Real Estate bubble?

The bubble in Shanghai Real Estate is there but when will it burst? We don't know; but lots of experts are expecting post 2010 the World Expo. Will it? Not sure. But now, Disney is going to build a Disneyland about 20 minutes from Shanghai Pudong Airport. To be open in 2012. Seems, the Shanghainese government wants to launch something big every 2 years. Will this latest keep the bubble going? Who knows.

After an all day tour, iron-wife and I turned around and out to have dinner with her former boss. It's a new area by the Hongqiao Airport; she moved in not even a year but bought this place about 1 1/2 years ago. There were 29 building in the entire development with indoor/outdoor pool. Gym, tennis courts and a few others. Security is high to the nth degree. Swipe card entry only. And the door to the apartment itself, can be opened by combinations or remote key fob. And if you use the key fob, once the door is unlocked, you hear a female voice from the lock saying "kai men la" (door opening). Ha ha, how funny was that?

Anyway, this place is cool; it is about 160 sq m. (1,722 sq ft). 3 bedrooms, two with ensuite full bathrooms. One guest bathroom with shower. An office, a living room, a huge balcony front and back, a full size u-shape kitchen. When she bought this, it was about RMB20,000 per sq m. One and a half years later, it is about RMB40,000 per sq m. Now do you want to sell it or keep it hoping it might go up more? At current pricing, the house has appreciated from RMB2.5 plus to about RMB6.2 plus... Really scary thought here.

Yummy ....

Spent a day with Audrey's US clients touring around Shanghai yesterday. We started early as both still had jetlag from the West Coast of United States. Merely came in last Thursday and off today.

We hired our regular airport run driver with his mini-van. Let me tell you, it was the best RMB$800 we spent - for an 8-hour driving.

First stop, an old area of Shanghai pretty much untouched by the building of skyscrapers. A whole street filled with people buying groceries for the day, eating deep fried doughs, pan-fried crepes, congee and various noodle soups. The aroma was nice but not really want to coat our stomachs w/ grease. Easy in, easy out and quickly. We passed on the sampling opportunity. Enjoyed the walk.

One of Audrey's clients is a camera buff. Will post his pictures once we have it or you can later check at "http://www.mandelphoto.com" He has published several star gazing photography books. But now, has switched to wildlife photography. Take a look at the first picture about Japanese snow monkeys.

Anyway, digressed... where was I... O right, that old area reminded me of old China; locals were curious of "foreign invasion". After that US and China diplomatic exchange ;-), we proceed to this place called: Chenghuang temple. Click link here for a brief official explanation. Good that we arrived early as stalks were not fully opened yet. It was about 8:40am or so. We saw some shopkeepers playing badminton in a small lane inside the temple. And then, the bargaining began. Next thing you know, the two clients of iron-wife had bought two bags of stuff. We weren't even deep inside the temple premise yet. After the customary tour around, we went to have Xiao Long Bao, aka, small steamed meat dumpling with soup inside. The place inside Chenghuang temple is famous for. Took a while, but worth the wait. The soup from the dumpling, wow. The skin, so thin and soft and consistent. About RMB20 (CAD$3.50) for six in a steam basket. After an hour of this tantalizing b'fast snack, we left; but man, the "take away" line up was long, 50 people or so queuing. Now, this temple is coming alive. As this is a 'tourist trap", man did we get harassed. Those that went to China with me in 1996, well the soliciting sellers were a bit more subdue then in the South. We elbowed our way thru. Phew, after 15 minutes of "bu yao, bu yao' (don't want, don't want) and the clients' hand gestures of "No", we made it to the sanctuary of our hired van. O, almost forgot. Had a very interesting experience; Steve (a client) and I were negotiating a price for some toys he wanted to buy. Before we whipped out the cash, three guys surrounded this seller and in one scope grabbed the chair and the merchandise. A bit of fighting ensured. Then the guy that swept the chair away smashed it up by the side of shop. The other carried the toys away. Well, we had just witnessed the local enforcement agency at work to evict unlicensed hawker.

Next stop, Xintiandi. It's a Westernized development by a Hong Kong real developer. This is the site of the first Communist Party meeting. Go figure huh? From a Communist location to a very capitalist Westernized location. Bumped around for couple hours. Home....

Buying a car in Shanghai

Went to the Ford dealership with a friend of Audrey to test drive. Yes, test drive. Most of the operations are the same as any car dealership in Regina; usual chatting, promotions and all... The difference are:

- you don't get to drive the car long and I mean long, 30 minutes max if that. No highway driving. Avoid busy road; don't want you getting into an accident before you buy.

- at the end of the drive, the negotiation begins; now that is interesting. Buyer and manager both pull out their respective cigarettes. Light them and smoke. Conversation going on during the duration of the "burning". Once done, negotiation over. Next...

