Thailand - Work, New Person and Business Potential

Kannan presenting our installation base to Sean of TUV

For 3 days last week, I made a trip with my Regional Manager, N. Kannan to Thailand to visit customers as well as arrange for new personnel to join QRA. It was all the more memorable as 1 year ago,Thailand was in the midst of a political crisis whereby the opponents of Thaksin backed Government, took over and controlled the Suvhanabhum airport for a period of 1 week. It was utter chaos and I had blogged about it roughly 1 year ago. How time flies ! This trip was much more sedate as we made our way through the bustling airport and met with our new Sales representative, Krid Sripanich. Krid and I have known each other for about 9 years and we hope to work out a win-win partnership in the very near future.



A friendly meeting with future potential ; L-R ; Me, Sean Boey (GM of TUV), Kannan and Krid Sripanich

We had several excellent meetings with key customers and there is the future followup potential in the coming months. I am personally excited about several these potentials as we already have an installed base of around 10 chambers. The customer above, TUV is a Singapore headquartered testing house with their test facility in New Science Park on the outskirts of Bangkok. More visits are to follow in the coming months.


Tawatchai has decided to leave our team - Best wishes to him !

During this trip, I also bade farewell to a colleague Tawatchai Umnuaysiri who is leaving to join a friend in a new industry. During his time with QRA, he has been very able in handling the sales and service components of the Thailand market so it is with some regret that he is leaving. Due to his industriousness and persistence, we have secured the largest single order in our short history, (which has now been surpassed) but will put a big mark on our presence as THE major chamber player in S.E. Asia. Thanks to Tawatchai and I wish him all the best for his future endeavors !

Memorable Meal in Ayutthaya 5th November 09

2 types ot Tom Yam soup ; the milky Tom Yam and the Red Spicy Tom Yam ; both equally dangerously hot !

During a 3 day trip to Thailand last week, I was invited by some customers to have a lunch by the Chao Phya river near Ayutthaya. This is one of the highlights of my business trip whereby deals have to be negotiated and discussions take place every day. So, without much hesitation, I accepted and was treated to a lovely 'feast' for the senses ; taste, smell,sound, and of course sight. We ordered several dishes which were the fish maw, fried fish, prawn with vegetables and 2 types of Tom Yam soups.

The 2 Tom Yam soups we ordered were served in the steamboat and one was the milky tom yam while the other was the spicy chilli tom yam. Both were equally dangerously hot and able to cause 'fire breath' if one is not careful.


Fried Mish Maw with Nuts and Fried Goby Fish

My favourites were the fish maw and the fried goby which were crispy and tasty. Our customers from Western Digital were usual patrons of the place and we could have the 'WD' discount. To find the place requires some local knowledge as there are no visible signs in Thai or in English but it was a favourite with the local people as well as some expatriate community who are obviously working in the area.


Half submerged Entrance to the Boat Restaurant

To reach the restaurant, one has to negotiate 2 landmarks, a dishevelled looking Shar Pei dog who looks abit like Winston Churchill (!) as well as a half-submerged walkway to reach the boat restaurant. It is actually an old barge converted to a dining place and the food is cooked over in the kitchen on dry land while the diners eat over the water's edge.


Entrance to the Boat Restaurant

Its quite fun watching the barges and the speedboats (ala James Bond) ply the Chao Phya river to Bangkok and taking in the sights of the ferry every 10 minutes. On top of that, the river is teeming with fishes which give me the sneaky feeling that some of these fishes are fed for the purposes of being on the dining table later !



10 Baht (S$ 0.40) to get across the Chao Phya river

6 weeks to the Year End marathon

At the 42km and 150 m mark, 25 m to go

I am facing the ultimate runner's dilemma, to run and finish a goal I set out at the beginning of this year which is to run 2 marathons, (so far 1 finished 1 half marathon in August) and risk injury ranging from patella (knee) problems, Iliiontibial band problems and possibly even overexertion, or I may just pull it off with little damage to my body.

To quit at this stage is another option whereby I listen to my body which is screaming, 'No more' and take that rest which many many of my friends have stopped maybe a decade ago, ie. to switch to a gentler sport like swimming or cycling.
On Tuesday, I ran 10km and it was not really fun, although I enjoy the breeze and scenery at the East Coast Park, the reality sets in maybe 3 hours after the run when I am tired and the endorphine and adrenalin have all subsided and the 'good feeling' generated from these natural body chemicals dies out.

Should I run or should I stop ?

Hong Kong 17 -19th October 2009

View of Hong Kong harbour from our 31st Floor Hotel

As my wife, May, is in Hong Kong for work related matters, I came to Hong Kong last weekend to enjoy the food,shopping and sightseeing for a short 2 and a half days. Hong Kong is my favourite destination because it has wide variety of top end shopping (many LV,Chanel, Dior,Tods, Gucci etc. etc.) so much so that it beats Singapore or any other Asian city on 3 counts :

a) Widest varierty of branded goods in a centralised area - mainly Central Hong Kong
b) Weak HK dollar which is pegged to the US$ ; at present it is S$ 1 to HK$ 5.5 ; about 10% lower than start of this year
c) No Goods and Services tax (Singapore has 7%)



Tender, Juicy and Cold - Taken best with Lea and Perrins Worcestetshire Sauce. Yummy.

