OH MY GOD SUSHI!!!!

So I'm in Asia and I've not had sushi...until now!!!! Andy and Adelita turned in early for the evening so Kev and I decided to take a walk through Time Square (get the sense that there is an appreciation for American culture here) and we wanted to see what the sushi market was like here. And holy &*% it was good. We walked in 2 hours before this high end Japanese restaurant closed and was seated by the assistant manager, Cedric Lao, and was recommended 3 sushi and Sashimi dishes that reined supreme relative to any sushi I've ever had. In addition to the likes of tofu sushi, sea urchin, kobe beef, tuna, toro, salmon, yada, yada, yada...Kev and I enjoyed Mcallen 12 and the waiter, Aiten, suggested the order of sushi consumption for optimum enjoyment and also brought us 3 shots of sake at no charge to "cleans the pallet". Additonally, the manager of only 4 weeks, Horace Lai, came and shared with us his secret to success.

It was not only the best sushi I've ever had but it was the most memorable experience. Naturally this came with an expensive price tag. I've not spent more than 12 bucks on a meal yet so one night of pure decadence is ok every now and then. This is why I work so hard. Here are the pics.

Times Square

The Restaurant-Wassabishi

The Sushi

No More Sushi :(

What a day we've had. We headed out to Lanteau Island to go and see the big bronze Buddha. It was a 40 minutes travel and an hour and a half wait in line. But it was worth every minute. We took a cable car that climbed up gorgeous mountains. I'm not going to attempt to describe what I can show you.

A glimpse at the line. It took us 1.5 hours to snake our way to the front

The view from our cable car that climbed up the mountain

Our first view of Buddha from the cable car

Kev and I discovered enlightenment

Big Buddha

Whether you're religious or not...this was a spiritual experience

Kev, myself, Andy and Adelita pose for a picture. What's interesting is that the photo was taken by one of 3 pilots from Dallas. We struck up a good conversation after the picture

The breathtaking view standing at the foot of the Buddha

Pics of some of the mountains, me, and Shaolin Monks

Vegas????

In an effort to experience all that we could, we decided to take a trip to Macau. Macau is the second special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China (Hong Kong is the other). Once a Portuguese colony and now owned by China, Macau is a communist country but allowed to operate somewhat independently, like Hong Kong, because the value to China is so great. You'll see what I mean by the pictures below. Since no gambling is allowed in Hong Kong, Macau has become the Vegas of southeast Asia. Equipped with an MGM Grand, Venetian, etc, it is rumored that Macau actually nets a greater profit than our own Vegas.

Our transportation to Macau was a hydroplane...this thing hauled!!

Me smiling...for all of those that say I never smile!



The Venetian...looks just like Vegas

The Venetian at night

Macau at night

Videos...on our way to Macau and inside the Venetian. (sorry for any redundancy)

School's over. Now the culture begins

We've now wrapped up the academic portion of this trip. While most of my classmates depart to to their respective homes or extend their trips to India, Tokyo, etc...Andy Meadows, Kev Robertson, and Kim Tran decided to stay behind and see Hong Kong from a different point of view.

But first, yesterday evening we concluded the GLEMBA International Study Tour by having dinner on a harbor tour of Hong Kong. Good food, good drinks, but even better company. After taking in the breath taking view, the GLEMBA crew really took the leadership roles to another level and owned the dance floor. It was a great opportunity for everyone to blow off some steam considering the tough days that preceded it.

This morning Kev, Andy, and myself checked into our new hotel in another part of town. We had the opportunity to be joined by Adelita, Andy's girlfriend, for the rest of the visit. Right next to our hotel is Hong Kong's largest cemetery. Later in the evening, we went to Lan Quai Fong which is a fantastic piece of real estate with bars and restaurants.

Great city. Can't wait to bring my family along to this great place.

Members of GLEMBA waiting to board the Hong Kong harbor tour for our fairwell dinner.

From left to right: Aleksandar Bijedic, Lauren Martin (back turned), Mike Skorude (orange), David Keyser (in the back with sports coat), Steve LaViolette, Kev Robertson, Raj Daniels, and Daniel Adeyemo. Here's also a beautiful picture of Hong Kong from the bay at night.

My last view from the dock of my beautiful waterfront hotel

Below is Lan Quai Fong. We had a great time there. It's kind of like lower Greenville but more active. We met a couple who just moved to Hong Kong. He received an expatriate package for an insurance company. Very nice couple. Great place to have a beer.

The largest cemetery in Hong Kong. I've never seen anything like it.

Hello Hong Kong...Video

Below are two videos are from the harbor tour.

Hello Hong Kong

This country is nothing like I've seen. Presently, I'm sitting at a corner window on the 33rd floor of my bay front hotel. The bay, with significant boating activity, is set in front of a line of high rises with beautiful mountains as a backdrop. This country is teeming with development and is a beautiful collection of eastern and western cultures. We've had the opportunity to meet David O'Rear, Chief Economist with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. This session was tremendously insightful, giving us a good understand of why Hong Kong is an important country for MNE's. Our second session was even more useful as we met with Intertrust, a company that helps FDI companies conduct business or source business in Hong Kong and China. (Really got my juices flowing on how to get Chase Paymentech into these two game changing countries.

Finally, we met with Li & Fung who has created an international supply chain management juggernaut. As a matter of fact, Walmart, who's core competency has been their efficient logistics, just recently hired Li & Fung because they can do it better. This was another great company to talk to.

To wrap up the evening, we visited Victoria peak which gave us a breath taking vantage point of the entire city. Great food and great conversation. Here are some picks and I'll again follow up with video.







This country is nothing like I've seen. Presently, I'm sitting at a corner window on the 33rd floor of my bay front hotel. The bay, with significant boating activity, is set in front of a line of high rises with beautiful mountains as a backdrop. This country is teeming with development and is a beautiful collection of eastern and western cultures. We've had the opportunity to meet David O'Rear, Chief Economist with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. This session was tremendously insightful, giving us a good understand of why Hong Kong is an important country for MNE's. Our second session was even more useful as we met with Intertrust, a company that helps FDI companies conduct business or source business in Hong Kong and China. (Really got my juices flowing on how to get Chase Paymentech into these two game changing countries.

Finally, we met with Li & Fung who has created an international supply chain management juggernaut. As a matter of fact, Walmart, who's core competency has been their efficient logistics, just recently hired Li & Fung because they can do it better. This was another great company to talk to.

To wrap up the evening, we visited Victoria peak which gave us a breath taking vantage point of the entire city. Great food and great conversation. Here are some picks and I'll again follow up with video.