Asia: Feeling "at home" 10,000 miles away from home...

Tsunami Warning Signs on
the streets of Patong

Phuket is on Southwest Tip
of Thailand

Last week, an offsite sales meeting for work brought me to Phuket, Thailand to meet with our Asia sales team.  The first time I ever heard of Phuket was in Dec 2004 when the Tsunami hit Southeast Asia and all the news coverage that followed in the aftermath.  At the time, I was a senior wrapping-up my undergraduate studies at BU, and I recall watching the tsunami images on TV thinking to myself, "what a shitty place - I would never want to go there and put myself in harm's way."  As usual, never say never...Who would've thought, fast forward 8 years later in 2012, work would send me to Phuket of all places, and I would find myself reveling in all the adventure in one of Asia's exotic playgrounds.  This is the furthest trip away from home traveled thus far for me.  While the perception is that this was a company-paid vacation, all joking aside, I didn't get a chance to leave the hotel grounds and see the outside of a conference room until day 3 of a 6 day stay.  Once again, I found myself at an amazing venue with minimal time to explore.  But, that's not to say I wasn't my scrappy self and managed to squeeze in some fun...If one must be stuck doing work, there are worse places to be "stuck" in than the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa on Karon Beach.  I really can't complain.

Hilton Arcadia Resort & Spa

Hotel Grounds

Speed Boat Ride

Our first team building event outside the hotel was to take a speed boat to Coral Island to replicate the reality TV show "Survivor" by playing various team obstacle games.  Although it was nice to finally see something outside the hotel, this was the most frustrating and hardworking team building event I've had to do to-date.  Most people know I don't enjoy physical activity all that much, but it was compounded by the fact that this was an Asia team meeting, where most of the people learned English as a second language, let alone know what "Survivor" is.  Taking the speedboat out to Coral Island was reminiscent of a similar boat ride I took just two months ago in Dominican Republic with my family heading to Saona Island -- I'm definitely a lucky girl to be able to visit two tropical island paradises within two months, let alone twice in a single year...

Green Team - Seriously?
I even had to paint my face

Team Ski Walk on Coral Island

Some spicy shrimp salad
that was lethal

All that physical activity sure works-up an appetite.  I couldn't wait to get off Coral Island for a cold beer and food!  Of course we encountered some more speed bumps trying to get off "Survivor" island to get to dinner that evening...First, because it was low tide when we departed Coral Island, our speedboat got stuck in some of the bedrock along the shore, so that took some maneuvering by the captain to finally get us back to the main island of Phuket.  Just as our boat docked at Chalong Bay, given the rainy season (April - Oct), we encountered a major downpour of rain.  By the time we walked to "Kan Eang @ Pier" seafood restaurant, the whole team was soaked!  At least the Singha beer and seafood that night was worth all the hassle of the day.  Thai food is wicked spicy!  The majority of items on any given menu is spicy, but the seafood is very fresh and abundant in the region, especially the gigantic shrimp!  I did eat plenty of pad thai, but I forgot to take a photo of one!  It was one of the few non-spicy staple dishes I had for the duration of my stay in Thailand.  Compared to the pad thai that we get here in states, I'd say we're not that far off from getting what the locals get in Thailand...

Grilled Seafood Plate

Tom Yum Soup

My hotel was located on Karon beach, which is the second most well known beach in Phuket (most famous being Patong beach, which is 15 minutes away by car).  Karon beach supposedly was spared for the most part from the Tsunami disaster that hit Patong beach eight years ago.  Most of the locals come to this beach, since it's less crowded from the tourist traffic.  Unfortunately, I was only able to sneak a peak of the beach, as most days it was nightfall by the time I was done with my meetings and couldn't see anything.

 

Karon Beach

Since lying-out on the beach wasn't an option at night, my colleagues and I were limited to either drinking or go get a Thai massage for post-dinner activities.  Given the sketchy reputation that Asian-run massages have in the states, I was wary of going to a Thai massage parlor at first.  But, after hearing my colleagues from Korea, Japan, China, etc speak so highly of the experience and how cheap it is (on average 300 Thai Baht = $10), I decided what the heck - might as well, since I've come so far! A Thai massage entails quite a bit of stretching to supplement the massage, and although I experienced some pain, the experience was descent enough that I ended up going twice!  Once for a full body Thai massage, and once for a foot massage.  Getting a Thai massage with a group of colleagues also provides great comic relief and team building...   

