HK Trip – Day 4 (Saturday 26 Feb)

Went into the office today for work at around 9am simply because Emily was only free to meet us today.

9:30am and Emily did not turn up for the interview. 9:40am, still no sign of her. Called her and she asked about the venue of the interview. Simply bochap sia… Told her where we were. She came at around 9:45am. She gave us her namecard. I noted the word “Director” as her designation. Phew! I was really 有眼不识泰山. Started the interview and to our (pleasant) surprise, Emily was such a nice lady. Soft-spoken and matter-of-factly, she answered all our queries with ease. Glad to note that she knew her stuff well. Emily gave us a few demos of the various systems her department is using. My impression of Emily changed completely (for the better) today!

After the interview, we went to see Alvin from CS & Marketing for a quick demo of their system. At around 12:30pm, we packed and left the office.

For me, it was off to Shenzhen for a shopping trip. The rest of them went to Mongkok for “sight-seeing” and shopping.

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Met Raymond at 1:30pm at Tsim Tsa Chui for a quick bite in Delifrance. Then it was off to Shenzhen using the KCR (Kowloon Canto Rail) that cost around HKD35. It was a 45-minute ride to Shenzhen. Before clearing the customs, Raymond went to confirm that Singaporeans do not require to have a visa to visit China. Cleared the HK customs and was at the China side. Filled up the arrival card. If you think that China is backward and old-fashioned, think again. There was a body temperature sensor above the person waiting in line to clear the customs. Green light means your temperature is ok while red light means you’re not ok. They had that for every counter!!!!!

Cleared customs and was in China. Adrian was there to welcome us. It’s so nice to see Adrian after such a long time. Adrian is a Swiss working in Shenzhen. He was working in Shenzhen, then moved to HK for a short stint; couldn’t take the pace in HK and eventually moved back to Shenzhen. Good to know that he’s doing well and coping fine. He’s in the process of locating a new place and has recently bought a car. Hehe…

Adrian drove us to this place called “Da Tong” for shopping. Shenzhen is just like HK in many ways: the crowd; the noise; the buildings; the shopping and the horrible traffic. Besides DVDs, I didn’t buy anything else. Got the entire series of Ally McBeal and Sex and the City! Also bought Nip / Tuck since I didn’t get to see it when it was showing in Singapore.

After shopping, we went to a shopping mall to have coffee and cakes. Food is cheap in Shenzhen. Chatted and caught up with each other as much as we could. Done with coffee and it was off for a massage. On the way, we were caught in a jam for about half an hour. Good for us to do more catching up in the car. ;-p

Had my first massage in my life. The massage only costs RMB48 per hour. How much cheaper can it get? Initially it was supposed to be an hour of massage, then the masseur told me that Adrian and Raymond had chosen to do the 2-hr foot massage and asked me to extend mine. I thought “why not?” Later I found out that the two of them did not extend their session and had been waiting for me all this while. What a naïve lad I was!!

After massage, Adrian drove us to this posh-looking (yet inexpensive) restaurant for dinner. Great service and good food. I was totally impressed, even though partly it was because of the fact that Adrian was a regular customer there! Hahahaha… There’s also a “Swan Lake” outside the restaurant. Beautiful ambience. Shenzhen was cold at night. There’s mist when we breathed. Amazing!!

We were chatting so much over dinner that we forgot about the time. Left the restaurant and Adrian drove us to the nearest MTR station. Shenzhen has its own MTR built and made in China. The trip for us cost RMB5 for a total of around 12 stations. Cheap cheap!!

On the way, Raymond told me that the border closes at 11:30pm!! Whoa!! If one misses the timing, one could take the taxi to another border that is open round the clock. Managed to get passed the border in time to catch the last KCR back to HK city. Reached HK city at around 12:45am. We were both exhausted but extremely thrilled and happy cos we had never chatted so much in our 8-year friendship.

Parted ways with Raymond and went straight back to the hotel. Luckily WL was still awake. Told him I’ve decided to go clubbing later. We updated each other on our encounters for the day. WL and the ladies took the ferry today between HK island and Kowloon. Very strong wind, he said.

Had a quick shower, changed and off I went to this disco in Central! Before I left, took a glass of vodka orange on an empty stomach. Felt a little high after that and decided to head back to the hotel to rest.

While waiting for the MTR, I saw a number of people going for the HK Marathon. Reminded me of the time I did mine in SG. Arrived at the hotel at 6:45am. So paiseh to wake WL up. Once in the room, I took off my jeans and windbreaker; slumped into the bed and off to my dreamland.