Almost time to leave - part 2

A day later than promised, but better than usual given my blogging habits. So here we go, the things I won't miss about China:

• The environment. Some days it can be pretty nice (today was sunny and clear), but those are rare.  Generally it's grey and murky and dusty (due to construction below).  When I first moved over here I had a lot trouble running as my lungs just couldn't handle the poor air quality. I've gotten much more used to it...but I don't think that's a good thing.  There have been plenty of days throughout the year where the visibility was no more than a kilometre in any direction due to the haze and smog.  Not good. 

• The construction. I understand that the 2010 World Expo is happening here next year so the infrastructure needs to be improved, but it's absolutely ridiculous. Roads being ripped up all over the place. New freeways and ring roads being installed.  Footpaths being paved, ripped up, paved again, modified for trees, tree implanted, trees being removed, repaved again - enough already!

• The spitting. Obviously it's part of life here, and is a big cultural difference as it seems to be widely accepted (although not necessarily encouraged).  As my friend Shotty said when he left China after visiting me: "I'll be happy if I never have to hear someone hock a loogie again"

• The traffic. Running red lights, going up the street the wrong way, near-misses with buses - these are all things that I have experienced during my time in China.  The roads are horrendous in some places, and with the complete lack of a police presence drivers often do whatever they want.  Also not a fan of being at a pedestrian crossing with a green signal and having to wait for cars to go past.  Grrr.
  

• The weather extremes.  Up to 40 in the summer and -5 in the winter in Shanghai (much worse in Beijing though, so I'm happy I'm not there).  The humidity in summer is a killer, as you just get soaked in sweat whenever you're outside.  In the winter there's always a cold breeze blowing, which probably takes a few degrees off due to the wind chill factor.

The good definitely outweighs the bad.  I've had a really good time living in Shanghai - I can see why some expats come over intending on staying for a short time and end up living here for years.

Almost time to leave - part 1

That's right, in exactly one week from today I'll be on a plane heading back to Melbourne. Via Sydney, which sucks a bit, but that's what has to be done when you fly Qantas these days.  I get back to Melbourne at 2pm on Christmas Eve...barring any unforseen weather circumstances, of course.  Back in December 2006 I experienced my first ever cancelled flight...which was going from Shanghai to Melbourne.  Let's hope it doesn't happen again.

It's been a pretty interesting year living in Shanghai. I've seen more of the country (Xi'an and Beijing being the best trips), had some old friends come over and visit (probably the most enjoyable times for me), and made some new ones locally.  After initially going out to a bunch of bars and clubs on my own, I've got to say it's a lot more fun when you're with other people!  

There are a number of things that I'm going to miss about living here:

• Cheap and delicious food.  A big bowl of tasty noodles for lunch for $AUD1.50.  A can of coke for $AUD0.40. The best dumplings I've ever had. Amazing vegetable dishes that are so much better than anything you can get in Australia. Going out to a hot-pot restaurant and eating/drinking as much as you can between 5 people for only $AUD10 each.  Admittedly the cost of western food is horrendous (and sometimes the quality is pretty average), but that's understandable given there isn't as much of a demand for it. 
  

• Easy bar-hopping. Aside from the premium clubs, there are no bouncers at any of the bars.  And there are bars everywhere.  Show up to one place and don't like it, it's only a few minutes to get to the next place.  And it doesn't matter how drunk you are, you'll walk straight in.  That, plus the regular $AUD15 all-you-can-drink nights make for some massive hangovers.
  

• Cheap taxis.  No matter where I go out in Shanghai, I always end up getting a taxi home because the subway only runs until 10pm or so.  But I don't think I've ever paid more than $AUD12 for a taxi fare, even though I've been on some pretty long trips.  The taxis are cheap and plentiful, which is the way it should be.
  

• Walking to work. A brisk 2.5km walk to work every day is great...except when it's 38 degrees and extremely humid outside.  The summer was not a fun time to be walking to work, but the rest of the year it's a good bit of exercise.
  

• A clean, efficient public transport system. Light years ahead of Melbourne's offering.  There are lines all over the city (with new ones being added almost yearly), and the trains come along every 5 minutes for most of the day (I think the longest I've ever waited for one was 8 minutes...and that was only because I just missed one).  Wouldn't mind living a little closer to the station, but being able to travel anywhere on the entire system for about $AUD0.50 makes up for it.
  

