the tiger roars

we return from singapore for a quick wknd and then head straight to shanghai for our first trip up to the mainland. can't wait...

shanghai - 4 days of business followed by a wknd of pleasure. we arrive on monday night and a guy is waiting at arrivals with our name and escorts us to the black mercedez taking us to the ritz carlton. i could not have imagined this would be our life 6 months ago! a long 1 hour drive to the hotel so only enough time to get some rest and prepare for the day of work ahead (sightseeing for malabika!)

shanghai, a city of contrasts. modern skyscrapers and modern retailers next to ancient temples, homes, and dimsum houses. the office is beautiful, on the 63rd floor, requiring a transfer on the 60th. funny, huh? an energy of power and change sweeps through the city. shanghainese are similar to new yorkers - they feel like they are on top of the world, their time has come. an absolute aura of confidence is felt in the people and rightfully so. it is their time. shanghai is also preparing to host the world expo this year from may to october so the city is under final construction preparing.

i have a couple of great dinners out - one chinese and one mediteranean with colleagues. malabika on the other hand enjoys one of our favorite dishes everday - the famous shanghainese dumpling. and has time to visit the beautiful museums. it was museum weather, 40 degrees, rainy and cold. my work week finishes around 4pm on friday and i meet malabika at the hyatt where we will stay for the wknd. with the weather how it is, we enjoy a wknd at the hotel - beautiful fitness center and swimming pool which we visit for a couple of hours everyday.

friday night we head out for a great dinner and to a jazz bar for the evening. shanghai used to be the 'paris of the east' before the cultural revolution shut down all of that activity. there are today still some great jazz and live band spots, much more lively than hong kong. a great night out followed by a day of light sightseeing. eat a lot of local food but can't do much due to the weather. a great introduction to the city. we look forward to coming back in july for another business trip and when the world expo will be in full swing.

while we were in shanghai, my parents were in siem reap visiting the temples. they arrive into hong kong the day after we get back. we spend their first night in hong kong watching the super bowl. go saints! so happy the saints pulled through and won.

parents will be staying with us for nearly two weeks and we have a lot to show them in hong kong. the first few days malabika takes them all around hong kong while i am at work. they love the city - feel extremely safe as they should. and we live right in the city centre so great for walking around and seeing the hong kong life pass by. we have 2 evenings out - avator in 3D and the merchants of bollywood musical at the performing arts festival. avator was quite good but the musical was fantastic. i have the next few days off for the chinese new year festival which is the biggest holiday in china.

it happens to be the biggest human migration period as well - nearly 300 million people are travelling across the country to see their family. lunar new year is a time to spend with family which is great to have mom and dad in town. we schedule a tour of northern hong kong on saturday followed by tickets to see the annual new year's parade. a lot of fun. sunday is the annual fireworks which we watch from my office which has a great view.

the weather remains cloudy and overcast which doesn't allow us to do some touristy things like getting out on the water but doesn't matter. so nice to spend time together. monday we head to macau for a day trip of sightseeing, eating, and gambling. my parents are not big gamblers but hey really enjoy the city and trip. we get back late on the ferry and rest.

i unfortunately had a last minute trip to singapore planned which i couldn't miss - i went for 2 nights / 1 day. malabika spent a bit more quality time with them, i wish i could have spent more time. i was so happy that they loved hong kong and loved our life here. so looking forward to them coming back for a visit!

the last week of the month was quite uneventful after such an exciting first 3 weeks. looking forward to the weather turning a bit warmer and some sun!

march holds another quick trip to singapore followed by an eagerly awaited trip at the end of the month - seoul followed by osaka. seoul for 4 days of business but malabika and i will go in one day early to enjoy a wknd of sightseeing. and osaka is 100% holiday - a quick one for 5 nights / 4 days over the easter break. can't wait!

i promise not to have such a lapse between writings. look forward to my next post in a month after the trips. until next time...

a new decade begins

a new decade, a new beginning...

