People who inspire you, who are they?

Recently, I attended a leadership course. It was a good workshop and I enjoyed it. I pretty much stayed engaged in class and was mostly participative. However, the section on inspiring people got me a bit stumped.

I mean, how do I unleash talent? And why should I? Isn't this something that one would hope people on the team would already know it themselves and we being the 'leader', just let them go muddle their way through and support by finding opportunities for them to shine?

And again today, while trying to muddle through my profile in Facebook, it asked who are people who inspire me.

And I couldn't name a personal idol.

As they say, if you don't have an inspirational idol, how can you be one for others?

But I'm starting to realise, may be it's not that I don't have an inspirational someone in mind, but it may be because I am the kind who just like to admire various qualities of a person (or in my case, many people...).

The below totally echo what I see as qualities I'd like to embrace and follow myself. If you know someone who has all these qualities, please point me to them so I can put them on my personal altar.

Excerpts from an online mag:

Here are my top ten picks of world-class inspiring people who do not get the proper recognition they deserve:

1.) People who apologize for a wrong they've committed and mean it. (I'm also inspired by people who accept the apology and also mean it.)

2.) People who recognize there's a problem but rather than complain and blame, offer solutions and are willing to carry them out. These people are great teachers.

3.) People who use every ounce of their God-given talents without bragging, and always strive to improve.

4.) I'm overwhelmingly inspired by people who aren't the "best" at what they do, but always try their best no matter the circumstance. Failure is not in their vocabulary.

5.) People who count their blessings. They enjoy what they have whether it's a little or lots, and know how to be satisfied. These people have peace of mind because they are not caught in the non-ending torture of always needing more. They enjoy all, but need nothing--there is a difference.

6.) I'm inspired by people who stop at a child's lemonade stand to buy what amounts to warm sugar water. They are the encouragers of tomorrow's entrepreneurs.

7.) People who take a leap of faith and do as their heart directs, very much inspire me. It's not easy for people to do what feels right, especially if it's something that goes against popular opinion, family members, friends, co-workers. This is undeniable courage.

8.) Good listeners who do not judge really inspire me. What an amazing gift of compassion. They are the world's hope for peace and sanity.

9.) People who stop to help change a car tire, especially if it's cold and raining. Total heroes!

10.) People with a great sense of humor. They put a smile on my face and a spring in my step. When I am with someone like that the weight of the world, at least for the moment, is off my shoulders.

There's much inspiration to be found everywhere, but especially in each other; I could go on and on with examples. Our job is to notice and apply in our own lives the inspiration fostered by this great and growing legion of "Ironmen."

Copyright 2007 - Mary M. Bauer. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Mary M. Bauer is the author of five books, including The Truth About You: Things You Don't Know You Know (VanderWyk & Burnham, 2006)

One Day's Wages is a new international movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty.

One Day's Wages is a new international movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty.

Blogging from my phone

Entry número uno:) super tiring week... Can't wait for Friday and the weekends to come. Wish those could stay awhile longer. But can't wait for the next few months to come sooner too... Guess I want my cake and eat it too.

I love Letters to Juliet because it's a fairytale

It's been a really long while since I've been so in love with a movie and I've got to say, I almost did not want to watch it. Perhaps I've got to thank KrisWorld for the not-too-exciting movie line-ups for a 17 hour or so flight and thus, I thought I'd give this one a shot. And boy, did I end up watching it not once but perhaps thrice or more.

Now I'm wondering if I should give "Dear John" a chance or should I just give it a miss. After all, it's about the same theme with the same lead actress, right?

Letters to Juliet is as cliche a love movie can be. The storyline is so predictable but yet, something so simple can be such a lovely fairytale for us grown-ups. I guess movies with happy endings can never go wrong. The princess, or in this case Juliet, will always have to be with her Romeo prince and true love will prevail.

I still get goose bumps watching the MV. Guess I'd always be a sucker for such love movies.

