tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87395706504237717992024-02-08T19:01:19.608+08:00MarcelQPOBLOG of Marcel Ekkel -
sharing of experiences and observations whilst living and working in Asia
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comBlogger613125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-25949301711220393762015-06-16T00:24:00.002+08:002015-06-16T00:24:40.993+08:00Windows 8.1 on ParallelsFor running some specific I needed a newer version of Windows than XP. The software would be running on my Mac Book Pro using Parallels as Virtual Machine.<br />
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With even Microsoft having their online store, this would be an easy one I thought. Get on http://www.microsoftstore.com.hk/ order Windows 8.1, pay, download, install and run.</div>
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Ah well, nearly that is then. Select, pay and download worked easy and fast. Then the installation. Creating a specific Windows virtual machine was obviously an easy one. The next step was installing the Windows OS. The version would allow for a clean install. Unfortunately the approach Microsoft had in mind was a different one than most people had in mind.</div>
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Rather than providing an ISO file, allowing to mount it as a drive to get Parallels to install from it Microsoft in all their wisdom decided to offer an .exe file. For this to work you would need a running Windows version. No issues here as XP was running. Ah well, nearly since the file requires at least Windows 7 and if you want 8 to run in 64bit mode it can only be installed if started from a 64bit edition.</div>
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So basically one need to have a modern version Windows even if you want to do a full clean install. That was slightly different than planned for. Now the search begins, where to find a proper workable ISO file for download. In other words - time to get creative on the web and see what we can find.</div>
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After a little research - google brought me http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/download-windows-8-pro/ The site links to 2 different ISO files that once downloaded can be used to run a quick install. With the 64bit version installed, the downloaded exe installation file could be kickstarted and a proper installation done.</div>
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Before that there were a few small hurdles to be tackled though. When starting the first installation the next message popped up on the screen:</div>
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<span style="background-color: #e5eaed; font-family: monospace; font-size: 12px;">Windows cannot find the Microsoft Software License Terms. Make sure the installation sources are valid and restart the installation.</span></div>
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Luckily it was an easy fix. Un-tick express installation at the start of the process and continue as per http://kb.parallels.com/en/114652<br />
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Another way to get the installation going is described at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-CLEAN-Install-Windows-8-directly-from-Hard-/ though requires a few additional tricks and still needs a modern windows version installed.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-36873546924615566072014-12-01T11:27:00.001+08:002014-12-01T11:27:22.809+08:00Gobal Startup Battle - Hong Kong Startups Can use YOUR supportRecently we had another edition of <a href="http://www.up.co/communities/china/hong-kong/startup-weekend/" target="_blank">Startup Weekend Hong Kong</a>! With lots of good ideas coming out...<br />
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Now.. a few of them are going into the Global Startup Battle and they need YOUR help by voting for them. A few years ago we had AfterShip crushing the competition by the support of Hong Kong.<br />
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So do take a look at the next ventures and vooooooteeeee<br />
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Tofu Pay - Modern Payment options for online commerce in Asia!<br />
http://app2.pitchburner.com/upglobal/championship/pitch?evtid=406940&subid=428719<br />
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C FU - where is the handyman, locksmith or plumber when you need one!<br />
http://app2.pitchburner.com/upglobal/championship/pitch?evtid=406940&subid=428604<br />
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My Grandma Can Skype - Simple communication tools to bring your grandma into the 21st Century!<br />
https://app2.pitchburner.com/upglobal/championship/pitch?evtid=406940&subid=424726Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-258827938388450772014-09-02T12:05:00.000+08:002014-09-02T12:05:08.972+08:00Kickstarters visiting China - Passing Through Hong Kon<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do like sites like <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/" target="_blank">KickStarter </a>and <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/" target="_blank">IndieGogo</a>. Projects on there vary from just raw enthusiasm to well thought through projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With regards to hardware related projects, they often have one thing in common: outsource production to China. After their campaigns are funded, they often travel over China to work with manufacturers and vendors to bring their ideas to reality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many don't seem to realise that in other countries things run well lets say differently. It often surprises me how much learning does not get transferred. Learning with regards to challenges on communication, understanding the way business is conducted, other cultural aspects and the fact that often small orders have low priority for big manufacturers. This besides the normal learnings that come with developing new products.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A number of times I tried to hook with visiting teams to share some insights. Easy, as most of them fly to Hong Kong and then travel to Shenzhen. The easy part is that I live close to the airport, so no issue to pop over for a coffee or so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One team was curious to hear some insights - though had a tight schedule. As they were writing about their learnings through their updates I decided to hook them up with a friend of mine who is based in Shenzhen. The team is producing Spor, solar powered chargers (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spor/spor-solar-battery-chargers-usb-cables-and-accesso)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got them hooked up with <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/108118495524799444969" target="_blank">+Michael Michelini</a> who is the founder of <span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://socialagent.me/">SocialAgent.me</a><span id="goog_676382488"></span><span id="goog_676382489"></span><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/"></a> and has spend a fair bit of time in China. He knows Shenzhen very well and as a startup founder is always willing to spend some time helping others.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; line-height: 19px;">He met up with the team and they created a podcast out of the conversation, which can be found <a href="http://www.globalfromasia.com/funded-kickstarter-spor-crowdfunding-tips/" target="_blank">here</a> at Mike his blog Global From Asia. Listen and Enjoy hearing about the journey of a kickstart project!</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-61961399469553521692014-08-26T21:05:00.001+08:002014-08-26T21:12:30.539+08:00Sun Set over Hong Kong Airport<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another nice sunset today triggered the idea to take a timelapse shot. The view is from my balcony, over Tung Chung then Hong Kong International Airport and in the back you can see China.<br />
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Air pollution levels have been not too bad in the last few weeks. Providing us with lots of blue skies and amazing far away views. Throughout the year the views are blocked either by haze caused by pollution or just water damp. However when it opens up, some spectacular views can be seen. Lots of mountains and other things. Unfortunately Macau can't be seen from our place.<br />
