Horse Back Riding in Egypt

A few weeks ago I was in Cairo Egypt and wow was it an experience for me. The weather was pretty hot, not as hot as Saudi Arabia but really hot anyway. I always love travelling to Arabic countries for the food though. They have hummus and bread to die for! Their fruits are also reaaaallly good! I went there on business and my partners there were extremely hospitable for me, a few nights we were able to go out and eat dinner on the Nile river, watch people smoke the hubbibly bubbily which is what they call the hukka. It was also interesting for me work in a place that is so hot that they stop working around 4pm and sleep til 8 or 9pm. Everyone then gets up around 930pm and eats dinner and stays up til around 3 or 4am before they go to bed. Everyone does this also, whole families with little kids also! Eating on the Nile and horse back riding next to the pyramids are a few things that not too many people are able to say they have done! For the pyramids, I never realized that there are more than 128 pyramids in Egypt and that each took about 30 years to build! The larger size ones also contain more than 3 million blocks which blew me away! Below is a short video from my trip. The music that is playing is also from a new artist in Egypt and has some local instruments which sound pretty cool I thought. Hope you enjoy the video!

Free VIP Concert Tickets...Sign me up!

So one perk to having a roommate is that he has relatives from Kansas City who happen to be traveling thru Hong Kong! haha Yes, this is true! About a month ago or so, Anthony's cousin came thru Hong Kong with several European and USA bands such as Simple Plan and other popular bands. The nice thing about this was that we got free VIP tickets in the very front of the concert! This concert was amazing and was also interesting since it really showed me how the whole world is really more of the same than different and globalization is the same with businesses and also music. This concert was a great surprise and was a great time had by all my friends and I!

Going on Two Years in Asia

So I have been in Asia for a total of almost two years now if you include my internship time and wow has time flown by! From when I first arrived in Asia, the time has gone on fast forward but there is literally never a dull moment. It is great living in Hong Kong since it is such a transient lifestyle and the people are extremely dynamic. I am always amazed at the type of people I meet in Hong Kong and the broad lifestyles that they all come from. I now live in more of a downtown area called "TST" and I have my coworker as a roommate which is fantastic since it is boring and lonely living alone. It is also nice to have someone to share expenses with and share stories with since we both travel in opposite directions most of the time. My parents are coming out in a month or so and that should be awesome to be able to show them around....especially since it is not like Boston! I have developed a lot in my job and also have new responsibilities and new countries that I am in charge of which is fantastic! Along with my personal duties and growth, the whole company has grown around me and it is amazing to be a part of something that you helped create! Who knows what the future holds for me!

A Visitor!

Yes, I know I have been bad at updating this blog, but I keep reminding myself to update it. The problem is that I am always on the road and rarely get to a computer while also having enough time to log on here and update it with new pictures. My friend, Markie from the Chicago area was able to come two weeks ago and visit during a week I had off between travels. We were able to travel all over Hong Kong and see all the sights from Victoria's Peak, Stanley Market, the Ladies Market, my new apartment in TST, and also going to Macau to see the new casinos like the Venetian and also going on a bike ride around town (having a local Macau bike tour guide bike us around!) It was an extremely busy week but was relaxing also! I have about a month of severe travel from Shanghai to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta to Cairo ahead of me, but work is going well and I am enjoying my new roomie that I have in Hong Kong! Pictured is a photo from Macau looking out onto the contrasting skyline of old and new with old homes and stores and the new casinos in the background!

Offroading in Sand Dunes in Dubai

Over the three week work tour throughout the middle east, Europe and Africa, I had one day off in Dubai and was able to go on this amazing Sand Dune adventure in the desert. Our driver was Irani (he is from Iran so it is his nickname) and we were driven throughout the desert, over huge sand mountains and gulley's. Throughout the journey we were able to stop at a camel farm, watch the sun go down, and we were also able to have a great Arabian dinner while watching a belly dancer! It is certainly not like Boston! Enjoy this short video of the day!

