Sudden Bend X Upward Trend: When September Ends: ….

still having quite some

hectic workloads in front of me

yet insisting to finish this post

before the clock hits 12

 

September has been

neither hitting a new high like Aug

nor trapped in gap days like July

 

in other words

it has been smooth sailing

despite a minor incident which

landed me quite frustrated

Sickly X Raining: Frustrating!

 

towards the end of the month

not doing too bad but

things were pretty slow

that is quite an alarm for me

if everything is pretty slow

all the way…

 

October is going to be tough as

I am officially taking

2nd half of the month off for

“work and travel”

 

I spent my time

blogging and doing travel research

at “office hours”

until yesterday afternoon

 

got two projects of moderate volume

and one of minor volume

juggling among 3

I stayed up until 2am

 

and today

after submitting the minor project

settled to work on the other 2

deadlines are respectively in

1 and 2 days time

manageable.. I guess

 

got another minor project

and another two massive one

and then another minor one

coming in around 7 something

 

great..

that would be 1, 2, 3…

I better create a chart then

that’s helpful for me too, isn’t it

 

my project list as of

11pm/Wed/Sep 30, 2015

	Industry	Due date	Volume	Progress
Press release	Housing	9am, Thu	Small	Done, waiting to be review
Survey	Devices	pm, Thu	Medium	Done, waiting to be review
Exhibition material	Textile	am, Fri	Medium	Pre-research
Survey	Banking	EOD, Fri	Small-Med	Zero
Survey responses	Ad for a Mobile Device	am, Mon	Large	Glance through..
Court papers	Legal	next Thu	Large	Glance through…

 

still quite manageable I guess

I love the feeling knowing that

I will be all occupied until

end of the week and even further

 

that’s pretty much the

sense of insecurity I suffer

as a freelance

whenever I have nothing in hand

 

another good news

guess what

today is the last day of September

since all the projects will be

delivered in October

they contribute to my sales in Oct

make sense, right?

 

in other words

I have actually hit

the monthly minimum target

for October even before the month started

a new record, for sure

 

and I can go on to

take my two weeks off

without much concern over sales

 

but feel free to disturb me

my beloved clients

24/7 at your service

from any part of the world

 

as you can see

I got projects across different industries

that’s one of the main reasons why

I enjoy doing translation more than

everything else I have ever done

 

knowing a bit more

about everything

across different industries and countries

as I hop onto a new project

 

by the way

September, 30 is actually

the International Translation Day

I just realized that not too long ago too

45 minutes more to finish this blog

 

on the personal side

life has been

I would say back on the track as

 

I found the motivation to

blog day and night

 

I found the way to

fit in my most skinny jeans again

*starving…*

 

I found the right time to

pick up the pencil to

start sketching a birthday card

from scratch in A3 size

 

looking forward to October

before that…

let’s get back to work

the project list up there

 

deadlines!

are called deadlines

for a reason..

if you don’t hit the timeline

you are so totally dead

 

until then,

Maths Idiot X No Worries: Simple Accounting for a Freelancer

apparently as a person who

totally sucks at Mathematics

keeping a simple account is still a must

 

as a freelancer

you gonna manage everything

and that of course including your finance

 

1. Project Summary Sheets

which I updated whenever I obtained a task

the most basic yet important of all

 

to keep track of everything from

amount, date of project, payment status

basically everything is under control

 

I have one sheet for each and every major clients

since for the major clients

I have to send monthly invoice

therefore it’s better to split them 

and a sheet named OTHERS for the rest

which goes this way

Date	Project Description	P.O. No (if any)	Word Count	Amount	Invoice Status (Sent)	Payment (Received)

 

the table is updated from time to time

based on availability of information

eg: some clients send their purchase order

from their sides much later

after the project is confirmed

 

approaching the end of the month

when it comes to issuing an invoice

will refer to this sheet for keywords

and search it in my mailbox to

to reconfirm the details such as

date, P.O. number

before the invoice is sent out

 

this project summary sheet is

definitely so important as

some clients actually

do not issue a P.O. from their side

so it’s basically

all up to you to keep track

 

at times

whenever I need to refer to

previously completed project

this would be my guide too

just to track back

when was it completed

 

