PVG to SHA and being a hater.

The day's traveling around made me how funny things are here in China.  In the morning, the hotel I was at in Wuhan didn't serve me breakfast, even though they gave me a food ticket.  Luckily, Cathy's mom packed me some extra apples that I ate.

Another funny thing happened.  In Pudong, I walked into a bathroom that was so clean you could eat off the ground.  It wasn't crowded, but a middle aged man who really needed to go pushed past me.  He looked into a stall and then ran out of the washroom.  I glanced in quickly. It was an empty, clean toilet.  But it was a Western sit down toilet. He did not approve.

Coming out of Pudong, I went to the Maglev, only to be told to not go on the Maglev.  Instead, it was suggested I went on the exchange bus, which had a maniacal driver who got us to Hongqiao in a bit under 30 minutes, despite traffic. I nearly crapped my pants in fear of a spectacular crash and painful death.

It reminded me of an increasingly concerning issue in China that Cathy told me about, which will unfortunately affect school on Friday and therefore Cathy's work schedule on Friday.  Around China, the school bus industry are notorious for unsafe practices.  Some schools load up the school buses with kids to max capacity and then  some.  Once said buses have a head-on collision, which has happened around China recently...well...you get the picture.

My school has cancelled Friday school buses for the kids to go back home.  I've been on the school buses before and I must say that whatever company we use do a pretty good job not overcrowding them.  Perhaps during next term, more students will opt to stay on campus for weekends.  Cathy will have to stay longer after school on Fridays, which sucks because that's our eating out day.

Bus safety for kids or better quality times being with Cathy?  I choose the latter.  Aren't I a terrible human being?

...

Now for something completely different, I'm in Seoul.  I love this city.  More posts to follow.

Shanghaied...again

I'm sort of scared to put my external hard drive into my computer. I think I have a virus that affects external storage devices, so I'll just write for now...

Lijiang was a great experience. I think my parents and Jim really enjoyed themselves there.  I certainly did.  Ok ok, it was a bit touristy at times, but it had it's charming moments that were priceless.

After Lijiang, we flew to Shanghai.  Like the first time I was in Shanghai, the taxi driver took us a bit of a "detour" just to up the price.  Jerk.  Shanghai - the city of thieves!  A friend of mine got his wallet stolen there.  My camera was stolen on Nanjing Dong Lu.  And now I was ripped off a second time by cab drivers?

Whatever. I love Shanghai.  And I didn't let bad experiences like that ruin my awesome stay.  We stayed at a hotel with a rich history north of the Bund called the Astor House Hotel.  Great place...and the price is right for what you get.

Met my friend Jake at the hotel.  It was great seeing him.  Last time I saw him, we went on a trip to the Okanagan in 2009 before my practicum.  He's almost finished his final year in university at U of T.  We definitely caught up with each other.  2 nights in a row just drinking beers and talking until 3 AM aught to do it!

We toured the China Pavilion, Pudong, Nanjing East Road...among other places.  Jake and I broke off from the 'rents and Jim to go explore the French Quarter.  I brought him to the Propaganda Poster Museum.  Last time I was there was with my traveling partner Nick.  It was a headache to find, since it's in the basement of an apartment building.  Jake got a lot more out of it (being from Harbin) than I could have imagined.

I also got to hang out with my old colleague Hedy, and even Jake and Jake's father.  Good company, good times.

Shanghai was the last stop for my father and Jim.  They left for Vancouver after 3 days of Shanghai.  Mom and I continued to Wuhan on the same day.  She would meet Cathy and see the school...

Shanghaied (Weekend Trip)

This last weekend, the boys took a little trip to Shanghai to celebrate my colleague Mitch's bachelor party.  There were 9 of us.  Friday's flight drained the life out of us since it was 2 hours delayed.  But on Saturday, craziness ensued as of 8:00AM and ran until roughly 3:00AM.  All I'm going to say is that we started the day off by drinking beers with breakfast and ended with a few of us drinking beers at a shawarma restaurant wondering why some of us got tossed out out of CD Soho night club.  Some activities in between these two events involved a women's dress on Nanjing East Road, hockey jerseys, tough guy shots, a pillow, a bum with baijiu and an interview by local TV.  Use your imagination on how things went down.  All in all, we had an awesome time, but I can't seem to remember most of it. Whatever.  Shanghai is definitely a great city to have a stag.

Agua

On Thursday night, without warning, the water was cut at the school.  The students and teachers living on campus couldn't take showers for Friday.  My class reeked of BO and the school washrooms (which are pretty clean) suddenly turned into Chinese public washrooms that don't flush. What's more, the water didn't turn back on until Saturday, even though maintenance said it would come back on Friday.

Not having running water really put things into perspective for me.  We Canadians are so lucky to have such good utilities and infrastructure to assure good utility.  The school area's waterworks are pretty good most of the time.  There are other places in the world that have it so much worse.  But the worst part to me was the lack of warning.  Bad waterworks, but worse communication.

Yesterday, Cathy and I brushed our teeth outside next to the only faucet that worked.  It was behind the cafeteria and next to two sewer grates.  The tap was slow and the area around it was muddy.  Cathy washed her face and I took a sponge bath, developing world-style. Didn't trust the water all that much, so when I came back inside, I took a shot of Chivas Regal 18 year old scotch whisky.

On a lighter note, I'm off to Shanghai next weekend!  My colleague Mitch is getting married and the boys are throwing him a bachelor's party on the Bund!

Shanghai Expo Story #106: The Philippines Pavillion

Paul: Hey Boss, let's go into the Philippine Pavilion. Let's see what my peeps have to offer!

Nicholas: Alright! You're the Chief, Chief!

P: [Approaches the pavilion] Oh God, there's no Chinese lining up there. Typical.  Let's take a look inside.

[Both P and N walk in and are met with blaring Pinoy hip-hop.  Two Filipino DJs are on a stage.  Both look like some of Paul's cousins].

P: [Desperately tries to keep his laughter to himself as he looks around].

N: Eh Paul! Look how many instruments are scattered around here! You got guitars, mics, drums, pianos, traditional instruments, and DJ booths. I take it Filipinos really like their music.

P: [recovering] Ahem! Cough! Um...yeah.  Hey, let's get some food here. Filipino food is awesome. Nice break from Chinese.  You'll love it!

[Both walk to the food counter.  Not to many people are eating around them, and the people eating in the food area are almost exclusively Filipino].

P:  Kumusta! I'll have a halo-halo and a leche flan.

Server: [Raises eyebrows] Oh oh. Mmm...nice t-shirt!

P: [Looks down and realizes he's wearing a Manila shirt]. HEY! This proves that I'm not fully Chinese!

...

[As N and P eat Filipino desserts, more people, mostly white and Pinoy, enter the pavilion].

Shanghaied

Today, I got back to Wuhan from my trip to Shanghai.  My colleague Nicholas and I blitzed the city in 2 days, 3 nights.  Places we went to include:

• Jin'an Temple
• The French Concession
• People's Square
•  Nanjing East Road
• The Bund
• Pudong and the Oriental Pearl Tower
• Old Town

That was just day one...for Nick.  After getting back to the hotel, I went to see my friend Stephanie and her friends in a posh area near her hostel.

The next day, Nicholas and I went to:

• The Jade Buddha Temple 
• Propaganda Poster Museum (one of my highlights of China so far)
• The 2010 Shanghai World Expo

The Expo itself was epic. More on that later.
Right now, I'm procrastinating.  I should sleep.  Tomorrow, I leave Wuhan for Wudang Shan.

Parungao Tongzhi (Comrade Parungao) on Shanghai's Huangpu River, World Expo 2010