Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Site safety
For all the design and construction professionals, this one is for you.
You have all heard about the site safety condition in China. These pictures were taken from today. 2 guys is chopping away an existing beam. They stood on the beam itself and just jackhammered it away. No scaffold, platform, safety belt. Just standing right on top of the beam that they are cutting away...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A picture of the project we are working on.
This is a picture of the newer portion of the project. They are rushing to get the exterior together just for the 60th Anniversary National Day holiday. The design dressed up an 80s building with traditional motif so that it will look in better harmony with the 1863 building at the back. This side will become the new main lobby entry.
Mid-Autumn festival dinner
Another food blog... I should just become a food writer.
We were invited to the construction team's Mid-Autumn festival dinner. I tasted the infamous chinese white wine. It's okay. I can probably turn it into a good cosmo, in fact. That stuff is strong, though. I just had half of a small glass.
Like all usual chinese dinner for festivities, drinking, or getting someone drunk, is always the highlight. The young guy, Chen, was the target. It was hilarious, and impressive, seeing him down glasses of white wine. At the end, he wasn't even drunk.
It is great to attend the dinner, especially for Marlon. Good food, of course. It's nice to be a part of a group.
Beijing this Saturday with Marlon. We can't wait!
We were invited to the construction team's Mid-Autumn festival dinner. I tasted the infamous chinese white wine. It's okay. I can probably turn it into a good cosmo, in fact. That stuff is strong, though. I just had half of a small glass.
Like all usual chinese dinner for festivities, drinking, or getting someone drunk, is always the highlight. The young guy, Chen, was the target. It was hilarious, and impressive, seeing him down glasses of white wine. At the end, he wasn't even drunk.
It is great to attend the dinner, especially for Marlon. Good food, of course. It's nice to be a part of a group.
Beijing this Saturday with Marlon. We can't wait!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tired Monday
Marlon and I both felt sluggish today. I blame it on my nice overnight trip to Beijing, where I bought shirts for $19 RMB each (< US$2.5), a fabulous meal with my uncle's family, and had some real drinks. But if your first thing on Monday morning was a Mechanical Engineer coordination meeting, you will feel sluggish too. Especially when they tell you there are another set of 4No. 8" pipes running through the ceiling that you coordinated last week, you will feel deflated too.
And so, I decided that we have to have KFC for dinner tonight. I need that fat chicken skin to make me happy. It was a nice evening, in fact. Marlon and I had our romantic walk along the historical street, and then along the river. I bet Marlon would want nothing to do with me when we finish with this job. We have already gone through our life stories last 2 weeks.
We just booked our hotel and bought our train tickets for Beijing this weekend. I'm excited to take Marlon to see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, Antique Market, Fake Gucci, Fake Prada, and DVDs.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
First real drink in 2 weeks.
Smirnoff martini does taste a bit different comparing it to a Ketel One. But you know what, it still tastes good.
I, apologetically, left Marlon behind in Tianjin and came to Beijing by myself. The real reason is to see my uncle and his family. It's nice to see him. He is a well read person. He was a Quantity Surveyor for the government for many years before he retired. So, he completely knows the history of my project in Tianjin. I think he is quite impressed and proud of me, especially as a building industry veteran. My uncle, aunt, his eldest son, and 2 of the daughters in law took me to a very nice restaurant. We had some very delicious food. More delicious than what we had in Tianjin. I'm completely stuffed right now. I was too busy eating. Not many pictures of the food.
Another mission of this trip is to get myself a real drink. It's lovely sitting at a hotel bar, icy cold martini and writing my blog on my Blackberry. The place I am staying is pretty nice. It's a little treat to myself for the 2 weeks of hard work. I'm proud of Marlon and me for getting a fair bit of work done in such short time. I deserve a nice hotel room for a night.
2 weeks down, and we don't know how many more to go. I have to say it's probably, under a normal circumstance, easier to be an architect/designer in China than in the States. It's not about what you can't do. It's about what TO DO to make it works. No wonder everyone wants to build in China. Life safety design, fire protection, sanitation, site safety... is another topic.
Speaking of which, I just saw the burnt TVCC/Mandarin Oriental Hotel next to CCTV tower. It's this charred super tall building along the 3rd Ring Road. Sad!
