Do it…Just Do It

I’m a girly girl, so it’s not a surprise that I was in a sorority in college (and the best one obviously): Delta Gamma. Having been in a sorority for four years, it should also not come as a surprise that  I love theme parties!  So when I got an e-mail invitation last week to attend Santana’s ‘Santoga’ birthday party, I was eager to fumble through my closet and happily found a sarong and shoe laces = a homemade toga.  
 Brilliant.

A Rule to Live by: No matter what the theme, no matter who’s party it is, you should always dress up.

Think of it this way- If it was your party, wouldn’t you want the people who came to dress up?

And even knowing it is someone else’s party, wouldn’t you want to be one of the few dressed up at a theme party rather than part of the minority who didn’t dress up?

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To Favor or To Be Fair?

To Favor or To Be Fair?  That is the question.  To be perfectly honest, I’m a stickler for rules. I’m a stickler for fair game, not favoritism. So what do I do when I have a restaurant with a long waiting list of walk-in customers on top of a fully booked restaurant and someone comes in with some kind of “guanxi” that’s supposed to set them apart from everyone else?  Easy, I do what’s right.

Naturally, I’d like to tell them to get in line behind everyone else who’s waiting. Fair and Square.  But I also know it’s China.  And if people think they have Guanxi, then I should give them Mianzi, and make their Guanxi seem worthy.  So I smile and I tell them I’ll squeeze them in when I actually just put them in line on my waiting list of tables.

It’s never what you say, it’s how you say it that’s important. If people expect special treatment, just give it to them.  That’s just good customer service.   It’s all about communication.

Most of the Hatsune staff gets easily overwhelmed, so their solution? To turn away customers.  Rather than explaining that Hatsune is fully booked and  that we have a waiting list, they prefer to say, “I’m sorry, we’re fully booked. No more tables. Next time.”  And it’s not a lie. Since the day Hatsune in the Village opened on April 17^th, it has been fully booked. Whether is Friday night or Monday, we are fully booked with reservations.  Unless you come before 6pm or after 8:30pm, there’s almost no chance you can just walk in and be seated without a reservation.  But the beauty of it?  There are always last-minute cancellations or changes that allow us to have a system with a waiting list that moves pretty quickly.

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Welcome to the World: Mason Kalei Wong

Today something wonderful happened.  Today, Mason Kalei Wong was born at 2:30pm, a beautiful, healthy baby boy came into the world.

At 9am, I get a text from Alan warning me that this could be the day!  Unsure of exactly when Mason was going to come, I waited to hear back for more news.  Around 3pm, I get a text from Alan, “Baby Mason Wong was just born”.  Naturally, I flip out and immediately call him to congratulate him and his response? Alan starts singing, “I love it when you call me Big Pop-pa” – HAHAHA, typical.  I haul ass over to Beijing United.

You’ve seen movies and movies about pregnancies (Nine Months, Father of the Bride 2, Juno, & Knocked Up to name a few) – they are always racing to the emergency room when the mother-to-be’s water breaks and when she’s giving birth, she’s drenched in sweat, screaming in pain throughout the ordeal.

To my surprise, that is all completely over-exaggerated and not even close to Alan & Hannah’s experience today.  According to them, Hannah’s water broke around 5am, woke Alan up and said, “I think Mason’s coming now” and then proceeded to take a shower, wash her hair, pack some clothes and were in absolutely no rush as they gathered together necessities for Mason’s arrival. After an hour or so, they leisurely made their way over to Beijing United and checked in to their Maternity Suite, where they waited, prepared, gave birth in that same maternity suite, and where they continued to stay for the next three days.

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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.

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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

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K. Lum in Da House

Written Courtesy of Blake Stone-Banks, my dear friend who was kind enough to take the time to help me set up LumDimSum Blog:
My name is Kri$’n Lum
And I’m a$ $ick a$ a fuckin’ bum
$ittin’ at home on my bum
$pittin’ rhymes and $ippin ‘Cardi rum

my homie Blake
baked me up dis blog cake
$o I can make da house $hake
with the$e mad rhyme$ about my bellyache

i think i got food poi$on
tryin’ to get my noise on
next weekend I’ll deploy $um
of my mad $kills with the boys on

the mic over at da Bling
when i $tep into da ring
with dj Keza da hip-hop king
y’all mutha$ best git down with da LUM DIM SUM thing!

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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

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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. If I could, I’d love the chance to 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.

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