Ego Libre

So I am done with my exams. Which unfortunately does not mean that I have graduated and received my diploma, which would allow me to accept the offer from my Australian school and get a visa. I will not bore you with the haunting tale of rigid bureaucracy driving me currently crazy.

Instead I wanted to share a link with you. I thought about career in airline industry, starting with fixing the damn SAS, but now I see a new niche, yes it is the religious airline industry segment.

I am not sure whether I would be confident flying an airline where stewardess and the pilots pray for a safe landing

I guess I should keep looking. Vatican does not seem like a place to be for me.

Since I have a Japanese language exam tomorrow, I am doing my best avoiding studying for it. Actually I really SHOULD be studying, but you know how it is when you are expected to perform well in something you do not currently care about… So instead I spent the whole morning surfing net and catching up on all those unread RSS feeds. And since posting this will kill five more minutes that I should spent studying instead, I will share some of these links with you.

First, there there is Merlin Mann and his War on Clutter. Since I am currently moving again, I am aware of how much useless junk I tend to carry around with me from country to country. It’s time to stop.

But just clearing out my closet is not going to be enough. I need to stop buying crap.

Reading Japanese news, I found out that Kirin is promoting their Whisky imports by providing bars with Alaskan ice. Wow, how incredibly eco-friendly. I wonder how burning all that oil to ship it to Japan is consistent with Japan’s cool biz idea?

And that’s it for my random rants today. Now I will seriously try to hit the books.

I am about to move to a fifth country to live in. Therefore I might think I am used to these kind of things, but honestly I have been surprised to see some effects on reverse culture shock on me. Maybe it is because I have moved back temporarily to a country I have lived before, but which is not my home country, maybe it is that I am simply more sensitive to it by now, but I clearly see how easily I get aggravated by seemingly simple things.

Basically things just piss me off. It pisses me off how I get treated in shops and restaurants, it pisses me off that I can’t get the food I want and it pisses me off that nobody seems to care. In other words, it is almost perfect example of a reverse culture shock. So even if you spend years and years moving around, it seems you are prone to it none the less.

Ever since I have realized this, I am trying to shut up and this is my way of getting it out of my system before it starts to get really bad. I am quite happy that soon enough I will move to a new country and the cycle will be able to start all over again. Or am I?

Anyways, I know that some of you might be going through a similar thing, after all coming back from Japan means that pretty much everything is different. Good luck, I hope you are coping better than I am

So once again SAS amazed me. I just wanted to check whether they have counted all my miles from my previous travels (and check other Frequent Flyer programs to decide which one to switch to), I have noticed an ad on SAS Eurobonus website - a 15 year anniversary. Being interested, I have clicked on it.

I tried to stay positive, trust me, but SAS once again proved to me that they really don’t want my business and also that their marketing director is a funny guy, who deserves to be shot.

Basically the website lists things that you CANNOT use your Star Alliance Gold card for. Yes, if you are a frequent flyer and reach the elite membership level, this page makes you feel good about by listing what you can’t do with it. Ingenious! People will laugh! Maybe after telling everyone on the plane what services they cannot get in economic class, let’s make them feel better by telling them that even the frequent travelers cannot get special service! As I said, ingenious… Or so the marketing mastermind thought…

Just an example:

It can’t get you out of a blizzard
Your gold card works just about anywhere, but there are of course certain conditions. And then there is the weather. No matter what we do, there seems to be no getting around Mother Nature. But that doesn’t stop us trying, even if there is a blizzard blowing. At times like this it pays to have a sense of humor. Confronted by a Gold member who was finding it hard to accept his flight had been canceled, ground staff at one airport found a way to pierce the gloom by holding his card up to the window. ”Sorry, it doesn’t seem to help, sir,” was the punch line.

So what does this funny story say? “We are pricks, screw you.”

And what about this one?

People that really make an effort to earn points are often referred to as point chasers or mileage chasers.

I read: “If you are really frequent flyer that wants to enjoy the benefits bestowed upon you, you will be called names and looked down as a parasite.”

I do realize that I am overplaying those, but the tone is there. And I just can’t believe a thing like this could have ever been approved to be published. SAS you need to wake up!

If you want to read more, follow this link. On your own risk of ruining your mental health, business sense and naive ideals.

I just don’t know how do they do it. I mean I travel a lot, maybe not a lot like real business travelers, but SAS has by far the worst service out of all the airlines I often fly with. I know I have been complaining about it here before with their one-drink policy, but today again they have annoyed me so much, that I can’t stop.

