This ship is taking me far away…
You might wonder what have happened to me that I did not write on my blog for such a long time… well…. I have moved to Vietnam…. And besides that I also changed my job and industry…so basically I kind of changed completely the way I have lived and what I have done… it is pretty bold change so to speak, scary and exciting in the same time…
Just after New Year’s Eve I have mentioned that I foresee a major change in my life and I was actively looking for it. And I think it is fairly true in this case that those things happen to you that you want to happen… Just like Jack Sparrow’s compass in the Pirates of the Caribbean…. It shows the direction where your heart wants to take you…
This ship is not DHL ship and not anchored in Singapore…
My time at DHL was definitely full of learnings. Even if there were ups and downs, just like working for any company, I can say that there are lots of learnings that I took away and I use now in my day-to-day job. And looking back now, there are lots of learnings from the downs as well, not just from the ups. In a very weird way, I felt nostalgic of leaving, even if it was my decision to leave. 3 years is a long time and you kind of know everybody, you have lots of friends, you know the system… it is somehow comfortable and there is a link that keep you tied. I am also loyal in my nature, so probably that’s why I felt a kind of sadness when I actually had to pack and leave the office. Of course in the same time I knew why I was leaving and I was excited to start my new adventure.
I felt quite bored with Singapore and I was waiting to leave the soonest possible. I did not feel anything, until Friday (left on Sunday morning), when I met one of the most important (non @ related) persons that made my Singapore stay special. Then I actually realized that I am leaving the country and I will be a tourist… and I will miss the people I have met there. Singapore became my home and after being there close to three years, definitely a part of me will remain always there. I can say that I miss quite a lot of things from there. Beside my friends I guess I miss the most the clean air, the east coast (and the coffee bean there) and the endless possibilities of doing sports).
Bottom line is that no matter where you stay for a longer period of time, you will always leave a piece of you there and you will always miss that place, however life goes on and new places wait to be discovered by you and those new places will conquer a piece of your heart as well. This is the essence of the nomad life, goes on in a circle until the whole world is your playground and you feel home everywhere.
Back to blue…
I have to say that I am very excited about my new job here in Vietnam. Since day one I started to work effectively and started to produce…I have joined the securities arm of Asia Commercial Bank as account manager and now we are in the process of becoming a full-fledged investment bank. My role is to reorganize and improve sales in the institutional clients arena and sell the full range of investment bank services of our organization.
I learned in three weeks more about finance and macroeconomics then in my whole four years of university… While in DHL I managed to have a good overview of the movement of goods around the globe, here I have a very good overview of the flows of money and how an emerging market economy is developing, coping with the pressure of globalization and how financial markets contribute to this development. It is fascinating to feel the pulse of the economy so close and understand all the small nuances of each decision, move of the market and the whole interaction between global and national markets…. Really fascinating… suddenly all the theory about these becomes so simple and so obvious when I see it in action… see it in reality…suddenly the articles from The Economist talk about things that I can relate to, suddenly economy books become understandable… Now a 100-page report about the macroeconomic review of Vietnam sounds exciting and with each day passing I can connect more dots of how elements of the economy influence each other. This steep learning curve and this discovery process is what I was looking for and learning every day something new makes me very happy… I missed this intellectual challenge….
It is also interesting to meet people who manage millions of dollars and can influence the stock market, the destiny of companies, it is exciting to meet CEO’s of different companies and discussing their development plans and financial results.
Vietnam and Saigon
V for Vietnam:
Until now I did not manage to see much of the city or the country. I worked from very early in the morning till very late, and after that I was looking for a house to live in. So not much time left. I was also busy in the weekends as the company was celebrating its 15th year anniversary and lots of sport and other activities have been organized. This weekend I have also been to an investment seminar, so not much time left to go out and explore.
Now I am in ACBS colours and playing in Vietnam, not in the ESPZEN League in Singapore for DHL. Back to Blue... to the @ colours :
So far people seem very nice and very eager to learn and do something with their lives. There is a lot of drive in the people and a big desire to succeed. But in the same time there is also a kind of relaxation and coolness as well. Some things happen with the speed of light and other things just take so much time. I guess this is the case with every development country more or less.
I guess I don’t have to emphasize too much that Vietnamese girls are extremely beautiful and sexy :) Not much of going out yet, but I just see in our company and in the companies I have meetings and I have to say that this place is much better then Singapore for the eyes (and not only), but of course there is a lot of Asian-ness here as well. The connoisseurs know what I mean...
The food is great in terms of taste and diversity. I have only two problems with the food. First of all the size of the portions is very small, I always have to order two main dishes. The other problem is that sometimes might not be prepared the most hygienically and this sometimes gives some trouble for my stomach… but besides that I love the tastes, the spices and the fact that it is fairly healthy with lots of vegetables. I love that you can find nice bread here and good bakery products, which is very rare in other Asian countries. Some good thing that the French left behind I guess is the influence in cuisine.
I almost forget one of the most important things: I bought a motorcycle :) I got myself a Yamaha Nouvo and in this hectic traffic of Saigon, it is a thrill each time I go for a ride. There is no other way to move around the city then on a motorbike. During the day I use the company car to go for the meetings, but it can take 3 times more with car then with motorbike. The downside of the motorbike is that you inhale lots of gases from the other bikes and that it can be fairly dangerous. IF you have ever played computer games, then riding a motorbike is like one of those games, where things are coming towards you from all directions and you have to avoid the. Just that there is no margin for error here…. It takes time to get a hang of it and to develop the peripheral vision needed for safe cruising. At the beginning it can be frustrating when cyclists take you over, but you need a couple of weeks of practice to be able to go faster then 20 km/hour :)
It looks like that this coming week I will move in my own apartment, and then I will be able to settle down more and explore the city more. I hope that I will also have some more time to write and blog and I can share all the exciting things that happen with me.
So far I feel good and happy that I am here. And of course, from next week onwards you are more then welcome to visit me, as I will have a nice house where I can host you :):):)
(My favourite song for this week: Muse - Starlight)
