Why must mice eat cheese?

There is a community of mice living among a small village of people. Life was difficult, but then they were happy.

Every day, the mice workers would walk 5km to a factory that manufacture cheese. For the tiny mouse, 5km is a very long distance. They had to go a few trips to and fro so that they could transport enough food for the village of mice.

Some time later, they realise that the number of mice coming back from the factory was getting less and less. Upon investigation, they realised that the root cause was that human workers at the factory were mercilessly killing the mice for stealing their cheese.

An emergency meeting was called among the mice elders. They had to find a way to get food, while not endangering their species from the evil humans in the cheese factory.

One of the elders suggested that the mice should look for alternative place to scavage for food. Since there were no other nearby cheese factories, this elder suggested that the mice switch their diet from cheese to wheat. After all, the wheat field was only 3km away from them, much nearer than the cheese factory. And also less likely to be hunted by humans.

There was a huge backlash against the idea. Can they still call themself mouse if they don't eat cheese?

Those who speak the loudest tend to exert more influence. One of the more outspoken worker mice, Winnie, was totally against the idea. She argued that wheat, though avaliable in plentiful amount, taste bland. It is the solid version of plain water. Life should revolve around good food, why not just stick to the cheese factory and make sure that they be more careful of the humans this time round?

But the elders have decided, and so the mice took the "painful" step of switching their diet to wheat.

In the absence of cheese, all the mice had to get used to the taste of wheat. A different ingredient lead to new recipes. And it didn't take more than 3 months before the mice start to appreciate the benefit of change. Even Winnie, the aggressive mouse had started to love the wheat. And more importantly, the mice workers no longer have to be afraid of getting killed while at work. And more wheat can be harvested due to the shorter travelling distance, so they did less OT (overtime).

And the mouse lived happily ever after, at least fo the next 2 years.

Then, came the unfortunate famine that will drastically reduce the crops in the country. With the dwindling supply of wheat, the mice were faced with a new challenge.

So once again, the elders gathered once again for another round of emergency meeting. This time, the elder suggested a change in diet. They could switch to eating crickets, which are in abundance regardless of seasons.

And Winnie the loud-speaking mouse went protesting again, "But Mouse don't eat crickets". And she elaborated on how the jumping crickets will be hard to catch, and that they will taste disgusting. To which, the other mice agreed.

And there it goes again, another round of argument. But the decision makers were still the elders, and so Winnie, like the rest of the mice, had to accept the final decision.

Will it work?

Kid or Spouse?

I like to spring surprise questions to the colleagues sitting around me. It’s something I like to do to take their minds off work every now and then.

So one day, I asked a female colleague, who she will save if both her kid and her hubby fell into the ocean and
(1) She can swim.
(2) Her kid and hubby cannot swim.
(3) She can only save one.

And her answer – the kid.

It seems that most people have given me the same answer. After having kids, the kids matter more than their spouse. Wifey and I felt otherwise, that the spouse is more important than the kid.

Anyway, I proceeded with the next question to see if her hubby will make a similar decision.
That is, who will her hubby save if both her kid and herself fell into the ocean (with the above 3 conditions similarly applied)

And her answer?
The hubby will save HIS MUM (which is not even listed in my option)!

Wow.

Pork leg vinegar

Before I got my flat, I stayed with my Wifey and my in-laws for a period of time. I did my part of paying the household bills by helping to packet dinner for the family.

So after work, I will go to different places to packet the dinner. There is this hawker centre near my office that sells very good food, and at very reasonable prices.

One evening, I discovered a new stall that sells claypot dishes. I decided to give it a try and ordered enough food for 5 of us. It turned out that the food was VERY good, and my in-laws liked it alot and were looking forward to try the other dishes.

In particular, his pork leg vinegar was very nice. I will easily say that it's his signature dish.

So the stall became a regular place where I packet my dinner. And I got to know the stallholder better. He told me of his wish to open a little restaurant, as opposed to being a small stallholder in a hawker centre. After all, having a restaurant will justify increasing the price of his claypot from $3 to maybe $6 or more.

Anyway we got along so well that he asked if I was interested in having a joint venture together. I was pretty caught by surprise by his offer, but I just laugh it off. Food industries was one of the industry I least preferred.

Singapore is a place where you can find some of the most picky eaters. As long as the food is good, people are willing to queue for hours. So it didn't take long for the other people to know about the stall, and soon the lunchtime queue got pretty long for this stall.

