2009年7月13日 星期一

I am ENFJ...

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm




Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging - that's me...

ENFJs are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.
ENFJs are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.
ENFJs are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don't resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.
ENFJs know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear.
TRADEMARK: "The first shall be last"
This refers to the open-door policy of ENFJs. One ENFJ colleague always welcomes me into his office regardless of his own circumstances. If another person comes to the door, he allows them to interrupt our conversation with their need. While discussing that need, the phone rings and he stops to answer it. Others drop in with a 'quick question.' I finally get up, go to my office and use the call waiting feature on the telephone. When he hangs up, I have his undivided attention!

Extraverted Feeling
Extraverted Feeling rules the ENFJ's psyche. In the sway of this rational function, these folks are predisposed to closure in matters pertaining to people, and especially on behalf of their beloved. As extraverts, their contacts are wide ranging. Face-to-face relationships are intense, personable and warm, though they may be so infrequently achieved that intimate friendships are rare.

Introverted iNtuition
Like their INFJ cousins, ENFJs are blessed through introverted intuition with clarity of perception in the inner, unconscious world. Dominant Feeling prefers to find the silver lining in even the most beggarly perceptions of those in their expanding circle of friends and, of course, in themselves. In less balanced individuals, such mitigation of the unseemly eventually undermines the ENFJ's integrity and frequently their good name. In healthier individuals, deft use of this awareness of the inner needs and desires of others enables this astute type to win friends, influence people, and avoid compromising entanglements.
The dynamic nature of their intuition moves ENFJs from one project to another with the assurance that the next one will be perfect, or much more nearly so than the last. ENFJs are continually looking for newer and better solutions to benefit their extensive family, staff, or organization.

Extraverted Sensing
Sensing is extraverted. ENFJs can manage details, particularly those necessary to implement the prevailing vision. These data have, however, a magical flexible quality. Something to be bought can be had for a song; the same something is invaluable when it's time to sell. (We are not certain, but we suspect that such is the influence of the primary function.) This wavering of sensory perception is made possible by the weaker and less mature status with which the tertiary is endowed.

Introverted Thinking
Introverted Thinking is least apparent and most enigmatic in this type. In fact, it often appears only when summoned by Feeling. At times only in jest, but in earnest if need be, Thinking entertains as logical only those conclusions which support Feeling's values. Other scenarios can be shown invalid or at best significantly inferior. Such "Thinking in the service of Feeling" has the appearance of logic, but somehow it never quite adds up.
Introverted Thinking is frequently the focus of the spiritual quest of ENFJs. David's lengthiest psalm, 119, pays it homage. "Law," "precept," "commandment," "statute:" these essences of inner thinking are the mysteries of Deity for which this great Feeler's soul searched.

Famous ENFJs:
David, King of Israel
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
Barack Obama
William Cullen Bryant
poet Abraham Maslow
William Aramony former president of United Way
Gene Hackman (Superman, Antz)
Dennis Hopper (Speed)
Brenda Vaccaro
Craig T. Nelson (Coach)
Diane Sawyer (Good Morning America)
Randy Quaid (Bye Bye, Love; Independence Day)
Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive)
Kirstie Alley ("Cheers," Look Who's Talking movies)
Michael Jordan, NBA basketball player
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Oprah Winfrey
Bob Saget America's Funniest Home Videos,
Pete Sampras Tennis Champion
Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls")
Ben Affleck (The Sum Of All Fears)

2009年7月1日 星期三

Trips 2009


When you only have 18 vacation days (Mon-Fri working days) to spare in a year, how would you spend them? Here is the plan.

Feburary 14th to 21st - Disney World @ Orlando Floria. (4 vacation days + 1 statutory holiday “Family Day” + 2 Saturdays)
$939 including flight, 7-day Disney resort, 7-day Disney park admissions and additional $200 gift Disney certificate!





















