Working in Thailand

Effective Networking

?Referral Interviews: The Key to Effective Networking?

Effective networking? Yes, Effective networking. If you don?t know what I mean, not to worry?you are not alone. You see, too many people misunderstand what effective networking means. Effective networking does not mean ?run around with you head cut off and meet as many people as possible, trying several things only to become exhausted, ineffective, frustrating, and even humiliated. Effective networking is often created before you need it! Effective networking is in the art of developing relationships where you can be a giver and not just a taker. Is there something you can do for them? Here are a few effective networking attempts gone bad.

Stan handed out his resume to everyone he knew or met, saying, ?Let me know if you hear of anything.?

Although Julie successfully reached influential people who might have hired her, she couldn?t tell them what she wanted to do, and seemed like a lost soul.

Dana?s friends suggested people to contact, and she made cold calls, saying she was laid off and looking for work. Four of them hung up on her. Only one gave her the time of day.

Effective Networking: The True Sense Effective networking hinges on conducting successful referral interviews. When done well, they rarely lead to rejection, but can be a rich source of valuable information, advice, and lasting contacts in your field. They can systematically steer you toward the right position, and keep you from wasting time on the wrong path.

Whenever possible, conduct your referral interviews in person. Send a good letter of introduction, then call to set a time to meet.

Effective Networking means ?learning to set the table? Be prepared to control the meeting by ?setting the table? for the interview. It might go like this:

1) Thank them for their time.

2) Set the agenda. You might say, ?I?d like to tell you about myself for a couple minutes (your 2-minute profile?see below), then I have some questions to ask you about?? (their field, company, etc.). Ask if they?d like to add to the agenda.

3) Ask, ?How much time do we have for our meeting?? This keeps you from either overstaying your welcome or cutting short a productive interview when the contact is willing to spend more time. Setting the table puts the other person at ease by giving structure to your meeting?and puts you in control.

Effective Networking means ?learning to articulate your value within 2 minutes? This carefully prepared and rehearsed profile will:

1) Tell how you contribute

2) Provide a clear, concise illustration of your best work and

3) Say what you?d like to do next.

4) Develop a ?Special Report? that you can leave behind that might be beneficial to the one with whom you are having a referral meeting. Offer assistance when appropriate.

Sometimes people have referral interviews to get clarity on what they want to do. This is fine, but you still must be clear about how you want to contribute and have clear ideas of what you?re exploring. It?s OK to say, ?I?m exploring corporate meeting planning, sales training, and fundraising.? It?s not OK to say, ?I?m open to whatever.?

Effective Networking means ?learning to ask focused questions? Continue by asking carefully thought out questions. Begin by asking them about their career. Other questions will fall into three categories: information, advice, and contacts. The natural flow of the discussion is for the questions to flow in that order. Giving objective information is easiest for your contact. After you have talked a while, they?ll be better able to give you advice. If you have presented yourself well, most people will be willing to refer you to others. If you haven?t made a good impression, they won?t. No one wants to send someone who?s confused or inept to talk to colleagues.

One goal of referral interviewing is building relationships. Send a thank you note. If the contact agrees, call them to check in every few weeks to let them know your progress and see if they may know of any possibilities. Visit http://www.activ8careers.com to learn more about how avoid other job hunting mistakes.

It takes work to make referral interviews effective, and it pays off! Clients regularly report that referral interviews are enjoyable and have opened up many new possibilities. So many times while in an informational interview I've had clients discover a market or new focus, tapping into the hidden job market!

David Hults career coach and author of the book “From Cornered To Corner Office”Overcoming the unexpected obstacles that stand between you and your career dreamshttp://www.fromcorneredtocorneroffice.com

Thailand?s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra resignation this month is a major opportunity for investors willing to step into a temporary political vacuum.

The Prime Minister?s surprise announcement came after a meeting with the symbolically powerful King of Thailand, Bhumibol Aduljadej, at his seaside palace. The King has presided over Thailand since 1946 and is revered by all.

As in the past when the political temperature reaches boiling point, a curt nod from the King is enough to send even the most imperious Prime Minister packing. This safety valve is a key part of Thailand?s constitutional monarchy which helps it to maintain stability in times of a crisis.

Investors should not stay on the sideline until a new premier is selected when parliament resumes within the next 30 days but should act now to take advantage of an undervalued Thai market.

With a land area more than twice the size of Wyoming, Thailand is a youthful solid middle-income country with a consumer-oriented middle class. Its economy is well diversified, is rich in natural resources, and has a vibrant manufacturing sector and strong exports.

While many Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are hitting multi-year record highs, the Thai market has lagged due largely to the political turmoil. GDP growth for 2006 should match or better last years 4.5% number and fuel subsidies have been cut relieving pressure on the national budget. International capital flows to Thailand remained stable during the crisis but will likely ramp up quickly once calm is restored.

History shows that that the Thai market is both resilient and explosive. Thailand?s benchmark index rose 115% in 2003.

I suggest investors use the closed-end Thai Fund (TF) managed by Daiwa Securities which is trading at a 2% premium with a share price of $9.75 down from a 52-week high of $11.32.

The King has acted, so should you.

What is Thai silk really?

The Chinese kept the secret of silk for thousands of years! Truly it is an exclusive fabric and back to the past it was only for the high society and kings. The secret was protected by enforcing dire penalties. Anyone found guilty of smuggling silkworm eggs, cocoons or even seeds of the mulberry tree was put to death.

