I'm coming to you live from the Bangkok airport lounge, on my way to India. This is my first visit to India, where I hear the food is good..........
(and that's about it).
I still don't feel too comfortable posting here from work more than once a week, so postings will be sparse until we can get the external VPN set up in China.
Some quick updates:
1. I had some nice pictures to share on the topics below - but then Martin (our 2 year old) went and deleted about 20 pictures from my iPhone. He's too nimble with my phone. He sent a mail to Freddie's baseball coach in Cincinnati saying "I scored 459 on Doodle jump! Can you beat that???"
2. Should I be offended, part 1 (of many?): So the beauty of going to an international school is that the classmates are all......international! Freddie was invited to a birthday party for a classmate, who is French.
The invitation came. It had Uncle Sam on it. It said, and I quote:
"I WANT YOU......FOR MY ANNIVERSAIRE"
Um, is that legal? Can you use an icon of the USA and put a French word on it? Should I go to the consulate to complain?
3. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were holidays* here in China. On Wednesday, we took the boys to the 7 story shopping mall, which was complete with a mini amusement park and arcade. Freddie met up with a friend - so Warren and I went off together. He loves those silly carnival games where you put the token in and try to win tickets. Of course, those tickets are worthless.....80 of them will buy you one of those Chinese finger-jammer things.
Anyway, so he plays this one game where you drop the token, it lands on its side and rolls toward the edge of a rotating circle - and if the token knocks over the bar, you win! The larger the bar, the smalelr the prize, of course.
He dropped it - it rolled - and knocked over a bar about the size of a toothpick.
JACKPOT!
350 tickets came spilling out of the machine. One CHinese lady came over and wanted to take a picture of Warren. He said ok.
I expect - somewhere - that picture to be framed somewhere as part of a "Winners play here!" advertisemnt that every casino has...
"Warren Z., of Guangzhou! - 350 ticket jackpot winner!"
*4. Well, we can debate if Wed-Fri were truly holidays. The offices were closed - but, to make up for it, the office was open the Sunday before and the Sat/Sun after the holiday. You don't just get a free day off, you know! We will plead ignorance if someone asks why we weren't in the office on Sat or Sunday.
5. I locked out my ATM card in July when I was trying to set up online banking at HSBC, which is centered in Hong Kong. How do I get a new PIN? Well, I have to mail a form in! To Hong Kong!
I sent the form in on Aug 20. As of Sept 17, there has been no reply yet. So I called HSBC.
"Yes, we sent the new ATM PIN on Sept 2."
To what address?
"To the address you wrote - in China."
I put down my office address. I would hate to have it sent to the US,and then somehow get lost....
Anyway, I told them I haven't received it yet.
"Oh, you should shortly."
But you sent it on Sept 2!
"Yes, that's right".
How long does it take to mail something?
"You should expect it to take 10-15 business days."
OK - This is a mail sent from Hong Kong. It is literally 100 miles away from my office. Given the holidays, I should expect my ATM mail to be received.....next week sometime. That's about 25 calendar days.
Is this what the Pony Express was like back in the day?
Sep 26, 2010
Sep 15, 2010
The little things...
It's the little things that cause a lot more frustration than they should....for example:
1. Light switches. Apparently, the thought process of building contractors in the US and China are completely different.
In the US - you go into a dark bathroom. Hmmmm, it's dark - I need to turn on the light. The switch is right there on the wall.....blink! on.
In China - you go into a dark bathroom. Hmmmm, it's dark - I need to turn on the light. There are no swithces in the bathroom. The switches are located on the wall outside the bathroom.
This is consistent in every room. Apparently, you are expected to think ahead. I'm going into the bedroom. Do I need light? Well, decide now because the switches are outside the room, not in the room. There's a bank of 12 switches right by the front door. Decide NOW on what light you want to turn on - becuase if you don't, you'll be walking right back to this bank of switches to turn the light you want on.
By the way, the over/under on the number of switches I try until I find the one I want is still 6 1/2.
2. Drains: there are no traps in the common drains in China. So - any odors in the pipes come right back up and fill your bathroom. (Not to mention this is a source for roaches to come up into your house too). So they have these drain covers in place on top of the shower drains. You are also supposed to keep your sink plugs closed when not using.
These shower drains look like they drain, however. They've got holes in them! So I step into the shower for the first time, sing a couple of stanzas of Rod Stewart....and then I find the shower is flooded and water is draining....out through the shower door.
Apparently, we need to remove these covers before we shower, and then replace them when done. Chalk that up to a "teachable moment".
3. Sickness update: I still have a cough (day 13?), but it is much better. Janice and Martin, however, are not doing so well. We took Martin in to the doctor. She prescribed an inhalant. "Yes, put this mask/pipe over Martin's face, and then spray the inhalant when he breaths. Tell him to take deep breaths."
Did I mention he's 2? Yeah, that's impossible. It takes both Janice and I to hold him down and give him the medicine. It's not pretty.
