andrew grove and antonio belloni

today was quite packed.  we had two guests on video conference and andrew grove on stage being interviewed by our professor.  you are probably not familiar with the names - will explain more later.

today is food special day!  you get pictures of all my meals!!!  see how healthy i am eating?  orange juice, fruit (rock melon and honeydew), scone and bagel with philly cream cheese (the type we eat at home) and strawberry cream cheese, hard boiled egg, yoghurt, and finally, oatmeal with raw sugar and banana!  is that a big breakfast or what?

lunch today was set up outdoors.  not sure why though.  let's see, i had grilled vegetables like carrot, asparagus, and spaghetti, some pink onions, two different types of pizza and the brown thing is felafel - think it is made from chick peas.

dinner was pasta, grilled vegetables again, grilled fish and short ribs.  oh and garlic bread.  but i don't know how long the novelty will last.  that's why dim sum yesterday was a nice change.  the singaporean team is organizing a special dinner just among ourselves - think i told you guys about it.  it will be interesting to see what courses the chef comes up with.  would be great to have char kway teow, or some kind of noodles.  or chicken rice.

anyway...after eating so much, i felt guilty and went to the gym after my discussion meeting ended at 9.30 pm.

this morning we had a live video conference with antonio belloni.  

didn't know who he was until today.  he's part of the LVMH group.  that's Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, three of the biggest brand names in the world.  think you guys won't be interested (except maybe matt since he loves expensive stuff:)), but something he said made me pay attention.  there are apparently more than 50 million chinese tourists each year.  and they are his biggest customer group.  and soon it will be 100 million.  no wonder our casinos are doing so well.  we are apparently going to overtake las vegas soon in gaming revenue.  er, gaming normally means gambling, not wii or xbox:)  macau is the runaway leader in gaming revenue - well, because it is near china and because it has so many casinos.

and then in the afternoon we had andrew grove.  he was a fascinating speaker, even though he was suffering from parkinson's disease - like my mother.  the disease affects only the physical functions but not the mind.  and while he occasionally struggled to get some words out, his wit and intelligence were very much in evidence.

here's something he said - leaders get people to do what they don't like to do, with enthusiasm!