TRND - I'm testing the new Henkel brand!

Terra Activ

Wanted book 2 read: Africa Rising

Africa Rising

How 900 Million African Consumers Offer More Than You Think

Synopsis
Profit from the World's Largest Untapped Market: Africa's MORE THAN 900 MILLION Consumers! "This book lays out a powerful portrait of the growing opportunities in Africa. It is clear to us that any global firm interested in growth must see Africa as an essential part of its portfolio." --E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA "While we consider Africa one of our most important markets, we are very aware that it is often overlooked as a place to conduct sustainable business. This book shows that Africa offers opportunities equal to other developing regions that receive more attention. Through the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards, we have committed to promoting high-quality coverage of the business environment in Africa. This book makes an important contribution in providing a vivid picture of the African market opportunity." --Paul Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Diageo, UK "This book presents a compelling argument for waking up to the potential of a continent with a population of over 900 million and a high rate of growth.The African continent is rich in natural resources and presents opportunities across a wide cross-section of industrial and commercial areas for companies with appropriate business strategies and a genuine commitment to improving the quality of life of the local population.
" --Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, India "Unilever has invested in Africa for over a century and is committed to building strong market positions in the region by meeting the needs of African consumers. As this book highlights, the opportunities for consumer goods companies are considerable and the potential to do business in Africa is much greater than many companies realize." --Patrick Cescau, Global CEO, Unilever, UK "Bravo. The timing of this book is perfect. It will be much quoted. I especially like how Professor Mahajan uses the voices of Africans to bring it to life, alongside the research." --Barbara James, former Managing Director of the African Venture Capital Association and founder of the Henshaw Funds, the first independent pan-African private equity Fund of Funds, Nigeria/UK With more than 900 million consumers, the continent of Africa is one of the world's fastest growing markets.In Africa Rising, renowned global business consultant Vijay Mahajan reveals this remarkable marketplace as a continent with massive needs and surprising buying power.

Crossing thousands of miles across the continent, he shares the lessons that Africa's businesses have learned about succeeding on the continent...shows how global companies are succeeding despite Africa's unique political, economic, and resource challenges...introduces local entrepreneurs and foreign investors who are building a remarkable spectrum of profitable and sustainable business opportunities even in the most challenging locations...reveals how India and China are staking out huge positions throughout Africa...and shows the power of the diaspora in driving investment and development. *Recognize that Africa is richer than you think Africa is richer than India on the basis of gross national income (GNI) per capita, and a dozen African countries have a higher GNI per capita than China.*Aim for Africa Two Opportunities exist in all parts of the market, particularly the 400 million people in the middle of the market.*Find opportunities to organize the market From retailing to cell phones to banking, companies are succeeding by building infrastructure.

*Develop strategies for the most youthful market in the world Companies are recognizing opportunities from diapers to music to medicine in a market growing younger every day.*Understand that Africa is not a "media dark" continent From Nollywood to satellite to broadband, media is exploding on the continent.*Recognize the hidden strength of the African diaspora The African diaspora brings resources and knowledge to African development and expands the African opportunity beyond the continent.*Build Ubuntu markets Create profitable businesses, sustainable growth, and social organizations by meeting basic human needs.

trnd Projekt: print24.de

So sieht dann mal der erste Visitenkartenentwurf aus:
Achja, soweit rulez print24.de, denn ist easy, verträgt alle gänigen Bildformate (auch .png), hat eine "remember" Funktion für die Textbausteine (also Fromat und Größe vom Vorgänger werden auto. übernommen) und auch sonst pretty straight forward.

Kritik gib's natürlich auch, die steht aber im trnd Blog :-)

Ca-na-da picture upload

...in progress! (Greg's pictures still missing, will follow next week!)

Find all pictures in my Picasa album, here a preview:

Banff

Vancouver

Victoria

Seattle

Victoria > Seaplane > Vancouver

After we finished the stressful Victoria life (see example) and celebrated the intl. 'Talk like a Pirate Day' on Sept. 19th...

