Singapore

Today, I am meeting Tony at the airport to go to Singapore.  He is arriving at 2:30pm from the USA, we meet in the airport and we are heading directly to Singapore.  Poor guy doesn't get a break as he has to work this weekend, although golf clubs are involved so perhaps he is getting a break!

For me, a nice weekend at the Shangri La Hotel, warm weather, afternoons poolside and a break from the dirty gray city that is Shanghai. 

Note for leave Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I get these wonderful little notes from my students and get a nice chuckle from them.  This one struck me particularly funny because I could just imagine my sister saying something like this just to poke fun of me. Fortunately in our family the correct title for the smartest and nicest and first born sister is 'number one daughter'!! And yes that's me!!  Although my other two sisters are quite amazing as well!!


To Mollica,Teacher


From Sky,student

Date March 30nd,2011

Dear Mollica, I would like to know if I could ask for leave of absence for tomorrow course.

My old sister will have the wedding ceremony ,I am going to attend this wedding ,so I couldn't listen to your lesson. I hope you can forgive me.Thanks.

Running out of Salt

From the Shanghai Daily Newspaper:

The salt buying panic, which has swept China over the past two days, seemed to be receding yesterday.
Supplies were increasing and people began to realize rumors that salt can prevent radiation sickness were false.

China's top economic planner and price regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission, said prices were stabilizing with supplies increasing and panic buying starting to fade.

Mao Qingguo, general manager of China National Salt Industry Corp (China Salt), the country's largest salt manufacturer, told the Xinhua news agency that the rush to buy salt had eased in most regions.

Supplies had been ensured, especially in large supermarkets, while consumers had calmed down, he said.

Figures from China Salt showed that 370,000 tons of edible salt were sold on Thursday, the amount normally sold in 24 days.

But while stocks remain low, some supermarkets and convenience stores were limiting packs to two per person.

Clerks at some convenience stores still had to try to persuade customers not to panic buy. "Two packs are enough for one month and we have deliveries of salt at our store every day," an assistant told one customer.

The Shanghai Salt Administration Bureau said that 2,700 tons of salt was distributed on Thursday night alone, 10 times the usual amount, in order to refill empty shelves and prepare for another rush.

At one supermarket yesterday, a man, wearing a mask, finally decided to buy the last pack of sea salt after hesitating for a moment because the packaging was damaged.

"Getting prepared is better than doing nothing at all," he said, asking not to be identified.

Though Mayor Han Zheng said earlier that city authorities would punish those hoarding and pushing up salt prices, at least 12 cases of illegal price rises were reported during inspections over the past two days, according to the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission.

Meanwhile, some Shanghai residents who had bought salt at high prices in the panic were yesterday asking for their money back.

More than 60 people gathered outside one wet market, asking for a refund.

China's salt panic was triggered by false claims that iodized salt could help ward off radiation poisoning. There were also rumors that radiation would contaminate future supplies of sea salt.
 

Dog Days Ahead

Thanks to Shanghai's Municipal Government we won't be seeing scenes like this for much longer in Shanghai - a pair of fluffy pooches in matching pink hoodies out for a walk.  Shanghai has decided to introduce a 'One Dog Policy', announced this week and due to be implemented on May 15. Echoes of 1979's One Child Policy are now making their way into pet ownership. Will a One Cat Policy follow? How about a One Turtle Policy?


According to The China Daily, Shanghai has a real dog problem - 600,000 unlicensed dogs, 100,000 dog attack incidents each year, and in 2009, almost 140,000 cases of dog-inflicted wounds were reported, and 'a number of deaths' due to rabies.

Rabies is a real threat in China, and currently registered dogs have compulsory rabies vaccination and micro-chipping. Although many unlicensed dogs do have vaccinations, there is no way to enforce this. The current cost of registration (1000 yuan, $154) renders it prohibitive for most people, so the new legislation will reduce the cost of registration to 300 yuan ($46), but increase the fine for non-compliance.

In addition to formalising vaccination for dogs, the city also hopes the legislation will clean up the sidewalks, because if you don't clean up after your dog you now risk a 200 yuan ($28) fine. From the scenes I see out on my street, that shouldn't be an issue. Dog-lovers take their pooches outside, get them to squat over a folded piece of newspaper and then wipe their bottoms for them. The whole little package is then neatly deposited in the bin.

According to Municipal Government the legislation on dog management makes it explicit that each household can have only one dog, given Shanghai's high population density and limited living space.

