Be the 22nd Millionth to watch this ...

Dumb songs personified ...



The Crank takes over the Macarena! Well, if you want to learn ...

Top 50 Thinkers

Chanced upon this ... interesting ...

1. C. K. Prahalad Indian management guru
2. Bill Gates Geek-turned-philanthropist
3. Alan Greenspan Ex-Federal Reserve chairman
4. Michael Porter Competitive strategy author
5. Gary Hamel Business strategist
6. W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne INSEAD professors and authors of Blue Ocean Strategy
7. Tom Peters In Search of Excellence author
8. Jack Welch Former GE CEO-turned-columnist
9. Richard Branson Iconic British entrepreneur
10. Jim Collins Good to Great author

11. Philip Kotler Kellogg’s marketing guru
12. Robert Kaplan & David Norton The creators of the balanced scorecard
13. Kjell Nordstrom & Jonas Ridderstralle Funky Business duo from Sweden
14. Charles Handy The original portfolio worker
15. Stephen Covey The man with seven successful and highly effective habits
16. Henry Mintzberg Controverisal Canadian management expert
17. Thomas Stewart Editor of Harvard Business Review
18. Malcolm Gladwell Author of The Tipping Point and Blink
19. Lynda Gratton London Business School professor and author of Hot Spots
20. Donald Trump US Apprentice host

21. Scott Adams Creator of Dilbert
22. Ram Charan Co-author of Execution
23. Vijay Govindarajan A Tuck professor and GE’s new chief innovation consultant
24. Warren Bennis Veteran on leadership
25. Clayton Christensen Innovation expert
26. Thomas Friedman Author of The World is Flat
27. Kenichi Ohmae Globalisation guru
28. Rosabeth Moss Kanter Renowned Harvard academic and author
29. Steve Jobs Apple’s iconic business leader
30. John Kotter Leadership and change guru

31. Jeff Immelt Jack Welch’s successor at GE
32. Rob Goffee & Gareth Jones Authentic leaders at London Business School
33. Adrian Slywotsky Heavyweight modern strategist
34. Marshall Goldsmith Coach to the top executives
35. Bill George Another fan of authentic leadership
36. Larry Bossidy Co-author of Execution with Charan (22)
37. Daniel Goleman The father of social and emotional intelligence
38. Marcus Buckingham Top self-help guru
39. Howard Gardner Harvard’s creator of the multiple intelligence concept

40. Edward de Bono Supreme lateral thinker
41. Al Gore Climate change campaigner
42. David Ulrich Human resources expert
43. Seth Godin An insightful marketer
44. Costas Markides Charismatic strategist
45. Rakesh Khurana Harvard thinker
46. Richard D’Aveni Hyper-competition expert
47. Peter Senge Learning organisation guru
48. Chris Argyris The originator of the learning organisation concept
49. Jeffrey Pfeffer Stanford intellectual
50. Chris Zook Bain consultant-turned-author

Off to the Second City of UK

No, that's not my office - it's the Birmingham Selfridges Building.

Have been working slightly more than a week, and so far, work's here been good! I get to go of punctually at 5.30 - 6 pm - a far cry from my past work ... ! I guess the load isn't as great as well and there's more time to plan out stuff.

Oh anyway, I am working now at a communications company (or so they call it) called Deliverers (www.deliverers.co.uk) as a Marketing Manager for a suite of online products/ website they're going to launch in early 2008, so I'm kinda putting the plan together for them, doing the branding, getting the PR agency etc.

We're based in west London, on the edge of Chelsea + Kensington borough, 30 mins from the place I live. It's actually much quicker if not for the fact that the train system is really dodgy (they go on strikes when they feel like it, and the poster actually says ' We're going on strike, and you should try NOT to find alternative routes!). Hahaha

Will be off to Birmingham for work this Tues - Thurs at the NEC (I thought it was the brand from Japan... but it actually stands for National Exhibition Centre). Apparantly, it's commonly known as the 2nd City of UK as there're a lot of businesses founded and based there.

This weekend, if all goes well, I shd be headed on a mini road trip with Clement across the channels to Normandy (the place where US invaded Europe to attack germany during the World War). Well, the idea was to test his car to see if it's able to take the load for future road trips!

New Chapter ...

