Huh....

I started this thread but I have lost my thoughts as what I wanted this thread to say...

Don't you think sometimes things are like that...

You start out with an intention to do something, or to say something...
And it all comes out all wrong...

Perhaps even though I "talk" heaps, I sometimes have problem saying the things that really meant to me.

What is it? What is it that prevents me from saying or doing things when I really want to do so....

I wonder whether World leaders do that...
Perhaps that is why Bush Jr ALWAYS gets things wrong?

My actions and words, if wrong, will only hurt or harm people close to me (which doesn't really number many)

But his, on the other hand can impact the world!

I really have no idea where this thread is leading me...

Perhaps it is because I am so confused....

Or perhaps it is because I am so tired...

Or even perhaps it's like 2am and I am still in the office....

I am so lost sometimes....

Modern Chinese homes...

Modern Chinese homes are very comfortable…

Somehow before I came across one, the impression which I have is that Chinese people live in crapped locations, with bunk beds stacked upon each other….

Boy was I seriously wrong…hehe
In a sense, perhaps I have been living in a cave…

Like any fast developing and emerging city-society, there are different stratas and types of housing….

Not all are crapped rooms with people piled on top of each other…

No doubt, there are some like what I have described earlier (as evidenced from heaps of people sitting around in circles on the grass patches along the freeway during evening times/nightfall)…..

But a lot of the homes have improved….

I had the opportunity to visit a colleague’s home (Hellen) and I do appreciate her opening up her home for me to visit!
They have IKEA furniture and the place is really nice and peaceful!

Hehehe and it’s in a really nice scenic location, very much like a large secured commune, where people hang around in the nice well-taken care gardens, showing off the latest babies and gossips!

They have a minimart, and spas/ beauty salons in there! Even an English kindergarden and a primary school exists! Boy was I impressed…hehe

It’s a perfect place to have a baby! Hehehe….You can show off your darling child (and people will goo-goo and ga-ga over your baby) and they have childcare facilities for you.....

I do have to confess that I did goo-goo and ga-ga over this gigantic baby (boy was he big for a 6 mth baby! He was beyond chubby!)

All these without even stepping out of the compound….

Perhaps the Singapore govt could take a hint in this!

Might help raise the baby population in Singapore with this commune concept….

Or practise reverse psychology…..ban people in Singapore from having more than 1 child….(am sure people will find excuses to have more! Just so they can….indicate their freedom of thought and rights!)

What do you think mates?

Work.....

Work…….

What can I say….

Nothing much…except that I am learning…..

I am learning heaps, esp in dealing with the Chinese clients….and in human interaction relationships…

In this region, I think the consultant and the client are both learning from each other.
And I really like this. You don’t feel overwhelm and you learn to trust each other….

Working in this region has really made me more mature.
I truly learn about trusting, respecting each other and each other’s culture!

The clients here varies greatly, like anywhere else I supposed….

Some are really supportive of you and help you out, and understand you. Whilst others are really demanding and expect a lot out of you…
Both sets of clients are interesting to know…
One you will like more as they empathize with you…
The other you might dislike initially, but you will learn more…..in terms of client relationship management….and in the quality of work you deliver….

Am I giving myself too much pressure in work?

I do not think so….
I am a fan of Kaizen (continuous improvement)……
I want to constantly innovate and learn, learn how to be a better person and a more knowledgeable worker…
I feel that one shouldn’t stop learning, no matter at which stages of life…

And learning can come in different forms….

The learning I am getting here is allowing me to become a better person….

I have learnt more about myself these few months than I have in years….
Internally, I feel that I have grown…..

I actually listen (even though I still talk heaps and I don’t think this will change…hehe) and I try to listen adaptively and honestly…..

It’s not about finding a solution that one listens, as I have realised….
It’s about actually listening to what the other person(s) have to say…..

I guess I have been a talker so much of my life that I haven’t really stopped and listened attentively…..