A secret doesn't remain secret forever. The production of Thai silk begins with a small worm know as Bombyx mori: the silk worms coming from the eggs from the silk moth.The worms are eating the leaves of mulberry trees until they become 1 year old, after they will build a cocoon from their spittle.

To extract the silk thread, we have to put the cocoon in hot boiled water. The length of silk thread in a cocoon varies considerably, from 500 to 1,500 yards. The length much depending on the species of worm that produced it. ?Until today in Thailand, most silk thread is hand-reeled by women, the filaments form several cocoons being reeled together on a wooden spindle into a uniform strand of raw silk.

It is truly a time-consuming process.?It may take up to 40 hours to reel one and a half kilograms of silk. Several sericulture families have simplified the job by using a reeling machine. Most traditional manufacturers, however, still use the old or ?original? method, which produces three grades of silk: two fine ones suitable for lightweight fabric and a thicker one used for heavier material.

The skeins of silk thread are then soaked in hot water to remove the remainder of the seracin. Since Thai silk yarn is yellow, it must be bleached before dyeing this is done by immersing the skeins in large tubs containing hydrogen peroxide, after which they are washed and dried in the sun.

Thai Silk is then woven on a handloom, the threads (warps and wefts) that pass across and are inserted during the weaving process. Thai Silk is hand-woven fabric, which means that although if conforms to set standards of width, color, and quality it still retains a degree of individuality impossible to achieve by more advanced technology.

Cleaning &amp take care of Thai silk

Thai Silk has an excellent durable and resilient quality. It is a delicate fabric that cannot be treated like linen or cotton. To keep the fabric in its original look and feel it is recommended to do dry-cleaning. Wash Thai silk best by hand by using a very mild soap. Rinse the silk fabric in tepid water (not over 48.6 degrees Celsius) until it is cleaned. Then carefully press the water from the fabric by hand.?Do not wring. In the last rinse, add a spoonful of clear white vinegar to retain its original luster and allow it to drip dry in the shade.

Important:
Please do not use any drying or washing machine to clean your Thai silk item. We advise to iron the fabric on the reverse side just before it is dry or you could also put a fabric over the silk during the iron process to make sure the iron does not have direct contact to the silk fabric.

Indetification of real Thai silk

Simply follow the four main methods for determining true silk:?

-A) The Price
-B) Look &amp Feel
-C) Luster Check
-D) The Burning Test

A) Real Thai silk cost up to 10 times more than artificial silk.
B) One fact is that traditional Thai silk is hand-woven which means that no fabric is the same, and each one is unique. Artificial silk is machine woven, so it has always the same color and every part of the fabric looks exactly the same.
C) Luster also shows whether a fabric is real or imitation. Pure Thai silk is made with one color for the warp and the other for the weft. This produces the sheen and luster and additionally creates the unique two tones and blends. The change of the color is then depending on the angle you hold it against the light.
D) If you burn silk with a flame, it leaves fine ash and smells like burning hair. We remember silk is made of natural fiber coming from the silk worm and similar to the fiber of hair or fingernails. Once taking the flame away it stops burning. Burning artificial silk is similar to burning plastic, the smell, reaction to fire and look.

Read also our information about Thai Silk Shawls at http://www.designerbags.de/thai_silk_shawls.html

Stay at home jobs and stay at home work of all kinds have become the hottest employment trends of the 21st century. Outsourcing work to stay at home workers has become especially attractive to employers who are looking for an effective way to cut business costs and still provide quality products and services.

So if a stay at home job is what you want, the first place you should look is at your current employer. Is the work you?re doing now something that you could stay at home and do, then send to the office by email or upload to the company server or FTP site? Often, with just a few adjustments by both you and your employer, you?ll find that it is. And if you have a good work record with your employer and a few of years of service there already, your employer is quite likely to be willing to let you stay at home and work, at least part of the time. You still might have to go into the office for meetings and planning sessions, but you could stay at home and do most of your work. So before you turn in your notice to pursue a stay at home job, talk it over with your present employer and see what you can work out.

Too, before leaving your current job, it?s a good idea to start with a part-time stay at home job first. There are many reasons for trying out a stay at home job part-time, but the main one is so that you?ll have a true idea of what your earning potential will be at a particular stay at home job. Many times stay at home job recruiters or advertisements for stay at home work ?oversell? the income potential of their stay at home job opportunities.

Sometimes this is stay at home job ?oversell? is intentional because the whole deal is a scam to begin with, but other times, it?s just that the company uses the earnings of their top stay at home job employees or salespeople to show you the income potential you have performing their particular stay at home job or by taking advantage of their stay at home business opportunity. Either way, you want to beware of any company that tells you that can make hundreds and hundreds, even thousands of dollars a week at their stay at home job. It may be true that you can make oodles of money at that particular stay at home job, but it will probably take quite a while to build up to even a reasonable income. Starting a stay at home job part-time will let you to do this while you still have a steady paycheck coming in, which means you?ll feel less stress and pressure.

When choosing the best stay at home job or stay at home work opportunity for you, you should always take into consideration what you love to do and what your skills and capabilities are. Virtual assistants, transcription, data entry and accounting are great areas for stay at home work and are good places to put those administrative assistant skills and office skills you have to work for you in a stay at home job. All you really need for these types of stay at home jobs is a computer with Internet access and email, which more than likely you already have since you?re reading this.

