So
I arrived in Hong Kong Sunday noon (August 2), and just as I registeredat
the hotel, I got two separate messages from Bill and Stick leaving numbers
for me to call. That same afternoon, we had made arrangements to meet after
dinner with my HK Boss so we could have our own HK Eyeball.
By the way, in this picture, BUNCHY
is supposed to be the one in stripes. The rest of the guys, BILL,
STICK, MAR and EKEY8 were supposed to decide which one of the others they
wanted to be.
Of course
I am biased... they really went out of their way to entertain me during
my stay there, and for that, I will always be grateful. Imagine,
they stayed up til 2AM Sunday even if all of them had work the following
day...
As professionals,
they do me proud because they are in a land where we are best known for
the domestic help we export. And yet each of them is a professional
in a field where they give the orders instead of taking them.
So here
they are...
BILL
He loves to clown around the room pretending
to be Bill-en... always making fun of the people he catches online.
IRL, Bill is a Senior Engineering Consultant for a professional cladding
group in Hong Kong. He speaks Cantonese fluently, having grown up
there. Don't let his childish ways fool you, because Bill can be
such a dependable friend. He flew into Manila at the spur of
the moment, and we had some time to spend with him. Next time, he
promises to give us ample time to organize a grand EB for his arrival.
STICK
Stick is one guy who has had the benefit
of meeting the ICQ people in Manila firsthand. He strikes you as
a quiet guy at first, but he has his share of laughs to give behind his
shy smile. He works as an assistant designer in the architectural
products division of a multinational firm in Hong Kong. The Gwapings
have never seen him dance, but we in Manila had the pleasure, and we sure
had fun in the EB we called specially for his arrival.
EKEY8
He's got to be the most quiet in the group,
because he said the least to me. I was told that he is also the newest
in the group, but that doesn't make him any less nicer or sweeter than
the other guys. Also an engineer by profession, he works with Mar
in the same company. Thanks for letting me use your cellphone, even
if I was threatening to call Europe.*LOL*
MAR
I only met Mar in Hong Kong and not the net,
but since we met up, we've managed to say hello and do some catching up
every time he gets the chance to, but he's one busy man. Of the Gwapings,
Mar is the only one who has a family, and he works as a Design Engineer
in Hong Kong.
BUNCHY
Of course, how can I forget the guy I've
known the longest in the group... I discovered that Bunchy is as funny
in person as he is online, and add to that the fact that he can be such
a warm and solicitious friend. I almost thought we wouldn't be able
to meet up, and the meet in HK would not have been complete without dear
Bunchy. Of the guys, he is different as he is an Architect by profession.
When Stick and Bill came home, I couldn't help but wish that Bunchy were
here with us, because he was the original guy who connected to the ICQ
Manila groups. Well one day we will have our Grand EB for Bunchy,
and that's a promise...
Going
Around HONG KONG with the &CyberGwapings
