So one week later, and it’s time for another entry.
So the first week back to Tianjin after three weeks in Guangzhou…back to old routines and life in Tianjin. Things have changed since we were last here, but yet, like the expression says…”the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Anyways…
So the first week back to Tianjin after three weeks in Guangzhou…back to old routines and life in Tianjin. Things have changed since we were last here, but yet, like the expression says…”the more things change, the more they stay the same”. Anyways…
Monday:
Back to work in the office. No more days of walking around the Canton fair. Back to my cubicle and computer, back to the company food, and back to the angry bus driver lady! Still angry as ever.
Monday night is gym night, and our gym entourage has exploded beyond just Andi and I when I was gone. Good to see! Did some weights and some yoga…similar to home, and yet different. It’s a bit annoying to constantly be looking at the instructor or others since we don’t understand Chinese that well in order to follow.
Tuesday: Work work. Afterwards, we enjoyed some street food that the others talked so much about. The food there was amazing…I’m pretty sure the man there was the husband of the breakfast lady just outside our complex. The breakfast lady makes great breakfast wraps that Andi and I indulge in on a regular basis. Afterwards, we took a taxi to a nearby university (yes, something that was actually close to us) for a Chinese lesson. There were MANY people there to help us, and we learned about fruits, and directions. We also got to chose our Chinese names. I now go by beaver. Most are confused by this…they tend to associate bears with Canada. Us Canadians though know about the beaver and its importance though.
Wednesday: In the evening, we go to a coffee shop at Tianjin University for a coffee presentation, and tasting, courtesy of Akio. He told us about his partnership with a family in Guatemala, how coffee is brewed, and how to properly taste coffee. While I am not a big fan of coffee, (tea 4 lyfe) it was enjoyable and he puts in a lot of work and passion into it, so it’s good to support your friends! Afterwards we went to a nearby bar for some food and drinks. Kerim drew his Mona Lisa on the wall…the Linky Sense crew (current and one former). It’s a masterpiece that I hope to print out one day and frame on my wall.
Thursday: After work, Anne-Marie wanted to go see the Tianjin eye, so we went there…or sort of did. Tang joined us as well and was insistent about going to this place to eat that was in the opposite direction. Communication breakdown, to say the least. Anyways, we went to a big food court with delicious food, and to be honest the weather was crap out so we will return to the Eye another time. Before leaving the mall where we ate, we tried some massage chair that were there, because why not?
Friday: Phoebe, or Phoebes as we call her, had her birthday the day before. Phoebe works at our company and is another resident at the penthouse. We went to Helen’s after work to celebrate, but of course it was full (FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU), so we went to AJO instead. There, we were able to get seats, which was nice considering how big our group was. We enjoyed some food and drinks and sang Happy Birthday to Phoebes, before heading to Sitong, a nearby night club. We had a fun night!
Saturday: Wakey wakey, rise and shine, it’s Beijing this weekend! It’s been a loooong time since I’ve been there. We get to Beijing around noonish and make our way to the hotel. We split up into groups. A few of us go to the forbidden city. Around 400 years old, it is a sight to behold and very cool to walk through. I highly doubt though, that 400 years ago, they would have thought that people would be strolling through the city en masse and take pictures like crazy without giving a thought to the history of the place. That could’ve turned into a pretty big rant but I won’t go into that…a LOT of history has happened there. A lot of leaders. War. Parties. Bloodshed. Sex. Copious amounts of opium. A VERY cool place that has incredibly deep meaning to China. We did a long walk around to head back to our hostel to rest a bit before heading out for the night. We went to the Sanlitun area, a place full of bars and restaurants, and enjoyed some Italian food. We went to a few clubs here and there, more or less ok, but nothing special. We saw some might spill outside. I was amused…I’m pretty sure it was over some girl and some guy got too drunk and was sexually frustrated (boy a lot this entry could turn into rants). Fun times all around.
Sunday: Entourage split up! Anne-Marie and Raghda went to the Great Wall as they had not been there before (I’m sure Anne-Marie will have an entry soon on it, check out her blog with the link on the right side -> ). Oliver, Nghia, and myself went to the silk market after our breakfast/lunch while others went to climb this big hill that was behind the forbidden city. The silk market is amusing…you bargain…you bargain like your life depends on it. The people there make “special offer just for you, no joke” and if you give them too low you are “killing them” since their goods “are quality, the best around no joke”. Then you walk away and they run after you, with a much lower offer. Rinse, lather, and repeat and before you know it you have purchased the product for a price you were hoping for. I bought a shirt, some shorts, necklaces, and Dr. Dre beats earphones (which I got for the equivalent of about $10 Canadian). Afterwards, we went to the clothes market, in which Andi and Oliver went to pick up their suits that they had tailored…they were not ready yet, so when we all go back to Beijing in a couple of weeks, they will pick them up then. We went around some more and then realized what time it was…no Beijing duck, but instead, Burger King at the railway station heading back to Tianjin. I love whoppers.
So it’s now Monday afternoon as I finish writing this…we will be going to the gym later tonight. Tomorrow, we have a Chinese lesson, and Wednesday we will be seeing The Avengers (AWWWWWWWWWW YEAH). Friday evening, we will be going to Qingdao for the weekend. Better known in the west as Tsingtao, this is where Tsingtao beer comes from. We look forward to the beach, hopefully a tour of the factory, and buying Tsingtao beer on the streets in a plastic bag. You read that right.
