This is the month

     This is the month of November, I am expecting many good outcomes from it, and that is why I had omitted to write anything since November till end of the year to focus on what is truly important. 

     if you, the reader think this is a rather cryptic post, you are correct. Only time will decide whether the outcomes have been good for me personally. 

Tyson KOs Berbick for WBC Heavyweight title

     The sight of the smaller Mike Tyson literally demolishing the larger and supposedly stronger Trevor Berbick for the WBC Heavyweight Title is something really amazing to watch. He may be smaller, but oh so agile, able to dodge the swinging punches and hit the opponent for 4 to 6 times in a row, until the other guy just buckles and doesn't know today from tomorrow.  Punch for punch, Mike Tyson was the supreme KO boxer of his time.

    Small = Weak ?

    You can be smaller, but smarter, stronger will to win and superior strategy always wins the day. 

    

The Black Swan Event

         The renowned thinker, Nassim Taleb has written a fantastic book called the Black Swan. In it he elaborates the concept that things that have never happened before, or Black Swan events will never ever happen. The Black Swan is based on historical observations by the British who had always assumed that swans were white in colour and were taken aback when one of their early explorers who visited Australia recorded that he witnessed a black swan.

        Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defence for George H Bush as well as George W Bush once put it very eloquently. There are 3 things people are aware of :

1. The known knowns ('facts') - or what we deem (perceive) to be true

2. The known unknowns (The universe out there is largely visible, other life forms may exist not 
     yet found ; where does the Universe end ? Does it sit on a table ? )

3. The unknown unknowns (What we do not know or even cannot fathom)

      The dot com boom, the Facebook phenomenon, even the Fukushima accident can be described as Black Swan events. 

My ski experience

 I am by  no means an expert skier, having skied a total of 5 times, but 4 of these times, were at ski holidays and camps organised by the YMCA (2 x in Korea) and Hokkaido Japan. This was taken in 2011 in Tomamu Resort Hokkaido, one of my family's most enjoyable and memorable holiday.

 

At breakfast before hitting the slopes

Ski extreme

I Won't Give Up

Plans for Winning

           I am now reading this book called Strategy of Winning. Although it focusses mainly on businesses and business people, I have my own set of plans which are based on life experiences and thoughts gleaned over 20 years of running businesses and interacting with a myriad of people that I have decided to call the book (If I do write one that is), Plans for Winning. I do not consider myself wildly successful, however, having survived 20 years in the rough and tumble world or business growth and development, I am happy to say that I can keep a decent business running with profits after doing so for this long. Here are some tried and tested steps :

a) No one owes you a living ; your never say day attitude determines whether you will       
    secure the big deals and  contracts, so work hard and smart. No amount of paper         
    qualifications, B BA, PhD or MBAs will make the banks, good friends or even your family 
    lend you money just on your name. Of course if your name was Warren Buffet, or Bill      Gates that would be a different story ! They of course have a fantastic track record great 
attitude and love  for their work which separated them from many many other failed businesses. 

b) Have a Plan and Have Passion in what you do
    People with no plans normally drift from day to day and with no goals or plans, they move 
   down slowly with the tide. Develop a plan to improve certain aspects of your life, work at it          and execute it. It takes discipline, so you need to practice it and sacrifice other aspects     of your life to achieve your goal.  

    More than 10 years ago I wanted to run a marathon,  I bought books, subscribed to Runners World Magazine (for 5 years), made a point to sleep early, forced myself to wake up early, and slowly ran, and built up mileage (or Kmage) running up to 5 - 6 times a week. All this took me a full 1 and a half years to achieve the body conditioning before I was confident of running a marathon. I sacrificed eating junk food (my wife would disagree on this somewhat :)), ate and adjusted my dietary habits to fuel up on carbohydrates and some protein plus vegetables, read up about running strides, gait analysis, what type of running vests and shorts to wear, shoes (very important to select the correct running shoe based on your foot strike). I read up on hydration techniques, how to fuel yourself during a long run (bananas or power gels ? or both), RICE (rest, Icing, Compression, Elevation), the list of tricks and techniques is very long. All this because I loved and still love to run. 

   Now I have 7 full marathons under my belt, and I am still crazy about running. 

  Am I successful, well yeah, I am a distance runner, and a pretty decent one at that ! Most times I am pleased to say even at my age, I am roughly running around the 50th percentile of the whole group of runners although the seniors (above 40) account for at most 20% of all runners. I won't win medals, but have run pretty well to win some distance awards at my Gym (1 month Gym Run award).

c) Dream Big - then Act on them 

   For every Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg you read about, there are millions upon millions of people who day dream. However, a good 90% never act on them - me included, for many times - and the remaining 10% DO act out their dreams. Perhaps 10% of that 10% will make it ; 1%, and the media has a field day writing about their everyday life and what they ate for breakfast, where they went to school, and what not.

