Discover great authors from HEY World

Making It

It's rare that I get the urge to write. Not a specific topic I have in mind or expanding on a note previously written, but a pure instinct to write with no pre-determined topics in mind. As a side note, the caffeine might be the actual cause. I almost never consume caffeine during the weekdays, so when I drink tea or coffee during the ...

Money during college

Is there a playbook of some sort for university students' personal finance? I think so. The pros are overwhelming: an early start in credit building, healthy habit formation, and relatively fast feedback loop in figuring out consumption, savings, and investing. No matter one's background, getting the system set up early and relatively ...

Hot Sauce

Sriracha and Lao Gan Ma are two of the most interesting businesses and brands I've ever come across. There is something to do with focusing on the product, being prudent with money, never compromising on quality, and staying out of limelight.

Traveling, or Traveling?

I was reading Phil Knight's excellent memoir Shoe Dog. Before Knight created Nike, he was an unemployed young man with a Stanford MBA and a brief career in the military. He decided to embark on a grand trip, becoming a globe-trotter when such idea was non-existent and most Americans never ventured far from their home, let alone go on a...

Some thoughts on investing

I want to put some of my understanding of investing, the stock market (especially value investing), economics, and business together in this semi-thread, semi-essay. The reason to invest The most important reason we should invest in assets is due to inflation. Inflation reduces our purchasing power, so we should at least preserve what ...

Simple Reckoning

Big moments of reckoning can come from simple things. I was listening to piano and started thinking about life. But unlike the usual contemplation, I started putting numbers on everything. I would not look at life the same again. There are fifty-two weeks each year and seven days each week. That means if I live to 80 years old, I will ...

In This For Life (BTS Proof #1)

Today I am doing something stupid but personally significant. I am writing about BTS. Recommended music: Yet to Come (2022) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kXpOEzNZ8hQ It's impossible to fully capture who BTS is and what they mean to the world, but it doesn't stop "experts" from trying. Many of them fail for obvious reasons: bias, prejud...

In This For Life

Today I am doing something stupid but personally significant. I am writing about BTS. Recommended music: Yet to Come (2022) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kXpOEzNZ8hQ It's impossible to fully capture who BTS is and what they mean to the world, but it doesn't stop "experts" from trying. Many of them fail for obvious reasons: bias, prejud...

Simplicity Wins Credit

I should have listened to the person who told me one credit card is enough. Now I have three and hate myself for being so confused all the time. When I look at my bank apps, I see how much money I left on the table by using the wrong card. For example, when one card has higher cash back in gas, I instead used the other one because that...

People: The Triumph of Happiness

Is happiness an inherent quality or a state of mind? Your life depends a lot on your outlook. Contexts Of course, we should preface this question with "things fall in a spectrum of sorts", where happiness is neither entirely determined by fate nor entirely defined by our actions. It may sound cliche, but we need this elastic-band-like ...

Run Clear of Bitterness

I don't really give advice anymore. If I say something that applies to people in general then it sounds trite. If I say something that is specific then it runs the risk of not being useful. But one thing is probably worth repeating over and over to people young and not so young. Don't stay bitter. Life sometimes gives us awful outcomes...

Mathematical Growth

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One Year

A day drags on forever, but a year zips past in a hurry. March 2021 to March 2022 sped through like a rollercoaster. A year ago I started this blog. It started as a bet with my friend to see if I could write something for seven days. It turned into four weeks. Now it's been more than a year. I have learned so much about writing by doin...

Life Is Not A Countdown

When I was driving on Friday, a thought came to me. Why am I living life like it's always a countdown? It's something I hinted at when I was writing about time management. After that I read Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks again. It is an excellent book, perhaps the best book on time management written (Professor Adam Grant agrees...

Invite The Future Today

I'm on a countdown. Six weeks from now, I will finish college and move on to the next stage of life. I barely feel time's passage. There seems to be so much more I could have done during the last four years, but I know that sentiment will exist whether COVID happened or not. Instead of looking at the past, I want to see the future. I a...

Do It For Two Weeks

I haven't learned much in my short life, but I know something that is important to understand - the difference between thinking about something and doing it. Without getting philosophical, I want to mention a simple rule that stems from this thought process. Whenever I think about doing something, do this thing for two weeks before mak...

Live for Three Weeks

Three weeks is as long as I can realistically manage my life. When I properly analyze how my months go by, I see repetitions of two weeks or three weeks at a time, adding up to fifty-two or what have you. The marker is rather arbitrary, usually a major personal event, mood swing, or the start of some major project (and sometimes relati...

Long Substance

Graduation is only a few weeks from now. I should be nervous about what the future holds, but I’m trying my best to stay calm. It’s not about whether I have a starting job that pays six figures or not. It’s not about whether I achieve much in my early twenties. These things are cool to have, but not essential. Chasing them may be count...

Thinking About Time Management

We all talk about time management, but not everyone can go into details about how they manage time and why. Four years of college (and internships, research, and personal projects) have given me the environment to fiddle with various strategies and habits. Now I can somewhat articulate my ideas. The catalyst for this essay is Oliver Bu...

