So since I can't access my blogger account while here in China, I've worked my way around it by resorting to posts through email and pictures via other websites. Here are some photos I have managed to take these 2 days. I hope this works!
If that didn't work, then just follow this link to my web album then..
After 5 hours non stop, I finally arrived at my destination… Shanghai!
I can't say I know a lot about Shanghai.... except that it is one of the biggest cities of China… plus it was the earliest cities in China that opened its doors to the western world. So it's a big giant city….. commercial hub, blah blah….. I wasn't sure if I was going to see anything you don't normally see in big cities… shopping malls.. sky scrapers, highways, high end designer goods, Mc Donald's and what have you. I did find manage to find out that they have one of the tallest hotel and towers and trade centres in China and in the world in the Jin Mao tower etc… but then, we already have to KLCC in our own back yard, so its kinda hard to get excited over yet another super tall building… just doesn't do it for me. Whydidn't my boss choose some suppliers from Beijing instead?
One thing that DID catch my attention was the Yu Yuan Gardens that seems to be very ancient on top of being beautiful… I think I will definitely check that out. But Shanghai really is just supposed to be a port of entry for me. My real destination is another city called Nantong, and another in the south called Jiaxing. I have been sent here alone to the land of my forefathers, to do a visit and inspection with some of my company suppliers. In a way, I am hoping that when I am out of the city, I will get to see some more interesting and cultural things to take pictures of. Who needs to see another Dolce & Gabana and LV shop anyway.
Flight was pretty normal, with the exception of when we landed and these bunch of health officers came on board wearing their full quarantine suit, pointing some thermal laser gun at us, try to see if any of us had got the H1N1 flue… which as of this moment I can confirm was a negative.
Sad to say, within ten minutes of heading into the city.. the rain started to POUR. (pic).. It was only 4pm.. but the clouds were so dark and menacing you would think it is evening. This kind of dampened (pun intended) my spirits somewhat, as I was looking forward to dumping my bags and going out while there was still a bit of sunlight. Along the way, I actually spotted something that really epitomized the joke others like to say about China and their standards of doing work. Take a look at this truck (pic). Of course, this is a bit of a stereotype….. I'm sure China will pick up in a few years. Malaysia isn't any better anyway.. and I think in time the Chinese will supersede us (if not already).
Anyway, the rain spoilt my spirits and even by 8, the rain had not stopped. I grabbed my camera and braved whatever leftover rain there was left and started walking the streets. I headed straight for The Bund (link) to take a snap of the Shanghai skyline. Here's my poor miserable attempt. Camera's like mine aren't really good for night shots, I didn't have a tripod, it was still raining….. and there was road works going on the entire stretch of the bund.. which pretty much ruined the whole scene really…. So I headed for Nanjing Road… supposedly a famous shopping street stretch a couple of miles long.. I walked the entire stretch… looking for dinner and just to get a general feel for the place.
It's kind of hard since not many speak English… so whatever little mandarin I could speak had to do. True to my prediction.. countless countless shopping malls.. it was a bit of déjà vu… like being in BB Plaza or Bukit Bintang again… except its MUCH bigger, and everything is in Chinese. Believe it or not, I just settled for some McD's for dinner and that was it.. Took a few more pictures and headed back to the hotel. Shopping districts aren't really my thing… regardless of wherever you are in the world.
But overall, it does feel a lot livelier that in KL. The streets are bustling with young couples and families, expatriates going about their business. My boss deliberately asked me to come a day earlier for me to 'get a feel of China'…. Well, despite not getting to excited, I must admit there is a certain energy to the place… fast paced big city feel that is… Its not everyone's cup of tea… but it's definitely present here in Shanghai. And to be honest, it easier for me to adapt here in Shanghai than it was when I was I Europe last year or in UK the previous year. Maybe it's the colour of the skin, maybe it's the language. In the UK, I spoke the language.. but even then, their English and our English is totally different.. Plus the culture, way of life and thinking is so different (not in a bad way though).. In Belgium it was worst.. everything was French-y and anti English.. Over here in Shangai.. some thought I was from Beijing.. others thought I was from Japan.. and when I kept absolutely quiet… they used whatever English they could to try to communicate with me. If I opened my mouth and spoke mandarin, they were quite friendly actually.
I'm not much of a mandarin speaker, and can hardly read more that 20% of a Chinese sentence.. but hey, throw me here a year.. I honestly think I could pick it up!
More updates to come……….
P/S: Just in case you were wondering where the pics are.. it turns out Blogger is blocked in China, and I can't access my dashboard. I am posting this blog through email. Will update the blog with pictures when I get back to Malaysia...Turns out China censors A LOT of things on the internet. Luckily, I remembered that I could post through email.
I think I finally figured out one miniscule portion of the never ending maze of the complex female psyche, and that is.. to dress up and look good.....
