OCTOBER 9, 2007
You cannot imagine how happy I am to be writing here again. I have been blocked (or possibly censored) from this site in a couple of different ways since my arrival in China, but somehow I always manage to find another route to connect (albeit a somewhat circuitous route). Good thing I'm an amateur IT techie!! Such is the life of a writer in a censored country.... sigh. Enjoy it while it lasts. I don't know how much longer and I can continue to run the gauntlet, but I'll persevere! You in the states shouldn't have any issues connecting to the blog site. But if you do, please email me so I know what's happening out there.
OK, I believe that during the last post, I was awaiting the arrival of Typhoon Wipha (or Typhoon Wimpy as I've come to call it). It truly amounted to not much, at least here in Shanghai. A couple of days of grey skies, drizzling rain, and a bit breezy (I wouldn't even call it windy). Wipha sort of went all the way around us before heading back out to the northern China Sea.
Apparently, the course of a typhoon is as difficult to predict as a hurricane or a tornado. Here's your meteorology lesson for today .... it's a hurricane if it is spawned in the Atlantic, and a typhoon if it is spawned in the Pacific. I've heard that some hurricanes have crossed Mexico or Central America and come out the other side to become a typhoon (having gone from one ocean to the other intact). I thought that was interesting stuff. And I believe that the direction of either depends upon which hemisphere it is located. Northern hemisphere rotates one way, southern hemisphere goes the other way (like the whorl above your bathtub drain when you let the water out .... same thing).
So what else has been happening? I've had a few more adventures with my friend, Ali, who has since introduced me to her friend, Margaret (a Brit who, along with her husband Tom, immigrated first to Australia and eventually Shanghai). The two of them together (Ali and Marg, I mean) are a scream and they should probably be outlawed from spending more than a few minutes together at any given time. They apparently have only been friends for a few years, but seem like they have been joined at the hip for most of their lives.
One adventure included lunch, a trip to a fabric market which I hadn't visited previously, a ferry ride across the Huang Pu river (for a half RMB which is about 6.3 cents US), and another market that can only be described as "any Chinese souvenir you can imagine ... on steroids!!" This market is about 5 floors of kiosks jammed with just about any trinket, toy, gift, or object available on the planet (except for a full size jade rickshaw... I am quite sure I didn't see ANY of those in there! But that's it!! Every other item made in China was for sale in that building!!). Marg and Ali are going to exhibit and sell a few items at a charity event in November, and have been gathering and creating various products for this event (I am the new honorary accountant as their previous accounting system involves one of them occasionally asking the other "How much do I owe you now?").
On this particular visit, they were looking for gift bags or boxes for some of their items. Yep, we found them. I was particularly interested in all the Chinese silk items available .... silk picture frames, coin purses and tote bags, various silk decorative items to hang on the walls or from your cell phone or pull cords on your lamps, even little stuffed silk stockings for Christmas tree decorations. It is pretty hard to adequately describe this place. It appears to be frequented by many shop owners who buy goods in bulk there in order to get the best price possible. It was very crowded and a bit like swimming downstream against the spawning salmon, but well worth it just to see all this stuff available in one place!
Randy and I enjoyed a dinner out one evening with Ali and her husband, Mike, as well as Margaret and Tom. We all met at Mike and Ali's for a drink, and then pushed on to a place called 1221 The Dining Room. I'm glad we were with Mike and Ali who happen to know the owner, a Chinese American gal called Michelle. We'd have never found this place on a bet. It was down a dark alley under an elevated road, and the metal door which had no markings on it at all was also lacking a door handle (simply push and you're in). Apparently, the 1221 thrives on word of mouth, and believe me, we now understand why! Mike did the ordering for the entire table, and everything was served Chinese style on a giant lazy Susan in the middle of a round table. Excellent Chinese food was enjoyed by all of us, and when Michelle came over to greet Mike and Ali, she insisted upon dessert for the whole table .... free of charge! Dessert was an amazing display of fruit sorbets each served inside the fruit of their flavor. For instance, there was a hollowed out pineapple that was filled with pineapple sorbet and then re-frozen. Also served in this manner was coconut, peach, and lemon sorbets. Delicious!! Other delectable offerings were tiramisu, red bean pudding, and another sweet rice mixture that were all very yummy! We will definitely be going back there (now that we know how to find the place).
