well, not exactly back to school per se as i am still keeping my day job. but i finally finished my first year with the last exam this past weekend. being a lazy bum as i am, i totally can't remember why one day i suddenly decided to do this, and i am even more surprised that i still keep the energy to move forward one year after (i have a terrible attention span on basically everything)
studying in hongkong is so different than my previous experience in many ways, and going back to school does give you a whole new perspective on how you see things and how you interact with other people. despite giving up my weekends which could have been spent in golf or bangkok, and the hefty tuition which is equivalent to 50 dinners at gaddi's chef's table, i am sure it's all worth it - at least that's what i have been trying to convince myself.
anyway, it's been a fun year with the stuff i picked up on, new friends i made, and time i day-dreamed in the classroom, and the best part is, only 6 months to go. yea!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
a quick look back
i stumbled across this little piece of article that i wrote some 12 years ago on some student newspaper (while in college). funny to realise the world has evolved so much since then.
to give you a better perspective, 1995 was the time when windows 95 was just released, and ie is still in version 2, which barely allowed sounds to be embedded onto websites. that was the time when netscape's still alive, just had its historic ipo (the event for which thomas friedman named as one of the world's flatteners in his book later) and for the first time, has acrobat/pdf plug-in available in its latest version. that was the time when people were still exploring how this new programming language called java's going to do to this world, and there were dreams of web-based, "disposable" softwares. that was the time when amazon just started its online book store business and e-commerce was considered an innovative concept.
today, windows is in its fourth consumer version after 95 (and still as buggy as ever) - 98, me, xp and vista; ie became the lone survivor in the browser war (unless you still count firefox in). netscape is nowhere to be found - so is aol who bought netscape for $4.2b in 1998; java has become an enterprise programming language of choice, contrary to what people first thought; online shopping has become a norm for business and consumer worldwide - it has passed mail order in overall sales last year already; and finally the concept of "disposable" software has gone mainstream with google, salesforce.com, saas (software as a service) concept and alike.
oh wow. only when we slowly looked back do we realise we have gone so far, and how stupid my writing was. ha ha.
to give you a better perspective, 1995 was the time when windows 95 was just released, and ie is still in version 2, which barely allowed sounds to be embedded onto websites. that was the time when netscape's still alive, just had its historic ipo (the event for which thomas friedman named as one of the world's flatteners in his book later) and for the first time, has acrobat/pdf plug-in available in its latest version. that was the time when people were still exploring how this new programming language called java's going to do to this world, and there were dreams of web-based, "disposable" softwares. that was the time when amazon just started its online book store business and e-commerce was considered an innovative concept.
today, windows is in its fourth consumer version after 95 (and still as buggy as ever) - 98, me, xp and vista; ie became the lone survivor in the browser war (unless you still count firefox in). netscape is nowhere to be found - so is aol who bought netscape for $4.2b in 1998; java has become an enterprise programming language of choice, contrary to what people first thought; online shopping has become a norm for business and consumer worldwide - it has passed mail order in overall sales last year already; and finally the concept of "disposable" software has gone mainstream with google, salesforce.com, saas (software as a service) concept and alike.
oh wow. only when we slowly looked back do we realise we have gone so far, and how stupid my writing was. ha ha.
united's new c class
united is re-fitting their international business class with flat bed and all (with high-tech amenities such as usb charger and ipod cradle). looks impressive but i am going to hold my judgment til i actually see it, and i still won't have any expectation on their food, no matter who they got to endorse it. my only complaint is this will make the screen awfully too far to be watched comfortably.
anyway, let's hope they will have it ready on trans-pacific flights by the time we travel to u.s. next year.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
closure
(don't worry - i am not going to give out the ending of you-know-what)
while everyone's already started reading, i am still waiting for my american version order to arrive, and it won't come til aug 1. sigh. anyway, knowing i probably will know the storyline one way or the other before then, i had a peek myself on wikipedia yesterday - just the ending to see who died and how everything came to a close.
all i can say is, from my limited knowledge of it, it makes so much sense - a "fitting closure", according to cnn. well, it's sorta cliché, but hey, what else do you expect? now it makes me look forward to reading the entire book word by word even more. i should start clearing my august schedule to make way for reading. who said summer is not a reading season? ha ha.