If their dogs have puppies, dog owners should give them away to other eligible adopters or send them to government-approved adoption agencies by the time they are 3 months old, so as to abide by the one-dog policy.

'The alternative', it said, 'is for owners to perform sterilization surgery on their dogs'.

I am assuming here that they don't actually mean for the owners to perform the surgery themselves, but to outsource that task to someone with slightly more veterinary skill. Here's hoping.

Firewalls, monitoring and the bus incident

Ah the great firewall of China, it's there to protect myself from undo harm I have been told.  Arrg, it's so frustrating not to be able to get email, post to my blog, or find information on the internet because the government is protecting me!  I have been able to (as you can see) get around it once again, but I cannot tell you how as most of the internet communication/emails/etc., are being read - perhaps even this blog since it has the word Shanghai in it.   As I am not here to stir up trouble (that's for the censors) perhaps they will just leave me and my internet connection alone.  Read away dear PRC, there isn't anything here except my musing about life in your "fabulous" country.

So onward to a new blog!

I ride the buses occasionally and find it an interesting way to get around Shanghai.....if I can get a window seat.  The ride is nice and high and I get a great view of the city.  I only use the bus system during off peak hours, 10am - 3pm as it's much too crowded at rush hour and it is not a pleasant experience.  Also the price is right .30 cents to get around town.  On this day I was heading over to an area called Hongqiao with my friend Brenda.  She said she knew which bus went from her place to Hongqiao.  Her place being a 25 minute walk from my apartment.  I enjoyed my walk and we grabbed the bus as she was told, by her good friend, was going to our destination.  The bus signs are all in Chinese and cannot be deciphered but there are a few ladies who just jump on various buses to see where they go and then report to the rest of the group.  It's not a great system but it leads to interesting experiences.

On this day our bus was involved in an accident/incident.  Our bus was in the correct lane and the car, as seen below, was trying to cut in front of the bus but undershot the mark and scraped right up against the bus.

In China the understanding is,  which ever car is bigger is at fault. Clearly, this was not our bus drivers fault.  Also I am told, any damage to the bus the bus driver is required to pay to fix it! 

 Yes, that is a police car right up along side the incident, and no he did not get out and help, he just drove away.  The bus driver was already outside arguing with the driver in the car so it was hard not to miss that there was something going on.  I suppose no one wanted the police involved and the police don't feel obligated to help out unless you ask them.......even then they are not very helpful.

Here you can see the situation.

 And as the two are arguing the cop is driving away.

 He finally gets free!

And the damage, not too bad.

I really think that the guy in the car gave up the fight after I started taking pictures.  He stopped arguing and began to figure out how to pull away without more damage.   I could be wrong, but the bus driver was smiling as I began taking pictures and while we had been waiting about 15 minutes for this to resolve, it only took another 5 minutes after the picture taking started for it to be over.  There is some sort of fear of being reported, I don't understand it but once things get documented people begin to worry.  And I was documenting away with my camera.

Finally we were back on the road and as I was looking around I realized we were near Tony's office, not in Hongqiao.  I mentioned this to Brenda and she said she was sure this bus would take us to our destination.  The bus came to it's final stop and we were on the opposite side of town.  We found out later that the bus route had changed.  We grabbed a cab and scooted to Hongqiao, we had been en route for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Time for lunch!  As you can see by the smile on my face I am quite happy that we are going to be eating soon!

It was another fabulous meal at Amy's, I have posted about Amy's, in December, when the kids came to visit us.  Here are the remains of our meal.  I forgot to take the picture of the lovely steaming dishes as they came out, it was quite good!

It was beef and broccoli and dry stir fried green beans! After walking about and some window shopping we went to the Pearl Market.  Yes, a whole building, 3 floors, dedicated to selling pearls and jewelry.  One of my favorite places in town!  Once inside the mall we were approached by 2 couples who asked if this mall accepted US$ or credit cards.   We suggested that they would have better negotiating power and get a lower price with RMB vs US$.  We asked where they were from (Arkansas) and directed them to the ATM.  At which point they then asked us if they over paid on their taxi ride - $200.  We asked where they came from and then told them yes, the ride should have cost no more then $15.   We immediately felt sorry for these guys.  Visitors from the cruise ship with 8 hours in Shanghai and no tour guide.   We took them to our favorite shops and told them what they should pay for various things.  They were very grateful and we were happy to help them out.  