• Living in an apartment complex.  The gardens inside the complex are very well maintained and it makes for a pleasant walk every morning and evening (and a good running track when I've only done a short course).  Living in an apartment has been great - plenty of room, no yard to maintain - it may be the way to go in the future.

Tomorrow - things I won't miss about living in China.

A night out at Sin

Last night I went out with the guys I play basketball with to a club named Sin.  It's one of the newer clubs in Shanghai having only opened about 6 months ago, and is one of the higher end places (being owned by the same guy that owns Barbarossa, which I think I've mentioned in this blog before).  We booked a table for 6 at 9:30, and I caught the subway there after first going home from work and having some dinner. 

The club was on the top floor of a building a few hundred metres away from the subway station.  Initially I almost walked into a hotel which was right next door, as the markings weren't too obvious.  While I was mulling over my choices I was approached by a guy on a bike asking me if I wanted pretty girl.  Somewhat tempted to say yes to see what would happen, I politely declined and made my way into the correct building.  I went up to the 23rd floor and was shown to our table, where only one of the guys was waiting for me - Sherwin.  Sherwin's the youngest of the bunch, and is the only one of us that actually grew up in China. He had come straight from work, so still had his laptop bag with him. I mention that because it will feature later.

The other guys (Ben, Mike and Eric) rocked up at around 10pm.  Initially the place was pretty quiet, but picked up quite nicely within the next hour.  I was pretty happy with the place in general - good atmosphere, nice furniture, a place to dance, decent music - much better than some of the other clubs that I've been to over here.  We had some problems to deal with however - the waiters were refusing to let us use the voucher that we had for a free bottle of vodka.  It had been given to us a few weeks earlier by a promo girl at another establishment (Barbarossa), and was the only reason we'd actually decided to go to Sin in the first place.  We asked for the bottle and showed the card to our waitress, who shook her head and said we couldn't use it.  After a bit of questioning, we got her manager to come out who explained that since a big party was happening that evening, we weren't allowed to use the voucher.  This was complete crap of course, and even if it was true, there were no conditions of use printed on the voucher - it was definitely valid.  I think it was a bit of a bluff to try to get away from giving us a free bottle - not a great way to influence our opinions about the place?  Luckily, Mike argued passionately for us, and after 5 minutes or so the manager relented and we got our bottle.

From there is was on to toasts, shots, and more toasts.  We split the bottle of vodka between the five of us, had a few tequila and southern comfort with lime shots (they actually taste better than they sound), plus some other ones that I can't remember the names of.  Before we knew it we were onto our second bottle of vodka.  Another group had joined our little enclave and were sitting at the table next to ours - I heard an Aussie accent in there so went over to introduce myself...and found myself staring at three guys and their 5 accompanying...'ladies of the night'.  Had a quick chat to the guy that I'd pegged as an Aussie (from Melbourne, been living in Shanghai for 4 years) before going back to my group.

By this time it was past 1am and Sherwin was looking a little average.  He was slumped down in a chair with his jacket and laptop case over on the couch with the rest of us.  We'd finished off the second bottle of vodka and someone decided to order some whisky for some reason.  I protested and bought myself a few coronas at that point.  By 2am we were ready to move onto the next place...but noone could find Sherwin.  After looking for him for 20 minutes (noone had noticed him leaving), we realised that his jacket and laptop bag were still there, so I grabbed them and we went on our way.

The group split up at this point - Ben and Eric went home, but Mike and I and another of his friends that had shown up moved on to Mint.  However, after getting past the door security (one of the few places in Shanghai where you need to have a table pre-booked or be on someone's list), we didn't stay very long. For one thing, it was absolutely packed, and for another, I was carrying my own jacket, Sherwin's jacket, and a laptop.  It was not a good situation.  After a single beer I decided to hit the road, and was home in bed by 3.

The next morning I awoke to find a few messages on my phone from Sherwin (his phone wasn't working the night before so we couldn't contact him that way).  Turns out he had gone to the toilet...and fallen asleep in the cubicle!  Classic.  Anyway, he woke up at 3 and everyone had gone, and he didn't know what to do - so he went to another bar looking for us (we'd mentioned it as a possible alternative). Finally around 4 he gave up and went home, and then got in contact with me to see if I had his stuff.  I handed it over to him at about 11am, and he looked extremely hungover, but very happy to get his stuff back.  All in all, a great night out!

