Note: The original post partly disappeared after a WordPress update, so I restored it to an earlier version. The pictures and some revisions have not survived the restore, but at least most of the text is still here.

I am in the Narita Express from Tokyo to Narita airport after a 24 hour trip to Tokyo for some meetings. Just a couple of random observations, first a couple related to the huge earthquake:

– I had not been here since the 9.0 earthquake and nuclear disaster (except for a unscheduled landing in southern Japan less than 2 days after the earthquake) and daily life seems to have changed a bit. It had the feeling that it was much less busy on the streets of Shinjuku than before, and my Japanese colleague confirmed this. Some restaurants and shops in this busy shopping district seemed to be closed and also in the shopping arcade below the Hilton a lot of places either closed early or did not open at all.
– There are a lot less tourists, up to 65% less than a year ago someone told me. Outside Tokyo at some places up to 90% less. Normally I don’t stay in 5-star hotels in Japan because I find the ridiculously expensive, but this time I was able to get a room in the Hilton for less than I normally pay for a room where I can’t even open my suitcase. Despite these low rates the Hilton did not seem full, I was supposed to get a low floor room (I was asked if I wanted to pay more for a higher floor room and said no) but upon check-in I got a room on the 23rd floor. Later I noticed that the elevator didn’t stop once at any floor below the 20th despite me traveling up and down at least 6 times during my stay. Could be a coincidence of course.
– The Narita Express has an adjusted schedule (it does not ride between 12 and 2 pm for example) because there are less tourists and business people. Yesterday I took the express bus into town and that was 3/4 empty as well.
– My colleague told me that all households and businesses have to reduce their electricity expenses by 15-20% and this is actively checked – different from China where this kind of measures are often announced (‘Offices can’t set the airconditioner to temperature below 26C’), but nobody ever bothers to check.
– Generally I felt that the Tokyo vibe was not there anymore. Maybe because I was here on a Monday and it was a rainy, foggy and humid day, but still. People seemed more serious. Maybe it’s just me?

Some other things, unrelated to the natural disaster:
– I am always surprised by the high level of service in Japan. From the guys who put the suitcases on the express bus all bowing to the passengers when the bus leaves to the extremely friendly staff at the hotel. This morning when I got back to the hotel after a run in Shinjuku’s Central Park the door lady handed me a bottle of mineral water. I have been running at many hotels all over this planet but I don’t think this ever happened to me before.
– During running runners greet each other. Runners probably know this, but this does not happen in many countries and certainly not in the big cities. Even in Holland runners only seem to greet each other when you’re in the countryside. Interesting observation for me.
– Lots of homeless people in Shinjuku’s Central Park, part of the park looks like a slum where they built their own houses out of blue plastic and wood. Surprised to see this in the middle of this expensive city. Someone explained me that they used to stay in the train stations but they were kicked out by the police.
– I complain a lot about air pollution in Shanghai, but the air in Tokyo this morning was not clean either. I felt it in my lungs during my run. Maybe I should have run earlier instead of during rush hour (I ran around 8 AM)?
– While running in the morning I noticed once again that most salary workers in Japan dress the same: white shirt with tie and black pants (and with a jacket if it’s a bit colder). No room for creativity or individualism there, just a standard plain work uniform ordered by the company. I could not do it (anymore). Japan dresses more conservatively anyway, even in game companies you see a lot of suits and ties – try that at Spil Games! 🙂

And 2 more tech related things:
– You still see a high number of feature phones in Japan. I had expected that by now the iPhone and Android would have taken over, but when taking the train most people are still using their (by now outdated) feature phones. I understand why of course, most sites and apps are still optimized for them and people have been using them for years already (plus several other reasons such as that you can pay with them etc.), but I thought I would see more smart phones by now. I took a look in some phone shops around Shinjuku and even there most of the phones that were sold still seemed to be feature phones instead of smart phones. The smart phones that I saw were mainly iPhone 4 models, not Android. I wonder how this will be in 6 months.
– My Nike+ GPS watch perfectly fine in the Tokyo urban jungle. After my bad experience in Shanghai a few weeks ago I was looking forward to trying it out in Japan to see if it would work here. My watch hooked onto a satellite within 30 seconds, had a small error during the first 300 meters but then was exactly right. And this despite running between skyscrapers! I therefore don’t think that the error I got in Shanghai had anything to do with running between houses, but was really related to something else (see also the comments below that post).

I am almost at Narita airport, so I am going to end this post. I had a nice day in Japan, I always like to spend time here. I sometimes say it’s a more civilized version of China (please no hate mail!), but wonder if China will ever be like Japan. China is more rough, which is not necessary a bad thing. Maybe Japan was like this as well 50 or 100 years ago? I don’t know. The rules and regulations sometimes get on my nerves in Japan (even in the bus they ‘kindly’ remind you to wear your seat belt), but I have a similar aversion to some of the rules in the US. There is no perfect place on this planet, thats why I like to travel every now and then – and sometimes put down my observations in a blog post so I can read them again in a year or 2.