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Pollution levels were low in most places in territory as can be seen below. The graphic is taken from a site maintained by the University of Hong Kong (The Hedley Index) and keeps track of pollution and its impact on the society. (http://hedleyindex.sph.hku.hk/)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/15041619302" title="Hedley_Environmental_Index_2014_08_26 by Marcel Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="Hedley_Environmental_Index_2014_08_26" height="348" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5571/15041619302_b5a28e74d0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comHong Kong International Airport (HKG), 1 翔天路 Hong Kong, Hong Kong22.308047 113.918480822.2786665 113.8781403 22.337427499999997 113.9588213tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-47262375865655590952013-09-22T15:07:00.001+08:002013-09-22T15:47:48.050+08:00Hong Kong gearing up for Super Typhoon Usagi<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9867920004/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="2013-09-21 16.45.28 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-09-21 16.45.28" height="480" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/9867920004_11e6df97fd_o.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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Hong Kong is starting to gear up for (super) typhoon <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1312965/hong-kong-braces-worst-storm-34-years-typhoon-usagi-closes" target="_blank">Usagi</a>. People have gone out shopping to stock up on food in case the so called <a href="http://www.hko.gov.hk/textonly/explain/intro.htm" target="_blank">T8 signal </a>will be hoisted.<br />
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As a consequence Hong Kong will sort of shut down. Transport like the MTR and buses will still be operating thought many shops and offices will start closing down. Good thing is...that apparently cinema's stay open! So might be a good time to check out some of the movies at iMax theatre in my neighbourhood.<br />
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Depending on the area different measures will be taken. As can be seen from the picture on the left, the typhoon coincides with a very high tide. Well, it was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival" target="_blank">Mid autumn festival</a> which is linked to the so called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumnal_equinox" target="_blank">Autumnal Equinox</a>. In short, this is when the moon is close to the earth. The expected strong winds, including with the high tides creates a major risk for flooding in certain lower areas of the territory.<br />
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Residents in the Tai Po and other areas have been preparing by setting up barriers and bringing electrical and other precious goods to higher grounds.<br />
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An interesting observation in front of my house was the total absence of boats. There are a few major construction projects going on related to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong%E2%80%93Zhuhai%E2%80%93Macau_Bridge" target="_blank">Macau - Zhuhai - Hong Kong bridge</a>. Normally this is full of activities of boats shuttling between the work areas and Lantau. As you can see on the total left and right pictures below, no boats or other activity can be spotted. Interesting observation is the total absence of boats, which probably are moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typhoon_shelters_in_Hong_Kong" target="_blank">Typhoon shelters </a>in the neighbourhood.<br />
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The same would count for the construction site, although they are excused as it is Sunday. They have been rigging their site to prevent stuff flying around. With that some of the cranes have been put in the right mode so they can withstand the wind.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9867909986/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="2013-09-22 12.13.49 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-09-22 12.13.49" height="150" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/9867909986_9703949f77_o.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9868005143/" title="2013-09-22 12.13.55 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-09-22 12.13.55" height="150" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/9868005143_c2a1ee8383_o.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9867897174/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="2013-09-22 12.14.02 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="2013-09-22 12.14.02" height="150" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2859/9867897174_ace2d78a35_o.jpg" width="200" /> </a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9867897174/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="2013-09-22 12.14.02 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><br /></a><br />
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One decision that will impact many travellers is flight operations at <a href="http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Hong Kong Airport.</a> Flight operations will be impacted and travellers might want to check in with their airlines or travel support. It looks like Hong Kong airport is filling up nicely at this time.. so bring those snacks, ebooks and other stuff to keep busy :).<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9867987983/" title="Hong_Kong_International_Airport_Usagi_Announcement by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="Hong Kong International Airport Usagi Announcement" height="167" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/9867987983_8408cd59cd_o.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a>
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Lets see where Usagi will take us over the next 48hrs.<br />
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update 15:45 local time: Looks like the airport has mainly Cathay Pacific flights ready to go and clear the airport.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-18875089196506572772013-08-26T18:25:00.003+08:002013-08-26T18:25:54.364+08:00Reef Check with IAHD<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9596004073/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="IAHD_HongKong_ReefCheck_AUG2013 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="IAHD_HongKong_ReefCheck_AUG2013" height="598" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3753/9596004073_81ddd27b4e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">picture by IAHD.ORG.HK</td></tr>
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Last Saturday it was time to support another session of diving with the <a href="http://iahd.org.hk/" target="_blank">International Association of Hand in Hand divers Hong Kong</a>. An enthusiastic group of divers that goes out exploring the waters of Hong Kong a few times a year. The interesting thing about the group is that a number of people in the group have some sort of a handicap. Whether this is visual, or physical they do come out to have a good time underwater - fully inline with IAHD motto “Embrace Challenge Together”.<br />
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This trip had a conservation team, the guys signed up to participate in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HongKongReefCheck" target="_blank">reef check</a> organised by the <a href="http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservation/conservation.html" target="_blank">Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong Government</a>. A full fledged survey where designated areas get checked for the quantity and quality of corals, vertebrates and other underwater life. The area underwater gets "boxed" in, and teams will monitor the for them important things. Whether it is fish, corals or other underwater life. After the day, data gets submitted and will be centrally processed by the AFCD people so they can keep an eye on what is going on.<br />
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On the monitoring side, certain teams also did a Coral Watch session. Using a few provided tools, <a href="http://www.coralwatch.org/" target="_blank">coral watch</a> does allow a health check of corals. It uses a colour chart to compare the darkest and lightest colours of particular corals in order to determine the impact of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching" target="_blank">coral bleaching.</a> After the day the data gets submitted on the coral watch website so they can keep a global eye on what is happening to reefs.<br />
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I did change the objective of the first dive a little. Some of the people I was diving with had not been in the water for a few months, and did need a little time to be properly buoyant under water again. Especially as the area we were diving was a little challenging as there was surge, it was shallow and the visibility was crap.<br />
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The second dive of the day had as theme "<a href="http://www.projectaware.org/project/dive-against-debris" target="_blank">Dive against Debris</a>", a <a href="http://www.projectaware.org/" target="_blank">project AWARE</a> support initiative to clear our seas from rubbish. It is also a global initiative where dive teams all over the world gear up to remove the rubbish. The guys that were diving with me and myself picked up a teapot, lots of fishing line, some cans and other fishing related objects.<br />
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It always surprises me the amount of rubbish we come across at spots that are frequented by (diving)boats.<br />
