Welcome to Nanjing

Nanjing has been a great time so far. Lee has treated us very well and has made our stay very comfortable. Yesterday we arrived shortly after 1pm and pissed the afternoon away drinking beer on the steps at 3 RMB ($0.50 CAD) per 568mL bottle. This was followed by peking duck, which I was unfortunately unable to enjoy as I was not feeling well (stomach issues -- not drinking issues!). Today, I feel fine. Oops.

I began the day with a daring adventure: leaving the apartment without Tom. Traveling China without being able to speak Chinese is not at all advisable. I somehow managed to score a sandwich for breakfast at this nearby western-friendly cafe while Tom dozed away happily at home.

Feeling ready for more speechless interaction, I attempted to get my laundry done. Up to this point, my instructions for doing this were, "Take your laundry to the lady at X and say 'wash and dry'." After I found the lady, who works deep beneath a neighbouring building to the apartment we're staying in, I followed the instructions to a tee. They were clearly insufficient as I was soon inundated with incomprehensible syllables and arm gestures that somehow translated to "where is your detergent?"

As it turns out, one needs to bring detergent with them to the laundry lady, who will then tell you how much the washing and drying will cost. Upon finding out this value, you go to the main desk of the apartment and buy the corresponding amount of laundry tickets. These tickets are then given to the laundry lady hours later when going to retrieve your clothing (given she is actually around-- she tends to wander away).


Laundry aside, Tom and I spent the better part of the day wandering the shopping district of Nanjing. There were countless multi-story malls to be explored and seemingly just as many McDonalds and KFCs. We refrained from eating at those places today; instead, we opted for a Chinese restaurant hidden behind some buildings. We would never have even seen it if it wasn't for the lady handing out coupons nearby. It was there that the following video took place.



We eventually found our way back to our landing spot and met up with Lee for dinner, which prompted the question of what to do next. The only obvious answer was to try getting a foot massage. Lee knew a place.

I immediately expressed my dissent as I am a fairly ticklish person and I've never had much success with receiving a massage. Nonsense. This was unlike other massages. We decided to have "the works", which amounted to a full hour of foot massaging and a little bit of back and shoulder work (including a knee to the spine). It was painful at times, and apparently unbearably so for Tom as at one point he screamed "NO!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!". Lee and I laughed. Coincidentally, Tom had nicknamed his masseuse The Punisher before she ever laid a hand on him. Anyway, at the end of the hour, Lee and I felt great (I think Tom was still reeling from the pain). Highly recommended! It cost $10 (60 RMB).

Feeling completely relaxed, we had no desire to do anything more. Good night.

On the train to Nanjing (video)

Upon arriving in Nanjing, the train station was packed!

Parting words from Shanghai

Wonder is the
Vacancy in Purity
left over after
Light has been Crystallized.

Oh dear.

Nice to meet you, Mr. D

Tom has been raving about this chain he discovered in Taiwan called Mister Donut. When we stumbled upon one in the French Concession, we had to go.



Little did I know what we would eat would turn out to be our lunch. Tom asked me to find us a seat while he ordered two donuts each. When he arrived at our table, there were six. Apparently the kind ladies at Mister Donut decided we deserved two extra. TOO MANY!

Tomorrow we head for Nanjing to meet up with Tom's friend Lee for a few days.

First day in Shanghai and the OSL Finals!

Hi everyone! Today has been fantastic. It started with a delicious breakfast at our hostel, where we indulged in a western-style breakfast buffet. From there, we decided to head to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to see if we could figure out how to get into the OSL finals.



When we got there, nobody at the ticket booth had any idea what we were talking about, but luckily one of the security guards did and let us know how to get admission. It wouldn't be on for a few hours, so we headed to the nearby Super Brand Mall for lunch.

Now this mall is HUGE. It is the largest one in Shanghai at 10 floors and 3 basements. It's ridiculous how large it is. Struggling with choice anxiety and getting pretty hungry we headed to the Pizza Hut. That's right, Pizza Hut and boy was it swanky.




They have evidently taken stuffed crust pizzas to the next level here, as there were some pizzas that had sausages in their crust and others with jumbo shrimp. We got the popcorn chicken pizza and it was pretty tasty.



We headed over to the OSL location and stood by the gates for a while. When they opened, we found out we needed tickets to get in-- tickets that we did not have. Without a ticket, we would be required to stand behind the gates, which was somewhat far away. Luckily for us and within a minute of finding out that we required tickets, a random man announced he had two extra he could give us, partly because we were Canadian (he lives in North York). It was so generous of him-- and completely awesome since you actually couldn't buy the tickets, you had to have them given to you at some point. So we made it into the gated section and took a seat (on the stairs) fairly close to the front. Soon thereafter, we received balloons to bang together to make noise.



When the games finally began, it was really intense. This Korean girl behind us kept yelling "Jaedong fighting!", which was great. The Korean commentators essentially stood up the entire game and were extremely animated. I recorded a couple of videos, but I think they're too large to upload right now. In the fourth game of the series, we finally got our chance to be on screen. I will embed the video here when it gets uploaded.

Update: here's the video! Fast forward to 47:10 to see us.






Oh, and we also got these awesome 4gb USB keys. There was no paraphernalia for sale, nor were there any signs to write on. Some guys at the event had made 5 t-shirts that were pretty awesome and offered to sell us one for $35, so I got it. I do have 5 of the balloons that I'll be bringing back. If you want one, let me know.

I really don't think any other post will be this long.

China ho!

On my way to China while I write this on a cruddy old Bell public internet terminal. I think I am too tall to type with any comfort at all on this ancient device. I was hoping to write a blog post, but it turns out that Blogger is blacklisted by this terminal! What the heck?



Anyway everything seems to be going okay so far. The flight staff has allowed me to bring my backpack as carry-on luggage.

When I arrive in China, I'll meet my friend Tom at the airport and we'll be whisked away to dinner with his friend Jing. Can't wait!

* * *


I've safely arrived and everything is awesome. Turns out that Blogger is blocked by the Great Firewall. So posting here will be somewhat of a hassle. We've enjoyed a delicious meal with Tom's friends at a nearby restaurant. I was pretty out of it, so there isn't much to say besides the food was fantastic.

The hostel we're staying at is pretty awesome. It's called Le Tour Traveler's Rest Youth Hostel. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to relax with a beer and hit the sack.





* * *

Tom apparently prefers to sleep in a freezer; he currently has the air conditioning at 16 degrees and blasting directly on him (I've had him direct the flow away from me). "I guess I could turn it down," Tom just said resignedly. Good night everyone.

An empty backpack

The days are winding down. Only five remain before I depart for China, two of which will be spent attending the final leg of an interview process with Apparent Networks in Vancouver. I figured it was about time I got my act together and packed.

• MEC Ibex 65 backpack
• MEC Small Carry All
• Four sets of clothing
• Microfibre towel (fast-drying)
• Lonely Planet Guidebook for China
• Glasses case, camera, sleeping aids, pad lock
• Pens, copies of important documents, money belt
• Liquids and gels to be declared
• Toiletries

My backpack is essentially empty when all of this has been put inside it, which is great, as I am planning on making plenty of frivolous purchases in China. I do have a concern, however: my backpack has a somewhat rigid frame to it. This means that even though it is empty, it can't be fully collapsed to take up less space. As it stands right now, it seems to be a couple inches larger in one dimension than Delta Airlines' carry-on baggage restrictions. I'd definitely prefer not checking it, so hopefully they let it slide.