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In a bid to reinvent myself, I had decided a few months ago that I needed to learn new skills. An old dog needs to learn new tricks to survive in this ever-changing world, else I will be left behind. In a happy coincidence, the government has also finally realized that there are a lot of older displaced PMETs like myself that has a lot of work experience but encountering an ever increasingly challenging work environment as we age. Companies prefer youth over experience, costs before long-term profits and greater perceived hunger of the millennials versus Gen X. Hence there has been a big push in the skillsfuture initiative, where PMETs like me are encouraged to sign up for courses at a heavily subsidized rate to learn new skills.

The first one I signed up with 3 good buddies was more of a fun one which we discovered online (The science and business of wine – free, after all the subsidies :-). The 2 months of Monday night classes were really memorable which we will probably talk about in many years to come.

The second one was on a more serious note – Starting a small business ($81 after subsidies). I am halfway through this now. It is a good crash course to help a newbie like me avoid common mistakes when starting a business. But it was more about F&B as the trainer has the relevant background experience. It was interesting to see that my coursemates were around the same age group as myself, all thinking about plan B. One interesting observation – there were about 7 (out of 17) who were from the education sector.

The third one that I had just started this week was the one that impressed me the most. It made me feel like a student again. This was a 6 months Part 1 course that will eventually earn me a Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics. The Polytechnic even had a briefing session 2 weeks before the start for all students taking the Specialist Diploma courses. There were probably a few hundred attendees. I found out that the one I was taking had overwhelming demand (300 applied for 120 places) and that they had decided to open up another new batch in Nov. It was very professionally conducted and each of us even had a student matriculation card for the school library and tech support to help us configure our laptops for classes and e-learning lessons. The school is really progressive and will even kick-start a Fintech course early next year. Another one that I can apply…

The first class started this Monday and I met my other 29 colleagues for the first time. The group was pretty diverse, from sectors like programming/technology, operations, financial (front/middle/back offices) and there was a wide age range. I think I was one of the oldest there… It seemed quite daunting to me at first, given my lack of technical skills compared to the millennials who are more tech savvy. Though there are no exams, this course will have a lot of project and assessment work.

In the second class on Thursday, we were briefed on the project work required for the next 2 terms. We had to form a team of 4 and my team has quite a good mix – programmer, operations, consultancy and marketing experiences.

The evening classes have broadened my mind to endless possibilities as I cross my half-time period. The fear of embarking on new things and taking risks which comes with age has subsided. The brave new world is not as scary as it looks. Happy Halloween!!

 

 

 

What is Food Porn? It is the love of food and watching videos of food presented in such a way that one will spend countless hours watching. It is a pun on pornography as it has similar characteristics.

Over the years, we have had book authors that concentrate only on food. Then the authors and celebrity chefs did the next big leap to TV. Anthony Bourdain was one such person and he still remains as one of my favourites. He constantly shoots his mouth off but he provides new and fresh perspectives of different destinations that introduce viewers to brand new experiences. His latest episode (S10E01) even featured my home country. It was refreshing to see an outsider’s thoughts of who we are.

As part of my usual diet of YouTube videos, I am never short of new food porn stuff to watch. The evolution of social media means that anyone can publish their own content to show to the world. Viewers are appreciative that they can have an armchair approach to being transported to different parts of the world to see new foods and cultural experiences on a first-hand basis. It’s like having a personal tour guide to share the food with you, except that you cannot taste the food and it always makes you hungry…

There are a number of rising stars that have achieved more than 1 million subscribers over the last few years. They have effectively made this their full-time profession, traveling all over to record their food eating experience to share with their fans while creating a sustainable revenue stream (via merchandise, patronage or advertisement revenue).

As I am based in Asia, I naturally prefer the ones that are closer to home. 2 of my favourites are based in Chengdu (China) and Bangkok (Thailand).

Because of my previous job, I had gotten to know Chengdu and acquired a taste for mala cuisine. So I was pleasantly surprised to see a Canadian based there with a love of Chinese culture and posting food videos. The story of Trevor James, the Food Ranger is pretty amazing. How he arrived in China because he had to take an elective in uni and chose Chinese language, then fell in love with it and took a one-way ticket to experience it first hand. He is probably more Chinese than me now, showing fans the many varieties of food in Asia and China in particular. http://www.thefoodranger.com/about-me/

The other guy that I follow is Mark Wiens of Migrationology ( http://markwiens.me/about/  ). He fell in love with Asia, got married in Bangkok and decided not to teach English anymore, but be a full-time food blogger, traveling the world in search of new food experiences.