2010, seems unreal, we are well into the new millennium now. seems like only yesterday celebrating the new millennium in las vegas in 1999. ten years later and life has found me working for chanel in asia.

january, the holiday in cambodia has come to an end. do i have to go back to work? indeed, but an exciting year awaits ahead. after the tough first 4 months, have a good understanding of the players in the region and the business model. and also my team and organization and what changes need to happen to prepare us for the future. all very exciting!

the first three weeks of the month are quite busy as expected. everyone catching up on the year-end results and planning for the upcoming year. we finally have some time to get the place a bit more settled - hanging up pictures, buying the last pieces of furniture, cooking up new asian recipes, finding our normal fruit vendors, our favorite noodle shops, and on and on. getting into a bit of a routine, as much as you can in asia. and enjoying a bit of time out on the wknds.

one experience was going to the green day show at the asia world expo here. not big fans of green day but we love to see a good show and there is not much live music surprisingly that comes through here. it felt like going to a shopping mall to watch a show! all the things one would hate about a show - extremely bright lights while hanging out and no drinks allowed inside the venue! very strange. and all of the teenagers lined up well in advance for the best floor standing areas so we were stuck at the back. nevertheless, green day put on a great show, played for over 2 hours, was a lot of fun. though i don't think we will be back to the world expo to see a show again!

the weather has been absolutely horrific - not extremely cold but just depressing. cold, rainy, foggy, polluted. no sun for weeks. very much looking forward to a week long trip to singapore to get some sun...

singapore, malabika joins me for this one. we stay at the four seasons and do our normal favorites - eat fish head curry, black pepper crab, and tons of hawker food at the stalls. the week is busy as usual for me but not overwhelmingly. i finish work around 9pm every night. and monday night we figure out how to hook up our laptop to the flat screen and watch the afc and nfc football championship games on delay through nfl.com. great games! so happy new orleans made it through.

the mellowest month since we have been here, january comes to an end. we feel more settled and refreshed for the year ahead. we also spend the last week preparing for my parents visit in mid-feb. a great start to the new year...

cambodia dreams

our first december is upon us in asia. it's amazing how much christmas is 'celebrated' in hong kong. decorations galore everywhere, all lobbies of buildings, and lights all over the buildings. strange you may say? not at all, it's a time for locals to spend with friends and shop. it's been commercialized to the max to drive retail sales. brilliant for my industry! a time for family for the locals is chinese new year, not christmas.

the day after the family leaves is our 6th year anniversary, december 2nd. i am so behind on the big presentation after the family visit that i can not enjoy the lovely evening my wife planned. a beautiful dinner at a very nice restaurant - when we sit down, i ask if we can leave. i wanted to go somewhere a bit more casual where we can enjoy a casual dinner. not very romantic i know, but i promise to make it up when my mind is at peace!

saturday, december 5th, we have tickets to the opening ceremonies of the east asian games. the east asian games are every year with the countries competing from this side of the world in various sports from aquatics to badminton to tennis to the games happen to be in hong kong this year which is fantastic and the ceremonies are done by the same group that did the beijing 2008 olympics. if you saw those, you can imagine how these ceremonies were. at the cultural center across the harbour overlooking the hong kong skyline, we saw a performance on a boat dockec on the harbour. with many boats coming by brightly lit resembling all things hong kong. followed by an amazing fireworks show over the city. fantastic.

earlier in the day we enjoyed watching the football (soccer) finals where hong kong pulled a big upset over heavily favored japan to win their first gold medal. on penatly kicks, great finish. on sunday we got to see our first rugby matches. great game - saw the china women's team crush all opponents. and then hong kong lose to korea. i was unfortunately at work in between the matches working on the final presentation. a very long week indeed and i am ready for a 3 day trip to singapore to get a break from the hong kong worklife.

bright, sunny days in singapore but the days are long still coordinating final touches on the presentation while the boss is in new york. get back to hong kong for a final wknd with malabika before she heads out to cambodia for our holiday one week before me. she leaves on sunday the 13th while i have a pretty easy final week - the presentation is over, everyone is exhausted, the first 4 months have come to a close.

it was exhausting, challenging, but absolutely rewarding. i've never learned so much in my life - nor worked so hard! i am ready for my two week holiday to cambodia, time to see friends i have not seen in years, time to enjoy some well deserved time off...

dec 19th, saturday morning, 9am flight direct from hong kong to phnom penh. my mind is racing, after only 3 hrs of sleep, i can't get it to rest just yet. after such an intense 4 moths of work, it's hard to let it all go. it will come, i tell myself. i arrive at the small, welcoming airport. my buddy hetal, who has been there for nearly two years, tells me to take a 'tuk-tuk' from the airport to a meeting spot in town. i ignore all the taxi drivers and find a 'tuk-tuk' which is a rickshaw or a 3 wheeler that is open. i have a small duffelbag for my two weeks, it's hot, i throw it by my feet and off we go.

