Today I was reading an article about the new dotAsia domains in the South China Morning Post, where they announced that next week the dotAsia registry will go live. Spill Group Asia, however, already managed to get several of the best game-related names. Among others game.asia and games.asia, and both sites went live today! The current sites will be improved over the next couple of weeks and should become top destinations for online game players in Asia. I typed in several other .asia domains today, and it seems we are one of the first companies that went live on this top-level domain (or maybe even the very first!).

I was amazed to see that over 500,000 applications were filed for dotAsia domain names already, with 45,000 domains that received multiple applications. Some of the most sought-after names were buy.asia (more than 400 applicants), hot.asia, gold.asia, fun.asia, girl.asia, and of course sex.asia. According to the CEO of a leading domain-name acquisition firm “The .asia names have limitless potential. With over 510 million people online in the Asia-Pacific region, it’s the fastest-growing audience in the world.” I am therefore very happy that we managed to obtain these names, and that we can now start building great sites there.

Some domain names are already being auctioned, and I am surprised at the high prices that they fetch. For a domain like ace.asia a total price of more than USD 20,000 was paid, and mediaworld.asia went for over USD 10,000. Today bingo.asia and dating.asia will be auctioned off, giving an indication of the potential value of game.asia and games.asia. We will probably never sell these names, but it’s always nice to know 🙂

Zlong Games, Spill Group’s game development studio, produces a lot of flash games. Most do pretty well, and some become huge hits. The latest blockbuster is Uphill Rush, a racing game with dirt bikes, quads, trucks and skateboards, where you can perform lots of tricks on several obstacle courses. The game is completely free, like all our games, and can be found on thousands of websites all over the internet. The game is so popular that people even started to make their own video’s of their performance in the game, and upload them to YouTube!

The clip below, for example, shows a person who manages to finish three levels without falling. Another one is this one, where someone is trying to do some insane tricks. Some even found cheats and uploaded them to video sites. Of course I am very happy to see that people like our games! Thanks to the team at Zlong Games for doing such a good job, and to the Spill Group team in Holland for coming up with these game designs.

When I set up Spill Group Asia just over 2 years ago we were just two people, and worked from the China Bay offices (where I was a managing partner at that time). Within a few months we were at 7 people and we had to move to a separate office. We managed to get into the Jiaotong University Incubator Center in Xujiahui, together with tens of other start-ups. A nice working environment for a young company, especially considering the free help from the university and the low rent.

But when companies grow there comes a time that you have to leave the incubator center. Spill Group Asia now has about 70 people (including the developers in our game studio Zlong Games), and therefore a few weeks ago we were asked to look for a ‘regular’ office. We were lucky to find a place quickly, in the same Creative Park where Tudou used to have its offices until about 2 years ago.

Right now Spill Group Asia divides its staff over two separate offices, but in the new place we will all be in one space. Much better for the communication and company culture. We can still grow a bit (we have over 650 m2 available) and the central location on the Suzhou Creek close to People’s Park is also not bad. We plan to move late April / early May to the new office, after we finish redecoration of the place.

Every day the Shanghai Daily’s front page shows how many days are left until 08-08-08, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Today the front page told me that in exactly 150 days the Olympic Games will start. China already has its dedicated Olympic TV Channel where you can watch Chinese sportsmen and women prepare for the Games, or where they repeat all kinds of sports from past Olympics. It has become my station of choice to watch while running in the gym.

Also the preparation for the Olympic Torch relay is in full swing, and one of our friends was actually selected to be the torch runner for part of the route. The torch will even go to the top of Mount Everest this year, they were testing the feasibility of that during our Lhasa-Kathmandu bike ride last year, when we passed through Everest Base Camp. I am sure the progress of the torch run will be in the news every day.

Ogilvy decided it was a good time to do some research on the level of excitement of the Chinese for the Olympics, the Shanghai Daily reported today. According to their research 74 percent of the Chinese are either “excited” or “very excited”. In Beijing 79% of all people said that they were excited, and only 2% would leave the city in August (note that Chinese normally do not go on summer holidays like most Europeans do).

Strangely, the population of Beijing’s satellite-city Tianjin was among the least excited (no percentage reported). They would have the advantage that they could travel to Beijing by train for the event, without all the hassle of restrictions in car usage and other Olympic annoyances in their city. What’s also surprising is that the highest level of excitement was measured in Guangzhou (80 percent). This city is over 2000 km south of Beijing, and you would expect that the further away the less the excitement would be.

Generally I feel that the level of excitement is a lot higher than what I see around me. Most of my friends and colleagues in Shanghai like the Olympics, but it’s not (yet) a very big thing to many of them. Many tell me they would not even consider going to Beijing, in order to avoid the crowds and traffic problems.

According to the article 34 percent of Shanghainese plan to travel to Beijing for the Olympics. This is a figure I refuse to believe. That would mean that about 6 million people would travel from Shanghai to Beijing (and back) during the Olympics, totally impossible. Most could not even pay for the trip, especially not with the skyrocketing hotel prices. I therefore have some serious doubts about how the survey was performed. It’s nice for Ogilvy’s PR, but something about the results cannot be correct.

But whether the results are correct or not, I am sure the Games will be a huge success, and of course I am going to be there. I booked all event tickets long in advance, and also have my airplane tickets to Beijing (I even managed to use my Air China miles for that). So watch this blog in August for Olympic updates!

