Blogs from Xujiahui, Shanghai, China, Asia - page 4

So this past week was a very exciting week! Even more exciting than my first week as far as cool things. Last week was a little rough in getting used to things, but now that I am feeling much more comfortable in Shanghai, I am getting to do a lot more cool stuff and I don't feel so completely incapable. I have a friend named Nichole who lives here in Shanghai from my stake back home. We graduated from high school the same year, and we weren't in a really large stake, and so it is really amazing that we both ended up in Shanghai at the same time. Anyway, she has been really helpful these past few weeks, and it has been a great experience hanging out with her because she has really become a ... read more

Awoke with a nasty head (suprise? much?) to a fairly empty hotal room as Sam, Kelvin, Mandy and Anita had left for England. Poor Sam..'he will just hate me for a week' and 2 hours sleep = hell. We cleared up and Ben and I got a sickly taxi to the central station carrying all our kit. Got stuck into a KFC (seem to eat more Western filth out here than back at home) which saved the day and absored the naughty inside us. Met up with Carly and Paul outside. We got an amazing train to Suzhou (said Sujoah) - sofa style pretty much and watched some South Park on the iPod. 45 mins later we were in there and the relief washed over me with an awesome wave to be away from the atmosphere ... read more

Woke on the sofa in the hotel and went with Ben and Anita to look for a laptop for Nita. The technology malls in Shanghai are quite something, 6 stories high and every shop filled with workers. Filled with workers mainly cos they dont have to pay them much and China's need to create 24 million jobs per year to cope with demand. Find a small laptop for about 300 quid (it had poker capabilites which was the only box that Nita needed ticking!) but HSBC were not open (strange) and we could not get any cash from any bank so paid on card. Still wearing my clothes from the night before i was hot and needed some food so we met the others and headed to Peoples's Square and had a McDonalds!! Get in there! ... read more

Hey everyone, Well, we've been back to work now for over two weeks, so our Xmas break ending on January 3rd has been a bit of a shock to the system -- not to mention having Chris' visit rapidly winding down. But we've been managing to stave off the January blues...sightseeing, barhopping and restaurant sampling along with just chilling at night with a movie or odd game of scrabble -- which has all kept the holiday spirit alive!! And what a holiday! As you can see from the last entry, we celebrated a wonderful Xmas and New Years followed with a decidedly festive night at Shanghai's oldest temple, Longhua. Before that, we enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Hangzhou, of the famous West Lake, and Suzhou, of the famous canals, gardens and 'crossing the bridge' noodles...where Chris ... read more

Sunday, October 7/07 Hey everyone! Well, Shanghai continues to dazzle yet frustrate....regarding the latter, one of my colleagues uses the acronym 'TIC', for 'this is China' for every time something doesn't go the way you'd expect and lately we, too, seem to be throwing it into every other sentence....for example, on the first night of our holidays, the taxi took us to the wrong area in Saturday holiday traffic and after one hour in gridlock we ended up in the wrong part of town; our pay went into the bank for the first time but our money cards didn't work; the internet guy came to our apartment twice and we still don't have web access: TIC, TIC, TIC....TOC!!! But then one late evening, walking down the major shopping street Huai Hui Lu (why hi loo), we ... read more