Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

Recently, I asked Drake to dispence some advise. Instead, he gave me a posting and a whole lot of wisdom.

Like Jesse, I feel a moral dilemma. But I have a heavier stance, and it takes me a while to get going (in Jesse's analogy, the water is probably up to my shoulders before I jump out and start running).

Of course, the ultimate question of pursuing a lucrative corporate position versus working out in the middle-of-nowhere African community is difficult. But hey, what isn't? Either way, there are impact and consequences to taking each option.

A couple months ago, I consulted Paris about this same issue, but at a different angle. What I took from our conversation was the need to take decisive steps and responsibility to my decision. Opportunities are ever fleeting. If you ambiguously chase different rabbits, you end up with none in the pot.

After graduation and before I set out for Hong Kong, my train of thought was: "I'm going to do anything it takes to contribute positively to developing societies." This included the practical question of private sector vs. public sector. At the time, naiive little me said "I want to do both and find a path that impacts the MOST!"

I still say it.

I have always knew, in my head, the impact that multinationals and first world consumerism brought to developing countries. Jobs in factories. Low cost labor. International working standards. Know-how. Global brands - that push mom and pop shops out of business, or a drive to become creative/competitive. Global brands - that everyone wants to elevate their social status.

I saw it first-hand when I worked in a multinational manufacturing company in Hong Kong. A chance to compare and contrast China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, India, Thailand. Learning competitive advantage of each region. Learning a new industry.

What do I do with such knowledge? The skills I gained working at a prominent and progressive global company? Is it enough so that I can truly impact a developing world? You see, my bias towards the developing world is that "they need a whole lot more resources than the developed world" - simply put, I want to push for a concept of reverse-brain drain. But it is not a mere one-way push of first world ideas and products to the developing world. What's necessary is a practical way to link resources for the benefit of both worlds.

I have always been fascinated with advanced technology, and I am starting to grow a dream of building a company/organization that explores the application of first world technology in third world countries. Along the way, I will need to build a network of people who have the similar drive and have the skills to make it a reality. People who are in the devleoping world and people who are able to procure the technology in the first world. I also need to gain the skills.

I am still dreaming.

I still haven't decided what I will do next, but it will be in line with my dream. It will always connect.

I had an interesting day today. I accomplished little, but learned a lot.

Meeting up with an old friend enlightened me about the hardships of life and how one overcomes it. Pursuing a double Ph.D. in ancient Japanese literature (koten) and Buddhist studies - a world of academia far removed from mine. He was also involved in the fashion industry for a while, with interesting encounters with president of Cartier and Naomi Cambell. Long hours of meditation and scripture reading in -10C weather to overcome a break-up. Being bed-ridden for a year with a disease that eats you away. Broken marriages. Broken hearts. Having to worry where you hide the kitchen knife at night.

The real intent of going back to Berkeley today was to go to a screening of a PBS documentary on Rwanda. 800,000 (probably more) people killed in the genocide. The muddling of the international community: the fear of Mogadishu part deux. Hidden heroes. Tormented minds. How do you sleep at night? *I have to write a separate entry when I regroup my thoughts.

The guilt haunts me sometimes - still. But do I tell? The wide eyes inquire more - "what did you do? what was it like?" My identity is at stake: am I the girl who survived the tsunami? The cowardly girl who did not do anything to help? Why am I still alive? Why are those families torn apart? Why are they dead? Why didn't him/her/it take me? Why? Why? Why?

Take a breath. Everybody is trying hard to stay alive. Telling my story is just one way to bring it closer. Make it real. For those who didn't live and those who are trying hard to live.

It has been a while since I felt so emotional.

Tassir monkeys are fist-sized creatures with huge eyes and tiny appendages that help them cling onto trees branches. They eat small insects and fruits and are found in tropical climate areas such as the Philippines ... or so I am told.

I don't care what they are - they are adorable.


Everybody now: "Awww...."


This one looks possessed. "My precious..."

Two-and-a-half-weeks in California. Today was my first time back in San Francisco.

"It takes me an hour to get into the City by train."
"That's FAR!" exclaims KK.
"Is it?"

It takes more than 30 minutes to get anywhere from Pleasanton anyway. I am surprised that the convenience of Hong Kong has not phased me. I am numb to the reverse culture shock. Rather, I am more than relieved that I don't have to give in to sidewalk rage of the narrow & crowded streets of Asia.