I believe that less than 1% of all of us really love our jobs, but these 2 have really transformed themselves to dive deep into their passion for food as a career. My admiration goes to them for their courage to venture into the new unknown and wherever the journey takes them.

They have also linked up with fellow food bloggers from all over the world. This is an interesting strategy to broaden their fan base and introducing themselves to each other’s fans. In the meantime, we fans continue to feast on our daily armchair adventures in food gastronomy, courtesy of YouTube.

 

 

 

The highlight of the week was last Sunday. One of my ex-colleagues was very involved in a charity organization. They were celebrating their anniversary by organizing a big vegetarian lunch and selling tickets for $120/pax. Another friend decided to take up 10+ tables and started contacting everyone via WhatsApp to garner support a few months ago.

I was pleasantly surprised when the day came as I had the chance to meet up with many old faces I had not seen for a long time. Most were people who used to work in Citibank where I had the opportunity to interact with during my 19 years there. Susan had retired in the late 1990s to take care of her mum and this was the first time I saw her after so many years. She looked a bit feeble and I was not too sure if she did recognize me. We even had a visitor (Wandee) from Thailand who came here especially for the charity lunch. The group photo we took had easily a few hundred years of Citibank work experience amongst us. So nostalgic to have caught up with everyone again. How time flies…

On the cryptocurrency front, my little portfolio seems to be doing well. It has appreciated by more than 10% in less than a month. My purpose was to expose myself to this new asset class by actually buying small amounts of the top 5 currencies. A positive experiment so far and I have TT’ed more funds into my Kraken account this week. The more I read and learn, the more I am intrigued by the possibilities of blockchain and how it could be the next new big thing.

The 2 other skillsfuture courses I had signed up will begin soon. Starting next week (2 sessions/week eover a month), I will be learning about how I can start a small business ( http://www.nuss.org.sg/about-nsa/fully-booked-starting-a-small-business ).

Yesterday, I attended a briefing session for Temasek Polytechnic’s Specialist Diploma on Business Analytics. Pretty impressed with the school structure and 0rganization of the course. It will be 5 times a month for 6 months (Part 1). There is no exams but only regular assignments and e-learning. http://www.tp.edu.sg/courses/part-time-courses/diploma-by-schools/school-of-informatics-and-it/specialist-diploma-in-business-analytics

Thanks to being over 50 years old now, the courses are heavily subsidized. For once, age works in my favour…

 

It has been an aimless week for me. Just felt that I had not done much to further my development of my next steps for the last 7 days. Though there were 2 evenings of excellent get-togethers with old and new friends, I think I spent most of my time unproductively.

Had a great dinner catch up with some good friends on Tues and also to celebrate a birthday. It’s been a while since the 6 of us last caught up together.

Then on Thurs, we had our Skillsfuture graduation dinner (The Science and Business of Wine). This was the first one that I had completed with another 3 good friends and the experience was memorable. We will probably be talking about this for many years to come.

The trainer suggested that each of us bring a bottle of our favourite vino to share with the group. The 18 of us had wines from all over the world, from USA to French, Italian and Australian ones. I brought along a Stag’s Leap Cab Sauv 2012 which I found in Cold Storage supermarket. Because of the 1976 Judgement of Paris event that was introduced to us during the course, I was very intrigued and did more research into this, including watching the enactment in a movie (Bottle Shock : 2008). The French wines had suffered a humiliating defeat against Californian upstarts. We decided to do the competition amongst us and my Californian red won again!

On the cryptocurrency front, I decided to use the balance of my USD funds  (to date : just only 1.5k), to purchase the rest of the top 5 which I do not already have. More research needs to be done as I explore this new phenomenon and gauge its potential in the new world. The more I read, the more questions I have. Not sure what the end game will be, but I certainly want to join in for the crazy ride, having missed the recent surge in price by a few months.

Rediscovered another website I came across a few years ago. Social trading and eToro in particular. The market is always right, I am told. So why don’t I follow the market then? eToro allows an individual to participate with the best traders and join the herd. I am chewing over this and will likely fund my account next week to give this a try.

