Lunch Gathering with Friends

Technorati Tags: Chapatti,fish Achar,atta flour

Went over to Nadesan and Viggi’s  place for a lunch gathering prior to moving the family up to KL. Also shared the secret of a great chapatti. Use Pillsbury Atta flour, when roll it once  add a touch of oil to do a double fold, then in it goes into the flat pan.

Chef Nadesan at work with the delicate sterilize tools. Ensure after the prime roll , add a dash of olive oil. Do a Secondary fold and roll it flat again for layered end results. Then in to goes into the flat pan for frying.

As chapatti is meant to be a healthy meal, use olive oil conservatively. You will see it rises up like bubble of air pockets and turn it around to even both side browning. Serve it for breakfase with real butter or perhaps jam if you like or served with curry. In the case below we had a great variety with Fish Achar, Vege and Mutton curry.

Thanks Nadesan and Viggi for the great lunch. Always had great food visiting you.

Wing Chun in Play

My passion for martial art since my childhood have took me through a journey of seeking and learning different martial art forms. In my teen , i took up from Karate Go-shu-ryu to Aikido Yoshinkan in my late 20ties and Chi-Kung and now to Wing Chun or more specific Yip Kin Wing Chun. I met Sensei Kahar and Sifiu and Grandmaster Yip Fook Choy who is the direct descendant of Yip Kin. Grandmaster began learning Wing Chun at a tender age of 8. Now at age 65, Grandmaster Yip Fook Choy continues to be very active and imparting his Wing Chun martial arts to students.

I found this art different from my previous training and philosophy. In aikido is to follow the energy  and lead the energy of the opponent center line before executing the throw or lock. However the Wing Chun philosophy is all about center line, and attacking opponent centerline in the shortest time is the goal. One must remember that this art was develop in the days when battles were fought over days in the battle field. Conservation of energy is the main aim, thus movements are designed to to be minimum, energy exerted is optimally used and borrowing the opponent energy to multiply the impact. Minimum effort but maximum impact.

I am currently learning the basic hand and foot work and the beginning of the “Small Flower”. “ small Flower” is the basic core set which will probably take me a good one year to master. My goal is to be able to learn at least to intermediate level ,  wooden dummy forms and a able to execute “ Chis Sau” effectively.

Overall I like the forms and the effectiveness of the move. The set forms kind of condition your memory muscles which will be crucial when one encounters confrontation as you will reacts with instinct and one do not have time think of the moves, the forms will come out is itself.  If anyone is interested in learning drop me a note, i will share where is the class.
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Technorati Tags: Wing Chun,Yip Kin,Martial Art

The Rise and Fall of Reccession (Part 2)

In the area of Personal Development or Mastery. If you observe an increase of interest in these type of training such as renowned courses by Anthony Robin, Robert Kiyosaki and T Harv Eker. Asian have realize that the mental model needs to change and the business model of the world is fast changing looking to learn from the Best thus creating the demand hunger for these courses. With the the economic situation, one would think in general that people are more cash conservative and seem this phenomena is more true in US counterparts as there seem to be a surge of demand in this industry in Asia. There seem to be more Guru themselves personally come over for the seminars in relative to sending an instructor. One can look at the number of events in Singapore and Malaysia over the last few months and months to come. Personally, I have attended the Millionaire Minds by T Harv Eker (It was awesome) and impressed by the number of crowd. They were from all over Asia and the world, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia and as far as Europe. So what does this say, well for one with recession, it has made this self help to be successful seminars very popular. So if you are in a niche of promoting wealth generation tools, now is a good time to promote you product big time.

So who said recession needs to be an agony, wake up , go do something wonderful, opportunity is out there. Go for a public seminar, there are numerous stimulus package and talk for public. on the contrary enjoy the recession as it will end pretty soon with sign that we are encouraging. Best of luck everyone.

It’s Friday Again : The Rise and Fall of Reccession (Part 1)

Is it economic recession, some areas felt it strong and some may not have an impact , in fact a great opportunity for those trying to pick up real estate in the US or rather is for the world for those with cash. Cash is King now. One can see the effect of recession taking its toll in the US with unemployment soaring and people are losing their job and unable to pay the mortgages. Property are at its lowest with news of US property at 25% of what it was 2 years back, undervalued. Is it at the bottom as opportunist awaits to start buying up the property.  To some , now is the best time to do investment. Start buying and collecting and wait for the boom. But the question is what is your holding power?

