While partaking in the Xmas eve gathering at Pu Dong, I had an opportunity talking to the husbands at the table. All of them had been in Shanghai for ages - late 90's. Two were in the HR recruitment field and one ran/is running an Australian food restaurant called Mesa.
The two in the HR field were talking about a possible slowdown in Shanghai; the leading indicator - of hiring Executives is slowing down. This will lead to a slow down in hiring the subordinates - GMs, Managers, assistants. So next year things may look like a very lean year. Also, they were talking about no corporate culture in Shanghai or China at large; people do not stay at one place longer than one and a half year. Employees only want to make big money; only go where they get pay more; and they expect to be pampered and "cared" for. Employees expect the CEO, the managers dropping everything and "worship" them. This is inline of what I see; kids want to get the "top jobs" without going thru the 'proper training". This is sad; the get quick rich scheme. The two HR guys said there were companies wanting a recruit with "super" qualifications; you just cannot have that. But companies still want it; this has indicated top management still not mature or not knowing what it needs. Also, HSBC a big client from a HR recruitment firm, wants to have 600 new employees with a specific qualifications. Well, it just cannot be done in China. So, companies are stealing from each other for employees from a limited pool of resources.
As to the restaurant owner, he was expressing frustration in dealing with the local food inspectors; forget about the rhetoric of how improved the gov't has come in to accommodating businesses. There are still corruption. A certain "quanxi" (relationships) must be maintained; he rather pays up front then gets surprises, No matter if you follow the food guideline to the letter, you still need to pay a little of "penalties". Doesn't matter; the "paying scale" is based on how much your business' ability to make money. Obviously, the foreign owned restaurants will get levy more than the local ones. This restaurant owner told us a story:
Last year, at 7pm one evening, 7 food inspectors stormed into the restaurants without any announcement; grab all the tables and chairs and sat in the middle of the restaurant; smoking and talking. So, the owner sent out the chinese speaking local manager to inquire. One of the food inspectors rose and walked into the kitchen; after a while, came out and served a notice of RMB$5,000 for rule violation. The owner had to appear at the food inspection office to pay the fine and "explained". After those inspectors left, the chinese manager laughed. The reason there was such a dramatized "show of force" moment before was that those inspectors wanted to extort money from the owner; they wanted to show up during peak customer hours. Well, they were off by an hour as the Westerners usually didn't come in until 8pm.
That's one of many stories you can hear from businesses. Doing business in China is still.....
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Flying on Christmas day
Flying on Christmas day actually is quite good from Shanghai to SFO. There were no line-up, lots of seats. At the moment I am sitting in the UA's Economy Plus section with 3 seats all by myself. Better than paying the US$10,000 for a Business Class seat on a tired 747-400.
Service is par with AC; that is so-so. But you can tell some fly attendance are trying hard to "service with a smile". After flying in Asia, the UA cabin seems very dated, dirty and improving. I am watching very bad movies. The movie skips and jerks. There is no personal entertainment system. Only 12 channels to choose from for audio selection. Will it get worse before getting better? Good thing this flight will be only 9 hours and 20 some odd minutes; good tail wind! Am dragging the looong flight back from SFO to PVG on January 10th. Have to pack my snack boxes.
The lunch portion was quite small. From the look, my vegetarian meal was far better than the regular ones. I think the airline was trying to save $ on "smaller" portion; maybe MacDonald should "downsize" its meals like UA. Obesity might go away gradually. When the snack came, the passengers including myself inhaled the content in record time. Seem the service was hurry up to eat, drink then collect. There was no civility of having your food digested. Yes, the snack contained non-heathy carb as well as fried chinese crackers with cheese. I think my own snack box will be healthier. Since Audrey and I ordered vegetarian meals, we had our own snack boxes; rather than meat with the finger size sandwich, we had what seemed to be tomatoes and cucumber. Cabin light dimming had it advantage :-P
Service is par with AC; that is so-so. But you can tell some fly attendance are trying hard to "service with a smile". After flying in Asia, the UA cabin seems very dated, dirty and improving. I am watching very bad movies. The movie skips and jerks. There is no personal entertainment system. Only 12 channels to choose from for audio selection. Will it get worse before getting better? Good thing this flight will be only 9 hours and 20 some odd minutes; good tail wind! Am dragging the looong flight back from SFO to PVG on January 10th. Have to pack my snack boxes.
The lunch portion was quite small. From the look, my vegetarian meal was far better than the regular ones. I think the airline was trying to save $ on "smaller" portion; maybe MacDonald should "downsize" its meals like UA. Obesity might go away gradually. When the snack came, the passengers including myself inhaled the content in record time. Seem the service was hurry up to eat, drink then collect. There was no civility of having your food digested. Yes, the snack contained non-heathy carb as well as fried chinese crackers with cheese. I think my own snack box will be healthier. Since Audrey and I ordered vegetarian meals, we had our own snack boxes; rather than meat with the finger size sandwich, we had what seemed to be tomatoes and cucumber. Cabin light dimming had it advantage :-P
Monday, December 24, 2007
Xmas Eve in Shanghai
It was an excuse for the younger generation to party and got drunk. When we arrived home by taxi last night, there were lots of "happy" people on Nanjing Xi Lu. This was a contrast to the normal quiet down street I accustomed to. Yikes. Good thing we will be away for New Year's Eve.
We didn't do much; started off by sleeping in until 6am :-P Then proceeded to work on the computers for couple hours. After that, we were beat up by our PT. Long hard sessions; good sweat but couldn't climb stairs again afterward. Hee hee... All sorts of running around. I quite enjoyed walking in Shanghai when the air was cool and still not that many cars or people on the road. Couple meetings later then off to the salon; my friend decided giving me a last minute hair trimming. Kinda nice.
Off we went to Pu Dong area for a Christmas gathering; Pu Dong is a huge development area with a Science and Technology Park, the famoous international airport and new residential development. By taxi from the salon we were surprise how quick it went. All traffic was coming into the city to party. Normally at around 6pm or so, good luck. One would have been sitting in a vehicle generating large quantity of CO2 plus whatever else chemical coming off from the gasoline refining process. We went thru Nan Pu bridge connected to Pu Dong, as we "climb" up to the bridge; yes, "climb" as in driving in circular upward path similar to a parkade; at each level, we had the US imitation exits which could have caused serious accident as the exit and entrance are pretty much on the same curve with a driver concentrating on the round and round, dizzing effect, blind exit and entrance signs hanging high up... O where was I now? O right..... after much dizzing climb to the bridge; didn't take us long arriving at the destination; 20 minutes. For that far a distance, about 35Km, only less than CAD$10.00.
By the time we got back home, we were too tired to pack... Time for bed............
We didn't do much; started off by sleeping in until 6am :-P Then proceeded to work on the computers for couple hours. After that, we were beat up by our PT. Long hard sessions; good sweat but couldn't climb stairs again afterward. Hee hee... All sorts of running around. I quite enjoyed walking in Shanghai when the air was cool and still not that many cars or people on the road. Couple meetings later then off to the salon; my friend decided giving me a last minute hair trimming. Kinda nice.