I don't know if I'd mentioned that Randy and I had planned a trip to Thailand for what is known as Golden Week which is a national holiday that celebrates autumn (I hope I have that right ... sometimes the various celebrations they have here are still a bit of a mystery to me) during the first week of October. But things at work have been pretty crazy for Randy as the start up of production parts loomed ever closer. Eventually, it become apparent that our trip was not going to be a possibility for us at this time. Although disappointed, I was aware that this might happen so I sucked in my pouty lip and vowed to placate myself with some other fun as soon as possible.
Little did I know that the realization of that plan was right around the corner. Randy called me on Tuesday, September 25th, to mention that my name had come up in a meeting at work. I asked what that was about, and he went on to explain that there was a piece of equipment that was needed here in Shanghai that was currently located back in Millington. Apparently, shipping this item with the appropriate guarantees and insurances was going to be very costly, and Randy jokingly mentioned that we'd simply have to send Roxanne to fetch it. There was some laughter, but when the laughter faded away, it was replaced with quizzical expressions ... "Well, CAN we???" So he was calling me to say that this possibility was being investigated. I too laughed thinking that it probably would never come to pass.
About an hour after this conversation took place, I remembered that the upcoming weekend was the wedding of my cousin's oldest son in Saginaw, Michigan. My entire family, including my brother in South Carolina and my son in Georgia, were flying to Michigan to attend this wedding. I had one of those "I could've had a V8!" forehead slapping moments when I realized that if I indeed played courier for the company, I would probably have the opportunity to attend the wedding and visit MOST of my family in Michigan for a day or two. I broke the land speed record getting to the phone to call back Randy!!!!
This was the catalyst for one of the most whirlwind trips of my entire life. I took off from Shanghai on Thursday morning (after getting myself to the airport via the subway and the Maglev entirely on my own .... guess I AM becoming a big city gal) and was picked up by my best gal pal, Judy, on Thursday afternoon in Detroit. Don't let the same day departure and arrival fool you .... it's still a 15 hour flight. I gained back the day I lost when I last arrived here in China.
I decided to not inform most folks about my impending arrival in order have fun surprising my family. And indeed they were surprised! I'd alerted my brother so that he could help me surprise the folks (he hid me in a bathroom and then instructed them to open the door), and then my son, Jake, arrived the next evening. I jumped out from behind a pillar at the airport while he was greeting my folks, and he had the most priceless expression on his face .... something akin to that mask "the scream!!" What a blast!! The wedding was great, and everyone was really happy that I made it. I kept hoping there was a prize for the person who traveled the farthest to be there, but no. So I consoled myself with another piece of wedding cake.
I took a Monday afternoon flight out of Detroit back to Shanghai (closer to 19 hours going in this direction .... you don't have the rotation of the earth working in your favor this way). I don't recommend this whirlwind, halfway around the world and back in a few days, type of travel for anyone. Talk about "knock your socks off" jet lag. I utilized a combination of caffeine and sleeping pills to keep me somewhat on track while in the states, but once I arrived in Shanghai, I was pretty much oatmeal brain for several days.
So as not to disappoint those of us who felt cheated by the lame duck typhoon named Wipha, Typhoon Krosa whipped itself up to category Super Typhoon late last week, and took aim at Taiwan just off the eastern Chinese coast. We get most of our news via CNN, and so a somewhat wary eye was kept on the weather once this storm was announced. I have to say that it didn't take long to become jaded what with Wipha's anemic arrival, so no preparation was made for Krosa which was predicted to simply brush past Shanghai on it's way back out to sea (this is apparently the route traveled most routinely by typhoons in this area).