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All together a very rewarding day!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comSai Kung, Hong Kong22.4075171 114.3222577000000222.1726421 113.99953420000003 22.6423921 114.64498120000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-12381649388868463282013-08-12T09:56:00.001+08:002013-08-12T09:56:23.784+08:00Made with Love in Hong Kong - WeAreHKTech.com<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9474771415/" title="Perpetu by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="Perpetu" height="280" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3672/9474771415_5af4065a00_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><br />
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Recently I became a curator for the <a href="http://wearehktech.com/" target="_blank">WeAreHKTech</a> list, an overview of Hong Kong born and bred tech startups. A key challenge faced is a lack of understanding that Hong Kong has a thriving startup scene. Agree, there has not been a facebook, linkedin or instagram as of yet. Though the list currently has over 200 startups.<br />
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When checking out some of the startups I came across <a href="http://perpetu.co/" target="_blank">Perpetu</a> a previous Hong Kong Startup Weekend participant. This team was in the 1st official edition and is still going strong.<br />
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A nice initiative they took can be seen on the picture above. In the "little details" section they included a line of text showing their birthplace --><br />
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Made with ♡ in HK</h2>
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A brilliant initiative which, if more startups would use this little gesture could show the world that there is a growing startup scene here capable of delivering nice startups to the world.</div>
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So, if you are a Hong Kong startup - do include the little line and drop me a message via <a href="https://twitter.com/marcelekkel" target="_blank">@marcelekkel </a>and we make sure it gets mentioned!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-8316074840075162012013-08-06T23:59:00.000+08:002013-08-06T23:59:07.266+08:00My first 500px POPULAR photo<a href="http://500px.com/photo/42451564">
<img alt="Windows by Marcel Ekkel on 500px.com" border="0" src="http://pcdn.500px.net/42451564/46be9a52af02351a95b1e1f6070a59dfb55f0719/4.jpg" style="margin: 0 0 5px 0;" />
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<span style="font-size: 120%;">
<a href="http://500px.com/photo/42451564">Windows</a>
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<a href="http://500px.com/marcelekkel">Marcel Ekkel</a>
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Today I uploaded a few of my pictures at 500px. A website dedicated to photography. When started it became a major competitor for flickr.com. Anyways, the picture above is a picture I shot when walking around in Central, Hong Kong. The photo was shot using an iphone 3GS so nothing advanced there.<br />
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I did like the fact that there are no people or cars just buildings. Making it black and white put a good emphasis on the lines.<br />
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Shortly after uploading it, likes, loves and comments started rolling in. And after a while I received a nice email that it achieved the popular status. The email looked like the picture below.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9453026668/" title="500px___Your_photo_is_Popular__-_marcel.ekkel_gmail.com_-_Gmail by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="500px___Your_photo_is_Popular__-_marcel.ekkel_gmail.com_-_Gmail" height="475" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5534/9453026668_0a1a46e58d_o.png" width="624" /></a>
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It is a nice feeling :) so well done for 500px<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-48999924395397596912013-08-05T11:39:00.000+08:002013-08-05T15:57:18.213+08:00AcceleratorHK mentoring and Demo day coming up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For people that are keeping track of me on <a href="https://foursquare.com/marcelekkel" target="_blank">FourSquare</a>, a check in at The <a href="http://www.goodlab.hk/" target="_blank">GoodLab</a> regularly appeared. The majority of times it was to visit participants in Cohort 2 of Hong Kongs only accelerator program, called indeed <a href="http://acceleratorhk.com/" target="_blank">AcceleratorHK</a>. A program setup by <a href="http://www.stephenforte.net/" target="_blank">Steve Forte</a> and <a href="http://startupsunplugged.com/" target="_blank">Paul Orlando</a> to help early stage startups moving towards the right direction.<br />
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This cohort has six teams in it, and they could not be more different. Participants do come from many corners of the globe to maximise what Hong Kong has to offer. (By the way, there are a few interesting programs available for if you are considering Hong Kong as a base.. check out Invest Hong Kong their venture program <a href="http://www.startmeup.hk/venture-programme1" target="_blank">here</a>). Their offerings are varied as well, which we will see in a bit.<br />
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Anyway, most of my efforts went into mentoring around strategy, how to make it all happen and a little on business models and presentation. I love doing that sort of stuff as the passion and energy that comes out of it is brilliant. Many startups do have this good vibe to make stuff happen without major red tape to be dealt with. A change often takes a short time to be implemented. On the other side, that makes it easy to really get caught in the trap of being tactical without having a clear view where you are going.<br />
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A key focus area during the program is on <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/venturehacks/customer-development-methodology-presentation" target="_blank">customer development</a> as described by <a href="http://steveblank.com/" target="_blank">Steve Blank</a>. Followed by tools and techniques around the Lean Startup approach. Seeing people being surprised that for the begin of the program <b>NOTHING </b>will be coded, no development will take place other than understanding if there is a problem and a market that are interesting enough to work on.<br />
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As a mentor I love to ask questions to get the teams to look at their work from a different angle and free themselves from their fixed thinking patterns. A number of participants in the cohort have been "brainwashed" during their time in the corporate world, and it is exiting to see the change in behaviour with them. Then there are fresh-grads or people with limited working experience that are showing some good progress.<br />
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Teams that are currently in the accelerator program are:<br />
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<li>Taking the pain out of trip planning - <a href="http://www.captainplanner.com/" target="_blank">Captain Planner</a></li>
<li>Converting customers to advertisers - <a href="http://www.doodhere.com/" target="_blank">Dood Here</a></li>
<li>Bringing mum and pap shops to the next level - <a href="http://gyaantel.com/" target="_blank">Gyaan Tel</a></li>
<li>Securing your Online Currencies Offline - <a href="http://icevault.ch/" target="_blank">Ice Vault</a></li>
<li>Rocking the 2nd Screen space - <a href="http://www.sofly.tv/" target="_blank">So Fly</a></li>
<li>Real food by real people for real people - <a href="http://www.verybite.com/" target="_blank">Very Bite </a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Anyway, all their hard work, learning, successes and other experiences are being rounded up soon for their demo day. This is where they will showcase where they are and where they will be going. A short presentation will be followed by time to interact with the teams to learn more about what they have to offer.<br />
<br />
The schedule for Demo Day (next Tuesday 13 August) is as follows:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>18:15-19:00: Registration and networking. Free beer and pizza at the Good Lab's Kitchen.</li>
<li>19:00-20:15: Demo Day!!! Welcome by AcceleratorHK and then 6 startups present. At the Good Lab's theatre. If you come late then there should be an overflow room with a live stream. </li>
<li>20:15-22:30: Networking: visit the 6 startups at their booths spread about the entire good lab and get free drinks and other goodies. You can use at least two of the startups live production apps during the networking and sign up for the other's betas. Meet other startup people, engineers, investors, and the like. </li>
<li>23:00-----> Afterparty! At <a href="http://www.zinchk.com/" target="_blank">Zinc</a> in LKF. <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=D'aguilar+Street,+30-32,+Central,+Hong+Kong&hl=en&sll=22.286799,113.948924&sspn=0.053925,0.090809&oq=30-32+D'aguilar+St&hnear=30+D'aguilar+St,+Hong+Kong&t=m&z=17" target="_blank">30-32 D'aguilar St</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
