Arrive last evening to Shanghai.
The boy was in school this morning for an 'orientation camp'. Asked him later on, "Do you understand what is being said? 80%?" He replied, "No. Less than 50%." And for someone who only understands less than 50% of what is being said, he looks way too happy!
Am in office less than 3 hours... and have a room, a laptop and some stationery. Check this out... 我可以用中文打字!
Physically, I'm exhausted. Can't wait for the weekend to chill out some.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Shanghai
Food
A little sick of the food already... all laden with MSG and OIL. Favourites so far are actually this Korean BBQ restaurant call 'Pankoo', the Taiwanese 'Din Tai Feng' and BreadTalk. Alright... spit at me for being a prig!
Weather
Weather has been terrible the last 2-3 days, hovering at 39 - 41 degree celsius. The boy absolutely melted into a monster at these temperatures. He stayed with the driver and refused to get out of the car.
School
We aimed to visit 5, got to 4 and decided to go for a local 'public' international school. It was the first school we visited and while the facilities are circa 1960's in Singapore, the English syllables / textbooks used are on par with what I've seen in Singapore. The Chinese syllables? Well... both the Big One and I exchanged looks that could be interpreted as "Good Luck Little One!"
The local private international art school was in the city - facilities there were more 'advanced' but we couldn't imagine a 1,000 kids being housed in that compound. Also, the students had to choose a specialization in either music ( 1 instrument) or art (not both) from year 1. Robotics classes are only offered from year 3 onwards and for hand-picked students.
As for Yew Chung International School, the place was like a walled garden. Very beautiful, with modern playgrounds ( i.e what you see in our HDB housing estates) , track and ball courts. They have a teaching philosophy which will be good for some kids, not others. I think our boy fell in the 'not others' group.
And then the Singapore Shanghai International School... is like in some godforsaken place. It's privately run and while they are using the Singapore school syllables, they are not actually affliated to MOE. The distance killed this option.
Housing
We visited 12 apartments in 11 different developments. Some were just horrid. Even 8 year old developments felt like they were 15-20 years old to me. I don't like dark corridors and don't want to walk through any to get to my front door. The most memorable unit was one facing an empty plot of land ( construction can start anytime) and the lady owner introduced every piece of furnishing in her house as "very good one" and hinted many times that she only wants tenants who can take care of her apartment... I couldn't resist and ended up showing her the bottom of my right foot which was all black and said, "I wouldn't consider this apartment being taken care of in the first place if this is what is already happening to my feet!" She wanted 13,000rmb/month for her very good one.
As for facilities, these developments outsource the management of the 'club' facilities to third parties and you have to buy their membership in order to use the facilities. The biggest pool we see are 25 X 13 metre pools. Fees cost something like 10,000rmb/year for 2 adults and 1 kid.
City for kids?
We visited the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, it's like 5 times bigger than our Underwater World. Some interesting exhibits like the Wawa Yu - a humongous tadpole-like amphibian and great for kids... otherwise, it was like a giant tank of edible fishes to me. Well, they had all kinds of groupers, eels & sardines.
Most parents ask their kids to "jin gen ze" ( trail closely). Read in the Shanghai Daily today that 2,000 kidnapped children were resuced in a nationwide campaign against child trafficking last year.The article was about a 13 year old boy who had been reunited with his family. He was tricked into joining the circus at 9 years old after the organizers said he could learn kung fu with them. The boy ended up having only 1 meal a day and frequent beatings whenever he was unwilling to perform. Shared the article with the boy.
Movies are in Chinese and costs 45rmb/seat.
Haven't explored parks, museums and theatres and yet to find music schools & sports groups. These are to-do's when we get back again.
Groceries & daily necessities
Took a walk around Watsons. Prices for Made in China household brands are ok. Even 10%-15% lower but once you start looking at imported products, prices jump 20-40% higher. Chocolates are very expensive here. | Bring chocolates if you come visit me!|
Groceries again are very expensive if you are looking at imported products... but there are 'wet' markets where fresh vegetables and meats can be purchased. I haven't ventured into one... but these are where the locals go and should be way more affordable.
Language
Gosh! I have a lot to learn! Like how to say air-con, club, account, passport, ... in Chinese.
The kid is hilarious! On day 2, he asks, "Se mo si Newborn?" What is this? Only 2 days in Shanghai and he's asking me the meaning of English words in Chinese?
A little sick of the food already... all laden with MSG and OIL. Favourites so far are actually this Korean BBQ restaurant call 'Pankoo', the Taiwanese 'Din Tai Feng' and BreadTalk. Alright... spit at me for being a prig!
Weather
Weather has been terrible the last 2-3 days, hovering at 39 - 41 degree celsius. The boy absolutely melted into a monster at these temperatures. He stayed with the driver and refused to get out of the car.
