CFW

Cicerone,

Over the years you have provided tons of wonderfully detailed information about so many different countries in Asia where you have either lived or spent considerable time on business or leisure travel. I hope I am being too intrusive, but I think many of us would love to know more about you. Where are you from originally? How did you come to Asia? Where do you live/work now? Do you work for a company that has transferred you to different countries in Asia? (Some of us would die for a job like that!) Any other personal info you care to share? I hope you are not offended by my questions -- it's just that you seem to have have such in depth knowledge about so many places, and I'm curious to know a little about the person behind all the wonderful advice. You are obviously well-read and well-travelled!

CFW

Oops -- should have said, I hope I am NOT being too intrusive. Maybe that was a freudian slip...

Cicerone

What a curious request. I would think you were my mother, except my mother is 80 and does not know how to use a computer...(she thinks she will break it if she hits the wrong key). I am an attorney, and am lucky enough to work for a company which has a multitude of interests in various businesses and sends me to work on projects in parts of the world that I personally find very interesting. Our main focuses right now are projects in India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore and some random projects in other countries thrown in from time to time, so I get to travel a lot. I leave on Tuesday for Malaysia and Singapore for a week (and am trying to work in the Maldives but I think that is just my dream!)

I also find travel personally interesting and satisfying; it's basically my hobby, which is why I like this board so much, it's where I can share my hobby. I have been extremely fortunate to live in places over the last 20+ years that are tourist destinations in their own right, and so there is always so much to see and do right where I live. I also try to make time for it either over weekends as part of business trips (which is great on the company dime) or for holidays. I have a good group of friends around the world and from the US who like to travel and two very intrepid sisters who do as well, so I am very lucky in that respect. Unusually, lately I have been focusing on the US, with trips to Hawaii and Alaska this past summer and fall. (You HAVE to volunteer at the Ironman in Kona, it is an absolute hoot!! And the best seats in the house for the swim and the finish of the race!)

I grew up in the East coast of the US, but have lived outside the US since 1989, with a brief sojourn back there for about 2 years in the mid-90s when I lived in NYC. I have lived in Singapore, Hong Kong (twice, including currently) and Zurich (an aberration when my company needed some assistance there for a few years, very interesting to live in Europe for a while, I do post on the Europe board from time to time, mostly on Zurich advice). I also took a year off in 1993 between jobs and travelled around Asia, including about 5 months living in Ubud, Bali.

The peripatetic nature of my life started because my sister got married in the late 1980s and moved to Singapore with her new husband who was the manager of a branch of a US bank there. I went to live with her for a summer after my second year in law school, attended a summer program at the National University of Singapore and just fell in love with Asia. I went back to the US to finish law school and moved to Singapore about 18 months later. As my father likes to say, the person whose life has changed the most from my sister moving to Singapore is me! (My sister has been safely back in the US since 1990 and lives in Westchester county.)

I am obsessively organized and somewhat anal retentive, which you can probably tell from my posts, including this one. This is cetainly a contributing factor to my becoming an attorney, as checking that the cross-references are correct in a document is somehow satisfying to me. (During the interview for my current job, in response to a question as to how organized I considered myself on scale of 1-10, I responded by saying that "to call me anal retentive is to damn me with faint praise.&quot I tend to retain reams of information on many subjects (the PC has changed my life, I used to have boxes of files.) I don't really watch television (it helps that there is very little on TV here) and also spend a fair amount of time on planes and in airports so I do read a lot, and grew up in a reading family. So it's relatively easy for me to remember or find information when I need it.

In response to one of your other comments, while I don't think it is that hard to find jobs overseas even these days, I always say that if I were 20 years younger I would definitely have to speak another language fluently to have my current job. I do not speak any languages other than very basic Cantonese, a little Malay and about intermediate French (believe me, the latter does not help much, I can't negotiate in French, but it was helpful in Switzerland when reading mail from the government). My China work is limited these days as there are so many talented lawyers out there who can speak Mandarin and other dialects. I am still marketable now because I have a ton of experience (and am crafty enough to know how to sabotage the younger lawyers...), but it is a different world than when I was starting out, and young people trying to come out here really need to have language skills to be taken seriously. I came out here when I was 30 with very few legal skills but at a time when few people wanted to move to Asia. Now everyone wants to come here, so you have to offer more. That is the only advice I can offer. From what I saw in Europe, I would say the case is the same, many of the younger people speak multiple languages. If you are more senior, it is not as much an issue, but at that level you can usually choose your job, many people don't have that luxury.

rhkkmk

interesting perspective and interesting info.....thanks for sharing...

bob

rkkwan

Yes, thanks for sharing. Somehow I thought you are Swiss. Didn't know you are from the Northeastern US.

lcuy

And I thanks you also. As my Daughter will be attending NUS beginning in January, I was pleased to see it is a real university!!

