Happy new year to all of you. Shall the Year of the Monkey be the end to all monkey business to all of us!
The picture above shows my wife and her grandmother. The lady is 106 years old and has a good sense of humour. She actually contributed to one of the stories I use when teaching about software analysis and change management.
Since I'm very curious about cultures, the fact that I'm living in an intercultural relationship gives me ample leeway to explore similarities and differences. One day my wife was preparing fried fish Haka (the Chinese tribe she belongs too, the same like the founding father of modern Singapore) style.

Rock started it, so I had to follow. Deep Pink in my culture is associated with the high priests. So should I change my title "NotesSensei" to something more?

you are deeppink #FF1493

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing. Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

The online and real world start to intersect more and more. Seems like William Gibson was right. I hope that. I on the other hand have the feeling it is more like John Brunner.
Nevertheless, if you are around, join us for a Joel meeting on every 3rd Wednesday in a month:


find out more at joelonsoftware.meetup.com

Can't beat sombody in an argument? Need to reverse the course of a management decission? Nothing more easy than that! Use out-of-context quotes. Maybe since I went to law school and my late dad, a lawyer himself. preached the virtue of context, I'm used to look for the sentences before and after. This comes in handy when reading software manuals and contract
Want to get startet? Here are my favorite OOC:
" There is no god!" The Bible
" Mens sana in corpore sano" (lat.) Iuvenal, a 2nd century Roman poet (=A healthy mind in a healty body).
... the answers in "Read More..."

I've done some review of a large Domino system today. There was a team of developers quarelling for how to do it and who has to do it. The result reminded me, that TEAM is an acronym in German and stands for " Toll Ein Anderer Machts" (means: Great somebody else is doing it). I was so impressed, I only could recommend this product from this great company. (I admit, I HATE motivational posters.

Once you become a regular of Singapore's Botanical Garden, you can discover little gems every visit. The richness of sensual variety lets your imagination run wild. As we would say in German: Ein Schelm wer bösses dabei denkt.

We spend the afternoon at Sembawang Park. Very much up in the north of our island it is pleasantly away from the hectic and business mind of central Singapore. You can see the coast of Johor/Malaysia and the Singapore Coast Guard performing show-off with their naval hardware (mental note: try to get a ride on one o these speed boats). We usually go there in the late afternoon where a light breeze makes the temperatures bearable (after sunset yesterday it still had 28C). Barbecue, camping facilities, a kiosk, showers and a restaurant make it a very convenient place to be. It takes us 10 min by cab or 2 stops with MRT/Bus to get there.
This time we had a classic picnic and I tried a new recipe for chicken breast:

• You need Chicken breast for 4 persons. So 8-16 pieces, depending on the breast size and the people's stomach should do.
• One bunch of fresh Parsley
• 10-12 cloves of fresh Garlic
• One to two red Chilies
• Salt, Black Pepper, Soya Sauce
• 1 spoon of Mustard
• Sesame Oil and Olive Oil
• A handful of Cranberries, I used dried ones, but resh should be OK to

Cut the Garlic, Parsley and Chilies very small with the big knife (it is important: don't use a blender and use fresh stuff). Put the mustard and salt on top. 2-3 spoon of sesame oil to start mixing it. Add 3-4 spoon of soya sauce and spices as you like (black pepper, herbs, salt). Fill up with Olive oil so you have enough substance to put your chicken breast in it. Add the cranberries. Don't be scared, its all unsaturated fat and that is OK. Put the chicken in the marinade and keep it there over night (2 day also doesn't harm). I a warm climate like ours that has to be in the fridge.
After the marination period pan-fry the chicken breasts. A few minutes until the are nicely brown should do (if you fry too long you might end up with shoe soles). Don't put anything in the pan when heating it up, there is enough grease in the marinade <g>.
Serve with fresh French baguette and a light white wine (or some juice if you, like me, don't drink.
You need you gut feeling to get the measurement right -- and try it on your own fun/risk. As Volker would say: Your mileage might vary.