Touching quotes from Tuesdays with Morrie

I had wanted to write about this book for a very long time, but the last time I read it was around 15 years ago. Time really flies.

I recalled feeling very touched and inspired after reading this, and bought ten copies on a whim to gift to people. (At the time, it was only $9.99. Now, the prices have more than doubled. *sniff* Inflation sucks!)

Anyhow, today, I finally finished rereading the book. Now that it’s fresh on my mind, I’ve written down a few quotes I personally found very touching from the story.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a real-life story about an old man dying from ALS. Morrie shares his life lessons with his student, Mitch, who is the author of this book. It’s a very genuine story that really makes you ponder on life. Here are a few quotes from the novel that evoked a lot of emotions in me:

 

“Well, Ted, one day soon, someone’s gonna have to wipe my ass.”

Mitch was very accepting of his condition and knew he was dying. But this was one thing he dreaded the most. Because when you need someone to wipe your ass, you no longer have the ability to take care of yourself. It is such a sad realization. Society also makes us feel very ashamed.

Despite so, Morrie was grateful he had the time and mental state to say goodbye to those he loved.

 

“I traded a lot of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it.”

This is also so sad. I think most of us would choose a bigger paycheck over our dreams. Sometimes, we just need that stability in order to survive or maintain our quality of life. It’s really hard to find a balance.

I just hope that we can still dream a bit, and chase some of our passions even if it doesn’t pay.

 

“Everyone knows they’re going to die, but no one believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.”

Death seems to be something that’s so far away. For those of us who are in our 20s or 30s, we probably think we still have several decades left; perhaps working another thirty years or so before even thinking of retirement. But who knows when life will end?

I don’t want to regret, so I’m going to do the things I want to do now before it’s too late.

 

“This is part of what a family is about, not just love, but letting others know there’s someone who is watching out for them. It’s what I missed so much when my mother died –what I call your ‘spiritual security’ –knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame.”

Knowing that there’s someone watching out for me is very comforting. I’m really lucky both my parents are still around. Although the generation/cultural gap makes it very tough sometimes, I am grateful for everything they’ve done for me.

I’m learning to cherish and forgive. Continue reading “Touching quotes from Tuesdays with Morrie”

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Beware of Online Love + Crypto Scam. Personal experience included!

I was going to write this post several months ago, but I got lazy. But this issue happens too often, so I believe that it’s important for me to write a post about it to warn you all.

Nowadays, the younger generation spends most of their time online and on the phone. It isn’t uncommon for people to have various apps to stay in touch with friends, family, and even to meet strangers/potential love interests.

However, because you may be exposing yourself to the “world”, you really need to be careful. Sometimes, you’re not even actively searching, but they will find you.

For example, I received a random text from this dude who messaged me on Whatsapp a few months ago.

Translation:

Guy: Hi, Gwen. Nice to meet you. Auntie Wang gave me your phone number.

Me: Hi. My name is Grace. Who is Auntie Wang?

Guy: Auntie Wang said she already told you about me. Aren’t you Gwen? I have already messed up once. *angry face*

Me: You found the wrong person. I don’t know any Auntie Wang.

Guy: Forget it. I won’t keep searching. I’ll tell Auntie Wang I’ve found you. Nice to meet you, Grace. My name is Louis. Oh wait, you know Chinese?

This guy is clearly a scammer. First of all, I don’t know any Auntie Wang. And let’s say this “Auntie Wang” did exist, why the heck would she introduce me to someone that doesn’t even LIVE in Toronto? The phone number was from the U.S. And this person sounded surprised I know Chinese. Does he think I’m stupid? He is getting “introduced” to someone without knowing that person actually knows Chinese, but he messages me in Chinese?

Omg. I got so mad that I blocked him after a few more back and forth. I wanted to know how he would try to scam me, but it’s not worth my time.

And it’s also quite obvious he stole the picture of a random handsome “western” looking guy and is pretending to be him. I don’t know how he got my phone number, but I know of a few people who’ve also received messages from random strangers on Wechat and Whatsapp. My guy friend got a message from someone who claims she’s from Hong Kong. He told her she got the wrong person, but she kept talking and started talking about investing and etc. BEWARE. Continue reading “Beware of Online Love + Crypto Scam. Personal experience included!”

