I am cleaning up my desktop and computer, going through tons of folders and files…rather annoying but its good to go through it on a weekend - travel back in time and remember all the hopes and dreams of the past. Some are real, others never became - or realized something else.

I found a really great file, things I want to do before I leave this Earth. I wrote this in April 2002!!!! Good thing I keep backing up my data, here is a copy/paste:

What I want to do before I die.

have a respectable job, one that i love to do — done
have a happy family life
have a party house, where i can have reunions of all the wonderful people i meet
meet as many new people as possible
start a college fund

activities

bungee jump
sky dive —done

travel

tour europe — done
austrailia
caribean — done
las vegas — done
visit hollywood –done
go to brazil
camping, beach
boating
Appalachian trail
cancun —done
bahamas
italy — done
montreal —done
iowa —-done

I would say, I am the same person I was then as I am now….. still a few things on that list I have to get done…. mainly my goal in life is to EXPERIENCE IT. And that hasn’t changed.

I really beleive I am not driven by money. Some say that is stupid…and yes, it seems to have gotten me into SHORT TERM problems in the past……even tonight my friend Jojo said “if you keep being so nice, you’ll even have no money to wear the shirt you have on”. So strange, but you know what, if that is how it will be, then I will have lived my life anyway.

WHO CARES ABOUT MONEY. you live, you die. Nothing can be taken with you when you’re gone. And your family and children should live for their own lives, not hope you pass money along to them.

I always try to take criticism positively….even if someone tells me in a negative condescending matter. I think it helps a person grow and you have to keep your ears open even when you may not want to hear it.

I have to add an image from the movie “Fallen Down” - I’m not that bad….YET! haha, but some days I’m getting to a breaking point for sure!

As I always have done to destress, let me write down what exactly is bothering me, who cares if its a blog:

Christmas has always been a time for us to reflect about the past year, spend time with family and friends - and look to the future.

I arrived in China to live dec 31, 2007 - just after spending christmas in florida with my family.    Decided to save money and focus in 2008, and again in 2009 i am here in shenzhen city, china - actually worked most of the day - met with a few people about business, banking details, and checked out the office for next year…

its also because i came to china at the end of the year  beginning of another that my apartment and office leases are all ending at the same time forcing me to consider moving or staying - and it seems moving has been a big trend…..but its also because i am growing.

a big family in china - my staff, my friends, my contacts and relationships - i am becoming more chinese each day…..maybe i should take the trip back to usa….been so long.

i am really looking forward to 2010 - i have a much more clear and focused goal of ecommerce and order fulfillment streamlining.  cheers to that

If you’ve been following my blog, you will see posts about my difficult experiences dealing with Bank of America as I’ve been overseas in China and Asia.  Two of specific note include:

More Bank of America Fights - International  Travel Issues

Thank You For Calling Bank of America

*Image, credit,  found from PPC for Hire blog

Now, originally when I posted about my issues, I didn’t expect to get such a strong effect in google.  but I am ranking for many terms, such as Bank of America international travel, bank america international travel, bank of america online banking issues, and international phone number, the list goes on and on as I check my server log and traffic stats.

Here’s a specific example, out of 37 million pages, this blog is #4 for Bank of America international travel.

And the blog post that is there in Google is talking about ………..PROBLEMS I AM HAVING WITH BANK OF AMERICA………

Now, why doesn’t an internet marketing person at Bank of America contact me???  Its been there for a year at least now…Reputation management must be address by these large companies.

What is reputation management?  Basically its MONITORING YOUR BRAND.  With the internet being so open, and so many people going to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other web destinations - bloggers and people are there. Talking, discussing their customer experiences with businesses.

A good company MONITORS this.  They RESPOND to what people are complaining about,  or at the very least , address it and say its something that has to be this way for a certain reason - legal, policy, blah blah.

But, imagine for a minute - that on my blog, I receive a comment from a Bank of America marketing representatitive.   They would address the issue I have been having, explain why it is the way it is, maybe even FIX IT.  Or note it for their management meetings.

