Beijing 27 Aug to 2 Sep

My first trip to China. Thanks again to HP!

The leadup to BB5 was a little stressful. But once there, setup went smooth, and the event went uneventfully.

I took 2 days off to view the sights of BJ and I listed my likes and dislikes of BJ.



Top 5 Likes
1. Massage service (esp the guys at Wangfujing Street - boy do they live up to their 'Magic Hands' shop name)
2. Rich history and culture. I really enjoyed our tour of the Forbidden City
3. Catching up with Nee Ching. Nice to see me old teammate, visit her home and a great dinner together.
4. Climbing the Great Wall. I never knew it was built into mountains! How'd they build it without cranes and power tools?!
5. Hanging out with colleagues. Steph, Karine, NC, Joan, Terence, CK, Sunil... were great people. I remember almost toppling over the huge steps of the Great Wall as I was laughing so hard.

Top 3 Dislikes
1. Having to speak Mandarin everywhere. I need to brush up my spoken Mandarin - had 1 too many gaffes as a results.
2. Polluted air, dirty everywhere.
3. Food - Must it always be either too salty, oily or fire-hot, often all at the same time!

Do I think I can survive working in Beijing? Hmm...