Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

So, I am finally here - one of the last Communist countries in the world, a wonder of the East and a peculiar headtwister to the West. There is so much to see and do that it is almost impossible for me to describe everything here. But one thing is for sure: you have to be here to truly understand the transformation that this country is going through.

My visit to Vietnam is focused only in the North, but I am determined to make the best of it. Hanoi is the first stop.

***If anyone wants my advise or account of traveling in Hanoi, please contact me: saki_takasu1@yahoo.com - I went through some logistical ups & downs, and would love to give some tips on choosing hostels, tours, and places to shop to make your life easier. Lonely Planet is a great guide, as EVERYONE in this city is carrying one. Second opinion may supplement the guidebook that everyone is reading.


Colorful Pho Hang Chieu with Chinese New Year goods


A bustling intersection in Old Quarter Hanoi. Fusion of Chinese and French architecture - but don't dare call it either of these. It's distinctly Vietnamese.


They sure start motorcycle licensing early.


Fruit vendors are everywhere, and you can buy the familiar bananas and oranges, to the exotic starfruits and kanas.


Burning fake money is a traditional way of paying respect to your ancestors - or - it's to wish success for your business. It's supposed to be done every 10 days, especially during Tet (Chinese New Years).

New Places, New Faces
Part of the fun in traveling is meeting new people. I have already met great companions, who have made my travel much more interesting.


Believe it or not, I met another Saki. Sakuna (her nickname is Saki) is an aspiring Physician Assitant (PA) who lives in Seattle. She has been traveling on a medical mission in Laos and is heading to Bangkok before returning to the US. She has juggled a job with a newspaper, her private health massage practice, and studying to become a certified PA. Here, she models the Vietnamese brand beer, Halida.


Judith is a visual communications student from Berlin, who will be taking Vietnam by a whirlwind for the next 3 weeks. She has traveled through Cambodia and Laos, providing an interesting perspectives to our discussions (I am actually the Southeast Asia traveler novice here).

Although backpackers come and go, I was really lucky to bump into these awesome travelers here in Hanoi. During the city tour, I met some people in their 60s with all sorts of backgrounds, (Israeli, Canadian, Czech, French, German) who have done the Anapurna trek in Nepal and backpacking in Myanmar. Their tales of adventure definitely pull you into another world - leaving me a little jealous, but inspired to do more.


And of course - the faces of the Vietnamese people are warm and friendly. As tourism is increasing in Hanoi, it is not rare for the children to see foreigners.

The Touristy Part
It's definitely worth it to do the tours, but be ware of tours that just take you to places and provide zero historical background. Unfortunately, our guide ("Open Tour") spoke such poor English that it was like pulling teeth every time we tried to understand her. This is not standard, as we saw many other groups that gave you the historical significance and mythology related to the places.

You can also try to get a cyclo driver to give you a tour of the place, as he may be reading up on those guidebooks, memorizing the text. Either way, the pro of having someone show you around is the transportation and the ability to cover a lot in a single day (we covered about 8 or 9 different things). And you can always go back to your favorites.


Ho Chi Min Mausoleum - it's a very restricted area: no cameras, no bags, and definitely no hands in your pockets. The walk through the mausoleum is surreal, and you wonder what Uncle Ho is really thinking (well, he can't be rolling in his grave). One trivia is that he actually wanted to be cremated, but the Vietnamese people wanted to preserve the national hero (like the other Communist leaders). What irony.


The Presidential Palace - it's very yellow and French. I don't know what else to say about it.


Hoan Kiem Lake - The serene lake is the center of Hanoi. To the Northeast of it lies the Old Quarter, where many of the market and tourist buzz takes place.


Legend has it that Emperor Ly Thai To sailed out on this lake one day after defeating the Chinese with a magical sword he received from a god. A golden turtle then appeared and took the sword from the emperor, restoring the sword to the rightful owner. Since then, the lake has been called the Hoan Kiem Lake, or the "lake of the restored sword."

Food
Food in Hanoi has been quite a refreshing contrast from the Cantonese food I was used to in Hong Kong. So far, I have been lucky to not be sick - in fact, I am really enjoying the fresh vegetables and herbs in every meal (think basil, mint, dill, lettuce, shiso leaves, chili). In fact, I ate on the streets the first night I was here - the entire meal cost me less than US$0.15, while water was US$0.25.