After seeing this deal, I called David up and see if he was available that week to go with me; as much as I wanted to go Disney World for ages, we (I) decided to go. After we got to Orlando, I was even happier about my decision, it was about 22-25 degree celcius everyday, mostly sunny and cloudless (only light rain in one afternoon). Our resort was very nice with two twin beds, the transportation was very convienient and the buses were always on time, most importantly, we pretty much went on every single ride in every park; we even went to the water park…imagin going on water rides in mid-Feburary! Awsome!
There were a lot of people at the parks, but not like an excess amount of people during the high season such as summer and christmas vacations. With a good strategy of using the Fast Pass and a few lineups, we managed to schedule our time very well everyday. My favourate was the seeing Fireworks at Magic Kingdom, and we went to see it twice during our stay!




















In a tourist area like Disney World, you would imagin that the prices for food would be ridiculously high (like…Canada’s Wonderland), but no….the prices were very reasonable, 9 pieces of McNuggets for $4.99!! I mean, that was even cheaper than the regular McDonalds in Canada! Although the food selections in the parks and the resort were quite limited – ice cream, fries, pop, burger and more ice cream and more fries and more pop…etc (I actually enjoyed them! David: “I never knew you liked to eat ice cream so much!”), Downtown Disney offered a lot more varieties, such as Italian resturants, Wolfgang Puck, Earl of Sandwiches, Bar & Grill…etc.
Anyway, we barely spent much money on this trip and we had so much fun!!!


April 9th to 13th - New Jersey & New York City (0 vacation day + 2 statutory holidays Easter Friday and Monday + 1 Saturday + 1 Sunday)
$224 Flight to New York…

Isabel and I had been planning to visit our elementary school friend Vanessa for the longest time! Three friends who went to elementary school together in Taiwan met up on the east coast of North America after 13 years…wasn’t that something! In addition, Vanessa was 8 months pregnant, so we wanted to visit her before any ER scene occurs during our shopping at the outlets. When we first arrive at Newark Airport, Vennesa and her husband came to pick us up… she didn’t change a bit! (and so didn’t I according to her) Although Vanessa had to wake up at 5 am the next morning to open her Deli shop, we talked until 3 am that night! All those memories came back as if we were just in elementary school the day before; we finally revealed who we had crush on when we were 12-year-old, gossipped about what people were doing now, talked about our current lives and how much of a miracle it was that brought us three together after all these years.

The next day, after having a huge and delicious breakfast at Vanessa’s Deli/Breakfast shop, Isabel and I rent a car and went straight to Woodbury Outlet, there was a freaking 20 min line up outside Gucci! For sure I did not see any economic crises there! Got mom a nice Prada bag at about 40% discount!
We took the train from New Jersey to NYC the following day, found the Miu Miu store and finally got my wallet…then more shopping at Jerseyshore Prime Outlet the last day… things were so cheap at outlet price already with additional 40-50% discounts on top of it and NO SALES TAX! What the…..Shopping Heaven New Jersey…Definitely going back again soon!
Isabel and I had a great time in New Jersey, we were treated well by Vanessa’s family and it was very nice seeing Vanessa again. :)


June 20th to 23rd - Las Vegas (2 vacation day + 1 Saturday + 1 Sunday)
$490 including direct Air Canada flight from Toronto and 3 nights at MGM

