Monthly Archives: November 2011
From Paris with love.
Planning on visiting the city of light? Want to get lost in the maze of classy shopping arcades, or have a drink in one of the finest cafes in the world? Paris is definitely your next destination. Last year, while I was visiting my family and my friends in the big city, I had the opportunity to visit some places I hadn’t had the chance to explore since my last stop. If you are looking to have one of the best views of the city, make sure you go for the Seine cruise dinner, it allows you dine in style while you enjoy the spectacular sights of the Seine:
While dinning and cruising in style, you get to enjoy a great view of the famous Eiffel Tower. All you will need at this moment is the camera zoom for some good pictures:
After getting tired of sightseeing, you will need to recharge your battery. Stop for a drink and try some of the world-famous french cuisine in a bistro:
Paris has more familiar landmarks than any other city in the world. As a result, first-time visitors arrive in the french capital with all sorts of expectations: romance along the seine, grand vistas, people who won’t speak English etc… The best approach is to set aside the preconceptions of Paris and to explore the city as if the tip of the Eiffel Tower or the Notre Dame church is about to pop into your view at any moment.
The memories you will take home will last forever…
Quotations: Carpe Diem.
A LIST OF MANTRAS TO LIVE BY: SEIZE THE DAY MY FRIENDS…
* Life is short, God’s way of encouraging a bit of focus. ~Robert Brault
*Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. ~Charles Richards
*Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think. ~Chinese Proverb
*Live every day as if it were your last and then some day you’ll be right. ~H.H. “Breaker” Morant
*Every man dies. Not every man really lives. ~Braveheart
*Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. ~Elbert Hubbard
*As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do. ~Zachary Scott
*Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you. ~Annie Dillard
*Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today. ~James Dean
*And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln
*For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. ~Fr. Alfred D’Souza
*I’m less interested in why we’re here. I’m wholly devoted to while we’re here. ~Erika Harris
*To always be intending to live a new life, but never find time to set about it – this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking from one day to another till he be starved and destroyed. ~Walter Scott
*To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions. ~William James
*You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. ~Charles Buxton
*Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live. ~Margaret Fuller
*You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. ~Ruth E. Renkl
*You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin
*How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
*Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
*Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live. ~Nicolas de Chamfort
We die daily. Happy those who daily come to life as well. ~George MacDonald
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
It’s been 22 days since the third game in the Uncharted series has been released in North America. For all the uncharted fans out there, it’s finally the revelation time. Drake Nathan, the main character of the game, has been searching for a hidden treasure left by Sir Francis Drake years ago since the opening of the first chapter. We all have been wondering if this treasure really exists, now it’s time to put the last piece of puzzle together. The two first chapters took me on an amazing, breathtaking, mind-blowing journey of pure fun, that I have been waiting for the last chapter with impatience.
IGN Entertainment has given the game a score of 10/10 and calling the game a “masterpiece”. The game is on my christmas list and I hope Santa Claus will be nice to me this year lol. For all the PS3 fans out there, I recommend everyone to try this game, you won’t be disappointed.
Here ‘s a link to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception lauch trailer:
SocialCorp : Social Media Goes Corporate.
After reading the book SocialCorp social media goes corporate and presented a review on the book, I learned so much from the book that I would like to share it with others in the same industry.
**With the growing popularity of social media, and the mainstream adoption of blogs, online video and other tools, the world of communications has changed forever. Joel Postman is a consultant that helps companies make use of social media , like blogs,podcast etc…. His background includes nearly a decade of fortune 500 corporate communications leadership.
***He believes that they are many benefits for companies to become a socialcorp (When a corporation is using social media to reach their goal and grow their business ). He points that a social corp can have access to an incredible amount of information such as consumer buying habits, brand perception, competitive landscape and direct customer support. Joel postman says” A key to success in corporate social media is to tie communications initiatives to business strategy” . The company has to decide about having a social media department and defines the company spokespeople. The spokespeople will evaluate the social network tools available to the company, such as (twitter,Facebook,MySpace, blog and wiki platforms), that can be integrated and meet the company’s objectives. Providing the right training for the selected company spokespeople in social media strategy,philosophy, etiquette and the use of the company social media tools and networks. One of the highlighted advantage is that company can review social media use by competitors , bloggers , analysts and business partners. creating a team to schedule review, recommendations and enforce policies for social media program. At last the socialcorp has to evaluate and measure the success for each initiative.