You know what they say about the weird second child of the family after the first one is no big deal (with apologies to my husband who IS the weird second child) .... that pretty much describes Krosa. The skies darkened and rain began to fall on Sunday afternoon. The rain quickly become a downpour. By Sunday evening, the torrents were so thick that we couldn't see the buildings across the street! Sometime early Monday morning the winds started to howl, and by Monday evening, I'd kicked myself for having not brought in my palm plant from the patio (which had so obediently resided indoors during Wipha) ... I hope it survives! I text'd Ali to ask if we should come up to their 25th floor apartment as our 11th floor was sure to be under water soon if this current amount of precipitation were to continue. She replied that coming up there was no better .... she feared the wind was about to blow their apartment off the top of building!! Our kitchen patio door was unexpectedly blown shut by the high winds and the latch broken. Being the "typhoon virgin" that I am, I hadn't secured it properly against the gale force winds.
Tai Chi was indoors yesterday against the backdrop of the driving rain and howls of Krosa thundering outside the windows, and I was informed that this was indeed a mild typhoon. Mild???? Lord in heaven, I am NOT anxious to be involved in the real thing anytime soon. I understand now why my friends in Port Charlotte, Florida thought they were going to die when struck unexpectedly by Hurricane Charlie several years ago!!
My daily walk with Suely this morning proved interesting. We noted a dozen or so fairly large trees blown over by the high winds leaving roots exposed and deep depressions in the mud where once stood a beautiful tree. Many street signs are gone, and lots of flowers, leaves, tree branches, and debris cover our lovely gardens and grounds of our complex. Yep, we had some "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!" moments, that's for sure!! CNN is reporting that the Chinese government claims a billion dollars in damage from Typhoon Krosa! Take that, you wimpy Wipha!!
I believe typhoon season comes to a close at the end of this month, maybe next. One positive result is that some cooler temps have replaced the blazing hot heat of early autumn here in Shanghai (I think the high yesterday was 74 degrees F, with a wind chill of about 50). I expect that "Indian summer" is still in our future.
OK, I believe that during the last post, I was awaiting the arrival of Typhoon Wipha (or Typhoon Wimpy as I've come to call it). It truly amounted to not much, at least here in Shanghai. A couple of days of grey skies, drizzling rain, and a bit breezy (I wouldn't even call it windy). Wipha sort of went all the way around us before heading back out to the northern China Sea.
Apparently, the course of a typhoon is as difficult to predict as a hurricane or a tornado. Here's your meteorology lesson for today .... it's a hurricane if it is spawned in the Atlantic, and a typhoon if it is spawned in the Pacific. I've heard that some hurricanes have crossed Mexico or Central America and come out the other side to become a typhoon (having gone from one ocean to the other intact). I thought that was interesting stuff. And I believe that the direction of either depends upon which hemisphere it is located. Northern hemisphere rotates one way, southern hemisphere goes the other way (like the whorl above your bathtub drain when you let the water out .... same thing).
So what else has been happening? I've had a few more adventures with my friend, Ali, who has since introduced me to her friend, Margaret (a Brit who, along with her husband Tom, immigrated first to Australia and eventually Shanghai). The two of them together (Ali and Marg, I mean) are a scream and they should probably be outlawed from spending more than a few minutes together at any given time. They apparently have only been friends for a few years, but seem like they have been joined at the hip for most of their lives.
One adventure included lunch, a trip to a fabric market which I hadn't visited previously, a ferry ride across the Huang Pu river (for a half RMB which is about 6.3 cents US), and another market that can only be described as "any Chinese souvenir you can imagine ... on steroids!!" This market is about 5 floors of kiosks jammed with just about any trinket, toy, gift, or object available on the planet (except for a full size jade rickshaw... I am quite sure I didn't see ANY of those in there! But that's it!! Every other item made in China was for sale in that building!!). Marg and Ali are going to exhibit and sell a few items at a charity event in November, and have been gathering and creating various products for this event (I am the new honorary accountant as their previous accounting system involves one of them occasionally asking the other "How much do I owe you now?").
