So you climbed Mount Kinabalu?

I have a very faint memory of my first encounter with Mount Kinabalu. When I was first heard about it probably when I was seventeen. A Caucasian looking classmate enthusiastically showed us his photographs of how he conquered the highest mountain in South East Asia. I was a little envy of that boy who had that kind of privilege to undertake that kind of expedition. Financially. Mentally. Physically. All three.

We gathered around him salivating looking at his gorgeous photos. It was taken with an SLR camera. That is correct. An SLR camera WITHOUT the big D. No digital. To shot with an SLR back then, you must have three qualifications. Money. Skill. Passion. All three again. A few of others could exchange views with him, obviously they are enthusiast as well. Me? I could not understand things they were talking - shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc.

He was such a charismatic person. He has a body builder body almost like a mini-Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is intelligent with good family background. He was not only well liked by teachers but by all of us as well.  Planning. He was always talking planning and what to do with his future. Always forward thinking. He was hell of a great guy. Above all, he was humble and not intimidating. Inspiring, definitely deserves to be an elite in our school.

Here am I reflecting and traveling back retrospectively, recounting old times. Times passed very quickly. That was more than a few decades ago. It was that long that we lost contacts but it is seems like just yesterday. I am wondering how he is doing now, probably doing very well.

I was trying to travel back retrospectively to gain some insights. Two assumptions that I have buried in my minds. The kind of assumptions have been taken as facts not truths as Indiana Jones would tell you. What facts? Fact #1. Mountain climbing is for elite. Fact #2. Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South East Asia.

Fact #2 validation first, probably an easier one. Travel back to the past. I could not recall many details except the part he got to wake up at 2 am continued to climb to the Summit or more commonly known as Low's Peak at 4095.2 meter.

The highest mountain in South East Asia? Was the fact twisted, wrongly claimed or outdated? Bending fact is a serious crime. Is it like lyrics that sang in advertisement of Malaysia, Truly Asia that when you hear it long enough, claims will become fact? Some minority of Indonesians gotten angry because they think Malaysia have stolen their cultural heritage of batik, Pendet, angklung and Reog Ponorogo? The flame could have turned into a wild fire that out of control.

Conspiracy theorists probably right that Malaysia government is good at "bribing". They claimed Malaysia understand the power of media. Instead fighting the biggie like BBC, CNBC or CNC, they turned them into allies. Malaysia budget shows that hat RM 28.35m was allocated to FBC Media (UK) for a "Global Strategic Communications Campaign" in 2009. A similar allocation was made in 2008. FBC Media (UK) is a subsidiary of FBC Group Ltd. There were reports surfaced in 2011 alleged Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen overpaid RM 270 m for advertisements but was within the market price.

The alternate sources of information gotten a lot more freer than 20 to 30 years ago. Was the recent years revealed the tip of the iceberg? Did Malaysia "international branding" and marketing priorities overstepped the line to the extend that made people believe it was true? I could not find that kind old Geography text book that prints Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in South East Asia.

Was this a product of novel and tour agencies? Take a look at this statement from one of the prominent tour agencies at http://www.borneodream.com/explore-wildlife-adventure/adventure-tours-trips/climb-mount-kinabalu-sabah-borneo-malaysia.html

"Climbing Mount Kinabalu, alongside scuba diving and wildlife trips, is one of the most popular trips for visitors to Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in South East Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 2000 for it's biological significance. This makes climbing Mount Kinabalu a climbers, trekkers adventure trip of a lifetime!"

If you Google more, you can find a few more. There are some evidences of marketing gimmicks. However keep arguing along this track of thoughts will lead us to one certainty. No where!

Not so fast. Some true blood of loyal Malaysians who are very patriotic will still want to fight. They said there must be some misunderstanding. It was like a case of Pluto was demoted from the solar system about 6 years ago. Pluto was defined as planet from 1930 - 2006. For 76 years people believe we have 9 planets but now left 8 planets only? Parents must have jumped off their chairs logging complaints that teachers standards have declined to a point of no return. How could they teach our kids the wrong fact. They teach my kids that Pluto got blown up? No, it was still there but just gotten re-classified as dwarf planet because it did not meet definition of a planet. Parents, please check up at wikipedia before you jump.

Going by the numbers?

# 1 Hkakabo Razi,5881m, Burma

# 2 Puncak Jaya, 5030m, Indonesia

# 3 Trikora, 4751m, Indonesia

# 4 Mandala, 4701m, Indonesia

# 5 Mt. Kinabalu, 4092.5m, Malaysia

What ? Dropping from # 1 to # 5 ? 3 of them are from Indonesia and the highest is from Burma? Some begin to split hairs to come up with more creative definition and assaulting with more technical arguments. Are you looking at Physical Geography or Political/Boundaries?

Students from physical geography school will argue this way. The 3 peaks in Irian Jaya belongs to Oceania and 6 peaks belongs to Himalaya range while Mt. Kinabalu is belong to Crocker range.

The other school, the one will define ranking by boundaries will ask people not to complicate thing. Make thing simple. Just take a look on where those mountains are in the boundaries. Isn't it obvious that those mountains higher than Mt Kinabalu are located in Burma and Indonesia?

To sum up, this is where Mt. Kinabalu stands:

Physical Geography. # 1.

Political/Boundaries. # 10. Ouuuch....even the top 5 list is seems to be shaky.

The arguments can go on and on. We can spin the arguments endlessly like spinning a wheel suspended in the air. Spinning wheel without wing will not generate lift, thus it will not fly. Too much arguments, not enough wisdom.

Different people will have different reactions when they reach the peak. Some may be pounding their chests like 800 lbs gorillas proclaiming victory. They are some will sing aloud, I did it my way..........Some will open their eyes even bigger realizing...How great thou art, how small am I?. There are people feel absolutely nothing....it is just another peak.Mission accomplished, it is time to look for another one. There are people cheering for others....good job boys and girls. Some are just pure tourists - posing, smiling with V sign and wandering around with busy fingers clicking their cameras.

Their reactions are mirrors reflecting who they are. You can see who are the strong self-believer. They believe in nobody except themselves. They will keep pushing forward. You can tell too there are people like candles. They enjoy seeing others to be successful while sacrificing themselves. You can see who are the religious one -- regardless of faiths. The momentous religious experience they received would drive them to almost reacted the same way -- looked up and began to return all glories and praises to above. To some heaven is on earth now, what the heck - just seize the priceless moment now.

