First interview on Radio

I was just on the BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Annie Othen Show. I was asked my opinion on whether I thought whether some businesses  are taking advantage of the Jubilee and Olympics celebrations to hike up prices of their products. A great experience.

Be grateful

Found this piece of paper lying on the floor today morning. It was a page out of "The Secret: Daily teachings" and talks about being grateful. Some great words which I would like to share with you:

Criticism can be very subtle in the way it creeps into our thoughts. Here are some examples of criticism to help you become aware of its subtlety, so you can eliminate it from your thoughts:

The weather is awful today.
The traffic is terrible.
The service is really bad.
Oh no, look at the line.
He/ she is always late.
how long do we have to wait for our order?
That motorist is a lunatic.
It's so hot in here.
I've been on hold for so long! 

These are subtle things, but the law of attraction is listening to them all. You have the ability to appreciate something in every circumstance. There is always something to be grateful for.

Just in case you are wondering what the "law of attraction" mean, go and read the book or watch the DVD, The Secret.

2nd visit to West Midlands Safari Park

Warning: Image heavy post. The kids are now having their Easter break and last weekend we decided to take them to the West Midlands Safari Park. The park is about an hours drive from our house in Coventry and this was our second visit.

 The first time we visited the Safari Park was in 2008 when my wife's cousin (read my old post: Visit to West Midlands Safari Park). Our son had slept through the entire Safari during out last visit but he was fully awake and really excited his time - even feeding some of the animals (Yes! It's allowed) though the car window though he got really spooked after the Giraffes and refused to lower the window.
 

Cheetah

White Royal Bengal Tiger
 
Deer




Zebra

Ostrich


Elephants

This guy didn't want to eat . He simply wanted to interact

The Giraffes

Up-close, you suddenly realise how tall these animals are.

Eating off my hand

Besides the Safari, the place has other attractions including an amusement park.My daughter tries out rock climbing and learns that it's not as easy as it seems




The Sea Lion show

Penguins

Meerkat




Lemur

The snowman

The last snowfall last winter.

Warwick winter graduation 2012

It was a dream but we finally did it. Both my wife and I graduated together from the University of Warwick. We both studied for our PhD in Marketing (though in different areas) at the Warwick Business School. My wife started one year early and forced me to catch up with her and I actually completed one month earlier than her.

Moving house advice

One of our friends recently moved back to Malaysia after completing his studies. The small community of Malaysians here all came over and helped moved their stuff which they had spent packing literally over the past month onto the 40 footer container. Even with all the guys, it took almost all morning to get the stuff loaded on and finally we were done.

However, sometimes it is better to use the professionals. I once helped my sister-in-law move house when we realised that there was no way we could dismantle their sofa or bring it down their narrow winding stairs. In the end they called a local mover and it was amazing watching them take the sofa through the window through a system of pulleys down to the guys waiting below. The guy in charge told me that they had carried much heavier items including pianos similarly.

I guess it is best to call in the professionals if you can afford it. For example, another friend was moving house and these guys came in a big truck and had packed up and cleared the house in half a day. Later on my friends told me that none of the furnitures had even a scratch.

However the question is how to find and hire general help for moving. And you are of course concerned - Are they reliable? Are they accountable? I have heard so many horror stories about getting day movers that sometimes risking a slipped disk sounds like a better option.

Four naked Barbies

While cleaning up, my daughter came across her Barbie collection and she was telling me that she's doesn't like playing with dolls any more as "only kids play dolls".



Examining the dolls, I realised that they are all different. Three of them are made in China (all 1999 batch) while the first from left which we bought for her at a car boot sale was made in Indonesia. Update: At first I thought that it was a vintage Barbie from 1966 but later found out that they did not make Barbie in Indonesia in the 1960s.