See you there! Please register so the team knows how much beer and pizza to buy.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://acceleratorhk.eventbrite.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>acceleratorhk.eventbrite.com/</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comHong Kong22.396428 114.1094970000000321.9265115 113.46405000000003 22.8663445 114.75494400000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-65004848058220014162013-08-04T11:08:00.001+08:002013-08-04T11:13:04.376+08:00Startup Weekend Autumn 2013 edition team set up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://hongkong.startupweekend.org/files/2013/03/swhk2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://hongkong.startupweekend.org/files/2013/03/swhk2013.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been a few months since we had a successful spring edition of <a href="http://hongkong.startupweekend.org/" target="_blank">Startup Weekend</a> in Hong Kong. Successful because there was a good number of attendees, a brilliant venue (m21.hk), good interest and support from the Hong Kong startup community, interest and active participation by the <a href="http://www.ogcio.gov.hk/index.htm" target="_blank">Hong Kong Government's CIO department</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And where would we have been without the fantastic support of sponsors by helping us with cash to buy food and cover some other costs as well as prizes for some of the winning teams. Interesting to see was that some startups and even teams that were born at Startup Weekend contributed to the event.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All this put together by a bunch of selfless volunteers that have a soft spot for beginning or potential entrepreneurs. Planning an event like this takes around 3 months during which the teams look for sponsors, venue, mentors and judges and work on the operations for the weekend. And of course a fair bit of time goes into marketing to potential participants. We have been blessed with a good network of supporters and supporting organisations that do spread the love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last week we kicked off the preparations for the upcoming editions. It is really good to see the energy and enthusiasm with which the volunteers are running around building the next event. <b>The event is expected to take place in the last weekend of October or first weekend of November. </b>This would allow the winning team to participate in the Global Startup Battle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>WHAT WE NEED</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For now the team is looking for a venue that can host 100-120 people working on teams. In order for them to work they would need wifi and sufficient electricity plugs. Sponsors for food, t-shirts and prizes and important as well.. mentors and judges! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drop me an email if you have any suggestions for those.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">TOOLS</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As everyone has a day job (whether this work or studying), it is often a virtual team approach. In order to keep things moving we use a number of tools.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://asana.com/" target="_blank">ASANA</a> - task management</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://evernote.com/" target="_blank">EVERNOTE</a> - sharing of information</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank">GOOGLE DRIVE</a> and <a href="http://docs.google.com/" target="_blank">DOCS</a> - keeping track of documents and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">DROPBOX</a> - to share files amongst the team</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am excited and curious what the team can pull off this round..so far we have gone better and better.</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comHong Kong22.396428 114.1094970000000321.9265115 113.46405000000003 22.8663445 114.75494400000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-13182545899657187362013-08-04T00:53:00.000+08:002013-08-05T13:31:29.675+08:00A Farewell by Paul Orlando - he will be missed!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vhew.smugmug.com/Events/20130412/i-xBW7CZ8/0/L/L1028514-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://vhew.smugmug.com/Events/20130412/i-xBW7CZ8/0/L/L1028514-L.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul after being a judge for Startup Weekend (Photo by Vaughn Hew)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Recently (18 July 2013) <a href="https://twitter.com/porlando" target="_blank">@PaulOrlando</a> had his <a href="http://farewellhongkong.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank">farewell speech</a> to the startup community in Hong Kong. Fully in Paul style, the event started at 19:30 Paul time…(for non insiders...thats around 20minutes later)<br />
<br />
After a short but jam-packed time, Paul is returning back to the US. Not because there is nothing left to do here in Hong Kong, though merely to support his fiancee on some of her endeavours. He was the man behind <a href="http://startupsunplugged.com/" target="_blank">http://startupsunplugged.com/ </a>which organised a number of bootcamps and lots of other supportive work and was a key driver behind <a href="http://acceleratorhk.com/">http://acceleratorhk.com/</a>. And don't forget the <a href="http://wearehktech.com/">http://WeAreHKTech.com</a> website, currently showing over 200 Hong Kong Startups!<br />
<br />
His final presentation looked back though definitely looked forward! I put it below so you can take a look for yourself.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/24527276" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="427"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/porlando/farewell-hong-kong-startups" target="_blank" title="Farewell Hong Kong Startups">Farewell Hong Kong Startups</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/porlando" target="_blank">Paul Orlando</a></strong> </div>
<br />
A few interesting topics popped up which I jotted down in my own interpretation:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>techcrunch, asiatech, pandodaily.... interesting though do your customers read those as well? If not then why bother with the effort to get the publicity.. why not get on the front page of sites and magazines your customers use?</li>
<li>in line with that.. hopping around many startup events.. is that the best use of your time? Oh and when was the last time you visited an event frequented by your target customers?</li>
<li>a startup is a biz, so call it like that..its ok to stay away from the startup hype part...</li>
<li>Hong Kong is a market that has its own characteristics, does it matter we are not Silicon Valley? They do have their challenges as well.</li>
<li>And... startup is a business...why not call it like that!</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Flip through some of the opportunities mentioned -<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>providing testmarkets</li>
<li>corporate accelerators</li>
<li>crowd funding </li>
<li>group buying of resources for startups</li>
<li>GREEN stuff!</li>
<li>Get 100 Founders to Hong Kong every 6 months</li>
<li>Peer Pressure</li>
</ul>
<br />
Paul being Paul, an interesting twist had to be build in. A major challenge for many startups is getting to market. Let's call it stage fear. For days, weeks, months they have been working on their baby and now its time to go to market! Well, is it? Or should we tweak this, modify that, add feature here and there. Putting a bit of peer pressure in place, startups were asked to publicly commit to launching something by a date. Some of the startups making commitments I recall are:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.surroundapp.asia/" target="_blank">surroundapp</a> (engaging in Chinese social media in English) - having their first paying client before the end of july 2013-DONE!</li>
<li><a href="http://www.socialagent.me/" target="_blank">social agent </a> (lead and sales generation in China) - getting their app out by 9 Aug!</li>
<li><a href="https://report.pay4bugs.com/" target="_blank">pay 4 bugs</a> (crowd sourced bug finding and fixing) - Ship before the following Monday - DONE!</li>
</ul>
<div>
Missed out a couple of other ones...which I will include if I can find them.</div>
<br />
<br />
And guess what.. it looks like they were not aggressive enough as they reached their goals already! Look at the Facebook post below:<br />
<br />
<br />
Good stuff and keep it flowingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comHong Kong22.396428 114.1094970000000321.9265115 113.46405000000003 22.8663445 114.75494400000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-86802003417856601542013-06-19T12:00:00.000+08:002013-06-19T12:00:05.134+08:00Hong Kong Wet Market Cash Register<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9065895822/" title="The #money bucket is used as sort of a cash register at #wetmarkets here in #hongkong . Merchants store and drop in the cash and take out change. It often hangs a central place and has a counter weight. by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="The #money bucket is used as sort of a cash register at #wetmarkets here in #hongkong . Merchants store and drop in the cash and take out change. It often hangs a central place and has a counter weight." height="612" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5517/9065895822_6ef9bfcb2b_o.jpg" width="612" /></a>