The Vietnamese breakfast of champions - Pho.


Cha Ca La Vong - After Judith found out about this restaurant in not only her guidebook but also in her German shortstory book, we had to check it out. This restaurant serves only one dish: the Cha Ca (fish). Grilled on a skillet over a charcoal pot, you throw in fresh long onions and dill and then serve it over fresh vermicelli. Pour peanuts, more onion, and shrimp paste at your discretion.


Just say, "Cha Ca La Vong!"


You can easily buy fruits off the street with the fruit vendors. We 3 were drawn to the sweet smell of jackfruit and chased after the lady to grab 1/2 kg of the finger-licking good fruit (costs about US$0.60).


Mmm... jackfruit...


Local restaurants are not the cleanest establishments (some of the women in our tour group had a hissy-fit about the lettuce not being washed by purified water), but the experience is definitely fun and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I was told by a Vietnamese woman from Houston that Saigon has much better food than Hanoi. However, she was more than delighted by the scenery and calm of Hanoi over the hub-bub of Saigon. I guess the North and the South both have their strengths and weaknesses.

I am dying to discuss the culture and the Vietnamese sentiment towards the different colonial influences and economic development. However... I must get back to the adventures as I head off to Ha Long Bay.

Until next time...

Will I miss Hong Kong?



You betcha. But the show must go on.

Laters, HK. Signing off from Pacific Coffee.

p.s. - love this photo of Dunc and I. (Self-proclaimed) best party hosts in town!

The Philippines is a place that I would have liked to stay much longer to explore the full extent of the culture. I only got to see a glimpse of it, and my experience was limited to that of a business traveler. However, the last 4 days had been quite an adventure in and of itself, leaving me with much to say about the people and the culture.

The flight from Hong Kong to Philippines is approximately 2 hours, making the travel bearable, even in economy class. The weather was at 30-degrees C, sunny, with a smudge of humidity. I was half distracted, though, as I stepped off the plane. I had not paid attention to the news, so it was only through the Tuesday newspaper on board the plane that I had learned about the Valentine's Day bombing in Manila.

Terrorist threats had been made to President Arroyo for the last couple of weeks, and two buses had been blown up in Makati and Davao, killing 7 and injuring 140 on February 14. What alarmed me even more was the tightness of security in Manila. My bags were checked at every hotel, mall, and business office, and other safety measures such as metal detectors and drug-inspection dogs were at all entrances.

However, if you ask the local Filipino, they will tell you, "This security has been in place since the bombings a couple of years back. Now, the terrorists have to resort to buses because they can't get into major buildings."

The traffic is unpredictable in Manila. I was told that a cab ride to downtown Makati can be anything between 10 minutes to an hour from Pasig City, where I was staying at. The inefficiency arises from congested traffic and the pedestrian norm of crossing wherever they want to.

I had been forewarned about the poverty in Manila but encountered much less than what I had expected. Children will rap at the car windows, asking for money or food. I also saw children (5-7 years old?) who were begging on the streets. Personally, I choose not to give money to beggars because I believe that it is unproductive labor. But feeling more charitable than usual, I bought a couple of bread and water. When I returned to the spot where the children were, they were gone. Instead, I saw them on the sidewalk, talking to a 15 year old who was looking into their cups. I sighed and hesitated, but gave them the bread and water. My behavior, in general, is not something of kindness but of ambiguous cruelty. Being rewarded for begging only induces the behavior and brings disincentive to find a better way of living. Oh well - they at least ate something that night.


Religious remarks are made at large in the Philippines. This was from a building near the hotel.


Staying at the Shangri-la la la. Nice :)


McDonald's delivers!?! - boy, they are really trying to make people fat.


Supermarkets seem well-stocked - but the display of it all was a bit overwhelming. Neatly placed and most things seem to be on the shelves by the hundreds.

Found

At the Mandarin Oriental wine & cigar bar

My trip would not have been as enjoyable if I did not know anybody. The Philippine office manager was too busy this week to go out with me, so I was pretty much on my own. Fortunate for me, I had a couple of contacts up my sleeve.

By chance, Gaurav happened to be in town on his regular commute between Hawaii-Tokyo-Manila. It was great to catch up with him. Work. Planning to build a house on Borocay. Partying like crazy in Roppongi. Bay Area days living with trainees (btw, our two Sri Lankan trainees, Dilantha and Dilantha, recently became fathers-awesome!).

