Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday September 17th
This is my 248th day in China which means that I will leave on my 250th day, a nice round number to remember.
This is also my last day at work for this trip, and I have received my payment and tickets. My aide is assigned his tasks, the project leaders have been consulted, and the plans have been drawn for their actions while I'm absent. Saying a little farewell to the troops of the team, and putting in order my last preparation for departure. I hope to write a 'reflection' tomorrow, and post it when I come back.
What a successful trip!
This is also my last day at work for this trip, and I have received my payment and tickets. My aide is assigned his tasks, the project leaders have been consulted, and the plans have been drawn for their actions while I'm absent. Saying a little farewell to the troops of the team, and putting in order my last preparation for departure. I hope to write a 'reflection' tomorrow, and post it when I come back.
What a successful trip!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday September 16 0937
Very very close now: arriving back early-early on Monday, so have been *super* busy making sure the project can continue in my absence, drawing up documentation, instructions, and lists for things to do while I'm away. In this way, I can feel truly able to take my time off, well, off. Gotta run all the way to the finish line though.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Monday September 6th 1711
I am pretty sure I am in a stretched-time phenomenon: the fact that my blogs are spacing out pretty continuously is my evidence. I am often surprised that an entire week can pass by so quickly: it feels just like yesterday that I was in Hong Kong. But the truth is that, with only 2 weeks left, I am temporally hurtling towards my departure from China for home for a whole month and a half, and I am excited! Gotta make sure to get my gift-buying caught up...
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday August 30 0922
Hope all is going well for you all!
Today I make a presentation for the company that will decide exactly how much money the project will continue to be given, and ultimately how much revenue share I and the rest of the development team get of the final. I'm a bit anxious, but it should go alright.
Only, like, 3 weeks until I fly back!
Today I make a presentation for the company that will decide exactly how much money the project will continue to be given, and ultimately how much revenue share I and the rest of the development team get of the final. I'm a bit anxious, but it should go alright.
Only, like, 3 weeks until I fly back!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday August 25 0928
Hong Kong was really awesome to visit, and I made sure to get around and see it for the day I was there. When I came to Shanghai, I was expecting crowded streets with dozens of big signs hanging over it, but got wide sidewalks and avenues: that's because my picture of China was Hong Kong basically. All the buildings are tall, there are hundreds of pawn shops, whole streets of fashion shops and boutiques, and thousands of money changers. There are British-style trams and taxis, bank towers left and right, and a full-blooded racial class system: Mandarin, Western, Indian, Cantonese, which makes for a really weird place. All the streets are named after western names: I stayed my night in an alley hotel off the intersection of Jordan and Nathan street (which apparantly have their own wikipedia article...)
Hong Kong is in two parts: Kowloon and Honk Kong, with the former being on the "inland island", and the latter being this pickle-shaped isle with a steep mountain range along the center. Hong Kong is centered on the strait formed by their proximity, which is called the 'Harbor'. The skyscrapers are mostly on the isle, but the biggest skyscrapers are in Kowloon. This is a recent picture: my hotel was nearish to the tallest skyscraper in the middle-right.
Hong Kong is tropical: it kept raining, then dry, then raining, then dry, the whole time I was there. I had to buy an umbrella from one of the 7-Elevens (which are EVERYWHERE). All the western chains were represented, and I'd have to say the part of Hong Kong below the third floor is entirely dedicated to shops and public businesses. It's a great place to spend all your money away, I bet.
As a sidenote... The Chinese Bureaucracy is truly Grand and Harmonious. I was really dreading my visit, imagining an even more incomprehensible DMV. The truth, though, is that getting my new visa took a total of an hour spread over two days (application, then pick up the next day). And it's not like I was the only one there that day: there were at least 100 people in front of me in line. However, the lady next to me in line was a television executive, and she answered some questions of mine about the extent of Chinese television regulation and censorship, and I think that caused my net approval of the bureaucratic efficiency to be counterbalanced.
So yea: it is one of the only times I've actually regretted forgetting my camera at home, and I think I'd do a better job relating about my visit in person. It was indeed a very interesting visit, with lots of sights and sounds: I'd be happy to go visit again for a longer duration. Shanghai is probably better to live in for my purposes, but Hong Kong is certainly more rewarding if you are wanting to visit somewhere Eastern but still have some home comforts.
Hong Kong is in two parts: Kowloon and Honk Kong, with the former being on the "inland island", and the latter being this pickle-shaped isle with a steep mountain range along the center. Hong Kong is centered on the strait formed by their proximity, which is called the 'Harbor'. The skyscrapers are mostly on the isle, but the biggest skyscrapers are in Kowloon. This is a recent picture: my hotel was nearish to the tallest skyscraper in the middle-right.
Hong Kong is tropical: it kept raining, then dry, then raining, then dry, the whole time I was there. I had to buy an umbrella from one of the 7-Elevens (which are EVERYWHERE). All the western chains were represented, and I'd have to say the part of Hong Kong below the third floor is entirely dedicated to shops and public businesses. It's a great place to spend all your money away, I bet.
As a sidenote... The Chinese Bureaucracy is truly Grand and Harmonious. I was really dreading my visit, imagining an even more incomprehensible DMV. The truth, though, is that getting my new visa took a total of an hour spread over two days (application, then pick up the next day). And it's not like I was the only one there that day: there were at least 100 people in front of me in line. However, the lady next to me in line was a television executive, and she answered some questions of mine about the extent of Chinese television regulation and censorship, and I think that caused my net approval of the bureaucratic efficiency to be counterbalanced.
So yea: it is one of the only times I've actually regretted forgetting my camera at home, and I think I'd do a better job relating about my visit in person. It was indeed a very interesting visit, with lots of sights and sounds: I'd be happy to go visit again for a longer duration. Shanghai is probably better to live in for my purposes, but Hong Kong is certainly more rewarding if you are wanting to visit somewhere Eastern but still have some home comforts.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tuesday August 17
Urghk... my visa is about to expire and apparantly I have to fly to Hong Kong and stay overnight Thursday-Friday while they handle it. I just hope I'm back in time to see Chris off to Britain, and I'm really not very enthusiastic about this abrupt itinerary, and vaguely pessimisstic about being able to figure out what I'm supposed to do alone in Hong Kong dealing with a pseudo-Chinese bureaucracy of Doom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)