All right. I’m finally back online after a one week plus hiatus.

It’s mainly because my home PC has been severely infected. All the icons on my desktop are un-usable.

I’ve gotten too dependent on office access, which is why I didn’t bother to upgrade the desktop at home. I’m kinda deliberating whether to get a PC or laptop. Still thinking. But one thing is for sure- Bye bye dial-up! Broadband, here I come!

In the meantime, I’m off to Genting! The 4th Global Chinese Music Awards was just held in Taiwan in September, and publicity for the 5th Awards Ceremony is going to kick off this week. I’ll be flying to Genting with my boss this Thursday for a meeting, followed by a press conference and a concert.

The government has touched on the importance of Mandarin and business in China. I can really relate to that. I thought my command of the language was pretty ok and I couldn’t have anticipated the mounting pressure when I had to communicate with counterparts from Mainland China and Taiwan. Whoa! Damn stressed man!

It’s a breeze presenting facts and figures, but when small talk time happens, I’ve got to spend at least three seconds deciphering what they actually mean, and probably another three seconds thinking of a proper response.

This Global Chart assignment has helped me a great deal. I used to spend almost 40 minutes composing an email in Chinese. And now I take 10! (The mail goes out to DJs and heads of foreign stations so it has to be error free.)

I’ll double up as a roving reporter and file back audio and print reports.