For starter, RMB outside of China is totally useless. Once you get it outside, you need to switch them to some other currencies. But this "switching" has restriction too. You are only allow to switch out RMB$20,000 daily at a bank. And withdrawal is restricted too. This explains why China is still a cash society. Once you have cash in hand, you can do whatever you want; if you have it in banks and want to withdraw or do things, you are sh*t out of luck. I am sure the bank dings you a service fee every time you withdraw.
Then, Trademark setup in China. It takes about 3 years to get it approved; but after you apply you are "protected". The cost of doing all this is about US$1,200.00 per class. Meaning, when you apply for a trademark you apply for a "category of use" for this trademark. class 41 is "training". Class 25 is "clothing" and Class 9 is "DVD". If one were to think of selling DVDs or any publication in China, one will need to have two National gov't departments to approve.
Two weeks ago set the tone for a potential real estate market slump in Shanghai. In the two most popular districts (one being the one I am in - Jing'An), the new apartment transaction count is "zero". Zero is unheard of. There are some new projects out there now are partnering up with Real Estate Agent companies to sell. Normally, these projects has their own offices on the development sites. Buyers just go in and do the business. The zero transaction could be just a blip though with the Olympics running and the stock market in the tank in Shanghai, slumped over 50% so far this year.
Speaking of stock market slump, the collective Chinese mutual funds lost over RMB 1 Trillion dollars! But never stop the management fees being collected. As a matter fact, the management fees collected doubled comparing to last year. Well.... That just shows you.
Mark it down... From Sep 15 to Oct 2, yours truly will be in Regina. Golf, golf, golf. Meat, meat, steak, steak, meat.... Yummmm Peppercorn burgers. Haha.....
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Hong Kong
Scary thought. The Hong Kong organizing committee for the Asian Games said the other day that it did not have enough cash to host this game. It could not provide an "adequate" level as compared to Macau. Macau, apparently, had more cash to burn for the event. Wait, didn't this same Hong Kong gov't just threw out over 1 billion cash to buy votes? That was, used the surplus $ to pay every resident in HK a cheque? If no cash, then maybe Macau businesses should not accept HK $ used by HK tourists, just as the HK businesses refuse to accept Macau Patacas in Hong Kong.
Wonder how far the HK$ will drop if it were de-peg from US$? I suspect a free fall and taken over by the RMB.
Wonder how far the HK$ will drop if it were de-peg from US$? I suspect a free fall and taken over by the RMB.
Outrageous
Was trying to consolidate iron-wife's finance. Inquired with HSBC (shanghai) branch and HSBC Hong Kong office for some RMB time deposit rates. Wow....
The one in Shanghai, because it is a full fledged Chinese bank, the time deposit rates are based on Chinese gov't's published rates: 3 months 3.33%, 6 months 3.78%, 12 months 4.14%, 24 months 4.68%. In contrast, the HSBC bank in Hong Kong quoted: 3 months 0.575%, 6 months 0.70%. It didn't bother telling me the 12-month rate. But of course, it tried selling me a RMB IPO bond offering, 2 years at 3.24% but there is a 0.15% per year, yes, per year Application Fee. What the heck is that Application Fee for? I wasn't applying for the bond to be IPO, I am buying. Ridiculous.
Holding RMB outside of China is kinda useless because of the restrictions and all sorts of Chinese controls at work. This is why the foreign reserve of China is topping over 1 Trillion.
The one in Shanghai, because it is a full fledged Chinese bank, the time deposit rates are based on Chinese gov't's published rates: 3 months 3.33%, 6 months 3.78%, 12 months 4.14%, 24 months 4.68%. In contrast, the HSBC bank in Hong Kong quoted: 3 months 0.575%, 6 months 0.70%. It didn't bother telling me the 12-month rate. But of course, it tried selling me a RMB IPO bond offering, 2 years at 3.24% but there is a 0.15% per year, yes, per year Application Fee. What the heck is that Application Fee for? I wasn't applying for the bond to be IPO, I am buying. Ridiculous.
Holding RMB outside of China is kinda useless because of the restrictions and all sorts of Chinese controls at work. This is why the foreign reserve of China is topping over 1 Trillion.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Make your head shaking
Another HSBC at the finest! I was doing my Visa payment online, one of the fields was "Customer Comment"; that is good so when view my transaction, I know what I did. Due to the "smart" programming with the web application design, I could not put in any dashes, commas, underscore, basically any symbols. Fine. SQL Injection worry. But then, this comment field only allow 12 characters. Right. What? Short-hand? If so, how the hell do I know what I did. Fine. Then I entered "SIG ORIG SIN" and then click the Submit button to pay. Guess what happened? Error message displayed on the screen saying I was not allow to enter "SIG ORIG SIN" as MY OWN COMMENT! My own comment! The reason was this phrase is for Bank reference only. What? The error message say so. So, this made me really scare how the backend system works. How would a bank's backend system disallow a customer comment for customer use only field? By the way, "SIG ORIG SIN" stands for "Singapore Original Sin", a very nice vegetarian restaurant in Singapore's Holland Village area. If I were really "curious", I might want to do some further "expedition". Wonder how this bank gets this big yet lost the most in sub-prime mortgage among all the Asian banks.
Cancel, cancel, cancel
After all my analysis and the hoops we have to jump thru getting a mortgage in China, I am calling it off for now. This is pending my iron-wife's final "ok". Forget about HSBC's commercial on TV and in paper saying that it will help you seamlessly getting mortgage no matter where you are. That is totally not true. Requirement after requirement. This paper and that paper. And ask why you have no company here in China. Hey, I have a commercial bank account with your bank, just at a different place. So it wants your pretty much first born's first born. The price in Shanghai is dropping, in a month, it drops about RMB 7,000 per sq m. At this rate, this is only the beginning.
I looked at the cash flow, the hoops (bank requirement), and the dropping price, better wait post Dec this year. Don't want to be house poor. Even the driver from last night's airport pickup said wait. Price is too high and must have to come down.
Today, I went to see the house iron-wife went to see by herself. Ummm.... Not this house. Even though it was fully renovated, but the quality was poor. Tiles in shower, starting to develop molds. The shower door already had water damage. The hood fan exhaust wasn't connected properly so greasy yellow stain; main floor is not raised; so after a downpour, we could be flooded. And the skyline, it was only a piece of glass overlapping the hole! And then there were animal dropping on the roof just next to this hole that is from a pipe connected to the house. If rain, water goes right in not to mention potential rats crawling in. And this place was suppose to be renovated in March. Some renovation. The stair case was of original house. Uneven, some had higher rise than the other, the steps were short, at some point I had to go side way to step down. With the original windows restored, there were still gaping holes when closed. So winter, we will be freezing.
Building up cash reserve right now is better than waste on near highest housing evaluation.
I looked at the cash flow, the hoops (bank requirement), and the dropping price, better wait post Dec this year. Don't want to be house poor. Even the driver from last night's airport pickup said wait. Price is too high and must have to come down.
Today, I went to see the house iron-wife went to see by herself. Ummm.... Not this house. Even though it was fully renovated, but the quality was poor. Tiles in shower, starting to develop molds. The shower door already had water damage. The hood fan exhaust wasn't connected properly so greasy yellow stain; main floor is not raised; so after a downpour, we could be flooded. And the skyline, it was only a piece of glass overlapping the hole! And then there were animal dropping on the roof just next to this hole that is from a pipe connected to the house. If rain, water goes right in not to mention potential rats crawling in. And this place was suppose to be renovated in March. Some renovation. The stair case was of original house. Uneven, some had higher rise than the other, the steps were short, at some point I had to go side way to step down. With the original windows restored, there were still gaping holes when closed. So winter, we will be freezing.
Building up cash reserve right now is better than waste on near highest housing evaluation.
A Kownloon visit
What a beautiful day yesterday in Hong Kong! From my hotel window at the Kowloon Sheraton (just next door to the Peninsula), I could see everything across the harbour all the way up to the top of the hill and the most far away island on the horizon. It was the first time from all the visits I did this year. The sight was awesome! Crisp, clear, sharp. My eyes just couldn't adjust.
One thing about Kowloon: it's a mess; just shopping but eating International cuisine is hard to find compared to Hong Kong. There was a terrance, hidden on a side street. It has International cuisines, kinda. Aussie bar and grill, Thai, Indian, Chinese. The rest pretty much local Chinese food. Of course, you can go to all the 5-stars hotels for a meal; but just ridiculous. Last week, Intercontinental Hotel had group food poisoning at a dinner buffet. Go figure. Anyway, I had more local food in Kowloon than in Hong Kong.
I wasn't to stay at the Kowloon Sheraton. I was to treat my parents for an overnight trip in Hong Kong, just to get away from all the "responsibilities" in Macau; my mom has shrunk from 95lbs to now sub-85 lbs! Dad's knee is hurting from all the running around, they couldn't eat because of all the "caregiver" stress. Of course, I targeted the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, one room is over HK$4,200 per night per room. I still have work and meetings to do - early! So not able to stay in the same room. So, I was thinking of a suite; at Four Seasons, it is HK$20,000 for the same type as the one I rented in Vancouver for only CAD$295.00 per day! Yikes. Then, I checked Shangri-la, over HK$2,900.00 per night. Hence Sheraton at Kowloon. Two rooms there is less than one room in Four Seasons, that was a no brainer. They had fun; that was the important point.
It just to show they are getting absentminded as caregivers. They use the wrong ferry tickets to and from Hong Kong. I was surprise the ticket guy did not notice when collecting the ferry tickets from Macau.