About a month after it's opening, the stall closed down without a trace.

Why would any thriving business close down after a month? My conclusion is that the stallholder had probably found someone else as a joint partner, and probably went off elsewhere to set up a little restaurant that he has always dreamed.

Sometimes, I still wonder if this inaction of mine has caused me to lose a business opportunity. After all, I didn't need to know how to cook in order to set up a restaurant. I just needed someone who could cook damn well - an opportunity was right in front of me offering itself, and there I was, hesitating.

Somewhere out there, there is probably a group of people enjoying his popular Claypot Pork Leg Vinegar.

And I wished him all the best. ^_^

Lord of the Ring

What will you do if you accidentally lose your wedding ring?
Well, this New Zealand guy thought his ring was irreplacable and did just what he had to do - find it.

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WELLINGTON - A New Zealand man has been dubbed the Lord of the Ring after he searched and found his wedding ring more than a year after it slipped off his finger and sank to the sea floor.

The ring was lost for 16 months in the harbor of the country's capital city, Wellington, before Aleki Taumoepeau found it shining on the sea floor, the DominionPost newspaper reported Thursday.

"The whole top surface of the ring was glowing," Taumoepeau, an ecologist, said.

Taumoepeau had been married for just three months when he lost the wedding ring while conducting an environmental sweep of the harbor.

He roughly marked the spot where the ring had flown from his finger, but was unable to find it despite returning to the area many times.

Taumoepeau's wife offered to buy another ring, but he refused, pledging to find the ring.

But, equipped with new global satellite based coordinates and offering up a quick prayer, he found the ring after an hour's search.

"I couldn't believe that I could see the ring so perfectly," Taumoepeau said.

He said those with him on the boat at the time the ring flew off his finger had likened it to a similar, slow motion shot from The Lord of the Rings, much of which was filmed in Wellington by local director Peter Jackson.

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In case you are wondering, my Wifey sent me this article with a little purpose. I do forget to wear my ring every now and then. =X

About the Author: Shingo T is a man who believes that ring is for show, love is for real.

Hansy and Gretsy

Once upon a time, there lived a poor mechanic in some part of Singapore. He had two children, by the name of Hansy and Gretsy. The mother of the children was dead as a result of the SARs virus outbreak some years back. =(

The mechanic subsequently remarried a lady with the most beautiful eyes, but with the most evil heart. And she hated the 2 children.

"This year the gahment no give us progress package. And the price of chicken rice and kopi has gone up again. The inflation is killing us", said the stepmother.

She added "There are too many mouths to feed. We must not let the kids burden us. We must let them leave the house forever. Only then can they be independent, and we can upgrade from HDB to condominium." She nagged and nagged the poor mechanic all day long. And also all night long.

Finally, the mechanic buay tahan (cannot take it) and sucuumb to her request. =(

So the stepmother bought two loaves of Gardenia bread from the nearby mama shop, and gave it to Hansy and Gretsy. And with an evil grin, she made the kids leave the flat, never to come back.

It was 2am at night. The wind was blowing. The moon shone brightly. And the grasshoppers were err... hopping.

Hansy, being the elder brother was quick to reassure his sister (Gretsy) that everything will be fine. They took the bread, and hand in hand, they left the flat.

At the bottom of their flat, Hansy had an idea. They can sneak back home every morning when the evil stepmother is at work. After all, they knew that a set of spare house keys were under the flower pot, outside the flat. They just have to make sure that they leave before the stepmother comes home.

So they just have to do a little walk walk around the neighbourhood till the stepmother leaves home at 8am. Venturing into the urban unknown was dangerous, as they did not want to get lost in the maze of HDB flats.

So Hansy asked Gretsy to drop bread crumbs on the ground. The trail will lead them home in the morning. Gretel stopped crying after hearing the AWESOME idea. ^_^

Bread in hand, they walked and dropped small crumbs along the way.

Suddenly they realise that someone was following them. Some kind of shadow with a broomstick in hand.

Gosh, was it an evil witch trying to cook them for dinner?

So the kids ran as fast as they could. Sensing that the kids were running away, the shadow started picking up speed and ran after them!

RUN HANSY!!!
RUN GRETSY!!!
And don't look back! =(

Not soon after, Gretsy tripped over a cigarette butt and fell down. And Hansy had to stopped running to pull her up. By then, the mysterious shadow had caught up with them.

