Sorry Just doesn't cut it. The divisions of 'class' is again being brought up on social media

I am taking a selfie and the bird gives me the bird. Crap !

The recent apology by the Whampoa condominium resident to the security officer has struck a raw nerve amongst many Singaporeans.He has struck a chord about the (perceived) differences about the difference in living in public and private housing estates. 

What I am writing reflects many Singaporeans' feelings about the issue. I think "sorry" just doesnt' cut it.This guy is beyond stupid. A moron of the highest order. 

He has in this few short minutes of a viral video, highlighted and made it painfully aware with his insensitive words and actions about "this is not HDB" and with the unspoken inferences which the ruling Government had tried so hard to do in the last few decades. 
Try to reduce the inequality of living in public housing, which in my opinion (especially for the new HDB flats), like BTO and the like are of very high quality. 

Maintenance by the housing Residents Committees are also of very high standard of responsiveness and upkeep. 

Living in HDB is as good as if not better (in some instances) than private housing. Let me name a few from my viewpoint where HDB is 'better' and I mean it sincerely.  

1. Good connectivity to public transport, and MRT lines. Most HDB housing estates are within a few minutes walk from either the feeder bus or from the main MRT or LRT lines. 

     Compare that with Balestier where this loser lives, he has the temerity and stupidity to  infer that condominium is 'better'. The nearest MRT is either at Novena or Race Course and you would Mr. Private Resident with the supersized ego and half witten brain probably need to walk 20 minutes to the MRT.Of course there is Grab and your car. 

    Man, he needs to take a big dose of humility and rub it in his face. Work for a month as a security guard and find out how some (a small minority(  of these pig headed residents treat them. 

    Walk in the Security Uncle's shoes for a month. You will realise how privileged you are (or not) 

2. Access to most amenities like polyclinics, food centres, playgrounds, and parks are just 'downstairs'. This is one big plus for elderly folk with mobility issues 

3. Public Swimming pools are nearby and only cost $1 ; no need to pay condo maintenance fees easily in excess of $500 and above per unit.

4. Gyms are at the town centres and again at very low costs.

    Several things which private estates have  which may be deemed as 'better' than HDB they are deemed 'private' are :

1. Security guards

2. Lap or feature pools

3. Gyms with state of the art equipment

4. Covered car parks (most new ones have those)

5. Ratio of units access by lifts are smaller compared with HDB, generally speaking.

Hence, by his inference that 'this is not HDB' he is inferring in your face, that he is of a higher standing than most other people. And the presumption that $1.5 Million he paid is a lot of money.

Sorry, you moron. 

YOU MAY HAVE MONEY, BUT YOU SURE DO NOT HAVE ANY CLASS OR STANDING IN MY EYES.

Why oh why is the G allowing the free flow of people into our country without the proper economics means testing and  allowing these people to undermine the social fabric of our society.

There is also the inference that the ordinary citizens are losing out to these highly paid 'experts' who come and behave poorly, give a very negative impression of their entire country as a whole and leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Something must be done to address this. Else there will be a price to pay. 

I am truly disappointed. 

Sheppard - Great Song

Entitlement

The recent fracas about the foreign resident who threw vulgarities at the elderly security guard at the condominium again throws up the same issues about the effects of globalization and the migration of talent to our shores. Lets recap :

1. Since the early 2000s, Singapore has opened up its talent search to bring in FT or 'foreign talents' to help restructure her economy and take advantage of sectors such as IT, digital banking, cybersecurity, wealth management and cryptocurrencies to name a few.

2. Many foreign people have come here to work, either on expatriate packages and in the last 10 years, on local packages. There are mutual bilateral country agreements such as CECA Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to facilitate ease of movement for foreign professionals (in this case India) to come to work in Singapore in fields such as banking, nursing and others. Singapore on the other hand, will be able to export her goods into India with much reduced tariffs. 

