'd get sick of it, that includes being brave. And that brings me to getting older. I suppose when you're older, you've been brave, you've taken risks but eventually those risks as well as their rewards don't attract you anymore. You don't need to feel good because you had the guts to do something. I'm not exactly out of that phase, I still take risks (especially with stand up comedy) but I think it's more calculated than before. With the extra life experience, this has become easier and easier.

So with that in mind, now that I think of it, if I saw a bunch of big guys on the bridge, if I were already walking on the bridge, I'd probably just walk pass them. I mean if they do anything, I suppose I'd just call the police? That's still being....brave right?

And speaking of being brave, I think I'm going to cave in and get back to work. Got a few things to sort out otherwise all the courage in the world isn't going to help me when I hate myself at 2am when I'm still struggling through emails :P

Enjoy the next 10 days!

Oh, I'm going to be going to the PJ Laugh Fest this week in Kuala Lumpur. Excited as hell about it! And to add to that, I'm going to be doing Cantonese there! Woah!!

The Easter Edition

Well, well, well, it's the Easter weekend and as expected, I've packed myself with a bunch of things I want to achieve in these few days. I guess I get really excited when it comes to such long weekends because I feel like I can finally focus on getting things done rather than dealing with things.

I've decided it's time to upgrade my environment that I work in with more space, I'm planning on changing my monitor stands to monitor arms so my table isn't as cluttered. Luxurious? Yes, but I've started realizing more and more how my environment affects me. Once my table starts getting cluttered, so does my mind and things start to overwhelm me, I get distracted by everything. While I'm working, I will keep thinking about what to do with the papers I have on my desk, whether it's just a notepad (brain will say "I really should put this away") or other items ("Do I need to keep this? Should I scan it? Or file it?"). Heck, even if my computer desktop is cluttered, I start getting distracted.

The most fun part is really thinking about how to upgrade my environment. Do I buy new things? Re-arrange old things? Remove things? It's quite a time and mental-consuming process, but that fresh feeling really does help. I suppose I understand what people have a need to rebrand themselves every now and then. It just brings fresh life to the whole situation. Just like changing your wallpaper on your desktop.

These last 10 days have seen me go from crazy busy, to crazy relaxed. March has been a month of madness but April is actually making sense. These holidays are a blessing and all I can say is, I'm excited (again!). I was actually bored with everything a few days ago (clearly burnout) but now it's like the world has no limits (again! Heh) and I'm ready to rock. The best thing, I never took the traditional route of R&R, I simply powered through everything and listened to my gut. If I really couldn't focus, I'd just accept this reality and deal with it tomorrow. It's a really, really hard thing to do when you know you're basically saying "I have time now, but not the mood so I'll have to make up for this mood tomorrow".. but I suppose it works for me.

So let's see how this excitement goes, I'm anxious as well, but not the fast-heartbeat-nervous-anxious, but more like an impatient-I-want-to-know-how-the-story-ends-because-it's-so-good anxious. Oh well :) Happy Easter! :)

Lessons learned

Ever have those times when you hit a point you need to stop and wonder how you got yourself into a situation? These last 10 days have been like that for me. A mixture of being busy like mad, getting hit with the flu, and just burning out has made me stop and rethink a lot of "exciting" things and how it's not that "exciting" after all.
I've been tied up with one of my projects (we've all had those doomsday projects that feel like hell and never seem to end) and my whole world has taken a turn for the worse. One thing I've learned about myself is I don't like leaving things half-done. Even with my trusty to do list and workflow system, I've unloaded all my work out of my head, but the idea that there is still work to do, and I could be doing it now and getting it done eats away at me. I suppose it's the need to know I'm making the best use of my time that matters.
But this attitude is the same reason I found myself up at 5am working a few nights and hitting the wall on Friday morning when I woke up feeling like a pile of mud. And I'm not talking about the useful type that can be part of a healthy fertilizer or turned into a sculpture, I'm talking about the type that has its minerals stripped away and is really not strong enough to hold its own weight when dry. My brain couldn't focus, my motivation was at zero and it was at that point the willpower had to kick in. It's like having to go for a jog when you got the runs, you can push yourself to go for it but every now and then you're going to feel an uncomfortable strain that you have to somehow power through.

On a brighter note, March is coming to an end and this month has been quite brutal work-wise for me. I've become better at allocating my time towards projects and trying to balance my schedule, but unforeseen doomsday project management is still something I have to master. I have, however, learned that the only way to recharge a person's motivation and willpower is to do the opposite of exactly what you're trying to be motivated about.
Today's Sunday and I've decided to let myself off for half a day. Baby steps as they say and here I am, enjoying the peace of a Sunday. These next 4 hours are going to be awesome :)

Enchantment

Well, well, well. Here I am 35,000 feet above the ground again. My laptop started to go crazy again but luckily it's working now.
So I was in Singapore yesterday enjoying a set at Comedy Masala and I was not only blown away by the fact that the house was full with 200+ people on a Tuesday night, but the amount the local comedians have upped their game! It's great coming back here because the audiences are ready to have a great time and I've gotten used to the place. I know the drill and I'm familiar with the whereabouts anyway.

