December 2009

A good friend of mine in March was super generous in stocking up my external hard driver with all sorts of audio books of personal development gurus like Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, Dale Carnegie etc…

I have these audio files in big collection on my ipod on shuffle, with learn Spanish “in 10 minutes a day” thrown in there too.  So far, I’ve listened to all of “New Earth”; gained fascinating insight from Deepak Chopra’s talk that our physical world is not solid and has its own intelligence; and enjoyed Anthony Robbins’ ribbing about how we need to cut through the clutter of everyday and understand what drives us….

I discovered that Eckhart Tolle’s monotone voice somehow irked me, especially when he has those dry laughs.  Wayne Dyer and Dale Carnegie have the nicest voices.  Anthony Robbins sounds like he needs to go pee badly or he’s tripping on energy drinks.  While Deepak Chopra’s voice makes me sleepy because it’s so fatherly and soothing.

Of all the masters, and there are many that I haven’t mentioned, relationship, and communication experts, etc., I find that I listen over and over to Dale Carnegie’s clips.  They’re simple, direct, and timeless.  “How to Win Friends and Influence People” in a nut shell, advocates being nice, kind and polite.  Remember to smile to all who you encounter, and never criticize.  The message I got was not to condemn, criticize or complain.  Instead, shower others with praise, remember their name, recognize their contribution, and ignite the fire within others to your cause, and help stimulate healthy competition.  As the old adage goes, “You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar”.  

I have found that is truly the case.  When push comes to shove, no amount of pushing will get you to achieve the result you want, but genuine appreciation and recognition and being thoughtful to your collaborator will get the system moving again.  Life is full of lessons; I just hope that the impatience of youth will be replaced with the acceptance that comes with maturity.

I have this syndrome that I think everything is easy… including finding a great holiday getaway to somewhere hot and exotic for next to nothing if I just look hard enough online.  Not So!  I went crossed-eyed and found the pricing kept going up as it got closer to Christmas and New Year’s.  The solution at the end of this very frustrating experience was an all inclusive vacation to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico courtesy of Flight Centre.

This has been my dream for a long time, sipping some refreshing drink underneath a thatch hut watching the ocean waves crash in and out in a soothing rhythm.  Mexico was exactly like that… and at dusk, the sky put on a light show like a child showing off all the colours in his/her crayon box.  It really was a master piece for nearly one hour each night.

My seven days were a true getaway.  Didn’t have to worry about cooking, cleaning, laundry… just where to go the next day and what excursion I should do!  I ended up riding around on a jet ski, zip-tracked through the jungle all day, swam with the dolphins, and went scuba diving for the first time.

We walked a lot through “downtown” Puerto Vallarta, and so I was hoping to stop into a cheap salon for a pedicure or massage… I was about to walk into such a place when I read a big bright coloured poster in the shop window warning guests that aestheticians do not provide sexual services, so please refrain from touching them inappropriately!  I then saw the space for this salon was the size of my kitchen counter, thus making the easy decision to keep on trucking with my tired feet.

What fascinated me was the over-growth of vegetation and foliage.  Ferns, similar to the Boston ferns we have as hanging baskets in Canada, are huge and twice the size of my body growing from the ground.  Other typical indoor plants, normally adoringly next to the end table in living rooms are giant plants lining up the hotel garden.   I didn’t see any lizards or gecko… which was kind of disappointing.   

Zip-tracking all day through the jungle was a real adventure, starting with a ride with 10 other people in the back of a Mercedes truck with nothing but a seat belt.  It suddenly felt very ‘dangerous’ and insurance alarms in my head went way loud….then I remembered I had already signed my life away with the waiver at the Vallarta Adventure office at the beginning of the day, so nothing I could do except to accept my fate and enjoy the ride.  And what a ride!  The guides were all very young and athletic, and their irreverent style of humour was designed so perfectly for you to want to give up every penny you have left for their tips.  Beware that in any excursion or fun paid activity you do, there are professional photographers/ videographers capturing your adventure and want to sell you those precious memories for lots of dough later.  I felt like a James Bond girl, walking through planks of wood held together by nothing but string.  Coming down from a 30 ft tall tree by rope, and just the excitement of all that variety of lush green, I felt dirty, sun tanned and living dangerously.

We took in the sea lion show and the dolphin show at a water theme park, and then paid the big bucks to swim with the dolphins. Dolphins are so lovable!  They just look like happy babies, as it seems like they’re always smiling.  The trainers kept feeding them Jello-like cubes as rewards whenever they were asked to do a trick or play along like pulling us, or pushing us forward by putting their nose underneath our feet.  Their skin is super smooth to the touch; it’s no wonder they swim so fast.  The trainers taught us a lot about ocean conservation, and the environment that the dolphins live in, which was really neat.  The sea lions are quite funny to look at….I wonder if they curse on us humans and make us do stupid tricks for money in another universe.  We thought there was only one place to swim with dolphins, and realized there were several.  It’s such a money machine…. A typical 45 minutes experience is $75 US for adults and $55 US for children.  One photo from the experience is $30-$45 US depending on the size and package, video is $75.  Never mind all the rest like postcards, key chains, stuff animals, hats and clothing with the dolphin.

