Catshanghai » Shanghai

Walk like a man

shanghaimat — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:18:02 +0000

Last weekend I spent the weekend in Beijing participating in an exam board course. I enjoyed the weekend, but I missed Jake and Jenny. When I came home it seemed like Jake had grown up so much. The video of him walking was taken over a week ago. We are very delighted to also see his new skill of clapping his hands. He is also delighted to show off his new achievements.

Jake claps

shanghaimat — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:21:06 +0000

Walk like a man

Back From Guangzhou

shanghaimat — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:21:57 +0000

I'm back at work today after nearly three weeks in Guangzhou, southern China.

As temperatures were set to plummet in Shanghai we decided to head south where the weather is much milder at this time of year.

The trip was the first time we have been away since Jake was born. We went away as a family so it was also Jake's first holiday and adventure on a plane. He loved it.

We stayed at an appartment in a green suburb between Foshan and Guangzhou. Jenny's friend lives there so she she helped Jenny find the flat ahead of time. The compound we stayed at is only half an hour from downtown Guangzhou, but it is very relaxed and has lots of gardens we took Jake around everyday.

I enjoyed the fact that old women smile at you and give you complements about your baby rather than admonish you for not wrapping your child up properly. Shanghai needs to learn from Guangzhou's example. When the sun comes out you see women carry their children on their backs and gather in the gardens to chat as their children play. They were always delighted to see Jake. He was greeted like a movie star wherever he went, although Jake didn't seem to be very bothered about all this attention one way or the other.

Guangzhou has great food. It is usually inexpensive and has a clean, fresh taste. Most things are cheap in this city: baby stuff, clothes, taxis, Christmas trees, knick knacks, houses. We like to stock up, but most of our baggage allowance was taken up with Jake's extensive luggage and a taxi is too heavy to check in as luggage!

We spent time lots of time with Jake, but the great thing about taking the nanny on holiday with you is being able to sneak out when the baby is asleep. We got to hang out with Jenny's friend Jaing Fan who happens to be a Buddhist cantopop star. We caught up with an old friend from Bristol who is working in Guangzhou and has just got married to a Chinese girl. Downtown Guangzhou is bustling with people, restaurants and shops, just like Shanghai. Commuters rudely push their way on the metro in this city too and it is meant to be less safe than Shanghai according to Jiang Fan's policeman husband.

It was quite cold and wet when I first arrived with Jake and the nanny. Jenny said it had been much warmer in the few days before, but temperatures crept up to the mid twenties around Christmas eve before dropping down to the teens in our final week. Guangzhou's weather is very comfortable in the winter, but it is funny to see locals wearing scarves when the daily temperature is 18 C.

We enjoyed Guangzhou and would even consider coming back to live here for a longer spell at some time in the future.

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Best Films of 2009

shanghaimat — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:02:29 +0000

We enjoy films at home on a 90 inch pull down projector screen. One of the benefits of living in China is that the latest releases are available on DVD for less than $1. Even James Fallowes of the Atlantic admits to buying pirated DVDs while he was living in China so I don't feel too guilty as there is really no other choice and it's a big hole in the censorship net if you live in this country. Here is my list in no particular order:

District 9
Coraline
Star Trek
Zombieland
The Wrestler
Antichrist
Public Enemies
Bronson
Where The Wild Things Are
The Hangover
Vicky, Christina, Barcelona
Is Anybody There?
Looking For Eric
Moon
Rachel Getting Married
Red Cliff
Slumdog Millionaire
Up

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Making Lists For 2010

shanghaimat — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:26:25 +0000

Are they resolutions or a wish list? Here is a list anyway.