Reasons? Everyone has one. Who the heck are they passing judgements on others? Why provoke others trying to convert others to be more like them? Why thumb down others to glorify themselves? Forget the cynical arguments. Focus on the bright side. The power of summit is truly magical. You get what you wish for.

What about me? It was a fulfilment of a promise. I made an entry on December 9, 2011 that I set my eyes on Mt Kinabalu. I promise to make myself stronger and fitter after a friend passed away due to sudden heart attack.

When I reached Low's peak, I don't care whether Mt. Kinabalu is the highest or top 10 in South East Asia. I was climbing and climbing following the white rope in the dark. The white rope suddenly ended and I saw others began to find place to shield themselves from cold wind. I still could not believe that I was at the summit. To be dead sure, I continued to climb and search for Low's Peak signboard. I was smiling because I finally found the green signboard marker cemented at the summit. While looking at the signboard, I heard a voice came behind me. Not pontianak but it was my mountain guide. I turned back and shook his extended congratulatory hand. We took pictures to record the "historic" moment. Soon many others followed suit and crowded the signboard.    

I was crossing my legs and leaned my back on a rock waiting for the sunrise. There was no dramatic moment or huge sense of big achievement like wanting to quote Edmund Hillary "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves". Edmund Hillary, by the way, is the first man reached the Everest summit. Coming back to the quote thing, I was in fact working backward. I found this famous quote when I google it after I reached home. I could not find any official records of success rate of Mount Kinabalu climb. Scouting around the webs, I found a source that saying the success rate is 95% [http://www.climbmtkinabalu.com/training.html]. So it is not as horrible as many think. This is nothing compare to Mt. Everest summit which has only 29.44% of success rate [http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/EverestAgeFat.shtml]. If a certificate of certifying that I was at Low's Peak was based on serialized and running number, I will be the 300 thousands plus of people successfully got up there. This number is way too large compare to Everest climb success rate of 3,000.

High success rate of Mount Kinabalu climb does not mean we should belittle or diminish the value of the trip. The punch line? It has its own challenge but just don't take too much credits for it.

High success rate shall not be taken for granted as well. 4,000 m above sea level or 8.6 km one way to the summit is quite demanding physically. I suppose the level of difficulties vary from person to person. Overall, I enjoy myself a lot because I can say I have done sufficient preparation.

Fitness preparation. I have taken almost 7.5 months preparation for this challenge. For the first 2 - 3 months, I was doing once a week 5 km run and 5 km hiking. For the final 3.5 months, once/week I was doing between 15 - 20 km combination of hiking and jogging. The dividend received during the climb paid off handsomely. I did not take long break from right from Timpohon gate to Laban Rata on the first day. I did stop a few minutes from Laban Rata to Low's Peak on the second day and walking continuously from the summit back to Laban Rata and finally descending to Timpohon gate. I did not suffer any altitude sickness except I felt pressure was exerting on my ears briefly during the ascent to the summit.

Financial or budget planning. I paid about RM 1,600 for (3 days - 2nights) climbing package, RM 685 for bagpacks, winter clothing, RM 680 for Penang-Kota Kinabalu round trip air ticket, RM 250 for food, RM 160 for transportation and RM 150 for hotel. All in around RM 3,325. This is relatively cheap compared to others mountain climbing expeditions.This should answer the assumption #2 raised at the beginning of this entry. It is not really for the elites, very reachable by working class.

Stuffs in my backpack. My tour agency e-mailed me a laundry list but after went through the trip, here are my comments.

I find that sunblock and lip balm are more useful than mosquito repellent. I did not see even one mosquito throughout the trip.

Poncho is a must. I was hunting high and low around Penang but finally found it at the Guardian. I used it once because of the rain in the afternoon.

Small towels are extremely important because the dormitory that I stayed did not provide any towel.

Sandals - very important. You need it to go to shared bathroom.

Head torch is a mission critical equipment. Rechargeable type can be heavy. Without it, it was not possible to ascend to Summit at 2 to 3 am. Stick with dry cell battery.

Trekking poles are optional. I did not use any trekking poles.

Panadol, vitamin C and muscle pain relief rubbing cream are very handy.  

Clothing. From Laban Rata - just shorts and T shirt will be fine. Temperature was around 15 deg C at Laban Rata. From Laban Rate to Summit need long pant or trek suit. Winter coat but make sure it allow you to be able to move freely. Cap to cover ears and head. Gloves to deal with the cold and to pull the rope at certain part. Temperature was around 0 deg C but strong wind was the killer. A pair of comfortable but with good grip shoes.Some spare socks in case get wet in the rain. One regret - forgot to bring a face mask or face scarf to battle the cold wind.

One more regret, I forgot to bring ear-plug or cotton. I could not sleep well when room mates were snoring!

Standard personal toiletries. Toothbrush and tooth paste, shaver, hair cream and comb.

Camera, pen and notebook.

Cellphone. Maxis signals were available all the way to Laban Rata. I was told Celcom signal is very strong up there. Notebook for Facebook is optional but adding another 2 kg? Give me a break, no need to do live broadcasting lar. So I did not bring mine.

How much to pack? My bagpack weighed roughly 8 kg, lots of them contributed by winter clothing. I decided to use a porter so that I can concentrate on the climb, admiring the scenery and photo shooting. It will cost you between RM 8 ~ RM 10/kg one way.

Pace.  Don't pressure yourself to beat world's best record climbathon of 21 km in 2 hr 37 min which will translate into 7.5 mins per km. Most people do 1 km per 1 hour. Mine? Let's it remains as a secret.

Finding a balanced pace is important. Pacing body to keep the momentum going and leisure in my opinion is extremely important to have maximum enjoyment. Too fast a pace, beside exhausting ourselves, we will also miss the opportunity to enjoy gorgeous views. On the other hand, too slow of pace or taking too many breaks, our body will lose momentum. Losing momentum is not good because it will build up unnecessary pressures: either lagging behind or you think you are not going to make it.

