The Hell with Bankers

This is based on a TRUE STORY.

Faisah the fisherman was dozing on his hammock between 2 coconut trees next to the beach. It was Monday afternoon at about 3.30 pm. His wife Fatimah was cooking what he had caught in the morning, some ikan kuning and some shrimp. The kids were in school and it was a warm lazy afternoon after a morning's fishing.

Bob (banker) : " Good afternoon, Sir"
Faisah : "Uh ? Yeah Good afternoon"
Bob : "I'm from HongKong Chartered Bank and I have a great plan for you !"
Faisah (uncertain) : "Uh, OK, what you got ?"

Bob went on to explain the benefits of Faisah upgrading his old fishing boat and with a loan, could expand his fleet to 3 boats,hire more fishermen to catch more fish and make more money. With the money, he could get a bigger house near the city and buy the SUV to ferry the wife and kids.

Faisah : "And then what ?"
Bob : "After we'vre evaluated your business, with a turnover of S$ 3M you could apply for our SME or Small and
Medium Enterprise Package of S$ 200K and you put up some collateral (maybe your house or car) and then you
can grow your fishing business to cover outside to International Waters."
Faisah : "Wow, so I got to work even harder to bring in then S$20 M, buy 4 ships and hire another 50 fishermen and
expand to include sport fishing for tourists as well as deep sea fishing."
Bob : "That's Right ! You will Have The Good Life !"
Faisah : "Eh How, long you think I need to do all this before I Have the Good Life ?!"
Bob (sneaky smile) : "Well, if you are hardworking, my calculations say 20 years. 25 years tops."
Faisah : "What is The Good Life ah ?! "
Bob (full of BS) : Your business will be running, you just need to check on it every day. You need not work so hard
and best of all, you can have a nice house by the beach, fish when and where you want and take it easy !"
Faisah : Brudder, I already am doing it ! Take your $$ and shove it !
Bob : ..............

Moral : See picture above.
Bankers rent you an umbrella during a sunny day WITH INTEREST. When it rains, they take it away.

Live a Little

Its slightly over 2 years to the day since I had a brush with death, I blacked out during my karate class in June 2006.
After doing some light warmups and stretching, Mickey the instructor made us do laps around the badminton hall. After
the short runs, I felt very lightheaded and as we were filing up in rows, the whole world around me started to shake
and I felt a huge blackness engulfing me which was very comforting. I closed my eyes.

I heard small voices and still felt like sleeping but the voices were stronger and people were patting my face.
When I came to, 2 of my mates were holding me and preventing me from swallowing my tongue. I had fallen flat on
my face and chipped off my front left incisor,my nose was a bloody mess with the cartiledge broken and there was
a bump (baluku) on my forehead. I called John,my brother, who is a senior doctor at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He rushed
over in 5 minutes and checked my vital signs. I felt more concious of my appearence than my physical condition
or whether I had a concussion. My kids saw me being carried up but when I came to I wanted to continue but
was dissuaded by my brother. He was great, there when I needed him.

I had my medical check with blood test just 2 months before and results seemed OK. I took an MRI a few days
later for any internal bleeding and had my teeth fixed. I am thankful to God that things seem OK now, but one thing
is for sure. Life is fragile, unpredictable and short.

Live a Little.
Laugh Some.
Do Things which you Enjoy (getting paid for it is even better !)
Spend time with the people you Love

Experimental Japanese Food - Sunday 22nd June

May,my wife is a good cook and this is one of her tryouts on Japanese food. For dinner, we had Salmon burgers,
Grill Beef striploin on asparagus sticks, spinach with seaweed, cold soba and soba sauce and to top it off, a
1998 Medoc Chateau Mareil from Passionz Wine Cellar.

The recipe is from famous cookbook author Harumi Kurihara (Best Cookbook of Year 2004).

Verdict : Picture speaks for itself

Anyone for dinner ? By invitation only.

The Day I met Dracula in Wettenberg

This is a hilarious story which is true as I experienced it first hand. Last March 2007, was the Worldwide Agent's meeting
for Weiss Technik distributors held every 2 years in Lindenstruth, Germany. As is commonly practised, all the agents will meet in Lindenstruth (near Frankfurt) at the Weiss headquarters factory to present their Sales Objectives,Assesment of Objectives as well as the principal will unveil the latest equipment, software and technologies.The duration is normally 6 days to 7 days with sightseeing and dinners thrown in to encourage bonding and friendship.

