My Return and a New Year
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 9:32AM As of last night, I am back in New Zealand after my fantastic 2 month hiatus in Asia. My third trip to the region in as many years was rewarding as ever, visiting a while new set of cities from my usual base of Hong Kong.
Japan: Osaka, Kyoto, Fujikawa & Tokyo
China: Beijing, Souzhou, Hongzhou, Shanghai & Hei Feng
Thailand: Phuket
Most Epic City: Beijing
Though this was my third trip to China, it was my first trip to the capital and it was most definitely the most epic city I visited. Temperatures were between -10 to 5 degrees centigrade making it the coldest city I've been too. We had snow on the Great Wall which apparently is a rapidly deteriorating phenomena.
Beijing gives a completely different feel than most other large cities in Asia with it's circular city planning, extremely wide roads and relatively low skyline. The people there were extremely foreign friendly, especially when compared to say the Hanoi; the capital of Vietnam.
Did I mention it was cold?
City I Want to Return to the Most: Tokyo
I absolutely fell in love with this city. An amazing, vibrant and action packed place that, despite its size, feels and is remarkably safe. I need to go back to this city for at least a week as I'm only just scratching the surface. I did achieve my primary goal however; eating a plate of Fugu, the famous Japanese puffer fish (poison fish, poison fish, tasty fish!). Fortunately our good friend is moving over to Tokyo to become an interpreter so I may get to return sooner than I originally thought.
And now that I'm back...
It's time for the major announcement of 2009: I won't be going to management consulting at Deloitte as originally planned, but will instead be completing my Masters at Auckland University. Quite a few reasons led up to this decision, some of which I hope to discuss here at a later time. This however means I've got the opportunity to participate in other aspects of university life such as sitting on the committee for Spark (The student led entrepreneurship initiative on campus) and on the executive of our local Toastmasters chapter. More on both of those in the future.
So know that I'm back to technology I guess that means I should start writing again.
Reader Comments (4)
I agree with the props for Tokyo. I was in Japan for 2 weeks at the start of 2007 and love the whole country. It's just such a fascinating place and the people are very genuine - especially as you head outside of the big cities.
I agree that Beijing was epic, but I'm not sure whether I like it. I mean, don't get me wrong, they have some wonderful cultural sites there but no matter where I was I could sense a feeling of the governments control. There were too many gigantic imposing buildings with no form of labelling that were indicated as not existing (but in fact being a park) on the map.
I'm surprised to hear about your decision regarding Deloittes but I know you are not one to make rash decisions so I'm sure you made a wise choice!
I guess after travelling in China so much I might be a bit desensitised to that feeling. I would think the building Vs. park phenomena might have a bit to do with rapid development? My big interest is going to be seeing how they maintain the current condition of the city. It has obviously had considerable investment as a result of the Olympics and I hope it pays off for the city in the long term. Were you there this year or previously? My partner who went there a couple of years ago was constantly amazed at how much the city had changed.
Yeah I would have been in China for just under 2 weeks, split between Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing so no time to fully get 'into' everything - it was more a taste than anything.
Haha I'm not sure if rapid development comes with armed guards that tell you not to take photos..
That was over Chinese New Year in 2007 so I imagine some huge changes. I think China is definately somewhere to watch in terms of sustainability as their exponential growth can't go on forever without leaving a nasty footprint.
The sustainability question for China is always a good one. From my observations though they are working a lot harder on initiatives there than in New Zealand, electric scooters were incredibly prolific and green practice service announcements from public institutions are all over the show (this was ever more prevalent in Hong Kong).
I think the most important person for securing a sustainable future in China is actually Barack Obama. When the States finally gets into gear and starts leading the energy revolution, China will follow and if they have their way, beat everyone there.