Virgin trip to Europe...
Dear diary,
I would like to write down what I've experienced through out this short trip to Europe, which is also my very first trip there as well. Managed to complete the tasks/assignments given to me well, and I hope that this would make a good impression of me to my boss (possibility of increment of salary?) :-P
On the 27th June 2005, my boss informed me that I was urgently required in Europe to help troubleshoot a few problems at customers' sites. I was required to fly there the next day, 28th June. On such notice, I didn't manage to prepare much, just pack a few pieces of clothes and necessary toiletries. I caught the midnight flight on 28th June and reached Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam on 29th June morning. Met up with my company's Europe sales representative and we rented a car to drive to customer's site which is about 1~2 hours drive from the airport.
We reached the customer at about 11.00am and had a short meeting with them in order for me to know what are the exact problems that they're having. Did a few testing and presented to them our new samples/products. Customer is quite satisfied with the new improvement that we've done to the end product. So this is good news, since this customer was quite demanding and requires perfection. After lunch with them, we then head down to Mechelen, Belgium. While on the way, I managed to catch a glimpse of the countryside of Netherlands. There were the famous windmills, as well as very green breezy fields.
Mechelen is a small town just a few kilometres away from Brussel. And this town offers very warm and cozy feeling to those who stayed there. I was lucky that I managed to stay a night in this wonderful town. We went for dinner with our distributor in Mechelen Town Square which features food from all around Europe region. Brussel is considered the heart of Europe tradeways because people would have to cross through there in order to get to another country. So they stopped by and made this place as a meeting point. So the variety of food that we get there is large. We went for a typical restaurant which serves Belgium specialties. I ordered a grilled tarbot and it came garnished with water asparagus which can only be obtained in Belgium for the month of May~June. These asparagus isn't like what we get from the market which are thin and green, but instead, they're broad, very much like leek/sugarcane. There's another specialty that originated from Belgium, which are the fries. Belgium fries are very famous and they should be taken with sour cream/mayonaise. Indeed those that I've tried were tantalizing.
The next morning, 30th June, we drove to meet another customer to discuss on the problem he's facing with our product and perhaps come out with possible solutions to solve it. We managed to agree and set the possible solutions, so he's another happy customer from us now. Right after that, we drove back up to Rotterdam to meet another distributor for lunch. But he wasn't free and had to cancel the plan last minute. We still went to Rotterdam to have our lunch, and tour the city for a moment before we went back to Schiphol Airport to catch our flight to Milan, Italy. After checking in at the airport, I went on a shopping spree there as I wasn't sure when would be the next time I visit Amsterdam/Netherlands. So I bought a few souveniers to remind me that I've been there before and just for the sake of having something. LOL... :-P
Once we reached Milan, I checked in to the hotel nearby town. I didn't wanna waste anytime and went straight to the town centre after refreshing myself. I went directly to Piazza del Duomo, the famouse church in Milan. I believe its the 4th biggest church that can be found in Italy/Europe, and of course it is majestic. The front part of the building is currently under repair and is being covered. The galleria next to Duomo is equally impressive as well. This is where all the branded brands have their stores, and nonetheless, their prices were very impressive as well. :-P I had my dinner there in a small little pizzeria which serves traditional Italian pizza. Its quite different from what we usually get to eat in Malaysia. Perhaps its because of the ingredient they use? I went back to the hotel after walking around the area, doing some sight seeing as well as window shopping because all shops were closed by the time I reached town. Managed to memorize the locations of these shops so that I can visit them again during my next trip there. Hehe... :-P There's this building owned by Armani which is converted into Armani Casa where they sell the wide variety range of Armani clothings from its various labels. Its quite impressive as its a few storeys high. For those who wanna visit there, its situated at Via Manzoni and you won't miss it because its really grand. Kekeke... :-P
Early the next morning, 1st July, we drove to the customer's site at Brescia which is about 1.5 hours drive from Milan. Brescia is a small city right outside of Milan and its an industrial area. I spent like 2~3 hours troubleshooting the problem and finally managed to solve it. Its quite a pressure for me because our biggest distributor in Italy were there, and they're looking at me troublshooting the problem. If I didn't manage to do it, they would probably lose faith in our products. Luckily I managed to pull it through this time to save my company's ass. ;-) Its very wierd when there's 10 people looking at you while you're working and testing. I mean don't they have other things to do other then standing there and distract me from doing my work? :-P
Right after lunch with customer in Brescia, we then drove to Bergamo, another nearby town which is famous for producing wine. This customer is situated deep the mountain valley. So on the way there, I managed to see the mountains as well as yards of grapevine. And the wind were breezy and fresh. Not like those we get back in town. Spent about 30~45 minutes with this customer and managed to solved their problem. Its due to faulty connections and they weren't able to use it. From there, we drove for a few hours before reaching the hotel that I would be staying for the night. Its nearby to the airport since I have an early flight the next day. Once I reached the hotel, I refresh myself and caught the next train down to town. I did what the tourists did, walk about Milan city centre to sight see. There's just too many things to see and do in such a short time. I should visit other places the next time I'm there. Caught the last bus back to the hotel and call it a night.