A quick blog post about a book I finished a couple of days ago and that I truly enjoyed. I first didn’t plan to blog about it, but on the plane today I was thinking about the novel again and thought it was actually so good that I should share it with my readers. If you love the Stieg Larsson trilogy you should read Jo Nesbo’s latest thriller The Snowman, set in a snowy Oslo and Bergen. It’s one of those books that you want to keep on reading, it only takes a couple of pages to get completely absorbed in the story and after that you can’t put it down anymore.

The book is a serial killer whodunit, in which detective Harry Hole tries to solve the disappearance of several mothers that have one thing in common: a snowman was built outside their house around the time they went missing. The police think that they have solved the crime quickly, but Harry is not convinced and keeps on searching. Even though I can’t relate to Harry at all (exactly like I had with the main characters in Stieg Larssons novels), I think it’s a great novel with a well thought out storyline and an unexpected ending. If you’re into thrillers give this one a try for your summer holiday – or wait until your winter holiday, somehow it feels weird to read about cold and snow when it’s 35 degrees outside.

Cross-posted on the Business Insider: Social Games: Same Meat Different Gravy?

One of the biggest trends on the Internet over the past 3 years has been the rise of social games. Much of Facebook’s growth came from these games, and some of the biggest and most valuable Internet companies are social game companies. But are social games really something new? And what kind of social games can we expect in the future?

The revolution in gaming is that the most popular online games are now social games. There is a different game play at work that allows you to play not only against your friends but also with your friends, in an environment that is less time consuming than traditional MMO games. Most people don’t realize this, but the concepts of these games are actually not new. The theme and basic game play of many games are very similar to that of games that were popular before the first social game was even invented.

To illustrate this, take a look at the most popular social games and compare these to (former) top downloadable games. Many of these turn out to be very similar. Zynga’s hit title Cityville is almost a copy of The Sims, where you also need to build and manage your own city. The Cafe World genre is based on the popular Diner Dash titles where you run a cafe or restaurant. Farmville games are based on the farm genre that has been around since the mid-1990s. And some of Playdom’s popular titles are just hidden object games, the kind of game that has been very popular with women for almost a decade.

The games itself are not that different, the main change is that they are now much more social. A social layer was put on top of existing games so that you can play with your friends as well, either in a competitive way or by helping them. Going away from competitiveness is important, because it turns out that many women don’t really want to play competitive games. They like to play with their friends, but not always against them. Game play is more about communication than about competition.

Traditionally games have always been social, think about most board games. Those are normally games that you play with your friends or family, not games that you play on your own. Social games appeal to us because human beings are social animals that prefer to play with other people instead of only playing alone. For a long time that was not possible with downloadable games on a PC, but the Internet made it possible to play with people again.

For the future of social games that means that it’s unlikely that many new themes will suddenly appear, most of the famous download games have been made into social games already. The social layer may become more advanced and graphics will likely get better, but I don’t expect a whole genre of new games to suddenly appear. Likely more simple casual games will be transformed into social games, something you now already see with games that popular games such as Bejeweled (made by Popcap). Also you will see that traditional single player flash games get a social layer on top, so that you can post your high scores and compare your results with your friends. Spil Games is adding these features to all of its new flash games for example, not only on the web but also for mobile games.

The biggest change for social games will likely be that they will be played on a mobile device (phone or tablet) instead of on a PC or laptop. This will change some elements of the game play (touch vs. keyboard/mouse) but it can also add a location based element. That may lead to some interesting new ideas in which real world locations can be used in social games (Foursquare meets Cityville anyone?).

Concluding, social games are quite similar to traditional popular download titles and it is not likely that complete new genres will appear soon. More likely existing casual games will get social functions and many of the future popular games will be played on mobile devices. There the innovation will take place, not in the game themes.

Today The Next Web had an excellent infographic about 3D printing. I have been following the technology for about a year now and think the next Google, Microsoft or Apple may come from this part of the industrial world. If you are new to 3D printing go through the below graphic, it’s a fascinating industry. Not just to print your own cups or plates (which is fun of course), but also for more serious things. Did you know that in the near future you may be able to print your own new organs?