The Ford pricing have been dropping by about RMB8,000 per month.... Yikes.

Needless to say, friend did not buy as he's holding out the end of the month quota sale. Sounds familiar?

Yikes... Algae

Here's the place, Qingdao, where the Olympic sailing will be.... Take a look at the pictures from this link: http://news.xinmin.cn/domestic/shehui/2008/06/25/1206642.html; one of the beaches.....

Coeur d'Alene Ironman diary

This report is from a friend of ours who has just completed the Coeur d'Alene Ironman. She was at the wedding back in February. Claudia is the name. She and her husband Lakin also adopted a Chinese girl in the same place as Audrey's best friend. Here's the report...


Well, I can tell you, it is definitely true that every race is different and that it's so unpredictable to figure out what will go well and what will go wrong.

I had a great pre-race few days, I loved spending time with my friends, a lot more experienced in IMs. Got some advice and followed some too, but stayed on my grounds with most of my habits in nutrition and strategies. I stayed away from fiber for 2 full days, no dairy either (no ice-cream...!)

Morning race, great weather, a bit overcast but not bad at all. I got in the water 10 minutes earlier to warm up and get my HR up a bit from the brutal impact of the cold water. By the time the gun went off, I was relaxed. I started the swim in the second row. I know I'm slow, but I also knew that I was going to draft a lot in that first loop and benefit from it, I breathed every other stroke trying not to drink or get drowned and it worked. I did that first loop in the mob in 45 minutes, practically drafting the whole time. The second loop I was more relaxed and got into my rhythm. It was actually pleasant...of all things, the swim was the most pleasant experience. It was 2 minutes off from last year, but there were currents going out and the cold water was numbing my feet (I didn't use booties). Most people including the pros were 9 minutes off. I was happy. Swim: 1:33

Got the the tent like a fury, but the "greasers" took a while to put sunscreen on me. I took Luther's advice and ran to the volunteer with my bike with my shoes in my hands instead of putting them on in the tent and running with them. Smart idea, I ran faster through transition and shaved off some time from last year. T1: 5:39

And here comes the first bike loop...I hammered it like a viper trying to pass as many people (not just the women in my age group, EVERYBODY!) as possible. The last 10 miles I had a brutal head wind that made my avg. drop from 18.9 to 18.20. First loop 3:03.

At the end of the first loop I was already trashed. I decided to take the smart pill and slow down, or else I couldn't run. Took my fresh bottles at special needs and the bottles were still half frozen (I froze them the night before) not a good idea...I fiddled with them trying to put in fluids in the aero bottle for one full minute...!

So, I took it easier on the second loop...except this woman who is 41, with a PINK jersey, and a black Cervelo P3 started playing cat and mouse with me on the rollers. I wasn't gonna let her take it, so I SPENT myself trying to catch up with her on the downhills and uphills...but at the last 10 miler flat she has the best on me, she has a tri bike and she's got an edge on me in the head wind. Suddenly the song by Janis Jopelin (Take another little piece of my heart) comes to my mind and doesn't' leave me until the end of the run! I promised myself to get her on the run. However...my knees on the bike were hurting like hell already from the end of the first loop. AND, I had nausea too. Had a nasty time putting down fluids, salt pills and especially gu's. But I needed to, so I sucked it up and tried to not think about it. Second loop: 3:17. Bike total: 6:20

Second transition, I was determined to be faster than last year, so I literally ran like crazy and flew in and out. No more sunscreen waste of time. I was out in 3:47. But forgot to take my bike jersey off and started overheating after 2 miles...i then dropped it with Lakin at mile 5.

The run...well, let me tell you, I hit the wall at mile 0! I was gonna DNF, hadn't it been that Lakin and Francesca would have been so disappointed at me and...I knew lots of friends were tracking me online too...! I already knew that my legs were toast and also mentally I was DONE, spent, tired, unmotivated. I was no longer feeling like a million dollar, despite the fabulous crowd support. I started reluctantly to run, stopped after 300 yards... and headed out to continue the run. The run course was spectacular, all by the lake. One small out and back, lots of turns in town and another big out and back, the turn around at the end of a huge big mama hill. At the first small turn around, I see the girl with the P3 who passed me on the bike, behind me, she obviously had a slower transition. My wits came back, I was in the race again! I picked up a pace for about 5 miles, she was on my heels. When I got to Lakin and Francesca cheering for me she was right next to me. And she passed me right after. But she slowed down at the aid stations and I was always passing her there...however, in the end she had the best over me. AGAIN. At that point, I couldn't give a rats ass anymore. I was so disheartened that I seriously considered quitting. I was having a hard marathon. HARD. I had to shamely walk big mama. I was in disbelief. I immediately cursed at myself for pushing that bike so hard and letting myself get caught up with that competitive bitchiness of mine. I treated that first loop like an Olympic distance and I'm not ready for that, nor I have the right bike, a road bike does take a toll on your legs and when you get off, it's hard to run fast. I was struggling, that marathon took a lifetime to finish. I was nearly crying every time I had to gu, ended up just drinking icy water, but again...it was pretty chilly and I was running in shorts and bra...I could have used a shirt! But it was too late, I didn't plan on it, so I had no special need bag with a shirt in it. But then I started thinking: Man, next week-end Suzie and Laura will be running Western frigging States 100 miler, now THAT'S PAIN, not a stupid 12:30 hour ironman! So, I was finally able to put an end to my misery and when I got the final 200, Lakin had Francesca ready to run them with me. I thought I was gonna have to pull her but guess what: she sprinted like crazy and she pulled ME! I was in shock, thinking I was gonna trip and fall but survived.

