Conference season

It's the time of year when I bounce from conference to conference, so I landed this morning in New York for another conference.

The past few days in Ann Arbor have been incredibly informative, inspiring and engaging. I lost my voice from speaking on my panels and yelling small talk across crowded dinner tables in loud restaurants. I deflected requests for jobs and informational interviews and I caught up with old friends.

But I only left Ann Arbor yesterday, spent approximately 20 hours at home, then flew to New York this morning (seated next to one of my company's C-level executives - kinda awkward). My day was spent in the Hyatt adjacent to Grand Central Station, even though I'm staying many blocks away (trying my best to help the company save a dollar or two). And while the content has been fine, the networking has already proven to be helpful. Plus, I've gotten to see a bunch of old friends from a company I used to work for. And for that reason, I'll soak up the numerous conferences, even though I feel conferenced-out.

Turning Cantonese

After a very long day of flying, I landed in Hong Kong a few hours ago. Fresh off the European vacation, my mind started to translate English phrases into French, in case I had to, you know, speak to anyone. But I quickly remembered that I was among my Chinese cousins in the motherland, so forced myself to think about foods - the only Cantonese words that make sense to me.

Even though everyone speaks English, I still try to use some Cantonese when I can. After I collected my bag, I went to the information kiosk for the Regal Airport Hotel, where I'm staying tonight (adjacent to the airport) and forced out the following utterances:

[In English] Hello,
[In Cantonese] I want
[In "English"] Ree-go Air-por Ho-teww
[In Cantonese] I can walk?

It's not unusual for me to piece together some Cantonese phrases to get by, nor is it unusual for me to inflect any English words with a Chinese accent while in Hong Kong. I figure it helps with the whole communication thing. It's a sub-conscious behavior, but when I think about it, I feel like a jackass.

Urlaub time

This week has felt like the longest short week ever! Since I was out of the office during the first part of the week and since I'm out of the office for basically the next four weeks, I had to cram a lot of work into the time I actually was in the office, resulting in some pretty late nights and a harried work schedule.

But in a few short hours, Puppy and I are leaving for Berlin! I'm excited to see Fran and clan, then we continue our Euro adventures in Paris, where we're going to crash Charlotte York's honeymoon!

I totally need this break, but it wasn't a very good sign when my boss said, "You're bringing your laptop and BlackBerry with you, right?" Helas...

Unnecessary upgrade

When I arrived at the airport yesterday afternoon, I learned that my flight to New York was canceled. Instead of waiting three hours for the next flight to Laguardia (Thanks, holiday weekend, for reducing the number of shuttle flights), I opted to fly into JFK 30 minutes after my originally scheduled flight.

As a bonus, I got upgraded to first class, which made me kind of excited, even if it was for such a short flight. And today, when I left New York for Washington, DC, I was upgraded again to first class!

So, I appreciate the extra room and all, but you don't really get much more for first class on such a short flight. In addition to a tiny bottle of water, we were offered a small bag of Sun Chips or a banana. I guess I could/should have ordered a cocktail.

Crazytown, Italy

This morning I woke up and went to the airport to board my fligth home after this long journey. When I arrived at the check-in counter, the gate attendant directed me to the self-service kiosk, insisting that she couldn't help me. So, I tried to check in, but failed. Returning to the attendant, I sort of gave attitude when I told her that the kiosk refused to help me check in. It turns out I was at the wrong airport! Fortunately, I was able to get myself on another flight to Paris that will arrive well in time for me to make my connection to Boston.

So now I'm in the airport lounge, killing time on the ultra-slow internet. An older lady with a tacky pink sweatshirt tucked into her high-waisted jeans (like just under her boobs) and a floral-print bucket hat walked into the lounge seemingly to scream at the lounge receptionist. She's asked for someone to take her to her gate "Now! Now! Now!" The helpful receptionist arranged someone to pick her up, but couldn't confirm when he would arrive, so bucket-hat lady responded, "Thanks for nothing!"

Promptly thereafter, she ran over to the bar area and screamed, "I need a drink so bad! So bad!" and poured herself some Johnny Walker Black Label" in the largest glass available (no ice). It is just after 9:00 in the morning.

Kebab konfusion

At a lovely dinner tonight, I ordered traditional Turkish kebabs and was surprised to see that they weren't skewered when they arrived at the table. Apparently, "shish" means "skewer," so regular kebabs are more like gyros! Who knew?

Our restaurant had a pretty spectacular view of the Bosphorus, clearly overlooking the water to the Asia side of the city (More than five people told me that Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents today.). I think the highlight was the ever-changing colors of the bridge, which made me think fondly of San Francisco.

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

After a very long day of traveling, including a miserable four-plus hour layover in Paris, I've arrived in Istanbul, a city I know very little about. So far, I've spent a lot of time stuck in traffic and discussing work-type things with people and sadly, I don't think there is much sightseeing in the cards.

In the car from the airport, our Chief Supply Chain Officer asked if anyone knew Istanbul's former name. And I blurted out "Constantinople!" I guess I learned something from They Might Be Giants after, all.