    Dare to Dream and then Act on it. Be prepared to Fail. For Failure is the Mother of Success. 

d) Take a Gamble

     Many of the happiest and financially free people have taken gambles in their lives, and I don't mean just dropping out of the employment mill to start his orher own business. It could be that time when you decide, you can live with less and go and pursue a PhD, helping out building half-way houses for abused children in Cambodia or advise people on their spending habits like my friend Roland, who sits on the Credit Bureau Advisory Board. He decided that he had enough of working for people, so quit and retired at 54. Of course, he made a ton of money beforehand, but one must decide for himself when enough is enough. He is happy taking the quiet route of retirement while he still has the health, so I am fortunate to witness firsthand how one can take a gamble and win in retirement.  

One cannot serve both God and Mammon. How true, render to Ceasar what belongs to Ceaser and render unto God what belongs to God.   

e) Act like a Winner

   In every thought and action carried out, act like you have already succeeded and people will automatically look up to you. OK, you can say (you or I) am faking it but the best fakers are the ones who actually make it. It takes a confident person to accept success beyond his wildest dreams and people tend to want to associate with a confident person (not cocky) rather than someone who always looks on the negative side of things. Thats why sales associates and front line staff are supposed to act happy and project a successful side to any company. 


f)  Prepare for Success  

    Before you actually reach the goal, lets say you want to scale Mt Everest, be prepared for alot of climbing up stairways and millions of steps, plus acclimatising to high altitude exercise, low oxygen etc., cold and dry conditions. Also, getting used to climbing with 20kg of gear, in extreme sunlight and many many items. Also, the simplest part is unfurling the flag of your sponsors and taking a photo. Don't forget to bring a weather proof camera ! 

What an Inspiration !

      This boy is a student in my Son's secondary school. I don't know him personally but after watching this video, I am very moved by his willingness to share brilliant mind with others less fortunate, despite his disabilities.

      With an iron will, a strong heart, one can achieve the impossible. 

Social Bias Behavior

           There is this great book which I am reading at the moment, by Rolf Dobelli. Titled, the art of thinking clearly. It has easily 150 small chapters detailing how our brains are wired and unconciously we layer upon each layer actions based on how our brain works. One of the chapters details " Social Bias Behavior" and it states several in depth studies about how people subconciously want to conform to the accepted norms and beliefs. He cited this study by a psychologist who put the subject (say you or I) into a room. In the room was a piece of string on one side of the table, and on the other side were 3 pieces or string, say A, B, and C.
          
           String B is exactly the same length while A and C were slightly longer and shorter respectively. When alone, the subject was asked by the interviewer which string A B or C was exactly the same length as the one on the left. 100% of them said B and were correct.

          He changed the scenario whereby there were 5 other people in the room. Unknown to the subject, these 5 people were paid actors who were tasked to point out the strings A or C as the 'right' one. When all 5 were done, he asked the subject which was the correct length ; a full 33% or one third followed the 'actors', stating A or C, even though they thought B looked like the correct answer.   

          People easily succumb to social bias. Its a survival instinct.

                                                
                                                                 Truly an Exception

                                                             a) Felix Baumgartner
                                                             b) Jesus 

          If you came out of a shop in Orchard Road, and suddenly, the whole crowd of people started to look up and start running, you would start running too. Maybe you wouldn't even look up too. Was it the sky falling down, was a ton of bricks coming crashing down ?

          People have had this behavior for centuries, as one can safely guess that during the prehistoric days, when Man was out hunting, when the hunter group he was with, started to run, the blur guy who looked up and saw what was coming, was probably eaten by the lion or dinosaur. 

         

         

           

Time crawls when you are young,walks when you are an adult,runs when you are middle aged, and flies when you are old

With Andrew in 2008. 

       It seems that time is a much limited resource, with money, any enterprising person can work out a novel business idea, flesh it out, attract investors and 'Voila', the game is on. With time, unfortunately, once the time has passed, that is the end of it. No going back to the day, where you could just lace up your shoes, on a hot afternoon, head out the door, and run 10K just for the fun of it.  That is an activity only for the young and fit. For many of us, we never see the day coming, when, for example, our backs will not ache from stiffness, or lower back pain is a daily occurence, joint pain and aches are a daily affair.  Age is but a number, some may say, but tell that to my middle aged body !