Run: 4:32. Pathetic. Last year it was 4:16, but the bike this year was 6:20. It's true, it's not the single sport, it's putting the 3 together, I had to keep reminding myself over and over again. You sacrifice the bike, you run better, you bike faster, you sacrifice the run! I'm leaving the swim alone, as it's irrelevant, being such a slow ass as I am!

So, there you have it...it was a rough ROUGH day, I managed to pull through and not quit.

Car shopping in Shanghai

Well, well, very interesting development; no, not me buying a car but Audrey's friend; so I have decided to put in my two-bits for him. He's about 27-ish. Been driving a VW. Now he wants a bigger car to ride. He has settled with a Ford Mondeo. I am always wondering why I don't see that many Japanese cars running around the city; all I see are: Bimmers, Benz, Audi, all the German-made, US-based GM and Ford and French-made. The sentiment is: Hate Japan. That's interesting huh? Same sentiment from another guy I know who is thinking of buying. Too bad Ford and GM cannot capitalized on this sentiment and make some "nicer", sportier, plush looking cars. Rather than selling the also-run types.

This guy, very funny.... he test drove for a total of 10 minutes! 10 minutes! Wow. The customary thinking is "do not want to impose". Yikes. And this guy doesn't even know what is EBD or ESP. ABS hasn't even know how to use it. But at least he knows side impact airbags are good.

The cultural thinking of the younger generation is very interesting. They want something, just buy; I posted a question last night, in Chinese of course, "when do you need this new car?". He didn't know. "Can you wait for another year and save some more for a nicer one". O... That's a great idea. "Are you really need one this year?" Well, if I don't get it, when I am old, I have money but don't want to buy. It was hilarious.

Tomorrow, we'll go do another test drive; I have told him what to look for and all; we shall see. Good Chinese practice for me though.

Timely leave....

not Shanghai but Nanjing Road West where our apartment is. Scaffoldings everywhere. It's part the "beautification" process before the Olympics and the World Expos. And when Chinese does things, it's not phases... It's all or nothing. So, our section of the street is getting to become a continuous construction zone. I'll take some pictures in the next few days and post them here. When I get to North America next week. Faster.

The building across the street has been jack-hammering all day non-stop. I fell sorry for the workers who use the tool. No ear protection. Safety?

The scaffoldings are all metal rods; at night, the shipper drops off components. Ping, ping, ping, annoying loud. In the morning, the scaffolding is being setup. Pretty cool though is this thing wraps around the exterior of a building with stairs so you can walk from one "floor" to another "floor". This means, I have to close my drapes and lock my windows. Usually, there is a guard at the bottom of the entrance to the scaffolding, but still.... And of course, we have to make sure we are decent when walking around the apartment. Haha....

Wonder when the renovation will be completed. I don't see it to be done in the two weeks we are gone starting next Monday.

yes, as to away.... June 30 to July 18; this time it spans Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Boston and Palo Alto. I search far and wide for cheap flights. Not quite. Because of the late booking due to iron-wife's client delay, I couldn't use my points for a biz seat for her. Bummer. Still I got the upgrades for the two of us on the longest leg of the journey. Two econo tix w/my SuperElite upgrade vouchers is the price of one seat in biz and change. Yikes. Funny I got a very good First Class seat from NW leaving from Portland to Boston. So I took it. But then, on the way from Boston to Oakland, I couldn't get anything cheaper than 1,000 per tix - one way. But then Expedia came thru. Uhh... Sitting at the back of the bus for 6 hours and 35 minutes for a total of CAD$650.00. I'll take it! I try not to book thru 3rd party as the US airline schedules are all over the map; just like the commie policies here. But the price on this is just too attractive not to.

1/2 of our trips, we'll be driving with Audrey's mom; so that same on car rental.

And what's with hotel rooms these days. Just expensive as hell for some half decent places. I thought there is a recession in the States. Did I miss something?

