This Japanese movie about a baby fox who was abandoned by it's mom, was set in near to sea side sublands.
So a little boy of about 6 years old, found this baby fox one day after school, he stayed with it for a period of time, but finding it strange that no mommy fox came to look for the baby fox, he took the baby fox to the police station to lodge a police report & requested for a search for mommy fox. The police man was surprised !
Instead the police man suggests that the baby fox should go to vet that he knows since it is orphaned . So the boy and the baby fox went to the vet.
Interlocked with the story was a sub theme , that was of the boy's, his mom left him to travel to wonderful places around the world, so he felt that he was alone too, like the baby fox.
So this boy lived at the vet's and work at this barn (with many other animals) , cleaning the stalls, feeding the animals etc, in exchange for the vet's diagnostic services to find out the reason for why was the baby fox abondoned .
The boy tried to feed the fox milk and later on some meat , the baby fox managed to consume to some extent.
The vet contacted a professor at a medical center, and the baby fox was handed over for diagnosis.
The underlying reason of the condition of the baby fox's inability to manage it's life (eating, hearing, seeing, smelling, speaking) was discovered when a scan was taken of it's brain.
The scan revealed that the baby fox's brain was under developed for crucial areas , from this it can be conculded that in the wild, when mommy foxes find that their babies are not developed, they will leave them to die, as they could not cope with the impaired baby and compromise the living conditions of the other baby foxes .
So the boy spent the last moments with the baby fox on the sea side, he brought flowers and spread them around the baby fox. The baby fox breathed its last in the flower ring. The boy hugged the fox and looked up into the skies, hopping that some where, the baby fox's spirt will raise to the heavens .
~
End notes
I feel that this movie is a good one and it teaches us to come to terms with death, especially if our young ones are exposed to this issue.
If in living, live well. If in death, look back for a review, to see that all that you want to do for someone or your own agenda had been done, exit happy.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Dong Huan
This place, just above Shen Zhen, is a place where work is in progress almost any where you look.
As compared to Shen Zhen, this place is quiet and more dangerous. My supplier told me he was robbed recently again .. !
There weren't any taxis around, the place is not a touristy direction , so what they have are private vans , you can ask to quote, but be firm about what you want, though some times, they will be ready to rip more if you are not sure. Also if you are taking the freeway, be prepared to tell the driver during the private van hire rate negotiations that what ever rate will cover the freeway toll charges (normally about 100 - 150 Yuan) .
This place also have a layer of dust all over the sky , sort of a hazy effect ... Humidilty was okay, at least my face didn't peel (like it did in Shen Zhen ><) , which was a plus .
I think I need to learn driving , in case that I need to drive, I got this option .. =p
As compared to Shen Zhen, this place is quiet and more dangerous. My supplier told me he was robbed recently again .. !
There weren't any taxis around, the place is not a touristy direction , so what they have are private vans , you can ask to quote, but be firm about what you want, though some times, they will be ready to rip more if you are not sure. Also if you are taking the freeway, be prepared to tell the driver during the private van hire rate negotiations that what ever rate will cover the freeway toll charges (normally about 100 - 150 Yuan) .
This place also have a layer of dust all over the sky , sort of a hazy effect ... Humidilty was okay, at least my face didn't peel (like it did in Shen Zhen ><) , which was a plus .
I think I need to learn driving , in case that I need to drive, I got this option .. =p
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada
A common gal who dreams of becoming a journalist one day, stuck out to work for a year in the Runway fashion magazineFirm.
Though this job, she hone her skills to be the top assistant to the editor Miranda Priestly, saw the bright lights and the perks of being in the fashion business.
Though strayed and strained her relationship with her boy friend, she remained true to her heart and her boss.
I think that it is sweet of her to try to warn her boss of the upcoming position take over. Also this gal had been true to what she really what, to be a journalist, which she left the fashion editor's assistant job in the end.
=*
Though this job, she hone her skills to be the top assistant to the editor Miranda Priestly, saw the bright lights and the perks of being in the fashion business.
Though strayed and strained her relationship with her boy friend, she remained true to her heart and her boss.
I think that it is sweet of her to try to warn her boss of the upcoming position take over. Also this gal had been true to what she really what, to be a journalist, which she left the fashion editor's assistant job in the end.
=*
Saturday, November 18, 2006
For a love of a star
Ever stood at a bottom of a valley, looking up into the sky ?
Had the impulse to catch that star ?
Go a-climbing up a mountain then.
A few of my colleagues told me when they were in Australia, during May - June time, in the mountains, the sky were simply filled with stars and stretches of the Milky way.
*A blissful sight*
Had the impulse to catch that star ?
Go a-climbing up a mountain then.
A few of my colleagues told me when they were in Australia, during May - June time, in the mountains, the sky were simply filled with stars and stretches of the Milky way.
*A blissful sight*
Sunday, November 12, 2006
A Good Year
Some good laughs, easy movie to watch.
& a good song, Moi Lolita mp3 download.
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Lo ou bien Lola
Du pareil au meme
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Quand je reve aux loups
C'est Lola qui saigne
Quand fourche ma langue,
j'ai la un fou rire aussi fou
Qu'un phenomene Je m'appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Collegienne aux bas
Bleus de methylene
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Colereuse et pas
Mi-coton, mi-laine
Motus et bouche qui n'dis pas
A maman que je suis un phenomene
Je m'appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes
Repeat Refrain
C'est pas ma faute
Et quand je donne ma langue aux chats
Je vois les autres
Tout prets a se jeter sur moi
C'est pas ma faute a moi
Si j'entends tout autour de moi
Hello, helli, t'es A (L.O.L.I.T.A.)
Moi Lolita
Me Lolita
Me, I'm called Lolita
Lo or just Lola
That's all the same
Me, I'm called Lolita
When I consider my mistakes
It's Lola who has to bleed
When I make a slip of the tongue, I have
An elated laugh also elated
As a phenomenon
I'm called Lolita
Lo for spirit, Lo for a diluvial love
Me, I'm called Lolita
Student below
Tight jeans
Me, I'm called Lolita
Quick-tempered and not
Half-cotton, half-wool
Silent and a mouth that doesn't tell
Mum that I
Am a phenomenon
I'm called Lolita
Lo for spirit, Lo for diluvial love
Repeat Refrain
It's not my mistake
And if I want to quit
I see the others
All ready to throw themselves upon me
It's not my own mistake
If I hear everything around me
Hello, helli, you're A (L.O.L.I.T.A.)
Me Lolita
& a good song, Moi Lolita mp3 download.
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Lo ou bien Lola
Du pareil au meme
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Quand je reve aux loups
C'est Lola qui saigne
Quand fourche ma langue,
j'ai la un fou rire aussi fou
Qu'un phenomene Je m'appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Collegienne aux bas
Bleus de methylene
Moi je m'appelle Lolita
Colereuse et pas
Mi-coton, mi-laine
Motus et bouche qui n'dis pas
A maman que je suis un phenomene
Je m'appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes
Repeat Refrain
C'est pas ma faute
Et quand je donne ma langue aux chats
Je vois les autres
Tout prets a se jeter sur moi
C'est pas ma faute a moi
Si j'entends tout autour de moi
Hello, helli, t'es A (L.O.L.I.T.A.)
Moi Lolita
| Moi Lolita |
Me Lolita
Me, I'm called Lolita
Lo or just Lola
That's all the same
Me, I'm called Lolita
When I consider my mistakes
It's Lola who has to bleed
When I make a slip of the tongue, I have
An elated laugh also elated
As a phenomenon
I'm called Lolita
Lo for spirit, Lo for a diluvial love
Me, I'm called Lolita
Student below
Tight jeans
Me, I'm called Lolita
Quick-tempered and not
Half-cotton, half-wool
Silent and a mouth that doesn't tell
Mum that I
Am a phenomenon
I'm called Lolita
Lo for spirit, Lo for diluvial love
Repeat Refrain
It's not my mistake
And if I want to quit
I see the others
All ready to throw themselves upon me
It's not my own mistake
If I hear everything around me
Hello, helli, you're A (L.O.L.I.T.A.)
Me Lolita
Saturday, October 14, 2006
HAZE
What some kind of bon fire celebration ?
We are already coughing from last week's fumes from Indonesia (PSI 147 at one point) and now there is a continuation ?!
We are already coughing from last week's fumes from Indonesia (PSI 147 at one point) and now there is a continuation ?!
Friday, October 13, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Nuah
NUAH
Defination
In the state of lazyness
Action
Lazing when should be doing a purposeful activity
origin of word
Some friend told me so, surposed to be a word from a chinese dialect
Defination
In the state of lazyness
Action
Lazing when should be doing a purposeful activity
origin of word
Some friend told me so, surposed to be a word from a chinese dialect
Moon Cake eating festival
Moon cake eating festival , should be known correctly as Mid Autumn Festival . Ocurrs on Lunar 8th Month on the 8th day ..
You will see traditional moon cakes, 'Bing Pi' Yue Bing, Ice Cream Yue Bing. haha hmumm yum yum...
Legend says, this moon cake was for this chinese folklore fairy Chang Ee , whose pet rabbit made these Moon cakes for her , so that it can sustain her stay on the cold moon.
=)
You will see traditional moon cakes, 'Bing Pi' Yue Bing, Ice Cream Yue Bing. haha hmumm yum yum...
Legend says, this moon cake was for this chinese folklore fairy Chang Ee , whose pet rabbit made these Moon cakes for her , so that it can sustain her stay on the cold moon.
