Nat meets Ethan

I finally visited Jane and baby Ethan yesterday, she popped the day before I left for HCM and then I got the flu, and subsequently had to leave for Guilin so yesterday was the earliest I could meet Ethan.



He's a darling, very nice features and somehow looks a lot like Jane. She seems to be adapting well, it's hard to imagine this is the same Jane from SHATEC. First came marriage then a baby carriage!

Nat was excited to see Ethan too but once he fell asleep she lost interest. Wonder how she will behave towards Nike?



This morning we wore matching Old Navy dresses to church and ended up at Centrepoint for lunch, where she insisted on feeding herself. We still feed her most of her meals but she gets to practice on herself with an extra spoon. At least she's not flipping the spoon upside down anymore!



Nick had an event in the evening so we took our own cab to AMK for dinner with Amah and co. I made Nat belt up in the taxi and she didn't seem to mind but insisted on wearing my pearl necklace for the outing. So hiao!

There's no place like home

Am soooo tired. Departed the hotel at 5.45am this morning, was actually the last of 11 to come down despite being the one making the arrangements. Had instant noodles in my room before checking out because I didn't know what time my next meal would be.

There was some drama at the airport when one of my directors couldn't check in. Though he had an e-ticket number, it was apparently not validated. He had to go to another counter to get it confirmed but we were stuck for 30 mins because there was another group ahead of us crowding at the counter. Our task took all of 30 secs but nobody was willing to let us go first.

But we managed to get it resolved in the nick of time and made it on board with a few minutes to spare. I sat across the aisle from Boon Huat and we exchanged snippets from the local newspapers we were reading. They really do print the most mundane and hilarious news! Like this one of a man getting his wife to agree to only beat him once a week!


Boon Huat and my VP Daragh from Ireland were kind enough to be my porters, helping me with my suitcase around the Guilin and Guangzhou airports. We had to wait a long time for our bags in Guangzhou, close to 30 mins. Not very efficient! Plus bags are not checked through for the next flight so we had to kill time before checking in again for the SQ flight.

We all had breakfast at a cafe, before some of us broke away to check in first, while the rest dealt with conference calls.

The Baiyan airport in Guangzhou was huge, we went round in circles locating the SQ counters before I finally got the right directions.


Through my frequent-flyer colleagues, managed to hang in the first-class lounge before our flight departed. When it was time to board, I was stopped by the counter staff and asked to stand aside when they saw my seat number.

For a moment there I thought I was going to be upgraded to business class...but oh no, there was a problem with the screen for the seat I had chosen, therefore they needed to reassign. Bummer! Not that it made much difference since Krisworld was limited. It wasn't the interactive kind so there were less movies. No chance to catch 'Julia and Julie'! Damn!



Killed time by reading and napping, and eventually we landed in Changi. It was good to be home. I dropped Chris off at his hotel and when I got home, the munchkin was pretty excited to see me - running to the gate and jumping up and down. Sigh...missed my munchkin!

Guilin Day 4: Finally some sightseeing

I was supposed to have joined in a 7.30 am meeting this morning but was told I was not needed at the last minute...I could have snoozed for an extra 30 mins! However I did have to resolve some other issue for one of the later conference sessions which my boss had overlooked. Managed to sort it out in time but later on there were other last minute agenda changes to deal with.

Once again I was the technician controlling slides and audio but in no time, the half day's programme came to an end and the conference was actually over!

Had lunch in the coffee house with my 2 bosses from the UK. I had found out before coming that Friday was my boss' Irene's birthday and I shared this information with them, only for Chris to inform me his birthday was the next day and so we agreed to have a double celebration over dinner!

After a post-event staff debriefing session, headed out shopping with Irene and Dani, who proved to be ruthless bargainers. I saved lots of yuan thanks to them!



I bought some gifts and cheongsams for the 2 bubbas, and some shawls.


