Today is Friday, which means souvenir shopping tomorrow! Big fun in China!
I started today with a car coming to pick me up. This happened yesterday, so I expected the same car to come today…..my first mistake of the day! The vehicle that came to get me today was weird. It was the size of an old school Volkswagen hippie bus, but only had two doors, drivers side and passenger front doors. So this got my attention right away…because I saw through the window that there were at least 10-12 seats in the vehicle. So I opened the passenger door and to my surprise, it was set up like a miniature bus. There was a hand rail and three tiny steps to walk up. Then you had to go down a super tiny aisle to where all the seat s were….very strange. So I loaded up in the hippie van/ bus.
We took off and started driving to our Rockwell repair facility, known as JQD. I really didn’t want to go there. I tried to explain to Jennifer that I didn’t want to go, because I went last time I was here. I think they take all the Ex-Pats here from my business group. You just have to do it, there’s no explaining your way out of it. They want you to see “Their repair capabilities”. Which is fine on your first ever visit to China, but once you’ve seen the place your more interested in knowing the scope of repairs…not the actual facility again….She wasn’t having any of that, so off I went.
So as we drove over, I just looked out the window and observed the surroundings. The best part of the trip was the quality of the ride. The driver couldn’t have been going more than 89 kilometers, but the ride felt like we were getting ready to break the sound barrier. That thing was coming apart at the seams. I was waiting to hear Scottie from Star Treks voice come over the radio….”Captain, I’m giving her all that she’s got…she can’t take much more!”
So we arrived at JQD…I saw everything was pretty much the same as last time I visited JQD. I complimented Jennifer on the facility…she was happy. We then went to lunch at a cool spot. It was an old house that was owned by a Chinese General 100 years ago, it had now been converted into a restaurant. Although it had one downside, it was a seafood place! So the whole live aquarium show was under way. It smelled like the ocean had been emptied of water and all the creatures were left to bake in the sun for two days. They had a fish head that was chopped off, and the tail end was stuffed in its mouth! (Of course I didn’t have my camera)
I told Jennifer I was not down with the fish, and we needed to get some meat going on! She wanted some fish…so we compromised. We had some kind of crab/tofu mix and a pork and vegetable mix that you stuffed in rice bread to eat…actually quite good! We also loaded up on veggies. All and all, everything was good. It was a nice lunch. The house was cool and the conversation was good.
After lunch we had a conference call and wrapped up some loose ends before I fly out to Dalian on Sunday. After that I headed back to the hotel to await my dinner plans with STEEL!
You might remember Steel from my last blog. He’s a great guy and we kept in contact after I left China last time. So we went to dinner tonight!
Steel met me at 6:00 at my hotel. He said the restaurant was a 5 to 10 minute walk from the hotel, which translated means about 30 minutes. (I am wiser my second time around…was prepared) So we headed out to go to a hot pot restaurant. I love me some hot pot! I was excited to go. He said this was a very happening place in Shanghai, it had been featured on a local Food network show…..that could be good or could be bad….only time would tell. The walk was great, just being out in Shanghai is fun to watch, there are people everywhere. We crossed a street through an underground connection, which also was a subway entrance. I was kind of shocked, 6:00 at night and it was nothing compared to what I’ve seen in New York or Chicago. I asked Steel was it didn’t seem as busy as New York? He told me that it was because some people are still on vacation for the Chinese New Year.
So we are walking down a main street, then we turn down an alley and walk up a set of stairs into a building. It kind of reminded me of when Morpheus and Trinity go to see the Merovingian in The Matrix Revolutions. There was a lady doing a coat check, then an elevator down a hallway that took you up to the fourth floor. The whole time there was a weird Chinese techno music playing….kind of cool actually.
So we take the elevator to the fourth floor which opens into a dark restaurant with weird lighting that looked like fluorescent red lighting in weird shaped fixtures, cool looking, but not expected. Steel talked to the hostess, it was a 30 minute wait, which Steel was not fond of. I asked if we could get a beer at the bar and wait….there was no seating at the bar. So Steel talked to the hostess again. They went back and forth for a moment, and then Steel said I should follow him.
We went around the corner to a glass enclosed attachment to the restaurant. It looked like it might have been a sun room back in the day. Steel then tells me that we can have a beer and a smoke in here while we wait…..cool.
There are wicker block chairs all along the walls of the room. No one is in there but us. There is a plastic table at the far end (The room is a big rectangle). We go sit at the far end, around the table. A waitress brings us a couple beers. I start to take in the room, when I notice at the opposite end of the room is a flat screen TV playing Tom and Jerry cartoons ….really old ones…like from the 40’s or 50’s. It’s just cartoon after cartoon. I ask Steel why Tom and Jerry are on, “For our entertainment.”
Right!
So we sit there and drinking beer watching Tom and Jerry. As we wait, the room starts to fill up with other people…no one is talking except Steel and I. No one is drinking except Steel and I….no one is having a smoke expect Steel and I. The whole room is watching Tom and Jerry…not taking their eyes off it….SO funny.
Steel then gets up to check on our table…everyone keeps watching Tom and Jerry…just I’m the only one enjoying it with a beer.
Eventually we get our table and order our food. Steel asks me what I want. I look at the menu and for some reason the only thing I make a point of ordering are oysters. This was really dumb….I know better…I don’t know how I screwed up. For some reason I was thinking of oysters like we have them in America…thought they might be good in a hot pot. Why not try? There’s a good reason not to try…
The oysters come out late in the meal. I’ve already tried a couple things I didn’t want to…but I did. Here come TWO oysters…that’s it…but here’s the problem, they are raw (Figured that much), they have all their internal organs still attached (Forgot about that one), and you don’t put them in the hot pot (Really didn’t count on that). The small one is the size of a McDouble from McDonalds. The big one is the size of a whopper.
Steel has a look on his face like…”Here they come buddy! Don’t they look delicious?”
He then says, “This you order! You can have big one!”
Hmmmm…..I guess I deserve that. I DID order them. “You’re too kind Steel, I insist you have the large one…you have been a great host.” That didn’t work.
