Moving in at the Bow

Photo by Gavin Young, Calgary Herald

My company has been in the process of building a new building for the last three years. It is now the tallest structure in the city, and while it is not fully complete (some of the upper floors are still being constructed), many of us made the much anticipated move into the Bow this week.

My office.

Office moves are always a bit of a headache, but this one went pretty smoothly. Unpacking always creates chaos, and reminds me what a pack-rat I am.

Unpacking -- chaos reigns.

But once I found a home for everything in the furniture, it became functional very quickly.

Settled in.

Although I had this misfortune of getting an office with a support pillar and cross beam, creating a little weeny triangle window, I can't complain about the view. Up on the 40th floor, I have a great vantage point of James Short Park.

James Short Park.

But I can also see over and out towards the river.

Bow River.

And during our first week in residence, we learned that the 40th floor has it's own weather systems. Sometimes my view isn't so great.

Fog whiteout.

But I also know that there are greater offices for me to aspire to. One of the senior geophysicists was lucky enough to score this new office!

Fancy big office!

The biggest bonus is once again being connected to the rest of downtown by +15's. It's so nice to go for lunch without having to take a coat with you.

Overall, it's not too shabby of a place to spend 9+ hours a day!

Pranked

Tom and I landed in Calgary on a Sunday evening. Happy to be home, we forgot to set an alarm and slept for a glorious 13 hours. This meant that we were only awake for ten hours the following day where we sorted through a mountain of laundry and got groceries to fill our sadly empty fridge. However, it turned out to be not-so-glorious when I couldn't fall asleep and only got four hours of sleep before I headed back to the office. On my first day back to work, I was jet-lagged and groggy.

I walked into my office, and the first thing I saw was that every single one of my shoes, normally lined up in a neat row under my desk, were gone.

My geologist, cackling evilly, told me, "Did you look up? That's the only clue you're going to get."

Yes indeed. My team had taken every single one of my shoes, and wedged them into a ceiling tiles in the offices around our floor. There are about 40 empty offices, as our company is in the process of moving us over to the new Bow building.

I spent the next 25 minutes climbing up on desks to pull them out, while my petrophysicist followed me around the floor (watching me struggle) sipping his morning coffee. In fact, he came in early that morning, just to see how I reacted. I threw a pink runner at him.

I can't even say I was angry. I love that my team has a sense of humor. It was kind of nice to come back to a prank. They were even thoughtful enough (and I use the term "thoughtful" loosely) to count my shoes ahead of time so I could be sure I'd gotten them all back. And our female geologist showed them how to wedge them into the ceiling tile without damaging them. 

I had a bit of trouble finding the last runner. It was hiding in the staff kitchen freezer. But now all of them are accounted for.

I love my shoes!

Observations and Insights

As I sorted through our photos, I found a few favourites that didn't make it into my previous blog posts. I thought I would share those photos here, along with a few observations and insights that surprised me during our two weeks in China. Photos and text will not be related.

Detailed carving in a window frame, Beijing.

My first surprise was the copious amount of fruit in China. This probably shouldn't have been a surprise. There are 1.34 billion people in China-- clearly they have a supply of fruit. But when I think of China, the only fruit that comes to mind are mandarin oranges and lychee. What I didn't realize is that watermelon, persimmon, pomegranate, strawberries and passionfruit are grown in abundance. I love watermelon, and I ate it every day we were there.

Brightly painted buildings in the Summer Palace, Beijing.

Mandarin is a different language to speak. The tones and sounds are significantly different than English, and we really only learned, "Hello," "Thank you," and "No," while we were there. The tour guides always gave us Westernized names to call them by (Rebecca, Chris, Cassidy and Erik), but Tom and I always asked what their Chinese names were. We were never able to pronounce them or remember them after we asked!

A guardhouse on the Great Wall of China.

The Chinese love KFC. And when I say love, I mean, LOVE. Kentucky Fried Chicken was EVERYWHERE in China, and the restaurant fronts were huge! Unexpectedly, Pizza Hut was another Western restaurant that was very popular. Tom and I never did try a McDonald's, although we heard they have a delicious spicy chicken sandwich.

A camel hanging out by the Great Wall.

Intricate paintings on a rooftop.

Many of our guides were surprised when we were able to use chopsticks. It seemed like it was difficult for them to understand that Canada is multi-cultural, and we'd already had quite a bit of exposure to Chinese cuisine at home.

Elaborate carvings on a rooftop.

A bucket of crabs.

Most of the hotels we stayed at had small or medium sized gyms in them. If there was a gym, you could almost guarantee that there would be a ping pong table. And if there was a ping pong table, there was someone playing a game on it.

Deep fried seafood at a street cart.

We noticed that the hotels we stayed in lacked a fourth and fourteenth floor. Later in our trip we remembered to ask one of the tour guides about this, and he said that "four" and "death" are pronounced the same way in Mandarin. This lead Tom and I to wonder why thirteen is consider an unlucky number in our culture. We could not think of a reasonable explanation, so I turned to Wikipedia. There are several theories as to where the superstition originated from, but none seem particularly convincing.

