This is my photo album of my business trips to Asia in the Spring of 2000. I visited six conutries over the period from January 10 to May 1. I visited Japan, (Tokyo,, Yokosuka, Yokohama), Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China.

During my stay in Korea, I visited the Korean War Memorial in Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone along the North Korean Border. During my border visit to the DMZ, I went down in a tunnel that was built by the North Koreans to penetrate in to South Korea undetected. The tunnel was discovered and the South Koreans drove an interceptor tunnel down to greet the North tunnel builders. When in the tunnel, I was just a few short meters away from the North Korean border.

I stayed at three different hotels in Korea, the Inter-Continental Grand, the Inter-Continental Co-ex, (which had just opened two months earlier), and the Grand Hyatt. The Hyatt is very near the area called Itawon, the center of night life for foreigners, (and popular for locals also).

Asia Visit, Spring 2000, Second Visit

After returning to LA for two weeks in the beginning of March, I returned to Seoul, Korea. It was a historic time as the North and South had agreed to talk for the first time since the Korean War days. The weather was getting much warmer now. During this visit I witnessed a civil defense drill, held one day a month for 45 minutes. All of the air raid sirens sound, traffic comes to a halt, all traffic signals are turned off, civil defense staff man each intersection and official vehicles drive by with special flags to mark them. It was interesting to see and also kind of eerie to the reminder of the volatility of the peninsula. I was stopped along the sidewalk to watch when one of the civil defense guys yelled out in Korean, obviously for me to keep moving. I saluted and he saluted back then I moved on.

After Korea, I went back to Tokyo for ten days. I worked at the Motorola Gotanda site, a new development site for Motorola and spent one day in Yokosuka. There is a third Japan site that I did not visit on this trip. I held a one day training session in Tokyo and had people from all three sites there. After the training, we all went out for a large traditional Japanese dinner and of course, Sake. It was a fun evening. I found a real neat gym in Shinjuku. I am getting very good at getting around on the trains in Tokyo and really enjoy riding them. After Tokyo, I spent one day in Korea before going to Singapore. I feel like I know my way around Singapore also, riding the subway and walking around a lot.

After Singapore, China was next and last for my work assignments. I stayed at the Great Wall Sheraton, which was just a few blocks from a street that the locals call 'Bar' street where all of the discos, restaurants, and coffee shops are, all western style with many foreigners there. Motorola was a close distance but the traffic during the rush hour is terrible in China. Bicyclists are everywhere. The taxis and other cars totally disrespect the bicycles. The cars pull out in front of each other expecting the other driver to see them and stop. They are constantly on their horns but never actually yell or threaten physical violence. Below is a picture of the Motorola office tower in Beijing. Motorola is on the far left, notice the Motorola logo on the top of the building.

    My hotel, The Sheraton Great Wall in Bejing. 

      Art Students.  I bought the scroll paintings with the Chineese characters immediately behind the girl and to her left, (photo right).

      Beijing street, near Tiananmen Square. 

  Bicyclist carrying LP Gas Tank in Bejing.

During my visit to China, I took a daily tour of the Great Wall of China. This was unbelievable to see! Our tour group climbed to the highest point in the area and it took over an hour, up stairs the whole way! The pictures taken are from the climb up to the highest point and the view from here.

  And, The Great Wall, which I climbed. 

    And, the money. 

  It's all about the rules, Communism, what should I have expected. 

I also took a tour of the Ming Tombs. China was ruled by family dynasty's for thousands of years. The Ming dynasty was one of the last. When the emperor died, they were buried in these huge burial sites that were surrounded by walls. The site had a large tower that was the vehicle for the sole to the heavens. The body's were laid to rest underground in these highly secure structures. The emperor was buried with his wife along with gold and other valuables. The tombs were attacked by various groups over the centuries but none gained access to the tombs due to the six foot thick granite doors. One of the tombs was opened ten years or so ago. Below is the tomb of the second to the last Ming emperor along with his two wives.

Tienamen Square: This is the central square in Beijing. This is a popular meeting place like a busy park in the USA. It is very crowded on the weekends with people just visiting, flying kites or relaxing.

Malaysia

I visited Kuala Lumpur many times, typically on a weekend break while working in Penang, Malaysia.

The communications tower below offered a view of the city.  KL is a very modern and beautiful city.  The Petronis Towers were just being finished when I was there and can be seen from some of my photos from the communications tower.  The tower stands at 421 m, the fourth tallest communications tower in the world, (CN Tower in Toronto is the tallest at 553 m, I have visited this tower also, see the section on Canada for pictures). 

Communications tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (Malaysian capital).