Successfully dragged KK out of the office for lunch. More good times will be had in the City.


On the wall of a city court: "GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE. SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS / TEMPEST-TOST TO ME / LIFT MY LAME BESIDE"

I had forgotten how many homeless people live in the City. The difference between the homeless in Asia and San Francisco, however, is that the homeless act as if they own the streets of San Francisco.

"There is no absolute truth. Objectivity is different depending on each person's perspective," said Samir Khader, Senior Producer of Al Jazeera. He had a prominent role in the documentary Control Room. I really want to see it now, since we just saw him speak at UT Austin.


Samir Khader and Sheila Z. (thanks for the photo, Sheila)

Likewise, the Reception Weekend in Austin has no single truth. Everyone had their own truths. I have one too.

With the Austin boys - Jesse, Surya, Kirk.

It all began when I was contemplating the use of an expiring airline vouture. One day, while surfing online in Hong Kong, a strange piece of advertisement caught my eye on nomadlife. Knowing that it came from Jesse, I could expect a good show. It ends up that I really had no clue what I was getting myself into until I landed.

While I was busy backpacking through Asia, I think I mentioned my intent on going to Austin to Melanie. By the time I was back in the US, she cheerily wrote in our correspondence, "See you in Austin!"


The stunning Mel helped dress (hopeless) me in a saree. So good to see you, Mel!

Last time I saw Jesse was at an Irish pub in San Francisco with Devrim and Calgary in summer 2003. Last time I saw Mel was in Atlanta in January 2003, as we made a cross-over from an AIESEC member to alumni. Last time I saw Kirk was in Hong Kong, and it was somewhat a regret that we couldn't travel to Vietnam together. Last time I was in Austin was 3 years ago with Peter, Mel, and Adam giving KK and I a grand tour of Austin.


Peter, the shy boy has grown to become a charming man. Probably a heartbreaker too.


Adam - the best tour guide of Austin. I will always remember him as the passionate guy who looks good in orange. That, and the story of "Man Month"


Trudy's Mexican Martini - I would definitely come back again for that (and I did!)


Breakfast tacos at Juan in a Million - another good memory of Austin's fine foods.

The Austin reception crew all made their guests feel at home and showed us the best of Austin. Emir, Johnny, Eric, Phil, Agnes, Kristen, Amber, Evan, Kelly, Tran, Duylinh, Surya, Kirk, Jesse... you guys were amazing (sorry if I left anyone out). It was excellent to see old faces like Surya, Kirk, Dana, Mathis, Celeste, Angie, Trent and Dody again.

We continuously gluttoned ourselves with alcohol and Tex-Mex food. This was all done in between duck throwing contests into the kiddie pool, Power Hour, sheesha smoking, chilling at the water hole, and slaughtering of the chickens. The International Showcase had some fantastic performers of our own (wontong's wushu was amazing; the Polish group were adorable; and Surya & Kirk put Afro-beat in our blood).

What is 'Texas'?
boot shopping at SoCo (South of Congress)

sad, geriatric jackrabbit

cowboy hats

couch. leather couch.

crawfish (okay, okay. this is actually cajun crawfish from Louisiana, but it was still photo worthy and finger-lickin' good). We also had amy's ice cream - does that count as Texan?

Behold, the beauty of mother nature

Luscious green and bodies of cool clear water can be found in Austin, Texas - not your typical cowboy tumbleweed land. This is a huge deciding factor for me in categorizing favorite cities in the US - Austin gets a 9.5 in my book.

Cambell's water hole along the Green Belt has some great rocks to make a rock climber's fingers twitch.

With my recent fascination/obssession with bodies of water (glassy jade hue of Halong Bay in Vietnam; aqua-marine waves lapping the white coral beaches in Malaysia; turquoise-green Yoshino River that vividly contrasts the cherry blossoms in Japan), the Austin Green Belt quickly became one of my favorite spots.

It's no easy climb

There is an old Japanese saying - "people who like to climb high are either extremely royal or extremely stupid." I just hope I'm not the latter. (I believe we were about 40-45m from the bottom at this point)

View from the landbridge (a secret place that Kristen took us to) - perfect place for watching the sunset over beer and nuts. It's hard to see here, but we were actually sitting on a ledge that connects two cliffs (hence a 'landbridge').

