My 4 day business trip bag ; Travel Light and Go Fast

Samsonite, sturdy and with casters. 

This is my travel companion when I do short business trips overseas, for the last 1 year I have ditched the stored luggage for a hand carry and I have learned to 'live more with less'. Disposable underwear,small sized shaving creams, shampoo bottles, and a travel toiletries bag which can be hung on any bathroom vanity rack. The trick is I try (at least within Asia,Australia and Mid East) to keep the trip within 4 to max 5 days. 

So, the every handy cabin luggage bag, (many budget airlines only allow 7 kg max, and they DO weigh, I have been party to extra charge for over 7kg ruling) is my constant companion and I almost always bring a good book to read. I am very much into history of Asia, her countries as well as biographies.There is much to learn. Lately, I have also taken a big fancy to the classics, so on my list is Tolstoy's War and Peace as well as Odyssey by Homer.  

I have learned to use my Andriod Phone to answer urgent emails, ditched the notebook where necessary and now my target is finally to work using the Cloud whereby quotes, invoices, delivery orders, technical specs and summary proposals can be done while travelling. It takes some getting used to, but this is the age of the mobile office and those who stick to the traditional paper route (yes I know some things still need paper) will be left behind.

Casual clothes are meant to be reused, and workclothes I try to reuse my long sleeve business shirt and pants for up to 2 days in a row.Underwear is mainly disposable, the toiletries are all mini sized and my running gear is now only for the occasional trip. Swimming costume, well I never really was into swimming unless the pool is something extra ordinary with a view of the city - else I don't bring them. 

We must all try to stay relevant in this disruptive age. The geek economy does not suffer old dinosaurs gladly, so we must use all the wit and experience to attend and upgrade ourselves for the next 20 years. Our quality of life and those around us are so dependent on the familiar but everything is changing every few months.

Just 20 years ago, a flying car was considered nonsense, well we will be having that by 2020. 

Back to this post, travel light has many advantages, no need to wait for the luggage to arrive. No cumbersome push and carting of big bags just to look good - its business anyway, so I learn to reuse my suits and business wear 2 days for 1 look. So off the plane, clear customs and checking quickly and I'm good to go. 

Its so uplifting with the freedom of easy movement makes travelling light for work such a pleasure.

      

We are ISO 9001 2015 Certified

Thanks and we are ready 

My company, all of 15 years old, has been certified to ISO 9001 : 2015, no mean feat as we have to have lots of training and courses, traceablity of documents and meetings aplenty with the consultant and the auditors.

After about 6 months of intensive chasing and pushing of papers I am proud to say we have got the latest (2015) 9001 certification and can put this award on all our name cards going forward.

The next step for me and my company in this venture is to start making equipment of our own. Stay tuned.  

Robbie Williams Rock DJ

31 Oct 2018 Hong Kong Park 1 - Free afternoon at the Park

Fresh back from a trip to visit some factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan, I extended 1 more day to stay in Hong Kong, and catch up with an old friend in the evening.I chanced upon this gem of a park, it is off Queensway, road, just behind the Hong Kong High Courts and at the start of the Mid Levels. Starting from my hotel along Waterfront road, it took me about 20 minutes along first Harcourt, then into Fenwick Street, Hennessy Road, and then Queensway. For a change, I did not indulge in any high end shopping and I was rewarded with a nice little free afternoon mingling amongst orchids,cacti, man made waterfalls, an aviary and even chanced upon a bridal shower taking place !     

Hong Kong is best covered by walking, and yesterday's weather was slightly overcast and a cool 23 deg C with some winds. I thoroughly enjoyed the free entry to the floral and fauna consevatory which housed plants grown in arid and semi arid deserts, tropical plants and some temperate plants. The fact that it was free in free wheeling Hong Kong made it all the more surprising to me, so the best things in life after all ARE free. 

Air, the warmth of a stranger's nod or smile acknowledging your presence, people being courteous and the helping hand of a stranger makes my day. I too, give back in return my fair share of the material and non-material presents to make the day more sane or palatable for many who have to toil much harder than me.

The waterfall cascades down 10 meters or so.

The park is on uneven ground, so there is a fair bit of climbing and walking up and down of steps. I take this as my daily 10,000 step health workout, so its all in all good for the body and the soul. I also did the 105 steps to the top of the lookout point to get some vantage view and a sliver of a view of the world famous Hong Kong harbour ("Fragrant Harbour' literally translated from Chinese Xiang Hang).

I still do have some relatives who live in Hong Kong, Aunt Betty and Grand Aunt are HK residents who migrated to Ireland but routinely come back as they have a home at the Peak.

