Back in Beijing

Good Morning Western World!

Wake…work…”Honey, what’s for dinner?”…sleep

Wake…work…”Honey, what’s for dinner?”…sleep

Wake…work…”Let’s just have pizza tonight”…sleep

I returned to work. Then I spent 8 hours watching Smallville on my laptop. They have nothing for me to do. I ask and they say “we don’t have anything right now.” If you say so. I’ve gone on a Lost hiatus just because I don’t want to finish season 5 and not have season 6 handy until I get home. I’m waiting to get Superman dreams from Smallville, but they have yet to come : (

Friday Cheng & I just ran around town a little bit, ate dinner and watched a horribly bad movie on TV. We get something like 3 channels that speak English.

· HBO; but not really HBO. It’s HBO that plays nothing but the same 3 movies all from the mid-90s that nobody cared to see when they came out.

· Star Movies, which also play very old movies that you’d never bother renting. The Son of Rambow was last night’s choice movie and I just wanted to throw our TV from our 7^th floor window.

· “ESPN” which is on a worse loop than ESPN in the states. We only get SportsCenter. No PTIs, No Around The Horn; and on top of all of that when it comes time to commentate on baseball I want to throw myself out of the 7^th floor window. They must not see much baseball wherever this is broadcast from- Hong Kong or UK.

I digress, Friday we stayed in because we knew we would be running around all day Saturday with Song, a guy Cheng works with and maybe to the Great Wall on Sunday. I grabbed some ice cream from the supermarket. No Blue Bell, no sherbet, no highly price gouged Dryers, no Kroger brand. There are 3 brands of ice cream here- all of which only sell the same flavors: Green Tea, Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and “Cookie;” none of which hold a torch to any ice cream in the US. When in Rome…

Saturday, we met Song. We went to one of the more popular shopping areas in town. Wang fu jing (Wong fu jeeng), it is another lavish area lined with Omega, Rolex, Nike, Adidas, Armani, etc. We even ventured into a popular shop for the Chinese teens and twenties- where the clothes are made by prisoners. They screen print just about anything onto a t-shirt. Disney infringements galore and plenty of nonsensical English such as “Forever look young, have fun, girls like.”

Every time I see someone walking the streets with a shirt printed with English on it, the English is horrible. Rarely ever does it make sense- but they don’t seem to know any better. Gives me a chuckle- call my selfish. Song told us he’d show us some good food, so we went to lunch in one of the Galleria-esque buildings. There was an entire floor dedicated to eateries. We wandered the floor 4 or 5 times trying to find a restaurant (maybe? Enter language barrier- stage left). We walked past a few bakeries 3 or 4 times and few other places that smelled delicious; finally being led into the food court that had the delectable aroma of dog food.

We wandered the ranks of plastic foods looking for one that looked good enough to try to eat. I got some rice/beef/broccoli & cauliflower/cold mashed potatoes box set. We ate our lackluster meal underneath a dripping A/C, it was great. The saving grace was the dessert which is like a milk shaved ice (pretty good) smeared in red beans (not so good).

All in all, I was very disappointed in the meal. Usually, in the US, anything that smells like dog food is dog food. Here, if it smells like dog food- odds are a bi-ped is eating it. We finally left this joint and hopped a few subways to some shops that the Chinese youth patron. These places are 100% Chinese, they are multi-level buildings that share an entrance with the subway and has a musk and humidity to them.

There was even a girl “performing.” I think she was some pop star here, but there were only about 20 people around her stage. She sang one song and wrapped it up. Not that I cared. We meandered in and out of rows of lighters and watches and combs and hair clips and plastic bracelets. There were shops that had overly priced articles of clothing that probably never would’ve fit me anyways.

Cheng eyed a few hats, but for the most part we just wanted to return to the little oxygen this city provides. We visited 1 or 2 of these bunker-like malls before we decided to hunt down some dinner. A 30 minute subway ride, a few connecting lines and many prayers, hopes and wishes for some hand soap and we arrive in this back alley dirty Korean BBQ joint that, guess what! Lacked soap! Yayyy. Guess how you go about getting your utensils? You fish them out of a bucket, with your hands, touching every other utensil in the bucket.

