The BurbleIt’s a shame that the lockdown has got in the way of this years Pride festivals across the UK. But I am doing my bit by staying in and drinking beer. @proud beer is a great beer with a great idea. Every bottle sold includes a contribution to a number of LGTB+ causes.
Drink Proud. Be who you are.
Bizarre quantum bonds connect distinct moments in time, suggesting that quantum links — not space-time — constitute the fundamental structure of the universe.
— Read on www.quantamagazine.org/time-entanglement-raises-quantum-mysteries-20160119/
Wow this is weird.
Which is great. Forcing me to get much more adept with technology myself.
To be honest that’s a tough job….
I always find taking that first step off the airplane both exciting and distinctly underwhelming. Exciting as all new countries are an experience, and underwhelming because all airports now look-alike; other than Heathrow which looks like no airport on earth and despite the great PR machine actually doesn’t work very well. And Haneda in Tokyo which is the only airport in the world I’ve travelled through where the ground crew bow to the plan when it arrives.
One of the exciting aspects of traveling to a new country is trying to gain insights into the culture that drives how business is done. This is an important aspect of working overseas as a little respect for any local culture goes a long way to making people feel confident with each other. And confidence makes it easier to discuss things.
But trying to understand a culture and how it will impact you is difficult. As a westerner in Asia I had not idea of what is driving the local culture and what allowances are being made to accommodate your attempts to bow in say Japan. If you follow the link you’ll see just how complicated bowing can be. To be fair as a westerner in the USA I had equally no idea what was going on.
After giving it some thought I’ve come up with the 4 basic things that can tell you a lot about a country.
Airports can be a great place to gain some insights on how a country might work. Are the signs clear and easy to follow, in multiple languages and do the staff at immigration actually look like they want to be there. Business is likely to be thorough and organised and guest and visitors are appreciated. If you’ve travelled through Heathrow or into the USA you’ll appreciate that none of this is in place and when you jump in a taxi (particularly in the US) you’ll see exactly how business is going to be done; if the driver knows where you’re going that’s a bonus.
If the hotel staff have been trained and are courteous and helpful you know that meetings will be polite and well organised with the topics well though through. If you have to go back to reception multiple times because either the room the hotel gave you is already occupied (which does provide a major surprise for the existing occupant of the room but can be good for making or losing friends) or the room key fails to work then you’ll know that any meeting is likely to be a riot of noise, questions, papers and activity but with very little chance of actually achieving much. Again if you have ever tried checking into a hotel in London you’ll know what I mean.
If your hosts are happy to let you take public transport than you know that they are a proud people who value exposing you to their country and its people’s and activities. if not then I’d heartedly recommend that you do not try public transport yourself. There is a very good reason why the use of public transport has to be by recommendation only. See signs above. I have numerous examples over many years of colleagues who have faithfully boarded trams and ended up doing calls from public gardens 10 miles out-of-town.
So if public transport is recommended go for it and your meetings will be on time and end up in the place you want to get to (even if you go round the houses to get there). If not then you could end up anywhere with an agreement to repeat the whole thing again next time. On another bus and on a road to nowhere
Eating overseas is always fun and working out what is on the menu can be a real challenge but one you should always take. Don’t try to find something western as it will invariably not taste like anything you know and you’ll simply upset the hosts who will be keen to show you the best of their food culture. Personally though I always draw the line at eating anything alive – whether octopus or eel I prefer to know that it is dead and well prepared rather than still trying to escape as it travels down your throat.
For the squeamish look away now.
If your food is alive when it arrives you’re going hungry – sandwiches in meetings are a no-no and you have no way of getting to what you want as you will have upset your hosts. Just go get on the plane and leave.
I love sport and although I don’t write about it much here’s a blog that is worth looking at. Enjoy
This summer has seen a huge shift at Chelsea FC, there seems to be a flood of talent moving away from the club on permanent deals. This seems to be in contrast with the last 5 or so years when the club has relied on loaning out their young players to develop, to a scheme used successfully around Europe by Barcelona and Juventus (who regularly have 60+ players out on loan as well) of selling players with buy-back clauses.
Who has already gone?
Nathan Ake
When he returned to the Bridge in January 2017 there was a buzz around the place. Ake’s loan to Bournemouth had gone successfully (look how poor they were without him for the first few months of 2017) and we needed cover at both left wing back and left centre back. On the whole Ake impressed when he played…. It is just unfortunate he did not…
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Having lived in Hong Kong for 3 years this blog describes perfectly what to do with three days on a stop over. And as I’m going back through Hong Kong in January en route to New Zealand I might even try a few. You never do everything you should when you live somewhere.
“THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO LIVE IT, TO TASTE EXPERIENCE TO THE UTMOST, TO REACH OUT EAGERLY AND WITHOUT FEAR FOR NEWER AND RICHER EXPERIENCE” – ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
To break up the big trek from London to Sydney, I decided to spend 3 days in Hong Kong to help ease my jetlag and explore a new city; and I’m so glad I did!
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At least we get a good laugh now. Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. Or DUMBO as they will be forever known.
It’s loud it’s busy it’s a messy energetic city of hope. I love it. Like I love a large amount of South East Asia but Hanoi has a special place in my heart as this was the first city we travelled to outside the expat homeland of Hong Kong.
Only an hours flying time from the glitzy, shopping centre that Hong Kong has become the contrast couldn’t be much bigger. Hong Kong is brash, bright and, in its own mind wonderfully successful while Hanoi is the little brother that it desperately hopes won’t mess up the sandwiches. Which of courseHanoi sets out to do, and does, very effectively. To the extent that it even has its own sandwich.
But it is the energy of the place that astounded me when I first arrived. Hong Kong is brash and bright and everyone wants to make money – end of the discussion. But in hanoi everyone wants to do everything, live, learn, make money, eat, teach, and shout. And mostly while riding a moped. If anyone has seen the Top Gear special that they did in Vietnam and wondered if it was really as busy as the pictures showed (surely they cut it to look busy?) well I can assure you that it is a lot worse than you see on the film. I think it was James May that compared his scooter to a US tank with the line that the scooter has freed more people than the tank ever did and in Hanoi, as a microcosm of the cities in Vietnam he was exactly right.
Mopeds are everywhere, occasionally on the tight side of the road going in the right direction but mainly coming at you from in front behind and ay other direction possible. I have yet to see one fly but its only a matter of time. Some video will give you the idea.
Cars however are another thing. 3 years ago when I went to Hanoi there were a handful of cars on the road, mainly taxis, and they had adopted the riders ideas and tended to swerve round you. Which is no mean feat in Hanoi where many of the roads are only wide enough for a couple of bikes. But I have to report that Vietnam in its headlong rush to develop has seen a rapid rise in the number of cars and the new car drives, probably never having ridden a motorbike, have not worked out that you can go round pedestrians. And so they don’t. Which makes crossing the road a far less exciting experience than wading trough mopeds doing their best to avoid you.
Hanoi sites on the Red River about 85 miles in land from the South China Sea. Hanoi is the national capital although it lost this title to Hue after 1945 following a successful take over by Ho Chi Minh. It only regained the title in 1954 after the French, who used Hanoi as their regional center for Indochina, were defeated at Dien Bien Phu. At the end of the Vietnam war in 1976 Hanoi was once again declared the capital of the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Visiting any Asian city is always an experience and you long to write about the scents of perfumed streets, the quality restaurants and the calm of a city going about its business. And if you do you’ve never been to a developing Asian city. The noise is all mopeds and horns, the smells are two stroke fumes combined with outdoor cooking smells and the city is anything but calming. It’s noisy, smelly and exciting and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As you’ll know if you’ve read any of this blog I am fascinated by self driving cars and how quickly they are developing. The car has long been a staple of the American Dream amongst other things, as well as a hugely aspirational target for many people around the world.
And self driving vehicles will change that, when combined with different ways of owning and sharing the vehicles people will have to thin differently about transport and what cars actually mean. I am not yet sure that everyone has thought this through but the change will be profound.
Anyhow I promised to keep up to date with Google who regularly publish a newsletter about their cars and the testing they’re doing. And here is the January 2016 version
Enjoy it
Just went into a store to buy my wife a new all electric super whizzy toothbrush. As with most shops in Hong Kong they didn’t actually have what I wanted but they did in the warehouse.
Now in most countries something in the warehouse means it’s in Lithuania and if you order it now it should be with you for the next millennium.
Not In Hong Kong. No warehouse is more than 1 minute from the shop and they always have what you want. Always.
And so one minute later I was paying for the toothbrush and readying myself to face the nightmare of Sunday afternoon food shopping. But this being Hong Kong you get free stuff with your purchase.
A set of sore brushes and some toothpaste. Great. And Dettol. A bleach for cleaning toilets and floors.
Now I really know I don’t understand marketing.
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