Excuse my French...

I must say that I’m rather impressed by the speed (though not the accuracy) of text translations by Babel Fish of my blog entries.

The thing is, I was looking through, just for the heck of it, the electronically translated versions in Chines (Simplified) and Japanese, and I sure as hell can’t make out what the heck the text was trying to say most of the time!

Probably the translation in German would be more accurate and closer to what I actually wrote, but the grammatical structures and sentence logic in Chinese, Japanese and French (possibly, because I don’t speak or read French) are way, way off.

Lesson: if you’re thinking of relying on Babel Fish to translate love letters to impress some cute Japanese babe, think again. You’ll make her giggle, no doubt, but for the wrong reasons.

Go ahead, give the widget a try—choose a second language you actually read and understand, and translate the blog entries. I’ll bet you’ll be wondering what the heck PD’s talking about. :D

Full Circle.

Some day, when I have made enough money (hmmm, there's never really enough, is there?) and grown tired of all the bitching and backstabbing of the corporate sector, I might actually consider a move back to becoming an educator once again.

For those of you who do not know yet, that was how I started off my working life (not a career yet back in those days) amidst economic uncertainty due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 2000 following my graduation from university. I had hopes of joining the banking and finance sector then, fresh out of school with an economics degree, but none of the banks and finance houses were optimistically hiring people then.

Plus, I was also burdened with financial debts, thanks to a failed venture trying to do up an IT startup with some friends while we were in the final year of uni, and that's when I learnt the lesson that, in this practical and realistic society we live in, when it comes to money and business, there are no real friends, and "friends" will turn their backs and run on you when the shit hits the fan, and being "Managing Director" as a legal entity means you will be the first person government agencies and creditors come after when you go bust.

Anyhow, thanks to another friend who convinced me thus, I signed up to become a physical education teacher with the Singapore education services, and after 2 years of teachers' training, I was packed off to teaching PE and English to secondary school students.

To be honest, I really did like teaching. I did enjoy the interactions with the students I taught, and certainly the colleagues were nice too. But the thing about teaching is: it drains you emotionally and mentally, and at the age of 23, and still bursting with a lot of energy to explore the "larger world out there", I gave up teaching to pursue corporate sector jobs because I wanted more exposure and to try my hand at other things.

So began a roller-coaster ride as I tried to find out what I was really good at before I ended up in HR and becoming a headhunter-- for the moment a very rewarding job, because it allows me to make as much money as I want, it hones my business skills and salesmanship, I suddenly become more market and industry savvy in a sector that I had no previous experience or training in (engineering, more specifically the oil & gas, marine and offshore, and energy sectors), and I also become more people-savvy as well. I have no problems talking to directors, managing directors, GMs, even CEOs; engineers and mid-managers see me as an expert who helps them map out their careers better, and my clients come to me not only for their hiring needs, but also for intel on competitors, market and industry trends etc. For now, it seems my job and profession keeps me excited and happy for now.

But deep inside, there is a side of me that wants to achieve more, beyond the being recognised as an industry expert and certainly beyond the paycheck that comes to me every month. I already know I can make money as and when I want, I know I have become more business and market savvy, and certainly I can boast among my achievements that I rub shoulders and count in my personal network (as in, converse on first name basis with) some of the top dogs working with Fortune 500 and blue-chip MNCs, people who are either my clients or candidates, and certainly people who are useful to keep in one's personal social and professional networks.

Despite all the accomplishments and the moolah to indulge in myself and pamper La Femme, and despite the reputation I've over the years built for myself in the industry, despite everything, I still don't feel challenged enough. I often wonder what else is there-- I wonder if, at the end of the day, I can somehow accomplish more things that satisfy higher order needs. Like creating a legacy to leave behind when I'm gone.

Investments and starting more businesses is one way to go about it, and that's certainly what I would do with all the money I'm making off headhunting, no doubts about that. Still, for all the material possessions and wealth, there are still certain things that adds up to overall self-actualization needs... like mentoring and nurturing people, for one.

