Wanderlust Heaven!

You may have guessed I’m seriously busy these days, I haven’t filed a blog post in more than 3 weeks.  I had another existential self-struggle about whether to keep the blog going, but am going to persevere as long as possible – I’m come to feel quite strongly that persistence/perseverance is the most important human trait.

Last post was my 160^th, when you look at the Boots’n’All screen, on the right-hand side, there are so many months in which I’ve posted that it spans more than a screen deep.  I’m well over 3 years’ worth of posting, although the cadence has slowed since I returned to work.  You may actually be thankful for that!

Because I haven’t posted in a while, my memory is dimming a bit, but will try to be both colorful and concise here.

I’ve started (sort of) frequenting the Bulldog Pub, which seems likely to become my “local.”  My second night there, I met Nicole the Marketing Manager, her South African buddy, who’s a DJ at nearby Zapata’s, and cute Filipino waitress Tani.  Good vibe, decent value, and usually a vacant seat at the bar.  Count me in.

Had a challenging presentation to a pharmaceuticals distributor in Hong Kong a few weeks ago.  Had to get up to speed on some different product categories in the space of 2-3 days, and write a presentation to give to them.  Thankfully, an old colleague works there now (he brought me in), and he set expectations accordingly.  The prez went well and we might do a piece of work for them in coming months.

After the meeting I walked over the my old favorite, Shanghai 369, for some noodle soup and steamed dumplings – this place has the greatest dumplings, I swear.  This meal was really the sole bit of pleasure during this one-night trip to HKG, the rest was all business.  Which seems to be becoming a theme these days…

Got an RFP from a former client, and we signed non-disclosure agreements, which turned out to be a bit more of a pain than I anticipated.  I download the client’s form, attached my digital signature, and sent to my assistant to get the company seal and then get dropped off.  For some reason she couldn’t open my file, so I had to re-send late in the day and it was all a bit stressful.  We got it in before close of business, but I was stressing while standing in line at Pudong Airport Immigration – not something you really need after a busy day.

Met friend Ed at the Hilton for a beer, and to see his friend KJ, who’s a mover/shaker in life sciences in China.  Had a good discussion.

Went to Bulldog for a much-needed cocktail after that.  Saw Tani and chatted with her…talked to Steven, an Aussie sitting at the bar next to me, who regaled me with stories of Papua New Guinea, where he used to teach.  It happened to be Ladies’ Night at the bar, but the crowd still seemed a bit thin.  Chatted for a few minutes with waitress Annabelle, who shares her name with my maternal grandmother, bless her soul.  Filipinos have classic names, I wonder how many Westerners are named Annabelle these days…

Next day, went to a presentation given by a local law firm.  I wasn’t thrilled to attend, esp. given that it was in Mandarin, but they needed someone senior to attend, so I went with one of our project managers.  Midway through, I got a call from the prospective client – he had sent the RFP and I needed to download it ASAP, as I was getting on a flight to Beijing in a few hours and wanted to at least read it on the flight.  Found the Business Center, got the file, called him, and then went to the airport.

Read the file on the flight and started formulating my thoughts & proposal.  It looked to be a hairy few weeks, they wanted to start pretty soon and I had a few other things on my plate coming right up.

Did my meetings in Beijing, stayed just the one night, then back to Shanghai.  Worked on the proposal and got that into decent shape.  Shared it with some colleagues for comments, and while awaiting their response, I went to the Bulldog to soothe my nerves.

It was Trivia Night – I tend to be pretty good at the inane and trivial.  I got all the geography questions right and wound up impressing Tani the cute waitress.  The hardest question was for a photo, they showed a very blurry pic and had us guess who it was – not a multiple choice question, unfortunately.  I forget who I went for, but the correct answer was Leon Trotsky – someone actually got it.  I should stick to my strong suits, geography and history.   Fun night, anyway.