I put about 15 different sauces on that thing….I’m staring at it…I still can’t get over how big it is…how big it’s liver is hanging off the side of it (Or whatever organ an oyster has dangling from the side).
I finally man up and put the whole thing in my mouth (Which Steel tells me is how you do it…one bite (Or gulp in my case). I survived, but that’s it with seafood. I guess I’m a slow learner when it comes to Chinese Seafood. I should have remembered from my last trip.
Still a great dinner with Steel, everything else was delicious! Off to the pearl market tomorrow!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
FIRST FULL DAY
Today was my first full day in country. I ended up going to the Rockwell office. I wasn’t scheduled to be there till Friday, but I woke up and decided to go. I can be tired in the hotel, or tired at the office. I ended up making a mistake there. I couldn’t believe how tired I was! Geez! I should have just gone back to bed.
Shanghai has changed a ton since last time I was here! There are certain buildings I remember seeing before, that were kind of remote on the way out there (Free Trade Zone)….now they are surrounded by other buildings…and not small ones! The drive I had on the way out was pretty tame. Maybe it was because I didn’t leave the hotel until 12:00…he didn’t seem to reckless…kind of a bummer! I was looking for a little more action on that ride.
The smog was big time noticeable on the way out! It was so low that it clouded some of the buildings. It was pretty weird. You could see where the gray of the sky collided with the off white of the smog, with a few clouds acting as a piece of lettuce in the sandwich. There are still cranes everywhere here. There is soooo much construction. I was a little disappointed in the number of bikes and scooters. It didn’t seem like there were that many…probably just because of the time of day….actually I’m sure that’s the reason.
I met with Jennifer who is our operations manager for CSM in China. We met for about three hours. I thought we were going to get lunch once I got there….then 1:00 became 2:30, finally I asked if we were going to get lunch, she looked at me confused, “I guess we mis-communicate, I already eat.”
Well, at least one of us ate!
So she asks me if I want McDonald’s or KFC. I look at her and smile, “How about Chinese?” She smiles and says she’ll have some ordered…..Now I’m thinking Chinese takeout…saw it here last time…felt pretty confident. Amazing how off I can be!
I think she had a guy in the office run over to the gas station! Because he comes back with what looks like a Chinese TV dinner in plastic wrap. It was chicken, rice, and carrots. The amazing part was the chicken! It was actually a chicken breast!!!!! The first one I’ve ever seen in China!
My co-worker Greg and I have a long standing theory about chicken in China. Both of us have been here, both eaten chicken, yet neither one of us has ever had a chicken breast here. You can get wings, thighs, drumsticks, and chickens feet…but good luck finding a chicken breast. We figured that chicken producers here just ship the breast meat back to the U.S.A and sell the rest here. Therefore no one really knew what they were missing. However, this discovery really blows a hole in that theory! I mean this was REALLY bothering me as I ate my chicken….there had to be a reason.
THEN! It dawned on me.
I am probably eating the Chinese equivalent to a Speedway cheeseburger….they don’t value the breast! They don’t like it! It’s not that they don’t eat it; it’s just that they amazingly would rather not eat it! It doesn’t ruin our theory; it just needed to be mended.
As an Ex-Pat you usually end up eating at pretty good places, or lousy places that locals like. So they aren’t taking you to a situation where you would see the chicken breast aka “The worst piece of chicken in China”…because they don’t like it. If I was hosting a foreign guest, I wouldn’t take them to Speedway for the lamp burger….neither would they. So just to be clear..THE CHICKEN BREAST IS USED IN CHINA!
After our meeting today, I took a cab ride back to the hotel. It smelled like rotten fish wrapped in a gym sock. Amazing how much I could miss that smell…it let me know I was back. This cab ride was going to be good, you know how I knew? The rearview mirror was cranked all the way up so that it was looking at the ceiling! I mean really, who needs those anyways? Highly overrated!
He was actually kind of disappointing until we almost slid into a stopped car (It’s been raining all day). He swerved left (Which was actually pretty impressive), cutting off another car (Who let us know), then yelled something at the car that was stopped, and preceded to speed up in anger! Then he had to slam on the breaks to miss another stopped car. This just seemed to frustrate him even more. (He probably had chicken breast for lunch)
Finally I arrived back at my hotel…now I wait…for day two!
Shanghai has changed a ton since last time I was here! There are certain buildings I remember seeing before, that were kind of remote on the way out there (Free Trade Zone)….now they are surrounded by other buildings…and not small ones! The drive I had on the way out was pretty tame. Maybe it was because I didn’t leave the hotel until 12:00…he didn’t seem to reckless…kind of a bummer! I was looking for a little more action on that ride.
The smog was big time noticeable on the way out! It was so low that it clouded some of the buildings. It was pretty weird. You could see where the gray of the sky collided with the off white of the smog, with a few clouds acting as a piece of lettuce in the sandwich. There are still cranes everywhere here. There is soooo much construction. I was a little disappointed in the number of bikes and scooters. It didn’t seem like there were that many…probably just because of the time of day….actually I’m sure that’s the reason.
I met with Jennifer who is our operations manager for CSM in China. We met for about three hours. I thought we were going to get lunch once I got there….then 1:00 became 2:30, finally I asked if we were going to get lunch, she looked at me confused, “I guess we mis-communicate, I already eat.”
Well, at least one of us ate!
So she asks me if I want McDonald’s or KFC. I look at her and smile, “How about Chinese?” She smiles and says she’ll have some ordered…..Now I’m thinking Chinese takeout…saw it here last time…felt pretty confident. Amazing how off I can be!
I think she had a guy in the office run over to the gas station! Because he comes back with what looks like a Chinese TV dinner in plastic wrap. It was chicken, rice, and carrots. The amazing part was the chicken! It was actually a chicken breast!!!!! The first one I’ve ever seen in China!
My co-worker Greg and I have a long standing theory about chicken in China. Both of us have been here, both eaten chicken, yet neither one of us has ever had a chicken breast here. You can get wings, thighs, drumsticks, and chickens feet…but good luck finding a chicken breast. We figured that chicken producers here just ship the breast meat back to the U.S.A and sell the rest here. Therefore no one really knew what they were missing. However, this discovery really blows a hole in that theory! I mean this was REALLY bothering me as I ate my chicken….there had to be a reason.