Marvel Franchises Humans

I try my best to articulate my opinions, some of which can be considered hot takes. One that irritates my friends is how I don't particularly enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The irony is I am a happy Disney shareholder. I fully support and enjoy this highly profitable and attractive business, but something else just doesn't ...

Read The Power Broker

Robert Caro's The Power Broker is one of the best books I have ever read. It belongs to a shelf with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Dream of The Red Chambers, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Shakespeare's First Folio (this list is intentionally short). I use three filters to assess books. Is it enjoyable? Is it repeatedly insightful? Do...

The Four Stage Narrative

There is a fundamental difference in the narrative structures between East Asian and Western culture. I was listening to BTS's Love Yourself trilogy (Her, Tear, Answer) and noticed two details. The first is the hanja (Chinese character) attached to each album: 承 for Her, 轉 for Tear, and 結 for Answer. The second is the hanja associated ...

Rethink Productivity

I don't like how mainstream culture and media define productivity. It's narrow and somewhat perverse. In my opinion, creating things you enjoy (which doesn't have to be of value to others) is inherently productive. It's not the mere action, which can be passive, but the process of making something new and often profound. Productive is ...

What Does It Mean To Be Productive And How

I don't like how mainstream culture and media define productivity. It's so narrow and perverse. In my opinion, creating things you enjoy (which may or may not be of value to others) is inherently productive. It's not the mere act of doing, which can be passive, but the process of making something new. Productivity must be active by def...

AGUST 29

Min Yoongi (Suga) turned 29 today. I'm just going to write in a stream-of-consciousness style about Yoongi, while listening to all of his produced songs. Holy shit that is a lot of songs! The playlist came out to be 36 songs, around 2 hours. And these are only songs he produced, not written! Essentially, Yoongi produced three albums wo...

The Soft Album Disruption

K-pop is changing the music industry. The fact is indisputable. There is nothing revolutionary about changes in music. Things change over time, but the accumulation of small improvements will reach a critical point that people can recognize in hindsight. This is happening in the music merchandise sphere right now. In particular, the id...

Make Time Or Go Insane

Work is like a blackhole. It will suck every minute of your waking hour, if you let it. It will occupy your headspace ad infinitum, if you let it. Our mind does not come with a spigot that can turn off, so water keeps splashing through the pipe, clear or nasty. Translating that to day-to-day life (especially since COVID), the boundarie...

Your Ignorance Is Not My Problem

Upon hearing about Lee Jung-jae 이정재 and Jung Ho-yeon 정호연 winning the 2022 Screen Actor Guild Award for their stellar performance in Squid Game, I knew one thing immediately. Some journalists are going to ask some dumb questions. And that happened. Here's the obvious reason why "Now that you're SAG winners what are you going to miss mos...

Take That Leap

There are some things that if you don’t it, you will regret it forever. Even if it comes at a great cost, it’s worth doing. Two of my four years in college, Berkshire Hathaway held their shareholder meetings online. That was not within my control, but this year, it is. There is simply zero reason to not go. Money is not a reason. I hav...

Thoughts About Tweet Length

I've been thinking about writing on Twitter lately. I don't know how to do it well, but good tweets (note: not the same as viral tweets) probably have something behind them. Tweet length Assume each word is 6-7 characters (an arbitrary parameter) and a space bar, 280 characters equal 35-40 words, or 3-4 sentences. Essentially a short p...

Back To Fiction

I recently started reading fiction again. That hasn't happened regularly for many years. Mandatory reading in high school certainly destroyed my interests in reading fiction. At the same time, I was not making the best use of my time, even when I had more free time from not reading. The only time I remember reading fiction was during s...

College Math Have Failed Us

I recent read an op-ed "why won't anyone teach me math?" The author makes sharp points I deeply resonate with. As a humanities-turned-math major, I have thought a lot about this transition and how rare that happens. “Unfortunately, it is difficult for students pursuing humanities and social science degrees to explore classes within STE...

College Math Courses Have Failed Us

I recent read an op-ed "why won't anyone teach me math?" The author Abigail makes salients points I deeply resonate with as a humanities-turned-math major. Given how rare that transition happens, I have thought about it a lot. This is a semi-compendium on the topic. “Unfortunately, it is difficult for students pursuing humanities and s...

Small Moments Are All We Have

Today wasn’t productive by any account, but it felt wonderful. I read a fascinating story in bed to start the day. Then I walked to Trader Joe's to buy flowers for my friend's recital. After the recital, I walked around campus, spoke with someone I haven't seen for two years, ate some fresh chicken tenders, and started writing this pie...

The UCSB Dorm Controversy Is Overblown

Charlie Munger has been in the news lately. Media outlets are blasting Munger for bankrolling a dorm and shaping its architectural plan at UC Santa Barbara. The controversy (since fall 2021) centers around the lack of natural light for bedrooms. While the story is sensational, it says less about Munger and billionaires at large and mor...

