My Last Visit to Beijing Sept 2010

 

Visit to Beijing June 2009

 

Precocious at 12 years of age. 

The tween years for my second son, Andrew is shown here,in a short holiday to Beijing China in 2008. My wife and Andrew did a mother son bonding trip for 5 ot 6 days to the Chinese capital.They followed a group tour which covered, Tian An Men Square, the Bird's Nest Stadium, the Great Wall and lots of visits to the old city, 

Her views at that time was that, China's history is so rich and plentiful (over 2000 years) and having b8een brought up with a Western style education and a Western outlook, the Western consciousness of people living in the then emerging economies of Taiwan Hong Kong Singapore and Korea, we in Singapore are sadly, lacking in understanding and appreciating Eastern culture and sensitivities. 

An anomaly which we, who are living in S.E.Asia in this period of Chinese renaissance and economic rise will hope to correct. That said, our attitudes, focus and and perspectives should be looking East rather than all the time to the West in the decades to come.

May and Andrew at the Hou Hai Lake 

The fact of the matter is that China is destined to be the world's  economic superpower within 30 years, I hope it is within my lifespan. Western powers may try to slow down its progress, but the day will come when China's purchasing power will drive most of the world's consumer spending patterns - if it hasn't already. From cars, fashion brands, watches and property Chinese buyers are dictating preferences and setting consumer behaviors.

Many top boutique houses and brands from Milan, Paris , London and New York are pandering for over 2 decades to the well heeled Chinese buyers. And there are plenty of them.

There are increasing numbers of Chinese food establishments in Singapore like Hai Di Lao, Din Tai Fung (OK Taiwanese) and all the Mala Hot Pot Restaurants sprouting all over the island catering to the Chinese palette.

Mum and Son at the Great Wall 

I have visited Beijing once in 2008 and the pictures are shown below. It was a clear blue sky in Tian An Men Square and the weather was beautiful. 

Frog Porridge at Chinatown

 

One of my food indulgences must be  Frog Porridge. The coffeshop is called Tong Shian at Chinatown off Keong Saik street. The address is 265 New Bridge Road off New Bridge Road and adjacent to the My CK Department store.

I am normally there the odd Saturday when I am not running at East Coast Park.

You can park your car just beside the coffeeshop if you are lucky, else, go to the nearby Shaw Building where there is a basement car park. 

The coffeeshop has curbside seating, so its "Singapore style Al Fresco dining. "

The frog is cooked very deeply in sweet oyster sauce, with ginger and spring onion and presented piping hot in front of you atop a rattan type basket.

The porridge is served together with it and I normally have a 'you tiao' or dough fritters to dip into the sweet sauce.

Heavenly taste on a hot Saturday morning

Total Price : S$ 12.80 for claypot frog (small), dough fritters and porridge. 

Tong Shian (open from 8 am till 4 am most days).

Tong Shian Porridge

265 New Bridge Road

Singapore 088745 

Savour precious time with your family

 In Hokkaido for skiing 21st Dec 2012

Hokkaido Radio Tower

From left, my 2 sons, Noel , Andrew and me. 

Life and time passes very swiftly ; in the blink of an eye, I am transformed from a child, a teenager, young adult, parent, middle age and now, I  am a young old person who has 

a) eyesight problems (cataract starting)

b) weight gain (managing)

c) hearing issues

d) energy issues (can only last till about 11 pm each night or 16 hour awake days).

Do take the time to be there for your immediate loved ones, like you spouse, your chilldren, your relatives, your friends and your business or work colleagues for soon you will be back to dust and no one will remember you.

Do as much good and impact society with your abilities and leave your legacy to the people you have loved along the way to remember you by.

Life is indeed fleeting and short.

Live it Well 

Seize the Day 

A Few Words On Courage

 

Mentally Strong People do these 18 Things - Last 6

1. Set Aside Alone Time 

This is so true. I prefer my own alone company at least 30% of the day, that is 8 hours.Take away 6 - 7 hours of sleep, I still have 1 - 2 hours during the workday thinking. Family and friends time do not interfere here. This is my way for many years, so I am used to this lifestyle.

Once, I do retire (within the next 3 - 5 years), I hope to keep the alone time sacred and spend time just focussing on my plans for whatever time I have left, and use that time meaningfully.  

2 Make Peace with the Past

I have failed on the following as I can recall. 

a) Not passing Chinese at 'A' levels 

b) Taking too easy a time earlier on in my career and rather choose to cruise and not push myself till I am about 50 years of age.

c)  Not building a larger company through a network of like minded business associates

d) Leaving project management to my staff when I should have been hands on involved in at least 2 of the major projects since 2014. That had led to almost disastrous results and I had to step in and basically bail out the projects from the top down. 

I have corrected my position, and nowadays lead from the front. This is the one true way to determine if my way is truly the most effective way to securing the deals.

3. Create your Own Definition of Success

I feel I have a good 5 - 10 years left in me for business.  What have my company achieved ?

a) Provided valuable testing for accelerated aging for biomedical and pharmaceutical manufacturers since 2017 and continue to be the sole Lab focussing on providing these important tests.  With 2 Laboratories grossing 4,000 ft2 in Singapore, we have clients from USA, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand who count on us. 

b) Sold, installed and commissioned the largest soldier performance chamber in Singapore by size and dollar value (US$ 890,000) in a single chamber thereby enabling our research scientists to develop better clothes, helmets, fullpacks for literally hundred of thousands of our NS men over these last 10 years.

We are still soldiering on and providing good service to the Military even today, 10 years since selling the equipment.

We MUST be successful then ?

c) Sold installed and commissioned the first and best Athletic Chamber in Asia in 2016 for elite Singapore sportsmen and sportswomen. 

Through the use of sports science, we are proud to say, we played a part in our athletes achieveing gold in both the 2016 Olympics and the 2023 Asian games.

d) Installed and commissioned a 2 athlete chamber for Qatar Hospital for rehabilitation of elite athletes in 2017. 

e) Installed and commissioned a 4 athlete chamber for an Australian University to provide research studies and papers for heat effects on elite athletes.

4. Spend Mental Energy Wisely 

This is so true. I know my mental energies and sharpness are best in the morning from 8 - 12 pm. So I make the key decisions during those times.

5. Stay True to Ones Values

This is the key to success.

a) Honesty to all in business and relationships

b) Put in 110% to all my endeavors

c) Be a fair person\

d) Meet with the winners

e) A dollar saved is a dollar earned.

f) Save enough so that my descendants can enjoy something when I am not around.

6. Retain Personal Power.

Personal Power I believe is charisma, the way you carry yourself and face all the obstacles in the world. Somedays you only want to curl up and stay in  bed. Well don't.

Life is short already as it is ; when you have personal power, you want to get things done and see that what your existence here on this earth amounts to.

True personal power I guess is changing people for the better. To achieve that, you first need to change yourself.

 

Taming the Falcon - - > Qatar Desert 2023

This experience is NOT for the faint hearted. The falcon is a top predator and can eat small mammals. One can rear falcons as a hobby but they are birds of prey so there is a lot of handling and training required before one can adequately own a falcon - or so I am told. 

So the trick is to feed them with scraps of goat or beef meat, then you can take the obligatory visitor photo, like I did.