It all started with an obnoxious man and his wife who have their seats assigned wrongly - being separated. When I entered the plane a heated discussion was going on and a stewardess pretended that she tries to solve it. She didn’t. She was not capable of allocating two seats next to each other for the couple. It was so simple. She could have asked me. I was alone. I head my usual emergency-exit row seat, so I would be hesitant to switch (and that’s why I did not offer it to them by myself), but if asked I would move. When the man stopped arguing and sat in his seat, the stewardess did not do anything else. The point here? She did not try to solve the man’s problems, she tried to solve hers - that is an annoying customer.

This shocked me. But it shouldn’t.

While thinking about how some companies go so far in cost-cutting that they blindly undermine the most valuable task - that is pleasing customer, another shock came. I am fairly used to the fact that Europeans carriers are cutting cost and try to resemble the budget airlines (of course for not-so-budget prices). I (albeit painfully) accept the fact that they want me to buy my drink from them and that they will not serve me any food. But it is like salt in the wound, when in the public announcement they actually say what menu they will be serving to business class and that there will be option of champagne and wine and then continue by saying “if you chose to seat in economy class today, drinks will be available for purchase.” How did that make me feel about my flight? And what is the purpose of announcing the business class menu to the whole plane, especially since there are only 6 business seats on it? Couldn’t the stewardess simply go to each and every passengers and tell them herself? It would look more personal to them and not aggravate the rest of the people.

I just can’t believe how short-sighted some companies can get and this is a perfect example. But on the other hand, it has a positive effect on me. I am seriously starting to consider that if I am about to join a large corporation during my career, I want to try to get into the airline industry. Consider this data gathering and preparing of a rescue plan to a increasingly dumber industry. Did I mention that SAS does this because it is on the verge of bankruptcy? Does it sound they are succeeding in attracting more passengers? Did not think so…

I have about an hour before my plane leaves, so I decided to sum up my experience from the top five business and travel hubs in Asia - Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore. I have always written my thoughts on them separately offering some comparison in the process, but I would like to rank them in different categories from one to five. I hope you like simplistic ranking as much as I do

So here we go.

Top 5 cities to live in for more than 3 months:

1. Tokyo
2. Seoul
3. Taipei
4. Hong Kong
5. Singapore

Top 5 cities to live in for less than 3 months:

1. Hong Kong
2. Tokyo
3. Singapore
4. Taipei
5. Seoul

Top 5 cities ranked by traveling interest:

1. Tokyo
2. Seoul
3. Hong Kong
4. Taipei
5. Singapore

Top 5 cities for food:

1. Singapore - since it blends three distinctive kitchens
2. Tokyo - obviously the best Japanese food anywhere in the World
3. Taipei - fantastic Chinese
4. Seoul - Kimchi is great, but it takes time to understand the different variation, might taste all the same to beginners
5. Hong Kong - still great, but Taipei has bette Chinese

Top 5 cities with most beautiful girls:

1. Tokyo - not really objective since I lived there for a year and got used to the Tokyo “look”
2. Seoul - tough one since one of the most beautiful girls I have seen in Japan might have been Korean
3. Hong Kong - not sure if I should count the foreigners…
4. Singapore - again, it has an advantage in its variations. And with regards to Singapore Air stewardess, it should be no. 1
5. Taipei - sorry…

Top 5 cities ranked by foreigner-friendliness:

1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. Taipei
4. Tokyo
5. Seoul

Top 5 cities on how well they represent mysterious Asia:

1. Seoul
2. Taipei
3. Tokyo
4. Singapore
5. Hong Kong

Top 5 airports:

1. Singapore - best facilities and it takes 20 minutes by taxi
2. Hong Kong - great facilities, brand new and only 27 minutes by train from downtown
3. Seoul - also new, but they need to do something about connection to downtown from Incheon
4. Tokyo - good airport, but 1 hour by train from nearest Yamanote station. 2-3 hours by bus!
5. Taipei - just plain bad. It takes 45 minutes by taxi, that’s ok, but the airport feels ancient

And that’s about as much as I can think of. I know this is simplistic, but it shows that every city in this area is very distinctive offering a completely different mix of features, so if I could recommend anything, visit all of them Singapore is not worth a special visit, just do what everyone does: When you fly to Australia next time, have a 2 days stopover in Singapore. It will break the trip nicely and 2 days is enough to see this city.
Tokyo needs a week to at least get basics. Taipei, Hong Kong and Seoul can be done in 3 days each, but it will be a rush. And they are all worth special visits, especially if you are located somewhere in Asia-Pacific. Happy traveling, let me know if you need some info and I will soon board my flight to Prague and finally (hopefully) relax (for three days

Yes, I am back. It’s almost a shock. You know how you will realize you are back in Europe after a year in Asia?

