November 5-15, 2007
Asia and Florida

November 5-7
Shanghai, China

As we prepared for this trip I was full of anticipation, not only for the presentations, but the travel and knowing we would be so far from home. SRC and I arrived in Shanghai Tuesday evening and after checking in at the hotel we both looked forward to some exercise time. Spending 15 hours on a plane, basically in a reclined position without much walking around and I was ready to get the wiggles out. Running felt great! Here are a few photos: the view from my hotel room as well as SRC's. Plus a view from the elevator.


The thing I was most fascinated by in Shanghai were the number of bikes and scooters on the road. I didn't see many pedestrians and even the cars were few in number. What we saw were bikes and scooters...everywhere. That is the main mode of transportation and it was amazing to see bikes lining the sidewalks or intersections filled with scooters and more bikes.

The presentation went very well. SRC was terrific and on top of his game. There were about 450 people attending and it was a very energetic and engaged group. Most in attendance speak English fluently so I did not notice a delayed reaction to jokes or questions asked by SRC. At the conclusion of the event we drove to the airport to board a plane...no time to enjoy the hotel or see any more of the city than we did to and from the hotel. Next stop: Hong Kong.

November 7-9, 2007
Hong Kong

What an incredible city! We actually did not see much of the city until the day after we flew in but our driver from the airport gave us a driving tour. He was a hoot! He pointed out the worlds longest suspension bridge. This picture is just one small section. I had hoped for a better picture but this will have to do. Our driver explained that we landed on one island, crossed the bridge to another island, went through a tunnel--under the water--to Hong Kong. He also pointed out the worlds tallest residence building...82 floors. Fascinating! Downtown Hong Kong is like a mini New York and even has some aspects of Las Vegas...building lit up from roof top to street level. The view from my room wasn't too bad either.
Wednesday night, after getting settled into my room I was able to get in a good run! The gym at this hotel was amazing...huge with great equipment. Thursday morning SRC gave a presentation to a small group at the LDS Church building. The group consisted of the Area Presidency, office staff and Senior missionary couples. In the afternoon I walked around "The Mall". A huge mall next door to the hotel. This mall must have been at least three stories with at least a hundred stores. I felt totally under dressed in my capris and polo...most mall goers were in business attire which was mostly black. A nap followed my time at the mall. Very nice!

We had a Community Event in the evening which was hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education. It was a great group made up of teachers, principals, and other school administrators. SRC has not done this before but at the conclusion he had me come out on stage as he introduced and thanked me for my assistance. I had been sitting behind a curtain, off stage, like Oz in the Wizard of Oz so it was funny to have me come on stage from behind the curtain.

Friday morning was a full-day presentation with about 400 people. Another home run day! After a book signing and short cocktail hour with one of the main sponsors we were on our way to the hotel. Singapore here we come!
November 9-12, 2007
Singapore

Arriving into Singapore was interesting. My first international trip was to Singapore. It was also my interview with SRC to work for him. I remember it like it was yesterday. Traveling with two very experienced travelers, I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing by I was watching and observing everything so I didn't look stupid.

Out hotel, Shangri-La, was lovely. We had "Garden Rooms" with a view of the pool, balconies, and wood floors. Since we would be in Singapore for a few days it was good to be in nice hotel rooms. The service was the best I have seen. What impressed me most about each employee is that they would serve you even if what you were asking of them was outside of their job responsibilities. For example, I was looking for the fitness center and asked a hostess at one of the restaurants where to go. She came from behind her hostess desk and walked me halfway to where I needed to go. I was impressed.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling very puny: sore throat, cough...not good! I wanted to fight it so I went running, took a nap, and tried to drink as much water as possible. SRC and I went on a tour in the afternoon and had a great time. Take a look at these pictures. Our driver was fantastic and really knew where we needed to go to see what we wanted to see. I didn't get pictures of everything we saw but here is a sampling. Singapore is an amazing, clean city.

Sunday afternoon we had a community event which was attended by about 900 people. It was a fantastic group. It was deja vu because of where the event was held...the exact same room at the Singapore Convention Center that the event was held in that interview trip to Singapore. I enjoyed working with the FC Asia group. The event was so well organized and went off without a hitch.

Monday was a full-day presentation attended by at least 400 people. It was great! The topic for each of these three full-day presentations was Insights into Leadership and what continues to amaze me is how SRC can customize each presentation for the country, audience, culture, etc. He hit a home run with each group based on needs, issues, challenges and what he learned from those who live in these countries.

We had one more night in Singapore. By the end of Monday I was feeling really sick. I now had symptoms of a head and chest cold. I was not looking forward to our flight back to the US. Tuesday morning we boarded a plane in Singapore and flew to Hong Kong to catch a connecting flight to Chicago. The flight to Hong Kong was uneventful. The landing was hard on my ears and sinuses and my ears stayed plugged even after we landed. As we flew out of Hong Kong I was amazed to see so many high rise buildings coming up from the landscape. What is so amazing is that the majority are residences. It's like mini downtown areas. The flight from Hong Kong to Singapore was LONG. The in-flight entertainment system at my seat was broken so no in-flight movies for me. It was not the end of the world but it was certainly inconvenient to not be able to lose myself in movies for 14 hours. It did give me a chance to focus on sleeping and I did watch some shows that I had downloaded to my laptop.

After landing in Chicago we cleared customs and made our way to the gate for our flight to Orlando. My ears were completely plugged and I felt like I was yelling whenever I spoke. I was trying so hard to remain up beat and do my job like nothing was wrong. The flight to Orlando was interesting. I ended up in a middle seat!!!! I was not a happy person! After receiving a phone call to speak in church on the topic of gratitude and taking some time to write down things I am grateful for my attitude did change. I was no longer so focused on the fact that I was in the middle seat, that my ears were plugged, and I felt awful. I just thought about all that I had to be grateful for. After what seemed like an eternity we landed in Orlando. The sun was shining and it was a pleasant 75 degrees. I was in heaven.

November 14, 2007
Orlando, FL

The event in Orlando was for a client and was a huge success. The word we received from my main contact for this event is that the participants were thrilled with what they heard and the morning could not have gone any better. I was pleased to hear that. Both SRC and I were feeling the effects of the difference in time zones and felt very anxious to get onto Tampa, the next presentation and then home.

November 15, 2007
Tampa, FL

We arrived at the hotel on the 14th and I actually spent some time in the warm sun by the pool. It was the perfect medicine feeling like I did. I had a good nights sleep and an easy morning on the 15th. The presentation was in the afternoon and although the group was far smaller than we had expected or even hoped for SRC did a great job. Once finished we bolted for the door and quickly got in the waiting SUV to take us to the airport. We had a short window of time to make it to the airport for our flight but we made it. The flight was good and when we got home I just wanted to kiss the ground. Another great trip under my belt!