Naiyu had never been to Vegas, and since I found such a great deal, I decided to give myself a short break in June. Going to Vegas in June is like roasting yourself in an oven…okay, maybe that’s a little exaggerated, but close enough. Luckly, we were mostly indoor or in a cab…
First day, Naiyu and I met up at the Pearson Airport 7:00am sharp for our 8:30am flight; the flight arrived on time and we had no problem finding our way to MGM; by the time we got to the hotel, it was only 11:30am. We checked in our luggages, and off we go for the buffet at Luxor. After that, we went to walk around the Strip. Visited many hotels, shops and casinos, took lots of pictures, got sunburnt, then we took the monotrain back to MGM. We originally planned to go to club Tao that evening, but I was so tired that I fell asleep at 8pm and never woke up until the next morning…oops!
Second day, we woke up at 6:30am, ate at the MGM buffet for breakfast, then we took a cab to the Prime Outlet- we arrived there so early that we were pretty much waiting for the shops opened. By noon, my feet were sore from all the walking and my body was dehydrated from the hot sun; so I was earlerly looking for two things - a pair of comfortable sandles and icy cold drinks! I got a pair of Nike flip-flops at $15…the most comfortable flip-flops ever! We finished walking around the Outlet around 3pm…then we cabbed to another shopping centre on the Strip called the Fashion Show shopping centre or something…so there goes more shopping, got lots of cosmetics and moisturizer samples…Then we went to Wynn to look at Chanel and Hermes purses… I got pretty tired from the shopping, so I sat at a Black Jack table and won $150 while waiting for Naiyu finishing up her shopping at the hotel shops…So everything worked out. We went back to our hotel, rest a bit, got ready to go to Body English at the Hard Rock. We arrived at the club around 10:30pm, there was already a crowd at the door waiting to be let in. I asked the a staff in suite where the line begins, he said “there is no line, pretty much whoever gets closer to the door” I nodded my head and asked “could you get us closer to the door then?” he smiled and led us through the crowd to the front of the door, and very quickly Naiyu and I were in the club. The club was not very big in size, but it had nice decoration, the music was awsome and it was a very nice crowd! Naiyu and I had a couple of drinks and we had lots of fun!

We decided to leave around 1:30 am as we still had a whole day of walking planned the following day. But here was where the “un-fun” began…After we got out the club, we took a cab back to MGM. I wanted to play a few hands before I head up to our room; so I asked Naiyu to go upstairs first, she insisted that she could wait for me at the table and just watch me play, I was like..alright then… about 5 min into the game, I felt Naiyu tapped me on the shoulder, I turned around and found her other hand on her mouth – she was about the throw up! I quickly grabbed my chips from the table and took her to the casino washroom and !@#$^!&!…Long story short, she threw up several more times that night…and even our washroom could not escape its fate… (we left 5 dollars tip on the sink counter the next morning...)
Third day morning, I woke up around 8am. Naiyu was still sleeping…So I showered, dressed, went down to the casino and lost 40 bucks an hour later … I left the casino, went back to our room found that Naiyu had a terrible hangover…I felt quite sorry for her…I bought her water, cookies and gave her some tylenol…rest a bit more... we eventually got out of our room around 11:30am… We took the monorail all the way to Caesar Palace/Ballagio and we pretty much visited most of the hotels around that area. The same night, we also went to watch Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island, afterwards, we had some very nice steak at the fine dinning in Caesar Palace, took some night shot photos on our way back to the hotel and concluded another busy day.
Fourth day, we both woke up quite early in the morning, because our flight was scheduled at 11:00am, in other words, we would have to be the airport by 10:00am. We had not taken photos at Luxor…so that was our goal for that morning. We packed up our stuff, made sure that nothing was left behind, rushed to Luxor and took some photos, rushed back to the hotel, checked out, headed to the airport, left Las Vegas and said "I will be back!"


August 21st to September 6th - Portugal & Spain & Mediterranean Cruise (10 vacation days + 3 Saturdays + 3 Sundays)



Even though there is no more vacations planned for October, November and December, I hope that Christmas will arrive before I know it and Tremblant here we come again!

First visit to DirectBuy

Well...buying everything at manufacturer price is very tempting...but...$5000 membership fee?!
HOLD IT!