When we were done, they offered to bring me to the famous Elephant Trunk Hill. I had seen pictures of it before coming so I was curious to see it in person but didn't think I would get the chance. The cabdriver waited while I paid the 40 yuan admission to enter the site and snap some pictures. I think I barely stayed 5 minutes but managed to bump into a colleague who helped me take some photos of me.


Thereafter it was back to the hotel for a quick change before heading out again for dinner with Irene, Dani and Chris to Taste Made, a local restaurant. I kept snapping pictures of the menu, because there were so many dishes that I couldn't make out. Shall have to google them sometime.



We ordered mainly safe dishes, I tried hairy crabs for the first time. Don't see what the big deal it, give me Mellben's butter crab anyday!


For dessert, Dani had arranged a birthday cake for Irene and Chris, but then a funny thing happened. We found out it wasn't Irene's birthday on Friday! Somehow her HR records reflect 11/12 which we take to mean 11 Dec, but actually her birthday is 12 Nov, because in Manila where she's based, they put the month first! LOL!



Anyway, we managed to arrange a river cruise for later that evening and were joined by our MD Boon Huat and another colleague Alex. Unfortunately the cruise was boring for me because commentary was in Mandarin and there wasn't actually much to see. Just a bunch of bridges and lots of prettily lit trees.






We did encounter some persistent children selling flowers after disembarking, somehow they only targeted the ang mohs, despite me whipping my wallet out willing to buy from this one boy who was tugging Chris' clothes. But he ignored me and even chased Chris across the street! We hopped onto cabs and headed back to the hotel, where we decided to head out again to the night market.

Encountered more flower sellers en-route, this time the men made a run for it. 3 grown men literally running away from a 6 year old boy, who then latched on the Dani's scarf and didn't let go. I must say, these kids are really persistent, in the end we had to pay the kid to get rid of him!

At the night market, I bought some useless gadgets like a binocular, eye loop, and multi-screwdriver set. We snacked on candied apples and later on shared roasted chestnuts, which were unfortunately cold. Walked back to the hotel and called it a night. Time to pack!

Guilin Day 3: D-Day

Today was the first day of our conference, it was mostly smooth-running. I was in charge of the control panel for the presentations. Though most presenters had a remote control, I still needed to get their presentations on-screen, advance slides when the remote signal failed, toggle to holding slides, plus play videos and background music etc. Felt like a technician!


It was a long day. We had optional rehearsals scheduled for 7am so I was actually awake by 6am to get ready and have breakfast.

Skipped lunch, because I didn't really want to mingle. I was supposed to host one of the breakout rooms but managed to convince the first presenter to make the introductions so I didn't have to speak to a roomful of strangers! The pool was next to our meeting room, and there were actually people swimming with the 10 degrees weather! Brrr...

All too soon the conference tracks were over and it was time to get ready for dinner at the cave. Traditional musicians greeted us upon arrival, a red carpet was laid out all the way inside.




There were pretty lights and lanterns dotting the cave and I managed to make friends with two customers from Indonesia and Malaysia who were going to be at the same table. Helped them take photos of themselves but I felt bad for them because later on, all the emceeing was in Mandarin.

The dinner entertainment programme was packed back-to-back with cultural dances, singing and even an acrobatic duo. It was a tad too much and at times felt a bit getai, there was hardly any quiet time for networking or meaningful conversations. The dancers were all pretty though, am sure the male population had fun!






At the end of the evening, we were invited onstage table by table to pose with the dancers. My table was first and last, because halfway through the stage nearly gave way from all the weight on top! It was built on stilts over some water and rocks and I don't think any load testing was conducted beforehand! There was a collective gasp from the audience when the stage tilted, thankfully it didn't completely collapse!

The only downside about the dinner was the food. Despite having a food-tasting session, somehow the standard dropped instead of improving. The salmon main course I understand was undercooked and cold, and my 'vegetarian lasagna' turned out to be 4 slices of tofu with a side of vegetables. Eeew. My boss confirmed she had actual lasagna the day before, for some reason the chef changed the dish without informing us! I felt so cheated because I was all geared for pasta.