Off we went to Pu Dong area for a Christmas gathering; Pu Dong is a huge development area with a Science and Technology Park, the famoous international airport and new residential development. By taxi from the salon we were surprise how quick it went. All traffic was coming into the city to party. Normally at around 6pm or so, good luck. One would have been sitting in a vehicle generating large quantity of CO2 plus whatever else chemical coming off from the gasoline refining process. We went thru Nan Pu bridge connected to Pu Dong, as we "climb" up to the bridge; yes, "climb" as in driving in circular upward path similar to a parkade; at each level, we had the US imitation exits which could have caused serious accident as the exit and entrance are pretty much on the same curve with a driver concentrating on the round and round, dizzing effect, blind exit and entrance signs hanging high up... O where was I now? O right..... after much dizzing climb to the bridge; didn't take us long arriving at the destination; 20 minutes. For that far a distance, about 35Km, only less than CAD$10.00.
By the time we got back home, we were too tired to pack... Time for bed............
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sore today....
After a much needed 12-hour sleep yesterday, I think I have finally caught up to my sleep for year 2004.
Went to the gym today; man, did the PT push me hard; I liked it but I was sore. Upper body, lots; core exercises, yikes. Sometimes, I didn't know I was "uncoordinated" until this morning. At the end of the session, walking up the stairs to cross the pedestrian bridge was hurting. I meant "hurting"! I didn't walk home but took the subway - one stop and the exit was just in front of my apartment. Two hours later, I was having a massage. We bought this 20-pack for a discount at our hair salon.
After being worked on by a PT, now I was being worked on by this very petite woman with strong hands and elbows. Ouch, it hurt! She seemed to know all the sore spots I had. Hands, elbows, all together trying to "unknot" me on those spots. Well, I am ready for the CIA training camp, Bush! The captive torture sigment that was. Once she worked me over, I thought my session ended; no.... She did the suction cups on my back where my sore spots were. Yikes! Now, those spots needed to be 'sucked" up to the surface so she could work on them tomorrow! With soft voice speaking in Mandarin: "Mr. Lo, no pain no gain! You will feel better soon! " Since I was lying face down, I wasn't sure if Carrie (that was her name) was genuienly saying that or just saying it with a big grin from side to side.
One thing though, I now have a full range motion with my right rotator cup. It was my old injury from badminton that had inhibited my full range of motion. Now, I can stretch way back; and I have a full range of motion. Believe it or not. I do have those little dark round cup imprints on my back to show. Not uploading pictures though ;-)
Went to the gym today; man, did the PT push me hard; I liked it but I was sore. Upper body, lots; core exercises, yikes. Sometimes, I didn't know I was "uncoordinated" until this morning. At the end of the session, walking up the stairs to cross the pedestrian bridge was hurting. I meant "hurting"! I didn't walk home but took the subway - one stop and the exit was just in front of my apartment. Two hours later, I was having a massage. We bought this 20-pack for a discount at our hair salon.
After being worked on by a PT, now I was being worked on by this very petite woman with strong hands and elbows. Ouch, it hurt! She seemed to know all the sore spots I had. Hands, elbows, all together trying to "unknot" me on those spots. Well, I am ready for the CIA training camp, Bush! The captive torture sigment that was. Once she worked me over, I thought my session ended; no.... She did the suction cups on my back where my sore spots were. Yikes! Now, those spots needed to be 'sucked" up to the surface so she could work on them tomorrow! With soft voice speaking in Mandarin: "Mr. Lo, no pain no gain! You will feel better soon! " Since I was lying face down, I wasn't sure if Carrie (that was her name) was genuienly saying that or just saying it with a big grin from side to side.
One thing though, I now have a full range motion with my right rotator cup. It was my old injury from badminton that had inhibited my full range of motion. Now, I can stretch way back; and I have a full range of motion. Believe it or not. I do have those little dark round cup imprints on my back to show. Not uploading pictures though ;-)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Twist cap Wolfblass
I figure I should be civilized by getting a bottle of nice wine, relaxing at home while listening to music coming from Audrey's piano playing. (Wow, a mouth full!!).... Bought a bottle of Wolfblass Yellowtail. It costed RMB$180. That was about CAD$26.00. Even bought a wine opener. Just when I attempted to insert the proper tool in extracting the cock. Well, I have discovered the bottle had a twist cap!!!! A Wolfblass with twist cap? Could this be possible? When it was bottle in 2005? I am not sure where it bottled at? Has anyone seen a twist cap Yellowtail? Well, will let you later if I have survive the experience. I just noticed too, the label has some funky line across the label. Didn't remember having those lines before. Ummm..... And I didn't buy this bottle on a street but a very reputable highend Japanese supermarket next to the Ritz on Nanjing Xi Road.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Shanghai now
Yes, we are back to Shanghai now. And we have 5 days here. That's amazing considering the time we stay at one spot.
Leaving again on the afternoon of Dec 25. Arriving at SFO in the morning of Dec 25 at 830am. We got to spend Xmas day twice. Not bad.
Nothing to report.
Merry Christmas!
Leaving again on the afternoon of Dec 25. Arriving at SFO in the morning of Dec 25 at 830am. We got to spend Xmas day twice. Not bad.
Nothing to report.
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Still scratching my head.
Guessing Singapore's taxi fare is a total art form. This morning's fare from hotel to the airport costed S$40.00; extra surcharges this time..... "Early morning booking". Three weeks ago, I left pretty much the same time from another hotel, Le Meridien, at Orchard Rd to the airport; total cost S$25.00. This time, was a bit less distance but costed more! And from the airport to the hotel on Sunday, it was only S$29.00. Umm....... I guess the best way is sticking to the MRT, the subway; at least I know I am only being charged $0.90 one way to anywhere. But wait, I haven't taken it during really rush hour. Might be more. Who knows...
Monday, December 17, 2007
Chinese labourers everywhere
In Singapore that is. They are from mainland China employed in the service sector. Mostly in hotels as cleaning stuff. The so called lower paid. The more well-to-do Singaporeans don't want to do. I use more Mandarin here than in Shanghai! Ha!
You want better English speaking, best head to Orchard Road. Sometimes I got blank stares on the other end when communicating in English. At street corner this afternoon, I overhead an conversation between two men. They started with Hokian, then Manadarin then English and all in one breath, a mix of all three in couple sentences. After a while, I really have no idea what they were talking about; because I just couldn't pick out what language; seems transformed to a new language.
You want better English speaking, best head to Orchard Road. Sometimes I got blank stares on the other end when communicating in English. At street corner this afternoon, I overhead an conversation between two men. They started with Hokian, then Manadarin then English and all in one breath, a mix of all three in couple sentences. After a while, I really have no idea what they were talking about; because I just couldn't pick out what language; seems transformed to a new language.
Taxi in Singapore
Very interesting facts. It is hard catching a taxi on the street anymore; the taxis are waiting at major buildings or running around with advance bookings. Advance bookings because the drivers charge a surcharge of S$3.50. On top of that, there are peak hours surcharge as well. About S$3.00. Surcharge this, surcharge that. You better start walking or take the MRT (subway). Subway, only if you can stand the "sweaty" smell permeates in compartments once you get on. I was quite surprise that there is not enough ventilation for body odour.
Yes, back to the taxi. You can get a variety ranges of models. From Corolla to Benz, same price, same metering.
When we got on a taxi at the Singapore airport, it was a Benz. The driver trashed the interior pretty good though; stapled Xmas decoration dangling through out the ceiling. On the dash and on the back, more Xmas decorations. Didn't need more reminding anymore after exiting that taxi.
Yes, back to the taxi. You can get a variety ranges of models. From Corolla to Benz, same price, same metering.