• First, it’s 14 degrees here in Frankfurt, despite the fact that it is summer.
• Second, toilet paper is so rough that you might think it’s recycled plywood (it probably is).
• Third, your flight ticket says “drinks and food available for purchase” instead of simply stating: “meal”.

And finally, there is no free WiFi anywhere!

But it’s good to be back. For a while. Seeing the weather I can’t wait to move to Australia.

So as promised, I will write some thoughts on Singapore. The problem is that this city is really hard to pin-point down. I am sitting at the moment in the sun-flower garden of Singapore Changi airport, next to a free cinema and connected to a WiFi that surprisingly I do not have to pay for either. That show’s you one side of Singapore. It is a super-convenient city. Seeing this, I have no hard times believing that Singapore Changi Airport has been voted the best in the world and since I am flying Singapore Airlines today, I have to comment on them as well.
In the same way as this airport is at least a class above others in terms of friendliness and services, so is the city state’s well-known airline. My first flight with Singapore Air was a couple of days ago from Hong Kong and I can already tell you this, I love flying, I have deep interest in this industry and I know that Singapore Airline is praised by many and touted as the best in the world. I am also very skeptical person, so I tried to keep my expectations low. Yet, Singapore Air has surpassed them in ways that I cannot even compare it to the other. I thought that JAL and ANA service was excellent, and I still do, yet Singapore Air stewardesses match this friendliness, but almost on all other accounts, they are superior.

I am a true geek, so I could start by saying that the entertainment system that they have installed in their 777-300 ER (I will see about other planes tonight) is beyond anything I have seen before. I mean you can even plug in your USB stick and since the system is running a version of Open Office, you can edit your documents, spreadsheets, even create a presentation. If you are not as geeky as me, than maybe the fact that the screen size in economy size is bigger than ANA’s in Business. And same can be said about many other things, including the food. Basically, it feels like flying Singapore Air in Economy is matched in terms of services like flying Business using other airlines. I swear, there is such a difference. I hope that they will not disappoint me tonight.

Now, that I have openly declared my love for the airline of Singapore, let’s see about the city. Singapore is a strange place. I have had almost no prior expectations of it except that I thought it is predominantly Chinese and very strict. Both ideas were proven very wrong. First, one thing I love about Singapore is its multi-ethnicity and its multiculturalism. I have had no idea that Chinese form only about half of the population. The rest are Indians, Malays, Arabs, Expats… all kinds of creatures that tread the Earth today. (Don’t get me wrong, I do consider myself a creature as well Anyways, I have had no idea that in one day you can go to Chinatown, Little India and Arab street in one town. I have had no idea that you go to a Mosque, Buddhist temple, Hindu temple and a Christian Church on the same street. (and there are many streets like that in Singapore). All this has been summed up in simple things, that should be normal, yet they surprise me and fill me with hope. Seeing an Indian guy dating Chinese girl, seeing a football team consisting of all possible races compete against another. Seeing an Indian man and an Arab drinking together and hugging each other - that is Singapore. I am truly amazed how well the different cultures get along here. But after all, it is not an Indian guy dating a Chinese girl, it is Singaporean guy dating Singaporean girl.

However all this comes at a cost. The cost here is freedom, democracy and sincerity. Singapore lacks all three of those. The one it lacks the least is freedom. Some people call Singapore a totalitarian state due to its history, but I would not get so far. I see a lot of freedom here. People can come and go, people can own property and sell it, the freedom is there. But still there are restrictions, such as mandatory savings system, significant military and army control.

Tomorrow is National Day. I cannot be here to see the military parades, but I have at least seen the government propaganda in full swing. The Lee family has everything firmly under control. But Singaporeans do not seem to complain. As one of the taxi drivers noted: “If the government brings in business, we do not care. When they stop, maybe we will start caring about politics and other things.”