Mental and psychology management. Any sport men or sport women would have developed some level of mental toughness, focusing, goal setting and etc. Climbing 3,000 to 4,000 m mountains have less obstacles compared to climbing mountains over 5,500 to 8,000 meters. I do not think I was experiencing dramatic obstacles such as oxygen depletion, high winds, avalanche, fear, extreme cold, exhaustion, etc described by people who succeeded conquered Mt. Everest. There were some stretches I experiencing tiredness. Different people would have different strategies. What worked for me was recalling how I succeeded to push myself beyond my threshold during training. I keep telling myself I have not even pushing myself into the extreme zone yet. So pushing my steps forward and concentrating on my breathing worked wonderfully. Keep pushing myself with One, Two, One, Two.......Staying focus means managing distraction as well. I carried out brief conversations during breaks only. I avoid joking at all cost because bad things can happen when things went overboard.

Terrains. The first 3 km from Timpohon to Laban Rata was practically staircase and staircase. Steps and steps and steps. Some are very steep.

After the 3rd km, you will be trekking a lot on rocky surface.

From km 6 all the way to the summit, you will be trekking on large surface of granite. Some sections require you to use rope.

Safety. The aim is not to reach the summit. What is the point of getting to the summit and fell off from the cliff? My aim was to get back to Timpohon gate safely. Risk consciousness is a habit that formed after years of investing. Respect risk rather than keep saying sorry to yourself and your love ones when something bad happens. I did a few searches before I set foot in the mountain. There were a  few casualties. Not too many but I just make sure I DON'T add on to the stats!

2001 - Ellie James, 17 years old. Died during descent.Body found 500 m around St. John's peak.
2004 - Sudin Yussin, 51 year old. Died during ascent. KM 8.0
2009 - Tan Tzu Hau, 31 year old. Died during ascent. KM 5.5
2012 - Lau Siang Lip, 59 year old. Died during ascent. KM 4.7

My mountain guide told me that there were accidents happened around the summit area especially teenagers like to run down the mountain. He once rescued a school boy that almost fell off the cliff. He told recently there was a person tripped and rolled like a football. The person was lucky that he stopped rolling and fainted just at the edge of cliff.

I heard an interesting story on the day I descended down the hill. There was a person forced to cancel his climb because suffering of breathing difficulties. That person was having forth artificial heart. He made a right choice to turn back.

On my way down, I saw there were people totally have no idea of what they were signed up to. OMG, I saw ladies with totally inappropriate shoes. They were in party shoes.

I believe this should be my longest entry since the existence of this blog. I did it with a purpose. It's just like climbing high altitude mountain, I would not expect many have stamina to read till the end. I wish you best of luck if you plan to climb Mt. Kinabalu.

Only di Malaysia.

The next society

Among many so called management gurus, the one that I respected the most is Peter Drucker(1909-2005). I don't why I think of him today as I sit relaxedly in my hall on this labor day.  Perhaps it's a good day to think about some issues that are affecting all salaried men. He saw a few things happening in the developed world:

• the rapid growth in the older population and the rapid shrinking of the younger generation.
• people will have to keep working until their mid-70s.
• those over 50s will work as temporaries, as part-timers, as consultants, on special assignments and so on.
• borderlessness, because knowledge travels even more effortlessly than money.
• upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education.
• the potential for failure as well as success. Anyone can acquire the “means of production”, ie, the knowledge required for the job, but not everyone can win.
• industry and agriculture sector tend to shrink over time as the country transitioned from developing to developed status

• Since the second world war, manufacturing output in the developed world has probably tripled in volume, but inflation-adjusted manufacturing prices have fallen steadily, whereas the cost of prime knowledge products—health care and education—has tripled, again adjusted for inflation. 
• Multinationals now tend to be organised globally along product or service lines. The multinationals of 2025 are likely to be held together and controlled by strategy.

If you are interest in the full article, please visit http://www.economist.com/node/770819 and http://www.economist.com/node/770861

There a couple of things are worrying me.

• As the developed countries shifting their economy structure from manufacturing and agriculture to services, this has benefited many of us. What ever that we are enjoying now may not last another 20 years. 
• Our country is still relying very heavily on manufacturing and agriculture.
• We probably should have learned that as our government is trying to transform our economy to service based,  manufacturing and agriculture sectors need to increase their productivity by three folds. If not, good luck to those in these sectors.
• Pushing towards service based economy without knowledge workers is probably making things worse. Take Philippines for example, the quality of life is terrible even though it has high percentage of services/GDP.

Source:http://www.adbi.org/files/2010.09.07.wp246.asean.services.sector.growth.rebalancing.pdf

• A country can only enjoy high quality of life when their knowledge and productivity rise accordingly and not oversimplify thing. Killing manufacturing and agriculture sector and replace them with service sector is a stupid move.
• Don't get wrong that I'm anti-service sector or pro-industrial or pro-agriculture. Rather, I'm trying to make a few points. Productivity is not simply squeezing more with more working hours.  Most people think productivity is moving up making products with higher value added. The key to unlock productivity is knowledge and innovation. If you look at chart below, you will notice countries with high patent activities are Japan, USA, China, South Korea, UK, Germany, etc.......

• We all may have heard that Samsung has taken over Nokia as # 1 hand phone maker in the world recently.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2012/04/28/three-areas-samsung-will-focus-on-to-avoid-smartphone-complacency/ 
• This came no surprise to me if we look at their efforts they put into R & D and number of professors that they produce. This is also a country that has high % of industry in their GDP composition. Industry made up 39.4% while services made up 57.6% of GDP. 
• The next country that has tremendous potential is China by just looking at the number patent activities that they engaged. As China is transitioning into more service based economy, I think they can continue to do well because they have laid strong foundation in knowledge-based economy.
• If we look at Japan, they seem to have very strong innovation foundation but unfortunately I do not know why they have lost two decades and going into third lost decade. One of the  theories that people put forward was dysfunctional politics. Dysfunctional politics have hindered them to take serious reform.
• I am getting more and more worried about our country because we have not invested much in R & D, automation(instead of relying on cheap foreign labor), declining education system(despite of many perks nowadays), getting a bit of Japanese dysfunctional politics virus, etc................
• The Economic Transformation Program actually is nothing more than a marketing program. They just repackage what is already there. I will comment more later on.
• All these have serious long term impact on our KLSE.

