K Pop groups are BIG - KARA

During my recent family holiday in Japan, during the evenings, after dinner, there is little else to do but watch some TV like the variety channels and sports channels - all in Japanese. So I chanced upon the variety show which featured JPop bands, KPop bands and also Lady Gaga. It dawned upon me that the KPop Bands are really taking the world by storm, with their catchy tunes, too beautiful singers both male and female (I'm not complaining, they're eye candy) and fantastic dance moves. No wonder, during the recent MAMA (Asian MTV awards) all the top Asian MTV prizes went to Korean K Pop groups such as Girls Generation (SNSD) and Super Junior. Don't call me a fuddy duddy just yet, there's still time for me to enjoy the happening from our Northern Neighbours.

Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Gaga's gang all seem like grandmothers compared to these starlets.

Watch STEP the video and see for yourselves.

My skiing experience

This is my 4th ski experience and while I have had ski lessons and ski camps before, I would like to highlight that the skiing experience is alot like what life throws at you. Firstly, one must invest in the equipment like boots, skis, clothes and of course training. Next, there will be teachers who will guide you along the way. You make mistakes, and after a number of classes, you are on your own. Its alot like life, when you are young, your parents feed you, house you, take care of your educational emotional and spiritual needs training you and providing you for the day you are ready to face the world.

    Once you have acquired the basic skills, you set out, and take on the pistes. There are beginner, intermediate and expert pistes (ski runs), you try according to your confidence, ability level and guts. Its the same with life. You ski down the slopes. make S turns, know when you slow or speed up and fall down sometimes. The better skiiers are the ones who are more resilient and will pick themselves up after a fall. You will only learn more about yourself after a setback, so try out more and more challenging courses. Do remember to help the less fortunate along the way. That is what life should be. 

Seize the day. 

Happy New Year 2012

    Each year, I make some resolutions or goals which I want to achieve and have a look at them every few months to see whether I have achieved them or not. I have been doing this for about 10 years already and its an effective way to see whether I have actually improved my situation, personally, financially, as a  leader, father, friend and husband and colleague. One of the things life experience gives you is that you are ultimately the recipient of the decisions you make - most of the time. On the occasions when life throws you a 'curve ball' you have to adapt and try to hit it as best as you can and not strike out. That's life. Some people have it easy, when they have a wealthy family, and have intelligence, looks and seem to live a charmed life. Many have to sweat through the daily grind just to take home a basic pay. There is no such thing as fairness, unfortunately, so the more adaptive you are to the situation, the better your chances of making the best of it.

      I had 3 setbacks or 'curve balls' thrown at me in 2011, 2 personal and 1 businesswise. My dear mother passed away on 8th January 2011, my son had to struggle with promotion in college and my company was axed from certain territory in a key product. It would be easy to blame people or God for all of these, but God helps those who help themselves. Rather than get angry with the situation, get even and take each happening as a life experience. Many a times, we cannot predict the unfortunate event or even the 'good luck' that befalls us, so its best to be 'adversity adaptable' and be ready for the challenges and curve balls life throws you. Anyone can react to having 'good luck' or winning the lottery, once in a blue moon. Everyone can spend money, few can actually create value and earn money. Even fewer can earn and save money for retirement as the costs of retirement go up exponentially every 3 to 5 years.   

       Perhaps it was OK to say, lets save $1 million and I can afford to retire at 55 and live till 75, thats 20 years spending of $50,000 per year for 20 years, providing the fact that there might be unexpected health issues which require major surgery which will wipe out $250 K from my insurance. Because, I am talking about improving standards of living and quality of life, that the costs of living decently escalate. Say a person retires at 55 and lives till 85 (quite possible now). Given that he has adequate insurance to cover for health and hospitalisation costs, that is a whopping 30 years. For $50,000 per year, that is a sum total savings of $1.5 million IN CASH.  Many people will say, OK, I will sell my house, say 10 years time, and cash out and move into a smaller place, perhaps public housing, and attain the cash of say $1.5  million, plonk out $500 K for a HDB flat and problem is solved. Maybe NO, there will be a surplus of people who will be selling the private property at that time, and prices may actually DROP.

