Han in the Motherland

2009-03-29T23:21:00.002+08:00

Catchup Post

Yes yes, it's been a while, and yes yes, I've been swamped, and yes yes, that seems to be always the reason. BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT UNTRUE!

Anyway, here is an updated on outdated info. Not even sure who reads this anymore. Perhaps it's more of a way for me to remember things amidst the insanity =D

So my lease was up and despite the economic times, my landlord refused to lower the rent, so I moved... 3 mins away. Which actually is more painful than one would think. BECAUSE it's so close, you can't justify movers and you end up doing everything ourself (with wonderful parents). It's smaller than my previous place as I'm not expecting as many visitors as last year and with the financial crisis, I'm following the trend of downsizing. Given the amount of hours I work, I don't spend as much time as I'd like to in it anyway. Gotta note that it's totally different going from a one bedroom to a studio.

The first time I saw this new place there was no power, but I fell in love with it. The 2nd and 3rd time confirmed my affections. However, as is all things in China, once moved in, the problems surfaced.

Just to name a few:
- landlord refused to pay tax
- gas leak that almost killed my parents
- broken hot water
- dysfunctional telephone line

2009-03-29T23:13:00.002+08:00

My colleague Tara is always trying something new in Beijing.

This is the time we went for Ethiopian food!

~ sauces served in basket type thing. the moist bread that the sauce sits on is dipped into the sauces

~ a closer look

~ intently watching the fascinating live dancing

2009-03-29T22:20:00.003+08:00

Mid-January, our company had its annual party. A dinner & lucky draw followed by a casino night that ended with an auction.

I went home with a free Wii!

~ classic picture ruining

~ Leeyan & I

~ best teammate ever!

~ the essence of our creative department

~ the original trio. of those who helped start Enfatico Beijing, we're the only ones still hangin' on!

2009-01-04T13:38:00.002+08:00

2009: it's gonna be, what it's gonna be

Starting in 2006, a good friend and I started naming the year as it began, in hopes of setting a tone for the next 365 days to come. Let's recap, shall we:

2006, it's gonna be huge (and it was)
2007, it's gonna be bold (and it was)
2008, it's gonna be ridiculous (and it truly was)

2009, it's gonna be what it's gonna be

Now, most of you must be thinking 'that means nothing, that's stupid', 'that's the most generic thing ever, that's stupid'. You're right, it is stupid in a way, but it's not nothing. It means that we forsee a lot of insanity to happen this year, but instead of stressing about it, the tone for this year is that we're going to take things in stride, everything's going to be ok, despite all that will/should go down.

This new year was rung in at a cozy cafe, singing songs in good company of friends.

~ Danny trying to take a group picture and cutting himself out

~ Ahh...that's better.

~ everyone's singin' the tunes!

~ Matt, Danny & Rich

~ the post New Year countdown extravaganza. after much walking around in the cold impersonating british accents and complaining no places were open, a toast, to it being whatever it's gonna be!

2009-01-04T13:34:00.002+08:00

My Singmathai Vacation

After it only being a dream for about 7 years, I finally embarked on my vacation to Southeast Asia. Had to do the most common places first so Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand it was! 10 days, 5 locations.

Was a good time of warm weather (away from the Beijing Cold), clean air (away from the Beijing pollution), and 'never been to' places (away from the...china...china...).

It all begins with my ticket to....SIN.

~ literally....my ticket to SIN!

2009-01-04T13:30:00.002+08:00

~ the view from Veron-the-best-hostess' apartment

~ i have no idea how she leaves to go to work everyday. i sure wouldn't!

~ chinatown! stall after stall of fresh eggtarts!

~ the oldest mosque in Singapore

~ Will Anstee, ladies & gentleman, realizing he was the only one around for Studio 54

2009-01-04T13:25:00.002+08:00

~ with daniel (fellow Enfatican) & royati, the shoe lady

~Arab St. had me some good indian food here

~Botanic gardens!

~ sigh...reminds me of Canada...so green and ...green

2009-01-04T13:19:00.002+08:00

~ ...i kid you not...

~ had i not captured this on camera, no one would have believed me! CEO & Biz Director in funny wigs!

~ only a month ago was someone mauled to death by these white tigers

~ a trip to the Singapore Zoo (some say the BEST IN ASIA) is not complete without the elephant show!

2009-01-04T13:16:00.002+08:00

Part 2 of the trip: Malaysia

Met up with Yvette in Kuala Lumpur. Did the shopping and the sights and of course the eats. Then off to Melacca for the day on a quaint bus tour.

True to what people say, KL is in many ways 'another city', delightfully so, of course.

~ upon exiting the hotel

2009-01-04T13:09:00.001+08:00

~ KL Tower from afar

~ Petronas towers & I

~ towers in the mist...dun dun ....DUNNNNN!

2009-01-04T13:06:00.001+08:00

~ char kuey teow in malaysia, doesn't get much more authentic than that!

~ as much shopping as one can handle

2009-01-04T12:43:00.002+08:00

~ Yvette & her favourite place!

~ Petaling Street - CHINATOWN!

~ fishball vermicelli

~ bbq pork noodles! she's lovin' it!

~ a spa where fishies eat the dead skin off your feet. much like that episode of Ugly Betty

2009-01-04T12:40:00.002+08:00

~ t'was a rainy day in Melacca (and Pizzaville, i'm sure)

~ practicing quaint poses while waiting for a lady and her child who got lost from our tour

2009-01-04T12:36:00.002+08:00

~ a memorial for Dutch soldiers

~ Antique street in Melacca, i regret not being hungry enough to try the Formosa chicken ball. BAH!

2009-01-03T23:49:00.002+08:00

~ Melacca's Antique street

~ STINGRAY! the coolest thing i ate on the whole trip (twice)

~ nasi lemak =D

~ extremely large gekkos on the wall of a public bathroom off the highway in KL on the way back to Singapore

2009-01-03T23:34:00.002+08:00

So, the last leg of the race was Thailand on an early flight from KL.

