Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

Sight see Shanghai by Metro

Aha! Now I can conquer Shanghai on my own with this little book in tow. Although all written in Chinese (gulp), I am very excited to be exploring Shanghai's nooks and crannies on foot, by train and trying all the culinary delights!


Listed in the book are 9 lines with over 39 big "must-stopover" and 328 places to eat, shop, see, have fun.


Woohoo, Shanghai here I come with my train travel card in hand. 


(The book on right cost RMB39.80)

Winter Wonderland in Shanghai

This morning, when I threw open the curtains of my bedroom, I was delighted to find a winter wonderland waiting just outside my window. everything looks like a dream. snowflakes swirling and falling so softly, the streets dusted with a white powder and the cars shivering silent in their shroud of snow. The trees too took on a new set of white clothes and if they were in a costume party, no doubt they are pretending to be Christmas trees!

With a hot cup of tea in hand, I spent a few minutes on the balcony. In the cold, admiring the snow, catching the fresh air, enjoying the tranquility and serenity of the moment. How happy I am in Shanghai, with its array of unfolding beauty.

You raise me up

Whatever achievements we have clinched, or status in life or at work, let us always be grateful and remember all those "bear"s whose shoulders we have stood on to get to where we are today. Our mother, our father, elder brothers and/or sisters, husband or wife, teacher, boss...each had a role to play. May we spend a moment to silent thank these special people who has raised us up to a higher level, a level which we could not have gotten there on our own efforts or intelligence alone. Be grateful.

Creativity - Surmounting mountain(s) of fear

Rachel Chan, my dear friend who is famous for her creativity and also for being at the very frontiers of innovation and design, threw a small party for her creative "oddball" friends. Ali, a University Professor teaching creativity and innovation from Canada, to Iran to China and HK, Jane a coach and social architect, Fiona a business development guru, Dirk a fancy hotelier, Edmund a microbiologist turned designer, Cecilia a little bird with big wings of change, Patricia a newly minted government official bent on making HK creative and me, a dreamer, planner, realist - all rolled in one.

For one hour, as we sipped champagne, drank beer, heady tody and orang juice, we explored the tenets of creativity. What kills it? What makes it burst forward?

The first thing is fear. Fear is one of the killers of creativity. One prefers to "keep the harmony" (sounds so Chinese!), not stand out, not to ask questions and not to question authority or the way that things are being done. Out of fear of upsetting others, of disrupting the system, the way of "life" as everyone else knows it. Fear.

Only when we overcome fear, we can step forth into the realm of creativity.

2011 resolutions

New year resolution 2011 - to learn the ways of being a Chinese.

One advice received: "强迫你学一门中国国粹，你会学什么呢？

1京剧。Opera

2古典乐器。Classical musical instrument (like guzheng played by the bear?)

3中医 Chinese medicine

4中国水墨画 Chinese watercolour

5麻将。Mahjong

6书法。Calligraphy

7民族舞蹈。Folk dance

8古诗词 poem

9鉴赏古玩。Antiques

10中式烹饪。Chinese cuisine

11相声小品。Comics/sketching

12.中国风水学。Fengshui

13.围棋 Chinese chess

14工艺陶瓷 Ceramics

15变脸；Face changing art

16武术功夫 Chinese kungfu

17周易 I ching

18剪纸 Paper cutting

I wonder who can teach me what?

May your wishes come true in 2011

Snowing in Shanghai

The first snow fall in Shanghai was met with different reactions. Some squealed with delight when snowflake fell onto their faces, others pulled their coats closed and groaned. But a gentleman next to me on the plane, came up with a beautiful poem 诗. He wrote it in my diary.

I see snowflakes falling,

Floating down from heaven to earth,

My heart joins you as you swirl,

And capture your tranquility.

( a tribute to the first snow in Shanghai, 15 Dec.,2010 )

Knowing what you want and....

Sitting next to me on my flight home from Changsha is a young man studiously reading an English dictionary as thick as a brick! I cant help but ask. Turned out he was on his way to Hong Kong to take the SAT test, a qualifier to study in the States and he was working on polishing up his English.

More interestingly, not only did he speak English fluently and some Cantonese, Owen Wu spoke with a maturity beyond his years (he is hardly 17) and exuded an air of confidence.

I asked where he learnt his English and Cantonese.

"Self-taught" he replied seriously.

"How?" I could not help asking once again.

"Determination. Step by step" was Owen's simple formula. Starting from the basics such as reading every day (he reads New York Times), saying the words out loud and even reading the dictionary!

"How about a conducive environment (环境)?"

And Owen offered his wisdom once more "环境 is important, but not the most important. No one at home or in my school speaks English or Cantonese. What's most important is knowing what you want to achieve and getting it done'.

From a 17 year old from Changsha? That's doubly impressive.

Life is talking to you

My mentee shared with me "These days I am very busy with projects, while I don't know what I am work for.... Feel lost sometimes"

And my response was

"We all feel lost at some point in our lives. Treasure that lost feeling becos it makes us stop for a moment. It makes us reflect and think about what we are doing, whats life is about and why we are doing what we are doing.

If we dont have these moments, we may suddenly wake up one day to find we are 70 or 80, and then we can do nothing much to change at that time.

I have many of such moments. Each time, inspite of the terrible feeling I have, I will spend the quiet time to find out why I want what I want, how I want it, what can I do. Each time, I come out of these moments, feeling a little scared (because I will be making changes) but re-energised.

And now that I look back, each time these moments have moved me on to higher levels. Treasure these moments. Life is talking to you.

Listen!