Email processing, survey taking and ad placement are a just few of the many other online stay at home job areas that you might want to look into. Of course, be sure to research the company offering the stay at home job you want first. Find out as much about them as possible, including their payment history, before taking a stay at home job with any online company. And never pay anyone to give you a stay at home job or stay at home work. It?s one thing to pay a recruiter to help you find a stay at home job, it?s quite another to pay someone to hire you. Requiring you to pay to start a work at home job is the number one way to spot an online stay at home work scam. Don?t waste your time?or more importantly, your money.

Charles Fuchs
http://www.charlesfuchs.com
http://charlesfuchs.blogspot.com

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.

Copyright ? 2006, Charles Fuchs, President of Vision Management Enterprise Inc., is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Work at Home Based Business.

If you are looking for a job in insurance it is worth bearing in mind reinsurance. This is when the insurance company that stands to lose the money from a policy can actually take out a policy of their own, which partially protects them in the event that the policy in question becomes mature. In this manner, two or more insurance companies share the burden of a huge payment, while each profiting from insurance premiums in the mean time.

The reinsurance field is soaring in these times of big business and huge values placed on people and property. Jobs in the industry are opening up across the board for every kind of position, from underwriting jobs to sales jobs. Reinsurance jobs are a great new avenue to explore.

If you are good with numbers, and the idea of working in reinsurance appeals to you, then perhaps you would like to look into a job as a data analyst for a company in your area. If you would rather find a job as an actuary, but cannot find a job in a local insurance company, look into reinsurance as well. You can even look into a technical job that involves maintenance for the computer systems and databases for your area?s offices. The range of jobs is similar to those in a traditional insurance company, and can be an untapped job source in your search for employment.

Reinsurance is a very specialized field, dealing with insurance companies who are very knowledgeable about insurance products. The sales side of reinsurance, then, deals not with convincing the average client that he needs/wants insurance and why, but rather with dealing with professional people in a similar line of work. You will be helping them to minimize the risks of their own insurance practices rather than assessing the risks of individuals for their own policies.

Reinsurance is also very specific in that it often deals only with certain kinds of insurance. Life and health, for example, are often more costly and therefore more risky than an average vehicle insurance policy, and thus more likely to be reinsured. The business is still about making good investments based on risk, and still required intelligent, educated people to run smoothly. That is where you come in.

If you are looking for a job right now, or considering changing fields, do not forget to give reinsurance a second thought. Skilled employees are a prized possession everywhere, no less so in the reinsurance industry. This field is one that just keeps growing, leaving the job opportunities there for the taking.

Hugo Reyes is a writer for Insurance Jobs, a leading recrutiment website specialising in underwriting, compliance, broking and Reinsurance Jobs. Insurance Jobs is the premier resource for those seeking a career in the Insurance sector.

Visit Insurance Jobs for more vacancies in the insurance industry.

If you have been a subscriber to my newsletter for some time, you know that I'm always trying to give you ways to make your workouts more interesting and fun, while also stimulating big-time results. Don't you agree that your training should be fun? This is what separates the people who jump on and off the “fitness bandwagon” a couple times every year without ever making any real progress from the people that actually adopt a true fitness lifestyle and finally achieve the body they have always wanted. Make it interesting, make it fun, and make your fitness a priority, and you'll have the body that you want.

What I have noticed over the years is that many people will train regularly for a few months and then will either get bored with the same old weight training and cardio routines, or will get discouraged because their progress comes to a grinding halt after a while. In my opinion, I don't think your workouts ever need to get boring or stale. You just need to have an open mind to the huge world of various training styles and techniques that are out there. Seriously, there are so many different and fun training styles out there, that there is no reason you should ever get bored with your workouts and give up on that lean ripped body that you've been looking for. Also, mixing in various training styles builds stronger joints by reducing repetitive movement pattern overload and varying your training stressors.

Now before I start with some of my favorite non-traditional training styles, I will state that I think one of the best ways to achieve a lean, muscular and healthy body is through a consistent weight training routine with free weights. You can choose to integrate some of these alternative training techniques with your weight training routines on the same day, as alternative workouts on separate days of the week, or even as separate training cycles where you try some of these techniques for several weeks at a time before cycling back to a traditional weight training workout. Try some of these training styles out and you'll be on your way to never being bored again with your workouts…and your body will thank you with muscles popping out that you never knew existed!

Alright, here are some of my favorite non-traditional training techniques:

1. Staircase Workouts - This is great because stairs are everywhere. You can go to a football field and do stadium stairs, any building that has stairs like a hotel (most people take the elevator, so you will not even have many people looking at you while you're working out), or even the stairs in your own home. For an awesome full body workout, try mixing stairs sprints with an upper body exercise like pushups or pull-ups. If done with a high enough intensity, stairs workouts help to create changes throughout your entire body due to the muscle building and fat burning hormonal response and metabolism increase that you get through working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body. If you thought that going up and down the stairs was the only way to get a good stairs workout…think again. My fellow trainer and friend, Virgil Aponte, has developed a website that focuses on creative stairs workouts using all kinds of exercises you never would have thought of before. You can find out more info on stairs exercises workouts at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

2. Wind Sprints and Hill Sprints - Find any open field in a park or athletic field and try 50, 75, and 100-yard all-out wind sprints. After each sprint, rest long enough to catch your breath before the next one (generally 1-2 minutes). Try workouts of anywhere from 6 to 20 wind sprints for a great “cutting” workout. Also, if you have a hill nearby, hill sprints are also great workouts. Sprint up the hill as fast as you can and walk down for your rest interval. Repeat until you're whooped (a 20-30 minute hill workout is plenty). These sprint workouts are so amazingly effective at changing your entire body for the same reason as stairs exercises…by powerfully working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body, you greatly stimulate your metabolism while simultaneously increasing your fat burning and muscle building hormones.

