August 2005 Archives

I was drifting through the web - as I tend to do - and I came across another awesome reference to 'The Hoff'. The scary thing about 'The Hoff' is that a little while back, while I was searching for images on Typhoon Matsa, his noggin popped up.

And as the page says, prepare to lose your mind...

Geriatric Punks: Prepare to Lose Your Mind

Above image taken from Picture Bin

Technorati Tags: humour

No, not that type of early riser. I'm talking about me. Since moving into our new apartment (or starting my new job here in Shanghai), I've found it increasingly difficult to sleep past 7am each day. Even after a night on the turps, 8am is still a far off dream. I've got to find a way to get more sleep. Its getting a little tiresome. Today I've been awake since 5:30am. Ugh. One plus of getting up early means more time for writing, both in this web effort, and in some other interests of mine. My usual rising time (about 6am) allows me some time in the morning to do mundane life stuff - do a little reading, surf the web, make & consume espresso coffee, and of course time to eat breakfast.

My boss wants me (and all others under his domain) to be at work by 7am each day. Well, that's a little difficult since the shuttle buses to our work place commence their runs at 7:30am, so he's quite happy with an 8am start. With this in mind, I fail to make it there by this directed time each morning - perhaps arriving between 8am and 8:30am. I think this is a bugbear in our working relationship. I sometimes miss the starts of meetings (0-10 minutes after commencement). I know that's not cool. I've worked hard at stopping this from occurring. This is important because, with a 12 hour time difference between the US east coast, I tend to find myself with morning teleconferences that last anywhere up to 2 hours in the morning. Luckily, we don't get too many of these. Coming from a 'around that time' world of academia, re-adjusting to life on a clock has been difficult. I'm working at this, but I still wonder why with my inability to sleep, why can't I make it to work on time?

A fear and/or loathing of work? I'd rather be at home? Lack of motivation? A long commute time each way (almost one end of Metro Line #2 to the other)?

Not sure. Still trying to understand this one.

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

Yes, I'm talking about the weather. yep, things are getting a little bit slow here at this blog. My mind is definitely preoccupied with both work and watching the box-set of Lost that we picked up a few weeks ago. Doesn't sound too exciting eh?

But now, the weather.

Instead of being stupidly hot and humid, Shanghai is now creeping towards winter. Creeping might be a bad term - the change has been quite noticeable for this Little Vegemite. In the last 2 weeks, a morning coolness can be felt in the air - something I had not experienced since we first moved here in April. The light in the day doesn't last so long either - which makes getting up in the morning and going home after work all that more depressing.

If no one has guessed, I tend to classify myself as a solar powered person. I didn't discover this classification until I left Oz for Germany back in 2002. I really struggled there in dark conditions. A few Swede friends I hung out with at the time talked about 'Summer Fever' and 'Winter Madness' in Scandinavia. Although I wasn't that far north, I still got the effect. Nonetheless, I have felt the same effect in the past few days.

Might also be that lack of exposure to the big ball of flame in the sky - need some Vitamin D.

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

DaDan and Lozza have been busy documenting while I had an almost blog-free week. They are far better writers than I, so go and have a chuckle at their viewpoint on one of the highlights of my week.

And yes, I had my first foot massage this week. I also had my second within 24 hours, and the second included a pedicure. They shaved my feet crust with a sharp razor stick thing. My feet feel violated. These 2 massage also doubled as my first language class with massage c/o DaDan's incessant animal questioning technique. What else? I spent more time working in a lab than working at a desk this week (yeah!), Linda has resolved to use every spare minute of her day, and wants me to do the same. And I also slept more than 7 hours on 2 consecutive days (without waking up! crikey!). I've also had a few beers on Friday night this week, ate peanut-butter burgers for the first time, hit golf balls at a driving range out at Honqiao, and perused the animal and insect market down on Xizang Lu (Tibet Road) down near Huaihai Lu.

I thought this was an uneventful week - I guess I was wrong looking back at this.

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

I've been fairly unmotivated to write in my blog this past week. Primarily as I have been busy with work - and that's about it. So there's no new exciting stories to write. So, since I've been left with writer's block, I've been gaining inspiration from the work's of others.