2. Sales Performance sheet

from the project summary

I generate a simple sales performance sheet

which I just did

 

to keep track of monthly sales

the performance trend etc

 

it goes this way

everything in [] is basically auto-generated

from the SUM function available in Excel

and the additional AVERAGE function at the bottom

	Client 01	Client 02	Client 03	Others	Total
Jan					[Monthly Total]
Feb					[Monthly Total]
Mar					[Monthly Total]
Apr					[Monthly Total]
Total	[Total/ Client]	[Total/ Client]	[Total/ Client]	[Total/ Client]	[Annual Total]
					[Avr/Month]

 

3. ……

still figuring out

probably a balance sheet of

income vs expenditure

 

credits:

thanks to my 6-month part-time job as

an admin with a noodle wholesaler

updating accounts for respective customers

were part and parcel of my daily routine

pay was definitely meager

 

but the skill picked up

stick for the rest of my life

PRICELESS*

How-to X Where-to: Use a Promo Code on agoda

despite there are quite a few

new (and perhaps better too)

accommodation booking website

 

I stick to agoda throughout

unless the specific hostel wanted

is not available

 

the reason being..

since this is the very first one I use

there’s no pull factors strong enough to

get me to hop somewhere

 

how to use your promo code on agoda

in order to use your promo code

first of all you have to

make the code entry field available

before you proceed to payment

 

therefore you have to enter via

a minor-site very similar to the homepage

dedicated to the specific collaborating partner

the logo of the partner clearly displayed on top

then only promo code entry is available

 

in my case

it’s Digi, my telco

they sent mass text messages

8% during birthday month

7% for all the other subscribers

since it’s only 1% difference

I didn’t make use of the 7% discount

 

just google for Agoda Digi

or any collaborating partner in your case

to land on the homepage dedicated to

the specific collaborating partner

 

proceed to search for your

hotel options as usual

the “Promotion Eligible” tag will be

displayed on the top left corner of the options

basically all options are eligible

 

when you proceed to step #2

Your Booking Details

 

there will be an extra

Promotion Code column

at the bottom

 

once a workable code is entered

the discount will be immediately reflected on

total payable amount on the right corner

 

that pretty much applies to all cases, isn’t it?

finalize your cash rebate/promo code etc

before making payment

✈ShenZhen X ✈Incheon: Seoul Random

officially taking 2 weeks off

back-to-back

for the second half of October

 

tickets to Shenzhen

booked 3 weeks ago

pretty well-planned

flying to Shenzhen for a transit

heading to some inland cities via

High Speed Rail

 

followed by Seoul

2 days later

 

my sis has been bugging me recently

I thought she was just joking

I mean ya sometimes

you told someone

let’s plan a trip together next time

you don’t actually mean it

who knows

 

but recent few days

looked like she is in for real

entrusted me for ticket booking and

some itinerary planning

 

seriously

I have no idea how

because Seoul has never been

on my travel list and

 

with my zero exposure to

Kpop, Kdrama etc

with the exception of Choi Siwon

thanks to his appearance in

Chinese movies and reality show  

 

“IMAGINE YOUR KOREA”

as promoted by the Korean Tourism Organization

is somehow a tough exercise for me

 

well..

if you are telling me

let’s plan a trip to

Tibet or even Dunhuang

I can name you some

must-visit places on my list

 

no matter what it’s

tickets have been booked 

to explore the city

way beyond my scope of imagination

 

nevertheless

information is abundant

either in English / Chinese

therefore research is not

so much of an issue

 

and I did ask around too

I bet those who were asked

were pretty surprised too

as the person who never goes

anywhere else but China

 

Mag who just came back

from a wedding in Seoul

was kind enough to

immediately send me an itinerary and

even some budget sheets in xls

wow…

 

however the other issue

remains unsolved

my sister and a friend

new travel partners

that’s something of

a bigger concern to me

 

What would they like to do?

What would they like to eat?

