INSEAD Blog by Zanat0s the INSEAD(er) @ Tokyo ! The Biggest among INSEAD MBA blogs. Insead is over, blogging not.

Shinkansen

www.inseadblogger.com Well for once i am on the train instead of the airplane. my second trip within Japan, once again for work. Looking outside the window my mind starts to travel, random thoughts about my life, my experience in tokyo, my next steps, my accomplishments. I look at the landscape. It reminds me that those trees and buildings were, are and will continue to be(bar a disaster) long after me, you and everybody else goes. Memento mori, do u know what it means? Kings used to have a dead skull in front of them to remind them their own mortality. The speed of the train, can be compared to the frentic rhythm life has taken. everything gets accelerated. Pace of change increases with geometric rates but humans abilities to cope with those changes increase only according to arithmetic rates. we strive for morwe and more speed, quicker and more efficient. Why? We live in times of change. why do we need to be faster? everybody tells me time is not enough everyboy is so connected with each other but humans have never been so alone. i am blogging on the train now through my smartphone( want to upgrade to the sony experia when it is out) instead of having a conversation with my colleague next to me. Well to be honest he is sleeping.... now he woke up and he is going through my article. People use social networks online to meet people they have never met before. they *accumulate* connections which most of the time are shallow and superficial. well loneliness some time is a gift. it helps people spend time on themselves and improve their skills and abilities, their health too. the constant bombarding of messages and socialinteractions, i believe, has eroded humans to acquire new abilities and at the same focus on the important issues. who can focus now? who can meditate now? i have seen many people with a short attention span or with a difficulty to synthesize abstract concepts. Thank you mon for taking me to yoga and meditation classes when i were 8(although i hated it then). i reap the benefits now. Back to the rate of change. I check my personal email every night and i reply to every email personally. Most of the emails are from business people thinking of getting an MBA. They send me their profile and ask me for advice, more about this in the next blog post. time to close the current one. Life is like a train trip. There is a start and a finish. Our memmories are the landscape we look at. once we pass a landscape it becomes a past event, a memmory. the train has stops and other services, but it always reaches its destination and it is always on time(well at least in most countries). I love blogging because i can put my eelings into words. well i wish i had more time to do that. last sunday i bought a voice recorder to facilitate the task of keeping notes. In the end I will write a book, who knows...

zanatos in the A380

www.inseadblogger.com good morning everybody. This is zanatos live from A380 flying from Tokyo to singapore. During Insead i had to do a project on A380. just wanted to say that.need to log off now

Airport reviews - Glocal Citizen

http://zanat0s.typepad.com original article

Since I am travelling so much, 2 times per month, why not blog about it?

Airports are a significant part of my life and one that I have gotten used to. Some of them make your traveling experience lighter others make you wish you never had to travel.

On top of that Airports serve other purposes and can help the traveler make some quite interesting inferences. First of all airports are a sign of economic prowess and development.

Every country needs astrong entry point to welcome foreigners ivestors(business people, tourists, workers). How well the airport is run is highly correlated(although I cannot prove it) with how efficent the country is. Also how strike prone the wokers are can be seen at the airport level where strikes can create international hurdles.

some good examples would include Frankfurt, Singapore, hong Kong and Amsterdam.

On the other hand think of Manila, Mumbai, Jakarta.....

For mwe the model Airport is not Singapore Changi but Frankfurt and Hong Kong. Frankfurt tops my list because I am European and I never have to go through the hurdles of immigrations and checks. It is huge and run incredibly efficient. Frankfurt is designed in a way that appeals to me. Yes the stores are not something over the top but in my value chains it is of small interest.

Flights are on time and i have to say that from Frankfurt you can connect to any destination one may desire(please do not forget that i come from a city which economic development has overlooked so i am forced to use a hub). Frankfurt airport connect to more 230 destinations. There is next to the airport a train station which of course has a line which reaches the city within 15 minutes. I should change also that germany has if not the world's most sophisticated railway system definitely one of them.

