SSAB – October 1, 2021
October 1st! China’s National Day! Nothing much going on and people don’t even seem to say anything along the lines of “Happy China Day” on the streets. On WeChat and the socials, yes, lots of patriotism. Banks and major companies are shuttered for the next five days at least, until October 5th, but people can take until the 7th off if they want. 庆十一 Qing shi yi, one nation? Not sure of the translation.
New movie out, Battle of Changjin, Chinese big budget war movie. US planes bombing US soldiers, would be interested to see this to see how events are portrayed.
Turtle work in Python. Continuing with the graphics work in Python. Things are getting interesting even though I’m still struggling to write code just by myself. I am a bit impatient as I’d rather watch her type code and then understand how she came to that conclusion. I’ve found that when I’ve typed my own code, my solutions are often long-winded affairs that only partially work. I guess it’s part of the process. Looking at testing some of my abilities in smaller projects that can be found on geeks for geeks or hackerearth.
Feeling the crunch now as I want to keep blitzing through Chinese vocabulary and Python but seeing my vacation days tick by. If the days are flying by, it’s because I am enjoying the process.
Used Xiaomi’s Reader APP today to do my Chinese reading, just picked a book and started reading for 30 minutes. The APP is able to translate words if you select a word. It’s better than writing them into my dictionary as it often selects the whole word instead of just one character. Very helpful. Now I have no excuse never to have something to read. But is it something I want to read?
I’m finding it easier to read for longer periods of time. This is a good thing. I can only imagine what it would be like at HSK 6. Will I be able to hit that target by the end of next year?
Interesting book pointed out by my Python course, the $12 Million Stuffed Shark by Don Thompson, all about the fine art industry. Looks like a good read.
Have a great weekend and be sure to download the latest Episode of my podcast, Episode 27. Head to stevensirski.com on the podcast page for more.
Are you doing Inktober? Was thinking of doing it. How would I find the time?
Will archive September’s Audio Blogs and start a new page for October!
SSAB – October 4, 2021
It’s sooooooo quiiiieeeeeettttt! And it’s nice. I ended up taking the weekend off from my studies as it was just so nice and quiet around the compound that I didn’t feel like letting go a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet. It’s what I think a sensory deprivation tank would be like.
Onto to Chapter 13 with the HSK 5 vocabulary, Python Day 20-21: Snake Game.
NAT tests for the trip? If we went to Xi’an then we’d need one within the 48 hrs of departure. If we go straight to Chengdu, we only nees if we’re coming from a medium or high risk area, which we are Not.
Looking at hostels and hotels, is there much of a difference in price? Usually hostel doors are locked until a certain time while hotels are always open.
This would be the first time I’ll be out of Beijing for non-work purposes in a very long time. Not sure how I’m going to deal with having to do laundry in a shared washer.
Which or that, do you know the difference? (“That” indicates a specific object, item, person or something while “which” adds information an object, person or whatever. Since “which” adds information, it is not necessary to fully understand the sentence and is often set off by commas to create a separate clause.)
Was playing around with Logic Pro this weekend and created a few tracks. Here’s one for your Monday.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 5, 2021
THREE HOURS!
Big budget movie, lots of explosions, the US doesn’t win, they retreat in defeat. I don’t know much about this battle but it seems to strike a patriotic tone. Some outlets have labelled it propaganda, I can’t help but think propaganda is just another interpretation of things. Innit?
Lots of CG, you could tell, but it didn’t detract from the story. Not sure if they were going for a Saving Private Ryan type of blood bath / anti-war, but the battle scenes did go on and showed people getting ripped apart, albeit sometimes gently.
This quote stood out, ‘Never point the gun at your own people.’ And then they talk about how they are fighting this war so the next generation doesn’t have to. For a battle that took place in 1950, one can’t help but think of who the next generation was.
Overall, good movie. I think it stands on its own and if you have a chance, I’d say see it. Despite the length, it moves pretty well and it wasn’t until 2.5 hrs I was kind of wondering when it would be over, then it ended 20 minutes later.
We’re almost back to work here as the National Day Week is almost over.
Have a good Tuesday!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 6, 2021
Travel plans being, maybe we should’ve started sooner. How could we? Called a hotel in Chongqing and a hostel in Chengdu, no NATs needed if we’re not coming from a medium to high-risk place, which we are not. All of the Mainland cases are currently situated in North East China.
