Pumpkins & Dynamites- ie Biking outside of Beijing

Beijing offers some great biking opportunites, but given the pollution level in the city, it was time to get out. I had to make my way to Beijing for work and stayed there for the weekend. The bike operator took us to MiYun north of Beijing. Beautiful views, gentle slopes, many tunnels to ride through. Came across a mad old man sitting on a donkey cart loaded with pumpkins and dynamites. He had the dynamites ready to go off if we wanted some entertainment, which he did - for the Chinese tourists...

Jono's Life in Nanning

Jonathan asked me if I would go down to Nanning with him to photograph and document a factory they will soon close down. This is also my first 'paid assignment', subject to how 'paid' is defined.

The factory makes glass which is later rolled, pressed and made into insulation pipes, and sold around the world. I think it was a somewhat personal project for Jono, given the gruelling negotiations with the government, deceiving nego techniques, then later the financial difficulties the factory went through. I also understood why all these years he hated going there. My perception of China has been vastly distorted by the comfort and attention I get in Beijing and Shanghai. Even as the capital city of Guangxi Province, just 160km away from the Vietnamese border, it is rough on its edges.

We flew to Nanning on a late Friday night and went straight into the factory to start the shoot. Had to wear all the gear; goggles, helmet, shoes, making the shoot rather uncomfortable. The factory operates on 3 shifts, 24x7. It was interesting to see how sand gets transformed into insulation pipes. My favourite was the furnace - seeing liquid glass is mesmerising. The foreman stuck a pole and pulled out the cotton-like glass. Never knew glass comes in this form.

We got up at the crack of dawn to get the saturation of the rising sun, to capture the shift change, to capture the life of the factory, to document the surroundings of the factory.

We barely slept that night, and given my own full-on week in Shanghai, I was in a recovery mode the whole of Sunday. But, how else to catch up with my old running soul mate and a great friend than going down the memory lane with him, and lens-catching a fraction of what is important in his life.

Here is a collage of a few shots.

Oh Baby!

We won Johnson Baby business in Shanghai and my life in the past 2 weeks has been revolving around just that. We already have a solid reputation in J&J but like any new business, we still had to pitch to take the business away from their current agency. I was not too terribly excited due to the category (mom, baby) but once we developed the program concept, we all got fired up. It’s a 3.5 mths program, the first significant effort in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics ‘08. In essence, it’s just a storytelling competition for moms to submit their touching baby-raising tales, with the communication plans being supported by an ex-Olympic badminton gold champion, Ge Fei, as a spokesperson. We pushed it forward and developed a full plan that ropes in the celebrity storyline together with all other advertising channels... to touch the consumers in a truly powerful way. The fun will come from working with social media. The fact about a Chinese urban mom is: she will not buy, apply or recommend a purchase unless she gets her ‘facts’ from a forum or a blog.

Lots of planning, brainstorming, late hours, communication challenges, resource challenges. We presented last Friday and got the job on the spot. We were too puffed out to even celebrate. Instead, got on the phone to make endless arrangements for a project kick-off with all agencies. My colleague Eric (owns the J&J relationship) and I have finally found a way to work together and it's been awesome ever since. J&J has some good brains working on client and agency side, so it’s been a great ride.

Price to pay? Hardly slept in my own bed for past 3 weeks, started smoking again, missing salsa, yoga, friends in HK. Been having my Mandarin classes conducted via a virtual classroom with my teacher in HK, which is great. Shanghai is beginning to feel like my second home, with an increasing circle of friends and favourite hang-outs, just the way it is when it starts to feel like home..

I got a call from Monika on Wed nite (Sept 8th) telling me she's going to deliver her baby in the next 10 min. I was totally blown away; she was so calm, jovial, chilled out given the circumstances! I could feel my hair rising, just imagining her lying down there... This is the girl I used to party with on Sat nites at Hard Rock, downing tequilla and dancing on the tables. We may live different lives now, the bond remains. Olivia Emby is well and kicking, just like her gorgeous mom.

Feeling rather compromised in the way I looked and felt, I went to check out the much-talked-about uber-spa, the Evian Spa, for a facial and a massage. What an experience.. Parked at "3 on the Bund" (Armani Bld), the contemporary design of white and translucent materials and fab lighting effects, transports you into a world of its own. There are many small surprises hidden around, making the experience just so much more complete. Feeling in tune with the Full Moon last night and totally chilled-out, I'm ready to wrap up this week with a big 'wow, what a week, oh baby'.


It’s Friday today, and I’m due to come back to Shanghai on Monday to speak at another client’s regional marketing conference. Everybody wants to get into interactive, not knowing how to really do it. Other J&J businesses are asking us to run interactive workshops for them to help them get into the game.

There has been a talk about me getting transferred to Shanghai, but I’m resisting this option, reasons being many. I still have some pretty good reasons to go back to HK..