I'm baaaack
It's so nice to be home.
My flight from Shanghai was fine. I got on the flight, ate dinner, watched a movie and then slept for about 6 or 7 hours. I got sick towards the end of the flight so that wasn't much fun - but better on the flight home instead of on the trip. I sat next to a very nice man born in Shanghai and working for a health insurance company in NJ. We talked a lot about the health care system in China and Shanghai in general.
I breezed through customs and found that my flight home was delayed :( At this point I was so close to home, yet so far away. I finally arrived at 10:30 and was home by 11:15. It was very nice of Brian to circle the airport forever waiting for me. Turns out Venki and Keri were on my flight from Chicago so we got to chat at the baggage claim - reliving our trip.
My cats were timid of me at first but came around by the time I was ready for bed. I finally fell asleep by about 12:15am. It was SO nice to sleep in my own bed, I didn't realize how hard the beds were in China until I got into my own bed. It was nice to have down pillows and super soft sheets.
I woke up at 5 a.m. so I called and woke up my mom (whoops!) We talked for about 45 minutes then I decided to get ready for work. It was nice to take a shower in water that didn't smell like dirt. I went to Panera for my favorite coffee drink and got to work about 745.
I survived the day, didn't fall asleep. It was nice to see everyone again! I got caught up on email and such and felt a little sleepy about 2:30. I just sat down and talked with Brian and Gary and that was enough of a rest to get me through the rest of the day. I'm headed to meet baby Alli and then I'm going to do laundry and try to stay up until about 10. We'll see if I make it.
I'm still not feeling all that well today - but I still ate QDoba, it was sooo good! :)
It's so nice to be home. Now back to work - tons to do. I start my new class on Wednesday and I just found out that one of my classes for the fall was cancelled, so that screws my schedule to graduate early. I'll have to find some creative solutions tonight so I can finish early as planned! Back to reality - but that's life.
Opps...Oh My!
Opps...Oh My!
Tip: When you go to get your hair highlighted and the dude doesn't speak English, you're not going to get highlights!!
Friday we met with Maxon (an Indiana firm) and Lilly. They were good meetings, but by the last day we were all tired of meetings :-)
Friday afternoon we had a bit of time between meetings and dinner so I went up to the Salon to see about getting my hair done. The hairdresser didn't understand that I wanted a cut and highlights so he got the security gaurd to translate. I sat down, picked out a light brown color that would look nice with my naturally dark brown hair. I finally found a hair cut I liked in a magazine (my hair was at the middle of my back). I looked up and he's coloring my whole head! Woah, what happened to the highlights?! At this point I decide that I can't do anything about it, if he messes up my hair then I'll get it fixed when I get home.
Long story short. The color turned out nice - thankfully I didn't ask for red or bleach blonde highlights since he colored my whole head! He cut off about 5-6 inches, a little more than I wanted but it looks good. It was the best haircut I've ever had, it took him 45 minutes to cut my hair because he was paying so much attention to detail. 500RMB for a cut and color...not bad.
The back - he got that curl with a round brush and no product! I'm not putting a picture of the front up because I look drunk.
We met for dinner at the Grand Hyatt. It was our last dinner as a group - it was a very nice time. The Hyatt is the tallest building in Shanghai (for now). The view was amazing and the food was fabulous! We had a good time chatting and talking about our adventures. There are a lot of stories to tell between us all.
Grand Hyatt
Lobby Atrium at the Hyatt
We headed back to the hotel for some more karaoke fun. As soon as I walked in my guitar friend took me to the dance floor. We sang "funky music" (there's a video of me on someone's camera) and John sang his usual songs (they do the same songs every night). After some football in the hallway with some Brits we headed to bed.