Margarita fun time

I had my first Margarita on my first trip to the US. I think it was in Texas and my "cowboy" friend warned me if I got drunk and he will just throw me at the back of his truck. Found this article of how to make Margarita.

1. Siesta 2. Joey's Margarita 3. The Classic Margarita 4. Tommy's Margarita 5. Sangre de Cenobio 6. Breakfast Margarita

1. Siesta

A bright and fresh margarita variation for those who like things a little more tangy. The Campari and grapefruit juice round things out with just the right amount of bitterness.
1½ ounces blanco tequila
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
½ ounce fresh grapefruit juice
¼ ounce Campari
Orange twist
Shake liquid ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
From Juilan Cox of Rivera, Los Angeles

2. Joey's Margarita

It is a little-known fact that green Chartreuse partners well with tequila. The French liqueur adds a beautiful je ne sais quoi to this cocktail while the egg white gives it a sophisticated, airy body. A grown-up's margarita.
2 ounces blanco tequila
1 ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce green Chartreuse
¼ ounce agave nectar
½ ounce egg white
Shake ingredients without ice to emulsify egg white. Add ice, shake again and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Salted rim and lime garnish are optional.
From Giuseppe González of Golden Cadillac, New York

3. The Classic Margarita

Ask five bartenders for their classic margarita and you'll get five slightly different recipes. That's OK. The margarita aims to please. Consider this recipe a base line. Too sweet? Use ¼ ounce more lime. Too tart? Add agave, ¼ ounce more orange liqueur or both. Too boozy? Delete a ¼ ounce tequila. (We find serving it on the rocks covers up slight imperfections.) A request: When you make a slam-dunk margarita, try it with no ice and no salt. You'll make the cocktail gods happy.
2 ounces tequila
¾ ounce orange liqueur
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¼ ounce agave nectar (optional)
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or over ice into a rocks glass. Salted rim and lime garnish are optional.

4. Tommy's Margarita

Julio Bermejo, the state of Jalisco, Mexico's "Ambassador of tequila to the United States" invented this drink 15, 16 or 17 years ago—"Things get blurry over the years," he said—because he didn't feel like saccharine triple sec was doing tequila justice. Instead, he swapped it for agave nectar to create a classic in its own right. Once you try this seminal margarita variation, you may never pick up another bottle of triple sec again.
2 ounces 100% agave tequila
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce agave nectar syrup (1 part agave nectar to 1 part water)
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
From Julio Bermejo of Tommy's Mexican Restaurant, San Francisco

5. Sangre de Cenobio

This elegant margarita variation uses dessert wine (a Lacrima or Sauternes is recommended) instead of triple sec to give the drink a surprising, complex sweetness. The black lava salt is a nice theatrical touch and a nod to the volcanic soil where agave plants commonly flourish.
Black lava salt
2 ounces tequila
¾ ounce dessert wine
1 ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce agave nectar
Lime peel
Rim glass with black lava salt. Shake liquid ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lime peel.
From Brian Means of Fifth Floor, San Francisco

6. Breakfast Margarita

A 'rita that's fresh and light enough to have instead of a bloody mary or a mimosa with breakfast.
1½ ounces blanco tequila
¾ ounce Cointreau
1 ounce mango nectar
1 ounce fresh tangerine juice
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce ginger juice
Tangerine wedge
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a tangerine wedge.
From Nate Wales of La Condesa, Austin, Texas


---------The Margarita Experimentation Guide
It's simple: Use the classic recipe above, follow the tips below and say hello to your perfect margarita.

1. Choose Your Tequila

Look for 100% agave on the tequila label.

Key words to look for on the label: 100% agave. Anything else is for the spring break crowd.
Blanco This is how the drink is classically made, giving the margarita the bright, green, peppery freshness it's come to be known for. Generally, a highland tequila like Ocho Plata (40% ABV, $50) will give you more spicy, citrusy notes while a lowlands one like Partida Blanco (40% ABV, $50) will be crisper and fruitier. At around $20 a bottle, Espolón (40% ABV) is a steal.
Reposado This is a tequila aged for two to 11 months, which accounts for its slightly woody flavors. Siete Leguas (40% ABV, $43) has great balance between sweet agave notes and oak.
Añejo Some say using a tequila aged over a year is a waste in a cocktail, but if you like oakiness, go for it. Most can get pricey, but Milagro Añejo is a good option for a margarita (40% ABV, $33).
Mezcal Technically not a tequila, but still made from agave, mezcal is generally smokier and more savory. The fruit-forward, easy-sipping Del Maguey Vida (40% ABV, $34) is an approachable introduction to the spirit. Those seeking more spice and smoke should stock up on Sombra Mezcal (40% ABV, $32).

2. Pick an Orange Liqueur

An orange liqueur delivers the margarita's rich sweetness.

This is what delivers the margarita's rich sweetness. Don't make it an afterthought: Avoid generic-looking triple secs.
Cointreau Pure and clean, Cointreau is the top-shelf standard when it comes to margaritas (40% ABV, $40).
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Newly developed from an old recipe with the help of cocktail historian David Wondrich, this orange liqueur has pleasant Cognac-like elements and a nose of orange zest and blossoms (40% ABV, $26).
Combier This has become the choice of the craft bartender set as it offers a more subtle orange taste with a hint of bitterness (40% ABV, $40).

3. Stick to Fresh Lime Juice

Squeeze lime halves in a hand juicer.

We know, it's so much easier to use mixes. But none of them are going to beat freshly squeezed lime juice. To yield the most liquid, use room-temperature limes, gently roll them on the counter to loosen the pulp (but not too much or they'll turn bitter) and squeeze lime halves in a hand juicer such as this one from Chef'N ($20). Limes vary in tartness. If your margarita is too tart, try adding a bit of agave nectar to even things out.

Enlarge Image

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Don't use table salt.

4. Season It Right

The only rule: Don't use table salt. It tastes funny and the grains are too small. Other than that, be creative. Kosher salt is the standard and sea salt is a lighter option. Smoked salt works well with a mezcal margarita. Spice fans should add morita chili to their salt (a coffee grinder helps mix them evenly). The citrusy, spicy, salty Tajín, a Mexican fruit seasoning, works wonders too. Kalustyans.com has a wide selection of salts.

