10 - 14 September 2018
Dear Blog
I'm writing from a hotel in Hong Kong because I'm on training at the lululemon headquarters for the past 3 days and it's almost time to go home.
This has been the longest I've been alone travelling so far. It's scary, yet liberating.
My days here usually look a little like this...
I'd do a stroll around the vicinity to get a bite from local bakeries. I find new stores and buns (pineapple-pork buns in specific) to try every day. On my first day, I decided to put my walking shoes on 2 hours before heading to the office just so I could explore the neighbourhood. I find this such a good habit when you're travelling alone. It helps you orientate and get your bearings whenever Google Maps fail on you.
Side note: My most interesting and affordable breakfast find was this packet of Mochi Bread (S$1 for 3 buns). It's from the local convenience store called K mart?? The bun is empty inside but very milky and chewy. I literally dabaoed 9 of them back to SG.
I'm staying near Fortress Hill MTR. That means there's lots of good local food here! As my new found local friends and I strolled around the blocks, they introduced me to places that are uniquely Hongkong. I had to snap photos of the stores just because my Cantonese isn't the best (good thinking, manda).
Thankfully, midday lunches are usually navigated to by my Culture Core peeps. My local friends brought me around and thankfully helped to translate the menus. Cha Can Ting food is the best kinda food, literally - buttery toast and scrambled eggs yummm.
Speaking of Culture Core - what is it? It's the main reason I'm in Hong Kong. Culture Core is the heart of lululemon. It's the brand's values, how we do things, what we believe in... it's basically orientation ;)
I'm part of what they call the Store Support Centre and because we don't have an office in Singapore, I have to travel to HK to be enrolled.
Fun Fact: the team in SG works purely from home/cafes/the stores.
I've learnt so much about Mindful Communication, Intentional Listening, Diversity and Inclusion, etc. It's a really long course, and I think I've been through it a total of 3 times in the past 3 weeks, but it aligns everyone's expectations and way of doing things, which is great.
One thing I absolutely love about the past 3 days is the fact that we weren't set up in the usual meeting room with tables and chairs. Rather, we were seated on the floor with big pillows and cushions. This was us during our product orientation session where we got to try and feel all the different fabrics.
Fun fact: lululemon has a pair of famous tights called the Align Pant and you feel naked wearing them!
Just today, we did a "Vision and Goals" visualization exercise to help us find out what we'd like to achieve in the next 1 year or so (side note: I even ended up doing it with the boyfriend after I got back!!)
We took a Mindful Walk around Victoria Park too. A Mindful Walk is a walk that everyone keeps silent and, as the term says, be really still and mindful of your surroundings.
I'm usually pretty pooped out at the end of the day because we always try to "sweat once a day". On the first day, we did yoga. Second day, I hit the gym at the beautiful hotel Fel set me up in - Harbour Grand Hong Kong.
As the name says it, it's really pretty darn grand (lol). My room overlooks the beautiful cityscape and the gym (sorry no photo) overlooks the infinity pool.
On other days that I feel more adventurous, I'd go out to explore more food recommendations!! Surprise surprise.
These baos have Michelin stars. No, literally. They're about SGD $2 each - no ragrats. Although...
Beware because they squirt juice out. I was smelling truffle the whole night after.
These couple of days have been nothing but magical and very fulfilling.
That's all from me for my Hong Kong adventure!! More to come - hopefully.
It was nice to hear about your experience and good to see that you enjoyed it. Wish I could be there, after all yoga, gym and Lululemon are all my favourite things. Some of my friends from my yoga class are also suggesting me to try out beyond yoga leggings and tops, so I’ll be ordering those soon.
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