Perhaps I have started to learn this after the emotional experience…
Or perhaps it comes with acknowledging my faults and changing for the better…
Or perhaps even due to the fact that I do have to listen attentively because my mandarin isn’t great and it takes a lot more effort from me to understand…
Ultimately though, I realised that through the various processes, I have learnt and am still learning how to listen attentively…..

Movies.......

I miss going out to the movies....

But it is lonely going out to movies alone.....
Even though in the cinema, you are basically all alone watching the movie, it still feels strange if you were to go alone. Going to the cinema is a social thing (I think so, but others might not think the same). After watching or before watching the movie, you will hang around and talk.

Post-movie conversation will vary, but typically it will hover around what you or the other person(s) think about the movie. Sometimes, you will both like it, other times, opinions will differ. This, I feel once again, is where the fun starts.

You might have a debate or a discussion with others as to the merits/demerits of the movie, or perhaps broaden the discussion into other side issues surrounding the movie, which the movie has perhaps fleshed out…

Or you could just say you like or hate the movie…

Perhaps I haven’t been out to the movies that much…..as I don’t have companions with me to do that here…..or even companions who would watch the various eclectic types of movies with me…

Another reason…..I don’t want to watch English movies dubbed into Chinese! Imagine Troy in mandarin……hehehehe
Brad Pitt speaking in fluent mandarin with a Beijing accent, I betcha…
Hehehe….imagine him saying…..instead of “Fight for Glory!”…..you’ll have “为名誉和伟大而打战”
And no English subtitles….
I will be so lost!

And can you imagine Shriek 2 in mandarin?!?!?
I can’t!
Hehe…

The reason why I raised these particular movies is because I did just watch them, all in a row with yijia in HK! Boy, were we lucky not to have accidentally bought tickets for the chinese ones (as we both didn’t realise that these movies are available in mandarin/Cantonese)! Perhaps Yijia might understand…..but I still have eons to go in my mandarin language abilities to understand Shriek 2 in mandarin!
But I do have to thank yijia for taking time to hang with me and watch those movies…..I did enjoy the movie session….it’s been awhile…

However don’t think I can’t watch art-house movies with yijia……
Don’t know whether she likes them…
I think she kinda likes fluffy meg-ryan type romantic movies….

I preferred Shriek 2 for its pop culture references but she preferred Troy for Brad Pitt and the theme!

Another movie which I have to recommend is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”……..it’s by the director of “Being John Malkovich”, and I really enjoyed that movie!

Jim Carey wasn’t great but the theme of the movie is interesting….
“What if you could erase someone out of your mind?”

But the movie which I really really want to watch now!
Hehehe! The new Harry Potter!
It’s by the director of “Y Tu Mama Tambian” , so it should be more interesting than the previous two!
Though I don’t think we will have any ménage a trio scenes…..

Tarot Cards.....

Do we all seek to find answers in the unknown?

Why are we curious? Is it because we are not sure and we don't have the faith to believe?
Or is it because we need to try find all answers to life...and love...

Or is it because we are just curious about the unknown....

Yijia gave me this link: http://www.learntarot.com/top.htm

For the curious, go and try the online tarot reading.....

Part of me tells me not to believe it and it is all hogwash, and that everything is based on a mathematical algorithm, and that the answers will change infinitely to the same one question...

However another part of me, the curious, the seeker tells me, why not try it?

Since I am seeking so many questions myself, why not?

I tried it..

What did I get out of it?

Answers to my questions....or my interpretations to the answers?

I think all I got out of it is to trust my gut....

My gut instincts will guide me through?

What about logic? And rationale?

Does our head dictates what we think or are we ruled by our gut?

If we follow our gut, will it change? How do we interpret the changes?
Are the changes momentarily? Or are there here to stay? Can we reverse our decisions?

How about logic? What is logic? Can logic solve the question of the chicken and the egg? Or is it just used to provide different scenarios to the question of what comes first, "The chicken or the egg"? How we answer that question is based on our set assumptions and how we want to interpret the variables, framework and outcome?

I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes in life there are no answers...and more often not, we are not entirely by our gut or our logic, but more of a combination....