The only thing I really hate about going abroad is loose change. This is one time I wish items cost more (well rounded up more like) and since it takes my brain a bit of time to convert the currency, my "cheapness" doesn't kick in until after I spent the money, which explains why I could spend almost S$3 for a crappy McDonald's Milo McFlurry…ahaha that was a mistake

So it was a great gig last night and I felt more comfortable working the room, now that I've been there a few times and have a better idea of the culture and people. Also, the flight, for some reason, didn't seem that long…I'm basically 1 hour into this 3:30hr flight and well, so far so good.

The last few days have been a real challenge of my willpower because I'm back to the horrible "too-much-work-not-enough-time" state because projects have just collided together. I've also been doing a lot of thinking and planning for the future because I've seriously got to better handle projects so I don't keep finding myself in the over-time slump.

I've been listening to the Audio Book version of Guy Kawasaki's - Enchantment. It's a pretty good book, not as good as The Art of the Start, but still interesting ideas, it applies to everything I do, my comedy, my web design, etc. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to find better ways of convincing people to listen to their ideas (provided you have good ideas). The book convinced my heart to talk to my brain and better figure things out. Basically my emotions had a chat with logic and that's why I'm working at trying to come to an agreement. My emotions want to stop being so aggressive and enjoy life a bit more. Take on a few less projects and just live a bit more. My logic says I need to strike the iron while it's hot, even if it seems to never cool down. I suppose it boils down to a balance. For example, I decided to completely flush my reading list and start over. Things were never going to get read and the list lost its purpose. I hated the idea that I was throwing away articles and information I knew were useful or interesting to me, but I suppose if I was never going to end up reading them anyway, then there's no difference.

March is scheduled to be a jam-packed month for me and I'm hoping April gives me some space to work out more ideas and plans for the journey ahead. The next 10 days are going to prove to be exhausting but hopefully once I get past this bump, it'll be encouraging (it always is!).

So have fun and enjoy the end of the 25% of 2012! We're still here, yay!

(Update: Of course this was posted at a later time :P)

Surprise me

These last 10 days have been full of surprises. It feels like everything happened. I've gone from excited to bored, stressed to relieved, well to sick and frustrated to inspired.

I came across a website talking about magic and mentioned a letter from the famous Teller from the dynamic due Penn and Teller. The main thing that really struck me was the simple phrase Surprise me. I suppose that applies to all the greatest things we come across, when we're surprised it's great, but when we're expecting to be surprised and still surprised, that's gold. I was watching some Beastie Boys music videos and that brought back a tonne of memories. I was watching a bunch of videos of Mix Master Mike, and man, I was blown away. I mean, there's something about that guy's music that is not just entertaining but fun!

Speaking of entertaining, I came across a web page showcasing a bunch of movie poster rip-offs that China has been doing and I'll be honest, I was really surprised. It's like people aren't even trying to not look like copycats. Check this out: http://offbeatchina.com/?p=1501
As a designer myself, it really annoys me when I see something like this. I'll be honest, I've had my fair share of clients say "make my site just like this one"...but no matter how hard I try I just have to make it different, it's like there's a switch in me that just cannot be changed when it comes to copying someone else's creative work. Actually, I've come across some "teachers" who do nothing more than copy/paste content from somewhere else and teach it in class, I wonder if this develops the bad habit in their students. Sigh. Personally, I think that design is a process of being able to create something that is your own rather than something that is...something.

Another thing that happened was I attended the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund 25th Anniversary Dinner last night. It's one of the super duper rare occasions I was in a full suit :) There were a lot of cool people and I even got to meet Corinna Chamberlain there. Turns out we were both recipients of this scholarship! :P

All in all a great 10 days. But the next 10 days are going to be brutal. I literally know I'm overloaded with work....and I think I'm starting to get a hint of the flu....damn. Oh well, let's see what adventures await me! :)

High 5 (years anniversary)

Wow. I cannot believe it's been 5 years since I started this blog! And in celebration of that, I shall....get back to work :P
The the future me when I read this post for some random reason, I just wanted to let you/me know that it's a peaceful Saturday morning, kind of like the calm before the storm because from here on till 1.5 months later, I'm going to find myself packed with to do's to check off and visits to the airport at least a couple of times and almost a whole day on a plane combined.

So if you/me survived through all this, then I suggest you/me stop and get some ice cream to celebrate this entry.

Yep, a very pointless post, but just the way I like it ;)

The dragon's roar

Things have been busy but somehow, it seems like the busy-ness isn't madness anymore. I don't find myself sitting around, yet I haven't been fully burnt out in a while (except for yesterday, ahah).
The last few days have been great. Particularly, I got a chance to speak to the CEO of www.alivenotdead.com casually and we discussed our common views of being organized as well as our differences in tackling things like emails. He's suggested this to me before and I've tried it but boy it's quite tough -- To deal with today's emails...tomorrow.
I tried that out for a while, but my curiosity and need to get things done wore me down and now I'm back to the GTD system of tagging items and creating next actions, then dealing with them one by one... it's still not perfected, but so far things are moving along smoothly.

