Triscribe

Category: En route

  • 4 Airline hop skip and jump

    CI, SQ, PK, MH, includes a 6 hour layover in KLIA. The final destination is Islamabad. Amazing how many flight permutations there are to get there. Some go through Dubai and double back (!!! :-o). Some via Beijing. There’s a direct from Tokyo via TK. No one goes back via how they came. Amazing stuff. It makes me think that I can nail Amazing Race if given the chance. Wonder how one can sign up for it…. There’s a prize right?

    Hope you folks had a good picnic and with more comfortable weather. Summer there hasn’t been so bad but then, I’m back in A/C environs with a typical corporate desk job.

    Last trip back from Malaysia was good. I stayed at the KL Hilton for the conference instead of the Le Meridien. Good but I like Meridien better, more comfortable all around. We tried out their steak place called Prime which served all the traditional style cuts etc. They even had Australian Wagyu Beef which appears to be more common in some of the high end steak places in Asia. Friday night at a friend’s farewell to Taiwan party, we went to Robin’s Grill which also had it but at extremely pricey pricey prices :-o. I’ll have to go back and do the Wagyu beef at some point in time with some Joseph Phelps “Le Mistral”, a fabulous fabulous fabulous red. I think even better than the Duckhorn that I’ve had in the past.
    Good food… that’s what’s important. Now just missing the good friends in Asia to join me in this passion!

  • Fly away ..

    Catching up on some blogging now at the Dynasty Lounge in Jakarta international airport before heading back to TPE. Been on the road now for 8 days, KUL -> SIN -> CGK (Jakarta Airport code). Glad to have missed the Typhoon up north but the weather down here has not been normal either. Lots of rain in the early and late mornings. In Malaysia, flash floods due to heavy rains is a real danger on the road. Hills around the KL -> Ipoh -> Penang highway get washed away forcing the road crews to rebuild around the clock. Making it harder is the fact that the soil around Malayia is soft redish sand/clay like substance.

    It’s a lot of work traveling getting to know people and learning what’s going on. Met a few really nice and smart people. Impressed with the folks here in the Jakarta office. Wish I had them. Team and relationship building along with skills development are the driving forces now.

    What I haven’t figured out yet is that although it’s only 1.5 hours away from Singapore, Why is Jakarta an hour behind? I’ll have to take a look at the map again. I thought they’d be in the same window.

    Jakarta is a city of 11 million people, sprawling megapolis and quite beautiful, even though areas of it area quite poor. In between Manila/Makati City Philippines, and KL. Food delicious and the people here are just so warm, friendly and welcoming. Refreshing compared to Taiwan despite the Taiwanese reputation for being friendly people. My colleagues took me to Hotel Borobudur Jakarta which is famous for its oxtail delicacies and boy, it didn’t disappoint. I’d love to come back again soon.

    Not-so-looking forward to a busy travel schedule the next 6 weeks. I’ll be headed back to HK a couple of times, KL again, London, Singapore again. In between I’ll have to find time to move.

    Ouch.

    Happy trails folks and be well!

    PS-was in my drafts, not sure if it ever made it… from May time.

  • The last leg!!!!

    Arrived at KL this afternoon… and almost predictably, my immigration  experience at KLIA was a facsimile of rush hour traffic … loads of people queued up and inching slowly forward.  A potpourri of Malaysian visitors from Republic of Yemen, India, US, Taiwan, Commonwealth countries, Japan etc.  Luckily I got there because soon after me, there was another couple of plane loads that pretty much filled up the snaking lines.  My time at the immigration officer takes up time now as they check out my passport and the stamps going along with it.  A well-travelled passport is a bit of a warning I guess because they’ll look through all the pages and if they see something, they’ll look at it some more.  Been getting that a lot in all my destinations – arrivals and departures.  I still think it’s cool though… but my 6 months passport validity is coming up soon and will need to go to AIT Taipei to get a new one in case they reject me from entering Taiwan (or elsewhere).  If I had more time, I’d do it in KL ’cause I know those folks better.

