Lin

Time 2021-10-21 12:05:53

Web Name: Lin

WebSite: http://slinee.blogspot.com

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Pole PositionLast week, Francesco called to say Goodbye, I thought OMG, another farewell. It happens that Ciao means Hello and Goodbye in Italian. Time flies, we will soon be bidding Goodbye to 2014 and saying Hello to 2015. A flash back of 2014, life has never been better. Made few good friends and saying au revoir to few. People come and go, this is part of life and this phrase meant more in Dubai which is a transiting airport itself.

Dubai is a totally different place on earth, I cant describe what Dubai has to offer as you have to experience it yourself.

Do you ever see a country transporting trees with helicopter, only in Dubai.


Do you ever ride a Ferrari taxi, only in Dubai.


Do you ever encounter 6 different languages spoken concurrently in a studio without mis-communication, only inDubai.

I have always love art and music. In Far East, when people heard the word art and music it is a big NO NO. The first question will be Can you make money out from it. I wanted to do violin when I was young and be involved in art. But I never have the chance coz the artistic side of me was subsided by familys discouragement as I will never make any money; that is sneak preview of most Asian mentality.
When I came to Dubai; A land of Nothing is Impossible, I am free to explore the artistic side of me. I started The Linz contemporary handmade jewellery range. I still make few thousand dhs losses but it is not about money. My friend told me "Chi Non Risica non Rosica" means "No Risk, No Food". I am glad that I don't see The Linz as a risk taking rather it is my passion. It is my love and passion to make others look beautiful in it. SomeEmirati friends told me that The Linz is kachara which means rubbish in Hind as they want Cartier or Mont Blanc; I replied you needpassion to understand art of individualistic. Be different and embrace your difference, wear handmade that is tag line for The Linz.


Nicolas gave me a guitar pick and it triggers me to learn few chords. I pick-up a cheap Yamaha guitar and have been ting ting ting for couple of years. Even though, I am still far from being a performer at Lark Lane or Metallicas backup but at least, I can jam a few songs and made Alexei cried. Lin, please stop that Chinese TortureI went to Authur Murray with the thought You think You Can Dance, I was wrong and ended up burning holes in my pocket. With multiple holes in my pocket, I stopped thinking You Think You Can Dance. So I changed my venue and proceed to Argentine Tango without a partner. Who cares about the saying It takes 2 to Tango.

After couple of classes where I was asked to dance with wall, WHAT! Wall is literally as good as Men? Oh, yeah men are wall anyway. I decided that sometime we have to accept the fact that It takes 2 to Tango and Tango is definitely not a right choice for me when I have to acknowledge Wall as my dancing partner.

Doing, Body Pump, Kick Boxing, Spinning and Body Balance 5 times a week, hmmm Salsa could be a relaxing workout. So I moved on to Salsa.
Classes after classes where most students have advanced, I am still a beginner with the 7 basic Salsa steps. A student told me Lin, you are pathetic, you dont have any coordination. Social dance is where you let the man to take control. You should visit Salsa Clubs. I never been to any Salsa Club, that place sounds like a field where men demonstrate Picking up Girls for Dummies" rather than "Social Dancing for Dummies"

It is an individual point of view about workout or dancing. To me; dancing it is an artand passion. I continued Salsa for a while with the vengeance thoughtI am here to annoy you. After a while I lost my passion coz I cant be going to classes with the evil feeling inside me.

I keep searching for dance classes where I can enjoy and workout at the same time. Most of all I dont need to rely on men to lead the dance. Finally, I was introduced to Polexercise at Milan Pole Dance Studio (https://www.facebook.com/MPDSDubaiBase) . We still have the stereotype thinking about Pole but it is slowly creeping into the art or contemporary dance or workout.

Polexercise is the hardest workout I ever done. I was struggling for months, not able to hold myself up on a pole. I have sweaty palms and that doesnt help muchin Polexercise. Tobeat my sweaty palms, I wear a special glove which looks awkward butthink of the positive side, "It's ok. I amCat Woman.."Meow".

With bruises all over, it is scary when people look at you. It wasn't pleasant when Ralf told me Lin, you don't look good with these bruises. Stop poling cozpeople wouldthink that you have been abused. I dont care what others think, even thothose bruises are eye soreto some.
I am still a beginner but with each pole move that I managed to hold, I feelgreat achievement. All I need for pole is my own determination rather than a man tocontrol the moves asI do it for Lin not for men! We need to empower our self to be in "Pole" Position.







