Hi guys... sorry for not writing more (at all!)... I have rediscovered the joys of paper and a pen.   Especially the Uni Ball Jetstream ball point pen.  Very nice.  Very nice indeed.
More... when I get sick from all the ink fumes.  Ta ta!

try this pen out.. you'll see why I love it!  (comes, afaik in 0.7 and 1.0 mm sizes... I like the 1.0 but for seepier paper, use the 0.7.)

PS - Egypt is an amazing country.  Visit Cairo... NOW.
PPS - Morocco and Oman, here I come!! 
PPPS - OMG OMG OMG... THEY COME IN DIFFERENT COLORS!??!?!  Someone PLEASE buy me a pack of these and send it over!!  I will pay!!!

Why is it that at sunrise, light seems so cold and blue, but at sunset, it's so brilliantly orange?  How odd, I just realized...

Anyway... new shoes!  wheeee... custom "hand made" shoes for 100 US bucks.  Now that I recite that, it sounds like a lot of money, but compared to the price of shoes these days, I guess it feels more reasonable than not. 

Thank you, Billy Wang!
I'll be back to make some more after my trip to HK this weekend.   I'm designing my own shoes now.. isn't that cool?

My cats are, oddly enough, stressing me out!!  Anybody in Shanghai want 4 free cats?  >.<

11:25pm addition:
http://www.schulmanphotography.com/rsportraits.htm
... *drool*  I am in love with his work!!

It just occurred to me, here on the subway, that at least one career
option has already passed me by... That is to say, it actually is no
longer a possibility for me to pursue, no matter how much i might want
it.

I can not be a pro skateboarder.

... how sad is that?

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

It's been a nice weekend!  Sasha's today followed by a walk to Billy Wang's shoe store, where Cat and I waited about an hour and a half to get our feet measured and our orders put-in, but hopefully it will all be worth it in a few weeks.
I tried to make an emergency pit stop in Cafe Montmartre, but the fuckers told me their pit stop was broken/being fixed... -_-;  So I took said emergency over to the next pit stop at Jamaica Blue.  Thank goodness it was easy to find, but damn my new blue jeans for having a super tight button fly!
So, after that, I had a double espresso and then we jetted on home for another emergency pit stop... (errr is it weird that I'm using "pit stop" so often here?  I feel... silly.  Anyway.) before heading out to the Shanghai center in hopes of getting my beloved ferragamos sorted out.   I'll find out in a week what they think about the peeling top (bottom?) layer of leather on my sole.  But seriously, it's only been 4 months of medium use!!  I would be upset if they didn't fix or replace them. =P
We ran into xiao wang at the gate downstairs, then headed up for some hot body oil massage... mmm mmm gooood... for Cat.  I just took the voyeuristic route and watched.  Hot.  When you touch a heater.  hur hur hur... so laaame.  I tired.

Yesterday was good, too - I binged on denim (two pairs from H&M, one almost identical to my original pair, and a new pair that I wore today and match really well - finally a pair that do - with my tan Camper wing-caps!!) and also bought three long tees plus a(nother) reversible fleece/fluff sweater from UNIQLO.  I am such a consumer now... and a wannabe fashion slut at that!  what with my new designer sun glasses and new trendy jeans and shit... where do I think I'm from... Hong Kong?  Los Angeles?? Pffft....

OK, nite nite... thanks xiaowang for procuring two vials of that almost-impossible-to-get Chinese medicinal massage oil!!    Very much appreciated.  And very much lightening on my wallet. :-/
Ciaosta fa nowsta.

Wowwww it's been a long time!  So much for blogging. :p
Lots of work lately... month-long co-source in Lujiazui (Puming Lu @ Shangcheng Lu) which was more like a secondment... met a Melbourne counterpart from ITA; very chill Malay guy whom jus does not know despite going to Monash togezeur.

I am in need of massaji.  Xiao waaaaang!!

Still recovering from my client's auditor's cold... -_-;  the phlegm (and hence man-made cough) are still present... albeit at daily-weakening levels.  Spent 2 days in the office before 4 days at FuDan University's Crowne Plaza hotel doing graduate recruitment... Seeing some Shanghai Hunniez (lolz0rz) and getting a better feel for motivated Chinese youth.. it's kind of scary.  I spent the last 4 days (which included sat and sun thanks to guoqing - national day holiday) in the office, one half day of which was spent giving a brief orientation to the new A1s... similarly, meeting these new hires also scares me.  Now I have pressure to perform at a higher level than someone, whereas previously, there was nobody less important at the firm.  :-/   Weeee'll see!  In some ways I think that's a good motivation for me.