On another note, tomorrow's the big day for Legend Fighting Championship 7! This time, they're putting the undercard fights live on Youtube! So check out their Youtube Channel and catch the fights at 4:30pm Hong Kong Time! I'm particularly excited about this event because the match ups are awesome!

I'm currently reading, well more like listening to I'm Dying up here via audible.com. It's great to learn about the comedy scene in the 70's and how it developed. Not to mention, learning about the stories of many of today's famous comedians and celebrities. It's kind of re-enforced my passion and mentality with comedy and the scene here in Hong Kong. There have been shows and times that have left me empty inside but it's cool to remember that 40 years ago, things were very similar back in the States.

By the way, a few days ago, it finally registered in my mind, I'm 29! Ahaha that's 1 year short of 30! Woah! I can't believe I'm here, I still have scribbles of things I wanted to achieve that I wrote when I was 23! I remember telling myself "when I'm 25, my web business needs to be running smoothly". Ahah, well thankfully my goals have been flowing smoothly, but the weirdest thing is, I can still picture myself sitting on the couch when I first told myself this stuff. Yet, I can barely remember what I have to do sometimes without consulting my to do list. Oh well, at least I'm remembering things memorable to me :)

Happy New Year...again!

Well hello hello! Happy New Year again! It's Chinese New Year! One of my favorite times of the year because it forces me to stop and relax! Why? Because pretty much everything's closed and everyone's in the festive mood! OK I'll admit, this year Chinese New Year seems extra good because it's so close to 1 Jan that it feels like 1 Jan was the soft-launch of the new year while today (23 Jan 2012) feels like the actual launch of the new year!

Well it's the year of the dragon and as the fiery and powerful animal depicts, I'm expecting a year of intensity and productivity! I just hope I don't burn out in the process. So far the new year has been good with a lot accomplished and my systems pretty much in place. After having around 3 weeks (ahh 21 days, oh how perfect) to test-run everything, I've found out what works and what doesn't. Sadly, it turns out I was too ambitious on 1 Jan 2012. A few of the things I wanted to keep up doing this year have faded out and I've had to come to terms and accept failure there. On a brighter note, my workstation is absolutely fantastic now! I can raise and lower it making it a seated or a standing desk quite conveniently. Oh not to mention my brand spanking new computer I had to build just a week and a half ago! This baby is faaasssstttt! A dragon might I say :)

I finally got all my gadgets in order, my Macbook is back after repair and now has a new hard disk and track pad, my computer is squeaky clean and super fast, my mobile phone is all ready to rock and well my iPad is....still stuffed with things I want to read :P Man I have so many things I want to read this year, it's insane!

In the last 10 days, I found myself as a guest speaker at Chinese University and it was really good because I got to answer students' questions at the end of my sharing session and one of them asked me "so what do you think is the purpose of living? Just to be happy?". The short answer (and text book answer), obviously is yes. But I'm one firm believer of talk is cheap. It's easy to say that, but is it really possible? I think happiness is far too intangible an item for us to know when we have it. I mean, we are happy, but is this the happiness we are looking for? Have we found the ultimate happiness? It made me think about a lot of things and brings me back to my belief that it's the journey that matters, not the result. I suppose it's the life you live, not the gravestone you have that matters.

I've also realized that the more I think about life, the more I realize as much as I am a get things done kind of guy, I enjoy the process of doing. Like working out, sure it'd be great if I could have a 6-pack now, but if someone offered me a magic pill to have a 6-pack, I wouldn't be proud of it. I need to work for it to make it mine. I suppose it's the ownership of the item as well as knowing that I'm the creator that makes it worthwhile. And that brings me back to my enjoyment in getting things done, to be able to look back and see that I did so much and managed to enjoy it along the way (ok, generally enjoy, there are loads of times the process sucks but I know it's good for me).

I also suggested that the students have a habit of writing journals and noting down their days because it's great to re-read what you were thinking and where you were even just 10 days ago. One of the students asked, doesn't this make you stick to the past and linger there? Like if you kept trying to do something and kept failing, re-reading about those failures only re-enforces the feeling? Oddly, I never thought of that. It's true, but I suppose I prefer to write about what I did do, not what I failed to do, mostly because I do get a lot done each day so the things I did are enough to satisfy my daily journal entries. But it does tell you something about your personality and how you're maturing. When I read my old entries, I can see my struggles, my empty holes I'm trying to fill as I see them in the wall, but now it's more about painting the wall. Sure I'll come across a crack here and there, but I'm not surprised by it, I'm half-expecting it and I'm ready to deal with those cracks and new-found-holes. I suppose that's a sign of maturing?

Well whatever it is, the key is to not just grow, but to soar. Like a dragon through the sky and realize those dreams and fantasies. After all, dragons aren't real right? But their vibe sure is.

The new year anthem

Well Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2012 is being kind to you all. It's been playing nice so far for me.

Let me be the first to say I am the proud owner of a brand spanking new Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and I am absolutely loving it! To jump from my ol' Samsung Galaxy S to this phone is a big step up!

