30 December 2015

A Tale from Taiwan Trip

It's the year end and so it was time for my usual sojourn to some overseas destination. Fascinatingly, it seems many friends and colleagues also went to the same country - Taiwan! I wonder why? Did the exchange rate dropped and I didn't realise it?


Anyway, we were on the lake cruise at Sun Moon Lake on a bright sunny December day. The cruise (or ferry rather?) made two stopovers, first at a temple where the famous "cha ye tan" (tea-boiled egg) store is, then at a second stop where there are some streets with roadside food stalls and souvenir shops, before looping back to the start point.

The temple was no biggy, though it was a decent walk around and uphill somewhat. Good exercise with all the food binge in Taiwan. The egg was good! So it was worth that exercise.

On the way back for the final leg, we queued up to board the boat as the incoming passengers alighted.  The Captain was loitering along the queue line cracking jokes. As he past our group, he said, "Singapore!" Spot on. Guess our slang and twang was quite inescapable.

Then he passed by one of our party and said, "You're the most beautiful mother I've seen today!" Guess it was quite a compliment. Except, she's a young lady, barely 20 years old. We had a good laugh. He's blind or what? Either that, or it was the most crafty insult?

When the Captain found out his mistake though, he mumbled something to the effect that in that case, he shouldn't miss the chance. He went over to scribble something on a piece of paper and passed the slip to this lady. It was his Line contact. Line is popular in Taiwan.

That's the fastest pick up attempt I've seen. Girl wasn't interested, so I guess he lucked out. No can do.

But the thing is, this guy wasn't shy to test water and then plunge in quickly. Perhaps none too subtle. But he certainly seized his chance when he saw an opportunity.

Is that what entrepreneurial spirit is about?

Is that how we should invest? Test to assess, and if the condition seems good, plunge in?


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

he probably tried to use the pickup tactic called "negging", ie trying to give an insult disguised with a compliment, so that the target will subconsciously try to compensate.

Lizardo said...

Oh ho, so there is a technique involved here! Subtle. Or not.