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Just call me “Mzee”
So something happened last night in Singapore that was for me a “first”. We had gone on an organized city tour which lasted several hours and took in the main highlights of Singapore. Following the tour, we decided to have dinner on Orchard Street which is one of the main shopping areas in the city. We then took the MRT – which is Singapore’s subway system – to return to the hotel. The train was crowded and it was standing room only. As I grabbed one of the overhead “pulls” in front of a row of seated passengers, a Chinese lady who looked like she was in her late 30s’…
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China, here I come!
We will be spending the next four weeks, commencing the 22nd, visiting Singapore/Hong Kong/Macau/China and I have been working on an itinerary for mainland China by researching travel sites. I came across an informative – albeit, lengthy – trip report by an Australian woman who visited China with her husband relatively recently. The excerpt below is quoted verbatim. It should be noted that her overall report about China was quite balanced even if the excerpt is somewhat critical. Those who know me can relate to the minor trepidation I felt after reading her report given that I, too, am likely to have the same problem as this lady’s husband! It…
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“Greed is good…………………………………”
To quote the inimitable Yogi Berra: “It feels like deja-vu all over again”! When Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, uttered the infamous phrase – “greed is good” – during the 1987 movie, “Wall Street”, shown in the above video clip, he went on to say: “Greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but also that malfunctioning corporation called the USA” The “malfunctioning corporation”, as Gekko referred to the US, has had its economy and that of many other countries just about brought to its knees because of greed and imprudent risk taking by real-life Gekkos’. The Gekko character was based on a composite of real…
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What’s in a name?
In trying to find a suitable title for this blog, I checked out a lot of sites – including a blog that was started by someone wanting suggestions from readers as to what he/she should name the blog! I settled on “Reflections, Ruminations & Recollections” because it captured what this blog is about. It is not a snazzy title – I am leaving it to my kids, and especially Neeta who is probably the most creative one, to come up with something that has more pizzaz! One does have to be careful when coming up with a name or it could lead to unintended consequences as is only too apparent…