Typical Victoria day:
08:30 Get-up with hangover
09:00 Kellogg's massacre
10:00 12km beach run (<1h)
13:00 Pitcher beer and snack
15:00 Kayaking (2h)
17:00 2nd Pitcher beer
18:30 Sushi massacre
20:30 0.5L Jack Daniels
21:00 Meet the girls
22:00 Nightlife with tackling
??? Smished

(Or just meet a Playboy pornstar in Victoria or run a half marathon (21.1km, <2h)just for fun)


...we took the seeplane to Vancouver


Vancouver is an awesome city, only the yearly amount of 1200mm rain (Munich: 600mm) could be a reason not to live here. The good thing is, it only rains once a year, means is starts in October/November and ends in April/May :)

Some best practices in Vancouver:
1) Go to Irish Heather in Gastown, drink a coffee with Bailey's and Jameson whiskey
2) Go to a movie wrap-up party, see Owen Wilson
3) Go to Roxys, there's always somethin' goin' on!

Pirate life @ Victoria, B.C.

Greg and Sascha are enjoying the PIRATE Life in Victoria! FlipFlops, shorts'n shirt, running, blading, drinking, gym, kayaking, drinking, party, volleyball, party, nature, sun, girls...

Victoria, BC - the place 2 be!

Best practices @ Victoria: Strathcona Hotel with rooftop and Beach volleyball fields, Mr. Hawaii push-ups and xtreme girl tackling...

Yes we're alive // Ja, wir leben noch!

In a nutshell: Toronto is very slow - some rare nice spots, but you need a few days 2 figure that out (well, women are ok :-)...you want party? GO 2 Seattle.

Seattle is so far awesome - very nice & open minded and layed back people, cheap alcohol, great location and party everywhere.

Tonight we check the location on the picture...


Ratzfatz: Toronto in Kanada ist mal ne langweilige Stadt - gibt nur einige gute Plaetze und man braucht Tage um sie zu entdecken (Maedels sind aber ok :-)

Zum Party machen: Ab nach Seattle - da geht einiges, heute Abend zum Beispiel 'siehe Bild...'

Cheers,
Sascha

Canada - we're comin'!

Greg & I are ready to enjoy the golden summer in Canada! Stay tuned for the latest pictures and news...!

So, nur noch 4 Tage und dann rocken wir Kanada! Immer am Ball bleiben damit ihr die neusten Updates und Bilder mitbekommt!

dopplr.com

The DARK KNIGHT...

Was watching the movie "Batman - The Dark Knight" a few minutes ago...

Go for it one of the best movies ever, really (even if u don't like the superhero shit)...the movie is a kind of smart and Heath Ledger worth an Oscar (if he wouldn't have killed himself shortly after the movie ;-)

Anyway - check out the picture, but GO to watch this masterpiece soon!
Children? Well, maybe 12 to 16 years is suitable...14 is maybe the best age.

Aircast & crutches are history...

Since I got rid of my nice gadgets (aka Aircast Walker & crutches) I did some extensive PARTY in MUC. I only can recommend the Max & Moritz club, the women vs. men ratio is roughly 75:25!!! IMAGINE THAT, please :-)
Kog was also joining the parties - see picture...just to get prepared for the Skiopening in Sölden :-)

Anyway...can tell u one thing: CANADA TAKE U IN 8 (and I'll come with my Lederhosen outfit due to the fact that we gonna visit the Seattle's 2nd Oktoberfest! Fasten your seatbelt!

DVD recommendation: Cocaine Cowboys!

Cocaine Cowboys
The incredible true story that inspired "Scarface" and "Miami Vice"!
In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago - and it put the city on the map. "Cocaine Cowboys" is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the United States, told by the people who made it all happen.

Just watched it yesterday night. Unbelievable - forget Miami Vice, this is fascinating, shocking and REAL!

Unbedingt anschauen :-)!

Africa upload is done...

