Great invention-to-be

2. An app that could talk to you while you pretend to text someone

Everyone experiences those times when they are waiting on someone else and have to break the awkwardness of standing alone. Most people take out their iPhone and text someone. As for me, I just stand there like an idiot. I want to text someone or have any communication with another live person, but there is never anybody to talk to. This dope ass app will let you talk about something with a complete stranger until your date shows up (or not depending). You can debate common controversial topics, discuss current events, or just chat about your day. Its like the best friend you never had and it only costs $1.
Accessed: http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-mahoney/2013/10/6-ridiculous-inventions-you-would-totally-want/

Totally viable, and totally in demand.

Azerbaijan

When I think Azerbaijan, I remember that one Eurovision contest I watched where Azerbaijan won (and fairly so) and I remember thinking where's Azerbaijan - is it.. part of Europe?

Then read this article about their despotic leader.. despotic and not very cleverly so.

He won the most recent democratic elections.
And the election results were announced... one full day before the voting began.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/09/oops-azerbaijan-released-election-results-before-voting-had-even-started/

The difference between the British and the Americans

20 British words that don't mean the same in the US
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/20-british-words-that-mean-something-totally-different-in-the-us

Totally resonated with me.
Especially chips.. took me a while to get used to saying crisps. And really chips is still easier to say.

Fallacy

These days you see too many articles and stories about school drop-outs who make it big.
I don't disagree, but I do want to say that while many(?) world-changing people out there are school drop-outs, many school drop-outs don't make it big.

I doubt the relationship between school drop-out and world-changer is a causal one, however far removed.

There's a name for this kind of fallacy that I learnt in university but I don't remember.
And somehow this reminds me of David Hume.
And also that story about the balloon and the car.
And that story about how people who don't eat seafood are more likely to be murderers.
And of course, the democratic peace theory.

PS Fallacy is called cum hoc ergo propter hoc for whoever cares.
Doesn't sound familiar at all though...

You may gamble away your money, but you should never gamble your friendship.

A heartening post by CEO of Jizi Hotel.

