OMG Moments in Europe

(written January 9th, 2019)

Over winter break, I travelled with my friend Hailey to London, Paris and Barcelona, and for the remainder of the trip I solo-travelled to Madrid, Granada, and Sevilla in Spain (solo-travelling has become my absolute new obsession!). As I sit in a lounge (for my traveler friends out there, get Chase Sapphire Reserve, and you can stay at beautiful lounges for free!) at Gatwick Airport in England waiting for my flight to Singapore, I look back on my three week Europe trip and realize that I’ve had quite a few heart-attack moments throughout my travels, both good and bad of course!

1. Gatwick Airport Closes; Flight Cancelled

The night before I had read about an unknown drone in Gatwick’s flying zone and found it somewhat comical. Woke up in the morning and casually checked phone and BAM, an email from our airline noting that our flight has been cancelled. Not so comical anymore. Ended up getting our flight changed to the next day out of Luton Airport and received accommodation. However, the airline booked us a hotel outside of Gatwick Airport, which was literally in the exact opposite direction. Called and asked for a hotel change in the morning, and the customer representative said we would receive an email with our new hotel’s address and information. Well, many hours went by and the sun had fallen, but still no email. Called again, waited for like an hour to reach a rep and he told me that I never called. You could imagine my rage. He basically said there was nothing he could do, and I asked to speak with his manager. After a long discussion, I ended up negotiating us a five star hotel and compensation for both ground transport and food. Buddies, you gotta fight for yourself.

Sippin’ on my complementary lychee cocktail at dat 5 star Japanese-styled hotel!!

2. First time getting stolen

I swear, every other person I spoke with along the trip who had gone to Barcelona got pick pocketed in Barcelona. Hailey and I stayed at a hostel for two days and decided to join the walking tour with that hostel. Got on a bus that gradually got more and more crowded. Then there was a guy in a green sweater who kept squeezing Hailey and I, I thought the bus was crowded but didn’t think he needed to get that close to us. But I was also distracted by his strong body odor. His armpit was also directly facing Hailey and I saw Hailey desperately trying to face away from his armpit and burying her face into her scarf (it was a really funny scene hehehe). But when the bus stopped, I felt my crossbody bag moving, looked down, and my bag was opened. The guy and a girl who stood next to him got off the bus, I opened my bag and realized my money was gone. I’m telling ya, these pick pocketers would’ve made great psychologists, what a waste of talent!

Posin’ and cheesin’ right after I got robbed. And yes guys, they stole my money right out of that beautiful white cross body bag.

3. Ran into a high school classmate in Granada

I took a walking tour my first day in Granada, which was by the way, my favorite city out of the six that I visited (London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Granada). Despite its tiny size, Granada houses the intersection of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism and the North African and Western European cultures. The Alhambra was absolutely stunning, the sheer detail of the arabesques was mind-blowing, thank god to Isabel and Ferdinand, who after reconquering Granada in the 1490s, decided to add some Christian touches and labels and Renaissance gardens to the castle rather than destroying it.

Anyway, going back to my story, I was walking up to the Mirador with the tour group and suddenly noticed a girl walking down who looked exactly like my high school classmate. But I thought I must’ve misjudged, so I kept walking. That evening, I texted her and asked, and turns out she was travelling in Granada with her uncle!! Grabbed tapas the next evening and had a great time catching up! Funny how we never really spoke in high school and then suddenly three years after graduation, we were in Granada, drinking and eating tapas and chatting for hours. Life really gives you the most unexpected moments, and new years resolution is to cherish the precious moments and people around me more (along with working out more and getting more fit, although that’s been my new years resolution since 2010, nothing much has changed though, yikes!)

Cool gal Jordan on the left and her uncle on the right.

4. Ran into a fellow IUP-er at my hostel in Sevilla

Last spring I studied abroad on a professional and academic Chinese program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Well, I was participating the paella cooking class in my hostel and spoke with an American guy from Missouri. Besides me were two Taiwanese girls so I spoke with them in Chinese, I turned back to him and apologized for leaving him out, but then he noted that he had studied abroad in Beijing for a year. And so the conversation went:

“omg, where did you study??”

“I studied at Peking University for a year and then a summer at Tsinghua.”

“omg, was it a Chinese program at Tsinghua?”

“yeah, it was called IUP.”

“OMGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WUT!!?!?!?!? ME TOOOOOOO!!!!!”

And of course we went on talking about the teachers we had and our experiences in the big city. Wow, the world is only so “big”. 世界真的只有那么“大”

With my fellow IUP-er after our paella meal! Did you know that a Spanish princess held a cooking contest and whichever man could cook the best would be selected as her marriage partner. That’s why paella is actually short for “por ella”, which is “for her” in Spanish.

Summer at Pamir

I wrote this summer internship report a few weeks ago, and I thought it would be cool to share my wonderful experience with my friends and family. I spent my summer bouncing between Taipei and Shanghai as an intern at Pamir Law Firm. Here’s my summer:

 

Pamir was nothing of my expectations. Who knew that a law internship would teach me so much about marketing, corruption, life skills (dating lessons and real self-defense!), and who knew that a law internship would bring me closer to my family and make me appreciate them in ways I have before. Also, who knew that the Pamir index (amount of kg gained while working at Pamir) was a real thing?!