That's how I feel.....

You just have to go with it....
Perhaps my outlook is based upon the fact that I am too afraid to really live? To accept challenges? To go with the flow?

This blog is all about questions.....
More importantly, it is all about questions which I have to answer myself..

I think it is a process of self-awareness and knowing oneself and what one wants....and also a process of self-renewal...

I will end with 1 last question....
"Should I be an actuary?"

Shenzhen and HK

Shenzhen is a place full of immigrants...people from all parts of China calls it home now....

You go around the place and you will easily hear various chinese accents and dialects...

Sometimes I think it try hard to emulate HK....but still retaining aspects of a typical chinese city...

Now what is a typical chinese city?

I can say that the large chinese cities have grubby streets, heaps of people from all parts of China (population > 5 million), different types of shops selling all kinds of fascinating items, different types of restaurants, different smells (usually VERY "INTERESTING"), and an abnormally high volume of noise!

But are fast-growing chinese cities safe?

Other than my pickpocket experience in Wuhan, thankfully I have not come to harm! But I have heard so many horror stories that I am quite wary....
Come to think about it, it was indeed quite scary actually about what happened in Wuhan...
I was a silly silly girl to react....should have just walked quietly away....

I have only seen industralized cities in China and have not really explored the so-called Culture cities...(Suzhou, Xi An, Nanjing, Beijing, capital of Yunnan?..etc..)
Perhaps I will find out more?

Anyone care to join me?

I was speaking to my college friend Jin earlier and he was suggesting that I organize a get-together trip in China. So anyone interested in trying to explore the chinese cities/regions? Any suggestions? Email me!

Hong Kong is a metropolis and it is also a city full of migrants ( a little different mix though: expatriates and other races...)
However there seems to be an underlying vibe of division still....

Perhaps due to the differences in rentals and property prices, there is a visible divide as to where the expatriates and the locals live...and this could be that underlying vibe which I feel...

The heartland of HK in Kowloon and Shatin is quite different than places in MidLevels, HK Island (west), Repulse Bay and Discovery Bay..
Somehow the lifestyles and expectations, as well as the vibes being sent are all different.
I don't really know how to express it out...

It is even more apparent than in Singapore....the HDB heartlands do not feel as different from places down at Bt. Timah and Stevens Road...

What do the SIngaporeans think?

I have not been in Shenzhen long enough or ample times to really examine the city as much as I have in HK.

And I haven't been in HK long enough to really examine it more closely. It's just the vibes which I feel for these two places which resulted in the overall thoughts..

Overall Shenzhen feels like it has a developing city feel, always on the move upwards and eager to emulate its bigger cousin, HK. HK on the other hand, does not have that positive a vibe as before, but it is improving from the dismal times of SARs and post-SARs days.

Even the cabbies have gotten ruder now...perhaps business has indeed picked up from last year!

Hey, I have a suggestion! Use the customer satisfaction from treatment from cab drivers in HK as a guide to economic growth! That could be a measureable KPI which could be a proxy for how the economy is performing!
I betcha it is pretty accurate!

I am writing this from the wireless network! Didn't even know this hotel has one! I betcha I have inadvertly found a wireless node somewhere outside of this hotel, with a range that my laptop has captured!
Cool!
I hacked into a free wireless network service accidentally!

Okie dokie...going off now...
Too tired...

Just got back from the office at 12.30.......and I had woken up early this morning to come to HK! (hehe you should know I am not an early bird! But I have improved!).....brain dead now...

And tomorrow I will be heading back to Shenzhen again...
What fun I am going to have going through the border crossing, with its masses of people!

Sigh....I do like the travels and the experiences it brings, but I do crave for some stability and spending time with my loved ones.....

Fontainebleau....

There is a touch of French culture in China........

Where? Nanhai, in Foshan

Also known as the land of Wong Fei Hong....
For those who don't know Wong Fei Hong, go to the local video shop and ask for the martial arts film staring Jet Li (i think it is called Once upon a time in China?...correct me if I am wrong...)

