This entry has a rather simple purpose – to commemorate January 6, 2011 as my first official day with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. Just in case I spend the rest of my life working for the same company, it would be nice to go back in time and remember this day some 30 odd years later.
I don’t remember being this excited about starting a new job in a long time, if ever. Everything seems right, if not perfect. Great company, outstanding team, down to earth coworkers, fascinating job, fantastic office – I love it! RAH!
I have spent less than 12 hours with the firm, but I somehow know it’s going to be one crazy wild adventure, full of new knowledge, new experiences and new adventures along the way. I very much look forward to making a big difference to my company, to my team, to myself and to those around me. Let the good times roll. 🙂
What do dark chocolate, cheese, bread and mushrooms have in common?
For starters, they are all delicious. Each boasts an amazing variety of products, brands, tastes, smells and textures in its portfolio. You can make a pretty mean sandwich out of the last three and have some dark chocolate for dessert to make a complete meal. Each enjoy a unique presence all around the world – Japanese mushrooms, French baguettes, Swiss cheese and American chocolates (Scharffen Berger, as it turns out, is made in Berkley, CA).
Perhaps the main similarity lies in the fact that all four are my favorite foods, each of which I can happily consume with or without anything else. As a kid, I could easily finish a fresh loaf of bread on the way home from the bakery – I always had to make sure I bought two loaves, because I knew only one would make it back to the rest of the family. And how can anyone make any substantial argument against baked Brie with orange marmalade glaze? And don’t even get me started on the glorious chocolate indulgence that is Serendipity’s Frozzzen Hot Chocolate – only one of my favorite chocolate creations of all time. Drool.
But I digress. I’m sure there’s a plethora of different recipes for each of the delicious foods described above. In this post, I would like to share an amazing bread recipe, which was originally published in New York Times, but subsequently and ever-so-cleverly-and-insanely-cutely revisited by the culinary geniuses behind SteamyKitchen, which offers an amazing collection of delicious recipes.
The absolutely best part about this recipe is that unlike traditional bread baking, this method requires no kneading whatsoever. It’s an incredibly simple way to make some home-baked goodness and to enjoy the warmth of the fresh-out-of-the-oven bread from the comfort of your kitchen. Enjoy!
And after you get hooked on bread baking (and I can guarantee that you will), make sure to give German Pancakes a try – that’s some serious yummy for your tummy as well.
So many people complain about San Francisco’s fog and how it’s always there and how cold it gets and this and that and the other. I find it rather unique and even mysterious at times, especially in the late evenings when no one is around and you can slightly make out the headlights of the F train crawling along Embarcadero in the distance.
A very talented fella by the name of Simon Christen probably felt the same way when he set out on a mission to capture the beauty of this San Francisco landmark. This is the absolutely stunning product of his year-long pursuit – make sure to watch it full screen and in HD:Â http://vimeo.com/15069551
It’s a strange and a rather liberating feeling watching the fog’s movement. The combination of smooth motion and simple tunes completely mesmerizes you, pulling your attention away from anything that might be on your mind. Absolutely captivating video. Brilliant job, Simon!
This video came out earlier this year as part of the Sussex Safer Roads campaign promoting the use of seat belts.  While the primary inspiration behind the video is road safety, I think the reason it became so popular is because the end result connects with people on a variety of different levels. At least it does with me, which is why I like it so much and keep referencing it almost a year later.
While the production itself, along with the sound and the photography and the slow motion effect and the glitter and the idea behind it all are spectacular (especially the moment of impact – HOW BRILLIANT WAS THAT??!!), what I like the most about the video is the message(s) it’s trying to convey. I must’ve seen it at least 30 times by now and I still get goose bumps for most of those 90 seconds.
For me, the best part of the campaign is the tag line … Embrace Life. It will take me a bit more than a blog entry to describe how I feel about the concept of “embracing life”, but perhaps this is a good place to start.
It’s not a big secret that I’m madly in love with life. I am a huge fan. I think it offers so many amazing things and experiences and emotions and colors and sounds and tastes and feelings and opportunities to us all. And perhaps one of the most disappointing things for me to see is when people don’t take advantage of everything/anything it has to offer – when people don’t embrace life and don’t give it a big ol’ squeeze.
I don’t understand people who spend their free time doing nothing. I don’t understand parents who just plop their kids in front of a TV and let them watch cartoons all day. I don’t understand teenagers who are glued to their iPods and iPhones and video games (see previous blog entry). Same goes to the adults and their blackberries. And all the people hanging out at the malls all the time – I don’t understand you, people, either. It all seems like such a waste of time and life to me. And as good and useful as technology has become, perhaps it is the root cause of our degradation as an educated/cultured society.
