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The Obblogatory Life
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Updates on missing posts: they’re not missing really
Dear readers, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that I often post on Taiwan Life, well, I’ve decided to move as many as there are decent posts to my new Taipei City Guide Blog: a blog about the great things that Taipei (and Taiwan) have to offer the world.
So, if you click a link or post and end up there, don’t be worried! Just finish the story and come on back! Or stay there if you wish!
It’s not well designed yet, but we’re working to bring it upto speed, and get a semi-decent site functioning for 2011.
Kenneth
Should you do customer service? Not just recommended, but essential!
I’ve done so many different customer service jobs from when I started working. It’s been quite a whiz… but I think it’s much better to learn to work with people who are customers. So here’s the list:
- 1. part-time waiter
- 2. bookshop assistant
- 3. English Teacher
- 4. Boss of a business
- 5. Sales Consultant
- 6. Technical Consultant
Many of these jobs came about because I already some basic skills in working with people… so now I recommend all young people to spend at least some time working in a customer-fronted job where they can learn to interact comfortably, honestly and responsibly with customers, potential and real.
With many developed countries becoming increasingly people/service focused in the future, at least in terms of customer performance, most of the future job growth will depend on such skills. And not having such skills will put talented individuals at a distinct disadvantage in competitive terms for jobs, promotions, pay raises, and much more…
London Parks: A Balmy Summer 2010
Thought you’d like to see this. We rented some deckchairs and enjoyed the sun in the later part of the afternoon! It was quite sybaritic, just sitting there in the sun, enjoying an ice cream cone with family and friends!
One of the interesting things about Hyde Park is that there are often horses seen in the park, either with full horse tack for a parade, or with show horses. You can even see horses being riden by children and instructors! It’s quite wonderful to see how, in the center of a city, such graceful animals can co-exist and enjoy the open spaces.
It does remind me of how parks like Hyde Park, once part of the royal estates, were actually wilderness full of real animals (not just suited ones!): bears, deer, horses and much more… and they were hunting grounds, if you go back far enough in history!
Worries: it’s a craiglist/facebook world!
Some of my readers might worry about why I’m telling you about our London trip just now… nearly a month after it happened!
In short, when people know you’re travelling … it’s an open invitation to trouble while you’re away. So we are trying to exercise a little caution about this by not publicising our trip any more.
Lack of ‘freshness’ or ‘it just happened’ Twitter like updates are a small price to pay for this … but I’d rather come back to a house that’s intact to one that’s been sold on Craigslist or Robbed by those using geolocation tools on Facebook (Facebook Places!).
So there!
London Parks: Good footwear needed
When we were in the UK this summer, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to London. One of the first things, though, that Christine did was head to the parks in London, which are amongst the best we’ve ever visited.
In fact if you were really park-minded, you could walk all the way from the Thames to the Albert Hall pretty much staying inside the confines of the parks: St. James’ park, Green park, Hyde Park,… but for such heavy duty walking you’ll need a pair of good walking shoes that can handle both grass, tarmac, and cobbles!
Would London be a match for mbt shoes? The only way to find out is try them out! Who knows what I’ll wear next time I go… as long as it isn’t cement walking shoes… I’m not worried!
Favorite Biz Cards: Tamsui Postcards
I like to buy the black and white postcards from this store. Increasingly, there are the best postcards in the modern era that I can find. So I thought I’d give them a little pitch.
You can visit the wonderful blog at http://blog.yam.com/bnwphoto
Kenneth
Flip Ultra Mino HD.
This little baby is my new toy: the Flip Ultra Mino HD recorder. It is a great little toy… but I had to buy a whole new pc to get the video processed for sharing. My 7 year old systems just can’t do the work. I wonder why!
Wifi Android plus Apple Ipad – best of both worlds?
As luck would have it, I have managed to drop my Nokia Cellphone, and I think it may have broken the screen. Still not sure what happened, though. But apparently, it’s not the only phone that this has occurred.
Anyway, it was repaired and returned to me, I found that in the week when it was away… I started hankering after one of those Samsung AMOLED 4″ screen phones with Wifi-Tethering or even an HTC model.
I don’t particularly care for a small iphone, but … with wifi, you can simultaneously connect an Ipad with wifi, an E-reader (like Kindle), a decent Netbook, and a skype phone unit all via your wireless unit.
What a way to avoid paying hotel broadband surcharges!
100% Worth It: Auto Insurance #1
For those of you who remember my car-accident in Taiwan a few years ago, I would totally recommend taking out decent auto insurance. After driving nearly 45K km in the past years, I can testify to the necessity of having insurance, for much more than basic cover.
For example, if you scratch your paintwork in an accident, my policy actually covered some of the damage! Since most of the documents were in legal Chinese, I couldn’t really figure out why.
And for the repainting work, there was a small element in the policy included. Apparently, the Mazda garage provides cheaper pricing for such repairs than if I were to pay for it myself! Go figure!
Studies in the Capital of Golf: I never did play
I went to school in St. Andrews in Scotland. I majored in Greek of the Classical kind, and while it is true that I wasn’t the most hardworking of the students in class, I learned a profound amount from my experience there.
St. Andrews was famous as the former capital of Scotland for a number of things: oldest university in Scotland, RAF Leuchars nearby, but wherever you went in St. Andrews, you were never far away from its number one export: golf.
There is the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the British Open, and at least four more 18 hole golf courses in the town of little more than 14,000 inhabitants and 8,000 students (estimates).
Unfortunately, while I did indulge in a number of the wonderful student activities, including Raisin Monday, pier walks (now not possible), *ahem*, I never did manage to pick up any Nike golf clubs or any other kind of golf club! I will never know why.
It’s not that I didn’t try other sports: aerobics, hill walking, cycling, and so on. It just never appealed to me. Kind of like putting me in front of a pile of delicious food then telling me I have to eat it. I lose my appetite quickly.