A place to breathe….

I had lunch with Sanna yesterday at the Swiss restaurant at the airport. I’ve first met her in Singapore when I attended the training and she was the facilitator, only one year older than me I already find the big difference in our personality. I first find her very cold but recently we started having lunch together and recently we spent the whole sunday together.

It’s so nice to find somebody who also lives alone and who also came from our local office. We started talking about things that we do and things that we want to do. Recently she let me borrow one whole collection of DVDs. No more French movies for me recently because I have a whole set of DVDs to watch.

During lunch yesterday we talked about our soon to have vacations. She’s leaving next week to go back to Finland and then might go to Miami after. And then I said I’m having my vacation in September in Singapore and then to Boracay. And then I told her that I’m fixing my Schengen visa to go to Paris and Milan. She said she has been in Paris 2 months ago. I asked if it’s with the boyfriend and she said no but with one of our office mates. And then I asked her if she has been into Milan and she said no. And then that’s how our plan to go to Milan was made.

during her vacation I will be fixing my visa so when she comes back we will be heading for a day trip to Milan. yes only a day trip, it’s not so far from Switzerland. We will take the first train in the morning and hop in the last one at night. And then I received an email from Rosmini of Singapore this morning. She said she’s coming to Geneva mid August so I asked her if she wants to go to Milan and yes she will love to.

So Milan wait for us in Mid August with new found friends…

What a great week My boss from Manila arrived in Geneva airport on July 2. It was a nice feeling to see that familiar face going out of the exit door of the arrival area. I went with her to her hotel for check-in and then we’ve met our colleagues from Singapore at the Gare Station.
 

We had lunch at Boky, they keep on protesting to have a Chinese lunch but I wouldn’t let them persuade me because I missed Filipino food so much and Chinese food is the closest to it’s taste so they have no choice but to follow where I want to eat. It was a great day. I missed my archie, my family and friends in manila so much and spending the afternoon with colleagues from Manila and Singapore made me feel home again.

After lunch we went to the lake and had some ice cream and took some pictures. After that they went to my apartment to check out the place and they liked it.
 

Then it’s time for Rosmini and Ms. Del to leave so Sanna, Daynia, Mandy and I headed to the Old Town. In Europe you need good shoes to go around because it requires a lot of walking especially if you do not have any idea on how the bus works here. So to give our friends the taste of Europe we walk all the way to St. Pierre Cathedral. I’ve been in the Cathedral before but it was nice to go back because the picture that I took before doesn’t include me so now is my chance to have the cathedral at my background. The interior of the cathedral is so nice and then Sanna asked us if we want to go to the tower, I asked what tower? I didn’t know that we can enter the tower of the cathedral so with 4 Francs courtesy of Mandy we started climbing the steep stairs of the tower.
   

Wow it was so high and the stairs are really really steep and we were really panting when we reached the tower. I needed water to stabilize my breathing, thanks Sanna for the water. The place is magnificent. You will see the whole lake from the tower and it’s such a nice view. The wind was so cool and with the company of new found friends it was such a nice time up there. Then it’s time to go down. It was a lot easier.

We stroll down and decided to have a drink in of the restaurants at the old town. We spent almost two hours talking about our work, life in Geneva and some other things. It’s nice to get to know them. Time to go to church so I have to cut short our nice conversation.

After church I saw Sunil, Razeeb and Azhar in the train station and they are just country managers from India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Wow what a rare opportunity to know them up close and personal. Sunil is my favorite guy in IATA. He is very nice, a true gentleman and makes really funny jokes. He might be the age of my father or a little younger. I rode the train with them going back to Movenpick hotel. I’m having dinner with my boss. When we reached the hotel my boss is already having dinner with just no other than our regional director. Another wow. I’ve met him several times but never had the chance to have a chat with him nor I will dare to have small talks with him but now I’m actually having dinner with him. It was a nice chat. He asked me how’s work, how’s the move to Europe, do I miss home, do I want to go back to manila and a lot of other questions. It was a good chance to sell yourself in a very informal way. Time to go home to my apartment.

The whole week was great. I bumped into them almost everywhere. We had breakfast and dinner together. It’s nice to have familiar faces again all the time. Then Friday came it was time to say goodbye. I really felt sad. It seems like I’m leaving home again….