After a team massage, a group of us decided to venture out to Patong to see the nightlife scene, especially since it was a Friday night.  First, we had to take a "Tuk Tuk," which is a rickety rickshaw-like taxi, but added with neon disco lights and blasting hip-hop music during the ride.  I would have tried to take more pictures, but considering there was no door in the back and definitely no seat belts, I had to hang-on during the ride.  But, it's a fun ride which I'd recommend to anyone visiting to at least try once...

Tuk Tuk

Patong is the main "downtown" area on Phuket island.  There's Patong beach with many beach-side resorts that attract vacationers from all over the world.  Then, there's the surrounding streets of Patong with tons of shopping, including a major western-style shopping mall.  But, at night the bars open and the streets become like a "red light district" of sorts.  Soi Bangla is Phuket's version of what Bourbon Street is to New Orleans.  Bangla is lined-up with bars, nightclubs, strip clubs, and transvestites working the streets.  It's not un-common to see old white men with young local Thai girls.  While Bangla is definitely not a family-friendly place, there's something about the craziness that makes you think it's more for show and somewhat harmless.  Maybe it's just my lens on life becoming more progressive and I have developed a higher tolerance for what can bother me.

Bangla street

Most bars had girls dancing
on the tables

After a late night on Bangla street, a small group of colleagues remained in Phuket over the weekend and we did one more team event.  Given the fiasco with the "Survivor" team building, I was in need of a more relaxing team event.  My wish was granted, as the team event for my last day in Phuket was sailing!  We chartered a private catamaran to sail around Cape Panwa, which is the southern most tip of Phuket Island, where we then found a spot to anchor and snorkel/swim.  We even saw a group of dolphins!  While sailing in the Andaman Sea, and seeing nothing but water, there was more than one occasion I thought to myself, "damn, I feel so far away from home right now, in the middle of nowhere."  We sailed through some really remote waters.  But, the sailing was definitely what being in the tropics is and should be about...

Ao Yon Bay

Really? Work paid for me to come here?

Having to leave paradise is difficult on any day, but the blow of having to leave Phuket was softened for me by having a second stop to my Asia trip to look forward to -- I had to visit our offices in Shanghai, as well.  And, in Shanghai, I had a visit with my friend, Stacey, to look forward to.  For the followers of this blog, you will recall Stacey was featured in my February post, as the last time I saw her she was still in Philly.  When Stacey lived in New York City, I would go 2-3 years without seeing her.  In 2012, I've managed to see her twice and on two different continents!  After a week of being so far away from home, it's definitely a treat to be able to see a familiar face outside of work.

Stacey & Me at Shanghai's "The Bund" along
Huangpu River

After a whirlwind week in Asia, I come home with a lot of takeaways from this trip.  First, to open this post, I started with the story of how I first learned about Phuket eight years ago -- by the end of this entry, I'm proud to see how much I've evolved and changed since then; I'd like to think I'm a little less naive and more open to embrace adventure. 

Second, as I look through my photos, I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking "really? I get paid to do this for work!?  What kind of job is this!?"  Seeing my travels, I know it's hard for people to believe I do "real work," but believe me -- for every "luxury" in this world, there's a price to pay.  I don't take my business travels for granted -- it is indeed a privilege when the company sends me on these trips, but it's a privilege that I have to earn and prove that I'm worth sending to places.  I take great pride in these opportunities to go abroad and to do my presentations for work, as it's a tangible measure of how my career is progressing.

Third, I enjoyed being in Asia this time more than I ever thought I could, and I believe a big part of that was being able to connect with my Asian colleagues from Singapore, Japan, Korea, and China.  The camaraderie amongst my colleagues made Asia feel kinda "at home" for me, despite being 10,000 miles away from home.  What I enjoyed most was embodying the "unexpected."  In front of my European colleagues at this meeting, they would see that I am Asian, but were surprised to see how strong my American values are of being an individual and outspoken.  In front of my Asian colleagues, they saw "a banana," but were pleasantly surprised at how natural the Asian culture is to me, as well.  I'm a blend of East-Meets-West, and I think this trip was one of the few times, if not the first time, I could be myself (meaning both cultures that I come from) without any contradiction and as a result, I was at my best in excelling both in work and as a person.

Drinks at the only "wholesome" bar in Patong

Thai Massage Crew

As I left Asia, a senior executive asked me if this trip has "wet my appetite" to go to Asia for a position someday.  I would be lying if I said, no.  My interest is definitely piqued.  For now, I'm just savoring a trip that was both enlightening and satisfying in many aspects for me.  This trip has helped me gain confidence, optimism, and a sense of peace, in more ways than one.  I'm just going to sit on these feelings for as long as I need to, and while I don't know when and for what, I believe one or all of the lessons I've learned from this trip will help me make the right choice for an important decision someday down the road, whatever it might be - a work or personal decision...