On Saturday Erin, Sean, Fraizer, Faye and I went to the knock-off market. It was raided a few weeks ago and they've already moved. Unfortunately they didn't tell us the right spot (it was a regular shopping mall). We had our last formal Chinese meal at a hotel and then split up. Erin and I went back to Old Shanghai to shop for traditional chinese gifts (where the Shanghai gardens are). I bought some scarves, chopsticks, and other gifts. The last shop we went into is where I lost my self control. China has these beautiful hand embroidered pictures (silk embroidery). There in the last shop is where I saw it, a 16 X 24 embroidery of Van Gogh's Lilies. I haggled with her, got her down 3,600 RMB from where she started and bought it. I can't wait to get it framed and up in my house.
Erin & I met Dr. Lyles for a drink and said our goodbyes. Then we headed off to the JW Marriott to have a manicure/pedicure at the Mandras spa. It was fantastic. They served us delicious Jasmine tea and had us lie on massage tables. I've never had a pedicure lying down. It was interesting. The pedicure itself wasn't all that great but the ambience was so relaxing.
Pearl Building
Night View
We had a drink at the JW and enjoyed the beautiful view of the night sky. It was a very cloudy night, so anything above 40 floors was a view of all clouds. This bar was just below the clouds. We took a cab back to the Hyatt to meet some people for one last drink together in China. We went to Cloud 9 on the 87th floor. It was what the name described, a view of the clouds. We were surrounded by clouds and couldn't see a thing. We still enjoyed the great (and expensive) cocktails. I almost spent more on three Bellinis than I did on my pedicure! It was a very nice end to a fabulous trip.
I'm in the process of packing, what a challenge. I leave at 1p.m. for the airport and have a direct flight to Chicago. I'll be back in Indy in my own bed by 10 p.m. (I hope I can sleep!).
This has been an amazing experience, a fabulous trip. I hope that I can make it back again in the future to see how China has continued to progress. Thanks to everyone for following along on my journey. The pictures and commentary don't do it justice, but it's a nice reminder! :-)
-Sugah
Good-bye China!
Only I would learn to cha-cha in Shanghai
We started the day with an interesting meeting with FedEx. We learned about FedEx's strategy in the Asian market and enjoyed the fabulous view of Shanghai from our meeting. Then we came back for lunch near the hotel to kill some time. Everyone was craving something non-Chinese so we headed to Micky D's. They have this thing called the Mega Mac over here. Four hambuger patties - they should give you a free coupon for a bypass too (sorry gmsott). The value meal is automatically a large drink and a large fry too. Amazing to watch people eat these all around us. They have a purple pie, we all got one to split and tried it. They still deep fry the pies, I forgot they used to do that. As we were sitting we realized there were a crap load of bikes parked outside. The bikes were in perfect row, now how do you get that many people to park their bikes like that? With parking attendant of course! I shit-you-not, they have a parking attendant for the bikes - they give you a ticket and everything.
Sean, Fraizer and I then headed to Carre Four - the French version of Wal-Mart. This place was a huge supermarket, very clean and nice, it was in the basement of the shopping mall. We were just there to look around and compare it to the US (and to kill time). Holy shnikes (speaking of Nikes - I bought new shoes yesterday...anyway), we see this huge fish tank. This woman grabs a fish with her bare hand (huge things) and chops the head right off. :O Then she lays all the parts on the table in front of her station, cleans off her cutting board (the water is red - like a Jaws movie) and goes for another one.
Then we walk a bit and come across all these crates of live animals. Sea Turtles, box (looked like) turtles, Eels, crabs, etc. I guess you just pick one out and you either take it live or they kill it for you. After seeing that, makes me glad I didn't eat the turtle they ordered the other night. (I couldn't eat it, it came out with part of the shell on, it reminded me of the box turtle we had in Arkansas. So sweet and my mom put it outside to clean its water - well a little bit of water and the sun will boil a turtle - sorry mom).
