Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 51 of 58

Faces of Insadong

Friday, February 27th

Learning Moment: Insadong Street, Seoul, Korea

If there were a vote for 'favorite place in Seoul', Insadong would probably be the people's choice. Popular with young and old, locals and foreigners, teeming with those who are curious and those who are curiosities - Insadong is filled with great restaurants, cutting edge galleries, traditional shops, music, and the entire range of human drama.

While we were wandering Insadong yesterday, I conducted two interviews with college students who are studying English. This is a normal occurance. Students lurk all over the street with notepads, waiting for a foreigner who isn't moving with a sense of purpose. When they find one, they ask, "May I interview you?"

Everyone is an artist, a subject, or both...

One student asked me, "What is your favorite thing about Insadong?"

The answer was easy - the energy of the people on the street.

Despite the restaurants, the galleries, and the historical sites that surround the area, I could be happy just standing there all day and watching people on the street - so I did.

Who needs art galleries?

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 24 of 58

Singaporean Chinese Beauty, thanks to plan B!

January 31st, 2010

Learning Moment: Singapore

Today, we strolled the streets of Singapore; though Little India, up Orchard Road, and down back alleys. Tonight, while I reviewed the photos I took, I (re)learned two lessons:

1. Always check your settings.
   Always. Check. Your settings.
   I was using my SLR camera in manual mode the other night and never changed it back to aperture priority. As a result, all 150 photos I took with that camera today were either under or over exposed.
2. Have a plan B.
   Redundant systems are our friend.
   Today, I was carrying my pocket camera. For no apparent reason, I took 250 photos with my pocket camera. I never do that when I'm carrying my SLR. Well, almost never. Because I did take those pictures, I captured the Singaporean beauty above, during a promotion for the upcoming Chingay parade.

It was an important - but relatively painless lesson.

And that, my friends, is the best kind of lesson.

Training is a place where we can experience important, but painless lessons.

My job as a facilitator is to make sure that:

A) The lessons are painless, and

B) You realize how important they are.

When I do that - you learn, I learn, and life is good for both of us.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 23 of 58

January 30th, 2010

Learning Moment: Fisherman's Cove, India

Tonight, we fly from India back to Singapore.

It's been a great stay here - training went well, we ate great food, and I'm bringing back some nice photos.

Since I won't have time to post an image from today, I'll present this image from last night.

We ate at a seaside barbecue, under a full moon, with a nice breeze coming up from the ocean.

Behind us, Cognizant was holding a dinner parter for some employees. Dancers were brought in to entertain, so I quietly slipped over for some pictures of the dancers.

This shot captures a brilliant smile: the kind of smile that I grew accustomed to during the past few weeks. Smiles like this might be India's greatest treasure.

Don't You Dare Me...

As we were sitting at the dance festival in Mamallapuram on Saturday night, a ticket collector came around to check our seats.

"Here comes sour face", said the man next to me. "We've been coming here for 5 nights straight and she hasn't smiled yet."

Hmmm... I don't know a lot, but I know a couple of things. First, I'm pretty confident that I can make anyone smile at least once (it's easy if you're willing to make an ass out of yourself). Second, it isn't that hard to make an Indian smile.

"Really...", I said to him, as I turned around to her.

I would have placed a bet with him, but he'd already said he was spending US$16 a night on his hotel room - so, the stakes would have been too low to bother. This exercise would merely be to make a point.

Within three sentences, I got a smile out of her.

And no, I didn't have to do anything stupid.

"Wow", the guy said, "That's the first smile I've seen from her".

"Well, you had to challenge me", I replied, as he put up his hands in mock surrender.

She has a face built to smile. This photo is my proof and my reward.