Day 229: Being Young

5 July, 2010

 

Am currently in Guangzhou for work. I've been here before once and was not a fan of the city. That time, the whole place felt ultra dull. One couldn't see the sun for days and it was raining most of the time. It was one of the rare places that I have personally come across that actually felt "grey" like the ones you read about in Victorian novels. However, good news is that this time when we landed, things were looking bright and sunny. I mean really bright and sunny. Those who complain of Singapore being hot, should really make their way to Guangzhou. This place is HOT. Like H.O.T. Do you get what I mean? Let me repeat - It is Freaking Hot!!!

 

In spite of the above mentioned heat, I did find the day interestingly beautiful.

 

In my line of work, we do a fair bit of consumer work - sometimes on men, sometimes on women, sometimes on younger people, soemtimes on older people etc. So this time, the turn was for younger people. After doing some consumer understanding of youngsters these days, the team whose average age is not less than 35 decided that we should also live the "young life" for a day.

 

And what does that mean in Guangzhou? Firstly, go shopping at Tee-mall - the only mall that seems to be around. My manager says that every time she has been in Guangzhou, she has been taken to the Tee-mall. So that must be a pretty happening place. So the whole bunch of us (around 15) walked around Tee-mall. Then we had an excellent dinner, which I guess is not specifically "young" but still is worth mentioning since I usually don't take to the food in China, but this was really good stuff. The trick is not to be fussy and ask what you are eating, otherwise you will end up feeling sick. So as long as you focus on the taste, you will be OK.

 

And last but not the least, came....wait for it....  Clubbing - The Ultimate Youth Experience!

 

Now, I am not a club person at all. But in the spirit of teamwork, I tagged along. Interestingly, instead of drinking alcohol and dancing around (which is what I assume clubbing is supposed to be), we sat in a karaoke room inside the club. I don't really know which moron came up with this whole karaoke business idea but all it does is give the people with zero singing talent a chance to screech and pretend they are celebrities, while the fellow karaoke-ers cringe in their seats, waiting for their turn so that they can take revenge for what has been afflicted on them. Still, it was quite an experience watching and being part of the "Let's be young" gang. So there was karaoke, games, alcohol and everything but dancing. I was a silent spectator most of the time mainly because I couldn't understand the complicated chinese dice games they were playing and had no interest in demonstrating my super-cool singing talent amongst such a big group.

 

But I did have a good time. The meeting prior to the "being young" party was good, the food was great, the whole experience was rather enjoyable. So here's to all the young-at-heart ones!  

 

771 more to go.