Chinese NY holidays came to an end. We all went back to work this week... and it is HARD!
Luckily, I have some off site meetings to keep me excited. But not being in the office also delays some of the other work. *Sigh*
Brandon and David are visiting. Jim is leaving on Sunday for NY. I am looking forward to my visit to NY in the last week of Feb!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Chinese New Year
It is actually quite low key here. Most people have gone home. Shops are mostly closed. Only some restaurants stay open. We had dinner at Serina and Thomas's place for New Year eve. Serina aunt's from KL made a Chinese/Malaysian dinner.
I just came home from dinner. We had hot pot. One feature is their noodle making performance. I hope this video works on this link.
Happy Year of Dragon!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Almost Chinese New Year!
I have nothing planned for Chinese New Year, except for 9 days off. Brandon and David are visiting towards the later part of the holidays. I want to just relax!
This week was just as busy as last week. A record was broken on the longest stretch of meetings in 1 day. On Tuesday, I woke up at 5.30am for an 8 am flight to Fuzhou. That day, my colleague and tackled 3 projects in 1 day. Derek worked just on the mechanical, while I dealt with the design. By 10.30pm, I sent Derek back to the hotel. He could barely keep his eyes open at that point. I stayed and continued with the meetings. By 12.40am, I stood up and said to the Chairman, "I can't take this any more." They finally sent me back to the hotel in a taxi. This is planning and organization in China. It revolves around 1 person. There is no plans, reason, and logic.
Meanwhile, Jim is still battling the sage of replacement cards. Apparently, when DHL is sent to my building and received by the building mail room, it takes 2 days before they bring it up to the office. So much for express mail! What kind of system is that?
Meanwhile the global bank managed to screw up the instruction and proceed to send his cards to NY instead of SH. He is about to have a nervous breakdown. I can tell!
I wish the year of Dragon is all good luck for us! Happy New Year, everyone!
This week was just as busy as last week. A record was broken on the longest stretch of meetings in 1 day. On Tuesday, I woke up at 5.30am for an 8 am flight to Fuzhou. That day, my colleague and tackled 3 projects in 1 day. Derek worked just on the mechanical, while I dealt with the design. By 10.30pm, I sent Derek back to the hotel. He could barely keep his eyes open at that point. I stayed and continued with the meetings. By 12.40am, I stood up and said to the Chairman, "I can't take this any more." They finally sent me back to the hotel in a taxi. This is planning and organization in China. It revolves around 1 person. There is no plans, reason, and logic.
Meanwhile, Jim is still battling the sage of replacement cards. Apparently, when DHL is sent to my building and received by the building mail room, it takes 2 days before they bring it up to the office. So much for express mail! What kind of system is that?
Meanwhile the global bank managed to screw up the instruction and proceed to send his cards to NY instead of SH. He is about to have a nervous breakdown. I can tell!
I wish the year of Dragon is all good luck for us! Happy New Year, everyone!
Friday, January 13, 2012
A week of traveling
I have not been in the office this week at all!
Monday was my BD. we had an off-site department meeting. It is also the first time I arranged the training portion of the meeting. It turned out quite successful. I hope to keep that up.
Tuesday, I went to Shenyang on a day trip. Shenyang is in the northern part of China. It is closer to Seoul than to Shanghai. The high of its January temperature is around -15C (5F). The city was covered in a thick layer of winter smog. All construction stopped for winter back in Nov. My meeting ended a bit early, so I decided to stop by the construction site to check out the location. The guy who escorted me suggested we walk to the site, which is only 10 blocks away. It was fine when we walk in the -19C (-2F) weather. Once I jumped into a taxi after the walk, I then realized how frozen my toes were under 2 pair of socks and boots.
Day trip is tricky. The reason for doing a day trip is that my Wednesday destination, even though, is in the northern part of China again, has no direct flight from Shenyang. In fact, it is easiest to just come back to Shanghai first and fly back up the next day.
I made the trip a lot more interesting by waking up an hour later than I should in the morning. For an 8am flight from Pudong Airport, I should have woken up at 5am. Instead, my alarm was set wrongly and I got up at 6. I quickly got ready and jumped into a cab. I told the taxi driver I was late, and please drive faster. He immediately turned into a F1 driver. He managed a trip that usually take 50 minutes in 35 minutes. And when I arrived at the airport, I was lucky with the queues and made it through check in and security in 15 minutes. I was sitting at the boarding lounge as if I was never late to begin with. Taxi drivers in Shanghai are great at speeding. The drive I took was heart racing, especially when he weaved between other cars. I didn't need coffee that day.
Wednesday, my colleagues and I went to Shijiazhuang. As mentioned, it is also in the northern part of China. I was told a story once my boss and a few people were heading to Shijiazhuang via Beijing by train. They were hit by a major snow storm and were stuck in the train for hours! That was why I was discouraged from going there from Shenyang via Beijing by train. The meetings were painless. But we ended up in a local hotel arranged by the client. It was a subpar place. They have the heat on so high that my room was like a sauna. It has to be in the 40C (100F) range. The thermostat was just plain broken. So, I turned it off and opened a window in the -10C night. Yet, I was sweating through the night.