While it lacks the credit it deserves, North America has some of the most beautiful natural landscapes. The sun casts a golden beam across the top of the hills.

Hello, Sunshine

While it was good to see old faces, it was also a great opportunity to meet new people, such as Mixmaster, Sheila Z, Cragnes, Tata, Tran, Drake, Emir, and Johnny.

Sheila the lush (haha) - this gorgeous girl proved that Indiana could party, rain or shine - in sickness & in health.

The excuisite Madame Agnes lassos Phil

"I've found it - the moon!"

Tata - I knew I had to meet this Guatemalan one day to settle our differences.

The amazing Tran - a wonderful host who runs on mysterious insomniac energy.

Kevin commented that I have become Dody's stalker. Indeed, I have become everyone's stalker. I am inspired by these people and dazzled by their talents. Looking forward to letting our paths cross again.

I was surfing through Matt's blog and came across this.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but when combined with context, the effect is magnified ten-fold. In the information overload world today, photojournalism is becoming one of my favorite forms of acquiring and sending information.

p.s. - Matt, hopefully I will get to meet you in person one day!

*Disclaimer: I don't really stalk Dody. He just happened to be in all the good photo shots of the Austin reception weekend.

Dody G. The Dode. Doder. Dody Guaniwananiwana-wanu...??? The nomadlife god himself.

It's a rare occasion that the guru steps out of his cozy Chicago habitat to venture into new territory. It must be the climate and/or spring fever. Let's find out what he did this past weekend in Austin.

Friday - Day 1

The arrival - meeting his old disciples.


Bungee duck throwing contest from the second story balcony of Jesse's apartment. Dody was an olympic hope for the Indonesian shotput team before his injury.


The duck - conquered and retrieved.


Dody tries out the onion beer sheesha (bowl carved by Trent) - never been smoked from. But it sure looks like it would make a great story.


This is Dody Vision - Austin International Showcase


Dody saw the Polish dancers too.


Dody is the ladies' man.

Saturday - Day 2

An Austin must-do: breakfast tacos at Juan in a Million


Probably the most diverse looking bunch at Barton Creek - one of the best hangouts in Austin. A luscious picnic and nature spot in Texas, who knew?


Dody meditates in the middle of the creek... with a Shiner in his hand


Dody Vision - Defeathering of Fluffy and Precious.


...or perhaps Dody didn't see the chickens getting slaughtered.


Austin High Society Party. Dody is the ladies' man.


Dody in action - cement mixer, a deadly mouth-foaming combination of Bailey's and fresh-squeezed-lime. Mix it Dody. Mix it.


Dody Vision (continued) - there were lots of people at the High Society Party.


Mixmaster in da house. Dody saw him at the party too.

Sunday - Day 3

One for every household - get your Dody today.


Dody vision suddenly turned black and white.


The last supper occurred at Jesse's apartment while playing dominos. The chef looks on intensely at his pad thai.

So there you have it. This is Dody. It's not surprising that so many people know him, yet have never met him. Keep up the good work. He just might show up in your city one day.

Many of our comrades pilgimaged back to their respective hometowns, eagerly savoring the fleeting moments.

Some of us still remain in Austin. Some spent the day drinking rum and playing dominos. Some returned to the water hole to watch drunken swimming squirrels and the sunset from the landbridge. High Society party obliterated most until noon when one took to eating either rabit food or dim sum.

But we all come together for one thing - pad thai and vietnamese spring rolls. Homemade cuisine in the Love-shack is hard to resist for all.

Good night from Austin. Signing off.

What do you get when you get countries in the world to exhibit their culture, futuristic technology and lots & lots & lots of people wait in line to see them?

The World Expo.

The World Exposition: Ai Chikyuhaku is being held in Nagoya, Japan this year from March 25 - September 25. I was lucky enough to be in Nagoya to attend the expo for 2 days. What impressed me the most was how far visual and transportation technology has come over the years (*see comments below).

The first World Exposition was held in London in 1851, celebrating the Industrial Revolution. Since then, major cities around the world have bid for their part in hosting the multi-cultural and progressive technology fair.

>>Click here for the history and location of World Exposition 1851-2010.


"Ai-Chikyuhaku" = Love - World Expo

Everybody needs mascots

The World Expo has 2 mascots, Morizo and Kiccoro, which represent the forest spirits. Did I mention that the theme of this expo is "Nature's Wisdom"?
The big dark one - Morizo
The little light green dude - Kiccoro

I found the mascots to be a bit odd and creepy at first, but for some reason, they grow on you (or perhaps it's the excessive marketing everywhere you go).

