tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47354866911464951802024-03-05T07:35:17.807+00:00The Analogy ShedI think my shed might be analagous to my life...Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-91927939023107413132014-01-28T17:12:00.000+00:002014-01-28T17:12:52.664+00:00A first full of Rupees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm lucky to finally get a chance to be in Chennai, where I'll be taking part in some training with my new team.<br />
<br />
Again, we were fortunate enough to fly business class - but with Emirates this time. The lounge wasn't quite in the same class as the Virgin Lounge, but the food was nice (VC champers that I managed to resist until just after noon) and you boarded the plane straight from the lounge, so no queueing up with the plebs!<br />
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It was my first time on an A380 for the first leg to Dubai. It was the quietest and and comfiest flight I've ever been on, mainly helped by the built-in seat massage for my poor back - very nice! Food was also better than Virgin and despite concerns that it might be a dry flight, it was anything but - if fact I think they forgot to load the tonic on, if the strength of my G&T was anything to go by.<br />
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The stop-over in Dubai was a bit of a non-event - just enough time to figure out that everything was really expensive (except Alcohol, which again thought it might be dry, but no) and then back on a plane (777 this time) for the second to Chennai.<br />
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I managed to get a little sleep on the second flight, despite having to actually sit next to another human being (in business class as well, I mean what's that all about?!?) who insisted on switching his light on and off all flight. Note to Emirates - eye masks on every flight please!<br />
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So arriving in India was a bit of shock from the shiny loveliness of Dubai. The airport just looked like it was falling apart and there was lots of old machinery and luggage containers left to rot in piles along the perimeter. After being picked up by a driver for the trip to the hotel it was just a case of hanging on, hoping we didn't wipe out a motorbike (helmets appear to be an afterthought and kids are also OK, as long as Mum has a good grip on the child and the back of the bike) or us being wiped out by a bus. No real rules while driving signals are an afterthought, undertaking and use of the horn obligatory. Thing is it just seems to be self-regulating and actually work! Oh and it was 21 degrees at 9am as well.<br />
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We are staying at the <a href="http://www.itchotels.in/Hotels/itcgrandchola.aspx" target="_blank">ITC Grand Chola</a>, which is just a vast marbled edifice of opulence. I have never stayed somewhere so big and with so many staff - all of which are so incredibly polite and go out of their way to to help. It takes about 10 minutes to get from my room to the lobby through various other sub-lobbies filled with amazing furniture and statues, but no people.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0Etp732c8l72hnJrVGJM1BY0XjfCZVHlpllY0A72op0hUCeMwhb7SwoTdoMiQZ2L69RvdEQSQWWapOLC0N3PYrGvuglmWS9PyVfsSiTdzoaZitdNacWNv_do6hcilr08uZHxrhNLNo8/s1600/DSCF3622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0Etp732c8l72hnJrVGJM1BY0XjfCZVHlpllY0A72op0hUCeMwhb7SwoTdoMiQZ2L69RvdEQSQWWapOLC0N3PYrGvuglmWS9PyVfsSiTdzoaZitdNacWNv_do6hcilr08uZHxrhNLNo8/s1600/DSCF3622.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The huge marble staircase in the hotel lobby</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7KDXqzNLLcgJmOCPlLt6QZIbVtmUwkTh8J4B9PK3XXz_rmFNIQO0VWTs6GmOKBgHmkpMv8LFeQswlpAbwZK-r-mVAtUXCNj8xcRVas3lyp1VU4qkmTZo099Dmdaegc5_RbzRxPiE9uI/s1600/DSCF3626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7KDXqzNLLcgJmOCPlLt6QZIbVtmUwkTh8J4B9PK3XXz_rmFNIQO0VWTs6GmOKBgHmkpMv8LFeQswlpAbwZK-r-mVAtUXCNj8xcRVas3lyp1VU4qkmTZo099Dmdaegc5_RbzRxPiE9uI/s1600/DSCF3626.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View over the 4 swimming pools</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib09_hSj6TAQbFaZxeeKVxXEW234yL6eMjwR3skM9DSTJ6mPYFWBm7E5bCyrOnODeZrHm93wpnXKmKYQsx8lKJMJfhRvfybD6MzQXp8gLczzvRc-5C1uaj6PPF-Hj1lD6UJbjxHHXlghM/s1600/DSCF3630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib09_hSj6TAQbFaZxeeKVxXEW234yL6eMjwR3skM9DSTJ6mPYFWBm7E5bCyrOnODeZrHm93wpnXKmKYQsx8lKJMJfhRvfybD6MzQXp8gLczzvRc-5C1uaj6PPF-Hj1lD6UJbjxHHXlghM/s1600/DSCF3630.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many items of furniture just dotted around the hotel, as you do...</td></tr>
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My room is relatively big, but the bathroom is huge and is entirely marbled. Bit of a concern that I might kill myself when I flooded it after a shower, but as you get about 12 towels, I managed to clear most of the water up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_6haSruqW7hkIZxIaDXrIdk343YFG2bjq-TUC1pEDmx7sGlLtpCKsiTZRp2Mje_PRVMsof2G2rc_G20o40X4HnnyKtf9F9y0ZmlmGjzooY_Y6YMUM8qqFZoP9RMO5kuSOPPsBLPMark/s1600/DSCF3638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_6haSruqW7hkIZxIaDXrIdk343YFG2bjq-TUC1pEDmx7sGlLtpCKsiTZRp2Mje_PRVMsof2G2rc_G20o40X4HnnyKtf9F9y0ZmlmGjzooY_Y6YMUM8qqFZoP9RMO5kuSOPPsBLPMark/s1600/DSCF3638.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My marble-cladded bathroom of loveliness. Flood cleared up</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWqtHQDxSTTGV90I1CJ3ishoVsTMVH5jlO8xuQbiV61tWaSt_ym3QccwVX8B7dpKQq-7IxVu_q_RmYgXkmgdJGjQMtFW-XSzfSKc2F8ccnyXkLDd0wcHZ4wR-CJ2We9VG8TvEFBQapxc/s1600/DSCF3639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWqtHQDxSTTGV90I1CJ3ishoVsTMVH5jlO8xuQbiV61tWaSt_ym3QccwVX8B7dpKQq-7IxVu_q_RmYgXkmgdJGjQMtFW-XSzfSKc2F8ccnyXkLDd0wcHZ4wR-CJ2We9VG8TvEFBQapxc/s1600/DSCF3639.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmm super comfy bed</td></tr>
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So after some brekkie (first introduction to spicy food at breakfast was interesting) and a little sleep, I went down to check out one of the three swimming pools. Unfortunately I didn't see the no swimming sign and got shouted at for going in(doing some chlorine thing, apparently).<br />
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Lunch was another exploration in Asian cuisine (go for the dish with the lowest proportion of chillies!) and after the gym (curry sweats on first day, not nice!!) it was time to turn in for the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzycOS9greU3nLMwjY2RQlkGITuF3nlixoXdjTDbwBu5dZzpmRKdYrsglR5abQojo2QJBA15Y5THs6K-nvEQxHmveaZYBC5YDF02U3qyecJ4k2uCZBsyYIvVQBpWkmEpsjOc361hqk3E/s1600/DSCF3620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzycOS9greU3nLMwjY2RQlkGITuF3nlixoXdjTDbwBu5dZzpmRKdYrsglR5abQojo2QJBA15Y5THs6K-nvEQxHmveaZYBC5YDF02U3qyecJ4k2uCZBsyYIvVQBpWkmEpsjOc361hqk3E/s1600/DSCF3620.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch (especially for Sammy) From top left: fried chicked, spiced lamb, cheese, deep fried lentils for starters. In the centre is main course of shredded beef, fish, shredded pork, more chicken. Yum</td></tr>
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Unfortunately I don't think we will get any time to do any site seeing, but if I do,I'll post up the piccies for everyone.</div>
Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-9649881768318905032013-03-31T22:59:00.000+01:002013-03-31T22:59:59.010+01:00Sao Paulo Day 12 - Leaving on a jet plane<br />
My time in Brazil had at last come to an end (I'm now safely back in the chilly UK), so one final post to finish things off.<br />
<br />
After a brutal first week of work in Brazil (7 am calls to the UK, conducting training 9-5 and then another couple of hours afterword), the second week was a but calmer. I had taken on board my Brazilian colleague's comments that things were a bit more 'relaxed' than in the UK, so coffee breaks and lunches were all a lot longer...<br />
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Still not much time to do any sight seeing though, so that was all left to the final couple of days. On my final day I was taken to the equivalent of a Chinese fake market. This was an area just to the north of the city centre in an old part of the town.<br />
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There were plenty of legitimate shops selling real goods - hardware stores, sports shops, mobile phone accessory shops; but also plenty of fake shops hawking everything from branded shirts/trainers, football stuff and toys. As an indication, a real Brazil replica shirt was R$189 (about £64), while a fake one was R$40 (£13). I picked up a Brazil shirt for my son (who has not taken it off for 24 hours) and a Corinthians one for me, while my daughter and SO got real Havianas (in pink natch).<br />