There's some good stories and blog entries floating around the Shanghai internet space. One of my favourite websites is Shanghaiist, which is a nice webzine that is fairly entertaining, and has recently taken on a more serious bent with the addition of a new contributor. I find it difficult to engage with Shanghai as a city - the language barrier in this cases poses an obstacle moreso like a cone of silence rather than a whistle-toting, Eric Estrada-impersonating Shanghai traffic cop that smashes your eardrums upon considering walking a red light. That's a nice change for this expat. Other local rags well, don't cut the mustard in this respect.

There's heaps of other Shanghai-based expat websites that I like to glean each or every odd day. The Shanghai Diaries is a long-time fave, but the author is really busy with his new venture, so at least I can still get my Washburn fix. Sinosplice and Micah's blog are interesting to read, especially as they both are further immersed in Shanghai's culture than what I am. All these sites give me some kind of clue on what is going on in Shanghai, or at least another viewpoint on what I see and hear from my daily life here.

There's a number of other sites I look at, probably more than what I should. But I find it interesting nonetheless. Here's some I tend to look at...
Dan Washburn's Shanghai Diaries
Shanghaiist
Sinosplice
Micah's Blog
Wangjianshuo's Blog
By..Lin..Ed...

Technorati Tags: blogs, bookmarks, China, danwashburn, expat, Shanghai, website

I meant to post these yesterday, but the long entry and a late night meant that I didn't get around to processing these images until much later.

You'll find a few photos that accompany my previous entry to here.

Not much happened today - work was good. I spent a long time in the lab today - and that's a welcome change. Paperwork is getting tiresome.

However, this evening, I caught up with Li Bo. He's heading back to the U.S. as his visa is about to expire. We caught up with Bo, Marie, Dan & Lauren, and went back to the Xiao Nan Guo Restaurant we were at on Saturday. The food was awesome again. We then popped down to Nanjing Xi Lu for Gelati in a small patissery/deli/coffee shop which I have forgotten the name of completely. A nice night.

A few of the people I have met since being in Shanghai are already starting to move on. Is this the transient life of an expat in Shanghai?

Sad to see Li Bo go. Whoa. Oh no. What a blow.

(Those that know me will recognise this pun play - such a Dad joke).

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai

Its been a little while since I last posted. A number of cool things have happened since I last wrote on this blog - most of which occurred due to our friend Marita and Anthony dropping by our place in ol' Shanghai.

I wrangled Thursday off to meet Mazrita at Pudong Airport at 10am - and despite the 90 minute delay on her flight - we managed to get back to downtown Jing' An by early afternoon. A number of items got in the way of us exploring Shanghai. Namely a work-bomb (yeah, I worked about 6 hours that day - my day off - to put one in for the team), Maz's jet-lag, and Anthony & Linda both arriving in Shanghai after 7pm that night. Hence, it was an uneventful day, and in most respects, a waste of a day off. We finished off the evening with a reunion of partners, a few drinks, and a big helping of Una's Pizza!

Friday - I was back at work - finishing off the work bomb, and working for tha man. Linda played the congenial host and took our guests to the Shanghai staples of Nangjing Lu, People's Square, The Bund. After which it was off to Xiangyang Market to pick up some hiking jackets and the usual fake market stuff. Before heading back to our apartment to get ready for that evening's entertainment, they also popped by a travel agent so they could make a connecting flight to Beijing for the rest of their 3 month trek through China, Tibet, Nepal and India.

I caught up with the gang back at our apartment where we all got ready for that evening's events. Earlier that week I purchased tickets to see the Shanghai Acrobats troupe at the Shanghai Centre Theatre. All four of us, along with Lozza and DaDan went to the show. It was a corker. Well worth the cost of the tickets, and I'm sure a few other guests will be seeing the show in the future. The acrobatics were spectacular, the show's theme was a little cheesey (so suited to my taste), and some of the bendy people really made you think ouch. The only downside was dodgy jugglers - although the hat juggling was pretty cool.

After this we went down to Shimen Yi Lu to the Food Street. We decided to eat in the Rujin Hotel Xiao Nan Guo Restaurant. Xiao Nan Guo is one of Shanghai's most famous restaurants, and due to its popularity, it is now represented in several locations around Shanghai. Being a little late, we didn't get the full treatment at the restaurant, but everyone left being well satisfied with their meals. We then popped on the Metro#2 at Shimen Yi Lu station and headed over to Lujiazui in Pudong. We went to the Jin Mao Tower to have a few quiet (and unfortunately very smokey) drinks in the Cloud 9 Bar. Anthony loved the view from the top floor down to the atrium of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, all 40 floors of it in the middle of the building. The hotel itself starts up on the 55th floor(?), with the Cloud 9 Bar being located on the 87th floor. Dodgy figures and hazy memory aside, its bloody tall. We all then crashed sometime late in the evening.