That is what is support to happen.  And the companies that are most active on SOCIAL MEDIA and responding to the blog posts, twitter messages, and facebook chats - as well as  ton of other websites - they will gain valuable connection to their customers and differentiate themselves from their competition.

I know….. BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, they don’t care about their customer, the customer has to put their money somewhere, has to get insurance.  But I hope one day there is a disruptive new bank or insurance company that is more “online aware” and I see many internet people, bloggers, and younger generations will sign up

Lets see - maybe this latest post will get some attention at Bank of America.  I want to test them, I have no problem putting a note at the end of those earlier blog entries saying I am impressed Bank of America contacted me about my issue and at least explained why its the way it is (government, security, legal, policy, etc)  That would make my day.

So….for years i have been so confused about how to get a proper work permit of visa in china…..
Its freaking complex! Last year i applied, had 1 summer intern use it as her project for 1 month, it was a fulltime job - going to one government office to another - china police station, tax bureau, foreign affairs office….and shenzhen is pretty far and wide - futian district, luo ho, nanshan, bus it back + forth…..but I believe the final step has been achieved, I just passed the test / interview with the Chinese police station.
Just to be clear for everyone, when visiting china you need:

Tourist visa - this is what someone coming on holiday would need, no matter if you come for 1 day or 1 month. I had never bothered with this, as normally i am in china on business. You can buy these pretty easily in hong kong and with rush service, receive next day to enter china.

Business visa (f visa) - what i started with when i first came in 2007….this is for foreigner who is coming here to visit companies, discuss strategic alliance, go to trade fairs. Also fairly easy to get, i got my first one (have been through 3 now) when i was still in usa, i used an agency, visarite.com. The good thing about getting this business visa when you are still in usa is that the length of stay* is 120 days and the life of the visa is 1 year. When you apply for a work class visa in hong kong, or outside of your home country, normally you can only get a 3 or 6 month length visa with a 30 day stay *.

Work permit – the good thing about a work permit is you can stay for up to a year without leaving China. But the bad thing is, you are taxed on income here. Another good thing, is you build credit history in china with income, can get a credit card, apply for a mortgage. Seems its is 1 step closer to becoming Chinese…..

* length of stay - on a passport visa, you will see this, this is not how long the visa is valid for, what its for is the amount of time you can stay in china before having to leave….not to your home country (you can of course choose that), but also just go to hong kong, macao, korea, phillippines, or other countries nearby china.
Which is also 1 factor i took into consideration when choosing the city shenzhen when coming to china! It borders hong kong, making it a 45 to 1 hour travel to leave china and get my visa requirements taken care of and my passport stamped in and out. Those friends of mine in beijing, shanghai, or xiamen - have to fly out each time.

been exactly 2 years since my first and only trip to beijing. not sure how it always ends up that i come here in the winter….for those not familiar with the location of various cities of china- i live in southern china (guangdong province, city of shenzhen) which is right across from hong kong. for the climate there, it never snows, and only for 2 or 3 months in the year you need to wear a jacket (lighter jacket at that) - so i parallel southern china to southern usa - florida or california type climate with palm trees, large rainstorms, and rather humid.

here in the capital city of beijing, its up in the northern region of china. somewhat similar to northeastern usa, but i think a bit cooler here then new york city - maybe closer to a boston winter.

but the really noticeable differences is the dry air!! again, i noticed it being here, i become desparate to drink some water - my throat is anxiously awaiting liquid! and then there is the traffic, just the sheer volume of people in this city - subways, roads - all jam packed almost any time of the day or night. To control it, the government has issues license plates that only allow certain cars to be on the road monday, wednesday, friday and the other set on tuesday, thursday, saturday. Still, the roads are just overcrowded, and taking a taxi across town has the majority sitting in traffic.

so what is my plan here in beijing? well, firstly, its been a while since coming to this capital city, and i have made contacts here i really want to see. plus jonny from the bronx, my nyc friend, is ending his mba exchange program semester here in a few weeks - so i can hang out with him and have a couch to stay on too. Plus its my friend Yuki Sun’s birthday this weekend, so have a party with her and some mutual friends.

on the business side, I have arranged some meetings with ecommerce companies, seeing if there are synergies and ways to cooperate with loadpipe and online fulfillment, distribution, and promotion.

also for electrapour and bar products, meeting some marketing people in the bar and nightclub industry, hope to get some more representation up in the north of china.

so, rolling with the punches, exploring, networking, and seeing if i can get some business developments - the whole living my job is the real deal. but while overworked, under pressure, and a tad bit stressed, i enjoy this type of lifestyle more then anything..always thinking business and strategizing.