Early this morning, 2nd July, I flew to Vienna via Austrian Air and transit to Kuala Lumpur. Spent 3 hours there waiting for the next flight back. Shopped till I drop because things in Vienna is slightly cheaper compared to other airports I've visited. The journey from Vienna back to Kuala Lumpur took about 11 hours and now I'm back here.
This trip is certainly an enjoyable experience for me because I get to visit 4 countries in such a short time. And the people there is very nice and friendly. Of course it might be because I'm not a local there, and they would treat me better since I'm far away from home. However, I do need some time to really get accustomed to the place there. Its difficult to accept their culture/daily lifestyle just in a short time. I would never have thought I would say this, but some of the European I met/saw while I'm there are very cute and we don't often met such people back in Asia. :-P So, for those who're into "potatoes", you would know where you should go. Especially northen Europe countries like Belgium, Austria, etc. :-P
I would like to write down what I've experienced through out this short trip to Europe, which is also my very first trip there as well. Managed to complete the tasks/assignments given to me well, and I hope that this would make a good impression of me to my boss (possibility of increment of salary?) :-P
On the 27th June 2005, my boss informed me that I was urgently required in Europe to help troubleshoot a few problems at customers' sites. I was required to fly there the next day, 28th June. On such notice, I didn't manage to prepare much, just pack a few pieces of clothes and necessary toiletries. I caught the midnight flight on 28th June and reached Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam on 29th June morning. Met up with my company's Europe sales representative and we rented a car to drive to customer's site which is about 1~2 hours drive from the airport.
We reached the customer at about 11.00am and had a short meeting with them in order for me to know what are the exact problems that they're having. Did a few testing and presented to them our new samples/products. Customer is quite satisfied with the new improvement that we've done to the end product. So this is good news, since this customer was quite demanding and requires perfection. After lunch with them, we then head down to Mechelen, Belgium. While on the way, I managed to catch a glimpse of the countryside of Netherlands. There were the famous windmills, as well as very green breezy fields.
Mechelen is a small town just a few kilometres away from Brussel. And this town offers very warm and cozy feeling to those who stayed there. I was lucky that I managed to stay a night in this wonderful town. We went for dinner with our distributor in Mechelen Town Square which features food from all around Europe region. Brussel is considered the heart of Europe tradeways because people would have to cross through there in order to get to another country. So they stopped by and made this place as a meeting point. So the variety of food that we get there is large. We went for a typical restaurant which serves Belgium specialties. I ordered a grilled tarbot and it came garnished with water asparagus which can only be obtained in Belgium for the month of May~June. These asparagus isn't like what we get from the market which are thin and green, but instead, they're broad, very much like leek/sugarcane. There's another specialty that originated from Belgium, which are the fries. Belgium fries are very famous and they should be taken with sour cream/mayonaise. Indeed those that I've tried were tantalizing.
