She’s beautiful

Isn’t she? Turn out just the way as I’ve imagined and better. Thanks to friends who had reminded me to post the pic. Actually I did not forget but was just too lazy to even take one pic. After procrastinating for weeks, here it is. I’m very pleased with the new place and fortunately so are our customers. Hope you like it too.

Ad-dict… Johnny W

If you haven’t seen this, here’s a brilliant ad from Johnny.

http://www.theandroid-th.com/en/bin/flash/index.html

The android’s words go like this:

I am faster than you
I am stronger than you
Certainly, i will last much longer than you

You may think i am the future
But you are wrong;
YOU are

If I had a wish
I’d wish to be human
to know how it feels…to feel…to hope…to despair…to wonder…to love…

I can achieve immortality by not wearing out

You can achieve immortality
simply by doing One Great Thing

Why do I think it’s brilliant? Definitely, it’s not for the immortality part. Moreover, the cynical me just can’t fathom what has that One Great Thing got to do with whiskey. The brilliance is in fact in Johnny’s ability to effortlessly project the image of drinking as an intellect’s past time, not that I’m saying it shouldn’t. At the same time, either intentionally or not, it also reflects on us that the future is created by us- human. So, embrace it, you are part of the team.

Movie & Music Mill… Ratatouille

Ratatouille is not just another Pixar animation as you may have expected. To me, it’s probably the only movie I will remember for 2007. Watch how expressive Remy the little chef is under the creative strokes from Pixar. The plot is simple but not shallow. Wise quotes are regularly dispensed without being corny. Lines like “….a thief takes and a cook makes” sure brings home the message short and crisp for your kids. Genuinely funny moments are also aplenty and you are guaranteed there will be no slapstick actions borrowed from Eddie Murphy’s. After watching the movie, the next time you see a rat, you may just want to give it a sympathetic squeeze instead.

Vintage experience… Priceless

I sat on this vintage salon chair for my S$4.50 haircut. Note the retro pics on the wall. These are real, not replica. Cool. So are my really short hair in sunny Bangkok.

My bachelor pad

  

Wonder how a bachelor pad looks like? The one on the left is 3hours before a friend’s visit. The one on the right is, well, 3 hours later.

Case Study on execution failure

Problem

This has been happening for about a year now but the simple technology (digital timer for traffic light) I’m going to mention is probably still the latest trumpet blowing effort by the traffic control authority here in Bangkok. Crossing the four lane road in front of my apartment is always a harrowing experience. There was no traffic light and when the traffic is relatively smooth, it’s nearly impossible to get to the other side.

Action Taken

A year back, the authority finally installed the traffic lights with big digital timer display with instantaneous response on the lights when pedestrians press a button like what we have in Singapore. Theoretically this would have significantly improved pedestrians’ safety. However, the results were nothing less than miserable.

Results

• The over zealous timer actually shows the countdown to red light for the drivers and countdown to green light for the pedestrians. To the Dear sirs, think again, damn it! You are encouraging the drivers to beat the red light and frustrating the pedestrians with a 98sec countdown. Guess what, sometime the timer resets after 99sec because there’s only a 2-digit display. This misleads the pedestrians who stepped out after 99sec when your brilliant system is actually continuing the countdown.
• There is no prominent signs or instructions on this ‘press and go’ system which is relatively new to locals.
• The lights are randomly turned on on hourly basis. No one knows when it’ll be in effect so both drivers and pedestrians are never really getting use to this system. Attached pic taken at 12pm, lunch hour and the damn thing is not working.
• The traffic are usually so bad that the crawling cars can only manage to nudge you, not hit you. So most of the time, instead of waiting for the green crossing lights, pedestrians simply stroll through.
• When the traffic is at cruising speed, chances are the lights are not working because priority are for the traffic. Now, life is really cheap! So if there’s this poor guy who crosses the road at 8am for work and return at 9pm, he probably will never realize these traffic lights are not just dummy models.
• So during relatively smooth traffic at cruising speed instead of the usual crawling speed, you will still have to keep your fingers crossed, mind focused and ID card in your wallet with family contact while crossing THAT road with THOSE traffic lights

Root Cause

Truth is- lack of appropriate education on execution or simply, stupidity. However, for endangering our lives, that root cause wouldn’t show the extent of their (the authorities’) intelligence if I do not elaborate further.

Firstly, wrong priority when installing these white elephants. Solving traffic congestion seems to be the priority, not human life. Therefore, the lights are on when traffic is at crawling speed and off when at cruising speed. Subsequently, this installation becomes redundant since it is off when needed and On when not needed.

