Fast Fast Pace

After almost 2 months of plowing through the requirements for our competition entry, a central business district masterplan for Qianhai, I found myself jumping straight back into working for the masterplan in Ninh Thuan (Vietnam). The very next day, (even before our team submitted our entry) my boss and I flew straight to Vietnam to present our initial concept work to all of the city departments in the province. It's pretty crazy to think that I only spent the night before preparing these presentation slides.

But in the end, both jobs were well executed. Working day and night on the competition, my team and I quickly produced EVERYTHING left to meet the competition requirements during the very last 2 weeks-- complete with a bonus newspaper article piece---icing on the cake. I'm amazed and now very convinced that here in China, anything is possible. Despite the speed, Ninh Thuan's presentation was well received and our competition entry was beautifully put together. I'm confident enough to say that it definitely stands a chance to place.

So last Wednesday after the competition submission, without even taking a breath, I found myself flown to Vietnam to stay for the next four days, tuning back to design material that has left me more than a month ago. Meetings ran back to back between heads of departments and English/ Vietnamese translation. During our first meeting there, it was very apparent to our clients that I hadn't had enough rest, it spread like wild fire that we had been working overtime to complete another project (bad marketing hehe). We spent days presenting and nights being entertained by our clients & colleagues over dinner & 333s.

A few days later, I quickly recovered and was able to absorb Ninh Thuan's slower pace and beautiful weather. I realize that despite whatever life throws at you, you have to learn how to take it easy. So during this very high pressure time to perform in front of our clients, I decided that everything was going to be ok. Life is happening too fast for me to grasp & to mess up. And so I enjoyed my time with the clients, despite their very high ranks and I being the youngest one there. In the end, I saw myself making connections & exchanges that I would otherwise not make under that type of pressure. So in a sense the cup spilled over.

So I can go on and on about the beauty in & around central and South Saigon riding in open air, on the back of my uncle's moped during my last day there. But I'll keep it short. In a nutshell, Saigon is a well planned blooming city with so much more potential to becoming even better. Skipping ahead to my final thought (jumping ahead Hong Kong style hehe): Asia is forcing me to adapt & grow a lot faster than back in the states. Keeping up with everything has been very very challenging. There is no time to react i.e. learn, only time to act. The expression "growing pains" rings true, even at this age. I move from the comforts of academia (the world as I know it in theory) to the practical world. The practical, say corporate working world does not yield for you; when it turns you must follow. You must either face the challenges ahead & pull thru or fall behind alone.