Tag: places

Do you want an umbrella with that?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date August 29, 2017
No Comments on Do you want an umbrella with that?

Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As with all choices selecting the right take away coffee has taken on a level of complexity that was thought impossible only a few years ago. And so as I start off on my regular walk around the local park I am almost always sidetracked by what I’m going to order from my local cafe.

Now to be fair to them they don’t yet seem to be in the same league as Starbucks but there is enough to give me pause for thought. And as usual this time I managed to choose the iced coffee and after walking round the corner into a rain shower I immediately wanted the hot cappuccino.

And obviously this got me thinking about Jeremy Vine the UK BBC Radio Presenter.

Tags 5G, cafe, coffee, Experience, future, IoT, IT, Mobile Phones, places, rain, Technology, umbrella

Background Business Leadership People

Wow – I’m a millennial from a different time

Post author By The Burble....
Post date August 26, 2017
No Comments on Wow – I’m a millennial from a different time

According to an article in Business Insider millenials are killing certain businesses and I am glad to say that most of the ones being ‘killed’ are ones that I am cheerfully glad to see the back of. And I suspect most people of all ages will be. So here’s my take on some of what’s going on

Casual dining such as Applebees or Buffalo Wild Wings are losing out and I can understand why. No discernible taste, poor locations and a standard of service that is literally non-existent. Avoid at all costs
Beer is on the way out. Millennials prefer wine and I can confirm this is entirely fine with me. I will now be able to get a place at the bar and get served with no teenagers trying out their latest red bull concoction. Long live millenials avoiding beer
Napkins – apparently millenials prefer paper napkins to cloth napkins. I have no idea why anyone would prefer paper napkins so in this case millenials have it. I’ll carry on using the washing machine.
Breastaruant chains like Hooters. No one of any age should be seen in or around a hooters. Of any age. It’s just wrong and I am with millenials all the way here.
Millennials don’t like cereal because its hard to clear up. Well a staring point might be not to use paper napkins but I am not sure why clearing up breakfast is a particular challenge as no other meal is mentioned. Perhaps all millenials start out with good intentions about clearing up breakfast, end up with a handful of sodden paper towels and simply give up tidying up?
Golf is under pressure as millenials find better ways of spending their time. And while is it obviously not clearing up their apartments I find the fact that they are killing golf to be worthy of medals. Golf has to be the best way to ruin a walk in the country but apart from that it serves no useful purpose at all. Except perhaps keeping anyone who thinks plus fours are a good thing away from the rest of us. All power to the millenials
Motorcycles. Well who does want to dress up to dress up in tight leather and fall over as soon as it rains or you go round a corner. people who like motorcycles probably like golf and should be kept away from sensible people.
Fabric softener. I find it odd that millenials in particular are running away from fabric softener but according to Procter & Gamble’s head of global fabric care, millennials “don’t even know what the product is for.” Which is a bit odd as the clue is in the title of the product and its a bit difficult to see how a company could make it any easier to understand what it does. But again I am with the millennials here. Another round of chemicals clogging up your pores simply so your towel apparently feels a little nicer doesn’t make a lot of sense to me
Banks – nothing needs to be said. No one likes banks. They are simply horrible
Gyms. I am with millenials here. never having set foot inside a gym I can completely understand why no one else would want to.

Now I come to think of it I am a millennial after all. Just from the wrong millennium.

Tags Beer, Business, company, eating, Experience, family, People, places, society, Technology

Business People Risk Travel Uncategorized

What can you learn from an Octopus?

Post author By The Burble....
Post date July 4, 2017
No Comments on What can you learn from an Octopus?

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.

At the Airport

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.

Enter a caption

At the Hotel

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.

Public Transport

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

At the Restaurant

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.

Tags airport, Business, eating, hotel, human rights, London, People, places, transport, Travel

People Service

Yes they’re free – of course you can’t have them…..Sir

Post author By The Burble....
Post date November 28, 2016
No Comments on Yes they’re free – of course you can’t have them…..Sir

Sometimes the way this country works leaves me baffled. While many things in the UK are clearly better than they used to be; Measles outbreaks, Cooking programs on TV (anyone for Fanny Cradock – a dry bird?) and Chelsea FC, many things have carried on exactly as before.

