Blogspot is blocked in China, so I can't update my blog.
I will find a china blog and send the link to you all.
cheers,
brian
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Beautiful Saturday
Today I have my first brunch in Shanghai at Tai Kang Road, the Arts district in shanghai. I had the best bloody mary ever in China. I was having brunch at a wonderful sunny day with a fresh water melon salad. It was so amazing.
After that I walked around the areas, it is very similar to 798 but in a smaller scale. Tai Kang Road is full of cafes, boutique fashion stores & some mini arts galleries. The walk was relaxing.
Then I went to have coffee with a cute Shanghaiese coworker and chatted for hours. We talked about the difference of Shanghaiese, Beijinger and Cantonese. Then I went for apt hunting, unfortunately there were nothing interesting, I need to keep on looking tomorrow.
I went back to hotel and took a rest, then I went for a massage at Dragon Fly. Then I got a call from Andrew, and went to Muse 2 for drinks. His friends were totally fun but a bit crazy, keep drinking & dancing all night.
I need to be a good boy to do some swimming tomorrow, so I went back at 2:30am. A wonderful time in Shanghai.
Hope I can find some apt I like tomorrow. Keep finger-crossed!
After that I walked around the areas, it is very similar to 798 but in a smaller scale. Tai Kang Road is full of cafes, boutique fashion stores & some mini arts galleries. The walk was relaxing.
Then I went to have coffee with a cute Shanghaiese coworker and chatted for hours. We talked about the difference of Shanghaiese, Beijinger and Cantonese. Then I went for apt hunting, unfortunately there were nothing interesting, I need to keep on looking tomorrow.
I went back to hotel and took a rest, then I went for a massage at Dragon Fly. Then I got a call from Andrew, and went to Muse 2 for drinks. His friends were totally fun but a bit crazy, keep drinking & dancing all night.
I need to be a good boy to do some swimming tomorrow, so I went back at 2:30am. A wonderful time in Shanghai.
Hope I can find some apt I like tomorrow. Keep finger-crossed!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
My first day in Shanghai
Finally I ended 7 days Beijing trip, now I am back to Shanghai. Today I moved into Ramada Hotel, which is much nicer than motel 168.
I was bombarded with meetings and Powerpoint today, I am so exhausted. Luckily the work goes very smooth. Today I will see the Shanghai client for the first time, Good luck to me.
I got so many calls from friends in Beijing to ask me out for dinner. Damn, I wish I can be in Beijing. And even my coworker call me up to see if I am bad to death in Shanghai.
Gosh, I need to meet up some friends in Shanghai.
I was bombarded with meetings and Powerpoint today, I am so exhausted. Luckily the work goes very smooth. Today I will see the Shanghai client for the first time, Good luck to me.
I got so many calls from friends in Beijing to ask me out for dinner. Damn, I wish I can be in Beijing. And even my coworker call me up to see if I am bad to death in Shanghai.
Gosh, I need to meet up some friends in Shanghai.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Long weekend in Beijing
After the crazy working days in Shanghai, I come back to Beijing and meet my friends in Beijing. I release out all my pressure and enjoy the party with friends.
The weather in these few days are super awesome. We had brunch under wonderful sunshine, picnic at the park and sightseeing at antique areas. I fully enjoyed the sunshine of Beijing.
Beijing would be a perfect place to live if it has sunshine like these days all the time.
More pic will come soon!
The weather in these few days are super awesome. We had brunch under wonderful sunshine, picnic at the park and sightseeing at antique areas. I fully enjoyed the sunshine of Beijing.
Beijing would be a perfect place to live if it has sunshine like these days all the time.
More pic will come soon!
Crazy workload in Shanghai
Though I joined this company for 18 months, I never work directly with my regional director and CEO. I guess my boss was too excited about my arrival, and they want to test how good I am and where my limits are. They flew out 5 initiatives to me once I arrived.
I worked for 4 days non-stop from 8am to midnight, finally I bumped out 1 pitch brief, 3 activation ideas, 1 award entry and 1 brand presentation. I never work so efficient ever in my life.
