Jason's 笔记本

All righty...I'm back from Guangzhou. It was a very brief business trip, mostly rushing off to the Exhibition hall. But in the day that I was there, I took the subway (4 bucks like SH) and realized how screwed up it is, observed that the weather there rox at a warm 20 degrees and above but with lousy air, the ppl there all speak cantonese which is a far more familiar dialect than Shanghainese. I also stayed at a 5 star hotel! Nice! Best part was the fact that there was CNA on the TV and the morning breakfast was all familiar food fare.
Ciba's booth was damn nice...I dare say it is one of the most outstanding ones there. And Chinacoat is HUGE...ike 3 exhibition halls. So like you will see people employing all kinds of tactics to draw your attention. (like show girls)
Oh, had to fly there and it was quite cool. Instead of a passsageway to the airplane, we had to take a bus and walk on the runway up the airplane. Hhaha. Quite strange cos it was my first time, kind of retro. Too bad my cam was in my bag.
So I ended off the trip by coming back to shanghai after a day. And it was the first time I took a plane by myself! No fears even though it was China Southern and I was worried about losing my checked-in baggage. (Checked in my nike bag...becos my facewash was inside)
ONce back in SH, realized that the cold front has really hit the city hard. Thursday was the day with winds up to 32km/h. It was hard to walk esp with contact lenses. Temps punged to 1 degree at night. It has moderately improved but I still got a reading of 3.8 at midnight last night. After trying to brave the cold, we all finally took out our winter coats to wear it to sch yesterday. (Thankfully) At night, Jun Wen tried to walk out for dinner wearing just a jacket. I emphasize on 'TRIED'. Totally impossible.

Ok short one...I gotta sleep soon cos i have to wake up damn early and get to Hongqiao Airport. Will be going to Guangzhou for a day via air...courtesy of Ciba Limited. Attending the Chinacoat 2008 Trade show. Go google it. Should be quite an eye opener for me...but will be back damn soon. Like Wed night. So ciaoz! *Sorry ah dear...not bringing my laptop*

Nothing much again!!!!!!
Well, didn't have lessons on Friday so I spent the day...doing my report...so sad. And watching 'Hot Shot' or 'Lan Qiu Huo'. =) Then went to the Westin for a free dinner. It was some Overseas Singapore Unit talk, which I didn't care much for...but met a lot of Singaporeans there. And the guys were nuts...kept asking me to go pick up some NUS girls. Which i didn't of course...
School I dare say is getting more interesting. Although all the required work to be submitted have been submitted, everyone is still coming for the lessons! (Of course, the threat that we may kena fired at by the teacher helped somewhat...) That's cos we have to watch movies! Some old shows about how China people survived the cultural revolution and the great leap forward, including their thoughts and the effects of socialism on it. The latest movie was called '活着', had gong li as the main actress. Must say, two scenes in the show affected me a lot. One was when her son died after a wall collapsed on him. Another was the death of her pregnant daughter when she was in labour. (Excessive bleeding after giving birth)

Sunday lessons at Ai Xin again...quite good this time with 4 GIP peeps coming along. =) Too bad now the students are like freaking afraid of me...

Wing Hong

Oh man, dun feel like doing much today...

Weather is cold but slightly better I think. Less gusty anyhow. Starting to see my breath when I exhale.

Essay's done and I had good progress on IA report today. All because my supervisor left the office this afternoon. Before she did, she told me:

The weather here sucks right now...the temperature plunged like 10 degrees over the last few days...This morning the external temp was a freaking 6 degrees! (I hung my g shock in the balcony. It has a thermometer) Today, wore three layers and a scarf. Sounds gay but...doesn't look that bad.
The temp is actually still ok...I appear to have a very high threshold for the cold. But the wind is another story. It suddenly became a gusty period. Was nearly blown off course while walking out for lunch. The day before, my jacket nearly got blown away while I was trying to wear it. And yar, it is bitterly cold, bites like hell. My nose and my fingers!!!
Winter is really here...which means GIP is drawing to a close. Have about 3 weeks to complete my GIP IA report...about 70 percent done liaoz...but the final 30 percent is the most tedious...FUdan's final essay has just been completed about "Economics of Singapore" in Chinese!!! Dun worry my Chinese is still cuiz.

