February 14, 2011
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Eurotosh
To Amsterdam on my first intergalactic cruise of the year, where I was to be introduced to our European team, talk to the press at the exhibition, and then get to the nitty gritty of the marketing discussion on the Friday. The timing of the show meant that I would miss Chinese New Year holidays and celebration, the festivities of spending Chinese New Year’s Eve with Joanne’s family would have to wait until 2012.
The real downside of having to go to Europe was the fact that I could not claim my holiday afterwards, but this is life sometimes. The main concern for me was that she did not go in to labour during the trip.
Having racked up enough air miles this year to get back in to Cathay Pacific’s good books, as well as their business class lounge, the waiting in the airport has become considerably more comfortable. I had played football in the afternoon, having managed to reschedule the match to an earlier time slot so I could play without having to worry about rushing to the airport straight afterwards. Sometimes being the chairman of the team has its advantages.
Nice and clean, but also a little hungry, Joanne dropped me off at the airport, and before you knew it was I checked in and eating some snacks in the lounge, ready for the flight to HK, with the connection a few hours later to Amsterdam. Simple flight over, then back in to the lounge again for some food, something to drink, and a quick check on the net, seeing if my woman was home and online. She was.
The overnight flight was ok – I think I even managed to sleep, but mainly because there was nothing else to do. I had no battery left on my laptop and the electricity socket was not working, so no Football Manager was possible. The “entertainment” system was a head o crap, and the dinner was really terrible. As we approached Amsterdam, breakfast was served and it was no better than the dinner.
Through customs, on to a train, and in to the hotel by 8, the meeting at the company offices was not scheduled until 10:30, so I tried to check in. But an additional €90 for the early check in meant that I would just leave my luggage, get myself a coffee (big mistake) and settle down to use the internet which was – unusually for a European Hotel – free.
I walked to the office – having checked on the map how to get there – and arrived despite the frikking freezing temperatures that had greeted me. Introduced to the guys there, I was still one of the earlier ones to arrive, and then the other European agents came, my boss also arriving and the meeting started.
After an interesting meeting, although to be honest it sounded like more words than action, we headed back towards the hotel. Interestingly, the guy driving who should know Amsterdam inside out, took 15 left hand turns (and no right hand turns) before he found the hotel. I got up to my floor, and it all looked very Japanese. The doors were seriously close to one another, and I wondered what was in store. Opening the door, the answer was clear. I was indeed in a Japanese-esque hotel, with the bed acting as chair, sofa and place to sleep. A big, flat screen TV on the wall, a toilet that was the first thing you see when you open the door, and a shower unit, both of which could be encased in a round sliding door type thing. Really weird and totally surreal.
After dumping the stuff in the room and checking in properly it was time for dinner at a suave restaurant that no one seemed to know how to get to. When we finally made it though, the food and wine were awesome, and their vegetarian fare was really not bad. But they fed us way too many bread rolls to compensate for the small amounts of food. Still, at least I was full.
The next day the show started, and that brought with it the hustle and bustle of a major international event. I headed off to one supplier with the boss, and was essentially ignored by the big boss of the supplier, because I am not important enough. After the meeting I had a look at some of our competitors, and decided that I liked our booth the best.
After the show a lot of people had parties lined up or dinner with clients, so I headed to the hotel, walked along the road and found a place where I could get some veggie food. I took a pizza back to the hotel and watched some TV before falling asleep, getting in a good night’s kip.
The boss was heading back to Taiwan the day afterwards, at least he managed to get some time off from the office with his family. I took a look around the show, got in some meetings with press, had a chat with various people and the day was gone pretty quickly.
The final day of the show was interesting – I had a final look around the event, then decided that it was so empty, I would leave. The plan was to come back for the final hour so I could help tear down the booth. I took a walk back to the hotel, got something to eat, headed out to the local mini-mart and got some water and other goodies, shopping in Europe for things I miss! Around 5 I was back at the RAI. Interesting how I was the only international person who actually came back to help out. All the European reps buggered off.
We dismantled the booth, put everything in to the respective box, and were out by 8:30, just in time for dinner at the local bowling alley. Nice. No food for me except fries and satay sauce. A few beers later and the Dutch guys decided it was time to go out for more, so I joined them and it was only when one guy spilled a whole beer all over me that I thought about leaving. As I smelt like the Amstel brewery, I was not so comfortable with myself, still I managed to get back ok, along with one of the other guys who decided to call it a night.
The next morning I had my meeting where we discussed all marketing projects for the year, came to a decision, and by mid afternoon had finished. Awesome. So I headed out to the supermarket to do a real shopping session, and on the way back found a Pakistani restaurant that looked too good to resist. I got a lentil dish as well as a Bombay aloo and a garlic nan, and took them back to the hotel.
As I got back to the hotel room I turned on the TV to the BBC, and watched England stuff the Welsh at the Millenium Stadium, eating the delicious mélange of lentils and potatoes. There was enough oil in the food though to re-pollute the gulf of mexico, so I got rid of the excesses, concentrating instead on enjoying those awesome flavours of the REAL ingredients.
As the rugby finished, I watched a little more TV before hitting the sack, my flight back to Taiwan the following day being at a good time of day. Packed, ready and farting like a good one, I took the train over to the airport, a mere 20 minutes away from the hotel, and checked in.
As I got through immigration I saw a plant shop, and wondered if perhaps they had parsnip seeds. I was in luck – they did – so I bought loads of them, as well as a small Winnie the Pooh gift for the forthcoming addition to the family, Lyndon, then headed to the BA lounge. Really nasty and cheap, but at least they had a cappuccino for me.
On to the plane, and no sleep – instead, 5 episodes of House, 7 episodes of Top Gear, and before I knew it, I was back in Honkers. Even the food on the way back was a lot better, although it would have been difficult to be worse. And after a short stopover in the Cathay lounge in HK, I was back on the plane, heading back to my woman.
