Sunday, August 21, 2011

USS. Arizona

Things are going well so I was given a reprieve of work and caught some sites this weekend. Today we are at Pearl Harbor visiting the memorials.

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Monday, August 15, 2011

Two Sundays in one day

What a day, I was at Shanghai airport at 11:30am Sunday 14th. After my delay and re-ticketing I landed at Honolulu airport at 10:10am Sunday 14th. I got to relive Sunday all over again. I met up with Sally and the kids. I did not have to go into work. We drove around and went to a public park along the beach. Chance swam out with the surfers filming them. We then watched a Hawaiian dance troupe do some traditional dance routines.
We finished the evening with dinner and we then went back to the Waikiki Prince hotel for the night.
I report to work at 6:15 Monday.

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Japan to HNL

Well I knew I missed my connector when we landed at 8:30Tokyo time. (Lost yet another hour) I was told in Shanghai another flight left at 9:15 but that would be rushed. I decided to be calm and take my time forcing me to stay until a later flight. I was hoping they would put me up for the night!!!!!!!
I would rather have a night in Tokyo than boring working Waikiki :)
As I exited the plane I saw a gentleman and lady holding a big banner with my name on it. They were there to whisk me to the 9:15 flight. I went through crew security, crew halls and to the gate in 10 minutes. They rebooked me on a ANA flight (NH 1052) so I do not get to spend ANY time in Tokyo. I asked for the toilet to walk around a little and saw the stores were closed. No HP book; I am so bummed. This messes up United mile miles as well. Argh. Argh argh

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Water in Shanghai

I wish I knew the whole story about the water here. I asked one guy who thought it was odd that Americans spend a lot of money to sanitize all the water to then literally flush it down the drain.  Interesting concept if that is the reasoning behind "do not drink the water".  Hotels provides bottled water in the room and Susan says restaurants sterilize their drinking water including ice. The SHDR office has water filter\coolers for drinking water. HK office had a reverse Osmosis filter system in their break-room. This machine in the airport dispenses both hot and cold. Why hot???? All stores sell some sort of Romen noodle which I have seen people eating; this provides a way for a quick snack.

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Shanghai airport

I just received word that the Aulani team would like me to report straight to their work site. I have a 3hr flight on Air China to Tokyo then 8hrs to Honolulu on a United flight. I will get picked up at airport and drive into resort. Sounds like fun.


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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Sunday morning 14th, August

Flying out today on Air China at 2:30 PM to Tokyo with a short layover and then a United flight to Honolulu. My Asia trip was very educational both personally and for work.  See you in Waikiki Monday morning which is -6 hours EST.

Last day in Shanghai

Quick picture posts I will update text later





This is what is going on in Orlando:




Friday, August 12, 2011

People's Square

Do not tell Susan but after she put me on the subway, actually pointing to the open spot she wanted me to stand at and waving until the train pulled away, I jumped off at a tourist spot.  This was just an extension of Nanjing East so it was a lot of bright fancy neon signs with millions of tourists, locals, pimps, scammers and people selling Monte Blanc pens and flying neon balls!




It is Saturday morning and time to get ready for a day time adventure. Susan and I are going to look at different POS equipment.

2nd night in Shanghai after six days


Tonight I rode the train back across town with Susan to eat and see a dinner show.  The total train time was about 45 minutes.  Our first stop was at a "fake" mall, I received an email from someone at work wanting a fake Versace.


Pictures were discouraged but I took a few covertly.  There were no name brand look a likes, it was an uneventful place IMO.  We got back on the train and it was now rush hour.  No pictures but imagine being a human sardine in a can. Next stop was all the way across town to a Szechuan restaurant. This style of food is preserved in pickling and salt and uses a lot of spices for flavor.

Here are some pictures from our walk through a middle class neighborhood.

Pictures can not show how large and densely packed these apartment buildings are arranged

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Local food vendor serving dumplings out of a store front


She was not happy with me taking a picture



Sichuan Folk is the name of the restaurant and they are known for their spicy food and a dinner show.


Susan asked if she could order and I said sure but I needed an appetizer as it was getting late and I was hungry.  Appetizer was small p-nuts in peppers and spices along with a plate of cucumbers and peanut spread. I avoided the peppers and spice per a warning from Susan.
The menu was all most completely in Chinese so I was glad she was ordering.

Our meal consisted of corn, fried dumplings and pork ribs.
Fried Dumplings i ate a half dozen of these.


Plate of ribs
In the end I got brave and started to eat the pepper in the bowl of nuts. Wow what an experience.  I could have leaned back and had a root canal with no pain.  My lips and gums were numb.  I think I drank non-stop for five minutes. 

The show was a man dressed in ancient Chinese robe and he could change his face mask with flip of head or wave of his hand.  It was very interesting but the patrons treated him as a rock star as he made his way down from the stage and into the audience.  Everyone wanted to pose with him.

The rock star-



Here is a video of the show


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Hotel decorations

Here are some decorations from within my hotel convention center.



On the way back from an appointment I convinced Susan to stop in at a bike shop that sold Specialized brand of bikes.The salesman explained that they catered to the Expats in the area and they were told that everything in the store was higher priced than in the US even the bikes made in China.   I looked and looked for something unique but it was as if I was standing in a bike store in the US.

Inflation is bad in China and this is the reason prices are skewed.  

