Sunday, April 17, 2005
Taipei, Taiwan
I can't believe the last I wrote was Thursday. I guess I've got a little catching up to do. For all those that have emailed me, Thanks. Its been great hearing from you.
So Thursday evening I was in Canberra. We stayed at the Hyatt and it was very nice. The next morning we had an extra hour or so since a customer had cancelled out. I took advantage of that time and went for a 30 minute run. When I walked out the back of the hotel I saw a park out there and decided to go run through that. It was right on the lake that Canberra is built around, so I had a great run and got to see some of the area too.
We then had a meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. On the way to the meeting the driver took us around the city and up to the top of a hill to look down on the town. I thought it was a great area. Right in the mountains and only about 500K people. I'm not sure why all the Aussies say its not worth going to. The DFAT building was a pretty cool building. Meant to impress the foreign dignitaries that show up there. After an hour and a half at DFAT we pushed on to the airport again and took the 40 minute flight to Sydney. Even with that short a flight they were able to serve us a lunch.
From the airport we went to the AT&T office in North Sydney (we got to drive across the Sydney Bridge). They just moved into this office on Monday so it was brand new to them. Jeyan, the GM of Australia and New Zealand has an office that would be the envy of anyone in the US. Its an all glass corner office with balconies that has a view looking out over Sydney harbour.
We walked around the office for a bit and I found Phil Todd, a guy I had hired many years ago. We promised to meet up for dinner that evening. We then went back to the board room to meet with Westfield. This is an Australian company but they own more US malls than any other company. Next we had about 30 customers coming in to the resturant downstairs for drinks. We were supposed to give some talks there also. The resturant was glass all the way around it and some of the big doors were open. As I was giving my talk the birds started getting louder and louder. We stuck around there for a little while but no one really talked to us much and we had to leave to go do a press interview.
I did a quick 10 minute talk on what labs was doing and it went over fine. Stan ended up talking for about 45 minutes and they were just sucking it up, even at 7:00 on a Friday. We finally closed that session down and got to the hotel around 7:20. We were told to meet the car around 7:50, so we had just enough time to get out of our suits and in to something more comfortable.
I really wasn't looking forward to dinner, but once I got there and had a cold beer or two, I had a great time. It was good catching up with Phil. The Aussies are just great people. They love to kick back and laugh and have a good time. I still say its the one place outside of the US, I would like to live.
Around 10:00 I had had enough though. They wanted to stick around a bit longer but I needed to get to bed.
Saturday morning I woke up and went for one of my favorite all time runs. Down to the Opera house, then run up the stairs and do a little Rocky thing ( I didn't really do it, I just thought about it). Then running around the turn and in to the botanical gardens. There are so many paths and areas back there you could run all day, but I ran around the bend back out to another point where I could see Opera House again with the bridge in the background. That's just an amazing sight which I could enjoy for a long time. Then back across the botanical gardens and to the hotel. All in all about a 4 mile run.
Got back to the room, took a shower and met Andrea in the Lobby. We went and got a breakfast along Circular Quay. Then we took a ferry from there to Watson Bay where we did about an hour hike up to the South Head of the Harbour. I've never done that hike before. I'd done the North Head from Manly. This one was much easier and not nearly as wild, but still a good walk. Next we caught a cab over to Bondi Beach. I stuck my feet in the Pacific as we watched the surfers. Then we went back to the ferry and took it back to Circular Quay. From there we walked around the Opera House and up through the Botanical Gardens. Up to Hyde Park and went through the ANZAC memorial. Then another long hike over to Darling Harbour which was one of the big party sites during the Olympics. After that I had about had it. We caught a ferry back to the hotel. I got a shower and a quick nap and then headed back to the airport.
My flight to Taiwan, through Hong Kong was 10 hours during the first leg with about a 4 hour layover and then another 90 minutes to Taipei. It was a long, long, long, long flight. Did I mention how long this flight was? I got to Hong Kong at 5:00 in the morning so there wasn't much going on. I finally found the Cathey Pacific Lounge and hung out in there, doing the head bob and jerk thing as my book collected my drool. (Pretty sight isn't it?). The Head Bob continued all the way to Taiwan, where I finally started waking up.
