Ibarangs in Singapore.

Meet up with fellow Ibarangs Vince Sales ('81) and Cheryl Mae Mirasol ('96) in Lau Pa Sat Food Centre in Singapore.

Meet up with fellow Ibarangs Vince Sales ('81) and Cheryl Mae Mirasol ('96) in Lau Pa Sat food centre in Singapore.

Craving...

... For 'Ben & Jerry's Turtle Soup'. ;-P

Adobo a'la Dario

Description:
Traditional adobo recipe modified a bit by moi. ;-)

Ingredients:
500 grams chicken liver
1/4 kilograms pork liempo cut in 1" or 1/2" pieces
1 piece chiken breast cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 big onion, chopped (or 1 tablespoon of onion base)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 bay leaves
Pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Saute onion, garlic and chicken liver
2) Add in pork and chicken and stir fry till brown
3) Pour in light soy sauce, vinegar and water. Add bay leaves and pepper. Bring to a boil, covered in low heat for 60 minutes and voila!

Kai in SG

@ BQ Bar, Boat Quay, SG.

Birthday meet-up with Kai Huang and friends at Boat Quay, Singapore.

Anti-Theft Lunch Bag

Thought I'd share this with everyone. Something posted by a fellow Graphic Design Forum member, Budafist. Pure beauty.

Why Employees Leave Organizations?

This article was written by Azim Premji, CEO, Wipro Technologies 

Every company normally faces one common problem of high employee turnout ratio. People are leaving the company for better pay, better profile or simply for just one reason’ pak gaya ‘. This article might just throw some light on the matter….

Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude.

The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, and the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food. Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. “My learning curve is the sharpest it’s ever been,” he said soon after he joined. “It’s a real high working with such cutting edge technology.” Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job.  He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn’t take it anymore. Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who have also quit recently. The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover. He’s distressed about the money he’s spent in training them. He’s distressed because he can’t figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.

The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules. It came up with this surprising finding:

If you’re losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he’s the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.

 ”People leave managers not companies,” write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. “So much money has been thrown at  the challenge of  keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better  perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly  manager issue.” If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers. Are they driving people away?

Beyond a point, an employee’s primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he’s treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors. You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one. Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time the thought gets strengthened.  The third time, he starts looking for another job.  When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: “If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble.  You don’t have your heart and soul in the job.”

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over seemingly trivial issue.

It isn’t the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It’s the 99 that went before. And while it’s true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons- for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun’s boss did: “You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you.” While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today’s waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There’s the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others.  Plus, of course, the loss of the company’s reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.

We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.

“Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee,” Jack Welch of GE once said.   Much of a company’s value lies “between the ears of its employees”.  If it’s bleeding talent, it’s bleeding value.

Unfortunately, many senior executives busy traveling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home. That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.

Those WERE the Droids I was looking for...

TK421 realizes his mistake...

Stairporn

It's quite intriguing how something made of cold steel, stone or wood is made out to look so sexy...



See more here.

Ant Bully 1,000x

http://fun.drno.de/flash/antcity.swf
Imagine that you're a giant with a magnifying glass terrorizing the city...

Tom Yum Fried Rice

Description:
Something I just cooked up this morning, a derivative of something me and my wife ate at some restaurant. For a quick and easy meal for lunch, brunch or dinner, an all-in-one meal.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp Tom Yum paste
8 pcs Kani sticks, chopped
a few pieces of shrimps
1/2 lemon
fresh sweet basil leaves
about 2 cups of cooked rice

Directions:
1. sautee tom yum paste in frying pan in medium heat.
2. put in shrimps and chopped kami sticks in with the mix till cooked.
3. put in the rice and mix thoroughly then mix in basil leaves.
4. squeeze some lemon in the mix and enjoy.

Victor Asuncion plays at the National University of Singapore

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the National University of Singapore presents Victor Asuncion in its Masterclass Series Piano Recital, Thursday, 28 August 2008, 7:30PM.  I haven't seen this guy since the early 90s at the University of the Philippines and we haven't been in touch since then. But thanks to social networking site Facebook, we've been able to be in touch recently. :)

A Must in Every Office...

I honestly think this sign MUST be posted in every office... 

Organic Furniture Design

Something interesting I came across while browsing cause I've got nothing better to do... Just thought this might appeal to fellow designers and non-designers alike.

Presenting... The Spaghetti Bench! Lovely.

phil-arts.com

http://phil-arts.com/
A pet project of my web designer batchmate Daniel Honrade Jr., a portal for practioners in the arts such as music, dance, theater arts, visual arts, creative writing, and designers in new media to exchange ideas and concepts. It could also be a possible venue for rich collaborations.

Our house...

A virtual video tour of our house...

Wedding Photos

Taken at The Registry of Marriages, Singapore and Chijmes. 15 August 2008.

Post-Apocalyptic Art

I find the recent fascination post-apocalyptic scenarios quite interesting. I've heard about The History Channel's "Life After People" and seen some clips of it and I find it really engaging. I found this site featuring such art featuring speculative scenarios such as "Tokyo After The Apocalypse" and "2090: London After the Great Flood."



Shibuya



Akhibara



Shibuya Center



Shibuya Center



Shibuya Center



Shinjuku




2090: London After the Great Flood

Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony

Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html

Beijing held its formal opening ceremony today for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The ceremony, held in the National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest, was attended by thousands, and watched by millions more on television. Below are some highlights of the nearly 4-hour performance.


A dancer performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)


Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)


An artist in a space suit performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)


Fireworks explode over the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium on August 8 in Beijing. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)


Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest", on August 8, 2008. The three-hour show at Beijing's iconic national stadium was set to see more than 15,000 performers showcase the nation's ancient history and its rise as a modern power. (AFP PHOTO / Olivier Morin)


Percussionists take part in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, 2008. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)


Percussionists hit their Fou drums at the start of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, 2008. (AFP PHOTO / Joe Klamar )


Percussionists with their Fou drums stand prior to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, 2008. (AFP PHOTO / Jewel Samad)


Artists perform around an illuminated Globe during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)


Artists perform during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 at the National Stadium in Beijing. Over 10,000 athletes from some 200 countries are going to compete in 38 differents disciplines during the event, between August 9 to 24. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)


The Olympic rings are illuminated during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)


Artists underneath movable boxes perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)


Martial arts dancers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)


Lighted dancers perform during the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/David Phillip)


Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images)


Artists perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)


Performers cheer during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)


Fireworks light the sky over the National Aquatics Center (L) and the National Stadium during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)


An artist performs, suspended by wires during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)


Drummers perform during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)


A musician performs during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 at the National Stadium in Beijing. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)


Performers are pictured during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)


A dancer is silhouetted as she performs during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)


Children of migrant workers from outlying provinces look at themselves in the mirror as they use their hands to form the Olympic Rings after watching the TV live broadcast of the Olympic Games opening ceremony at their quarters August 8, 2008 on the outskirts of Beijing. (Andrew Wong/Getty Images)

More links and information
Olympics Coverage - Boston.com
China strides onto Olympic stage - Boston.com 8/8
Protests occur worldwide as Beijing Olympics begin - Photo gallery, Boston.com 8/8
Official Site Beijing 2008 Games
2008 Olympics - NYT Topics page