Yes, speaking of hotel rooms. Beijing hotel industry is taking a beating. Rooms are not full; compared to last year this time, business dropped by 50% or so. This, all in the name of national security and Olympics. O yeah, a friend of ours was telling us this story. Last week, a restaurant that was frequented with Westerners in Shanghai had a very interesting visit by the security force. A group came in with the usual flare, announced that all foreigners must leave the restaurants by 8pm and no big group gathering. Anyone found gathering after 8pm there will be detained or arrested. Well, that's one way of making this town progressive and tourist friendly.

We are actually planning to leave China during the Olympics. And we will. Not by purposeful design. Iron-wife will work in Chongqing on Aug 7-8 then on Aug 11 onward in Singapore. So we will leave. But who the heck schedule a teaching course from Aug 7-8? Only those Singaporeans running the show from another country. Once the China fever heats up do you think the students will listen anything but the Olympics? We shall see.

Yummy Indian food

I couldn't believe I could have such wonderful South Indian dishes in Shanghai but I did. Saturday, had lunch with Yuliani and her family. Yes, Yuliani. The former Saskatchewan high performance badminton coach; she brought the entire family to Shanghai to learn Mandarin.

Anyway, we went this this place about 15 minutes walking from my apartment. This place was called Good Times Cafe. It served South Indian dishes as well as a mixed of Anglo-saxon dishes. We ignored. The menu came in the form of newspaper. Menu items were embedded into the newspaper pages. Very cool; you could read interesting articles around the world. The newspaper got printed every six months. The dishes. Yes, was flavourful and spicy. The chicken kabob. Wow... Numerous herbs marinated and then grilled. O that was the free appetizer for us. 7 big chunks! Dolsa, wow. It was huge. A meal all by itself; it came with spicy vegetable soup. I had the lamb. Iron-wife, of course, had the cottage cheese. Yuliani's family ordered various of curry dishes. Mutton, chicken, beef. They all came out wonderful with this unique aroma just like in India. The curry were served in the restaurant's signature mugs. Huge. Prices not that bad, obviously. I didn't have to pay for the meal. Ha ha....

As to the service, excellent. I think the reason why, there was non of the young Chinese service staff. The kitchen was staff with native Indian chefs; the waiters were all Indians; I believed they were all owners. Found a good place to eat. Better than going to Velda over at Jianguo Lu. There, RMB148 per person you get all you can eat Sunday brunch.

my iPod Touch

Never have seen myself using one of these devices in Canada, but here I just cannot leave home without it! Sometimes, I use it in my house too!

This little device has become inseparables with me. Wherever I go, I have it attached to my hip. I think the major reason I use this more and more is because I don't have a car. When I drove in Canada, I just turned on the radio. Why bother with an iPod or any mp3 players.

Here in Asia, I have lots of uses. First and foremost, listening to podcasts while I walk from one place to another. Yes, I was in my little world. Catching up on CBC news hour, Hong Kong news, MBA business school lectures, NPR Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and even my Chinese lessons. I use this as a tool to shield myself from the harassing street vendors, fake watch sellers, beggar gangs and the hoarse of people coming and going. Hey, this device gives me time to gain knowledge on topics I like to know. Way cool. Plus with this iPod screen, I can create Artworks for my Chinese lessons, so I know the characters and patterns I am listening to. (Experiment worked but have to find time to do all those Artworks) Also, when I am flying, I can use it to drown out the ever loud Shanghainese women/men talking. If you don't know the dialect, the tone sounds like fighting; and most non-shanghainese don't like listen to this as well. Then, of course, the device also provide me with the entertainment during long flights. I see the same short films and talk shows over and over again. That's one use.

The second use, is carrying all those pictures from far and wide places we visited and show to people. It's great! No need to lug any computer.

The third use, ah... very important. Web surfing. Heehee.. It's great! Sitting in a coffee shops, hotel lobbies, restaurants, anywhere that has free wi-fi access. I get to catch up on the news and all. And yes, hence it is inseparable even in the apartment. I use it to read my news in bed.

Just these three uses is worthwhile for me. I can see the 3G iPhone will be my next phone.

O yeah, I get to use the Contact list and Calendar in the iPod Touch too; seamless sync with my Apple's info. So two more uses.

3G iPhone.... I might try seeing one in Pola Alto at the end of my US trip. It should be out by then. I know just which Apple store to look there.

What a surprise!

Just when I have given up hopes of getting a Hong Kong Airport Frequent Visitor (HKAFV) card. It allows me NOT to wait in line for over 45 minutes through immigration. Two nights ago, I got an email informing me that since I am an approved HKAFV card holder, I am now qualify to use the e-Channel. Wow, how did I get qualified when I don't even have the card. After several emails, I finally got to the bottom of things. The mailing address they put on the envelope was wrong! Wrote down Suite 128. My suite number was 129. Being Chinese neighbour, they didn't give a flying f*^(*&K. Just toss. The card was mailed back in January!!!! At least now I know my card number and a replacement card is being sent out in the next 4 weeks. That's good. I am going to apply for the e-Channel; what it does is put a bar code sticker to the back of my passport. I use the automatic scanning booth just like Hong Kong ID cardholders. Have my thumb print scanned and stored. I just walk in and out in less than 10 seconds. This registration is good for entering into Hong Kong at any Chinese border crossing including the Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong. Cool!

