fuchsia fragments

Tuesday 20th October 2009

Today is my last official day in GZ. and it went by quite boringly compared to days past.

May is the sweetest thing - kept trying to steal my passport and threaten to hurt me if i left, etc. HAHAHAHA.

Anyhow, had dinner at another nice place (they seem to do this a lot) and had this fruit wine that was home-brewed by May's mother. It was pretty nice (at first, i tried to not drink it in case it was spiked or something: i was told that she wasn't the most er.. trustworthy person :P). but it was fine when you get use to it. Plus it was only like a shot or so and not the strongest alcohol so yeah.

OH and what was super hilarious (not at the time of course) was that I and a few of the other guys left at 6 p.m. to catch the bus to the restaurant cause they finished earlier than the others. It took us 95 minutes to get from work to the restaurant (car accident + traffic = no one gets through).

so we ended up being the last people to arrive cause the people who left at 6:30 took a cab and went around this other route -_- and arrived way earlier than us. *sigh*

i guess you get what you pay for. $2 bus fare vs. cab charge.

Monday 19th October 2009

Had the hardest time waking up this morning despite sleeping in 1 hour later than usual. We had to pop by the office first before heading to the fair to pack up. So me being the nosy bee went through Zilan's computer (which would effectively be my computer since he no longer works here) and found all these photos. So I went through them to get an idea of what its like. I really want to go on team building expeditions!!! They looked awesome.

Went to the fair in the arvo to help them pack up. And boy did we have a lot of stuff. Took us a while to get it all together and put into boxes. We had something like 42 boxes to load onto our truck. And it was chaos and madness with all the other stalls cleaning up and trying to get to their vans and trucks. The traffic outside was a mess, the exhibition hall inside was a mess and there were people everywhere.

By the time we were done, it was about 4 pm and we had a couple of hours to burn before we had dinner at 6 so Christina invited Elly and I to her place to nap. So we did ^^.

And then, when we got to the restaurant (late, of course), our boss was like “

who said u could sleep?”.

LOL. So the whole team had dinner at this congee place (awesome, like hot pot in congee) and they were all like 'we're going to miss you' and telling me not to go cause I was cheeky and fun and talked back to the boss. =D =D So Zilan was like just take her passport so she can't leave. HAHAHA. Have to go home sometime...

Sunday 18th October 2009

Another day at the trade fair. I think it was a relatively good day considering this year was quieter than years gone by. I'm really beginning to like the girls. However, today was more about the celebrations in the evening than anything else.

We left the trade fair quite early – around 3 pm to get back to the office and rehearse for our evening performance. Needless to say, things didn't go quite as planned and didn't get the chance to rehearse because Robert and Bronnie had already arrived. So we had a bit of a talk before it was time to start the celebrations.

And oh, I feel so special got a front row seat (right behind the boss and executives) with food, drinks and gifts (the other workers either sat on stools or stood). Was there more as a translator for Rob and Bron more than anything.

The party was massive to celebrate Sachem's 13th birthday. Definetly know how to celebrate with performances, games, magic tricks as well as speeches and awards. Rob and Bronnie wanted to have some fun so they sang Celebration with the rest of the team dancing around. Haha it was fun looking like goofs in front of 500+ workers. YAY! Later on, I also had to pretend that I could sing so Chinese song (Rob said I mimicked it very well!). Lol.

The celebrations went on until about 10 where all the important people proceeded to an afterparty at a restaurant pretty close by. Let the alcohol flow... the funniest thing was seeing my boss drunk. AND cause the magician came along... and he gave my boss these fake pills. And he kept pulling them out and asking me what they were. So I was giving him random names of drugs. LOLOL. And my boss kept hugging everyone and oh LOL.

Was sooooo tired by the time I got home that I just crashed after a shower.

Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October 2009

The Canton Trade Fair aka, The China Import and Export Fair is huge. It's unbelievably massive with booth after booth and stall after stall of companies showing off their products in hopes of increasing sales. We were rich - “rich” enough to take two spaces together giving us a grand total of 18 square metres, which when you think about it isn't all that much. But we have the most awesomest stand that during the setup stage, competitors kept coming to look at our stand, take notes and sneakily tried to take pictures. Hahaha

First day of the fair was pretty boring, the number of people who visited us wasn't as many as we'd expected it to be but it was fairly constant. Bronwyn, Robert and Masoud did come by to say hi which was really nice of them.