Original source of the infographic: Sculpteo

I somehow thought 2011 would be a more relaxed year than the past years, but that seems to have been wishful thinking. The past months have been at least as busy as last year, work wise but also privately. I am more relaxed in my day to day work after leaving the CEO position at Spil Games Asia, but I am still spending way too many hours behind my laptop or on the phone. That in combination with a lot of business trips with major jet lags (I would need to check this blog to see how many times I have flown to either Europe or the US this year already, if all trips are even on here) means that I feel physically tired. I still do a lot of sports and am in decent shape (I ran 15 km on Tuesday morning before going to the office for example), but I feel I am ready for a holiday to recharge my batteries.

So that’s what I am going to do! In about 2 weeks I am taking the family to Europe for a few weeks of rest & relaxation. I will combine it with a bit of work of course: I can’t let go completely, I learned over the years that not checking and answering emails makes me feel more stressed. We’ll likely spend some time with my parents and we plan to spend a week on the Cote d’Azure where we’ll rent a nice villa with pool (and fast wifi…). I like the south of France, a nice climate, excellent food and a good supply of great wines. With Spil Games I will spend a few days on the Dutch island of Vlieland, where the company outing will take place – haven’t been there in years, looking forward to it. And with the family we might also visit some other places in Europe (maybe Luxembourg again?).

I plan to do some more writing during my holidays as well, I have an outline for several online game and entrepreneurship related articles in my head that I want to put on paper (or more precisely, on the Internet). I just need a few quiet hours for them, but I don’t seem to find that time in China. And of course more sports: on November 6 my dad, sister and I will run the New York marathon, so I need to start running longer distances more regularly. In China I mainly run indoors which is not only relatively boring (well, at least I get to watch some movies while running) but it also can’t really prepare you for a long run on asphalt with some elevations. The half marathon I ran about 2 months ago in Yangzhou caused me quite some muscle ache the days after because I am just not used to running on asphalt on my Vibram FiveFingers.

I am now also preparing a list of books that I want to read. Mainly thrillers and some new literature, haven’t made up my mind yet but will do so over the next couple of days. I don’t want to bring any physical books (with 2 kids we already have enough luggage), but luckily most books are available on my Kindle as well. Or if there is only a paper version I just buy or order the book(s) in Holland, then I don’t need to bring them over from China.

Writing this blog post already puts me in a holiday mood, I am looking forward to the trip in July!

Last night my wife and I planned to have a dinner together and we had decided to try out Jimmy’s Kitchen in the old Jinjiang Hotel on Maoming Lu. Late afternoon Sam Flemming got in touch with me to see if I knew a place that would still have a table available for him and his wife (if you don’t reserve in advance on a Friday night it’s almost impossible to still find a table in a good place), so we invited him to join us at Jimmy’s. He had also not been there yet and it turned out to be a good choice.

In the 1920s, 30s and 40s, Jimmy’s Kitchen was the place to be for good Western food in Shanghai. It was the first Western restaurant in town, and according to their advertising from those days the only one with a clean (open) kitchen. But in 1948, shortly before the Communist takeover, Jimmy packed his bags and left for Hong Kong, never to return to Shanghai.

But 63 years later Jimmy’s Kitchen is back – without Jimmy, who passed away back in 1990 in Dallas, Texas – but with a similar menu as the one from the old days and a similar ambiance. A huge menu with among others such classical items as Borscht, Lobster Bisque and French Onion soup in the soup section. Prawn Cocktail, Home Cured Norwegian Salmon, Fresh (French) Oysters, Iberico Ham and Foie Gras (parfait or pan friend) as appetizers. And in the classical main course section among others Steak Tartar, Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff and Ox Tail Pot au Feu! There is also a large choice in curries and pasta and rice dishes, plus fresh fishes (from Fish and Chips to Boston Lobster!)

I decided to go for the Mulligatawny (an Anglo-Indian lightly spicy curry soup), that came recommended by the manager. For my main course my choice was a good old Tenderloin. Jimmy’s has a broiler that prepares the meat at 650 Celsius and the result was excellent. Together with the side dishes and two bottles of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon I was so full that I decided to skip the dessert menu (think Hot Sticky Date Pudding!) and just have some coffee.

Jimmy’s Kitchen location in the renovated old wing of the JinJiang hotel feels exactly right. The restaurant is a bit dark inside with leather seats and booths and soft lightning, reminding me of good US steak house. The service is top, waiters speak good English and are very attentive. Not something you can take for granted in all of Shanghai’s top restaurants.

We had a very enjoyable dinner. Not only was the food great, but also the conversations with Sam and Vennie were interesting and entertaining (and a lot of what we said was unbloggable). We decided to stay away from business topics as much as possible, talking more about developments in the Chinese Internet world and (long-term) plans for the future. We seem to have more in common than I realized. A nice evening in a great setting. I’ll be back.

