Longtime no see ...

yeah well a long story also. Seems the Chinese like things to be be very quiet and friendly to them. I haven't been able to log on to Blogspot when I was in Shanghai. Site is blocked. Like You Tube. Someone must have said some stuff anti Chinese Gov.
Anyway so much to tell but not here and now.
Am now in Manila Philppines and have been to Thailand for 3 weeks before this. Was able to spend some quality time with my bro and mate and drank way to much beer.... well seemed like it at the time. I am ok now here. Interesting time here in Manila. I have been arrested and scammed. Not really funny but could do jack shit about it. Fortunately my arrest was over in one day but a little scary at times. Apparently buying Viagra on the street is illegal here even though every man on the street wants to sell to you ... lots more to tell .. watch this space.
Doing my best to stay out of trouble here in Makati city Manila.
cheers for now

MikeT

My college and students ...

By Chinese standards this is not a big college .. maybe 6000 students. And here in China when lunchtime comes they all go back to their dormitory to rest or even sleep at lnchtime. So when it is almost time to begin class again after lunch there is a huge procession of students going to classrooms. but you can see by this pic that there are many many going back to class.

I am including a short video in this post for you to see. It is of one group of my students perfoming a scene from a movie I gave them. It was for mid term exam. They had to watch the movie (Princess Diaries), learn the dialogue from the scene and perform it for me. These guys did a very good job. If you listen and watch you can hear their English level ... is quite ok and they did more than just say the lines. They dressed for the part as well. I was really happy with their efforts.
I hope you get some enjoyment out of this.
cheers

Around Shanghai and interesting stuff

We went to a place recently that was highly recomended by Lonely Planet. Maybe the only completely foreign language library here in Shanghai. they have like 350,000 foreign language books including old newspapers. See the pic of the 1880 Shanghai Daily paper.
It was originally run by the Jesuit catholic priests so there is a church there as well. Pic for you to see. Just at that time there was a tour we joined in the church and a wedding about to begin. So we stayed for a little while.
I went with my friends Lily and Rona. They are the two girls sitting in the church pews pic.

Also a very famous food street is Wujiang Rd. It is known here by most for lots of food but mostly the fried dumplings. See the pic here of the kitchen and the small dumplings. It is just open on the street and you cue up to order. Eat inside or take it away. yummy I have to say. Is a shame they will be closing the street for redevelopment. Has charm and lots of great food.

Some of this stuff may be of interest. I worked with a Filipino girl way back in Yuyao when I came back here in September. She has since moved on to another small town in Zhejiang province called Zhuji to be with her boyfriend. And I know they have some Shanghai connections, well it is a small world. Her name is Noreen and she is now working here at the smae college as me. So recently we went to the city and to the famous Bund on the river. Here are a couple pics of Noreen and Gian Carlo with us there. You can see the Pearl TV tower in the background.

Shanghai WIld Animal Park

Hey this is the best day out. My first thoughts were . .zoo, china, animals, .. .maybe its not so good as in animal treatment. But I was very very wrong. this place is great. lots of animals and they are in free open areas. Lions, bears, giraffe, tigers, ligers, all kinds of monkeys, flamingos, and of course .. .Panda.
There was an amazing chimp that performed for us with bongo music on the bench, somersaults, jumping, "talking" to tell me he wanted food. He was awesome. And even some kangaroos.
Also this place is just 15 mins on bus from my college so we could go there easily. Lots of fun. Here are some pics for you and a video of the Panda .. .enjoy

cheers
Mike

my part time job .. teaching young kids

English .. of course.
And I have to say that at first I was terrified. But they are so much fun and cute. I have 2 different classes. Here is a pic of the youngest boys, maybe 5-6 years old. The boys are a little wild at times but I like it.
and the other class is mixed boys and girls aged about 8-10. They are so keen to learn and a pleasure to be around. The school owner, English name Judy, is great and helps with some translation at times.
People have said to me but how do you teach them English when they speak Chinese and me only English. Well reality is they learn basic grammar etc at school and from the other Chinese teachers. But my job is the speaking/oral English.
Sometimes is difficult but seems to work ok most times. I see them once or twice a week. oh and the extra cash is nice.
So check out the pics ... aren't they are so cute

thats it for this topic, always interested in your comments

cheers
mt

Upmarket Xintiandi ...

Shanghai is fast becoming a semi western metropolis. The place all the visitors like to go to be seen here is Xintiandi(shin tee ann dee). Close to the city by subway and is kinda like the Sunday market place to go for many. Although it is not really a market, is mostly restaurants and bars but the surrounds are all the Chinese shops of both local and international brands.

