Chirades

Weather: clear autumn day
Exchange: RMB1 =R1.47
Impressive: The new CCTV tower is till under construction but I can't wait for a view from the top.

Ok, I take it all back. Perhaps slightly dodgy business practice is completely acceptable in China and not just when it comes to foreigners. I'm always looking at job ads these days and came across this ad...
Temporary job: Oct 24th 1-2pm attending meeting job needs three western male above 30 years old** A company has a meeting this Friday afternoon at 1:30pm at China Central Place (HuaMao ZhongXin), which is just outside of DaWangLu subway station. The meeting will be only 30mins. We will pay 200 Yuan for each foreigner, plus taxi fee. It is very simple, you just need to wear formally and sit there. We will give you a notebook, you can just pretend you are listening and write on the notebook. One foreigner needs to say something, we will give you what you need to say. Very simple job, just need to pretend very professional in the meeting. Need three western foreigners above 30 years old, the older the better. But at least 30 years old. Please send your RESUME and PICTURE to chinaesl@yahoo.cn That made me laugh out loud.

I spent a lovely day with Rachel and Brendon. Rachel is married to Peter, Frikkie's colleague/boss and Brendon has come the China to check it all out to see if he wants to move here. Saw the CCTV tower up close for the first time and it's really impressive.

It's the little things

Weather: slightly warmer than yesterday, but still chilly
Temp: 3-15
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,41
Getting a handle on things: I quite fancy having a big, red double door as a front door.

Today, there are a few, small things that bug me about China, mostly it's just one thing that manifests in different ways. I think this is what the Chinese think: "You're a foreigner and we it's our god-given duty to rip you off". I have a couple of examples to justify this theory.

1. I'm trying to get our cats to China. This is pretty straight forward from SA. The fun and games begin when they get here. Until very recently no quarantine was required for pets coming into Beijing. Now there is a 30-day quarantine period. Which is fine, but you're not allowed to go and see your pets, nor are you allowed to check out the facility where they will be held. Which makes me very uncomfortable, but it seems that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. But that's not my problem. My problem is that if you're willing to pay about RMB10 000 per cat you don't have to leave them in quarantine. Not even for a day. So for R30 000 I can pick my cats up from the airport and bring them straight home. In China, as in SA, that's A LOT of money and most labourers would hope to earn that in a year. See, somebody figured out that foreigners would pay this kind of money and then found a loophole and bang, you're in business and making money off foreigners.

Example 2: we've found an apartment that we like (Frikkie not so much, but it's convenient) and we can afford. The price started out at RMB8000 a month, but after the Olympics the property bubble has burst and the price came down to 7000. We liked the apartment at 8000, we like it even better at 7000. Small snag is that we only want to start renting it from the first of December. But, as they say; A bird in hand... and keep in mind that this all happened this week, so it's not as if the landlord had any takers for November anyway. The landlord then says: great, but if you only want to take it from 1 December the rent is 7500. My response: NO. Back and forth. back and forth. There are loads of apartments available at the moment, so it's not as if we're hard-up. Fine, the landlord will take 7000, but do we want a receipt? Yes, we need a receipt for tax purposes. To get a receipt will cost 350 a month. Why? Because now the landlord has to declare the income from his flat in order to get the government to issue a monthly receipt and guess who's paying part of that tax? Yip, Foreigners Els and Labuschagne.

The joys of being a foreigner

Weather: chilly
Temp:2-10
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1.45
You looky, looky: Wungfujing's food street is full of the weird and wonderful food.

The thing about being a western foreigner in China is that you can never blend in. It's the round eyes that give you away, every time. Mostly it's ok to stand out. It doesn't bother me much and by now we're pretty used to the inquiring glances and sometimes blatant staring. Last night we went to Wungfujing, one of Beijing's famous pedestrian shopping streets. We were actually trying to get to a movie cinema, but got lost, wandered down the wrong hutong and by the time we found Wungfujing, it was too late for the late show (9:30) and we ended up strolling around, not really doing anything. I don't know if you remember the email that went round before the Olympics about the weird food you could get in Beijing? Seahorse on a stick, scorpion on a stick, silkworm on a stick? Anyway, those photos were taking at the Wungfuging food market and that where I got something to eat. No, don't worry, I skipped the scorpion, but opted for veggies on a stick. Or 5 sticks to be precise. In my local market's food section that would cost me RMB 5. Last night I was charged RMB65. No I kid you not. Yes, I know, I should have asked for the price first, but knowing more or less what it should cost I certainly did not expect to get charged that ridiculous amount. But that's the thing about always being the obvious foreigner, in one of the touristy streets in Beijing - they can spot you a mile off and hey, maybe some tourists are willing to pay that, but I certainly wasnt'. We sorted it out and in the end I only paid RMB25 - which is still tourist price, but a spot better than RMB65. I think what irks me most is that to this guy I looked like just another foreigner, fresh off the plane. It also highlighted that we really need to learn the lingo, otherwise this sort of thing is always going to keep on happening.

As a Beijing newby you're also reliant on guidebooks to give you a the lowdown and usually this pans out but not today. I'm busy looking for a birthday present for my favourite godson Jackson. So what does one get a little boy for his second birthday that unique and special and from China? You research, you cross reference and eventually you think you have sure winner: a shop that sells unique, hand-made toys made by a 5th generation toymaker. How cool does that sound. If the New York Times thinks it's cool it must be. Right, so off I go. I can't find it on the map so I take a taxi and voila -we find the shop and although I spend a good half an hour in a shop the size of my couch I am unable to really find what I'm looking. What I don't get is why it's on the Top10 list of must-visit shops in Beijing... Live and learn.

We also met our first South African! Elkarike has just moved to Beijing (from somewhere else in China) and we're going to have her over for dinner soon.

Weather: lovely autumn day
Temp: 4-17
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,64
Made for walking: Comfortable shoes will save your life in China. Walking in heals may cost you a toe, and will leave you with at least a blister or two.

Do you remember Richard Clayderman? He's blond, floppy fringe, plays piano? Was really popular in SA during the early '80s? Ballade for Adeline? Ring any bells? He was not a one hit wonder, oh no, he's alive and well and touring China and it seems the rest of the world. Ballade for Adeline was one of the first songs I learnt to play on the piano, so I have a bit of a soft spot for the guy, but I'm not sure I'm going start queueing for concert tickets just yet. Kanye West will be here soon, but I'm not convinced either.