When we got on a taxi at the Singapore airport, it was a Benz. The driver trashed the interior pretty good though; stapled Xmas decoration dangling through out the ceiling. On the dash and on the back, more Xmas decorations. Didn't need more reminding anymore after exiting that taxi.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
my HSBC experience from HKG Head Office
Dear Mr/Mrs. Lo,
Thank you for your keen inquiry into whether your business account has been setup. As part of our bank's continuing cost saving and efficiency program, we assume that you should telepathically know the account has been setup along with a valid account number for sometime. Our bank has provided a humanoid taking inquiry messages pretending the bank is concerned with your well being and your business needs. Should you contact your Premier account relationship manager for any assistance, please understand that he/she can only provide you further phone numbers to contact in the SMB unit. Our bank has defined very fine and absolute compartmental procedures in inter-department communications. In short, in order to save cost and pass on the saving to you, we only provide our service half ass. Should you deem a full service is needed, we recommend either switching to a more competent bank or opening up a super Premier account; this new type of account will provide you with a plusher waiting area with more buttery cookies and a humanoid providing Nescafe instant coffee with processed cream.
Again thank you for your keen interest into your own business needs. We value your business. Please do not hesitate in contacting our bank again at our convenience. We are busy penetrating the Chinese market as well as plugging holes in the subprime mortgage fiasco due to the greed factor.
Should the telepathic communication is encountering problem between you and the bank, we do levy a small service fee at HK$100 per month for inquiry under 5 times.
Yours truly,
HSBC Banking Service Team
------------------------------------------------
Service excellence begin with US.
------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your keen inquiry into whether your business account has been setup. As part of our bank's continuing cost saving and efficiency program, we assume that you should telepathically know the account has been setup along with a valid account number for sometime. Our bank has provided a humanoid taking inquiry messages pretending the bank is concerned with your well being and your business needs. Should you contact your Premier account relationship manager for any assistance, please understand that he/she can only provide you further phone numbers to contact in the SMB unit. Our bank has defined very fine and absolute compartmental procedures in inter-department communications. In short, in order to save cost and pass on the saving to you, we only provide our service half ass. Should you deem a full service is needed, we recommend either switching to a more competent bank or opening up a super Premier account; this new type of account will provide you with a plusher waiting area with more buttery cookies and a humanoid providing Nescafe instant coffee with processed cream.
Again thank you for your keen interest into your own business needs. We value your business. Please do not hesitate in contacting our bank again at our convenience. We are busy penetrating the Chinese market as well as plugging holes in the subprime mortgage fiasco due to the greed factor.
Should the telepathic communication is encountering problem between you and the bank, we do levy a small service fee at HK$100 per month for inquiry under 5 times.
Yours truly,
HSBC Banking Service Team
------------------------------------------------
Service excellence begin with US.
------------------------------------------------
Singlish
Man, it's getting bad here in Singapore; people's English seem to degrade pretty good. I think it has evolved to a totally different language. I am having a hard time, 1/2 of the time, understanding what people are saying.
Read in the local newspaper three weeks ago. The gov't is sending over 200+ teachers back to English school because their English level was so poor, parents were complaining.
Read in the local newspaper three weeks ago. The gov't is sending over 200+ teachers back to English school because their English level was so poor, parents were complaining.
Wow, AC's Super Elite now
Just got an email from Aeroplan, I am qualified for AC's 2008 Super Elite status. Still cannot figure out how I got there. And after comparing the benefits with current status level, I am scratching my head. What benefits? Just a new set of name tags with different colour and a dedicated contact number. Yuppy! It certainly does not offer me a free round of Biz class anywhere I choose. Just lots of upgrade certificates that are hard to use.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
A Balinese village
The last day we were in Bali, Audrey's friend, Nicky, invited us to his village; to see his new born baby girl. From our resort, his village was about 5 minute highway ride and what seemed eternity rough & broken road to the village - probably about 15 to 20 minutes. Getting bounced up and down in a small Susuki jeep on benches was interesting. That was rougher than the Safari rides in South Africa.
The road from the turn off toward the village was amazingly broken up. Not potholes, but "broken"; repeat "broken". Worse than the secondary highways in Saskatchewan by 500 percent.
Nicky's house was not just a house; but a series of houses. Generations live in the same premise. There were buildings - living quarters, "traditional" bathroom and work shed. There were two trees with fruit similar to Kiwi; when riped, they fell to the ground; the two trees produced over 100Kg of fruit; you then sold to the market. Nicky is in the middle of collecting building materials for his new house on the premise.
We had some fresh coconut juice while visiting; the taste was a bit salty; not the same as we experienced in restaurants; wondered if there were other additives to the coconut when being served in restaurants. Didn't have much as the hygiene factor - his dad, just picked freshed from the tree; dropped to the ground, hacked up the top, made a hole with whatever, then a straw. But the straw was a bit "muddy". They were great hosts but ....
We walked a bit around the village; saw real grove trees and coco trees. Rice fields. And a 70 odd years old woman balancing two long tree barks on her head walking.
One thing you need to get used to was seeing dogs everywhere in a village; then the occasional open drainage; OK, that was the second thing.
I finally saw tempe (or tempeh) in one of the village's stores. It is a staple diet to the Indonesians. Very healthy. You can get some in health food store in Canada or the US I believe.
Every house in a village has a temple. And every village has a community hall that meetings are held; and the population statistic is recorded and displayed. Also, there is a temple for the village.
The road from the turn off toward the village was amazingly broken up. Not potholes, but "broken"; repeat "broken". Worse than the secondary highways in Saskatchewan by 500 percent.
Nicky's house was not just a house; but a series of houses. Generations live in the same premise. There were buildings - living quarters, "traditional" bathroom and work shed. There were two trees with fruit similar to Kiwi; when riped, they fell to the ground; the two trees produced over 100Kg of fruit; you then sold to the market. Nicky is in the middle of collecting building materials for his new house on the premise.
We had some fresh coconut juice while visiting; the taste was a bit salty; not the same as we experienced in restaurants; wondered if there were other additives to the coconut when being served in restaurants. Didn't have much as the hygiene factor - his dad, just picked freshed from the tree; dropped to the ground, hacked up the top, made a hole with whatever, then a straw. But the straw was a bit "muddy". They were great hosts but ....
We walked a bit around the village; saw real grove trees and coco trees. Rice fields. And a 70 odd years old woman balancing two long tree barks on her head walking.
One thing you need to get used to was seeing dogs everywhere in a village; then the occasional open drainage; OK, that was the second thing.
I finally saw tempe (or tempeh) in one of the village's stores. It is a staple diet to the Indonesians. Very healthy. You can get some in health food store in Canada or the US I believe.
Every house in a village has a temple. And every village has a community hall that meetings are held; and the population statistic is recorded and displayed. Also, there is a temple for the village.
Drive to the airport
Time to leave Bali; the driver came to pick us up right at 5:45am; our b'fast was packed - mango, water melon, bananas, cakes. Couldn't really eat, either the road was too windy or we were followed up a string of cargo carrying trucks spitting out thick black smoke. Quite choking! Where were those hydrogen fueled vehicles?
When we arrived, it was under the cloak of darkness; when we left this morning, the sun was up; we could see more. Villages, rice fields, and couple busy markets people were selling and buying b'fast. It had a total different feel. We got whiffs of traditional cooked food as we passed thru some streets. Too bad, we weren't staying for another day; otherwise, we could easily immerse into the local atmosphere; bare in mind though, you do need to ignore certain things - the degree of dirtiness, the crowd, the "local" bathrooms - more beneficial to be man than a "westernized" woman.
Some funny scenes we noticed while driving to the airport.
