"Here for Good"

i LOVE this standard chartered bank ad!!

Can a bank really stand for something?
Can it balance its ambition with its conscience -
To do what it must, not what it can?
As not everything in life that counts, can be counted.
Can it not only look at the profit it makes,
but how it makes that profit.
And stand beside people, not above them.
Where every solution depends on each person.
Simply by doing good, can a bank, in fact, be great
In the many places we call “Home”,
our purpose remains the same:
to be here for people,
here for progress,
here for the long run,
here for good.

the making of the ad:

another version of the ad:

another version:

making of this version:

Guinness Hokkien Mee

Step 1: Prepare the Guinness reduction base

500 ml Guinness stout
3 drops apple cider vinegar
35 grams rock sugar (in blocks)
1 pinch of salt

1. Heat up a big pot and bring Guinness stout to the boil. Light a fire over the stout to burn off the excess alcohol.
2. Add vinegar, rock sugar and salt.
3. Simmer until the volume is reduced to half the original amount or 250 ml.
4. Stir before straining the mixture. Cool and store between 5 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius an air tight container to keep fresh.

Step 2: Prepare the prawn mee stock (can be used for at least 6-8 portions)

500 grams prawn heads (pre-roasted)
1 liter water
500ml Guinness stout
25 grams blue ginger (smashed and sliced)
1 stalk lemongrass (smashed and cut to 4 cm long)
2 teaspoons toasted coriander seeds
1 red onion (peeled and cut into 4 pieces)
1 pinch of salt

1. Pre-heat a non-stick pot.
2. Fry the onion and lemongrass until fragrant.
3. Add the coriander seeds and blue ginger.
4. Add the prawn heads, rock sugar, salt, Guinness and water.
5. Simmer until boiling and then reduce until the stock is halved in volume.
6. Strain the residue and cool.
7. Add 250 ml of the Guinness reduction to the mixture.

Step 3: Stir fry the noodles

2 tablespoons pork fat oil
35 grams minced garlic
3 whole eggs
280 grams yellow egg noodles
80 grams thick bee hoon rice noodles
60 grams bean sprouts
2 tablespoons soya sauce
3 teaspoons fish sauce
60 grams squid rings
150 grams tiger prawns
60 grams pork belly (sliced)
25 grams red chili (sliced)
1 pinch of salt and pepper

Garnishes

2 tablespoons sambal chili
3 small limes
20 grams spring onions (sliced into rings)
Half cup prawn stock
Quarter cup Guinness reduction

1. Heat up a wok with oil and lightly fry the noodles and bean sprouts.
2. Push the ingredients to the side of the wok and fry the eggs.
3. Add in the rest of the noodle ingredients one by one and cook for another four to six minutes.
4. Add in the prawn stock and Guinness reduction and continue stirring.
5. Cover the wok and let the noodles braise in the liquid for one to two minutes or until the liquid thickens.
6. Serve warm with the garnishes.

10 years ago i started my full-time career in a non-profit faith organisation. 10 years later, i start my career in part-time F&B "career". this is a rude and rough shock for me, to be on the "other" side of the dining experience. worked from 4pm-2am.

i feel like i'm more than 10 years late. youngsters who wants to work temp jobs go into F&B. in my late teens, young adult years, i managed to evade this route, despising the low pay and opting for jobs that bring me more than $20 an hour. yet now, having loads of working and management experience under my belt, i find myself rubbing shoulders, sweating and working alongside pp that i would never have before or otherwise. it's interesting. lots to learn.

the F&B outlet was pretty packed on a fri night. never, never start work in F&B on the weekend. it's c-ra-zy! v shiong. harder than running full marathon.

was so dead tired and hungry after working more than 10 hours but... working with so much good food and seeing loads of food wastes... dont have the appetite.

got alot of thoughts. alot of learning points for me. one such thing is how to eliminate wastes and encourage recycling or conservation practices in a fast-pace and stressful environment.

F&B pp are my new heroes. not easy. yet for those who love the adrenaline and satisfaction of feeding and serving with excellence, hat's off to you!

Green Hornet:

it's not dying that you need to be afraid of; it's never having lived in the first place.

Alice in Wonderland:

Alice: this is impossible! (when she saw the monster "Jabberwocky" that she has to defeat)

Mad hatter: only if you believe it

Alice: sometimes i believe as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast.

Mad Hatter: that's an excellent practice.

Alice (as she fights the Jabberwocky): 6 impossible things: number 1: there's a potion that can make you shrink. Number 2: a cake that can make you grow, no.3: animals can talk. No.4: cats can disappear. No.5: there's a place called wonderland. No.6: i can slay the Jabberwocky.

and she did!

-- it is indeed good practice to declare the impossible things and see that they are "possible"!

Francis Xavier's prayer

My God, I love thee;  

not because I hope for heaven thereby,  

nor yet because who love thee not are lost eternally.  

Thou, O my Jesus,  thou didst me upon the cross embrace;  

for me didst bear the nails and spear,  and manifold disgrace.  

And griefs and torments numberless and sweat of agony;  

even death itself,  and all for one Who was thine enemy.  

Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ  should I not love thee well?  

not for the hope of winning heaven,  or of escaping hell.  

not with the hope of gaining aught,  nor seeking a reward,  

but as thyself has loved me,  O ever-loving Lord!  

Even so I love thee, and will love  and in thy praise will sing,  

solely because thou art my God,  and my eternal king.

lines from criminal minds

Hotchner: skills i have, but i dont know how to do this (looks at his son).

Rossi: you just need to know what kind of father you want to be. then you will know what to do.

great advice!"

being" precedes "doing". =) "doing" flows out of "being"

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Rossi: scars show where we have been, they don't define where we will be going.

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Hotchner: What lies behind us and qhat lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us - quote from Henry David Thoreau