Once I got here I got another quick shower and then met Stan to go looking around. We went out to a shopping district but couldn't really find anything worth buying. So we walked back, but stopped and got a couple beers and an appetizer at TGI Fridays. When we got back to the hotel I crashed a while before we got back together at 5:30 to go to the night market. His wife and daughter sent him with the one task of getting some Coach knockoff purses. They didn't have any during our daytime spree and the market was packed with people and vendors but they were all food vendors. It smelled pretty gross and after a while we just had to get out of there. On the way back to find a cab a little parade passed us. It was definitely cool. Lots of chinese fireworks going off and people dressed in big costumes. You'll have to see the pictures! Stan thinks it was a funeral. they were carrying something but I'm not sure what it was. Then it was dinner at the italian resturant in the hotel (not very italian) and back up to the room where I got caught up on my blog.
Now everyone is up to date and I can jump in bed to get ready for tomorrow. I'll try to update it again tomorrow night. When I have to do more than one day it takes so long just to write everything down it ends up being really dry. I'll have to spruce it up a bit more next time.
Bye!
So Thursday evening I was in Canberra. We stayed at the Hyatt and it was very nice. The next morning we had an extra hour or so since a customer had cancelled out. I took advantage of that time and went for a 30 minute run. When I walked out the back of the hotel I saw a park out there and decided to go run through that. It was right on the lake that Canberra is built around, so I had a great run and got to see some of the area too.
We then had a meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. On the way to the meeting the driver took us around the city and up to the top of a hill to look down on the town. I thought it was a great area. Right in the mountains and only about 500K people. I'm not sure why all the Aussies say its not worth going to. The DFAT building was a pretty cool building. Meant to impress the foreign dignitaries that show up there. After an hour and a half at DFAT we pushed on to the airport again and took the 40 minute flight to Sydney. Even with that short a flight they were able to serve us a lunch.
From the airport we went to the AT&T office in North Sydney (we got to drive across the Sydney Bridge). They just moved into this office on Monday so it was brand new to them. Jeyan, the GM of Australia and New Zealand has an office that would be the envy of anyone in the US. Its an all glass corner office with balconies that has a view looking out over Sydney harbour.
We walked around the office for a bit and I found Phil Todd, a guy I had hired many years ago. We promised to meet up for dinner that evening. We then went back to the board room to meet with Westfield. This is an Australian company but they own more US malls than any other company. Next we had about 30 customers coming in to the resturant downstairs for drinks. We were supposed to give some talks there also. The resturant was glass all the way around it and some of the big doors were open. As I was giving my talk the birds started getting louder and louder. We stuck around there for a little while but no one really talked to us much and we had to leave to go do a press interview.
I did a quick 10 minute talk on what labs was doing and it went over fine. Stan ended up talking for about 45 minutes and they were just sucking it up, even at 7:00 on a Friday. We finally closed that session down and got to the hotel around 7:20. We were told to meet the car around 7:50, so we had just enough time to get out of our suits and in to something more comfortable.
I really wasn't looking forward to dinner, but once I got there and had a cold beer or two, I had a great time. It was good catching up with Phil. The Aussies are just great people. They love to kick back and laugh and have a good time. I still say its the one place outside of the US, I would like to live.
Around 10:00 I had had enough though. They wanted to stick around a bit longer but I needed to get to bed.
Saturday morning I woke up and went for one of my favorite all time runs. Down to the Opera house, then run up the stairs and do a little Rocky thing ( I didn't really do it, I just thought about it). Then running around the turn and in to the botanical gardens. There are so many paths and areas back there you could run all day, but I ran around the bend back out to another point where I could see Opera House again with the bridge in the background. That's just an amazing sight which I could enjoy for a long time. Then back across the botanical gardens and to the hotel. All in all about a 4 mile run.
Got back to the room, took a shower and met Andrea in the Lobby. We went and got a breakfast along Circular Quay. Then we took a ferry from there to Watson Bay where we did about an hour hike up to the South Head of the Harbour. I've never done that hike before. I'd done the North Head from Manly. This one was much easier and not nearly as wild, but still a good walk. Next we caught a cab over to Bondi Beach. I stuck my feet in the Pacific as we watched the surfers. Then we went back to the ferry and took it back to Circular Quay. From there we walked around the Opera House and up through the Botanical Gardens. Up to Hyde Park and went through the ANZAC memorial. Then another long hike over to Darling Harbour which was one of the big party sites during the Olympics. After that I had about had it. We caught a ferry back to the hotel. I got a shower and a quick nap and then headed back to the airport.