Keep Jake's milestones documented with videos, pictures and blog posts
Be a good dad, husband, employee and global citizen
Write 100 blog posts
Exercise 100 times
Listen to 12 audio books covering a wide range of topics
Cut carbon footprint by 10%
Get 50 hours of sleep every week
Maintain GTD effectively – 50 weekly reviews
Become a CSS ninja and a proto script kiddie
Make some progress studying Chinese
Get an Android Smartphone

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Making Lists – Retro

shanghaimat — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:58:22 +0000

Highlights of 2009

Jake’s birth
Jake’s first swim
Jake’s first smile
Jake’s first laugh
Jake sitting up
Jake’s first plane ride to Guangzhou
Valentine’s Day at Bacaro
Family coming to see us in Shanghai
Getting VPN to work in China
Watching Zombieland
Listening to Boduf Songs
Setting up school Moodle site

Lowlights of 2009

Execution of Akmal Shaikh
Internet in China becoming a walled garden
Hopenhagen Farce
Shanghai’s poor air quality
Shanghai’s lack of green spaces
Mad old women inflicting parenting advice in Shanghai parks
Being too lazy to study Chinese
Hollywood Superdiner opening in Taikang Lu

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Superdiner Blights Taikang Lu

shanghaimat — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:58:32 +0000

Last night I saw a new American diner at 200 Taikang Lu. It's called Superdiner.

The sight of mirrors and neon sickened my stomach. This may work in Las Vegas or even Tongren Lu, but it does not fit this place. Taikang Lu-Tianzifang is special, because it is an organic collection of independent shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants. It has an independent, artistic sprit that is difficult to find in Shanghai. The hordes or hipsters and package tourists may be a sign of ongoing gentrification, but it is not Xintiandi and there are no Starbucks or McDonalds in this asylum.

Replacing a lesbian night club with a hideous looking sports bar restaurant diner monstrosity is a most unwelcome development. Let's hope it fails. I don't want to look at it so there are no photographs. File under #boycott.

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Two Hour Commute

shanghaimat — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:02:07 +0000

Yesterday my journey to work took two hours. Normally the same trip takes less than an hour. What happened?

I tried a new route and everything went wrong. Normally i take a taxi or school bus. The bus is provided by the company. It’s free, but I need to cycle to the bus stop and the return bus gets back after 5.30pm. This was not a problem before, but now my baby son is asleep before I get home.

Getting a taxi to and from work is quick and easy, but expensive at 45 rmb each way.

I was looking four a quick and cheap easy way to travel to work and back to be home in time to hang out with Jake.

I tried a new route yesterday. I took metro line 4 to Lancun Lu before changing to line 6 to get to Linye Xincun. I missed the first train at Nanpu Bridge and I had to wait for several minutes at Lancun Lu.

Trouble started at Linye Xincun.

I had to wait for over half an hour before I could find a taxi. The taxi did not understand my instructions. He failed to take the most direct route and we got held up in pre expo/ back to school traffic. I arrived at my new destination after two hours.

It’s time to rethink my commuting plans to be able to see more of Jake. My journey is going to look more like a triangle as I take the company bus from downtown Shanghai to Pudong and back to Nanpu Bridge on a taxi. This means I have to leave my bike at home.

New School Year

shanghaimat — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:44:29 +0000

(download)

ICT has always been prominent at BISS, but this year it will have an even bigger profile as all subjects will be expected to use Moodle to make their resources and activities available online. It will be useful if this blog was a platform to share tips and ideas.

The first step has been for teachers to organise classes, add links to websites and upload files such as PowerPoints and past paper PDFs. The next step will be to make Moodle more interactive so students can upload homework as an assignment, participate in quizes, forums and glossaries.

Often it seems that Moodle can overwhelm teachers with so many features. The secret is to start using a few simple features effectively and to grow into the other tools as your confidence grows. There is the other danger of Moodle becoming boring if you always use it in the same way. Don't be scared to try something new. Experimentation can lead to good surprises.

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Freedur Is Kaput. Long Live StrongVPN

shanghaimat — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:11:13 +0000

I've been using Freedur VPN to access blocked websites from China, but recent developments have caused me to drop them after accountant Chris Mathews ran off with the domain and a database of customers. See this Shangahaiist story for more details.

Despite reassurances from their twitter feed I can't give them access to my data without thinking that a dishonest employee will run off with that information too. My previous post expressed some concern about AVG classifying Freedur's Windows software as a trojan horse.

I've dropped Freedur in favour of Strongvpn who are giving me quick access to UK streaming sites even as we speak. The website panel interface requires a degree in computer science to operate it so wait for the E-mail instructions after you sign up and pay them, but who's complaining when it works (thus far!). I'm not holding my breath. The Internet in China is far too flaky for that kind of optimism. StrongVPN offers monthly and annual payment plans starting at $7 a month.

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