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The year of travel
Some good things that I appreciate from my travel are benefits from membership in Aeroplan, my frequent flyer program. With the amount of air travel, I've been enjoying the perks of being an Elite member in the last 3 years. I only care for a few things such as the use of the lounge at airports, some upgrade certificates and priority boarding privilege (got to get that carry-on bag into the overhead bin!). All I need to qualify for Elite status is to fly 35,000 miles or 50 flights a year, an easy target in my travel within North America. In 2007, my international travel has resulted in flying 90,000+ miles by early or mid-October. Suddenly, I figure 100,000 miles is achievable to qualify for Super Elite status. Normally I wouldn't care but when I realized I was so close, I actually started to count the number of remaining flights in 2007 for my normal travel between Toronto and Boston. I even had thoughts of just flying somewhere like Las Vegas for the weekend if I need just another flight to make it. Well, I didn't have to. In my "quest" for Super Elite, my last flight to Hong Kong pushed me over the top for Air Canada Top Tier benefits. I have now surpassed 100,000 status miles to qualify for Super Elite in 2008. That is a lot of miles!
I remember reading a newspaper article by a female executive about why she switched her career after years of travel. Her most memorable statement was "When you achieve Super Elite status, it's time to quit your job because it means you're travelling too much". At the time I kind of agreed with that statement since I never thought I'd travel that much. Now that I have, well, hmmm ... is it time to quit? Nah ... 
Incidentally, I have returned to the "scene of the crime", Shanghai again! More on that later.
Posted by Ba on Friday 09 November 2007 - 12:27:44
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Meet me in Shanghai!
Sometimes I wonder if my entire life is already written down somewhere. I'm reading the book of my life, except I can't turn the pages to read in advance what comes next. If not for my current project travel, it's possible that I might not have reunited with a couple of friends that I haven't seen for 30 years. Nicky on the left was my room mate in the U.K. when we studied together in the '70's. Boon Chai on the right was another U.K. bound student at the time we were there. I'm almost ashamed to admit I can hardly remember how I provided him with a place to sleep on his arrival, so he said. I left for Canada in 1978 while the 2 guys continued their education in the U.K. Some 30 years later, we would arrange to meet for dinner in Shanghai. Truly amazing.
Until now I have no idea that I have friends in high places. Not that I expect or hope my life will change in any shape or form. Boon Chai is an executive with B.P. in Shanghai, while Nicky runs his own consulting company in Singapore, specialising in corporate finance and corporate restructuring. Me? I'm just a worker bee. I live in a world of self service where I do everything myself, whereas these guys pick up the phone and things get done. As Nicky puts it, I live in a 3rd world country. Canada, a 3rd world country? Well, compare with Asia Pacific, yeah. These guys have it all, while we just grind things day-in day-out. In more ways than I can describe, Nicky is right, philosophically. In any event, I'm extremely proud of these guys and very happy to see them being so successful. I had the time of my life meeting them in Shanghai.
Shanghai is indeed out of this world. Signs of Capitalism are everywhere. As my friends put it, this is the place to be. Not sure if I can ever get used to it though. This is my first trip ever to China. I never thought of seeing palm trees in Shanghai (huh, is this Florida?). The modernization and life styles are unimaginable, if you've never been here. Forget what you see on TV in North America. Come here and see for yourself. You'll realize how advanced the place is, and how much freedom and luxury that people enjoy. I'm thinking ... I eat to live, while people in Shanghai live to eat. Watch out for traffic while you're on the street. Actually, taking a taxi gives you a ride of your life. The pedestrian is king in North America. Not here. Trust me, you don't want to drive. You'll be in awe by the number of luxury vehicles on the road. Gosh! This is the People's Republic of China, right? I wonder. Having seen this place, it seems China will continue to make progress while we continue to dig ourselves into a hole in North America.
Well, I have another week here, working but also enjoying my stay at the luxurious and heavenly Pudong Shangri-La. After that, I return to my 3rd world country that I love, come hell or high water!
Just for old time's sake, click here for a picture of Nicky and me when we were students in the UK.
Posted by Ba on Friday 24 August 2007 - 16:24:47
Reunion with an "old" friend
I'm getting lazy; just catching up with some news now. It's been 2 weeks since I reunited with my "old" high school buddy. "Old" as in long time ago, not age. I don't let it get to me; you're never too old!
There's nothing like a reunion with a high school buddy, Wan Leet, whom I've lost contact for 26 years. Recently I reconnected with some high school friends through another high school buddy, Steven who's determined to find some long lost high school mates. Steven assumed that I've kept in touch with W.L. since we were both in London, U.K. for more than a year, and we met quite often. I was a bit ashamed that I didn't keep in touch with him since we last met in Toronto, Canada. Well, it took me all but 30 seconds to find W.L. through Google. It's no wonder an internet search engine is worth so much money. It's priceless when you can find someone that you've lost contact for years! It's a good thing that W.L., like me, didn't "adopt" a Christian name or I wouldn't have found him so easily. In my last trip to Switzerland (btw, I'm heading back there again today!), I managed to make a weekend visit to W.L.'s family in Essex, U.K. They have no idea how much the weekend meant to me. When you travel for work as much as I do, you really appreciate spending quality time with family and friends. I'd have been just as happy to sit around their house and chat, but W.L. took me to check out a "promote Malaysia" street fair (had some delicious satay!), and also to chinatown for dim sum. My family would find it hard to believe, but I didn't have my laptop for the entire weekend!
