First, I Visit My Tailor

I waqs reading in Forbes Life an article interviewing Hosain Rahman, CEO of Aliph, out of San Francisco. He says the first thing he does after landing in Hong Kong is go see his tailor. I laughed because so do I, although I generally kept that quiet thinking it seems a little self-indulgent. Upon reflection, about the only clothes I ever buy are tailored in Hong Kong, because of the exceptional value, so it is a necessity. And then there are the other reasons:

A. A tailor knows what is going on and can update you on current events in Hong Kong.

B. When you lay out the purpose of your visit to your tailor, they are so well connected they usually have plenty of tips and maybe even some contacts.

C. Like a barber you end up meeting others randomly which often results in good connections.

D. No matter how familiar one gets with Hong Kong, it is just plain good to see an old friend at the start of the trip.

I suppose as I get older I'll eventually have a doctor in Thailand, a banker in Japan and a lawyer in India I will meet once a year, inevitable as govt policies distort our economy.

As an aside, this Mr. Rahman answers he knew he had made it in business when he saw his product (the Jawbone, a Bluetooth product) for sale in an open air market. Just so... note he was delighted, not alarmed. He has his customers, the open air vendors have theirs. No problem.

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