Jason Lee for The Wall Street Journal

How to Salt the Rim of a Glass: Step 1

1. Take a quarter out of an orange so that it resembles Pac-Man. Rub the outside edge of the glass on the orange pulp.

2. Roll the glass rim in a plate of salt—make sure there's a plentiful amount; it's just salt, after all—and try to keep the coverage even. Consider salting only half the rim. That way you'll have the option of sipping with salt or without.

3. If the salt is uneven, use a cocktail napkin to tidy up the rim. Make sure there's no salt on the inside of the glass. Stick the glass in the freezer. This will help the salt crystallize.

4. Enjoy your margarita masterpiece.

Hi

I got to stay pretty light as I just came back from a weeklong business trip. Not much investment themes to update. One of the things that got me thinking for last couple of weeks was IF Lehman II had been taken off the table, what shall we do?. We all got to concentrate on usual business cycle which mean earnings and economic data again. I plan to do that starting tomorrow.

Timing to jump back in now is tricky. I feel uncomfortable with an extended run from October 2011 ‘till now. This run is almost coming to 5 months old without a major correction. I've no idea the depth or timing of the next correction. All I know having substantial cash to buy is easier to execute than buy now, sell at a correction and buy at the bottom of the correction. The latter is very very difficult if you have tried it before.

A reflection of friendship

I've made some entries of our health is our greatest wealth. The next important source of happiness is friendship. Friendship is a concept that is intuitive but I also find it so difficult to describe. Why we can be so close to some people? Why we can talk for hours and hours with certain people? In fact it's even closer than our own blood brothers and sisters.

Thinking back over good friends that I have, there are several values that bond us together:

1. Loyalty. We stick with each other through thick and thin. Never betray trust. That is why, finding a true friend is so difficult. It will be a blessing to find a friend that can die for us to uphold our secrets.

2. Listen and advise only when asked. We listen to each other and seldom give advice. Their presence by just be there over a cup of Kopi 'O' and two packets of daun pisang nasi lemak are good enough.

3. Respect different views. At the right time, they will offer us different views yet they never expect us to conform to their views. The trust that we have on each other with no political hidden agenda open up a lot of fresh perspectives. Some of the views that my friends had were crazy and completely uncomfortable but I find that I'm more and more receptive to those ideas over time.

4. Deal with conflicts. Never let a slightest mis-understanding cracks a true friendship. A good friend will call you middle of the night to say sorry or to clarify things to make sure you sleep well.

5. Never take an advantage of you. A good friend will never take advantage of you. They will never manipulate you after knowing you so well. They never talk about money. They have strong back bone to solve their own problems. All they want is: just be there.

While many of us are dedicated our life long to keep searching for most undervalued stocks. But. Don't forget to invest some time to search a life long friend. If you have found a good friend, treasure him and never lose him. Have a good weekend.

Watching TV over internet?

What I'm about to post today is something not many macho man would do. Over a week or so, I tried to watch two Korean soap opera series over my notebook, one by streaming another one by downloading into my notebook.

You must be thinking by now I've way too much time at my disposal. No actually but I was trying to turn myself into a guinea pig: will IPTV take off?

IPTV or internet protocol TV is simply another choice of distribution channel of entertainment. The South Korean market had an explosive growth in the recent years.



In a research paper that I found, the author pointed out the strengths of each choice in the paid TV segment.



Obviously, the simplest mode to operate is cable or satellite TV. All you need to do is turn on the TV and take a controller in your hand and start flipping until something captures your attention. If you don't like it, just keep browsing.

In IPTV, two things can frustrate you: computer knowledge and internet line stability. You do not need to be exactly a geek but you certainly need to be hands on. If you are the type that will scream for help or scolding technician every time you have an interruption -- your blood pressure will cut off IPTV before you get to finish your first episode.

After I graduated from 101 of simple internet connectivity, I find that I was rewarded with something that I never experience before. Personalized entertainment. Gone are the days we all need to argue what program to watch or rush home to catch our favorite programs.

The freedom of interactive is superb. I get to read other people's review and their opinion of a certain show before I even tried it out. Fans of certain movie or drama will put in effort to do a superb job to share their experiences. You feel a lot better and more empathize when you try out the "products" that your "peers" expressing their true "feelings".

The product is still at its infancy because there are many obstacles ahead of us especially on contents and priracy(V.O.D).

Well I'm not trying to sell you the idea of IPTV but I was wondering what the investment implications for company like TM(Unifi), Time.Com, Astro(B.yond) and telecommunication providers like Maxis, Digi, YTL, etc.........(hope to put some serious thoughts on this)

I re-produce a recap from a site that I think the users have put in a lot of efforts, as a gesture of appreciation of what they are doing. Great job gals, guys!

http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/05/city-hunter-episode-2/

What a fun, zippy mystery. My favorite thing about this drama is that it’s so pretty to look at. (And I’m not even talking about Lee Min-HOT.) It’s got some seriously sexy cinematography, and a fictional world I already take to—it’s a heightened reality, which feels like a comic book. Think: Alias rather than 24. It’s maybe a slight difference genre-wise, but a massive difference tonally. It may be this drama’s only real connection to its original source manga—not story, not character, not anything else, but the feel of a pulp comic kind of world. Which I gotta say, I totally dig.

EPISODE 2 RECAP

After finding out the truth about his birth parents, Yoon-sung decides to fulfill his destiny to avenge his father’s death. He begins to train and study fervently, while his surrogate father Jin-pyo builds his drug empire, from huts to mansions.

Yoon-sung gets accepted into MIT, and Dad furnishes him with a new identity, as an American citizen from Texas. Well that’s a handy way to avoid paying international students’ tuition… which maybe isn’t a concern for a drug lord, so yeah…

Dad tells him the rules, now that he’s about to leave home and assume a new identity: “Trust no one. Love no one. The moment your identity is revealed, you and those around you will be stained blood-red.”

Seven years later, Yoon-sung arrives in Seoul. He stands in a plaza in the middle of the city, unaware that KIM NANA (Park Min-young) is standing but a few feet away.

