Summary

I have had an amazing trip and am writing this in the plane over the Atlantic Ocean. We learned a lot bout our customers: what circumstances they face and what they need from us. The cultures are all very different, but each one wonderful in its own way.
I will be very glad to be back in the US, but won't hesitate to visit Asia or Paris again, except maybe Bangkok. They tell me that Phuket, Thailand is really nice, though. I will get more photos posted soon.

Paris - and no customers

Paris was supposed to be a couple of days to combat jet lag and visit sights. When we flew in early, I hoped to also get home early. Who would have thought that our airlines had no available seats early? Oh well, better Paris than Bhutan or Bangkok.
I can't tell you how many miles we walked, but it was a lot. Larry loves Paris and we seem to have seen it all. We visited: Eiffel Tower (twice), Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre (twice), Versailles, Musee d'Orsay (where the French Impressionist paintings are during renovations at the Louvre), Sacre Coure at Montmarte, and one more monument that I can't remember the name of.
We had amazing food at sidewalk cafes and took a lot of photos. I think I am over 550 total.

Thailand

Okay, our hotel was beautiful, that is about all I can say. Due to typhoon, now tropical storm, Nock-ten catching up to us, we cancelled our trip to Bhutan. I was disappointed, but did not want to get stuck in Bhutan. From what Larry said, their airport is tiny and flights don't operate when the weather is bad.
We extended our stay in Thailand by a day and it rained the entire time. We did find a great dessert shop and had really good cupcakes. Other than that, I doubt I will visit Thailand again. Language is a barrier and it just did not feel safe. It could have just been the weather and me being tired.
They do bow a little differently than in the other Asian countries we visited. Ask me and I will show you.
Our primary customer was out of the country and his associates were not available.
To Paris a day early.

Singapore

We arrived in Singapore, successfully avoiding typhoon Nock-ten, for now...
We spent the first evening walking Orchard Road. I have never seen so many shopping centers in one place in my life! They stretch for miles. There are high end stores everywhere. I am not much of a shopper so we just mainly walked, a lot. First night dinner - Hard Rock Cafe. Both Larry and I were tired of Asian inspired food by this time and chicken strips and potato skins hit the spot. A little shopping was done, but that part is a surprise...
Larry had previously met a customer in Singapore. Mr. Wee and his lovely wife, Betty, picked us up from our hotel the second day. As it turns out, Bill's father was the president of Singapore in the 1980's!
Our first stop was a Bhuddist temple, the Goddess of Mercy, where they say prayers. I had the opportunity to take part and it was very interesting. From there we visited a Hindu temple and a mosque. Singapore is racially and religiously diverse with a population that is very accepting, which in liked very much. We had lunch and dinner with the Wee's and discussed archery in the region and the best ways for us to grow our business. At lunch we went to the golf club they belong to and saw two monkeys!
The last day they took us to Sonesta, an island across the causeway, and we walked to a fort and went to a history museum where video showed Mr. Wee's father.
And on to Thailand...

Hong Kong

We spent 3 days in Hong Kong. It is a crazy busy city with a beautiful harbor. We met with a new, very professional customer and had dinner with them at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Most people speak very good English here, but not all. It is very much a shopping city, which is okay for about an hour, then I am done. We were able to go to the top of Victoria Peak and it was beautiful! There is a harbor light show every night at 8 pm which was amazing! Off to Singapore ahead of the typhoon...

Xi'an Day 2

Today was spent sightseeing and meeting with our customer again. First we saw the Terracotta Warriors and Horses; they are an amazing discovery found in 1974 by a farmer. They were created around 210 B.C. Pictures to come later. We also visited a factory where they build replicas from a few inches tall to taller than me!
Then we went to the Big Goose Pagoda; a Buddhist temple with monks in residence. It is very beautiful. I look forward to researching Buddhism and the other religions of China, including Confucianism and Taoism. China is officially an atheist country, but they have several religions in different regions.
Finally we feasted on Peking Duck with our customer. It is nothing like any duck I have had in the US. The sauce is delicious! Any one know how to make it?
The driving here is insane!!!!! Yes, I know that is a lot of !, but you have to see it to believe it. Cars, buses, scooters with up to 3 people on them, 3 wheel motorbikes with deliveries stacked 6 feet in the air, 1000's of taxis and tons of pedestrians all merging and turning when and where ever they want to. And traffic is usually bumper to bumper, literally. There were buses about an inch from our van today.
The people we meet that speak English are warm and friendly. Parents on the street encourage their children to talk to us to practice. Most tourists in Xi'an are Asian and we have seen few Americans here. People who speak English are likely to strike up a conversation with you.
Oh, and it kind of smells here...