No comments: Labels:Pole Position Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Horse
Malaysia was colonized by the British till 31/8/1957. I have always looked at the contributions that the British has done rather than their cons. For a fast developing country to move into a stability mode, the British has given us 4 core foundations; Governmental Parliament Structure, Legal System, Transportation System and the most important the ...Education System.Even tho, our education system is based on the British education structure but teaching medium is in "Malay" or Bahasa Melayu as we call it. Bahasa Melayu is similar to Bahasa Indonesia and is also similar to many European languages; mostly written in the Latin alphabet.In school, I was taught in Bahasa Melayu but we converse in English. Something seems to be missing here, Mandarin! I never place any importance to Mandarin.Even tho I was attending an hour class on weekly basis but unfortunately most of my classmates think that Mandarin class is unnecessary as it is of no use, so do I. I was young and ignorant.When I was studying in London, I was waitressing part time in a Chinese restaurant to support my living. I cried in silent when I looked at the menu. It was in English Chinese but I have to take order in Chinese to suit the chefs.My boss told me "Don't worry kid; never too late to learn if you have the determination". I took the menu home write hundreds of time and never give up. I still hold on to his advice, I might not be able to read/write 106,230 Chinese character but slowly I am picking up.Itis a milestone from where I was till today. When I read the article in "Want China Times, I know that I have been blessed.http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140112000053cid=1202
Happy Chinese New YearNo comments: Labels:Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Horse Retirement Plan
I said Helloto my neighbor yesterday and we had a great laugh coz once upon a time, on a beautifulSaturday afternoon, he asked me Lin, you wanna join me at the pool and I saidlet me check my schedule. Oh! My next available slot would be 3 weeks fornow.
It isstrange, some time I ask myselfwhy do we plan so far ahead, while not knowingwhat will happen the next second. I have always wanted a free and easy holiday,no plan, no schedule, no hassle; just walk to any direction without looking ata tourist map.
Finally, Imanaged to have one last month. I love blue skies and sunshine so when I was inLiverpool Betws-Y-Coed, the only thing that I checked every morning was theSun and not the tourist map. But I cant deny, why we cant enjoy the momentwithout waking up next to Iphone and Facebook. I wonder if we have a share inApple or Facebook. I dont mind Apple tho but no thanks to Facebook for timebeing.
Taking astroll at Penny Lane with Tia, Having picnicin LLanberis; Attending Sunday choirat St Marys Church, hiking thru the woods mudin Snowdonia and havingtea at Simons caravan. I can never imagine my lifecould be so carefreewithout worries and plans. Then it triggers meI need to plan for my retirementso that I can be carefree without worries and plans. Hmm, the big word PLAN.
My prefectretirement plan; running my bed breakfast in Betws-Y-Coed. The schedulewould be Yoga at 8am, Breakfast at 10am, Biking/Hiking at 12pm, Spa at 4pm,Tea at 6pm, Music at 8pm and as we need to gel business with pleasure soweekend would be in Amsterdam!
I visitedAnfield Old Trafford. The experienceno word can describe it. You have tobe there to feel it. I am surprise that Anfield is located at a roughneighborhood and most of the surrounding shops are closed down. It seems thatBritish economy has badly hit Liverpool. But the Scouses are taking it easy. I wishI can be as carefree as them and it makes me rather envy their lifestyle. Myaim to have the courage to join the Scouses busking at Mathew Street one day.What am I gonna performLet It Be.
Giganticstore, red café, enormous stadium and unfriendly manc, these were what I get fromOld Trafford. What do you call, when 28.7%of Man U share is owned by a man who plays football via hands? The AmericanInvasion. But honestly, after all that experience, I am still fan of Man U.GloryGlory Man United.
TheAmerican Invasion did influence my retirement plan and this is the reason why Ifall deeply in love with Betws-Y-Coed. Walking down Holyhead Road, I cant findany trace of McDonald and Starbucks! The one only invasion in this smalltown is a Chinese take away, Dragon Inn. You can expect this when there is1.3bn Chinese population, we are just everywhere. Surprisingly NO Big Mac andAmericano. I love it.
Hmmmtalking about invasion, I dont think the French will be happy when they wokeup and found out that a Chinese had just bought a piece of their Burgundy. If Ihave the Euro, I would buy a piece of Burgundy too and convert it into a MalaysiaMamak Store, serving our infamous pull tea rather than the Red. Fashion wise,probably the Malaysian team costume that we proudly paraded during Olympicopening in London would make a great staff uniform.
We werevote the worst uniform, I guess those voters were just jealous that we have the guts and dare todress in yellow, orange and black stripe which resemblea group oftoothless tiger with big ambition. I am trying toembed the French culture into my plan; culinary art and fashion. If the French are not happy, I cant helpcoz nobody can make anybody happy except themselves.
I believethat the Welsh are more welcoming and they wont mind a Malaysian Chineseinvasion. Huh! Why am I planning for my retirement; isnt it contradictingplanvs carefree? I just told myself, life is too shortwe should not be doingunnecessary planning. Hmmm....Life is complicated if you wanna it be such...why dont we just enjoywhile Life is Good

