Trekking in the Philippines

After ten days in the Chinese Special Administrative Regions of Hong
Kong and Macau, my islands hopping in the South China Sea brought me to
the Philippines. Leaving Macau, there are ferries going directly to the
airport of Hong Kong and it is not necessary to go through the
immigration of this latter city once again. Prices in the Philippines
were much lower than in the previous cities and therefore I could afford a good hotel near the Ermita Mosque, in walking distance of the main sights of the historical city center. The first two days, I spent
my time exploring Manila, the capital city. Intramuros is an historical
part of town with old buildings and Fort Santiago is definitively worth
a visit. One can even play golf there. Walking along the bay of Manila
is a beautiful experience. The SM Mall of Asia is one of the largest
shopping malls in the world, with a lot of diverse shops and food
outlets and even an ice rink. I managed to spend a whole afternoon
there, from before lunch until after dinner. In Rizal park, a green area
in the center, one can enjoy beautiful gardens, whereby people practice
various forms of TaiChi and Chigong in the morning.

On the third day, I went to Tagaytay in order to do some trekking around
the Taal volcano. This volcano is within a lake and in its crater
another lake has been created, and in this second lake a new cone is
emerging. The main challenge was the heat, which can be oppressing for
people not accustomed to such climes. In the evening, we could observe
beautiful fireworks along the baywalk.

For the flight back to Hong Kong, Philippines Airlines was using a
Boeing 747 and it was almost full, at least in economy class. This was a very short stay, too little time to see all the wonderful landscapes of the country and explore the various cultures living in this archipelago.

Pictures of this trip have been added to Facebook:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153747&l=4a5f5&id=791795443

Hong Kong

Landing in HongKong, the immigration procedure was very quick and easy, the airport express brought me to the centre and then it was a short taxi ride to the hotel. I stayed at the City Garden hotel in North Point, in a part of town which is very Chinese. In the evening, I found a good Sichuan restaurant and enjoyed a really spicy dish of fish with cabbage.

On Tuesday, there was the time for a long tour around Hong Kong island. Visited the main sights, the Man Mo Temple, walked around Victoria Peak after getting there with an old tram, visited Aberdeen Fishing Village where we had lunch on a floating restaurant called the Jumbo, did some bargain hunting at Stanley Market. In the evening, I tested the local Starbucks and tired one of their specialities adapted to the Asian market, Grean Tea Tofu Cheesecake, wondering whether Chinese people really eat it or if it is only something for expats.

On Wednesday it was the turn of Kowloon, the peninsula part of the territory of Hong Kong. Went to two temples, the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin and the Sha Tin which is also known as the Ten Thousands Buddhas Monastery. After a walk in Kowloon Park, I passed by the Tin Hau Temple on the way back to the hotel. For dinner In enjoyed pork spinach dumplings with Yunnanese noodles.

On Thursday it was time to leave Hong Kong, for Macau. There were ferries every 5 to 10 minutes, and getting a place without prior booking went very fast, immigration was cleared easily, and the boat ride took only one hour.

Which 24 character are you+

Which 24 Character Are You?
	You are Bill Buchanan. You are a law abiding citizen and in your world, rules are the driving force behind anything and everything. Your leadership charisma is something talked about by others, and instead of doing things differently you do different things. You have an uncanny knack of staying calm in tense situations and your tone is testimony to that. Keep the cool attitude and you will surely overcome the most perilous situations.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Pictures from Acuto

Below a few pictures taken from my cellphone during last weekend in Acuto:

Weekend in Acuto

Back from a highly inspirational week-end in Acuto near Rome in Italy. The Enterprise of the Future Weekend organised by the European Bahai Business Forum under the title “You can act now for the world of tomorrow” gave the opportunity to business people from twelve European nations to expand their horizon on the application of values at the workplace. On Friday evening, after some introductions of the participants we had a World Café were we could exchange ideas about applying the EBBF values at the workplace. On Saturday Rüdiger Fox from Germany gave a presentation about the “Just Do It” attitude, his way of changing the values in companies and managing successful turnarounds. In the afternoon, Arthur L. Dahl presented an EU-project where EBBF is one of the partner, aimed at measuring the intangibles in companies. In the late afternoon we had some free time to enjoy a walk in the medieval village of Acuto in order to free our minds. In the evening some of the participants were invited to be in front and answer questions from the audience about ways of applying values at work. This weekend has been a great chance to network with like-minded individuals and deepen our understanding of some motivation factors and ways of making workplaces more enjoyable for all. It was good to be reconnected with the vision of past years in order to get back to work on Monday with a refreshed mind and new ideas.

Looking forward to come back next year, maybe taking more time to visit the city of Rome.

You can learn more about the week-end by following the link below:
http://ebbf.org/tomorrow2008.html

The complete list of events organised by EBBF all over Europe can be found below:
http://ebbf.org/events.html

ILA Berlin 2008

Another week-end with great networking opportunities took place in Berlin this end of May. The German airshow "ILA" was organised with guest country India. Besides the larger A380 and a lot of business jets, there were also oldtimers on display, and of course Indian helicopters. The main European aerospace companies were present. I had the pleasure of meeting again people from Euroavia, an association of aerospace engineering students to which I belonged during my studies in Toulouse. In addition I also met former and current colleagues. For entertainment an orchestra of the Indian army was playing some music with typical Indian tones, unfortunately they were often forced to stop playing due to the noise of the flying aircrafts. It was my fourth participation since 1996 and I still enjoyed it very much.

On Saturday, I took the chance to visit the city of Potsdam and its various palaces before attending the Mamma Mia musical, where hits from the Swedish band Abba were used to tell an exciting story, all were sung in German.

On the way back, the train was delayed and the journey back home ended by taxi, as the German train company had no more connecting trains they had to ensure our arrival back home and therefore paid for this taxi. In all I entered the Swiss territory three times in that night, in order to be back in the remote area of Germany where I am living.

Pictures of this trip, including shots from the ILA, Potsdam and Berlin have been added on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121495&l=14c8d&id=791795443

Teaching Harry Potter Style

Which Hogwarts Class Would You Teach?
	You would teach Potions. You are a creative person. You're the type of person that could change a situtation around in a short matter of time. You are also artistic and when it comes to new ideas, you're the one everybody else turns to.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com