- A woman sitting at the back of a motor bike carrying two rice bags; they looked heavy. I was commenting about how strong that woman must be; the driver smiled and said; that woman was carrying piglets. Wow, that explained the sound we heard. The woman was on her way to the market with the piglets to be slaughtered.
- A man was walking on the side of the road; thought he was talking on a cellphone; but no.... He was utilizing his index finger as a 2" drill bit in order to clear his nostril of something; maybe the hole was plugged from all the smogs. I believed I stopped eating after that. Some coordination - walking and "drilling" at the same time.
When we arrived, it was under the cloak of darkness; when we left this morning, the sun was up; we could see more. Villages, rice fields, and couple busy markets people were selling and buying b'fast. It had a total different feel. We got whiffs of traditional cooked food as we passed thru some streets. Too bad, we weren't staying for another day; otherwise, we could easily immerse into the local atmosphere; bare in mind though, you do need to ignore certain things - the degree of dirtiness, the crowd, the "local" bathrooms - more beneficial to be man than a "westernized" woman.
Some funny scenes we noticed while driving to the airport.
- A woman sitting at the back of a motor bike carrying two rice bags; they looked heavy. I was commenting about how strong that woman must be; the driver smiled and said; that woman was carrying piglets. Wow, that explained the sound we heard. The woman was on her way to the market with the piglets to be slaughtered.
- A man was walking on the side of the road; thought he was talking on a cellphone; but no.... He was utilizing his index finger as a 2" drill bit in order to clear his nostril of something; maybe the hole was plugged from all the smogs. I believed I stopped eating after that. Some coordination - walking and "drilling" at the same time.
Done Bali
After a much needed 2 day of rest, we are now getting into work mode for Monday in Singapore; we have just arrived here. Imagine that 6 hours ago, we were waken by the sound of ocean waves and chorus of insects in the forest. And not to mention the 1/2 open air bathroom. You literally showered under the stars! With some luxury items like flush toilet and hot water, of course. Hey Rod, I have finally found a camp site that fits your requirement of "camping" - 5 star hotel with room service. Hee hee....
Anyway, the place we stayed at was called Shankari's Bali Retreat (formerly Sacred River). Audrey used to work there for 9 months in the late 90's. Over the last two days, I found out that we were both in the same place over the same period of time! We were in Hong Kong over the New Year's Eve (Rod and Michele, the trip we took together in the late 90's). And then, she was back to Bali to work and I was at Kuta. How weird was that?
This place in Bali was geared toward spirituality; a self inner discovery type of place. But we were not doing that sort of things. There was no "seminars" of any sorts. We had the entire complex to ourselves with a full complementary staff. At night after 10pm, we were the only people there with the security details of two people. This place needs promotion of doing retreat for companies - like strategic planning and team building. The owner was a very interesting character; she arrived Bali over 20 years ago with only US$500 in her pocket with 3 young children; this resort was her life work; now, she's expanded into jewelery making. She designed all her work; Audrey and I had a tour of the jewelery factory just 5-minute walk from the retreat.
For those of you that are curious: NO, I was not there for the World Climate Change conference. I was doing a bit more in-depth than sitting in conference rooms (fully air-conditioned) at Nusa Dua isolated from the REAL problems. How can you plan to save the world in 5-star hotels with air-conditioned rooms? Firstly, with all the technologies available, we can easily have regions connected to the WWW for web conference; rather have everyone flying into Bali; isn't airplane flying is one of the pollutions? And air cond as well? If we want to make an impact, shouldn't the conference to done in community halls across local villages? You could then listening to the local concerns of what have been causing "the problem"? By transporting all delegates to and from different villages, they would KNOW how polluted in Bali has become; diesel fueled trucks hauling goods from East to West. As a statement, at least car manufacturers could contribute hybrid vehicles, gov'ts sponsoring hydrogen fuel cells buses.... At least that would showed the world that things are changing. Just staying at Nusa Duo, a prime Western tourist destination, would really help? Umm..... I have been living among the local Balinese people - more than those 10,000 participants to the conference. We used less energy; candles, mosquito net, coils... Just trying to conserve. We visited a local village where one of Audrey's friends lived. Now that was the real Bali! Broken roads, people planting Grove trees, Coco trees, rice fields. Concern with the change in climate because it has begun affecting their livelihood.
Anyway, the place we stayed at was called Shankari's Bali Retreat (formerly Sacred River). Audrey used to work there for 9 months in the late 90's. Over the last two days, I found out that we were both in the same place over the same period of time! We were in Hong Kong over the New Year's Eve (Rod and Michele, the trip we took together in the late 90's). And then, she was back to Bali to work and I was at Kuta. How weird was that?
This place in Bali was geared toward spirituality; a self inner discovery type of place. But we were not doing that sort of things. There was no "seminars" of any sorts. We had the entire complex to ourselves with a full complementary staff. At night after 10pm, we were the only people there with the security details of two people. This place needs promotion of doing retreat for companies - like strategic planning and team building. The owner was a very interesting character; she arrived Bali over 20 years ago with only US$500 in her pocket with 3 young children; this resort was her life work; now, she's expanded into jewelery making. She designed all her work; Audrey and I had a tour of the jewelery factory just 5-minute walk from the retreat.
For those of you that are curious: NO, I was not there for the World Climate Change conference. I was doing a bit more in-depth than sitting in conference rooms (fully air-conditioned) at Nusa Dua isolated from the REAL problems. How can you plan to save the world in 5-star hotels with air-conditioned rooms? Firstly, with all the technologies available, we can easily have regions connected to the WWW for web conference; rather have everyone flying into Bali; isn't airplane flying is one of the pollutions? And air cond as well? If we want to make an impact, shouldn't the conference to done in community halls across local villages? You could then listening to the local concerns of what have been causing "the problem"? By transporting all delegates to and from different villages, they would KNOW how polluted in Bali has become; diesel fueled trucks hauling goods from East to West. As a statement, at least car manufacturers could contribute hybrid vehicles, gov'ts sponsoring hydrogen fuel cells buses.... At least that would showed the world that things are changing. Just staying at Nusa Duo, a prime Western tourist destination, would really help? Umm..... I have been living among the local Balinese people - more than those 10,000 participants to the conference. We used less energy; candles, mosquito net, coils... Just trying to conserve. We visited a local village where one of Audrey's friends lived. Now that was the real Bali! Broken roads, people planting Grove trees, Coco trees, rice fields. Concern with the change in climate because it has begun affecting their livelihood.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Middle Eastern food in Cikarang
Yeah right. Last night we went to a recommended restaurant amid traffic grid lock. Took us about 40 minutes from the hotel to restaurant normally would have taken 10 minutes - on a well developed road system that is.
The restaurant is called Al Hambra; it is branded as middle eastern food; but I don't really see much on the menu; saw Western, Chinese, Indonesia and a very small selection of considered middle eastern. Finding vegetarian for Audrey was a challenge in this town. The food wasn't as advertised. We had a hard time getting vegetarian food. O well. I did, ordered Indonesian food in this Middle Eastern establishment; oxtail soup and squid with rice. The oxtail soup was a mail all by itself; 3 huge slaps of oxtail. And it came with rice. That was labeled under "Starters". In this town, you have to roll with the punches when ordering. Cannot expect any sophistication like in more well developed areas. Audrey's salad came out totally different than from the menu; the reason: no more ingredients. So, they were hoping she didn't notice; yeah right! Had they known... There were no one in the restaurant; only us; it was a 3-story house. Guess everyone was too busy stuck in traffic. The town is an industrial one; so should not expect much. People were friendly though.