Xi'an

Today was spent flying to Xi'an China and meeting with a customer. The meeting went well. They took us for traditional noodle lunch, very yummy. Then we went to the famous Bell Tower and Drum Tower in old city Xi'an, and had traditional Chinese dumplings for dinner. They were good, but very different.
The technology in the hotels we stay in are amazing, but other things are still very traditional. The lunch restaurant did not have traditional toilets, but squat toilets. Look them up if you are interested, challenging to say the least. Our tour guide said the two things to make sure you have in China are cash and tisue because the is rarely any in the restrooms.

A good meeting and a traditional Korean meal

Today we met with a new customer and it went very well. They took us to lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant in a 100 year old house. We had our own small room, had to take off our shoes and sat on the floor. We had a lot of very good food, but I don't know what most of it was (lots of fish and rice.) On the way back to the airport we went by a body of water with a lot of barbed/razor wire fence. Larry asked what it was and our customer said we were close to the North Korean border (the DMZ).
There seems to be less English here than in Beijing. There is construction everywhere with buildings on islands. Very pretty!
Now back to Beijing and in China for a few days. Not sure if I can post there, but I will try.

Day 2 Beijing - Gimpo City Korea

Spent the morning in Tiananmen Square and wandering some side streets in Beijing. It is an impressive and massive square, according to Wiki it is the second largest aware in the world. Photos to be posted later, sorry. People wait for up to 3 hours in a line outside in the blazing heat to see the mausoleum of Mao Zedong, It is where police killed protesters in 1989.
Then we flew to Seoul and were picked up by our customer for a meeting in the morning.
More tomorrow, but Likely nothing exciting. Hope all is well I'm the USA. Miss you all!

Day 1.5

That was one seriously long day. We left Traverse City at 6:35 Sunday morning and, after 2 delays, arrived in Beijing at 7pm Monday night. By the way, it is exactly 12 hours different from EST, so it is now 11:07 pm here and 11:07 am in Michigan. Slept about 4 hours on the 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing.
We took a short walk from our hotel and found a night market that sells almost all of there food on sticks. We did not eat there! One guy had a small snake on a stick, so I can only imagine what the rest of the food was. Another, not quite so exhausted time, perhaps. Tomorrow we fly to Seoul for the night to visit our first customer. Night/morning everyone!

Day 1.5

That was one seriously long day. We left Traverse City at 6:35 Sunday morning and, after 2 delays, arrived in Beijing at 7pm Monday night. By the way, it is exactly 12 hours different from EST, so it is now 11:07 pm here and 11:07 am in Michigan. Slept about 4 hours on the 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing.
We took a short walk from our hotel and found a night market that sells almost all of there food on sticks. We did not eat there! One guy had a small snake on a stick, so I can only imagine what the rest of the food was. Another, not quite so exhausted time, perhaps. Tomorrow we fly to Seoul for the night to visit our first customer. Night/morning everyone!

Day 1.5

That was one seriously long day. We left Traverse City at 6:35 Sunday morning and, after 2 delays, arrived in Beijing at 7pm Monday night. By the way, it is exactly 12 hours different from EST, so it is now 11:07 pm here and 11:07 am in Michigan. Slept about 4 hours on the 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing.
We took a short walk from our hotel and found a night market that sells almost all of there food on sticks. We did not eat there! One guy had a small snake on a stick, so I can only imagine what the rest of the food was. Another, not quite so exhausted time, perhaps. Tomorrow we fly to Seoul for the night to visit our first customer. Night/morning everyone!

Day 1.5

That was one seriously long day. We left Traverse City at 6:35 Sunday morning and, after 2 delays, arrived in Beijing at 7pm Monday night. By the way, it is exactly 12 hours different from EST, so it is now 11:07 pm here and 11:07 am in Michigan. Slept about 4 hours on the 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing.
We took a short walk from our hotel and found a night market that sells almost all of there food on sticks. We did not eat there! One guy had a small snake on a stick, so I can only imagine what the rest of the food was. Another, not quite so exhausted time, perhaps. Tomorrow we fly to Seoul for the night to visit our first customer. Night/morning everyone!

The day before...

Today is my last day in the US for the next 3 weeks. I am off on a business trip to visit customers and suppliers in Asia. I will post here as often as I can. The challenge will be to find computers and keyboards with English letters, if I can't find WI-fi. While the sales part of the trip won't be terribly interesting to most of you, I hope the travel, sightseeing and food will be.