No comments: Embracing the CultureBefore writing my blog, I keep reminding myself that sarcasm is not my first language and I dont mean to offend anyone.

I love to travel either in style or budget. Travel is a way where you can get a minute flavor of local culture but you got to stay there longer if you truly want to understand.

My sister, Sally visited me in Feb. When she landed in Dubai, she was disappointed as she expects more of Dubai. Burj Al Arab was over rated, Burj Khalifa wasnt light up, and the street is not as busy as Tokyo and many more. Sally asked me what the specialty of Dubai is. I told her; dont compare Dubai to Tokyo even tho both are city. We mustnt take things for granted as we must take into consideration that Dubai was build over night in a desert. Desert that is the key word and great reminder.

Why many Emiraties claim to be a warrior, this boil down to their root whereby they used to be nomad. They were fighting for survival, fighting for food, fighting of oasis, fighting for water. Even though those era were gone but there is no different between riding a Camel to driving a Cadillac. Both starts with C and both bring you to the destination that you wanted to reach. I believe that Emiraties still embrace their nomadic culture. The word warrior constantly emerges in office especially when they are unhappy with the management. I enjoy seeing the Emiraties, packing their tents and driving their Cadillac to desert. It proof that they withstand the western influence and still down to earth while embracing their culture.

I went to Syria just before political unrest takes its toll. When I landed at Damascus Airport, I saw rubbish flying all over. I couldnt resist observing what Syria has to offer, plus point - people are extremely friendly, thousand years of history and culture. Minus point - wealth distribution is not equal and child labour still in practice. On my last day of visit, I couldnt help but to ask my driver, I was very curious but I was afraid to ask as this might be offensive. Lastly I pick up my courage and break all the barrier and asked Salim, why I never stop seeing rubbish along the road even tho we have been driving almost 400 km. Salim smiled and replied This is part of our culture.

I was in Lebanon last week for short vacation. I am not going to elaborate the Lebanese culture even tho I observed that there are many plastic surgery boutiques there. I was in Lebanon with my 2 Malaysian friends, we always has dispute in term of tipping no matter where we are, be it in Dubai, Turkey or Lebanon. On our way to Beirut-Rafic Hariri Airport, we had disagreement on how much tip we should give to our driver as the airport transfer was free, complimentary from travel agent.

My principal on tipping is simple, if you could afford a semi-luxury vacation, you could afford a reasonable tips. I am always a moderate generous tips giver, I know that a tip is not mandatory but to me either gives something or nothing.

Tipping was popularized by American and they go extra miles on tipping. I remembered, my colleague was in Oregon for business travel and she was at train station checking out the ticket machine. An American passed by, offer for help and in return he asked for tips. Japanese think that a tip is an insult. Japanese are so proud of their job and they take pride in their work thus they never believe in tipping.

Not everything can be applied using Roman way, when you are in Rome, do like the Roman does. Tips was popularized by American, should we go the extreme way like the American does or should we have the belief like Japanese do?

My French friend told me that everything moderate is good but both my Malaysian friends told me that majority build the culture. I am confused, why there isnt a book Tipping For Dummies or Art of Tipping.

For those who are curious about our tipping to the driver, even tho I disagreed on the tips amount but I have to accept as majority build the culture, be it whether you are in Dubai, Syria or Lebanon.
No comments: Record Breaker


I am a record holder at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. This is not the 1st time, I am holding a record.

Few years ago, my team participated in Intel Finance treasure hunt. We named our team, Charlies Angle as our team consists of a handsome gentleman 3 sexy young ladies, who were so eager to break any record. I still remembered the 1st question was; Drive 600m from here, turn left and you would see a International Communication tower. We saw a light house and a cement factory right next to the ocean. I am certain that the answer is light house. The 2nd question was, Sound like mom touch, we saw a billboard with tag line sleep like a baby. We wrote the answer as King Koil mattress

We have logic to our answer:-
Answer 1: We were absolutely confirmed that the answer is light house as light house has been used as communication tower internationally since 1791. But the correct answer was Intel International = In and Communication = Tel. Thus combined both words, there you go, the answer is Intel.

