Okay, thats it for the first part. There will be no trip to Shanghai, which I have to say is somewhat of a shame, but I can at least say I am the proud owner of a China Visa. Maybe I can sell it on eBay. The sun was out for the first time in 3 weeks today, then it rained. You see, its not a bad thing, but the temperature remains the same, and the humidity. I could guarantee that the temp has never dropped below, say 25 degrees, day or night, in the whole time we have been here. [View Full Entry]

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Its Fathers Day, but I guess the title's a big giveaway on that one. Okay, let me make a confession...... today for me is, well, its not like its Mothers Day is it. This is one that the Americans invented, like Grandfathers Day.. and I'm sure they've got plenty of others. If I'm at home I get a card from my lovely children, and breakfast in bed if I can stay there long enough! Then on, its a normal day. Oh, I mustn't forget the mandatory huge bar of Galaxy chocolate, my favourite. Don't be mistaken, I do appreciate it. My [View Full Entry]

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As part of this learning experience, my Irish colleague Tom has enlightened us all over the past couple of weeks with a learning framework which he is eager to stress is not of his own making. This framework is known as Conscious Competence. Tom has tried on many occasions to bring Conscious Competence into the working day, often coupled with blank looks and hilarious consequences. Let me, on Toms behalf, try and explain. There are 4 levels of Conscious Competence as one learns. Level 1 - Unconscious Incompetence (You Don’t Know that You Don’t Know) At this level you [View Full Entry]

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So, weekend 2 is here. had a good lie in bed, watched some baseball - I need to understand the rules as I'm going to a game when we go to the States - and now I look out of my hotel room to a glum day. Rain, cloud, but it'll still be touching 30 degrees. Tom and I are off to some kind of electronics market this afternoon, and we'll all head off into Hong Kong island tonight. Last night we went down to Tsim Sha Tsui... Temple St to be more precise. In the evenings this is a huge [View Full Entry]

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Well its been a quiet week so far on the social front, mainly because we are back at work. Remember I told you about the umbrella - I've yet to open the damn thing! Its not coming back with me so it may well end up in the bin without ever being used in anger. Having had our fill of noodles, chicken feet, ambiguous meat, we decided to go for some good old British fare last night. So we went for a curry. It was...okay... but I fear we got something different to what we ordered. Rogan Josh? Jalfrezi? The Chinese [View Full Entry]

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Sunday morning.... the day I'd been eagerly anticipating. Dragon boat racing on the Shing Mun River. This is just behind the hotel, just a 10 minute walk away. Up and out at 9, down to the river. Okay, it was somewhat underwhelming. It just wasn't the spectacle I was expecting. Maybe the hype of all the pictures, does anyone else remember when one of the Blue Peter presenters had a stint at this? I was only a kid at the time, but I remember it looking really exciting. But it wasn't. I don't know if its because the Chinese don't seem [View Full Entry]

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Saturday was a virtual washout. Can't say I've seen more rain in one downpour, and it lasted all day, with thunder and lightening to match. So, we had to stay indoors. Dave and Sally went to watch "Sex in the City" at the cinema, while Tom and I, unlike Dave, were not comfortable with "outing" ourselves as fans of the same. Although I have an inkling think that he would not have chosen that particular piece of "entertainment" had Sally not been here. Still, they seem to have enjoyed it and hey, whats the alternative. I'll tell you. I found myself [View Full Entry]

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That's it... one week down, three to go. To summarize, its been a hell of a week. So busy, so much to take in, but we've done a good job in my view. Its hard to concentrate so much for so long in an enclosed room,so full on. But we're here to do a job, so you just have to get on with it. I've missed my family, but I've been on the phone a few times, and thank goodness for email. My kids have sent me a Fathers day card today, I wonder if/when I'll get it. That'llbe nice. One [View Full Entry]

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Its a bugger this one. Been a busy day.. again. It seems that the norm is an 11 or 12 hour day, sod that for a game of samurai warriors! I'll tell you something, the people here, and particularly the staff at work, are some of the most genuine people one would wish to meet. They will ALWAYS put the guest first, the height of politeness. We were taken out to lunch (again) to a noodle house. Its the first time that I have walked into a place and all faces turned to look. We were the only westerners in the [View Full Entry]

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I have to be careful not to put in any work stuff in here. Its not the place for it really, and its not the reason why I wanted to do this. Had about 3.5 hours sleep last night, so I'm knackered now... only had 2 beers tonight. Its 22:00 and I have work to do before I retire. I may actually watch a DVD before I sleep, "I am Legend". Lunch was interesting today. We went across the road from the office (there is a river running by, a big one) to a floating restaurant. Yes, it's a Chinese. We [View Full Entry]

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