Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Laggard ChengDu trip entry

This is a terrible laggard entry that was stuck around in the phone, saved as a draft for a long while. 
Close to packing for 2013's buying trip, that I realized how far I was in storing away my trip memories..
I opened up the luggage (that was never quite unpacked or stored away) and realized that I've got countless articles still sitting in the luggage unpacked. 
Busy months are good execuses for a very messy room! 

In chronicle order,  my customary bade the social world farewell picture. 
I lied, it was a monkey face that I posted up when I flew off. 
Not a nice smiley one like this.
Hehehehe...


In my previous entry here : I posted my supper and the odds about getting the same room as the other time. 
It felt like home already. :D
I settled quickly and barely unpack, as I was only sleeping for the night.
(My schedule this trip is like some insane journeying and hotel sampling.. i'll prattle on further in a while)

Clearing up all my work in Singapore before I flew off, I decided to pack along a mask, because I just bought it at Watson's sale and decided that sometime during the trip, i'll take them out for entertainment!

Seriously, I always thought that facial Masks are nothing but a consumer hoax, but yet i'm a sucker who still cannot resist buying.
Tsk!

But staring up at my skin 1cm away from the mirror after my shower, I swear that I could see the dry texture of my skin emerging like beef jerky. 
ZOMG.
I yank out my emergency pack of Lovemore Electric Ore Mask and plop it on my face.
#sucks! 
Just 1 hour in china, and i'm already using my emergency pack. 
How about the 6 other nights to go?!


You have no idea how much difference just a pack of mask made to my skin! 
The difference is just pure amazing.
Slapping on the same thing on my face, now that i'm back in Singapore - I seriously can't see much difference. It's back to being a hoax?

I'm one of those miracle believers type of consumers. Need to see something drastic, otherwise, remain skeptical. 
Hahaha. 

That's yet another shot of myself in my legendary room's mirror with my outfitoftheday.
These trips to China are getting interesting.
I've been yanking out long forgotten clothes to wear it there, just because I always try to exercise dressing restraint whenever i'm in foreign countries, it's not so safe to be wearing skanky shorts around, no?
LOL.
Super wrapped up.
that's my 4 year old white "dress/tunic" that rarely sees the sun in Singapore.


My mission this time, would be to oversee the opening of the store located in ChengDu along with a small team, then fly over to Wuhan after the opening, to check on the stores there.

The dad has decided not to head the team, and left me to my own device the entire trip.

I'm not sure if I mentioned in my previous trip post that I got lost, while making my way to the office. 
Some communication breakdown, and the Cab driver brought me for a joy ride around town, and back.
Grr Seriously!

Making my way to the office this time,, I was so confident about finding my way over (Since i'm so done being lost and tourist to the area) 
Alas! I stupidly forgot the unit number! :S

Dad didnt leave any excess card with me either. 
Weh
D:

I stood around the entrance looking like a duck, and waited around for someone to open up the door.
After gaining entrance to the lift lobby, I'm back to being a clever GPS!
I knew which level I had to go...and could walk myself to the right unit.
But the unit number eludes me.
#selfmock+Selfpraise = no praise.
Hahaha


I was bored in the office. Everyone was rushing about to get things done in time for the flight at night, and no one was up to entertaining me, and I felt like I was in the way of everyone.
Chucking me at the showroom was like a meh solution.
Lots of space for me to do some cartwheels.

This would be me, rotting in the showroom.
I have no absolute idea, just how many units the father has rented in the same building.
1 for office.
a few for the staff to live in.
1 for himself
1 as showroom.
Maybe 1 for the cats soon?






Racks and racks of clothes.

1x monkey face, waiting for the driver to pick the team and myself up to the airport after dinner.
Seriously, no one cared if I walked around looking like this either.
Because everyone vacated the office to pack/grab dinner/do their own stuff.
It's just me and the dandy lions glass decals, and the father, smoking away like a chimney in the other room. :(
#SadUnlovedKid

Landed at Cheng Du airport, and made a beeline to the store - because we were carrying LOADS of stuff meant for the store.
Made absolute sense to drop it off , before heading to the hotel.
It looked like this when I reached the store.
Wahhh so dark!


Lights turned on, and this is the crazy mess I saw.
We have Cat in checked shirt, Mr manager overseeing the reno, dude in black tee is the chief architect for our little project. Random lady who I always am forever catching sight of her clearing up wood scraps, sweeping floor etc walking about in heels!
Wow!

