Cheers to another great year!

I can't believe how fast 2007 has gone by.  Crazy isn't it?! 

In the joyful spirit of the holiday season and the hopeful spirit to another great year, I wanted to share with everyone this 50th Anniversary video from Hyatt.  I think it sends a very powerful message of what the true meaning of "service" really is.  And I have personally thought a lot lately about what is the "service" I want to contribute to my family, friends, community, society, etc. 

http://www.hyattwebelieve.com/?icamp=HY_hyattwebelieve_HPPS

Hyatt's donating $5 million over the next 5 years to 50 initiatives around the globe related to youth/education development and the environment.  All Hyatt employees are welcomed to nominate intiatives they are passionate about.  I'm gonna give ASPIRE a try - wohoo!

With that said, save the date for ASPIRE's 2008 Asian American Women in Leadership Conference!  We got Suchin Pak from MTV as keynote!

Happy holidays everyone where ever you are!  Wish you the very best for all your endeavors in 2008, and in the least cliche way possible, "may all your dreams come true"!  Hope to see everyone soon!

Back from London....jetlagged and over-caffinated

 London was a whirlwind of a trip but truly a global experience in every sense.  Although we had long days with a few 2-3 hour meetings each day, we were able to work with our coworkers and agencies from literally all over the world.  For our global PR meeting on Wednesday we had people come in from Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Berlin, New York Dubai, and of course London.  Over the course of an intensive 5-day pow wow, we've discovered that we all have nothing less of pure passion for fine hotel concepts and fine booz!

Arriving at Heathrow Airport with my teammates Karrie...

and Corinne...

London cabbies...  our ride from airport to hotel was 2 hours and 100 pounds and we passed every single major tourist site in London...  we were definitely ripped off!

Hotel lobby (aka "Living Room") of the newly renovated Great Eastern Hotel which will become the world's first Andaz.

You shall be checked in via laptops and portable PDA taplets!

Lobby atrium aka "Baby Guggenheim"

Corinne in front of lobby mirrors

Lobby library bar (the odd thing in the back)

"You make my heart go boom boom"

Miyabi Japanese restaurant - 20 seats, smallest restaurant in the hotel but highest grossing by cost per square meter

Karrie and Corinne conversing with Jaco, the F&B Director

"Catch" - Fine dining seafood restaurant.  We ordered everything on the menu - an elaborate 3 hour dinner with 10 people and....yes 10 bottles of wine.

Champagne Bar - I think the Brits can drink champagne any time, any day

Hotel room - not sure I'm a big fan of the white walls, which I think they will be changing soon

Flat screen TVs that can be pivoted in every direction

Excuse the mess

Love this walk-in closet with dark wood

Corinne and Karrie standing outside the hotel.  The "Great Eastern Hotel" sign will soon be changed to "Andaz"

Karrie and I with Simon, marketing communications manager, on our night out

Our agencies in London and NYC took us out for a night on the town at the Soho House, which is a member club for media folks...sounds snooty!

Corinne, Jennifer (from Sony Music), Karrie, Me and Miranda (I think she had a few too many drinks by flicking her finger)

Team Andaz after a few "flirtinis" which I proudly displayed

Checking out London Financial District, aka Liverpool Street

Taking the Tube to Harrod's

Finishing Friday night at Wagamama's...  even Corinne was craving light Asian food by the end of the week.  All that 5-star wining and dining...sheesh!

I actually had time to meet up with Mireille...for a whole hour!

Last toast at the Champagne Bar Friday night

We didn't have any time to walk around London except Friday afternoon starting at 4PM.  So on our way to the airport Saturday morning at 8AM, we asked the cab driver to drive by a few tourist spots and we literally hopped out for 2 seconds to take these photos... so sad!  Maybe I'll have more time to explore London next time!

On a Mission in London

I haven't posted much about work since I moved to Chicago.  Part of the reason's because the project I'm working on is very competitive so I can't really openly talk about it before it launches...yeah so cheesy

But, I can share that I was just recently appointed to work on another project:  Hyatt's new hotel brand called "Andaz", which is a Hindi word meaning "personal style".  You can probably get a sense of what this hotel would be like just by the name.  As far as product, there is no real competitor.  I was appointed, literally yesterday, to be on a small team of initially 3, who will be charged with the challenge of building and launching the "Andaz" brand, recognition, image, what have you.  We're actually going to London in 2 weeks to see the first property come to life - this is a conversion of an existing building.  But there will be 4 Andazes in the next 2 years or so.  The next one to open next fall will be in NYC Midtown, followed by NYC Wall Street, and then future plans are Beijing, Tokyo, LA, Shanghai, Dubai....to name a few.  So even though the "product" is created, it is only formed in the operational sense, my job now is to make sure people not only see it and experience it, but feel it, want it, understand it and love it even if they can't explain it, in every sense of the way.  Sounds exciting?!?!  I'm so psyched but also shitting in my pants.  Funny how I've been working on launch products since I got here.  Not a lot of structure but I love it, and I think I have to thank the ASPIRE experience for it.  Uhh...here's some kind of an idea, or here's no idea... GO!  hahah...