while everyone's already started reading, i am still waiting for my american version order to arrive, and it won't come til aug 1. sigh. anyway, knowing i probably will know the storyline one way or the other before then, i had a peek myself on wikipedia yesterday - just the ending to see who died and how everything came to a close.
all i can say is, from my limited knowledge of it, it makes so much sense - a "fitting closure", according to cnn. well, it's sorta cliché, but hey, what else do you expect? now it makes me look forward to reading the entire book word by word even more. i should start clearing my august schedule to make way for reading. who said summer is not a reading season? ha ha.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
frog face fish. hip. entrepreneur.
monday evening we dropped by to visit our entrepreneur friend mr y's soon-to-be-opened new venture - a travel-themed lounge/cafe/bar/club on wyndham st. it's a long story how we knew each other and how his idea of a brand and venture associated with "hip lifestyle" has evolved and turning into reality, but i am glad to see something's happened at last. i am sure i will write a separate blog about this once it's officially open to business.
anyway, after being amazed at the vast library of travel literature upstairs and a well-equipped private kitchen downstairs, both part of mr y's new creation that can easily rival the travel book section of page one, a gaggenau showroom or any michelin-starred restaurant, we strolled down wyndham and walked in to this funkily-named seafood restaurant and treated ourselves to a randomly pleasant monday dinner there. from the decor, you can tell the proprietor of the restaurant does have a heart and vision for doing things right. it's posh, casual chic and their logo - a fishbone - can be seen in almost anywhere from the back of the chair to the top of the ceiling. i ordered the citrus-poached salmon as first course and grilled tuna as main. both are nicely done - salmon's moist with a balanced taste (not being overtaken by the citrus sauce), while the tuna's flavorful - a bit overdone to my liking but unexpectedly good nonetheless. the other food we tried included the daily soup - which was a chilled tomato and pepper soup, salad greens with grilled shrimp, scallop ravioli and salmon tartare. all received decent acclaims from my fellow diners. we didn't order any wine but they do have a wide variety of whites - from what we saw on the other tables and what came out of the bar - which i am sure is a rarity in town yet totally consistent with its seafood theme.
it's just great to spend the time chatting with old friends, catching up with what's happening in one another's lives, enjoying the good food, and looking forward to greater things to come with this hip travel concept. resonate with my earlier thought that it's who you are with rather than what you are eating that makes a truly delightful evening of dining out. well, unfortunately we didn't take any picture of the food, but with its convenient location and reasonable price, i am sure we will go back some time.
details:
when? july 16 2007
where? frog face fish, 43-55 wyndham street
occasion? a casual monday scroll down wyndham street
menu highlights? char-grilled tuna
anyway, after being amazed at the vast library of travel literature upstairs and a well-equipped private kitchen downstairs, both part of mr y's new creation that can easily rival the travel book section of page one, a gaggenau showroom or any michelin-starred restaurant, we strolled down wyndham and walked in to this funkily-named seafood restaurant and treated ourselves to a randomly pleasant monday dinner there. from the decor, you can tell the proprietor of the restaurant does have a heart and vision for doing things right. it's posh, casual chic and their logo - a fishbone - can be seen in almost anywhere from the back of the chair to the top of the ceiling. i ordered the citrus-poached salmon as first course and grilled tuna as main. both are nicely done - salmon's moist with a balanced taste (not being overtaken by the citrus sauce), while the tuna's flavorful - a bit overdone to my liking but unexpectedly good nonetheless. the other food we tried included the daily soup - which was a chilled tomato and pepper soup, salad greens with grilled shrimp, scallop ravioli and salmon tartare. all received decent acclaims from my fellow diners. we didn't order any wine but they do have a wide variety of whites - from what we saw on the other tables and what came out of the bar - which i am sure is a rarity in town yet totally consistent with its seafood theme.
it's just great to spend the time chatting with old friends, catching up with what's happening in one another's lives, enjoying the good food, and looking forward to greater things to come with this hip travel concept. resonate with my earlier thought that it's who you are with rather than what you are eating that makes a truly delightful evening of dining out. well, unfortunately we didn't take any picture of the food, but with its convenient location and reasonable price, i am sure we will go back some time.
details:
when? july 16 2007
where? frog face fish, 43-55 wyndham street
occasion? a casual monday scroll down wyndham street
menu highlights? char-grilled tuna
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