Typhoon

This email just appeared in my in-box:

Dears,
The weather forecasting a biggest typhoon ever in recent 10 years is approaching Shanghai. Considering the severe traffic and security situation, and on behalf of Managing Director's instruction, I would like to inform you that, you might go home earlier upon your team head's agreement now.

Yikes.

Sunday afternoon

A new Hyatt hotel opened about a fifteen minute walk from our apartment. We walked there for lunch today. It's nice -- enormous and luxurious with terrific views.

Here's a photo from our walk back home.

Seoul

Juan and I went to Seoul a few weeks ago for a long weekend. Why Seoul? It's only a 2 hour flight, they have special weekend hotel rates, and, eh, why not? Some friends here tried to dissuade us -- "It's Tokyo's dull cousin." and "The only good thing there is the airport." I wouldn't listen.

Wow. What a dull place.

Some excellent restaurants, but mainly just a banal urban monotony punctuated by unfortunate attempts at contemporary architecture (at least the modern architecture in China is spectacularly bad -- kitsch is always better than bland.)

Upside: Korean BBQ, the Krispy Creme near the Lotte Hotel, good public transit.

Downside: Everything else. The drive from the airport lasts longer than The Exodus. Also the DMZ tour doesn't happen on Sunday so we didn't get a chance to see the only interesting bit.

Happy, happy

We recently won a pitch for Disney in China, so we had our agency kick-off meeting at the park in Hong Kong.

Prior to the visit everyone I asked about it uniformly remarked, "The park is so small!" Yep, it's small. After 3 hours of the suffocating crowds, wailing children, heat and humidity I felt like I was being buried alive.

They had some kind of water cannon parade during our visit. We went on Space Mountain (45 minute wait.) And then I bought some of those mouse ear hats as souvenirs.