I have been lucky with my work, in that it has allowed me to meet many people, cultures, and go to so many different countries, and experienced so many different things.
Way back in the 1980’s, working in Saudi Arabia for Saudi Computer Services / Texas Instruments, I was asked as Software Manager to go to the main offices of TI in Austin in Texas, USA, and the courses etc would require me to be there for three weeks.
My American counterparts, fellow colleagues were very friendly and hospitable, but at the weekends they would have finished their meetings and travel back to their families, leaving me by myself.
Nobody loved me, even then.
So, on the Friday night I flew off to Orlando to Walt Disney’s World. During the evening I planned my tour of the park, which rides I wanted to be on and experience, which rides would attract the biggest queues, choosing these first before the crowds built-up. I think I was first in the queue when the gates opened.
One of the rides I went on was It’s a Small World. You sit in a small boat, and float around a circuit.
The Walt Disney promotion says:-
“Take the legendary boat ride around the globe on this musical tour of nations. Hundreds of international dolls sing and dance to the famous “it’s a small world” medley. After it’s over, just try to get that tune out of your head.”
To this day I cannot get that tune out of my head, (click to hear), as we past dancing dolls, dressed in the traditional costumes of differing nations, singing that stupid song. Over and over again.
And it is a small world.
Yesterday I had a meeting in a small pub (public house, selling beer, drinks and food), called the Old Swan, right next to the River Thames in a small village near my home called Thames Ditton.
I am to travel to Bahrain in February, to deliver some courses for The Maker Over Experience (click to visit web site), run and owned by Dr Leila and Phil Edwards, and we were to finalize arrangements for the courses.
During the conversation, it became apparent that Leila and I had crossed paths before. It’s a small world. Maybe we did not meet face to face, but we had common associations, people and companies that we had done business or worked with.
As we swapped stories, it became apparent that our experiences with these organisations and people were similar if not the same.
We had done work for people, and despite heart rendering promises, they had failed to pay our fees, or deliver the goods they promised.
Some of the people we had worked with and for, had promoted themselves as having done this and that, having this qualification or that, having links with this person or that organisation, saying that they can do this or that, in other words, making wild promotional statements about themselves and their work.
It was after you had been pulled into their world, into the their spiders web, that you found that all the boasts, all the things they were saying, all the promises that had been made, were false.
It has become apparent to me that these sort of people can only see short term gains, they do not see the long term, also they use people for their own gain.
Sure enough, these people and organisations are no longer in business, they have in some cases gone bankrupt. Some have created new companies, new ventures, but like the dolls they sing the same song, they do the same thing. In English we have a saying that you cannot change a leopards spots.
In English we have another saying, an elephant never forgets. I cannot forget those dolls singing that song, It’s a Small World. It is strange the number of people I meet from different parts of the world who have had the same experiences with the same people.
A couple of other sayings we have in England, you get back what you give out, or what goes around, comes around.
Do not believe everything you read or see on a web site. Companies will advertise course dates that they will not run, and trainers who would not or will not consider working with that company.
Readers beware.
Category: Travels
Categories
From the heat to the cool
Saturday was an early morning start, in fact 5am, to leave the house in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, to return to Kingston upon Thames in the UK.
The first flight left the Island of Penang, the Pearl of the Orient, at 8am, which seems a reasonable start time, but as with all flights you have to get to the airport after loading the car, drop the car off at the rental company, check in at least one hour ahead of departure. Such a lot of waiting around.
The connecting flight left Kuala Lumpa’s KLIA airport at 11am, it would have been just as quick to drive down from BM to KL, about four hours, compared to the 45 minute flight. But would I have had the fee packet of peanuts and a plastic cup of orange juice given by the airline MAS (Malaysian Air Systems)?
On arrival to the massive airport of KLIA, it is empty. It was built I think a as hub, with the expectation that major airlines would use the airport as a stopping off point, a refueling point, but it never happened, all we can see are MAS planes, no foreign airlines at all.
MAS is a very good airline, I would recommend them, good service, reasonable food, and plenty of drinks, and most flights are full, especially with passengers flying from Australia to the UK and visa versa.
