Tiananmen Square, with Mao Zedong looking on from the background

Less than 24 hours after arriving at home, I’m off again.  Barely time to kiss the cats, do the laundry, and repack my bag.

Took off on a short hop from Basel to Munich, then onwards to Beijing.  I managed to get nearly nine hours of sleep on the plane, so arrived in Beijing feeling reasonably fresh.  Someone at the office had arranged a VIP meeting, so we were met at the gate and escorted through the airport and into a car from the hotel.

After a bite of lunch and a quick shower, jumped into a taxi to head to Tiananmen Square to do a little sight-seeing.  Tip: this sort of activity is more enjoyable when it’s not -3C outside.  I made the same mistake in Berlin.

Beijing actually feels a lot like Berlin, with wide open vistas and monuments dotted throughout the city.  For all the population density in China, the city feels relatively empty.  And it’s definitely the most modern, cleanest city I’ve been to in Asia, besides Singapore.  I was expecting something more along the lines of the infrastructure in Bangkok, but was pleasantly surprised.

Off tonight for a quiet dinner someplace closeby, then probably straight to bed.  Which means that I’ll almost certainly be awake by 4am.  No matter how many times I travel, the jetlag always gets me…

I’m back in the UK, for a couple of days at least. Will have to head out to Singapore, Bangkok and Istanbul over the next few weeks as part of my project. I’m not sure I’ll see anything besides the inside of the office and the hotel, but at least I’ll collect a few frequent flyer miles for my trouble.

International jetsetters that we are, Aude and I met at the airport yesterday morning. She was flying in from NY, I was flying in from Singapore. After spending most of the day in a jetlag-induced haze, we went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. Given that our body clocks were 12 hours out of sync with one another, we spent most of the meal with me falling asleep into my plate (and without any appetite) and Aude absolutely ravenous because her body thought it was lunchtime.

Back to work tomorrow (boo!)

After a long flight home, I enjoyed a nice weekend in the UK. Highlights included watching England beat France in the rugby while surrounded by Frenchmen, having a traditional Sunday roast at the pub with friends, and some of the most glorious weather we’ve had in a long time. Lowlights included having to jumpstart my car (despite having recently replaced the battery – ugh!), seeing Sandro’s impression of a rugby player (post-ER), and spending most of the weekend in a jetlag-induced haze.

Today I’ve got to unpack and repack in time for my flight tomorrow. I’ve got ten days in Singapore then I’ll be back again to celebrate Aude’s birthday. She’s off to NY on business – we both arrive at Heathrow around 5am on Saturday morning. At least we’ll be jetlagged together, although our body clocks will be 12 hours apart…

“Confirmed first class” — the happiest words a business traveller can hear!

Singapore – London is one of the busiest air routes in the world, with limited capacity between the two cities. I’ve been desperately trying to get home for a long weekend in London but have not had much joy — there were 27 people reportedly ahead of me on the business class waitlist.

With some arm-twisting back at the office, I managed to get our MD to approve travel in first class — which was also booked solid. So I went onto another waitlist.

But all’s well that ends well — after several days on the waitlist I’ve finally cleared into a first class seat and will be back on my way to the UK in time for the weekend!

Just a short entry to let everyone know that I’m still alive. Arrived in Singapore after a pain-free 13 hour flight from Heathrow. I managed to sleep for most of the flight, so arrived feeling fairly refreshed. I flew in one of the new BA seats and faced backwards for the entire journey, which was a little weird.

It’s warm and very humid, just what I expected. It feels a little bit like Disneyland – all the characteristics of the rest of Asia are here, but everything is spotlessly clean and orderly. It’s almost a shame – the lack of grit and grime takes some of the character out of the city.

Nevermind. One of my colleagues grew up in Singapore, and took us out for our first night to a Steamboat place – the Singaporean equivalent of shabu shabu. So I got to cook my own food in a place that looks like a one-way street to food poisoning. We’ll discover by tomorrow morning how wise it was to follow her advice.

The view from the hotel room over the Singapore harbour

The view from the hotel room over the Singapore harbour at nightfall

A self-portrait in the hotel room of Singapore harbour at nightfall. Didn’t have much lighting equipment or a tripod with me, so had to make due with what was available in the room!

The Singapore Merlion

Do-it-yourself dinner. This was the locals’ choice, but we’ll see if my stomach is up to it!

A consultant’s life is always about adding value to his clients. It turns out that in Singapore, they’ve automated it. When this machine finally makes it’s way to England, I’m screwed.