...and more to come here: http://picasaweb.google.de/gobanane

Check out Saalbach, New York City, Chicago...

Tanzania is loading...

and Zanzibar already uploaded :-)

Tanzania:


Zanzibar...:

Zambia is online...

Ha...finalised the Zimbabwe picture upload as well as Zambia.
And started Malawi - yeah...!

Zambia:

Africa pictures - half way point...

Finished the Botswana upload!


Started the Zimbabwe upload - highlight Bungee Jumping @ Victoria Falls and of course the Vic falls itself

Africa - 2nd update

Work in progress, but already accessible...

Angola >> Highlight: Illegal entry ;-)


Botswana >> Highlight: Okavango Delta & Chobe National Park

Africa!

Finally I decided to upload all my Africa 2006 pictures (maybe that's because I've too much time no :-)

Background: In 2006 I did travel for 6 weeks in Africa to do the Cape Town (South Africa) to Nairobi (Kenya) route via Namibia, Angola (only shortly illegally entered...), Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania. Enjoy the 1st pictures:

South Africa


Namibia (Upload in progress...)

Back in Munich - Picture updates

Safely landed in good old Germany aka "Schland"! Got some special Lufthansa treatment in the airplane ("sorry we need to take your crutches because of safety instructions...") and the stewardess from Austria was anyway very friendly (and happy to have someone to talk to ;-).
She only did forget to bring me the crutches when we landed, so the plane was already empty when I started to make some hand signs to signal that I need my special weapons for walking...

Arrived at the airport MUC, "my" Taxi driver waited already for me with his 4.5 years old son. Ilyas took all my backpacks, so I could walk relatively relaxed. At my apartment he also insisted to bring all stuff to the 3rd floor (that was his choice, not mine), well I didn't complain :-).

A cold beer combined with JOHN RAMBO aka Rambo IV on DVD was a perfect "Schlummertrank".
Apropos JOHN RAMBO: Honestly, it's a very good movie (not that good as Rocky Balboa, but), the movie shows the cruelty of war (war and genocide, which is still up-2-date in Burma - Southeast Asia)!
Of course the movie has also an "happy end" for JOHN RAMBO...

Ok, now I started with a film review, so I easily can add another one ;-).
When I was in Kuala Lumpur, I watched Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in the Petronas Towers Cineplex. I can tell you, when you liked the 1st one or if you even "only" like superhero movies, this is a must! The humor/gags in the movie are awesome (also to mention the fantastic environment/creatures), Ron Perlman plays again a fantastic Hellboy and I'd say only BATMAN: The Dark Knight can top Hellboy 2!

Currently I'm uploading the remaining Asia pictures, so check out my PicasaWeb or as a preview the slideshows below:

Ha Long Bay (Vietnam)

Luang Prabang (Laos)

Chiang Mai (Thailand) // Updated

Vang Vieng (Laos)

DUCK TOUR rocks!

Did yesterday a MUST: Singapore by duck.... :)

Met yesterday night Deborah, Kristin and Nico (get connected thru Sallinger) and we had dinner with a "few" jugs of beer. We ended up in the CLINIC, see the wheelchair action pictures!

Today is my last day in Asia and I did the HIPPO Touri Sightseeing together with Nico. And some shopping :).

Talk 2 u tomorrow from MUC, take care!

KL and SIN with a blue cast

or how to explore Kuala Lumpur and Singapore with crutches... :)

I can tell you that's a kind of a pain in the ass' but also a very good experience in life (and a good exercise for your mind and upper body ;)).

When you're travelling alone you will meet a lot of nice, friendly locals or travellers, but when you have a cast the amount of people paying attention to you doubles easily. There's also always a very good and obvious reason why people start a conversation with you. And in special cases (e.g. bus ride, check-in, immigration, airport transfers, etc.) you get unexpected help from a various bunch of people.

Then you recognize that the world is still a good place :) (even in rush hour...)

