PRC/Singapore/India Trip overview
Saturday
- United lady at check-in cant find my reservation and goes weird lecturing me about why don’t I have a paper ticket (vs eticket). She ends up finding me under Lufthansa. I ask if I am still in Premiere & she then says, ‘no’ & lectures me some more. Turns out I really was in Premiere. I kept my cool
- Got sad saying good-bye to my family (10:30 am, Sat)
- Nice seat in plane, nobody to my right. Did email the entire 14 hours (waited on runway for 1-hour)
- Arrive in Beijing. City seemed very gray & dirty and dark because of the air, bummed me out
- Cab driver I think charged me ~$10 too much but I was so tired I was glad to just get in (6:00pm, Sun) . Shangri-La is a very nice hotel
- Logged in first thing and checked emails
- Ordered room service- did not like the food
- Went to sleep homesick and wondering what I was doing 6000 miles away, in this massive city w no air or sunlight
- Went to sleep, did not sleep well

Sunday (Monday PRC)
- got up at 4:00 am, called home
- Had a great breakfast! wow
- went in to the Intel office at 8:00 am (right across the street)
- Not much going on. Met my new mgr, told me just to rest
- So, I rented a bike and rode 30 minutes to the Forbidden City. Wow. So many sites, smells and sounds.
- Saw some poor young man who was severley crippled just laying off to the side of the road and I gave him 100 rnb (~$12), big woop erv. I really wanted to hug him and do so much more. it made me cry most of the way on my bike. I really need to do more to help the unfortunate in this world, this is plain ridiculous. We have so much, this guy has absoutely nothing
- I passed some youg kid and he got a big smile and decided to race me, so him and I raced allthe way to the FC, he had a huge smile on his face the whole way
- Some young college girl told me she would give me a tour for $20. I paid her. It was a good idea. She explained things well and was good company. She is trying to get into UC Berkeley & her English was good.
- It was so hot & humid , it was almost unbearable, even my guide said she thought she could not take it
- Rode back and went swimming in the hotel pool. Probably the nicest pool in the city! Almost 50M! Wow! I loved that. I am the biggest man in China and the fastest swimmer, by far
- Had dinner in the hotel, great buffet! Wow
- Met my new ‘team’ All are very nice- from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India… mostly women
- Did emails and offers until midnight
- Did not sleep very well

Monday (Tues PRC)
- Up at 5:00 am
- More email
- It’s a rainy day but I still wear my shorts
- Breakfast was great! Wow
- All day mtg with the team, brutal!
- Had 70 minutes free at lunch so chose to skip lunch and try running in their gym. Felt good. Not like running outside in the sun with real air, but I guess I can handle being inside ona machine
- Getting out of the shower, they have polished tile floors and I slipped and went flying and landed on my back & my head just missed the steps! It really hurt but I still rushed back to make my mtg at 1:00 (with 30 seconds to spare), but I was in pain. MY back really hurt and I had a big goose egg on my spine that was huge. I thought my spine was sticking out but it was just massive swelling where I hit. At the 3:30 break , I went & found some ice and put it on my spine & it started to feel much better, wlk with a limp though - Went to dinner at 6:00
- Everyone takes a cab but I insist on walking, even in the rain. I got their before anyone because of the massive traffic. I think the walking helped my back loosen up, as well
- Dinner was good, Chinese. I ate frog, jellyfish and beef intestine & heart & feet. It was OK but still was weird
- Slept a little better

Wednesday (PRC)
- Up at 6:00 am , again
- Air is great because of rain! Hooray! Blue skies, beautiful to see. Makes me happy
- Lunch walked nearby to a good place
- All day meetings
- Dinner was good but I am not sure about frog and intestine stuff. I was the only one who walked there , again

Thursday (PRC)
- up very early for CA mtgs :(
- great buffet breakfast!!
- Long day in mtgs but went rock climbing at outdoor wall in ri-tan park. Beautiful day and lots of fun at the wall. good team building
- great dinner by India embassy!! Wow! xiheyaju, I signed up for the frequent eater program! good move, erv

Friday
- up early for CA mtgs :(
- great buffet breakfast!!
- long day in mtgs
- great swim in the 35 yeard pool. Frustrated by a series of email conflicts with another US manager. I was so amped up I dont think I ever swam as fast. Sort of disappointed with myself that I told them I wanted off a team with them as they were too hard to work with
- great dinner ad du dong duck. Peking duck is very good
- I think some guy tried to pick up on me at the club nearby :(