I think the highlight of my day was bumping into all these Aussies interested in buying our products. Everytime I spoke, they were always so surprised that my English was so good. =) (and vice versa when Chinese people ask me questions in Mando and i'm like WTF?). What's funnier is when they pick up on my Australian accent.

There was this one guy who was interested in buying our products as he has a building company in Sydney. What was coincidental was that he use to build houses in Hurstville so that was pretty cool to meet someone who knows the area you live in all the way in China. Of course, he's someone who would have an awesome beachfront house in Cronulla also.

And Chinese maccas is just not good enough. Their fries taste weird and their beef patties aren't really beefy. The taro pie was an experience but surprisingly, I didn't like it so much. And their nuggets are fail.

It got pretty busy today – very constant with what seemed like some very serious buyers. Good for us. There was this one Nigerian guy who was loud and kept saying that our prices were too high (well mate, in China you get what you pay for). Anyway, he bought a sample off us but was rather displeased about the fact that we charged for samples. Whilst I and another one of the girls were having lunch (maccas again, of course), he walks past and was like...

”you used my money to buy maccas?”

LOL. ROFL. LOL. YES WE DID WHAT R U GONNA DO ABOUT IT.

And then there was the time we were all back at the booth whilst the boss was having lunch. And we were cracking jokes about how he's always checking out the hot chicks who walk past. And one of the girls was saying something about him when he sneaked up on us. HAHAHAH. OMG had the biggest laugh ever cause he had this glare that wouldn't scare a mouse. And we were all cracking up really bad (sooo professional eh). So obviously, he was able to figure we were talking about him and makes each of us go for a walk around with him to see if he could get any info out of us. =D ROFL. No can do mate.

Had to go back to the office for singing and dancing rehearsal for tomorrow night's party: The company is turning 13! So I have to pretend that I can sing this Chinese song and then I have to wave a pompom around while Robert and Bronnie sing “Celebration”. LOL embarrassment to the max. We even have a uniform (my department is special and we got to buy our own – white shirt, black skirt, NO TIE). Better than the standard thing other people will be wearing.

The boss went crazy with our rehearsal... stayed until like 9. Then had a bit of dinner (113 yuan for 9 people is just unbelievably cheap) before we all headed our separate ways in cabs.

I did my washing tonight (or the washing machine is doing my washing...). And it was good to talk to Jan tonight to keep me posted of whats going on in Sydney. Farewell without me?? Fine. And i'm so touched grandma misses me...

Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th October 2009

It was the case of the giant mosquito which managed to bite me about 4 times. Why is it that i'm the one who always always gets bitten no matter where I am? Never mind that the window was closed as was the door dammit. Oh wells not like I can do much about it. Anyhow, sitting on a very comfy chaise typing my world away for the time being. Leaving a little bit later than usual today... something along the lines of normality although today will nothing close to normal.

We arrived at the Rosedale Hotel to pick up our guests and get our Fair trade passes at the same time thereby conveiently saving time – so was the theory. So the boss drops me off at the hotel were I meet up with our guest who were waiting in line for the stand to open. The plan we'd all get our passes and it would be an easy and quick affair. Lies. The volunteers who were completing the registration for the passes were super slow. And each person actually had to be there to get their pass (for a police check). In a nutshell, a very tedious and unnecessary process for foreigners to gain access to the Canton Import and Export Trade Fair. Needless to say, I got mine but couldn't get the bosses. Haha.

So by the time we got picked up again, we were running pretty late as we needed to head to the resort for the business conferences. We got there just in time to check into our rooms, freshen up and have lunch. Bronwyn and I went for a bit of a stroll after lunch right before the conference.

The conference itself ran for qute some time. A little too long for the normal person with an average attention span – it was especially hard when they were just talking and talking (there were slideshows but it was more about what was being said). And it was obviously a little difficult for me to understand what was so in Mandarin. The second half of the conference was run by Brian about the company he works for. Sachem's now Australian business partner: HB Fuller. I think he was quite impressive from the short films all the way down to physical demonstrations and samples of his products. And the Chinese people especially loved the little plushie Australian animal key rings he bought for them as souvenirs.