I think I can classify the area we are in as little Korea/China/Japan; there are so many Korean, Chinese and Japanese restaurants; but fail to find any authentic Indonesian food. Call this progress? We even found a bar called Cheers. There are some authentic Indonesian food if your stomach can handle the street side hawkers; as we inched forward to the restaurants, there were lots of street hawkers setup for business, right on top of pools of waters from the heavy rain earlier in the afternoon; with lamps stringed out from god knows where and pieces of clothes shielding customers from the exhaust. Customers sat on the hard wooden benches. Did not see any locals sampling; only saw three or four people on couple blocks along the street eating; not a good sanitary condition. Most I saw, sat in much more well "cleaner" and "hipper" restaurants - rib places!
I see progress but people are losing out on the traditional food. Everyone long for Western type of things; KFC and Dunkin Dougnuts, Nokia and Sony, Costco type store and Supermarket with frozen food. Well, let see what happen in Bali tomorrow. It will be interesting to see.
The restaurant is called Al Hambra; it is branded as middle eastern food; but I don't really see much on the menu; saw Western, Chinese, Indonesia and a very small selection of considered middle eastern. Finding vegetarian for Audrey was a challenge in this town. The food wasn't as advertised. We had a hard time getting vegetarian food. O well. I did, ordered Indonesian food in this Middle Eastern establishment; oxtail soup and squid with rice. The oxtail soup was a mail all by itself; 3 huge slaps of oxtail. And it came with rice. That was labeled under "Starters". In this town, you have to roll with the punches when ordering. Cannot expect any sophistication like in more well developed areas. Audrey's salad came out totally different than from the menu; the reason: no more ingredients. So, they were hoping she didn't notice; yeah right! Had they known... There were no one in the restaurant; only us; it was a 3-story house. Guess everyone was too busy stuck in traffic. The town is an industrial one; so should not expect much. People were friendly though.
I think I can classify the area we are in as little Korea/China/Japan; there are so many Korean, Chinese and Japanese restaurants; but fail to find any authentic Indonesian food. Call this progress? We even found a bar called Cheers. There are some authentic Indonesian food if your stomach can handle the street side hawkers; as we inched forward to the restaurants, there were lots of street hawkers setup for business, right on top of pools of waters from the heavy rain earlier in the afternoon; with lamps stringed out from god knows where and pieces of clothes shielding customers from the exhaust. Customers sat on the hard wooden benches. Did not see any locals sampling; only saw three or four people on couple blocks along the street eating; not a good sanitary condition. Most I saw, sat in much more well "cleaner" and "hipper" restaurants - rib places!
I see progress but people are losing out on the traditional food. Everyone long for Western type of things; KFC and Dunkin Dougnuts, Nokia and Sony, Costco type store and Supermarket with frozen food. Well, let see what happen in Bali tomorrow. It will be interesting to see.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Traffic jam
Man, going from our hotel to the industrial park where Audrey is teaching was a major headache. We were double-backed, criss-crossed and nudged. In order to move toward our destination, we had to double-backed getting onto the highway; from the hotel to the highway entrance took over 30 minutes plus; Mostly, we were stuck in traffic moving at a sub impulse power of about 1/2 meter per 5 to 6 minutes. The road was half built. So, you were either on the elevated part or the dirt part of the road. Once, you were on the elevated part, you are stuck there.
Free way driving was interesting; you just pick a lane and drive, shoulder included. Seat belt hence was a must. Saw couple abandoned trucks in the ditch; crashed one. Entirely on their sides; one even had the front end completely crushed - passenger cabin flattened.
I think the town was built before the road.
Free way driving was interesting; you just pick a lane and drive, shoulder included. Seat belt hence was a must. Saw couple abandoned trucks in the ditch; crashed one. Entirely on their sides; one even had the front end completely crushed - passenger cabin flattened.
I think the town was built before the road.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Saw the A380
Saw the A380 parked at the gate as we were taxing out to the runway yesterday; from afar, it was not that big but I am sure it was massive. It's flying between SIN and SYD. And you have to pay more to fly this A380 even though the fuel consumption is 25% better than a Boeing. I can see you have to pay more for the Biz and First class; as they are much bigger than anything you have seen. You can even reserve First Class cabin for two. The flight attendants will remind you that the cabins are not sound proved.
I am not sure if I like flying the A380 to anywhere; think about the amount of people will deplane and fight their ways to the immigration hall; imagine if you are frustrated currently with people taking up the entire jetway after deplaning; think about how much more you will be frustrated. And the washroom; good thing this giant is not flying in between any Chinese cities yet!
I am not sure if I like flying the A380 to anywhere; think about the amount of people will deplane and fight their ways to the immigration hall; imagine if you are frustrated currently with people taking up the entire jetway after deplaning; think about how much more you will be frustrated. And the washroom; good thing this giant is not flying in between any Chinese cities yet!
Wow, I am a local millionaire....
with US$300.00 in my pocket. After the money exchange of US$300 in my pocket, I am now possessing a little bit less than R$2,700,000.00 in my pocket after my lunch. The exchange rate at the Official Exchanger was US$1 = R$9,000.00. Tried doing the exchange at the hotel but the rate was much lower then published. Apparently, my US note possession is the "B" series. I cannot get a higher rate. Go figure!! Since when the money serial numbers affect exchange rates? The visa office was happy taking my US$ without even reading the serial number printed on my notes. Maybe some finance professor can enlighten me in a proper financial reasoning. Was there something happened between notes starting with a "B" in the serial number and one starting with a "F"?
I got some mangos from the supermarket after the money exchange. Michele & Rod, hee hee, I got two for about R$2,700.00. Or about 30 cents. And had real Nasi Goreng, melon juice and fish balls for R$33,000. That was about $4.00. Am trying to adjust having so many zeros after the currency and pricing; why not just chop off the "zeros" at then making things easier; I have a stack of R$100,000.00.
The restaurant I just my lunch was across the street from the hotel. There were more workers than customers. A ratio of about 4:1. All the workers looked young like 12 years old or so and up. Umm.... Just wondering what is the minimum age for work here.
As I went from the supermarket to the restaurant, there were lots of drivers on motocycle bikes trying to get your attention; they were the unofficial taxi drivers; nice to see there are some similarity between Shanghai streets and here.
I got some mangos from the supermarket after the money exchange. Michele & Rod, hee hee, I got two for about R$2,700.00. Or about 30 cents. And had real Nasi Goreng, melon juice and fish balls for R$33,000. That was about $4.00. Am trying to adjust having so many zeros after the currency and pricing; why not just chop off the "zeros" at then making things easier; I have a stack of R$100,000.00.
The restaurant I just my lunch was across the street from the hotel. There were more workers than customers. A ratio of about 4:1. All the workers looked young like 12 years old or so and up. Umm.... Just wondering what is the minimum age for work here.
As I went from the supermarket to the restaurant, there were lots of drivers on motocycle bikes trying to get your attention; they were the unofficial taxi drivers; nice to see there are some similarity between Shanghai streets and here.
In Indonesia now
After flying 5 hours or so from PVG to SIN, then 1 hour 20 min from SIN to CGK, we are finally here! And we are not in the Jakarta proper; we are at a town called Cikarang. It is a town "owned" by Lippo! For those who had visited Jakarta briefly with me in 96, the airport has not changed. The only thing is that we need to queue up to pay a visa on arrival; US$10 for 7 days and US$25 for 30 days; being our stays is 7 days, I opted for the 30 days pass instead of 7 days; just in case the rainy season may flood roads. Last week, rain flooded the only highway to and from the International airport; the road was actually built lower then the sea level. Ummm.....