Apparently he was a real person who lived in China during the turn of 20th century! And all I thought along was that he was some ficticious person aka spiderman!

He was famous for his "invisible leg" kick....

So if you find yourself mysteriously flung for no reason, you know you have been hit by one of patented kicks....

There is a school of martial arts in Foshan (which unfortunately I didn't get to visit) named after him....

Why was I there?

I was invited to go down for a Greater China team meeting with my workfirm...
(Photo of me and some of my chinese colleagues below)

Had a productive weekend, where copious amount of food, and some amounts of alcohol were drunk.....and topics got brainstormed and discussed, sports were attempted....(I suck at snooker! And TP China have ping pong champions in the making !)
TshingTao has almost become my best friend....
But don't worry...I am having it in moderation....
No more Wuhan days for me...

Hotel which I stayed at is named Fontainebleau....
It is set in the mid-hill range, which makes for pleasant surroundings

You have heaps of green foliage (rare in China!), amid clean, pleasant air and roads!
This I can assure you feels not like China...

There are wide open spaces of water and greenery (probably artificial lake but i think the trees are real!)...and it feels like some Australian city park!

And there are not many people around! (This is EXTREMELY rare in China!)

Can't say much about the architecture of the building...
i think it attempts to be a french chateau, with wide sweeping lawns and statues...
But somehow it looks pretty but slight tacky...
kinda with a plasticky feel...

Perhaps it due to the lack of age of the building, or perhaps it is due to the materials used? Or perhaps it is due to the colour scheme chosen?

I am still impressed with the trees.....


Towers Perrin China's colleagues

Streetlife in Wuhan.....

Went out to get a prepaid simcard finally! Yeah! I am connected once again!
It was so hard for people to contact me!

Now.....I am connected....

However I am not sure how possible it is for me to sms or call out of this country. Have yet to explore this option using the mobile phone....

Oh, i believe that my thread is on Streetlife in Wuhan...so I have digressed...
hehe...

The street where I bought the simcard is off Macau Lane.
This lane is full of life and noise.....like the rest of China....hehe

Buses, trucks, cars, bikes, people are move around.....
God knows how accidents are kept so minimal in the chaos....

No one ever keeps to their side of the lanes....
The rule here is.....BIG rules....if you are a cyclist, you lose out to the car and you have to give way...if you are the car, you better give way to that bigbig truck behind you...

If you are a pedestrian...pray...

Whilst on that lane, I chance upon another sidelane....
this one is shown in the caption below...

Kinda like the "Pasar Malam" or Night Market in Malaysia.....
There are makeshift street stores that sell vegetables, fruits, underwears, dried foodstuff, tupperwear, Chinese fashion...Etc...

Didn't really have time to explore it, and after my last nasty experience where I nearly became a victim of a pickpocket, I decided to just observe from a distance...

It's quite interesting how Chinese all over the world have similar behaviour and similar traits...
We all like a good old bargain...
Nothing is unbargainable....

RMB5?.....太贵。。。便宜一点？ RM3?.....No...price too low.....RM4.5？
And so the whole process goes...

It can be fun......
It's all about tactical battle, and survival of the fittest...
It's no longer about the price anymore.....
It's about your ability to win.....and save...even 10 cents...

You will feel all good about how much you saved and what a bargain you got....
once you get the hang of it...

And i think shop-keepers know about this psychological feeling...and they deliberately raise their prices high....

I have met shopkeepers that get insulted when you don't bargain...

I think they also like bargaining as much as the consumer...

What do you think?

There are also a wide variety of shops on the lane selling cooked foodstuff...
People who get off work can just do a quick takeaway....

Was quite tempted to try the spring-onion cake....but didn't...the place didn't look that clean...

The streetfood all looks really good and smell nice...but they are also glistening with oil....

I was practically salivating...
I was saved from my hunger by a phonecall from my colleagues telling me where to go for dinner....

Guess what I had?!?
Chongqing Steamboat!