As a result, there seems to be an imbalance of foreign nationals coming here seeking employment in hospitals, banks, asset management firms, IT and others since Singapore's general standard and quality of life is far higher than many of its Asian neighbours,such as India for example.

3. Since it is relatively easy for foreign investors to incorporate companies here, they invariably will assign their fellow countrymen and women to come and assist in managing the startup and growth of these companies. 

4. Additionally, many banks, advertising, trading platforms etc have also come in and brought in their expertise to help facilitate their business growth and development. 

5. Many local Singaporeans feel overlooked and shunned from these opportunities. They   may have been retrenched from their bricks and mortar jobs  (eg HR, Sales and Operations of for example multinational electronics and semiconductor companies and feel that the opportunities have passed them by. I personally know of several friends from primary school and elsewhere who have become private hire drivers,security guards and property agents.My friends are mainly in their late 40s to mid 50s with good health, many with perhaps post secondary education. 

They appear to be the most vulnerable to the wave of new migrants coming to our shores and taking over the jobs in the 'gig' economy. 

One aspect many of these foreign talents have overlooked when coming to Singapore is that the culture here is very different from where they once lived for 20,30,40 or more years. As a result the archaic rules of the working world may work in India (for example) but it will not be the same in Singapore. Add to that, the behaviors of some of these expatriates are indeed very callous and there has been a spike in the arrests and incarcerations of numerous Westerners as well as those from India and China, for crimes such as molest, fighting and acting like they were the rulers in the old imperial times.

Times, they are a changing (Bob Dylan), and the foreign people need to be mindful that they are guests in their host country. Treat the hosts with dignity, even if the host may be serving you in a junior capacity. Where is the grace to your fellow human being ? 

That is called basic manners, which seems to be lost (maybe never learned) with some of these (a small fraction I am sure) so called entitled professionals. Shame. 

When unsure of local norms and customs, tread carefully

For the Singaporeans, it is a sore point to lose one's job and one's self esteem goes with it. The disruption of our economy is going to continue unabated and we really need to move and upskill ourselves. We really have no choice. To pine for the good old days of brick and mortar jobs is natural but they aint ever coming back. 

For people in their 40s, and 50s, we are still young old. If we relearn and upskill ourselves, we can and be relevant in this new economy. There are many short courses in digital marketing, python programming, coding and numerous others for us to take advantage.

To sit back, and be a keyboard warrior and whinge for every wronged uncle being bullied by a foreigner is not going to change a thing. 

Comeback Kings - Newcastle 1 Wolves 1

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Ho Chi Minh City Visit 23 - 25 Oct 2019

Famous Words of Ho Chi Minh in 1946 against the oppressive colonisation of first the French and next the Americans 

This is my 4th visit to the southern capital, previously called Saigon. The country of Vietnam since 1975, has been under Communist rule but the last 15 years or so, it has opened up its economy to the capitalists and the economy has been on an uptick since then. 

The young population are hungry, hard working, clever and bi-lingual - this is a big plus, as compared currently to the PRC. Hence there have been many investors coming in and setting up factories, businesses. Tourism is booming, with many visitors from US, Europe, Russia and Asia (China especially) coming for an inexpensive short weekend getaway. 

The greatest pride of the Vietnam people must be their steely determination to drive out the imperialist US forces in the very divisive Vietnam War which lasted from 1956 - 1975. More than 2 million Vietnamese died in the conflict, and US, even with their superior weaponry, firepower, technology, strategy could not overcome one fundamental aspect of the war - the will of the people to be free from imperialism and subjugation from the rule of the white man. 

      The one shameful symbol of the Vietnam War, the UH 1 H Huey Helicopter Gunship

The Vietcong soldiers were very clever in using captured weapons, ammunition and even learnt how to evade the US carpet bombings by digging a network of tunnels running some several kilometers underground and practically unseeen unless one was on top of its entrance. There was even the capture of F5E warplanes by the Vietcong and one brave pilot flew into Saigon (the capital of South Vietnam) and dropped several bombs into the Independence Palace in 1975. This signalled that the end of the war was near and the US presence was waning with each passing year from 1970 onwards.

