This was the trip that excited me the most. It was the first business trip that my company confirmed with me with proper notice. I was informed as early as May, unlike other trips when I only have two days to prepare. Also, this was a good trip because I wouldn’t be coming with any superior. I would be coming with a fellow marketing executive, same position as mine, who happens to be the closest to me in the office. She’s almost the same age as my mother, but she’s still youthful and she always thinks that she’s my foster mom in hk. And that means I don’t have to worry round the clock! And I can always trust that someone is out to save my ass without having to give me a one hour lecture afterwards.
I don’t want to write another 14 chapter chronicle (let’s make it 13 then, hehe) regarding this trip, but I can give you some observations that I’ve had in Moscow:
1. Russians are sooo beautiful. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have never seen an ugly person in my one week stay in Moscow. Everybody seemed clean and neat. They are fashionable, too, but not the overly fancy type as in some HKers.
2. All girls/ladies/women wear stockings. I never saw bare legs. Even if they’re wearing ¾ pants, they still wear stockings. Now that’s what you call sophisticated.
3. 98% of the ladies wear heels. And not just a few inches. I’m talking about stilettos here – while shopping, while walking the fair, while doing groceries. And this includes grannies! Haha, they aren’t afraid of rheumatism or osteoporosis at such ripe age.
4. Most of the Russian ladies are so slim! And I wasn’t too surprised! Their meals are generally of small servings! As in! The uber expensive rice wasn’t sticky at all, not to mention very little! It’s not even my standard of half rice!
5. I can never live there. Well apart from the cold weather on a summer season (as low as 6 degrees when it’s supposed to be summer), loud talking is so prohibited. They are annoyed by loud talkers, and they are whispering most of the time. For a scandalous little girl like me, I’ll be jailed at a nanosecond notice.
6. You have to be rich to get by in Moscow. It surpassed New York by being the city with the most number of billionaires, and commoners are usually affected. The price for the food is really skyrocketing.
7. Their hotels are the least ideal you’ll ever find. We stayed in a 4 star (some guide books call it 5), and the space is so small, that my hk single bed is even much more spacious. They aren’t aware of kettles, and they don’t have robes, slippers or any hotel luxury for that matter.
8. Their trains are the noisiest ever. I remember the trains operated by Dagny’s family in Atlas Shrugged, and they really gave me the creeps whenever we rode the metros. I was a bit nervous that we it will just stop and leave us underground to rot. Hehe, I should be paranoid with this paranoia.
9. Traffic was so bad that I sometimes confused myself if I was in Manila or in Moscow.
10. Most of them cannot speak English. But they're beautiful nevertheless.
11. The Red Square is the answer to my childhood fairy tale dream! When I was little, I pictured myself in a princess costume with this structure as my palace. Very colorful, eh? It’s just perfect. Perfect. Then I found out it’s a basilica. Hehe. But I’m still dreaming to live in a place like this some day. It really gives you a very good blissful personal feeling.
12. Russians are generally good people. I hope their government could be more democratic very soon so their people can see more of the world.