=)
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
London grey
Another day of haze ...wonder when will it clear up ...
It reminds me of the line that I read some where in a decor magazine about London weather " it's greyish light in London for most parts of the year ... "
Kinda living in London now ...
Not yet bed time .. already dreaming of going for holiday haha ... !
It reminds me of the line that I read some where in a decor magazine about London weather " it's greyish light in London for most parts of the year ... "
Kinda living in London now ...
Not yet bed time .. already dreaming of going for holiday haha ... !
Monday, October 02, 2006
Krispy Kreme DOUGHNUTS
In case that you are a big a fan & is going to Hong Kong, You can find Krispy Kreme Doughnuts @ No.67-73 Lee Garden Road , CauseWay Bay,Hong Kong, Tel: 2890-6263 ..
smirk ... no need to go to USA le .... smirk smirk....
smirk ... no need to go to USA le .... smirk smirk....
Thursday, September 21, 2006
OXYGENATED
Oh ya .. before I forgot ... REMEMBER to take a series of deep breaths if you are caught in a mind freeze or in a middle of a serious argument.
You will need all the oxygen to fight off fear & think rationally .
CIAOS ~
You will need all the oxygen to fight off fear & think rationally .
CIAOS ~
Going back to Singapore
Ooh!~ I'm going back to Singapore today haha!! So happy.
My clothes need washing haha !!
& to catch my sleep. haha .. I've been sleeping at 2am .. maybe I'm still not used to the life here.
Already developed the PANDA POWER !!
I had a great time here with my colleagues, there is good synergy in work and common hobbies , topics to talk about & we took a couple of their pictures . Sure to miss working side by side with them , we shared the workstations hehe ...
Joking Hinted to my new manager that there is Tiger airways that service ShenZhen and Singapore for a cheap fare , our team can all come to Singapore, so that we can get to work together again ..
haha...
My clothes need washing haha !!
& to catch my sleep. haha .. I've been sleeping at 2am .. maybe I'm still not used to the life here.
Already developed the PANDA POWER !!
I had a great time here with my colleagues, there is good synergy in work and common hobbies , topics to talk about & we took a couple of their pictures . Sure to miss working side by side with them , we shared the workstations hehe ...
Joking Hinted to my new manager that there is Tiger airways that service ShenZhen and Singapore for a cheap fare , our team can all come to Singapore, so that we can get to work together again ..
haha...
Friday, September 15, 2006
I'm in Shen Zhen these couple of days from last Saturday till next Thursday.
Being here , travelling to work, walking on the streets, observing many people on the streets.
I felt that it is hard to survive in any city outside your birht place.
The people here work hard, rent places to stay, what ever salary that they got , goes into their housing... not that their salary are high to begin with. It is a difficult place to live in.
Taxis here though travelling recklessly, never got into an accident. Wow.. I had felt first when I got here, that these drivers are mad .. the lanes on the roads are there for them to follow, but they don't ... the drivers swtich lanes, faster than you can say a bus is coming our way! Crossing the roads are a challenge , run if you may, or wait till there is little traffic .. which is a long wait ..
=o)
Being here , travelling to work, walking on the streets, observing many people on the streets.
I felt that it is hard to survive in any city outside your birht place.
The people here work hard, rent places to stay, what ever salary that they got , goes into their housing... not that their salary are high to begin with. It is a difficult place to live in.
Taxis here though travelling recklessly, never got into an accident. Wow.. I had felt first when I got here, that these drivers are mad .. the lanes on the roads are there for them to follow, but they don't ... the drivers swtich lanes, faster than you can say a bus is coming our way! Crossing the roads are a challenge , run if you may, or wait till there is little traffic .. which is a long wait ..
=o)
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
About Freddy
Freddy is a great friend of mine, we go back back into our poly years.
He's been a great sincere friend, advisor and listener.
Just got a sms from him today after my late work conference call with my bosses , informing me that his dad is critically ill.
I was quite shocked, I know that he won't normally send these 'prank' sms, so I gave him a call.
He comfirmed with me that his dad's health situation had turned worse from about a month ago .. he may go any time ...
I was sorry to hear that .. I felt that he is close to his dad too...
Let's see how is his dad is getting along .. probably give Freddy a call again when I get back from Shen Zhen business trip next Sunday, I will be out all the next whole week in Shen Zhen .
Not sure what I can do to help ...
If you happen to read this blog .. know the importance of a family member , for when he or she is gone , you will never get to know him better again, so cherish and make use of the existing time to understand more of your family member, or whoever you had missed out.
Another good mutual friend with Freddy, Tye Keong had reminded me of this fact, when we were at TK Dad's funeral 3 years back. TK dad's death was very sudden.. TK had not missed his dad much, leading more of an independent life from each other ... Perhaps that TK had realised that he had missed quality time with his dad in the past years etc ... I was very glad that TK reminded me of that once time is lost ... there is no gaining back esp to know one's family better ..
It set me seriously reviewing my relationship with my family. We were on talking terms, but there was little quality time together, talking , having meals and all that ... I'm glad that I made the decision to improve.
Now my family is better bonded , all thanks to advice from a good friend TK. =)
He's been a great sincere friend, advisor and listener.
Just got a sms from him today after my late work conference call with my bosses , informing me that his dad is critically ill.
I was quite shocked, I know that he won't normally send these 'prank' sms, so I gave him a call.
He comfirmed with me that his dad's health situation had turned worse from about a month ago .. he may go any time ...
I was sorry to hear that .. I felt that he is close to his dad too...
Let's see how is his dad is getting along .. probably give Freddy a call again when I get back from Shen Zhen business trip next Sunday, I will be out all the next whole week in Shen Zhen .
Not sure what I can do to help ...
If you happen to read this blog .. know the importance of a family member , for when he or she is gone , you will never get to know him better again, so cherish and make use of the existing time to understand more of your family member, or whoever you had missed out.
Another good mutual friend with Freddy, Tye Keong had reminded me of this fact, when we were at TK Dad's funeral 3 years back. TK dad's death was very sudden.. TK had not missed his dad much, leading more of an independent life from each other ... Perhaps that TK had realised that he had missed quality time with his dad in the past years etc ... I was very glad that TK reminded me of that once time is lost ... there is no gaining back esp to know one's family better ..
It set me seriously reviewing my relationship with my family. We were on talking terms, but there was little quality time together, talking , having meals and all that ... I'm glad that I made the decision to improve.
Now my family is better bonded , all thanks to advice from a good friend TK. =)
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Current status
Over working too much in the past 2 months .. fell sick .. cough ... cough, ah choo !! Abaluraalahaaas ....
Friday, July 14, 2006
Mylanta & Metoclopramide
Argh , 5 days for downtime.
Don't know what I ate that caused the food poisoning yet again, could it be the raw broccoli ?
Any way, I was prescribed Mylanta & Metoclopramide , it did made the bloatedness & the acid reflux lessen, but it brought on headache, drowsiness & insomnia , wow.
Please take care if you are taking these 2 drugs, side effects are not desirable.
I'll switch to chinese medication, the western medical doctor doesn't want to change the medication for me, and I can't bear to have more down time.
Don't know what I ate that caused the food poisoning yet again, could it be the raw broccoli ?
Any way, I was prescribed Mylanta & Metoclopramide , it did made the bloatedness & the acid reflux lessen, but it brought on headache, drowsiness & insomnia , wow.
Please take care if you are taking these 2 drugs, side effects are not desirable.
I'll switch to chinese medication, the western medical doctor doesn't want to change the medication for me, and I can't bear to have more down time.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Thank you for smoking
Movie Review: Thank You For Smoking
Smoking’s satire rips world of spin
By John Wirt
jwirt@theadvocate.com
Advocate movie critic
|
Based on the 1994 satirical novel by Christopher Buckley, Thank You For Smoking puts a fictional maestro of spin, Nick Naylor, on screen in all his gloriously unfettered amorality. For him and his kind, truth is always irrelevant.
Aaron Eckhart dives head first into the role of Nick, spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. Nick smiles while he kills, albeit indirectly, hundreds of thousands of people annually. It’s a bright, charismatic smile. “I’m the Col. Sanders of nicotine,” he says.
Nick has weekly powwows with peers responsible for putting happy faces on the gun and alcohol industries. The guiltless trio dubs itself the Mod Squad, a.k.a. the Merchants of Death.
David Koechner, with his pudgy bubba mug, is the face of the gun business. Maria Bello is the alcohol industry’s gung-ho spokeswoman. During one of the movie’s more audacious scenes, the Mod Squad argues about which of its respective clients harms society the most. These are the kind of folks who give capitalism a bad name. Of course, they’d never admit it in public.
While the ingeniously persuasive Nick stands up for big tobacco, a crusading U.S. senator wants to put a skull-and-crossbones on every cigarette pack. The deadly serious William H. Macy fills the sanctimonious politician’s shoes nicely. The senator is another example of how smart Thank You For Smoking is.
This equal opportunity-offender movie doesn’t cut opportunistic politicians a break. Macy’s senator is a buffoon.
Nor do the press and Hollywood go unscathed. Katie Holmes co-stars as a pretty young reporter for The Washington Probe. She extracts a career-making story from Nick. Her methods, however, show that journalism, which has been the victim of many ethics lapses in the recent years, will stoop to conquer.
On the Hollywood beat, the movie achieves another casting coup. The instinctively sleazy Rob Lowe oozes as a super-agent enlisted to promote the glamour of smoking. The film gets more boosts from Robert Duvall as big tobacco’s Southern-toned grand old man and 12-year-old Cameron Bright as Nick’s impressionable son.