mmd，老子喝了点酒留了点鼻涕，发张照片发微薄居然有人说恶心，行，老子喝了点，但没喝多，说点赌博的事，看恶不恶心，反正高考作文我满分，喝多了也不至于有逻辑问题。
　　今年凯雷给我们投了一笔钱，向大家想象的一样，这里面肯定有对赌条款，但是唯一不一样的是，最大的赌家是我，单从这次赌局规则来说，这是一个只有我输或者平的赌法。但是，这是我制定的赌局，为了做一件我认为对的事情而设的赌局，我一辈子只想做对的事情，虽然总是错。
　　今年年初和凯雷谈融资的时候，双方根据中国几家在美国上市的酒店公司估值以及企业的成长预期做出了一个估值，到接近年中的时候双方进入合同最后阶段，这个时候几家在美国上市的公司估值半年下降了30%左右，估值成了双方最大的问题。
　　做为全球最大的私募基金之一，凯雷公司自然有非常严谨的估值体系(别告诉我你不知道凯雷有多大，总之凯雷几乎是你知道的投资公司里最大的)，虽然他们非常理解这是资本市场的原因造成的在美国上市的中国股的大跌，虽然他们知道我们做的精品酒店与经济型酒店差别很大，但是他们老大不知道中国情况，所以客观上会造成我们的估值显得比较高，所以双方再估值的问题上碰到了比较大的障碍。
　　我实在不愿意看到降低企业的估值的结果，因为企业估值一旦降低，老的投资人所占比例就会降低，而跟我多年打拼的兄弟们以及主要的骨干，他们的期权所占公司股份同样会下降，换句话说，信任我的投资人还有跟着我的兄弟们要吃亏。
　　于是，我做了一个决定，我拿出自己全部的期权交给凯雷抵押，如果企业做得不好，我的期权将全部转给凯雷，而如果企业做得好，我则拿回我的期权。凯雷公司最终接受了我的条件。
　　我是公司的创始人，也是公司的股东。酒店是一个资本密集型的行业，我个人投的那点钱在公司里根本算不了什么，所以，几轮投资之后我自己在公司所占的股份几乎说是微不足道。做为创始人和企业的主要管理人员，企业给了我一些期权，所以期权如果能行权将使得我在公司里的股份得以上升。换句话说，如果公司能够成功，期权是我获得收益的最主要来源。
　　我这一辈子做企业从来没有开口要过什么，记得携程季琦蒙我去的时候问我要多少钱，我说副总拿多少我就拿多少，最后老子做了资深副总的时候发现自己的工资比手底下的总监还低，总之，我比较二逼。几次做企业不算太好也不算太坏，公司卖出时投资者都获得了较高的回报，无论我是大股东还是小股东，每次企业卖出我都以牺牲我个人利益来换取朋友之间的友谊，换句话说，每次我都是选择不伤朋友而不是选择钱。
　　这次做桔子水晶酒店也一样，我从开始就没有为自己要什么。刚开始和投资人一起要做的时候我投的钱跟大家都是一样的估值比例，我没有一点干股。前期给整个公司发过两次期权都很少，所以第二次期权我一点都没拿，全部给员工分了。直到上一轮投资进来的时候，新投资人认为我的股份太少，没有人敢投这样的企业，所以公司追加了些期权。
　　这次我敢赌的原因其实很简单：
　　1) 我觉得企业要是真的没做好，我不配拿钱;当然，我要让事实证明我是不是那么的无能;
　　2) 在08年金融危机的时候，企业那么难，我的投资人那么信任我，所以我有100个道理要回报他们的信任，哪怕老子颗粒无收;
　　3) 公司里的兄弟们不容易，如果企业万一没做好，我能以我的牺牲换来大家的小康生活，值了。就算我到时候没有饭吃，他们也不会让我饿死;
　　4) 凯雷的老张人也不错，他也不会太为难我，只要说得过去，他不会让我光屁股;
　　5) 我没本事，但是围住了一帮兄弟，虽然大多没加过面，每次都住我的酒店照顾我的生意，所以我不会做得太差。
　　人活一辈子怎么都是过，但是，我总觉得人要做一些对的事情，前几次公司退出都没有让我的兄弟们走上小康生活，我一直觉得心里难受。这一次可能是我一辈子最后的机会，一个能够让跟着我多年的兄弟以及认真在公司工作的每一个同事得到回报的机会。就算我自己无能，最惨的结果也坏不到哪里去，因为至少是当我没饭吃的时候我有一帮我开口就能给我饭吃的兄弟!
　　这就是我的赌博，我相信我的兄弟们一起努力一定不会让我输的赌博。
　　感谢一直直照顾我生意的兄弟们，愿你们多子多孙家庭幸福。
　　不说了，喝多了该睡了，明早再说。

　　桔子水晶酒店大傻CEO吴海
　　1992年12月21日。

On leave.

I like being on leave.

The feeling that you can wake up whenever you want.
The feeling that it doesn't matter how you spend your day.
That quiet quiet feeling because nobody is around.
The peace.

I guess it's not so much that I hate going to work but I like going on leave.

Comments

I must say I've left the Social Media field for a while now.
But I do remember little bits about how people can try to improve their blog ratings or things like that..

Well.. I just found it rather unusual when there were like 9 comments on this practically defunct blog. I mean.. I post like on an average of once a month with long periods of inactivity. I don't proclaim to be an interesting writer so it is kind of odd. Not to mention, some of the comments on how it's insightful, or it's a great tip or blah.. when all I did was to post someone else's song. Lovely song no doubt. Not particularly insightful on my part I must say though.

Thanks for visiting the blog.
Hey.. maybe when  I'm bored, I'll check yours out. Till then.. tata.

PS I do appreciate the ONE person who left a comment on the 'braindead' people comments. Totally agree with you. Maybe you have the same objective as them but I appreciate you actually noticing the irrelevance of it all... Cheers.

Kiss Me

Ed Sheeran

Settle down with me 
Cover me up 
Cuddle me in 
Lie down with me 
Hold me in your arms 

Your heart's against my chest 
Lips pressed to my neck 
I've fallen for your eyes 
But they don't know me yet 

And the feeling I forget 
I'm in love now 

Kiss me like you wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 

This feels like I've fallen in love 
Fallen in love 
Fallen in love 

Settle down with me 
And I'll be your safety 
You'll be my lady 

I was made to keep your body warm 
But I'm cold as, the wind blows 
So hold me in your arms 

My heart's against your chest 
Your lips pressed to my neck 
I've fallen for your eyes 
But they don't know me yet 

And the feeling I forget 
I'm in love now 

Kiss me like you wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 

This feels like I've fallen in love 
Fallen in love 
Fallen in love 

Yeah I've been feeling everything 
From hate to love 
From love to lust 
From lust to truth 
I guess that's how I know you 

So hold you close 
To help you give it up 

So kiss me like you wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 

This feels like I've fallen in love 
Fallen in love 
Fallen in love 

So kiss me like you wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 
Wanna be loved 

This feels like I've fallen in love 
Fallen in love 
Fallen in love

How can girls not fall in love with someone who sings like this... Sigh...