Answer 2: We have no doubt that the answer is King Koil mattress, as we feel that Mothers Touch is the best and can make you sleep like a baby, which was written on the King Koil advertisement billboard. It turn out that the actual answer is Mumtajcafé.

With all these logic answers Charlies Angle team were honored to receive a gigantic Ostrich egg. We broke the record, The Most Hilarious team

I went to Ferrari World pre-opening on 22-Oct-10. Baby, One More Time, I broke the record, driving a Ferrari F1 car at Yas Marina circuit. Oh, not to make you guys/gals jealous, it is just a Ferrari F1 Simulator. I am the fastest driver who drove at the slowest speed. What I meantI was the fastest driver to finish the game as I only managed to drive 0.5km at the speed of 10km/hr. I hit the wall, I reversed, hit the wall again, my Ferrari stalled. Period, end of game.

Many people were watching and the 1st question that I was asked, Are you embarrassed? Gosh! What should I say, I felt my adrenaline rush. They expect a collective answer, Yes, I am embarrassed. But I said Nah, it was fun and I had great time, I would be embarrassed if I dont have the courage to try. They must be thinking which planet that I am from as most people would be burying their head in the sand, like an ostrich if they were in my situation.

We won a gigantic ostrich egg few years ago but I am no ostrich. At that time, I feel that Intel was creative to re-brand The Loser to The Most Hilarious as not to hurt our pride. But as years goes by, I feel that everyone is a winner if we see things out of the box. Yes, I am holding the record for being the slowest driver who finished the fastest. Everyone was laughing at the loser. But I not a loser, Yes, I lost the game but I win the experience coz I see things out of the box. We determine the winner, not the public.

Key Note: Not all women are bad drivers. But if I were to drive home from Ferrari World AD theme park, we would reach Dubai the next morning :)No comments: Happy Mid AutumnHappy Mid Autumn to those who celebrate. For those who are curious what Mid Autumn is, let http://www.places.ae/ do the job. Time flies but memories remained. I still remember the dragon paper lantern that I used to carry when I was 7 and in later years, it was replaced by battery operated Spiderman lantern. I cherish every stages of my life and I embrace even more as I matured. Gosh, I begin to sound like a bottle of red wine. What triggers my view toward life is, my sister. She had rupted brain aneurysm 3 years ago while having breakfast and thank God, she survived. Life is very fragile thus we need to treasure every moment that we have.

I love traveling and for as long as I can walk, I will try to fulfill my wish. I hiked the tallest mountain range in spring, continued Indiana Jones adventure to search for Holy Grail at Petra in summer and cuddled my Giraffey soft toy back in Malaysia last week. Life is good and I treasure everything that I have; health, family and friends. A good friend asked if I ever done anything that I regret I said NO. There is nothing to be regret as we need to move on and just learn as we go along.

I am preparing for my next travel; my priority is to hit the gym to build up my stamina. I got to step into the gym soon as exercising at home is not a good option. I tend to exercise my jaw rather than moving my legs and hands when I am home. May be I have over done my jaw exercise and that resulting my chubby face and round body. I just cant resist food, this is what I call jaw exercise. When I flew back to Dubai last week, MAS served Fish Byrani for dinner and my team member offered me Chicken Byrani last night, with strong willI refused. But my resistance couldnt last long, I ate Nasirs Chicken Byrani that he bought for lunch today and Mohd Rasheed offer me some Patchi chocolates this afternoon, I told himI will just have 1 piece but ended up taking 3.

I have been busy with work recently as I am part of debt restructuring team for my company. My friend asked if I am embarrassed to be part of the team as debt restructuring is actually a fancy financial term. In layman word, it is a preferable alternative to bankruptcy. In actual fact, I am proud as not many people would be able to experience such a job profile. Recession happens every 10 years and how many 10 years do we have. There are not many GM alike are out there; you got to be at the right place, right time and given the right opportunity to be part of it. The most important thing is I get to learn. My motto is never afraid to go extra mile in everything you do as what ever we learn, we gain.