Where would they like to go?

 

Are they okay with public transport?

Apparently not very used to

Are they okay with youth hostel?

Obviously… NO

 

just go and have fun,

wouldn’t you?

有幸一見 X 張大千：Chang Dai-Chien’s @ Sichuan Museum

fortunate enough to drop by

Sichuan Museum at Chengdu to

witness some masterpiece artworks by

Mr Zhang Da Qian a.k.a. Chang Dai-Chien

 

these were part of his work

during early 40’s

spending 2 years 7 months at

Mogao Caves, Dunhuang(敦煌莫高窟)

I hate to use the word “copy” the mural

is there a better / more technical term

in Chinese, it sounds way better, lin mo(臨摹)

 

these paintings were kept at his hometown

ever since he never return to mainland

it meant he parted with these paintings for

the rest of his life since 1940’s and

were donated to the nation as

told by him to his family

after his decease

 

his activities in Mogao Caves

sparked some controversies as

he was accused of peeling the

top layer away to reveal the one underneath

therefore causing some damage

to the original mural

 

one of the world’s top selling artists

his name is placed alongside with

Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso

 

he is way beyond a legend

spending almost 40 years abroad

including in a small city in

Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil

where he bought a persimmon farm and

rebuilt it into a Chinese garden

 

it’s hard to imagine

throughout these years

from one countries to another

he was still painting

Chinese artworks all his life

How??

 

Known for his landscape painting and his

unique ink-splashing technique

his paintings are a combination of

new techniques on traditional themes

across different genres of Chinese paintings

 

Lotus and Mandarin Ducks(1947)

was auctioned for 191m HKD(26.4 m USD)

by Sotheby’s HK on 2011

 

Aachensee Lake(1968)

was auctioned for 100.8 m RMB (14.76 m USD) at

China Guardian's Spring Auction on 2010

 

Lady with Flowers (1968)

was auctioned for 74m RMB  at

Beijing Polypm on 2010

 

some minimalist’s

 

animals and minority group

 

over 100 self-portraits

assuming different roles

 

even as Zhong Kui(鍾馗)

a ghost-catching role

 

monkeys

he kept a monkey as pet

until he passed away at Taipei

at the age of 84

 

that marked the opening of

my journey in exploring Chinese paintings

where more interesting artists and stories

were gradually unfolded

Friday Night X Working Tight: Whatever Feels Right

started work after 10pm just now

and decided to call it a day by 1am

but first, let me do some blogging

 

it has been a quiet day

that was why I was blogging about Liu Wen

in broad day light and

doing some flight ticket research as well

 

until 4pm there came a potential job

a press release of a concert event

something interesting to me

yet it was soon called off

quite a familiar thingy for us

 

therefore basically had spent 2 days

without any billable work at all

 

so even if work comes in after 10pm

and it’s due next Monday

decided to stay up and

managed to complete 2/3 of it

 

thank goodness

I have learnt the trick

do check your email on Friday night

because you will never know

and guess what

another potential job came in at 12:25am

that’s due to different time zone

 

however since it’s labeled as potential

chances are 50/50

 

and there I go

officially sailing into the weekend

neither too busy nor too idle

 

with capacity to take in more

anything is welcomed, of course

you do get job on Sunday morning

rare, but yeah

anything for the clients

 

ever since I become a freelancer

the demarcation between

weekend and weekday is

basically quite blurred

 

the good thing is

I never ever have to suffer from Monday blue

in fact, Monday is something to look forward to

if the workload over the weekend is pretty tight

eg: last week,

3 different projects due on Monday morning

 

Monday is more like my weekend

as everything is delivered by Monday morning

and there tends to be a small gap in between as

massive project usually doesn’t

come in on a Monday

 

the bad thing is

I somehow feel guilty and redundant 

if I do not get any projects for the weekend

as if the whole freelance thing is

no longer sustainable till the next Monday

that kind of insecurity is just eerie

 

but as I have chosen the path

the choice is mine

on how to pace my work well

under the precondition that..

