Milano - first impression

I was looking forward to this trip since I booked the tickets a few days ago. Did some reading on the plane about the history of Milan, it seems it has been ruled by Gaules, Lombardis, Romans, Barbarians, Spanish and Austrians among a few others, quite intriguing really. As it boasts as the Economic centre of Italy, before I came to Milan, I had in my mind a rather industrial city featured by shiny high rise buildings and wide roads packed with cars. But it is also completely opposite. During the taxi ride to the hotel from Cadorna, I noticed most old buildings we passed by and narrow streets in between traditional Italian style buildings with wooden shutters and small balconies with delicate iron fences. It was 6:30 in the afternoon and it was very sunny and warm, I came out of the hotel, the first thing I noticed is that the famous cathedral Duomo is just five minutes away. Following the big spire at the top of the cathedral, I came to a nice square with fountains in the middle, and there are roses blooming lovely in the sun. The season for roses are apparently a bit early in Italy than UK.
The Duomo cathedral is magnificent, just as you would expect for a historical place like this. The stones have been cleaned up on the front but they are still doing some work in the back. I had a stroll in the wide square in front of it, enjoying the scenary in the late afternoon sun, it definitely feels warmer than UK. There is a Galleria of posh shops and cafes on the side.
When my colleague from Sweden arrived, we came out to have dinner in a restaurant near the cathedral. This must be one of the most touristy places in Milan, as this is certainly reflected in the prices for wine. A glass of wine costs between 10 to 15 EUR, that is nearly twice as much for a restaurant like this in London. The food was average, but weather and atmosphere makes up for it.
Our office is located in central Milan where the financial district is. Nice location with stock exchange in the back, this must be where the money is. A good meeting, started a big difficult, but we overcame our differences and reached good conclusions on the way forward. Looks like I will be here for a few more times this summer.

Life in Scandinavian style

I am back in Sweden this week, after a quiet time with no travel at all for four months, I found myself looking forward to this trip. OK, I know it is only a work related short trip, but I felt there is a voice yelling from deep down - let me go and see the world again. So against all the odds and right after heathrow was reopened on Monday morning, I got on a flight to Copenhagen.

And I have to say, so far I have enjoyed every minute of the time I have spent here since I arrived. Yesterday, on the train crossing the north sea from Denmark to Sweden, I gazed at the big white wind turbines line up like proud wedding brides across the shimmering dark blue water, it was quite beautiful. The late spring in Scandinavia is an understated beauty, wild yellow flowers dotted on the green grass across the countryside with humble farm style houses. There is nothing flashy, yet it is so peaceful and pleasant for the eyes that you can't help admiring it.

By four O'clcok, the office was nearl empty except a few hard working managers still churning out emails and talking on the phone. I got back in the hotel at 6:30 and decide to talk a walk in the little village behind the hotel. It is a lovely neighbourhood, featured by houses with quite large gardens (seem very large to me compared with my two metre wide garden in London). I noticed there are bicyles and kids toys lying around outside the house, apparently a very low crime area. The smells of the cherry blossoms and fresh grass is truly invigorating, I feel refreshed and happy. In the little playground, I got on one of the swings and enjoyed a little childhood fun. I start to think the scandinavian value is quite a good one, it is a welfare state, people are fairly relaxed and there is a very good work life balance. Ok, maybe they don't produce as much as the Koreans and Chinese, but they enjoy a better and happier life (except the weather) in a lot of ways. Overworking is a big problem in our modern society, we certainly work much harder than our parents generation and we might have more gadgets and things, but this does not make us happier. Then I thought of the company I work for, what is a strange culture mixture, the Japanese and Swedish, they are almost like completely different species. It is almost a mirachle we still work togther.

Then I had a nice dinner in the hotel, pork belly for main course, it was very well cooked probably one of the best pork belly I ever had. I enjoyed a glass of white wine while looking out of the window, still very light even it is nearly eight O'clock. There are a few cherry trees in the back yard, the thick blossoms make the branches look a bit overloaded, swaying gently in the evening wind, while the sun casting a shadow on the grass.

