Our Bavaria 40 yatch, La Futura

We took this the day before we handed the boat back to Navigare. It was a really nice boat to be on and we'd happily do it again.

Lena

Not much to say other than that Lena is beautiful :=)

Having lunch

This picture was taken just as we were about to sit down for lunch on our almost last day of sailing. The place in question was a bay on Sifnos island which seemed to be called Cherronisos. It was one of the best anchorages we found during our week-long sailing trip.

Naxos pictures

Mattias

This picture seemed too nice not put into my blog :)

3 mermaids

Here are the girlfriends, out and about on Paros. Karin (Tobias' wife), Lena (my girlfriend) and Lisa (Rickard's girlfriend). They managed to dig up a good bit of shopping while strolling around...

Art displayed

There is nothing more to say about this photo, other than that this nice tableu was set up on the island of Paros for visitors to see a very pimped-up small house, which of course also included the mandatory white-washed walls as well as blue paint. It seems that these two things are very common in the Greek islands. We often saw whole clusters of white houses with blue paint on every island we sailed to.

Paros island visit

This is a photo from the island of Paros, where we stayed the night on our Bavaria 40 Cruiser yatch, La Futura. I have to say that we really saw a lot of picture-postcard-perfect buildings, scenes, streets etc. We were very fortunate to also come into the marina with our yatch, while it was still under construction. This meant that we could avoid the harbour fee while sneaking off with some free water for our two water tanks :) We ended up eating at one of the restaurants lining the waterside, seen in the picture.

Being busy on Poros

For some reason, I had to try and look busy, while Lena took a picture on Poros.....

Poros, Greece

We've managed to find our little paradise on Poros, an island about 2,5 hours by ferry from Athens. We're all alone at this very small hotel and live at the top of a hill, with our own pool and patio. This isn't too hard too get used to :) A couple of more days and then it's time for our sailing trip to start. Wohoo!

A picture says more.....

Well, here's at least some proof that Athens has been hit by the economic downturn...

Parthenon and the Akropolis

This is what the Parthenon looks like at the moment, as extensive renovations are ongoing. But this cliff with its temples, which occupies much of the central Athens skyline, is truly impressive!

Greece

Finally, we're on the way to Greece. Two lovely weeks of sun, fun and sailing the Mediterranean!

Midsummer in southern Sweden

Well, I finally have proof that there's dancing going on round the Maypole at Midsummer's. :)

Going up!

As this picture shows, we went to a place quite high up. The place in question was the bar of the Park Hyatt, close to Silk Market. This is currently one of the coolest bar in Beijing, which I can warmly recommend to anyone that is not afraid of heights!

My colleagues and I

Here are some of my colleagues that joined up for dinner last night. We went to a really nice place with a courtyard inside, close to the Silk Market area.

The risky business of eating Chinese

When I and my colleagues went out to eat, we ended up in a Chinese restaurant that had taken the place of the original restaurant we wanted to visit. Since we were almost dying of hunger, we chose to explore the cuisine. It turned out to be the one restaurant in China that was out of rice... Also, since it was a hot pot restaurant, we were seated next to a gas container that looked like it could explode at any time. The waitresses actually smelled the container before plugging it in, just to make sure no gas leaked out.....we were praying fervently when they lit the match...

The picture above shows the container, sitting there under the table.

Below is a picture from their menu...the item at the bottom seems to be an interesting choice... :) I can only try to imagine what this dish actually was....we were too afraid of the gas canister exploding to dare try it...

Back in Beijing...again....

After having been away for some time, I'm now back in Beijing again. This time for yet another project that requires expert help :) It's a bit nice to be back while at the same time, nothing has really changed. New buildings have gone up and some things are new, but the feeling is still the same. I wonder if that means that I've simply been here too often :) ...?

