"One can't just put a technology out there and hope there will be a business in it," he says. "You have to put together a whole consumer offering, a great instantaneous experience. A simple service that fills an obvious need and can be offered for free."
Simple and straightforward; all the ingredients you need for a good IT company.
I am a geek, and I really proud of it..
Given that I have a lot of time on my hand in this new city, I have lots of time to think things over and to assess myself in a way to find out what's my weak points.
1, I listen to my heart rather than to my brain
This may be also be referred as passion over reason. Sometimes, there are people and things I find to be greatly attractive and alluring, but in reality, they are not suitable for me nor makes no sense to me in terms of rationality. My instincts are giving me positive signals about things that may be negative to my mind. However, through past evidence of failures, I have been able to restrain my heart a bit and start to assess what's need and what's want. Sometimes desire does not translate into anything substantial other than desire, but understanding what's right and suitable and finding that for yourself is priceless
2, I am a workaholic
Frankly speaking, I do not have any hobbies. Movies, music, books, traveling are all things that I enjoy doing, and I never refuse a few rounds of golf or basketball. But in reality, I lack the passion towards any of them, work always come first in my mind. In hindsight, almost most if not all of my traveling are business related. That's sad..
maybe this is a good thing, or maybe not..
3, I deal with elder citizens too much
As a result of that, I have been unconsicously forcing my brain to think and react like them. It's good in terms of business, but it killed all the possible fun that I can have for being foolish and mad; something I should be doing in my tender age. Everything is too much under control, and as a result, I lack the spirit to enjoy the view on the road. In other words, I am becoming boring... =(
4, I got my wings clipped by my responsibility
There are many things I want to do and knows as a fact that I can do if given the opportunity, but my so called conscious is too great for me to forgo the responsibilities. A man of action, sometimes I find myself caged by my own decisions.
5, I meet and know lots of people
To many, this is not a bad thing. However, just imagining you are in the candy shop, and you are only allowed to have one candy, how do you pick. There are times that I am greatly attracted to one particular person and tries to make effort to be close to her, but once things don't go as smoothly (and they may be small things), I get irratated and look else where. As such, there are times that I felt no one worth my complete effort and time.. bad mindset I know, but in this age of mind playing, this is the best way to avoid getting tangled in a mess.. If I was a bit more introvert, maybe things would be easier and straightforward.
what's your weakness?
dear readers:
just out of curiousity, when you visit this humble site, is there a lot of pop ups? I have received a reader's complaint, and I want to make sure the site has not been tampered with.
thank you
best regards,
timer
After a week of new life in the factory, I managed to
1, assemble a printer from 100 parts
2, having lunch with close to 3000 females everyday
3, being called as Mr Cheung 24/7
4, understanding the mechanics and start to view human as machines
5, realising the japanese operational manufacture management is indeed one of the best
6, improved my japanese
7, falling asleep at 10pm every night
not bad eh? I actually find it rather interesting.. About years in government, banking, telecommuincations, the feeling of starting life in manufacturing is a fresh breath of air..
have a great weekend..
back in hong kong has been anything but relief. The weather here is heaven and earth compared with beijing, not to mention the pollution level.
so in theory, I am on vacation until the second of january, but I've got nothing to do, so, I am now back in my office.. trying this and reading my emails..
i am pathetic, and no, i don't need your kind remainder of that to me..
now that almost all of my guy friends are married, christmas has becoming to be a boring holiday. No one's coming out anymore and no more events planned.. so i guess i have to think about something to do on christmas myself.
Merry Christmas to you all 
Before I even start typing and start rambling on my scatter and random thoughts, I would like to make sure everyone is clear on the definition of Karaoke (A term start it from Japan). China, like any other Asia country, singing songs from your favorite pop star in a close room with friends is a must do and favorite past time for everyone. Most of us have heard of cashbox, melody and party world etc. These are the famous Karaoke Chain establishments where you may bump into your mom and sister. The Karaoke establishments where you will never run into your mom or sister is called KTV. Sorry, I mispoke here, there are KTV places where you may actually find your sister and her fun, curious, sad and stressed friends. Today, we will focus on the roughly 3,000 KTVs in Beijing where you can sing, dance and party among with experience public relations specialist most people will not bring home to your mom for dinner.
Disclaimer, by no means am I a KTV expert nor my comments are supported by any official research data or evidence. My writings are just a summary of facts generated from my various business entertainment experiences with various clients, both domestic and foreign.
Types of KTV:
From some people's random estimates, there are a roughly 1,500 register KTVs in Beijing. These are KTV that has registration papers from 28+ various state and local government departments (Police, Fire, Health, Culture, Tax, MII, Commerce and neighborhood association are some of the big ones). There are another 1K of so non registered KTVs that can be found in the back ally, hutongs (alleys), and construction sites in Beijing. Registered KTVs are mostly upscale establishments that are located in 5 star hotels, restaurants, night clubs, entertainment super-complex.
One of the great thing about KTV in China is that it can be enjoy from a wide range of people with different income levels. KTV are normally categorized by the $ amount you should tip the PR specialist.
The range goes from
High-end: 800RMB (Model or Actresses) No, it will not be Zhang Zi Yi, these are potential upcoming actresses who needs special support from that kind and caring someone, make up are not cheap in China as China charges a 17% tax premium on imported make ups. 600RMB (Office Workers) These are your average white collar front office ladies, secretaries, teachers and nurses who are interested in meeting that special someone who is kind and caring and hopefully married to.
Mid to High-end: 500RMB(Gorgeous Girls) Tall girls who understand that the average life-span for a model is from the age of 18-24 and is in searching of that special someone who is kind and caring to sponsored them.
