Original Hilton Singapore American Cheesecake

This recipe was found on some old newspaper cutting.. it says that the recipe was passed down by an American chef and has remained unchanged for over 31 yrs although new flavors such as Oreo and Devil's chocolate has evolve from it..

I put it down here so that one of my friend can use it.. ;-)

Ingredients:
500g Philadelphia cream cheese
140g sugar
75g sour cream
45g Even brand plain cream from France
3 eggs
5g Vanilla essence

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg C.
2. Prepare the inside of cake mould for a 1kg cake with a little butter and flour, set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar till smooth for at least eight minutes at third speed.
4. Add sour cream step by step to the mixture and continue to beat till smooth at second speed.
5. Add the eggs one by one and the vanilla essence. Continue to mix at the second speed till mixture becomes fluffy.
6. Pour it into the mould and bake in a bain marie (a large pan of barely simmering water in which the mould in it, is place), which allows the mixture to be heated gently and evenly for 30 minutes at 180 deg C.
7. After 30 mins, flip the cheesecake over to check if both the top and bottom are evenly browned. If not, put the cake back into the mould, with the darker side at the bottom and place it in the oven again. Adjust the oven temperature to 100 dec C for 30 mins more until the cheesecake becomes firm. Be careful: Over-baking yr cheesecake will cause the skin to crack and it will become dry and difficult to cut.
8. Let the cheesecake cool down to room temperature. Place the cheesecake onto the prepared base.

To make base:
1. Purchase ready-rolled flat sugar dough (abt 0.5cm thick) from major supermarkets.
2. Cut the dough to the correct diameter, that is, similar to the cheesecake mould, and bake in oven at 200 deg C until it turns golden brown. Leave to cool.

note: pls dont ask me question.. i havent tried it yet. Just keying in here for memory for now.. ;P

tickle the funny bone

i like to read The Straits Times recruit section front or back page. It always has some articles that teaches you something e.g. HR matters, self-improvements, public speaking, etc.. Just anything that makes you a better person!

Today, i read this article titled 'Tickle the funny bone'. Teach u to use humour as your brand image and the audience will always remember you.

Use wisely the following 5 pts:

1. Use a signature catch-phrase. Most people recognize phrases or slogans and automatically think of the creators when they hear them. e.g. "Just Do it!" Nike.

2. Tell a funny story. Think of something funny that happened to a celebrity or business leader that was widely reported. Your audience will connect with the story and with you.

3. Use a tag line. Humorist Frank King's tag line is "Make a living, not a difference". Mine is "lead by not leading, teach by not teaching". ;-)

4. Create a character. Some speakers create a character outside their real self. One well known humorist George Campbell's "Joe Malarkey, the worst motivational speaker in America". His act is classic. George's promotional material says that Joe (his imagined character) touches on affirmation, goal-setting, relationship skills, and dress-for-success techniques. They're able to blend them seamlessly into their presentation.

5. Adopt a unique format. Once, a speaker used a funny presentation by showing photos of real signs. He uses it as a comic device through-out his talk and to illustrate his serious points regarding marketing he's teaching.. And this technique is unique to him today! ;-)

So, if you are a speaker or to make presentation, consider these five options for creating your own humour brand! ;-)

handmade piggy family

to think that my mother-in-law actually did these handmade piggy family out of flour! Amazing!! ;-)

managed chaos

For the past many years, i've always been thinking about how companies can manage better especially in the area of ad hoc/last minute tasks - which is the common complaint of the employees on their bosses..

Thru observations, personal managing experience and dealing with bosses, i noticed a great differing views & feelings between bosses and employees on this matter. But that's not shocking.. we all know naturally it differs. But differ by how much and why? and how can we close this gap?

Well, i found that bosses generally believe that most of the time last minute tasks cannot be helped. It's the nature of the work/business. So employees must adapt to it. Period.

In contrast, employees felt that most of the time ad hoc tasks can be better managed and avoided with proper planning. They believe that bosses just didnt make the effort to help reduce such incidents.

To close this gap, bosses need to change their belief. They should first begin by thinking that most tasks need not always be last minute or ad hoc. Business dont require that!

Clearing and clarifying the mental roadblock is essential; if not, the ultimate survival for a happy work environment! This must be followed by putting in effort to plan and create a system or mechanism of tracking upcoming tasks and providing early warning and improving communications flow with employees.

Employees must understand ad hoc or last minute tasks are unavoidable and to take it in their stride as part of the job.. it may sometimes affect your personal plans but it shouldnt affect your working relationship with your boss..

At the end of the day, if both sides never meet, it then signal the end of a good working relationship.. that's when both parties shall depart.. ;-)

Work by default is chaos in most minds of bosses. Can we actually manage chaos? Sounds like oxymoron rite? yes, and i strongly believe we can manage chaos by first acknowledging that work can be chaotic at times or most of the time. Arm with this understanding, we then develop a way of taking in these chaotic situation and transform it into something manageable - likely approach is to chop it into bits size - a divide and conquer strategy. We will also need a mechanism to track and monitor trends and upcoming events and to raise alarm when it hits a certain threshold.. rather than wait till it's too late totally unaware and unprepared.

