Peaks and Valleys

I recently read a book that talked about the ups and downs of life and work. The book was by Dr Spencer Johnson who also wrote Who Moved my Cheese?


In a nutshell, good and bad times were result of earlier work. There were things done that resulted in improvement while others either caused decline or has no impact. Doing more of things with positive impact led to better times while doing more during good time help us maintain the good times.


There are times that everything in life is smoothsailing and in the growth mode. There will also be time when whatever can go wrong will go wrong and everything is in declined. However, the good times were the result of hard work done during the bad times. Working hard and do the right things when times are bad helped build and prepare for the good times.


Many people also forget to continue the work they did that get them where they were and did not continue doing them. Many people got complacent. They stop doing both what got them there and what needed to maintain the good times. There were also on many occasions that people do not know what to do when next to get out of the bad times or get to their next peak. The ability to look beyond the near future could blind us and stagnent us. At any given time and situation, enjoy what you do and enjoy your success. Lastly, and most importantly, share your success with others.



He summarized so nicely as follows:

1. Face reality. Seek truth!
2. Seek the positive even in bad times. Leverage and build on them.
3. Appreciate the good time. Continue to work hard. Save resources for rainy days.
4. Follow your heart. Have a vision. Enjoy the path to realize it.
5. Share your success and experience with others.

So do remember to have fun and share the joy!

CARE

"Do science, but with concern for mankind."

Albert Einstein

Picture of the Day - Wall of Indulgence

There were so many time when we look at "decoration" or photographs hanged on the wall of public places and, for so many times, we would give a passing remarks or critics. How often had anyone thought about what it took to be up there where people felt good and proud to display them?

The accomplishment of the portraits, the success of each brand, the fame of a commercial work such as movie or song or the beauty of a piece of artwork. The amount of effort behind these decorations were tremendous and beyond what many people had imagined. For example, Alfed Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense thriller & movie maker. He is a legend in his own rights. Elvis Presley, the undisputed king of rock and roll. They have all excel beyond possible commoners' achievement. I would like to believe that they did not get to where they were by chance but through lots of hard work.

Sports Bar in Bangalore

So the next time you see a nice piece of work on the wall, think about the effort behind it. Appreciate its journey getting on to the wall.

Bangalore New International Airport

I recently visited the new airport in Bangalore, the Bengaluru International Airport. The airport, spread across approximately 4000 acres of land, is located around 40km away from the city centre of Bangalore. It was officially opened on May 24, 2008.

It was a brightly-litted, clean with a much better ambiance than the previous one. However, it was still short of modern class compare to the rest of the International airports in the major cities around Asia. For example, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Singapore and Bangkok. This airport lacked the decor and recreational facilities such as dining resturants, bars, coffee joints, etc for transiting passsengers to rest or arriving guests to make them want to stay longer. The same for the departure hall although the departure hall had more shops both before and after the immigration as compared to almost none in the old airport.

The customs clearance for arriving passengers were fast. It took us less than 10 minutes to clear despite the long queue. A significant improvement from the old airport. The officers were also friendly and helpful. The same was not to be said when departing. The security inspection began when you reached the airport before getting into the airport to the check-in counter. Then there was the custom clearance followed by another security check. Interestingly, there were different queue for male and female. Thus, bottleneck at the male queue. Then, as the bags passed through the scanner. There were metal detectors for the passengers followed by an inspection/search using handheld detectors. This check took us more than 30 minutes to get through.

Exterior of the new Bangalore Airport

Trolleys

Unmanned information counter

Bookshop outside Arrival gate

Information & direction sign

Cafe at Arrival Hall

In conclusion, it was a much improved airport from the aspect of facilities and cleanliness but short of the modern class. In my opinion, the nice structure lacked the human touch. The colonial bureaucracy was still reflected in the process and there was still significant room for improvement in efficiency to meet the standard of modern airport of today.

March 2010 - Too Much to Handle!

March's schedule is a little crazy. I have 23 working days and I have attend a course for 4 days. The remaining days will be divided between the following places:


1. Singapore
2. Ho Chi Min City
3. Manila
4. Taipei
5. New Delhi
6. Frankfurt


The potential unrest in Bangkok may be a blessing in disguise. I also couldn't squeeze in KL and Penang. I had to skip Chicago and Japan trip.


Gosh! I think these are overbroad.