Saturday
<= here is where I fell to my death. They added the matt afterwards - up very early for mtgs - great buffet breakfast!! - called home :) - 3 hour nap!! :) - run on the treadmill! I dont like running on treadmills. Watched some dumb love movie w Jack Nicholson while I ran since my ipod battery was dead - Are the electricity spikes killing my iPOD? - did email until about 1:30 am :(

Sunday
- up early for buffet breakfast and then to the BICF church
- church was good, a 15 minute drive away. hard to explain to the driver where, though. Had to get on internet & print out directions for him
- helped teach the Jr hi group :) Taught the kids that underwear can be a resource
- great buffet lunch! I have certainly died & gone to food heaven, for sure!
- Another nap, I just cant seem to get any consistent sleep.
- Another huge swim. I never really excelled in athletics but I must say, I am a pretty good swimmer here.
- Just a normal dinner tonight. Spaghetti.

Monday
- up at 7:30, maybe finally getting back to normal
- dang, I love these breakfast buffets!
- re-made offers fro 3-4 interns for the 3rd time. Oh, that HAI tool
- did email all morning
- IMd with Alex for awhile.
- Ran on the dumb treadmill
- Went and looked for a place to live. I think I found a place called China World. It's close by the Intel site and the swimming pool. My 2 major criteria! Not near as expensive as Ascott but much smaller... 1/3 smaller, but I am good with that, I think.
- Finished making travel arrangements.
- Sure like buffets!

Tuesday
- Here is my Jr Hi group from Sunday, they needed some help so I volunteered
- 1/1s
- Great breakfast
- Got sort of caught up on email
- Good swim
- More email in the health club. Nice to get out and do email instead of from the hotel (BKM!)
- Italian buffet dinner, oh yeh
- I am all about buffets. Ervy buffet




Wednesday
- Up at 7:00
- Little email and pack
- Leave for airport at 8:45
- Arrive at 9:20. Sort of complicated figuring out which flight
- I think air china is also China East
- They only take cash for the plane ticket $1220 RMB :( groan
- Where to drop off luggage is not intuitive
- Not much english speaking in the airport so had to guess
- Had second worst meal ever in the airport
- On the plane an elderly lady next to me pulled out a tupprware thing when they brought our plane meal. It was liked diced jalapenos & red peppers from what I could tell. She offered me some. I cant refuse free food so took a ton. man, was it hot but tasty
- As a reward, she asked to listen to my iPOD, Ha, ha. I could hear her listening to U2 the whole way while she was tapping her foot like crazy. A 60 year old Chinese lady now loves U2, even though she cant understand a word of English
- Air in Shanghai is just as bad
- Went with non-regular cab driver & he charged me $20 too much. Never again! Iwil only go with standard cab drivers, even if they dont speak any English & i have to wait
- Good run in the gym, but hate running ona machine. It is so humid I sweat so much I cant even believe there is that much water in my entire body
- Ran into an Intel guy at dinner from FPG and had a great long talk about life & work
- Ordered chocolate soufle but the cook ruined it. Chocolate has to be melted on the inside. Oh well. It was only $5
- Better sleep, big day, tomorrow

Thursday
- up early, 30 min cab ride into Intel
- Nice site. Numbering of cubicles is crazy, though
- Food meeting with Olivia and REP needs
- Lunch in cafeteria. I had 5 bowls of stuff.
- Great shopping in Shanghai mart. ha, ha... lots to say about that
- Great dinner at Japanes place

Friday
- all my contacts were out of the office so worked form the hotel. At about noon I said to heck with it and went walking around Shanghai.
- I made friends with a guy that works at the hotel and we went all over the place in the evening. His name is Wengshei or something and he goes by Windy. His English is pretty good.
- Went to the top of the Jinmao tower, tallest in China, third in the world. Taiwan has one a little higher. Impressive view but so much pollution plus it was getting in the evening couldn’t appreciate is, as well
- I think it is 88 stories and 8 means something special. Every thing means something here. - Then we took the transit on over the Bund and that is a cool place to hang out. Ninjan road is just incredible and just lit up beyond belief and everyone is out walking the super wide street. Very impressive!
- We ate at sum famous Dim Sum place and ate about 30-40 dumplings. I felt sort of sick afterwards