Even Thank You For Smoking’s credits are smart. Cigarette packaging rolls across the screen as Johnny Bond and His Red River Valley Boys perform their 1947 ode to nicotine addicts, “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette).”
Thank You For Smoking sags in its middle. When it’s in full spin, though, it’s great stuff. For those who appreciate the fine art of satire, something Hollywood rarely attempts, the movie’s as refreshing as that mid-morning cancer-stick break.
Monday, June 19, 2006
B O O K I E S & P U N T E R S
It's a delicate relationship between a bookie & a punter.
Legend
Bookie : Person that accepts a bet on a game
Punter : Person that places a bet on a game with a Bookie
In the local papers, the Argentina [ARG] vs Serbia & Montengro [SCR]was 6 - 0.
Initialy, the bookies were taking total goals , -1.5 goal [In order for the punter to win, ARGvs SCR needs to be 2-0].
ARG Goals:
18. RODRIGUEZ Maxi (6')
5. CAMBIASSO Esteban (31')
18. RODRIGUEZ Maxi (41')
9. CRESPO Hernan (78')
11. TEVEZ Carlos (84')
19. MESSI Lionel (88')
When the number of goal went up to 2 goals,the bookies were starting to sweat. At 3 goals, bookies, up the odds to -2.5 goals, so on till the 6th goal.
What a earning of profits did the punters make! So as the loss of the bookies hahaha !
Of course, this is where the delicate relationship comes in, if the bookie defunct on payment that is.
What did the bookies do ? They had placed bets on the legal betting organization of course, which counter their losses, smart move.
Legend
Bookie : Person that accepts a bet on a game
Punter : Person that places a bet on a game with a Bookie
In the local papers, the Argentina [ARG] vs Serbia & Montengro [SCR]was 6 - 0.
Initialy, the bookies were taking total goals , -1.5 goal [In order for the punter to win, ARGvs SCR needs to be 2-0].
ARG Goals:
18. RODRIGUEZ Maxi (6')
5. CAMBIASSO Esteban (31')
18. RODRIGUEZ Maxi (41')
9. CRESPO Hernan (78')
11. TEVEZ Carlos (84')
19. MESSI Lionel (88')
When the number of goal went up to 2 goals,the bookies were starting to sweat. At 3 goals, bookies, up the odds to -2.5 goals, so on till the 6th goal.
What a earning of profits did the punters make! So as the loss of the bookies hahaha !
Of course, this is where the delicate relationship comes in, if the bookie defunct on payment that is.
What did the bookies do ? They had placed bets on the legal betting organization of course, which counter their losses, smart move.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Global Earth Collaboration
From a long distant past, till present, the fight for survival was on the minds of every thing that had lived.
There was no such thing as all Humans are made from the same cookie cutter, nor baked at the right tempreture to be running clever Ginger breadmen out of the oven.
Some are chipped off, dough mix is wrong, missed some body parts, bake time is too short to make Gingermen run, some ran out of the oven only to find that the legs are too short; droped from the oven to the ground in a loud 'thud' , discovering Ginger chips instead where a body should have been.
For this, it is a bad place to start of a life from, a bad time to set of from (better late than never), a bad enviroment to survive in (we never did properly enjoy our fruits of labor anyway, what's more to those that are starting ??) .
The Human's race to formulate the 'Rat race' had been coined in the 1980's - 90's, we started to want everything instantly.
Anything that can't be fulfilled in the near time, we moved on to pay for the service that does.
Instant Wants governed our lives, our consumer habits, our social habits, our countries' internal and foreign affairs. Further and further we push to strive for its betterment, if not perfection through our skills or trade for our businesses.
We build infrastructures to host our activities, whether it is to drive, to collaborate, to talk, hold multi-party video calls . Our cars , rail and finally to planes, greatly cut down time taken for the need to meet to talk and to close contracts. Nearly any thing is possible. On planes today, so long you have the cash, the satellite is waiting to service your call.
Google created Google Earth ! , a software adjoined via satellite to zoom into various parts of the earth, where you want it, it will show, at a reasonable distance from the buildings of course, confidentiality is not inculded in the software package. Supply your own PC/ Laptops and internet connections.
But along these long way of fight for the betterment, there are masses who have low means to join this race, as they had been left out due to the roll over from past generations. Their fustration and desperation are evident. They are restless, they are wanting, they want to be independent like the rest of us.
Government Organizations have plans in the way of social security to counter this issue. It can help to ease a little of this knot, base on the tax payers's ablilty and the governments' budget.
Voluntary Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are nearly in every place conceivable where their funds, resources and manpower can stretch. However, be dicerning, there are wolves even in NGOs.
It is true, when one is at the peak of success, he / she is enjoying the limelight and the rewards, greater contracts are landing on your hands.
But do look down periodically, stretch out your hand and give with a cheerful heart, for you will never know when your gift of help will pay it forward to you when least unexpected. A dew droped on a seemingly barren land may bring forth new growth.
I see the World Cup and the Olympics are the public demonstrations of this Global Collaboration. What fuels an international event, sublets its services to the country and onwards the diversified services goes. A sort of job creation . Even the poor can make up some service to sell.
A Chance to be independent by their own efforts .
There was no such thing as all Humans are made from the same cookie cutter, nor baked at the right tempreture to be running clever Ginger breadmen out of the oven.
Some are chipped off, dough mix is wrong, missed some body parts, bake time is too short to make Gingermen run, some ran out of the oven only to find that the legs are too short; droped from the oven to the ground in a loud 'thud' , discovering Ginger chips instead where a body should have been.
For this, it is a bad place to start of a life from, a bad time to set of from (better late than never), a bad enviroment to survive in (we never did properly enjoy our fruits of labor anyway, what's more to those that are starting ??) .
The Human's race to formulate the 'Rat race' had been coined in the 1980's - 90's, we started to want everything instantly.
Anything that can't be fulfilled in the near time, we moved on to pay for the service that does.
Instant Wants governed our lives, our consumer habits, our social habits, our countries' internal and foreign affairs. Further and further we push to strive for its betterment, if not perfection through our skills or trade for our businesses.
We build infrastructures to host our activities, whether it is to drive, to collaborate, to talk, hold multi-party video calls . Our cars , rail and finally to planes, greatly cut down time taken for the need to meet to talk and to close contracts. Nearly any thing is possible. On planes today, so long you have the cash, the satellite is waiting to service your call.
Google created Google Earth ! , a software adjoined via satellite to zoom into various parts of the earth, where you want it, it will show, at a reasonable distance from the buildings of course, confidentiality is not inculded in the software package. Supply your own PC/ Laptops and internet connections.
But along these long way of fight for the betterment, there are masses who have low means to join this race, as they had been left out due to the roll over from past generations. Their fustration and desperation are evident. They are restless, they are wanting, they want to be independent like the rest of us.
Government Organizations have plans in the way of social security to counter this issue. It can help to ease a little of this knot, base on the tax payers's ablilty and the governments' budget.
Voluntary Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are nearly in every place conceivable where their funds, resources and manpower can stretch. However, be dicerning, there are wolves even in NGOs.
It is true, when one is at the peak of success, he / she is enjoying the limelight and the rewards, greater contracts are landing on your hands.
But do look down periodically, stretch out your hand and give with a cheerful heart, for you will never know when your gift of help will pay it forward to you when least unexpected. A dew droped on a seemingly barren land may bring forth new growth.
I see the World Cup and the Olympics are the public demonstrations of this Global Collaboration. What fuels an international event, sublets its services to the country and onwards the diversified services goes. A sort of job creation . Even the poor can make up some service to sell.
A Chance to be independent by their own efforts .
Go Ecuador - Win the World Cup !!! ^^
This year, World Cup run through the global nations in great fan fare. Even in Singapore. Agitation that we need for the viewing that is...
Main provider of sports cable channels had acquired the Singapore distribution rights for 15 million Singapore dollars. Kudos for the residents who are staying in Woodlands - who might get some scrambled telecast from Malaysia on TV1 for free over on their power anthenas. It is a perfect money making time for Starhub.
So as all the pubs that are powered with beer & projection / Large LCD TVs, for those that aren't keen on both, having a TV with the service at home is still a plus.
Anyway, I signed up for the service due to the pressure from my brother (who paid for it under my name). hehe ... There is a bundle discount with all the services, cable TV, mobile & broadband.
Even with the argument I got with Starhub over the a month complimentary service viewing for the rest of the channels (now Starhub Customer Service are saying that they did not have such a promotion, when the store service lady did double confirmed before I signed on the contract, still I feel cheated; Why say promise when they don't intend to deliver ?) .
I'll say I had enjoyed watching the World Cup channel, FINALLY they registered my sign up!
World Cup team
Back to the teams, I'm game on Ecuador Winning this year ! Strategy , stamina, game play are quite on par with Germany. (as I write, Ecuador closed with a 3-0 vs costa Rica)
Close third will be Costa Rica , Spain and Australia tie.
Korea would need more swift offense strategy and close the defense lines on the opposition team.
Brazil though the all time favourite for their fame 1 man striker strategy.... but in the past few times made it to the finals but did not capture the World Cup.
England, for their famed all star players from the various English cups, could not deliver the expected goals by themselves. In England vs Paraguay match, I view the own goal by Paraguay , though a miscalculation by Paraguay, it points out how little England team is not holding up the high expectation. There is no allowance for England to play the speed when they are playing EPL, slow and steady, bring up the ranks of the mid-fielders and stikers, and go for the goal . See where the leads i.e. Spain, Germany and Ecuador had taken, swift turn around strategy after defending the attack, that will put the goal into the opposition !
