#29 - Luxury on the air

Once upon a time I was invited to train APAC region sales and marketing people in Singapore. Because of my busy schedule, I succeeded to bargain business class flights. There I was sitting on the Lufthansa business class almost alone; only one passengers with me and couple of air hostesses making their best to serve us. That was my finest airline dining experience, indeed. White table wear, Champagne to start with, all the three courses were served separately, extra old but very tasty dessert. A relaxing start for an intensive working session with my dear laptop.

Even if the visit was short, I used my opportunity for an extreme personal test. Noon time close to the equator is hot and humid, temperature above 35 degrees. A perfect time for a test run. 40 minutes was my limit and it felt like three hours hard run in a hot Finnish summer day.

That was short visit, but couple of years later I was lucky to spend a bit more relaxing time and see some of the local tourist attractions. See couple of personal tips below:

• A perfect way to start a day in Singapore is an early run at the Botanic gardens. Remember to use the opportunity to join the groups of local people doing their relaxing morning exercises.
•  Enjoy the hot evenings in Singapore. It is completely dark, but the temperature is higher than the warmest summer day in Finland. That is a perfect weather for wearing shorts and t-shirt, except if you are going for a dinner. The restaurants are cooler than refrigerators in Finland. I learned that forever after one mistake.
• A nice place to spend a sunny day during weekend is Sentosa. However, beware the suddenly changing air conditions. I was walking on a sunny beach when a small wind started to blow. All the other people started to walk away from the beach, but I continued my tour for a while. In couple of minutes even I needed to turn around because of the wind and light rain. Soon the wind and the rain was very heavy. That was the only time I have seen vertical rain. I was getting soaking wet when I run two meters from the covered bus stop to the bus.

Lessons learnt:

Use your opportunities to enjoy.

#28 - XO

Once upon a time I used to travel often with my colleague, Mr. K. He had a strict standard for quality. That gave me hilarious moments couple of times.

We used to relax a bit while flying back to home after a business meeting. After the airline meal we usually asked if the airline was serving excellent Cognac. Of course we are, was the usual answer, after which we ordered our drinks. Once the air hostess brought us the Cognac, Mr. K. started the usual complaint about the quality of the drink. You promised us excellent Cognac and then you brought us just a good one. I found this traditional act amusing. Only a few times we really managed to get the excellent Cognac. Anyway, nowadays the times are different and you seldom get anything else that tight seating.

Lessons learnt:

Quality first.

Take care of your brand image consistently.

#27 - Do you accept credit cards?

I was going to have a short meeting at Copenhagen. Flying-in early morning and flying back to home the same evening. I did not bother exchanging any money for such a short trip. When you come from Finland, you are used to use credit card everywhere.

I entered taxi at the airport and asked if credit card is accepted. The answer was no.

I had no money and credit card was not accepted, so what should I do? After a quick analysis I said to taxi drive that let’s go. While the taxi arrived at the office, I gave my credit card and the driver picked up the old fashioned credit card machine from the trunk of the car. No problems paying with credit card. Risk taking was the right way to go.

Lessons learned:

Controlled risk taking is often rewarded.

#26 - Knock, knock, Knocking on the door

People are used to long waiting times at the major airports all around the world. When comparing Tampere to the other major cities in the world, our politicians really succeeded when they decided to build just a small airport instead a large international flight hub. There are no long queues, so you do not have to go to the airport hours before the flight. The situation was even better before the new terminal was built.

Personally I am used to optimise my schedule, which means that I arrive seldom too early, but never too late. I learned quite quickly to use the benefits of Tampere airport.  I developed an accurate time schedule based on some empirical tests.

In one of those tests I arrived on time to the airport, but for some reason the door of the aeroplane was already closed and the engine running. I needed to knock on the door of the aeroplane to get in to the flight.

Another time I was again on time at the airport and the aeroplane was standing still at the airport, but the door leading from the terminal to the aeroplane was locked. I needed to pick up the custom officer to open the door to me.

Rather soon I became well-know time optimiser among the local frequent flyers. Even my highly appreciated boss, who speaks English with a perfect Tampere dialect, knew my skills of being just in time at the aeroplane, never too late. When I stepped into the plane, the boarding was completed. However, due to one extreme test case that was described in a story called “Italian job”, I needed to loosen a bit the strict just in time attitude.

Lessons Learnt:

The bigger is not always the better.

#25 - Never leave your friend

Early 2000’s we completed successfully a big technology program. We organized the program closing seminar in Lapland. The plan was to take a night train to Lapland, pretty convenient. The working day prior to the trip was pretty thrilling, because of a train accident somewhere south of Oulu. The track was broken and we were not sure if the trip needs to be cancelled.

Finally at the evening it became clear that the train is running and we started the journey. After working hard for a couple of years, people were eager to relax. We had some nice discussions in the cabins. It was already very late night when most of the people started to sleep in the cabins. After a while we were close to Oulu and people were supposed to jump into a bus. After a short bus trip the train would carry us from Oulu to Lapland. This was a special arrangement, because the rail road was still broken. The conductor woke us up and everybody on the train moved quickly to the busses. There was only one exception.

One of our guys, Mr. N, was sleeping very heavily. Many of his colleagues tried to woke him up, yelling, shouting and kicking, but nothing helped. He was still sleeping and busses were leaving. We needed to go to bus. The conductor of the train continued the wake up process by shouting, slapping, hitting, but nothing helped. You should not leave your friend, but what can you do.

The busses were half way to Oulu when my phone started to ring. Our dear colleague had woken up. Soon he was sitting on a taxi and trying to catch the rest of the team before the train to Lapland was leaving. Finally he made it.

The two days were productive, as well as entertaining. We had even possibility to ski a bit in the Pyhä slopes. All well, happy end.

Lessons learnt:

Remember to celebrate the happy endings.