In order to keep my frequent visitor status, I only need to be in and out of Hong Kong 8 times within 2 years time frame from the day of issue of the card.

Hot, hot, hot

Very hot here now. 34C with very very very high humidity. I sweat just standing around in a dark corner this evening on the street. And my skin felt like on fire... Yikes. That's just too hot. And to think there will be 4 days of this with occasional thunderstorms. This kinda worse then 36C or 38C in Regina during summer time. One good thing, no flying termites tonight.

Attack of the flying termites (part 2)

Finally a break from the rain. This afternoon was sunny, humid and hot. I thought the humidity was at least 95% and 30C. What a perfect "brewing" temperature for insects! Last night, good thing I headed out to get some groceries. Look up to the street lamps on Nanjing Road West. All I saw was swamps of flying termites "happily" flying in groups around each of every lamp. Yikes!!!!! I got smart after the first round of attack two weeks ago. Quickened my pace, got home just in time. Good thing iron wife was so tired from the teaching, so the apartment was dark! But windows were still open and the tree tops were not far from us. I closed all windows and cranked up the air cond. Whew... made it. Avoided the little annoying bastards (had enough when I was a kid in Macau). The outcome: only 6 got in, killed two; but in the morning, my joints suffered from the constant air cond. Stiff and creaky ankles, swollen fingers and very stiff upper back. All in the name of keeping out those little bastards.

Still cheap food .. if you look

Despite the fact that RMB has been appreciated, after conversion to US$ we still can get some cheap food. Today was an example. Picked up Audrey after work we tried this new Sichuan restaurant by the Shanghai Tennis Center. The place is called Pin Chuan. All spicy food just like when we were in Sichuan. We ordered Dan Dan mian (spicy noodle), tofu with thousand year egg, fried green beans (like in Four Seas except better and moist), spicy rotten tofu (don't ask. Iron-wife likes it and so is my dad) and spicy chicken. The last dish, I ate alone. The spicy chicken, it was a dish that has the chicken meat soak in a big bowl of hot spicy oil. O.. it was so good.... The service was excellent. Waiter was helpful and promised to have anything iron-wife likes on the menu converted to vegetarian for her. Right, spare rib? Ummm... Anyway, the food was good. When the bill came, it was RMB191, about US$29. Not bad for that much food. But of course, compared to the locals, that's a lot of money and we could have eaten at our regular vegetarian restaurant twice with the same amount of dishes.

Humid

June is known to be the rainy season in Shanghai; it is wet and humid. Without a dryer, drying things is troublesome. Towels smell bad even if you wash them. Good thing we have a gym membership; we can shower there. The drying reminds me of Macau when I was growing up in Macau.

Thank god for quick dry hightech clothing. My gym stuff dries up quickly; easy to look after in this type of climate condition.

My cheap umbrella I bought last week is broken. What one expects buying an umbrella less than CAD$10.00. The umbrella's fabric leaks too after long walk in the rain, like 4 blocks. Hee hee....

The rain will last for another 2 weeks. On and off, on and off... but then, I'll be in the States, Spokane to be exact to celebrate Canada Day.

Heard around the Delta

Inflation, inflation, inflation, land slide after land slide, Avian flu, Black signal rain, red signal rains.... Terrible things are happening around the Pearl Delta.

On top of that, the Chinese gov't is restricting provincial level officials from visiting Hong Kong and Macau. They are only allowed to visit once a month. I believe this restrictions are due to the upcoming Olympics, and the Sichuan earthquake aftermath. Billions are being poured into the disaster region. And having officials coming to Hong Kong and Macau are seen to be lavish, donations being spent on personal consumption and donations on gambling.

Zegna, the Italian man's clothing store, are not making money for the last months or so. It's solely relied on mainland customers for its sale revenue. Who would have thought. No mainlanders are coming to shop, to show restrain not to spend expensively. That's good.

