In China

[Kingfish]

^ 8) Thank Luke

Welcome Year of the Horse

Down at the Hotel lobby – waiting for the arranged ride, I noticed that the Suzhou Shangri-La Hotel was sponsoring a group of about 8 men for “the parade” and they were dressing up as Dragons! Also there was a broad table laid out in front with roast pig and 3 big giant sticks of incense burning; sadly I was in a rush and didn’t have time to get pictures.

Looks like I will miss quite a bit of celebration unless we get released early today. :?

Driving to work…
The normally super-busy streets are thread-bare empty; imagine the Omega Man, Night of the Comet, I am Legend kind of empty nothingness – except everything is still intact, just no people. Really impressive how this culture treasures its’ national holiday along with a profound sense of spending time with family. The super friendly Hotel staff made sure I ate in celebration of the New Year. To that end, the grilled lamb and dumplings were quite good.

Haven’t spent any time to watch TV so I can’t report on what’s televised. Shanghai Daily reports that residents were being urged not to set off fireworks to welcome the Chinese New Year tonight because still, calm weather is forecast.

Small confession: I always forget to pack something when I travel. This time I forgot the camera. However I have a lesser-quality backup on the SmartPhone (sic) so all is not entirely lost. And – I loaded up Photoshop on my laptop.

改天再聊 (găitiān zàiliáo), KF
(Literally: “change day again chat”, or as we say in English: “talk to you later”)

 

[Kingfish]

Back Home…

Got back on Tuesday after about 15 days in China. Like an idiot, I forgot to bring the camera. Although I did have a camera on my SmartPhone, but the quality was not as good + I didn’t carry it everywhere, and – I couldn’t take it to work.

For the most part – the trip was not that terribly exciting because most folks were away with their families during the holiday which is completely understandable. The CNY celebrations lasted many days. One night I was awakened at 3:30 AM to a rather large firework display right outside my window. It was far from the last, day after day… The first day & night celebration brought the air quality down to the worst that I’ve ever seen, but after that – with no one at work, with the factories idled – the air cleaned up quite nicely and from the 35th Floor of the Shangri-La Hotel I could see all the way across Suzhou to the “pants building” which is on the other side of Jinji Lake.

Air quality after one day of celebrations. The Marriott Hotel, completely hidden is only is only 2 miles away.

On Saturday night, Feb 1st – three of us went to the Blue Marlin in SIP (Suzhou Industrial Provence) for dinner, drinks, and listen to a live Filipino Band that really rocked the joint.

Louie (on the left) & yours truly at dinner. I had the Chicken Caesar Salad, washed down with a liter of Schaumhof on draught.

These are the twin towers as viewed from the parking lot in front of the Blue Marlin. It’s an epic view and very prominent landmark visible from miles away – if not for the smog.

The Mexican Pistolero-style Sombrero I’ve been wearing is a hit. 8) I’ve been told I’m probably the only westerner to wear one in Suzhou, if not possibly the bravest. The girls love it, and even the guys working the body scanners at the airport will give me the thumbs’ up approval. When a girl sees the hat and inquires, I’ve come to try and sit it on their heads for a laugh; some shy away, but most love it. One time the girl ran off for a couple of minutes to show her friends… I didn’t expect that – but you just never know the reaction it will have. Most of the time I don’t have a camera, but here’s two cowgirls captured below:

Marriott Girl: I had drinks with one of my pals on the last night in the Executive Lounge, and this gal here was our attendant. When I placed the hat on her head she demurred sweetly which made the moment all the more honest.

Factory Girl: We went digging around in the Supply Room for a USB power supply and I nearly fell over by the sight of this natural beauty all cooped up in a stockroom by her lonesome. I have never seen skin so pale. She took to wearing my hat like a duck takes to water! Lots of fun… forgot to get her name, dang it!

Anyways, such was my time in China. Really pretty slow with the holiday. Not much to do. Weather was bitey cold, and we even had snow flurries for a couple of days, but the snow didn’t stick a lick. Out of 15 days, I had dinner twice at the Blue Marlin; one at SIP and one down the road from “The Shang” across the way from “Japanese Street”. Never did get out to eat Sushi this time; I missed that completely. Although my Boss came out to visit and took us out to Korean BBQ for lunch; wickedly cold day – the kind of cold that cuts right through you. But after lunch with Kimchee and all – heck I was making heat! And now I know how Koreans keep warm. The last night I went to the Marriott for drinks.

I missed out on the snow storm that dumped 5 inches of snow in Redmond last weekend; by Tuesday that had all melted away and the weather appeared balmy to me; nicer that Suzhou to be sure – especially seeing a real blue sky. 8)

That’s it for this time.
Safe travels, KF