Theme park guy

I probably should not promote this website so I will not post this as a link. Copy and paste into your browser.


thethemeparkguy.com/park/shanghai-disneyland/

--
Cheers,

Gregg

Morning caffeine fix

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Shanghai Bund

Last night I ventured out on my own to the beautiful Bund. The subway was very easy to navigate due to the World Expo held here last year. I changed trains once. The pictures show how crowded it was at 7PM, not sure if I would want to ride at rush hour.

The Bund is where the different countries established their trading posts or banks years ago. On one side is the restored historic district while the other side is the skyline of Shanghai.

To get to the Bund I walked down Nanjin rd East which was ten times worse than Times Square in the seventies and eighties. Bums pimps, scammers were bugging me non stop. I came to a major intersection which merged multiple pedestrian roads into one creating the largest sea of people that I have seen sine the Atl olympics. The scammers continued to be pests driving me back to Pudong lucky to have my belongings. I think China is a place where westerners will need to be with a local or travel in a group. The internet is full of stories of tourists being taken for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Here are some pictures from the Bund. Unfortunately I did not feel safe crossing the river to get photos from the other side. Who would have thought I would play it safe.....




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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

IMG-20110809-00288.jpg

I found where Harry P hangs his cloak when in China.

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Monday, August 8, 2011

Video from a cab

Click picture to start video

Xin Tian Di

For a short time I am going to open my Picasa photo album for public viewing. A LOT of these pictures were shot in the back of a cab so you get to see my perspective of an hour long ride across town and back. Today was spent in and around the Corporate office in Xintiandi district. Click on the link to read about it.  Every culture class and movie about China makes reference to this area of Shanghai.

Dim Sum lunch was at the The Langham hotel and I will admit I passed on one item. It looked like raw squid and was deep black and shiny.  Susan later told me she does not think America has this sea creature that is harvested and dried until re-hydrated in the cooking process.  She said it is like a sponge and tastes like one, glad I passed.

2011_08_07_Shanghai_1stTrip

Dim Sum example




Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sunday dinner

Dinner tonight was extraordinarily different. I went into the hotel's restaurant and was greeted by a waiter who swiped a mag stripe card into a portable device and then presented me with the card. He explained that I am to select my food and then present the card so the staff can track my consumption.  I love the ChinEnglish.  As I started to roam the restaurant I counted eight separate cooking stations, it was very overwhelming. An Australian host, pictured below with her back to the camera, saw my confusion and offered to explain each station. By the time she was on number six I just asked her what she recommended and she exclaimed "Curry Laska" Red curry with Prawns, chicken, fish and noodles.  This is a Chinese Malaysian dish. I then went to the "juice" bar and did my best to order a Tsingtao beer and then it was all delivered to my table,  The curry opened my nasal passages and the flavors exploded in my mouth, I am so glad I took the recommendation. 




I am also glad Brian bought me chopsticks for my desk. I call them fiddle sticks and when I am on a conference calls I try to pickup everything on my desk; the practice has paid off because eating long noodles with sticks is a challenge but I do fine. I have noticed that the locals have no grace or manners when eating with chopsticks, one way or another you just have to get the food into your mouth.

Map for my HP book quest

This was all I had for directions

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Chinese sleeping

If you have been keeping up you have read that Shanghai is going through unprecedented growth. Some estimates of 30% growth a year in the economic sector.  Susan's husband warned me that it will be hard to keep up with the Chinese.  When I was in Hong Kong it was amazing that many of the people there just talk about the Chinese mainlanders like the US discusses Canadians or Mexicans. Few have visited the country but like Orlando Hong Kong is the tourist mecca.  I was told that the reason there are so many upscale shopping malls and stores was due to the fact that so many wealthy mainlanders come there to shop.  There is plenty of shopping in Shanghai and the prices are just a little more favorable in HK.  Hong Kong's seems to be the playground for the rich.  The point of this post is that I noticed that many people in HK seem to be able to sleep in almost any position.  I saw people at their desk napping, inside HKDL resort, out on the streets and the 2.5 hr plane ride was astonishing to see almost everyone asleep. I Googled "Chinese sleeping" and found this amazing blog by a German who is living in Shanghai.  www.sleepingchinese.com

What I observed is documented in this blog which is now a book.  Maybe if Americans were allowed afternoon naps at their desks we could increase our productivity and get out of this recession :)

Shanghai was built in ten - fifteen years

If you remember my post from July 29th Shanghai is the world most populated city at 13 million people.  Instead of boroughs like New York it is comprised of 17 districts.  Here is the astonishing fact.  The Pudong New Area was rural farmland when my children were born. The central government granted economic reforms in 1990.  Construction started in the mid-nineties with the majority of the district built within the last 10 years. 


This is  a picture of the Pudong New Area in 1990 looking across the Huangpu river.
Here is Pudong in 1996

Here is a picture from 2010 of the same area
Here is my picture from hotel during Typhoon Muifa
Can you imagine New York being built in ten years?

Pudong picture credit to www.magicalurbanism.com

pudong new area

If you remember the post from July 29th where I quoted population numbers for Shanghai at 13 million making it the largest populated city in the world. Here is the astonishing thing about the Pudong New Area which the city was built.  This city was built in the last 16 years with the most construction taking place in the last ten years.



The area across the across the Huangpu river is what Pudong looked like in 1990