Then we had a bit of time before dinner so we went for a few drinks at the hotel restaurant. That was the best we could do since the resort itself had no means of bar, pub or club. So it was either that or the surprisingly well-stocked supermarket. And LOL, obviously, they weren't use to Australian drinkers cause we cleaned out their refrigerated supply of Tsing Tao beer. I think the last couple of cans weren't that cold...

Dinner was again banquet style (pretty much all meals were except for breakfast) and enjoyable. I especially love it when the Chinese stare at the “aliens” - I.e., gwailos (and me probably cause I was talking in English to them) as we went in.

It was pretty much entertain yourself after dinner. So a group of us were driven back into town to a massage parlour. Luxury... I was almost so tired that I said I wasn't going to go but we pressured into going (I'm sorry, but it felt a bit weird being the only girl going...). Anyway, our driver drove – no joke – like a MANIAC. And I was in the front seat – thank goodness for the seatbelt. I swear we had like a million near misses. The massage place was awesome though. Spent some time in the sauna before I got my 90 minute full body massage. I almost fell asleep And by the time we got back it was just about 2 a.m. What a night.

So I'm sure you'd understand why I felt it was very difficult to get up at 7 this morning. Somehow I managed and felt like it was Christmas when I saw the filtered coffee at the buffet breakfast. They had some very interesting choices for breakfast: cakes, pudding and heavy meats as well as the more classic choices such as cereal, toast, eggs and bacon. Another thing I will never understand is the Chinese's love for boiled eggs and corn on a cob. No idea why.

Another conference straight after breakfast. And it was here that I said good bye to Brian as he was going to the Trade Fair before departing for KL. Gave me a few wise words, said we'd catch up in Oz. I'm so glad I met such wonderful people on this trip. I'll be seeing Robert an Bronwyn again on Sunday for Sachem's anniversary celebrations which is exciting.

This conference was about introducing Sachem's new range of products. Quite the boring for me despite my best efforts to concentrate. I blame the language barrier.

Then it was lunch (notice the pattern yet?) and yet another conference. However, the afternoon conference was delayed until 2:30 as the Japanese speakers had yet to land their plane. So myself and Kit took our Iran client for a game of bowling in the resort's private bowling alley. Pretty awesome and definitely have improved from my embarrassing low score at Strike not so long ago. =D

Introduced to MS during the second conference. Modified silicon. I think a couple of things were lost in translation during this presentation. 1 metre squared and 500 g of silicone scared a few of the distributors. LOL even me who has no in-depth knowledge of the product range knew that was a bit off. I was so impressed by one of the Japanese presenters who could convert from Japanese to English to Mandarin. And its given me some motivation to be able to learn to translate from English to Cantonese to Mandarin.

We managed to squeeze in another quick game of bowling before a final dinner with all the important people. =D We got driven back to the office (and I learnt that the factory is 24 hours, 7 days I three 8 hour shifts a day). Amazing.

I'm really glad I got to talk to Kit about GZ and life in general. She's actually only just begun her time here at the office (literally, this is her second week at work). I can't believe that she's 26 (she looks WAY younger than me in the kiddie way) and only just graduated. I find it highly amusing that she has a Masters in Applied Science and got a job in the sales department. She has no work experience. She's a local. Her parents call her incessently. Most of the team are in their 20s and most of them are relatively new to the company (less than a year) which again surprised me although I can't really see why since Ken has only been back here for just over 18 months now...

I could no doubt get use to the current life I'm living in GZ (with the exception of the air quality, lack of blue skies, greenery and beautiful Australia sunshine) but I know that it is impossible if I were to stay here long term. I'd have to earn how to take public transport (as opposed to being driven around in nice cars or catching cabs), I'd have to get use to the food and the mess hall (as opposed to eating out at very high class restaurants), I'd have to learn the language (as opposed to having a translator always at my side), I wouldn't be able to wear bling (I guess Tiffany's bracelet will have to live in a box in Australia...), I'd have to get my head around the fact that GZ has the same population of Australia, I'd have to try and cope with the sanitary conditions, I'd need to learn how to spot fakes, etc etc.