Now that I live in China, I cannot tell you how many international site spit out Chinese writing at me. Youtube, Blogger, Google... which I guess is good, but it's a little scary that they know exactly where in the world you are.

I thought today that it's quite funny how quickly you get used to stuff. I'm now, more or less, used to people spitting in the street. I am now, more or less, used the pushing to get onto/off the subway, which only happens during peak times. I am now, more or less, used to the pace people walk. When I first got here I thought people walked really slowly, now I just slow myself down and it just makes things easier than always trying to overtake people on the sidewalk. Beijing driving freaked me out when I got here. It looked like there was no order to things, although the traffic always seem to move. Now, I'm completely used to it, I understand the flow and that it's really non-aggressive. What I'm not used to: people emptying their noses on the sidewalk, one nostril at a time.

Sunday, lazy Sunday

Weather: mildly crisp
Temp: 4-15
Exchange: 1RMB = R1,63
Cocktail anybody? Frikkie concocted a new drink for us - the Beijing Tonic. Stolly vodka is only RMB55 a bottle, so how could we not put it to good use?

Our day started off with all kinds of plans - should be go to the Temple of Heaven, Tianamen Square? So many possibilities. The thin about living in a new city is that you sometime feel compelled to do all the touristy things, but then you think: Hey, I'm going to be here for a while, so what's the rush?
So, instead of doing anything, we did absolutely nothing. Frikkie made lunch and cocktails, I read my new book, Journey to the West. It's a Chinese Classic and I'm really getting into it. Right now I'm finding out where the Monkey King comes from.

Today is my one month Beijing anniversary and Frikkie's two month. I can't believe it's only been four weeks.

That's SIR Paul Smith to you

Weather: Slightly nippy
Temp: 4-16
Exchange rate: RMB1 = R1,63
With fur please. Litchi anybody?

I started my day by sniffing salt water. It was as much fun as it sounds. It burned the bejezuz out of my nasal passages, but it also, sort of cleared my sinuses. Don't worry, I haven't completely reverted to home remedies for my nasty cold that doesn't seem to want to go away and I picked up some Tylenol Cold and Flu meds from the pharmacy on our way to the subway station.

Then we headed to the Yashow market in Sanlitun. Now when I say market I mean, it's a 4 storey building, with an escalator and a food court. And what seems like millions of little stalls selling everything your little heart could possibly desire. Yashow market is very, very clean and tidy. And all the sales staff wear the same uniform: jeans, white shirt and blue satin waistcoat - it looks more professional than you might think. So, think organised, with no dead animals being sold anywhere, except in the basement, where they sell shoes (although from the smell of it most of the shoes are plastic). Frikkie said he needed gloves. That was, ostensibly, what we were looking for. What we ended up with were 3 Paul Smith shirts. I'm not even going to tell you what we paid for them. Obviously it was ridiculously cheap. Obviously they're knock offs, but quite frankly my dear, I don't think you'd be able to tell the different between the real thing and a good knock off. I may go back and get myself a Max Mara coat, cause the duffel coat I bought from Woolies is not quite cutting it in the cold climes we now find ourselves.

Our lease in Phoenix is running out and we're thinking of moving closer to the CBD. Looked at 3 apartments, but I'm not convinced by any of them, so the search continues. Living with a person who really cares about the wall colour can sometimes be very interesting...

Saw a billboard advertising the 2008 China Copyright Conference. Thought it was rather ironic. We will be spending the rest of our Saturday lazing on the couch watching pirated DVD's.

I don't want to be sick anymore!

Weather: cold (if this autumn I'm not looking forward to winter)
Temp: Min 2 - Max 13
Dis mos kos: My mum gave me this cookbook for my birthday. It has all the best Boerekos recipes. I'm seeing milk tart in our future.
Exchange rate: 1RMB = R1,70

I'm still sick. And I'm not really starting to feel any better. I was determined to go to a market today, but after finishing the ironing (don't ask) I was completely pooped and napped all afternoon. I'm barely awake now. I also sent off my CV to some ad agencies today. It would seem that most of the agencies are based in Shanghai, but like Frikkie said, there has to be some in Beijing. I've got to keep on trying I guess.

After saying I'm not going to the prirate DVD store I went anyway. We returned our faulty Rightous Kill and bought: The Mumie (sic), Journey to the center of the earth, Don't mess with the Zohan and Flashbacks of a fool - Daniel Craig's latest movie (bits of which was shot in Cape Town). What I find really amazing is that whoever makes these bothers to copy everything and then gets the English write-up on the back wrong. Not badly wrong, just a word missing here, mummy spelt incorrectly... It's the sub editor in me - I can't help myself. But it also makes it fun and I think I can now speak a third language, spoken by most Chinese: Chinglish - it's a lot like English, but with some distinctive Chinese quirks. I think people use Google Translate and hope for the best. The best of it often quite hilarious.

We're off to The Red Capital Club for dinner tonight. Looks really nice. It's in an old house with a beautiful courtyard. Apparently they specialise in the favourite dishes of senior Communist Party Officials. Should be interesting.

Who left the fridge door open?

Weather: clear skies, mildly freezing.
Sweeties: A subway ad for White Rabbit sweets. See, they're even popular in China.
Exchange rate: 1 RMB = R1,67 (what the hell is going on?)

Ok, besides the Rand being in free fall, it is now also really cold in Beijing. I mean wrap up in 4 layers and still feel the cold kind of cold. It rained last night, which is always good cause it cleans the air and today the skies are crisp and clear and the temperature has dropped by what feels like 20 degrees. And the wind is blowing. So it's probably wind chill factor more than anything else. Today, for the first time I'm glad that I did not have a job to go to. (I teach again on Monday)

I had all these big plans for today: clean the flat, go to Tianimen Square, maybe throw in some of the Forbidden City... Guess what? None of that happened. Ok, not none of it. I cleaned the apartment. And it is now official - I hate house work. It's boring. It ruins your nails and makes your hands look like they belong to a 90-year-old. Doing the laundry is even more tedious. And ironing has gone from something that I quite liked doing to a chore that I could give a miss. Can we all say it together? TEDIOUS.