All 60 of us from all over the world, stayed at the neighbouring town of Wettenberg and commuted by bus to the factory.
Many of us renewed friendships and made new ones, and this time, I made friends from Romania,Hungary and Slovenia.Alex,
from Slovenia was the new agent for Weiss and I bumped into him while doing one early morning run in the neighbourhood and he was formely a Creative Director before starting to work for Amtest,a trading company.Alex is in the 2nd picture on the extreme left with long trenchcoat. We got along pretty well and had lots of drinks in the evenings.

One morning while checking the hotel guest list, I glanced at Alex's name and it was DRACULARIS or DRACULA for short.
I felt it inapporpriate to ask him about his history then,but managed to later in the week. Anyway, on Wednesday,after
a long day in the seminars and after dinner after much Lynnie and beer, we were all smashed drunk to say the least and
laughing, cursing and swearing at each other - you know how tipsy guys are. My friend Ian Firth from Australia,(he's on the left in the 1st picture) decided that to clear up our systems, we take a brisk walk at 12 midnight, up to the Schloss (castle) Wettenberg in the very cold evening with temperatures of 3 - 4 deg C.

So off we went, 3 blokes up to a castle,1 Singaporean,1 Australian and 1 Slovenian. In the middle of the night. It was
cold and we all had our extra thick jumpers on. I had my trenchcoat, as did Alex and Ian had only a pullover so he was shivering. We cut through the cabbage patch which was very dark and slippery. Alex was leading and with the wind
blowing at his trenchcoat, he looked kind of menacing....... No words were said as we were quite intent on our task.

I HAD to ask, at midnight, THE QUESTION : "Say Alex, what is your surname, I saw it just now ! "
He stopped, trenchcoat flying, " My Name is Dracula is, Alex Dracula !!!!"

There and then, Ian and me froze in our tracks, I poked Ian in the ribs and he was white as a ghost. Together , we walked and ran up to the safe sanctuary, the castle, at midnight.We had a drink at the Mexican bar near the top after our climb and laughed ourselves silly and traded our backgrounds. It was quite a story.

Trail Run - Lornie Trail x 2, MacRitchie Reservoir Park

Yesterday I ran 2 loops of Trail Run at MacRitchie Reservoir Park off Lornie Road.First loop is the Lornie Trail Men's route starting at the MaxRitchie Fitness Park (Chinup Bar, Situp etc.) and takes me right into the trail which can be quite straining as
it covers a total of 4.2 km in the jungle and the footpath is very uneven with rocks,stones,tree roots,fallen branches,
crevices in the path plus there will be pools and mud if it had rained earlier in the day.

Distance - 8km, 1st Loop 4.2 km trail run to Golf Club perimeter to outer Lornie Road and return via main Lornie Road
2nd Loop 3.8 km all in the trail (see Picture at the Top)

Date : Saturday 21st June 2008

Time - 48 minutes or roughly 6 minutes/km ; Start 5.00 pm Finish : 5.48 pm

Shoes - New Balance 1223

Pros - Tree canopy cover makes it a nice cool run, the monkeys and monitor lizards add to the interesting bits.

Cons - The uneven ground,the stones and rocks,tree roots means you always have to pay attention to the
path ahead. It can get quite crowded with people certain times of day.

Verdict - Interesting variation to Road Running which is pretty even and smooth. Not Recommended for people
with Knee or Joint Problems and its very challenging especially running downslopes and avoiding the
crevices on the ground.

Gem of a Club - Malacca Club

My colleague, N.Kannan brought me to the Malacca Club today and its a gem of a club. I've never seen anything quite like it. It reminds me of something out of the Caribbean. Wind from the Straits of Malacca all day, waves crashing on the sandy beach
just 50 feet away, a Salt Water Pool, Infinity Pool and a Thatched Cabana dining area serving local dishes. Sports facilities are
badminton,tennis,squash and football. Lazing by the poolside or Cabana with the waves crashing nearby, ah the Life.

Located in Klebang (Kampong Hailam) slightly north of Malacca town, its laid back charm is well worth another visit.
Membership is transferrable for RM 2,500 (S$ 1,100). Good one Kannan !

