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Being professional working women it's so difficult to cook decent meals by ourselves during weekday. Because it is usually 7:30pm by the time we get off work, and it is such a turn off when we start thinking about what to cook, doing the grocery shopping, preparation works, dish cleaning, sore shoulders, next day morning meeting... basically we like to come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid going through the hassle..
But we got to realize that eventually we are going to be professional housewives, leaving the labor force, with nothing else to do but feeding the husbands and kids all day and what makes you proud is when they compliment your delicious food with big smiles on their faces.
We launched our mission to do home cooking on a regular basis. We try to do something new every time that involves a three course dinner and of course with alcohol. The first time we made a simple salad with japanese dressing, steak and sauteed mushrooms, and a chocolate souffle by following my favorite recipe. The second time we made salad again, seafood saffron paella, sangria and apple crumble. We were so proud of ourselves with the paella, the arborio rice was well soaked with saffron and seafood flavor and the clams were cooked perfectly. What a successful 1st attempt! Didn't realize paella is actually quite easy to make yet look sophisticated. We randomly put the apple crumble together without following a recipe. It still tasted very good but just a bit too sour as we didn't put enough sugar but the combination with vanilla ice-cream is very satisfying.
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Do you have a sense of crisis?
The financial market is usually the leading indicator of any economical movement, because our forecast is based on a 12 month horizon, we are exposed to different industries and sectors, we look at macro factors in a collective effort, we look at trends more than anybody else.
The recent market turmoil triggers a lot of concern over the uncertainty in front of us. The market downturn, the US recession, liquidation problem spills over Asia and as a result the HK stock market got a punch in the head, most of the stocks were traded down from 30sth times multiples to 20times. Investors are switching from growth to value, everybody is parking their money in the safe haven or just holding cash with an attempt to preserve capital amid market downturn.
Citing my firm as an example. In a matter of 2 yrs, our AUM has grown from 9 bn USD to 17bn, our profit was double every year, and so as our investment team, we have expanded from 20 headcounts to almost 30 now. Just because we have over-achieved our budget over the past few years, we spent money with our eyes closed, hiring expats, commissioning meaningless renovation works, over-expanding back office which is ironic because most firms would outsource back office to manage cost and improve efficiency. So what is happening now? Our AUM has dropped from 17bn to 14bn now, that's a combination of redemption and investment being devalued. The devaluation would lead to under-achieve our budget, which is an ambitious goal set last year, lost in performance and management fees, directly affect the top line negatively. We will start cutting cost to salvage our bottom line, laying off the redundancy, cutting the expensive but under-performing staff, slashing the unnecessary benefits ie. free coffee and coke and the weekly fruit distribution. We probably will not get any raise this year even though the inflation is more than 4pct and HKD is depreciating 8% against Rmb, and we shouldn't be opportunistic about our bonus this year either...
And we are not alone here, because the impact would be even more prominent in the sell side. One firm has gone bust already and who knows who is the second one. Rumors had it that the next one is ML or Lehman (don't quote me on that), and now MS seems to fair better than any other firms. Some has already started laying off analysts, even the warm seats and the untouchables can be at risks.
Just a week ago, my older colleague gave me his precious two cents, which I agree 100%. "Don't think you can keep your hands fold because the market is turning south and it's difficult to make a call, you should work extra hard to prove your existence." The most vulnerable is who are still living in the comfort zone, without a sense of crisis can be dangerous. Even the market may not be as bad as we think, the problem is a chronic illness that can prolong for years.
Unarguably US is going down, are we seeing HK peaking out? China is still flourishing at least domestic demand and fixed investment are still strong, TW will see stronger tie with China with Ma winning the election, transpacific trading activity is going to come off as US consumer demand weakens, China's financial market sooner or later will become more sophisticated, and H shares turning back to the domestic market for financial fundings... HK position seems to be very vulnerable, the story of its being the window for China will eventually play out, our currency is a baggage instead of a safe haven, our political system is more a detriment than freedom.
Speaking of living life to the fullest, I enjoyed 1994 Chateau Mouton Rothschild with abalone and sea cucumber last night. This is probably one of the best that I have tasted, its full bodiness and aroma is distinct in nature, impeccable balance and density of flavor, the flavor transforms itself from the first sip to the last. I don't like to use its price tag to value wine. The best wine should represent an experience, a fantasy, not just a drink to go with your meal..jpg)
Went to Maroon 5's concert during the week, although not a big fan of their music, it is still fun to hang out with people, seeing crazy teenagers gone buzzed, drinking beer out of the jar.
I always say that the age between 28-30 is the most important of one's career life.
From the employers' point of view, they see that this age range as the most eager to learn, the most aggressive and most reasonable in terms of remuneration. They love these kids because they possess drive and fire, mature and knowledgeable enough to make decision and wouldn't argue excessively with bosses.
From the perspective of 28-30 guys and girls, this represents a change. One who works in the field which yields minimal monetary rewards would want to change field in search for a gold mine. One who makes sufficient money before 30 will give up high paying job in search for the meaning of life and passion. One who doesn't really make a lot of money but getting sick of their old jobs would switch fields just for the sake of a change. For the ones who haven't changed anything since college grad, they are either very well positioned or too lazy or scared to make a move.