And the shadow turned out indeed to be a woman with a broomstick.

She looked them in the eye.

And she was clearly irritated.

Okay, change that to "She was damn pissed".

And she opened her mouth and said this.

"Hey, can don't anyhow litter or not? You kids these days always like dat one leh."

Hansy and Gretsy ended up doing Corrective Work Order (CWO).

By then, the trails of their bread crumbs were eaten by the neighbourhood birds. And they never knew how to get back home again. =(

Meanwhile, in the HDB flat, the evil stepmother was browsing through the brochure of the latest condominium. And she's happy.



The End.
(Well, at least someone's happy. So it's a happy ending!)

About the Author: Shingo T will like to remind everyone that littering in Singapore is an offense, regardless of your reason.

You are awesome because I suck!

You are AWESOME!
Yes, that's right.
YOU, the reader browsing this post here.

You are AMAZING at what you do.
You may not know it, but many others around you do.
That also explains why you are probably employed.

Everyone has a forte, a skill, a mindset, or an experience that is invaluable, yet the very same people tend to underestimate the skill that they possess.

Skills that are "basic" to you may be "God damn difficult" to other people.

To the IT geeks out there, you actually fix the computers and figure out why my Internet doesn't work. And that's amazing for a computer hardware dummy like me. Tons of people are willing to pay to have their computers fixed within the shortest possible time. Well, I am one.

To my father-in-law who is an experienced electrician, he doesn't break a sweat when it comes to installing electrical wires in houses, shops or for big projects. He's so damn fast, all the people who know him get his help to rewire the whole house. And he does it free for us (but we tip him though). I wonder often why he doesn't start his own company sometimes. I like a rich father-in-law. =p

To the AMAZING cooks out there, you manage to cook food not just for the stomach, but also for the soul. Every day during lunch and dinner, tons of hungry workers troop to your eateries to take a good break, chit chat over the food that you cook. Most of us love you more than our bosses. =p

To the aunties who walks around in hawker centres selling tissues, personally I think your tissues are a little too pricey. But hey, at least you provide me an option should I really need them. I MISS you most when I'm having a runny nose and run out of tissues.

And then there's the bus drivers out there. You are one of the most unappreciated people in the world despite what you do. You silently protect the Earth by discouraging car driving. You work on such a long and tiring schedule, yet you maintain such a high level of safety record. You are the captain who's protecting the lives of so many many passengers. Most people complain about buses when they are late, but no one appreciates a bus for reaching the moment they walk into the bus stop. Well, know that at least there's a guy by the name of Shingo T who RESPECTS and LOVE you for what you do!

And don't ask me about kids. They don't seem to be very like Uncle Shingo T. Well, obviously my good looks (looks lie in eye of beholder, ok?) doesn't guarantee popularity when it comes to kids. =p And that's why Mums are AMAZING. Same goes for babysitters and the people who can create rapport with kids.

And the folks doing shift work. Not everyone can tahan night shifts. The last time I tried that, I fell asleep almost everytime when clock reaches 3am. =p KUDOS to the mighty night owls, what will we be if no one takes up these jobs?

And not to forget Shingo T himself. Despite so many things that I can't do, there are also many things that I can do! I can hiphop, make people laugh, mentor and inspire quite some people. And yes, I have a bullet-proof, gamma-ray deflective THICK SKIN too. Do not underestimate the power of my THICK SKIN. They are the very same weapon that generate marketing and sales in all industries.
*flex muscles flabby arm*

Now look at the people around you right now, be it the colleagues or family members. Each of them are blessed with a special power. The mum with her unselfish love, the colleague who cheers you up when you screw up at work, or the wifey who gives you hugs and companionship so you are never alone. If you didn't realise what special skills they have, then you probably aren't thinking HARD enough.

Be proud of what you can do.
Because there are people out there who will pay tons of money to acquire your expertise.

Your uberness make us look noobish.
Most of us suck at what you can do.
And that's why you, MY FRIEND, are AWESOME!

Growing old

The opening scenes of Disney's Pixar animated cartoon Up was pretty touching. It started with 2 kids meeting each other through a common interest. They grew up together, had plenty of fun, and eventually married as young adults.