Having finished my first skillsfuture course, I will begin another 2 in a few weeks time. Starting a small business (1 month, 8 lessons) and a 6 months Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics (5 lessons / month). Very soon, 3 of my evenings per week will be occupied with night lessons.

As I have discussed with some friends, the new generation now treats failure as a learning experience and welcome it. The emergence of disruptive technology and startup culture re-enforces that mentality as a way of survival.

My generation was taught that failure is never an option and hence we are reluctant to take on risk and try. Age also works against us and brings us into a prolonged phase of inaction.

I have to break out of this mindset and learn to embrace failure, to remove my fear of trying new experiences. I need to constantly create my own learning opportunities, explore new horizons that will hopefully bring me to a new personal renaissance of self-discovery and growth.

Off to my next quarterly half marathon run this evening now…

 

The rise and rise of cryptocurrencies was an investment opportunity lost for me. I had been observing Bitcoin (BTC) for a few years, seeing it moved above $1K for the first time in 2013 and its big price drop subsequently. I was thinking that I may try to get it if it goes below $200 but I never got around to doing it. A few months back, I did open an account with Coinbase but I was put off with the complicated way of trying to fund the account and lost interest in it. That was in June and it was a big opportunity cost for me as it was just before the meteoric price rise.

A few months back, I did open an account with Coinbase but I was put off with the complicated way of trying to fund the account and lost interest in it. That was in June and it was a big opportunity cost for me as it was just before the meteoric price rise.

Why are cryptocurrencies so in focus now and what does the future hold?

As long as there is a demand for it, money in various forms has been created and used in human history for a long time as a means of exchange for goods. Long ago, we used precious metals as coins for trade but tricksters melted them and added base metals to increase the number of coins they had. Then there was a concerted effort to have a central control for money and so governments got into the act and started to issue notes backed by gold. The Fed then decided to de-peg the USD from gold in the 1970s and currencies were floated. Pricing was now purely based on demand and supply. Ther term Fiat money was born. The Fed can easily print as much money as they want to fund the growing deficit, as long and there is demand for it. The development of the EuroDollar market helped create demand then.

Along came the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008 and all hell broke loose. The Fed was not the only central bank that continues to print money like there is no tomorrow. The rest of the big governments jumped on the printing machine bandwagon to try to save their economies.

With the evolution of Blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies were born. The mysterious Satoshi Sakamoto brilliantly created Bitcoin. It was a fully transparent system, under no central control but yet highly efficient in executing transactions with minimal costs. It addresses the loss of faith many people have in the existing currencies issued by the wealthiest countries in the world. Central banks are now seen as being as reckless as the evil bankers who almost killed the financial markets back in 2008.

The current craze in cryptocurrencies means that anyone can simply create one out of thin air. As long as there is demand, there will always be a value for them. Just like any computer game, one can exchange real money for virtual tokens to use to purchase items to enhance your gaming experience. The virtual tokens are effectively “new” pseudo cryptocurrencies.

Where do we go from here? I strongly believe that Blockchain technology is the next big, big thing that will revolutionize all industries, just like what Uber/AirBnB had done over the last few years. Cryptocurrencies will be the by-product of this revolution and they will become more mainstream as a result. As for the many that are in existence, the top few will battle it out for survival as more uses are discovered. With the arrival of cashless transaction and eWallets, paper money will be a thing of the past.

I finally decided 2 weeks ago that enough of talk now, I need action. After reading about Ripple (XRP – $0.195) and the push by global banks to support it, I opened a Kraken account and funded it with USD to buy some. Last night, I had also bought my first Etherum (ETH – $289) ahead of the likelihood of a split of this currency in Oct. It is always wise to get your feet wet first to get a first-hand account. This is the best way to learn. I still have more to understand about cryptocurrencies and many more questions to answer.

As I had a lot of time on my hands nowadays, I do make use of my fitness gym membership quite a bit every week. To maximize the $155 fee per month, I had tried to visit as many of their 19 branches as I can. Having exercised in more than half of them by now, my favourites are the Fusionpolis and Clementi Mall outlets. Both are near my home and are located on the top floor (23rd and 6th) and they come with a rooftop pool each! I feel like I am staying in my own penthouse every time I finish off my gym session with a swim in my “private” pool. I am usually the only person swimming there.

