After our unsuccessful attempt at going to the movies on Friday night we decided to go on Monday night and pre-book the tickets at the Broadway Circuit Cinemas in Cyberport. After having an exam that morning for International Financial Management I was looking forward to a chilled night at the movies and away from the books. We watched 'The Wolf of Wall Street' that lasted for almost three hours in length. I enjoyed the movie and the story behind it but was quite surprised at how much sex, drugs and alcohol was involved, perhaps I should have read the book before hand. Nevertheless, it was still a great movie and would recommend anyone who has considered watching it to give it a shot.
The next day I received a phone call where I spoke more to the managing director of the company. I will not go into too much detail but basically the field of work is construction and the owner needs "somebody he can trust" to visit the Guangzhou factory once a week/fortnight to ensure smooth running of the operations and to implement and monitor quality control of the product before it is exported back to Australia and other destinations.
What lies ahead of this opportunity? I do not know. However, all this came from that night I spent in Wan Chai drinking with Hong Kong Pete and fellow business executives. I was tempted not to go out that night as well due to how tired I had been. However, in the last six months or so I have adopted a new theory that I must try and say "yes" to as many opportunities that come my way as possible. Almost like the movie 'Yes Man' with Jim Carrey, however not quite as strict. Obviously, there are going to be times when I need to prioritise certain tasks over others but since I have began saying yes to things I would not normally do or with people I would not normally "hang" around with I have had so many good things come from it and met so many new people. Really when you think about it you always say how you regret not doing something, but when do you ever really say "I wish I had never said yes to that". Even if that is the case and it turns out to not be what you expected, it is just another experience you have learnt from. So what harm is that?
Live Blog Feed: I am in tears. Jeremy is talking in his sleep, really loudly, like yelling out. He just asked us if we want to go fishing in the Pacific Ocean. Albert has not long come home after having a big night drinking thinking either that Jeremy wants to go fishing now or he is too drunk to understand english. Albert starts yelling things back at Jeremy, making bird noises and shouting as he's talking in his sleep. Meanwhile I am sitting here at my desk, on my laptop trying to write my blog, holding my stomach laughing at the two of them. So, so funny.
Anyway, getting back to the job. I have been running around backwards and forwards to the Chinese Embassy in Wan Chai to get an expedited visa into China as the managing director has asked me to come up for an induction this Friday. I will be staying the Friday night after working the day and then returning to Hong Kong on the Saturday afternoon. They have asked me if I would be able to commit one or two days a week/fortnight to travel up to factories in China to do such work. They were also interested in my plans after I finish studying and how long I intend to stay in Hong Kong for. I have done some background research on the company and found that they have offices in Australia, one being in Brisbane. This could potentially be the start of a much bigger opportunity than I originally anticipated.I explored by myself in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) for some good tailors for custom-made suits and also a department store to buy new suitcases. However, after having group work at uni this afternoon I left it a little too late and most of the stores and local tailors had closed up for the day. I will try and head back over early next week during the day to continue exploring.
We found this great little organic café on campus that sells good quality food and a wide selection of coffee. For lunch I had Roasted Duck Spaghetti in a Cream Sauce accompanied with a Roast Almond latte. It was about double what you would expect to pay at the canteens here on campus but it is still relatively cheap compared to home and for the quality, definitely worth it. I am sure I will be making use of this hidden gem in the study weeks to come.
Everyone has headed out tonight to LKF to see a well-known DJ that is playing at one of the nightclubs. As much as I would have liked to have gone I have a tonne of work to do and need an early nights sleep before leaving at 5:30am to Guangzhou for this job. I am quite excited as I'm not really sure what lies ahead but am going with an open mind and ambitious thinking.
I was up at 4:30am after getting only three hours sleep and met Hong Kong Pete at Hong Hum station before we had breakfast together at Starbucks and boarded the speed train to Guangzhou. We had some great chats on this two hour train ride. Peter shared with me his life story about how he started off as a young teenager to doing what he does now, gave me a great history and importance of the towns we were passing on the train and also discussed his future ideas for business and current clients.
We were greeted by "Mr Li", Peter's good friend and business associate who is the owner and manager of the manufacturing factory where I will be completing my work. Mr Li drove us to the factory where I was introduced to Mike the managing director of Formcraft, the company I was asked to work for. My role during the visits to the factories is to monitor the production process of the products manufactured for Formcraft and ensure that quality assurance is maintained before I give the final approval for the products to be exported in containers to Australia. Peter gave me a tour of the rest of the factory where I was amazed to see that all the employees were female. I later discovered that a few males do work at the factory however they are supervisors of the production where the physical labour with machinery is completed by the women. The variety of products that were produced at this factory astounded me, ranging from electrical boxes to overhead cable holders as well as various products made from rubber and plastic.