The flight down from PVG was uneventful which was what I liked. Going Business Class helped too. But the food was just terrible. Yuck! The vegetarian meal from PVG to SIN composed of fried noodle, beans and broccolis. The smell from the beans kinda turned me off; it was overcooked and "smelly". What I meant was the smell evoked the much buried pre-90's airplane food smell that caused me vomited from HKG to Heathrow in the 80's. Tried washing some down with coffee was not good; as the the coffee was worst then Tim Horton's by several miles. :-( The thought of having some red wine or Scotch with water occurred to me - need stronger liquid. Singapore airline; wonder what happened? So maybe Frank and Jean were right about the food. Once landed in SIN, we had about an hour; besides went to the washroom as soon as we landed, we went to the lounge; at least there was that place with semi-eatable food. We had the usual sandwiches - "ok la" as the Singaporeans would have said. I did, however, washed down my food w/ a glass of simulated Caesar, extra spicy. Brent would have a hay day in there ;-) Hee hee....
An hour later after arrived in SIN, we departed to our final destination; this time, I opted out the vegetarian meal; poor Audrey, this time the dish came with heavy gravy covering up the not too appetizing noodle and mushroom; always noodle with some sort of mushrooms or cabbage or broccolis. An hour and 20 minutes, we arrived! When the plane was descending, we could see lots of residential buildings on outer islands. No wonder there were always property damages with water.
Immigration was a breeze; friendly buggers too! Not like we went back in 96. When we left the airport, no one collected our custom cards even though we attempted handing them in to someone.
The ride to the hotel from the airport was also non-eventful; it was all well developed highways with crazy driving like Shanghai, except with must faster speed (over 110KM/hr) and a driver with much better manual shifting than Shanghai ones.
The hotel staff are friendly; except they cannot communicate well with English; guess just like me with Mandarin in Shanghai. And things are bit backwards here. There are not enough adapters available; am going to head to a mall in the morning.
Food at this restaurant is very bad; my vegetable curry was made with pre-mixed curry, canned mushrooms, canned carrots, canned everything vegetable; you would figure there are more local dishes; all I saw was Gado Gado; and not the type I accustomed to.
About the car ride, will be tomorrow's report..... Have to save battery.
The flight down from PVG was uneventful which was what I liked. Going Business Class helped too. But the food was just terrible. Yuck! The vegetarian meal from PVG to SIN composed of fried noodle, beans and broccolis. The smell from the beans kinda turned me off; it was overcooked and "smelly". What I meant was the smell evoked the much buried pre-90's airplane food smell that caused me vomited from HKG to Heathrow in the 80's. Tried washing some down with coffee was not good; as the the coffee was worst then Tim Horton's by several miles. :-( The thought of having some red wine or Scotch with water occurred to me - need stronger liquid. Singapore airline; wonder what happened? So maybe Frank and Jean were right about the food. Once landed in SIN, we had about an hour; besides went to the washroom as soon as we landed, we went to the lounge; at least there was that place with semi-eatable food. We had the usual sandwiches - "ok la" as the Singaporeans would have said. I did, however, washed down my food w/ a glass of simulated Caesar, extra spicy. Brent would have a hay day in there ;-) Hee hee....
An hour later after arrived in SIN, we departed to our final destination; this time, I opted out the vegetarian meal; poor Audrey, this time the dish came with heavy gravy covering up the not too appetizing noodle and mushroom; always noodle with some sort of mushrooms or cabbage or broccolis. An hour and 20 minutes, we arrived! When the plane was descending, we could see lots of residential buildings on outer islands. No wonder there were always property damages with water.
Immigration was a breeze; friendly buggers too! Not like we went back in 96. When we left the airport, no one collected our custom cards even though we attempted handing them in to someone.
The ride to the hotel from the airport was also non-eventful; it was all well developed highways with crazy driving like Shanghai, except with must faster speed (over 110KM/hr) and a driver with much better manual shifting than Shanghai ones.
The hotel staff are friendly; except they cannot communicate well with English; guess just like me with Mandarin in Shanghai. And things are bit backwards here. There are not enough adapters available; am going to head to a mall in the morning.
Food at this restaurant is very bad; my vegetable curry was made with pre-mixed curry, canned mushrooms, canned carrots, canned everything vegetable; you would figure there are more local dishes; all I saw was Gado Gado; and not the type I accustomed to.
About the car ride, will be tomorrow's report..... Have to save battery.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
The night before my second 10-day trip out of Shanghai
Alright, all packed and ready to go. This time, will take us to Jakarta for 4 1/2 days, Bali to 2 1/2 days and Singapore for 2 1/2 days. Bali is a station stop rather than flying back to Shanghai and then back to Singapore. At Bali, this is where we will be staying. Audrey used to work at this place for about 9 months in the last 90's. And no, we are not part of any China delegation to the UN's Climate Change meeting in Bali. I am bringing only a small suitcase. Traveling to a tropical place is so easy specially when you don't have to work in front of people; just the computer, Internet and youself. But I do have locks on all compartments; going to Indonesia, you have to be "careful". ;-)
Tonight, we went across the street to a restaurant we were so curious about. The name of the restaurant was/is "Onion Restaurant". It served Cantonese food; Yuck. The food was quite disgusting. I prefer instant noodle than eating there; now we know. Surprising that place was quite busy every night except when the typhoon hit this Summer. Food was not that cheap. Our regular Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant was cheaper and "cleaner"; "cleaner", two meanings... cleanliness and "feeling after you eat" - not the scrap off the MSG, grease, cooking smell from my body and clothes.
Tonight, we went across the street to a restaurant we were so curious about. The name of the restaurant was/is "Onion Restaurant". It served Cantonese food; Yuck. The food was quite disgusting. I prefer instant noodle than eating there; now we know. Surprising that place was quite busy every night except when the typhoon hit this Summer. Food was not that cheap. Our regular Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant was cheaper and "cleaner"; "cleaner", two meanings... cleanliness and "feeling after you eat" - not the scrap off the MSG, grease, cooking smell from my body and clothes.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Before Jakarta
Alright, I am back in Shanghai. It took a long time getting back. Started at 530am! Replied emails, showered, the usual.... Then headed out the door at 7:15am. My ferry was at 8:15am; but with no taxis in town, I just couldn't take a chance; you could wait for an hour and nothing came. But I lucked out this morning; by 7:16am, I got one; by 7:28am, I got to the ferry terminal; here lied delima, should I chance an earlier ferry and got stuck to the "back of the bus" along with all the gamblers - "hecking" from their throats, listening to their gambling experience the night before in a very rough Cantonese local slang? In the end, I decided just to start quieting down from the running around to HK the last two days.
Everything was pretty much the quiet down, from slow walk to the Hong Kong Station, to the checking in, to the walk getting a coffee, to wait for the guy picking up some documents for me, to the Airport Express, to thru immigration and finally, sat down in the lounge overlooking one side of the runway. Got over an hour and a half, just read. And I had discovered that I am not a beer drinker. 1/2 a can.... Max. Too early for Scotch, Doug!
The Dragon Air flight was packed to the hill. We got delayed on the ground at HK due to Shanghai traffic control; u see, the military takes over everything in the air, so you get this tiny little corridor for the ever growing flight services into China. Just wait until Olympics and the 2010 World Expos.