My flight going back to Shanghai was interesting too. I was suppose to leave HK at 845pm but since I was at the Airport Express check-in early, I got on the 7pm flight. Figured I would be home early. Well.... Engine problem. Dragon Air did a very good job making things smoothly. But some passengers, mostly from China, were like primitive braindead Neanderthal yelling, shouting at the ground crew. Complaining how bad the service was. It wasn't they updated people regularly, provided free water. And swap planes so that we leave not so late. Rather than leaving at 7pm, we took off at 8:30pm. Not bad. Finally arrived back at 10:45pm. An hour of car ride, arriving home at 11:30pm or so. I got iron-wife to book our regular driver to pick me up. It was a good call.
One thing about Kowloon: it's a mess; just shopping but eating International cuisine is hard to find compared to Hong Kong. There was a terrance, hidden on a side street. It has International cuisines, kinda. Aussie bar and grill, Thai, Indian, Chinese. The rest pretty much local Chinese food. Of course, you can go to all the 5-stars hotels for a meal; but just ridiculous. Last week, Intercontinental Hotel had group food poisoning at a dinner buffet. Go figure. Anyway, I had more local food in Kowloon than in Hong Kong.
I wasn't to stay at the Kowloon Sheraton. I was to treat my parents for an overnight trip in Hong Kong, just to get away from all the "responsibilities" in Macau; my mom has shrunk from 95lbs to now sub-85 lbs! Dad's knee is hurting from all the running around, they couldn't eat because of all the "caregiver" stress. Of course, I targeted the Four Seasons. Unfortunately, one room is over HK$4,200 per night per room. I still have work and meetings to do - early! So not able to stay in the same room. So, I was thinking of a suite; at Four Seasons, it is HK$20,000 for the same type as the one I rented in Vancouver for only CAD$295.00 per day! Yikes. Then, I checked Shangri-la, over HK$2,900.00 per night. Hence Sheraton at Kowloon. Two rooms there is less than one room in Four Seasons, that was a no brainer. They had fun; that was the important point.
It just to show they are getting absentminded as caregivers. They use the wrong ferry tickets to and from Hong Kong. I was surprise the ticket guy did not notice when collecting the ferry tickets from Macau.
My flight going back to Shanghai was interesting too. I was suppose to leave HK at 845pm but since I was at the Airport Express check-in early, I got on the 7pm flight. Figured I would be home early. Well.... Engine problem. Dragon Air did a very good job making things smoothly. But some passengers, mostly from China, were like primitive braindead Neanderthal yelling, shouting at the ground crew. Complaining how bad the service was. It wasn't they updated people regularly, provided free water. And swap planes so that we leave not so late. Rather than leaving at 7pm, we took off at 8:30pm. Not bad. Finally arrived back at 10:45pm. An hour of car ride, arriving home at 11:30pm or so. I got iron-wife to book our regular driver to pick me up. It was a good call.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The ongoing saga of house buying in Shanghai
With the initial "framework" in place, we are diving into the nitty gritty things. Firstly, taxes. With a price of RMB 4.5M, the buyer will pay about RMB 175,000 and the seller will pay about RMB 365,000. Who said the Commie is not Capitalist? The buyer's tax includes but not limited to: transaction tax, deed tax, map tax, several service taxes, sale tax and two stamp taxes; then the seller, the major one is the profit tax; it varies up to 20% of the profit. Then, there are the transaction tax, stamp duties, land appreciation tax. So these all have to factored in to the final sale number. I certainly for one not willing to pay for the seller's taxes.
Mortgage, as mentioned before or did I?, old houses, banks only provide 60% of the sale price; the sale price is based on the bank's appraiser. At current, the applying amount of RMB 3 M is in line with the spread for the bank. We shall see.
Iron-wife saw another house at the same area that we verbally agreed to buy. Click here. It's totally renovated and is in move in condition. The asking price is RMB 4.3M; and the owner agrees to pay his own sale taxes; well.... Not having to do renovation right off the bat will immediate free up about RMB 650,000 renovation cost. And provide many years of maintenance free housing; however, the contractor is unknown and we cannot see the "underlying original" condition of the house. Chinese is famous of just cover things up and ignore it. So, for all I know, behind the wall in the living room, it could be moldy and leaking water. Those are not tiles; they are plastic ceiling sheets.
O don't let the Commie fools you. There is a power shortage in Shanghai. With a house this big with all those fancy lights, one will need to apply for higher power consumption allocation. You pay a lump sum. The same goes to new apartments these days if you need more. Always have a backup plan in case there is a power outage; so a mixed of gas-powered cooking and/or heating is recommended.
Well, the bank's appraiser will head to Audrey's friend's house for an evaluation. That will give us an indication as to how much it is in the eyes of the bank rather than the "general impression".
Mortgage, as mentioned before or did I?, old houses, banks only provide 60% of the sale price; the sale price is based on the bank's appraiser. At current, the applying amount of RMB 3 M is in line with the spread for the bank. We shall see.
Iron-wife saw another house at the same area that we verbally agreed to buy. Click here. It's totally renovated and is in move in condition. The asking price is RMB 4.3M; and the owner agrees to pay his own sale taxes; well.... Not having to do renovation right off the bat will immediate free up about RMB 650,000 renovation cost. And provide many years of maintenance free housing; however, the contractor is unknown and we cannot see the "underlying original" condition of the house. Chinese is famous of just cover things up and ignore it. So, for all I know, behind the wall in the living room, it could be moldy and leaking water. Those are not tiles; they are plastic ceiling sheets.
O don't let the Commie fools you. There is a power shortage in Shanghai. With a house this big with all those fancy lights, one will need to apply for higher power consumption allocation. You pay a lump sum. The same goes to new apartments these days if you need more. Always have a backup plan in case there is a power outage; so a mixed of gas-powered cooking and/or heating is recommended.
Well, the bank's appraiser will head to Audrey's friend's house for an evaluation. That will give us an indication as to how much it is in the eyes of the bank rather than the "general impression".
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The fun begins...
Well, friend's of Audrey has accepted the offer we put fore; so we are learning the Chinese bureaucratic ways of dealing with buying a house. Now, that is an experience all by itself. And rules changes faster than the prairie gusts. There are some basic rules, old houses, can only borrow up to 60% of the purchase price; new house, up to 70%. There is a point systems from the local banks for approval; foreign banks maybe better; also the appraiser has huge power here. It can provide you a favorable estimate or not. Taxes, a list of them longer than a baby's arm. Will post them here once I have it. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Still cannot figure out how people can buy and flip in the last 4 years. One house 3 story high; the owner bought for RMB650,000 3 years ago, he is now asking for RMB2.0. Ouch.
Here's a more detail views of the house from my iron-wife's post.
Still cannot figure out how people can buy and flip in the last 4 years. One house 3 story high; the owner bought for RMB650,000 3 years ago, he is now asking for RMB2.0. Ouch.
Here's a more detail views of the house from my iron-wife's post.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
House picture posed...
Haha, very funny; the commie blocked the web.mac.com site but didn't block web.me.com so no even I can view things. The site to look at the pictures is here.
Walk in the park, not really...
Yesterday, went to check out the HongKou area where Audrey's friend has a house for sale. We walked around the neighbourhood. Yeah, totally Chinese. The undiscovered country by foreigners. And totally chaotic. But as we stepped into the lane, it was calm and quiet. Will post photos later. Just behind this lane was the wet market, meat, veggies, fish, fruits, you name it, pretty had them. Also there were two huge trucks just came in from JieJiang with the back full of watermelons! Yes! The price, RMB 1.00 per kg. That was cheap compared to the supermarket where we are living. One thing about this area, there is NO, repeat NO Western influence. A gym, yeah. My wife as usual was very optimistic about seeing one here. Me, on the other hand, not so sure. The demographics, the "Chinese-sy" area. And even if there were one close by, I don't think it will be of a quality that we accustom to. The one Audrey's friend managed was in another "Chinese only" area. The place was a dive. (Note: Today we went to Hyatt on the Bund to check out the membership, RMB48,000 per couple! Ouch. Not necessary. Our current gym membership at the Marriott is RMB27,000 per couple.)
Today, we again walked around the same neighbourhood with Audrey's friend. And looked into the house. Well... We are putting an offer in with her. Just left a message. RMB4.5Mil. It's a 4-story house. If this works out, Canadian guests are welcome; lots of room.
Today, we again walked around the same neighbourhood with Audrey's friend. And looked into the house. Well... We are putting an offer in with her. Just left a message. RMB4.5Mil. It's a 4-story house. If this works out, Canadian guests are welcome; lots of room.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Can you imagine
coming home from your Summer holiday away Shanghai, arriving home to receive this letter saying your kid's school has been split to various locations? And the teachers didn't even know about it until 3 days before school begins? And you are the selected 8 parents out of 200 that know this is coming because the school owner thinks you are "worthy" of being notified? It's true! That's what happened to Audrey's friend. She moved the entire family to Pudong so that they are closer to the school. Even moved the Ayi (a term used to refer to the home helper) - pay for her rent and has bought her a motorcycle! Then this week, you are informed at a special parent night meeting that the school has lost the lease. The students are to be split into smaller classes in different locations.
The owner apparently did not even have a proper licence to register as a school! She got it because she's "connected". Welcome to China. This school has excellent teachers, education methodology and a good reputation among parents. Apparently the owner doesn't even have the right to the name of the school! Wow... what a big scam.
Parents are scrambling. Good school is tight to get into. Always full; but tuition cost has gone up quite a bit; so parents might think twice staying in those good schools and have space available. Here in China, you need to pay in full for kids education if you want a good one.