But it is a long 13 hours in the air for the next leg of the journey. At least there is the in flight entertainment.
No.
I start to watch a film, and nearing the end of the film, the in flight entertainment breaks down, leaving me frustrated, not knowing the end, and with nothing to do. I had not taken a book with me, I had planned to watch films, I had not enough battery power to play Mahjong, I had read the newspapers, the in flight magazine, and I could not sleep.
Some of the passengers started to complain to the aircrew, that did not do any good, as it got both parties, passengers and aircrew upset. Me? there was nothing I could do about it, so why worry, sit back, and watch the world below float past, knowing that I was better off up there in the sky, than the poor people we were flying over, the Indians, the Afghans, etc, some in the grips of winter under meters of snow.
It was a time for me to reflect, to plan, to realise where I had gone wrong, what I had done right.
It was a time to reflect on the differing cultures, ways of life, standards, beliefs of the people I had the fortune and misfortune to encounter and work with.
It was a time to reflect on me, what had happened in the past year, in the past weeks.
It was as I sat there looking down at the vast expanse of snow, thinking that only a couple of hours ago, I was in a very hot country, so hot and humid that my body was swelling up, my feet and legs were continually swollen, probably due to the retention of fluids, and people were still back in Malaysia in that heat. In the UK with the moderate temperate temperature, it is comfortable, for me it is cooler, yet down there below me, there were people freezing.
Where do I want to be? In a hot country, a cold country, a cool country?
In all the zones people were just getting on with it, adjusting to the environment they were in.
Me? Sometimes I am in hot environments, sometimes cold, sometimes cool, there is variety, and I enjoy it, Can it continue? I would hope so. But, I know there will come a time when I will have to settle down, make decisions, or put in place decisions I have already made.
Today, my “in flight entertainment system” has broken down, I feel deflated, depressed, so much to do, so many people to consider. I sit here wondering what to do.
I must not complain, as like the passengers and air crew, they just upset each other.
There must be action, I must move. Without the movement I will not get anywhere.
Unknown to all the passengers, one member of the air crew was working on the in flight entertainment system, and bit by bit, step by step, with the help of ground staff and a radio, it took time, but the problem was solved, I was able to rejoin the film, to see the end, and it was good.
All situations, problems can be solved, if we step back, look at it from a different angle, to stay calm, take things in, in a calm relaxed way, take one step at a time.
Anyone can make that journey from the hot humid climate to the cool temperate climate, it may get cold along the way, you have to make the journey, one step at a time.
But, the one thing you have to do is to make the first step. We have to start somewhere. (Click)
My journey was a long one, and I stuck with it. There was a lot of waiting, frustrations, happiness, joy and beauty, but it was worth it, even if I now need rest to get over it.
For nearly a year now I have been putting my thoughts, my ideas, my observations down in this blog. Some of my offerings have been to help readers to understand aspects of items from my courses (click to see Mind Map), other offerings have been how I have seen the world from my eyes (index).
I have had one or two comments of how the blog is received, but I never really knew, is it good, is it bad.
How can you know? I have a counter that tells me how many “hits” per page I get, but is it accurate? I subscribed to another counter which gave details of where people lived, how long they stayed, what operating system they were using, what they had for breakfast. But that hit counter gave me a completely different count.
I gave up the idea of relying on these forms of reports, they are an indication only, a pointer to the real thing. If I took the first counter I was unhappy, but take the second counter, I was “over the moon”, extremely happy.
I just did what I enjoyed, I wrote, attached some photographs to describe my world, Phillip Holt’s World, knowing that some people would be unhappy with what I wrote, whilst others would be more than happy.
I was not out to, I do not set out to make people upset, what ever they read they will go on their transderivational search, put their cat on the mat, their understanding onto what I am saying.
If I say “car“, what do you see in your minds eye? Probably your car and where it is parked right now. But there are hundreds of makes and models of cars, and certainly different parking lots as I have readers from so many different countries. So we all get different messages. Read my blog on George Miller, 7 /- 2.