What would it take for me to play Squid Game?

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own discretion.

I’ve been seeing memes and videos of people talking about Squid Game everywhere. When I found out it was only nine episodes, I decided to give it a try. Personally, this is not the type of show I’d watch. I’m afraid of violence, loud noises, blood, death, suicide, and basically everything remotely scary. But I was curious, and I wanted to see who would win the money in the end, and how they would ultimately become the winner.

In Squid Game, a man approaches desperate people and asks them to play a game with him. If they win, they would receive $100,000 won (the Korean currency). If they lose, they would have to pay him $100,000 won or be slapped. Those who played the game eventually won some money, and they were given a card in which they could sign up to participate if they were interested.

However, the players really had no idea what they were getting themselves into. When they entered the vehicle, they were knocked out by gas chemicals. By the time they woke up, they were dressed in a numbered outfit and had all their belongings taken away. In addition, all the people working there were dressed in these hot pink suits with either a triangle, square, or circle mask over their faces. Some of them carried guns in their hands. There was one man in a black mask that appeared to have the most power. Anyhow, it wasn’t until during the first game that the players realize that losing would mean death. They were all freaked out and were given a chance to leave if the majority voted to do so.

Despite being “freed”, most of them decided to return to continue the games when given another chance. They knew they were gambling their lives, but they still chose to do it for the prize.

I thought the series did a very good job in the episode where a few of the gangsters butted in line to get seconds, while those who lined up and followed the rules didn’t get any. It was so cruel, but it also made sense. There are limited resources. The weaker players would either die because they fail in the games, or they would be killed by the other players. The game actually encourages people to get rid of each other, since each death would result in more money to the pot.

To stay alive, the players had to stick or work together. But eventually, they also had to turn on each other. Humans are ultimately selfish. Even though the main character was a super good guy, he still took advantage of the old man’s memory when he was about to lose. He knew only one of them would live, and he would rather sacrifice his partner, regardless of their close bond. Continue reading “What would it take for me to play Squid Game?”

Nine ways to retire early and achieve financial freedom

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could quit your job and not have to worry about paying your bills?

Even if you enjoy what you do, I think it’s fair to say that having the option to quit whenever you want while maintaining the same standard of living would be awesome.

But how?

I have come up with a list of nine ways.

  1. Earn more

There are multiple ways you can earn more money. For instance:

  • Work more hours. If people usually work 40 hours a week, you could try working 60 instead. However, there are only 24 hours in a day. There will be a limit on how much you can trade your time for money.
  • Have a high income skill. To be worth more in the workforce, you need to become a person that is harder to replace. It would be in your best interest to develop skills that make you more valuable. Ex. If you’re the only person that can fix X, then you will be compensated more. But if you were selling popcorn, they can easily hire someone else to do your job. (No offense to those selling popcorn)
  • Side hustle. This could be a business, being a social media influencer, your own personal project, and etc. Basically, it’s something that earns you additional income from your current job.
  1. Lower your costs

You can lower your costs by:

  • Finding a roommate/significant other to split the cost. Having two incomes to pay for expenses make it easier.
  • Moving to somewhere cheaper. If you are able to work online, perhaps you can move to another country where the cost of living is lower and your currency is worth more.
  • Spend less. Buy fewer things, eat less, and go out less.
  1. Use patreon/onlyfans and sell your own merchandise

This is tough. There are A LOT of content creators. Even if people watch you or consume your content, it doesn’t mean they will give you money or buy your merch. In fact, based on my own personal experience, only one in a hundred would donate/give monetary support.

However, this is a very good way to scale. You’re no longer trading time for money. For example, perhaps you spend 2 hours creating content for a tier, but you can have unlimited subscribers for that tier. This means, there is no cap on how much you can earn. Regardless if 100 or 1000 people subscribe to it, you only spent 2 hours.