THEN! It dawned on me.
I am probably eating the Chinese equivalent to a Speedway cheeseburger….they don’t value the breast! They don’t like it! It’s not that they don’t eat it; it’s just that they amazingly would rather not eat it! It doesn’t ruin our theory; it just needed to be mended.
As an Ex-Pat you usually end up eating at pretty good places, or lousy places that locals like. So they aren’t taking you to a situation where you would see the chicken breast aka “The worst piece of chicken in China”…because they don’t like it. If I was hosting a foreign guest, I wouldn’t take them to Speedway for the lamp burger….neither would they. So just to be clear..THE CHICKEN BREAST IS USED IN CHINA!
After our meeting today, I took a cab ride back to the hotel. It smelled like rotten fish wrapped in a gym sock. Amazing how much I could miss that smell…it let me know I was back. This cab ride was going to be good, you know how I knew? The rearview mirror was cranked all the way up so that it was looking at the ceiling! I mean really, who needs those anyways? Highly overrated!
He was actually kind of disappointing until we almost slid into a stopped car (It’s been raining all day). He swerved left (Which was actually pretty impressive), cutting off another car (Who let us know), then yelled something at the car that was stopped, and preceded to speed up in anger! Then he had to slam on the breaks to miss another stopped car. This just seemed to frustrate him even more. (He probably had chicken breast for lunch)
Finally I arrived back at my hotel…now I wait…for day two!
A Bit of a Snag
For some reason the Google blog site is blocked, as well as Face book, both of these were available my last trip to China. I think it has something to do with what’s going on in Egypt. So I’ll be sending my blogs in a word document, then have someone else post them. Letter’s From the Birmingham Jail style!
The flight over was interesting. I had a kid that was either retarded or autistic sitting behind me. He was letting out massive wails for the first hour of the flight, running up and down the aisles…just general chaos! He and his parents were sitting in First Class. It was extremely annoying. I think the stewardess told them they were going to have to get hold of the child or give up their seats in First Class, because suddenly it got a lot quieter. THANK YOU!
I tell that quick detail to drop a free advertisement for Bose QC15 headphones. These are noise reduction headphones. They are the best I’ve ever tried! Wonderful! When you first put them on, the jet roar is instantly gone. You can still hear people, but just barely. Once you start watching a movie or listening to music, you can no longer hear anything. They are just wonderful! If you travel a lot…drop the 300 bucks, you won’t be disappointed!
Being able to fly business class international is just the best! Even though I’d done it before, it’s still the coolest! It has leg room for miles, seat turns into a bed, private TV’s, you can’t touch the ceiling or the seat in front of you when you stretch! It’s just great! The food is great! Just the perfect way to travel! Also, the plane I was on was a Boeing 777.
One funny thing I found on the plane. The first time I got up to use the bathroom I had to use the one in the front of the plane; the one on the side was in use. I walk up front (Which was the distance of a regular Canadian Regional Jet), and there are two bathrooms. I checked them both, typical bathrooms, small airline bathrooms….maybe a couple inches larger than the standard…..well….the second time I had to use the bathroom, I used the one closer to my seat..XANADU! This thing was huge! It had a mock wooden floor, baby changing shelf between the toilet and the sink. It was massively huge by airline standards. You could’ve parked a wheelchair in there with room to spare. It was great! The mock wooden floor was a nice touch!
There was a bunch of in flight movies to choose from. I watched Wall Street 2 (Horrible) and The American (Horrible). So that killed 4 hours.
So the flight went on and I decided to get some sleep. I popped a sleeping pill and was out…now here’s where it gets interesting…I woke up, must have looked at my watch wrong, thought I had another 5 or 6 hours until we landed. So I popped another sleeping pill and went to sleep. Well whatever that did, the next thing I know the stewardess is waking me up to put my chair back up. I am completely dragging, not sure what’s going on….so I put up my chair. We are landing! I immediately pass back out. Once we land, the lady next to me wakes me up again. I am so buzzed from the sleeping pill that I can barely stand up. I manage to get my backpack out of the overhead. I must have looked like a stumbling drunk coming off the plane! (Not that I haven’t before) I was bobbing from left to right, managed to make it to the baggage claim area. I almost fell into the luggage return; my legs were like jello at this point. I really don’t remember too much. Started stumbling out of customs…looking for a guy holding a sign with my name on it…FOUND HIM! He takes my bags, looks at me funny, like I’m going to fall asleep right there. There was actually no traffic on the way to the hotel, no crazy driving, although I was fading in and out of sleep. We got to the hotel, checked in, and BOOM landed on the bed. Woke up at 7:30 local time…not sure where I was or how I got there. (Pieced it back together over coffee and dumplings.) I’m on my way to meet the local team at 1:00. They are sending a car for me…should be fun! We’ll see what it brings!
The flight over was interesting. I had a kid that was either retarded or autistic sitting behind me. He was letting out massive wails for the first hour of the flight, running up and down the aisles…just general chaos! He and his parents were sitting in First Class. It was extremely annoying. I think the stewardess told them they were going to have to get hold of the child or give up their seats in First Class, because suddenly it got a lot quieter. THANK YOU!
I tell that quick detail to drop a free advertisement for Bose QC15 headphones. These are noise reduction headphones. They are the best I’ve ever tried! Wonderful! When you first put them on, the jet roar is instantly gone. You can still hear people, but just barely. Once you start watching a movie or listening to music, you can no longer hear anything. They are just wonderful! If you travel a lot…drop the 300 bucks, you won’t be disappointed!
Being able to fly business class international is just the best! Even though I’d done it before, it’s still the coolest! It has leg room for miles, seat turns into a bed, private TV’s, you can’t touch the ceiling or the seat in front of you when you stretch! It’s just great! The food is great! Just the perfect way to travel! Also, the plane I was on was a Boeing 777.