Saturday
- travel day and it is raining
- I was 4 RMB short to pay the driver so had to run in and use the ATM :- 40 minute drive to the airport got there over 2 hours early, glad I did since Singapore air did not have record of my e-ticket. Singapore air lady let me use ther cell phone and I called Am Ex (no easy deal, internationally) and they got me fixed up but took forever
- Shanghai airport is much nicer than Beijing’s and easier to find things, not as crowded
- Singapore airlines rules, no doubt about it. Nice seats with a TV in front with a ton ov videos, TV shows, music, can even learn Chinese on there. I was going to work the whole trip but ended playing with the TV the entire 4.5 hours!
- Guy next to me had a bad cough and picked his nose & wiped it on the seat in front of him. Bummed me out
- Got into the hotel about 8:00. What a waste taking the shuttle. Only saved $5 Singapore $ but cost me 30 minutes
- Staying at the Shangri-la again. Man, those are the best hotels with the best food in the world. I feel like I am in Kauai! Seriously! In every way. This place has the same island feel, it is humid, my hotel is so lush with vegetation and the pool is incredible.
- Feel like I am part of the lifestyles of the rich & famous
- Dinner was just incredible. A buffet from about 10 different nations. I couldn’t believe it, just like it was in Beijing. I have to be gaining weight

Sunday
- Can’t decide what to do. Go running, eat breakfast, swim in the massive pool or work
- Decide to eat, even though not hungry at all after the huge late night dinner, before
- Then I get a great idea. I need to exercise but why not try and find a fun place, along the ocean. Well, on my map I see there is a little island called Sentosa abd 5-10 minutes from me aqnd I recall there is a Shangri-la there. So I go to the Concierge and he hooks me up so I can use all their facilities when I am there with a pass so I can bring my backpack, so I can run and swim J
- I take a taxi to Mt Faber
- I then take a mini tram down into Sentosa. Whoa, way cool
- Once there it is a small island but sort of like a mini adventure island.
- I take the free adventure bus to Shangri-la, change in the bathroom and decide to run completely around the island J
- I think the island is 8 miles around, but everyone I ask doesn’t know, even thee Concierge
- I run and it is hard as it is very humid but I make it half way and I get a piercing pain in my arch. I stop & rest (I needed to, anyway ad rub my arch for 3 minutes). Fixed. I run the rest of the way around the island J I am exhausted and sweating like crazy . So I buy 3 waters and head to the ocean in front of Shangri-la
- The ocean is warm so I jump in and swim forever, I actually swam around the very most southern pt of continental Aisa! Cool! I think it was about 2 miles. Took me an hour. It was freaky though as I would swim thru junk like seaweed and wood and stuff and I would freak out thinking I was in a pool of jellyfish. What a memory! On the swim back (after I cr0ossed the southern most pt of Asia) when I would turn to breathe I would see all these massive freightliners going past
- I then got out and got my backpack and sat by the great pool and read Leadership Challenge and ordered food and just relaxed
- When I got back to the hotel I decided I needed to walk around and get the feel of the city so I went walking down the st & along Orchard ave (the happening street) & had dinner. It was a nice warm evening and everyone was out. A couple bands were playing on the street & I stopped to listen to them
- I think I could live in Singapore. It is so cool. It is 80% Chinese but English is the business language spoken here. It is like the hub of Asia Pacific business so there is ton of diversity but still feels a little like a beach town with big business. Very clean and safe. I wanted to spit twice but held back
- I do not know what the rage is over moon cake. It is like fruitcakes or something. I tasted it and didn’t think much. It is some Autumn festival here and everyone is buying them. They are in fancy boxes and cost a lot but taste terrible.
- Time to go to bed. Have a very busy week. Hope I am ready to conduct First Line Mgr training in India, Friday morning :p

- iPOD is acting crazy

Monday
- Get work done!!! Worked from hotel

- Good swim in. Pool too warm, though.

- Big buffet dinner. I loeve this crepe thing they have for dessert that has brownie & nuts in the middle and then berry sauce. Listened to my iPOD

- Server asks me if I just woke up & I said, 'no, went swimming, my hair looks this way after i swim.' Everyone there looks like a fashion model. I just look NorCal

Tuesday
- Big buffet breakfast! :)

- Take taxi into office.

- Vision of Singapore is 'future of legendary service'

- Intel office is very nice in Singapore. Even more compressed offices, though

- They have free snacks in the break room, though!!

- Have a good 1/1 w William mapping out iMBOs

- Nice place to eat on 2nd floor but some weird pig pieces.

- Run at night. Crazy! Humididty is less butno sidewalks where I am and have to dodge cars.

