Sunday, March 26, 2017

Be Inspired by Anna Jarmics

In 1945 during World War II, Anna Jarmics was living in war-torn Hungary with her siblings. 

One day a grenade landed near them and she picked it up with the aim of tossing it away to protect her brothers and sisters. Alas, it exploded in her hands, mangling both her hands.

Fast forward, she now lives in Canada. Click here to see how Anna play darts and competitively at that.

The following is a sample of her paintings:-


Town Hall Celldomolk, Hungary by Anna Jarmics
Image by courtesy of http://www.jarmics.com

Tall Ship, Toronto by Anna Jarmics
Image by courtesy of http://www.jarmics.com


Click here to read more on Anna Jarmics.



Door of Inspiration




Saturday, March 25, 2017

Fresh Air of Inspiration

The first time I saw a TV commercial on AirBnB where a lady traveller found accommodation in homes of strangers (potential friends) overseas and experience insights like a local, I had my reservation that such a paradigm would fly. What's the big deal?   

Image by courtesy of airbnb.com
What did I know, AirBnB has now seeped into mainstream consciousness much like famous brands such as Coca-Cola, Hilton and Uber. In a recent interview with The Straits Times, co-founder Joe Gebbia revealed that AirBnb has now served 150 million travellers in 65,000 cities with some 3 million listings of homes in 191 countries.

Photo of Joe Gebbia
by courtesy of joegebbia.com
Click here to read the full article written by Mr Wong Kim Poh.

To enthuse you, here is a trivia challenge on AirBnB and some insights from Mr Gebbia:

1. What does the "Air" in AirBnB refer to?

If like me, your first thought could well be "air travel" connoting staying overseas in a home-styled Bed & Breakfast. Truth be told, the "Air" refers to something literal which is inflatable and can be bought from a local furniture store or an online site like Amazon.com. Click here to view a sample and be blown away.

'Necessity is the mother of invention' came true for Mr Gebbia as he struggled to pay his rent and hit on the idea of renting the space in his living room to meet the lack of hotel rooms in town due to a design conference with the help of airbeds and breakfast thrown in.

As history would have it, AirBnB is a snazzier version of its original name -- Airbed and Breakfast.


2. What is SW(square)+WC=MO? 

This is an equation which Mr Gebbia has learnt from one of his professors and he has used it to deal with rejections of his ideas. 

It is the attitude of 'some will love it but some won't plus who cares equals move on'.


3. Mr Grebbia has an eye for details and his first company dealt with Critbuns --portable butt pads. What course did he take up in varsity?

Hint: 'Design' is in it. No wonder you get quotable quotes from him such as follows:

"At Airbnb we’re trying to build a culture that supports details, celebrates them, and gives our teams creative license to pursue them.”

"One of the responsibilities of designers is to seek out and find the details. If we don’t who else will?”





Look no further. Inspiration is within your reach. Pursue your dream with gusto and an undivided belief that as you keep exploring and move on, you can reach a higher level of progress with eventual success. 

Take heart, don't give up. Follow your rainbow. Daily Refreshing blog is rooting for you!




Sunday, March 19, 2017

How To Tie A Necktie Like A Pro

Someone had shared this with me and I am pleased to pass this on.

Yup, short of getting one of those clip-on necktie, the following video will enlighten you on how to get over the cumbersome task of tying a necktie off-your-neck in a jiffy. 



With enough practice, you would be able to execute it like a pro. Enjoy!




Vespa by Piaggio

To fuel your love for Vespa, please browse at the following links and get updated on the various models of Vespas that Piaggio has installed for you:



GTS 





All photos are by courtesy of www.vespa.com.au

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Spotlight on: SJX (Su Jia Xian)

Some people are into bird watching, whale watching, window shopping and so forth. 
De Bethune DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon Meteorite
Photo by courtesy of watchesbysjx.com
If you are into unvarnished-watch watching with ease (without travelling to Baselworld fair or a watch outlet), then http://watchesbysjx.com/ would be worth your while.
The Joker by Konstantin Chaykin
Photo by courtesy of watchesbysjx.com

The following is a blurp from SJX's website:-

"Watches By SJX was founded in 2011 by Su Jia Xian, better known by his initials SJX. He wrote his first watch review online in March 1998 and is now one of Asia’s leading watch experts, SJX has been involved in the watch industry for over 15 years, having gotten his start as a watch journalist. SJX current contributes to over a dozen publications in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Beyond journalism, he now advises watch companies, auction houses and collectors. He is also a member of the Council of Experts (Retail) at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), providing independent consulting to institutional investors. In 2014 Chronos Japan magazine included him in “Who’s Who of the World’s Watch Persons”, a list of 100 notable personalities in the global watch industry.