We decide to check out the meat department to see if they sell dog (just for shits-n-giggles). Well I have never seen anything like this in my life! The meat counters are just like the US, but the meat is not in packages, its in huge piles in the fridge cases (no glass). People are touching and pointing to what they want and its bagged up. I spin on my heels to turn around and there it is. The most bizzare thing I've seen in the store yet (hard to top the live chopping of the fish!), there is a giant box on a stand, it's made of ice. Inside are tons of pieces of beef. There are half a dozen people digging in this box - digging through it like women dig through the Semi-Annual Sale at Victoria Secret (or the clearance bin at Wal-Mart). It's like a train wreck - I don't want to watch but I can't pull my eyes away from it. (I didn't want to be weird and take a picture of the chaos.) Totally grossed out I see a woman in the next aisle with half of her finger up her nose picking it. I think about that and people not washing their hands in the bathroom and I become very ill. If I lived here I could never have beef any less than well-done if I could eat beef at all!!
We then went to meet with the Cisco R&D office. We got a tour of their lab and talked with the #2 guy. Very interesting stuff, I really enjoy these meetings. I picked this guy's brain about challenges he faces when communicating with the HQ in San Jose. I'm really trying to get different views so I can get as much good stuff for my paper for Charles' class and for our Board discussion in August.
We met a IUPUI - Kelley SOB grad for dinner. His name is Gilbert and he was a great guy! He finished his MBA in 2000 (he was in Indy for four years - his family stayed behind in China while he went to school). He now works for a Japanese firm, he is highly regarded in his company for his Western MBA and his Chinese know-how. He talked about his experiences and even gave everyone a Chinese CD so we could take home some of the music. After dinner we took cabs to his house where we met his son and wife. They had a wonderful fruit spread (the fruit here is amazing) and lots of rice wine and beer. He even brought out the cigars - Sean and I had small ones.
Here's Fraizer and Jose talking to him - he used to work at Cummins (where Jose and Fraizer work).
It was very nice of him to open his apartment to us. He has so much IU school pride, it's lovely to see.
After we got back we went to the bar in the hotel. One our way in we had to wade through a sea of teenage girls. Apparently some huge Korean pop star is in our hotel so there have been teenage girls camped out all day. This bar has what I now realize is the typical Chinese live entertainment in international bars - women with chorographed dances that sing all English songs (and some spanish).
John secretly loves to sing, they bring him the mic and he belts it out! He's made a debut there the last three nights and they all know him. He's even made it on stage (it's not a karaoke bar!).
They played a Spanish song and one of the guitar players came up to me to dance. He said come dance with me. I said no, but he dragged me out. I told him I don't know how to cha-cha so he tought me! I picked it up pretty quickly and before I knew it we were dancing away. Only I would learn how to cha-cha in Shanghai. It made me want to look into dance lessons in Indy. I think that would be a fun thing to do.
Tomorrow's our last round of business meetings. We're going to have dinner at the Grand Hyatt, the tallest building in Shanghai. The restaurant is on the 88th floor (I believe). It will be a nice cap to the experience. Then Sean, Erin and I (and a few others) will have Saturday and part of Sunday to finish exploring and experiencing all that Shanghai has to offer - we've got some exciting stuff planned.
Jessica is about to deliver baby Allie - hope the delivery goes well!!
Here's a few answers to some questions:
-No I'm not leaving AKPsi - that's not what I meant about life changes. I will eventually, but not any time soon.
-This trip is a lot of work. I'd say it's about 30% vacation (or less), but it hasn't felt like work.
-Yes, I'm learning a ton.
-No, I'm not buying anymore purses.
-Yes, I'm ready to go home.
-Yes, I'm sick of Chinese food.
:-)
Shanghai - The largest port in the world
Shanghai - The largest port in the world
**Just an example of how quickly things can change. I can't log into my blogger account anymore from China. Maybe a connection - but all else is working fine. So thank you to Klayton who has been taking my emails and posting them for me!**
There's a post down below this about the 2nd day in Suzhou.