True, I do mentor and nurture subordinates and new joinees to the company, but that's not what I'm talking about.

It's about moulding the mindsets of an entire new generation. Cliche and grandiose-sounding as it may seem (something off the Ministry of Education ads too), for all my hunger to achieve and excel at what I do, I really did believe in that mantra from my teaching days. That there is a pressing and urgent need-- not just important-- to nurture and mentor a whole generation of new employees, professions, specialists, managers, and leaders. There is a need to teach the young of today never to take anything for granted, a need to tell them that no one owes them a living, a need to show them that they would have everything to lose, a need to open their eyes that the world isn't always as rosy as it seems-- much as we try to impart knowledge and technical skills, along with morals and values to them in schools. I would say that I will gladly sit down with any youngling who's willing to listen to me, and tell him/her about the journey I've taken in my career, in life, in business, and hopefully educate this person such that he/she will never have to go through all the mistakes and bad decisions I've made in their quest for success.

Perhaps I'm being too idealistic, but I remember someone (Donald Trump, I think) who said that behind every successful and ambitious individual is an idealistic and perfectionist's mind. Without ideals and dreams, there is no ambition and drive, and certainly no talk of successes.

I'm beginning to think life is a full circle: we start off on one path, make changes and adjustments, and somehow, things come back to precisely where you started off. A circle.

And talking to a friend this afternoon on a rare day off, sipping iced coffee and mango passion ice blends at East Coast, made me realise that there is still an educator in me. That one day I would rejoin the education profession-- wiser, more experienced, more learned, and certainly I hope with all the exposure and corporate experience, I would be a better educator than I once was.

...and of course, that's including the investments and small businesses on the side, but I would certainly consider a full-time job as a lecturer at the tertiary institutions. Honestly, knowing myself, I wouldn't have the patience to teach at the secondary and primary school levels, but I suppose with tertiary institutions and hopefully more mature students, I would actually enjoy teaching better.

I don't know. It's something I would have to think over and take it slow. I did say after I've made enough money and had enough of the corporate bullshit-- perhaps in another 3-5 years? Let's wait and see.

For the ladies

Would you consider me dateable if you knew:

1. I am obnoxious and an egomaniac.
2. My arrogance is legendary, especially if you were working in the same industry as I am.
3. I am a perfectionist and set high expectations of myself.
4. I drive fast.
5. I am a serial flirt, and I have a weakness for sexy beautiful women.
6. I am quite MCP-ish sometimes.
7. I have a thing for women in thongs AND high heels.
8. I am skeptical about religious claims, or people who evangelize on the streets.
9. I don’t take criticism about my professional abilities well.
10. “Twice” is not enough (go figure).
11. I cannot be tamed or owned.
12. I seem to have a gift or talent in reading people and their intentions…which is sometimes scary to people I meet for the first time.
13. I am a workaholic.
14. I totally dig contact sports, so don’t be surprised to see me with some kind of injury or another.
15. I can get lazy and sloppy.
16. I am fussy about food.
17. I don’t think “elitist” is a dirty word. Neither is “money”.
18. Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do, and I ALWAYS get what I want in the end.
19. I like to think I am smarter than most.
20. Don’t try to impress me with your material possessions, because while I am indulgent, I am not threatened by people who are wealthier.
21. I talk down to people I dislike.
22. I wear my emotions on my face readily, so I can appear mercurial to some people.
23. If I dislike someone, I show it; not the most patronizing or people-savvy person around.
24. I don’t believe in second chances.


…and I think that’s quite a list already. So, still dateable?

Me, sex blogger??

If I started posting entries about my raunchy little escapades and naughty encounters, what would you make of it?

Well, in another life, I would have done something like that, but it got to a point where I was left wondering "for what?", and decided to shut down before things get out of hand. Besides, these days, I have my professional image and reputation to worry about for something like that to make my clients and candidates get other funny ideas about me.

The ladies, if they didn't mind the sexy and juicy details, would think of me as a wannabe erotic writer at best, and at worst, a sex-hungry lecher (albeit an educated one, not like one of those DOMs--dirty old men at some heartland coffeeshop sporting singlets, shorts and slippers and sipping stout while leering at middle-aged beer hostesses); the men would probably say, "yeah yeah, prove it-- no pics, no belief".

