The Fast Train To Monday

Meet my buddy from work.

Marlyse's an awesome buddy and she's here for internship as well.

But hers is much shorter.

She keeps me sane at work. Haha, at least, the coffee she makes does.

Well, another weekend has passed by so quickly.

Didn't even do much. Went around 南京西路 on Saturday,

and Kerry Park (again! but it's a great place, trust me) on Sunday.

Oddly, I got dragged to a hip church service on Saturday night.

Obviously, I don't feel like I belong there, but still, I just pretend

I'm back in weekly school church service, with added crunch.

At least I remember the Bible stories. This is what 10 years of

Presbyterian school education has given me.

My factory visits were... pretty boring, but!

I listened to what their locals say, and some other stories, that

make me realise that actually, we are not any different then them.

Oh, did I mention the Hyogo-breed grapes? 巨蜂-breed.

It's only... 3RMB per kilogram. 3RMB = SGD0.60!

And it's superb! Really sweet, maybe just missing the shiny

and round appearance you see in Japan.

Haha, the locals bought it for us (since my company is the customer),

and seriously, all we do is just sit in the meeting room,

munch on grapes, pizza (or KFC, depending on which day), chit-chat,

look at travel photos, AND, finally, the 'work' part involves me inspecting

product packaging. It's pretty simple, only thing is,

when I have 4 pairs of eyes staring and waiting for my final verdict,

on whether the color of the packaging matches the benchmark.

(most of the time, no. sadly)

Alright, I bet this week is going to pass by super duper fast again.

Which I don't mind, really. Because... Mid-autumn fest is coming!

And that means, holiday! and mooncake! Wahahahaha!

Tchüss!

Work & Study

This weekend has been quite alright, spent our time outside,

going to their big IT mall, which can be quite terrifying because

walking down the aisle of booths is like, having zombies pulling

you in on all sides.

Ventured to the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, which

is just one train stop away from where we live.

We went on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Let me emphasize, on a Saturday.

You know, the science centre has this electronic counter, it tracks

the number of people visiting on that day. And just that morning,

this counter clocked an amazing 15,000 (around there) people.

And wow, I was blown away by the huge crowd, and the huge

company of kids. Everybody was just talking so loud, and

everybody's pushing their way around, we really couldn't see

or learn much from the museum.

Nevertheless, the museum is big, exhibits are classified into

a number of subjects. Total of 3 levels.

Well, I think it will be awesome if we went during a weekday.

School starts next week for me.

For some, 交通大学 batch is this week.

And we'll have weekly Suzhou friends coming down to stay

with us starting this week. How exciting.

(a little bit of sacarsm)

Anyhow, I'm heading to work now. Tchüss! =)

I'm Back!

大家好！新加坡的朋友们，你们好不好？

Haha, sorry that I haven't been posting much updates,

been kind of busy after work everyday.

We have been cooking a lot at home, and constantly buying groceries

from the supermart. Great start right!

Well, I must say the good thing about my 'family' here in Shanghai

is that we cook together. Most of the time, there will be at least 6 hands

in the kitchen. Making a terrible mess, but we will be all filled at the end of the day.

Typhoon 梅花 (Muifa) went past us with super loud howling winds,

and really strong too. But not much of precipitation.

Amelia and I went down the block to catch some wind, and it's really nice.

The next day, we see rubbish bins overturned, and loads of fallen leaves.

Good thing is... the sky is nice and clear again! Smog gone!

My parents came by Shanghai last week, and I was so relieved to see them,

and I bet they were relieved to see me too. Really glad they came.

And sorry that they have to lug so many things along throughout the trip.

Shared stories and ate good meals, they've met my housemates and yea,

it was pretty much heartwarming. Not to mention our excitement when

we saw SinSin chilli bottles.

Went 苏州 (Suzhou) for the weekend, and joined up with the other

guys living there. I must say, Suzhou is extraordinary as compared to Shanghai.

The air is so much fresher and more breathable. Cleaner as well. In some way.

We went to 拙政园 (Humble Administrator's Garden) and then it started raining.

Nothing special really, just a lot of people.

Then we went down to a famous shopping street... can't remember the name though,

but we didn't really spent much time there because when it comes to shopping,

I think Shanghai is still the best.

Kelvin brought us to the lake in the evening, unfortunately, the bridges and the area

around us weren't lit with beautiful lights that night, so everything's in the dark.

BUT! Because there isn't light, the full moon looked exceptional.

There's actually much resemblance between Suzhou and Singapore.

We saw a (terrible) replica of our Merlion at Suzhou's Times Square the next day.

The Times Square was so quiet even though it's a Sunday...

Wonder how businesses survive over there.

Ah, but, there's a 久光百货! The same one in Shanghai 陆家嘴!

And this mall is a true Japanese supermart. LOVED IT!

The funny feeling while in Suzhou was that I missed home in Shanghai.

Weird right. Haha! Maybe because Kelvin's apartment were all super-hard beds.

REALLY HARD. I just have to poke a bit, I can already feel the spring

and iron mattress frame. But still, thanks to him for letting out all the rooms

to all 7 Shanghai-ers... when his other housemates were out in 黄山 (Huang Shan).

Oh! Heard Huang Shan is awesome, the place where they filmed Avatar!

See the photo of that dog above? It's NOT a soft toy!

Haha, it's a really clever and well-trained dog running around 静安寺 (Jing'an Si).

His owner was hiding behind pillars and walls, and this cute thing will

run everywhere to find him. Then the owner (uncle) saw me wanting to take

photo of his dog, he actually made his dog sit and let me do photo shoot.

Then he made his dog stand on 2 legs! (though he did mention one of the legs

was injured) Cutest thing ever. Will post more photos of it next time.

Alright, my internal alarm clock is ringing for me to go sleep!

Till next time! =)

Typhoon Alert!

Typhoon season has begun!

These couple of days we saw heavy rain and thunder.

Thought the rain could clear the air better, but when I

put my nose outside, smells horrible.

This week has been a little bit hectic,

with Johnathan waking up late enough for us to take cab.

But at work, I guess there's finally things for me to do.

I am not feeling too good about it though, because I made

a couple of mistakes, and even missed a meeting.

(my mobile was on silent mode with no vibration)

When I was given a set of instructions to follow, I thought I could

do it when the real thing comes. But when the real thing comes,

I don't know where to start. Haha, is that common?

Realised my breakfast these days all come from a nearby bakery

called 'La Paleta'. Sounds quite expensive, but still more worth it

than BreadTalk. Bigger and tastier breads.

We didn't go out much this week, I guess because we were quite

drained, and we haven't thought much of where next to explore.

Oh, but the street down from our house have a long row of restaurants.

Tried the Japanese food, (twice in this week!) and it's pretty quiet,

and most importantly, affordable.

And, there's this wonderful 烧腊 shop just downstairs from our house.

(did I mention this before?)

Hope my parents are having fun in China. Haha, hopefully the typhoon

doesn't deter their trip, and my trip to see them off at the airport.

Ok, I'm off to work now, tata~