Let Me Help You With the Big Picture
In Asia many companies have an annual trip to reward employees for their hard work. Not all of these trips are created equal, this one being grander than most due to the Boss, a hard drinking bon vivant originally from China, now transplanted in Australia. This is the same Boss whose bus of a Mercedes I tool around Singapore in. The Boss, seated on the front left of this photo, does everything in a big way. His aim, from what I can tell, was two-fold: for us to enjoy as much expensive food and pricey sake as possible while draining from the Frenchies a maximum of Euros. You see, this was an all expenses paid trip a la my former French company. Every bite and sip tasted the better for it. All I packed were my fancy Paris sweaters and an appetite.
The deal came with a set itinerary: a tour bus helmed by two guides who shuttled us between lows (a visit to a bear zoo) and highs (a soba making class.) Every few hours we'd eat a ridiculously over the top meal and knock back fistfuls of sake. During meals, I was given the role of "left-hand" while another colleague's husband became the "right hand." We were sat on either side of the Boss and served as first barriers against the wave of toasts to come. Boss: "Whose birthday is it?" Colleague: "I had a birthday last month!" Boss: "Ok, everybody, everybody.... Let's toast to so-and-so's birthday!!" We, being the left hand and right hand, always had to empty our glasses while others probably got away with a sip here and there. Wash, rinse, repeat. Long live the Boss!
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