 

well..

of course client’s deadline is everything

 

two days ago

I was accompanying my 3 year-old nephew at play

while working on a non-urgent piece

he tried to close my laptop and

joined him at play so I did

while still working on

 

then suddenly something urgent came in

like the client needed it in one hour

and it’s a proposal/presentation

which I can’t afford to risk on

any mistake or further delay

 

so I told my nephew

of course he couldn’t get it

and he was “forcefully removed from the scene”

so that I could concentrate

 

that’s all for today

I am actually quite hungry since 11

all I had for dinner was some veggie soup

keep calm, and the diet plan must go on

 

going to bed with an empty stomach

a mind possessed with word-processing process

it’s gonna be tough to fall asleep

 

therefore the blogging session 

just to take off the word-load off my mind

 

life is work

work is life

I love my work

I therefore love my life

despite it’s slightly upside-down right now

Liu Wen X Siwon: Seoul It’s About H&M

it was kinda interesting

I have heard of one before

like fans of two individuals artists

especially a couple/former couple

in a war to defend their idols

 

so Siwon spoke via a

live-chat session with fans that

he is single and if

anyone know any good girl,

introduce to him

 

and he went on to emphasize on RIGHT NOW

and when fan replied he is lying

he stood up and took off his jacket

said see, that’s no girl hiding anywhere

 

and that sparkled a cyber war between

- die-hard fans of Siwon

- die-hard fans of Liu Wen

- die-hard Liu Wen X Siwon fan

  a.k.a. The Cp(couple) fan

- indifference onlookers

 

looked like everything everyone was saying

sound quite reasonable too

so which is which?

 

and the next morning

Liu Wen posted a photo

Morning, Seoul

 

that sparked off some speculations 

and today everything is revealed

 

they are in for H&M 2016 Lunar New Year campaign

 

Liu Wen has been with H&M for a couple of years

no matter what it is

good to see them back

 

as what Siwon was saying

he is so “versatile”

at times he is just joking

to ease the atmosphere

so we don’t really know if

he means it when he said

he is single, RIGHT NOW

 

even if he is

what does it has to do with us

they were in a reality show as a couple

a show is after all still a show

 

hunch?

every single day

there are male and female artists

working together for such shooting

it doesn’t necessary mean they are a couple

although a large group of fans wish they are

as posted by Liu Wen on Weibo

anyway she posted a different photo on

Facebook and Instagram

with a more official caption too

 

so I kinda mark myself

in between a fan of Liu Wen and

a fan of the couple if

they are really one

 

because of Liu Wen

I am suddenly following the

Big Four Fashion weeks 

 

instead of what’s being showcased

on the runway

what attracted me more is

her street-looks

instead of what’s being showcased

on the runway

 

just perfect!!

 

how difficult it is

when Siwon started being serious

and retweeted his stance on LGBT

it sparked off some back-fire

people were upset

 

he posted another 5-6 Tweets of

apology statements

and soon deleted everything

some of them went like this:

 

I apologize for my inconsiderate choice

to retweet Rev.Piper’s tweet

Reason I echoed Rev. Piper’s thoughts was

because I wished to voice a plurality of opinions.

However, now I realize that my comments were

hurtful to those whom I hold dearest :

my fans, and their friends and families

 

Whoever is careless with the truth in

small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.

- Albert Einstein

 

he once posted this

2 weeks ago

which was deleted too

 

poor Siwon

he could be quite confused too

wonder if he has a personal

Social Media assistant to handle

4.95m fans on Twitter

16m on Weibo

2.2m on Instagram

 

not forgetting

numerous official and unofficial fan pages

dedicated to SJ, Siwon, Siwon X LiuWen

etc etc etc

 

that makes an interesting case study

from a PR perspective

 

anyway

thanks to H&M for

bringing them together again

always looking so lovely together

CD/成都/07: Mt. Emei 峨眉山 2/2

A quick glance on

how to get to the peak

the tourist version

From-To	Estimated time	Ticket	in RMB
1. Hotel – Main entrance	3 min via bus	Entrance	190
2. Main entrance – mid-hill	1.5 hour	2-way bus	90
3. Mid-hill – Cable car stn	30 min walk	-	-
3. Cable car stn – Peak stn	3 min	2-way cable	120
4. Peak stn – The Peak	15 min walk	-	-
Optional
5. Mid-hill – Wan Nian Temple	30 min walk / Cable car	2-way car	120
6. Mid-hill – monkey area	not-really-sure	tourist cart	20+

 

of course the other version

would be the free-and-easy hiker’s version

like 3 days 2 night?

