Vagabond Insider » Life

The Fastest Way To Learn Anything

Bobby Huang — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Learning something fast saves time, and improves results in a shorter time.

We can spend time learning by studying and practice, but there is a fastest way.

The fastest way to learn anything is as soon as we learn something, we should teach it to someone else.

Learn how to cook a dish? Teach someone.

Learned how to be happy? Teach someone.

Learned how to travel the world and be free? Teach someone.

And after we teach someone, we learn ourselves and internalize it.

Manipulation

Bobby Huang — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 12:59:14 +0000

As we change, people don’t like how we change because the ways they use to manipulate us don’t work anymore.

Making a Habit

Bobby Huang — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:59:46 +0000

Habits are powerful, they can either work against you, or work with you.

A habit is something we do without thinking about it.

We brush our teeth usually without thinking about it.

The way we use the bathroom, the really awesome technique we do it with is usually automated.

Now, if we spend the required time to direct where we want our habits, we are able to achieve the better results we want.

We don’t usually make the conscious decision to not work on our muse or information product, we usually decided it before our conscious brains receive it.

We may want to be fit, but we may eat foods and do activities which make us get fatter and unhealthier.

What if we directed it a little, just a little so that we get into the habit of doing actions which progress our lives instead of making us go backwards?

To Make a Habit:

Do it once a day, everyday for 30 days.

For example. I want to make it a habit to write better and create content consistently.

I write one blog post a day for Vagabond Insider which I queue for posting at 5:59am pacific time.

While I might miss a few days, the more I do it and the longer I do it, the more content creation habits I make and help with all my other ventures.

It’s ok to fail, just don’t use that an excuse to stop doing a habit.

Just keep doing it regardless of what that voice in your head says.

Listen to your heart and the future self you will become and keep going.

Make it a habit to stick to your habits and it becomes a huge snowball effect.

It’s Been Said

Bobby Huang — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:59:06 +0000

Steve Jobs changed my life in the late years of his life.

Within the last year really.

Now, with what he gave me, I’ve started to change a lot of lives.

The power he gave me, in my finger tips to focus on work instead of making my terminal work, is valueless.

What power are you going to use to change the world?

Let’s Make This Moment A Crime

Bobby Huang — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:59:48 +0000

Is it really worth it sacrificing long term pleasure for this short term pleasure?

Is it really worth sacrificing their future to look good in the short term?

Nope.

“You are lucky”

Bobby Huang — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:59:58 +0000

You are lucky.

Luck comes to you.

Or did you make your own luck?

Be Mindful of Your Eating

Bobby Huang — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:59:26 +0000

When we are able to watch and be mindful of what happens when we are eating, we’ll be able to appreciate the time we spend on simple matters.

There are health benefits too.

I’m guilty of this and I find many folks I eat with are too.

We don’t pay attention to every bite, we don’t savor every moment we eat.

Because we’re in a rush. An artificial rush.

We only have a limited 100 years or so on this earth so we rush, we eat fast, we have wars, we accomplish a lot.

We lose this time, because it seems like there just isn’t enough time.

If we only slowed down, focused on those moments which really meant a lot to us, will we be truly satisfied.

Spend each moment biting, savoring the tastes, savoring the moments with those you spend.

Because the health benefits are

Eat Less
Live Longer
Digest Better
Happiness with those we eat with

Of course that last one is just a bonus because happiness is what you make of it.

Be mindful of your eating, and all the actions you take in life.

Gratitude and Being Thankful

Bobby Huang — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:59:37 +0000

Having gratitude, allows us to give and appreciate everything we have.

Many of us are thankful once a year. Then we go shopping on the black Friday.

We’re too busy to look back and be thankful for what we have a lot.

The laugh of our child.

The smile of our lover.

The joke of our friend.

We are there, we experience it.

But are we grateful for it?

Take this and use it daily. It will make your life far more satisfying.

Gratitude – Appreciation, notice everything, feeling of gratitude

When is Enough?

Bobby Huang — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:59:22 +0000

Sometimes enough is when we have too much.

