A funny thing happened on the way to the elevator
We were back in Tower Club
today for an investment luncheon to showcase the new bond issue of
Evraz, the largest integrated steel company in Russia (which in and of
itself was pretty interesting, but that's not the focus of this story).
So on the way out of Tower Club, I run into this old Caucasian guy near the lifts, and we give each other a nod - seemed like the polite thing to do with someone when you establish eye contact. So we take the same lift, cross the Paseo de Roxas pedestrian underpass, and when we finally get back to Ayala Triangle, we bump into each other again.
The white guy, who seems very friendly, looks at me and says "So I see we were headed in the same direction." We proceed to do a bit of small talk while waiting for the lift in Tower One where I establish he's some rich old executive who goes on two-hour lunch breaks to work out. Finally I get around to asking him what company he works for:
Old White Dude: I work for Tenix.
Me: Oh I see. What industry is that in?
OWD: Shipbuilding.
Me: Really, you build them here? What kind of ships?
OWD: We build them over in Australia actually. We sell them to governments, they're WARSHIPS (emphasis mine).
Little known fact about me - I'm a war geek. I was drawing tanks and fighter planes when I was in first grade. I love reading those military scenario novels even if they're awfully written (basically the whole Tom Clancy series). Two of my favorite books are about the Persian invasion of Greece and the Peloponnesian War. So you can imagine how big my eyes went (no small feat for a Chinese guy) when he said WARSHIPS.
And then he tells me that their main offices are in Australia. At that point, I was almost going to beg him to hire me.
*****
If anyone's wondering why I posted this, I figured a rather amusing/slightly interesting anecdote about me was better than answering one of those little-known-facts-about-yourself surveys floating around on LJ.
Welcome back to everyone who went to Dumaguete. Goes without saying I wish to the stars I was there. Congrats to those who deserve congratulations.
So on the way out of Tower Club, I run into this old Caucasian guy near the lifts, and we give each other a nod - seemed like the polite thing to do with someone when you establish eye contact. So we take the same lift, cross the Paseo de Roxas pedestrian underpass, and when we finally get back to Ayala Triangle, we bump into each other again.
The white guy, who seems very friendly, looks at me and says "So I see we were headed in the same direction." We proceed to do a bit of small talk while waiting for the lift in Tower One where I establish he's some rich old executive who goes on two-hour lunch breaks to work out. Finally I get around to asking him what company he works for:
Old White Dude: I work for Tenix.
Me: Oh I see. What industry is that in?
OWD: Shipbuilding.
Me: Really, you build them here? What kind of ships?
OWD: We build them over in Australia actually. We sell them to governments, they're WARSHIPS (emphasis mine).
Little known fact about me - I'm a war geek. I was drawing tanks and fighter planes when I was in first grade. I love reading those military scenario novels even if they're awfully written (basically the whole Tom Clancy series). Two of my favorite books are about the Persian invasion of Greece and the Peloponnesian War. So you can imagine how big my eyes went (no small feat for a Chinese guy) when he said WARSHIPS.
And then he tells me that their main offices are in Australia. At that point, I was almost going to beg him to hire me.
*****
If anyone's wondering why I posted this, I figured a rather amusing/slightly interesting anecdote about me was better than answering one of those little-known-facts-about-yourself surveys floating around on LJ.
Welcome back to everyone who went to Dumaguete. Goes without saying I wish to the stars I was there. Congrats to those who deserve congratulations.