Last Chopper out of Saigon May 1975 

There were millions of people protesting against the war in US, the returning Veterans were amongst the loudest opponents to the war, and the brave Vietnamese were just doing what came naturally, rising against the yoke of the oppressors. 

The US hence lost the war on 2 fronts - firstly in the minds of the general population who saw no positive upside to it, resulting in over 50,000 young men and women dying for a distant war with no identifiable cause except for the maintenance of balance of power between them (the Communists) and the Free World. 

T -59 Chinese Made Tank which stormed through the gates of Independence Palace on 30 April 1975 signalling America's defeat.  

Secondly, it was very expensive to the taxpayers, the US citizens and with each passing year, people were being made aware (by enbedded camera crews in the jungles of Vietnam alongside the soldiers) of the atrocities being committed by the US forces. There were reports of outright rape, murder, genocide and carpet bombing using Agent Orange which by all accounts was chemical warfare. Many innocent Vietnamese were scarred for life and lost their limbs and their dignity as a result of the terrible side effects of the chemicals. 

The moral outrage about the social injustice on the ordinary Vietnam people was finally enough to make the US powers that be, see that it was a lost cause. 

They pulled out in May 1975, and the US imperial power myth was shattered irrevocably.       

AI is already in our Car Computer System

The E230 2014 Version 

The convergence of Artificial Intelligence together with Biometrics will mean that our movements will be tracked by our handphones, our credit cards, our notebooks, and our vehicles. Facial Recognition software and the cashless society is now being employed in numerous cities all over People's Republic of China. 

Welcome to the brave new world in 2020.

The feature of Park Assist in the Mercedes Benz E Class is already in use, whereby the driver needs only to drive close to the parking lot, and the proximity sensors will detect the area available, do a quick algorithmic calculation and then take control of the driving so that the car is parked perfectly in the lot in either a reverse or parallel parking orientation.

There is also another Predictive Driving software which in my car's 2014 system can gauge the distance from the nearby car, and warn the driver that at the speed he is going, there is a greater chance of a collision or fender bender and hence an audio and visual will pop up to the driver's field of view.

Now in 2019 , 5 years on, there is surely the predictive software coupled with proximity sensors and with an algorithm that if I am travelling too fast and too close to the driver in front of me, the Cruise Control will take over the steering and the braking system so as not to collide with the vehicle in front. 

With the development of 5G, all new cars will be on the same network and can communicate with each other, and extrapolating this a bit further, the car and the entire traffic system can be 'in sync' so as to provide the most efficient a) route to the destination and b) route with least number of traffic disruptions in terms of traffic lights, vehicles doing road works and minor / major accidents.

Yuval Noah Harari pointed out so elegantly in his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century that nowadays more people are being killed by traffic accidents worldwide than there are being killed by war and terrorism.

Surely the implementation of 5G is for the 'greater good' of saving lives ?   

The personal privacy issue will always be looming in the big picture of Government running our lives but there must be a system of checks and balances so that the legitimate and altruistic use of AI together with biometrics will be in the hands of the 'responsible' and benovalent people with compassion.

Else it will be chaos. 

Technology is neutral. It is the powers that be that owe a debt of responsibility to the proper dispensing and utilisation of the technology be it cloud storage, data analytics and cybersecurity to harness for the 'greater good' of uplifting people's standard of living in the coming years.

At the Top of St Peter's Basilica in Rome December 2017 - An Awesome Sight to Behold !

We were in Rome, and managed to perform the 2 most (in my opinion) unforgettable things to do. The first was to go for a private tour to visit the crypts or burial grounds of the all the holy priests and popes - we were one of the privileged ones, I would say, to be asked to visit the crypt. Do note that Rome was built over the previous city over the last 2 millenia so there was a lot of old structures built one above the other.

