New York

After 2 cancelled flights and plane swapping because of mechanical faults, I finally arrived in New York and headed to Manchiu's place; my crash-pad-of-choice when I'm in New York.

I almost didn't recognize the apartment: I couldn't believe how clean it was! This, I came to learn over then next 2 days was all thanks to Makiko, his very nice (and very clean and tidy) girlfriend. She's an installation artist - I've seen some of her work and it's a really interesting mulitmedia experience that mixes very soft, organic shapes created by fabric and fabric wrapped lights and forms, with patterns projected on and through them. Apparently it's all got to do with birth canals and wombs and things like that.

Anyway, Manchiu's sister arrived from London, and so I decided to check into a hotel, which for the week is costing an arm and a leg. But, considering that a friend of mine is staying with me, it was too much to ask of my other friends for us both to stay.

It's been a nice relaxing time, visiting old restaurants and a few old hangouts. It's amazing that they're still there after 6 years. There are still a few places left on the list, one of which we're going to hit tonight. I think it may actually end up being a bit of a celebration. Why? Well, I had my interview today, and I think it went very well. So well in fact that when I'm in Tokyo, I'll meet again with one of the interviewers from today (Bill, the global head of HR) and one other person who I believe is in charge of Asia.

Because the whole interview thing came up when I was already in Mexico, I hadn't packed any decent clothes. This gave me an excuse to blow a ton of money at Ted Baker (great clothes) and Kenneth Cole. The outfit was brilliant, thanks to my friend Claudia, who loves to shop vicariously through anyone willing to spend a lot of money. Although, the trousers were altered maybe a quater inch too short - something I'll have to get fixed once back in HK.

Anyway, I met with Lisa first, who was the Global Microsoft HR Director then with Bill and Joan, (VP of Talent Management... I think that was her title). They seemed to have heard some good things through Jessica, and so I really didn't spend much time talking about my past, but more about what I wanted to do. To be honest, it's all a bit vague - there are perhaps more than one position that may be a good fit, all the result of an organisational decision to restructure the whole of Asia for the Microsoft account, and part of the reason why I'm going to talk to them again in Tokyo.

In any case, it will most likely be operational, with possibly some client facing responsibilities. I think Bill was actually trying to get me to go back to Beijing but I was honest with him and told him straight up, no, I wasn't interested! I also told him that I wouldn't be as well dressed. Ha ha!

I'm heading off to Tokyo on Monday, which I'm very excited about. My friends have suggested Shinjuku because it's fairly central and pretty interesting - apparently because it's a bit of a red light area! The hotel is rated as a 4 star, but I'm a little dubious about that, seeing as I'm paying less than USD100 per night. I was going to book a capsule hotel, but really, it didn't seem very convenient at all, especially with my ridiculously heavy bags. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to simply wandering the streets having ramen noodles and gyoza in little streetside stalls and checking out all the whacky things you can buy in vending machines.