It was nostalgic to look back, but also exciting to see how far all of us have come. Chau & Jim are a power consulting couple, working for BCG and Accenture. Sudhir is at the Kennedy School in Harvard. Donata and Tariq are in Dubai. Scott is in San Francisco at a CSR NGO but is temporarily stationed in Guangzhou. BeeLee is in a lucrative financial position in a Texas industrial cement company. Calgary is in Germany. Vishen and Cheong are in KL starting up their business. I'm in Hong Kong at a Fortune 500 company, and Gaurav is a successful office manager in Asia for an HR and Marketing company. It would be extremely difficult to get everyone together in one place again, but it's oh-so exciting to know your friends have dispersed around the world.



The next evening, I called up Bart, a Polish trainee I met in Hong Kong who is now stationed in Manila. I also met his boss, and we all had some good laughs over cold San Miguels out on the terrace. Bart's boss raved about AIESEC and wondered why he had not found it earlier. Bart and I just smiled. I learned some slangs in Tagalog from them and played (or tormented, depending on your POV) with the turtle.

It's a hard life...

Office Culture
I really enjoyed the office culture in Manila. I don't know if it was particular to our company, but everyone was so lively and friendly. By the end of my stay, I had a personal superman, whom I went to for all sorts of technical issues. He would drop everything to help resolve all sorts of things without a single frown.

The office, in general, was much like the Drew Carey Show. Filipinos love to sing and they would break into song, taking others along in the sea of karaoke. Employees were also listening to Linkin Park, Alanis Morisette, and Def Lepard at their cubicles, as they typed away on spreadsheets and reports. "Your job is to stare at the computer screen all day. You need something to keep you on your toes, right?" said the manager. He listens to classical music in the morning and occasionally jams on his guitar in the office. He has a fantastic voice too (this, we confirmed when we took him out to karaoke in HK).

It's such a shame that I only had less than a week in the Philippines. I haven't even been to Cebu, Borocay, or Cebu! I had such a great time, and I would definitely love to go back to the land of colorful Jeepnies, hamboogers, dalandan, green mango smoothies (yum!), Bohol monkeys, and amazingly nice people.

This post is way over due. While many expats seek an escape in the frenzy of this auspicious holiday, I decided to stay in Hong Kong to enjoy the holiday (and to save some money). For the Chinese, it is about reshuffling the 1 billion + people (note: I am also including Greater China - Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.) to see family and to celebrate their new year. Everything basically shuts down.

Most HK Chinese remain in Hong Kong to visit their family, who generally live only an hour away. However, the holiday is the rare occasion that EVERYONE comes together for a blood & kin pilgrimage (for the Western culture folk, think Thanksgiving or Christmas).


Street near my apartment, decorated with lanterns, flowers, and gourds.

As Naaz and Mel have mentioned, the red pockets (lycee) are an important part of the holiday, where the singles and youth receive "good luck" money from the married and the elders. In an interesting contrast, people in Taiwan will give money to the unemployed or the ones who need it most (like a couple who recently had a child). I guess it is a more economic way of looking at this Chinese tradition. In my office, people still gave out lycees, but this year, we decided to forego the one from the company and donate to UNICEF instead.

Flower Market

Aerial overview of Victoria Park when the Flower Market was open - but this picture represents only 1/50th of the entire park.


Scott came over from Guangzhou and transitted through HK briefly, on his way to Taiwan for the holidays. The daffodils smelled so sweet and fresh.



I had never seen so many orchids lined up like this. I attempt a Georgia O'Keefe shot here:



Mini red pineapple plant








The Flower Market is also a place where vendors sell Chinese New Year's good luck paraphanelia.

... and some political goodies.


I love this one. It's so Hong Kong/China:


Happy Year of the Chicken :)


Chinese New Year Parade
It was uncomfortably crowded, but I guess it is a must-do when you are in town for the holidays. Hong Kong's claim to internationalism can be seen in the invitation list of the parade attractions.

From Dutch men on stilts, American cheerleaders, Brazilian carnival dancers, Elvis, British Marching Band, Caribbean Cavana DJs, Hong Kong Disneyland promotion float to the Chinese lion dances, there were many different cultures parading throuh Tai Tam to Wan Chai.