Monday 12th and Tueday 13th October 2009

I still feel the effects of jetlag and the 3 hour time difference as I wake up at 6 in the morning. And its definitely not everyday that you get driven to work by the Managing Director in a Lincoln Navigator no less. That was another experience which was like wowsers. Going to work in peak hour GZ traffic is indescribeable – mayhem, chaos, traffic. So I survived the ride in the monster truck and got a lift right to the front door (no joke) of the office building and factory. Its a little more rundown than I expected it to be but the factory and site have been around for over 15 years now.

I met the rest of the team that I was to be working with. They're mostly in their 20s and from around the area. I did, despite my and their best effort, find the language barrier a bit difficult to cross but that was when they were speaking Mandarin (over 50% of the time). It was both an amusing and gracious gesture when they had their meeting in English for my sake. At least I understood =P

However, I do feel that there are some aspects of the work environment I will not get use to here: their long work hours are a little beyond comprehension for me – I am simply not use to 12 hour days unless you paid me overtime for each and every hour. I don't really understand why their make singing practice part of the work curriculum. Like, that's kind of awkward when you can neither sing or read the Chinese lyrics.

Apart from these massive changes, I spent the day correcting Chinglish on their product labels and reading about the company. And yes, it is a big company. O_O

Had dinner at this high class place with these awesome crabs. Like.. the cholestrol was oozing out of them. Yummy.

11 p.m.

Finally back after a pretty intense day. I got to meet some of the business partners and got to see the not so flash hot parts of the site. My day started with a couple of familiar faces and one not so familiar but important person. In a nutshell, I pretty much got to rub shoulders with a whole bunch of very important people. This morning, the grandfather was at the house this morning (which sort of reminds me how these people are still very normal) – i've met him a few time in Australia when he and the grandma come to visit the grankiddies. It was so pleasant and reassuring to see him and the familiarity it brought. The other person I met this morning was the wife, mistress of the house and other important figurehead in the running of the company.

Work was pretty constant today. It involved a lot of different things. The standout of my morning would be the lunch break (not even an hour, more like 20 or 30 minutes). It was literally like a prison cell cafeteria. From the seats, to the lines down to the food itself – a pile of green and brown mushy stuff and trays of steamed rice. In other words, not so pleasant and hence, I stared at my food more than ate it. But yet another aspect of factory life in China. The factory is so big that it has its own mess hall. Who woulda thought? And because the workers work predominantly in the production side of things – 16 hours a day, 6 days a week – all the other departments also have to work 6 days a week. O_o Obviously not 16 hours a day but probably comes out close anyhow. Wheres the time to party? =P

It was quite funny to see that all the girls (my co-workers) come back from lunch and just nap the afternoon away – no wonder they all had cushions on their seats! Things got interesting around 2 pm. This was when our first guests – international business partners – were to arrive. A couple of people went to pick them up and we went to have a late lunch business meeting at a pretty nice close by restaurant. I say pretty nice because it was a private room with lounges etc but the toilet was still a squat one. EPIC FAIL. All the food gwailos would eat: duck, prawns, steamed fish, scallops. There were three gentlemen this afternoon – two from Australia and one from Iran.

We got back to the factory site for a tour of the building and the factory. Pretty amazing the stuff that goes on. From the very beginning: making the containers, the labels, the printing all the way through to producing the product, packaging and shipping. It's all done here at the site which is phenomenal and something you have to witness to comprehend. It certainly opened my eyes a bit. Not the cleanest place to walk around either. At this stage, I had a pretty good talk with one of the Australian partners about the difference between Australian and Chinese OH&S policies – I.e., it is non-existent here in China. ;) We then headed back to the main building to see the quality control, lab and marketing ad sales side of the business and then headed to the office to wrap things up. I think they were pretty impressed. =)

The evening involved another three business associates – again from Australia (hahaha, see why I was tricked into coming here now?) - Melbourne in particular. So very nice people – Robert, Brian and Bronwyn. I learnt things and then some. Brian use to live in South Hurstville before he relocated to Melbourne. I learnt more about household names such as Hills (from Hillshoist), Bailey (ladders), Wattle (paint) as well as other numerous companies – Fuller in particular. I was also told to take this opportunity I was given and not look back. I'm still contemplating that one...

I just wish things were more.. established here.

