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| Monday, February 14, 2005 | ||
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Well, after another full day of travel, I am finally back in Ephrata.... oh the small tiny town of Ephrata. It is kind of weird having two Valentines day in one year. One with Hsiu Hsiu and one without.... I like the one with Hsiu Hsiu alot better. Anyway... after such a long trip, ok one week is really not that long, it is time to reflect on my trip to Shanghai and comment on what I saw. 1) Shanghai is still a developing city. No matter what anyone else is telling you, Shanghai is still developing. There are still a long ways to go. Out in the rural area's of Shanghai, it is still very poor and very under developed. Even the beautiful European houses are only beautiful shells, the wiring inside and the climate control still do not match that of most homes in the US ... ok most southern homes in the US. Yeah... even up here in Ephrata, lots of homes don't have central air and heat. 2) Everything is packaging in China In China, almost everything is packaging ... by this I mean, everything looks wonderful on the outside, but in reality ... there is not much substance inside. For example, alot of the food in Shanghai smells wonderful and even looks wonderful. however, they do not taste as good as they look and smell. Strange ,but true. Also the houses in Shanghai are the same way... as mentioned above. 3) Shortest distance between point A and point B is a straight line In Shanghai and most of China, traffic law are merely a guideline. Most people knows the rules but don't follow them. And everyone want to get to their destination in the shortest path. This includes cars, buses, bicycles, and even pedistrians. Because of this, a strage understanding exists between all parties on the road. Everyone complains, but they still are able to get around without having any accidents. All in all, driving in Shanghai is pretty chaotic. 4) Value of money is different I guess that is true in all countries around the world. Well, things in China just don't cost as much, especially food. But of course mose people in China makes a fraction of what we make in the US. I still have trouble how all that works out for the average joe living in China. That is a tough life. 5) People is cheap Of course, everyone knows that people are every where in China. But what is amazing was in a walmart like store there is a person responsible for every aile in the store. They can only do that because labor is cheap. That will never happen in the US. Also less than 100 dollars US a month, one can hire a maid to clean your house and watch all the clothe for one month easy. Once again... labor is cheap. 6) Simplified Chinese just sucks! The person that decide simplified chinese is a good thing should get shot. Simplified Chinese removed all logic in the chinese written language. No longer can one piece together a meaning of a word by its parts. In simplified chinese you either know it or you don't . And even if you know it, you would need to know if that word is used properly in the simplied chinese context. 7) GPS system would be nice in China There are so many small roads in China and not all the maps are accurate. A well developed GPS guidance system would rock in China. I think some are available in Shanghai city and Beijing City, however nothing is availble for the rural areas of China. 8) Chinese Radio SUCKS!!! First of all, most of the songs that are played in Shanghai and in China are older songs. Ranging from couple of month old to couple of years old. But the most annoying thing in Shanghai and China radio is they stop the song 2/3rd of the way through. Just when you are all in to the grove of the song they cut it off. Stupid Shanghai radio. 9) Short on Power.... Well... I actually experienced my first blown fuse in Shanghai because of to many electronics connected on one circuit in the house. The house is maybe at most 4 years old, however, the wiring systems looks like it is from the 1940's. No breakers and all fuses and the circuits are not designed to take the load of all the modern electronics. Scary huh? 10) Money for everything In Shanghai... almost every where you go you will need to have cash. Most are not very expensive to enter, but once you are inside that area, every little thing requires cash. And they all eventually add up. It is captialism at its finest. But wait ... we are in a communist country? That is all that I can think of right now. I am sure I will think of more. But please don't get me wrong... I still had a lot of fun in China and in Shanghai. The Bund and the metro area of Shanghai is a beautiful place, especially at night. I hope I will have a chance in the next couple of days to share some of the pictures I took. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 10:13:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Sunday, February 13, 2005 | ||