Note: It is EXTREMELY difficult to get loyal followers who would pay for content. There’s also no guarantee how long they will support you for. Continue reading “Nine ways to retire early and achieve financial freedom”

Topics: Simu Liu, racist girl, and Minari

Hey guys!

I’m back with another blog post! I’m really on a roll these days, aren’t I? 😛 (Just kidding).

Recently, I went on another podcast! It’s called Asian Movie Club, and you can find it on spotify and other podcast platforms.

Asian Movie Club is a podcast that is hosted by my friends Kyle and Robin. They talk about film, music, pop culture and more.

They have just recently begun so I’m featured in episode 2! Please do give it a listen. It is quite mind-boggling.

We talked about Simu Liu deleting an old tweet of him calling out Mark Wahlberg on his racist assault towards two Vietnamese men back when he was 16.

Simu and Wahlberg are going to be co-stars on an upcoming film. Naturally, it made sense for him to remove it. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be super awkward if fans/haters bring it up? (They still brought it up anyway, but that’s beside the point)

Do you think it was wrong of Simu to have removed the tweet? What would you have done if you were his situation?

We also discussed about people being subconsciously racist. There was an incident where a girl had accidentally left her phone inside an Uber, but had assumed it was stolen. She targeted a black teenager who happened to be around her vicinity and accused him of stealing her phone. Continue reading “Topics: Simu Liu, racist girl, and Minari”

My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion

Lately, there has been an issue that has been bothering me and I would like to blog about it.

Ever since what happened on January 6th at the Capitol in the United States, Donald Trump has been banned from Twitter and I think every mainstream social media app out there (correct me if I’m wrong).

As the president of United States, I think he should not be able to say whatever he wants due to the effect his words may have on his followers. Actions have consequences, and those who have participated in violent acts should be punished.

Some of his supporters are so extreme that they would probably kill or die for Trump.

So, I thought limiting Trump’s access to Twitter was actually a pretty responsible thing to do.

I didn’t, however, expect him to be banned from everything. Furthermore, a super right winged conservative app, Parler, has also been taken down.

While I do understand, I do think it’s an issue that needs to be discussed.

There are extremists for everything. Does that mean all extremists should be banned? Or are we only focusing on right winged extremists? How about violent left winged extremists?

Now, I’m neither extreme left nor right, but I feel like nowadays, people can’t even have an opinion.

What if you’re just a non violent supporter of Trump? Or BLM? Or Communism? Or whatever you believe in!?!

If you state a political view, someone is going to be triggered. The more popular you are, the more backlashes you’ll receive from the other side.

Nowadays, people may be afraid to speak out their views because they want to avoid getting banned or losing access to their accounts. In more serious cases, they may even lose their jobs.

This is even worse if you have a following. Because that means you have impact and haters may just be waiting around the bush to strike. Continue reading “My views on censorship: we can’t have an opinion”

Luck

These days, I have been thinking a lot about luck.

I am currently reading a Korean novel called, “The Second Coming Of Gluttony” and it really inspired me to write this post.

In the novel, the main character, Seol Jihu, basically gets a second chance at life. He gets recruited and is given the Gold Mark in which he is given a lot of cheats.

The MC basically starts off with more money/items than the rest, and has an ability to see colours. Red signifies danger, orange – do not approach, yellow – take caution, green – safe (there are still more colours to be unlocked, I’m only 100+ chapters in).

However, as I keep reading, I really feel like it’s so unfair. Yes, he works and trains hard, but he had all these abilities/things that others didn’t. In my opinion, he already had a huge unfair advantage against everyone else.

Next, I thought about how all the MCs in dramas are usually rich guys who are already hot, those who already have power, status, and money. They don’t even have to do shit and all the women just flock to them. It is so unfair.

I can’t help but feel, “You’re just born lucky.”

Then, I thought about myself. How much of my accomplishments were based on my abilities alone? Am I just born lucky too?

