Yummy.... Must be us very hungry from today's exercise. Pasti on Beijing Lu, just behind Portman's Ritz Carlton was very good! Imagine that! Nice Italian food in the middle of Shanghai. Everything was organize and home-made; no processed stuff; Michele, I think you would love it :-P The salad dressing was not the run of the mill stuff; it was home made with organic ingredients. We had the Black pepper dressing, very light and had a little kick to it. The pasta was exceptional; flavourful and you could taste the different ingredients; not like the Alfredo's pasta and sauces. I must not had any Italian pasta except in Regina; because there was no comparison. Prices were good; we each had a main pasta dish and a huge apple/cheese/spinach salad to share; the cost came to RMB$182 - that's CAD$25.00; and of course, you do not need to tip in China!! No extra service charge; they are getting smarter but maybe in the future, there will be!
Rod, I had a bottle of 600ml coke today after my bike ride. It costed me CAD$0.30. Hee hee... Should I send you some? ;-)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I have survived my first 80KM bike ride...
on a rental bike with poor seat, crooked handles and flicky gears. Yes, my biker chick fiancee organized a group of bikers having a morning bike ride. We started from our apartment on Nanjing Xi Lu and cycled East to She Shan Le Meridien. It is a popular resort; in the same area, actually the road leading up to Le Meridien, Tiger Wood played there once in the Shanghai Open. By car, from our apartment to the hotel would have taken 45 minutes. With manual power, about 2 hours at a very good pace. All of the riders had nice road bike; me a rental moutain bike. (Am I stressed that enough time?) Good though as some roads were quite broken. I got to experience the village type atmosphere which old Shanghai used to be. Small road, fresh air - yes, fresh and smelly depending where we passed, fields and flower plantations. On the way back, we stopped by the road size and bought a melon to eat; very refreshing.
This trip was the first one on a bike since Grade 10! I did not forget a thing. Obviously, my butts did! Many things I have learned about Shanghai traffic today. (1) Red light does not mean stop; keep going if there is no vehicle rolling toward you. (2) no matter how busy in the bike lane, people will part for you if you show boldness. They will brake for you. (3) Even the bike lane indicates one way, you can "create" a bi-directional lane, no one cares. (4) People "play chicken" often. (5) If u want to ride, do so very very early in the morning. With 20 Million people, you want to have some quiet time and less 'fume' unless, of course, u are suffering from fume withdrawal. (6) If you find the bike lane is too crowded, ride in the car lanes; they will not hit you. (7) A corollary from (6): not true when people turning right specially Taxi. Brakes must work good! (8) Don't get a crazy girlfriend on Bike! LOL! It was fun.
Have to nurse my butts now as I have a session with a Personal Trainer in about an hour. Yes, we never stop :-P
This trip was the first one on a bike since Grade 10! I did not forget a thing. Obviously, my butts did! Many things I have learned about Shanghai traffic today. (1) Red light does not mean stop; keep going if there is no vehicle rolling toward you. (2) no matter how busy in the bike lane, people will part for you if you show boldness. They will brake for you. (3) Even the bike lane indicates one way, you can "create" a bi-directional lane, no one cares. (4) People "play chicken" often. (5) If u want to ride, do so very very early in the morning. With 20 Million people, you want to have some quiet time and less 'fume' unless, of course, u are suffering from fume withdrawal. (6) If you find the bike lane is too crowded, ride in the car lanes; they will not hit you. (7) A corollary from (6): not true when people turning right specially Taxi. Brakes must work good! (8) Don't get a crazy girlfriend on Bike! LOL! It was fun.
Have to nurse my butts now as I have a session with a Personal Trainer in about an hour. Yes, we never stop :-P
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Back to Shanghai.
OK, we are back to Shanghai now after a world wind tour of HK and Macau the last couple days! Haven't been there for a month and things changed so fast! New building start and shops closing. Fast changes.