My flight to Taiwan, through Hong Kong was 10 hours during the first leg with about a 4 hour layover and then another 90 minutes to Taipei. It was a long, long, long, long flight. Did I mention how long this flight was? I got to Hong Kong at 5:00 in the morning so there wasn't much going on. I finally found the Cathey Pacific Lounge and hung out in there, doing the head bob and jerk thing as my book collected my drool. (Pretty sight isn't it?). The Head Bob continued all the way to Taiwan, where I finally started waking up.
Once I got here I got another quick shower and then met Stan to go looking around. We went out to a shopping district but couldn't really find anything worth buying. So we walked back, but stopped and got a couple beers and an appetizer at TGI Fridays. When we got back to the hotel I crashed a while before we got back together at 5:30 to go to the night market. His wife and daughter sent him with the one task of getting some Coach knockoff purses. They didn't have any during our daytime spree and the market was packed with people and vendors but they were all food vendors. It smelled pretty gross and after a while we just had to get out of there. On the way back to find a cab a little parade passed us. It was definitely cool. Lots of chinese fireworks going off and people dressed in big costumes. You'll have to see the pictures! Stan thinks it was a funeral. they were carrying something but I'm not sure what it was. Then it was dinner at the italian resturant in the hotel (not very italian) and back up to the room where I got caught up on my blog.
Now everyone is up to date and I can jump in bed to get ready for tomorrow. I'll try to update it again tomorrow night. When I have to do more than one day it takes so long just to write everything down it ends up being really dry. I'll have to spruce it up a bit more next time.
Bye!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Thursday Night in Canberra
I just realized I never published this one. Sorry about that. I had written it but never got it ouf for anyone to see. Anyway, here you go.
Well Wednesday was an all day flight from Singapore to Melbourne. The flight was about 7 hours and we lost 2 hours in time zones also. So Wednesday we really didn't do anything except for fly. In fact, I didn't even eat dinner. Its amazing how after doing nothing all day but sitting on your butt, you get to a hotel room and just want to go to bed.
I would have liked to have done that but it wasn't going to happen. I figured I should try to do some email first but I couldn't figure out how to get on the Internet. I sorta tore up the place (pulled the dishwasher out to get to the broadband modem), but I still couldn't make it work. So I figured I'd get ready for the morning since it was going to be a pretty early start. I pulled the suit out I was going to wear and saw that it was pretty badly wrinkled. I know what you are thinking: Scott???? Noticed wrinkles????? What happened to him? Well, I figured since I was going to go through the troubles of wearing a suit it should probably look reasonable. So I ended up pulling out the ironing board and getting those wrinkles out.
After that I was ready for bed and set the alarms. I woke up in the morning and went to turn on the lights and there was a loud pop and then most of the lights wouldn't work. I ended up taking a shower and getting dressed mostly in the dark.
We then had breakfast with our Australian host, who prepped us on the customers we would be meeting with. Our first was a meeting with IBM for about 90 minutes. We then hustled over to BlueScope a steel manufacturer. Then it was lunch with Holden, a GM subsidiary. This was held in a resturant overlooking the Melbourne harbour (When in Australia, you have to spell things the aussie way). This is about 30 miles by 30 miles so it is pretty big and apparently where the heads of the harbour meet, it is only about 1 mile wide so the currents get up to about 10 knots through that section. Anyway it was a good lunch with a salad, some good scallops, and creme broulee for dessert.
We then hustled on over to meet with BHL, a mining company and since the press interview was cancelled we made it to the airport to catch the next earlier flight. We arrived in Melbourne, jumped in a limo and made it to the Hyatt without incident.
We actually get to sleep in a bit tomorrow, I might go out for a quick run even to see what I can of Canberra before we meet with the Foreign Ministry and then head out to Sydney where the 3 ring circus will continue.
Well Wednesday was an all day flight from Singapore to Melbourne. The flight was about 7 hours and we lost 2 hours in time zones also. So Wednesday we really didn't do anything except for fly. In fact, I didn't even eat dinner. Its amazing how after doing nothing all day but sitting on your butt, you get to a hotel room and just want to go to bed.
