Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. China has blocked Blogspot because of the Tienanmen Square anniversary. I'm not sure when they'll unblock it. I'm currently blogging from HK (since I've made 3 trips to HK in the last week!).
So what's new with me...
Since the last time I blogged:
I took a company trip to Lijiang in Yunan Province. It was awesome! It reminds me of an Asian version of Switzerland. There's a well-preserved old town, beautiful nature views from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, lots of great food, etc. I have yet to post pictures, which I will put on Picasa at some point.
My little sister Sirena is in town visiting, so I showed her and her friends around HK and Shenzhen. She's currently in Shanghai and will be back in 10 days or so to hang out.
Also, there seem to be quite a few people passing through Shenzhen at the moment. Besides my sister, Derrick Jue was here, Jon Gaw is here, and Chris Li is here too.
Still learning a ton and having lots of fun! I do love Shenzhen!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Huizhou Tourgroup
I've always been amused by giant Asian tour groups - you know the ones where the tour guide walks around with a brightly- colored flag. 2 weekends ago, I got to be a part of one! Kai, a friend from Xinjiang, set up a 2 day 1 night tour to Huizhou, a 2 hr drive away from Shenzhen. Food, transportation, and 5-star hotel (actually 3.5-4 stars by American standards) all cost a total of 200rmb (28usd).
I quickly found out you get what you pay for, since we spent most of our time either on the bus, or waiting around. I can't blame them since it rained really hard, and it was so dirt cheap. We got to go to the beach (essentially a body of water, nothing too special), a golf resort (which was decently nice), a park, and hot springs (where we got to spend only 3 hrs).
It was great hanging out with friends though, and it was a lot of fun just being part of a Chinese tour group. However, I think in the future, I'll spring for a nicer trip that costs a bit more than 28usd.
These are the friends I was traveling with. 2 are friends that work in my office building. We spent a lot of time taking funny pictures, playing cards, and drinking beer.
We ended up staying at a golf resort, which was actually really nice. I suspect that the tour group may have worked out a deal with the golf resort so we could stay there for free so we could check out the place. It looked like they were trying to sell property, but it was very subtle - not like those Wyndam timeshare deals where you have to sit through a long presentation and such.
The more parks I go to, the bigger they seem to get. Parks are a huge thing here, and there are always tons of people.
The park had a bunch of little islands and a huge lake. I guess if you want more real estate, you gotta make more land. This is how they do it a few feet at a time!
I quickly found out you get what you pay for, since we spent most of our time either on the bus, or waiting around. I can't blame them since it rained really hard, and it was so dirt cheap. We got to go to the beach (essentially a body of water, nothing too special), a golf resort (which was decently nice), a park, and hot springs (where we got to spend only 3 hrs).
It was great hanging out with friends though, and it was a lot of fun just being part of a Chinese tour group. However, I think in the future, I'll spring for a nicer trip that costs a bit more than 28usd.
These are the friends I was traveling with. 2 are friends that work in my office building. We spent a lot of time taking funny pictures, playing cards, and drinking beer.
We ended up staying at a golf resort, which was actually really nice. I suspect that the tour group may have worked out a deal with the golf resort so we could stay there for free so we could check out the place. It looked like they were trying to sell property, but it was very subtle - not like those Wyndam timeshare deals where you have to sit through a long presentation and such.
The more parks I go to, the bigger they seem to get. Parks are a huge thing here, and there are always tons of people.
The park had a bunch of little islands and a huge lake. I guess if you want more real estate, you gotta make more land. This is how they do it a few feet at a time!
New Apartment!
So I realize it's been a while since I've updated my blog, and my last blog entry was hardly an entry. My excuse is that I've been busy looking for a new apartment. I spent this last weekend moving in and buying stuff from Ikea (yes there is an Ikea here, and it is exactly the same as any other Ikea, except with tons of Chinese people). Oh, and it has 1rmb (0.14usd) frozen yogurt cones! Who can't spare 1rmb!
I moved 4 buildings over within the same complex, because the garden and the location of this complex is awesome, so I still have the same garden from my old place, and it's still only a 15 minute walk door to door from home to the office.
The place has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice big living room, storage closet, and excellent balcony. Somehow, I got the master bedroom! My other two roommates are Xian Wu (Stanford MSME 2007, and Paul Yoo one of Xian's friends from NY). At some point soon, we will have a housewarming, and you'll get to see pictures of them.
Check out the wood floors!
Here's our dining room.