driving through the streets of phnom pehn, reminded me much of india. warm smiles everywhere, crowded, quite poor, energetic, asia indeed. my mind still unable to let go - i can't believe two full weeks ahead with no work! after a 30 minute ride, i arrive at the destination in town and just happen to run into hetal right on the street. he takes me to a local cafe where malabika is and we enjoy a couple of beers at 1130am in the warm sun and catch up. it now feels like holiday, work is behind me...

the first day is action packed - i have to see my other good friend neil who has organized the paraplegics world cup volleyball to take place in cambodia. i showed up during the semi-finals and finals. we head to the stadium mid-day and see cambodia take on germany in the semis. amazing to see these athletes - all that have lost limbs and able to compete at such a high level. i see neil, for the first time in 10 years. a good friend from university back in england, we have kept in touch all of these years but have not seen each other. he has been in cambodia for the past 9 while me in new york. our paths never crossed until now.

it was incredible, i was so proud of him and all he has accomplished for himself in cambodia. it's going to be an amazing two weeks! we enjoy phnom penh - a very quaint capital town with nice cafes, restaurants, bars, and very friendly people. sunday we head out on our journey up north into the country. our main stop will be the ancient kingdom of ankgor wat in siem reap but first to battambang. a taxi ride north takes approx 5 hours through the country and rice fields. very flat land, easy drive. we rest in this small town for the night.

the next day we begin a 5 hour boat ride that will take us into siem reap. it's extremely hot, but we enjoy a very scenic ride through the waters seeing how many in cambodia live and thrive - off the river. houses on stilts, as seen throughout cambodia - not very much to call their own but bright smiles across their faces. a people that have suffered so much in their past, through genocide and back, and yet maintain a sense of true happiness. heart-warming, words can not describe it.

we enter siem reap shortly after lunch and check into our hotel. malabika and i stay at a small, quaint hotel with only 6 rooms - it's perfect. it feels like a holiday, feels so far from hong kong. the pace of life, the landscape, the people, the food, this feels real. we step out to enjoy the city centre which is full of restaurants and cafes to relax and get a bite to eat. the next 3 days will be filled with seeing the beautiful temples.

words can not describe the temples - they are in excellent condition and absolutely breathtaking. each in it's own unique way - hindu and buddhist temples dating from the 10th century. and the bas reliefs (wood carvings) are unreal - the entire ramayana (ancient hindu book) is depicted in wood carvings which took over 30 years to do! the absolute worst part about our trip was i lost our camera on the last day in siem reap which had all of our pictures! i will never forgive myself! luckily, my parents visited in feb and took many pictures but it's not quite the same.

we spend 3 wonderful days visiting temples, enjoying the local food, and relaxing in the evenings. the days would start early, once watching the sunrise over majestic ankgor wat. and they would finish around mid-day so there was enough time to relax and enjoy an early dinner. we met up with a friend of neil's on christmas day and a few other friends of friends for a nice italian meal. and then hit up the wild nightlife (that's a joke) of siem reap where i lost the camera!

time for our next adventure and we head back down the country to phnom penh for a 1 day stopover before heading to the south of the country on the coast. we pick up neil who is now done with work and the 4 of us head down to coast with a specific stopover in a town Kep for a special meal. Kep is a beautiful, quiet town on the southern coast next to Kampot which is famous for it's black pepper. it's a spicy but not too spicy with a very unique, somewhat sweet aftertaste. and Kep is known for it's fresh black pepper crab. needless to say, the best crab we have ever had. sunset on the coast of cambodia, black pepper crab, and a cold beer. watching children play on the beach, no one around. we wished that sun would never set.

off to our resting spot for the next 5 nights - sihanoukville. the cambodian coast is not known for it's beautiful beaches like neighboring thailand but it's best that way. they are not crowded, beautiful, and a great meal costs less than 5 dollars. we spend the next few days really relaxing - sitting and sleeping in hammocks, swimming, eating seafood, reading, some more sleeping. about the most adventure was riding scooters to more secluded beaches. this was truly an adventure - the streets in cambodia are no joke - there are not really any rules and lanes! we spend an amazing new year's eve on the coast dancing the night away.

time to head back to phnom pehn for our final couple of nights. two weeks (three weeks for malabika) had come to an end. feel refreshed, re-energized, re-awakened. this felt like asia, i will truly miss the warmness and kindness of the people of cambodia. i look forward to getting back to cambodia very soon. the western new year is upon us, but it's the only the 1st of 2 new year's to come this year...

the year of the tiger has dawned...

