Day two in the big brother... no wait, wrong show!
Ok, I have
survived my first foray into the Chinese business world, and it was
nothing like I expected! Probably due to the boss of the company being
so young, there was no real formality like I was expecting, and the
whole visit was very relaxed, open and easy... which was nice. We got a
good feel for them as a company, enjoyed the day and got the info we
needed across without (knowingly) insulting anyone.
The noisy
bloke in the room next door didn't keep me awake long last night
luckily and I actually managed a good night sleep with one pee break at
about 3am due to the copious amounts of weak beer we drank with dinner
last night (had coke tonight instead, better buzz from it!).
Breakfast
this morning was interesting, pretty much the same stuff on the buffet
cart as last night! So I selected some of the least savory looking
things and found a toaster with some American styled sweet bread and a
guy frying eggs which was a bonus. Luckily the trusty sign language for
'one egg please' works a treat even in China! Also had a cup of the
coffee, which was more like treacle!
Lunch was even better than
the meal we had last night though! The bossman took us out to a mega
posh restaurant, where we had a private dining room and more waiting
staff than the four of us sat at the table! First we walked through a
section flanked with fridges full of raw meats and ingredients for
meals, nicely packaged and displayed. SJ told them to choose for us,
and having seen some of the things on the shelf, I was not entirely
pleased with that notion! The bossman swiftly poured through this
section followed by a staff member furiously writing notes. Luckily it
seemed he was sympathetic to our palates and chose some pretty edible
things for us to share. We had flower tea which was very nice and beer,
which was more of the weak stuff and the bossman seemed really keen to
chuck that down his neck, including during some impromptu toasts from
him! He spoke no Engrish at all, and the translator, who actually
handles all their international sales was not actually translating
everything that was said, which was interesting! He did seem to relax
with us here though, as opposed to the office and production line
environment where he seemed to just hover in the background. He spoke
at us a few times in Chinese, which she did translate for us and we
shared a few jokes which was good. We had some seafood which the girl
didn't know the English word for and I've not ever seen before, even
though I'm a seafood fan. It went down a treat though! These guys
certainly know how to make good flavours, it was amazing stuff again,
and way too much for us all to eat. I think the whole bill came in at
what it would have cost one of us to eat in a British equivalent too,
it is so cheap here...
Oh yeah, nearly forgot a highlight from
lunch, whilst sat with the boss of this Chinese company and his
international sales manager type bird, SJ (my boss for those who don't
know, and I can't tell you any more, as being an international spy I'd
have to kill you...) was spinning the rotating table around to get at
the rather tasty pork dish, a spoon (in the chilli fish) hit my top
heavy glass of beer and tipped it over straight into my lap! Fabulous!
I maintained my composure, and luckily thanks to my super cheap, nylon
asdal trousers (only the best for international spies these days mind!)
I was able to soak it off immediately with the towel one of the 5
waitresses had given me at the start of the meal. In a flash I was
surrounded by young waitresses with towels in hand, my immediate
thought was of course to put my hands on my hips, thrust my groin
forwards and let them go to work mopping me down, however in the
present company the professional inner me stepped in in the nick of
time and I assured them all was well... damn the professional inner me,
damn him to hell! This was met with some amusement of course by all in
the room, and once my plate (which was now full of beer) was replaced
and the table wiped down, we were once again being civilised. I can't
believe SJ deliberately made me look a fool... now I know why I was
invited...! ;-)
After rounding up a few things back at their
office, we got driven back to the hotel early and had a couple of hours
to chill, have a shower etc and then met for a chat about the day and a
cold beer. Then we went back to the superb buffet banquet hall in the
hotel for dinner tonight, much of the same things on the cart as last
night, which was a bonus as some of it was really nice, plus a few new
things to try including lots of shell fish and shrimpy chaps. It is a
great way to eat and gives us a chance to try lots of different things,
I'm sure we'll get bored of it later in the trip, but for now it is
superb still. The buffet works out about £3 per person and you can eat
and drink as much as you like!! The only extras are from the small boys
who keep coming thick and fast from the kitchen with huge skewers of
freshly cooked meats and cut of big chunks for you at the table, stamp
your receipt and run off again. I doubt we paid much more than a fiver
each for yet another feast... Hope it's as good as this in Korea and
Taiwan...
Today wasn't as 'smoggy' in the city as yesterday, in
fact the whole place seemed a bit more welcoming and a little less
daunting. It was very hot today though, with lower humidity, so the
smog must be visible with the higher humidity like yesterday.
The
road trip to the factory was interesting, the place is nuts! All roads
are jammed with traffic... buses, lorries, cars, motor bikes, electric
bikes, push bikes, pedestrians and push bikes with trailers on, one of
which we saw with two mahuuusive bags of what looked like polystyrene
wobbling around on top off, cycling down a 3 lane main road! Nutter!
The crossroads are crazy, I still have no idea who has right of way...
I
think it's who ever has the loudest horn... I shit you not!
Going
to meet with the same people tomorrow to see their other factory nearer
the airport, and then catch our afternoon flight to South Korea. Not
sure if the Hotel will have internet access, so might not be back on
til Weds night when we arrive in Taiwan...
What fun!
Laters...
Sloggs :-)
Oh, a few more piccies uploading shortly... will put any others up from SJ's camera when I get back to Blighty... over and out.