Sunday, November 18, 2007

Beijing baby!

i'm back from beijing! i can't believe how many photos I had taken in a span of four days. It was amazing. I haven't been on a tour in so long but this was really fun. Tiring but fun. I had picked the best media group to go with me and i just felt comfortable with them. We just kept joking the whole time and within the whole delegation, we were dubbed the smallest group BUT the friendliest and most fun :) it's like we were this big bundle of joy that just exploded. It felt good to influence the rest of the rest of the media attendees from all the other asian countries and even the head of our tour said that we lasted the longest (in four degrees below zero weather) in the great wall...we are heroes! hehe.

The first whole day was all work though, but it didn't feel like it. This was the first time I got to have long conversations with some of the top japanese bosses in my company and it felt so satisfying to have accomplished so much and deserve it. I was able to prep the media so that we could provide very interesting information. I was able to meet with the no.2 guy in the whole company and it felt like I was meeting celebrities with all the japanese corporate bigwigs in that room. I had also met those who I had earlier been so intimated with through email which made me feel more in tune with this company and what it stands for. Times like these are such rewards where you know you've been doing a great job and deserve the level you are currently in. With all the issues regarding visa application, the press kits etc. I was still able to crack jokes to lighten the mood and keep everyone in good moods. The fact that us Filipinos could speak English well also allowed us to be first in every activity. I had also gotten so many good ideas that could translate well for our future events here.

I am so inspired at the moment that i think i would really like to pursue learning a little more japanese. I would be able to interact better with all the others and can look forward to more events like this.

And as expected, we had unbelievable experiences with the food. We went to a Muslim-Chinese restaurant complete with belly dancers and a kung-fu performance. We went to a Peking Duck restaurant where it feels like it was an Iron Chef episode with duck soup, duck appetizers, duck desserts etc. We went to a restaurant with 900 year old trimmings complete with concubine servers...oh and i mistakenly ate something that we later found out was camel hump. I suppose there really is a first time for everything.

If that wasn't enough, our last night had us going to the Red Theater and watching Chun-Yi: The Legend of Kung-Fu show which had some of the yummiest casts. I was crushing on one of the lead's kung fu actors and had a picture with him after the show. What a bod, what talent and what cheekbones. yummy indeed. Think I was blushing in our photo heehee. But their skill was really amazing. Apparently a lot of those things you see in movies can be done. Without a harness or anything. They are so impervious to any pain. how hot is that?

Going home i really didn't think I had gone to Beijing to work but of course it kicks in that in tomorrow's divisional meeting I will have to give a report. A lot of key learning for future media activities and trips. I suppose things can't be perfect since i had suffered through the smallest plane and the worst airline service I have ever had in both trips back and forth. PAL really needs to kick things up. But in a few months I will be flying off to Singapore again and I am actually looking forward to it, even if it is work. I enjoy being with my other counterparts from other countries and it is so nice to just tell stories and share our work.

So in a few days I was able to see the Olympic site, an A-shaped gi-normous building (CCTV), Tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, two hours of walking through temples, rode the cable car amidst my fear of heights, survived below zero weather plus wind factor, joined a group of about 800 bosses and partners, learned a lot about Chinese history, experienced an excellently planned major corporate event, and met a lot of amazing people. I feel like I've really got it good.

posted by maldita @ 8:22 PM

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