Posts Tagged ‘opinion’

A day of remembrance

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
11 September 2012
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I can hardly believe it’s been 11 years. I remember how painful it was the first few years, since I had to move away to California not long after the attacks.  I left behind all my friends in New York, though my heart was still out there.  The first two years, I completely decked out in every patriotic thing I had – a Cat in the Hat felt hat, a t-shirt with stars and stripes, even flip flops with the American flag.  Oh, and don’t forget the various pins I had in red, white, and blue (some shaped like flags, some like stars).  I proudly walked around my West Coast high school, never forgetting my old East Coast life.

Over the years, I felt more and more like a Californian and my connection to New York faded slowly.  I think it was about the 6th anniversary that I no longer felt the extreme sadness that I had in years before.  Instead it had evolved to a certain type of solemnness.  And while that day is still burned in my memory (the shock on my math teacher’s face as the principal told her what happened and the time it took for us students to fully grasp what it all meant), a lot of healing has occurred in the time since.  Now I can look back without bursting into tears… though don’t get me wrong, I still feel them welling up.

We are still seeing the consequences of what those terrorists did and hopefully we can finally stop this war and find some peace again.  In the mean time, we should all find some time in our lives to honor all those who sacrificed, especially on this day each year.  Memories may fade and feelings may dull, but let us never forget the lessons of yesteryear.

Air pollutants

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
25 August 2012
0

I remember when I was a kid, flying was a great way to admire the beauty of the world.  I adored looking out the window as landscapes passed us by (well, more like we passed them :-P).  It was so peaceful and gorgeous!  Now whenever I fly, I’m reminded of the massive change that has happened over the past two decades.  I look outside the window of the plane and see a hazy horizon.  It’s like I can see the heat rising from the earth.  Gone are those pollutant-free views of centuries past.

I don’t recall ever noticing air pollutants when I was young, except in certain parts of the Midwest where it was so hot the air couldn’t be clear and crisp.  Lately it’s become apparent that those childhood memories of looking clearly into the horizon were either far rosier than reality or the world’s atmosphere has really changed that much.  Back then, it was literally “as far as the eye could see” without all this smog or haze or whatever.  High up in the air, it was a treat to look down at our planet and enjoy its natural beauty.

In China, it’s even worse.  It feels like there’s a thick blanket of blurriness hanging over everything and sometimes it’s bad enough to be noticeable from the ground too.  At 30,000 feet I can barely make out what’s below us at times.  In fact, even on the ground taking a train ride made me wonder if the winters had always been so dreary.  I can pretty confidently say that that’s not the case – we as humans have just managed to cover our world with pollutants, haven’t we?

hazy view of ground below from airplane

Case in point: you can barely make out the winding path and rolling hills below.

I think I’d find it depressing if I was a pilot, having to watch as year after year the sky got murkier.  But then again, if you saw the gradual change, maybe you’d get used to it and not even tend to notice the way that I have after years of not flying much.  Still, it’s sad that things have gotten to this point and I hope that the future brings initiatives to restore the beautifully clear skies that I once enjoyed.

Customer disregard

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
13 August 2012
0

guy with face in palms looking down in frustrated pose

photo credit: zachklein


You know what really irks me?  Companies that don’t care about being good.  This usually exhibits itself in two main ways: poor/non-existent customer service and dishonest (or not-so-honest) sales/marketing.  Unfortunately I came across both in one day, and found myself quite perturbed at the state that businesses are in.  Why is it the case that those providing outstanding service, great value, and by all accounts “do things right” are so few and far between?  Why is it that as a consumer and customer, I tend to expect that my voice won’t get heard?  I guess that’s why I love small businesses and start-ups, since they do tend to listen and care who I am and what I want.

It started when I came across an issue with Yahoo Mail and wanted to contact their customer service to request a feature be added.  After sending me on a wild goose chase of automated answers and browsing through their community forum, I reached a dead end that didn’t even allow me to email their service department (if they even have one!).  That’s like spending half an hour on the phone going through a tedious menu with robot voices only to get hung up on in the end.  Why waste my time?! Ugh, I was so completely disappointed in Yahoo at that point and almost didn’t even care if I could contact them anymore.  Here I am trying to help them make their service better and I feel like I’m yelling into an abyss with nobody within miles.

yahoo help dead end - only option go to community forum

The only option?! What about a contact form for YOU, Yahoo?!