A Travel Day

5:05am - woke up to check my emails and read what happened around the world
6:15am - cook oatmeal for b'fast
6:30am - feeding time, all showered
6:50am - all packed and headed to the subway, first leg to the airport
7:25am - arrived at the Maglev station, that 400KM/h highspeed train to the airport
7:35am - Maglev departed for airport, hey, it's only 300KM/h this morning, I want a refund... just safety to be 100Km slower this early in the morning
7:45am - arrived at the airport
7:55am - all checked in after walking about 1KM plus from the Maglev to the airline counter at Terminal 2; seems all the new airports are getting bigger and bigger; must be designed based on health concerns. People need to get their blood flowing ahead of the cramp seatings on the planes.
8:05am - thru security & immigration (much much better than the stupid Hong Kong Arrival! I waited for 45 minutes! Only 3 immigration officers! In Shanghai, the goal was getting visitors thru in under 15 seconds per person. By pass Hong Kong airport if possible....)
9:10am - pushed off from the gate
9:45am - finally, we took off; Shanghai air space is getting tighter; frequently, air traffic control holds planes around without advance notice. So we experience the nice NY air traffic.....
12:15pm - arrived HKG airport, long march to the Immigration Hall; we could take the train but decided not to.
------ 15 minutes later, we arrived at the immigration -------
1:15pm - I was thru immigration, no time to eat nicely, inhaled a wrap at the airport
2:50pm - arrived at hotel at Four Seasons, Central after a 25-minute Airport Express ride
3:00pm - off to Macau from the Ferry Terminal
4:30pm - arrived at Macau; helicopter ride to Macau is out of question, too expensive plus the next scheduled departure plus arrival is only 15 minutes ahead of the ferry.
4:45pm - arrived at parent's apartment, checked on grandfather, talked to the nurse, paid respect to the grandma at the temple, called the other grandma on the phone (no time to visit)
5:30pm - ate my lunch just around the corner
6:05pm - got drop off at the Macau ferry terminal
6:30pm - ferry back to Hong Kong
7:45pm - at last, hotel room...., showered.
8:15pm - arrived at the Lebanese restaurant for supper with Audrey's friends, one glass of wine, I was light headed.
10:15pm - walk back to the hotel and just in time to report to dad
12:15am - lights out.

Fuel surcharge...

Yikes! We have just booked our quick trip to HKG/MFM this weekend. The ticket amount per person is RMB850. That's US$122.75. How cheap is that! That's round trip per person! But the taxes and fuel surchage is RMB541, that is US$78.14, about 63% of the ticket. Getting close to one to one ratio between ticket prices and the surcharges.

Heaven and Hell

That is such a fitting term from this weekend's excursion to Zhapu. We were in this little town about an hour drive from Shanghai, south east I believe.

This place, like other parts of booming China, is manufacturing based. And 2 Km away from our hotel in Zhapu is the latest luxury development called Nine Dragons Hill. This development spanned, for the obvious name, nine hills with guards all over the place. The cost US$400 million development with 3 parties; the major one is a textile king somewhere in China. This place target wealthy Chinese. Condos sell between 2-4 millions US. Phase 1 has completed with a 18-hole golf course ( 18 more holes to be developed), a Polo club, a Marina. Phase 2, Westin Zhapu will be open in March 2009. Phase 3... to Phase 11... will compose of 2 International Schools, a highspeed train connects to Shanghai, a 200-unit service apartment, 30 units of ultra luxury housing. All in all, there will be 31,000 units in this gated property. O yeah, there will be a crematorium as well. The pitch is, you have water (the marina), land (golf), horse, and when you die, you can create at the property.

This is a piece of work. Once we arrived, I thought I was being transported to some European ultra posh private club with perfect grass, fresh air, no unwanted people begging, no honking, no almost screaming type Shanghainese conversation, the hills protected us from all the 'unwanted" elements. Yes, of course, all the foreigners sitting around smoking cigars, having wines, watching their kids practicing horse jumping. Then the lunch time horse performance. Then the occasional golf carts with golfers (all Chinese) teeing off with women caddies handing them clubs. In all the scene was totally ridiculous!!!! Talk about creating the big gap between rich and poor! Yes, and all those Polo players with their tights and boots and equipments.

I don't think I want to invest into this place though; the unit pricing is too high, road is too narrow for current Chinese driving style, wait until those 31,000 units are sold and lived in; then the Westin resort. This place will go from totally quiet to totally swamped. Parking, I think someone has forgotten about Chinese people like to have cars. O yeah, a Disney theme park is also in the plan! The Marina, the water has become murky and polluted. Worker are using the same water to clean the side of the sea retaining wall. And God knows what dumped into the water.

Then you have security guards acting they owned the place and pushing people around, driving around with all dark clothing and aviator sunglasses.

Even though the property is being developed as a whole, the management is all broken up; too many layers and too many bosses.

Membership: RMB300,000 a year for a family; that's only for the Polo Club. It includes horses and all the lessons for riding. RMB500,000 a year, you get the polo and the golf club together.

On June 21, there is a demo day; you can try your hands on polo, test driving Marsarati and lunch; total: RMB480 for existing member and RMB650 for guests. Anyone? I just want to test drive the Marsarati. The only place to test drive around there is by the Marina; too small and too tight. You might have the car into the water in no time.

