Charger Lost

I have so many chargers that it is a hassle just looking for the right one. Tonight I spend almost an hour before giving looking for the gizmo to charge my battery for my r/c(radio control) helicopter. I bought it more than two years ago and I have not flown it to-date.

The good thing is I found the battery and charger for my hovercraft as well the charger for the mosquito helicopter(a toy rather than hobbyist). I have to dig out all these toys as my neighbour's son just has toy boat that can go underwater.

The toys nowaday is made in china also spell low cost. It is so reasonable in price with the performance. However, it does not have digital proportional control system which allow fine control for maneuvers. Under skilled hands, I have seen the cheap toy plane doing quite good flights. So with practice, one can get good with r/c plane with limited control system.

Learning Chinese

Everyone has an opinion on learning Chinese. The requirement for University entry is a pass at "O" level. Chinese is most challenging for me. I spent enormous amount of time and manage a B4 for my GCE "O". The time could have be better spent to develop my other subject. This really go contrary to Peter Drucker's recommendation to focus on strengths. Training a rabbit to swim is futile. It is much more fruitful and rewarding to train a rabbit to run faster.

My Chinese is only at conversational level and I have not spend any time to improve. However, I am still working on my English competency.

The Secret of GE Success

The secret to GE success is education and development. Hire talented people and train them for the skills required to run the business. Give them stretch assignment aka throw them into deep water and see who survives and thrives.

No maid

Our family maid is off for a 4 weeks home leave. My boys and I will be sorely tested for our ability to live without someone cleaning up after up. A Cabinet Minister recently said he does not have any maid so that his kids can learn to responsibility for domestic chores. I think we are having the same test. We can also defer all our cleaning until our maid returns.

My wife is a Cleanliness Queen, so me and my boys will be sorely testing her patience. We will be minding our P's and Q's when it come to making sure we do not leave a mess for her to clear.

Giant Tin of Butter Cookies

My teammate in South China gave me a huge tin of Butter Cookies. This is my favorite Danish cookie when I was growing up. It is actually imported from Denmark and very authentic! Recipe has changed somewhat. The sugar crystal is not as big as before. Taste is still excellent!

Thanks, M!

Tight control on Blogging

Sorry for updating my blog in the last few days. I was in South China and blog websites are blocked. There is no access for all blogs in China.

I am glad to be home where information is available freely. The mall in Shenzhen is huge but uninteresting to me. There is nothing for me to window shop. Lots of branded goods and totally boring.

The polluted air in South China cause a permanent haze and construction is still going on at frenzied pace. I met and renew my relationships with our key business partners and enduser. Summing up, I had a productive albeit tiring trip.

Will the Earth Shift on 2012?

Based on the Mayan calendar, the world ends in Dec 2012. There is even a movie on this future event. Will the Earth be destroyed or will it just shift human conciousness to a higher level? I have faith the Earth will become a better place to live.

Today in Times Bookshop, there is a complete section with books on 2012. Many authors are jumping into the bandwagon. Plenty of interesting read.

Watching the news, once in 50 years floods are not only happening in Bukit Timah, Singapore. It is also happening in England. Meanwhile there are bush fires in Australia. More and more "once in 50 years" catastrophic flooding is happening. This may be a warning sign. Maybe not. However, I am glad to be reducing our carbon footprint.

Weighty Issue

My weight is up a kg to 89. That is good news for Thailand i.e. I love Thai food, bad news for me. I have to work out harder to reduce my weight. Next week is South China renowned for its cuisine.

I need to summon all my will power to resist all temptations.

Reflections on Bangkok

"What do you think of Bangkok? How do you find living here?" I asked Lily. Lily is a petite single woman working for her niece. She lived in Bangkok full time for the past 7 to 8 months. "I am still getting used to it." Lily nodded. Her facial expression says culture shock and adjustments.

I am keen to understand more about Thailand and Bangkok. I had met many expats who worked in Bangkok and had fond memories. There are many books written by foreigners from the West on retiring How to Retire in Thailand. There are quite a few attraction factors. Cost of living is low and affordable, medical care is world class and inexpensive compared to Singapore, Bangkok is a vibrant city offering everything Singapore has and more.

The minus factors are language barrier, sleaze is practically at your doorstep and pollution. Outside Bangkok, the air and traffic are much better but it is boring. Maybe I can live not too far from Bangkok or live in a small city like Phuket, Chengmai for retirement and return to Singapore every six months for my teh halia fix. Actually Hatyai has teh halia, so it travel need not be too far!

Thais are very hospitable and gentle. I think it is a nice place to live but I will need to write a book when I am living there. Or I may be bored to death after a couple of days.

The Long Table

This resturant is on the 25th floor with a swimming pool right beside. The paranomic view is incredible. My legs go soft when I look down the glass wall. The Thai fusion food was excellent.