I was wondering about how I can further make use of the membership and wifey asked why don’t I try the classes? Yes, why not? Starting this week, I attended 4 classes over 2 days. 2 of them was for yoga, which I last tried many moons ago and embarrassed myself by falling asleep and snoring during the last 5 minutes of deep “meditation”… There are now so many variations of yoga to try now. I did the Flow and Yin ones this week.

The other 2 classes were new experiences for me. I had always wanted to try them but am usually intimidated and put off as participants are all women and the men who do so look effeminate. Maybe as I am older now, I really don’t give a rat’s ass on what others think nowadays.

I did the BodyCombat class first and enjoyed the martial arts part incorporated into the moves. It was not as tough as I thought but the plus sized lady in front of me was sweating buckets and wetting the wooden floorboards (yucks!).

The other class I tried later in the week was Zumba. Wife and sis in law were always praising the instructors and the new classes with the pop music. I used to like to dance and during uni days and when we started working, I loved the jam and hop sessions and the big entertainment places like Fire. As required, the Zumba instructor used the most overplayed current pop song “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi. The male instructor can really shake his butt, compared to all the women in the class. I was the only guy there besides the trainer, but what the hell! It was a nice and easy class, not too complicated as we all shake our booties vigorously.

New experiences which I can add into my overall fitness regime. My next half marathon will be in 2 weeks time. A few more things ticked off from my bucket list 😉

 

The Pokemon Go mobile game has been around for more than a year and the developer (Niantic) had managed to transform the global success into many stages of evolution. I must admit that I have been following this game from the beginning, even though the rest of my family have given up on it and moved on. I was fascinated about how this game has been able to make kids get out of the house to exercise and bond total strangers together in a common tribal experience, with the help of technology. This was the new phase of social media for all gamers.

Being the go-to website for all information nowadays, we started to see new channels in YouTube set up for hardcore Pokemon Go fans. One of them stood out for me. He was very knowledgeable about the game, posted daily videos and even travelled around the whole to participate in the special events, letting all of us experience his adventures from our arm chairs. This channel is called TrainerTips and it is run by a 27-year-old guy called Nicholas Oyzon.

From Jan 2016, he anticipated the launch of Pokemon Go and created videos to talk about the game in detail every day. He was a Millenial that grew up on Pokemon game cards during his teenage years and can easily spurt out the statistics of each creature in the game effortlessly. While getting 300,000+ views per video on his YouTube channel and Ad revenue, he was also selling his own branded TrainerTips Pokemon merchandise online. These provided him with funds to pursue his passion. He also started funding campaigns (GoFundMe) to help him subsidize his overseas trips to Japan and Europe to report on the special Niantic events for his fan base.

In his own words : “The idea for Trainer Tips was born shortly after the original announcement trailer for Pokémon GO. The game represented something that we had been hoping for since childhood – an opportunity for a real-life Pokémon adventure. At the same time, it was also a promising business opportunity. Having worked in digital content creation for the last couple years, I understood the power of online video. We knew we weren’t alone in our excitement over the game and predicted that there would be a large market for the type of content we aimed to produce.”

The wonders of the social media via the internet is still evolving all the time. This guy managed to combine his childhood passion with slick online marketing to cash in on a trend as a one-man enterprise. That’s really awesome! As a frequent viewer of his videos, I can experience first-hand his adventures and thoughts. He started a business model that was able to create and satisfy a new need with a global audience as a base and then monetizing it.

While this may not last forever as fads come and go, it is a peek into things to come in the future, of possible new future careers that our kids may have. The world is your oyster and there is no glass ceiling. You develop an idea and then use a global platform to launch your content. PewDiePie was the pioneer that showed everyone the new way forward and its possibilities, which I had mentioned before on my blog. Exciting times ahead.

Arrived into Bangkok on 28 Aug noon time.

Day 1 :

Checked into SC Park hotel for next 4 nights for about S$60 per night. As recommended by a friend, walked around the place to check it out, had a light bite and then went to Health Land spa for my first massage (foot reflexology for 1 hour). Met my RI buddy Andrew and we made our way to Liab Duan night market to have drinks with Bob. Lots of BBQ seafood for supper. Really cheap local prices.