GP has incorporated!!  (In HK) - as of about 3 or 4 weeks ago, I think.  (check gmail for d337s)... quite the exciting.  I'm excited to see how this will take off (or flop....)  I have the feeling that despite my somewhat lacklustre response to this concept, it will in hindsight prove to be one of my career's (if not my life's) pivotal moments... reaching the top of one (of many) flights of stairs... or perhaps the start of my ascension of the next flight.  In any case, I think it will prove to be a bigger deal than I can't help feeling right now.  (SHHHHHH DON'T TELL THE GUYS.)
I think it has to do with my primarily advisory role - not being in HK, it's hard to get involved in the hands-on, cut-up-knuckles, dirt-on-the-face nuts and bolts side of the business.  The thought of ditching my firm and heading for the wild woods has crossed my mind a few times... but for the time being I think I should build on my technical, soft, managerial, and administrative skills before taking a leap out of this "school".  Of course, I have much maturing to do, too, but that's somewhat different.  Somewhat.

I think a lot about NYC and LA these days... the lifestyles primarily (as different as they were - and they actually were different!) but also the environments, the food, the people... there's so much I miss, so much I linger on these days.  I feel like it may be inhibiting my forward-movement.  It's as if I only move laterally these days; in all aspects of life.
Urth Cafe... Santa Monica Mountain driving... Citylights on Fig... SCathons... northernish down-town LA... SC campus (remember the "SCampus"?...) Traffic... Danny's... drift events...
29th at 8th... the low sun casting long, slow shadows on my walls... the timed coffee maker which I now so dearly miss... the Subway... wine... city tours... Red Bamboo... (Can't help but think of "big bamboo" when I think of that place!)

In other news my right thumb is good well and torn up thanks to the abrasive green side of the dish sponge. :p  I further tested my ambidextrosity by attempting, late in the cycle, to use my left hand for the scrubbing, but it just didn't work out.  Anyway, though the kitchen still isn't quite as spick-and-span as it was that week that we had an Ayi, it's way better than it was earlier!

I think I'm going to go tend to my beginning-to-be-over-grown nails now.  Scritch scratch!

/end

addit:
Guoqing kuaile!

Free food at Cal Kitchen on Dagu Lu near Chengdu Lu today (Oct. 1) if you mention my firm!  See you there!

Wow... I <3 my parents!!   Thanks mom for thinking of me when you saw this at the airport just before boarding!!!
(Don't mind my busted face up there... I've been sick all week and hence naturally, look like shick.)

Infinite pleasures * 3... Totally reminds me of Rowland Heights & Walnut days. *sigh*

Up late today due in part to a late night last night... watched Fast Food Nation, which was... quite le disgusting.  Le way le beef is processed... les cows killed.... eughaaskdffddkslk... gives me le shivers!  (I've decided that in this email, all "the"s will be replaced by "le"s.  It is an AD decree.)
Anyway, I've definitely changed in my views on burgers.  Now instead of "yeah, sure, ok, a yum-burger."  I'm more like "ooh look, it's a yum-bur... no wait... I watched fast food nation... that's disgusting.  But I'll consider eating it anyway."

So.  Up around 11:30, lunch with Cat and her friend Diana, and her new friend Leslie (who incidentally knows le other Leslie... as well as Vanessa - le Wellesley connection, I guess... surprisingly, she didn't know le Steph, le Dawn, or le Niki... I guess le school's bigger than I thought!) at Haiku by Hatsune - reasonably good Japanese food... slightly over-priced IMO, but not "expensive" by any means.  (We only ordered sushi/rolls.)  Le Leslie connection was through Charlie, who... I'm not sure if he's back in SH or where he is... anyway.

From lunch, Diana boated off to shoppingu avec her madeur, and le three of us went to Evergreen (thanks, Jo, for le address) for an hour's foot massage, followed by an hour of full body.  All for a measly 150rmb!!  Le masseuse(s) there were noticeably better than that at Tai Pan, but le atmosphere and (lack of) food were not. :p   Pity!!  I would definitely go back, though.

So.  Dropped Leslie off at Jing'an Si subway stop, then headed home... where I napped for almost 2 hrs, before being rudely awaken by Cat to get some dinner.  We decided on One Degree North, but arrived to a (card-)boarded up shop with a notice that they would re-open in late september.  Grrr... so, we walked through le tinkly-drizzle to people's square (Raffles City) for Bakerzin... not a fan of le name, but man.. they've both changed their menu, and stepped it up another (half) notch!!   Le desserts we got to start (ginger lychee jello, pistachio creme brulee, chocolate/crunchy caramel) were excellent, as were our mains (Oxtail friend rice for me, prawn sammidge for cat), and le caffe mocha... mmm mmm... perfect, besides le (relatively) luke-warmness of it... and in hindsight, actually, I think they could have used a little more espresso...    But it was very good - just le right amount of chocolate syrup!  (i.e. about 2/3 of what Starbucks uses.)
After le wonderful mains, we indulged in a free chocolate pudding/cake thingy... that bleeds chocolate upon le breaking of its skin.  wonderful!   I really, really enjoyed dinner.