<br />
<br />
One of the things I like about Hong Kong is the wide abundance of so called wet markets.<br />
<br />
They are vibrant centres in the community. Offering a wide variety of goods, from fresh vegetables, tofu to meat and fish chopped on the spot.<br />
<br />
The operations are very low tech and look like nothing has changed for the last decades. Other than the occasional finger print checkin and energy saving lights rather than the traditional light bulbs.<br />
<br />
Fruit and vegetable sellers have their wares spread out and nicely lined up to entice customers to buy it. Walking past a stall triggers a response where the staff highly recommend their products by touting they are the best, juiciest, cheapest or whatever is applicable.<br />
<br />
In this case fruit is selected either by yourself or the fruit seller and put on a scale or the price is just shouted out if it is by the piece.<br />
<br />
A critical piece of equipment is...<b>the bucket</b>. The bucket is where the money goes. It hangs at an easy to reach place, and on the other side of the string is a counter weight. When you pay for your goods, the bucket gets pulled down. The merchant drops the cash and grabs the change. When handing over the change, the bucket is let go and flies back to its position.<br />
<br />
Low tech, but highly effective!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comHong Kong22.284649264054419 113.9474486601562822.167163764054418 113.78608716015628 22.40213476405442 114.10881016015628tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-87143838323848865442013-06-18T22:02:00.001+08:002013-06-18T22:39:30.787+08:00New Running Exercise Shoes<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/9073059940/" title="#NewBalance #neutral #flat #shoes - little more inclination compared to my 5fingers though love those for #trailrunning #sports #outdoors #getfit by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="#NewBalance #neutral #flat #shoes - little more inclination compared to my 5fingers though love those for #trailrunning #sports #outdoors #getfit" height="612" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9073059940_abf56f4a22_o.jpg" width="612" /></a>
<br />
<br />
My Vibram Five Fingers were coming to the end of their lifecycle so time to look for some new shoes.<br />
<br />
Am a big fan of the Vibrams, so was definitely looking for something with a zero drop or minimalist shoes. IE thin soles so you have maximum connection to the ground you run on. The vibram model I had were not that brilliant for off-road conditions nor wet conditions. Those were on the requirements list when looking for something new.<br />
<br />
Came across those <a href="http://www.newbalance.com/NB-Minimus/minimus,default,pg.html" target="_blank">New Balance Minimus</a>, tried them on and they fitted well. And as there was some interesting pricing going on I could buy 2 pairs of those instead of 1 pair of 5 fingers.<br />
<br />
The first few times I have been using them for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrossFit" target="_blank">CrossFit</a> like activities. Meaning lots of jumping, push ups, pull ups, squats and the like. Stability and grip are important I find...and the shoes passed the different test thrown at them. Not as much contact as the five fingers, though definitely a lot more than some asics I still had.<br />
<br />
Today I decided to do another run with them to figure out how they would behave there. When lacing them up properly they do give a similar snug feeling as the V5F shoes which I really like. The small drop was fine and I really did like the grip of the shoes. The grip with the connection provides nice agility when running. Although only just over 5KM, the shoes felt good and would support longer runs nicely.<br />
<br />
So far so good! The next test will be taking them offroad and/or run in rainy conditions!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/6814880206/" title="Work out of the day ready #vibramfivefingers #crossfit #getfit #hongkong #outdoors by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="Work out of the day ready #vibramfivefingers #crossfit #getfit #hongkong #outdoors" height="240" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7202/6814880206_1b4ac4ddda_m.jpg" width="240" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-43465171808308268522013-05-14T12:30:00.000+08:002013-05-14T12:30:03.064+08:00chopstick steriliser in a small noodle Shop in Shenzhen China<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/8731774628/" title="#chopstick steriliser in a small #noodle #shop in #shenzhen #china"><img alt="#chopstick steriliser in a small #noodle #shop in #shenzhen #china by Marcel_Ekkel" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7356/8731774628_6b4ac924d8.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/8731774628/">#chopstick steriliser in a small #noodle #shop in #shenzhen #china</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/">Marcel_Ekkel</a> on Flickr.</span></div>
Traveling around Asia you often run into surprising inventions. In many restaurants and smaller eateries the tea that is served is initially used to "clean" the bowls and chopsticks. This habit makes sure that the utensils used actually are clean.<br /><br />Quite an interesting ritual to see. People sit down and the next thing you see is cans of tea being spread around, chopsticks, spoons and bowls being rinsed. Restaurants often provide a bigger bowl for the "waste water".<br />
<br />
A few days ago I was in Shenzhen, and when having dinner at a local noodle joint I discovered the above machine in the corner. The owner of the place started to pull out things that later seem to be the chopsticks. After more closely inspecting the machine it seems to be some sort of steriliser making sure that shop visitors have clean chopsticks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.com0Shenzhen, Guangdong, China22.543099 114.0578679999999821.605302000000002 112.76697449999999 23.480896 115.34876149999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-44250513414326494562013-05-13T23:23:00.001+08:002013-05-14T00:28:27.334+08:00Shenzhen Startup Weekend 5th Edition - observations from mentoring some of the teams From 10-12 May 2013 the 5th Edition of <a href="http://shenzhen.startupweekend.org/" target="_blank">Startup Weekend</a> took place in Shenzhen, China. The venue was <a href="http://www.3wcoffee.com/" target="_blank">3W Coffee</a> (which has a famous sibling in Beijing), a hotspot for internet entrepreneurial activities in the High Tech district of Shenzhen. In the neighbourhood you can find companies like Tencent, Microsoft and IBM. So when talking to <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/108118495524799444969" target="_blank">+Michael Michelini</a> if I was available for some mentoring the answer was obviously yes!<br />
<br />
On Sunday myself and @SiuShanLau were available to help out on mentoring the participating teams. Where @SiuShanLau her focus would be on design and UX, and mine more on business model and execution. Something I do enjoy and find interesting and very useful as well as you always learn something new. After a smooth ride from Hong Kong, we arrived less than an hour later on site. Teams were still dripping in to get started. As it was the last day, some wear and tear could be seen on faces :).<br />
<br />
After sort of being checked in, we did a quick round to meet the teams and find out what support was needed where. Well, with 21 teams that took a fair bit of time indeed. So, trying not to get stuck at teams we managed to do a decent round and I found a few teams I could wanted to sit down with.<br />
<br />
Below a short write up of some of the teams.<br />
<br />
<b>GoGoGrad: </b>A small 2 man team (well, when I met them) that are putting a solution in place to help parents and potential students to manage the workflow of signing up for US Universities. A cumbersome process with lots of activities and deliverables. A few key pain points they dealt with are reminders on the different deadlines, pointers on what should be provided for each university as well as help towards support on pre-submission tests etc. They had a good problem description and through some validation with potential clients were able to refine it even more. This helped them to get even better. Their original idea covered an app, though after a little more discussion we suggested that a website would be helpful to support the documentation. I don't see people easily editing and uploading required documents from their mobile phones.<br />
<br />