I am glad to see my friends at age of 29/30/31 are all making moves. Having the opportunities is one thing, but this to me has more to do with their gutsiness and thoughtfulness. They want to better position themselves in the next round of 10 yrs, because they understand the longer they wait, the more unlikely they will make the change. 30 is a threshold, if they still haven't figured out what they want to do after 30, obviously they are not thinking, and they should either be hella pretty (so to marry someone rich, and this applies to both boys and girls) or hella wealthy (so that they don't need the paycheck to sustain their livings).
I always tend to hang out with people who are older than me, at high school, college, work. Not that it is my intention to be close with older peers or discriminating people who are younger than me, it's just so happened that I start becoming friends with those who give me advice. I can project myself how would I be like at their ages, it becomes a constant chase of mental growth, you learn from their experience, and try to avoid making the same mistakes as they did in the past....
So, what's up with the people at their age of 30s to 40s, who are my colleagues, some have families, some don't, they all have successful career, able to capitalize their experience without spending a lot of time at work, they have made decent money already, have a few properties on hand, they want to retire, they long for a simple life.
Awhile ago, I had a extended conversation with a friend who is at his late 30s. It's human nature that people love to look back to review their past decisions, and oftentimes, they would say they never regret the choices they have made, however, they are not exceptionally thrilled about status quo, questioning how things would be different if they chose a different path. Along the path, people make sacrifice, we like to call it opportunity cost, and the willingness to make sacrifice, we call it risk tolerance. So what mimic my friend's life - at early 20s, we are all risk taker, we have a strong faith in second chance and we believe we have all the time we need to unwind mistakes...but guess what, the chances are, there's no second chance, it's no simple math, but a black scholes model, A leads to different scenario B/C/D and each leads to another combination, and Z would never goes back to A. And now in the age of late 30s, when things don't work out as expected, and although you try to avoid blaming yourself for making stupid mistakes, there's sorrow in your eyes that reveal a part of history you want to dismiss but retain in the brain like a tumor. You will feel incomplete, you think all along you've been searching for something nonexist, something immaterial in nature but cost a fortune in the past.
So what's the lesson learnt? Live everyday to the fullest, care and pay respect to people surrounding you, don't let stupidity to steer your wheels, and don't make decisions based on selfish deed.
Zingaro - they put up a promotion slogan saying it is a once in a lifetime experience, something memorable and shouldn't be missed. Rumors said they wouldn't perform in the same place twice, so this would be the only and last time they are performing in HK. No matter how they promote themselves as elite and exceptional, the truth probably lies upon the fact that we are having an equestrian olympics event in hk this year, there's no matter time for them to do a horse show, and at the same time demonstrates what considers the greatest horsemanship.
I got tickets to see the show sunday night, I was so excited and curious to find out the crossover of cirque du soleil on a running horse. I walked in with the greatest expectation, and indeed I wasn't disappointed! It was the most breathtaking and intriguing show that I have ever seen. The music, the light, the beautiful horses, the acrobats and the costumes all contributed to the spectacle.
The show was performed in a marquee, with viewing seatings circumventing the center stage, which is like a lungeing ring. A column of running waterfall marks the core of the arena, magically created refections with color lighting. To me, the performance is about freedom, the speed of galloping horses, the gypsy music, and the daredevil acrobatics resemble the nomadic culture and liberty.
For the entire show, all horses were performing with collective canter, they are amazingly obedient and their necks were rounded into a beautiful arch. The prettiest scene was the bride cantering around with billowing hair piece that stretched across half of the arena. All of a sudden a vigorous atmosphere transformed into a romantic scene.
Hermes was one of the sponsor for Zingaro, and they sent a craftsman to demonstrate saddle-making on the spot. Here is a professional in action.
Hermes branded saddle-making tools.. so wanted to steal one as a souvenir, of course my decency avoids me from doing something like that..
Thought that Hermes has custom made souvenir selling at the show, I searched around twice but no souvenir could be found, I was so disappointed... 
pâte à choux, choux pastry that can be made into eclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs, beignets...etc.
This all begins when we saw bread papa at soga, which sell cream puffs only with variety of cream filling, my craving for sweet prompted me to try a piece of the classic vanilla flavor. At first, I wondered why a choux pastry with some cream in it can cost more than hkd15 per piece. As much as I felt this was a ripoff, I regretted getting a piece after I tasted it. The dough was not eggy enough with very heavy taste of flour, no almond on top, very bland in terms of flavor. The filling was just okay, I don't think they made pastry cream properly, and so obvious that they didn't cook the cream long enough to evaporate the excess liquid from the paste.
So not satisfied with a commercial vendor, I decided to make a batch on my own. I made the pastry cream with vanilla beans and generously filled up the choux pocket, and then dipped the top of the choux with dark chocolate.
It was a lumpy dough when first started, the mixture was carefully heated and mixed rigorously into a right consistency.
Later transferred to a stand mixer, to further beaten it into a smooth creamy dough.
All puffed up after 35min. These needed to be handled with careful cooling to sustain their puffiness..unfortunately they were a bit burnt due to wrong timing.. basically forgotten to turn off the temperature while cooling down..
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