More of the same

In the car today on my way to the Dr’s office for a follow up appointment, we were stopped in traffic right in front of the Armored Car service truck in a money run. Not sure if this company, which seems to be the only one in town, is operated by the State, but they’re everywhere what looks like collecting and replenishing cash at ATMs, transit machines and stores alike. They always travel in packs once they exit the truck in no less than 3 or 4 armed guards. Now, this may not sound like a big deal – especially the States as guns are commonplace with public safety personnel. Here in China, it’s quite the opposite. The Cops don’t carrying guns. I believe they tote Stun guns with electric shock. That’s about it. I remember a while ago when I was coming out of a subway exit and in rush a pack of these dudes, 3 carrying ultra-sawed off shotguns wearing bulletproof vests and military-like helmets. Looking further at them, they look like kids with helmets a couple sizes too big for them. The scariest thing is how they hold the rifles. They hold them having the

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“business end” pointing upwards and an angle in front of their cheat with their finger wrapped around the trigger. Maybe it’s just me me, but I was always under the impression that the safer way to hold it is by pointing barrel down – it also facilitates faster firing this way as well and most importantly having the index finger off the trigger pointing straight beside and across the trigger housing to prevent accidental “finger tension”. So, whenever I see these guys too close for comfort, I’ll try to stay very clear of those hot barrels. Someone told me a while ago that the rifles were empty. I doubt it, but I sure don’t want to test this theory. Not long ago, another person said that they use rubber bullets. Although they’re probably powerful enough to put you down on the ground and may give you some serious welts , I still don’t want a chance accident … They may put out an eye out with those things!

Having fasted for a blood test, I was starving and couldn’t wait to wolf down any kind of food. Not far from the clinic is a little shopping center and I figured

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the quickest was maidanlao. Not my favorite thing to eat, but I was more interested in wolfing something down, so I went for it. I find it funny that Mickey Ds has a Chinese name. As I always like to try and order things in Chinese, I thought I’d try my trusty Chinese- English dictionary on my iPhone to see if it would have a name in Chinese … It did! I said it and it worked! Crazy.

So, on my way back from bike ride, I am following someone into our building – she was just rounding the corner towards the elevators and see her neck croon straight upwards towards the ceiling … even though it happens all so quickly, I just knew what she was looking at – the Yao O’the Ming’ster. I almost ram my bike into him (I think he would’ve damaged it if I’d hit him). I always smile and say, “s’up Ming” with an Oaktown nod of my head. getta’ “hey” back. I notice that most just stare at him. Poor dude … he must get that a lot. In the beginning, I think he was always a bit shocked to hear English from me as I used to get a surprised look from him, but nowadays, a grin and hey is what I get. One thing I feel a bit strange about is asking if he’d pose for a photo with me, wanting to stave rejection.

East side swing.

View from courtyard of hotel

View from courtyard of hotel

Still reeling from the GW Marathon this past Saturday, I’m ready to do another 1/2 … yeah right! I think the only way to do another one is to truly train for one just to see how good it feels to really have a good go at it. Anyhow, looking on a few photos that I had taken the day before, little did I know the actual route on the Wall. Now, after having done it the steep part on the hill across from the hotel along the Wall where we stayed was called the Goat Track – and for good reason. It was steep, narrow and slippery. I had recorded my run on my Nike GPS watch, here is the route that it recorded:  http://t.co/5oDaysZHVP. It appears to be pretty accurate as well.

Back to today … for quite some time, I’ve been wanting the explore a bit more of the east side of the river, Pudong or what I call “the other Shanghai”. Pudong is so much different from the west side (Puxi, where we live), that I’ve been wanting to explore some parts just to see what life is like over there. Today was that day. A guy I met through one of the Expat groups here in town, was a willing tour guide as he and his family lives in the back throws of Pudong halfway to the airport … basically, in the middle of nowhere! Life on that side is quiet, rural, and mostly friendly folks in the villages. One turn and

We came down this part.