We began with Phuket and then flew over to Bangkok for the grande finale.

A couple days on the beach and then a good dose of exhaust in the city was a good way to end off the trip.

~ Pad Thai in Thailand, doesn't get more authentic than that!

~ the girl who fuels on papaya salad

2009-01-03T23:25:00.002+08:00

~ Yvette splashing around in Patong Beach

~ me, unimpressed with Patong Beach, meh, i've had better

~Yvette having her hair did

2009-01-03T23:20:00.001+08:00

~ life size! who does that!?

~ our beautiful resort!

2009-01-03T23:16:00.002+08:00

~ there was a movie being shot while we were there. Here are some actors taking a break.

~ i think this was Yvette's favourite picture...ever.

2009-01-03T23:12:00.001+08:00

2009-01-03T23:07:00.001+08:00

~ reminds me of the white crab scene from Pirates of the Caribbean

2009-01-03T22:56:00.002+08:00

~ broken english!? my favourite kind!

2009-01-03T22:50:00.002+08:00

~ overpass view in Bangkok

~ beerfest at one of the shopping malls, each stall bought by a brand all competing for the loudest music blared

~ tuk tuks racing! jk...

2009-01-03T22:46:00.002+08:00

~ tuk tuks!

~ less developed living areas along the river

~ a teeny tiny part of the King's Palace

2009-01-03T22:24:00.002+08:00

~ 100% the same

~ the hawker centre outside of the King's Palace. i just LOVE these places!

2009-01-03T22:18:00.002+08:00

~ people cooking food out of anything they can find

~ this restaurant was so good Yvette went back the 2nd day on her own

2009-01-03T21:53:00.002+08:00

~ that's right, ladies & gentleman! I found it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0fy-9NWFg

~ good thing it was low tide

~ the cabs are pink!

~ a Beijing restaurant...ya, definitely not going in there

2008-12-18T00:25:00.002+08:00

798 Art Exhibition

I know this is the most outdated post but whatever. During Oct 1st holiday week, I visited the art exhibition at Beijing's Art District 798. Lots of cool stuff, not enough time to see it all.

~ a face after being punched in

~ a reflection of us!

2008-12-18T00:15:00.001+08:00

~it's a giant pill!

~ no, it's not a real guy

2008-12-17T23:44:00.002+08:00

2008-10-02T16:56:00.002+08:00

Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday

So on the Monday of Mid-Autumn Festival, when none of us had to work, my friend Matt conveniently had an extra ticket to see blind soccer at the Paralympics. The game was held up in the Olympic area in the field hockey stadium. It was my first time seeing anything like this and it is totally amazing. Surprisingly, there are fewer injuries when people can't see!

They are guided on and off the field and the ball rattles when moving so they can detect the sound. There is so much skill involved and the level of chemistry is crazy. It takes teamwork to a whole new level as the only players that can see are the goalies.

After the game, we headed to a 'hu tong' for lunch and a walk-around.

Pics'll do the talking!

~ match 1 - argentina vs. britain

~ match 2 - spain vs. korea

~ these people make you think 'what have i done lately?'

~ me, matt, amy and danny

~ after 3 hours in the scorching sun

2008-10-02T16:13:00.002+08:00

~ popsicles during half-time!

~ field hockey statium in Olympic park

~ after the game, we decided to go for lunch. Since it was too hard to find a cab from the subway to the 'hutong', we took one of these. Amy & I crammed into one while the boys took another

~ my first 'hu tong'

~ the whole area is so pretty, historic feel ...except for the car part...

2008-10-02T16:01:00.002+08:00

~ my first time in a 'hu tong', which is basically old areas of a developed city that have been kept for their cultural and historic feel. There are tons all over the city. This one is a more famous one, but by fame, it is also a little more...commercialized (ironic, i know). We came here for lunch after the match and tried a place that did 'fusion' of SiChuan & Western tastes.

~ rice in a bucket!

~ a very tasty seafood soup, and cool looking too!

~ matt being... matt

2008-08-31T00:30:00.002+08:00

A Summer's lead-in to 2 years in China

As many of you know, I knew when I moved to Beijing that I'd have a crazy summer full of visitors (12 in total, from May - August). Well, the summer has come and gone and the last of them has left.

This coming Monday will also mark my 2nd year anniversary in China. It truly boggles the mind, thinking about how much has happened in the past 24 months, but all the more exciting to see what is to come. Most of you have asked how long I plan to stay here for. As far as I can see, I'm not planning to leave anytime soon. Having said that, it's important to note that China has disabled me to think more than a few months ahead, and not in an irresponsible sense. Too much happens in a day that thinking so far ahead usually leads to useless planning when things change as fast as they do here.

I think the point is this: I love China. Despite the difficulties, I love living here, I love the people, the opportunities to do what I love in every respect. So until that dies out, I'll be stickin' around. I'm not really focussing on the time, just lovin' it while I can.

The visit from my brother and Cynthia definitely made the summer. We talked a long time about this coming summer but in a blink, it's come and gone. I have no doubt that this trip for them was an eyeopener but it was also an excellent opportunity to see how I live over here. Work, church, friends, they got to see it all. They also got to do a bit of English teaching which was an eye opener for them, amongst other things.

As usual, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

~ the first weekend they arrived, we made sure to cover off the Great Wall first, before too many tourists came around or anyone got sick. I'm proud to say it's my 3rd time doing the Wall. It's about a week's worth of cardio in 1 day!

2008-08-31T00:23:00.002+08:00

~ after the initial pictures, the 3 of us went up while my parents waited at Starbucks. They've done it twice before

~ it IS so ridiculously steep, our shoes were slipping all the way down

~ if I had to name this picture, I'd call it 'Noble'. What cannot be seen from this picture is the downhill stairs that are behind me as I'm taking the shot. The Great Wall is full of stairs going up and down. Basically, the couple walked all the way down the one side, but the girl refused to go up the next set of stairs. They certainly couldn't sit there all day so the guy carries her up the enormous flight. ...and they say chivalry is dead...