June 30th 7:30pm, Grace and I made our first visit to the Direct Buy Toronto show room... we didn't get out there until 2 .5 hours later...
When we first arrived, a sales guy named Sal took us a quick walk around the show room and got us coffee. Surprisingly enough, there were actually a lot of people flipping through catalogues and shopping for their homes at the show room centre. Then we sat down with Sal and started talking about random stuff...from job occupation to traveling to food to something I can't even remember. About 15 min later, another sales guy came and put Grace and I in a room with a big HD TV in front of us along with 6 other people. The second sales guy started with an introduction about the company and how it works, then we were put to the "brain wash mode" with the 30min-long professionally done advertising video clip. We even went through a classroom excercise brain storming the items that you would need to buy for the next 10 years of your life - cars, furnitures, grocery, gas, flooring, electronics...etc. and guess what, they could ALL be purchased at 20-60% off retail price for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! Sounded great, didn't it? The sales guy even provided flyers from Best Buy, Home Depot and compared the prices...all sounded so real! Here came in the big secret after listening to the well-directed program for 1 hour, the membership fee is $5990 for the first 3 years! Yeah, you wondered why they did not put this number out in the front when you first came in, now THAT was why. After the group session was finished, Sal came and picked us up to a small table and said "so, do you have any questions?" Grace and I used up every drop of our brain power and asked many questions...but the answers were just getting more blurry and I found that the guy was just repeating himself with the same argument over and over...Anyway, so at the end, we were like, "We need to consult our parents, can't we get back to you tomorrow?" The answer we got was "Well, it is our policy that you must make the decision on the day of your open house, and if you decide not to join, you'll never be able to get the same offer again!!" Then I called my mom and explained to her the situation, she said "No" and that was the end of it! hahahaha....
After we got out of the building, we were quite happy about our decision, because in order to really save more than 6000 dollars, we need to at least spend 25k (in cash) or more cuz not everything will be saving at 50%, some only save 10%! Also, if the product and service were so good, why did they need to pressure people to make the decision in such a short time? Something was fishy about it I said to myself...Besides,I say,if everyone buys from manufacturer, then the retail stores will disapear...and job opportunities will decrease, then the economy will crash! so in order to save the world and stimulate economy, (and save myself from a 6000 contract), I decided to stay away from DirectBuy!!

Later that evening, i got this link from david, http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/the_price_cut_promise/main.html


PHEW~~

2009年6月11日 星期四

My First House


On Dec 13th 2007, I bought the first car using my own money- Mercedes E300 (see pix above)
On June 8th 2009, I bought my very first house in southern Brampton, about 9 km from work, (see pix above)...and my parents still don't know yet, because they are too busy traveling in tw, I haven't been able to get a hold of them for days...

Here is the story,
June 7th 3:00pm - went to see the open house, listed $374 900
June 8th 4:30pm - presented the offer to buyer
June 8th 7:30pm - both buyer and seller signed the offer at $368 000
June 8th 8:30pm - wrote a $15 000 cheque as deposit
June 11th 10:00am - professional home inspection, $375
June 11th 3:30pm - signed waiver, everything set in stone
June 12th 10:00pm - finally reached mom and dad and let them know about the purchase
June 26th 6:00pm - moved the closing date from Sept 10th to Aug 12th
July 5th 5:00pm - brought parents to see the house for the first time
July 9th 10:00pm - faxed all document to TD for mortage, faxed information to the laywer
waiting...waiting...waiting
Aug 12th 2009 - the move-in date!

2009年5月16日 星期六

這個周末是long weekend, 所以今天不用去上課~ 好不容易可以睡到自然醒~~ 起床後,洗了個澡就出門去染頭髮~ 花了四個小時+$70....好險結果還算成功,不然真的是會很嘔~
其實還蠻想去剪個髮型的...只是現在還沒有看到喜歡的樣子,頭髮也還在留長當中...就先算了吧.

最近不知道怎麼了...也沒有特別吃很多,天天還帶狗狗去散步,可是體重一直下不來....唉...其實都會一直想著這個問題,難道真的要咬著牙天天吃水煮青菜才有用嗎?? 還是女人hit 25歲後,新陳代謝就真的明顯緩慢? 也未免太準了吧....才25歲的過幾天而已....我還去找了新聞看,新聞說如果黃酮素(賀爾蒙的一種吧...)分泌不夠的話也會造成我現在的狀況耶....建議多吃豆類跟山藥....說不要吃肉...T_T....唉...真辛苦....