Michael's Life Manual

After taking a long walk, I decided to write down some principles I live by. They are in no particular order. Proactive serendipity is my approach to life. Proactive means we can choose and stay open-minded. Serendipity means to believe in goodness and accept the outcomes even if they don't fit our image. Have a bias for action. If I c...

How To Actually Win At College

Cal Newport's books helped me a lot during high school and college. Now I'm almost done with college, I can finally review his How To Win At College. How do these suggestions hold up? Given its publication date of 2005 and a global pandemic, a lot of the tips don't work anymore. But plenty of them are still helpful! Particularly good a...

How to Actually Win in College

Cal Newport's books helped me a lot during high school and college. Now I'm almost done with college, I can finally review his How To Win At College. How do these suggestions hold up? Given its publication date of 2005 and a global pandemic, a lot of the tips don't work anymore. But plenty of them are still helpful! Particularly good a...

My Three Musketeers

Writing is my method for thinking. Composing sentence after sentence with context, nuance, and style is no easy feat. It’s like running. You will get better. You will get faster. But it never feels easy when you are pushing near your frontier. You actually want to feel that throat-burning or head scratching, because that’s the only way...

Fast And Thoughtful

Can we be fast and thoughtful in terms of writing, making decisions, and so on? It is theoretically possible. Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. If we draw a 2x2 grid, one corner will say fast and high quality. Of course, we know most things fall under the other three categories in reality: slow and high quality, fast and hi...

Flomo Is My Secret Weapon

Writing is my medium to think. HEY is my way to write, but it is like Excalibur. HEY handles writing very well, but it needs a library of ideas, thinking, and the like to continue output. I need my version of Merlin. After three years of disappointment, I have found it. Flomo is my secret weapon. Whereas HEY does only one thing (word p...

Pull Your Hair Up

We all know the importance of pushing forward. The difficult part is the start. How do you start, when life seems to grind to a halt and all hope is lost? This is something I've been struggling for a long time. There are days when I cannot do anything tangible and my spirit is beyond demoralized. Worse yet, there is no one else there t...

Find The Right Internship

Finding jobs post-graduation is the rinse-and-repeat version of internship search, but with real life consequences. It's the third installment of the adulting trilogy, "college apps, internship, and post-graduation". The good news is I have made through the second installment. Internships used to give me so much stress. It wasn't the c...

Email Woes

Here are some things that make emails suck. It doesn't matter whether I pay for my Gmail or Outlook. It still sucks. Most importantly, spam. Spam is not narrow defined as Nigerian princes and pill ads. Anything that stops you from using email as a communications tool is spam. Even newsletters count as spam, if you don't want to read th...

The Negativity Checking Account

Negativity functions like a checking account. There is a balance and you add to it. You can withdraw, but like a regular checking account the default outcome is to let the principal accumulate. Of course, you want to do the opposite. However, that takes a lot of determination and continuous efforts on your end. If you don't withdraw, t...

Peter Thiel's German 277 Syllabus

This is the syllabus for Peter Thiel's "Stagnation or Progress" at Stanford. It's offered as GERMAN 277, which is quite amusing in itself. I would use this as a springboard to find some reading material! 1 - OUR PRESENT DECADENCE: Leo Strauss, The City and Man, Introduction p 1-12 Ross Douthat, The Decadent Society, entire 2 - DECLINE:...

Some Things To Read 2022-1

As the title suggests, here are some things to read. They are thought provoking and enjoyable things I read in the last month or two. The cut-off point is Saturday January 22. I hope this can become an infrequent series, hence the title name 2022-1. China Dan Wang's 2021 Letter There is plenty of China-focused writing nowadays, but mos...

Don't Read Everything Don't Do Everything

I was browsing Pocket's top 2021 articles. Then the a thought occurred for the fifth year in a row. Man, there is so much I have to read... Are there a lot of things I must read? No. I don't have to read any of them if I don't want to. In fact, many people stop reading after college. But why do I think I must read a lot? Having the hab...

Investing Books

Here are some great books on investing. I wouldn't recommend most reading lists online because they simply aggregate data from other websites. I err on the "less is more" approach. Contexts Easy The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. The Simple Path to Wealth. The Psychology of Money. More Straight Talk on Investing. John Bogle Com...

My Job Search Process

I am in the transition stage of college. The next few months will be really interesting, as I approach job searching and post-graduation in a deliberate manner. I wrote down a few things on my process, because principles help align my actions with my long-term goals. The specific thought process will be a separate piece. I want to be a...

I Don’t Hate Airports

I’ve never hated flying, no matter how early or late the flight is. Something about the flying experience makes all the supposed misery not so miserable. The bad rap. I somehow feel much more hopeful at airports. It is comforting to look at people being stuck at the same place with you. Normally I wouldn’t look at people for no reason,...

