What is proper management?

Management sounds like a very popular topic. Now days, too many people study management. However, how many of them actually apply their knowledge property and actually well manage a business? The answer can be very questionable.

I have to admit, management style is very subjective as well. Some people would agree with certain style and allow it work effectively. However, the same style may not work with other people. Therefore, I believe knowing your employees/suppliers/clients is very important in order to apply an effective management.

Also, management is not only managing the operation or business. I believe the most challenging part of management is managing the people. Many employers do not understand this and think they are the king because they pay their employees. Acting like a king is much like a dictatorship and it is not going to increase the productivity and loyalty of your employees. A good employer has to be open to different opinions and be a good listener. Employees may provide awesome ideas if you are willing to take them and this will help your company to expand further. You have to realize, you can only know/think of so much, your resources are limited.

Apple is successful because it is open to innovative ideas. The technology is advancing because young people are willing to explore and accept the new ideas. Of course, seniors and elder generation have the experience that youth do not have. However, while young people are learning your experience, seniors should also be open for new ideas.

I believe different types of management style are indicated on books. However, not many people are actually adopting them effective. It is relevant to the managers/employers' personality as well.

With a wrong management style, you may be able to survive, however, it would largely limit growth potential of the business.

Asia Trip III - Hong Kong

HongKong is the last stop of my Asia Trip.

有五年没有回香港了。刚下機時真的有種回家的感覚，回到了中國人自己的地方。但是這趟“回家”却有很多的不适應。香港變了，差點都不認得了。

還记得，那時的香港，天是蓝的，维港景色很美。那是小時候的事了。在香港一個星期，天都是灰蒙蒙的。我還转門去了维港一趟找童年。童年是找不到了，混浊的空气和大陆游客倒是一大堆。其實我對大陆人並没有甚麽不好的觀點，也知道大陆的强人很多。但是我也親身見识了那一部分素质有待提高的同胞。说到底，就是太自私了。如果稍微爲其他人想一想，有些事就不會做了。

不否認，靠着大陆，香港的经济才能持续增長。没有他们的消费，香港的旅游業又如何蓬勃。有得必有失，人不可能只得到好的那一面。

站在维港吹了好一阵的海風，不知我還能否在这里立足。

Asia Trip II - 雲南

我從没到過雲南，难得此次到中國有機會。雖说去的不是甚麽大理，丽江等旅游热點，但也算是看到了中國的另外一面。

近来的中國發展迅速但贫富差别很大。别说其它地方了，光廣州就是。有很多新建，華麗的建筑，但在旧城区為那幾块钱挣扎生活的人還有很多。有人吃幾十块钱一碟的點心，也有人連五块钱的饭盒都嫌贵。


我們去的地方很近边境，很靠近缅甸。那里的雲南真的很穷。雖然有旅游業的帮助，但當地人的生活水平和环境還是很差。坦白说，在雲南的那幾天，真的十分不习惯。恰恰是因為他們還没發展，环境也没有被污染。在大陆和香港的两個星期，只有在雲南的那幾天看到了蓝天白雲。

那里的天很蓝，没有甚麽雲，所以紫外线很强，那里的人都晒的很黑。當地的温差很大，晚上是冬天，中午是夏天。但總的来说是舒服的，没有中國南方潮湿。在當地照了很多照片，真的很中國。那種中國特有的乡村風光，看似艰苦，但很独特。雖说他們的生活质环境没有我們好，但他們也有自己楽趣吧。

Asia Trip - Tokyo

Hope everyone is doing well in 2012. I started my 2012 with a trip to Asia. Like my friends said, I deserve a vacation.

My first stop is Tokyo and I spent a week there.The time we spent there is amazing. We really enjoyed Tokyo.

There are a couple things I like about Tokyo.

• Streets in Tokyo are very nice and clean. Although there are not many garbage bins around, Japanese still maintain clean streets.
• Japanese are very polite. We got nice service from airport, train station, hotels and stores. 
• Japanese really care about their appearance, they are well dressed up at all times. ( compare to Canada, we wear sweats out. >3<)
• Japanese food is cheap and tasty. 
• Tokyo is more entertaining than Toronto and more spacious than HongKong. 

Of course, Japan has its downsides. I can tell that they are really suffering from the recession. While Japanese are so polite, it also implicates the fact that they retain a lot of stress inside. This would result problems in the community and culture.

Two things I was surprised.

1.  Japanese's English is not as bad as I expected.
2. Japanese guys are not as short as people said.

Overall Tokyo is a good place to travel to. However, if you want to live & work there, think twice for people like us.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Work and life both have been busy recently. This is holiday season, we are all busy chilling out. However, there isn't many good movies out there. We picked Sherlock Holmes after all.

