Back from SE Asia business trip

Yesterday, I came back home from my 11-day business trip to Singapore, India, and Hong Kong. It was a great trip, but very tiring as well. India was especially memorable because it was totally different than any other country I have visited before.

My manager and I started our trip in Singapore. There is no direct flight from Chicago, so we had to land in Hong Kong first. It took about 20 hours to finally get to Singapore, and we checked-in after midnight. We were beat.

The next couple of days were spent visiting customers and demostrating our new products and features. We had some free time on Saturday, so we went to Sentosa Island, a resort southwest of Singapore. We went to the aquarium as well as the pink dolphin show, but it was raining on and off and hot as well, so the overall experience was so so.

There is a road called Orchid Road, which is similar to Chicago's Michigan Avenue. We spent some time on Sunday to walk along the road and do some window shopping. There was a huge parade called the Chinggay Parade on Friday and Saturday on this road, but we were too tired to go out and join the fun at night.

The next stop was Delhi, India. Right from the moment we landed at the airport, I knew this country is different from any other I've been to. The airport facilities were old and shabby. The presence of soldiers was strong. It took my manager a long time to go through the customs. I exchanged 90 Singaporean dollars (S$) to Indian rupees (Rs), but the guy who did the exchange with a calculator made a "mistake" and gave me only S$58 worth of Rs. It's a good thing I caught the mistake immediately. He apologized for the error and gave me the full amount when I asked him to recalculate. So, if you ever go to India and make an exchange at the airport, do yourself a favor and double-check the calculations yourself.

The biggest problem at the airport, however, was getting out of it and going to the hotel. We didn't do our homework and didn't know that the best way of not getting ripped off is to call a radio taxi before getting out of the airport. We didn't know anything and just stepped out of the airport. Immediately, someone approached us and asked us if we were looking for a cab. We said yes, and he offered a fare of Rs1250 (about $28). Our heads weren't spinning too fast, and we were very tired, so we said OK. When we arrived at the taxi, the person said we had too much luggage and needed a bigger taxi which costs extra. We didn't really argue and accepted the higher cost. The trip to the hotel was very enlightening. The roads were dirty, shabby, and there were constructions going on everywhere. There were lanes, but nobody paid attention to them, and there were 6, 7 vehicles across the 3-lane road. This is the state of the capital of India? Well, the next few days, we found out that everywhere we went, we saw a clear distinction between the rich and the poor, and the fact is that the poor stands out. Anyway, to cut the long story, my stay in India made me aware that we take many things for granted in other parts of the world.

Business-wise, we visited a couple of customers in Delhi on Monday, and we had to make a day trip to Bangalore on Tuesday to visit more. The plane back to Delhi was delayed and we checked-in to a small hotel nearby the airport around 2 a.m. We had a few hours of sleep and woke up at 4:45 a.m. to catch our flight to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was a whole different world compared to India, and we took it easy the day we arrived there. I met up with Ikuko's friends and a good Chinese dinner with them. The next few days were spent visiting customers and doing a technical seminar at one of our distributors. We didn't have much time to do any sightseeing, but I'm sure I'll do so the next time I come to China via Hong Kong.

The trip was great, but it's good to be home as well. Ikuko and I will be moving out to an apartment next to Mitsuwa on 3/16. If you want to visit us, let me know.