September 2006 Archives

Steph just submitted a query on my experiences with exchanging an Apple laptop battery...

As this is the first I've heard of the new recall for the G4 batters - am so out of the loop here - I was wondering if you were able to have your battery replaced here in Shanghai under the recall, and if so, where?

Now, I would normally drop another comment in there, but I realised that my response was getting quite wordy and probably deserved an entry, so here I go.

The first thing to work out is if your Apple laptop battery is listed for recall. You can enter your battery's details on this Apple webpage to find this out.

If your battery is due to be recalled, the website advises you to contact your nearest authorised Apple reseller. For me, this is where I started my misadventure.

Right now, I'm in the process of getting my battery replaced, however it is very complicated due to the fact of the timing at which I pursued this exchange (the next day after the announcement), and an additional complication due in part to my travels over the past few months and slow response to my situation by Apple Australia. Sometimes it pays not to be an eager beaver.

Let me explain further. The battery replacement program for my Powerbook battery model was announced just a day or two before I left Shanghai for an Australian holiday. I popped down to the authorised Apple store in the Cybermart Electronics mall (corner of Huangpi Lu & Huaihai Lu) the day before I left. To the staff there, this was complete news to them and they brushed me off. One staff member said to me "because it was purchased in Australia, you should do it in Australia". Now, I knew this wasn't the case with Apple (World-wide recall?), but it was obvious the staff on that occasion didn't want to bother with me, and as coincidence unfolded, I was going back home in a few days. The easy solution was to forget those jokers and do it back in Oz.

So, after touching down in my home city with my PB in hand, I contacted the reseller I bought my PB from and went through the exchange process within a day of me landing in Brisbane. I was told that it would be back before I left Oz. But wouldn't you know it - it wasn't. The shipping time blew out from less than 4 weeks to 4-6 weeks. I also later learnt that the resellers were just 'depot' points for the exchange point, and each nation's Apple businesses were co-ordinating the recall. The reseller's really didn't know what was going on.

After a number of bounces around the Apple helpline in Australia, a 'special' arrangement was put in place whereby Apple Australia coordinated with Apple China to provide me with a new Lithium ion battery without any charge to my person.

Due to Apple Australia's policy, they haven't released the contact details of the people in Apple China dealing with this, but as soon as I know, I can drop you a line or post the follow-up here.

It is now 5 weeks since I lodged my battery into the exchange program. No battery as of yet. And I'm a little sick of working with an immobile laptop. Especially as I'd prefer to spend my time working & writing my thesis/papers at this place.

The official way to get an Apple battery replacement in China is listed on this page. My Chinese isn't up to scratch, but I'm sure a friend (or Babel Fish) can help out out with this. Apple's Asia page might also help.

If you can't wait for a laptop battery, you can purchase them from many places around Shanghai. The best deal I found was at the authorised Apple reseller located on the bottom for of the Xujiahui Taipingyang electronics mall (new model PB battery for RMB1100, just some bargaining and its already below the US Apple-store price!).

Here are some photos from last Saturday morning. I volunteered to teach Shanghai Sunrise children frisbee throwing and some Ultimate Disc action out at the SC & Johnson Company campus in Pudong. Not bad for a TUB.

My good friends Lozza & DaDan roped me into this. Lozza (along with another friend Amy) is deeply involved in the Shanghai Sunrise charity whereas DaDan & I like to throw discs. It was a picture-perfect scene. DaDan & I were joined by JD by teaching the kids various throws and drills, followed by a few little games. In fact, I started to bug out in the end (getting a bit bored, and I later rediscovering my talent for cutting up fruit in child-sized portions).

A fun day.

I'm as proud to be an Aussie as much as an American is proud to come from the U.S.A., or a Chinese proud to come from China. Maybe not as proud as a Shanghainese to have come from Shanghai, but I digress to much here (and that might be a whole much larger can of worms I don't want to dive into further...) ;) .

However, just like every country, we've got our good and bad traits. Of the bad, one of those that we tend to discuss more openly (as opposed to the ones we don't and their ongoing consequences) is the Tall Poppy Syndrome, otherwise pulling our fellow but more successful Australians back to the pack. This has been longest known (or at least should I say debated) symptom of what could be considered as Australia's Cultural Cringe.

