Networking that works - 10 tips

ref: Straits Times pg R33.

1. Before attending an event, think that you are going to spend 3 hours of your precious there, unpaid.. so better make full use of your time there.

2. Enjoy the process/event and have some fun!

3. Walk in, hold yr head up, pull yr shoulders back & smile with confidence. Just tell yourself most people are as nervous as you are there.

4. You are decent & likeable person. Believe in yourself and your expertise.

5. Plan to speak to 3 new people and gain 3 new info abt them. Identify people u wanted to meet and make sure you walk to them and intro yourself.

6. Remember that everyone's there to network. So rejection will be minimum.

7. If u meet someone who's rude & unpleasant, just move away. Focus on pleasant & welcoming folks.

8. Be interested in people than be just interesting. Let others do most of the talking while u listen attentively. Get to know them.

9. Small talk - abt travel, sports, family or hobbies.. It's the foundation of relationships.

10. Ask for their business cards and seek permission to contact them a few days later. Write down on agreed date on back of the card. As soon as you get home, write down the useful info & be prepared for the vital follow up call.

People First, Task Second

It took me many years before i realised the mistake of focusing too much on task.. Blame it on HP who started the Management By Objective concept. I took it as THE WAY..

Years on, once i was reading an article.. and this author wrote that first manage people's expectation, then manage the tasks. And bingo! i hit jackpot.. since then, i've overhauled my management belief system to People First, Tasks Second concept.

Following this, i now place talent or people management as my first/highest priority. You can never succeed in business without the assistance of your people. So, credits must be given to them.

Well, i understand that it's hard to talk abt people first when the work's fire is burning at your doorstep.. yes, it's difficult. But if you dont try or adopt such mindset, nothing's gonna happen. Bite the bullet, swallow the bitter pill.. and you will enjoy the fruit later on..

Blessings.

testing

5 theme leadership model

By Professor Roger Gill

Theme 1 - Leadership, Vision & Mission
Define and communicate an appealing vision & mission for your organisation.

Theme 2 - Leadership, Shared Values & Corporate Culture
Identify, display, promote & reinforce shared core values as part of developing a strong organisational culture that supports the vision and mission.

Theme 3 - Leadership and Strategy
Develop and implement intelligent business strategies that are informed by core values, scenario planning, and the vision & mission for your organisation.

Theme 4 - Leadership and Empowerment
Empower your people to be able to do what needs to be done in the organisation.

Theme 5 - Leadership and Influence, Motivation and Inspiration
Influence, motivation and inspire your people to want to do what needs to be done.

cuttlefish

A friend went diving took this picture of a cuttlefish.. never thought cuttlefish looks like this.. though i like eating them.. ;-)

life..

i've never know life as much as present.. all the places i've been.. all the people i've met.. all the rights as well as all the wrongs.. worst, plenty of grey.. blurs the line many a times.. Still, life goes on.. we have to be happy.. and happy is my goal. and happy in the right way i must.. not short term but with a long term view. it's tough i know. but it can be done. i've walked half my life. shall not leave the reminding half go to waste. i shall do things that's good for me. good for others. and hopefully serve a greater good. after working for so many years - over 17 years to be more exact. i realised it's not about business, processes and the tasks i've done that's most important..
i realised it's not about me. it's about others - people. it's about working with other people - staff, partners, customers,.. it's about leaveraging on one another's strength to accomplish things. So, now my focus is really talent management or simply people management. Developing others is my goal. my focus. mentoring has never been so important in my life. and i enjoy mentoring people. it's so fulfilling. but can be stressful as well.. as i'm mindful abt teaching the wrong things. thus, i constantly think about my life's principles.. so i wish for wisdom, patience, calmness & understanding.. ;-)

Bali holiday

cashew nuts

To be frank, i do like cashew nuts.. and i know it's quite expensive too.. but i never thought the nut or fruit looks like this.. like green pepper.. and no wonder it's expensive.. my friend told me that the whole fruit only produce one nut..

Tree Wizard Workshop

He is probably the only tree artist in Singapore! His passion & determination really inspire me. Please support his works!

tempura

How to make good batter for frying tempura prawns and other vegetables?

Tempura mixes you buy off the shelf may contain unnecessary additives. So make your own batter!
Basic proportion: 1 egg to about 140ml of icy-cold water to about 110g cake flour.
Some blend flour & cornstarch instead of just flour.

