Makeover From Cute Professionals

 My niece's kids are in town from the U.S., so it was time for a makeover plus massage session for me and my daughter- it was great fun!

Managing Egos= Managing People?

 Yes, most of the time, these are the same thing. 

That is one reason why flattery works in a lot of places. Bosses, for example are usually happy to hear good things about themselves. King's courtiers knew this very well, in the days when monarchy was prevalent everywhere.

It is a rare person who is immune to praise- deserved or undeserved. I am not recommending this route to get ahead, but maybe awareness of it may still be useful. Even otherwise, you can get things done if you recognise that people have egos- sometimes, bloated egos and the easiest way is to play along and get that satisfied.

Government servants in monopolistic situations are a good example, because they can block any initiative or request, unless egos are massaged. Well, that is sometimes given other names, but like Shakespeare said, the name is not very relevant. So, recognise and work around it if you face a monopoly of power. 

Postcards from Bali-4

This is the evil spirit-defeating dance called Barong. Somewhat like the masked dragon dances of China. Lot of classical dances feature themes from the Ramayana etc. There is one called the Kecaka, and many others. Watched a few on TV too.

The street food had a unique kind of soup with mysterious ingredients, and a roomali roti-wrapped omelette cut into square box-like shape. Quite tasty. I also tried out Guinness for the first time. Dark-coloured beer from Ireland. Black is beautiful, even here.

The Balinese massage is a bit harder than the Thai one, if mine was anything to go by. But the aromatic cream used was nice.

Went to a coffee factory, and bought some strong coffee called Peaberry. They also do Arabica. It was a brand called Butterfly. There is a very expensive coffee, Luwak, where the bean passes through an animal's intestine, and the enzymes add to the taste. Didn't actually taste it, it was the one referred to by Jack Nicholson in the Bucket List- the film.