Mlynec, Prague, Czech Republic

Zohra Moulai brings people together in professional environment (and also in a home environment). She is of Berber origin (Northeast African ethnic groups - Zenadine Zidane is also of Berber origin), born and raised in Metz in Northeastern France and now lives and works in London. She graduated at Paul Verlaine University in Metz - her major was American and English Civilization and Literature. She used to have a lot of different jobs already: from waitress, event organisation, she managed serviced offices for EBC, TBWA and MLS. She also worked at RoadAds media company (trucks advertising), Press Index media company reading and analyzing newspaper articles to find out general opinion and Les Senioriales selling the "Florida" concept in South of France. Her latest job is with Baptie&Co. She likes books. A lot. Her latest darling is My name is red by Orhan Pamuk.). She doesn't like sports, but just loves cooking. She says it is very efficient as a therapy after a stressful day. She also likes to be an entertaining host - inviting people and building bridges between them. With a lot of extra time and money she would take a select group of people and take them to Africa and manage schools there. She would never go on her own, but with a group of friends. Building bridges as she goes.




Bernhard Shaefer ... maybe featured on the blog sometime ...


Mlynec is a very, very nice restaurant on a top location in Prague - near Karl's bridge.
This was our menu on that evening:

Amuse Bouche
.
Tuna Sashimi, Gazpacho Sorbet,
Smoked Papaya & Rucola Salad
.
Grilled Beef Tourmedos with Fennel Confit
& Balsamic Sauce
.
Coconut Panna Cotta with White Chocolate,
Tropical Fruits Sauce

Rickshaw, Corinthia Towers, Prague, Czech Republic

Nice Asian place in Corinthia Towers hotel.


Yes, Asian place ...


... with smoking department outside.


Colin Jones. Direct marketing services specialist. Working for Linea Directa. Born and raised in Billingham, Colin is a Newcastle United freak. Brits live on an island, but still have the nerve to call themselves Southerners and the other insignificant :). Not being "one of them" would earn you some really weird looks in pubs. He worked in Nottingham, Ljubljana and now in Bratislava. His grandparents were coalminers in Durham County. Ljubljana invasion with Easyjetters -sleazyjetters. That was kinda funny. Bratislava example of discrimination: Brits get charged far more for admission to Charlie Club. He finished Nottingham Trent University, major in political science. His past time consists of beer. Good beer. And, of course football. Newcastle United. And there's place for music. Guitar. In his wildest dreams he would own and manage Newcastle. What else. "Freddy Shapherd is a fat fuck and I hate him."


Sticks'n'beers'n'rice'n'prawns. N'ice.

Pizza Pazza, Polus, Bratislava, Slovakia

Diverse food court in Polus City Center




Michal Slovak sells software. IBM software. In Slovakia. He is originally from Piestany, a Slovak town known for its spa. Slovak is a pretty common surname in Slovakia.Michal earned his MBA degree in Bratislava and has been working in IT since. Avnet and IBM. He's learning to play tennis and is also taking glider plane lessons. There's a lot of gliding in front of him in his life. With extra time and money he would also teach children. All sorts of things.

Pizzeria Oliva, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Tea time with a big, fat, juicy burger.


Oliva. Very popular, old style pizzeria in Ljubljana.

Due to intense debate, I totally forgot to take a photo of Tadej Muha inside pizzeria and had to take it later outside of a place called Fun Factory. There was a Greek Goddess AIDS charity night going on there - powered by Leopatra.


Tadej Muha - founder and owner of A-Soft, a company that primarily works in IT education, Service Desk/Remote support business and operations/HR outsourcing. He grew up and still lives in Horjul. He's just built himself a really nice house with pool there. Surname Muha is of Czech origin. His wife Vika is a Slavist, but Tadej still didn't manage to get the dual (grammatical number) right. And that's a problem that a lot of Slovenes have. Prior to starting his own company, Tadej worked in IT education field for Miska, MikroAda (long ago founded and owned by Slovenian current prime minister) He has a "fresh" 2 month old daughter Stela. He spends a lot of time around his new house, fixing environment and pool. Apart from taking part in sports activities (tennis, body pump) he also likes to organize them. That's his true passion. He is founder and chairman of Extrem.

