There's more than just "TRAVELLING"....

When I travel, besides the fact that I want to extend

my horizons in terms of knowledge and experience,

I simply want to have a short story to tell about how I made my trip interesting.

That "story" that you tell to everyone and they would respond this way,
"That is really something to tell."

As I saw the label beside my name on the vacation leave

notice on the bulletin board at work that said, "APPROVED" last March,

I already thought about how I'm going to make my vacation to Los Angeles
memorable (for me) to blog about. Just like the rest before.
And how I could make it exciting!

PROJECT!!!!!

So I called my sister right away to ask for her opinion. It took us 2 days to figure out what to do.

We considered the following...

1. I just have 8 days all in all to spend.

2. I have to hold on to a tight budget so I could spend more for SHOPPING. (Lol!)

3. My sister and my mom would be at work most of the time.

So here it is!!!!

We decided that we should visit places where movies have

been shot or that we should try out movie-inspired experiences.

What I'm saying would make sense as you read thru.

Remember this?

Of course...

Who wouldn't remember how "A Walk to Remember"
had given us scenes/conflicts in the movie/storyline that we can relate to, huh!?

(Ex. being sick, being in high school and struggling to belong with peers,

having strict parents, being in love and wanting some changes in our lives.)

This particular scene was remembered by Khrista (my sister).
 We were headed out of Vegas at the time when she
pointed out to this sign and suggested about it.
And so, it would be fun to do the same thing they did.

Being in two places at once.

I didn't straddle a line because it was too dangerous.
I have to literally stand along the highway to do that.

We just took the less risky one.
We had to slow down from running a high way speed

then parked for 10 minutes at least, just to capture a good photo.

It was already 9pm that time so my sister had to adjust

her head lights to give us a little lighting effect. Hehehe!!!!
My mom took this.

"A WALK TO REMEMBER" scene, achieved!

Guess what's next in line...

Yup, the next one is experiencing my all time favorite holiday flicks,
"SERENDIPITY", starred by the ever gorgeous Kate Beckinsale
and the chatty John Cusack (or at least, just in certain movies).

The one I visited is in Vegas, not entirely the same one
that they shot the movie in (which is in New York)
but the Frozen Chocolate which was worth lining up for,
was available there too. General merchandise was also displayed upfront.
It looked preppier and more colorful though than the New York one which
looked a little bit fancy for me. Or at least, they
made it look like that in the movie.
I wonder where the one in Florida is patterned from.

Not a fan of dessert and we were pretty hungry so
the meal that we had there is basically, for late lunch already.
I ordered this and it came with a fortune cookie that said,
"Never give up until you reach the finish line."
I considered not giving up in finishing my project. Hehehe!!!

 

Now, if you'd notice, the restaurant is actually named, SERENDIPITY 3.

I thought the "3" there stood up for the 3 restaurants

that are up at the present. But actually, it was named

after the 3 legendary princes of Serendip (Sri Lanka) which the writer

Sir Horace Walpol of the 18th century coined serendipity from.

The restaurant besides being colorful and preppy served good food.

I loved what I ordered. The fish was fresh and it was grilled just right.

My niece Ashley was given activity materials while

waiting for our food. She didn't get bored.

SERENDIPITY experience - CHECK!

AAAAAHHH!!! This was so nice!!!! The "Urban Lights" of the LACMA museum!!!! I loved it! It was so good to be there where Ashton Kutcher (one of the hottest men for me) took Natalie Portman (superb actress) for their first formal date in the movie, "No Strings Attached". I love outdoor art, I've always been a fan and I suggest for all tourists visiting Los Angeles to take a photo here ... It's really something!

Movie No. 3 - "NO STRINGS ATTACHED"

Movie No. 4 - "THE INDECENT PROPOSAL"
This particular area where you check gaming status like:
RUGBY, NFL, HORSE RACING and everything else
was in this movie when the husband was starting to regret letting
Demi Moore go to the very rich Harrison Ford in the movie.
We walked thru it and it was a long strip.

Along with that, Vegas in general reminds me of one of my favorites also....
"WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS" - which is Movie no. 5.
We stayed in Planet Hollywood when we were there and
they also shot the movie from there.
Proven true when she showed up the tissue where
"Jack and Joy 4EVA!"
on a ph tissue which stands for Planet Hollywood!

