Speaking Of Coffee

Today the pop singer and live stage performer Katy Perry begins her residency at the Resorts World Casino in Las Vegas.

Resorts World is owned by the Malaysian Genting Group, but underlying this particular Las Vegas facility are also a number of other Asian and Middle Eastern billionaire interests, besides the main one, and additionally, there is a small handful of American interests such as the Hilton Group involved in the gaming and hotel/resorts venture.

Colored lights for kids.

One of those who is involved is a gentleman that I have at least met and chatted with on many occasions albeit that was quite some time ago now, when he was still living in the shadow of his China tycoon father - a man who dominated the children's sweets market in Hong Kong particularly.

Robert Kuok was already a very very wealthy individual when he spent most of his day at the Perth Stock Exchange trading floor, before retiring to one of the several of his penthouses around South Perth or Mounts Bay Road at the foot of Mount Eliza overlooking the city.

A lot of people knew Robert Kuok and he had the reputation of being a softly-spoken, polite, very friendly, rather innocent person who looked up to his father and I believe brother who were both still alive back then.

Anyway he's a multi-billionaire today and has several ice cream shops and lollie shops whatever you call them - in the Las Vegas complex - not to mention that he still, as the remaining representative of the 'Sugar Kings' Kuok Family, owns god-only-knows what all else around the whole entire world.

Apsaras and Gandharvas

When you get to be 'our age' over here - you know what I mean - the world is mostly just dead boring.

I mean sure you can have billions. And this coming year, for those with the drive, enthusiasm for work (and that would be Katy Perry for sure!), you can be very financially successful - it is the Chinese Year of the Black (a rare type) Water Tiger.

Looking over his recent pics, I know absolutely for sure and certain that Robert Kuok has not changed one little bit. He looks the same person. I think he 'sticks to his knitting' (although he was never afraid to jump into some tech stocks back in the day, with some success I must say, from what I knew off the trading floor).

Recently a couple of people from a 'special interest' group - mushrooms and things - pressed me a bit to give out what was this famous 'analog' (legal substitute) of the key Amanita Muscaria active ingredients and I said 'Nah I couldn't do that.'

I am not even close to being any kind of chemist and in that area we already have the esteemed Cornell U professor somewhere somewhere - that we could ask the advice of if it got down to actual matters of molecular structure and all of this. Not that it will ever. I wouldn't have thought.

Alexandra Badois - played the track below
this week.

Besides, when CIA did all these experiments via the Danish Plumrose Group in Singapore and Thailand, they already had access to the best industrial chemists and neurologists in the world and they knew what they were doing even back then.

You will recall that a very mysterious and now long since virtually mythical figure 'Jean Yves Leroy' at Shiseido had been dabbling post-WWII in Singapore with chemical creations that activated certain brain centers via olfactory compounds, for um, um, well anyway, someone back then - but then, all of his bottles of 'Nombre Noir' were destroyed and he 'killed himself' never to be heard of again.

Russian government-owned news service RT or Sputnik or whatever they called themselves released the story last week about Danish orphans being experimented on by 'someone' (they didn't exactly say who) with the backing of CIA...

LOL

Yeah, nah. Can't just give this kind of stuff out.

I find it more than a little bit funny, these days, that people think they can 'get educated' at Universities, and that there, somehow, they will have access to 'all knowledge of the world, head, heart and mind; Ka-He-Va.'

Yep. You wanna work hard and have billions - off you go then.

Don't let me stop you.

I also find it more than just a little bit funny that people don't think they will ever die either or that money is going to save their necks and give them a 'comfortable old age.'

Or that disaster will not strike them and kill them all off for good.

Because after all, it was only during the time of King Arthur long long ago that even the best of knights did bad things too and started wars and whatnot and failed to find the Holy Grail because they were not 'perfect' enough.

Isn't that so, Sir Pellinore?

You might have a billion dollars.

So what.

Every hair on your head is numbered.

A lot of people don't believe that.

What is 'perfect?'

What does it mean to be perfect, and to live a perfect life such that the Grail Guardians would let you in?

I know that the thought will flash through some people's heads 'But Mr Kuok inherited a thriving cash-flow business from his enterprising father and brother; I'm sure if I had just such a charmed start that I too could have a billion dollars...'

And so he did, and so too you most prolly could.

Speaking of coffee then, coffee is a lot better with some sugar in it, and kids like sweets though, not coffee.

I like coffee.

Kids tend not to like coffee because it tastes bitter!

And sure, it does taste bitter, though not if you froth up some full-cream milk and add cardamom, honey, saffron and rose to it.

Actual song starts at around 1 minute 10 or so, although, I would let the thing play properly and let it 'sneak up on you.' They say, you know (well, Louis Theroux's father wrote it in the movie Pretty Woman), that if you cry the first time you see an opera live, the music is in your soul.