The Target Cafe again

Went to The Target Cafe with M and WM for lunch. They attested to the taste and good value of the food. We all had the grilled fish set. If you go there and had to have coffee, go for the brewed ones. The normal ones are not very good.

Insanity

This quote was attributed to the great Albert Einstein.


"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. "

Are we expecting the same in our work and lives?

Vietnam coffee and two babes

The moon is blue today. Even in the heat of the afternoon, I knew it.

Doesn't make sense to you? My friend Chee Keong invited me to his house to try out his "very good" vietnamese coffee which he bought during a recent trip. This to me is a "once in a blue moon".

Anyway, this was the coffee. The coffee was quite aromatic but being an uncle now, I prefer the friendly hawker centre's kopi-gao.

But I must still convey my thanks to CK for his sincerity and hospitality. Furthermore, I also got introduced to two very young friends, Kaixin and Xavier.

Baby gal Kaixin with her Uncle Keong

Baby boy Xavier with (again) his Uncle Keong

Henry Ford an Ignoramus?

As defined in the dictionary, an ignoramus is an ignorant person. Here's a story about Henry Ford defending in court claims that he was an ignoramus.

This excerpt was taken from "http://www.tribune.com.ng/06102007/opinion.html".

================

Henry Ford, the automobile business mogul, brought suit against the Chicago Tribune, charging that newspaper with libelous publication of statements concerning him, one of which was the statement that Ford was “an ignoramus, an ignorant pacifist,” and so on. That was during World War I.

In the courtroom, the attorneys for Tribune undertook to prove that their statements were correct, that he was ignorant, and with this objective in mind, they catechized and cross-examined him on many subjects.

One question thrown at Ford was: “How many soldiers did the British send to subdue the rebellion in the colonies in 1776?” However, with a dry grin on his face, Ford nonchallantly replied: “I do not know just how many, but I have heard that it was a lot more than ever went back.”

This reply threw the courtroom into loud laughter from the jury, courtroom spectators, and even the depressed attorney who had asked the question. This line of cross-examination was prolonged for more than an hour, with Ford remaining perfectly calm. At the end, however, he was tired of it and in reply to a question which was particularly obnoxious and degrading, the business magnate straightened himself up, pointed his finger at the questioning attorney and retorted: “If I should really wish to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the others you have been asking, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push buttons hanging over my desk and, by placing my finger on the right button, I could call in men who could give me the correct answers to all the questions you have asked and others that you haven’t the intelligence to ask or to answer. Now, will you kindly tell me why I should bother about filling my head with a lot of useless details in order to answer every foolish question that anyone may ask, when I have able men all around me who can supply me with all the facts I want when I call for them?”

There was graveyard silence in the courtroom. The questioning attorney’s jaw dropped and his eyes opened wide. The judge leaned forward from the bench and gazed in Mr. Ford’s direction. Many of the jury awoke and looked around as if they heard an explosion, which they actually had.

Readers, Henry Ford’s answer proved to all who had the intelligence to accept the proof that true education means mind development, not merely the gathering and classifying of knowledge. Ford could not, in all probability, have named the America’s state capitals, but he could have, and in fact had gathered the capital with which to turn many wheels within every state in the union.

Test Tube Apple Juice

I took my client out to Lingzhi (the vegetarian restaurant) at Orchard Road behind Wheelock Place for lunch today. Well, one of them was a vege only eater. The food there was good and nothing special to mention until we ordered some fruits to wrap up the luncheon... huge slices of rock melon and water melon were served with test tubes of apple juice. Needless to say, my clients and I were amazed. The special part about this test tube apple juice is that it doesnt flow as long as you tilt it less than 90 degrees, meaning you can tilt the test tube to 80 degrees and the water level looks as though it is still at 0 degrees upright! Only when you put it your mouth and tilt it >100 degrees to drink it ... it suddenly breaks through and flows into your mouth, a refreshing cool drink.

Systems Thinking (2)

This is a continuation of my post on Think Big, Start Small.

After reading the post, my wife said she still was not very clear on what were the systems, loops and connections I was talking about. I will relate two stories which Dr Jacob said.