Our Thai colleague was amazing to bring us to this place. I am very glad have dinner with all my colleagues. It is an excellent bonding experience.

Bowling

My first bowling in years. Part of the team building event of my meeting. Man, my back hurts. It is a strenous sport for a person with weak back. I am glad we have this activity as talking non-stop all day long can be a torture.

So this is a good development as we progress as a team. I will need to exercise a lot when I reach home. It is sitting sitting and eating. Best way to increase my waitline.

Trisha Gave Me a Gift

It is good to see Trisha again in Bangkok. Trisha was an ex-colleague of mine and now working for our partner. She has slim down dramatically and looks very good. She is very happy to see me and we have lunch together with her colleagues in a resort which is very country style.

The meal was very simple and very good. We met and discussed. Our business is recovering well.

I am very happy Trisha has a gift of Thai Almond Cookie. I will bring back home for my boys.

Sore Feet and Blisters

My feet were killing me today. I put in the insert for arch support into my new shoes. It gave me good arch but crowd out the space for my foot. So my feet were sweating like a pig! They are hot and smelly and full of blisters due to the constant rubbing as I walk. I am glad to back in my room to rest my feet.

I had two Thai food meals today. It is really good and very reasonable in price. Too much msg and lard. I am feel thirsty after eating.

It is like homecoming to stay in the same hotel, Grand Sukhumvit. On the way in, there are lot of bars where farang(foreigners) patronise and their gorgeous Thai girlfriends.

I took the Skytrain to Siam Paragon and spent some time in Kinokuniya. There are some books different from Singapore store.

Thai food here I come

Tomorrow it is off to Bangkok for work. I am looking forward to the excellent cuisine and strong taste of Thai. I may not be able to update the blog as my schedule is pack.

Bangkok is a nice place for shopping where price is low and value is high. Traffic has improved with the rapid transit and tollways. Plenty of bars and foreigners seeking cheap living and sex. However, the city is quite safe and Thai are very warm host.

My usual favorite Kinokuniya is there and there are a couple of local book shops as well. So hopefully I get a chance to browse.

Who Dun It?

The heliconia are turning yellow, the bushy shrub turned brown. The plants on the planter box were dead or dying. Three days ago, they were in the greeniest of health. The flowers were blooming and the shrubs were strong. Two days ago, the gardener notices white powder at the edge of the planter box. He washes them into the soil. We suspect the white powder may have something to do with the dying plants.

It is a mystery why someone want to kill the plants. Is it a malicious act? Is it vengeance? Or it is just a mistake the float team of gardeners made?

What am I proud of?

I will be going for a meeting next week. On the agenda is something I have achieved or done that I am proud of this year.

This is really difficult. I could hardly think of anything at work. Our business went down to the pits and is nursed back to health slowly. My team is busy with fighting fire on a day-to-day basis. On the personal side, I am very proud of my boys and how well they do in their...yes! exams. Yet, this is not something I am personally responsible for.

What could I be proud off? I thought hard. The good thing is it is a 2 minutes presentation. The bad thing is it is a 2 minutes presentation. Good because it is very short. Bad because time is of the essence and therefore it must be something significant and easily recognised.

Actually this ice-breaker is a surprised to me. Good thing is now I know and is prep for it. I think I will settle for my current pride and joy. My latest addition to the family. It shall be Prius. I am proud of the fact I am reducing my carbon footprint. I will leave Mother Earth a little less damage and hopefully a better place for my sons and their kids.

Cool!

Literally cool! I love the cool temperature we are experiencing now. It is very conducive to concentrate on whatever I am doing. Mostly working. This also imply that when the weather is hot and humid it is hard to stay focus. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew do not like our humid weather too. In one interview, MM suggested the best invention yet to come is a personal airconditioned suit that will keep us cool in the wonderfully stuffy afternoon of our hot tropical climate. This is the best season although the rains do dampened my spirits sometime.

Meanwhile I am enjoying myself writing this blog feeling like I am in an airconditioned office.

Rain Rain Come Again...

The monsoon winds are bringing the rains. Cycling become a challenge. Rain come and go at random. It is hot and sunny for one minute and drizzle next. Many a time I have to cycle back in a hurry to avoid getting drench. As I rush back, the nursery rhymes will come to my head "Rain rain go away, Come again another day, Little children want to play."

Last Kampung in Singapore

This afternoon, I cycled through the last kampong of Singapore. Kampong is the Malay word for Village. Singapore has developed rapidly since its independence in 1965. Bulldozers have been bulldozing away all our past, my parents' generation living environment.