During my last trip to California I bought a Nike+ watch to record my runs. The watch (powered by TomTom) uses satellite navigation to calculate your position, so you can get all kinds of statistics about your runs. A cool gadget that worked flawlessly in the US, Germany and Luxembourg over the past 2 weeks. But not in China: when I did an outside run today and looked at the map of my run afterward I realized that the data are incorrect. This is the map of my run:

My start and end position are the same, but on the map they appear at different locations. That’s already an indication that something is not right. Next to that both the start and end position are in the wrong location, both are about 200-300 meters off the real place. During the run you can really see that the satellite data is manipulated, because I ran 4 loops of each about 900 meters (exactly the same loop 4 times in a row). The first one measured 800 meters, the second one 920, the third 850 and the fourth 880, too much of an error margin to be reasonable. When you look on the map you can see why: none of the 4 loops is in the same position! While running, the satellite changes the data it sends to my watch, meaning that you never know exactly where you are.

I re-checked my runs in Europe and the US and there is no error whatsoever. So it is China specific. This means the watch is not very useful here, at least not for precise measurements. I read before about GPS data from non-Chinese devices (=data from non-Chinese satellites) being slightly incorrect, but I did not realize how big the error is until I saw it myself. And worse, the error seems to change randomly over time.

Luckily I mainly run on my home treadmill when in Shanghai: air pollution is normally too bad to run outside, but today it was raining so I made an exception to run in the open air. So when I use my watch it’s normally outside China where it works well. But it still sucks that Big Brother is messing with satellite data. At least I now know it, so I won’t rely on my watch to tell me exactly where I am.

Last Thursday I flew to Duesseldorf (Germany) to speak at the Persgroep Advertiser’s Summit. I hadn’t been to Duesseldorf in several years and it was nice to be back there. The Persgroep is a Belgian/Dutch media conglomerate (mainly traditional media) that invited its top advertisers to a yearly event with speakers, good food & drinks and excellent entertainment.

I arrived on Thursday morning, but the rest of the group only arrived at 2 pm (they had their own chartered plane from Amsterdam, but I flew in through Frankfurt). That gave me some time to go for a sightseeing run through Duesseldorf. I ran along the Rhine river to the old city center of Duesseldorf, which was a very enjoyable experience after a night on a plane. The air was so clean and the views excellent. Once again I realized that this is what I miss so much in overcrowded and polluted Shanghai. You can’t have it all, but I am glad I often travel so that at least I can run outside a few times per month.

Some of the other speakers at the Summit were Christian van Thillo (CEO of De Persgroep), the editors-in-chief of Dutch newspapers AD, Volkskrant, Trouw and Parool, and communications guru Carmine Gallo (with a great talk about the presentation secrets of Steve Jobs). The overall theme of the summit was building brands, and I actually watched most sessions because they were so interesting. Normally at conferences I sort of zone out after a few speakers and start doing emails, but this time I stayed to watch most of the presentations and interviews.

Of course the food, wines and entertainment were also excellent. I had already heard from people that attended last year’s event that this sets the event apart from many others in the market, the Persgroep really put an effort in to give its advertisers the best of the best. Of course the hotel was great as well, we were all staying in the Hyatt in Duesseldorf (located in the trendy area Medienhafen). I was pleasantly surprised that the organization gave a me a suite – so big that I only found out on the morning that I left that the suite had 2 bathrooms, I had assumed that the door to the 2nd bathroom was a wardrobe or so. All in all the event was very well organized had some interesting participants. It’s an invitation only summit, but in case you should get invited for next year’s event you should try to attend.

After the conference was over my parents came to pick me up and we drove to Luxembourg to visit my sister. She moved there a couple of weeks ago (she is now working in the trust world) and I thought this would be a good opportunity to see her new working and living environment. We arrived around 7 pm at her office and had a beer there with some of her colleagues (I was actually surprised to see people still working at 7 pm on a Friday evening, so China is not unique in that sense). We then drove to my sister’s house, where we had a bottle of Pinot Gris on her terrace with a nice view over part of Luxembourg city and the valley. At night we walked around the old city center (with lots of bars and restaurants) and had a big Italian dinner there.

Saturday morning we started with a one hour trail run through the woods. Most of the run was either up- or downhill, which was quite different from my normal runs! But we took it very easy, so we all enjoyed it (we=my dad, my sister & me). Two of my sister’s friends had driven over on Saturday morning and they went shopping most of the day. Not my favorite pastime, so my dad and I decided to do some sightseeing and enjoy Luxembourg food and wine at one of the cities many terraces. I had not been to Luxembourg in many years and had forgotten how beautiful the city is. Very old with lots of magnificent buildings in a very hilly landscape. I liked it a lot and fully understand why my sister decided to move here!

I only stayed in Luxembourg one full day and on Sunday I flew back to my family in Shanghai. I very much enjoyed the 3-day trip to Europe and will certainly be back in Luxembourg soon.