No, the trip didn't happen

A week and a half ago I posted about a dinner with clients, and a possible trip to the Xiangtan steel plant this weekend.  Well, it didn't happen.  I'm not too surprised - that's the way things go when a client makes drunken promises during a big night out!

General weirdness

Obviously China is a very different place than Australia. Having said that, there are a number of randomly weird things that I've witnessed while living here that I thought I'd write down:

• Passengers holding umbrellas on motorbikes.   When it's raining, rather than getting some wet weather gear on, I've seen a driver on a motorbike be protected from the rain by his passenger holding an umbrella over both of them. Hilarious.

• Girls raising their voices to a high level on the phone/speaking like an old woman. A couple of my female coworkers have very soft, pleasant speaking voices. Except when they're on the phone.  Then they raise the pitch of their voices and screech like an old woman.  I don't think they're even aware that they're doing it.  I'm not sure how widespread this is, but I've seen other women do it outside of work as well.

• Both men and women getting out and about in their pyjamas.  Seen this on many occasions - someone just going for a wander over the road to the supermarket still dressed in their pyjamas.  Dressing gown usually included, fuzzy slippers, the works.  Something I don't think you'd see anywhere else.  Well, maybe Broadmeadows.

• Animals wearing clothes....even in the summer. Chinese people seem to love dressing dogs up in clothes to make them look cuter. At least that's what they seem to think - I feel sorry for them whenever I see them walking around with jumpers/vests/hoodies on.  I can understand it in the winter when it's freezing outside, but in the summer as well?  Not cool.

• You can't pump your own petrol at a petrol station. I haven't been to many petrol stations since I've been in the country, but every time I've gone, it's taken ages to fill up the tank.  This is because the stations are all manned, a la 1957.  Only the attendants are allowed to pump petrol, and there aren't enough of them. So they scurry from one pump to another while lines of motorists form up.  Not the best way of doing things.

• Guy on one motorbike pushing guy on other motorbike with foot. I've only seen this once, but I'm sure it happens a lot.  It's the motorbike equivalent of a tow - one guy driving, the other guy in front and just to the side steering a dead bike - being guided by the foot of the guy on the bike behind.  It actually looked quite impressive, although extremely dangerous of course.

• People on motorbikes carrying things they have no business carrying. Motorbikes are by far the most popular form of transport over here.  As a result, it is inevitable that people try to transport goods via this transport medium that really shouldn't be.  Giant crates stacked on top of each other, half a dozen huge water bottles, a massive stack of cardboard - those funny pictures you see on the internet with the crazily overloaded motorbikes are real, and a lot of them are probably from China.
  

• The call of nature in public. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen this.  Out running, in a taxi going out somewhere, even walking home from work - there over on the side of the road is someone answering the call of nature.  Most of the time they (always men of course) get mostly out of sight or wander behind a nearby tree, but sometimes it's just been right out in the open. Bizarre.

• Pictures with westerners. On a couple of occasions (Beijing-Tianenmen Square and Shanghai-Science Museum) I've been approached by a group of complete strangers asking if they can have a photo taken with me.  It also happened to the friends that visited me throughout the year.  I don't know what the attraction is or why the photos were requested, but it's funny every time it happens.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of for the moment.

 

Fact: dinner + clients = hangover

Last night I went out to an impromptu dinner after work with the Director of Sales and the CEO of the Chinese branch of MOX, the company that I'm working for over here.  It sounds strange when I say it out loud (or type it, as the case is here obviously), as I would never interact with that level of management in my own company back in Australia.  But over here, I'm the foreign expert that everyone loves...or at least, wants to show off to customers.  So when a client is in town that has bought (or is thinking about buying) the software that I help to write, I'm inevitably invited along to a dinner during the week to interact with them on a social level.

I have no problems with this whatsoever - the dinners are usually great fun, and it gives me a chance to practise my (extremely limited) Chinese in a social setting.  Last night's dinner was no exception.  We were located in a great spot, on the top floor of the Super Brand Mall which is right on the bank of the Huangpu River in Pudong.  Actually, this dinner was a little different, as there were only 7 people at the dinner (normally there are 10 or more) and two of the attendees were old friends of the CEO (they all went to University together). 