Frankfurt tops my ratings in these categories.

connectivity to other international destinations: Perfect

Connectivity to city and other domestic destinations: Perfect

Design : Amazing

Lounges : All right(not yet a gold member so i do not kno)

Efficiency : German Standards

Friendlyness to the Passenger : Very friendly staff

Entertainment : since i always have to wait due to being Greek... there are not a lot of things to do.

Food & Shopping: i never buy since prices are always upwards driven. Definitely though a great place to get chocolates. Food is average though and not very international.

I hope my german friends will feel proud reading this. At least they can look at T5 and smile secretly.

Hong Kong Sevens, SIngapore, Philippines & China

read orginal at http://zanat0s.typepad.com

I am so swamped with work, personal life and generally putting my act together. I just came back from Hong Kong where i spent 2.5 days but it seems more. Of course this is related to the fact that travelling from Nartia airport to TOkyo is a trip on its own so always the return home will make the trip sour. I always compare Narita to HK airport, which is only 25 mins away from the city centre or even better singapore which was a cab ride of 18 mins from my old appartment(which has shot up in value so i am happy i am not renting it any more).

So after coming back from HK and also having had my family visiting the last week. I was almost a bit behind with work(and social life in Tokyo). Of course time spent with family is always worth it. Family time = Quality time. We went throught the major places in Tokyo: SHibuya(my neighborhood), Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Omotesando, DaiKanyama, Ebisu and SHimo-Kitazawa( mostly west Tokyo). A bit of shopping there and here.

After family left a day at work and then went to HK. Hong Kong was full with expats and it felt strange, it really did. Friend at HK met up with me and one of them took me to an amazing bar on top of a skyscraper where we watched the sunset. Then dinner by the pier. Wonderful experience.

But on monday at work i just found out i have to change my trip to singapore and philippines radically. Instead of 5 days i will need to be out of Japan for 10 days along with another trip in the end of April. So it feels that altough i am lviing in TOkyo i am mostly out of it. By the end of April i will have done already 8 trips in 4 months and there will be even more in the months to come. Already a trip to hanoi has been scheduled for May.

Busy life busy times. THe worst part is i cannot start doing hobbies or having more activities in Tokyo. ALso with travelling for work accumulating days off i will be able to be in Europe in case Greece makes it to the finals for the Euro... Champions league final thoguht will not be attended since in the worst case scenario it will be a 3 day trip for one game? No way!

THere will be no INSEAD blog posting this week since i have nothing to add(already 10 months since graduation. Becoming more and more difficult to keep up.

Stefanos in HK - Meet with insead buddies but...

So it was time again for Trip Nr5. Since Janurary Taiwan, Philippines, SIngapore, Vietnam and HK have been visited. Next week we have to travel again to Singapore and manila for a week and in the end of April to guangzhou.

First time in my life i went and watched rugby, the Rugby sevens in HK. I didn't find it extraordinary but this is because i am not accustomed with Rugby. I am a football fan and a big one at that. I cannot wait for the EUro 2008 to start, although watching the games from Japan is not a win-win situation. ANother loss is the Champions league final in Moscow, due to limited day off i won't be able to attend although i have tickets....

Now back to Hong Kong. It is a great place overall. Shopping is a pleasure there and it is cheaper than Japan. It is amazing that even Japanese products are cheaper in HK than in Tokyo. Lesson Number 1! Never buy anything again in Tokyo.  The alumnis there are quite active and always up for a meeting. I was so happy to meet some of my classmates and especially my old roommates.

both of them are doing fine and lcing their lives and building their future. unfortuantely i didn't have enought time and hong kong was bustling with visitors due to the Sevens. Check my pictures online when i upload them.

My return to Tokyo on Sunday wasn't as good as i hoped. My trip form the airport lasted 2.30 hours due to a combination of rain and traffic. Lesson Number 2 never take the bus, prefer the Narita express (90 minutes instead of 120+++). nfortuantely like all my previous trips there is asuprise for me in the end. My Windows mobile enabled phone from Softbank crashed and i lost all of my phone numbers and email addressess i had stored. I went to the softbank center and i was waiting for 2 hours to fix it. nada! in the end i will have to contact everybody and ask for their numbers again. of course there will be some losses.

