A JOURNAL SINCE 2005

5561

Named after the number of the house where I grew up in Chile. Personal stories, travel, product and AI, books, and a thank-you to every year since 2013.

251 posts · English y español · RSS

Welcome to 5561CL

I went online back in 2005 to explore the exciting and ‘new’ world of blogs. What it started like a personal journal is now a full fletched website that I mainly use for professional purposes.

However, in 5561CL -the number of the house where I grew up in, back in Chile - I speak about more personal things, from my ‘thanks [insert year] series, to my travels around the world and certainly, some explorations around fintech, product management, real states or economics, all topics I’m very fond of.

With that being said, welcome to 5561CL a blog that contains personal stories dating back 2013, the year I moved to Milan to pursue my MBA

Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

La comida

No tengo idea que escribir esta vez. Más bien tengo la necesidad. La necesidad de sentarme frente al teclado como tantas otras veces y crear algo donde antes no habia nada. En este caso, un post sobre la comida, los libros y la vida.

Estoy leyendo dos libros en estos momentos.

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Ideas & Business Cristian Garcia Ideas & Business Cristian Garcia

The Circular Economy

Two weeks ago, I joined The Ellen MacArthur Foundation on a MOOC created especially for executive education. I met them personally while doing my MBA in Italy. They are moving worldwide to create awareness on the importance of Circular Economy.

Since I love the subject, I thought about sharing my thought after 2 weeks of classes.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

El aperitivo en Milan

Milán es caro. Bastante caro. No lo digo yo, lo dicen las cifras:

Fuente: Numbeo

Lo sé, bastante mal para el bolsillo. Pero no todo es terrible. Cuando me vaya de Milán, me llevaré por siempre el recuerdo del aperitivo.

La primera vez que escuche la palabra, me pareció bastante extraño. El aperitivo que yo conozco se hace antes de la cena. Si vamos a un aperitivo, ¿luego cenamos y después tomamos el bajativo? ¿Por qué no pasamos a la cena directamente?. Ni idea, supuse que era una excentricidad italiana.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

Drink coffee in Italy like an italian

I came to Italy for several reasons:

Get an MBA

Learn how this guys have built so many - recession-proof companies (from Luxottica to the recent slow food movement).

Learn a third language.

History

Coffee and wine.

Coffee is last but not least on my least on my list. If you know me, then you know I love coffee. I even travel with my milanese moka everywhere and I always have grounded arabica beans in my fridge. Today I got Lavazza Espresso crema e gusto to start the weekend.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

En que he estado - Update

Hace un buen rato que no me sentaba frente al computador a escribir sobre cosas que no estén relacionadas con el trabajo (paso 8 horas al menos escribiendo cada día, pero todo ha sido relacionado a mi internship y Universidad).

Siempre me ha gustado hacer pausas y dedicar unos minuto al ejercicio creativo y/o físico (dos cosas absolutamente irrenunciables en mi vida). Si bien afortunadamente no he parado de hacer deporte, necesitaba detenerme, escribir y actualizar el blog.

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Product & AI Cristian Garcia Product & AI Cristian Garcia

The moral dilemma of Big Data

I started reading a quite interesting book (Fool’s Gold) on the economic meltdown that JP Morgan and other financial institutions triggered in the mid 90’s. The credit swap basically destroyed the world economy and left scars that still have repercussions. Not even corporate governance could regulate a grey area that was absolutely “invented and adapted” to a new scenery that only wanted to bring a new fixed income to the Bank. Everyone fell, even all those that came later into swap craze: Citigroup, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and the thundering herd at Merrill Lynch.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Beijing, China

When Cristian invited me to post in his blog I was thinking what to write, and not because I have nothing to tell but because it’s hard to decide from where to start. So I decided to tell you my about my first experiences in this amazing city.

