Thursday 28 October 2010

Shanghai

It's been 7 years since I went to Shanghai. The place has undergone a dramatic change, from all accounts. What made it good before still applies...the food (sheng jian bao, yum!), the view from the Bund, the French Concession. I remember vigorously partying the first time I was here. On that front, it seems like nothing has changed! Can't believe they opened up a Prive there. Fun to meet new friends, more places to visit around Asia.

Di and I went to an "art battle" event, where random artists are making artworks in front of you and you vote for the one your liked best. It's this kind of stuff that I don't think is available in Singapore, although perhaps I'm not looking hard enough.

Finally made it to the expo, on the second last week it was showing. I'm so glad I had connections to get into the Australia pavilion (our company built it) and the Taiwan pavilion (friend was VIP). Not sure if I would have lined up 4 hours to see these things, although if I had lined up for 4 hours for anything I'm sure I would have raved on about it just to validate that it wasn't a complete waste of time!

Spent time at the office as well. It always seems that hospitality is wonderful in these regional offices. I'm sure they get sick of random staff members coming in to visit, but they are so gracious about it. It's good to get some face time with these guys though, makes work easier when communicating or convincing them of a certain process.

Speaking of hospitality, thanks Di for taking me around! Hope you get your visa sorted out so you can visit me in Singapore!