FEBRUARY 20, 2007

Greetings to all from Scotland. Yes, we DO get around a bit, don't we?

Well, I'll update more about our goings-on in Shanghai before we talk about the UK. My cousin, Fred, came into Shanghai on business the weekend of the 10th. It was decided that we'd meet him on Sunday morning at his hotel in City Centre (Pudong) for a bit of sight-seeing. Randy and I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try the subway (metro) as it would be nearly an hour by taxi to City Centre from our apartment and a rather hefty fare.

We walked about 8 blocks to the nearest metro station which is due east from our apartment building. It's a dusty, dirty part of town as the street is all torn up due to expansion of the road and new building construction as well. I always feel like I need a bath after walking that street for any length of time, not to mention the stressful feeling of constantly looking around for the next bus which may run you over at any moment (it is necessary to actually walk IN the street for a few blocks). But we found the metro station and went downstairs to give it a go.

We watched a few of the locals utilizing an ATM-like terminal to obtain tickets but it was all in Chinese. We had a pretty good idea of where we would be getting off but were not at all sure we'd be able to handle the machine to obtain the correct ticket. Randy suggested we simply forgo it and grab a taxi but then I noticed the ENGLISH button, so I pressed it. OK, no problem. The map came up in English and we were able to surmise that we didn't have to change lines, simple to get off at the stop nearest Fred's hotel, and a short taxi ride should get us there after that. We then had to make sure we had the right machine (coin or paper money, exact change or not).

The subway is definitely the way to go in Shanghai. It is fast and cheap, and you can get very near almost anywhere in this HUGE city utilizing the metro. It took us about 15 minutes to get to Pudong where Fred was staying in the Marriott. The other thing that we are realizing is that if we stand looking bewildered for about 10 seconds, someone with a moderate grasp of English usually appears and offers assisstance which is a great relief. We are finding that the Chinese who DO know English are quite eager to try it out, especially with a native speaker. This happened to us twice on this day on either end of the subway ride.

We found Fred waiting for us in the lobby of the Marriott and what a joy it was to see him! I didn't see much of my cousin growing up. His formative years were spent in California, and by the time his family moved to Michigan, I was well into my own world of high school and teen activities to be concerned with a younger cousin. Fred is now retired from the Army and does security work for General Motors at some of their foreign sites. He'd already been to India and Korea on this particular stint, and still had China and Australia to go.

We decided upon a walking tour toward the Pearl Tower as I had not yet seen that area, and of course, it was all new to Fred who had never before visited China. Pudong is much different than Hongqiao where we live. It is very modern with an abundance of shiny new skyscrapers and wide streets that don't seem to have the incredible traffic and mass of humanity we have in our neighborhood. Pudong seems to be devoid of the local vendors, the Mom and Pop shops, the young boys selling meat on a stick, the large number of buses, taxis, and scooters all honking their horns in a futile attempt to hurry through incredibly crowded streets. Pudong is really more upscale and opulent, also a bit more "touristy" in nature. It seemed much more clean and sparkly and new. We walked about 30 minutes utilizing the map that Randy had obtained from the Marriott until we found Pearl Tower.

I am not sure of the purpose of Pearl Tower, but it is beautiful and impressive jutting up into the sky with it's lavendar globes and the river just beyond. When you see photos of the cityscape of Shanghai, chances are good that the Pearl Tower is the focal point. There were a fair number of folks around the tower taking photos and selling trinkets from various kiosks (knock off Rolex anyone?) as well as a profusion of New Year lanterns and decorations announcing the Year of the Pig which was coming on the 18th. It is possible to take an elevator up the tower for what I assume are some pretty spectacular views, but we opted for a tour through the Shanghai Aquarium which was right next door.

At first glance, the Aquarium didn't seem too impressive. There seemed to be many individual smaller tanks with an assortment of fish and aquatic life divided into various parts of the world for reference. But later in the tour, we were able to see much larger tanks, and even ride on moving sidewalks through tunnels of huge tanks that held a mind-boggling assortment of creatures from the sea. It made me miss the boat and fishing. Randy was quite the paparazzo clicking away like crazy, and he got some great shots (I know ... we need to learn how to post photos here on the blog). We decided that it was well worth the money for the visit to the Aquarium.

After a lovely lunch at an Italian deli, a walk along the river, and a stroll through a beautiful garden (where there were no less than 15 bridal parties having wedding photos shot), we called it a day and found the nearest metro station for the ride home. Fred will be back in town for more work in the near future, and it was agreed he'd come to our neck of the woods next time to get a taste of a more traditional Chinese neighborhood.

Within the next couple of days, Randy discovered during his ride to work that there exists a brand new metro station less than two blocks to the west of our apartment complex (we'd gone in the wrong direction). We timed the walk ... 8 minutes ... a much better option than the first station we'd tried. So now we know for the next trip across town.