My stomach lurches thinking about it again. The food here wasn’t real bad, but one of the dishes had an after-taste of the filth I smell around town. All in all, I wasn’t real thrilled with the food on Saturday. Another 20 minute subway ride and 20 minute walk we finally make it home. Cheng & Song surfed the internet looking for knock-off items. I eventually got in the shower once I determined I wasn’t a very integral part of the conversations going on.

When I hopped out the TV was showing a basketball game. FYI, they’ve been playing the NBA Championship games here at least once a week… the season has been over for about 2 months now. Anyway, the game turned out to be a Yao Ming Foundation Charity Basketball game that featured a few Houston Rockets and some other NBA players. I loved it. They were playing in Beijing and I was a little disappointed that I heard nothing of this game. I would have loved to be there. Ads were probably on the radio, but understanding that would’ve involved a higher Chinese proficiency,

Sunday I went to church alone and tagged up with a few with whom I typically mingle and eat lunch. The music was led by a few Africans who could sing pretty well. I really enjoyed the guy’s voice. The music was good, the sermon was there.

I’m not real fond of the pastor’s methods. His sermons are an endless string of quoting people nobody knows and scripture. I think of it as a high school research paper in which I only used other people’s words and misquoted and skewed many quotes to make my points.

After church we went to lunch with a group of about 8 people that are travelling the world for 6 months on mission work. They’ve spent 3 weeks here, 3 in the Philippines, 3 in Korea, 3 months in New Zealand and will spend 3 weeks in Israel. We had lunch at this bamboo hut with play swords, axes and spears decorating the entrance. The staff brings out dish after dish after dish until told to stop.

We had a beef noodle curry dish, sweet potato dish, fish soup, chicken & eggplant dish and a few others. It was delicious and I had a good time chatting with a few white women. It felt like home- going to lunch after church, speaking English, napping after that- it was a great morning. I got home around 2 and fell asleep while watching a smattering of Lost, Smallville and the Pacific. Cheng has been dealing with a stomach bug so got him some soup, bought a few dvds and returned home to watch The Imaginirium of Doctor Parnassus. It was a wild movie, the last one Heath Ledger did, but I greatly enjoyed it. A lot. I’m looking forward to watching it again.

Before I boarded the bus this morning, I was contemplating a tirade I was going to write here; but of course, I don’t remember any of it. I need to keep a notepad handy… I’m sure it was going to start along these lines: These people are driving me crazy because….. and my most immediate point escapes me.

Counting down the days…

Shanghai

Fast forward to the good stuff…

Last Thursday Cheng & I hopped a sleeper train to Shanghai. We shared a cabin with 2 other men. Upon approaching the train station I was attempting to determine what this elaborately constructed erection was. It was the train station- about as big, modern and laid out like your municipal airport. I was flabbergasted. We arrived around 8- an hour and a half before our train departure. The building was marble floored. The waiting areas were lined with loveseats and couches but, go figure, in such a populated country they were full. Shocker. Cheng and I saddled up the best piece of marble they had and took a seat. I began a new book, Manhunt, about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. We remained there for some time until we were allowed to board. Then we remained there a little longer while making an attempt to get up.

We had our ticket hole punched, they pull out all the stops for this place, and then we proceeded onboard. I don’t think I have ever ridden a train before- much less a sleeper train but it wasn’t much like I had imagined the Hogwarts Express to be. This was pretty lackluster- granted there were TVs for every bed. Take that Harry Potter! But I elected to plug in my laptop and watch Lost. I’m hooked.

About 10 minutes into the train ride a stewardess (what are they when they’re on trains?) came by with her pencil to jot down on her notepad who was in the cabin and who was not. This country’s technology and innovation is astounding. After that display of 18^th century efficiency I journeyed to the bathroom. Lo and behold, it was a squatty; On a train. It doesn’t take a scholar to determine how the area surrounding the hole looked. Getting into the lavatory was a balancing act since the door opened inward over the hole. No wonder China puts out good gymnasts.

