Team SU Reunited

It's been quite busy in Shanghai since my sister, brother-in-law and 3 year-old nephew moved here.   We are enjoying ourselves and have migrated our blogging skills over to Tumblr since it is not blocked by the Great Firewall (GFW).  Check out my more succinct chronicle at hennifer.com or my sister's blog at yearinshanghai.tumblr.com

End of the Road

What an Adventure . . .



So the last episode is finally upon us (we get some cameos at the end).  I will not provide any spoilers and for those who have actually watched the whole season, I hope you enjoyed it and are as pleased as we were with the winning team.

What a fun ride and although I wish we had made it a little longer or even to the finals, it was still an amazing experience and we are grateful to have been part of this season of the show.

Anything else I might write would not do any justice to the incredible summary and photo-collages that Khai Shing put together here.

For the airing of the Finale, ICS used my hook-up to arrange a party at the Shanghai Brewery.  It was jam-packed and they almost would not let us upstairs even though Jenn, Brandon, and I were on the show!  However, after some smooth talking, the cover was waived and we were greeted by adoring fans.  We were even asked to sign some autographs (4 to be exact).

It was great to see some of the other teams (Trainers, Yelin, Father/Daughter, Harvard, Brandon), the cameramen, production crew, and directors there.  From what I can remember of the night, I had a great time - from pre-gaming at Zapata's with pitchers of margarita, to the Shanghai Brewery Finale party, onto the after-party at Camel Bar, all the way to bowing to the porcelain god.

Countdown

We just attended the Amazing Race China Rush Press Conference and got a preview of Episode 1.  It looks fantastic and renewed our excitement over the show as we got a chance to relive our experience.

As another teaser, here is a behind-the-scenes video that one of the contestant handlers had shot of our opening sequence.  The Olympics may be over but the Amazing Race China Rush is only just beginning!

A reporter from CNN International was also there and wrote this story on the show:  http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/amazing-race-travel-real-china-576-minutes-085625

Are you Ready?

So we were cast in Season 3 of the Amazing Race China Rush.  This is the bilingual China version of the officially licensed ABC hit reality television series. It will air in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan on August 26 and will be available for viewing in the US via satellite dish if you have a Chinese network programming package or online via the ICS web-site and YouTube of course. For a preview you can check-out Season 2 episodes here: http://www.chinarush.cn/season2/en/

MIA

I will be on hiatus for awhile . . . be back soon.

Lucky Number

In the Chinese culture, 8 is probably the most auspicious number because it sounds similar to the word for 'generating wealth' or as I like to say, more colloquially, 'hit the motherload'.  We are now 8 days from our 8-month anniversary of arriving in Shanghai so I thought I would quickly provide an update.  On the opposite spectrum, 4 is the unluckiest number in China because it is a homonym for the word 'death'.  Most buildings do not have any floors with the number 4 in them and so even though I work on the 15th floor, there are actually only 12 levels below me.  It's quite amusing because the elevator actually flashes 1, 2, 3, 3a, 5, 6 . . . on my way to my desk.  I heard in Beijing they even stopped issuing any license plates containing poor unlucky number four.  Work has been quite busy lately so without much further ado, here are 18 interesting observations to date:

- You know you're in China when you have to wake up at 6:30 am on a Monday morning to watch the Superbowl.

- You know you're in China when KFC serves a Peking duck wrap (it's delicious!).
- You know you're in China when a family of 5 can fit on 1 electric scooter.
- You know you're in China when going to the Gap is a big deal.
- You know you're in China when everyone on the subway is talking (actually yelling) into their cell phones.

- You know you're in China when the Holiday Inn or Howard Johnson is actually really nice.
- You know you're in China when green grass is for looking at, not walking on.

- You know you're in China when they serve white fungus syrup for dessert at a Ritz Carlton brunch buffet.

....... when you start ordering toilet paper off Taobao (the Chinese equivalent of eBay + Amazon + FreshDirect + Walmart.com). 

....... when the latest young female fashion trend is to sport big round plastic eyeglass frames with no lenses.
....... when 'No Smoking' signs are apparently invisible because nobody adheres to them.

....... when going to the movies costs two to three times more than Loews or AMC.
....... when some folks will blatantly gawk at you if you happen to be blonde.
....... when a license plate for a car can cost up to 50K USD and that's not including the car.
....... when the Tesco (a British export similar to a Target Greatland) has a whole aisle just for MSG. 