Just look at any world class 100-meter sprinters and notice how ripped-to-shreds those guys are. Now compare that to the emaciated weakling physiques of many marathoners, and you'll see that sprinting is where the action is at for a healthy, ripped, powerful body! Now I don't want to upset all of you distance runners out there. Hey, if distance running is something you enjoy, then go right ahead. But don't say you're doing it for the health benefits, because I might just have to disagree. You can read my full story on why I believe variable intensity training is far superior to steady-state endurance training in one of my other ezinearticles.com articles at Cardio-Enthusiasts: Discover a More Effective Training Method for Fat Loss and Heart Health!

3. Kettlebell Training - If you've been reading my articles for some time, you've probably heard me praise kettlebell training many times before, but I will have to reiterate that it has been one of the best training methods that I've ever tried and has taken my physical capabilities to a whole new level. Kettlebells are an alternative type of free-weight training instead of barbells and dumbbells. Their unique construction and weight distribution (basically a cannonball with a handle) allows for a whole different realm of exercises that's available compared to dumbbells and barbells. Kettlebells have been typically used for training hard-core athletes, military units, martial arts competitors, and other tough individuals, but there is no reason that anybody looking to get stronger, bigger, or more cut can't learn the exercises and benefit from them.

It's been a little over a year now since I've incorporated kettlebell training into my routines, and I'll admit that I'm hooked for life! At between $100-$150 per kettlebell, they are definitely not cheap, but they are well worth the money. Just one or two kettlebells and you've literally got yourself an entire home gym that you can use for the rest of your life…worth every penny in my book! If you want to give these body-hardening kettlebells a try, you can find more info at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

4. Bodyweight Workouts - For a change of pace, try adding to your routine one or two workouts a week at home with just bodyweight based exercises. These can be great because you can get a high intensity workout done in only 15-30 minutes without having to go to the gym on days that you might not have time for a trip to the gym. Try alternating bodyweight squats, pushups variations, lunges, and floor abs exercises continuously for 15-30 minutes. Try to take very short rest periods or none at all to really amp up the intensity since this will be a brief workout. If you're more advanced, you can even incorporate more challenging exercises like handstand pushups, one-arm pushups, and one-legged squats into your bodyweight training routines.

5. Ring Training - This type of training basically uses portable gymnastic rings that you can take anywhere with you. You throw the straps up over any high bar like a pullup bar, the top of a power rack, or even over a football field goal crossbar. Then you can quickly adjust the rings to do exercises like ring dips, ring pushups, ring pull-ups, hanging leg raises, horizontal body rows, L-sits, and more. Dips and pushups on the rings are my favorites and the rings really make them a hell of a lot more difficult, while also incorporating your stabilizer muscles to a much greater degree. The rings allow your joints to move in a more natural pattern and can help you prevent or even recover from shoulder injuries. Personally, when I try dips on a normal dip stand, it hurts my shoulders. However, dips on the training rings feel perfect, and also give me a much better muscle pump. The training rings are one of the best training devices I've ever bought. Give them a try…I think you'll like them if you're up for a challenge. I found my rings, which you can hang up easily on a power rack, pullup bars, or at a park, at ringtraining.com.

6. Swimming - A great full body workout that stresses the muscles and joints in a much different way than most resistance training. Incorporating swimming workouts once or twice a week into your normal training routines can really enhance your physique. I recommend trying a “sprint” style swimming workout, which will help more for building muscle compared with endurance long distance swimming. For sprint style, swim as hard as you can to the other side of a 25-meter or 50-meter pool (or sprint swim similar distances in a lake or the ocean if you like to swim outdoors). Rest enough to catch your breath between sprint swims (about 20-40 seconds). Try to keep the rest intervals fairly short with swim sprints. You can also mix different strokes (crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke, backstroke, butterfly) on each swim sprint. I've found that sprint swimming gives me a great muscle pump (especially in the upper body), without any soreness the next day as is typical with weight training. This is because swimming has no eccentric movement (the negative portion of a lift), which is what causes muscle soreness. Keep in mind that even though swimming works your muscles well and is a nice alternative workout to mix in once or twice a week, it does not strengthen your bones. You still need to do regular weight training to do that.

7. Sandbag Training - This form of training is a nice variation to mix in with your strength training. It works your body with an unstable object, which makes muscles that might normally be neglected get in on the action to perform the movements. I've been mixing some sandbag training into my routines for over a year now, and I've found it is a very intense method of training that works your muscles in a different way and gets you huffing and puffing like crazy. You can make your own sandbags to train with by filling various sized duffle bags with sand, or you can use those construction type sandbags that come in several shapes. Sandbag exercises can be done as squats, cleans, presses, lunges, shouldering, throws or heaves, carrying up hills, etc. Make no mistake, training intensely with sandbags will get you ripped in no time flat! I've actually found an entire book devoted to sandbag training, which gave me some great ideas for doing sandbag based workouts. If you're interested in this type of training, you can find more info at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

8. Mountain Biking - As you may have figured by now, I'm not a proponent of steady pace endurance exercise, but rather, highly variable intensity exercise that works with bursts of exertion followed by recovery intervals. Well, mountain biking fits this bill perfectly. You get the leg pumping exertion during the uphill climbs, while also getting the adrenaline rush of the downhill acting as your recovery intervals. Mix it all together and you get a super-fun, high-intensity, leg burning workout that will melt fat off of your entire body and build awesome legs at the same time. The climbs can be tough and will challenge you both physically and mentally as you pump away trying to make it up steep hills without having to resort to getting off of the bike. Then after you make it up the challenging climbs, you get rewarded with the adrenaline rush of flying down steep hills while jumping off of boulders and logs and trying not to stumble or fall off the bike. It's such an addicting thrill…I love it! See, who says that working out has to be boring!