<b>Coop Delivery: </b>The team was very international with people from Europe, China and a Middle Eastern teamleader. A cool concept where neigbourhood stores are used to receive packages. For example if you order something through AMAZON.COM or TaoBao and you are working during the day...then there is an issue. Often packages need to be signed for or just someone needs to be present to receive it as it just won't fit in a letterbox. Your local grocery could make themselves available to receive and store your package. The original receiver should pick it up within 48hrs or else they would be charged an additional fee. Other than a few operational things they had worked out their business model quite nicely. And...they did a really good job on the customer and supplier validation. My question mark was and is whether the volume is big enough to support the low fees they were charging for the service.<br />
<br />
Curious if they will continue.....<br />
<br />
<b>Dating (not the real team name)</b><br />
Another dating site.. although they had a little different take. The site would be free as it would be providing some initial matching/introductions only. The model was around organising real life events, or meetings at real life events so people could meet in a more relaxed environment to be themselves. Events would be the binding element and could vary from sports matches, theatre visits or even playing mahjong I guess. Spend a little time here on their service offering and business model development.<br />
<br />
<b>PlugMeIn: </b>A little more focussed on the tech and development community. The quality levels for open source software varies, and sometimes you might be looking for something good. Though, getting it updated might get a bit costly. This team worked on solving that. Bringing people together to put down some money to find a developer to fix or develop what is needed. They did go out and did some nice customer development work as well. They would be taking a small % as commission from the transaction fees. Not sure if and what sort of competition there is already in the market on this one. Though the way they were working on it looked good. A bit of more design input would be beneficial for the guys. They did start off as a group buying site for plugins etc for websites.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>EDZ Marketing: </b>A business to business solution. This team is fixing the issue of the lack of access to good quality information with regards to the ability to invest in Economic Development zones in China. The service offering would cover an online and offline part. Where the online part is about information, and the offline part about introducing the right partners to each other.<br />
<br />
Although less sexy and definitely not your standard app, they had done good validation with their stakeholders and a solid business model as well.<br />
<br />
<b>ChooseOne: </b>This team worked on an app that could help you in making a decision on what to buy. For example you see 2 dresses, take a pic of both and get people to vote on which one would be the better option. Funnily enough I worked with a team on a similar idea during the last <a href="http://hongkong.startupweekend.org/" target="_blank">Hong Kong Startup weekend </a>edition. They arrived there after a few pivots. Supported the guys on some options for their business model here.<br />
<br />
<b>The rest</b><br />
Obviously there were many more teams, though the ones above are the ones I did spend a little more time with.<br />
<br />
At the end of startup weekends, there is always a 5 minute pitch and a couple of minutes for the 5 headed judge team to ask questions. The judging panel included <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/105168767172733387368" target="_blank">+Paul Orlando</a> as well, the only Laowai/Gwailo though...fluent in Mandarin & Cantonese which was needed as that was the language of communication for most teams.<br />
<br />
After a full on 3hours of presentations, the judges left the stage to deliberate on the winner. Unlike many other StartupWeekends, the choice was made to go for a 3rd, 2nd and 1st place rather than different categories.<br />
<br />
<b><u>The final winner was Go Go Grad! Congrats and well done guys!</u></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/8734608019/" title="IMG_2968 by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2968" height="240" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7321/8734608019_65c05c769b_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Above the winning team posing with <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/106049585857253371720" target="_blank">+Siu Shan Lau</a> <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/114548047806815799598" target="_blank">+Jeffrey Broer</a> and <a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/112815796650014971683" target="_blank">+Marcel Ekkel</a>. The interesting bit is, that they did <b>NOT</b> have a working application. They <b>DID</b> have a validated business model though!<br />
<br />
So in general some of the key take aways are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Define the problem you are working on well enough so that the team understands it, and define the underlying assumptions.</li>
<li>Go out and test those assumptions!</li>
<li>Define and check your customer segment</li>
<li>Gather information on the way your customer would like to have their problem solved, and validate this</li>
<li>Check the value it has for them so you can come to some sort of revenue model (including market size!)</li>
<li>And validate this...</li>
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The above is written on a very high level, though the core message is define, go out and validate it and adapt where needed. Yes, this is a lot of work, it requires customer contact though will help you to do and deliver stuff that your customers want. And if they don't want or need it well you can stop on time to prevent wasting it..... Oh and have you noticed...no word of technology yet here. It does play a role, but if you haven't figured out the problem you are going to solve....then tech talk is a waste of time.</div>
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And of course, figure out what sort of resources you need to make this happen. Resources like people on the team but also on the board and as advisors.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.com0Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China22.533012 113.93047322.2983735 113.60774950000001 22.7676505 114.2531965tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-2788203518849252942013-05-10T14:14:00.000+08:002013-06-18T22:20:19.181+08:00<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/8725377460/" title="PCCW_WebScreen by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="PCCW_WebScreen" height="379" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/8725377460_4601e28d39.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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At home I do use PCCW's Netvigator internet service. Generally speaking I am happy with the service, as it is reasonably priced, stable and has decent speed.<br />
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Though there are a few silly things. For example when you type in a domain that does not exist, normally the browser would/could take over and refer to <a href="http://www.google.com/" target="_blank">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.bing.com/" target="_blank">Bing</a> or any of the other search engines configured in the browser. However, PCCW forwards to they Yellow Pages search part and you will get a result like below.<br />
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As exmple, I typed marcelekkel.com int he browser bar - which is a domain that does not exist. So it would show anything except the screen below.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/8724313949/" title="YP_Export by Marcel_Ekkel, on Flickr"><img alt="YP_Export" height="309" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7384/8724313949_99ea0164bc.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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It looks like the data of what you do could be monitored here, and used for all sorts of purposes. Earlier this week I fired up the browser to take a look at a site. However, instead of getting through the site I was looking for I saw the picture we see at the top of the page. Clearly an interruption of the browsing experience and annoying when you wanted to do your things.<br />
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Though was wondering if that could be used for other forms of advertising. Either at home/office environments or even at areas where people want to provide free internet access. Airports, shopping malls and even hotels. Using the right technology ads and deals offered could match the users interest and should be scaled for the device used.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-43922650641337096012013-04-30T00:42:00.001+08:002013-08-05T14:55:22.114+08:00Get Out of the Door to test your assumptions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://startupnook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/get_out_of_the_building-1024x764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://startupnook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/get_out_of_the_building-1024x764.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
An interesting evening spend by mentoring a few startups that are participating in a <a href="http://startupsunplugged.com/bootcamp/" target="_blank">bootcamp</a> organised by <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/105168767172733387368" target="_blank">+Paul Orlando</a> from Startups Unplugged.<br />