All in all an interesting day.

Saturday morning breakfast

Yup, a fairly boring post, yet......... I was so proud of this broccoli, mushroom, cheese scramble I made for Tony. 

And I had my fruit and coffee.  Notice the nice white mug in the background, it's my Shanghai mug given to me by my friend on my birthday last year. 

Tony likes to use it and no I don't get mad as every time he lifts it up to drink I get another smile out of him!!!!

Spring.

Warm weather all week, flowers blooming.....

And even the dogs got their "spring on" ....

What a sight!

Last Saturday.....

Sharon and I met up at 10am, a nice reasonable time at Bakers and Spice.  Yes, it's just as it sounds, a lovely bakery with fantastic bread, pastries, lattes, coffee and my new favorite drink, kumquat tea, heavenly!

As it was a wonderfully bright and sunny day, after our liquid libation, we headed out for a nice long walk. We saw this old house being restored and wondered who had lived there and what their lives may have been like back in 1920.

After our day-dreaming we continued our walk and encountered this sign:

Which brought us to our lunch venue, Nova.  I have wanted to try Nova but have been told it is a very expensive French Bistro.  We stood outside and noticed the chalk board which read - 88RMB for 2 plates and 108RMB for 3 plates.  Hmmm, a quick calculation : 88RMB = $13.50 / 108RMB = $16.60, seemed like a deal to us.  A neat little place, a great treat to eat at a French Bistro on this fine day. The meal started with 3, hot from the oven, rolls and some butter.  We then each had the potato and leek soup, with buttery garlic croutons floating on top.  I had the salad with bacon, poached egg and a mustardy vinaigrette- yum. Sharon had the chopped cabbage salad with raisins, emmethal cheese and hard boiled egg.  We thought it was terrific.  Unfortunately as we were talking non-stop I only remembered to take a picture after we had cleaned our plates so I just didn't bother.  Trust me when I tell you, we will go back and it was great value.

Prior to lunch we had passed what looked like a nice Massage place and after our lunch we went inside to see if they could accommodate us.  Two foot massages please! The response, right this way ladies!

 Into a room for two.

With a nice waitress who brought us some tea.

 Our guys who did a fantastic job, I highly recommend them!

 My guy, number 69, is what is name tag reads on the upper right side of his shirt. Geez, can't they use their names?

Our little selves and our happy feet!  There was a special going on,  all massages were 30% off before 7pm, so for 88RMB ($13.50, same as the cost of the lunch!!!!) we got ourselves an hour long foot massage.  I just can't wait to go back.  I think I will try the shoulder and head massage next time.  I wonder what happens after 7pm that they have to charge full price?

Donating Clothes.........

HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just had a call from a Charity asking me to donate some of my clothes to the starving people throughout the world.

I told them to kiss off! Anybody who fits into my clothes isn't starving.

That's really not PC but I don't care I just can't stop laughing!

Getting Sick in Shanghai

Yup, it's real. And no I have never been, nor do I know anyone who has.  But I sure get a kick out of seeing the signs.

Not your usual exercise class!

 Every morning (except when it's raining, I think) groups of people meet in the park for their morning exercise. I just love watching as they go through their movements.

And some dancing ladies!

You can join in at anytime and there are loads of groups to choose from.  Fan dancing, serious Tai chi, line dancing and a slow movements class as pictured above.   No need to spend money on a gym membership and the leader of each of these groups brings a small boom box so that each group has music accompaniment.  Looks like fun! (I am sure I have posted a similar post previously but I am always so tickled when I see these groups that I have to take pictures and share the experience again.)

Trucks on the highway

Here is a picture of a truck that passed us by, I only managed to get the backside of it but I think it tells an interesting story.

This truck is carrying plastic bottles that have been crushed into those lovely squares and they are now being trucked to a recycling center.  Notice how they are tied down with ONE piece of string on each side.  I am constantly fascinated by how little reinforcement is used to secure items on trucks.  I often think we should not be near these trucks as that line will snap, or those large squares will come flying off at any minute.  I have seen trucks that have lost their PVC pipes or plastic boxes strewn all over the highway, it's a nightmare.

And yes, you are correct the bottom of the picture looks foggy, that's the truck, belching out some nice black smoke!

Ham it up!

I just can't resist a peek into any smoked pork shop, no matter how potentially gross it could be, like this one, for example.  Take a close look at the counter they are working on.  It's a large tree trunk! I wonder when the last time was they sanded that thing.