I’m becoming increasingly annoyed with Facebook.  I get at least 10 messages a day from the site, and probably should turn off the notification feature.  The downside would be if I ever did want to see what’s been going on, there’d be hundreds of notices and I’d flee instantly, never to return.  Better to manage the slow drip, methinks…

September 11^th rolled around.  Had a very busy morning working on two client leads/cases.  Got an email from an old fraternity brother, he and another brother were heading to Cleveland on the weekend to visit another brother who’s son is in a specialty hospital there, getting treated for some terrible illnesses.  Just heart-rending.  I asked him to call me when they were all together, I wanted to check in and provide my best wishes.

Had a meeting with prospective client re the new proposal.  Good session, made some progress.  What I’m starting to realize after a few months here in China is that the fast pace of change makes everything unpredictable and hard to manage.  I feel much more rushed and tired than I did in Japan or Oz…those are mature markets and clients know how to work with consultants – here everything needs to be turned around in 2-3 days and it makes life difficult.  I’m not putting in world-record hours, but it seems like every minute is packed and I’m dead by 7 p.m.

This 9-11 seemed pretty low-key on my end, I don’t even think I watched a second of TV or read much about the anniversary of the attacks.  We had an office meeting and then a dinner that night, went to a nearby Italian place where we all ate too much.  No karaoke afterward, I think we were all tired…or perhaps some people slunk away to engage in mischief but didn’t tell me – all for the better.  I went to the Bulldog for a few beers and then cut my losses.  Stressful week…

For some reason in the cab en route to my flat, I fixated on the car’s turn signal.  I thought back to when I was a little boy, riding in the back of my Mom’s car, and wondering how the car knew when it was time to turn left or right.  Ah, those days of ignorance!  Now I know too well what’s going on and it’s often more than I can bear…

Had a date scheduled with a Russian woman who I’d gotten in touch with through a mutual friend.  She was working for a Shanghai-based clothing company and we were to meet Sunday night.  On Saturday I spent some time listening to some Russian-language podcasts I’d downloaded a while back, I remembered some Russian from my 4 or so months in the FSU, but had forgotten most of it.  I kind of like Russian and it was good to hear the words again.

Did some reading…worked some more on my client proposal, which was a demanding piece of work and I had no help on it…and practiced a bit of guitar, something that’s really been slipping lately.

Went out for a run…when I got outside, there were crowds everywhere.  No, it wasn’t my audition for “Life of Brian,” instead there was a fire in a building across the street.  There was a fair amount of smoke billowing about, I went back upstairs and closed all the windows.  Then went back out, skirted the crowds (Chinese people seem to love a public spectable), and walked to Jiaotong University’s track, as usual.

Had a good run – it’s getting cooler out, I can go much farther now.  After the run, walked around the ‘hood for a long time, hadn’t had a chance to do that much yet.  Found a cluster of Japanese cafes/restos near the West Yan’an Metro Station (I think it was that one).  There was even a dedicated sake bar – who knew?  Went home, showered, and walked back – ducked into Yakitori Daikichi and had a very nice informal meal.  When I lived in Tokyo I would go to izakaya or yakitori-ya nearly every night, the assortment and quality were simply exceptional and I really have missed Japanese food.  Now I have a good alternative to Chinese, although I can eat that nearly every day without getting sick of it, the variety of dishes is so vast.

Saw “Hotel Carolina” on Xinhua Lu on my way home.  I love it.

Took it easy the rest of that night, Saturday night.  Am I getting old, or just responsible?  It’s probably a good thing that Bulldog Pub isn’t down the street from my flat, otherwise I’d be there more often.

On Sunday I worked all day – not a trend I hope to continue, but it seems likely.  Had lunch at new favorite Shen Ya, near the Crowne Plaza.   Got a call from Cleveland, my fraternity brothers were there, I spoke with a couple of them, including Seth, who’s son is being treated there.  He’s holding up pretty well.  I joined CaringBridge, the website where his son’s progress is being tracked.  Life is truly a going concern, you have to soldier on and make the best of things.

