5 Days in Shanghai
The moment I boarded SQ825 from Shanghai Pudong to Singapore, I felt sleepy. I watched Innocent Steps before falling asleep all the way till I reached Singapore. I’m tired. Tired because the few days I had in Shanghai were quite exhausting. (not to mention the fact that I need 9 hours of sleep a day lol.)
Day 1:
We (Hazel, Irene and I) woke up in the unearthly hour of 5am in order to catch our flight to Shanghai at 8:10am. Onboard the plane, I watched As Good As It Gets and was so sleepy I had to pause the movie and take a doze. When the plane touched down at Shanghai, we met up with KC and we all shared a cab to Galaxy Hotel where we’ll be staying.
After we checked in, KC took us for a tour around the hotel. They have very interesting shops in Shanghai. The streets are filled with quirky looking shops each with an unique retail deco. Most of the shops there sell clothes and I can’t say I have very good comments about their garments. Not our style.
We had dinner at this Teochew style restaurant. Its quite expensive and the food isn’t fantastic. Makes me nostalgic about my mom’s cooking. I kinda miss home. When we finished dinner, Joe and Winnie joined us. They are going to have dinner at Bu Xing Jie. It’s a mini shopping district that puts Bugis Junction to shame. Lol. This is one of the few places and chances I had to shop. I bought two packets of mixed tidbits. One packet for office, the other for home. Its kinda troublesome to lug these two heavy bundles around.
After window shopping and when Winnie and Joe finished their dinner, we met Eric and went to an open air Irish Bar to chill out. It was an interesting night, the weather was cooling, the Irish people watching soccer. Lol. I just listened to the interesting conversation Winnie and Joe had with Eric. Oh ya, Winnie showed us a really cute video clip of her daughter eating chocolate. Lol. Sammy gal is so chubby!
Tonight, we went back to the hotel about 1130pm.
Day 2:
We met for breakfast at 730am and proceeded to Shanghai Mart and Intex with Armando giving us a tour. Nothing much happened today. We were introduced to the Shanghai Tradeshow team. I only remembered Claire, Crystal and Minnie, not to mention Eric coz we met him the day before.
We had lunch at this cosy café. I ordered Japanese Style Fried Rice wrapped in egg. However, the portions are so humongous that I couldn’t finish. I think I left slightly more then half!
After lunch we chose our temp staffs. I chose this girl called Shirley and everyone is proud of my choice! ^-^ Joe picked out Jimmy to help me carry stuffs when we go set up the tables at conference area. Jimmy and Shirley are the two bestest temps!!!
At night, Joe brought us to Xin Tian Di. Omg, it’s the nicest hang-out place I’ve ever seen. Xin Tian Di is full of pubs, small eateries and restaurants. The architecture are those of olden day Shanghai I suppose. I heard its called石库门 The low-rise buildings and walkways. We had dinner at this very nice place called KABB. Joe hates pasta but even he has only compliments for the food. We went back to the hotel right after dinner as Hazel has a migraine. Joe went to take a walk around the area. I decided to go back with Irene and Hazel as the next day is the opening day of the tradeshow so probably I need as much rest as I can get.
Day 3:
Today is the opening of our EC Tradeshow! I’m so excited. This is the first time I’ve been involved in a tradeshow! Wahoo! Early in the morning, we setup our booths. I got into some unhappiness with KC but I still believe what I did was right. In our uniforms, we represent GS. Besides I believe in service quality. I didn’t argue with him anyway. I can’t be bothered to.
Winnie told us if there’s anything we need, we just need to approach Owen and Claire. Irene turned to me and asked, “Eh, which one is Owen?” I shrugged, “I’ll let you know if I ever find out.” ^-^
I did find out soon after. I was the “floater” in the team. I float between our booths at conference, lvl 4 and lvl 3. So somehow, whenever they need any new CSRs, any plastic bags etc, I became their runner lolz. I quite gave up asking the temps at the corporate booth or buyer’s lounge for anything. I could repeat my question for the umpteenth time and they just ignored my presence. *hmmf* So quite a few times, I was asked to go from corporate booth to buyers’ lounge and back to corporate booth and still didn’t get what I came for! Once, after afew trips to and fro, I was asking this female temp about this new CSR I need. She turned over and called, “Owen!” oooo.. ya that’s when I figured out who is Owen. I guess its not surprising I didn’t remember him. He’s a very quiet guy who could just blend into the background. Throughout the next two days, I constantly bugged him for new CSRs. Lol He must loathe me!
