The awesome adventures of J. Chi

Monday, March 23, 2026

The Proust Questionnaire

The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature. Here is the basic Proust Questionnaire.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Waking up with the sunrise on a seaside location. Taking a walk with my dog and drinking some warm tea or coffee with my partner. We are in our campervan and have the freedom to go wherever we want.
What is your greatest fear?
Death
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Narcissism

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Placing others on a scale of value based solely on what they earn or their job.
Which living person do you most admire?
Elon Musk
What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying tech gadgets/toys + rock climbing gear.
What is your current state of mind?
Chaos + Calm (Yin + Yang)
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Hard work for a company that is not your own.
On what occasion do you lie?
To save myself and others from pain.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My face is big and round.
Which living person do you most despise?
Mitch McConnell
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Being straight forward.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Have an understanding how the world works.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
True say, Good Session Everybody
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Izzy
When and where were you happiest?
Bicycling the south of France from Nice to Barcelona.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Guitar skills.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Narcissism.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Managing my bipolar type 1 disorder.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Come back as myself but with the memories and knowledge of my past life.
Where would you most like to live?
If money is of no concern: South of France (St. Tropez)
If money is of concern: Rawaii Thailand, Cozumel Mexico, Roatan Honduras
What is your most treasured possession?
My cellphone
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
2018 when I lied in bed for 1 year in a state of deep depression.
What is your favorite occupation?
Key Account Manager at foodora Australia.
What is your most marked characteristic?
I like to optimize systems.
What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty
Who are your favorite writers?
Khaled Hosseini, Harumi Murakami, Dan Gilbert, Dan Ariely, Richard Dawkins
Who is your hero of fiction?
Batman
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Qin Shi huang
Who are your heroes in real life?
My grandfather
What are your favorite names?
Summer, April, Luke, Jay
What is it that you most dislike?
Urban sprawl and the dependance on cars in cities.
What is your greatest regret?
Not remaining in Australia after hospitalization
How would you like to die?
I don't want to die, I am hopeful that by the time I am 80 we can upload our consciousness to the cloud and continue existing indefinitely.
What is your motto?
JOLO (joy of missing out)

Monday, March 2, 2026

What to do now..... (2017-04-08)

I am at a crossroad in my life. Due to certain events in my life I am forced to choose and choose quickly one way or another. In terms of making the "correct decision" I have decided to use a technique utilized by "Fastlane Millionaires" by MJ Demarco.

Options:
1. Continue working at foodora
I have already begun working part time again at foodora. Soon I will be transitioning into full time. In terms of resuming working. I have two more options:

a) take some more time off (I still feel quite depressed and lacking in energy)
b) continue with original plan and work 2 week part time then full time.

( + ): This will provide stability and routine to my life. it will provide stable income. Izzy is very happy with this plan.
( - ): I don't feel motivated to work at foodora currently. It may be due to this dramatic event of being hospitalized, I feel like life is too short to simply waste away working for something you are not passionate in.
Izzy: In favor of this decision.

2. Go all out on my own project

I have this crazy idea of working for myself and making a name / wealth for myself before the age of 35. This goal out there and definitely unconventional. With the nature of my visa and Izzy's visa, currently we would only be able to stay in Australia for another 4 month maximum. Also there is no guarantee that I will be able to do what I propose: make $ through airbnb and making youtube videos on Australia and traveling Australia.

( + ): This is my passion. Every happy moment I can think of involves traveling. The happiest time I have been by myself was when I did the bike trip in the south of France. The happiest time I have been with Izzy is when we were together in Mexico on a scooter.
( - ): This is a risky venture and the backup options are not ideal.
Izzy: Against this decision.

Mental Health （2017-03-17)

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog entry. Can you blame me? So much as happened to me and with me involved. Sometimes my life seems like a movie, I am definitely the main character in it. I can be in control of the plot sometimes and sometimes I am taken by surprise. This past few month the latter has dominated.

I guess the biggest change since arriving to Australia is my mental health. I was officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder on Jan 12, 2017. This comes right after I was admitted to the hospital and put on a compulsory treatment order. I stayed in the hospital for about 1 month and a half and was finally discharged at the end of February, (To be honest I knew I had this condition since 9 month ago in Canada, but I have been able to manage it myself, but the change in environment and success in all sectors of my life really pushed me to a hypermanic state)

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness affecting about 2% of the population. It is a combination of depression and manic states. For a period of time I am on top of the world and take on many projects. But when the high drops, I am rolling around in bed feeling lethargic.

Luckily I had a super supportive network of family and friends. (My mom and dad came over from Canada, not to mention Izzy who visited me everyday while I was in hospital). I am really blessed all things considered. Even though I have not thought as much prior to writing this post.

My thoughts since discharge has always been: "WHY ME!", "THIS IS LITERALLY THE WORST THING" etc etc. But now reflecting on the experience I really am THANKFUL I came out of the hospital so quickly and smoothly. Along the way I learned a lot about myself and my mental states, new coping strategies such as meditation etc.

My work at foodora has also been super supportive, they offered me temporary part time as I readjust back to civilian life. I have been back to work since March 14th. I think I need to ask for some more time off because I don't want to jeopardize my own recovery plan with regards to my illness.

That is it for now I will update more as this is good for my recovery. Perhaps it can help someone with the same condition.

The view from the bench

Another bed, I moved around a lot

Tried to learn some guitars

Awesome bench where I relax a lot for Jack time

Art studio

Breakfast

My bed

Daily therapy sessions inside the hospital.

Free bouldering wall in Melbourne with my bike in the shot.