4. The Mid-Autumn festival is coming! There is a sign on the conveinence store downstrairs, advertising gifts you can buy for the festival! Some options:
- a bottle of wine
- a box of moon cakes (which is a dessert speciality - not at all like Moon Pies in the US)
- flowers
- a can of SPAM
Hmmmmmmm...which one does not belong? I need to get a picture of this advertisement.
5. Yes, I watched the Browns live on Sunday (Monday?). Yes I knew the game was lost when Jake threw that interception late in the 1st half.
The only consoling factor is that I went 9-3-1, winning these games: Mia, Mia under, Pit, Det, Cin over, Ten over, NYG, Arz, and Bal. I lost Cin, Phi, Phi over, and tied the Sea under. Who didn't see a Jets meltdown coming?
Still having issues with moving into our apartment.....let's just say that if we order pizza and want mushrooms on it, we don't order the mushrooms but instead go into one of the bedrooms and pick it off the carpet.
1. Light switches. Apparently, the thought process of building contractors in the US and China are completely different.
In the US - you go into a dark bathroom. Hmmmm, it's dark - I need to turn on the light. The switch is right there on the wall.....blink! on.
In China - you go into a dark bathroom. Hmmmm, it's dark - I need to turn on the light. There are no swithces in the bathroom. The switches are located on the wall outside the bathroom.
This is consistent in every room. Apparently, you are expected to think ahead. I'm going into the bedroom. Do I need light? Well, decide now because the switches are outside the room, not in the room. There's a bank of 12 switches right by the front door. Decide NOW on what light you want to turn on - becuase if you don't, you'll be walking right back to this bank of switches to turn the light you want on.
By the way, the over/under on the number of switches I try until I find the one I want is still 6 1/2.
2. Drains: there are no traps in the common drains in China. So - any odors in the pipes come right back up and fill your bathroom. (Not to mention this is a source for roaches to come up into your house too). So they have these drain covers in place on top of the shower drains. You are also supposed to keep your sink plugs closed when not using.
These shower drains look like they drain, however. They've got holes in them! So I step into the shower for the first time, sing a couple of stanzas of Rod Stewart....and then I find the shower is flooded and water is draining....out through the shower door.
Apparently, we need to remove these covers before we shower, and then replace them when done. Chalk that up to a "teachable moment".
3. Sickness update: I still have a cough (day 13?), but it is much better. Janice and Martin, however, are not doing so well. We took Martin in to the doctor. She prescribed an inhalant. "Yes, put this mask/pipe over Martin's face, and then spray the inhalant when he breaths. Tell him to take deep breaths."
Did I mention he's 2? Yeah, that's impossible. It takes both Janice and I to hold him down and give him the medicine. It's not pretty.
4. The Mid-Autumn festival is coming! There is a sign on the conveinence store downstrairs, advertising gifts you can buy for the festival! Some options:
- a bottle of wine
- a box of moon cakes (which is a dessert speciality - not at all like Moon Pies in the US)
- flowers
- a can of SPAM
Hmmmmmmm...which one does not belong? I need to get a picture of this advertisement.
5. Yes, I watched the Browns live on Sunday (Monday?). Yes I knew the game was lost when Jake threw that interception late in the 1st half.
The only consoling factor is that I went 9-3-1, winning these games: Mia, Mia under, Pit, Det, Cin over, Ten over, NYG, Arz, and Bal. I lost Cin, Phi, Phi over, and tied the Sea under. Who didn't see a Jets meltdown coming?
Still having issues with moving into our apartment.....let's just say that if we order pizza and want mushrooms on it, we don't order the mushrooms but instead go into one of the bedrooms and pick it off the carpet.
Sep 8, 2010
The Browns
Yes, I am still excited for the NFL season to start. I was able to participate in 2 fantasy football drafts, I'm in a pick-em pool and now 2 suicide pools. And I will have two full weekend days to think about the games - unlike you suckers in America that have - at most - 1 1/2 days (and for Layup, it's just 1).
I will try not to be polly-annaish about the Browns, but here's my prediction for the season, based on teh schedule:
Games vs AFC North (6): 2-4. I do think we can win 2 in the division this year. I think we beat Pittsbrugh once (at home, probably), and then win one game against Baltimore or Cincinnati. I'm pretty sure one of those teams is overrated - they can't both go 11-5, can they? I'm leaning toward the Bengals being overrated and us winning vs. Cincinnati at home. So I think 2 wins in the division is doable.
Games vs NFC South (4): 2-2. Well, we're not beating the Saints in New Orleans. I think we should win 2 out of 3 against Tampa on the road and Carolina and Atlanta at home. I'm not that impressed with the Falcons. The opener - if we win - will go a long way to get us to 2-2 vs the NFC South. It's still doable if we lose week 1.