    So back in my favorite KL hotel, Le Meridien.  Unfortunately their new Prime steak house isn’t open yet (mid July) but can’t wait for my next trip. Even so, the past 5 weeks of non-stop travelling has gotten me fat.  I wonder what my upcoming health checkup next Friday is going to say about me :s

    I definitely need a lifestyle change I think but this travelling isn’t helping much. It’s really more mind over matter.  I should just step away from the computer!  At least having my Blackberry shut off hasn’t proved to be too devastating.  It’s off because I didn’t pack my charger cables and in Asia, getting BB accessories is really hard to do and my model, 7730 is old so it’s particularly troublesome.  Even asking the IT staff of the company is coming up zilch….

    I’m going to decompress here in my hotel room this weekend and try to catch up on my personal emails and get back to my current project of establishing a new project management community, SdB+PM Forum.  We started out as a Yahoo Group joined by the LinkedIn and common interest and experience in project management. A year ago, what started as a hobby with a dozen or so people has grown to over 300 people world-wide :)!  We’ve adopted the SMF platform for expansion which I think is a good fit which allows for greater growth as a portal via Mambo if necessary.  A little lean on the frills and development but solid and simple.

    Anyways, time to watch some World Cup matches!

  • Popping In ….

    Haven’t blogged in a while.  Last week was in London for a Global IT conference at the Riverside Park Plaza hotel.  Cost of the conference for two days was 1500 sterling.  Fantastically crazy price.  I’ve been spoiled with the relatively low cost of Asian hotels at 5 star levels.  Riverside Park Plaza was pretty crappy blah :(.  Have to say that the Cathay Flight on business from TPE – LHR was great.  Cathay is certainly a top airline without the BA or Sing Air pricing.  Just excellent! 🙂

    Tomorrow, on the way to Singapore and staying at the Shangri-La for Prince 2 training – Foundation and Practitioner.  Company standard.  Project Management is pretty common sensical stuff though.

    Summer has arrived in Asia and I’m glad no more rain.  The humidity though… oh well. 

  • On the Road Again

    Yep, have to believe it. Just in time for my recovery, I’m off to JFK. I’m flying to Miami today, then driving to Ft. Lauderdale for a computer conference. I’m getting back on Saturday in time for Father’s Day dim sum with Pei’s father. The thing I’m looking forward to is to check out the world’s largest drive-in theater, the Swap Shop.

  • Oooph-fast fast fast

    Hectic day…. actually since the past couple of days.  Yesterday I came in, bang bang, from the airport, having faced a bit of a daily at TPE.  Apparently HK was faced with a ‘red rain’ warning meaning the strength of the rain was very high.  Second level below the ‘black’ level which would’ve effectively shut down the city.

    Quickly stamped through, got onto the hotel shuttle bus and then hooked up with FC & P- to head over to meet up with my friends at North Point office for some great dinner. Pics forthcoming…

    Then headed out to LKF for some drinks at Balaikia (sp?) which is a Russian restaurant.  There shared a couple of bottles of Stoli with the gang and met up with a couple more friends from the office and got “warm” in the fridge.  Was cool :).

    Then after that, went to another lounge bar with KTV and drank some more whisky and then passed out around 4am last night.

    Wacking up to overcast skies looking into HK from the Sheraton Hotel & Towers.  Wonderful!

    Hooking up later with FC, P-, friend Wilfred for brunch here at the Sheraton.  Then my cousin from Dongguan will come in last this evening to join us.

     

     

  • My own Amazing Race ….

    Back in Sydney, yesterday flew the red eye from Taipei to Sydney for a quick project meeting.  Sometimes, in this line of work, f-2-f is the way to go as virtual working doesn’t work so effectively.  Back at staying in Sheraton on the Park and enjoying Sydney much.  People are just so nice, pleasant and down to earth to talk to, even over work issues.

