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A real Chinese New Year

G’day, mates! I’m coming at you from Australia this week (yes, I work hard even during my vacations) to discuss what a real Chinese New Year should be. That said, thanks for your patience during the delay. Preparing and packing for the trip, plus time zone differences messed me up.

For those of you who don’t have the technology to listen to the podcast, I’ve included the audio transcript below. Enjoy!

Audio transcript for A real Chinese New Year

Yo. Hann Chong here, and this week, I’m going to talk to you about why a real Chinese New Year is best celebrated in Asia.

So, this week, I’m talking to you from Gold Coast in Australia, where I’ve taken a Chinese New Year vacation. I’ll probably touch on this vacation in a later episode.

Since I was young, I grew up in a small town where other Chinese people were few and far between, so Chinese New Year celebrations were recognized with food and traditional customs in my household. But since coming to Malaysia, I’ve found that the only celebrations I ever observed in Chinese movies and shows pale in comparison to the absolute insanity of a real Chinese New Year, also known as gwo nihn.

All about CNY

First off, and I can’t stress this enough, the CNY holiday in Malaysia is akin to Christmas in Canada and the States. For a month prior, or as soon as Christmas ends (which is also crazy here), everywhere you go and shop becomes a commercialized loudspeaker of decorations and festive music ready to make you hate capitalism (if that hasn’t already happened).

Despite all of that, seeing all manner of businesses adorn their storefronts with red and gold, the official colors of Chinese New Year, makes me kinda proud to be Chinese, something that I’ve never been able to experience in Canada.And it

And it’s not just stores, but entire shopping malls, professional offices, and even some of the streets. It’s surely a sight to behold.

Aside from decorations, events occur as well. You can catch a traditional lion dance, firework shows are held, and some stores give free limited edition hong bao. What are hong bao? I’ll get to that shortly.

As I stated earlier, I’ve never had a chance to genuinely feel proud to be Chinese, and here, this public expression of my culture is so outrageously fun and unique, especially to people who have never seen it in person before. If you’re a bit of a Twinkie like me, you might relate to this.

But you’re probably wondering, ‘Hann, you’re thirty-eight years old. Why haven’t you experienced this before? Y u no Chinese? Do u even lift, bro?’

Yeah, you’re probably right, but the last time I traveled to Malaysia was twenty long years ago. And even during my youth, I never experienced a real Chinese New Year because we always went during the summer.

This holiday typically likes to fall between January and February. So, while this may not be enough of a reason to convince non-Chinese people, it’s a way to reconnect with our Chinese roots.

Or, if you want to be Asian like that kid in Just Another Teen Movie, cool. I promise I won’t karate kick you. Mad respect, brah.

But, back to the fun and unique experience of CNY, whether you’re Chinese or not, there’s always something in it for everyone. Yes, I’m talking about food.

Specifically in Malaysia, it’s a gastronomical dream. Dishes you would never see in a restaurant menu start cropping up as Chinese New Year specials.

Even my mom and other Chinese moms around the world will be cooking and baking up a storm. Expect seasonal dishes like yee sang, which is kind of like a salad that represents all the traditional things we wish to happen in the New Year.

Red packets of money

Finally, the last reason why Chinese New Year is best celebrated in Asia is hong bao. I mentioned this earlier, remember?

Essentially, hong bao are those red packets with money inside that you give to your children, friends, and juniors. There are some other rules behind it, but receiving them when I was a kid was awesome, because it meant more money on a day of the year besides my birthday.

And who doesn’t like money?

As a non-Chinese, if you happen to work in Asia, you can expect to receive some hong bao from your boss at work (unless they’re a cheapskate). Make some friends too, because you never know – they might give you hong bao as well!

I haven’t yet crossed over into the duty of being the one giving the hong bao, because I haven’t gotten married yet. Personally, I think that receiving hong bao from your married children is secretly the actual reason why Chinese parents insist on us getting married before turning thirty.

Just kidding, mom and dad. I love you.

Hot winter

I hoped that convinced you to aim your next travel points at Asia during the winter, especially if you’ve never been there! Malaysia is hot, but… it’s a pretty cool destination where you can experience a real Chinese New Year.

Another one bites the dust! Wow, these podcast entries are getting easier to do… not! Yeah, that was lame, but I liked Wayne’s World, so sue me.

If you liked this podcast, check out some of my previous episodes, and please please please share this on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media on the interwebs. If you do, shoot me a tweet at @ChickenBall and I’ll give you a virtual high-five!

Well, until next time! Byeee.

All my films have secret endings, so I figured, why not put them into my podcast? Uhh, I don’t really have anything for this entry, so, uhh… I’ll think of something next time?

