At the recently-held Ted x Forbes Park, Uniqlo's COO Katsumi Kubota greeted us with a wide smile and a very strange request: "Please, no questions about work." We didn't understand at the time, but when he got to the stage to share his own nuggets of wisdom, Kubota launched into a 20-minute talk on how he discovered the importance of work-life balance as he goes along in his chosen career path.

But before the programme began, we spent a few minutes with Kubota to talk about the better things in life. 

Photo: courtesy of Katsumi Kubota's Facebook account

Philippine Tatler: How do you like our surfing spots in the Philippines?

Katsumi Kubota: Depending on the timing, each location becomes very good, the recent one I tried is Gubat in Sorsogon – it’s not so crowded yet. It’s a very beautiful place.

See also: In Conversation With Chatri Sityodtong

 PT: What have you learned from surfing that you think you’ve applied to your work?

KK: Winning is not everything. I used to play tennis, and to enjoy tennis you have to win. In surfing, you don’t have to win to enjoy – that’s the beauty of surfing.