Taiwan July 21-25 2014 - Encountering the typhoon
Day 1 - Setting off...
And so, I was off to Taiwan for a business trip on a Monday afternoon. It was one crazy morning dashing off after a meeting with the boss. Thank God, everything fell into place pretty well (or so I thought). At least I got to the airport in time and was on board the plane before you knew it.
The flight was smooth and SQ's service was good as usual but I did feel that it seem to be better before but I guess its probably cause I was expecting more from one of the world's top airlines.
So anyway, I arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport and hurried to join the taxi queue so I can check in to the Sherwood sooner. There was issues to resolve - I had to decide if I was going to move the event planned for 23 July to 24 July because of the typhoon. I had initially thought to stick to what's planned but felt increasingly uncomfortable about it and had prayed for guidance and was guided to shift the event to Thursday instead, which turned out to be the right decision as Typhoon leave was announced eventually.
Sherwood was like what I remembered it to be like, like the grand dame of hotels, great service, clean and comfortable. I am glad I stuck to the decision to switch hotel, I don't think I would have felt as safe and comfortable if I went with the Grand Hyatt.
After sending out several emails and making several phone calls to set things in action, I want out to get some food. I really thank God for the food options around the hotel cause that meant that I didn't need to venture too far to feed my stomach. I was after all, rather worn out from he travelling and also from dealing with the issues that came up. By some luck, I chanced upon this 干拌面，called 李掌柜。It was quite yummy. I actually went back there two more times for dinner, I order different dishes to try off course. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get washed up and get some rest.
Day 2 - A day of meetings
So this was the day that we were going to start experiencing the effects of the typhoon...except for some strong winds and moderate rainfall, I really didn't felt any difference in the weather. After a quick breakfast in the hotel (which was pretty average), I went across the road to where Q office is. The team from Ogilvy were there to give us a quick rundown on the event on Thursday。 Meeting went well and Vivian and I felt like we have sufficient assurance that things were going to fall into place nicely - such vibes were important.
A colleague in the Taipei office was nice enough to help me book an office that I could use between then to when I was due to be at the Grand Hyatt. The meeting at the conference venue was quick, just to get my bearings of where the respective venues were going to be. I then made a dash across to the Taipei 101 to grab the eye mask that Susan had asked me to get before returning to office for a meeting on intranet publishing. I grabbed dinner at a Udon shop nearby, wasn't that great but I made do with it still. And then it's back to the hotel before the typhoon came (as the Met office predicted). Alas, the typhoon never did come in full force as I thought I would but I am actually thankful as I think it'd be pretty scary for me since I'd be all alone in the hotel.
Day 3 - Typhoon
Since most shops were close, it was breakfast at the hotel again, sigh...and then back to my room to get more work done before the event tomorrow. I did take some time to get out for some fresh air, a trip to Carrefour to pick up some supplies and then it was back to more work...dinner was the cup noodles that I bought from the supermarket and that was it.
Day 4 - Event Day
I bought some cold noodles from the supermarket and had it for breakfast before hoping on a cab to meet Ross at the Grand Hyatt. After Ross' keynote address it was time to get into action. The media turned up late as there was a conflicting event at the same time. Given such circumstances, I thought we were lucky to have at least 8 media outlets join us for lunch even though we did not have hard news for them. Both Vivian and Ross did a great job with their presentations and I think I did ok with my translation duties. Overall, I thought the event went pretty ok give the challenges we faced.
So it was back to the hotel to change out and then some me time at Ximending. I did some shopping, grab some food and then headed back to the hotel to pack my luggage. Packing took much more time than I expected...
Day 5 - Slept in
For the first time in a long while, I slept beyond 8am. I caught up with emails and then grabbed a taxi to SunnyHills for some pineapple tarts. On the way back, the taxi stopped waiting for the green light and where it stopped as a small Catholic church and I thought I should go to church and make a donation. It felt good to be able to say a prayer despite the hectic schedule and I am thankful for the opportunity. The business trip went really well considering all things and I really have Him to thank for that.
Back at the hotel, I rounded up the emails to send and took a quick shower before checking out and grabbing a taxi to the airport. Traffic was smooth and I reached the airport in about an hour. The queue to check in was really long and I am thankful that I did my web check-in and skipped past the long lines. After clearing customs, I had some time to grab some food before boarding.
The flight back home was slightly bumpy but generally ok, I watched two movies which were ok but am thankful for the time to even do that.