A couple of years ago I had a very nice apartment with a big balcony overlooking the Suzhou creek in Shanghai. Even though the Suzhou creek was not as nice then as it is now (but also not as dirty as 10 years ago), I really enjoyed sitting on my balcony watching the boats pass by while drinking a glass of wine or beer. The only bad thing was that my balcony was about twice as big as the balcony of the 20 stories of apartments above mine. Why was that bad? Because several of my upstairs neighbors had the habit of throwing things down from their balcony. No complete trash bins of course, but things like cigarette butts, chewing gum and the occasional newspaper. Annoying, but there was no way of knowing who did it so I could not do something about it.

Fast forward to today. I am now living at the top floor of another apartment building, so nobody can throw trash on my balcony. However, people below me still seem to do so, because this week a notice appeared in our building that warns people not to throw trash off their balcony. The notice says that over the past months the compound management noticed more and more trash on the ground. To prove it, they put some huge pictures of cigarette butts that were found on the ground. In order to stop the littering, the management warns the occupants of the building that they have now installed cameras, in order to catch the wrongdoers. A bit overdone, but at least they try to stop it.

But the thing that really caught my eye is the punishment in case they catch you: public shaming! The notice said that they will inform all the residents that you are the one who is responsible for the littering. Not sure how they plan to do that, I assume just by posting your name and the number of your apartment next to the elevator (where the notices are now as well), but I would not be surprised if they would even put your picture there. I look forward to seeing the offenders there 🙂 And one more thing: To make sure people don’t feel offended or want to save face, the notice ends with “make sure you inform your maids about this” – as if they would be smoking on the balconies!

One of the things I like about Hong Kong is that on Hong Kong Island you can walk from one shopping mall or skyscraper to the other using elevated walkways. Very convenient, you don’t need to cross streets and because they are covered you don’t even need an umbrella when it rains.

Shanghai is now going to copy this in Pudong, the financial and business district where most of the skyscrapers are located. There will be a ring-shaped elevated walkway linking most of the skyscrapers in Lujiazui (the CBD area around the Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao and IFC) and the metro stations. The plan is apparently already several years old, but only now it was approved.

The construction of the project will start in June already, but when the project will be finished was not reported so far. The first phase of the project will be a link between the Super Brand Mall on the Huangpu River and the almost finished International Financial Center.

I think it’s a great idea, because so far it has always been a hassle to walk around in the area. And I am sure it will be good for all the bars, restaurants and retail outlets if the tens of thousands of people living and working in the skyscrapers have easier access to them.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

I am using Twitter more and more, it’s an excellent tool to keep in touch with people, get some quick information that is difficult to find on the internet, and also a source of entertainment.

For the entertainment part I came across a Twitter user today, Confession. You can see the page at http://twitter.com/confession. People can leave their confessions, without other people knowing who posted it. As can expected on the ‘anonymous’ internet most are sex-related, and it’s frankly amazing what people put up here.

Some examples that were posted earlier today to givey you an idea (I just randomly copy/paste a couple of them):

• I wish my wife would have an affair so she’d stop being such a frigid ice queen.
• I only make friends with women I might have a chance at screwing.
• I think I was scared of the pink floyd song ‘Run Like Hell’ when I was younger, though I don’t know why now.
• i just farted…excuse me
• I still masturbate to the thought of my ex, almost nightly.
• Occasionally, I rub one out at work.
• Xeni Jardin might look like a drag queen, but I still think she’s smokin’ hot.
• My cock hooks to the left. If anyone wants to get fucked around a corner, I’m your man.
• my husband gave me an STD last year from his cheating. weak men make excuses to themselves for hurting others

I decided not to subscribe to the Twitter user, but it is an ‘interesting’ form of entertainment. It shows the worst of what people do or think, and maybe for some it’s a real substitute for a confession. Or do people just make these things up? Enjoy – or not…

If you want to follow my regular updates on Twitter go to http://twitter.com/marcvanderchijs (Not many confessions though 🙂

Overhead in an upscale restaurant in Xintiandi, while having lunch there today on their terrace in the sun. At the table next to me a couple sits down, an old Italian man in a suit without tie wearing dark sunglasses, and his young Chinese girlfriend who, judging from the way she acts, seems to be here for the first time. He wants to order beer, but she is a bit reluctant. He does not care, under the motto “a day without alcohol is a day not lived”. The waiter arrives at their table.

Man (in a thick Italian accent): “Two Heineken please”
Waiter: “Large or small, sir?”
Man: “Ah, you have different sizes. Then give us a large one with two glasses”
Waiter: “OK, a large Heineken with two glasses”
Man: “Make sure it is ice cold”
Waiter: “OK, with ice” and immediately walks away
Man (screaming loudly at the waiter who is almost inside already): “No, no ice, I just want ice cold beer”
Waiter: “OK, cold beer”

2 minutes later the waiter comes back with a large glass of draft beer and two small empty glasses. The Italian almost goes ballistic: “I ordered a large bottle of beer” (he did not, by the way, he just assumed it would be a bottle – which is of course logical if you ask for two glasses with a beer). The inexperienced waiter has no idea what he did wrong and brings another large draft beer to cool the man down. But now the young girl is not happy, because she suddenly has to drink a whole large beer by herself.

I decide to leave the couple to themselves, ask for the bill and leave the scene.