A dragonfly on the Li River.

Chinese men do a lot of spitting and horking. I've heard it's a cultural thing, but I have no idea why. It's a little disconcerting to hear someone walking behind you, horking up a wad of saliva in your direction.

Mosaic tiles in the Yuyuan Gardens. Shanghai.

In Canada, if you are waiting in a line, there is a sense of order. It is rude if you cut someone off or budge in front of them. In China, it is everyone for themselves. There were many times when people pushed in front of us or forced us out of the way at tourist attractions and on the metro. Tom and I were aware of it, but never really got used to it. 

Lanterns in the Yuyuan Gardens, Shanghai.

Would I go back to China again? Yes, definitely. China is a huge country, and we barely scratched the surface. I think if we were to go again, we'd be prepared enough to do it without a guide, and explore completely on our own.

I'm a bit disappointed that this is the last post on my China experiences. But hopefully there will be more adventures to report in the future.

Xièxiè (thank you) for following, everyone!

谢谢

Hong Kong Delights

It is amazing how quickly humans adapt to new situations. As I've already mentioned, when we landed in China, we were inundated by a barrage of vehicles honking at each other. Part way through the trip, I stopped noticing the noise. But when we landed in Hong Kong, I noticed something different-- the silence. Really... I shouldn't call it "silence," it's not like it was quiet. But the people of Hong Kong are used to a British road system, and traffic is orderly like any other Western country. Honking was unusual, and suddenly it became jarring to hear a horn honk again.

Our three days in Hong Kong did not include a guided tour, so Tom and I decided to go uber-tourist, and bought Big Bus passes. The Big Bus routes went to all the places we wanted to see, and we could hop on and off when we liked.

Big Bus Tours of Hong Kong.

Tom and I on the Big Bus.

For our first day in the big city, we decided we'd like a change of pace, and headed to Repulse Bay for a beach day. Over 150 year ago, the bay had major problems with pirates raiding foreign merchant trips on their way to China. Eventually the British fleet repulsed the pirated from the area, thus earning the name, Repulse Bay. On the way to the Bay, we stopped in the town of Stanley for lunch and visited the bustling Stanley Market.

Repulse Bay beach.

Although the photo of the beach looks empty, it was crawling with tourists in the opposite direction. That is, crawling with fully dressed tourists. I had packed my bikini with me, but I would have been the only female in beach attire, so I stayed in my shorts and tank top while Tom went for a swim.

Tom swimming in Repulse Bay.

Me hanging out on the beach.

As we rode the Big Bus back into the city, we listened to commentary on the surrounding countryside and buildings through an audio system. We learned that the Lippo building is sometimes referred to as the "Koala Tree" because the building resembles a bunch of koalas hugging a tree.

Lippo Building, aka Koala Tree. 

Tom  informed me that in the movie, The Dark Knight, Batman jumped off the International Financial Center (IFC) building in Hong Kong-- we passed the IFC several times during our stay.

International Finance Centre.

We started our second day by enjoying the roof top pool in our hotel. The pool offered amazing views, but it was also freezing cold. The "hot tub" was also very cold, probably only a couple degrees warmer than the pool. We took a quick dip (less than 15 minutes) before heading back to our room to get ready.

Roof top pool at the Harbour Grand Kowloon.

Tom swimming in the hotel pool.

Next, Tom and I went to the Mid-Levels Escalators. Literally, an outdoor set of escalators that take you up a steep hill through trendy restaurants and shops. We wandered down Antique Road, and through the Central Market where locals can buy produce, seafood and meat. We saw some pigs heads in a butcher stall, but unfortunately, our photos came out blurry.

Seafood stall in Central Market.

In the later afternoon we joined the line for the Victoria Peak tram where we had to use a more aggressive tact.  The tram "line" was a bit of a free-for-all. Instead of an orderly line that you would see in Canada, people were pushing through the crowd and cutting off others in order to get on the tram. Once we finally got through and up to the top (about a 30 minute wait), we were treated to unobstructed views of the Hong Kong skyline.

Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Peak.

Tom and I timed our trip so that we arrived just before the sun started to set. We wanted to be able to go on the observation deck in the dark so we could take in the city lights.

In the morning we packed our bags and checked them at the hotel. We wandered through a garden full of photographers and turtles, before we settled on a restaurant to have a dim sum lunch.

Turtles in a park.

In the late afternoon we were relaxing in the airport lounge, ready for our flight home. Because Tom has travelled so much in the last year, he has reached "Elite" status with Air Canada, which gives us access to airport lounges in major airports. The lounges have comfortable chairs and a spread of food and beverages. I had an individual sized portion of chocolate ice cream, a can of mango juice with coconut jelly, and a Chinese pastry that is essentially a sesame ball filled with red bean paste. It was awesome.

I think I can speak for both of us when I saw, we were happy with our trip, but even happier to be heading home.