Shiok...I say...
It was hot and spicy...and the ingredients were good and fresh....
Had heaps and heaps...and heaps and heaps.....
Washing it down with tea and icy beer...

Burbing as I write....hehe

Chinese beers are nice....

And people do love their beers here! No wonder China is the largest market in the world for beer....

I did feel guilty for overeating....

so attempted to go for a quick run at the treadmill down at the gym....
boy, did I feel like a whale....

So now I am aching...and still feeling like I am whale....
this is what overeating does to you...
esp overpigging on steamboat with a hot spicy and oily chili base...

okie signing off now...


Streetstall

Carrefour and McDonalds

It's all about the invasion of Western brands and western products...with a chinese twist...

And I believe that once you find a McDonald's you will inevitably find a KFC...
In suburban areas, you might even find a Carrefour...

Carrefour (家乐福）is a hypermarket...
It sells almost anything imaginable. In Australia, it will probably be a Myers wrapped together with Coles....

You can get a whole gamut of stuff, from cds and digital cameras....to...apples and live tortoises....

Yep...for RMB$X you can bring home a tortoise for soup or whatever you do with tortoise...

And you can get western cds and dvds! I found the Matrix Revolutions....but didn't buy it...
Did however buy Norah Jone's latest album...very folksy...

But you can't get deodorant! Why can't i find deodorent?!?! It's the biggest shopping place around and I can't find antipespirant or deodorent.....

And summer is approaching! Help! Tell me what I need to do...I don't want to smell.....
I believe in good hygiene irregardless of what others are doing...
even if they smell bad...i still need to smell fresh!

Looks like I have to look for Watsons! I think there should be Watson's around!
Watson is a large shop full of beauty products etc....
Women spend a lot of time in there...
You tend to find nice smelling stuff in there for the face, body, feet, etc...
I think you get the picture...

McDonald's sure make huge profits in China...
I am sure of that!
I even had to jostle people who are trying to push me out of the queue....just to get a filet'o'fish....and a coke!
People LOVE their mackers here! And no one queues! I am WAY too short for all this violence....
They do like the burgers and the toys here!
I do have to say that the fish burger was nice. Much nicer than the ones being sold in Malaysia and Singapore. ALmost the same standard as the Aussie ones...
Very fresh and light...

I had to try McDonald's here! I think it all boils down to the fact that you look for familiar signs and places around in a foreign city to anchor yourself...and make yourself less homesick.....

Now, my next misson....to find a starbucks! I have been assured there is one! On Hong Kong Road（香港道）！ I need a map!

But why do people embrace so much the western restaurants? Is it because of hope and the feeling that it's always brighter on the other side...and western products and lifestyles are better?


家乐福

Food in China....

Food.....

I love food....yummy...

Some people work and live to eat, others eat to live and work...

I am definitely the former....I need to eat when stressed or depressed....
Somehow food is a mood lifter for me! However it must be the appropriate food though...

Somehow I have not been able to find joy in eating recently. Life hasn't been worth eating for or celebrating...

I am slowly finding the joys of trying new food once again, slowly but coming along...

Here are my two cent's worth of opinion on Chinese food...

China's a place for chinese food..yep i know i am not talking sense....
I have tried japanese food but it isn't that great...
Perhaps it's because I tried it in Wuhan and it's not known for its japanese culinary specialities...and perhaps I was expecting fresher sashimi and beef tataki...

Wuhan food does have influences of the Southern cusine (Cantonese and Szechuan) as well as influences from the Northen cusine (Beijing). But the food here is mainly of the heavier, oilier and spicier variety...aka....Szechuan style...

People here do eat offals of animals....be it pig offals or cow offals...
So do ask esp if you seek squiqqly stuff...

However other than my previous experience with tortoise, i have yet been offered wild animals......
Once is more than enough! I am still traumatised from eating it..
Eewwwww...

I haven't seen dogs or cats on the menu and I am grateful for it!

The most exotic other than tortoise was frog's legs! And I am sure some of you would scream at me for saying this...but frog's legs are actually quite good! They taste like chicken meat but more tender...