****In my opinion, this book is very clear and concise. It amazingly put some techniques and technologies in action, so companies, public relations and marketers can succeed in managing social media for business objectives. Few of the points that I have noticed that the author did not really cover is the monetary risk that the company can face when using social media and what size of corporate can implement the use of the social media for business purposes. I’m convinced that he provides some valuable case studies and examples that show how to apply social media in corporations. The use of social media in corporations still in his early days and some of the inside and outside impacts are still very unknown to the author. For public relations and marketers, the content of the book gives us a great understanding and the tools to identify and successfully reach some of the community or customers by adopting the social media strategies.
The myth about winter driving.
Sitting at my desk today and going through some paperwork, I heard one of my peer screaming “oh no, it’s snowing’ already”. After seeing the flurries in the air and all over the cars in the parking, I knew Mr. Jack Frost is here. Shortly after that, I received a text message from my girlfriend saying drive carefully, it’s snowing. After driving in Montreal, QC during the winter time, I learned some valuable winter driving skills. Feeling confident enough about my skills, I was questioning myself if I really need to buy winter tires this year.
A study conducted by the Quebec Ministry of Transport showed that a proper winter tire can improve braking up to 25 per cent over an all-season radial tire, and can improve collision avoidance by approximately 38 per cent. After further research about the winter driving topic on transport Québec, I came across the ten myths about winter driving that I would like to share:
Feeling confident about your driving skills doesn’t mean putting all the chances on your side for preventing winter driving accident. I also learnt that All-season tires do not have cold weather rubber compounds, channelling tread patterns, the large number of tread sizes for wet surface control, and the open tread block pattern for deep snow traction that winter tires feature. Here’s an example of a winter tires, please observe the life saving treads on the tire:
When it comes to driving in winter, safety comes first. Don’t forget to book an appointment with your mechanic and make sure you are good to go for the winter.
Rebirth from hell…
“Check out this fascinating post on the influx of child soldiers in Africa and the exceptional survival of a victim”
http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/through-hell-and-back-ishmael-beahs-story/
Should I lose my accent?
Having an accent can be a very frustrating barrier when you are trying to communicate in a foreign language. Going back 8 years ago, when I first started to learn english, it was a very unique experience. My native language is Sango, the unofficial language spoken in Central African Republic. Growing up in an old french colony in Africa, french rapidly became a very predominant language that is used in school, administration and social interactions. After few years of studying in France, I noticed that my accent has acquired a very unique blend of taste. Today at work, while I was training a new trainee that speaks english as a second language, and recently hired to work in our department, he asked me a question that I used to asked myself: Have you ever been bothered by your accent?
After a pause, I explained to him that I used to ask myself this question, but while I was learning english and improving myself, I learn some very helpful tips from my english professor. One day she said Christian, you know english is not your first language, if you want people to understand you, then you have to “speak slow and articulate every words that is coming out of your mouth”. I did great usage of her advice and it has worked for me. Further more, we talk about personal insight on the accent subject. I shared with him an interesting fact that I have learned again from my english professor. I told him that every person has an accent but they just don’t know that they have an accent. An american from texas has an accent that differs from an american that lives in New York. Same goes for a british that is living in Canada and found that every body has this kind of accent. One of My friend from Nigeria, speaks with a very unique english accent that I find it fascinating. Accent is an added value and it’s also part of our brand. It defines who you are, and separates you from others.
It made my day to share a very special moment in the world of accent with my new coworker. I bet we are going to be friend after this little chatting lol and we got back to work feeling all happy about our unique accent.
Feedbacks are our only way to improve and get better at what we do. So thank you to my english professor in my first year of learning english at the Houston community college in Texas. The Feedbacks she supplied me, it was a huge gift.