Games vs AFC East (4): 2-2. If we can win at Buffalo last year with the worst quarterbacking the NFL has seen in 40 years, with the Browns completing 2 passes all game and Mr. Anderson having a 0.0 rating for the second half....then we can win at Buffalo again this year.
And for those of you that don't remember the game I'm talking about, click here. This was a game for the ages.
Can we get another one among the Pats at home, Jets at home, and Dolphins on the road? I think so. Either the Pats or the Jets are overrated. Right now, my money's on the Jets being overrated and being 7-9 this year or so. But the Pats may be in decline as well. I think the game at Miami will be the toughest.
Bonus games (2): 1-1. The 2 other games are home vs. KC and at Jacksonville. Week 2 - the home opener vs. KC - is the key. We have to win that one.
Total: 7-9. I think this is a fair estimate. And if somehow we can get a 3rd win vs. the NFC South, a win at Jacksonville, and a 3rd division win - that gets us to 10-6. Hey, I can dream....
I will try not to be polly-annaish about the Browns, but here's my prediction for the season, based on teh schedule:
Games vs AFC North (6): 2-4. I do think we can win 2 in the division this year. I think we beat Pittsbrugh once (at home, probably), and then win one game against Baltimore or Cincinnati. I'm pretty sure one of those teams is overrated - they can't both go 11-5, can they? I'm leaning toward the Bengals being overrated and us winning vs. Cincinnati at home. So I think 2 wins in the division is doable.
Games vs NFC South (4): 2-2. Well, we're not beating the Saints in New Orleans. I think we should win 2 out of 3 against Tampa on the road and Carolina and Atlanta at home. I'm not that impressed with the Falcons. The opener - if we win - will go a long way to get us to 2-2 vs the NFC South. It's still doable if we lose week 1.
Games vs AFC East (4): 2-2. If we can win at Buffalo last year with the worst quarterbacking the NFL has seen in 40 years, with the Browns completing 2 passes all game and Mr. Anderson having a 0.0 rating for the second half....then we can win at Buffalo again this year.
And for those of you that don't remember the game I'm talking about, click here. This was a game for the ages.
Can we get another one among the Pats at home, Jets at home, and Dolphins on the road? I think so. Either the Pats or the Jets are overrated. Right now, my money's on the Jets being overrated and being 7-9 this year or so. But the Pats may be in decline as well. I think the game at Miami will be the toughest.
Bonus games (2): 1-1. The 2 other games are home vs. KC and at Jacksonville. Week 2 - the home opener vs. KC - is the key. We have to win that one.
Total: 7-9. I think this is a fair estimate. And if somehow we can get a 3rd win vs. the NFC South, a win at Jacksonville, and a 3rd division win - that gets us to 10-6. Hey, I can dream....
Update
Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay in updates. Let's see if I can catch people up on the news from here:
1. Some of you may know this, but I was struck by a nasty stomach "bacterial infection" about 2 weeks ago. (Actually, it started 2 weeks ago today). It started with a fever, then the chills - and then 24 hours of non-stop vomiting. I could not even keep water down. It took me about 6 days to regain any sort of appetite whatsoever.
It sucks since I was bedridden for 4-5 days and I missed Warren's party at the Ritz Carlton. However, on the bright side - when you don't eat for 6 days, you lose weight! I am down at least 5 kgs so far since I moved here. 5 more of these infections and I will be down to my "recommended" weight!
2. I was able to watch the Barclay's live while I was sick - at 5 am China time on Monday Aug 30. It was on NHK - the Japanese station. They were enamored with Ryuji Imada - I wonder why.
And if you ever wondered how to spell Tiger's name in Japanese -well, this is a screen capture of Tiger's scorecard from NHK's coverage.
3. Yesterday I had Chicken Mushroom soup for lunch - from Pizza Hut. We'll see how smart that decision is.
4. Today I went to lunch at a "hot plate" restaurant, where the meat/rice comes out on a sizzling plate. There are signs that say "Hurry and mix to avoid overcooking!". Um, overcooking is one thing I don't want to avoid right now.
The meal came as a combo, with a drink and a small soft serve ice cream cup! I got the vanilla ice cream with the chocolate topping.....
....or so I thought. It didn't taste like chocolate.
Another sign in the restaurant advertised the soft serve ice cream - with three flavorful toppings!!!! They are:
- Marrow (a brownish color)
- Green Tea (green)
- Black Sesame (black).
I got the Black Sesame, obviously. I'm glad that was the default choice.
5. We got kicked out of our temporary apartment and placed into another temp apartment, since our real place is goign to be ready this weekend. The new temp apartment is at the Ritz. Let's just say that if you are homeless and still not settled, the Ritz is a pretty damn good place to be at.
6. We are listening to "Kids Bop 18" on the way to school - and that's really the only American music I get to listen to. So now I have the whole Kids Bop album memorized in my head.
7. Homework in China for the kids >>> Homework in the US for the kids.
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