The second activity was to go right to the top of the massive church which entailed first buying tickets to go to the 5th floor, and then walking another claustrophobic 125 or so steps upwards to the very top of the Basilica.

When we reached the top, my oh my ! The view was simply astounding ! We could see the entire avenues leading to the church (All roads lead to Rome remember ? ), the 12 disciples and the 4 apostles, the Saints and we were even higher than the level where the Pope gives his Mass.

This experience is one which I will NEVER forget !!!! 

Carpe Diem 

2018 Birthday in S Korea - What's it like having a birthday away from family and close friends ?

Having the street food outside Siyeong City at - 3 deg C. 

Last year, I had the dubious honor of celebrating my birthday in Siyeong City Korea. I was on a business trip and my colleague and I went together with our customer to do  due diligence buy-off of the equipment at the factory just South East of Incheon city.

ETSP Korean Made Chamber 

Nov 27th 2018 

Our business partner, Paul Lee is the owner of the company ETSP and we went there on the company paid buy-off trip lasting 4 days and 3 nights. It was cold, and very fortunately, everything went according to plan. The customer was pretty happy with the equipment, and we had a faultless performance of the equipment.

26th Nov Korean BBQ 

When we arrived, we were a little bleary eyed from the red-eye flight (Asiana) but after several hours rest, we started work with much gusto at Paul's factory. He runs a lean operation and he is a brilliant engineer with much knowhow in chamber and refrigeration technology. Hence ETSP is his 'baby' since 2008 I believe.  

Skewered Meats Korean Style 

Some memorable highlights of the trip were, we went to the artificial island off Siyeong and walked a glass bottomed floor of the observation tower overlooking part of the Korean peninsula. Quite an experience.The Korean barbecue dishes were really good and our host made sure we all went home satisfied not only by the equipment performance, but also by the extra time spent building up good relations. 

Memorable Birthday Pix by the Conifer Tree 

Tuesday 27th Nov 2018 

On the Tuesday 27th, I celebrated my birthday incognito. All my school friends were wishing me a Happy 56th on Whatsapp, Facebook, Phone and FB Messanger and I was somewhere in Korea doing work. Did it feel strange ? Well normally as each year passes I like to cocoon myself from all the rest of the world and just reflect. Time is really moving fast, so I had better reach my goals while I still have the energy and health to do so.  

I am thankful, really. for a wonderful wife, 2 good sons, a support system of friends, relatives and a small business that I can truly be accountable for. I believe my company can and does contribute to the betterment of the athletes in not only Singapore, but now Australia and Qatar, so our name is growing albeit at a decent pace. 

Rudy on the Glass Bottomed Bridge

        Just another day in the office. My family and I had celebrated my birthday a few days before during the weekend, so it was for me,  'business as usual'. 

Mr Karl Heinz Hehl ; it was a privilege to have known you

Meetings were tough as nails, but the bond of friendship was real 

From Left (seated) : Karl Heinz Hehl, Mrs Angelika Bausch(Head of Sales); Fred Schweitzer (Reg Sales Manager)
(behind) : N. Kannan (QRA Malaysia Manager), yours truly, Rene (Zellweger!) (Asia Pac), Dieter Haus (Sales Director)

I heard the sad news that the former Managing Director of Weiss Umwelttechnik Mr. Karl Heinz Hehl had passed away on 17th October Thursday. He was 75 (I believe). 

My good friend and mentor Frank Rigley sent the sad news by email yesterday and I am posting this picture of us after having a tough meeting at the Weiss Headquarters in Giessen Germany, I believe in 2009.

Mr. Hehl retired in 2010 and his position was then passed on to Mr. Niedermeyer ;

My company had their services terminated by the Weiss group in 2012.

I am forever grateful and privileged to have known Karl Heinz as both a strict boss and also as a friend who was a warm hearted man and loved a schnapps or two (or more).... 