~ celebrating our accomplishment in becoming 'hao han's (some for the second time)

2008-08-31T00:18:00.002+08:00

~ yes, we love posing stupidly next to things

~ another visitor to 'The Place' - home of the largest LCD in the entire world (that's right!)

~ squatting anywhere he can

~ that's the 'i'm lovin' beijing' face - at WangFuJing

~ the first time we took them out for Shanghainese....oh, the 'xiao long bao's

2008-08-31T00:08:00.002+08:00

~ while visiting my uncle in the nursing home, we ran into the grandfather of a friend of ours whom Dan & Cynthia visited last time. what are the chances!

~ hot potting for lunch (my dad's idea), and yes, aprons must be worn as there can be much splatter when the food is that good. (sidenote: in Dalian, there's a place that gives you a plastic baggie for your cellphone to prevent it from getting splashed)

2008-08-30T23:59:00.003+08:00

~ the Canadian International School in Beijing hosted a Canada Day event where people came to just enjoy...canadian things. There was a marching band and a booth set up by the Royal Bank of Canada...among other things.

~ for Cynthia's birthday, we went for Shanghainese and ended the meal with this redbean ice mountain (aka, birthday cake).

3 weeks ago, I took a much needed trip to Dalian. I simply needed a break. Clean air, less traffic, blue skies, just what I needed. You should have seen how fast my skin cleared up! Dalian is beautiful, and even though I don't regret leaving because Beijing is where I need to be, it's still my first home in China and will always be a place where I can breathe.

~ the black strip was created when the park opened and has hand & footprints of people that were there for the commemoration. people (in yellow suits) are hired to clean this thing regularly. tis the luxury of having an extraordinarily large labour force.

~ we're all holding onto my brother because he's the only one who was wearing shoes that had traction. 'twas a slippery slope

~ the biggest skate ramp ever

2008-08-30T23:54:00.002+08:00

~ classic!

~ China: where anywhere is the right place to squat

~ wow, standing tall on such a high mountain!

... not really...hehehe

~ *cue opening theme from Lion King*

2008-08-30T23:48:00.002+08:00

~ no better place for a china squat - my dad is hilarious

2008-08-30T23:37:00.002+08:00

~ being posey never gets tiring

~ we went to a buffet with a pasta bar. the chef at the station was actually from Italy and all he was directed to make was pasta. he was very bored and sad, so we took ingredients from the other stations and asked him to make us bruschetta, which he gladly did. everyone wins!

~ taken in the last week of their visit. doesn't look like they're holdin' up so well anymore...=D

2008-08-30T18:57:00.003+08:00

~ my godparents from Vancouver took a tour of Beijing in mid-July. Was good to see them, it's been 2 years since I last visited

~ after Dan & Cynthia discovered the vermicelli dish at this restaurant, they had to return before they left. Look at that happy face...

~ this was taken on the way home the night of the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games. I went to the bar with coworkers and friends to watch and the national pride was simply overwhelming. I know I'm Canadian by nationality but to stand for a national anthem that represents your ethnicity was a first for me. I stood next to local Chinese people sharing the pride they felt for a country that has endured so much (especially recently) and waited so long for their moment to shine.

~ in order to reduce traffic during the olympics, only even #'d license plates can drive on even # calendar days and odd plates for odd #'d days. I've enjoyed the reduced congestion but even at 1/2, its still pretty bad as seen from my desk window at work.

~ a coworker of mine got me tickets to be part of a live audience. It turned out to be an interview of singer 'Faye Wong's actor husband. It was my first time being in this kind of environment but I can already imagine that things are done much differently in the western world. The show was filmed by CCTV, the broadcasting monopoly in China and highly controlled (if you know what i mean). They handed out longsleeve polos in 3 different colours that we had to wear so that the entire audience matched. Purses were checked at the door plus a walk through metal detectors. They said no cameras were allowed, but everyone in there had one, so I just used my phone =p

2008-05-24T21:46:00.004+08:00

FUn in Beijing

So as part of their China tour, Ev, Clinton, Kim and Diana decided to stop in Beijing for a few days. It's always a good weird having friends from Canada visit me in China because playing tourguide always hits me again that I live here, which...most days is still something I can't quite wrap my head around.

Good times indeed...

~ ev karaokeing with my buddy Alex on his birthday (hence the look of intoxication)

2008-05-24T21:34:00.002+08:00

~ clinton, doing canadians proud!

~ when I said 'anyone want a picture with kobe, that wasn't really what i meant'

~ at the gate of wangfujing, the 'main' street in Beijing

~ caramelized strawberries.....and some people

2008-05-24T21:06:00.002+08:00

~ wangfujing side streets

~ grilled bugs! haven't tried one yet.

~ han: hey! there's the 'nightmare before christmas store! who's nerdy enough to go in there?'
kim: clinton.

~ wangfujing landmark: apparantly, a really long time ago, some army came to this well...and something like that....

~ these people are watching a really big LCD outside a shopping mall. the program is a live telecast about the SiChuan earthquake which has been on every channel and radio station 24 hours a day for the past week

2008-05-24T20:47:00.002+08:00

~ what the crowd was watching...

~ outside my house, the CFu & I

~ I love this place because it doesn't feel like the city, afterall, i'm an Ajax girl ; )

~ and a trip to Ikea of course!

2008-05-24T20:35:00.002+08:00

~ @ QuanJuDe, one of the most famous places for Peking duck. that is our bird, before being peeled..mwahahaha

~ with every bird you have at QuanJuDe, you get a certificate. It's like...an adoption program...

~ the waitress will do a demo of how to wrap it

~ really, we're just all waiting for the picture to be over quickly so we can eat the duck

~ oh what a couple of...somethings....

2008-05-24T20:01:00.002+08:00

~ an empty subway station...that's...never happened before

~ despite the really nice area that I live in, the outer side of the complex is a long street full of these small stone houses. 1 week before ev/clinton got here, they boarded them all up and are tearing them down for the new subway station. it's sad, really, because these little establishments were convenience stores, street eats, run by low income people.

