Title: Inside Sales Executive
Started at Point2: January 2015
Jeff Chau is actually the second Jeff to join our Canadian sales team, and therefore has affectionately been dubbed “Jeff 2.0″ or just “2.0”. Jeff 2.0 is well known for his quick-witted humor and love of anything food-related. He’s also a Star Wars fanatic (the originals of course) and a serious hockey buff.
We asked Jeff to answer a few questions about himself. Here’s what he had to say:
What is your favorite type of music?
Believe it or not – country music. Not the new kind of country music about drunk rednecks stalking their exes though. I’m all about twang and honky-tonk. I used to hate country music, but it grew on me. I went to the University of Guelph which is in a small town in Ontario, pretty similar to Saskatoon, with a big Agricultural program so I kind of just got used to it. It made for some good driving music for those drives back and forth from Toronto. You’ll always find a country station preset in my car’s radio.
What kinds of food do you like?
Oh boy, what don’t I like? Even though I kind of cringe when someone calls me a “Foodie”, I am a foodie. I’ll pretty much eat anything. Eating is probably my favorite hobby. Growing up my parents and grandparents would feed me all sorts of things, so I have a profound appreciation for Chinese/Vietnamese food, as well as most Asian cuisine. I love the versatility, structure and classic influence of Italian and French Cuisine. There are so many ingredients available to us in this world and so many different ways to put them together. Honestly, if I had the patience to be a career-chef, I would open up a restaurant. Don’t ask me what kind of restaurant though, there are too many possibilities.
If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or historical, who would it be?
Alive: Jimmy Fallon
Not Alive: Robin Williams
Sorry, Jimmy. Robin Williams will always take the cake… or in this case the appetizers, entrees, drinks and any other dessert that Robin Williams would have wanted.
What is the most interesting place you’ve ever traveled?
Probably the Black Sand Beach in Wai’anapanapa State Park in Maui. Absolutely beautiful spot where the beach is covered in black sand and pebbles, which are actually really really tiny fragments of cooled lava.
What online sites do you visit?
Other than Point2 Homes… in my free time I usually frequent these websites the most:
• Yahoo Fantasy Hockey
• Rotoworld for the most up-to-date information to benefit my Fantasy Hockey teams
• 9GAG for my daily fill of funny stuff on the internet
• Netflix
Do you speak any other languages, and which ones?
My mother-tongue is Chinese, specifically Cantonese and a less-common dialect called “Chiuchow“. However, I can’t read or write in Chinese, so I’m pretty much illiterate when it comes to the language of my people. I also studied French, Italian and Spanish, but I wouldn’t really be able to have a decent conversation with anyone in those languages. I also know a few Russian words/phrases such as “hello”, “how are you?”, “thanks”, “good morning/night” and “potato”.
What is your favorite movie of all time?
Star Wars Episodes IV, V & VI. I can’t pick just one.
If you have an hour of free time to spare, what do you do with it?
Usually my free time is spent watching tv shows, movies, or playing video games. Mostly Call of Duty, Battlefield, NHL, Grand Theft Auto or some other video game I’m interested in at the time, but those are the main ones. I also watch a lot of TV shows. I haven’t counted recently, but at one point a few years ago I tallied about 30 different series that I watched regularly. That number now would be much lower but still more than the average person. My favorite show has to be The Office. I’ve watched every episode at least three times and most of the earlier seasons multiple times. Also, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, I’ve seen every single episode since he took over from Jay Leno.
What do you like best about your job?
Point2/Yardi is a great place to work. We have a great team of people that are all super eager to do a great job. The work-life balance is amazing and I rarely have to “take it home with me” which I cannot say about any of my previous jobs. One of the biggest perks, in my opinion, about my job is that it allows me to travel occasionally for work, which I find refreshing.
What are the words you live by?
Eat. Sleep. Travel. On a day to day basis, it’s mostly the first two, but when travel does happen, I love it. Eating, I’ve already explained is my favorite activity. Sleeping is maybe my second favorite hobby. This was the slogan from my “alma mater”. I was very heavily involved with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management’s Student Association and that slogan always resonated well with me.
What are some things on your bucket list?
Travel the world. I’ve been to every province in Canada except for Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick. I’ve been up to Nunavut too, but haven’t explored the other two territories. I’ve been to a few places in the USA, and when it comes to Europe I spent a month in Italy. I really want to check out Southeast Asia next and then eventually the rest of the world. What a big place this planet is. Also at some point, I’d like to do some sky diving. Maybe throw on one of those squirrel suits and glide around too.
What was your last Do It Yourself project?
I bought a bunch of pine and built a couple bedside tables. Sanded it down, primed it and painted it red. In hindsight, they would have looked much better if I stained them. I guess I could always strip the paint and start over, though. Not bad for my first woodworking project.
If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Time travel. But you gotta be super careful about going to the past. You don’t want to alter the course of history, of course. A safer bet would be to just travel into the future.