Then a couple hours later, I got a phone call from a guy who started talking about setting up a consulting appointment for me.  Excuse me – what??  First of all, what consulting?  I never asked for any sort of consulting service and I certainly don’t have money to spend on that.  Second of all, who are you to offer me consulting?  Then when I asked him what this was about he answered: “Your website” to which I asked, “Which one?”  There was a pause of confusion before he was able to look it up I guess – terrible service.  You’re calling me about my business and you don’t even know the name of it?  Great.  Maybe you should get to know me before you assume you know what I want/need.  So anyway, I hated how he went ahead and assumed I had already agreed to this and just needed to set up a time to discuss details with a consultant.  That sort of sales tactic is too pushy and frankly, dishonest.

I then requested to be removed from whatever list they had me on and the guy basically ignored me, talking on about some other part of his sales pitch or something.  When I repeated myself, he told me there was no need to be testy.  Oh boy!  He hadn’t seen testy yet!  I retorted that I wasn’t being testy YET and made sure he confirmed that he’d take me out of their database before ending the call.  It was so frustrating to deal with him and his annoying assumptions that he could just bulldoze over me and get me to set up an appointment when I knew nothing about his company AND didn’t even want to change my site anyway.

Whew, so now that that’s off my chest, I vow to always strive to provide value, excellent customer service, and honest marketing.  I want my business dealings to engage customers, not drive them away.  I’d rather stay a smaller operation that really takes care of it customers than expand into a multi-national conglomerate that forgets about the little people.  And I hope that I never forget to listen to the customers, pay attention to what they’re telling me, and ensure that they are being taken care of as responsibly as possible.  Nobody should ever feel voiceless against my business.  In fact, I’d love it if we built a community around us, where we’re all like family and everybody contributes to the whole experience.  That’s my dream for my own companies.

Yuzen: my first subscription box!

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , ,
03 August 2012
8

I’m beyond thrilled that I finally got a package today!  Exactly one month ago, I first got into this whole subscription craze and ordered the anniversary special from blissmobox.  Unfortunately, that meant that I’d have to wait until early to mid-August to get my first shipment (and I have been waiting rather impatiently).  Luckily, a few days ago I came across Yuzen when I was checking up on one of the blogs I follow.  Everything about this brand appealed to me – the name, the aesthetics, the eco-friendliness of their choices, even their messaging!  I tried really hard to resist, but honestly I couldn’t.  When I caved, I decided that I wanted this to be a special gift from my boyfriend (haha :-P).  So, I brought it up to him and spent some time convincing him.  I’m an extremely persuasive person, so of course I got my way and he put in the order to get this box indefinitely – yippee!

I feel really fortunate that they still had July boxes available and the very next day, my package was sent out!  Now it’s a mere three days later and I got a wonderful surprise at my front door.  🙂  It’s a good thing that a thunderstorm came rolling by, since I only discovered the package when I went to bring in the chairs from outside.  Either the post lady didn’t ring the doorbell, or all three of us in the house missed it.  Anyway, I’ll stop babbling so much and share some pictures, which I was very obsessive about taking.  I meticulously documented just about every single move I made.  Another day I’ll go into why I instantly loved Yuzen so much.  Today it’s all about joy and happiness and fulfillment and excitement and… ok ok, on with it:

collage of yuzen july box from arrival on doorstep to opening of box

They make it so beautiful! The experience of opening the box is worth savoring.

Upon opening the box, a fantastic scent wafted up – I nearly rushed through the opening process to get to it, but I took a deep breath instead.  After all, this is all about bringing a little zen (and happiness) to my day, so why not take it slowly and truly appreciate every little thing?  The inside card includes a lovely message from founders Jen & Ted about the wonders of summer, which inspired July’s theme of “bringing joy, discovery and a celebration for the senses.”  They sure did accomplish that!  I also got a wonderful surprise when I saw the note from Panda (the boyfriend): “This is for my Panda Bear: a monthly commitment to a happy relationship.”  Yay!  <3

collage of yuzen july box including ribbon, yuzen paper, and info card

I can’t wait to re-purpose the decorations, especially the Yuzen paper (which I will turn into origami jewelry to be sold at Panda Loves)!  When you open up the card, there’s information on each of the brands included in the box, as well as why they chose it.  I definitely appreciate this information and soaked it all in.

collage of yuzen july box taken apart layer by layer until all products visible

I carefully took the products out item by item until I found them all.  There are Lotus Wei flower essence mists to help you connect with your inner beauty, a Primavera facial scrub to renew your skin, some Himala Salt for a pure addition to your meals, Teatulia teas to enjoy an organic & healthy beverage, a People Towels hand towel to save the world from paper towels, and Kopali Organics mulberries as a superfood snack.  I absolutely love these products; what a great selection from Yuzen!  I’ll reserve my opinions on the products for some other posts before this one gets too long.  Excuse me while I go try them all!  🙂

Fashion-un-ista

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
30 July 2012
0

Fashion and I have an awkward relationship.  I’ve never really felt like I was a fashionable person, or that I understood fashion, or even liked it.  I probably own some things that can be considered fashionable (or at least it was in its prime), but I certainly didn’t pick them out because I knew they were.  Most of my clothes fall into the categories of tacky, practical, free, and/or branded.  I’m a sucker for a free t-shirt or a UCLA-branded anything.  I also totally bought into the various groups I was part of – swim team, track team, JROTC, and other student groups – each of which had its own set of clothes that you could buy to show your association.