9. Indoor (or outdoor) Rock Climbing - This is yet another fun way to get in a great workout that will also challenge you both physically and mentally. Indoor rock climbing gyms have starting popping up all over the place in recent years and will be more accessible than outdoor rock climbing to most people. Rock climbing is a great workout for your legs, arms, shoulders, and your entire back. It also really works your grip strength and forearms like crazy. Whenever I go indoor rock climbing (which is only on occasion), my forearms are sore for about 2-3 days afterwards. Give it a try if you've never done it…it may be just what you're looking for to spice up your fitness routine.

10. Stick Wrestling - This is a killer full body workout and can also be a great competition between you and your friends. This is probably more of a guy thing for most people. You could even come up with your own “fight club” and have stick wrestling competitions with your buddies to see who is toughest. There are actually sticks designed specifically for stick wresting, but you can even just use a strong broomstick cut down to about 30-36 inches long and taped up with some athletic tape to prevent splinters. For your stick wrestling workout, stand on a soft mat or carpeted area (or grass if outdoors), match up with a friend or foe. You'll both grab the same stick toward the ends with your hands on the outsides of your partner's hands, on the inside, or staggered. Then you simply push, pull, jerk, and thrash your opponent around trying to knock them off balance until they either fall or lose their grip of the stick…and you win that round! Be careful not to get the stick up high and knock each other in the face. Use common sense. You can do this in 1-2 minute rounds or just keep going until someone gives up. Be creative and keep going until you've gotten a killer workout. Your forearms and legs will be screaming!

11. Strongman Training - This type of training is a little more hard-core, but it's a blast for those who are into trying something different. The premise is based on the types of exercises competitors perform in the “worlds strongest man” competitions. If you have a yard, you can even set up some of these exercises in your yard and do some outdoor workouts to have a little fun. Your neighbors will probably give you some funny looks, but it's fun, so who cares! You can get one of those giant tractor tires and do tire flips (which is basically a deadlift followed by a push-press). You can also try your hand at log lifts, boulder lifts and carries, keg lifts and tosses, weighted sled dragging…anything that involves pulling, pushing, lifting, or heaving any types of odd objects. You don't need to be a monster to enjoy this type of training…just handle whatever size objects are challenging for your individual strength. Strongman training works your entire body in a very intense fashion and could easily spark some new results. If you're interested in finding out more ideas for strongman training, check out my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

12. Rope Climbing - This goes back to the old high school days of climbing the rope in gym class. Seriously, if you have access to a rope, either at a gym or somewhere outdoors, rope climbing builds a powerful and ripped upper body like no other exercise. A great way to incorporate rope climbing into intense workouts is to do a climb up, then lower yourself back down. Then while your upper body is recovering for the next climb, you can do a lower body exercise like squats or lunges, or go up and down stairs. Keep alternating the upper body rope climbs with the lower body exercises in between and you'll get one hell of a full body workout.

13. Bag Boxing - You can use a heavy bag, a speed bag, or even one of those rebound bags to get a great workout. Among the three, the heavy bag is the best all around full body workout, while the speed bag will test your rhythm and timing and give you a great upper body workout. If available at your gym or if you have a bag at home, try mixing these in as a good warm-up or as an intense finish to your strength routine.

14. Rope Skipping - You can't beat rope jumping as a great full body exercise. I like to use it as a warm-up for my weight training workouts. I prefer to use the really cheap “speed” ropes with a plastic rope instead of a fabric rope. Once you get good, you can jump rope much faster with the plastic ropes than the fabric ones, which will allow you to get a more intense workout. And don't mess with the weighted handle ropes…they'll just slow you down. Your goal is speed when rope skipping. Try mixing together two legged jumps, one-legged jumps, arm crossovers, double jumps (rope passes under feet twice for each jump) to keep things interesting and increase the intensity. Also, try alternating 15-20 second high intensity bursts where you jump as fast as you possibly can, followed by 15-20 second recovery intervals where you jump slowly to get ready for your next burst. Keep repeating until you're whooped, which might happen pretty quick!

15. Jumping exercises - squat jumps, box jumps, lunge jumps, and broad jumps are some of the best ways to incorporate explosive jumping exercises into your routines. The explosive and powerful nature of jumping exercises works your leg muscles in an entirely different way than most normal slow grinding strength training moves. I've even seen a university study cited once that found squat jumps to elicit the greatest testosterone response of all exercises studied. That means more muscle and less fat on your entire body, not just your legs. Try super-setting jumping exercises with upper body exercises for some really intense workouts.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed all of these ideas for ways to really shake up your workouts and make them fun again. I know some of them may seem a little “out there”, but open your mind to the possibilities and you'll never be bored again…and your body will respond with new found results!