Benchmarking your Running Speed

So I've been running up to 1 hour a day, faithfully for 3 to 4 times a week. How do I know my speed ? My simple
formula to estimate my running speed is this below ; Anyway, its common for runners to measure speed in
terms of minutes / km (inverse of distance / time) and then calculate the distance run in an hour by

60 divide by (x) ; x is your time in minutes per km to get your speed in ________ km / hour.

1. Jump on any treadmill, start and after walking some time, get into running, after which you are reaching your
optimum speed ; for me it is about 5 minutes to 5 minutes 20 secs per km.In hourly terms its 11- 12 km per hour
on the treadmill. This is optimal conditions, cool, soft rubbery surface to minimise any impact on your joints.

2. For Road Running, reduce your actual speed by 10 to 15%, so in real terms, my speed is about 5 minutes
30 seconds per km or (60 divide by 5.5) about 10.9 km / hour if I use the 10% reduction formula
or if 15% reduction, then its 345 seconds or 5.75 minutes then its 60 divide by 5.75 or 10.43 km/hr.

3. Go run 10 km on a track (25 laps) to confirm that my time is probably less than 1 hour ; its about
50 to 55 minutes depending on my 10 km runs (time of day,weather etc.). So now I have an
estimate of my speed. Of course there are many other factors like time of day, route,
heat,humidity, wind etc. etc.

4. Compare this speed with the elite runners (mainly African and some American) and these guys can average
(no kidding) 3 minutes to 3 minutes 30 secs or thereabouts for a FULL 42 km (!). That speed is about
17 to 20 km per hour or roughly 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes for a full marathon.

Imagine,they do 2.4 km (standard physical fitness run) in probably 6 MINUTES.

Rave 'Run' 2 - Malacca Holiday Inn Gym

This is, the view from the Cybex treadmill at the Holiday Inn Malacca off Malacca Raya. You have the infinity pool,
and the unblocked Straits of Malacca to motivate you in a near brand-new gym with state of the art treadmills (x2),
cycling machines,cross trainer, bench press and other muscle sculpting machines.

I had a very enjoyable work leisure trip to Malacca just these past 2 days (18,19 June) and the 5 star Holiday Inn
is the newest hotel with infinity pool,gym,tennis courts and the Tee Tree Spa. A perfect short getaway just 3 hours
'door to door' from our stressful Singapore.

Spaghetti and Steak for Beginners

This recipe came from an Italian who's been cooking the 'authentic' Italian way for
decades. I decided to try it out as it was simple to cook and easy to prepare. Great for
beginner kitchen hands like me. Thanks to Antonio, see you in December.
For 2 persons the recipe :

Ingredients
1. 2 cloves cut garlic
2. 2 small red onions
3. 2 - 3 slices of back bacon
4. Whole Peeled Tomato in a can x2 cans ; (S & W or Del Monte)
5. Olive oil (Bertolli)
6. Spaghetti or Bavette (Barilla)
7. Striploin x2 (marinate with light soy sauce and black pepper ; 1/2 hour - 45 mins)

Procedure (sorry still an engineer at heart !)
Spaghetti sauce
1. Heat non-stick pan with medium fire
2. Pour Olive oil to cover half pan
3. Put in the garlic,onions and stir fry till brown,add bacon thereafter
4. Pour in the tomato sauce and use spatula to stir ; 10 - 12 minutes
5. Taste ; (important) Add Sugar (1/2 to 1 teaspoon) and Salt (1/2 tsp) to lessen the sour taste
6. Pour out into container

Spaghetti or Bavette
1. Put in put appropriate number of sticks
2. Boil in pot or wok for up to 8 minutes
3. Taste (important) to determine the springiness
4. When done, pour into strainer

Steak - Medium Rare
1. Use the same stir fry pan and cook for 5 - 6 minutes,flip over

Drink to pair it with
1. Chianti
2. Any Bordeaux

All this can be done (except marinade) in 30 minutes tops.

Father's Day

Yesterday 15th June Sunday was Father's day. My wife, May bought me a lovely Hugo Boss shirt from um, Hugo Boss. She said it was 'cheap' by her standards , but she earns enough and she spends so for me I get to look stylish for once ! The Boys made
me a simple card - I have alot of simple cards, and a mysterious Portfolio of Happiness (?) from Noel written for me to fill in.
We went to Jumbo Seafood at Clarke Quay and had (of course) Chili Crab, you tiao with sotong, and other sinful favourites.
Here are the 'during' and 'after' photos,guess I have to run a half-marathon to take off what I've just eaten !