The plan is now Chengdu for a few days and then to hop over to Chongqing for the rest. They’re close by so it won’t be difficult to make the move, maybe an hour and a half by high speed train.
Looking forward to the warmer weather because Beijing has gotten cold as of late. It’s been raining for the last few days.
The dogs are back on the compound, so the noise level is kicking up again. And street work or something else has begun again. The official restart of work is October 8th so it will get busy.
How do you even pack for a trip any more? I can’t remember. I have my standard allotment, but I don’t normally do laundry on the road. This time I might have to. I can’t hide the fact that I’m almost a little bit bothered by the need to leave my apartment. Is this what old age is? Is this what being settled means? Eech!
Also got through some Python work today as I wanted to get as much done before I left for my trip. Was working on the Snake game, Pong, and today we built a Turtle Crossing game, which borrowed a lot from Pong. Interesting to see how these games are put together.
Mid-October cut-off for Python is coming up, then I can start focusing on some other projects. Notably, NaNoWriMo, not sure if I’ll participate in the challenge directly, but possibly on my own.
Have a good day!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 7, 2021
Making this quick as it’s getting late.
Found out that it might be cheaper to go to Chongqing by train first and then over to Chengdu. Further, it’s ONLY 18 hours instead of 21, but the major difference is that we’d get six more hours in Beijing yet only arrive three hours later. We could depart about 6pm Saturday and arrive around 12 pm Sunday. This might work better.
Bought a new HSK 5 prep book, bringing my total up to 7 books. I plan on slowly knocking these out starting in about November. It’ll be tough, but if I keep focusing on the vocabulary, the reading and understanding is a little easier. I have my sights set on February or March as the test date.
A bit of a disappointment as the Winter Olympics looks as though it will only be for a restricted group, ie, the athletes will be within a closed circuit as well their helpers. So unless I want to volunteer, not sure how much we’ll be able to see of this event. This is in addition to how far it is from the centre of Beijing.
Do you need days off after a vacation? I’m currently scheduled to return the week of the 21st so I’ll have a few days to settle back in before work starts in full again.
Hope your Thursday is a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 8, 2021
Pre-travel checklist? GoPro, drone, and a phone, right? What else is there to pack? Do you make a list before you go? Things to bring, things to get done?
Decided to go to Chongqing first, 18 hours overnight, hard sleepr. We’ll miss the scenery between Beijing and WuHan, but we’ll see it as we approach Sichuan province. Should be interesting who we meet on the train. Who travels on a Saturday night?
Trip should be four days ChongQing, four days Chengdu, as long as nothing changes with the health situation. We only need a NAT if we arriving from medium- to high-risk area.
Will try to post throughout the trip. I want to document it but at the same time, not kill the travel buzz. It’s the fine art of a travel writer. Expose-ing for others, while experiencing for oneself. It is a sign of the times.
Follow me on Twitter @THEStevenSirski as I’ll be posting some travel thoughts along the way.
Have a great end of week!
SSAB – October 9 2021
Smoking smoking smoking, snoring snoring snoring…
Is how travelling hard sleeper has been described by the gf. And, given the price, 389 for a bed, yet flights could be had for 400, you might wonder why I chose this method. It’s a bit more visceral, I think.
From Beijing there were four of us in the six-bed cabin. At Shijiazhuang, two more arrived, and it was similar for most of the other cabins.
Good cell phone reception so far, but that figures since we haven’t really gone all that far. It feels as if we’ve been on the train for a while but it’s only been a few hours.
And then the smokers light up again. And again. And now my mask smells like smoke. There are smoke detectors in the cabins, but maybe they aren’t that sensitive as our noses are. Can’t help but think that at least they’re going natural with their smoking, no vaping here.
It’s not as dirty as I thought it would be, nor as loud. People are on their cell phones, the older couple in our cabin was surprised to see a foreigner but after some initial exchanges, the convo died down. Maybe tomorrow morning. Words learned so far: 城里人 – city people,冒险 – adventure, 拖鞋 – slippers.
Can surprisingly understand some things, even the sellers and voice calls of others nearby.
No one is drinking. A lot of people are eating noodles and fresh vegetables, not together of course. Everyone is wearing a mask.