Saudi, Dubai, Oslo, Frankfurt, Johannesburg

Yes, those were the places I went to for business over the past three weeks. Pictured is the view from the hotel room we had at the Emirates Hotel in Dubai. This lake connects to the ocean and was all man made! These buildings and water were virtually nonexistent three years ago, the construction is astounding here!

We have been very busy implementing a new training program for our global distributors where we train people how to sell. I was able to go to these places to work with the people and help their sales staff. Surprisingly we were able to significantly improve every persons sales skills and I was surprised at how much I have learned over the past year or so working with the company.

When on the road, you see everything and its opposite! The first stop was in Saudi Arabia where there are no females and no alcohol...so it is pretty rough for a person with the last name of Davies! haha It was blistering hot outside, I would open the door and it felt like someone was following me around with a heat lamp! I am pretty positive if I stayed outside for more than 45minutes, I would literally burn! Saudi is one of the most amazing places in the world, I have never been in a place where the food is so delicious, the fruits, breads and other sauces are to die for! Along with that, I had to get used to the different work hours as well, most places in the world work closely to the 8-5pm work schedule, well in Saudi they work from 8-11ish. Then nap and pray til about 4pm. 5pm to 10pm they finish the work day and eat around 11pm. It took a lot of getting used to since I am not a big napper!

Oslo Norway was also incredible since it was very cold there and also the people are the most gentle and nice there. I have never seen such blue sky before, maybe since Asia is so polluted I forgot what blue sky looks like! When people graduate from 12 years of school, they wear baggy red pants and carry around these personalized cards with a funny picture of themselves and a funny quote or something on it. These cards are collected by the children and its a national tradition. Well I thought I could do this also, and I collected a lot of cards, but also had a lot of strange looks along the way! Along with that, they rent these huge double decker buses, spray paint graffiti on them, put stadium loud speakers on the roof and on the inside put techno music, dance lights, fog machines and other crazy things like a dance floor and a bar! While I was there I decided to take part on one of these buses and WOW was that an experience! Oslo is very interesting.

After that trip I was in South Africa in Johannesburg where I ate baby kangaroo and also was able to work with the people there. Safety is an issue there so we had to be careful to not leave the safety of our guests or the hotel premises. They actually had these things called xenophobia where foreigners were being killed and the government and military are going in to control the people! I did not witness anything first hand, but robbery and theft are pretty common, it makes Asia seem pretty safe where a five year old boy can go by himself on the MTR train!

There are so many more stories to share, but I felt guilty since I have not been able to update my blog and I had three weeks of new and interesting environments to work in. Next week I head to Kuala Lumpur!

Mr. Davies and Morgan in Asia!

It was great to have a week off this week and spend time with my old roomate from college. Bruce was able to come out to Asia and spend time with me in Hong Kong and we were also able to go into Zhuhai and Guangzhou China! It was a crazy time with him and we were able to do so much in such a short time period! I think that Bruce caught a bit of the Asian bug and will have to come back ASAP. We were able to do the touristy things such as Victoria's Peak and shopping in Hong Kong and have fun in Lang Kwai Fung and Wan Chai. It was a great time and unfortunately I need to head back to work, heading to Malaysia, and Bruce needs to head back to school near Chicago. It was a fun and crazy time though!

Beijing Car Show

So our team just held our first big car show in China at the Beijing Car and Trade Show. The car culture here is growing so rapidly and is amazing to see the western influence on things in Asia. It was a lot of work to build such a large booth and was a lot of work to run the show, but many business connections and opportunities were made at the show. People are starting to recognize the brand like in the states and things are really taking off here! It is no wonder that people are as car crazy here as in the states! We even had a local guy who used to live in LA give us his Hummer H2 with floater rims and also his new Volvo. The video was put onto youtube and has gotten a lot of hits as well. Pictured is the booth we built, ran, and worked in at the 4 day show!

