Balabanova All Over

Monthly Archives: May 2011

[Singapore, Singapore] Another day, another dollar! Or, in this case, another two days, two more attractions and two interviews! We started off our Wednesday morning with our first mobile payments interview. As exciting as that was all on its own, it was even better that it happened on the 33rd floor of the Citibank building, in a corner meeting room overlooking the harbor. Not a bad way to start the day!

[Singapore, Singapore] Upon arriving in Singapore around 3 am local time today, we stood in the lobby of our hotel, desperately trying to determine what “tomorrow” meant – Monday, May 15th, Tuesday, May 16th or Wednesday, May 17th? We had traveled through so many time zones that “yesterday” and “tomorrow” had become meaningless and induced only furrowed brows and confused looks. One thing, however, was pretty clear – the day was just… Read More

[Los Angeles, CA] After much packing and re-packing and transferring items between check-in and carry-on luggage, I finally got it all straight late last night. After all the trouble I went through to comply with Singapore Airlines’ checked-in luggage guidelines, I was relieved and even a little bit perturbed to see other travelers hauling around a lot bigger suitcases than mine. It wasn’t until I headed to the airport that equal parts… Read More

[Los Angeles, CA] As part of my MBA program at Loyola Marymount University,  I am taking a class that involves a year-long research project and culminates in a three-week trip abroad. My team, Seal Team 8 (a nod to our professor’s name, Dr. Kala Seal) has chosen mobile payments as our topic. We are about to finalize our research by interviewing leading experts in the mobile payments industry in Singapore, India and Hong Kong. We leave in… Read More