Alright, signing off; my head begins to spin either from the sloshing around at the HK harbour after boarding ferry to Macau, or not enough coffee. It would have nothing to do with flight; Do u know Dragon Air has air filter that can filter things out as small as 0.3 micron?
Side note: There was a Lo's Board of Directors meeting in Macau two nights ago; due to the share structure, the two most senior directors have decreed the "no-host" lunch on Feb 4/08, will be a "hosted" lunch. Promised, this lunch will have a "meat" component! ;-)
Everything was pretty much the quiet down, from slow walk to the Hong Kong Station, to the checking in, to the walk getting a coffee, to wait for the guy picking up some documents for me, to the Airport Express, to thru immigration and finally, sat down in the lounge overlooking one side of the runway. Got over an hour and a half, just read. And I had discovered that I am not a beer drinker. 1/2 a can.... Max. Too early for Scotch, Doug!
The Dragon Air flight was packed to the hill. We got delayed on the ground at HK due to Shanghai traffic control; u see, the military takes over everything in the air, so you get this tiny little corridor for the ever growing flight services into China. Just wait until Olympics and the 2010 World Expos.
Alright, signing off; my head begins to spin either from the sloshing around at the HK harbour after boarding ferry to Macau, or not enough coffee. It would have nothing to do with flight; Do u know Dragon Air has air filter that can filter things out as small as 0.3 micron?
Side note: There was a Lo's Board of Directors meeting in Macau two nights ago; due to the share structure, the two most senior directors have decreed the "no-host" lunch on Feb 4/08, will be a "hosted" lunch. Promised, this lunch will have a "meat" component! ;-)
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tour of Hong Kong
Man, been to HK daily for the last 2 days; today, I am heading back there early to catch a flight back to Shanghai.
The ferry ride from Macau to Hong Kong was busy and chaotic at times. 8am. It's rush hour traffic for the Hong Kong gamblers rushing back to work. I have seen some ugly behaviours in the waiting areas; enough for me to say "yuck". These people have no regards for anything. Saw two women kicking those massage chairs for over 15 minutes, swearing because the chair malfunctioned and "ate" the coins. They kept kicking and kicking....
Dealing with banks. You would have thought HK being taunted as the world leader for ease of use in the finance part; yeah right; at least from the bank I am dealing with - HSBC. Seem the staff do not know how to think outside the "tiny little" box, have "their" interpretation of rules or not knowing enough English to communicate even though they were adamant about it! A little bit frustrated... But life goes on.
The ferry ride from Macau to Hong Kong was busy and chaotic at times. 8am. It's rush hour traffic for the Hong Kong gamblers rushing back to work. I have seen some ugly behaviours in the waiting areas; enough for me to say "yuck". These people have no regards for anything. Saw two women kicking those massage chairs for over 15 minutes, swearing because the chair malfunctioned and "ate" the coins. They kept kicking and kicking....
Dealing with banks. You would have thought HK being taunted as the world leader for ease of use in the finance part; yeah right; at least from the bank I am dealing with - HSBC. Seem the staff do not know how to think outside the "tiny little" box, have "their" interpretation of rules or not knowing enough English to communicate even though they were adamant about it! A little bit frustrated... But life goes on.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Flight from PVG to HKG
Because I need to get some work done on the flight from PVG to HKG, I have purchased a Biz class tix. Good thing, as my body type and the seat configuration in the "back of the bus" would not allow me having a laptop on my lap (no punt intended) even though for this trip I have my Sony sub-compact w/me. Price for the Biz tix was not expensive compared to AC; yes, never compare anything to AC as everything looks better, much better.
Service was good on the flight; roomy seat allowed my body to stretch and work. Got two seats all by myself just before b'fast was being served. The guy sat next to me got the boot. He purchased an econo seat but decided to upgrade himself. Hmm... Wonder where he got this idea from? His excuse was he read the wrong seat number; 31H compared to 17H. And if you have flown before, wouldn't you know the difference between classes?
It's going to be busy in HK. Getting all the final papers done for SchroederLo Associates. The name just rolls off the tongue isn't it? And then head over to HSBC giving my 3rd degree - no response for any inquiry. My account manager is on leave; the backup is virtually, no backup. Then to St John's to run some errands for my wife-to-be; yes, she has class. St John's, officially endorsed by Angelina Jolie and Wu Yi, the Chinese vice-premier.
And finally my wedding or "monkey" suit has arrived at the Zegna store. Funny, I got the email yesterday; very timely for the arrival. Let see if it fits me since I have not been exercising that much the last month and a half. And while in HK the last 2 weeks, I had been consuming large quantity of Chinese bakery stuff. Last look, still fitting into my size 34 jeans with some extra room - about an inch or so. BTW, wedding attire for guests is business casual or island casual. I plan on putting something on, "island fitting", after the wedding ceremony. ;-) Flip flops and shorts if I am allowed. :-P
As to the wedding, the only thing left is the dinner menu and the lunch the day after the wedding. Still working at that with the wedding planner; island time.
Service was good on the flight; roomy seat allowed my body to stretch and work. Got two seats all by myself just before b'fast was being served. The guy sat next to me got the boot. He purchased an econo seat but decided to upgrade himself. Hmm... Wonder where he got this idea from? His excuse was he read the wrong seat number; 31H compared to 17H. And if you have flown before, wouldn't you know the difference between classes?
It's going to be busy in HK. Getting all the final papers done for SchroederLo Associates. The name just rolls off the tongue isn't it? And then head over to HSBC giving my 3rd degree - no response for any inquiry. My account manager is on leave; the backup is virtually, no backup. Then to St John's to run some errands for my wife-to-be; yes, she has class. St John's, officially endorsed by Angelina Jolie and Wu Yi, the Chinese vice-premier.
And finally my wedding or "monkey" suit has arrived at the Zegna store. Funny, I got the email yesterday; very timely for the arrival. Let see if it fits me since I have not been exercising that much the last month and a half. And while in HK the last 2 weeks, I had been consuming large quantity of Chinese bakery stuff. Last look, still fitting into my size 34 jeans with some extra room - about an inch or so. BTW, wedding attire for guests is business casual or island casual. I plan on putting something on, "island fitting", after the wedding ceremony. ;-) Flip flops and shorts if I am allowed. :-P
As to the wedding, the only thing left is the dinner menu and the lunch the day after the wedding. Still working at that with the wedding planner; island time.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Go figure
I did on online air ticket purchase via Dragon Air (now partly own by Cathay Pacific Airline). It was painless and fast. Even had "verified by Visa" which was good. One thing lacking was the pre-assign seating. O well. The confirmation and notification of my e-ticket were instantaneous. I thought, wow, that's Asia. But then again....
I wanted to leave a day early, like this afternoon rather than tomorrow. Call the Shanghai reservation number to change; first, the Dragon Air phone was disconnected; even though it was on the website. OK, tried the Cathay line, it was disconnected to with blunt English - "Sorry, number no longer in service; click". Alright, tried another Cathay line. This one went thru. After waiting for about 3 1/2 minutes, I got thru. Well, I could not change the ticket from this reservation number; I have to call a special line in HK, a long distance, to change since I had purchased the ticket online. Go figure. Who cares whether I purchased online or not. It was on the darn computer system. This seems there are some "Chinese" version of computer systems that could not cross over from one system to another; well. Darn it. Is this progress or just dumb implementation? Don't say.