    Ordered in room service, prime tenderloin, apple pie and cinnamon ice cream.  Catching up on my personal projects on the side, watching TV (I don’t have at home), and just chilling not dealing with all the work issues.

    Flying back tomorrow morning to Taipei, then on Friday I’ll be flying to HK and hook up with FC and P-.  I’m confirmed.

    Then my June month looks like 2 HK trips, 1 London trip, 1 Singapore trip, going into early July, one KL trip.

    Whew….

  • Come Full Circle

    1 PM Thursday: general mayhem getting things packed; we leave.
    T-2.5 hours: After 3 trains, get the right A train to JFK
    T-1.5 hours: Get in time for CX check-in, wondering where is everybody. Apparently, everyone had already checked in 2 hours ago and were at the gate. But I had done on-line check-in, so it wasn’t a problem
    T-1 hour: P wants ice cream, so we make a stop – she gets a vanilla-chocolate swirl which was more like chocolate with a swish of white and syrup. I get an Immunity smoothy. She also picks up a few magazines.
    T-30 minutes: a family of 5 boards business class. Two of the kids are in this double stroller which looks a heck of a lot like a rickshaw.
    T-0: We take off on time. Channel 54 on the CX non-stop is wing-cam – a video camera feed from directly behind the front landing gear. Every plane should have one – I can watch it all day.
    T+1: Snack. Roasted peanuts, selection of drinks. My general policy is no alcohol in flight, because it gives me headaches and screws up my appreciation of the meal, but they had a selection of complementary scotches and sherry or wines.
    T+1.5: The in-flight entertainment system, StudioCX, had some bizarre news video from some British show about the origin of the words idiot, imbilcile, and moron (apparently “moron” was invented in New Jersey, and “idiot” originally meant a selfish person).
    T+3: “Lunch”, actually dinner. We opted with the beef with bok choy on white rice, smoked trout on apple celery salad, a square of “souffle” cheesecake, and Pepperidge Farms cookies. Very credible for airline food.
    T+4.5: Brokeback Mountain was playing (saw it in the theater with Pei so didn’t bother). Also, Disney’s Pocahantas was on. Pocahantas was the first movie I saw in a Hong Kong theatre – I thought it was very interesting at the time, because the Native American/English encounters depicted in the movie provided an indirect analogy to the British/Chinese situation. Of course, Lea Solonga is always a good reason to listen to a movie.
    T-6: Started a 6 hour game of Civilization IV. Finally had a decent score – in the 7100’s, aka Henry VIII.
    T-12: “Breakfast” was served – Abalone and clam Congee, fruit salad, blueberry muffin. The congee was fantastic, and actually had three slices of abalone. The best – even P was impressed.
    T-15: Landing at HKG. We were so sore that we were using the neck pillows that we brought as ring cushions to bring relief to our brokeback butts. Other than the seat comfort, Cathay Pacific shows what good in-flight service is all about.
    T-16: Crossed customs, got onto the Airport Express to Kowloon Station.
    T-17 (8:30 PM local time): Got on to a shuttle-bus to where we were staying.
    9:30 PM: checked in. I’m trying to convince P to go somewhere, anywhere. Instead, she just wants to shower and go to sleep
    10:00 PM: showered, trying to get the Internet working. Needs an account from downstairs.
    10:30 PM: The hotel staff shows up with the password. We get it working, only to learn that Skype is screened out. Drat, will have to get a SIM card for my phone.
    11:00 PM: Giving up on the romantic outdoor event and running out of the appointed 2 hour window, I settle for the harbor view from our room. I take out the ring and propose to P. And she says yes! Then she proceeds to put the ring on, and it’s too loose. But wait, she put it on her right hand. Switching to the left hand, the circle of platinium fits perfectly. Sigh of relief!
    11:30 PM-1 AM Saturday (1 PM EDT): We get stuff at 7-Eleven, walk up Nathan Road, made a left at Jordan Road, swing by the place my dad’s old apartment was, walked the length of the Temple Street Market, then caught the last MTR train back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

    Then, like Jack Bauer, we live happily ever after, until the next 24 hours.