Only happened in small town in China

Question: how many people to change a, nope not light bulb but, a RMB100 note?
Answer: 4 people. One to take your money to help you make the change, one to refuse to make any change just because, one (customer himself) to tell the one with my money to get change from the restaurant, coming back empty handed with no change but my RMB100. One bellboy to finally getting the job done by going back to the grumpy not helpful receptionist to open the drawer full of 20's and 50's notes. Total episode time spent: 10 minutes.

Question: how many people needed to get some white sugar?
Answer: At least 5! One waiter from the Chinese restaurant as he thought I wanted "ming tong" aka Chinese rock sugar; then 4 more staff discussing how to give me the sugar cubes from the Western restaurant in the hotel. Finally settled in a small ziploc bag. Total episode time spent: 15 minutes.

People are friendly in the service sector as they all tried to help; but if you get them to do things outside of the 'norm', they totally freaked out and cannot accommodate. But in a small town, life is just too simple.

We were swamped!

Aghhhhh....... We were swamped! Got home around 630pm last night. Opened all the windows, turned on the lights to unpack. Not even 5 minutes, the entire living room was swamped with flying termites! Yikes. I couldn't kill them fast enough. As soon as I turned off the light, no activity; turned the light back on, they flew around the light in groups... By my estimate, there were a over 30 flying around frantically. So after a while in the killing field, we decided to burn some incents and sealed the living room. We left for supper. By the time we came back, with vacuum in hands ready to do battle with foreign invaders, they were gone! Gone! The only sigh we were being visited by these insects were the debris of body parts on the floor. Weird.... Seemed like we just came out of a parallel universe. We were worry it was the aging apartment. But...

Read tonight's Chinese newspaper online; apparently with the hot and humid weather as well all the heavy rain, these little insects multiply in the tens of thousands, flying all over our Jing'An district. They occupied ATM machine booths, people's apartment, even Hilton's swimming pool. Lots of residents in PJs (yeah, as if they don't do this during daytime anyway) went to convenient stores for sprays. Some houses were invaded so badly the entire wall was covered. An Alfred Hitchcock movie...

As quickly as they came, they left.... and died... by the next morning.

A day of spending in Shanghai

RMB30 - tuna sandwich & sparkling water at Starbucks at noon
RMB55 - Ayi to clean the 1,000 sq ft place, do dishes and laundry
RMB32 - taxi from our apartment at Nanjing Road West to Hongqiao Marriott
RMB89 - a Gin Martini at the Marriott lounge while waiting for Audrey to finish her biz meeting
RMB11 - taxi to Gubei 3911 for supper
RMB189 - supper
RMB25 - taxi back home after supper

The total comes to: RMB431 (CAD63.32); this amount is more than half of average people earn in Shanghai. Of course, I have not factored in the RMB4.50 for my late lunch. ;-)

Shanghai is another big city; you can spend the money if you are not careful.

What a diff in service

This morning was the first of the 9 MBA sessions I am attending about doing business in China. The place to for this presentation was at EF English; it is a huge place teaching Chinese to learn English. The office was huge and very funky. All wired up to the hill. Since there was no sign in the office where the Seminar Room was, I stopped by the front desk. This girl, looked at me, then kept on talking online to her friend. I stood, she looked, I stood, she looked, and kept talking to her friend online. Finally I sternly asked where the seminar room was. She finally responded only after spoke English! If I were the boss, she would have been fired on the spot.

Then this evening, after Audrey's business meeting at Hongqiao's Marriott we decided to try this new area to eat. It was called Gubei 3911. It was courtyard type area with different ethnic restaurants - Mexico, Indian, Thai. We settled for Thai. The service was exceptional every small way. Audrey ordered the Thai tea but the wrong type, the waitress just explained what she really needed and took it away; no charge, got the right type. Nice.... Food was good too.

Can you read Chinese?

The 57 ru!e$ for the 0LYmp!c$ are published today. Interesting though, you need to learn the native language in order to understand them. The English website does not have the equivalent; I guess someone has forgotten that only less than 1 billion people can read this hieroglyphics. Maybe there will be a translation tomorrow; but this publication with one-language only really makes foreign newspaper having fun to yet another blunder of the commies. I am reading this hieroglyphics, very interesting rules. These rules at times are in a Q & A form. For example: Can foreigner hire a Chinese lawyer? Answer: yes, a foreigner can hire a Chinese lawyer. OK, so where do I find one? Another one is, Which group of people are not allowed into China? Answer: (the website has provided a list, an example is:) People that has mental illness, leprosy, TB or STD. Ummm... since everyone needs to apply for a visa, wouldn't applicants be screened out during the Visa application process at the consulates around the world? Another one: If your passport is lost, you must first go to the area's police station to report the lost, then to the Immigration office or the city's resident monitoring office to do a second report. You have to provide the time, location, how you lost it, passport number, expiry date. Well, if I lost it, do you think I know how I lost it and the location? Better have your passport number and expiry date memorized! Most rules listed are pretty much the same as existing rules anyway. So, no big deals.

