Over

3 days just went by like that and I bid my guests farewell at Chinatown last night. To be honest, this is one of the visits that I have arranged within the tightest timeline. I have to admit that I could have started earlier, but didn't. The visit was postponed a number of times, and the agenda was not firm till the final moment. To a certain extent, there was not enough management emphasis from our side, so our agenda and presentation slides took longer than usual to be established.

But well, nonetheless, it was an interesting experience for me to host this group of visitors. I guess it does make it more fun since I know some of them when I was visiting their country last year. Arranging for lunch and dinner was interesting too, having to cater for different dietary needs. Although I wouldn't say I did a great job, I sure enjoyed myself arranging the agenda & discussions, as well as bringing them to Sim Lim and Chinatown!

Bringing them to Sim Lim is a challenge. It was the first time I had such hostile treatment at Sim Lim, cos the shop owners know that they would not be able to "slaughter" my guests. But well, I guess it's my job to be there with them and help them get the best price. One of the frustrating moment was when I managed to get a really good price for Canon Ixus 55 at S$550, one of my guests "put me aeroplane" and decided to pull out from the deal! I almost felt like I could whack him up at that moment... But oh well, being a good host, I did not :)

Bringing them to Chinatown was great fun. It has been more than 10 years since I last went to the shophouses in Chinatown, and bringing them around allowed me to really look at those CNY stuff. Instead of just zooming through the shops, I had to stop occasionally to explain some chinese traditions to them. That kinda made me appreciate the noise and crowd a little bit more. And so, after a nice walk through the streets of Chinatown, I bid them farewell, as they depart for Thailand (apparently, they are spending more time having fun in Thailand than working in Singapore).

A nice experience, overall... :)