He visited Singapore with his family on several occasions the last being in 2004 / 05 for the New Year's day celebrations. I will never forget that occasion, as he treated all the local agents' families to a nice dinner at the Esplanade and watched the countdown together.. Ahh the sweet memories.

When will we meet again ? ...wherever whenever.... old friend.....  

Carpe Diem. 

Why is the Community Center having an Octoberfest party ?

I am increasingly baffled by the attempts by the Community Center to 'reach out' to the general public at our Tanglin Community Center. It is true that we have an interntional population in Singapore, particularly in Tanglin or especially estates near the City Center, but I have noticed that the 'want' to celebrate the festive occasions like Thanksgiving, Halloween, Octoberfest which once were totally alien to our culture is somewhat baffling.

Community events are normally subsidised by the People's Association and annual dinners with the objective of giving out awards to deserving sports and interest group leaders I fully support. Octoberfest ?  What next ? Japanese emperor birthday ? Martin Luther King day ?  

We are a South East ASIAN country (yes) with increasing international connections and premanent residents but to ape and follow alien activities in the name of community bonding ?  I am all for the private clubs, restaurants, sports bars and the like to do the 'oom pah pah' and ape the Germans to eat pork knuckle and drink Bavarian beer, but the local community centre should first and formost promote the harmony of its residents like the common exercise and interest groups - my karate club, the rumba dance and band sessions are 3 of the clubs which are affected by this Sunday's event.   

What is Octoberfest ? 

Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest, annual festival in Munich, Germany, held over a two-week period and ending on the first Sunday in October. The festival originated on October 12, 1810, in celebration of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, who later became King Louis I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

So what gives ?? 

Eliud Kipchoge smashes 2 hour mark in the 42.194 km Marathon ! Sensational !

As a full marathoner (10 and counting), I am so pleased and proud that the elite Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge has broken the 2 hour mark for the once thought inpossible pacing and speed standard in the marathon.

So pleased that a human being with the talent and the hard work that all his and his coaches efforts have paid off and so proud that I am one of the marathon community blessed to see history in making.

Mind over matter ! Yes. I am inspired to train to run another 10 more marathons before I finally give it (the goals) a rest ! 




 

The Majesty of Madrid

Staying Lean and Resilient

Push forward with all my might 

With so many uncertainities in the world right now, from the Trade War between the 2 major economic superpowers, to the incursion by Turkish troops into Syria and the civil unrest in HK taking a turn for the worst four months on, what can a small entity like my company do ?

Well, take stock of the situation, stay ultra lean, collect receivables quickly and look for new openings in the regional and world economy to navigate and make some inroads. It is not a pretty sight when all indicators (yield curve, purchasing manager's index, and flat resale prices for example) show very alarming trends but I must be resilient, or the future will be messy.

Chasing all potentials, learning new courses in cybersecurity and big data, I am trying to reinvent my relevancy in this tough times.

Carpe Diem. 

The Champs have been Vanquished ; there is a New Kid in Town !

                          Adama Traore's outstretched arm and finger pointing jubilantly

  with a dejected Man City goalkeeper Ederson on the ground.   

The evolution of Adama Traore from highest paid winger for Wolves in mid 2018, then a much criticised player who didn't fit in for long stretches of time.On Sunday, he capped an ever improving presence in the first team with a brace (2) of world class goals. 

The brilliant coach / manager Nuno identified his unique talents, and after 1 long year of struggle, ridicule from the fair weathered fans (me included), Adama Traore comes up with 2 gems of goals against the current English Champions at their home ground, no less.

Almost the entire team played magnificently, except for Saiss who limped off with a calf injury only after 19 minutes of play but truth be told, Adama spoke of how hard he and the rest of the team trained, day in day out, flying for European competition, and slogging the hard work, team strategy and efforts finally paid off most handsomely in the form of beating the current English Champions, Man City at their home stadium the Etihad Stadium by 2 -0.