I would have liked to have done that but it wasn't going to happen. I figured I should try to do some email first but I couldn't figure out how to get on the Internet. I sorta tore up the place (pulled the dishwasher out to get to the broadband modem), but I still couldn't make it work. So I figured I'd get ready for the morning since it was going to be a pretty early start. I pulled the suit out I was going to wear and saw that it was pretty badly wrinkled. I know what you are thinking: Scott???? Noticed wrinkles????? What happened to him? Well, I figured since I was going to go through the troubles of wearing a suit it should probably look reasonable. So I ended up pulling out the ironing board and getting those wrinkles out.
After that I was ready for bed and set the alarms. I woke up in the morning and went to turn on the lights and there was a loud pop and then most of the lights wouldn't work. I ended up taking a shower and getting dressed mostly in the dark.
We then had breakfast with our Australian host, who prepped us on the customers we would be meeting with. Our first was a meeting with IBM for about 90 minutes. We then hustled over to BlueScope a steel manufacturer. Then it was lunch with Holden, a GM subsidiary. This was held in a resturant overlooking the Melbourne harbour (When in Australia, you have to spell things the aussie way). This is about 30 miles by 30 miles so it is pretty big and apparently where the heads of the harbour meet, it is only about 1 mile wide so the currents get up to about 10 knots through that section. Anyway it was a good lunch with a salad, some good scallops, and creme broulee for dessert.
We then hustled on over to meet with BHL, a mining company and since the press interview was cancelled we made it to the airport to catch the next earlier flight. We arrived in Melbourne, jumped in a limo and made it to the Hyatt without incident.
We actually get to sleep in a bit tomorrow, I might go out for a quick run even to see what I can of Canberra before we meet with the Foreign Ministry and then head out to Sydney where the 3 ring circus will continue.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
First day of the circus
Well today it began. It started with an 8:15 breakfast with IBM. The breakfast was held in a private dining room in one of the 5 nicest hotels in the world, The Raffles Hotel. It is an old hotel from the colonial times of Singapore. It was just 10 of us and nearly as many waiters. I got up and gave a quick 15 minute talk then another person did the same, it was then discussions going on about the talks and what AT&T is doing.
By 9:45 we were whisked away to a convention sight for Stan to give a 30 minute Keynote speech. After that it was up to the highest sight in Singapore for a lunch with about 40 customers overlooking the city and harbor. We talked with lots of customers can collected many business cards. After the Appetizer I had to give a 30 minute talk on AT&T's VoIP Strategy and Convergence direction. Stan then gave his Security talk and we finished lunch up while talking with more customers and collecting more cards. We then rushed back over to another hotel building for a meeting with Eli Whitney and immediately following that we had interviews with two AP publications, "The Edge" and "Wireless Weekly". I didn't say much at all during Wireless weekly. They concentrated mostly on Security. The Edge was more interested in our overall direction, so I talked quite a bit with them and had lots of pictures taken.
Next we had a meeting with the Japanese organizers to be sure we prepared talks for the customers we would be meeting there. Out of all the talks we do those will probably be the toughest. The customers will not speak English so we will need to have a Translator to interpret for us.
We then got 20 minutes to get out of our suits and into more casual cloths where the Singapore GM took us out for a seafood dinner overlooking the harbor and the hundreds of ships anchored off shore.
Its about 10:30 now and I'm beat, so I'm going to go to bed and get some rest. I'll try to upload some pictures later.
By 9:45 we were whisked away to a convention sight for Stan to give a 30 minute Keynote speech. After that it was up to the highest sight in Singapore for a lunch with about 40 customers overlooking the city and harbor. We talked with lots of customers can collected many business cards. After the Appetizer I had to give a 30 minute talk on AT&T's VoIP Strategy and Convergence direction. Stan then gave his Security talk and we finished lunch up while talking with more customers and collecting more cards. We then rushed back over to another hotel building for a meeting with Eli Whitney and immediately following that we had interviews with two AP publications, "The Edge" and "Wireless Weekly". I didn't say much at all during Wireless weekly. They concentrated mostly on Security. The Edge was more interested in our overall direction, so I talked quite a bit with them and had lots of pictures taken.
Next we had a meeting with the Japanese organizers to be sure we prepared talks for the customers we would be meeting there. Out of all the talks we do those will probably be the toughest. The customers will not speak English so we will need to have a Translator to interpret for us.
We then got 20 minutes to get out of our suits and into more casual cloths where the Singapore GM took us out for a seafood dinner overlooking the harbor and the hundreds of ships anchored off shore.
