You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2008.
I was invited to China for an overseas marketing training program for two weeks, and stayed for an additional week for onsite orientation with my headquarter peers. I was able to enjoy all different aspects of China, and it was definitely a humbling experience. Here are some of the highlights of my trip:
I was fortunate to meet people from all around the world (Italy, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Sweden, etc.) in the training. If I am ever lucky enough to travel abroad again, I know that I’ll at least know a few others in different offices.
My weekends were stretched thin with sightseeing, and I most enjoyed my one-day trips to Hong Kong. Here are a few panoramas of Hong Kong island from a ferry.
The two main attractions I loved in Hong Kong included Victoria Peak and Ngong Ping 360. Below are photos from Victoria Peak, the highest point within Hong Kong and occupies the western part of the island. From here, we could see the entire Hong Kong and Kowloon harbor.
Ngong Ping 360 is literally a long (and a bit frightful) cable car journey, travelling between Tung Chung Town Centre and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. On the cable car journey, we witnessed views of the Hong Kong International Airport, South China Sea, and the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. The Tian Tan Buddha Statue is supposedly the major center for Buddhism in Hong Kong and is located next to the Po Lin Monastery. 
China itself was quite a culture shock, and I learned a few things:
- There are millions upon millions of people there. My company’s campus alone had nearly 50k people on it at any one point in time.. it was almost like a college campus.
- There are also buildings upon buildings, and more buildings under construction. No wonder they have a one baby policy there… but damnit, it made me wonder if perhaps chinese people like to have sex.
- Food consisted of Chinese, all day, everyday. I’m pretty tired of Chinese food now. I had to be quite adventurous, but ended up staying away from the chicken feet and fish heads.
- Cars do not yield there, but they at least honk at you if they’re approaching you. Give it two seconds before you’re roadkill if you don’t move.
- Smoking is allowed everywhere, even in the office building. This was very strange to me.
- They have nap time from 1-1:30 p.m. every work day… people actually store a mattress under their desk and pull it out when it’s time for a few z’s.
- Everything is cheap. Seriously. You can do mad shopping almost everywhere you go, and they even promise you good quality, cheap, (supposedly) brand-name watches/handbags/pens/clothes etc. I bought too many things and my suitcase ended overweight. :(
- The toilets are disgusting. ‘Nuff said.
Normal is relative and here are a few random photos:
It’s good to be home! Three weeks in China was definitely too long. I’ll post pictures later… when I get over this stuffy head and runny nose.
I miss her……
This is all I can think of right now. It’s been an awkward past couple of weeks. This isn’t the first time that she left the city for work. So why is it so different this time? Is it because this is the first time since we’ve been married that she left work? Did I get used to our routine? Or is it that I just miss her?
Before she came along there was never a void. I had my own routine. Wake up, go to work, go work out, go home and watch the news until I got sleepy. Now, I find it hard to get out bed because she makes the bed feel more comfy, I think about her while I’m at work, I pass up going to the gym because I want to spend time just being together at our home. She makes me laugh because of her little quirks, when she speaks in her own language (and I’m not talking about Chinese), when she’s in pain from over-excersizing, when she eats 6 ears of corn at dinner. But it’s who she is and that’s why I love her.
But these past couple of weeks, I wake up, go to work, go workout, go home and watch the news and wait up to talk to her on Skype for about half an hour. Now there is a void. They say when you find the one, your life will never be the same. And my life has not been the same since she’s been in my life. I’m the kind of person that keeps a small group of friends. I have a relatively small family in comparison to other asian families. But she has an ARMY of friends. They could possibly take over a small country if they wanted to. But they are all great people. She 6 aunts and uncles on her mom’s side alone!!! My family quadrupled in size the day we got married. So you would think with all these people around me, there shouldn’t be a void. But everything is just not the same. I know there are a lot of married men or men who have that special someone in their lives that say this, but I have the most wonderful woman in the world. I would not trade what I have for the world.
Everything means nothing without her to share it with me. I miss my wife………..
Hurry home safely…….