On this particular visit, they were looking for gift bags or boxes for some of their items. Yep, we found them. I was particularly interested in all the Chinese silk items available .... silk picture frames, coin purses and tote bags, various silk decorative items to hang on the walls or from your cell phone or pull cords on your lamps, even little stuffed silk stockings for Christmas tree decorations. It is pretty hard to adequately describe this place. It appears to be frequented by many shop owners who buy goods in bulk there in order to get the best price possible. It was very crowded and a bit like swimming downstream against the spawning salmon, but well worth it just to see all this stuff available in one place!
Randy and I enjoyed a dinner out one evening with Ali and her husband, Mike, as well as Margaret and Tom. We all met at Mike and Ali's for a drink, and then pushed on to a place called 1221 The Dining Room. I'm glad we were with Mike and Ali who happen to know the owner, a Chinese American gal called Michelle. We'd have never found this place on a bet. It was down a dark alley under an elevated road, and the metal door which had no markings on it at all was also lacking a door handle (simply push and you're in). Apparently, the 1221 thrives on word of mouth, and believe me, we now understand why! Mike did the ordering for the entire table, and everything was served Chinese style on a giant lazy Susan in the middle of a round table. Excellent Chinese food was enjoyed by all of us, and when Michelle came over to greet Mike and Ali, she insisted upon dessert for the whole table .... free of charge! Dessert was an amazing display of fruit sorbets each served inside the fruit of their flavor. For instance, there was a hollowed out pineapple that was filled with pineapple sorbet and then re-frozen. Also served in this manner was coconut, peach, and lemon sorbets. Delicious!! Other delectable offerings were tiramisu, red bean pudding, and another sweet rice mixture that were all very yummy! We will definitely be going back there (now that we know how to find the place).
I don't know if I'd mentioned that Randy and I had planned a trip to Thailand for what is known as Golden Week which is a national holiday that celebrates autumn (I hope I have that right ... sometimes the various celebrations they have here are still a bit of a mystery to me) during the first week of October. But things at work have been pretty crazy for Randy as the start up of production parts loomed ever closer. Eventually, it become apparent that our trip was not going to be a possibility for us at this time. Although disappointed, I was aware that this might happen so I sucked in my pouty lip and vowed to placate myself with some other fun as soon as possible.
Little did I know that the realization of that plan was right around the corner. Randy called me on Tuesday, September 25th, to mention that my name had come up in a meeting at work. I asked what that was about, and he went on to explain that there was a piece of equipment that was needed here in Shanghai that was currently located back in Millington. Apparently, shipping this item with the appropriate guarantees and insurances was going to be very costly, and Randy jokingly mentioned that we'd simply have to send Roxanne to fetch it. There was some laughter, but when the laughter faded away, it was replaced with quizzical expressions ... "Well, CAN we???" So he was calling me to say that this possibility was being investigated. I too laughed thinking that it probably would never come to pass.
About an hour after this conversation took place, I remembered that the upcoming weekend was the wedding of my cousin's oldest son in Saginaw, Michigan. My entire family, including my brother in South Carolina and my son in Georgia, were flying to Michigan to attend this wedding. I had one of those "I could've had a V8!" forehead slapping moments when I realized that if I indeed played courier for the company, I would probably have the opportunity to attend the wedding and visit MOST of my family in Michigan for a day or two. I broke the land speed record getting to the phone to call back Randy!!!!
