Viet Nam November 2008

In November my team (my country managers) had their quarterly meeting in Viet Nam. Ngo Mihn Duc (he's the second guy from the left), our GSA in Viet Nam, works for HG Travel and they own a small cruise ship that cruises the waters of Halong Bay in VN. It is a true treat - spending a night in a lovely cove surrounded by all those pictures you see of "wild Asia" - the limestone formations.
From L to R, aboard the Bahaya Cruise ship:

Chaichan (GSA for Thailand)
Michael Fletcher (AA Australia)
Jeff Walker (AA Australia)
E.J. (moi)
Maisee Wong (GSA for Hong Kong)
June Pang (GSA for Korea)
Ella Sanchez (GSA for Philippines)
Simon Tang (tall guy in the back, GSA for Taiwan)
Ngo Mihn Duc (or "Mr. Duc," GSA for Viet Nam)
James Khoo (AA Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia)

Within the limestone formations, there are many caves. In the background of this photo is a cave that hosts meetings and parties. Just over my left shoulder you can see the stairs that lead up to the opening. This particular cave holds over 100 people and a full band.
This is the ship we were on. It has 20 cabins, all meticulously and sweetly decorated in true French Indo-China style. The silence is wonderful - the stars at night are totally countless and awesome. Our trip was this particular ship's maiden voyage, so everything was brand new. We could see the insecurity on the faces of the crew, but they did a lovely job.
Stunning scenerey. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
Tai Chi on the upper deck starts off the day!

We flew in to Hanoi, then took a 3 hour drive east to Halong Bay. On the final day, we came back through Hanoi and took a rick-shaw tour through town. It was certainly unusual, but it sure gave a feeling for the sights, sounds and colors of Hanoi. We passed John McCain's summer home. The city is fast, colorful and bursting with energy...truly a fabulous experience! Here are June, Duc and me......Simon, Michael and Maisee.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera at the time (Junginger family camera was in use for a school activity), so my photo library is a bit limited as I am relying on other peoples' photos and what they thought interesting.

Immediately following this trip, GrandPa and Nonna bought me my OWN camera! Thanks!!!!! I think you'll find too many photos in the future, rather than too few. Nonna and G-Pa, you're the best.

Anyhow, VN is one of the most fascinating places I've ever been...it is simply (and that word was chosen on purpose, SIMPLY) beautiful. There are cattle roaming the streets and rice paddies everywhere. Hopefully I'll make it back and take more photos.

Korea at Christmas time

On a recent trip to Seoul (December 14), I stayed at the Lotte Hotel in downtown - very near the central government buildings. It is in walking distance from the AA office. I was floored by how well Seoul dresses up for the holidays! They have some lovely light displays, and there was an ice-skating rink built for the holiday, too! Since it is quite far north of Hong Kong (3.5 hr flight), the weather was crisp and cool and refreshing!
These are just pretty light shots...
They have some vertical strands of lights that cascade down from the trees - they are made of a series of small lights that come on in sequence from top to bottom...gives an effect of icicles dripping. Just beautiful.A beautiful lighted fairy display in the hotel lobby.
Our team in Seoul - the fellow to my right with the yellow tie is June Pang, the manager of AA at Daejoo Airways, our GSA in KR. The team is warm, kind, dedicated and such a pleasure to work with. Some of the kindest people I've ever met.

Central Plaza

Central Plaza (where AA HK office is and where I work) is currently the 3rd tallest building in Hong Kong, although for a time it was the tallest building in Asia. According to a recent article I read (which may be dated by now), it could be the 10th tallest building in the world with 76 stories and about 1,200 feet of height. It has a remarkable presence on the Hong Kong skyline, and participates grandly in all the light shows and festivals at night. It is topped by a gold spire which I was not able to capture in this photo. It is somewhat triangular in shape in order to maximize the square footage of office space that is eligible for a harbor view. It is located in the busy Wan Chai section of Hong Kong, just east of the "official" downtown, or "Central" neighborhood.



There is a very distinctive gold design in the windows.

I arrived at work quite early by Hong Kong standards (0800-ish) this day. Few people are on the escalators at this time. One escalator up....