Sunday started out slowly. We finally made it to the Shanghai Museum to view the exhibits. We stayed for about 3 hours, but it felt like longer. I'm not a huge museum fan, particular if the exhibits fail to invite my interest. I'm particularly fond of explanations of bygone times where you are invited into the lives of people. Looking a a bunch of stuff in glass cases doesn't float my boat. The Shanghai Museum is a pretty cool building and is super popular. The layout of the museum is pretty spot on, and the collection is awesome. My attention span for the style of presentation they use there is only about an hour. I'm sure Mazrita would still be there if we hadn't mentioned the Chinese tea ceremony we had planned.

After the museum, we jumped into a taxi and headed into the Old Town to the Yu Gardens & Bazaar. Our main focus was to EAT and go to the Yu Stage (high on top of the Yu Bazaar area) for a tea-tasting. RobbieM introduced us to this place, and we really liked it. There's heaps of different teas to try, and the hosts engage the customers in a holistic introduction to all things tea. Afterwards, we snared Anthony a Mao wristwatch from a vendor, and a Flashcard for his camera (which we could have got a better price for). As the day was getting late, we missed out on entering the Yu Gardens. We left the bazaar on foot and walked through some of the old neighbourhoods of the Old Town. Getting sick of two feet and a heartbeat, a short taxi ride later we found ourselves at the DongTai Antiques Market where we annoyed the vendors by 'just browsing' at their wares. We walked a little further over to Xintiandi to look around, promptly left to head towards Jing' An Temple to the Brazilian BBQ - home of the best meat pigout Shanghai has to offer - and then over to Malones for a few beers before calling it a day.

I also got to say goodbye to Lucky, another Mac-head I met in Shanghai, who left Shanghai for Sydney yesterday. Alas, as some people arrive in Shanghai, others leave. It would have been great to spend more time with Lucky, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. He looked awesome in his 'Incredibles' costume though.... :)

Anthony and Marita left for Beijing mid-morning on Sunday. It was a whirlwind visit - we didn't get a big chance to talk and catch up, but it was cool to hang out with a few old friends from back home.

Rest of Sunday was spent doing nothing and playing half-court basketball with a few fellas I've met here.

A big weekend.

Technorati Tags: China, Shanghai, Yuyuan Gardens

Linda & I have visitors this week. Maz & Anthony are visiting Shanghai for a few days before embarking on a month-long trip around China.

So, I took the day off and I popped out to the Pudong Airport today to greet Marita. I'm sitting in the terminal right now writing this - and I have been putting on quite a show for the other patrons of the airport, as they are intently looking over my shoulder seeing what I am doing on my laptop. I think they have Mac envy.

When Lin and I first arrived in Shanghai, it was late on Sunday night, and our collective perplexment on leaving customs and entering the airport was over-whelming. With this in mind, I thought it would be nice if we could arrange to meet my friends at the airport.

It took about 1 hour in mid-morning traffic to get to the airport. I took the Airport Bus #2 from the Jing' An Temple Bus Terminal (right near the subway entrance & underneath City Plaza). It cost RMB19, and despite a number of bus-express way suspension incidents (which coupled with me being launched off my seat into the air at the back of the bus), it was a relatively smooth ride. The airport buses are pretty much the cheapest way to get to downtown, or other locations around Shanghai from the Pudong Airport. There's also a number of hotel bus shuttle services that make it easier for the top-end travellers. When we first arrived, none of the buses were running (so we were told by the helpful desk staff), so we decided to take a taxi. So we chose a tout-taxi. It was an interesting introduction to the traffic of Shanghai, something which I hadn't given much thought to until yesterday. We negotiated a RMB140 fare to get us just to our hotel just north of The Bund in downtown Puxi. The other option - the Maglev - well, looks really cool. I can see the Maglev from my workplace each day. Its a little disconcerting seeing something flash in your peripheral vision everynow and again. Looking up to see what it is, you might just catch the tail of the 400km/hr train whizz past in the distance. I'm sure Anthony wants to give this a crack. I'm going to talk Maz into it. The only problem the Maglev is that it doesn't go all the way into downtown (where most people want to go). After this, you need to transfer to the Metro line at Longyang Station (Pudong) to complete the journey into downtown Puxi. This takes about 20-25 minutes.