Dutch invasion (plus French) - Teebo, CK, Niki and Clement pose for the camera. Would you have guessed that they were Dutch by looking at this photo?

Fireworks
Exhausted from fighting for space in a tightly wound crowd and extending my vertically-challenged self to see the parade, I was glad to be able to see the fireworks the next evening from a more comfortable location. My company resides in the Central Plaza, one of Hong Kong's tallest buildings that overlooks Victoria Harbour.

I invited Victor, former MCP of HK, to come along for the show. One thing that Hong Kong has amazed me, is the use of public goods. When they hold a firework show, they don't hold anything back, and they do it really well.



Me and Victor at a beautiful Chinese flower and bridge display in Pacific Place mall.

Wong Tai Sin
I was fortunate enough to have a visitor who persuaded me to go to Wong Tai Sin, a popular temple where people go on the Chinese New Year holiday to pray for good luck during the year and to have their fortunes told.

Judging from the crowd in the past days, I was quite hesitant to go. And it was crowded. But it was definitely worth it.


This was quite impressive - all that smoke is coming from the incense but people kept on lighting them up to "feed the spirits."


Some offerings



Patrcyja had convinced me that I needed to go. Here, she models to show how to light the incense.



This man is holding up decorative pinwheels. Last year, I visited "Che Kong Miu," which is known for these pinwheels. The more the wheels turn with the wind, the more you will have luck.


The architecture was quite nice - something you would definitely expect out of Chinese culture. I liked the small figures on the roof, especially the man riding the chicken in the front.

Feb 15-18: Manila, Philippines
Feb 24-Mar 9: Hanoi, Vietnam
Mar 9-13: Singapore
Mar 13-22: Malaysia
Mar 22-24: Singapore
Mar 25-Apr 8: Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan
Apr 8: San Francisco, USA

... and New York some time in mid-April.

I'm a happy girl.

Scott is coming to Hong Kong today on a train from Guangzhou. I haven't seen him in over a year and a half. He is transiting to get his visa to go to see his family in Taiwan over the Chinese New Year's.

It's going to be interesting to see people from "there." And when I mean "there," I mean the past. San Francisco Bay Area. Berkeley. The neighboring town of San Ramon. I wonder how big Boy has gotten.

Scott is a type of a guy who would name his dog 'Boy' so that he can say 'Here, Boy,' without wasting an extra breath.

It is my first encounter in a very long time with someone from "over there." I look forward to seeing Cheong and Vishen in Malaysia too.

What a banal title. Oh well. I guess I will have to make it up in content.

I sent out a career S.O.S. to a friend, and he gave me some excellent advise. There are times when we face the Quarterlife crisis cross-roads of life. We ask, "What can I do at this point in life, now that I am young and energetic? What should my next step be to build a successful career?" I don't want to get into specifics, but here are some good advise if you face the same issues as I do:

1. Ask yourself "What are the building blocks of what you need/want in life?"
This applies to your lifestyle and career ambition as well as the little daily facts about your working environment. Do you NEED to travel a lot? Do you NEED to work in HR? Do you WANT to work in multinationals? Do I WANT or NEED a 8-5 job with a salary that allows 3-4 expensive outings per month? Go extremely micro on this, to the point where you make an exhaustive list. Based on the hierchy of needs and wants, you can really understand yourself. Job hunt is vague and useless unless you start here - just stating the obvious, but I think I have neglected it too long as well.

2. The difficulty of creating opportunities and assessing opportunities that fall into your lap
Creating an opportunity takes time and energy, so it is easy to be swayed by opportunities that present itself. You have to really know yourself to make that decision about the opportunity. Also, however many you have, opportunities are ever fleeting and it is hardly likely that you can compare opportunity A, B, C simultaneously in a controlled lab setting. So the decision-making process really depends on your ability to deftly maneuver the changing currents of opportunities. This is merely stating the nature of opportunities. How to handle "multiple opportunities as a safety-net for risk" or "few opportunities with flexibility" depends on your personality and ties with each opportunity.

3. Do the "close door" test
Will taking one option close a door (forever) for another? And how much does that matter to you? This is the moment of truth when you have to say, "well, if I choose option Z, industry X will never hire me or the chances are slim as Calista Flockhart!" One of the biggest fears of our peer groups is "If I quit a MNC (could be an @ traineeship), will I be able to come back? Ever?"

