and back

from Republica Dominicana

aka the (tourism orientated portion of) land of abundant vitamin R(um) and every shop keeper is named cheapycheapy.

Don't have much photos myself, so will have to wait till the family friends send them over. Posts will be delayed. Happy belated holidays? XD



helloooooo to twenty eleven!

Jetting off

...to the Dominican Republic!
In roughly 7 hours.

Waking up at 3:30am. More like not sleeping until tomorrow night, funn.

Mom is forbidding me to bring my laptop, so I will be away from the interweb for a whole week. Informal digital detox haha.
Pretty lucky that the main mangas that I follow just got updated. Noblesse (specifically Seira) was awesome, other webcomics are good, Arcana and Masca are progressing, but omg Ciel left such a cliffhanger "orz
Instead I've armed myself with Bloom's Macbeth Notes, Becker's Denial of Death, (the 2 aforementioned cause I gotta prep for english essay) and an architectural magazine.

Back on topic.
Luggage is all carry-on, very proud of this fact. Hoping all of gritaly will fit into carry-on as well.

My plan is to swim for an hour everyday. "exerciseeeee!" Please don't fail me willpower. Also wanna try some cocktails (highfive Rui! ;D). Otherwise, r&r and forget about you all trapped in the cold~


Oh and

in advance.
(photo courtesy of Linnee)

ps: don't you hate it when a nail polish has the pwettiest colour but streaks like mad? "orz

Minecraft con't

Beta just rolled around, imma wait a few days (1.5 week since I'm going away) for the bugs to clear up.

Instead, let's admire Sky City some more ;D


Sunrise!
My house has a really great view of the sunset, will get a picture of that soon.


Another night shot, believe I did not fall down this time but was making stairs.


Not much of a living space, planning on making a beach house on a neighbouring island soon.


Finally a daytime shot XD

Tron Legacy

link to trailer since making it fit the layout of my blog would greatly diminish the quality.

ohhh my goshhhh the graphics! *u*
In Roy's words: "mind numbing graphics!"

Story is alright; predictable, a bit cheesy, but still pretty good.

Graaaaaphics!

Sound is pretty good too, Daft Punk's helmets are awesome.

GRAPHICS.
It's visual porn. Though I would not want to be the ones doing the fx.

Go watch it :]
(and get me a lightcycle for christmas)

Progression of mood

Not exactly mood.

tired->alright->tired->impatient->really full->thirsty but really full->really crappy.
blahhh.

I like the shirt and ring I bought though.
Distractions~

Being materialistic

Just got my cast card today for work! Free mooooovies~

Very sad that I am missing boxing day this year, so I shall make myself feel better (and plan for the January clearance) by making a semi realistic list of all the things I would spend my hard earned (and butter splattered) money on:

1. iPhone 5
I also don't like the 4, but for different reasons than Donna haha. New rectangular shape is so ugly e_e" Also prefer it to be a tad slimmer, so will wait on the 5.
That or a blackberry bold. But more people have the iPhone, so bbm will be less useful. Also less apps.

2. Urban Decay Naked Palette

This better be in stock for Gritaly or I will be very very very very very sad.
Both sephora AND UD's website is outof stock, really? -o-
(swatches in this post)

3. Zen 01 Bento Box

Does that not look beautiful :'D? Been looking for a stainless steel lunch box for the loooongest time.

The Nara is gorgeous too, but it's so fragile, handwash only and no microwaving (well same for Zen too "orz).
Those two are waaay expensive, so the Fresco is a more realistic option.

4. Moo Mini Cards
Having a business card just seems so professional, I just gotta do something worthy to put on it XD

5. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria

I forgot which one I liked, so here's them all ;D
The packaging probably has equal amount of influence on my purchasing decision as the product itself (badddd), and Guerlain has some of the prettiest bottles~
Also terrible fond of Miss Dior Cheri.

The only problem is I don't remember to use perfumes, it would be a huge waste of money.
(On second thought, if I am ever rich, I will collect Guerlain's perfumes.)

6. Les Tissages de Chanel Blush Duo Tweed Effect (in Pink)

I'm a blush girl. Will refrain from listing all the blushes I want.

---------------------------below is a wish list--------------------------------------

7. Mulberry Bags
Bayswater for Macbook 13" (in oak natural)
Lily (in light peach hairhalf)
Margaret Minibag (in drizzle ostrich)
My taste for bags has moved onto more structured and boxy styles, also mini crossbody bags *u*

8. Globe-Trotter Orient Luggage

I think the image speaks for itself. It cost $1060 euro. I will get it someday.

