It's jacaranda season

Leading into December, Jacaranda season is in full bloom, but we don't expect this to last all the way to Christmas. Jacaranda season runs from late spring to early summer and we all love the purple, the streets come alive.

Jacaranda trees are not native to Australia, the sub-tropical tree is native to Central and South America and have been here for about 150 years. Seeds were transported to Australia among other countries by seafarers, the jacaranda is pretty much an international tree now. In Perth the trees are deciduous, they look terrible in winter stripped of leaves and foliage but this time of year the explode in colour bringing plenty of Christmas cheer, just a shame it never lasts all the way to Christmas.

Corporate social responsibility

I note with increasing interest the inclusion of units in business and management courses requiring completion of business ethics, sustainability and the effects of globalisation on society. The business world is taking corporate social responsibility very seriously - this is a fantastic outcome.

Viewing course overviews at a number of universities; as a signatory to PRME, that is, Principles for Responsible Management Education, the steering committees consist of the United Nations Global Compact, Association of MBAs, Association of Asia Pacific Business Schools and other professional associations - this apparently is taken very seriously in the academic community.

Corporations such as Enron, Arthur Anderson, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns collapsed spectacularly on a worldwide basis. While more specifically in an Australian context Bond Corporation, Qintex, HIH Insurance and the One.Tel communications corporation all committed corporate fraud - that is one part of the ethical framework business must adhere to.

To meet the rigors of sustainability, employing an ethical strategy observing ethical principles need to embed the concept of triple bottom line into business activities. The corporate world is involved in development, major corporations have a role to play in sustainable development, aid programs and social inclusion.

I am very much in favour of ethics training with corporate social responsibility included. These principles should also extend to the corporate world paying its fair share of tax in the country of earning, what is currently happening is just wrong on so many accounts.

The Rolex DateJust

Is it just me or is the Rolex DateJust an old man's watch? Nearly thirty years ago I purchased a fake Rolex off the street in Kuta, Bali and I reckon even now I wouldn't be paying full price for a DateJust. Naturally, the DateJust is the quintessential Rolex, released in 1945, this timepiece is pretty much the workhorse of the Rolex range. The innovative DateJust was named after the date just jumped at midnight to the new numeral instead of the slow sweep over a number of hours as had been the case. The jubilee bracelet, cyclops over the date and oyster case pretty much guaranteed the DateJust would become a modern day classic.

Possibly what skewed my view of the DateJust was the fact that I thought this just couldn't be a real model because it looked so ghastly. I actually thought it was a run of the mill fake watch with just a Rolex crown logo attached to it; you could imagine my surprise when I found out this an actual model. I just wanted a fake Rolex to bring home for a bit of a laugh for friends and family; naturally they saw straight through my guise and my joke watch didn't get as many laughs as expected. Needless to say, I had no idea of the Rolex line although I was well aware of the branding but I had never seen one in the flesh.

I don't actually think I would have had the same reaction if the first fake Rolex I came across was a Submariner, a GMT Master, an Explorer or a Cosograph Daytona. What I really hated was the serrated, or what Rolex describes as fluted bezel, the gold and silver jubilee five-link bracelet let a lot to be desired and I didn't much care for the cyclops over the date. Rolex uses 904L and 18 ct gold for both the case and bracelet, the describe the metal combination as Rolesor, The monobloc 41 mm middle case has a screw-in crown, a screw-in case-back and is rated to a depth of 100 metres.

The COSC chronograph certified 3235 Rolex in-house movement falls within a -2/+2 second a day precision. The winding is a bidirectional self-winding perpetual rotor with a paramagnetic blue paracrom hairspring and a power reserve of 70 hours. Needless  to say, the DateJust doesn't come cheap due to the engineering that went into the in-house movement and manufacture of case and bracelet. But unfortunately, the DateJust will forever be in my mind, maybe unfairly, an old man's watch easily replicated throughout South East Asia.  

My old High Sierra traveling bag

Having picked by my High Sierra oversas traveling bag via reward points from my credit card use sight unseen, I have had an excellent run from my points purchase. I am aware many travel bloggers write about their old backpack in order to secure some form of sponsorship from a manufacturer or supplier. I have no such sponsorship nor am I seeking any deals, I just like what this manufacturer produces and I am happy to acknowledge their excellent range of traveling bags.