Office politic and gossips are always there, we cant avoid. Rumor has been going around for past 2 years that my company will be downsizing and most expatriates will be gone. People are fighting to be at the top or try to maintain their existence. The higher you climb, the painful you will get when you fall. Thus for me, never harm anyone when we climb the corporate ladder as we might meet the same person, along our way down or they might be the one who support us when we fall to ensure we dont fall hard on the floor. For me, I just put my head down and do my best to deliver my job, I cherish the environment as I dont want to be part of Cirque De Soleil.

http://www.places.ae/, the website that we are working as self interest is gaining its popularity. Currently, we have approximately 800 users and 7000 hits per day. Last Sep, we would be in ecstasy when we have 400 users as we barely touch 350. Everyone can have doubt in us but we must never have doubt in ourself, we are still in battle when others doubt us but we totally lost the battle if we have doubt in ourself. We are revamping http://www.places.ae/ with more new ideas and hope that we can push some advertisement space soon as we need some financial inflow to cover our server hosting fee. If anyone has any idea that we can incorporate in the website, please let me know. Remember, no idea is stupid as we should never doubt our ability.

Attached: Photo of me, searching for Holy Grail

Cheers,
Lin1 comment: Year 2010
Happy New Year, it has been a long time since I wrote my blog. For those who are curious, I was stuck in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday but still in time to be in Dubai witnessing the opening of tallest tower, Burj Khalifah.

Many people would say that we should never look back, however I feel that if we never look back, we wont be able to move forward. The most important thing is that I look back without regret and move forward with passion.

Year 2009 has been a good year or I should say that every year is a good year as I see both positive and negative events as experience. Experience is a good vocabulary for people like me who never admit that we are old. I have done a wee bit of traveling in Year 2009 as previously I have failed to appreciate nature but it is never too late.

I went to Turkey in Spring. The weather was cold and the beauty of traveling during the low season is that I have to the whole place to myself at a fraction cost. I cant get away from cost calculation as this is what I do for living. We were the 1st customer in Potlat Beach Hotel and the owner insisted to take a picture with us. Without hesitation I posed like a super model with the hope to get into front page of Potlats website. I took some pictures with policemen too; those who tell me that they dont like men in uniform are lyingwho doesnt like men in uniform. However this statement is only meant for those uniformed men with 6 pack muscle not the ALL in one muscle which we called beer belly or those in 6 pack muscle costume from Wall Mart, be real we are not talking Halloween.

In summer, I flew home and stayed at Penang Parkroyal Hotel for 2 nights. Many people would be wondering why would I be spending $ staying in hotel when I am home. I just love staying in hotel. I still remembered that one night in Year 1999, I came home, having a bad day so I decided to walk across my house and stayed at Agora Hotel. It was among the best sleep I ever had. The next morning, I feel rejuvenated as if I have come back from a long vacation. For me, sometime a little step will make a lot of different.

Climbing the Great Wall is my wish and I realized my dream in Autumn. It was a tough climb but it worth every steps. When I finally managed to pull my legs till Tower 19 of Mutianyu Great Wall, I felt the great accomplishment. Of course, not mine as all I did was spending 3 hours climbing. The great accomplishment goes to those heroes who have built it 2200 years ago. My only disappointment is that I didnt manage to climb Mt. Hua in Xian as I was afraid of height. I keep telling myself that I can do it but my heart was pumping so hard, I was out of breath and I turn pale thus I decided to turn back as I dont have the confidence to move forward.

I put on my courage to climb Wat Arun in Bangkok few days ago. Even though I didnt climb till the top but I am glad that I have put a wee bit of acrophobia behind me. I met a South African lady and she told me that she loves Bangkok as the people never stop smiling and Thai are so welcoming. I do agree. When I was having my massage, I feel sorry for my masseuses as he has been working non stop but he was still smiling. He told me that he loves his work as it is a pleasure for him to make other happy.

I have been spending my spare time on http://www.places.ae/ a search engine that my friend and I are currently working on. I tried my hands on marketing the website and called myself Business Strategy Analyst instead of Marketing Director. I can give myself any job title but for me, title is less important than passion that I have for http://www.places.ae/. If you have time, do check it out and we welcome any suggestions.

Many people think that sleep walking is bad, however I feel that for as long as I am happy, it doesnt matter whether I am sleep walking or climbing the corporate ladder. The most important thing is to me is happiness. Happy New Year to all and treat every minute as a new beginning as we dont have to wait for New Year to have a new beginning.No comments: Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)Cultural SHOCK
My Blog is Too Long?About MeLinStuck in Desert where the English Managed, Indian Runs Arab Taking Enormous Salary (EMIRATES)View my complete profileFollowersBlog Archive 2014(2) November(2)Pole PositionHappy Chinese New Year - Year of Horse 2012(1) September(1) 2011(1) May(1) 2010(3) October(1) September(1) January(1) 2009(10) February(10)

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