Dragon Air service was good both ways (Shanghai-Hong Kong return); but the seats were very tight. We just saw a "big" guy needed a seat belt extension! Hey, beer was free; maybe Brent will be happy. Ha ha. Since Dragon Air flights to Shanghai from HK on an hourly basis, you can switch flight without penalty! There you go Air Canada. How cool is that. As well, you can do a Dragon Air package to visit Shanghai with air ticket/hotel; cheap that way.
My "Return Village Card" aka Chinese ID card entry into China via Shanghai is getting simpler by the months. Now, I don't even have to fill out any immigration card; just hand over your card, scan and you are on your way; totally processing time, 5 seconds!!!! Now, Canada and US should learn a few things about this! Hee heee...
Not even two hours arriving back, I had done my first spinning class! Of course, it was my better biker chick half dragged me there; well, our gym was/is just across the street about 50M; hardly to say NO to that! Spinning class is a very intense exercise using stationary bike. I sweated more than couple litres. Now as I am typing, I have craving for a beer and a coke as well as some meat. All bad vices. Maybe I should do no more Spinning classes in the future. ;-)
Dragon Air service was good both ways (Shanghai-Hong Kong return); but the seats were very tight. We just saw a "big" guy needed a seat belt extension! Hey, beer was free; maybe Brent will be happy. Ha ha. Since Dragon Air flights to Shanghai from HK on an hourly basis, you can switch flight without penalty! There you go Air Canada. How cool is that. As well, you can do a Dragon Air package to visit Shanghai with air ticket/hotel; cheap that way.
My "Return Village Card" aka Chinese ID card entry into China via Shanghai is getting simpler by the months. Now, I don't even have to fill out any immigration card; just hand over your card, scan and you are on your way; totally processing time, 5 seconds!!!! Now, Canada and US should learn a few things about this! Hee heee...
Not even two hours arriving back, I had done my first spinning class! Of course, it was my better biker chick half dragged me there; well, our gym was/is just across the street about 50M; hardly to say NO to that! Spinning class is a very intense exercise using stationary bike. I sweated more than couple litres. Now as I am typing, I have craving for a beer and a coke as well as some meat. All bad vices. Maybe I should do no more Spinning classes in the future. ;-)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Cruise to Lama Island
Never been to Lama Island until this evening. Audrey's potential employer is associated with the Swire Group; so we had a private boat taking about 12 people from the Yacht club (across from Excelsior Hotel) to Lama Island. The island is famous for seafood. And no cars there. Yachts bring tourists and locals alike to the island for seafood. I sampled fresh scallops, lobsters, squids, etc...
On the way back, we could see the Hong Kong harbour first hand. No crowds, no noises or cellphone ringings from other people, just 12 people in a yacht enjoying the views.
On the way back, we could see the Hong Kong harbour first hand. No crowds, no noises or cellphone ringings from other people, just 12 people in a yacht enjoying the views.
Monday, September 10, 2007
L'hotel Hong Kong @ Causeway Bay
Just checked into L'hotel Hong Kong @ Causeway Bay. Well....
My star rating is 3 out of 5. Service is good; room is clean to a point and damit the Chinese never master the bathroom thing or what! The dated white tiles, small white bathtube, yellowish shower curtain, blacken shelves in the shower, yuke..... I think I will have to spoil Audrey with Four Seasons on the 12th. Since the Swire Group is paying for the hotel, I am not too fuss over it; this also give me a look on how Audrey's accommodation has been while working - paying by the clients.
My star rating is 3 out of 5. Service is good; room is clean to a point and damit the Chinese never master the bathroom thing or what! The dated white tiles, small white bathtube, yellowish shower curtain, blacken shelves in the shower, yuke..... I think I will have to spoil Audrey with Four Seasons on the 12th. Since the Swire Group is paying for the hotel, I am not too fuss over it; this also give me a look on how Audrey's accommodation has been while working - paying by the clients.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Great Wall picutres
You can visit http://web.mac.com/damiaolo to see some of the Great Wall pictures we took. At one tower, our words echoed back to us from the valley; we did not even yell, just quiet talk. Very fascinating! We stayed at a "hotel" in front of the wall at Simatai. It had costed less than CAD$30 per night; had all the basis but the bathroom was a bit "shady". Don't expect much! "roughing" it....