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After wandering the streets for an hour so we then headed to the Mercado Municipal, a covered food market. Probably half the stalls were selling fruit and vegetables. I could identify most of the products on offer, but some I had never seen before. Papaya and Guava I had heard of, but caqui was a new one to me (Looks almost exactly like a tomato, tastes amazing) and there were also what looked like passion fruits, but with yellow and vivid purple flesh. Yum.<br />
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Many of the stalls were stacked high with bacalhau - dried and salted cod. This appears to be a bit of a delicacy of the Brazilians (thanks to the Portuguese), with the market also having lots of pastel stalls selling bacalhau pastels. A pastel, as far as I can tell, is a pasty with pastry made of pasta flour and then deep fried (a very common cooking method in Brazil). The bacalhau pastel also had spring onions and green olives in it and was very nice thank you very much - especially when washed down with a honey beer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CMWAFvkw2rKbDbGu8qRajns2-xyx3IEruK_-skYyM8RihQR7UMXFe6tGXhsG94K_deiooaNMAzp2qGYoWv_JpKaL5fg84fidK7pcQudon2GBfZnG9dMk6rk54Je5b9Hg-7F3eKEO7yk/s1600/DSC_0209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CMWAFvkw2rKbDbGu8qRajns2-xyx3IEruK_-skYyM8RihQR7UMXFe6tGXhsG94K_deiooaNMAzp2qGYoWv_JpKaL5fg84fidK7pcQudon2GBfZnG9dMk6rk54Je5b9Hg-7F3eKEO7yk/s200/DSC_0209.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Friday street market - fish on the<br /> left, fruit and veg on the right</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fuF-43IgAgSFoWpBI-TYIeowEkyiLELabOiHVzA1eU_oUnHmgxsog6Ke010f1Y3fQZLtNywy6SYFOpswkXA6bNiHaShIV3rpeSc0beXyhwvGOvyc6nn0WP3RNiZzeGsFZbazBOtR11o/s1600/DSC_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fuF-43IgAgSFoWpBI-TYIeowEkyiLELabOiHVzA1eU_oUnHmgxsog6Ke010f1Y3fQZLtNywy6SYFOpswkXA6bNiHaShIV3rpeSc0beXyhwvGOvyc6nn0WP3RNiZzeGsFZbazBOtR11o/s200/DSC_0188.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ibirapuera park. Yes, it was raining.</td></tr>
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As my flight wasn't until nearly midnight on Saturday I had the whole day to myself. After a 10k run in the pissing rain (But sooo nice and warm), I had a wander through a local food market and then made my way over to the Pecaembu to try the Museu do Football again. Its a fantastic museum that describes the evolution of football in Brazil from the point where Charles Miller bought the game to the country to the modern day. There are exhibits that cover the country's most famous players, stats about the game and (most interestingly for me) the world cups. The museum is housed within the main stand of the Pacaembu, an art deco stadium built in a valley to the north of city centre. The sideline stands are built into the valley, so the top of the stands are at road level - very clever!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcyzdEcUUClAGBlCD1DyyaAMOrhzbjGkHGJQzch4Wq9uv0vgW5u82UmYYImXMCaRiUIA6hFi34CoUhRgLrmG79eGveQC3XspCqWU_JuvlOzDzoVTMjAf4lq39uYg1ro8BUD2hFlu0rXw/s1600/DSC_0206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcyzdEcUUClAGBlCD1DyyaAMOrhzbjGkHGJQzch4Wq9uv0vgW5u82UmYYImXMCaRiUIA6hFi34CoUhRgLrmG79eGveQC3XspCqWU_JuvlOzDzoVTMjAf4lq39uYg1ro8BUD2hFlu0rXw/s400/DSC_0206.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pecaembu Stadium. The museum was within this main stand.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBSyYAvGrYLnv8zU7COlUwFclUm2xEOoW7xXuGKy7VvvE_3ROw7TJZymZCo6eCfQ9jimP1fML3X1iW-tbTokrJ2a976W8CNzkEU7m6TLOnQ8wS4nQvfYhqyP8xFfl2wBeDSQb-2i7eQE/s1600/DSC_0213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBSyYAvGrYLnv8zU7COlUwFclUm2xEOoW7xXuGKy7VvvE_3ROw7TJZymZCo6eCfQ9jimP1fML3X1iW-tbTokrJ2a976W8CNzkEU7m6TLOnQ8wS4nQvfYhqyP8xFfl2wBeDSQb-2i7eQE/s400/DSC_0213.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and the view from the inside. The stands on either side are built into the valley sides</td></tr>
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After the museum I just had time to get some food before packing up and leaving the hotel for my trip back to England. All in all, a really enjoyable visit to another country I may never get the chance to visit again. It would have been nice if I could have done more while there - go to Rio, sample a beach and see the rain forest, but you never know, I may get another trip some time!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenmZBU05tLiJC5DNT1MQsHDRGLrzNCBejpaGwBvP_HVJnss1x1J4PdyhgZGRynDaGVBsOvL7lWmq4Etpl5ADMroe4R60tp3uqZbhrX-XEvmosFOysRGm6QZS3vVydT6o5gm4h2LHXYWc/s1600/DSC_0216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenmZBU05tLiJC5DNT1MQsHDRGLrzNCBejpaGwBvP_HVJnss1x1J4PdyhgZGRynDaGVBsOvL7lWmq4Etpl5ADMroe4R60tp3uqZbhrX-XEvmosFOysRGm6QZS3vVydT6o5gm4h2LHXYWc/s400/DSC_0216.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My lift home...</td></tr>
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A week off with the children and then back to work. More importantly, gonna have to work hard to get rid of the 14 cows I've eaten while I was away...<br />
Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-61495791016490724792013-03-23T22:28:00.000+00:002013-03-23T22:28:14.171+00:00Sao Paulo Day 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Work has been brutal this past week, far harder that anything we encountered in Shanghai, so opportunities for wandering around have been few and far between. I have also been counselled by work colleagues about realities of Sao Paulo life - I've been advised against using the metro/train to get to the office, not to open my rucksack in the street (wait until inside Taxi), carry only a minimum of money with you and don't show off my watch (a battered G-Shock). Better to be safe that sorry, but I think its a bit extreme nonetheless.<br /><br />So in the few hours in between work, taxi and sleep I've managed to sample a few Brazilians meals. Every single one contained meat of some kind, the majority of which were huge chucks of dead cow. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for a hunk a steak now and then, but this is taking it to the extreme. Where in the UK, the meat portion is smaller than the vegetable portion by quite a lot, hear the opposite is true. Huge steaks with a spoonful of salad to help you along!<br /><br />The 'traditional meal' of the Brazilian people is a beef steak (of some sort), rice, black beans and a little salad. Its pretty good, only problem is:<br />
<ol>
<li>The meat is also always well-done to the point of being able to bounce it</li>
<li>So much salt is used it burns my lips.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Bangers, mash and onion gravy every time for me I'm afraid!<br />
<br />I have discovered that desserts are not really that common (unless its ice cream) and chicken nuggets (I forget the Portuguese translation) are looked on as some kind of food of the gods (wtf!?!)<br /><br />I've also tried some new (to me) fruit - Kaka, which looks like a tomato but is almost toffee-like in taste and sweetness, papaya (heard of, but not had before), which I found to be mleh to eat and very bleugh to drink as juice and finally guarana, which is a Brazilian berry sold as a caffeine soft drink (and very nice it is too).<br /><br />The street sellers can also be seen pushing cart loads of coconuts around as well - these still have their original green husks around them and the sellers just drill a hole and plonk a straw in and your away!<br /><br />I've been taken out a couple of times by the guys I'm training, which has been fantastic - the first occasion I was forced to try cachaça - a cane sugar liquor that tastes and resembles ethanol. Lets just say that doing the training the next day was very hard work...<br />
<h2>
Finally, the sun comes out</h2>
Today was the first day this week that the sun shone for longer than about 10minutes. It also didn't rain. As a result I've done some wandering and managed to fit in a 10k run first thing. I may have at last earned a steak this evening...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOQDnR1nRkuyMJJsh00jkkwhj7lw4Xa4pnZOfuHoUGqh2tKdtrvJG4HQ0sHZb7uVx82mqhT_P0PvR_0crVyCAVNHXbXCMbmExzaCdgweiGH0T_FcmiTTtZpjV18p6Klm9ekPNrisezdQ/s1600/DSC_0196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOQDnR1nRkuyMJJsh00jkkwhj7lw4Xa4pnZOfuHoUGqh2tKdtrvJG4HQ0sHZb7uVx82mqhT_P0PvR_0crVyCAVNHXbXCMbmExzaCdgweiGH0T_FcmiTTtZpjV18p6Klm9ekPNrisezdQ/s320/DSC_0196.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paulista Avenue used to be lined with Mansions like the this one (apparently),