We made a not-so-quick stop in UNI-QLO (sp?) for some window shopping, and we both tried jeans on... but only she walked out with a new pair.   They're nice (esp. for le price), though!  Just not really my cut or wash.  Next door was a Giordano Concept, which looked very promising... just not le price tags. :/  RMB80 for a pair of boxers?  how about... no.

Home afterwards... then back down to buy milk and candy and vitamin suppli from le quik-e-mart, filled up our 19 litre water jug, then back up again for some pore plucking goodness and my internet fix... which is coming to an end now. :d

tired... pissed at the cats... air conditioning on and off and on and off throughout the day... unnecessarily taking shit... heading back to the office after work at the client's to take care of admin stuff... it's 1:40am... work in Pudong by 8:30 (i.e. get up by 7:10)... arrrr...
...
getting free tix to the China Formula Open (whatever that is... F3?) this Sunday... having a good meal of nachos, burger, and a bite of cat's tuna melt... hearing back from a colleague re: GP... Jo's back this Sunday... tomorrow's Friday...
Wine... must..t... have... w- wine...

Weird... all of a sudden, I went and missed 3 days in a row!! :p  Shows how busy/crazy/hectic things have been, I would like to say... but probably can't.  Work has been tough - I'm at a client's location where, over the weekend, they broke their air conditioning... and had to have a piece couriered in from japan to fix it - only today did they get it partially running, so monday tuesday and 3/4 of today I was sweating disgustingly in my seat as I scrolled through lotus notes in an ugly font because the air conditioning was out of service, and because my company computer doesn't fully support LN.  AND I couldn't get online on monday thanks to the client's genius networking... and now only get on thanks to... DIAL UP.  wow.

Aaanyway.  Work is slow, but I have a ton of responsibility... first time at a client's where I don't have an in-charge from my firm!  Weird, and scary.  Thank goodness for my wonderful office, namely kathryn, josephine, joicy, and nikkie, for offering their support from the office.

OK, I'm going to keep this one short... looking forward to Ningbo next weekend (not this one... next) and hoping that I'll get to do something for xmas!!

PS- steak and eggs just opened up in SH... their BJ shop was quite alright from what I remember... so was the food here, less their dessert.   their pies/cakes donna look so good... and the peanut butter and chocolate one sure didn't taste good, either. xp   That is all... until I try more.

Good night, world!

The day ending 00:00, August, 25, 2007.

"slept in" until 8am, got up to pee, slept inner until 9:55, when I woke of my own accord (!) because I knew the ayi was coming in for her interview today.

She called as I was peeing, from outside our front door... so I let her in, and we talked about our expectations/her take on working 2 days a week, etc... eventually, we decided on her coming every day of the week (!!!!!) to take care of all sorts of household stuff... though that sounds like a lot to me now, I'm sure it will prove to be the most practical.  It's just the thought of someone coming into my house during the day and cleaning up after me for two hours, then leaving about 6 hours before I get home.
Anyway, she started today, helping in the kitchen with the dishes - she's not bad, but she accidentally washed our food scale... which I dearly hope still works. :S  I guess this is why ayis cost how much they cost... but still, I'd pay even more of a premium for more detail-oriented work. :p

Received cat litter and toys, but had to return the cat food, on account of it being the 1-4 month kitten food, not the 4-12 month stuff.  Finally left the house around 4:30 for Ikea, where Cat bought some curtains, and we bought a replacement bowl, and some spice jars.  I tried to use my fake 100 bill there, to no avail.   I got gypped somewhere along the line!!

headed home and got back by 7:25 or so, met Simone and Shamika (sp?) at MRD at 8, which Cat skipped to skype with R, who was having some issues.  Ahh, that's what friends are for!
Justin, Korean American guy, joined us as we started eating, and also (along with Simone and Shamika) ordered a burger.  I had a waffle breakfast.

We finally left at around 10:20, them three going to a club (their friend met them there because he accidentally got directions to the MRD on Hongmei Lu - D'oh!!) with some other Stanford GSBers, and me heading home via bike... or so the plan was.  I brought the wrong baishun lock key... -_-;  So I had to cab home to take cat and the moped out to MRD again... but it was good - we got to chat over her salad, which were nice and yummy, respectively.  We then proceeded to bike home... but passed on home to take a little tour around the neighborhood at 12:30am... it was really nice!  Talked while biking around, and took a picture of a "Satana" qiangsheng taxi.  LOL...  (found out when I sent Zhang ayi down that the ayi downstairs - Xu ayi - 's son actually works for qiangsheng!)... anyway, from Wanhangdulu, we took a mysterious right (onto what we later learned was Kangding Lu - we miss you Aaron!) to explore some... before heading home.  Very very enjoyable, slow bike-ride.
Jo/Simone/Other Shanghai guys - we should all take a bike tour some time this fall, when the weather's just right, before Jo heads back, and before the weather gets too cold!!

Home, some internet, including this and hedkandi online radio, and then soon... to sleep.