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/Training-and-Nutrition-Articles.html to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 5 of my secret hard-body workout routines - all FREE.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of The Truth about Six Pack Abs ?2004-2006.

Should you trust Real Estate Agents in Bangkok? Well, as a real estate agent myself of course I will say yes. I have yet to meet a real estate agent in Bangkok who I wouldn?t trust if I were a customer. Of course, as a competing agent, the majority I wouldn?t trust. Unfortunately, those who I have had bad experience with have all been Thai, who more often than not want to cut the other party out. However, I have co-brokered very successfully with a number of foreign run agencies in Bangkok.

Having good work ethics within the real estate broker group will ultimately be profitable. All brokers in Bangkok deal with the whole of Bangkok, not a specific area, so we are all treading on each other?s feet. However, with such a broad area to cover, there are of course thousands of properties for sale or rent. Having co-brokered successfully with a small number of my competing estate agents, I can confidently ask for their assistance if I don?t have the specific property that my customer is looking for.

Buying a property in Bangkok is, unlike most other things, very easy. The actual transfer of title deed takes just a few hours. The title deed itself will show if there is any mortgage or other loan on the property, as details of these must be written into the deed. Hence, it is not difficult to check the owner?s right to sell. Most people don?t even employ a solicitor, although it doesn?t cost much in Thailand and so you might as well for peace of mind. In fact, you could see a condo that you like on Monday morning, and own it by the close of business the same day.

If you have experienced difficultly with an estate agent in Bangkok, please let me know, I would be interested to see where the problems lie.

You can email me on idealhomes@email.com or look on our website, http://www.property-bangkok.com.

Neil Simmons, a co-director for Ideal Homes Real Estate, has been living in Bangkok for nearly 7 years and worked in the real estate market in Bangkok for the past 4 years. The company website, http://www.property-bangkok.com, will give you an idea of what Neil does.

The problem is this shouldn?t be a secret. But it does seem that not very many are doing it, so it must be a big secret.

Are You Getting Less than Spectacular Networking Results?

Have you ever gone to a networking event, sort of drifted around, talked to a few people and left? The results were most likely less than spectacular.

And what were you trying to accomplish at the networking event? What was the picture you have in your mind of the outcome? Was it to find someone that needed your product, or to sell your product directly at the event?

Most people have a picture in the back of their mind that they will meet someone who will be biggest sale they?ve ever had, or just maybe the FIRST sale they?ve had. In any case, if you are at the networking event to sell, you probably weren?t as successful as you could be by changing your approach.

Change Your Networking Approach

So, let?s change the picture of what you want to end up with at the end of the networking event.

If your goal has been to sell at networking events, what has your typical measurable results been for that focus? Do you acquire one client per networking event? Or is it more likely one in every 10-15 events? Or do you even know?

If that is your picture you?ve been trying to sell one-on-one which isn?t as effective as selling one-to-many, nor is a networking event really a good place to SELL. Does that surprise you?

What would happen if you changed the picture in your mind of networking into one of ?building your network??

Let?s look at the rule of 6 Degrees of Separation. That basically says that you can literally reach everyone in the world through 5 other people. If everyone knows at least 100 people, and if the 100 you know each know 100, at the first level you can reach 10,000 people. Then those 10,000 also know 100, and therefore just 2 steps away you can potentially get introduced to 1,000,000 people.

Here?s the number of people we could reach through contacts at each level of separation based on the number of people we know.

……..If each——- ——If each
……..Know 100—— —–Know 250
————————– ————
1………..Me———— ———-Me
2…—————100 ————250
3…———–10,000 ———62,500
4…——-1,000,000 —–15,625,000
5…—-100,000,000 –3,906,250,000
6…10,000,000,000 976,562,500,000

The population of the world is approximately 6,440,000,000, so through 4-5 levels, theoretically, could reach everyone in the world.

So, why are you trying to market to one?

What would happen if you changed your approach in networking from selling, to getting to know as many people as possible, and then getting them to introduce you to someone who can use your product?

What do you want to do with the people at a networking event?

People respond to anyone who will help them achieve what they want. So, shouldn?t you be trying to find out how you can help as many people as possible? Become their lead source, their referral source. They will respond in kind by helping you reach more people.

Networking with the RIGHT People

What would happen if you focused on the RIGHT people to network with?

Who are the RIGHT people?

It could be people who know the people we want to do business with, and not just any networking event. It could be other people that think like we do, that aren?t there to sell.

What is the RIGHT networking event?

What happens when we are at a networking event where everyone is trying to sell to everyone else? Doesn?t that lead to a lot of competition for time to speak, to give your spiel, and probably no one is listening anyway since they are focused on getting what THEY WANT, SELLING.

What would happen if you found a networking group that is focused on building their network and getting to know more people that

Can help them with their business
Can help them get to know more people
Can help them sell their products

What would happen if you start networking with people that have the most contacts?

Look at the table above. If you are networking with someone that knows 100 you can reach 10,000 through them. If you are networking with others that have 250 contacts you can reach 62,500 at the next level.

You?ll also find that those with the most contacts have been focused, like you will be from now on, on building their network, and therefore can be extremely helpful.

Now you are networking with other Power Networkers.

What would happen if you start networking with people that have a higher economic reach than you do?

In other words their average customer is a $1M, or $10M company instead of a $100K company that you have been networking with.