So far, peaceful departure. As the well wishes go, 一路平安, peaceful journey.
Hope your weekend is off to a good start, too.
Sound clips include: Suitcase on a Walkway, Selling Cherries, Selling WuMei, Dinner!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 10, 2021
Late with this one cause we were EXHAUSTED. My fitness band indicates I only got 2.5 hours of sleep on the train, which is most likely true because that whole ‘smoking smoking smoking, snoring snoring snoring’… was completely true. If someone wasn’t snoring then someone would light a cigarette and the smoke would waft over the entire cabin.
Six people total in the cabin, the elderly couple was nice and open to conversation. He worked for China Oil, she used to put together semiconductors!
Words learned:
半导体 – semiconductor
白眼儿 / 狼 – white eyed child (opposite 红眼儿)
别逼逼 -don’t talk
抗氧化剂 – antioxidants
First challenge in ChongQing: paying for bus fare! You can pay cash but there’s is no change. Alipay and Wechat are accepted… but only if you have a residence card.
Found the hostel easily enough, but the second challenge of ChongQing is that maps can’t really demonstrate how far something is going uphill. We were dropped off not far from the hostel but we had to climb uphill through one of the tourist streets. We eventually found it. It was basically empty.
Rained all day, tried to find some bar named HOPS but never did. Went over to 9 Street, but it was cold, rainy, and only had big clubs trying to sell overpriced drinks.
Hard to get a cab back, took the subway instead.
Sound clips include snoring on the train and the rattling bus.
In bed by 10!
Have a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 11 2021
Out the door by 8.30, a little late. To shi ba ti, 18 stairs, redone tourist street similar to Qianmen in Beijing. Got a drawing done! 180 RMB, never had one done before!
How to structure your tourist day? Get up late or early? That’s why it’s sometimes good to have a travel group taking you around.
LOTS of walking, mostly downtown ChongQing. It’s just shopping. Who buys this stuff? A whole building dedicated to women’s clothing, etc.
Learned: 干了多长时间 or 你在柘荣工作多久？
Climbed a building 24 floors, without an elevator. Some of the older one in ChongQing, not sure why they don’t have elevators. Lots of girls dressed up to take photos here.
Yugang Temple then over to Hong Ya Dong to see the buildings light up.
Finished with ChongQing hot pot at Gua Xi Xi! Long day!
Sound clips include: The Bell Tolls, Man Calling again, Sound of ChongQing.
Have a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 12 2021
Day of propaganda! Goal was to see China ChongQing Three Gorges Museum and the Art Gallery. We got half of that done.
Saw a metro station that is built into the surrounding houses.
A building dedicated to the multi-party cooperation and political consultation led by the CCP, you can guess how this building presented itself.
The building was turned into a museum and went through the political history of China from very beginning of the CCP and how there was a time when the Mainland and Taiwan worked together. And then things changed.
Lots of memorabilia from the different people who have made up the history of the CCP: glasses, canes, suitcases, suits. Makes me wonder what one thing of mine would ever be put into a museum? Is any of it significant enough? Would it survive time?
The reason we were in the area was because we were on our way to the Three Gorges Museum, with a stop at Starbucks along the way. From the station (which was also near the station that is built into a park and some houses), we came across a large sculpture built into the wall. It Mao and all the famous figures from the founding of New China. The Democratic Union museum was nearby.
Then again, on the way to the Gorges Museum, we saw Zhou Enlai’s former residence and the former meeting point for the city’s decision makers during World War 2, otherwise known as the War of Japanese Aggression.
That would be a big theme throughout the day.
ChongQing was heavily bombed, and indiscriminately bombed, by the Japanese in World War 2. There wasn’t much of the city left which is why the city stands so proud today: they rebuilt.
As a result, ChongQing city, more specifically, the YuZhong District, which makes up the centre of the city, is a modern core but, as I mentioned the other day, it still has buildings that have been standing since the 1970s or 80s that look lived in. I guess the similarity with Beijing would be the short, six-floor buildings.
Finally, after making our way to the actual China ChongQing Three Gorges Museum… we ate at the nearby food street. But then after that we went to the Museum!
It’s a massive place and it was actually a bit difficult to get it in because I didn’t have my passport on me and we had originally made a reservation for the morning, so it wouldn’t let us make another one. After some liao yi liao, one of the guards punched my name into her phone to make the reservation.