mid-march, last i wrote was early november. what a shame! yes, i am quite upset that i was away from the blog for 4 months. so much to share, time is flying by, the pace in HK is incredible - people are always on the move, the energy is exhilarating.

last i wrote, malabika had enjoyed her first month in nepal in october and i finished my 2nd full month of work...

november -

month 3, to be more tough, rewarding, exhausting, and challenging than the previous 2. all about work - no travel plans, the heat of the 1st budget season at chanel. ill spare you the boring details, but let's just say 7 day, 80+ hour weeks - work, work, work. i can't complain, business is booming and spirits are high. we can't seem to catch up with the positive trends causing us to continually revise figures. i also want to get up to speed as quickly as possible and so it requires getting involved in every facet of the business - organization, building relationships with local countries / paris / ny, business planning, strategy, consumer studies, profitability analysis, blah, blah, blah.

the day would start around 930am and would be action packed until 530 with meetings and various projects. 530 to 730 would be catching up on emails and phone calls. and 800 to past midnight would be doing real work. 6 hours of sleep per night. friday night would be usually a reflexology session at 8pm with tom. for those that don't know, reflexology, a massage technique utilizing the pressure points on the bottom of the foot that is connected to everything throughout the body. a 50 minute session on friday night with my favorite reflexologist reading people magazine catching up on the on-goings of lindsay lohan is absolute bliss after the tough week.

not much of a social life in november, the month with the best weather by far in hong kong. hong kong now that's it march i can comment, in my opinion, has the worst weather! humid all year round, not much sun, and polluted. oct-nov are the best months when the weather is 70-80 and the pollution clears so the rare blue sky above. 3 weeks fly by and looking forward to the family visit and my wife returning!

malabika and family come to visit from nepal on nov 26th for a week (well, the wife is staying for good!). we have a fun week planned in hong kong as well as a wknd away in macau. it's quite intense at work unfortunately but find time away to spend with the family. there are 7 visitors in all - my in-laws and 5 aunts. original plan - they wanted to all stay with us. bad idea! the 600 happy feet we have is not going to work. i book a hotel across the street for 3 of them and decide we will squeeze 6 into our place...

day 1. thurs. after a overnight flight from nepal through dhaka, the family is tired but excited about hong kong. i am at work and will meet up with them in the evening. malabika takes them around for some sightseeing and by the time i get home, they are exhausted! also, the 6 into our place thing was not going to work as we imagined so we got them 2 rooms at the hotel while only the in-laws stayed with us. we went to dinner at a local indian place and the family was ready for bed. not I, it's the 26th evening, i have a day off on the 27th, my first in 3 months. oh, and it's my birthday on the 27th and we are heading to macau. i drag malabika out to a local place to listen to some music and a few drinks and enjoy some alone time.

day 2-4. macau. we get the family geared up for macau on my birthday. the ferry runs every 15 minutes from hong kong and we take a mid-morning ferry to get there by lunchtime. check into the venetian, the biggest casino in the world. the family loves it. we have two large suites and i am finally able to disconnect from work for a couple of days and relax. lots of pictures, lots of fun! lunch at a dim sum place - the first time the family has eaten dim sum and they enjoy it very much. and then on to gambling - most of the ladies like to play slots. the tables are very hard to get on as the limits are super high. we take the family across the bridge to proper macau and to the wynn casino for the evening. enjoy a nice dinner for my bday and then some gambling. again, very hard to actually get on the tables but nevertheless still fun.

next day we take a four hour tour of macau through the hotel which was great. perfect for the family and it was quite well done explaining all of the history of this small portuguese colony and showing the main sites. dinner is at the best buffet in town - the grand buffet at the lisboa hotel. seafood, indian food, thai, chinese, you name it. fantastic dinner and we head back to the venetian to finish the night off with some gambling. next day (sunday) we head back to macau. a quiet evening - we head to one of our fav restaurants in the hood - saba's for some authentic malaysian food. the wknd has come to an end and back to a tough couple of weeks of work for me preparing for the big budget presentation in new york in december.

the next few days, malabika takes the family out sightseeing in hong kong (and of course shopping!) i meet up with them for dinner at home mostly since they were a bit tired of eating out so much. i arranged a boat ride for us on their last night which i couldn't make due to work. felt so bad, it was a cooler day with choppy waters, not the best conditions, and the family didn't have such a great last night. nevertheless, they really enjoyed their time in hong kong and are excited to return in 2010.

november comes to an end, the family leaves, malabika is back home, welcome our first december in asia...