It's a sad chicken and egg. If you don't tear these down, you can't improve the city. If you improve the city, these people are losing a livelihood because their lack of education prevents them from doing anything else.

2008-05-24T19:10:00.002+08:00

13 years later...

Had you told me last time I was here that I'd end up moving to China after graduation and eventually finding a job in this city, I'd likely have just stared at you blankly. Though it's been over a year and half, living in this nation, (and now its capital) is all still very surreal to me. So visiting the country's landmark this time as a resident, was a very cool experience. I came here this time with my brother's girlfriend's mother, sister and grandma. Next week will likely be a trip to BaiDaLing with Dan & Cynthia. I can already feel this to be the next niagara falls for me in terms of it being a place you take visitors to but you never go there on your own as someone who lives in the city.

Last time I was here, I wasn't actually at the same place on the wall. This one is MuTianYu which is supposed to be the easiest climb of them all. It's supposed to be more scenic than BaiDaLing, the one I went to when I was 11. BaiDaLing is the most intense physically but apparantly the prettiest of them all.

I'll let the pics do the talking...

~ the wall from the parking lot (it's the rim on the very top)

~ really old chimes, each making a different sound based on weight of the metal

~ old school masseuse: people would place this next to the area they wanted massaged and then have someone hit it with the baton and the vibrations would massage the area that it's touching.

~ our visitors

~ me and my wall

2008-05-24T18:48:00.002+08:00

~ ...and it goes as far as the eye can see...so beautiful... sigh

After a day of hiking around, we went to visit the Olympic buildings. Some people say they've been able to walk around the outside, our driver said he could only drive by slowly. So apologies that the pictures to follow kind of suck, it was the best I could do in the back of a minivan from the highway.

2008-05-24T18:33:00.002+08:00

Most interesting thus far

When I first 'hot pot'd in Dalian and found out they use cow bone marrow extracted in white strands, I thought that was weird but very tasty. Well, here's something that completely outdoes that.

~ Lamb marrow: a whole bunch of these joint/bones are through into a clay pot and stewed for hours in a sauce. When eating, you just put a straw into the middle of the bone and suck out the marrow. There isn't a lot of marrow which is why they cannot extract it like they do with cows. and yes, the place I went to for this was VERY local.

2008-05-24T18:25:00.002+08:00

Mother's Day trip to Tianjin

Not that this was an intentional thing, but that's what I'm going to call it. A week before Mother's day, during the National holiday (May 1-3), my mom and I took a trip to Tianjin. As it turns out, a day there is more than enough. The air is about the same as Beijing only the people are likely a little less culturally advanced than Beijing (kind of like Dalian with smog). In all honesty, I didn't have any expectations in going, I simply want to go so I could say I've been and being only an hour trainride away, it'd be silly not to.

There isn't much to report other than the fact that the way people are really reminded me of Dalian, which despite its shortcomings, I actually kind of miss, being my first home in China and all.

~ scenic smog

~ outside of the food street, which is actually a humungous shopping mall where all the stores are restaurants

2008-05-24T18:10:00.002+08:00

~ some really oily looking...'goods' that we did not try

~ how we chose to get around most of the day. you'd be surprised how much traffic we can bypass, especially when driving on the left side of the road!

~ Tianjin culture street

2008-04-12T22:51:00.002+08:00

Kickin' it in the Kapital

So, as previously mentioned in the last post (that was ages ago, I know), I've moved to beijing and it's been 6 weeks. The city is awesome. The not so good parts are understandable given its goodness. With the diversity and variety comes bad traffic, bad air, and being ridiculously far from anywhere outside of your district.

Work is going awesome. I have been working INSANELY much, but since it's a job I actually really like, the pain is happily bore. The most challenging thing right now is language. I've moved from a job where I speak mainly english (and chinese when i have to due to someone not understanding) to a job where I speak mainly mandarin and only use english when I get stuck. On average, speaking 12 hours of mandarin a day is quite taxing on my little noggin but the pressure applied is a great opportunity to accelerate my mandarin learning. Course reading is not really improving despite the spoken/listening getting much better so I'll never be able to get certified, which is ok.

This summer contains a healthy lineup of visitors and of course the Olympics. So long as I don't melt in 40deg heat and show up late for work because of too many tourists, I'm happy.

In various parts of the city, you'll find these counter boards that countdown to the games.

The last time I took a picture of the one at Tiananmen, it was after my interview that I flew down for and as you can see, it reads 206 days until the games. I remember it was cold and windy. Almost 100 days later, I went back with my parents and my dad's colleagues on a warm but foggy day and am living permanently in the city. How crazy is that!?

2008-04-12T22:38:00.002+08:00

~ so before I left the company, I had to make use of my security privileges to check out the Beijing office. It's rather impressive. It's got its own name on the tower, it's own entrance. After the custom ramp at Warden/Steeles, it doesn't surprise me how...territorial they are...=p

~ my digs: yep, so this is where I live. my first official place. It's quite exciting when I think about it. I get to decorate it (or not) the way I want and buy as much hideous stuff as I so please. Note: shelf in the bathroom, yep, from IKEA =D The place lacks decor for several reasons. 1) I'm RARELY home. 2) I'm trying to stay mobile, in the event that life takes me elsewhere 3) in Dalian, my posting of ads all over my room left my parents with having to hire someone to redo the paintjob. (in my defense, my dad said i could at the time haha)

~ last time I was here, I'm pretty sure this stuff looked the same. The historic stuff doesn't tend to change too much. good to know it's still there =D

~ my parents resting on steps at Forbidden City. Truthfully, we would never go back if my dad's American coworkers didn't want to go. So we did a lot of walking/sitting while they ooo'd and ahhh'd over the ancient stuff in glass casing. Chinese history is awesome, but all bronze plates start to look the same after a while --_--

~ at Forbidden City in one of the gardens. I LOVE how the old lady is laughing so hilariously.

2008-04-12T22:24:00.002+08:00

~ introducing, the greatest place ever. that's right. an IKEA in beijing. Apparantly there are 2. but this one is DANGEROUSLY close to my house.