         I remember in my very young days in primary school, when I became aware of time, around 5 years or so, it passed by so slowly, in the 60s, it was days upon days of just playing catching spiders, flying kites, making new friends, practising kungfu fighting (Bruce Lee was BIG in those days) and watching the Malay boys at the neighbourhood kampungs run out and jump into then canals and drains whenever a heavy downpour occurred, and the drains were overflowing with brown rainwater running off from the hill we lived in. My family lived comfortably in a house in Adis Road, off Wilkie Terrace and we had 2 girls schools as next door neighbours. 

          My father kept 3 'pariah' (no breed) dogs called Jippy, Mickey and Scamper. They were our constant companions and we played with our neighbours like there was no tomorrow ! The neighbourhood kids were of many races, and nobody really cared if you were of a different colour. For us, it was just enjoying being young and carefree. Day after day was nothing more than coming home from school, changing up to our home clothes and out the door. I did not recall doing any major homework (not of the volume and deadlines of today), and it was a no-brainer to pass the year end exams.  It was a real joy and experience living in those uncomplicated times where the only concern I had was whether my PSLE scores would be 4 As or something like that. 

         Studying for any subjects at my primary school was almost unheard of, we were taught by teachers and teaching was more for imparting knowledge of the subject rather than being competent in answering questions for the exams. Definately not the high pressure and ultra-competitive environment of today  ! 

      Two or Three particular incidents stand out in my mind, 1. was during primary 2, I and another friend Jin Kiat, came back late from our tuckshop, and we rushed back to class to see our entire class squatting outside the classroom next to the open drain and brushing their teeth. This was during the 'oral hygiene' period   whereby the Ministry of Education was emphasising the importance of brushing teeth as a means of oral hygiene and givign away free toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Andrew in 2008

2. Was in Primary 3, I had failed my 'Ting Xie' and Mrs. Pang, the Chinese teacher would call me up in front of class and gave my ear a hard twist. The sound of the soft tendons cracking still resonate today. Corporal punishment was rife in those days and we lived in fear of the 'fierce' teachers such as Mrs. Pang.

 

3. was in Primary 6, we were having our Art exam, and Ho Keen Fai, the class bully, was doing his exam, when my good friend Edward Ong, happened to drop a glass stink bomb accidently in the middle of the exam. The teacher, Mrs. Violet Ang stormed out of the class for a breather and Keen Fai took the stink bomb and proceeded to handcarry to all the boys he controlled to give them a whiff ! Luckily I was in his good books so he spared me ! 

         Such carefree and innocent times. I naively thought they would never end. Before I knew it, I am now middle aged and with 2 strapping teenagers worying about theur CAs, SAs, Preliminarys and now 'O' Levels. 

         We can never go back, but these memories are the balm which keep us sane and happy when times get tough. In the words of the Bob Dylan song, "Times they are a changin, ". 

Tiong Bahru Wet Market - Branded Market with the freshest stuff

                                                                       At the fish stall 

        My wife has been shopping at the same fish stall for almost 20 years at the Tiong Bahru Market. I  have been fortunate to be introduced to this market about 10 years ago, and have witnessed the development from its small and cramped past in this exact same location, to the temporary market for 2 years and this 'new' market location the last 4 years. As a testimony to it selling only the freshest foodstuffs, many die-hard supporters ranging from the elderly in wheelchairs, in walking sticks, to the middle aged in their SUVs and compact cars, to the wealthy in their Audis, Benzes, Porsches and BMWs to the young adults in their latest BMW 3 series, they come from far and wide to buy from this 'branded' of all brand wet markets.

      The elderly are most visible, and the foodstalls are properly spaced and with ample air ventilation between stalls. Lately, in the past 2 - 3 years, I have noticed many expatriate families ranging from the Japanese (they have been coming here for more than 10 years in fact), Koreans, Americans, Australians, the British, German, French and Middle Eastern families (much less as the food sold is not halal) coming here to buy their fresh meat and fish.

      Our fish stall lady, whom my wife never got to know her full name has recently decided to retire at close to 70. She is an inspiration for all older generation workers, and I believe she is very well off selling easily, more than $20,000 worth of fish per weekend. I should know, we spend, around S$ 250 per visit, and multiply that with almost 100 customers all buying fish with revenue receipts of $50 upwards, it is not difficult to calculate her gross takings. She must be happily enjoying her retirement in some landed estate, and tending to her grand-kids.  Hawkers who are successful in Singapore make BIG MONEY. Make no mistake.

     Above the wetmarket, is the food court which has stalls selling everything from Nasi Lemak, to Lor Mee (chinese noodles in black sauce), fishball noodles,Wan Tan noodles, char kuey teow, chai tau kuey, cantonese porridge, duck, chicken rice, rice dumplings, all the paus literally 30+ diffrerent kinds of chinese hawker food. Truly a food lover's paradise.