Out biking

I and Lena decided to get out a bit and bike over to Lomma. Not the most rain free of days, but extremely nice :)

Spotify headquarters Spotted

Well, the picture speaks for itself. I walked past the location of the most excellent company Spotify, which provides a music service by the same name. If you haven't already tried it, I suggest you go to http://www.spotify.com/ and do so.

Photo Albums now up...

I forgot to mention it earlier; the photo albums from December (New Year's) and our trip to Thailand are now up on www.vendel.net . Feel free to look inside :)

The strangeness of Home

Finally, I was able to go to Stockholm again with Lena. I haven't been here to visit my parents since Christmas and it's been a little bit too long for my taste. However, how I see myself when in Stockholm has somehow changed over the last years.

I'm not sure that I see Stockholm as the same hometown that I used to. For one thing, it now strikes me as wierd that there are so many people running around downtown, compared to Malmö. This is perhaps to be expected, since there's quite a difference in the populations between the two, but is a bit strange nonetheless. There are also a lot more "elegant" people walking around in the city center and I am somehow a little bit struck by the "heretical" thought that Skåne used to have a higher percentage of peasants :) When walking around, I can still find my way perfectly, but so many new shops have sprung up, locations been changed, buildings torn down or built, that I feel that I have lost track. This makes me wonder how other people perceive their home towns after they have been away for a long time. Some might still feel very much at home, but I haven't met too many of those.

Luckily, my parents provide the anchor to still ground me here and I must say, as I always do, that Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen. There's so much water, life and thought put into the overall appearance, that I'm sure it will always be the best place in Sweden. (though many friends from other places in Sweden would disagree :)....

I've been able to take it quite easy during our time here. Lena and I have walked around the city center, sat in the sun, seen some sights (as she's not from around here) and just enjoyed life. This is really nice and I hope that the last two days of this "Easter Holiday" will be great too, but of that I'm sure! :)

Hope that you're all enjoying Easter!!

/Mattias

The lessons to be learned from a company in trouble

Over the last months anyone working in the Telecom industry or just having access to newspapers, cannot help but notice that Sony Ericsson hasn't been doing very well. For myself, I can't help comparing the current situation with my previous company, Siemens Mobile Phones (no longer existing as a company). Many of the familiar signs of coming disaster are there, yet positive ones exist as well and there are opportunities there to turn the trend. It's difficult to know what might happen.

No matter if the company survives or goes under, what is interesting are the many small "lessons learned" that I see and experience every day. Being inside a company that doesn't do very well at the moment really is a very valuable experience. Seeing how rumours fly or get started, how people behave, loss of energy and motion; all of these things change when good performance slides towards the not-so-good. And by being able to experience this, I would say that I'm better prepared if the situation presents itself in the future. So if it wasn't for the stress, lack of information and knowledge that many colleagues are having, I would say that it's a perfect learning experience for obtaining a tougher "crisis hide".

But all in all, things are quite nice at the moment. I'll share more about why that is later on... :)

Back from Thailand!

Last week, I and Lena, my girlfriend, came back from two lovely weeks in Thailand. We managed to see quite a lot of Bangkok and the islands close to Phuket and Krabi. Our personal favourite turned out to be Koh Lanta, which is an island very close to Krabi. There, we spent five nights at an excellent resort called Phra Nang Lanta, which I can warmly recommend to anyone passing by that part of the world. It's been incredible to have all those days in the sun, doing nothing but taking it easy, enjoying life and each other and just sipping Mango shakes down by the water :) As soon as an opportunity presents itself, I'll post all the pictures we took on my home page.

I've noticed that I haven't been very active with my blog for some time. I'll start to remedy that soon enough.

As for the coming time up ahead, I and Lena will be planning our next vacation; 2 weeks in Greece, of which one will be spent sailing the Cyclades!! Lots of fun and stories promised later on!

Getting excited!

