Six months have (nearly) passed since I moved to China and it’s been quick. So quick that the lease on my original apartment is up and I want to move closer to work. After searching for a while last week I found a place in a complex on Hongqiao Road called Oriental Manhattan (东方曼哈顿公寓). It’s a bit more expensive than my current one, but the building, the facilities and the apartment are much better. It’s on the 16F, facing the interior courtyard, two bedroom with satellite TV (that acutally gets English channels). I’ll post more pictures when I move in, which is likely to be today or tomorrow depending on when I can find movers.
May 2006
Shanghai Sherpa
It was Thursday and the rain was pounding and the wind was howling through the streets of Shanghai, thanks for Tyhpoon Chanchu.Too lazy and too wet already to venture out from my apartment in hunt of food, I tried for the first time to order a meal from Shanghai Sherpa, a delivery service geared towards foreigners.
I have to say, I’m 100% impressed by their service. I gave them a call, they asked for my number and my address, all in perfect English. I ordered some items off of their menu (a sandwich and some tapenade from a place calld iiiit). They said the food would arrive in an hour due to traffic from the rain and it arrived around their estimated time, warm (but not as hot as I may have liked it) and straight from the resturant.
It’s expensive no doubt. There’s a markup on the items (so it would seem) as well as well as a delivery charge. My meal cost 71 RMB including delivery, which is pretty expensive for any meal around here, but when in a pinch it can’t be beat. I’d recomend it to anybody who doesn’t speak Chinese in need of a delivery food fix.
Around the World in 90 Days
NY Times Frugal Traveler is going around the world in 90 days, starting in Lisbon and I’m already envious. This is the ultimate trip for me and I know one day I’m going to do the same. My buddy Matt is doing something similar (94 days). He’s starting in Asia, working his way through the southeast, then heading off to Europe. I’m going to meet up with him in Bangkok (this is the beauty of living in Asia).
However, before I can dream about a round-the-world adventure, my next big vacation is most definitely going to be in the Galapagos, kayaking through the islands.
That New Office Smell
Our team relocated from one skyscraper in Xujiahui to one across the street and it’s fantastic. Our old building, Metro City (美罗城) was in a bad state with poor ventilation, small desks and it was super crowded. Our new building, Grand Gateway 2 (港汇广) is the 71st tallest building in the world (how very exciting) and it’s a awesome building. While we occupy lower floor of this building than the old one, there’s less street noise and the work conditions are much better as well.
Bigger cubes, more offices, more conference rooms, and cleaner facilities. I swear there’s a two minute interval at which the glass inside the building is wiped over by somebody. And the best part? It’s a lot more quiet on the inside and it feels like the new digs have people more energized. I wouldn’t have realized it but the quality (and/or) newness of the office really does drive some level of inspiration.
Quick West Coast Week
In the last episode of the A Day in the Life of Aditya, we found our protagonist splayed flat in his apartment in Shanghai unable to move let alone take his flight to the US. Fast forward to today and he’s getting ready to head back to Shanghai after spending a week in the West Coast. Enough with the third person, let’s get to the recap.
Last Thursday I took off from Shanghai to San Francisco and spent the week between SF, Mountain View, Napa and Redmond. Work was busy and quite productive. I had a very interesting day trip to Redmond as well as managing to get a lot done and taken care of here in California. On the personal side, I got to see all my old friends plus do a wine tour of Napa last weekend, celebrate Chris’ birthday, and go to Jamus’ graduation this weekend. Overall, an excellent trip. Now, for the 17-some-hour flight back.
… Or Staying in Shanghai
Imagine, if you will, Monday at about 2:30am. I’m getting ready to start packing for my 10am flight from Shanghai to San Francisco. I get up from my sofa and my back seizes up and I fall over from the pain. It was pretty bizzare, I was stuck laying on the ground for a while wondering if the pain would go away, but every time I tried to move it was pretty much impossible and I was totally immobile. Not knowing what to do, I gave my friend Lois a call who was the sweetest person ever.
She came over in the middle of the night and brought her cousin who was a doctor. After her cousin did an evaluation of me, they called an ambulance and took me over to Zhongshan Hospital. The doctors at the hospital did an evaluation of me and took some lower back x-rays and found that it wasn’t anything serious (like a slipped disk) and said that I needed a few days of bedrest of staying on my back, gave me some meds and sent me on my way. The diagnosis was around a strained ligament in my back or a muscle spasm.
We had to take an ambulance back to my apartment since I couldn’t take a sitting position. It was my first time ever being in an ambulance and one of the only times (may have been the only time, can’t really remember) I’ve been in the emergency room. From what I could see (which was limited since I spent all my time staring up at the wall) the facility was quite modern and sophisticated.
Thus, I’m still in Shanghai. I’m feeling a lot better now and I can walk around and am mobile again. I’m going to attempt to fly on Thursday or Friday to head back to the states since I think I should be in pretty good shape by then. I’ve been passing the time by watching movies and laying down on either my bed or the sofa the entire time. It’s not exactly the way I had expected to spend the May holiday, but I am feeling better for sure. It was a pretty scary experience but I owe a lot to Lois and her cousin for being amazing people and helping me when I needed it as well as my family and family friends who helped out across all the time zones with their loving advice and knowlege.