At night, we had dinner at Xu Jia hui. Its really the most enjoyable dinner we had. Joe, Irene, Hazel, Ken and wife and me. ^-^ Ken’s wife is very sweet, gentle and charming! I forgot her name though.. hmm.. forgetful me. The food was good and cheap. However, I don’t remember the restaurant name. haha We finally had Haagen Daz Hazel’s been craving for since day one. You should have seen the contentment on her face! Priceless! We went back to our hotel at around 11 plus. Tired but happy.
Day 4:
Second day of CSF. My feet aches! Thank God I’m wearing flats and not my other killer heels like Hazel, Irene and Winnie. Today’s sales aren’t really fantastic. After a long day, we went for dinner with Shanghai tradeshow team and Armando. I had wanted to go take a walk at The Bund. I heard so much about it but haven’t seen it. But I suppose should give Minnie some face as she’s treating. Well, sightseeing can be done anyday too.
We went to this Sichuan style restaurant. Josi took the cab with us and directed us there. I was quite embarrassed when I had to ask her for her name again coz ya, dear ade forgot her name. I have limited memory space. I need a hardware upgrade. The dinner was too spicy for my stomach. I only took afew bites here and there and drank loads of tea.
During the dinner, they were having beer all around. Winnie suddenly asked, “who’s the youngest? The youngest should drink one cup all around.” I almost fell off my chair. I never drank beer before! In Singapore, my face always screwed up whenever I took a sip of beer. To drink a whole round? Omg, there are like more then 10 people there!!! I found out that Josi and Owen are the same age as me. I felt hopeful that I didn’t need to drink but drats, both of them are April babies. So ya, being a December baby, I’m still the youngest. Somehow my prayers are answered, they decided to postpone my beer parade. Haha. Wahoo!
Day 5:
The CSF went past as per normal today. Nothing interesting. However, we close earlier at 430 today. I realize CSF has quite afew dirty old business men. I shall refrain from describing my encounters with them. Only that I threw his weird perfume and namecard in the trash. ^-^
Today being the last day of CSF, Winnie wanted to treat everyone to KTV and dinner. After we washed up at the hotel, we proceeded to the Shanghai Tradeshow Teams office to meet them. Today is the first time I met Jessie. OMG she’s so so so pretty!!!
Their KTV lounge is gigantic! Our room is at level 3. They have a buffet counter too! Irene, Hazel and I went with Eric and Owen to get food back for the rest. Luckily Owen is there to decipher the type of food there. I couldn’t differentiate between thousand island sauce and some weird white sauce haha.
We sang afew songs. Irene and Hazel are to shy to sing. So I ended up singing solo for one and half songs. I thank the darkness if not they’ll all see me blush. Winnie and Minnie are already quite high on alcohol as they each gave me a kiss when I sang. ^-^
I got to know Owen better at the KTV. I was asking Winnie how come no one asks Owen to drink coz he’s sitting quietly in a corner. So Winnie went over to talk to him and asked me to drink one with him. Aiyo.. beer again. Before that I successfully managed to pour the half cup I had remaining into Eric’s cup (without him realizing of coz). Now one more cup. I drank half a cup before it got to jaw numbing for me. Owen kindly finished up the rest for me. Most of the songs they chose I didn’t hear before. We picked afew songs to sing. All Jay Chou’s coz my Chinese music knowledge is limited and I suppose they didn’t want to hear Jolin’s songs haha. I ended up talking to Owen throughout the night. He looks quiet but he’s actually quite nice a guy to talk to. Haha. My first Shanghai friend. Feels like a penpal but more like MSN pal lol.
