Stories from a year of living, working, and learning in Shanghai
PROFILES Lessons from work and play
A DIFFERENT LOOK AT ADVERTISING Adeline Chia Internship Company: Carat China I did my internship in Carat China, a media and marketing communications company under Aegis Media. I was assigned to the Digital Department where I work on social media advertising. It was a rather difficult start to the job familiarizing myself with all the different social media platforms in China such as Sina Weibo, WeChat and Douban etc. I had to read through the posts and find out the types of content and advertising styles that will appeal to the locals in China. I found myself stuck so many times on the different sites, overwhelmed by Chinese characters and internet language in China that I could not comprehend. Thankfully, my colleagues were extremely helpful in this area, explaining the common online phrases that the locals love to use in China so I did not take too long to get over this phase! My workplace is full of interesting characters. Just to name a few, we have a superb designer who always produces work that fascinates the clients, a 省钱王who specializes in collection of big data and statistics (he knows exactly where to get all the best online deals and is a number one when it comes to 秒杀 on the e-commerce sites) and an extremely witty boss who can come out with impressive ideas on the spot during client meetings. Over the course of almost seven and a half months, I bagged so many valuable experiences at work. I would not dare to say that I am good at planning campaigns because the online environment is ever-changing, the unison of internet users can be scary at times. However, I can say that I definitely look at advertising in a different light now. Among the many advertisements I have come across so far, my favorite advertisement comes from Coca-Cola. I like Coca-Cola’s consistency in their advertisements globally, simple but close to heart, all the time. To me, it had captured the essence of advertising. Many advertisements had been too profit-focused and in the process, many brands forgot to convey the message behind their products to the consumers. Coca-Cola is different, in all of its advertisements; you will always be able to clearly vision the message behind its product and that is to share happiness. Perhaps this is the reason why I am addicted to the drink; it always makes me feel that I can share that bottle of happiness with someone. Are you starting to watch Coca-Cola’s ads? Glossary
省钱王: Super-saver 秒杀: Snatched up within seconds
THINKING ABOUT DAISIES AND STARS Cynthia Lee Internship Company: Strip and Browhaus When first given the task of compiling the internship column of this magazine, I expect many articles to be on about work, so I thought maybe I would weave up my entire experience in Shanghai, of work and life. Many of you reading this may have already heard of Strip & Browhaus, a rather well known beauty brand among the many sophisticated ladies living in Singapore. A place for a Brazilian wax prior to a beach visit and a place where office ladies come and go in a jiffy after shaping their brows. What was rather interesting was that actually there are a myriad of familiar brands that we always frequent that are under the same company as Strip & Browhaus; Tiong Bahru Bakery (kudos to squid ink sandwich^^), Skinny Pizza, Forty Hands and Tippling Club…that even I myself did not know about then when I first joined the company. Yes, I managed to clinch an internship in their Shanghai venture. Unfortunately, much to my disappointment there’s no Tiong Bahru Bakery in Shanghai. Nonetheless I was really thrilled to be able to join Strip & Browhaus as a marketing and operations intern, picturing myself to be able to take part in the makings of their vibrant graphic images, immerse in their creative brand concept and being a step ahead taking part in this futuristic way of life with zero hair on my body! To sum up what I do at work would not be any different from anyone who had experienced the working life. Work is work, we handle projects, we do ads, we meet clients, we take stocks, we inspect outlets and we monitor various social media platforms (weibo, weixin, website). Amidst all the work, I had the privileges of enjoying small perks of being in such a fascinating company; I did waxing, IPL, brow shaping, face threading and even being a Lash in Bloom model for our newsletters. What’s most rewarding is that the company only consists of my boss and 4 colleagues, we bonded and even traveled to Philippines together and that shows how much fun I had being an intern here. As an intern, I need to accept the fact that tasks will only be passed on to you only if you gained trust of others and if you screw up, be prepared to put in double the effort to rectify the mistake and then build up the trust from scratch again. It was a never-ending process but till the end of my internship, my daily tasks and projects increased exponentially and so do my stress level but then again, one cannot do without the other to achieve greater satisfaction and knowledge. At the end, I’m proud to say that I am part of the team that helped to support the brand, creating the environment for every customer to sense the quirkiness, minimalism and fun essence of our brand. I’ve learnt lessons that school cannot provide through faults and falls I’ve been through at work, skills of meticulousness, styles of communication and the domino effect that every single action and decision affects everybody in this “ecosystem” that we are in. I’ve learnt lessons about myself through the faults I possess, the realization of how ignorant I am about the world and the infinite number of things I do not know. I spent more time this year than I had in my life proactively learning new things, from the net, friends, people and colleagues, constantly observing what I can learn from anybody because not one individual have nothing for you to learn from. My NOC experience allowed me to do, reflect and think a lot, about absolutely everything and anything, alone. I enjoyed how it is like being on my own and independent, away from where comfort is, away from being able to share your troubles and thoughts to anybody anytime. A quotidian life I would say, of self-discovery, growth and much thinking about daisies and stars. “Nobody can tell you what you cannot do.”
