New Years Eve What To Do?

Ask Google. Or Google insight.


And the result we get is:


1. Question asked in December - expected.
2. Growing interest over time for this question - unexpected. (Oh by the way, this is not because more people are using Google. The data is standardized.)
3. Australia, being the most interested country to ask this question on Google - unexpected.

Conclusion:

I moderately conclude that the richest countries will be the most interested in what they should do for NYE. I weakly conclude that Australia is among the richest countries in the world, and the reason they are asking this question is because 1. they have sufficient time, 2. they are used to a playful lifestyle, 3. they have sufficient spend.

Linking this back to China, you won't see many searches in baidu.com on what they should do for new years eve. No doubt, everyone is rushing to go back home to spend 15 new year days with the family.

Few observations

1. I was intrigued to find almost nobody reading on the train from Chengdu to Beijing. There were people on mobile phones, listening to music that's played out loud, which is a very acceptable practice, sleeping, watching tv, but didn't see any books!

2. In Sichuan province, people answer the phone by saying: "Wei4", which is pronounced 'Way', not 'Way?' Anyone in Asia not from Sichuan province may find that rude.

3. Everytime I presented my passport at a net cafe, 5-6 people would crowd around me and say simultaneously: "what is that? what is that?" Sometimes they will come talk to me like a foreigner, except as a foreigner with black hair.

4. Strange animals such as camels sometimes can appear in the modern streets of Shi Jia Zhuang.

5. Police crackdown on churches is funny. If you get caught meeting as a church, you say, OK 'this church' won't meet again. Then you change the name of the church, and keep meeting somewhere else. The junior police who 'caught' the church, then won't be responsible. When the senior officers crackdown on the junior police, the junior police can say: "Surely we have disunited this church meeting, see it no longer exists."

6. I like to pretend to take a photo of the taxi's license card while on the journey. Taxi drivers however, like to hide that license card behind something, or anything, such as a the 'available' lights, meter ticker or the rear view mirror! Dodgy.

7. Southern China flight attendants can't speak English. Not a complaint here. Sometimes the translation doesn't make any sense. Sometimes the translation into English is just a few words. Example: "所有不帶下的行李由海官除理" turns into: "All luggage not taken off the airplane will be handled by the customer".

Maid in China

For some reason, I was looking for a nanny in Sydney.

And check out the Google Ad that comes up! Haha.


Zoom in.


It's a maid who can also do some Chinese tutoring when she's done cleaning the house!

Not quite sure about the relevancy. Btw, the only Google that is accessible in China is google.com.hk .

Tour: Cute Small Girl

A good reason to go on tour with a group is not knowing WHO you will meet, which is an exciting feeling.




See the common factor?

This small girl is:
- 6 yrs old
- at the age of not being scared of big people
- shy at first, but once getting to know you she:
- likes sticking to people, especially big boys
- formulates intelligent responses
- lovely, cute and huggable (to my subjectivity)
- tells you stories
- prefers to hold hands, and thinks it ridiculous when teased by her brother (10 yrs old) that I'm her boyfriend. I also think it's ridiculous =].

Makes me want a daughter today! But wait, if something is truly great, it is surely worth the waiting for.

Watch (Out) For These Funny Things

1. If anyone tells/shows/asks you anything on the street, it would be best to ignore and run away, if you're not adventurous. Most Chinese people will ignore you and go away because they have all tasted the negativity of interacting with random people.

one example: occasionally, someone riding a motorbike will drop a bag of goods, or cash, and then ride off. Then, another person comes along behind you and says to you: "hey, we both saw the stuff drop off the motorbiker, so let's be fair about it and split?" When you say OK, he will start stuffing some of the goods into his bag and your bag, and just as you're about to leave, the motorbiker comes back with a few more guys and asks to check both your bags. When they find the stuff in your bag, they will threaten to beat you up/take you to police if you don't give them more money either via wallet or going to the bank to withdraw some.

2. The following scenario has been repeated many times, and it happened to us.

When we were about to leave a hotel in Shanghai, two suited businessmen + a driver pull into the hotel driveway and start talking to one of us. He brings out three beautifully wrapped bags of metal guanyin tea, and says: "Hey! You are really in luck, because we were just driving by and we have some teas here to give to our superior, but as he is unavailable, we need to get rid of it another way because we are going back to Huang Shan today. I bought these for 600 Yuan each, but today I will sell to you for 100 Yuan each." They sounded convincing (but dumb at the same time, but convincingly friendly), so one of us said, whatever it's 300 Yuan, let's purchase it. As soon as one of us handed over the money, another one of us came out screaming, and at the same time, he and his friend quickly hopped back into the car with a small 'oh thank you' and sped away. The another one of us said, "If he really wanted to be friends, why would he speed away as soon as I came out?"