I still remember we watched Sherlock Holmes in 2009 around the holiday season. Same old, the movie is predictable, so that the story line is not that appealing. Of course, I see it differently from two years ago. The ability Holmes had is pretty impressive. This is definitely something I should learn. Maybe I will never get to that level, but reaching some of it will be good.

I realized that it is very important that you can pay attention to all the details (even the smallest ones) and able to summarize all given information and turn them into use. This skill is very critical for both work and life. It is worthwhile to train.

Happy Holidays everyone! =)

演唱會

這是我第一此坐VIP席看演唱會。我自己當然不會付這樣的錢，是客人請的。第一次覺得辛苦是值得的，哈哈。 我們看的是GEM。這小妮子是真的能唱。總的來說，雖然沒有坐滿，但整個演唱會我還算滿意。 看的出來，他們在制作、服裝、燈光等等都花了心思。 除了歌聲值得一提的還有舞者，他們跳得真的很不錯。這兩個小時看得很滿足很愉快。 看著這女生很努力，沒有怯場也發揮得不錯，真有點佩服。 她很小就出道了，勇敢的走自己想走的路。 我是不夠勇敢。 事事都想退路不是完全不好，但有了退路就不會全力向前衝了。 其實不應該怕受傷怕跌倒，人得輸得起才會有真正嬴的那一天。 是時候重新出發了。

Paranormal activity 3

Today is Halloween. I don't know if everyone celebrate/like this holiday, but I still wish everyone happy halloween. =) I personally don't celebrate this holiday often. I went to Trick or treat once/twice when I was a kid. Other than that, I did not really dress up in costume again.

This year we went to this Halloween party in Sheraton hotel in downtown Toronto. It was pretty fun, saw quite a few of interesting costume there. You guys may check out the pictures in the following link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.z.x/2011Halloween?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO2huI2EtMjxcQ&feat=directlink

I am here to talk about the movie, Paranormal activity 3. I never really like/dislike horror movies, because I was not really scared. My friend commented, I tend to analyze movies with logic, therefore I don't really get the movie and do not feel scared.

I watched this movie in the theater. It is actually pretty funny to see other people's reaction to a horror movie. I agree with the movie leaves a lot of room for imagination. It may be a good point for some people.

I personally do not like the movie. Maybe it is because i never really understand it. >_< If it is just for an experience, i guess it is worth a try to watch it in a dark room.

Guu Izakaya

Guu Izakaya is a pretty well known Japanese restaurant in downtown Toronto. It is not a new restaurant and now they have two stores.

It is a very cheering dining place. The waiters are very cheerful at all times. They cheer for every customer when they come in/out of the restaurant, cheer for birthday, cheer for dishes...etc. It may be a bit loud for some people. I don't know recommend if you want a quite place for dinner. The dining atmosphere of Guu is different from a typical Izakaya. Regarding to the food, overall it is pretty good. I would rate it 7/10. Some dishes are a bit saucy, but a few dishes such as fried chicken are strongly recommended.

There is one thing I do not like about Guu and I believe many people would agree with me. They do not take reservation, this resulting a long line up at all times, unless you go very early for dinner.

I actually admire the waiters at Guu. I know someone worked there before. As a host, they work 12hour shift. They start preparing for dinner start around 1pm, store opens at 5pm and close at midnight. They do not have any breaks for dinner. It is very tiring, especially they are cheering for customer consistently.

Please refer to following link for photo sharing.


https://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.z.x/Guu?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNPdtJPlqvyn0wE&feat=directlink

Fin Izakaya

I went to this Japanese restaurant, Fin Izakaya twice this week. It is a great restaurant, I certainly don't mind going there more often.

The food there is good, including meat and seasons. We tried the oyster shooter last night, the presentation, flavor, taste are all well matched. The sashimi is fresh and in a great value. The blow torch macro is tasty as well.

Furthermore, the service in the restaurant is creditable as well. Overall, I rate this restaurant 8/10. It is worth a try. =)

The pictures are available in following website.


https://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.z.x/FinIzakaya?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPG9wvXpvYid5AE&feat=directlink

Thanksgiving trip photo sharing

那是真正的风和日矖，蓝天白雲。能在這样的天空下生活，是一種幸福。

有時候，你也试试停下来，抬頭看一下那美美的天空。


Please refer to the following link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.z.x/2011ThanksgivingTripToMuskoka?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOmi0qeH8K_a7wE&feat=directlink

Moneyball

I am not really into sport movies and I do not really like baseball. I thought sport movies are pretty much the same, not much surprise. This movie did not give me any surprise either. I also think 2hr is too long. There are some scenes can be cut, so they won't drag the length of the movie. 1.5hr would be decent. Again, the story line is nothing new. I predicted most of the movie and the ending.