I always recognise a High Sierra bag as the luggage rolls past on conveyor belt, they are of heavy duty construction, well made with plenty of pockets and partitions to separate your belongings. The problem I find with the bag is that the heavy construction also adds weight and when I am on my dive holidays carting my dive gear around, I get pretty close to my luggage weight limit - that's my only issue.

Cold Chisel - Twentieth Century

Twentieth Century was the final studio album released after Cold Chisel disbanded in acrimony and bitter disputes in December 1983. Cold Chisel has been described as not the best band in Australia, nor the most internationally renowned band, but Cold Chisel was the quintessential Australian pub rock band with a loyal following.

I have always liked the title song Twentieth Century, a catchy harmonic tune that I understood was never going to be the most popular but I like what I like. Flame Trees was undoubtedly the best song of the album, written by Don Walker and Steve Prestwich, the country town of Grafton was where Walker had spent his youth. Ironically, Grafton is famous for Jacaranda trees but I am informed difficult to fit into the tune of the song; however, Prestwich was the initial writer with Walker taking over. I am informed that the band were so hostile towards each other that the album was recorded in stages. I had always thought Prestwich returned to record the album after being fired on the previous tour  but was surprised to learn that he played the farewell tour and not the album. I had to check this against the CD I have in my collection. 

Songs from the album:

1. Build This Love.
2. Twentieth Century.
3. Ghost Town.
4. Saturday Night.
5. Painted Doll.
6. No Sense.
7. Flame Trees.
8. Only One.
9. Hold Me Tight.
10. Sing to Me.
11. The Game.
12. Janelle.
13. Temptation.

Gemini 4 - Ed White's spacewalk

Ed White became the first American astronaut to undertake a spacewalk on the third of June 1965 as pilot of Gemini 4 along with Command pilot James McDivitt. The American space program was behind the Soviet program after cosmonaut Alexey Leonov became the first human to conduct an extra-vehicular activity on the Voskhod 2 mission on the eighteenth of March 1965.

Interestingly, Ed White wore an Omega Speedmaster timepiece strapped to his spacesuit for the spacewalk. According to Omega, they only became aware that NASA astronauts were wearing their watches after noticing the Speedmaster mounted on the spacesuit of White during his space walk.

Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young were the first astronauts to wear flight qualified Speedmaster timepieces on the Gemini 3 mission after Wally Schirra, initially from the Mercury program apparently procured a number from a Houston dealer.

After the Gemini program ended, the astronauts moved over to the Apollo program. The Gemini program with two man crew was to develop techniques supporting the Apollo program including docking maneuvers, space rendezvous and extra-vehicular activities.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in 2014 and look around their fascinating museum viewing both Mercury and Gemini capsules.

The Gemini mission duration were to designed to prepare for length of the Apollo trips to the moon. The six Mercury missions generally lasted a matter of hours although as the program progressed, flights of around 15 minutes for the early flights were gradually extended to a day and a half for astronaut Gordon Cooper on Faith 7.

Sadly Ed White along with Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee lost their lives to the fire on board Apollo 1 during a launch simulation. An electrical spark in the Command Module caused wiring to burst into flames, the pure oxygen environment in the Command Module rapidly increased combustion.

The crew were unable to open the hatch due to design constraints with rescuers unable to open the hatch due to the pressure differential as the cabin was pressurised to 2 psi higher than atmospheric pressure.

The Screwdriver

The Screwdriver would have to be the easiest drink to mix, a 15 ml shot of vodka, some ice cubes and the rest is orange juice. I never really went for the garnish, most bar tenders added a slice of orange and maybe a sprig of mint to add some colour.

I prefer the drink in a lowball glass, I used to use a highball glass but I guess my tastes have changed a little as I like the drink less diluted these days although the standard mix is highball. I can't say I really have a preference for vodka, Smirnoff was my choice as a fairly stock standard vodka but I did have a preference for Absolut straight up. For me, the orange juice was the important factor, I have always gone for 100% orange juice as you can't go wrong with the best ingredients.

