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While at a workshop yesterday I saw an interesting statistic.  The number of searches that were performed on Google in single day was estimated at 3 billion in Feb 2010, and then the question was asked what did we do before Google?  Now while some of you may be thinking, "What! There was a time when Google did not exist?", well I have some news for you, yes there was a time when Google did not exist, in fact there was a time when the internet, as we know it did not exist. Remember the time when we had to do research using encyclopaedias?  What I remember most was the time the encyclopaedia salesman came to try and sell a set of encyclopaedias to my family.  In his grey suit, white shirt and dark tie wielding a set of beautifully bound Encyclopaedia Britannica, all 30+ volumes and the students companion World Books.  He proceeded to explain what an encyclopaedia is, the quality of the pages and the binding.  And then to prove how useful they are he asked me a question. Now

It is easy to forget the promises we make to ourselves.  I was contemplating my future and what I would like to do and I realised that that which I had originally set out to do I had forgotten in light of work and other commitments.  So I have decided to pen a few things that I would like to do, my bucket list if you want. First I would like to visit India all over again, this time as a tourist to experience the country and its people and most of all to visit the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in new Delhi.  This to pay homage to two of, in my opinion, greatest of Moghal emperors.  Shah Jehan, who left us the Taj as a testament of his love, and Akbar the great, who achieved what few leaders have, a common understanding on religious grounds, thus uniting a nation. Then off to the Far East, Tokyo and Malaysia, to experience Japanese culture and their dedication to the search for perfection.  The vibrant colours and people of the Malaysia, where the fusion of cultures Chinese, Indian and

It has been a long time since I cooked seriously.  Not to say I have not cooked the odd meal here or there, but I was finding it quite difficult to cook for just one person.  In the last few weeks I have been watching Master Chef Australia, especially the master class segments they have once a week, and I have been inspired to cook again. But maybe inspiration is not quite the right word.  For the last few months I have been indulging in a bit of fast food.  I even got to the point, scary thought, where I could tell who made my fried chicken, or  who assembled my burger at the big M.  Well almost.  Like with all cooks and or chefs there are good ones and not so good ones, and in the fast food industry there are good chicken fryers and burger assemblers, and not so good ones. Well I can identify a good one from a bad one. So, to fess up, I am tired of the distinct taste of flavoured cardboard and greasy chicken. So I decided to dawn my apron and cook up a storm in quite the figurati