David's AW News: Tokyo Street... Volcano Island... Greetings from somewhere in Asia.

Greetings from... well can you guess?

I hope you guys are doing well - enjoying the summer and trading well! 

Last week I was telling you about the Tea Blenders of Bandung and making friends with a taxi driver / out of work actor. If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Now, looking at those two pictures, you might reasonably think I have finally made it to some place new - can you guess?

Before leaving I had a very interesting week in Bali. Every year around Indonesian Independence Day, we have a Team Bonding Day at AW Advantage, our IT back office. This year the theme was Heroes of Indonesia. You see our team comes from all over Indonesia, and each of them chose a different local hero from the history of their own area or island.

Bondhan and myself were installed as X Factor-style judges, which I think we took rather too seriously.

Here are some of the contestants.

And wow... I was so impressed. Vika, for example, came as Sayuti Melik — the man remembered for typing up the final text of the Indonesian Declaration of Independence in August 1945. He really dressed the part and dramatised the whole scene brilliantly, sitting at the typewriter and acting out that tense historical moment when words became the official declaration of a new nation. I rather liked that choice because Sayuti Melik was not the most obvious hero. Not the front man on the balcony, but one of those important people behind the scenes who quietly help history happen.

And all the acts were like that... thoughtful, funny, heartfelt and incredibly well done. I learned so much — honestly, too much to tell you all here.

Then later, after work, the staff from our warehouse joined us and we all went down by the beach and played silly party games.

This one (sorry I AI'ed the picture a bit so you could understand) - teams start with a bucket of bags filled with water.. they throw them backwards overhead down a chain and the team that collects the most water in the bucket at the back wins.. Sloshing and splashing everyone soaked..so much fun.. I'm suggesting it for our next UK BBQ. Very team building.. 

And what I learned from that is this: young Indonesians do not just love their country — they also love playing childhood games and making complete fools of themselves for fun. No dignity required. Lovely!

After that, it was back into work mode. I spent the next few days rushing around the island, finalising product designs and making purchase orders for several ranges of new products. A busy few days, but the good sort of busy... the sort where ideas turn into actual things. Gosh, actually, Bodhan and I managed to pull some exciting new ranges out of the hat.  

 Then on to the next stop... I took a flight out of Bali—the volcano above is Mount Agung seen as the plane banked round the island—and flew on Batik Airways.. to..  actually Kuala Lumpur. I do an annual health check here at Gleneagles Hospital, just to make sure all my ageing body parts are still holding up reasonably well. So far, I seem to be more or less still operational. 

The new Samsung Fold and Flip phones were also launching in Malaysia, and I rather fancied a look at the new passport-sized one, so off I went to Pavilion the grand central shopping centre. But as so often happens, I got completely distracted. Inside the shopping centre is Tokyo Street, a whole area full of independent Japanese traders. 

Wow. Giftware heaven. I wandered around in a daze. I have never been to Japan — not yet — but if those shops are anything to go by, I think I may be in trouble when I finally do go. So many lovely little retail ideas. So much charm. So much care in the displays. And one shop in particular stopped me in my tracks.

A shop selling Lucky Cats.

Cats for every occasion. Every colour with a different meaning. Every paw position with a different... pawpose. Sorry.

A young lady explained it all to me so delightfully that of course I ended up buying something. And by complete coincidence, I had recently been revamping our own Lucky Cat page. Check it out.  And see below..

So there I was, in Kuala Lumpur, in a Japanese shopping street, unexpectedly doing a bit of live market research. And I came away thinking... Every gift shop should have a Lucky Cat section. 

Anyway, we had the eclipse, and I hope you enjoyed it if you could.

The heatwaves continue, they tell me even hot at night.. UK hotter than Spain.. so take care and keep hydrated.

And meanwhile the AW Grand World Tour rolls on — with new places, new products, new stories and, of course, massive daily discounts.

I do love how it all links together really... a team celebration of Indonesian heroes, a rush of new product development in Bali, a volcano out of the plane window, and then an accidental stroll through a mini Japan in the middle of Kuala Lumpur. That's my weeks highlights! 

That is the joy of this trip. You never quite know what the next little surprise will be.

Next week... a new location and new updates.

Take care. Have a great weekend! 

Until next week,

David