9. Mauviel Copper or Lecruset Signature Oval Dutch Oven
Win-win situation as I get my cookware and you get food ;D
A Kitchen-Aid stand mixer would be up there as well, except hand creaming butter and sugar together slowly grew on me.

10.Tiffany & Co


Tiffany Vines mug
I really want this cup ($40), stupid to buy one from Tiffany's though "orz

Jewelry wise:

Jean Schlumberger Rope bracelet


Tiffany Signature™ Pearl bracelet


Diamonds by the Yard® Bracelet

The charm bracelets with sea themed charms are also adorable.


Four Leaf Clover charm and chain
You know I have to post this XD


Paloma Picasso® Hammered Heart pendant
I have a thing for hammered finish, a thin hammered gold bracelet or ring would look wonderful too *u*


Crown Charm and Chain


Forgot to take down the name of this ring and isn't about to go through 37 pages again. It's Moroccan inspired though.

Almost going through the entire catalog helped me discover a lot of my preferences. Gold > silver/white gold/platinum, in terms of looks. Angular cuts of diamond with a simple band.

The more outrageous items I saw were a $300 spoon, a $6000 water pitcher, a $46000 bracelet, and a $6000000 diamond ring,


Yes this is what I spent my night doing.

First peek at Minecraft

I usually post about a game before or right when I start playing it,
but I didn't want to show you guys Minecraft without my creations in it.

Most of the stuff was built by Lyndon, Jason, and James, the waterfall house is my little contribution to our cloud city.

All the photos are from one view point...because I was stupid and fell "orz
and it's becoming night time, so everything's a tad dark.
Neverless, admireeeeeeee.





blueprints
Only bad thing about minedraft is that sometimes the blocks don't move properly when you pan, causing missing rows.

days of cookie

(Title comes from a series of posts from Lottie+Doof titled 12 days of cookies, one of my favourite food blogs)

I have not really touched my oven after the crazy amount of bake sales last year.
Until now.

Christmas season translates into bundling up and eating lots season, the latter starts with baking cookies and cakes.

Banana cake for co-op office:



Sorry for the crappy photos, at the point in time when the bread was done baking, my need for sleep overwhelmed my food photography (and later editing) pride.

I didn't have a taste of it, but according to a super nice email sent by my supervisor, it was pretty good. She could have been polite, but I'm just gonna let my ego grow.

Wrapped up some chocolates for school friends the same night. (I ditched minecraft for this! ;_;)

+more ego for nice ribbon tying.

Lastly today was spent loafing around in David's and Jason's house. Baked some peanut butter/oatmeal/chocolate cookies to up everyone's sugar levels. (I still really like that photo, very sharp ;D though the colour could be a tad more vibrant).

Spent my day mining gravels in Minecraft, laughing at people fail playing Starcraft 1 with my trackpad, snapping, I mean janicing, other people's hotpackz, and listening to Jason play the piano.
Payon > Prontera's theme.

renee

An interesting quotation from The Elegance of the Hedgehog

For millennia now, by way of 'knowing thyself' to 'I think therefore I am', mankind has been rambling on about the ridiculous human preorgative that is our consciousness of our own existence and above all the ability of this consciousness to make itself its own object. When something itches, a man scratches and is aware that he is scratching. If you ask him 'what are you doing?', he will reply 'I'm scratching myself'. If you push your questioning a bit further (are you aware that you are conscious of the fact that you are scratching yourself?), he will again reply 'yes', and thus ad infinitum to as many are-you-aware-and-conscious questions as you wish. Does this, however, leave the man with any less of itch to know that he is scratching and is aware of it? Can reflective consciousness have a beneficial influence on he order of the itching? Nay, not in the slightest.

Lots of reading material to prep for english essay :]

Indiana Limestone

I am done schoolwork for the year. The craftsmenship of it is so bad that I'm almost ashamed of it. Almost because it's still not enough for me to want to redo it. Lesson to be learned is to use ModPodge instead of diluted white glue. Water will always make paper wrinkle, you will not win.

There's a physics quiz tomorrow, but thats what lunch time is for.

I am reeeeeally bad at moving around in Minecraft. This is a problem XD

full on pho

Went to Trainhead, a pho restaurant, for Austin's birthday celebration today.