This point sums up the democracy as well. Freedom and democracy seemed to go hand in hand and here both are quietly perverted. Maybe you have heard that Singapore is a strictly controlled country, where even chewing gum is illegal. So did I. However in three days I have seen only three police cars in the entire city. I have seen people jaywalking, I have seen people spitting on the streets… I have seen one of the cleanest cities of the world, I have also seen its dirt. In Singapore, it really depends where you look. And the propaganda machine is running in full revs to create the image of clean, safe and clock-work like Singapore abroad. I am not saying the city is not like that, I am saying that the image is by far exaggerated. I would go even so far, that I started to think that the ban of chewing gum was just a PR move to reaffirm this image of Singapore to foreign press and secure more potential FDI in the growing insecurities over Hong Kong’s hand-over. Maybe I am paranoid, but it seems that Singapore’s government is one of the most cunning players I have seen so far.

This brings me to the insincerity of Singapore. Most of the things you will see here are fake. But they work, so who cares. Who cares that the ancient looking street has been demolished and rebuilt a few meters away, who cares that historical monuments are being created in order to pretend that this country has a more uniform and longer history than it does? In fact, this place in many ways feels like a giant Disneyland. But once again, who cares?! This is a place where Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Buddhist live in peace next to each other. Is it really that important that this mosque is a copy, that the Chinese temple has been built five years ago or that the church has been converted into a restaurant and shopping mall? It does not. Not in Singapore. This is a place with no tradition of its own, that tried hard to make a common traditions for all of its inhabitants. Normally I would be against this, but since I see it how well its working, I say screw it. Singapore, fake your history, do whatever it takes, forget about democracy, just please keep these people living next to each other in peace. One day the country will mature. One day it will not need measures such as fake nation building, oppression and lack of democracy. And that is the day when we all should look towards Singapore and learn from it.

But that day is still far away. There are many unanswered question and one of them as usual is the economic one. What will happen to the so called Singaporean miracle? Will the growth continue despite eroding competitive advantage?

Economically speaking Singapore is a also an interesting case. Unfortunately it ruins my development theory, because here the growth was initiated already by the first “dictator”. Now the third generation is serving, the country is developed, however the democracy has not proceeded yet. But Singapore is also different from Korea and Taiwan. Mostly because since its creation it already had a long free-trade history and had a perfect position to continue it. With the exception of the government push towards hi-tech manufacturing, there were not many infant industries to protect here, so since its creation this a trader’s nation. Up to an extent that one of my taxi drivers knew the current economic situation, its outlook and all the lingo as if he would be a free-lance Economist journalist (he wasn’t). I am fascinated. After all Singapore is a clock-work. Some even called it consumer’s paradise since its malls and shops are abundant here (not to mention that they are pretty much the only interesting thing to do here). There might not be history, there might not be unique culture, but there is potential. And since Singapore does not politically or economically does not really bother no one, it seems that this small city state is going to be around for quite some time.

Happy 42nd birthday Singapore.

P.S.: That all said, I wouldn’t be able to live here more than three months. I forgot to mention that this is also one of the most boring cities to visit. The only high-point is the Chinese-Indian-Arab fusion kitchen, which is absolutely fantastic here, so if you have a stopover in Singapore, give it 2 days. You will love it! But that’s it.

I am in Singapore. This time I do not have a simple sum up story to tell you how this town feels. I am taking a break for that to tell you how I feel… if there is a possibility that some of you care.

I feel ashamed of myself. One thing that I am going to talk about tomorrow when I sit down and try to arrange my thoughts on Singapore will be how luxury hotels are comparably cheap here. I am staying in one of them. But that’s not the story. The story is about a man. Interesting man. A Japanese writer. Wanderer, bohemian, homeless, however you want to call it. A man with whom I have spent several hours in an interesting and stimulating conversation about literature and philosophy for last couple of hours that he missed the last train going to airport, where he currently resides.

Another part of the story is about my hotel room, which was due to full occupancy upgraded to higher class and that coincidentally is a twin room, so I have two beds.

Due to our conversation, this man lost his last train to go back. He will have to sleep on a bench in a park. This man is no homeless in a sense as you might think, he is an intelligent, clean shaved man wearing a Lacoste T-shirt, so no problem there.

Where is the story and why I feel ashamed? Despite knowing it would not be a problem, I have not offered him a place to stay. It was right there, available and no issues with it, yet I did not do it. But I do not feel ashamed because of that. I feel ashamed of the reason. The man assumed that I sleep in a nearby hostel. I did not try to convince him otherwise. I was ashamed that if I offer him this option, he will find out that I am staying in a room that costs more per night than he spends on food per month. I was ashamed of that.