....... when local public TV consists purely of variety shows, game shows, and historical dramas.
....... when the office is deserted at 12:01 pm because everyone is out to lunch.
- And finally, you know you're in China when all anyone can talk about is 林 来 疯 or Linsanity, oh wait, that's not just China, it's global!

In closing, I heard an interesting story from a fellow NBA fanatic that I met here.  He said that a Chinese girl who he works with was crying at her desk one day and so he asked her what was wrong.  She said "nothing, I am just so happy because Jeremy Lin said in an interview that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China".  The island group is located in the East China Sea, currently uninhabited, and their sovereignty has been disputed by Japan and China for decades.  Now I'm no history buff and I do not know who has rightful claim to these islands but I thought it was very interesting that someone would ask a ball player from Palo Alto this question and that anybody in China would actually take his opinion to mean anything.  From the savior of Madison Square Garden to the Peace Ambassador of East Asia?  I will fully admit that I am a big fan and he is incredibly fun to watch but I think he should stick to protecting the ball instead of foreign policy.  Go Knicks.

Enter the Dragon

As we prepare to enter the festival season in China with another week of public holiday, let me wish everyone a belated Happy (Western) New Year and an early congratulations to Craig, Vicky, Russ, and Dhanesh for their auspicious Dragon babies on the way.  We ended  2011 on a high note beginning with Thanksgiving weekend.  Although I was quite sad to have missed the gripping Dolphins/Cowboys game, seeing 50+ giant pandas in their natural habitat more than made up for it.  It was a whirlwind 3-day trip to Chengdu but well worth it.  Buying the plane tickets on the Chinese equivalent of Expedia was straight-forward albeit still strange to pay C.O.D. (delivered same-day) and I was also surprised because I have not seen a paper airline ticket for about 10 years.  Like Norm, I am fully converted, and we chose the top rated hotel on TripAdvisor.com:  Buddha Zen and we were not disappointed.  It was only about $60 USD a night including a hot breakfast buffet and was built in a huge converted ancient monastery.  It was very charming and in a great location.  Pictures are here.

The giant pandas were amazing and they were everywhere.  Unfortunately, the timing was not optimal because the panda cubs were too young to allow us to hold them since they were very susceptible to germs so Jenn had to settle with sitting next to a 2-year old who was as tall as she was sitting up and his paws + claws were already as big as my head.  Watching the bears munching on bamboo, playing with each other, and climbing trees was unforgettable but after 8 hours in the park, we were hungry and bamboo was not going to cut it.  I think the hunger was making Jenn a little loopy too because she was seriously scheming up ways to distract the guard, grab a baby panda, and sneak him out in our backpack.

Chengdu is a very fun city and has a completely different vibe from Shanghai.  The pace is much slower and for the most part the cab drivers even obey traffic regulations.  It is noticeably quieter at night with less horn honking and most shops and food stalls are all closed by 9 pm.  In contrast, in Shanghai I can still get my haircut after 10:30 pm at my local barber shop, browse the latest releases of street DVDs, and then pick up some bananas at the local fruit stand on the way home.

That night, we did get a little nostalgic since it was Thanksgiving so I called the Chengdu Sheraton and asked them if they had a special buffet dinner serving turkey.  Not only did they satisfy our tryptophan fix but they also gave every patron a small pumpkin pie as a gift to take home.  With our bellies bursting we returned to our monastery/hotel to dream about pandas and prepare for a busy second day.

On our ride back from the Panda Breeding center we had met a nice local driver and hired him to take us sightseeing the following day.  He convinced us to visit Mt. Emei (3 hours away) and we were grateful that he did.  We had no idea what to expect when he dropped us off at the base of the mountain; it was rainy and cold, so much so that they even rented parkas to visitors.  After about an hour and a half of hiking up this mountain in the rain, we were both frigid and wet and considered turning back since we could not see anything except mist and fog.  Luckily Jenn made the call to buy the tickets and ride the cable car to take us to the next level because halfway through, we broke through the clouds and it was a breathtaking sight to see the azure blue sky punctuated with monolithic golden temples on the summit of this mountain (10,103 feet high).  With the sun beating down on us, we soon dried off, warmed up and enjoyed exploring the monasteries that were built as far back as 300 AD.

Once we returned to Chengdu our driver dropped us off at Kuanzhai Lane and suggested that we go for a stroll as it was a popular place for tourists to grab a bite, have a drink, or relax in a tea house.  Again, he did not steer us wrong.  It was another charming site, a renovated Qing Dynasty alley revamped for the 21st century complete with a vintage style Starbucks.  However, unlike similar ventures in Shanghai, this one was different, more laid back and less ostensibly touristy.  We took a break in a cute tea garden, enjoyed a spicy Sichuan (formerly spelled Szechuan) hot pot, and then relaxed in a German beer house (complete with lederhosen-clad staff that would have made Jupiter proud) as we watched Stephon Marbury and his Beijing Ducks continue their undefeated season.