The owner apparently did not even have a proper licence to register as a school! She got it because she's "connected". Welcome to China. This school has excellent teachers, education methodology and a good reputation among parents. Apparently the owner doesn't even have the right to the name of the school! Wow... what a big scam.
Parents are scrambling. Good school is tight to get into. Always full; but tuition cost has gone up quite a bit; so parents might think twice staying in those good schools and have space available. Here in China, you need to pay in full for kids education if you want a good one.
Day 5 or is it Day 6?
I cannot keep track of the apartment hunting anymore. Today, we again saw the Singaporean development in details. We armed with all the measurements of our furnitures to see if we can have them in. Guess what! This place does not allow any outside furniture! For RMB 7.0 Million, I cannot have my furnitures, my own decoration? And has to deal with a washer sitting outside on the balcony along with the water heater for the kitchen? And the kitchen as so low that I might develop back problem. I think not. We went back to do a double take on this place as everything was above the average "run by the mill" developers. But these restrictions are just ridiculous. And we wouldn't be allowed having our bikes in the place. They showed us the place in the basement that we can safely store them. I think NOT. My iron-wife's new bike will cost more than one year of someone's salary. No this, no that. Never mind.
We happened to see an advert banner hanging on a balcony of the same development but is new and freely renovate. I like it better; the space is basically just roughed in with walls and all the PVC pipings and marked drainage areas. Just concrete walls and floor. Renovation to your heart content. This is how new development is being sold in Shanghai and rest of China. We for the first time since looking at the house, took out a measuring tape to measure and to discuss where things could be placed. The two realtors we called about to view this place was very professional and helpful (compared to the ones we engaged, more later). Air Con units are included, just not installed until the renovation is started. This placed is asking for RMB 5.96 Million for 128 sq meters. RMB 5.2/sq meters per month as management fee. We'll see. It's a buyers market right now. This place has been on the market for 3 months. Surprised not sold yet. The original was RMB 40,000 per sq meters when the owner bought it. This is a "possible".
Then at lunch time, we were bouncing questions to a long time resident of Shanghai who has been buying old houses in town for a long time, friend's of Audrey; she told us a lot about the market and the pro's and con's of old house and new apartment; just confirmed my understanding and evaluations. Basically the place with that weird bathroom and kitchen situation, just don't bother. This friend of Audrey has her former resident left empty; she and her family have moved to Pudong area for her children schooling. So her place is potentially up for sale. She was thinking about RMB5.0Million; it is a small house with 4 stories; 240 sq meters. Totally renovated and basically can just move in and live. Well, I am heading over to see it this Saturday. Might want to snatch it before being listed. OK, it has enough room for guests (family of four) to stay for a holiday. And won't even feel crowded at all. The only problem is this place is far away from our current location. The area is totally 'Chinese'. Forget about foreigners. That's just fine with us. One thing, it is not far from the Bund. Only a 5-minute car ride. So this just maybe....
That's pretty much for the house hunting for now. Need to settle down to list what's what on a priority list.
O yeah, that two realtors that have been accompanying us. The manager really wanted to do a sale, and had been pressuring Audrey to buy that weird apartment with the bathroom and kitchen situation. We asked to see other places but she's leaning not wanting us to see anything else but do a deal with that unit. Sorry, not me; yet my wife still wanted to. But in the end, No means No. Not just because there is a 100 sq meters garden; the actual living space is only 80 sq meters. Might not see them at all after today.
We happened to see an advert banner hanging on a balcony of the same development but is new and freely renovate. I like it better; the space is basically just roughed in with walls and all the PVC pipings and marked drainage areas. Just concrete walls and floor. Renovation to your heart content. This is how new development is being sold in Shanghai and rest of China. We for the first time since looking at the house, took out a measuring tape to measure and to discuss where things could be placed. The two realtors we called about to view this place was very professional and helpful (compared to the ones we engaged, more later). Air Con units are included, just not installed until the renovation is started. This placed is asking for RMB 5.96 Million for 128 sq meters. RMB 5.2/sq meters per month as management fee. We'll see. It's a buyers market right now. This place has been on the market for 3 months. Surprised not sold yet. The original was RMB 40,000 per sq meters when the owner bought it. This is a "possible".
Then at lunch time, we were bouncing questions to a long time resident of Shanghai who has been buying old houses in town for a long time, friend's of Audrey; she told us a lot about the market and the pro's and con's of old house and new apartment; just confirmed my understanding and evaluations. Basically the place with that weird bathroom and kitchen situation, just don't bother. This friend of Audrey has her former resident left empty; she and her family have moved to Pudong area for her children schooling. So her place is potentially up for sale. She was thinking about RMB5.0Million; it is a small house with 4 stories; 240 sq meters. Totally renovated and basically can just move in and live. Well, I am heading over to see it this Saturday. Might want to snatch it before being listed. OK, it has enough room for guests (family of four) to stay for a holiday. And won't even feel crowded at all. The only problem is this place is far away from our current location. The area is totally 'Chinese'. Forget about foreigners. That's just fine with us. One thing, it is not far from the Bund. Only a 5-minute car ride. So this just maybe....
That's pretty much for the house hunting for now. Need to settle down to list what's what on a priority list.
O yeah, that two realtors that have been accompanying us. The manager really wanted to do a sale, and had been pressuring Audrey to buy that weird apartment with the bathroom and kitchen situation. We asked to see other places but she's leaning not wanting us to see anything else but do a deal with that unit. Sorry, not me; yet my wife still wanted to. But in the end, No means No. Not just because there is a 100 sq meters garden; the actual living space is only 80 sq meters. Might not see them at all after today.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Day 4 Apartment hunting
Alright, we saw only to units. One was in a lane between our current apartment and our gym. It was located at the end of a series of lanes. To the very end of a very slippery brick lane. Slippery because of all the grims and tree saps and all.... Humidity, no sun, heat, you get the picture. We entered from the back door. As expected, pretty much a bloody crap kitchen with no one service it for over 70 years. As we moved from room to room and from floor to floor, same conditions. Crap. How can people live like that for over 60 years in the same place. And the bathrooms, I just didn't want to get into it. The rooms were huge and square. This place is 4-story high, 5 bedrooms with 2 dens, a roof top garden and a front lawn. All enclosed. Very private; the ceiling was high, about 3.5 meters (on each floor). Need to use imagination to make the whole place "civilized" and "modernized". Well, I wasn't prepare to pay RMB11 Millions for such a large place that will require entire gutting from top to bottom. The hardwood floor was immaculate though. Worth saving. The rest, I care less. By my estimation, if I were to renovate the entire thing, it would have cost another RMB1 Million. Not worth my while. Money sinks in that I cannot get back out.
The second and the last unit, it was not far from the realtor's office. It was in one of those European lane off the main street. But the viewing unit was the corner one facing the main street. It used to be a 2 story house except, as always, divided by the commie during the revolution. The unit was spacious and everything was of original construction. The only newly added was a kitchen and a bathroom. The door way linking the kitchen and the bedroom, yes, that is the only way, had a width of a anorexic model. Yes! No joke. I barely fitted with my arms tugged as tight to my body as possible. It was asking for RMB5 Millions. One living room, one bedroom. The unit was rented by a pair of Germans; they left. The stairway leaving up to this unit was never maintained probably since it was built. And the wiring of the fuse boxes were exposed, dusty and of 50's vintage. Pass....
We went back to the realtor's office and guess who was there to greet us. The sale manager from the last place we visited yesterday; that expensive Singaporean development. Coincident? I thought not. He just talked for over an hour non stop. Bill, he talked nonstop without even taking a breath! Beats you there. Ha ha. The guy explained how detail the developer was; even personally went to a different province to pick trees for the development; and hired a tree grower to stay on for 1/2 year to look after the trees. And of course, the philosophy of owning a place.... Showed us all the numbers. I didn't like being ganged up; but this seemed to be how the Chinese work. I left eventually giving some excuse. Then, headed out to a coffee shop with the realtor and her manager. They want to know our directions. Which I understood as we didn't provide any feedback but just looking. After 4 days, should know our requirements. So we just made clear our choices: the Singaporean development or the ground floor apartment with a huge garden. We listed all our questions for the pair to response. And we are heading back to the Singaporean development to check on the layout again equipping with our measurements. Just to see if all the major pieces fit. At RMB55,000 per sq meters, we want to be sure if we decide to buy. But across the street, a new development to take ownership this September at RMB33,000 per sq meters. Initial offering is not even closed. Umm.... people stop buying.
The old apartment, the realtor's manager warned us about buying it; restrictions of what we could do, not owning the entire 3 story can post problem with people moving in and out, the weird layout that the neighour's kitchen opens to the apartment's bathroom. I saw those problems before; also just found out, I couldn't even move a tree without someone's approval because the entire xiao qu is declared as a protected zone. Also, I cannot break an exterior wall down and extend out as much as I could. So, the entire space could post more problem than I want to deal with. If that neighbour agrees to swap space with me, who pays for the renovation and the cost of swapping? And then of course, someone would have bound to complain about pipe blocking, drainage problem AFTER the renovation. Wife still gung-ho on this property. Me, No. For RMB 5.8 million, totally out of line for a piece of trash so to speak.
The second and the last unit, it was not far from the realtor's office. It was in one of those European lane off the main street. But the viewing unit was the corner one facing the main street. It used to be a 2 story house except, as always, divided by the commie during the revolution. The unit was spacious and everything was of original construction. The only newly added was a kitchen and a bathroom. The door way linking the kitchen and the bedroom, yes, that is the only way, had a width of a anorexic model. Yes! No joke. I barely fitted with my arms tugged as tight to my body as possible. It was asking for RMB5 Millions. One living room, one bedroom. The unit was rented by a pair of Germans; they left. The stairway leaving up to this unit was never maintained probably since it was built. And the wiring of the fuse boxes were exposed, dusty and of 50's vintage. Pass....