Melody challenged all the men to get x-large, David wanted everyone's leftovers; both of them didn't exactly live up to their goal XD

Had a mini pepper eating contest afterward, Lyndon was the obvious winner. Apparently he trained himself on wasabi everytime he was bored waiting for his parents to finish talking after dinner.
Qiqi and I took it pretty well, we were tearing up but managed to stay seated.
Kevin didn't really count as he only ate one.
Jason and Ryan on the other hand, were hilariooooooous. I get to laugh at them since I went through the same thing ;P Ryan promptly ran to the washroom after biting off half of an pepper. Jason stayed at the table for a few moments while displaying extremely agonizing emotions, but had to retreat to the washroom as well. However, he came back quickly as Ryan used up all of the sink's water XD

After various tries at toning down the spiciness, I have come up with a effectiveness list of various items that were at the restaurant. In order from the best to least:

1. Sucking on a wedge of lime. Completeeeely neutralized it, except this was the last method I tried, so it is slightly biased.
   
2. Having a breath mint. Seemed a little counter-intuitive, but works pretty well. Thank you Laurie for having a pack on hand.
3. Ice water. Didn't try this myself, but seeing as Ryan spent a good amount of time rinsing his mouth, I'd say it works decently.
4. Milk tea. The milk part helps, the tea part....
5. Tea. Bad, very bad. Makes it worse imo.
   
6. Doing nothing. It's not TERRIBLY bad, just really numbing. My lower eyelid started quivering haha.
   

Walked to Baskin Robin's afterwards for some ice cream cake. The men were having snowball fights during the walk, several people were head-shot XD We ordered a brownie cake which we ate by scooping. It has become the default method in which the group eats cake.

Happy belated birthday Austin :]

gear ratios

Things like this make me believe that I will enjoy being an engineer.

__________

In another not-feeling-like-doing-anything-blahhhhhhh mood/period. Especially not blogging.
Ideal activity = stare outside window with yummy drink in hand.
From past experience, it's best to wait it out. I'll fall behind on work either way, will play catch-up later.
I tend the overestimate how long I need to do something, work on it, procrastinate, underestimate when the deadline's a few days away and somehow catch-up. Hopefully this time as well.

sleeping it off~

french ultramarine

I realized that recently instead of days and weeks, I count time by tasks.
Dunno how many times I've said to people "I'll do that after I finish Shad".

WELL NOW I'M DONE.
except when I'm done before the actual deadline, I enter paranoid zone. Need to look over essay more, it's sooooo crappy.
Giardine is very correct in not giving too much time for assignments.

*will upload finished creative piece later tonight*
I was on-time ish according to my previous previous post. I finished it on friday minus one light wash of red.

One and a half week to do job board, this will be fun "orz

Minion

Janice's birthday celebration yesterday, went to watch Megamind followed by dinner at Ichiban.
T'was first time using perks from my job.

Megamind was adorable! Dreamwork's intoduction animation is getting fancier and fancier haha.
I felt accomplished when I recognied the Hamlet reference when Megamind (Ferrell) said to MetroMan (Pitt): "speak apparition!" ;D Mondorw must be proud as well haha.
(My holiday will be spent reading Macbeth in prep for the giant-ass essay "orz)
Highly recommended!

Dinner afterwards was nice as well. There was a corporate Christmas party in the room next to our table. It waaaay drawfed our Sushi Fun outing.
Tried salmon (sake) and tuna (maguro) sushi for the first time. Raw fish just never seemed very appealing. Steven, Jason and I shared a medium sushi and maki boat, so I had to eat my share haha. They didn't really have a taste, the texture was nice though. Ordered a yaki u-don as well, it smelled really nice but only tasted average.

I'll get you a gift eventually ;D

bamboo

I believe(hope) that posting my draft will motivate me to finish it tmrw.



Rough & planning for my Shad creative page. It's bamboo in multimedia.
Sidenote: my art teacher is right, darker lines look a lot better.

The finished product will(better) look amazing.

9+2+12+1

Happy Birthday Janice!

and now my belated report card post:

Info Tech (business course): 97 (easy course, so chill as well <3)
English: 87 (blah, english teachers. stubborn people they are)
Co-op: 95 and 88. (The 88 is suppose to be 92, teacher didn't change it in time.)
Chem: 89 (Will work harder to bring this up)
Tech: 100 HAR HAR HAR
Physics: 98 (yay, Caruana is awesomee)
Math: 82 (this is really sad. Shad ppl are gonna go 'wtf')
----------------------------
Avg: 92

It will be 1.4% higher without math. I'm saaaaaaad.

edit: co-op is updated to 92,
so avg is now 92.5, same as last term ;D

holiday collections

unrelated note: I feel sad when I compare my monthly post counts from before I got a job to now. No more complaining though, will make the most of out of it (aka upsell like crazy) until the day I feel I made enough money XD

Back on topic:
I've decided to buy myself one item for Christmas.
ONE (1).