Almost everyone got high on beer and red wine that night: Winnie, Minnie, Eric, KC especially haha. Well, the next day we’ll be flying back to Singapore. So we shall party while the night is young!
Day 1:
We (Hazel, Irene and I) woke up in the unearthly hour of 5am in order to catch our flight to Shanghai at 8:10am. Onboard the plane, I watched As Good As It Gets and was so sleepy I had to pause the movie and take a doze. When the plane touched down at Shanghai, we met up with KC and we all shared a cab to Galaxy Hotel where we’ll be staying.
After we checked in, KC took us for a tour around the hotel. They have very interesting shops in Shanghai. The streets are filled with quirky looking shops each with an unique retail deco. Most of the shops there sell clothes and I can’t say I have very good comments about their garments. Not our style.
We had dinner at this Teochew style restaurant. Its quite expensive and the food isn’t fantastic. Makes me nostalgic about my mom’s cooking. I kinda miss home. When we finished dinner, Joe and Winnie joined us. They are going to have dinner at Bu Xing Jie. It’s a mini shopping district that puts Bugis Junction to shame. Lol. This is one of the few places and chances I had to shop. I bought two packets of mixed tidbits. One packet for office, the other for home. Its kinda troublesome to lug these two heavy bundles around.
After window shopping and when Winnie and Joe finished their dinner, we met Eric and went to an open air Irish Bar to chill out. It was an interesting night, the weather was cooling, the Irish people watching soccer. Lol. I just listened to the interesting conversation Winnie and Joe had with Eric. Oh ya, Winnie showed us a really cute video clip of her daughter eating chocolate. Lol. Sammy gal is so chubby!
Tonight, we went back to the hotel about 1130pm.
Day 2:
We met for breakfast at 730am and proceeded to Shanghai Mart and Intex with Armando giving us a tour. Nothing much happened today. We were introduced to the Shanghai Tradeshow team. I only remembered Claire, Crystal and Minnie, not to mention Eric coz we met him the day before.
We had lunch at this cosy café. I ordered Japanese Style Fried Rice wrapped in egg. However, the portions are so humongous that I couldn’t finish. I think I left slightly more then half!
After lunch we chose our temp staffs. I chose this girl called Shirley and everyone is proud of my choice! ^-^ Joe picked out Jimmy to help me carry stuffs when we go set up the tables at conference area. Jimmy and Shirley are the two bestest temps!!!
At night, Joe brought us to Xin Tian Di. Omg, it’s the nicest hang-out place I’ve ever seen. Xin Tian Di is full of pubs, small eateries and restaurants. The architecture are those of olden day Shanghai I suppose. I heard its called石库门 The low-rise buildings and walkways. We had dinner at this very nice place called KABB. Joe hates pasta but even he has only compliments for the food. We went back to the hotel right after dinner as Hazel has a migraine. Joe went to take a walk around the area. I decided to go back with Irene and Hazel as the next day is the opening day of the tradeshow so probably I need as much rest as I can get.
Day 3:
Today is the opening of our EC Tradeshow! I’m so excited. This is the first time I’ve been involved in a tradeshow! Wahoo! Early in the morning, we setup our booths. I got into some unhappiness with KC but I still believe what I did was right. In our uniforms, we represent GS. Besides I believe in service quality. I didn’t argue with him anyway. I can’t be bothered to.
Winnie told us if there’s anything we need, we just need to approach Owen and Claire. Irene turned to me and asked, “Eh, which one is Owen?” I shrugged, “I’ll let you know if I ever find out.” ^-^
I did find out soon after. I was the “floater” in the team. I float between our booths at conference, lvl 4 and lvl 3. So somehow, whenever they need any new CSRs, any plastic bags etc, I became their runner lolz. I quite gave up asking the temps at the corporate booth or buyer’s lounge for anything. I could repeat my question for the umpteenth time and they just ignored my presence. *hmmf* So quite a few times, I was asked to go from corporate booth to buyers’ lounge and back to corporate booth and still didn’t get what I came for! Once, after afew trips to and fro, I was asking this female temp about this new CSR I need. She turned over and called, “Owen!” oooo.. ya that’s when I figured out who is Owen. I guess its not surprising I didn’t remember him. He’s a very quiet guy who could just blend into the background. Throughout the next two days, I constantly bugged him for new CSRs. Lol He must loathe me!
