Shanghai Junk

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

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.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

FEBRUARY 8, 2007

I think I mentioned previously the health clinic and the very thorough exam. Well, what I DIDN'T mention is that the report came back with something suspect detected on my liver during the ultra sound. I knew that something was up while I was having the ultra sound. The technician (an older Chinese lady) kept clucking her tongue, and saying "hmmm." She rolled me over several times, first on my back, then on my side, then on my stomach, all the while muttering in Chinese. I have to say she was quite tenacious. I thought she would put that rolling devise right through my ribs, but she saw SOMETHING, and was determined to get a good look at it!

Of course, when I got the report I was dismayed. Here I am on the other side of the world nowhere near any medical attention with which I am familiar. I had half a notion to jump on a plane. I talked to Randy and then we spoke to the relocation folks. We'd had a tour of the expat hospital during our first tour with the relocation gals, and it seemed like a nice place with a lot of other expats visiting, so what the heck. Cecile, one of the relocation specialists, recommended that I call and get an appointment (and the report from the government also recommended a follow up with a physician) so I called. After getting the "press 1 for Chinese, 2 for English, etc" recording, I finally spoke with a very nice Chinese man who spoke reasonable English. I explained my situation, and he took my information and said that someone would call me back with an appointment time. I waited a week ... no call.

Spoke to Cecile again who recommended that I ask for an appointment with a specific doctor. Together we perused the list of doctors (along with photos) and decided upon an Internist who happened to be American. She strongly recommended I see an American simply because she felt I would feel more comfortable talking to someone from "home." She was right.

So I called again and made an appointment with Dr. Masatraif (don't know if I have the spelling there). Don't let the name fool you ... born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI, still has family there and in Ypsilanti. Very nice man. He took all my medical info, did a cursory physical, and palpated the liver area which seemed OK to him, but "just to be safe, let's do our OWN ultra sound." He said he didn't exactly trust the Chinese goverment doctors so .......

After a blood draw to check liver function, I went to the ultra sound room. A very nice Chinese lady did another ultra sound. Much better than any other ultra sound I've ever had before (which was during pregnancy and required a full bladder .... UGH!!). Yep, something's there all right. A few cysts which are normally nothing to worry about, and .... hmmmm, what this? A large mass of some kind in the upper liver, fairly large. OK, don't worry (yeah, right!!). Let me talk to the doctors. So back to the examination room.

Doc says yes (of course), something's there. Let's do a CT scan to see what's going on. By now, I'm freaking out a little. I never been a big drinker, and don't take many meds, but you might know ... something's wrong with MY liver, of course. The good news was that the blood check came back with good liver function.

So my next visitor to the exam room was a nice Chinese man who needed my assurance that we could PAY for a CT scan which is around 10,300 RMB (8 RMB to a US dollar). So I took the nice man out to Randy who told him that we'd be putting it on a credit card. In China, everyone MUST pay for medical services rendered up front. None of this "bill me later" or "talk to my insurance company." You must pay immediately.

Next we go to the radiology area for the scan. First drink 3 glasses of water (oh, dear ... here we go again). Then remove all clothes from the waist down. OK, did that. Lay down on the machine where an IV is put into my arm to start an iodine solution drip so that they can see what's going on in there. So the IV is in place and they ask me to keep my arms above my head while the scan is being performed. "Oh, by the way, are you pregnant?" "No, no chance." "Are you positive?ANY chance?" "Not a snowball's chance in hell. That possibility went away a few years ago." "Really, are you sure it's not possible?" "Trust me ... it would be a miracle of God!!" OK, finally convinced them of that!! And away we go.

Next thing I know, they come running back to me. "MUST remove BRA!!!" This is quite a process, since I am still wearing my sweater over my bra and have an IV in my arm. Finally, it's decided I can simply undo it, and lay it next to me under my arm that has the IV in (otherwise, it's restart the IV, and I'm NOT up for that!). OK, NOW we go .... oops!! What's going on??? Something spraying all over my face, arm, sweater, and body. Seems something has come off the IV and is spraying this sticky solution all over me and the scanning machine. They run out, fuss with the IV, wipe me down as best they can, and we'll try this AGAIN!!! Finally, the scan is accomplished .... thank the good Lord!!

The radiologist says that we're done, and I shouldn't worry. It didn't look too bad to him which is a bit of a relief. At that point, I'm simply glad to have the procedure over!! I am told that results will be back in two hours. Please go have lunch and return for results. Randy, bless his heart, has been a very patient SAINT while waiting for me all this time. I was SO relieved to have him with me because I probably would have been a basket case.

So home for lunch (and wash sticky stuff from my arms, face, neck, and hair), where I foolishly considered a strong drink ... but no, that didn't seem wise considering my liver might be puking out on me. Then back to clinic again.

Doctor says my tumor is a large benign hemangeoma (again, my spelling may be WAY off there) which is a mass comprised of blood vessels that I, in all likelihood, have had all my life. Doesn't affect liver function. The cysts (numbering 3) are also of no concern and will go away on their own. He says that I'm perfectly healthy (well, physically, anyway) and don't change a thing. Whew!!! Big sigh of relief!!! Paid the bill (don't ask ... exam, ultra sound, CT scan, radiologist ... VERY expensive), and we were on our way. Randy's treating me to a nice dinner tonight ... and I AM going for the drink!!