Later on we asked a tea guru friend who said that this case has happened many times in China. When my mum said to him: "But these men were suited, had a driver, and even had a valid mobile number on the business card (she called to TALK to him as politely as possible, and he still confirmed over the phone it was excellent tea)", the guru said these people are in the trade of conning people, so of course they look professional. The estimated price of one bag was 20 Yuan, so the three of them made a healthy profit of 240 Yuan in 5 minutes. Not too bad for people with no conscience.

3. When you buy things in the dark or in big areas of shade, some people will give you these as 20 Yuan note change. These look like Russian currency, but actually they are paper monopoly money! So stupid. Our tour guide said he will buyback ALL of these types of notes we receive from the shady sellers, as he feels embarrassed by this.

4. Some days you'll see 'masters' sitting next to a preset chess board and will ask bypassers to challenge them. The rule in this scenario below is that if the bypasser can defeat the master in 3 moves or less, he will give you back your money 10-fold.

The guy in red is the 'master'.

The challenger in black looks suspicious, because he placed a 200 Yuan bet 3 times in a row and lost. If the average wage for a Chinese is 1000-2000 Yuan/month, can he afford to lose 600 Yuan in 5 minutes?? It looks like they're in the same group, working together to trick money. Another guy standing next to me saw my mobile phone and threatened to hit me. But it was too late because I can now go home to solve this. Likely that it is not possible to win in 3 moves.

5. Sometimes you feel really jibbed when you (or i in this case) walk into a full looking restaurant, sit down, order, and then see all the patrons stand up and start cooking, cleaning, talking, and makes me think: "they were all...waiters??" But it is too late to walk out.

Reminds me of Zen's massage parlours where sometimes if you look closely, the people getting massaged are in Zen's massage uniform. I suppose it is hitting all 3 birds with one stone - owner not wasting acquired resources, workers receiving extra employment benefits, and makes Zen's look like a thriving business for potential business buyers.

Tour Begins - Introduction

My parents and myself booked a Beijing, Tianjin, Chengde tour for 8 days.

The initial price was very cheap @ AUD$83/person + $80 "optional" shows + "tips".

The way these tours make money, is by taking you to many shopping destinations to purchase the "Chinese Specialty Items" such as pearls, jades, silks, teas, chinese medicines, etc. The tour company would receive commission on sales. This fascinated me, because I wanted to know HOW they would get us to buy these items. What if you don't want to buy? Would they still make money? Are they subsidized by the Chinese government in any way?

A note on my parents, or more specifically my mum. She was the ultimate enforcer (!) of those rhymy signs in public places teaching people to use some civilization. For example, if someone smokes in a public place and she smells it, she would say strictly: "Zhe li shi gong gong chang suo, qing ni bu yao chou yan." (This is a public area please do not smoke.) Reaction, person disappears from sight. If someone pushes into the line when going onto the train, she would say strictly: "Zhong guo ren yao you xiu yang, wo men yao xue xi zen me pai dui." (Chinese people need manners, we need to learn how to line up.) Reaction, person stops moving and pretends nothing happened.

When the people get taken back to school like this, they are stunned and become speechless, because nobody tells nobody off for uncivilization ever.

Anyway, the tour provided 5-star accommodation, touring bus, tour guide, breakfast lunch and dinner. Sounds good, fun, exciting? YES. Or NO. Find out soon.

'ke:tisi

When asked the question why Chinese people like to spit on the ground, our tour guide said it was 'mei ban fa' (cannot be helped), because the action of spitting on the ground IS an element of Chinese culture, passed down from ancestorV to ancestorW. This is a good explanation, because the question I wanted to ask was, how do the Chinese get so much phlegm to spit out? I don't really mind the sound of it, but it makes the ground a field of fresh mines.

'Courtesy: Civilization in taking train, give way and help others' sign can be found at the train station.