Teochiew or Chiu Chow food has got to be one of the best in the world here, not to mention Cantonese food. As a foodie, my wife and I know of many friends and acquaintences who have eaten at the 'best of the best' and Hong Kong chefs are best in the world for their food. No doubt about that. The cold crab above is 'to die for'.



Cold Crab at Pak Lok, 23 - 25 Hysan Street

The Cantonese food, is also top notch too. Yung Kee at Wellington Street is world famous winning literally 100+ awards for its gourmet Cantonese food and the roast goose, pork ribs and pei tan (100 year old egg) are literally out of this world. It is what I call gastronomic excess to the 10th degree. Food beyond anyone's imagination. President's, kings, queens, princes have all eaten here, as have movie stars and millionaires.



Halloween is 2 weeks away and they are celebrating already

Lan Kwai Fong is the party district of Hong Kong, so if you are a party animal, the party goes on till 6am in the morning. The place is filled with tourists, expatriates and party people spilling on to the streets. The cool weather also assists in making the place a perfect venue for alfresco dining and drinking at a reasonable price.




Marlin Bar at Lan Kwai Fong

Hong Kong in short, is a main shopping venue, safe, inexpensive and has very excellent MTR infrasructure so getting around is a brezze. To paraphrase an Austrian / American action star : " I'll be back !"

Post PSLE Lunch 13th Oct 2009

American style Food - No prizes for guessing why I chose this place !

1 day just after Andrew, my second son finished his Primary School Leaving Examination, I decided to reward him with a nice lunch of his choice as well as a yo-yo. Note, that I have not rewarded him for good results or anything like that, the results will be made known over 1 month from now. In fact, I (and his mother of course) am rewarding him for the hard work he has put in all these months and even years leading up to this exam. Truth be told, he has an excellent attitude towards work and finishing assignments, this I think will put him in good stead for the longer and tougher secondary years as there will be up to 9 examinable subjects as compared to the 4 which he is taking now.


This Yo-yo looks cool !

After a short morning meeting with my Malaysian colleague Rufus, I headed home to pick him up and we headed for the Coronation Plaza, a small shopping center near our house which has a branch of the popular New York New York American style food. Plenty of good quality burgers, steaks, hot dogs, pizzas and spaghettis on offer and the place is normally packed at lunch time, so when we went at 2pm, it was past the peak lunch crowd. He had a Mo sandwich of ham,cheese,bacon and lettuce etc. while I had the black pepper ribs.

The food we had yesterday was so-so, but the time spent with my son was the most priceless gift to me. As he grows into his teen years, he will be more attracted to his friends, peers, and all the electronic gadgets like handphones, latest notebook PCs and the like.


Black Pepper Pork Ribs

So for the one hour and a half, we enjoyed the lunch, the ambience, and most of all the father -son bonding.
I will treasure these moments more than anything else in the world. For those with young children or no kids, well this is one of the many blessings and gifts which we have in our lives, so don't waste the opportunity to spend quality time with them for very soon, they will want to spend that quality time with many other things.


Andrew with his Sandwich

Seize the moment and the Day.

Breakfast by Tata 11th Oct 2009

My simple breakfast today

Every Sunday while my wife May shops at the wet market in Tiong Bahru, I rush home (after dropping her off) to cook some breakfast for the family. This ritual has been going on for about 2 years now, and I consider myself an 'advanced beginner' chef having progressed from a total novice who did not know how to start a fire, let alone cook maybe Maggie Mee to someone who can cook around 10 very simple dishes, which include the following below. Go ahead and laugh, but I present most humbly :

a) steamed rice
b) blanching vegetables
c) stir fry vegetables with oyster sauce
d) omelette
e) steamed fish
f) porridge with sweet potato
g) scrambled eggs
h) all kinds of grilled meats,char siew and chicken - no brainer of course
i) spaghetti bolognaise

Our Display Table in the Living Room

Today as usual, I cooked the following simple dishes, grilled back bacon, blanched asparagus spears, cherry tomatoes, scrambled eggs with toast and Vietnamese coffee. Thanks to my friend Richard Goh who hand - carried a bag of coffee back to Singapore from Hanoi. I have to make a special thanks to my wife, May, who taught me step by step all the basic coooking procedures and I dutifully noted them down for easy reference. Another thanks goes to the book "Healthy Appetite" by renowned celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay whose recipes I have been following conscienciously for the whole of last year.

Mum's not cooking, so Tata comes in to do his part.

Time to Give Back to Society

Youth Challenge

Recently I was invited to join the Executive Board as 2nd Vice President of the Youth Challenge, a non-profit charity with the objectives of helping disadvantaged youths find their place in society as well as provide self-esteem awareness courses and humanitarian trips to Third World Countries.

My friend who is the President, Looi Teck Kheong, is a lawyer in private practice and after much persistent persuasion, I decided to join and contribute my small share in terms of experience as a business leader and I hope it provides me with the humbling experience of knowing first hand what the problems are for the youth of today in Singapore. Categorically, there are 3 segments :

a) Youth from well to do homes
b) Youth in suburban middle income homes
c) Youth from poor families
d) Youth from dysfunctional families and from families with endemic problems

As I am a relative newcomer to volunteerism, I hope I can inject some fresh ideas and contacts to improve the lot of this charity which I find can establish its niche in our society. I will keep the readers posted on what are our initiatives and where YC will be headed in the near future.