In a nutshell, I still have fun and enjoy the travelling!
Anyway Friday will be the "back2MUC" day - on the one hand I'm looking forward to it (what will the German doctor tell me about my leg?), on the other I'll miss the day-2-day action and the interesting conversations with people from all over the world (and the great food!)

Stay tuned. Here some pics to enjoy. (SIN update follows tomorrow night)

Chiang Mai and the broken leg...

I'll update the blog soon with all of my pictures and some more funy stories, because I'm flying back to Germany in one week...why that, well see the pictures...

Shit happens. Big time.

Where did it happen? In Laos, Vang Vieng at the end of the tubing action.

But nothing to regret!

Lovely Laos!

Arrived safely in Laos, which I liked immediately! Veeeeeery nice here and people are much friendlier than in Vietnam (Vietnam in the North started to get a bit more "rude")!

And of course Beer Lao tastes GREAT. Big Time.
I'm a bit behind with my pictures...

Here's a bit of Hanoi, Ha long Bay will hopefully be done by tomorrow.

18h sleeping bus to Hanoi...sucks

Finally arrived in Hanoi after a 18h trip in a sleeping bus (4h delay caused by rain and flooded streets). Sleeping bus? I didn't sleep...
So far: City is not that nice, but I'm only 2 hours here. Now the sun is shining, finally!

Yesterday we (2 Portuguese siblings and I) left the beautiful Hoi An and went to Hue. We did the "eXtreme 3.5h touri crash explorer" on a moto. It was really great, because it also included a lot of Vietnam countryside! So far I really can say that Vietnam is a very beautiful, nice and peaceful country!

Tomorrow we go to a 2 day excursion trip to Ha Long Bay (one of Vietnam's candidates for the new natural 7 world wonders). Looking foward to see the amazing scenery...

Vietnam War and Hoi An

Had a great 2nd day trip in Saigon (Cu Chi Tunnels, rubber plantage, very local food plus snake liquor...) and at night a serious (but great) discussion with an Ex-Marine Vietnam Veteran. He was 61 years old but his handshake was the strongest I've ever experienced. His hand did nearly had the double size of mine...
He roughly killed over 31 people and he wished nobody the experience he had durring the war (and after). Also he mentioned he never wants to return to the US plus he thought, that Iraq and Afghanistan were the stuppiest things the US did the last time. Smart guy ;-)

Catched the early flight to Da Nang and took a Taxi to Hoi An (Sascha that was no smart move, because it was way to expensive...)

Anyway, next time I'll be smarter. Hoi An is really great and looking forward to do tomorrow some city exploring (UNESCO World Heritage) plus a cooking course.
They have here roughly 200 cloth stores where you can get tailored stuff (e.g. 10 US for trowers!), but I try to be strong...

Here are the first pictures - enjoy:

Good morning Vietnam...!

Safely arrived in Vietnam, better in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, a country (and city) with a very sad history.
First impression: People are again very nice and open minded and I did not feel that someone ripped me off when I was making a deal.

Two highlights of today:
1) Boarder crossing Cambodia to Vietnam. Worked very well for me (but the bloody guy in Cambodia charged me the full price for a 30 day visa, I recognized yesterday that I got only a 15 day visa...anyway, should work out with my travel plans in Vietnam).
Unfortunately one of the 2 UK girls (fun fact: They where from Reading, which is very close where I worked the last 19 month in the UK) had a visa starting only the day after tomorrow...so what happened to her? Our bus driver did make a special arrangement with the boarder guys, so she did get in, but payed 40 US Dollar as backhander!
Well with money the world is working (and even better in poor countries). Basically 40 US means more than an average of a monthly salary! Lucky boarder guy.

2) When I wanted to explore the city by foot, I met this moto driver (for the records: SAIGON is FULL of motos, check the pics! And everybody is wearing a moth/face masks to reduce breathing polluted traffic air) "Nghia".