Watches By SJX is written with an emphasis on unique and opinionated content, as well as original photographs that offer an unvarnished view of a watch."

May the world of watches gives you an uptick to enjoy time with a refreshing perspective as you get infected by people such as SJX who are passionate about watches.


Working with Robots

Recently, I was intrigued by this Straits Times' article "Race with machines, not against them" wherein Dr Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management and co-author of The Second Machine Age, observed that "Quite simply, if a job is routine, it can be done by a machine."

He cited the case of Enlitic, a deep-learning machine, which actually outperformed a selection of professional radiographers in matching patterns accurately for the purpose of diagnosing lung cancer.

With the push for driver-less cars and buses becoming a closer reality by the day, we could well foresee other routine jobs such as cleaners, cooks and waiters being replaced by machines.

However, all is not lost as humans can still be around to supervise the robo-cleaners, put in the finer touches beyond the reach of robo-cook and attend to special request from diners.

According to Dr McAfee, the skills which are not easily substituted by  machines would be:
* creative skills (e.g. writing)
* people / social-interaction skills (e.g. childcare, nursing, negotiation)
* cognitive skills (e.g. problem solving)
* computer programming skills

The list is by no means exhaustive. For instance, you can add leadership skills and management skills.

Back to this thing about a routine job, I wanted to know how safe is the job of a news presenter. I thought it would be refreshing to introduce an android in a segment of the news broadcast such as the weather to complement our human news anchor.

So, I did a search on Google and found that Tokyo museum has unveiled a robot newscaster. Click here to watch on YouTube.

A robot can even ride a bicycle and could well 'work' as an untiring and uncomplaining exercise or dance instructor in the near future. We are just scratching the surface of how to make robots more capable and hopefully work for the good of humanity. 

Click here to watch "The Human Robot Documentary HD".




Sunday, March 12, 2017

Over The Rainbow

Let The Icing Room takes you over the rainbow with their cakes:-
Over The Rainbow  (on the right)
Rainbow Bliss (on the left) & Fruity Heart 






























Peaceful Sky, Rosy Sky and Starry Sky (from left to right)
























Beary Cakes and Over The Rainbow


Saturday, March 11, 2017

"Have to" vs. "Choose to"

Go ahead and rattle off the list of things you "have to" do. After you are done, it is a no-brainer that you would feel sapped of energy and the sky has just turned grey.

Next up, make a list of things that you would "want to" or "like to" do. Voila, the sun is out now and you are raring to head to the beach!

Image courtesy of digitalart
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Consider turning your "have to" into "want to" or "like to". If that is too difficult, why not at least convert the "have to" into "choose to" just to make it more palatable.

Six months ago, Gordon bought his Black Beauty of a Mustang and he would painstakingly groom her every Saturday morning without fail because he likes to do so. By the by, he got busier in life but would still keep at it albeit with a "choose to" attitude.

As things got even busier for Gordon, he looked up the internet and connected with a great chap, Champion, who is a professional car groomer on house calls. Champion would have you know that he is also professional barber and dog groomer, as well. His penchant for keeping things spick and span has carved out a neat niche for Champion to make a pretty decent living where every day is another good day to do what he enjoys without breaking any sweat. It's pure play without toil. "Have to" does not exist in his vocabulary for work or chores.

Then, there is Slow Guy who drags his feet every morning from Monday to Saturday to his workplace at the car wash of a petrol station. Yes, you guess right. From morning till evening in-between work, Slow would bemoan that he has to work just so that he can put food into his mouth and pay his rent. He loathes his work and exists only on survival mode; no passion, no drive in his daily driveway.

Imagine what if you "choose to" take out the garbage so that you can have a home and not just because you have to; cook dinner so that your family can have home-cooked meals; learn a new skills so that your market value will increase; wash cars so clean that your customers would be more than satisfied (and earn their "excellent" ratings with prospect for getting noticed by the management); control your tongue even when the customer is acting up; greet your guests by name even though it's not in the motel's manual; love your partner unconditionally; listen to another person with genuine interest; and so forth. 

When you "choose to" do something, it is no longer a chore or an obligation. Did you know that you have the power, all the power, to choose your attitude? Your circumstances is a given, but your attitude is all in your mind and you have the right to choose. Choose wisely, for a happy life!

Image courtesy of Multipedia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Blog Spotlight on: i eat i shoot i post

Dr Leslie Tay's ieatishootipost.sg is an excellent showcase of food which you can enjoy in Singapore predominantly. 