No I would not buy anything here, but it's just fascinating to watch it all happen. Pulling the pork out of the cardboard boxes, trimming the fat, placing it carefully on the counter for display.  Wonderful!

Things I miss most from my sister's house

Like having breakfast with the family!  Everyone is treated equally here.  Of course this one never does his share of the clean up. 

First Day of Class - doing it like the locals

It's 6:00am Tuesday Feb,. 22nd, 2011 and I am on my way to Donghua University, SongJiang Campus, located 25 miles from downtown Shanghai and our apartment.  Normally getting to work is not worthy of it's own post but I thought on this day, the first day of class, it was note worthy.   Normally I use our driver but due to out of town guests from the home office, Jason (our driver) was busy back and forth to the airport picking up and depositing said guests and had no time for the likes of me!  Normally I do not take pictures of such a boring enterprise such as getting to work, but I thought  you may want to see how the locals do it!

Here is the morning light at 6:00am as I come out from our apartment building and begin my journey to work! It's very foggy and cold.

 Seven minutes later I approach the subway entrance!

 I embark on the first of a series of escalators and stairs.  Ah, another soul making his way to work...or just getting home?

 Down we go!

 Number 2!

 Not another person in sight, this is so strange, I am not use to being in any public space in Shanghai alone! I guess they're all sleeping.  Smart cookies!

 One more escalator.

 And another, a total of 4 to get to the train.

 This lovely electronic sign tells you that in 3 minutes and 30 seconds the next train will arrive.  Below the 3:30 information the sign says that the subway begins to run at 5:59am and stops at 10:59pm.

 Waiting patiently for the train.

 Plenty of seats, a rare sight.

I'm off the first subway line, line 7, and walking toward line 9.  I love these really big arrows telling me which way to go.

 It's 6:26am, 26 minutes into my journey and still at least an hour until I arrive at the University doorstep.

 Double check this is the correct train, I have gone the wrong way at times and this morning is not the morning to do that!

The subway is beginning to fill up, now it's starting to look like Shanghai.

 Much to early for this fella!  I suppose he is tired from hauling all his stuff around.  I wonder what's in his bags?

 Are they staring at me because I am the only foreign devil aboard or because I am taking their picture?

This part of the subway ride I really like as it's 45 minutes of sitting in one spot and reading your favorite book.  I am working on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and I am happy to have some uninterrupted reading time.   And then we arrive!

 It's still foggy and cold and I am hoping soon the sun will come out and burn this all away.

 Yes, yet another escalator.

 The subway becomes an elevated outdoor train once it leaves downtown Shanghai. The next part of the journey is by bus.  So off to the bus depot I go looking for bus number 13.

 There she is!

 And it completely full of sniveling and sneezing people.  I pay my 1 yuan or the equivalent of 15cents and grab hold of a rail.

 The bus deposits me outside the gates of Donghua University and from here it's another 15 minute walk to the building where my class is held.

 A few other early birds.

 Sometimes I wish I had a bike on campus so I could scoot around and see the whole area.  I have walked quite a bit but it takes 25 minutes to get to the other side of campus so if you want to explore  you have to commit at least 2 hours to the adventure.  50 minutes for the walking and then a hour to poke around.  I have seen the dorms, the library, the two canteens, and various other buildings that house classrooms.  I try to explore about once a month.

 Looks like a few students have already arrived.

 Through the front door we go.

 Into the elevator.

Yup, I am only going to the second floor. Lazy son of a gun aren't I!

 Hmmm, where are all the kids?

 More bikes........strange parking space but at least they won't get wet when it rains.

 Nobody seems to be around.

 I took a seat in the Teachers Lounge.  They use to have the water cooler bolted to the wall but for some
reason now it's not.  I think they rearranged the furniture for better Feng Shuai and have not had a chance to bolt down the valuables.



What should have taken me 1 hour and 45 minutes took 1 hour and 34 minutes.  It's  7:34am and I have 45 minutes till class begins.  This should not be a hardship, waiting in the teachers lounge, as I can continue to read my book.  The problem here is that there is no heat in these buildings and there was no heat on the train so my feet are beginning to get cold

The cost total cost of this journey 7 Yuan, or $1.03.  I would not like to do this three times a week as most all of my colleagues do.  When I get to use the car, which is most of the time, it takes 45 minutes to get to the University.