Nana gets a call and rushes to the hospital, where she’s behind on hospital bills, and the doctors are threatening to take her comatose father off of life support, and refusing to operate on him. The doctor tells her that it’s been ten years that he’s been in this state; it’s time to let go.

Tears streaming down her face, she pleads with the doctor to please save her father, and that she’ll scrape the money together somehow. She seems to blame herself for his condition, saying that she’s the reason he’s lying there like that.

Nana is quite the odd-job fiend, juggling as many part-time jobs as humanly possible, and then some. One of these is a designated driver service, and she rushes from work to go pick up a customer…

At the same time, Yoon-sung is at a club, talking on the phone to “Ajusshi” (Shik-joong) about someone who has a bunch of odd jobs, and mostly works at night for a designated driver service. He’s clearly talking about Nana, having looked into her whereabouts as a favor to him.

He’s joined by a drunk girl, and they head out to make a night of it… only to find that the designated driver waiting for them is Nana. This is their first official encounter, but he’s clearly aware of who she is, from her photo and his background research on her, for Ajusshi’s sake.

He doesn’t let on that he recognizes her, and they get in the car, only to be chased down by KIM YOUNG-JU (Lee Joon-hyuk), who wants a word with Yoon-sung’s date. When he can’t locate his ID, he tries to force her out of the car, and before Yoon-sung has a chance to stop him, Nana jumps out.

She handily throws him over her shoulder in her sparkly dress and heels, without even breaking a sweat. She’s one cool cucumber, enough to impress Yoon-sung. Heh, love a girl who kicks ass.

Turns out Young-ju is a prosecutor, who tracked the woman down because she’s senator Lee Kyung-wan’s girlfriend. That man happens to be Yoon-sung’s Target No. 1 as well, which means these two are about to cross paths in more ways than one.

On the car ride, Nana squirms at the level of very public foreplay going on in the backseat, missing out on the fact that all Yoon-sung seems to be doing is staring in the rearview mirror at HER. Um, awkward.

She finally can’t take it anymore and just pulls over abruptly, announcing that she’s done driving. He follows her out and she tells him that she’ll only take 10,000 won, half her usual pay, for taking them this far.

He scoffs and refuses to pay up, and so she reaches in his pocket and scoops out his wallet for herself. Is it just me, or are all the women on this show getting mighty handsy with this boy? Not that I’d, yunno, do differently.

She takes out the 10,000 won and declines a tip (to herself, heh) and leaves them in the street. Problem is, once she’s at the bus stop, she realizes that she left her cell phone in the playboy’s car, of all godforsaken places.

Said playboy is busy enjoying a nightcap with his honey, while also plying her for information about her sponsor. Pretty ballsy to actually have him sleep with her for information. I like that he’s not squeaky clean, as far as heroes go.

He records their conversation, asking about the money that he gives her, and if she’s seen where it comes from. She confirms that it’s dirty money, but has never actually seen him take the bribes himself, though she does know that he writes it all down in his little notebook. Bingo.

Meanwhile, Nana chases them down to the hotel to ask for her cell phone back, and calls up to the room. She’s met with a swift denial, not only because he’s annoyed but because he’s in the middle of getting crucial information.

So she stands outside the car, kicking it for a while, which sets off the alarm and manages to grab his attention. He runs down in his bathrobe, but by the time he gets downstairs, Nana has seen her phone ring with a call from the hospital, and has rushed off.

At the hospital, she begs the doctor again to operate on her father to save him, and promises to repay the cost any way that she can. He tells her that it’s time to give up on him, which she can’t bring herself to do.

She cries, pleading with him, until Yoon-sung’s voice calls out from down the hall, “Let’s do that surgery.” He tells her that the bill is already paid in full, and leaves her phone before walking out.

Shocked, she follows him out and asks why he’s helping her. He tells her he’s not helping; he merely doesn’t want to know that someone died because of him. He turns down her request to pay him back, adding that to him, that amount of money is the price of a stick of gum.

Nana: “It’s true that I’m someone who sweats for the price of that gum, but that doesn’t mean I’m someone who doesn’t know how to say thank you. Thank you.” He drives away with a glace at her in the rearview mirror, while she says to herself, “I will repay you.”

While her father gets the operation, Nana receives a phone call, accepting her into the Blue House as a secret service agent-in-training. She jumps for joy and soon after reports to her first day of training, nervous and happy.

She’s lined up for her first roll call, when Yoon-sung strolls in. The lead agent yells at him for being tardy on his first day, and dressed inappropriately at that. Everyone turns around to see who he’s talking to, and Nana gasps to see none other than playboy-turned-daddy-savior standing right there.

Confused, Yoon-sung tells him that he’s not an agent-in-training, and that the front desk told him to come here. That’s when geeky intelligence agent GO KI-JOON (Lee Kwang-soo) runs in, calling Yoon-sung, “Doctor!” (The PhD-professor kind, not the medical kind.)

Nana: “Doctor? MIT?” Yeaaaaaaah. I know. Let’s just go with it. Frankly, you being a secret service agent isn’t exactly… MORE believable than his being a doctor, so here’s the moment where we all just take a big leap and choose to roll with it. Okay? Okay.

He turns to go, but then sees Nana out of the corner of his eye, and calls out, “Hey, Ten Thousand Won!” Mortified, she turns around, but he seems happy to see her there. The lead agent asks if they know each other. Yoon-sung: “Yes.” Nana: “No.” Heh. I already see the potential for much delightful banter to come.

Yoon-sung is introduced to the communications department as the MIT-golden-boy, and despite Ki-joon’s efforts to turn him into the traditional maknae (workplace newbie, also youngest at 28), Yoon-sung makes it clear that he’s not going to be anyone’s lackey.

He turns away the delivery menus for late-night food-runs, explaining that one of his contract stipulations was no late hours. Ah, because hunters hunt at night, yeah? Either that or you’re a vampire, but I don’t think that’s where this is going.

The lead training agent informs Nana and another female agent that he’s pulling them out of training for a special assignment—the President’s youngest daughter is a bit of a handful, and her secret service detail quit without notice. They’ll take over immediately.

She sneaks over to the communications department to see Yoon-sung and insist on repaying the hospital bill. He reminds her that working other jobs isn’t allowed while she’s employed here, but she doesn’t think it’s a problem as long as he keeps it quiet.