Shablagoo!

Board games can save the world

Wassup, ladies and gents? It’s a week late, but here’s my second podcast where I discuss how board games can save the world!

For those of you who don’t have the technology to listen to the podcast, I’ve included the audio transcript below. Enjoy!

Audio Transcript for Board games can save the world

Yo. Hann Chong here, and I’m back again with another podcast to talk about how board games can save the world. It’s a pretty bold statement, right?

Hey, everybody. This week, I want to show off some geek cred and talk about a topic I’m very passionate about. Board games.

Maybe you played Monopoly or Cluedo when you were younger, or Risk if you were a bit more advanced. Well, board games have come of age in recent years, and their sudden surge of popularity had me surprised because in a world where video games reign supreme, something as analog as sitting around a table handling pieces of cardboard or plastic seemed to be the last thing that anybody in the 21st century would enjoy doing. However, years of evolution can’t suppress the fact that, as human beings, we crave companionship with friends and family. For all their splendour and bright lights, video games haven’t been able to replace that one important part of being human – meeting new people and hanging out with the most important people in our lives.

That leads me to one of the most important points of why board games can save the world. Scientific evidence has proven that socializing with people face-to-face can reduce depression and allow us to gauge what people are like. Talking on the phone, email, or through video or voice chat in video games is not the most conducive way to meet people. Video gaming, known mostly as a solitary activity, promotes isolation, and really, why would anybody want to be lonely? Being with your family, friends, and loved ones is a surefire way to live a healthy life. As a young pup, I went through a stage of depression myself, so I know what it’s like to have that feeling eating away at your insides. So, with a healthy dose of board games, socializing can be fun and full of the same feelings of accomplishment you get when playing video games. Now, not to say that all video games can’t be played with friends in the same room, but most games I see coming out that aren’t party games end up pushing the online aspect. It’s kind of scary that we’re letting game companies do that to us.

But I want to go back to those feelings of accomplishment. They feel pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself. Winning a team deathmatch or conquering a challenging boss monster on your own definitely makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. But, guess what? You can get those same feelings when you play board games with others. There are many board games that reward strategy. One of my favorites, Machi Koro, is a card-based city building game. First one to complete all the building objectives wins. There are many strategies you can employ, and the more players that get involved, the more challenging the strategy. On the other hand, cooperative gameplay is offered as well through games like Pandemic, where your collective goal is to beat the game with the odds stacked against you. Then there’s an interesting mechanic exclusive only to board games where cooperative gameplay is given a twist with the inclusion of the hidden traitor subgenre. Games like The Resistance really keeps you guessing about who in your group of friends to trust. Finally, if you love the storytelling in video games, this aspect hasn’t been forgotten, because there are games like Gloom where your goal is to kill off your characters before everybody else and weave an interesting tale around how you go about it. In the case of board games, winning is fun, but I feel that the true goal of a board game is the experience – both with the game and with your friends.

If you think board games are tough to get into, think again. People and businesses around the world are making it easier than ever for you to give them a shot. In Winnipeg, I frequent a board game shop called GameKnight, which is an impressive store full of almost every board game, card game, and tabletop game imaginable. People at all levels of gaming go there, from the person who likes simple games like Sushi Go, to the hardcore Magic the Gathering player, and even to the uber nerdiness of the D&D Dungeon Master (fortunately, I happen to be all of these). At GameKnight, you can shop and play, and the staff organizes many public gaming events as well.

Since I’m currently in Malaysia, I couldn’t help but see what the board gaming culture is like over here. So I googled the most popular venues and found board game cafes to be at an all-time high! The most prominent of them is Meeples, a board game cafe in Subang Jaya that offers all-day gaming, decent food, a well-stocked inventory, membership perks, and even an online store. Unfortunately, they’re a bit too far away for me to go, but I happened to find a smaller cafe nearby me in Kota Damansara.

With this much market penetration, board games are here to stay, and they’re only growing more popular every day.

So, if you want to lead a healthier social life, board games can help you. Spending time with your friends can make you happy, and happy people can inspire and create. And aren’t those traits that make the world a better place? In addition, if you like a challenge, board games provide that in several varieties. Finally, if you think it’s hard to acquire or get into board games, think again, because stores and cafes are everywhere – even back in my humble hometown of Thompson, where you can visit Thompson Book Nook and get your fix there.

As a final note, I love Tabletop, the Geek & Sundry show hosted by Wil Wheaton. In fact, that show was my gateway into the modern board games of today. Before that, the most recent board game I played was Settlers of Catan. So when I think about it, I wasn’t doing too bad back then!