Here are a couple of pics for you. Including one of the the local nacho snack we had.

And also on the way there is always something to see that is amusing. I mean the Chinese trying to be English speakers. People wear stuff on their T shirts they cant read or do not know what they mean. Example, I saw a female student wearing a shirt that said " I date athletes". As she walked past I asked her .. Do you ? and she just looked at me blankly. I rest my case.

Anyway, on the bus going to Xintiandi I saw this bag being carried. see the photo f the "happy virus bag". Don't ask me what that means. It seems that as long as it looks good, and they like the colour, the content is irrelevant.
ok enough on this topic except to say. If you are coming to Shanghai, do yourself a favour and visit Xintiandi cheers

mt

Peach Blossoms .. in Nanhui

Riveting stuff the peach blossoms. Being the avid gardener that I am ... anyways the college offered to take us all to the place nearby to see the peach blossoms and I have not been (this year) so i thought it would be rude to say no. As with most of these things here in China the entrance is a big fanfare. colour, markets, music and dancing (usually in the market stalls by enthusiastic sellers). In this case it was a very very gay guy selling BBQ squid/octopus. you just had to be there. Pic at least of the entrance with all the pink (fake) flowers to walk under.

So anyway we get inside and ... well, there it is. All the peach trees in blossom. Some pics attached for you. Lucky for me two of the teachers from my office came (Owen and Connie). And we spend all the time walking around chatting. Here is a pic of Connie walking across the swaying bridge .. was funny. She was not happy some boys made the bridge sway.
Also there were some animals and canals and shows like dancing. an awesome pic of a goat eating ( i caught it with mouth open) ... the dancers do shows thru the day. Mostly from ethnic areas around China. None from local Shanghai people. Its a job for them I guess and they would keep fit with all that dancing and bouncing and flag waving and stuff.
And here is a pic of Connie and some other college teachers. Don't know there names on another more stable bridge.

So I can tick that off that I have been to and seen the peach blossoms now. I cant wait for the actual fruit to arrive. Yum .. peaches. That's about if for now. next installment will be about the very very upmarket area in Shanghai called Xintiandi. Many foreigners and also Chinese. The place to go for a visitor here for at least a meal, and night out and beer.

I'm confused ..... but the cappuccino was good

A normal state of affairs quite often here I can tell ya. However in case it is about the international brand street of outlet stores just up the road from here. I can see Calvin Klein, Espirit, Nike, Hugo Boss etc etc and there is even a directional signpost but .... it is all written in Chinese? So which way do I go to the store I want ... I don't know, sorry. Guess I will just have to look for myself. here is a pic of the sign in front of Calvin Klein store. Not very helpful to me i am afraid.

So I went to a coffee shop just nearby. And if you have been here you will know names like Dio Coffee, Straits Coffee, and this one was called UBC Coffee. These are places where you can go and have some coffee and cake or other food as you choose. And lounge around and spend the whole afternoon if you like... doing whatever there. A little expensive but nice environs. So did that recently with another Aussie from here and had lunch, talking lots of normal English and cappuccino. Here is a pic of it. I have never seen one like this before .... maybe is cappuccino Chinese style. Had to take a pic. Tasted oh so good as well.

And then walking aroud my college I saw what I did not believe existed in China. A residential estate with actual detached houses of a modern looking design. see the pic. this is the real deal. Proper entrance through security for cars, nice little gardens about the houses and all. I was stunned and it is 5 minutes walk from the college. ... civilisation. Mind you i didn't see any people so maybe it was a fake... and just a facade. all is possible here

Anyway that is it for today on this trivia. It is April and the time when the Peach trees blossom. Nanhui is apparently very famous for the Peach blossoms. So we did go to there as a college ... everyone almost last Friday. Next blog post is about that with some pics.

bye for now

Talk about a mass exodus ... college on Friday lunchtime

Check this out, the first week I did not have any idea what was going on. But turns out almost all the students are from Shanghai. And it is still and hour+ away by bus. plus once you get there travel is required to get to other parts of the city. BIG city. anyway Friday about 10am all these buses start arriving at college to take the students back to Shanghai and parts.
Believe me these are just a few of the buses that arrive here. literally dozens and dozens of them.