I really pushed my limit. I got brief in the morning, then review rough ideas and bounce off with my regional director in the afternoon. And I develop brand strategy options to review with him at 8pm, we confirm a strategy and write a brief. Then I brief in the creative team the next day morning. Doing a pitch strategy within 24 hours is something I have never done before. I have to say that my regional director is super fast thinker, giving solid directions for me to think. Otherwise I could not finish the strategy so fast. I think I can learn so much from him.
I feel like riding on a express train, I really need to catch up the speed of their working style. Wow, I am ready for the ride!
I worked for 4 days non-stop from 8am to midnight, finally I bumped out 1 pitch brief, 3 activation ideas, 1 award entry and 1 brand presentation. I never work so efficient ever in my life.
I really pushed my limit. I got brief in the morning, then review rough ideas and bounce off with my regional director in the afternoon. And I develop brand strategy options to review with him at 8pm, we confirm a strategy and write a brief. Then I brief in the creative team the next day morning. Doing a pitch strategy within 24 hours is something I have never done before. I have to say that my regional director is super fast thinker, giving solid directions for me to think. Otherwise I could not finish the strategy so fast. I think I can learn so much from him.
I feel like riding on a express train, I really need to catch up the speed of their working style. Wow, I am ready for the ride!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
2nd day in Shanghai - Dentist, table tennis and fish ball noodles
Yesterday I did not sleep well because my tooth did not feel so well. During lunch time, I went to see the dentist. It was the first time ever I visit a dentist in China. I was a bit scared, but I had no choice. I called up for an appointment, the nurses at the dentist clinic told me they have 2 sessions - the VIP and the normal one. VIP session has the more experienced dentist. VIP session charges RMB$50 for entry fees, and the other one charges only RMB$10. I will not task my life for RMB$40, definitely I toke the VIP one.
The clinic was in a house with colonial style. When I got to the clinic, I was a bit shocked by the torn wallpapers and stinky floor. Since the next clinic will be 20 mins away, I took the risk. The nurses led me to the inspection room. I was lying on the chair and taking around, the apparatus are pretty old. But the tools that the dentist used are all in sealed plastic bags, I guess that's what the premium of VIP for. Then the dentist came in, and did some inspection. She found that there was a little hole on one of the tooth and my gum at the back has a bit inflammation. So she helped me fix the delayed tooth and put some medicine on my gum. Surprisingly her skills are not bad. At last she suggested I should clean my tooth as well, so I did. But she sent a nurse to help clean my tooth, right after 10 mins, I stopped the nurse and got the dentist back since the skills of the nurse was so poor. The dentist finished the rest of the cleaning. After the treatment, I went back to the office as a clean & happy man.
My boss called me up in the afternoon, and said he needed to brief me on a project when he was back to the office. At 6pm, he arrived the office. The first thing he ask was not about the project, but whether I am good at table tennis or not. We played a game in the office (There is a table for table tennis right in front of my seat). After finishing the game, we started discussing the project until 8pm.
I was exhausted and asked around for dinner buddy. But Shanghaiese are so cold, no one want to have dinner with me. So I went to have a lonely dinner at a Cantonese Cafe. The food was awesome, I had a bowl of noodles with fish ball, and pineapple bun with butter. Of course I ordered an authentic Cantonese Milk Tea. Again I become a happy man. Then I took a cab to home. Start to write another presentation again.
I miss my buddies in Beijing, my dinner buddies & drinking buddies.
The clinic was in a house with colonial style. When I got to the clinic, I was a bit shocked by the torn wallpapers and stinky floor. Since the next clinic will be 20 mins away, I took the risk. The nurses led me to the inspection room. I was lying on the chair and taking around, the apparatus are pretty old. But the tools that the dentist used are all in sealed plastic bags, I guess that's what the premium of VIP for. Then the dentist came in, and did some inspection. She found that there was a little hole on one of the tooth and my gum at the back has a bit inflammation. So she helped me fix the delayed tooth and put some medicine on my gum. Surprisingly her skills are not bad. At last she suggested I should clean my tooth as well, so I did. But she sent a nurse to help clean my tooth, right after 10 mins, I stopped the nurse and got the dentist back since the skills of the nurse was so poor. The dentist finished the rest of the cleaning. After the treatment, I went back to the office as a clean & happy man.