Well, that’s it from me. Until next time, I’m gonna go play some board games now. Byeee.

Survive in Malaysia as a Canadian with no job

Hey, everybody! I finally started my podcast, and in this first episode, I talk about how to survive in Malaysia as a Canadian with no job.

For those of you who don’t have the technology to listen to the podcast, I’ve included the audio transcript below. Enjoy!

Audio Transcript for How To Survive in Malaysia as a Canadian with no job

Yo. Hann Chong here, and I’m going to talk to you this week about how to survive in Malaysia as a Canadian visitor with no traditional job.

So this is my first official podcast entry here on my blog, ChickenBall.com: Geek Blog of Adulting +3. If you’ve read my previous entries, you’ll know that I’ve been living in Malaysia for the past six weeks. Before we begin, I have to apologize for the rough nature of my voice. My immune system has taken a beating the whole time I’ve been here and I came down with a cold three days ago. With that out of the way, let’s move on. If you recall, I quit my job and sold most of my possessions in order to come to Malaysia. Since I’ve been here, I’ve managed to survive without needing to take on a 9-to-5 job.

As I mentioned before, I quit my job and spent a month selling my belongings and finishing up some contract work before I left. I even submitted my income taxes. I know, I’m super late. But this is a judge-free zone. Yeah.

Before I left, I started to work on copywriting, the thing that would be my bread and butter for income. However, there’s a lot of work required in order to actually get started online, and it’s that hurdle I’ve been slowly working on getting over. In the meantime, I wrote some tech evangelism articles for my local newspaper and did some computer work on the side. If that wasn’t enough, I was also trying to finish post production on the last three episodes of my joint documentary series, Project Thompson. This takes up so much of my time, because video production requires many dedicated hours.

So when I got here, I intended to finish Project Thompson while doing some copywriting course work through the Location Rebel program. But December ended up being the month where I met with extended family, got used to the new relationship with my girlfriend and her daughter, and got sick a few times. However, other interesting things happened. I ended up doing a pro photoshoot for my niece’s birthday party, and I met with my girlfriend’s marketing team to discuss some contract copywriting.

As for the money situation, I got paid by some clients for whom I did previous work, so that sustained me for the month of December.

It’s only been a couple weeks into the New Year, and I’ve already completed most of Project Thompson. Once that obligation is out of the way, which I hope will be next week, I can focus most of my attention on copywriting, but I have been dedicating an hour or two in the evenings plus a few hours on the weekends.

I will say that despite the currency being in my favor as a Canadian, Kuala Lumpur is not cheap. KL is a metropolitan centre similar to Toronto. As the capital city of Malaysia, it’s made up of other cities, and the one I’m staying in right now is called Petaling Jaya. PJ is a big enough city by its own right that I hardly ever leave to go to KLCC. With more restaurants and malls than you can shake a stick at, including recognizable brands like The Gap, McDonald’s, and 7-Eleven, there are so many ways for you to spend your hard-earned savings.

I won’t deny it. I was really worried for the first two weeks this month. Money was bleeding out of my account. I didn’t start any new contracts and Project Thompson was still in progress. But, as I spent time diving into the intricacies of online copywriting, I found some resources that would help accelerate my earnings. One of which was the Location Rebel forums. I had known about it, but it was put aside and forgotten during my stay here in PJ. If you are interested in this forum, you have to join Location Rebel, and I highly recommend it, given that it offers many other topics of location independent work aside from copywriting. Another resource I found quite recently is Freelance To Win, a site about hacking the very art of copywriting to get started and paid fast. However, the principles taught can really apply to anything.

For example, I was having a conversation with my cousin last night about business, and he considered himself green and with limited skills. However, I gave him some advice I learned over the years, and that is to sit down and think about what kind of things you like and what things you do that come second nature to you. Ramit Sethi calls this your X-Men Ability. If you can identify a target audience who needs your particular skill to address a burning problem they would desperately pay money to have solved, then you have the basis for starting a business.

The real secret to living abroad, I’ve found, is the ability to run your own business, whether it be freelancing or a full-blown entrepreneurship. Whatever you want to call it, you are providing value to those who need your skills in exchange for money. In fact, people who appreciate your skill set will gladly pay you money. There are many facets to get to that point, such as learning to sell yourself in a way that is ethical and honest.

I was a freelancer for 27 years doing home computer repair and IT consultation for small businesses. I’ve met clients who both appreciated what I did, and bad customers who tried to lowball me or hustle me into doing more work than I was being paid for. Through those years, I learned a lot about how to run a business and what not to do. The hardest thing, I’ve found, isn’t even getting started. It’s building the routine to keep going even on days that I don’t feel like it. I was even discouraged by friends who said I was working too much and didn’t have a life.

