April 2006 Archives

I've been so caught up in life stuff recently that there really hasn't been much of a chance to sit down let alone write entries. The busy period I'm facing isn't quite over yet, but there is a bit of a lull right now, so this is the bullet-point synopsis of what's been going on over the past month or so.

• Linda & I moved apartments. We are super-happy with our new place. And we are progressively exploring our new local area (Zhen Ning Lu / Jiangsu Lu).
• Our move wasn't seemless. I went almost two weeks into our new apartment with no Internet. I went mad. I really rely on net access for both work and play. Our main problem was actually contacting our landlord - it appears our respective timetables are mutually exclusive. After a few days we managed to obtain password and login for the ADSL, and then, of course it didn't work. After drawn-out communications with my landlord (language + timing difficulties), troubleshooting through purchasing new cords & borrowing ADSL equipment, I ended up purchasing a new ADSL modem. That did the trick.
• With the help of my mate JM, I organised Satellite TV for our apartment. Compared to the internet saga, this was extremely easy. This is mostly due to JM's awesome STV man - Mr. Summer (his English pseudonym). I now have 52 channels of pure procrastination at my fingertips. I am relishing watching CNN and the AAC and NBA basketball in the evenings.
• I've caught and endured a few bad colds. I spluttered and leaked for 2 weeks right during the an extremely busy work period.
• Work has been massive. This time of year is our annual program & employee reviews. A big time. But coupled with this was our quarterly review meetings with business partners. Add onto this time for entertaining and 'crash-called' meetings, you could appreciate how hectic things could be.
• In local SIBL, my team, RD has started to click into gear and has gone from 0-3 to 4-3. The play-offs start after May holidays.
• My Monday night Ultimate Disc league team is going crackers - 2 losses for the season, and looking quite good I may add (even moreso since my two-week illness absence - surely a concidence).
• Linda's sister's arrived for a China holiday. They spent time in Shanghai, Beijing, Yunan and Sichuan. All of this coincided with me working my rear off and being ill.
• I did enjoy but also lamented the fact that I had an apartment all to myself.
• Now I'm getting excited about my parent's visit to Shanghai & China through May.

Tags: China, expat, Shanghai

I'm a little enthusiastic right now about photography. I'm starting to research the Digital SLR market, thinking about a new purchase (any suggestions people?). I used to annoy most of my friends back in Australia when I whipped out my old Minolta SRT-1 (older than your's truly) and started to take photos. I left that camera back in Oz, and I have been regretting it ever since.

I've been surfing Flickr quite often lately, and I discovered another China-based photographer that takes some awesome images. Their pseudonym is Chinapix, and here's a small selection of what they can produce (c/o a phpFlickr script).

I'm a fan. You can find more of their pictures on there Flickr page.

Tags: China, photography

Bra producers bust out D cups as breasts grow:

No more needs to be said. Another piece of pure gold from the Shanghai Daily.

Tags: China, humour, news, newspaper, Shanghai

Our (Old) Apartment Block
See more images by timbeckenham at flickr.

Perplexed by my recent silence dear readers? No, I haven't given up typing my inane dribble for the masses, rather both Linda and myself have been overly-occupied in our recent change of apartments.

Yes, we have left Chunder Loo (aptly monickered after a night out with Robbie & several forms of spirits, with Linda finding yours truly passed out on the couch in a state of semi-undress). We had a great time at our Changde Lu apartment. It was perhaps the best place for a 'fresh off the boat' expat couple looking to get a feel for Shanghai life. We were living right on the heart of the Shanghainese doorstep - low rise tenaments crammed full of life, laughter, hocking & spitting, astonished looks and cries of 'Lowai' each day, Shanghai-@ss smells, etc etc. We were starting to groan how far away it was from transportation lines, to get to the shops, the loud early-morning exercise routine from the High School across the road - it all sucked. These were minor inconveniences. However, over the course of our year there, we saw this community disappear. The pace of relentless development encroaching north from Nanjing Xi Lu and Beijing Xi Lu brought about the destruction of the neighbourhood. As we were leaving, almost 2X half city blocks were in the process of demolition. It appears that some of these areas might be zoned for a new Metro line stop, As for the other areas we've seen ear-marked for removal (big red banners with white writing proceed the destruction), we're not too sure what they will be replaced by, but we are sure that with new developments like One Park Avenue in the area, any replacement will be much more upmarket than the original. When we first took up residence in our Changde Lu apartment, we were situated directly across the road from a construction site. 24 hours a day pneumatic-tool anything made our life misery for almost 3 months. Seeing another upcoming round of construction was the last straw for me in particular. It was time to move.

So baah to development. Ironically, we've now moved to a new, much-larger apartment in a 'traditional' expat compound. It comes complete with Sat. TV (drool), tennis court, great positioning to Jiangsu Lu Metro Station & Hymall on Zhenning Lu. Its very plush, and pretty much a HUGE bargain considering what we inspected for the price.

So, my romantic allusions regarding the impact of my lifestyle choices in Shanghai have been left shattered. In part, we have both attributed to the unrelenting development process in down-town Shanghai. But now at least, we have Satellite TV to dull the pain.

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Technorati Tags: Shanghai, China, expat, flickr