A quick note posted from a free Internet terminal at Singapore Airport...

I went sailing today and my nose is quite red after the experience. The wind was fairly strong and we had mostly novices on board so we did not do anything too sporty, like launching the spinnaker and multiplying the gybes. We had a nice little sail to a tropical island and back on a J24. At some point, one of the ladies announced that she had made a chocolate cake. This was enough to justify a heave-to manoeuvre to make the boat drift while we all enjoyed a well-deserved bite.

I am now off to Shanghai, zombie on a red eye flight. I am supposed to be meeting loads of people that I don't know. It is strange how networks work. You e-mail somebody whose number was given to you by somebody else that you met once at a cocktail party. This person replies that he is away on a business trip but gives you the cell phone number to someone else. After a long string of e-mail, someone has time to meet you and can help you. You have lost the connection to your original contact, you don't know the title of the person you are going to meet, the company, position, etc...All you have is a name, a phone number, a place and time to meet...

We are also supposed to visit this company that we are writing a paper on and meet some of the employees. However, somehow, it is possible for everyything to miserably fail...But do I really care?