This was the catalyst for one of the most whirlwind trips of my entire life. I took off from Shanghai on Thursday morning (after getting myself to the airport via the subway and the Maglev entirely on my own .... guess I AM becoming a big city gal) and was picked up by my best gal pal, Judy, on Thursday afternoon in Detroit. Don't let the same day departure and arrival fool you .... it's still a 15 hour flight. I gained back the day I lost when I last arrived here in China.
I decided to not inform most folks about my impending arrival in order have fun surprising my family. And indeed they were surprised! I'd alerted my brother so that he could help me surprise the folks (he hid me in a bathroom and then instructed them to open the door), and then my son, Jake, arrived the next evening. I jumped out from behind a pillar at the airport while he was greeting my folks, and he had the most priceless expression on his face .... something akin to that mask "the scream!!" What a blast!! The wedding was great, and everyone was really happy that I made it. I kept hoping there was a prize for the person who traveled the farthest to be there, but no. So I consoled myself with another piece of wedding cake.
I took a Monday afternoon flight out of Detroit back to Shanghai (closer to 19 hours going in this direction .... you don't have the rotation of the earth working in your favor this way). I don't recommend this whirlwind, halfway around the world and back in a few days, type of travel for anyone. Talk about "knock your socks off" jet lag. I utilized a combination of caffeine and sleeping pills to keep me somewhat on track while in the states, but once I arrived in Shanghai, I was pretty much oatmeal brain for several days.
So as not to disappoint those of us who felt cheated by the lame duck typhoon named Wipha, Typhoon Krosa whipped itself up to category Super Typhoon late last week, and took aim at Taiwan just off the eastern Chinese coast. We get most of our news via CNN, and so a somewhat wary eye was kept on the weather once this storm was announced. I have to say that it didn't take long to become jaded what with Wipha's anemic arrival, so no preparation was made for Krosa which was predicted to simply brush past Shanghai on it's way back out to sea (this is apparently the route traveled most routinely by typhoons in this area).
You know what they say about the weird second child of the family after the first one is no big deal (with apologies to my husband who IS the weird second child) .... that pretty much describes Krosa. The skies darkened and rain began to fall on Sunday afternoon. The rain quickly become a downpour. By Sunday evening, the torrents were so thick that we couldn't see the buildings across the street! Sometime early Monday morning the winds started to howl, and by Monday evening, I'd kicked myself for having not brought in my palm plant from the patio (which had so obediently resided indoors during Wipha) ... I hope it survives! I text'd Ali to ask if we should come up to their 25th floor apartment as our 11th floor was sure to be under water soon if this current amount of precipitation were to continue. She replied that coming up there was no better .... she feared the wind was about to blow their apartment off the top of building!! Our kitchen patio door was unexpectedly blown shut by the high winds and the latch broken. Being the "typhoon virgin" that I am, I hadn't secured it properly against the gale force winds.
Tai Chi was indoors yesterday against the backdrop of the driving rain and howls of Krosa thundering outside the windows, and I was informed that this was indeed a mild typhoon. Mild???? Lord in heaven, I am NOT anxious to be involved in the real thing anytime soon. I understand now why my friends in Port Charlotte, Florida thought they were going to die when struck unexpectedly by Hurricane Charlie several years ago!!
My daily walk with Suely this morning proved interesting. We noted a dozen or so fairly large trees blown over by the high winds leaving roots exposed and deep depressions in the mud where once stood a beautiful tree. Many street signs are gone, and lots of flowers, leaves, tree branches, and debris cover our lovely gardens and grounds of our complex. Yep, we had some "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!" moments, that's for sure!! CNN is reporting that the Chinese government claims a billion dollars in damage from Typhoon Krosa! Take that, you wimpy Wipha!!
I believe typhoon season comes to a close at the end of this month, maybe next. One positive result is that some cooler temps have replaced the blazing hot heat of early autumn here in Shanghai (I think the high yesterday was 74 degrees F, with a wind chill of about 50). I expect that "Indian summer" is still in our future.
posted by Roxanne Gillett at
4:11 AM
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