The next morning, 30th June, we drove to meet another customer to discuss on the problem he's facing with our product and perhaps come out with possible solutions to solve it. We managed to agree and set the possible solutions, so he's another happy customer from us now. Right after that, we drove back up to Rotterdam to meet another distributor for lunch. But he wasn't free and had to cancel the plan last minute. We still went to Rotterdam to have our lunch, and tour the city for a moment before we went back to Schiphol Airport to catch our flight to Milan, Italy. After checking in at the airport, I went on a shopping spree there as I wasn't sure when would be the next time I visit Amsterdam/Netherlands. So I bought a few souveniers to remind me that I've been there before and just for the sake of having something. LOL... :-P
Once we reached Milan, I checked in to the hotel nearby town. I didn't wanna waste anytime and went straight to the town centre after refreshing myself. I went directly to Piazza del Duomo, the famouse church in Milan. I believe its the 4th biggest church that can be found in Italy/Europe, and of course it is majestic. The front part of the building is currently under repair and is being covered. The galleria next to Duomo is equally impressive as well. This is where all the branded brands have their stores, and nonetheless, their prices were very impressive as well. :-P I had my dinner there in a small little pizzeria which serves traditional Italian pizza. Its quite different from what we usually get to eat in Malaysia. Perhaps its because of the ingredient they use? I went back to the hotel after walking around the area, doing some sight seeing as well as window shopping because all shops were closed by the time I reached town. Managed to memorize the locations of these shops so that I can visit them again during my next trip there. Hehe... :-P There's this building owned by Armani which is converted into Armani Casa where they sell the wide variety range of Armani clothings from its various labels. Its quite impressive as its a few storeys high. For those who wanna visit there, its situated at Via Manzoni and you won't miss it because its really grand. Kekeke... :-P
Early the next morning, 1st July, we drove to the customer's site at Brescia which is about 1.5 hours drive from Milan. Brescia is a small city right outside of Milan and its an industrial area. I spent like 2~3 hours troubleshooting the problem and finally managed to solve it. Its quite a pressure for me because our biggest distributor in Italy were there, and they're looking at me troublshooting the problem. If I didn't manage to do it, they would probably lose faith in our products. Luckily I managed to pull it through this time to save my company's ass. ;-) Its very wierd when there's 10 people looking at you while you're working and testing. I mean don't they have other things to do other then standing there and distract me from doing my work? :-P
Right after lunch with customer in Brescia, we then drove to Bergamo, another nearby town which is famous for producing wine. This customer is situated deep the mountain valley. So on the way there, I managed to see the mountains as well as yards of grapevine. And the wind were breezy and fresh. Not like those we get back in town. Spent about 30~45 minutes with this customer and managed to solved their problem. Its due to faulty connections and they weren't able to use it. From there, we drove for a few hours before reaching the hotel that I would be staying for the night. Its nearby to the airport since I have an early flight the next day. Once I reached the hotel, I refresh myself and caught the next train down to town. I did what the tourists did, walk about Milan city centre to sight see. There's just too many things to see and do in such a short time. I should visit other places the next time I'm there. Caught the last bus back to the hotel and call it a night.
Early this morning, 2nd July, I flew to Vienna via Austrian Air and transit to Kuala Lumpur. Spent 3 hours there waiting for the next flight back. Shopped till I drop because things in Vienna is slightly cheaper compared to other airports I've visited. The journey from Vienna back to Kuala Lumpur took about 11 hours and now I'm back here.
This trip is certainly an enjoyable experience for me because I get to visit 4 countries in such a short time. And the people there is very nice and friendly. Of course it might be because I'm not a local there, and they would treat me better since I'm far away from home. However, I do need some time to really get accustomed to the place there. Its difficult to accept their culture/daily lifestyle just in a short time. I would never have thought I would say this, but some of the European I met/saw while I'm there are very cute and we don't often met such people back in Asia. :-P So, for those who're into "potatoes", you would know where you should go. Especially northen Europe countries like Belgium, Austria, etc. :-P