My 10 Rules on Running

After almost 25 years of running and 8 as a committed runner taking part in races and marathons, I thought I'd list down my 'Rules' to assist newcomers who want to pick up the sport. These 'rules' or habits have been cultivated after reading running magazines like Runners World,many books on running and just plain trial and error. Here goes :

1. Run against the flow of traffic 

If you're running on a road,run against the flow of traffic. This seems logical as you
can see the oncoming vehicles and take evasive action by jumping aside into the drain or
road shoulder.

2. Wear bright or Reflective Clothing 

Another no-brainer.

Ideally wear running tank tops which are loose and allow for quick drying. No one likes to run with a soggy sweatshirt especially in our humid weather.

3. Run Tall 

 I am guilty of this, but I constantly remind myself. The great Emil Zatopek was the epitomy of running with his body erect. 

Firstly,good posture is beneficial in minimising stress on your backbones and back
muscles.

Secondly,you can see what is out there in front of you !!

4. Pose Running 

Dr. Nicholas Romanov has been touting Pose Running in his much acclaimed book, its very effective and in a nutshell is this. Running well is practising a series of poses just like in martial arts, ballet and yoga. 

First get into the pose.Lean forward like you're going to fall and with the back straight,
move ahead like you are going to fall. Then at exactly the right time, you stick out your leg and land on the ball of your feet. The next leg follows naturally, you will want to continue running in this way.

5. Stretch 

This has been argued by many people, but stretching loosens all muscles and preconditions your body for the  activity at hand. It also minimises the chances of pulling or cramping your muscles. I stretch BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the run.

6. Tank Up 

Drink lots of fluids before and after the run. For me, the ideal is Gatorade Rain or the recovery drink Powerade by PowerGel sold at the Running Lab in Velocity . Both have electrolytes, some calories and other minerals very effective in muscle recovery.

7. Time yourself 

Why ? To benchmark your pace and possibly improve on your time for the same distance.
My favourite watch is the Timex Ironman 30 Lap with Chronograph and Split Times.

8. Smile 

You're enjoying yourself right ?

9. Warm Down 

Stretch, Cool Down.

Slow your heartbeat.

Walk some more,

Regulate the bloodflow after the workout.

10. Build up the Distance 

Many new runners are not into this; the distance you run especially once you run
beyond 1 hour or longer should be respected as it is taxing on any body. Do
not push yourself over the limit but have a regulated plan and run slow and short
at first before progressing to a longer distance.

Log on your kilometers in a log.

Write down your experiences as a record of how you felt, and what things you could do to further improve your run. 

Enjoy the Run !!! 

Run - Why do It ?

People have many different hobbies, one of my favourites which has been life- changing is running. To differentiate between a runner and a jogger is this. To jog,
you basically have no fixed agenda,judging your distance by how far you will go and
when you have sweated enough or your legs feel tired, you stop.It can be for 10 minutes to anything up to 1 hour.

Runners on the other hand, have prepared the following :
a) Map out the distance in their minds on how far to run

b) Control their running speeds by benchmarking their stride lengths and pace
on the treadmill - at least I have. My pace is approx. 6 minutes per km
depending on terrain,slope,traffic and running partner

c) Time themselves over a fixed distance and try to improve that time after
several weeks of running that distance. This is what I call the PB or
Personal Best Time.

d) Use the best 'equipment' in the form of proper running shorts and shirt
plus most importantly the shoes. I personally like the ASICS Kayano having
used 5 updates since 2003.

Why ?
----
Its the million dollar question, why ? Do I like to torture myself,
feel that the pain is retribution for the good life I am used to ? The
answer is not that simple but a combination of things :

a) HEALTH IS IMPROVED - Vigorous exercise,particualrly aerobic exercise,
will release certain chemicals in the body called endorphins
with experiences similar to small doses of morphine which
are pleasure producing. This is natural,healthy and helps the
body feel 'good' plus improve its immune system tremendously.