I just got back from a 16 - 20 km Halloween skate (it was so long i didnt know the exact distance) ... and both my legs have shiny new blisters now. Hahah I didn't know London's roads were so ROUGH (they're tarmac but a lot of bits in them .. terrible for skaters). After today, I feel like giving up skating already. Hahha ... I think my body cannot take such abuse anymore.

Overall, the 2 hr skate was interesting because the whole bunch of skaters (prob about 150 or so dressed up in gholish and demons outfits) took over the streets of London, passing by Oxford Circus, Regent St, Trafalgar Sq, Big Ben, London Eye and then ended up back at the Victoria pub near Hyde Park. Half way thru, my legs were already giving up ...

Anyway, many many people on the pavements found the whole bunch of us rather amusing, and started whipping out their mobile phones & cameras taking pictures, videos .. like we were superstars or running a marathon ... funnyyy.

Looks like my career break is over too. Will be starting work tomorrow! Now that I have a job, I wish I am on holiday again. Can never satisfy myself man!!

Have a good week!

Absolutely Brilliant!

So ... I am finally in UK after months of planning and rushing and many memorable farewell dinners & parties.

I can't really say if I have settled down or not ... but I think I am getting into the groove of London City Life. I don't know so much about getting around yet or the people very well, but everyday is a learning experience.

Incidentally most of the people I met in London ... surprise .. are not from London, or even UK for that matter. It's such a cosmo, vibrant place many people from all over the globe descend to seek their fortunes or perhaps find themselves in this urban jungle.

I can most def get around the city on my own from the day I got here, even though the Underground is a nightmare to take sometimes (imagine half the East West line from Kallang to Clementi shutting down over the weekend ... ). I guess Singaporeans are generally quite adaptable anyway around the world, except prob in really rural areas.

But anyway yes, this entry was meant to update my progress here on my BIG move to UK ... apart from those i keep in touch with regularly over MSN or Facebook. In order for it not to be so boring also, I will spice things up with some photos here and there. so now I am wondering how I should do this ... by chronological order ... or by areas I visited.


My Life in 34 kg + one golf bag (which I havent used yet!)

First day I got here at London Gatwick, Clement - my uni friend who has been here for 3 years - was terribly late and I had to wait and wait for him to arrive. He finally arrives in his dinky old car (which has no power steering), and we took another 2 hours to get back home due to the single lined roads (meant for horses) that was jammed with cars all the way to the north.

Fortunately Finchley Road (where I stay now) is a really nice area and rather fortunate for accmodations to be sorted out way in advance before I came. The previous guy just moved out the night before to somewhere else, so it's perfect timing. I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment block on top of Waitrose, which is like our Cold Storage back home ... expensive yummy food.



On the same street in one direction, there is a KFC, McDonalds, Boots, Superdrug, Woolworths, the post office ... and most importantly - Sainsbury which is like the NTUC here .. full of stuff you can buy. They hv so much stuff their slogan is "Try Something New Today".

Sainsbury sells all the brands we all know ... and they also hv their own housebrands called Sainsbury Basics ... the cost is ridiculously cheap sometimes! And that's really how I am feeding myself till today. A 500g of cornflakes cost only S$1.50 ... and I am not even half way thru the box yet till today. The gist is that if you dun go for the frills, grocery shopping is rather affordable here. I heard other brands (in 'poorer' parts of London) are even cheaper n better value). Of course, back home, we will not go for house brands la. Quite cheapo right?

Another fabulous aspect of staying here is the distance to the Underground. The apartments is literally above the lines - Roughly it's the distance between the toilets of Zouk's wine bar to Zouk entrance. 20 steps away - really good.



They operate like EZ link system called Oyster, and the most economical way is to get the monthly pass across the zones where you stay and the city. In my case, it's Zone 1 + 2. A monthly pass costs GBP80+ .. which allows you access to all stations in Zone 1-2 obviously as well as ALL buses in London AND Overground train .. which I think it's a super deal. The prices has actually fallen from what I remember when I first came in 2001. they were GBP4 a ride which was ridiculous.



The passes start the day you buy so in order to make the most of it .. I travel to the city just for the hell of it ... else lugi right?? I have become quite familiar with the Oxford, Regent, Liverpool St, as well as the River Thames area already. Hv been doing lotsa walking here.


