So last weekend I was at home and on a conference call. I knew there was a potential I would be headed to the Middle Kingdom since I had already cancelled one trip. I figured that I wouldn’t go this week since there were some potential customers from Japan coming in on Monday and I would need to take care of them. But I was wrong.
So I was up at 5:30am on Monday to go to the airport. It is nice now to have the Gold VIP card for the domestic Taiwanese airline flights. I no longer need to book domestic flights in Taiwan—just show up and be upgraded to business class. I was in China before noon after a short ferry ride. Right after arriving I had some time to read my book before a contractor came to meet me (watch out since I'll have another book review post soon).
My few days in China were basically filled with "hurry up and wait" jobs. Basically, I was there to manage and oversea some production at a contractor’s place. There was a lot of, “Quick solve this problem!” Followed by, “Ok, wait an hour while us to make these adjustments.” That would have been ok but my work email was uber slow so there was a lot of computer chess while I waited.
So I was up at 5:30am on Monday to go to the airport. It is nice now to have the Gold VIP card for the domestic Taiwanese airline flights. I no longer need to book domestic flights in Taiwan—just show up and be upgraded to business class. I was in China before noon after a short ferry ride. Right after arriving I had some time to read my book before a contractor came to meet me (watch out since I'll have another book review post soon).
My few days in China were basically filled with "hurry up and wait" jobs. Basically, I was there to manage and oversea some production at a contractor’s place. There was a lot of, “Quick solve this problem!” Followed by, “Ok, wait an hour while us to make these adjustments.” That would have been ok but my work email was uber slow so there was a lot of computer chess while I waited.
The first night I was at average priced but slightly creepy Chinese hotel. They had condoms and other sex items in the bathroom and a small card in each room for a “special” massage that you could call the hotel for. 
There were also some cool clubs (none of which I went to) near the hotel. One was a pirate ship in the middle of a big square. It was warm enough to walk around that night. Unfortunately for me, I thought I would only be there a short time (1 night) so I didn’t even bring a light jacket. Then when the second night rolled around I was a little chilly as the weather began to change. 
The next day the hotel wasn’t a problem. I slept in a dorm provided by the contractor since I was there working until well past 11pm. By the time I made it to the little hotel style dorm room I was pretty beat but I remembered to put some strong mosquito repellent on my forearms. Still when I woke up there were several newly fat mosquitoes buzzing around the room—they had feasted on my hands and elbows.
The third day was a lot like the second. The most exciting part was that from about 7:20pm until 10:15pm I was involved in some negotiations with the contractors. I basically held not cards in the negotiation—so I really didn’t get much, but it was a good and fun experience to do it.
If it says anything about my trip the other thing that stood out on the final full day was the toilets. I had been using a squat toile for the whole time. Not until it was about 9:30pm on the last day did I realize the last stall had a normal Western toilet. I laughed.
If you don’t know or have never used a squat toilet you aren’t missing much.
After all that I cam back to the office in Taipei and got back to work.
The next day the hotel wasn’t a problem. I slept in a dorm provided by the contractor since I was there working until well past 11pm. By the time I made it to the little hotel style dorm room I was pretty beat but I remembered to put some strong mosquito repellent on my forearms. Still when I woke up there were several newly fat mosquitoes buzzing around the room—they had feasted on my hands and elbows.
The third day was a lot like the second. The most exciting part was that from about 7:20pm until 10:15pm I was involved in some negotiations with the contractors. I basically held not cards in the negotiation—so I really didn’t get much, but it was a good and fun experience to do it.
If it says anything about my trip the other thing that stood out on the final full day was the toilets. I had been using a squat toile for the whole time. Not until it was about 9:30pm on the last day did I realize the last stall had a normal Western toilet. I laughed.
If you don’t know or have never used a squat toilet you aren’t missing much.
After all that I cam back to the office in Taipei and got back to work.
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