So many places we tried to go to but like what I said,
we've had our own share of prohibiting factors.
It's hard not to be able to drive myself around.
Ahahaha!!!! But I shared this for the other travelers to somehow
be aware of the places they go to because most likely,
you've seen these places in the movies and it's fun to check the
shoot location for yourself.

Have fun seeing the world!!!!

"The Lucky One"

The "Lucky One" is yet another captivating novel by Nicholas Sparks. 

It is about a U.S. marine who came to stumble on a woman's picture which had turned to be his lucky charm during the time he served in the army. When it was time for him to return home, he thought of returning the photo to the woman personally since nobody claimed it in Iraq. He intended to thank her for saving his life from a number of life threatening circumstances where two of his best buddies during the war had never survived from or simply by winning a series of poker games. That's how he knows her the least.

As the story went along, he learns about the purpose for him finding her picture and how his fate is yet to unfold because of it.

Being a fan of this kind of novels, the book made me curl on my seat for 9 hours (out of 13) on my flight back to Shanghai from Los Angeles. I had put it on halt at first, reading only 1/4 of it and I managed to finish the rest on air. I had watched the movie in The Grove, Los Angeles and for the first time, I love the movie equally as I loved the book. Blame it on Zac Efron's remarkable portrayal of the marine.

It is a must-see. My mom didn't sleep in the movie and tried to ask what the leading man's name was. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy staring at Zac in this movie...

2012 Fireknife Championship: Joseph Cadousteau

I was in Los Angeles while Hogan was in Hong Kong during the entire competition
when a good friend of mine, Jane Logan, left a message on my
wall on Facebook sharing her jitters about the 2012 Fire Knife Competition.
I called Hogan right away to check on the latest update.
At that time, JOSEPH CADOUSTEAU was still
doing his routine for the last round of the competition.

I shared the good news right away to my family

the moment I heard that our dear friend won the title.

Joseph and Jane, I wish we were there to witness this

and celebrate with you. Nonetheless, I still would want to extend

our hugs for a job well done.
Both of you truly worked hard and you deserve to win.

Congratulations!!!!

You did a superb performance
and your routine was outstanding!!!!
We're so proud of you!

Fire Dance - Festival of the Lion King @ Hong Kong Disneyland [HD 1080p]

Thank you to Arnold Lee for having this performance

by Bobby King and Hogan Toomalatai

documented as they share to a thousand audience

the talent that God had bestowed them.

And to the rest of the people who always share their time to watch

and support us, taking our photos and uploading it at the very same day

they took it, we offer you our BEST every time

we would go out on that stage.

DISNEY CALIFORNIA

This 2012, I had the chance to visit Disney Anaheim for the first time and I am more than thankful since my family was with me in experiencing this. There's no denying that I had been a Disney baby ever since. That being said, working for Disney had been such a pleasure. Huge thanks to the opportunity Mr. Russ Jordan (who passed away recently) gave me. Because of him, I get to own priceless moments with kids. I get to bring them happiness even in the most subtle way.

And so, for my vacation to Los Angeles, to see my mom after 8 years, it was more than remarkable. We get the chance to become kids again as we relive our unforgettable moment in Disney Orlando way back 1994. But this time, in Anaheim.

I got excited as I found out Disney Anaheim got 2 parks. Disneyland Park and their Disney Adventure Park. Ashley, my 4 year old niece, was also looking forward to play with us as she blabbers of the places that she wanted to see with me. I had to see the parade first of course so I told her, we shall watch it first then we'll go wherever she wanted to go.

 

The SOUNDSENSATION Parade shares a lot of similarities

with Hong Kong Disneyland's Flights of Fantasy Parade in terms of music .

It is started off by a drum line and I thought that was so cool!

Their costumes are beyond amazing as it tantalizes with colors and flow.

They have Rapunzel on the princess float and they have an Aladdin,

Peter Pan and Mary Poppins unit.

As of Hong Kong Disney's one, bungee monkeys and bungee bees 

looked playful and enticing.

The floats and choreography are also dreamy.

We all loved Disney Anaheim's parade.

It made me miss Flights of Fantasy the same time I was 

appreciating it at that particular time.

After that, we headed to Disney Toontown.

(Ashley's choice.)

We rode the Disney railway going there.