McDonalds, Copova, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Fast, Big, Tasty - McDonald's. Big Tasty Menu 990 SIT.


Matija Nendl, a 24 year old IBM "newbie". His first month on board. He is just about to finish Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, majoring in HR management. Before joining IBM as his first formal employment, he was a very busy student. He worked for Student Organization. One of his tasks was to promote the new Bologna Process in Higher Education. He also made steps into student politics, was working as ski instructor and even as waiter - Slovenian students do have interesting time during studying. Matija comes from Skofja vas near Celje and he recommended to read a book about networking: Nexus. His grand-uncle is somewhat related to a late Slovenian national hero Dusan Kveder. Avid paintball fighter. Slovenian league. Someway along the way to MBA and beyond his purpose will also crystallize.


Gimme, gimme, gimme a burger for midday ...

Chick Pizz, Lahore, Pakistan

Chick Pizz. Abbreviation?


Ready to serve mister ...


Waseem Khokhar - working for IBM in Pakistan. A busy man. Doing his best to keep IBM Business Partners satisfied, selling and working with IBM software. Has a young family and loves hiking on Pakistani mountains. (Google's Blogger is pretty reliable, but original post was unfortunately lost and that's all I can remember from our Chick Pizz lunch after a really long time)


Funeral procession on the main street.

Cocoo's Den & Cafe, Lahore, Pakistan

Shisha place. Relaxed. After Cocoo's Den.


Cooco's Den is full of artifacts. Variety.


After Cocoo's shisha chillin' with Hasan and Muneeza. It was "fit", "tight" and it "clicked". Pakistani slang.


Cocoo's Den is pretty famous. Read the story about the Cocoo's Den in Time.com article. Very interesting story involving a painter and Lahore's Red Light district.


Red light district. Home of Cocoo's Den.


Hasan Zaid works for Roma Business Machines taking care of IBM Software. His wife Muneeza Hasan is in brokerage business and is about to help open JP Morgan office in Pakistan. Moneeza took Hasan's first name for her last name. They do that. We had Tawa Chicken and Brain Masala - goat's brain .. yummy & brainy :) Hasan is Karachi born, worked for a while in UK where he also finished Oxford Brookes University. Prior to Roma he also worked for Jaffar Brothers and ITP in Dubai. Muneeza has a MBA in Finance from University of Karachi. She worked for AKD before deciding to start with new JP Morgan office in Karachi. He plays basket, they both play card games and enjoy movies and books. With unlimited time&money Hasan would buy Arsenal and would manage it.


They cook on the street and lift the food up on the roof to serve it.


Did you know that blind people also play cricket? http://www.blindcricket.org.uk/ They hear the ball. Amazing.

Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore, Pakistan

Interesting and interested audience listening to new things.


Unnecessary crowd and cues at the airport incoming control. An issue that most of developing countries need to sort out to improve the first impression of visitors.


Well prepared venue. Pakistanis are very hospitable.


Shahjahan Larik - an enthusiastic and ambitious young man, techie in his heart and with a lot of marketing and sales skills. Currently taking care of IBM Software Sales in Pakistan.


Beetroot juice. A potent potion.

Fatafeet Cafe, Siemens building, Internet City, Dubai

Dubai by night. Amazing city.




Artificial, yet very nice lagoon amid office buildings. 20th November - the very first time in 2006 that it actually rained in Dubai. We had to change tables to get away from the rain. Imagine that.


Predrag Lucic (Lučić) will take care of your IBM Tivoli services needs. He was born in Prijepolje in Serbia, was raised and lived in Ljubljana and recently moved to Dubai to work for IBM office here. After finishing Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Slovenia he worked for Fotona, Cading and IBM. Has 2 kids well on their way to be independent soon. Golf enthusiast - Dubai being one of the best places for that. Also tennis and football. He devours books - one of the latest: From Science To God by Peter Russell. His path leads him to more non-business travel, even more golf, and even more research below nano and beyond consciousness. And Pedjo (as Predrag is called by friends) is not a "cicija".