Sunday, September 30, 2012

Malaysia...Truly ASIA....part 1

waiting for my partner-in-crime to call me...for a shopping spree in KL
one of those tasty Nasi ...
the once tallest skyscraper in the world..The Petronas Tower
the towers looks magical at night...next time I will take time to go out and  take a  photo of it...

Saturday, September 29, 2012

21 tips by Robin Sharma for Productivity

If you want to achieve something, better close those rooms for excuses. Nothing worthwhile comes EASY.

#1. Check email in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work.

#2. Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action.

#3. Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes.

#4. Mess creates stress (I learned this from tennis icon Andre Agassi who said he wouldn’t let anyone touch his tennis bag because if it got disorganized, he’d get distracted). So clean out the clutter in your office to get more done.

#5. Sell your TV. You’re just watching other people get successful versus doing the things that will get you to your dreams.

#6. Say goodbye to the energy vampires in your life (the negative souls who steal your enthusiasm).

#7. Run routines. When I studied the creative lives of massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison, I discovered they follow strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax). Peak productivity’s not about luck. It’s about devotion.

#8. Get up at 5 am. Win the battle of the bed. Put mind over mattress. This habit alone will strengthen your willpower so it serves you more dutifully in the key areas of your life.

#9. Don’t do so many meetings. (I’ve trained the employees of our FORTUNE 500 clients on exactly how to do this – including having the few meetings they now do standing up – and it’s created breakthrough results for them).

#10. Don’t say yes to every request. Most of us have a deep need to be liked. That translates into us saying yes to everything – which is the end of your elite productivity.

#11. Outsource everything you can’t be BIW (Best in the World) at. Focus only on activities within what I call “Your Picasso Zone”.

#12. Stop multi-tasking. New research confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!). Be one of the rare-air few who develops the mental and physical discipline to have a mono-maniacal focus on one thing for many hours. (It’s all about practice).

#13. Get fit like Madonna. Getting to your absolute best physical condition will create explosive energy, renew your focus and multiply your creativity.

#14. Workout 2X a day. This is just one of the little-known productivity tactics that I’ll walk you through in my new online training program YOUR PRODUCTIVITY UNLEASHED (details at the end of this post) but here’s the key: exercise is one of the greatest productivity tools in the world. So do 20 minutes first thing in the morning and then another workout around 6 or 7 pm to set you up for wow in the evening.

#15. Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.

#16. Work in 90 minute blocks with 10 minute intervals to recover and refuel (another game-changing move I personally use to do my best work).

#17. Write a Stop Doing List. Every productive person obsessively sets To Do Lists. But those who play at world-class also record what they commit to stop doing. Steve Jobs said that what made Apple Apple was not so much what they chose to build but all the projects they chose to ignore.

#18. Use your commute time. If you’re commuting 30 minutes each way every day – get this: at the end of a year, you’ve spent 6 weeks of 8 hour days in your car. I encourage you to use that time to listen to fantastic books on audio + excellent podcasts and valuable learning programs. Remember, the fastest way to double your income is to triple your rate of learning.

#19. Be a contrarian. Why buy your groceries at the time the store is busiest? Why go to movies on the most popular nights? Why hit the gym when the gym’s completely full? Do things at off-peak hours and you’ll save so many of them.

#20. Get things right the first time. Most people are wildly distracted these days. And so they make mistakes. To unleash your productivity, become one of the special performers who have the mindset of doing what it takes to get it flawless first. This saves you days of having to fix problems.

#21. Get lost. Don’t be so available to everyone. I often spend hours at a time in the cafeteria of a university close to our headquarters. I turn off my devices and think, create, plan and write. Zero interruptions. Pure focus. Massive results.

I truly hope these 21 productivity tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your productivity is your life made visible. Please protect it.

Stay productive.

Credits to PattyLaurel
www.pattylaurel.com

Tuesday, September 25, 2012



Falling in-love all over again.
And finally meeting someone who Gets you and Loves you...
It's just easy being around you. You're wonderful. To Me. Always. Love.

Travel Updates

  Sleeping for a good eight hours is hard to get nowadays. A few days back I swore off alcohol for good. Hoping that it would help me sleep better I decided to unscrew a bottle and gulp the bitter liquid down my throat. I just simply wanted to be on my best whenever I report to work. Unfortunately it left me stomach-sick with that nasty feeling that I might throw up any minute.I was worried sick as well with the thought that I might be the lucky one to be randomly tested  and  have DUI or FUI in my case  ( Flying under the Influence) on my record. Thank God, I did not.
     My flight went smoothly. It was a light load going to KSA and going back to DXB. And then the next day I was so thrilled going to Beijing for the first time. I had a huge meal before the flight which turned out to be a great thing because apparently we encountered such delay from China.