They continued to have more fun throughout their married life, grew white hair together and moved on to being a elderly couple. Then came the harshness in real-life, where someone had to die of old age first. In this case, it was the lady who had to go first. And that left behind the guy, all alone after so many years of companionship. Memories of his wife returned to him at the sight of almost everything at home. He grew grumpy and lost touch with the world. =(

No worries, I did not gave much of a spoiler for the show. That was only the starting minutes. But I thought the show was worth every dollar, though friends tend to disagree with the shows I highly recommend.

It also set me thinking a little. If Wifey and myself were to hang on to the wooden plank while being stranded on the ocean after a shipwreck (think Jack and Rose, from Titanic), and there was no room on the plank for both of us, I would have let go and let her live. She's a wonderful gal and I know there will be a nice guy somewhere out there who will make her happy and take care of her (seriously, my silly Wifey can't take care of herself sometimes).

But if we were to grow old together, it might probably be better for her to go first due to old age. Being the practical guy that I am, I would have been better at handling the pain of a long-time companion than her. Upon her absence, I might get grumpy, or maybe I will be depressed, but I won't be suicidal or take my grief out of people who care.

Maybe I'm thinking a little too far. But then again, maybe the inevitable is not too far off.

Well, it was pretty late by the time we got home after the movie, and we got to bed early.

And I hugged her real tight.

Up and gone

A small gesture from Pixar goes a long way.

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Pixar fulfills dying girl’s wish to see ‘Up’

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Colby Curtin got her final wish.

The 10-year-old girl desperately wanted to see the new Disney-Pixar movie, “Up.” But the cancer-stricken girl was too sick to go to a theater.

Thanks to a family friend who got in touch with the movie studio Pixar, an employee of the Emeryville-based company arrived at Colby’s home with a DVD copy of the movie, The Orange County Register reported Friday. The girl died later that night.

Colby’s mother, Lisa, said she had asked her daughter if she could hang on until the movie arrived.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” she said her daughter replied.

“Up” is the animated tale of a grumpy old man who, after his wife’s death, tries to fulfill their joint dream of visiting South America by tying thousands of balloons to his house and floating away.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” Colby’s mother told the Register. “I just know that word ’Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Colby, who was diagnosed with vascular cancer in 2005, saw previews for the film in April.

“It was from then on, she said, ’I have to see that movie. It is so cool,”’ family friend Carole Lynch said.

But the girl’s health began to deteriorate. On June 4, Curtin asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair so that her daughter could go to a movie theater but the chair was not delivered over the weekend, Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby was too sick to go anywhere.

Another family friend, Terrell Orum, called both Pixar and Disney, which owns the animation studio. The message was received by Pixar officials, who agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a copy of “Up” for a private screening, Orum said.

The employee arrived with the DVD, stuffed animals of characters and other movie memorabilia.

Colby was unable to open her eyes to see the movie so her mother described the scenes. When her mother asked if she enjoyed it, the girl nodded, Curtin said.

The Pixar employee left after the movie, taking the DVD, which has not been released. Lynch, who was with the family during the screening, said the employee’s “eyes were just welled up.”

A call to Pixar seeking comment was not immediately returned Friday.

Colby, with her parents nearby, died later that night.

Her mother said one of the memorabilia left by the Pixar employee was an “adventure book” based on a scrapbook that, in the movie, is kept by the wife of the main character.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said of her daughter.

Taken from:Movies msnbc.com

First time caught

When I was in junior college, my school principal spoke during our assembly session about two of our schoolmates whom he had caught hugging and kissing in some ulu (secluded) part of the school. I could still remembered that the principal said the couple were hugging so tightly that he "could see no light between them". =p

So one of the young lovebird tried to downplay the awkward situation, and told my principal that this was the first time they were getting cosy in school. But my principal didn't buy it. And his reply to the lovebirds was this.

First time caught doesn't mean first time done.

It is a saying I always remembered.

Even the Singapore NS (National Service) boys have a similar “Rule”.

You can do anything you like, just don't get caught.

When it comes to work, I have always been quite unorthodox in achieving the results. It doesn't mean I break the law or bribe my way through. I just prepare using casual approaches and methods not commonly deployed by managers. Hmm… “pampering” them with food doesn’t count as bribery, right? =p

I do cut corners every now and then, but in ways in which the building will not collapse because I remove a brick. And sometimes when I make minor reporting mistakes, I will conveniently disregard it, because the effort to correct it and notify the whole world doesn't justify the benefit of correcting it.

