AM774: My Life in Beijing

Last Tuesday, candy&caviar and LumDimSum were both featured guests on AM 774 Radio Talk Show’s <My Life in Beijing> with hosts Beijing Playhouse Executive Director Chris Verrill and radio interview veteran JinJing.

A lively conversation inclusive of very entertaining and slightly awkward/embarrassing moments, Candy & I discuss a range of interesting topics from our backgrounds coming from California, how we ended up in Beijing, candy&caviar’s origins and its collaboration with LumDimSum on putting together their first fashion show, educating Chris Verrill on fashion lingo & the advantages of having jacket thumbholes, Project 141, celebrity sightings during Beijing’s 2008 Olympic games, purse & food obsessions, and even my very accurate imitation of a “man-model catwalk strut”.

If you have about an hour to kill, you can watch the entire video segment from the radio interview by clicking on the photo below.

candy&caviar and LumDimSum on Radio AM 774

To Mentor is To Inspire

Having had the opportunity to collaborate and work together with so many diverse projects, I’d had a great advantage over those who choose stability.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn through working on different projects with different people in different work environments and management styles. From straight up dictatorship to playing the friend role, it’s been quite an experience to manage each relationship on a basis of loyalty, honesty, professionalism.

Lucky for me, I’ve never been alone.  From the days I first started managing PR for Block 8, I was fortunate enough to have two incredibly caring and inspiring mentors: Sebastien Noat & Alan Wong.

Sebastien is hands-down one of the most ambitious, brilliant, eloquent, energetic, and hard working people I know. He is always on the go, full of creative ideas, indisputably persuasive, and knows exactly what he wants. And he goes after it. I saw him go from the General Manager of Block 8 to starting up his own Consultancy Agency – Alchemy, where he took me under his wing and made me part of an unstoppable team, working with some of the most prestigious F&B client companies in China including Domus & Cabaret with the Tiandi Group and LAN Club with the South Beauty Group.  Alchemy is also the creative group behind the concept, design and launch of All-Star Sports Bar & Grill + Club Bling.

While in many ways Alan is similar to Sebastien in the sense that he is extremely capable, personable,  has an inherent gift to managing his staff and business associates, along with the power to inspire and teach, Alan is also one of the most down-to-earth, chillest people on this planet.  This is where Alan’s management style is so brilliant.  I have encountered too many times, people who manage through means of commanding, dictating – which to me, is just condescending. Alan, on the other hand, I have yet to hear yell at anyone or seen him truly angry.  I have seen him frustrated, worried, stressed, and at the worst, I’ve seen him disappointed, but that to me is more powerful than anger.  What he inspires in those who work for him is a motivation that drives people to do not only do what is best for Alan or themselves, but more importantly, what’s best for the team.

Before I saw Alan as my mentor and before I even started working for Alan, I was already Alan’s ‘little sister’.  Turns out, we went to the same high school – Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California.  Small World, huh?  Now, after two years, I’ve worked for Block 8 and all of Alan’s restaurants in the Hatsune Restaurant Group, including the launch and grand opening parties of his two newest outlets in Sanlitun Village: the second Hatsune restaurant & Karaiya Spice House. Since then, I’ve had the honor of working as Alan & Hannah’s wedding planner and most recently, I’m a proud Auntie to baby Mason Kalei.

I have yet to begin my own company where I’ll be mentoring and motivating my own staff, but when that day comes, I will be happy if I can instill just a fraction of what my mentors have inspired in me to achieve.

Alchemy Team: Left to Right - Joe Zheng, me, Sebastien Noat

From Diaries to LumDimSum

Since the 5th grade, I have kept diaries that I wrote in almost every day until last May 2008. For so many years, I wrote as a form of expression, documentation, a way to vent, to release, to explore and analyze ideas, emotions, actions.  I didn’t know if I would start writing again, but it’s nice to know that I have the option to reminisce and relive all those memories and remember what it was like to be back in junior high when my life was consumed by homework, piano lessons, soccer practice and my dreams and aspirations were to be a lawyer like Ally McBeal.  Back in those days, I played Oregon Trail on my massive home computer and you weren’t cool unless you had your own private phone line with conference call.    As they were my diaries, I only wrote for myself and never with the intention of allowing any other eyes to read them but mine.  And after my time?  I request for them all to be burned.

I’m not sure why I stopped writing in my diary last year, I suppose I missed a few days, which turned into weeks and before I knew it, I had let too much time go by and was too busy to go back and re-trace my daily activities to catch up.

China’s funny like that.  It’s easy to get caught up in everything around you and forget to stop to smell the roses…no, breathe fresh air…haha. It’s easy for me (and everyone who’s an expat) to tease China, to say that if I had a nickel for every ridiculous encounter/situation/scenario, I’d be rich.  But alas, as much as it can be frustrating and challenging to live in a foreign country, it’s also incredibly exciting, fascinating, and full of opportunity and potential.  Never have I felt more helpless and valuable at the same time.  Never have I felt such an intensity of life as I do here in China.  I wake up each day to a day of hope and promise. Every day is a new day to discover new things, new places and to meet new people.  In China, I have learned to expect the unexpected.  A year ago, I had my diary. Yesterday, I had nothing. And today, I have LumDimSum.