Letters to Juliet

Best of Hong Kong 2009

One of my best trips ever.... food, shopping, friends... great times:)

Global Marketing Summit San Jose

It was a great dinner at a winery, chateau de la close or something.

Bali Escapde 2010

Green green grass of home... Rice padi field in Bali during the Cycling tour conducted by I Made Wari

Almost 360 Panoramic View overlooking Sentosa. Taken from sky ride. Thanks to Robert for piecing the shots together.

Thanks to Robert, he helped me to piece the shots together to form a panoramic view of Sentosa.

Chinese Heritage Museum

My favourite display at the museum. Had a fun time trying to identify the variety of food.

Chinese Heritage Museum...did you know?

Interesting day at the Chinese Heritage Museum. I didn't know my family name originated from Pengcheng, which is present day Xuzhou city of Jiangsu Province. However, most of the teochew (which is my dialect group) descendants are from Guangdong province. They must have moved...

Bali Escapde 2010....sunsets

One of the sunset scenes at Canggu Beach, Bali. Although I did use picasa to touch up the picture, but nevertheless, the Canon S90 was superb to capture the 'basics' beauty for me to enhance with technology.

Dinner @ Pamplemousse

Lucky me, to know someone who has a friend who's a budding chef. Was treated to scrumptious dinner and this is the appetizer. Scallop carpaccio. Taken with my trusty Canon S90.

Thai fish cake in SF

Dinner in SF at a Thai restaurant. I couldn't resist taking the shot with Robert's Canon EOS 550D.

World's most crooked road

Yet again, another people shot. It's because Robert asked me to... Hope I did him justice! Or Lombard road for the same matter.

People

It's fun to snap away while your subjects are distracted or engrossed in something else other than yourself, the photographer. Portraits of people in the mirror shot is something I learnt from the pros like YF. Looks good, yeah?

Portraits

I'm not good with people... much less shots of people. I prefer shooting the non-living, like food or maybe even sceneries. But I thought this one turned out quite well:)

I love eggs benedict.

Doesn't this just make you drool?:) Credits to me for the delicious shot but with compliments from Robert's Canon EOS 550D.

Budding photographer

At the last GMS in SF, I helped myself to my colleague's Canon EOS 550D. Here are some of the shots I took. Needless to say, most of it related to food, would be my handy work:)

Bali Dreams

It was a good trip.  A much anticipated one, albeit it started off badly for me. Left my passport in the office, bringing the wrong type of rupiah currency and having so much work left unfinished... but I guess if you have to go, you have to go.

What I liked most about the trip was probably the villa. It was a great idea to rent one for the 4 days we were there since we had a group of 7 people. The location of the villa was a tad 'far out' as it was about a 25-30mins drive to the more happening places like Kuta, Seminyak areas where pubs, shopping and crowds were a plenty. But the enjoyment was that the whole place was for ourselves and that we could eat, drink, swim and chill in the same place, any time, any way we want it, was really cool.

Oh, and not to forget the chauffeur who was available to bring us into the 'city'.

The outdoors activities were also not too bad, although I had serious 'butt' issues after the cycling exercise. Guess my ass needs extra padding the next time I ever try to do it again.

I definitely hope we get to do this again.... together.

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What's your life mission statement?

Do you have one? Or more importantly, do you need one? According to Covey, you can and you should.


And so, here goes my first draft.


Always be proactive and take initiatives.
Like David, to be a fearless leader.
Like Fiona, to have tenacity. 
Always show persistent determination. 
Always be compassionate. 
Always be trustworthy.
Always be genuine.
Collaborate, don't compete.
Create success through leadership. 
Be real, Be brave. 
Have great qualities to share.


Am I inspired? Hmmm.... I'd need to ponder on it some more.

My Big 5 for 2010 - cont'd

Five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel its been your best year yet.

It's harder than I thought but here goes. In no particular order....