Did a bit of yoga, which helps center me when I’m way too busy.  Then showered and went to meet Marina, my date, at Haiku by Hatsune Japanese resto.  Had fun talking with her and eating rolls…we went for a nightcap at Sasha’s, then headed home (separately).  Saw roommate/colleague George when I returned to the flat, he’d just gotten in from San Francisco.

Monday morning – up at 6:15 a.m.  Had to fly to Beijing, and later in the week to Seoul.  Saw George, packed my bag, and headed to the airport.  At least this was Hongqiao Airport, the domestic field, which is much closer and less of a hassle.  At the airport I had a call with my Korean colleagues about the Friday morning meeting, then got on the plane.  No dull/free moments these days.   Worked on the client proposal on the flight.  By the time I landed, around 10:30 a.m., I already felt like I had put in a full day.

Went to our office.  Worked on the document a bit more.  Had a meeting with a different client.  Back to the document.  Had a short call with the Russian lass, that was a welcome distraction – we made some plans to meet soon.  Had a call at 9 p.m., then collapsed into bed.

The next day we were kicking off a 3-day client capabilities workshop, I was only attending the first day but had to say a few words of intro.  Noticed that I’d forgotten my collar stays, so stuck some cardboard up the shirt-slots and that worked pretty well.  Improvisation – yet another important human characteristic, I’m reasonably good at that one too.

After the workshop, I put in a bit more time on the client proposal, which was by now in solid shape.  I just wish I had more help on these things, it always feels like you’re running a solo shop.  Switched on the TV for the first time in ages (I was in a hotel, and do tend to watch a bit more TV when in hotels generally).  It was the first anniversary of the collapse of Lehman and all the muckety-mucks were opining left and right.  I recalled being in Sevastopol, Crimea when this was all happening last year and being utterly gobsmacked by the scale of the wreckage.  That was when I’d gotten serious about returning to work…what a year it’s been, friends.

Next day I met with “client #2,” to prepare for a workshop we’d have later in the year.  He’s a great guy and I enjoy spending time with him.  Got out of that meeting and got a call from the client to whom I owed my current proposal – instead of needing it two days’ hence, he wanted it that night.  Ugh.  I had to rearrange my entire schedule and plan to be up all night.  Flew back to Shanghai as regularly scheduled, but spent entire flight cranking on the document.  Worked on it till nearly midnight, then sent it off.  George gave me an assist towards the end, he read a couple documents for me and teased out the key bits.  Remember what I said about China being fast-paced, unpredictable, and demanding?  Word…

On Thursday I was drowsy all day.  It was raining, an all-too-often occurrence in Shanghai.  Had a call with our Asia Head, we decided to make me a full-time employee starting January 1.  Being a contractor really has no benefit – same pay, same hours, and the possibility of non-renewal once the contract period ends.  I’d done a good job since returning and wasn’t particularly worried about being cut free, but I think it’s better if there’s at least some impediment in place to being fired.  I imagine most people would agree in these much-diminished days…

No time for a run that night.  Cooked some mushroom soup, then got on a work conference call.  Traded texts with the Russian.  Call ended around 10 p.m., I decided to go to Bulldog for a beer.  Did that, didn’t stay long, but it was a nice diversion from the grind.

Had breakfast the next morning with colleague George and an Aussie named Tony who’s looking for a job.  Had a relatively mellow day, and was looking forward to going to Rosh Hashanah services at the Millenium Hotel around 6 p.m.  Had a car arranged…then, at 5:15 p.m., my prospective client called – he wanted to get together and discuss the proposal.  What could I say?  This was important to our business and we wanted to get the work…so I had the car just take me to his office, nearby.  We discussed things, I promised to get him a revised version by Monday afternoon, and then went home.  No Rosh Hashanah that night, and the weekend would now be full of proposal revision work.

Went to the Bulldog to vent a bit.  Had a beer with Nicole and the South African fellow…Nicole was practicing her Valley Girl slang so I chimed in.  Pretty funny, actually – I hate hearing that lingo when I it’s everyday speech, but when you try to mock it, you can have some fun – especially when you consider you’re hanging out in Shanghai, China.  The South African guy was breaking up in laughter.  Nicole’s from Buffalo, and younger than I am, so she was streets ahead of me in the lingo but I managed to get in some good bits too.