Sometimes enough is when we have too little.

Sometimes enough is when we have no more “room” on our credit card.

Sometimes enough is when we see a smile on our child’s face.

It’s up to us to make a choice of when is enough.

We sometimes eat too much, knowing we’ve had enough 30 minutes ago.

We sacrifice long term benefits for short term pleasure a lot.

Yea it feels good for these few moments, but what about next month, or next year?

Will we be proud of ourselves or will we regret our decisions?

It is our priority to choose when it’s enough, before we even reach our decision.

Else we’re just living ok enough living on the moment.

Buying Street Food in Asia

Bobby Huang — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:29:21 +0000

Mmm Pho in Vietnam

Street food in asia is delicious, and usually cheap. It’s a definite must have for travelers who REALLY want to experience culture of the places they visit.

I’ve been traveling asia for over 14 months now, and I gotta say, Asia is awesome.

Whatever country I’ve been in, I’ve eaten street food.

I’ve found the worse (sickness) came from Laos, and Thailand.

They like to cut raw vegetables to serve with the knife they used to cut that chicken in your dish at some places.

The other problem with street food is if they don’t speak your language, and you didn’t practice theirs, it’s hard to get prices.

The other problem with prices is that most street food places don’t list prices. Being a foreigner and not knowing the language, many street vendors will charge more because they know you can pay more.

It’s up to you how you feel if they decide to charge you more.

On one hand, it’s not cool they don’t charge the same prices for locals as they do for you.

On the other hand, the additional $0.20-$1, you can afford it, and to them it’s like $1-5 additional for them in their own currency (buying power).

The worse thing I saw was in Thailand. When someone was trying to bargain with a Pad Thai street vendor for additional shrimp on Khaosan Road.

Her dish was only 30 baht or so ($1) and he wanted extra shrimp for the same price.

Bargaining on food that is cheap food already? I wanted to punch him in the neck. There is just too much disrespect here.

Now if the vendor was trying to rip them off, then it’s a different story. But in the most tourist road in Bangkok, they list their prices.

The main items of concern when eating street food is, is it safe?

It’s not the most clean food, but neither is the food you get out of that “clean” restaurant.

Ever hear of all the rats living in the KFC’s in the United States?

Yea, it can still get dirty with all those health codes.

The Tips on Buying Street Food In Asia

Four question you want to ask yourself when you are at a vendor.

How much does it cost?

Is it fresh?

Is it clean?

Is anyone else eating it?

We’ve talked about cost, and basically, you’ll do well to bring a calculator or someone who can speak the language if you don’t know numbers in the language or if the currency is bigger than 10.

It’s best to get the prices of what you order before you order it.

Some folks will rip you off when there are no prices listed.

Also, from your currency, street food is usually $1-3 depending on what you order in their currency. Depends on the countries, though they are usually consistent.

Just make sure you have local currency, to avoid any confusion of currency conversion. Of course if you are in Cambodia, dollars may do you better.

Is it fresh is based on, is it cooked in front of me or was it cooked before and siting here a while?

If it’s been sitting a while, likely flies have landed on it and puked all over it.

You’ll be eating fly puke.

To determine if it’s clean, look at the trash around them.

Look at how clean the tables or bowls are.

Watch how they prepare the food.

There are street vendors who don’t care about their customers, and there are street vendors who follow tradition and treat every customer well.

It’s good to watch what they do to make the food if you can.

If no one is eating the food, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. It might mean they just opened and people will come later.

Maybe they are busy during lunch and dinner and slow late at night.

But if there’s a street vendor close by that is super busy, while yours has no customers, you may want to try that other one.

Of course I’ve found some of the vendors with little customers were way better than the busy places. The busy place may just cater to foreigners better and have better word of mouth.

The best thing you can do when eating street food, is to enjoy it.

Just use a little preparation to make sure you don’t get sick.

And don’t go bargaining on already cheap food with prices listed.

If prices are not listed, well if they try to rip you off, then you may have to pay or face the police.

It’s best to ask for prices before you eat. So you don’t get a surprise.