     I can go on and on about the allure of Tiong Bahru, but I am not a fan, to be honest. The place is especially crowded on weekends, getting a parking spot is difficult and there is a handicapped singer who belts out chinese tunes ad nauseum in too loud a voice. I oftentimes do give my spare change out of sympathy but it hardly lessens my misery listening to him,

    The food at the foodcout or hawker center is mediocre and although there is alot of variety, only a few stalls do serve truly tasty fare.    

    It is one of a kind place. Many true blue Singaporeans still make a beeline for it every weekend and if anything were to typify Singapore life, a visit to Tiong Bahru wet market would fit the bill.  

  

Reality Distortion

       Steve Jobs was a masterful manipulator, he was a genius in assessing a person's character, his strengths, weaknesses fears and dreams and he then was able to cajole, bully, coax,steal and even evangelise his co-workers to produce a computer based on what his exacting standards were, he chopped and changed, stole people's ideas and made it his own, pushed, fought, bullied, screamed, was screamed at and changed specifications ever so often. He asked for the impossible  many times, and his colleagues were transfigurated into some sleepless, mindnumbing work zombies creating the best and newest product which would change the world, the Macintosh.

        Once the final product was done after countless battles within the organisation, and revamps, thousands of rewrites, challenges, arguments, people leaving over personality clashes and almost 4 years of development ,the MacIntosh was born in 1984. He got the entire 43 technicians,, software engineers and engineers to sign a template for the creation of an an art piece. All of them hewere so moved they admitted that during the signing ceremony, they had indeed created something for the good of humanity.

       Jobs was so good at hypnotising or motivating the team, that most people achieved the impossible tasks with superhuman effort. Those who saw through the act called it his ability to 'distort reality' or the 'distortion reality phase'.  I  believe that at each new Computer Show in Palo Alto with each new Apple product launch, he uses the same techniques to mass hypnotise his audience through the sheer aura of his presentation.

      Such is the power of  his Reality Distortion.

      

One Republic - Something I need

I want 50,000 views

     50,000 views is my target to achieve by next month. Prove me right.

Prepare for Success

      


       Many people in life, are not prepared for success. So when presented with a successful opportunity, they ponder and wonder what if so many things may go wrong. Lets take a positive approach to life and focus on all the good things that have happened to you (or I) in the past, and be happy. In balance, view your life in whatever lens you want and you will be surprised that the emotion is based on how one view's life. 

Life's true reward is the journey. Make the most of it and Seize the Day. 

Lets Reel them In !!

          As the good fisherman knows, there is time to cast out his nets, and there is time to bring them back in, laden with the catch of the day. We have been preparing for this moment for the last 2 years, patiently building up our fleet, sizing down the unnecessary vessels, or extra fishemen, adding new equipment where needed and waiting, biding our time.

         Will this be the time for us ? All the signs point to something good. Now I am praying for the right verdict.   

          We will overcome all obstacles, as before and victory will be ours to savour !! 

          I can feel it.    

How Apple Computer got its Name

                               

        Currently I am reading this firework of a book, based on the late Steve Jobs' life. He was an adopted child of hard working American German migrants who lived in Pittsburgh. His father was Palestinian and mother Irish American, but their family objected vehemently to the union.

        I was amused and fascinated how he decided on the name Apple Computer, it is an Oxymoron type of name as apple is related obliquely to rural country America (American Apple Pie) and Computer (in the 70s) is related to high technology.

        It stemmed from the fact that Steve in his late teens was fascinated with Eastern (Zen Buddhism) religiousity and was making trips to India to seek his meaning in life, as well as find a guru. After a 9 month soul seeking trip, he came back, dressed in saffron clothes, like an Indian holy man, as well as did not bathe often, and had straggly unkempt hair, just like a hippe child from the 70s.

      He was perpetually trying out vegan diets and the one which stuck on him was a fruitarian diet consisting mainly of apples. So when the time came for him and his partner Steve Wozniack to choose a name, he decided on Apple Computer.

      Funny how things turned out so fabulously for the company.   

Be Prepared

                                                 

         We all have expectations about when we will 'get there' or 'arrive'. To many people, who work in normal jobs, they may not want to think about the inevitable or when the time comes to retire and take things easy, it may be rudely thrust in their faces.

         So, I would advocate this, from the scouting philosophy of Lord Baden Powell. The founder of the Scout Movement  ;  " Be Prepared".

         For any contingency good or bad, one must have a game plan for moving Up and On. 

Running below 5 hours is my target !! 42.195km

This is me ar the finish line of the Standard Chartered Marathon 2012 ; tired legs, a half smile and weather beaten body. With minimal training (about 2 months) I managed to finish it in 6 hours and 6 minutes. Something I am not pleased with, the time.