I want to take credit and say I got to where I am with my hard work and persistence. But there are actually a lot of things that played a factor. For instance:

I mainly grew up in Canada, so English is the language that I studied in school. English happens to be an international language, which is used worldwide. This made it easier for my translations to get popular. Imagine if I had translated into Russian or something; most likely, only Russians would be able to understand. Continue reading “Luck”

What Kind of Asian Are You? Podcast. Featuring Me!

Hey readers!

I’m back with another post! This time, I’m featured in my friend Kyle’s podcast!

WHAT KIND OF ASIAN ARE YOU? PODCAST is a podcast featuring conversations with Diaspora Asians (third culture kids) about their life, stories and experiences.

Through conversations, Kyle looks to explore Diaspora Asians’ views on culture, identity, family, and more. His inspiration for the podcast comes from his observation of the lack of representation of Diaspora Asians in the media and his desire to help highlight, amplify, and validate Asian voices worldwide.

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In the podcast, I talk about my conflicting experience growing up with Chinese values as well as western values. I also talk about my childhood, my parents, my autoimmune disorder, my blogging journey, as well as how I got into the translation community.

Last but not least, I talk about my struggles and my purpose. Continue reading “What Kind of Asian Are You? Podcast. Featuring Me!”

My mini autobiography

Several days ago, I turned 32 and I feel like it’s time for another reflective post.

I have the tendency to think a lot; about my past, present and future. I think about my past mistakes, the choices I’ve made, and what I look forward to. I think about my dreams, goals, and purpose.

I think about why I do what I do, and why I am the way I am.

I think about how I can achieve what I want, faster.

I think about how I can make a lasting, positive impact.

I want to do so much.

It may sound crazy, but I want to be a legacy.

You may ask, how? By doing what?

I think, by using my words to impact others.

I want you to feel better, happier, more empowered after reading my blog posts and translations.

I want to share my experience and advice, and you to benefit from it. Knowing that I have the power to change someone’s behaviour makes me feel good.

I’ve come to realize that I need to live a life with meaning to be happy. For the first 23 years of my life, I basically followed exactly what my father had wanted me to do.

As a child, my only goal was to get good grades so I could get into university and then get a good, stable job.

I needed good grades. I was a “good” student, but at the same time, I wasn’t. I mean, I showed up to class and did all my homework. I tried to study and do well, but half the time I was daydreaming because it was so damn boring.

I tried to retain as much as I could, but I’m just not very academic. At least, it’s not easy for me. I have a slow brain, so it takes me a long time to understand something.

I had friends who could seamlessly get 90s without trying, while here I was, working hard and struggling to get an 80. So sad.

I knew school wasn’t really for me, but I still tried. In fact, I even got an award for perfect attendance. LOL, so lame. Who gives an award for that??? Continue reading “My mini autobiography”

The harsh reality of being a content creator

We are born in a generation where as long as you have the internet and a device (phone, laptop, video camera, etc), you can upload things online and share with the world. Depending on the person, there may be conflicting views on this. But we can’t deny the fact that the internet has created a lot more opportunities for people overall.

Today, I would like to blog about the harsh reality of being a content creator. Content creators are basically people who create content usually targeted towards a specific group of audience for their entertainment purposes.

Back then, most content creators started off as hobbyists. For example, when Youtube first became popular, most people were just posting random clips online. People never really thought of making money from it.

Eventually, people realized it was possible to make a living off Youtube. As long as you develop a huge following with lots of views, you can earn ad revenue!

So, people then started to make all sort of content in hopes of getting viral.

Maybe if they get popular enough, they could quit their jobs and pursue their dream career and do what they actually love!

While it sounds simple enough, reality is far from it.

In order to quit your job to pursue this type career, you must earn enough from your content so that it could replace your income. The problem is, most people do not want to pay for content.

Can you imagine if I charged you to read this? Chances are, you would just not read it. LOL

With so many other options, why would we pay for something that we could get free elsewhere?

Thus, if your dream is to become a content creator, you’re going to suffer A LOT. You’ll constantly be trying to get followers. Even if you have great and free content, you’re competing against countless of others and there is no guarantee people will watch/read/consume/follow. Continue reading “The harsh reality of being a content creator”