“Embrace the rise of this country as having all the complicated aspects of human ‘progress’ in general. It is disorienting, it is sometimes disturbing, it creates problems as well as benefits. But it is a very interesting and exciting part of this era’s human saga and is worth people around the world paying close attention to.” – James Fallows

An Intro to LumDimSum: Sharing Small Tastings from Me to Beijing

How ironic that a name which used to torment me and make me squirm with discomfort is the name I have chosen as my blog name. Call it irony, but now I just think it’s fitting.

Not only does Dim Sum rhyme with my last name, which makes it that much more fun to say, dim sum cuisine originates from Guangdong Province, which is home to my father’s family. Dim Sum is not only a staple food of my culture, but it has always been a significant part of my life in terms of countless times it brings my family together.

Above this, I chose LumDimSum for the significance that dim sum is served in small portions -perfect for sharing, which LumDimSum emulates in its own way. LumDimSum is my way of sharing with you small tastings of my thoughts, pieces of my day, and most importantly, I share with you the best parts and highlighted events in this always-changing, ever-evolving social scene that is Beijing nightlife and dining.

DimSum YumYum

About LumDimSum

This is me, Kristen Lum, on the Job at Bling. May 2009

About LumDimSum:

First and foremost, let me explain what LumDimSum is all about. Don’t be fooled by my name, this is not a blog about DimSum (although I am a HUGE fan) and it is not limited to discussions about dining in Beijing.
I decided to create LumDimSum to share my experiences (both personal and work related) with family & friends abroad, along with anyone interested in the life I live as a PR socialite in Beijing. as a newly graduated, ABC living in Beijing, my life has taken off on a path of its own and my goals and aspirations have morphed, grown, and leapt in ways I never expected or imagined.

Having lived in China for the past three years, my life and career goals have taken off like a roller coaster. I originally came to Beijing as a student at a private Language Program and within just two years, I’ve since planned the wedding of the year, hosted two restaurant openings, and managed the PR, Marketing and Media for Beijing’s top nightlife and dining destinations: Block8, BLING, LAN Club, the Hatsune Restaurant Group, just to name a few.
LumDimSum not only recaps some unique experiences and thoughts on my daily life in Beijing but also serves as a platform for me to discuss my personal opinions on Beijing nightlife and dining along with the inside scoop on my work and the venues I represent. Shameless self-promotion aside, I hope that LumDimSum will provide valuable insight and tips to Beijing’s hot spots and top upcoming events around town.

Contact Info:
E-mail: lum.kristen (at) gmail.com

Dantas Rock

Facebook: Kristen S. Lum
Twitter: kristenslum

My CV: Served in DimSum Portions

Kristen Stacy Lum 林斯瑶
Sierra Oaks Elementary School (1990-1996)
Arden Middle School (1996-1998)
Rio Americano High School (1998-2002)
University of California, Santa Barbara (2002-2006)

Beijing (2006-2009)
World Link Education (Sept. 2006- Feb.2007)

Eastwei PR (Feb. 2007- July 2007)

American Chamber of Commerce-China (Jan. 2008-July 2008)

Block 8 – Director of Communications & Public Relations (Jan. 2008-Oct. 2008)
Hatsune Restaurant Group – Director of Marketing & Media (Oct. 2008-Present)
Alchemy Consultancy – Director of Media, Marketing & Communications (March 2008-June 2009)
*All-Star & Bling – PR Consultant to Director of Communications (June 2008-Present)
*Domus – PR Consultant (July 2008-January 2009)
*Cabaret, Shanghai – PR Consultant (October 2008-January 2009)
*Lantung Thai Bar + Bistro – PR Consultant to Event Planner (February 2009-Present)
*LAN Club Beijing & Shanghai – PR Consultant (February 2009-April 2009)

Wedding Planner for Alan & Hannah Wong (May 2009-June 2009)

*candy&caviar – Director of Media, Marketing and Communications/Honorary Chairman (June 2009-Present)

*Glen Group – Media, PR Consultant (September 2009-Present)

*Purple Jade Country Club – Consultant (September 2009-Present)

(*) Current Projects

25 Things I Bet You Never Knew

About LumDimSum: 25 Things I Bet You Never Knew

1. My love in life is fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, and smoothies.  My first job in college was at a smoothie store in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara called Blenders where I was definitely the best smoothie maker and I indulged every day in the goodness of smoothies.  I plan to do big things, you’ll all see some day.  Maybe not this year, but mark my words, it will happen.

2. I’m petrified of snakes, worms, eels, things that are slimy, long and slithery. I can’t even look at them in books, on the TV, or on a computer screen. In high school, my dad had to go through my biology book and cover all photos of worms with post-it notes so I wouldn’t scream every time I flipped a page to find a picture of a worm or snake. Needless to say, my teacher exempted me from dissecting the earthworm. I realize it’s completely irrational but it’s still my biggest phobia and fear in life.