This revelation was shared with me pretty early in the evening, and it of course meant that there was going to be a lot of drinking and reminiscing.  When the food was ordered, I was asked what I would like to drink, and immediately said 'pijou', which is Chinese for beer.  The rest of the guests at the dinner went with a fiery Chinese rice wine which is a lot more potent.  At this point, I was given a challenge by the CEO: 

"Andrew, we will all drink one bottle of wine each over dinner. This wine has more alcohol than the beer you are drinking.  That means you must drink five bottles of beer!" 

"Five bottles?" I said incredulously.  "How big are we talking?" 

The bottles were brought out and to my relief they were only 500ml.  However, in dinners like this the problem is not so much the alcohol content, but the sheer amount of liquid that you are consuming over a pretty short period.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, Chinese dinners are all about showing your respect to the other guests by toasting them.  This meant that I was in for a tough time, as I was drinking about 200ml of beer for every toast, while the other guys were only drinking about 50ml of wine.

Not being one to pass up a challenge, I entered proceedings with gusto and before I knew it had polished off a couple of bottles in quick succession.  The food arrived and was quite delicious (peanut based dishes are a fun challenge with chopsticks after you've had a few drinks).  One of the customers was from the Xiangtan Steel company, a city which I've been to before (twice) to help them fix some problems they were having.  We hadn't met on my previous visits, but we got along so well that he invited me to go along next weekend for the formal site acceptance testing process, and then offered to take me to see the birthplace of Chairman Mao, which is about an hour's drive away from the city.  I was also promised 'spicy food and spicy girls', as the Hunan province is famous for both.  So that should be interesting if it happens.

Anyway, after numerous rounds of toasting, I had finished my five bottles of beer...and the others still hadn't finished their wine.  So a sixth bottle was brought out for me to continue the toasting.  By the time the dinner had finished at 9pm, I had drunk 3 litres of beer...in the space of only 2 hours.  I was pretty tipsy by this stage, and ridiculously full of liquid.  Sometimes we'd head out to a karaoke place or continue drinking at a bar after a dinner, but the other attendees had flights to catch early the next morning, so we wrapped it up.  Which was probably a good idea, as I don't know how else I could have physically fit anything into my stomach.  I had a terrible night's sleep and woke up feeling extremely average.  Not the worst hangover I've ever had, but worse than I was expecting to feel on a Thursday!

If I end up going on the trip next weekend you'll be able to read all about it right here. Stay tuned.

 

Trip to the doctor

Yesterday I went to a hospital to get a doctor to have a look at my knee. For those of you that don't know, years ago back in high school I had a couple of knee reconstructions.  It's been pretty good since then, and I've been playing a lot of basketball on it this year in Shanghai.

About 6 weeks ago, I landed awkwardly on someone else when going for a rebound during a game, and felt something crack inside my knee. I was fairly sure it wasn't major damage, as there wasn't much pain (if you tear a ligament in your knee, it is AGONY), but over the next few days it got swollen so I gave it a bit of a rest.  Since then, it hasn't really gotten any better. I've gone through periods of a couple of weeks with very little activity (such as when I went back to Australia), but it hasn't really made any difference. During normal activity such as walking (or even running) it doesn't seem to hurt, but occasionally when sitting it gets a bit stiff, and can swell up a little after I've been exercising.

I was getting a little worried that it hadn't fully healed by now, so did some research online and found an international medical centre at a hospital here in Pudong.  I made an appointment for yesterday, and decided to walk there since it was a nice day (and only 5km away).  The doc gave me knee a once-over and said while there doesn't seem to be any ligament damage, I may have injured something else, and suggested an MRI.  So I'll probably book one of those in the next couple of weeks once I get my insurance details sorted out (it costs more than $AUD1000, so I'm not that keen to pay for it).

Anyway, after the appointment I did a bit more walking around down near the river and took some photos.  I've uploaded a few since you rarely get to see the Shanghai skyline with blue sky in the background.

The 'bottle opener' soaring over the top of all other buildings in Shanghai

Bottle opener up close

 The Oriental Pearl tower

The Pudong skyline

The Puxi skyline. Not quite as modern or inviting, but the lighting conditions didn't help.