We went back to the realtor's office and guess who was there to greet us. The sale manager from the last place we visited yesterday; that expensive Singaporean development. Coincident? I thought not. He just talked for over an hour non stop. Bill, he talked nonstop without even taking a breath! Beats you there. Ha ha. The guy explained how detail the developer was; even personally went to a different province to pick trees for the development; and hired a tree grower to stay on for 1/2 year to look after the trees. And of course, the philosophy of owning a place.... Showed us all the numbers. I didn't like being ganged up; but this seemed to be how the Chinese work. I left eventually giving some excuse. Then, headed out to a coffee shop with the realtor and her manager. They want to know our directions. Which I understood as we didn't provide any feedback but just looking. After 4 days, should know our requirements. So we just made clear our choices: the Singaporean development or the ground floor apartment with a huge garden. We listed all our questions for the pair to response. And we are heading back to the Singaporean development to check on the layout again equipping with our measurements. Just to see if all the major pieces fit. At RMB55,000 per sq meters, we want to be sure if we decide to buy. But across the street, a new development to take ownership this September at RMB33,000 per sq meters. Initial offering is not even closed. Umm.... people stop buying.
The old apartment, the realtor's manager warned us about buying it; restrictions of what we could do, not owning the entire 3 story can post problem with people moving in and out, the weird layout that the neighour's kitchen opens to the apartment's bathroom. I saw those problems before; also just found out, I couldn't even move a tree without someone's approval because the entire xiao qu is declared as a protected zone. Also, I cannot break an exterior wall down and extend out as much as I could. So, the entire space could post more problem than I want to deal with. If that neighbour agrees to swap space with me, who pays for the renovation and the cost of swapping? And then of course, someone would have bound to complain about pipe blocking, drainage problem AFTER the renovation. Wife still gung-ho on this property. Me, No. For RMB 5.8 million, totally out of line for a piece of trash so to speak.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Day 3 of house hunting
Four places we had seen.
The first one was in a xiao qu that was across of the soon to built Shangri-La on Nanjing Road West. Main floor. 80 sq meters of living space with a 45-50 sq meters garden. The place was a dive right now because the owner had wanted to renovate and sell. Very high ceiling. This place used to be 3-story high. But during the beginning of the commie era (or error), it had been divided into three units. From one to 3.
This place has potential. Need to renovate from scratch, of course, gut everything. The asking price now is RMB5.8 dropped from last month's price of RMB6.1. Based on my calculation, this per square meter cost is still higher than than most brand new apartments out there, RMB36,000 to RMB40,000 per square meter. Now to add about RMB150,000 of renovation cost and other compensations to a neighbour, yes, to a neighbour, because its kitchen is right inside the premise next to the current bathroom! To swap space with neighbour, would have to renovate this other person's space. And as a Chinese and knowing a Westerner buying, he will "milk" everything. Ummm....
Second place we went to is a new development by a Singaporean developer. There were 5 buildings in the block; the highest floor building was about 25 story high; not bad. The construction was very good; everything was immaculate. Good security, very luxurious, most diplomats and Western company heads are staying there. Problem, too luxurious and too hotel like. The interior of the unit that is. Owner cannot renovate freely. There was a gym but the fee was quoted at RMB3,500 per person per year. And the swimming pool would not open until 9am daily. Gym, 7am daily. Too late for us; plus there was no place for us to haul our bikes thru a hotel like lobby. Think about the dirt. No place to store our bikes in the unit. At RMB50,000 per square meter, a unit of about 125 sq meters run pretty expensive. Nice touches included a non-smoking area for visitors, a coffee corner for owner and guests to entertain, a free daily breakfast for owners. This type of things might be good for mom and dad to own; they can just come and go without have to worry about the place being broken in. Turn key style.
Third place, was the sister development from yesterday's One Park Place. The one I mentioned only 3 years old but kinda crap with paint pealing off. Very spacious; 3 bedrooms. But no balcony. And some signs of rust and rotting already. And there was an older couple living there. A mess. Kitchen, bathroom. Basically no basic upkeeping. Strike it off; the swimming pool was lovely though. Security was good.
Fourth place and last one for the day in the French Concession area. Huge square place and a huge garden. Main floor. But as soon as I entered, smell of mold. How many spores did I inhale? Only one bedroom with a little dent connected together. The kitchen was long but the width was the size of a 777 kitchen galley. Now that was tight! The tile floor in the bathroom was original in the 20's. Very good condition. The garden, cannot really use. There were people's web clothes and air cond draining from top floors right down to the garden. And to top off, right on the brick pathways. I almost slipped and fell. Algae... Little friendly green things growing. So a huge place but could not be used. No privacy and upstairs neighbour didn't care about what was downstairs. Nah.... Not even worth considering. I didn't bother asking for a price.
The first one was in a xiao qu that was across of the soon to built Shangri-La on Nanjing Road West. Main floor. 80 sq meters of living space with a 45-50 sq meters garden. The place was a dive right now because the owner had wanted to renovate and sell. Very high ceiling. This place used to be 3-story high. But during the beginning of the commie era (or error), it had been divided into three units. From one to 3.
This place has potential. Need to renovate from scratch, of course, gut everything. The asking price now is RMB5.8 dropped from last month's price of RMB6.1. Based on my calculation, this per square meter cost is still higher than than most brand new apartments out there, RMB36,000 to RMB40,000 per square meter. Now to add about RMB150,000 of renovation cost and other compensations to a neighbour, yes, to a neighbour, because its kitchen is right inside the premise next to the current bathroom! To swap space with neighbour, would have to renovate this other person's space. And as a Chinese and knowing a Westerner buying, he will "milk" everything. Ummm....
Second place we went to is a new development by a Singaporean developer. There were 5 buildings in the block; the highest floor building was about 25 story high; not bad. The construction was very good; everything was immaculate. Good security, very luxurious, most diplomats and Western company heads are staying there. Problem, too luxurious and too hotel like. The interior of the unit that is. Owner cannot renovate freely. There was a gym but the fee was quoted at RMB3,500 per person per year. And the swimming pool would not open until 9am daily. Gym, 7am daily. Too late for us; plus there was no place for us to haul our bikes thru a hotel like lobby. Think about the dirt. No place to store our bikes in the unit. At RMB50,000 per square meter, a unit of about 125 sq meters run pretty expensive. Nice touches included a non-smoking area for visitors, a coffee corner for owner and guests to entertain, a free daily breakfast for owners. This type of things might be good for mom and dad to own; they can just come and go without have to worry about the place being broken in. Turn key style.
Third place, was the sister development from yesterday's One Park Place. The one I mentioned only 3 years old but kinda crap with paint pealing off. Very spacious; 3 bedrooms. But no balcony. And some signs of rust and rotting already. And there was an older couple living there. A mess. Kitchen, bathroom. Basically no basic upkeeping. Strike it off; the swimming pool was lovely though. Security was good.
Fourth place and last one for the day in the French Concession area. Huge square place and a huge garden. Main floor. But as soon as I entered, smell of mold. How many spores did I inhale? Only one bedroom with a little dent connected together. The kitchen was long but the width was the size of a 777 kitchen galley. Now that was tight! The tile floor in the bathroom was original in the 20's. Very good condition. The garden, cannot really use. There were people's web clothes and air cond draining from top floors right down to the garden. And to top off, right on the brick pathways. I almost slipped and fell. Algae... Little friendly green things growing. So a huge place but could not be used. No privacy and upstairs neighbour didn't care about what was downstairs. Nah.... Not even worth considering. I didn't bother asking for a price.
House hunting - Day 2
Hot day to walk around Shanghai; I was hoping to dip into a pool after 4 hours of sweat dripping, sun baking tour of city.
First place, it was in a protected building on Huaihai Road. It's a busy shopping street. But this place is two rolls back in a back lane; quite quiet. The apartment was located in a 100-year building. From the outside, nothing was done to the outside. I noticed the paster has been falling off. The walls were cracked and with gapping holes. A mixed of old drainage pipe mixed with new PVC type. And on the ground floor, the tradition type of outdoor sinks were on each unit. Stepping inside to climb the stairs, the wood on each step has been worn out by 100 years of use. At least, we know the building quality was good! Otherwise, the stairs would have had holes. Stepping into the unit, wow. Someone went to great length to renovate. Two bathrooms, one huge master bedroom, one small spare bedroom, one nice huge kitchen. The place was square so the layout of the unit had a very nice flow. The inside was as modern as any North American condo unit. Of course, the bathrooms was still the "not so up to par" area in any Chinese place. Darn it. So if we were to purchase this place, we have to gut and redo. This place is guaranteed not be sold to developers as it is a designated historical building. Right, for how long in a Commie country with everything go. This place was 103 sq meters and listed for RMB3.8M.
The second place was a newly renovated one-bedroom ground floor apartment settling back in a xiao qu (小区）. It was kinda like a serious of low rise apartment block with a huge common area where neighbour could play Majohn or talk. This place measured 90 sq meters. Last month, it asked for RMB2.5M; this month, the owner asked for RMB5.0. Right. One cute thing is this place has a wood burning fireplace. But it has only one bedroom. There was a "basement". But one thing in Shanghai, you never want to have a ground floor. Shanghai is below sea-level; with old area, one never knows the drainage. The real estate agent recommended we dig the basement so we double our space. Right. The guy that was renovating the place showed us the hole leading to the basement. He pull the yard stick up and show us the water level. I could hear the water. And the wetness clearly marked half of the stick (half the height of Audrey)! No thanks.
