ever since that tour, i have been thinking and viewing certain instituitions with a profit making frame of mind - all the places where i have chow, have drinks, club. the f&b and entertainment industry is an area where there is much moolah to be made.
in my opinion, fine dining is a creative art as well as a money making machine.

i will always remember his quote "why do you want to sell char kway teow when someone can open a stall right beside you? we don't want to be another Tony Romas, its all about having a unique competitive edge that is very difficult to erode."

a good example. Nasi Lemak at Adam Road. ate there twice last week. with two stalls side by side, you wonder how does the less popular stall make profits? one stall has people calling up to order takeout in the dozens while the other survives on the measely few who are unwilling to weather the queue of the other stall. get the picture?

so the classmates used to take about opening their own cafe/pub. nice as it sounds a lot more thought, vision, personality and dynamisim has to be put into the business concept in order to get an approved bank loan to start up, let alone create a sustainable long term profit making enterprise. the keyword lies in unique.

corduroy & finch at six avenue seems to be a business concept worthy of a visit. gotta find a date for that.

now on to clubs. chinablack is obviously a place which targets the ah-beng-ah-lian crowd, with its watered down tequila shots and crap ass music on a normal night. zouk on the other hand brings in the high flyers as well as the commonfolk, i was going to say scum but i always remind myself that i have no right to judge. i don't think i can comment on starting up nikhil's corny idea of a name for a club: IndiaWhite, given my limited exposure. so next year, Pegasus ( Shanghai ), C Club (Hong Kong), Dragon I (Hong Kong) , Double Six n Hard Rock (Bali) during the Aussie holiday season - anyone?

on another note, they come and they go, but there are also those that stay. and i shall quote one now.

"Well, since I am talking to Mr Tan now I
should say something about him: mr tan is
one of those you can't seem to shake off. When
you are lonely and feeling low he is always there
to shake you out of your misery with his special
method. You feel like you never have to give
him any special attention because he is always
there. Also, he sends really good songs. Well,
in case you are starting to think I am his loyal
fan, he is also fucking annoying. His special
method involves his usual greeting:
"hey slut","whore!","fuck!" or the dreaded
nudge! Then when you get really really annoyed
he starts being nice like a little kid, then the
senses and maturity start coming back. Also,
I laugh at all his problems and constantly
give him shit for his definition of "problems".
Then, we spend the rest of the conversation
upkeeping his many many girls, ticking their
names off as we go along, making sure his
emotional status is stabilized before we proceed
as failure to do so would result in a dreaded
nudge. You look at Mr Tan and you see so
many things that you do not want to be, then
you look again and you see those things you
have failed to see. He can go a full conversation
acting like a mature young adult and then tell u:

"*********************************************"
Thats how silly he is. But in all honesty, as
much as I dread his messages, it would
be weird waking up one day and not seeing
the orange msn tab flash-its just something
that I wouldnt be used to. Thanks for
always bothering to impose yourself."

there won't be anymore problems, my friend, only nusiances - that's what they are now. mere games and nusiances. they come and they go. they might happen but life's full of more important things to do. not to mention the many who are here to stay too. As Camus would say, "In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer." and i shall say, its not about being cool its about being ice cold.