Four floors, two or three exhibition halls on each floor, the now customary 70 years of the CCP display, porcelain, oil paintings, fish and animal fossils from years ago, and a history of how the city was damn near obliterated by the WW2 bombing campaigns.
Steps total: 21,471
Words learned: 茶叶蛋 tea egg or 茶蛋 or 白水煮蛋 boiled egg.
Have a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 13 2021
Another late start but we needed it as we are feeling it! If there is one reason to book a tour it’s to have someone drive and think of where to go next! … Not that I’m going to start booking tours just yet.
Off to the art gallery to see what they had on offer. Free entrance, oil paintings by Chinese artists. Pretty good work.
Noodles for lunch… couldn’t feel my mouth after.
Wearing masks indoors, not outdoors. Lots of chinstrapping going on. But, health check QR codes are everywhere.
Off to the southern tip of the city, art district. Neat bookstore in what appears to be a dying mall. Most shops were closed and it reeked of garbage.
Tea shop 茶馆, very famous. Lots of big names have gone there. Got interviewed by some guy and some lady kept taking videos of me. I sorta wonder if this is the new deal for the shop. It’s been there for a long time and has appeared in a few movies and rap videos. It might not be there next year cause… the govt wants to build another bridge.
Pig knuckle for dinner! Never had it before. Tasted like… bacon.
No wonder why as most of the buildings around the area, though they look lived in, are dilapidated. Art, graffiti, or street work adorn the outsides of the buildings and city streets. Neat, there is a well known art university in the neighbourhood.
Old Street wasn’t very old. Just like last year! But… in all history books there are stories of places being rebuilt. What’s any different now? Built for the Chinese tourist.
Some empty floors in buildings above.
Then Brewport for a beer and that was that!
Have a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 14 2021
A moving day, more rain, good bye to the cat. Breakfast before we go, better youtiao today than the day before.
ChongQing to Chengdu, here we go! Buuuuttt…. train is delayed! How can it be since it’s departing from ChongQing as its first stop?!
No Starbucks in the train station, one of the few high speed stations that doesn’t have one. Luckin instead. Don’t want to download the APP so the barista says scan her WeChat and transfer the money. Such trust!
Hotel check in, quick walk through People’s Park where a lot of older folks are hanging out on a Wednesday afternoon. Are they matching their kids or grandkids?!
Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi (in Beijing we’d call it a hutong, just means alleyway) – redone hutong-like district. LOTS of people! Neat, expensive, bought some baijiu and panda ears.
Then cycled down to Great Leap Brewing Chengdu to see what this one would be like. Very few people there but they did have a singer guitarist. Bought him a beer. He sat with us and talked about life in Chengdu and as a guitar teacher and part time gigging. 24 years old.
After trying the new beers, back to the hotel to prep for pandas tomorrow!
Sound clips: People’s Park, Kuan Zhai, Toy Caller, Ear Cleaner, Talking to Salesman
Hope you’re doing well!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 15, 2021
Ow.
Maybe it was the beers or the few swigs of baijiu that did it but the head was a little sore getting up. Hydrate and move on.
Today’s goal: to see the pandas of China!
Not difficult to get to but if you want the ticket stub as a souvenir then don’t buy the ticket online. Not that foreigners can anyway, we have to buy at the gate.
Older crowd in the morning, and quite pushy. Odd.
Guide books and websites said half a day for Panda Park or Research Base. We stayed there the entire day, from 9.30 to 4.00. I think we went to every pen that was open. By the end of it, I was sick of seeing pandas. Also had red pandas that reminded me of the tanooki suits from Super Mario Bros 3. (Apparently it’s not modelled on the red panda but on the mythical Japanese creature who could change shape.)
The big deal is to see the pandas eating and playing around. We saw the eating and the shitting and, of course, lots of sleeping. Actually learned quite a bit about the panda, its discovery, and how the expansion of human development has shrunk their habitat.
WAS going to buy a shirt buuuttt… it literally didn’t fit! There goes that idea! We did buy panda headbands though!
After a day of pandas it was time to go see another one… at ChuanXi Lu, where at there is a massive panda attached to one of the buildings and had a line up to get a picture from. We framed our shots to cut out others and then went for food.
ChuanXi Lu is just another shopping district like Sanlitun in Beijing.