Before long, we found ourselves boarding our flight back to Shanghai and although Jenn was already thinking about a return trip coinciding with the 6 month anniversary birth of baby pandas so she could hold them, we actually had missed Shanghai a little.  We had come to embrace our new city now and Jenn was plugged into a regular Ladies Night with our new French friends.  They had weekly excursions to super cool, hip-sounding places like Dr. Wine, El Cocktail, and Bar Rouge.  She also found a part-time job at LearnFirst where she enjoyed teaching English to local professionals and Taiwanese expats.  I was gelling like Magellan with my team in the office and although we don't have pub lunch Fridays, we do have badminton club Tuesdays.  My Chinese has been steadily improving as well and I'm even able to crack some jokes like "it's not the badminton racket, it's the player" (translated) when talking smack.  微软 (wei ruan) or Microsoft, 數 據 庫 (shu ju ku) or database, and 测试 (ce shi) or testing are also firmly in my vocabulary now.

For Christmas, we had decided to surprise my mom who was visiting my sister in Switzerland.  The look on her face was priceless as we walked through the door to greet them and we all enjoyed a wonderful week together.  The snow in the mountains was up to my waist which made for great fresh powder snowboarding and playing with my 2 year old nephew made the 12 hour flight well worth it.  He was talking away and could even operate the iPad himself to find YouTube videos to watch.  I think it won't be long before I have to ask him how to use Twitter.  We also had an international rendezvous with TK who happened to be on a short-term assignment in Zurich.  It was fantastic to see him and catch up over Swiss burgers and then home-made brownies sent from NJ in his ultra-chic, modern 3-story bachelor pad complete with roof deck accessible via a fancy retractable skylight.  Our Swiss-mas pictures are here.

So, Chinese New Year here is like Thanksgiving x Christmas + 4th of July.  There will be tons of food, lots of gifts, plenty of red envelopes, and non-stop fireworks.  Tens of millions of migrant workers take this opportunity to go home and on the news, as far back as 2 weeks ago, we had already started seeing footage of human parking lots at the train/bus stations 'queuing' to buy tickets (for reference check out Last Train Home - a good movie recommendation from Jane).  We decided to stay local to see what happens and my coworkers already warned me not to expect any sleep because people all over the city will be shooting off fireworks until 3 or 4 am.  I am excited and plan to partake by shooting some bottle rockets off of our balcony.

As we welcome in the Year of the Dragon, I would like to dedicate this post to another majestic and legendary figure: Joe (former head of my department).  Mentor, manager, leader, visionary, and friend: words can hardly express all that you have done for our group and the impact you have had on those around you.  Thanks for everything, you will be sorely missed at work.

Year of the 龙

In Chinese, dragon is pronounced 'long' (long o - no pun intended) and there has been some recent controversy here about the new Dragon Stamp which was unveiled prompting some silly considerations of rebranding the whole Lunar year as Long instead of Dragon to avoid the association with the fire-breathing monster known in the West: Washington Post Article.

But as we prepare here for another whole week of public holiday, we kicked off the year with some great news.  I accompanied Jenn to ProMed for her 1-year MRI and it was totally clean.  An auspicious beginning!  Cheers to that!!

Shanghai Firsts

We passed the 5 month mark in China and as my sister had wisely told us, "give it at least 6 months and things will be fine".  I am happy to report that we have entered the final phase of culture shock: Acceptance.  That is not to say that we do not miss home.  For every $1 bootleg DVD we watch that has a scene of Central Park or the Big Apple skyline, there is a corresponding "awwww!" coming from the couch next to me.  However even Jenn would agree that we have turned the corner and are now enjoying our time here.

