Jakarta...traffic, traffic, traffic..oh yes...and traffic..

Well, what can I say about Jakarta? I had the luck to spend three nights in Jakarta last month and I must say I wish the good people of Indonesia all the best and a lot of patience but most of all..mental health! I mean who can explain me why there are not thousands of roadkills, people going bezerk, furious madness in the streets of Jakarta? I swear to God, I needed one and a half hour just to leave the airport parking area because of the chaotic car situation..it took me 2 1/2 hours to get to the hotel..luckily I was picked up by our partner there but I really felt sorry for the poor guy. He said he was used to it but how can you get used to such a nightmare?  Anyways, I had a reservation at the Double Tree Hilton, which turned out to be a splendid hotel. Service was top notch. Breakfast was great and the rooms were always tidy. The only minus point I could mention was the difficulty to find the entrance of the hotel. It was hidden in a side alley and a bit complicated for taxi drivers to find it. My customer took me to dinner in a fish restaurant and the food was extraordinary. I am not a big fish-fan (neither the band nor the food :-)) but the shrimps, different dishes in sauce they were all delicious.
I knew about the whole massage culture in Indonesia but I wasn't really comfortable because I didn't want to end up in happy-end massage parlour when my customer suggested to have a massage. But to my surprise the massage center was in a modern shopping mall and it was quite cheap. One hour massage for 25 USD was acceptable and the massage was very relaxing. And no happy ending by the way. It was a very clean and professional place so my worries were needless.
I have to say that I was disillusioned with Jakarta. There wasn't much to see. Tall buildings, shopping malls and crowded streets. But the food was great. So I caught my next plane to Ho Chi Minh-City curious to see what Vietnam was like.

new challenges

Well, as part of your job as an export sales manager is to engange in new challenges whenever they're offered to you in different parts of the world. When I started this profession I was mainly responsible for Europe due to my knowledge of German, English and Spanish. But in time things change and when I took a new challenge in a different company I was assigned to cover countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Usbekistan and India, which was a wonderful experience because I had never been to those places and being a sucker for different cultures I was thrilled to see what the deal was in those countries. Of course the most exciting part of these travels is, besides getting the know the people, tasting different cuisines. When I was in Kazakhstan I was privileged to enjoy mutton, horse meat and plov dishes. In India I went to Delhi, Mumbai and Goa..all different parts but with culinary master pieces. I must admit that I have a weakness for Indian food. Just love it. All the spices and herbs. In Goa you can eat a Kingfish that you wouldn't regret.
So, recently I was told by the management that I needed to change my region because one of our colleagues had split and they needed someone experienced to take over. It is up to me now to cover our network of dealers located in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore etc.
Needless to say that I am looking forward to visit those places..my next trip will be to Vietnam..talk to you later with more interesting stories..

 Stay safe everybody!

a quick flashback..

During the past months I was quite busy travelling both for business and pleasure..here's a quick glance at the cities that I visited and what I liked the most about them. I've been to London, Barcelona, Skopje, Zagreb, Belgrad, Chicago and Hannover. I mean they are nice cities but I must say that London has a special place as it is a really beautiful city. Me and my wife we had limited time; only three days but we tried to see as much as possible. We stayed at the Cleveland in Westminster and the hotel was quite nice. Good value. Totally recomendable and the staff was really friendly. As London taxis can be very expensive we took the bus from Stansted Airport to Oxford Street and from there with a cab for 8-9 pounds to the hotel, which was okay. We saw a lot of nice things but I must say I was impressed the most with the British Museum. It was huge and mostly for free. After that I had a business trip to the Balkan, where I started with Zagreb. The weather was perfect and Zagreb is one of the nicest cities in the Balkan region. I visited our dealer there and they are one of the nicest guys, who took good care of me..feeding me Croatian food..however, the clumsy guy I am, I almost started a mini Balcan conflict..there was some statue of Nikola Tesla in a plaza in Zagreb and the Croats claim that he was from Croatia as he was born in Smiljan, which today lies in Croatia..back then it was part of the Austrian Empire..anyways, I wondered why Croats where claiming him for themselves when the rest of the world claims that he was from Serbia..boy, wrong question asked and immediately the guys started to counter-argue that the Serbs are idiots etc. In order to drop the tension I said..''c'mon guys..of course he's Croatian..I was just teasing you..'' anyways, my friends are really cool so it was all fine and they bought me a nice necktie in a traditional shop that was selling only neckties.., which was invented by the way in Croatia and adopted by the French calling it 'cravate'..in German we also call it 'Krawatte'..

From Zagreb I made my way to Belgrade and the weather was so stormy that night that I literally pissed in my pants as there were lightnings all over the city while I was in the air praying to whatever God was available to land me safely. I took a taxi from Nikola Tesla airport and check in at the Hotel Moskva, which is a splendid hotel. It is a bit expensive compared to other four star hotels in Belgrade but is a hotel that surely has some history and the rooms are nicely decorated. I won't go into further details as I have written about Belgrade before but I suggest you visit the Bohemian quarter which is called Skadarlija as it is absolutely worth to visit with its cool bars and cafes. After Serbia I visited Skopje and the week after we went on a family trip to Barcelona. Actually it was a bit outside of Barcelona, a small village called Santa Susana. We stayed at the Aquahotel 4 nights which had two swimming pools and a short walking distance to the beach. Me and my wife did not like it much there but our daugther was totally happy. She didn't get out of the pool the whole day and whatever makes her happy makes us happy too..the train ride takes like 1 1/2 hours from Barcelona Sants to Santa Susanna. Back in Barcelona we took a hotel in Diagonal Mar called Barcelona Diagonal Cero..it is a nice hotel with nice rooms. I have nothing bad to say about it. So it was quite busy but we are not finished yet..I will be travelling to Jakarta in September and I'm really excited about that. Stay safe everybody..!