Company Pavillions - New Technology

I guess you can say that the World Expo is split into 3 main parts: Nature, Global Village, and New Technology. The flashiest exhibits were put together by the major Japanese firms: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Chunichi Newspaper, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsui, to name a few.

Mitsubishi Future Pavillion - 'If there was no moon...'

Mitsubishi based their pavillion on a study by an astrologist named Dr. Neil Comins - 'What earth would be like if there was no moon.' The point of this exhibit is to show the miracle of earth and to conjure a desire for preserving the one and only earth.

The Mitsubishi IFX Theater - the walls, ceiling, and floor expand to become the entire screen. The beautiful images of life on earth are portrayed in a dramatic stereo surround sound environment.

The evolution of earth is fast-forwarded through the Giant Impact, dinasaur age, etc. There is an abrupt pause and a question is posed: What would it have been like if there was no Giant Impact?

If there was no "Giant Impact" meteor that chipped a part of the earth to create the moon... there would be no moon... then, there would be no gravitational pull to slow down the earth's rotation... the earth would be a desolate desertland with unfavorable conditions for evolution...

*I really liked this pavillion for the beautiful images (especially the huge whales swimming across) and the cute robot narrator in the beginning.

Mitsui-Toshiba - Grand Odyssey

What if everyone who came to the park could star in a movie? At this pavillion, computer graphics technology was employed to scan your face to cast you in the movie that you were watching.

Scanning process

You can be a sci-fi movie star too.

*I guess I'm just not too thrilled about sci-fi movies. It was a bizarre experience to see myself on the screen.

Hitachi - Nature Contact

This was probably the most interesting pavillion at the expo. Hitachi introduces 3 of their products through the Nature Viewer to allow entrants to learn about endangered species in the world. There is also a virtual reality ride that allows you to hold the animals on your hand.

Nature Viewer -the liquid battery is environmentally friendly; iVDR is a mobile HDD; the mu chip reader allows you to scan in information into the HDD. When you scan the device over the indicated posts (over the mu chips), you can access interactive images, texts, and videos about the endangered animals.

Virtual reality ride - put up your binoculars and strap on your VR sensors on your hands. You are off to the safari, the jungle, and the underwater world where you can feed bananas to monkeys, feel the giraffe breathe on your cheek, and flip a sea-turtle on your hand.

*This was my FAVORITE pavillion. The technology was amazing, the VR ride was fun, but most of all, it's such an awesome idea to increase awareness and to allow people to interact with endangered species without actual contact. Very creative and entertaining.

JR (Japan Railways) - Linear Motor Car

For the longest time, Japanese people have been anticipating the arrival of the linear motor car age. The technology has come far enough to run frequent tests. What's most impressive about this is its ability to run at 581 km/hr without negative effects on humans (this is the best record - usually, it runs at 500+ km/hr). The bullet train currently runs at 210 km/hr.

Two main physics applications are: 1) the use of absolute zero condition (using immediate refrigeration technology) to achieve "pinning" (makes things stay in their place) and 2) use of magnetism to levitate, accelerate, and direct the train.


You can experience the speed of the linear motor car in the 3-D theater.

Domo-Arigato-Mister-Robotto

How can you speak of the future without conjuring images of a sophisticated robot that performs gazillion tasks? Actual practicality aside, there were some amazing robots that paraded throughout the World Expo site.

Toyota's "Partner" robot - this one has actual lips for playing the trumpet. There are other robots that play various musical instruments.

NEDO Helper robot - one of the few robots that can walk upright. It is being tested as personal helper robots. NEDO is a new energy development organization, created by the Japanese government in 1980. Its current major project is carbon nanotubes, which has a possible application as paper thin and flexible computer screens (imagine a Harry Potter newsletter in real life). NEDO also has an experimental lab at the expo site to create recycled energy from the garbage produced at the site.

Wakamaru - Mitsubishi's cute guide. Since it has wi-fi capabilities, you can access the internet on this robot and it also responds to daily conversations.

Computerized cars in the park - If you look closely inside, you'll find that there's a stuffed animal in the driver's seat!