He is really different compared to the other drivers. His English is very good and also he's keeping a booklet with references (!!!) of his customers in their mother tongue. And you thought Amazon did invent the "feedback/reference" feature!
I had a 3 hour trip today with him on his moto and we explored the inner city. Tomorrow I'll do a day trip with him overland and to the Cu Chi tunnels. It's a 30 US full day trip, but I think he as a guide and the distance, etc. is it worth. He told me "you get what you pay for", so let's check that out tomorrow!

Stay tuned.
Hen gap lai (See you)

Very very very HAPPY PIZZA in Phnom Phen

From Siem Rehab I took the bus to Phnom Phen, where I met 2 other Germans from Hongkong, also traveling to the Cambodian capital.

Was a very funny bus ride, with karaoke all the time... iPod saved my life during that 6h bus ride...

Compared to Siem Reab, Phnom Phen is noisy, dirty, sticky and it has basically no real "worth seeing sights" (except of the Killing Fields outside of the city). So the city is a sight for itself.

Two things I can recommend (or not...): Martini Bar (when you take a Tuk-Tuk, don't be too afraid of the strange location of the bar, the area looks a bit doggy and spooky)
And to eat a happy pizza. So what's a happy pizza...well a regular pizza, but with some grass on top. Unfortunatley the other German guy ordered not a happy pizza, but a very very very happy pizza. He had four slices, I two and his mate as well 2.

To keep the story short: He and his mate was already "done" the evening and they had a nice "night trip". They get up the next day at 14.00pm...

I only felt bad during the night (strange kind of feeling very dizzy, high heart rate, etc.) and felt totally exhausted the next morning till noon. But I think my very very spicy chili sauce did cut the effect down (Remember: To be on the save side always eat very spicy, that kills everything!)

Unfortunately I had to stay in this "not so pretty city" for 3 nights (reduces my nights in Saigon by one...), but my Vietnam Visa wasn't ready this noon.

CU and hear you in Vietnam!

BTW: This blog was written in 2 different places in the city, because we had a nice power outage in my area...(and no generators...)

Schmunk-Tuk, "One Dolla" & DJ Schatzi...

So, safely arrived in Cambodia (AND NO LANDMINES :-))

Cambodian people are very nice and friendly people and the countryside is really great! We (Nick & Nadine from the Netherlands, I) visited today and yesterday the Temples of Angkor! Amazing stuff and a lot to see, I really can recommend to spend two days here! Great is to take a Tuk-Tuk (day = 15 Us Dollar) or as Nadine said, a Schmunk-Tuk...

Only take care of the kids around the temples, the only "one dolla" offer of any kind of products drives you after 5 hours mad... :-)

But I can confirm that they are ALWAYS very friendly and go away when u tell them (which is not the case in Bangkok!)

Anyway, was really great so far and I'm heading tomorrow to the capital Phnom Penh.

NOT TO FORGET: Of course I'll watch the Germans tonight playing! GOOOOOOO SCHLAAAAAAND!

DJ Schatzi? Well, that a funny story, I had with the Dutch guy. We recognized that Dutch and German is really very similar and I decided to learn Dutch. During a conversation with him, where we compared vocabularies, he mentioned that we have in Germany that "DJ Schatzi", but well he meant DJ Oetzi...

Talk to u soon.

5 Star Hotel Upgrade and 5000 Baht in cash...

Hopefully this is the last blog I write from Thailand before going to Cambodia. Plan was actually to go there yesterday night, but they did overbook the flight...
So the airline offered me to stay overnight in a 5 star hotel @ the airport for free, plus free dinner and breakfast and 5000 Baht in cash...

So what do u think I did? Correct I insisted to take the flight ;) Of course not! Hotel and meal was really fantastic and I also did cannonball the great pool (pool did have a waterbar as well). So it was a great deal.

Time for boarding, see u in Cambodia, Seam Reap and Ankor Wat!

Tuk Tuk and Ping-Pong show...