Scary scenario of hundreds of thousands of aging baby boomers selling their property in 10 to 15 years time and finding out that the golden years, actually, they have little or no money left.   But then again, thats 10 to 15 years time. We are living in the present right ?   RIGHT or WRONG, its a financial life choice you and I have to make to ensure that our golden years are indeed, golden, with the help of money, not too much, but enough.   

     " Be prepared" -  the Scouts motto is the best attitude to adopt in  uncertain times. Stay focussed and stay the course, and we'll be on track again. Seize the day my friends. Have a  Life Plan, Do it, Check it and Action on it . Fine tune it along the way.  Have a healthy, happy and successful 2012.  

   

Mount Tomamu

     This is the 'easy' slopes of Mount Tomamu, where my family and I are staying at the Towers (Twin Towers) at the base of the mountain. There are a total of 17 slopes, ranging from 'beginner' ( in reality one needs to be able to control one's skis - and an intermediate skier) to intermediate and 'advanced'. They even have pistes (ski trails) which the expert skier has to register his ability at the front desk before you are allowed on these untried (for many months before the ski season opens) paths and one literally has to depend on one's skill in going down sometimes a 60 degree slope.

      In late January or February, depending on the amount of snowfall, the resort will offer "Heli Ski", this is for the expert skiier, who is prepared to take extreme risks and be dropped off from a helicopter at a height on the mountain, perhaps 3000 ft and he will then have to find his way down, else he risks certain serious injury or death, if he goes down an ice-covered cavern, like you see in movies. Of course the resort authorities know the mountain well, but its really a lot of  mountain to cover with so few trained support staff on skimobiles.

      Going forward, I hope my company can do well enough in future to incentivise the staff by going on an all expenses trip such as this. Wishful thinking ??      

Video of the powder snow in Hokkaido

This video shows how soft the powder snow in Hokkaido, where my wife was filming my son and I outside the restaurant and I dove my hand in to the snow only to get an icy shock. See my reaction after I put my ungloved hand into the snow. 

White Christmas from Hokkaido

Night Scene of our Tower Hotel from the Forest Mall

     Dear friends, I was busy the last 10 days or so, and did not have time to update my blog. I heard some crustacean had 'highjacked' it for a few hours while I was intoxicated with sake and sashimi, but rest assured that nothing like that will happen again. When the SMRT says that the trains will be running fine the next day, see what happened ?  For one to maintain a high level of transport efficiency, one has to do thorough reliability checks and aging tests, like using stress screening equipment, to ensure the long term reliability of their hardware, ie. trains and their tracks is up to standard. 

       This picture was taken when we first arrived in Tomamu ski resort, Hokkaido on 18th December, the Towers in the background are where my family and I stayed for 5 days, and the weather was snowing for maybe 4 days, the atmosphere was quite unreal and the photos which I took were quite undescribable, but really pretty pictures.

         Here's wishing a belated Merry Chistmas to all my friends and followers of my Blog. Whats that picture of the Crab in a previous post  ??

A belated Merry Crhistmas from Hokkaido Japan - from a friend

                                               Thats me, with some parsely and lemon.

         Hello everyone, my name is Kani, Japanese for Crab. I have hairy legs like Mark and I have taken over writing this blog, as he is too busy eating my fellow crustaceans or crabs. He's full of crab right now, and also has too much Sake to write anything sensible in this column, so I took pity on him, and decided to write this post. He was too busy on holiday in December to post anything for over 3 weeks, shame on him !

        Anyway he threatened me that he would eat me soon enough, if I did not do something useful, so  I decided to write this post. Our species are called Snow Crabs, or Long Hairy Leg Crabs and we live off the cold waters of Hokkaido island. The Japanese have long been catching our kind for centuries and we are best eaten, grilled, deep fried or steamed with some vinegar. I don't think humans taste anything like us crabs, and we have many hundreds of offspring, much more efficient producers than humans, though I heard humans are causing havoc with the world we live in, with their cars, aeroplanes and airconditioners, leading to many natural disasters caused by their neglect. Its time for everyone to DO THEIR PART to save our world.
  
         Uh, Oh, that fellow, Mark is eyeing me right now, I better sign off and hide behind this parsely.    
If I don't see you again ; "Merisu Chrismasu " and " eat Vegetables !! " Forget Crabs ! They take too long to eat ! "