One funny thing I found on the plane. The first time I got up to use the bathroom I had to use the one in the front of the plane; the one on the side was in use. I walk up front (Which was the distance of a regular Canadian Regional Jet), and there are two bathrooms. I checked them both, typical bathrooms, small airline bathrooms….maybe a couple inches larger than the standard…..well….the second time I had to use the bathroom, I used the one closer to my seat..XANADU! This thing was huge! It had a mock wooden floor, baby changing shelf between the toilet and the sink. It was massively huge by airline standards. You could’ve parked a wheelchair in there with room to spare. It was great! The mock wooden floor was a nice touch!
There was a bunch of in flight movies to choose from. I watched Wall Street 2 (Horrible) and The American (Horrible). So that killed 4 hours.
So the flight went on and I decided to get some sleep. I popped a sleeping pill and was out…now here’s where it gets interesting…I woke up, must have looked at my watch wrong, thought I had another 5 or 6 hours until we landed. So I popped another sleeping pill and went to sleep. Well whatever that did, the next thing I know the stewardess is waking me up to put my chair back up. I am completely dragging, not sure what’s going on….so I put up my chair. We are landing! I immediately pass back out. Once we land, the lady next to me wakes me up again. I am so buzzed from the sleeping pill that I can barely stand up. I manage to get my backpack out of the overhead. I must have looked like a stumbling drunk coming off the plane! (Not that I haven’t before) I was bobbing from left to right, managed to make it to the baggage claim area. I almost fell into the luggage return; my legs were like jello at this point. I really don’t remember too much. Started stumbling out of customs…looking for a guy holding a sign with my name on it…FOUND HIM! He takes my bags, looks at me funny, like I’m going to fall asleep right there. There was actually no traffic on the way to the hotel, no crazy driving, although I was fading in and out of sleep. We got to the hotel, checked in, and BOOM landed on the bed. Woke up at 7:30 local time…not sure where I was or how I got there. (Pieced it back together over coffee and dumplings.) I’m on my way to meet the local team at 1:00. They are sending a car for me…should be fun! We’ll see what it brings!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Return To The Middle Kingdom!
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to the Pudgy Panda blog! Here at the Panda we bring you all the news that's fit to print (In my opinion).
I'm sitting in the Delta Sky Lounge in Detroit's airport. This is a nice perk of international travel! It's quite, has food and drink, places to work...or type blogs, etc....
This time my flight leaves Detroit and lands in Shanghai. It's a direct flight of 15 hours. I'm not on a 747 this time, although my plane is big enough. I think it's a 767? Maybe? Only one level, but I will be on a 747 on my return flight. I'm leaving on 2/8 and return on 3/6.
It will be interesting to see what I think of China now that I've been once, where everything isn't so new. Maybe it will all be new again? The place continues to grow at incredible rates! Who knows? That's half the fun.
I brought two suitcases, one is half empty, all the more room for souvenirs! (Chairman Mao gifts for everyone!). I have Saturday in Shanghai, so I'll probably hit the pearl market at the beginning of the trip. I can't wait to start negotiating! I thought of practicing in front of the mirror...just to bone up on it :)
I have a newer camera this time! So I can take some video while I'm there...maybe some crazy cabby's, maybe some scooters...who knows...maybe a guy driving a donkey.....maybe Goldmember (Dare to dream).
I'll continue when I reach the other side of the world...STAY TUNED!
Welcome back to the Pudgy Panda blog! Here at the Panda we bring you all the news that's fit to print (In my opinion).
I'm sitting in the Delta Sky Lounge in Detroit's airport. This is a nice perk of international travel! It's quite, has food and drink, places to work...or type blogs, etc....
This time my flight leaves Detroit and lands in Shanghai. It's a direct flight of 15 hours. I'm not on a 747 this time, although my plane is big enough. I think it's a 767? Maybe? Only one level, but I will be on a 747 on my return flight. I'm leaving on 2/8 and return on 3/6.
It will be interesting to see what I think of China now that I've been once, where everything isn't so new. Maybe it will all be new again? The place continues to grow at incredible rates! Who knows? That's half the fun.
I brought two suitcases, one is half empty, all the more room for souvenirs! (Chairman Mao gifts for everyone!). I have Saturday in Shanghai, so I'll probably hit the pearl market at the beginning of the trip. I can't wait to start negotiating! I thought of practicing in front of the mirror...just to bone up on it :)
I have a newer camera this time! So I can take some video while I'm there...maybe some crazy cabby's, maybe some scooters...who knows...maybe a guy driving a donkey.....maybe Goldmember (Dare to dream).
I'll continue when I reach the other side of the world...STAY TUNED!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Seattle Seven!
So today is my last day in China. I'm still in Dalian. I've got everything packed, just finished! I fly to Shanghai at 1:30, then I have a dinner with two Rockwell people. We are going to do some follow up on a couple of sales calls we made, then tomorrow I head to the airport and leave at 10:00 AM.
I got a nice surprise this morning as I started packing...The Big Lebowski was on! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!! "I was a roadie for Metallica...Speed of Sound Tour....bunch of assholes." Or. "You ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me...and six other guys." Great movie! I'm always baffled when people say they haven't seen it, or they don't like it. That's amazing to me. Nice treat on the last day of China!
Yesterday my boss in China, Cathy Langlois, came to Dalian. We did a final download on my time in China and reviewed all the people I worked with. Then we met with the China manager Nancy. I gave her a download, then we went to the plant to meet with Goodyear management. Goodyear is extremely happy with Jerry's improvement. So that was a good thing. We then had dinner afterwards, and I said goodbye to most of the team. I'm meeting Jerry and Tracy for lunch today before I leave.
I'm going to miss writing this blog...it's been a lot of fun. I hope you've all enjoyed it! I know a lot of you have said you did...thank you for the compliments! When I leave country...we'll do it again!
I hope to see you all soon!
This is the Pudgy Panda signing off! Good night America, wherever you are.