Yoon-sung, “It seems like you’re trying to use this to DO something with me, but you’re not my type. Do I need to buy you a mirror too?” Oh, DAYUM. He walks away, leaving her slack-jawed.

It appears that the communications team and the secret service agents have a little in-house rivalry going on, which they put to a judo-wrestling contest. Um, I’m gonna go ahead and bet against the geek squad on this one. What kind of Brain Trust deduces that they ought to challenge the President’s bodyguards to a test of physical strength? Pffft.

Yoon-sung gets paired up with Nana, and he basically lets her body slam the hell out of him, to keep up geeky appearances. She insists that he hand over his bank account number so that she can repay him, refusing to let it go.

Yoon-sung: “Why are you being so stubborn?” Nana: “Because it’s the price of saving my father’s life. He’s the most important person to me. The most important, so I don’t want it for free. The more important someone is, the more you have to survive and protect him, when things get difficult.”

The funny part is, she’s saying all this while lying on top of him, and he finally looks up at her for a moment. She twists his leg, literally, until he finally caves and agrees to let her repay him.

Shower broody time! We see that Yoon-sung’s back is covered with scars, not surprising given his militant upbringing, and that he still wears the bullet that pierced his father’s heart around his neck.

By the by, I love the vengeance trinket, because of the fact that it went through his father’s heart in his final act to save his best friend, and then lodged in Jin-pyo’s shoulder… and then that man KEPT IT THERE for seventeen goddamn years until he was ready to tell Yoon-sung about his purpose. That’s hardcore dude.

He comes up with a plan for Nana to repay him, knowing full well that she’s just going to spend late nights being a designated driver again. So he offers for her to be his driver and errand-doer every once in a while, and figures that after oh, two hundred times or so, their debt will be settled. Ha. Contract relationship it is.

Oooh, does that make her your girl friday? Well, I guess not until you become a PI, which I’m not really sure you’re going to do, so we’ll put that title on the backburner for now.

They both get called in to meet the President, and this is the first time that Yoon-sung comes face to face with him. The sitting President is none other than Choi Eung-chan, the man who betrayed his father most directly. While they’re in the meeting, the President gets a call from Target No. 1 Lee Kyung-wan, which Yoon-sung notes with interest.

The President’s youngest daughter is CHOI DA-HAE (Gu Hara), who basically looks Yoon-sung up and down like the tall drink of water that he is, and throws him her best come-hither wink. Yoon-sung nearly busts a gut with his very audible “Pfffffft!” right back at her. Hahaha.

She tries to engage him in conversation, but he ignores her completely and gets the hell out of dodge. Nana and her partner, SHIN EUN-AH, get introduced to their charge, the bratty Da-hae, who is post-high-schol, pre-college (as in, couldn’t get in so she’s going to an academy to reapply). She seems like a hellbeast trapped in the body of a girl. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Yoon-sung takes a moment to give a progress report to Dad. He reports on Senator Lee Kyung-wan, he of the clean image and dirty money. Dad tells him that the senator must be dealt with. Yoon-sung asks something that he’s been curious about: why has he only given him the identity of one of the five men he’s to take out?

Dad tells him that of the Big Five, he knows only one person’s identity for sure: Lee Kyung-wan. Oh, LIES. That’s Lie #1 from Daddy. Interesting that he’s keeping the President’s involvement out of this for now. I assume it’s because “Assassinate the President” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue as an order.

Dad tells him to start with Lee Kyung-wan, and make him reveal the identity of the others. Yoon-sung asks what Dad’s purpose was in sending him to the Blue House. Errr…. To put a bullet in the President’s heart is the real answer, I’m betting, but Dad’s not showing his hand just yet. Man, it’s gonna be so good when he finds out!

Yoon-sung tells him that he wants to find a way to destroy Lee Kyung-wan that he can live with, like getting him caught for doing something that people will never forgive him for. Dad seems pleased with his initiative, so he plans to stand by and let Yoon-sung call the shots.

Hotshot prosecutor Young-ju is knee-deep in an investigation of his own, targeting the same dirty senator. He ruffles enough feathers to make it onto the news, and Yoon-sung immediately recognizes him from the night at the club, realizing that they were both after the senator’s girlfriend for the same reason. He smiles, a little impressed at his moxy.

Both boys head to the senator’s house, but their means of entry says a lot about them, as people. Young-ju goes in the front door to confront him with the investigation, while Yoon-sung scales a wall, makes friends with the guard dogs (via whistle), and slips in the back door.

Young-ju’s visit riles up the senator, who either has convinced himself that lobbying and bribery is simply a means to justify the righteous, for-the-people ends, or he’s got the defensive act down pat.

Young-ju shows that he is a very classic by-the-book prosecutor: he rebuffs the senator’s claims to friendship through his father, and points out that unjust means lead to unjust ends. The senator counters that his father is no different (uh-oh, dramaaaaa), and threatens him with his career.

Meanwhile, Yoon-sung listens to their conversation while cloning the senator’s phone and snatching his little notebook, full of names, dates, and whadduya know… exact amounts in bribery funds. Why does the bad guy always have a ledger? Ah well. Bread n butter of the gumshoe genre. Humphrey Bogart never would’ve solved a case if it weren’t for bad guys keeping good books.

The senator’s phone rings and they discover Yoon-sung mid-grab, but he blows the power and sneaks out, easy as pie.

In her modest home, Nana hangs up her suit, clearly her one and only, bought for her new job. That totally strikes a chord with me—I so remember the stress of getting my first real job, and then realizing that I couldn’t actually afford to dress myself for said job.

She picks up a family portrait and tells Dad that she wanted to become a secret service agent who protected the President, just like him. “It’ll happen someday, right?” God, I really hope for your sake it doesn’t. She pats herself on the head, like her dad would, and gives herself a word of encouragement. Aw, that kinda kills me.

On her first day on First Daughter detail, Nana makes the mistake of body slamming a classmate who comes to retrieve his notes, like he’s about to knife her. Whoops. Hellbeast throws a fit, screaming that her DAD is the President, not her. Sigh. I feel for you, and yet when you act like that, I have no sympathy.

She decides to retaliate by going clubbing, and hands the agents their outfits for the night. What? They’re not undercover cops. They’re secret service detail. She says they’re not supposed to stand out, so off they go, to the club.