Friday- We arrived around 7:40am on Friday. The train ride was about 10 hours to Shanghai and I “slept” most of it. Rinky-dink pillows and the prison cot with a straw mat and fitted sheet don’t really meet my qualifications of a bed. As we left the train we were met by the beginnings of a rain shower. We rushed out through the terminal hopped a taxi and were about 5 minutes down the road when I realized my Blackberry wasn’t in my pocket. Nor was it in my backpack. So we had the cabbie turn around and we made our way back onto the train. I got there to find the bed had been stripped and there was nothing to see. I found a cleaning lady, but of course, wasn’t able to communicate my dilemma. Luckily I was able to coerce her to come outside to meet my translator- Cheng. They chatted, she said she hadn’t seen anything but to head down the way and ask one of the (again, what are they called?) stewardesses. The stewardess tried calling someone on her walkie-talkie but nobody would answer after 3 attempts so she just gave up. She told Cheng there was something turned in up front but they weren’t sure it was a phone- but we never even got to look and see if it was my Blackberry- which wouldn’t much look like one if you’d never seen

one before.

The stewardess got Cheng’s phone number in case they found it they would let him know. In the mean time we should go wait by the “Left Baggage” center. Which we thought it was exactly like it sounded. If you “left” your luggage it winds up here. Wrong. Here you “leave” your luggage. And I guess they hold it for you- like a locker rental. Eventually they told us to check inside the station. We asked the guy at the help desk (I use the term “we” extremely loosely), and he had heard nothing of it. Cheng left his number there. We then walked over to the Police desk, which had about 20 “police” behind it. I don’t think they’re doing their jobs if they’re all standing right here. They pretty much said buy a new phone. Thanks.

We determined we exhausted our options so we headed to the hotel. What a great start to a “vacation”- rain, lost cellphone and more lung cancer. We checked into the hotel, which turned out to be pretty grimy. There was not one clean spot on the carpet and you couldn’t walk down the halls of our floor without stumbling where there were no baseboards under the carpet. The bathroom had cracked tile, one of those haunting drains in the ground and a shower floor that resembled summer camp. Too bad I didn’t bring my flip flops.

I decided I needed to shower away the train ride, black cloud and poor disposition. So I did. I went another step forward and shaved off the beard. I can honestly say I’ve never been so happy to shave. It took a considerable amount of effort because I couldn’t clip it first. I think I went through a blade and a half (let the “hairy jokes” rain in). After hacking it all off, we went to the café at the bottom floor of the hotel for lunch, had a quick nap then headed to the Shanghai office.

W met a few people, got the lay of the land and advice for the World Expo (to be explained) and rode back to the hotel with Zhang Yongyong, the youngest guy we met- mid 20s. For dinner we tagged up with Ji Kai, he is the brother of one of the kid’s with which we play basketball. He speaks little English, but he uses his hands and body pretty well when he speaks so I was able to understand the gross majority of what was being said. He took us to an “authentic” side street eatery. Calling it “hole-in-the-wall” might give the wrong impression, but

it wasn’t far from it. The building wasn’t in bad shape, but I don’t think the Health Inspector comes by much…

We had a few good dishes, most of which I don’t remember. Duck and fish were one of them. The whole fish came out and it was actually really good. The fish eyes are supposed to be good luck- but I think I’d rather stick with my bad luck than snack on fish eye. We had a nice chat, walked around and saw a lot of the glamour of Shanghai. It’s got the lights of New York, the humidity of Key West and the traffic of LA at rush hour (at least as bad as it looks in the movies). I love the lights though. Streets lined with well lit, brand name/designer brand shops, trees with Christmas-like lights, signs and buildings with neon lights- I enjoy it. The weather does take

away from it though.

