My 1st Business Trip

Last week, I was in Beijing for a 2 days business trip. I took a midnight flight and arrived in Beijing extremely early in the morning. I couldn’t really have a nice sleep in the flight as it was really crowded. Why there are so many passengers on a normal weekday? The food served on the plane wasn’t that appealing as well. The airport looked very misty.

As I reached, a young lady from the hotel was at the airport to get me. She brought me to the hotel limo and then the driver fetched me to the hotel. I find it a bit strange. Why doesn’t the driver get me from the airport and then fetch me to the hotel? Why they need 2 people?

The journey from the airport to the hotel was approximately 30 minutes. The signboards are mostly in Mandarin with some direct translation in English. Beijing is a much more modern and developed city than I thought. There are a lot of grand and huge buildings.

My first impression of the hotel is “wah, nice fountain!”. As hotel limo stopped, one of the bellboys opened the car door for me. He spoke to me in English. However, I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. Feeling a bit frustrated, I told him that I can speak Mandarin. There were a lot of customers around the lobby, mostly foreigners. They allowed me to check-in early and I headed straight to my room. They gave me a card for my luggage and the bellboy showed up shortly with my luggage after I entered my room, which was fast! Thank god, the room is not that big as I imagined (in the booking, it’s stated there – King-sized bed). I took a short nap and then prepared myself to the office in Beijing.

At first, I thought that both the office and the hotel are in the same building, Oriental Plaza. Actually, Oriental Plaza consists of a few blocks and the office is a few blocks away. I liked the buildings there; it’s well designed, but a bit squeamish. The temperature was just nice, a bit cold but not too dry.

My heart beat faster as I get nearer to the office. Yuan Jun was really busy as there were a few meetings going on in the office at that time. She showed me to the Visitor Area and I was seated there till my session. The internet connection was extremely slow. Since I got some buffer in between, I looked thru all my presentation slides once more to familiarize myself.

Yup, it’s my turn now! Shortly before my session Jun told me that there will be 35 participants and then she showed me the lists. Wow… it’s almost 2 times the amount of people I expected and some of them are in HDS longer than me! Now, I must make sure that I am mentally prepared for unforeseen questions. It has been a really long time since I have spoken with such a loud volume, to such a huge crowd and for so many hours. I noticed different facial expressions from different people for different topics that I have presented. I was trying to find out more about their thoughts and feedbacks while presenting. There was a lot more things to handle than I thought. In addition, I was given the “mission” to get to know more people and I am glad to say that I have really made some effort in this.

For lunch, I have them with Jun and Zhang Lu from Finance at Jun’s room. I really like the room - well organized, clean, glass cupboards for files and a glass window. Beijing food’s taste is a bit flat. Lu recommended me a few places to explore around.

Shortly before I leave, I found out who Maggie was (she helped me with the hotel reservation). She helped me to take photos around the office and assorted things (driver and showed me the way to “wang fu jin” street).

After work, I was the lone ranger, wandering around “wang fu jin” street for my dinner and did some shopping. I went to one of the famous Peking Duck shop in Beijing. There were a lot of customers and I waited for a while before someone served me with the menu. Then, it took some time for the order. Don’t think that everything is cheap in Beijing. The meal was quite expensive!

Gathering of the Multi-racial Front Seaters

It has been a really long time since all of us gathered. We went to different campuses during Beta year and I was the only one in Malacca campus. It has been around 5 years since then!

Zanmai Sushi @ The Gardens

I was disappointed when I visited Zanmai Sushi at The Gardens recently with Chris. I have been to the one in 1U. Thus, I was expecting the same level of food quality and service. However, the sushi serving was smaller and the curry rice’s sauce was watery. The waiters and waitress seemed to be confused and not well organized.

Curry Rice

Dragon-i

Dragon-I is a Chinese restaurant famous for its “lamen” and “siu long bao”. I have wanted to try it for a long time. The portion is huge. However, when I finally get to try it, I miss the “siu long bao” at Singapore. Taste wise, it is still lacking.

"wanton lamen"

"siu long bao"

Sakae Sushi @ Pavilion

This was the first time I dine in Sakae Sushi in KL. I was meeting my old friend, YM there. We used to have our gatherings at McDonald, near to YM’s place in Penang. Finally, we met up somewhere else.

The service there is quite good and the food is nice. I especially like the “kani chawanmushi”.

Thanks to YM for the meal!

This type of sushi is still better in Dainti Hill
Kani Chawanmushi

Chan Chan Yong Tau Fu

This is the best Yong Tau Fu shop that I have ever been to, located in Bandar Menjalara, Kepong. The portion is big and nice. Too bad, I was very hungry at that time (business is too good and we waited for quite a long time), only a picture of the asam fish was taken.

Last Visit to Dainti Hill

Before the Citibank card 50% discount is no longer valid (till the end of September), Anil, Kit and I went to have our dinner there. The slice pork reminded me of the food that I used to have in DSU canteen, 2,000 won for a plate. It has been a really long time since I tasted something almost similar to it. The soup is really unique. It looks tasteless, but it is actually very nice (portion a bit little).

Slice pork with OX sauce

Mushroom Soup
Eel

Bak Kuh Teh @ Jalan Imbi

Jason is now working in KL! We had dinner together at a famous “bak kuh teh” shop at Jalan Imbi where a lot of famous stars went to. I fancy the fish there better. Black list for the “lala” there – small portion, little meat, not fresh and not worth the money.

The best thing was, we have a "conference" with CJ, HS and LL. Thanks to Jason for the meal!