I wanted to leave a day early, like this afternoon rather than tomorrow. Call the Shanghai reservation number to change; first, the Dragon Air phone was disconnected; even though it was on the website. OK, tried the Cathay line, it was disconnected to with blunt English - "Sorry, number no longer in service; click". Alright, tried another Cathay line. This one went thru. After waiting for about 3 1/2 minutes, I got thru. Well, I could not change the ticket from this reservation number; I have to call a special line in HK, a long distance, to change since I had purchased the ticket online. Go figure. Who cares whether I purchased online or not. It was on the darn computer system. This seems there are some "Chinese" version of computer systems that could not cross over from one system to another; well. Darn it. Is this progress or just dumb implementation? Don't say.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Brrr.....
It's cold here in Shanghai; even though it cannot be compared to the bitter cold I had experienced over the last 24 years in the Prairie, the not so insulated and brick construction make the cold a bit more difficult to bear (sometimes when u r alone :-P). With the type of brick construction and the original single pane windows (1940's), sometimes, the place is colder than outside. When the wind wipes up at night, the street outside is quite deserted.
Start walking around in my neighbourhood again. Man! One block where shops were vibrant once, gone! Boarded up and being dismantled from inside out. Not just one block, there are other sections along my street, the Nanjing Xi Lu. Google Earth may still have some old record of those tear down places. Bill, if you were reading this, about a block south of the street are being demolished. So much "de-structions" Some buildings were only less than 10 years old. Scary. For once, yesterday I truly felt how dirty the city was.
I walked from my apartment to Hilton for my gym session. All I could see was thru a shroud of something - dust kicked up from all the constructions and the exhaust from all sorts of vehicles (manual or powered). Not good. Maybe it was just a bad day or it is showing its true colour - city advancement.
Well.... Our tickets are in hand for the first half of December traveling. We are actually going to join the United Nation conference on climate at Bali - NOT; but we will be there when it is still going on though. Our travel, this time, will take us to Jakarta this Sunday until the following Thursday. Then Thursday to Sunday @ Bali - Audrey is going to show me where she used to live and worked for 9 months at Sacred River. Then on Sunday, we head to Singapore; no, it is not for a 40th b'day follow-up; it is for work. She will need a bell boy carrying all those extra outdated video equipment one of her clients want to use. :-P Hence my Hilton gym sessions. The from Singapore, we are HOPING to be able to go home on the 19th. Or is that 20th. After that, I am happy reporting that we will be in Shanghai for about 4 days. Anyone who likes to visit, please plan now. :-P Hee hee....
I have just spent the whole morning mapping out the second part of the December and January trip prior to our wedding. I believe from Dec 25, we will fly to SFO then to MSP, to ORD, to RDU, to PDX then back to PVG. I believe, we would have complete the world's circumference at least one and a half this month? Anyone has an exact distance? ;-)
Then with the physical limitation of the Earth as well as airline schedule, we best fly to SYD from PVG rather than going thru OGG/HNL. We would have lose 2 days flying from HNL to SYD. So, my honey will have to make a station stop at PVG (Shanghai Pudong airport in case you have not figured it out yet). Drop off winter clothes and re-pack with better air-flow and lighter clothes for SYD. We should be "home" again by January 20. This will give us exactly 7 days before heading back to OGG from HKG. Our route will be PVG->HKG->HNL->OGG. Keep this up, I might join Phil to take up flying lessons.
That's about it..... Have to buff up my physique; lots of bags to carry in airports....
Start walking around in my neighbourhood again. Man! One block where shops were vibrant once, gone! Boarded up and being dismantled from inside out. Not just one block, there are other sections along my street, the Nanjing Xi Lu. Google Earth may still have some old record of those tear down places. Bill, if you were reading this, about a block south of the street are being demolished. So much "de-structions" Some buildings were only less than 10 years old. Scary. For once, yesterday I truly felt how dirty the city was.
I walked from my apartment to Hilton for my gym session. All I could see was thru a shroud of something - dust kicked up from all the constructions and the exhaust from all sorts of vehicles (manual or powered). Not good. Maybe it was just a bad day or it is showing its true colour - city advancement.
Well.... Our tickets are in hand for the first half of December traveling. We are actually going to join the United Nation conference on climate at Bali - NOT; but we will be there when it is still going on though. Our travel, this time, will take us to Jakarta this Sunday until the following Thursday. Then Thursday to Sunday @ Bali - Audrey is going to show me where she used to live and worked for 9 months at Sacred River. Then on Sunday, we head to Singapore; no, it is not for a 40th b'day follow-up; it is for work. She will need a bell boy carrying all those extra outdated video equipment one of her clients want to use. :-P Hence my Hilton gym sessions. The from Singapore, we are HOPING to be able to go home on the 19th. Or is that 20th. After that, I am happy reporting that we will be in Shanghai for about 4 days. Anyone who likes to visit, please plan now. :-P Hee hee....
I have just spent the whole morning mapping out the second part of the December and January trip prior to our wedding. I believe from Dec 25, we will fly to SFO then to MSP, to ORD, to RDU, to PDX then back to PVG. I believe, we would have complete the world's circumference at least one and a half this month? Anyone has an exact distance? ;-)
Then with the physical limitation of the Earth as well as airline schedule, we best fly to SYD from PVG rather than going thru OGG/HNL. We would have lose 2 days flying from HNL to SYD. So, my honey will have to make a station stop at PVG (Shanghai Pudong airport in case you have not figured it out yet). Drop off winter clothes and re-pack with better air-flow and lighter clothes for SYD. We should be "home" again by January 20. This will give us exactly 7 days before heading back to OGG from HKG. Our route will be PVG->HKG->HNL->OGG. Keep this up, I might join Phil to take up flying lessons.
That's about it..... Have to buff up my physique; lots of bags to carry in airports....
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Pasti not so tasty
Went to Pasti for supper last night; that little "our list of restaurants" to eat. The service wasn't that good; seemed there was a whole crew change; no one seemed to know how to take order, they were just standing right behind you in a row chatting. Wine was good; an Australian Wolfblass - Merlot. Audrey's pasta, she tried choking it down. My thin crust pizza, so so.... Slightly better than Domino's. Didn't know what happened. Ordered desserts, never came despite asking for them twice. Finally had to cancel; then we were being charged for "missing" orders. Won't be going back there.
But tonight, found a nice hamburger place; yes! Hamburger place.... It served vegetarian stuff as well; but the "real" meat hamburger was good. Lots of varieties. And all the patties were home-made. Nothing greasy; after you ate, you felt good and not feeling that huge bloc of grease somewhere between your throat and your belly button. The salad was huge and light. So excited about the place, completely forgot - this new place is called "Gourmet burger" on Shaanxi Bei Lu. "Shaanxi" is a province - literal translation is "west of mountain", "Bei" is "north". "Lu" is "Road". It is about 10-min leisure walk from our apartment. There are other nice shops next to this burger place; very high class Italian shops. O, English friendly place.
But tonight, found a nice hamburger place; yes! Hamburger place.... It served vegetarian stuff as well; but the "real" meat hamburger was good. Lots of varieties. And all the patties were home-made. Nothing greasy; after you ate, you felt good and not feeling that huge bloc of grease somewhere between your throat and your belly button. The salad was huge and light. So excited about the place, completely forgot - this new place is called "Gourmet burger" on Shaanxi Bei Lu. "Shaanxi" is a province - literal translation is "west of mountain", "Bei" is "north". "Lu" is "Road". It is about 10-min leisure walk from our apartment. There are other nice shops next to this burger place; very high class Italian shops. O, English friendly place.
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