The new love of my life

Topic: I heart cameras

This, is my new baby:

And he's going with me all the way to Xinjiang! :-D

With that said, I'll be out of Beijing in less than 12 hours. In between now and then: packing and Steph's birthday party (Happy birthday, Princess Kimchi!! :) ). I can't wait to see the mountains, eat heaps of chua'rs, and test out my new baby boy!!

Will be back in 2 weeks time!

One down...

Topic of the day: Coming up on the one year mark

Time flies, time flies, time flies! In the blink of an eye, one year has passed and in a few days time, it will be my first anniversary in China. Who would've guessed that with my sudden arrival in China, I would last this long? Certainly not I - after all, I was suppose to have visited the States last August!

Inspired by what Adam wrote in his blog when he marked his anniversary in Beijing, below is a list of some of the things that I have learned, experienced, and achieved during my first China year:

- Understanding why Beijing is the "largest small town" in the world.

- From alternative fuel source to law firms to a "harmonious society", learned a little about a lot of different things.

- Further acquainted myself with China by traveling within her - sometimes to revisit the old (Shanghai, Qingdao), but often to be introduced to the new (Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Tai Shan, et al).

- Finished an internship and got a job! Woo-hoo! J

- Moved to my very own flat.

- Discovered more professional interests - like photography and CSR.

- Found areas where I need to improve myself.

- Met many new friends and had even more depart... It's always a shame...

- Learned my 2^nd ring road from my 3^rd ring road!

As I have said and will continue to say, living in China at this point of her development is interesting, exhilarating, and always fascinating. I have no grandiose future plan, but I do look forward to further developing myself and continuing to learn about Asia for as long as this road takes me.

For now, exciting opportunities loom in the near future: 2 weeks in Xinjiang (now, I have decided to forgo the Southern Silk Road and head to Kanas Lake instead) and some old friends visiting Beijing in the summer (they're actually old AIESEC trainee friends back during when I was in Turkey! Haven't seen them in years!).

As Delphy once said: Adventure awaits! And I'm excited to start! J

Tequila ain't my friend

Topic of the day: I have friends!

To all those who attended my little birthday pow-wow at the Handsome Cafe (and who's reading this blog right now), thank you!!! Hope everyone had a good time!

As my friend Jerry/Gerard/Witty/That-Irish-Guy said it: You didn't even need to hire Helen and I from Rent-A-Friend-Beijing! Ha! To be fair, I am very happy to know that I have more than 2 friends in Beijing! *grin!*

It's a shame though that I don't remember much after the tequila shot with Yenny... Damn, tequila isn't a friend of mind! Nor is Russian vodka, as learned from Harbin...

And while we're on the topic, please don't think I'm an alcoholic. But I figured (and Freda concurs) that reading about my social life is much more interesting than reading about my work life. Though coincidentally enough, I do have a funny story now that is kind of work related:

Our office was just remodeled and the entrance, as well as the 3 elevator doors, now bare our company colors: gold and maroon. While waiting for the elevator, a Chinese colleague of mine asked another Chinese colleague: "I don't understand why the doors aren't still gold and maroon by the time we get downstairs."

The response from my colleague: "Ugh - there's 2 doors..."

On the same elevator ride, the same colleague said that until very recently, she thought that milk cows only come in female cows...and that in the world, no male milk cows existed.

I wonder how it had not hit her that milk cows can reproduce if there are only female milk cows in the world...Hmmmm...

One year older...

Topic of the day: ...one year wiser?

I woke up feeling awesome today! After a fun night out at Bar Blu's trivia night where we placed 8th out of 11 teams (the questions are really made for an European audience...at least that's what I keep on telling myself...and no hang overs at all this morning!), I woke up to a beautiful Beijing spring day - a shining sun, blue sky, the whole nine yard.

I also woke up exceptionally happy. In my mind, 23 is suppose to be one of the best year in a person's life. From work to love to just purely enjoying life, I've always imaged 23 to be the year where it just WORKS for people. And although it is still a bit hard to realize and accept that I'm yet one year older, I am looking forward to what my 23rd year hold for me!

But of course, today is just another normal day for most citizens of this planet. In honor of all the “small” things that's going on in people's lives from around the world, I've scanned the news sources and have provided some links for those more interesting little moments. Enjoy!

- Ninja boy
- Snake
- Oh those military boys...
- Bare butts
- Good ol' Little 5

And a special mention goes to Michell's Kennism blog, as well as Freda's Thoughts That Runs Through My Head When I'm Left Alone blog (It's the third one down). Two of the funniest entries I've read in a while. Well done, girls! :)

The next adventure

Topic of the day: May holidays plan

 

My May Holidays plan is decided:

 

I'm going to Xinjiang!!!

 

Together with the most un-Swiss Swiss I've ever met (and a few others along the way), we're heading to Kashgar from Beijing, then go up the Karakorum Highway towards Pakistan.  After entering the Hindu Kush mountains to (hopefully) China's last boarder town with Pakistan, Tashkurgan, we'll return to Kashgar.  From Kashgar, we will make our way east, across the Taklamakan Desert, back to Urumqi.

 

I can't wait.  :)

Ay, these Beijing streets!

Topic of the day: Bluelist - bike riding around Beijing

 

Having about 1 months worth of Beijing bike riding experience under my belt and inspired by the Lonely Planet's Bluelist, I have decided to make my own bluelist. 

 

The topic of the bluelist: Qualities to possess when bike riding around Beijing.

 

Stamina. You might think that you're fit and you might think that riding around Beijing should be a piece of cake, given how most of the city is as flat as a Midwestern corn field.  However, when you start huffing and puffing, when your legs starts stinging, and when you see some punk zooming past you while smoking a cigarette, you start re-evaluating how fit you really are.  Blame it on the pollution.

 

A steady hand.  Comes in handy when you're trying to squeeze between two cars during rush hour.  Or when you're riding against traffic and see 50 bikes coming straight towards you.  Or when you narrowly avoid crashing into another bike...  You get the point.

 

Reflexes.  But of course, an essential quality.  Perfect for any situation, ranging from someone opens a car door a few feet in front of you, to avoiding various potholes, to when a car merrily drives up behind you - in the bike lane.  It's a skill that I've yet to completely master.

 

Timing.  As the old adage goes, timing is everything.  When riding a bike in Beijing, timing can make or break the enjoyability of your ride.  So far, I've learned that it's never fun to ride during rush hour.  Especially evening rush hour.  Jostling with the mass of humanity, bikes, and cars have never been my thing.  On the other hand, riding around at 10pm is an absolute joy!  Not only have the people cleared, but the air's slightly fresher - finally, some fume free oxygen!!!

 

Guts.  Just what you need when deciding whether or not to run that yellow/red light...when there's a wave of impatient cars eagerly waiting for the opportunity to run you over.