My boss called me up in the afternoon, and said he needed to brief me on a project when he was back to the office. At 6pm, he arrived the office. The first thing he ask was not about the project, but whether I am good at table tennis or not. We played a game in the office (There is a table for table tennis right in front of my seat). After finishing the game, we started discussing the project until 8pm.
I was exhausted and asked around for dinner buddy. But Shanghaiese are so cold, no one want to have dinner with me. So I went to have a lonely dinner at a Cantonese Cafe. The food was awesome, I had a bowl of noodles with fish ball, and pineapple bun with butter. Of course I ordered an authentic Cantonese Milk Tea. Again I become a happy man. Then I took a cab to home. Start to write another presentation again.
I miss my buddies in Beijing, my dinner buddies & drinking buddies.
Monday, April 27, 2009
1st day in Shanghai
Today it is my first day of work in Shanghai. Though I traveled to the Shanghai office very often, today I still feel a bit nervous to get into the office.
Tim, the planning director at Shanghai, gave me a brief orientation on Ford and left me with tons of presentation to digest. I can see how my life will be stuck with data.
I sat at my new desk. Maybe the HR thought that I am already an old employee, I would know my way around. I did not get any new employee orientation. I needed to ask for the IT to set up my server, printer, Internet connection & email. I reminded my HR for giving me card key & stuff. Today I did not do much work, but chasing for this or that from different. The only achievement I have is to force the HR moving me from a budget hotel to a reasonable serviced apartment, I can't live with a stinky bed for 30 days.
In the afternoon, I did one briefing to Beijing Creative team via conference call. It is a huge challenge for me since my Mandarin pronunciation is known to be not clear. And my voice got distorted via the transmission, this made the creative very hard to understand my words. I needed to speak in extremely slow speed like a Grandma and open my mouth as wide as possible. But it is a good training for my Mandarin.
I come back to the hotel at 7pm, and start writing my award case studies. It will be a busy week, I can't wait to come back to Beijing for the long weekend.
Tim, the planning director at Shanghai, gave me a brief orientation on Ford and left me with tons of presentation to digest. I can see how my life will be stuck with data.
I sat at my new desk. Maybe the HR thought that I am already an old employee, I would know my way around. I did not get any new employee orientation. I needed to ask for the IT to set up my server, printer, Internet connection & email. I reminded my HR for giving me card key & stuff. Today I did not do much work, but chasing for this or that from different. The only achievement I have is to force the HR moving me from a budget hotel to a reasonable serviced apartment, I can't live with a stinky bed for 30 days.
In the afternoon, I did one briefing to Beijing Creative team via conference call. It is a huge challenge for me since my Mandarin pronunciation is known to be not clear. And my voice got distorted via the transmission, this made the creative very hard to understand my words. I needed to speak in extremely slow speed like a Grandma and open my mouth as wide as possible. But it is a good training for my Mandarin.
I come back to the hotel at 7pm, and start writing my award case studies. It will be a busy week, I can't wait to come back to Beijing for the long weekend.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Fat
When one person said that you gain weight, it may be an illusion or you wear something wrong. But today when 5 people said that I gained weight, I told myself that I am really fat now. OMG... I become fatty Brian.
In this couple months, I was a bit stressed out, I used eating as a way of release. Now I am suffering from my fault. Damn, I need to get on diet soon and get back to my yoga routine. I need to stop my crazy eating... Gosh!
In this couple months, I was a bit stressed out, I used eating as a way of release. Now I am suffering from my fault. Damn, I need to get on diet soon and get back to my yoga routine. I need to stop my crazy eating... Gosh!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
BJ => SH
I have not written my blog for ages since I was so busy with work. I lost my identity card during Chinese New Year. I did not even have time to apply them again, now I am illegally staying in Beijing. It sounds a bit scary.
