Friday, December 4, 2009

Asians Loves $$$

Tips & Advice

Lai-See / Red Envelope Here’s a tip mainly for the non-Asians:

If you’re ever invited to an Asian engagement / wedding / baby-shower or any celebratory events hosted by Asians, BRING CASH AS GIFTS!!

Let’s face it, Asians love money and we are greedy bitches. Some people will talk think shit about you if you bring gifts instead of cash. Well, I’m exaggerating because we’re not unappreciative assholes but it’s just a custom for some families.

Why do we want cash as gifts?

  • You’re helping pay for the event and your seat [at the reception].
  • We’re picky. We want to choose our OWN blender… not one that you picked out.
  • Do we even want a blender?

It’s a win-win for both parties; you don’t have to go through the headache of gift-shopping and the host gets cash to cover the cost of the event and some more. It may not seem as personal as a gift, but it’s way more practical, and frankly, I don’t give a shit that a gift has more meaning. That friend’s attendance should be enough meaning anyway, right? *failed attempt at trying to cover personal greed*

We usually give $100-$200/person and obviously a lot more if it’s family or good friends. If you don’t have a red envelope (lai-see), a regular envelope with your [family] name on it is fine so they know who it’s from.

I’m not sure about all Asian ethnicities this goes for most Chinese and Vietnamese people. They might understand if you’re not Asian, but if you are, you should know better (unless your family is white-washed). :D Hyukhyukhyuk. BUT I think if I were to go to a non-Asian wedding, I’d probably go buy a gift instead too.

So you’re invited to my wedding, I don’t want nuttin’ but $$$. Money makes the world go round… not a dozen toasters and tea sets THAT I DIDN’T WANT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Do you/your family prefer cash or gifts?

[EDIT] We don’t use gift registries because our parents and relatives usually don’t know what the heck that is. And it sounds like you give a lot of money out but when it’s your turn to host a party, you’re going to get lots of it back in return.

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Blogging to me, is a strong source of therapy and self-discovery. Have you ever thought of starting a personal blog? Well it’s never a bad time to start!

  • Don’t start a blog solely to make money if it’s your first. Try starting a casual/personal blog first to see how you’ll like it first because it can only be successful if you really enjoy writing and not treat it just as another “job.”
  • Write for your readers AND yourself but don’t feel like you have to hold yourself back from what you want to say because it is your blog.
  • We all know bloggers are narcissistic to some degree but don’t try to be funny if your not. And please don’t classify yourself as a “humor blogger” because the best humor bloggers are the ones who are natural witty writers and don’t need to tell the world they are funny (eg. Dooce).
  • Don’t pretend to be all nice and sweet if your not because that’s boring! We all hate arrogant people but I think it spices up a blog (just don’t overdo it). Some people’s blogs get popular because of their cocky personalities but I shall leave them unnamed (even though I enjoy reading them too). :o I’m not saying you should be arrogant but don’t be afraid to show your true personality.
  • It’s okay to be bi-polar once in a while. It makes things interesting. :P
  • I mentioned this before, but it’s worth another: blog in conversational tone!! It would avoid your entries being skipped through out of hundreds of other blogs we subscribe to because it’s quick and easy to read.
  • Reply to your commentators! You don’t have to reply to ALL of them because time is a luxury but if he/she repeatedly comments on your entries, it’s courtesy to say a little thank you.

Blogging
More blogging related entries?

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  1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
  3. Follow the three Rs:
    • Respect for self
    • Respect for others
    • Responsibility for all your actions.
  4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
  5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
  6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  8. Spend some time alone every day.
  9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
  10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
  12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
  13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
  14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
  15. Be gentle with the earth.
  16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
  17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
  18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

[via owenkelly.net]

This was most likely not written by the Dalai Lama but they are great 18 rules to live by.

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I work out a lot but don’t think I have much to show for it because I eat, eat and… EAT! That IS the whole point of working out, right? :P Anyway, if you follow a regular work-out routine and eat less calories than you burn (unlike me), I’m sure you’ll be able to get that bikini body when summer comes around.

Here are some tips to make your work out a more enjoyable experience:

  • Invest in a gym with a TV monitor at each cardio station. I use to listen to music when I was over at Fit City because the shared TVs were never at what I wanted to watch but now that my gym at work has a TV at each cardio station, time goes by soooo much faster. Now I get to watch The Barefoot Contessa cook up one of her recipes that will almost always ensure a heart attack while I’m sweating my ass off and wishing I could get my hands on one of those parmesan-roasted-deep-dish-apple-pie-with-peanut-butter-icing nasty-sounding deliciousness.