Then the 3rd place. It was close to us. The main floor of a 3-story high building in yet another xiao qu. It has a 100 sq meters garden. All enclosed with a guava tree. We could see guavas hanging on branches. Problem. The place was only 78 sq meters of living area. Plus the tenant refused to let us in to see the entire place. It was actually a very nice place. But lawnmower again? I might have to import my ex-neighbour to do that. Ha ha. This place is asking for RMB5.0M. I don't think so even if I could expand to get more space. Just outside the entrance to this xiao qu, a new complex is just being constructed. So we will we see? And to the left of the entrance, there are five Western bars. No thanks. People were puking and lying around in early mornings. Darn it; that place was nice but asked too much.
Fourth place. This was a 3-year old huge apartment complex called One Park Avenue. There were 8 buildings, each with about 30+ floors; security to the nth degree. It had its own gym, swimming pool, snooker room, squash court, tennis court, golf driving range. Interesting. This place was 128 sq meters. As I entered the unit, looked good initially. But as we walked thru, I noticed the construction. Rough. The kitchen, the counter was installed too low as well as the hood fan. I looked almost eye level with the hood fan. The bathrooms, dark with "fake" granite. Two bedrooms with a "den". Actually a very small rectangular storage room type space. Walking down to the community hall where all the recreational things were, I noticed the overhead paint already pealing in big chunk just like our current lobby. Yikes. Only 3 years old and pealing like that. From the real estate agent, most people rent in the buildings. The owner wants to sell quickly because he needs cash quickly. Ugh. If most people are renting, this means they don't care about the place is in good upkeeping or not. Then, the state of real estate market is slowly coming true? A downturn. The owner is asking for RMB$4.6M. Place like this I was expecting to be a bit more.
Last house for the day (Where is that pool and beer?). It was another old house nestled in a lane. 4-story high. As the main door opened, a very small enclosed courtyard was reviewed. Stepping thru that area, we entered into the main room. Long narrow. The two doors and the stairs leading upstairs are all aligned. This reminded me instantaneously of old buddist temple with a funeral parlor look and feel. The long and narrow main room and all the doorways and stairs symmetrical layout. The kitchen entrance was thru this low hanging door frame. Anyone over 5' 7" need to be careful. The kitchen was huge but with the square white tiles from floor to ceiling. Sorry, another funeral feel with dead body resting feel. On the other door opposite to the kitchen entrance, it was a midget height bathroom. It had a shower. Yuck, was all I could say. Climbing up the stairs, each floor had a bedroom. Ok la. But the stairwell was circular with very small step width. Dangerous. And as we climb up, the hotter we got. Windows opened to a common "dumping" ground. Reminded me of some shady Hong Kong area in Monkog. The common wall with neighbour, water problem on each floor. I could see calcified water damage. Lots of cobwebs so I assume this place had not been lived in for a long time. The area was 107 sq meters asking for RMB$560. This might be a good place to be completely gutted and start from scratch; but doing so will cost a lot. And you have to oblige to 'compensate' your neighbours.
And if they know there is a foreigner doing the renovation, there will be great complains and compensations after compensations to no end. Welcome to Shanghai, or to China. Pricing between a foreigner and a local is quite different. Friend we just had supper with told us, he was looking for a new rental apartment. The owner told him, for you RMB3,800 per month; there was a Westerner just looked at the place, I quoted him RMB$5,600. So there you go.
We are pretty much decided on buying an old place - like a house-type that have been renovated. Or one easily renovated. The reason being, apartment prices fluctuates quite a bit; down more likely right now. The old house type, there is a demand and retains value better. Of course, there is a concern for break-in because we travel out of town lots. O well, more places to look at tomorrow. A friend of ours just bought her place and she saw over 80+ places.
First place, it was in a protected building on Huaihai Road. It's a busy shopping street. But this place is two rolls back in a back lane; quite quiet. The apartment was located in a 100-year building. From the outside, nothing was done to the outside. I noticed the paster has been falling off. The walls were cracked and with gapping holes. A mixed of old drainage pipe mixed with new PVC type. And on the ground floor, the tradition type of outdoor sinks were on each unit. Stepping inside to climb the stairs, the wood on each step has been worn out by 100 years of use. At least, we know the building quality was good! Otherwise, the stairs would have had holes. Stepping into the unit, wow. Someone went to great length to renovate. Two bathrooms, one huge master bedroom, one small spare bedroom, one nice huge kitchen. The place was square so the layout of the unit had a very nice flow. The inside was as modern as any North American condo unit. Of course, the bathrooms was still the "not so up to par" area in any Chinese place. Darn it. So if we were to purchase this place, we have to gut and redo. This place is guaranteed not be sold to developers as it is a designated historical building. Right, for how long in a Commie country with everything go. This place was 103 sq meters and listed for RMB3.8M.
The second place was a newly renovated one-bedroom ground floor apartment settling back in a xiao qu (小区）. It was kinda like a serious of low rise apartment block with a huge common area where neighbour could play Majohn or talk. This place measured 90 sq meters. Last month, it asked for RMB2.5M; this month, the owner asked for RMB5.0. Right. One cute thing is this place has a wood burning fireplace. But it has only one bedroom. There was a "basement". But one thing in Shanghai, you never want to have a ground floor. Shanghai is below sea-level; with old area, one never knows the drainage. The real estate agent recommended we dig the basement so we double our space. Right. The guy that was renovating the place showed us the hole leading to the basement. He pull the yard stick up and show us the water level. I could hear the water. And the wetness clearly marked half of the stick (half the height of Audrey)! No thanks.
Then the 3rd place. It was close to us. The main floor of a 3-story high building in yet another xiao qu. It has a 100 sq meters garden. All enclosed with a guava tree. We could see guavas hanging on branches. Problem. The place was only 78 sq meters of living area. Plus the tenant refused to let us in to see the entire place. It was actually a very nice place. But lawnmower again? I might have to import my ex-neighbour to do that. Ha ha. This place is asking for RMB5.0M. I don't think so even if I could expand to get more space. Just outside the entrance to this xiao qu, a new complex is just being constructed. So we will we see? And to the left of the entrance, there are five Western bars. No thanks. People were puking and lying around in early mornings. Darn it; that place was nice but asked too much.
Fourth place. This was a 3-year old huge apartment complex called One Park Avenue. There were 8 buildings, each with about 30+ floors; security to the nth degree. It had its own gym, swimming pool, snooker room, squash court, tennis court, golf driving range. Interesting. This place was 128 sq meters. As I entered the unit, looked good initially. But as we walked thru, I noticed the construction. Rough. The kitchen, the counter was installed too low as well as the hood fan. I looked almost eye level with the hood fan. The bathrooms, dark with "fake" granite. Two bedrooms with a "den". Actually a very small rectangular storage room type space. Walking down to the community hall where all the recreational things were, I noticed the overhead paint already pealing in big chunk just like our current lobby. Yikes. Only 3 years old and pealing like that. From the real estate agent, most people rent in the buildings. The owner wants to sell quickly because he needs cash quickly. Ugh. If most people are renting, this means they don't care about the place is in good upkeeping or not. Then, the state of real estate market is slowly coming true? A downturn. The owner is asking for RMB$4.6M. Place like this I was expecting to be a bit more.
Last house for the day (Where is that pool and beer?). It was another old house nestled in a lane. 4-story high. As the main door opened, a very small enclosed courtyard was reviewed. Stepping thru that area, we entered into the main room. Long narrow. The two doors and the stairs leading upstairs are all aligned. This reminded me instantaneously of old buddist temple with a funeral parlor look and feel. The long and narrow main room and all the doorways and stairs symmetrical layout. The kitchen entrance was thru this low hanging door frame. Anyone over 5' 7" need to be careful. The kitchen was huge but with the square white tiles from floor to ceiling. Sorry, another funeral feel with dead body resting feel. On the other door opposite to the kitchen entrance, it was a midget height bathroom. It had a shower. Yuck, was all I could say. Climbing up the stairs, each floor had a bedroom. Ok la. But the stairwell was circular with very small step width. Dangerous. And as we climb up, the hotter we got. Windows opened to a common "dumping" ground. Reminded me of some shady Hong Kong area in Monkog. The common wall with neighbour, water problem on each floor. I could see calcified water damage. Lots of cobwebs so I assume this place had not been lived in for a long time. The area was 107 sq meters asking for RMB$560. This might be a good place to be completely gutted and start from scratch; but doing so will cost a lot. And you have to oblige to 'compensate' your neighbours.
And if they know there is a foreigner doing the renovation, there will be great complains and compensations after compensations to no end. Welcome to Shanghai, or to China. Pricing between a foreigner and a local is quite different. Friend we just had supper with told us, he was looking for a new rental apartment. The owner told him, for you RMB3,800 per month; there was a Westerner just looked at the place, I quoted him RMB$5,600. So there you go.
We are pretty much decided on buying an old place - like a house-type that have been renovated. Or one easily renovated. The reason being, apartment prices fluctuates quite a bit; down more likely right now. The old house type, there is a demand and retains value better. Of course, there is a concern for break-in because we travel out of town lots. O well, more places to look at tomorrow. A friend of ours just bought her place and she saw over 80+ places.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Air Con service
Our air con units need to be cleaned. The service guy arrived only with a tank of compress air the size of a small propane tank. And a KFC plastic bag full of his tricks. The air con units were cleaned thoroughly. They are now pumping out cool air like no tomorrow. The cost was RMB230 (CAD$35.50). I couldn't pay that little to get anything cleaned in Regina. The service guy was knowledgeable, polite and only travel with a plastic KFC bag and a tank of compress air. That's his business.