Now I’m going to dream in english:))
Captain Christian is going back to the gym
As I prepare myself to go back to the gym, I get an exciting feeling of wellness. We live only once and the best way to get much out of this life is to take care of our mind, body and spirit. One of the reasons, I enjoy working out is being able to carry the picture of health. Feeling the boost of self-confidence about your image, is a contagious aura that you can gladly share with your surroundings.
I personally enjoy when I see some old friends or visit my family and hearing them saying looks like you have been taking care of yourself . Every time you say to a friend or coworker that you are going back to the gym , they don’t truly believe you, they think you are just being the good old Mr. procrastination. I have made my plan and I have everything that it takes on my side, to be in the best shape of my life.
Before going back to the gym , you have to plan your routine, make sure it is very fun. Always change your routine, so you don’t get bored or lazy by your own routine. People go to the gym to lose weight or to gain weight, where is my side of story?
I’m planning on putting some hard pound of muscle by the next three months, I meant some real hard pound of muscle and maybe 20% body fat. Nowadays, there is so many commercial weight gainer out there and it is a very lucrative business for those companies to promise the miracle result. Since I have been in the game for a while, I know exactly what I need to achieve my goal. One of the product I have been using is Whey Protein elite series. It is very affordable and you can get it for $24-30 at wall mart. This product would really help you to repair and build strong muscle and strength. I have been using it before in the past and I got great result from it.
Once you have your muscle juice ready, then you need to get your work out gear ready. In the winter time, I get some work out gears that can keep my body warm. Here’s an idea of what would work just great, some work out pants( yoga, lace-up microfiber pants etc…) and some men’s fitness top( Tanks, T-shirts etc…)
When it comes to working out, you need to send your mind and your spirit in the zone, so your body can just enjoy the rhythm of the zone. Music is the food of the spirit, make sure you upload some good songs that you like on your music player (Ipod,MP3,Iphone etc…). Once you get in the gym, make sure you stay in the zone and focus on your preplanned routine. Oh man, I can’t wait to get back in the game, the heat is on, it’s on.
Now what you’re waiting for, get in the ZONE and stay FOCUS…
Feel free to leave some exciting tips or comments when you pass by, you support is greatly appreciated.
Captain C.
Upcoming trip to Mexico.
Finally after going through a list of destinations for our next vacation, my girlfriend and I came to a conclusion to go to Riviera maya in Mexico. Being a traveller, Mexico has always been on my list, now the only thing between Mexico and me is “time and space”. We booked our vacation for a week, leaving on march 22nd and coming back on march 29th, 2011. Now it’s time to get ready for the trip. Starting with my little homework on the actual resort, having an idea about the resort, the weather, the culture and the language would be a good point to start.
According to trip advisor, the resort is ranked #55 of 186 hotels in Playa del Carmen, there is no rates on the hotel but we know it is a 5 stars resort. The reviews are excellent and of course there is few bad critics. Well, you know what they say: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Mmmmm all I see from the resort pictures from the website and the traveller photos on trip advisor is BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL and BEAUTIFUL. I’m going to give you a little sneak peek of what I have seen, warm food for eyes:
Now you do understand what I meant by saying BEAUTIFUL 🙂 … After I completed my little research on Mexico ( weather,language, transportation Etc…) I started to enjoy the anticipation, it grows everyday and everyday…What a good feeling.
Now I’m going to ruminate this feeling , stay tuned for more news on our exciting upcoming trip to Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Fear of the unknown
How often de we find ourself hating what’s going to happen on the other side of a specific situation? A moment can be very stressful whether it is a good stress or a bad stress. After studying all night for an upcoming technology test for the social media class, and feeling a sudden taste of confidence after closing my text books, I just had this fear of failing the test.
This type of fear accompanied with a number of familiar symptoms like, rapid heart rate, dry mouth, constant perspiration, lack of clear thought and speech, etc…
However, it must be remembered that you are neither the first nor the last one to suffer from fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown can be a great drive for us to succeed in anything we are planning to do. I found that I try to be at my best or stay on my best behavior, whenever, I don’t know what’s going to happen. After the test was completed, I regained my full sense and the unknown became a happy moment that can share with myself or my friends.
A journey with captain Christian 