unfortunately now all mostly cleared for ugly tower blocks. This
building is in a sorry state, but is beautiful</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFSfeM4cv7fhk9F1dGGTXEumcI-mM0fpkNCP6tpWynBGPh4MMpXI02mcg6omoItrwkaJnKPLh6v0McDR3tCo4i8AuASBp1Tf5xhyphenhyphen8T3FclYYoCr-eaZi9owSLJz1gtoT83AsNp84Hl8U/s1600/DSC_0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinFSfeM4cv7fhk9F1dGGTXEumcI-mM0fpkNCP6tpWynBGPh4MMpXI02mcg6omoItrwkaJnKPLh6v0McDR3tCo4i8AuASBp1Tf5xhyphenhyphen8T3FclYYoCr-eaZi9owSLJz1gtoT83AsNp84Hl8U/s400/DSC_0202.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What you can't quite see is the 3 metre wide cobweb stretching from the statue to the tree...</td></tr>
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I walked over to Paulista Avenue with a view to walking to Paceambu stadium where the museum of football is, but I soon realised that I was never going to make it in time so I ambled back via a couple of secluded urban parks. Felt a bit perved out as I appeared to have stumbled into a park reserved especially for secret lovers (snogging going on everywhere!), but I think it will be about as close to the amazon rain forest as I'm about to get on this trip. By far the coolest thing I noticed was the 3 metre wide cobwebs between the trees. perhaps I should have had that yellow fever jab after all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn7Uw1MtqsB9efz6NzPnx2X-KVN6LtLGYBLg5aTiLwJehXKJZ1UGt9r1JxZeQHSBt9bfovht1jbczhnCiV6Ki8ECfQ2XHckZU35qJkMENjg_Yt1WclnInMhO9qltE1HnQpEYlqKVwo7hQ/s1600/DSC_0198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn7Uw1MtqsB9efz6NzPnx2X-KVN6LtLGYBLg5aTiLwJehXKJZ1UGt9r1JxZeQHSBt9bfovht1jbczhnCiV6Ki8ECfQ2XHckZU35qJkMENjg_Yt1WclnInMhO9qltE1HnQpEYlqKVwo7hQ/s400/DSC_0198.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to the Jungle, we've got fun and games...</td></tr>
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Hopefully get to the museum of footy tomorrow and then an afternoon of prep for the coming week of training - such fun!Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-58050841667093654722013-03-23T21:27:00.000+00:002013-03-23T21:27:04.084+00:00Another Day, another megacity...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sao Paulo this time for two weeks of training my Brazilian colleagues in the ways of the dark side...<br />
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The flight from Heathrow was nearly perfect - I was whisked through security so fast in London that I even had time to watch the whole England game live. Kind of wish I had been stuck in a queue for two hours now though given the result! We were delayed at Heathrow for an hour for some reason but once in the air, everything was great. The food was much better than Virgin Atlantic (to/from Shanghai) and even though the seats didn't fully recline like the Virgin seats, I was so much more comfortable as I could actually fit my shoulders in! Entertainment system was much better as well - even got the noise cancelling headpones that reduce the sound of the plane when you switch them on.<br />
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Managed nealy 6 hours sleep (unlike the crappy virgin flight), though that may have had more to do with being knackered from the 2 hour bike ride I'd done in the morning (must remember to do that next time I fly long haul ;o)<br />
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Upon arriving at Sao Paolo, I was, well, a bit underwhelmed to be honest. I hadn't really appreciated just how 'new' Shanghai looked until I was walking through the 'Posh' part of Sao Paulo and desperately not trying to trip over the broken concrete, open rain gutters and slippery tiles that make up the pavements. Parts of it resemble a partly finished building site before they relaid everything.<br />
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Been to two places of note today. First of all a little wander to Ibirapuera park to check out the running route there. Its an urban park a bit like Central park in New York, with large lakes, a number of museums and ampitheatres all within it. There is paved road (no cars allowed) with a cycle track and walking/running track marked out. Today being Sunday it was heaving, be interesting to see what its like at 6:30am on a Tuesday morning though.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM9BLljoH3OebDPPq6QfWkbnkCHerDRD7aXMyUnt8J-Rsj05pptJl91metM-LK7VuWgGU0i_tVoihG_5d7pcDN5cQnMd6hilIsjGoJ_j-ptOdCJe-zQmTqRGfqYMt6gb4VuKRKxwJHzE/s1600/DSC_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM9BLljoH3OebDPPq6QfWkbnkCHerDRD7aXMyUnt8J-Rsj05pptJl91metM-LK7VuWgGU0i_tVoihG_5d7pcDN5cQnMd6hilIsjGoJ_j-ptOdCJe-zQmTqRGfqYMt6gb4VuKRKxwJHzE/s400/DSC_0190.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge sculpture on the entrance to Ibirapuera park. Pity about the six lanes of traffic that surround it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiYgTv_0qBdoNzhXC2Aynnvh8NPXj_VXl51kLMKHt7xsSgs-ZBVooMM773RZf_MPeyhmmslnB4Kkp011QLqDuHR8yHHwnQuzg2VHicRDpm6b1haYifaaWqRTXO5ysphZhwdVv-HP_hZc/s1600/DSC_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXiYgTv_0qBdoNzhXC2Aynnvh8NPXj_VXl51kLMKHt7xsSgs-ZBVooMM773RZf_MPeyhmmslnB4Kkp011QLqDuHR8yHHwnQuzg2VHicRDpm6b1haYifaaWqRTXO5ysphZhwdVv-HP_hZc/s400/DSC_0188.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Ibirapuera park toward Jardim Paulista area of Sao Paulo. It was raining, a lot</td></tr>
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I also went to MASP (Museum of Art, Sao Paulo), which has the largest collection of western european art outside of Europe (Ohhh get me!). It was virtually empty, so I got to wander around and stare at various works of Gainsborough, Turner, Constable, Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet and others to my hearts content. Only a fiver to get in aswell - great way to spend the afternoon!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdJi4NfA5ogaZ2fC9T41J91uzWzlCXYS-SPz6f98Pt678-S5embsMibQSEmUGSQgT6QgCqXP511enUsNiRVJGuQoInIJgl0G51t-dl2U-_ocAaf5ZEBwKQuXU_w6uTdBgpeNK2ok1cDI/s1600/DSC_0195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdJi4NfA5ogaZ2fC9T41J91uzWzlCXYS-SPz6f98Pt678-S5embsMibQSEmUGSQgT6QgCqXP511enUsNiRVJGuQoInIJgl0G51t-dl2U-_ocAaf5ZEBwKQuXU_w6uTdBgpeNK2ok1cDI/s400/DSC_0195.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MASP building. Bloody ugly building, beautiful art inside it though.</td></tr>
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<h2>
Sao Paulo, 1965 called, it wants it's buildings back</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyiFHsOB7M5BcLsSQDmZAnQGrJTP5KrvLUy2eRzWgpM7rHOFC_B131o8IOGK_sIXeZGo3iwCnwTy7lRYUumKuuMLI5Q2GYSsiAxvvuzN8Nk5A4QudJfBPmvloJZpsYcm8NS-a771ytTQ/s1600/DSC_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyiFHsOB7M5BcLsSQDmZAnQGrJTP5KrvLUy2eRzWgpM7rHOFC_B131o8IOGK_sIXeZGo3iwCnwTy7lRYUumKuuMLI5Q2GYSsiAxvvuzN8Nk5A4QudJfBPmvloJZpsYcm8NS-a771ytTQ/s400/DSC_0205.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View overlooking the Avenue Nove de Juhlo. Typical of all the buildings in Sao Paulo.</td></tr>
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Ah yes, the architecture. Not many gleaming 200 metre neon-clad skyscrapers here. If you've been to Plymouth, imagine a mile-long 6 lane boulevard entirely populated with tower blocks resembling the Plymouth City Council building and you're there. Its not a pretty sight to be honest.<br />
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Weather is not holding up its end of the bargain either. Although the temperature is in the high teens/twenties (so shorts on, natch), it has pissed it down virtually all day. As a result I was decidedly moist for most of the day. I came armed with waterproof and cap for windy, UK style rain, not the huge tropical straight down drops you get here. This is where a brolly really works, must remember than for next time.<br />
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Have forced myself to sample the local cuisine as well. As people warned me, this mostly incolves huge lumps of roasted/boiled/fried meat, with a passing nod to veggies in the form of roast potatoes and fried beans. There is also a worring tendency to deep fry or steep in syrup anything they get their hands on (Deep fried banana anyone?) As for the fruit, I thought it looked like a pear, but it most definitely was not... My best find was a bowl the size of my head full of butterscotch. I had to force myself to leave the restaurant at that point before I dunked my head in, Winnie the pooh style and started slurping<br />