The first house that we saw was the boss' house.

I'm amazed at how they imagined it to be.

Mickey loves his fans so, it's important that he gets all

their mails and sees to it that he gets back to them.
So, after passing by the post office, his house awaits.

His house actually is packed with everything that keeps him busy

in running the park, making and designing playrooms and different toys.

You would see a typewriter, a mini theatre and a huge phone.

He awaits for you as you exit his house for a personal meet and greet.

Ashley got 5 smooches from Mickey I think and

she got a signature from him. We were so happy for her.

We just had a short afternoon so we just saw Minnie's house after that

which on the other hand is full of cute stuff. She loves baking and grooming

for Mickey so everything looked lovely and pink.

 Minnie Mouse loved her garden.

For her, dreams are meant to happen.

She shares her hopes to everybody who dreams and had

put a very special wishing well at her backyard for them.

We walked and walked,

played and played,

and just had the best time of our lives being worry free.

All the Disney cast members there gave me a very warm

welcome as they learned that I work in Hong Kong Disneyland.

They take time in asking how nice it is in Hong Kong and

that they would want to pay a visit someday.

I was overwhelmed because they made me

feel special and so did my family.

Before we know it, the day had gone pass and we were already

eating our dinner and waiting for the last attraction that we had to go to.

It was painful for me that I wasn't able to see the Disney Fireworks
because it got me all emotional the first time I saw it in Hong Kong.

It was too late for all for us and we were beat.

So, we decided to see "World of Colors" instead.

Like I said, Disney fireworks had a different impact on me.
And since I know it would be an awfully long time again before I see Ashley,
 I carried her the whole time while watching the 45 minute (approximately) show.

My heart melted when she kept on looking for her mom.
I just told her,
"Don't worry. This is the reason why I'm carrying you so
that you won't miss a thing. Because you have to tell her
every detail of this. And that's your mission."
She agreed.

There's a particular cast member named Alvis
who made this experience extra special for us.
He had let us take the vacant area for fast pass holders when it didn't get full.
We were holding fast passes which was good for another half an hour later.
But we were all exhausted and Ashley's mom, my cousin, Maan,
was already outside waiting for us. We needed to go already.
He was understanding enough and made us get a better view in no time.

I didn't get to watch other main attractions except for the parade and the "World of Colors".

But it was more priceless for me to see Ashley snoozing
while holding popcorn for her mom for her own "pasalubong" (treat).

I know she got tired because she had loads of fun navigating for us.

Yet again, Disney, thank you for letting us experience MAGIC.

WHAT DO YOU ASPIRE?

I recently posted Forbes’ Top 15 Richest People to drive us all into striving for our aspiration. It's seldom that we get hold of a great understanding of seeing the bigger picture of what life has in store for us. Usually, what we aspire the most are the hardest to achieve. Hence, I came up with a theory to keep our sanity intact and not fall into despair. I encourage you to put your dreams of material things such as a mansion, a billion dollar worth of savings or a yacht, down a notch. As I learned from my one of my favorite books (The Rules of Life), let's start aspiring for something within your reach at a given specific time. And whatever it is that you have in mind, you aspire it now because it can give you SATISFACTION one way or another. 

Right now, let's name that aspiration as "SATISFACTION". Again, I repeat, you can think of anything as long as it gives you the right balanced amount of it.


Let me share to you something that made sense of it all to me.

When I was still in college, I completely understood two facts about man.

First, that man is a complex being as I was playing “The Sims”. Yes, an online game helped me out, particularly, a simulation/role playing hybrid game.You start off with creating your sim (a.k.a. avatar) by completing its whole well being; Namely, psychological attributes, as far as aspiration is concerned, and physical appearance, ETC. It's like taking care of it, nurturing it, making it learn and making it build relationships. I was surprised how my sim represented myself you know. But what really caught me to analyze was that, how my sim reflects the ASPIRATION that I assigned to it.

ASPIRATION is the personality attribute that determines your sim’s wants and fears.

         You have to choose just one amongst these:

           1.      Knowledge   
           2.      Fortune

           3.      Romance

           4.      Family

           5.      Popularity

Realistically, we aspire on at least one of these. I chose Family for my own. That's what I would aspire I told myself. Relating it to SATISFACTION, for now, my family makes me satisfied as long as I could provide for them, as long as they don't starve and that they're healthy, I am satisfied.