Its about 10:30 now and I'm beat, so I'm going to go to bed and get some rest. I'll try to upload some pictures later.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Made it to Singapore!
I finally made it to Singapore. After getting up at 4:00 AM on Saturday morning to begin the trip, Lori and Cameron took me to the airport to see me off. It was tough going and knowing I wouldn't be back for a couple weeks, but there was an adventure ahead, and I was ready to take it on. (The day before I had a bad case of butterflies so it was good to finally feel like I was ready).
After saying goodbye and giving Cameron 14 kisses, hugs and gunks (one for each day I'd be gone) I got on the plane for my big trip to DC, all 50 minutes of it. I was in first class though so it wasn't too bad :). I then had a 5 hour layover in Dulles but I was able to spend that in the All Nippon Airways lounge and eat all the Japanese crackers I wanted. Next it was on to the 777 to Tokyo, a 14 hour flight. A very long flight. The first 10 hours weren't too bad, I had a nice meal and several hours of sleep, but the last hours felt just as long as the first 10. My feet were swollen and my butt was sore and I was ready to get out and walk some. It felt good to get off the plane and walk around a bit.
I spent a couple hours in Narita Airport waiting for my next plane. I spent the time in the United Lounge. It was a huge lounge but very full of people. The best thing about it was that they had Oreos so I made a bit of a pig of myself. I plugged in my computer to go over my presentations but I couldn't really concentrate on them very well.
Next I boarded the 747 for the 6 hour flight to Singapore. Much nicer seats on this flight so it could have been much better, but I was so tired I couldn't really enjoy myself. I had trouble staying awake long enough to get my meal and then had trouble falling asleep afterwords (It always works that way). I got in about 2 hours of sleep, but I did collect a nice puddle of drool on my book so maybe it was a bit more than 2 hours.
We landed in Singapore about 11:40PM (EDT +12h) and I joined the herd as we worked our way through Immigration, then collected my bags, and went through customs. I finally found my ride waiting for me and he helped me get everything in the car for the 20 minute ride to the airport. I'd like to see that ride during the day. We went right along the coast of the South China Sea and you could see what looked like hundreds of ships anchored off the coast.
We entered the Central Business District where all the skyscrapers are and I was dropped off at my hotel, Raffles The Plaza. It is a huge and very nice hotel. The service is incredible and Lobby was amazing. The driver brought in my bags as I checked in and went up to my room. I had forgotten about asian rooms they are a little confusing. It took me the first 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights :). Finally the porter showed up with my bags and he straighted me out. I've included a few picture below so you can see the place I'm staying in. Its pretty nice.
Of course I had a few problems sleeping last night but I finally got in about 5 good hours and hopefully, I won't have any more troubles. I'm meeting the group for breakfast at 10:15 this morning and then I'm going to take a walk around and see what's here. I'll add more to this tonight and maybe even a few more pictures.
BTW, I did get my phone and it is the same number as I used to have 757-288-0295.
Room from front door
Bathroom
The head. Notice the phone in case you really need to make a phone call while sitting down. There is also a help button under the phone. Hopefully, I won't need that one.
Here's the shower. the thing hanging from the ceiling is the shower head. It almost drowned me this morning.
My own personal bar
The rest of the room with the wall of windows.
the desk and suitcase stand
The bed. on each side is a control station where you can operate any light in the room as well as opening and shutting the curtains
This mall is a part of the hotel
After saying goodbye and giving Cameron 14 kisses, hugs and gunks (one for each day I'd be gone) I got on the plane for my big trip to DC, all 50 minutes of it. I was in first class though so it wasn't too bad :). I then had a 5 hour layover in Dulles but I was able to spend that in the All Nippon Airways lounge and eat all the Japanese crackers I wanted. Next it was on to the 777 to Tokyo, a 14 hour flight. A very long flight. The first 10 hours weren't too bad, I had a nice meal and several hours of sleep, but the last hours felt just as long as the first 10. My feet were swollen and my butt was sore and I was ready to get out and walk some. It felt good to get off the plane and walk around a bit.
I spent a couple hours in Narita Airport waiting for my next plane. I spent the time in the United Lounge. It was a huge lounge but very full of people. The best thing about it was that they had Oreos so I made a bit of a pig of myself. I plugged in my computer to go over my presentations but I couldn't really concentrate on them very well.