Then I thought ok, the house work is done and as a little reward I'll go and get a massage. There is a place really close to where we live that advertise traditional Chinese massage. I haven't had one yet, but apparently it's not an oil massage and often leaves you slightly battered and bruised. But hey, sounds like fun, right, and try everything once. I swiftly changed my mind as soon as I stepped out of our building. Cold with a capital C. The thought of taking any of my clothes off seemed very unappealing. So instead I went to say hi to Jason, my estate agent buddy, who is, btw, all of 24. Then went to drop off a coat at the dry cleaners, popped to the shop to get some water and ingredients for dinner and hot-footed it back to the apartment. And this is where I'll stay me thinks till tomorrow. Frikkie mentioned that he wants to go to our local pirate DVD store to return Righteous Kill, which got stuck half way through, but I think he may be making that trip on his own.

And just in case you were wondering - Jason's office, the shop and the dry cleaners are all in our apartment complex - so I was outside for all of 10 minutes and still froze my butt off.

I am employed

Weather: cool with mist (not poluted haze)
Gotta love Kylie: Frikkie's parents gave him Kylie Kwong's latest cookbook for his birthday. It arrived in one of the boxes and I'm almost done reading her travelogue (there's nothing on telly and she writes beautifully). Most of the recipes are veggies, so that's great for us and even better: it's in English. Bonus that we can get all of the ingredients at our local Carre Four.
Exhange rate: 1 RMB = R1.55

I'm still sick. Yuck. Flu/cold. But nevermind that - I have a job. Officially. It's a slow start with only one lecture this week, but next week I have two. Geoffrey thought it best that I start off with small classes, so at most I'll have 3 students tonight.
I did another demo class today and apparently did much better. I spoke slowly, introduced myself properly and didn't assume anything. Quite proud of myself.

I don't think I realised how not working was affecting me. Being unemployed was getting me down. Must be that Calvinist work ethic that's been drilled into me all my life. I know 2 lectures a week isn't going to keep me busy, but it's a start and at least I'll be contributing a little to our combined income.

Frikkie is back from Chongqing tonight. Hoorah. Apparently their meeting went really well, so it was all worth it. He's off somewhere else tomorrow, can't remember the name, but he'll be back tomorrow night.

High Noon in Shanghai

Weather: fine and mild, with "mist"
Pearl of the Orient: The Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Congrats to Tinus and Marina! He popped the question in Paris and they're getting married.

And to Annetjies, my niece, who turned 16. Geluk meisie! Net mooi dinge vir jou.

Yeah people - my visa application is being processed and very soon I'll be upgraded from a tourist to a resident! The document from the SA consulate did the trick and we're a-for-ok and away. Frikkie and I had a good chuckle about our "piece of paper" - but hey, it makes things easier and I'm sure it isn't legally binding.

Shanghai was pretty cool, except that I came back with some bug and am feeling miz today. We got there on Saturday afternoon and met up with P2 (there are apparently too many Peters and Andrews in the Hassell office in Shanghai, so you get a nickname) from Frikkie's office for drinks and dinner. Also met Andrew Lamb or Lammy and his girlfriend Holly. Went to a Moroccan-theme bar called Barbarrosa, set in the middle of a small lake, or massive water feature, whichever way you want to look at it. Pretty cool, with all the pretty people enjoying the last of the warm weather. Shanghai is much warmer than Beijing and it was quite chilly when I got home last night. It was great hanging out with fun, English-speakers again.

After dinner we headed off to a tiny little club to go and see an Aussie band Regurgitator. Apparently they're really famous in Oz and seeing them in a small club and not at a music festival was a real treat. It was hot, sweaty, hot, sweaty, with some very cool music. And the Aussies were all super-stoked about seeing the "Gurge" up close and personal. The lead singer is kind of cute...

Sunday we staggered out of bed late, nursing medium to large headaches. Not quite the spring chickens we used to be. We headed off to the fabric market - famous for silks. It should really be famous for coats and a little bit for silk. The market is filled with every kind of coat you can imagine, beautifully made, and very well-priced. Haggling is expected in Chinese markets and you should never pay the price on the price tag and should start by offering 10% of the asking price, and if you pay 30% of the asking price, you paid too much. Yes, it's a tough world out there. After the market we grabbed some dumplings on the street. The pics below are of our dumpling stall and it's neighbour, the bike repair guy. We sat in the middle munching dumplings.














After the dumplings we had noodles from another stall. Our friendly noodle maker added some MSG, which she seems to add to all the noodles. I can now spot th white crystal a mile off, after nearly buying it at the supermarket (I thought it was salt - looks can be deceiving). Oh well, Pringles also contain MSG and it hasn't killed me yet.

It seems that all the expats from the Shanghai office are good mates and we went for a barbie at Andrew and Ilma's apartment. They, surprise-surprise, also work for Hassell. Very cool couple with a cute baby. Played Wii for the first time... think I may be addicted.

Got home at 11 on Monday night. Frikkie's in Chongqing till tomorrow night.

Our boxes just arrived from SA. TG cause I'm sick and tired of wearing the same clothes.

Where does the time go?

Weather: polluted haze
Say it like you mean it: I love China graffiti outside the 798 Art District

I honestly don't know where my day went. I went back to Dr Goa this morning for an ultra sound. Don't worry, everything is fine and where it's supposed to be. Even better news is that I'm not pregnant.

I then came home, did some laundry, looked for jobs online etc. Then went to Wish for lunch with Frikkie and his team. I had the most delicious prawn curry - it reminded me of Cape Malay curry. We discovered a great local vineyard called Grace Vineyard. Both their wooded and unwooded chardonnays would have John Platter in rapture. After lunch I headed off to the 798 Art District, which is sort of close by. I have this idea to now sell some stuff from here in SA, so went to source some stuff there. As I was cycling back it occurred to me that I lost my Puma top somewhere. My favourite Puma top. My one and only Puma top. Very annoyed with myself, but hopefully our boxes will arrive next week and then I'll have more clothes, cause right now I have my jeans and a few t-shirts...

We're off to Shanghai tomorrow and on Monday we have a meeting with a Ms Brits at the SA embassy to get the our partnership formally recognised. Hopefully the Chinese government will then accept this and I will get a residency permit.

HOT off the PRESS: I'm teaching on Wednesday! HOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Life is good

Weather: warm, with haze
For sake's sake: A little retail therapy goes a long way. I went in search of the Spin Ceramic shop. As you can see I found it.