I got a nice surprise this morning as I started packing...The Big Lebowski was on! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!! "I was a roadie for Metallica...Speed of Sound Tour....bunch of assholes." Or. "You ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me...and six other guys." Great movie! I'm always baffled when people say they haven't seen it, or they don't like it. That's amazing to me. Nice treat on the last day of China!
Yesterday my boss in China, Cathy Langlois, came to Dalian. We did a final download on my time in China and reviewed all the people I worked with. Then we met with the China manager Nancy. I gave her a download, then we went to the plant to meet with Goodyear management. Goodyear is extremely happy with Jerry's improvement. So that was a good thing. We then had dinner afterwards, and I said goodbye to most of the team. I'm meeting Jerry and Tracy for lunch today before I leave.
I'm going to miss writing this blog...it's been a lot of fun. I hope you've all enjoyed it! I know a lot of you have said you did...thank you for the compliments! When I leave country...we'll do it again!
I hope to see you all soon!
This is the Pudgy Panda signing off! Good night America, wherever you are.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Getting Close
The trip is almost over. I spent the whole weekend checking out things in Dalian. Jerry was nice enough to take me around and show me some of the different things. We went to Tiger Beach, which has an aquarium, beach area, battle ship, and a pier on a cove. That was really cool.
SWEET!
Hungry?
Kid in the ball. That string isn't very long, and the guy isn't holding the other end. Hilarious!
Shot of the cove. The battleship was sweet! We went on it.
This is the front entrance to Tiger Beach.
A funny thing at Tiger Beach. The swimming area had a guy selling kids rides in plastic balls. The kid gets zipped up in them and can run on top of the water. The ball doesn't seem to be THAT big and I wondered how the kid was suppose to get more air. Jerry asked the guy, he told him that they don't stay in it long enough to be a problem. However there is nothing keeping the kid from pushing that ball way out into the water. It just looked like a train wreck waiting to happen.
I also went and saw an area of Dalian that has old Russian style buildings, from when Russia owned Dalian. It was pretty cool. It's filled with street vendors who are selling a bunch of stuff...Once again I found myself negotiating for things I didn't even want...I'm beginning to think I have a problem. I can't help it! I see the street vendors and I get excited to bargain! I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to the States.
I know I'm getting good. Jerry was amazed at the price I got for something. He said, "Wow! I can't get that price...you good."
"That's how Daddy walks Jerry."
We had dinner at a new restaurant in Dalian. It's called Life Is Good BBQ. It was pretty sweet. Jerry loves the place! He looked like Pavlov's Dogs as we waited for a table. I thought I was going to have to hold him down. He was excited.
While we were at dinner, Jerry had the waitress bring a special sauce for me to try. He said it was REALLY spicy. I have yet to have anything in China that is so hot I can't stand it. I know it exists somewhere, but I haven't found it....and I don't like things blazing hot..so I know it's not me. The sauce was warm...not hot. I made Jerry eat a banana pepper...it was hilarious! He starts fanning his mouth, "Holy Moly! That hot!" He grabs his beer and starts drinking.
My jaw about dropped, "Jerry! It's a banana pepper, they're not hot."
"Yes" That made me laugh
So I'm down to my last 3 days in China. I'm very excited to come home, but sad to leave. I've met a lot of nice people and enjoyed my travel.
Here are some pics from the weekend.
SWEET!Hungry?Kid in the ball. That string isn't very long, and the guy isn't holding the other end. Hilarious!Shot of the cove. The battleship was sweet! We went on it. This is the front entrance to Tiger Beach. Friday, May 1, 2009
To Wafangdian Thanks For Everything
Friday was a holiday in China. It's the same as our Labor Day. So Goodyear was closed for the day. Jerry has been after me to visit his home town and meet his family. So we scheduled to do it on this holiday. I asked him how we would get there and he gave me three options: Train, bus, or taxi. I chose train! Most people know I'm a huge fan of trains! I think they're great and should be used more in the US. Especially between near cities....anyways, that's another story.
So Friday morning we are suppose to leave at 8:30 AM on a train to Wafangdian. Jerry calls me at 7:30 and says he can't make the train that early. He wants to take the 9:30 train. Now, Jerry had told me that if we didn't take the 8:30 train, it would be packed at 9:30...but I said, "OK, it's your city!"
Jerry arrives at my place at 9:00, we take a taxi to the train station. I look out the window as we get close...it's just a sea of humanity, buses, and taxis. Mostly it's humanity and buses with taxis trying to sneak through. We get out of the taxi enter the chaos! Jerry has a worried look on his face..kind of scrunching his nose, "I don't think we take train." He points at the station, and it is over flowing with people....just waiting to go in the station and buy a ticket. I agree and ask what our next option is. Jerry says we should take the bus.
Jerry starts leading me through the sea of people, constantly getting ran into, bumped and almost hit by buses and taxis. The best way to describe it would be a real life game of Frogger at top speed. Your just trying to avoid everything and get across the street...you don't even care where you end up across the street, as long as you are out of the way of the vehicles.
We walk over to the bus area. Bad Noodle finds our bus, "It's just boarding now...one problem."
I start looking around...it seems to be running....I'm not sure what could be wrong, "What's the problem?"
Jerry points towards a building...then I see the problem. It's a massive line that goes at least 100 yards. They are all waiting to get on the bus that we need. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! It looks like a line the day after Thanksgiving at Best Buy, waiting for a chance to buy 1 of 10 WII's.
I look at Jerry, "This dog ain't gonna hunt!"
Jerry looks at me confused, "What dog? No dog here"
"Never mind, what about the taxi option...I'd rather do that then the bus anyways?"
So we have to find a taxi now. Easier said then done. Since it's a holiday weekend all the taxi drivers want to charge what Jerry thinks is a to much....300RMB or 45 bucks. After we try to find a driver like 7 times...I ask Jerry how much they want...at this point he tells me 300 RMB.
"Jerry, that's fine, my treat!" Mind you, his hometown is an hour and twenty minutes away. I pay almost that much to go from my place to Mitchell airport in Milwaukee. So I think it's a good deal.
We get in the cab and Jerry asks if a classmate of his can ride with us. She wants to go back to her home town to. I said I didn't mind, I had met her once before, nice girl.
