Times in Beijing

Hey,

Well, it's been more than a month, and two trips here from Erin, since my last update. Things are really moving along a frantically busy pace, which I guess in some ways is better than a 'medium pace' and in others not. I think that I have settled into my routine for work here somewhat and am developing a social life, so all's coming along ok.

I've done a few things with my time other than work over the passt 5 weeks or so, which has been nice. Esmarelda came up mid-July for an opportunistic business trip which was really reallly nice =) We went to the most famous duck restaurant in Beijing - called Quan Jude - for Peking Duck and it was awesome. They are so famous here lol, that you get a certificate of authenticity for the duck you buy and it's meant to be numbered since the first duck they ever sold. Ours was number 400,000 odd, I can think of some distasteful WWII jokes with a poultry focus now lol. It was realllllllllllllllllllly nice to catch up with Esmarelda even though it was only for one night and the evening went really quickly.

After that, I had a pretty intense re-negotiation of my work/salary/conditions here over the full month of July that eventuated in nothing. The company here simply wont pay a reasonable salary, period. I guess there's nothing for it but to accept that being here is goinng to always be simply experiential, never financially viable.

I have learned that ignoring a direct question is a perfectly acceptable response to a direct work-related question here. It's about the face that's lost when someone cannot do something versus not actually saying that you cannot do it. That, or it's also acceptable to say you can do something but then dont. This is an interesting phenomenon her ethat I am having a lot of trouble adjusting to lol. I mean, ffs when it's work-related and you're dealing with a fireigner, it's OK to say you dont know/cant do it/etc.


I went to Chinese opera here at Chaoyang theatre with a dude from work and his partner. Chinese opera is an interesting experience and in my opinion an acquired taste, but cool to do at least once. It is loud, with traditional Chinese instruments and the voice of the lady who sang was almost IDENTICAL to the stupid voice Dee used to use when role playing the character of her puppy Chyna lol. I couldnt help laughing at it when I was in the theatre as all I could see in my mind whilst listening to the girl sing was Chyna shaking her pompom and attempting to kill her fluffy (wool-thing-toy). Priceless.

Some friends and I have been going on a gastronomical tour of Beijing over the last several weeks, heading to as many awesome and varied restaurants as possible. We're going to really classy modern places like Alameda (voted 2007 best restaurant in Beijing) and Hatsune (same in Japanese, VERY good) as well as local street dives to get the best experience possible. For instance, on friday night just gone, we went to a dark restaurant and it was awesome. You select from the set menu options and then eat in pitch black. It sounded interesting to us because:

• you could not read the menu
• you could not ask what was being served
• you could not see what you were eating

and so you really had to judge the food on how it tasted, the smell and texture. It was really cool as the fu-yuars (waiters) all had military-esque night vision goggles to lead you in a congo line to your seats and help you/serve you etc. The food was actually nothing to write home about, like one of the courses tasted exactuly like a gently cooked piece of cartilage but it was ok. I highly recommend the experience to anyone.


I've found a team with which to play soccer, near my place at Chaoyang Park. I met the dudes when buying tickets to go watch Barcelona play against a Beijing team. It was a really cool experience to see Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho all play and I got some footage of Ronaldinho scoring a goal =) The parl that we play on here is outdoor, but with fields the size of indoor and the turf is like a fake grassy thing. It's interesting as becuase it's just soooooooooo humid, playing tow 15 minute halves seems like you're playing an hour each. It' really nice to be doing something active again as I've lost my fitness that I had when I was playing outdoor soccer at home =/ I need to harden the eff up again and lose some of my jelly. LOL, even though I'm a little fatter than I was at home now, I'm about 10kgs lighter due to muscle loss!

Esmarelda came back this weekend for a business trip! She flew here on Friday so that we could actually spend some time doing something this time and we met on Saturday. Our first point of business was to try and find a tailor that would be able to copy a dress for the bridesmaids at her and Eltonnah's wedding but it actually would prove cheaper to buy the mass-produced dress than have the tailors (here) copy to size. Oh well I guess, but we ended up at the Silk Market here after putting that idea to bed and we ordered a suit each. Erin got a nice business suit and I ordered a really gooky black blazer and pants. I am a really hard bargainer here and my reputation preceeded me. I had bargained hard for some things for Erin, and when she was talking to a person and I wandered off for a bit, she told me that a lady said to her "you are with a short guy, pale-shirt, really hard bargain!" LOL. At least it proves that they're all in on it and if you set the precident that they'll learn you wont stand for too high a price. I ended up buying some rip-off soccer boots and had the suit tailored, and Erin got a purse, jacket for her and her mum and her suit too. All in all it was a cool experience and I will go back there for another suit if this one turns out cool.


For Saturday night, Esmarelda and I went out to dinner with a couple of dudes and it was cool. We did Korean and had bulgogi, galbi etc and then hit the town. We started out at a bar called Black Sun and drank Long Island Iced Teas while playing darts and 8-ball. It was a great way to start the night and Trev really showed us a lot of the Beijing night scene. We went to about 4 or 5 bars total, and headed at about 3am to a club called Propaganda in Wudaoco which is the university district. Propaganda was awesome as it's really the place to be here and then we finished at a beer garden eating chu'ar (bbq skewers of 'meat' dusted with cumin). After that, Trev, Erin and I got a illegal cab home. LOL, Erin said to me that she wanted to be totally shitfaced, and boy did we deliver on that. I put her to bed at about 4:30am and came out to chat online with Trentles who was just having his morning shower back in Tas =) Wicked night.


Today, we woke up at about 11am and we were hung OVER, but I know Erin was worse. Es and I decided that before we headed to the Wall we needed to have hang-over grease so we went to an institution here among the expat community, Steak n Eggs. They serve up all-day breakky food that's fantastic, really exactly what the young expat drunkards need after an intense awesome Saturday. We ate grease then negotiated a cab to the Wall at Badaling. It was a good experience and we cable-carred it up to the high-point at that spot which was pretty impressive, then walked the Wall and got a toboggan train down to a low point. then, we had to negotiate a illegal taxi to take us tot he one we'd negotiated in order to get to Badaling, as we were a fair way from the cable car when we finished. One thing about China is that EVERYTHING is a negotiation.

After that, we headed back to Es's hotel and she had a shower and got ready for dinner and our suit fitting. Dinner was very nice and the suits are coming along well, so fingers crossed when they deliver them to my office they're ok. When we were leaving the Silk Market again, the heavens opened and it POURED. I have experienced the lack of taxis in the rain here before so I immediately ran to the first available cab, got in, waited for Es and then proceeded to tell him where we both wanted to go. The dude was a racist dick though, and feigned that he did not know where one of the most popular and well-known streets was in Beijing. I didnt believe him and made him talk to Erin's hotel receptionist and they full-on argued for like 5 minutes before the receptionist told me she couldnt help any further. Without anything else that we could do, we left his cab. I hate that racism like this, like they simply say they no to taking you and take someone else, even when you can show them the way! and having to pay completely unrealistic prices for shit as a Westerner. Anyway...

Wow, this has gone on for a bit lol, I had better finish up for today. I'll try and update more frequently than I have lately, I hope you're all doing well and are happy. I miss you guys, keep it real etc.

BTW - FYI, my mobile number here is +8615810398463 and it receives SMS from home. Can you guys SMS me your numbers as I dont have anyone's in my new phone.