    You can also bring a book like I use to do but I stopped doing that because I felt like my arms weren’t getting toned since they were always stationary, holding up a 20lb book.

  • Wear black (or clothes that compliments your body). My theory is that once you start seeing results, your motivation will go up AND black slims you down so you trick yourself into thinking your losing weight = MOTIVATION. YAY. Hey, it sounds silly but it works for me and I have no problem with motivation now… in fact I’ve turned into quite a gym rat. I have a couple sets of Lululemon pants and TNA beaters (love them because they don’t stretch) in rotation. Okay, I’m not that boring; I buy a lot of colorful work out clothes as well… I just never wear them. Also for the record, a good pair of yoga pants makes anyone’s tush look good… even when you usually don’t have one or have too much of it! Again, a nice ass is good motivation too. ;)
  • When doing something repetitive like crunches, break up your counting. For example, if you are going to do 30 crunches, count to from 1-10, 10-1 and then 1-10 again. Or count in multiples of 5— whatever works for you. It tricks your mind into thinking there is less to do, making it easier and less repetitive.
  • When doing crunches, work yourself up so you don’t have to take breaks in between sets. It takes some crazy concentration but I think it’s more effective because your core is tight the entire time. If you don’t concentrate, you’ll be doing it ineffectively and most likely hurting your neck/back as well. If you must take breaks, shorten it each time until you can do 300+ continuously. It’s super easy once your abs get stronger… I swear! And it doesn’t take long if you do them right.

    Note: You should be doing a variety of crunches targeting different parts of your abs.

  • Do a variety of cardio exercises (not just on the machines). The other night at the gym, my boyfriend made me do frog leaps and followed me with a gigantic white stick that was lying around to smack me when I slacked off (man, that thing was heavy). I could’ve beat his ass for doing that but hey, it scared the shit out of me which forced me to MOVE! :P Nevertheless, those frog leaps and the other exercises totally tired me out (I’m still sore) and they were fun because we got to beat each other up and race (even though I cheated Boyfriend cheated). I suggest you do them with someone else though because you’d look kinda funny if you did it by yourself!
  • Don’t work out with slackers! I like working out alone so I can go at my own pace but if your one of those super-social people who can’t be by themselves or just needs someone else to keep you motivated, bring a friend who won’t force you to slack off.
This is why your workout isn't effective.

This is why your workout isn't effective.

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It’s easy to get traffic to your blog but it’s definitely not easy to keep readers from coming back. Here are some tips:

  • Write short entries (something I’m not too good at) or use paragraph breaks if you have to write a lot. Nothing is more intimidating than one long paragraph jumbled all together and unless I’m reading my Terry Brooks books, I don’t want to be reading a novel of your blog.
  • Like sooo relevant! Everyone loves looking at pictures but but don’t overwhelm the reader with too many. Show a couple and upload the rest somewhere else like Flickr . Choose pictures that are relevant to your entry but try to avoid using boring stock photography that everyone has seen before or open up Photoshop and compile an original and interesting collage instead. This also helps with breaking up text if you tend to write long ones like I do. Example: Image on the right is totally relevant to this entry.
  • List-style blog entries. Everyone loves lists because they are easy to read.
  • I’ve said this before but this is one of the reasons why I return to a lot blogs— HUMOR AND A BIT OF SARCASM GOES A LONG WAY.
  • If you hardly update or if you just don’t spend a lot of time on you blog, don’t stick a gazillion advertisements and paid posts all over the place because it’s gets obvious when making money is your only objective and not the quality of your blog. Instead use your blog as a vessel to other projects so you can maintain quality and promote yourself at the same time. If you already have an established audience for your blog, use it to spread the word.
  • If you care about traffic and statistics (and if you lead a boring life like me), at least write some interesting and engaging entries. You may run a “personal” blog but face it, no one really wants to read about your day-to-day activities in every single post. I remember finding my little sister’s diary when I was little and every entry began with a “today I woke up and brushed my teeth…” and fortunately for her, I stopped reading it because it made me fall asleep. The term “personal” blog is very vague which gives you a chance to write about any topic you want under the sun and you’ll eventually find out what your readers are coming back for; then write more of that.

    I use to think I didn’t care about traffic but I’ve come to realize that I was in denial all those years. I think that most bloggers are narcissistic; we blog because we want people to read therefore we care about traffic. I don’t want my blog to ever become as big as say, Dooce’s (imagine the pressure!) but I want enough readers because it motivates me to write which I do have now.

    BUT if you are 100% sure you don’t care, then go ahead and write about what kind of toothpaste you used this morning.

Toothpaste

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