No team has beaten City at home for almost 1 year, and Wolves had not done this feat, the last time being in 1984, when I was in University 35 years ago !

Added to that Man City have been absolutely lethal in front of goal, scoring 27 goals in 7 games at home, thats an average of 3.8 or almost 4 goals per game at home ! To deny them a single goal, that is the brilliance and hard stopping efforts of the magnificent Conner Coady and his defence comprising of Wily Boly, Ryan Bennett, Roman Saiss, Jonny and Traore. Traore was later switched to the winger role once Matt Doherty came on.   

A big thank you to the entire team including the backroom 'boys' who take all the credit for this unforgettable win which will be remembered for decades to come :


1. Patricio    8 >   Honorable Mention ; pulled off several world class saves, 

2. Coady     8.5 > Superb all afternoon, not a single foot or header wrong
3. Boly        8.5  > Another top defence play 
4. Saiss      7.5   Bennett  8.5
5. Vinagre  7.5   Jonny     8
6. Doherty  8
7. Neves    7.5
8. Moutinho 8 > Robbed the ball back for the first and instrumental for second goal. 
9. Dendonker 8
10.Cutrone    8
11. Jiminez    9 > Excellent shielding of ball and dribble past Otamendi like child's play
12. Traore     9.5 > MOTM ; kept Sterling at bay whole afternoon, and 2 excellent strikes          made him the talk of England this week and next. 

Coach Nuno   10 - Planned and Executed Gameplan to Perfection ; The Tactical Boss ! 

Backroom Boys 9.5  Credit to all 

A big salute to all the heros from Coach Nuno Esperito Santos, his backroom staff (6), the ball boys, the masseurs, the cleaning crew, the bosses at Fosun, the MD and the entire team must take the praise from this fair weathered Fan who sincerely hopes to pin his dreams on this Team of the Future  !!! 

    

Man City 0 Wolves 2 : Wolves on their day can be World Class !

Bring On Man City Tomorrow. Wolves are not afraid of anyone

The current team for Wolves 2019-20 are full of young players, injury free and most importantly, hungry for success. They recently had played against City in the Premier League Asia trophy in Shanghai in July and emerged victorious after the game ended 0-0 and Wolves won on penalties. 

Therefore, on current form, they will give the current EPL champions a good run for their money. They have not lost in 4 Games in Cups, and EPL. Its true they struggled with the extreme 2 games a week schedule, but its time for the 'boys' to show what they are made of. By now, early October, they should come to terms with their packed playing schedule which all top teams come to expect playing at this, the highest of levels.  

Wily Boly is on fire, so are the youngsters Patrick Cutrone, Neto, Matt Doherty, Jonny Otto, Adama Traore and the defence team of Patricio, Saiss, Coady and Boly are rock solid. City will have a hard time to crack the Wolves defence.

Attitude, not having an overblown ego, and following the Gaffer's instructions to a "T", I am confident Wolves will pull off the upset of the season, and win 1 - 0. Probability of this occuring in my form book, 40%. 

A draw 1- 1 is also a distinct 40% possibility.  

Come on the Wolves !!! 

Mark, Ian and Aleks went up the Castle one Cold and Dark Winter's Night

This story is reposted because I found it so funny, all these years later. 11 to be exact.

I have cut and pasted the post and pictures, and since I am the author of this post, I do not need permission from myself to repost it !                               

The story was in 2008, just after the Weiss worldwide agent's meeting in Giessen and below is the actual post I put up in Dec 2008.

Please enjoy and do not make fun of people's names, as it might be a source of discomfort or embarrassment (like my own surname can be twisted to be "A Bush in the Garden" !)