Four Is Convenient Not Good

There are many misconceptions today. There are many dire scenarios today. But the intersection of these two is truly dangerous. And there is one such candidate. We are completely wrong on education, most notably how we define it in relation to time. We define education by years. Six years of elementary school. Two years of middle schoo...

Warren Buffett Partnership Letters

This is an ongoing thread of Warren Buffett's sayings. 1961 Letter (repeated in 1963): You will not be right simply because a large number of people momentarily agree with you. You will not be right simply because important people agree with you. In many quarters the simultaneous occurrence of the two above factors is enough to make a ...

My Own Twitter

What if I turn this blog into a Twitter feed? I will work on longform writing in real time. If I have coherent thoughts, I can compile them and turn them into an essay at some point. I will try this out for two weeks and see what happens. The best case scenario is more essays written. The expected scenario is more half-complete essays ...

Psychology Of Debt

This is an incomplete essay in the works. Debt holds an unspeakable power over us. Both individuals and societies react to debt without realizing it. We don't think about debt, yet debt haunts us in many ways. Debt is the undercurrent in world history and our daily life. We need to study the psychology of debt. We are not very good at ...

The Future of Twitter

Jack Dorsey is no longer Twitter's CEO. He has done a lot, but probably not enough. Otherwise, the company's stock price wouldn't stay the same as the 2013 IPO price. Meanwhile, Facebook (now Meta) has exploded seven-fold during the same duration. I am a Twitter shareholder. I am also a Twitter user. I care about Twitter's future. Twit...

My Own Twitter - January 2021

What if I turn this blog into my own Twitter feed? I can work on long-form writing in real time. If I have coherent thoughts, I can compile them and turn them into essays at a later point. I will try this for the next two weeks. The best case scenario is more essays written. The expected scenario is more half-complete essays in the for...

2021

This is a compilation of things I wrote in 2021. Some of my favorite pieces are not included because they need substantial revision or contain personal matters. Rethink Progress & Reflection I tried to not feel sentimental during the new year countdown. This wasn’t always the case. I still lamented the passage of time last year, but re...

2021 Top Posts

I made a PDF of my top posts in 2021. It contains everything that does not need a rewrite. My introduction to the collection is below, serving as a semi-reflection. This is a compilation of things I wrote in 2021. Some of my favorite pieces are not included because they need substantial revision or contain personal matters. What you re...

Active Topic Lists

I have deleted dozens of posts. Some are simply no good, but most of them are incomplete. Before 2021 ends, I want to keep tabs on things I thought about but couldn't exactly express in words. These come from my blog, my archival folder, and my master list. As you can see, there are many more ideas than I could get to. In 2022 I will l...

The Truth About Gardens

Gardens are underrated. They are much more significant than we realize. The truth is humans have been obsessed with gardens since the beginning of time. The Garden of Eden is one clear example. Alexander the Great fell in love with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Louis XIV sponsored possibly the greatest development in Western landscap...

Rewind 2021

I am officially on break now. With ten days to go, 2021 is 97% done. This means I am getting ready to reflect and rewind all that's happened in 2021. For the next four weeks, I will strive to do small things everyday, so they rack up to a big amount. Reading, writing, exercising, talking to people, eating good food, taking care of my e...

Build Momentum

If someone asks me for advice, I will only say one thing confidently. Build momentum and don't lose it. Momentum means upward improvement. Don't lose it implies being continuous, sustainable, and long-term. Only continuous improvement brings solid wins in the long run. This applies to many things. In terms of book reading, consistency ...

2022 Requests

In 2022 I want to explore even more interesting things, as job searching will take a bigger part of my life in the next few months. Fingers crossed on that (given the weird labor market right now). Please send me any topics you’re interested in or questions you’d like me to answer or explore. Some of my favorite pieces are from friend ...

Start Rereading

Rereading is underrated. It is important to reread for one to improve and fully appreciate reading. Some books need multiple reads because they are impossible to understand in one go. When I finished Robert Caro's The Power Broker, I knew I would read it again at a more mature age. Robert Moses's political maneuvers, his inner thoughts...

So Much Time, So Little Time

The sun goes down at 5 now. I usually leave 4-6 PM open to just catch a breath, but now it's mandatory to reserve this time to enjoy the sunset. As I am enjoying the sunset today, I see some people staring at their phone. Usually that doesn't bother me, but somehow this time I have serious doubts. Doubts about what a neurotic environme...

Things I Wish I'd Known

I wrote a long list for my eighteen-year-old self in the summer. It is similar to this college guide but longer and more opinionated. I asked some friends about their favorite pointers, so you can see the (objectively) best ones. Special thanks to Theo, J.J, Alex, Andrew, and Samuel for their help and comments. Samuel contributed signi...

Don’t Go Back To Pre-Pandemic Normal

I don't want to go back to normal, at least not the "normal" before COVID-19. Almost two years later, the media has finally stopped talking about going back to normal. As if there was an expected normal in the first place! Longing to go back to normal is an emotional outcry, similar to nostalgia. We are looking fondly at things that br...