It also allows you to choose its zodiac sign in which certain likes and dislikes are predetermined accordingly. But they’re adjustable as to how you want to support the aspiration you choose. Along with the zodiac sign that you choose for your sim would be the attitude that a certain scorpion, taurus, or virgo for example, would most likely dwell to.

Of course, other things will come next. Choosing how your sim looks like, you'd dress it up and build it a house. Feed it, let it rest and bathe it, ETC.,.

Being a keen observer and being an over analytic, I started asking myself of my own aspiration. For  In order to level up in this game, you’ve got to establish relationships well. First of course, you’ve got to get a job. And one huge factor to get promoted was to get social and gain friends. Hence, income increases and it allows me to buy lovely furniture that you'd find cute. You get to design, choose among a wide array of recreational stuff and even make your sim go downtown for the social and fun meter to go green.

In gaining friends, this becomes relatively easy when you have same likes and share a common thing with another sim. The best way is to find a neighbor who desires the same aspiration as yours. If you get lucky and comes across with somebody who has the same aspiration with you, intimate relationship is possible. 

Your sim owns a wellness meter. When it shows green, your sim is happy. When it goes red, you need to find what makes your sim unhappy. Is his comfort compromised? Does he need a friend to talk to? or Is he tired? Just what in real life would make you feel off, you've got to avoid that. Otherwise, it'll die. Amazingly, when I agreed to a boyfriend for my sim to marry, the energy meter goes white and blinking... probably a state of ultimate ecstasy? And promotion comes in, I get to renovate my house, make it bigger and complete with state of the art appliances and furniture. Of course, you need to get up on time, fill your mind with ideas and increase the necessary skill meter required of your job. (Logic for a mathematics professor, well-versed in magazines and having elite friends for a model and fit body for a policeman) And so on and so forth.


So, witnessing all of these, it all boils down to another realization about man. 

Humankind (Yes! All of us in general!) never gets satisfied. 

That state of ultimate ecstasy doesn't stay that long. The wellness meter after several hours just goes back to green once again. And it surprises me that my sim seemed complete of what he needed as far as BASIC things are concerned (food, sleep, sex); All the necessary learning had to be built. Logic by playing chess, Cooking meter by cooking for friends, and a lot more. Until such time that the game builders came up with a lot of other simulations to innovate the game. There's Sims 2, Sims 3, Sims University, Sims Vacation.... I could go on and on about every expansion pack they got. I guess the Sims too, live up to the cliche, "Life goes on."


I came across a book that talked about man's pursuit to happiness. It mentioned about a high percentage of respondents, when asked of what they want in life, speaks of being happy. But to think about it, what makes you happy? Because I tell you my friend, being happy is such a HUGE goal. What makes you happy exactly? A boyfriend? An entertainment showcase? A house and lot? Because to some people, a bath could be so rewarding as well compared to your other wants like jewelry, travel opportunities and/or a BMW . Today, I suggest, we put it down a notch. And aim for SATISFACTION. It removes too much expectation, excess baggage and it would give you wonders beyond your imagination with the first two mentioned set aside. After all, we're not the sims.

Limitless

As of September 22, I came across YAHOO New Zealand's News,

of the Top 15 of FORBES' List of the Richest American People.

I just thought you'd know too.


15. SERGEY BRIN, a Russian-born American Scientist and internet entrepreneur
who co-founded GOOGLE, earns US$16.7 Billion. (Not sure if annually though...)
*GOOGLE as we all know is one of the largest internet companies that
recently had its newest office in New York launched.


14. The 27-year-old, MARK ZUCKERBERG, as we all know, co-created
FACEBOOK, which occupies most of my time. Guilty as charged with that!
I've cheated having a good rest, spending quality time with friends,
discovering some new adventures and doing household chores
with social networking. He hit my weakness which is relaxing in front of the computer.
Oh come on, don't just keep me hanging here!
One way or another, you're guilty of being preoccupied by it too.
And that's just how this guy gets paid... KACHING!Do watch this movie, "SOCIAL NETWORK" and it will
amaze you how normal moments in life could be the huge trampoline
in making some CHANGES in your life.He earns US$17.5 Billion Dollars...