My primary individual task this summer was creating a marketing slideshow for an investor immigration project the firm just launched. Myriad Chinese families are looking to move abroad for capital preservation and to seek a better future and opportunity for their children. When Nick (my boss) first handed me the task, I thought it’d be really easy. After all, I’ve done countless slideshows throughout my compulsory education and in college, what can be so hard? The first time I got feedback from Nick, he basically told me to dispose my presentation and create a completely new one. After taking his suggestions, I thought I had a better sense of direction. But I soon began to feel hopeless the second and third time I got feedback from Nick. Nothing seemed right. I created no less than 10 versions of the presentation. But in the process, unknowingly, I began to develop a valuable skill and understanding that I’ve applied to my life since: psychology. My first few drafts were very academically-based, like the ones I have been making at school, lots of data, facts, and texts. Nick taught me the importance of understanding my audience and in this particular case, the art of storytelling. I learned to not only put myself in the shoes of my audience, but also to interact with the audience through text and images only.

Another project I took on involved a technology slideshow for an upcoming international conference Nick is attending. I, along with the other interns, conducted research on how technology in China will change both China and the world, which included China’s development in advanced manufacturing, e-commerce and e-banking, and major e-companies like Alibaba and Tencent. We began the research in Taiwan, but for me, the real-time shock came when I actually went to Shanghai and witnessed everything I researched: virtual wallets, ubiquitous bike share, ninja-speed delivery system (food, mail, packages), and the fact that everything was within reach through one app. It was interesting to see a recurring theme of new vs. old, and Nick constantly reminded us of the two worlds China encompassed. World one comprises of the younger generation, who are the leaders and followers of these new trends and this “new China.” So imaginably, world two includes a generation who are struggling but working diligently to catch up to the new, world two is also the “cash” generation, the generation that can’t even grab on taxi on the road because they don’t have the Didi taxi app (not mentioning any names *ahem ahem Nick*). This split on technology seems to be the microcosm for China’s society. China is a developing country with one side that is very advanced, wealthy, and global, but yet another side that’s still struggling to catch up with higher standards of living, the impossible housing costs, and the constantly changing societal trends influenced by technology.

The very interesting and valuable nature of this internship program comes from witnessing these developments and social problems. Nick makes an active effort to help us see the our research and projects real-time, and he’s done this by designing this cross-strait internship that allows us to make observations from both sides, taking us to various historical sites, conferences, talks, and other events on his own time, introducing us to his buddies that come from all socioeconomic levels and backgrounds so we can gain valuable insights from very different perspectives.

But aside from all the work aspects, Nick’s hospitality and our lovely colleagues were really what made this internship extra special. I often ask myself what I’ve done to deserve a boss that not only cares about me like his family, but also counsels me on my relationship with my parents. Discussions with Nick on the immigration project and family life has also made me realize the sacrifices my parents made to give my sister and I the better opportunity, and that awareness and newly-learned appreciation molded me into a new daughter, someone who can forgive conflicts and mistakes. It’s still a work in process, but at least I know I’m much happier about my relationship with my parents now.

Last but not least, actually, this is the most important part: FOOD! Nick took us to the most amazing restaurants and treated us to the best food I’ve had in my life. From the crispy and juicy duck dish at the French restaurant in Shanghai to the two lunches we had on Taoyuan street (monster wontons and killer beef noodle soup, don’t ask us why we had two lunches, the Pamir piggies were hungry!), there’s no doubt I’ve had some of the best food in my life in these two food paradises. No wonder I’ve put on quite a few pounds since working at Pamir, and I guess that’s my biggest complaint, but Nick did warn us that the firm is not responsible for weight gain, a disclaimer noted on the welcome letter, so I guess I can’t blame them…

Thank you Nick for your friendship, mentorship, guidance, and all the amazing food you’ve treated me too. Thank you for sharing your incredible stories, constantly coming out of your way to help me, and always helping me become a better person than I was yesterday. I am eternally grateful for everything you’ve done for me, and I can’t wait to reunite with the Pamir family soon!

Living the Future in China

My favorite work so far has been conducting research and drafting an outline for a presentation on China’s technological developments and its impact on the global market. I started the research also generalizing China as a copycat of western ideas, but quickly realized that WeChat is not Facebook, and Alibaba is not Amazon, sure they may have taken some ideas from their western counterparts, but they are the more efficient, powerful, and profitable versions.

WeChat, the “super-app” of a China, consisting the functions of over a dozen American apps, it’s the go-to app for everything: communications, e-commerce, transportation, food, financial services, insurance, appointments, the list goes on.

​In the words of Jack Ma, “Alibaba is more like an empire.” Alibaba gives every company the opportunity to become the Amazon, utilizing a highly advanced and efficient delivery service to fulfill/tackle/complement/accomodate/underpin/sustain the largest e-commerce market in the world. Like WeChat, Alibaba also has much more services than its counterpart…

Being in China myself, I’ve witnessed how these apps have changed the way Chinese people live. People don’t carry wallets, their phone IS their wallet. During noontime, office workers don’t go downstairs to buy lunch, they open their Elema food delivery app, where they can easily search up nearby restaurants, order their selections (which is often cheaper), pay via their virtual wallet, and receive the food within 30 minutes. Services from haircuts, massages, to even pet grooming is purchased virtually, where customers can also set their appointments. Cash is quickly disappearing, as transactions are all conducted with a simple QR code scan. This is fascinating. In the meanwhile, Westerners, the ones who are used to being “copied”, are desperately trying to emulate WeChat and Alibaba’s success. The tables have surely turned.

I think this technology presentation and a marketing project for immigrant investors will be my primary focuses in my remaining month in Shanghai and Taipei. I’ll probably also pay another visit to Nanjing this weekend to visit some historical sites I’ve been meaning to go to for a long time. I haven’t had many opportunities to explore Shanghai since I don’t have many friends here and always feel pressured to be more productive in my after-work times. I think I’ll make a trip to the Shanghai bund sometime this week. Will keep you updated about my adventures!