But back to the terminal.

The terminal itself is really big. It comprises both the domestic and international terminals. Domestic and international each have 1 separate arrival gates at each end of the terminal. The decor is a little dated, and the low levels of lighting doesn't really make it very inviting. And it is packed full of people. This is one busy airport. Customs wasn't any hassle at all - which is a welcome change to the 'look to the side and cough twice' treatment you get in Australian airports. There's a lot of hotel information desks, money exchange offices, and information desks for the intrepid travellers. Like in the rest of Shanghai, English-speakers are well-accommodated for. Every sign I can see here has accompanying English translations, so it is easy to navigate your way around the place.

I haven't had the pleasure (or displeasure with respect to your point of view) of using the departure area. It is much more modern, with good levels of lighting. It is confronting though. There appear to be hundreds of airline check terminals. China's (and Asia's) airline industries are booming, and there is an increasing number of operators vying in this market. And given Shanghai is a major hub, this would explain the cramped conditions up there.

Links and other such things...
Shanghai Airport Homepage (Pudong and Hongqiao Airports)

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Pudong, Shanghai

I did something this morning that I haven't done before in Shanghai. I caught a taxi in this morning's rush hour from Jing' An out to Zhangjiang Park where I work.

The traffic was mad.

I am a multi-mode commuter most days. I walk from our apartment down to the metro station underneath Jing' An Temple, and following an approximate 28 minute trip (give or take depending on how many people try to rush the doors as the train is about to depart), I then take a shuttle-bus off to my workplace (which I will continue to remain nameless in this blog).

My usual experiences of Shanghai traffic usually as a pedestrian where I over-take the multitudes of banked-up cars while walking to and from the train station each morning and evening. Weekends usually brings a taxi trip here or there, but its usually from a grocery shopping expedition or a late-night booze bus back to Chunder Loo. However, today, on a whim, I took the taxi ride out to the far-reaches of Pudong (nearly the airport!). My taxi driver was pretty spot on with where I wanted to go (maybe my Chinese is improving!), except for that detour he maintained to take that took me to the far side of the park. But what struck me about this commute was the organised chaos on the elevated ring roads. Whoever designed these systems - well, I don't think they were a professional traffic engineer, but rather an aficionado of macram?©. Its spaghetti-city out there, with some really strange entrances, exits, and baffling merging situations. I truly think I am becoming a local now. I am no longer frightened by the driving habits of Shanghai's motorists. I now believe wholeheartedly that merging bumper-to-bumper at 80km/hr is a normal way driving. And yes, my subconscious did make me reach for the seat-belt as we left Shanghai's metro streets for the express way.

One plus about the trip is that it took about 40 minutes from door to door. It didn't shave a lot of time off my commute (normally 10 to 15 minutes longer), but it was the nice comfort of the taxi.

Decadent at RMB70 (~20km) - but worth experiencing just once.

Technorati Tags: China, expat, pedestrians, Shanghai

Now that's a real obscure frisbee reference - it was a production company's tag on the end of some US comedy shows. Anyhow, it had a picture of a dog with a frisbee disc in its mouth. Maybe you remember that one.

That's kinda what i felt like tonight. Grinning dog with a disc in its mouth.

I spent almost 2 hours running around after a disc. Woof woof. I had a bit of fun at disc tonight - the game was much more even and at a competitive level for lil' ol me. And I feel buggered. I need to get more exercise.

I was feeling poorly this morning - too much slothdom perhaps? After mid-afternoon everything just picked up. It was just a good day in all - got a lot of work done, exercise, a few beers with good company and music, and well, that's about it. Almost perfect.

It would be great if our apartment had hot-water right now. Still can't work out why the element isn't catching (the gas stove works for some reason). Ahh, I am useless at natural gas - I've always been in electric stove/oven/hot water heater houses. And, I'm missing Lin right now too. :( She's having heaps of fun in Sichuan province right now - although slightly soaked - but fun nonetheless. I'm sure she'll have some stories and pictures to post when she gets back.

