Showing posts with label Jiaxing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jiaxing. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
China Haze-O-Meter, Wednesday July 23
Well well, what's this then? Skyscrapers in the distance? Should be a good day!
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
China Haze-O-Meter, Tuesday, July 22
A small town in the indistrial backwaters of the east-coast mainland China megalopolis, about an hour south of Shanghai.
High: 32C
Low: 27C
Humidity: 84%
Dewpoint: 24C
Windspeed: 3km/h, SE
And so on.
The best way I've found to determine whether to stay inside or not is to gauge how far I can see into the distance from my apartment balcony in the morning.
I can't see the skyscrapers behind the white apartment blocks in the distance, so I think I'll stay inside today.
High: 32C
Low: 27C
Humidity: 84%
Dewpoint: 24C
Windspeed: 3km/h, SE
And so on.
The best way I've found to determine whether to stay inside or not is to gauge how far I can see into the distance from my apartment balcony in the morning.
I can't see the skyscrapers behind the white apartment blocks in the distance, so I think I'll stay inside today.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Shopping Shenannigans
Our little town's western culinary delights are are limited to KFC (kendegi) and Macca's (maidanglau - can I get a hanbaobao?), both of which are getting dull.
Flatmates and I headed for RT-Mart, the local supermarket, in search of western produce (hah! How naive). We'd just come from work and had our bags with, so held them low and went in with a crowd so the pesky security girls at the door wouldn't force us to leave them at the information counter for the staff to rummage through.
Made it, whew. Shopping trolley. Traffic jam up ahead, quick - swing it 180. Too late, gridlock. Wait for the old lady up ahead to finish picking out suitable chicken feet. Ok, moving again - slowly - RT Mart is THE place to be on a Monday night.
Live turtles in the fish section caught my eye - only 40RMB per kg! I'm pretty sure they were meant for eating (along with the bullfrogs) but I'm never quite certain.
Sometimes I make the mistake of engaging the staff for help with only my limited mandarin - where to find niche products like milk and cornflakes, for example. The problem is I know just enough to ask, but too little to understand the response (this is the fundamental flaw behind the concept of travel phrasebooks too - don't get suckered!). Invariably there's a word or five I don't understand in the answer. Now here's the thing. When it emerges I don't understand? The kindly soul jots it all down in Chinese for me, neglecting to consider that if I can't speak the language, I probably have little hope of reading it.
I dropped into the convenciance store on the way home to pick up some Red Bull (it doesn't taste like Red Bull, and comes in a strange can, but hey). Next to the cashier was a stand dedicated entirely to prophylactics - some 49 varieties - quite a few for a convenience store in conservative lands.
A combo pack of Trojans will set you back a meagre 38 RMB (about $9). Hehe, Trojan...
Flatmates and I headed for RT-Mart, the local supermarket, in search of western produce (hah! How naive). We'd just come from work and had our bags with, so held them low and went in with a crowd so the pesky security girls at the door wouldn't force us to leave them at the information counter for the staff to rummage through.
Made it, whew. Shopping trolley. Traffic jam up ahead, quick - swing it 180. Too late, gridlock. Wait for the old lady up ahead to finish picking out suitable chicken feet. Ok, moving again - slowly - RT Mart is THE place to be on a Monday night.
Live turtles in the fish section caught my eye - only 40RMB per kg! I'm pretty sure they were meant for eating (along with the bullfrogs) but I'm never quite certain.
Sometimes I make the mistake of engaging the staff for help with only my limited mandarin - where to find niche products like milk and cornflakes, for example. The problem is I know just enough to ask, but too little to understand the response (this is the fundamental flaw behind the concept of travel phrasebooks too - don't get suckered!). Invariably there's a word or five I don't understand in the answer. Now here's the thing. When it emerges I don't understand? The kindly soul jots it all down in Chinese for me, neglecting to consider that if I can't speak the language, I probably have little hope of reading it.
I dropped into the convenciance store on the way home to pick up some Red Bull (it doesn't taste like Red Bull, and comes in a strange can, but hey). Next to the cashier was a stand dedicated entirely to prophylactics - some 49 varieties - quite a few for a convenience store in conservative lands.
A combo pack of Trojans will set you back a meagre 38 RMB (about $9). Hehe, Trojan...
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Bad Planning.
I thought last week at work was hectic, on deck from 8am till midnight most nights, and one night until about 2.30 covering some design work that needed to be ready for the team at base camp (Auckland) to pick up and order as when they got into the office (they're 5 hours ahead).
Naturally, I got sick. Slept most of the weekend. That messed up my sleeping patterns, so Sunday and Monday nights I couldn't get to sleep.
I'm now recovering, but I just found out half an hour ago I need to be in Taipei tonight. That means I have to pack and get to Pudong by taxi this evening (a menacing trip in it's own right), fly to Hong Kong, then dogleg back up to Taipei.
Taipei is only a couple of hours away from Shanghai as the crow flies, but the crow has to land in an intermediate country (S. Korea also works if you can't get a flight through HK) for reasons outside the scope of this blog... I am going to be a wreck by tomorrow. All in a night's work, fun fun fun.
Naturally, I got sick. Slept most of the weekend. That messed up my sleeping patterns, so Sunday and Monday nights I couldn't get to sleep.
I'm now recovering, but I just found out half an hour ago I need to be in Taipei tonight. That means I have to pack and get to Pudong by taxi this evening (a menacing trip in it's own right), fly to Hong Kong, then dogleg back up to Taipei.
Taipei is only a couple of hours away from Shanghai as the crow flies, but the crow has to land in an intermediate country (S. Korea also works if you can't get a flight through HK) for reasons outside the scope of this blog... I am going to be a wreck by tomorrow. All in a night's work, fun fun fun.
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