Chinese Whispers 7

By now my trip to Beijing had come to an end. Lot's of lovely memories associated with this trip. Met with lot's new people. This year our team meeting was appropriately titled 'East Meets West'. Participants joined in from Pakistan, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Canada, United States, Argentina and United Kingdom.  

Unlike regular business meetings, this one was very interactive and fun based. We even had a Tai Chi Master invited to join us for two days to learn how to manage stress at work place. The Master conducted very simple to do moves to manage daily stress.

For the last 3 years, I have been attending these meetings once a year and we have a tradition to exchange small cultural gifts, so this time around these are some of the gifts I received were these:

For all the arrangements I would like to thank my hosts Mr. Albert Wong, Edward Chang and Melony Li. Thank you guys for making this trip a memorable one. You were great hosts.

It is now time to head back home and with that I come to the end of 'Chinese Whispers'. Thank you all for reading and showing interest in my blog.

 

Random Clippings

Here's the 4th episode of Random Clippings.

Very interesting. a unique way to distribute mail in Germany.

Cool off in hot summer.

 A unique way to ask for voter's support in India.

 

Now this one is very very interesting. A 70 year old gentleman in India has 39 wives, 94 kids and 33 grand children. 100 room house. 

Don't ask me for details (especially the why and how....... :-)

Chinese Whispers 6

I regret the delay in completing the ‘Chinese Whispers’ due to some pressing issues at work and home. But here’s another interesting day’s followup:

March 23,

Last evening we  collected details about how to get to Beijing South Train Station to buy tickets for Bullet Train to Tianjin. Why Tianjin? Because, it’s not very far (only 150 km from Beijing) and it suits our main purpose of enjoying a quick ride of the Bullet Train.

Beijing has two railway stations, North and South. If you intend to take a train to some place from Beijing, please  make sure you go to the right train station. Beijing South Train Station is an impressive building and looks like an airport terminal. Shopping, restaurants, banks.  You’ll find all known brands and outlets here. 

To purchase tickets please keep your passport with you as your passport number will be printed on the ticket. For Chinese citizens, national identification card must be presented to purchase the tickets. The ticket cost 55 RMB one way. Security is very strict at the station and we were scanned twice before boarding the train.

The CRH is a very neat, clean and fast train. Has on-board café and hostesses.

We took the 10:30 train to Tianjin  and we reached there at 11:15. That was quick for a train ride!

We really wanted to experience the train which had it’s maximum speed at 292 km/h. This was my first time in a high speed train and I really enjoyed it. Maybe on a longer trip the speed might go beyond 300 km.

We were back in Beijing at 11:30. Now what? We decided to head for Niujie Street (Ox Street in Mandarin), a Muslim area. We offered prayers at an old Masjid (Muslim Prayer place) Niujie Mosque built in 996 AD, later had a quick lunch before heading towards The Nest.

Beijing is the only Olympic city I’ve been to and it would be incomplete if I didn’t have a look at the Olympic stadium. It's huge.

Opposite to the stadium is The Cube (complex for water sports).  

 we spent couple of hours there, had coffee and enjoyed the sunset before heading towards the city.

Dinner at The Ganges, Indian Restaurant. And a long walk back to the hotel.

Please Sponsor Caroline

Dear Friends,

This is a call for help. My friend and colleague Caroline Smith needs help.  She lives in the UK and works for the same company as I do. We have worked together on a project recently and I know her to be a very hardworking and caring person. She is running in the upcoming London Marathon with her sister to raise awareness and funds for Bowel Cancer. 
 

In order to do my bit, I have offered Caroline this forum to spread her request for sponsorship as follows:

"
On 13^th April 2014 I am running the London Marathon (26.2 miles) with my sister for Bowel Cancer. Our Dad came close to dying from bowel cancer. Surgery and extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy saved his life but it was a difficult and often undignified time for him. We feel lucky as a family that he is still here to make us laugh and although the future is uncertain as he has now been diagnosed with myelodysplasia* (once known as pre-leukemia), we know nothing will stop him from being at the finish line to cheer us on. It is important to me to help all other families and individuals going through this process to receive the hope and support they need. All the money I raise will go towards this.

 

·         Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK after lung cancer.

 

·         It is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and yet rarely talked about.

 

·         Around 15,700 people died of bowel cancer in 2011 in the UK, that's around 43 people every day.

*Myelodysplasia can be caused by previous cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow does not make enough healthy blood cells; there are abnormal (blast) cells in the blood and/or bone marrow.

Any support you can give will be gratefully and thankfully received by not just our family but also the charity, and all the people it will help. Thank you.” "

To support Caroline, please visit the following page on www.justgiving.com 
 

Just click on the link to see Caroline's updated, fully secure fundraising page:

http://www.justgiving.com/Caroline-Smith42?utm_source=emailvision&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fundraisingpage-donation-alert-email

 

Please take a moment and think about someone whom you don't know but needs your help and support. 

Caroline can be reached at :          caroline.a.smith@shell.com
You can also contact me at:            faisalbhatti111@gmail.com

Kindly contact us and we will acknowledge and thank you for your generous support.