4 cross-border flights and a bottle of beer

It started with 5 days, 4 tickets, 3 objectives, 2 luggage, and ended with a bottle of beer.

Was one helluva week.
Friday to Sunday was Singapore. Met with a PnG Veteran who wants to wage a war against status-quo to end her corporate addiction. I admire her that even though her work gave her all the stability she would need in life, she decided to shake things up and start a business. It was a fair trade. Her Asia-wide utilized marketing and management skills with DEG's uncanny Entrepreneurial Craziness.

Sunday to Monday was Malaysia. Met with a 7-11 veteran who wanted to test his limits by going on his own. Similar to his counterpart in Singapore, he didn't want to settle for mediocrity and is always looking for action.

Monday was Jakarta. Long story, I just had to go back.
Tuesday was Manila. With a 4-hour flight and a warm passport, i bought a 3USD beer at the aiport cafe just a few mins before the flight to bring me home sweetly and soundly.

...and when I arrived at the Manila aiport 5:30 in the morning, it just so happens my Boss just landed from his U.S. trip. We had a wonderful early morning meeting at Jollibee. Filipino fastfood and coffee has never tasted so good.

Rule of Thumb on Luxury

I have always had this belief about luxury:

For everyday you put off treating yourself to unnecessary luxuries, that's two days earlier you will enjoy financial freedom.

Business is NOT all about marketing

A few weeks ago, my business partner found a great new spot for our 2nd Ice Cream Machine. It was a school somewhere east of Jakarta. It sold an average of 300 cones a day each sold at 3000 IDR (0.3 USD). That was 90 USD of gross sales a day, around 900 USD net a month. unfortunately, there wasnt enough electricity and our Machine kept dying on us once in a while. The nuns that ran the place did not want to give us anymore increase so after many failed negotiations, we ended up pulling out.

Business is not all about Marketing. Its also about winning negotiations. Its like in the movie "Boiler Room". Ben Affleck's character pointed out that when you make a sales call some one always ends up selling and someone always ends up buying. Its either you (the salesman) sells the person what you want to sell, or he (your target customer) sells you a reason he/she cant. Either way, a sales is made.

9 mins before 4:30 now, hafta chug down my last ounces of water for the day.

The Most Unique Week of my Professional Life

Yes, im not kidding. But, im gonna top this off soon so dont bother reading.

This week i tried fasting the Islam way. I never thought Id learn a lot from not eating while there was daylight. I have concluded that being full actually makes a person more irritable than having an empty stomach!

Then there was the 7.3 Richter Scale earthquake. I heard the stories of my friends in Jakarta. Them feeling one helluva tremor from their 3rd floor office room. Turns out, I was on the 33rd! The feeling? I actually thought I drunk a whole bottle of tequilla when everything around me started "bending". Running all the way down to the ground floor made me sober though.

Then there was the international business. I was discussing things with a prospect distributor in Malaysia and a prospect partner in Singapore. Crunching numbers on what definitley looks like another big dive for our company. Everything turned out great! Looking forward to sealing the deals.

Then there is tomorrow. After finishing up a few things on work, im gonna cook up a batch of oatmeal cookies for choir practice and once all of those are passed, night life time! See you at the club! :)

Manila at Peace (Fasting Day 1)

No wonder the officeboys take a bath at noon. No wonder the apartment guards hang out at the airconditioned lobby more often now. No wonder the motorcyclists drive so fast. They cant stand the humidity and the heat. But despite all that, they are so... patient and happy.

Finished my day 1 successfuly, and wow, was I thirsty and hot the whole day.

Can you imagine an average blue-collar worker in Makati fighting the traffic along edsa with an empty stomach at 6pm? I wouldnt dare compare him to a carpenter fasting and on his motorcycle stuck in a high-noon Jakarta highway (Jakarta is known for the worst traffic jams). It would be comparing a wild bear to a saint.

Imagine if Filipinos could somehow emulate this phenomenon of Fasting Season. That would be one month of peace. That would be one sight to behold...

on to Day 2

Biggest Mistake on Motivation Today

Are you using incentives to motivate your people?
Guess what, you are WRONG!

Let Dan Pink Explain here.