Saturday Ji Kai wanted to take us to a good lunch place so we met him in some random part of town. The street we were on appeared to be like Michael’s laid out across 10 or 12 shops. Fabrics and buttons and ribbons and all sorts of great Sunday School arts & crafts supplies lined the road. The corner we were on was heavy with foot traffic and mopeds weaving in and out the crowds on the sidewalks. My tolerance for the way things are done over here has grown shorter, especially when the car/bike/moped horns come into play. I came very close to kicking over a few of the riders. When they choose to try to go through, rather than around you is when I have little patience. I’ve begun to stand more ground here and I don’t move out of the way for much. I can play by their rules… Sometimes the old boney elbows to the ribs set me straight though.

There were also vendors selling mystery meats on a stick and 2 other vendors selling watermelon and cantaloupe slices on a stick. I approached a vendor and asked how much (duo shao qian; d’whoa sh’ow chee’an) to which he held up 2 fingers- then he saw the color of my skin and it instantly became 5. Ji Kai said the password and I gave the guy 2 and walked off with watermelon on a stick- probably the messiest way to eat it. No wonder everyone else chose cantaloupe.

We wondered into a part of town that was lined and stacked with stalls but the architecture was all palace/temple like. It was real neat. We stood in a line for an hour to get into a little restaurant for lunch. We had these excellent-little-dumpling like things that have a meat (we had crab in one and beef in the other) inside as well as a broth so when you bite into it, you have to drink up the broth also. It was tough to manage but they were phenomenal. We also had some Hot Pocket like things as well as a rice dumplin

g thing wrapped in a leaf of some form, bound with a string. I was told that the place we ate is a very famous place that most US Presidents venture to when visiting Shanghai.

We left and wandered the stalls a little more until we found one with paintings. I found a 4 foot wide paining of red and orange cherry blossoms that I really liked and after Ji Kai said the magic password (really he just haggled, but I like to think it’s a password) I paid a little over 14 bucks for it. Eventually, Cheng and I caught a taxi to the hotel, showered and napped.

We woke up to go to dinner with Zhang Yongyong. He took us to the ex-pat part of town we moseyed through with Ji Kai the previous night. We eventually settled at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant; one of those joints where the guys walk around with the meats on long metal skewers and slice off a few pieces. We ate our fill of everything and I ate a lot more than I should have. But the meal wasn’t cheap and I didn’t realize at the time that Zhang Yongyong was footing the bill. When I found that out I felt pretty bad. For the 3 of us the meal cost about 1000RMB total which is about $145.

It was a very relaxed meal, full of conversation I didn’t understand. However, there was good music being played and plenty of people to watch- I was content. We got back to the hotel and showered again (the humidity there is no joke) and eventually went to bed.

Sunday we hopped up a little later in the morning, ate lunch at the hotel and then met Ji Kai. He took us down Nan Jing Rd, which is not really a road because it’s blocked on both ends. It’s a heavily foot trafficked area full of shopping. If you haven’t caught on, Shanghai is the city with shopping and eating; Beijing is the city with history and sights to see. We wandered into the Nike, Adidas and then the Chinese sportswear shops.

We meandered our way to the Bund which is a little riverside walk that has all the old architecture on one side and modern and futuristic across the way. It was actually a real neat sight to see the two together like that. We walked the “outside beach” (concrete. I know you’re shocked) and caught the ferry across the way. We walked around the downtown area, snapped quite a few photos and went for a fairly early dinner in the food court of the nearby mall. While eating Ji Kai helped us plan our visit to the World Expo. Showed us which countries’ exhibits we needed to visit and how long the lines would be at others. A little more browsing through the stores and wandering around the area and we caught the subway home in order to prep ourselves to the journey to the Expo.

Monday we were up bright and early to get to the Expo. What is the World Expo you ask? There are no stupid questions. It is an exposition of countries from around the World. It’s a hugeeeee stone/cement convention center plaza plot layout area. The countries come in and build buildings to house the exhibits that exemplify and show off the country. Some of the buildings will house the majority of a continent for the smaller countries that cannot pay their way (Most of Africa and some of Central/South America).