So we head out. The driver is listening to techno music...the whole way. It's hilarious! Here I am riding in a taxi with three Chinese people listening to techno music....just like "A Night At The Roxbury". I start bobbing my head like the SNL skit...they didn't get it.
We finally arrive in Wafangdian. It's a really small town by Chinese standards...maybe 1 million with the surrounding area. Pretty decent sized for the US, but Chinese consider this the sticks.
The taxi drops us off at Jerry's Grandparents house. That is where we are going to eat. The whole way to their place Jerry is anxious because the Rockets are playing. I know the NBA had no idea on this one, but because the Rockets were playing in Portland, the game came on at like 10:00 AM...so it was still going right as lunch was being made. EVERYONE was interested in the game. It had a Thanksgiving vibe to the whole thing.
So we walk into the apartment, actually it's a condo in China, but has more of an apartment feel. There are a whole bunch of people here...Grandparents, Parents, Aunt and Uncle, some kids...a few more people that I wasn't sure the relationship.
Everyone is very excited to meet me. Jerry does a great job of translating for me. He really speaks great English. I get introduced to them. They all remember my friend Greg (Co-Worker) and ask how he is doing. I tell them he is good. (Everyone says hello Greg.)
We watch the end of the Rockets game, the Rockets won! They advanced passed the first round for the first time in a long time. The funny part is that everyone is watching the game, but they barely show any emotion when Houston won...it's weird...just ho hum, on to the next thing.
During the game we had started lunch. They had a big spread of food, all kinds of stuff. It was all good. While this was going on, Jerry's Uncle broke out the Tsing Tao beer. Jerry says something to him in Chinese..next thing I know, I have a bowl sitting in front of me. His uncle fills it with beer.
Jerry then tells me that he told his Uncle I can drink a lot of beer. I am a little confused...."Why did you tell him that?"
"My family can drink much beer, he will want to challenge you."
"Jerry I didn't come here to get plowed...I thought we were coming for a nice holiday dinner?"
"Yes"
Now I chuckle...there was my favorite answer...Jerry knows it too! He starts to laugh, "We eat and drink!"
So his Uncle is sizing me up then he yells, "Gumbai!" (Gum-Bay-Bottoms up) So Jerry, his Uncle, Grandpa, and I all gumbai. I think each bowl holds roughly one beer.
We start to eat and talk during lunch....every couple of minutes I hear his Uncle yell, "Gumbai!" Bottoms up again!
I end up getting to talk to everyone over lunch because Jerry is a great translator. It works out really well. Just every five minutes I hear "Gumbai!" So as dinner goes on I'm getting loaded on Chinese beer! It's starting to seem that if I say something, gumbai is going to be the answer....
So as we attempt to finish every bottle of beer within 40 miles, I notice that ping pong is on the TV. I ask Jerry if his family likes Ping Pong. He says they do. He asks me if I want to play?
"Where?"
"At Ping Pong gym"
"Ping Pong gym? Of course I want to go to a Ping Pong gym."
He says something to his Father and Uncle, the return answer from his Uncle, "Gumbai!" So I have some more beer...then he smiles and tells Jerry we can go there.
So we head out for a walk to the Ping Pong gym. I could use the fresh air. I'm HAMMERED!!! The place was about a half mile away...all the better! I was cherishing that walk.
We walk into this really old looking building. The bottom floor is a pharmacy...we walk up three flights of stairs and into PING PONG HEAVEN!!!!!
There are tables everywhere! It's absolutely hilarious! Each table has barriers around it to keep your ball near. Most people are dressed like they are going for a workout. They have gym bags, special ping pong shoes, and everyone has their own paddle.
Once everyone noticed I was there...I became a celebrity. This town doesn't see many foreigners...and definitely not any as big as me. So I shook hands with just about everyone in the place.
On the way over, Jerry tells me that his Uncle is the best player in the family. He has a membership at this club/gym. None of them think I will be any good at Ping Pong.
So my first opponent is Jerry "Bad Noodle" Wang. We play to 11. I dispose of Bad Noodle 11-4. As soon as I scored the 11th point, I dropped my paddle on the table and yelled, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!" (Line from Gladiator when Russell Crow waxes the whole group of gladiators by himself) Everyone starts laughing! I know they didn't understand what I was saying, but they saw the big smile on my face and knew I was having fun.
My second opponent was Jerry's Dad. He use to be the best player in the family, but he had a stroke, so his brother has passed him. He's still good. He has a crazy serve style. It's hard to see which way that thing is going to come....could have been the beers too! I beat him 11-8, he was tough though. I then played him a second time, he beat me 11-8.
The whole time these games are going on, I know that Jerry's uncle is sizing my game up. He wanted to see what I had before he played me. I picked up on this quick, so I didn't use all my serves. I saved a couple special....
So his Uncle and I square off. His uncle is good! But he plays every day. I haven't played in probably 4 years. I started off by using a chop serve...so there is lots of spin on the ball. He had no answer for that. He kept hitting it back in the net. I was feeling pretty confident. However, I didn't win. We played each other 5 times, he took all five. They were always two point games..one went to 16-14, but I didn't win. I'm sure if I played for a couple of weeks, I would be able to beat him pretty regularly. I'm glad I didn't win actually, because I could see that ended up being a big thing for the family. They were all really proud.
Chinese play Ping Pong weird. They don't use a lot of spins and they are always looking for a kill shot. So if place your shots to get them out of position, it's pretty easy to score. Plus a lot of them hold the paddle weird. They hold it upside down, between their fingers...so it makes it hard to back hand.
It was a great time though!
Then they had a friend drive us around town and show me everything. After that we were suppose to go back to Grandpa's for dinner. So we had to stop and pick something up. The guy that was driving us took us to a restaurant. He left, we went inside. They wanted to know if I liked frog...I've never had frog but said I would try.
Jerry points to a bucket on the ground, "Pick them"
I look down, there is a big bucket of frogs...HUGE frogs! "You want me to pick which one we are going to eat?"
"Pick three."