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Work tomorrow, so might get to do any more sights till the weekend. Hopefully rain will stop long enough for me to take some photos...Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-70024857957798654282012-11-16T21:13:00.000+00:002012-11-16T21:13:50.532+00:00Shanghai Day 8 - So long and thanks for all the fishI was intending to post my final entry while I was in Shanghai, but due to the Chinese political change over Gmail and Blogger were blocked for two days. During my time, facebook.com was completely inaccessible, though it could be accessed via my phone - I suppose the URL to the facebook API was available (obviously the Chinese tech heads aren't the sharpest tools in the box).<br />
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The government were also paranoid about foreign media reports about China being shown in their own country. Every time BBC Worldwide or CNN did a feature on the change of leadership or interviewed anyone who had anything uncomplimentary to say about the leadership, the feed went off and the screen went black for 5 or 6 minutes. When BBC interviewed Ai Weiwei, I thought it may never come back! Speaking to an expat currently living in Shanghai, she said that they knew more about what was going on in the country than the typical Chinese person did. Censorship was still widespread in the media (as I witnessed). I'm not sure how much longer this can keep up though - they have more internet users than any other country in the world (500million), how do they expect to censor them in this digital world? Blocking of twitter and facebook is only going to last for so long...<br />
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Anyway, onto less political matters. My second to last night in Shanghai and as the following evening will be spent trying to squeeze all my tourist tat into my suitcases, I thought I would venture out amongst the pimps and get some final nighttime photos of the water front.<br />
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I have also run out of pants, but wanting to take some photos sounds a bit more organised.<br />
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So first to some new underwear. Giordano is just across the street from the hotel, so braving the constant enquiries of lady massages and sexy girls, I popped in to have a nose. Its a bit like Gap, only a little bit trendier and I think I still fit the Gap demographic (just). I was only after some pants, so two pairs of boxers, three pairs of socks and three t-shirts later I was on my way to the Bund...<br />
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I decided to take the 'back street' to the Bund to avoid the crowds and came across some nice colonial-era buildings and non-oriental lions on the Postal Savings Bank of China Building.<br />
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The Bund and the view over the river is even more stunning at night, as the photos show. If I had had more time it would have been nice to take the river cruise and see the whole of the Bund in more detail, but I have to leave something for the next time I come I suppose.<br />
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On Thursday morning the limo picked us up for the short journey to Pudong airport and our 13 hour flight home. The business class lounge wasn't up to the Virgin one in Heathrow unfortunately, but at least it had free WiFi so I could fire off a few work emails before going silent for half a day. The flight was a lot more bearable on the way home - mainly due to me deciding not to drink alcohol I think. Managed to watch Snow White and the Huntsman, Dark Shadows and the Raid on the TV, though. the entertainment system could do with an upgrade now. People are becoming increasingly used to having HD from films on their TV's and now their phones, so a low resolution film in cropped 4:3 ratio doesn't really cut it anymore. It could have been a lot worse though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WXO8TbMTM5piAsHb4pmpHFkdBRGfY5PRs0zcYPiwZNENhdo73FN6LiL5k2fGajkvcGbp7MMgQecDcolqtr8uuPV3fv4B9Q5qbysLReRj6DLuPkaukxOC4x9FI-vZifmV4IBkXAwxEJE/s1600/DSC_0406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjb-eUGPv1P123asaka1VEn-DPyvldBJ1DmxjQ1VFX6gJPO8QbWybUV7q21TC42qcbF9b0ApVU67H_VRls5ch7FLvG8Nu-ShVoHD-auCe71vnVEYKKZcUNO2l7PQsLFfYTP3gCTXdD-4/s1600/DSC_0404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WXO8TbMTM5piAsHb4pmpHFkdBRGfY5PRs0zcYPiwZNENhdo73FN6LiL5k2fGajkvcGbp7MMgQecDcolqtr8uuPV3fv4B9Q5qbysLReRj6DLuPkaukxOC4x9FI-vZifmV4IBkXAwxEJE/s1600/DSC_0406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjb-eUGPv1P123asaka1VEn-DPyvldBJ1DmxjQ1VFX6gJPO8QbWybUV7q21TC42qcbF9b0ApVU67H_VRls5ch7FLvG8Nu-ShVoHD-auCe71vnVEYKKZcUNO2l7PQsLFfYTP3gCTXdD-4/s1600/DSC_0404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>On landing, the immigration controls were lightning fast (Heathrow in doing something right shocker!) so I was in departures by 5:30. I had planned to go to the Virgin Revive lounge and get a shower and a bite to eat, but it was only open in the morning (you didn't put that on the website did you Virgin?), so I jumped on the Heathrow express and decided to chance my arm on an earlier train out of Paddington. Oh my, I had forgotten what a merry bunch of people London commuters are. The train was rammed leaving Paddington and I was already public enemy number one for having the temerity to want to put my two suitcases in the empty luggage rack. After lots of tutting, signing whipping of newspapers and muttering I managed to find a spot and stood until Reading and then found a seat for the final part of the journey to Taunton.<br />
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The trip was one of those experiences I don't think I'll ever forget. Possibly the only time I'll get to fly business class and travel to China along with the opportunity to sample a culture and sights half a world away - wow. The things I'll take away from the trip are:<br />
<ul>
<li>The staggering amount of money there is now sloshing around China</li>
<li>Despite the complete absence of order in both the subway and on the roads, the transport system copes</li>
<li>Haggling is not a humiliating or an embarrassing thing to do - its actually quite a lot of fun!</li>
<li>Constant spitting in the street is disgusting and the quicker the Chinese authorities quash it, the better</li>
<li>My hatred for MacDonalds, KFC and Starbucks grows ever deeper as they try (and unfortunately succeed) to take over the world</li>
<li>Skyscrapers are beautiful </li>
<li>No matter how you dress it up, 10-13 hours in an aluminium tube at 600km/h is hell. Having a flat bed and nice food just makes it a little more like the third level of hell, rather than the seventh (but hell nonetheless).</li>
<li>Jetlag is a bitch</li>
<li>Pimps all look the same and can be spotted a mile off, if you know what you are looking for!</li>
<li>How a government still censors what its 'subjects' can and cannot do.</li>
<li>The smell of fried tofu will haunt me to my grave.</li>
</ul>
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So thats it for the Shanghai posts, back to triathlon training next time...</div>
Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-70330575649060840662012-11-11T14:32:00.000+00:002012-11-11T14:32:34.524+00:00Shanghai Day 6 - Top of the world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPi_P2T2SrR9atyRMXpF1FR7FT6HiIDY44vmkvfZDN88O7Ny7zQCw_JCEn7XxZOadkS7b3idze7BkbADRiOjFvKExtcttrEW6tfudaqRtMUuzF0JDOBnHaJY6O5_YIXhbdsiCMoHUEwEA/s1600/DSC_0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
Another day of sightseeing today. After breakfast, my colleague and I met her friend's daughter, who is working in Shanghai at the moment. She took us to Tianzifang, a small area of the city made up of old buildings and lanes. It was all a bit boho and arty, with lots of little galleries and shops selling decent touristy items (rather than the tourist tat you find in the fake markets).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPi_P2T2SrR9atyRMXpF1FR7FT6HiIDY44vmkvfZDN88O7Ny7zQCw_JCEn7XxZOadkS7b3idze7BkbADRiOjFvKExtcttrEW6tfudaqRtMUuzF0JDOBnHaJY6O5_YIXhbdsiCMoHUEwEA/s1600/DSC_0321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPi_P2T2SrR9atyRMXpF1FR7FT6HiIDY44vmkvfZDN88O7Ny7zQCw_JCEn7XxZOadkS7b3idze7BkbADRiOjFvKExtcttrEW6tfudaqRtMUuzF0JDOBnHaJY6O5_YIXhbdsiCMoHUEwEA/s1600/DSC_0321.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tianzifang lanes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After that we walked to a local antique market - which this time did
actually have some old(er) items in amongst the mass produced rubbish! I
especially wanted to buy a load of the old leather suitcases and make a
'feature' of them at home, then remembered I had a 2 year old daughter
and 5 year old son who would take great delight in destroying them!