*Finish 10KM in Dec within 55mins or less and complete at least one 5KM run in 25mins

*Help others - find time for volunteer work and/or do something for others

*Research on a topic and post my findings on my blog at least once a quarter

*Identify my personal values and develop a mission statement for life

And one more to go.... any suggestions?

The day my iPhone came to the rescue

So it's no question that I'm pretty much an Apple convert today. I love using my iPhone and it's really a useful tool. There was one day when I had to get something done at a government agency. We brought down all the necessary paperwork but lo and behold, we missed one important document which we didn't know we had to bring it and without which, we can't get the administration process going.

Luckily, my dad reminded me that I had an attachment in my email (my trusty Gmail). I quickly searched for it, found it, opened up in PDF, showed it to the officer and she said that's the one! I emailed to her and she printed it and viola, I got the job accomplished without having to drive back home to get the document.

Thank goodness for technology. Thank goodness for iPhone.

I heart my iPhone

I never thought I'd one day say this, but I really think I do love my iPhone.


Firstly, you've got to know I'm no Apple fan although I was once dazzled by their iPod some years ago (when I was working for another digital audio brand...) and loved my iPod Nano which I had purchased last year. Other than that, I had serious user problem operating my first Mac during Uni days (since I was a true blue Windows gal) but I must say, this little smartphone gadget is really one of its kind.


Firstly, to own an iPhone, one must rethink about mobile phones and its functions or capabilities it'd have today. Back years ago, when I had my first Ericsson then, a mobile phone was a mere device for people to reach others easily without the hassle of finding a public phone to return calls from tiny paging gadgets.


I guess it's really a case of right time (or in this case, right technology) where supply meets and fuels demand. With the advent of technologies like WiMax, Edge, 3G etc, the mobile world becomes the new "fast speed Internet" platform for us to access information any time, almost anywhere and everywhere on any smartphone devices.


To fuel this further , smartphone vendors help boost demand with faster, seamless OS to aid application access on their devices... and soon, adding and enhancing security on them so that users like you and I can access secured private information back to corporate or personal sites. Do you hear cloud computing humming in the background of all these?


There are many things I can do on my phone now - surfing the Internet, reading emails, watching videos online, chatting with friends and colleagues, updating my facebook, twitter and other social network mediums, posting my other online profiles and status etc etc and so many more.... The usage is pretty endless and exciting.


If I were a smartphone apps developer, I think my chances of making my first million in this lifetime is a pretty feasible quest.


I chanced upon this article that was trying to size up the market potential of iPhone users in Singapore. And the data is pretty compelling.
http://digitalmedia.typepad.com/digital_media_observation/2009/11/how-many-more-apples-iphone-3g-users-can-we-add-in-singapore.html


There's an estimated 1M+ iPhone users in Singapore by 2010... and if we assume one user makes 12 apps 'purchases' a year, that's 12M+ transactions in a year. Assume if one wants to capture 10% of this market and charge $0.99 per app, that's about $1.1M+ business revenue we're looking at in a year...


It's just amazing - makes one wonder how to get one's fingers in the pie.

My Big 5 for 2010

Five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel its been your best year yet.

It's harder than I thought but here goes. In no particular order....

*Finish 10KM in Dec within 55mins or less and complete at least one 5KM run in 25mins

*Help others - find time for volunteer work and/or do something for others

*Research on a topic and post my findings on my blog at least once a quarter

I haven't quite figured out what my last two should be... but hopefully in the next month or so, I'd be greatly inspired by something or someone to pen down my big 5 for 2010.

Wish me luck!

How far will you let technology run your life?

We live in the modern world where the Internet and devices of all forms and sizes like smart phones, laptop and gadgets are a part of our daily lives. In fact, most of us can't function if we don't have our phones with us or don't surf or use the Net at least once a day for emails and watching online videos. We probably own more than one such devices to get connected, communicate and learn or educate ourselves and others about the latest knowledge and events in the world via the WWW.