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

Today, I've revelled in being a sloth. Not a slob, I've done that most of this week. With Linda away, my man living standards have dropped. At least I'm not drinking out of the toilet. I've been mainly drinking in bars, which has also contributed to my Sunday of sloth.

Rain pelting down most of the last few days here. But not this morning. So today, Shanghai received a brief reprieve of which I took full advantage. I did quite a few loads of laundry. Rock on. The winds did not change though, meaning I nearly lost most of our bedding in the stiff breeze. So I did not take full advantage of getting out and about in the nice morning sunshine. Strange. I usually feel like exploring after big storms to see what has changed out there. It may be the sadist in me looking for a little destruction to gawk at. I also like the effect after big rains which result in the cleansing of the surrounding area. Shanghai doesn't smell like @ss right now, and I didn't go out and enjoy it. Darn.

Otherwise, I've spent it in front of the computer. doing a little work, doing a little web-surfing. My dirty shoes and dishes are staring at me - I'm doing the best I can to ignore them. I'm feeling guilty though. They need attention. There's a dank smell coming from the sink where a few dishes have been soaking since Wednesday. Ugh.

Another reason for the indoor day was preparation for our incoming guests - Marita and Anthony. They'll be arriving on Thursday, and leaving sometime on the 13th. I can't wait. As Lin also arrives back on Thursday morning, its up to TimmyB to roll out the welcome mat, and well, hide dust and such underneath the couch.

Its times like these I really contemplate getting an ayi. The egalitarian Aussie in me is already scowling at that thought. I would get almost a half day free each week if we did get one. Ugh, what to do?

Technorati Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

Shanghai has bunkered down to avoid the rain and the now not-so-moderate winds outside. While Shanghai hasn't been hit as hard as Zhejiang Province (where over 500,000 people were evacuated), there's still a lot of water and storm related damage to be seen. I've got real sympathy for the Shanghainese traffic wardens, police, and street sweepers(!) that continue to sweep, push and move the debris around in the forlorn hope of actually tidying up the roads. Its getting a bit nuts here. My brolly was totalled earlier tonight by the high winds. I liked that brolly. I'm sure that all umbrellas are about RMB50 each right now (up from the usual RMB10). DaDan laughed at my brolly's destruction. Crazy weather. As a result, it appeared that I probably had a 10 minute shower fully clothed, but in fact I received my drenching from facing the elements for mere seconds while running from taxi to my building's front door - all of about 8 metres!

You may be thinking - what in 'insert deity's name here' is he doing running around in the middle of a typhoon? Well, I have no excuse barring the lack of guidance in both my and DaDan's life right now. Last night, in the absence of our lovely partners, DaDan, Colm and myself decided to hit the town. We ate Mexican at Zapatas, followed by beer drinking at a few bars around Shanghai. While we were out, Matsa hit. It bucketed down. It was pretty incredible. It reminded me of the monsoon rain I watched as a kid in Port Moresby. Everything was being washed away. It was pretty cool. Given the rough elements, staying inside was the logical choice - so we hit the bars.

We then went to drink too much at Zapatas, The Blarney, and the Tang Hui bar. Tried to find La Fabrique, but a combination of poor directions, drunk passengers, street painting made our night wind up. I've been feeling under the weather today, and haven't done too much. DaDan pushed the idea of Una's Pepperoni pizza, and I must say, its made a huge difference to my day. Super tasty.

We then went ahead with our plan to see the Shaolin Monk Kung Fu spectacular tonight at the Lyceum Theatre. It was pretty special. I'd definitely recommend seeing this performance. We scored some good seats (and strangely, all the odd seat numbers were on one side of the theatre, and the even on the other side), and watched in amazement at some of the feats. Like throwing needles through plate glass, or two guys pushing a double-ended spears towards each other, causing the spear to bend and bow, with their throats! If that wasn't enough, the same fellas feeling a little bit of heart-burn then had one of their mates bash them with a stick at the same time. Tough fellas. Amazing.