But I’m in Malaysia right now, living the dream, while those same people are still in Thompson doing the same thing. All because I sacrificed some of my free time for a few years. If you’re still chomping at the bit, thinking you’ll never achieve your goals, perhaps it’s time to look at what you’re not doing and just do it.

Well, my time is up. Thanks for listening. I hope you got something out of this podcast entry. If you have any questions or feedback, hit me up with a comment below. Until next time. Byeee.

What tech is in a creative media professional’s international travel bag?

What tech is in a creative media professional's international travel bag?

Getting prepared for a trip is a daunting task, especially when it comes to going overseas. As a creative media professional, I have some tech hardware requirements that will let me get the job done properly, and I needed to do it in an international location. I knew this was going to be like watching past the first season of Heroes; you know it will all go downhill from here.

The trip to Malaysia took me on Air Canada and Cathay Pacific. Each airline has different regulations when it comes to carry-on sizes and weights. I wanted to travel light and fast, which meant leaving some things out. I also wanted extra security for my gear, so I had to buy new bags.

The essential tech for creativity

My gaming ultra book was a must. It would give me all the power I needed for processing photos and video post production. I had lots of data stored on separate external hard drives, which can add to the weight. I also brought other accessories, such as a wireless mouse and a USB 3.0 hub that lets me connect more than one USB hard drive to one port. The hub keeps my sanity so that I can run automatic backups, work on video post-production, and chill out with my media library over Plex without continuously disconnecting and reconnecting separate drives. However, I couldn’t bring spare drives for capturing more video footage.

Communication is important for me to keep in touch with friends and family, at home and abroad. Without my smartphone, I’m unable to communicate with anybody, and while I could get by with a cheap, burnable phone in Malaysia, I’m familiar with my current phone and I also have access to work on the go and social media. I actually wrote this post on my phone while in the air from Vancouver to Hong Kong. Along with the smartphone, I needed my charger and power bank to keep my phone topped up.

Photography is doable with just a camera phone and Instagram, but nothing beats the versatility of a DSLR. I packed my Canon 60D with two lenses – a 28mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.8. Some other photography must-haves were a battery grip, spare battery, battery charger, two SD cards, anti-theft camera strap, and a remote. A tripod was too big, so I would have to buy one there. I also wanted to do some podcasting and audio production, so I brought my Zoom H4n, dynamic microphone, pop filter with gooseneck, and an XLR cable since they took up little space.

What to wear

Clothing was simple – dress shirt, one tie, one bow tie, and several pairs of socks and underwear. Buy the rest later as needed.

As it turned out, I didn’t even need the ties.

Secure your gear

Finally, I needed new bags for security. After much research, I went with a Pacsafe Camsafe V25 backpack for carrying my laptop and camera. I chose it because it was just the right size as a daypack, under-the-seat bag with padded compartments for camera gear. At least, that was the plan at first. I ended up prioritizing my hard drives and they ended up in the padded compartments, since it was ideal for protecting the drives from bumps. For carrying my camera gear on the go, I went with a Pacsafe Camsafe V6, which actually ended up as a very convenient daypack. A Samsonite 20″ spinner luggage took care of transporting everything else (including the fully-loaded V6). While there are weight restrictions for carry-on luggage, I went over the limit because I learned from experience that going to the checked baggage counter when there are no extra bags to check is pointless – if they can’t weigh it, they can’t check it. So long as I can lift my bag comfortably, I would be good to go, and that was certainly the case.

I chose Pacsafe because they have anti-theft features built in to their bags. Check them out, they’re a bit more expensive than standard bags, but they felt more effective when combined with common sense techniques.

Ready to go

This may all seem like a lot of stuff to transport, but I looked at it this way – if it didn’t fit in my backpack or carry-on luggage, I left it behind. I figured if I really needed it, I could buy it there. I ended up doing exactly just that.

Another thing I did keep in mind was the different electrical requirements. Malaysia runs on a 220V system, and fortunately, all of my electronics can automatically handle between 115V-240V. All I needed were travel plug adapters – I found a little computer shop in Bangsar Village called Chanz IT that sold travel power bars and plug adapters for super cheap.

Being a creative media professional is challenging when you have to consider international travel for your work. There’s always going to be one facet of your creativity that’s going to be sacrificed; in my case, it was filmmaking. However, I could focus on copywriting, photography, and blogging while here, which suits me just fine.

What are you waiting for?

If you've ever felt like you were trapped in a bad job, relationship, or situation, I've been there. I got tired of waiting for the world to help me and I started helping myself.

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