I tend to get the most “normal” clothes I can find at places like Charlotte Russe, Forever 21, and Kohl’s.  I don’t go for the stuff that makes me look indie or hip or preppy or whatever.  I don’t connect with those identities, so I don’t really buy clothes that would make me feel that way.  I’m also not into fashion brands of any sort and probably can’t identify most of them.  I saw a place called Bottega something by Rodeo Dr and I thought it was Bottega Louie, a restaurant I’m particularly fond of.  The only Coach or Louis Vuitton stores I’ve been to were in Vegas and they made me highly uncomfortable (who likes to shop with security guards staring?).

header image from tse parfait blog

Case in point: Tse Parfait blog. Full of creative partial shots and TONS of fashionable stuff that confuse me.


Yet, when I see people dressed so fashionably and taking cool pictures with their DSLRs or using Instagram, I kind of wish I had that sort of inspiration.  I am creative in many ways, but not with my clothes, accessories, and makeup.  In fact, I don’t even wear makeup and I rarely wear more than plain stud earrings.  I thought of this because I recently came across a bunch of blogs, all of which seem to have the same themes: fashion, photography, food (and a combination thereof).  These people take such creative pictures, or vivid ones, or just plain beautiful ones.  They’re the kind of people I’d expect to find at a lomography store, with thick frame glasses and really cool bangs and skinny jeans.

I don’t want to look like them, but I wish I had that kind of skill with a camera.  They have this ability to take pictures of parts of things and then piece them into a collage for a stunning masterpiece.  They turn Instagram into their personal playtoy and pump out all kinds of cool images.  Meanwhile, I’ve avoided using Instagram because it’s too overwhelming for me to decide how to take a picture and then filter it.  My pictures are practical – they show you exactly what I thought was interesting, but not really in an interesting way.  So I guess this isn’t so much about how disconnected I feel with fashion, but more about the creativity I associate with fashionable people and how they all seem to be pros with a fancy cam.  Photography is one thing I plan on learning more about, and while I plan on taking a class one day, I don’t know if I’ll ever be as innovative as the fashionistas out there.

Desserts first

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
25 July 2012
0

holding a pineapple-flavored ice cream cone at the dole plantation in hawaiiBack in high school, my best friends and I fancied ourselves famous (at least to the Olive Garden waiters) for being the “desserts first” type of people.  Every time we got together for a meal at Olive Garden, we’d insist on our dessert item as the appetizer.  We usually got a very confused and momentarily dumbfounded waiter who’d check with us: “Are you sure you want to have the dessert come out first?”  We’d confidently confirm our choice and eagerly await the sweet treat.  To a certain extent we did it to be rebels, but it was also a way of doing what we wanted instead of what was expected.

Over the years, I haven’t gotten the chance to continue this tradition, much to my dismay.  I always start a meal saying I’ll get dessert only to get halfway through the entree and be too full to continue.  Luckily, at most places they have desserts that I can just eat at home for cheaper anyway so I don’t feel like I missed out on too much.  Instead, I happily stock up on loads of sugar-laden snacks at home to satisfy my unwavering sweet tooth.  In fact, I have so much junk food at home that it often becomes my meal.  I have a bad habit of forgetting lunch these days, or grabbing an ice cream bar in lieu of something more filling/less sugary.

Really what it comes down to is enjoying what I like.  Why do I need to go through a ritual of drinks, appetizers, and entree before I can get to my dessert?  There shouldn’t be obstacles in my way for such a simple goal.  In many ways, this little choice speaks volumes to my own life philosophy.  I believe in being able to enjoy what you want and not having to hold back because the world told you so.  As long as it’s not irresponsible, I don’t see the harm in having my cake first or buying that item I like or treating myself to a massage.  And so I do eat, buy, and experience what matters to me.  Don’t get me wrong though – I exhibit a lot of self-control when it comes to making these decisions!  I don’t jump at every opportunity to do what I want; I make sure to weigh the pros and cons extensively before diving in.