We did two hikes; one very early in the morning like 530am. We had the wall all by ourselves!!!! Then after breakfast, we did another stretch; more climbing then anything else on the second hike. Rough. You need to be in good physical shape! After about 2 hours, we got bored; tower after tower, broken section after broken section... So we turned back to our hotel.
Closer to the bottom of the entrance, we did the "flying fox" for the last bit of downhill. That was being dangling on a long wire, strapped down and pushed off over a reservoir to pretty much the front of the hotel. It was a lazy way to go downhill if you dare to do so. No helmet though; so if the wire broke, you know how much force your body will experience.
And because of this experience, we met three BHP executives, an Australian mining company. One knew Audrey's friends, one lives in Vancouver and visit Regina & Saskatoon every month. He was just in Regina talking to our beloved premier last month. How weird was that! Of all the people at the wall visiting!!!! Hee hee, the BHP picked up the tab for beer and lunch.
*Note: In China here, I can post but cannot see my own blog site; so if you plan on leaving comments, sorry I cannot read them.
We did two hikes; one very early in the morning like 530am. We had the wall all by ourselves!!!! Then after breakfast, we did another stretch; more climbing then anything else on the second hike. Rough. You need to be in good physical shape! After about 2 hours, we got bored; tower after tower, broken section after broken section... So we turned back to our hotel.
Closer to the bottom of the entrance, we did the "flying fox" for the last bit of downhill. That was being dangling on a long wire, strapped down and pushed off over a reservoir to pretty much the front of the hotel. It was a lazy way to go downhill if you dare to do so. No helmet though; so if the wire broke, you know how much force your body will experience.
And because of this experience, we met three BHP executives, an Australian mining company. One knew Audrey's friends, one lives in Vancouver and visit Regina & Saskatoon every month. He was just in Regina talking to our beloved premier last month. How weird was that! Of all the people at the wall visiting!!!! Hee hee, the BHP picked up the tab for beer and lunch.
*Note: In China here, I can post but cannot see my own blog site; so if you plan on leaving comments, sorry I cannot read them.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Service experiences......
Wow, I think I am getting spoiled (kinda).
Going thru security at the Shanghai domestic airport - Hong Qiao, everyone needs to have ID cards of some sort; you know, movement to be tracked. The security guards were so polite! They smiled and greeted you; then received your ID card and boarding pass with BOTH hands!!! After couple stamps and electronically captured your face et al, your ID card and the boarding pass were handed back to your BOTH Hands!!!! Then, when I went thru the security, the Chinese adopted the US no liquid rule. However, I asked if I could bring along my bottled water; well, he smiled and opened the lid; using his right hand, he made a wave motion to draw out the air inside the bottle to check. That was it. I walked thru with my water; no fuss, no heighten panic... Quick and simple.
Then at the Beijing airport today, we discovered there was an earlier flight with a different airline back to Shanghai; being Audrey, she wanted to hurry; so we changed our flight to a different airline with NO fee penalty!!! How odd was that!!!!! And on top of that, we had the airline's employee escorted us thru a "special" line. No queue. You know, we still had 35 minutes before boarding; but nonetheless, we went thru the no queue line.
Now, that's big cities for you though; when we were at the Great Wall; things were a bit dicy. Well, different standard of education as well as training. At the Great Wall (Simatai section), we kept getting harassed if we had pay our room, or a pass to the gate; well, #1, there was no gate, #2, there was no lobby to check-in. In order to do both payments, we had to get to the hotel restaurant and asked. I believe Miss Audrey was getting "pissed" of being harassed; after an "exchange" with the staff (still a bit foreign to me at this time), she had "provided" improvement of the way things run - logistically. I believed the staff/employees around the wall, the hotel and the restaurants were from surrounding villages that had no formal business organizational knowledge. Thus the poor service.
