The Talijancich 1961 Liqueur Muscat

A recent trip to the Swan Valley saw our group walking through the doors of the new tasting room at Talijancich, a small producer specialising in fortified wines. Mid winter in Perth is a perfect time for fortified sipping fortified wines.

This weekend was no exception with clear blue skies requiring only a short sleeved shirt to maximise the reduced sun's rays. The mornings and nights are cold, the days generally cloudless and warm with the evenings perfect for a taste of Talijancich's fine range of liqueur muscats and fortified wines.

I had purchased a number of years ago the 1963 Liqueur Muscat, a silver medal winner at the London Wine Show and numerous other shows, a trip to the tasting rooms is usually both exciting and expensive. This trip was no exception with the 1980 liqueur muscat, liqueur shiraz, liqueur verdelho and some Julian James liqueurs now gracing my cellar. 

The vintage liqueurs burst with the flavours of burnt toffee and chocolate overtures with a wonderful brown hue. As I was laying my new bottles down I found a 1961 liqueur muscat I had forgotten about, I found a tokay laying pretty close. In the wash up, I really didn't need to take the drive up to the valley after all - I still not complaining. Oh yeah, the Penfolds Coonawarra Bin 128 really hit the spot on warm afternoon too.

Growth minded learning goals

The setting and attainment of learning goals tends to correlate with the views of global learners and alignment to learning objectives. The development of abilities greater than required to perform the job ensures candidates have a range of skills at their disposal.

 

Searching for innovative methods to solve problems, I was once asked if I am a lateral thinker, while I replied at the time I was - I have a change of heart. Generally speaking, a lateral thinker uses uncommon wisdom but since I am from an engineering trade background, I tend to be very pragmatic and systematic in my approach to problem-solving. 

Once you have extinguished all avenues of systematic and rational problem-solving techniques, then more unusual means may need to be entertained. This requires new methods and the development of models. The base purpose of business school education is to identify proven techniques and to improve those methods whist disseminating this information to peers. 

The value of the Pinoy overseas foreign worker

Living in Australia and making numerous trips across to the Philippines, I run into many Filipinos who work overseas returning to the Philippines for holidays. Likewise, I also meet numerous Filipinos whilst working in Australia in my profession seeking to gain Australian qualifications.

To the casual observer, it would appear the major export of the Philippines is workers to the region and beyond. To a certain degree, the smartest and the most productive workers are picking up the international contracts leading to a possible brain drain in the Philippines.

After some investigation, I learnt that most men head to the middle east in construction, oil & gas and mining contracts whilst the majority of women remain in south-east Asia or east Asia. I was also astounded to learn remittances from Filipinos working abroad form the second largest source of foreign reserves after direct foreign investment.

What I have seen is a building boom in Makati, Mandaluyong, Bonifacio, Taguig and Paranaque City that has been running for years and shows no signs of abating. Having first visited the Philippines in 1994.

I am seeing a large middle class emerging driving consumerism in the Philippines. It would appear significant investments in real estate is now generated by OFWs with longer forms of investment in education and training.

During breaks hanging out in cafes such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks and restaurants in the large shopping malls; I see many young locals armed with smart phones, iPads, Galaxy tablets and notebook computers all plugged in online.

I have checked prices in the Philippines and compared to prices in Australia and I find the prices cheaper in Australia. I also notice than many of the younger consumers are engaging in studies at local colleges and universities all developing the human capital of the Philippines in a holistic method.

Overall, I see ongoing development in the Philippines improving the outcomes of locals, although as a passive observer I also see the highly educated and most productive leaving the Philippines for economic advantage overseas.

I often wonder if the people taking up the positions left vacant by the OFWs are up to the task leading to a level of wholesale incompetence or it leads to opportunities to workers who may have been overlooked in the past.

Candidasa

As a diver, a road trip to Amed or Tulumben frequently takes me through Candidasa; a small seaside village on Bali's east coast. The centrepiece of Candidasa is the freshwater lagoon perched between the road and water's edge.

However, Candidasa is very much a cultural centre with numerous temples and traditional villages scattered around the area, it is also a very good dive location with sometimes ripping currents.



Lotus plants float on the water; the flowers of the trees surrounding the lagoon mix with the lotus plants inhabiting the lagoon ensuring the beauty of the lagoon.



The road through Candidasa takes you right through the Lotus Lagoon and to the steps of Candidasa Temple that overlooks the lagoon.



The temple of Candidasa is accessed straight from the main road; I am told candi translates to temple and dasa translates to ten, a number of temples inhabit the area.

The Lotus Lagoon in the early evening, during the day children are swimming amongst the lily pads on the water surface, the contrast of colours at sunset are wonderful.