Gardens by the Bay

One of the great new attractions in Singapore is Gardens by the Bay, when I say new, I mean new to me. I have traveled to Singapore many times over the years but it has been some time since I stepped out of Changi airport on route to other locations. This was a dedicated Singapore trip so it was time to reacquaint myself with the sights of the city state of Singapore.

My last trip to Singapore was in 2010, this was over the course of a weekend for an expo where we were exhibitors. A business trip, unlike a short holiday leaves little time for pleasure so I missed seeing the construction of this exotic garden. It's good, it's really good.

The day we went it was overcast; there was a little drizzle around, with the temperatures plummeting, it was a welcome relief from the previous two days where the temperature really sizzled. The Singapore CBD, on a latitude of 1.29° N is not far off the equator so it isn't unrealistic to expect hot and muggy weather.

Wandering around this park in the cooler temperatures was a fantastic way to spend the morning, this is an excellent tourist site. There is plenty to see at the gardens and when you are finished there Marina Bay Sands is a short stroll with Marina Bay and Boat and Clarke Quays pretty close.

You have the option of walking around, this is my first choice or the MRT can get you there cheaply and effectively. I never even bothered viewing the numerous biosphere in the gardens, I was pretty happy with what I saw and I have places to view on future trips.

Is Omega taking on Rolex?

I am hearing in watch retailing circles that Omega is seeking to take on the might of Rolex in the premium market segment for timepieces. Not only does Rolex possess an amazing brand awareness, their products are constantly imitated and not by a cheap Rolex knock-off, the leading brands copy styles and innovations. Omega is undoubtedly a quality product, has a universally recognised brand name through sponsorships and celebrity endorsements.

Internationally recognised actors like George Clooney and Nicole Kidman grace billboards and shopfront images. The rugged Clooney promotes the Speedmaster range whilst the elegant Kidman promotes the Constellation range with Bond actor Daniel Craig promoting the Seamaster; naturally Omega has a stunning pedigree of timepieces.

Omega has some fabulous lines from the Seamaster, Speedmaster and Railmaster series along with the DeVille and Constellation ranges. I have become aware that Omega is cancelling distributorships of any retailer discounting its product in order to maintain a high prices and the prestige image of their product.

The Rolex DateJust is a well known line but I have just never liked the style, take the Rolex name off the dial and I am really not attracted to this watch at all. This is likewise for the DayDate, very popular watch but just not for me along with the Sky Dweller.The Rolex Explorer I is an entirely different proposition - this is an excellent timepiece but the the Explorer II just doesn't work for me.

The Submariner and heavier duty Sea Dweller are premium dive watches, I would love either of these timepieces should funds allow. Then there is the Air King, I kind of like the style but when you are spending that type of money - well.

The GMT Master is an immensely popular timepiece but just not to my tastes. But if I could afford the Yachtmaster II, that's what I would be wearing. Then there is the Cosmograph Daytona, created in 1963 - no doubt a classic.

I would have thought Bregeut is the premium brand in the Swatch Group, but I guess whilst a super premium brand, the market share doesn't warrant the dilution of quality by increasing sales, possibly better to remain a high margin/low volume product. I would have also thought Blancpain is another high end brand lacking market awareness possessing the ability to take on Rolex on a purely quality basis.

Quite possibility both Bregeut and Blancpain don't have the wide range to compete against the varied and extensive Rolex product segments nor do they possess the branding power of Rolex. To raise the market awareness of both of these brands, extensive marketing expenditure is required.

No doubt down at the Swatch Group they have considered Bregeut and Blancpain as worthy products lacking the brand recognition whereas the Omega brand usually sits second or third behind Cartier with Rolex holding a clear sales lead of slightly over four to one.

Planet Grapes - where food meets wine

Planet Grapes is fast becoming a favourite haunt of mine when I am staying in Mandaluyong. This is both a bar and restaurant serving good quality wine alongside top notch food - I really enjoy going there.

When I discussed some wine tasting and education they had advertised in their menu, the waiter pointed to the wine shop across the road on the other side of the shopping complex. I know this particular wine shop, they have premium wine for sale as I found out much to my surprise - the prices were outrageous.

Fortunately, at Planet Grapes the wine pricing, whilst not cheap is significantly more reasonable than across the road. On my next trip across to the Philippines, Mecky and myself might engage in a little wine education that involves some tastings. You have to, after all, put theory into practice.

