Traveling Man

Hello everyone, this is Chris!

Its been quite awhile since we’ve had an opportunity to write a blog entry. The truth is, much like the US, everyday life simply isn’t that interesting, and very busy. Now that it’s the holiday season (in the US anyway) we have quite a few things coming up such as hosting multiple Thanksgiving dinners, charity events, and horse races. I’ll let Erin cover those at another time. I thought I’d give you an update of where I’ve been traveling to, since they lifted the corporate travel ban at the end of September. For those who are unfamiliar with the corporate travel ban, it comes every year in the fourth quarter (in the case of Johnson Controls, that would be July – September) which is our fiscal year end. The thought is if you limit travel, you reduce global expenses, and then you can show your shareholders a larger full-year profit. I’m not sure it actually works, but I’m not in charge. Anyway here’s where I’ve been since October 22nd, when I started traveling:

Singapore
I spent most all of May and part of June here and not much has changed. Its very close to the equator so its really hot at all times and it rains for one hour every afternoon. Very good Indian, Thai, and Singaporean food, although you have to watch out because they put very hot, red chili sauce on everything. This is also the place where I had the most interesting dessert I’ve had since coming to Asia. It came in a medium sized bowl with what looked like (and tasted like) shaved ice. On the ice was a red color on one side and blue on the other. On top of that was creamed-corn. Once you ate into it (which reminded me of a big 7-eleven Slurpee with corn on top) you discovered there were green beans at the bottom. It wasn’t terrible, but didn’t taste good. Other than that there isn’t much to say. It a perfect place if you are moving your family to Asia. Its very green and very clean, but it can feel a little sterile. Its not a bad place to go, but if you are traveling to see Asia I’d skip it, there are better places to go. It is interesting that Singapore gained quite a bit of fame for caneing (probably not spelled correctly, but hitting someone with a cane) a teenager for throwing gum on the ground, but there are more prostitutes operating in the open in this city than you can count.

Bangkok, Thailand
I spent about 24 hours in the city, but I like it a lot and I will be going back. The food is wonderful and my favorite in Asia (although it can be very spicy). The people are incredibly nice and the service in the hotels is incredible. The traffic is nuts, which is why we had a driver. The city is a spectacular combination of super-city and third world. You see brilliant new skyscrapers and condos built on back alleys with vendors selling some type of grilled meat or other food right out on the street. I’m not sure what type of meat it is, but I didn’t see any dogs running around.

(OK that’s a lie, there are actually stray dogs wandering around everywhere….I still wouldn’t eat the meat)

Manila, The Philippines
I was in Manila for two days. Accidentally, the first day I was there was a national holiday. You see a week before the “President” declared a national holiday so the people could vote and no one told me. According to our driver, whoever is in power can call elections when they are ready, this gives them an advantage over their competition…because the competition doesn’t actually know when the elections will be held. Surprisingly the incumbent won. Anyway, Manila is a wild town and the traffic makes Bangkok look tame. There are no traffic lights anywhere. Think about that. In front of my hotel there was a three-lane by three-lane intersection with no traffic lights and a lot of traffic. One side just starts going when they are ready. Its an amazing process and a lot of accidents. The food is also very good, lots of fish, rice and noodles. This is probably a town you can skip on your way through Asia, although it is interesting.

Shanghai, China
I was in town for three days and it was awesome. Because I was there for more than a night I had the opportunity to explore the town a little bit. If you are in Asia and have the opportunity, visit Shanghai. The downtown area is amazing. New skyscrapers across the river from European style buildings built in the early 1900s. The area referred to as “The Bund”, which is basically a river walk on the river that cuts through downtown. They light up all the buildings at night and it is very cool. A friend of mine named Roy was in town, so he and I met up for a few drinks at a bar right on the Bund. Getting to the Bund (or anywhere else in Shanghai) to go and meet Roy was a bit challenging since for the most part no one speaks English. I had the hotel tell the taxi driver where I was going, but about 20 minutes into the trip when he turned around and gave me the “I don’t know exactly where it is” look, I thought I might be in trouble, but I got there. Another area I checked out was Xintiandi (or shin-tan-de for the non-Chinese speakers in the group). Basically it is an entertainment district with about 40 bars and restaurants. It was a bit touristy, but I was able to find a cool jazz bar that served food. Check it out, but be prepared for crowds. Overall, it was a very good trip. Erin and I will definitely go back there before we come home.

Jakarta, Indonesia
I’m scheduled to go to Jakarta on Tuesday, November 27th. All the travel guides I’ve read said it's an interesting city but to be prepared for gridlocked traffic, a lot of pollution, and tons of people. I’m not sure what I think, but I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ll only be there for about 24 hours, so even if its terrible I won’t be there long.

Last thing, as I was writing this blog entry our building had a fire drill. In the US, this is not a big deal. In Hong Kong I realized that for a drill I would have to walk down the steps from the 20th floor, stand outside for 15 minutes, then wait for an elevator as 2,000 people tried to get back into work. Not good times. Our assistant came up to me and asked if I was going to participate, when I told her I wasn’t sure and I didn't realize I had a choice, she replied that none of the expats ever participate so it wasn’t a big deal. One of the benefits to being the tall white guy in Asia I guess.

Take care, have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Chris