We returned on Thursday pm at a decent time. But I started immediately preparing for our Friday trip.
Friday, my company has decided to have the annual dinner at a resort hotel in Hangzhou Qiandao Lake. This is a 4.5 hour drive from Shanghai. A 9 hour trip for a dinner! It is a new hotel that we opening in the fall. They had better have given us a great deal.
Lucky draw of the evening was actually quite fun. Our department practically got 70% of the prizes. I won a 2 night stay and 2 return tickets to Guangzhou Tianhe Hotel. It is a great prize. I was excited. It is a reward for putting up with 9 hour of bus ride. :-)
More has happened this week. But it is about Jim. Wednesday night he got pick pocketed. He was approached by 2 young girls propositioning for sex. They touched him and proceed to take his money clip, card case, and his mobile phone. This is very common, but you only believe it when it happens to you. Jim was pissed. He was most upset about loosing his phone. Phone provide the comfort of connection, especially when I am away. Luckily, we have a spare sim card from our Internet service, and a friend has a spare phone for his use temporarily.
Off to the gym and breakfast before heading back to Shanghai for the remaining weekend. One more week to go before Chinese New Year. How exciting! 1 more trip next week and I am ready to close the stove (an old Cantonese saying referring to ending the year as families do not cook for the first few of days of Chinese New Year.)
Monday was my BD. we had an off-site department meeting. It is also the first time I arranged the training portion of the meeting. It turned out quite successful. I hope to keep that up.
Tuesday, I went to Shenyang on a day trip. Shenyang is in the northern part of China. It is closer to Seoul than to Shanghai. The high of its January temperature is around -15C (5F). The city was covered in a thick layer of winter smog. All construction stopped for winter back in Nov. My meeting ended a bit early, so I decided to stop by the construction site to check out the location. The guy who escorted me suggested we walk to the site, which is only 10 blocks away. It was fine when we walk in the -19C (-2F) weather. Once I jumped into a taxi after the walk, I then realized how frozen my toes were under 2 pair of socks and boots.
Day trip is tricky. The reason for doing a day trip is that my Wednesday destination, even though, is in the northern part of China again, has no direct flight from Shenyang. In fact, it is easiest to just come back to Shanghai first and fly back up the next day.
I made the trip a lot more interesting by waking up an hour later than I should in the morning. For an 8am flight from Pudong Airport, I should have woken up at 5am. Instead, my alarm was set wrongly and I got up at 6. I quickly got ready and jumped into a cab. I told the taxi driver I was late, and please drive faster. He immediately turned into a F1 driver. He managed a trip that usually take 50 minutes in 35 minutes. And when I arrived at the airport, I was lucky with the queues and made it through check in and security in 15 minutes. I was sitting at the boarding lounge as if I was never late to begin with. Taxi drivers in Shanghai are great at speeding. The drive I took was heart racing, especially when he weaved between other cars. I didn't need coffee that day.
Wednesday, my colleagues and I went to Shijiazhuang. As mentioned, it is also in the northern part of China. I was told a story once my boss and a few people were heading to Shijiazhuang via Beijing by train. They were hit by a major snow storm and were stuck in the train for hours! That was why I was discouraged from going there from Shenyang via Beijing by train. The meetings were painless. But we ended up in a local hotel arranged by the client. It was a subpar place. They have the heat on so high that my room was like a sauna. It has to be in the 40C (100F) range. The thermostat was just plain broken. So, I turned it off and opened a window in the -10C night. Yet, I was sweating through the night.
We returned on Thursday pm at a decent time. But I started immediately preparing for our Friday trip.
Friday, my company has decided to have the annual dinner at a resort hotel in Hangzhou Qiandao Lake. This is a 4.5 hour drive from Shanghai. A 9 hour trip for a dinner! It is a new hotel that we opening in the fall. They had better have given us a great deal.
Lucky draw of the evening was actually quite fun. Our department practically got 70% of the prizes. I won a 2 night stay and 2 return tickets to Guangzhou Tianhe Hotel. It is a great prize. I was excited. It is a reward for putting up with 9 hour of bus ride. :-)
More has happened this week. But it is about Jim. Wednesday night he got pick pocketed. He was approached by 2 young girls propositioning for sex. They touched him and proceed to take his money clip, card case, and his mobile phone. This is very common, but you only believe it when it happens to you. Jim was pissed. He was most upset about loosing his phone. Phone provide the comfort of connection, especially when I am away. Luckily, we have a spare sim card from our Internet service, and a friend has a spare phone for his use temporarily.
Off to the gym and breakfast before heading back to Shanghai for the remaining weekend. One more week to go before Chinese New Year. How exciting! 1 more trip next week and I am ready to close the stove (an old Cantonese saying referring to ending the year as families do not cook for the first few of days of Chinese New Year.)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Last day of being 39.