But the Wuhanese tend to serve frogs instead of frog's legs! i.e. they eat the whole thing so as not to waste it!
So....I am still unsure about that kinda food...

Usually I stick to safe stuff.....
Thank god I can read chinese....
sometimes pictures don't show the whole thing and sometimes the only english available doesn't indicate the whole picture...

Somehow I would like to know what I am eating here!

Anyhow, i have included a picture of my food...just for kick's sake..hehehe....
I haven't been around much...so haven't been able to take photos...

The meal shown was damn cheap! I even had beer with my colleague and it came up to RMB90!
And this is at one of the slightly better (aka cleaner) restaurant!
But it was also oily.....look at the tofu! It is practically floating in oil!
I guess food only looks good and shiny on photos when it's oily...well and oil does make some food tastier (???)
hehe...so it's all for aesthetic purposes as well as for taste purposes (well some might say that...)



Dinner at Tai Zhi

Guangzhou....

I am back in Wuhan now.

It has been an interesting week back in Malaysia and Singapore....

I am finding linkages between Malaysia and China, but I am also finding major differences...

But more on that later....

I want to talk more about Guangzhou...and the lack of sights I saw there...hehe

There is no direct flight to Wuhan so I have had to do a domestic transit within China.

The airport has been an experience...

It is hell compared to Beijing (which I would compare as Heaven compared to the Guangzhou airport)...

Changi and KLIA are beyond heaven...

The domestic terminal and the international terminal are separate buildings.....

There is a lack of signage telling you how to proceed from the domestic terminal to the international terminal and vice versa...

Once I landed there, I had to trust my instincts in trying to get from one place to another....and in a hurry....since I have to catch a flight in less than 40 mins!

And of course when you are in a hurry, you will be faced with many an obstacle....
god knows how many baggage machines you have to pass through...

So the ignorent me just followed some foreigners blindly, figuring that since they are being led by a tour group with a bright flag, i can't go wrong and get lost...

On the way to the domestic terminal, you will be led through a row of counters tha flock everything....i mean everything...

You want a suitcase! You have it！
You want biscuits and sweats? You have it!
You want fresh fruits (aka lychees, mangos, apples)? You can have it according to the weight you prefer!
You want chinese medication (or chinese viagra?)? You got it!

It's like a supermarket with a vegetable/fruit market there!

Upon rushing to the domestic terminal, I was directed to counter 19, China Eastern Airlines (东方航空） to get my ticket changed (as I want to catch an earlier connecting flight compared to the one which I was booked on (I can save 5 hours this way!)). But when I rushed to counter 19, I was told it was the wrong one! I have to go to China Eastern (Wuhan) Airlines 东方航空（武汉） instead. And of course, the counter has to be at the opposite end (no. 2)! And on I go......

I did manage to get my ticket changed and rushed to check-in counter (which has to be at the end of the domestic terminal again!)....
Got myself in at the very last minute...

Onwards I rushed to the second floor to the customs.....
Once again, there is a baggage scanning machine...again...off comes the backpack and laptop....

Why is there a need for so many baggage machine? In the international terminal there are like 2-3?!?!

Going past it leads me into the domestic waiting area (of which there are 3 halls!) Hall 1 and 2 are pretty empty (why do they need 3 halls then??)
And mine was Hall 3, which of course is at the other end and downstairs...

Rushing again, I once again passed by fruit stalls (in the domestic terminal? you would expect duty free stuff)...hawking lychees, mangos, etc...and displayed like how you would find in Carrefour....

Chinese must love their fruits...

Reaching the counter, I rushed in....
only to have to wait.....for transport to the plane via a bus service(this is so 80s!)

Whilst waiting, I can't help but notice that my fellow passengers are all male and they find innovative places to spit....(a plastic pot plant with fake plastic plant next to the doors is the favourite place)

I think I can write an entire blog about spitting, the act and art of spitting...

let me know more thoughts into this....