3. I want to see the world, visit every country, see different cultures, people, ways of life, learning new phrases in different languages.  I like to know specific details and fun facts about other places that you can’t learn from reading a book or research. ex: I went to Bali and learned that every home, store, doorway left a little woven bowl of crackers/crumbs on their doorstep in the morning as a religious offering that the stray dogs would come by and eat throughout the day.

4. I have the worst sense of direction, which sucks because I like to travel.  Lindsay knows this from experience, and anyone else I’ve traveled with.  After the Olympics, Kat and I went to SE Asia and basically we were the blind leading the blind but somehow we managed to survive 2 weeks in Bali and Thailand!  I’d like to think my sense of direction has improved, but then again, I’m probably just kidding myself.

5. According to my dentist, I’m more evolved than most of the human race – I have no wisdom teeth. 

6. As much as I love living in Beijing, I eventually want to live somewhere where I can hike up a hill to watch a beautiful, vibrant sunset and fall asleep to the sounds of waves crashing outside of my window every night.  I miss living oceanside DP, Santa Barbara.

7. My bar name was Lana.

8. I eat so many bananas I think I could turn into a monkey.  I like fresh bananas, banana pancakes, banana and peanut butter on toast, dried banana chips, banana bread, and above all else: banana and nutella crepes/thai pancakes.

9. I’m proud of the fact that I went skydiving in Australia 14,000 ft. AND I got over my fear of swimming with fish by also going scuba diving and snorkeling in Cairns.

10.  I’m not proud of the fact that I love pop music – yes, I rock out to Britney, JT, Christina Aguilera and yes, I love the Backstreet Boys.  As a teenager, I was in love with Nick Carter and most embarrassing of all – when they came to Sacramento for their concert tour, I paid an obscene amount of money to see their concerts on both days (it was the same thing).  I’d like to think that because I also like Tupac, Sublime, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I win back some cool points.

11.  I played the piano for over 10 years – from age 5 to 15 – and I was very good.  I would like to go back to playing again someday.

12.  I was a cheerleader in high school and I was the flyer (the girl who got tossed in the air).   Even though I was underage and did it without my parents’ permission, I decided to pursue a career in cheerleading – I went to audition to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.  I was selected out of 30 people to go on to the next round of auditions and although it my dream to become a professional cheerleader at that point, it didn’t last long after that. wow, i don’t think i’ve told many people that before.

13.  The older I get, the more I crave sweets and desserts.  I could eat a million dan tas (aka Chinese egg tart dessert), any sort of baked good (cookies, cake, muffins), and I take credit for introducing to the menu at Med in Block 8 and now at All-Star the Chocolate Lava Cake – aka Chocolate Explosion – chocolate cake filled with hot fudge and served with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.

14. I like to read in bed before I fall asleep.

15. I can’t watch horror movies – it all started with the movie Congo and the last one I let myself see was The Ring (freshman year in college) and I was scared out of my wits for 2 months.  I get way too emotionally involved when i watch scary movies and I refuse to subject myself to anymore haunting images, I’ve realized that it just isn’t worth it.

16.  I have never and will never smoke cigarettes – not even a puff.  That says a lot for working in nightlife in China and being around it a lot.  I hate the smell, I hate how the smoke irritates my eyes, and I think it’s the stupidest, most repulsive and disgusting habit and i think the world would be a happier, healthier place without cigarettes.

17.  I think the more blush I apply, the prettier I am.  When you see me out with bright red cheeks, it’s probably because I’m tipsy and I keep going to the bathroom to put on more blush.

18.  I have a thing for accents. British, Scottish, South African, Australian, whatever, it’s hot and I only wish I had a cooler one myself.

19. I’m partly OCD.  I have a strange compulsion to clear empty plates when eating family style (or dim sum) and refill empty glasses.

20. To me, the biggest compliment is when people tell me I’m good at my job.  I work hard at it and I work long hours. It has pretty much consumed my life, but its OK because at the end of the day, I like to be busy, i like to be productive, and I love my job.

21. I find everything about surfing culture completely fascinating- from the sport itself, as a hobby that becomes a way of life, a passion that gets people to wake up at the crack of dawn every day, the idea of immersing yourself in nature, the technicality and art and style and talent and strength and fitness involved…ok, and I admit I love surfers in general.

22. I can’t dive.  Anything other than feet first in water seems like an impossible feat.

23. I’m happiest when I get to dine out with friends. I love to eat out, try new restaurants, I love food in general and I love having quality time to catch up with the people I love. Good food combined with good company is an unbeatable combination. And watching a movie afterwards is always an extra bonus.

24. Since the 5th grade, I have kept diaries that I wrote in almost every day until last May 2008. For so many years, I wrote because it was a form of expression, documentation, a way to vent, to release, to explore and analyze ideas, emotions, actions.  I don’t know if I will start writing again, but I do know that someday I will eventually want to go back and reminisce and read them all…and then burn them.  i wrote for myself and never with the intention of allowing any other eyes to read them but mine.

25.  I’m a hopeless romantic. I believe in fairy tales, I’m a sentimental dreamer and I believe in love.