Everything of major consequence has now been pretty much booked for 2 weeks of lovely sand and surf in Thailand! And better still, there aren't too many days left until we leave! I am starting more and more to look forward to this vacation trip and am preparing a lot to find as many nice things as possible to see. For instance, in Bangkok it's a must(!) to go up to the rooftop bar of the Banyan Tree hotel and gaze out over the whole city. Was fantastic the last time I was there....

Sand and sun, here we go!

Merry Christmas!

I have to say that having time off and spending it with my family in Stockholm is excellent :) I've been here for a couple of days now, taking it very easy. Something that's a bit unusual for me is that Stockholm changes every time that I'm here. Buildings have been torn down, new stores have opened, places I knew are gone. It's quite a strange feeling, since I've spent the greater part of my life here and think I really know the city well. But I still do, at least until they tear down the city center completely :)

Another topic this time of year seems to be the "financial crisis". Having been around to do some Christmas shopping, it's a bit disquieting to see so many stores with prices reduced to sometimes up to 50% on everything (though as a consumer, it's excellent, rock on!). I stopped in one store at Östermalm (center of the city), where I took advantage of such a sale, but also talked a bit with the owners, who were relatively young. They mentioned that sales this year were quite slow everywhere and that they had to put their stock on 50% sale just go sell something. Many other stores in the area were doing the same and it had forced them to follow.... I heard that December 26th is going to be a day of shopping frenzy in the city center, since many stores will then put on 50% sale everything that they have....we'll see, but I'm curious how it will look... In any case it's possible, from at least a psychological perspective, to say that I have started to see the signs of the ever greater "financial crisis" when out shopping for Christmas presents.... Also, I found out about a week ago that a friend of mine was made redundant at the company we work for. She was the first one that I know personally that has so far been laid off; it was quite a shock. But after speaking with more friends, some in the financial services sector in particular, my friend was not the only one soon without a job.

For myself, I have about 3 more days here in Stockholm, after which I and my girlfriend will be taking a vacation week on an island on the west coast of Sweden in a cabin, enjoying the quiet. New Year's will be spent with friends in Gothenburg, so as not to make the entire week too quiet :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Mattias

Being tired...

It's been some time since I last wrote something in my blog. So here goes :)

For the first time in my life, I can really feel that I need a long and nice holiday, just get away from work for a while. It's been dark outside for the last month, with light only starting to appear in the sky around 0830-0900 and total darkness coming around 1530. It's really easy to feel that winter is here.

At the same time, every newspaper and TV program is talking about the crises occuring around the world in the financial markets. Recession is becoming a popular word and every day brings with it more news about companies failing. Somehow, it feels a bit unreal, since no one I know has yet lost their job. But I guess it's only a matter of time, as even my own company is feeling the pain of markets that at the moment are not buying as many of our products as they once were.

With all the darkness and negative vibes, it would be easy to suffer from dampened spririts. But I'm quite happy and excited....maybe I'll share why soon... :)

Love and Merry Christmas to all!

/Mattias

Studying and thinking about luxury problems

Today is my day off, which was simply for the reason that a business trip required me to cancel another planned day off earlier this month. How am I making use of the time.....well, I'm spending it on cramming for my sailing exam (förarintyg) later this week and planning the birthday party that I'll host next week. This brings me to my luxury problem....how to fit 50+ people into my apartment and not collapse the entire building :) Something to work out...

Later I'll attend an extremely interesting lacture by world-renowned journalist Robert Fisk, at Malmö University. End of the day activity is planned to be the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

Not such a shabby day after all :)

Sterling goes belly-up!

As I was heading out to Sturup for my flight up to Stockholm, there had been much news coverage about Sterling (www.sterling.dk) announcing bankrupcy earlier in the day. Everything within the airline had just stopped...no flights, no people working the counters at the airports, etc. At Sturup there were a lot of angry people that didn't know how to get home and no company representatives were available, so SAS ground crew faced a lot of heat instead.