Basically our team is young.  I think we're all under 30.  The President of Hyatt International pretty much wanted people who fit the bill for young, high energy, creative, out of the box thinker, get things done, none or not much previous hotel experience, etc.  We were also told to not look at any competitors while we're in London, because there is no competitor.  We are creating the new experience...or so I hope!  I am totally psyched for this experience and until I see it in London... it feels completely surreal!

I feel like I'm on one of those reality shows....like Top Chef... or Top Model.  We're going to London but not sure what our next challenge is.  And we have to go through these challenges and meet with the "judges".  Ha!

Will keep y'all posted!

Yes I finished the f*in marathon!

(Picture coming soon)

That's right people...  I finished all 13.1 miles....dammit!  And now I officially know the definition of what bitter sweet means because that's literally what it felt like after hitting hard pavement with my own two feet for 2 hours and 40 minutes!  I still can't believe I did it, even though the pounding aches of my knees, a very sore back, walking around the office today like an old lady and excrutiating quad pains while I try to sit on the toilet are solid reminders that yes I did go through with it!

Eugene and I are both pretty surprised that after merely 8 weeks of training and having only run 9 miles max for each of us, we both finished it.  And it was definitely a tough feat, but it actually wasn't as impossible as I thought it would be.  The race itself, just by watching and being there, is definitely an adreneline rush.

We got up at 5:30AM and made sure we had a full breakfast with coffee, then met up with Eugene's coworkers Tom, Jean and Aaron to drive to the race which started at 7:30AM!!  Eugene, Tom and I shot out in the begining at 9 minute mile pace which was crazy since I usually train at 12 minute pace.  After 3 miles we started staggering, and 2 miles after that, even an arm length is hard to catch up to.  After 5 miles I had an overwhelming feeling of hunger and every time I tried to speed up I had a queezy feeling in my stomach that kept creeping up on me, screaming "FEED ME! FEED ME!"  And all the while I wonder where the home-made english mcmuffin with a perfectly fried egg and ham go?!?!

As I listened to my good old 1999 Korean dance mix and pounded the pavement with 12,000 or so other runners, I tried to stay focused and just looked forward to the gatorade and water stops at every 1.5 miles, all the while thinking what if I faint, what if I quit, what if I just collapse of hunger?  After about 7 miles my adreneline officially kicked in and I locked in my normal 12 minute pace.  I was also relieved that I finished 7 miles at 1 hour 18 minutes since anyone who took longer than 1 hour 30 minutes to run 7 miles could have been escorted off the course by the police....yikes!

After 9 miles I was totally exhausted and started running half a mile and walking half a mile.  I also started looking for markers along the way...  I'll start running at this sign and stop at the bridge...  I'll start at this pole and stop at this tree...  The same group of 20 or so runners and I were like horses on a merry-go-round - one second I'd jet ahead of all of them, and the next minute I would fall behind they cut in front of me. 

I have to say all the people that cheered along the way really helped!  I found it very interesting that even people that didn't know me would look at my name on my bib and shout "Go Amy you can do it!  Common keep going!"  A couple times I wanted to walk for a while, but the sheer excitement of everyone's cheers customized with my name made me feel guilty for not moving on with it.  But it definitely made me want to go to another marathon and cheer others on.

Finally when I was about half a mile from the finish line I played the Mission Impossible theme and started sprinting.  I honestly thought I was going to die at the end.  There are no pictures at the moment since we couldn't really carry our cameras, but there will be professional pictures of us running through the finish line very soon, which I'll surely share with everyone.

So I came in at #8993 out of 12,500, out of which 10,000+ finished.  My time was 2:43:46 exactly at a pace of 12:38 per mile, which I was very happy with since they said anyone who finished after 3 hours is considered "unfinished".  I also came in at 40% of my age group (26-30), meaning 60% of my age group that ran were faster than me...hahah!  Eugene came in 20 minutes ahead of me at a pace of 11:18 per mile.  We are both very happy we did it and most importantly we did it together!  Yay!   

Training for the marathon is a bitch...