Chinese Baby Photos

We all get a kick out of baby photos.  Especially those of you with kids.  One of my colleagues here recently had a baby and today sent out some of the professional photos that they have had done.  I'm sure you will enjoy...

There were a few others including two of this young man completely naked, full frontal nudity in fact.  I figured that's probably not fair to include here for his sake.  The captions crack me up like "Naughty little angel."

Yummy Pringles!

So which is your favorite flavor?  You have options of "Hong Kong Fish Balls" or "Bangkok Chicken Wing".  I'll take the chicken I think.

Stolen Angry Birds!

This week I realized my nice Angry Birds toy was stolen from my office.  So I had a little fun and made up a Wanted poster...

Well of course nobody would fess up and admit their theft.  In fact yesterday when I was in the car visiting a factory I received a phone call after I politely answered "hello, this is Nolan" all I heard was the noise that my bird makes and then the phone went dead.  Ok it looks like someone is playing games now huh?

Well today they stepped it up a notch.  I received an email from "Angry Bird Ransom" (angrybird.dies@gmail.com in case you want to send them nasty emails and fill up their email with junk and spam messages!).  Here are the photos from that email...

And then the ransom note with their list of demands...

Looks like someone is really elevating the game...

Angry Birds!

Gotta love the Angry Birds right?  Someone in my office gave me this for fun.  It is really intended as one of those massage type tools but the really cool thing with this one is it makes noise when you smack it against a hard surface.  Sounds just like the birds in the game!

Happy Friday everyone!  Enjoy the weekend and be safe!

Duty Free and Checked Luggage

So on the flight back from Jeju (yes the one that was massively delayed) it was packed with triathletes, their families and friends and of course it was also packed with plenty of Chinese heading back home.  For whatever reason it is pretty normal for the Chinese to bring back lots of duty free items on international trips.  That is usually kept to items like cigarettes, booze, etc.  However this time I saw probably no less than 8 rice cookers carried on board.  Now unless I'm mistaken I can find a rice cooker here in Shanghai on probably three out of every four corners.  Why in the world did they all bring those back?  Did I miss out on something?

Oh well I'll never figure it out.  But then it got better.  When I got to baggage claim I to pick up my bike and bag I saw the below case of water coming on the belt.  Really?  You checked a case of water?  Why?

Photos from Korea

Only about 250 folks entered the 70.3 race which is only slightly more than I have had in a group in Chicago which boasts more than 8,000 total racers.

And we are off, into the ocean swim.  Still only my 2nd time swimming in ocean waters and I always have that feeling of looking around me for that shark!  While some people grew up swimming in the ocean, loving the feel of the saltwater that gives you the extra buoyancy, I can't shake that feeling of looking for the shark feeding on the slow guy...me!

Out of the water about 43 minutes after starting, which given my history and recent training is not a bad time.  Once I relaxed and got into it I had no problems.

And onto the bike and those darn rolling hills.  In looking at an elevation change map of the course it looks like the longest climb was right in the first mile or so.  The complication I had was that my bike struggled to change gears for a bit.  I was in a tough gear and trying to change but no luck until I had given up and then all of a sudden all the gears dropped.  Thankfully only once on the course did I lose the chain and have to stop for that.  More importantly I had no flat tires to fix.

Early on in the run we passed these statues which look pretty funny.  I guess there are many stories as to what they are, what they mean, etc. I guess it's up to you to decide what you think.

And finally the finish line.  Eyes closed, totally out of it and ready to be done and get some food in my system.

So what is next race wise?  I'm not sure.  I met a great group of people in Korea who live throughout Asia and travel to races together so there are opportunities.  Maybe to Taiwan in November or maybe hold off until doing something in spring next year.

70.3 Korea Jeju

Well the race has come and gone from yesterday but the pain is still with me!  This was not originally a race I was doing but since the 70.3 in China was cancelled they gave us transfers to other races including Korea, on Jeju Island on the very southern tip of Korea.  I didn't spend much time checking it out (whoops!), training well (thanks to my friend procrastination as well as work conflicts) or planning (I only booked a hotel the night before I flew to Jeju.