However, it appears now another facet is becoming much more prominent and acknowledged in our society, and that is of Australians and our alleged increasingly jingoistic behaviour both at home and abroad.

I have noticed that over the past 5 years that there has been increased displays of overt nationalistic pride in Australia. Perhaps one of the best trends is increased attendance of remembrance services around Australia, and the worst being the 'US versus THEM' mob violence in Cronulla last year. On both sides of the coins, there's a multitude of events, issues and occasions that sprung up. What's the cause of this? Well, I guess there's many. Probably the one's I can identify quickly are the growth of terrorist impacts on our country (and our allies), a swing to conservative values in Australia (and the world), and indeed more efficient means of communication of ideas and concepts to larger and larger audiences (aren't blogs great for that?).

For me personally, I see a lot these events have detracted from our image and reputation as a people in the world. And it appears I'm not alone in this. I don't have the elegance or craft to accurately summise my feelings and perspective on this issue, but I read an article by Jack Marx a few days ago that I can whole-heartedly related to. Indeed, the whole blog entry and the ensuing comments is a perfect encapsulation of this trend as seen by Australians both on the "what's wrong with this..." and "thank god someone else sees this..." sides of the fence.

You can read Jack Marx's blog entry here. You'll spend a good 10-20 minutes reading this one. I believe this a pretty elegant discussion and exploration of the topic at times. Then there's the mudslinging. An entertaining and absorbing read.

Now before I can be accused of being an OS expat pointing the bone back at his homeland brethren (or one of those "this is why I left my country because of political so so and that's why I'm not going back until they've gone" whinging/excuse people), I've come to my own self-developed ideas based on personal observances a long long time before I left for Chinese shores. It is a convenient label to throw at any expat wanting to criticise their nation's perception of self-identity. I won't wear it.

When we first arrived in Shanghai over 18 months ago (yesterday), we were faced with a multitude of challenges posed enormous city filled with a people and culture that was very different from what we had experienced back in Australia.

I remember clearly the first few months in Shanghai where Linda and myself spent hours orienting ourselves with Shanghai's juxtapositions, uncovering the cluster neighbourhoods of trades (like the engineering district around Sichuan Bei Lu & Beijing Dong Lu), finding a place to live, working out how different communication, renting and utilities systems work, how to pay the bills (and later how to pay them conveniently). On top of this, there was the unending pursuit of trying new and exciting places to eat & purchase those little items from your home country that make the transition into your new life a little easier to bear. It was exciting, stimulating, and in some ways a small adventure.

But as time progressed, you've found the treasure troves of Shanghai's offerings and how to access them during your hectic expat lifestyle. I akin this much like where someone would always find the shortest & quickest route to work each day. I know that I started to settle into a pattern, my expat life habit and routine. It was blissful and convenient. We shopped at the same stores, ate at the same places, went to the same gym (well, we went sometimes), ultimate disc during the week and basketball on weekends, Wednesday night burgers at Malone's, weekend drinks at The Big Bamboo or Senses. The restaurants and the days might be a little jumbled up at times or you'd try a new place vetted by a trusted friend with a trusty palette, but essentially everything was routine.

There's many reasons for this. One thing I know is that many of my friends fill their days with so much whether it be work, study or play. Not a moment was wasted. The routine things are those little anchors that make the day amenable for the 'other' things that you just want to do. Anchors that are often just dismissed as a chore, a background actor in a busy scene. That type of thing.

It's not often that these little anchors shift, and even rarer that these anchors are lost. The anchors that are usually lost are those big ones that shift your life - like moving to Shanghai for a new job 18 months ago or more recently resigning from the same job due to professional issues. That took a lot of consideration and thought on my behalf, and a decision that resulted in fairly predictable outcomes for my foreseeable life in China over the next year or so. However, sometimes it is the loss of those little anchors in life that little unexpected thing can make your viewpoint and perspective change quite quickly but also in welcoming and refreshing ways. For me, it was yesterday's realisation of how structured and one-dimensional my life can be day to day in Shanghai.