School
We aimed to visit 5, got to 4 and decided to go for a local 'public' international school. It was the first school we visited and while the facilities are circa 1960's in Singapore, the English syllables / textbooks used are on par with what I've seen in Singapore. The Chinese syllables? Well... both the Big One and I exchanged looks that could be interpreted as "Good Luck Little One!"
The local private international art school was in the city - facilities there were more 'advanced' but we couldn't imagine a 1,000 kids being housed in that compound. Also, the students had to choose a specialization in either music ( 1 instrument) or art (not both) from year 1. Robotics classes are only offered from year 3 onwards and for hand-picked students.
As for Yew Chung International School, the place was like a walled garden. Very beautiful, with modern playgrounds ( i.e what you see in our HDB housing estates) , track and ball courts. They have a teaching philosophy which will be good for some kids, not others. I think our boy fell in the 'not others' group.
And then the Singapore Shanghai International School... is like in some godforsaken place. It's privately run and while they are using the Singapore school syllables, they are not actually affliated to MOE. The distance killed this option.
Housing
We visited 12 apartments in 11 different developments. Some were just horrid. Even 8 year old developments felt like they were 15-20 years old to me. I don't like dark corridors and don't want to walk through any to get to my front door. The most memorable unit was one facing an empty plot of land ( construction can start anytime) and the lady owner introduced every piece of furnishing in her house as "very good one" and hinted many times that she only wants tenants who can take care of her apartment... I couldn't resist and ended up showing her the bottom of my right foot which was all black and said, "I wouldn't consider this apartment being taken care of in the first place if this is what is already happening to my feet!" She wanted 13,000rmb/month for her very good one.
As for facilities, these developments outsource the management of the 'club' facilities to third parties and you have to buy their membership in order to use the facilities. The biggest pool we see are 25 X 13 metre pools. Fees cost something like 10,000rmb/year for 2 adults and 1 kid.
City for kids?
We visited the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, it's like 5 times bigger than our Underwater World. Some interesting exhibits like the Wawa Yu - a humongous tadpole-like amphibian and great for kids... otherwise, it was like a giant tank of edible fishes to me. Well, they had all kinds of groupers, eels & sardines.
Most parents ask their kids to "jin gen ze" ( trail closely). Read in the Shanghai Daily today that 2,000 kidnapped children were resuced in a nationwide campaign against child trafficking last year.The article was about a 13 year old boy who had been reunited with his family. He was tricked into joining the circus at 9 years old after the organizers said he could learn kung fu with them. The boy ended up having only 1 meal a day and frequent beatings whenever he was unwilling to perform. Shared the article with the boy.
Movies are in Chinese and costs 45rmb/seat.
Haven't explored parks, museums and theatres and yet to find music schools & sports groups. These are to-do's when we get back again.
Groceries & daily necessities
Took a walk around Watsons. Prices for Made in China household brands are ok. Even 10%-15% lower but once you start looking at imported products, prices jump 20-40% higher. Chocolates are very expensive here. | Bring chocolates if you come visit me!|
Groceries again are very expensive if you are looking at imported products... but there are 'wet' markets where fresh vegetables and meats can be purchased. I haven't ventured into one... but these are where the locals go and should be way more affordable.
Language
Gosh! I have a lot to learn! Like how to say air-con, club, account, passport, ... in Chinese.
The kid is hilarious! On day 2, he asks, "Se mo si Newborn?" What is this? Only 2 days in Shanghai and he's asking me the meaning of English words in Chinese?
Saturday, August 07, 2010
5
Ok.. 5 more working days left... and a few more hours before we fly off to HUNT... for housing and school.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Not much time left...
Yep.. 6 more working days... and about 9 days in Singapore left.
It's like wrapping up a big part of your life and they way you have been living... which reminds me of this recent dream.
I've always thought it is impossible to die in a dream. The ego is too strong to kill itself, even in a dream. But I dreamt I died... well very close to it. Everything was turning dreamily white...and I knew that was it! In fact, as morbid as it soundsI didn't even tried resisting dying... and was maybe a split moment away from it when I said, "Wait! My son! He's too young!"
and then I return to earth.
It's like wrapping up a big part of your life and they way you have been living... which reminds me of this recent dream.
I've always thought it is impossible to die in a dream. The ego is too strong to kill itself, even in a dream. But I dreamt I died... well very close to it. Everything was turning dreamily white...and I knew that was it! In fact, as morbid as it soundsI didn't even tried resisting dying... and was maybe a split moment away from it when I said, "Wait! My son! He's too young!"
and then I return to earth.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Count down...
I have, minus today, 7 more working days left in Singapore. At this point, my gravity centre is in the middle kingdom and that is sucking me towards it, whether I like it or not.
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