We dressed in light colors, and packed lightly for we knew it would be a scorcher. We caught a taxi to the nearest subway station then fought our way onto a car. By fight I really mean nearly fight. People pouring off, others fighting on. As I’ve mentioned, nobody concerns themselves with lines or order. We got on the subway and as more people get on at stops and get off at others we are all the way in the back by the time we reach our stop. This, to no surprise, leads to more knocking people over to get out of there.

…My advice to anyone visiting this country: Come when it’s cool, especially to Shanghai; and bring sanitizing wipes/hand sanitizer. Now back to the regularly scheduled program…

After a lengthy hike to the Expo gate, we were about an hour early. The sun rises around 5am here so by 8am things are getting pretty hot. We stood in a thick line, under the sun, on top of concrete for a good 45 minutes before we were corralled forward under the shade. As soon as the gates opened at 9 it became the Run of The Bulls and everyone booked it to the forward corralling area.

Cheng and I got shoulder to shoulder at one point to prevent anyone from pushing their way ahead of us and it worked for a short time until the line in front of us began moving unevenly. At that point, I stood up a little straighter and put my elbows out a little further and didn’t let anyone past unscathed. I know I sound violent and cruel, just wait until you visit. You’ll see…

We got in around 9:15 and ran to the USA booth. I was hoping for some “this is why our country is better than yours” type propaganda. Then I was reminded that Obama is running the country. Waste of time. I’m embarrassed to even describe what was going on- so I won’t.

We then headed to Italy. The line was a monstrosity, too many people, too much concrete, too little shade, too few clouds and too much sun. The exhibit, however, was remarkable. You walked in past Roman sculptures and architecture, glanced at the first bicycle and motorcycle, step into a room with art all over, miniature versions of the Pantheon and churches; Modern art in the next room. Then a huge white walled foyer with an orchestra mounted on one wall, fashion pieces staggered up the adjacent wall; a grand piano on display under the escalator and underneath a quarter section of a cathedral- the artwork on the internal section, detailed architecture on the outside.

Upstairs they had a statue of “Perseus with the Head of Medusa” in a glass case and images of Italy cast upon the wall; A showcase of noodles and wines in another room. By this point we had been standing or walking at a snails pace for about 2 hours and needed to rest the joints.

We found some shaded benches and crashed. We heard the line to get into the Germany exhibit was around 5 hours long. UK was an hour and a half, France 3 hours, so we spent a lot of time just taking pictures of the buildings themselves. We walked around; I hammed it up in some pictures, hopped in a few Chinese people’s pictures until finally we ran into a group of white kids our age.

Turned out they were students of James Madison University getting some VIP access to different exhibits so we tagged around with them for a few hours. We had a great time with them, better time than we were having on our own at that point. Around 4 we left. Cheng & I were dragging and ready to crash. We showered and ate. I got a massage that felt like I was on the subway from all the elbows to the spine and punches in the back. Needless to say, it didn’t do a whole lot besides hurt. I returned to the hotel exhausted. We napped and when I woke I was on fire.

I ended up running a fever for about a day and a half, had a headache that felt like a little man was swinging a sledgehammer at my temples for 2 days, and am still nursing a neck that feels like whiplash. It goes without saying that my trip to Shanghai started and ended on the wrong feet…

This weekend, we head to the Summer Palace!

More Basketball and Shopping

Good Tidings to all!

I have to start jotting down notes of what I do with my days else-wise, come crunch time; I don't remember what I did.

This might be the shortest email I have written yet.

I would think Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all pretty similar. I think they all involved sitting at my desk and loosely thumbing through the Annual Report for 2007. I think tomorrow I'll ask for a new assignment.