Soon I will leave Beijing to Shanghai. I can't say that I am leaving for good, since I will keep my apt in Beijing and rent a new one in Shanghai, so I will have 2 apts. It is a luxury during economic downturn. Everyone says that I am lucky to have 2 places. I am not sure if moving to Shanghai is a good thing or not. Since I will spend much time in traveling, I will take planes like buses.
After staying one year in Beijing, I already have a group of friends who I meet every week. They are now my families, I will miss them when I am in Shanghai. I need to restart my life again, I am not sure if I can do it again. Anyway, putting off the transfer is not an option now. And I should be excited about my new life in Shanghai, hopefully I will enjoy it.
Soon I will leave Beijing to Shanghai. I can't say that I am leaving for good, since I will keep my apt in Beijing and rent a new one in Shanghai, so I will have 2 apts. It is a luxury during economic downturn. Everyone says that I am lucky to have 2 places. I am not sure if moving to Shanghai is a good thing or not. Since I will spend much time in traveling, I will take planes like buses.
After staying one year in Beijing, I already have a group of friends who I meet every week. They are now my families, I will miss them when I am in Shanghai. I need to restart my life again, I am not sure if I can do it again. Anyway, putting off the transfer is not an option now. And I should be excited about my new life in Shanghai, hopefully I will enjoy it.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
harbin - part 2
We arrived at Harbin at 4pm, and took a cab to the hotel. I found a brand new hotel at the Central Street - a century-old Russian Commercial District.
I found a very bargaining price for a new four star hotel there, it only costs RMB$338 per night (US$45). The hotel started running just one week before I check in, so the decoration & facilitates are all brand-new. When we check the room, the water from bathtube were yellowish, it looked very scary. The waiter said they can fix the water in a few hours. Since it was already 6pm at night, so we did not bother to find another one. That night was New Year Eve, lots of restaurants were closed. Luckily there were one Russian restaurant open. We entered the restaurant, all the decorations are in antique Russian style. It felt like dining at Russia in 1900s. We read the menu and found that the restaurant was opened at 1907, it was one of the first Russian restaurant in Harbin. We ordered their famous dish - the red vegetable soup, the pot beef stew and curry chicken. There are nothing better than having a hot soup in such a cold weather. The meal was very delicious.
After stuffing ourselves with Russian food, we went to the Ice World and saw the ice sculpture. When I entered the Ice World, my sight was captured by the skyline of the shining ice building. When I walked inside, I was surrounded by 4-floor tall gigantic ice structures. All ice structures were lit by colorful neon lights. I felt like entering a fantasy land, surrounded by all "blingy". I also tried out the ice slide, it was so fast, so much fun. Yohoo~~~
The temperature was freezing, my nose kept running. But the water from nose was frozen once it was out from the nose, it was very scary. And I forgot to wear the ski pants out. All my feet got dumb after an hour walk. In order to unfreeze ourselves, we went straight to foot massage after finishing the visit. My feets started to gain back their conscious after soaking in hot water for 5 mins. Damn, it was so cold...
I found a very bargaining price for a new four star hotel there, it only costs RMB$338 per night (US$45). The hotel started running just one week before I check in, so the decoration & facilitates are all brand-new. When we check the room, the water from bathtube were yellowish, it looked very scary. The waiter said they can fix the water in a few hours. Since it was already 6pm at night, so we did not bother to find another one. That night was New Year Eve, lots of restaurants were closed. Luckily there were one Russian restaurant open. We entered the restaurant, all the decorations are in antique Russian style. It felt like dining at Russia in 1900s. We read the menu and found that the restaurant was opened at 1907, it was one of the first Russian restaurant in Harbin. We ordered their famous dish - the red vegetable soup, the pot beef stew and curry chicken. There are nothing better than having a hot soup in such a cold weather. The meal was very delicious.