Lala

Bak Kuh Teh
Ginger Steam Fish Head

Carl’s Jr.

The best fries I ever have! It is also the most expensive fries! RM3 for small, RM4 for medium and RM5 for large. However, the fries are really juicy and nice. The price range for a burger is almost RM10 to RM10+. The burger is very huge, with a lot of ingredients inside. The ketchup and chili sauce provided is of high quality – Heinz. There are other sauces also – given upon request.

Check out the menu here: http://www.carlsjr.com/menu/

Company Ramadan Dinner

It was the first time we have buffet for everyone in the office pantry (since I joined). More than an hour before the dinner, everyone was eyeing on the food prepared by the caterer. There were many varieties for the food. The “teh tarik” is nice. However, there is limited space to sit in the pantry. Thus, most of us were eating together at the cubicles beside the pantry.

Seafood Paradise @ Jalan Conlay

It was a dinner quite some time ago, invited by our German colleagues during their visit here. It was the 1st time we were having so many people for a dinner. The most memorable dish is cheese Alaska crab.

BBQ Alaska Crab

Cheese Alaska Crab

Ipoh Chicken Rice @ PJ

Finally, I tried out the famous Ipoh Chicken Rice at Old PJ with my colleague, Vic. The 2 shop lots, with air-condition only sells chicken rice. We went there for lunch and there were a lot of customers. The waiters/waitress took the orders via PDA (rather unusual for a high class kopithiam). Weird, they do not have the usual chicken rice set. Thus, we ordered 1 plate of chicken and 1 plate of bean sprout for 1 pax, plus 2 bowls of rice. The bean sprout was a lot. But, the chicken was little. The meals cost up to RM9.50 (we did not order drinks).

Sushi Zanmai

Sushi Zanmai, obviously it's a Japanese food restaurant. The sushi there is really nice! They really put in a lot of ingredients and they are quite fresh (I tried out Unagi, Scallop, Mushroom). I ordered a Unagi Temaki and the Unagi portion is a lot – RM3.80.

Unagi Temaki

Tofu
Sushi
Mixture plus rice

MATTA Fair

It was the first time I attended a MATTA fair in KL. The fair started from 10am and I arrived there at 10+am. To my surprise, there were quite a number of cars lining along the road beside PWTC already (wouldn’t see something like that if in Penang). I parked my car at the Mall (with recommendation from my colleague).

A few sentences for description:
- very crowded
- expensive entrance fees (RM3) and parking rate (RM3 for the first hour and RM1.50 for the subsequent hour)
- not much freebies (bags etc)
- got a few people dressing up in traditional costumes
- plenty of China trip packages

Advise: Go there as early as possible and better do some survey on the trips that you are interested prior to the MATTA fair so that you can immediately identify which bargain is good.

Warehouse Sale

Recently I to 2 warehouse sales in KL with my colleagues – G2000 and Hush Puppies. G2000 was the first one I went to. A bit crowded but still okay. The discounts were not that attractive. I was surprised to see many guys there as well.

I went to Hush Puppies’ on Friday. This time, I arrived there shortly after it opened. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of people there already. The male section was okay. But, for the female section, a lot of people were at the display tables there, pushing to get a glimpse of the shoes for sale. I managed to slot in after some time and grabbed some shoes for viewing and testing. The crowd was worse as time went by. There were more people everywhere; everyone was pushing even though there was no more space. Worse - more and more were shouting, from the customers and the sales personnels. Some uncles even joined the pushing! But, the bargain was good. Sandals selling at RM40 and office wear ranged from RM60. Definitely worth buying!

Dainti Hill @ Pavilion

It is a rather expensive Chinese restaurant in Pavilion. The side dishes are much nicer than the set ones. Currently they are having a promotion. Citibank Card holders are entitled to 50% off (still affordable after discount). If I am not mistaken, the promotion will end this month.

Homemade Onigiri

'Onigiri' (お握り) is a Japanese rice ball snack most commonly formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in seaweed (nori). Yesterday something striked my mind and I decided to get some ingredients to make Onigiri. It is something and easy to make. Plus, it was fun cooking with my brother after such a long time.

Lee-senpai: you should try out your sushi mold one day. It works out perfectly fine. Just that don’t put too much rice. 90% full will do.

New Discovery for Japanese Food

While I was hanging out in 1U several days ago, I have detected a Japanese restaurant with a lot of customers. I didn’t dine at the restaurant as I just had my lunch. But, from far away, the sushi looks delicious. I am planning to go for it the next round. The shop name is Sushi Zanmai.

The banner outside of Sushi Zanmai

In addition, I just realized that there is this shop in 1U selling a lot of Japanese food and cooking ingredients. The shop name is Shojikiya (sounds a bit weird). This September marks their 2nd anniversary. Thus, they have attractive discounts for some of the food. I managed to get 2 Japanese ice-creams for RM9.90 (original price is around RM6.90 each). They have outlets in both old wing and new wing. The one in old wing is much bigger and the one in new wing is right beside Sushi Zanmai.

My favourite fish ice-cream

Japanese Speech Contest - Penang Preliminary

This year I joined the contest together with my junior, Patrick. Even though the atmosphere was a bit tense before the contest, his unusual way of talking and funny gestures made me a bit relax. In addition, I met a few MMU juniors during the contest. They were there to support Patrick.

Gan-senpai, omedetou!

Congratulations Kelly! You are finally an official postgraduate at Todai. Hopefully, I will able to save enough dollars and cents to see you before you graduate :)