Here is a comprehensive list of every singe blog post I’ve ever written. Happy Reading!
10 Days in Thailand & Cambodia
Day 1: Bangkok Arrived in Bangkok. There were 4 of us; one coming from Shanghai, two from Washington D.C., and another from Michigan. We managed to all arrived within 24 hours of one another. We spent the night at THA City Hotel, a no frill, cozy boutique in a nice…
Birthday Tradition: Self Care Day!
Several years ago, someone told me that their company gives every employee a day off on their birthday. I found that to be a brilliant idea. Since my company doesn’t have this policy, I decided to implemented for myself. For the past few years, I’ve taken at least one day off for my birthday. If it falls on a weekend, as it does this year, then I take a day to make it a long weekend! This is #selfcare in all its beauty, and I encourage you to adopt it…
Shanghai Photo Journal: 2012-2017
Today, I celebrate five years in Shanghai. It’s rather unsettling even as I write these words. Five years. Really? That fateful bus ride from New York to DC doesn’t seem that long ago. Yet, five years. My cousin’s kid was born just before I moved to China. She’s almost in…
2017 Year-In-Review
Another year filled with travels, laughters, and this year in particular, many momentous occasions. The year flew by in a blur, and I struggled to remember what all had happened each month until I flipped through thousands of photos. I spent the year feeling very discouraged, as if my life is circling in place, not advancing forward. Yet, upon reflection…
Goodbye Corporate Grind, Hello Life!
Today, I walked away from the fancy corporate job, counting beans for that tech giant of a fruit company. It has been 1,683 days or 15% of my life that I’ve worked in a job for the sake of earning money. $120K of debt and a substantial saving later, I unchained from the golden handcuff.
Why Coding Camp? Why Le Wagon?
Isn’t it ironic that I am leaving a tech giant to go learn tech? Life is ironic that way.
It’s no secret that I had been thinking of all the ways to pivot my way out of being a sophisticated bean-counter. For a while, I even worked 15-hour days, volunteering my time to another group within the company, hoping for an opportunity to pivot. Alas, it didn’t work out.
Shanghai Living Quick Start Guide
This post has been on my to-do list for ages. Today, I met new friends who are in the city for the first time to attend Le Wagon coding camp! Finally, I have a reason to write this and add some value. Here are some of my favourite places in Shanghai. If you’ve been in Shanghai for a while, please feel free to add your favs in the comments!
Le Wagon Week 1: Change the Way We Think
Well, I survived week 1 of the 9-week coding bootcamp with Le Wagon in Shanghai. I do not remember the last time my brain was used so extensively for such prolonged period of time. Ask, and you shall receive. I wanted a challenge, and that is precisely what I’ve got.
Le Wagon Week 2: Shut Down Sexist Jokes
Since today is International Women’s Day, the timing is perfect for what’s been on my mind this week – our general lack of resistance to sexist jokes.
Women being a minority in the tech world is no news. During my time at the tech giant, despite being in the non-technical side of the business, decisions makers were still often white & male. No surprise.
Le Wagon Week 3: Stay Humble, Stay True
In grad school, I once had a professor said that in economics, we have complicated terms to describe everyday phenomenon. The ability to speak this language earns us the big bucks. But if I no longer want my life goal to be about making the big bucks, what do I do with this language? Only three weeks into my coding education, and I am feeling similarly about programming.
Le Wagon Week 4: Get Serious & Guard Your Time
Nearly half way through the 9-week camp! We’ve completed the back-end portion of the course (human speak: the brain of an app), and have moved onto the front-end (human speak: the pretty web pages & app interface). Having worked on blogs off and on over the last 10 years, it’s been amazing to finally understand HTML & CSS codes.
Le Wagon Week 5: It’s a Marathon
Saturday morning. I’m stealing some precious alone time at my favourite bakery before heading to Le Wagon for a full-day workshop on building WeChat Mini Programs. Since this is not standard part of Le Wagon curriculum, we are sacrificing two beautiful spring Saturdays. The things I do for this newfound “hobby”.
Le Wagon Week 6: Epiphany in Coding
This past week was both extremely frustrating, yet exhilaratingly rewarding. I took a temporary break out of the coding camp bubble, and made incredible stride. For the first time, all the puzzle pieces emerged and I built a very simple, but fully functioning web app. This is the beginning of the rest of my life as a coder.
Le Wagon Week 7: Just Get It Done!
Final third of the coding camp! After some much needed solitude last week, I dove right into the project trial week, where we make an AirBnB/Mobike-esque app in 5 days. This practice project gave us a chance to work with our assigned group, to work out any kinks, and to trial run through the entire process beginning from idea on Monday to presenting a working demo by Friday at 6pm.
Le Wagon Week 8 & 9: Final Sprint
Demo Day @ 3pm: We are 4 hours away from final demo day. Phew! My team pushed our final sets of Mini-Program codes to WeChat last night at midnight for approval, and have rehearsed our pitch a dozen times over the last two days. Final version approved this morning, and we are ready to go.