~ the IKEA cafeteria - using only IKEA products for your dining pleasure. (the actual place is about 3 times the size of what you see in the picture)

~ and check out the eats available! (no, it's not wine, just all you can drink pop in a goblet =D)
~ all the IKEA stuff even has the price tags on it so they're REALLY letting you know it's available elsewhere in the store

~ The Place - shopping centre. That's right, I found a Zara's in Beijing. Waiting for an H&M to move over from Shanghai = )

~ of course, the shopping isn't the best part of The Place, it's the ENORMOUSE LCD that lights up at night

2008-04-12T18:21:00.002+08:00

~ the 'under the sea' theme (last time I went back, it was 'outer space')

~ so the local 7-11s sell rice boxes. they're so awesome I had to quit them. basically pick whatever stuff you want to go on your rice. over 10 different dishes for your choosing needs!

~ so we've all heard of 'drunken chicken', but have you heard of 'drunken shrimp'? they stick small (lightweights) shrimps into a bowl, drown them in alcohol and salt and then put the lid on. The lid protects your clothes from getting the splash when the shrimps start kicking around. Then, after about 20 mins or so, you open the lid and all is calm. then you just eat the shrimp. sounds gross, but is actually really tasty (if you can get past the mental part).

~ Vic: the first fellow Torontonian I met up with in Beijing (hopefully more to come) - we took a trip to IKEA. you can see the price tag in the back if you look closely, hehe

~ a Californian friend from Dalian decided to drop by Beijing for the weekend. Hanging out with his friends at...that's right...karaoke. now now, we don't judge!

2008-01-22T17:35:00.000+08:00

bye bye big blue, bonjour beijing

This comic could not be more fitting. Course, I wish I was that good.

Nevertheless, I have secured a job with a marketing agency in Beijing so that's where the road will take me next. I'll be officially moving there late next month.

More insanity is due to ensue so stay tuned!

~ cheers~

2007-12-18T10:47:00.000+08:00

Christmas sights & 'sights'

The tree below is currently found in the mall right next to my house. As you can see, it looks like the 80's came back and threw up all over it. The picture doesn't do it justice because it doesn't capture the enormous glare of the pink/fuscia-ness. In addition, the 'star' on the top isn't even a star! it's some...sea urchin/disco ball looking thing! HORRID!

~ my eyes!

~ fashion in china never ceases to amaze, you have to expect the random, O_O'est outfits. but the odd time, there will be something that truly catches the eye. On this day, purple pleather and faux fur certainly did it! This woman must have been victim of the Christmas tree decorating from above... (for the record, pictures were taken at 2 totally different malls)

And now, for the adult education portion of the program.

The following was taken inside the lobby bathroom of a 5-star hotel. I'm glad awareness is being raised because safety in everything is certainly important. I just didn't think it could be promoted in such a ...fashion.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2007-12-18T10:29:00.000+08:00

.com annual party

This past Saturday, we had our annual dinner for our department. Aileen was invited back as a VIP guest and we showered her with... .com love...which is...well, drinking a lot of beer, haha.

~ after a 'fair bit' of drinking

~ likely after a little more

Earlier that day, on one of Aileen's visits to the IBM office, she was feeling rather sentimental and wanted a souvenier...

~ oh....the antics...

2007-12-18T10:12:00.000+08:00

Bye Bye, Big Blue Buddy

2 weeks ago, my dearest friend Aileen wisely decided to jump ship. Course, she didn't jump very far because her new company is conveniently on the same floor only on the other side of the building. (This convenient arrangement allows us to still have lunch together). Nevertheless, a 'farewell' party was had including 6 hours of karaoke'ing and a dinner (seriously, what else do Chinese people do?).

Life in the office has become much more boring since she's been gone. No one to share snacks with (so I just stopped snacking), no one to vent to (so we do it over email now), no one to speak Cantonese to (so I just release all the pent up canto during lunch), but mainly, no one to share a knowing look with when something's going down and we're clearly the only 2 people who realize how ridiculous it is. sigh...

~ WSE team ... & their significant others ('team photo'- padding, if you will)

Now all of the annoyance that I must distribute in one day falls solely on Harri... poor guy...

2007-11-11T23:10:00.000+08:00

Bling...bling...bling-bling...

I attended my second wedding in China this past afternoon. In China, weddings are lunches and don't contain the 'church' portion as whatever formal portion is included in the banquet portion. Today's wedding was estimated at at least 200,000RMB and likely the most expensive wedding in China I'll ever be invited to. It took place at the Furama Hotel.

Unbeknownst to me, my coworker Erin wasn't the only one getting married that day, so when 3 dressed-up BMW 750's followed by 6 matching Audi A6's rolled up, I immediately started taking pics. Only to realize right before I took a picture of the bride getting out of the car that it wasn't Erin. No matter, the cars were nice =D (the fact that both Erin and her husband each own a BMW was what made me figure that the first entourage was her).

~ 3 of these bad boys leading the convoy of the 'other couple'

~ followed by 6 of these

Finally, Erin arrived with her husband driving the Porche below, top down, in the freezing November cold. Bold indeed.

~ the stairway to the banquet hall. apologies for the blockage in this picture. in china, it's hard to get stairways empty as there are seriously people...everywhere.

~ fully equipped with a string quartet that played both in the lobby as we were arriving and during the enormous meal that we downed. (estimated at 2,700rmb+ a table)

Obviously if you convert those prices back to Canadian dollars it seems measly but let's remember that this is China, where everything is cheaper (comparatively), so to spend that much is well... something. Let's just say, it's REALLY hard to get more bling than this.

2007-11-11T22:54:00.000+08:00

~ the hall at Furama Hotel (top in Dalian along with Shangri-La)

~ the giveaway - a teddy wearing a backpack containing Ferroro Rocher

~ the bride and I

~ the ice diamond that the newlyweds had to smash the top of to retrieve the wedding rings that were frozen inside

2007-11-06T00:32:00.000+08:00

A School for Moonlighting

As mentioned in a previous post, my friend opened a language school. The English program is basically headed up by yours truly so I'll be teaching there at nights once we get some students signed up. Until then, I'm studying Chinese there 3 times a week after my 9-6's @ my 'real' job.