It’s already more than a month that I am out of Italy for my MBA exchange program. I arrived with a part – time MBA classmate which was great because it was my first time coming to China and I was clueless on what to expect on the arrival.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Brussels

The capital of Belgium is one of those places I never thought about visiting. My 14th country is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to (along with Uruguay and Czech Republic). Belgium and I share a lot in common. Bicycles, slow food, cafés, businesses and a multicultural society made me fall quite easily with the city.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

SelfManagement

Through my life I have come to understand that in order to lead others, first you have to lead yourself. And to know yourself, you have to go through a lot to succeed.

Most people surprise when I tell them I want to live to 100 years old, but I cannot help it. This life is too beautiful to let it go or stop exploring. There is so much to be done and so much to learn out there.

Before turning 30, I have accomplish several personal and professional goals. Im happy and proud, but still I remain as hungry and ambitious as my first day.

Currently I’m writing my first book and I just joined the government of my country in Italy to keep on building Chile’s image abroad, which is a huge source of pride and joy for me.

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Product & AI Cristian Garcia Product & AI Cristian Garcia

Trabajando con IBM Italia en Big Data

This week, we had the chance to enjoy a 2 days workshop with IBM’s leading data scientists. The whole experience had highlights and things to improve, however, it was quite interesting to reflect on how information (text or numerical) its improving the way we live and mainly do business.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Genova

Its always a pleasure to leave town and head somewhere new. This time, we decided to go to Genova, located only 90 minutes away from Milan, in the heart of the region of Liguria. Along Milan and Turin, the city forms the Industrial triangle of west-northern Italy, one of the most important economic centers of the country. The city is the sixth biggest in Italy and it has by far, its biggest port.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

India en 60 ideas

Viví casi 3 meses en India. Estuve con la crema y nata de IIM L y también vi la pobreza de la calle diariamente. Reflexioné mucho sobre India y su fisonomía. Aquí anoto 60 ideas que saque del país. Por favor no las tomen a pecho ni sientan que se aplican a todo el mundo.

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Personal Cristian Garcia Personal Cristian Garcia

Ho tornato a Milano

Im writing this from my new room in a Politecnico Di Milano residence. I got to Milan a few hours ago and the I think this is the first time I have sited since we landed.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Varanasi

Vuelvo por un post a mi lengua materna para contarles uno de los viajes más “únicos” (a falta de mejor palabra) que me ha tocado vivir.

Salimos de IIML cerca de las 23:00 hrs. El viaje en RedBus fue bastante expedito y sólo nos detuvimos una vez para ir al baño y comer samosas al borde del camino. Tal como estaba programado, llegamos a la estación de buses de Varanasi a las 04:40 am. Tomamos un tuk tuk por 200 rupias y llegamos a Rahul Guest House a las 5:30 am. A las 06:10 ya estábamos montados en un bote que nos llevo a ver el amanecer en el famoso Ganga.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Next trip: Varanasi

At last! We are done with the classes and its time to go somewhere else. This time, we are traveling to one of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism: Varanasi.

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Viajes Cristian Garcia Viajes Cristian Garcia

Torino

No, I have not flight to Torino back and forth. I visited the city right before christmas, when the MBA was really hectic and the time was a scarce resource. The getaway was necessary and at least for one weekend, I forgot about everything.

The city is one of the most important business and cultural hubs in the north of Italy, capital of the piedmontese region and home to worldwide brands such as FIAT (automotive), Juventus (soccer club), RAI (tv & radio), Maserati (luxury cars) or Kappa (sport clothing).

Torino is worldwide known as the “Detroit of Italy” because of the multiple quality car brands they have created over the years (FIAT, Alfa Romeo or Lancia among others).

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Ideas & Business Cristian Garcia Ideas & Business Cristian Garcia

Make it pretty, bhaiya

This post has been originally written for the Energy & Sustainability Club of MIP's Business School in Italy.

The past.

David Ricardo could not have said it better: countries have a comparative advantage over other countries in certain areas. Wether it is coffee, copper, steel or cacao, each country “should” have a surplus, given its highly specialized labor force and its ability to produce more, better and cheaper products.

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