Politeness

It has been a month since I last blogged.

A lot has happened. Most of them too private to be blogged though.

I had done a lot of thinking. I have to make yet another big decision soon.

Oh well, that's not what I am here for.

The Reader's Digest latest Politeness Survey of different cities around the world is.

Though it is an admittedly unscientific survey, it got me thinking people in certain cities behave in certain ways.

The lower ranking cities then to be very densely populated cities, where if you hold the door open for the next person, you may end up standing there all day because of the constant flow of people.

A regular scene in Hong Kong comes to mind. At busy subway stations, passengers often have to crowd with some 100 or so people, who all trying to get on one escalator at the same time. However, there are no pushing or yelling. Everybody just try to move slowly towards the entrance and letting people go first, when appropriate. It may not look very polite per se, but it proves to be the most efficient way of doing so. Yielding when needed, nothing excessive. Of course, when a disabled person approaches, everybody yields. Is this politeness? I would think it is. People probably don't show it, but they are polite.

New Yorkers are the most polite? They are all business over there, so why not? They must appear to be so for their own good.

Motto

The motto of one of my schools was Carpe Diem, which is Latin for Seize (not "cease", as corrected by m_whiz) the Day.

I think I even blogged about it before.

Today, someone told me of the motto of a very hard working man.
"Past is Gone. Future is Unsure. Today is Living. Try your Best!"

True, very true. In sum, Carpe Diem.

Mr. Hung Chung Yam is the regional director of a famous insurance company. He stopped studying at Form 2 (Grade 8), and did many jobs before landed in an insurance company. Needless to say, his life hasn't been easy. However, with his achievement today, at age 42, he decide to take the HKCEE (public exam for Form 5 or Grade 11) this year. He started studying night school 3 years ago and had lot of tutoring.

Good man. I hope he succeed.

Long Weekend

Haven't had one those for a while.
This has been quite a relief for me. A major hurdle is out of the way. My working is ending soon. Haven't been able to do so much of nothing for a while.

I had planned so spend some time with someone. Too bad that person was caught up with something. Oh well. Plenty of time to come.

The next big question is coming. Job.
Strange enough. I have been quite calm lately. Quite a contrast to my normally stressed self lately. I missed the Golden Opportunity to become... a bus driver. Don't laugh! I actually think I might like the job. As a job, at least, not a career.

Picked up 3 VCD for $33 (4.25 US). Nope, not counterfeits. Fully copyrighted. Good deal. Yes, they are not DVDs, but considering that I am using a 15" LCD screen to view them, the difference is not noticeable. Moreover, I don't have to worry about the damn regional code thing.

One more day to go with my short break! What to do? Job hunting! Yeah!

No Explanation Necessary

Sometimes it is best to keep your thoughts to yourself.

I think I am at one of those times.

Instead of explaining myself, and listen to different views that either don't help much or misses the point.

The song Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day comes to mind.

Traffic

Came across this picture from ugoto.com titled "You put in good effort"

Now that they finished digging it out, I wonder if they would continue to dig a path to their destination.

Another interesting site, from a fellow blogger, Melissa Plaut: New York Hack which describes her daily live as a taxi driver.
She's 30 years old, well educated and writes well. Of course, her blogs are interesting too.

Rest In Peace - Justin Nerit

Justin was 5 when he passed away on March 9 at 11:00pm after his father's car was struck at 8:20pm. His father was the Good Samartian who pulled over on Toronto's Gardiner Expressway to help another motorist who had an accident.

Justin's brother, Ethan and their mother were also in the car, but they escaped with non-life threatening injuries. Their car was about 40m in front of the other one and completely off the road when they were struck by a third vehicle passing by.

May God be with the Nerits and bless their souls.

I hope his father can be strong, stay positive and not blame himself.

This was truly tragic.

Layers of Me

Layer.one
Name: Walekim
Birthdate: August 6
Birthplace: Hong Kong
Current location: Hong Kong
Eyes: dark brown
Hair: mostly black
Height: 6'1" 185cm
Righty or Lefty: righty
Zodiac Sign: Leo

Layer.two
Your heritage: Chinese
Your weakness: blunt speech
Your shoes you wore today: black leather dress shoes
Your fears: lack progression in career
Your perfect pizza: Hawaiian
Goal you'd like to achieve: enjoy my life

Layer.three
Your thoughts first waking up: this is too early!
Your best physical feature: height
Your bedtime: 1:00 to 2:00 am
Your most missed memory: the ones spent with lovers

Layer.four
Pepsi or Coke: Coke Light (a.k.a. Diet) with Lemon Lime
McDonald's or Burger King: McDonald's
Single or group dates: single
Adidas or Nike: Nike
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Nestea
Chocolate or vanilla: dark chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Iced Cap

Layer.five
Cuss: tough choices with great influences
Sing: Sometimes
Have a crush: yes
Think you've been in love: yes
Want to go college: want to get out of it
Want to get married: yes
Believe in yourself: yes
Get motion sickness: long boat rides in wavy ocean
Think you're attractive: to some
Think you're a health freak: not really
Get along with your parents: yes
Like thunderstorms: fascinating
Play an instrument: no

Layer.six - in the past month
Gone to the mall: yes
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: two, not at once though
Eaten sushi: no, but almost today
Been on stage: yes
Gone skating: no - too bad my skates are on the other side of Earth!
Made homemade cookies: no
Gone skinny dipping: no
Dyed your hair: no
Stolen anything: just this survey from m_whiz

Layer.seven - ever..
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: never
Been called a tease: yes
Got beaten up: never

Layer.eight
Age you hoped to be married: 29
Number and name of children: 2, Katie and Marcus
Dream wedding: I have no particular wishes
How do you want to die: in peace
Where do you want to attend college: one where I can finish the degree that I want
Dream job: engineer
Country you want to visit: United Arab Emirates

Layer.nine - In a guy/girl...
Best eye color: brown / green / blue
Best hair color: no preference
Short or long hair: long
Height: 5'2" at least
Best weight: as long as not over or under weight
Best clothing: comfortable

Layer.ten
Number of drugs taken illegally: 0
Number of people I could trust with my life: 2 at the moment
Number of CDs that I own: 120 or so with many blank and data ones.
Number of piercings: 0
Number of tattoos: 0
Number of times my name's been in the news: 6 - mostly campus newspapers
Number of scars on my body: 2
Number of things in my past that I regret: haven't keep count. What matters is future.

ERTW

"Wow, you are really an engineering at heart." was what I was told tonight.... again.

Should I stay on the current, most debated, track?

Or should I return and wave the flags of ERTW again?

Should I stay here and work myself to death, like some claims to be?

Or should I stay under for a few years, like many, when I can't find a job as an engineer?

Tough questions. Perhaps I should flip a coin.