It happens to be the same club where Yoon-sung is making time with the senator’s girlfriend, who asks if they’re going back to the hotel tonight. He asks why she hasn’t been running off to see her sponsor lately, and she tells him that they broke up. Or rather, that he changed his phone number and hasn’t called.

Damnit. That’d be because of his little break-in. Realizing that this lead is now cold, he unceremoniously dumps her too, just like that. She chases him out, trying to coax him back, which is when he sees Nana standing right in front of him.

Thinking on his feet, he grabs her in a kiss. Hot damn. Nana’s eyes bug out of her head and she stands there in shock. The senator’s girlfriend gets a good slap in for his cheating ways and leaves.

Yoon-sung tries to snap Nana out of her daze, quite pleased with himself for the effect he’s had on her. He takes out a large bill and tucks it into her sleeve, as payment for her “designated kiss,” (which makes a little more sense in Korean: proxy kiss, as in proxy driver) calling it enough to count for 50 errands/pick-ups.

Dude, you are an ASS. Hahahaha. He turns to walk away, which is when Nana finally comes to her senses and throws him over her shoulder with her signature move. “Does it hurt? Here, you can use this to pay for your hospital bills,” and she hands him the money. HA. Sassy girl for the win.

Problem is, Da-hae has used this opportunity to slip away with her friends, so Nana runs off to find her. Outside, she runs into Young-ju, who’s still trying to track down the senator’s girlfriend. He helps her find Da-hae, and she offers to get him the girlfriend’s number, from the “Bad Luck Bastard.”

At work the next day, Yoon-sung pages her for her first errand—bringing him coffee, and she gives him a notebook to fill with stamps for every errand. He wonders why she didn’t just take the offer of knocking 50 of them out with the kiss, and she counters that he ought to be apologizing for using her.

He scoffs that it wasn’t a kiss; it was a hello. Um, HI there. *waits patiently for kiss*

Yoon-sung: “Why are you acting like I stole your first kiss?…” She looks away awkwardly, and he giggles, “Couldn’t possibly… Is that what that was? Really?” She scurries away in embarrassment, while he has a giggle fit. Keh.

Time for the Brain Trust to get more judo training from the secret service. Nana tries to teach Yoon-sung some moves, but he just keeps staring at her and giggling like a fool. So cute.

She slams him down and asks what he’s looking at, and so lecherously at that. He’s like a dog with a bone: “Be honest. It was your first time, right?” She answers in banmal and he takes issue with it, noting that she’s a year younger than him. But she one-ups him—she’s the instructor here, and they go tumbling down, her ankle twisting in the process.

Young-ju shows up at the Blue House to ask Yoon-sung directly about information on the senator’s girlfriend. Yoon-sung plays it off like it’d be a waste of cell phone memory to get a one-night-stand’s phone number, and Nana eavesdrops, her jaw dropping at the magnitude of his playboydom.

Young-ju catches up to Nana and offers her a ride to the hospital to x-ray her ankle, but Yoon-sung pulls up first, insisting, “I’m the one who made her ankle that way,” and she chooses to go with him, leaving Young-ju behind.

At the hospital, Nana recognizes two children who live in her building, running off. The nurse calls out and tells them to go eat at the Sunshine Welfare Office, which immediately triggers Yoon-sung’s memory—this is something under Lee Kyung-wan’s purview.

The nurse complains that the children keep having allergic reactions to flour, but continue to eat bread because they don’t have to worry about hospital bills. They’re the recipients of a government grant, which Nana suspects is some mistake.

As they leave the hospital, Nana sees the children eating more bread out on the street, and they panic and run away. She asks Yoon-sung to chase after them, and they nearly get run over by none other than Lee Kyung-wan himself, on his way to drop off his son.

Yoon-sung drops off Nana at home, but when he sees her hobbling up the steps and then falling over in pain, he scoops her up and carries her all the way home. He decides he’s hungry, so he starts looking in her cupboards, and happily cooks up some ramen.

As they eat, he looks around and sees all the red stickers on her stuff, wondering what it means. He actually doesn’t know, not having grown up here, so she explains that her mother died in the accident that put her father in the hospital, and because of the hospital bills, the bank’s been threatening to seize all her assets. But now that she’s dutifully employed, she doesn’t need to worry about it anymore.

There’s a knock at the door, and the neighbor boy from earlier comes crying, saying that his sister has collapsed. They rush her back to the hospital, and the doctor tells them that she probably went into shock from the allergy.

Back at home, Nana asks why they aren’t eating rice, and finds out that their father has abandoned them, and that they’re basically starving. The next day they go to the social welfare office to suss out why the children aren’t getting their welfare checks.

The man tells them that they’re listed as receiving monthly food stamps from Sunshine Welfare. To top it off, the man in charge of the distribution of funds arrives, and his name rings a bell—it’s one in Lee Kyung-wan’s ledger.

Yoon-sung basically reaches the same conclusion that we do—this man is siphoning welfare funds to pad the senator’s pockets. He alludes to it indirectly, by asking pointedly whether the children are lying or he is, but Nana drags him out before he causes more of a riot.

On his way out, he starts casing the joint, noting where all the cameras are positioned. He looks back at the man, who is already busy shredding documents to cover his tracks.

COMMENTS

Hm, not the best way to end an episode, for a drama based on intrigue and action, but hopefully they’ll step up the cliffhangers from here on out. Otherwise I like it so far, despite my reservations for how the second episode would live up to the first, which was a great way to set up the vengeance plot. What a strong opening that was.

This episode took a lighter tone and felt more relaxed, giving us plenty of ways to connect with the characters emotionally rather than plowing us down with too much Council of Five business. This way I’m already attached to characters like Nana, who is so far a kickass heroine who ACTUALLY has a good head on her shoulders. (I know! This shouldn’t be so rare!) It makes for smart, sexy banter between the leads, and some great situational comedy amidst the drama.

It’s clearly going to be a big problem when Yoon-sung discovers that the President is the man responsible for his father’s assassination, if Nana lands her dream job… to protect him. It’s the kind of setup that inherently creates conflict between them on a massive scale: love vs. country, ideology, and vengeance. Bring. It. On.