(oh yeah, this post is more so for self-reference, feel free to disregard. But do check out the link to Glitch)

Man that's gonna be hard to narrow it down. Time to write out the process of elimination!

• No more clothing. I told Rui that I would limit my future closet to one item per category that I can think of. She laughed XD
• No electronics/games. The only electronic that is near the verge of dying is my ipod earphones, I'll make ti last :] No time = no game. Also found this adorbell browser based game called Glitch, apparently it's by a founder of Flickr (Stewart Butterfield) It's still in alpha though ;_;
• No books. The library is a wonderful place, especially when one is armed with a nice cup of starbucks <3

I think I've covered some major categories there o_o That leaaaaaves: art supplies and make-up.
Damn both cost a fortune "orz

Been wanting to get over my fear of watercolours lately. Read a whole bunch of books (instructional and reference), though nothing can replace actually painting <_<
Will probably buy brushes when Currie comes to school, paint wise my Reeves are good enough for now, and it's just sad buying a pad of watercolour paper for christmas XD
Moleskine sketchbooks? For when I get better haha. The paper in there are noiceeeee *in a Everyday Exotic accent* (for future self reference: weekly sketches!)

So onto make-up, which is more expensive, yayy. Also have everything that I *need*, so here's a *want* list (yay distinctions!)

• Clarins Holiday Collections. The packaging ;__; hits my soft spot for anything Baroque as well. Probably a no since the eyeshadows are really sheer.
• Nars eyeshadow in Étrusque. Been wanting a gold e/s for a while, mmmm.
• Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Imaginaire. Already have an awesome everyday l/g, want a more strawberry milk shade though @_@
• Another Chanel: Tweed Fuchsia Blush. I'm totally a blush girl, it doesn't show since they're all freakin expensive ;_; (side note: buy me a classic chanel flap bag and I will love you for ever and ever.)
  
• Bobbi Brown smoldering E/S Palette. It is gorgeous, especially Port.

I really think I should stop browsing beauty blogs ;_;

Botanical Illustrations

Botanical Illustrations by Siriol Sherlock, ISBN 071348862 (why can't APA/MLA be just the isbn? "orz)
in watercolour

lightbox it please. I've very impressed with photoshop's autolevel in fixing the terrible lighting.


Paeonia Suffruticosa
Did you know that the peony is my favourite flower? :] Perhaps drawing painting it all the time when I took art lessons was a reason.


Hex Aquifolium
Those glossy leaves...so amazingly depicted *u*


Physalis Alkekengi
The amount of details in the skeleton is mind blowing.


Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis
Loveeee the loose brushstrokes!


Agapanthus Praecox


Bluebells


Enkianthus Deflexus
Pencil sketching + watercolour = win.


Silene Dioica


Camellia Sasanqua

Oh I'll never have the patience and dexterity to be a botanical artist XD

kp/m

^kids pack per minute that is.

That bag contains 50 kids packs.
I folded 4 more bags of them.

All in 3 hours, feel very accomplished haha.
and tired.

3 is 20

decisions decisions decisions.
and prioritizing which ones to make first.

and getting enough sleep~

Autumn Experience

The previous entries were all so wordy, so I'll let the pictures talk for yesterday afternoon/evening. Went shopping with Melody and Linnee, Grace joined us for dinner at Fuzion afterwards.
All photos courtesy of Linnee and are lightbox-ed.


@Kenn: I found curiosity soda! Haven't drank it yet though xD


The annual Swarnvoski crystal tree at eaton center. The mall always looks a lot more impressive in pictures than in real life haha.


Swatches of UB's Naked palette, I will get you (when you're unsold-out) for gritaly! D<

And off to dinner:



Entrance to fuzion, it looks AMAAAAAZING. The restaurant is a repurposed row house that is beautifully lit and decorated.




Velvet cushioned walls!
There aren't any shots of the interior as the lights are too dim for nonflash and flash would just ruin the atmosphere ;_;


We had the autumn experience menu ($30 instead of $35 due to a dine.to offer).
I had:

Beluga lentil and chestnut bisque with porcini mushroom and truffle 'capuccino'
Upstream salmon with pumpkin&white bean shellfish cassoulet, topped with truffle cream and caviar.
Flourless bitter sweet chocolate brownie topped with valpolacela fudge with white chocolate-lemon pistachio semifreddo

Fancy restaurants = long names.
The meal was sooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious. Stuff at chain restaurants just can't compare haha. It was perfectly portioned for my appetite as well.