 

we booked the 2-way bus ticket in #2

from the hotel 

which costs 160 RMB instead of 90 RMB

which is also inclusive of

- morning call at 4am

- breakfast & lunch

- tour-guide service

 

so we were at the main entrance

before 5am to catch the earliest bus

in facts there were quite a lot of folks

I bet most people took the tour package

from the hotel we were staying,

there were already 20+

 

the ticket office was not even opened

basically everyone was standing outside

in pretty heavy RAIN!!

 

took the 1.5 hour bus trip

sound asleep basically

despite the winding journey

 

8am, mid-hill

on the way to the cable car station

under that kind of weather

thank goodness it wasn’t that cold

 

got to the Peak by 8:40am

not getting any better

 

that was considered quite okay

as the next minute

it could go this way

not to mention the drizzle

which went on and on

 

the four features of Mt. Emei

the sea of cloud(雲海)

the gleaming Buddha(佛光)

the sun rise or at least the sunshine(日出)

the holy light, that’s for night time(聖燈) 

I thought I could at least see one of them

most probably the first two

but…

 

 

making our way down by 10am and

guess what

the sky was starting to clear up

 

there were 2 options available

for the second half of the tour after lunch

#5 as above – to Wan Nian Temple(萬年寺)

#6 as above – to the Monkey area with the tour guide

 

I took the third option

left the tour group after lunch

the other 5 who left were like 70+

3 old men and a couple

kinda cool if I can still travel like them

if I ever live that old

 

the tour guide asked me to

help them out to see them

getting on the right bus

but seemed like they know better than me 

 

that’s actually my first time of

signing up a day-trip package in China

with mixed results

 

the tour guide of ours

in a way pretty fine as

she wasn’t exactly guiding

she left us to go free and easy

 

did a quick explanation on the bus 

collected some money and

she hopped on to another bus half way

basically most of the time

the explanation was on payment too

nothing much on the attraction itself

 

but for the old folks

this wasn’t good at all

we were left on our own

most of the time

 

what she did was to collect money and

buy tickets on behalf

after distribution,

okay, see you there on XX a.m.

 

and she had 50 members all to herself

that’s way too out of proportion

 

2-hour bus journey back to Chengdu

the bus terminal is directly located at the foot

the other option is high-speed rail

stuck in a jam and it took us 4 hours

 

to sum up the

2d/1n Leshan/Mt. Emei trip 

3000m, checked

another UNESCO World heritage site, checked

natural factors: rain/fog

unintentional manmade factors: lost purse/heavy jam

local factors: lousy restaurant/overworked tour guide 

 

life is not a bed of roses

a trip is no exception of course

 

I actually can’t wait to

get back to Chengdu

the cosy hotel room

the spicy dumpling soup

the busy yet easy-going streets

 

how fast that is to

fall back to the comfort zone

 

at least, I may put a tick for 2 mountains from

the lists after this Chengdu trip

and pretty convinced that

that’s just a beginning of a life-long journey

The Five Great Mountains East Great Mt (Dōngyuè): Tài Shān West Great Mt (Xīyuè): Huà Shān South Great Mt (Nányuè): Héng Shān (Hunan) North Great Mt (Běiyuè): Héng Shān (Shanxi) Center Great Mt (Zhōngyuè): Sōng Shān The Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism Wǔtái Shān Éméi Shān Jiǔhuá Shān Pǔtuó Shān The Four Sacred Mountains of Taoism Wǔdāng Shān Lónghŭ Shān Qíyūn Shān Qīngchéng Shān from Wiki page - The Sacred Mountains of China