Oh, have been taking lots of photos lately...and I got rewarded for it too! Had a yummy teppanyaki appreciation lunch from the Head of R & D and he gave my whole department a damn professional pen each from Picasso. Woot! Last Sunday's teaching was quite fun cos I finally managed to plan the lesson properly. Children had lots of fun making paper frogs and all. I'll also be going to Guangzhou for a day next week. Woot! Temp there is like 20 degrees, sure beats this freezing city...Hahaha. Work isn't all fun though...I had to correct this shitty piece of English article today. The English was so cuiz, I nearly puked blood trying to figure out what the reporter was trying to say...

Something happened to me on Friday...

I nearly lost my handphone.

My Singapore number inside a Sony Ericsson K800i.

It is a long story but to cut it short, I was having lunch at a cafe near the school and I simply left it on the seat. The best part was I didn't realize it. All through the afternoon lesson (an interesting 3 hour film about the peasant life during the Cultural revolution), I was oblivious. After school plans were to Nanjing Dong Lu (again) for a spot of window shopping at branded shops. ONly on the train did I realise that my phone was NOT in my bag. My heart nearly stopped sia...it was a mad dash back to Fudan from Shanghai Railway. Luckily, the manager spied the phone and kept it in his office. Thank god... Here's the surprising thing. When I thought that my phone would be lost, I wasn't worried about the phone itself, but rather about the SIM card. Without that, my communications with Yiling would have been broken...and here I thought I was a guy who treasured my stuff. Guess some stuff is more valuable than others.

When I thought about it...I really have been careless with my stuff. I have lost a digicam in army...lost myself when I was young...but I choose to talk about another near-miss experience; my dog.

Happend a few years ago...my house was doing spring cleaning and I went to send some stuff to my aunt at the next block. On my way back home, I just happened to hear someone exclaim: "Xiao Gou zui Mao!" I was intrigued by the prospect of another cute small doggy around the neighbourhood, so I went to take a look. Lo and behold, I saw little Pico running after the cat in question. I was stunned. He was unleashed and he was supposed to be at home. I quickly recovered enough to call him back. (He still obeyed commands at that time...damn dog outgrew THAT habit...) Scooped him up, kept him close. and he was docile and meek for once. I guess he knew he was in trouble. But, none of my sisters and I had the heart to beat him. We concluded that he had gone out of the door after me, running down 22 flights of stairs. It was only by that stroke of luck that I went to look at the "xiao gou" that we didn't lose him...

Little Pico is now 9 years old, grumpier, with a limp. But we still love that rascal. The value of some things outweigh everything else...
Yeah...I miss this old dog...

The weather in Shanghai today was pretty good. We had plenty of sun and blue skies. And the best part was that I didn't waste it by spending the day in the office.

I went to school instead.

Oh, not the old Fudan Campus that I go to every week. But to the newer one at 江湾新校区, just north of the old one.

I went there to be the photographer for the day. It was also Ciba's annual R & D day, meaning there were meetings...lectures about solar panel manufacturing...and of course photography. I had to lug the G7 around along with my own camera.

Anyway, the campus was damn beautiful...more like a park than a school. But I guess when you construct a school in a god-forsaken place, you do have the space to expand. I saw lakes and bridges! Even the canteen building looks good man...

Event ended at 5 and the bus sent everyone to People's Square. From there, I decided to have a nice long walk...went to the 'Shu Cheng' or City of Books plaza. Not bad...but English books are damn ex. The collection of original CDs are good though...and CHEAP for originals. ALso went hunting for crayons for the class this Sunday...found good deals like 6RMB for a box of 36 crayons. Hahhaa. Hope sunday will be better than last week...=)

Ended off walking around Nanjing Dong Lu...quite a relaxing walk, to be alone and no worries.

Labels: Fudan

Here's a rare update...becos it is a regular one.

Today went over to Zhongshan Gong Yuan to celebrate Yanxin's 20th birthday. Tze Lei was the main mastermind...she managed to lure 16 people from all over Shanghai to come to the house to spring her a surprise party. Hahha. But the best laid plans came to nought when Yanxin came home early. Turned out to be quite hilarious when the early birds had to hide in the toilet and the other rooms...especially with the cake! But well, at least we had the 'ren qi'. They managed to prepare a lot of food too...like 6 boxes of pizza from a place called Melrose. Not too bad...but I was so famished I lost count of the number of slices I attacked...think it was 5 slices. Definitely had a hawaiian...sushi...And the party came in waves. Had three waves of people coming into the house...so we had like three birthday song singing. Will upload the photos once Erwin send them out.