Yesterday was a down day for me. It was extra hot here in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, and it was raining one minute, sunny the next, thunderstorms, the humidity was high along with the temperature, my emails are not working, a modem had installed was not working, my plans for the day were thrown out due to the arrival of relatives, I had an accident in the hire car. Big oh poo poo day.
I put together a blog on my travel across to the Island of Penang, (Crossing over to Penang Island), just a 15 minute drive away. I was not happy with the result, but it was what I wanted.
This morning I received a comment (click to read) from one of my ex translators, Deniz, who is living and working in Paris.
Her comments made me happy, made me realise that people appreciate what I write.
How often do you give feedback to people? (insert the word positive please).
So to Asu, thank you for the wedding photographsof Murat you sent last night , and your little black dress, you look glamorous.
To Sahika, Mehpare, and Leila, sorry for not getting back to you re dates of courses.
To Rory, yes we will hold the next Stage Hypnosis course in the Royal National Hotel London, this March.
To all I have not mentioned, thank you for you support and feedback. I appreciate it. index
Categories
Crossing over to Penang Island
One of the great joys I had whilst giving training in Istanbul, is to cross the Bosphorus, the stretch of water that separates Europe from Asia, West Istanbul from East Istanbul, and the water that joins the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. Sitting on the ferry, or crossing one of the two Bosphorus Bridges, watching the worlds shipping slide past.
See video of dolphins. Dolphins in the Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey
Crossing from mainland Malaysia to the Island of Penang is not as glamorous as crossing the Bosphorus, although the stretch of water is much wider, with the existing bridge being just over 8 miles (13.5 km), and the first Bosphorus Bridge being 1175 yards (1074 meters) long between its’ two pillars.
Penang Bridge 13.5km Bosphorus Bridge 1074 meters
The ferry are different with the Penang Ferry sails to and from George Town (Penang Island) and Butterworth, and takes about 10 minutes to make the crossing, so no time for a cup of tea, which you can take on the Bosphorus ferries as the have various crossings taking about 20 minutes.
Penang Ferry Bosphorus Ferry
The sea trade in Penang is now it seems very small, compared to the forever movement of ships up and down the waters of the Bosphorus.
Within a few minutes of the house in Bukit Mertajam are other places of worship of other beliefs than the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Temple, Kek Loc Si, (click to see) , Christian, Hindu and Muslim, and all co-exist happily together.
Mosque with small minaret’s
Saint Anne’s Church, Bukit Mertajam.
Hindu Temple near to Desa Palma, Alma, BM.
Hindu Temple near to Desa Palma, Alma, BM. 
The minarets on the Islamic Mosques in Malaysia tend to be much smaller than those in other Islamic countries such as Turkey, which have tall thin minarets. The domes on this mosque are of a shiny gold.
St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam, was started in 1846 and the church completed in 1888. A new church was added seen on the left, above, and opened in 2002 able to sit 1,200 people, which is by far exceeded on the feast of St. Anne., when many thousands of worshipers from South Asia flock to the church.
At this time I have not been able to contact anyone about the Hindu Temple.
In life it is sometimes good to escape, to find some place, some thing which has some serenity, peacefulness, calm.
I used to find that when I was a scuba diver. To float in the warm waters of the Red Sea at 60 feet (20 meters) depth, with the colourful fish of all sizes slowly swimming past, going about their business, and the coral, like an English country garden. click to see pictures
Another place I find peacefulness is on the Island of Penang in Malaysia, situated in (H)Air Itam, a suburb of Georgetown. This is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Temple, also known as Quan Yin, Kuan Yin, Avalokiteshvara, or Kek Lok Si (Hokkien for “Temple of Supreme Bliss”).
Malaysia is not just Chinese as my writings may indicate, but is multi cultural, being a people mixture of Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian, along with their own cultures, beliefs, food and religions, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu plus Christian. I think I am a mixture of all, having exposure to all of them. Click here to read the entry Other Places of worship in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
High on the side of Air Itam are the buildings of the temple. Many years ago I remember only a couple of large buildings, I presume for accommodation, plus the pagoda, turtles and Buddhas. The site has expanded so much with many more large buildings having and being built.