Well we're into week #2 of 2012 and things have....reverted to what they were. My trip to Bali was so relaxing that every time I sit here working, I just keep looking back to my Bali trip and remembering what relaxation really should feel like. I've disciplined myself to take frequent breaks in between work and those 5 minutes of just pretending I'm still in Bali feel great. I used to work for 35 minutes then break for 5 - 10 minutes, but now I push 45 minutes then break for around 5. I realized that when I'm in the zone, it's hard for me to stay in the zone while I take a break. So knowing I'm relaxing for 5 minutes just gives me a quick recharge because I'll still be in the zone, but my mind would have had a quick breather.

As one of my new year's resolutions, I've aimed to live a more balanced life and things have been hard. I've realized that Hong Kong really is a place where you feel like things need to be rushed. I mean while I'm here, it's hard for me to have a I feel like taking the day off... just because feeling because there is always something to be done on my agenda. On a brighter note, at least I've been exercising more and eating better, though there have been days when my craving for junk food has been uncontrollable!

You know what's really odd, now that I've been practicing my drums daily, I'm able to blink my right or left eye separately. Ahaha for the last few months where I rarely practiced my drums, I couldn't do that with my eyes! Weird eh?

Well, I've hit my 45 minutes mark and it's time to take a break and I guess my anthem continues in hopes of being a more balanced person in 2012. See you in 10 days and until then, stay warm and stay happy because if 2012 is the end of the world, well, at least you didn't die while shivering with a frown :)

Over expect and Under promise

Ahh, goodbye 2011, you have been a good and crazy year for me.

This year, I grew a lot as a person, mostly because I started finding my direction easier and realized that you need to seize every good opportunity. Not every opportunity is good, and it takes experience and wisdom to tell the difference. One thing I've come to learn this year is that as long as you know what direction you're heading, you're heading in the right direction. I still cannot give myself nor anyone a clear indication of where I want to be heading, but I do know that as long as when the day ends and I'm happy with what I did, I'm doing it right.

After a long time, I finally enjoyed a proper week-long vacation in Bali. It did me wonders. I finally got to refuel and recharge as a person and it reminded me of how to be focused without being stressed out. I got to enjoy the sound of the ocean and appreciate the little things in life, like soaking my feet in grass. I realized that working hard and earning a living was only meaningful if I learnt how to spend what I earned on something that enriched my soul rather than my desires. For anyone feeling lost or lacking direction, I strongly suggest escaping the world for 3 - 6 days and just staring at nature. There's a certain magic to it. Reading a book in a coffee shop vs. reading it at the seaside is very different.

Another big chapter in this year was when I found myself drowned in work. I wasn't struggling to stay afloat because I didn't know how to swim properly, but I had taken on too much because I thought I was able to do more than I really could. It sucks when you have to face the man in the mirror and accept that you messed up. I re-read some of my writings from last year and one of my resolutions was to learn to say no more. I suppose, it's a resolution for 2012 again.

On a brighter note, I finally re-organized my desk and wires so that I can convert my desk to a standing desk on-demand, which is awesome because there are days when I'm just tired of sitting. Now, with a few rotations of my handy crank, the table rises and voila, it's a bar-table :) I've also finally gotten back on track with some exercise (man I slacked the hell off for the last 2 months! I am literally as fit as I was....2 years ago..) I've finished most of the items due by the end of 2011 (or at least the ones I still wanted to get done this year) and am in extreme pre-new-years mood right now.

I guess 2011 has been a great year, and the idea of 2012 being the end of the world frightens me. Not because of death or suffering, but because I'm not done enjoying what life has to offer. Knowing that at any moment things could be over gives you a sense of appreciation like nothing else. I suppose the rumors of 2012 being the end of times is a blessing in disguise if you know how to digest it.

So here's to a fantastic 2012 filled with great times, happiness, laughter and beautiful memories that turn into legends for everyone!

Make the most of it! I know I will :)

The Fly on the Wall of Clouds

Well hello again from 53908502750 feet above land... once again I find myself in a plane when it's time to hit the blog with a new entry. Well this time I got shipped off over to Singapore for a weekend of comedy gigs, it was a lot of fun and this time there was an Indian theme to the shows so that was even better since I could whip out some very Indian bits I have in my little collection of silly things.

Well, here we are ending 2011 and things have been super hectic for me. My schedule has been packed, Hong Kong has been cold and I've been tired. This trip to Singapore has been good because it's forced me to stay very much offline for most of the time which I've come to realize is nearly impossible while I'm in Hong Kong. The temptation to check email or get some work done is far too high.

So on my last day in Singapore I had a few hours to kill so I went to the Marina Bay Sands casino and well...it's a casino. I get it, but they have this weird rule where locals have to pay to enter while foreigners go in for free. That must suck! I walked around, got some food and even treated myself to ice cream (yay for tongue, booo for getting even fatter). Then I decided since I was here I might as well do the uber tourist thing of going to the Sands SkyPark. I knew they'd make us buy a ticket but it cost me 20 Singapore dollars which I thought was more than I expected but ahh well, I might as well. So I got to the top and turns out they've closed off the pool area so I only could be on one side of the roof...and well then I got to see the view....from above. Again, I get it. It's the view of Singapore. Ok. I have to say, this is where Hong Kong wins with the ICC tower's Sky100. Not only does it beat Singapore's 57th floor by being on the 100th floor, it is 360 degrees and absolutely breath-taking!

