Deep Work vs. Human Connection

Deep work (a term coined by Cal Newport) is when you banish distractions, focus your consciousness, and exercise your brain like a weightlifter straining to achieve a new Personal Best. Deep work is when you make new discoveries, synthesise information, discover new insights, and reach fresh mountaintops from whence your horizons are expanded significantly. In an increasingly distracted…

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The New Black

The status quo has changed. You used to keep up with the Joneses. If they had a new car, you bought two. If they renovated their house, you did your house and garden. But now, the cool thing is to have freedom - not be tied down.

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Travelling to Singapore with a Baby

We recently made another international trip, this time travelling with just our one year old son and leaving the other kids at home with family. Each trip we take is slightly different, and we again learned a few tricks from our sojourn to Singapore. Our trip entailed an overnight stay in Manila so that we could easily catch…

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Fly Comfortably (and Cheap!) with Infants

Choosing the Best Airline for Young Families My partner and I have two boys under two years of age. Just. The older boy will be turning 2 in just over a month — and we are planning to be back in Australia at the time. But for the return leg ticket to Philippines after his birthday, it begged the question — what…

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5 Things That Moving Overseas Taught Me

I knew I would love living in Asia. My job as Business Director of an Innovation Lab in Cambodia was a dream come true, and I had lived the majority of my childhood in Asia so developing countries were nothing new to me. I’ve had a long-running love affair with Philippines, so I wasn’t expecting any real culture…

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There’ll Be Change When There’s Change

No Change? Yesterday I asked Sid to print ten copies of a flyer at the local ‘Xerox’ copy/print shop. He took a ₱1000 note with him. The total cost of the 10 copies was ₱150 and the shop couldn’t provide change. Last week I walked up to the local ‘sari sari’ (variety) store and wanted to purchase two…

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Duterte is now President of Philippines

The Philippines has a new President. Rodrigo Duterte was today sworn in as the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines. And for once, it’s not just more of the same. Duterte is certainly a departure from the string of Presidents preceding him who have succeeded only in maintaining the status quo and making the rich richer…

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Registering the Birth of My Son in Philippines

In the first post of this series, I shared the story of my son’s birth in Philippines. After his birth, the next steps were to register his birth, obtain a (valid) birth certificate, apply for a Philippines passport, acquire his Australian citizenship, and finally apply for his Australian passport. No big deal! On the day of his birth…

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Fire Leaves Two Families Homeless

It was just after 2PM when people started to notice the smoke over the rooftops. There were no sirens audible yet, but clearly a house was on fire — and around here, that means there’s a good chance the neighbours will lose their place too. In true citizen-journalist style, I grabbed my camera and headed down the street wearing only…

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