Here is my bedroom. It faces in and has an awesome view of the garden. Usually, I wake up to lots of sun and birds (or my alarm).
Here's a better view of the garden.
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In case you're curious, this is the layout of the place.
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Boxed in red is my 2nd floor apartment. That's actually my room your looking at.
There are lots of other things to be done, like set up Internet and buy some shelves. However, for the most part, I'm settled in and it feels great!
I moved 4 buildings over within the same complex, because the garden and the location of this complex is awesome, so I still have the same garden from my old place, and it's still only a 15 minute walk door to door from home to the office.
The place has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice big living room, storage closet, and excellent balcony. Somehow, I got the master bedroom! My other two roommates are Xian Wu (Stanford MSME 2007, and Paul Yoo one of Xian's friends from NY). At some point soon, we will have a housewarming, and you'll get to see pictures of them.
Check out the wood floors!
Here's our dining room.
Here is my bedroom. It faces in and has an awesome view of the garden. Usually, I wake up to lots of sun and birds (or my alarm).
Here's a better view of the garden.
.JPG)
In case you're curious, this is the layout of the place.
.JPG)
Boxed in red is my 2nd floor apartment. That's actually my room your looking at.
There are lots of other things to be done, like set up Internet and buy some shelves. However, for the most part, I'm settled in and it feels great!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Another reason to love China...
Just bought this from my favorite DVD lady right outside the apartment for 70 cents. I don't know where she got it... it's definitely a DVD rip and it's not supposed to be released anywhere for another 2 weeks!
While I should be doing other things, I'm going to watch this instead. I love China!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Requested by Karla & Brian
So, Brian said I should post more often, and Karla said I'm not allowed to talk about food without pictures (as she demonstrates with her extremely cool blog - http://munchums.blogspot.com/)
So, here I go...
This is a picture of my 10rmb (1.5usd) dinner, which I have decided to order delivery again (I've actually ordered quite often since I discovered them). Bitter melon fried with egg and rice. A simple, yet very tasty dish.
On the topic of food, for a snack, I usually just pick up this fried vegetable wrap from the local supermarket for 0.35usd each. Susan, Sirena... think of the hours saved from working in the backyard and in the kitchen making these "turtle-vegetable-cakes" from scratch (Chao Zhou joke - no, there are no turtles in it :P)!
Ever wonder what McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) would be like if it were a physical building? There's an area Hua Qiang Lu, 3 metro stops away from my apartment, that is just that. You could walk around with a circuit you wanted to build or with materials shopping list and buy whatever you want. Here's a picture of one section of one floor of a bunch of buildings that are just as crowded. That's not even counting people on the street trying to sell printer inks or other random things.
I took this picture a while back while Chris and I were walking around. I decided to post it since I liked the happy kid and the KFC delivery bikes.
So, here I go...
This is a picture of my 10rmb (1.5usd) dinner, which I have decided to order delivery again (I've actually ordered quite often since I discovered them). Bitter melon fried with egg and rice. A simple, yet very tasty dish.
On the topic of food, for a snack, I usually just pick up this fried vegetable wrap from the local supermarket for 0.35usd each. Susan, Sirena... think of the hours saved from working in the backyard and in the kitchen making these "turtle-vegetable-cakes" from scratch (Chao Zhou joke - no, there are no turtles in it :P)!
Ever wonder what McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) would be like if it were a physical building? There's an area Hua Qiang Lu, 3 metro stops away from my apartment, that is just that. You could walk around with a circuit you wanted to build or with materials shopping list and buy whatever you want. Here's a picture of one section of one floor of a bunch of buildings that are just as crowded. That's not even counting people on the street trying to sell printer inks or other random things.
I took this picture a while back while Chris and I were walking around. I decided to post it since I liked the happy kid and the KFC delivery bikes.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
$1.50 dinner, free delivery!
So I was lazy for dinner today and decided to try out this delivery thing. Looked at a menu I picked up while walking around the other day, called the number, and half an hr later, I was greeted by a cheerful fellow with my rice and stir-fried vegetables. This simple 10rmb (1.5usd) dinner tasted better than some of my 30rmb dinners, and I didn't even have to leave my chair (until I answered the door)!
I could get used to this!
I could get used to this!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
ate pig today...
This was what I had for lunch today, and it was definitely picture worthy!
(I have to say, the iPhone has been great with indoor pictures... I'm impressed).
(I have to say, the iPhone has been great with indoor pictures... I'm impressed).
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