AFTER HOURS Life in Shanghai and China
I LEFT MY HEART AT THE MALDIVES
Shanghai to Singapore, Singapore to Male. Having stepped foot on our home ground even for that few hours made me truly happy while travelling on this work trip.
Words and Pictures by Adeline Chia
After one and a half days of flight and 20 minutes of speedboat ride, I found myself at Club Med Kani. With our unwashed faces and tired eyes, work began immediately and lasted throughout the whole journey with short pockets of time for rest and play in between. The beauty of Maldives was a sight to behold, a great piece of work by Mother Nature. With only a few natural colours, this place was able to captivate the hearts of many.
Maldives is a country made of more than 200 islands and Club Med Kani was one of them. It was a special place, special because of the people and their stories. The magnificent view was a bonus. The almost non-existent Wi-Fi might have frustrated me but thinking back, I am really thankful for the time I get to spend away from all the technology in my life. Imagine if the Wi-Fi was working perfectly, I’d never be able to hear these stories. I’d never have known happiness to be this simple and how easy it is to pass it on to someone else. You know they always say find happiness in all the little things you do, yet we often forget about it so readily, not knowing how to be contented. Over here, wealth and fame were out of the picture, only happiness matters. I could
only say it is a life that many city dwellers will envy but do not have the courage to go after. This journey had taught me so much, in ways big and small. I remember telling myself, every journey onward from here, I will start to talk to people more and listen to their stories because every story is motivating in its own way. Each of these stories will form a piece of my own to tell and when I do, I know it can inspire the next listener.
BREAD BUSTERS A celebration of gluttony and the warmth and comfort that only freshly-baked bread can give us. Words by Adeline Chia | Pictures by Adeline Chia and Cynthia Lee One thing I love most about NOCSH20 is that the girls can really eat! We do complain of weight gain, fat thighs, and bulging tummies and all but honestly place some food in front of us and poof, it will be gone. Among the never-ending list of food that we love, most of us shared a common interest in one—bread. On our own, we would always head to different bakeries that we like and share those yummy ones with each other. During one of the days in the winter period, I remember that we were heading to Curves to workout but were way too early so Yuxin, Cynthia and I headed to a nearby bakery for their bread. Cynthia and I are mega bread lovers. The idea struck me somehow that “Wouldn’t it be nice if I know where all the delicious bread and pastries are on a single platform?” I randomly made a suggestion to Cynthia and soon after a notification came in on the phone— “Instagram: Breadbusters wants to follow you.” The work of Cynthia, and that was how it all started. We began to review bread through the Breadbusters account on Instagram, sharing the types of bread to go for at different bakeries and cafes. Sometimes, we sneaked in posts on other pastries such as lemon tart and cakes. It is progressing rather slowly but we enjoyed all the tasting and reviewing. I like how our love for bread conquers all because each time we just cannot resist the urge to walk into the bakery to make a purchase. Join us on Breadbusters and let us share with you the happiness we find with every taste of bread.