    Beijing.
    Early morning flight is good and bad. Good since most of the passengers will be sleeping the whole time. Bad since the crew wants to sleep as well. During the boring hours before landing my mind just wanders. After  going up and down the aircraft for the Nth time, having chitchat with a colleague still  feels like eternity for me. Maybe, I'm just not used to being still. The art of doing nothing just doesn't work well for me. You can smell noodles and socks in the entire cabin. Snoring people in sync creating a melody, and crying babies in bassinets and big old men stretching and dancing near the lavatories became normal to me.
     The airport is crowded but clean and massive like Dubai. Travelling time from airport to Radisson Blu took about twenty minutes. And I was lucky enough to find newbies like me who wanted to see the Great Wall. Right before the receptionist handed me my room key our plan was set for tomorrow's adventure.
Some people invited me to go for massage while others were nice enough to include me to their Fake-Goods shopping extravaganza. But I said no thanks to the invites since my sleep deprivation has taken its toll and my body just wanted to climb to the bed and eat and watch CNN.
    The bed was comfortable and the pillows were the ones made of feathers. Only, everything in the room was written in Chinese characters even the remote control. Their bath products were indeed made in China. From the shampoo down to the shower gel I could tell that they were mostly made of water. No scent, no bubbles just plain liquid they managed to color.
  I woke up at five just perfect for our early trip. I opened my drapes and saw a huge fog covering the entire city. Only later after opening my car window did I  learn that they were in fact smog coming out from factories. It took us almost two hours to arrive in the Great Wall. Five crew, our Chinese driver and  Kasha from Polish airlines that we met in the hotel.
    Of course, around this great wonder, Chinese merchants are everywhere. I just did not enjoy buying stuff here and there since they were mostly rude and will try to fool you to buy stuff you have no idea of the actual cost. I went straight to climbing. Well, it was the most intense physical activity I had done in my entire life! A flight of vertical concrete stairs to reach the top of the mountain where the great wall was built. I could still feel my leg muscles shaking and my heartbeats driving wild inside my chest as I grasp for air. For you people who wants to see the Great Wall, just take the cable car for 125Yuan if you want your legs to have a longer shelf life. More or less an hour to reach the summit. A few people were already there. It was of course amazing. Like you're on top of the world. More tourists started pouring in when we decided to walk our way down. We were planning to see the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City but our lovely Chinese driver-slash-tour guide started to ask for additional payment that we never agreed before. Oh well that time, I don't mind going back to the hotel to eat and rest. But my colleagues were still on the game of buying more Fake stuff to add to their wardrobe. I was not really thrilled. Why fool others with your Louis Vuitton's and Prada's and Burberry when you know you just got them from The Silk Market in China? I just don't get it. I can pull off  H&M and Forever 21 just fine like their from Diane Von Furstenburg or Chanel. I won't mind spending a few hundreds of Euros or Dollars for a great authentic piece from these Luxury shops since they are valuable and timeless. I am actually saving up for a Prada bag just in case I come back to Rome this year. At least they are the real deal. I am no fool.
   I took the Chinese subway back to the hotel with my new friend Kasha from Poland who speaks really, really good Mandarin. Just imagine a petite blond hair- green eyed girl who speaks Chinese like the locals. I can still vividly remember the faces of the Chinese people she conversed with. They were so impressed like me.
    I bought a CheongSam, the local Chinese dress for 120Yuan and fridge magnets for 150Yuan. Hoping I got a great deal. Who knows?
    Flying back to Dubai took one hour longer and everyone seems to be having an eye infection or something. So I decided to wear my glasses during my Off days. I don't want to have a red eye when I get to KL.
   One to go...and I will bid September goodbye.
   So far so good.
   Sydney-Auckland was great.
   Paris is still on top of my list to See and Know by Heart.
   I will get to see Beijing again next month.
   And lots of Europe flights. Everything is just getting better.
  :-)

4 in the Morning

Monday, September 24, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012


Eleven Things I learned from Today's Flight

1. To not drink anything with alcohol without at least 20-hours before work. Or else have that "I'm gonna-throw-up-any-minute-Oh-God-Pls-Save-me" kinda feeling.