Saturday, February 03, 2007

FEBRUARY 4TH, 2007

Shanghai continues to prove to be quite the adventure. So many things to see and experience that we sometimes don't know where to start, and only exhaustion at the end of the day seems to stop us. We have spent time recently with the relocation service who has done a terrific job of getting us around this huge city and showing us things of interest. Randy took the day off on my first day out with Selina (a local Chinese gal with a good grasp of English language ... thank God!!), and we visited a couple of Western style markets where you can purchase name brand food items from the States, Australia, and Europe, you would say that they cater to expats. We also visted several traditional Chinese markets to see what is available. We have tried various Chinese local brands of certain items with pretty good success, especially fresh fruit and produce.

Lunchtime on our tour was at Lapis Lazuli where we met with Cecile (a French gal who also speaks excellent English and Chinese) to commence a walking tour of the French Concession and Theater district. The French Concession is lovely and full of European charm (Cecile tells us that the Chinese in Shanghai say that the French are once again invading). I'm glad that I didn't see the French Concession first because I would have insisted upon living there, but it would have been a hellacious commute for Randy, so probably not a wise choice.

My visit to the health clinic was similar to Randy's .... quite the efficient operation they have going there. I received a complete physical (including blood draw, EKG, chest X-ray, sonogram) in under one hour (along with around 30 other folks).

Randy and I utilize all spare time to walk around our district simply discovering what is out there. It's amazing ... we travel many of the same streets over and over again, but we always see something different. Our apartment complex is new and modern (about 30 buildings each around 30 stories high) built around a series of lovely gardens, fountains, boardwalks, stands of bamboo and other trees, shrubs, and flowers, huge olympic sized pool WITH a beach area built along side, barbeque areas near lovely picnic facilities within the walls of our development (although I still cannot get used to the fact that EVERYONE hangs their laundry on huge poles outside the apartment windows even in our lovely complex), just outside those walls is a very traditional cross section of local Shanghai life. Numerous street vendors selling food, clothes, furniture, electronics, pirated DVD movies, watches, shoes/boots bags just to name a few of the available items. And bargaining is welcome and expected which can be great fun or somewhat confusing depending upon the level of the communication barrier. We become a bit more brave every day, and are usually successful making ourselves understood. Charades is the game of the day, and those of you who know Randy well will be suprised to hear that he's getting quite good at it. Of course, we utilize what Chinese we know with varying degrees of success too. But as soon as you use a few words, they come at you fast and furious in Mandarin assuming you have a much stronger command of the language than is reasonable.

There are thousands of the aforementioned street vendors selling meat-on-a-stick, dumplings, various pizza-crust type breads, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, noodles, and other local favorites. As mentioned previously, we have been warned away from the street vendors unless one wants to crash diet in a rather unpleasant way, but it is difficult ... the smells are incredible, and I suspect that we will eventually try something. Also, there are live animals for sale (to use for meat), and it is not uncommon to see a person walking down the street with a chicken (feathers, head, feet, and all) going home to be put in the cooking pot. Aquariums are common with fish, turtles, shellfish, etc. which can be purchased straight from the tank. If you'd prefer just the fish or chicken heads, or the fish skins, that is also displayed for purchase. We've had fish heads a couple of times. There is a little meat on a fish head, but the fish heads are used more for flavoring the stew than as a main meat dish item.

Other than a slight digestive ailment suffered by me late week (not as a result of fish heads), we have been very lucky and suffered no adverse affects as yet from our culinary adventures here. So far, we have tried Italian, Thai (one of MY favorites), Indian, traditional Chinese, German, and American restaurants, and there are many, many more to try. All have been very good. Also eating out is quite reasonably priced so it's more an option here than it would be in the states. At times, it seems that gathering the items for a meal is more expensive than eating in a restaurant.

I have to mention the pizza we got at our favorite Italian restaurant, Pasta Al Frecsa. The pasta is wonderful there, but we were hungry for pizza one evening and had noticed how wonderful the pizza ordered by other patrons looked, so we ordered a pizza with black olives, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and ham. It arrived looking simply delicious but was assembled in a rather odd way. Two slices with olives, two slices with mushrooms, two slices with ham, etc. We laughed. Randy said next time we'll ask them to spead out the ingredients a bit. It was very delicious though!!

Our driver, Shao, is doing a little better than he had initially. Calling the drivers in Shanghai crazy is a huge understatement, but Shao is the only driver I've seen here who is, at times, rather tentative, especially if he is not sure where he is going (and it's easy to see why you might not know how to get where you need to be ... Shanghai is HUGE ... you could drive in any direction for hours and not run out of the city!!). Shao drives us around in a Buick minivan (Buick is quite popular in China), and gets honked at a LOT, but I do not mind that when driving in the city. On the other hand, the expressway travel seems a bit dangerous at times when he is not keeping up with the travel. In fact, Randy's co-worker Lifeng was rear ended last week when forced to stop suddenly to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of him, and he was driving himself. But that would NEVER happen with Shao ... he seems to be the only careful driver in Shanghai. Randy says that he's too tentative sometimes, but I'm impressed with U-turns in the midst of horrendous traffic, and the ability to weave in and out of the mass of vehicles, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians which fill the streets (and sometimes the sidewalk). Also, Shao has taken it upon himself to learn English. In his time spent not driving, he listens to tapes, and is definitely picking up some useful phrases. So between his lousy English and our lousy Chinese, we are making some good conversation here and there.

The weather here is getting up around 10 and 12 C (50's F) so little by little, it's turning into spring here. There is still a chill in the wind though, and it's best to keep the gloves and scarf handy. I can tell that the locals here are used to very warm temps though as they really bundle up, even for what we would call "early spring" weather.

So it's Sunday today, and we're off for more adventures. Still needing a few items for the apartment, and Randy found an Indian brunch buffet that we are going to try.