等等晚上可能會去steve家打牌吧~

2009年5月15日 星期五

Quarter Century

Goodness, I sounded so old when my 25th birthday was called my Quarter Century event… I guess Howie on the show Deal or No Deal was really putting out some kinds of psychology effects to the audiences by always announcing $250000 as “Quarter of A Million Dollars”… Anyways, so this year, my birthday fell on a routine boring working Wednesday. The only exciting event was that 649 jackpot hit 24mil which I bought a 6 dollars ticket of, and I did not win.

May 13th, 2009, same glasses, same ponytail, same business outfit, I went to work as usual at 6:20am. I got to work by 7:00am with two dozens of Timmy’s donuts. It was this thing in our office that people usually bring in treats on their birthdays… I guess it was just like how we used to do in elementary school, remember? So very quickly, people knew it was my birthday and started to wish me a happy birthday when I bumped into them in the hallways and washroom. About an hour later, whole bunch of them showed up around my desk and started singing happy birthday real loud, which I’ve never seen it happened to other co-workers on their birthdays, so I was truly surprised and touched!! One person suggested a “group hug” after singing the song, but we all knew it was too lame to do so the idea went down the drain and faded in laughter. After everyone went back to their work stations, I continued to read e-mails, reply e-mails, write more e-mails, attend meetings, have lunch, play cards, write e-mails again, attend more meeting until 3:30pm (yes, my boss asked me to worked 1 hr overtime due to a Scope of Work meeting schedule, and that was extra $70 for me, so why not).

Got home around 4:20pm, took care of the dogs, fed the cat, watched family feud and deal or no deal simultaneously (occasionally judge Judy), vacuumed the floor, mopped the floor, changed the sofa sheets and then Grace got home. She told me that we planned to eat out that night with Jen (just 4 of us). We had to wait for Leo to get home from work; so I decided to take the dogs out for a walk while waiting for the family member to show up. Even though it was a bit chilly for a May day, the walk went pretty well – no Cherry rolling in the wet mud nor Honey showing friendliness to other dogs by chasing them across the street and dragging me along with her. After the walk, Jen showed up with 2 cakes in her hands, I was like…why 2 cakes? I thought it was just 4 of us. The response I got was that other people will show up later…Other people? Enough for 2 cakes? I rushed up the stairs and started putting my contact lenses in and makeup on realizing that there would definitely be pictures taken later evening…lol. Jen also showed up with a Conair steamer (a gift from David and Jen together)…the steamer was not for cooking, it was like the Tobe steamer for ironing clothes that had been repeatedly advertised on the tv shopping channel for ages. Anyway, I will try it out soon.

David called to say happy birthday around dinner time because he was a loser and would be in the lab for the rest of his night…So Jen, Leo, Grace and I went to eat the Ramen on Yonge near Centre Point – it was NOT good! So later we went to Centre Point and ordered KFC hot wings– it was GOOD!! By the time we got home it was close to 9pm, soon the Wang family showed up with Citadels; the Wang’s family was going to drive over due to the light rain, but Mark figured even if they had driven, there would be no parking space at my house, and they would end up parking at their house and walk over, so they decided to walk… then Bruce showed up, then Daniel & Angie showed up with a basket of home-made alphabet cookies with MY name! The cookies were delicious! Lastly Leo showed up with a pair of tiring puppy eyes, we all thought that he just came out from the lab downtown U of T… We talked, we laughed, we sang, we ate the cake, and played Citadel until midnight. Towards the end of the board game, Steven revealed something unbelievably great about the game – whoever reaches 8 districts is immune to Warlord attack! In other words, in the previous two team games we played (Steven and I a team), our team “technically” and “legitimately” WON both games and Rick + Sunny could not have illegally attack our districts at the very end of the game!!! Muhahahahahaha!!! That news made me felt like my life was complete…maybe that was a tiny bit exaggerated, but hey, talking about competitive activities…

Finally, I want to thank Jen and Grace for putting the event together, everyone who showed up at my door that night, everyone who left me birthday wishes on fbook, everyone who texted me the birthday wishes, and my parents who did not call, but sent me pictures of them having tons of fun in China with no words nor messages what-so-ever via e-mail while I had to wake up before 6am the next morning and still go to work for the rest of the week! I mean, what else could I complain? Love always!