Anyway, I can only check in three bags into upper class on the way
home...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHGrn8z11Bq8Y6RIXIcowbWzAhGkbr_N5zwW_vuK60dXKwPT70Wm6GkUsj1gKtNQKEh16stumdQoU3gxt5qKPhS6apGUDNCQZqFaCq_CgkSsTlgxNC5uI19BEW0ZFIkFja_I8qtTBbd8/s1600/DSC_0326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHGrn8z11Bq8Y6RIXIcowbWzAhGkbr_N5zwW_vuK60dXKwPT70Wm6GkUsj1gKtNQKEh16stumdQoU3gxt5qKPhS6apGUDNCQZqFaCq_CgkSsTlgxNC5uI19BEW0ZFIkFja_I8qtTBbd8/s1600/DSC_0326.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ye olde antique market</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From there we wandered back to the hotel and then I went straight back
out with a view to getting to the top of the World Financial Centre
building for sunset. On exiting the subway you are faced with 2 (and a
half) of the tallest buildings in the world right in front of you. The
Chinesey looking one is the Jin Mao tower, while the one with a giant
bottle opener is the World Financial Centre. The third building being
constructed is the Shanghai Tower, which apparently is going to half as
tall again as the World Financial Centre.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5W1_y-m2CV7psxj01mxciJvMf7MPoIPWP5unZdd22JrmoXAZ-k6-nl_IdAmyZEIDbYlnH-gUngKM-SurAqcV3wnICP914BkaOb46VFoLDKfIZr_XXLRCuD1QRnSAtoNBwJ0JzbMeNP_w/s1600/DSC_0332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5W1_y-m2CV7psxj01mxciJvMf7MPoIPWP5unZdd22JrmoXAZ-k6-nl_IdAmyZEIDbYlnH-gUngKM-SurAqcV3wnICP914BkaOb46VFoLDKfIZr_XXLRCuD1QRnSAtoNBwJ0JzbMeNP_w/s1600/DSC_0332.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World Financial Centre, Jin Mao & Shanghai Towers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a bit of queue (me
and fellow Europeans queueing correctly, Chinese bun fighting and
barging), we got into the lift which took us up the 430 metres to the
94th floor. From there it was an elevator up to the 97th floor and the first observatory and then another lift up to floor 100 and the 'highest observatory in the world'.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpAn-WciOeIVVX_0mkcmjedWlklWISIFS39rnJGannutQzWiHjcZSUz9foZA_codFStTCihgiZzHu2VXw9Cr_jB9EL_hHam8L7GKGwNejPs-O0uHDwpVfO-2J_OQv-vdcqzrTN1oAo2U/s1600/DSC_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpAn-WciOeIVVX_0mkcmjedWlklWISIFS39rnJGannutQzWiHjcZSUz9foZA_codFStTCihgiZzHu2VXw9Cr_jB9EL_hHam8L7GKGwNejPs-O0uHDwpVfO-2J_OQv-vdcqzrTN1oAo2U/s1600/DSC_0347.JPG" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmmm quite high up here aern't we?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The viewing platform views are amazing, looking over both sides of the Shanghai. There is also glass flooring that you can see the 460-odd metres straight down. Despite the day being extremely clear (for Shanghai), there was still a pollution haze hanging over the city - bit of a pity really. I sat down and hung around until it got dark and managed to get some cool photos, I even manged to spot our hotel!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBZecHS8dSqdPjMQ-FE4pHgb-LkM36o1hFCh0jHn2-CkghDK0eorF7KT9Vq2vG6lNU0UV9ULEU1jbxag5gJtfaa2TiD3xRRB2WAiv1oX1V3pX7Vqe8Q8IezfvKFHf6NmaAog_jQqIdpQ/s1600/DSC_0361_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBZecHS8dSqdPjMQ-FE4pHgb-LkM36o1hFCh0jHn2-CkghDK0eorF7KT9Vq2vG6lNU0UV9ULEU1jbxag5gJtfaa2TiD3xRRB2WAiv1oX1V3pX7Vqe8Q8IezfvKFHf6NmaAog_jQqIdpQ/s1600/DSC_0361_1.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My teeny tiny (27 storey) hotel</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_1974820342"></span><span id="goog_1974820343"></span><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPgDJ1pgZkGh1jkKYAKN8c-ElP80PjLh8Y_SFn2_Sq-dHdQMX-CJMaodkrMJ-As9ob2Ezh5Y_RYSYqf53vJ-eT4aeqD9AA7auk9qp1z8Wsx9_r7JKHMnBmbMg9RSf6bMULjZ34mXz2QU/s1600/DSC_0360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPgDJ1pgZkGh1jkKYAKN8c-ElP80PjLh8Y_SFn2_Sq-dHdQMX-CJMaodkrMJ-As9ob2Ezh5Y_RYSYqf53vJ-eT4aeqD9AA7auk9qp1z8Wsx9_r7JKHMnBmbMg9RSf6bMULjZ34mXz2QU/s1600/DSC_0360.JPG" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Jin Mao and Oriental Pearl TV tower at dusk</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I took up the tower's very kind offer to take my photo for 50 yuan as I was playing norman no mates. After using an electrically powered toilet for the first time in my life (uppy downy, side to side, front and back washing and 'relaxing wash') and yomping my way through the obligatory souvenier shop (magnets for fridge, check), we zipped down in the double decker lift and were deposited in, the shopping and restaurant floor yay!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOO8NienC1_RvFrCfqdcrQz5tWkzjcO4xrGa1Q5By2xmwbxZQRgI6hpJa8BzGVj4DVNZV3mBRl2gPX51K8rOHFKNaT9YEV87It9bGqfNbabFEEzG93LuNEbkpy0dNEdFyCm41sXoBSY4/s1600/DSC_0379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOO8NienC1_RvFrCfqdcrQz5tWkzjcO4xrGa1Q5By2xmwbxZQRgI6hpJa8BzGVj4DVNZV3mBRl2gPX51K8rOHFKNaT9YEV87It9bGqfNbabFEEzG93LuNEbkpy0dNEdFyCm41sXoBSY4/s1600/DSC_0379.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The two towers all lit up and looking pretty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Back to work tomorrow, only three days to go before I have the pleasure of a 14 hour flight back to the UK, wahoo!Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-65917259739427737582012-11-10T14:49:00.000+00:002012-11-10T14:49:40.047+00:00Shanghai Day 5 - Amateur hagglingIts been a busy few days work wise - still suffering from jet lag while in the office means that I'm in cloud cuckoo land for the first half of the day, but perk up in the afternoon. I finally thought I was over it last night, but then woke at 4:50am promptly ready for the day! Maybe tomorrow then.<br />
<br />
We were taken to dinner by the Chinese Program Manager last night for traditional 'Shanghai-ese' food. This mostly involved fresh water shellfish and tofu. I've come to the conclusion that the smell of fried tofu sits on a similar smell-pedestal as baby poo and vomit in the stomach churning stakes - not good in a country like China. The food on everyone else's table looked delicious - why did we get the smelly root stew and shellfish fungus goop?? I ate the food, but I'm hoping my local Chinese in Taunton
doesn't start offering Shanghai delicacies as a dish - house special
chow mien and sweet and sour pork balls will do just fine next time
thank you. I'm paying for it this evening now as well, thank god I decided to get some Imodium in case of emergency...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8bAXoe_-pkenbCo2Qw59dzjys3SsEY7Q1F8BprDH47LYhO9LSUNcp50vRIR8K8UZGju5KisgguJeaRp18S89ULYltt3Iw5jTC5V0sLFTMcEcNnYaN00aXRbYRlUmg4D7yqHyWUe1Dt4/s1600/DSC_0294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8bAXoe_-pkenbCo2Qw59dzjys3SsEY7Q1F8BprDH47LYhO9LSUNcp50vRIR8K8UZGju5KisgguJeaRp18S89ULYltt3Iw5jTC5V0sLFTMcEcNnYaN00aXRbYRlUmg4D7yqHyWUe1Dt4/s1600/DSC_0294.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not lyin, I'm a tiger Rarrrh!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today was a big day as well, went sight seeing in the morning to the Yuyuan Gradens. I was out of the Hotel early so I got to the Gardens not long after they opened - as a result, my first hour of wandering was tranquil and quiet.<br />
<br />
Amazing that a place like that can exist in such a breakneck-paced city
as Shanghai. Its a series of walled areas with buildings, pagodas and
various tree species. There are ponds full of Koi
(well, giant goldfish anyway) and many rockeries built of water
smoothed stone. I went a bit snap-happy with the camera, but hopefully
it was worth it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvgdiLqp76cJUPRy6aIbBhbRU7m3CPk5XVdeReTPLTH5mEPgokeOTHbptM3tO3krF8ptl3VpqZaL-_rI8jQmpUu5HevZgtKXXyKnsjBPB0iG42zPIB1M_46ahyphenhyphenItkS0orAolStlRVBXk/s1600/DSC_0265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvgdiLqp76cJUPRy6aIbBhbRU7m3CPk5XVdeReTPLTH5mEPgokeOTHbptM3tO3krF8ptl3VpqZaL-_rI8jQmpUu5HevZgtKXXyKnsjBPB0iG42zPIB1M_46ahyphenhyphenItkS0orAolStlRVBXk/s1600/DSC_0265.JPG" height="262" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many sculptures on the roof of a pagoda</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvp_PTLwn5-VynsfbHsmL5ypGf_V-jAhE1Fn5Orshge7jIvtogFD5yY6FApeTTX3bcrxMHXy_q-3WpINvJ4jNJXQUxxR5BohCw3mtgQtrwyRGFjHOGboSqv3ubLpN_07f38Wk20iyteXc/s1600/DSC_0266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvp_PTLwn5-VynsfbHsmL5ypGf_V-jAhE1Fn5Orshge7jIvtogFD5yY6FApeTTX3bcrxMHXy_q-3WpINvJ4jNJXQUxxR5BohCw3mtgQtrwyRGFjHOGboSqv3ubLpN_07f38Wk20iyteXc/s1600/DSC_0266.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many of the buildings are set amongst the ponds</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBklI8qf8ZjgS-cDbe3vihSUmiHBN7-rIRf8fQefWV2xu2Bs2bK5_kb2Lx14v3EY9_7qVLJkIu6j-9NeW7oeGL_rCLCFXELvYJbW4l2Iz6gOOegiSnoKqbUkXSg9UAQTgObdTUFne6_FU/s1600/DSC_0306.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBklI8qf8ZjgS-cDbe3vihSUmiHBN7-rIRf8fQefWV2xu2Bs2bK5_kb2Lx14v3EY9_7qVLJkIu6j-9NeW7oeGL_rCLCFXELvYJbW4l2Iz6gOOegiSnoKqbUkXSg9UAQTgObdTUFne6_FU/s1600/DSC_0306.JPG" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the water-eroded/smoothed rock - the gardens are primarily composed of these rocks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the gardens, I took a wander around the 'market' that surrounds the gardens. Traditional-looking Chinese buildings housing all sorts of tourist shops, plus the ubiquitous American imports of KFC, McDonalds and Starbucks. I did my first piece of haggling (practice for later in the day) and picked up a mini sceen thingy with Chinese decoration. Probably got completely ripped off, but there you go!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSIpryZaJFzn6GPnRaJlFtDMZq2gfux6TM8UVD6uMaCFPmO6LXiohTpBsgDT_VQH9hVYVI9KTCAeruAKwrCWBCUldslddpwSng2aPGprm0GKb0ep5ondssj9iku1Urjljv_N_um3lxE8/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSIpryZaJFzn6GPnRaJlFtDMZq2gfux6TM8UVD6uMaCFPmO6LXiohTpBsgDT_VQH9hVYVI9KTCAeruAKwrCWBCUldslddpwSng2aPGprm0GKb0ep5ondssj9iku1Urjljv_N_um3lxE8/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the buildibgs in the market - probably only 20 years old!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By midday, the market so so busy I escaped back onto the subway to go to a large photography mall I'd read about online. I was after a new lens for my DSLR, but found that the prices were similar to or even more expensive than the UK. I did manage to pick up a memory card and some UV lens filters for a similar price as ebay - why buy on ebay when you can spend £4k on flights and buy them in the shop eh?!?<br />
