Appraisals

I havent done appraisals for anyone for a good five years now and with my new role, I need to do it for my team.

It's actually pretty scary to be determining someone's bonus and future in the company. Plus my company has a nine-point matrix and some pretty extensive review process that there is even a manual to read and there was a briefing which i missed cos I was travelling.

Yawn.

Crowded No?

This is a scene from the train station in Chengdu.

It's so crowded that the entire station looks dark.

Shudder

Even in my old job, i get to travel first class for domestic flights. There's no business class for domestic flights so first class is really just one step up from economy.

First class has obviously bigger seats and better food but I have reached a zen level where I control myself by not being greedy and stop myself from eating on flights. I just am not sure of the hygiene level on board the domestic flights, business class or not.

My attitude was further reinforced when i saw this recently. But the number of trays, Im guessing it's for the first class cos there're only eight seats in first class. 



Yes, some domestic flights require you to board or disembark from the plane from the tarmac. There will be a bus that brings you to the airport. That sucks when it's raining or when it's freezing. There is of course a separate bus for first class passengers so you only have to wait for eight passengers before it goes.

Startled

When I was in Chengdu, I had morning meetings with the client in their boardroom until lunch time, so they took me out for lunch.

After lunch, they brought me back to the same boardroom to wait while they prepared a vehicle to bring me around.

I took out my laptop and begun working for a good 15 mins before I heard a weird sound.



It was someone snoring! And the guy was just right in front of me!! Haha. I didnt even see him.

Most Chinese companies allow sleeping during lunch time, with some people even bringing foldable beds which they keep under their desks but this is the first time I actually interrupted someone's siesta. Hilarious!!

Online Shopping

Because the labour here is so cheap, delivery of stuff here is so cheap. I heard that same-day couriering here of a document is S$1!

Because of the cold weather and also because our pantry has a nice big bar-counter, the admin gals always order 外卖. I love ordering 外卖 too because i dont have to wait but i typically dont join them in the pantry cos all they speak is Shanghainese. I just prefer to sit in my room and read the news.

Online shopping is fun too. So far, I have ordered a wireless keyboard and mouse, kettle, Macbook Air power adapter and an MP3 player for my office.



Nice or not?

Then i also discovered online shopping for groceries. Some stuff are dirt cheap. Like five one-litre bottles of Dove shower foam for S$36. So I bought five, along with a pillow, shaver, and chocolates. Haha. 

Accident

I took this from my window.



Nothing much really. Traffic here so so chaotic that i see an accident every other day. Traffic here is so chaotic that I have seen drivers make a left u-turn when they are three lanes right of the central divider.

I wonder if we would get a car. It'd be odd not to get a car when we each have our own car in Singapore.

But im not sure if I'd dare to drive. Maybe we will get a driver. I heard it's quite cheap.

Busy Busy

You know you're busy when you take your work laptop to do work instead of ipad to watch TV when you're in a flight.

Becoming a Local

Unsurprisingly, I am becoming more and more local every day. And because I'm living alone now, I am becoming more and more domesticated.

I worry about groceries and worry what will happen to my fresh milk when I travel. I look out for deals online for cheap groceries, especially when I buy in bulk.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with being domesticated but sometimes I am amazed that there are so many things to think about.

Being more local here means being a member of various services so that you get a discount. So i signed up for a RMB2,000 massage membership for a 20% discount, RMB1,000 laundry card for a 30% discount, and an EZ-link card for transportation, but that latter is only so that i dont have to deal with all the dirty notes all the time and be left with so many coins.

Being local also means that you not only dont drink from the tap (i dont do that in Singapore anyway) but you cant even boil the tap water. Yes, here, most families have a water cooler where you would boil that before you even drink it.

I heard some people have a separate tap that comes from a separate source that has potable water. 

So troublesome for something so basic.

Racquet

My racquet came a couple of weeks ago.



I didnt want to feel bad by being choosy with my friend who was ordering for me so i told him to choose for me. Turns out he ordered the top of the line (read:expensive) one.

The Yonex Z-Voltric.

Im not sure if im too much of an expert or too much of an amateur. I told him to string it at 24lbs. That's one measly pound above my usual 23lb and the grip is a littler thicker than my usual. The racquet is also stiffer than my old one. I knew that from the website.

Consequently, my game was so lousy in the last few weeks.

I went on to change the grip and my game actually improved. I actually feel like changing the strings but just too lazy to and quite wasted since they're new.

In any case, this is the zwa long i use to bring my stuff.



I bought it from Carrefour cos they charge me for plastic bags and I obviously didnt bring my badminton bag to Shanghai. Haha.

Sour grapes

You're going to read more and more often here about how imported goods are so expensive here.

I bought some grapes from a japanese supermarket here because i needed some fibre and i didnt really trust the fruit sellers here.



S$4 for such a small bunch of grapes. Not nice some more. Bleah.

Nothing is Impossible

I bought this DVD player to put in the room so that I dont have to only watch DVDs in the living room. Chose a local chinese brand at the recommendation of the sales person because she said that it was more suitable to read the "locally-made DVDs".