Anyway, I failed to mention the restaurant was very posh. Private room. LV couches. Ensuite Japanese toilets. View of Pearl River. Expensive. Food was awesome, except for the silkworms. Yes, I said silkworms and YES I did try them. To the huge amusement of all my colleagues and being egged on by the Aussies. ROFL. I happen to think that my boss ordered them on purpose cause he was laughing the hardest. I guess it wasn't that bad... (tries not to regurgitate).

I love being driven around GZ in flash cars however, the driving on the right and left hand steer takes getting use to. And GZ drivers are quite forceful. I saw a little sedan wedged – like stuck – between two trucks trying to turn, not very pleasant. Tonight it was a BMW and what a new, pretty machine it was. Gotta look up the model cause its hot an the interior was awesome right down to the automatic sunshades. We dropped our guests off at their hotel and called it a night. Its actually almost midnight and I have a long day tomorrow. =]

Sunday October 11 2009

I arrived in Hk last night at precisely 6pm and managed to get through customs and baggage collection by 6:30. Since the swine flu pandemic earlier this year, it seems that HK (and China) are really taking health requirements and precautions quite seriously. I found out later this evening that it was more of a scare passengers and fill-in-useless-paperwork more than anything else.

The plane trip itself was fine – mostly. The lady who sat next to me had the cold and kept coughing which was a bit of a worry for me. And most of the people in my cabin changed seats? Not too sure how that worked but I think it was along the lines a lot of people were split up for whatever reason. I got some sleep, watched The Proposal (gotta love Sandra Bullock movie and Ryan Reynolds is pretty good looking), contemplated watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and The Young Victoria again but instead watched Thank God You're Here and listened to one of the radio channels. Coincidentally, flipped to the business channel when the guy was interviewing a lady by the name of Launa Inman. She is the current managing director of Target Australia and it was quite insightful some of the things she said (although you have to wonder what's true and what's not considering we were never told about some of the things she spoke about during work).

Despite a delay getting off the ground in oz (there was a long queue at the runway), we managed to get to HK pretty much on time – something that must be quite rare for Qantas. Being seated in the front and being one of the last people to get on board definitely has it advantages – I got to the arrival hall sooner than my uncle who was picking me up (turns out that my little cousin over napped... haha). We went down to the local shopping center to have some dinner. Shanghai food. Wasn't really up to stuffing myself since it was like 10 pm Sydney time.

I went up to mainland China (Guangzhou) today after having brekkie with my cousin, aunt and uncle and a quick walk around the supermarkets (whilst coz was swimming – apparently he can swim 1000 m in 26 minutes which I think is quite impressive for a very chubby 12 year old =P). The uncle took me up to GZ via Lo Wu (interchange at Shenzhen). Thankfully, today is Sunday and the train was not packed.

Uncle Ken met me at GZ East Station and took me to where he stays which is his sister's massive villa on the richest island in GZ (Yii Zat Doh). I was like.. zomfg, you cannot be serious. WOW. Multi-level villa (im staying in a room on Uncle Ken's level). And this is what my floor comprises of: massive lounge with plasma and wet bar, private access balcony to gardens, movie/ theatre room, bathroom, wine cellar, bedrooms, storage room, fridge, laundry and I haven't explore the rest yet. Did I mention there are pieces of furniture, decorations, etc I'm too scared to touch? Ming-boggling...

We went for a walk around the island and along the Pearl River. Pretty damn awesome even if the water was a dirty brown colour. Like on one side you have the villas and on the other there are all the high rise apartments. We pretty much went from one end to the other as well as checked out all the places within the massive village complex itself (gym, pool and sauna, restaurant, park, conference rooms, etc).

(5 hours later...)

I finally got to meet the person behind the company and owner of the mansion, over dinner no less. How does shark fin, abalone and chicken soup sound? Lol. Moving on, we went to one of the main shopping streets in GZ for a walk after dinner. The lights of the city are pretty crazy. And amazingly, the street wasn't quite as crowded as I dreaded it to be. I have to say though, having a shop assistant in every aisle is quite a feat. Like, there were more staff members than shoppers – which must be a first. Never going to see that in Oz. Did I mention that we went to two dessert houses? Crazy. Awesome double cream milk and mango mochi but so much...