我能想到最浪漫的事 ...

... 就是和你一起慢慢變老



睇一次，喊一次。

The Monsoon Ball a.k.a. How It All Began

Tonight is the INSEAD Monsoon Ball, which I am going to miss because I'm in Hong Kong.

Monsoon Ball is one of the annual traditions at INSEAD - it usually takes place in Singapore in November (the monsoon season), hence the name. (The Fontainebleau version, on the other hand, usually takes place in spring, in the classy Chateau de Fontainebleau where Napoleon once lived. Now that is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.)

At INSEAD, the Monsoon Ball is sorta kinda a big thing, though you can also argue that it's just one of the many nights where a bunch of 20's & 30's+ try to party and get drunk like teenagers. Only in a fancier place and in nicer clothes.

To me, however, the Monsoon Ball will always have a tender spot in my heart. It was where SB either (a) started to notice me for real, or (b) finally started making a move on me, after weeks of checking me out. I still don't know which one it was, but I know this much is true: the Monsoon Ball gave us the chance to really know each other, albeit in a somewhat funny and indirect way.

So when he was trying to chat me up that night (by bringing me round after round of desserts), I casually dished out an invite and said he should come along with me and my friends to our next trip. You know, we're in the middle of this conversation, and I was really just throwing it out there without meaning it, like I did with other people too. But this guy - he pulled out his smart phone immediately and started checking his calendar right away. Wow, he's serious, I thought.

And then after a series of fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) events, the trip with my other friends ended up being 48 hours with just the two of us on a remote island in the Philippines. I think he probably talked for 40 hours out of those 48 - this guy definitely could talk.

But it was a good thing, I guess, cos I wasn't bored for even one minute during the trip. And it gave the opportunity for me to know him, and for him to know me. In the business school environment where most people are really just interested in, shall i say, results, it's refreshing to find somebody who is actually interested in knowing who you are (instead of just "networking" and getting potential business contacts for the future, or just trying to get into your pants, you know).

And so it's how it all started.

And now, whenever I think about the Monsoon Ball, my heart softens and I feel nothing but amazement, at how things have worked out for us. What if he had decided not to go to the Monsoon Ball that night (he's not a big fan of that sort of thingy)? What if I hadn't mentioned the trip and dished out the offer? What if he was busy during the days where we're supposed to go on the trip? There were so many moving parts in the whole process - from us meeting at INSEAD to finally dating - what if one of them had been missing? Would we still end up being together one way or another, or will things be completely different now? (Hey, maybe I'll end up going out with a billionaire and am already a tai-tai!)

Is it destined or is it purely accidental?

Either way, I'm just as grateful.

Happy anniversary (in advance), honey.

Photo: Top - Monsoon Ball 2008, Bottom - Monsoon Ball 2009; Both pictures stolen off Facebook ;)

I miss Paris

- chilling at Le Georges on the rooftop of Pompidou

- (window) shopping at Bon Marché

- eating ice cream on Ile de la Cité

- lying on the grass in Jardin du Forum des Halles

- strolling and people watching in Marais

- buying baguettes and pastries from random boulangeries and patisseries

... I want to go to Paris RIGHT NOW.

Photo: Place des Vosges, in my favorite neighborhood - Le Marais

港女欠缺了什麼

我覺得，很多香港女生（也就是所謂的港女），一般都缺少了一種氣質：謙虛。這裡說的謙虛並不是指日常生活上的卑恭客套，而是對自己有多渺小和不足的一種認知。

香港是一個很小很小的都會，在香港長大和生活，能夠看到和所接觸到的東西，其實很有限。另一方面，香港卻是一個相對富裕的城市：對很多香港女生來說，吃日本菜法國菜意大利菜是家常便飯，出國旅遊也是等閒事。物質上的豐裕，容易使人產生一種錯覺，覺得自己已經懂得很多，甚至以為自己所知道的生活方式，便是世上唯一的道路真理生命。

這個世界本應很大，充滿著我們所知道的（佔小部份）和未知的東西（佔絕大部份）。我們香港人所熟悉的日常（如出外用膳時對著每一道菜拍照），在世界的其他地方可能會引來極其怪異的目光；而我們覺得奇怪的（如朋友見面不分男女老幼都抱抱親親），在別的地方極可能是理所當然。活在世上的其中一個樂趣，就是去認識和學習新的事物。港女的問題是，她們的整個世界彷彿只有她們所知道的部份那麼小，小得只會圍繞著王祖藍與李亞男拍拖或下次幾時再去日本這等事而轉動，而她們也樂得活在其中，自我感覺良好，還自以為見識廣闊自己有多會享受生活等。

Steve Jobs 說，做人要stay hungry，stay foolish。可惜很多香港人，都自滿於太smart，太full，smart得沒有必要去向其他人學習，也full得裝不下其他東西。

我懂的一點不多，but I know I know nothing。讀MBA的那一年，使我深深的體會到，這個世界，真的很大很大。看得越多，越知道自己懂得少。見過比自己聰明能幹一百倍的人，才了解自己的渺小和不足。

願我能一直hungry和foolish下去。

沒出息的打工仔心得

在職場上打滾修練了這些寒暑，其中一項領悟到的心得如下：

能為老闆解決煩惱的，就是好員工；
會為老闆製造問題的，就是壞員工。

所有老闆的愛將，都有一個共通點，就是得到老闆的信任；與能力、資質、幹勁等，皆沒有直接關係。所以，唔係話你叻，就要升你，因為你可能已在大大小小的事上，為老闆製造了各種各樣的問題，而你自己唔知。

===

今天，下屬因為年尾清假的問題，為我帶來了麻煩。此君平日做事相當可靠，但在我心中，也因為今天這件事而或多或少對他扣了分。

而為了這件事，我更煩到了老闆。不用說，老闆對我的印象也或多或少扣了分吧。

唉，心情不佳。

不如... 做一隻啤啤

不管外在環境如何

不管他人說些甚麼

我仍然是我　－　睡好多好多，笑好大好大

世界再醜再惡

我依舊溫柔地，善良地

坐在那裡，用微笑靜候你的擁抱