As for the Asian counter parts.  i believe the recession in the 90 have sink it’s mark on a lot of Asian , many lost their jobs , had to sell everything they own, I remember incident to the level of  senior executive who had to sell sandwiches to feed the family in Thailand, and even a weekly market “Garage Sale” in open car parks. Asian felt it hard then. This have made them more prepared this round. Once there was a sniff of economic recession coming, all ships were diverted to cost down, with worst case projection, and from the past learning, have kept a lot of rainy days savings to ride through.  So for bargain hunters in Asia, it is not that great impact as one see as the US impact.  An example the landed property are still holding strong, in fact with the interest coming at a incredible low in Asia ( example in M’sia : Base Lending Rate – 2.4 % ). I am actually looking for a landed property or condo to call home but to find I am in competition with property investor. As in any supply and demand rule, the price of property in Malaysia is holding. And having the bitter lesson of the 90ties recession, Asian have the holding power, with these 2 factors , properties in Asia is holding in prices. Bummer for me though.

With human survival instinct, I have observed that during these times of recession that we have new and emerging ways of cash generation. It could have been it was dormant in the economic good times but now it becomes an avenue for  those who lost their job to be self employed or for those who can take voluntary separation packages and be self employed to generate cash to continue the desired life style. To mentioned a few is, unique way of internet marketing, emerging MLM , the amount of folks signing up to learn about financial tool for trading ( Forex, CFD, Options, Stocks, Bonds, commodities) and some even trying to hybrid the Internet Marketing with MLM products for leads. What is sell-able now is Independence. With Robert Kiyosaki words ringing ” If you want to be rich , you need to own a business” as motivation and push factor.  Could be a fear factor for company loosing good employees even to those not targeted to leave but they left out of insecurity.

As for company perspective, how does the company react to this economy? Well we can take it head on and take advantage or cut the fats and ride through the storm focusing on the core business. Take the mobile phone as an example of continuing the refresh rate on their products. Every few months we see new models rolling out. Wouldn’t a traditional method is to lessen the  investment in New Products which incurs  complexity in High Line Item Manufacturing management in relative to mass production of less line item for factory line utilization and optimization thus impacting the operation cost. But in contrary , they take on head on approach, rolling out new models and feature as they recognized the need to change even though in economic tough times tapping the remaining oasis in the desert to emerge the leader when economic recover. To those who retreat the market and change may turn out obsolete in the end.  But to my suprise the buyer still there, yes sales may slow down but the sales are still out there. There are techy die hards that must have the latest and greatest.  Maybe we should give these Companies that is embarking on this strategy the credit of economic recovery as the are stimulating the market isn’t it? For the remaining are hoping that the reserve will ride them through, reducing Staff and compensation working 120% for 80% salary in some cases. But the good news is we are seeing some sign of recovery. In the electronic sector we see volume returning for 2 quarters straight. The first quarter the market was skeptical as doubted if it was true sign of recovery or was it self made by companies having to conservative forecast than normal depleting the Hubs faster, thus creating a vacuum where in actual fact the volume did not go down , just in accuracy of the forecast of worst scenario.  But the Second quarter gave a boost of confidence in the recovery; a light at the end of the tunnel.

Exploring Options out there for retirement

Met up with a Platinum Networker and using health product to be a vehicle of wealth growth. The primary goal is to grow your network. The new term learn is prosumer where by one believe in the effectiveness of the product thus you consume it and becomes a consumer but at the same time you use that as a vehicle to replicate the process thus the commission of the next person and its network goes to you.  So if you put in the effort , it will definitely grow exponentially. This is the MLM methodology. Yes the word by it self  has some misconception by a lot of the people. Primarily due bad encounters or aggressive approach in the past , be it our close friend , neighbors or even our close relatives.  I am pretty neutral as it is a mode of marketing by the company to reach out to the mass market.  It can be a win-win for those who honestly believe in the product and the product has true benefit and integrity. It’s a source of passive income and residual income.

As I see it, you can be a consumer or you can be a consumer and if you introduce another person to do the same , you  just lessen the cost of the product you consume.  So it’s a win-win. If the product is a truly beneficially, it will not be hard to introduce to the next person.  Having this little step mentality and scale it to many many introduction will then generate income. In order to be successful one needs to be passionate about the product and also the passion to help others and make others successful.  So it’s a feasible approach in wealth gathering and at the same time benefit from the product.  From the company side , using MLM is one way to give the responsibility or the opportunity for the consumer to use and make money out of it but most of all referral stratergy in this MLM structure helps penetrate a lot of untapped customer or area in relative to conventional advertising and distribution. Well, having said all that , how do you know if the MLM suits you. In my opinion.