Following the trend from the last post, we were continuing to try to embrace our new surroundings and try as many new things as possible.  Timing was on our side as early October saw us entering 'Golden Week' (National Holiday).  This was both strange and exciting at the same time as I had never had one full week of paid Firm holiday before.  By Wednesday, I succumbed and finally replied to some emails on my Crackberry - I just couldn't fight it anymore.  An old middle school friend of mine had organized an emotional wellness retreat in nearby Moganshan mountains and they had an extra room so we joined them for the short trip.  The Naked Villas was an amazing eco-luxury resort with some breathtaking views.  It was relaxing to get outside the city and see some green.  We met some nice people and it was also the 1^st time we had ever gone tea-picking before.  It was pretty hard work and I look at every bag of Lipton a little differently now.  It was also the 1^st time I had ever tried a yoga class.  I really could not ask for a better atmosphere for my first attempt at yoga: fresh air at 7 am in the heart of the mountains surrounded by bamboo forests.  What I really do need is some flexibility in these old bones.  I was awkward at best and an embarrassment at worst.  Jenn is quite seasoned and can do all of the moves but later told me she could not concentrate because she was too busy laughing at my weird poses, my groans as I strained to hold a pose, and my bones cracking as my friend (the instructor) tried to correct me.  At 5 foot 11 inches it is amazing that my friend, a certified yoga instructor, can bend her body at some of those angles but all I know is I would never want to play Twister with her.  Some photos from the retreat can be found here.

On the bus ride back to Shanghai, it was bumper-to-bumper traffic and incessant beeping of car horns - welcome home.  Luckily we had another 4 days to relax but the first order of business was to retrieve Calvin.  Some of you may have wondered what happened to this pampered pooch while we were away for 3 days and this is another "1^st in Shanghai".  While exploring the French Concession neighborhood we had stumbled upon a very cute puppy grooming/boarding store nearby called Baby No. 1.  Since Calvin was Jenn's baby number one, she immediately loved the store and it also helped that the owner had 3 little Maltese's (one of them had on a little Jeter jersey so that sealed it for me).  After much drama and trepidation Jenn relented and agreed to board Calvin for the first time ever while we escaped to Moganshan.  She did okay and only called the shop once while we were away and in the end Calvin survived without any visible scars.

The rest of the National Holiday was relatively low-key.  One big milestone was the 1^st  MRI for Jenn after moving to Shanghai.  Before we even made the decision to relocate, we had already found a brand new clinic and even been in contact with the doctors to make sure the facility was up to par.  Unlike at Sloan Kettering where they would tell us the results the same-day, we had to wait until the next day for the radiologist to complete his report.  Thankfully, everything was clean and Jenn celebrated by baking a big batch of chocolate chip (a steal at $9 USD a bag here) cookies.
The next 1^st  was actually one for the city of Shanghai.  Many of you will be familiar with the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge 5K run which is held in many different cities across the world.  This year was the first time it was introduced in Shanghai so I signed up to run (it was actually 5.6K here).  It was a fun event and quite impressive that out of nearly 4000 runners, Morgan Stanley won 1^st  place in the mixed team race.  I was a measly 8 minutes 11 seconds behind our fastest runner, maybe next year.

Following that successful race (and two days later after I could feel my legs again) one of my teammates who had also joined us had caught the running bug and heard about a 10K run that Nike was organizing in Shanghai.  He asked if any of us, our friends, or family would be interested in joining him so I jokingly asked Jenn.  To my great surprise, she said yes and so my macho sense of pride beckoned me to agree.  We had exactly one month to train and I ran exactly once during that time.  Jenn had more opportunity but still only went jogging about half a dozen times.  When it came time for the race, both of us were very nervous having never run more than 5K (5.6K in my case) before and decided we would be happy to just cross the finish line - on hands and knees if necessary. 

On 11/20/11, we joined 35,000 other neon-orange-clad runners (dri-fit shirts provided by Nike) for the Lunar run which oddly started at 7:30 am.  It ended up being really enjoyable as the course wound through the site of the World Expo and my strategy of sprinkling in walks with bursts of jogging helped me cross the finish line in 64 minutes.  Jenn was not far behind at 73 minutes and to her credit she never stopped to walk except once to drink some water.  However, by the time we had walked back to our apartment from the subway, the runner's high started to fade and after we had showered and sat down on the couch, we could barely move.  My legs no longer obeyed my commands and yet my stomach was screaming "feed me!".  It was at this point we had another 1^st in Shanghai.  Jenn and I always saw the signs for McDonald's 24-hour delivery and the golden arches on the side of scooters as deliverymen raced off to deliver Happy Meals but had never thought we would use this service.  But this was an emergency, we needed hot food and carbs stat.  We looked up the phone number, called in, ordered in English and in 20 minutes 2 Big Mac's, large fries, and chicken McNuggets were delivered piping hot to our front door (only $1.50 delivery fee and there's no tipping in China).  It is amazing how a Big Mac and french fries taste exactly the same anywhere in the world you go.

