Friday, January 30, 2009

25 random things about me

Got tagged in facebook about 25 random things about me. Thought I might post it here as well:

1. I love Classical music. My favourite composers are Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. Among those, Mahler is my favourite. I love his symphonies no. 2, 3, 6 and 9.

2. I love reading, particularly books on philosophy and theology. I have been trying hard to show to myself faith doesn't have to be blind and can be reasonable.

3. I am a Christian, not too devoted though, and am sometimes disappointed with the Church, in particular the Chinese Churches in Hong Kong.

4. I play the violin. I sing, and I sing pretty well, at least people say so. I used to perform quite regularly in the UK, both as a choir member and as a soloist. I play around with the piano and can play some chords to match a melody quite easily. But I never properly learned to play the piano properly. This is one of the things I regret about.

5. I got married when I was 25, and am still in love with my wife after 12 years of marriage. I think one of the reasons is that she still surprises me nearly every day!

6. I have a son who is 2 years old. I love him and he is one of the major reasons I struggle to get up every day for work. I couldn't help but smile when he talks. He is an angel to me. I am still learning to be a father.

7. I love watching movies, although I do not have much time for it now. I don't like action or horror movies though. Please see my info page for my favourite movies.

8. I hate following rules and love challenging authorities, whatever it is. I am not afraid of speaking up when things are not right.

9. I studied Economics at university. That's because it was the only subject I am interested at the time. Should I be given one more chance, I guess I might choose the same subject, but to do it somewhere else (somewhere with less focus on econometrics).

10. I regret for not spending more time in classics/literature, both Chinese and English. I didn't come to know most famous novels until I went to university.

11. I wish I could write better English - by that I mean English with an elegant and personal style.

12. I picked up fine wine as a hobby a few years ago, and am now very much into it. I got a cellar at home, but it can only store 35 bottles of wine.

13. I treasure relationships, but few people know the true me. But once they do, we become long term friends.

14. I still maintain close contacts with high school friends and teachers. I am happy that we are still friends after all these years.

15. I always want to devote more time in helping the poor, but I have only started doing this gradually since last year.

16. I spent the first 12.5 years of my career with the World's Local Bank, a bank I still love! Sometimes I still wonder what would have happened if I had chosen to stay. I currently work for a private equity fund, which means that I could lose my job any time!

17. I have quite a number of old customers who have become my friends and I am proud of these relationships, because it shows that I was a successful relationship manager. And these are people with wisdom, experience and wit. I learned a lot from them.

18. People's first impression of me is often negative because they think I am cocky. It takes them a while to find out that their impression was true! But before they realised, they have got used to it.

19. Contrary to what most people think, I am actually a good listener. Many people come to share with me their problems and struggles they face.

20. Sports is not for me, although I used to be crazy at football, basketball, table-tennis, etc. I used to be quite good at lawn bowl. I always think I am quite talented at sports, but was not given the chance to actualize the talents. That's all.

21. I have several mentors at different stages in life, and I am deeply grateful for their guidance and advice during my difficult times.

22. I have no patience at all. I am easily distracted. I could become quite lazy at times. I have the potential of being led astray given sufficient power and money. That's why I don't think I will become a powerful or rich man.

23. I love to mimic people, and I do it quite well. I enjoy making people laugh.

24. I am a last-minute person, but luckily, I have note missed any significant deadline so far.

25. I always want to lose some weight, but I have been putting on weight since I graduated from university. I know this trend has to stop but don't know of any effective way to achieve it, because I love eating!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Amazing Disney