- Find the Botanical gardens & run around that. It is huge so perfect place to get miles in. Very beautiful
- Buffet dinner

Wednesday
- Big buffet breakfast

- Take taxi into office
- Good evening swim, still feeling strong
- Dinner w William, Jeslyn & Millie at Newton Circus. A bunch of outdoor places to eat all in one location. Get a table and walk around and order food & goive them your table #. When they bring the food just pay. Great food. I ate stingray & enjoyed it to my surprise. Huge crayfish and saty and tons of food. Great!

- Why do they put corn on top of the ice cream?

Thursday
- Great breakfast. Fed a skittish cat

- Work from hotel so I can pack up

- Turns out they give me a late check-out

- Then another lady by the elevator even gives me a later check-out so I can go for a run

- Bad mistake. I run in the most humid weather of my life and seriously think I might die. I get to the Botanical gardens and I am sweating out more water than I have ever in my life. I am thinking of begging someone for $1 so I can buy a bottle of water, somwhere. Finally, I just stop & think, I can't even make it if I walk back. After a few minutes, I try again. Again, I am just sweating massively and am really thinking I have not 1 drop of water left in me, so I rest again. Finally, it clouds up a little & that seems to make all the difference & i am able to run bak to the hotel. I drank soooo much water. Like a half a gallon

- iPOD is now dead. I think because I sweated all over it. Dang

- Ate at the Hard Rock cafe and bought a t-shirt. Hadn't been there in ~8 years. Man, has Singapore changed
- Caught a taxi to the airport, everything much smoother getting ticket. Seems very expensive, though

- Singapore airport & airlines are just amazing!

- I get to my flight & there in are called the Oasis, right across the way. I can't beleive it, it is all dimmed for rest and has massage chairs! I sit in one for almost an hour and get massaged to death. Wow. Loved that

- However, somehow going horizontal & the vibratin machine caused my passport to slip out of my pocket. Also, it was so darki, I couldn't see it when I got out of the chair.

- However, as I walked away I saw it shoved into the crack *whew* close call

- plane trup to Bangalore was great. I love the tv/audio in the headrest that you cna play with the whole way!
- Got in at midnight. India airport is the opposite of Singapore. Getting through customs and out was no small ordeal. Getting luggage was no small ordeal. Getting a taxi was no small ordeal. It was on ordeal

- Got to the Leela Palace at 1:00 am. Hard to figure. Seems like a very niv ce place set in the midst of poverty

- Didn't sleep so well, started getting homesick, again

Friday

- Pretty good breakfast on the executive floor

- Up early and into the Intel office, right across the street.

- Hoping it is the right Intel office. I think there are 5 or 6

- Turns out I was lucky! All my other mtgs are at other Intel offices in India but the class I am teaching is right here.

- Eat lunch in the Intel cafeteria. Great Indian food, tons of it... all less than $1!! Yeh, baby!

- They take lunch at 1:00. Work from 9-6

- Teach PTV. Small room with small chairs & table but everything works fine. Especially the A/V

- I am tired and dont feel I am doing my best but half the students come up after the class & thank me for doing a great job & I get some nice comments on the surveys. Made me happy!

- Funny story! Ok, I noticed I got some weird looks walking on over from the hotel and also while at Intel & it finally dawned on me after the class. I am wearing a bright green Tommy Bahama hawaiian shirt and I notice all men wear darker colors & only the women wear the very bright colors in robes. So, I look like a girl, here. I ask some of the students after the class if this is true and finally they confess, you look nice but.... different.

Saturday

- Finally, a day to sort of rest

- Get up & eat breakfast

- Decide to run on the stupid machine

- Maybe I set the level too high (9) or for too long (60 minutes) or somethingbut the run almost kills me. Feel almost as bad as when I ran the last time in Singapore. Can barely stand. So , I went to the pool and swam 55 laps, that made me feel better.

- Sat in jacuzzi & sauna for awhil and now ready to go check out India so I ventured out to the happening place in Bangalore which would be MG (Mahatma Gandhi) Road. Well, in the 3rd world the most happening place still nothing we are used to (reminds me much of my trip to the Philippines).

- Anyway, I decided to take the autorickshaw than to have the nice hotel limo take me. I wanted to save Intel $ and the autorickshaw looked crazy & thought I needed to experience it, as that is the way most everyone gets around. I am so amazed I am not dead.

- Once I got there some other rickshaw guy grabs me & tells me he will take me free across town to see a silk place. He either said that or I want to take you across town & kill you. I took the chance and so did the white knuckle ride across town to this store that sells silk rugs and stuff. I did want to get something like that for my wife & daughter so I battled with the guy for an hour and bought 2 cashmere scarf’s and 1 silk bedspread. All, for $300. To be honest I was just glad to get the heck out of there (I get no pleasure out of shopping, just conquer & get the heck out).