SO i spent 3 hours on sunday(missinga party at yoyogi park) backing up my data.

Cheers! long live the digital revolution.

Back from Philippines, INSEADERS everywhere

Once agian I am back from my business trip. This time i spent time in Manila where I went there for some projects and a conference. It was a good trip but in the end I found out my Facebook account got disabled. I will write about this in my next post but right now I want to make a nice point.

INSEAD is by far the world global school fo rinternational people. I just met there 4 insead alumnis. Incredible. One of them was attedning the same seminra. That person has created one the best KPO(knowledge Process Outsourcing) firms in the world and is a gure when it come to creating knowledge. KPO is unlike BPO, it is more high end, profitable and more lasting.

Then when i went out for a drink i bumped into 2 alumnis travelling to Manila for vacation. What was strange was that we didn't communicate and plan to meet each other. It just happenned. Of course the local alumnis were up for a drink.

My point is that if you like travelling, INSEAD is definitely a place to consider. Why? First of all the students are all international and the meaning of international is to see new places meet new people. Travelling is a prerequisite for joining INSEAD. Moreover the Adcom admits only a certain kind of person. that perosns need to be able to fit into the insead MBA class without any problem. Therefore althought everybody is different at insead there are some common traits that link the class together.

My advise to current insead students and alumni is to utilize the alumni and admitted INSEAD network whenever and wherever you travel. Most probably people will be more than happy(schedule permitting) to join for a drink or dinner. I do not know how the situation is in other schools where people can email random alumnis and inform them aobut their travel plans.

last but not leasta tribute to Japanese people. I got some feedback that whenever i write about Japan in a sarcastic way people tend to enjoy it. What a better chance to than to embed a youtube video of Japanese learning english! Watch it and try not to to laugh.

Appartment Hunting in Tokyo

Hi Everyone,

It is high time I get an appartment in Tokyo. I will try to use all available resources, including my blog. A nice and affordable place is a cornerstone of a good life. I implore all my readers to either mail me, or send me comments on what I should be aware of(like hidden costs, good areas and etc), whom I should ask, what I should avoid.

Experience is a valuable asset. Until now I either had something waiting for me (there is an appartment waiting for me but i have to leave it within 1 or 2 months) or somebody else did the searching for me. I do not know a lot about appartment searching in Tokyo nor do i have the Time luxury to invest a lot of effort.

I will gladly accept any help or tips form anyone willing to share his/her experiences with me. Some prerequisites, anything within the Yamanote line will be considered.

Finally Trip to Korea!

So finally after 4 months I will finally visit Korea, Seoul. For those avid readers i should try to remind you that my trip to Korea in December was canceled due to stupid Greek laws regarding new passports. On Saturday i will land at Seoul. I have been waiting for this trip for quite some time!

Why i think I will Like Korea!

1. Technologically advance(not like Tokyo but pretty close)
2. The people are stylish (as a guy working in Fashion this is really important)
3. The pace of life is quite fast
4. Games and gamers are respected
5. The online culture is so much developed
6. Korean BBQ is hard to beat

So I am going there for 2 days then flying to London and then back to Singapore. In korea i don't have any friends but i wil try to contact some people I know and arrange something to keep me going.

In the meantime let me post some photos of Korea! I cannot resist the NEON signs. Something though i have to say about Korea is that it is a very very closed society and tries ot remain distinct in its own way. It has its own ambience, something Singapore lacks(except the excessive shopping culture).

INSEAD: Building Businesses in the World

INSEAD: Building Businesses in

Silicon Valley

At INSEAD during your P3-P4 and P4-P5 some people have the choice, instead of traveling for pleasure in Europe or

Asia

to do some entrepreneurship courses. These courses are based in 3 countries and last more or less for a week. It is a great event to use and network with people active in the region.

There are courses that candidates can select: BBC, BBSV and BBI. The last two take part at the same time so nobody can join both of them, unless he clones himself.

• BBC: Building Businesses in

  China

• BBSV: Building Businesses in

  Silicon Valley

• BBI: Building Businesses in

  India

I went for the first two. I didn’t go to

India

and I think BBSV is better than BBI. Domodomo went to

India

and he had a blast. He kept detailed records on his ubiquitous blog. I have already written about BBC so I will just recap the main lessons here.

