Ruff Stuff and Wannabe MJ’s

Returning back to Shanghai has been quite a change in many ways for me.  For starters, it’s been a slightly jarring to say the least with the absence of my children.  I’ve spent so much time since they were born being a central part of their lives that this past month as befuddled me at times on what to do with my free time.  Over the years, I’ve always just prepared to spend as much time as I can with them when they are not in school and on the weekends.  Whether it’s doing their homework with them, coaching them in basketball, taking them to soccer practice or art class, and simply goofing off with them, my life has definitely taken a drastic turn in a new but familiar former lifestyle by (and with) my lonesome self.  Fortunately, I’ve had a lot of love and support from many new and old friends from everywhere to offer kinds words of comfort, support, and encouragement.  While I have chosen not to disclose too much regarding my marital matters, I will say that the people who truly do know me as a man, father, and husband will always speak on my behalf so I am very thankful for that.

In the meantime, I’ll just try to stay busy and remain focused on being positive and working hard for a better tomorrow for my children and me.   Recently, I attended a Havanas sandals and had an interesting time how these simple Brazilian sandals have been so successful at selling two pieces of rubber so well.  Their marketing is amazing, and the company has done a fantastic job at establishing itself as a casual footwear staple.  I particularly enjoyed the event because I had the opportunity to play beach volleyball again.  Although it was one of those big inflatable plastic beach balls, it was enough for me to get my beach volleyball shorts on again and play each weekend when I can.

A short while later, I attended Cirque du Soleil’s Immortal Tribute to the Pop Legend MJ Michael Jackson…

Now, I must first stay I’ve always been a huge fan of Cirque du Soleil and a big fan of the MJ, but I was really not impressed with this entire production.

While the concert had all the potential to be something truly worthy of honouring the pop legend, I think it came up short…BIG TIME.  At the very least, they could have hired a wannabe lookalike Michael Jackson impersonator, and the dancing sequences weren’t that impressive.  Ironically, it’s probably because we’re all trying to compare it to the one and only MJ himself.  That being said, maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on the performances and just appreciate that they’re doing their best to imitate and replicate what is most likely truly impossible to copy so let’s just leave it at that.

Since I was on the topic of someone or anyone trying to fill Michael Jackson’s dancing shoes, I’m going to stay on the shoe topic.  Last November, I attended a special event for this French shoe designer called J.M. Weston where they invited various artists and creators from various industries to design their own shoes from scratch.  After waiting almost over nine months for these bad boys, they finally completed them and shipped them over to China from France.  I must admit that they were worth the wait and here they are.

…and when I finally got my soles on them, I immediately put them to good use at this launch ceremony for a special charity road trip I was invited to be a part of for China’s largest business magazine called CBN China Business News.  In fact, I’ve actually completed a portion of this trip already as I’m finally updating my blog here, and I’ll plan to share some interesting moments from the voyage soon.

In the meantime, I’d like to end this entry with another exciting that I was invited too called the Ruff MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Competition a few weeks back.  While MMA is just picking up here in China, it’s always exciting to watch two individuals train with all their heart and leave everything in the Octagon.  Even though I didn’t know any of the fighters, the bouts were just as exciting as anything you’ll see in UFC or anywhere else…

Thanks again to Piano and the entire Ruff team for an exciting night of MMA competition. I already can’t wait to “Ruff” it up once again!  Until then, I’ll see you here again with some fun pictures from my first road trip here in China so see ya soon!