From Interiors of City Hall


One of the rare pictures with me in them!


Bond St Area - the most expensive retail street in the world, more expensive than New York, Tokyo or Hong Kong

Job wise -- things are looking ok as of now. I'm on the brink of securing the job I have been interviewing for for the past 1.5 weeks. Which I guess it's a good thing since I am kinda feeling bored sitting at home sending out CVs to hundreds of recruitment companies for the past 3 weeks. It had got a bit demoralizing at times, and e next thing I know I get a call about a possible opportunity, so there're needs to be a lot of positive thinking required!

I am not sure if everyone goes thru the same route but I have been quite fortunate that I have been in touch with some of the best people in the HR business so far like Michael Page, Hudson, Adecco, pfj (which is quite a big one in UK). I think I can sell all these contacts to people coming here to find work ...

I must say some of the opportunies the agencies hv been calling me about have been really interesting. I'm gunning for a mkting mgr position or an events mgr position so but ideally the first, because I would like to move away from events for now. Anyway, tomorrow I shd be hearing news ... so hopefully it's a go and I shd be starting to be productive this week or so.

Well that's about it for now ... I am going to save this posting from the pits of self indulgent boredom by posting more photos ... so pls enjoy, and if you know anyone who's going to come to London to visit, I would be happy to meet them; and show them around whatever I know ...


Steamboat Dinner with Clement - super yummy!


City Hall, facing River Thames and Tower Bridge


Check out the horse stance of the typical china men!


Emirates Stadium, Arsenal (Went to check out on a non-match day)


Nike SuperSonic Run, Finsbury Park (Went to run 100m for the hell for it for a free T Shirt and chance to win party tickets!)


Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth .. commonly known as the big crack (kids having a field day trying to put themselves in, parents having a nightmare stopping them!)


Bourgeois "Spider" outside Tate Modern


St Paul's Cathedral


Clement ...


Natalia, Clement's Girlfriend ...


Underneath the Spider, Tate Modern


Everyone knows the London Eye ... At Night


Protest at Chinatown by the Association (apparantly they not happy police raid their restaurants for illegal workers ... amongst which some Singaporeans were actually caught!)


Diana Exhibition (10th Yr Death Anniversary) at the National Gallery


A giant flag spuring the England Rugby team on the day of the World Cup Finals (of which they lost eventually ...) atop Trafalgar Square


Chelsea Store at Stamford Bridge (went today but didn't realise they close so early!) No, I am not a Chelsea fan. Manchester is a bit far away ...


Anytime you feel moody, you look up at the sky .. the colour's are out of this world.

In my secret ambition to be a world renowned travel photographer, I have more photos here for you to enjoy ... =p

Have a great week!

Shibboleth

Will be visiting the Tate Modern tomorrow afternoon to check out the new art installation ... it's just opened this week and it's simply a big huge ass almost 150m crack across the event hall. Doris Salcedo - the artist behind this - literally got people to hack the floor out, but it's a secret to how it's done so nicely. Her idea is basically to "addressing a long legacy of racism and colonialism that underlies the modern world".

Already, 2 women has fell in earlier this week.

One fell into accidentally because she misjudged the depth; and then just at the moment, an old granny believing that it was just a very realistic looking sticker on the floor stepped into it too! Alamak.

Will share more pictures tomorrow.

Supersonic

Am going for the Supersonic run tomorrow afternoon 5:30 pm at Finsbury Park (near Arsenal Emirates Stadium), wish me luck! Just have to run 100m and hope the timings is among the best 500 in London, then got free invite to some happening party in London. 

Last time Singapore can just call people for guest list, now I have to run for it. Sibei cham.

www.nikesupersonic.com

If fall down, at least got one free Nike T Shirt. T shirt here expensive leh, i need one for sleeping. 

NW3 6LE

London --- always rain .. but the last 2 days have been nice and sunny. So much so that I have gone running around the area (today in my shorts!). Unfortunately the route no matter where I turn is kinda ... boring. Apartments, houses and apartments ... all look the same ... hehehh

4 days have passed, it kinda feels like 2 weeks already. Not sure why, maybe it still feels like a holiday? 