Slept in next day, Saturday.  Proposal work loomed.  Got up and got going on that.  Went to Shen Ya for lunch, did a bit of food shopping at City Mart, the expensive but excellent upscale place nearby.  Spoke with the Russian, our schedules weren’t aligning too well.  Back was pretty sore, did some yoga and that worked wonders.  How can I work that into my daily routine – that’s an ongoing, unmet challenge.

Took it easy that night.  Got up fairly early on Sunday, did some more proposal work.  Practiced guitar for a bit, then back to the proposal.  Around 3 p.m. I got in a cab to go to the Renaissance Hotel, where the local Hash House Harriers club was meeting.  Rory and Anne, my British friends whom I’d met at the Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia Hash, were back in Shanghai after summering in Bulgaria.  I was excited to see them again, and when I reached the hotel they were right there.  Caught up with them, then did the Hash, which took us around various obscure parts of the city.  Was fairly tired afterward, we did the usual Circle of drinking and singing, then went to the nearby Oktoberfest party.  That was good fun – quasi-German fare, good beer, bands who played not only German classics, but YMCA and Sweet Home Alabama as well – random and bizarre, but good fun.  Great opportunity to see affluent Shanghainese families at play, they were really getting into it.

I didn’t stay that long, as I still had to work on the proposal, which, all told, had taken huge amounts of my time (and sanity) over previous weeks.  You can probably sense that from this post, no?

Did some more work, then quit for the night, I was pretty close to being “done.”  Watched the 1981 movie “Continental Divide,” starting John Belushi.  I’d really liked this movie many years ago, had seen it a couple times, and had the DVD.  And I still like it – seeing John Belushi playing a relatively straight role is quite an experience.  The movie falls short of being a real classic, but it was certainly worth 90 minutes of my scarce time these days…

Monday morning.  Had a quick call with George on the proposal, he liked what I’d done and had a couple suggestions before I sent it off.  Proceeded to have an exhausting day…went straight home afterward and had a nap, something I almost never do these days.  Reminded me of my sabbatical, when I had the luxury of such things.

Tuesday – rained all day.  Utterly depressing.  Had to fly to Beijing that evening, packed and went to the office, after having my assistant get me a car.  Nearly impossible to get a cab in Shanghai when it rains – perhaps the least agreeable aspect of living here.  Read in the car that former nightlife spot Julu Lu was closed down – a notorious place, so I wasn’t surprised.  The Expo is in Shanghai next year and I imagine the government is trying to clean the place up.

Spent the day working on various client matters, then we had a CV Workshop for prospective hires.  Quite an accomplished bunch.  I did the firm’s intro, then let my colleagues handle the rest.  Went to the airport and flew to Beijing that evening.

Had client meetings the next morning…then my prospective client called and asked me to attend a meeting that Sunday afternoon.  Because of the upcoming National Day holiday, which was combined with the Autumn Holiday, we’d have more than a week off, so the powers that be designed two weekend days as official work days, and this Sunday was one of them.  I agreed to attend.  Client meetings on Sundays – not something you want to make a regular event.

Had a productive client meeting after that, then had dinner with the Beijing office head, a good guy from France.  He took me to a genuine local place where they eat skewers and peppers – nice to get away from the hotel restos.  Then we went to Maggie’s for a beer, that place has been around forever but moved a couple years ago.  Fun dive bar.  Called brother-in-law Dave when I got back to the hotel, it was his birthday and I wanted to say hi.

Next day, I did a few things in the morning, then flew to Seoul.  Hadn’t been there in 4 years or so.  Easy flight from Beijing.  Got to Incheon Airport and got into the waiting car.  I must say that Seoul looks much nicer than it did years ago…they’ve created new parks, planted more trees, and in general made it more pleasant.  Went to our office, which I remembered fairly well from some late-night work there years ago.  Most of my Seoul memories were of long nights at the office, and weird client meetings.  I did a bit of work in the office, then, along with a couple colleagues, went to the train station to catch a train to Daegu City, Korea’s third-largest city, where we’d have a client meeting the following morning.  I’d never heard of Daegu City until a week ago, when I was asked to join this meeting – see what you learn along the way.

