Adele Surprises the Other Adeles - Graham Norton

Lovely surprise  from the real Adele and how she surprised the other ladies who were casting to be like her on the Graham Norton Show 

Antibes ; Fishing Village Southwest of Nice en route to Canne

Antibes Juan le Pins

This was the short day trip we took from Nice, to Antibes, Eze, Cannes and back. 3rd December 2018.

Antibes is a beautiful fishing village located roughly 20 minutes by car South West from Nice. There is Picasso museum located there, unfortunately it was closed on the Monday we were there.

Antibes Harbour 

Its picturesque settings and white sea walls make for plenty of pretty pictures. I would highly recommend a stop over when you are ever in Cannes or Nice. There should be some very nice seafood restaurants in the village however we were on a day tour hence did not bother to search for any. 

Rolling Stones - Too Cool for School

This song is so cool, a classic from the Tattoo You album which was one of my favourites in the early 80's. 

There's Jagger, hamming it up for the cameras, a bottle of Jack Daniel's whisky on the piano, followed by his horrible dancing with Keith Richards. Charlie Watts the drummer looks like he is high on LSD or weed, Only Ronnie Wood is actually playing his bass guitar.

The whole video looks like a skit from Monthy Python, but that is the Stones 'devil may care, we don't give a sxxt' attitude which made them multi-millionaires and epitomised their sex, drugs and rock and roll subculture so prevalent in the 60s till the late 70s. 

The 80s was the years of Michael Jackson and his Thriller album. Really, if it comes to choosing, Stones and David Bowie will always be my top 2 acts of my younger days. Queen would probably be in third place.  

Heroes - David Bowie Live

I absolutely love this song by David Bowie. He sadly had passed on in 2017 at the still very young age of 69. All the cool dudes, George Best, John Lennon, Bruce Lee, Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, Goo Hara, Jimi Hendrix, River Phoenix, Leslie Cheung, Brandon Lee amongst others died before their time.

The heroes of today are the extra- ordinary workers in the new 'front lines' of the COVID - 19 pandemic, the bus drivers, the delivery people, the medical nurses, receptionists, doctors, the contact tracers, the SAF personnel checking on the sick and those in quarantine. The scientists racing against time for a vaccine and even an antibody test. 

Time is of the essence. 

A big Salute to them now. For they make our world safer. Every day counts. There is no time to waste.


   

Doha 2019

View from the Hotel 

The trip to Doha in February 2019 was to visit our customer. As a perfunctory way of saying 'thank you' , we have to be physically present to assure customers that the support from our company is on-going and we are ever ready to provide our staff and technical expertise.   

The trip from Singapore to Doha by Qatar airways takes about 7 and 1/2 hours direct. There are several other airlines offering this route but there normally will need to be a stopover at either Dubai (Emirates) or Muscat (Oman). This last trip was the direct flight and I normally try to sleep on the flight, (although the departure is normally at some ungodly hour like 2.10 am in the morning) so that I can arrive refreshed the following day. My optimism normally will be dashed and I arrive quite jetlagged (red eye) and needing of some refreshment and sleep. 

As this was a routine courtesy visit to the customer ASpire, my local agent cum partner company picked me up at around 5.30 am. Doha is a modern city and their neighbours are Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

At Souq Waqif 

My meeting was scheduled the following day, so the first day was rather leisurely and I was basically checking and replying to emails from customers, vendors and staff. The second morning my partner met me and we did the perfunctory visit to customer to discuss any particular issues on the equipment (fortunately all was good) and subsequent followup visits or support in terms of spare parts etc.

That afternoon, I was free to roam the city, so I took a cab to the Corniche or Souq Waqif. A Souq is another name for market, or bazaar. In the old days all the vendors would assemble at the market and the daily life would centre around the Souq. Qatar has the world's highest per capita GDP and there are only 0.5 million Qataris and another 2.5 million foreign inhabitants, expatriates and workers from all over the world.  

Artist at Work 

This Souq is more like a tourist centre, housing hotels, numerous shops selling anything from pet birds, spices, restaurants, cafes and artists. It is well worth spending half a day at this iconic Souq.

  

At the entrance of the Souq

Qatar is fast aspiring to be the sporting centre for the Middle East and that is why the Aspire group of companies is employing many researchers for sports science and sport rehabilitation and their Aspire Hospital is the only FIFA approved Hospital for top football players from South America and Europe. Their facilities are truly impressive, and their bid for the FIFA World Cup 2020 was successful, so the entire city is vibrant with many worksites and construction taking place. 

Villas at Ring Road 

As it is beside the Sahara Desert, the weather in Doha fluctuates widely from day to night. In the spring time when I went, it was a cool 20 to 23 deg C. At night, that temperature drops rapidly to the mid teens.  

I once went in July and the temperature was 45 C and sometimes even 50 C. The scorching weather made many construction companies issue a stop work order from 12 to 3 pm during the summer.   

The third day I spent checking out the longest shopping centre I have ever come across, called the Villagio and it is next to the iconic Torch Hotel. A picture of the exquisite section of the Villagio shopping centre is shown below. There are many international brand of shops and restaurants there such as P.F. Chang, Paul's, Ladurie, LV, Chanel, Boss, Zegna and Hermes just to name a few.  

This year (2020), even in the midst of the worldwide pandemic crisis impacting practically every country, my company has put up a bid to set a beachhead in Doha for purposes of marketing our brand of equipment and test services. 

While we await some good news, I pray that this is indeed the correct move in this most perilous of times. 

Fortune favours the brave. I certainly hope so in my case. 

Athletic Chamber Equipment at Aspire Hospital 

Eat Hummus as a Healthy Snack

Eaten as a Starter before the main course meal of meat in many restaurants in Middle East 

The dish at the center of the picture above is Hummus. Made of Chick Pea, Tahini (ground sesame seeds),olive oil, some lemon, garlic and onion and then put in a processor, the product is  a fine paste and sourey to taste. It taste delicious and should be kept in the refrigerator between each snack. You should be able to buy them from your supermarket, most probably at the dairy produce section. 

It is best eaten as a snack before each meal, usually as a dip, with Naan (oven leavened bread), or crackers.

I did some research and found that each 100 g of Hummus comprises of :

> Calories : 166 

> Fat : 9.6 g 

> Protein : 7.9 g 

> Carbohydrates : 14.3 g

> Fiber : 6.0 g

> Manganese : 39% of RDI (recommended daily intake)

> Copper : 26% of RDI

> Folate  : 21% of RDI

> Magnesium : 18% of RDI

> Phosphorus : 18% of RDI

> Iron : 14 % of RDI

> Zinc : 12% of RDI

> Thiamin : 12% of RDI

> Vitamin B6 : 10% of RDI

> Potassium : 7% of RDI

I never knew we needed so much 'metal' elements as our recommended daily intake ! 

Eaten as a snack or as a meal, together with fruits, it is packed with plant based protein and has a lot of fibre.

One good aspect which has come out from the 1 - 3 month lockdown at home, that is I have started to eat as healthy as I can, fruits and hummus with biscuit as a snack instead of other much more sinful (and heaty most definitely) potato chips, nachos and chocolate !

Carpe Diem. 

St Paul de Vence 4th December 2018

The video above shows the entrance to this small and beautiful village. The slopes leading up to the church at the top have many small artisan and boutique shops on both sides. There are also cosy cafes, bookshops and art galleries. 

A great way to spend 1 full day just soaking in the medieval atmosphere.

Would I come back here for a repeat visit ? Most certainly ! 

Capture the Joie de Vrie in the narrow alleys of St Paul de Vence