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wow, a whole month went by!
It was an interesting 2 weeks in China. I'm not sure I would get used to the greyness of Chengdu. And the internet/vpn access was frustrating. Transit was pretty easy - there is a stored value card - so I managed buses and subway and taxis. We started out in a business hotel in a business park area so not much interesting to walk to, but there was good street food three times a day during the week. We did one train ride out of Chengdu to a historical irrigation project, that was pretty interesting. The language issues are challenging. Things got much better when we moved to an apartment close to the US consulate - there was a lot more life around the apartment. We found good beer, good produce, restaurants that weren't hotpot. We were next to a bakery with another bakery across the street. Our friend met us there, and so I had someone to hang out w during the day. I read a lot of my kindle books.
We got back to Brisbane and all three of us got sick, not sure if it was the air in Chengdu or from the airplane, or what, but we've flown plenty without getting this sick. After a week and a half we are mostly all better.
I've been seeing movies - 52 Tuesdays, Grand Budapest Hotel, Only Lovers Left Alive, Chinese Puzzle, Invisible Woman, Moby Dick, Mr Arkadin - I guess I missed having a good local movie theatre. I've also been to the library several times and am reading Harley Loco, after finishing a new John Rain bk and also reading Oddly Normal. I also went to a Persian concert at the Customs House, which was quite nice. And we've been trying some of our fancy local restaurants - 85 Miskin and Gerard's, both of which were excellent. It is good to be back.
It was an interesting 2 weeks in China. I'm not sure I would get used to the greyness of Chengdu. And the internet/vpn access was frustrating. Transit was pretty easy - there is a stored value card - so I managed buses and subway and taxis. We started out in a business hotel in a business park area so not much interesting to walk to, but there was good street food three times a day during the week. We did one train ride out of Chengdu to a historical irrigation project, that was pretty interesting. The language issues are challenging. Things got much better when we moved to an apartment close to the US consulate - there was a lot more life around the apartment. We found good beer, good produce, restaurants that weren't hotpot. We were next to a bakery with another bakery across the street. Our friend met us there, and so I had someone to hang out w during the day. I read a lot of my kindle books.
We got back to Brisbane and all three of us got sick, not sure if it was the air in Chengdu or from the airplane, or what, but we've flown plenty without getting this sick. After a week and a half we are mostly all better.
I've been seeing movies - 52 Tuesdays, Grand Budapest Hotel, Only Lovers Left Alive, Chinese Puzzle, Invisible Woman, Moby Dick, Mr Arkadin - I guess I missed having a good local movie theatre. I've also been to the library several times and am reading Harley Loco, after finishing a new John Rain bk and also reading Oddly Normal. I also went to a Persian concert at the Customs House, which was quite nice. And we've been trying some of our fancy local restaurants - 85 Miskin and Gerard's, both of which were excellent. It is good to be back.