I think that run ended up being a turning point for us.  After we woke up from a long McDonald's + CNN-induced slumber, we were energized and felt like we could do anything.  We got cocky and started talking about half-marathons and triathlons.  Maybe it was the exercise or the fact that the weather was more pleasant but things were looking up and with a Chengdu Thanksgiving fast approaching, our sights turned to playing with pandas . . .  (for more Shanghai pictures check here)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Back when my parents used to live in Asia (Beijing & Singapore) I distinctly remember them going to company outings or holiday parties and returning having won some raffle or lucky draw.  I am pleased to announce that I am continuing this Su family tradition in Asia.  We went to the Shanghai Expat 11th Anniversary Hollywood party with some friends and I won one of the lucky draws!  Ironically, it was a 1-night free stay at the Kerry Hotel which happens to be where my office is so now I get to spend the night on a weekend at the office - woohoo!  Seriously though, the hotel is so nice that we don't even put up visiting senior management in the hotel because it is too expensive and they have to stay across the street so I am excited to check it out. 

The official pictures of the event are here http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/gallery/shanghaiexpat-11th-anniversary-party-18389.html and go to Image #38 to see me collecting my prize :-)

Baby Steps

We recently passed the 3 month mark in Shanghai and in tribute to "What About Bob" we have been making baby steps into Phase III: Adjustment of the culture shock stages.  It may come as a surprise to many but if I wanted to look up some details on this classic Bill Murray movie I would not be able to access IMDb since it is blocked by the Great Fire-Wall of China (GFW).  One of my small victories thus far involved successfully circumventing the GFW.  The government keeps a pretty tight lid on the flow of communication and information here so sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Picasa, and Blogspot among others are unavailable.  This did not have much impact on me as I have had little time or desire to be on the computer outside of the office and the numerous late-night calls anyway but for Jenn, FB was an increasingly important instrument of remaining connected to friends and family back home.  This became my first mission and after researching and polling various sources on the best alternative, I decided to set up a proxy server in the US to serve as the intermediary for our web traffic.  It was my first foray into Amazon's EC2 cloud computing services but before long, I was able to enjoy internet freedom and hence was able to upload these photos to Picasa: click here to accompany my previous post.

So, I was quite pleased to have solved this particular problem.  For Jenn, she recently began her Chinese lessons and was now attending class 3 times a week for 4 hours.  Her first practical test of applying her new language skills came about when she needed to order water for our new apartment.  The plumbing here is questionable at best so nobody drinks the water straight out of the tap.  We had been buying large bottles of spring water during our stay in the service apartment but once we moved, there was a water cooler in our kitchen like those typically found on an office floor.  In order to get water, we needed to arrange a home delivery and Jenn made it her mission to call the company and schedule the drop-off.  This also turned out to be relatively painless although we found it interesting that the deliveries are made by guys on tiny electric scooters balancing huge jugs of water and that it was cash-on-delivery.  Since credit cards are seldom used and checks are non-existent, almost all transactions are cash-based.  One of my coworkers even told me that if you order something from Amazon.com.cn a courier will deliver it to your door and you can pay him cash.  This established practice made me very nervous when I had to pay our first month rent and security deposit as I walked the streets with wads of cash like a drug-dealer.

Another common custom here is to hire a helper around the house, called an 'ayi'.  We were not really sure how to begin this process since we had heard horror stories about some ayi's not being trustworthy or utilizing questionable cleaning methods.  One such incident involved using the same sponge to clean the bathroom and to wash the dishes.  Many of the ayi's also come from remote rural villages and may not be able to read which could present many other practical challenges (ie. sugar vs. salt vs. laundry detergent).  In another stroke of luck, it turned out that a foreigner family living in our neighborhood posted on an expat web forum that their ayi was looking for another home to work part-time.  She was highly recommended and could cook, clean, and do any other type of household work for about $3 USD an hour.  After her first day, we gave her the key to our apartment and now she comes three times a week in the morning.  Our ayi has been great and she even told me not to dry-clean my shirts as she would iron them for me.  You don't have to tell me twice; I am terrible at ironing and my shirts usually come out looking more wrinkled than before and it is Jenn's least favorite chore.