We arrived in Shanghai later last night and I was amazed when I walked into my room. I've got a Jr suite with this huge marble entry and a huge bedroom/bath. Very nice for only 580 RMB a night. Maybe I'm not ready to go home.... j/k
We woke up to rain which was sad since this was our tour day. We took a tour bus (with a tour guide) around town and saw the local sights. I took the best pictures of the skyline that I could given the conditions.
Pudong - the "new" Shanghai - the up and coming "NYC"
The building from MI 3
"old Shanghai"
We went to the Shanghai museum and had an hour to run around the place seeing as much as we could. I visited the seals room, the jade room and the bronze room. Very nice of what I saw. Here's some sky line shots by the museum (mostly hotels).
We walked to have lunch near the Shanghai gardens (this place has a lot of gardens). There was this little kid riding his bike in the MIDDLE of the busy street - everyone was cheering him on - man they start training them early!
Tea room outside of the gardens
We went to the Shanghai gardens after lunch. The gardens start looking the same after you've been in enough of them.
A picture of the garden with the city behind it!
These lion statues are everywhere and are supposed to bring good luck. The lion on the right is the male and represents the male enjoying sports and having fun (his paw is on a ball). The female lion is on the left and has her paw on the baby lion - representing that the female takes care of the children and family.
I found a factory outlet store (go figure) and bought a new pair of running shoes and the ones I brought are shot. They thought my credit card was fake because of the Marriott Rewards logo in the corner. I went to try on an awesome pair of heels, the lady said they had my size but pointed at my tennis shoes I had on and said I couldn't try them on (as best as I can interpret a woman that doesn't speak english). I don't get it - biatch, I was ready to buy those shoes!!
We had dinner with a guy named Daniel. He's Director of the Asia market for a British firm. His wife is a Kelley MBA grad and that's how our professor met him. Very nice guy, took us to a Chinese restaurant.
A few random ramblings:
-I'm ready to go home. I decided that tonight - I miss my bed, cats and lots of little things.
-I'm getting tired of Chinese food. We have it two times a day (sometimes three depending on the location for breakfast).
-I'm getting good with chopsticks. I do believe I will use them after I get home to eat.
-I hate how you leave the "do not disturb" sign on the door (because you ripped through your suitcase this a.m. and your room is a mess) and they still come in. They did this in Beijing too. Does Mao require maids to enter every room each day (I realize he's dead)?
-I've done a lot of reflection and I've realized it's time for change.
-I'VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE AND I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING IN THE WORLD! :)
Okay time to go straighten and prepare for our meetings tomorrow - FedEx and Cisco. Then dinner with a Kelly SOB alum.
peace out.
SUZHOU
Since I can't read my own blog in China, I really don't know what I posted about Suzhou if anything. I think I posted about dinner with Christina - so I'll start from the next day.
We went on a few corporate tours. We started at the SND - a technology park. It is an amazing place. Huge place that has plenty of corporations, its own shipping dock, shopping, schools (and 3 international schools), housing and a hospital. It is one of four technology parks in Suzhou to attract businesses to the area. We met with the administration and they took us to tour Pfizer. We went to the animal health plant and got to see that manufacturing line.
We then went to Lilly - where they gave us a big welcome
We got to tour their facilities - we had to put on lab coats and so we all felt like scientists. Suzhou is considered the Venice of the East (maybe I already told you that). Here's a picture of the canal - ships still use this to ship construction supplies. It used to be used to ship silk and rice.
We went to one of the many gardens in Suzhou. Very pretty (and hot!) We went to the garden of the nets. Here's some pictures.
In case you forgot what I looked like...
The MBA students - Chinese Brady Style....
The guys (Venki - Mike - Sean)
The girls (Keri - Me - Faye)
Here's an example of the chaos in China. There are no road signs telling you that a highway or street is out. We're cruising along the freeway to Shanghai and all the sudden have to make a u-turn. No warning.