         The Brothers - Me, Ian Firth (Australia Agent) and Tibor (Hungary Agent)

First Posted on 23 December 2008 

Last March, during my annual visits to Germany to visit our principal supplier, Weiss Technik, the Australian agent, Ian Firth,myself and the Slovenian agent, Alex (formerly part of Yugoslavia) got along pretty well. We had meetings and seminars during the day and merrymaking with loads of alcohol in the evenings.One Wednesday evening, it was snowing lightly and we had been drinking alot at the factory cafeteria and after dinner, we headed back to our hotel which is in Wettenberg, a small village,situated northeast about 120 km of Frankfurt. We were getting pretty rowdy in the bus leading us to the hotel with the usual swearing and mild intoxication typical of many German parties.

Anyway, things were getting a bit out of hand and upon reaching the hotel, some of our agent friends opted to go to bed, while the rest checked emails and pursued other recreational activities at the hotel bar. Ian, Alex and I  then decided to walk-run up to the nearby castle, in the dark of the night to wear off the effects of our drinks. We (guys) tend to do STUPID things when we have WAY too much alcohol and time on our hands. In this instance, it was 3km uphill all the way. So, we set of at a brisk walk in our trenchcoats and jackets.


                                  Lynne (Taiwan Agent), Me and Alex (Slovenia Agent)

THIS IS THE LATE WINTER NIGHT WITH SNOW AND WIND BLOWING INCESSANTLY AND AN 8 AM START TOMORROW OF NEW ROUND OF SEMINARS AND MEETINGS.

It was cold,damp and windy. Alex told us he knew the route well and decided to cut through some cabbage patch through some farm area. We made our way up hugging our jackets and trencoats and slipping a little through the soft ground. Alex had a sinister look on his face and he was very quiet, intent on reaching the objective. Ian and I followed him. I knew I had my GREAT chance to spook Ian.

I casually poked Ian in the ribs,and said, "Ian, our friend Alex.Do you know his surname ??"
Ian : " No"
Me : "Alex, whats your surname huh ??"
Alex : " Dracula(ris), !! My name is Alex Dracula !"

THE WIND WAS HOWLING AND THE CAPE FROM ALEX'S TRENCHCOAT FLEW.He kept walking up, silently, at a fast pace, and leaving the 2 of us in his wake. 

I half expected bats to fly out from his trenchcoat and the vines from the ground come up and grab our ankles ! Oh the imagination ran wild !!!

Ian's face turned white and he actually grabbed me. We both practically RAN up to the top of the hill where the castle was. Later, Alex and me went all the way to the top of the belfry (top of the tower) and had a magnificent view of the entire town.



                     At the Top of the Castle overlooking Wettenberg (I looked young then !)

We later went in to the Mexican bar at the castle to have a couple of schnapps to chill out. Oh yes and swopped our backgrounds and life stories.Turns out we are all about the same age then - 44 and 45. But more of that in a later blog.

True Stories to entertain our Grandchildren ! 

Raison D'ete : The Purpose of Life

I had earlier touched on Raison D'ete or the Purpose of Life. Well, in broad terms, each and every person needs to find his purpose in life. We are all put here (by God) for those who believe in Him, to serve a purpose. 

It can't be for purely selfish reasons such as pleasure, or to create evil. Having lived through over 50 years I believe I have found my Raison D'ete. However, it is very personal and private, hence I cannot elaborate further.

Beautiful Antibes (Cote d'Azur) in December 2018. 

The Cote Azur between Nice and Monaco 

However, the process of it, can be found in the game changing book called Ikigai by neuroscientist, Ken Moji who ascribes to the Japanese way of "being in the here and now"

The 5 steps are :

1. Start Small
2. Negate yourself out from your life's work (Ego is bad)
3. Maintain harmony and balance with Nature
4. Take Pride in Small Things
5. Be in the Here and Now.

Once you have started on this road, continue to encourage your family and those around you to do likewise and see the personal growth in yourself.

Then I believe along the way, you will discover your Ikigai or Raison D'ete. It is never too late.

Enjoying the cold weather in Burano. a small island off Venice 

  

Beautiful Canberra

Bessitkas 0 Wolves 1

Liang Bo - Hei Ye Zhong China Voice Finalist