The picture above shows the slightly eerie advertisement for the company at Sturup that was now suddenly irrelevant. From one day to another a company of 1100 employees and with thousands of customers stranded in other countries simply ceased to exist.

Perhaps one lessons learned is that flying with low cost carriers is well and good for smaller, cheap trips, but don't plan honeymoons, family vacations, etc, with them. On the other hand, I wonder if it would have been different if it was SAS or Lufthansa.....

Kayaking near Karlshamn

Kayaking near Karlshamn in Sweden turned out to be an excellent experience. Not only did I have a great time with my friends Martin and Jonny, but also enjoyed blue skies and pretty good temperatures for end of September. We went out around 1400 the first day and spent the night in a cabin on one of the archipelago islands. During the second one it was all about paddling back to shore :) Truly a fantastic weekend and many interesting discussions over some glasses of red wine.

Check out part of our trip on a map!

Kayaking near Karlshamn #1

It looks pretty nice, right? ...It was :)

A picture says more than a thousand words...

Decided to pay NY a short visit. Had lots of fun and saw many things. One new place that we tried out was called 230 5th and it turned out to be a rooftop bar area that had a great view. Definitely recommended for a short evening visit!

Though I'm not sure I'd want to live in NY, it still is a great place to be and it's basically impossible not to have fun! And word of advice; unless you really want to get chewed out by a taxi driver, tip more than 15%-20%...I know now :)

On the move...

Airports are never that much fun to begin with. I and a colleague are on our way through Newark airport to Raleigh in North Carolina.

Kaisers Orchestra

I found this short video from the Kaisers Orchestra concert we went to during the Malmö Festival. Though this band is a bit wierd and perhaps not something I'll watch regularly, it was a great night out and a lot of people at the concert.

Everything has its ups and downs

All in the space of one day, I've gone from feeling truly great to really unhappy and back again. And before you start to worry; no I'm not going mad :=) The great feeling came from a very nice 8,1 km run down to Västra Hamnen this morning. The sun was out and the skies were blue. Coming home and taking it easy for a short while felt really ok after that. The really unhappy feeling came after spending 1 hour at the driving range (golf) only to figure out that I have some serious corrections to do on my golf swing. Earlier this year I wouldn't have cared what my golfswing was like, but since I've started playing it has now become a minor obsession to at least become decent. And let me tell you; it's not easy, takes up a lot of time and causes swearing....

Another thought-of-the-day; ever since joining Facebook, it's often the case that I know what my friends and loved ones are doing before I even speak to them. For instance, if someone becomes single or gets engaged, it's not unusual to know about it beforehand. If someone is going to run a marathon, it's easy to know that too. The fun part of calling up friends late at night and checking up on them has suddenly become a bit different.... :)

The Catamaran is here...

The Catamaran I saw last summer in the Stockholm archipelago near Sandhamn seems to have made it to Västra Hamnen in Malmö. It's a truly exciting craft and I wouldn't mind sailing on it at all. :)

Sailing to Dragör

With Bengt and Christofer, I sailed out from Limhamn to Dragör on Bengt's boat. It was a great day with lots of sun and wind. Perfect to do some sailing.

After work with the department

A nice evening of after work with my department. It was also an occasion to send off a colleague moving to the US for two years.

Finally!

After some weeks of swinging the clubs, I have now finally reached the point where I have my official handicap of 36! It feels great, since a lot of possibilities open up to play on many different golf courses that require an official handicap. All that's now missing is for the Swedish summer weather to change from rainy to sunshine and I'm good to go out on the fairway again :)

Karin and Tobias' wedding

It was a really great day and the couple were very happy. The ceremony itself was performed on some cliffs just by the water in Varberg. It was the first time I have ever been to a secular (i.e. state organized, so called borgerligt bröllop) wedding, but I must say that it turned out to be impressive. The official that was in charge of the actual ceremony was such a good speaker that I must say it felt like one of the best ceremonies I've been to. The whole day was really great and the party later on as well.