Hi everyone. Last month I went on a study trip. Every participant has to write a story about a particular day. Here is my story. If you have any comments, please let me know.
Thursday 25th of January
Past night we had visited a karaoke bar in Macau. After a short night’s rest we had to get up at around seven o’clock. There was little time to have breakfast since we had to be in the lobby at a quarter to eight. Some of us, myself included, thought we had to gather ourselves at eight.
Leaving the hotel a bit too late we were heading for the ferry. On our way we came along the Fisherman’s Wharf. This new theme park replicates landmarks from Babylon, Miami, Lisbon, Amsterdam and other world tourist attractions like the Roman Amphitheatre.
We reached the ferry a few minutes before it was leaving. After a boat trip of an hour we were back in Hong Kong. While the ferry was docking another ferry arrived which made our boat moving heavily. The people who had stand up were hurtled through the aisle which created a funny sight.
When we had left the boat we took the metro and after a little walk we arrived at the building where Watson Wyatt has its seat. A few surprises were awaiting us here. First we were given a welcoming talk by a man who knew some Dutch words because of his Dutch hockey friends. After the welcoming word it was time for some presentations. The first presentation from Naomi Denning, Watson Wyatt’s Investment Consulting Practice Leader for Asia Pacific, was about the company Watson Wyatt itself. She spoke about the goals, the mission statement and the company vision, among other things. Then there was a presentation about insurance and the final presentation was about pension benefits. From one of these presentations we found out that Brian Wong (one of the study trip participant’s name) has been working for this company for 2.1 years. This is quite an achievement since there are a lot of qualities a person has to have before you are being hired by Watson Wyatt. Apart from being socially and quantitatively strong, you have to be fluent in both Mandarin and English. Due to these high demands they found not even one suitable new employee during their last recruitment.
After the presentations it was time for a dim sum lunch. As usual with this kind of lunch it took one and a half hour. All kinds of delicious dishes were being served. We were accompanied by some employees of Watson Wyatt. When everyone had eaten enough for two days we went back to the hotel. There we had some spare time.
At half past five we had agreed to meet at the mountain Victoria Peak. With an altitude of 552m, it is the highest mountain on the island and the 11th highest in the entire territory of Hong Kong. We used the Peak Tram, which dates from 1888, to get to the top of the mountain. Two trams move in opposite directions. There is a single track, except for the middle section where the trams pass each other. During the ride the view was limited because of trees and flats standing along the track. Anyhow the ride was quite impressive since at the track's steepest point, the cars run at an incline of 27 degrees. After ten minutes we reached the summit where we arrived in the The Peak Tower. To get to the top of the tower we had to take a couple of escalators. These were placed in such a way, that in order to get to the next escalator, you had to walk along all the shops located at that level of the building. When we finally reached the top with an altitude of about 400m, we had a 360-degree view of Hong Kong. Due to the fog/smog we didn’t have such a beautiful view as on a clear day, but still it was worth while seeing it.
Then we went back down again to the restaurant. This is where the good-bye dinner would take place. Originally this dinner was planned on the next day, but because Thomas would leave Hong Kong this night (to go back to The Netherlands), the dinner was rescheduled. Apparently the travel committee had found some extra budget because anything could be ordered. After speeches of Suzan, Thomas, professor Ridder, Brian and Gijs we could start eating. The food in this restaurant was really terrific. So was the service, even in the men’s washroom. Here we found a servant who opened the tap when you wanted to wash your hands and afterwards handed soap and towels. After the diner we went to the top of the tower one more time to make a group photo. And so a nice day came to an end.