I, apologetically, left Marlon behind in Tianjin and came to Beijing by myself. The real reason is to see my uncle and his family. It's nice to see him. He is a well read person. He was a Quantity Surveyor for the government for many years before he retired. So, he completely knows the history of my project in Tianjin. I think he is quite impressed and proud of me, especially as a building industry veteran. My uncle, aunt, his eldest son, and 2 of the daughters in law took me to a very nice restaurant. We had some very delicious food. More delicious than what we had in Tianjin. I'm completely stuffed right now. I was too busy eating. Not many pictures of the food.
Another mission of this trip is to get myself a real drink. It's lovely sitting at a hotel bar, icy cold martini and writing my blog on my Blackberry. The place I am staying is pretty nice. It's a little treat to myself for the 2 weeks of hard work. I'm proud of Marlon and me for getting a fair bit of work done in such short time. I deserve a nice hotel room for a night.
2 weeks down, and we don't know how many more to go. I have to say it's probably, under a normal circumstance, easier to be an architect/designer in China than in the States. It's not about what you can't do. It's about what TO DO to make it works. No wonder everyone wants to build in China. Life safety design, fire protection, sanitation, site safety... is another topic.
Speaking of which, I just saw the burnt TVCC/Mandarin Oriental Hotel next to CCTV tower. It's this charred super tall building along the 3rd Ring Road. Sad!
Friday, September 25, 2009
2 weeks...
After a week of not eating out, tonight we went to the the Historical Italian Cultural Street, ate a sidewalk Thai Cafe, walked along the river and admired the fabulous riverfront development and the night view of the city. The old buildings on the Italian Street and neighborhood are quite lovely. You can just imagine how lovely they were back in the days. Marlon is quite impressed with the city overall. I am also very excited about the development of this city. It is a great experience for me, undoubtedly.
Next week is going to be a short week. So is the week after due to the Nation Day and Mid Autumn Festival. So, 4 weeks will be a breeze... hehe...
Marlon and I are still hopeful that we can get the big stuff done and the client will send us home early. But there are so much to do...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Mooncake and my first dinner party in Tianjin
It's Mid Autumn Festival next week. It's a tradition that the hotel gives out mooncake to all staff. That include Marlon and me! We both got 2 boxes. They came in their own custom bag and box with the new hotel exterior rendering. Each box has 12 different flavors. How exciting. Marlon loves mooncake.
I also decided to cook dinner for Marlon. I made string beans, tomato and eggs, and ready made chicken from the supermarket. It may not be as spectacular as the food we had in restaurants. But my thought counts, right?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
More food... more... more...
I am heading to the gym RIGHT NOW.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
It's a better week, so far...
(Knock on wood...) we both seem to be settling in, finally. The work is still hectic, but we are getting into the meat, at least. It is still the very first layer of the meat... just barely under the skin though.
Even though we were granted permission to stay for only half a day at the site and can work from the hotel in the afternoon, we ended up staying for the whole day due to meetings. Then, we had conference call with New York before going to the site AND after the end of the day. So, it's a 7am to 11pm job. I'm losing my voice from all the talking. We felt we smoked 2 packs a day. Today, I reminded myself to get out and get some fresh air.
I got laughed at on my Mandarin in meetings. I really need to work on the technical terms and pronunication in the future even after this job.
I did some more grocery shopping today. I love to be surrounded by all these Asian snacks and stuff. The fancy supermarket close to our hotel is quite nice to just browse. Even though it is more expensive, I justify shopping at this place with not having to battle the old ladies at the produces section to get the fruits and veggies weighed.
Even though we were granted permission to stay for only half a day at the site and can work from the hotel in the afternoon, we ended up staying for the whole day due to meetings. Then, we had conference call with New York before going to the site AND after the end of the day. So, it's a 7am to 11pm job. I'm losing my voice from all the talking. We felt we smoked 2 packs a day. Today, I reminded myself to get out and get some fresh air.
I got laughed at on my Mandarin in meetings. I really need to work on the technical terms and pronunication in the future even after this job.
I did some more grocery shopping today. I love to be surrounded by all these Asian snacks and stuff. The fancy supermarket close to our hotel is quite nice to just browse. Even though it is more expensive, I justify shopping at this place with not having to battle the old ladies at the produces section to get the fruits and veggies weighed.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Small things about living in a foreign country
On Sunday, we went to Carrafour for some groceries. I saw these nice smaller size green pepper. They are not that much smaller than the regular one we get in the States and Australia. So, I thought they just grow them smaller here.
I cut into it last night to fix myself a salad for dinner. As I start cleaning out the seeds with my hand, I felt the heat. I was intrigued, and proceed to put the whole pepper into the salad. Again it is just about half of a normal big one we get. Wow. Spicy salad! And my thumb is still burning this morning from touching the seed.
Construction in a non-union world
This picture was taken last night at around 10.30, when the trunk was just delivering to the site. That's why they can have aggressive schedule. So far, we see workers practically working 24/7.
More photos from Sunday
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sunday, Sept 20, 2009
The last time I felt the same loneliness was in one of the late nights in the fall semester of 1998 when I was attending Columbia University. I believe it was the 4th month after I arrived in New York. I decided to work from home instead of staying up in the studio. My feeling of loneliness started developing a vortex in my apartment at the very spot where I filled it with a TV first thing the next morning after a trip to J&R.
The same loneliness is surrounding me this very moment. I think it is not only caused by being away from home, Jim and my many dear friends who are now my family. It is also caused by finishing the Frank Bruni's new book - Born Round. I was anticipating the book to come out since I read the excerpt from NYTimes a couple of months ago. His childhood obsession with food and being chubby was the exact parallel to mine. I completely understand the sentiment he described in the book about, lack of a better word, stuffing his face with food. As some of you know, I can devour anything in front of me in alarming speed. I ordered the book online. It arrived the very day it came out. I saved the book knowing that I need some reading materials for this long trip to Tianjin. I started the book earlier this week, and finished in bed this morning. The usual sadness from finishing a good book has turned up a notch this time by discovering that Frank Bruni lives on my street! Imagining his trip to the Levine bakery for the baguette with butter and jam, his date at Kevi the Greek Restaurant on the UWS and the bodega at the corner of 74th and Amsterdam he frequents for his late night ice cream treats (or breakdown)...
Meanwhile, this new environment and the pressure from the work became the perfect excuses to indulge in food. Since both breakfast and lunches were served at the hotel and the job site, we only have dinner to worry about. Being the first week, and Marlon having no idea where to go, I took complete control of the dinner venue selections. Not only we have already been to 2 of the famous local attractions -- Go-believe steam buns and Little Fat Lambs steam pot, we have also sampled several local restaurants and tried different combination of dishes. Of course I over ordered every time. I just can't order only 2 dishes in a Chinese restaurant! I can't choose between the hundreds of things on the menus. And there are so many of my old favorites here. I have said this before, but I am taking this opportunity to declare again that Chinese food in New York is far from meeting the standard. In case you haven't notice, I have posted more pictures of food on the blog than I have about the city and the sights. Here is the reason. This week, our only main activities are work and eat dinner. Nothing else worth documenting.c
So, back to my loneliness...
Yet, even though there are such abundance of Chinese food, I still want my salad, a good chicken milanese, and cold chilled vodka martini. And speaking of which, I had the WORST martini ever at a bar last night. And it is not promising in finding a good "western" restaurant and a good cocktail. How am I going to last the coming weeks? I can do beer. But I NEED a stiff drinks after a long week of working. Did I mention we put in a good 10 hours on Saturday? Not only it was 10 hours, we have made several very important suggestions to the client, resolved several issues and walked the site twice.
We have decided that, in order to avoid ballooning up to beyond recognition, we will start to prepare our own dinner. I just spent almost 300 RMB (which equals to about US$40) of groceries. Still, they are just fruits, some condiments, frozen buns, pre-made and vacuum sealed small chicken, a small ball of roasted ham, a bag of oatmeal, milk,half of a lettuce, 4 tomatoes and 2 small green peppers. I am determined these will be my dinner for the next 5 nights until Friday comes. It is not only trying to curb my food in take. I just don't have the energy to go out every night after a long day of working in the filthy construction site office (and you have no idea about filthy until you have worked in a Chinese construction site. And seriously I bet this one is not as bad as most others). It is also tough playing architect and translator at the same time. And again, I am translating between TWO 2nd languages.
I am hopeful, though, this coming week will paint a better picture of the project and we can get into a groove of working out the problems. I think we are getting there. I hope we don't jinx ourselves, but Marlon and I both think that the client is liking us and trusting us on our opinions and ideas. Now we just have to be able to keep up with her. She is, by the way, absolutely fabulous as a client. So far, we see how she keeps with the energy and enthusiasm working 7 long days a week, leading the mostly men environment where these men are also unfocused, generally lacking enthusiasm and just wanting to dodge the bullets. She also has the manner to sweet talk anyone into doing things for her... and speaking of which, I had better finish this and get on with the sketch I promised her.
I sincerely miss all of you. I can't wait to be back in New York and have a good cocktail, my Pinkberry, and to work out with my trainer, Damon, to work off these Chinese food on me.
The same loneliness is surrounding me this very moment. I think it is not only caused by being away from home, Jim and my many dear friends who are now my family. It is also caused by finishing the Frank Bruni's new book - Born Round. I was anticipating the book to come out since I read the excerpt from NYTimes a couple of months ago. His childhood obsession with food and being chubby was the exact parallel to mine. I completely understand the sentiment he described in the book about, lack of a better word, stuffing his face with food. As some of you know, I can devour anything in front of me in alarming speed. I ordered the book online. It arrived the very day it came out. I saved the book knowing that I need some reading materials for this long trip to Tianjin. I started the book earlier this week, and finished in bed this morning. The usual sadness from finishing a good book has turned up a notch this time by discovering that Frank Bruni lives on my street! Imagining his trip to the Levine bakery for the baguette with butter and jam, his date at Kevi the Greek Restaurant on the UWS and the bodega at the corner of 74th and Amsterdam he frequents for his late night ice cream treats (or breakdown)...
Meanwhile, this new environment and the pressure from the work became the perfect excuses to indulge in food. Since both breakfast and lunches were served at the hotel and the job site, we only have dinner to worry about. Being the first week, and Marlon having no idea where to go, I took complete control of the dinner venue selections. Not only we have already been to 2 of the famous local attractions -- Go-believe steam buns and Little Fat Lambs steam pot, we have also sampled several local restaurants and tried different combination of dishes. Of course I over ordered every time. I just can't order only 2 dishes in a Chinese restaurant! I can't choose between the hundreds of things on the menus. And there are so many of my old favorites here. I have said this before, but I am taking this opportunity to declare again that Chinese food in New York is far from meeting the standard. In case you haven't notice, I have posted more pictures of food on the blog than I have about the city and the sights. Here is the reason. This week, our only main activities are work and eat dinner. Nothing else worth documenting.c
So, back to my loneliness...
Yet, even though there are such abundance of Chinese food, I still want my salad, a good chicken milanese, and cold chilled vodka martini. And speaking of which, I had the WORST martini ever at a bar last night. And it is not promising in finding a good "western" restaurant and a good cocktail. How am I going to last the coming weeks? I can do beer. But I NEED a stiff drinks after a long week of working. Did I mention we put in a good 10 hours on Saturday? Not only it was 10 hours, we have made several very important suggestions to the client, resolved several issues and walked the site twice.
We have decided that, in order to avoid ballooning up to beyond recognition, we will start to prepare our own dinner. I just spent almost 300 RMB (which equals to about US$40) of groceries. Still, they are just fruits, some condiments, frozen buns, pre-made and vacuum sealed small chicken, a small ball of roasted ham, a bag of oatmeal, milk,half of a lettuce, 4 tomatoes and 2 small green peppers. I am determined these will be my dinner for the next 5 nights until Friday comes. It is not only trying to curb my food in take. I just don't have the energy to go out every night after a long day of working in the filthy construction site office (and you have no idea about filthy until you have worked in a Chinese construction site. And seriously I bet this one is not as bad as most others). It is also tough playing architect and translator at the same time. And again, I am translating between TWO 2nd languages.
I am hopeful, though, this coming week will paint a better picture of the project and we can get into a groove of working out the problems. I think we are getting there. I hope we don't jinx ourselves, but Marlon and I both think that the client is liking us and trusting us on our opinions and ideas. Now we just have to be able to keep up with her. She is, by the way, absolutely fabulous as a client. So far, we see how she keeps with the energy and enthusiasm working 7 long days a week, leading the mostly men environment where these men are also unfocused, generally lacking enthusiasm and just wanting to dodge the bullets. She also has the manner to sweet talk anyone into doing things for her... and speaking of which, I had better finish this and get on with the sketch I promised her.
I sincerely miss all of you. I can't wait to be back in New York and have a good cocktail, my Pinkberry, and to work out with my trainer, Damon, to work off these Chinese food on me.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hot pot at the famous Little Fat Lamb
We needed the big meal after hard work of the week... and 10 hours on Saturday.
Best Laundry Service
Friday, September 18, 2009
It's been a week!
It feels longer than a week. We hope we can get into it next week. It's not an easy week. Especially for Marlon as he cannot communicate at all in this place by himself. and of course we miss our love ones, families and friends - that is you who are reading. Got some new pictures from last couple of days. And today (Saturday) we are going to do some tourist things after we finish our morning work. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
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Thursday, September 17, 2009
A better day at work
We got ourselves out of working in that basement of the building!!! We spoke to the owner and excused ourselves from working in the office all day. We honestly told her that we need the space to spread out the drawings; and we can't handle the smoky environment. Honestly, Marlon and I are both feeling throat irritation already. Now, we just have to go into the office in the morning in order to survey the site for any need coordination and conversation. Then we can come back and work in our room in the afternoon - probably in shorts and flip flop. Finally!!!
Poor Marlon is still having a terrible time adjusting to the jetlag. He is even sleeping less last night than he previously did. I am going to force him to take some NyQuil tomorrow night so that he can sleep late on Saturday.
Poor Marlon is still having a terrible time adjusting to the jetlag. He is even sleeping less last night than he previously did. I am going to force him to take some NyQuil tomorrow night so that he can sleep late on Saturday.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday... And it feels like Friday... Oh worse - a working Saturday...
Somehow we both feel that it's been a very long week. The work, and the work environment makes the working harder. Here is where we work:
1. Basement of a 150+ year old building
2. No daylight
3. The ceiling height is about 7'-0".
4. The room size is approximately 10' x25'. And at any time, there are at least 20 people there. Half of them are smoking.
1. Basement of a 150+ year old building
2. No daylight
3. The ceiling height is about 7'-0".
4. The room size is approximately 10' x25'. And at any time, there are at least 20 people there. Half of them are smoking.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Dinner last night
Dying!
It's really tough working in a construction site's basement, with very low ceiling and no daylight, with a room full of smokers, in a room also filled with construction dust and likely with asbestos.
And the worst, there is no Starbucks across the street. Marlon sleep only 3 hours last night due to Jetlag. I don't know how he can hold up for so long.
And the worst, there is no Starbucks across the street. Marlon sleep only 3 hours last night due to Jetlag. I don't know how he can hold up for so long.
Monday, September 14, 2009
First day working...
We walked the site today... which took up most of the day. Observation #1 - this is like 3 projects in 1. Observation #2 - there are some really amazing historical architecture and structure in this project. Observation #3 - it is insane to think that they can get this project done by next April. The scope of the project should have a 6 year Design and Construction schedule. Not the 18 months they planned. Just to fix and reinforce the old WOOD structure in the 1863 building would take up 1 year.
i'm exhausted. Jetlag got me up at 4am 2 nights in a row. Damn!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Dinner tonight
We found this great place for dinner tonight. It's a block away from our place. The left side is a dish of very tasty chicken wings. The middle is a plate of tofu with 8 ingredients, and the right is a place of veggies (obviously). The wait staff won't take our 3 RMB tips!
First Weekend in Tianjin
Tianjin's weather is quite nice. We arrived yesterday via Beijing PEK airport. The flight was fine... quite painless actually.
The room is not bad at all. The river view is fabulous. I ran along the river this morning. This is going to be one of my favorite part of Tianjin.
It is not easy speaking both English and Mandarin simultaneously, considering both are not my mother tongue. At some point during dinner last night, I spoke Mandarin to Marlon and English to our local contacts. This is going to be interesting!
We are both scared of the upcoming work. Marlon prepared a to-do-list last night when he woke up in the middle of the night. I'm translating it right now (...yes, blogging and translating at the same time. A new milestone of my multitasking skill.)
Missing everyone of you! 3 month away is a long time. Marlon and I were fantasizing at lunch that the job can be done sooner. We want turkey for Thanksgiving, not peking duck.
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The room is not bad at all. The river view is fabulous. I ran along the river this morning. This is going to be one of my favorite part of Tianjin.
It is not easy speaking both English and Mandarin simultaneously, considering both are not my mother tongue. At some point during dinner last night, I spoke Mandarin to Marlon and English to our local contacts. This is going to be interesting!
We are both scared of the upcoming work. Marlon prepared a to-do-list last night when he woke up in the middle of the night. I'm translating it right now (...yes, blogging and translating at the same time. A new milestone of my multitasking skill.)
Missing everyone of you! 3 month away is a long time. Marlon and I were fantasizing at lunch that the job can be done sooner. We want turkey for Thanksgiving, not peking duck.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
2 Days before leaving
As it is getting closer to the trip, I am actually getting quite stressed out and nervous. It will be interesting to actually find out how complicated this job is going to be.
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