Two years ago

Two years ago (last week, this week and next week) I was in Asia.


I departed the Sunday after Thanksgiving, actually leaving home on Saturday afternoon. With Sherry and Todd in tow to South Atlanta, I exited I-75 to Sissy and Buddy’s (& Geli’s) house. I arrived too early at the Atlanta Airport on the busiest travel weekend.

Korean Air flight 36 departed at 12:10 p.m Sunday afternoon. I arrived in Seoul for a short layover some 15 hours later. But wait, I cross 10 times zones and the International Dateline in the process. Two hours later I am back on a plane for Bangkok, Thailand. Touchdown was approximately 12:20 a.m. ON TUESDAY!!! What happened to Monday???

Bangkok

Tuesday morning at 9:00, I met Laurie (actually a guy) and Kevin. We drove to the Bangkok office/lab to check emails and such. And then, driving across the city north to one of the factories – TWT.

I had to excuse myself from the lunch, the smell of the what has been called one of the Dirtiest City in the World was getting to me! I went back to the hotel and slept about two hours. The rest of the week was filled with more factory visits (TTS and TWT several time) and working with Kevin in the lab.

A visit to the Tumi Store in one of the upscale mall on Friday at the end of the work week as Kevin and Laurie made plans to meet me in Hong Kong and China the next week. That evening I was treated by one of the guys from TSS to dinner and Thai deep tissue massage (owie). That Saturday was the only day which was not dedicated to work or travel. I took advantage of the beautiful weather, and visited the Bangkok zoo. While not the best or cleanest zoo I have visited, it was a welcome break from work. The zoo was located directly across from the Thorne Hall of the King of Thailand (who celebrates his 80th birthday today).

Hong Kong

Sunday morning finds me packed and ready for my flight to Hong Kong. I am met at the airport by the hotel chauffer and I am in awe of the mountains rising directly from the bay. The hotel is one of the nicest during my Asia stay – the Marco Polo. A Tumi store is in the lobby! Dinner that evening was shared with Laurie, his wife and daughter.

Monday was spent in the Hong Kong office and putting faces to the staff that I have emailed so many times. A short walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch, where I must demonstrate my chop stick skills. It seemed like each time I sat at one of those round tables, I was picking up peanuts with chop sticks. My visa for China arrived that afternoon and Laurie and I plan to meet early the next morning for the high speed ferry ride to mainland China.

As I was walking up the street to the hotel, I get a light tap on the shoulder.
“You go to your hotel?”

Me: Ahhh, yes.

“You have dinner?”

Me: Maybe

“I have dinner with you?”

Me: I don’t think so!!!

“I nice girl…”

I never looked her way and picked up the pace as I duck into one of the upscale stores. I walked around the display counter once and quickly made the remaining half block to the hotel. I had the fruit from the basket in my room for dinner that night, afraid to leave my room.

Shenzhen

A two hour ferry ride from Hong Kong to mainland China, a two hour drive from the port to the Shenzhen lab and it’s time for lunch. More chop stick tricks are performed. I work with Andy, Alex, Laurie, Kevin in setting up the test equipment in the new Chinese lab. Three factories are visited: Chaw Khong, Twinkle and Hersun. Hersun is a two hour drive north of Shenzhen and is visited on Saturday with Andy. We ride a train back to Hong Kong and make the official stop at the border.

Hong Kong part deux

Marco Polo Hotel again… Dinner with Andy, Grace, Carol and Christina – on the waterfront, seafood that was swimming in the ocean that afternoon and still swimming in huge tanks when we made our selections.

Yum… Note to self: don’t accept challenge from Andy to eat the wasabi without the sashimi.

Taipei/Taichung

Again traveling on Sunday… I arrive in Taipei airport and then the three hour ride on the Spotted Dog (not Grey Hound) bus to Taichung. Monday – Thursday, I work with George, Mina and Andy in the lab.

Having afternoon teas with Mr. Cheng of UWBI were some of the high points of the entire trip. Factory visits Theorem and Royalox rounded out the week.

San Francisco

Departure time from the Taipei airport was 9:50 a.m. on Friday. With the strong tailwind from the Jet Stream, the normally 13 hour trip across the Pacific only took 12 ½ hours. We arrived in California an hour and 30 minutes before we left Taiwan!!! Is that where part of my first Monday went?

Atlanta

The trip across the continental U.S. was uneventful, I needed that. We landed at Hartsfield/Jackson on time and was picked up shortly thereafter by Buddy and Sissy. I wasn't going to spend another night away from home and the drive via I-75 and I-16 was a bit of a blur.

Sarah and Metro greeted me at the door. As I unpacked the next morning, Metro staked his claim in the Wheel-a-Way bag. He, with his actions, restated what Sarah had said that afternoon.

“If/when you go back, I’m going with you!!!”

• 5 countries
• 3 Airlines
• 8 Factories
• 6 Test Labs
• 11 Containers of Tea
• Too Much Food
• Too Little Sleep
• 1 Day Off