<br />
After a snickers (tasted of Hershey chocolate not Mars chocolate, felt duped by Masterfoods) to gird my loins, I made my way to the Science and Technology subway station and the (in)famous A.P.Plaza Shopping Mall. This is a fake market - don't be under any illusion that anything in the market is the real deal apart from the bespoke suit fitting (which I didn't go for anyway). So if you after any of the following, this place can provide a facsimile of it:<br />
<ul>
<li>Handbags (Jimmy Choo, D&G and Mulberry seemed to the most popular)</li>
<li>Belts & wallets (stamped with all sorts of designer logos)</li>
<li>Sunglasses (Rayban and Oakley mainly)</li>
<li>Watches (Ice and G-Shocks were the main ones I saw)</li>
<li>T-shirts (Abercrombie, Diesel etc)</li>
<li>Jeans (All sorts, but due to my small waist/huge arse disfigurement I didn't bother)</li>
<li>Shoes (Mainly Converse and Uggs, but a lot of leather shoes as well)</li>
<li>Bags (Rucksacs and suitcases)</li>
<li>iPhone/iPad accessories</li>
<li>Helicopters (bloody everywhere)</li>
<li>Tourist Tat (Chopsticks, buddas, dodgy jade, tea sets, masks, abacuses and little jewellery boxes)</li>
</ul>
Hels had packed me off to China with some very specific instructions about a particularly nice handbag I was to look for and I found it straight away, so then it was onto the process of haggling. I managed to get the bag for less than 30% of the original asking price, which wasn't bad (probably still got ripped-off, but never mind, the bag was £680 less than its original...). I wasn't quite so successful with my tourist tat as the girlie was particularly polite, friendly and pretty (bloody sucker), so I forgot to haggle as hard, but still got a bit off nonetheless. <br />
<br />
There were more westerners than locals and shop owners were forever trying to drag you into their shops. In the end I just switched off and wandered around until something took my eye. There are only so many times you can asked if you want bag, t-shirt or shoes before you want to just start shouting fuck-off and die at the top of your voice, so I decided that was enough and came back to the hotel.<br />
<br />
Five subway journeys in all today amounted to a grade total of £2 with all journeys 30 or 40p, not bad for a days work! More sightseeing and tourist stuff tomorrow - hopefully will get to go up to the highest observation deck in the world (complete with glass floor!) if the low cloud has improved. Will post some pictures if I can get up there!Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-16826824419973748312012-11-08T13:49:00.000+00:002012-11-10T14:49:58.312+00:00Shanghai Day 3 - NSFW<span style="font-size: small;">'Hey you want lady massage? Pwetty girl, velly sexy!'</span><br />
<br />
Oh dear, not been accosted by pimps/madams/prostitutes before, so it came as a bit of a shock. Fortunately the shock had well and truely been replaced by ambivalence on the tenth occasion I was asked and then by annoyance as I was asked two feet from the front of the Hotel doors in full view of the concierge. Obviously, the bag/watch hawkers by day are the pimps by night - got to make your money some how I suppose... <br />
<br />
Just a short entry today as I'm suffering from jet lag and severe carbon monoxide poisoning.<br />
<br />
A combination of the worst taxi journey yet (even though it was only £2.60 for a 20 min journey!) and the rain arriving meant that the fumes finally got to me and I've had a motor fume headache all day - ugh!<br />
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I zoned out for most of the day at work until around 8am UK time as my brain realised that it was getting up time. Took the subway home for the first time, which was pretty easy as the trains are bigger than their London counterparts and thankfully air-conditioned. All the signs, ticket macines and announcements were also in English, so it was stress-free finding your way. The only difference to the UK was the complete absence of any waiting to let people on or off, so it was a bit of a bun fight at some stations. Just going with the flow and joining in the argy-bargy seemed to be the best bet, it helped that I was twice the size of most of the women and bigger than most of the men - all hulking 12st 5'10" of me. Heh, beefcake!!<br />
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Lovely bit of sushi for dinner, followed by cheese cake, mango cheesecake, ice cream and erm chocolate fondue. Well, I did go to the gym this morning and I will (might) go tomorrow morning... <br />
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Signing off for now. Nearly the weekend and have to save my strength for mammoth sightseeing/ fake goods purchasing spree on Saturday. <br />
<br />Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-11522838044527170712012-11-07T13:51:00.000+00:002012-11-07T13:51:19.623+00:00Shanghai Day 2 - Tai Chi, breakfast dumplings and tiny urinalsMy first day back at work today meeting our Chinese colleagues, but before that I decided to go for a wander in the morning sunshine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tomorrow Square building</td></tr>
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Amazing the number of people doing Tai Chi in square - was really impressed by the mass participation-side of it all. Was even more surprised when I went round the corner and found that early morning exercise also included group aerobics and ballroom dancing!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The god awful pollution</td></tr>
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I took a stroll to the People's Square and had a nose around. Got a lovely shot of the Tomorrow Square building, but even at 7am the pollution was incredible. It was even worse by the time we made our way home in the evening.<br />
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In the People's Square there are quite few sculptures - one of Mao (I presume) and a huge bronze sculpture of the 'Good Eighth Company on Nanjing Road' The army is depicted doing all the good things that communist armies do - help tend the fields, build roads, repair shoes, help old men and women with babies cross the road and also carry lots of guns. The description beside the sculpture also describes their 'perservering resistance and defiance of the corrosive influence of corrupt and decadent ideas'. The sculpture is mighty impressive nonetheless.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Good Eighth Company on Nanjing Road'</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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After wandering back to the Hotel I decide a bit of breakfast was in order. When in China, never choose to eat Alpen - it really does taste like dust. Fortunately, I was in a corrupt and decadent American hotel, so it also offered waffles, french toast, crunchy bacon and maple syrup, so I was quite happy! Having not eaten for 16 hours, I thought it was only right to have a third course as well, so tried some dumplings. The seafood dumpling was a bit mleh, the fried dumpling so-so, but the big pork dumpling was lovely - I may have to try them again (after I make my way through the breakfast sushi, croissants, donuts and full english also on offer).<br />
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At lunchtime we were taken out by our Chinese hosts to a restaurant where we were treated to some proper Chinese cuisine. None of your english MSG, prawn cracker, egg fried rice nonsense here though - lots of soups, lots of chilli and not a noodle or rice grain in site. I tried not to make a fool of myself by using chopsticks, but they took pity on me after I dropped hoy sin pork all down my shirt and a knife and fork turned up. Spot the tourist...(at least I tried!!).<br />
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Most important discovery of the day however, is that I am unable to use urinals in China. Even the highest appliance seems to be designed for my someone of my four-year-old's height and the potential for splashback is to severe for even me to attempt!<br />
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On that bombshell, I am off to bed, more later when I do some more exploring... <br />
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<br />Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-41010318887373091542012-11-06T10:00:00.001+00:002012-11-10T14:50:10.260+00:00Shanghai Day one and halfMy what a lucky boy I am - 10 days in Shanghai with work and got to fly business class as well!<br />
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My day started by catching the 8am train to Paddington, hopping off and then straight on the Heathrow Express - House to Airport in less than three hours which can't be bad.<br />
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After being whisked through the posh lane in security, I had time to imagine myself as a spy when I spotted Melissa George in the queue (yep, as foxy in the flesh as on the TV!!) - were they filming another episode of Hunted at the airport?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Virgin Clubhouse</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our A340-600 (or so the brochure says)</td></tr>
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The Virgin lounge was very nice - managed a posh burger and a beer before being whisked into my upper class seat on the plane. Was looking forward to my first experience of turning left rather than right, but alas no - we were given our own separate upper class entrance! <br />
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I have come to the conclusion that flying is rubbish no matter what class you go, its just that flying upper class makes it slightly less rubbish than economy. The food was much better, the seat comfier and yes it did recline to a flat bed, but that's of little use if you can't manage to sleep on the plane anyway!<br />
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So, a bit bleary-eyed we arrived in Shanghai and were greeted with a
very fast moving immigration queue (Heathrow take note!) and we were
soon in our Limo to the hotel. The scale of the city is staggering.