On my lunch break today, Harri and I were being ridiculous so we did a tour of his new accomplishment.

Warning: contains shakey camera work, bad mandarin, stuttering lines, awful lighting and over all poor quality. In other words, quite China (hehe).

2007-10-18T22:53:00.000+08:00

Annual hospital visit

Last year around this same time, I got sick. Last time it was food poisoning, this time it's a throat infection. fabulous. it's no wonder, really. weather here is warm then cold. malls have already turned on the heat with no actual ventilation. buses windows are closed and being sneezed/coughed on has doubled.

To spice things up a bit (and out of pure convenience), i went to a different hospital
- Upon paying for the registration, the nurse pulled out a thermometer from nowhere and asked me to stick it under my armpit. While I was clamping this treasure, I could only think about all the other armpits this thing could have been hugged by without sterilization.
- Go in to see the doc. Stumbled through an explanation with LOTS of actions
- Pay for a blood test
- Nurse who takes trash out, comes back, without washing hands of course and takes my blood. Needles here do not automatically start drawing. These are syringes. The nurse pulls the back of it, draws the blood, pulls the needle out, opens the back and pours my blood into a test tube, all the while flailing her arms and yelling at other nurses so that whatever happens to be in the air, falling out of her mouth, etc. will fall into my test tube of blood. Can’t have boring blood now, can we.
- Personally walk my germ infested test tube to the lab. Done in 6 mins. (Canadian clinics making you wait a week, pshh…that’s crap)
- Back to the doc for a diagnosis
- Pay for the meds
- Usually, I get a nice stack of pills. That day, 2 big bottles of liquid, 1 little glass tube and a pack of pills. I said to my dad that I didn’t like liquid medicine and he gave me a look that said ‘this is so not what you think it is’.
- And it sure wasn’t, we went into the ‘IV Room’ thinking we were in the wrong place. It looked like an airport waiting room only dingier with metal poles next to every seat where tons of people sat there with their tubes and bags looking like they were waiting for Death to collect.
- The ‘little glass tube’ turned out to be an injection for the bum to cure the fever and wow, 10 mins later, dropped the 1.5 day long fever to a normal. How awesome indeed.
- Then came my turn to join the death brigade with my own tube and bag as I sat there for my first IV dripping, only to follow up with my second dose a day later. I tells ya, straight to the bloodstream is SO the way to go.

Conclusion:
1) Chinese people have NO problem with tasks involving technique or motor skills. It’s the sanitary issue that needs work.
2) Bum needles kick pill form in the ass! (har har)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Going to the barber always results in new experiences mostly because while seated in the chair of vulnerability, the man holding the scissors is always curious about my ‘non-china-ness’. Today was no different. The hairwashing boy that asked me last time ‘Is Canada big?’ (to which I answered ‘yes’ because had I answered ‘compared to what, it would have complicated things) followed up today with ‘does Canada have its own language?’. I may have mentioned this before but it’s a very common misconception with northern Chinese people simply because the little exposure they have to the world. They think Koreans come from Korea and speak Korean. Japanese come from Japan and speak Japanese. So out of logic, Canadians come from Canada and speak Canadian. They think we are a separate ethnicity. Many cannot grasp the concept of immigration. Anyway, by the end of it all, I was translating Michael Jackson’s ‘Heal the World’ into Mandarin for the guy.

That’s right folks, in China, the clock never stops.

More updates soon, I promise =D

2007-10-14T21:40:00.000+08:00

Lasering

As a team outing, we headed out to a Wargame location. My coworkers enjoyed calling this 'human CS'. The experience was interesting enough but I would have much more preferred actual projectiles being released from the gun. Either way, another 'first' in China to log!

~ when we got there, we actually had to stand in a line while the guy yelled at us in 'army fashion'. Course this was just a wannabe army Chinaman on a powertrip, which I didn't really mind cuz i didn't understand what he was saying.

~ doesn't this look depressing? it's just everyone removing their equipment

~ Erica, these are mostly for you, the various faces/poses of me with a gun

~ these 2 are my heroes. Korean friend on the right, despite odds against foreigners setting up shop in China, just opened his own language school. Local Chinese friend on the right, I've introduced in previous posts. She's the Australia-educated, Cantonese speaking wonder. Without these 2, my sanity would be lost.

2007-10-14T21:18:00.000+08:00

Mid-Autumn Festival

It's been a while since I've updated.

Mid-Autumn Festival, known for the gorging of mooncake came and went 2 weeks ago. Not one of my favourite Chinese festivals for the simple reason that I'm not big on mooncake.

Mooncake in mainland China isn't what it is in Canada, it comes in meat flavours, fruit flavours, nut flavours with the most ridiculous combinations.

In light of this holiday, everyone got a box of mooncake from the company.

~ customized for the company

~ six little ones

~ the set of 3 that was designed based on our screensaver (eye-bee-m). Creative, i know.

2007-08-13T00:42:00.000+08:00

A visit from across the pond

Last weekend, the Wong's & Mo's arrived in Dalian for a visit on their way to various places in China. To show them the local sites, we took them to a few different places.

As usual, I'll let the pictures do the talking =)

~ a visit to 1 of the 3 local churches in Dalian (my first time as well!)

~ yes, I was not the only touristy Christian there that day. (words say: 'Emmanuel')

~ like a baseball game or a concert, no?

~ this place seats 3,000 people (pics don't do it justice, i couldn't get all the angles), no joke.

~ immediately after the service senior citizens come out with cleaning tools and shine the place down. they even mop the carpet. are these good stewards or what!

2007-08-13T00:32:00.000+08:00

~ 'marketplace' is EVERYWHERE, even selling Christian books & CDs outside of the church.