  • Fly away ..

    Catching up on some blogging now at the Dynasty Lounge in Jakarta international airport before heading back to TPE.  Been on the road now for 8 days, KUL -> SIN -> CGK (Jakarta Airport code).  Glad to have missed the Typhoon up north but the weather down here has not been normal either.  Lots of rain in the early and late mornings.  In Malaysia, flash floods due to heavy rains is a real danger on the road.  Hills around the KL -> Ipoh -> Penang highway get washed away forcing the road crews to rebuild around the clock.  Making it harder is the fact that the soil around Malayia is soft redish sand/clay like substance.

    It’s a lot of work traveling getting to know people and learning what’s going on.  Met a few really nice and smart people.  Impressed with the folks here in the Jakarta office.  Wish I had them.  Team and relationship building along with skills development are the driving forces now. 

    What I haven’t figured out yet is that although it’s only 1.5 hours away from Singapore, Why is Jakarta an hour behind?  I’ll have to take a look at the map again.  I thought they’d be in the same window.

    Jakarta is a city of 11 million people, sprawling megapolis and quite beautiful, even though areas of it area quite poor.  In between Manila/Makati City Philippines, and KL.  Food delicious and the people here are just so warm, friendly and welcoming.  Refreshing compared to Taiwan despite the Taiwanese reputation for being friendly people.  My colleagues took me to Hotel Borobudur Jakarta which is famous for its oxtail delicacies and boy, it didn’t disappoint.  I’d love to come back again soon.

    Not-so-looking forward to a busy travel schedule the next 6 weeks.  I’ll be headed back to HK a couple of times, KL again, London, Singapore again.  In between I’ll have to find time to move.

    Ouch.

    Happy trails folks and be well!

  • Long Distance

    Thursday, I had AS try out the SlingBox using the new PocketPC version of the viewer software from Taipei. After some fiddling, it seems to work just as well as the laptop version, but it fits in the palm of your hand. Rats, only one person can register their PocketPC with SlingBox to use it.

    Friday, saw Man of the Heart, which I described on Thursday. Nominally, it is an attempt to bring back awareness of Bengali mystic Lalon Pkokir, who is an original source of Bengali culture, and have been used as a focus of a nonsectarian Indian way of life. However, the subtext is a conjoining of John Lennon’s utopian song “Imagine” and something of a gnostic Islamic-Hindu belief system (gnostic Christianity being more familiar to the public from the DaVinci Code and the Matrix movie series). The play takes a lot of getting your mind wrapped around. The singing is extraordinary, and it immediately brings the impressions and thoughts into feelings, even though it is sung in the Baoul caste style. (The projected supertitles help out, too). The work toured through Southern California, and will journey to India after this run.

    Saturday was the 150 mile round trip journey to Mommonth, New Jersey for P-‘s friend’s wedding. Very simple – 15 minutes for the actual ceremony, where the groom’s brother managed to get ordained from some church to be able to preform the multidenominational wedding. The area was beautiful, and the DJ did his best to get Hava Nagila blended with Pulp Fiction and Motown.

    Sunday we helped P-‘s other friend move to Long Island City. The place is really starting to take off, development wise. Afterwards, we went to the 25th annual Sakura Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, which was sponsored by Inuyuama Council Member and Brooklyn son Anthony Bianchi. We visited him last year at this time, and the NY Times covered this year’s tour. To celebrate the anniversary, he brought a 60 person contingent of cultural performers, a calligraphy expert and an artisian tofu maker. Families who had recently sent their children to Inuyuama offered homestays to the Japanese visitors, completing the circle of cultural exchanges. Anthony wants to use his good offices to formalize these exchanges into a two year cycle between Brooklyn and Inuyuama, which are similarly situated to cities such as New York and Nagoya. He is up for re-election next year, and he looks like he has a good shot – he’s done all of the right things and brought transparency to the way government works in his area.