I met Frikkie in Sanlitun last night and we went for dinner at Bei, one of the restaurants in the Opposite House Hotel. WOW! It is the most beautiful, minimalist space I've ever been in. The attention to detail... Mmm, can you tell I've been hanging out with an architect?

After my morning chores I headed off to Spin Ceramics. I got lost. Not badly, but it took me a while to get there. I blame Google Maps - my navigation skills couldn't possibly have anything to do with it. But it was all worth it. Good lawd the stuff in that shop is beautiful. It's modern Chinese executed with great skill and craftmanship. I could have bought everything they had on display. But we're still a one income family, so I settled for a sake porer and cups. And 2 pottery cups. And it was very reasonable, which is really good cause we have to fork out some serious cash for our tickets to VIETNAM!!! Yip, we're off to Vietnam for the Chinese New Year next year. And as luck would have it, we get to spend my birthday on the island of Phu Quoc at the Mango Bay resort. Could a girl ask for more? Probably not.

I also went to the Chinese Japan Friendship hospital today. I needed to go for a gyne check-up. I've never had so much fun during a gyne visit. Dr Goa is old enough to be my granny, but everything was funny, but in a good way.

Today was a good day.

Sloth and unemployment

Weather: warm and semi-clear
Blast from the past: Frikkie and I the first time I went to see him in Cape Town outside Madame Zingara's. Me thinks the gods were conspiring...

I did absolutely nothing today. No really. I have not been out the front door. I got up, had breakfast in bed with Frikkie, tidied the flat, faffed around online, took a nap, woke up, watched a(nother) stupid movie on HBO, started with lesson 1 of the Chinese language course we have, had a snack, checked out the Jackson Files then La Petite Fille and that's pretty much it.

I mailed Stanford English to find out when/if they want to see me again and this is the response I got: "We have not forgotten you; however, this is China. I will be in contact soon." Huh? What is that supposed to mean? I've started looking for work somewhere else.

Moving on swiftly. Don't be under any illusions about the wealth floating about here. There's plenty rich people in this city. There may not be as many BMW's here, but there are plenty of big, black cars filling up the roads. I did a quick survey of the cars parked outside our complex and here's what I found:

• Audi
• VW
• Suzuki
• Mitsubishi
• Unknown
• BMW
• Nissan
• Suzuki
• Citroen
• Chev
• Honda
• Huyandai
• Toyota
• Jeep
• Buick
• Porche
  

I really don't know the Unknowns - never seen these cars before. So there's a good mix of well-established brands. And the cars aren't old either. Yes folks, me thinks democracy should not be confused with capitalism, as they are clearly not the same thing and one is alive and well and living large in China.

The cost of living

Weather: Warm
Caption: We still look the same... going to the Diana Kroll concert

I'm constantly amazed at how cheap or expensive things are here. We went for dinner last night at Hatsune, a much raved about Japanese restaurant near the new CCTV building. I've been craving sushi since I got here and Frikkie had been there before and said it was pretty good, so off we went. Normal, gewone tuna sashimi was 90RMB, which is about R100. The portion contained 6 pieces and I wasn't particularly blown away by it. I know Joburg isn't the sushi capitol of the world, but I thought it was expensive for what I got. Compared to how some stuff is, I thought it was a bit of a rip.

But then today I went to the supermarket and market. I bought 2 bringals, some pinenuts, 2L dishwashing liquid and really fresh asparagus. For the princely sum of 48 RMB. I love the fresh produce markets here. I don't understand why there isn't more of a market culture in SA - what could be better than getting fresh produce every day? The veggies are beautiful - long runner beans, fresh spring onions... and then of course some fruit and veg I don't know, but I'm sure will be cooking with in the not too distant future.

Before I headed to do the grocery shopping I joined Frikkie for lunch. We went to the Bellagio restaurant (yes folks, Vegas is everywhere) just around the corner from his office. Frikkie was raving about the boiled fish, a delicacy from the Szechuan Province, which is famous for its spicy cooking. It would seem that there is no set way in which food is served. Whatever is ready get taken to your table, and there is no distinction between savoury and sweet. You can have sweet pastries at the same time as you have your savoury dishes. The fish arrives in a big bowl, filled with broth, greens, garlic, pepper corns and chillies. It's literally covered in chillies. But the chillies aren't the hot, blow the top of your head off chillies, they're quite mild and really there for flavour. The peppercorns on the other hand... Now that's a different story all together. It's nothing like black pepper. It gives off short burst of taste explosions. I don't know how to describe it otherwise. Quite pleasant, but something to get used to. The fish was indeed delicious, although I gave the head and fins a miss.

Otherwise all's quiet on the Eastern Front.

Living in a box

Weather: purple haze
Caption: Going green. 30% of the surface of all housing developments in Beijing needs to be green. This is our back yard.

We're still deciding where we want to live once our lease runs out at the end of November and I went to look at a court yard house today. In Beijing, for the normal-not-super-rich folks, you either live in an aparment or a court yard house in a huton.

I got all excited about the location - just East of the Forbidden City. I had romantic notions about evening walks in the huton lanes etc, etc. Although it's called a court yard house, it's not really a house. It's a duplex, in rows of 4 or so, with about 8 duplexes sharing a court yard. Now the court yard is not a manicured garden with some grass. It's paved with some plants and everybody's junk. Not pretty people. Think living in a complex with no body corporate to lay down the law...

For 7000RMB you gets 2 bedrooms, which really isn't 2 bedrooms at all. It's 1 bedroom upstairs and then another room downstairs. Of course you could use it as a bedroom, but then you have about 2 square meters to live in. And the windows were... small. So the inside of the house was dark. The kitchen tiny and if you sat on the loo, you could take a shower at the same time. The main reason we were considering a court yard house was the idea that we would have an outside area. Mmm, yes we could go outside, but it would just be us, our braai and our neighbours' underpants...

So, there goes that idea. I'm pretty sure we'll stay in the complex we're living in now - just something with a second bedroom and a balcony.

Just like home

Weather: fine and warm
Caption: This was part of a photo on the front page of the China Daily.

