The Battle of Bannockburn (1314)
Door: Yaisa
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Yaisa
31 Oktober 2007 | Vietnam, Hanoi
Dear all,
Yesterday I received a funny email from a colleague and friend in Hong Kong who had just come back from a meeting with a client.
**Quote**
“Yesterday, we had a very good meeting in Hong Kong with … [a client, red]. Before ending the meeting, he inquired about our knowledge of the Scots given the transition ABN AMRO is in.
As we had to admit having only superficial knowledge, he stressed the importance of learning about the battle of bannockburn and knowing the national anthem asap. He knows how important that is, having lived there for more than 20 years.
He ended the meeting by spontaneously singing the song for us in his office!
Battle of Bannockburn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn”
**Unquote**
The email was followed by the text of the Scottish National Anthem, Flower of Scotland.
I’ve not started memorising it yet, but perhaps I’ll organise a karaoke session during our next teambuilding activity… :-)
Yes, the merger is proceeding and our precious ABN AMRO brand is going to dissappear, at least overhere in Asia. Time to reminisce….
I opened my very first bank account with ABN (an account I still use) and remember getting a welcome present (a CD with tophits of the 80’s, which I think I still have) and a nice, hard cover Eurostyle account statement folder (which I still use – although of course I don’t receive any new account statements anymore as you can tell ABN AMRO you don’t need all that useless paper since we have Internet Banking – you can thank me later, Oscar :-) ).
ABN AMRO has been my bank ever since, gave me my first student credit when I started running out of money (ie, since the very first day at university), was the first bank to block my account and withdraw my credit card when I was spending more than I was worth in Cannes, was subsequently the first bank to extend me an extra large credit line and it was the first bank to offer me a job (no correlation with the previous, I presume).
It then became the first bank to help me become a client with assets rather than liabilities, the first employer to give me an opportunity to work abroad and it has become a place where I’ve met many many many great colleagues and friends. And as of last week, formally, some of these people are now no longer colleagues. How strange!
But get this; shoving those nostalgic memories aside, I don’t care really. You don’t need to be colleagues to stay friends, you don’t need ABN AMRO to pay your bonus and you don’t need a Dutch bank to work in a foreign country. I’m actually looking forward to Royal Bank of Scotland walzing in. I love haggis, think Sean Connery has a great accent, would love to learn how to appreciate whiskey and really want to know what’s under those kilts… But above all, I think that changes mean new opportunities and RBS is definitely going to bring about some changes…
Enough of that… speaking of colleagues who became friends, I had a great time in Saigon/HCMC where I visited Rob and Marianne. Vietnam definitely has a buzz and touring around with “semi-locals” is the best way to find the right place to hang out and to drink champagne… :-). Driving around on a scooter was so much fun (especially since I survived the ordeal) that I’m actually thinking of buying one for in Singapore… Rob & Marianne were fantastic hosts and I really liked seeing how they have settled in Saigon, are enjoying their sabbatical and travelling all over the place.
Perhaps soon… :-)
Last week I also had the pleasure of catching up with Ferdinand, a colleague from Holland who was here on his way to Indonesia to retrace his roots. Beer & wine on Boat Quay, Dim Sum, latests gossips about ABN AMRO in the Netherlands… Just like old times, we were just wondering where Boldy and Gustavo were…
Then a story to show you the real use of LinkedIn and other digital networks; not loo long ago, I was browsing through a connection’s connections on LinkedIn and spotted an old business relation from when I was working in Amsterdam. Caroline used to work for TPG in Holland and had moved to Madrid several years back… I reconnected with her via LinkedIn, she sent me an email back right away to tell me that she had just booked a trip to Malaysia via Singapore and next thing we know, we’re having drinks at Harry’s on Boat Quay and Black Pepper Crab on the East Coast. I love this modern age stuff!
And whilst Timmo and I are showing off culinary Singapore to our friends and then seeing them off to other exotic and tropical holiday destinations, I’m counting down the days to my next (business & pleasure) trips… Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai & Australia… It’s a good thing lots of people from Holland are coming to visit us, because I won’t be back for a while…
Lots of love,
Yaisa
Photo's of Saigon:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17535&l=9ad96&id=523210814
Yesterday I received a funny email from a colleague and friend in Hong Kong who had just come back from a meeting with a client.
**Quote**
“Yesterday, we had a very good meeting in Hong Kong with … [a client, red]. Before ending the meeting, he inquired about our knowledge of the Scots given the transition ABN AMRO is in.
As we had to admit having only superficial knowledge, he stressed the importance of learning about the battle of bannockburn and knowing the national anthem asap. He knows how important that is, having lived there for more than 20 years.
He ended the meeting by spontaneously singing the song for us in his office!
Battle of Bannockburn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn”
**Unquote**
The email was followed by the text of the Scottish National Anthem, Flower of Scotland.