Heard around Shanghai

Read this headline, what do you think? "FOREIGN visitors suspected of working in the sex trade, of smuggling drugs or belonging to a terrorist organization will not be allowed to enter China during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, organizers of the Games said..." Does this mean these groups of visitors were allowed in before? Ummm....

Manufacturing companies in Shanghai area has been asked to change their work hours and shutdown for a month in order to conserve powder consumption. Friend's of ours, her company has been told to shutdown in a month; no output at all. And change the weekend from the normal Saturday and Sunday to Tuesday and Wednesday. And for an additional month, her company will use its own generator(s) to manufacturing the products. Go figure huh? Do you think there is a power shortage somewhere?

Securities around major hotels have been beefed up for the upcoming Olympics. All hotel staff around the cities have been briefed that non-friendly groups or individuals will attack established locations. Stay away ....

Heard that inside the Olympics venues, you are not allow to bring any bags or snack or anything, just money. This is to protect the Olympic sponsors. Or an excuse to deter potential game disrupter?

A Hongzhou visit

I have not been back to Hongzhou for over 25 years; what a change! It used to be a nice sleepy vacation spot. Now, it is over one million in population. The well known lake, West Lake (Xi Hu 西湖), is so crowded now. And the shore line has been renovated to accommodate the "commercial" side of tourism. It used to take 4 hours on a train from Shanghai to Hongzhou and required a special pass to travel; now anyone can with a highspeed train. It has cut the travel time down to 2 hours. With the travel restriction lifted years ago, people just swamp to Hongzhou in groups. Traffic becomes terrible; forget about traffic rules; there is no such thing anymore! I thought Shanghai is bad, Hongzhou is worst! This little sleepy city has built a tunnel linking one side of the lake to the other. Wow....

As mentioned earlier, we stayed at Shangri-La because of the good pricing; it was good; turned out this hotel used to be call Hongzhou Hotel (Fan Dian 饭店); it was where I stayed 25 years ago. We stayed at the old villa wind. Didn't like it; musty, the air cond was like 25 years ago - regulated by the hotel. O yeah, Microsoft's sale office is located in villa #3. We were in villa #4. No, not the entire villa, just a room but you need to use security key code to get in. Apparently, there is lots of foreign business people do long term rent there. The buffet b'fast and the a la cart was good price. Lots of food too for the price; we didn't get ripped off.

When we arrived Saturday morning just before 10am. Had b'fast then head out to the hill for a hike. What a hike; we climbed up and down, up and down for over 5 hours. The weather was perfect! Sunny. 28C. It was really good as we were away from the traffic and just clear out our lungs from the day to day breathing in Shanghai. Hongzhou has lots of hiking trails marked off in the hill. We used a running trail marked off by this guy who has been organizing the Sun up to Sun down Mongolia marathon (yes, my iron-wife did it one year, don't ask). So, we climb up and down following markings planted by this guy years ago. The original route was 44Km. We decided to do only 22Km. Took a short cut; but the short cut was pretty stepp going down hill. Pretty much straight drop. With my bad ankles, I felt the initial shock after the first few twists and turns with my feet. O well. After 20 minutes going down the hill, we found civilization again! Accidentally stumble across a newly built temple and village. Interesting. In the middle of no where. But then again, with the over development, not entirely "in the middle of no where". By the time we headed back to the hotel, it was pretty much 5pm. We started at 11:30am. Non-stop; only to have 2 water breaks. It was great! All the fresh air, no honking, no people (well, some... this is China after all). By the time we arrived back to the hotel, my ankles were toasted. Too bad I could not float all the way back. If it weren't for my ankles, I could easily going for a 5K or 8K run, no trouble.

For supper that night, we went to a place on the other side of the lake called the Xi Hu Tian Di (西湖天地）; it was/is a place where you get all the restaurants and dessert places overlooking the lake. I swear, nothing like that before in 1982 when I was there! Starbucks; huge! It wrapped around at least 3,500 sq ft easily. Then our famous Canadian ice cream brand name - same! More than 3,500 sq ft of space and packed! We settled for a Cantonese restaurant; it had great food. We had: tofu with century eggs, bean curds, steamed veggie buns, pork dumplings, a plate of stir-fried veggie I didn't have since I was a child, and to top off, we had a steam fish with eggs. The fish was sliced up into butterflied shape and the eggs were pour around. Wow, it was good and was the most expensive one: RMB$168. Over 1/4 of the total cost of our meal. Ok, we had two more people that came with us. Both were Audrey's friends.

The train to and from Hongzhou was really clean; it was superb! Even the toilets. Back in the old days, I remember, it was a hole in the floor looking down on the track. One can actually make a day trip. More on the train stations later. Got to do some house work.