Dotted Much?

Have I mentioned that we finally hired that legal counsel that I have been interviewing?

HR told me that they met 40+, which they then screened down to the 20+ they handed over to me.

This person will have a dotted line to me. That’s the most ideal situation really. Having people do work for you but you don’t have to be responsible for their leave and what time they come to work and what time they leave.

I have always maintained that the best job is when you’re paid sufficiently well without having to manage people. Unfortunately, however, the corporate world judges you on how well you manage teams.

So, more dotted lines for me please.

Worldly Goods

I mentioned in my previous post that I had bought some mangoes for my mum.

I actually bought some for my mum and some for myself. Because I wasnt planning to go back to Shanghai after Cebu, I got one of my colleagues to bring it back for me. I put them all in a box for ease of carrying. She also asked me to help her buy the mangoes since I was at the store. So all in all, she had two boxes to carry.

Now, all these are rather inconsequential. But, with the earthquake, I was at first worried that we would only be allowed to take our essential stuff. After that i was worried that now my colleague was saddled with more luggage that would make it more difficult to escape if needed.

My worries were unfounded in the end so my mangoes got to Shanghai before me.

Something else i took from Cebu were shower caps. When I was packing up my stuff during my "infiltration", i was contemplating on whether i should pack the shower caps i had stolen over the days. I was torn because I didnt want to be known as the guy who was killed in his room cos he took so much time packing stolen shower caps.

In the end, that too was unfounded.

So, here they are, back in Shanghai.

Aftermath

After Cebu, the Asia Pacific senior team flew to Hong Kong for a conference and a signing ceremony for one of my deals.

It was especially special for me to have so many of my senior colleagues present.

So today, I am in Foshan to have a reciprocal signing ceremony here.

All this travelling meant that I havent been doing my mask or exfoliating, so I brought a mask to do the night before the signing.



Haha. Usually it's just a signing on a table but this time there is an interview with the media as well.

EARTHQUAKE!

If you’re on my Facebook, you’d have read that the hotel I was staying in Cebu was rocked by an earthquake.

It happened at 830am when I was having breakfast with the rest of the conference delegates.

At first it shook. Then it continued shaking.

My first thought was, was there an MRT underground?

Nope. This is a beach resort.

Then my secondary school geography knowledge kicked in, does the Philippines suffer from earthquakes?

Not that I know of.

Nonetheless, when the shaking and rumbling didn’t stop and when I heard a cracking sound, it was time to panic. However, in a dining room with more than 80 people, it was almost like everyone was waiting for someone to say run.

All the above happened in less than 15 seconds.

Someone eventually said run.

There was a mad scramble for the exit which very fortunately was near a staircase that led to the car park on ground level. (Come to think of it, it’s an odd design for the hotel). On the way down, it was disconcerting to find shoes that have come off on the steps.

There was a quick roll call based on the different regions, as more and more people came down.

Obviously, the people who took longer to come down were higher up the building.

Someone from my office was in the lift when it happened. Lights went out and he immediately pressed all the buttons until the lift door opened.

My President was giving an interview to a reporter when the wall behind him cracked.

One of my staff already had a swollen knee before it all happened and all the running made it worst.

We were all evacuated to the poolside lawn while the firemen went to check on the building’s integrity.

It was so hot out there that I got a tan!

We were finally cleared to go back to the lobby but not the rooms at 4pm.

I was very worried about my items. I know it’s silly but I was worried about my passport and I was worried about the stuff that I bought for my mum.

I actually bought more than 10 packets of dried mangoes which I was planning to ask my Singapore colleagues to bring back to my mum. I also bought a box-full of 20 packets to bring back to Singapore.

Now, these were in jeopardy!

I wanted to go up and pack my stuff and bring them to my side.

Some of us had the same itch to do the same. We assembled a crack team to infiltrate the rooms. I said infiltrate because there were guards on the lifts.

We eventually managed to get our bags and I felt much better.

The rooms were cleared to be inhabited two hours later and we had a choice to sleep in our rooms or in the bed they set up in the ballroom. I had originally registered to sleep in my room after seeing that there wasn’t much damage inside but there were big tremors in the evening (that resulted in everyone being evacuated again) and into the night, I therefore slept in the lobby with the China team.

At least I tried to. I sat there from 11pm till 3pm. Only managed to sleep for three hours before I woke at 6am again.

If it was harrowing being in a hotel building with aftershocks, there’s even scarier being in an airport with an aftershock. There’s nowhere to run because everywhere is restricted. There was one major aftershock when we were at the waiting gate. It was 90 mins of painful waiting for take-off.

When we were finally in the air, we were all so jubilant, much like the final scene in Argo.

This is a long post and there are many details I haven’t put down.

That’s all for now.

Touristy

When I head back to Singapore, I feel like a tourist and I want to eat all the food that I miss and shop at the places I like to shop.

Because I am only back for a short time and occasionally, I just buy them or eat them as though I am a tourist.

The odd thing is, the same applies when I'm back in Shanghai. I feel like a tourist here because this isn’t my home. So I just buy and eat as though I'm a tourist.

This clearly isn’t a sustainable situation. Haha.

One of the simplest things I like to eat when I'm back in Singapore is this:

The humble kaya pandan waffle.

 

Go West!

Saw this in Taipei and bought it for my secretary. 

It comes in a pair. Hee hee. 

The Baggage We Carry

I mentioned that I was bushed after my flight and conference call back.

I also mentioned many entries ago that I have a pet peeve after coming back from a trip, not matter how tired or what time I arrive: I must unpack my luggage.

Everytime I return to Shanghai, I haul a whole load of stuff, mostly foodstuff. That’s part of the reason why I usually take business class.

This time, I brought back three pieces of luggage. The two checked-in ones were about 41kg. Then I had a hand-carry luggage plus a backpack. Someone brought less back cos she wont be able to handle such a big luggage.

This, is what we brought back. 

The whole thing looked like a little city. So I thought I’d take some pics of the “street level”. 

 

Someone is so obsessed with detail that she brings the protective sponge thingy to protect her precious garlic everytime we come back. 

Back

It has been a long break for me and consequently a long pause in the blog.

19 days. Hmm.. I think it's probably the longest leave I have ever taken.

Im not sure if i will ever take something so long again cos it's kinda disruptive to work and I kept thinking about work.

In fact, after I landed, I immediately got into a conference call with my President that involved the heads of development for SEA and India. The typhoon didnt help with the telephone connection at all and i was dropping in and out of the call. Call lasted the entire one-hour journey back to my home.

Im bushed now.