But seeing that I'm no Jackie Collins or Sydney Sheldon, and that I'm never gonna have a shot at producing something that outclasses Morning, Noon & Night, I'll pass for now. I mean, really, why should I write a blog filled with sexcapades and wild parties, plaster half the entries with suggestive or even sexually explicit photographs of the women I'd romp in bed with, and then wait for the hit rates to go up?

So what if my blog doesn't get an impressive hit count? It's not like I need sponsors or advertisers for income...unlike *ahem* certain "celebrity" bloggers out there who *cough* need resort to all sorts of means to finance their new Prada handbag or Victoria's Secret lingerie or *cough cough* new nose/boob job with the lipo at half price *violent coughing spree*

The spittle aside (laced with remnants of nicotine and tar), I think you get my drift. It's not like I need the publicity that comes from being a "celebrity" or --and this one I like-- "sex" blogger.

What the heck is a "sex blogger" supposed to be anyway? Someone who gets multiple orgasms out of blogging? "Oooh baby, don't stop typing, I'm coming *tippity tap* yes, yes *tap tap* oooooooh"...and hence the term sticky keys.

Ctrl-Alt-Del that, it's totally off the point (or is it?)

I was talking to someone on MSN yesterday, and frankly, I'm beginning to wonder about these sex bloggers on the web. Or sexy bloggers. Or bloggers who have sex while blogging. Whatever.

The question is this: how many of them are really as hot in bed as they make themselves out to be?

There's only one true way to find out, isn't it? In engineering, I believe they call it "Quality Management System (QMS)", which means, simply, go do a quality check and verify. And I'd gladly QMS any cute female sex blogger-- ISO, Six Sigma, whatever standards you want adhered to.

Point is, on the wonderful world of the Internet and blogging, you can be more potent in bed than Austin Powers or have the psychedelic mojo of Donald Duck's uncle for all you want. Or if you are a woman, with some smart Photoshop techniques, you can have a sexier booty than Beyonce and Mariah Carey combined. And your online little black book could jolly well put James Bond to shame.

...and all that when, in reality, you could be just a regular janitor crying yourself to sleep in a small little closet while the world passes you by outside, oblivious to your pathetic little existence.

Okay, I got a little carried away there. But you do get my point, don't you?

You could say that there is absolute freedom of expression on the Internet. Which means should you decide to put up pictures of yourself dressed in a woman's thong and showing off your hairy balls to the rest of the world, simian you, it's perfectly fine.

Then again, there is the view that, especially since EVERYONE has access, it's best your penchant for spreading peanut butter jelly on your dick to make the blowjobs better be left for your own exploration with your partner (who happens to look like a twin of Rosanne Barr). And believe me, I've learnt it the hard way previously that sooner or later, one of your readers will turn out to be some close friend, or a friend of a friend, or a relative, or your pet cat, and before long, the whole world knows that the sexy hot pussycat doll with the photos of camel-toes and luscious lips (go figure) on her blog is really some school canteen auntie with a curry-puff hairdo and two missing front teeth.

How's that for a sexy good time on the Web?

****

Keep Walking

Here’s a Johnny Walker toast to all those people who, over the past 5 years have told me:

“You’re too young to take on a leadership position.”
“You’re too inexperienced and lack in-depth market knowledge to succeed in a business of your own.”
“You need to wait in the wings as a ‘rite of passage’, and let those with more experience move on ahead of you.”
“I don’t think you have what it takes to be…”

It’s nice to see the look on your faces when you realize I’m the very consultant making you pay through your ears for my ‘expertise’. And for that matter, I will conveniently forget what you’ve said to me before questioning my experience and lack of knowledge and me being “too young” and all that hogwash, so long as you pay the bill sent to you.

But thanks for all those comments and feedback—they have been great motivating factors for me to get me where I am, and I would say I have you to thank for all the little indulgences I now possess.