Life in a Scandinavian spring is good.

The hill overlooking the sea

This is my first attempt to write a short story in the last twenty years, the last attempt failed miserably after just one chapter, but twenty years is a long time, I think it is better to try now instead of waiting for another twenty years.

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The city life is in full swing. Cars are moving steadily along the third ring road, this is just past the morning rush hour, so they seem to be moving at a reasonable pace. She just finished the breakfast and is gazing out of the window from her 20th floor apartment. It is early spring and hasn't rained for weeks, the sky looks greyish, casting a thin layer of smog in the air. She is getting mentally ready for the busy day ahead of her. She has been back in Beijing for only three months, but certainly it feels like her home again. One day this city is going to be the capital of the world, she thought to herself. In front of her, the shiny high rise office towers and hotels dominate the skyline. There is a communal garden in front of her building but the grass seems to be in a permanent state of thirst for water. For a minute, she misses her home in London. This mega city is more exciting and modern than London in a lot of ways, but it is certainly not as green as London. Or maybe the grass is always greener on the other side of the world.

It is her big day today, as the new CFO of Softech, she will give quarterly financial update of the company to the board of the directors. She has had occasional email inquiries from them, but as she only formally took over the CFO position a month ago, she has not got any tough questions so far. Anyway, the company is in good financial form with another strong quarterly result.

I think I am as well as prepared as I could be really, she thought, flipping through the notes for the presentation. She met most of the board members during the interview four months ago, they don't seem to be particularly demanding so she is not too worried about today's presentation. However, there is one particular person she feels a bit uneasy to meet today,

Peng Hao was the name that jumped out of her computer screen when she first saw the names of all the board members two months ago. Could it be him? The classmate from her high school. That would be a very unusual coincidence, and very unusual indeed that they would meet in this occasion again after twenty something years.

There are some distant but very nice memories from the days in high school. The self-indulgent innocent days. She remembers those long and quiet afternoons she spent in the school library and her mind and emotions were occupied by the stories and characters from the books. They were both very fond of writing and dubbed by their proud Chinese teacher as the most talented writers in the class. They became friends when they started a school literature magazine together. She can't remember how they started it, but they soon became the co-editors of this little establishment. They both wrote journals as well, and eagerly shared with each the new inspirations for writing. Saturday afternoon was the time they met to discuss their magazine. The campus was usually quiet and they would be looking through together the articles they received. She remembered those sunny afternoons, she would occasionally rest her eyes by gazing out of window, looking at the shadows of the trees and hoping time could just freeze at this moment..she was very very happy with this moment offered her

The ringing of her mobile brings her back from the old memories. It was her driver, calling to say he is downstairs to pick her up to the meeting. She takes a minute to gather her thoughts and carefully put the notes folder into her bag and head off to the elevator.



The meeting has formally started with CEO giving a business update to the board. She feels slightly distracted after the greeting session. The management team each shook hands with the board members, most of them already knew each other. she was introduced to the board members she didn't meet before. And there was him, extending his hands to her, "Peng Hao, nice to meet you." He still looks slim, although definitely a much more mature figure compared with the one from her memory. she thought, I guess time has marched on and we both aged. Their eyes met for a brief moment and then both looked away quickly. It is probably not the best time to acknowledge your old acquaintances.


She cruises through her presentation without too many interruptions from the audience. They seem to be pleased to see yet another strong quarter and the management's ambitious plan to expand internationally. She tries to avoid looking at him directly, but as he is sitting across the table it proves almost impossible. "Any more questions or comments?" She asks, feeling almost relieved that the most challenging part of the day is almost over.

"Yes, I am wondering if you could tell us of your assessment of the latest allegation of patent infringement, what is the financial impact on company's cash flow situation and planned listing in Hong Kong stock exchange". Peng Hao says, looking directly into her eyes.

She is a bit taken back by the sharp question from him, but regained her posture quickly. "I have spoken to our legal team and according to them we have a good chance to settle this at a reasonable price by the end of next quarter. Obviously our PR team has been working very hard to eliminate the negative press from this. But as you know, in this industry we all have to battle against these litigation issues all the time, but we are confident with our growing patent portfolio, we are still very attractive to our investors. The payment will have an impact on the second half cash situation, but we have secured potential funding from the bank. Overall I think this kind of one time event will have limited impact on the investor confidence."