So I go down to take a closer look at the frogs..I lean in "3 of you are marked for death." I'm no judge of frogs, but I got high marks for my picks. I used a method of size and color.
Jerry patted me on the back, "You pick good frogs"
"Thanks Jerry" We sat and had a couple of cups of tea while we waited for the frogs to be cooked. Jerry's uncle told me that because I lost at Ping Pong there would be more Gumbai! I laughed, "Great, can't wait."
We went back to the house, everyone else was still there. They already had the table set for dinner. Immediately Jerry's uncle yelled, "Gumbai!" So I started my drinking again...and it was just about the time I was coming down from the last round.
During dinner Jerry's Grandparents gave me pictures they had taken at lunch. It was REALLY nice of them. They asked about my family and I told them what everyone did for a living. Jerry mentioned that my Mother had passed away, and they wanted to know more about her. So I told them what she did, and that she always helped people that were less fortunate. Jerry's Grandpa said something in Chinese and Jerry told me that he admired my Mother and wanted the whole family to do a special gumbai for her. I thanked him and everyone lifted their drink and we did a gumbai for Mom.
So it got to be around 7:00 and we needed to catch a train back to Dalian! Of course I'm loaded again! But I was excited to still get my train ride. The whole family walked us to the train station...except Grandma and Grandpa. I gave them both a big hug and told them I would miss them...they said the same.
We got to the train station and said our goodbyes. Jerry's Mom made me a doggy bag of dumplings and some other stuff. We caught our train and went back to Dalian.
This trip was great! So much fun! Chinese people are some of the most hospitable people you will ever find.
Jerry's Uncle "Gumbai!!!!"
Me and the neighbor's kid. She had never seen an American before. They wanted her to meet me.
My prize frogs...off to the slaughter!
I call this one, "The Untouchables". It reminds me of the picture they took in the beginning of the movie. When they are all sitting around smoking cigars. left to right: Jerry's Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle.
Jerry's Grandpa and I doing a Gumbai!
So Friday morning we are suppose to leave at 8:30 AM on a train to Wafangdian. Jerry calls me at 7:30 and says he can't make the train that early. He wants to take the 9:30 train. Now, Jerry had told me that if we didn't take the 8:30 train, it would be packed at 9:30...but I said, "OK, it's your city!"
Jerry arrives at my place at 9:00, we take a taxi to the train station. I look out the window as we get close...it's just a sea of humanity, buses, and taxis. Mostly it's humanity and buses with taxis trying to sneak through. We get out of the taxi enter the chaos! Jerry has a worried look on his face..kind of scrunching his nose, "I don't think we take train." He points at the station, and it is over flowing with people....just waiting to go in the station and buy a ticket. I agree and ask what our next option is. Jerry says we should take the bus.
Jerry starts leading me through the sea of people, constantly getting ran into, bumped and almost hit by buses and taxis. The best way to describe it would be a real life game of Frogger at top speed. Your just trying to avoid everything and get across the street...you don't even care where you end up across the street, as long as you are out of the way of the vehicles.
We walk over to the bus area. Bad Noodle finds our bus, "It's just boarding now...one problem."
I start looking around...it seems to be running....I'm not sure what could be wrong, "What's the problem?"
Jerry points towards a building...then I see the problem. It's a massive line that goes at least 100 yards. They are all waiting to get on the bus that we need. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! It looks like a line the day after Thanksgiving at Best Buy, waiting for a chance to buy 1 of 10 WII's.
I look at Jerry, "This dog ain't gonna hunt!"
Jerry looks at me confused, "What dog? No dog here"
"Never mind, what about the taxi option...I'd rather do that then the bus anyways?"
So we have to find a taxi now. Easier said then done. Since it's a holiday weekend all the taxi drivers want to charge what Jerry thinks is a to much....300RMB or 45 bucks. After we try to find a driver like 7 times...I ask Jerry how much they want...at this point he tells me 300 RMB.
"Jerry, that's fine, my treat!" Mind you, his hometown is an hour and twenty minutes away. I pay almost that much to go from my place to Mitchell airport in Milwaukee. So I think it's a good deal.
We get in the cab and Jerry asks if a classmate of his can ride with us. She wants to go back to her home town to. I said I didn't mind, I had met her once before, nice girl.
So we head out. The driver is listening to techno music...the whole way. It's hilarious! Here I am riding in a taxi with three Chinese people listening to techno music....just like "A Night At The Roxbury". I start bobbing my head like the SNL skit...they didn't get it.
We finally arrive in Wafangdian. It's a really small town by Chinese standards...maybe 1 million with the surrounding area. Pretty decent sized for the US, but Chinese consider this the sticks.
The taxi drops us off at Jerry's Grandparents house. That is where we are going to eat. The whole way to their place Jerry is anxious because the Rockets are playing. I know the NBA had no idea on this one, but because the Rockets were playing in Portland, the game came on at like 10:00 AM...so it was still going right as lunch was being made. EVERYONE was interested in the game. It had a Thanksgiving vibe to the whole thing.
So we walk into the apartment, actually it's a condo in China, but has more of an apartment feel. There are a whole bunch of people here...Grandparents, Parents, Aunt and Uncle, some kids...a few more people that I wasn't sure the relationship.
Everyone is very excited to meet me. Jerry does a great job of translating for me. He really speaks great English. I get introduced to them. They all remember my friend Greg (Co-Worker) and ask how he is doing. I tell them he is good. (Everyone says hello Greg.)
We watch the end of the Rockets game, the Rockets won! They advanced passed the first round for the first time in a long time. The funny part is that everyone is watching the game, but they barely show any emotion when Houston won...it's weird...just ho hum, on to the next thing.
During the game we had started lunch. They had a big spread of food, all kinds of stuff. It was all good. While this was going on, Jerry's Uncle broke out the Tsing Tao beer. Jerry says something to him in Chinese..next thing I know, I have a bowl sitting in front of me. His uncle fills it with beer.
Jerry then tells me that he told his Uncle I can drink a lot of beer. I am a little confused...."Why did you tell him that?"
"My family can drink much beer, he will want to challenge you."