Time Flies
I can't believe that I leave in 4 days. Have I really been here 12 days already? On one hand I'm very ready to come home (I miss the washing machine and my bed) but on the other hand I'm ready to see more. I'll have to save that for another trip.
I have 1.2 GB of pictures to upload today (yes GB). I know I need to update but we're leaving for dinner in 30 minutes. I'll update tonight and let you know about my awesome JR suite at the New World Mayfair. What a nice treat to end the trip.
My mom rocks - she has called AA every day checking on the flight back - she got me the business class upgrade - on her birthday no less! :-) Which is fantastic because I have to work the next day... Thanks mom!
Alight, more to come.
-Sugah
Trip to Suzhou
We met with two Cummins groups in Wuxi. We got to tour the factories - one makes alternators and the other makes turbo chargers. It was interesting (the factories were HOT). Everyone on the trip has come to realize that you are constantly hot and sweaty, it never ends until you take a shower at night.
Our bus arrived at the hotel to take us to Suzhou, it was a tiny bus without any under luggage stowage. As a group we have about 40 bags (including computer bags). We had to shove it all in the front of the bus, if we had to slam on the breaks, the driver would get a ton of suitcases to the head!
Faye and the luggage
It was only about an hour drive to Suzhou. It was nice to see some rural parts of China as we drove. It really makes you reflect on what you have and give thanks. Here are some sights around Suzhou (not a huge skyscraper type city)
Bike traffic
Making friends!
It's amazing what people pile on their scooters, I once saw a dog where these potatoes are!
The river bank of Suzhou, it's considered "heaven on earth" or the Venice of the East
Erin and I went to dinner with Christina - a brother from Stetson University (and Academy Alum) and her fiance Stephen. They took us to a FABULOUS whole in the wall place for Chinese food. It was really cool to hear their perspective of living in China. They are both freelance English teachers, teaching to schools and businesses. They took us to a DVD store to buy more, apparently Shanghai just got raided for fakes (they had an entire fake market) so they suggested if we wanted any to get them in Suzhou. They were much cheaper here than in Beijing - must be because Beijing is more touristy.
Christina & Stephen
Christina & I
We're visiting the technology park today and the Eli Lily R&D facility. The business meetings are so awesome, really interesting, I'm learning a lot.
We drive to Shanghai today and will finish out our trip there. It will be nice to be able to unpack a little and stop being on the run. I can't believe I leave in a few days!
Happy 4th of July!!
The tarmac is pretty....
Off to Wuxi. Let's go back, way back, back to the beginning of the day. We loaded up at the hotel in Beijing on a chartered bus to the airport. Each person is only allowed to check 35kgs of luggage before you have to pay. I am happy to say that I was below this (even with two bags), I was at 27.5. One of the lower in the group. We checked in as a group and was below the weight limit for our luggage so no one had to pay extra (it all evened out).
We found out that our flight was delayed an hour (supposed to leave at 13:10). We had a lovely cafeteria style chinese lunch and chilled out waiting for our flight. I decided to give the Asian Red Bull a try (I'm going through RB sugah free withdrawls). It wasn't bad, tasted pretty much the same - but it wasn't carbonated. (That's my pretty new Prada purse in the picture - at least the straps.)
We took a bus out to the tarmac and loaded our plan, it was a full house today to Wuxi. We got word that because of military reasons (whatever that means) we were going to be delayed. So we sat for an hour, then two hours, then we were approaching three hours. Finally nearing the three hour mark I suggested we do a pool for when we'd actually take off. 20 RMB to get in, 15 minute intervals, winner takes all. Only I would find a way to gamble on a plane in China. MBA students gambling to make the time go faster, even Professor Lyles threw down 20 RMB for a slot. I even created an excel spreadsheet to show the slots. Erin ended up taking 160RMB as we took off at 5:35 (both wheels had to be off the tarmac).
