Happiness

"We convinced ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will cetainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there 's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time on...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first of the fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is the journey, not a destination.

Thought for the day:
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching."

Poor Business Environment

I believe you have got all sorts of comments from the industry on how bad the business it. My company, Fat Angelo's, are suffering a lot as well. 10-15% drop in sales. And our friends in other restaurant chains see the same drop (at least) in revenue. And we all foresee even worse will be coming. We have prepared for another 10-20% drop.

Anyway, I just want to share a personal thought with you and see what you think. We were discussing where our customers go these days during our management meeting yesterday. There is generally no increase in competition in the neighbourhood. But the business keeps going down. The unemployment rate hasn't raised a lot, and people should still have the money to spend. Is the atmosphere so bad that people don't dare to spend any money? I don't think so. In 1997, we still have a line outside the door waiting to be seated.

But one thing I can see is people are not going home early any more. In the past, people walked up the esculator in Central to go home around 7:00pm. Now, the peak is shifted to 9:00pm. When in the past, they stopped in the restaurants for dinner, they now go straight home for bed. So many companies have laid-offs, and workload is put onto the remaining employees. Overtime is common across all industries. In the past, Tommy Tang used to work from 10-6. Now, he works from 9:00am to 9:00pm. I don't think these people will have the mood/energy to go out for dinner at night. Even on weekend, they'd rather take some more rest.

I think, in the past, people usually get off from work at 6:00pm. Then they have more leisure time, and they want to look for entertainment. Even in 1997, people were still willing to spend money, as they had time to spare. Now, they don't. I begin to believe that LEE Cheuk-yan is right on limiting maximum working hour, although I don't like this guy. With the max. working hour, at least we will have people spending money. I think if we don't have any customer, what's the point of cutting more salary. Of course, it may lead to other problems. Anyway, I just want to express my opinion. And please correct me if I am wrong. Should you have any advise for us, the restaurant operators, at this though time, please let us know. Thank you.

I have a dinner with my groom-maids the other night. Have a really good time. Everyone is every busy lately. The dinner supposed to start at 7:30. But some of them couldn't show up until 9:00pm. And Ronnie couldn't even join us due to his work. I feel bad for them, at the same time really appreciate them for their help.

Getting closer and closer to the date I get married. Really excited.

AI

We watched AI last night. Sue said that it's not as good as expectation. For me, it's okay, as I didn't expect anything. I've heard good things and bad things about this movie. So, I watch it without any bias. The movie itself seems to stimulate you to think the good and evil sides of the mankind. And the most important thing of mankind is to dream and work hard to make it come true. The robot boy has become a realy boy in his journey.

HALEY JOEL OSMENT is really good. I haven't seen many of his movies. The Sixth Sense is a remarkable one. "I see dead people" is a phrase I will never forget. His act is so real, and so convincing. The focus of AI is entirely on him, although Susanna's favorite is Teddy (the super toy). And I will have no wonder, if he wins the Oscar in the coming year. Actually he is the main reason why I watch this movie. If you want to see some good acting, this movie is recommended.

Groom-maids Dinner

Going to have dinner with my groom-maids tonight. Really excited. Haven't met some of those guys for a long time. Although the weather is bad, it should be fun!

While they think that I am going to FA, I choose Peking Garden. They should have a nice set with my credit card. Ha! Can't wait to get off from work!

Mail Bomb

Just send out another batch of email through majordomo to my restaurant guests. Then I realize that I cannot send too many at a time. My database has got 18,000 email addresses. But it can only handle 17,000. Stupid!

I've tried to invite more people to SJA blogger. But doesn't seem to attract any. Really disappointing. Are they all too busy?

Apparently, I have got one more teamate! Getting more interesting. Editing the site is not too difficult as well.

To all of you, I am a new comer to this blog. Wish you guys will like what I write..

Just built up another blogger site for SJA Alumni 90/92. I wonder if they'd like it...

This is getting fun now. Ha! I've just realized that my imagination is getting poor as time goes by. I used to write ten thousands of words without stopping. Idea keeps streaming through. And most important of all, the language is better at those days. I'd better catch up.

Now I get a brief idea. And I have got a new template setup. Ha!

This is the first time I use this. Still have no idea how to use it!