Yamato

There is one memorable visit to a factory I had last week. They had told me to have dinner together which I agreed. Now this is a super big factory, super as in super-duper super factory. When meeting was over they drove me to a building in the center of the factory area this building looks luxurious even from the outside resembling a very big villa. 

 

This is how it look upon entering

 

Inside are dining rooms, at at the back a very nice Chinese garden and places for drinking tea, water features, large luxurious meeting rooms etc. Basically its like a club or recreational building for the factory.

Before dinner was served we first had this Chinese wine

 

Was first served in your personal jar 

 

The you pour it into your own glass

 

Finally dinner was served

 

Egg fried with some sort of tea leaves really exquisite 

 

Braised pork

 

Prawn and celery

 

This is a delicacy found in this province only known as knife fish a rare and expensive fish one fish per person.

 

Pigeon

 

Stir fry vegetables with garlic

 

The spread

 

Then come the river puffer fish, like its Japanese cousin has to be prepared by professionals as a part of the body has poison.

 

The skin of the puffer fish is rough like sand paper so you have to position the skin such that the smoother inside is facing out while the rough side is inside so it will not rub against inside of mouth

 

This comes in a pair looks like tofu is actually found only in the male puffer fish containing the sperm of puffer fish basically its like the testicles of a mammal aiso known as milt. This is also seasonal extra big like this during mating season. Supposed to be very expensive and rare.

 

Abalone with broccoli

 

 

I asked why you have a "restaurant" in your factory with professional chefs that answer was sometime its not convenient for "some customer" to be seen dining outside restaurants. I assume he meant officials.

It was a great meal I must say

Finally arrived in Danyang hotel at 8.30pm, was late and tired

 

 

 

Nothing to eat in the hotel anymore luckily I brought my own Mama Tomyam instant noodle

 

 

Next morning breakfast in the hotel

 

 

Nice noodles

 

and porridge

 

Upon arrival in Hongqiao Airport I had to rush to the Hongqiao Train Station which is a 15 minutes walk to the station.

 

Hongqiao Station

 

Arrival of train

 

 

Business class train

 

 

Snacks

 

To Danyang

 

So after that lucnch on the 6th day it was rushing to Danyang. First transport was a flight from Ji'an airport to Shanghai's Hongqiao airport

 

 

 

 

My flight to Shanghai

 

Seats

 

Was only a short flight

 

 

 

 

Today is Sunday and I have been here for 16 days, traveled through 14 cities and completed visits and meetings to 25 establishments. Got another 3 days of work and 7 visits to go. Today I rest in the city of Shijiazhuang.

 

I stopped on my 5th day at Ji'an so on the 6th day I needed to leave Ji'an for Danyang flying to Shanghai's Hongqiao airport then transfer by train to Danyang.

 

Before leaving for the Ji'an Airport had lunch

 

Pick your carp

 

Pick your chicken

 

Pick your duck

 

Pick your vegetables

 

 

 

 

 

After all these pickings enter the kitchen

 

Tell the chef how you want them done

 

They will cook for you

 

Pea soup

 

Hakka tofu

 

Boiled chicken

 

Stir fry pork, tofu and chili

 

Beef

 

Fish

 

Braised duck

 

Lunch spread

 

 

 

When I arrived at Ji'an, Taihe district it was already 6pm, so my contacts brought me to hotel for check in and put my stuff then immediately went out to a nearby restaurant for dinner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dinner spread

 

Vegetables

 

Hakka tofu

 

Beef

 

Local vegetables

 

Prawns

 

Steamed fish

 

Dumplings

 

Duck

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/masatoshi-ito-who-took-7-eleven-stores-global-dies-at-98

Masatoshi Ito, who took 7-Eleven stores global, dies at 98 

 

Mr Masatoshi Ito died on March 10 due to old age, the company said in a statement on Monday. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
13 Mar 2023, 5:05 pm SGT

 

TOKYO - Mr Masatoshi Ito, the billionaire who expanded a small family-owned shop into one of Japan’s largest retailers and took 7-Eleven convenience stores global, has died. He was 98.

 

Mr Ito died on March 10 due to old age, 7-Eleven operator Seven & i Holdings said in a statement on Monday, confirming earlier reports by local media.