The hotel I stayed at had a 4.5 star rating and every night they had a themed show, followed by a dance at the pub.  Most nights were pretty tame….but for the New Year’s Eve party, they pulled out all the stops and put on a huge gala in the open court yard, invited a live band, and followed with fireworks.  It was the coolest New Year’s Eve I’ve ever experienced, seeing 500 people blowing noise makers screaming ‘feliz navidad’ and wearing shiny paper top hats that spelled ‘Year 2010’.  Then, the fun club members wowed us by putting on a parade of the highlights of all the musicals ranging from Chicago, Hair Spray, Mama Mia with the finale of the full staff wearing gold ensembles with tuxedo and top hats.  I felt like I got lost in a time warp and ended up in glamorous old Hollywood.

One of the most exciting and unexpected experiences from this trip was playing with a baby monkey and taking a picture with him.  It was during an one-day trip to an island so I could try scuba diving in the ocean!! I was so excited about swimming with exotic and colourful fish….unfortunately, after 15 minutes, I voluntarily gave up.

I never anticipated that the ocean would be really loud, sounding like a dryer engine next to your ear drums.  I was able to see 3 cute blow fish….. I do mean cute. These fish are so strange in that their fins are much smaller in proportion to their body mass so if they want to go somewhere, it takes them a while. They look like retarded fish that’s always 2-3 beats slower than everything else.  That’s the other thing… whatever you want to do, you must wait for it to catch up to you.  If you want to sink, you must breathe out and then 10 seconds later, you will sink.   Once the whole group I was with got to the ocean floor, we could all hold hands and explore the ocean together for the first time. While waiting for my group, I was trying to take out my under water trusty Kodak instant camera when I noticed a spiral of a water snake underneath me.  All the scuba divers were excited so they came to look at it, while I was in shock and let all the air out of my lungs – I forgot to breathe in.  So I began to sink. I was freaking out hoping I wouldn’t step on the snake and get bitten…at which point my weight belt fell off, and I was floating directly to the top.

My scuba instructor was kind enough to follow me to the top and check in on me… that was minute 15 of my one hour dive.  The place was spectacular, water so blue and clear that you could see the fish swimming around in the shallow parts.  I decided I had enough fun for my first time underneath the water.  I wish I had fought my fears of snake and claustrophobia and went back to the group.  A small sense of shame came over me as a 9 year old Mexican boy later asked me during lunch what had happened.

I had a wonderful trip, got a great tan, felt very relaxed, but yet more and more guarded, as there are many scams going on all the time.  We’re tricked into buying what we think are hotel-run excursions, but it turns out to be from commission sales people of vacation club ownership centres.  We also had people who demanded tips from us after providing poor service.  I have amazing Mexican friends, but these experiences tinted my wonderful memories slightly.  It just reminds me that in the world of commerce, money is god and it’s worshipped everywhere apparently in US dollars!  We never really needed to do money exchange in Puerto Vallarta.   

One great feature as a tourist city that they’ve done well was put up unique and funny statues or art objects along the beach in their downtown strip.  Tourists are always looking for things to take pictures with.  Vancouver should do more things like that.  I am really not a fan of the eagles and whales….I really think they’re stinking up our city’s beautiful landscape.  Some of the public art pieces like the ‘eternity ring’, the ‘hallow man’ and those funny people at English Bay are modern and provocative. 





________________________________________________________________________________

Ultra Express Printing is Social Butterfly Club's preferred Printer!  Call them at Ultra X-press Printing Inc.
 
Phone 604-872-8943  Fax 604-872-8953  Mobile 604-318-0841
 
Mail:   Po Box 4364 Station Terminal  Vancouver BC V6B3Z7
 
Office:  403- 119 West Pender Street  Vancouver BC V6B1S5
 
www.printprint.ca

________________________________________________________________________________
If you would like to get yourself and your business featured or event featured, please contact Alice regarding Membership Spotlight, and event poster e-blast. The interview and writing is $100, email blast is $200. This goes out to 4,000 confirmed email addresses of professionals and business owners in the Lower Mainland. Only 2 spots per month. If you do not have a professional head shot picture, Michael O'Shea Photography can provide the service at $225. If your business is unknown to us, 2-3 business references with your requests please. As well, $300 for each event poster e-blast. It goes out with our twice a month events calendar.

Who We Are:
The Social Butterfly Club has over 5,600 members in the Lower Mainland, and around the world and we are still constantly growing! Members are business professionals and entrepreneurs from a wide range of career fields and expertise between the ages of 20-70 who love to network, explore and grow personally. The purpose of our club is to create connections; provide information and business resources to our members; and to inspire and enhance their professional and personal lives.  Visit our website at www.socialbutterflyclub.ca

Feel free to share this newsletter with a friend, encourage them to become a member.  Membership is free, and you can opt out at anytime.


Alice Zhou
Vancouver's Networking Queen
Cel 604 773-5231
alice@socialbutterflyclub.ca
www.socialbutterflyclub.ca