Next I boarded the 747 for the 6 hour flight to Singapore. Much nicer seats on this flight so it could have been much better, but I was so tired I couldn't really enjoy myself. I had trouble staying awake long enough to get my meal and then had trouble falling asleep afterwords (It always works that way). I got in about 2 hours of sleep, but I did collect a nice puddle of drool on my book so maybe it was a bit more than 2 hours.
We landed in Singapore about 11:40PM (EDT +12h) and I joined the herd as we worked our way through Immigration, then collected my bags, and went through customs. I finally found my ride waiting for me and he helped me get everything in the car for the 20 minute ride to the airport. I'd like to see that ride during the day. We went right along the coast of the South China Sea and you could see what looked like hundreds of ships anchored off the coast.
We entered the Central Business District where all the skyscrapers are and I was dropped off at my hotel, Raffles The Plaza. It is a huge and very nice hotel. The service is incredible and Lobby was amazing. The driver brought in my bags as I checked in and went up to my room. I had forgotten about asian rooms they are a little confusing. It took me the first 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights :). Finally the porter showed up with my bags and he straighted me out. I've included a few picture below so you can see the place I'm staying in. Its pretty nice.
Of course I had a few problems sleeping last night but I finally got in about 5 good hours and hopefully, I won't have any more troubles. I'm meeting the group for breakfast at 10:15 this morning and then I'm going to take a walk around and see what's here. I'll add more to this tonight and maybe even a few more pictures.
BTW, I did get my phone and it is the same number as I used to have 757-288-0295.
Room from front door
Bathroom
The head. Notice the phone in case you really need to make a phone call while sitting down. There is also a help button under the phone. Hopefully, I won't need that one.
Here's the shower. the thing hanging from the ceiling is the shower head. It almost drowned me this morning.
My own personal bar
The rest of the room with the wall of windows.
the desk and suitcase stand
The bed. on each side is a control station where you can operate any light in the room as well as opening and shutting the curtains
This mall is a part of the hotel
Friday, April 08, 2005
One More Day
One day left before I leave and way too many things left to do. I was hoping to mow the grass and take care of some things inside before I left, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to do that.
Yesterday I got my visas, airline tickets and business cards. Today I should be receiving my new phone. The guy at Cingular performed a miracle by getting me the phone I wanted to me by today, even though it was not supposed to be available to me. Once I receive the phone I'll have to send his boss a good letter.
I'm mostly packed now. Everything is in a big bag that I'll check and a small bag that I'll carry on in case the big bag is lost. I should have enough clothing for 2-3 days in the carry on.
My presentations should all be complete now, but I still need to practice them some, and I need to get my computer and other electronic paraphenalia pulled together. (Cameras, palm pilot, GPS, etc.)
Anyway, I believe that is it. I probably won't put anything on here again until I land on Sunday night. Or maybe I'll wait until Monday morning. In Singapore, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, I'll be 12 hours ahead. In Australia, I'll be 14 hours ahead, and in Japan I'll be 13 hours ahead.
Yesterday I got my visas, airline tickets and business cards. Today I should be receiving my new phone. The guy at Cingular performed a miracle by getting me the phone I wanted to me by today, even though it was not supposed to be available to me. Once I receive the phone I'll have to send his boss a good letter.
I'm mostly packed now. Everything is in a big bag that I'll check and a small bag that I'll carry on in case the big bag is lost. I should have enough clothing for 2-3 days in the carry on.
My presentations should all be complete now, but I still need to practice them some, and I need to get my computer and other electronic paraphenalia pulled together. (Cameras, palm pilot, GPS, etc.)
Anyway, I believe that is it. I probably won't put anything on here again until I land on Sunday night. Or maybe I'll wait until Monday morning. In Singapore, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, I'll be 12 hours ahead. In Australia, I'll be 14 hours ahead, and in Japan I'll be 13 hours ahead.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Getting Closer
I need to get into the habit of updating this site everyday. I've still got a lot to do and only 2 days left to do it in. Today I have to finalize my presentations and do a lot of practice for them. Yesterday afternoon, Lori had to put with me talking to myself all day in my office. I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more of that today.
Already today I have received my passport back with my chinese visa. That's a big relief, one less thing I need to worry about now. I also got all my Cathay Pacific plane tickets. I'm hoping that all the other tickets are e-tickets, so I won't have to worry about them.
I also need to push again to get a phone and call about taxes.
