The story so far.......

I'd like to say it's been easy and that you can leave Uni with a solid degree, or two, several years of experience and a pocket full of tenacity (what dreams are made of) to find yourself swamped with job offers. But this just isn't the case.

There are those that fall into jobs, but more often than not it’s because they know someone who knows someone or their Daddy's the boss. However, it's just not how the world works. And these folks never really last, trust me.

I've spent the last 7 months in Hong Kong, since the start of this blog, networking, interning, groveling, taking part in a world's greatest salesperson competition and even crying on occasion. And I can say with 100% conviction that I have not enjoyed every minute of it at all, far from it. I've enjoyed the majority of moments, but I've also never felt so lost and alone during several others.

Despite all that has happened though, I have made it and today I am more then happy.

I would encourage all those that have a dream to follow it no matter where it takes you or how hard the path is along the way. Reaching a goal, no matter how small, always makes up for the crap you’re undoubtedly going to have to face. As a great man once said "Being very good is no good. You have to be very, very, very, very, very good" (DO).

This is not the end of my blog, as the title states, "life begins at 23". I merely have the opening chapter to my memoirs.

Neglected Blog

I am very sorry for the neglected nature of my blog in recent months. I promised I would update every week. However, I have been busy. lol.

There is good news to come. I promise that!

More stories, and a re-blogging will commence soon.

I am one of the World's Greatest Salespeople, FACT!

You may have heard it on the news, you may have read it in the papers and you may have even seen my video. One things for sure though, my life will never be the same again. The past few weeks have been a real turning point. I'd like to thank everyone involved so far for their support and encouragement.

For those of you that the message has not reached, I've been engaged in a battle of the bricks; blocks of clay have been thrown and small little red lines have been drawn. The revolution has truly begun. You came in your hundreds and supported my work, when really; it’s your effort that should be congratulated. You joined the revolution; you formulated uses for a useless 19th century building aid and you have ultimately shaped this outcome. I always believed the Red Brick was not obsolete, thank you all for believing in me. Let “the power of intrinsic value” be sung from the highest rooftops.

Almost a month ago OgilvyOnes’s – search for the world’s greatest salesperson – competition began and it’s hard to believe I’ve made it to this point. Last Sat I was nominated to the top 10 “world’s greatest salespeople”, as the competition reached its second phase. It just goes to show what we can do when we rally together. The Red Brick will truly be saved thanks to Ogilvy and our revolution.

There have been highs and there have been lows, there have even been those little annoying bits in between that nobody really likes. However, the wait is not over, the end is not insight and the hard work has only just begun. Its time to pull out my ‘A’ game, write like I’ve never written before, interview like there's no tomorrow and sell sell sell. After all, MY DREAM DEPENDS ON IT.

Through the looking glass. Part 2 - The long awaited sequel

The truth is that you can’t beat a good old mishap, as long as it’s someone else in the firing line. It’s pretty obvious that as a race, humans love to see people “fail”. Most of the time it’s not cruel, it just puts your life into perspective and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. There are plenty of YOUTUBE videos advertising this fact. Ok, so it may be a little sadomasochistic, but everyone laughs eventually, as long as ultimately the poor hapless individual is still alive and in once piece afterwards. On that note, I must inform you all of my latest “fail”.

My recent excursion to European Asia, Macau, ended with one of the scariest experiences of my life. I have an innate trust that I believe all my fellow Brits share; no matter where we travel in the world (except the Middle East of course) we will be received with open arms. This has been the case throughout my life, thanks to her Majesty’s most gracious gift; The British Passport. My Great British belief, however, came crashing down when retuning through Hong Kong immigration.

I had been slightly nervous all day about approaching the immigration desk, seeing as my holiday Visa was a month from running out and as a badly balding 23 year old man, I often get odd looks on the few occasions I am asked for ID; my driving license, passport, student card and pretty much any photo ID I have were taken around 4 years ago, when I had hair. I was expecting the usual, leading questions and dark looks, however, nothing to the extent of what happened upon handing over my passport.

From upside down, I could make out the official type the four worst words in the immigration language; STOP, PREVENT, ARRIVAL and HOLD. My heart began to race, my palms began to sweat and my head began to spin. My passport was confiscated as I was marched from the queue, told to sit in a waiting area, and left to the sole destroying darkness of my thoughts.

Anyone in a situation such as this will tell you that panic is a natural occurrence, and most will break down and spill everything for hopes of striking a deal. I managed to regain my calm, however, by telling myself that they didn’t now anything, they had no clue and in fact where probably waiting for me to say too much, and get myself in trouble. I was reminded of my Psychology degree (Game theory and the Prisoner Dilemma) and how the situation would most likely plan out.

First they make you sweat while they check your background, then they take you into a dark room where your defences are weakened by their authoritarian and overwhelming stature and potential power, where you eventually break under your own doing, and end up being deported. I had decided, however, as most good cop films have taught me, to stay quiet and figure out exactly what they knew before I said anything.