- My driver that seems to be hijacking me says he is a Christian and will come pick me up for church in the morning & take me to St Mary’s. I told him I was not Catholic and not to come to my hotel & hunt me down like a wild dog, but he insisted.

Sunday

- Well, this morning there he was in the lobby waiting for me. I told him I found another church to go to- India Christian fellowship but I cant find it anywhere in the 50 year old map I bought for 400 rupies on MG road. He says, I know that place, I will take you there. So, he takes me somewhere else on the opposite side of town and we end up at an Assembly of God church. So, OK, it worked out, I guess. Church was good. Will talk more about that later.

- So, the guy has me hostage, again, and starts taking me all over the city and telling me just to stop & look in different stores (obviously, he is getting a commission). On one hand, the places I am going don’t seem too bad, so I am somewhat willing. Finally, I reach some pt & can’t take it anymore and tell him I have bought everything I can for my family, I am done with shopping, I hate shopping, take me back or I am going to get another rickshaw home. He seems offended and seemed to think that now is the time to kill me.

- I am safe back at my hotel and I am not sure I ever want to go back out, again. Seriously. Basically, when you walk around, you stand out like a sore thumb. It’s like you are wearing a sign that says, I have sooo much $ I am desperate to give it to someone, please help me and take my $! Every poor person in the world comes begging and pleading with you. Tons of young mothers holding their babies all bandaged up like their babies are hurt. Then there are the folks on the street selling stuff attacking you to buy & they are relentless & if you go into a store, the whole process starts again. There is not one second of relief. Not one second. When I got out of church, every mother with child in the entire city followed me down the road begging for $. All I kept saying was ‘Oh God, Oh God…” I have given most of my $ to the deaf & dumb kids and older folks but had to draw a line somewhere. I think these mothers could work

- I am exhausted. I should swim but not sure I can muster up any more discipline. Just getting thru this day took every ounce of discipline. I got a little freaked out last night. Sort of like I do when I swim across a cold lake. Like what am I doing here? I want to be done with this! Get me the heck out of here! I think I am just homesick (BTW- I did try & swim but it started pouring rain and I decided to forget it)
- I have many more stories to tell but for right now, I just want to do well at Intel this week and get the heck home.

- BTW, the sports I am watching are Rugby, the US open & Cricket. I dont quite get Cricket. As far as US open, in the next 8 hours the India champ Sonia will take on Sharipove. Hope I can see it.

Monday

- It's a holiday in US but not here. Today is when I do First Line Manager (FLM) training with the Inidia managers. It went well.

- Intel building SRR1 is very nice but the shuttle ride there is hard & the traffic is so bad

- Had lunch w Eswar. Nice guy from IBM. Food is soo cheap & good in the Intel cafe (<$1).

- Swim day. Nice to have a pool. I hear it is the only one in all of Bangalore

Tuesday

- Meet with various managers in PSB1. Pooja, Sid, Srini... Eswar is moving his office to SRR1

Wednesday

- Holiday here. Festival to the god of Ganesh. Lots of colorful elephant dolls being sold everywhere and lights are up in places. Eswar tells me a certain % pray to the elephant idol they purchase , whereas others pray to God and the idol is just a reminder or some sort of 'proxy' or reminder

- Had a good swim and rested a few hours, worked the rest

Thursday

- Missed MGI extended staff as I missed the bus. I was there over an hour early but the bus came to a different place from where all the other Intel shuttles leave

- Dinner with the new REs was fun. Great food at a Chines restaurant... cold tell the India influence int he food :)

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Friday

- Super hard day. Get up early to catch bus to SRR1. Very crowded and stuffy while I did last minute preparations for teaching my class. No other bus

- Because of bad traffic I was 10 minutes late to class but I did not let it fluster me. I guess I should have taken a cab but wanted to save $

- Class went well. Many managers in the class and they were very responsive & nice

Saturday

- After such a long, hard day, yesterday, and trip, in general, I need a break. So I slept in. HAd a big breakfast and then did a run & a swim. What is really strange is I was so worn out , I felt I deserved some sort of reward so I paid for an Indian massage in the healthclub. 90 minutes! That is so atypical of me but it was pretty good. I checked out and worked in the executive area until about midnight & then took a taxi to the airport. $500/night hotel! I din't realize it would be so expensive

- Inida airport is just terrible & chaotic. I get there 2 hours early & still almost miss the plane. Everyone crowds in, no normal lines, people cut in, not well organized.

- 21 hour flight back. Egad

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