Seems like the packing also concurred.



Alas, I was duped. The player keeps skipping and im back to watching DVDs in the living room.

Carrot Cake

Ate at this Malaysian restaurant the other day.

S$6. What a rip off. I told them i wanted chilli and they used chopped chili to fry. Odd taste.

Play Here Play There

The chinese like to play with words with similar sounds:

Krispy Kreme

If you follow my facebook or even this blog, you know that i have been through a donut phase. Ive passed that phase now but when i see this sign, my loins are stirred. Somehow this isnt as nice as the time we ate in Tokyo. Is it the case of the Chinese screwing it up or a matter of the company i was in or was it both?

XLS!

I chanced upon this Xu Liu Shan when i was grocery shopping! W00t! This makes moving to Shanghai all that more worth it - Moving to a city that has an XLS. Then I also saw the Gong Cha the next day. W00t w00t!

Pocky

Check out the galore of Pocky available here. Fr some odd reason, although they are just 20cents more expensive than in Singapore I couldn't bear to buy them. I don't know why. I think I've become more stingy. That's a weird feeling. I hate having to think so much about costs. In the end, when I first did my groceries, I didn't buy much although I spent a long time in the supermarket dividing everything by five to see if they're worth it.

Signage

Rather inappropriate choice of outlet name. I imagine I'll see more of this here and there.

Color

I told Small V that I preferred things with color. So she printed the "In" and "Out" in blue. Hahaha.

Lessons

I saw this note on Small V's table. The first was when I corrected her to phase it as "final negotiations" and not "final negotiate". The second was when i introduced her to Wikipedia. I told her I preferred research from wiki rather than Baidu because it has more English words.

Jam Jam Jam

Here's a view of the perpetual jam taken from my office. Because we are on the 16th floor, i get to see quite far aways. It's pretty cool.

Ang Pao

I found this picture among my old iphone pictures. This was written in a farewell ang pao my mother in law gave me before I left.
 

Chinese Fast Food

There was never a time that i was concerned about the food ill be eating in Shanghai. Some people had said that food is more expensive than outsiders think. I think it's true. I chanced upon this shop beside my office. Interesting name. It's basically set meals of one dish and one rice with an option for veggies and soup. I ordered this for S$3. It wasnt enough. So i ordered one more portion. It came with another big bowl of rice. I didnt finish that. Subsequently, I found that that they all order 外卖 here. Huge huge array of stuff you can order to be delivered to my office. I ordered this the first time. Beef cubes and meatball soup. All for less than S$5.

Apartment

Here's a panoramic shot of my apartment taken with the panoramic function of my S3 for the first time. Quite nifty although i moved too fast.

Badminton

Quite fortutiously, I met an old industry friend at the recent Hong Kong conference. We see the same people day in day out. He's a Singaporean living in Shanghai too and i asked him for some tips on living in Shanghai. He told me he played badminton at least twice a week! I was actually in two minds to join him because I wasnt sure if i was going to be sociable so i didnt bring my racquet or shoes to Shanghai. However, after that wasted weekend i hate, i decided i shouldnt waste my weekends anymore, so i called him up to say i'll join. He offered to order a racquet for me. I quickly went to buy a pair of shoes. The first session was last Saturday and was supposed to be at a school in the suburbs. I was there 30 mins early and i saw this. Turns out the school was having a "last minute" accounting exam and we cant use the location. But then my kakis said there's another place we can play. We quickly rushed there. here's what the courts look like. Looks like a typical Chinese sweatshop-like badminton training facility. Badminton was quite fun although i didnt play too well because it was just too cold and all my joints were frozen. For some reason they felt very on about it and we played on Sunday again. Haha.

Passwords

It was a conscious decision for me to join a larger company. I have never worked in one before and I was fascinated by that prospect. I very soon found out the numerous paperwork larger companies entail. One other thing is the number of systems and processes. There's of course the email log in. Then there is a system for company intranet, another password. Then there're websites to apply for leave, approve people's leave, approve expenses and submit expenses. That's four more passwords there. Then there's new Internet banking password, QQ email account, taobao account and 360buy. I have already forgotten my QQ password as well as resetted my leave approval passwords. Tough man.

Weekend

It was a tiring first week. Hit the ground running getting my feet deep in the deals. It was my first full Saturday here and although I dressed up to go out to explore, I went to the supermarket downstairs to buy fresh milk and then went back. So much for exploring. Sunday wasn't much better. I explored a little around the area with an intention to cut my hair. The nearest one charged S$10. That's a third of what I pay in Singapore. In fact in Singapore, I used to cut S$80 for a while until I felt it wasn't worth it. As I walked further, I found another place that charged S$6!! I wasn't sure if S$6 haircuts would make me look stupid. I didn't want to look like an idiot in front of my new colleagues. I subsequently also found a place that costs S$5! In the end I decided to go with the S$10 one. Decided to slip into mediocrity slowly. So that was the first weekend. Fresh milk and haircut.