'That is good to hear, thank you." Peng hao says approvingly with a smile on his face.

Dinner was set in the restaurant called "South Beauty", this is a top end Sichuan restaurant catering mostly business customers. They have set up branches in half of the office towers in Beijing so you can feel their dominant role in this niche market. He is sitting at the far end of the table so they didn't get a chance to talk much. Everybody was a bit weary after the back to back meetings. One of the board members asked her, "so I heard you lived in London for many years, is Beijing your home town and how do you like it being back?" She thought about it for a second, knowing the part of the question is tricky to answer. "Yes, I grew up in Beijing, to be precise in the west suburbs. I have really enjoyed being back, I think Beijing these days is a more dynamic city compared with London." She stopped, downing a bit wine and searching for words to continue.



It is nearly five o'clock now, she is looking out to the pavement anxiously. She has been feeling mixed about this meeting ever since she got the call from him two weeks ago. That was about three weeks after the board meeting, she got a call from him one day, completely out of blue.
"It was good to see you at the board meeting" he said on the phone, quite business like.
"Yes, same here." She said, not sure if she should mention the question he asked at the meeting.
"Do you remember our high school in Chang Ling? It has been completely rebuilt a few years ago and the town changed a lot as well. I thought you might be interested in having a look around there sometime? You will be surprised."
She can feel there was a long pause on the other end of the line, then he continued,
"unless you are not interested since you are British now."
She can feel there is a tiny sarcastic tone in his voice.
"Yes, of course I am interested, it's been such long time, I guess I was just a bit overwhelmed. Anyway, do you have a time in mind?"
"I am planning to visit my uncle in two weeks who lives not far from there, shall we say five o'clock on the Thursday 18th? We can meet at the upper island cafe near the chang Ling train station."

She arrived a bit early by the train. She decided it is best that she didn't come with the driver as she finds they tend to be a bit nosy about their boss's private life. She had a stroll in the street behind the school where she used to come with her classmates for a cheap lunch. There used to a cluster of one story small stores and restaurants on one side of the market street, but those shabby stores and restaurants have disappeared, replaced by some smart super market, Mcdonald, KFC and coffee shops. She remembers this little restaurant run by a couple and she and her classmates used to come for a noodle dish, it was about 24 cents. It was a simple dish with some fresh vegetables and not much meat. Apparently those cheap and cheerful meals are not on offer anymore. She felt little sad and nostalgic, long gone those days when simple things could make you happy. She looked around, the sky just turned a bit dark and started to drizzle. She decided to come in the upper island cafe while waiting for him.

Shortly after she got a coffee and sat down at the table by the window, she saw a black BMW pulling up on the street outside the coffee shop. She knows it is probably him. he greets her, "I hope you haven't been here for long, a bit traffic jam on the way here."
"No, I got here a bit early and had a quick stroll in town."
"It looks quite different now, isn't? I gather you haven't been back for a long time?" He looks at her with a inquisitive smile.
"Well, actually I haven't been back since we graduated from high school. We moved to Hai Dian district when I started University."
"so when did you move to England?"
"About twelve years ago, it feels like a long time. How about you? How have you been?"
"Me, not as adventurous as you are. I have always been in Beijing since I graduated from University."
"You know, I think you are lucky to go to University in Dalian, it is a beautiful coastal town."
"Oh, yes - the summer there is very beautiful, you had first hand experience - I was not the best host though." He said, referring to her trip there when he was studying in Dalian.
She is surprised he mentioned that summer, not sure what to say, she smiles, looking at him. He has a few fine lines around eyes, but cheek bones and sharp jaw still shape his face in a very unique way. She also notices his hair is thinning out in the middle. He caught her eyes, "you haven't changed much, the English weather is gentle to women apparently."
She feels a bit blushing, "Do you want to show me the new school you told me about?"

To be continued...