Diesmal in Deutsch, naechster Blog ist dann wieder fuer die englischen Kollegen :-)

Also ich bin sicher gelandet und dank dt. Lufthansa Praezision auch nur 10 Min. zu spaet (ein Verlierer hat naemlich sein Gepaeck eingecheckt ist aber nicht in FRA erschienen, dadurch war der Abflug ne gute 3/4 Stunde spaeter...)

War mir eh Wurscht, hatte in der Senator Lounge naemlich mit ein paar Becks und Brez'n eh ausgesorgt gehabt...letztes mal dt. Produkte fuer die naechsten 8 Wochen...

Um es nun aber kurz zu machen: Bangkok ist CRAZY. Jungs (und Maedels) falls ihr mal aussteigen wollt, dann ist Bangkok auf jeden Fall ein MUST, bes. die krasse Khaosan Road! DA GEHT WAS. Und nicht nur Tuk-Tuk und Ping-Pong Shows ;-)



Gestern erst einmal ordentlich von 02:00am bis 04:00am die Deutschen ins Finale mit angefeuert und mitfiebert und so manchen UK Backpacker und Niederlaender ausgelacht (die hatten naemlich waehrend dem Spiel zu viel Oberwasser :-))

ABER: Es gibt nur ein Rudi Voeller und ein Joachim Loew!
Gruesse an alle,
Schmunky

PS: Deuschlandfahne auf der Backe und Deutschland Hulahula Kette kommt auch in Bangkok gut :-), bes. bei dt. Backpacker Maedels ;-)
SCHLAAAAAAAND!

Good Bye Germany

Last Blog entry from good old Germay for the next 8 weeks.
Asia I'm comi'n ! :-)

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Booked! Itinerary!

Did it! No way back, flights are booked, hotels of course not :-)
My planned itinerary:

GERMANY
Frankfurt
>> Flight
THAILAND
Bangkok
>> Flight
CAMBODIA
Siem Reap
>> Bus
Phnom Penh
>> Bus
VIETNAM
Ho Chi Minh City
>> Flight
Danang
>>Bus
Hoi An
>> Bus
Danang
>>Train
Hue
>> Bus
Hanoi
>> Flight
LAOS   
Lua Prabang
>> Flight
THAILAND
Chinag Mai
>> Train
Bangkok
>> Flight
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur
>> Bus
Tanah Rata
>> MiniBus
Kuala Tahan
>> Bus
Jerantut
>> Bus
Melaka
>> Bus
SINGAPORE
Singapore
>> Flight
INDONESIA
Jakarta
>> Train
Yogyakarta
>> Bus
Borobudur
>> Bus
Yogyakarta
>> Bus
Gunung Brom (Volcano Swim)
>> Bus
Surabaya
>> Flight
Denpasar (Bali)
>> Bus
Kutar (Bali)
>> Flight
SINGAPORE
Singapore
>> Flight
GERMANY
Munich

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Southeast Asia Trip 2008 - Update

Ok, the doctor confirmed that I'm cool, except for rabies... but because I don't have a chance to reach an immune status before I'll arrive, I've
to accept this risk.
So following the rule number one: Don't play with animals...









Finalized my route, now I only have to book the flights accordingly.
Visa can I get at arrival in each country except for Vietnam (again too less time to get it here), I'll get in Cambodia.

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Southeast Asia Trip 2008

Plan stage
Caused by a phone call from Korbinian ;-), I'm currently trying to find out if an 8-9 weeks southeast asia trip is feasible.
Only "show stopper" could be the vaccinations, but tomorrow after the visit of my doctor I'll be smarter.

Thanks to Super Sallinger and Lonley Planet the route is also to 90% clear:
Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia.
Check out for details my southeast asia Google Map.

Gonna be tough but "difficult is worth doing"!
Stay tuned.

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Chill & Grill @ Isar Beach Munich

Chill & Grill @ Isar 2008

Flocker - the geeky browser :-)

Just tried out the WEB 2.0 browser Flock (based on  Firefox technology) and what should I say: GREAT stuff, really great stuff...try it out or visit me later to see about any updates on the user experiece.

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