Dissy...
What's with kids these days! The last 3 weeks I had my fill of dissy children; they don't act their age but behaved as if they are mentally retarded. They are brilliant; yet, they display behaviour totally irresponsible or the world only revolve around them. Seems parents of those children want them to excel academically. But forgot a major important point - "World university" experience. When I was their age, I was.... Well, no need to go there.
Badminton overloaded...
Wow.... Wow... Wow.... Wow... Wow... Need I say more!
I spent 4 hours watching badminton finals last night streaming LIVE coverage. Need I say that again? LIVE streaming? The level of play was so high. Unbelievable. The men's doubles.
And now, I am watching the man's singles final. China's Lin Dan (number in the world) vs. Malaysia. He's the number 1 because ... he's just a class of his own. It's 925pm now which means Regina can stream this at 725am now on CCTV.com. Live on CCTV-2 I believe. Lin's opponent basically is self destructing. Lin just coasts; I don't think he's putting in 95% of his effort yet. Wonder how Lin actually lost in the 1st round 4 year ago in Athen.
I spent 4 hours watching badminton finals last night streaming LIVE coverage. Need I say that again? LIVE streaming? The level of play was so high. Unbelievable. The men's doubles.
And now, I am watching the man's singles final. China's Lin Dan (number in the world) vs. Malaysia. He's the number 1 because ... he's just a class of his own. It's 925pm now which means Regina can stream this at 725am now on CCTV.com. Live on CCTV-2 I believe. Lin's opponent basically is self destructing. Lin just coasts; I don't think he's putting in 95% of his effort yet. Wonder how Lin actually lost in the 1st round 4 year ago in Athen.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
wow...
What quality of play I am watching via live streaming on CCTV for the badminton mixed semi final. Even the women jumped higher and harder than me when smashing! The men, obviously. The defense from both teams (China vs Indonesia) were just phenomenal. After every rally, the players just swipe sweat off their heads. And the brooms are out cleaning the court more frequent as the game goes on.
iPod Touch upgrade #2
OK! After I played around with that new paid firmware upgrade from Apple the last couple days, I come to believe that it is very elegant yet... Yes, there is this yet part. 1) Only a virtual keyboard that is quite small. Definitely non fat-finger friendly. 2) The old firmware allowed me to view the Flash files on websites, like New York Times online; now, I cannot! This new version does not provide any rendering; so I got a big gray box here and there! Very annoying! And according to Apple, there is no plan to support Flash in this new firmware updates. 3) There is a kill switch built into the firmware. Not like or approved by Apples, your downloaded application does a disappearing act. I have not experienced this myself. But there were numerous of reports about the disappearance.
So what does these problems leave me? I have a very elegant MP3 players with PDA. Web access, yes via Wi-Fi on the iPod Touch; but 90% plus websites have Flash contents here and there. I cannot view like I used to. Maybe I'll try downloading some movies and watch.
Forward my time couple more months down the road, I still want to have one device for all my stuff. iPhone 3G. Ummm.... The 3G standard in China is not the same as the 'rest' of the world. "We" have our own 3G standard. Go figure. And having a 3G phone needs friends to have 3G phone as well so that video call is possible; but one pays dearly for the data transmission on cell. I might look at a HTC Touch Pro. It has all the touch feature of iPhone plus a slide out keyboard. Problem with this, it runs on Windows Mobile OS. And for me to sync my Contacts and Calendar from my Mac, I need Miss Sync. Additional cost. Then there's the concern of heat dispersion problem with HTC phones before, fried the chip. Technology. Too bad the Nokia does not support Mac in terms of syncing. Only PC.
So what does these problems leave me? I have a very elegant MP3 players with PDA. Web access, yes via Wi-Fi on the iPod Touch; but 90% plus websites have Flash contents here and there. I cannot view like I used to. Maybe I'll try downloading some movies and watch.
Forward my time couple more months down the road, I still want to have one device for all my stuff. iPhone 3G. Ummm.... The 3G standard in China is not the same as the 'rest' of the world. "We" have our own 3G standard. Go figure. And having a 3G phone needs friends to have 3G phone as well so that video call is possible; but one pays dearly for the data transmission on cell. I might look at a HTC Touch Pro. It has all the touch feature of iPhone plus a slide out keyboard. Problem with this, it runs on Windows Mobile OS. And for me to sync my Contacts and Calendar from my Mac, I need Miss Sync. Additional cost. Then there's the concern of heat dispersion problem with HTC phones before, fried the chip. Technology. Too bad the Nokia does not support Mac in terms of syncing. Only PC.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Watching the Olympics
Now I know why I didn't get into watching the Olympics in Canada, the broadcast sucked. Here, man, LIVE coverage of every sports non-stop from sun up to sun down! Not just TV broadcasting, the CCTV has over 8 channels for different sports and then LIVE streaming via its Internet website - fast and very high resolution. Maybe SlackTel should get someone over here to "learn".
I did not know how exciting it was about the Olympics until now. Maybe just the atmosphere with Olympics in China, or just breathing too much of the pollution in the air. Haha. The quality of play with the athletes and all those close up shots of athletes in play, man, you know it was tough. One thing I noticed was CCTV had no bias of coverage. Not like the Americans or the Canadians. I saw all sports and all athletes competing. As a matter fact, at some time we found it difficult to "locate" the Chinese athletes performing. Go figure.
Saw the swimming finals yesterday; glad to see the Canucks were in the Finals but disappointed in the performance. It seemed the athletes were just going thru the motions swimming lanes vs as "give it all the best". From the TV screen, I saw the top athletes swimming fast and furious, and the Canucks doing their own things. The stroke rate was slow compared to the others. So, was it a race or a leisure swim? I didn't understand.
Not sure why the track and field people decided on using Singapore as a base. The weather in Singapore the last week was so nice and mild compared to the heat in Beijing, I am afraid the "climatization" maybe faulty. It was cool in Singapore compared to Beijing. We shall see next week when the track and field begins.
I did not know how exciting it was about the Olympics until now. Maybe just the atmosphere with Olympics in China, or just breathing too much of the pollution in the air. Haha. The quality of play with the athletes and all those close up shots of athletes in play, man, you know it was tough. One thing I noticed was CCTV had no bias of coverage. Not like the Americans or the Canadians. I saw all sports and all athletes competing. As a matter fact, at some time we found it difficult to "locate" the Chinese athletes performing. Go figure.
Saw the swimming finals yesterday; glad to see the Canucks were in the Finals but disappointed in the performance. It seemed the athletes were just going thru the motions swimming lanes vs as "give it all the best". From the TV screen, I saw the top athletes swimming fast and furious, and the Canucks doing their own things. The stroke rate was slow compared to the others. So, was it a race or a leisure swim? I didn't understand.
Not sure why the track and field people decided on using Singapore as a base. The weather in Singapore the last week was so nice and mild compared to the heat in Beijing, I am afraid the "climatization" maybe faulty. It was cool in Singapore compared to Beijing. We shall see next week when the track and field begins.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Back to the land of heat!
Almost 5 days in Singapore and I didn't feel stifling hot; as soon as we are back in Shanghai, man o man. If you want to experience it, turn on your oven to 220F and 10 minutes later stick your hand in; that's how it feels at times. Even Singapore's temperature and "heat" were pleasant. "Smoking" here! I basically cooked or steamed from the inside of my shirt. I wear loose clothing here but you can feel beads of sweat slowly oozing out of your skin and rolling down your body. Air con, air con!
When I was in Singapore, the morning before I left I finally succumbed to the Apple call. I upgraded my iPod Touch firmware. And to boot I had to pay US$9.99 for this! Now, this is a nicer interface with more features. I am liking it. And addicted to it. Maybe just the novelty. This firmware is the same as the new iPhone 3G. So I am drowning in awe san phone. Last night I checked out the App Store via the iPod Touch connected to my wireless router; despited heavy eye lids, I stayed up passed 1:30am browsing thru all the applications available from the App Store. Yes, 1:30am! I arrived back in Shanghai at 11pm or so. It's addicting. I downloaded AOL chat last night so I can use iChat from my iPodTouch. I spent another US$0.99 to download a mortgage calculator. Mortgage calculator; yes, we have beginning the process of looking for a flat to purchase. I need that so I can show my iron-wife all the numbers in a quick hurry.
Most apps in the App Stores are not expensive; I think that is the hook. Not expensive. Mostly around 0.99 to 4.99; some went as high as 69.99 but very few. And the applications are so elegant.
The only drawback I see right now is the virtual keyboard. It's finger typing alright. Skinny finger that is. If I were to have an iPhone, SMS will be painfully slow for me. My iron wife tried and she said no problem. Right.... ;-) No problem. Just wait when you really to text message in a big hurry. Even the virtual keyboard has predictive typing; still I "click" the wrong key about 45% of the time. That's very high percentage.
So where am I going with all this talking? Not sure, just ambivalent with the new iPodTouch firmware. Maybe an iPhone is next.
When I was in Singapore, the morning before I left I finally succumbed to the Apple call. I upgraded my iPod Touch firmware. And to boot I had to pay US$9.99 for this! Now, this is a nicer interface with more features. I am liking it. And addicted to it. Maybe just the novelty. This firmware is the same as the new iPhone 3G. So I am drowning in awe san phone. Last night I checked out the App Store via the iPod Touch connected to my wireless router; despited heavy eye lids, I stayed up passed 1:30am browsing thru all the applications available from the App Store. Yes, 1:30am! I arrived back in Shanghai at 11pm or so. It's addicting. I downloaded AOL chat last night so I can use iChat from my iPodTouch. I spent another US$0.99 to download a mortgage calculator. Mortgage calculator; yes, we have beginning the process of looking for a flat to purchase. I need that so I can show my iron-wife all the numbers in a quick hurry.
