Stumbling into the Story

Hello everyone,

I had an interesting experience last night. My team won second place in a master chef competition. This is despite the fact that I'm really only well-versed in a few dishes, and can hardly be called a chef. It's a long story, and a fairly humorous one, that brought me to represent the Kowloon Queens. A normal Wednesday that I didn't expect to end with me in a three-piece suit, a checkered apron, and a medal.

Near the end of my Brand Management course, I received a message from a friend of mine. He wondered if I might be free. Long story short, a team needed a native English speaker, as theirs had quit last-minute. I agreed, and found myself mashing potatoes and bantering with audience members. I'm sure those of you who know me find it no surprise that I was feeling rather "in my element"; I love to present, and feel at my best when I'm generating excitement for a product or idea.

Well, it comes down to the judging, and I'm nervous. No one in the audience has spoken much about our dish, and I'm terrified that it didn't go over well. I should mention in advance that each team had to present a dish with a "theme". The theme was countries, and ours had been Japan. We ended up crafting a dish consisting of curry-mashed potatoes on potato chips, garlic bread with a red sauce (resembling the flag of Japan) over seaweed, and mochi milk tea.

I was stunned when we surpassed the audience favorite, team Chicken Wing (who had a fantastic nacho-based dish with amazing sauce) and team Michelin Stars (France, they had a cheesecake dessert) to place second overall! The judges apparently admired our dish (which was quite delicious) and our pleasant demeanor.

The lesson I learned is a simple one, but often overlooked: opportunity comes to those who jump at it. Some of the greatest successes in history were simply doing the right thing at the right place at the right time. But the right place and the right time don't come to you. Dive in! Go on an adventure! Networking is not, as so many places teach, the act of exchanging Facebook information with people at an event. It's sharing experiences. It's building friendships. It's demonstrating, consistently, that people should think of you when they want to accomplish something.

My time in Hong Kong is nearly coming to a close. I've been thinking about what to do with this blog when I return. Though I'm demonstrably terrible at maintaining it with consistently, I've rather enjoyed the act of blogging, and I may continue. I suppose I'll be in the market for a new name, however.

Have a wonderful evening, dear readers. And thank you for all your support.

Rising Star

Good afternoon, my friends. I deeply apologize for my silence. It has been very quiet here, and I've found myself without much to say. A large majority of that is my own fault; I decided not to travel for the Easter holiday for a variety of reasons. Still, there's much I could be seeking out, and I will do my best to acquire more experiences that might merit an update.

Yesterday night, I performed in a short film and two music videos. I'm not sure if I mentioned previously that I've been cast as the male lead for a student film. It's a part I gained through a local friend of mine in my Brand Management class. As many of you know, I'm at my best when I'm helping someone, so I was more than delighted to take the role. The young student director apparently regards my acting ability highly, as she recommended me to a classmate who needed actors for his film projects. 

Through this game of networking, I found myself wearing a doctor costume and putting things into a McDonald's bag on film yesterday. While that might sound like something out of the Craigslist personals section, I found the role pretty interesting, and remained for the full six hours it took to film that scene, as well as two other videos (a fairly shot-for-shot redo of the ABBA song "Money Money Money", and a one-scene video of "Dancing Queen" by the same, in which I danced with a guitar). 

I've never really "done" any theatre work prior. A little sketch comedy in my teenage years (primarily writing, but a few turns on stage), and a brief time at my school's short-lived improv comedy club, but no real acting experience. Despite this shortcoming, I've apparently satisfied the standards of the local students on the film track.

I'd like to take a moment to mention how very advanced the facilities on campus appear to be, in comparison to what I've seen. I don't claim to know how well-equipped the recording facilities are at my home university, but HKBU's equipment seems to be excellent. A full recording studio, adjustable lighting, camera equipment, the works. I remember hearing that this university is considered highly for film students, but it's always nice to see a school that invests heavily in its students above all else.

I suppose the lessons I learned from this experience are two-fold. One, Hong Kong doesn't sleep. We were in the studio from 7:45PM- 1:45 AM, and there still people actively hustling and bustling around the facilities when we departed. Second, I don't ever intend to become an actor, but I've found that the skills needed to be an actor are not entirely dissimilar from those needed to succeed in business. Confidence is key, as it so often is, and being able to accept criticism is a skill I'm glad I've learned over the years. While I might have preferred a nice beach in Taiwan or to have seen the elephants in Thailand (which, as Facebook is so keen to inform me, many of my friends are doing), I'm glad I stuck around to be part of this experience.