At night, we had dinner at Xu Jia hui. Its really the most enjoyable dinner we had. Joe, Irene, Hazel, Ken and wife and me. ^-^ Ken’s wife is very sweet, gentle and charming! I forgot her name though.. hmm.. forgetful me. The food was good and cheap. However, I don’t remember the restaurant name. haha We finally had Haagen Daz Hazel’s been craving for since day one. You should have seen the contentment on her face! Priceless! We went back to our hotel at around 11 plus. Tired but happy.
Day 4:
Second day of CSF. My feet aches! Thank God I’m wearing flats and not my other killer heels like Hazel, Irene and Winnie. Today’s sales aren’t really fantastic. After a long day, we went for dinner with Shanghai tradeshow team and Armando. I had wanted to go take a walk at The Bund. I heard so much about it but haven’t seen it. But I suppose should give Minnie some face as she’s treating. Well, sightseeing can be done anyday too.
We went to this Sichuan style restaurant. Josi took the cab with us and directed us there. I was quite embarrassed when I had to ask her for her name again coz ya, dear ade forgot her name. I have limited memory space. I need a hardware upgrade. The dinner was too spicy for my stomach. I only took afew bites here and there and drank loads of tea.
During the dinner, they were having beer all around. Winnie suddenly asked, “who’s the youngest? The youngest should drink one cup all around.” I almost fell off my chair. I never drank beer before! In Singapore, my face always screwed up whenever I took a sip of beer. To drink a whole round? Omg, there are like more then 10 people there!!! I found out that Josi and Owen are the same age as me. I felt hopeful that I didn’t need to drink but drats, both of them are April babies. So ya, being a December baby, I’m still the youngest. Somehow my prayers are answered, they decided to postpone my beer parade. Haha. Wahoo!
Day 5:
The CSF went past as per normal today. Nothing interesting. However, we close earlier at 430 today. I realize CSF has quite afew dirty old business men. I shall refrain from describing my encounters with them. Only that I threw his weird perfume and namecard in the trash. ^-^
Today being the last day of CSF, Winnie wanted to treat everyone to KTV and dinner. After we washed up at the hotel, we proceeded to the Shanghai Tradeshow Teams office to meet them. Today is the first time I met Jessie. OMG she’s so so so pretty!!!
Their KTV lounge is gigantic! Our room is at level 3. They have a buffet counter too! Irene, Hazel and I went with Eric and Owen to get food back for the rest. Luckily Owen is there to decipher the type of food there. I couldn’t differentiate between thousand island sauce and some weird white sauce haha.
We sang afew songs. Irene and Hazel are to shy to sing. So I ended up singing solo for one and half songs. I thank the darkness if not they’ll all see me blush. Winnie and Minnie are already quite high on alcohol as they each gave me a kiss when I sang. ^-^
I got to know Owen better at the KTV. I was asking Winnie how come no one asks Owen to drink coz he’s sitting quietly in a corner. So Winnie went over to talk to him and asked me to drink one with him. Aiyo.. beer again. Before that I successfully managed to pour the half cup I had remaining into Eric’s cup (without him realizing of coz). Now one more cup. I drank half a cup before it got to jaw numbing for me. Owen kindly finished up the rest for me. Most of the songs they chose I didn’t hear before. We picked afew songs to sing. All Jay Chou’s coz my Chinese music knowledge is limited and I suppose they didn’t want to hear Jolin’s songs haha. I ended up talking to Owen throughout the night. He looks quiet but he’s actually quite nice a guy to talk to. Haha. My first Shanghai friend. Feels like a penpal but more like MSN pal lol.
Almost everyone got high on beer and red wine that night: Winnie, Minnie, Eric, KC especially haha. Well, the next day we’ll be flying back to Singapore. So we shall party while the night is young!
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2:35 pm
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