Going thru security at the Shanghai domestic airport - Hong Qiao, everyone needs to have ID cards of some sort; you know, movement to be tracked. The security guards were so polite! They smiled and greeted you; then received your ID card and boarding pass with BOTH hands!!! After couple stamps and electronically captured your face et al, your ID card and the boarding pass were handed back to your BOTH Hands!!!! Then, when I went thru the security, the Chinese adopted the US no liquid rule. However, I asked if I could bring along my bottled water; well, he smiled and opened the lid; using his right hand, he made a wave motion to draw out the air inside the bottle to check. That was it. I walked thru with my water; no fuss, no heighten panic... Quick and simple.
Then at the Beijing airport today, we discovered there was an earlier flight with a different airline back to Shanghai; being Audrey, she wanted to hurry; so we changed our flight to a different airline with NO fee penalty!!! How odd was that!!!!! And on top of that, we had the airline's employee escorted us thru a "special" line. No queue. You know, we still had 35 minutes before boarding; but nonetheless, we went thru the no queue line.
Now, that's big cities for you though; when we were at the Great Wall; things were a bit dicy. Well, different standard of education as well as training. At the Great Wall (Simatai section), we kept getting harassed if we had pay our room, or a pass to the gate; well, #1, there was no gate, #2, there was no lobby to check-in. In order to do both payments, we had to get to the hotel restaurant and asked. I believe Miss Audrey was getting "pissed" of being harassed; after an "exchange" with the staff (still a bit foreign to me at this time), she had "provided" improvement of the way things run - logistically. I believed the staff/employees around the wall, the hotel and the restaurants were from surrounding villages that had no formal business organizational knowledge. Thus the poor service.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Interesting sign
As you all know, in China there are signs for English and Chinese together. Take a look at this one. This is one of the things people come to see in China. You can still find some of them around but with the up coming Olympics, someone is carefully replacing embarrassing signs with proper English ones.
Who would have thought...
Haha, today is the first day I have a private trainer in my life. Well, the badminton coach I had does not count as a private trainer. We worked on my core. I have been worked over and liking it. This early "retirement" thingy is really good ;-) Thanks dad. I have never sweat so much. Humidity and all but still... Good for my body. I have discovered that if I were not in air cond room or cold anything long, my bones don't hurt as much.
After all these years slaving away at SlackTel, I finally can take a breather. Two things out of many I want to do and I am doing them! Move to Shanghai and hire a swim coach.
At the Hilton Hotel downtown Shanghai, I get both a swim coach and a private trainer. Of course, like everything in China, you prepare your sessions and get a discount. Have not paying the swim coach yet; didn't have time to organize.
After all these years slaving away at SlackTel, I finally can take a breather. Two things out of many I want to do and I am doing them! Move to Shanghai and hire a swim coach.
At the Hilton Hotel downtown Shanghai, I get both a swim coach and a private trainer. Of course, like everything in China, you prepare your sessions and get a discount. Have not paying the swim coach yet; didn't have time to organize.
Beijing Day 1
Reporting live in Beijing. We just arrived about an hour and half ago. Traffic was bad and the taxi driver was rude! Good luck with the Olympics. He dropped us off at the wrong entrance at the hotel and then charged us additional cost to "drop us" off at the "correct" entrance.
We are staying at the Holiday Inn, Lido Place; it's about 14 Km from the airport. Coming in, traffic was heavy; funny when I was here last, you would not have seen Chinese natives flying in and out of Beijing just like any Western countries.
The hotel is ok. Things are bit dated but hey, you are in China, it's come a long way. Just roll with the punches. The laundry lady was nice; Audrey needed a shirt for tomorrow's work; the lady bended backward to help us. Beijing people is known for their hospitality just not that assh*le taxi driver.
Don't know what my plan for tomorrow while Audrey works for the 1/2 day. I might sleep in and just veg....