Backtrack From 85

Thinking about the future is difficult, because so many things can change dramatically. But there are also things we know that won't change. If my life ends at 85 years old (hopefully from natural causes), then I want to know I've lived a decent life. I want to be proud of myself. As a son, as a husband, and as a father. I want to be u...

Travel To The Future

Listening to Rick Steves reminds me of why I love traveling. Reading and talking to people are the best ways to learn. Traveling (when done right) is a special combination of both. Instead of reading books, you read and experience the environment, the architecture and scenery, the food, the culture, the atmosphere, and of course, the p...

Emotionally Tired

I used to think I can only be physically tired. Take a break, get some rest, and things will get better. That worked for quite some time, until it stopped working. There were days when I didn't want to do anything, not because I was lazy, but because I felt incapable of doing so. This week was tough. Unlike last week, I didn't have a l...

240 Days Later

240 days ago, I started my blog with "Starting Here, Calm and Happy". I had no idea what would happen, but the world certainly surprised me in many ways. Here are ten things that happened to me during this time: • Paul Graham shared "Why Kids Hate Writing"; • I interned at NPR and did many cool stories, such as on BTS and anime; • Enjo...

Tender Lightness

What makes life worth living? Fortunately, some moments are self-evident answers to that question. For example, right now. I'm sitting outside the biology department building, looking at the four-way street intersection. The sun is shining but the temperature feels just right. IU's 'Ah Puh' is playing in my ears. I'm smiling from head ...

Feel Better

During the summer, I wrote myself a letter for the not-so-well moments. It wasn't long by design, but it ended up that way. Dear friend, I hope you feel better. Whatever you are going through or feeling, I understand. It's valid and that's all that matters. As I grow older, I sound more like grown-ups that I used to find boring, but I ...

How To Do Nothing Effectively

"How to do nothing effectively" sounds silly. It seems stupid to do nothing and it seems absurd to do such stupid thing effectively. But this is actually something worthwhile, at least for me and my good friend, who first posed the question. What does "do nothing" mean? And why should we do nothing, at least sometimes? Doing nothing do...

Squashing The Ant One Year Later

It's been a year since Jack Ma's fiery speech at the Bund Summit, his subsequent disappearance, and the pulled IPO of his Ant Financial, a company that was once worth trillions of RMB. This year has been dubbed "the year of Chinese tech crackdown" by media and people outside of China. But all this talk, worry, and speculation begs some...

The Trust Battery

What makes a team work well? Why don't all of my friends get along with each other? Why do some relationships work well, while other relationships fall apart? These are difficult questions, but "the trust battery" can help explain part of them. What is the trust battery Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke uses this concept to describe work relation...

Do A Time Audit

Something was bugging me and I didn't know why, so I did a time audit. I took out a piece of scratch paper and wrote down how many hours I spent on things over the last week. Now I know why I feel stressed - I'm working too many hours on my temporary gig outside of school. That translates to more anxiety during the day and difficulty t...

Some Squid Game Observations

Squid Game is an enjoyable and binge-worthy show. Here are some incomplete thoughts on the story. The story The story is hugely influenced by the novel Battle Royale (by Koushun Takami) and its eponymous film (directed by Kinji Fukasaku) from the premise of the death game to rounding up the contestants in the first place. Of course a l...

Brief Guide To On-Campus Jobs

Getting an on-campus job in college is good. There are plenty of benefits. • You gain work experience; • You make money; • You learn about working with people; • You fill your schedule with an alternative to mindless YouTube; • You learn about work itself and your preference. Are there any downsides to working in college? Practically n...

Reminiscing Time

Time is a funny thing. It's literally everywhere in our life, yet we don't see it directly (unless you stare at clocks all day). And when we really feel it, it's usually because we wish we would have done something but it's too late. I reminisce time. In the search of lost time, what else can we find? Actually quite a lot. Memories. Im...

The Big Question For A College Senior

Note: the setting of this piece is at a competitive college, so it does not represent all college students. I was eating breakfast recently, when I noticed most students in the cafeteria had their computers open. Some were watching YouTube, but many of them were reading PDF files for class or writing emails. And some students were even...

Proactive Serendipity

When someone asks me "how do you approach life?" and I want to sound like a fake guru, I would say "proactive serendipity". To be honest, I chose the phrase because it sounds cute. My thanks to friend Sabrina for mentioning "proactive" one day and Jimin for the song "serendipity". But in reality the two words carry multiple layers. It ...

Things I Wish I'd Know Volume 3

This is the last installment of this mini-series. You can find my initial piece, volume one and volume two here. My dear friend Samuel has been helping me for a long time and this college "guide" is no exception. My sincere thanks to him. Here are his and my favorite pointers from the long document we both have to read over and over. N...

Things I Wish I'd Known Volume 2

In the spirit of continuing Things I Wish I'd Known Volume 1, here is volume 2 featuring my friends Alex and Andrew. Thank you for your support and feedback. Note: there will be a volume 3. Alex's Picks Embrace spontaneity. No room for spontaneity equals a boring life and 100% chance of emotional burnout. Not if, but when. Note: JJ (fr...