    This time will be different. I will train every week running on average 40 - 50 km ; I will condition my body ; at the same time I will eat healthy and not squander time and money on meaningless pursuits like long business lunches. I have 3 months to finish my goal. I will achieve it.

     Business wise, I am awaiting several big orders any time now. They will come. Just be patient.

The Secret

May with our  friends from Hungary Tibor and Tsunde Csombordi

       The Secret is a best selling book turned documovie by Rhoda Byrne about the Law of Attraction. People who want something will attract similar minded and focussed people to the same goals, dreams and lifestyles. I  am a little skeptical of this, but tried it with the choice of finding a car park space, as suggested by my friend who has watched the movie over 20 times. So far it has yielded  100 percent success  but that has been only on 2 instances where I wished for something  small and it happened by chance. Purely coincidental, one will conclude.

       At this point in time, my business is at the cusp of some big deals and I really want to achieve them as a means to benchmark myself at this stage  life. We have put in 2 years of our lives, with a great deal of focus, effort and money on my part. Once we receive these deals, I want to step out and really pursue the purposeful life.

 .

      I am really set to do it. 

A Good Horse never goes back to eat at the same Grassland

       We all have a limited time on Earth.We have our hopes and dreams and want to raise families with the correct values of honesty, thrift, courage, modesty and selflessness. Unfortunately we are thrust into this world where bigger is better, more is celebrated and beauty is aspired. Money or the love of it is the root of all evil. I couldn't agree to that more. 

      When opportunities come our way, be it in work, business or life. We look at it and apply both our intuitive and logical minds to it. After assessment, a decision is made.Once the opportunity is taken or not, its time to move on. It is the same in the Chinese phrase A Good Horse never goes back to eat at the Same Grassland.

       There are plentiful other opportunities out there but time like a river is ever flowing.

       Seize the Day. 

Tiong Bahru Market

Resilience is key to success

50 years in this world ; a celebration no less

oub 

         Last year 2012, we celebrated out 50 years alive. This was the St. Andrew's old boys all of whom  started Primary 1 in 1968 or 1969. Yes, I feel older, in the joints and bones department. However, some wisdom has been bestowed upon me through life expe    riences and we are indeed blessed to be living in Asian region which is wealthy and full of expectations.    

         I have had  several setbacks these few years, one being a business principal pulling out of our partnership. I am not bitter about the event as every cloud has a silver lining. The point is that I must show that you cannot keep a good man down for long, he will always come back and the return is doubly satisfying.  

Cognitive Dissonance

          I am currently reading a fantastic book called the Art of Thinking Clearly. This is by Rolf Dobelli, I believe is an Italian thinker and ha been translated into many languages. In it, he describes how the human mind works and its biases towards many things and its outlook towards life.

          One particular topic is fascinating, which is called cognitive dissonance, whereby he cites the fable from Aesop about the fox and the grapes. The fox is hungry around lunchtime and spotting the grapes hanging overhead from a nearby farmer's yard, he makes several attempts to jump at and reach the grapes.

         First, he envisions the grapes to be sweet as they look juicy and inviting. So he musters all his strength and jumps up high and far. Snap, he bites nothing but air. Argh ! he mutters, and puts in his all 110 percent to try again, he leaps into the air and slightly higher, but again, he is only chomping dry air.

         Finally, he gives it one last and best shot at it ; He runs from afar and jumps. Up he goes and Snap, again he lands with nothing but a bruised ego and a mouth munching at dry air.

        "Bah" he says. "they're probably not sweet and small. Its not worth my effort !"

         The fact is many of us when faced with failure, delude ourselves that the prize we have sought so hard to win is in fact not even good and worth it in the first place. This is cognitive dissonance ; we distance ourselves and put down the meaningful pursuit and prize as 'not worth it'.

         Push yourself to achieve your goals, once you fail, you pick up and press on again. You can and will achieve them !!!!  

Gender Bias

Socialite Jamie Chua

        I read a very enlightening book called Lean In by the COO of Facebook, Ms. Sheryl Sandberg. In it, she highlighted the fact that women in modern society face a negative bias when they are rich, successful and pretty.  They are always criticized for the way they look. If they look  really good, glamorous or sexy, other women (especially) will label them as 'sluts' or women of vile character  who use their sexiness to make that pile of cash.

        Terms such as 'bitch' , 'ah lian made good', 'back-stabber' and 'sleeping to the top' are bandied around as the reasons why they make it. On the contrary, the lady may very well be talented, speaks her mind, and seizes opportunities (just like any man) to make it. So why are  so hard on their 'sisters' she asks ?