On the bus back, I was tasked with counting the number of passengers on my bus and one of my colleagues kept distracting me by recounting aloud. The customers were highly amused by this, some more I was the only female onboard.

Once back at the hotel, we had a quick team meeting, I was tasked with setting up some last minute discussions for tomorrow, one of which I need to attend at 7.30am! Another early start!

Guilin Day 2: Calm before the storm

This morning I had breakfast with my boss Irene and colleague Dani. We discussed work a little but there was really not much for me to do as an event company was handling the registration and the function rooms were not being set up yet. The reason I am in Guilin is for an APAC customer conference, though majority of attendees will be from China.

So I cleared some mail in my room (below is the view from room), before we went out at 11am plus to recce the site for our group dinner tomorrow evening at the Seven Star National Park. Dinner was going to be in a cave!


The weather was cold, around 12 or 15 degrees. Before I left, I bought a bunch of winter wear online from Old Navy and Victoria’s Secret, plus essentials from Marks & Spencer and OG. Maximised the winter wardrobe allowance we are given!

The park was nice, but it was misty so you don’t get to see the colours of the trees as vividly. There were waterfalls and peacocks, very tranquil – like being in a Chinese watercolour painting.






After the inspection, we headed out for lunch at a Guilinese restaurant. Though I love Chinese food, am not a fan of the food here. Things are either oily or bland, and meat dishes are not marinated well.

Was supposed to have had a conference call in the afternoon, but it was cancelled at the last minute. In the late evening, I got to sit in on the food-tasting session for tomorrow’s dinner. Irene and Dani had already gone through one round earlier and today was supposed to have been an improvement. We were served poached prawns, baked salmon and bread and butter pudding.


I found out we were only serving red wine, but seeing as to how the menu was mainly seafood, I pointed out we should have white wine too. Something my colleagues had not thought about.

Also, for a fine dining meal, we were not using fish knives for the salmon. I pointed it out and the hotel claimed they did not have enough.

Since I don’t eat salmon, I enquired about the vegetarian option. Was told we would be served a vegetable lasagna, and my stomach got psyched for that!

Thereafter it was a rush to prepare for our on-site staff briefing, run-throughs with interpreters, last minute vetting of slides etc. I was nervous because my boss made me speak through some parts of the staff briefing, despite declaring before I took on this job that I don’t do public speaking!

Had dinner with Irene and our boss from London, Chris and another colleague Ken from the States. Dinner was more palatable than lunch and it was pretty cheap, just about 225 yuan for the 4 of us for 5 or 6 dishes.

When we got back to the hotel to test everything ahead of tomorrow, that’s when things started falling apart. Nothing was really ready. Projectors and switchers were unstable, there had been miscommunication on the translation process, LCD panels were too low, audio system had feedback, confusion on roles etc etc. Everything was only sorted out past 1 am. Sooo tired…

To Guilin I go

Finally arrived in Guilin after a 4-hr flight from Singapore to Guangzhou, 4-hr transit at Guangzhou's Baiyan Airport and 1-hr domestic flight.

Nick sent me to the airport and we had breakfast at Toast Box.


Before the SQ flight departed, a Chinese national man in the seat next to me asked if I minded switching seats with his wife, they had been separated. However, I had specifically chosen a window-seat and there was no way I was going to move to the middle seat in the middle aisle so I declined. He didn't smell very nice and had the reddest eyes, was half afraid I would contract his sore eyes!

Watched 'Coco Avant Chanel 'and the bulk of 'All About Steve', saving 'Julia and Julie' for the return flight. Filled out a health declaration form on the plane, confessing to a sorethroat that I had woken up with. I should have just declared I was fit as a fiddle like all the Chinese hacking, coughing and sneezing away for when it came to my turn to submit the form, I got stopped and directed to a medical treatment room. The immigration officer tending to me couldn't speak English but we managed to get by.