And when it came time to leave, the reality of the typhoon struck. Water was moving horizontally through the air, and all the theatre patrons were nervously hovering around the door of the theatre's atrium. The winds and rain had picked up considerably, and was now looking a lot more formidable. No one wanted to leave without transportation - DaDan & I walked to the nearest train-station (with my brolly suffering its killer blow), and then made our way to Changshu station to have a few scotches & listen to jazz & blues at The Cotton Club. On the way we passed heaps of downed branches, some damaged buildings (with debris on the footpath), and lots and lots of partially flooded streets.

Tonight is definitely a good night to be inside. It is definitely a memorable one. Hopefully I will be here tomorrow. The wind and rain is bashing into our building, and making the windows shake violently. I considered taping the glass.

More, reliable stories about Typhoon Matsa...
One killed as typhoon lashes China - ABC News Online
Matsa storms toward city - english.eastday.com
Typhoon Matsa affects transportation in Shanghai Xinhua - English
Shanghai sends out black warning signal against Typhoon Matsa - Xinhua - English
Typhoon Matsa lands at Zhejiang - Xinhua - English

Technorati Tags: China, culture, Shanghai, weather

Everyone in Shanghai has gone a batty over a small little piddly tiny typhoon called Matsa. A lot of people at work were talking about carnage, and others were just scoffing at them. I'm scoffing. I know Shanghai is quite a long way from the predicted path of the typhoon, so I can't understand what everyone is on about? At the worst there will be a lack of power, or worse, lack of cold beer! The best thing about the nearby typhoon is that it is now a nice 30¬?C. Lovely.

Now what is really scary is this picture that popped up when I went looking for typhoon pictures on Google Images! I'm staying with it, I read an awesome article last week regarding 'The Hoff' and a new 'Where's Wally?' game that has permeated around the globe.

Some of the hardier Shanghai expats are bunkering down tonight and expecting a sore-head in the morning. Maybe I'll be one of them...?

Here's something a little more reputable about Typhoon Matsa and the path it might take through Zhejiang Province...

Xinhua - English: Typhoon approaches China's coastal provinces - www.chinaview.cn 2005-08-05 08:09:36

BEIJING, Aug. 5 -- East China's coastal provinces face the threat of catastrophic storm tides today as Typhoon Matsa approaches, the National Meteorological Centre warned yesterday. Having started out as a tropical storm, Matsa is forecast to advance across the southeastern East China Sea, before slamming into coastal areas of East China's Zhejiang Province. Related strong gales are predicted for Taiwan, parts of Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu with accompanying rainstorms. "Coastal authorities should be well prepared for the typhoon as it could combine with a local spring tide to cause increased devastation," the centre warned. Following the downpours earlier this week, torrential rains will continue to lash eight provinces across Northeast, Central and East China, including parts of Liaoning, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan and Zhejiang. "In the next three days, damage is likely to be caused by weather including lightning, thunder, hailstorms and gales," a spokesman said. However, the rainfall will benefit some areas plagued by the persistent heat wave in the South and prolonged drought in the North. After hot and stuffy weather across Central China and parts of East China, downpours since Wednesday have pushed the mercury to below 35 C in many cities including Beijing. Last month, a record 18 consecutive days with temperatures above 35 C were recorded south of the Yangtze River and in eastern parts of South China, compounding regional drought, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Water levels at 422 key water-supply reservoirs throughout the country stood higher at the beginning of the month than at the same time last year, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said. By August 1, more than 182 billion cubic metres of water was held in the reservoirs 17 billion cubic metres more than at the same time last year. In Beijing, a record 850 million cubic metres of water is stored in the Miyun Reservoir, almost the sole source of drinking water for the capital. In the South, more than 73 billion cubic metres of water, 4.6 billion cubic metres more than at the same time last year, has flowed into 151 key reservoirs dotting the provinces and regions of Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou. Last year, South China's Hainan and parts of Guangdong experienced their worst droughts in 50 years.

Technorati Tags: Shanghai, weather

I'm not one to sit around and mope (is that muffled laughter I hear....?). Ok, my girlfriend has left our lovely little nest intent on visiting the disease-ravaged province of Sichuan. At least she won't eat the pork. I could take this hard, and just shuffle to the couch of an evening of simple foods, a little work, maybe a DVDs, email and writing. But no, I made plans.

I'm going to attend cocktail drinks thrown by the Shanghai branch of the UQ Alumni Association.

And no, I am not kidding.