After work one of those days, I began watching Lost, which I downloaded prior to my departure. I must admit that I am hooked. I find it to be a compelling show and typically full of surprises. I've also been watching Arrested Development, but the characters are so dumb that it hurts to watch; Arrested Development is less compelling but has a higher laugh factor. I also began reading Freakonomics. It has been a pretty unique read. I’ve finished 2 of my 5 books. I would like to finish 5 of 5 by the time I land in Houston. I am still exceedingly bitter about not being able to find my copy of Cormac McCarthy's, The Road. Every English teacher I have had throughout history would be joyous to see that I underlined that movie title in an email. I just can’t get away from that good ole public schooling.

I believe it was Tuesday, that after lunch Rachel & I were invited into the Big Boss's office for a little chat. He asked how Cheng & I were enjoying Beijing, what we thought of the food, what I wanted to do with my life, how Cheng is enjoying work, etc. Thankfully he didn't ask me what I've been doing while in the office here because my answer would have as much substance as a Saltine.

He decided on the spot that Rachel should book a train to, hotel and flight back from Shanghai. I believe we will be leaving Thursday. He also told her to give us some pocket money. Lam's reputation really must bear a lot of weight around here or Richard is just generous people. Either way, I spent a good deal of time thanking him for that offer and for having us here

in the first place. He went on to tell me that he wished he would've known someone in the US the first time he visited. He also said his family is coming in town soon and that we should all get together for "BBQ." We'll see if he knows what that truly is. I also spent a few minutes telling Richard what a great job Rachel has been doing in taking care of us. Rachel was embarrassed, but I think I earned many a free pass. Saving face and compliments are a bigger deal here than they are in the States. I promptly returned to my desk to stare into a great abyss.

Thursday was basketball day. Cheng had to sit in a different cubicle because the owner of his desk had returned from off-site. It was lonely with him being 16 feet away instead of 8. At the end of the day, we finally got to play basketball. This time 20 people were there. The games were no less confusing or unorganized. They keep score in a 4 quarter game, but the players seem to have trouble remaining on one team.

Everyone mixes up and they substitute on the fly like in hockey. At one point I jumped in on the opposing team when a kid's glasses busted. I had no idea who was on my team and for the life of me couldn't figure out what defense we were playing.

I remember feeling like I was counting 6 people on my team when we played defense and I know that's not a good starting point. In 4 quarters of play I played bad, poor, fair, good and very good- in no specific order. I attribute it to the fact that both teams lack individuality (thanks Mao and your communism). They pass one too many times, every time and they play zone defense (which is a big no-no in the US pick-up basketball games). Also, not being able to ask what defense we are playing hurts. At one point, Cheng was on the sideline and I pleaded with him to find out from the guy I subbed in for, what defense we were playing. It took him 5 minutes to convey this and answer me.

Friday was a pretty lackadaisical day. We spent some time just wandering around this area. Got groceries, dropped off and picked up laundry. We spent most of the day inside as the weather was pretty dreary and drizzly for most of the day. I watched a good deal of Lost. We also watched the movie Capote. I can’t say I recommend it. For dinner we went to Pizza Hut : ) Pizza is good no matter where you go. They even have an "Atlantic Salmon Pizza" on the menu here.... No thanks. The Atlantic Ocean is a pretty far way-away. I remember that much from geography. If memory also serves me, Salmon is a freshwater fish which wouldn't be found in the Atlantic. Maybe the Chinese in their group-think mindset, know something the free world doesn't. Cheng had fries from McDonald's with his pizza. I had a frightening run-in with an ATM while waiting for out food. Every ATM I've come in contact with has given the option of Chinese or English. Well, this genie didn't grant me such wishes. It automatically started displaying everything in Chinese. For an instance, I panicked and thought I should step outside and yell for Cheng. But that would leave my ATM in Chinese, in China, with my card in it, unattended. I quickly decided that at best- it would eat my card as a result. So, thanks to this memory I have, I was able to remember the typical location and sequence of buttons that gave the card back. That panic soon subsided and we returned home.