Ashes, no crashes

With many European airports closed indefinitely due to the little erupting Icelandic volcano, it looks like I'm grounded for the week. Originally, I was to fly to Istanbul (by way of Paris) tomorrow, travel to Amman, then wrap up in Casablanca before returning home next Saturday. We've made the decision to postpone this jaunt, so I have two weekends back to myself!

I am looking forward to getting settled, visiting the cleaners and figuring out where to get a haircut!

Films in flight

During my 12+ hour flight to Hong Kong yesterday, I managed to sleep through approximately 1 hour of it. The rest of the time was spent enjoying my business class pod where I stuffed my face with the multiple meal and snack services and caught up on media: five movies, two episodes of Austrailan television show Kath & Kim, four episodes of The Simpsons and one episode of Hung.

One of the movies I watched was New Moon, the horrible vampire movie that has foolishly made a high-paid star of Kristen Stewart, master of the sighs and gasps. I was pretty embarrassed to be watching it, so I made sure not to pause my film when any vampires or werewolves were on screen, but throughout the flight, I noticed that the majority of my business-class brethren also watched it! I wonder if anyone else felt the absolute shame I did.

In-flight entertainment

Somehow, I ended up in the fancy part of Virgin America's economy cabin where all the movies, food and drink were free! I only realized what was going on when my neighbor, a lanky teenager who didn't mind sprawling out annoyingly into the seats on either side of him, ordered some food and didn't swipe a credit card.

So, I enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I also took advantage of getting some bottles of iced tea and a chicken wrap. I considered getting some liquor and a bagel and stuffing them into my backpack, but my silly pride got in the way.

In addition to the freebies, I enjoyed our flight attendant, who seemed very focused on making her voice sound as sexy as possible each time she made an announcement.

Northern lights

Internets, it's past 9:30pm and the sky is just now hitting a dusky phase. Why? Well, because I've traveled north to Richmond, just outside of Vancouver, BC.

I left the office early, pet Stefano DiMera goodbye and journeyed to Portland, OR before boarding a little prop-plane to Vancouver. While the little plane was a bit slow for my taste, we flew low enough that I had a rather stunning view of Mount Hood and other breathtaking scenery of the Pacific Northwest.

As I waited in line for Canadian customs, a gaggle of Chinese tourists got in line behind me, with about two-thirds of them wearing masks over their noses and mouths. Were they afraid of swine flu? Maybe they're still living in fear of SARS? Perhaps they just have jacked-up teefs.

And now I'm in Richmond, which is filled with strip malls that boast Chinese characters on their signs. It's like being in little Hong Kong, minus the flashing lights, the fast-paced lifestyle, the cutting-edge fashion and the incredible energy.

My family is at a nearby aunt's house where they're busy with some sort of pre-wedding ceremony for my cousin whose nuptials I'm here to celebrate. In lieu of seeing my extended family tonight, I decided to stay at the hotel and work on a presentation I'm making tomorrow at one of our offices nearby. Work first, play later!

Farewell ZA

Charlotte York and I are packing up at the Sleepy Gecko Guest House (Bullet Tosser's wonderful recommendation for lodging), feeling sad that we're about to board planes for our return trip home.

We spent our day in Joburg at the Apartheid Museum, which was fascinating and quite moving. I wish we'd had more time there, but I'm glad we got to go before meeting up with friends for a delicious al fresco lunch at Cilantro, in the cute Parkhurst neighborhood. It's been a very nice day and a good way to end our adventure.

But after traveling for the next 30 or so hours, we'll be back to the real world. Sigh.

To market

This morning, Charlotte York and I took some time to walk along Long Street, one of Cape Town's main drags. It was clear that Long Street comes alive at night, with the bars and the restaurants along either side of the road and the heightened level of security roaming around.

In some ways, the buildings along the street reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans - maybe it was the wrought iron balconies and the ubiquitous advertisements for alcohol. But it was also clear that this area is a destination for backpackers, studiers abroad and expats, so probably not the nighttime experience we're looking for.

We did spend several hours in the Pan-African Market, perusing the arts and crafts. I ended up purchasing several wooden figures, including a nice giraffe that may or may not make it back to my home. I feel good about the overall price I paid for my items, and I was able to bargain the dealer down approximately 500 rand, which led me to believe that it was way overpriced to begin with. I'm a little uneasy about the shipping and handling, so I'll be pleased if it ever arrives back in San Francisco!

Prison break

To complement this morning's lessons in apartheid, Charlotte York and I toured Robben Island in the afternoon, learning about the fate of those who dared defy the apartheid government. After a quick lunch at the waterfront, we hopped onto a ferry and made our way through the cold, thick fog toward Robben Island with approximately 60 other tourists from around the world.

Exhausted from jet lag and the day's touring, I admit that I napped through the first part of the tour, where we sat in a bus and toured the island's facilities, while learning about its history. When the bus stopped and we all gathered in one of the prison's cells, however, I was quite awake and very interested in our tour guide's story.