Where in the UK you would have 2 or 3 high-rises, here you have 10 or 20
all in the same development and more being built all the time. The
high-rises started 30kms out of the city centre and just kept getting
taller and taller the closer to the centre we got. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Howard Johnson Plaza in all its glory!</td></tr>
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Our hotel - the Howard Johnson Plaza is pretty nice. A 15m swimming pool which was nice and cool (got raced by a cheeky 4 year old in armbands - he nearly beat me!) and I'll check out the gym tomorrow. It is also 30secs walk from the equivalent of Oxford/Bond Street in London. Every other shop for half a mile was selling Omega, Rolex or beautiful Chinese jewellery and antiques (£50k teapot anyone or £98k jade Buddha anyone?)<br />
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Of course just outside the real shops we were also offered the fake Omegas and Rolex as well - in plain view of the ubiquitous Police in their little electric golf buggies. Looks like all you have to do is be able to run fast in China to outwit the police...<br />
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Traffic lights also seem to to be more of a suggestion that mopeds should stop rather than actually stop. It doesn't help that half of them are electric as well, so you have to keep your eyes open at all times - quite difficult when you've been awake for nearly 24 hours..<br />
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We walked all the way to the river to get a view of the Bund and the financial centre across the river - including the Oriental Pearl Tower. That is on the tourist list, especially as I want to try and spot the swimming pool from Skyfall...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The financial district (Pudong). Pollution is awful.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Back to work in the morning after a 13 hour sleep to try and catch up on things. I will post some more pics up as I get them.Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0Shanghai, China31.230393 121.47370430.3614965 120.21027649999999 32.0992895 122.7371315tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-20334313379240129952012-08-02T22:08:00.000+01:002012-08-02T22:08:30.402+01:00Belts, Braces and Laces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My training is now in full swing. The guys at work have helpfully(!!) become my conscience and remind me every time my mind wanders onto chocolate or lard in any way.<br />
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I've spent a couple of quid and got myself some stretchy laces and race belt, which should save at least a minute over my shoddy transitions in the Taunton race. I've also got myself an Id band from <a href="http://www.onelifeid.com/" target="_blank">OneLifeId</a>, so I'm not quite so nervous about leaving my wallet at home when I go cycling or running at some ungodly hour of the day or night.<br />
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Hels has taken the children to Cardiff for the week so I've taken the opportunity to put myself through a little cycling training camp. 40km on Monday night (including a more than slightly challenging 1:4 climb up to Crowcombe Gate), a 40km up to Wellington Monument on Wednesday night and the 55km cycle to work on Thursday have nearly broken me!<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="454" scrolling="no" src="http://app.strava.com/athletes/388811/latest-rides/8e4d96df31d6cfce391598fcbeed879aebfe3c0e" width="300"></iframe><br />
I'm going to try and get some swim coaching from an instructor who lives down the road. I'm not looking for a revolution to my stroke, just pointers on improving things. I've already improved my time by a further 30 seconds down to 7:30 for 400m, if I can take a further 15sec by the time I race, I will be well happy.<br />
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I also need to put in some serious miles on the run. I find this by far the least enjoyable of the three disciplines, by that doesn't mean I can ignore it and hope it goes away! I'm still using micoach to do the pace-based interval training, but I've got a Garmin 305CX (with a HR monitor) on the way courtesy of eBay, so I'll see I get on with that as well. Fingers crossed I can equip myself as well on the 23rd September at Langport as I did in Taunton in June.Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-52876529638074311112012-06-13T22:17:00.002+01:002012-06-13T22:17:27.726+01:00Next ChallengeHmmmmm, only 2 and half years since my last post, but nevermind.<div>
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First a bit of background. Around this time last year, I did something to my shoulder. Not sure what it was or how I did it, but it hurt when I lifted my arm above my head, pulled anything up or tried to pick up the kids.</div>
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I buried my head in the sand and hoped it would just fix itself, but to no avail - in fact it just got worse. I stopped going to the gym, mountain biking and even road biking because my shoulder hurt so much. In the end I went to a physio who sorted me out, but in the meantime I started running again.</div>
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Christmas last year I was running 3 times a week for about 5km at about 5min/km pace (25mins for a run then). About the same time I got the OK from the physio to start training again, but I wanted to try and do both the running and cycling. I started running at lunchtimes at work and continued cycling the 50km to work once a week and the odd mtb session on the Quantocks.</div>
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In March we also joined Taunton School gym, which has two indoor swimming pools and a gym, all of which the family can use for a bargain £30 a month! I was already running and cycling and now I had a swimming pool to use - the seed was sown.</div>
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At the end of March I signed up for a sprint distance <a href="http://www.totalbuzzevents.com/taunton_tri.shtml">triathlon</a> being run at Taunton School and began training. I'd not swam more than 2 lengths since lifeguarding 16 years ago, but just got down to the task at hand.</div>
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I also took advantage of the online training app <a href="http://www.adidas.com/uk/micoach/">micoach</a> (for running) and <a href="http://www.strava.com/athlete/toby_freeman">Strava</a> (for cycling) to get me up the hills that little bit faster.</div>
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By the time the triathlon came around at the beginning of June, I had reduced my 400m swim time by two and half minutes and my 5km run by over 5 minutes.</div>
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The end result was a pretty good time and a creditable 45th place:</div>
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Although I'm quite pleased with my time, a quick look at the stats shows several areas where I can improve my time without having to improve my fitness:</div>
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<li>Swim - I can reduce my time by a minute by just doing 16 lengths instead of the 18 I did (!!!!)</li>
<li>Swim to Bike transition - This was rubbish. I can reduce this time by not drying feet and not putting on socks. A race belt will also help here as it will already have my race number pinned to it.</li>
<li>Bike to Run transition - This was truly appalling. The main chunk of time here was due to having to safety pin my number onto the front of my suit. Again, the race belt should improve this time significantly.</li>
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The changes above should improve my time by at least 2 minutes, which would have pushed me into the mid-30 placings.</div>
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I've just spent the past week and a half drinking wine and eating chocolate cake after the race. I'm bored now and ready for the next challenge and have just applied to do the <a href="http://www.huishleisure.co.uk/content.asp?c=40">Langport Triathlon</a> in September. Lets see how we get on with this one...</div>Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-2150806638145312082010-09-12T21:41:00.001+01:002010-09-12T21:50:39.436+01:00Sales Pitch<div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"></div>So, the time has finally come. Redundancy, a new job, relocation to a rented house and two children have finally beat me into submission and I'm being forced to sell one of my bikes. I laboured a while over which it should be - the nimble little hardtail or the full-sus bruiser, but in the end it had to be the hardtail. The full-sus goes like stink at the trail centre and saves me when I over-reach my somewhat limited abilities!<br /><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxk-MuKYi0Nt-m7U8dy5SlnZTVfEL0FO_SBz3H2bhkSNZmqxSDNrNQIP4QEgf3LP52urwsOv73SWeX1e0zlO46TClnmrlkuPGW4vsLWSBlXKJCTbeEGkVEUhjBQYswQ-vBy9qf7hJHNkY/s400/DSC_0002.JPG" border="0" /><br />So here it is. The spec is a follows:<br /><ul><br /><li>Pipedream Sirius 18" frame - Purchased November 2006 in blue. The odd scratch, paint chip and wear from cable rub on the top tube. Frame protectors on the head tube and seat tube. Would suit anyone from about 5'8" - 6'0" (I'm 5'10")</li><br /><li>Rockshox Reba 100mm Fork</li><br /><li>Hope Headset</li><br /><li>Hope BB</li><br /><li>Rear wheel - Hope XC hub on Mavic 717 rim</li><br /><li>Front wheel - Ovation pro hub on Mavic 221 rim</li><br /><li>Continental Vertical Tyres</li><br /><li>Shimano LX cranks</li><br /><li>Sram PC951 chain</li><br /><li>Shimano XT 9 Speed Cassette</li><br /><li>Sram X-9 Rear mech</li><br /><li>Sram X-7 Shifter</li><br /><li>Shimano LX front mech</li><br /><li>Shimano LX shifter</li><br /><li>Easton EA-30 stem</li><br /><li>Race Face Evolve XC Riser</li><br /><li>Race Face Evolve XC Seat post</li><br /><li>Avid Juicy 3 disk brakes with 160mm disks - these are nearly new</li><br /><li>Charge Spoon Saddle - some damage to rear when I came off the back a few weeks ago (see photo)</li><br /><li>Shimano 515 pedals - nearing the end of their life as the bearings are loose</li><br /></ul>Apart from the headset installation, I've built and maintained the bike myself and its in excellent condition, even if I do say so myself! I'm looking for £500 and ideally a local Plymouth sale as sending a bike through the post is just a complete faff (and fecking expensive). I could deliver to Exeter or Taunton (possibly Weston-Super-Mare) as I'm relocating to Somerset in October. If you are interested, drop me a mail!