Crab Bee Hoon (aka Crab with Rice Vermicelli)
Photo credits: Dr Leslie Tay, Courtesy of ieatishootipost.sg

His snapshots of food are so vivid that you can see that he has left no morsels unturned so as to serve up a directory of food in their finest lustre for you to feast on with your eyes in a satisfying prelude to the real deal for you to keep on your back burner.

You are likely to be captivated by what he has hand-picked in his passionate food adventure. Mind you, please don't blame him if he converts you into a die-hard foodie or an addicted follower.

Click here to acquaint yourself with Dr Leslie Tay.





Sunday, March 5, 2017

Dinosaurs In The Park

The following is a sneak preview of a Children's Festival which will be taking place at Gardens by the Bay from 10 March to 2 April 2017.









The Supertrees at Gardens by the Bay

The Flower Dome and Cloud Forest are in the background
The Flower Dome is the world's largest glass greenhouse. In it you can "Wander amongst thousand-year-old olive trees and unusual Baobabs of the cool-dry Mediterranean ans subtropical regions as you take in the sights of the changing floral display."

In the Cloud Forest greenhouse, you can "Explore the highlands amidst orchids, pitcher plants and ferns from the cool-moist Tropical Montane region, complete with a 35-metre man-made mountain and waterfall."


Go up OCBC Skyway for a walk 





Go up a Supertree which takes beer garden to new heights

Not quite Rainbow's End 

Floral Clock by Audemars Piguet

View of Gardens by the Bay from Marina Bay Sands' Skypark


Click here to explore Gardens by the Bay -- "Where wonder blooms".

Welcome!



Floating Baby In The Meadow

The following "Planet" is hands down the largest static sculpture in Singapore. 


While it is a depiction of his infant son, Lucas, renowned British sculptor Marc Quinn would want you to think larger and view your life like a planet -- "to explore nature under human influence in themes that include the changing human body and the meanings of human life, between spiritual and physical, surface and depth, cerebral and sexual."   







Friday, March 3, 2017

Goals & Dreams - Knowing the Difference Could Change Your Life

Chuck Gallozzi has written an illuminating article on the difference between goals and dreams. Click here to read the full article.

For your refreshing, the following is an extract from his article:

"The beliefs held by our subconscious were formed by childhood experiences and remain in place until they are replaced by experiences that lead to new beliefs. For example, if a child was constantly belittled, mocked, and scorned, its subconscious would believe that it was unworthy. If later in life many people were to encourage, inspire, and praise the child, the new experiences could overwrite the previously held beliefs. 

The key to solving our problem of unwanted subconscious beliefs lies in that our subconscious cannot distinguish the difference between real or imaginary experiences. Let’s look at an example to see how we can apply this principle. 

Tom is a high school student afraid to speak in public. Embedded in his subconscious is a negative belief that is responsible for his lack of confidence. He doesn’t have to uncover or understand the original childhood experiences that cause his problem. All he has to do is set aside ten minutes a day to imagine being a successful public speaker. By repeating this daily, his subconscious will interpret these imaginary experiences as real ones, and start to change its belief about being a poor speaker to that of being a great speaker. Once this new belief is in place, Tom will easily be able to speak in public. Perhaps haltingly at first because of lack of real experience, but he will be able to speak, and will grow more skillful with each attempt.

Our imagination is powerful, and always more powerful than rational thought or will power. It can become our greatest ally or worst enemy. Mary imagines that everyone in class will laugh at her when she speaks. No amount of logic will be able to dispel her fear. Notice the difference between Tom and Mary. Mary’s imagination is unplanned, undirected, and uncontrolled. It is in charge, ruling over Mary. But Tom’s imagination is now directed and controlled by him. He sets aside ten minutes a day to harness its power. 

Willfully directing our imagination is called visualization, imagery, or dream setting. We can also call it day dreaming. But there are two forms of daydreaming: conscious and unconscious. Unconscious daydreaming is unintentional; it is not planned; we unwittingly drift into it. This is the most common form of daydreaming. It is also dangerous because we may be daydreaming about negative experiences, such as people laughing at us. And our subconscious will interpret these imaginary experiences as real ones, reinforcing our negative beliefs, and keeping us in a rut. It is clear, then, that we need to be aware of our daydreams and use them constructively.

Since the success of goal-setting depends on our subconscious beliefs, we need to pay more attention to dream-setting (the practice of visualization to reinforce our goals, change our beliefs, and reach our dreams)." 


At Daily Refreshing Blog, I believe that:
Our life will not change unless we make a change.
Make a conscious choice on how to see yourself in a better and greater light on a daily basis, and look forward to your makeover to come, one day at a time. That 'someday' shall finally be seeing the light of day as you make the change. Read Chuck's aforesaid article for insights on the practice of Visualization

Here is a gentle reminder from Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."