On a more positive note, I did get to eat a lot of local good food...man I think my cholestoral and everything has shot up these last few days because there has been no meal without a good dose of grease and just guilty pleasure :) I even got to try flavored yakult while I was here (this trip I had time to explore and walk around myself) and well after trying orange and grape, turns out the original flavor is still the best...the others just seem like they're trying too hard to be tasty.

I did find that while I was walking in the Sands Shopping area, I was..happy. Genuinely happy because I felt like I could just shut off my brain for a while and go with the flow with absolutely no worry of interruption. Like even if I wanted to, no one could contact me. I had no phone service and no wifi, so there was no "oh let me go online and read about this" before taking action, it was purely a "go with the flow" moment. Even when I went for ice cream, the scooper guy asked me if I wanted to go with the larger size cup and I was like....why not. And indulgence began.

I think that's definitely something I need to add to my 2012 resolution. Moments to just go with the flow. I used to take Tuesdays off every week and allow myself to just go out and do whatever, I think it really helped my soul in general as it allowed me to re-inforce the reasons I work for myself, so I could follow my mind and soul and enjoy life. I've read so many articles about how you're only young once and I do believe that. I can feel I'm getting older but a big part of me is still like a kid. I still get excited when I see ice cream and I have a chance to enjoy it. I suppose it'd be a good idea to allow myself to just be a kid and be as care-free as possible once in a while, perhaps every 10 days, just like my blog entries.

And speaking of being a kid, my mac has been loaded up with a classic game I grew up playing: Indian Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. I was always a biiiggg fan of adventure games by lucasarts. They just did a perfect combination of puzzles and humor, it wasn't your straight forward humor, but twisted jokes that you got to laugh about after you solved the puzzle in the game. The best part was, I used to sit at my PC when I was younger for hours trying to crack puzzles because there was no internet and no walk throughs I could get my hands on (you had to buy them and at my pocket money, that wasn't happening). And well while I was playing this, it also reminded me how these games taught me to explore all possibilities, even if they didn't seem to make sense. I mean, now that I'm older, I'm realizing a lot of things in the game were direct hints. For example, when talking to an old man in the game who was an antique collector, he'd say "unless you've got some great antiques to show me, don't bother me" at the end of a conversation. This is a hint to say when I do get any antiques, find this guy and he'll give you the next clue. It's interesting when I think back how these games have influeced my mind. Even first-person-shooter games like Quake 2 that I know I've burnt up hours and hours of my youth at. Thanks to that, it has helped me with eye-hand coordination and when it comes to design work, I can move my mouse precisely where necessary. It also taught me to type fast because in between games, we'd have maybe 2 seconds to type out a whole sentence and since internet wasn't that fast back then, you didn't have mic and voice talking in games...it was all typing...ahaha so video games are in fact good for you! And speaking of which, I think it's time to load up some Indian Jones and enjoy some of its classic goodness while I wait for the 3:30hr flight to finish.....see you soon and enjoy Christmas!

The closing ceremony :)

Well, here we are, everyone has begun their countdown to the end of 2011 (or the beginning of 2012). It's an exciting time for many people because motivation is at an all time high for everyone. This is the time everyone sits and dreams big, and believes that at the stroke of midnight on 31 Dec 2011, things will be different, things will be better. I am one of those people. The interesting thing is, in 2010 I thought the same thing but wanted to experiment a bit by tracking what I end up accomplishing in 2011, and turns out I've been averaging 50% at doing what I wanted to do. Not that I accomplished only half the goals, but usually my goals are those that require daily work or repeated work, and I've been able to follow that schedule 50% of the time.

Looks like the summer months were the best times in 2011 that I could stay on track with my goals. But I'm curious if this is because of the weather or because of my workload. I notice most of my slacking off has happened near the end of 2011 when things started going mad with me work-wise. One big lesson I've learned in 2011 is my workload limits. So one new year's resolution I have for 2012, is to not allow myself to burn out like I found myself doing in 2011. And as the late Steve Jobs said, “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.”  and well, I'll keep reminding myself that as I charge through 2012 and hope for the best!

So good luck and remember, a habit takes 21 days to develop, so if you want to test-run a resolution, now's the time! :)

The Kuala Lumpur edition

Greetings from 739572075203 feet above ground. Yes I'm writing this on the plane on my way to Kuala Lumpur to be one of the comedians in Kings and Queens of Comedy Asia 2! Woah! I am still trying to register that I'm part of this line up!
Things have been hectic, but then again that has become the norm for me now.
I've found myself all over the place in the last few days, from flying to Singapore for a quick Comedy Masala set, to getting stopped (yet again) at customs at the airport, to getting stuck with a slow driver who managed to make me almost too late for my flight, to working late hours, to getting sick with the flu (this time with a madenning headache), to finally enjoying some "peace" on the plane.