13. Another internet monster, JEFF BEZOS, being the Chief Executive Officer,
founder and president of AMAZON.COM, earns US$19.1 Billion at age 47.

12. Being Mayor of New York City since 2002, the now 69-year-old
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG is earning US$19.5 Billion.
He was the founder of Bloomberg L.P, a financial information
and news service media company and owns majority of it.

11. WAL-MART had been there for consumers to satisfy their needs.
And who's the man standing behind such success of WAL-MART?
The eldest son, of its founder, the late, Sam Walton, who now holds the title of being
the Chairman of the Board of Directors after the death of his father.
He is S. Robson Walton, now 67 years old, who earns US$20.5 billion dollars.


10. ALICE WALTON, now 61, is the heiress parallel to S.Robson,
being an heiress of the Wal-Mart fortune, earning US$ 20.9 Billion.

9. The name, WALTON still earns a place in the top 15 as the youngest
of Sam Walton, JIM WALTON, now 63 years old. He stands farthest on the far left
next to Alice in this picture. He holds a record of earning US$21.1 Billion dollars
and the title of Chairman of Arvest Bank.


8. SHELDON ADELSON, being the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
the LAS VEGAS Sands Corp, is a self-made casino magnate.
He earns US$21.5 Billion.
7. GEORGE SOROS, the philanthropist, aged 81 years old,
graduated Bachelor of Science and Arts in London School of Economics.
I guess that's the main reason why he knows how to handle money.

He just announced last July that his fund will now just be
turned into a family office and that he returned just under US$1 Billion dollars
of his US$25.5 Billion dollar assets. Maybe that's why last August, his ex-
girlfriend (28 y.o.) had become confident enough to sue him for a
US$50 million dollar apartment that he failed to give as promised.
Define a "gold digger"!
He wouldn't mind making her shut up just by paying her off
with this amount of assets but then again, he was mindful of his
commitments such as... to the human rights, public health and education,
he had been donating US$8 billion dollars since 1979.
In addition, he pledged US$100 million dollars to Human Rights Watch,
in part to counteract America's loss of the "moral high ground".
And US$150 million to Roma Rights (Gypsies).

Soros is best known for earning US$1 billion in one day for
shorting England's currency, "breaking" the Bank of England in 1992.



6. CHRISTY WALTON
Her family shares US$2.7 Billion worth of the First Solar.
Thanks to her late husband John,
who instantly made her the richest and wealthiest "Walton" woman.

4. CHARLES AND DAVID KOCH shares the 4th place
for being worth US$ 25 million each.
 The brothers continue to bankroll chemicals and the conservative insurgency.
Still, the Kochs’ political contributions, including gifts to the RNC,
are down by more than half this year.
Meantime, their industrial conglomerate seems to be thriving:
It has more than $100 billion in revenue from refining, chemicals,
building materials and energy trading.

3. LARRY ELLISON
 seems to be spending more time in court than on the water:
Oracle has been battling German software firm SAP over alleged software theft
 and rival HP over Ellison’s hiring of its former chief Mark Hurd.
Oracle stock is up 15% from a year ago.
He's worth is US$ 33 million

2. Warren Buffett – $39 billion
His fortune is down $6 billion, the largest dollar amount of any 400 member.
Yes, he gave away $3.27 billion in stock, but shares of Berkshire Hathaway have sagged 10%.
Buffett recently brought on Richard Weschler, a hedge fund manager,
as a top investment honcho. Maybe for a time that will quiet the perennial carping
 about finding a successor.

1. BILL GATES - CEO and owner of Microsoft,
who occupies himself continuously with the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, is still the 1st amongst all American billionaires,
now in his 18th year of reign being on the top.
This US$23.5 Billion Foundation had brought a lot of people into working
for disease prevention and education in the past year.
He continuously tries to eradicate polio completely
and still tries to work on how to provide
low-cost vaccines and bed nets to places where malaria is common.

* DISCLAIMER: This information was on the FORBES website last year 2011.
If  you want to know of the latest list of the Richest People, just hit their website. *

PINOY PRIDE

For the past years, I've met a lot of renowned bundle of talents in addition to the ones I've met in the Philipines since I have worked in the happiest place on earth. I would like to take this chance to present to you the following clips, videos and featured articles of Filipinos who have continuously served our country to the best of their abilities

HUGE SUNDAY!!!!