Curated craze

laelene Posted in general blog, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , , , ,
09 July 2012
3

I subscribe to a random smattering of newsletters and daily deal sites, one of which is blissmo.  Earlier in the week, I got an email with a special offer that piqued my interest – sign up for a blissmobox membership and get a special edition box free!  I’ve been aware of these subscription-based programs that offer a box of curated goods each month, but I had never gotten into them.  However, after looking into blissmoboxes, I felt that for $19/box (or just $17.54 if you count the bonus one too) it was worth a shot.  After all, I’m a sucker for trying new products and what better way than to let the people of blissmo pick out some eco-friendly ones for me?

This experience got me thinking about this whole “curated” trend that’s been going around.  From daily deals that are curated by experts to monthly themed boxes curated by the team at a company, options are popping up everywhere.  You can go for environmentally-friendly products like I did, or choose from food only, beauty products, fashion, and countless other angles.  I won’t talk about daily deals today, since this whole monthly box thing is my newest interest.  I love the idea because you get introduced to a bunch of cool new products without having to scour the aisles yourself.  Plus, who doesn’t enjoy receiving a package?

While looking into what the latest blissmobox contained, I discovered a blogger who reviewed a bunch of these services.  I’m pretty baffled by how many she subscribes to, but if you cut out shopping in stores and buying snacks yourself, I can see how it wouldn’t cost too much more to exclusively use these subscriptions.  There’s definitely a strong appeal to getting on this trend, whether it’s purely because you like to receive packages or you’re actually looking to sample a variety of products to help you choose what to use in your daily life.  In fact, I almost convinced myself that it wouldn’t be so bad if I subscribed to just one more…

I remember when I got a mystery gift bag from Burt’s Bees; it was really exciting to open it up and discover what they had put in there for me.  Similarly, one of the perks of being involved with Opportunity Green is the chance to score some pretty awesome swag.  It’s just so satisfying to get a bag of stuff!  Emotionally, it can be very satisfying to sign up for one these curated boxes.  On the other hand, to a certain extent it can make sense practically as well, since you often see products that you aren’t sure about and wish you could try.  This way, you get a bunch that have been test driven by people at the company providing the boxes, so generally you can expect a pretty good product. You can then test them out yourself to figure out if it’s something you’d continue to use.  There’s also the fun factor of not knowing what you’ll get.  Most people enjoy a little bit of mystery and surprise to spice things up!

I personally can’t wait to get my first blissmobox and start experiencing this craze.  I’ll be sure to post up what I get in each box as they come!

The business of partnerships

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
01 July 2012
0

I’m a strong proponent of business partnerships – not in the legal sense (LLCs seem much safer), but definitely in the collaboration, motivation, teamwork, and synergy sense.  I think it was sometime in college, when I was thinking more seriously about a future as an entrepreneur that I got this idea in my head.  Was it from articles I read?  Companies I looked into?  Other media influences?  I can’t remember now.  All I know is that I soon formed an opinion that the best way for me to find success in business was by pursuing ventures with a partner.  Maybe I’d have a different partner for each project, or one who I could do multiple ones with.  Maybe it’d be a man or a woman.  That much didn’t matter insomuch as 1) we both worked hard toward a common goal, 2) we had similar values, and 3) we had complementary skills.

Once I got this idea in my head, I kept a watchful eye out.  At professional events, at social events, and even during chance encounters.  I met a lot of interesting, smart, driven people throughout my years in college, but none meshed with me the way I wanted my business partner to.  I was always thinking in the back of my head, “Is this person someone I could build a working partnership with?”  Sadly, the answer was always no.  Usually it was because we didn’t share the same interests – they didn’t want to go into the same industries I did, or they didn’t have the entrepreneurial drive that I did.  Sometimes other factors came into play, like clashes in personality.  I thought I might have a chance when I went to work in Singapore, but that fell apart before we ever got going.

After years of dreaming, I decided it was time to address the real life issues I had to face.  I got a normal job at an established company and settled into an average workweek.  Luckily, the company was small, young, and still had a start-up vibe.  I had a lot to learn and got plenty of responsibility.  Over the next two years, I learned a lot and experienced a lot of change at the company!  Things were pretty stable and I was getting antsy.  That entrepreneurial bug came back to bite me and it was an itch that I needed to scratch.  I had a business idea that I felt was worth pursuing and finally, finally, I had met a business partner!  After six long years of searching, it kind of just fell in my lap and I was not about to let it go.  Oh, life.  😛  Well, now that I saw the opportunity, I went for it.  I felt confident that within a couple of months (ok, maybe a year), we could make it work.