~ we visiting a place outside of Dalian called LuShun. It is a former military base that doesn't 'allow' the visit of foreigners. Most foreigners I know have been there -_-
LuShun recently has become the habiting place of many universities that have moved there from Dalian. The goal is to create a 'university town' and take the campuses out of the city. LuShun is known as a place that 'doesn't have anything'. From this picture, you be the judge. In China, I don't think there ever is such a thing as 'nothing'.

~ not sure what this sign is recognizing, it was in a museum. but any picture of a Canadian flag, I'LL TAKE IT!

2007-08-13T00:16:00.000+08:00

~ people fishing off the harbour (not sure if they caught anything)

~ I think I've known these people (my parents not included) longer than any other adults in my life

~ not sure if it's quite clear in this picture but the blurry line in the ocean (closer to the horizon) is supposed to be the dividing line between the Huang Sea and Bo Sea. Apparantly, currents moving in opposing directions cause this 'border' that is best seen from 5-8pm. I was there at 2pm -_-

~ no idea what those words say, I just made sure I got them all in the pic so that someone who CAN read them won't go 'wha?'

2007-08-06T16:16:00.000+08:00

Golden Stone Beach

3rd year anniversary of my dept. So we took a trip to the beach after the initial plan sunk due to ... logistical issues.

~ Dalian's claim to fame - mountans AND ocean (that's right, boys and girls, that's essentially the Pacific ocean)

~ Staking our claim, you know because everyone's nerdy in China, it's hard to identify the techies.

~ Some visiting Slovakian IBM'ers were able to join us

~ That's right! Some one brought ma jong!

~ Pre grilled skewers. There were hundreds and hundreds of them....no joke.

2007-08-06T16:06:00.000+08:00

~ My bossing giving his schpeeeel

~ My boss getting carried away into the water

~ If you look closely, the sand is actually not good at all

~ Golden Stone Beach....not so much...

~ The water was FULL of these mini jellyfishes. No stinging but quite slimy.

2007-08-06T15:55:00.000+08:00

~ people began digging holes and dumping them in for fun

~... those poor things...

~ Golden Stone Beach ...bridge?

~ Aileen, who looks rather pleased actually hates the beach and sun

~ The ladies of WSE (Web Solutions Enabler), nothing says company loyalty like a flag-tube-dress for 3!

2007-08-06T15:39:00.000+08:00

Random Happenings

I'm into my 11th month here and yep, still got random sightings to report!

~ Some non-China looking buildings next to my house

~ Raw horse meat @ a Japanese restaurant - and in case you're wondering, OF COURSE I ate it!

2007-08-06T15:07:00.001+08:00

~ These ladies are sales people at the King Son department store. Every morning, without fail, the come out at 8:45, the music plays on the loudspeaker and they do their exercise routine in their sales outfits.

~ Speaking of exercise, these are the Korean high school people that I meet weekly to do Bible studies and English lessons with. No one had the key to the office so instead we found a workout room. China = roll with the punches

~ not a very cooperative bunch (photo-wise)

~ These people are doing exactly what China people do, ride bikes with cargo in the back, stop in a group and chat indefinitely until they realize they should get to where they need to be.

~ From afar, it looked like a pile of stones. Upon closer inspection, it is a pile of garbage... in a park...

2007-07-28T11:18:00.000+08:00

Just in case you were wondering...

what the weather has been like here in Dalian, China as of late:

(do note the 'Feels Like' portion =I)

2007-07-09T12:52:00.000+08:00

Discoveryland Kingdom

This past Saturday, the company took our department on a trip to Discoveryland Kingdom which is like the 'Canada's Wonderland' over here. Anyway, good times over all, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Enjoy!

~ that's right, I, Hannah Lau, chicken of the world, went on the dropzone equivalent. The things I'll do in China...

~ while other people were taking nice civilized pictures in the classic chinese pose,...I opted for a different route

~ as you can see, i have a fascination with lampposts (left:seville, right:dalian)

2007-07-09T12:20:00.000+08:00

~ umbrella on a water ride, now THAT is smart

~ this is me being miffed that nobody understood my witty shirt that day.

~ my wee little steed

~ k, you cannot tell me that this girl in the parade on the left does not look like a splitting image of our beloved 'Kimmy Gibler' from Full House!? COME ON!

~ practicing our disco moves to the techno the park played all day! (tracks included 'the venga bus song' & an assortment of other DDR tunes)

2007-06-16T11:51:00.000+08:00

My sanity in the motherland

~ Aileen Tan

This girl is my godsent. She's my coworker and essentially, my closest friend in China. Without her, I would not survive my job. She's a local Dalian girl but went to Australia for 8 years to study and as a result, learned Cantonese and speaks English really well. Which is great for me because no one here speaks canto!

She's very non-girly and the 'won't take crap from no one' type. Straight shooter and just tells it like it is. Plus, she LOVES food! As you can see, we get along great! At work, they dynamic is pretty interesting. She and I are 2 of the 3 girls on our team but the only 2 ppl (regardless of gender) who are willing to go the extra mile to do any work.

Though our friendship is not like those I have in Canada where we would hang out or go out for dinner and things like that, I know I can call her up at anytime if I ever need anything (and I have...esp when I get stuck with not understanding mando...or i'm trying to bargain).

Anyway, a big congratulations to her as she just got married 2 weeks ago!

2007-03-11T20:31:00.000+08:00

Hevies a la Dalian!

~ @ the oceanshore

Alright, so after we had finished tainting Taiwan, we came back to my current place of residence and I showed Ev around for a couple of days. Below is a brief summary of our travels.

~ enjoy!

2007-03-11T20:12:00.000+08:00

~ in front of the apartment...that we're moving out of in 3 weeks

~ a story of plastic: so here in Dalian, there are many many sets of doors, but never are they all used. one set is opened while the others are locked. the set that is open is WIDE open and these plastic things are hung. Dalian is a VERY windy city so these plastic things can be found smacking people in the face/head as they use the entrance. in the wintertime, the plastic becomes hard which hurts quite a bit when being smacked by them -_-

~ pickled eggplant stuffed with minced garlic. mind boggling, I know!