Ok byebye.
Back to work in the office. No more days of walking around the Canton fair. Back to my cubicle and computer, back to the company food, and back to the angry bus driver lady! Still angry as ever.
Monday night is gym night, and our gym entourage has exploded beyond just Andi and I when I was gone. Good to see! Did some weights and some yoga…similar to home, and yet different. It’s a bit annoying to constantly be looking at the instructor or others since we don’t understand Chinese that well in order to follow.
Tuesday: Work work. Afterwards, we enjoyed some street food that the others talked so much about. The food there was amazing…I’m pretty sure the man there was the husband of the breakfast lady just outside our complex. The breakfast lady makes great breakfast wraps that Andi and I indulge in on a regular basis. Afterwards, we took a taxi to a nearby university (yes, something that was actually close to us) for a Chinese lesson. There were MANY people there to help us, and we learned about fruits, and directions. We also got to chose our Chinese names. I now go by beaver. Most are confused by this…they tend to associate bears with Canada. Us Canadians though know about the beaver and its importance though.
Wednesday: In the evening, we go to a coffee shop at Tianjin University for a coffee presentation, and tasting, courtesy of Akio. He told us about his partnership with a family in Guatemala, how coffee is brewed, and how to properly taste coffee. While I am not a big fan of coffee, (tea 4 lyfe) it was enjoyable and he puts in a lot of work and passion into it, so it’s good to support your friends! Afterwards we went to a nearby bar for some food and drinks. Kerim drew his Mona Lisa on the wall…the Linky Sense crew (current and one former). It’s a masterpiece that I hope to print out one day and frame on my wall.
Thursday: After work, Anne-Marie wanted to go see the Tianjin eye, so we went there…or sort of did. Tang joined us as well and was insistent about going to this place to eat that was in the opposite direction. Communication breakdown, to say the least. Anyways, we went to a big food court with delicious food, and to be honest the weather was crap out so we will return to the Eye another time. Before leaving the mall where we ate, we tried some massage chair that were there, because why not?
Friday: Phoebe, or Phoebes as we call her, had her birthday the day before. Phoebe works at our company and is another resident at the penthouse. We went to Helen’s after work to celebrate, but of course it was full (FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU), so we went to AJO instead. There, we were able to get seats, which was nice considering how big our group was. We enjoyed some food and drinks and sang Happy Birthday to Phoebes, before heading to Sitong, a nearby night club. We had a fun night!
Saturday: Wakey wakey, rise and shine, it’s Beijing this weekend! It’s been a loooong time since I’ve been there. We get to Beijing around noonish and make our way to the hotel. We split up into groups. A few of us go to the forbidden city. Around 400 years old, it is a sight to behold and very cool to walk through. I highly doubt though, that 400 years ago, they would have thought that people would be strolling through the city en masse and take pictures like crazy without giving a thought to the history of the place. That could’ve turned into a pretty big rant but I won’t go into that…a LOT of history has happened there. A lot of leaders. War. Parties. Bloodshed. Sex. Copious amounts of opium. A VERY cool place that has incredibly deep meaning to China. We did a long walk around to head back to our hostel to rest a bit before heading out for the night. We went to the Sanlitun area, a place full of bars and restaurants, and enjoyed some Italian food. We went to a few clubs here and there, more or less ok, but nothing special. We saw some might spill outside. I was amused…I’m pretty sure it was over some girl and some guy got too drunk and was sexually frustrated (boy a lot this entry could turn into rants). Fun times all around.
Sunday: Entourage split up! Anne-Marie and Raghda went to the Great Wall as they had not been there before (I’m sure Anne-Marie will have an entry soon on it, check out her blog with the link on the right side -> ). Oliver, Nghia, and myself went to the silk market after our breakfast/lunch while others went to climb this big hill that was behind the forbidden city. The silk market is amusing…you bargain…you bargain like your life depends on it. The people there make “special offer just for you, no joke” and if you give them too low you are “killing them” since their goods “are quality, the best around no joke”. Then you walk away and they run after you, with a much lower offer. Rinse, lather, and repeat and before you know it you have purchased the product for a price you were hoping for. I bought a shirt, some shorts, necklaces, and Dr. Dre beats earphones (which I got for the equivalent of about $10 Canadian). Afterwards, we went to the clothes market, in which Andi and Oliver went to pick up their suits that they had tailored…they were not ready yet, so when we all go back to Beijing in a couple of weeks, they will pick them up then. We went around some more and then realized what time it was…no Beijing duck, but instead, Burger King at the railway station heading back to Tianjin. I love whoppers.
So it’s now Monday afternoon as I finish writing this…we will be going to the gym later tonight. Tomorrow, we have a Chinese lesson, and Wednesday we will be seeing The Avengers (AWWWWWWWWWW YEAH). Friday evening, we will be going to Qingdao for the weekend. Better known in the west as Tsingtao, this is where Tsingtao beer comes from. We look forward to the beach, hopefully a tour of the factory, and buying Tsingtao beer on the streets in a plastic bag. You read that right.
Ok byebye.
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