We came down this part.

you’re dropped right in the middle of a residential area, cross an alleyway and you’re in a field of crops. Curiously, there was a wet market nearby that wasn’t your typically busy market (as on Puxi). There were maybe 8 workers in the stalls, all staring at these foreigners passing through. As we began to exit the market, I overheard one of the ladies chuckling and talking to a group of others about foreigners coming in, saying ‘hello’ and leaving – all had a laugh. I don’t think is was poking fun of any kind, but just a comment on strange it was. From what I understand, Pudong was largely a swampy wasteland prior to building the ultra sleep Lujiazui business area just on the river banks of the Huangpu River. I would imagine that what we walked through was pretty close to how it was several years ago. One of the most curious areas was what looked like a fairly new residential area that was in absolutely shambles. Most dwellings were marked with the classic 折 character spray painted on the front exterior wall – loosely meaning “to break or destroy”. From the surrounding off in the not to far away distance, high rise apartment building loomed over this area. My guess is someone with a lot of money bought these folks out to build multi-unit high rise complexes. For who, I have no idea as the general seemed very desolate and remote from anything. There were many canals that moved very slowly allowing for algae and garbage to grow and collect. These waterways, which will eventually

Goat Track was the bottom portion of the Wall - very steep.

Goat Track was the bottom portion of the Wall – very steep.

spill into the ocean were used to irrigate crops, wash clothes, wash food – all with a outside toilet nearby. I doubt there were fish that lived in these waters, but then again, I’ve heard that the local river fish are commonly pulled from tributaries like this … another reason I stay away from eating them at all cost.

Interesting area, yes. Would I, could I live out this way as do a number of other Expats (there were 3 or 4 communities serving foreigners not far away)? NOPE. Much to rural for me. But, most importantly, there’s absolutely nothing around – no large supermarket, no bank. Simple living? Yes. This trade-off, to me, is not worth the seclusion. Worth the trip out there? Absolutely … the other Shanghai … check (from the Bucket List).

Some photos post on flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrelljlew/sets/72157633541844358/

Saw this sign (reads: small market), it caught my eye and it was surely small with just a few items on the shelf.

Saw this sign (reads: small market), it caught my eye and it was surely small with just a few items on the shelf.

 

 

Pain and Glory

Back in December of last year, I did my first 1/2 marathon cold turkey. With maybe 2 weeks of “training” under my belt, it was pretty much done from couch to course. The desire was there, but time just got away from me. Sore I was for the next day or so, but cut a bit short because of my trusty TENS unit to help recover from my aching leg muscles. Thinking … That wasn’t so bad, I think I’ll sign up for another one! Only this time, I had 5 months to prepare. That was the plan anyways. The first two months I worked my way into ok shape, but then I unexpectedly fell ill in early March with a mysterious illness that baffled many specialists – even today, they can’t makes heads or tails from it. It lasted for about 2 months and I had plans of canceling my going to the next 1/2 marathon. About 2 weeks before the event, I started to feel well enough to go, but that only left me with 2 weeks to train for it. Call me stupid or crazy, but I logged maybe 3 or 4 hours of cardio time in the these two weeks. No stair climbing work to speak of. Why stairs? Well, this run was partly done on the Great Wall just outside of Beijing.

Called The Great Wall Marathon, this event attracted several elite runners from around the world but mostly weekend warriors like me to (like me, ha!) do one of the most grueling runs I’ve ever done. The first 5km was mostly uphill serpentining at a steady assent to the Huangya Great Wall gate. The Wall was very steep in some parts and got jammed full of runners being extra careful not to

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fall off the edge – especially the parts where you can only line up in single file. Even though it was a not so clear day, the views were nonetheless breathtaking. By the time I reached the bottom of the Wall at about the 8km mark, my legs were screaming for mercy! I thought … Ok, only 13km or so more to go! The middle of the run was non-descript as it was a long straight away towards Duanzhuang village. All along the course, locals lined up in curiosity at such a spectacle of