Ultimately, I don’t know if I would have pursued my own venture if I didn’t have a partner to collaborate with.  Even in some of my personal side projects, my mom is my proponent and unofficial business partner.  Even if I do the majority of the work, I feel so much more confident when there is someone else there, whether as an equal partner or more of a supporting role.  I’ve even gotten so much self-belief that I’m looking into pursuing some of my own little side gigs!  As they say, nobody succeeds on their own, and I am so grateful to the support network that I have behind me.  While partnerships may not be the optimal approach for everyone, it is for me and I think it’s worth considering no matter who you are.

Idleness

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
09 June 2012
1

In this day and age, idleness is often seen as the enemy. We push forward at breakneck speeds and look down on people who aren’t insanely busy. “Oh, they must be lazy,” we think, passing judgement on their life. It’s pretty crazy when people feel proud that they’re sleep-deprived or brag about the long hours of hard work they put in.

Somehow being overworked and over-stretched is regarded as being more productive. Rather than balancing our lives, work (including schoolwork) tends to take over. I know this feeling – I’ve studied all through the night and stayed way past dinnertime at work. Both of these situations made me feel like I was working “hard enough” and anything less made me question my dedication, drive, or industriousness. If I didn’t work hard enough, I felt like people would judge me.

Now that I am working on my own ventures, I constantly struggle with self-judgement. Am I ever working hard enough? Should I be sleeping less? Should I be more stressed? While I’m at home letting the hours go by as I sit in front of my laptop, others are doing the daily grind. Wake up early, drive to work half asleep, zombie through the morning, grab a quick lunch, struggle through the afternoon, finally call it a day, drive home in rush hour, chomp down some dinner, take care of personal chores, and crash before it’s too late to get a decent night’s sleep.

Meanwhile, here I am sleeping whenever I get tired, waking whenever my body says so, and lounging around all day snacking and spending time online. Am I wasting my days away? Do I need more structure? It’s hard to say. Based on societal norms, yes, I should be busier. But who’s to say that those norms aren’t horribly skewed?

After all, being idle has many benefits:
1. You get a chance to recoup so you can be more, next time
2. It’s better for your creativity and allows space for free-flowing thoughts
3. You finally start to notice the world around you (and hopefully appreciate it too)

People meditate or go on retreats for these very reasons. I really think a certain amount of idleness in our lives can really enhance our quality of life. It’s the whole “stop and smell the roses” concept and it’s good for your health too. Why should a bit of peace in our lives be a coveted gem instead of an accepted norm?

As for me, I’m still looking for a better balance between nothing and too much something. The difficult part is differentiating what is work and what is not. Much of what I do is of personal interest, but enhances my knowledge and ability to improve on the businesses too. It doesn’t feel like work, so I often forget to count it. I’m just fortunate to have this kind of flexibility to adjust my workload if I do find it to be too much or too little. If only the American culture didn’t emphasize work-work-work-stress-work so much. Maybe we’d be a happier bunch.

Why I wear dresses

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
06 June 2012
4

I’m not a “girly girl” and am generally pretty low-maintenance.  You’ll usually find me lounging around in soft, loose clothing.  I don’t do my hair, makeup, or whatever else most women seem to do ritualistically every morning.  I much prefer to get extra sleep than to spend hours primping myself.  So, I guess it is because of this that my friends find it particularly shocking when I go out in a dress.  I don’t think this is a big deal, but apparently dresses look more dressed up.  The real reason I wear dresses is actually due to convenience/laziness.

You see, getting dressed couldn’t possibly be easier than throwing on a dress.  Once again, I opt for comfortable ones that are usually soft (sometimes silky too) and loose.  I mean, I don’t go around in moo-moos, but I get ones that offer free range of motion.  Whenever I need to throw something on and I can’t figure out if I should wear this shirt or those jeans, it’s easy to turn to a dress!  After all, it’s only one item to worry about as compared to two and there certainly is no concern about whether it “matches” or whatever.  Plus, there is no waistline to constrict you if you eat a little too much.  😉

I’m surprised that dresses are considered fancier than shirts and pants, if only because they offer casual wearing options without the fuss of mixing and matching.  I guess part of it is because they are classified as feminine garments and part of it is because they tend to have fancier designs.  Still, with a simple black cotton dress that has absolutely no frills, I still get comments and questions about how dressed up I am.  When my friends see me in a dress, they can’t help but wonder if there is some sort of special event I am attending.

Well, I’m here to set the record straight.  While I do wear dresses to special occasions, usually I just do it because it requires less thinking to throw on a one-piece and walk out the door than to try to figure out which shade of jeans goes with which color/design of shirt.  That’s all it is!

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