Networking at Networking events where people are selling

Most people that are trying to sell at a networking event go to the event, meet someone, give a spiel and if that person isn?t interested they move on to the next and the next. And when they leave the event, there isn?t any further contact or follow-up with anyone.

How to Capture the Most Contacts, Set Up the Most Appointments at a Networking Event

If you are interested in building a network, you are interested in building a relationship. So, arrange to meet later to find out how you can help that person build his network, maybe give him a referral, how can you help him sell. If you keep your target on helping him, he?ll eventually ask how he can help you and the relationship is off to building business for everyone.

You?ll find that you will have more appointments from your networking than you have ever had, and that those contacts will result in more leads, and possibly more direct sales with your initial contact that you have ever had.

Some hints and tips to use at the networking event, offer:

Leads on the spot
To introduce to your existing clients that might need the products of the person you have just met
To introduce to other networking contacts you have that might also need the products.
To meet with them to learn more about their products
To help them achieve some specific goal, or relieve a specific problem they mentioned to you.
To share your client list, or email list. NOTE: You are here to help, keep it in that mode, not a sales mode.

To Keep this Network Working for You

Set up a constant follow-up routine, emails, newsletters, or other ways to constantly stay in touch and keep helping those people you have added to your network.

Critical Mass

The more people you know, the more there are that will be referring to you, or just sending more people to you that you should know and add to your network. Therefore, the more you know, the faster your network builds. I noticed that 100 business contacts sort of become the critical mass point at which the network started becoming one of my major sources for business building. I?ve heard others say that at 400 they stopped marketing because now they get all of their business from the network.

So stop selling at networking events, and start building your network.

Setting Some Goals

My personal goal for a small networking event, yours will likely be different, but these are mine:

Meet with 10 people, collect 10 business cards
2 appointments from the event (minimum)
5 appointments resulting from follow-up calls within 1-2 days of the event (to discover other ways we can help each other).
2-3 more appointments from follow-up calls within the first week of the event.
1-2 actual sales within 2 weeks.
Increase my networking reach by more than 7×250x250×250x250=16,807 for each event

Stop selling at networking events, start building a network, and start finding people you can help with their business and with their network.

Alan Boyer, The Leader?s Perspective, LLC

Small business advice that has doubled 80% of our small business clients in weeks

http://www.leaders-perspective.com/small-business-help.aspx

Reach Further ….FASTER

Driving in Japan legally has recently afforded new challenges to foreigners from China, Brazil and the United States. Released in November 2002 and updated in February 2003, Traffic Act Article 107-2, has begun to create many problems for foreigners.

Until June 2002, Foreigners driving in Japan (who held a valid drivers license from their home country) could apply for an international driving permit (IDP) and drive in Japan permanently. Since that time however, IDPs are only valid for one year. If a foreigner stays in Japan for more than one year and decides to reapply for an IDP, they would have to leave Japan for at least 90 days in order for the IDP to be legal upon their return.

Those visiting Japan for a short time, of course IDPs are the way to go. They are quite cheap (around $10-20). Beware however, there are many sites on the internet that offer IDPs for several hundred dollars. These are scam sites and are to be avoided at all costs.

Quite a few countries have a much easier time in obtaining a valid Japanese drivers license when compared to the United States. Citizens from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Switzerland, Canada or Germany can simply have their license translated and officiated after a minimal fee and an eye check.

Why are American citizens screwed over? You may check this link found on the US Embassy in Japan website http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-drive.html and find out why. If you take the time to read the reasons why as well as the requirements Japan is asking for in order to overturn this new law you may very well cry, or laugh. If you don?t want to take the time to read the reasons and requirements in short, it?s a better idea to try and take the actual Japanese driving test instead of waiting for this law to be overturned.

Let us rewind to an actual experience of mine.

Blissfully unaware that my IDP was considered invalid, (I had been living in Japan for three years at the time) I parked for a few minutes in a no parking zone (I drive a 50cc scooter, for its sheer convenience). BIG MISTAKE. I come back to find I have a parking ticket. ?Oh darn, I have a parking ticket. Oh well, I may as well go pay the small fine and bite the bullet on this one?. I take my scooter to a police station and show them my passport and IDP. After much difficulty in communication it turns out that I cannot legally drive and I must go to the city?s main police office a few days later so they can have a translator explain to me exactly what needs to be done.

I return home to find out why they said I am unable to drive in Japan, and hop on the net to do some research. After a short time I come to find out that I can be fined up to 300,000 yen (about $2,800) or spend up to a year in prison. Needless to say, my eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

A few days later, I go to this police station. I am sweating bullets and to make matters worse they do NOT have a translator to explain the situation. Fortunately, I have a more then basic understanding of Japanese so I am able to understand that I cannot drive legally in Japan with an IDP. Luckily this fairly new law, that has been such a pain for foreigners, is far from being well known. I am let off with a warning and told I cannot drive until I get an actual Japanese drivers license.

Fast forward about a month.

Discovering that there is only one book in Japan that has been translated into English regarding the laws of the road in Japan, I am forced to buy it. This book is about 90% useless. There was a whole two pages about driving motorcycles/scooters in Japan. I am fortunate enough to have some Japanese friends sit me down with a Japanese language motorcycle practice test book and ask me some questions that may be on the test I was preparing for. In less than a week, I was ready to tackle this test. Or so I thought.