I think I was quarantined for a good ten mins, the first five of which I had to stick a mercury thermometer under my arm. The damn thing didn't even work and the officer barely looked at it. I was later joined by an ang-moh lady and young Singaporean boy...we foreigners were just too honest! In the end, I was asked the reason for my sorethroat. I claimed I ate too many chocolates and they made me sign a declaration that that was indeed the reason and let me off!

Spotted this sign while clearing immigration. Am sure there are many more funny signs to spot.


Whilst trying to check through my bag for the next sector at a transfer counter, I kept getting cut by other passengers. That's the thing about China, they don't really respect queues. I saw a woman shouting at a customs official, another Korean passenger shouting at his girlfriend...very chor lor!

To kill time, I parked myself in a corner and read a book but got interrupted by deaf touts. Ordered a bowl of wantons for lunch, but they were stinky...just meat and chives. I had to force them down, felt like an X-Factor contestant eating something against my will!


Finally it was time to board my China Southern Airlines flight to Guilin, again encountered pushy passengers with no respect for personal space, they don't even bother to wait for you to stand to allow them access to their inner seats, just squeeze past.

Once in Guilin, had to use the icky airport loo...quite rural-looking. The hotel transfer was there to meet me on arrival, but before that, not once did anyone offer to help this preggy woman with her 20-kg bag. At least in Singapore, airport staff actually look out for people with difficulties and assist with the bags. Sigh...

Anyway, it took nearly an hour to get to the Sheraton Guilin, what struck me was that the streets were very dark, no streetlamps, felt a bit like Malaysia. When I got into my room, I was intending to update the blog etc only to discover Blogger and Facebook banned. So everything will be typed onto Word instead for uploading when I return.



The room is alright, I ordered in a bolognaise and watched 'You've Got Mail' on HBO. Cleared some emails and now am off to bed! End of Day 1!

Dobby and Gollum

Who’s Dobby and Gollum? Nat and Gigi respectively! Why? Because at 22 months and 15 months, they both act like the characters from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.


Nat is Dobby because she punishes herself when reprimanded, by banging her head backwards or against a sofa, car seat etc. Gigi is Gollum because she has a fascination for rings. One day I handed her my gold wedding band and she refused to let go of it and searched frantically when she thought she dropped it.

Nat currently has a rash on her face, most likely stemming from insect bites. It’s only on the right side, so probably something on a pillow or mattress. But they multiplied and looked angry and red for a while, so we got anti-bacterial cream from a clinic.


She’s starting to assert herself, saying very clearly ‘No, I don’t want’ when she doesn’t want to do or eat something. Her sentences are getting longer like, “Aunty Arlyn wear shoes please!”

We had fireworks a couple of times in the past few weeks and the first time she saw them she was scared. The second time was on Wednesday, there was a 10 min display over Vivocity and she was not too keen on watching, reiterating that she was scared. However the next day and everyday since, she has been asking to ‘see fireworks’ on my digital camera.

While I was away in HCM, she got spoiled…getting to watch DVDs and receiving a bicycle from Mildred.

I was dead set on not getting her a bike till she was at least 3yrs, and had said she was too small but Daddy relented when he saw her on one, claiming she could reach the pedals. But he failed to mention that she couldn’t pedal full circle, her legs are not long enough, she can’t even reach the brake handles or mount the bike herself. Nothing against bikes but they could have at least gotten a more age-appropriate one. They won’t see me encouraging her to get on that bike anytime soon!

The bubbas are in love with Elmo after watching some of his DVDs, another thing I can’t control. I don’t mind Nat watching once or twice, but she’s practically getting a daily dose after mummy discovered what an efficient babysitter the TV is! Harumpff! So much for restricting her TV time.




Gigi’s lower two front teeth are only just starting to break through the gums. Will they be in time for Christmas? Hope so! She’s catching up so fast with her language, saying new words everyday. When she wants food, she’ll come up to you and ask to ‘Try?’. She says ‘Daddy’ very clearly, and a bunch of other words like ‘bed’, ‘ball’, ‘Elmo’ etc.