Japan and Sweden lacks the offense. Buck up and we may see blood pressure soaring muhaha... !!
Trinidad and Tobago, Italy just needs some luck in the penalty box, game play is loose, lacks offense strategy, though defense is quite strong.
Poland lacks the execution it needs for a game of this magnitude. However, there is some expecation for it to perform in the upcoming group matches.
Main provider of sports cable channels had acquired the Singapore distribution rights for 15 million Singapore dollars. Kudos for the residents who are staying in Woodlands - who might get some scrambled telecast from Malaysia on TV1 for free over on their power anthenas. It is a perfect money making time for Starhub.
So as all the pubs that are powered with beer & projection / Large LCD TVs, for those that aren't keen on both, having a TV with the service at home is still a plus.
Anyway, I signed up for the service due to the pressure from my brother (who paid for it under my name). hehe ... There is a bundle discount with all the services, cable TV, mobile & broadband.
Even with the argument I got with Starhub over the a month complimentary service viewing for the rest of the channels (now Starhub Customer Service are saying that they did not have such a promotion, when the store service lady did double confirmed before I signed on the contract, still I feel cheated; Why say promise when they don't intend to deliver ?) .
I'll say I had enjoyed watching the World Cup channel, FINALLY they registered my sign up!
World Cup team
Back to the teams, I'm game on Ecuador Winning this year ! Strategy , stamina, game play are quite on par with Germany. (as I write, Ecuador closed with a 3-0 vs costa Rica)
Close third will be Costa Rica , Spain and Australia tie.
Korea would need more swift offense strategy and close the defense lines on the opposition team.
Brazil though the all time favourite for their fame 1 man striker strategy.... but in the past few times made it to the finals but did not capture the World Cup.
England, for their famed all star players from the various English cups, could not deliver the expected goals by themselves. In England vs Paraguay match, I view the own goal by Paraguay , though a miscalculation by Paraguay, it points out how little England team is not holding up the high expectation. There is no allowance for England to play the speed when they are playing EPL, slow and steady, bring up the ranks of the mid-fielders and stikers, and go for the goal . See where the leads i.e. Spain, Germany and Ecuador had taken, swift turn around strategy after defending the attack, that will put the goal into the opposition !
Japan and Sweden lacks the offense. Buck up and we may see blood pressure soaring muhaha... !!
Trinidad and Tobago, Italy just needs some luck in the penalty box, game play is loose, lacks offense strategy, though defense is quite strong.
Poland lacks the execution it needs for a game of this magnitude. However, there is some expecation for it to perform in the upcoming group matches.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Lousy StarHub Cable Server
To Customerservice@starhub.com
Hi there,
Starhub Customer name : Name
IC#
Give me a call at once at starhub mobile # XXXX-XXXX.
I could not see the WC channel 27 nor any of complimentary service channels on the digital box that I had acquired 2 days ago.
Only Basic tier can be seen.
I am extremely Disgusted with the low level of service that Starhub is having during this period of time with the Digital box set as well as your hotline that was unanswered for the past 20 minutes that I was held on the call waiting for the customer service personnel to answer, yet no one had picked up my call.
Message on the TV when I had selected the nonBasic tier channels -
To subscribe to this channel, please call 1633
What nonsense is this when I had paid for the World Cup & my subscription comes with complimentary 1 month service !!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above poor service had happened yesterday when I wanted to catch the World Cup Poland Vs Ecuador, I had the Cable service for 2 days. WOW!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUN 20
Starhub called again, told me there is no such free complimentary viewing on the balance channels for 1 mth, it was a miscommunication from their staff to me. Ha.
I was told I am allowed to pursue it further if I want to with CASE, should I want to. Do I need approval from Starhub to make my complaint to CASE ? No I don't. And I don't need to.
Making my concerns known to my favourite service provider about their staff knowledge service level had not gotten the right response.
Talk about bad PR here.
In the future, there will not be any recommendation from me to anyone to take their businesses to Starhub. Nor will there be any reason for me to continue to have any businesses with them.
Hi there,
Starhub Customer name : Name
IC#
Give me a call at once at starhub mobile # XXXX-XXXX.
I could not see the WC channel 27 nor any of complimentary service channels on the digital box that I had acquired 2 days ago.
Only Basic tier can be seen.
I am extremely Disgusted with the low level of service that Starhub is having during this period of time with the Digital box set as well as your hotline that was unanswered for the past 20 minutes that I was held on the call waiting for the customer service personnel to answer, yet no one had picked up my call.
Message on the TV when I had selected the nonBasic tier channels -
To subscribe to this channel, please call 1633
What nonsense is this when I had paid for the World Cup & my subscription comes with complimentary 1 month service !!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above poor service had happened yesterday when I wanted to catch the World Cup Poland Vs Ecuador, I had the Cable service for 2 days. WOW!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUN 20
Starhub called again, told me there is no such free complimentary viewing on the balance channels for 1 mth, it was a miscommunication from their staff to me. Ha.
I was told I am allowed to pursue it further if I want to with CASE, should I want to. Do I need approval from Starhub to make my complaint to CASE ? No I don't. And I don't need to.
Making my concerns known to my favourite service provider about their staff knowledge service level had not gotten the right response.
Talk about bad PR here.
In the future, there will not be any recommendation from me to anyone to take their businesses to Starhub. Nor will there be any reason for me to continue to have any businesses with them.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Insensible Blog Designers
After using many blog skins from www.blogskins.com, I found that my knowledge of HTML is limited.
Some blogs off from the web site was bad, text size was small, column size is small, some had minimised headers, it was bad.
Blog Spot's still the best.
Some blogs off from the web site was bad, text size was small, column size is small, some had minimised headers, it was bad.
Blog Spot's still the best.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
About J
Every June comes every year
June brings me back memories of a girl , J, 20 years old, that I had met when I was 15.
I got to know her when I was attending a church in Katong area.
She was a kind and approachable person, sensitive to a new comer's anxiety of being in a new church. She had shared her thoughts , on the few times we met, about Jesus salvation for all.
Shortly in the following year, after her birthday in June, we came to know that she was diagnosed with near last stage Intestine cancer.
One night, while she was home, she was throwing up blood. She was rushed to the hospital to received immediate treatment. Subsequently, she was placed on a course of Chemotherapy, but it didn't work.
Prior to this incident, she had complained of abdomen disconfort.
I had gone to see her in hospital with other church mates shortly after her admission to the hospital.
She had already started to waste away.
She had difficulty talking, staying awake was hard, mumbled with what little strength that was left. Solid food was a bliss if she could manage it, but she was fed from a tube.
One batch of friends from her Junior Colleage had came by to visit that morning, they were of a Charismatic denomination while the church that we had attended was of Presbyterian denomination. Therefore, she did not receive the healing prayer that they had suggested.
Maybe she was already tired from fighting her disease, maybe she had been too scarred by the late stage of the cancer, that she had simply gave up wanting to try to accept a chance at being healed.
J passed on within 2 months of my visit.
So every June when her birthday nears, I'll think of her. If she had lived, we might had become firm friends and grown up together as close sisters.
I had felt that the perception and the interpretation of Jesus's Salvation was worthless at that point in time. So I had left the church.
I had many questions in my mind, that of this world of suffering, that of the non-intervention of the Al-mighty God this these situations, that of fairness of the mankind, and many other questions that seemed to multiply.
Why only save beliver's soul when it only applies on the Judgement day ?
What about our time before we die while we are still living here ?
Is there no benefits of staying alive here any more ?
It took me some years to resume going to another church and to read most of the Bible texts, to know of the complete meaning of Jesus's Salvation.
Not only does we continue to get life on Judgement day, we are able to enjoy the company, grace, favour and abundance of the Holy Spirit and of the Lord, in our days on earth.
Ask for intervention - without your permission, there will be no intervention to help in your life.
Ask for a discerning mind - to handle and identify a good or a bad situation, was the favour asked for a good cause etc .
Ask for knowledge - for there are more things to learn about the situations of your daily life and more things to be revealed of the Lord's Glory.
Ask for strength and faith - for one can't do without the other, to trust in the lord for the end result, to have the strength to endure while one is under instruction to bulid up one's character .
Ask for overcoming hurdles and hardship - for the Lord is in you, feel no fear to overcome these difficulties
Ask for a peaceful heart - for rashness and unkind words separates.
Ask to have the eloquence to educate of Jesus's Salvation when the situation arises
Thank the Lord for every deed that was done in your favour.
Thank the Lord for every time that you are given rest from your enemies.
One needs to conduct their actions well, as there could be some that can misinterpret and take the issue out of context to phrase it in another situation.
End notes :-
What is in the future of God's work, there will be no man in modern times to complete it. Nor will it be man's authority to do it.
If beliveing in Jesus is what one desires, believe and allow the Holy sprit to intervene in your life, to lead you towards peace times, building up your character as you experience each day on earth.
Amen
June brings me back memories of a girl , J, 20 years old, that I had met when I was 15.
I got to know her when I was attending a church in Katong area.
She was a kind and approachable person, sensitive to a new comer's anxiety of being in a new church. She had shared her thoughts , on the few times we met, about Jesus salvation for all.
Shortly in the following year, after her birthday in June, we came to know that she was diagnosed with near last stage Intestine cancer.
One night, while she was home, she was throwing up blood. She was rushed to the hospital to received immediate treatment. Subsequently, she was placed on a course of Chemotherapy, but it didn't work.