Overall, I rate this movie to 6/10. No need to see it in the theater, dl is good enough. I didn't watch the movie for Brad Pitt. However, as my friend said, we see his improvement in acting.

I like this movie because it is encouraging. I tend to do what others said, what others think it is the right thing to do. Maybe, there is one time I should really try to stick on something I think it is right to do and not worry about what others think.

Really, like Bill said in the movie, it really does not matter how other people say/think. It is about do you believe in what you do is right. When no one else believes, you should still believe in yourself. Of course, adventure is not easy. There will be difficult times. You just have to get through those times and solve the difficulties in order to achieve your goals.

I am still looking, and I will get there. But I learn, I should be more brave this time. Holding back is not gonna get me anywhere. If you don't try, you won't get hurt, but you won't succeed neither.

Crazy, Stupid Love

I have been working hard. I have to say I have never study this hard before in my life, really hope I can get through this.

However, a break is still needed. We watched Crazy stupid love yesterday.

My friend picked it because it is light and don't really need much brain cells. I would say it is a good break from functioning the brain. XP

I rate this movie as 7/10 because I actually kind of enjoyed the movie and had a good two hours of break.

The movie is romance comedy, pretty obvious. I like that this movie climax is very obvious and standout. Maybe you can argue the rest of the part is not as great, that why the climax seems more exciting comparatively.

I enjoyed those small funny scenes and some quotes are pretty true. I am not saying they are very creative, but they are worth to check out. After all, I would say this is a dl movie.

Of course, there is a lesson to learn from everything. From this one, it is a small world. =P The other one is... It only take days to change your appearance, but it takes you years to build up what is inside.

Harry Potter - it all ends

50 days count down to UFE...

However, since there are two days left to prep school, we went to see Harry Potter today. Honestly, I am not a big fan of Harry Potter personally. I didn't like the fact that it is super long and not very finding the story interesting. While everyone is talking about it, it is not a bad choice to watch it.

I did not watch the entire series of Harry Potter nor read the books. I will evaluate the movie on its own for this one I just saw.

First of all, I like the fact that this one is not super long and the director did not make the movie longer than necessary. The movie turns out better than I thought, the plot is pretty tight and no breaks in between. I watched the movie in 3D again. I actually like it, compare to the previous one I watched in 2D. I guess it is worth it to watch Harry Potter in 3D because of all those graphic effects. It is a pleasure to enjoy the graphics for this movie.

There is not much to talk about for the actors and actress. However, I found the ending kind of weird and not fit into the entire story. The "# years after" scenes are not really necessary. I think the ending should be more creative than that. Overall, I rate this movie to be 7/10.

PS. I was lucky... now i should work extra hard.

Captain America

Today is the release day of Captain America. Honestly, I didn't really know what is this movie about when I picked it.  I saw the trailer and thought it was fine. I wanted to pick something that comes out today because today is special.

Movie first...
When I told people I am going to watch this movie, everyone is shocked. >< I guess it is not a favor super hero for everyone and it seems childish. However, I don't it is a bad movie after all. I never really know the original story of Captain America, the plot of the movie is not bad. Yet, the ending is pretty awkward and do not really fit into the whole story.

I watched the movie in 3D. I don't think it is worth it. The 3D parts have not done well. I did not really see the 3D is necessary. Other than the 3Ds, the overall action scenes are fine. Some of the explosion and fighting scenes are not realistic enough.

There is nothing special about the acting part because they are mostly action scenes.

overall, i rate this movie 5/10.

PS. 要感谢神的眷顾，也要感谢所有帮了我的贵人，更要感谢給我無限支持的家人和朋友。我會為下一城更努力。

2011 Summerlicious

Tonight, we went to this Italian restaurant Ciao for summerlicious. We picked today because of I don't know if I would have mood to do it tomorrow. Overall, it was a good experience and we had some fun time together. However, it is not a restaurant we would like to go back.

We picked this restaurant like the last minute because the one we booked was far from our workplace. When we checked out the website, the place looks pretty decent and attracted. It is located on Yorkville St.

We decided to rate this restaurant as following.

• Interior design and renovation - 7.5/10 (it looks pretty inside just like the pictures on the website.)
• Service - 8/10 (the reaction time is pretty fast and waiters have nice manners overall.)
• Food - 4/10 (my dish was very salty, my friend's dish was not fully cooked and one spaghetti was tasted weird.)
• Atmosphere - 5/10 (it was really loud there, we have to talk really loud to hear each other.)

Since the food is not so great there, we don't think we will go back there again. For Italian food, we think we can have better ones elsewhere. Out of all the courses we had, I like the dessert best. Yet, we cannot have dessert only afterall.

