PatHo+SunShine's i-Spot

The WPC 2010 (World Partner Conference) held July 11-15 in Washington, was the first global opportunity, offered by TOBIUS N.V. as my new employer, to actively network again within the Microsoft Community and its Partners, after 3 years hard work in the background on alternative markets (Telco) & technologies (Sun/Java).

On some occasions throughout the digitalized life of an Information Technology Consultant, you've got to drag yourself away from behind your computer screen, and scout beyond new horizons. When you're deep into Microsoft, the WPC (a.k.a. World Partner Conference) is one of those events on everyone's radar, as the Microsoft corporation announces new product launches at the beginning of their new fiscal year.

On Thursday 13th May 2010 at 5 o'clock in the morning, the Nictea - a Wauquiez Pretorien of 36 foot (10.80 metres) registered with the S.R.N.A. ("Koninklijke Antwerpse Watersportvereniging" or "Royal Antwerp Watersport Guild") - left the port of Nieuwpoort for Ramsgate in the UK (Kent) across the North sea Channel, with Michael Van Schoor as skipper/owner, and me as 1 out a crew of 3.

Ages ago I published my 4 favourite running routes, which to date still remain my top training tracks. Since I got to prepare again for the "20 kilometers of Brussels" in May, and recently I became member of the "Zeilclub Hofstade", today I ventured direction Mechelen to test my luck in the forested domain surrounding the sailing club.

Doing a fair amount of ice & inline skating - respectively during Winter and Summer - but so far I've only gone rogue over frozen water in Harbin (Songhua river), the Summer Palace in Beijing (Kunming lake see last photo below from 1992) and as a teenager at Boekenbergpark in Antwerp (bit less exotic location).

Tonight a ribbon of thousand domino's falling from Potsdamer Platz via the Brandenburger Tor to the Reichstag will symbolize the coming down of the infamous Berlin Wall on the 9^th November 1989. This major world class event marked the effective beginning of "Die Wende", leading up to the re-unification of East & West Germany on 31^st August 1990. This twentieth anniversary means a lot to many, but most of all that I got a couple of days older.

2^nd week of August 2009 we plotted an Italian fun mix of sailing, sun, sightseeing, shopping and sheer slackening. Early morning Saturday 10^th at 4 o'clock we finally embarked destination Lake Garda - Italy's largest lakes in the Alps measuring approximately 50 kilometres South-South-West to North-North-East - on eastern shores in the province of Veneto.

110 kilometers from Soissons to Senlis

between the rivers l'Aisne and l'Oise

crossing the forests of Compiège et Chantilly.

Half a year flew by working, while my diary notes covering the week after the Beijing Olympics in August 2008 were left untouched. Back that time, my wife Shanshan and daughter Nicole had returned to Brussels, so did my Belgian colleagues Zhijun and Rik, while my other colleague Fred had hopped to Japan to realise his Tokyo dream.

Seldom in a lifetime one is offered the unique opportunity of becoming the heaven's one and only Jade Emperor (or yù huáng dà dì). This great honour was bestowed on me during the act performed by our first year of the Eurochine Chinese School (Floralia in Woluwe) on Saturday 24th January 2009. The entire crew has been working extremely hard on the play composed and directed by our Li lao shi (teacher Li).