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November 23, 2010 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Military tacticians and historians often make use of the term ‘tip of the spear.’ It refers to a combat force that is used to puncture the enemy’s initial lines of defense, to be quickly followed by concentrated forces which destroy any remaining threat. Tactically, the
November 22, 2010 Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia It was a spur of the moment decision, but I felt like a bit of a break. Friday’s trip to Brunei didn’t exactly go as planned, and I opted instead to spend a few days on the beach in Bali. Good choice: it was -very- relaxing
November 19, 2010 Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam The ferry ride from Labuan to Brunei is a quick hour and fifteen minutes… and I have to be brutally honest with you about something: I’m not exactly what you would call ‘sea-worthy’. I’ve traveled by ferry just a handful of times in the last few
November 18, 2010 Labuan, off the coast of Borneo About 25-years ago in the mid-1980s, a bunch of Malaysian politicians got together and plotted. Hong Kong, the region’s undisputed financial center at the time, was due to be handed over to those “Communist China” in about 10-years time, and everyone was terrified of
November 17, 2010 Labuan, off the coast of Borneo Because I travel so much, I’m able to compare real estate prices among all the places I’ve been recently. How does a flat in London compare with an apartment in Bangkok? How does an estate in Cape Town compare with a single family home
November 15, 2010 Singapore I’ve long argued that the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur lies in finding ways to create value– solving problems. The larger the problem, or the more people affected by the problem, then the more value is created… and hence, the greater the reward for the entrepreneur. It takes
November 12, 2010 Bangkok, Thailand I’ve been back and forth along the route from Pattaya to Bangkok more times that I can remember. It takes about 90 minutes along one of Thailand’s best toll roads and costs less than $30 to hire a driver for the one-way journey, shockingly cheap by western standards.
November 11, 2010 Pattaya, Thailand Today I got another boots on the ground perspective of Thailand’s professional, high quality private healthcare system. I was accompanying a friend of mine this afternoon to the Pattaya branch of Bangkok Hospital, a private chain with five locations across the country. Bangkok Hospital is accredited by JCI,
November 10, 2010 Pattaya, Thailand I stared at the sign for a full 30 seconds to make sure I was reading it correctly. “Dear valued members: Due to rising prices, we are no longer able to provide free water at this facility. We regret any inconvenience caused. Management.” The gym in Pattaya that
November 9, 2010 Pattaya, Thailand If you know anything about Thailand, you know about Pattaya. It is, without doubt, one of the wildest places on the planet. From the mundane to the urbane to the profane to the insane to the inhumane, if you can dream it up, you can do it in
November 5, 2010 Pattaya, Thailand It’s been interesting to travel through Asia’s developing economies lately given what’s happening in the west. The Irish government recently announced a budget shortfall exceeding 30% of GDP. In France, millions of workers protested the two-year increase to their pension age. In the US, Ben Bernanke once again
November 4, 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka I’m a bit of a technology enthusiast– I have a tremendous appreciation for humanity’s intellect, and I’m continually amazed at how it is leveraged. Technology, along with a large pool of savings, is ultimately what drives productivity, increases standard of living, and lifts millions out of poverty.
November 3, 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka A few weeks ago when I was in Africa, I had a great conversation with Neil Strauss, author of Emergency. Neil Strauss, author of Emergency, interviewed by Simon Black of SovereignMan.com from Simon Black on Vimeo. In his book, Neil tells a very compelling story about the
November 2, 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka My sister recently sent along this quote from Houseboat, the 1958 movie starring the always-lovely Sophia Loren. Given the circumstances, I thought it appropriate: Sophia Loren: Perhaps I will get a job. Her Father: A job? Sophia: Yes! A job. A job. Her Father: I have given
November 1, 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka I’m writing to you from Sri Lanka, even though I’m supposed to be in Thailand today; it turns out that the government of India had other plans for me. It all started on Saturday night; I had a flight booked from Sri Lanka to Bombay that departed