Cascais 9th - 13th Dec 2019 Boca de Inferno

Hell's Mouth, or Boca de Inferno which was just 10 minutes walk from our Eurostars Hotel.

Cascais is a coastal town and a municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Lisbon. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 206,479, in an area of 97.40 km². The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal’s royal family in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Nowadays, it is a popular vacation spot for both Portuguese and foreign tourists. It is located in the Estoril Coast (named after Estoril, a town in the municipality), in the Greater Lisbon subregion. It has an airport for general aviation serving the Lisbon Region in Tires (S. Domingos de Rana), Aeroporto Municipal de Cascais.

Cascais is situated on the western edge of the Tagus estuary, between the Sintra mountains and the Atlantic Ocean; the territory occupied by the municipality is limited in the north by the municipality of Sintra, south and west by the ocean, and east by the municipality of Oeiras.

The municipality also hosts international tennis and motorcycling events and for many years hosted the FIA F1 Portugal Grand Prix. The famous Estoril Casino is one of the largest in Europe. Near the casino is the “Hotel Palacio” (Palace Hotel), a 5-star hotel where scenes of the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were shot.

The views were beautiful ; as was the sunset

Today, there is a large yacht harbour and several small sand beaches in and around town. Cascais is easily reached from Lisbon by car, (A5 Lisboa-Cascais highway, or the scenic “marginal” road), or by frequent inexpensive commuter trains. It has the ruins of a castle, an art and sea museum, as well as parks and the charming cobbled streets of the historic centre. The town has many hotels and tourist apartments as well as many good restaurants of varying cost. It is a fine base to use for those visiting Lisbon and its environs who prefer to stay outside of the city yet in an equally urban and sophisticated environment.

Postcard Picture Perfect

Cascais is surrounded by popular beaches, such as Guincho Beach to the west, and the lush Sintra mountains to the north. Some of its shoreline is cliff-y, attracting tourists for its seascapes and other natural sights such as the Boca do Inferno. It is also becoming a popular golf destination, with over 10 golf courses nearby. Surfing, sailing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing are also popular in the region around Cascais due to favourable weather, wind, and sea conditions. In 2007, Cascais was the official host of the ISAF World Championship in sailing for dinghies and racing yachts.

Amazing backdrop of Sun Sea, Surf and Steep Cliffs 

Our accomodation for 3 nights was the Eurostars Hotel and it was frankly the 2nd best of our 13 night stay in Southern Europe. The best being the Suites at Saville which I will highlight in another blog post later on.

Happy 

Ericeira - a Beautiful Fishing Village Dec 10th 2019

Austere White Walled Cottages, Hotels and Houses 

10th Dec 2019, we were fortunate enough to have a beautiful sunny winter's day with temperatures in the high 'teens and cool enough to walk the beach and the small village called Ericeira.

After a lovely lunch at the Mar a Vista, we ambled our way to the beach and there was a springkling or elderly retired folk just enjoying the afternoon sun. Compared to the other fishing village called Antibes (to the west of Nice along Cote Azur) the Ericeira village is less touristy and it faces the huge Atlantic Ocean while Antibes faces the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa not too far away. 

Taking a short walk along the promenade, I am struck by the simplicity of life in the fishing village and where everybody more or less knows each other, as well as their families and professions. So coming as a foreigner to this part of the world, I am indeed privileged and grateful to have this opportunity to travel, visit far flung places and expand my mindset and readjust my attitude. 

Portugal is blessed to have balmy winters and many pensioners from the UK and Europeans further north have bought property in the country. Asians, most notably the Chinese have also invested in the property sector of Portugal in the last decade.

The beach after the fishing boats have come back to shore 

On the way back to Cascais where we were staying (another beautiful part of South West Portugal), we got the Grab and the driver whom we made acquaintences with is from Brazil. 

Raul told us that there are many Brazilians who have come and made Portugal their 2nd home and also ventured into various businesses. 

Location of Ericeira from Lisbon the capital 

Portugal is one of the gems of Europe, relatively (yet) unspoilt by the mass tourism from the Asian hordes armed with their cameras selfie sticks invading into everybody's faces. There will be one day when the country is beset by these tourists,  and we try very hard to adapt even temporarily to the local culture so that we will be welcomed again to this fine country. 

Mar a Vista Ericeira Portugal Dec 10th 2019 - Fabulously Fresh Seafood

Mar a Vista seafood restaurant; approximately 1 hours drive from Lisbon

About an hours drive from Lisbon or 45 minutes by Uber from Cascais is this quaint fishing village called Ericeira. It has the pure white walled cottages and small houses so reminiscent of Santorini but not as crowded or congested. We took the scenic route on 10th December from Cascais and first did the Praio de Guincho, which is a wonderful empty (its winter) beach with beautiful surf and roaring waves. A dream place for the surfers during summer.