BBC is a great course for the ones with no china experience, either business related or culturally. If you have worked or lived in

China

before the course will not add to your understanding of the country. The logistics are somewhat easy. Flight from

Singapore

to

Beijing

=>

Shanghai

=>

Singapore

/Fonty. Hotels are easy to find and a bus is always provided. Meeting with alumni is always a must and there are included in the course. The course though definitely needs to increase what it can offer to students. I think it is a WIP(Work in Process).

BBSV is an eye-opening course. I have a lot of positive feedback to give so I will start with the negative aspects of the course. The logistics are a nightmare. You cannot be in

California

without a car, for the ones without a diving’s license that spells trouble or on relying on others. The events are concentrated in a hotel in

Palo alto

(with great service and food) and carpooling is always arranging. The professor provides some suggestion regarding inns. The problem is the visit to

San Francisco

. It is during the middle of the course so it means going to SF for a day finding an

Inn

and getting back. These little annoyances can be frustrating especially on the first day when you haven’t met the rest of the students.

On the other hand this course gives you the opportunity to network/meet extremely interesting people. Let’s not forget all the successful companies are based there: Intel, HP, Sun, Yahoo, Google and so many start-up and venture firms. We met a lot of famous veture capital firms and also interacted with high executives from Intel and HP. It was interesting to meet up with people I was reading about them in magazines. I also met up with the chairman of Palm, one brand I used to be a loyal customer.

There are tons of alumni there and more than friendly to give advice.  An issue that was talked about a lot during our visit was the VISA Issue. I do not want to work in the

US

so it leaves me out of the loop. What we got from the course is that companies are really agitated by the shortage of skilled shortages.

Last but not least

Silicon Valley

is a must because it is unique in the world. All the start ups, venture firms and conglomerates are based there.

Hangzhou: the city where Heaven meets Earth, a paradise on earth

Most people and with good reason associate

China

with pollution, money, opportunities, change, business, exports, luxury etc. Then they think either of

Shanghai

or

Beijing

. Most of the foreigners do not know what is happening in the mainland.

That sometimes is a blessing.

Hangzhou

is 2 hours drive from

Shanghai

and it has managed to retain its atmosphere and is not spoilt, or changed, like

Shanghai

.

Hangzhou

is famous for its west lake, its superb tea and tea houses and for various nice memorials. The city served as the capital of the later Song dynasty during the era where culture was at its zenith in

China

. Tons of poems and stories have been written during that period and

Hangzhou

still retains them.

Hangzhou

has another distinction within

China

, the Capital of beauty. They say this is the place where all beautiful women come from. I cannot attest to the validity of this statement but definitely the West lake makes this place seem magnificient. This ins the only weekend trip I have taken and I chose

Hangzhou

.

It is like magic walking along the west lake and enjoying the wind blowing behind your ears. I am a guy who belongs to Metropolis like

Tokyo

,

Singapore

,

Shanghai

, Hong Kong so why am I so mesmerized by

Hangzhou

?

Simple, because

Hangzhou

is a place where the spirit can flow free and wash away all the stress just by walking around the city. One big minus though: the food is really oily, to the extent that you eat oil with some food, not vice versa.

Shopping in

Hangzhou

is the same like the rest of

China

. Famous brands sprawl the place and one can see Chinese visiting these stores like they have the next big thing. The cars outside the clubs range from BMW 5 series to Porches, Lexus and Mercedes. An innocent bystander may ask himself whether he is in

China

or another rich country.

Foreigners exist in

Hangzhou

(in large numbers) but it is nothing like

Shanghai

or

Beijing

where in some areas the foreigners are the majority. The people who work and live here are more refined and classy than the current version of 老外！They actually are here because they like it and not just to have fun or be on the train of progress.

I have walked around the whole area in

hangzhou

and I will be back here whenever I have the chance again. I need these breaks to cleanse my mind. Now for some pictures from the

West

Lake

.

View this photo