20130518-211901.jpg. Ok, we shouldn’t be climbing this thing …

foreigners running up and down their roads. They were all very supportive as adults and kids alike kept yelling “jia you!” (Go, go! – loosely translated). Carrying a small compact camera the whole way, I snapped off a few along the way of both scenery and very friendly folks. Traipsing through the village was not easy as it was mostly dirt roads and uneven stone laid paths. By the time you leave the village, you’re about 17 or 18km completed. By about the 19km mark. My legs were done – cramping, likely from the first 7.5km on the Wall. Lots of walking and jogging back to the finish line with nothing but self-will pushing me to completion. As I rounded the last turn into the finishing square, what a feeling of relief (and near complete exhaustion) when I hear, “Darrell Lew from America now coming – completing his 2nd 1/2 marathon … Good going!” over the loudspeaker.

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First things first … Wolf down lunch. And after another 2+hrs back to downtown Beijing, checked into hotel and headed straight for a leg and foot massage. Whoa … It hurt sooooo good, almost in tears when she struck a few tender spots on my legs and feet. More wolfing down food, long hot shower and I’m ready for beddie bye!

What an experience. Not so concerned with time although I had a goal in mind to beat (I did incidentally). Would I do it again …perhaps! Only next time, to save these aching muscles a bit, true training would be in order. I guess you can say that this time around, I did it virtually from hospital bed to course … Not the best strategy I must say, but glad I was feeling up to doing it.

20130518-212124.jpg it’s time for some micro-stim recovery!

More photos along my journey to the finish line: GWM Pics

Bang-zoom

Heading up to Beijing for the 1/2 marathon. I’m not I to running that much – especially when it comes to long distances, but ever since landing here and finding out about this event, I’ve been wanting to do it and decided that it was finally time to make the commitment. I signed up for this thing back in October or so and said to myself to at least train a little bit this time (as opposed to

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last years Shanghai 1/2 , which I didn’t hardly ready myself much for). Wo knew I would be I’ll for the past 2 months? It left me with about 2 weeks to get off the couch, out of the apartment and into the gym. I think I’m in worse shape now than late last year … No problem right? Well, 13 miles is nothing to laugh at – especially us non-runners. Add about 3 miles near the beginning of the run on the steep slopes of the Great Wall at Huangya just outside of Beijing will surely hurt me. To this, add smog and temps of nearly 82*C, I ask myself … Or rather Sandra asks … Why?! My answer … I dunno, because its just something to do?

Anyhow, on the bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing, 5 hrs then another 1.5hrs by car to stay up on the hill beside the Wall. I usually like taking the train to Beijing for its overall comfort and no hassle. It’s been about a year since and I think it’s gotten much more popular. Our first 2 rides up were virtually empty and very quiet. This one, however, is very crowded. Being in First Class, I would have thought not so bad, but I guess traveling Chinese are willing to pay a bit more for comfort nowadays. Our car is pretty full and quiet for the most part, except for the passenger behind me. I love iPads – I’m on one now, but … And I hate to say it … A lot of Chinese just don’t grasp the idea of personal space – not only physical, but audio as well. Here this lady, in her 50s or so, happily playing a video with no headphones and decides to share with the rest of us. Then, when its over, proceeds to play some sort of video games complete with dinging, whistles and sirens. I let it go

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for a while thinking she’ll lower the volume … Nope. I finally turn around to get her attention, she finally looks up (she’s engrossed in her game ya know) I motion to quiet it down a bit, she shifts her eyes back to her game undeterred and noncompliant to my clearly understood request. She knew exactly what I was asking and ignored my nice request. This gets me thinking about why this is so. People here just don’t get a crap about one another. Ruthless people in general. Yes, I know this is a general statement and surely not everyone is this way, but wow do I run Into a lot of them! I thought leaving the States where the “Me, myself and I” society is alive and well, little did I realize that I was coming to a society of the same mentality x3! I resolve this down to 3 things: so many damn people (dog eat dog or survival of the fittest), one child policy (emperor/empress complex) and/or country backwards thinking as this nation begins to lift itself from a developing nation status. With a society that’s been around several thousands of years, there’s bound to be this sort of mentality amongst its people. Or, maybe I just look at the world through rosé colored glasses?!