So let's start there.  The hotel was not in the complex where the race was which added complications.  After arriving in Jeju everyone took the city airport/limo bus to the tourist complex.  The buses could only hold 2-3 bikes at a time and came every 15-20 min.  So I didn't get on until the 3rd bus finally.  My hotel turned out to be about 10k from the race site and right next door to the World Cup Stadium.  Relatively new but it had its kinks.  Like no toiletries provided (had to purchase them downstairs), only hand towels no bath towels, no food other than what was similar to a 7-11.  So I munched on chips, string cheese and a snickers Friday night.  And to top it off they had zero comprehension of English, much worse than any Chinese hotel from that standpoint.  On Saturday I convinced a taxi to take me to the race area with my bike (no small feat there).

There was lots more interesting on Saturday like the mandatory race course talk that was supposed to be in English (later ones were in Korea and Japanese) but was really very broken English that ended up confusing more than helping most competitors.  Before taking a taxi back to the hotel that night I went door to door to see if any hotels in the complex had cancellations by any chance.  Only one did but it was a suite that was going for 1,400,000 won ($1,400USD/night).  Not quite my budget.  My last stop was the Hyatt so I figured I would grab pasta dinner there.  So at least night before the race I got some good eats in.

Race morning as always comes early.  However with the full Ironman distance starting at 7AM and the 70.3 at 9AM I did have a bit extra time after getting to the race around 6AM. I could describe the race in one word for each segment:
Swim:  Water
Bike: Hills
Run:  Hills

The swim was described on the official website as:
There will be 2 swim loops (1 loop for 70.3 Ironman) designed based on straight 950 meters long swim course. Even under extreme weather condition, this new swim course will always enlighten athletes to perform their maximum ability at average ocean tides due to long breakwater already built to protect such natural obstacles.


Can you tell me what that means????


As for the hills on the bike and run these weren't like the mountains I experienced riding in Phuket, Thailand back in December.  Rather they were long steady inclines and declines.  The maximum length I heard was 3k for one of the climbs.  In other words they totally burned me out.

I thought I did ok on the bike but my computer wasn't showing speed or distance and there wasn't any mile markers on the course anywhere.  But once I got to the run I realized my legs were shot once again.  It was all I could do to stand up let alone run.  From there the heat started kicking in and my sunscreen that they supplied must not have been waterproof so it really didn't do squat.  I finally figured out that if I kept dunking my arms and head in buckets of ice for 2-3 min at each aid station I would be able to cool off enough to make it to the next one.

It was probably the first race where I had multiple serious thoughts about quitting.  At the turn around for the run I was probably only 2-3 blocks away from my hotel.  It was so very tempting.  However I persevered didn't care about my time, just finally decided I really wanted to finish.  And so I did, in pain, full of hunger and sunburn but pleased that I had conquered the brutal course.

There were two final obstacles.  First was convincing another taxi to take sweaty, smelly me and my bike back to my hotel.  After 2 said no I got one that would help out.  The last challenge was the 1 hour flight back to SH.  With my challenges of getting a bus on Friday I figured I would go early and not risk it.  That plan worked but the nearly 7 hours of flight delays blew that plan and I finally got home last night around 10:30 when I should have been home to enjoy the evening of the 4th in Shanghai.

Korea

Well I'm in Korea for the first time.  Down at the very south on an island called Jeju.  Here for the 1/2 Ironman race tomorrow.  So far it has been a challenge.  My flight was delayed about 2 hours on the runway leaving Shangai causing me to be packed like a sardine next to the window for longer than I cared to be.  Then from the airport there was two options - take a taxi (with my bike) for about 300,000won which I converted to be about $300!  Nope!  Or take the airport limo bus.  Problem was the buses run every 15-20 min and could only take 2-3 bikes at any given time.  So with all the folks on the flight with a bike I ended up with the 3rd bus.  Finally after getting to the bus stop I got a taxi to take to my hotel.  Unfortunately since I booked late my hotel is probably 5 miles from the race hotels and start of the race (which will mean some planning for tomorrow early morning). 

So it's now about 8PM and I get to the hotel, figuring I will check in and grab some food since I really haven't eaten all day.  Except the hotel doesn't seem to have a restaurant!  Thankfully there is a convenience store inside so I grab some chips, water and a Snickers along with shampoo because there is none in the room.  Not exactly the meal needed for the two days before the race. 

The hotel is nice but it has its quirks for sure.  No light except for the overhead light in the room that must be turned off by the entry, so not while in bed.  No soap or shampoo in the room.  No tourist guides or hotel information.  All in all just weird.  But it's clean and relatively new.

Today I've gotten the bike rebuilt with no problems and am now off to get a ride in, loosen up the legs a bit and see if I can get myself to the race starting area.