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Well, It is hard to believe one week has passed already. I am in Hsiu Hsiu's office getting ready to head to the airport. I have a 10 hour flight to get back to the US from Shanghai. It is a shorter flight than when coming to China, but it is still a long flight. I had a wonderful week here in Shanghai. Most importantly, I finally got to spend some quality time with my honey. Well... I got tons of pictures... I just hope I will have the time to process them when I get home. Anyway... I will see everyone when I get home. HAPPY Valentines Day!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 4:28:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Monday, February 07, 2005 | ||
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Well, this is day 2 of my trip here. I miss the Superbowl yesterday... and I still don't even know who won yet. But that is ok, I had a chance to spend some good and quality time with my Hsiu Hsiu. Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, though it is a little bit strange not being home with my family on this day, but I think we will still have alot of fun here. Boy... I just have to say... there are people everywhere here in Shanghai. WOW. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 4:37:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Saturday, February 05, 2005 | ||
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Ok... Off to the Airport I go. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:21:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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Well... today is the day!!! I will be traveling to China today. I guess I am a little excited... I can't sleep. So.... I look online to check out the weather in Shanghai... And this really sucks. I will be there for an entire week and it seems that the weather will be cloudy and rainy the whole time. When I went to Shanghai last time, it rained 2 out of 3 days that I was in Shanghai. But that's ok... I might get some pockets of sunshine here and there. I have faith. Besides what is important is I will be with my honey. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:04:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Friday, February 04, 2005 | ||
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It has been couple more weeks since my last blog entry. I just been so busy lately. This past week was just insane. I been working none stop everyday. And today around two I finally wrapped up most of my stuff and I said to myself. "AH... I think it is time for me to go on a vacation!" Yep I am going on a 1 week vacation. Nope, I am not going to Alabama this time... and Yep ... I am going to Shanghai again! I will get a chance to see my beautiful Hsiu Hsiu. Well... my adventure begins around 3:30pm today. That is when I left Ephrata and headed toward Seattle. The drive was not that bad. It was a beautiful day outside, but driving in the late after noon is a real pain. Driving west, the sun is almost always in your eyes. I had to stop and put on my sun glasses. And when I was driving through the pass it was raining and fogging ... So driving was not that fun either... oh and the wind was strong. So around 6:30, I finally reached my hotel. BTW having a GPS is cool... The GPS mapping system directed me straight to the Hotel. That was cool... anyway... My hotel was not bad. It is the SeaTac Holiday Inn. only 0.2 miles from the airport. and it only cost me 40 bucks after taxes. How did I get such a Killer deal? PRICELINE BABY!!!! Anyway... my game plan was this... I get to the hotel... drop off my luggage, then drive my car to Great Wall shopping center to have some Sushi. There is this pretty cheap and pretty good sushi restaurant there.. the place is called Ekko... or something like that. Chirochi Sushi over there are only $12.50 . For that price, it comes with miso soup, 2 small dishes of appetizer and one sushi chief gift sushi salad. And most importantly, the fish was fresh, it was not too bad at all. Anyway... after dinner I would drive to the Mazda dealership and drop my car off for maintenance and repair. I would use the night drop and then walk across the street to a bus stop and catch the 560 express to SeaTac. I use the King County Metro site to plan my bus trip. I just type in the dealership's address, the time , and my destination, which is SeaTac, and it tells me 3 different options of buses all around my request time with in 0.5 mile distance. Anyway, so I dropped off my car... when to the bus stop waited less then 10 minutes and the 560 bus shows up. The ride from the dealership to SeaTac only cost me $1.50. I actually over paid 25 cents because .... I thought it was 1.50 instead of 1.25. So once I reached Sea Tac... I called the hotel and they sent a shuttle and picked me up. Boy I love it when a plan comes together. So tomorrow, I will take the hotel shuttle to the airport and everything will be wonderful. Tomorrow night I will be able to see my lovely Hsiu Hsiu. Oh .. I just can't wait. Oh I almost forgot ... Happy Birthday MIN-JYE!!!! My little sis is now 22!!! Wow Wee!!! Well... I have my new camera with me ... I hope Shanghai' s weather is good .. so I can have some good pictures. We will see..... |
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| Min-Hsao -- 9:48:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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