In the last few days, I came across a video and an article that talked about something I've been experiencing and enjoying a lot lately. The idea of just living each day to the max without always worrying about the big picture. As the year comes to an end, I look back at everything, all the little things I did and I realize I'm happier like this. I'm better at accepting failure when I realize it's just a small dent in my day rather than an obstacle in my way of achieving something really big in the future. I'm also better at making myself do things because I don't feel the pressure of something really big associated with what I do, so I just do it the best I can.

Last Saturday, I was invited as a "book" at a "Human Library" event, where youngsters can borrow me for 45 minutes and talk to me about anything. We talked about exactly that -- anything. From what flavor ice cream to what it's like when other Indians find out I barely speak Hindi? It was really nice because these youngsters had open ears and a wide curiousity that they were ready to fill, but not with whatever they could scrape. Then Sunday I MC'ed a city-wide-amazing-race-like event and got to experience Hong Kong's SKY100 (a 360 degree view of Hong Kong) which I must say was extremely impressive. It made me fall in love with Hong Kong even more! I've been asked if I like Hong Kong and I've always answered yes. It's a game that you need to know how to play if you wish to enjoy it. The other night, speaking to some other comedians, one of them mentioned that you can never fully experience Hong Kong. And it's true.

I've also been watching Derren Brown's TV Show "Experiments". Absolutely fantastic and I love the guy! I've (kind of) read his books and love his shows showing how humans are really beings that can be manipulated if played the right way. It's quite spooky when you think about it, how he's able to get his subjects to do things by his command. There must be people out there using this to their benefit. I just feel bad for the poor souls who get caught in the dirty side of this mix.

Well 2011 is nearing an end and if you have any loose ends to tie up, it's time to get moving. I've got a bunch of reading to still do so I better catch up on that and just go over some comedy ideas I had. See you at the shows! If not, have a lovely week! I know I will (try)! :)

The step back before

I have to power through for 2 (more like 3850353) steps forward.
My mind has finally hit a point of exhaustion that I literally have nothing to say. But as they say, ignorance is bliss and right now, oddly enough, this mind-blank feels pretty good :). At least it gives me an excuse to just sit back and watch some comedy.

If you still haven't, please go check out Bill Burr on Youtube, his stuff is absolutely fantastic! I have seen his specials 3 times and I still can't get enough of it :)

Enjoy and happy October (and happy Halloween!)!

3.5 years... well 3.6 years really

So this is a major blog entry and I'm a little over 1 month late. Man, so much has happened in the last month let alone 6 (7) months!

So I'm the proud owner of an iPAD 2. I bought it really for testing purposes, making sure my websites worked perfectly on this device and figured I might as well extend it's abilities to my daily life. Initially, I really enjoyed the smoothness of the interface and how it just worked. But the more I played with it, the more I realized it was so limited. I'm an Android guy, I like customizing my system the way I want it to work. My phone is full of widgets that make my life easier and allows me to make my phone work around me rather than the other way around. With the iPad, in order to make sure it's user-friendly it's very limited. It's like comparing Pong vs Doom. Both of them were extremely entertaining at their time and no one can say Pong wasn't awesome and addictive like Doom. But when you've played with Doom, Pong seems so.....limited. What annoys me the most is how I have to open apps one by one to have them sync (I don't have the 3G edition, I wasn't planning on adding more $$ to this item).
On a brighter note, I finally have an absolutely awesome device to read my books and Read It Later items (Sorry Amazon Kindle DX, you are still awesome!). The iPad is clearly not trying to be buddy buddy with Gmail and so I'm not loving its ability to work with my emails but the rest is OK.

I'm also almost 50% through the fantastic Bruce Lee book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. A lot of inspiring things but sadly because of my crazy workload, I haven't applied it much, especially my drumming.

So after a year, Eve of Sin, my band, is still incomplete and after discussing with my guitarist yesterday, we've decided it's time to just ride the wave and enjoy ourselves. I guess if we can't win the complete band game, we might as well work with whatever we have now. We've got almost 7 brand spanking new songs so what the heck, we'll put those together and do the bass and vocals ourselves and if anyone happens to be able to fill in the empty Puzzle piece, then great, if not, we're still moving forward.

These last few months have been a real test of my ability to just power through days. I've found myself once again struggling to stay afloat mostly because there is so much going on. I've been thinking and re-thinking about simplifying my life and I've tried my level best to remove items from my life, but upon further inspection, a simple life isn't my ideal life. I've read many articles and ideas about a simple life and asking yourself if all these extra bells and whistles are really necessary? Oddly, for me I feel it is necessary. I have a need for these routines and having a system to make sure things are oiled in my life. Perhaps I've been dependent on these systems so long I fear the world without them.

The dilemma has been between a simple life and an ideal life. Simplicity, seems more like  a calm needed every now and then. But when things are too simple, I tend to need to make them complex. I could easily just simply type in this blog without making any hyper links to items or even formatting the text based on my emotion in the word, but as much as that still gets the job done, I think the perfectionist in me requires that it gets done right or it doesn't count.

