Asia GEMBA Trip, 2006
I had a fair bit of trepidation about my upcoming trip to Asia for the Fuqua GEMBA program, most of it surrounding my recovery from pneumonia and the costs associated with the trip. I found out less than a month before I was to leave that my employers were not going to raise my salary up to market levels, as previously promised. This did not make me overly happy. (I am concerned about the medical bills not covered by my insurance, they have skyrocketed.) I was also concerned that I might not be able to successfully fly. As you know, I was pronounced fully fit to fly a couple weeks before I left, but the money situation is still a nuisance.
I did fly business class; I had a two-for-one deal and found a friend of a friend to fly with me. I was also concerned about spending essentially 24 hours with one person, something that, as a single person, I do very very rarely. It turns out that Naomi was a wonderful traveling companion, so I worried for nothing.
A newer concern is my cat, Gremalkin. Apparently, he did not respond too well to my three week absence when I went to Europe for GEMBA. My shorter trips were fine, but after about ten days, he was feeling abandoned. I have been debating acquiring a second cat, but am concerned that Gremmie will feel like he has competition. Maybe I should re-think that conclusion.
So, I packed on the 31st, and was ready to go. I drove to Alan Horn's apartment, as he'll be watching one of my cars while I am away. We went from there to a Mongolian barbecue in Burlingame that I had not seen before. I was not impressed. I was dropped at the airport at 9PM, and Naomi met me at 9:15. We checked in, and waited. Departure was at 12:05AM on the 1st of February. We finally boarded, and had our seats in the bubble.
This was a very short day. We took off from the airport. I wished Naomi a happy birthday, and we were served dinner. I had prawns in chili sauce, which apparently disagreed with me. The prawns were under-cooked. I ended up with some gastric distress on the flight for a little while. Or, it could have been the cold snail and scallop appetizer.
It was a long flight. We crossed the dateline at some point, and just kept on flying. The total air time to Taipei was 14 hours, and we slept for about 8 of them. This turns out to be pretty decent, as I don't think I ended up with any serious jet lag. We landed at Taipei at about 6AM and went to the business class lounge after checking the duty free. They had some OK dim sum, and some hot beef noodle soup. They also had a free internet connection, so I caught up with my email. At about 9:30, we had our last flight, four more hours to Bangkok. Decent food, but the chicken in pineapple was clearly low quality leg meat.
At Bangkok airport, the immigration computers must have had a glitch, since for about 25 minutes, the line barely moved, and then it moved quickly. It took 45 minutes to get into the country, and our luggage was already there. I picked up my tickets for Siem Reap, left some luggage, and picked up some Baht. After checking into my hotel, and showering, I went with Naomi (who also took advantage of a quick shower) to her hotel, where we parted. I hope she has a wonderful time on her vacation.
For dinner, I went to Cabbages and Condoms, where I had an interesting appetizer of dried lemon, dried shrimp, dried coconut, and other spices, wrapped in betel leaves, and served with diced bird peppers. I also had beef with Thai basil, and the two dishes hit the spot.
Getting back to my hotel, the Airport Comfort Suites was an adventure. Foolishly, I had assumed the key had the address, and the taxi service had not heard of it. Eventually, I was dropped off at the Amari airport, and got the shuttle from the airport to the hotel. I asked for an 11:45PM wakeup call, and started sleeping at 9PM.
The wakeup call was because my father was arriving in the early hours of February 3rd.
I took the shuttle to the airport, and waited. His flight ended up being a little late, but he managed to get out of immigration quickly (no line!) and got his bags. Instead of waiting for the shuttle, we opted for a taxi to the hotel. That put us in at 1:20 AM. I booked another wakeup call at 5:30AM, and slept.
Woke at 5AM, packed, and was ready. First, let me say the hotel left something to be desired, such as repairs. I'd have difficulty giving it one star. Breakfast was nothing special.
My father and I then flew to Cambodia.
All text and images are © Copyright 2006 James C. Armstrong, Jr.