I'm not sure how they will magically get the store ready in just 3 days, but my mission there is to just watch, observe and learn something right?
I'm like the set up team, not the reno team.
Hmmmpf.


After bading the mess goodbye, our distributor brought us out for supper.
The spicy mala couldn't wait, I had it in less than 3 hours of reaching Cheng Du!
She ordered an entire pile of food on skewers.
Everything is chinese, and seemed fine to me.
sliced Cow tripe, braised mala chicken foot, black fungus, lotus root, chicken gibblets, rabbit's kidney (! I know! It's my first time eating it) , nano shrimp (they are seriously too small to be identified as shrimps), some stirred fried vegetables, and I drew the line when she attempted to order the head of a bunny.

I swear I nearly died. Contemplating the thoughts of having to eat the head of a rabbit, with its eyeballs and teeth in tact.

Ugh..
Sorry. Rabbit's kidneys are about as chinese as I can be. I'm also not a fan of chicken innards but I eat them anyway.
And all the time, I thought about bunny at home with his large round marble like eyes. :(

In the words of my distributor, my appetite for Sichuan food is comparable to the locals.
(I think so as well... you have no idea how much spicy mala food I eat back in Singapore)


Enough rattling.
This is my very very nice hotel room for the next few days!
For a hotel room it's rather huge! I could hold a party for 8 comfortably!



Ahhh! I can see my bed when I'm showering, and when i'm lying on my bed, I can see my shower/toilet!
Sexy time much?
Hahahha
Oh and the toilet door is made of glass as well.
Sexy shitting time as well?
hahahah!




Woke up, and decided that the room's lighting is extremely favourable for pictures!
without any filter, this is the original ambience lighting in my room!

This would be le daphne, after a filter.
Eh heheh I like how I get baby smooth skin whenever I make use of this filter.
Hurhurhur.
#filterillusions


The cute cups in my room.
I drank with the doggie one.
Not a fan of robots, at least not this one!


Kitchen Pantry area. Next to it, is a washing machine and drying area.
Seriously. It's a mother huge room I have to myself.
I always found out later that this is probably a service apartment, more than a hotel. 
Coz I checked in at 4am in the morning, I have no clue.
Hahahha!


Slightly neater shop.
But still nowhere near completion leh..


Ok fast forward a little.
This are random shots of the shop on our opening day!


Girls are fickleminded!
We/I kept changing my mind on the display pieces chosen for the mannequins.
I finally settled for the orange and almondish scheme instead of the blacks.
Stripping the mannequins is not my favourite task in the Visual set up part.
It's too troublesome!
The orange set looks more exciting no?

The otherside of the store...
That crazy white screen is a jumbled mash of iisa.
Not my brain child, not my favorite piece of fixture in the store layout, but i'll live with it.

The lazy corner.
With the huge sofa (I later spent more of my time camping on the sofa, \ looking like I meant to sit there,coz I was terribly unwell with food poisoning)

I also took time to camp in the fitting room.

Poor sad Daphne back in the hotel room.
I skipped dinner, while the rest of the team stayed behind to sort out the stock takings and system set up of the POS. 
Rwar! They had Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.
I drank Pepsi, hoping that all the germs in my tummy would die!
Die germs die!
If coke and pepsi is good enough to kill off the toilet bowl stains, it's gonna work for the food poisoning!

I spent at least 4 times in the toilet while I was at the store.
once in the hotel, and I slept like a frigging sad baby thereafter.


I woke up feeling damn refreshed at 6am.
The pepsi worked!
Felt good enough to give myself a fancy do, after I cleared up the room and packed up my luggage.
With an 8.30am flight to catch, I couldnt be bothered to dress up, but I definitely look happier, considering that i'm not much of a morning person.

Random chair in the office of our distributor.
It's the groping chair.
Hahhaa
#lame!

One of those bored days, I went out for a walk in the heart of Cheng Du. It's their shopping district. I stopped by the Watson's to grab a pack of mask, coz I had terrible skin the entire trip.
A pimple grew on the bridge of my nose.
It wasn't looking ugly, but it definitely hurts whenever I touch it.
This is yet another wonder product.
I think its called my beauty diary or something like that.
I woke up the next morning, and the painful bump was deflated!
OMG PAPAYA!
This black rose clarifying pack is making itself useful! 
Miracle product only works when i'm in China?