Another action that is quite noticeable on the street is people bumping into people. What I've learned is that if you bump into someone, you should not look at them - and should just keep walking. Do not say the 'sorry'. If you say sorry or any variation of sorry such as even: "bu hao yi si", surrounding people might think you're a foreigner, and we don't want that to happen do we? The attitude when you bump into someone is that the someone should be sorry for bumping into you. Hence the sign:

"10 points to happiness"

Smile more Mouth sweeter

Talk softer Move quicker

Think faster Anger slower

Acceptance bigger Excuses smaller

Perform more actions Efficiency higher

Having said all that, I have seen on a few occasions a middle-aged woman/man fighting with an elderly woman for the other person to sit on the seat. The fights usually lasted for about 7-8 exchanges of 'ni zuo!' 'ni zuo!' in the same way two friends would fight for the bill. It wouldn't be right for the fight to end any other way than for the elderly woman to sit. Can you imagine the opposite? Quite impressive to see.

Interim Post

Currently I am on the 8 day tour, which starts at 6:00am and finishes at after 9:00pm.

In the interim:

I realise that If I was a chaos inducing resident of China, unsyncing the city traffic lighting signals would realistically do minimal damage.

Actually says: "cterrorist in the classic"

Some intersections don't even have lights. Cars are so used to other crazy drivers and pedestrians, that they are so very cautious on the road.

Facebook ID Confirmation

Finally, I was able to get onto Facebook, somehow.

But, I was hit with a 'you are accessing facebook from an unusual location', and a:

I chose the 3rd option, which said: "match your friend's face to their name", which I thought this was very innovative and cute. Facebook would show me photos of a list of 5 people, and I have to select using multiple choice their names. You get 2 skips and if you get 1 wrong, you lose the game and will have to either wait another few hours, or use another method to confirm ID.

The first name that appeared really caught me by surprise. It was Euikyoung Shin. And they were pictures I'd never seen before! Claire, I know you don't read this blog, but how great would it be if you did? (Can I really believe that Facebook does not keep a record of whose profile users visit??)

Examples out of the 5 people, none of whom were very casual friends:




If you've never tried this before, I recommend it. Very thoughtful and cute of Facebook.

China staffing metrics

What is the government doing to boost the Chinese economy?

Creating employment opportunities, everywhere.

This is Bei Guo SUPERmarket. It is quite a large-sized market. It also has quite a large number of employees.

There are:
1) promoter staff at every section,
2) groups of misc help staff who don't seem to know the answers,
3) taste test dispensers at EVERY intersection and aisle,
4) many checkout staff,
5) a huge row of butchers behind the meat section,
6) many shelving staff, and decorative staff who positions and repositions items such as fruit and veg.
7) a school of dishwashing staff,
8) floor moppers everywhere,
9) security staff just standing around,
10) baggage holding staff,
11) manager staff walking around looking busy.

Makes me think whether these jobs really do add direct value to the suprrmarket, or if there is another reason.

I also liked this supermarket car park goodbye attendant job. He firstly points to the exit direction with 'xie xie guang ling' (thanks for coming):

And then SENDS THEN OUT ( :) ) with a 'qing man zou' (pls leave slowly):

This picture shows the wage of various jobs per month. Keeping in mind 1Aud equals 6.5Cny.

An average salary of 2000 per month is an affordable amount for big corporations, and keeps the masses employed at a self-sustainable income. Surely unemployment rate is decreasing rapidly.

Shi Jia Zhuang (石家庄 - Stone House Village)

Have you ever heard of this city? I haven't.

Before coming to this city, a quick research told me that it was an industrial city. Before disembarking at the Shi Jia Zhuang train station, a few thoughts hit my mind: stone + industrial = ... quarry?

Shi Jia Zhuang is home to a population of 10 million people. Taking a bus around the city makes Melbourne feel like a small flat village, and makes Shi Jia Zhuang (which I will now call SJZ) seem like an ultra-huge megatropolis.

Okay okay, so the first impression of SJZ was that the girls were prettier =]. Not that it's what it's all about, but if you sort a list such as this by beauty (click to sort by beauty): buildings, cars, ipad2s, cloud forms, construction workers, girls - girls would usually come near to the top.

I learned two things the hard way.
1) In SJZ, you require a Chinese ID to book a 3-star or below hotel. Passports not accepted!
2) In SJZ, you require a Chinese ID to use a computer in an internet cafe. Passports not accepted!

I had already booked a nice 3-star hotel but was denied access for a lack of ID. Then I was denied access to an internet cafe for a lack of ID. My mobile phone was running out of battery and I had no hotel to charge at. Even if I had battery, there are no open wireless hotspots, not even at McDonalds.

Good things come out of lessons like these. I felt like I was in times of the Bible prophecy (many prophesies already fulfilled, and all will be fulfilled, please stay tuned) where citizens would require some sort of a high-tech ID implanted somehow into their skin/body, and they will have to swipe in order for them to purchase any item, including food items. (In the meantime, check out the companies that have already begun developing technologies such as these.)