 

Although his Ito-Yokado stores, which offered one-stop shopping for things from groceries to everyday clothes, lost their lustre long ago, Mr Ito’s legacy continued in the 7-Eleven franchise. The company he founded, Ito-Yokado, was the predecessor of Seven & i Holdings.

 

There are more than 83,000 7-Elevens dotting the globe, with about a fourth of them in Japan. Mr Ito was the company’s largest shareholder, amassing a net worth of US$5 billion (S$6.7 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

 

Sometimes called the Sam Walton of Japan, Mr Ito was known for a decentralised business style that was influenced by his long friendship with famed management consultant Peter Drucker, who once described Mr Ito as “one of the world’s outstanding entrepreneurs and business builders”.

 

Ito-Yokado traces its origin to the Yokado Clothing Store that Mr Ito’s uncle Toshio Yoshikawa opened in Asakusa, Tokyo, in 1920. Mr Ito’s half-brother Yuzuru took the lead in expanding the business but died in 1956, and Mr Ito took over. He later renamed it Ito-Yokado and took it public in 1972. 

 

The retailer continued to expand, including establishing Denny’s Japan, which brought the US-based casual restaurant chain to the country. A younger executive at Ito-Yokado, Mr Toshifumi Suzuki, discovered 7-Eleven during a visit to the United States to negotiate that deal. 

 

After forging a deal with US-based Southland Corp, then owner of the 7-Eleven chain, Mr Suzuki opened the first outlet in Japan in 1974. That business would eventually outgrow Ito-Yokado’s general merchandising segment; in 1991 the company acquired Southland’s equity.

 

In 1992, Mr Ito resigned from his post at Ito-Yokado to take responsibility for alleged payments by company officials to three “yakuza” gangsters, to keep order at a shareholders’ meeting.

 

Mr Suzuki succeeded Mr Ito as president, later becoming chairman and chief executive officer. He renamed the business Seven & i Holdings in 2005, and 7-Eleven Inc was made a wholly owned subsidiary. Mr Ito remained as honorary chairman of the parent company, with the “i” in the name referring to Ito-Yokado and his last name.

 

On the urging of an activist shareholder, Seven & i is streamlining its business. In November, the retailer announced the sale of its Sogo & Seibu department stores for an enterprise value of about 250 billion yen (S$2.5 billion) to Fortress Investment Group. Last week, Seven & i said it will close roughly one out of every four of its Ito-Yokado stores in Japan. 

Finally time to standby as train arriving soon

 

Long long escalator

 

Platform

 

The 2hrs 40mins ride begins

 

A gift

 

Goodies

 

Almost 300

 

After rushing through 2 meetings in Panyu in the morning its time to rush again. Took a taxi 2 hours ride to Dongguan East Station for my ride to Ji'an in Jiangxi province.

 

Dongguan East Station

 

 

 

 

 

Realised I hadn't any lunch so went to a convenient store as there's no restaurant in this station

 

Got some grocery

 

Hot water is easily available everywhere in China so this is easy

 

 

 

If you looked at the hotel room above you could guess I had a terrible night sleep. Luckily breakfast was great. Hotel does not provide breakfast so staff directed me to a shop about 100m from hotel.

 

 

Owner preparing rice rolls

 

 

Lady cooking porridge

 

 

This type of local shop is not for everybody especially foreigners however if you like local food this is it

 

Century egg and pork porridge

 

Egg roll with pig liver

 

Egg roll with fish

 

My wonderful S$4 breakfast

 

 

I had dinner alone at a roadside restaurant

 

 

Claypot chicken

 

Steamed fish

 

Steamed crab

 

Its small

 

but fill of delivious roe

 

Fried noodle

 

My dinner

 

With 3 very light beers I thibnk this was a good meal

By today day 8 I had gone through 8 cities and completed 13 meetings/visitings. Yesterday was rest day for me in Shanghai however later I will move on to my 14th meeting today.

 

Last post was still Sunday my second day and lunch in Dongguan, after that I took a taxi to Panyu district of Guangzhou. Ended up at a small town hotel that my counterpart here booked due to proximity to his factory. This is the best hotel around

 

 

The run down lobby

 

Street outside the hotel

 

Many food establishments along the streets around the hotel

 

The village

 

The entrance to the room as you can see is very dated

 

BIg bed that's full of noisy springs that you can feel on your back

 

Simple old furniture

 

Furnitures that I wouldn't touch looked old, mouldy and sticky

 

Sunday after work in Dongguan's Nan Hai district, went for lunch at a Cantonese restaurant before leaving for Panyu.