And of course right outside my apartment, so there is no getting away from it unless I go out early. Oh did i tell you that I work just Monday to Wednesday 2.20pm. Part time work full time money. good gig I think.

cheers, check this pic out
Mike

On any Sunday ... in Shanghai

Recently I went to a visit a few sites around the place. It was a Sunday and to be honest ... that was a really bad idea. There are 20+ million people in Shanghai and I think most are out on Sundays. Check the pic of the Yu Yuan garden and old Shanghai. Sorry it is just the one, was impossible to get any decent position. But you can see the people there. Great spot and I will go back, at least not on a Sunday next time.
That day i went with two students, Ruby and Nemo. Yep Nemo after the fish in the movie. Obviously these are just made up English names so they tend to choose something different to the norm. In my classes I have a Silence, Rainbow, Vampire, Kenny (girl), Nono, Yoyo, Jojo, Apple, Strawberry and honey, Chocolate, Kisses, Joker, rabbit and many NBA stars including just a few Kobe's. And the list goes on. I like it and they like it. Plus of course there are many more traditional girls and boys names.
Anyway back to the days out. Yu Yuan garden was great but a little over crowded that Sunday. Ruby Nemo and I also went to the People Square where they have a English corner plus a dating corner. Interesting place, although I had to get the girls to translate for me. The dating corner is unique i think. It is like a clothes line with messages printed on A4 paper pegged to it. you can read it and write the or call the number and make contact. The girls were asking me what kind of person I wanted like personality, looks, etc etc and then they went looking. So there is a pic here of Ruby in front of the dating "clothesline".

Another Sunday I went with another student Bonnie to the Shanghai Science & technology Museum (SSTM). It is much closer to college. Great place. There is one in Brisbane and I liked it also. This one is much bigger and more to do. Pics here of me and one of Bonnie in front of the tiger.

Around Shanghai

I suppose a lot of people who have been here to Shanghai, tell you about the Pudong area and the famous Pearl T Building. Well to bad i am gonna do it as well. There are three really tall building very close to each other including the Pearl tower. The Jinmao tower and the brand new Shanghai world Financial Centre that is 100+ stories.

So i went there to go up the observation deck. A long way up. and that day in Shanghai was not the best weather, but did take some pics of the city and surrounds. Pictures here from the deck.

The most interesting ones I think thought are the observation deck is on flr88. 8 being the luckiest number to Chinese people. but even at that level the new Shanghai world financial centre building just towers up. see the pics. And at the top was a bunch of workmen in a hanging basket cleaning it. check the pic out, you can see them waaaay up there. yeah, not for me sorry.

Jackie Chan came to meet me at the foyer. Nice of him really. and on the the top 50+ floors is the Grand Hyatt hotel. and they have an atrium design and you can see all the way down the centre of the hotel like a spiral. very interesting. see the pics

ok short post tonight .. always interested in your comments

cheers

Factory Outlet city ... at my doorstep

When I arrived here one of the Chinese teachers told me that if I wanted to buy any clothes, shoes or other international brand names products really cheap I could JUST go down the street and there is a village there full of the stores. And I just said yeah yeah. Now that I have been here a little while I have ventured out to take a look around the area I live at Nanhui. And you know there is a brand street about 10 minutes slow walk from my room.
It is a walking street so like a mall really. and runs parallel to the main road that goes to our College. I have had a look now and there is a lot of brands we know eg Nike, Adidas, Esprit, Boss, Benetton, Armani, and lots more I just cant think of right now. But I have included here some pics of the street. it is done out like stores on the ground level and what will be cafes above and balconies. Very continental I think. At this stage it seems to be quite new so not so many shoppers. But I did notice some tour buses so I guess it will take off soon with many tourists with money to spend. Hope you like the pics.
Oh one thing more. I went to the Armani store. and they asked me if I would like to help them by appearing in a poster for them for Armani Mania .... WHAT... me?? Must be a shortage of foreigners around these parts!! ... Sure why not, maybe my 15 mins of fame.
So there is a pic of me in the posters as well with the posters in the street.
What do you think?

Did I tell you about my adventure on Saturday when

I was on my way to take some photos and buy a Shanghai English map at Nanjing Rd The Bund. Of course not much goes to plan, well it seems that way lately. Although this new job and college seem like things are looking up.

Anyway we have to work 3 days week, might have already told you that .. so forgive me. Yeah Mon - Wed and then 4 days off ... every week. So I decide to go buy a map and take pics of Shanghai tourist area, The Bund & Nanjing Rd and then come back across the river to the Jinmao Tower in Pudong and get some pics from the observation deck. Good plan I think.