Things I Wish I'd Known Volume 1

I wrote a list of advice for my eighteen years old self before finishing the last year of college. It's similar to this guide but longer and more opinionated. To make it not too overwhelming, I asked some friends about their favorite pointers. Here are Theo and J.J's. My dear friend Samuel contributed significantly to my initial draft,...

Basic College First Year Lessons

Many students are starting school this week. Here are some reminders for this exciting yet uncertain time: Wear masks, wash hands, get tested, and get vaccinated. Let's do this much to keep the colleges open and not on Zoom. Don't forget to lock your door at all times. I know people who lost laptops, driver's licenses, and wallets from...

I'm Actually Not Done With Fashion

A few months ago I wrote I'm Done with Fashion. It was indicative of my determination to separate my current way of thinking about fashion from my past. But like a wise person will say, there is always a chance that things will sway. This time is no different. I'm actually not done with fashion! There are important contexts behind why ...

Out Of This World - Translation

Below is a letter a 14 year-old girl in China left for her parents, before jumping off a building. Italics are my own edits. May she Rest In Peace. This is not the first tragedy nor the last tragedy parents and society commit against the youth. Hi, It's my pleasure to know you during this journey of life. If there is another life, it'd...

Some August Musings

Here are some musings from my long conversation with my good friend Jose. We recently spent an afternoon going around the peripheral 626 area (Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale) and drinking boba. College And Competition The most important thing to do in college is to think for yourself. If you don't do it now, you would have to pay ever-increa...

The Never-Ending Writing Quest

Writing is a way to channel the creative energy but improving one's style and taste is a Sisyphean process. You will constantly be aware of the gap between what you know is good and your actual output. It is a lifelong uphill battle. As Steven Pressfield notes in The War of Art, "Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and ...

Michael's Guide To Eat In The SGV

The San Gabriel Valley (aka 626) in Los Angeles is one hodgepodge of great restaurants. It is one of the best places in America to enjoy all types of Asian food. Below are my recommendations. The restaurants are listed in no particular order, but grouped by cuisines or themes. Many thanks to the late Jonathan Gold, whose articles intro...

Michael's SGV Eating Guide

The San Gabriel Valley (aka 626) in Los Angeles is one hodgepodge of great restaurants. It is one of the best places in America to enjoy all types of Asian food. Below are my recommendations. The restaurants are listed in no particular order, but grouped by cuisines or themes. Many thanks to the late Jonathan Gold, whose articles intro...

Reflecting The Reflection Process

I love to read people’s reflections. Michel de Montaigne and Marcus Aurelius are giants of the introspection genre. Warren Buffet’s annual shareholders letters and Howard Marks’s investment memos are must-reads for investors and reflection-aficionados alike. In the Chinese world, technology writer Dan Wang writes eloquent annual review...

The Journey Of A Stationery Nerd

I was a stationery nerd. The perfect bullet journal notebook. The best gel pen. The cleanest eraser. If you can name it, I know it. Tokyu Hands is one of my favorite places in Tokyo for its crazy selection. Here is an entire aisle of permanent markers. But there was one problem. I ended up hoarding more things than I could use. You mig...

Collection on Stripe

As a Stripe fan, it's good to keep a collection on this world-changing company. Much thanks to all the writers who have analyzed Stripe. And much thanks to the Internet for making Stripe and materials on Stripe possible! I will update this here and there. Collection by Mario Gabriele of The Generalist. Patrick Collison (Founder, CEO) P...

Resembling Normal

The past July 4th is a day to remember. A year and half after the 2020 Chinese New Year, we had our first big dinner. It was fantastic. A car full of groceries. An afternoon of busy prep work. De-veining over four pounds of shrimp. Setting up four tables and twenty-some seats. Appetizers, drinks, entrees, and desserts of all kinds. Wha...

Stop Being Jealous Of WeChat

In the West, WeChat is known as a super-app. We don't want this one particularly, but we wish we had something like it. At least Facebook desperately wants to be the super-app. We shouldn't be jealous, because we already have our super-app. It's called the web browser. The web browser does everything WeChat claims to do, but better: • ...

You And Your Research

Richard Hamming's You And Your Research is excellent. Here are my favorite lines from the lecture. Start Big, Live A Meaningful Life As far as I know each of you has but one life to lead, and it seems to me it is better to do significant things than to just get along through life to its end. Certainly near the end it is nice to look ba...

We Regret Not Doing

I used to think about “what-ifs” all the time. Reading Ted Chiang’s Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom only led to more paranoid thinking about parallel universes and the weight of human action. What if I studied in Tokyo for a year? What if I paid more attention to this person? What if I didn’t say that? These questions would haunt m...

A Random Poem For Someone

Random things happen So you meet random people But you don't want some to be random Sometimes it happens right there Other times it takes some time Nothing is different until a random moment When you can't stop thinking about that random someone Now, someone is no longer random to you Yet you may still be random to them What a random p...

