🌴 Californication! ✨ I went hiking up close to the iconic Hollywood Sign! 🏔️✨ The view over LA was unreal, endless city sprawl under the golden California sun. Fantastic to see this symbol of dreams up close! (Yes, I took a 100 photos 📸😂). and met so many Chinese friends visiting there.In San Diego, after a long day at work, I ended the day as the sun dipped low into the ocean. 🌅 Palm trees framed massive ships gliding through the harbor, their sails lit up in pinks and oranges. The bay turned into liquid gold – pure peace! ⛵🌴 Have YOU been to any of these places?👉 Which would you choose: Hiking to a famous sign ✍️ or watching ships sail into the sunset? ☀️
New Hellotalk friends, cultural performances, Scrumptious fingerlicking good food, and jade art heritage experience made this trip an insightful and memorable one. The Shadow puppet performance and a chance for me to play it myself was an amazing experience. The singing Storytelling performance by this graceful and gorgeous lady was a treat to watch and listen to. Thanks to all those who made time for this meet up. During the first week of May, this was my 2nd time visiting Dalian, and hopefully it will not be the last.
大连的朋友们，5月6日至13日我在大连。如果有机会我们可以见面聊天喝咖啡逛逛。China’s 'Romantic City' Dalian covers a 1,371 km coastline, offering breathtaking beaches, seaside resorts, and vibrant marine culture.Once a strategic Russian and Japanese colonial hub, its streets still whisper tales of the past through early 20th century European architecture, like the iconic Zhongshan Square with century-old buildings and vintage trams.Dalian’s roots trace back 6,000 years, with ties to the Hongshan culture, one of China’s earliest civilizations, and discoveries like jade dragons highlight this ancient legacy！
How was your 2024? Did it go as you had planned? Was it less than ideal? For me, it was a productive year. I ventured into learning new skills, and it paid off, culminating in a promotion. Personal life, the first half of the year was fantastic, though not without its occasional challenges—life’s gentle reminders to keep us balanced.Two key reflections stand out:1. The most valuable piece of advice I can share (often asked by others): “Don’t be yourself.” Instead, embrace growth. Learn, refine your skills, and strive to be a better version of yourself with each passing year.2. Remember, you are both the devil and the saint. Be what others need you to be in their lives. Be kind, but remain formidable—not weak. Strength tempered with grace is the essence of true balance.
If you've experienced a lack of love, empathy, or patience from someone you loved, it's important to recognise that they may have been incapable due to their own limitations. Accept that some people have emotional limitations—similar to a physical or mental disability, leave them without holding a grudge, as they may not have the capacity to behave differently. We can't choose our family, so we must accept them as they are and show kindness unconditionally. For everyone else, you have the choice to disengage. However, don’t assume everyone is selfish—hope for goodness in others is crucial. Be proactive in asking for help when you need it, and offer support when you see someone in need. Practising this mindset over the next 3 to 5 years will help you become a mentally stronger, more satisfied, and more capable individual. I know this works because I’ve done it myself.
教师节快乐。Fortunate to have classes on Teachers day. I hold my teachers in high esteem because they have inspired me throughout my life. Becoming one myself turned out to enhance this feeling for me as I realise how much effort it requires to touch the lives of students who rely on us as their mentors. Happy Teachers' Day. (First two days of lectures delivery gave me a sore throat 😂difficult to speak😂)
🎉 After another 365 days around the sun, I woke up to another beautiful day. 🌟 Lady luck has helped me grow professionally with success. My personal life's trials have been my teachers, molding my spirit with each lesson. My faith has been tested by the hands of fate. I shall not let this fog my brain and will remain optimistic.To those who have walked with me, I offer my deepest gratitude. Moving into the new year with the wisdom of the past, I hold fast to my hope for the future. 💪✨
2021-05-20, Wuhan (武汉):Dear Diary, Spring is over, but it will return. If it's dark now, the sun will rise again. Sometimes a walk alone in the dark can bring you into the light. When the fog of heartache, emotional pain, sadness, and misery clears away, you will look back and feel glad that it all happened the way it did. It made you a stronger person and was worth the time and effort. If you are facing such a difficult phase, don't react negatively, allow it to pass, sleep it off and wait for a bright sunny day to start fresh tomorrow. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Shanghai Yu Garden: Thriving with foreign tourists, Shanghai Yu Garden is a cultural gem nestled in the old Shanghai, showcasing over 400 years of Chinese elegance and heritage. Its meticulously landscaped gardens, adorned with traditional pavilions, winding pathways, and ponds, offer visitors a serene escape from the bustling urban landscape. Steeped in history, architectural marvels captivate with their intricate design. Beyond its scenic beauty, the garden's vibrant marketplace invites exploration of traditional Chinese handicrafts and culinary delights of local food and a chocolate museum. A stroll through its tranquil gardens, or immersing oneself in its bustling marketplace, the garden promises an unforgettable journey through time and tradition.