I felt the frustration when the internet cafe boss said: "I'm sorry I really don't know how to let you use the Internet. You don't have a Chinese ID, and your passport just won't swipe on our system... See? No beep. No beep. No beep. I really cannot help you!" It's not that he was being tight, but it's just what the government has regulated. In those tribulational days, will it not be the same? The food stores won't be able to sell you anything without that ID even if they took pity on you.


No stone quarries here in SJZ. Lots of shops and street markets. See you again soon.

My First Impressions for 2011

Chinese people like to do strange things in a line.

My initial thoughts at Guangzhou airport were:

1) Why is everyone speaking so loudly on their mobile phones?
2) Why are people standing so close to me? Why is he breathing down my shirt?
3) And, how is it that the guy behind me a minute ago is now in front of me!? I didn't even blink.

On a Chinese airline from Guangzhou to Beijing, when it's time for hot towels for the early morning clean, the male flight attendants hand out these towels very quickly saying: "jie zhe. jie zhe. jie zhe." which means take it, take it, take it. This was in strong contrast to the *smile - "sir, your towel" *smile. But, I like it.

Apparently, I don't look like such a non-mainlander (this could only be good in the short term). A mainlander approached me at Beijing airport to ask me (the Da Ge) for advice for which bus to take. I gave him a strong mainlander response which was a non-emotional and seemingly uncaring: "bu zhi dao", which left him puzzled as he walked away.

Chinese internet cafes require either a Chinese ID card or a Passport. I suppose it's because then the government can monitor what everyone is using the internet for, anywhere, anytime. When I presented my Passport, the lady thought my name was 'Melbourne', but received scolding by the Boss who said if she couldn't even scold her for that, she would've 'bai huo le' (lived for nothing).

1Yuan bus rides are the best. They're like city bus tours, which I can take for 1Yuan, to a random destination, from where I take another bus, and hopefully then can still find the way home.

Having some technological issues with the phone camera, so hope to show some photos to you soon. Also looking for interesting things to put here while I browse the streets.

Hello China 2011

Once again, I will be in China, in 2011.

List of things I do not want to do:

1. Visit sight-seeing sites, such as the great wall, forbidden palace, all these temples, the famous statues, some ancient cave, and the likes.

2. Pose with famous sight-seeing sites, such as all the ones above.

List of things I want to do:

1. Visit local parks, local shops, local stalls, local public places.

2. Shopping, bargaining, laugh when someone tries to rip me off, dividing the number on the calculator by 10+.

3. Take photos of my portrayal of life in China. How do the people make a living? How do people interact with each other? What are the people thinking? (What was she thinking??)

--I WISH TO HAVE MANY PHOTOS--

Other thoughts

I hope I have good internet access in China, and that blogger is not blocked.

November 9 - December 14

Thank you for following!

Coming soon.

Capitalism 2

When playing computer game Trevor Chan's Capitalism 2 (fully legit game, check it out here), back a few years ago, I used one simple strategy to blow my competitors away.

What is Capitalism 2

Capitalism 2 is a simulation of the activities of companies, supply chains, and the stock market. The aim of the game is to build the largest corporation in the world. I start off as the CEO of a small small company and must build my way up.

The strategy

After a few years into the game play, when I have setup farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, I sell all the shares I have in my own company, and pocket the cash. Then I turn off my farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, so that they become inactive and non-revenue-generating.

At that point in time, my company share price tumbles from $200/share to $20/share. I use the cash in my pocket to buyback all my shares to fully own my company, and still have much cash left over. Then I turn on my farms, manufacturing plants and retail chains, and my stock value soars right up once again.

Moral of story

Do you think there's any deception going on in the world's governments? Quite possibly.

I believe the US are borrowing like there's no tomorrow, because there will probably be no tomorrow, at least for the USD.

If I was the US government in a game of Trevor Chan's Capitalism 2, I would borrow an extremely massive amount of money, build up my economy, attract investors, then turn off my economy for a while, watch the value of the dollar plummet and then pay back my debts at a few cents in the dollar.

Wouldn't you do the same?

Seems like very hard economic conditions leading up to October 2011.

Using Some Imagination

One day, at some place, I imagined my body, to be 'ripped'. (Half way to shirt busting muscle flexes)

Dwelt on that for a little while. BUT, (Takes a lot of work + maintenance)

It did not make me happy, nor did it make me smile. (All the hard work for this?)