And so, I was off to Taiwan for a business trip on a Monday afternoon. It was one crazy morning dashing off after a meeting with the boss. Thank God, everything fell into place pretty well (or so I thought). At least I got to the airport in time and was on board the plane before you knew it.
The flight was smooth and SQ's service was good as usual but I did feel that it seem to be better before but I guess its probably cause I was expecting more from one of the world's top airlines.
So anyway, I arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport and hurried to join the taxi queue so I can check in to the Sherwood sooner. There was issues to resolve - I had to decide if I was going to move the event planned for 23 July to 24 July because of the typhoon. I had initially thought to stick to what's planned but felt increasingly uncomfortable about it and had prayed for guidance and was guided to shift the event to Thursday instead, which turned out to be the right decision as Typhoon leave was announced eventually.
Sherwood was like what I remembered it to be like, like the grand dame of hotels, great service, clean and comfortable. I am glad I stuck to the decision to switch hotel, I don't think I would have felt as safe and comfortable if I went with the Grand Hyatt.
After sending out several emails and making several phone calls to set things in action, I want out to get some food. I really thank God for the food options around the hotel cause that meant that I didn't need to venture too far to feed my stomach. I was after all, rather worn out from he travelling and also from dealing with the issues that came up. By some luck, I chanced upon this 干拌面，called 李掌柜。It was quite yummy. I actually went back there two more times for dinner, I order different dishes to try off course. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get washed up and get some rest.
Day 2 - A day of meetings
So this was the day that we were going to start experiencing the effects of the typhoon...except for some strong winds and moderate rainfall, I really didn't felt any difference in the weather. After a quick breakfast in the hotel (which was pretty average), I went across the road to where Q office is. The team from Ogilvy were there to give us a quick rundown on the event on Thursday。 Meeting went well and Vivian and I felt like we have sufficient assurance that things were going to fall into place nicely - such vibes were important.
A colleague in the Taipei office was nice enough to help me book an office that I could use between then to when I was due to be at the Grand Hyatt. The meeting at the conference venue was quick, just to get my bearings of where the respective venues were going to be. I then made a dash across to the Taipei 101 to grab the eye mask that Susan had asked me to get before returning to office for a meeting on intranet publishing. I grabbed dinner at a Udon shop nearby, wasn't that great but I made do with it still. And then it's back to the hotel before the typhoon came (as the Met office predicted). Alas, the typhoon never did come in full force as I thought I would but I am actually thankful as I think it'd be pretty scary for me since I'd be all alone in the hotel.
Day 3 - Typhoon
Since most shops were close, it was breakfast at the hotel again, sigh...and then back to my room to get more work done before the event tomorrow. I did take some time to get out for some fresh air, a trip to Carrefour to pick up some supplies and then it was back to more work...dinner was the cup noodles that I bought from the supermarket and that was it.
Day 4 - Event Day
I bought some cold noodles from the supermarket and had it for breakfast before hoping on a cab to meet Ross at the Grand Hyatt. After Ross' keynote address it was time to get into action. The media turned up late as there was a conflicting event at the same time. Given such circumstances, I thought we were lucky to have at least 8 media outlets join us for lunch even though we did not have hard news for them. Both Vivian and Ross did a great job with their presentations and I think I did ok with my translation duties. Overall, I thought the event went pretty ok give the challenges we faced.
So it was back to the hotel to change out and then some me time at Ximending. I did some shopping, grab some food and then headed back to the hotel to pack my luggage. Packing took much more time than I expected...
Day 5 - Slept in
For the first time in a long while, I slept beyond 8am. I caught up with emails and then grabbed a taxi to SunnyHills for some pineapple tarts. On the way back, the taxi stopped waiting for the green light and where it stopped as a small Catholic church and I thought I should go to church and make a donation. It felt good to be able to say a prayer despite the hectic schedule and I am thankful for the opportunity. The business trip went really well considering all things and I really have Him to thank for that.
Back at the hotel, I rounded up the emails to send and took a quick shower before checking out and grabbing a taxi to the airport. Traffic was smooth and I reached the airport in about an hour. The queue to check in was really long and I am thankful that I did my web check-in and skipped past the long lines. After clearing customs, I had some time to grab some food before boarding.
The flight back home was slightly bumpy but generally ok, I watched two movies which were ok but am thankful for the time to even do that.
posted by Cocopops at 8:01 AM
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