Introspection + Contemplation + Ideals

Who are you and what is your brand?
What value can you add?
What unique skills and insightful perspective can you contribute?

In which we have our resumes at hand: A few pages of writing to show what we can do, giving us identity; A few pages to showcase our skills and relevant experiences proving we are "top talent"; That we are valuable people and worth a certain salary.

And still it's not enough. We are bombarded by society to develop more and more our sales skills, leadership skills, managerial and technical skills.

On top of this we are invariably told to do the smart thing and make an investment in something; To get ahead and increase our financial net worth.

And we are told to love.

Wait... society doesn't bombard us to be loving, not overwhelmingly anyway. Wouldn't that be weird if it did? I find that the only strong message to be loving or caring come from the religious institutions that have become largely irrelevant, misinterpreted and forgotten by the non-religious. That and also children's shows like Sesame Street.

Perhaps that's why there is an influx of social justice and environmentalist movements among the socially conscious. These are dire times in the world, but maybe it speaks something about what people were created to do. That is, to love. Could it be that our souls have been so sapped by Western culture's push for productivity, self importance and self improvement that after the splurge in materialism turning out to be ineffective in dealing with matters of the heart, we now en mass turn to do something about this tug in our hearts?

If you've been doing something about the pains of the world before it became a cool and romantic endeavor, before it was good to include on a resume or business school application, then you are awesome.

Yet maybe I'm being too harsh... if the net effect is that people are helped, then perhaps motives aren't so important... another topic for another day.

I believe we should cultivate and grow our hearts so that this muscle that pumps blood through our veins remains strong, giving us energy to care for others and courage to do what is right. We should seek to develop a heart able enough in it's ability to love so that when the time of testing comes, it may not fail us.

Instead of seeking to build a resume full of accreditations and experiences demonstrating leadership, we should look to develop that unseen resume full of experiences and achievements done through a loving heart which includes both big causes and small daily ones.

Because, I believe that is what God will be looking for in the end.

There was song and dance. Tears and laughter. Three beautiful maids and three noble musketeers with questionable mustachios. A sword duel with a one eyed man. A Ph.D student turned (cinderella fashion) into a limo driver for the night. An Apple addict turned country singer. Love was in the air: a budding romance between the flower girl and the ring boy.










There was enough excitement to fill a Bollywood movie or Korean drama, and enough happiness for the groom to be still smiling late into the night.

And the next day the couple left for Cuba to live happily ever after...
for a week.

What an ordeal weddings are. Seriously, whoever invented the modern day wedding and its affiliated practices should be... told something.

The weeks before the wedding and even now... weeks after the wedding, there is work, work, work... just for the sake of two people living together and creating a home.

Before the wedding, we found ourselves simultaneously:
1) Planning a big party
2) Planning to move into an apartment
3) Planning for a trip to Cuba
4) Preparing ourselves mentally, spiritually to live together.

You can imagine that each of these four events are quite the events themselves and could be a big deal on its own. Yet it was done. None of which could have been possible without the help and support of friends and family.

Thank you and I hope it was fun. It sure was fun for us.

And of course getting married is not a destination to arrive at, but a starting point for a greater journey. So now we start our homemaking: the cleaning, the rearranging, the snoring, not having cookies and having cookies, and assembling of Ikea furniture.



One question though... where in the world does Ikea come up with furniture names like INGOLF, HOPEN, FORSBY?

What can I say? I am lucky in love. It will be our 9 year anniversary soon, which is also the day of our wedding. Who knew nine years ago that I would be marrying this wonderful person. Yes, sappy indeed, so please try to overcome the sappiness as you read.

As they say in the programming work I do, the "go-live" date is fast approaching in less then three weeks! And then we will be husband and wife. Should I be busy reading some books on "how to become a husband"? =)

Indeed, it is exciting times for me and my fiancée. We've had many memorable memories to date: getting the ring and asking her to marry me, the roaring applause of our friends at a certain restaurant the first friday after the engagement, the thick plotted surprise engagement party several weeks later, the renting of certain secret costumes (those that know... shhh!!!), scanning bar codes for the gift registry at our favourite discount retailer, chasing and getting our elusive apartment, finding out of certain "dirty" bridal shower gifts, clearing out two Wal-Marts worth of chocolates...

And don't worry, we will not disappear once we are married. It is continually cemented in our minds that life is about relationships. So I really hope to avoid situations where you will feel uncomfortable in the presence of a lovey dovey couple... but you may yell at us to "get a room!" if we ever do. And for those helping us through this time and have invested in us these years... thank you.

I am lucky, because she is certainly the only person in the world that would put up with me and my antics.

Just when you thought you knew all my noodle eating ways! Just when you thought that I eat only one brand of instant noodles! You judge me too soon, as I am a cultured man of diversity.

There is another...

The Chapagetti: black bean paste instant noodles.

Nothing else satisfies the longing for succulent sauce & noodles. Wine and cheese are indeed the apotheosis of food and drink, but these instant noodles are il primo.

Some cultural lessons from wikipedia:

"Jajangmyeon is originally a Chinese dish, but the version familiar to Koreans is usually only found in Chinese restaurants in Korea or those serving Korean customers. This dish is also available in other countries where there is a large Korean population. In other words, Jajangmyeon is Korean cuisine in the way that pizza is American, rather than Italian, cuisine."

Yum!

And for those expecting a dose of MSG as in the first MSG goodness post, you will not be disappointed.