Intro Part 2 - Few Things About Me You Probably Do Not Want Know About

I know, I know. This is a long overdue post that I was suppose to write on every first week of the month.

I did not forget. It is just that I feel there were more important interesting things to write about than another pompous self-intro post which nobody may even be interested to read about. :)

Anyhow, below are some facts about me that you probably would not want to know about but then I guess it doesn't hurt too much to reveal just a tiny weeny bit, ya?

Fact #1

I married the first guy who kissed me. Nope, mine is not a fairy tale by any stretch of the imagination. It just so happen that B was the guy whom I met again after breaking up for quite a number of years. And it so happen that we clicked so well that...we ROM-ed about less than a year later - if my memory serves me right. :)

Fact #2

I was super skinny and looked very much like another famine-struck citizen from Utopia. I was seriously under-weight for my age back then - many donkey years ago when I first met B. You will never believe it if you look at how well-rounded I am right now. Lol. :p

Fact # 3

I once fell down a long flight of stairs in Bangkok and survived. I was still under-weight back then and was lucky to escaped with just some minor bruises here and there.

Fact #4

I have been to 11 countries and still counting...

- Taiwan (Taipei, soon to have Taichung and others on the list)
- China ( Shanghai, Yun-nan, Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzhou etc)
- Hong Kong + Macau
- Japan (Tokyo/Osaka/Ginza etc)
- Germany - Blackforest
- France - Paris
- Switzerland - Geneva
- Korea (Seoul + Jeju Island)
- Malaysia (Genting/KL/Penang/Kukup/Pontian/JB etc...)
- Thailand - Bangkok/Phuket
- Indoneisa (Bintan/Batam)

Fact #5

I am not happy with my current job scope and is looking forward to either switch to a greener pasture after my Taiwan trip or setting up my own eCommerce biz and experience how it is like to work from home. :)

There you have it - I will definitely reveal more in my next self-intro post but for now that's it as there is only so much time I can spent to write every few days.

See you in my next post.

Ciao...

Is Your Child Investing his Time in the Right Area?

Most people have the impression that everyone on earth is born to do what most of us excel do well in - academic studies, sports, financial management, parenting, driving, marketing and so on...

Myself included.

But in exact fact, no. Not everyone can become Michael Jordan, presidential scholars and top businessmen of the world and so on...

In Singapore, we have a pretty good education system to help filter out our child's inborn gifts and talents.

Primary school kids that do not fare well in their studies (for whatever reasons - lack of interest, poor memory, questionable family background etc) are filtered into classes of different grades in accordance to their academical performance. Those will special talents are drawing, singing, sports are singled out and special programs are tailored for them.

For example, if a particular child is poor in Mother Tongue language, he or she may get streamed into a Mother Tongue class that have students of similar grades.

And if he or she is strong in subjects like Maths and Science, the child will get assigned to higher grade Maths and Science classes where students share the same level of affinity towards those subjects.

It is actually NOT a bad thing if we consider the fact that teachers are better able to take care of ALL students that need help in a certain subject in one fell swoop. And students who are already faring well in certain subjects get to learn more advanced topics in a different class.

My primary 4 kiddo is pretty weak in his Mother Tongue language - it can be painfully embarrassing to hear him speak Chinese at times. It is pretty obvious to me at this stage that his affinity towards the Chinese language is almost non-existent and I have decided not invest more of his time into leveling up his affinity towards it.

Since the starting of this year, he has been "investing" most of his time towards his strong subjects and I could see marked improvement across all other subjects.

As for Chinese, he got just a passing grade which is already a blessing in itself. :)

Honestly, such time arrangement and investment is perfect for me, at least my kiddo will waste his time flogging a dead horse.

My kiddo has strong talents Maths and Science and his ambition (for now) is to be either a scientist or astronaut.

Fortunately, his poor affinity towards the Chinese language will not hinder his ambition to become either one. I hope.

Taiwan Trip 2016 #1 - Itinerary Planning for My 2nd Trip to Taiwan in June

Yeah!! After visiting Taiwan more than a decade ago (12 years to be exact), B (my hubby) and I have decided to bring our kiddo there this coming June holidays.

B and I went on an eight days trip to Taipei 12 years ago and stupidly squandered away most of our precious time there visiting malls, eating at cafes, watching movies and what not - and did not think of visiting many far-flung places like 九分老街， 五分埔 etc which were so much more worthy of our time.

Anyway, this forthcoming trip which begrudgingly includes our hyperactive kiddo, could be one of the many more trips there as B and I were thinking of exploring the various parts of Taiwan (Tainan, Hualien, Yi Lan and the many isles) which have many exotic places that one may never get to see anywhere else.

My hubby was not keen in bringing our kiddo as most of his previous vacations time were usually spent watching out for him than having the chance to drink in and savor the scenery of many places that we may never visit again in our life.