We walked back to the hostel, stopped for pizza and said Hi to the Mao statue overlooking the People’s Square.
Sound clips: Sounds of a panda, A Panda Eating
Hope your day was as exciting!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 16 2021
拆 zhai – take down (a building) – Seen on the outside of some buildings around town, which are marked for demolition
How to order a FULL cup of coffee:
- 加满 jia man – full or 满杯 man bei – full cup
Having spent the day before doing a lot of walking (22,614 total), today we took bikes around town.
WenShu Buddhist Temple (built ca. AD 420-589)
Chinese learned:
- 香火旺盛 – Strong incense
- 积德行善, 奉献他人
- 祿夀福 – lu shou fu
- 摇 – yao Shake
Free incense sticks at the entrance, then go, put down your burden, kneel, and bow to the icon. Hmmm, this sounds familiar.
stroking Fu 福 for good luck
One lady put her purse on the kneeling bench and kneeled beside it
Turtles in a lake. Had one young couple explain why there were so many turtles in the lake area. It’s said that the monks will take in stray animals and put them into their compound. But they put them all in one area, specifically, this lake area. Turns out the turtles are snapping turtles and will kill the other animals. My takeaway: first, sounds like this is a gimmick. Second, sounds like the monks won’t let you directly die, but wouldn’t hesitate to put you in harm’s way. Hmmmm….
The monks chanted prior to having lunch at around 11.30.
We stayed for the lunch buffet, 50 RMB each, hot pot buffet. Very few foreigners in Chengdu so far, finally saw another foreign couple.
Saw some sort of famous pastry shop, 宫挺糕点铺, Gōng tǐng gāodiǎn pù, but we didn’t stop because there was a bit of a line up… around the entire front of the store. Figured we could find one in Beijing if absolutely necessary.
Off to Qing Yang Palace, a Taoist Temple on the other side of town. Again, rode our bikes. Very quiet, not many people. Constructed about 1000 years ago. Statue to Lao Tsu, writer of the Tao Te Ching, the main book of Taosism
Then to JinLi Street, another redone street for Chinese tourists. Had some decent snacks available, lots of unnecessary trinkets. Tried the ice cream, chuaner, bought some sugary nuts that tasted almost like Frosted Flakes, though it says the protein content is high, so are the carbohydrates. Aaaaannnddd…. an ear cleaning.
Recall that I posted the sound of the ear cleaners at the Wide and Narrow Alleyway, KuanZhai XiangZi. This is a notable feature of Sichuan as both Chongqing and Chengdu had them all over the place.
30 RMB, the cheapest, for basic cleaning. Lady looked in my ear, said “oily”, need water cleanse. That would be 60 RMB. I went for the cheapest one. It was… uncomfortable to say the least and my ear felt as if it had water deep inside it afterwards. Took three minutes each ear, she got really deep in there. Not the sound, but the feeling of having someone press that far into the ear canal is disconcerting.
One odd thing, probably a translation issue: sign said “set meal”. I’m sure that’s not what they meant.
Only thing we never got to do is see the face-changing show, though we saw a lot of the performers in makeup outside of the various venues that hosted the shows, and there were many.
One more day in Chengdu and then back to Beijing!
Sound clips: monks chanting before lunch, Qing Yang Temple Sounds, Flute Practice at Qing Yang
See the show notes at stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 17, 2021
Last day!
Packed up and airplane ready! Will we or will we NOT be allowed to take alcohol on the airplane even if it’s in our checked luggage? I say yes! She says no! We’ll see…
Museum day, Chengdu, Sichuan, and Dufu? Should be easy enough.
城里人 – city people
冒险 – adventure
拖鞋 -slippers
Chengdu Museum: downtown, BUSY! FULL of families! Most likely meant for kids anyway. Pretty big, five floors total ranging from animals of the province to traditional Chinese medicine (with flavour samples!), history of the city from ancient times to the present, replica city street, figurines and bamboo writings, to Sichuan opera and Chinese paper cutting. Quite the selection with interactive exhibits along the way.
Cycled over to Sichuan Museum, a little smaller but wider exhibit halls. Water colours on the main floor, …, was also famous in Taiwan. He painted copies of all the murals at the Dunhuang Grottos. Took him a long time and cost him a lot of gold. Such dedication.