The Japanese scooter test is made up of 48 questions. 45 questions or more must be correct in order to pass with a time limit of 30 minutes. Let me remind you that Japan has been required to have this test in English since the changing of the law so at least that was one thing in my favor. ?Piece of cake, done in 15 minutes?! Or so I thought again.

Not since Shakespeare?s time where double negatives considered a proper grammatical form for English! This test took me for so many twists and turns with its EXTREMELY poor translation and its ?no? + ?no? = ?yes? terminology that I felt I was going to vomit. I took the entire 30 minutes to complete this test with a certainty that I was going to fail. At least I got that part right.

So, to all the American citizens living in Japan and wanting to drive or currently driving illegally, I would suggest taking the driving test in Japanese instead of English. You will likely score higher. S.B.

I work for a translation company in Fukuoka, Japan. I work under http://www.translators.jp/ and I manage http://www.samurai-translators.com/

Anyone who has ever visited Thailand will know about the beauty of Thai women. In their twenties, they are striking. In their thirties, they are looking more mature, but still most are very attractive.

The women working in the ubiquitous bars and massage parlors of Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket are mostly former housewives, believe it or not, married but separated, with two kids they left back in their village with their mothers. Most are from Isaan, the North-East corner of Thailand, which has a large amount of poverty. Some are from other parts of the country, especially Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and a very few are from Bangkok or central Thailand.

But about 1 in 100 is not a female at all, but a “ladyboy”, or katoey in Thai. Quite often, they appear more feminine than the real women. I have seen many a farang ogle and lust after a very sexy woman, not realizing that “she” is a “he”.

Like the women, most ladyboys are from Isaan. I have talked to a few on a one to one basis, and asked them when they first knew they wanted to be a female. All said they knew at an early age, around 5 or 6 years old. They said they liked the female manner, didn?t like rough sports, were partial to art and music.

Katoeys are an accepted part of Thai culture, considered to be a third sex in Thailand. Several are movie stars and TV announcers. One is a national kick-boxing champion. You will find ladyboys everywhere, working as waiters, store clerks, hairdressers, couriers, etc.

In North America and Europe, a sex-change (also called a gender re-assignment) operation is considered to be a big deal, requiring many months of psychological counseling before the operation to make sure the person is committed to the change.

In Thailand, a sex change operation is quite common. There are several clinics and hospitals which perform it, and the cost is a fraction of what the western charge would be, typically US$5000-7000. Nevertheless, for a poor person from Isaan, $5000 is a huge amount of money.

There are three main areas in Bangkok where ladyboys are present in large numbers: Nana Entertainment Plaza (on Sukhumvit Soi 4), Patpong Road (off Silom), and Soi Cowboy (close to the intersection of Sukhumvit Road and Asoke Road, which has both BTS SkyTrain and MRT Subway stations).

At Nana, the majority of ladyboys are “pre-op”, meaning they still have a penis. At Patpong and Soi Cowboy, most are “post-op”, meaning they have had the operation to create a vagina. The operation involves cutting out a section of intestine, which will become the vagina. The penis is cut open and inserted into the intestinal tube typically some of the scrotal sac is used to increase the length of the new vagina. The tip of the penis becomes the new clitoris, and is normally still sensitive after the procedure is finished and everything has healed. The ladyboys I talked to said they could still have an orgasm, but did not ejaculate.

Scar tissue is visible if the post-op ladyboy retains his/her public hair, but if it is shaved off, it is difficult to tell an artificially created vagina from the real thing.

However, this is typically not the end of the story in sex reassignment. The male body is typically larger than the female, even in Thailand, where many people seem to be 80% the size of western people. The ladyboy has to take hormones for a couple of years before the operation these hormones help him grow breasts and reduce his facial and body hair growth. Thai men don't usually have much body hair, compared to Western men, but they do have some hormones or another treatment are needed to reduce or eliminate it. However, hormones have a side effect of reducing the ability to ejaculate.

Males typically have a protruding Adam's apple, so that is yet another operation: it can be shaved by a surgeon to reduce or eliminate the protrusion. And many have electrolysis to eliminate body hair, especially in the armpits.

If you visit Nana Entertainment Plaza after 7PM (which is when it opens), you will find several hair-dressing establishments located on the decks that run around three sides of the structure. The ones at the front cater to the bar girls the ones at the rear cater to ladyboys. You can watch some of the ladyboys preening and preparing their makeup.

Some of the bars are exclusively ladyboys. If you enter one such bar, you will find that most ladyboys are more than passable and some are strikingly beautiful. I don't think I have ever seen an ugly ladyboy.

As far as relationships go, ladyboys are just like Thai women. They want a long-term relationship, and they will try hard to make the relationship work. Many speak some English, but you really need a product like Speak Easy Thai to help you learn some basic Thai vocabulary. If you can communicate better, you have a much better chance of a lasting relationship.

A part of Bangkok's nightlife that should not be missed by any visitor, ladyboy cabaret shows are professionally done, with spectacular productions (lots of feathers and glitter, good music, and some comedy as well). You can see them at the Calypso Cabaret (Asia Hotel, Ratchathewi SkyTrain station), Golden Dome Cabaret (15 minute walk from Sutthisan subway station), and Mambo Cabaret in the former Washington Theater between Sukhumvit Soi 22 and 24.

About the Author:
Doug Anderson is a retired Canadian programmer. He first visited Thailand in 1988 and has been back many times since.
More information about Thailand at Thai Culture Publishing.
Also see Photography Help! for tips and techniques to help you learn digital photography.