I am going to begin packing today. This will help me figure out what I still need to go out and get so I will still have a day to get it. Tonight Cameron has lax practice and then we've got to rush home for a night of Survivor. It's going to be rough over the next 2 weeks not being able to get my Survivor fix. I'll have to get Lori to give me a blow by blow.
Later today I'll send out my itineraries to people. Then I'll update this again tomorrow.
Already today I have received my passport back with my chinese visa. That's a big relief, one less thing I need to worry about now. I also got all my Cathay Pacific plane tickets. I'm hoping that all the other tickets are e-tickets, so I won't have to worry about them.
I also need to push again to get a phone and call about taxes.
I am going to begin packing today. This will help me figure out what I still need to go out and get so I will still have a day to get it. Tonight Cameron has lax practice and then we've got to rush home for a night of Survivor. It's going to be rough over the next 2 weeks not being able to get my Survivor fix. I'll have to get Lori to give me a blow by blow.
Later today I'll send out my itineraries to people. Then I'll update this again tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Getting Ready
I have only known about this trip for a week so getting ready to visit 11 cities, 6 countries and about 50 customers in 2 weeks is a fairly large task in itself. So far I've had to put together my flight schedule which is costing about $14K. Put together about 8 presentations that I am going to have to make over and over and over again. I've also had to do stupid but expensive things like buy a couple new suits as well as all the shirts and ties and shoes that go along with that.
I am still trying to get a new phone that will work over there, but right now it is a 50/50 chance as to whether it will get here in time. If not then on Friday I'll run out and get a personal phone then return it when I get back and get my new corporate phone at that time. I want to get the Nokia 6230 which can take pictures and send them to my computer so I will easily be able to put pictures on this Blog site.
I'm also still wrestling with my flights. For some reason AMEX got screwed up and did not ticket my flights on Monday. That was after the ticketing date and so my whole itinerary was cancelled. Yesterday we were able to get it all back and I was able to stay on most of my original flights. The only changes, are actually changes for the better. Like flying out on Saturday on United instead of on Friday on USAir. Also I'll be returning from Osaka on United. Now I'll be able to get points from some of these flights.
Today I have to put another presentation together on our VoIP Strategy and AT&T's view of IP Convergence. I also need to check to be sure that are taxes will be done in time so I can sign them before they get mailed out to the IRS. This afternoon I will need to pick up the 2 new suits as well as the old one which we had patched (its been so long since I've worn it that the moths decided if I wasn't going to enjoy it, they would).
We also need to go meet with the new Head Mistress of Trinity tonight and if we have time we'll watch the special episode of Amazing Race. (We've been sucked in to this one now also).
Cameron is getting us up at 5:30 in the morning these days to go for a run so we will all be tired and get a good night rest so we can beat the sun up again tomorrow.
During the trip, I'll try to update this blog every day, or as often as possible so that people can keep track of me.
Talk with you soon,
Scott
I am still trying to get a new phone that will work over there, but right now it is a 50/50 chance as to whether it will get here in time. If not then on Friday I'll run out and get a personal phone then return it when I get back and get my new corporate phone at that time. I want to get the Nokia 6230 which can take pictures and send them to my computer so I will easily be able to put pictures on this Blog site.
I'm also still wrestling with my flights. For some reason AMEX got screwed up and did not ticket my flights on Monday. That was after the ticketing date and so my whole itinerary was cancelled. Yesterday we were able to get it all back and I was able to stay on most of my original flights. The only changes, are actually changes for the better. Like flying out on Saturday on United instead of on Friday on USAir. Also I'll be returning from Osaka on United. Now I'll be able to get points from some of these flights.
Today I have to put another presentation together on our VoIP Strategy and AT&T's view of IP Convergence. I also need to check to be sure that are taxes will be done in time so I can sign them before they get mailed out to the IRS. This afternoon I will need to pick up the 2 new suits as well as the old one which we had patched (its been so long since I've worn it that the moths decided if I wasn't going to enjoy it, they would).
We also need to go meet with the new Head Mistress of Trinity tonight and if we have time we'll watch the special episode of Amazing Race. (We've been sucked in to this one now also).
Cameron is getting us up at 5:30 in the morning these days to go for a run so we will all be tired and get a good night rest so we can beat the sun up again tomorrow.
During the trip, I'll try to update this blog every day, or as often as possible so that people can keep track of me.
Talk with you soon,
Scott