The next goal of course was then to buy an iron and ironing board.  Our first stop was Ikea ("Yi Jia Jia Ju" in Chinese).  Everyone had been warning us that Ikea on the weekends was a recipe for disaster.  We had been to the one in Elizabeth, NJ plenty of times on the weekend so we thought we would be adequately prepared to deal with the shopping crowds.  Plus some sense of masochistic curiosity compelled us to ignore the warnings and visit on a Saturday at lunchtime.  It was not quite as bad as everyone made it out to be but it was very interesting to see families and customers truly making use of the showrooms.  There were literally people sleeping on the beds taking naps and others who had brought what could only be described as picnic lunches and enjoying themselves on the dining table display furniture.  It was fascinating to see families in the mock-up living rooms relaxing on couches and conversing (loudly) as if they were at home.  Much like our strategy in the US, we made a bee line for the store sections we needed utilizing as many of the shortcuts we could find.  The Ikea cafeteria here also serves Swedish meatballs and salmon but offers some Chinese dish options and delicious fresh mango or watermelon juice in addition to the staple lingonberry.  We also found out that counterfeit products were small potatoes compared to pirating the whole shopping experience.  Apparently there are fake Apple and Ikea stores popping up in neighboring cities with identical store layouts, color schemes, and employee uniforms.  It is one thing to make a fake luxury handbag but taking it to a whole different level to replicate a 4-story 10,000 square meter (32,800 sq. ft.) blue and yellow furniture store.

So we had purchased the ironing board and we simply went to a local electronics department store for the iron.  Best Buy actually tried to enter the China market but shut down all of their stores earlier this year.  Their flagship store was down the street from our old service apartment and the huge sign remains a glaring dark spot in the nighttime neon mosaic of Xujiahui.  Jenn and I have fantasized about a Whole Foods (Paycheck) opening in its place.  Although it would be pricey, we would be willing to pay the premium especially with the non-existent food safety standards here.  From gutter oil (reused cooking oil siphoned from restaurant back-alleys) and fake pepper (made from industrial materials and talc powder) to exploding watermelons (overuse of growth chemicals) eating out or even buying groceries from a wet market is like playing Russian roulette with your organs. Although it is not possible to scrutinize or control everything we eat, we have on occasion ordered from an online organic food company, Fields, and were happy with the quality and price - of course delivered to our front door COD.  For home-cooked dinners, we are happy to pay ayi to buy the groceries for us, out of sight out of mind, but at least she washes the veggies thoroughly and we buy the oil ourselves.

Another baby step we conquered was buying Jenn a bike.  Her school is about a 25 minute walk away and although the French Concession area is very conducive to long exploratory strolls it would be much more enjoyable on a bicycle.  At first she was terrified of biking on the streets where you are at the mercy of reckless taxi drivers and crazy scooters but every time we saw a Caucasian cruise past us on their two-wheeler blissfully enjoying their self-generated breeze her fears subsided a little.  When we were finally ready to bite the bullet we were faced with another dilemma.  Although crime is generally very low in China, bicycle thefts are quite common.  Most people we had talked to who purchased a brand new bike eventually had it stolen, some were on their 3rd or 4th, and others resorted to lugging the bike into their apartment to keep it safe from would-be thieves.  We were not willing to join the list of victims so we were determined to find a used bike for Jenn.  After weeks of asking bike repair shops, scouring craigslist.china, checking department stores for inexpensive models, and unsuccessfully looking for the used bike market, we were almost ready to splurge on a new bike and just get 3 different locks.  But then I decided to ask our trusty ayi to see if she knew of any place to buy a used bike.  As it turned out, there was a bike repair shop across the street from her apartment and she was quite friendly with the shop owner.  Two days later, Jenn had a rusty beaten up tank-of-a-bicycle with a brand new seat and basket for about $15 USD.  This thing weighs as much as a Mini Cooper but she could not be any happier riding along the tree-lined streets of our neighborhood now with Calvin in the basket and we do not have to worry about anyone stealing the clunker.

Finally, we have been slowly making friends here in this faraway land.  A colleague of mine had recommended an international church here and we met some nice people.  That and meeting folks through coworkers has been our primary source of socialization.  It has been interesting to meet so many people from other countries, so far: France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, and even Mongolia.  We have also determined that we cannot be complacent in making friends.  Want to go karaoke?  Sure.  Ultimate frisbee?  I'm in.  Would you like to attend a book reading?  Okay.  Do you want to watch World Cup Rugby?  Certainly (I had to Wikipedia the rules).  I think the key has been to stay active and busy.  It still does not quite feel like home yet but the initial feelings of despair have largely faded and we are now trying to carve out our identity in this urban sea of Chinese compatriots.  As always, my thoughts and heart are back on the East Coast but hopefully my ramblings provide some entertainment value and can entice some of you to consider a visit to the Pearl of the Orient.