…I can talk to the internet and it never gets bored………..I was going to write this as an internal staff memo, but why not make it a blog entry to share with anyone who cares to read! A lot going on, so hope to get to the point and not bore everyone:

I will first talk about our current projects and work here at Shadstone:

1) new office - today my friend Kitty Lee got me in touch with a great warehouse / office space outside of Shekou, near the Shekou theatre. Its an older building, high ceilings, 2nd floor walk up - but has lots of “character” and flexibility as office / warehouse. Think it will be perfect for our shipping and ecommerce projects. Plus customers can visit to see the products and buy on the spot.  I sent a list of questions to Jojo to talk to the owner about, this current lease ends in Feb, we will see what happens, not urgent but making plans.

2) looking to hire - we have a lot of work coming in for ecommerce, with loadpipe , electrapour, and other web promotion projects we need to keep the steady flow of good team members.  We are mostly looking for entry to mid level website HTML people to create and maintain domains.

3) Loadpipe - I made aversion 2.0 IT plan for the programmer, and also have him reviewing the bugs / revisions on the current edition.  Will bargain and discuss, hope to get some improvements on it soon.  Also, seems close to getting a few more regular customers, and discussing with multiple US fulfillment centers about cooperation - Webgistix company and I have been chatting over the weekend via email too.  Things getting interesting.

4) Electrapour - have the version 2.0 going to USA and UK after months of production. I have a phone call tomorrow with the New  York City patent holder to give him an update.  I am confident we will land some good sales and exposure, also developing a whole product line of LED bar products (glasses, ice cubes, and more) to cross promote and build value in the brand.

5) Samba Nights Bar - after talking to the restaurant owner of Gaucho, Tony, it is still in planning phase.  We did do a couple parties to get a feel for what people thought.  David Ho and I are talking about him taking more of a lead on this project.  Just a matter of “time” vs “ROI”.

6) New york Bar Store .com - I am getting back to one of my first ecommerce projects,  hoping to fix the financial crisis it is going through.  Restructuring, bargaining, and re-building the whole shopping cart and processing backend.  A good project, but consuming a lot of time.  Believe it will help the team learn ecommerce in USA and will be a fruitful return once things are streamlined.  Christmas holiday rush will be a strain though…..hold on to your butts and enjoy the ride!

7) Website promotion - we are doing a great job promoting all these projects and I am extremely pleased at how we are working as a team to get the job done.  Once we get even more organized, experienced, and familiar with how everyone works, it will be even bigger and brigher future.

Now….my schedule for the next few weeks is a bit crazy….while I work all weekend, weekday, and night, I do have a real LIFE, and sadly, my grandmother (nana!) has fallen deeply ill and was rushed to the hospital late last week.  My parents, and uncles are taking best care of her….but I feel I have to get over there and see how things are  going.

1) Hong Kong - my university friend from New Jersey is in Hong Kong for a week or so.  I am going to try to see her this Tuesday, meet her friends and family.  Also want to do some banking (HSBC is giving me trouble , again!) and check up on my Hong Kong company accountant (he is  too quiet….something is up, annual filing is due!)

2) Beijing - leaving this Thursday for almost a week.  Scheduling some meeting s with Internet companies, mainly to discuss loadpipe and integration on the internet.  Also, Jon Conte (most of the team met him when he came to Shenzhen) is finishing up his term at Beijing university, so he has a place for me to sleep & I can save on a hotel.  Plus its been since Oct/Nov 2007 since I was last in Beijing.  A good friend’s (Yuki Sun) birthday too.  So lots of business to attend to.