We landed in Wuxi at the smallest airport I've ever seen. It is even smaller than Westchester - before the remodel. It has two gates. You walk off the plane (tons of military planes and soldiers everywhere) and walk directly into the baggage claim.
We came in the doors to the left and picked up our luggage on the right:
This picture is of the drop-off curb:
Literally right next door is domestic arrivals (you can see a little of the departure building roof)
We took a chartered bus to the hotel. You start off by driving through a very rural, farm type land. Then you get into a nicer industrial part of town where there is all the manufacturing plants. There wasn't anyone on the streets and we were all getting a little concerned that this town was going to be dull. Then we get into what we think is downtown, a small little strip of life. Then we hit downtown. It's very new, very clean and really cool. It's amazing that a city of 5 million people has such a tiny airport. I only wish we would have come here Saturday so we could have had another day here. We're staying at a Marriott Courtyard, it feels very familiar and almost like home.
We took a walk out to find dinner. We walked through an outdoor shopping mall:
A group of people watching soccer on the big screen in the middle of the outdoor mall:
We found one of the few restaurants still open at 21:00 on a Sunday night. Luckily our translator has joined us - Fay, as no one in this restaurant spoke English. They serve dog, we could have been in a world of trouble without her. Bt the way, it seems like people in Wuxi aren't used to Americans here as people watched our group like hawks in amazement. We had an amazing meal with beer, appetizers and a main course. For 8 people it was 400RMB which was about $6 a person! What a bargain! Here's Sean and his meal:
We decided to call it a night to head back to our hotel. We're staying in the tallest building in Wuxi.
I'm getting a lot of bug bites all the sudden. I didn't think to bring anything to stop the itching, but it is driving me CRAZY! Good thing I've been taking my Malaria pills!
We're taking some plant tours tomorrow and then heading off to Suzhou (about 2 hour drive by bus). I'm planning on meeting Christina, a 2002 Academy Fellow (Alpha Kappa Psi) tomorrow night for drinks. She is in Suzhou teaching English with her Fiance.
One more thing before I go:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! (7/3) Have a great day and I love you! I'll be thinking about you.
Okay off to bed for me. Night!
Duck take 2
A few people in the group decided to try the city's most famous Peking duck restaurant (the one we went to the first night in Beijing is the best, but this one is more well known). We took some taxis down there and found a 5 story building, yes, the restaurant was all five floors!
Upon entering the building a guy told us the restaurant was booked for the night. But we should call and make reservations for the next night or to try the sister restaurant down the street. We decided (thankfully) to walk in anyway to look around. They had a table open for us on the 5th floor. We think this guy was with the other restaurant and trying to steal business.
The duck and side dishes were not as good as the first place. But the restaurant itself was much nicer. The place had the NICEST bathrooms that I've seen in Beijing (include that of my hotel) - sad when you start rating bathrooms. Here's a group shot of those who went:
We walked around a bit, were going to hit up a karaoke bar, but everyone was about ready to crash so we headed back. I bought another bag to pack my stuff in, a very nice roller duffle bag of sorts. Since we're staying in Wuxi and Suzhou the next two nights (one night each) before Shanghai I've decided to pack what I need for the next two days in that bag so I don't have to dig through my other suitcase.
Here's some pictures:
The bike parking near the restaurant. There are bikes everywhere. The bike parking at the subway stations are twice as crowded. I'm shocked I haven't seen a biker hit yet, they dart right in front of cars.
Night life near the restaurant (the street is closed off to cars)
KFC has a tram that will take you from one side of the street to the other. They stop right off at KFC, there were tons of people flowin' in for some finger lickin' chicken! Smart move on KFC's part.
One interesting observation. The drivers, buses, bikes and pedestrians cut each other off all the time, run lights and don't wait for cars/people. They might honk at each other but no one has road rage. In the states people would be getting in fights left and right.
Off to Wuxi. Over and out.