"Jerry I didn't come here to get plowed...I thought we were coming for a nice holiday dinner?"
"Yes"
Now I chuckle...there was my favorite answer...Jerry knows it too! He starts to laugh, "We eat and drink!"
So his Uncle is sizing me up then he yells, "Gumbai!" (Gum-Bay-Bottoms up) So Jerry, his Uncle, Grandpa, and I all gumbai. I think each bowl holds roughly one beer.
We start to eat and talk during lunch....every couple of minutes I hear his Uncle yell, "Gumbai!" Bottoms up again!
I end up getting to talk to everyone over lunch because Jerry is a great translator. It works out really well. Just every five minutes I hear "Gumbai!" So as dinner goes on I'm getting loaded on Chinese beer! It's starting to seem that if I say something, gumbai is going to be the answer....
So as we attempt to finish every bottle of beer within 40 miles, I notice that ping pong is on the TV. I ask Jerry if his family likes Ping Pong. He says they do. He asks me if I want to play?
"Where?"
"At Ping Pong gym"
"Ping Pong gym? Of course I want to go to a Ping Pong gym."
He says something to his Father and Uncle, the return answer from his Uncle, "Gumbai!" So I have some more beer...then he smiles and tells Jerry we can go there.
So we head out for a walk to the Ping Pong gym. I could use the fresh air. I'm HAMMERED!!! The place was about a half mile away...all the better! I was cherishing that walk.
We walk into this really old looking building. The bottom floor is a pharmacy...we walk up three flights of stairs and into PING PONG HEAVEN!!!!!
There are tables everywhere! It's absolutely hilarious! Each table has barriers around it to keep your ball near. Most people are dressed like they are going for a workout. They have gym bags, special ping pong shoes, and everyone has their own paddle.
Once everyone noticed I was there...I became a celebrity. This town doesn't see many foreigners...and definitely not any as big as me. So I shook hands with just about everyone in the place.
On the way over, Jerry tells me that his Uncle is the best player in the family. He has a membership at this club/gym. None of them think I will be any good at Ping Pong.
So my first opponent is Jerry "Bad Noodle" Wang. We play to 11. I dispose of Bad Noodle 11-4. As soon as I scored the 11th point, I dropped my paddle on the table and yelled, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!" (Line from Gladiator when Russell Crow waxes the whole group of gladiators by himself) Everyone starts laughing! I know they didn't understand what I was saying, but they saw the big smile on my face and knew I was having fun.
My second opponent was Jerry's Dad. He use to be the best player in the family, but he had a stroke, so his brother has passed him. He's still good. He has a crazy serve style. It's hard to see which way that thing is going to come....could have been the beers too! I beat him 11-8, he was tough though. I then played him a second time, he beat me 11-8.
The whole time these games are going on, I know that Jerry's uncle is sizing my game up. He wanted to see what I had before he played me. I picked up on this quick, so I didn't use all my serves. I saved a couple special....
So his Uncle and I square off. His uncle is good! But he plays every day. I haven't played in probably 4 years. I started off by using a chop serve...so there is lots of spin on the ball. He had no answer for that. He kept hitting it back in the net. I was feeling pretty confident. However, I didn't win. We played each other 5 times, he took all five. They were always two point games..one went to 16-14, but I didn't win. I'm sure if I played for a couple of weeks, I would be able to beat him pretty regularly. I'm glad I didn't win actually, because I could see that ended up being a big thing for the family. They were all really proud.
Chinese play Ping Pong weird. They don't use a lot of spins and they are always looking for a kill shot. So if place your shots to get them out of position, it's pretty easy to score. Plus a lot of them hold the paddle weird. They hold it upside down, between their fingers...so it makes it hard to back hand.
It was a great time though!
Then they had a friend drive us around town and show me everything. After that we were suppose to go back to Grandpa's for dinner. So we had to stop and pick something up. The guy that was driving us took us to a restaurant. He left, we went inside. They wanted to know if I liked frog...I've never had frog but said I would try.
Jerry points to a bucket on the ground, "Pick them"
I look down, there is a big bucket of frogs...HUGE frogs! "You want me to pick which one we are going to eat?"
"Pick three."
So I go down to take a closer look at the frogs..I lean in "3 of you are marked for death." I'm no judge of frogs, but I got high marks for my picks. I used a method of size and color.
Jerry patted me on the back, "You pick good frogs"
"Thanks Jerry" We sat and had a couple of cups of tea while we waited for the frogs to be cooked. Jerry's uncle told me that because I lost at Ping Pong there would be more Gumbai! I laughed, "Great, can't wait."
We went back to the house, everyone else was still there. They already had the table set for dinner. Immediately Jerry's uncle yelled, "Gumbai!" So I started my drinking again...and it was just about the time I was coming down from the last round.
During dinner Jerry's Grandparents gave me pictures they had taken at lunch. It was REALLY nice of them. They asked about my family and I told them what everyone did for a living. Jerry mentioned that my Mother had passed away, and they wanted to know more about her. So I told them what she did, and that she always helped people that were less fortunate. Jerry's Grandpa said something in Chinese and Jerry told me that he admired my Mother and wanted the whole family to do a special gumbai for her. I thanked him and everyone lifted their drink and we did a gumbai for Mom.
So it got to be around 7:00 and we needed to catch a train back to Dalian! Of course I'm loaded again! But I was excited to still get my train ride. The whole family walked us to the train station...except Grandma and Grandpa. I gave them both a big hug and told them I would miss them...they said the same.
We got to the train station and said our goodbyes. Jerry's Mom made me a doggy bag of dumplings and some other stuff. We caught our train and went back to Dalian.
This trip was great! So much fun! Chinese people are some of the most hospitable people you will ever find.
Jerry's Uncle "Gumbai!!!!"
Me and the neighbor's kid. She had never seen an American before. They wanted her to meet me.
My prize frogs...off to the slaughter!
I call this one, "The Untouchables". It reminds me of the picture they took in the beginning of the movie. When they are all sitting around smoking cigars. left to right: Jerry's Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle.
Jerry's Grandpa and I doing a Gumbai!
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