Everything shuts down in Asia for Chinese New Year (also known as the Luner New Year). Randy says that everyone takes bags of money home to their villages in order to share the wealth during that week (we've already informed our parents not to get any ideas). Apparently it isn't too far from the truth. We'd been warned that what little crime that occurs in Shanghai seems to occur just prior to Chinese New Year when some folks realize they don't have much to offer their loved ones from whence they'd come. I'm happy to report that we didn't experience or have knowledge of any crime like that (and if they don't have any spare money, it's because they spent it all on fireworks which, this time of year, are for sale every 100 feet on the street). Anyway, we'd been asked numerous times what we were doing for the week of the New Year (I think a lot of expats take vacations during this time as the various companies for which they work are all shut down). Randy asked me how I'd like a trip to Scotland.

ADS, the company for whom Randy works, has a sister company called McGavigan's near Glasgow, and the products that will be manufactured in Shanghai will commence development and production at this facility. Seemed a good time to visit there so that Randy could get a handle on those projects before they are turned over to the Asian contingent in Shanghai. All the equipment for ADS Shanghai is still hung up in customs, so there still isn't a lot going on at the plant in Shanghai yet.

So on February 15, we boarded a plane to Glasgow (via Amsterdam) for a 10 day visit. I write this posting now during that visit. Our arrival in Glasgow late on the 15th was fairly uneventful, but the travel seemed exhausting. Maybe it was too soon after our travel to Shanghai last month, but we both seemed overly stressed due to jet lag and we both complained of sore backs from the long flight. We checked into a Holiday Inn in Glasgow and were dismayed to find that the room was so small that we literally had nowhere to put our luggage. There was only a double bed in the room (which can barely contain Randy's substantial frame), and we had a lovely view of the alley from a postage stamp sized window. The look on my face must have said it all because Randy immediately declared that we'd find something else in the morning (this after checking to see if a larger room was available ... apparently we already had what was considered a "large" room ... all righty then). Honestly, you had to go into the hallway to change your mind, it was so small. But we were too exhausted to do anything about it at that moment. Off to bed then.

At 4:30 in the morning, the fire alarm went off .... I kid you not. Nearly gave us heart failure. What was weird was that I sort of had a premonition just as I drifted off to sleep about the fire alarm. I remember thinking, "I wonder where the nearest exit is located?" But I was too tired to care at that point. So here were are standing on a street in Glasgow in our pajamas (some of us only in what the good Lord gave us with a coat to cover that) while Glasgow's finest were running up the steps with axes, hoses, and all. I'm sure it all would have been very exciting had we not been so exhausted that a good stiff breeze would've knocked us over. Chatting with our fellow escapees, we learned that this was the THIRD time the fire alarm had gone off this week (and it was only Thursday). Some speculated soccer houligans as there is apparently big tournament play going on right now (and the Europeans think American football is barbaric!). After ten minutes or so, we were allowed back inside the building. Randy and I decided that this was a pretty good sign that we'd made the right decision about relocating for our stay in Glasgow.

So we've relocated to the Hilton ... a much better option if not slightly more expensive (it's worth it). On Friday, Randy gave me the 2 pound tour of McGavigan's, and later we had pints of Guiness with fish and chips in the pub downstairs ... YUM!!

Saturday, we took a walking tour of the City Centre of Glasgow. It is a lovely old city with very picturesque buildings and parks with numerous statues commemorating famous Scots (I honestly didn't know there were that many beyond William Wallace ... thanks to Mel Gibson for that bit of history). Glaswegians are quite aware of the treasure of these centuries-old buildings and are doing an excellent job of preserving the beautiful architecture. We saw areas where the facade is being preserved, but the building is gutted for updates and improvements. Very impressive!

On Sunday, jet lag caught up with us in earnest, and we spent the entire day napping, reading, or watching soccer or rugby on the sports channel. Someone needs to explain rugby rules to me because it sort of appears to be football on crack cocaine or something. At times, the players all huddle together in something called a scrum which led me to believe they were eating something really tasty in there. Apparently, it's not the case. Too bad really. If true, I'm sure I'd have taken a greater interest.

We return to Shanghai on the 25th. I will admit to a bit of homesickness this week. My son, Jake, is on winter break from school, and is currently visiting my parents on the southwest coast of Florida which is one of my favorite places on the planet (so far), especially in terms of weather. But I can't complain about weather. It's been into the 50's and 60's in Shanghai ... spring really, and the weather here in Glasgow is pretty nice too ... 50's during the day, and sunny today which is rather unusual for this time of year, I'm told.

I'm getting a laptop this week, so hopefully the updates will be a bit more timely in the future as I won't need to wait for Randy to come home from work to utilize his laptop.