 

Cantonese soup

 

Meats from the soup

 

Hakka tofu

 

Chili with pork

 

Roast goose

 

Steamed grouper

 

Stir fry vegetables

 

My first night in China was staying in a very nice hotel in Dongguan known as Vienna International. Very nice room.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately its only one night. Breakfast was had in the restaurant adjoining the hotel

 

Seems very popular with the people in this town, got to queue by 8.30am. I was early.

 

 

 

 

This is their open kitchen preparing dimsum

 

Big restaurant but full

 

Serving porridge

 

 

 

Lor Mai Gai - simply delicious

 

 

Rice roll

 

Steamed pork ribs

 

 

Great breakfast

It is rather frustrating to post here in China as first I need to upload the photos then posts and all these websites including here is blocked so gotta use VPN to help to open up however getting through the VPN is a difficult task in the first place second the speed is low and third you keep dropping the connection as I believe the authorities are trying to block the VPN as well.

 

So finally arrived after about 2h 45mins

 

Getting my luggage (45kg load)

 

Right after arriving, Visited 2 factories and then dinner at a Cantonese restaurant (I love Cantonese cuisine)

 

Cantonese soup

 

Roast goose

 

Beef

 

Prawns

 

Hakka tofu

 

Steamed fish

 

Stir fry vegetables

 

Spring onion bao

 

The spread

 

So why I had stopped posting here past few days is because since Saturday I had travelled 6 cities finished visiting 9 businesses in China and this morning continue to move on. Now in a taxi to my next meeting having 40mins to spare.

 

Saturday arriving at the Suvarnabhumi airport

 

Checking in

 

Going to the gate, Suvarnabhumi is actually quite beautiful.

 

 

 

My ride to Guangzhou

 

 

Full flight

 

Ready to start my 21 days of travel

 

 

Leaving Ranong by Nok Air

 

Check in counter in Ranong Airport

 

Departure hall

 

Walking down for security checks and gate

 

Queueing up for security check

 

Gate waiting for our flight

 

The smiling bird had arrived

 

Love that smile

 

Boarding

 

Cabin

 

Arriving in Don Mueang Airport

 

Quiet

 

Arrival Hall

 

 

Waiting for luggage

 

Was told Ranong is also popular for muslim food especially roti, so on the day I was to leave Ranong I went in search of roti for breakfast.

 

 

 

The Muslim Shop

 

Menu

 

Stall

 

She is making roti

 

The kitchen

 

Full house

 

 

My breakfast that costs $7.00

 

 

My second morning in Ranong I discovered a traditional porridge shop 

 

Was told they've been in business for more than 30 years. Shop opens 5am and closes when sold out which is about noon.

 

The stall

 

Dining area

 

Menu on the wall

 

 

Owner preparing food

 

Food preparation

 

Porridge

 

Pork rib soup

 

Coffee and fritter

 

My rice noodle with pork

 

Porridge and pork rib soup

 

 

 

At Ranong I went to a beautiful cafe in a SHELL gas station. 

 

168Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking a Night Walk Along Ranong's Short Walk Street

 

 

 

After the long morning walk chanced upon a dimsum shop Chill Chill

 

Dimsum refrigerator

 

 

 

Morning fix, traditional black coffee

 

Ordered century egg pork porridge

 

Some dimsum

 

 

Friday 6.30am morning walk in the main street of Ranong

 

Old building 1959

 

Chinese school

 

Many shops still not open

 

Classic shopfront 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lR1RO87.jpg[/img]

 

Old walkway

 

Waiting for the ride to school

 

Everyone seemed to be looking at their phone

 

Morning delivery

 

Ranong main market, lets go in to take a look

 

Morning pick
[img]https://i.imgur.com/zyERaX5.jpg[/img]

 

Fresh fish from the boats

 

Waiting for customers

 

 

 

Meats

 

 

Provision shop

 

Vegetables

 

 

Unloading 

 

Alms

 

Dry stuff

 

Had a great seafood dinner at a restaurant in Ranong

 

 

 

Steamed egg

 

Grilled squid in sweet sauce

 

Deep fried prawn in tamarind sauce

 

Mixed vegetables and chicken

 

Soya sauce groupa

 

Deep sea pomfret steamed with sour plum

 

Visited a cafe in Ranong beach