For fellow bloggers, you should know. Everytime you try to read your blog entry again, there will always be something to paraphrase or support with more information. But no matter how many times you change it, you will have to settle somewhere.

Quick and good seldom go together. I prefer to settle for in-betweens, giving pretty-quick and good-enough solutions. And to the people I work for and work with, that is good enough.

Recently I received an email from one of the overseas colleague, who discovered something that appears to be a little fault with one of the reports that I sent out. Well, a real MAN will never deny his mistakes (even though he may choose not to disclose them), and so I readily told her that it was a error on my part.

And she replied me this.
"You never make mistakes… so I never thought to check!!! Thanks Handsome."

It's good to know she held me in high regards. But being so nice to me, I wanted to tell her "We all make mistakes. First time caught doesn't mean first time done."

But then that will play down my professionalism. It takes years to build up trust, and days to break it.

So I just gave a simple “No problem. Glad to be of service.”

Building entrepeneurship in the kid

A former colleague of mine, someone known for many sources of income, once told me that he gave his kid a PSP (Playstation portable).

The kid was told that he has 2 choices.
(1) To play with it, or
(2) to rent to his classmates at $1 per day.
With the money earned, he can slowly save up to be able to afford a 2nd PSP.

By the time the kid got his 2nd PSP, do you still think he is keen to keep it to play? After all, with a second PSP, the kid can rent both of them out at $2 per day.

I thought that was one neat way to teach the kid his first lesson at entrepeneurship.

Crazy geniuses

Here's a joke that was sent to recently.

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One truck driver was doing his usual delivery to IMH (Institute of Mental Health).

He discovered a flat tyre when he was about to go home. He jacked up the truck and took the flat tyre down. When he was about to fix the spare tyre, he accidentally dropped all the bolts into the drain. As he can't fish the bolts out, he started to panic.

One patient happened to walk past and asked the driver what happened.

The driver thought to himself, since there's nothing much he can do; he told the patient the whole incident.

The patient laughed at him & said "can't even fix such a simple problem...no wonder you are destined to be a truck driver..."

Here’s what you can do, take one bolt each from the other 3 tyres and fix it onto this tyre. Then drive to the nearest workshop and replace the missing ones, easy as that"

The driver was very impressed and asked "You're so smart but why do are you here at the IMH?"

Patient replied: "Hello, I stay here because I'm crazy not STUPID!"
-----------

Haha. ^_^

On a side note, does anyone ever realise that the people who are really smart are the ones that behave differently from the rest?
It is so true for people I know. =p

Short films - Story of a Sign

Try searching for "Short films" on Youtube, and expect to see a huge amount of short films by lesser known directors uploaded on Youtube.

There's alot of good short films. Most are devoid of verbal conversations. They let the picture tell the words.

I have attached a short 5 minute clip here.



And the moral of the story? Sometimes it's not the content that matters, but how you phrase it effectively.

White elephants

White elephants were considered a symbol of status to certain individuals in some Asia countries like Thailand. But the high cost of upkeeping the white elephant (not just cash, but also the space of keeping it) makes some wonder whether it is really worth having one.

And that's how the term is coined.

According to Wikepdia, a white elephant is a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness.

I'm sure we have all spent money on something that we thought will be really useful, only to have it talking up space in the house, or stored in that insignificant part of your storeroom.

Some time back, when I was living in the house of my in-laws, my Wifey bought a exercise bicycle. The idea was that exercise bikes will help us to sweat in the comfort of our own homes. You can't jog when it's raining outside. And you can watch TV while on the exercise bicycle. But after the novelty has gone, the exercise bicycle became a white elephant in the house. It was taking up a significant amount of space in the house, and no one had the discipline to use it. After all, who needs to exercise when there's so much stuffs to do at home? TV, Internet, mahjong etc...

My Wifey has a Chinese guzheng (yes, my Wifey can play it) which is taking up space in my current spare room. It's kind of displayed there because if you don't display it, you won't play it. I guess the inverse is also true.

I had my fair share of white elephants, which I bought probably at the spur of the moment.

There's the professional juggling balls, which do not take up alot of space, but cost me a bomb (because these are "professional" balls). I should really pick up juggling someday to entertain the kids.

And then there's the classical music CD collection which I bought and hardly listen to after I realise that I can only relate to the more popular (and catchy) tunes from Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi.