After a lazy start to our day we cycled to Carre Four to buy badmington rackets. Badmington is play here in the streets and we thought a great way to spend some time outdoors. We got some shuttlecocks as well - with real feathers nogal. It freaked me out a little, but there were no plastic ones, so it was feather shuttlecocks or nothing. Let's hope our tube of shuttlecocks don't come with built in bird flu :-). As we were unchaining our bikes to cycle home this gentleman showed up. I thought he was getting his bike, but no. He was our friendly Carre Four bike guard, complete with grimy armband to show that he's legit. 1 RMB and thank you for parking here. WTF? I thought we left car guards behind when we left sunny SA. But it would seem that entrepeneurial spirit transends continents.

I just burnt a batch of croissants. Bloody hell. Do you know what a fag it is to make croissants from scratch? It takes hours. The recipe says bake for 45 minutes at 230. So we went and played badmington for 30 mintues, I had the oven at 220 and still they were burnt to a near crisp. Clearly our magic box (as a local cook book refers to an oven) is quite potent and should be watched.

We're off to a Diana Kroll concert tonight. Tres exciting. She's never performed in SA and who knows when we'll get this opportunity again. We in row gazzillion and 9 and still the tickets were 300 RMB, each.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BRENDA, my sister-in-law! Hoop jy't 'n baie lekker dag!

A whole new city

Weather: fine and mild
Caption: High, Ho, Silver - riding the Eastern Dragon. Although I believe this is a lion...

It's amazing. Our bikes have opened a whole new city for us. Being independently mobile is great. We went to the 798 Art District today. We worked out that it's about 6kms from out flat and we cycled there and back. On our way we stopped at Miss Me Cafe next to Lido Park for coffee and croissants. You pay about 30 RMB per cup of cuppacino, but this morning it was definitely worth it.

Riding a bike, is well, like riding a bike. Once you know how, you never forget. And I cycled to school for 6 years, so it's all coming back to me. Dodging through the Beijing traffic is a new skill I'm still developing.

So back to the 798 Art District. I have never been to a art presinct of this magnitude. There are a gazzilion galleries and some great cafes and eateries. Some better than others. It's impossible to do it all justice in a day. And Frikkie, who's been there before said that most of the exhibitions have changed since he was there 2 weeks ago. There were loads of over-sized outdoor sculptures. And video installations. We saw some very interesting art, especially the exhibition about coal miners and their life at the Long March Space. But after a whole day of galleries, it all got a bit much. Nothing a lovely pesto and goats cheese pasta with a good glass of Chilean chardonnay at the Art Cafe couldn't fix though.

Riding back we stopped at the flower market and City Shop, a chain specialising in organic products. I've started doing some research for pricing NoMu and MyT Chai Rooibos products. How exactly to start selling it is still a mistery. But some ideas are starting to form in my head. The flower market is connected to another market selling anything from clothes to Thai soaps. We picked up a DVD copy of Shaun of the Dead, but the cover is in French... Do you think Shaun et les zombies is going to be in English with Chinese subtitles? I certainly hope so. The flower market was great. Frikkie said that the market would have a few Pretoria mevroue in rapture. Some of the lanterns were beautiful and I can honestly say that I've never seen such old bonzai trees.

Some more pics from the art district.:

Ring my bell

Weather: fine and mild, not a cloud to be seen.

Caption:> We're mobile: Frikkie striking a poser pose with our new bikes.

We bought ourselves brand new bikes today. Mine's black and red and I've named it Griet, after the horse in Liewe Heksie. Frikkie's is lumo yellow and black. We rode home in afternoon traffic from the bike shop. My life flashed before my eyes a couple of times, but we made it home safely. I also have a basket on my bike, for when I nip round to the Carre Four I have a place to put my purchases. We have officially moved up a step on the Beijing traffic food chain and it feels good. Now we just have to perfect the art of dodging pedestrians.

Discovered more street food today. Officially there's no street food in Beijing. I'm told that it was all cleaned up for the Olympics, but the good news is that the little stalls are slowly but surely coming back. Mostly it's somebody with a bike (for a quick getaway), with a tiny little counter/cooking area on the back preparing just one kind of dish. There's the usual mielies, but there's also sweet potatoes slow cooked on coals, the pancake thing with danja, and then noodles, that come in big sheets, are chopped up and served with tofu and all kinds of sauces. And this time of year there's also toffy dates, just like toffy apple, just with a few dates in stead of one apple. I've tried the dates - not really my thing. We had the noodles today from a little stall inside a supermarket. OMG was it delicious. Really, truly delicious. And all for 4 RMB. I really have to find out what all these delicious dishes are called, but all in good time.

I have a lunch appointment with Jason, my new friend. He seems very excited about it. I want to learn how to count. And say good bye, cause my two word Chinese vocab is getting a bit limiting.

BTW - I didn't go to the Diesel shop. I decided that I really didn't need another pair of jeans and let's face it 390RMB isn't exactly for free.

I looked around today and you know what - Beijing isn't crowded. Yes, it's a big, busy city, but quite frankly so is London and I've gone shopping in London on a Saturday morning when it's been far more crowded than here. Just a thought.

Karate Kid and Stallone

Weather: Cool and drizzling
Caption: Going native! My new favourite snack, Royal Sesame Mochi

I made a friend today! Hooray! This afternoon I went to look at some apartments and one of the estate agents and I got on really well and now Jason is going to help my with my Chinese and I'm going to help him with his English. :-)

As it turns out I'm not a natural teacher. I talk too quickly, I assume that people can speak English... The critique was quite thorough. So I have to prepare another presentation for next week. That's fine. Whatever. I may take Irma's advice and go for kindergarten rather than corporate trainig. But then I'm always up for a challenge... But I guess the real question is if I want to teach or go try and find a corporate job.

The other sucky part of my day is that it's 9:50pm now and Frikkie is still at the office and he'll be there until the early hours of the morning, obviously working. No, I can't believe it either. I really didn't feel like going out on my own in the miserable weather, so I'm stuck at home, watching absolutely RUBBISH TV. HBO Asia is really disappointing. The only cool thing on is the Flying Conchords. Right now I'm watching Demolition Man... and before that it was Karate Kid, as in the first one.

More exciting is Diesel's 30th birthday. Or more precisely that fact that Diesel will be selling Dirty Thirty jeans for 390RMB tomorrow. The stock's limited though so I can just imagine what a stampede it's going to be. Should I even try to get a pair? It does count in my favour that I'm, how shall we put this, slightly bigger than the average Chinese. Check out www.diesel.com/xxx/beijing Apparently there is going to be a massive party in the 798 art district tomorrow night - part of the world-wide party to celebrate the big event.