2. Eat even when it's a short flight. Or be brain-dead.

3. Keep Oneself Entertained or End up hallucinating.

4. If you really want to Have it, then Go and Earn it! (be the Best at Something)

5. Do not be jealous of other's luck or fortune. I will have mine too. Everything Worthwhile Takes Time.

6. Do not go into a Silly Nonsense Fight with Someone You love Unless you want to come to work with swollen Eyes.

7. Bring Justice to those underprivileged Talents and Punish those Undeserving in their Places. ( When your colleague is so Rude!)

8. Prayers. Prayers. Prayers. Move. Mountains.

9. To sleep well. No. Matter. What.

10. Watching Magic Mike after an excruciating Flight somehow made me realized I still Love being a Girl.

11. You just have to make your Faith bigger than your Fear.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Friday, September 14, 2012

Bed Time Stories

 I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart  throbbing faster than normal. Perhaps my body was just confused. With all the nonstop traveling lately, I frequently just get up and grab my phone just to check if I am in Dubai or not.

 I was definitely looking forward to Paris but ended up getting sick the whole time. I really enjoyed Sydney and Auckland. Shopping was amazing and Eating Out was superb. It could get a little expensive though. But what the hell, it was my first time, might as well just enjoy.

   So far, since I started my globetrotting, Sydney and Auckland has the best hotels provided by the company. Some of my colleagues prefer The Renaissance in Seoul but I can't help but disagree. Yeah, it was  just elegant and the location is a great attribute but it  has this "old" smell in to it. It just stinks for me. The pillows and the covers left me with red rashes the next day.

Sofitel Wentworth Sydney
   The Sofitel in Wentworth Sydney was just breath-taking. The deluxe rooms though were just deluxe, no exception. Being a certified Hotelier,  before I started flying, the Sofitel rooms won't even fall to the 45 sq.meters size minimum requirement. But their beds were to die for. I haven't slept that well in a long time whenever I am out of Dubai. They just made me feel like I was sleeping in the clouds. And the lobby has this immense grandeur feel. Flowers being changed almost everyday and posh restaurants abound. And most importantly, it's just a few blocks away from the Sydney Opera House and downtown. I just can't wait to go back, really.


The Langham Hotel Auckland NZ
The Langham in Auckland was nice too. It was just so feminine. With its signature gold and pink motif engraved in all its amenities I certainly feel more like a a real lady the whole time. The location was perfect too. Just close to anything you can think of. And the room was spacious than the Sofitel. And well, I slept like a baby too while watching E! The swimming pool was small but the Jacuzzi was acceptable nonetheless. They also have two saunas. But the Herbal one was not working and the other Sauna was just dry. With nothing much to do in the hotel, being stuck for three days for sure convinced me to hike a volcano.

 The worst hotels so far would be the one in Narita and in Paris. It's just pretty much the issue with the location. I slept heavenly.But honestly, with such great opportunity to see Tokyo at night and Paris with it's lights anyone will just be pissed to find out it would take an hour or more just to go to the city. The hotel is situated in the remote village in the middle of nowhere, somewhat just the Airport's parking lot. Too Bad.


I have to learn a few Japanese to finally see Shibuya, feel Tokyo and study Paris map to be able to hop on the train with confidence.

I hope I will get to see Paris for real next month. I heard London offers the same predicament. Too far from the city, well, at least people speak English so commuting would not hurt too much.

I can't still get over spending my entire Paris layover just sulking in my bed. And waking up at 3 am local time browsing French channels. Somehow, I was entertained watching some French movies with no censorship. At least at the Grand Hyatt Paris they don't charge you for Adult Flick when you watch it. Oh, I am definitely missing my boyfriend. 

I was just spending my entire lovely time recuperating- sleeping. My bed feels weird though. It's not as soft as the Sofitel's, And I don't have French channels to keep me company. Only, my room feels more like Home even with all it's lack of grand and push-buttons. I'm still alright to be spending my lonely nights here for the next five days 'til I head back to Asia.


I still have loads of stories to tell. Promise, I will take time to write.
If only my handwriting in my Journal will just simply crawl its way to Blogger. My life would be easier. Indeed.
:-)

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Monday, September 10, 2012

Fresh From Sydney...

a day's allowance...
view from my room
Lift me Up!
@ the Sydney Harbour Bridge 
Having Thai @ Sydney #PadThai

@ The Sydney Opera House
cupcakes of LOVe:-)

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Will be gone in a week... See u guys on Saturday :-)

sydney-auckland in 6 days!