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