Scouting trips

Tuesday, 15 Nov 2005 | Work in Asia

During this trip to Hong Kong, I figured this is the ideal way to scout out different cities around the region. So I think once I live in Bangkok, I’ll start making more of them.

I start browsing the internet to find information about a city/region, send out some emails, try to find some Dutch and other western events to visit. Perhaps I’ll respond to some job openings, etc, etc. This all about a month before the actual visit, depending on when would be the best time for the visit. This also allows me to try and make a tight schedule for meeting people, so I can make the stay as short as possible. I might add a ‘sightseeing’ day for each city too. I’ll book my ticket and a hotel well in advance, so I don’t have to pay a premium price - this BKK-HKG return cost me €170, while I’ve seen them go for as little as €60. And after staying in the city for a few days, I’ll have a good idea of what I can do there and what not.

I think some interesting places to visit on these trips would be Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong. Perhaps other tech-oriented places around SEA that I have not been able to identify just yet? I’ll leave the obvious South Korea and Japan out of it at first, since they’re quite far out from Bangkok at 5-6 hours flying.