1. had a dance class
2. last time dancing with kuya rodel in Disney
3. 1st day of insanity
4. good dinner from hogan
5. curious case of benjamin button

Strive to Make a Difference!

GROUPON DAY

My mom texted me the other day, reminding me of how I used to be
when it comes to art projects, specifically coloring books.
She texted me this way,

"Do you remember when you were young, maybe around 7 years old,
I was preparing breakfast one day at 6 in the morning,
and you went down after me with squinted eyes to the kitchen?
I was so surprised but I just observed.
You were carrying your coloring books with you.
You pulled a chair, you laid down 70+ colored pencils
with your 4 coloring books and started working on one.
And instead of greeting me "Good morning!", you asked,
"Do you know that there's a shade called PERIWINKLE?"
and I started joining you because I was so
surprised to hear what you just shared to me.
I thought that was the cutest ever!"

OK! She didn't include that last statement in her message.
But I thought that's what she wanted to say back then
but knowing my mom, she has her silent approach when it comes
to giving in EMOTIONALLY.

As I was checking what's featured on GROUPON almost everyday,
on that day she sent me the message,
I came across a feature in Groupon about this 4hour DIY (Do-it-yourself) art jam.
I purchased it after checking the deadline for usage and
how accessible it will be for me to go at the location.
(Yep! The drill in purchasing from GROUPON
besides knowing if it will interest you,
benefit you or if it's cheap enough.)
Holidays came by and so did the Chinese New Year
that I totally forgot about the purchase.

Anyways, I was talking to Aaron Jan (AJ) one time, and I don't know how he ended
up saying, "PERIWINKLE!" and that reminded me to call "Coloring Art" to book a session.



As I reached the place, it was totally true how they described what to expect.

• High quality drawing tools (different sized brushes and very nice quality paints, you will be provided with your own working apron and 30cm x 40 cm canvas)
• Free flow of drinks (with choices such as lemon tea, green tea, apple juice)
• Relaxed atmosphere for creativity and bonding if you're doing it with your kids, family, relatives, friends and/or partners (they were playing an array of classical music, mellow ones and laid back tunes to enhance the brain's artistic function; it was pretty calm and quiet too)
• It was accessible to Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok stations (I used my iphone to track the address provided in groupon so it didn't really give me difficulty finding the building - meaning, groupon care of Ko's Building, provided a reliable and accurate address - just fabulous!)
• Washing equipment and lockers are provided if needed.

The moment I saw my workstation, I've let myself settle after coming from the lieu so that I would be good for the next 2 hours at least. (And it was really clean, let me tell you that. I'm sorry I had to include this information, that is important for me.) I started stretching my hands, reviewing all the images that I might work on, putting out my earphones and played my "own" music. I already came up with a playlist of acoustic sounds for my own ease.

Surprisingly, all that I planned to draw didn't make an appeal
when I was about to start. It all changed when I saw the kind of paint I'm going to work on. I told myself, I have to use as much colors so as to maximize the worth of my GROUPON indulgence. Practicality my friends!

I thought, I should work on something else during my days off without
letting go of what I'm truly passionate for. This is actually an application
of an important point I learned from the book, "Happiness Project".
It was suggested there that if you're in a situation where
you don't know what to choose, choose work or something about it.
So, I considered our costume, the jungle skirt for an inspiration.



Every time I swing it around for a performance,
there's an unexplainable high with it, most especially,
when I share the stage with passionate and dedicated bodies of exploding talent.
I never knew it would come out like this.



I never had a formal training or education
about shadowing, shading or critical sketching.
Though once, I imagined myself working for Disney not as a performer
but to be an animator. But, my mother didn't agree with it.
She suggested being an architect is what I should pursue rather than be
an artist. According to her, (or like almost all of the elders of her generation),
being an artist will never put food on the table.
Of course, she was just being cautious and protective of my future.
Going back, besides the fact that I was a Disney baby,
that I adored and memorized, Beauty and the Beast,
Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Pocahontas and the Lion King
and many more,
I was fascinated with the colors that they used most especially with
Lion King and Little Mermaid.
I haven't let go of that dream as I did this project.

I had just let go of myself.
I had just been me.... for the complete 3 hours.
And it's .... actually, AMAZING.