It's been a year since I started writing daily in ohlife.com and it's awesome because every night I'm reminded what I wrote a year ago and it's really freaky reading what I said a year ago and how things have changed! I remember October 2010 was a big season for me because a lot was happening in my life and the weird thing is, the seemingly big issues at that time look like childsplay now. Like seeing a kid struggle with addition after you've learnt multiplication. I strongly suggest you give ohlife.com a shot, you will absolutely love it over time when the old entries come pouring your way and you read your own emotions and words!

So 6 months ago I was psyched about Rain's crazy workouts in preparation for Ninja Assassin. Well 6 months later I've taken myself on a ride with P90X, Insanity, Rushfit, TRX and just plain random exercises I put together from whatever equipment was available at the gym. I'm looking forward to what else I'll dump myself into and see what it does to me. It's interesting to see how I used to have 1:30hr workouts down to my current 45/50min workouts because I've learnt so many new techniques and also just accepted the reality that I don't have that kind of time for a 1.5hour workout! I'm still going mental at the gym wearing my awesome (and freaking big) Shure 440 headphones. I'm still hooked onto As Blood Runs Black but have recently found a new addiction to Foo Fighters (they were always on my cool list, but now it's an addiction to their songs).

The Comedy world is exploding for me, things are happening and tonight marks the opening of the 5th HK International Comedy Festival! I've got my Chinese One Man Show lined up for 9 Oct 2011 which I'm nervous and excited about! And I'll be pretty much doing comedy every night of the week...that is nuts but cool! I've still been struggling to find the right time to work on my bits and really work out a system (see? I need a system for everything) to make my ideas more organized. Evernote is great, but there's still something lacking. I've been trying to find ways to tap into creativity on a more advanced level where I am pro-actively generating ideas. I still feel at times I'm trying to squeeze ideas out when I want to be more spontaneous with them. I find that I'm better able to create these ideas with people rather than with my computer. Again, it's still in a trial-and-error phase. Hopefully in 6 months I'll be sorted out in this field.

Speaking of going places, I flew to Singapore to perform at the Comedy Masala last month and that was crazy! The crowd was awesome and I was very happy with my performance! :D It was a comfortable 17 minutes for me :) I'm going back there on 8 November 2011 for another Comedy Masala session! I also won 2 tickets to go to one of many Asian destinations so I plan on having a little vacation at the end of the year (man I could use it now! :P) before 2012 welcomes me and I start rested, psyched and ready to push the envelope!

Finally, I can only say I've enjoyed the last few months, things have been wild and stressful, surprising and worrying at times, but the fun thing is, when I read about where I was and where I am, I have a smile, not on my face, but in my soul. It's good to know that I don't regret the roads I've traveled and for the sake of that smile in the future, I'm going to keep walking, even if that means I slip a few times.

Remember, ohlife.com! You'll love it after a while! :)

The fight for everything

 Someone asked me, "Do you hope one day you could do this full time?"
My answer, "No."

Am I missing something because this isn't the first time I've been asked this question regarding one of my passions. As a drummer, I've been asked this question when interviewed with my band Eve of Sin. As a comedian, people who hang out for a drink after the show are curious about this. As a self-employed (who used to consider himself freelance before) web designer, I've heard this, and even as a lazy person, someone has asked this (yes, do you hope one day you can just laze about all day at will?)

Call me greedy, but is it really surprising to people that I'd like to do all of them full time? Yep, I admit, I find myself whining about the lack of time a lot, but that's probably because I'm trying to pursue more passions that the typical person may do so? Maybe I've been too hugely influenced by the multi-talented Leonardo DaVinci or maybe I haven't found the one road I want to be walking?

I'm going to be helping out at a Youth Camp in October and I'm in charge of a self-discovery session where I'll share my stories about growing up and how it helped me better know myself. I suggested to the organizing committee that why don't we present the kids with 100 questions and they can pick any, say, 50 to answer. This idea came from one of the exercises in the book Think like DaVinci but the book required you to write 100 questions in one sitting to ask yourself over the next few days. While creating the questions, I kept running into a recurring term -- "favorite". After writing all those questions, I found I had a problem when I had to pinpoint one thing. Like what is my favorite food? Well it really depends. Is it breakfast? Did I just have a workout? Sometimes I would die for an ice cream, other times all I want are instant noodles. Even when I reversed my question, and asked something like "what is your least favorite subject in school".. again it depended. Sometimes I really hated math, but if it was algebra, I could sit there for hours, but throw in a graph and I'd find myself cringing....

It made me think about a person's passion. I really enjoy drumming, but if you told me I had to drum for 8 hours a day, I'd hate it. I enjoy comedy, but if I had to write funny material all day, I'd be bored and fed up. Ask me to design websites from morning to night and I'd puke the next time I heard the sound of a computer mouse clicking. And honestly, could I expect my body to be able to practice vigorous drumming for more than 2 hours a day? I think not, it needs time to recover. The same goes for my mind...