Such a contrast to my morning misfortunes haha.

dotgov

This would have been a very long and detailed rant, but I decided not to focus on the negative things.
So here's a shorter version ;D

Woke up early to get my G1 with Donna, much thanks to mom who offered to drive. All is well until I was informed, at the drive test place and after waiting for half an hour, that they do not accept cheques.
Well what the hell is this then?

Result: did not even get to take the test.
Funny thing is that I would have had enough on my debit if Westin Hotel returned my deposit <_<" Though I'm no longer mad as they emailed me early in the morning telling me they're gonna mail me a cheque.
Donna passed though, so congratz to her. Happy birthday as well XD
Also made a new friend while waiting in line. He is apparently in engineering club LOL.

Went to get my health card renewed afterwards. It was my fault that I did not bring one of the documents specified, so I had to run home and back "orz
While retrieving the missing document, I was concerned about signing the renewal form. I'm changing from a child's card to an adult card, which implies that I should sign it. However, I am under 18, which implies my parent should sign. To be safe, I decided to call OHIP's info line.
This is where I got reeeeeeally pissed.
The lady that answered my phone sounded annoyed and impatient (deja vu much). She COMPLETELY ignored my question and went on telling me the same message I just heard from the automatic answering system. Firstly she's in the customer service industry, paid to listen to my concerns. Obviously not doing her job -o- Secondly she said the EXACT SAME THING as the automatic msg, again not doing her job.

...so much for being short.
blahhhh, been so easily irritated this week "orz But also speedily recovering from those irritations lol. I was quite happy strolling back from the OHIP office.
What's the difference between being angry and pissed off, or annoyed or irritated? o_o

Leverage.

I have not had a chance to sit in front of my computer for more than 30min since last thursday "orz

Anyways, IMPACT CONFERENCE '10 ;D
It was very worthwhile, listened to amazing speakers, met cool delegates (and impact members), attended a fantastic gala and is generally inspireeeed.

The two days were PACKED with events, no time to do anything (including sleep, but thats more my problem). Will do my best to recount the memorable ones. (sit tight, long long post).

Friday
700-900am-registration: Joyce and Qiqi were late, so I had to subway down by myself. Did not know that I could take a streetcar so I lugged my freakin heavy bag all the way down Bay St "orz Met with James at registration and practice entering and exiting from group conversations. Really glad that we started talking to ppl asap, set a good momentum for the rest of the conference.

930-1030am: Opening keynote: Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurs by Cameron Herold.
One of my favourite keynotes! I think almost everyone was able to empathize with the topic. Funny moment when Cameron read a list of qualities and asked everyone to stand up when five of those quality described you. In the end almost everyone stood up, then he goes "what I've just read was a list of symptoms of manic depression" XD.
The roller coaster consist of 4 stages arranged in a kinda skewed sine wave shape.

1. Uninformed Optimism. When you're really up to it and think you can do annnnything! Things you should do at this stage include marketing, meeting new people/media, and brainstorming ideas. However, do NOT purchase anything. At all.
2. Informed Pessimism. When reality starts to set in and you are worrying about whether you can accomplish everything you set out to do. Things you should do include crunching them numbers and making a business plan.
   
3. Crisis of Meaning. "oh shit there's no way I can do this. So stressed omg ahhhhhhhhh!" Things you should do include finding support or a mentor, flushing out your feelings, and jut relaaax.
4. Informed Optimism. "it's all good, you can do anything and you know how to do anything".

Quotations aren't actual quotations, just my paraphrasing XD

1030-1130am: Get Connected! The Power of Networking and Creating Meaningful Relationships by Matt Tod.
Great meet and greet activity, good keynote by Matt as well. In a lot of the keynotes, the speakers all stressed the importance of MEANINGFUL relationships. Taking, but also importantly, giving (I gotta work on this)! Translates into my personal life as I gotta be nicer haha. Iuno though, cause I'm not the kind that...uhh...accommodating? So being nice requires me to ACT nice, which isn't the most true image of me.
Anyways, we did this cool activity using playing cards. We had to say as many things about ourselves as the number on the card to each person we meet. No repeating things to the next person either! Really forced me to think about myself and what I see myself as.