I have a pre-paid phone with China Unicom. Ever since coming to China, I lamented the fact that I couldn't send messages to my friends back in Australia. I didn't know how to set it up. I knew that someone somewhere could help me, but it didn't seem a priority. I always felt aggrieved that I couldn't do it. I should change to a plan, but that would take effort outside my normal routine, so I'll do it when I have the time & occasion. Of course, that never seemed to happen so I went on my slighted way in Shanghai. At least I could get recharge credit at my favourite vendor in Jing'an Temple metro station each Thursday night. She was my favourite because she knew me, tolerated my poor Chinese, we had some small-talk each time, and I didn't have to haggle for IP cards (each month, 3 IP cards at RMB100). It was easy and convenient.

So after three or more weeks of travel around China and Australia, I've returned to China intent on catching up with people, letting them know of my exciting few months of post-work exploration and celebration, family weddings, tales of tropical islands with algal blooms, my self-proclaimed (but now reconsidered) rain-god status, and detailed descriptions of plate-sized steaks which seemingly greeted me every third day. Stuff like that. But I had a hitch. I ran out of phone credit. Easy. I'll pop down to Jing'an Temple & buy my phone cards.

My vendor wasn't there. Actually, none of the vendors were there. The metro station retail booths were all being redeveloped. I was pissed-off. I couldn't get my credit. Actually, I couldn't think of a place where to get my credit without some semblance of thought. This was a good sign that I had become a little too used to my own routine. A little too self-absorbed I believe. The fact is that while I may have been pissed off, I was faced with the reality that I, an adult man had a problem in firstly thinking of where to purchase a recharge card. So I went exploring to find a place. And of course, I found one easily because mobile phone and IP recharge card stores in Shanghai are the hairs on your grandma's face mole - there's a lot here & you can't help but draw your eye to them.

I spoke with the guy in the store. He was hanging out with his buddies watching one of those Pop Idol shows on TV. He was friendly, welcoming my business and my cash. Asked me if I knew how to recharge them. We chatted a bit and I was on my way. Really easy, and I had a nice surface chat in Chinese with another fella from my neighbourhood. That was a new opportunity that I hadn't taken up.

Sadly, I hadn't taken much of an effort to notice these stores in my day to day life around Jing'an District and it took such a little event like this to open my eyes and my mind once more to the possibilities that this great city offers, even if its a place to buy that mobile phone recharge card.

I'd definitely recommend breaking those little habits every now and then seeing what happens.

I have always loved getting a package from Australia. Invariably it contained some of the foodstuffs or other little thing that had just finished from my Australian goods and packages hoarde which we first brought to China.

Now that I'm back in Shanghai, I've been busily storing away the mountains of stuff we brought back to China with us so we can feel that a little bit of our old lives can linger on in our Shanghai life.

The problem with bringing stuff from home back to Shanghai is really figuring out that there's sometimes a hard choice to be made between the items you need versus the items you want. And usually, with your small baggage allowances and will to travel lightly, something has to be cut.

So here's my list of the things I wanted, but couldn't take with me...

• Weet-bix (or any other cereal).
• Nutri-grain (supposedly a cereal - more like sugar, oil with corn).
• Any other cereal.
• Nacho Cheese Doritos (D-ree is with me on this).
• My Mum & Dad.
• Eye fillet steaks from The Breakfast Creek Hotel.

And here's the list of things that you can take with you...

• Vegemite
• Tim Tams
• Bounty and Cherry Ripe coconut chocolate bars.
• Socks that are size Euro 45+.
• Underwear - just something that won't last 2 washes
• Violet Crumbles - No idea why, this happened to my sister too when she & DannyS lived in the UK for ~3 years.
• Deodorants that work (yeah, I'm a stinky laowai). Rexona Sport Anti-Perspirant Deodorant - It won't let you down, and won't leave you smelly like Shanghai deodorants do.
• Eclectic Good Music - anything from the JJJ's playlist could get it, particularly if its got a blues & roots theme, is mellow, or upbeat.
• Books - just about any book could satisfy Linda, its just hard to find a book that already hasn't satisfied Linda!
• Packets of sauces: gravies, cheese-based sauces, pestos.
• Good quality shoes that are Euro 45+.
• Pharmaceuticals, supplements, and other such things.
• Big, well-fitting clothes off the rack (like my new jacket! Made in China ironically).
• COFFEE!!! Big bags of beans.
• My mum's pickled chutney.
• My manual SLR camera gear!
• Thai cooking ingredients (because you can, and I haven't looked that hard in Shanghai).
• Gifts for people.