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Currently 3 very different teams are participating in the bootcamp. One team exists of 3 foreigners, the next 2 of to local Hong Kong people and the last team has just 1 local Hong Kong person in it. Their products could not be more different either.<br />
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From property related stuff, through coupons to well......uhhh....undecided yet.<br />
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Visible was the determination and enthusiasm all teams had in working on their respective projects. Though, it is not always about hard work only - there is a big element of smart work as well.<br />
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A current buzz word is to follow the so called <a href="http://theleanstartup.com/principles" target="_blank">Lean Startup</a> approach. Key here is to deliver a so called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product" target="_blank">Minimum Viable Product</a>. Get fast in the market against as less effort as possible so you can start testing assumptions and collecting data on what customers really want.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<i>"The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort."</i></blockquote>
There is only one way to do that and that is to literally get out of the building and talk to your (potential) customers. This is the so called customer development as described by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blank" target="_blank">Steve Blank</a>. A full online course can be found <a href="https://www.udacity.com/course/ep245" target="_blank">here</a> at Udacity. Key here is to define and understand the assumptions behind your product and business. When talking to your customers you would need to get those assumptions validated, or if they are invalidated changed would be needed to product or business.<br />
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Now besides getting this product in the market, most of the times teams are interested in building a business as well. A nice tool for this is the so called <a href="http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas" target="_blank">business model canvas</a>. A one pager that can be used to describe a number of elements needed to run your business. The assumptions mentioned earlier play a big part here as well. Is value proposition as big as you had in mind, can you distribute your products as you had in mind against the price you had in mind, are the benefits as big as you thought.<br />
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And a test needs thinking through. The way you design your tests should support you in (in)validating those assumptions, it should help you to learn more about the market and how your target audience might response. Therefore spend sufficient time on designing those experiments, selecting the audience and asking the right questions in the right way. And is the sample size big enough to give you the information you need.<br />
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As well as testing your product, your business requires as much attention as well. Are the risks worth the potential benefits?<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comThe Good Lab22.33306 114.15250000000003-3.1889745000000005 72.843906000000032 47.8550945 155.46109400000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-20972010827807793352012-09-27T23:54:00.002+08:002012-09-27T23:54:47.478+08:00Start Up Weekend Hong Kong Edition 9-11 Nov 2012<br />
Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Designers, Developers and other geniuses....Have some cool idea's and want to figure out whether it is worth checking out participating in any of the accelerators as run by Paul Orlando or Stephen Forte!<br />
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I am talking about THe Hong Kong Edition of Start Up Weekend. 54 Hours to get your idea shaped up, tested and grilled by a panel of experienced judges.<br />
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For more info and Pre Registration.... check out http://hongkong.startupweekend.org<br />
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And for the serial entrepreneurs ...we still can use a few mentors and judges for the weekend of 9-11 Nov!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/00dbwawBgLY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-58645888287818136022012-07-06T14:45:00.001+08:002012-07-06T14:45:14.652+08:00PADI Recognition of Excellence<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/7367259724/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8153/7367259724_7247dd7c77_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/7367259724/">PADI_Recognition_of_Excellence</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/">Marcel_Ekkel</a> </span></div>Last year I actively picked up teaching scuba diving again in Hong Kong. A nice hobby taking me out of town into nature during the weekends and working with people is also an added positive element.<br /><br />One of the nice things is to see people progress, develop and smile at the end of a course.<br /><br />Recently I received some nice news via PADI.<br /><br />One of the people that did a PADI Open Water course send a message to PADI that they were very happy with the way the course was delivered.<br /><br />Obviously it was nice to see the appreciation from both customers and PADI!<br /><br />Thanks guys!<br clear="all" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-47811946561465138332012-07-04T11:11:00.003+08:002012-07-04T11:11:57.661+08:00whale shark sighting in Hong Kong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last weekend I was out diving again in Hong Kong. When returning from one of the dives, one of the people on board called me over excitedly! An ipad got flashed out and he showed me an article on the SCMP website to point at an article with the unfortunate title <span style="background-color: white;">"<a href="http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=15e65d009a248310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=Hong+Kong&s=News" target="_blank">Family tells of terror after shark shuts down beaches</a>"<br /><br />SCMP gives a silly twist to the event and hooks into the fear of sharks in Hong Kong. A whale shark is a pretty harmless large fish, which feeds mainly on plankton or small fish. Attitude towards divers and swimmers is generally speaking friendly. You can find some more info at the wikipedia site of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark" target="_blank">Whale Sharks</a>. I can confirm this behaviour, in 2010 we went diving in Ahe, Papua, Indonesia to visit a "family" of whale sharks in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenderawasih_Bay" target="_blank">Cendrawasih bay</a>. Upon jumping in the water, the whale sharks approached us curiously and sometimes it even looked like they wanted to play.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Got some photos from this trip up at this flickr set </span><span style="background-color: white;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/sets/72157624525988682/</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Anyway, back to Hong Kong. A family went out sailing on the water when they spotted the fin. Normally the dorsal fins of sharks trigger a lot of panic, though when looking properly on the movie below you can actually see it is a tail fin. Silly to see shark alerts going up eveywhere as again, this shark (as most) does not have an aggressive nature at all. The "biggest incident" recorded with whale sharks was that someone was nearly sucked into the massive mouth of a whale shark whilst it was feeding. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
The sighting looks like a juvenile whale shark as it is only around 4 meters long. Nevertheless it must have been a magnificent sight to spot a whale shark in Hong Kong. The question remains, what was it doing here.<br />
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/LJD_1IHMfa0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LJD_1IHMfa0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LJD_1IHMfa0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-33504369539451679982012-05-29T12:10:00.001+08:002012-05-29T12:10:22.574+08:00Crazy ! New sushi take out shop opening today at Tung Chung mtr. Queues galore!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><br/><br/><img src='http://img.mobypicture.com/35b948b697f55e2e30c81abb223f556f_new_medium.jpg'/><br/> - Posted using <a href='http://moby.to/vujels'>Mobypicture.com</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-41273828630381725912012-05-03T12:29:00.002+08:002012-05-03T12:44:49.751+08:00Dinner with Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/ChokyiNyimaRinpoche.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/ChokyiNyimaRinpoche.jpg" width="220" /></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChokyiNyimaRinpoche.jpg</span></div>