And anything that is free or involves a form simply hasn’t changed at all.

This week found me at my local Doctors surgery to obtain a repeat prescription. Apparently to stop my head falling off or something similar its important that I have some medicine. And since I left the UK the process has improved no end; now you can have a repeat prescription automatically filled by a pharmacist. Simple really. You get your prescription, log it at the chemist and the go along at the appropriate time and pick up the drugs. Its funny that even a sentence with the word drugs in it sounds naughty – I must be really getting old.

Anyhow as with all good systems it works by a combination of electronics and forms. Tghe pharmacy sends a request to the doctor and they authorise it. Simple. Except it isn’t.

Normally the pharmacy text me when they have the prescription but in this case having received nothing I went to the surgery and then onto the pharmacy. The surgery confirmed they had done what they needed to and I should go to the pharmacist. Which I did.

The pharmacy confirmed that the drugs (cue shiver again) had been approved but they didn’t have the ‘form’.

‘So that’s good its been approved’

‘yes’

‘So I can have the drugs?’

‘No – we haven’t got the form’

‘What form?’

‘The one the surgery printed off – they need to send it to us.’

‘But you have it approved on the system?’

‘yes but now the surgery have printed off a the form we actually need to see it – even though we can see its been approved on the system’

So we go round this a couple more times and of course I give up. There is nothing quite like a process in the UK for being both designed to withstand a nuclear war and completely useless if you need it to work. Which brings me back to biscuits.

My first run in with officialdom and processes that make no sense came in the early 80’s on a British Rail train. This was a time when a tea trolley still made its way up and down the train and it was from such a trolley that I ordered a cup of something warm and brown that claimed to be tea and asked for some bourbon creams.

‘Oh I am sorry sir you see their free so you can’t have them’

‘pardon’

‘you see their free sir – so obviously I can’t give them to you’

‘if I paid for them would that make a difference?’

‘well no sir, as i said they’re free’

Which after a while I realised meant that they were free in business class but not for me. I can see why we British Rail never made any money. And so I sat back drank my tea and dreamed of free biscuits. I think it was this incident that led me to try that little bit harder to travel in business as much as I can. Eventually the tea trolley came back down the train and I saw that the bourbons remained unclaimed. Surely now they would be mine.

No apparently they were still free and thus not available, even if I wanted to pay for them.

You can be sure of something in the UK. You cannot beat either a form or a process. And some things never change…

And I know the picture has nothing to do with the blog but as its cold and dark you can never beat a picture form Koh Samui.

Tags biscuits, bourbon, bourbons, Business, forms, London, medicine, places, society, train, Travel

Buildings Buildings and Places Uncategorized

The Peak – The Tardis in reverse

Post author By The Burble....
Post date April 5, 2015
1 Comment on The Peak – The Tardis in reverse

One of my favorite buildings in Hong Kong – The Peak Tower. According to the the tourist guide the tower sits at 396 meters above sea level and is one of the most stylish architectural icons in Hong Kong. And situated at the top is the Sky Terrace 428 the ‘highest 360 viewing platform’ sitting at ‘and you probably guesses this already 428 meters above seal level.

Its a spectacular building sitting like some upturned boat dominating the sky line. Or at least it used to dominate the skyline but this is Hong Kong and now at least 3 buildings have appeared between us and the Tower; in just 18 months.

But what I find so interesting about this building is that it performs a trick that only seems possible in the movies. Its bigger on the outside than the inside. A remarkable feat of building and engineering leaves us with a huge edifice sitting on the top of the Peak and a range of small scale shops and coffee houses more suited to the back streets of Wanchai.

It is one of my favorites from the outside. The inside has gone missing and I’d like it to come back.

Tags building, Cantonese, Hong Kong, places, The Peak, Travel