She'll be in the newish Prince George(?) Residence hall. I gather it si nice and big, but she just heard that it may not have AC.

I hope to visit her there, so will be asking for tips soon. Loved your shopping printout in Hong Kong and agree with your reccos in India as well!!

thanks again!

Lucy

Dianelim

Yes, I can see your organized nature through your posts including this one.

I was also curious about you after reading your some posts.

Thanks for sharing and also thank CFW for the question.

Shanghainese

Thanks very much for responding open-minded to the curious request and sharing your personal information. You are much admired! Any chance of meeting you in NYC on 12/26/07?

Marija

Thanks for the interesting information about yourself and thanks for all of the travel information you so generously provide.

CFW

Cicerone, Thanks for sharing all the interesting information. You are indeed lucky to have the kind of job you have, and it seems to suit you perfectly. Yes, I was curious, but apparently it was not such an odd question since others who have followed your posts were interested to. Just that I was bold enough to ask. (I'm an attorney too and a litigator, and we are bold in asking questions...) And if your mother is still interested and curious about people at 80, I say good for her!

Cicerone

If you are a litigator, then on your trip to India you should make an effort to go to an Indian court. Judges wear wigs, attorney's were black robes and white cravats (like they do in the UK, Singapore, here in Hong Kong , Australia and most places with a UK history of jurisprudence). Judges take notes by hand, peons (the word is Hindi actually) run around with piles of files tied up with ribbon. It's like something out of Rumpole of the Bailey...the best is when there are one of their frequent "load shedding" electricity failures, yet the case goes on, the lawyers keep questioning witnesses, etc, all in total darkness. If you are going to Hyderabad, the high court there is like something out of 1001 Nights, beautiful architecture. Of course, very little justice is actually dispensed. I believe the Guinness world record for the longest case in history is held by an Indian family over a land dispute in Kolkata, 150 years or something; it's something all Indian lawyers mention. Trademark applications take 7-8 years to be granted. Sometime I can tell you about the time it took me a year and about US$1 million in legal fees to get a hearing for a temporary injunction (which we then lost).

Of course the best courts are the Magistrates Courts in Bermuda, where the attorneys appear in court in – I kid you not – Bermuda shorts!!

sharon1306

Thanks for answering the question. I've always been impressed by the depth of your knowlegde and your attention to detail. And also curious about your background, but never thought to ask

CFW

Hadn't thought about visiting an Indian court, although I have gone to visit court procedings in Paris and in the Israel Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Sounds like it would be great. Unfortunately I'll only be in Delhi over a week-end. The rest of the trip is a similar whirlwind with only two days in each place - Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Varanasi. I can't get away for longer for this trip. In case I do find I have time, are there courts in any of these towns/cities?

I echo Shainghainese -- since you travel so much it would be great if one of your trips coincided with a fodor's GTG. They are great fun, with nice people who share your passion for travel.

agtoau

Cicerone, I don't mean to be pedantic - "peon" is not a Hindi word. I think it comes from the Portuguese "peão."

Cicerone

You know Agtau, it probably does, just like Bryiani most likely comes from Portugese cooking (don't tell anyone from Hyderabad that of course...) And of course spagetti comes from China.

Cicerone

CFW, I have only been to courts in Delhi and Mumbai. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan State and would have both lower trial-level and state appeals courts, so I would imagine you could find something going on there. The other cities on your itin are a bit smaller, are not capital cities, and would only have trial-level courts (still could be interesting, may not always be in English, especially evidence given by witnesses). Agra is probably the largest of the other cities on your itin and may offer the most. You could ask at your hotel if you find yourself with time in any of these cities; but I agree with such a short time in each place, you will have enough to see and do.

I do hope at some point to get to a Fodors GTG. Shanghainese had mentioned one in NYC on December 26, but I am going to be celebrating Christmas in Hong Kong this year.

Craig

Very interesting thread. Carole, thanks for starting it and Cicerone, thanks for sharing.

SophiaMaple

I too worked in Switzerland (Geneva) for five years and Singapore for ten years and I moved to HK a year ago when I became a frequent reader of your posts. However, I am neither detailed nor observant and I can get lost in my own backyard. (back when I had a backyard in the Upper Midwest). You have such a precise writing style and I wish more travel writers write like you. On the subject of finding work abroad, I have actually hired many young expatriates in Singapore from the US and from Europe. Some of them are same company transfers, others aren't. They make a decent Singapore salary and they live fairly well - though not enough to buy Jimmy Choo shoes... What makes it easier is that they are young, single and open minded. I just hired a young lady this week who graduated from a good business school in France. She is very keen to work in Asia (low taxes as well). She landed in Singapore on her own and knocked on my door. Impressed by her attitude, I hired her... As a young graduate with a few years of experience, I was given many opportunities abroad. Now whenever I can - I will take a chance on a "foreign talent".