Prehistoric pottery and fragments, how can people tell if a brick is an axe, cutting tool or just a narrow-shaped rock? Same with finding teeth or the bone fragments of little animals… always wondered.
Late Qing dynasty Buddhist figurines, paintings, cloth works.
Clothing from around the province as textile work is a long-standing business here.
Basement floor full of Han Dynasty steles and other artefacts.
Then… the Ba-Shu history which was taken over by the Qin who then went on to become rather powerful in the area. Lots of bronze works, notably some large face sculptures. Neat, but 2/3s of the way through the Museum blinked the lights off to signal closing time.
No time to get to see Dufu’s cottage, apparently it’s something to see.
Last Sichuanese hot pot at … Eeeee spicey!
Sound clips: Children at the Museum, Hot pot, Airplane Takeoff
Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com
Thanks for listening!
SSAB – October 18 2021
Back in the Beej and recovering from the very busy journey! Got back late so not much sleep, was it worth it?
Is it possible to travel and publish? How do you keep sane and organized? Schedule over presence of the moment? Deadlines or dates? All things to think about if you’re looking to publish on the move.
Hope you’re well and rested!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 19 2021
It got COLD in Beijing! Like, literally over the last week the temperature just DROPPED and now it’s windy and cold. That means we’re out of sweater season and into winter jacket season already, and it’s only the middle of October. The Truly Centralized Heating doesn’t turn on until the middle of November so my apartment is quite chilly at the moment.
Uploading more Episodes from last week, hope you’re liking them, especially the ones with the extra sound clips. I think it’s a neat addition.
Visa renewal process begins, so I get to walk around with a yellow slip of paper that no one knows what it’s used for. By that I mean, if I try to go through an airport or train station, the person looks at it and then usually calls their manager after which you get questioned and then asked again for your passport. It’s a fun thing to do every year!
New Apple MacBooks look nice! Chinese website lists them but says they won’t be released until approved, not sure what that means. And since when did “Max” become better than “Pro”?
Also see that DJI has a few events lined up, rumours are that they are going to release the Mavic Pro 3 with a dual camera set up. Not looking to upgrade my drone. The Mavic 2 still takes some good photos and videos and, more importantly, with the weight of the “Pro” versions it’s not practical to have in a large city such as Beijing unless you were to be constantly leaving the city limits. I never did get to fly my drone in ChongQing or Chengdu so I’m hesitant to put any more money towards that.
That being said, it seems there is a move towards 8K underway. My Xiaomi phone shoots 8K, the new MacBook Pros are capable of working with 8K, and it’s possible that any new drone would be capable of at least 5K, as the current GoPro is.
Going through photos of the trip, will post online soon. Also prepping videos. Giving myself a limited amount of time to get through this or else it’ll just take forever.
Hope you’re doing well!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 20 2021
Had trouble with the 健康宝 (jian kang bao) since I had left Beijing for a week I needed to re-register within Beijing’s city limits.
PSB – the ladies spoke English, never used to. Some other guy was having issues with the documents his Embassy had issued.
Wrote about this process before, on my website, published back in 2018: stevensirski.com/document-renewal-anxieties
Basic process:
-Get documents from company
-Fill out paper in BLACK INK (not ball point)
-Bring a picture
-Residence paper
-Passport
Then you get the also not water proof yellow paper! (Why aren’t passports water proof?)
This new work permit will only be good for part of the next year becauzzzzzzz…. next year I need to renew my passport!
Remember what happened in 2017?!
Hope you’re well!
SSAB – October 21, 2021
Installed a washing machine! And deep cleaned the entire apartment. Prior to last week’s trip to ChongQing and Chengdu, I did a surface clean. Today was a full clean.
Could’ve hired people to clean for a decent price but… would they care as much? And spend as much time? Plus, do I even know what needs to be done?
Shopping season has started as Taobao is kicking off the first stages of it’s very popular Double Eleven shopping Festival, which falls on November 11, hence the name. Tencent, Alibaba, Wechat, Alipay, Jing Dong, shopping shopping shopping, that’s what’s on now.
Sound clip: Washing Machine
Hope you’re week is going well!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 22 2021
Uploaded another Episode from last week’s trip. Something to consider: how is it possible to record and post daily while on the road? We’ll see next week as I have a trip to Jinan in the works.