Next stop the Great Wall “hotel” … Should be interesting. Arrived at the Huangya hotel located right at the foot of the portion of the Great Wall of the same name 2 hrs from the train station. Got acclimated with the surroundings and noticed the race flags dotting portions of the Wall. There’s this one portion that’s looks totally intimidating – single track and steep – my friend told me it was called the “Goat Track” and from the looks of it I now know why. It will be nite resting to down this portion … At least I’m hoping to go in that direction. Mild weather, but the air is thick. Not from humidity, but dust or something. Time to sleep …

20130517-210422.jpg. Dinner Alfresco at Huangya Great Wall.

up early

Away from the sun a few buildings

Away from the sun a few buildings

Too early for my own good these days – not sure why I’m up before the crack of dawn most mornings these days. Around here, it means around 4:30a – 5:30a’ish. I figure … I’m up, get some reading out of the way. But, before this happens, I typically take a quick look out of the bedroom window to see how the morning sunrise is shaping up. It normally too late to make the trip down to The Bund, but at least I can grab a camera and start shooting from the balcony. Over these last 3 years or so, I think I’ve captured some pretty cool stuff from our birds nest in the sky. Just yesterday, it was so foggy … or was it smoggy? I can never tell which – probably a bit of both really … anyhow … I could resist making a few images for the iconic buildings in the not too distant river side. It always amazes me that the direction of the sun really changes the backdrop quickly from orange to a bluish/orangey – if you swing a little bit further away from the sun a couple of buildings

Sunrise direction

Sunrise direction (don’t mind the weird swirls in the sky, I took a lot of resolution out)

over it becomes almost all blue (or gray on some days with heavy smog).

 

why be normal?

When I was about to leave our apartment building, one of the doormen pointed at the sky and told me it was going to rain (I was on my bike) and thought I was crazy for riding in this type of weather. I just chuckled and said it was alright and that it probably wasn’t going rain. I was wrong BTW, it did end of drizzling by the time I got back to the apartment after about 30 minutes. Funny, they’re always watching out for us whenever we leave the building – especially when it may rain and at times will lend us an umbrella as they can’t stand the thought of us going out without one.

Locking up my green machine against a sign post before hitting the bank, a shopkeeper came running out where I was parked and started asking questions (in Chinese of course) about my new machine. I didn’t catch every word, but did get her inquiry. I basically told her that it was a battery powered bike (smile) and that it was a new bike on the market (nod

I got a kick out of these kicks ... kinda' Flash Gordon like, dontcha' think?

I got a kick out of these kicks … kinda’ Flash Gordon like, dontcha’ think?

and smile again). I’ve only rode this thing on the streets for a day and a half and man does this thing turns heads and stares. Now, people stare all the time here, not out or rudeness, but more out of curiosity. It’s different from the States because (there) if you’re caught staring, people will likely call you out and ask “whatta’ you lookin’ at? … you some sort of weirdo or something?” It took me a little while to get used to the staring when I first arrived; now, riding the green machine I again get more stares from walkers, scooters and other cyclists … and .. they’re not looking at me. Perhaps because it’s a bright green, the unique styling and frame design or that it’s just plain different. You’ve got to remember – with over 25million people in Shanghai alone, the desire to want to stand out from the crowd seems to be very important. We all have (naturally) black straight hair, ok, some dark brown, but all in all dark hair color. You see many dying their hair all sorts of crazy colors, getting perms to get it curly or nappy – anything to be unique. That’s why I think folks take notice at

Mr. Sign Fixer

Mr. Sign Fixer

out of the ordinary things because different is well … different. As mentioned, in a largely homogeneous “look” to most people here, being, looking or having something different seems to be desired somewhat. Anyhow, it was just interesting how already I’ve been noticed on the little green giant bike.

