Year of the Dragon Definitely Won't Be A Drag

Craving a bowl of won ton mein, my roommates and I headed to our go-to roast duck and jook (sometimes referred to as congee by less cool people) joint Big Wong's in Manhattan Chinatown. Just our (bad) luck, Chinese New Year celebrations were going on, so the streets were littered with little kids, confetti and silly string. If I wasn't so hungry, the lion dancing and cymbal banging wouldn't bother me but it was preventing me from my noodles. It's a good thing Big Wong's is so quick at serving food. Instantly our won ton mein, char siu chong fun and jook was devoured and our bellies satisfied--all for only $15!

The Chinese New Year festivities reminded me that today is my brother Zadrian's 14th birthday!! Zadrian also lion dances and does kung fu in Hawaii and will be performing at the 63rd Narcissus Coronation Ball at the Hilton Hawaiian Village today. I'm so amazed and proud of how quickly he has learned the jongs--lion dancing on 8 ft. poles--you can watch his awesome performance from a few weeks ago at the end of this post. 

After grocery shopping, we stopped by Quickly's for some Bubble Milk Tea and mini cakes from the food stand outside.

The video below is of my brother Zadrian and his lion dance company Gee Yung at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. He's the head player in the pink lion. Warning in advance, my little sister Zoe filmed the video which explains the low angle:

Want to Work in Advertising? Here's 5 Traits You Need

Before I get into this post, I want to clarify that I'm not writing this because I think I know it all or claim to--I'm writing this because I want those who are passionate about working in the ad industry to succeed, and here are some tips I've gathered from my experience in the agency world:  

1. Question Wisely
At first I wanted to phrase this as "question everything". If you're on a call and someone is talking about implementing a "pixel" to a website for tracking purposes and you don't know what the hell they're talking about... speak up and ask. What's a "QSR"? Don't know? Then ask (QSR are quick service restaurants like Quiznos). No question is a bad question BUT the point is knowing the best person and time to ask. If you're in a 10-person meeting, it's probably not the best idea to ask every question. List them in a notebook and only ask the ones you can't ask someone after the meeting or google. You can't learn, if you don't ask.

2. Learn to Simplify
It's amazing how stupidly tedious certain processes can be because no one was smart enough to fix them or everyone was just too lazy. If a process is frustrating and unnecessarily time consuming, fix it. Find a way to make it easier for yourself and others. Also, we're in the business of getting a point across quickly, so we (myself included) should exercise some restraint and editing of powerpoint slides.

3. Keep Busy
Seriously if you're online shopping or catching up on last week's episode of The Bachelor on hulu, you probably should ask around for work. If your manager doesn't have anything and your team doesn't have anything--venture to a different department, consider submitting ideas to an open brief, research new business opportunities or "simplify" something. Boredom is a terrible thing.

4. Be Positive
Sounds simple but you'd be surprise how easy negativity flows through agencies. It's tough being the person to challenge creatives to see the opportunity in a low-fi microsite or work with a miniscule budget--but you just have to keep pushing for amazing work. And amazing work rarely happens unless everyone believes in it.

5. Be Fearless
Of all 5 traits, this one is most important. Dive head first into projects. Believe in something? Then just do it.

It's no surprise that most students out of college aspire to work for the Wiedens, Drogas, BBDOs and Crispins. I know I did and still do; however, it's not the agency that makes good people, it's good people that makes an agency. And good people are everywhere, therefore strong advertising can come from any agency. I'm grateful to wake up each morning hungry and happy about what I do and hope the people I work with are just as hungry and happy too.

Totally Late but Rooney Mara is My Best Dressed For The Globes

Overall, I thought most of the dresses at this year's Globes were boring and uninteresting (compared to last year's awesome Old Hollywood ensembles). My predictions were "weird holes" and "beading" which I did see some of and all on Zooey Deschanel. My favorite look of the Globes goes to Girl With The Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara for her feminine goth inspired Nina Ricci dress. I absolutely like the cut-outs on the sides, mini-bows in the front and use of tulle to soften the dress. Her simple hair and make up went perfectly with the dress--not distracting and not too casual. Argue away but I was never a fan of the red carpet princess dress and this was definitely not it.