In conclusion, believe in chaos and believe you can manage it. ;-)

Lynnette's Dream - video & song

There is my second MTV!! hurray!!
Hope u all will like it! ;-)

Special note: Lynnette Low, an ex-colleague and friend, whose dream of setting up a cafe by the beach inspired this song. This song is written in 22 August 2005.



Lyrics:

i can see the sunshine in your eyes
You are running down that coastline
The birds are singing.. you're in paradise
The place you're dreaming.. soon be realised

Chorus:
I can see your smile
Tells a lot what's on your mind
Open up your eyes and
You may be surprised

I can feel your passion in the wind
Calming every soul who share your dream
When the nite fall comes U will believe
This dream is your real destiny

[Repeat chorus]

Bridge:
There's no doubt u will surely fulfill
A dream that is so wonderful
I believe it will all come true
If u just do what u gonna do

Have some faith and Lynnette's dream will come true..
Have some faith coz Lynnette's dream will come true..

copyrighted 2005.

an old friend..

TayLK is a good old friend that goes back to our Air Force days! We meet up only once a year to catch up. This year she brought her daughter along to my place for lunch.. My wife cooked Bak Kua Tek while i fried egg and steam ready-to-eat dumpling..

Her little gal is pretty clever and adorable, i must say.. ;P

So, see u again next year friend! ;-)

tomato roses..

just attended a cooking class by an executive chef.. one of the things he taught us is to create a rose out of tomato skin.. and in order not to have waste, i would probably use the remaining tomato flesh to cook as topping for my fried egg! ;-)

know no notes but still can write songs

No words can describe my joy in seeing this article on Sunday Times! i was overjoyed! ;-)

Long time ago, i learned that Beatles's Paul McCartney cant read and write music notes and was inspired to continue my songwriting. It was encouraging especially if u live in Singapore.. the environment is not conducive and encouraging enough then..

And today, i found another guy! He's Eric Ng, a fellow Singaporean! That's really something. I do agree with him that fortunately technology lends a great deal of helping hand for folks like us.

Now, i feel even more motivated to continue my interest in songwriting! ;-)

something about teach and lead

"If you teach, they will not be taught.
If you lead, they will not be led.
So, teach without teaching.
And lead without leading.
That's the ultimate challenge
of a true master teacher & leader!"
- Kenneth Woo, 2007.

These words of wisdom is even more relevant with today's great reliance on human capital assets for business sustainability and competitive advantage. Smart people dont like to be taught and led.. or at least they dont like to be seen that way.. but there're strategies to manage smart people. Use the above quote to trigger your thinking & reflective mind.. i'm still learning too.. Also, knowing is one thing.. to internalise it into yr DNA is another. ;-)

Future means.. Present ends..

this morning i nearly fell off my MRT seat while reading an article.. not because of earthquake, not because someone press the emergency button,.. but because of what i just read..

The article paraphrased Fritz Roethlisberger, a pioneer in human relations and organisational behaviour:

"Most people think of what

they're doing in the present as the means and

the resultant future as the end.

In fact, the future is the means and

the present is the end."

I've never think in this way.. really penny for my thoughts.. Mmm.. will need some time to digest.. ;-)

who's that girl? ;-)

Guess who's cute baby gal is it? Yup, we went to East Coast for morning walks with WS & KH.. too bad i forgot to take more pictures of the group! ;-(

However, we did capture some videos for my MTV use.. and two pictures - see below! See how fast she's growing up! ;-)

gathering at Pontini

always happy to be treated.. this time, i won a bet with MC.. so she took us to this Italian restaurant, Pontini. Not the kind of regular place i would visit coz it's quite ex.. ;P

Nevertheless, had a good time catching up! The food is okay.. ;-)

so sweet of her..

so lovely.. she just sleep on my hand.. ;-)

ps. my wife's good friend daughter.

Karyn birthday..

Only seven yrs old aledi got flowers.. Mmm.. growing up fast lady.. ;-)

cupcakes cupcakes..

my wife made the cupcakes & did the creaming.. while i only sprinkle the colorful sugar bits.. ;-)


And if u wanna see more cupcakes pictures, pls visit my darling's blog..

two ladders for women and just one for men..

a little friend told me a story abt ladders.. she said that women own two ladders while men own only one.. in their mind abt the opposite sex.

Women's first ladder is for potential love/life partner while the second ladder is purely for friendship. So, if men kick off the friendship with her on the second ladder, u will never win her heart no matter how hard u try - since u started on the wrong foot or wrong ladder. But if u start off on the first ladder, u have the potential to climb higher to win her heart.. not withstanding competition.