Coming back from the bank, I look up at this banging noise not far from where I was and there is this guy perched on a wall fixing a lighted sign over a storefront. Although it was fairly high, but I thought it a bit funny that he (and a partner) would go through all of the effort and risk (of falling) to devise a contraption to lower him down from the roof rather than from the sidewalk up. A simple extender ladder would’ve been a lot easier and less riskier from falling IMO. Maybe they know something I don’t, but it sure seemed like overkill in the danger category for me and just had to snap an iphone photo of his hanging feat while working away.

From time to time, I do a quick google search on myself just to see what comes up (try it for yourself, you’ll be surprised). Way up in the hit rankings were these two. One I knew was in print and not only and the second one was a total surprise. I didn’t mind about the latter one as they at least gave photo credit.

http://thatsmags.com/shanghai/article/view/10409

http://capaworld.capa.org/2013/01/22/top-10-reasons-to-study-abroad-in-shanghai/

Pedelec.

A just learned what these are about a week ago. Ever since landing in Shanghai, there are many more bikes than what I’ve experienced in the US – especially in the city. Generally, in the East Bay you’d see packs of cyclists in their cute little colorful bicycle outfits, bike tights, helmets and sunglasses to complete the “look”. You know that “look” as if to say, “look at how cool I am in tights!” (sorry bikers, you are truly a cult following)  heh heh … Downtown SF it’s a completely different ballgame where most of those on bikes during the day are bike messengers or light duty couriers – definitely an important and highly essential job that keeps the financial district moving smoothly … where do you think the classic bike

On bar computer to keep me distracted.

Bag, check. On bar computer, check. Gearing, check. Ring-a-ding-ding warning bell, check … all set!

messenger shoulder came from? Anyhow, that’s back in the States. And, generally speaking, bikes are form of exercise.

Come to China. Although in recent say 10 years or so, cars command the streets as the main mode of transportation. Scooters and bicycles now share the streets with these CO emitting monsters. Even so, bicycles are a great way to get around this city – especially now that the weather is getting better. Last year, I picked up an Shanghai classic, a Forever bike. It

Can you see me now? Can't miss me on this lime colored gem!

Can you see me now? Can’t miss me on this lime colored gem!

is a simple no frills single speed cruiser that has opened my eyes to a new world around town. It has allowed me to get to places street side instead of underground on the subway. Since bikes aren’t allowed on the Metro, I am limited to a certain distance as I trade time for distance while on a bike. I had thought about getting an electric scooter … perhaps that too is in the distant future, but for now I think I’ll stick to pedaling. Then, there’s these things called e-bikes. Bikes with an electric motor and quiet as my hybrid car in e-mode. They come complete with a set of pedals in case you want a workout or you can just lift your feet and throttle on electrons! I was seriously considering one of these bad boys, but looking at a number of different brands/types, they all seemed to look waaay too funky – nerdy if you will. I just couldn’t bring myself to buying one. Fast forward nearly 9 months … I read an article about this cool looking bike that’s barely or newly hit the market. Designed in Scandinavia, built locally, it’s a plane, it’s a train … it’s a pedelec! A what??!! A pedelec. A bicycle that looks like a bicycle only when you pedal (and have the electric motor turned on), you get this burst of electric energy that makes pedaling a breeze … almost effortless. When you stop pedaling, the electric motor goes to sleep and only awakens when you begin pedaling again. Also, I now have 7 speeds to cycle through which can get me going as fast as 35kmh (or 22mph for you in the States) with a range of about 70km (43miles). When the battery runs dry, I still have a traditional pedal bike to make it home. Pedelec = power assisted pedaling. Nice.

What do you think?