Secondly, it is evident from the countdown to redlight (for driver) situation that the authority never actually understand the problem before implementing the solution. Everything is probably planned (if any) on paper. Another proof is when pedestrians either don’t know a button to the traffic lights exist (I personally informed two already) due to lack of prominent sign or they simply have not have a chance to use it like the above example of that poor guy (it’s me at times).

Corrective Action

Education.

It’s time like this that I wish I’m home. That said, Bangkok still has lots of pleasant surprises to be explored and most, if not all, of them are not run by the authorities. For now, how do I get to the other side when the lights are off? Fingers crossed, mind focused, ID card in my wallet.

Appreciating the bitter pill

My cafe is moving! Our current site is at a common area in the mall which has higher visibility. As the landlord wanted the location for marketing events, they’ve offered us an attractive rental for an alternative shop space on the same floor. Since marketing events will bring in more crowds that this mall desperately need and we get to save more, we’ve decided to move for mutual benefits.

While having a conversation about our move with a regular customer (Ms J), she told me at point blank that our cafe lacks a theme and look like a TV repair shop. I was flabbergasted but maintain my composure because my only other option was not going to fit into my cafe’s image.

My patience did pay off. She continued by telling me the reason she has that impression and since she is of Arts background and used to work in a 5* hotel in organizing events and banquet, I allow her to proceed. Subsequently, she told me she is going to give me free advice for my new cafe interior and I accepted with some reservations because I still don’t get the ‘TV repair’ joke and like I had blogged before, we do get compliments from celebrities.

After she left, I spent 2 hours conjuring up a graphical image of what the new cafe could look like with some of her suggestions thrown in. One week later, Ms J voluntarily dropped by again to check on the progress of my design. The seemingly snobbish Ms J was now a gracious and generous lady not because she was pleased with the results but I’ve gotten to know her better as a friend through her actions.

Although the end result only took in about 20% of her proposals, those are the important points like no tall showcases blocking the entrance, find a concept people will instantly come to term with (where ‘concept’ by now is a much more philosophical term), low and high furniture positioning, etc.

At my age (not that old lah, I know), I can indeed appreciate the goodness of a bitter pill. But sometimes my ego will still rush in and choke that pill before it can be swallowed. What if I’ve unleashed my rude rebuttal when Ms J gave me her honest opinion? Surely I would have missed out some valuable lessons on interior designing and possibly a long term impact on my business if I took the wrong bet on the interiors. That said, I still can’t figure out the ‘TV repair’ part.

The final version of my design in low res is attached for your viewing pleasure. This view only covers 3/4 of the space. YOUR COMMENTS are most welcome since renovation will only begin on next Wednesday.

Have you weep lately?

Not that I did but I hope I could, for good reasons.

I was watching the ever entertaining NHK channel. The segment was about a variety of Japanese rice and its unique cooking method. As most would have known, Japanese can go hysterical in the face of good food. In this case, the female host reacted in a bell shape emotional progression. At her first bite of the cooked rice (only rice!), she was silent like the calm before a storm. Within seconds, she leapt into hysteria and blurted out in the distinctively Japanese way: ‘oooooiiiiiiiiiiiiishiiiiiiiii’…… Before one could figure out her sanity, she started weeping (talk about mood swing). Since there isn’t any English subtitles, I can only figure out she was weeping out of an appreciation for nostalgia (maybe her mum use to cook it like that) or it was simply that the rice was so goddamn delicious it warrants the tears.

Overly dramatic was my first cynical response. And then I thought, what if it’s real? What if something can really be so good that it can move me to tears? What will that be? Food? A person’s deed? Yes, I had ever been excited, euphoric, extremely satisfied but never to the extent of weeping. How does that feel? Maybe I will find out when I strike the lottery?? Haha… well…

Freebie

How often can you get the latest single, free? And how often do you get it from a revered star like Madonna? In conjunction with Live Earth concert, here is her self composition for free download. For limited period only.

http://madonnasthoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/Live%20Earth

Food! Glorious price…

 

Here’s where I have my breakfast or brunch. Just 3mins walk from my apartment. 2 dishes with rice cost just 25Baht. That is about S$1.05. For 3 dishes, that’ll be 30Baht which is S$1.30. The menu includes Stir fried Chicken with Chinese Mushroom, the famed Green Curry and Tom Yam, Fish in three flavours (translated), Black Pepper Pork, Broccoli, Mixed Mushroom (not from  can), Asparagus with Cauliflower and Carrot, Thai style fried egg with wild vegetables and prawn paste dip, and the list goes on. Perfect if accompanied with a cup of creamy Thai style gourmet iced coffee (Espresso with condensed milk and Carnation milk)- 25Baht.

 

And then there’s the gorgeous balcony view from my tiny 35sqm studio which also comes with a kitchen.

These are just some of the little pleasures here that help me get through the day. Friends are welcome to bunk in for free. I do have alternative place to stay.