PS. it is the hottest day of the year in Toronto. >3< 

Night it up!

Night it up! 是大多倫多地区一年一次由華人举办的夜市。

我也有几年没有去了。第一次去還是在很多年前，我還在讀高中的時候。當時的夜市由York U 的學生办的，坦白说真的不怎麽样。所以去了一次也不想再去了。相隔這麽多年，夜市真的進步了许多。先不说场地大了，是整個organization 進步了。從几方面来看，食物摊档整齐了，种类多了，秩序也好了。雖然還是很多人，到了晚上地上的垃圾也很多，但這個是很难避免的。球赛和表演的队伍也是受邀请的。歌唱得不怎麽样，但舞跳得還過得去。業余的也不要要求太高。年轻人有机會玩一下都是好的。

有一样很不满意的，在夜市是完全受不到电话或短信的。有可能改进一下吗？

PS. It is a good night after all. =D

Zookeeper

It is summer time, there are many good and popular movies out there. Since I am behind on movies for two months, I can only watch something that my friend have not watched. Here, Zookeeper is the one we picked. It is a comedy movie, average. Do not have much comment about it because there is not much special or memorable from this movie. There are some funny scenes, but not enough to make me laugh for the entire time. The story is not new, the idea reminds me of Night at the museum when the animals start talking to humans. Overall, I rated 4/10. It is really a dl movie.

However, there is still some idea you may get out from this movie.
Do not try to be someone that you are actually not. It is not worth it to try too hard to be someone you are not, do something you don't like in order to impress someone else. Your happiness is more important than anything else, life is short.

PS. 看到你們幸福我真心的替你們高興。正因爲看到你們的開心，覚得這世上還有開心的事，我的不開心已變的不算是甚麽。谢谢！

Hangover II

Yesterday was the opening day for this movie. It is a sold out movie. The theater was packed when we go in and there was a pretty long line up when we exit the theater. I believe it was because the rating for Hangover I is good, people have high expectation for Part II.

The story is basically the same as Part I, the setting is different from the previous one, Bangkok instead of Vegas. The characters and story line is pretty much the same, meaning everything in the movie is expected. I would say the first one is better because there is more surprises in the movie. Part II is still funny, with different jokes. Remember, this movie is rated R.

I will rate this movie 4/10 and I won't recommend watch this movie in the theater. It is a good one for relaxation and have a laugh. Don't expect too much, so that you don't get disappointed.

what's wrong with being 80s?

也不是甚麽新消息了，近两年来有很多批评80後的声音。我自己也是80後，如果爲80後说话真的没有说服力。我不否認，有些批评對某些人也是正确的。但有時我覚得真是過份了。尤其是當發言人用一個例子就把所有80後都归类，真是不公平。现在是把一代人都歧视是，怎麽说我也覚得不公平。

人都有不足，人都會犯错。错了就接受批评，改正就好了，用不着把整代人都说得不好吧。先是港女，跟着港男，最後把整個80後都骂了。凭甚麽说整個80後都不努力？後生的，年轻的就一定是工作态度不好，懒散不認真？不认真的人，懒的人每一代都有吧。雖说我們這一代人比上一代幸福，没有怎麽缺吃穿。但生活指数高了，我們就更要努力了。不是只有上一代的人才能吃苦，很多80後也懂得吃得苦中苦，方爲人上人的道理。再说了，這一代再不好也是上一代教出来的。

每一個人群中都有不够好的人，男人有，女人有，不同国籍的有，不同年龄的也有。不要只看到别人的缺点且将一群人都归类了。不要只因爲别人与你持不同意见就把人家归类了。尽量對事不對人，客观的對人 會比较公平。

Queen Street

I went shopping in downtown Toronto today. i didn't go to a mall or anything indoor. I really appreciate the nice sunshine outside today after six months of winter and three weeks of rain. Today is pretty warm, I can finally wear my short. ^o^ As I said, people don't appreciate what they have everyday, they tend to take it for granted. When the nice weather comes after a long winter, you will appreciate it more.

Queen streets is a shopping district in downtown. It is like Bloor Street, but instead of all the big brand name store, they have some designer stores in the area. In general, I like to shop on the street better than shop in a mall, especially this nice weather. It reminds me of HongKong, you get more feeling of the city.

I see a few interesting things on the street today. First, I see two little boys singing for money on the street. They are actually not bad, lots of potential. Then, I see this Miss. Canada walking on the street with a bunch of followers. It was creating a whole scene in the middle of the street. At the end of the district, there is a performance of magic show. This is the street culture in downtown. I am a typical uptown girl, sometimes I figure I should head downtown more often instead staying in this nice and safe neighborhood for too long.