        On the other hand, if a man has made it to the top of the business world and socializes with the captains of industry. Have you heard anyone claim that he 'slept his way to the top', 'slutty' or has a 'vile character'  ?  So why the double standards ?

        Men and women give women a doubly hard time to get there. Gender bias. It exists in our society and its time we changed our mindsets and let women 'come to the table' to talk,debate and even rule the organization.

ICC International Commercial Center Kowloon 100 stories tall

                                                 

View from 88th floor ICC building

Another development in China

4th tallest Building in the World ICC Tower

Malacca Part 2 - Holiday Inn

Fresh from a trip last month to Malacca, I stayed at this fabulous hotel (4 *) along the beach front next to Malacca Raya (or Main street). Holiday Inn has been open for about 3 years now, and it definately is value for money costing only RM 330 or S$ 132 per night on weeknights. I had a 2 day 1 night work trip and the hotel is located right next to the entertainment center called the Jetty.

View of the Infinity Pool from the Gym

          The gym on Level 3 is right next to the spa which offers both Balinese and Shiatsu massages for couples, families and single travellers. I did my 5 km after driving almost 220 km on the road, so in total it was 225 km for 220 for the car and 5 km for the legs !   

Infinity Pool on 4th Floor 

      

             Breakfast is on level 2 and starts from 6.00 am till 10.00am, serving Intercontinental Halal food (no pork and according to Muslim rites). All in all, it is a perfect getaway for a couple of nights from the hustle and bustle of the cosmopolitan cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. I understand, on weekends the town is packed with 'tourists' from these 2 cities plus many international travellers from Asia and the world over. 

             This is a modern business hotel with all the amenities for the business traveller plus holiday makers who want a classy short holiday. 

Malacca, West Malaysia, just 2 1/2 hours from Singapore.

The Resort Hotel next to Holiday Inn by the beach

Just 2 and a half hours drive from Singapore is this World Heritage town (small city) called Malacca. It was once a fortified port of first the Portuguese settlers and then the Dutch. It is roughly half of the way by car from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore by the North South Highway and is a gem of a town with a decent beach (not too good for swimming)facing  the Straits of Malacca, one of the world's most populated waterways linking West to the East.  On a clear day on the high floors of the hotel, you can see Indonesia island of Sumatra in the distance. That is how close the 2 countries are.

The Infinity Pool on the 3rd Floor of the Hotel

Malacca is famous for its Portuguese food, in the Portuguese settlement. It also is famous for its Peranakan (local Baba Chinese, this is the intercultural Malay - Chinese) food featuring classic dishes such as Ayam Buak Keluak (Chicken with the spice Buak Keluak in currry), Item Thim (Duck in Giam Chye soup), Otak Otak (Fish mackerel spicy cake wrapped in banana leaf), Babi Ponteh (braised Pork stew) amongst others.    

          Most of the Peranakan food restaurants are located along the main street called Melaka Raya. There are easily 10 such joints from the famous Ole Sayang, to Bibik Neo to Makro. Each has their own special offerings of Peranakan food, and many Singaporeans who are retired take the time to make a 2 days 1 night trip by car just for the food, away from it all feeling and decent shopping at the Malacca Raya mall.

          

          Historicallym there is the St Paul's Church which has some ancient cannons. to protect the city. The Stadthuys (or Red building) is the old administrative center when the Dutch where the rulers some 300 odd years ago. There is also a Portuguese Man-o-War warship museum docked by the riverside. Cruises along the Malacca river are also popular for the tourists.  

          The cultural mix is very similar to Singapore as there are majority Chinese, some Malay and Indian citizens living in the vicinity of the city. Give it a visit, you will be pleasantly surprised !

4 months till the Marathons silly season

      
          It will only be slightly more than 4 months till the Silly Season of the year end Marathons for me. This year, I promise it will be different. I want to be fit enough to run 2 or even 3 marathons, some of them overseas. So I am prepping myself physically and mentally to get the body conditioned to be able to run the whole 42.195km for at least 2 times this year.

        Provided I take care of my limbs, have the daily supplements, and not over-exert myself, I believe I can achieve this goal without too much of a stretch to my system. I recall today while running, that 10 years ago around this time, I was getting on the road to my physical peak of my 40s (that was in 2006 - 2007), so this time 10 years later, I am again trying for one last hurrah - in my 50s. So 2 marathons this year would be my target. Normally the body would then indicate to my it was overstraining itself, and naturally I would return to my lazy self.

     If I can maintain my fitness level at this peak for about 6 months after the year end, there are 2 wonderful marathons I would love to try 1. Paris (April each year)   and 2. London (May each year).Then I would really have the bragging rights to say I have run International marathons !!