I’ve not started memorising it yet, but perhaps I’ll organise a karaoke session during our next teambuilding activity… :-)
Yes, the merger is proceeding and our precious ABN AMRO brand is going to dissappear, at least overhere in Asia. Time to reminisce….
I opened my very first bank account with ABN (an account I still use) and remember getting a welcome present (a CD with tophits of the 80’s, which I think I still have) and a nice, hard cover Eurostyle account statement folder (which I still use – although of course I don’t receive any new account statements anymore as you can tell ABN AMRO you don’t need all that useless paper since we have Internet Banking – you can thank me later, Oscar :-) ).
ABN AMRO has been my bank ever since, gave me my first student credit when I started running out of money (ie, since the very first day at university), was the first bank to block my account and withdraw my credit card when I was spending more than I was worth in Cannes, was subsequently the first bank to extend me an extra large credit line and it was the first bank to offer me a job (no correlation with the previous, I presume).
It then became the first bank to help me become a client with assets rather than liabilities, the first employer to give me an opportunity to work abroad and it has become a place where I’ve met many many many great colleagues and friends. And as of last week, formally, some of these people are now no longer colleagues. How strange!
But get this; shoving those nostalgic memories aside, I don’t care really. You don’t need to be colleagues to stay friends, you don’t need ABN AMRO to pay your bonus and you don’t need a Dutch bank to work in a foreign country. I’m actually looking forward to Royal Bank of Scotland walzing in. I love haggis, think Sean Connery has a great accent, would love to learn how to appreciate whiskey and really want to know what’s under those kilts… But above all, I think that changes mean new opportunities and RBS is definitely going to bring about some changes…
Enough of that… speaking of colleagues who became friends, I had a great time in Saigon/HCMC where I visited Rob and Marianne. Vietnam definitely has a buzz and touring around with “semi-locals” is the best way to find the right place to hang out and to drink champagne… :-). Driving around on a scooter was so much fun (especially since I survived the ordeal) that I’m actually thinking of buying one for in Singapore… Rob & Marianne were fantastic hosts and I really liked seeing how they have settled in Saigon, are enjoying their sabbatical and travelling all over the place.
Perhaps soon… :-)
Last week I also had the pleasure of catching up with Ferdinand, a colleague from Holland who was here on his way to Indonesia to retrace his roots. Beer & wine on Boat Quay, Dim Sum, latests gossips about ABN AMRO in the Netherlands… Just like old times, we were just wondering where Boldy and Gustavo were…
Then a story to show you the real use of LinkedIn and other digital networks; not loo long ago, I was browsing through a connection’s connections on LinkedIn and spotted an old business relation from when I was working in Amsterdam. Caroline used to work for TPG in Holland and had moved to Madrid several years back… I reconnected with her via LinkedIn, she sent me an email back right away to tell me that she had just booked a trip to Malaysia via Singapore and next thing we know, we’re having drinks at Harry’s on Boat Quay and Black Pepper Crab on the East Coast. I love this modern age stuff!
And whilst Timmo and I are showing off culinary Singapore to our friends and then seeing them off to other exotic and tropical holiday destinations, I’m counting down the days to my next (business & pleasure) trips… Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai & Australia… It’s a good thing lots of people from Holland are coming to visit us, because I won’t be back for a while…
Lots of love,
Yaisa
Photo's of Saigon:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17535&l=9ad96&id=523210814
-
31 Oktober 2007 - 08:22
Taco:
Of course we at ING are ready to welcome you all as our new clients. Good luck with the scotts ! -
31 Oktober 2007 - 09:37
Mama:
Yeah yeah yeah, my daughter is working for the Bank of Scotland now?? Don't eat
too many haggis though, as I know as a nutriotional adviser what is in there!..
but indeed if you have eaten one desinfect your stomach with the single malt, uch uch uch!!!!
ach waarom schrijf ik niet gewoon haags, nou folgende keer dann doeiiii ! -
31 Oktober 2007 - 13:52
Rob & Marianne:
Wat kun je toch heerlijk schrijven Yaisa! Altijd weer een feest om je blog te lezen. En coole foto's! Alhoewel er een paar van mij (Rob) tussen staan die je best had mogen wissen :-D
Gisteren weer bij Nam Kha geweest en bubble-mania voortgezet.... -
01 November 2007 - 14:11
Chantal:
he yaisa, nice to read your stories, and great you have met rob & marianne. I think curacao is a little bit too much out of the way, isn't it? Still doing my thing over here. Have been in Holland a weekn ago for a short visit. You have no idea how cold it is over there!!!
Take care, best regards to Timmo as well and hope hearing from you soon, chrs Chantal -
02 November 2007 - 08:51
Maria:
Ik geniet volop van het lezen van je verhalen. Erg leuk dat ik nog steeds mee kan genieten zelf als ik "de bank" verlaten heb. Veel succes over-there and be sure you kick some as and show them your great talent. -
05 November 2007 - 08:21
Jaspar McRose:
Haha, die eurostyle cd heb ik ook nog.
Hou het vol daar Yaisa!
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