Georgetown – An (almost) untouched jewel in Asia

I recently had to visit Georgetown for business, a lovely town in Western Malaysia in the state of Penang. I didn’t know much about the city, boy was I in for a surprise.

A bookshop where people are reading

I had to hop over the border yesterday to visit a factory in Shenzhen. Before I went back to Hong Kong, I stopped at “Windows of the World” metro. Around eight years ago I lived next to the metro stop and I recall there’s a large shopping mall.

Deutschland – the question of nationalism vs patriotism and how a country struggles with its past….

“Deutschland” shouts the masculine voice of Till Lindemann, frontman of the German hard rock band Rammstein.

“So what”, you might think, after all people should “Deutschland” at football matches. Or “USA”, “England” etc for that matter.

But not long ago, things weren’t that easy as they are now….

Why WeChat Pay is so popular

Everyone who’s been to China or is doing business with Chinese companies has heard of WeChat. It’s an application that resides on your smartphone and provides a number of services including chatting (WhatsApp, iMessage), audio and video calling (WhatsApp, FaceTime) but also sharing photos / status updates with your network (Facebook). There’s one application that really makes it different to it Western counterparts – WeChat Pay.

Three nights in Beijing….

Air miles can expire! Who would’ve thought that? Faced with the choice of a) letting them expire, b) exchange them for some useless products I don’t need or c) travelling somewhere alone leaving wife and children at home I decided to go for the latter. Beijing – baby. 

A day trip to Shenzhen

It’s been a while since I went back to Shenzhen. I pass the city every week but my interaction is limited to leaving the Hong Kong – China border, heading to the train station and taking the train to Dongguan.

I read about a new Book store,本来书店, that opened in a new shopping mall in Futian called 深业上成 with an extensive children’s book section.

Back to Taiwan….

It’s been more than 1.5 years since we visited Taiwan. Time to come back, this time with the entire family including all nephews, nieces and in-laws. Total of 16 people. This time we didn’t go to the (for us) usual places such as Taipei or Taichung but to Yalin, a city in the north-east of the island. I’ve been to Taiwan many times but never to the east coast, which is far more laid-back and remote compared to the urbanised west-coast.

Tai Po Old Police Station

I’ve been living in Tai Po for more than three years now and haven’t made it to the old police station on top of the hill. And this despite it being just 500m away from where I live….

PMQ – Hong Kong’s art hub (or is it just another shopping mall)?

I have to admit I still hadn’t been to PMQ. And that despite working in the Product Design and Development industry. I know there’s no excuse but a busy work schedule, too many China trips and two small children kept me busy. However, yesterday, I finally managed to drop by. 

Taiwan, I love you….

Taiwan… A much underrated island of the coast of China.

As my wife’s father’s family is from Taiwan we typically go there once a year. There are many reasons why I love Taiwan. Among them is the nature, the food and most of all the people.

They’re just the nicest people on earth. And they take pride in their service. 
We landed at Taichung airport and needed a room to change our son’s and daughters diapers. 

In Europe you might find a public toilet with a baby changing facility. Not so in Taiwan.

There was a special room for breastfeeding and baby care. Inside, there was a baby changing facility, water in different temperatures, diapers in three (!!!!) sizes, baby body lotion and even heated wet towels (they got a special machine to wet the towels).

Taiwan, I love you….  I’ve never ever seen anything like this.