Prior to this incident, she had complained of abdomen disconfort.
I had gone to see her in hospital with other church mates shortly after her admission to the hospital.
She had already started to waste away.
She had difficulty talking, staying awake was hard, mumbled with what little strength that was left. Solid food was a bliss if she could manage it, but she was fed from a tube.
One batch of friends from her Junior Colleage had came by to visit that morning, they were of a Charismatic denomination while the church that we had attended was of Presbyterian denomination. Therefore, she did not receive the healing prayer that they had suggested.
Maybe she was already tired from fighting her disease, maybe she had been too scarred by the late stage of the cancer, that she had simply gave up wanting to try to accept a chance at being healed.
J passed on within 2 months of my visit.
So every June when her birthday nears, I'll think of her. If she had lived, we might had become firm friends and grown up together as close sisters.
I had felt that the perception and the interpretation of Jesus's Salvation was worthless at that point in time. So I had left the church.
I had many questions in my mind, that of this world of suffering, that of the non-intervention of the Al-mighty God this these situations, that of fairness of the mankind, and many other questions that seemed to multiply.
Why only save beliver's soul when it only applies on the Judgement day ?
What about our time before we die while we are still living here ?
Is there no benefits of staying alive here any more ?
It took me some years to resume going to another church and to read most of the Bible texts, to know of the complete meaning of Jesus's Salvation.
Not only does we continue to get life on Judgement day, we are able to enjoy the company, grace, favour and abundance of the Holy Spirit and of the Lord, in our days on earth.
Ask for intervention - without your permission, there will be no intervention to help in your life.
Ask for a discerning mind - to handle and identify a good or a bad situation, was the favour asked for a good cause etc .
Ask for knowledge - for there are more things to learn about the situations of your daily life and more things to be revealed of the Lord's Glory.
Ask for strength and faith - for one can't do without the other, to trust in the lord for the end result, to have the strength to endure while one is under instruction to bulid up one's character .
Ask for overcoming hurdles and hardship - for the Lord is in you, feel no fear to overcome these difficulties
Ask for a peaceful heart - for rashness and unkind words separates.
Ask to have the eloquence to educate of Jesus's Salvation when the situation arises
Thank the Lord for every deed that was done in your favour.
Thank the Lord for every time that you are given rest from your enemies.
One needs to conduct their actions well, as there could be some that can misinterpret and take the issue out of context to phrase it in another situation.
End notes :-
What is in the future of God's work, there will be no man in modern times to complete it. Nor will it be man's authority to do it.
If beliveing in Jesus is what one desires, believe and allow the Holy sprit to intervene in your life, to lead you towards peace times, building up your character as you experience each day on earth.
Amen
Friday, June 02, 2006
If you are granted a wish - What will you wish for ?
In The Matrix movie, after Neo was brought out of the incubator , he was lead to the space ship.
In it, he was downloaded a series of fighting sequences from files into his brain. Thus training and simulating his brain to think that he had experienced these fighting sequences before.
If there is any technology avialable, I would like to be downloaded with all the languages, spoken or written that existed on planet Earth.
It would be wonderful to converse with another living being to able to know and understand their thoughts, their feelings and their perspectives.
It would be amazing to read of the great written works , of songs, of poems, of historical writtings, of present affairs and news.
In it, he was downloaded a series of fighting sequences from files into his brain. Thus training and simulating his brain to think that he had experienced these fighting sequences before.
If there is any technology avialable, I would like to be downloaded with all the languages, spoken or written that existed on planet Earth.
It would be wonderful to converse with another living being to able to know and understand their thoughts, their feelings and their perspectives.
It would be amazing to read of the great written works , of songs, of poems, of historical writtings, of present affairs and news.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Makings of Or Bi Beh
Or Bi Beh (in Hokkien Dialect) or Or Bi Mueh (in Teochew Dialect)
Consisting of Black rice (Malaka origin is good), 3- 5 Leaves of Pandan plant, Coconut milk, Sugar
Steps :-
If cooking for 3- 4 people , use 1 cup of rice , appoximate 500ml , if double the pax, double the cup
Wash black rice in water , repeat 2 -3 times
Fill metal / porcelain pot with 3/4 water about 1 litre
Cook for 20 minutes on high fire without the pot's cover
Simmer for another 20 on low fire with the pot's cover , tilt the pot cover to let some steam out
Add in Pandan leaves, stir for about 2 minutes
Add in sugar (about 3 table spoons or sugar/ maple syrup about 100 ml)
Stir for 2 mins
Turn off the stove
To serve:-
Fill one bowl
Add 1 - 2 table spoons of coconut milk depending on the creamyness needed
Consisting of Black rice (Malaka origin is good), 3- 5 Leaves of Pandan plant, Coconut milk, Sugar
Steps :-
If cooking for 3- 4 people , use 1 cup of rice , appoximate 500ml , if double the pax, double the cup
Wash black rice in water , repeat 2 -3 times
Fill metal / porcelain pot with 3/4 water about 1 litre
Cook for 20 minutes on high fire without the pot's cover
Simmer for another 20 on low fire with the pot's cover , tilt the pot cover to let some steam out
Add in Pandan leaves, stir for about 2 minutes
Add in sugar (about 3 table spoons or sugar/ maple syrup about 100 ml)
Stir for 2 mins
Turn off the stove
To serve:-
Fill one bowl
Add 1 - 2 table spoons of coconut milk depending on the creamyness needed
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Bali - Akhyati Villas & Spa
4D 3N - Akhyati Villas & Spa - May 5 - May 8 2006
Visited Seminyak (in kuta) , Kuta, Legian on SQ 142/ SQ 143
Exchange rate about 1 SGD to 5350 rp
Currency :- most shops inculding major departmental shops take rp, major departmental stores take credit cards i.e. Visa, JCB, Amex, Masters Citibank
On Life in Bali
Bali takes on an easy pace to life.
There aren't any traffic lights on the roads, the drivers just give way to those which are changing lanes. Moreover, the roads are thin, it only allows 1 Jeep / 3 motorcycles to pass for each lane - for the streets in the town and the outskirts.
As Ahkyati is on the outskirts, as I was taken to the villas on the villa's Jeep, I passed by now desfunct villas, shops, resturants etc, there is no order of where the residentials areas starts or ends, or where does the tourists accomodation starts.
Padi fields, lines in between virtually most outskirts usually nearer to residential areas , some in growth season, some unkept , some dying . But also because of the numerous padi fields, most eating places serve rice instead of potatoes/ fries.
Cows are a scarce sight, a few residents are more well to do, they have about 3 -5 cows, those without , work the fields themselves.
Dogs are not keep pets, but they run loose on streets, though not many but some are flea infested, bare patches on the dogs can be seen.
The people here are polite. Shop keepers are firm on their highly jacked up prices (so I didn't buy any from them) , but still polite.
Wishing square yellow grass baskets (about 20 x 20 cm) are woven and filled with colored fresh flowers, incense and nice smelling grass, usually places in the front of houses, cash machine , shop fronts & altars, it is for wish good luck.Visitors are advise to avoid kicking the baskets.
Shopping:-
Centralize shopping can be found in Kuta Square where a major shopping centre - Mantahari can be found.
Discounts can be found here. Men's leather shoes are going for as much as 75 %, more on the range of 20% + 10 % discounts.
There are shirts, ties, shoes, polo shorts & Ts for the guys, sports wear - track shoes, badminton rackets, swim wear, for the gals, there are shoes (not very good selection, though at least twice the mens'), polo shirts, sarong kabayas, bags, army wear, bags, hair accessories (very good range).
Mantahari has a super market on the 1st floor , normal food stuff, premixed fruit juice, breads, souviners, wood crafts, rice wines, cabnated drinks, ice creams, soaps, beauty products , cheese, milk (those that you can keep in room tempreture, no fresh milk) chocolates, sweets, batteries, chips, cookies.
Further shopping can be found on the end of the Kuta stretch - the new Discovery Centre, it has more upmarket, trendy stuff.
You can find Star bucks, Burger King, Polo Ralph Lauren, Polo (less older series @ a discount), watch shops, ladies inner wear, white gold / Diamonds Jewellery store (they were having up to 50 % discount for Mother's day celebration), Luggage shop, beach wear , sarongs , Espirt, Guess, are on the 1st floor.
2nd floor is the flagship store called Centro Departmental Store, Guess bags, Coach bags & wallets, ladies shoes more trendy veriety, clothes - look for local designed clothes, jeans. more veriety for the guys, more shirts with texture, rainbow colors, ties, though a little shorter than the ones in Singapore. For the guys, most business shirts sold here in Bali don't come in 17" & onwards. There is only a few brands that carry, but the selection of shirt colors for them is not fantasic.
DFS Galleria - Louwe, LV etc , saw the advert signs outside the store, didn't go in.
Food :-
For the ones that aren't keen on the local food Indonesian food , there's KFC, Macdonalds, Burger King , Starbucks, Hargen Dars (Ice creams). However, most resturants have lots of cusines i.e. Western (Salads, beef, pork, chicken, seafood, soups) , Italian, Japanese sushi, Chinese (I think this is more fused with Indonesisan cooking), vegetarian (so far I had walked passed one).
Other shopping can be done on the Kuta Square area:-
Imitation goods:- Gucci, LV, Coach, Polo , Christian Dior :- luggage , golf bags ,belts, baseball hats, shirts. Looks like B-grade, most of them are back dated design, some buckles where the brands name are supposed to imprint on the buckle, are not there. General outlook of the fabric are ok to pass off as the real one.