Our guide was a former inmate, a political prisoner who'd been arrested for the crime of "sabotage." He shared with us his experiences about spending time in isolation, the conversations he had with other political prisoners and explained how, even in prison, the inmates were treated differently based on their skin color.

He told us about the physical and mental torture he and the other prisoners had to endure, described how even in their confinement, the prisoners worked toward a future where blacks wouldn't be considered second-class citizens, and demonstrated an inpiring optimism that South Africa is due for its bright, democratic future.

Clearly, he stayed on message and the tour was interesting, if not sanitized. The other tourists furiously took pictures of Nelson Mandela's cell, but I couldn't help but think that it's sort of an empty gesture to snap a photo without fully understanding what he stands for and what he endured. It's kind of like how Naima and Keenya argued about the gravity of the experience on America's Next Top Model. Instead of worrying about capturing a photo, I think I'll read Long Walk to Freedom instead.

Cape of Good Hope

Charlotte York and I joined one of those tours that picks tourists up from hotels and shuttles them around to see the local sights today. We joined a newlywed couple from Toronto and a very socially awkward prison employee from Chicago on an all-day journey from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope.

Our first stop was a beach right outside of Cape Town, where the jail man opted to take a ferry to visit seals. Charlotte York and I decided instead to walk along the beach and watch all the locals walk their dogs (Today is Freedom Day, a national holiday celebrating South Africa's first democratic elections.).

After our little beach trip, we went to the startlingly beautiful Cape of Good Hope, where we climbed to see a lighthouse and snapped a quick picture at the continent's most south westernly point. At each point, we alighted with other busfuls of tourists and we kept seeing one middle-aged man in particular - he of the pink socks in the brown sandals with the very short pink and black shorts featuring some sort of skull pattern.

We then headed to Simon's Town for a seafood lunch and to see a colony of South Africa's warm weather penguins, one of the trip's highlights! Finally, we headed back to town and visited the very pretty Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

When we finally got back to our hotel, we were exhausted, but we rallied and walked down to the waterfront, experienced a magnificent sunset, and had a lovely dinner along the water.

Day one was definitely busy, but a great experience seeing a lot of Cape Town's sights.

All over the peach state

Today's activity seemingly has been to tour Georgia. I arrived at the address for my first meeting and patiently waited for my host until I received a phone call letting me know that I'd been given the wrong address and that I was 30 minutes away from where I was supposed to be!

So, I zipped in my car, drove from Alpharetta to Atlanta and conducted my meetings. Once those wrapped up, I drove to Duluth, where I'm visiting with a co-worker and taking a tour of our Distribution Center.

Later, I'll be heading back to Alpharetta, hopefully to sleep through the night this time!

What's even in Swaziland?

Charlotte York and I are complete idiots when it comes to southern Africa. After dinner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant (where the hostess clearly thought I was trying to wedge my way in to break up Charlotte York and her boyfriend), we spent some time conducting research on African safaris. We hope to visit the southern part of the continent in early 2009, but we realized how little we know about the region and the countries we'd like to visit.

We visited safari tour websites, referenced a few travel books and referenced Wikipedia. Finally, we gave up and e-mailed friends from the area for their advice. If our actual trip is as uncoordinated as our research effort, this is going to be quite the adventure.

Discovering Dallas

After eleven hours in the Philadelphia Airport yesterday, I finally got on a flight to Dallas. I landed shortly after 2am, made my way out of the confusing baggage claim area, and managed to drive to find the lovely hotel across the street from the church where TexyLady is getting married.

My first impressions of Dallas are that there are many auto dealerships, strip malls, and very few pedestrians. After a nice brunch, we're sort of struggling for activities to fill our time before the wedding this evening.

Viagens felizes

In one week, Chocolate Thunder's five-month San Francisco stint comes to an end and he embarks on a new, exciting adventure in Brazil! To wish him off, we met for a final sushi and sashimi dinner last night.

Even though I didn't get to hang out with him as much as I'd hoped, it was fun having Chocolate Thunder in town. He often was saddled with way too much work and I was occupied with a new job, house-hunting and general SF amusement. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that we've both matured a lot since his last substantial visit to San Francisco and we're definitely both of a more mellow mindset.

I'll miss our nights being over-served, his Beyonce imitations and dancing at the clubs together, but I'm excited to hear about his new life in Brazil and I look forward to visiting him sometime. Hopefully in the near future. Tchau amigo!

Bienvenue à Montréal!

After a full day of travel, I've arrived in Montreal and I'm currently feasting on room service in my hotel room. I've never been here before, and I wasn't expecting to spend much time sightseeing, but it looks like I have a good amount of time tomorrow to explore, thanks mostly to the fact that I forgot my VPN token and cannot get into my work network.

I never really thought of Canada as being too exotic, but it really does seem like another world here. The default language is French (and similarly to France, when I try to respond in French, everyone switches to English) and there is sort of a charming old-world European feel.

I was hoping to catch up on some television tonight, but I cannot find the CW or MTV. What I have discovered, however, is that some American shows are broadcast in English while others are dubbed over in French. I wonder what determines whether a show gets translated or not.