I calculated that from this last trip, two-thirds of the weight I bore back from Australia could be attributed to the above. That's a good 20kg!

You should have seen me at the airport. Heavy stuff!

The title should really reflect that this is a sequel, rather than an individual life event. After my first visit back to Australian shores slnce leaving for Shanghai 18 months ago, I have decided a few things about my home of Brisbane, my friends in it, and the life I lead right now.

• I have awesome friends in Brisbane.
• I have awesome friends in Shanghai.
• Life is awesome in Brisbane.
• I use the term 'awesome' a little too much (I blame DaDan).
• Brisbane is a beautiful and vibrant city, even so life is mundane compared to SH.
• Brisbane isn't my home any more, rather a place where my friends and family live.

The last statement appears contradictory. And it well might be considering your take on what 'home' is. For me I am coming to the realisation that home is the place you put your feet up and feel at ease. On my trip back to Australia, I always felt I was under or standing on someone's toes, crashing their schedule, or a welcome or inconvenient tacked on addendum to other's daily routines.

I love Brisbane. I love my friends, but there is a realisation that my life and the life of people I know has shifted in impercievable or dramatic circumstances in 18 months.

To me this is just another sign that I need to keep on making my own changes and do something I feel worthwhile with my time on this little blue dot of a planet.

I leave Brisbane early tomorrow morning and will be back in Shanghai late on Wednesday night. I can't wait to get home & kick on.

I'm a little Vegemite..., originally uploaded by timbeckenham.

This entry was posted with flickr

Bro In Law, originally uploaded by timbeckenham.

Welcome to the family Dan. You'll fit right in.

This entry was posted with flickr

Straight from the presses of The Sydney Morning Herald. A thief has ripped apart my treasured fabric of life - Heckler - Opinion

The nightmare is assessed by being dragged to see Ron Moss, choosing to watch anything containing Mandy Patinkin (yes, I decided to lump in The Princess Bride with this - a hard choice which I struggled with for a period of milliseconds), and all those other things including having your shit stolen.

A life without my Powerbook would be awful. And my iPod? Too difficult to bear really. I feel for this guy.

On top of this, then losing the ability to create your PhD thesis? Um, living it right now (though mine is a motivational rather than a physical loss).

I hear you buddy!

The Old Jetty at Geoffery Bay, Magnetic Island, originally uploaded by timbeckenham.

Today I left the "The Island" for Brisbane. So, the night before I left, the Edwards's invited me along to one of their family rituals; an evening of dining on the beach of Geoffery Bay.

This photo is a long exposure from the roof of Russell & Gisela's family station wagon looking towards the old Magnetic Island car jetty.

Who would have thought that reading my camera's manual would have yielded any results? I'm pretty happy with this photo, despite the fact I was unsure whether or not to crop the out-of-focus car roof in the foreground of the photo.

As usual, there's more photos on my Magnetic Island 2006 Flickr set.

This entry was posted with flickr

Half-way into my trip home to Queensland, I was beginning to believe that I had become a new reincarnation of HHGTTG's Rob McKenna. This fear has been alayed by the brilliant sunshine that vapourised the remaining clouds hugging Maggie Island's peaks this morning.

With the clearing of the clouds, I managed to knock off a few of my aims upon returning to Australia. Hitting the beach at Arthur's Bay, swimming in tropical waters, and to top it off - fish and chips on the beach at Horseshoe Bay.

It was definitely a good day.

I also got to meet up with some cool wildlife in the past few days. Yesterday, Linda and I popped down to the old old old jetty next to Geoffery Bay to meet up with the resident Rock Wallaby population. This little guys are awesome. Late this afternoon, Russell & Gisela's balcony was visited by a few Kookaburras who kindly posed for several photographs by yours truly. I'll pop these up on my flickr page when I get a chance.

I've also teased a few of my mates slogging away back in Shanghai with various picture messages of those things that you don't want to see while your slogging away in your Shanghai office. Pictures of the beach. Pictures of food. Pictures of wildlife. A classy touch of goading I must own up to.

So, what's up for the next couple of days?

More of the beach of course. Catching a performance by Magnetic Island's and Townsville's award-winning choir, Aquapella (featuring Linda's Mum & Dad), cooking more Thai food for the Edwards's, sleeping, eating, snorkelling and in general, nothing much in particular.

You have to love being back at home.