Most apps in the App Stores are not expensive; I think that is the hook. Not expensive. Mostly around 0.99 to 4.99; some went as high as 69.99 but very few. And the applications are so elegant.
The only drawback I see right now is the virtual keyboard. It's finger typing alright. Skinny finger that is. If I were to have an iPhone, SMS will be painfully slow for me. My iron wife tried and she said no problem. Right.... ;-) No problem. Just wait when you really to text message in a big hurry. Even the virtual keyboard has predictive typing; still I "click" the wrong key about 45% of the time. That's very high percentage.
So where am I going with all this talking? Not sure, just ambivalent with the new iPodTouch firmware. Maybe an iPhone is next.
Monday, August 11, 2008
What it turned out....
to be a very expensive durian trip. We went to Galang after our run at the highest peak in Singapore under a dark and threatening sky.
The taxi dropped us off in front of a durian stall. There were lots of different kinds. S$5 for one small durian, S$15 for three small ones and of course, a S$15 per Kg the king of durian. That being our lunch and under the recommendation of the owner, we picked the ... yes, the king of durian. It came to S$50. Not impressed. The meat was dry. Must be the end of the season for it. The nice one is suppose to be creamy, sticky to your fingers, sweet with a slight bitterness. When we got back to the hotel, we ordered room service :-( Should have done it the first place. The room service for two was the same as that one durian!
(still watching very exciting badminton men's singles round of 32 competition on TV; now is Indonesia and Malaysia; Hong Kong got slaughtered by China)
O about the run at the highest peak, very nice and fresh air; away from the car, the people, the pollution, the shops, the buildings... Just forest and fresh air! And a lot of stairs going straight up to the peak! 145 or so with about 1' to 1' 1/2", reminded me of the days last September climbing the Great Wall. When we were done, there was no taxi; in Singapore, it's hard to get a taxi on the street anymore except maybe at the CBD (Central Business District). I had to call. Thank goodness of my Singapore Starhub cellphone number. I still have it from 2 trips ago; and still have over $44 of credit.
Speaking of taxi, tonight took one from our hotel to Fortune Center for some vegetarian supper. With the fare structure, the cost of taxi came to S$14.00. The break down: trip is S$5.10, ERP, fuel surcharge, time of day surcharge top up the rest of the amount. And our meals came to only S$10.00. S$5.50 for my wife's veggie brown rice set and S$4.50 for my veggie fried rice. Funny... And of course, we took the subway back. One way cost us S$2.50 in total. Expensive meal.
The taxi dropped us off in front of a durian stall. There were lots of different kinds. S$5 for one small durian, S$15 for three small ones and of course, a S$15 per Kg the king of durian. That being our lunch and under the recommendation of the owner, we picked the ... yes, the king of durian. It came to S$50. Not impressed. The meat was dry. Must be the end of the season for it. The nice one is suppose to be creamy, sticky to your fingers, sweet with a slight bitterness. When we got back to the hotel, we ordered room service :-( Should have done it the first place. The room service for two was the same as that one durian!
(still watching very exciting badminton men's singles round of 32 competition on TV; now is Indonesia and Malaysia; Hong Kong got slaughtered by China)
O about the run at the highest peak, very nice and fresh air; away from the car, the people, the pollution, the shops, the buildings... Just forest and fresh air! And a lot of stairs going straight up to the peak! 145 or so with about 1' to 1' 1/2", reminded me of the days last September climbing the Great Wall. When we were done, there was no taxi; in Singapore, it's hard to get a taxi on the street anymore except maybe at the CBD (Central Business District). I had to call. Thank goodness of my Singapore Starhub cellphone number. I still have it from 2 trips ago; and still have over $44 of credit.
Speaking of taxi, tonight took one from our hotel to Fortune Center for some vegetarian supper. With the fare structure, the cost of taxi came to S$14.00. The break down: trip is S$5.10, ERP, fuel surcharge, time of day surcharge top up the rest of the amount. And our meals came to only S$10.00. S$5.50 for my wife's veggie brown rice set and S$4.50 for my veggie fried rice. Funny... And of course, we took the subway back. One way cost us S$2.50 in total. Expensive meal.
Olympics is here!
Missed the first hour plus of the Opening Ceremony. Bummer! The Silk Air flight didn't arrive at Singapore from Chengdu until 8:45pm. So... Have to find it somewhere online - from some Chinese websites.
I was amazed how exciting it was to watch on TV here. Compared to when I was in North America, the atmosphere was not the same. Maybe it was because of the LIVE coverage on every channels here in Singapore in many different languages. The delayed taping and the limited LIVE feed with time zone different, really didn't make me "interested". But here in Singapore watching the first day of competition LIVE, really helped. And the close up shots from every different angles seeing the athlete's expressions, muscles, the strains, really made me appreciate the level of play. As I am writing this blog, I am watching the badminton playoffs in the 32. The Hong Kong against China's Lin D, the World #1 men's player. Very exciting. The Chinese guy looked so effortless. I believe I have seen him before in Shanghai Hilton working out in the pool.
The second amazement from this Olympics is my wife actually, yes ACTUALLY, looking for the TV remote in our room to turn the TV on! She wanted to watch; and spent the entire Saturday watching. It was funny to see. Seeing her glued to the TV in front of the couch. Yes, we had an upgraded room.
Tomorrow, heading back to Shanghai in the late afternoon. Already had our seats booked. Due to the load factor on the plane, Singapore Airline, we have reserved an entire row for ourselves. I asked for an upgrade to Biz class but the lady said not worth it; and proceeded getting me to the Check-in counter for this econo row of seats. That works for me; will have lots of room for me to set my work and my laptop out to work. And to boot, we have our Indian vegetarian meals.
I was amazed how exciting it was to watch on TV here. Compared to when I was in North America, the atmosphere was not the same. Maybe it was because of the LIVE coverage on every channels here in Singapore in many different languages. The delayed taping and the limited LIVE feed with time zone different, really didn't make me "interested". But here in Singapore watching the first day of competition LIVE, really helped. And the close up shots from every different angles seeing the athlete's expressions, muscles, the strains, really made me appreciate the level of play. As I am writing this blog, I am watching the badminton playoffs in the 32. The Hong Kong against China's Lin D, the World #1 men's player. Very exciting. The Chinese guy looked so effortless. I believe I have seen him before in Shanghai Hilton working out in the pool.
The second amazement from this Olympics is my wife actually, yes ACTUALLY, looking for the TV remote in our room to turn the TV on! She wanted to watch; and spent the entire Saturday watching. It was funny to see. Seeing her glued to the TV in front of the couch. Yes, we had an upgraded room.
Tomorrow, heading back to Shanghai in the late afternoon. Already had our seats booked. Due to the load factor on the plane, Singapore Airline, we have reserved an entire row for ourselves. I asked for an upgrade to Biz class but the lady said not worth it; and proceeded getting me to the Check-in counter for this econo row of seats. That works for me; will have lots of room for me to set my work and my laptop out to work. And to boot, we have our Indian vegetarian meals.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Singapore now
First Chengdu, now Singapore; we are here after 4 hours and 20 minutes flight; actually a bit less with a good head wind. At the Chengdu airport, the security got tight as the Olympics opening got close. Guards at all entrance; special forces with guns and dark sunglasses. Really, indoor; as if you can shoot with those dark glasses on! At the gate, there were 9 people! Four from airlines, one from duty free and the rest were securities of all kinds - airport and army.
The flight from Chengdu to Singapore was by Silk Air, the discount airline runs by Singapore Air. Service was good; you can rent a VOD (Video on Demand) portable for the duration of the flight for S$15. It was an Airbus 319 model. Wasn't pack at all. Only 8 Biz class seats, single aisle. Refreshment was plentiful; non-stop actually. Food was acceptable. Service, beat any North American's hands down.
The M Hotel we are staying. It's the fourth time. I know the area well now; it's by downtown. And with a promotion going on, we got a Suite for S$390 per night; normally, this room is about S$1,000! Basically, we have two rooms put together. 1 full bath and a 1/2 bath. Plasma TV, Bose sound system with iPod plug in for music, free Internet access, free b'fast for two and free 4 pieces of laundry per day. Wow, biz must be tough. From the newspapers I read on the plane, the Singapore gov't and businesses are bracing for an economic down turn. It's finally going to hit home there. It's airport manager has quited; most middle and upper managers are being hired away by other big airports; notably, the Beijing's Terminal 3.
One interesting point in the taxi as we were going to the airport in Chengdu; the taxi driver wasn't really into the Olympics; no one was allowed to participate in torch relay viewing without explicit approval from the gov't; one needed to apply and then the family being "investigated" first before approval was given, if that. The taxi driver expressed freely of his view about the "handling" of the torch relay. Totally not good for the "regular" citizens. Also, this taxi driver participated in May's rescue effort. He drove all night with many taxi drivers to the damaged area to deliver water. He witnessed collapsed buildings... One had over 1,000 people buried but after several days after the quake, no rescue effort was evidence. Too many areas to be handled.
The flight from Chengdu to Singapore was by Silk Air, the discount airline runs by Singapore Air. Service was good; you can rent a VOD (Video on Demand) portable for the duration of the flight for S$15. It was an Airbus 319 model. Wasn't pack at all. Only 8 Biz class seats, single aisle. Refreshment was plentiful; non-stop actually. Food was acceptable. Service, beat any North American's hands down.
