This afternoon, I was talking with my colleagues about managing risk in our system and how introducing too many changes can lead to a lot of risk. I pointed out that the less changes we make, the less risk, though unfortunately, the less rewards. One even pointed out that too much risk-taking eventually led to…
Author: Enrico Pangan
Filipino in Tokyo
I am Austronesian
In school, we Filipinos were taught we were descendants of seafarers from Malaysia and Indonesia. They came to the islands in boats and later occupied lowlands forcing the aborigines to the mountains. This made sense because majority of Filipinos do share similarities with Indonesians and Malaysians. Recent research though show a different story. It’s the…
Search for Honshu Peak
For my March vacation, I originally thought of flying away from all the coldness of Tokyo to a place warm and exotic like Vietnam, Laos, and/or Cambodia. Then I remembered it’s recession time so I decided to save some money and stay in Japan. My press release will say “I need to watch my carbon…
Two Week Battle
February 23While at work, my body started shaking and I started feeling very weak. I was in Otemachi at the time and didn’t know where the nearest clinic was. I decided to just take the rest of the day off, go home and rest. February 24I woke up early hoping I’d feel better. I didn’t…
Bee-ta Bay-ta
I am changing the way I pronounce “Beta”. I’ve always been pronouncing beta as “bay-ta” as this is the pronunciation I learned from the Philippines. But after working with a lot of people from different cultures and different countries, I learned that “bee-ta” is more common. Looks like Americans and Filipinos tend to pronounce it…
Knowing Your Market
Like most of Tokyo’s workforce, Rico takes the train to work. He gets on the 7:00 train. He sees there are no seats available. He decided to stand in front of the person he thought would be getting off next. In front of him, there was this poster containing this sentence that inspired him for…
Blogger Update
After years of not playing with my blogger template, I decided to do so. I opted to use “Minima Dark” because it’s simple, it’s black and it’s easy to update the header picture, which I plan to update often. Here are other changes: New template. New life.
Dichotomy of Contentment
On one side, people need to be content to be happy. On the other, people should never be content to remain motivated. It’s a never-ending balancing act.
Kulang
The other day, Rico and his longtime friend from University were walking from work on their way to Tokyo Station. “Nung nasa university tayo ito na yung pinangarap natin no?” commented Rico. “Ang magtrabaho sa pinakamalalaking kumpanya sa isa sa pinakamalalaking financial centers ng mundo.“ “Kaya nga eh no.” his friend replied. There was a…
When Right Was Wrong
I was driving through the streets of Ginza on my way home. Following a white car, I turned right on a street that leads to Tokyo station. Then, there was a guy directing the white car, in front of me, to stop. Before I knew it, there was another guy directing my car to stop…
Birthday Soul Searching
I just had my birthday yesterday and birthdays always make me do a little soul searching. It seems this year’s theme is motivation: what motivates me. Money? Friends? Family? All of the above? None of the above? I just know it’s not money. Money was a big motivator. I’ll admit to that. I left the…
Enrico in Tokyo 