Yanxin seemed to be quite lucky ah...her housemates are damn sweet lah. Celebrate bday for her. She also had flowers sent over from Singapore by an annoymous guy. Hhaha. Wonder who THAT can be...We were puzzled over the 19 cream-white roses because she is turning twenty. Then I hypothesized that the guy must have felt that she was the 20th rose! Wahaha. I'm so full of crap, I send shivers down my own spine sometimes.

With so many people, inevitably started on the small talks about weather, school and work. Weather should be turning a little warmer for the next few days. My colleagues all said that with the winter cold, people will gain weight and turn fat...NOOOOOOOoooooo...I weighed 57kg at yanxin's place just now...hope it will stay the same....

school have to buck up cos the teacher was a little pissed at the constant late-comers...

workwise i am facing a serious problem from manpower shortages...

Now I'm tired. Oh, bought a cap from H & M cos of clearance sale. ahhaha. Wonder who will like it..

Now to update yet again. It is a messy update...

Yesterday was the official start of winter. Autumn came and left in like 3 weeks...kind of sad. Now the entire house is bracing ourselves for the coming cold. Woke up this morning to the guys yelling about the cold and why not? The external temp was 12.7 this morning. Brrr...inside the house, about 18 degrees. (my wonderful watch does temperature checks. =)Surprisingly, I'm still fine, still wearing shorts and tees to sleep. But the cold and dry climate is wrecking havoc on my skin. The bed is turning cold. Like, I dun dare to toss about the bed lest I brush against an unheated part of the bed. Gotta tolerate the cold...

Because of the cold, I spent like 200 over dollars on some new clothing. Oh, and a Fudan Uni jacket. Damn thick with a big hood. 70 dollars for a practical keepsake. I think almost everyone from GIP bought a jacket or jumper from the campus store. (Btw, Fudan uni is a brand name here in China. They practically revere it..my colleague even wanted me to help her buy a jacket from there!)

9th of Nov...the day I went to try and be a nice guy and teach the students there myself. (plus no one wanted to go and be the main teacher.) Also, the first time other GIP students came too! Thanks a lot guys! Sorry for giving such a bad lesson, really wasn't that cut out to be a teacher. But hey, people learn from mistakes and I surely will from mine.

Funny stories now...
Went to eat dinner with my colleague joyce today after work. And she wanted to go shopping for handbags after that. I just tagged along to see if there were nice things to buy for dear...and the stupid shopkeepers thought we were like a couple!!! Basket.

Ciba (China) has agreed to sponsor a research scholarship with Fudan Uni and i'll be going down this Thursday. And I have lessons there on Friday...oh the irony. Haha

Here comes the best part...I'll be flying to Guangzhou at the end of this month for work-related matters!!!

GIP is drawing to a close, and I feel like I'm falling...

I have about two whole months left in Shanghai. Already, we have sped past the halfway point and I barely noticed it. That's life once it gathers momentum.

Work is not killing me, but it sure is hectic. Gotta prepare the same thing once a week for the teaching program...it is neverending. But I'm lucky, some friends have decided to come help out. But I know, this is worth it.

School work...granted, we get to clear an equivalent of two NTU electives here. Sounded like a good deal when they said it is just cultural modules. But when you actually sit and hear what the lesson content is, you know what I mean when I say the lessons have no merit whatsoever. One is just economics in Chinese, explaining perhaps one chapter of what we have learnt in year one coupled with the Chinese skewered point of view. Others...history and modernity of China. Yes, interesting topic but they are at best, an introductory topic.

Shanghai isn't as bad as you think. Yes, Chinese is a major handicap for me, but i'm not paralyzed yet. Streetsmart is now an integral part of life. I'm a stingy Singapore. And no way will I let those vile vendors cheat me of my money if I can help it.

And for a Singaporean who is experiencing his first seasonal change, Shanghai is promising no mercy, with a steep temperature drop this Sunday to 10 degrees. Admittedly, I'm still holding up well...compared to the locals at least.

Trying to find a focal point in writing. But as you can see, my writing had been seriously impacted by all the damn reports and essays I have been typing for the past few days. I'm muddled up about the writing style. So, if you can't understand what I'm writing, don't fret.

You aren't the only one...