Animal Style

We were very excited when we saw this billboard in Shanghai.  Having only had In-N-Out 3 times in my life and loving every moment, a Double Double Animal Style would be a delectable treat in the Far East.

Well it turns out it's not exactly the typical Chinese "copy" but I will still try it none the same:  http://shanghai.talkmagazines.cn/blogs/2011-11-09/caliburger-brings-n-out-ideas-shanghai


UPDATE:  January 2012 - tried it, loved it.  It's called 'Wild Style' but they also serve beer and wine!

The Grass is Not Greener on the Pudong Side

It has been over two months since we arrived in the People's Republic and it has been quite a roller-coaster ride.  This story begins with an emotional final week in New Jersey.  Although there was a professional moving company coming to pack up all of our things, we still wanted to sort through the 5 years worth of accumulated junk we had managed to hide away in every corner of our apartment.  I don't think I'm quite as bad as some of the folks on the Hoarders TV show but I do have a tendency to hold onto empty boxes.  However, Jenn was impressed when I produced the empty iMac box which had been stashed away for 3 years and she had never even laid eyes on it.  As we packed up our life and took a trip down memory lane, there were several speed bumps and potholes.  Sadness over things we never had a chance to do in the Tri-State area and countless tearful good-byes (from Jenn) to friends and family.

Our last 4 days in the U.S. of A were somewhat of a blur and the two of us were running on pure adrenaline but were impressed when the movers managed to pack up everything in just 2 days.  Actually, they were almost a little too efficient.  Apart from adrenaline, we were also sustaining ourselves on Salt 'n' Vinegar chips, gummy bears, and Vitamin Water.  When the crew chief, Clint, asked Jenn what should be packed in the kitchen, she busily told him that the right two cabinets should go into storage and everything else comes with us as she turned her attention to sorting through the coat closet.  No less than one hour later everything that was in the kitchen had been wrapped, stuffed, and sealed in a box.  Our sea shipment finally arrived 5 days ago and to my pleasant surprise we found our open bag of Lay's, chip clip and all, and they were still crunchy!

Fast forward through the rest of the move and numerous self-storage trips to the airport where we checked in 6 suitcases between the two and a half of us (Calvin, the dog, had his own suitcase too).  The flight itself was as smooth as the chocolate fudge they served from the sundae cart.  We gorged ourselves on food and movies while Calvin happily slept in his bag under the seat (not in the overhead compartment).  The flight attendants never even noticed him and the 15 hour flight was just one long noisy nap for him.  The final hurdle was getting him through immigration and we were still not sure how that was going to play out.  In China, there is a term called 'guan xi' which describes the connections or relationships in your personal network which is deeply rooted in Chinese society.  A closely related notion is that anything is possible in China if you know the right people (including 'Benjamin' or 'Mao' over here).  In Calvin's case, he was very lucky that a friend of ours in NJ, whose mother who had been a professor in Shanghai, had kept in touch with a former student who happened to work at the Animal Quarantine Bureau.  Long story short, a typical 30 day quarantine which could be reduced to 7 days with a special "VIP fee (payment)" was supposed to be knocked down to only 1 night because of our connection.  For those who have met the little Maltese, he is not exactly the toughest pooch on the block but we were confident he could survive one night at the quarantine station.  However, when we arrived at the immigration desk, they were expecting us and led us to a back-office.  They asked us to demonstrate that Calvin would obey some basic commands, photocopied his pet passport, and then escorted him through the Arrivals area and handed him back to us.  And just like that the two and a half of us had arrived in Shanghai and were headed to our temporary accommodations.

The pet-friendly service apartment was tastefully furnished and we were grateful to have air-conditioning and a place to temporarily unpack our luggage.  We were not quite prepared for the stifling humidity in Shanghai.  I understand NYC also had a brutal summer but the palpable moisture in the air here sapped our strength to the point where all we wanted to do was shower and veg on the couch watching CNN.  In China, if the temperature reaches above 40 C (104 F) any workers who are outside get the day off.  Not surprisingly, many days during the peak of summer were "officially" 39.6 C or 39.8 C.  A colleague has told me that he runs a dehumidifier in his bedroom and it can pull almost three liters of water out of the air per day.  I guess I know what will be my first purchase on amazon.com.cn.