3) USA - seems to be more urgent then ever (been 1.5 years since I was to United States) that my Nana (grandmother) is sick, but its due for a visit anyway.  BUT I am filing my work permit….is this going to get in the way? Well first have to go to Florida to spend time with grandma….hope she gets well.  Then hope to do some business, see my university and coworkers in New Jersey, New York City.  then get up to Connecticut to see my high school and grade school pals.  Talk business of course too, with friends and people I ahve been networking with on linkedin, facebook, twitter, and finding me through my websites.  Hope to get some good business for all the projects open - especially loadpipe fulfillment and ecommerce.

Hope this keeps everyone up to date on what I am doing.  Glad I made this blog years ago, as Marie Balaan says….I can talk to the internet and it never gets bored!  sO I just keep on talking

Trying to change my perspective, and noting what others have said, i would have to discuss the fact that in asia, white guys have been flagged as scary, or even barbarians.
Well, if you back to “white” people, it goes to europe - an area that was in countless wars between its own countries and invading other lands.
“americans” today are really mainly descendants from europe, after overtaking “native american” land and settling there.
Seems normally in history it was europe or “white” people exploring other foreign lands, looking to expand its empire, add to its sources of natural resources, deploy its language as an official country language, and grow its name throughtout the world.
Now, that is great and dandy, depending on which side of the coin you are on - as the white / european citizen in your home - great, we are helping a poor country, improving its chances of higher education, investing into its infrastructure system…..
Maybe, from the “under developed” country, you were already happy with your life and your country, you didn’t ask these “white guys” to come over and “help”
Of course, i give to extreme sides, there are many perspectives and reasons one country settles to another….
Something to keep in mind - a more developed country consumes more natural resources - forcing the leadership and government of that country unto pressure to provide its people with OIL, grain, wood, metal, etc - so….one would tend to make assumptions why one country approaches another.
Ok, enough of the boring history stuff - TODAY - white guys are still scary because, the majority of those traveling are aggressive / adventurous - have to be to leave a home country.
Also, when i traveled to the phillippines, the girls tell me they are intimidated by white guys….and then i looked around at the majority of white guys - middle to older age war veterans from an army base that since moved out. Mostly overweight, long pony tails or bald, tattoos, - all single and looking to mingle….
If i were a filipina girl….i would be scared of white guys too!!!
The other night listening to music with dswei, i had some of my….agressive + “motivational” hip hop american music. One specifically was about a nightclub bouncer staying “ya’ll ain’t f_____king getting into the club tonight, ill show you _____ a riot (slams door)”…
To me, that is funny, and almost somewhat normal in new york (usa is pretty big, so cannot speak for the whole country), but to a chinese person - that is crazy and rude, and unheard of.
EVEN the other day, i wanted to visit a company, so i just go and knock on the door to see if the boss is available - my chinese colleagues said i shouldn’t do that because i would be seen as “crazy”
just another reason that the “white” culture is usually more upfront, aggressive, and direct.
Plus, traveling - exploring and approaching, does force the person / culture to become more like this.

Just some ideas…..now, when i look in the mirror at my white skin, i scare my own self….hahah

The longer i am outside of the united states, the more i wake up and realize how easy life was there.
Sad part is, i didnt know it until i left, and i dont think most of my friends and associates still there realize it now!
For example, today i traveled back to shenzhen city from guangzhou city…..took the long, budget way. Sure, i could have spent the extra money, and like many westerners, taken a private car or a taxi to a 1st class express train,,,,,
But, i want to see it from the eyes of everyone else living here….
One crazy, but cool thing i saw in guangzhou that i havent seen in many other cities is motorcycle taxis, well, not official taxis, but some entrepreneurs who use their motorcycle to cart people around.
They swarm approaching buses, revving their engines trying to grab a new customer who is exiting the bus.