Shootings, tornados and heavy rainfalls..what a lovely stay in Chicago!

Last week I had the pleasure to stay a week in Windy City where the weather was playing crazy during my sojourn. I mean, one day it was terribly hot and the other day it was raining and in between there were like the worst tornados in the last decade. But first things first..you know I've been around the world but there is always a moment where you get into situations that would require a normal display of intelligence but you're unable to react because you have a mental blackout.  Well, I had such a moment when I left O'Hare airport and I dont know whether it was the humidity or something else but I said 'yes' to a first guy who was waiting for victims at the exit, asking me whether we would need a taxi. I was travelling with a colleague so at least I can say I was not alone in my temporary madness because we got ripped off so bad by this Indian guy it was unbelievable. He charged us like 160 USD to our hotel, which normally costs like 50 USD so imagine the surprise when we asked the receptionist at the hotel what a taxi would normally charge..I still can't believe how I made that stupid mistake; it was definitely a moment of mental interruption. So people, try to avoid any dubious Indian guy asking you whether you would need a taxi. Always ask for a taximeter. That bastard..if I should ever go there again I will look for that guy and give him such an ass-kick he can't forget..
I stayed at the Chicago Essex Inn, which claimed to be a three star hotel. So it was a pretty mediocre hotel, with a swimming pool. I mean, the room was clean but it is an old hotel that surely needs some renovation. It had a good location for me as it was not far away from the McCormic Centre but other than that the hotel didn't have much to offer. You should avoid it if you can. There are certainly better accomodations.
The first day was a day off so me and my colleague we took advantage and tried to see as many sightseeings as possible. We went to the Willis Tower a.k.a Sears Tower and it was quite impressive. But after 10 minutes they told us that a storm was coming and that we had to clear the area. Wtf? you pay 20 USD to get up but it turned out to be the worst weather in the last decade as the south of Chicago area was hit by 9 tornados. So we went back to the hotel after our failed attempt to stroll through the city and we ate at the hotel restaurant. Food was okay.
Next morning I was watching the local news on TV and it was filled with shoot-outs, tornados and protests..I thought what a lovely city to be in.
But the following days the weather was playing along more or less and although there were some rainy moments most of the time it was sunny with a lot of humidity. The Blackhawks had won the Stanley Cup and everyhwere were people wearing the red jerseys. So after all I must say, I am glad that I have visited Chicago, it has a nice park with an unidentified object called the 'beanie' and countless wonderful examples of architecture but I am pretty sure there are cities in the US that are certainly nicer. People were friendly but I have to admit that I have never seen before so many obese people like I have here and there were a lot of beggars, which is really sad of course. Oh..and it is really an expensive city.

Mexico..

People who are reading my blog already know that I am not a pussy when it comes to foreign food..I try to taste all kinds of exotic delights and I am proud to say that I"ve never suffered any illness or a bad stomach..and I've been all around the world but after all those exotic places it had to be Mexico who gave me my first diarrhea caused by a cheese sandwich bought at Starbucks..it was not a nice experience as I was the only guy at the trade show at my booth and I had to ask the security guy to check after my stuff while I was at the restrooms.
The trade show lasted only for three days but the traffic afterwards was enough for a lifetime. It took me two hours to get to the hotel from the fairgrounds, which is a distance of maximum 15 kilometers (approx. 10 miles). Imagine the frustration I had to suffer sitting in the bus with a bad stomach..there wouldn"t be a difference if I had taken a taxi as the traffic was so dense that not even a motorcycle could have passed by..
So it was a relief when the show ended and I started to pack my bags. But before I go I had some tacos and a cold Corona and it almost made me forgot all my problems..
My flight to Istanbul was a long one with United Airlines.. I had to fly to Washington Dulles and from there to Frankfurt and again from Frankfurt to Istanbul.
While I was sitting there on my way to Washington waiting for the plane to take off I suddenly heard my name through the board speakers..they were calling me up and when I showed myself they told me that I had to go out..I thought what the fuck?
So I stepped out and there was this security Jose waiting for me..I was searched again thoroughly and when I asked him in spanish what it was all about he told me "just security measures señor,nothing more"..it was weird since I was the only guy they checked..this never happened to me but I guess being an American Airline you get to experience all kind of things. they probably thought a guy with a german passport flying to Istanbul via Washington is probably a potential ISIS-Terrorist..well..what can I say..fuck you very much UA.
Now that I have popped the word ISIS combined with terrorist it will blink an alarm somewhere at the NSA offices and they will read my blog as well and check whether this blogger has any ties to international terror organizations..well I certainly know how to attract readers..right?..good for me..this blog needs more readers. bloddy right!!
So next one will be from London..where I will enjoy a short holiday trip with my wife..stay safe  everybody!!