And due to my shame, I have not helped a fellow man.

This man says he writes books as some kind of remedy. I write this post for the same reason. Why is it that people feel ashamed of having more? Is it a complex that has been built into me in by growing in the Czech Republic and the shame that comes with riches? Or is it something deeper transcending more than just my culture? And most importantly, why is that? Why feeling that I have too much means that I offer too little? This shame is a toxic thing and I will have to find a root of it to get rid of it.

And come to think of it, this post is closer to my original intention of this blog anyway. Yet tomorrow, I will probably be back with a review of Singapore. Stay tuned, feel free to comment if you have any thoughts on this.

Hopefully I will be able to understand the origin of the shame. Maybe this man’s books will help. His name is Hideo Asano. You can see his books and maybe even buy them on Amazon or Lulu.

I am sitting back at the airport waiting to board my flight to Singapore. Hong Kong was a fascinating city (I am starting to feel that I am overly too positive about the places I visit, but never mind). Of course it helps a lot that I have friends living here, but still out of all the other places in Asia I have been to, Hong Kong is by far the most foreigner friendly.

Arriving in Hong Kong airport made me think of Zurich. Now that’s an association that I have not expected to come up with, but the comparison goes quite far. First, the airport looks a lot like Zurich airport (but contrary to Zurich this one is very traveller friendly. The surrounding scenery looks almost like Alps, if you decrease your standards and not look in the direction of the sea. Besides, the clouds are covering the tops of the mountains, so with a bit of imagination you might transfer yourself from South-East Asia to Western Europe.

But the comparison goes further. For example to the fact that Hong Kong is now purely a financial center. Since it lost its exclusive position as prime port of entry to China for foreign business, it obviously tries hard to develop a new niche in banking and finances.

Furthermore, it’s extremely expensive. Now this is coming from someone who lived a year in Tokyo. Hong Kong is by far more expensive than Tokyo or any other cities I visited in Asia and that by factor of 3, maybe even 4. Honestly, I was shocked. The price levels in Taipei and Seoul were directly comparable to Tokyo, but this is something else. I don’t get why people complain about prices in Tokyo, maybe it’s just because of the prevailing image from 1980’s, but Hong Kong is the most expensive city I have visited. And going out it just madness. There are places where you can get a drink for a reasonable price, but generally a night-out in Hong Kong will cost you about three times as much as comparable tour in Tokyo. But that’s life.

This feature might be related to the amount of foreigners living here. That was another shock, that might convince you that you are in fact in Western Europe instead of Asia. You might spend some considerable time looking for an Asian face in some parts of downtown Hong Kong. That’s also why I think it would be so easy to live here. And it is the same reason, why I could not live here too long, because the foreigners and their attitude would soon enough start to bother me.

Going out in Hong Kong reminded me that this place is after all a port. But nowadays instead of sailors coming on shore to refresh themselves and deflower local female populace, it’s the investment bankers and financial advisors. They are the new sailors. With their hard-earned cash spending it wildly on expensive drinks while maintaining casual relationship with the locals. Hong Kong is in many ways as one huge Roppongi. Maybe not as sleazy, or at least sleazy in different ways, but that surely came to mind.

But there are other things to see and do as well. I was lucky enough that my friends took me to a private party on sunday afternoon that was happening on a nearby island’s beach and involved a lot of beer and a food fight. It was a lot of fun, but more importantly it made me realize how easy it is to escape the bustling and busy downtown. Just taking a ferry for twenty minutes will take you to a nice and calm islands with tons of greenery and cozy local sea-food restaurants. Hong Kong’s population of around twelve million is dispersed in a very tight area where all the skyscrapers are. The rest of Hong Kong’s islands as well as the Kowloon peninsula is just uninhabited green hills and mountains. In fact, only 80% of Hong Kong is still untouched nature. Well, untouched cannot be taken literally as the pollution of the sea and air here is quite extreme. It might not be as bad as Shanghai, but it is still noticeable.

My flight is boarding now…. So last thought. How would Hong Kong stand when compared to the others. I guess due to the fact how easy time foreigner’s have living here, I must place it right after Tokyo. And if you are in the area, make sure you visit Hong Kong. It was a very different experience than I expected. Just make sure you have enough cash and that your nerves can take thousands of annoying foreigners roaming the city.