So, after visiting the Praio de Guincho and the Boca do Roca, the most Western point of Western Europe, we gleefully headed for Ericiera for lunch to try out what the Portuguese themselves call one of the Best Seafood Restaurants in Portugal (no kidding !). 

A 'wefie' before tucking in 

The Mar a Vista is a small restaurant in the centre of this fishing town. You need to book it in advance and it being winter, I guess we were lucky that there was a table reserved for us even though the hotel helped us book it that very day. I have to give the shout out to my good friend Filipe Cunha who is Portuguese and recommended us to try the once in a lifetime seafood which is really out of this world. 

This restaurant does not serve any fish only shellfish (Note !) 

We made the reservations for the 10th Dec (Tuesday). Oh what a treat it was !   

Seafood Pot 

First off we had the seafood pot which was heavenly. There were plenty of shrimp, clams, and remnants of lobster thrown into the stew with rice and garnished with some herbs. Only 1 word for it ; superb.  

Grilled Prawns with a Hint of Lemon 

The grilled prawns - mind you they were at least 6 inches long and 2 inches thick. It was the "best prawn we had tasted " and we have eaten plenty of prawns in our lifetime ! The doneness of the grill was just nice, the flavour was so fresh and sweet full of the genuine prawn taste. The texture was a little chewy but because of the size of the prawns, it was made up by the simple fresh sweet flavour of a freshly caught prawn (probably that morning itself). My rating : Best Prawns we have Eaten 

Boiled Clams 

The clam dish was always going to be an anti-climax. But my son gleefully ate up most of his and our portions. I took this picture but having eaten quite a lot of seafood in Portugal I must say this dish did not stand out as being exceptional. However in the overall quality of the food, this will rate in the 'above average category'. 

My ratings for Mar a Vista (Ericiera) :

Food : 5.0 out of 5.0 (first time I have ever given a perfect score)

Really the best and freshest seafood so tasty and simple that there could be no better way to serve fresh caught seafood. 

Ambience : 3.8 out of 5.0 

it has a very homey feel to it, and all the patrons are local, so I guess the need for a top notch interior does not figure  highly into their plans

Service :  3.8 out of 5.0 

Nothing exceptional, and the Maitre' D or the guy who was recommending us the dishes to eat had a very laid back and rather sanguine attitude to serving us. Which is a bit of a shame. 

Price : for the 3 of us food and 1 Sauvignon Blanc the bill came to a rather steep EUR 120.

No rating given for this. 

Overall Score :  4.2 out of 5   Excellent food

To go if ever again I am in Portugal : YES 

MAR A VISTA 

Rue de Santo Antonio

16,2655-360 Ericeira

Portugal

Tel : 261 862 928 

Accept Failure and Learn from the bitter experience 8th Jan 2020

The last of the 3 crates on the lorry back to their origin

Today is the day I finally closed one chapter in my life, in a joint venture business. I set up a QA test business based in Singapore  in 2012 and try as we might, the partner and myself (mainly) just got it all wrong.

The 3 crates are the final symbol of what once was a company which employed 10 people, in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and provided test services for all manner of Quality Assurance tests ; primarily to the electronic and semiconductor segments in the region.

We employed a sales manager, a coordinator, an engineer, later a service manager, 4 people in Malaysia and Thai sales manager, and myself as director. I had some initial funds and loans. Sad to say, over the 4 years it was active and almost 4 since it was dormant, the situation went downhill after less than 1 year.  

I was stupid to even consider the venture, not having studied the market properly and was blinded by the fact that I thought I had enough relevant experience to weather the initial times of name non-recognition till the market finally accepted a new entrant.

After much haggling and pain, the big monster equipment is sent home

Valuable lessons I learnt from this business failure :

a) never ever believe you know everything there is to know about the market, the        

   projected  economic conditions and bet on a market segment which there are many 

   players.

-  NEVER  EVER THINK YOU CAN OUTSMART THE MARKET.

b) I should have studied what was the value added and unique value we offered to our 

    customers from day 1. I overlooked it and paid the price.

- DO YOUR HOMEWORK WAY IN ADVANCE, ASK THE MOST CONSERVATIVE AMONGST YOUR FRIENDS AND THEN SOME

c) I should have cut losses as early as year 1 ; rather than let the venture continue for 

    another 3 plus years where the overheads were still high, but staff were slowly not 

   replaced. The Malaysian operations was shut down in 2013, when it should have 

   been closed a year earlier. The rental of the entire unit of the industrial building was 

  another big operating cost factor. My current business is operating at 1/4 the 2011-15 

   rental costs and 1/10th of the staff costs during those crazy days.  