I got a bit of a shock the other day trying on some clothes. I have gone from a Small/Medium to a Medium/Large in one quick flight. And I shrunk 2cm according to the nurse at the medical centre in Shanghai. I don't know which one I'm more upset about - that I'm now not nearly 1.7m tall or that I'm officially a large lady.

Back to normal

Weather: clear, slighly windy

Caption: My red umbrella in an umbrella stand

This umbrella stand intrigued me. We're not big on umbrellas in SA. I think it's cause we don't have to walk long distances in the rain. It drizzled last night, so we got my new red umbrella out. We ate at Serve the People, a Thai restaurant in Sanlitun and this is what the umbrella stand outside the restaurant looked like. You lock you umbrella in the stand and then take the key. That way your umbrella is always there when you come back. Ingenious. Must remember not to drink Cook's champagne again. Although it was brut both Frikkie and I woke up with stinker headaches this morning. And no, it had nothing to do with finishing the bottle.

I finally have my bag back in my grubby paws. It had been delivered to another company on Frikkie's office's floor. I have no idea who this other company thought it was for, but never mind, in the end I got it back, with all my stuff still inside, which was rather unexpected.

We've been watching the decline of the rand against the dollar and the pound. With alarm I might add. Although it means that the money that we have to send home every month will go further.

BTW, the meeting at Ministry of Commerce went well. Now just the demo lecture tomorrow and I'm officially unofficialy employed.

They found it!

They found my bag! Well, I, NEVER!
Small problem though. I gave them Frikkie's business address because I don't know our home address off by heart and they tried to deliver it last night. The driver called but his Chinglish is like my Mandarin - non existent, so there was a bit of a language barrier. Hopefully we'll sort it out today and I'll have all my stuff back and you'll get pictures.

Slightly defeated

Weather: hazy
Caption: Ancient Greece meets petrol station. Only in China.

There will be no new photos for a while. China Eastern airline lost my bag. I arrived back from Shanghai, but my bag did not.
I want to cry. Why?
a - my warm coat and grey Country Road, 100% wool jumper are gone, which leaves me with one warmish top until my boxes arrive
b - all my chargers (phone, laptop, camera) and connection cables, all gone
c - most of my cosmetics and a big boo-hoo my Smashbox base, gone

And I took such great pics of my beautiful hotelroom. But hopefully they will find my rucksack.

:-(

Shanghai shenanigans

Weather: clear blue skies
Caption: Look Jackson, 2 cranes!

Today was my first “normal” day in Beijing. All the plaasjapies have gone back home and the Beijingers went back to work after their “golden week” off. The subways were busy, but not too crowded and there were no out of towners struggling to get through the subway gates. Yes, apparently swiping your subway ticket and walking through the gate, one at a time, is complicated if your from Put Sonder Water in outer Mongolia. With fewer out of towners there are also fewer people who gawk. The sophisticated, well healed were out in force today and the more time I spend here, to more I like it. So far we’ve only been asked to pose for a photo op once, which I find a bit strange cause the first time we came here we were asked all the time. But that was Shanghai, perhaps people who visit Beijing have encountered more foreigners. Who knows.

I keep on finding little present that Little Miss Skanky, as we now refer to our landlady left for us. Shaking out the lounge shag pile-esque carpet the other day I was rewarded with grape pips, watermelon pips, some long black human hair and a 10c coin or two. At least it was a financially rewarding exercise. And we have started farming with dust bunnies. I don’t know where they come from, but they keep on appearing and must be breeding like rabbits somewhere in the flat…

Went for my first interview today at Stanford English. And so far so good. On Wednesday I will be introduced to some folks at the (very important sounding) Ministry of Commerce or MofCom, to be followed by a 20 minute mock lecture on Thursday, just to see if I can do the job. I have to find a business etiquette topic to lecture on. Any suggestions are welcome. I was thinking how to do effective PowerPoint presentations or, and I’m leaning towards this one, how to accept refreshments offered at the beginning of a meeting. Yes, folks, these are exciting times we live in.

I am eagerly awaiting the 2 boxes I shipped from South Africa. According to my calculations they should have arrived on Wednesday/Thursday, but because of the golden week off, they still have to clear customs. Expected delivery date is now late next week. Had I known I would have sent them by sea, which takes four weeks and costs half the price. But I think I’ll need my warm clothes sooner rather than later. It was a typical autumn day today – clear, blue skies, hot in the sunshine, but cool in the shade. Can’t believe that we’re heading into winter again. Boo-Hoo.

Beijing is still Olympics bedonnerd. The Olympic slogan One world, One dream is plastered everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Unsightly building sites are wrapped with printed plastic sheeting with the slogan plastered all over it, in 10 different languages. There are endless Olympic-related programmes on CCTV, on the subway televisions etc etc. Although we went to the Olympic precinct the other day, we didn’t go into the Bird’s Nest stadium – there were simply too many locals who were there to gape at this architectural wonder. I think the Chinese as a nation is incredibly proud of fact that it all went off without a glitch. And the Bird’s Nest is pretty impressive, although a little smaller (from the outside) than I thought it would be. But then I thought the same about the pyramids… The one thing that’s back with a vengeance after the Olympics is the spitting. Apparently it was banned during the Olympics. If only they left that rule in place. Nobody here wear open shoes on the street, nobody. I now understand why.

I’m at the airport at the moment, waiting for my flight to Shanghai, where I’ll be going for a medical examination for visa purposes. I made the mistake of not checking in any luggage and so had all my toiletries in my rucksack. Big mistake. I think my bags went through the x-ray machine about 7 times. And every time they found another bottle with liquid. Each bottle had to be opened and smelt. At my perfume the security officer pulled a face – perhaps not her fragrance then. In the end I only had to leave the honey body butter I bought this morning. And my boarding pass was checked at least 4 times and that was just to get through the x-ray security. Just cause you saw somebody check it 30 seconds ago does not mean you should not check it too, cause maybe your colleague is a complete moron.