The more I think about how I live my life, the more I realize it's like how I eat a buffet. I alternate sweet and savory foods because it allows my sweet tooth to be happy without decaying. The interesting thing is while I eat my desserts, I'm not thinking about that bowl of curry chicken at the counter, and perhaps the concept of "doing it full time" could be applied in a similar way. Even thought I may not be using all my 24 hours a day to do one thing, but as long as while I'm doing it, I'm fully immersed in the experience/moment, then I'm as good as the next guy who does nothing but that.

I typed this whole entry while sitting in the train station listening to music and just speaking my mind (with my fingers). I even forgot it's actually quite noisy around me :P Guess someone should ask me if I hope I could blog full time as well :)

There is never enough...

There is never enough excitement, happiness, movies, money, food, people, opportunities and my favorite, time. You name it, it's not enough. You find yourself with enough food in your belly at a buffet and you realize  your stomach doesn't have enough space for more. You don't have enough energy because you're busy digesting or something else will not be enough.

Which brings me to something I spoke about in a lecture I gave yesterday at a social service center. It was interesting as they invited me to share some of my methods/ways/techniques of story-telling (stand up comedy is still story telling after all) and at one point, someone asked me what books I liked reading. For anyone who knows me, Art of War is ranked numero uno for me. I then remembered how everytime I read that book (I usually read it once a year), it has a different meaning for me. I told them how the same book gave me new insights because my life was at a different place each time I re-read it.

And then I realized how many things I repeatedly enjoy, even if it's the same exact thing. I'm re-watching a whole bunch of Pinky and the Brain cartoon episodes. I used to religiously watch it on TV while growing up and when I watch it again now (some 10+ years later) I absolutely love it. Sure I know in the end the two lab mice aren't going to take over the world, but that's not the point. It's just entertaining at a different level! I've started going through a bunch of my stuff to see what I can re-experience simply because they are that good.

Another thing I spoke about in the lecture is that there is never a moment you can honestly say you've learned enough. I mean sure when you've been studying for 8 hours straight, that's definitely enough, but to say I know enough about something would be a lie. And that takes me back to this blog, it was my little place to connect all the things I do. I realize how much my drumming influences my comedy, how my comedy affects the way I deal with clients in my web design business, how my web design skills have an impact on the way I see myself, and how the way I see myself ultimately determines the way the world around me is formed.

There is never enough time to waste it on worrying about scarcity. And as many wise people say, 'nuff said.

Someone is going to not like you eventually

I was reading a very interesting article online about how it's very bad for you if you try to please everyone around you. No matter how good you are to the crowd in your life, there are always going to be people who don't like you.

The best part of that article was that and it doesn't matter. The world is still going to turn and you are still going to go about your life. Even if you feel bad that you may have found a new enemy (well ok maybe not enemy, but non-friend).... so what? A lot of times in my life I've had people complain to me about my ways or my habits that they didn't like and I keep reminding myself, "so what?" and move on. I remember when I was younger, I had this obsession with black (and eventually colorful) nail polish, I used to enjoy the look on people's faces when they'd see my fingers painted in red, green, yellow, black, etc. colors that had no apparent relationship to each other. Many people would question if I felt uncomfortable when people gave me those looks, and I'd usually respond with my usual so what? I suppose having grown up in Hong Kong as a foreigner, I've gotten used to people giving me weird looks, or I've just grown numb to them.

The so what attitude probably came about when I was blessed with Metallica's cover of Anti-Nowhere League's So what:

 This song definitely had an impact on me when I think back to the number of times I had this drilled into my ears. Especially when you're a teenager, searching for your own identity, realizing that so what is quite a powerful attitude really helped me.

Speaking of teenagers, I recently had an interview with a group of 40+ students who fired questions at me one after another for 1.5hours. They included my growing up as the foreigner amongst my local friends, the challenges I may have faced learning who I am and accepting me for me. It reminded me of all the times in my life I was ashamed of who I was. I wanted people to like me, so I was searching for the ideal person that would fit into what everyone wanted to like.

Sadly, everyone likes something else and unless I can be a chameleon of personalities, I was never going to achieve that goal. Initially, the challenge was to make the people around me like me, then came the phase where I wanted to make girls around me like me, then came the period I wanted to make the girls I liked like me, which transformed into wanting to make my girlfriend at the time like me, and on and on and on. Each time things didn't work out, break ups happened or friendships ended, it was a good lesson and reminder to me that there is always going to be someone who doesn't like who you are, no matter how you change to suit their tastes. Heck, people's tastes change all the time. I used to enjoy painting my nails as a teenager and in university, but today I have no interest in it mostly because that's not time well spent in my books anymore and the surprised look on people's faces when they see my fingers isn't what I'm looking for.

Everything I do in my life has been criticized and there's at least 1 person who doesn't like me for that thing I do. But I guess instead of focusing on that 1 person who doesn't like it, why not focus on that (at least) 1 person who does. Me. And if you don't like what I just said, so what? :)

Long weekend ahead here in ol' Hong Kong, which means one thing for me (it always means the same thing), catching up on my work! Yay! At least I do this to myself because I enjoy what I do :).