The bus is interesting...(of course I took the bus earlier when I landed from the plane to the international terminal)...

Somehow there are proper bus routes on the tarmac, and for once (and I am glad for it...) the drivers kept strictly to their lanes and obeyed the speed limit!

The plane....well...it looked okay....
probably about 10-15 years old...but ok...

And they have the Far Eastern Economic Review in English...yeah!
I don't have to read chinese tabloids again!

Won't advise you to eat the nuts they offer though....it WILL make you sick even if you are not allegic to nuts...
Man....where did they get those....

It was easily the WORST thing I have had in China...and I have had plenty of funny tasting stuff already...

And after my bad experience with "fake" green tea and remembering how foul it really tasted, I decided to stick to water...
it's safe...(i don't think an airline will serve "fake" mineral water)

That's all now on my plane experience....

Didn't really offer that much insight and analysis...too tired to do so.....
need my beauty rest...

Will attempt more analysis later...hehe

Signboards in China....

I am on a personal mission.....to find and capture the true meanings of the english sighboards in China....

Somehow as most of you who have been to China know by now...english signboards in China do NOT make sense!

I have come across heaps and heaps of funny signs...

However the best one I have seen so far...

"The nice joss-sticks come juicy steak"

What is that!?!?!?! You eat joss-sticks?

I think the chinese signboard is: 好香的牛排餐店

Oh, joss-sticks are incense sticks that buddist/taoist followers use to pray to their gods, ancestors etc in temples or at altars at home....They are made of sawdust!

They DEFINITELY do not taste nice.....

hhmm......

So I spent some time thinking...and finally realised that the person who translated it had the wrong "xiang"....

香 = fragrant!

but

香 = joss-stick too!

So there you go!

A computer translator won't work!

More posts later....when I am back in China...

I am now back in Malaysia, in Johor Baru...

Came back to sort out my personal and administrative matters! And to visit family!
And to let my skin breathe in fresh air!

It feels good to be home! But somehow things aren't the same as before....
I have had to come back to clean up stuff and pack things up...

Whilst China is wonderful, quaint and strange! It was also so lonely in China......was getting depressed and was quite sick too,fever and chills! But there is always the pressure of performing well too!

Sigh....

Maybe this is what they meant by mid-life crisis....

Shi Yan （十堰）

十堰 Shi Yan is a small town by Chinese standards....but a BIG town by the rest of our standards...

It has a population of nearly 1 million. The inner city population is about 300,000 to 500,000.

I doubt some of the Australian towns have a population of that size! Malaysian towns...nah! Even our cities aren't that big, except for Kuala Lumpur..

Where is Shi Yan?

It's about 500+ km northeast of Wuhan! It's near to the border of Hubei province and Shaanxi province. It's actually nearer to Xian than Wuhan!

It is set amongst the hills.....
It is in the valley between...

Shi Yan is similar to Canberra! They are manufactured cities...
Canberra was "set up" to be the capital of Australia and set to hold all the administrative and power of Australian politics...

Shi Yan...was set up to be the manufacturing base for one of China's project! It is set up to be the headquarter of my client!

How is Shi Yan laid out?

It is shaped like an octupus, with 4-5 tentacles.

There is the city centre with its wide roads (a.k.a body) This place has good roads...much better than in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan! And the roads are actually non-bumpy! And do not have potholes!

And along 4 - 5 wide avenues, leading to 4-5 districts with its own factory, accomodation for workers and their families, schools, clinics, playgrounds....

For every two districts, there will be a centralised hospital!

Sounds like Pleasantville right?

I think it was planned to be like Pleasantville! But knowing the chinese's inventful streak, it became a little too chaotic to be so...
But it can be modelled as China's answer to Pleasantville!

It's a pleasant little town...and it has FRESH air (that is a premium in China!)
And the air is light, crisp and fresh...very much like in the hill ranges!
It is in the hill ranges! Duh...

I think this blog is turning out to be a geography lession...so I am going to sign off now...
adios...

More on Shi Yan's food later...