Slightly later: Aah, Shanghai, the Jewel of the Orient, the Paris of the East. So many names… Unfortunately I’m staying at the arse-end of Shanghai – I have no idea exactly where, but I’ve just gone for a walk it it’s pretty basic out there folks. Hassell’s driver picked me up from the airport and whisked me off to the Blong Homelike Hotel on Hami Street. Auspicious some might say since my favourite godson in the whole-wide world, Jackson sometimes calls me Hami. But it’s never plain sailing all the way. Hassell was supposed to have paid for the hotel, and hadn’t. Between my no Mandarin and the receptionist’s no English it was a bit of a struggle, but in the end I had to pay. At 258 RMB per night (although I had to pay 400) I wasn’t expecting too much. I most certainly wasn’t expecting the oval bed… Yes folks, oval, with orange bead spread and duvet. Bea-ah-utiful I tell you. And the wallpaper… words fail me. But it’s clean and the wood carvings in the passage way are pretty, and most importantly: it’s only for ONE night. But my favourite part of the room is the “products shelf” stocked with knickers, boxers, socks, stockings and, wait for it: Male love lotion called You Can. Very responsibly there’s also a pack of condoms available.


If I was staying any longer I may have sent some clothing to be dry cleaned. Now where did I put my Feather Blouse, cause it’s only 40 RMB to have it laundered at this mighty fine establishment. Perhaps I left it at home with my Py jamas. Homelike indeed.

Sunday on my mind

Weather: overcast with drizzle

Caption: Room with a view. Henri and Frikkie's view at night.

Sundays are obviously dog-walking day in Beijing. There are fluffy little hairballs with doting owners everywhere. It's quite sweet. The dogs are all relative small because there's a city bylaw that restricts the height of dogs allowed in the city. The biggest dog I've seen so far was a Husky, which isn't all that big.

Today was another Henri sloth day. But in my defence ~ it's Sunday, even though Frikkie was working all day.

We ended up at a great fresh produce market after I picked Frikkie up from his office. It's amazing how quickly we go used to seeing live fish, prawns and grabs at markets and supermarkets. SUPER fresh seafood is definitely the norm here. I haven't quite gotten myself to choosing a fish who's head will be chopped off especially for me, nor do I think I'll ever get there, but you never know. My little heart bleeds for the crabs who's legs are secured with elastic bands. But I guess if you don't want to kill it you shouldn't eat it... Not quite there yet either.

Today I miss my friends. It's one thing seeing people once a month, but at least you know there's somebody you can call up to go for a drink or dinner. So I feel a bit like Henri-No-Friends, which I guess is part and parcel of moving countries and continents. But it does mean that I get to spend loads of time with my lovely Frikkie, which is great. But I miss my friends. I met one of our neighbours today. Or should I rather say I met one of our English-speaking neighbours today. I've forgotten his name, but he's American, teaches movie post-production special effects and has lived here for a year - it's a amazing what you can find about a person going down 25 floors in the lift.

We're busy making dinner: Gnocchi with walnut and blue cheese sauce. Can you tell that we're eating a lot?

Tomorrow I go for my interview for a job to teach corporate English. Hold thumbs.

And my final thought for today: I hate Microsoft. I downloaded updates and plug-ins for IE and all of a sudden I couldn't log into my blog to post and loads of things were in Mandarin. I thought the great firewall of China had gotten to me, but then I tried it on the Mac and it was all fine. So stuff IE. I downloaded Firefox and off I went.

Digging the food

Weather: Cool with low clouds

Photo caption: Construction company logo on a gate behind the Phoenix apartment complex.

It really didn't feel like Saturday today. The alarm went off at 6, which Frikkie reset for 7 and then our day started. After breakfast Frikkie went off to the office and I, sloth that I am, went back to bed to finish Khaled Hosseini's A thousand Splendid Suns. I loved The Kite Runner and was reluctant to read Hosseini's next novel, because it seems to me that new authors often don't get it right again and that second novels can be a bit disappointing. But not this one. It made me cry. I loved every page. If anything it's better than The Kite Runner, although one does not want to compare the two too much.

Then I was up and at it. Although I got a local SIM card for my phone yesterday the damn thing didn't work. So I had to go back to China Mobile to get it sorted. And the cable we bought for the Mac to plug into the TV to view DVDs didn't fit, so that had to be swapped. And one of the sheets we bought from Ikea was the wrong size, so that had to be swapped. Yes folks, the exciting life of a house wife. 

It was my first outing on my own, with no Frikkie to lead the way. One small step for man... And I didn't get lost - not even once. Very proud of myself. On the way back from the Apple shop I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee. Don't ask. What was memorable though was the two American guys behind me who had a whole debate with one of the staff members about the milk in Mandarin. I think my mouth might have hung open slightly. So there is hope for me - if they can do it, then I'm pretty sure I can too.

 

I picked Frikkie up from his office late afternoon and we wanted to go for a drink somewhere. But nothing presented itself and we ended up ducking into a covered market. It's more like a permanent market with small cubicle shops than a flea market. I spotted a Sonia Rykiel coat that I may have to go and get. Anyway, by now I was ravenous. And a ravenous Henri with low blood sugar is not a very happy Henri, so instead of a fancy pants cocktail bar we ended up having a quick snack from stall in the market. OMG was it delicious! Frikkie had his staatmaker: veggie noodles and I got myself this steamed skewers dish. You select what you'd like from the display of skewers, they steam it up with a bit of sauce et voila! And the dipping sauce served with it was delicious - spicy and tasty. 

Not to mention full of garlic, but then everything is full of garlic and lots of it. If a vampire came close to the two of us after that meal I'm pretty sure it would have died. 

We then took a taxi to Ritan Park to go and check out the Stone Boat bar. WOW people. The park is beautiful and so far our favourite. When we finally found the Stone Boat bar, after being sent on a wild goose chase by all the security guards, it was worth the walk. It's a very cosy venue and according to Frikkie serves delicious martinis... 

After a round or three we headed home to go and get one more cable to pug into the Mac so that we could watch some DVDs. On one of walks earlier this week we discovered a DVD store, but not the kind that rents out DVDs, but rather the kind that sells very real looking fakes. After we purchased the last required cable we headed down the road to our friendly fake DVD store. Don't judge - I don't even know where to start looking for genuine DVDs...  I was very tempted to get the box set of Gray's Anatomy, which according to the Hollywood reporting is "Ren hot", but we settled for Hellboy 2, the latest X Files and Deniro and Pacino in Righteous Kill. We started with Hellboy 2 and had the English subtitles on for a while. Well, how entertaining. I think they use Google translator and boy oh boy does it get it wrong. But the image quality was excellent and we were given a VIP membership card from our friendly pirate DVD shop manager for "future discounts" so we may go back there.