...and then you go up the second set. The lobby is bronze and black - lots of black granite, marble, and bronze trim. Incredible care is take of every square inch. Workers are constantly scrubbing and polishing every piece of trim. At the top of the second escalator, there are elevator banks complete with hand-sanitizers (a post-SARS invention), an incredible view, and of course a Starbucks.

If you arrive early enough in the morning, you can begin your day with some Tai Chi! Class begins around 0700, although individual workout-ers can be seen until around 0930 - by then Hong Kong is so bustling that I think it would be difficult to concentrate, but I know nothing about Tai Chi! The covered breezeways under the building make a nice place to stretch, even in rainy weather. The office buidling pipes Tai Chi music around adding to the very peaceful effect.

Another important fact about the photo above is the China Resources building in the background. That's a nice spot to go to lunch to souvenir shop when you have a LOT of money in your pocket (of course window shopping is fun too, if you're like me). It has incredible silks and other Chinese treasures - just typical Chinese souvenirs, but of amazingly fantastic quality.
Pointsettias really dress up the grounds in the winter.


Inside our office space is pretty much typical of any office space - grey cubicle type furniture.

Our team is represented here - - on the back row from the left:

Casey Fung (EDS technical support)
Jimmy Lee (Sales Planning and Analysis)
Delia Hui (Finance lead)
Katherine Shum (Sales Planning and Analysis)
EJ (moi)
Teresa Wong (Regional Administrative Support)
Esther Lee (Finance)
Amy Leung (Marketing)
Sam Liu (EDS technical support)

on the front row from left to right:

Zoe Chan (Sales Planning and Analysis lead)
Glady Tung (Marketing lead)
Imelda Fung (Regional Reservations and Ticketing Support)
Heidi Law (Finance)

I almost blend in, don't I? (ha ha ha! :-). Most of my colleagues are native Hong Kong people. They all speak English very fluently (except when they don't want me to hear them...ha ha...then they speak Cantonese, the local dialect of the region).


Central Plaza knows how to dress up for Christmas! The trees in the lobbies are enormous - and real. The smell is lovely.

Repulse Bay

Repulse Bay is a beach area - the majority of it is pretty standard Hong Kong beach. The views from the hills above overlooking the bay are outstanding, and there are several high-dollar apartment bulding available in that area.

On one side of the beach area, however, there is a wonder area full of statues and tribute areas - tributes to the gods of the sea!




Just a fun area to explore after a day at the beach! And of course, they have ice-cream there!

Just passing by

An interesting boat passing by - view from our balcony (zoom shot).

You can find almost anything in HK!

They sell Levi's here...and even UNDER WEAR!

The NEW Harbour School

Hi Nonna again! Here's the promised photos of the new school! The whole scheme is "Harbour"! How surprising is that? heh heh...

Nonna - above is our new library - it is in a central area. We also have assembly in this area, and the presenting class goes on the stage here. You can't really tell from here, but the carpet is done in swirling blues to look like the ocean!
Above is the reading boat! You can go to library and read a great book in the reading boat! What a fun quiet time.
Christina's class has the solar system suspended from the ceiling.
This is (L to R), Ms Chloe (assistant teacher), Christina-boo, Ms Mu (lead teacher) and Emily.

[note from Mom: THANK HEAVEN FOR MS. MU!!!!

If there was EVER a teacher who could match C's energy and enthusiasm for life it IS Ms. Mu!!!!! Mommy LOVES her. She can really make C's mind work!!! Also, Ms Mu stands about 10 inches above Christina, and that's about it. I don't think there's any way this woman clears 5'. Anyhow, sometimes it is just super-good for C to have an authority figure who can really look her in the eye....:-)]
Here's Ms. Amy (Assistant teacher, from the U.S. West Coast), Jessica-Junginger-jelly-jar, and Ms. Meredith (lead teacher). Ms. Meredith is from Australia, and is clearly very degreed in education. She's super-concerned for the childrens' well-being, and that makes mommy happy and fell like Jessica is being well-taken-care-of! She's super!

More later, Nonna - just wanted to share these as quickly as possible.

It's a super-cool new school! (The rest is the same, same bus, same bring-your-own-lunch, etc. etc.).

LOVE YOU!!!!
Jessica and Christina