Worked on Chinese all morning: characters, reading, chatting on HelloTalk.
Was talking about anxiety and depression with a friend, these topics seem to pop up from time to time. How to deal with them?
Have a good weekend and remember… be good to yourself.
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 25 2021
Halloween from an expat’s point of view. Does it hold the same meaning as it does in the West? Isn’t it just for kids?
THE VIRUS is back … again… again. Travel restrictions in place just as we’re prepping a trip to Jinan.
NIH in the USA discloses that it was, in fact, funding virus research overseas. One of the places involved? Wuhan Virology lab! Ssssnap! Didn’t Trump say something similar? But, because Trump = can’t agree!
Chinese studies… may be time to hit the books again in preparation for a possible February or March test. But, as reality sets in, what good is it to learn this language? Where else can I use it if not in China?
More Episodes posted, more pics posted from trip, see my Instagram. Each pic has a little write up, a mini mini blog if you will.
Hope your week is off to a good start!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 26 2021
On the train again! This time high speed and on the way to Jinan! Even though we’re in 2nd class, it’s still much quieter and NO SMOKING!
Working from a home office or regular office? Which one is better these days? Which countries will benefit from this change up? Remember the 4-Hour Work Week? Has that book now been realized in full?
Reading How to be Rich by J.P. Getty. Great book. Some great quotes:
“I believe the most important factor that determined whether a wildcatter would succeed or fail … was just plain luck.”
” ‘You’ve got to use your money to create, operate and build businesses … Your wealth represents potential jobs for countless others – and it can produce wealth and a better life for a great many people as well as for yourself.’ “
Will we be able to get back to Beijing on Friday with the new * that is tacked onto our Health Code APPs?
Hope Tuesday is well for you so far!
Show notes on stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 27, 2021
Another daily audio blog from the road… In Jinan, long time since I’ve been here!
Busy day but still got a work out in: 8 rounds, 45 seconds on, 10 seconds rest: Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Elephant Walks, Mountain Climbers, Bear Crawl, pushups, Kick throughs. Then did two rounds of my usual medicine ball workout but with my suitcase as a weight (almost 7 kg filled with towels).
THE VIRUS is on the rise again as we’ve had cancellations in November, but December should be okay provided people can still go to schools.
Hope Wednesday is good to you!
Show notes on stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 28 2021
Throat is hurting a little bit and it’s no wonder as the city of Jinan is covered with smog. The city is worse than Beijing right now but, on the upshot, I did get a neat time lapse of the city yesterday as the clouds (natural and not) were swept away and the sun came out.
Olympics coming up, will we be able to go? Vaxxed, not vaxxed, double triple vaxxed? They will be operating on a “closed loop” basis, which means that the athletes and volunteers will be kept separate from the general public. Not sure if we have to be vaccinated to attend.
Also, made a mistake, apparently only SOME of the Olympics will be held in Zhangjiakou as some events, such as the men’s ice hockey, will be held in Beijing City itself. Still… what will it cost?
Beijing shuttering some places. For all my comments about Canada and now this…
Gaining weight while travelling? Change in workout routines aaaannndd…. egg tarts! I’ve mentioned this shop before, Shiwei Zhongxin, a Jinan pastry / dim sum / dessert shop that sells egg tarts and these little vanilla cupcake-cookie things, among other things. Bought a few hundred grams to take back to Beijing.
Hope we can get back to Beijing tomorrow! Yellow Paper expires and, with the shut downs, who knows how things will turn out.
Have a good one!
stevensirski.com
SSAB – October 29 2021
Back in Beijing no problem!… But the city is cutting itself off. Universities are shutting gates and the city is building what some would call is a ‘Beijing Bubble’ in preparation for the Olympics.
The process of an audio blog. Sometimes I write the blog first, sometimes I just record the audio and then make the notes. Sometimes it’s easier to think while talking rather than think what to write and how to write it. Write / record, upload, picture, publish, screenshot, disperse.
Getting into 2D animation cause as it’s always been something I’ve thought about! Looked into a few animation programs, notably opentoonz and Synfig. It is something new to learn and not sure what I’m getting myself into but it looks easy enough and doable enough.
Hope your week has been good and your weekend is set up good! Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! No plans for me!
Will be archiving the October audio blogs, you can find the archives here.
stevensirski.com