Working Trip to Hainan, China

This working trip came very much to my surprise as on the day itself I had a conversation with June about the possibility that I had to travel overseas for work as this is part of my job responsibilities, although I have yet to have the opportunity. So happen that as I heading to June's place to have dinner with her, I received a phone call from my superior whether I would be able to travel to Hainan, China from 3rd February to 10th February to support our system there. It really caught me by surprise and I decided to confirm the trip shortly after informing June and my family.



I submitted the necessary documents to my company for the ticketing department to submit an application to the China Embassy to obtain for me, an entry Visa into China. FYI, It normally takes 4 working days for the Visa to be processed. My flight was subsequently booked after I got my entry Visa. Came 3rd February, I took a cab at 4AM in the morning to LCC Terminal Airport. After the usual check-in procedure, I had breakfast at Starbucks Coffee as Old Town White Coffee was filled with people. After my colleague arrived, together we went in to the Departing Gate to wait for our flight. Our flight departed at approximately 6.55AM and I basically slept throughout the duration of the flight which landed at 10.05AM. We then took a cab to our hotel to check-in and drop-off our luggage before walking to our client's office which is about 15minutes away.



This was our daily routine, working from 8.30AM till 8.00PM most of the time to complete our tasks. Usually we don't have to work on weekends, according to my colleague but this time around there seems to be some problems so we end up working on Saturday and the morning of Sunday. The only consolation was our lunch hour is from 12noon till 1PM and there is a napping time between 1PM till 2PM :P Cool :D

As it was my first time stepping into China and being at Hainan for one whole week, I was able to witness the behavioral patterns of a typical local from China. Despite efforts by China to improve certain aspects of their habits, it is quite a norm to witness men or women, the young or the elderly to be spitting on the streets. Nose digging, mouth digging, and et cetera, you name it they're bound to have done it. There was even once this middle-aged man break wind as we were walking by. WTF really.



That aside, I find meat to be quite an essential part of their meals. Every single meal that I have had there was cooked with either beef, pork or chicken. This charcoal steamboat that we were invited to join our client, they were just screaming for more meat to be served. Food here is quite different and very reasonably priced too, if not cheap. Let's not talk about liquor as the beer here are just, cheap. Cheaper than Malaysia I must say and boy oh boy, the locals here can really drink.



Anyway there is nothing much to do because the nearest tourist destination, Sanya as I was told, is approximately 4 hours drive away by car. Therefore, my days here was spent mostly at shopping complexes, night markets and at a street that was quite popular for shopping here. However, I did not manage to shop much because there really isn't anything worthwhile to purchase here unless you just want to get cheap imitation goods. Except for some candies, coffee powder and small items.

On the very last day at Hainan, I spent the night packing up and making sure nothing is left behind. The following morning we got up early to have Dim Sum for breakfast nearby before hiring a cab to the airport. As we were running slightly behind schedule, I was quite nervous because if the check-in counter is closed, we have to go through a lot of hassle to get on the following flight. Fortunately, we managed to check-in on time to catch our flight with extra to take a look at the one and only duty-free shop.



Arriving back in Malaysia and being greeted by the oh so familiar hot & humid weather is quite welcoming because I am finally free from the culture shock I experienced there and nothing beats being back home with my loved ones. Especially the language barrier I had with the people there. It was a good working experience :)