~ my sanctuary: this is where I go to unwind and work off steam from a day of dealing with difficult customers -_-. the standard here is very good (cuz they have to live up to the name) but is only 10rmb per use cuz of company discount =)

~ yes, there actually IS a Harry Potter store

2007-03-11T19:56:00.000+08:00

~ the 202 tram. This thing is amazing, the 2nd stop it makes (not the one you see here) stops RIGHT in the middle of the road, no joke. So the people getting off, step INTO oncoming traffic. If you are crossing the street behind the tram, then getting to the other side will involve you walking into oncoming traffic again.

~ pretty self-explanatory

~ downtown shot of Dalian

~ @ Xing Hai Guang Chang (Square)

2007-03-11T19:41:00.000+08:00

~ after ev's birthday dinner pt. une

~ typical tourist...sigh...

~ Neusoft University of Technology (I think). Basically, a Chinese software company opened their own university. Talk about preparing for the future...sheesh

~ pretty sweet, eh...word has it that the most famous architect in China designed this

2007-03-11T19:19:00.000+08:00

~ they even have a gladiator arena...just ...wow

~ me at my house of slavery...aka...my workplace...

~ outer view of Neusoft University (ya, nice eh =)

~ dining Indian style with good friends from both sides of the globe =)
~ ev's birthday dinner pt. deux

2007-03-11T18:30:00.000+08:00

Fireworks in Dalian

The ZhongShan Roundabout

2007-03-11T18:15:00.000+08:00

Xing Hai Guang Chang
~ biggest square in Asia

2007-03-11T17:52:00.000+08:00

A tour of a store that shall remain nameless

*for copyright safety, please refrain from mentioning the name of this store should you choose to post comments even if the answer is blatantly obvious...or oddly familiar =p

2007-03-05T23:05:00.000+08:00

The Adventures of Hevies

Welcome to our journey as Hannah & Evelyn, now known as Hevies (tks, Jeff =p) take Taiwan by storm, and to a lesser degree, HK. We began on February 15th and finished off on the 24th. Keep your seatbelts fastened, your tray tables stowed and your seats in the upright position and hold onto your sanity...things may get a little...well...you'll see.

A few HK honourable mentions before we flew to Taiwan:

~ ALL UP IN MY FACE! i got off my flight from Dalian to HK and took the airport express train to the city. the second i board, i'm faced with...THIS.

~ just $5HKD more for ASSORTED pig giblets?! what a STEAL!

~ hahaha...i....i...i can't even... hahaha

~ at the movie theatre after our first 'in theatre' movie together (weird, i know), and of course, it had to be the new Andy Lau movie, Protege (it was actually really good, in all unbiasedness).

~ HK Airport, off to Taiwan!
~ this one was for you, Spams! SOLAR WHATTT!!!

2007-03-05T22:53:00.000+08:00

~ cabs in Taiwan are beautiful, big comfy cars with leather interior (tops HK cabs - which is tough to do)

~ me pretending to look at something so ev can take a pic of this Andy Lau ad

~ the first of MANY 'pose like things we see'

2007-03-05T22:49:00.000+08:00

~ us and our new year, dinner table turnip

so...why a turnip, you might ask?

2007-03-05T22:36:00.000+08:00

The start of our trek in the night market...

~ crispy new year snacks

~ enormous bags of peanuts

~ enormous mounds of dried shredded squid

~ biggest mandarin...EVAR!

2007-03-05T22:10:00.000+08:00

~ ev trying to help us understand just how hot that light was (it actually was burning hot tho)

~ awesome guy: this guy is selling a special material that is made into many different kinds of super absorbant towels. Given his headgear, I'd say he believes in his product.

~ just in case you're walking in the night market and SUDDENLY need a knife!

~ one of our many...MANY stops that night. Ev & mamaFu having some dessert

2007-03-05T21:56:00.000+08:00

Eating Stinky Tofu

The Beauties of Wintermelon Tea

2007-03-05T21:42:00.000+08:00

~ finally reaching the end of the night market street

~ visiting a Buddhist temple

~ confused much?

2007-03-05T20:11:00.000+08:00

~ in Cantonese it's called a 'kiew' (sp?) (I'm sure you've seen them in chinese movies), where they carry the queens, princesses, brides, awesome women around in... i want one.

~ this is insane: at 5am, these people are lined up in front of department stores of new years day, waiting for the stores to hand out red pockets full of 1) money or 2) raffles which can be used to win things like a) money, b) cars, c) tv's, etc. it's like Boxing day...without the buying part...

~ the little old Fu who lived in the shoe...har har har

2007-03-04T23:28:00.000+08:00

East Taiwan Tour
So we took a four day tour down the east coast of Taiwan. The tour is intended for local people who have never really had the chance to see the more scenic sides of the island. Our first stop, the ocean.

~ cute couple by the ocean *teeheehee*

~ i LOVE washed up dead blowfish

~ standing a little too close to the water will give you embarassingly wet pants from the knee down...-_-

~ apparantly, every lion in this line has a different face (had we more time, I think ev would have done them all on camera, no questions asked)

2007-03-04T22:44:00.000+08:00

Tunnel of 9 Turns

2007-03-04T22:06:00.000+08:00

~ it's not nature with the portapotties!

~ Honourable mention: this couple was on our tour with us and are the cutest people ever, no joke. The wife walks around normally with this unimpressed scowl on her face looking displeased with everything in sight. The husband on the other hand is this lighthearted goofy guy who wears baseball caps with suits cuz he's on vacation. Whenever they take pictures, he always tries to hug her or kiss her and her being ever so 'proper', always refuses. But it works for them...it really works.

2007-03-04T21:53:00.000+08:00

Making Muaji Part 1

Making Muaji Part 2

Eating Muaji

2007-03-04T21:23:00.000+08:00

~ yes, that's right, we MUST imitate everythign we see...

~ ...everything...

~ Chinese firemen back in the day...wonder if they were chick-magnets then...