My first piece of mail!

well, it arrived at the IDEO office today... it was a holiday card from the Mandarin school I signed up with a couple weeks ago. Hmm... I'm glad the school specializes in teaching Mandarin 'cause the English on the card isn't so good! I "wish I like her" too... maybe they're talking about my female instructor? ha. I'm trying out a new school this week (not because of this card) but the card was sweet nonetheless.

Rain and desserts

I hung out with Vivienne, a friend from MIT, this past Sat. We went to a Taiwanese restaurant and had this pretty common dessert; red bean ice mountain. Okay, I'm just making that name up, but that's basically what it is! Hmm, looking at the pic close up, it looks slightly unappetizing. Afterwards it started raining and it's been raining ever since. I snapped this pic of some bicyclists at a red light. Maybe they want some Drybike Weathershields?? :)

My apartment!

So, my parents have now left, and I can start settling in, for real. I thought I'd start by showing some pics from my apartment. In case you wanted to send me anything, those cards below don't give the whole address, its actually:
Room 903, Building D, Lane 555 Nan Chang Road, 200031, Shanghai, China

I have one bedroom, a study, one bathroom, a kitchen and a couple closets. Its got a balcony, washer/dryer, water cooler, and internet! The study has a pull out bed so please let me know if you want to stop by. A couple of things differ from the western world- for one thing there is no dishwasher. Now, I don't even have a dishwasher in SF, but here they are like UV sanitation heaters, I'll take a picture in a bit. Also, I have a washer and a separate dryer, which is outside on the balcony! People rarely have dryers here, they hang there clothes outside. (watch out, I've had some dripping underpants drip on my head walking on the street!) I have a decent view from my apartment as well, if only it weren't so hazy all the time.

My apartment came furnished but I had to get a few things, and where else to go but.... IKEA??! Yeah, I was just as surprised. But honestly, when you have to get a few things quickly and want it done in one stop, it really is a good place. The Chinese find it a little upscale and surprisingly the prices are pretty much the same in USD.

I also bought my first "cute" purchase outside the IKEA. Hey, I needed a laundry bin! :)

Random pics from Beijing

So here are some other pictures from Beijing I just wanted to point out. The fruit skewers are actually covered in hardened sugar, not ice which I originally thought! The surprising thing was, they were even too sweet for me. The next picture is of a Charcoal heater. This is one of the reasons why the pollution is so bad- everyone is burning coal. They sell these coal briquettes very cheaply and from these heaters, there is a piping system that goes through houses; this is mainly done with the older residences.
I found that the word snapshot translated into such a long Chinese phrase. However, on closer inspection, the Chinese words actually describe "most magnificent picture taking spot at the National Stadium." or something like that. Don't those guys just exude the Xmas spirit? Must be those hats. And the last is a water dispensing machine at the airport, they give you free envelopes, yep, Envelopes, to drink out of. Water fountains anyone?

Vacation with the family- Beijing

So after Xian, we went to Beijing for 4 days. We booked a couple tours; one to the Great Wall and one around the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, adn the Temple of Heaven. It was the coldest I've ever felt- I think this was due to the fact that these tours were all outside and there was no place to warm up! Even the tourist shops on site were freezing. The recorded low was 10F, but with windchill, I'm not sure how low it went! It got to a point where one couple in our tour wanted to stay put and wait for us. We literally visited the Summer Palace on the first day of Winter (the 21st!) and it was the coldest day in Beijing so far, how ironic.

We also went to the Badaling area of the Great wall. That was great- especially since it was further north, and although it was still cold, the air was fresher and much cleaner. I unfortunately dropped my camera (arrgh!) and used my Mom's camera for a bit. In the next few days we visited the Olympic sites, did some shopping, and went on a tour through the Hutongs- these are the older alleyway neighborhoods of Beijing. My mom and I are in one of the pedicabs that took us around.

Vacation with the family- Xian

Xian, China's capital before Beijing, was an ancient ruling city that has lots of history- over 5000 years of it! We went up to Xian's city wall (the canon pic), up to the drum and bell towers, sampled many types of dumplings at a famous dumpling place (can you guess what kind of dumplings are in the pic?) and I even had some Chinese cotton candy.


We also of course went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors- 8000 ceramic warriors commissioned by Qin Shi Huang for his mausoleum to protect him in the afterlife. What's amazing about this place is that they are still excavating and putting together all the pieces. They built a huge building around the three excavation pits and work during the evenings. We took a day tour because we didn't spend much time in Xian and wanted to fit in as much as possible. However, they also led us to some tourist traps, such as a "silk making factory" (my brother and I are pulling silk cocoons to make a blanket).

Vacation with the family

So, from Dec 17-26 my parents and brother came over to China and we've been traveling around Shanghai, Xian and Beijing. We of course went to the Bund (a glitzy area of Shanghai near the water), around the French Concession (where I live) and did some shopping in various areas. We went to a "restaurant" if you call it that, that has only 4 tables and is only open during the lunch hour with an old college friend of my mom's. Shanghai has a great juxtaposition of old and new... check out this guy hanging up his clothes to dry- with a post to help him put it on electrical lines!

The first weekend

The weekend was a great learning experience. I checked out the local McDonalds, went to where I unexpectedly ordered the spicy chicken wings, went to a department store where I thought it must have been China's black Friday or something since the lines were all at least 20 people deep, and also got a taste of Shanghai local shopping. My friend Rick visited coincidentally and stayed in my extra room. (pics of my place to come). I went with Sue and Eric to pick up their custom made jacket and suit (each for only $40 USD!). Also went to an electronics mall, which is 6 floors of every electronic gadget you can think of, fake and real. Met up with a group of local Shanghainese to play pool as well. That night we saw this kid in a fuzzy costume playing with a balloon, too cute for words :)

I walked to the office this morning from my apartment and it took about 13 minutes. I stopped to take a few pictures along the way. There were quite a few breakfast food stands. Also, you'll notice the bamboo scaffolding which I always get a kick out of. At the office, they gave me these cards- written in English and in Chinese on where I live. I thought that was hilarious, but then pretty useful as I'm sure many people will visit who don't exactly know how to say 555 Nanchang Lu.

So when I went to check my bags, I guess they raised the price... to $200 for my fourth piece! ACK! I seriously considered going out to get a bag, or a free garbage bag for that matter and put two of my pieces in it to consolidate. Oh well, I get some fees reimbursed so alas, I succumbed to the United gouging system.

She at least gave me an exit row aisle seat, aaah nice right? ooooh no, not if you get row 35 which I soon found out.
Row 35 is right near the bathroom, and there's a big open space in front. But everytime someone went in or out of the bathroom, the light would blind me and awaken me out of any kind of sleep I was getting. Also, add to that that people would line up, and also be doing all sorts of Tai Chi in the aisle as well. I threw my coat over my head and tried to get some shut eye on the 11+ hour flight.

First Days

Well, I left around 12 noon on December 10th. Eli drove me to the airport with tons of luggage... 3 bags, a box, a backpack, and a carry-on. I felt like I needed to wear a shirt that said "no, really, i'm moving to Shanghai!"