A funny sign and non-stop construction!

The first photo was taken on the stairs up to a 2nd floor restaurant. I'm not sure what kind of "landslide" they expect inside the restaurant but I found it funny nonetheless. Unfortunately with the Olympics fast approaching China is doing all in their power to replace/fix all the signs that aren't translated properly- which isn't fun.

This photo doesn't do justice to the construction that simply doesn't stop here. I've heard that in the late 1990's when Shanghai was growing in leaps and bounds that they had 25% of the worlds cranes in use! It doesn't shock me.

The growth is everywhere. From "small towns" to the mega cities you see images like this everywhere. FYI a "small town" is typically categorized as 500,000 plus people! As of a few years ago China had over 100 cities that had a population over 1,000,000! That's just crazy! How many of those cities can you name?

In any event this photo shows the general construction method. This building is covered in some sort of green tarp from top to bottom. Then on the outside you see the bamboo scaffolding! Yup I did say Bamboo! Amazing to see!

St. Patty's Day in China...

Let's just say there was no Chicago River painted green. There was some green beer however! And yes, we even had a couple of bag-pipers come into the bar. All in all I gotta say it really isn't much of a holiday here. The only ones celebrating it were the ex-pats...

Drake Bulldogs!

How about them Bulldogs ladies and gents? What an improbable year by anyone's standards! Now a #5 seed in the tourney that they haven't been to since 1971! It's a truly remarkable story. For those of you who haven't heard the story check out this article...

(Copy and past into your browser...)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney08/columns/story?id=3296550&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2

For us alums it's been a proud year for Drake. Starting with Zack Johnson winning the Masters and now great run for the basketball team! What a year!

Chicken Leg anyone?

At dinner the other night I found this wonderful chicken leg in one of the dishes. Not quite Buffalo Wild Wings now is it?

I didn't eat the chicken leg but the rest of the chicken in the dish was awesome!

Ice Cream

Those who know me well know that I LOVE ice cream! Really I can say that I have never encountered bad ice cream, until this past week!

If you look at the above photo you will see what appears to be a vanilla ice cream bar covered with chocolate and crushed nuts right? WRONG! It was Tarot (yes the purple vegetable) ice cream with a pineapple gu in the middle covered with plain chocolate! However given that I do love ice cream I finished this and it wasn't terrible.

The terrible was the "corn" flavored ice cream that I tried! Thankfully there were no corn chunks in it but still. I also was told that two local favorites are "green bean" and "red bean" ice cream. Come on people, whatever happened to Vanilla and Chocolate?

A chicken and a bike

Two stories from the weekend:
1. As I was heading out of my apartment on Saturday morning to head to work I had to wait for the elevator. My apartment has four units per floor so it's rather small waiting area. All of a sudden I began to hear noises coming from the neighbor who was kitty corner from me. The noises I head I have never heard within a house before! It was a chicken! A chicken for god sakes! Yes right here where bird flu is prevalent! I spoke to one of my colleagues who said it is somewhat normal for people here to buy a chicken, feed it for a few days to fatten it up and then it becomes a meal someday soon!
2. This photo is taken down the street from me. It's a little tough to see in the photo but the front tire of the bike is raised off the ground due to the weight on the back of the bike. Now from what I know about the locals here, they aren't very big! It's going to need a lot more weight than one Chinese person to balance that bike!

The many faces of China

I decided during Chinese New Year to be lazy and grow a beard. I had it growing for a good two and a half weeks. Only problem was I had to go to Hong Kong to buy beard trimmers, no way I could shave this off with a regular razor!


So with my new trimmers in hand I figured why not a nice goatee...?
Last but not least I went with the Fu Manchu or more simple "white trash" mustache for a bit of fun!

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an amazing place in many respects. First off it's only 1 hour by ferry ride from my apartment. Secondly it's much more of a westernized city than mainland China. It has a fantastic reputation for food of all kinds, shopping and nightlife.

We went on a Saturday night to check out the bar scene. It's kind of like a mix of Bourbon Street, Las Vegas and China all at once. The street Lan Kwai Fong that we were on is well known among travelers here. It's loaded with people from all parts of the world. You can drink in the street, take drinks from one bar to another, etc. Lots of fun.

As with most of the scene here it doesn't start until late (nearing midnight) and doesn't end until the wee hours of the morning!

Typical China photographs...

Unfortunately I can't take credit for these photographs. I wish I could though. However it is pretty common to see sights like this.

For those of you new parents I'm sure I can get a stroller like this for you for real cheap!
This makes the bike couriers in Chicago look like they really do nothing at all. I'm most impressed with the balance this guy has. I'll take some others where they pretty much carry the entire family on the bike along with some suitcases!

Ancient Chinese Proverb

There is a saying here in China that I have quickly grown to like. It's an ancient Chinese proverb. If anyone has been here they will understand its truth quickly.

"1. Anything is possible in China
2. Nothing is easy in China"

That pretty much sums it up!