1. You need to love the product and brings you benefit and health these days seem to be very important to everyone , can spend the wealth without health,  so pick a product that meets your health objective if that is important to you.
2. The product or company needs to be a niche in the market or have high integrity  (very easy to do research, use the power of  internet to do the search),
3. Does the MLM or the person that introduce you have a structure or support team, or are you able to connect with the introducer that you can discuss openly and sincerely.
4. Last but not least look at the compensation /commission/benefit and the residual income structure to see if you are meeting you financial goal ( as some may just want to introduce with the sole purpose of covering thier own consumption for the product).

If  you have this, looks like it’s gonna only be successful. But before one dive into making MLM a business for those who want to make a career out of it.  One must be able to overcome the mental. If you solely think of selling the product and make profit may not bring you far in relative in the passion to promote the end results ( in this case if its a health product  or financial freedom if its a investment product) and live a live model. Everyone want to see a living model and proof.  One needs to know WHY you are doing the business , the bigger the WHY the Easier the HOW.  Success is not easy at the beginning of an exponential graph. So one need to go down to talking, sharing, spend time researching how to penetrate to more leads or contacts and most of all take rejection. But if your “WHY” is so big, the challenges seem like sooo tiny.

So for folks like me , looking for either early retirement or what option after retirement.  MLM is one of the option one can consider with the right product one would gain wealth,product benefit, the network of support and friends along the way.  As for me, I have not sign any yet as still focusing on my trading education and my passion for martial art. But Platinum Networking group is definitely on of the option I am looking at as I like the health benefit that comes with the product. So happy hunting for passive income for after retirement funds.

A Slow Monday for catch-up

Feeling Blue or Purple? Fields of Lavender in Furano, Hokkaido

Today is rather slow. Recovering from my travel the day before. Work today revolves around  planning for the week deliverables and also activities for the week.  My company Quarter 1 begins in July 1st, so going thru the commit and also trying to work on the Lead indicators to my projects my team is undertaking. I usually chunk them out to weekly task and achievement whcih acts as a lead indicator when we measure them weekly on the completion to surface out project bottleneck or constraints. Focus on the weekly deliverables,  the end date will take care of itself. This, from experience gives a 80% chance of project meeting the first committed schedules.The other 20% will be contributed by areas that is not within your circle of influence.

Spend the rest of the day looking at the market and learning more about the Trading.  USD/GBP pair is the focus for me today. Looks like at the time of my blogging is going up more than 20 pips already. I set my limit at 30 pips, so keeping fingers crossed. Good chance with Stochastic going up and ADX looks strong.

Project Management is all about

1. managing your stake holders, updating your sponsors and core team on the progress of the program.
2. marketing the project in order to create the hunger for your audience to want it , which will help the ease of deployment which  the push  and with the right marketing , the end user will pull ( higher acceptance rate).
3. meet you commitment on the delivery per the scope and function committed.
4. Influencing others skill set  and leading cross functional tohave common goal and get core team accountable.
5. Ensure there is KPI ( Key Performance Index) or Success indicator reflecting the program health at weekly level.
6. And most of Have fun along the way.

Tech Glitch and Fix of the day: My iPhone acting up again, everytime it complete one song in the play list it exits. Not able to play 2 songs consecutively. The only way I could fix it is to restore the defaulted  setting which took almost 45 minutes and all to restore the original behavior.

Sunday Ritual

FireFlyz M'sia Budget Airline Courtesy of http://www.fireflyz.com.my

On weekend that I go back to my hometown which is like at least 3 times a month depending if I have to travel for my work else will be every week. Firefly ( Malaysia Budget Airlines – subsidiary of Malaysian Airlines – MAS) is my choice of transport mode. For budget travelers book ahead of time like 8-9 months ahead of time, much cheaper than driving ( KL-PG). I have my booking till end of the year. But of course I am prepared to burn some flights due to last minute Work travel changes or emergency that need me to be here in KL or oversea.