Therefore I shall not pursue.

The Ombudsman

A few days ago, I was hit with a massive text which said: "Please call 1300786987 urgently to avoid a temporary suspension of your services. Current months spend is 622.03. Thank you."

I called up, and found that I had used 300mb on mobile when the lady at the shop mixed up the sim card transfer process . She did not put me on Internet and as a result I have a $622.03 bill for the month (long story short).

So, I called up THREE, and told them my issue.

After a long conversation, I said: "Is there anybody who can help me, or I can speak to??"

Indian guy: "No, absolutely not. Vodafone and THREE are completely different services. I cannot help you, even if you speak to my supervisor, he will tell you the same."

I said: "Oh you can't help me.... Okay, I'm going to have to call the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, okay?"

Indian guy: "Oh... can you hold on, let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)
Indian guy: "I have spoken to my supervisor, and I confirm that we can offer you $150 credit off your bill."

I: "Nup no good."

Indian guy: "Let me talk to my supervisor." (Indian guy talks with supervisor)

Indian guy: "How about $200 discount off your bill?"
I: "No good."

Indian guy: "How about $300 discount off your bill?" (like I was trying to purchase my bill, $300 off!)

I: "Absolutely not." And I hung up.

- Called up the Telecommunications Ombudsman (www.tio.com.au)

- Lodged my dispute.

- Immediately notified THREE of the dispute (and probably charged them for it)

- They immediately disallowed THREE to charge my account, which was due the next day.

- THREE called back the next day, to waive the debt + give me free 2GB data per month.

Conclusion:

For any type of complaint within Australia, there is always a certain type of Ombudsman ready and willing to take your dispute.

There's all types of ombudsmen.

Water Ombudsman, Energy Ombudsman, Insurance Ombudsman, Airline Ombudsman, Police Ombudsman, you name it, you got it.

Disputes lodged with an Ombudsman, will usually be resolved faster with better outcome, because the longer and unhappier the dispute process is between you and the service provider you are unhappy with, the more the Ombudsman will charge that service provider. +, the Ombudsman is always a free service.

Indians Taking Over Melbourne

Has anyone ever felt like they are in INDIA while waiting for a train at Southern Cross Station? Or at Flinders St Station? Or even at Melbourne Central?

I have. And it feels great.

Check out this sound clip talking about Indian culture:
Guy Talks About What Indians Say When They Are Excited

I agree with him that Indian culture is great, will likely find myself in India in a few years time, to check it out for myself.

Elderly and Disabled

You see the signs on top of certain seats on trains that tell you to give your seats to the Elderly and/or Disabled. You happen to be sitting down on one of these seats next to the train door.

And then you see this guy, who looks kinda old, because he has white hair, but he kinda doesn't look that old, as in he looks like he wouldn't mind standing up for a 20 minute train ride.

You're not looking directly at him, but you can feel his eyes skim towards your direction a few times, because all the other Elderly and/or Disabled seats nearby all have elderly and/or disabled people sitting in them.

What do you do?

Do you:

(A) Stand up and offer the man a seat, and offend him for telling him that he's old? OR

(B) Remain seated and act like you didn't see the guy, and offend him by not letting him sit?

Pictures of the Time Frames

My mailbox, on a rainy day.

Perceived to be a Chinese driver.

During a game of Hide and Seek (!) =]

I wish Boaz was the dad, and I was Boaz.

Naomi and Grace interested in cicadas at a young age.

Camera definitely used much less while in Australia, but getting used more and more.

One World Currency

According to certain sources:

The leaders of the world met together last year to formulate a plan to dump the US dollar. The announcement for the One World Currency is coming very soon either this year or the next, and the adoption of the One World financial system will follow soon after.

Simple details in brief:

1. Euro to collapse

2. Collapse to domino across the Atlantic, and the USD will collapse up to 70%

3. The greatest depression of the history of the United States to strike

4. One World Currency to be put in place

First, watch the Euro collapse. I believe it's coming in 2011/2012. All the best.

Came Across This Ad

Which is advertising for a design job.

Check it out:

"I am Digital graphic Artist and website developer. I create design in A5 size with image. Graphic designing is my passion and web developing is my profession.

I provide you image source with all layers in psd file format so you can easily edit them later. I will prefer to provide all three important file format(.png, .gif, .jpeg) of each graphic art because I know in various condition we need different type of image file format.

I create image for you with my extreme power of creativity."

Nice eh?...especially that last line there.

2011 is here. We are in the eleventh hour.