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On Wednesday night my wife and I had the privilege to join a dinner in honor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6kyi_Nyima_Rinpoche" target="_blank">Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche</a>. A Tibetan monk, who was in Hong Kong to lead a Buddhist retreat.<br />
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Born in Tibet and currently residing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Nying_Shedrub_Ling" target="_blank">Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling</a>, a Tibetan monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. That means, if he is not traveling the world to conduct retreats or holds lectures/teachings. Those are also called Dharma Talks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_talks)<br />
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Even though he is <i>"top of the line"</i> in his area, there is no arrogance whatsoever. He is very approachable which he shows by having an open door policy on Saturdays. Meaning that anyone can walk in to listen to the teachings on Saturdays (well when he is in the monastery).<br />
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Anyway, the dinner was held at a nice small restaurant in Hong Kong with a limited number of guests, that included his entourage. The entourage were so of his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lama" target="_blank">Lama</a>'s and a few people that acted as translators from Tibetan to English. Having traveled to Tibet and some other areas around there, I was surprised to hear that the majority of the people were not vegetarian. They at beef, fish and of course vegetables. Now, it could be that the people in Tibet I travelled with were following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon" target="_blank">Bon</a> traditions.<br />
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One of the interesting points of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6kyi_Nyima_Rinpoche" target="_blank">Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche</a> is that he does show a genuine interest in the people around him. Attempting to understand who they are, where they come from, what they do. And I have heard from a few people that often he does remember. Meaning that if you get to meet him another time he would recall the occasion and who you are.<br />
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Another characteristic is that he loves his humor and laughter. We did have lots of fun on the table, and fortunately were lacking any pretentious talks or one way lectures. Being in Hong Kong, taking pictures was obviously a <i>must do</i> thing. Whilst doing that he used the opportunity to joke around a bit as well.<br />
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It was not all fun and games, and a number of well..deeper topics were discussed as well. During the conversations the Rinpoche showed to be well informed on current global affairs. And rather than lecturing on how to fix it, he offered some thoughts for people on how they can think about what to contribute to get it fixed. Oh, and he even the topic of Lady Gaga was discussed as she is having her concerts in Hong Kong at the moment.<br />
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Rinpoche his facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Chokyi.Nyima.Rinpoche<br />
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Altogether a very interesting and even inspiring evening, especially when putting it in context of busy Hong Kong.<br />
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Namaste <br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-23382084904557141242012-05-02T08:00:00.000+08:002012-05-02T08:00:05.261+08:00Dubai Airport Lounges<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Recently I had to return to Europe, and a convenient route was to use <a href="http://emirates.com/" target="_blank">Emirates</a>. Whatever airline I was going to take, there was no way to escape a stop over on either leg of the route. The stop over in Dubai was going to give me the least hassle. Of course a decent price tag, 30KG luggage allowance (yes economy) and the fact I could fly an A380 for the first time contributed as well.<br />
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On of my credit cards has the extra service of providing you with a so called <a href="http://www.prioritypass.com/" target="_blank">PriorityPass</a>. This company provides a membership service, allowing access to a number of airport lounges. It is an independent programme, so it doesn't really matter which airline or class you fly in order to be able to use the facilities. <br />
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As I had some time to kill in Dubai, it was time to find a lounge, have a coffee and maybe some food. Better, a decent place to sit, use the wifi and get the emails send. Dubai airport was quite alive (was there around 0400 local time. With heaps of people wandering around the many shops, Starbucks was full as were many other places that were open. People were sitting everywhere at the airport. Anyway, I choose the Marhaba Lounge, in terminal 3 at DXB. Close to gate 230 which was close to where my ongoing flight was departing from.<br />
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As usual, registering at the entrance desk is the first thing you do. As it was fairly busy this took a little while. No worries - as I just had been sitting for hours. After registration, let's pick up a coffee and find a place to sit. Oh, coffee machine broken. Then a juice would do. Food.. hmm most of the storage was empty as well. This as opposite to seating opportunities. The whole place was filled up with people, and shopping bags on tables chairs etc. It did look similar as outside the lounge. Finally found a space on a broken chair to sit down for a bit. So experience in this lounge not that great.<br />
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On the way back, I had a way longer time to kill. Getting to 10hrs. Well, it was either spending a little more time Dubai airport or stop and waste time at Bangkok for a bit. So I was hoping for a slightly better experience. This time I went to Terminal one where you can find then <i>"DUBAI INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE" </i>between gates 108-110. The setup is fairly spacious, food and drinks in abundance and during my visit there was sufficient space to sit down as well. The wifi does work and has a decent speed.<br />
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Food gets refilled regularly and there is a good variation on cooked, salads and other dishes.<br />
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Since there was a time limit, I planned to move on the other Merhaba lounge in Terminal 1. When leaving, the gentleman asked if I wanted to extend though choose not to. When walking through the terminal I couldn't help to notice it was still busy with lots of people sitting, sleeping and hanging out everywhere. Anyway, arriving at the Merhaba lounge the welcome was way better than the one in terminal 3. A friendly smile and rapid service, despite the early hour. The setting was slightly better than terminal 3's lounge as well. Possibly due to the time there was sufficient seating - just about though. Food and drinks were sparsely available as well.<br />
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So, the best bet if you have to spend some time at a lounge would be the <i>DUBAI INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE.</i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-75941238401965569082012-05-01T22:30:00.001+08:002012-05-01T22:30:25.994+08:00Hong Kong airport providing a nice backdrop<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/6977713362/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/6977713362_358e2db7a2_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/6977713362/">Contrasts with #sun and #clouds over #hongkong #airport</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/">Marcel_Ekkel</a> </span></div>During the last weeks the weather has been one of extremities. We had a good number of days where the temperature hit 30C and had some blue skies.<br /><br />We had days where the pollution levels were getting so bad that the skies looked brownish or yellowish.<br /><br />One of the things I like about living where I live now is the view. It covers the airport, mainland, sea and the hills.<br /><br />With the diversity of weather it provides superb scenery for pictures.<br clear="all" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739570650423771799.post-82541483120497341852012-04-19T11:31:00.001+08:002012-04-19T11:31:01.770+08:00Woohoo Tung Chung has Medium Pollution<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/7092373863/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/7092373863_0b661b2b60_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/7092373863/">The Air You Breathe -- Compare your Air Quality with your standards</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelekkel/">Marcel_Ekkel</a> </span></div>Despite the high humidity, and due to a little with the air quality levels in Tung Chung are not tooooo bad at the moment.<br /><br />So that sounds good to go for a run today then.....<br clear="all" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16761695854706921039noreply@blogger.com