     Boston, Chicago and New York would then be achievable goals.  

     I believe I can achieve it with the correct planning, determination and resilience as before. 

5 km run is my Constant

         This morning, I finished my second back to back 5K run in the early morning. It is a whole new world for those who remain sound asleep at 6.00 am in the morning, dead to the world.  I normally start my day by waking up at 5.30 am, do the toiletries, drink 2 glasses of lemon infused water and off I go into the darkness.

         I am not blessed with good cholesterol levels, my HDL and total LDL levels will scare even the most experienced of heart surgeons. So I take my medications (Lovastatin 20 mg) faithfully, every evening before bed, and with the buzz of my sportswatch at 5.30am, I am up and preparing. I intend to continue this regimen, hopefully every day except Sunday (when I have my 1 1/2 hr Karate session at the CC). 

        This is my constant, every thing else may change around me, the business model, the children growing up, the family and friends aging, but 5K is still 5 K. Nothing else matters, it is the fixed distance whether you are in Frankfurt, Paris, Budapest, Rio de Janerio, Luxor, Cairo, Shanghai, Chongqing or Delhi.

       Respect it. 

Friend or Enemy ? Your Phone

Downhill somewhere in Tomamu, Hokkaido

          The world is experiencing massive changes in very short time periods. Product booms and busts are going from 10 years to 8 to 5 to 3 to 1 year.  Computer hardware like PCs and Laptops are like  throwaway cameras, use it for 1 max. 2 years and out into the trash can. PDAs (Palm Pilots), SLR cameras, pagers, fax machines, voice recorders, CD and DVD players have long since died. The list of dead or dying products is growing steadily. 

          

           Your phone is not just a phone, it is your digital office, your entertainment center, your access to the world. People put up what they had for lunch, where they had their party, or finished something mudane, or significant all through their Bluetooth, 4G enabled wireless phone - organiser - bank ATM - TV - social media platform. Everything is an app nowadays.

           So, people like me are befuddled by the new media, and connectivity. Use it and be connected, but people can then trace your every desired activity, hobby, purchase, location where you had your holiday or dinner. Its Orwellian 1984, but without the unwiedly cameras following you at every turn.

          Your phone is your best friend and your greatest enemy. Like fire, it can be controlled and used to good benefit, out of control and it will ruin your life. 

'Mutt Dou Chee' and 'Mutt Dou Oi'

                                                With my then manager and friend, C.H. Teo 

        We all have at least one such friend who is a Mr. or Ms. 'Know it All', the Cantonese Phrase for this is Mutt Dou Jee. They are the little irritating but generally nice people who happen to know the exact value of Pi till the last 20th decimal.  (pi = 3.14xxxxxx).  

         These people somehow stay up late at night mugging about any useless details about when the next fun runs to get goodie bags and where the best char kuay teow, lor mee or bak kut teh  and prawn noodels  stalls are or when the free $4 coupons come available from the Shell stations. They are by no means penny pinching, but looking out for the best deals.  
        
          In short, they are the Penny Wise people. Good for the details and small numbers. Useful to have around and makes life interesting for Big Picture folk like me.

         Mutt Do Oi are people who want everything in life and more. Again I know my fair share of these people. They scrimp and save and eat the cheapest hawker foods, only to then invest in multi-million dollar properties and continue investing in them ad nauseum like there is no tomorrow.

       I want everything and more. Free is better. 

      Again, they irritate me, but then they are harmless to me.

     To these people, do learn one thing, you are not rich till you start to spend on your family and friends.  Life is indeed short.

     Seize the Day.

       

'At the end of the Day' and other Useless Expressions

          A good friend of mine, James from Australia is very fond of using the phrase 'At the End of the Day'. This in short means, "so".  I have resisted rebutting him as he finds comfort or solace in uttering this phrase so that he ends up sounding like an archaic professor in life.  But when I do get to retort him, it will be either of these 2 below, but I do not want to spoil his
satisfaction from saying it just yet, so I politely listen : 

a) At the end of the Day..... it becomes Night

b) At the end of the Day..... everyone dies 

      Here are a list (not exhaustive by any means) some more of these meaningless phrases of words which are used by people unknowingly as time fillers or wanting to sound learned.
The effect on me is the exact opposite, as it gives me the impression that the person  is trying to sound like and failing to impress the listener. Here goes the top 10. They can be replaced by one singular or two words and I have added them at the end of the sentence.

1. At the end of the Day  ..................   so

2. To be honest  .......................  frankly (you mean to say, everything else you said 
    beforehand was  Bullshit ?!!) 