Just got back from putting Nick and Sung A into a cab to the airport. It was sad to see them leave. I am so fortunate to have Nick as a friend. He is the definition of a good man. It meant so much to me with their visit. It was a priceless gift for my 40th.
Last night, we had a small dinner party at Xindalu in the Hyatt Hotel, then drinks at the Vue bar. Xindalu is famous for their Peking Duck, while Vue bar has the best view of Shanghai seeing both the Bund and the Pudong high rise buildings.
The great thing is that the group are mainly old friends. We could easily be in New York and dine with the same group of people. It is surreal to think that I actually celebrated my 40th in Shanghai. In late 2009, right before I returned from my 3-month assignment in Tianjin, Julia asked me to stop by Shanghai to attend a meeting with her. It was then I discovered Vue bar by staying at the hotel. I was impressed by the view. I thought to myself that this place would be so fabulous to have my 40th birthday celebration. At that time, it was a thought of organizing a tour with close friends to visit China. Well, 2 years later, I am actually living here and Jim hosted an evening at Vue bar for me. And Julia was actually one of the guest last night! How surreal and serendipitous!
Thank you to Bronwen, Eric, Julia, Serina, Thomas, Mark, Sun, Nick and Sung A for being there to celebrate. And big kisses to Jim for being by my side.
Last night, we had a small dinner party at Xindalu in the Hyatt Hotel, then drinks at the Vue bar. Xindalu is famous for their Peking Duck, while Vue bar has the best view of Shanghai seeing both the Bund and the Pudong high rise buildings.
The great thing is that the group are mainly old friends. We could easily be in New York and dine with the same group of people. It is surreal to think that I actually celebrated my 40th in Shanghai. In late 2009, right before I returned from my 3-month assignment in Tianjin, Julia asked me to stop by Shanghai to attend a meeting with her. It was then I discovered Vue bar by staying at the hotel. I was impressed by the view. I thought to myself that this place would be so fabulous to have my 40th birthday celebration. At that time, it was a thought of organizing a tour with close friends to visit China. Well, 2 years later, I am actually living here and Jim hosted an evening at Vue bar for me. And Julia was actually one of the guest last night! How surreal and serendipitous!
Thank you to Bronwen, Eric, Julia, Serina, Thomas, Mark, Sun, Nick and Sung A for being there to celebrate. And big kisses to Jim for being by my side.
Nick and Sung A are visiting
It was so nice to have Nick and Sung A visit us over the New Year eve and for my birthday. We didn't plan specially for any sightseeing or big meals. We just went to a few places and go to where we usually go for dinners. They also went to HK for a few days and they thoroughly enjoyed that part of the trip. I hope Shanghai left them a good impression.
It is just so great to see familiar faces. Last night Nick and I went out drinking with my new friend Serina after dinner. We had a great time having architecture and design talk. It was just so cool to have my oldest colleague from NY and my newest colleague from SH hanging out at a bar and chatting about stuff. It was priceless.
Anyway, we are off to celebrate my birthday. Even though it is not the exact day, we figured we should just do it when Nick and Sung A are here. More about the birthday later.
It is just so great to see familiar faces. Last night Nick and I went out drinking with my new friend Serina after dinner. We had a great time having architecture and design talk. It was just so cool to have my oldest colleague from NY and my newest colleague from SH hanging out at a bar and chatting about stuff. It was priceless.
Anyway, we are off to celebrate my birthday. Even though it is not the exact day, we figured we should just do it when Nick and Sung A are here. More about the birthday later.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
First work day of 2012
After 2 vacation and 3 public holidays later, it is like pulling teeth
to get back to work.
A lot to do this month. Chinese New Year comes early this year. We
only have 2.5 weeks before our 9 days long Chinese New Year holidays.
Every things are packed into these 2.5 weeks. I am traveling and
attending meetings 9 days out of the 13 work days. There will be no
time to prepare for CNY.
to get back to work.
A lot to do this month. Chinese New Year comes early this year. We
only have 2.5 weeks before our 9 days long Chinese New Year holidays.
Every things are packed into these 2.5 weeks. I am traveling and
attending meetings 9 days out of the 13 work days. There will be no
time to prepare for CNY.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to everyone.
We had a great time on NY eve. Dinner with old (Nick and Sung A) and new friends (Serina, Thomas, Rachel, Mark, Charles.) Drinks afterwards at Charles's home. Unfortunately, even with the fab view of the Bund, we didn't see the fireworks. It is on the other side blocked by some buildings.
Still, it was fun. Nick and Sung A visit has been really fun. We walked around and enjoyed some good food.
New Year... Let's hope it will be a peaceful and healthy 2012.
We had a great time on NY eve. Dinner with old (Nick and Sung A) and new friends (Serina, Thomas, Rachel, Mark, Charles.) Drinks afterwards at Charles's home. Unfortunately, even with the fab view of the Bund, we didn't see the fireworks. It is on the other side blocked by some buildings.
Still, it was fun. Nick and Sung A visit has been really fun. We walked around and enjoyed some good food.
New Year... Let's hope it will be a peaceful and healthy 2012.
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