All quiet on the Eastern Front

Weather: warm and clearish

Frikkie went back to work today. Not because today wasn't a public holiday for the rest of the people, but he has a big project with tight deadlines, so back to work he went. And he'll be working the rest of the weekend too. Blub. This meant that I had to entertain myself.
But all was not dull and dreary for housewife Henri...
Mr Quan, Frikkie's client took us out for lunch. To a vegetarian restaurant, which apparently is a bit weird for the Chinese, because vegetarian restaurants traditionally are associated with some religions. The food was great, although I dished my food into the wrong plate. I should have paid closer attention to what everybody else was doing, but nobody seemed to care.

We also discovered today that next year the Chinese New Year falls around my birthday. Yeah. We're looking at going somewhere in Thailand. Can't wait. I don't think we'll get Christmas off though. So, sorry Jewels - I don't think we're going to make it for Christmas in NZ.

We did more bike window shopping today. The prices at the Carre Four for a matt black start at 400RMB (about R480). Leung, Frikkie's colleague told me today that I could get an electric bike and I don't need a license. Way cool. It's almost like having a bike, but one that you occasionally need to pedal to charge. The styling on the electric bikes are a little, shall we say, local for my liking, so perhaps we'll just stick to the matt black bicycle for now.

I miss my cats. I'm eternally grateful to Rebecca who is looking after them for the time being. I need to get my residency permit sorted and then it will take another week or two to get the flight sorted and then hopefully we can get them into the country. I fly to Shanghai on Sunday night for my medical on Tuesday morning. And then we need to see a Ms Brits and the South African embassy to try and sort out some documentation to prove that we're in a serious relationship...

The best jiaozi this side of the Yellow River

Weather: hot and hazy

Today we behaved like complete tourists. We started our day off at the Lama Temple (yes the Tibetan kind), which is just down the street from the Confucius Temple. The Lama Temple was built in 1694 - so South Africa is almost as old as this temple. It's one of the biggest temples I've ever been too with and the main attraction is a 18m tall Buddha cut from one piece of white sandal wood. It's pretty impressive. And filled with worshippers and one or two monks.

I found it quite interesting that the Chinese government almost never miss an opportunity for bit of low-impact propaganda. Like how they spent large some of money on restoring the temple and blah blah blah.

Another universal truth discovered today: Where there are tourists there are curio shops. And in this case these shops mostly sell incense that worshippers burn inside the temple. But there is something about buying curios in a country that you're going to live in a for a while. So, we didn't buy anything except some incense and Frikkie insisted on getting a Tibetan prayer bowl. I'm sure that not it's proper name, but I don't know what else to call it.

Again the walking. We headed for the Confucius Temple but decided not to go in. It's like going into cathedrals - it gets a bit same-same. And so again the walking. But at least today the tube stations names weren't completely foreign. What's great about the subway here is that all the stations are announced in Mandarin and English. And the maps on the tube are in English too. So at least I'm starting to get an idea of where I am some of the time.

There is a great free publication called City Weekend that covers what's going on in Beijing that may be of interest to expats. Avril Lavigne is here on the 6th, and Air was here this past weekend. They also review wine, restaurants and have a listing section that's proving to be rather handy. We had lunch at Baoyuan Jiaozi Wu. Yes, you try and pronounce that, but despite the mouthful for a name the dim sum were truly delightful. Better than anything I've ever eaten. Yes, better than Koi in Sandton, which makes of the best dimsum in Jozi. We ate ourselved into a stupor. And all for 60RMB (about R72), which included 2 quarts of Tsingtoa draft. YUM~

After our hearty meal for headed for Chaoyang Park, apparently like Central Park, just in Beijing. Don't think for one moment that the Chinese Government don't charge. They charge. It was 10 RMB to get into Chaoyang. And it's not that 20 RMB is a lot of money. But we needed to get to an ATM first, so decided to take a stroll around the park. The park is "the largest public park in Asia', so going round about half of it took some serious walking. We walked passed a couple of ATMs, but pushed on. And ended up in an older, less glam part of the neighbourhood still looking for an ATM. No ATM= no taxi fare. No taxi fare=lots more walking. More walking not good at this stage and not really an option. It was Beijing like we have not seen it so far. The housing was lower cost, the streets muckier, more potholes, but the people couldn't care less if
we were there or not. They just went about their late afternoon business.

We saw some bikes we liked. Matt black, basic. No gears. Biker X. Most bikes are pretty clapped out and we don't want to get anything too flashy. Cause apparently flashy goes missing. So we're bike window shopping. Frikkie's not all that keen, but I think getting a bike is the way to go. Cause this walking thing is over-rated. And I'm hoping that once I'm confident enough on my bike that I can move up to a scooter. Maybe, cause I'm pretty sure I don't have a death wish and to actually drive in Beijing traffic you've got to have a death wish. I'm sure I will blog about the Beijing traffic in detail in future.

Strolling

Weather: hot and sunny, 27 degrees

I miss my car. Ok, not the actual car - just what it represents. Freedom. Yesterday we went to the area around the Forbidden City - HouHai. It's pretty with a lake and loads of bars and restaurants. But to get there we took the underground and then we walked, and walked, and walked. Until my tootsies and my legs were sore. And to get home we walked some more, took the underground and then a taxi. I'm sure this is something we'll get used to but for now it is something that is new and I'm definitely not used to.

But it was all worth it. We had lunch at the No Name Bar. Which has used to have no name and no address. Steamed fish with lemon grass, delicious mushrooms and some pastry-esque black bean past thingy. Served with frosty Tshingtoa.

These are random photos from stuff that caught my eye during yesterday's walk. Frikkie and I went into one of the Hutongs where he had looked at a duplex. We're still in two minds about where we want to live: slight, hi-tec, super-market close by (current apartment) or more traditional, slightly more out of the way hutong. I think the debate will rage for a while. We have a 2 month lease on the current apartment so at least we don't have to decide right now.

I'm sure these guys were important to someone, somewhere...

Slightly, mind you, only slight ornate entrance to a courtyard. There are bigger, better, grander ones...

It had quietened down by the time I took this picture in the late afternoon. The Chinese travel extensively in their own country and apparently Beijing is a must-see destination. This street was lined with curio and souvenir shops with very little English signage.

Outside a temple.

A corner of the Forbidden City.