So many thoughts flew by this month and I didn't capture them. Wonder where they all went.
Before I lose this:

"Stop memorizing things... Memories can be outsourced to the cloud."
Samuel Arbesman
The Half-Life of Facts
Online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324894104578113590368047244.html

Passion Run.

Off I go running early in the morning.

Signed up for a 4km run (I know it's nothing much) but I began regretting it the moment my alarm clock rang at 6am in the morning. Who wakes up at 6am in the morning anyway... Thoughts crossed my mind: maybe if I pretended to oversleep, or maybe if it pours, maybe I can just go back to sleep...

Didn't work, so ended up waiting in line patiently with the hundreds of wannabe runners about a few hundred metres away from the starting line (cos the queue was that long), and went off.. to a staggering start as we tried to manoeuvre (I still can't spell this odd word) around mothers pushing prams, old couples taking a hike, some sightseeing ladies and some angsty youths.

Not a long run, but I started to feel the stress on my underworked heart and lungs and legs and then you begin to hear the yells. The very enthusiastic volunteers along the road yelling at the runners to go on, it's just 1km left, there's free yoghurt at the end of it all, come on, you can do it. The energy's infectious and the runners pick up their speed (or it could be the free yoghurt after all).

And... it's over.

Bikini Workout Part 2

Part 2 makes it sound like I'm actually working out.

But the actual sad news is that I don't have a resistance band so I guess I'm giving up. I've tried one of the exercise. But surely it wouldn't do if I only train one part of my body. I might actually end up looking pretty weird right.. So.. there goes :D

Experiment. Fail.

Blog Writing Mood

Yeah. I'm in a blog-writing mood.

I'm not sure why.
It's not to clock up the posts. I've only made 4 sad posts these years. My worst year thus far has been 2008 where I made only 13 posts. They are however really exciting posts. Because they have PICTURES. And they're beautiful. And they're happy. They make me smile.

That's what blogs are for right? To keep the happy moments?

Man.. I need to try harder.

Bikini-Ready Body

Somehow blogging stopped becoming a habit once I lost my own place.

I need a room of my own.

Well.. and obviously I'm thinking of Virginia Woolf. 

"Women, then, have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one's own."

- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Anyway, this is about my resolution (kind of like a this-month's resolution) - and a very prosaic and non-intellectual, possibly even anti-intellectual, type of resolution - and yes you are right, it is:-

TO have a bikini-ready body.

Inspired, well, not quite inspired, but just perhaps reminded of it by the SHAPE September Issue - how I received that magazine is yet another story. [Stop rambling!] It has a lovely 2-page sprawl of exercises I could do twice a week for two weeks and I'll have that amazing Bikini-Ready Body it flaunts on its cover page. 

I am going to start this coming week. 

And hopefully two weeks later, I'll remember to blog.

And hopefully, I would have good news. 

Cheers to my bikini-ready body - well, future bikini-ready body at any rate... 

It doesn't feel like Singapore today.

Just left the Chinese Gardens. Peaceful, serene, green, conservation. Then the weather, cool, sun, breeze, clear blue sky, azure blue. Unfamiliar buildings. Lush greenery. It's like I came to a foreign place that is strangely familiar.

Today, I feel that Singapore is beautiful.
I can almost leave behind the traffic jams, the frustrations and the congestion. Just me and my home country.

Haven't blogged for some time..
Haven't sorted out my photos for some time..
Haven't sat at home in peace without feeling like I'm forced to do something..

I'm glad I had the time today.

Hopefully I've recharged enough.. to face the new year.

Remembering how we were all once so excited because Cathay Pacific served us ice cream on board..
SIA serves MAGNUM.

Screaming baby - more like 2 year old - behind me. She needs a good smack.

Guy infringing into my space cos he puts his arm on MY arm rest.

No Don 2 on Entertainment set.