Got to Daegu City, checked into the hotel, which was perfectly fine.  Met old colleague Won-Hong at the poolside cafe, where we talked about the project and meeting.  Hadn’t seen him in years – that’s one nice thing about rejoining the firm, I still have some old friends around the planet – and they seem pretty happy to have me back.

Not an ugly night (for me).  Was in bed around 12:30 a.m.  But our project team stayed up all night preparing for the meeting, which was at 8 a.m.  I got up and went for a quick breakfast, then we met in the lobby.

Meeting went well – it was with the city government, the vice-mayor was there/presiding.  I had a few comments, it was all over after 90 minutes and my Korean colleagues seemed happy.  We went to our project office, worked, had a good Korean lunch, then got on the train back to Seoul.  Every single one of us slept the entire ride.  It was Friday and a long week for all of us.

Got into Seoul.  Checked into the Marriott, then had dinner with colleague Hanmae, who was my “handler” this trip.  He’d had zero sleep the night before, and hadn’t seen his family all week, so I didn’t keep him out long.  I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Seoul, but I was fried and had to do some work the next day, in anticipation of my Sunday client meeting.  We went to a terrific Korean resto where we had kalbi, sirloin, and the usual endless assortment of side plates.  Then went back to the hotel where I read a bit, then crashed hard.

Slept till 9 a.m. the next day.  Had a nice breakfast, for once, then had to head to the airport to fly back to Shanghai.  Car didn’t show in time, so hopped in a taxi.  The entire time in Korea I never had a Korean Won on me – I’d relied on my colleagues or credit cards.  Taxis in Seoul accept credit cards, so I was able to avoid the hassle of getting Won that I might not need for a while (although I may return later on in this project, we’ll see).

On Sunday I worked the entire day, it was an official work day.  Had my afternoon client meeting, which went well enough – we did what we needed to do, and decided to have a “soft project kickoff” right away.  The week promised to be a hard one – the holiday would start Wed night, so between Sunday and Wednesday I’d be in 5^th gear, without much of a project team around me.  We were fully booked until after the holiday, and my project manager was in the US.  Ugh.

As expected, I had a brutally busy week.  Spent nearly all my waking hours at the client – at night I’d limp home.  It rained most of the time, which made it hard to get around town – coming from the client’s office to ours on Tuesday evening, it took nearly an hour, versus 10 minutes in decent weather.  Between the rain and the pre-holiday madness, it was a terrible time to be trying to move around the city.  I was dying to escape, and had booked a flight to Bangkok…where I expected to have to continue to work, but with better weather and a bit of a holiday mentality, if not a true beach bonanza.

Things with the Russian lass didn’t pan out…I think she got back together with an old flame…and I was so fried from work/life in China that I really didn’t care, I was actually happy to have one fewer distraction.  You know you’re working way too hard when you start to feel that way.  It’s almost like being demasculated, you don’t want any social distractions, except perhaps for an on-demand beer at the pub.  So I went on Wed night to the Bulldog for a “farewell beer” before flying to Thailand on Thursday.  Saw the usual gang there and it was nice to spend an hour or so there.

National Day, Thursday October 1, rolled around.  For the third straight morning, a nearby car alarm woke me up.  Got up and did some work, and started to pack.  Housekeeper Ching showed up – hadn’t met her before, and while it was nice to finally meet, I was pretty busy and hadn’t really expected her.  I knew she tended to clean our flat on Mondays and Thursdays, but didn’t know precisely what time, and also it was National Day so I half-expected her to take the day off.  But no…she showed, with a little boy – she works/lives with a Western family and he’s the son.  I found their presence a bit distracting and was happy when they left after an hour or so.  Finished up some emails and hastily packed, then met the car waiting downstairs for me.  I was escaping and was damn glad about it.  It had been a month from hell.