It's really amazing how quickly time goes by, like a blink of an eye! I met W.L.'s wife, Annie when they visited Toronto before they were married. Now, they have 2 wonderful children, Adrian and Amie who recently graduated from university. Congratulations, Amie!
Wish I'd done this years ago, but then again, it's never too late to catch up with an "old" friend.
You can see more pictures here.
Posted by Ba on Saturday 28 July 2007 - 09:51:13
Everything is better in Japan!
That's according to my daughter, Michelle who accompanied me on my recent trip to Japan. All the air travel I've made over the last 2 years allowed me to earn enough Aeroplan miles to get tickets for Michelle and her boyfriend, Chris on this trip. By far this is the best business trip in recent months, not to mention I also made 2 people very happy. This is like the trip of a life time for them.
That's not all. I managed to upgrade to business class both ways. Ahhh ... the joy of travel by business class. More space, a fully reclining seat at the push of a button, your own menu for dinner and breakfast, bigger screen for your video on demand, and extra attention by the crew to make sure you're well looked after. With 11+ hours in the air, falling asleep isn't a problem in the comfy seat! It reminds me how much I missed my previous employer (PwC)'s travel policy of business class for any flight over 5 hours in the air, regardless of your position in the firm. We don't get that with my current employer's travel policy. No Siree! Unless you're an executive, the best you can hope for is a usable upgrade certificate from your frequent flyer program. You then pray that you'll get the upgrade. So, naturally, I consider myself very lucky on this trip!
We worked long hours as usual, but we also had time to relax. We stayed at the luxurious Hotel New Otani, right in the middle of downtown Tokyo. The hotel's Japanese Garden is simply breath taking. You almost forget that you're in downtown Tokyo. We did some shopping at Tokyo's electronics shopping area. On a Sunday, we visited some temples at the ancient town of Kamakura. The highlight of our visit was The Great Budda which was simply remarkable. The guided tour is conducted in Japanese so we kind of had to rely on the handouts in English. Duh!
There's so much we can learn from the Japanese. Their politeness can be quite overwhelming if you're not used to such hospitality. There's a staff standing virtually everywhere in the hotel lobby area greeting you with a smile and a bow, and providing directions or assistance. I don't think I've ever felt safer in any large city than in Tokyo. I mean you can walk just about anywhere in Tokyo feeling safe and secure. These guys don't chain their bicycles to a permanently stationed object like we do in North America. They put a lock on it and it just sits there in designated areas on the sidewalk. If you do the same in Toronto, I bet your bike will be gone within 30 seconds. Did you know they keep their vending machines outdoor? These things would've been vandalized in any city around the world. But not in Japan. It's a country of people with a culture of respect, trust, honour and integrity. On the flip side, you just never know if you should offer the handshake when introduced to somebody. Apparently it depends on whether or not the person you're greeting is someone with a position more senior than yours. Afterall, it's a hierarchical society in Japan. There are some seniors who have experience with Western cultures, will offer you the handshake anyway. I've learned that to play it safe, always bow only, and shake hands if the other person offers first.
Oh, while you're out in Tokyo, you better be prepared to pocket your own trash. There's hardly any garbage bin in public places. Yet the streets are incredibly clean. Japanese don't leave their trash around. They even take their own trash with them after a public event like a concert. Seriously, as my "kids" will tell you after they saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Tokyo (wow!). In North American cities, we pay people to clean up after us and our streets are still no where as clean as those in Tokyo.
As expected, communication is a challenge if you don't know the language. Well, their limited English is certainly a lot more than my Japanese. Being Oriental myself, it's understandable that the local people often assumed I spoke Japanese. Like my daughter said to me, how would she find me in a place full of "Asians". 
Finding places to eat is basically not a problem. Although Japanese food is just fine by me (where else can you find the best Sushi?), my colleagues and I did enjoy Indian food in Japan.
For all of you single guys, pay attention! There's plenty of beautiful Japanese women in Tokyo. As a matter of fact, Miss Japan recently won the Miss Universe 2007 title. Go Tokyo, young man! By the way, they eat horse meat too in Japan, and raw! I was told they serve it in thin slices like bacon. Yummy!
Perhaps Michelle is right. Everything is better in Japan! Well, it's back to North American reality for the moment before I head for Switzerland again.
Posted by Ba on Sunday 10 June 2007 - 12:11:04
Swiss trip
Did you know horse meat is a delicacy in Switzerland? Well, I had no idea until I went there. Just got back from a 2 week trip to Switzerland near the French border. As a matter of fact, our hotel is in France, while the client site is in Switzerland. When you're getting used to the increasingly tight security along the Canada-United States border, it's truly amazing when you see how open the border is between Switzerland and France. We'd drive through the border that is often unmanned on both sides of the border. Once in a while you see a police officer at the booth (no they don't use border guards). Of course they speak French and we wouldn't know what they want. But at no time did we have to show our passports. Oh, on another country road (and there's probably more), there's no booth at all. Go figure!
We did manage to find time on Sunday to visit Geneva, which is about a 30 minute drive. Took a one-hour boat cruise on Lake Geneva. Absolutely beautiful! Makes you wish you could live at one of the gorgeous houses around the lake. Overall, it was a good trip. No, I didn't try the horse meat.
Posted by Ba on Monday 07 May 2007 - 11:39:25