Loved the SilverKris articles.. Eyes tired. Too lazy to read up for my meetings. And now I'm too sleepy.. Will leave it for tomorrow. Bet I'll wake up at like 5am anyway.

And just ate my cup noodle so my luggage has more space. Despite the fact that I finished that horrible tandoori chicken wrap at like 7pm Saudi time. It's like 11pm Saudi time now. I'm gonna grow fat.

A little worried about the meetings tomorrow. I hope I know enough...

One Day.
Just watched 'One Day'.. and I feel so sad.
I don't think it was the love story behind it.. but every scene of Edinburgh, the university, Arthur's Seat and the view from up there, Princes Street made me remember how beautiful Edinburgh is and made me realize how much I've fallen in love with the city.
I don't know what it is about the city I love. I mean.. I hate the weather. And I was glad to come back because I missed everyone so much. But I just love it. Crossing South Bridge and peering over at Cowgate and wondering about how this multi-tiered city works. Sipping that rich hot chocolate at Chocolate Soup on wintry days, wintry nights.. Those cobbled pavements. Those buildings darkened with soot from the industrial age. The gloomy sky. Jogging around Arthur's seat. The beautiful swan lake. The gorgeous view from Calton's Hill. The windy secret paths that you somehow chance upon and never find again.
I thought 4 years in one city.. and I'll have had enough of it. But.. it's only been slightly more than a year and I keep thinking about it. I think.. Edinburgh will always have a special place in my heart.

Sitting by the Singapore River, gazing at the Merlion, thinking how peaceful this scene was.
Then, decided to turn on the radio and a cheerful song came on, changing my mood completely...

Amazing what background music does to a still image.

Just finished up some work and feeling kinda lazy to sleep...

What's on my mind now?
1. It's nice to be up alone on a rainy night. I never get this kind of peaceful times anymore. Not since a long time ago in Edinburgh with my Sushi takeaway in my cold cold room. Just me and my duvet.

2. I want to do something. It could be an exercise thing - going for yoga classes or dance classes (I think I'd like the idea of a dance class though I can't really dance) or kickboxing or whatever. But I don't think I'll be very motivated. Or it could be a learning thing - like learning Bahasa or Italian. If it's useful enough, I might push myself to do it. Or it could be a happy music thing - I want to go get me some scores and start building my dreams of being a freelance pianist. I'm not a great pianist but maybe if I master enough cheesy music, people might pay me a little to play that odd piece. What a wonderful thing it would be. Maybe it's not the cash that entices me. Maybe it's the feeling of being able to perform again. I'm not sure. It would be lovely if I could retire and live on playing the piano. I wouldn't mind playing the same pieces over and over again. Because I know for me, everytime I play... it's a different piece. Maybe I should get a new piano...

3. Old and boring. You leave the fun school no-responsibility life. And things happen throughout your life, the experiences add up, they scare you, they make you wary, and you become a cautious boring person, so afraid of doing things wrong you don't do anything at all. I feel that I'm becoming a boring person. Feel like you're not at liberty to do embarrassing things anymore. Feel like 'youth' is no longer an excuse for doing stupid things. Feel like the whole world is judging... because you're a responsible working adult now.

Wow. So much on my mind. No wonder I'm still awake.

I've always been fascinated by India and China ever since a lecture I've had in Edinburgh.Can't remember who it was, or which module it was for. But it was an interesting paper.

Two emerging countries, huge in land mass and population. Usually conflated in discussions. Usually known for its low labour costs, and its burgeoning potential. But so different. In terms of development, of strengths. The question that the lecture inspired in me was: Why is India not as prominent in the global scene as China?

People talk of China as the next rising superpower, of its competition to US. But not India.
India has its strengths. Its people. Its English proficiency. Its amazing IT sector. Its British colonial legacy making it less hard (arguably, compared to China) to work with the West. But.. no, it's China people talk about. Why?

Saw this article on the Economist: Chasing the Dragon, which reinforced this thought. That China is advancing much more rapidly. Is it because China had a headstart? But isn't it begging the question? Why did China have a headstart? Is it the workings of one man (Deng Xiao Ping?)? Will India ever catch up?

This figure shows how far behind India is based on some criteria of development.

PS Just wondering if the title 'Chasing the Dragon' is coincidental, or if it has an intentional allusion to the practice of inhaling opium (very Chinese!). Hm.