Maybe it's time to polish some of those white elephants and pass them off as birthday gifts. =p

So what are the notable white elephants that you have at home?

A tree of cats

There was once a beautiful garden filled with flowers, and one single tall tree.
And there was also a resident dog, who lived in a little kennel at one of the corners in the garden. His job - to make sure no one steps into the garden.

One night, a stray cat entered this very same garden, and was playing around with the flowers. The dog who was asleep, woke up to the noise and chased the cat around the garden. Having nowhere to hide, the cat jumped onto the tree. And it kept climbing for dear life till it reached the top of the tall tree.

The dog tried climbing up the tree. But it couldn't, and so it went back to sleep.

The cat laughed at the dog's incompetence. But soon realised that it (the cat) has an incompetence of its own - it couldn't get down from that tree. And it may probably be stuck there for a long time.

One night later, a second cat walked into the garden to admire the flowers. And the doggie chased it until the cat was heading towards that tall tree.

The first cat on top of the tree was about to shout to the second cat not to climb up the tall tree. But it suddenly dawned upon him (the first cat) that some companionship will be nice. Why suffer alone when you can get others up the same tree?

And so the first cat kept quiet. And the second cat was soon up the tree, only to realise its folly soon after.

So there were 2 cats on the tree.

A few days later, the tall tree was filled with cats resting on the branches.

Each were thinking about how to get down the tree, while making sure they will remain quiet when the next cat meets face to face... with the resident dog.

Dating the Bella Twins

The Bella Twins are the first and only pair of identical female wrestlers in WWE (and maybe the wrestling world too).


Nikki and Brie Bella, no idea which is which.

And they are gorgeous. *blush*
Hey, just because I have ordered my food, doesn't mean I can't just browse the menu. =p

Recently, I read from the wrestling news website that in real life, Nikki Bella has gotten attached to one of the male wrestlers (Dolph Ziggler) in WWE.

What happens if the guy/gal that you are dating is part of an identical twin that you have problem differentiating the two? That will give rise to hilarious, or even disastrous situations. =p

Zombies on your lawn!

There is this very catchy song from the strategic puzzle game - Plants vs Zombies, which I have been listening and singing along over and over again.
*blush*


(singing)
There's a zombie on your lawn.
There's a zombie on your lawn.
There's a zombie on your lawn.
We don't want zombies on the lawn.

About the Author: Shingo T will like to remind everyone to lock their doors before sleeping.

To read or to listen.

Recessions create millionaires.

How Singaporeans can make MASSIVE profits in Forex... 30 mins a day.

Recently, there has been many advertisement on local papers (notably on the Business section) with such eye-catching headlines. Some of you may just disregard them, but there are also alot of people who are curious enough to attend such talks.

Every problem provides a perfect opportunity. Recession means people losing their jobs, or people feeling risky about their rice bowl. So naturally they are more likely to have a second look at these advertisements. Recession is also a time when a lot of entrepenuers are created, so there will be people hungry for more knowledge. And naturally a lot of opportunists proclaiming to be experts (as well as genuine experts) will come out to “share their expertise”.

The practical side of our thought process go around wondering “If the method really makes a lot of money, why will they even so graciously share with us?”

Well, there’s obviously no such thing as a free lunch. FREE sneak previews of talks has a cost to the organizers, they have to pay for advertisements, book a meeting venue, pay for the refreshments you drink, and to pay for related logistics. So at the end of every “free” talk, the speaker starts to introduce a “ridiculous cheap” 3-days course package worth a few thousand dollars, to make you “equipped with incredible skills”.

Being the open minded guy that I am, I have been to quite a few of such talks. And seriously, I hear alot of nice stories and learn some new terms in these preview talks, so its still a good free talk for me. But I am never able to justify parting thousands of dollars for the follow-up courses.

Be it course from sales gurus, stock experts, leadership courses etc..., there’s no guarantee that I will be anywhere as good as the speaker after listening to his course. But one thing is for certain - the speaker is laughing all the way to the bank after the course is finished.

I am doing a comparison between the benefits of reading from books versus attending courses in acquiring soft skills, techniques and knowledge.

For instance, a “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book sets me back by less than $30, but a few days course by Robert Kiyosaki (the author of the book) will easily cost you at least $1500 if you are an early bird.

Side note: Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a great read. A friend of mine was actually asked by his future father-in-law to read the book before he is allowed to marry the man's daughter.