- COSTS COSTS COSTS. KEEP THEM AS LOW AS POSSIBLE FROM DAY 1. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. IF YOU DO GO INTO BUSINESS, ONCE THE INDICATORS DON'T SEEM RIGHT. GET OUT EARLY ELSE FACE THE OF RISK GETTING BURNT.  

2 other smaller equipment components on their way back

The happy news it that the failure has been a great learning lesson for me. There are several good aspects which came out of this experience and which I am putting to practice in my current company, so accepting that I failed, lost money and made myself look so foolish is in my psyche. I have vowed never again to go into any venture too full of my capabilities. Luck also plays its part in ensuring whether my life or my business is a  success or failure. 

LESSONS LEARNT FROM THIS FAILURE I HAVE APPLIED TO MY CURRENT BUSINESS AND IT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE WITH THE MACRO AND MICRO ENVIRONMENT.

   BEAR THIS IN MIND

1.WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW (LEARNED ACADEMIC AND HEURISTIC KNOWLEDGE)

2. WE KNOW WHAT IS UNKNOWN (WE KNOW THERE ARE THINGS WE DONT KNOW)

3. WE DONT KNOW WHAT WE DONT KNOW. (WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THERE 

  ARE THINGS OUT THERE  IN SHAPE, FORM, PERSON OR ROBOT WHO OR 

 WHICH MAY CAUSE  CHAOS TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND HENCE TO OUR OWN 

 EXISTENCE.

Money which you earn, or attain through a windfall, inheritance or just dumb luck can easily go down the drain very fast.So hold on to it, and keep it in the safest denominations  or vaults possible.

My goal ever since that Failure is to Work hard to make myself relevant, keep costs to a minimum and earn enough for a decent retirement. There is so little time and opportunities left to while away.

Keep healthy, and love and care for those who mean the most to me. 

Seize the Day.  

Shitoryu Karate Association 55th Anniversary Dinner

Representing our club Ken Shin Kai Club and collecting a token of appreciation

I have been involved in Karate for well over 20 years ; My first exposure was with the Shotokan club at YMCA in Palmer Road from 1972 till 1976 and subsequently I came back and trained as an adult from 2002 till present with the Shitoryu school Ken Shin Kai under the tutelage of Hanshi Chia Kwek Fah (8th Dan Black Belt).

Recently the Shitoryu Karate Association in Singapore celebrated its 55th year of existence. Founded by Hanshi Wong Tuan Sing and  the current President of the Association is Sensei Riki Young.

We had a great time reminiscing old times, meeting up with long time associates and club mates and much merriment was had watching the singers, dancers and even Elvis impersonators giving their all ! 

with Ken Shin Kai club mates, Hanshi Chia Kwek Fah (orange) in foreground

          L - R :   Filipe Cunha,Woo Kwang Sun,Alan Sim,Loh Kheng Leng,Leck Chye 

                                    Chuan,Johnson Wee and Jason Chua.

Oss !

0 - 0 but several really good chances not put away

Wolves 0 Man Utd 0 

Several very good chances saved wonderfully by their goalkeeper and Wolves John Ruddy was extremely lucky that Rashford's and Mata's efforts did not end in the net.  

Milan and Florence - 2 Unforgettable HIghlights

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci ; at the Chapel of Santa Maria del Grazie 

Leonardo da Vinci's last Supper was and is one of da Vinci's 2 most famous works, the other being the "Mona Lisa" situated at the Louvre in Paris.

This painting was not done in the 'fresco' or wet painting style so common of the 15th century but (pardon my ignorance) but rather it was done in a more painstaking tempera and oil on gypsum before mounting it to the wall. The painting is kept in a climate control room whereby the humidity is kept purposely low to prevent moisture from causing damage to the wall (fungus etc.)

If you do go to Milan, do book this tour early as the number of people allowed to view the Last Supper is very much kept to minimal so as not to cause damage to the wall. 

The painting depicts Jesus of Nazareth seated at the centre and having the last supper with his 12 disciples before he is betrayed by Judas and even his own dearest Peter.

Michelangelo's David in the Accademia de Belle Arti (Fine Arts Academy) in Florence. 

Another must visit site is Michelangelo's David (of David and Goliath story). This 6 meter marvel of engineering and sculpting brilliance is a must see by anyone who visits Italy. Michelangelo himself said that he saw the people inside the rectangular blocks of marble and  his job was to free them from the blocks.

There are numerous blocks showing semi completed works where the people seem to be struggling to get free from inside the marbe block. 

Such was his genius which still resonates till today.

Accamedemia in Florence. 

Carpe Diem.