Saturday we got going around 10. Picked up some laundry and then ate lunch. We then caught a taxi to Yaxiu Market. It was pretty similar to the Silk Market but with more clothes, less sunglasses and other accessories. The booth workers were far less invasive. My first buy of the day was a 65% linen/35% cotton European/Asian styled shirt. 4 or 5 buttons down the front that don't go much lower than the sternum. No collar. I bought it for 175RMB ( like $27 US). I feel as if the woman took me, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. I then bought a pair of Raybans for Dad and a pair of Oakleys for Cody. I felt like I got taken again, paying a whopping 125RMB (about $25 US). I felt as if they were harder to bargain, but they also seemed less needy. I need to be needed. I paid 50 RMB for a pair of Oakleys for Kyle (less than $8 US). I then bough Derek a birthday present (can't spoil it). Cheng bought a backpack on a whim.

While I was waiting for him I got continually heckled about getting another bag. I kept saying "I have one!" and I'd point to it on my back. Then the sales lady would respond "You need more than one!" to which my rebuttal was "Why!? I can only wear one at a time!" Gotcha there! He almost made a purchase when he pointed out to the lady that the straps had 0 padding in them. I began to flaunt my heavily rubber-cushioned backpack straps and continually encouraged her to feel them. To my dismay, she didn't : (

As we were making our exit, the lady in a different booth was pitching a bag to some European man saying "Here, here. If you were American I'd give you this price. But I'll give you this one instead!" I wheeled around stuck my head in their little pow-wow circle and over-embellished my offense and told her I would never come shop in her stall. The European men laughed and the women, laughing, beckoned me back. I walked past a belt stall and was asked if I needed a belt. I lifted my shirt and pointed to the one I was wearing. Had I been thinking I would've showed her it has 2 sides and it’s really like having a whole 'nother belt entirely.

We left and wondered the area. We were back in the SoHo district. We meandered through the 4 story tall Adidas store (with 7 ft tall Buzz Lightyear plastic statue- I still don't know how he fit in), the 2 story Nike store, the 2 story Levi's store selling Chinese for nearly $150, North Face, Oakley and Quicksilver. The Apple store was packed to the gills- it’s a good thing I could care less about Apple products, with the exception of my trusty iPod. We came home and rested up before dinner.

Sunday I woke up to get ready for church to find out that our toilet wasn't running and Cheng said the maintenance man was "supposed to be here within the hour." We waited for awhile. I waited in bed. By the time he showed up and got us back in operation it was too late to walk down the street to catch the taxi to make the 20 minute drive to get to church. I downloaded a lot of the Village Church's podcasts. Those will have to suffice. We spent the better part of Sunday straightening up a little, errands and TV watching. Maybe we'll go figure out the subway system to give us a little more mobility around the city.

I had some Wasabi Fried Squid today and it was absolutely delicious. I accompanied that with a Coke Float... The ice cream tasted like vanilla protein powder (which has always been my least favorite). The squid was utterly delicious though.

Oh, I forgot, on Thursday we had a bill slipped under our door for July's rent. We were told by someone, somewhere along the way that we would be reimbursing the company $300 of the rent. According to the bill, this 2 bed 1 bath + Kitchen is over RMB8600 which is something like $1200. I'm hoping we only pay $300 of that! Cheng is taking the bill in tomorrow to the lady that set everything up for us, with $300 or RMB2050. Hopefully that will quiet the masses. They changed the keys today and Cheng thinks the lady tried to say it has something to do with the rent... Ruh roh Rastro!

Hopefully this week will garner a little more interest. Shanghai should be a good time. Everyone is telling Cheng its hotter there than here (and it was 106 at one point last week). The train ride should be exciting. I think it will be a night flight and as Lam says at least we'll "be able to smell the countryside and see how the rest travel." Our/My Great Wall adventure planning is starting to build a little steam. We have really only 3 more things we're being told/it’s recommended that we see. The Summer Palace, The Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven. 4 weeks is plenty of time to sort that out. We're also working out what gifts to give to whom and when.

Until next time. Keep your TVs tuned to the same Bat-Channel.