Coming back, is listening to the speaker in person more worth it than reading the book?

Speakers will always argue that “The course is worth every cent of it” and that "You will learn better by listening to the master", or "He will teach you stuffs not covered in the book".
But the truth is, talk is cheap (no pun intended). If the talk was REALLY that useful, then everyone who attended would have been rich by now.

But by buying and reading the book-equivalent, at least even if you do not really benefit as much, the most you lose is a small amount - the price of the book. But then again, because the book is yours to hold, without any discipline, you might take forever to finish reading the book. Or worse still, the book might just end up on the shelf, unread for years.

I’ll continue reading more books in the meanwhile. In fact, I’m eyeing on a certain book to purchase over the Internet. US$17, the price is very reasonable to me.

So what’s your take?
Read from books, or attend talks by the author?

Share with me your thoughts.

Googling for people

If Facebook is a HUGE intrusion to privacy, search engines such as Google should also get some recognition for doing that.

One of the things we used to do in my previous company was to google for other people that we know. We realise that Blinky (our ex-boss) knows Japanese, and even found his Christian name, which sounds really funny because it rhymes with his surname. =p

We discovered the hidden potential of a few people we know. One was a marathon runner despite her small frame. And some were actually top scoreres in their university faculty. And there was also people who joined various organisations outside of work. And so on.

If your name was something common, like “Mark Tan” or “Lee Ying Ying”, then you are possibly safe. But when your name is a little more unique, then you had better check if there’s any unwanted information on the Net.

Google also has this Google Image, which is something I use a lot to steal pictures for my blog entries. It has one more use – to know whether a person with a gender-ambiguous sounding name is actually a guy or gal.

Recently, I tried to find out if one of the new Japanese colleague, Yoshiko was male or female. Well, the results displayed easily told me the answer.




Yoshiko is a female.

Preserving a Man's ego

A few years back, Wifey and I were travelling with a group of friends. One of our male friends brought along his girlfriend. Well, this couple apparently had a dispute during one of the breakfast. To confirm our suspicion, the girl sat at a different table from her boyfriend even though there are available seats at his table. The guy went over the other table, tried to pacify his gf, but was totally ignored by her. We could see that our male friend was very embarrassed, knowing that we sense it. And we didn’t feel right about stepping in to diffuse the bomb because we didn’t know what happened, plus I don’t wanna get scolded by the angry girl. Luckily for them, they patch up much later in the trip and the trip went on as per normal. ^_^

I am generally a mild tempered guy, but it doesn't mean I have no temper. After so many years together, and plenty of communication, my lovely Wifey knows exactly where my hot buttons are. And she knows that showing me colour (ie. getting angry) in front of my friends is akin to pressing the button to detonate the nuclear bomb.

Most man are born egoistic. Yes, we can pamper our other half, and can do embarrassing stuffs to make them happy. A man carrying flowers for the first time can find it a little uncomfortable (with all the attention he’s getting from onlookers), but he does it anyway because he knows the girl will be in for a pleasant surprise. And I piggyback my Wifey sometimes in public (but in places when there’s not too many people). And that’s fine.

But there’s a fine line between embarrassment and humiliation.
The former will give you chuckles, the latter will make us pissed.

There’s a degree of male chauvinists in many of us, and men feed on success.
Even if we do not succeed, we don’t need anyone (especially our soulmates) to categorise our DELAYED SUCCESS as a failure.

Its like a man going to war with a rifle in his hand, doing his best to protect his country. He hides behind the sandbags and fires his rifle gun non-stop.
But suddenly he is shot… not by the enemy in front of him, but from his own teammate behind him. Ouch!

When a woman say that the man does not understand her, the feeling is actually mutual.
Because if the woman were to REALLY understand the man, then she would not even be making this statement.
After all, disputes are normally a combination of miscommunication, assumption and expectations. Humans, both males and females, have this problem of seeing things only from their own perception.

This is not to say that the lady should hide her unhappiness. There’s a time and place for everything. Bring your dirty laundry home to wash, don't wash it in public!
And don’t make us guys hang our heads low in front of our fellow brothers. We do not want to be perceived as henpecked (even if it’s true!).