Day 2 :

Met Bob for breakfast and visited the S’pore International school. We attended the free online training seminar that he signed us up for. It was a 2 hours intro to Affiliate Marketing program by MOBE, trying to sell a 3 days course (US$1k) linked to Facebook marketing for 250 pre-selected non-physical products. Then went to view Andrew’s apartment which Bob will be helping to market for tenancy. Nice 45 sq meter one bedroom unit on the 35th floor. Cosy place with nice amenities within a 500 units project. Andrew and I took a canal ferry (amazing experience) to the new Shinsen fish market for dinner and we were pleasantly rewarded with a great meal.

Day 3 :

Visited Chatuchak in the morning. The cab I was in had an accident as a careless truck bumped him from behind. Driver was a nice guy, gave him a good tip and walked the rest of the way (1 km). Seems like Wednesday was plants and aquarium fish day. Went over to Or Tor Lok fresh produce market and found our that it was newly renovated and very clean now. Decided to try the Thai durians for a snack. Monthong was tasteless but the Kao Yao one tasted like our regular Malaysia ones with more flavour and creamer. More expensive too. Met Andrew at Khao San road to check out the famed backpackers street. Had beer and fried scorpion for a late lunch. He then took me for a walk around the Chinatown area before we headed to MBK for a Hanoko facial. Too full for dinner, so he recommended a nice Italian restaurant (Rossanno’s – 20 years history which only locals know – like Pete’s Place back home) for a light dinner with a great bottle of wine (Brunello Di Montalcino).

Day 4 :

Bob could not meet up today, so I was on my own. Went to Asoke in a cab where I swear that the driver was either drunk or plain crazy. Talking to himself and zapping around the traffic jam. Walked along the shopping district and saw a restaurant serving good steaks and wine. Took some photos to show my wine kakis as we were talking about this concept as a F&B idea. Last night at SC Park, so I had a swim at the pool and had a drink at the nearby Thai beer garden which was quite cool. Did not wait for the live band to start and moved on for a nice Thai dinner on my own (fried fish in sweet/sour broth plus a cockle salad).

Day 5 :

Checked out and headed to Marriott at Empire Place next. Room was only ready at 11 and so I went to TOPS supermarket to stock up on groceries before meeting up with the rest who flew in today (my wife/son and another family). We immediately set off to MBK and did more Hanoko facials and foot massages. Dinner was at the must-try Somboon restaurant before we headed to the Chatuchak Friday night market.

Day 6 :

Went to the Marriott gym in the morning. We booked lunch at Whale’s Belly for their fantastic buffet offer with 2 bottles of white we brought along. Then it was to Platinum for some serious shopping. Sam and I did a very nice foot massage while the rest shopped till 7+. Then we took a pair of tuk-tuks to the Rot Fai 2 night market next to the Thai Cultural center. What an eye opener! Huge playground of eateries, bars and shops by entrepreneurs. We had a sumptuous BBQ seafood dinner before splitting into 3 groups. Sam and I checked out all the bars and pubs around the area and decided to plonk ourselves at the one with the best live band. He ambitiously ordered a 3 liters beer tower (only THB 690) for the 2 of us. Could not finish and gave the last liter to the guy sitting behind us. A long and fruitful/tiring day.

Day 7 :

It was our Ayuthaya day tour today. Guide picked the 6 of us up at 8 for the hour plus ride there. We had a nice local breakfast before visiting 2 Wats/temples. It was followed by a floating market for lunch and then another 2 more Wats before heading back. Chilled in our rooms in the late afternoon before we headed to Tong Lor for a Thai dinner at Supanniga with 2 bottles of red we brought along.

Day 8 :

Started the morning with a Health Land massage. More last minute shopping and lunch at MBK before heading back at 4. Had a beer at the Marriott pool with Sam. The last night had to end with a bang – we had booked the No. 1 restaurant in BKK for 2017 : Suhring. Nice German fusion degustation (Thb 2,900 each) and wine pairing (Thb 2,600 – mainly whites). The restaurant had pretty amazing ambience and a lovely garden.

http://www.restaurantsuhring.com/

Day 9 :

Chilled in room for a late morning breakfast with stuff from 7-11 and cut fruits. Check out at 12 noon to the airport. Reached home around 7 pm.