www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

George Quek is brilliant. While we just dream on, he got going. His BreadTalk and Toast Box and Din Tai Fung were a roaring success. He dreamed quickly and work furiously. I have been to Din Tai Fung umpteen times and continue to like the place and the food. So I went there again recently and planning another trip perhaps in a week's time or so. The must have dishes there are the usual suspects - XLB = Xiao Long Bao, fried rice and ramen. There are many more.  Condiments like ginger and vinegar are important ingredients with the food here. Drunken chicken and the refreshing cucumbers are good choices to start.  Of course, xiao long bao are not to be missed. So too the ramen. In my case, the beef ramen is superb. Great ramen, superb soup and tender and tasty beef. Truly, they too have the best tooth picks in town. The ends do not break easily and after cleaning up all your crevices, they passed the durability test. I was really here to test the toothpicks. I

Have you met or know anyone who likes to laugh at others and yet sulk when others laugh at them? Why is that so? The greatest people are those who can laugh at themselves because in real life bloops and blunders happen to the best. When you can laugh at yourself, it is a reflection of your maturity and confidence. Insecure people can't do that. They laugh heartily at or make fun of others but get angry when it's the other way around. Some businesses give themselves big names, unique names, fierce names or funny names, etc. The same goes for people. In Robin Hood and His Merry Men, Robin's trusted and able lieutenant  Little John was anything but. He was a giant of a man.  I was at Thomson Road recently and how the place has been transformed. Transformation often comes with the good and the bad. Out went the old haunts save for a few evergreen like Min's Pub. In another 5-10 years, I may not find the food I used to like as new lifestyle food joints replaced older

Baltasar Gracian was a Spanish Jesuit and philosopher who lived from 1601-1658. He was born the son of a doctor and studied theology and was a famous preacher. During the Spanish Baroque era, he used a style "Conceptismo" which is simple yet witty, play on words with multiple meanings full of satirical wit.  He achieved fame in Europe in countries like Germany and France. During the time, Europe has never produced a finer philosopher. His wisdom is unique and should be used in life and if you wish to prosper in this world where you lived in. Find out more on Baltasar Gracian's "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" which became as best-seller in the US and has since been translated in many other languages  including Chinese and Japanese. Refer to some of his quotes to see if you do indeed find meaning in his wisdom. His masterwork was the three part Criticon and another of his greatest works was The Art of World Wisdom, a collection of three hundred maxims. To this

Continued from Part 2: http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2013/07/return-to-ubin-part-2.html The banks are rich and teeming with life. I am not talking about money banks. When the financial crisis hits, the only banks left standing were the sperm banks. Sand banks are better. These actually looks like stalagmite in a cave. Mangroves are an important part of nature. When they build resorts they destroy mangroves which is part of the ecosystem.  These big-pincer fiddler crabs were busy scurrying around. Just like humans with their busy life. We are but a drop in the ocean or a grain of sand. When you see a lot of nature and the big expanse, you will realise that self importance is futile.  This is the wetlands...  ...and the mud banks.  We searched for the tower.  Passing by more mangroves.  We saw huge and very tall palms. Singapore could have been rich with palm but we have no land to cultivate. It was a lovely sight wh

Continued from Part 1: http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2013/07/return-to-ubin-part-1.html I love the life of police officers here. More laid back, less complicated. Certainly more peaceful as people are less stressed. A provision shop here stocked up lots of cold drinks. I spoke to the owner who is living in Singapore but came back to help his family business. Ubin is not at all drab. On the contrary, it is a colourful place. You can learn kayaking or canoeing here. What colour do you like? They even have a dog that looks like a cow. Is that a hybrid? No feeding of wild animals. So do behave yourself when you are eating here, otherwise you won't be fed.  On a hot day and visitng a few place one can get tired so we hired Uncle Moh to take us around to Chek Jawa and a quarry.  We first visited this old Tudor styled house which is now the Chek Jawa visitor centre. A mural on the main wall depicted some of the wild life you could find he