My friend's particular issue was that he did not like his particular role and position in a MNC, but was not ready to denounce working for a big global company altogether either. I think we can all relate to this thought process. So my friend asked other people working in MNCs about the chances of him returning to a MNC would be, and the responses were not as negative as he feared. The windows do get narrow, but it's not a mission impossible. For my friend, in fact, working in a SME has become a better fit and a more rewarding experience, so he is more inclined to stay in smaller companies now. Also, given his experience and portfolio, applying to a MNC is not impossible.

4. On skillz and knowl-edge.
People do not get any smarter by getting older. If you were intelligent in your university hay-days, you probably have that sharpness till the day you die or until you get altzheimers. For the less-ingenius pundits, like me, the key to success is to keep on upgrading yourself. I knew a Japanese salaryman who advised me to constantly put in 1/3 of your income into self-improvement if you ever wished to be promoted - e.g. going to seminars, buying books. Whatever it may be, make sure that you are constantly learning because you're not getting ahead by just breathing.

5. Know thy self and surround yourself with friends who genuinely care about where you are going
This is my personal advise. Networking and knowing people is one thing. But you are doing yourself great service when you have friends of your peer and of industry experience who can give you genuine advise. Some times all it takes is the initiative to ask. When I asked Paris for advise, he gave me a genuine assessment of where I seemed to be in my career and a guiding light to where I could be going - based on knowing me and what my ambitions are. When I talked with Mel over the weekend, she shared her perception of my potential and an encouragement towards a certain career path. Having an AIESEC background also makes it easier to identify what makes all of us tick.

Excellent advise that made for an excellent weekend.

I just have to say, that Naaz has one of the coolest blogs on the block lately (she's also one gorgeous Indian princess). I need to learn how to do the rotating picture feeds soon.

I have been terrible at the photo diary thing, mainly because I am too lazy to bring my bulky camera along. But that will soon change when I buy my brand-spanking-new camera in Mong Kok this weekend.

I only have 2.5 weeks left in Hong Kong. Gotta' catch 'em all!

I face the cross-road again, somewhere between 'Pragmatism' and 'Dreaming'. Then I wake up. Options are infinite and the open range beckons.

Where am I? I gauge how much I have travelled and ponder if I have met some milestones. But somewhere along the way, the map got inkblotted and the detours confuse me. Have I taken a shortcut or am I still on the right path?

You only live twice, and you race with time close behind your tail.

There once was a banker who became the head of the household at the age of 15 when his father passed away with the War. He was a high school drop-out and saw many juniors pass him by for juicier positions above. Bitter and humiliated, he vowed that his sons would attain higher education and lead better lives. An elementary school principal, employee at a newspaper publishing company, and a Ph.D. engineer. They kept his promise.

The engineer relocated from Japan to the US, took his family through adventures of living in small-town suburbs from the East to the Southewest, Midwest to the West Coast. It was no joy ride, but the family stuck together. He told his two children, "you have easily hopped over the fence of two cultures and made them your own. I expect nothing less of you, and my wish is for you to go beyond what I have done."

To prolong the spirit of a revolution, you have to remember the roots. I take out my compass once in a while to make sure I know which way is North. I'm walking on my own two feet though.

* People cry when someone dies because they feel sorry for themselves.
* If someone said, "Hey beautiful!" not too many would turn around in fear of vanity. But if someone yelled, "Hey ugly!" lots of people would turn around to see who is uglier than them.
* When watching sex scenes with family, everyone shifts uncomfortably and looks slightly away from the screen - but you know they are actually watching from the corner of their eyes. There is an awkward and painful silence that falls flat in the air.
* Everyone says "I'm okay" when they are not really. Especially about being drunk.
* Some just have it easy. Life isn't always fair. But most likely, those who have it easy lament that they've never had a challenge and miss out on some golden opportunities.
* When you're talented as a child, you're considered a genius. But when you turn 20, you're just another ordinary person.
* If you have no music sense, most likely you'll never develop one.
* If you think the world revolves around you, you should hold up a lightbulb. Maybe your a student from UCLA.
* If you say that high school/college was the best time of your life, you haven't lived much.