The wild part is i see a mom, or even i think grandmom, bargaining these rough middle aged bikers, haggling for a 0.15usd cost savings to be transported from the bus stop to their home. Even wilder is all along, they have a baby wrapped tightly in a blanket or towel, to their backs. Widely swinging their leg over the back of the motorcyclist, they zip off into the dusty, dry alleys of the city.
And this is daily routine, daily life. Just a trip back from visiting friends or grocery shopping.
The buses in guangzhou are so overcrowded, and some are normal coach buses with only the front door as an entrance/exit. Standing room only in the aisle, each bus stop you have high traffic shuffles from those exiting and entering
Then people wonder why chinese people have no sense for personal space! This comes from the high population, over crowded spaces such as roads, buses, and homes!
I just get a rush of energy seeing this, the volume of people, how others deal with each other - yea its a bit maybe dirty, and wild, but man, its envigorating.

The past few weeks i have been pretty busy flying to various cities, and many people have been asking me to give some stories and explain what the heck i am up to! So, while those who follow me on twitter (follow me - @michelini ) should have a better understanding, let me use this post to go in more detail:

Nanjing city - a few weeks ago, i took a few days to make a first time visit to nanjing, a very old and historical city in china, which at one time was the capital of china. My main purpose there was to attend the SMX (search engine marketing expo), where i was presenting on website analysis and review of user interfaces. I also started announcing my new project, loadpipe.com , that will be an online order fulfillment and distribution platform.
I was able to meet some new faces in the china internet world, and found out how to fix my google adsense verification account problem with my hong kong company (good to have a contact who used to work in google adsense!!)

I also did some touring of the Confucius temple - an amazing part was the sheer size of it. I entered an examination hall, this had halls and halls of individual testing rooms for those who wanted to work under the government and emperor. The test was said to be many days long, and these small rooms only had room for a desk and chair, so test takers actually slept at their desk during the multiple day test. maybe this is a reminder of how hard the chinese student needs to study. many parents take their children to this museum to give them good luck in their studies, and there is a stone to jump over that says you will do good grades on your tests. Also, the fact that they have to sleep in their testing rooms, maybe thats why i notice chinese people are able to sleep in any conditions!!

Also in nanjing saw some nice parks, also have many boating trips, but didnt get a chance to rent a boat.  A pretty cool historic army park too, where I played with tanks, guns, and planes!

Ningbo City - Last week i went to ningbo and other cities in zhejiang province. 2 main purposes, first is i have manufacturing there to check on, discussions for new products to develop. But the 2nd, bigger idea, is the possibility of establishing a distribution point in this province for the loadpipe venture.
Talking business means lots of eating and drinking, while this is the case in most cultures i know, its especially highlighted in china! I remember being in a ningbo nightclub bottoms up multiple BUDWEISER beers (funny to drink american beers in china, but its exotic…)
I was also invited to be a guest teacher at a local village grade school. I thought it would be fun, so what the heck, i agreed. Later the next day, they canceled because the “swine flu” h1n1 outbreak, and the foreigner must have some disease!! Kind of upset me, but hey, their loss…i was gonna do a free class teaching ABC to 13 year old chinese….anyway
Earlier this week i paid a visit to a local Shenzhen university where i cooperate with hiring interns there. I am invited to be a guest speaker there about business in the usa, focusing around ecommerce and internet! Looking forward to that for sure!
Xiamen City - And just this week i was in xiamen city. Here i took tons of photos - they say this is like the san diego of china, and i agree. I had been here once before, but didnt get as much exposure as i did this time. The city skyline is full of LED strips along the buildings, and the island city is bordered by a lake on one side and the ocean on another.
In xiamen i worked out a plan and alliance for loadpipe, where they will assist me with sourcing and logistics while i focus on technology and marketing. Seems like both sides have a lot to offer, and are strong in their abilities, have to draft up some agreements, but i am excited!!

Also did some touring of xiamen, seeing the university, monk temple, and some garden parks. Did a lot of walking!! Later in the evening found the foreign bars such as londonner, jj (texas ya’ll)’ nd me and you 2 bar. Xiamen has a nice, laid back environment, ocean breeze, and internet wi-fi all over….but maybe too slow paced for my hyperactive peronality….but seems ill be coming to xiamen more often.
So that sums up my past few weeks of traveling, been rather intense, now i have my buddy from usa, jon conte, spending a couple weeks in china, his first time here, should be wild for him!