For this trip, B and I plans to visit just Taipei and Taichung. We will spent 2 nights in Taipei followed by another 2 in Taichung and then return back to Taipei to spent another 2 nights there.

We have such an arrangement so that it will be easier for us to pack and cut-short our traveling time to the Tao Yuan Airport on the last day.

Below is a list of places* that we are planning to visit:

Taipei:

- 淡水
- 九分老街
- 五分埔
- 机隆夜市
- 饒河夜市
- 士林夜市
- 西門町
- 龙山寺
- 宁夏夜市
-  陽明山
- Taipei 101
- 臺北市立動物園 Taipei Zoo
- 台北海洋生活馆
- 野柳地质公园

Taichung:

- 南投温泉
- 六福村 (Leofoo Village Theme Park)
- 溪头妖怪村)
- 清境農場  + 小瑞士花園
- 中華路夜市
- Rainbow Village
- 逢甲夜市
- 高美湿地 (GaoMei Wetland)
- 新社古堡庄园
- 一中街夜市
- 第二市場
- 台灣香蕉新樂園
- 忠孝夜市
- 薰衣草森林

*subject to changes

I really hope our kiddo will not give us too much trouble this time and we want to also make use of this trip to familiarize ourselves with the various transportation systems (Public Bus, Travel Bus, Train, High Speed Rail and Metro [MRT]) over there so that our future trips there would be a breeze for us. :)

I will be updating this post as well as adding more Taiwan related posts as we progress towards the exact date of departure.

Stay tuned.

Are You Looking at the Right Numbers?

Look around you and it is not hard to see numbers all over the place.

Numbers make people want to compare - some of us have our ego boosted just because we have "better' numbers.

Need examples? Check this out:

What much salary increment did you get last year compared to the year before?

How much did you spent on your Prada bag that makes eyes turn when you walk down the street?

You created a post on Facebook and how many shares or likes did you get?

Numbers can be deceiving

Most of us look at numbers and made our judgements based on them. Some of these numbers affect our states of emotion, our motivations and so on. But are we looking at the right numbers to help improve ourselves?

You are feeling sore throughout the year because you got 1% lesser increment compared to last year and the year before. But did you know or check out how much losses the company has incurred over the last year - and how many staff have been laid off?

Do you still feel sore had you knew these numbers?

Numbers do not ALWAYS represent the real state of life

Numbers alone does not mean anything until they are being looked at from a different and more holistic perspective.

Someone who made 1 million dollars a year may not have time for his personal health, families and friends. You are envious of the income he made but did not know the sacrifice that have been made.

A stay-at-home mum quit her high salary job to look after the school-going kiddos at home. To most people it is a negative figure in terms of household income but if you care to look from a different perspective, you may appreciate the fact the kiddos are well taken care of, both academic and physical well-being.

Look at the Right Numbers

It took me many years to learn to look at the right numbers. Someone who have better income than you may not be necessarily a happier person. He or she may have huge mortgage burden, big family of 8 to support and so on.

Instead of looking at numbers from a superficial level, why not try look at them from a self improvement standpoint?

Marathon runners have to constantly look at their timing, body weight, heart beats etc to optimize their chance of winning the race.

Top students who look at the right numbers know how many hours they need to set aside each day for revision and they are the one who breeze through exams after exams...

These people are looking at the right numbers. Are you?

Are You Listening Hard Enough to Your Customers?

It does not matter if you have your own business or working your butt off someone else's - we all have the chance to listen to customer feedback.

Almost everyday.

Not all customers will leave a feedback. And not all feedback are nice.

How do you handle negative feedback?

To me, there are essentially 2 types of feedback.

Customers Who Are Really in Pain

Those who are suffering because of the inefficient ways we (our companies) handle things have the type of feedback that we should LISTEN to.

They are the one who will make us see what's outside the jar (from their perspectives). Most companies have almost never taken a look at what's 'outside the jar' - they spent too much time inside the jar, sorting out loose ends, fire-fighting day to day operations and have never taken feedback from customers to heart.

It's not hard to imagine such companies usually close shop within 5 years.

Customers Whose Last Name Are Trolls

It is inevitable that we will get customers who will call and troll the living day light out of us. These people who may be mentally ill are out to making our life a living hell - and while they are only a small minority in most cases, their words are enough to make a good employee quit.

We have faced trolls before, listened to the colorful vulgarities from their very mouth but why are we entertaining them again and again and again? Feedback from these people are never beneficial and most of the time it is a pure waste of time listening to their rants.

We can choose not to heed both types of feedback and NOT learn anything on what's outside the jar.

Or we can choose to listen and filter away the negative ones and learn, rectify and work on what's not working well from outside the jar.

The choice is ours.