Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Journey...

It's been an eventful stay in China... i'm leaving Suzhou tomorrow on a train bound for Wu Xi. The trip has been eventful and I've learnt much about the local culture and also myself. Looking forward to Wuxi trip.

A summary of the days in China till now:
Day 1) Landed in Shanghai Pudong International at around 10pm. We got on a shuttle bus to the shanghai train station and tried to find a lodging... but actually got driven off by some touters. Chose to stay in a rather posh hotel eventually, to get rid of touters. The evening was really tiring and the rest was so very deserving... a journey unfolds.
Day 2) Reached Suzhou by Train and we managed to get really good seats 1 & 2 of the first carriage leh... some more it's those soft seat one...And from train station we took a bus... to SIP... reached SIP and met with the friends in the Singapore office. They were wonderful hosts and really great! The harvest was not very encouraging for the afternoon as we tried to get into the companies to obtain views. Dinner at Simon's with YY... thereafter took cab with XX to Guan Qian Jie and later met up GR and LH at the office... stayed at Xiao S's place for the evening.
Day 3) GR and LH joined me and XX at SIP. We began our surveys at some industrial estates within SIP... it was rewarding and we managed to get much of the responses. The evening was a dinner with XX's uncle and friend... walked around Guan Quan Jie.
Day 4) Equally rewarding surveys. We even had an opportunity to enjoy a nice lunch at Simon's too! Dinner was with LH's friend, BJ... we even rode bikes around Suzhou. Nearly got crashed by a bus... ha... stopped in front of a bus and the driver stared blankly at me... and as a novice rider... I stared back at him... lucky! We had some fun riding around till Su_Da.
Day 5) We are left with 3 as GR headed for Shanghai to work on Pudong. Had to get to SND and have a look. It was not easy to do surveys. Evening was spent going past carrefour and watching some river boats... and I think it was lunar 15th too!
Day 6) Got to Zhuo Zheng Yuan with XX, BJ, LH. We walked around. I was not in the best of moods as I was quite depressed for the day. But yah still tried to hang around. We met YY and her friend for mushroom hotpot dinner. Thereafter pubbing at local pubs... some hollywood thingie and another one. Drank a bit. But yah... the usual stuff, shun if possible... And of course must take care of the other one too.
Day 7) Got to Zhou Zhuang to visit and we didn't know it was that far! We took cab. It costed a bomb really. But yah... the place had lots to buy and see... rushed back on the 5pm bus to prevent paying another bomb to the drivers. Had dinner in town and thereafter shopped for gifts for our friends in Suzhou. I guess I threw quite a bit of tantrum these two days but I think few understood why. :)
Day 8) Got a great start in surveys. Dinner with BJ. Bidded Farewell, biking.
Day 9) Worked on another stuff now. We had a pleasant dinner at a Xinjiang place and treated YY to the makan... :) Thanks to her we can really enjoy our stay here leh. I am really touched by the hospitality offered. And I noticed one thing... in China, a call from one region to another may be considered overseas calls. We'll be heading for Wuxi tomorrow. :)

Signing off... goodnight!


dk scribbled
10:10 PM
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