I was cycling through memory lane. The stone and mud path was narrow, muddy and uneven. Vegetation is quite thick. The longkang (drain) is dirty and filled with black polluted water. The houses have wooden planks for walls and red rusty zinc roofs. Faint road sign that whispers Lorong Buangkok. There is a loud music coming out of one of the houses. Otherwise the whole place is eerily quiet.

This last living kampung will be demolish next year according B2 who took the Pei Hwa Heritage Tour. I felt sadness. It is our last living history. The future generations of Singapore will have to travel to a neighbouring country like Malaysia or Indonesia in order to see a real kampong.

Lights Up in Orchard

Festive mood is in the air. Cool drizzle enhances the atmosphere. The lights in Orchard bring the magic of Christmas to town er...I mean malls. I went to kill time in Borders and there are plenty of seats available. We walk around Tangs and it was quiet too. Maybe it is Monday night, maybe it is closing time. Definitely, the tourists are not big into shopping.

Hopefully, our retailers' cash registers ring well by Christmas Eve. It is a good sign for our economy.

Learning to be Creative

Getting a whack on the side of my head is interesting. Since starting formal school, I have been trained and trained there is only one right answer. Even today our schools in Singapore emphasize one right answer. For example, B3 lost marks when he answered 743 in words as Seven Hundred Forty Three. This is how everyone has to write a check has to put in this way. However, in the exams, B3 lost half his marks because he did not put "and" between Seven Hundred AND Forty Three.

In life, there is no right or wrong answers. In school, there is only ONE right answer. Learning is be creative is first I have to unlearn there is no one right answer. Creativity requires hard work to unlearn many years of training. I shall start today.

A Whack on the Side of the Head

I found this book in Borders in the Gardens right next to Mid Valley Mall. This book is on creativity, which is getting popular nowadays.

There is an exercise just to give you a chance to "think something different."

An eccentric old king wants to give his throne to one of his two sons. He decides that a horse race will be run and the son who owns the slower horse will become king. The sons, each fearing that the other will cheat by having his horse run less fast than it is capable, ask the court fool for his advice. With only the words the fool tells them how to make sure the race will be fair. What are the two words?

I crack my head for a long time. What do you think is the answer?

Public Speaking

Standing in front of people to speak is not an easy task for most people. Public speaking requires practice and more practice. Practice is the act of doing. Practice speaking alone or in front of a mirror evoke different feelings than in front of an audience. Size matters! Audience size is big, it becomes a jittery. If the audience include your boss and your boss' boss or your teachers, butterflies tends to float inside your stomach.

Many techniques are taught by public speaking instructors. Imagine your audience to be a flock of sheep, look at your audience and imagine they are naked (I would be too distracted to speak!), or have eye contact with your audience and imagine you are having a direct conversation with that person, look confident and pretend to be confident when all your insides are quaking like jelly...

Like blogging, public speaking can be addictive once you get the hang of it. I love to speak in front of an audience. I get an adenaline rush.

The MOM!

My colleague from Taiwan recommends this YouTube video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfyyGQxZrAY

Survival of the Fittest

Darwin's famous theory of evolution is the survival of the fittest. It is not the strongest or fastest or biggest. It is the fittest. The fit will survive and even thrive in the environment. Hence different flora and fauna in different climate.

Fit in the office is the chemistry of the team and team members, the leadership style and philosophy, office culture and company culture. Like the natural environment, the office environment can be a complicated maze to navigate around. It can also be simple. Do your job well, cooperate with your team members, respect the culture and delivers!

Business So Good

Customers want our products so much that we do not enough to supply. It is a nice problem to have but if we do not supply we will lost the business forever. We are now between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Economy is improving in Singapore and judging from my customers all around Asia. Orders to the factories are up. So the feared "Great Depression" triggered by the financial crisis look like it is not going to happen.

The concerted efforts of all the governments of the world is working...

Economy is Improving

Good news on the Singapore economy. Number of people seeking assistance has dropped. The jobless rate has slowed down. So overall, the picture has brightened and consumer confidence will go up.

Christmas will be better this year....

Another "Zen" Day

Everyone in the office is totally stressed out and busy. We have a shortage of product. We are put through the most excruciating torture of slow painful death by squeezing our life-giving oxygen(product supply) from us.

We will keep plugging on and on and do our best to save this business. Keep everyone spirits up is tough when we keep getting cuts. I will stop whining now.

Is Seeking Happiness Futile?

Recently, there is a proliferation of books on Happiness or Positive Psychology. I am wondering why seeking Happiness is becoming a fulltime pursuit for many Psychology Professors.

Living is about balance. Eating the most enjoyable food for every meal and so it will become revolting. Watching DVD is fun for one or two movies. Movie marathon will bore me to tears. Important to spend time with the family but too much time will drive anyone crazy.

To be happy, there is a right mix. For me the right mix is good books, delicious meals, family time, work, exercise and teaching.