Guangdong Update Day 3: Touch base with friends

Guangdong Update Day 3

Pre-Day 3

Last night, I went to that drugstore at the back of Oriental Ginza, the one I think you’re referring to. Wala dito ang sketch ni Cecile. No signs that there’s a second floor, unless I missed it. But there was nothing in the drugstore that indicates an entrance to a second floor. So malamang, hindi yon ang drugstore na tinutukoy mo. But it’s the only one on that street, facing stalls of fruits, kalinya ng stalls ng mga hardware, cheap clothes, beauty products, Chinese medicines, and isang maliit na sari-sari store. Dito sa huli ako nakabili ng noodles and rice crackers (na hindi ko pa nabuksan ngayon so hindi ko actually alam kung the same ito sa Wan wan).

On my way back, I looked around for some place to eat but the prices advertised outside didn’t look enticing. A place that looked like a fastfood had its menu displayed outside. RMB18! Sabi ko ok ‘to. Pagtingin ko sa picture, 4 pcs of siomai. No thanks. Baka maliit pa yung pieces na yun. I looked around a bit sa mga tiangge-type na tindahan before deciding to have my newly-purchased noodles for dinner. Kasi super laki ng lalagyan. True enough, maraming laman, at busog na busog ako. Sulit yung RMB 3.50 ko. Nalimutan ko nga pala banggitin na nung naglunch kami yesterday ni Tyler and Mr Déjà vu sa KFC (of all places), nabusog na ako sa sandwich kaya ni-take home ko yung shrimp “shots” (fun shots pero shrimp, parang mini-tempura. Do we have this in Mla? Parang wala.) Ito ang partner ng noodles dinner ko kaya busog ako. Masarap yung shrimp shots.

Day 3

This morning nagmadali ako sa breakfast, kaunti lang nakain ko kasi feeling ko late na ako. 8.20 na yata ako nakaalis ng hotel. Ang usapan naman namin ni Tyler 9 ang alis sa office so before 9 ako dapat dumating. Pero para sure, buti na yung maaga-aga. Bago ako nag-breakfast, I emailed Talline and Marion na I’m in Shenzhen. Pareho silang sumagot but I never got around to reading it dahil umalis na ako. Later ko nalang nalaman.

No special incident in the subway this time. Proud ako. =) Pagdating ko sa office, busy pa si Tyler. So naghintay muna ako ng matagal. I later learned na nag-cancel pala yung unang company na naka-schedule (gas detector company) kaya naghahanap si Tyler ng replacement. Pero no success. Umalis kami past 10 papunta sa 2nd company for the day.

After the interview, Tyler dropped me sa may tapat ng office building kasi may next appointment pa siya. I found my chance. I went up to 34th floor instead of 36th, and went straight to Talline. Tamang-tama naghahanda siya for lunch. From there, tinawagan ko si Kevin. Nung una, panic siya. Sabi niya “May, why are you in office?” Pero nung inexplain ko na tapos na yung interview namin sa morning at iniwan na ako ni Tyler, nagrelax na siya. Pero nagtatanong pa rin kung bakit ako pumunta daw kay Talline. Sabi ko binisita ko lang siya. So, nagset na kami ng time na dapat akong bumalik sa office to meet Dean, the 2nd AE for the day. 1.30 ang call time namin.

Talline, Melvin (from CM) and I went down to lunch. Sa lobby ng building, na-meet namin sina Rina, Marion, Anna and another one. Hindi ko pa alam non na nag-email pala sa akin si Marion. At 9am, she said daanan ko daw siya, pwede ba kami mag-lunch together? Then at 11am, nag-email siya uli na medyo masama pakiramdam niya so magha-halfday siya para makapagpahinga muna. So nung nakita niya ako marching out to lunch with Talline and Melvin, nakasmile siya na medyo confused. Siguro akala niya dedma ko lunch invitation niya.

Talline, Melvin and I went to the Norway Place in Coco Park mall. Ang tawag nila dito Chinese na Norwegian kasi kahit Norwegian ang menu, lasang Chinese. Trulyly. Pero buffet siya at mura lang. Doon din pala ang punta nila Marion. Maglalunch muna bago siya uuwi. Buti naman kasi doon niya sinabi sa akin na nag-email siya at hindi ko nga nabasa. Chikahan blues. Excited sila malaman kung kumusta yung xmas party. Sabi ko masaya, magulo ang mga tao.

Hindi makakauwi si Talline and many other Filipinos for Christmas break coz they don’t have annual leaves left. So they’re already planning their menu. Cordon bleu, boiled and grilled chicken or pork something, creamy corn soup (yata), may dessert pa. I forgot the items na, basta the works. Reminds me of Lou, when she hosted special holiday parties in her flat in HK.

We went back to the office at 1:15, enough time for me to freshen up before 1.30, when AE Dean and I met and went down to wait for the car sent by the next company on schedule. We went to Bao’an district. 1.30 kami umalis, 3:00 na kami dumating sa factory ng supplier. Full speed pa ito, no traffic. Sa kakasilip ko sa landscape and sights habang nasa car, I fell in and out of sleep. Nakakaantok pala yun. With us in the car was the international sales officer, a girl, who kept watching me in the rearview mirror. Nung nahuli ko siya, she put on her sunglasses. Para di halata. So tumingin nalang ako sa labas at yun, nakatulog na ako.

She turned out to be a nice girl, though. When she saw my business card holder, the one with shifting pictures of a pretty Chinese girl, she said she loves it and she’s very pretty (referring to the girl). Then she asked me, “Do you know the story?” I didn’t know that this particular picture had a story. Unfortunately, she didn’t get around to telling me, because we were summoned by the GM to his office for the interview.

The lady acted as interpreter for the GM, who doesn’t speak English. The quote for the day came from her: “We have three flowers.” (Err, flowers?) She gestured above her head. “We have three flowers, all production by our own self.” Oh! She means they have three floors and they’re doing all the production processes in-house. A pronunciation “glitch”. ;-)

After the interview, we toured the factory. And then went back. The sales officer stayed in the factory so only Dean, me and another employee of that company went back to Shenzhen. I slept again. I could hear Dean talking to the other person almost ¾ of the way. Matatag ha. But in the last ¼ of the trip, he dozed off.

Shortly before arriving to the office building, Dean woke up suddenly and realized he was hungry. He asked me if I was also hungry. I said yes. And he said, ok let’s have supper. We arrived in the building at 7pm and went up to get Dean’s laptop. While he was packing up, I went to the ladies room. On the way out, I passed Louie Pilapil’s desk and talked to her. She asked about the party too. The xmas party in Shenzhen office is Dec 22 but she’s leaving for Manila on vacation this Saturday and will be back Dec 26. So malungkot siya kasi wala siyang xmas party sa office this year. First party pa naman sana niya sa Shenzhen. Pero late na na-schedule kasi late din yata na-reserve ang venue. Masama loob niya.

Tomorrow, if the AEs let me off the hook at lunch, Louie asked me to pass by her station so we can dine together.

Dean and I went off to Coco Park for dinner. Josko, of all places na pipiliin niya, Norway Place. I tried to say that I ate lunch there today but he doesn’t speak much English so he missed the point. Surprisingly, the a la carte dish I chose tasted well. Pieces of Norwegian salmon in fried pasta. RMB 24 lang.

Dinner turned out to be an English and Chinese tutorial session as Dean tried to coach me on Chinese and I tried to teach him English. By 8.30, we were making very slow progress and were both tired. We parted by the subway station entrance and I took the subway home.

All smooth on the subway. Am proud. =)