A dry divemaster

No, I don't mean a sober divemaster, although that is sometimes required. I frequently dive in South East Asia, there, a divemaster is generally an underwater guide and spends their time in-water with the divers they lead.

At the other end of the spectrum, I worked on large charter boats where we would carry 40 or so passengers during the peak summer months; a smaller vessel I more frequently worked on had a capacity of 20 passengers. In such a case, a boat based divemaster is the most efficient utilisation of the position dealing with large groups of divers under their care.

Utilising a critical mass of people in high income economies, it is just not cost efficient to employ so many dive guides so a central dive organiser ensuring divers under your care are logged in, helped in and out of the water and logged back in again. Should they be required to enter the water, they can as well as providing search & rescue if required or emergency first aid. If the dive controller is undertaking a dive and such activities are required, then waiting for that person to return could be critical to getting the job done effectively - a dry divemaster is critical to achieving that goal.

The Flat Earth Society

We were discussing some issues at work during afternoon tea, the guys like to generally discuss issues related to science and other interesting phenomenon. So I brought up the beliefs of the Flat Earth Society just as a bit of a stir - just as a bit of a laugh. They informed me that some guy named Columbus had already proved those beliefs to be false so they didn't believe there was such a group known as the Flat Earth Society, they couldn't believe that people could be so stupid - fair call.

I initially thought Flat Earthers were doing exactly that, just causing a bit of a stir and seeking attention so I started looking into this more as a laugh - I really didn't think they were serious. I first read about Flat Earthers when American rapper B.o.B started a GoFundMe page to launch multiple satellites into space to disprove centuries of science and related technology.

Now I must admit, the only rapper I knew of before this chap was Eminem, so I'm not well versed in the world of rappers. If I have the misfortune to hear someone doing this rap thing, I am concerned that my ears might start bleeding so I didn't take this claim seriously. I didn't actually know the name of this guy, I just thought he was some dumb arsed rapper seeking to promote his little known career with some controversy, this could still be the case.

The Earthrise photograph captured on Christmas eve 1968 from the Apollo 8 mission to orbit the moon shows the Earth suspended in space - amazing. Apollo 8 was just the second manned mission in the program and the first manned mission to leave the Earth's orbit to reach the moon. The six day mission included 10 orbits of the moon before returning to Earth. Searching through NASA information gave me a bit of a surprise as the Apollo 8 back-up crew consisted of a couple of gentleman named Armstrong and Aldrin along with Fred Haise as lunar module pilot who later flew the Apollo 13 mission.

No doubt the Flat Earth Society will denounce the moon orbits and moon landings as fake so this stunning photograph will be dismissed as a hoax. We can seen the moon from Earth and we can view by eye that it is a sphere, the sun is also a ball of burning gasses and every other planet viewed through a telescope is spherical, Let's not even get started on gravity or why the world's oceans don't pour off the edge of a flat Earth. I do believe in challenging beliefs, this is the reason why science has evolved and new knowledge gained - this isn't doing that. 

The ABC Jetty - Tioman Island

It's been years since I have been to Tioman Island on the east coast of Malaysia. For Singaporeans, this is a weekend away from the city, as a diver this is a destination I like to visit. I reckon it has been about a decade since I have been to Tioman Island so another trip should be considered reasonably soon.

I have been lucky enough to visit Tioman Island twice, the first time in the mid 1990s and the second time about ten years later in the mid 2000s. The second visit was during the Easter break, we flew to Singapore from our dual destinations to meet up. From there we caught a bus to Mersing before catching a ferry to the island getting off at ABC Jetty, that was the fourth stop as I recall. Usually I am diving in South East Asia, on this occasion I intended to hire some dive equipment as I usually carry my own.

As this was the Easter break, the island was full of Singaporean divers on their dive break, I made the decision not to dive as I expected the dive boats to be full and the sites to be overwhelmed with divers. My dive holidays usually involve mid-week diving so I miss the crowds so on this occasion I decided to not dive and instead stay on the island and relax instead. Wandering down to ABC Jetty, better known as Ayer Batang in the evening was the best time, the sun was setting and the jetty was now mostly solitary, what a great evening.