Men is simpler - only one ladder. Meaning, any women have the chance to win his heart.. ;-)

Do u agree with this thinking? Mmm.. i'm still wondering.. but it's an interesting concept nonetheless.

struggles of the lay Buddhists

it's really a struggle to be a lay Buddhist.. must admit after being a practicing Buddhist for the past few years. i know it shouldnt be a struggle if i have reached a certain level of 'enlightenment' but still.. ;-(

the world we live in is just different from the world i would love to live in.. this material world's influence is just too strong, and greatly shaped people's behaviour to think self-centric and act self-interest.. everybody's thinking how to climb the corporate ladder, how to be better than the guy next door,.. sometimes if i'm not careful, i also got suck into such thinking. i only manage to pull myself out when i start to think about Buddhist teachings and think abt the truth of life.. i have to remind myself to be mindful - be aware and beware of the things surrounding us..

lately, the pressure is much higher for me as i'm in a new environment with new people around me.. it's difficult to tell who's the good people and who's the 'questionable' ones.. just have to stay alert.. as politics aplenty, with people's personal agenda,..

Mmm.. why do i feel down lately? perhaps exhausted with all the work.. with all the pressure to do a good job.. perhaps i should be doing meditation now and more often.. perhaps that's what i should do.. Yup, i cant wait to go East Coast this Sunday to video my second MTV on Lynnette's dream song! ;-)

4-D branding

just went to the new library at Bishan.. and borrowed a few books. One of them is titled "4-D branding" by Thomas Gad.

Wished i had more time to read but just managed to skim thru.. Finally knows what 4-D stands for.. they are the 4 dimensions of branding! (i) Social (ii) Spritiual (iii) Functional (iv) Mental.

Think after all the innovation we have and the IPRs & IPM in place, it's left with marketing and branding to bring the products and services to the customers or vice versa??

what's next after innovation?

innovation has been the buzz word since abt five years ago.. and i think it will still be relevant for many years to come.. However, i believe a new buzz word will surface that complement innovation well.

Think abt it.. so what if u have many innovations.. your innovation process may work and many ideas were realized and sold to the marketplace making lots of money.. but beware,.. if u're not careful, yr innovations will be copied and stolen - it's so easy these day.. So, u will need to protect them earnestly.. Thus, u will need to know IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) and IPM (Intellectual Property Management). And IP is not just about protection - by registering your patents, trademarks and designs.. It's also about creation, ownership and exploitation - giving a holistic approach.

Very soon, companies will find IPM or IP management becoming more and more important when they realised that increasingly their revenues will be coming from such intangible assets - the output of their highly skilled human capital. All the more they need to pay attention to these IPs - identify them and have an IP portfolio for them which then is aligned to the overall business strategies.

For more info, u may visit IP offices.. every country has one such office. Click here to visit Singapore IP office. IPOS.

is it worth it? being an entrepreneur

recently i've the great opportunity to talk to a few entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses a few years ago. it must be the Chinese New Year season that somehow make people reflect on their past and of course old friends and friendships spring to mind.. and people started meeting up one another to catch up..

being forever curious of what makes a person successful, i will always ask those entrepreneur friends what makes them successful? or what are the key lessons learned in life? i usually get some answers from them.. i wont share it here though.. ;-) But what's interesting is that most of them say they're tired and it's really tough to be an SME.. even though the government keeps saying they are helping them.. it's still a struggle with all those MNCs standing so closely..

Some wanted to take a break and go back to school, others wanted to change trade.. i can feel sign of fatigue and sign of resign.. after years of struggle.. i cant help but feel a little down too coz i'm thinking of running my own biz one day.. fulfilling one of my life goals. Nevertheless, will remember their lessons and go with the flow of life.. perhaps one day i will be an entrepreneur too.. perhaps not.. i guess at the end of the day, for me.. i just wanna do what i like to do.. and in line with my Three Good principles of life - good for yourself, good for others, and serve a greater good. ;-)

one brain two minds - conscious and unconscious

do u have a problem making decisions? and even if u do make decisions, do u think yr decisions are good? or after the fact in-retrospect, u often felt that u could have make better ones?

no worries,.. here's probably the reason why. Though we have one brain only, it is extremely powerful. It has two minds! the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.

Everyone knows abt the conscious mind.. coz that's what we need in our every waking moment.. but there is this unconscious mind always working behind the scenes whether we're working, resting or sleeping.. it's like a CPU running in the foreground which churn out pictures on the monitor screen while another CPU is running in the background processing the complex algorithms.. passing the answers to the foreground CPU.. ;-)

So, with this understand, how can it help in making better decisions?

Answer: whenever u are given a problem, first find information that might give a solutions - that's using yr conscious mind. Spend enough time and consume enough info will do. Dont overload yr mind with too much info. Focus on the key stuff. Then move on to do other things unrelated to this problem. This will divert attention of the conscious mind from the problem and give the unconscious mind an opportunity to work on the problem in the background. During this time, yr unconscious mind will perform 'miracle'.. and somehow, more often than not, give u better decisions.

Dont believe? try it.. ;-)

[this writing is inspired by Feb'07 HBR article on "When to sleep on it"]