Well my first mistake was to decide to go to Nanjing Rd first. I have been there before but always with other people. Before when I am with other people we have been approached by street people for various things but... not like this Saturday when I am on my own. Now, I know there are always dangers in an area like this (pretty girls, pick pockets, con artists who want to be your friend). I have never been before on my own.... until now.

Well, I think I must have had a sign on me or at least my forehead saying pick me. Man, what an experience. I had many different people come up to me and "chat". Some very beautiful girls, and oh so smooth and well versed with their spiel. Of course I refuse to believe that they just want my money, I am to smart for that. And am very flattered by the attention. And of course now yes I am significantly lighter in the wallet for my stupidity but hey life is short and for living .. .right?

Actually there was a procession of people who came up to me and talked and suggested and proposed things to me. I was a little smarter after the first situation but is very interesting the way they go about the whole thing. And who says that Chinese people cannot speak English well. Hey I was surprised pleasantly at first then quite sad and finally angry with myself for being such a dunce. But I am still alive and well and unharmed, so that is a good thing. Just a little poorer.

So I spent the afternoon there chatting and drinking in outrageously expensive bars and wandering around Nanjing Rd until about 7.30pm. What a great place. I highly recommend it. But take my advice ..be sensible. Ah der ... not like me.

And by the way the actual details will remain my secret at least for now. I am embarrassed enough now for being such a dunce, without letting it all out. I think I will be going back to Nanjing Rd, but this time I will be much more cautious and wiser. I still need to buy that map. Didn't get it after all that, so I need to go back to the tourist information centre. But it will have to wait a while now. No pics for this post, I posted them all yesterday.

Nanjing donglu ... timelapse pics ...

at least in the one afternoon ... here are a few pics of this walking mall at four different times in the afternoon. i will only subject you to one with me in it. early in the afternoon. and the sun was out but still cold .. ish.

cheers

You are not 21 anymore Michael ...

Today I decided to go and take some photos of Shanghai that is known to most but not always photographed. Well that is what I thought. yesterday when I was coming back from downtown and at the bus station at the end of the subway. Wait let me just make that clear. The college I am at is in Nanhui right. Ive already told you that before. Nanhui is part of Shanghai but quite a way outside the downtown area. Big cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing even thought they are cities they are also their own province. So Shanghai is bigger than a normal city. Well way bigger actually, even the downtown area is huge. So Nanhui is part of Shanghai province but as I said a long way out of metro Shanghai. In fact I have to get the subway to the end and then catch a bus that takes one hour to get to the college. ... ad it is a long trip.
So anyway to get back to yesterday. I was coming back home and i get to the end of the subway and am in the cue for the bus. This cue is like one at the theme parks. Up and back up and back. And there are many people as always in this cue. And this is the first time I will be taking the bus. So I have some info to make sure I can get on the right bus (these buses don't have numbers, just Chinese characters). I don't read Chinese characters, except maybe just a couple I know. Unknown to me this cue is for other buses not just mine. So I wait and when my bus comes the cue moves .. a bit but not enough. So I figure that I am gonna have to cue jump and so start to make my way thru the masses along the cue. Bus if filling up as they all do and I don't want to have to wait more. So I decide to jump the rail. Very bad move. I am not 21 anymore and even though i get over it my muscle in the back of my calf is now freakin spasming really badly. Dam, now I am a cripple. And there are no seats on the bus as usual. excellent I have to ride the bus one hour standing up as a cripple. not happy.
In fact the pain is ok standing still on the bus but man when I get off the bus at my destination, I cant walk. I can hobble like skippy who lost his walking stick. So the last 200 m to get home is a painful walk. What an idiot.
So after getting home and trying all sorts of things to improve my pain I go to sleep late and hope that tomorrow is better magically. And it is ... marginally. At least the serious pain is mostly gone, and I decide to venture out. It is Saturday and the sun is out for the first time in a while. Actually it is 8 degrees, positively warm i think so I am going out.
I thought it is a good idea to get you all some of those pics, didn't quite turn out that way. The next blog post will have the story of what i did today and how different to my original plan ....Although here are some of the pics I took today. Just to prove that I am actually in Shanghai. Nanjing Donglu(East Rd) at various times in the PM. Plus some symbolic pics of The Bund and Pudong with the river and pearl building. Incidentally in the pic "up the hungpu river" there is a bldg looks like it has a big piece cut out of the top. That is where I had intended to go later today after visiting Nanjing rd. It is Jinmao tower, tallest building in Shanghai and China. Ah, next time ...