====== Story 1/ Seeing Loops ======

A newly married lady found it unbearable to live with her mother-in-law. The often argued and the family became a very unhappy place. It got so bad that this lady went to see a TCM doctor and asked for some herbs which can help to get rid of her mother-in-law. The doctor told her that he will give her some herbs, but because if the mother-in-law died suddenly, it is too obvious, the herbs will only take effect after some time. And also to prevent suspicion, the doctor said that the lady must be very nice and obedient to her mother-in-law until the day that the mother-in-law dies. So this lady dutifully followed the advice and this went on for six months. Thereafter, she went to the TCM doctor but now asked for medicine to prevent her mother-in-law from dying. After these six months, the mother-in-law has grown to like her and she in turn has accepted and also grown to love her mother-in-law. The TCM doctor said that the herbs he gave were actually normal herbs which had only beneficial properties. The poison was actually in the lady's mind which needed to be cleansed.

The loop was actually a vicious loop: lady angry with mother-in-law >> mother-in-law angry with lady and so on.

After spotting such loops in our work or life, we can then take steps to reverse the vicious loop. And the area to work on is where we have the most control, often, it is our selves.

====== Story 2/ Seeing Connections ======

A lady who had a severe headache went to see a TCM doctor. The pain was too much to bear and she could not understand what was the cause of the pain. She was therefore puzzled that the doctor, after diagnosis, gave her medicine to use on her feet. After clarification, the doctor said that the headache was actually from the lady's constipation and did she know that the feet is actually linked to the head via nerves.

This story shows that if we fail to see the connection between things, we may not be able to see the solution of the issue.

Air grounded

This was the air-cushion component of my nike air shoe which retired after close to three years of service. I did not notice that the soles of the shoes were coming off. In the middle of the class, the soles simply came off so I, out of finding something to do, dug out the air cushion.

And because of this, I had to buy a new pair of shoes. These are my new shoes.

Luckily, these pair of shoes had only the larger sizes left so it costs $79. The shoes are light and adequately cushioned. Will use them in the Singapore Bay Run tomorrow.

Think Big, Start Small

I attended a "Basic Systems Thinking" course today. While I shall not bore everybody with what was being thought, I will leave some nuggets of info which I felt were quite valuable.
We are surrounded by systems, how the country, your company, your project, your family functions etc are all systems. And recognising how they work and how they can work for you can make a world of difference.

The lecturer, Dr Jacob Lee, pointed out that in systems, people normally see the components but fail to see the connections within the system.

He also spoke on the "loops" in our lives; loops are systems. As an example, the obvious loop is one of a char kway teow store and how the shop owner keeps his customers coming back for more. And loops could either lead to a vicious cycle (where matters keep deteriorating) or a virtuous cycle (where matters keep getting better).

And if we are in a vicious cycle, and these are normally systemic problems which are very difficult to solve, one way to break the cycle is to start at the area where one has the most control and to start SMALL but having a BIGGER aim in mind -- Think Big Start Small.

And in many times, the assumptions we make in resolving problems may actually lead to the problem becoming worse. For example, if in a company, increasing numbers of staff are resigning but management merely chooses to mitigate the situation increasing pay instead of looking at other issue like motivation or whether the staff is adequately trained, the situation may never get better.

That's all for today :)

Ayam Penyet or Smashed Chicken

Visited Marina Square Food Court for dinner. This is a branch of the famous "original" Ayam Penyet Ria store at Lucky Plaza. If you like fried stuff, this store should appeal to you. The best thing about this store is that it serves authentic indonesian 'sambal' or chilli. You could choose between fried chicken (chicken wing or thigh) or fish (pomfret or catfish) at $5.50; comes with rice and a small bowl of soup. The skin of the chicken and fish is nicely fried and crispy, the downside is that probably after frying two times (once when preparing and once before serving), the meat is a little dry but still tasty.
I also tried the bakso (beef ball soup). At $4 and only 6 meat balls served, this is on the expensive side. And when I bit into the meat ball, it was still cold in the middle; the soup was also cold. I complained to the store owner and he said he will heat it up! So, better not try the soup in the future.
If you want to try the dishes at the orginal store, it serves some pretty interesting drinks as well like avocado ice. But be prepared to queue and wait for your meal to be served, especially at peak hours.

圆的不能拿 Prata

My dad was the one who noticed the chinese name of this store. We were sitting in front of the prata shop but I did not notice the small chinese words. I had always enjoyed watching the cook make the prata, kneading the dough, flipping it and tossing it on the frying pan.
The spices used by the shop was displayed prominently in big, clear glass containers.

There was a quaint looking washing point in the food court. We used this to wash our hands before and after our meal.