Our flights were uneventful, and we spent the next week battling jet lag. Now we're back to normal, and unfortunately... Back to reality.

City Life - Shanghai

On our first day of our trip in Beijing, I started to notice that people were staring at us. At first, I thought it was because of Tom's blonde hair. But later in the morning, a brave girl asked in broken English if she could take my picture-- and then I thought it was my curly hair. But as my Asian co-worker later told me, "They are taking pictures of you because you're a hybrid." Ha! Thanks, Ed.

In Shanghai, I felt like a walking circus spectacle. Chinese people are not subtle with staring-- or with taking "candid" pictures, and I was definitely the subject of much (unwanted) interest.

Shanghai Pudong district by day.

We landed at the Shanghai domestic airport, and were greeted by a mixture of rain, humidity and smog. Driving toward our hotel, it was difficult to see buildings in the distance because they were masked by a thick shroud of yellowish mist.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson Business Club, and it was by far the nicest hotel on our trip. The bed had a big comfortable Western-style (as opposed to the rock-hard mattresses we had previously experienced),  a stand up shower and separate bath tub in the washroom, and all the other amenities you could want.

After we settled into our hotel, Tom and I went in search of dinner. I had had a poor breakfast and a small lunch that day, and my hunger-related-anger was at it's worst. That is, I was irrationally emotional, and nearing complete meltdown.  We were looking for a specific restaurant, but we couldn't find it, and eventually made a snap decision to try a hot pot restaurant.

We had heard from multiple people that hot pot was delicious, but neither of us had given much thought to what it actually was. We ordered (what we thought) were two bowls of soup and dumplings. But you see... Hot pot is kind of like make-your-own-soup. You order your broth and all the fixings, and then you cook them by boiling them in your broth over a burner in your table.

Tray of hot pot garnishes.

Tom and I had no idea what we were doing, and the staff didn't speak English. What we had actually ordered were two giant bowls of broth and six wontons. We surmised our order was unusual because the staff kept giving us weird looks, bringing our order paper back and speaking to us in Chinese. After a lot of miming, and some patience from one excellent waitress, we finally figured out what was going on. And man, when we finally got it right, hot pot was delicious! The waitress also helped us cook some of our meal, so we made sure to give her a tip. She was clearly very excited,  and she was telling her coworkers as we were leaving.

Waitress helping us cook in our hot pot.

Following our hot pot adventure, we had a one day super-tour through Shanghai. We started in Shanghai Old Town at the Yuyuan Gardens, which were constructed during the Ming Dynasty in 1577. The gardens are considered a place for relaxation and reflection, and feature many koi ponds, rockeries and small courtyards.

Yuyuan Gardens, Shanghai.

Dragon wall in the Yuyuan Gardens.

Next, we walked through Shanghai Old Town; one of the few parts of the city that still retains ancient buildings. Old Town contains many stores and shops, as well as restaurants and food stands. Tom and I were amazed by the massive line coming from a steamed bun shop, and the crowds of residents and tourist in the streets. In Old Town, every other person we met tried to get us to buy fake Rolex's and Coach handbags.

Shanghai Old Town.

Our next stop was at the Shanghai Museum, which featured exhibits displaying ceramics, sculptures, ancient coins, bronze, calligraphy, paintings and jade. They were also hosting a Russian Faberge exhibit which was a nice change from the Chinese exhibits.

Marble Stairway in the Shanghai Museum.

The rest of the day was spent visiting the trendy shops and restaurants in the French Concession, strolling along the Bund District for pictures of the business Pudong district, and a silk factory where we poked silk worms, and wandered through the displays of silk bedding and clothing.

The following day, Tom and I decided to revisit some of the destinations from the previous day, but spend more time in each location.

Pudong District as seen by night.

In the evening, we took the metro into the Pudong District so we could ride up to the 97th "Observatory Bridge" in the Shanghai World Financial Tower. The floor of the observatory bridge is partially glass, and Tom was feeling a little anxious, but it turned out to be less intimidating than the glass floor in the CN Tower in Toronto. The World Financial Tower looks a bit like a giant bottle opener.

Shanghai World Financial Tower (left), Jin Mao Tower (center), Shanghai Tower (right)

When construction of the Shanghai Tower (featured on the right) is completed in 2014, it will be the tallest building in Shanghai. According to Wikipedia, these two buildings, together with the Jin Mao Tower (in the center), will form the world's first adjacent grouping of supertall skyscrapers.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed the bustling East Nanjing Road. This road is closed to vehicles, and was crawling with pedestrians going to the many shops and restaurants in the area.

East Nanjing Road.

In the morning, Tom was very excited at the prospect of taking the high-speed Maglev (magnetic levitation) train to the airport. We had our tour guide drop us off at the Maglev station so we could see what it was like to levitate at high speeds.

High speed Maglev train to the airport.

Maximum speed-- 430km/hr.

Shanghai was the last stop on our Charms of China tour. We spent the last few days of our trip in Hong Kong on our own before we headed back to Canada.