One-Eyed Panda’s Journal

We moved into the new place last Saturday & had a great housewarming party last night – I know this is going to look weird for anybody that reads this in the archives cause the last post was on us finding the house, but whatever. It has taken about a week but everything is finally in a state where I can say we’re settled and I can freely blog again.

It really felt that way after last night’s housewarming party, which we combined with the going-away party for our friend, Ray Shi, who’s heading back to the US on Wednesday. It was great cause we got to see a lot of people we hadn’t seen in a while and everybody loved the place. I need to take pictures as we made one or two small changes from the photos that the landlord posted for the classified. I’ll try to do that soon.

I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the area – most of it with Roger, who prefers to now do his business outside rather than using the diapers that he used as a puppy. That means more walks which means more exercise for me. There are lots of great little cafes and shops on Shaanxi Nan Lu and through out the French Concession and it just feels like a perfect combination of Western and Chinese side by side. It’s great to come home at night and just feel like you can relax here.

But other than that there isn’t a whole lot going on. Work is going at a steady pace. I’m busy but not getting overwhelmed. I’ve become addicted to Aric S. Queen’s Rough Sundays podcast and am really enjoying Pascal Mercier’s Night Train to Lisbon. I sat down today at Vienna Cafe today for brunch and ended up reading about 60 pages and probably will cover another 80 or so before I head to bed.

It’s been a perfect long-weekend.

J.

Well it’s the first day of 2009 and last night could not have been a better end to what’s been a crappy last couple of months for me. I got to ring in the new year with Cold Fairyland. And they were on their best game last night — especially since they’d just returned from playing in Spain a couple of days before.

The line up has changed a bit since I saw them last at The Zhejiang Dream Factory back in April for their CD release party for Seeds in the Ground. Now the lead singer, Lin Di’s husband Seppo is playing bass (definitely not a negative). One of things I noticed this time out is that CFL’s new stuff seems to emphasize the Chinese instrumentation more — Lin Di’s pipa seems to come out much stronger and the band’s drummer can rival Hedgehog’s Atom for how hard he pounds the skins — both in traditional Chinese and jazz drumming fashions. In fact he seemed to break into a lot of drum solos last night in between songs that were just amazing.

Probably the best part about their new year’s eve show is that the band played it more like an evening with Cold Fairyland than their traditional shows. I don’t know from looking at the attendees how many people knew of CFL before the show. I think not many. Winnie and I showed up at about 9:15 (CFL was supposed to hit the stage about 10 but started closer to 10:30) and the Melting Pot was packed with people who’d come for their NYE buffet — mostly older expats and dice-playing Chinese (who kept playing dice during CFL’s set) not the typical CFL fans.

There was also, I’m sorry to say, annoying cover band called the Pilgrims opening up for them. It looked like a group of bored/laid-off European bankers who had decided to start a band for extra cash. They got very little applause when they played. But once CFL hit the stage the Pilgrim’s lead singer, who seemed like he got drunk long before he came to the bar, was giving nothing but praise to CFL. And you could tell that people really got into the music (and the contests) and I am sure a few new CFL fans were converted last night.

To me the best thing about the night was everyone was just there to have a good time and be about the music. I know that sounds cheesy but it’s true. Ruby, one of the Melting Pot’s owners made sure that free champaign was given out at midnight and was really making sure that everyone was having a good time.

Me, last night I was able to forget about my troubles and just enjoy the start to a new year. Hopefully 2009 will be a much better year for me.

J.

Well I guess now is the time to announce it. In just over a week’s time — Monday December 15th to be exact — I’m finish up my job at the consulting company where I’m currently employed.

I haven’t exactly firmed up where I’ll be heading to next but I am going through the interview process with a number of companies. It’s a little unnerving not knowing where I’ll be working in a couple of weeks but it is exciting too. Particularly because I’ve made it one of my goals to get back into journalism. In fact most of my interviews have been for positions either writing or editing magazines. I’ve been considering this for awhile and while economically things are tough right now for many people now just felt like the right time for a change. 

So until I have a new position confirmed I’ll have a bit more time to blog and I will keep everyone up-to-date on my adventures.

J.

After five years in China there is one thing I don’t understand, Chinese store keepers reluctance to change 100 kaui notes. This morning I paid for my RMB 20 breakfast with a 100 kaui note. The waitress response was “YI bai kuai ayah!” It was like I presented her with an impossibly large amount of money. She did change though without much fuss which is more than I can say for the ayi at my local C-store.

I could see this if the notes were rare, but this is the standard denomination of notes that you get when you go to any ATM in China. It’s the equivalent of getting CDN$20 from an ATM in Canada. You would think that stores would be prepared to change a 100 kaui note because of this. And I think the worst thing is that I will buy more things sometimes to get around the store keeper’s whining particularly if it is an old lady as she seems to make feel as though I am personally responsible for the Opium Wars and the century of humiliation the Chinese endured just because I brought a 100 kaui note with me.

Any one else experience this?

J.