I couldn't help laughing when I saw this video. It's a clip about this couple in the midst of their most significant moment of their lives - their wedding in church. It's a most solemn and serious affair, until the groom decides to whip out his smartphone (I'm guessing iPhone) to change his relationship status on facebook right there and then.

Watch it and learn about this new generation. Enjoy.

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-sg&vid=f8bacc8f-3624-484d-b3ed-a89af924c0df

Ministry of Food

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Ministry of Steak

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Resorts World Sentosa Singapore

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Seafood Paradise @ Singapore Flyer

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Marutama Ramen @ The Central

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It's nice but it's chicken stock. I'm more of a pork stock type of ramen girl I guess but it's still alright and I still liked what I ordered. I chose the spicy one but it didn't have the same kind of kick I was looking for. We also ordered side dishes of gyoza as well as radish simmered in stock.  Nice and it's two thumbs up.

Morton's

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So for the 3rd time of the week, we celebrated Dad's birthday. This time at Morton's and the price on the menu was definitely jaw-dropping. But must admit the steak was really good. I opted for the crab cake instead but I felt the one I had in Colorado, Denver was nicer..


As you saw from the price list, this is a place one won't exactly come on a regular daily basis but more for that special occassion. And indeed we heard the pool of waiters and waitresses belt out Happy Birthday for 2 other tables before ours and one other after us. Must be a tough job to have to sing the same song on a 3 times average daily basis.


Nevertheless, it's a nice place and one could look for that special occasion to come here. It's a two thumbs up but it's one where you'd need to look to find the opportunity to raise your thumbs for it.

PS Cafe

So after a night of none event, we ended up at PS Cafe for night cap. Or more like a sin-stop. Although a colleague had recommended this place, I never had the chance to visit it until that day. It's actually quite splendid, and the desserts were divine.

I wasn't too sure how to get there but luckily my 'natural radar' and instinct brought us to the place quite safely.

We ordered hot honey lemon, banana mango crumble, ginger pudding and something dark chocolate banana cheesecake. All were great and here are the pictures to justify. Two thumbs up and can't wait to come back again.

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Chili Crab

Every Singaporean has got to have his or her favourite outlet. It's almost like you haven't had chili crab, you haven't been to Singapore (or call yourself one).

Thanks to hungry go where again, we've got a listing of some of the top restaurants. Glad to say I've tried most of them.

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/top10/Chilli_Crab/

The usual suspects like Long Beach, Jumbo, No Signboard are the most regular. Out of these three, I think the best one if No Signboard, while the black pepper at Long Beach is great.

It's been a super long while since I've been to Palm Beach but if memory serves me right, I think they're not too bad either.

The one that had me scratching my head was Roland Restaurant. Although I remember it was in Marine Parade since we used to live in the east side, but never once tried it. Mostly because nobody we knew had recommended it by word-of-mouth.

Anyway, probably it's time to give it a try since it garnered number 1 ranking.
And if you've tried it before, let me know if it's really worth the effort?

Hong Kong food feast debrief - Cha Caan Teng 1

Needless to say, we had our fair share of cha caan teng (茶餐厅) in Hong Kong. This one is at Sheung Wan area and we had our standard luncheon meat with egg instant noodles and yuan yang. However, this outlet was also supposedly famous for their claypot rice. We ordered the mix one. It was nice but a bit too filling for breakfast.

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Walking directions to 115 Jervois St, Hong Kong

0.3 km – about 3 mins

Via Bonham Strand - remove

Sheung Wan MTR Exit A2 71-87 Wing Lok St Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong Edited - Show original

1.	Head west on Wing Lok St toward Hillier St	25 m
2.	Turn left at Hillier St	40 m
3.	Turn right at Bonham Strand	0.2 km
4.	Turn left at Morrison St	42 m
5.	Turn left at Jervois St Destination will be on the left	31 m

115 Jervois St Hong Kong