<br /><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VykY1P4aolwi9fHMw1W5QHszBXLG-w0bxlHXU-Kfilxo3L-TYaPDpXj4Z6UDdXr2MMCrQNNJAVUdaGmHhboBBs_wWztPF67KQJwPoJxIXBKamGNYdIxkpxK7kfcG49sO6I8E6ijUDe0/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VykY1P4aolwi9fHMw1W5QHszBXLG-w0bxlHXU-Kfilxo3L-TYaPDpXj4Z6UDdXr2MMCrQNNJAVUdaGmHhboBBs_wWztPF67KQJwPoJxIXBKamGNYdIxkpxK7kfcG49sO6I8E6ijUDe0/s400/DSC_0003.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31j56aBuOo2AktRLeEK3w5smKEOsF0p9e7w2tJhLKfrq4TX1YTEH6HRJMV3a1pUeOUAMPC2u5uJ_YLGWDPJSZi4tCmosYzj0WNAGBw53zTG2IFhUNT3DSspkr_DmRRI-2KlfL35HZ4ZA/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31j56aBuOo2AktRLeEK3w5smKEOsF0p9e7w2tJhLKfrq4TX1YTEH6HRJMV3a1pUeOUAMPC2u5uJ_YLGWDPJSZi4tCmosYzj0WNAGBw53zTG2IFhUNT3DSspkr_DmRRI-2KlfL35HZ4ZA/s400/DSC_0004.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPy1gW2V2Cj5Sb5Gq8-48uPdWoyYEGHdtYyw0otmrSAdpnOEmUSWSdXHcekOna4KezsTRecLGAiT9_613Z5hPHCl1WEkid5DiSpgSXVYR44xwUVSHkGpw_q_umehPaMlmucXVtGxRX88/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPy1gW2V2Cj5Sb5Gq8-48uPdWoyYEGHdtYyw0otmrSAdpnOEmUSWSdXHcekOna4KezsTRecLGAiT9_613Z5hPHCl1WEkid5DiSpgSXVYR44xwUVSHkGpw_q_umehPaMlmucXVtGxRX88/s400/DSC_0005.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none; padding: 0px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-91113193243123926372010-06-04T16:46:00.005+01:002010-06-04T17:13:28.384+01:00Dartmoor Zoological Park<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FwwP0XG7JUnlp9GJBQgDCF57IQKV-DIISt7TI1XtmbCWYuJ1ECq-mK3ObkXa-08sjjuqmS6CMXA6VQll8GOew_fA_D6rRCOrpDVgxk5aOncW8u3aQYRp8HtiRK5zGvr9MI7nVwM8-E4/s1600/DSC_0089.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FwwP0XG7JUnlp9GJBQgDCF57IQKV-DIISt7TI1XtmbCWYuJ1ECq-mK3ObkXa-08sjjuqmS6CMXA6VQll8GOew_fA_D6rRCOrpDVgxk5aOncW8u3aQYRp8HtiRK5zGvr9MI7nVwM8-E4/s320/DSC_0089.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478949012055029170" border="0" /></a><br />Having small children now means that I'll be visiting South Devon's best family attractions this summer. First up is <a href="http://www.dartmoorzoo.org/">Dartmoor Zoological park</a>, near Ivybridge.<br /><br />We got there nice and early, about half an hour after the park opened and the car park was already filling up nicely (it was bank holiday monday after all). After paying £8.95 each (kids under 5 are free), we began the walk up the hill toward the main part of the zoo.<br /><br />Its a funny place, basically what looks like a farm on the side of a hill, with pastures for each of the animals, with the more dangerous animals having proper pens at the top of the hill. There are around 200 animals including Osterich, Brown bear, monkeys, meerkat, and several big cats.<br /><br />I quite enjoyed myself actually. It is a little run down in places (toilet blocks need some tlc, paths are a bit on the dodgy side if you don't have a middle-classtastic phil & ted!) and a bit grubby, but its obvious that they are investing money into the park in the right places. The restaurant is nice with a great little meerkat enclosure right in front of it and there is a large picnic area near the big cat pens with plenty of picnic tables (they missed a trick by not opening the kiosk though - they would have made a killing while we were there). We were even treated to a display from a Peacock - obviously touting for food!<br /><br />Sammy was quite taken aback by the big cats - the roar of the male lion made him sit up and look around and he watched the tigers for ages, until one began pacing up and down the fence 3 feet from our noses.<br /><br />There was a small petting area with some small goats which Sammy enjoyed, though he did get gently butted at one point. I think he may have deserved it for poking the poor goat in the eye one too many times.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBnBXFAm2lR8eZrZCD8V-LUcrVSk6iaUoum7fbJ6P1pmcfT77dtpOn3obsvlRhmZVJI-f8SQbVSXy3uFnBR-Y1Co0Y79nZtH1lHXkFKfTFHr7EeiZybt4QrqU5ZW3KLBKW4j3p6JgECg/s1600/DSC_0080.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBnBXFAm2lR8eZrZCD8V-LUcrVSk6iaUoum7fbJ6P1pmcfT77dtpOn3obsvlRhmZVJI-f8SQbVSXy3uFnBR-Y1Co0Y79nZtH1lHXkFKfTFHr7EeiZybt4QrqU5ZW3KLBKW4j3p6JgECg/s320/DSC_0080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478951080990280962" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, it was good half day out for the kids. I don't think I would go back again this year (or next), but it was a good way to show Sammy what lions and tigers look like in real life!Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-8822141414820709312010-06-01T21:36:00.001+01:002010-06-01T21:36:27.367+01:00New hobby<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_puoWVGiDGro/TAVvRw7uvZI/AAAAAAAAAA8/CrrEbqtuiGM/New%20hobby_img_1.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left cursor: pointer; width: 240px height: 320px; " height="320px" width="240px" /><br><br>Its been nearly 20 years since I last bought a regular series comic.  I've dabbled with one-offs and trade paperbacks over the past couple of years, but nothing regular.  <br /><br>There is a little comic shop (LTD edition) near the Barbican in Plymouth that I've nipped into and browsed a couple of times, so the other week I popped in and had  a chat with a guys and came away with a couple of titles to have look at; Batman, avengers, iron man and spawn.  Here's what I thought of them:<br><br /><u>Batman</u> <br><br />This the main Batman title and its pretty much the same as I remembered it - the story was pretty good, the theme dark and there was smattering of baddy bashing in there for good measure.  The whole current Batman backstory is a bit confusing as the original Robin (Dick Grayson aka Nightwing) is now Batman as Bruce Wayne is dead (well, not really, this is comic land afterall! See below).  Overall I was impressed with the first two issues.<br><br /><u>Batman:Return of Bruce Wayne</u><br><br />This is a 6 issue miniseries that starts with Bruce Wayne (see, not dead!) in pre-history fighting for his life against a poweful tribal leader. There is the odd bit of iconography and Batman gets a 'Robin' halfway through the comic, but I was really disappointed by the story of the first issue and the artwork wasn't as good as I was expecting.  The second issue was much better though with the story arc being developed and setting (early Gotham in the times of the witch hunts) is a clever tie-in.<br><br /><u>Avengers #1 Heroic Age</u><br><br />The first issue of a new avengers comic sees Steve Rogers (cap America, got assassinated a few years ago?) forming a new avengers team. All the usual suspects are there with the first issue setting the scene. Thor gets some action and the final couple of panels sets things up nicely.  Disappointing artwork again though, wolverine especially looked rubbish.<br><br /><u>Iron Man: Legacy</u><br><br />Another new series I thought I'd dip into as I've never read any iron man books before. The action starts straight away with iron man technology being used in genocidal acts in a slavic state. Stark goes to investigate and then the fun begins!  The artwork is a lot better than avengers and the story has me hooked so I'll keep up with this one.<br><br /><u>Spawn</u><br><br />I was looking for #200, but it seems this book is forever delayed, so comic shop man gave me a recent copy gratis.  It was part of an ongoing storyline, but nonetheless I was impressed by the glorious artwork, the several full page panels and the dark story.  Definitely one to keep up with.<br /><br>I've also done a bit of research in other titles. With a couple of new story arcs starting shortly I'm going to take a look at Spiderman, Superman and the new x-men title. I'll report on those and update the others shortly.<br />Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4735486691146495180.post-3751130446418790612009-12-08T15:20:00.000+00:002009-12-08T15:20:36.643+00:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aDbqvuKvRRDXw75lgv4PU_L427LRZN1UrVfSHzcW4aCEblskZCPQeObRf8Ky9aXe6AegtmpA2xmM030VLlc4iWDjcfc0ywDAELxzPGIZH-M9hZOcsntf7DJ7wyJ0utHa_MHf8eI0ZTY/s1600-h/DSC_0023-1.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CLEAR: both" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aDbqvuKvRRDXw75lgv4PU_L427LRZN1UrVfSHzcW4aCEblskZCPQeObRf8Ky9aXe6AegtmpA2xmM030VLlc4iWDjcfc0ywDAELxzPGIZH-M9hZOcsntf7DJ7wyJ0utHa_MHf8eI0ZTY/s320/DSC_0023-1.JPG" /></a>I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in my shed. First I thought it was because it was somewhere I had complete and utter control over; I knew where every single little thing was, it was arranged just as I wanted it and it was (mostly) full of my own stuff.<br /><br />But lately, I'm beginning to think its because the shed is a bit of an analogy of my life and brain. Its beginning to show its age here and there, its full to bursting and there is quite a lot of tat in it! But despite all the little problems, like my life there's some exceptionally brilliant bits and bobs in there too. I'm kind of hoping this blog will be an analogy of the shed, well we'll see...<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Tobeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02421730415145554112noreply@blogger.com0