The Great Wall

The Great Wall in Beijing is an amazing place. It is one of the wonders of the world and everyone has to go there at least once in their lives. It is an amazing place to go to and to even fathom how people so long ago were able to build such a huge and amazing structure is mind boggling. I was able to have a day off and visit this structure with some people from Thailand. The day was full of great weather and once one gets out of Beijing and is able to see the landscape from outside the city, it is amazing! China really has drastic changes in landscape from mountains to river to valleys to oceans. I thought that this picture was gorgeous and really shows off how interesting and amazing the Great Wall is!

Traveling to the Kingdom

Traveling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is always a treat. It is so sad to think that so many people in different parts of the world automatically think that this part of the world is too different to go to or to work in. The people I work with there are awesome and they certainly know how to have a good time and the food is outstanding. I just need to make sure to watch my feminine figure and not go overboard! haha I doubt this will happen since it seems that a lot of the places I go to, I end up sweating a bunch and will certainly lose weight over the months. Saudi Arabia is a great place to go to and explore and I have never been to such a place where things were so different. It was a challenge for me to get used to not seeing any women or alcohol or to also have pray time 5 times a day. With these different things going on, I was always ready to be on the go at a sudden notice, when I did not really know when it was work time or pray time. After making an afternoon pit stop in Hong Kong, I am now in Kuala Lumpur working a few days before all of Asia has its Chinese New Years events. This Thursday I will be going to Zhuhai to help my mate get moved into his new apartment there and then I will be heading to Hong Kong for a traditional Hong Kong Chinese New Years event. Pictured above is me climbing the sand dunes in Saudi one afternoon. The sand is so fine and there is so much of it, it gets inside of your shoes and pants and never really leaves! It was a lifetime experience and after seeing my Cairo colleague give up after having a few too many smokes, Mr. OK and I were able to climb the huge mountain of sand and see forever into the distance. It was a moment I will never forget.

Another Holiday Gift

Santa was especially nice to me this year, not only was he generous with the usual under the tree gifts and even an embroidered dragon I can get framed...he also let me spend the majority of my holiday with Markie! When I was in Chicago seeing friends, she was able to come and see me, since I feel like a bum and have no cell phone or car when in the states. After being there, she decided to come out to New England and spend some time with me in the cold north. Luckily for her, she is now on her way to Saint Martin in the Caribbean, while I am stuck heading to work! Life just isn't fair! haha We were able to spend New Years together and also do some good old Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots shopping since she is a Colts fan and all Bostonians know how much better our sports teams are here! She obviously declined to purchase any sports memorabilia...I wonder why! Pictured above is when we went to a contemporary jazz concert at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston...it was a great surprise and made my holiday that much better........holidays never seem to last long enough!

Christmas in Boston

My christmas and new years was spent in Boston this year. It just did not seem right that I was walking around in flip flops, shorts, and a tshirt and people were saying merry christmas to me in Hong Kong, so it was good to get back to Boston where it snowed 3 times while I was here. We have had more snow now, only two days into 2008 than we have had all of last winter! It is totally crazy! I was able to stop by Chicago for this break and see some friends from college there, I was able to see Valpo lose to the Badgers in Wisconsin as well...I guess their sports as average as usual still, so sad. From there, Boston was my home for the rest of break, which was full of food, being lazy, shopping, and relaxing with some good rest and relaxation. I am already itching to head back to Asia, where things seem to be on fast forward compared to New England. One night, my father surprised our family with a limo and took us into the Boston Pops where they had holiday music, along with a few dance floors to cut a rug! It was fabulous to go there and dance in front of hundreds of people while they looked on. It was too bad that Sarah and I were the only ones who really danced since everyone else was mainly too old to do so! I leave tomorrow at 4AM for a 7AM flight out of Boston, I have everything set to go and I get to see my parents in about 9 months. I think time will fly, its now time to head to work again...