Man is MACHO MAN. Man NO DROP TREARS. Even deep deep inside, Man HEART FEEL PAIN PAIN. But Man must restraint. Man beat woman is beast. But woman beat man is ok. Man feel no logic. Man no understand why woman like that. But Man no do anything. Woman nag nag. Man no understand wife more naggy than mama. Woman say Man no listen. But Man has ears. Man has eyes. Man also have brain. Man have FEELING. Man only feel beri sad sad. But woman say they more sad than us. Man no like woman no believe us. =(

So ladies, be a little understanding.
Give your Man some dignity, and he will reciprocate with more love.

A little kindness goes a long way. ^_^

It doesn't matter anymore

As we start growing older and add vast experience to our memories, we start to see things from a different light. Things that used to matter so much to us no longer matter as much as before.

When I was in junior college, there were a few classmates that I couldn't stand. There was a guy who was pretty boastful (though his academic results were mediocre), and I really couldn't stand talking to him. But now on Facebook, when I see a photo of him playing with his kid, it was pretty heartwarming. I actually felt happy for him. Maybe I was wrong about him in the past, he was not that a**hole that I had imagined him to be? I wish him well in his family life.

Or imagine someone was told that he has just one more month to live. Why does he still care about the small things that used to bother him? He should be spending whatever time he has left to work on his bucket list (list of things to do before he kick the bucket).

Time will not always heal wounds. Unless you have amnesia, it is hard to forget things that used to matter to us. However with new perspectives gained, and newer events that supercede past experience, the past doesn't seem so bad after all, and the future can be made better.

You stop hating.
You stop envying others.
And you start appreciating this very moment.

You give the benefit of the doubt.
Because who are you to judge?
Why impose your thinking on other people?
Why lead people's life for them?
What makes you so sure that you are not just being biased?
And are you sure you are NEVER wrong?

Why make life difficult for others... when you can make life easy for everyone?
The person you used to hate... why do you still hate him?
The comet that will wipe out the earth... it's not as if you can stop it.
Seeing your friends leave the world one by one... you just have to queue in line and wait for your turn.

Why does it matter anymore?

I love talking to my Grandma. She has this aura of warmth and calm, and I know that alot of things doesn't matter to her anymore. She doesn't worry about cash (even though she's poor), and she doesn't get upset as much. She listens alot to the stories we have to share. She is contented just to be alive, and place great emphasis on her child and grandchildren's wellbeing.

Someday we will all grow old and be spectators, not commentators.

Dating lunches are good.

It's pretty sad actually, seeing real nice male friends being unattached. Not because they are not marketable, but because they never bother to market themselves.

Never rely on fate, because Fate has no KPI (key performance indicator) that obliges it to get you a girl.

May there be more dating lunches organised for those who truly deserved someone nice.

Check out:
>> It's just Lunch
>> Lunch Actually

Rechoosing a career

My first ambition when I was in my kindergarten was to be a bus driver.
Then, I ignorantly thought that bus drivers had no boss, and could drive freely without the constraints of a office.
But thinking back, aren't those unreasonable and rude passengers more a pain in the a** for a bus driver, than his immediate boss?

When I hit secondary school, I wanted was to be a radio deejay.
I always thought its a cool job, speaking over the airwaves to tons of people. I guess I liked being a household name. But there was also one childish reason why I wanted to be a radio deejay - so that when my future wife hears me over the radio, she knows that I'm not out fooling around with other girls. Plain silly, I know.

After which, my next inspiration was to be a teacher.
I was pretty much inspired by my Maths teacher, someone who was very mother-like, humble and devoted to teaching. It influenced the subject that I took up when I went to university. But eventually, I decided not to go into the line, partly because kids and parents these days are tough to manage, gone were the innocence and obedience of kids.

Let me ask all of you a question.
Is it better to have a career in something that you are trained in?
Or better to do something that you have a passion on?

Ideally, it will be good to have both, being good in something and having the proper (paper) credentials to back it up.

Life is a process of self-discovery. Years ago, I will never have imagined myself to be anything near of a sales or service industry guy. But slowly, through various training acquired after I left school, I have grown to realise that my strength has been towards these areas.

Maybe I should have entered the hospitality industry. Or maybe a real estate agent. Or being part of a sales team. Alas, for me to move on to any of these industry now will imply a step back into square one. For a married man with financial commitments, the family income is a prime consideration.

I love my current job, but am pretty tempted to step out of the comfort zone and do something else I had always wanted to do.

Well maybe if I lose my job, the decision would have been easier. ^_^

Will you re-choose your career path if you could turn back time?