THE BANQUET OF LIFE: "Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don't stop it. It hasn't yet come? Don't burn in desire for it, but wait until it arrives in front of you. Act this way with children, a spouse, toward position, with wealth. one day it will make you worthy of a banquet with the gods."The next time you see something you want, remember Epictetus's metaphor of life's banquet. As you find yourself getting excited, ready to do anything and everything to get it-the equivalent of reaching across the table and grabbing a dish out of someone's hands一just remind yourself: that's bad manners and unnecessary. Then wait patiently for your turn. Enjoy the meal!
Happy Teachers Day。教师节日快乐Although I had a successful professional career as a trainer and management consultant, I am fairly new to the academic scene as a teacher. I decided to become a university professor because my academic success and positive attitude are attributable to my two high school teachers; who pushed me to be better, who saw my potential and assigned me homework from a higher grade textbook to challenge me and help me progress faster.We as teachers must cherish the fact that students look up to us. We can leave a lifelong impact on students' passion for learning and for them to become responsible citizens who give back to their community.
西安， Xi'an is home of the Terracotta Warriors constructed to accompany the tomb of China's First Emperor as an afterlife guard. Xi'an has a modern style with old City walls. It has been the capital over 13 imperial dynasties from about 3,000 to 1,000 years ago. It has a long and storied history, which is how it came to be called the fountainhead of civilization for China. The city centre revolves around the Muslim quarter and the famous Muslim food street, which is always crowded with hustle, bustle and a wide variety of delicacies. It was like a "designer wear fashion show" to watch the colorful and stylish scarves of Chinese muslim women (photo#9). I have been to Xi'an 3 times and would love to go again.
昆山，周庄（在苏州) Kunshan, SuzhouThe ancient town of Kunshan is the Venice of China! With beautiful canals and boat rides, the town becomes alive at night with youthful colors and creative lighting. The experience of living in a room that has a balcony opening onto the canal with boats is fascinating, the first photo is the view from my balcony. I came here for a night, ended up staying 3 nights. There is alot to explore here. It takes a bus ride of an hour and a half from Suzhou south railway station to reach here. The last bus leaves at 7 p.m. so you must book your train tickets such that you arrive before 7.
青海湖, 西宁 (Qinghai Lake, Xining)Qinghai lake, a UNESCO world heritage site, is the largest lake in China. Earlier known as Kuku nor, its water used to flow into the Yellow River until 210,000 years ago; then it transformed from a fresh water lake into a Saline lake.It has a breathtaking range of landscapes — wetlands, grasslands, snow-capped mountains, and deserts! In summer and autumn, the lake is decorated with golden clothing, as tens of thousands of hectares of rape flowers spread out around it.Several minority tribes and herdsman families live beside the Lake. You can feel the strong nomadic ethnic culture there. There are ethnic festivals of Tibetans and Muslims during the warm weather.
成都 ChengduChengdu is the home of Giant Pandas, the superstars of this city. Chengdu Panda Base is the world's largest of its kind.The earliest form of Paper money in the world (Jiaozi) was created in Chengdu, used in the Northern Song Dynasty over 1,000 years ago. If you want to taste the spiciest food in China, it must be the Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu, including spicy hot pot, peppery chicken, mapo tofu, and kung pao chicken.Sichuan Province has always enjoyed the reputation of being a “Heavenly Land of Plenty”. The largest building in China – the New Century Global Center – is located in Chengdu. If you come to Chengdu, you must watch the Opera show in the ancient street near Tianfu Square, performed by the man of many faces!
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” -T.S EliotJobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul. Travel and adventure make you a better person. Sometimes you travel far away only to find yourself. Whatever place you visit becomes a part of you somehow. However, I prefer traveling alone, you have more freedom. I read somewhere, “The man who goes alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.”So, do the things you have never done before, visit the places you have dreamt about! Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
When he looked into her eyes, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke — the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love.Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. Because when you know the language, it’s easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it’s in the middle of the desert or in some great city.(The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho)
POSITIVE ATTITUDE by Charles SwindollThis may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my success, my failures, fame or pain, what other people think or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude is that "single string" that keeps me going or hinders my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme.
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