After stuffing ourselves with Russian food, we went to the Ice World and saw the ice sculpture. When I entered the Ice World, my sight was captured by the skyline of the shining ice building. When I walked inside, I was surrounded by 4-floor tall gigantic ice structures. All ice structures were lit by colorful neon lights. I felt like entering a fantasy land, surrounded by all "blingy". I also tried out the ice slide, it was so fast, so much fun. Yohoo~~~
The temperature was freezing, my nose kept running. But the water from nose was frozen once it was out from the nose, it was very scary. And I forgot to wear the ski pants out. All my feet got dumb after an hour walk. In order to unfreeze ourselves, we went straight to foot massage after finishing the visit. My feets started to gain back their conscious after soaking in hot water for 5 mins. Damn, it was so cold...
harbin trip - part 1
I did not return home during this Chinese New Year. And I found a travel buddy online, and went to Harbin. I never imagined that I can be in a place with temp below minus 30 degrees, anyway I did it.
First I flew to Shen Yang and met up with my travel buddy Soloman (a Hongki immigrated to Australia at 15 yrs old). It was the first time that I found a travel buddy online, it was quite scary at the beginning. But I think I can always go solo if I did not get along with him. Actually it turns out pretty well since we have a lot things in common - Speaking Cantonese, Living abroad for a while, like traveling and even taking LP. Therefore we get along okay, except he acts very bossy sometimes.
I spent 2 days in Shen Yang before heading off to Harbin. Shen Yang was a old military capital for Mongolians, the highlight of Shen Yang are the traditional Mongolian architecture like the old palace. The Shen Yang palace is only one-third of the size of Forbidden City, but it has its own distinctive Mongolian style. More importantly the entire palace covered with snow during winter, it adds an distinctive romantic flavor to the scenery. Walking in the palace made me feel like a noble living in Mongolian Dynasty. It reminds me the scenes at TV Series like 还珠格格 or 金枝玉叶.
Shen Yang is just 2 hours away from Seoul, so it has strong business tie with Korea. At night I went to the Korean Street and tried the authentic Korean dishes. Originally I would like to try the Korean "Fire Dragon Bath (火龙浴）", using hot stones & burning scents for massage. It supposed to help blood circulation and keep the "cold" out of body. At last minute I am scared the stones will burn my skin, I dropped this idea and went back to hotel after dinner.
Since the temp difference at Harbin from outdoors to indoors are over 60 degrees (from -40 degrees outdoors the 20 degrees indoors). I dont want my ears to fall off when I rub my ears, so Then I went shopping with Soloman to get all the clothing we need for the freezing weather in Harbin, we got ear cover, masks and wool socks. I put on as many layers of installations as I can.
The third day of the trip we took the plane flying from Shen Yang to Harbin.
First I flew to Shen Yang and met up with my travel buddy Soloman (a Hongki immigrated to Australia at 15 yrs old). It was the first time that I found a travel buddy online, it was quite scary at the beginning. But I think I can always go solo if I did not get along with him. Actually it turns out pretty well since we have a lot things in common - Speaking Cantonese, Living abroad for a while, like traveling and even taking LP. Therefore we get along okay, except he acts very bossy sometimes.
I spent 2 days in Shen Yang before heading off to Harbin. Shen Yang was a old military capital for Mongolians, the highlight of Shen Yang are the traditional Mongolian architecture like the old palace. The Shen Yang palace is only one-third of the size of Forbidden City, but it has its own distinctive Mongolian style. More importantly the entire palace covered with snow during winter, it adds an distinctive romantic flavor to the scenery. Walking in the palace made me feel like a noble living in Mongolian Dynasty. It reminds me the scenes at TV Series like 还珠格格 or 金枝玉叶.
Shen Yang is just 2 hours away from Seoul, so it has strong business tie with Korea. At night I went to the Korean Street and tried the authentic Korean dishes. Originally I would like to try the Korean "Fire Dragon Bath (火龙浴）", using hot stones & burning scents for massage. It supposed to help blood circulation and keep the "cold" out of body. At last minute I am scared the stones will burn my skin, I dropped this idea and went back to hotel after dinner.
Since the temp difference at Harbin from outdoors to indoors are over 60 degrees (from -40 degrees outdoors the 20 degrees indoors). I dont want my ears to fall off when I rub my ears, so Then I went shopping with Soloman to get all the clothing we need for the freezing weather in Harbin, we got ear cover, masks and wool socks. I put on as many layers of installations as I can.
The third day of the trip we took the plane flying from Shen Yang to Harbin.
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