300-400pm: Discovering Your Passion and Using It Wisely by Sally Han.
I have rather mixed feelings to Sally's workshop. On one hand, I reeeeeally respect her for speaking from the bottom of her heart. It made the presentation really choppy, but every word she really believed in every word that she said. Very admirable. On the other hand, she talked alot about religion, which was personal to her. Many people there were nonreligious, so we did not feel a strong connection and therefore was bored. Quite on the fence with whether I enjoyed it or not.
Side note: the jewelry that Sally makes are AMAZING.

Somewhere in between the things mentioned above (a rant): The service at the front desk of the hotel was TERRIBLE. When Joyce, Qiqi and I went to check in, we were informed that our room was not yet available. Problem 1: the room should be. I was concerned, so I inquired about when the room will be available. The guy helping us replied "oh I don't know, it's not." in a really impatient and I-just-really-don't-want-to-be-here tone. Problem 2: not the best attitude. Same thing happened when we came back to check in for the second time. The lady sounded like she was pissed off at us, which makes no sense as we're the ones not getting our room that should have been ready 2 hours ago! None of the two seemed slightly willing to assist us. Thankfully, the lady that was helping us the third time was friendly and most importantly actually helpful <_<

700-1000pm: Gala with a keynote by Michael Hyatt.
Susie and I wore the same dress! It was so much of a coincidence (both bought on taobao) that I wasn't even upset LOL
The gala was really fancy haha. Appetizers during the general reception was so so delicious, made me want to stalk the waiters around XD My only complaint would be the ridiculously tall center pieces on the tables. It completely prevents anyone from seeing the people across from them. It was very troublesome to get it removed.
Unfortunately I don't quite remember what Michael's keynote was about. It was a really good one though! XD
*later edit* ah-ha! He talked about failing fast and often. This relates back to The Dip by Seth Godwin and How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer respectively. Go read those books. Another point is to "know where the puck will be", aka anticipate the future.

Late at Night:
gossip session yay! It's ridiculously easy to bond with people that you share a room with <3

Saturday
900-1000am: Opening Keynote: Yanik Silver.
Started to take more detailed notes haha. Yanik stressed the significance of coming up with a vision so everyone is on the same page, having at least a 10x margin to be able to fail fast and often, having a loyal fanbase (just look at the hardcore apple fanatics), and of course, to have FUN!

1000-1045am: Meet Canada's Entrepreneurs with Bobby Umar.

Bobby's speech is what struck/inspired me the most. Chased him down twice afterwards to talk to him about it :]

Key point: YOU GOTTA WANT IT! if so, everything will appear to fall in place as the result of your hardwork. (latter half is my interpretation).
Tactics of networking include:

• Approach: "excuse me..." "my name is..." important to repeat your name many times so it'll stick. (I clearly remember Alex repeating his name at least 5 times in his JA exec speech).
  
• Art of the Conversation: Go with the flow of the conversation and ask the right questions. Every conversation has a beat, follow that and it'll never be awkward.
  
• Seal the Deal: NEVER just walk away from a conversation without a solid closing. Set up follow ups (I need to email Bobby. I will do it. If not today, tomorrow. <-public accountability, which Yanik mentioned). Also important to keep moving in networking events such as conferences. I made a conscious effort to sit with brand new people at every meal. Really paid off as I met a whole bunch of amaaaaazing delegates.

Bobby also talked a lot about branding, though not in the conventional sense. A personal brand is a promise to everyone that you come in contact with. My personal brand...iuno, have to figure it out haha. Attending the conference made me more aware of what I need to work on. Another important point that I walked away with is that caring+communication=connection.

445-545pm: I'm Young&Curious, What's Next? by Brian Wong.
Brian, is extremely good at presenting.
Love love love his analogies. Eg. "Statistics are like boogers. They're useless once you pick them" XD There was also one about networking and picking up girls, both you must not do with an agenda.
A tip that he had on time management (everyone seems so busy these days) are to

• Delegate (outsource) whatever other people can do. Especially the mundane tasks.
• Differ the unimportant tasks. I actually didn't catch what he said about this, so gonna leave it at at.
  
• Delete the stupid things that you should not do.
  

The girls (and a guy) were lining up to take a photo with him after the workshop XD

Bad bad lighting.

/end recount of events. I don't believe anyone read the whole thing.

So yes, the conference was so worth it! Really made me believe that everyone has the potential to do whatever they want. Just have to supplement it with really really hardwork. Listening to the keynotes and talking with fellow delegates pushed me further along the great big journey of self discovery xD
Here I shall make a promise to myself. Once I figure out what I want to get out of life, I will immediately take action to achieve it.