Call me unkept, call me messy and even call me chin chai... but I've never been the type to care too much about how I looked when I walked out my front door. Put on a shirt, put on a pants, comb my hair, and out the door I go. I've never stopped to wonder if it would go with my shoes, or if that shirt would make me look fat, or if my hair was behaving itself that day... that was of course all the way from adolescence up to my teens... when suddenly, the opposite sex suddenly seems so interesting, and what you wore suddenly represented who you were...
But even then, I did what was minimum in terms of styling and grooming.. Always with the same hair style, always with the T-shirt and jeans... always with the same earthy colours.... My girlfriend would cringe in horror everytime I put on one of my ultra lame 'Visit Kuala Lumpur' t-shirts that I had. In my defence, I got half a dozen for free and they were comfortable to wear! In any case, I was banned by my image consultant (read girlfriend) from wearing any of those shirts, or any shirt deemed too lame or humiliating unless I wanted to walk 10 feet away from her. So those shirts were then resigned to when I was sleeping, or out for jog... in which case, they were OK, since she was not there to bare the embarrassement. Haha... Since then, I have come to rely and trust in the fashion sense of the fairer sex rather than my own..... relying almost completely on my girlfriend and other female friends to judge if what I was wearing was OK.
So, not being a fan of fancy cloths and stuff, I hardly go shopping... But last week, there was an exhibition in town, and I was supposed to man our company booth for 3 days. Instructions from my boss was "Make sure you look neat and professional - Get a proper business suit"... I didnt have a suit.. so I had to buy one, which isn't cheap by the way. So out I went with my trusty image consultant, and came home five hundred bucks poorer, but with a handsome looking black suite and pants to call my own. I wasn't really too excited about spending that kind of money on a suit I will wear bearing a few times a year.. but anyway.. bosses orders.
I know wearing suits are pretty common in western countries.. When I was in Brussels and Germany last year... everyone wore a suite.. and next to them, I looked like a little schoolboy with my little tie and long sleeve shirt. But here in Malaysia.... suits are someting you don when you are about to graduate, you are attending a big interview, or you're about to get married... Its just too hot to be walking around wearing a suit... You'll look smart, but you'll look like a fool at the same time.. unless you are white of course, then its fine because they don't know any better. :p
There I was, standing in front of the mirror, white striped shirt, dark black pants, blue tie and a dark black overcoat... I stared at myself for a full 5 minuts side to side, up to down..... and I looked.... I looked... well..... GOOD!
OK, I'm not the most handsome looking guy in town (or on my street for the matter), but I was looking good for my own standards. Sharp, smart and presentable....I mean... I looked good, and I felt good. I walked more confidently, I talked more confidently... and people seemed to look at me and treat me differently... with a bit more respect almost. Is it true that cloths make the man? Heck, I even felt that I was getting more stares and looks from the opposite sex..... but maybe that just me letting the suit get to my head... too 'perasan' for my own good. :P
So, I finally understood in way, why women bother taking a whole hour trying to choose the perfect outfit... or spending 30 minutes just to put on make up... or selecting the best combination of shoes, handbag and blouse... Dressing well gives you that extra boast of confidence... and I guess in that sense, I can understand and accept that now.
But beware I say. Do not make your appearance the foundation of your confidence.. and do not frown upon those who do not bother to dress up the way you do. If make-up and cloths are the ones that give you your courage to face others, then you are hollow inside and without character. Judge not those who dress simple and care less about their looks, because they just might have the strength of character and confidence that outweights yours.
In the mean time..... I'm going to admire myself in that suit a few more times. Haha... :P
What a busy time it has been. Work really tends to pick up in the middle of the year. I have been spending two days in Singapore trying to close a project tender my company is doing. I've been working almost every weekend for the past month or so... kind of tiring. Next week there will be a 3 day exhibition in KL, which I have to attend and I'm stuck with 2 projects and 3 tenders to follow up on at the same time.. crazy!
Something kind of ticked me a bit while staying in Singapore recently. Tourist in Singapore are able to buy T-shirts saying Singapore is a 'fine' city.. The shirt proudly displays all the petty rules and corresponding fines that apply like.. no chewing gum, no jay walking etc etc.... Its one of the things Singapore is notorious about. The government basically sets a lot a lot of rules for its citizens on how to behave and what not to do....
Most recent is the 'no sitting while smoking rule'... according to my smoker colleagues.. the rule is simple... If you smoke, you can't sit. If you sit, you can't smoke! Haha.. sounds like a petty little rule does it? Usually, when we all sit down in a table outdoors, some would just puff away while everyone sits around chatting.. With this rule... you will see the smokers having to get up, walk 10 feet away and smoke.. standing of course.
I'm not sure what the logic was.. but I think it might have something to do with protecting non smokers from second hand smoke.. After all, the smoker smokes through a filter, the rest of us smell the stuff unfiltered! So, I guess to make like miserable for smokers, they came up with this rule...Wouldn't it be easier if they just banned smoking in public areas / places where crowds are present?
Whatever the intention or effect is.. I just find it highly funny... that the government make a law on when you can sit or stand!