One may question why companies are investing so much in humanoid robot technology. Some are not even related to the core business (e.g. - Toyota's Partner robots only play music). But if you can create a snazzy robot, you get a lot of publicity, I think. Unforutnately, I didn't get to see the robot that flatulates and blushes - I have no clue why it would even have those functions.

Art and Nature

At the expo, there were plenty of parks, benches, and picnic areas to make you feel like you were surrounded by nature. You can tell that the pavillions and exhibits were carefully planned to cater to aesthetics.

"Daichi no Tou" = Tower of Land. This was produced by Fujii Fumiya (a popular singer who started in a boy band) and has been certified to be in this year's Guiness Book of World Records as the world's largest kaleidescope (47m tall).

View from inside

"Nihon Kan" - This was also one of my favorites. This is a 360-degree globe-shaped theater where you see a movie from inside a sphere. You get dropped from the sky for an aerial view of earth, then into the ocean to see life under sea, and then finally you are standing in space with the stars and clusters of universe all around you. It was an amazing feeling.

Speaking of nature, there was a very agressive effort to be environmentally friendly and energy/material efficient. Here, you can see 12 different trash bins for recycling and separating garbage.

There's one for throwaway chopsticks only.

Actually, many of the pavillions are built from recycled/recyclable materials. For instance, the walls of the Mitsubishi pavillion are built from recycled plastic bottles. Also, the toilets use re-purified water from a nearby water purification site. There are also various sites that use solar, wind, and recycled natural energy (still in R&D stage).

Global Village - Around the World in 4 Days

Girls from Aremenia and Georgia dress up in their cultural dress - a favorite for the camera-shutter happy Japanese

The Lithuania pavillion had an interactive robot. This would have been really cool, but it never quite understood my questions.

Italy proudly covers their Fiat in white chocolate

Belgium was all into art - they exhibited a painting opera which was a unique form of modern art, and they showed off the best of their country side and architecture via an aerial movie on a looooooooong screen.

Switzerland had one of the longest lines for people waiting to enter the pavillion. You learn so much about Switzerland within the 30minutes by carrying around an interactive mp3 player and flashing it at the exhibits. This picture shows a modern art performance by a Swiss woman who rubs her face back-and-forth against the glass.

Large shouts perked my interest and I found this. The Maori tribe from New Zealand performed their dance for the crowd. Their scary expressions and makeup were comical and some brave souls dared to take pictures with them afterwards.

One of the auxiliary exhibits included an all-star line-up of sumo wrestlers. It's quite impressive to see all the sumo wrestlers stacked in a line. It was a great opportunity to introduce Japan's sport of sumo wrestling to an international and young crowd (contrary to common misconception, sumo wrestling is not about fat guys bumping into each other. It's an actual sport).

Yokozuna: Asa Shoryu - 'yokozuna' is the highest rank in sumo wrestling. Asa Shoryu is currently the Michael Jordan of the sumo world. Interestingly, he is Mongolian, which is hurting a bit of national pride (so I hear).

This photo is somewhat misleading. These guys are pro-sumo wrestlers, but they are not from Azerbaijan. The two guys on the left are from Belgium and the tall guy on the right is from Russia. Sumo goes global - how cool!

Now, this guy should pick a fight with someone his own size. 5-year old kids from the Nagoya international school were chosen to join the pro sumo wrestlers for the auxiliary fight. There were even some kids who got picked up by their underwear (it's a long piece of cloth wrapped around like a thong, called 'fundoshi') - but there's also a traditional belief that kids who are picked up by sumo wrestlers become strong.

Did you know that sumo wrestlers are quite flexible?

So I conclude my report here. It was a great opportunity to peer into an awesome global event. I really enjoyed the new technologies and was especially in awe of the visual exhibits. I was also quite impressed with how "Green" everything was and am crossing my fingers that the expo in Shanghai in 2010 will be as environmentally friendly, or even more.

And if anybody is thinking of going to the World Expo in Japan this year, I can give you tips on how to get there and how to maximize your day (since you line up for the popular pavillions).

... you have absolutely no time to update your blog.

I haven't done a single update since Taman Negara jungle trekking in Malaysia, tsunami aid concert in KL, night safari in Singapore, karaoke in Tokyo, driving in Chichibu, Saitama, shopping in Nagoya, underwater swirl-watching and hot spring in Shikoku.

And there's more... World Expo 2005, here I come! Sumo wrestlers, humanoid robots, and CG technology galore. Yum!