Kek Lok Si with it’s Pagoda (right) and build works
Parking at the foot of the hill, it is a steep climb up a covered winding flight of stairs with stalls either side selling the inevitable tourist goods, teeshirts, toys, replicas of the temple in plastic or what should be jade, and me being a non Easterner, a prime target to be sold to, the same as happens in Turkey. Do I look so British?
Turtles in Liberation Pool Kek Lok Si, Penang
The first real part of the Temple is the Turtle Pool known as Liberation Pool, where the turtles are supposed to be released into freedom, hundreds of turtles swimming around in rather dirty water, waiting for food sold to the visitors by enterprising stall holders. The turtles grow to quite a size, and I think of my one of my Turkish translators, Asu, and her turtle, if hers grows this big, oh poo poo.
Ascend further up the stairs, more shops and restaurants, you enter into the multiple buildings of the Kek Lok Si Temple, so colourful with Buddhas everywhere, some encased in glass, giant gold leafed statues.
Glass encased Laughing Buddha, the Goddess of Mercy Penang,
Glass encased underworld gods Goddess of Mercy
Various rooms are set aside for prayers, with joss sticks smoking away. Anyone can enter the altars after removing their shoes.
Prayer rooms Kek Lok Si
Prayer rooms Kek Lok Si
Prayer rooms Kek Lok Si
Even higher-up the hill taking the Incline Lift, a small glass box lift being pulled up the hill, takes you to more new buildings with the giant new bronze statue of the Goddess of Mercy.
The Goddess of Mercy Kek Lok Si
The original old statue was made out of resin, and did not last long, as bits and pieces fell off as the resin deterioration, leaving only the head still on display.
Old resin head of the Goddess of Mercy
Work still continues on the bronze statue with the installation of a giant roof supported by eight sculptured columns.
Kek Lok Si is a place I can spend time in reflection, contemplating my life, it happens each time I visit the site.
The thing is, will I act upon my insights?
It seems that most people in Malaysia eat out rather than prepare food at home. That is the way I perceive the eating situation, as unless there is a lot of people for a big family meal, we go out, or food is brought in.
There are the standard restaurants with table clothes and menus, being mostly very cheap, say 60 – 100 Ringit (Malaysian Dollars) or £10 – £15 for six people, but the best way to eat is to go to the hawker stands.
Hawkers are people who will specialise in one specific type of food or cooking style, and they will set-up a stand, mostly at night, and there they will prepare and cook on demand their single offering.
Here is a family that specialisms in pancakes. They have a small open sided van, parked on the side of the road, and they cook a variety of pancakes with fillings such as corn, crushed peanuts, coconut, black sugar.
Malaysian hawker selling pancakesOther hawkers will set-up their stands in groups, in open sided restaurants, with each stand advertising what they are cooking. Some hawker restaurants specialise in say fish, or duck and that is all you get, but there will be such a variety within that specialty.
open-sided hawker restaurant hawker stand selling duck
Above, an open fronted hawker restaurant with two portable hawker stands made from stainless steel and glass, with diners sitting on the obligatory plastic chairs, plus a hawker stand preparing a wide variety of duck meals.
Other hawker restaurants will be on a grander scale with vast variety of food being offered. Individuals from the dining group will go up to the hawker of choice, order the meal, and then go and sit at the usual round table and plastic chair with their fellow diners and wait. A few minutes later the meal will arrive. So cheap, 1 or 2 Ringit (Malaysian Dollar), say 50 pence (UK).
It is usual that the hawkers pay a rent for their stand to the restaurant/facility owner, and it is the restaurant/facility owner that sell drinks, my favourite being Milo Peng, iced Milo.
There will always be danger and monsters (click to see monsters in my garden in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia) in life, and there will always be things and people that go against our wishes and wants, that seem to want to harm us.
Grasshopper hiding on a Hibiscus flower.