So the relocation/moving company had provided a little guidebook which outlined the different phases of culture shock and it is scary how accurately it has reflected our experience thus far.  Phase I: Excitement.  We were in a vibrant new city bustling with energy, sparkling with modern mega skyscrapers in the homeland of our ancestral roots.  Our neighborhood, Xujiahui, the second busiest shopping district in downtown Shanghai offered countless restaurants, 6 shopping megaplexes, and 3 western grocery stores.  On our first day, we explored one of these, City Shop, and were pleasantly surprised to find all the staples we might need although at a hefty premium: Doritos ($10 USD), Cheerios ($8), frozen pizza ($12).  Ok, this did not seem so bad as everything was still exciting and interesting and we continued to explore.  But as our jet-lagged days drew to a close, the novelty quickly faded and we dove headfirst into Phase II: Withdrawal. 

Our bustling neighborhood was no longer captivating, it was just overcrowded and 10 degrees hotter than anywhere else in the city with all the people, tall buildings, and neon lights.  The nice modern service apartment had begun massive renovations so the lobby was now boarded up and we awoke to the fumes of paint most mornings.  While I was lucky to escape to the office, Jenn had to endure the cacophony of sledge hammers, electric saws, and drills throughout the day.  Running errands became multi-hour-long stress attacks.  Being able to speak Mandarin is really only half the battle as I learned when opening a bank account (there is no such thing as checking accounts in China) and purchasing a cell phone.  Reading a contract or filling out a form on your own is virtually impossible but I was finally able to get Jenn an iPhone4.  As for banking, I had to eventually switch banks since the online English site simply did not work for my Bank of China account.  We were both in a downward spiral towards 'what are we doing here' and 'what did we get ourselves into'.  Sleepless nights created a vicious cycle of animosity towards our newly adopted city.  We complained about many things like the abundance of electric scooters which would zip all over the sidewalks.  We call them silent assassins since they make no noise until the high-pitched horn buzzes in your ear as they zoom by almost clipping your elbows.  We reminisced about the Big Apple and compared everything to 'back home'.

Phase III is Adjustment.  I am hopeful that we are on the cusp of entering this stage.  We had to take several trips with different real estate agents to try to locate an apartment since we eventually had to vacate the service apartment.  Shanghai is divided by the HuangPu River into east (dong) Pudong and west (xi) Puxi.  Downtown is on the west side along with most of the cultural landmarks.  The newly developed east side has been called Pu Jersey by many.  The new Morgan Stanley office also happens to be moving to the Pudong side, way way way east.  Originally, we had planned to live in Pudong, somewhere close to the office as it was supposed to be nicer, quieter, cheaper, and greener.  After a day of touring some of the apartment complexes we were both pretty depressed as we discovered that they truly valued quantity over quality in China.  The pace of construction is unbelievable here but the caliber is questionable.  Some of these complexes had over 35 buildings and it was a maze to even navigate to the entrance/exit.  Inside some of these units, cracks ran the length of the wall as there had been no time to wait for foundations to settle and cabinets and light switches were not level since they were almost certainly hastily installed.  Air quality was not noticeably better and there were a few more trees and parks but that is because everything is more spread out.  If we wanted to seriously consider Pudong we would in all likelihood need to buy a car or hire a driver/car package.  Eventually we had to re-evaluate our plan and decided to look in Puxi although this would be a longer commute for me.  The buildings we looked at on the west side were slightly older (circa 2005-6) but built by reputable Hong Kong corporations.  Having looked at almost 30 different units we eventually settled on an apartment in the French Concession and signed a one-year lease.  Our sea shipment has also recently arrived so we are slowly trying to transform the apartment into a home now.  Needless to say, we miss everyone back in the US and hope that the earthquake and hurricane did not cause too much damage for all the East Coasters.

Coming Home . . .

(cue the P. Diddy song vis-a-vis this great Knicks commercial)

The official work memo has gone out - we are relocating to Shanghai.  A unique challenge and wonderful opportunity for the Su family.  My father would be very proud that I am following in his footsteps continuing my business career in the Pearl of the Orient.  We welcome friends and family to visit, please let us know if you will be in the area.

3rd Time's a Charm

Not an April Fool's prank like Gmail Motion or Chromercise (um I take this back, they actually sent me finger sweatbands!).  Part III has been published:

Published Part Deux

The second story from my Shanghai stay has been published here:

Short-Term Assignment: Take 2

Back in October through December of 2010, I got my second opportunity to work abroad (click here for Take 1)  I am adding this now because my story has been published! 

It's not a literary, print, or travel magazine but ShanghaiExpat.com was an invaluable resource to me while I was in China and with almost 700,000 members and over 3 million viewers per month, I am still quite proud.  Check out Part I: