Bad at Badminton

Vince (our very cool and friendly relocation advisor) invited me to play badminton tonight. Since Bec had a JnJ dinner it was good timing. Vince sent me the address and we met at a street corner near the badminton gym. It's been some time since I've played badminton so my skills were average at best. There were some hard-core guys (and girls) in this place. I played with Vince, his friend, his girlfriend, and his parents. I was the only white guy in the place so it was pretty cool to get an authentic Chinese experience. We took turn playing 2-on-2. They each have their own racquet and they take it very seriously. Vince is like 6' 3", by the way, pretty huge for a Chinese guy.

Afterwards, we went to Vince's parents' very nice apartment where they served me some local hot desserts that his Mom heated up, like sweet dumplings in a sweet sauce. I met Mary and Happy, their yorkshire terrier puppies, and called it a night.

Le Royal Meridien Shanghai

After a few flights we have finally made it to Shanghai and to our swanky hotel Le Royal Meridien Shanghai. The hotel has some really amazing things including a really cool led and crystal wall that illuminates in interesting patterns and a giant fish thank that you can walk through filled with gold fish. We'll have to take some pics to post. The room has a 42" Samsung flat screen TV and a "rain" shower where the showerhead is a huge thing in the ceiling that rains on you. I gusto it mucho.

There are lots of Westernized places here. I asked the bellman where to grab something quick to eat and he suggested the Subway across the street. When I told him I wanted something Chinese he instructed me to go down the block where I found myself in a very crowded all-Chinese upscale market. While it was a great place to walk through, I didn't have the needed time to try to communicate that I just wanted a quick bite. I ended up at Costa Coffee.

I've had several meetings this week and I've been in Starbucks more times than I'd like to admit, but it's not by my request. They are very popular meeting spots, just like at home. And inside they are the same, anytown, USA, or here, anytown, China.

Traffic patterns are interesting here. Red lights are mostly followed, but some taxis seem to consider them optional. Scooters jump on the sidewalks often to avoid car traffic or red lights. They just zip around the pedestrians and nobody minds.

I met with Jeffrey, from Emerge/State of Ohio and discussed ideas about opportunites in China. Today I met with Yanpinq of a lawfirm here and Gary from JnJ China, also to discuss oppportunties. So far, everyone agrees there is a lot of opportunity for me here, but we are still trying to figure out what it will be.

Tomorrow is our city orientation and Friday is house hunting. Tonight I may go play badmitton with one of the relocation people with whom I've become friendly. We'll see...the jet lag is kicking my ass. asdfadf

Flying lessons from Matt and Lena

Matt and Lena have had a rough go.

1) After 6 hours on ther flight from Newark -> Tokyo, they were forced to return to Newark when one of the passengers claimed a medical emergency. Turns out she was actually being deported and thought she could bypass US Customs if she got to a hospital.
2) After they joined us the next day on our flight to Tokyo, they were told the had a connection with China Airlines to Shanghai, while we had ours on Japan Air. We went to the lounge to rest up for a few hours during the layover. 2 hours later Matt and Lena show up - turns out they weren't on the China Airlines flight. While we were munching on Japanese snacks and drinking Sweat (it's like Gatorade), they were struggling around the airport trying to find out their flight.
3) We all arrived in Shanghai together, but Matt's luggage didn't feel like making the trip. After some time at the Luggage Inquiries counter, Matt was told he could expect his baggage tomorrow (which was yesterday, and it still hadn't arrived).

Kudos to Matt and Lena for the positive attitude exhibited during this frustrating trip for them. Next time, we'll make your bookings.

Here is a picture of them headed away from us after being told they were not, as previously thought and later proven true, supposed to be headed with us to terminal 2 for the Japan Air flight to Shanghai.

Waddya say, bidet!

Ok seriously. This is what I need in my house. I used one of these before and it had a fan to help the drying process, so I would only rate this a B+ compared to that. If my next toilet doesn't come with a touchscreen, I'm throwing it...well...down the toilet. Either way, the Japanese know hygiene. This is my kind of country.

Also, for no apparent reason, accessing American-based websites is notably faster from Japan. They must be from the future here.

Tokyooooooooooo

15 hour flight from Newark to Tokyo

4 different meals

3 courses per meal.

Cost of a business class ticket - priceless. (well, it was for us!)

2 other J&Jers (Lena and Matt) in my rotational program left for Shanghai on Saturday. About 6 hours into their flight, there was a medical emergency and they flew 6 hours back to EWR. So, after 12 hours of travel, they made it... well, nowhere! We met up with them in the Continental Lounge on Sunday morning before our flight. They ended up being rebooked on our flight and we all sat in the same row.

Flight was good, uneventful. Lots of food. Good movies.

Aaron, now the connoisseur of business class rates the KLM seats and entertainment system better. But, Continental food better - 2 courses with lobster!

Now we are waiting in the Japan Airlines lounge for our flight to Shanghai. It is 2:25 AM at home, but 4:25 PM in Tokyo. Our flight is at 7:10.

Next stop - China.

Coffee's-a-brewin'

Our flight is at 11 AM - 8 hours from now - and we are trying to pull an all nighter. A wise man (aka my dad) told me that we should try to get on China time as best as possible... meaning, get on the plane and sleep (because it will essentially be midnight). So, how best to fall asleep at 11 AM? Stay up at late as possbile. We are doing everything we can to stay up ... we've had lot of coffee, and now I'm unnecessarily blogging. Just trying to pass the time to stay awake.

Here's how we've passed the time using our new XShot....

Looking forward to lots of take-out

Hello. I am looking forward to going to Shanghai and finally meeting General Tso.

Shang Hi!

Welcome to our blog! We thought this would be a good way to keep our friends and family posted on our adventures in China. Keep checking back for new postings...

We are off to China on Sunday for a week. We will be touring Shanghai and seeing many apartments. Also, Rebecca will attend a 2 day meeting for her new J&J project and Aaron has 3 interviews.

We will keep our blog updated. More frequent updates to come once we officially move in April. And, we should have fun pictures of the two of us now that Joel gave us our nifty XShot!