So after 18 days, I'm sitting in the hotel lounge, typing out my last post from Singapore. The store is open, and doing amazing! I've seen so much of the city, and made so many new business colleagues and new friends, that I'm going to be sad to leave tomorrow morning.
We opened the store on Friday, and between the merchandising and the opening, then the follow up working in store the first few days, I've slowed down the sightseeing- but I did make it to China town at night for some dinner and shopping;
China town makes little India look like a... I don't know- it dwarfs little india in every way! There are rows of streets with shops and booths, all full of basically the same thing, but it's fun to shop around. It was a great night, and I found some great cheap souveniors, but also a STUNNING- stunning gift for Daniel that I found back in the far back corner booth that was just an old couple selling some stuff, much more real stuff, like estate sale esq. So that made my night :-)
We had some great sushi Friday night, but Thursday- we had the real deal: Chili Crab, Pepper Crab and other seafood at this place called Long Beach on Dempsey Hill. So Chili crab is THE thing to get here- a whole crab- they empty the shell, then stuff all the legs in it, so it looks like a flower arraingment, then smother it- and I mean SMOTHER it with either Chili's in a tomato sauce, or in the other, tons of pepper. It was the messiest meal I think I've ever eaten, but really so good! With the chili crab- they give you biscuts that you can dip in the remaining sauce, and it is sooo good. Then we also had these Oyesters that were oddly shaped- very long and narrow, with noodles on top. They were ok, but the best was definitely the crab.
Here's a picture of me and Sona with our Bib's on :-)
And the grand opening. It was great- lots of customers who had been waiting for the store to open, and customers who were just happy to find a great colorful, new, and fun store in the mall! This is such a great company to work for because it has such good recognition around the world, and it's such good products that everyone that shops is happy :-)
After we opened and did all the photos, the opening team went for Tea and scones at a place down the mall. Such a nice morning.
From left; Bill (architect), Me, Sona (Business Manager), Marc (Dir of Merch), Carl (architect), Matt (Marketing).
So on a funny note- as I re-read my posts for Singapore- I had a lot of "BIG EVENTS" here- but each thing I did was so different and surprising, that they all seemed like big events. The LBrands guys and I had drinks and dinner last night and as we were sitting there in a skyline bar overlooking the Marina we talked about our experience the past week(s). Although we all love Istanbul, the traffic is horrendous, but we still all rated it our #1 city. But as we all talked, we all came to the conclusion that this was the new #1. Gorgeous sites here, not historical, but contemporary and stunning. The city; so clean, no traffic, fast and efficient subways. And what really locked it down was it's proximity to everything asian pacific; Phuket, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bali, or Bangkok- all from 1hr flight to 3 hour flight away. Who knows; if we get crazy busy over here and add 30-50 stores, we might end up having a lot of people asking for assignments :-)))
China town makes little India look like a... I don't know- it dwarfs little india in every way! There are rows of streets with shops and booths, all full of basically the same thing, but it's fun to shop around. It was a great night, and I found some great cheap souveniors, but also a STUNNING- stunning gift for Daniel that I found back in the far back corner booth that was just an old couple selling some stuff, much more real stuff, like estate sale esq. So that made my night :-)
We had some great sushi Friday night, but Thursday- we had the real deal: Chili Crab, Pepper Crab and other seafood at this place called Long Beach on Dempsey Hill. So Chili crab is THE thing to get here- a whole crab- they empty the shell, then stuff all the legs in it, so it looks like a flower arraingment, then smother it- and I mean SMOTHER it with either Chili's in a tomato sauce, or in the other, tons of pepper. It was the messiest meal I think I've ever eaten, but really so good! With the chili crab- they give you biscuts that you can dip in the remaining sauce, and it is sooo good. Then we also had these Oyesters that were oddly shaped- very long and narrow, with noodles on top. They were ok, but the best was definitely the crab.
Here's a picture of me and Sona with our Bib's on :-)
And the grand opening. It was great- lots of customers who had been waiting for the store to open, and customers who were just happy to find a great colorful, new, and fun store in the mall! This is such a great company to work for because it has such good recognition around the world, and it's such good products that everyone that shops is happy :-)
After we opened and did all the photos, the opening team went for Tea and scones at a place down the mall. Such a nice morning.
From left; Bill (architect), Me, Sona (Business Manager), Marc (Dir of Merch), Carl (architect), Matt (Marketing).
So on a funny note- as I re-read my posts for Singapore- I had a lot of "BIG EVENTS" here- but each thing I did was so different and surprising, that they all seemed like big events. The LBrands guys and I had drinks and dinner last night and as we were sitting there in a skyline bar overlooking the Marina we talked about our experience the past week(s). Although we all love Istanbul, the traffic is horrendous, but we still all rated it our #1 city. But as we all talked, we all came to the conclusion that this was the new #1. Gorgeous sites here, not historical, but contemporary and stunning. The city; so clean, no traffic, fast and efficient subways. And what really locked it down was it's proximity to everything asian pacific; Phuket, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bali, or Bangkok- all from 1hr flight to 3 hour flight away. Who knows; if we get crazy busy over here and add 30-50 stores, we might end up having a lot of people asking for assignments :-)))
Your Grandma told me you were on the move again to log in and I'm sooooo glad I did. What a life of adventure you are living. Thanks to you we get to experience places we could only read about. You go to the best places! and you're a wonderful tour guide. You fight the crowds, we just sit back and relax in the comforts of home and end up seeing the prime sights, sounds and smells vicariously. Thanks for the trip! Aunt Sally
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