Local girl stuff brands such as MOOKS (bags, lcothes) , Funky girl (Bikinis, intimate wear), Animale (Animal prints, dresses, tops, shirts, skirts), Body & Soul (similar to our M)phosis) .
Beach wear : Ocean Pacific, Stussy, Mambo, not sure if they are the real mccoy
Sport wear : Nike (Original , on the road to Discovery centre)
There's this shop called Prada in Kuta Square that does not sell Prada stuff.
Eats aka Makan (Bahasan Indoenesian / Malay for eating / to eats) :-
C'Bo restaurant & bar (Jln Raya Seminyak # 55A - May 5 pm
Wood Fried Pizza - good thin crust pizza, though the meat toppings was little. Midium size, feeds 2 comfortably. 4/5 for food . Fast service & wait for 15 ~ 20min for food (coz it's baked).
Resturant Dulang (next to Mantahari in Kuta Square) , May 7 pm
Their coke is 7500 Rp for a 295 ml bottle, their food is more on the upscale one, serving Italian food. 4.5/5 for food. The decor is nice. Fast service & fast food.
Bali Summer Hotel - Bill Restaurant/ Bar (Jalan Pantai Kuta 38, Kuta - May 8 noon, Coke @ 7500 rp for 295ml - May 7 noon
Western food. had ham & cheese sandwich feeds 1, grilled whole fish (midium size feeds 2) , service is fast, food is fast though grilled food. Satay was good, special fine peanut sauce, a little spicy.
Burger King @ Discovery Centre - coke float, burgers May 8 breakfast
KFC @ near Mantahari - May 8 noon Small bites, mostly meal sets come in 1 chicken drumstick, rice, small coke, abt 11500 rp , Fish burger , 9600 rp wow. but small burger though.
Bali Bagia Bar & Resturant (Singosari st. Kuta - Bali) -May 8 pm
Coke @ 5000 rp for 325 ml, food is in the range of 21K rp tp 50K rp - serving grilled, western food. 4/5 rating for food. Fast service & wait for 15 min for food (coz it's grilled).
Coffee Fix
There are quite a few Resturants with iced/ hot coffee/ mochas/ espressos. No lack of supply.
They are reasonably priced at about 3USD or less.
Spa :-
Special mention :- Onedel Ondel Reflexology , Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Email ondel2@hotmail.com
70K rp gets foot & Back reflexology massage of 40 mins.
I came out of the session , having sore feet , each calf 1 bruise, sore shoulders blades , but recovered 2 days after for my cough aliment.
The male therapist had done a both feet reflexlogy, purpose is to identify any problem areas by working on all the ends of the meridians on the foot.
(Mine was coughing as I had recently had a bout of cough, flu, the reminder was a cough which I can't seem to recover from. Today as I was writing this, I had noticed that I wasn't coughing when I woke up. A mere 2 days.
* Bliss * )
Once that was done, next was the calf portion which was in the foot massage , my calfs were suffering from walking bali too much and water retenion . So the sides of the calfs & knees was pushed and kneaded working the lympatic meridians.
Next was for the back massage, as my problem was coughing, My shoulder blades & neck was kneaded. Damm painful, but was worth it. It was to work the muscles and meridians for the respiratory systems such as the lungs and the windpipe.
My theraphist had started the session by telling me if the pressure if too much, let him know. Throughout the session, there were some hard knots on my feet & sholder, those, the pressure was hard, but was eased off, and continues at a lower pressure. He was more attentive to minor details such as keeping the foot wraped while he was doing the other foot. The therapist that was having the session with my boyfriend less so, did not do the same for him, but was making jokes/ exchanging information about our countries while doing the session, so we were quite entertained.
Knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian / Bahasa Malayu was helpful in addition to the simple english that the therapist speaks.
I would advice any guy who goes for the session to remover the shirt for maximum effect. But for me, I had worn a T back halter neck , so it was ok. There wasn't any private rooms for seculded massage, less the risk of "accidental touching". The shop had a engraved wood wall (with decorative motifs, certain areas of the motifs are cut out) on the shop's perimeter, simple reclining chairs with music via headsets (for the customers for the foot massage) & the stool to prop the feet up during the massage but if you are doing the back massage, you will sit on it while the therpist does the back massage, sitting stool (for the therpist during foot massage), simple equipment i.e. rice cooker to keep the towels warm, bottles for the lotion.
Shop serves 6 person at any one time.
They provide hair clips for girls to pin up the hair.
Quality rating 4.5/5
Arcade:- Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Mostly for kids, some driving games, shoot basket ball, whack the animal, para para dance
Book Shop & Electrical store :- Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Expensive for backdated technology & books.
Back massage in Akhyati Villas & Spa
We had arranged for the complimentary 30 Min back massage (includes leg & calf massage) on the last day. We can choose to have the massage in the villa/ spa house.
We had taken the massage on the King sized mattress in the villa together.
They had used Camphor oils, which was good for relaxing while refreshing the senses, the pressure was light, as it was done by 2 ladies. 1 for each of the occupants.
Quality rating 3.5/5 .
Other interesting things to do:-
Head done the Kuta beach stretch for a surf in the seas (There are some shops selling surf boards on Jalan Legian
Have your long hair braided into pleats
Paint your nails i.e. manicure / pedicure
Hop down to the pub, wide variety of hard liqours, some shops have red & white wine on the menu
There is a few pubs that have live band (near Discovery Mall)
Do the reverse bangee on the stretch near Discovery Mall
Weather :-
Imagine the sky to be with little clouds, the sunlight was strong, bring sun block/ large round brim hats .
My feckles had grown worse even with spf 30 in my cosmetics * sigh *
It rains little for a short period each day , a small umbrella will be enough.
Travelling to places :-
Akhyati Villas & Spa provide complimentry pick up to Kuta & return. Other travelling location can be arranged at a cost. Other than this free arrangment, one can hire a car/ jeep/ motor cycle at a price, at full day or hourly rent rating. Either that or motor cycles/ taxi / Horse rides can be found. Taxi go by meter, by most of the taxi people prefer by 1 price, often over charging. Take for example, a taxi ride from the Denpasar airport to Aykyati cost about 20 K rp if going by the meter. But some can quote more if they are picking you up from Kuta to Aykyati at the same price, though less than half the distance.
Footwear :-
Comfortable shoes i.e. Flat Mules with/without backs or foam slippers, ensures walking for more distance
If blisters develop , there is a Phamacy in Matahari super market/ or another on the road to Discovery Centre.
Visited Seminyak (in kuta) , Kuta, Legian on SQ 142/ SQ 143
Exchange rate about 1 SGD to 5350 rp
Currency :- most shops inculding major departmental shops take rp, major departmental stores take credit cards i.e. Visa, JCB, Amex, Masters Citibank
On Life in Bali
Bali takes on an easy pace to life.
There aren't any traffic lights on the roads, the drivers just give way to those which are changing lanes. Moreover, the roads are thin, it only allows 1 Jeep / 3 motorcycles to pass for each lane - for the streets in the town and the outskirts.
As Ahkyati is on the outskirts, as I was taken to the villas on the villa's Jeep, I passed by now desfunct villas, shops, resturants etc, there is no order of where the residentials areas starts or ends, or where does the tourists accomodation starts.
Padi fields, lines in between virtually most outskirts usually nearer to residential areas , some in growth season, some unkept , some dying . But also because of the numerous padi fields, most eating places serve rice instead of potatoes/ fries.
Cows are a scarce sight, a few residents are more well to do, they have about 3 -5 cows, those without , work the fields themselves.
Dogs are not keep pets, but they run loose on streets, though not many but some are flea infested, bare patches on the dogs can be seen.
The people here are polite. Shop keepers are firm on their highly jacked up prices (so I didn't buy any from them) , but still polite.
Wishing square yellow grass baskets (about 20 x 20 cm) are woven and filled with colored fresh flowers, incense and nice smelling grass, usually places in the front of houses, cash machine , shop fronts & altars, it is for wish good luck.Visitors are advise to avoid kicking the baskets.
Shopping:-
Centralize shopping can be found in Kuta Square where a major shopping centre - Mantahari can be found.
Discounts can be found here. Men's leather shoes are going for as much as 75 %, more on the range of 20% + 10 % discounts.
There are shirts, ties, shoes, polo shorts & Ts for the guys, sports wear - track shoes, badminton rackets, swim wear, for the gals, there are shoes (not very good selection, though at least twice the mens'), polo shirts, sarong kabayas, bags, army wear, bags, hair accessories (very good range).
Mantahari has a super market on the 1st floor , normal food stuff, premixed fruit juice, breads, souviners, wood crafts, rice wines, cabnated drinks, ice creams, soaps, beauty products , cheese, milk (those that you can keep in room tempreture, no fresh milk) chocolates, sweets, batteries, chips, cookies.
Further shopping can be found on the end of the Kuta stretch - the new Discovery Centre, it has more upmarket, trendy stuff.
You can find Star bucks, Burger King, Polo Ralph Lauren, Polo (less older series @ a discount), watch shops, ladies inner wear, white gold / Diamonds Jewellery store (they were having up to 50 % discount for Mother's day celebration), Luggage shop, beach wear , sarongs , Espirt, Guess, are on the 1st floor.
