Barbara's Travel Blog

A long day

It's a good thing I visited Beijing previously and enjoyed it, because today wouldn't have sold me on it.

We had another short night (6 hours sleep this time) followed by a long day of government meetings, award ceremonies and a TV talk show. These were interspersed with walks in and out of buildings in the bitter, dry cold.

Today's meals were a disappointment all around - we had not-so-appealing sandwiches on the bus for lunch (with mayo, which of course meant I couldn't eat them), then to make up for the bad lunch, the local team bought us local food to have for dinner on the plane. Unfortunately, it wasn't so great either.

We had a 3+ hour flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, where we stopped for an hour to refuel, and now we're continuing with another four hours to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where we land after midnight.

At the moment we're watching the movie "Memento," and enjoying a cheese and cracker plate - the high point of the day. Here's hoping tomorrow's a better day.

The madness continues

Upon landing at 1am today in Chengdu, our charter jet was greeted by dozens of cheering Intel employees and government representatives. Thus started the team's repeated experience of waving goodbye to crowds from the bus.

On to the hotel, a 40-minute drive, but thankfully upon arrival we had already been checked in by the local team, so we were able to just head straight to our rooms. Actually, make that suites - a waste really, considering that most of us spent a whopping five hours in them. But I did appreciate the spread of treats and the framed silk panda print I found waiting for me.

I did my nightly report, then crawled into bed at 2:30am, realizing when I set my alarm for 6:30am just how miserable I was going to be the next day. And miserable I was - I was so tired all day, I actually felt nauseous.

The day consisted of the routine morning briefing, followed by a press interview, then I got a short break during the government meetings. The big highlight of the day though was the opening ceremony of our new manufacturing plant in Chengdu. Virtually every government official was there, and Craig (our chairman) was recognized with honorary citizenship to Chengdu.

The ceremony itself was pretty entertaining - kids performing, Chinese girls in traditional dresses, drummers, etc. - but would have been a lot more tolerable if it hadn't been outside in sub-freezing temperatures.

Following the ceremony, we took a tour of the factory (a first for me), then held a press conference and headed out. The last stop of the day was a lecture to about a thousand university students, which I decided to bag out on in favor of a nap in the back of the bus. I felt immensely better following an hour and a half of rest.

After the lecture, we made our way to the airport, thanks in great part to a police escort that led the way. The traffic in Chengdu was a nightmare, but apparently our group was important enough that every couple miles traffic in both directions would stop, and we would drive on the wrong side of the road and pass it all up - very cool!

Now we're back on the charter jet on the way to Beijing, enjoying a fantastic dinner of genuine Szechwan food from Chengdu, and getting a little silly after a day of seriousness.

I know - it's a rough life. ;)

The countdown begins

Amazingly enough, I'm barely halfway through this trip and I've already found myself counting down the remainder of it. It's hard not to, with everything I've got scheduled for the next six weeks: Trips to Beijing in early November and Singapore mid-month, my Mom visiting over Thanksgiving, and a whirlwind, four-country trip with Intel's Chairman in the first week of December. Then back to Hong Kong where I get two days to pack before flying home. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

In the meantime, I'm trying to use the time I have left in HK to do some healthy things for myself (in addition to the usual drinking, cavorting about and foot massages, of course). Faith and I have become workout buddies two days a week, and I started seeing an acupuncturist about my back injury (from a car accident a few years ago).

I had my first acupuncture treatment yesterday, in fact. I'm going to reserve judgment for at least a couple more appointments, but I'm disappointed to say that I'm in more pain today than I was before I had the treatment. And to add insult to injury, I had to drink an herbal remedy (read: swamp-like sludge drink) for four days leading up to the appointment. I think it may very well be the most foul taste I've experienced in my entire life.

But enough complaining. The weekend's almost here, I got a care package of clothes and music from my Mom this week, and there's always vicodin to ease the pain. ;)