Had breakfast with Family and Dad , having “Roti Canai” and “Nasi Lemak” for breakfast before sending the children to the Academy Of Squash for their weekly training. They called it grass root training, in the hope that another Nicole or Ong Beng Hee emerges. The Academy is supported by Head  , manufacturer of squash and tennis rackets  and the academy is also the home ground of Nicole David where she started. Used to be called Pepsi Squash Center till the sponsorship expired. The Penang State team was training there and notice a lot of secondary school have taken interest and a lot of schools book the courts and have some level of coaching sessions. Good to see the Sport squash is growing interest and mushrooming.

Took the family and Dad to watch Harry Porter and the Half Blood Prince. Children was anticipating more action , I presume the show is heightening up the storyline to prepare for a bang in the next movie since Professor life ended. Opps forget what I say for those who have not watch the movie but then again a lot of folks have already read the book. Overall good movie. So go watch it.

Immediately after the movie, had to rush for dinner as taking a flight back to KL and back to work tomorrow.

Tech Glitch of the Day: iphone somehow stop after each song even after reboot, so did put a second thought , but when I sync up, computer request for restore backup. So in the process lost some photos that I wanted to share with you all. Currently worked fine. So not sure what is the issue nor the root cause.

A Day of Resting and Comfort Food in Penang

Tou Yuen Restaurant at Campbell Street.

A food lovers Haunt in Penang during the nite

Woke up and its Saturday and being a proactive guy and a strategist, *sigh*, tomorrow is  gonna be Sunday and will be flying back to KL. The commuting weekly or at least every fortnight is my routine to my beloved food haven hometown. Took my parents and family to “Tou Yuen” ( Peach) restaurant which specialize in Cantonese noodles and “tim sum” located at the heart of Penang island town, Campbell street. I have been going there since I can remember and the owner try to retain the look, not sure if it is because trying to retain the heritage or trying to cost down the renovation. Whatever it was, the food was great. If you are ever there, try their Fried Mee in Gravy ( crispy yet filled with gravy) and the Curry Bun. Looks like a loaf of bread with hidden treasure of chicken curry inside the bread. Afternoon was spent going to the Mall and walking aimlessly in Qeensbay Mall.  Malaysia Sale is on, a way to boost the economy, and for those shopaholics, it’s haven. To a saver like me, opportunity to buy stuff I may not need.

Had a great home cook comfort food from mum, never fail to have good soup to go along with dinner.  My dad a Electronic techy person found a power adapter that works on the PSP ( Sony) that was out of  order as replacement.  After dinner, shared with dad, my new found hobby in learning about trading and also internet marketing I learn from my Trading Guru Kishore and Top Blogger Alvin Phang.  Not to mention T-Harv Eker that inspired me. Later went home to complete my laborious weekly report for my dept.

Tech Tips for Sony PSP: Just discovered that if you own a Sony PSP, and if you have HP IPAQ charger then you find that IPAQ charger can be use on Sony PSP. Tested and proven.

My Second Day and It’s a Friday

Friday. A great day to start with gaining 30 pip last nite on USD/JPY pair.  Saw the right sign with the Candle Stick and FX analysis did a buy and also a profit take limit of 30 pips the nite before and slept.. wa lah the next morning … kachink… saw I made the 30 pips profit.. what a day to start up  which of course override the fact I could not find my car keys that almost made me late for work..  What made up also was the great Banana Leaf rice lunch in Puchong for those who are familiar with the KL.

Tech Review for today : Had iPhone for probably 2 weeks and great mobility but of course not all is perfect right even though with the upgrade of the OS to 3.0, it still had some weakness. For one when I receive missed calls mesg from my Telco via sms, they somehow disappear from the list of the SMS library.  But credit needs to be given , it helps being online on the web , my twitter page and becomes my main camera to take pics and post it in an instant to the facebook, is it great or great. But for 3G lover, take note that if you switch to 3G network connection,  then your battery will run dry pretty fast.  it ranges from 8 hrs to 12 hrs , depending on the usage.  Tips: switch the 3G off  till you need it then switch it on the pull data or surf the net, but once complete switch it off to conserve energy.  Who knows , Murphy’s law, you might need to make an urgent call and be caught with no power.

Hello world!

Welcome to my meeku blog and also thanks  WordPress.com as my my blog platform of ease. Trying to read up how to blog last night and decided to give it a go since I felt that I  have much to share with my multi passion and hobby. Tried many stuff but still pesonally feel not enough, so decided to pen my experience and my journey of discovery in the blog.  So keep in tune for more goodies…