400RMB(Hot Girls)Girls who just want to make a lot of money so that they can buy the latest mobile phone and is in search of that special someone who is kind, caring and stupid enough to buy it for them.
Mid-End: 300RMB(Fun Girls)Girls who does not want to work on a farm for the rest of their life and is in search of that special someone who is kind, caring and willing to help them move to a city life.
200RMB(Freshmen)Girls who just came to Beijing need to make some quick money so that they can send it back to their poor family and parents who are sick and is in urgent need of money. Searching for that special someone who is kind and caring who wants to find an alternative charity donation.
Low-End: 100RMB(Clueless)Anything to get me out of the house girls. In search of that special kind and caring someone who wants to play tour-guide and show them what Beijing is all about.
800RMB equates to roughly $100USD and that is what it take to party with an actress??? That is not bad, this is what most people spend on a night of partying in NYC or SFC on drinks….Hold up….That is not it. 800RMB is only the tip, in a high-class KTV where they have 800RMB PR specialist, average room cost (the minimum alcohol you have to buy) are 2000RMB for a room of 4-5 and 3500RMB for a room of 8. Please keep in mind that you will also have to tip the waitress AKA Princess (Gong Zu) $400 that serves you, busboy AKA little brother (Xiao Di) $100 who carry the drinks and the PR Specialist Manager AKA MaMa-SAN (Mommy) $800. It is losing face for the manager of the PR specialist to get less tip than the PR specialist. Ding Ding, add them up….It is 3500 for the room and board and 800 each for the PR specialist. For a group of four, that is roughly $200 per person.
In terms of the people going to these places, the demographic varies. There are actually a lot of young expats who frequent these places, as one can understand the excitements of seeing so many girls in front of them in any given nights. In addition, there are many who carry out their business after the dinner in these places, as these settings allow things to be discussed in an open and yet secure way from the public, these are places where you can relax, have a drink, and test out your client's real intentions and personalities.
By now, this post should probably give you enough cultural shock, but in my view, this stands as an excellent example to illustrate how China has moved into its own version of capitalism..
Today is one of those days that hit me hard. In less than 3 weeks, I will be on my next relocation plan to another city with a new career. Just as I start to truly love Beijing and understand its beauty, I am leaving again. Though not permanently, but I will be only visitors from now on. While this may be a final career change for me, I am still going to be traveling between a lot of places till the end of my days.
In 8 years, I have been to four cities, four countries, and close to four different continents. It's a life that many would have dreamt of and an experience that even some forty year old don't possess. Yet, I have done it. These opportunities opened my eyes, and forced me to grow up. Perhaps that's why I tend not to be able to enjoy the same kind of fun that others my age enjoy. I have become 100% rational in my approaches, and I calculate what my end result is before I do everything. Things are just different.
There must be many that envy my lifestyle, and many more who would wonder why am I whining. However, what is truly valued by me at this time is a lifestyle that tends to be more of the modest. Sunday coffees, friday night movies, and some sense of belonging, some feel of home; it would be really nice to have those..
Ultimately, all those things will come to me, but this process is not to be taken by anyone. For the record, should I have a son one day, I will not actively encourage him to take over the company. It would be too tough for him and I want to give him the freedom of doing things he want.
Anyways, it seems like every time I'm feeling down, I always come to this place to vent. But to me, for all you readers out there, you are not strangers to me, but rather someone I can "talk" to for these are not things I would talk in reality for perseveration of my image. For that, I thank you.
have a great weekend, and may you cherish the simple things in life since that's all we will come to remember and miss.
The interesting thing about me is that I am never really interested in sight seeing, the only times that I go to Great Wall is when my clients wants to go, and instead of climbing up, i stayed in the starbucks beneath. Not to mention the forbidden city, the summer place, I guess I just lack the general appreciation of these things.
Thus, to compensate such deficiencies, I decided to take myself away from work yesterday afternoon for no reason, and to wander around. It's rather nice, instead of thinking about diffferent things in the car, I get to be more close with the city. Instead of seeing things from a distance, I get to be a part of the city. and it was nice.. Shanghai is a nice place, and I think that I will be able to appreciate this place if I was to be relocated here.
some girls
last night I had one of the most uncomfortable experiences in China. There has always been sayings around that the new generation of Chinese are more material hungry and they look for every opportunity to capture that possibility, but I never really paid too much attention to them because I know what I am doing, and I believe that at least they will know how to behave in the public. However, I did have the honor of experiencing it last night.
Anyhow, I went out with some business/personal friends last night to have some famous Shanghai Hairy Crabs, and upon finishing the feast, we went to a brand new lounge called Lan Club, which by the way is designed by Philip Starck. Over there, I accidentally bumped into couple girls that I know through clubbing scenes, and we had the usual "how you are doing" "how's life" kinda talk. However, because I was not in the mood nor are they the right kind of people, I didn't invite them to join me.
Some 3 bottles of wine later, me and my friends decided we should call off the night and paid for our bill. Before we leave, the waiter came up to me and told me that these "local" girls has told him that I will take care of the bill for them.
Now, before i go into any bashing, people who know me in real life will never consider me as someone who's greedy or stingy; and I don't mind paying for drinks. However, being a generous person does not mean that I am a push over nor am I a stupid person.
To make the long story short, I said no to that request to the waiter, and though one of the girls wanted to this incidence a big thing, she was unsuccessful in accomplishing such a goal.
Honestly, this is not a big thing to me, but I am truly in awe with the level of decency that some of these girls may have.. and they often wonder why they can't find a nice guy to be with them..
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