Sweetest Upgrade!

The day wasn't smooth at all. I've come to realize working away from the team is extremely inefficient. Despite what technology can do for us, we still need to see the face in order to work closely together. The tone can be interpreted many different ways and, more often than not, does not represent what the speaker intended.

Back to my story. I'm working inefficiently from Hong Kong with my team in Shanghai. Eventually, did get things done and rushed to the airport. I knew I mis-timed it and so I missed my flight. The next one was an hour and a half later. I got off the stand by list and cursed myself for timing everything so tight.

Naturally, when I landed, I realized that I didn't have enough Taiwanese dollars to take the cab to the hotel! There was an ATM at the airport... except that it didn't work with my card. Both machines at both ends of the terminal didn't spit out cash. At least I got a good work out walking from one end to the other (most consultants work out by running from the terminal entrance to the gate area).

Oh well... I got on the cab (By the way, the Taipei airport cab line is very difficult to figure out. Some sort of union has some sort of rules for some sort of drivers and destinations. I'm still figuring... yet I digress) and asked the driver to get me to an ATM in Taipei so I can pay him afterwards.

By the time I got to the Grand Hyatt, it was almost 11pm. The following conversation took place...

Receptionist: Mr. Lam, our hotel is full. Would you mind being upgraded to the diplomatic suite?
Lam: Of course... as long as I don't have to pay for it!
Receptionist (without prompt): You may never want to live in our regular rooms any more...

Well then. Without further ado:

The study

The living room

The living room 2

The kitchen

The bedroom

The bathroom (steam room and jacuzzi)

Unfortunately, one of the most important invention in human history still looks that same as the regular peasants... so I won't honor it with a picture.

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It's the toilet, man... what did you think it was? While you're at it... imagine this world without toilets!? I think it's slightly worse than "world without TV remotes."

Oh... while you are wondering how long this post is going to be... no worries. I feel obliged to tell you what goes on in a diplomatic suite, which, by the way, is only about USD1000 a night. Yup, it's one of those weird things you do: you get something nice and you want to measure it in dollars, even though it came to you free of charge. Why are we so materialistic!?

When I woke up the next day to ponder my good fortunes, I noticed that a bottle of whiskey is opened already. While I didn't pay much attention to it during the day, it immediately came to my attention at night... hmm... maybe it's complimentary. Thanks to my colleagues who have flocked over, I placed a call to the front desk:

Lam: Hi... I noticed an opened whiskey bottle in the room...
Front desk: Oh, I'm sorry. We'll get a new one for you right away.
Lam (like a child who just did something wrong): Um... so we can drink from the open bottle, right?
Front desk: We'll send someone up right away.

(5 minutes later)
Someone: Don't worry, sir, you can still drink from the open bottle. They don't go bad.
(Well, that's not why I called...)
Lam: So... all this (pointing to racks of liquor) is... free?
Someone: Yes, sir.

Woohoo. We drank away. I know I know, I sound like an immature child given a new toy. Then again, I feel like you need to know these things... including the sweet sound system in the room: two awesome B&O system (one in the living room and another in the bathroom). Made me want to get them... badly.

Okay, enough with the high life. I feel dirty.