2nd floor is the flagship store called Centro Departmental Store, Guess bags, Coach bags & wallets, ladies shoes more trendy veriety, clothes - look for local designed clothes, jeans. more veriety for the guys, more shirts with texture, rainbow colors, ties, though a little shorter than the ones in Singapore. For the guys, most business shirts sold here in Bali don't come in 17" & onwards. There is only a few brands that carry, but the selection of shirt colors for them is not fantasic.
DFS Galleria - Louwe, LV etc , saw the advert signs outside the store, didn't go in.
Food :-
For the ones that aren't keen on the local food Indonesian food , there's KFC, Macdonalds, Burger King , Starbucks, Hargen Dars (Ice creams). However, most resturants have lots of cusines i.e. Western (Salads, beef, pork, chicken, seafood, soups) , Italian, Japanese sushi, Chinese (I think this is more fused with Indonesisan cooking), vegetarian (so far I had walked passed one).
Other shopping can be done on the Kuta Square area:-
Imitation goods:- Gucci, LV, Coach, Polo , Christian Dior :- luggage , golf bags ,belts, baseball hats, shirts. Looks like B-grade, most of them are back dated design, some buckles where the brands name are supposed to imprint on the buckle, are not there. General outlook of the fabric are ok to pass off as the real one.
Local girl stuff brands such as MOOKS (bags, lcothes) , Funky girl (Bikinis, intimate wear), Animale (Animal prints, dresses, tops, shirts, skirts), Body & Soul (similar to our M)phosis) .
Beach wear : Ocean Pacific, Stussy, Mambo, not sure if they are the real mccoy
Sport wear : Nike (Original , on the road to Discovery centre)
There's this shop called Prada in Kuta Square that does not sell Prada stuff.
Eats aka Makan (Bahasan Indoenesian / Malay for eating / to eats) :-
C'Bo restaurant & bar (Jln Raya Seminyak # 55A - May 5 pm
Wood Fried Pizza - good thin crust pizza, though the meat toppings was little. Midium size, feeds 2 comfortably. 4/5 for food . Fast service & wait for 15 ~ 20min for food (coz it's baked).
Resturant Dulang (next to Mantahari in Kuta Square) , May 7 pm
Their coke is 7500 Rp for a 295 ml bottle, their food is more on the upscale one, serving Italian food. 4.5/5 for food. The decor is nice. Fast service & fast food.
Bali Summer Hotel - Bill Restaurant/ Bar (Jalan Pantai Kuta 38, Kuta - May 8 noon, Coke @ 7500 rp for 295ml - May 7 noon
Western food. had ham & cheese sandwich feeds 1, grilled whole fish (midium size feeds 2) , service is fast, food is fast though grilled food. Satay was good, special fine peanut sauce, a little spicy.
Burger King @ Discovery Centre - coke float, burgers May 8 breakfast
KFC @ near Mantahari - May 8 noon Small bites, mostly meal sets come in 1 chicken drumstick, rice, small coke, abt 11500 rp , Fish burger , 9600 rp wow. but small burger though.
Bali Bagia Bar & Resturant (Singosari st. Kuta - Bali) -May 8 pm
Coke @ 5000 rp for 325 ml, food is in the range of 21K rp tp 50K rp - serving grilled, western food. 4/5 rating for food. Fast service & wait for 15 min for food (coz it's grilled).
Coffee Fix
There are quite a few Resturants with iced/ hot coffee/ mochas/ espressos. No lack of supply.
They are reasonably priced at about 3USD or less.
Spa :-
Special mention :- Onedel Ondel Reflexology , Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Email ondel2@hotmail.com
70K rp gets foot & Back reflexology massage of 40 mins.
I came out of the session , having sore feet , each calf 1 bruise, sore shoulders blades , but recovered 2 days after for my cough aliment.
The male therapist had done a both feet reflexlogy, purpose is to identify any problem areas by working on all the ends of the meridians on the foot.
(Mine was coughing as I had recently had a bout of cough, flu, the reminder was a cough which I can't seem to recover from. Today as I was writing this, I had noticed that I wasn't coughing when I woke up. A mere 2 days.
* Bliss * )
Once that was done, next was the calf portion which was in the foot massage , my calfs were suffering from walking bali too much and water retenion . So the sides of the calfs & knees was pushed and kneaded working the lympatic meridians.
Next was for the back massage, as my problem was coughing, My shoulder blades & neck was kneaded. Damm painful, but was worth it. It was to work the muscles and meridians for the respiratory systems such as the lungs and the windpipe.
My theraphist had started the session by telling me if the pressure if too much, let him know. Throughout the session, there were some hard knots on my feet & sholder, those, the pressure was hard, but was eased off, and continues at a lower pressure. He was more attentive to minor details such as keeping the foot wraped while he was doing the other foot. The therapist that was having the session with my boyfriend less so, did not do the same for him, but was making jokes/ exchanging information about our countries while doing the session, so we were quite entertained.
Knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian / Bahasa Malayu was helpful in addition to the simple english that the therapist speaks.
I would advice any guy who goes for the session to remover the shirt for maximum effect. But for me, I had worn a T back halter neck , so it was ok. There wasn't any private rooms for seculded massage, less the risk of "accidental touching". The shop had a engraved wood wall (with decorative motifs, certain areas of the motifs are cut out) on the shop's perimeter, simple reclining chairs with music via headsets (for the customers for the foot massage) & the stool to prop the feet up during the massage but if you are doing the back massage, you will sit on it while the therpist does the back massage, sitting stool (for the therpist during foot massage), simple equipment i.e. rice cooker to keep the towels warm, bottles for the lotion.
Shop serves 6 person at any one time.
They provide hair clips for girls to pin up the hair.
Quality rating 4.5/5
Arcade:- Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Mostly for kids, some driving games, shoot basket ball, whack the animal, para para dance
Book Shop & Electrical store :- Discovery Shopping Mall Lvl 3
Expensive for backdated technology & books.
Back massage in Akhyati Villas & Spa
We had arranged for the complimentary 30 Min back massage (includes leg & calf massage) on the last day. We can choose to have the massage in the villa/ spa house.
We had taken the massage on the King sized mattress in the villa together.
They had used Camphor oils, which was good for relaxing while refreshing the senses, the pressure was light, as it was done by 2 ladies. 1 for each of the occupants.
Quality rating 3.5/5 .
Other interesting things to do:-
Head done the Kuta beach stretch for a surf in the seas (There are some shops selling surf boards on Jalan Legian
Have your long hair braided into pleats
Paint your nails i.e. manicure / pedicure
Hop down to the pub, wide variety of hard liqours, some shops have red & white wine on the menu
There is a few pubs that have live band (near Discovery Mall)
Do the reverse bangee on the stretch near Discovery Mall
Weather :-
Imagine the sky to be with little clouds, the sunlight was strong, bring sun block/ large round brim hats .
My feckles had grown worse even with spf 30 in my cosmetics * sigh *
It rains little for a short period each day , a small umbrella will be enough.
Travelling to places :-
Akhyati Villas & Spa provide complimentry pick up to Kuta & return. Other travelling location can be arranged at a cost. Other than this free arrangment, one can hire a car/ jeep/ motor cycle at a price, at full day or hourly rent rating. Either that or motor cycles/ taxi / Horse rides can be found. Taxi go by meter, by most of the taxi people prefer by 1 price, often over charging. Take for example, a taxi ride from the Denpasar airport to Aykyati cost about 20 K rp if going by the meter. But some can quote more if they are picking you up from Kuta to Aykyati at the same price, though less than half the distance.
Footwear :-
Comfortable shoes i.e. Flat Mules with/without backs or foam slippers, ensures walking for more distance
If blisters develop , there is a Phamacy in Matahari super market/ or another on the road to Discovery Centre.
Monday, April 03, 2006
In memory of Lim Shen Wei, Victim of Al Dana tragedy - Bahrain
As returned from a business trip from China on Apr 1, I was surprised, sadden and griefed to hear of this great loss. No, it is not a April's Fool's joke that my boy friend tried to pull a fast one on me.
Reallity hit me that instance.
The total count of the Singaporean victims numbered at 6 as on Apr 1 - Straits Times.
On board, I was told,was my friend's girlfriend (24 years old). Though not seperated in death was a minor comfort. But if all victims had survived, it will be the true consolation.
Any traveller, be it in their own country or overseas, we are at the mercy of the conditions on the land and its people. There can be no excuse to cordon this foolish behaviour in this case.
I had questioned again what is a loss of life to be meant to the living ?
It is a black hole of loss, dispair and grief, it comes with anger and it hates for the change.
Gross human oversight can not bring back the dead.
To me , this incident meant a loss of a friend that I knew for the past 6 years. A guy that I knew though my boy friend. A down to earth person.
To the parents of this friend, it is a loss of the child that they had brought up for the past 27 years, suddenly cut down from his prime of life.
I am angered and appalled at the lathargy of the Bahrain's system of the controling of the waterbased transport. Such gross oversight had done Bahrain a disfavour, a glaring stain on its reputation and the victims a disservice as they had entrusted their lives over to the owner of this boat.
However, I forgive, as there is no end for this loss, anger and hatred.
I , here pray for the safety of future travels as I had done before, In Jesus' Name, Amen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reallity hit me that instance.
The total count of the Singaporean victims numbered at 6 as on Apr 1 - Straits Times.
On board, I was told,was my friend's girlfriend (24 years old). Though not seperated in death was a minor comfort. But if all victims had survived, it will be the true consolation.
Any traveller, be it in their own country or overseas, we are at the mercy of the conditions on the land and its people. There can be no excuse to cordon this foolish behaviour in this case.
I had questioned again what is a loss of life to be meant to the living ?
