Happy Birthday to myself...

so there it was, my 29th birthday has came and now i'm officially 29 years and 1 day old...

i guess nothing quite makes you feel your age, when you are at the end of your 20's...
though i don't feel old (i have ppl still saying that I look 24, haha), a few gray hair here and there does remind you time waits for no one....

listening to the robert kiyosaki podcast, it suddenly reminded me of my time in melbourne when i picked up his best seller, rich dad poor dad. the book had a profound effect on me, and changed the way i viewed life and money. though i did try to implement some of his teachings, it was more a half hearted attempt to truly go all the way. i have not achieved the financial freedom i strived to achieve, but things will change from today onwards... more on this later...

anyway i had a great housewarming cum birthday party. we had take out pizza, kfc and started juicing! all because i had a kick-ass juicer..

later, we played twister and all sorts of drinking game, which was great fun as well

the party ended around 3 am, and I hope i don't get any complaints as it was crazy loud, hahaha

my thanks to all my frens, old and new, who came to my party with well wishes and gifts. special thanks to grace, law and kara for the lovely PSP!

here are some of the pics:



















the afternoon before the party, met up with a guy to purchase his gym membership. nice kiwi by the name of Mark Wilson, and just knew him over the internet. he is a teacher and after 9 months into his job in hong kong, he is going to travel to africa and then to japan to do some charity work. tom, a colleague told me that his gf took out a huge loan and will spend a good half a year travelling the world. the bank approved her loan as she will be starting work with a very nice remuneration package.

this got me thinking. though its not new, it seems some westerners who were lucky enough will either travel the world right after graduating, or some of them will just take 1 year off their working life and do so.

such an idea will seem unbelievable in an asian society, though i hope the mentality will change. most of us stick to a life laid out by our parents / society, which follows the path of study>work>getmarried>family>retirement>TRAVEL

sound familiar? thats why most travel agencies cater for the retirees to go travel, because that is the only time they get to travel!

personally i feel blessed and thankful of having the chance to travel to many parts of south east asia, australia (where i studied) and parts of europe. now that i'm working in hong kong, i find it easier to relate to other people from different parts of the world and share their ideas. traveling opens your minds and widens your horizon.

so if possible, i would encourage everyone to strive to travel a little bit every year. go to new places, make new friends, learn their culture. don't just be a typical tourist that visits all the must-go's, buy souvenirs and leaves with memory cards full of pictures.

i know its ideal, and i do know that people have hectic schedules that they can't leave their jobs. my advice is this, you are not the whole company/business, don't give yourself so much credit. the company will still be around when you come back in a weeks time, if it's not, you probably should have left earlier, am i right?