Greeted by the third hotel of the trip. I like this room the least.
It's dark, old, dampy and very contrasting to the glitzy one I stayed in Cheng Du.
#spoiltbrat.
Size wise, this is pretty decent, just not as new.
I found it extremely amusing to find a stack of cards slotted through my door, with busty ladies, in le sexy pose, offering their massage and other services ranging from students, to old mature ladies in the different "composite cards".
Lol! How enterprising!




I'm left with a series of random pictures snapped for fun!
The uber yummy spring onion pancakes of Wuhan!
It tasted like lots of yummy garlic spread/oil was laced all over the pancake, with a dash of sesame seed and a sprinkle of spring onion.
Awesome! 
Super good change, after 4 days of non stop spicy mala sichuan food.
And after my bout of diarrhea, I welcome mild flavoured food, because my system felt rather weak comparatively. 

We ordered all 3 items shown in the picture, but the favourite would still be the spring onion one in the center! Rwar!!!


Mini lobster about the size of my index fingers.
Nothing to eat, but shell.
That was fried in spicy mala style as well. 
Oh well, I managed. 
Hahaha, just amused at the size of the lobster. 


Diced bread with pork floss filling.
It tasted meh. Very dry. Nothing like the yummy floss buns from our local Breadtalk.

Some dolls wearing the mini design of the offerings in the store!
I want! But to bring a doll home, I had to purchase x amount from the label.
Look at the amount of fabric that each doll has on her, it's definitely not my style. 
Too covered up.
No doll for Daphne :(

Oh, and the meanie of a salesgirl also forbade me to snap pictures of the dolls.
This was taken secretly!



Last hour in Wuhan, I met a samoyed.
Fella is totally not camera cooperative.
The minute I got closed to him, he decided that I give good belly rubs, and demanded for some.

How the heck is lying on uneven pavement even comfortable?
I have no idea!


Lastly, the legendary flight delays at the Wuhan airport.
what was supposed to be a 4ish pm flight got delayed into an 8.45pm flight.
It was so bad. SO BAD!
I almost couldnt make it back to Singapore in time!




We were due to reach Shen Zhen at 6.30pm, and the dad even gave the team instructions to make sure "they have dinner with me" before they chuck me in the right terminal for my plane back to Singapore.


That dinner totally didn't happen!
The delays caused so much drama, it was as if, I was in a movie!

What seemed like too much airport camping time to spare, became super tensed!
When the Wuhan flight landed, the air stewardess actually helped clear me over to the business seats, just to ensure that I'll be the first to depart the plane.
Cat came along with me, since i'm the blur cock tourist here.
We sat on a shuttle bus for VIPs to leave the tarmac area (Thank god, some VIP lady ordered for the service, and we merely hitch hiked)

We dashed (in heels!) from the domestic terminal to the international terminal and managed to check in with merely 10 minutes before the counter closed.

At this point, Cat's assistant was waiting for our luggages trapped in the Wuhan plane terminal.
Awesome right?
With only 10 minutes, we weren't sure if I was to fly home alone luggage-less or what.

Cat said to me "if i'm not back by 11.05pm. please board the plane, and we'll Courier your luggage over T.T
I was so sure that i'll get mushrooms from my dirty laundry by the time it comes back to me.


I am grateful that I've always been well taken care of, no matter how weird the situations may become, and so... my luggage appeared.
It was like a relay dash. assistant to Cat, Cat to me, me to plane.
Rwar!

When I finally settled at the boarding area, I broke down into tears. 
I had over an hour to emo, as there was yet another infamous flight delay on departure back to Singapore! 
*Experienced an insane amount of turbulence this trip. 
Delays were caused by the unstable "weather", so the air crews tell us.

I was upset that I didn't get to say a proper farewell to my teammates.
That I couldnt thank them enough for the 200% effort that they've placed into making this work trip happen and the dedication in taking care of me.
and the crazy part into making my trip home happen too.

IT was just too much.
Reno delays
Exhaustion,
Diarrhea,
Airport dramas
It all came crashing with the tears with relieve that my crazy trip was over.

It felt as if I've grown up alot in the span of 7 days.
I reached home to a war zoned room after I touched down.
Mother left my room door opened, and the dog had a party in my room unsupervised.

Best trip ever with a thumbs up!
Hahahah. 

I was too tired, I slept and only cleared the mess the next night.
Trixie also took the opportunity to shred the sister's letter into confetti!

I found it super amusing and cracked up when the sister told me she later tried to piece her letter together and it read "Dear D, I hope your knees are holding up fine.
Please continue to work on the knee exercises diligently"

Signed off
your physio

This marks the end of my adventures in Cheng Du, China.