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Today has been another busy day! This morning dawned way too early with someone in New York calling me at 4:15 am (I think it was a sales call). It woke me up and then disturbed my sleep enough that I finally got up at 5:30. Another night of only four hours of sleep - if you know me well, you know that I'm not a happy camper with anything less than eight!
But there was lots to be done today, starting with work for the conference. We spent the morning printing documents, taking care of last minute details with the events planners, updating the delegate packets, etc. Then, it was off to meet our hosts at their offices, along with two of the attorneys from one of our new Indian firms. Getting there was an adventure, because although the sun had been out first thing this morning, it had clouded over and just as we were getting into the taxi, the skies opened up. It wasn't just raining either - it was those big fat drops of rain that thunder the car's roof so loudly it's almost impossible to hear the other passengers talking!
Fortunately, by the time
we arrived on Anson Road, the rain had mostly stopped. Because our taxi driver was confused, he dropped us at Anson House - #79 - when we needed to go to Springleaf Tower - #3. The receptionist at Anson House was extremely helpful though and directed us to the right place. After chatting with our hosts and the other attorneys, we walked a few short blocks to the
China Club. We'd hosted a dinner there during our last time in Singapore, so it was interesting to get the chance to go back and dine in the main restaurant. According to their website, "The China Club Singapore was inaugurated on 19th May 2001...The China Club Singapore is an elegant, members-only club, built atop the 52nd floor of Singapore's premium commercial tower, The Capital Tower, located in the Central Business District. The Club is surrounded by 16 metre-tall glass with perhaps the most spectacular views across Singapore. On a clear day, Malaysia and Indonesia can be glimpsed."
Today was not a clear day, but that didn't stop the views from being breathtaking. I didn't sit right next to the window, because of my fear of heights, but that also gave me a
great view from my seat nearer to the doorway. The Club is decorated in a Chinese style, which I just love. And the food was again traditionally Chinese, though less spicy than Singaporeans normally eat it, according to our hosts. Our Indian colleagues also informed us that they've adapted Chinese food in their culture to what they called "Chindian" food - a blend that's much spicier than Cantonese cuisine usually is.
I've eaten so much Chinese food in the last two days that I might struggle a bit remembering which dishes we had with lunch today! We began with a tofu/cucumber starter, which was very small - and yes, I ate both. Next, were three dumplings - one was a shrimp dumpling, which I didn't try. Another was a vegetable dumpling in a clear, jelly-like coating that had a strange consistency, but tasted good. And the third was a chicken dumpling with a crispy coating that was delicious dipped in vinegar. We followed that with a duo of what was basically a little meat pie (very tasty) and a similar dish to the fried dough we'd had last night, but coated with a slimy rice gel. The dough was
good, but I wasn't a fan of the rice coating. I believe our next course was a broth with tofu, some of which was fried - I only had a few bites of this because the coating had a decidedly fishy taste to it. I think our next coarse was grilled asparagus with a garlic crumble over it - I had one piece so as not to look too picky, especially since I'd left most of my last dish. Then, it was time for the carbohydrate - noodles with mushrooms. I just ate around those and the noodles were quite good!
I drank Chinese tea with the meal, which is actually refreshing - although I don't like tea as a general rule, this smells like jasmine, which is very relaxing. After that big meal, we needed something else to refresh us. Our hosts selected a fruit/cream dessert - I wish I could remember what it was called, because it was delicious. After lunch, they walked us around the Club a bit so that we could see Singapore from each direction now that the weather had cleared up a bit.
After lunch, we parted with our hosts and Indian
attorneys and headed to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre with our Chairman. One of their representatives is speaking at our conference on Saturday, so we had the chance to meet with her as well as their CEO and then get a tour of the arbitration facilities in the building. It was quite unique to have the chance to see the hearing rooms - one in a classroom style with the arbitrators at a head table, the next in a u-shape, with the arbitrators at the bottom of the U and the witnesses in the middle. Our tour guides favorite room was the rotunda room, which is just as it sounds, but the coolest thing about the room is that if you stand directly in the middle under the dome and speak, it sounds as though you're speaking into a microphone - but only to you, because your voice sounds normal to everyone else in the room. We also got to see the arbitrators lounge, which is apparently similar to the Virgin lounge at Heathrow. Certainly a unique experience!
Now, it's time to get some rest before the conference officially begins tomorrow morning and it's wall-to-wall activities and business sessions!
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