Just after Linda and I arrived in Shanghai, we met up with Hubert - a long-time friend of my future-brother in law (word out DannyJ). Hubert is a lawyer, Australian-bred, but based in Shanghai. He's a go-getter, and comes across as an intense forthright guy. Not overbearing, just intense. He's also the President of the Shanghai branch of the Alumni situation. Nice guy, but we're all so busy, so hadn't met up with him since arriving.

Fast-forward to 2 weeks ago, and I receive an invitation to come along to FREE cocktail drinks at the Westin Hotel this evening. I'm so there. I wanted to see where my student fees + HECS went to. It might be a legitimate chance to wear that UQ tie that was purchased for me all so long ago...

I'm off to the party.

Technorati Tags: expat, Shanghai

Linda leaves for Sichuan Province today. She's going on this whirlwind tour with our friend Lauren. Don't worry gang, I've told them not to eat the pork and particularly just avoid any of those freshly dug up carcasses. I'm sure they're going to have heaps of fun. Linda's holiday is well-deserved - her job s*cked! I just wish I could have gone with her!

Coupled with Lin leaving town, Robbie has also left Shanghai for Brisneyland. After his huge trip with Janine, it is time to stay good bye. He owes me beers when I arrive back in Brisneyland. Also, Rob, you left your tennis racquet bug zapper thing here - we'll make sure you get it back. I know how much you liked it.

Technorati Tags: China, Microbiology

One good outcome about my (so far) failed attempt to learn more about the Phantom Fields of Jing'An, was that I discovered the Jing'An Worker's Stadium.

Initially I thought it was what I was searching for, but quickly realised that it was a proper football stadium, home to one of Shanghai's professional football (soccer) sides.

Another interesting side, is that I found out a few local sporting groups used the same field, namely the Shanghai Shooters & the Shanghai Ultimate Group. Linda and I checked out this stadium last weekend while we searched for an entrance to the Phantom fields. It looked pretty good - a large football/soccer pitch surrounded by a running track! Lovely. I resolved myself to see if I could use this facility at some point. So when I was surfing around the internet looking for some more info on the Phantom fields, I also learnt that the ultimate disc club here has an open night on Monday nights at this stadium. So, I took full advantage of our apartment's proximity to the stadium (1 city block) and a nice work situation which has me attending a course in downtown Puxi instead of my usual workplace out in the boonies of Pudong.

Attending the Monday night 8pm start, I struck up a few conversations with the participants. It was a good mix of locals and foreigners and everyone was really friendly. The aforementioned football pitch was halved lengthways to produce two fields. One half contained novices like me learning the game and having a few 'teaching' matches. The more experienced players played a highly technical and dynamic set of matches on the second field area.

My only disappointment for the evening was discovering what appeared to be a nice lush green piece of turf from far away, but up-close it turned out to be astro-turf. Apart from being artificial grass, I also quickly learnt that astro-turf doesn't really have much give. I really wanted to feel grass under my feet again. I miss that. I guess that means I'll have to focus upon discovering the secret of the 3 grassed fields I stare at from my window each morning.

Ultimate disc had always appeared to me to be a moderate game, and I was rudely awakened. It was pretty tough on your fitness - and I felt the effects of a lack of exercise very quickly. It involves a lot of running - and that was what I needed. Most of the exercise of done since arriving in Shanghai has centred around my daily walks to Jing' An Temple station, and infrequent attendance of a half-court basketball game, and even more infrequent visits to the gym. What I really wanted was a good aerobic workout. I got it. Ultimate is a game where you spend a lot of time running - in fact, constantly running. This was a big shock to my system. I haven't felt this body sore in such a long time. I also blame part of my soreness on the concrete underlay of the stadium, which in my mind was a little too close to the astroturf.

Anyhow, that was last week. I went along again last night with Da-Dan. We had fun, and I also reconfirmed my lack of fitness. A plus was that I had a lot of fun running around aimlessly and dropping the disc. A minus is that I got yelled at a lot by the 'helpful' experienced players. Nice guys - I wonder if the term tosser applies in this sport? There's some real intensity out there. I'll look forward to playing more of the B-level games until I can actually run the length of the field 3 times before passing out. After the fact, I'm not as sore as I thought I would have been, but then again, its usually 36 hours post-sweating that I start to feel the effects of age exercise.

I'll be there again next week.

I hope its not another 'Soul Deep'...

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