In the afternoon, we are heading off to the Great Wall; staying there for two days to hike. Expect nice pictures when I get back to Shanghai.
We are staying at the Holiday Inn, Lido Place; it's about 14 Km from the airport. Coming in, traffic was heavy; funny when I was here last, you would not have seen Chinese natives flying in and out of Beijing just like any Western countries.
The hotel is ok. Things are bit dated but hey, you are in China, it's come a long way. Just roll with the punches. The laundry lady was nice; Audrey needed a shirt for tomorrow's work; the lady bended backward to help us. Beijing people is known for their hospitality just not that assh*le taxi driver.
Don't know what my plan for tomorrow while Audrey works for the 1/2 day. I might sleep in and just veg....
In the afternoon, we are heading off to the Great Wall; staying there for two days to hike. Expect nice pictures when I get back to Shanghai.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Arrived back at Shanghai
Now, I am officially living in China; first day, Sept 4, 2007. A life altering experience. It'll be fun.
And of course, being us... We are heading to Beijing this Thursday afternoon for the rest of the week. Coming back on Sunday.
Then maybe head to Macau for a few days the following weekend. :-P Yes, the traveling duo.
And of course, being us... We are heading to Beijing this Thursday afternoon for the rest of the week. Coming back on Sunday.
Then maybe head to Macau for a few days the following weekend. :-P Yes, the traveling duo.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Last day in Canada
At last after the "goodbye" tour from Regina to MSP to SFO to PDX to YVR, am heading over to Shanghai tomorrow. It's marking an end of close to a quarter of a century in Canada. Wow....
It'll be a fun adventure; another chapter to the life of D.
It'll be a fun adventure; another chapter to the life of D.
We will miss you!
I am sadly to say, our closest friend, Theresa McNeil had succumbed to cancer on Aug 29, 2008. A day after her 41st birthday. She was survived by her husband Jacey, daughter Antonia (4 yr old) and her mother Eleen. Theresa passed away quietly overnight after her husband had said good bye the night before. After such a long struggle with cancer and a hair-raising trip from Honolulu to Portland just last Sunday for a final chance with an oncologist, her struggle ended.
Anyone who had shared their experiences or discussions with her knew that this person was smarter than anyone. Theresa had been an Asian analyst in the intelligent service. If people were familiar with Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum spy novels, she was not that far from the things stated in the books. From her office, she commanded all sorts of equipments available.
Darkhorse, California
Golfed at Darkhorse golf course, about 45 minutes outside of Sacramento, on the hottest day there. Yikes. Good thing cart with GPS was mandatory. It made the experience a bit better. I didn't bring my clubs as the US security would have scrutinize every golf balls I brought over. Take my word! Make sure you have locks with TSA feature enabled. Otherwise, the locks on your luggage would be cut for closer examination. Go figure.... Back to golf.
I got this rental set with stiff R7 irons and a collections of driver, 3 wood and 5 wood. The irons, I think I will get some myself, the woods.... umm.... they were various types of regular shafts; that was the cause of my game..... If I were to have my own putter and the woods, I would have easily cut down at least 10 strokes. My final score, 99, same as my future father-in-law. Ummm.... coincidence?
The course was lovely; short from the white tees; the challenging part was on the green. Tricky. The course was hilly, sand traps were strategically well located. And the lips were high. Expect to take a penalty shot if you get in there.
Service from the club house was excellent! Beat the crap out of the Regina city run courses!
I got this rental set with stiff R7 irons and a collections of driver, 3 wood and 5 wood. The irons, I think I will get some myself, the woods.... umm.... they were various types of regular shafts; that was the cause of my game..... If I were to have my own putter and the woods, I would have easily cut down at least 10 strokes. My final score, 99, same as my future father-in-law. Ummm.... coincidence?
The course was lovely; short from the white tees; the challenging part was on the green. Tricky. The course was hilly, sand traps were strategically well located. And the lips were high. Expect to take a penalty shot if you get in there.
Service from the club house was excellent! Beat the crap out of the Regina city run courses!
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