P.S. Just remembered a really good quote from my friend Andrew who said:

"Problems never go away, we just upgrade problems."
"With great responsibilities come great power"

Peace from Melbourne.

___

Originally written March 17th.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Dear future depressed self

You did it. You overcame all obstacles to be where you are today. Don’t be backwards looking. Look forward into the future with optimism in your mind.

Look at everything you have accomplished so far, forget the nay-sayers. Because at the end of the day, those who criticize don’t matter as they never entered the arena to begin with. They are merely spectators in the game of life. (paraphrased from Churchill, MacCarthur?)

You are a true champion. You who toiled and battled in the game of life, you will achieve happiness and you are happy. Because at the end of the day happiness comes from within and nothing in this world matters other than time and relationships.

Both of which you have in spades and are prioritizing above all else.

Here is to you future self! :D
_____________

Originally written on November 22nd, 2016 while on the flight from YYZ->KUL.

I set the date for publishing for December 22nd, 2016 because I have noticed I get big highs for a period of time then I will go back to average or even below average emotional state. This is an experiment to see if the act of writing and reading this will minimize the lows and maximize the highs.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

How America became a superpower

This video from Vox is amazing. I love this channel on youtube.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Australia Bound!

The move to Australia has been in the works since 3 month ago in September. My work with foodora progressing at a steady pace. Since being hired as a courier back in September of last year, I have quickly risen through the ranks. In November 2015 I was promoted to Courier Growth Associate in the office, then recently in August 2016 I was promoted to Courier Growth Lead for Canada.

This time, I am side stepping to become the Key Account Manager for foodora Australia in Melbourne. I will be managing about 50 restaurant partners for our platform. In some ways this is a step back as it is on the same ladder scale as my Courier Growth Associate position. But on the other hand it brings with it many benefits and rewards.

Before continuing here is some context; my foodora timeline:

July 2015	August 2015	November 2015		May 2016		June 2016	September 2016	September-October 2016	November 21, 2016
Return from bike trip in France	Started work at Hurrier (now foodora)		Hired as Courier Growth Associate with Hurrier	Interview with foodora GM and HR for KAM position in Toronto & Vancouver	Passed up for KAM Toronto position. Vancouver position was in the works, awaiting launch of city.		KAM position offered for Vancouver with city launch. Also possibility of AU, France, Italy locations.	Interviews with Lionel, Head of Operations in Australia and Ana KAM Lead in Melbourne	Flight to Malaysia where we will spend 3 days as a mini vacation then continue on to Melbourne where I begin work :D !
	Running 2 full Airbnb listings downtown			This is also where the idea of moving to MTL or Vancouver came from	In the end we didn’t launch so no one was hired for Vancouver		After discussing with my GF we decided to go for AU – which meant I had to go through the interview process again with AU personnel	Everything went great, we started to look into paperwork and visa at this point.

The move to Australia is a calculated gamble. I have no idea how it will go. But I am going to give it my 100% and increase my odds of success.

For most people the biggest gamble would be the move to Australia with a girl I “hardly know” as my friends may put it. My closest friends have advised me to wait at least a year before committing to anything. Ditching everything to the wind, we moved in together after 3 month of dating, she met my parents on the third date. Finally her parents met my parents about 6 month of us being together. There is no greater feeling than finding someone you truly connect with on an emotional and physical level.

The second gamble is financially. Izzy and I were both living quite comfortably in Toronto. We rented an apartment downtown (used to be my Airbnb). I personally had no debt to my name, as I had saved quite a bit from years of teaching and traveling. Izzy is a financial adviser in Toronto with Sun Life and making bank while doing so. She has a car she just recently leased last year. So between the old beater car my parents gave me and her car we were living the “American Dream”.

In fact one of the biggest road blocks for the move is the transfer of her lease as it is only one month old. As of right now it is still not yet transferred. If you know anyone please pass this along:
http://www.leasebusters.com/en/details.asp?ID=215275

Visa and paperwork is another stumbling block. As a Canadian citizen I can travel freely and have easy access to working holiday visa with Australia. Izzy is a Chinese citizen and there is no working holiday visa we can apply for her in Australia; at least not unless we go to China first. Even then there is a quota of 5000 people per year. To overcome this we applied and received a tourist visa for Malaysia, and are waiting on a tourist visa for her and Australia. Hopefully it will come before November 25^th, otherwise Izzy will have to stay in Malaysia some more while I go to Australia first.

But despite all these roadblocks and challengers, one thing has remain true. I know I will regret it if I did not go to Australia somewhere down the line. I don’t proclaim to have everything figured out, and I don’t need to. Life is too short so I am choosing to live the way I want!

“Just Do It” – Nike

Peace from flight above the Pacific.

Foodora CA Experience November 2015-November 2016

The foodora CA experience has been tremendously helpful to my self-development. I learned about communication, office politics, results based work and most of all hustle and self-reliance this year.

In the office I loved to observe and just absorb everything. Every single person is there on merit and had something to teach me.

My main reporting officer was Mike the Head of Operations. He was my guide and model for this year. I observed his every action, from his swaggering walk to the way he talks to us. My biggest take away from Mike was talk small but carry a big stick. His communication skills are what I admire about him the most. In a particular vivid episode of coaching, I was pitching an idea to our head office in Germany. I sent in the email to Mike for criticism. He coached me as we exchanged comments and edits back and forth. Finally I trimmed down my paragraph to simply 2 sentences. The biggest take away from that day was this: “Successful people don’t need to be sucked up to, less fluff.” (sic probably a paraphrase as opposed to word for word)– Mike M.

In the end Mike was let go, for reasons unknown to most people in the company. But whatever his shortcomings might be I respected him as a boss and leadership style. He was one of the best bosses I have ever had.