We later checked in to a nearby hotel after dropping Mike off at the airport. After showering and refreshing ourselves, Peter took me to an Irish Pub called 'Paddy's' that he says is famous in Guangzhou amongst all the expatriates. There we met a group of nice Scottish folk who were in Guangzhou looking for new products for their businesses back in Scotland. After a few drinks with them Peter invited them to the restaurant where we were meeting Mr Li and his wife and son 'Niko' for dinner. The restaurant was called '1920'. It is a german restaurant in Guangzhou, apparently famous for its good food, service and wine and that reputation certainly did not fail to disappoint. The moment we walked into the restaurant Peter clicked his fingers and said a few words in Cantonese and before we knew it our table was filled with succulent cold meat platters, smoked salmon with asparagus, fresh warm bread and bottles of wine.
I proceeded to have roast lamb with vegetables and, birds nest potato in a creamy garlic sauce for main course before being greeted with plates of chocolate cake and fruit salad for dessert. Peter and I managed to share two bottles of wine between the two of us, finally someone over here who shares my appreciation for red wine. We spent a great night with Mr Li and his family and talking to our new Scottish friends who made me promise that I would come over and visit them and stay at their house. They also later shared that they in fact own property in various countries around the world and offered for me to stay in any of these properties if ever I was visiting. The apartment in Dubai sure did catch my attention.
The night continued with drinks at the Garden Hotel bar before heading to a nightclub led by Peter and eventually retiring to bed as we had an early train to catch in the morning.
I am currently sitting here on the train back to Hong Kong from Guangzhou with Peter snoring happily next to me. As I look out the window and see the dense pollution surrounding the many cities passing by I can not help to reminisce on the events of these last few days and how this opportunity was derived by an innocent few drinks at a bar. I consider myself very lucky to have met such great people, most notably Peter who has gone above and beyond to provide me with such exposure to successful businessmen and opportunities. It won't soon be forgotten.
Well its been a long few days and I think it is time I joined Peter for a nap before we arrive back in Hong Kong.
Life is good!
I was up at 4:30am after getting only three hours sleep and met Hong Kong Pete at Hong Hum station before we had breakfast together at Starbucks and boarded the speed train to Guangzhou. We had some great chats on this two hour train ride. Peter shared with me his life story about how he started off as a young teenager to doing what he does now, gave me a great history and importance of the towns we were passing on the train and also discussed his future ideas for business and current clients.
We were greeted by "Mr Li", Peter's good friend and business associate who is the owner and manager of the manufacturing factory where I will be completing my work. Mr Li drove us to the factory where I was introduced to Mike the managing director of Formcraft, the company I was asked to work for. My role during the visits to the factories is to monitor the production process of the products manufactured for Formcraft and ensure that quality assurance is maintained before I give the final approval for the products to be exported in containers to Australia. Peter gave me a tour of the rest of the factory where I was amazed to see that all the employees were female. I later discovered that a few males do work at the factory however they are supervisors of the production where the physical labour with machinery is completed by the women. The variety of products that were produced at this factory astounded me, ranging from electrical boxes to overhead cable holders as well as various products made from rubber and plastic.We later checked in to a nearby hotel after dropping Mike off at the airport. After showering and refreshing ourselves, Peter took me to an Irish Pub called 'Paddy's' that he says is famous in Guangzhou amongst all the expatriates. There we met a group of nice Scottish folk who were in Guangzhou looking for new products for their businesses back in Scotland. After a few drinks with them Peter invited them to the restaurant where we were meeting Mr Li and his wife and son 'Niko' for dinner. The restaurant was called '1920'. It is a german restaurant in Guangzhou, apparently famous for its good food, service and wine and that reputation certainly did not fail to disappoint. The moment we walked into the restaurant Peter clicked his fingers and said a few words in Cantonese and before we knew it our table was filled with succulent cold meat platters, smoked salmon with asparagus, fresh warm bread and bottles of wine.I proceeded to have roast lamb with vegetables and, birds nest potato in a creamy garlic sauce for main course before being greeted with plates of chocolate cake and fruit salad for dessert. Peter and I managed to share two bottles of wine between the two of us, finally someone over here who shares my appreciation for red wine. We spent a great night with Mr Li and his family and talking to our new Scottish friends who made me promise that I would come over and visit them and stay at their house. They also later shared that they in fact own property in various countries around the world and offered for me to stay in any of these properties if ever I was visiting. The apartment in Dubai sure did catch my attention.
The night continued with drinks at the Garden Hotel bar before heading to a nightclub led by Peter and eventually retiring to bed as we had an early train to catch in the morning.
I am currently sitting here on the train back to Hong Kong from Guangzhou with Peter snoring happily next to me. As I look out the window and see the dense pollution surrounding the many cities passing by I can not help to reminisce on the events of these last few days and how this opportunity was derived by an innocent few drinks at a bar. I consider myself very lucky to have met such great people, most notably Peter who has gone above and beyond to provide me with such exposure to successful businessmen and opportunities. It won't soon be forgotten.Well its been a long few days and I think it is time I joined Peter for a nap before we arrive back in Hong Kong.
Life is good!
No comments:
Post a Comment