This will be our last regular day in the office. It is a mad scramble to the finish line as we put everything together and try to make sense of what exactly it is we will present vs the materials we will provide.
We just just received the schedule on Tuesday for the presentations so we know how long we have and in what order. Basically the hope is to review exactly what you will present with your client by end of day today and then on Thursday we will only have 15 minutes per team to present to the larger teams of all the clients, some members of City Hall, and the IBM Philippines Team.
15 minutes is not a long time to present so it will have to be very concise. We have elected for Brian to give the pitch, which he has graciously agreed to do; we know he will do a great job. Besides the presentation, we will have to show all of the supporting documentation behind the recommendations and there is a lot of information to gather.
But of course through the day we have one last lunch with the staff. Ms Judith is not in the office so this is a staff production. So at 11:45 we head down...we provide the drinks, ice and desserts and they provide the food. I have prepared for this by running a quick marathon n the morning and skipping breakfast ! :-) The lunch contains some Sinigang (A sour soup/stew made with tamarind, meat, and mixed with a variety of vegetables.) some Sisig (Fried and sizzled chopped bits of pig parts) chicken, rice, noodles and some deep fried intestine!
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| gathering for pictures |
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| lunch! |
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| Making the rounds |
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| Team picture with some of our main contacts...Sallie and Amore |
After lunch more work and we make a point to meet with one of our main clients Paulo Velasco to review what we will be presenting; Judith is not available. We want no surprises for Thursday. We get the "all clear" so now all that remains will be to tie everything together; especially the supporting documentation of what we have done.
We don't get back from City Hall until 6:30 and need a break so I make a point of joining Becky for dinner since she will be leaving on Friday to meet her family in Manila. We decide on John Bamboo
since it has something for everyone. James, Waya, Becky and I head over and it was funny listening to Becky and James talking about James trying to teach Becky "the Queens English"! :-o Becky being a native Texan (though living in NYC) has taught James how to say "y'all". James has clarified that pants refers to underwear not trousers, that tea does not require actual tea but at least some biscuits or cookies in the afternoon, and pavement refers to the sidewalk. There are a number of other clarifications that have made Becky and now I much more refined as a result :-) Now to get that accent!
The language does not translate to ordering ribs at John Bamboo however. James orders the ribs and the waitress comes back to clarify what size he wants. James seems taken aback and says...."man sized"....you know.... "proper" in his fine English accent! Alrighty! Apparently in The Philippines proper is about a 2lb monster rack of ribs! Well translated!
Becky gets the crab with Waya, and I go with the first bowl of pasta I have had since I left Halifax. Ah the memories. We cut the dinner short and grab a Starbucks! Coffee has been hard to come by other then instant with powdered creamer so the SBUX is a welcome treat.
Back to the hotel and a late night as we hit the big day.
#ibmcsc philippines
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