New Year Old Me

"New Year New Me" is an illusion. When the clock strikes twelve on January 1st, it's natural to think new year resolutions. I will get fitter. I will save more money. I will finally learn Python. The list keeps growing. But you are the same old you in the same old new year. By April, you feel bad about how little you have done. You thi...

The Action Fallacy

Sometimes it's best to not do things. In fact, you have to choose inaction. Guilt is often associated with inaction and sloth, even though sinners are almost always those who do things. They just do those that count as sins. I won't go too philosophical on this topic. All I am suggesting is to respect nature. Our surrounding environmen...

Start Rewriting

Rewriting is eighty percent of good writing, but I don't do enough of that. Good Advice I came across this great thread on Twitter. “The fresher your eyes, the better you can edit your own writing. Do that by changing devices. I write on my computer, edit on my iPad, and always make final edits on my phone in bed. Ways to become a bett...

Thursday Morning, 4 A.M.

I woke up at 4 AM today. There was no particular reason. My job would start at 7 AM. There were no dogs or roosters. The room temperature was in the high seventies. I didn't feel thirsty or wanting to use the bathroom. I didn't set an early alarm. My body was tired from a gym workout yesterday. I tried going back to sleep but figured i...

Find the Biggest Problems

Richard Hamming's speech "You and Your Research" is fantastic. One of the key message is to find out the biggest problems in any field and work on them. “I began by asking what the important problems were in chemistry, then later what important problems they were working on, and finally one day said, “If what you are working on is not ...

Always Tired

I feel tired all the time. It shouldn't happen, but it does. I call it the unreasonable tired syndrome (UTS). It's not physical exhaustion after a ten-hour hike nor mental exhaustion after a DMV appointment. These events make me tired, but they are justified. I'm talking about the unjustified fatigue. It's wanting to bury my head in th...

I'm Done with Fashion

I like window shopping. It reminds me of how little I care about fashion. I cared about my looks in high school. Which jeans and sneakers look great on me? How should I approach streetwear? What do I do if my hair looks bad? As if worrying made me popular... Vanity is a powerful vacuum. It blocks clarity of thought and substantive happ...

Better Than Ten Years of School

A classic Chinese saying goes, "A conversation with a gentleman is worth more than ten years of school." It's not an exaggeration. You should try to have these conversations early and often. I know I have. I had a privileged year living with one of my role models. A true rags-to-riches millionaire. A humble man that speaks worldly wisd...

Advices From Costco Founder Jim Sinegal

Jim Sinegal is the founder and former CEO of Costco, one of my favorite business leaders. He gives two common advices, when speaking at colleges. Find a mentor If you have a chance to find a mentor, do it. All of us in our lives have found people who we admire and we really think always have the right style and class to be able to hand...

What if I Hate My Major?

Below is a letter to an incoming college student, on choosing a major. Dear xxxx, Aside from choosing a college, your biggest challenge is to choose a major. There is no single right answer, but there are some helpful questions to consider. You are probably unsure right now. College admission is already brutal this year and your declar...

Stop Asking Bad Questions During Q&As

People from Q&A sessions often ask bad questions. I've asked plenty of those myself, so I know there are ways to ask better questions during Q&As. Most importantly, do not give speeches. Keep your introduction to one sentence. No one needs your contexts, let alone your opinions. If the speakers need more information, they will ask you....

More Ideas Than Executions

I have a happy problem. I have more ideas than the necessary energy, focus, and mood to materialize them. There are thirty or so half-finished posts in my draft box, waiting for that final touch-up or that "eureka" moment. Sure it's frustrating, but I don't let it bother me. There is not much I can do anyways. Acceptance is easier than...

The Final Stage And The End Game

The final stage of life is inevitable even for vampires. What does it look like for many people? It’s a tragedy that many people will live in hospice. Many elders will live below poverty lines or go broke for elder care. Some will even die alone and no one will know until the body starts to rot. There are disparities, but also plenty o...

Advices From Former Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb

Bill McNabb was Vanguard's former CEO from 2008 to 2017, following Jack Bogle and Jack Brennan. During his tenure, Vanguard's assets under management (AUM) grew from less than 2 trillion dollars to six trillion dollars. McNabb has some solid advices for people. On Finding Your Mission Bill quotes his rowing coach Jim Barker: “You gotta...

Write Shorter

I must write shorter. We don't feel bad about trimming the lawn, because we are not attached to the grass. But we are attached to our words. Editing is gruesome, but one has to start somewhere. Keep words polished, but don’t settle for perfection. Comprise between shipping and "dying". Then feel free to revisit and redo.

One Less Time Each Year

Summer is always my favorite season. The abundance of time makes it possible to do great things. It's staying cool, listening to jazz, and reading books. It's spending time with friends and enjoying the breeze. It's drinking sparkling water when walking outside under the sizzling sun. It's iced coffee and story writing. It’s ephemeral....