I have found that through running, my appetite has been curbed,
I have experienced weight loss of 3 - 4 kg permanently (last 5 years),
I tend to eat more healthily, as a balanced and light meal is more
easily digested.

b) GOAL SET ; It provides me with a Goal at the beginning or at the end
of a hard day.

c) SOLITUDE - Imagine being by yourself, with no one but the wind in
your hair, the crispness of your footsteps,the controlled breathing.
It is the SOLITUDE (by oneself) when during the day, there are
deadlines to meet,vendors to pay, unhppy customers to attend to,
family,friends,colleages and pesky Salesmen !

d) INDEPENDENT THINKING - When you run, you have time to THINK INDEPENDENTLY
I can map out strategy for my company,solve petty
problems and DREAM BIG free from any distractions.

Geoffrey Abisheganaden - An Uncommon Man of Character

This is my father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden. He will be 89 years old this November. During his heyday he was one of the top barristers in Singapore,having studied at the famous Gray's Inn in London England after the 2nd World War.
After being called to th bar, he practised in Singapore and was the assistant to Mr. David Marshall for several years before starting his own law firm in Collyer Quay called G. Abisheganaden and Partners. He was a very generous person and defended
many people 'pro bono' (free of charge) as his principles were to help those in need. We lived in a huge bungalow at 6 Adis Road (now its a condo called Mt Sophia Apartments) off Sophia Road.

My brother and I saw him come home from work elated when he won his cases and there was hardly a day when he appeared down. He loved being in court and even at night, he would have nightmares of his cases played out in his sleep and we would hear him yelling at the top of his voice while sound asleep ! Over the years, he has
presided in the Board of Governors at St Andrews School, St Andrew's Junior College, the National University of Singapore Guild House President (Club for NUS Alumni), Singapore Swimming Club, St Andrew's Cathedral,Bible House amongst other. His talents were singing - he has an excellent baritone voice worthy of public performance, something which I am ashamed to say that I have no talent in and of course debating, he was instrumental in helping our NTI Debate teams in the years 1984 and 1986 when we took on the giants, NUS and won.

Ever the gracious gentleman, he and my mother were partygoers attending many high society functions practically every weekend and even some weekday nights. I had the one opportunity to meet the then President of Singapore,Mr. Benjamin Sheares during the St Andrew's Old Boys Dinner in the early 70's.He was and still is a very
down to earth and till today,reads a book a day (!)

Indeed, my father is truly an Uncommon Man with the grace of God.

Rave Running Route - Goldhill Estate

Imagine running on the road which is flanked on both sides by large trees. Your run will be taking you to a place
unlike any place in Singapore,with only very little traffic (depends on time of day). In the mornings at 6am or
so there are only 1 to 5 cars driving by during your entire run. You will cover some small hills, a hidden
forest with huge trees and wild cockatoos. No kidding,in urbanised built-up Singapore near the heart
of Orchard Road is this gem of a running route - Goldhill Estate.
Run for as long or as short as you like, my distance is normally 5 km to 10 km depending on time of day and
what available time I have. Most times its either in the early mornings or early evenings. Its better to run in the
mornings as the air is crisp and the trees have some morning dew. You feel great after a morning run.
Now where did I put my alarm clock ?!!

Best Meal at Home 2008 - June 1st

Last Sunday (1st June 2008), we had dinner at home,and we had

a) Otak (Irene Yeo's Peranakan Cookbook -Red) (Rated 8/10)
b) French Loaf with Garlic Spread
c) Roast Pork (Bedok Wet Market) (Rated 9/10)
d) WaterCress Soup
e) Grilled Prawns with Thai Chilli Sauce (Tiong Bahru Market) (Rated 8/10)
f) Red Wine : Jolly Rivage '98 - Bordeaux Superior, Macau en Medoc from
Passionz Wine at Ayer Rajah Crescent, Block 20 Groud Floor.
(Rated 5* by me)

I had just finished 5km run around Goldhill Estate covering the distance in 27mins or so
and after warming down and a cool bath we settled in for this dinner which I rated as the
Best Meal at Home 2008. Jane,our maid had prepared the Otak well (its a great cookbook
on sale at Kinokuniya Bookshop in Takashima). So 3 out of 5 dishes rated 8 upon 10 and
a superb Bordeaux to go with it.

One thing I find, running sure does work up a good appetite !