Beat egg with water until blended, then add flour & stir briefly with chopsticks until barely mixed. It should be lumpy. Small lumps of unmixed flour is fine - it gives a lighter, more open fried batter texture. Always add flour to water.. not the other way round.

There're many batter style.. alter flour, egg & water proportions to your liking..

Delicate items like fish & prawns need thin batter whereas thick onion & sweet potatoes suit thick batter.

For prawns, shell it & leaves tails shell on.. Make a shallow cut along the prawn's underside where the legs were - it prevents curl.. and pat it dry before frying.

Oil temperature around 180 deg C at which it shimmer & start to give off a light haze. Japanese restaurant used to add sesame oil to the cooking oil for frying to add fragrance.

Fry without overcrowding.. One 'making flowers' technique used in Japan is to use chopstick tips to dip into the batter and flick droplets onto the frying prawns to build up a lacy irregular crispy coat.

Lastly, eat immediately! Tempura, like any other fried food, sog out in as little as 30 minutes.

Birthday gal and the Bee

We hope she likes her birthday presents.. ;P

The main causes of liver damage are:

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.
2. Not urinating in the morning.
3. Too much eating.
4. Skipping breakfast.
5. Consuming too much medication.
6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring , and artificial sweetener.
7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possiblereduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired,except if the body is very fit.
8. Consuming raw (overly done)foods also add to the burden of liver.
Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

We should prevent this without necessarily spending more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and time condition are very important for our bodies to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to 'schedule.'


Because :

Evening at 9 - 11 PM : is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic chemicals (detoxification) from the antibody system (lymph nodes). This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an unrelaxed state such as washing the dishes or monitoring children doing their homework, this will have a negative impact on health.

Evening at 11pm - 1 am : is the detoxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 1 - 3 am : detoxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.
Early morning 3 - 5 am : detoxification in the lungs. Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for cough sufferers during this time. Since the detoxification process had reached the respiratory tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.
Morning 5 - 7am : detoxification in the colon, you should empty your bowel.

Morning 7 - 9 am : absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, youshould be having breakfast at this time.Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30 am , for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30 am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 - 10 am rather than no meal at all.

Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.

DO TAKE CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.................

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS

1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level.
This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causingmalnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered, increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

ZOO visit

My 4 teachers and mentors

They may not know me.. but they are my 4 most important & greatest teachers and mentors! i think about their words.. their teachings almost everyday of my life.. and it took me more than ten years before it actually got internalized.. rewired my brain.. reframed my mind.. however, i'm still learning.. and that's the best part! still learning.. life's not so boring ya.. ;P

Love, Marriage & Divorce

This is an interesting quote from My Paper.

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote:
"Love is blind, but marriage restores its sight."

I would like to extend it to:
"Love is blind, but marriage restores its sight.
And divorce provides great insights"

Pink Tofu Cheesecake - New!!

Another creation from BakinCow! ;-)

Well,.. it was my idea but researched & fully developed by my dearest wife.. ;-)

Place your order now! ;-)

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, we went to have buffet lunch at a hotel. The environment is great! but the food so-so.. though there's one i like (see pic).
Lesson learned - would prefer to go to a good restaurant for real good food.. the cost is not much different either..

After lunch, we took train to Orchard & did some shopping. Once we have digested all the food in our stomach we went back to hotel to take our car and drive to Thomson road and went for Javanese massage! It was really really great! maybe i should go massage every V day! ;-)

corporate lunch, food allergic & my darling

had corporate lunch on CNY eve at an Indo-Thai restaurant. the food is really good i must say.. never been to an Indo-Thai restaurant before.. but when i was on my way home on mrt, my eyes started to swell.. by the time i reached home i started to have blur vision.. and eyes swollen to a puff.. like someone punched my face.. desperately looking for a clinic.. cant find one at all.. all were closed for CNY.. fortunately, i called a friend who lived in Yishun for a long time.. and guided me to a 7am-11pm clinic near the Yishun mrt station.. Mmm,.. but i never had any food allergic problem.. after talking to a few folks, i can only suspect the coloring used in the food or dessert.. maybe or maybe not.. ;-)
And here's a picture with my dear and my recovering eyes.. ;P

Chinese New Year Basin Dishes

every year, we would go to my in-laws place for reunion dinner.. and my mum-in-law would cook a big basin dish. This year, she used a clay-pot which gives it a more traditional feel to the dinner.. i like it! ;-)