It is a black hole of loss, dispair and grief, it comes with anger and it hates for the change.
Gross human oversight can not bring back the dead.
To me , this incident meant a loss of a friend that I knew for the past 6 years. A guy that I knew though my boy friend. A down to earth person.
To the parents of this friend, it is a loss of the child that they had brought up for the past 27 years, suddenly cut down from his prime of life.
I am angered and appalled at the lathargy of the Bahrain's system of the controling of the waterbased transport. Such gross oversight had done Bahrain a disfavour, a glaring stain on its reputation and the victims a disservice as they had entrusted their lives over to the owner of this boat.
However, I forgive, as there is no end for this loss, anger and hatred.
I , here pray for the safety of future travels as I had done before, In Jesus' Name, Amen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MANAMA, Bahrain — The construction executives from 16 countries were out on an evening cruise, celebrating their progress in building the 50-story, sail-shaped twin towers of Bahrain's World Trade Center.
Less than half a mile off the coast, some passengers crowded the dance floor on the upper deck of the 85-foot boat while others lingered at dinner on the deck below.
Suddenly, the boat, the Al-Dana, began a sharp turn and swayed. The passengers lost their balance and fell overboard as the craft turned over in the inky waters.
Bahraini authorities have declined to discuss the cause of the disaster, saying they would wait for results of an investigation ordered by Prime Minister Sheik Khalifah bin Salman Al Khalifah.
The Al-Dana was a modified version of the traditional dhow sailboat common throughout the Gulf. An official with the vessel's owner, Al Kobaisi Travel and Tours, said it was an old dhow recently refitted for dinner cruises. The Al-Dana is 85 feet long and 23 feet wide, according to the Bahraini coast guard.
The official said the vessel could carry a maximum of 150 people. Dinner is normally served while the vessel is docked, he said. Later, the ship routinely sails for two hours close to the shore. The official said the vessel had a small kitchen, and food served to passengers was cooked on shore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MANAMA, April 1 (Reuters) - Rescue workers searched on Saturday for two missing passengers of a cruise boat that capsized off the coast of Bahrain, after at least 57 people, mostly foreigners, drowned, officials said.
A helicopter circled the clear sky and Bahraini navy ships were scouring the water for the missing after their twin-decked boat went down late on Thursday.
Families of 13 Britons who drowned were expected to arrive in Bahrain later in the day to claim the bodies, the British Embassy in Manama said.
"The main focus of the British Embassy today is to support the bereaved and assist employers in notifying next of kin," an embassy spokeswoman said.
"A rapid deployment team from London has arrived. It includes seven staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Red Cross," she said.
Authorities detained and are questioning the boat's captain, an Indian, who they said was unqualified. The traditional wooden dhow was said to have been overloaded with passengers, who were aboard for a corporate party.
Officials earlier said 126 people were believed to have been on board. Tourism sources said the vessel had a capacity of 100.
"The captain was only a sailor and not qualified to operate the ship. The prosecutor's office has detained him and his assistant," prosecutor Nawaf Hamza told reporters on Friday.
"Initially charges against him are linked to his responsibility (for the accident)," Hamza said, adding that the ship was carrying more passengers than its capacity.
The boat's owner said the top-heavy vessel capsized when passengers gathered on one side, Al Arabiya television said.
The dead were: 21 Indians, 13 Britons, five South Africans, five Filipinos, four Singaporeans, four Pakistanis, two Thais, a German, an Irish citizen and a South Korean. Rescuers pulled 67 survivors from the water. More than 30 people were taken to hospital. Most have been discharged.
Egyptian Nasser Wahby told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper he was on the boat's top deck. "We were surprised when the boat tipped as passengers gathered to one side," he said.
One woman from the Philippines survived by hanging on to a rope. "I wasn't able to jump and I cannot swim. I wasn't able to wear a lifejacket either because it all happened so fast," she told the daily.
The boat trip was for employees of companies involved in a major construction project in Bahrain and their families.
South African construction firm Murray & Roberts (MURJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said that excluding crew, around 120 people were on the dhow -- employees of the firm, its partner Nass (NASS.BH: Quote, Profile, Research) and subcontractors, and their families.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
"WHY TRAINED, TALENTED & RELIABLE EMPLOYEES QUIT?"
"WHY TRAINED, TALENTED & RELIABLE EMPLOYEES QUIT?"
"Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer,got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software.
He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, a charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude. The salary was great.
The company had all the right systems in place - employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, the very best technology,even a canteen that served superb food.
Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. "It's a real high working with such cutting edge technology."
Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job. He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn't take it anymore. Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who
have also quit recently.
The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover. He's distressed about the money he's spent in training them. He's distressed because he can't figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary?
Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.
The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate superiors. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.
"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Bu ck ingham and Curt Hoffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."
If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers. Are they driving people away? Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels . Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager.
And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors. You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."
Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-pi ck y. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When
this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knock s a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons - many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you."
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee.There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement.
The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy traveling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home.
That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away. "
"Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer,got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software.
He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, a charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude. The salary was great.
The company had all the right systems in place - employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, the very best technology,even a canteen that served superb food.
Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. "It's a real high working with such cutting edge technology."
Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job. He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn't take it anymore. Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who
have also quit recently.
The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover. He's distressed about the money he's spent in training them. He's distressed because he can't figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary?
Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.
The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate superiors. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.
"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Bu ck ingham and Curt Hoffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."
If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers. Are they driving people away? Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels . Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager.
And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors. You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."
Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-pi ck y. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When
this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knock s a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons - many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you."
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee.There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement.
The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy traveling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home.
That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away. "
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
14th Feb 2006
It feels like yesterday that I had met him.
A dark & tall guy that chat with me @ the Temasek Polytechnic's End of 1st Open house Celebration Party of 1998.
He gave me the impression that he was sensitive, fun loving & articulate.
So the rest was history, when 15 days later, we began our long courtship.
Yesterday, we went over to The Arches, Sentosa, for French dinner.
Before that,he had given me a special pair of brown bears. They are holding a heart shape cushion in their paws. The heart shaped bear read ' I Love You' . The male kissed the female bear's left cheek. When you pulled the male bear from the female's cheek for a short distance & let go, it will be pulled to the cheek again. The voice box in the female will announce ' I love you x 2 ' !!
It's endearing ... sign ~
That's not all, after the dinner, we took a walk by the scenic gardens & waterfalls near the Merlion, so at length , we stoped for a rest.
There was another surprise. He told me that he would make me happy for the rest of my life and took out the Diamond ring that he was holding & asked if I am willing to marry him ;) I said Yes ! ^,^
hehe ~,~ ... ... hehe ~,~
So he put the ring on my finger & lifted me off my feet ! WOW !
This tender man had made me realised my potential to change and to be strong. Articulation is this man's strong suit. There is no easy way for me to wiggle from reasoning during our courtship.
At times, he seems to be like a hamster being sleepy & heaped under pillows and all. So I want to hug him & keep him.
hehe ~,~
On reflection, of the night, and our time together, it is his thoughtfulness and generous being that I am attracted to all these years & also the romantic soul in him !
A dark & tall guy that chat with me @ the Temasek Polytechnic's End of 1st Open house Celebration Party of 1998.
He gave me the impression that he was sensitive, fun loving & articulate.
So the rest was history, when 15 days later, we began our long courtship.
Yesterday, we went over to The Arches, Sentosa, for French dinner.
Before that,he had given me a special pair of brown bears. They are holding a heart shape cushion in their paws. The heart shaped bear read ' I Love You' . The male kissed the female bear's left cheek. When you pulled the male bear from the female's cheek for a short distance & let go, it will be pulled to the cheek again. The voice box in the female will announce ' I love you x 2 ' !!
It's endearing ... sign ~
That's not all, after the dinner, we took a walk by the scenic gardens & waterfalls near the Merlion, so at length , we stoped for a rest.
There was another surprise. He told me that he would make me happy for the rest of my life and took out the Diamond ring that he was holding & asked if I am willing to marry him ;) I said Yes ! ^,^
hehe ~,~ ... ... hehe ~,~
So he put the ring on my finger & lifted me off my feet ! WOW !
This tender man had made me realised my potential to change and to be strong. Articulation is this man's strong suit. There is no easy way for me to wiggle from reasoning during our courtship.
At times, he seems to be like a hamster being sleepy & heaped under pillows and all. So I want to hug him & keep him.
hehe ~,~
On reflection, of the night, and our time together, it is his thoughtfulness and generous being that I am attracted to all these years & also the romantic soul in him !
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Banyan Tree Bintan
3D2N - Banyan Tree Bin Tan
Located in a lush tropical setting overlooking the South China Sea, a stillness of spirit pervades the body and soul at Banyan Tree Bintan.
You will be mesmerized by the sights and sounds of Banyan Tree’s natural habitat – its tropical forest, hillside terrain and secluded golden beach create an unforgettable setting.
Imagine .. this villa is your personal space, the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks below. The wind dances through the canopy above. Butterfiles wafting in and out of the flowers by the foot paths , spots of sunshine breaking through the canopy and the occational squirel watching you as you pass by in the morning quietness.
Go to the infinity pool near the beach, enjoy a good tan and jacuzzi services. When the mood comes, go down to the beach to bulid a sand castle or watch the small sand crabs going about their morning feed before the tide comes in.
When night falls, have a romantic dinner by candle light, and the cool wind rushes around in blasts. The fairy lights aglow under the thick canopy, enveloping the outdoors in mysterious setting.
what bliss & a treat ~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)