To my mom, you have never forgotten.
I thank you for that.

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI

Happiness PROJECT

There was a struggle in me whether I should come up with one of my own as I went thru this book right before the new year came. I stumbled across it in the Hong Kong International Airport on my way to Samoa. As obsessive-compulsive as I may become, in following airline rules, there's no controlling me if it's about maintaining safety on board the trip. I knew that mobile phones would be requested to be shut down. Therefore, my iPhone (though it has that airplane mode) would be useless for 10 hours! I just "had" to get a book.

Last November, 2011, books about Steve Jobs had gone wild. You could see his face all over magazine stalls, bookstores and news stands.... big and small, on hard bound and soft bound covers with a very tempting ad that goes, "You want to be as rich as Steve Jobs???" that would really make you grab it and go. It was expensive let me tell you that! But I was on a tight budget and I was on my way to a vacation that I want to hold on to as much cash as I can. Since I didn't know how it is in Samoa in terms of usage of credit cards if worse comes to worst, I went around and looked a little more. I saw this book at a dim corner. At first, I was judging my own self for being pathetic in choosing this book because it seems like I am admitting to myself that I got attracted to it because I sense UNHAPPINESS in me. But I managed to ignore the thought and like how I always convince myself (when purchasing reading materials), I thought, "It's for research purposes! You'll never know how it may serve you later on!".

Come on the plane, after getting settled and all, I started reading the the book. Needless to say, it was true after all.... it's not that my life was stable that I could absolutely say I'm happy. I am not taking little blessings for granted. Hear me out. I read this book, "RULES OF LIFE" where it suggests that being "HAPPY" is too much to wish for. It is just too vast of an emotion that the pursuit of it is almost impossible. I agreed with what it suggested that people, in general don't get happy unless satisfied. Say for example, if you get to eat 3 times a day, sometimes, it wouldn't satisfy you if it doesn't come with dessert; or it wouldn't satisfy you if it's not in a fancy restaurant; or it wouldn't satisfy you if you're not going to be served well.... and these demands could go on and on and you and I know that it may never stop. So, this book, basically convinces the person to go down a notch by pursuing "SATISFACTION" instead of "HAPPINESS"... And you can go from there.

Going back to the book, "HAPPINESS PROJECT", it pushed me into maximizing my potential in all aspects. Career, relationships and status. My personal argument regarding "HAPPINESS" vs "SATISFACTION" had once again given life. Bits and pieces of Gretchen Rubin's experiences (the author) are similar to mine. Though very stable, I admire her for admitting how limited she was and the extension of her humility to doing something about it in order to be happier. Moreover, convincing other people to change for the better too. I never came up with my personal commandments, nor my personal resolutions but it seems that I was starting to apply them altogether subconsciously. I've put her theories into action and oftentimes, I see it very beneficial to my own life. I sat down and thought about it again. Since, it got all woven to completion, first month of the year, the book meant goodness and balance, why not, go for it after all!!!!

Let me start with my 12 resolutions adapting Gretchen's style:
1. Get energized.
2. Try something new.
3. Focus on one thing at a time.
4. Be real, be Kyte.
5. Share more.
6. Let go.
7. Identify the Problem.
8. Stand up for what's right.
9. Make it happen.
10. Spend out.
11. Be there.
12. There is only love.

There you go....

In beginning this blog, I gave myself one rule, "JUST" write about happy experiences. But from now on, some of my blog entries would be confirming to these personal commandments. What I learned from reading "The Happiness Project" was that, it's hard to realize that you're happy about something when you haven't experienced a devastating loss or great absence of it to make you see further on how it makes you appreciate the happiness that that "something" brings. So, to make it more realistic, interesting and natural, I may start to share events that helped me grow up, challenges that made me test my attitude and memoirs that may be upsetting at first but for sure got underlying reason and purpose. Again, you all are free to share your opinion by commenting, sharing and suggesting.

Be happy!!!!

Related posts:
1. THE 30 MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE - A selected part of the book by Napoleon Hill entitled, "Think & Grow Rich"
2. RICH DAD POOR DAD - Wanting to know the secret of getting rich? Read this review of the book that leads you to it.
3. HOW TO SAVE HK$5000 IN 52 WEEKS - You have the urge to save but have a system in doing it. Here's how.