Just be aware that they could be there, and inoculate against them..
In the medical field, we have been able to eradicate many diseases, for example polio (Rotary Club End Polio Now), smallpox, and it continuous to be a fight to stop these diseases re-establishing themselves.
We can prevent people, animals and plants from getting diseases. In humans, the flu, measles, mumps and rubella to name just a few.
How can we prevent these diseases taking hold?
We inoculate against them.
We give the body a small dose of the disease in the form of an injection, and this small dose will grow and reproduce, and what it does is to allow the body to learn to fight it, to boost the immune system by creating and inducing anti bodies that will attack any future infections.
If you know that you may be traveling to some far off distant land, were there could be some potentially dangerous diseases, you go to the doctor or clinic and ask for an injection to inoculate against catching the disease.
If you are going out, to shop, to celebrate or just to walk, and the sky looks black, heavy with rain clouds, it is sensible to take an umbrella. You are looking forward, preparing for something that could happen. Inoculating.
As you go about your daily life, business, leisure, pleasure, be aware of the potential things that could go wrong, and prepare for them, just in case they do happen.
For me as I travel the world teaching and training (visit my web site www.nlpnow.net for courses) with people from differing cultures and beliefs, I know I am going to say and do the wrong things, I inoculate the participants against my unintended mistakes by telling them I may do or say the wrong things.
In business have a contingency plan for happenings that do not follow the original structure or plan. Inoculate.
If entering a relationship, as a young lady I know was hoping to do, what happens if the other person has no interest, perhaps in this case it turned out that he was gay, something she could not see or recognize as she pursued him? Rather than letting her get hurt by his rejection in the future, I inoculated her by suggesting the possible rejection and why, but allowing her to carry out her quest. She was rejected, but they remain good friends.
Do not dwell or stop doing what you want to do, just because there could be dangerous monsters lurking to get you, just be aware they could be there, prepare, inoculate, but go for your dream.
Yesterday I showed some of the flowers, beauty, in our garden in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, (click here to see), and I have to thank my brother-in-law Thiang who looks after our garden in our absence.
Thiang’s love is orchids, and the climate in Malaysia, hot and humid, is the natural environment for some of them to grow.
Here is just a sample of flowering orchids in our gardens.
Orchid
Orchid Phalaenopsis
Orchid
Orchid
Orchid
Orchid Cattleya (wild)
Trichopilia Tortilis
Orchid Cattleya
It is a pity the climate is a little too hot and humid for me to flourish.
If you know the name of the above orchids, please tell or correct me via the comment facility.
Categories
Beauty is everywhere
I showed some of the “creepy strange monsters” (click to read) in my home and garden in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia. The pictures were taken in just one day with difficulty, as the creatures would run off or fly away before I had chance to take-hold of my camera.
Hibiscus
Hibiscus
Hibiscus
If you can name the plants let me know
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea
The Chinese call this the prosperity flower
The flowers in the garden bring colour and happiness. They also attract the monsters who seek the sweetness of the nectar, the food from the leaves, to lay their eggs, to take shelter from the harsh environment of heat and high humidity and shelter from the monster human beings and other predators.
If we dwell on just looking for the monsters in our life, that is all we will find.
Working with clients on a one-to-one basis (click to visit web site), for fears, phobias and other related problems, I find that they dwell on the problems they think they have, they make mountains out of mole hills (click to read explanation of phrase).
How many times have I sat and listened to someone go on and on about their ailments, how ill they are, how depressed they are, how things are always going wrong for them, not only in 1-2-1 sessions, but mostly when talking on a social level as friends or family.
Maybe it is someone in a relationship, and all they see is the bad things in their partners, that they are never at home, that they “look” at other people, talk to other people rather than to them, they do favours for others and never for them.
Look beyond the monsters, look for the good things, as they are there, and they are more permanent, more colourful, pleasing, relaxing, and brings joy to those who spend a just little time viewing them, being with them.
It has been proven that those people who think positive thoughts are more positive, healthier, optimistic, happier.
Dwell on the beauty and the positive about you.
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