As I was taken from one very lonely place in my head, to another altogether equally lonely place in their interrogation room, I tried my hardest to keep my heart rate low and my wits about me. I was informed that they were very concerned with both the quality of my passport, and the youthful nature of my picture. I explained about the rigorous issues of genetic premature baldness, the mishap with a luggage label sticking three of the pages together, and why I was returning to Hong Kong in the first place. I told the truth, explained the situation, and after a few trick questions from several immigration officers, I was eventually let past on my own merit.

In all truthfulness there were several moments when I thought I was really in trouble, half way round the world from my family. The reality of my situation in Hong Kong and the altogether nature of being this far from home had really set in. I have never experienced homesickness, but I came close that day.

Despite all this, I will be going back to Macau, I’m just going to change all my ID photo’s and get a new passport before I contemplate any more day trips.

World's Greatest Salesperson - Red Brick Revolution.m4v

let the RED BRICK REVOLUTION BEGIN

Through the looking glass. Part 1

If you ever come to Hong Kong, one of the best things you can do is leave. I don’t mean to sound like I hate Hong Kong, far from it, I love it here. What I mean to say is that you should take a trip to Macau, a small SAR (special administrative region) a short hop, skip and a 1 hour jump from Hong Kong via boat.

Macau has to be one of the strangest places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. In order to understand what you experience you have to imagine a place a lot like Alice's Wonderland. Macau is half Chinese, half Portuguese (European) and half Las Vegas. I know that makes it over 50% bigger than is physically possible, but then the Chinese have a way of making more of an available space then anyone else. The walled city of Kowloon was one example of that. Macau is made of an additional 50% reclaimed land which lays way for the larger then Las Vegas gambling strip.

When you arrive, however, I recommend you head for the tourist area and not the bright lights of the Macau strip. Now, most people would advise that you stay away from tourist destinations if you want to experience the real country, however, this is defiantly not the case with Macau. Macau present two options, tourist destination or gambling heaven; the Chinese locals are only there to gamble, so to escape the hustle and bustle I recommend you stay close to the tourist areas. Embrace the sites and standard routes and experience China through the looking glass. Anything else is honestly just a gamble.

On your way through the city you will travel through what appears to be a bustling American cityscape with high rise buildings and hotels. Suddenly and without warning, however, you'll have become lost in a maze of cobbled side roads and small European flats. Around every corner of this place, you'll come across something new, exciting and completely awe-inspiring; from the view at the fort to the famous market square and the wall of the St Paul’s cathedral. Never has so much fuss been made over one wall, except of course that wailing one. Just make sure you watch your step, the locals seem to love mopeds more then they love gambling, and seeing as this is the only place in China where it is legal to gamble, that makes for a hell of a lot of mopeds.

If you do decide to place a bet, however, I would recommend you visit the Macau strip over the “odd bod” Casino’s placed around the city. An entire gambling heaven awaits, built on reclaimed sand, larger then Las Vegas. However there was just so much to do I never made it this far, the experience is truly yours to embrace. I will, however, be going back to Macau, for the world’s tallest bungee (Macau Tower) the world’s largest indoor river (The Venetian Macau) and the world’s most “out of this world” tourist destination.

In all honestly I recommend at least a visit to Macau, whether you choose to follow the white rabbit of the gambling habit, or get lost with the Cheshire cat among the maze of cobbled streets. Macau is an experience not to be missed.

Sharing is caring, in Hong Kong

I recently went for a meal over in Shek O on the south side of Hong Kong Island and I’ve discovered something about the eating habits of Hong Kong that is completely foreign.

In England you order from a set menu, each to his own, and although you may order a side of onion rings or possibly even a salad to share, if you’re that way inclined, the vast majority of people are happy with their own choice. Even when ordering foreign food from a take away, in England, you’re likely to have your own dish. This is the way of the English.

The thing about moving to a foreign country, however, is that you’re thrust into embracing foreign habits and customs. Most of these are not too taxing, for example; everyone sweats in Hong Kong in the summer “apparently” and it’s just accepted, no one ever wears a tie to work, beer is considered liquid gold with a price tag to match and the business card is the Hong Kong hand shake. The strangest of these customs, however, comes at meal time.

Instead of ordering a set meal each, everyone orders a dish from the menu, and it’s shared between the table. Just think about how vicious it would get if you had to share your meal with several people in England. At Uni if anyone came close to steeling your chips they’d risk losing a finger. I’m guessing this is why the Chinese invented chopsticks, blunted instruments that make it impossible to take too much food at once. This technically prevents selfishness and injury, unless of course you take a chopstick in the eye.

After a few months of deliberation, however, I have come to love the concept of a shared meal. You can pick and choose, benefit from a variety of flavors and usually enjoy more food then from a set meal. I don’t see the concept taking off in England anytime soon though so I think I’ll stay out here a little longer.

In Hong Kong sharing really is caring. If only the Chinese could invent something to remove the side effects of eating spicy foods.