Disappeared Again

It feels like a long time since I last posted anything. Well, the main reason? My absence from my home country... or rather, it should be my continued presence in my host country, which blocks blogger. Often enough, I would get a "This page cannot be displayed" notification. Oh well, at least it forces me to concentrate more on my work . *I think*

Three months of "on and off" travelling... finally have had a chance to experience what it would feel like to "live out of my suitcase". I guess, all things considered, it is not too bad. Actually think that I've grown during this period... be it in terms of work, or in terms of handling my own emotions. Over the years, I have been very dependent on the support that I gain in being with everyone back home. Now I guess it's time to learn how to stand on my own two feet.

Huzhou and Jiangyin... haha... they are not the most familiar of names to Singaporeans. Both places are manufacturing based, and most of the companies are still China owned. Had the opportunity to come down as the companies are listed on the Singapore stock exchange. Must say that the two places although fairly similar in alot of aspects (manufacturing environment, near to Shanghai), are quite different in it's feel.

Huzhou is like a mini Shanghai without all the "minuses" (huge immigrant population, noisy surroundings, heavy pollution). It's situated in the Zhe Jiang province(?), approximately 4 hours drive away from Shanghai. Surrounding it is the famous Lake Tai ("Tai Hu"), and comes with it's usual mountains and valleys. From the client's premises, we can see the surrounding mountains, and during my weekend sightseeing, I sort of felt as though I was in a mini New Zealand. Nice. The people there have a "Let's enjoy life" attitude... they are fairly well to do, and like to knock off on time so as to enjoy "work life balance", i.e. they spend every evening at the many bars and tea shops surrounding Lake Tai. Restaurants are packed to the brim every night, and dinner is served at 5pm, and normally ends by around 7.30pm so that the clientele can hit the bars. My two weeks there were alcohol filled every night as we "entertained" with the clients. If I was lucky, we drank beer... if not, it was the infamour white wine ("Bai Jiu"). Traffic is good here, the people actually believe in traffic lights!!! And the blasting of horns is kept at a manageable limit. It's perfectly safe to go walk about at night (there are so many couples on the street), at times, I think I'm in Singapore. The only downside is that almost no one speaks or even understands English.

Jiangyin... haha... well, this is more like the China that I remember. An absence of traffic lights even at major traffic junctions, a lack of high rise buildings (re: shopping centres), alot of dirty dirty toilets, alot of shouting and horn blaring. Although Jiangyin is actually even nearer to Shanghai (3 hrs drive), it is apparent that they have not benefited as much as Huzhou in terms of economic growth. My clients are classic... they spend the entire day sleeping, eating 瓜子... and just bark at you when you ask them anything. There appears to be no need to get any work done. Amazing. In some ways, this place makes me slightly miserable. Mayhaps it's coz I don't even know the colleague that I'm here with... so I've not held a decent conversation with anyone in the longest time. To top it off, I don't even have internet connection at my client's place... which is when most of my friends are online... so yeah, I feel very alone. My only consolation? The work load on this assignment is alot more bearable... I actually have been able to get some sleep. Well, I guess everywhere has it's pros and cons...