Charlie Munger's Simple Life Advice

I love Charlie Munger. His appearance with Warren Buffett for Berkshire Hathaway's 2021 Shareholder Meeting is fantastic as usual. His short life advice from 2019 is beautiful. Here is his chat with CNBC's Becky Quick. Q: What is the secret to a long and happy life? That is easy, because it's so simple. You don't have a lot of envy. Yo...

Michel Lewis on Writing

Michale Lewis is a prolific and excellent writer. His books have influenced people of all walks, including me. Unlike most people writing investigative non-fiction, Lewis did not work in journalism, but sold bonds for Salomon Brothers in the 80s. His career and personality led to the following general advice for aspiring young writers....

To @tobi and @harleyf

I have been rooting for one company since high school. Shopify. The company is beyond amazing. In 2017, it was still relatively "new" to me (and the world). Notable Shopify-enabled companies such as Allbirds and Gymshark were just getting started. I only knew Ottawa as Canada's capital and Shopify's HQ. In 2020, Shopify merchants did $...

My 10 Money Principles

There is much more to life than money, but not having money makes life so much worse. Here are my ten money principles, just enough to summarize my current system. 1. Make more money than you spend. 2. Save money automatically - 10% is easy and 20% is doable. 3. Get into very little debt, especially credit card debt. 4. Mortgage and au...

Hard Thoughts About College

The college admissions game is crazy this year. The numbers are bonkers. Now decisions are out, millions of students are hurting. I know people who qualify for top universities, but are only accepted to their safety schools. A year ago, the situation was almost the exact opposite. The issue on college admissions is so big that it’s inc...

Life Goes Full Circle

Here's a story. I was burnt out in high school. There was no calm in sight. I felt like a hamster on a wheel. As soon as I finished college applications, I took a big mental break to recharge. I started reading this guy, Meng Yan. He wrote weekly reflections on investing, entrepreneurship, and life. I enjoyed reading them. The experien...

Running Out of Time

Running Out of Time (暗戰, Hidden War) is one of my favorite films. I watched it again last night and remembered why I liked it so much. Don't worry, there is no major spoiler in this amateur film review. It covers little to no analysis of characters or plot, just how it makes me feel. It's refreshingly enjoyable. The film has a cop-fugi...

28 Days Later

I wrote 28 pieces (including this one) in 28 days. Wow. I haven't had Goldberg Variations level calm in a long time, so Igor Levit's Goldberg Variations makes this reflection possible. Random Project, Random Surprise When HEY World launched four weeks ago, I wanted to write for seven days straight. The goal was bold since I never wrote...

Work Like a Stripe

I admire (and love) Stripe so much. I would love to work there one day. At least, I will be a happy customer. Stripe's management team is so young, it's astonishing. CEO Patrick Collison's my intellectual role mode. President John Collison is super intelligent and charming as well. Irish culture at its finest. COO Claire Hughes Johnson...

A Good Day’s Worth

Friday, March 26th was a good day. I finished homework the night before. I also wrote something urgent, so I didn’t sleep until after midnight. The sleep quality was not good, but the tradeoff was worth it I woke up at 7 AM like usual, but my body slept-in for another two hours. What a wonderful feeling! Since class was cancelled, I sp...

Anti-Asian Hate Crime, Atlanta

I hate to write about politics because it exposes my naivete. Not today. What happened in Atlanta is not the first nor the last time innocent Asian Americans suffer because of prejudice, hatred, and malice. The timeline is not only of the killer, but also of the entire history. Chinese immigrants first came to the U.S. en masse during ...

How to Cope With College Rejections

The following is my letter to some high school seniors, who feel nervous waiting for college decision letters. It should give everyone a sense of the pressure they feel. To the anxious high school seniors: College decision letters are coming to your mailboxes. Some of them will be rejections. Perhaps you've only gotten rejection letter...

Build A Wall Around Vacation

I always feel like there is not enough time. The list of tasks keeps growing, even when I need to recharge. It’s spring break right now. Students need this, especially this year. But there is always that one class. The professor assigns something due Monday after the break. This time it’s an exam. What’s frustrating is I won’t get the ...

Why Kids Hate Writing

Why do people (especially kids) hate writing, and why do people think they can't write well? I know my reasons and they are not restricted to writing. It’s a broader problem. 1. We don't write for ourselves. 2. We don't read. 3. We don't edit. 4. We buy into the bullshit myth of writing. When we write essays in high school English clas...

Why You Should Cherish Senioritis

This is an essay for my friends on the subject of senioritis, especially to high school seniors each spring. I love senioritis. Why? Some will ask. You don’t do anything. You just stay lazy and waste time. Sometimes that someone is you. People who judge you without making an effort to understand your perspective often bring you unneces...

Starting Here, Calm and Happy

Hello, World. This may be the eleventh time I start a blog. Please call me a serial entrepreneur, only because I failed all previous attempts. Not bad for a twenty-year-old. I start projects with reflections on past mistakes, since most of my mistakes happen for the same reasons. In the case of maintaining a blog: • The lack of consist...