3. After all thats been said and done ...... finally

4. Let me say something ...........     (man, what have you been doing all this time ? Sleeping)

5.  Lets be clear ..........................  (this is a very common phrase used by lawyers and   
                                                          politicians when they want to fudge something, 
                                                          hopelessly ending up trying to sound articulate.
                                                         This ends up confusing more people, and leaves us the 
                                                         viewers feeling stupid,whence in essence, the onus is on
                                                         the speaker to speak clearly in the first place.

6. Specifically .............................. (sounds impressive, but just get to the point)

7.  So as to achieve ..................... (again another impressive, but leading to some lofty ideals 
                                                          which 99% of the persons hearing it would have some 
                                                          vague or no idea what these ideals are or stand for

8.  More or Less ..........................   its More or its  Less. Not More or Less. Argh ! 

9.    Can I ask a question ? .....................  hey you just did. Next question please ! 
                       
10.  Cut to the chase.................... (what in heaven's name is that, an American poorly made 
        movie cuts to the chase, when the plot is hopeless and hence have to make do    
        with the mandatory car chase, which gives everyone some satisfaction that $11 goes 
         to see some heavy metal getting crunched - its a mind numbing but somehow 
        hypnotic feeling watching cars flipping and getting crunched, and inevitably exploding 
        into a gazillion million pieces with fire, sound and oh so handsome lead actors and 
        voluptuous actresses walking away and fire in the background. 

        So you mean,when I speak, you want me to cut to the chase, and what ,feel satisfied ?

        Americans are so painfully stupid in expecting a car chase or machine mangling scene, 
       so much so it is called a Blockbuster and it has creeped into our everyday language. 

        If it was a period piece with only witty dialogue and some scenery, it would be called a 
        Mind Bender          




         

Wooloomooloo SteakHouse at Raffles City, Singapore Aug 10th 2013

Wooloomooloo Steak 250 g

        On the 3rd Floor of The Westin Hotel, Raffles City, nestled in the corner is a gem of a steakhouse called Wooloomooloo Restaurant. Based on a suburb of Sydney (I am told by a gracious gentleman, Mr. KC Boey), it serves great mouth watering steaks which frankly require no condiments or sauces. We had a fine feast last Saturday 10th August to 'celebrate' the National Day holiday the day before. We ordered 3 steaks and had the Crab Cakes and Scallops as starters. 

                                          Crab Cake with Mayonnaise and Tartar Sauce

      This was my second visit with the family to Wooloomooloo and the experience was just as wonderful, to be absolutely honest. One would think that this restaurant originated from Austalia, but no, this was formed about 8 years ago in Hong Kong, taking the Australian (and American) Black Angus, Wagyu cows as their staples for the steaks. And they did not disappoint. The best of the 3 steaks was the Ribeye, (picture 3 below) flavourful, when done Medium Well, ie. there is a hint of the blood in the center of the 2 inch thick chunk of meat. For medium or even medium rare, be prepared for blood ooozing out once you cut into the steak. 

      Ribeye 250g is good enough for a large person to handle, in my opinion, but as there are 4 of us relatively small eaters, 3 steaks were good enough to fill us, together with starters which incuded 2 servings of French Onion soup. This soup was nothing memorable, and one might be better off ordering the oysters freshly air flown from Australia instead of the soup. The flavour of the Ribeye is one of slightly smoky and salty beef, but with the marbelling (fat), the meat melts in your mouth. Osu !! 

Scallop wrapped with Bacon

2nd favourite (anyway by me) is the Wooloomooloo, which was another Ribeye but done with the Ranch style barbecue flavour which oozes out with every bite. Again, another fantastic steak which requires no condiments or steak sauce, and can fill any large person's stomach quite nicely. The condiments are the mushroom sauce, mustard, red wine, we used them sparingly, such was the quality of the meat. Side dishes would be french fries which I felt was rather small and not bite sized. There are numerous sides such as baked potato in their skins, mashed poatatoes and even some long grained rice for must have rice eaters. 

                                                         Ribeye Steak 250 g 

      The Filet Mignon was the 3rd steak had by us, and it was with little fat, so all lean meat. I would say it is good for people who want a 'healthy' steak. This, we ate with the condiments and sauces.  Portion is 200 g which is also a decent sized one. Flavour was not as tasty as the other 2, because it was lean meat, but a good steak nonetheless. 

My son Andrew and I 

Finally, the house wine (I had the Shiraz) was palatable and the dessest was their signature upside down Brown Cake with ice cream. This was the ultimate in terms of calories, so we ordered just 1 and shared by the 4 of us. Then our weighing scale would not complain the next day !

     Damage for the 3 steaks, 2 starters with 2 soups, 1 wine and dessert came to $440 or roughly US$ 350 for  4. Its pricey but well worth the experience.