There is so much interestingness out there. So many amazing new things we can learn. So many people we can meet. So many books we can read. So many places we can visit. So much knowledge we can gain just by experiencing something new. The world is such a fascinating place and we don’t need to travel far or spend ridiculous amounts of money to try something new. How about learning a new language? Seeing an art exhibit? Finding a new hobby? Helping out in the community? Taking pictures? Dancing? Singing? Learning a martial art? Drawing? Traveling? Cooking? Exploring a new neighborhood? Taking guitar lessons? Trying a new cuisine? The opportunities are endless and we have to be better at taking advantage of those opportunities, especially since we have just this one precious life to do it all.
A few years ago I came across this simple photo, which had a huge impact on how I view and live my life. The message is simple: turn on your curiosity engines, put on your explorer goggles and live!
I particularly like the “demand passion” part, but I’ll save that for another entry. Passion is one of my favorite words. It gives me such great joy just hearing what sorts of things people are passionate about, how they define passion and what they do to keep that passion fire burning. More on that in the future, though.
I am going to conclude this entry with another amazing ad campaign, which came out a little while ago. I think it very accurately captures the spirit of exploring, embracing and living this life to the fullest. The world is just awesome and all we have to do is open our minds and let it all in.
Today is 10/10/10 … an event that supposedly only happens once every 100 years. I guess it depends on how you look at it and whether you take into account all the 9/9/9’s and 12/12/12’s and 1/1/1’s out there. But I suppose there’s a gap of a 100 years between all of those as well, so maybe it is a once-in-a-100-years affair after all. Will have to ask my grandchildren to confirm.
10/10/10 is also a perfect score in Dancing with the Stars show, which I must admit can be pretty amazing sometimes. Hardly anyone gets the perfect score on that show, so it’s a pretty special occasion when it happens.
10/10/10 is also a turkey in bowling, assuming the three 10s are consecutive and all strikes. Some of my best memories from high school revolve around disco bowling with my close friends – an activity which consisted of singing, jumping, dancing, eating, high fiving, picture taking and … bowling. Bowling turkeys don’t come that often either, so it’s a rather special occasion as well.
Today is 10/10/10 and it is exactly 245 days since my last and only post, which is a little pathetic, considering I had high aspirations for keeping up with the blog and writing down my thoughts on a more regular basis. 245 days is way too long, so today we are taking a new approach to this blog business.
Starting today, I will be keeping track of all the photos, videos, articles, websites and events that get my thinking juices flowing. There is so much greatness out there, so much talent, so much beauty, so much passion, so much excitement, so much life!! I love it!! RAH!! Every day I come across something that intrigues me, something that inspires me, something that captures my attention and makes me want to share it with the world. This will be my outlet for such sharing. I’m sure not everyone will interpret everything in a similar fashion, but that’s the beauty of it all. We are all so different and unique and beautiful. Ahhh … life. How crazy mad in love with you I am! 🙂
So … let’s begin.
Yesterday I came across this amazing video about connecting with others. It does an amazing job of showing how attached we’ve all become to technology and how we sometimes forget to look around and notice those around us – those people around us. It’s fascinating riding on a subway these days and looking around to see 3/4 of the people on their cell phones and iPods, typing away, playing games, watching videos, listening to music and paying absolutely no attention to the world around them. People watching is one of my favorite things to do and I can’t help but notice this technological obsession in today’s culture. I think having access and staying connected to the important people in our life is important, but there needs to be a limit to how much we talk, text and not pay attention to others.
Before I forget, here’s that video…
Another interesting observation I’ve made recently, which is perhaps tied to our obsessive use of technology in public areas, is how unhappy everyone looks. Maybe it’s just Singapore and the nature of the morning/evening commute, but I rarely see anyone smiling anymore. This is more relevant for single travelers, I suppose, who don’t have the pleasure of their friends’ company, but what about the rest of us commuters? We are there. We keep you company. We are all going somewhere together. I think public transportation, Singapore and the world in general would be such a better place if everyone remembered to smile every once in a while. Particularly towards complete strangers. Especially for no particular reason. I think those kind of smiles are always the best and have the amazing power of making somebody’s day. 🙂
On that note, I will conclude my post for the moment and go smile at some strangers on the street. Â Today is 10/10/10 after all.
In the days (yes!), weeks (definitely!), months (most likely!) and years (perhaps!) to follow we are going to explore the bandwidth, the thickness, the depth, the width, the height, the weight, the length, the color, the taste, the volume and every other imaginable dimension of the beat of life. We’re going to take it apart, see what’s inside, touch it, feel it, hear it, cherish it and learn from it. We’re going to slow things down, we’re going to think things through and we’re going to examine the delicate fabric that makes our lives so unique and beautiful. And then, we’re going to fall in love with life all over again. And again. And then one more time.
I particularly like the “demand passion” part, but I’ll save that for another entry. Passion is one of my favorite words. It gives me such great joy just hearing what sorts of things people are passionate about, how they define passion and what they do to keep that passion fire burning. More on that in the future, though.
The Beat of Life 