So, the park has several highlights. 1.Clock Tower - it looks more like a Cenotaph where the war dead are remembered. 2. Tea Museum 3. Fountain and Waterfall area 4. Registry of Marriages 5. Conservatory for plants 6. Aviary (it is closed till Feb 2019) 7. Tai Chi Garden where the busts of several of the SARS heroes, the healthcare professionals who died trying to contain the horrible 2003 epidemic. 8. Lookout point - 105 steps, I counted ! 

Contentment 

In my next post, I will put up some pictures of the SARS 'fighters', the healthcare professionals who gave their lives on the frontlines during the SARS epidemic of 2003. It shook the world over and thankfully was contained in a matter of 6 months.

May we never make the same mistakes of the past, by eating things which are not meant to be eaten in the first place. People seldom learn and retain, as shown by history.  

8 years and 8 kgs ago 2010 Marathon

My Best Ever Running Route near my House

              This route distance is roughly 4km all in all, should be able to finish it within 25  
                                                         minutes (my speed)


This is one of my 2 FAV running routes near my house. It is roughly 5 minutes by car, and the start and end points are as shown above. I have another one just parallel to it, along the Dalvey Estate road, that route is 5 km and I must have done hundreds of laps since I first started taking running seriously.

Park the car at the opposite end of the start point, which is the entrance to Nassim Road from Evans Road. Today there is a side entrance to the Botanic Gardens, and there are several car parks beside it. I favour the one just next to the Evans Road.

I will leave my bottled isotonic drinks by the roadside (at 5.30 am now one really cares) and then start my loop. Up the slight slope with the embassy to your right, turn right at Lermit Road, run past Lermit Lodge and turn back at the junction, then at Nassim Road, turn right and run all the way to Orchard Road exit. Make a U turn and back the same route with a slight detour into Lermit road again and finally back to the start point. That is roughly 4 km.

So I will do 2 x 4 km or 1 x 4 km and 1 x 5 km with the adjoining roads next to it being the 5 km road. The reward is the views, and the fresh air, absence of any vehicle traffic (at 5.30am) and no nearby schools to clog up the carriageway. The avenue is wide (dual carriageway) and I ALWAYS run against the flow of traffic, so I can see if any motorist is coming towards me. If he is too close, I indicate for him to back away, else there should be enough time for me to jump into the monsoon drain !! 

Seize the Day.  

Pencil, Eraser, Ruler and Paper - Will be Relevant for a Long Time Yet.

In this fast paced, user friendly, mobile App dependent world. There are millions, no, billions of people surfing and using the Internet to buy, sell, post their lives, pretend to be someone else, practically living their lives on a second parallel universe called the social media. 
Think Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for English speakers, for the Chinese it is WeiBo, Wei Xin, QQ, Thai, Japenese and Korean prefer Line and the list is endless based on geographical region, ethinicity, cultural influence and even political leanings.   

I for one, am only halfway convinced that the use of digital applications are so useful for everyday life. Here are the reasons why I think the old school stationary are still and will still be relavent for a long time to come yet.

1. You can plan, erase, draw, postulate and just doodle on scraps of paper. There is NO PERMANENCE in drawing a plan, or an idea, and erasing or taking out the excess lines, thoughts and question marks just by using an eraser. True, you can use the electronic Paint software and save some trees, but the feeling of CONTROL at my fingertips is better with a pencil compared to a mouse or a stylus.

Maybe its a generation thing :) 

I was born and played with real kids from the neighbourhood, had real dogs,cats and a parrot REAL animals as pets, caught and fought our spiders, reared fighting fish, song birds, catching longkang fishes (that was a massive thrill there), digging for worms and using them as fish bait, the REAL DEAL. 

None of this imaginery stuff of Pokemon monsters, virtual cafes and Wechat zapped over and received monies. Modern day kids are so deprived nowadays 

2.  Paper, eraser and pencil do not need electricity of depend on your phone battery life. Need I say more ? 

3. The feeling of accomplishment that your picture, your work, your creative doodling, can be framed and you and only you have the satisfaction of holding, smelling the acrylic oils and canvas which the electronic paintboard does and will never have.

4. Finally, the feeling of crushing something is SO SATISFYING when you have completed it, I normally take the Sunday Sudoku out from the papers (much to my wife's irritation sometimes) and spend about 30 minutes to an hour to finish the most demanding (they call it Extreme Sudoku, the Daily Telegraph guys) and when I am done, I have GREAT JOY in crushing that small piece of newspaper implicitly saying :

" THERE, I HAVE OVERCOME ! " (small victory but nonetheless an accomplishment !) 

Again, perhaps its my nature and the fact that I was born in the generation of physical things and being in the real world, reading real paperback books and using pen, paper,pencil, eraser and all these stationery shops have to offer.

True the information and knowledge has never been easier, at the touch or swipe of our smartphones, and we have knowledge of practically anything. They say knowledge is power, well I say the use and the application of that knowledge is the REAL POWER.

Back at the local stationery shop, I must be their dream Gold Class Customer !!!