It was, of course, raining hard, which promised to screw up the flights.  Plus the government had dibs on landing slots, this being National Day, with lots of military hardware being paraded about.  My China Eastern flight was more than 2 hours late and I was annoyed.  Getting out of China wasn’t proving to be easy or smooth.

Landed in Bangkok around 8 p.m.  Got to the hotel around 9, dropped off my stuff at Starry Place Apartments, then walked over to see friend Bob at VP Tower.  His girlfriend Kate was there, hadn’t seen her the past few trips and it was good to see her, despite the language barrier.  Bob was finishing up some e-trades – he showed me a bit of his work and I was a bit jealous, to be frank – I wouldn’t mind working from home, dealing only with a computer, and controlling my hours.  Of course, his income is totally unpredictable, and the stress therein shouldn’t be underestimated.  How to weave together the better elements of our two jobs/lifestyles??

Had a couple beers with them, then walked back to Starry.  It was really nice to be back in Bangkok, one of my favorite cities.  The place is totally accommodating, there are so few real frustrations here.  You can get a taxi when it’s raining…things are cheap…quality is fairly high…and the mood is relaxed.  OK, there’s not the commercial vibrancy of China, or at least the zany entrepreneurial spirit, but there’s enough energy and diversity for me.

Bought “District 9” DVD, I’ve heard great things about this movie and have been meaning to see it.  I fully expected to have to work during the upcoming week in Bangkok, but I was hoping to keep it to half-days and not 12-hour days.

Got a haircut – which wasn’t looking promising until I intervened.  Need to find a better salon that than one.  Had lunch with Bob at Century Mall nearby, he’s perfected a super-cheap system where he brings his own bottle of water (filled at a sterilized water place, for next to nothing) and pays about a dollar for a solid, healthy lunch.  I think Bob’s getting by on USR$1K a month or so – amazing.  I’m frugal enough but would need to spend a multiple of that.

Took a much-needed nap…went for a run in the park nearby.  Soi Rangnaam, where I nearly always stay, is wonderful – it has great street food, this park, a couple good bars, and is near the Victory Monument Skytrain stop.  I swear I could come here and spend a year or much more…I might just do that before long.

Watched District 9 that night, enjoyed it thoroughly.  I love the South African accent – not everyone does, but I do.  And the theme of the movie really resonated, it was an excellent piece of work.

Next day, Saturday, I got up and got to work.  Made solid progress, not enough, but hey, it was Saturday after all, and a holiday week.  Not that the Chinese holidays hold much meaning for me, but after the month I’d had I deserved some rest and meant to take it.  Had some street food for lunch…took another nap…went for another run.  That’s my type of pattern, and need to get back to it soon.

Thais really make their food with tender loving care.  Walking around, watching vendors prepare food, it’s captivating to see how much attention they devote to their art.  And this is also true with eating, Thais spend time mixing in condiments and spices, instead of just wolfing down the entire bowl/plate.  That’s something I appreciate about this place, they tend to take the time to enjoy life.

Went out with Bob that night.  Had some surprisingly OK Mexican food at Sunset Grill (or something like that), I had fish tacos which were quite nice.  Then we walked over to Soi Cowboy for a few beers, that was the usual ogling but again, a welcome distraction from the grind.  Then went back to Starry Place and slept like a corpse.

Today, Sunday, I got up and got back to work.  I finally feel like I’m catching up with everything, and plan to do whatever I need to do between now and Thursday, when I fly back to Shanghai, to both get ahead of the work and also enjoy some R&R.  Won’t be easy to balance the two, never is, but this is probably one of the better places to try.  I’m just cranking out this long-overdue blog entry, and after posting it will go for dinner and a beer, and try to avoid further work for the night.  The upcoming month looks to be another demanding one, and I need to build up some energy and fortitude before I return to Shanghai and take the gloves off once more.  Wish me luck, dear readers.  Over and out.