Anyway, the room/ apartment is much better than I thought - I just bought a new lightblub today (was in a gloomy room past few nights) - everything is really convenient. McDonalds & KFC is just 6 min away (that what the signboard says). There's Domino's Pizza .. havent tried that yet. I live above a supermarket so getting groceries is really easy. However this one called Waitross is more expensive (like Cold Storage) , the cheaper one Sainsbury is another 3 mins away. I heard  there's even cheaper brands like Iceland ... oh mine. Some of the items here are even cheaper than back home! So living here so far has been affordable.

The only killer is the rent ... which eats up about S$350 / week so in hotel terms it's $50 a night, which is not too bad considering the location is good and the bed is double sized! There's this really weird tax called council tax which residents hv to pay though, almost GBP40 a month ... supposedly it's for maintaining the peace and order and security and cleanliness of the location. My district is under Camden (which I think is pretty cool la .. Camden's the famous fashion market).

Meanwhile, I hv been going for some interviews at the agencies. I was pretty happy with today's session. The recruitment guy was really helpful n friendly, and told me I had a good chance. The pay's ok, def can survive here, but guess I have to consider other long term prospects. Am also meeting Michael Page on Monday, so hopefully something good comes up from that too. At the same time, it's just clicking and clicking, sending out CVs all over the place. There seems to be thousands of recruitment agencies here! 

I walked around the Great Portland St area aimlessly today after my interview ... so enjoy the photos! The weather's just right now ... not too cold, but I am not perspiring either. NICE!

Transit in Dubai

Decided to take a gamble on my extra 5kg when checking in at Changi airport but Emirates b***h declined said they already gave me 35kg when it shd be 20 kg, so repack! .. and i had to do some minor repacking ... got onto plane (which incidentally was delayed but luckily they have an earlier flight else I wld hv missed my London flight) and then found out some dodgy looking guy taking my seat.

We swapped and then realized later how fortunate I was cause because he ended up sitting beside another even dodgier, rather plump guy. U know the sort who will sleep and then the head rest on your shoulder halfway thru the trip.

So in Dubai now. But in transit so nothing much to see except cheap alcohol. Didn't bother changing any money here ... so didnt get anything. 

I tot the guy was friendly, wave his hand at me. Actually he was telling me to stop taking pictures! 

First time seeing 3 liter vodka (DFS store here) for only US$38. At the clubs, it must surely cost like $500US easily ... 

 

Got to head to washroom before boarding. Later! 

Uncertainty

Time passed really fast indeed - Finally, the departure on my new adventure in 6 hours time. Well about 3.5 more at home before heading to airport to fly 14 hours away to London.

London london, pls don't scare me too much with the pound, ok!

See all you soon.

NKOTB!!!!!!!!

When I was in primary school, for some reason ... I loved NKOTB ... New Kids On The Block!! hahaha ... I found some NKOTB videos . nostalgic la ... wondering what they're all up to now ... I thnk I know the lyrics of 90% of their songs in my mind ... weird

New York LIVE medley @ New York
I had this concert videotape before!!




A bit gay ... Jordon Knight



I'll Be Loving You Forever - Classicccc!!!



Please don't go girl!



One of their not so old songs from the last album - If You Go Away



NKOTB rawkss!!! hahaaa

Marching to a new beat in a new city

Guess the day will finally be here to do what I always wanted to do.
Something I've been planning (or trying to save) for the past 3 years .. and potentially be wiped out in 3 months.

Late 2004, I thought "Why not go to Europe and work and try to pursue a living?"

London, it shall be then. Sep 29th 2007, 0300 hous from Changi Airport to London Gatwick via Emirates. a 14 hour flight. A whole world of difference

1200+ and counting

I took many many photos on my trip to Aussieland, sieved out some of my favourites ...

Brunei River



Tamarama Beach, Sydney



Royal National Park, Sydney



Woolloomooloo, Sydney



Queen Victoria Building, Sydney



Darling Harbour, Sydney



???, Melbourne (Help me with this one?)



St Kilda, Melbourne



Flinders St Station, Melbourne



Swanston St Tram Shelter, Melbourne



Flinders Park, Melbourne



Bayview Estate Winery Pub, Morninton Peninsula



Great Ocean Road Drive



12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road



Overseas Passenger Terminal, Sydney



Observatory Park, Sydney



The Rocks, Sydney



Australian War Memorial, Canberra



Pls visit my photos page to see the rest of my 1200+ photos! Hahaa