The M Hotel we are staying. It's the fourth time. I know the area well now; it's by downtown. And with a promotion going on, we got a Suite for S$390 per night; normally, this room is about S$1,000! Basically, we have two rooms put together. 1 full bath and a 1/2 bath. Plasma TV, Bose sound system with iPod plug in for music, free Internet access, free b'fast for two and free 4 pieces of laundry per day. Wow, biz must be tough. From the newspapers I read on the plane, the Singapore gov't and businesses are bracing for an economic down turn. It's finally going to hit home there. It's airport manager has quited; most middle and upper managers are being hired away by other big airports; notably, the Beijing's Terminal 3.
One interesting point in the taxi as we were going to the airport in Chengdu; the taxi driver wasn't really into the Olympics; no one was allowed to participate in torch relay viewing without explicit approval from the gov't; one needed to apply and then the family being "investigated" first before approval was given, if that. The taxi driver expressed freely of his view about the "handling" of the torch relay. Totally not good for the "regular" citizens. Also, this taxi driver participated in May's rescue effort. He drove all night with many taxi drivers to the damaged area to deliver water. He witnessed collapsed buildings... One had over 1,000 people buried but after several days after the quake, no rescue effort was evidence. Too many areas to be handled.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Shake shake shake
Felt my bed shook this aft. Chengdu. I thought for a minute that I had put some quarters in to have my bed shaken. Weird feeling. Did not see anything else swaying. Just a 10 second shake in bed.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Chengdu now
After a sub-zero temperature flight from Hong Kong, we have arrived in Chengdu - half frozen. Immigration was a breeze. Nothing like the Olympics venues. This place is pretty much the same as I visited last year. One thing, less traffic than I expected. Wonder why.
It's been raining here. I can imagine all the earthquake victims living in those temp housing. This morning, the sky was bright; then within minutes, total darkness as if I had entered hell. Then thunder and lightening. It poured. Despite the hotel is crap as a Crowne Plaza or by any standard, we still had a very good shelter and comfort compared to the earthquake victims.
Last night, went to Shanghri-la Chengdu for the supper buffet. It was RMB148 or (CAD$22.00) I thought I had gained 5 lbs there. It was an International buffet with 8 or 9 food stations from Middle Eastern to Japanese to Cantonese to Indian to Brazilian to Sichuan hotpot. Wow.... All Indian and Middle Eastern were made fresh in front of you. It was an experience one should experience. CAD$22.00; one could not get such a good meal at Hotel Sask's Sunday brunch or Xmas buffet for that. No comparison.
It's been raining here. I can imagine all the earthquake victims living in those temp housing. This morning, the sky was bright; then within minutes, total darkness as if I had entered hell. Then thunder and lightening. It poured. Despite the hotel is crap as a Crowne Plaza or by any standard, we still had a very good shelter and comfort compared to the earthquake victims.
Last night, went to Shanghri-la Chengdu for the supper buffet. It was RMB148 or (CAD$22.00) I thought I had gained 5 lbs there. It was an International buffet with 8 or 9 food stations from Middle Eastern to Japanese to Cantonese to Indian to Brazilian to Sichuan hotpot. Wow.... All Indian and Middle Eastern were made fresh in front of you. It was an experience one should experience. CAD$22.00; one could not get such a good meal at Hotel Sask's Sunday brunch or Xmas buffet for that. No comparison.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Pictures from HKG hotel - typhoon..
A look across Victoria Harbour.
First wave of the storm roll thru.
First wave of the storm roll thru.
Tropical storm coming
As we were preparing to leave Hong Kong for Chengdu this morning, the weather office hoisted typhoon signal #8. This meant the storm is about 180KM away. Yikes! Last night, signal #3 was hoisted. Wind was strong but temperature was bearable at 28C. When I woke up this morning everything changed.
The morning started out kinda normal. From my harbour view room I could see things sprung to live. All sorts of ferries parked away last night began "showing up to work". In the far distance I could see dark clouds with sheets of rain coming our way. Within 30 minutes after I was away, the rain hit. The pictures I will post next will show you what I saw just before the rain hit and during the rain hit. From across the harbour to Kowloon to nothing. Too bad we had to fly this morning; otherwise, it would have been "neat" seeing the nature does it things.
And yes, we had to fly. We are heading from a tropical storm to the most serious earthquake hit province from this May. Sichuan. We are to be in Chengdu where all the rescue operations were launched. No, we are not going there to do any volunteer work. The ever so understanding of my iron-wife's client decided to re-schedule the May workshop to now, to the same area. Go figure. Obvious, this company's HR personal has no brain along with the committee that decided on this. Rule: Thou shall not get close to an earthquake zone at least a year after such a big magnitude shake. I haven't gotten a chance buying any emergency supply; will have to look when I arrive. Flashlights, water, and set up a location for a place to meet in case a quake has hit. The last 3 weeks, there were two 6.1 magnitude after shock that were felt in Chengdu.
I digressed, back to the storm. The usual bustling and hustling streets of Hong Kong below my hotel were empty. Flying debris, occasional sheets of rains and dedicated hotel staff going to work. No one really wanted to drive to the airport; so the Airport Express was jam packed.
Since we are flying up north and the tropical storm cuts from east to west, our flight plan does not get affected. O... we are going to land now after 2 hours of flight. Good timing as everyone is freezing to death. Air Con problem. We are sitting in a fridge. I can see Audrey's breath!!!!
The morning started out kinda normal. From my harbour view room I could see things sprung to live. All sorts of ferries parked away last night began "showing up to work". In the far distance I could see dark clouds with sheets of rain coming our way. Within 30 minutes after I was away, the rain hit. The pictures I will post next will show you what I saw just before the rain hit and during the rain hit. From across the harbour to Kowloon to nothing. Too bad we had to fly this morning; otherwise, it would have been "neat" seeing the nature does it things.
And yes, we had to fly. We are heading from a tropical storm to the most serious earthquake hit province from this May. Sichuan. We are to be in Chengdu where all the rescue operations were launched. No, we are not going there to do any volunteer work. The ever so understanding of my iron-wife's client decided to re-schedule the May workshop to now, to the same area. Go figure. Obvious, this company's HR personal has no brain along with the committee that decided on this. Rule: Thou shall not get close to an earthquake zone at least a year after such a big magnitude shake. I haven't gotten a chance buying any emergency supply; will have to look when I arrive. Flashlights, water, and set up a location for a place to meet in case a quake has hit. The last 3 weeks, there were two 6.1 magnitude after shock that were felt in Chengdu.
I digressed, back to the storm. The usual bustling and hustling streets of Hong Kong below my hotel were empty. Flying debris, occasional sheets of rains and dedicated hotel staff going to work. No one really wanted to drive to the airport; so the Airport Express was jam packed.
Since we are flying up north and the tropical storm cuts from east to west, our flight plan does not get affected. O... we are going to land now after 2 hours of flight. Good timing as everyone is freezing to death. Air Con problem. We are sitting in a fridge. I can see Audrey's breath!!!!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Service level dropping
It's true with Macau. Hard to hire people; everyone is at the casinos. Whoever left with in the "other" service sectors suffered greatly. Our restaurant service and shopping experience are sub-par. Just like Hong Kong back in the 90's when things were up, up and up.
I wanted to try out a pair of Nike victory+ running shoes. The girl's attitude was less than stint up the place. She was like, so you want me to assist you? Not helping; didn't know the product; made me felt that I inconvenient her by asking questions and the size I wanted. I calmed myself and waited for my turn. When she tried telling it would take 15 minutes to get the shoes for me, I just walked without even addressing; she was there holding the shoe with a blank look.
Then there was this Japanese restaurant waitress at lunch today; three of us sharing dishes; she didn't even give us any freaking spoons or bowls. When asked for bowls, she had the ball tell us to us the dishes that have our food on. So finally I just yelled at her to give me three plates to share. Ridiculous.
From the last visit, 7 weeks ago to now services went that bad that fast. Not a good sign.
I wanted to try out a pair of Nike victory+ running shoes. The girl's attitude was less than stint up the place. She was like, so you want me to assist you? Not helping; didn't know the product; made me felt that I inconvenient her by asking questions and the size I wanted. I calmed myself and waited for my turn. When she tried telling it would take 15 minutes to get the shoes for me, I just walked without even addressing; she was there holding the shoe with a blank look.
Then there was this Japanese restaurant waitress at lunch today; three of us sharing dishes; she didn't even give us any freaking spoons or bowls. When asked for bowls, she had the ball tell us to us the dishes that have our food on. So finally I just yelled at her to give me three plates to share. Ridiculous.
From the last visit, 7 weeks ago to now services went that bad that fast. Not a good sign.
Long march
Friend's children have been in Macau since Wednesday and I have been a tour guide. Thursday, got them walk all day around Macau. And Friday from 1045am to 5:00pm in Hong Kong, they only had about a total of one hour or so sitting down; the rest of the time, walking. Indoor that was. They just shopped and shopped.... Hey, it's sales, sales, sales everywhere. During that entire time, we were only in Kowloon right by the Ocean Terminal. And for lunch we had this beef noodle house, famous for all the internal "parts". Nice!! Tendon, stomach, you name it, available at the noodle house in varying degrees of "preservation" - curry. The beef shank was very tender; just melted in our mouth.
The amount of walking these two kids did totaled more than they would have in Canada in a week.
The amount of walking these two kids did totaled more than they would have in Canada in a week.
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