Spring in Beijing

I have almost forgot how it feels to experience spring time. Last Sunday, as we walked outside our building, it hit me. The air was different, the trees were about to bloom and the bushes changed colour to a shade of light green. And it was warm, around 18 degrees. We decided to have a day out on the streets of Beijing. Made a visit to Yashow Market for some shirts and sunglasses. Have to say that I am beginning to like the art of bargaining. 45 RMB for a Paul Smith shirt. Picked up a cheap pair of Raybans. Its amazing how everything is copied here. And they are trying to convince you it is the real thing...."good quality".
The walk along the streets of Beijing gives you a good idea of how this city is changing. Everywhere you look, old areas are torn down and new exclusive apartments, office buildings and shopping malls are built. The old gives way to the new. The contrast is quite overwhelming. Luxury apartments in roman style next to rundown, poor areas of hutongs. Luxury cars sharing the road with men on tricycles carrying loads of cardboard, water bottles or building materials.
We walked to the nearby subway station. Don't know when it was built, but it was like coming back to east Germany after the wall fell. Rundown but functioning. 2 RMB for using the system the whole day. We jumped on the first train. Packed!! I can see why they need "pushers" to get the doors to close at busy times. We were fortunate enough to avoid this treatment. Got off after 6 stations. Houhai. This is where we went ice-skating in January. Now the whole area has put on its spring clothing. Bars, cafes and restaurants have opened up everywhere. The lakes are full with boats and other crafts and the area is starting to be flooded with tourists. We had our first coffee in the sun. Can not think about a better way of spending the first real spring Sunday in Beijing.
The past week has been no less than stressful. Pressure it building up...opening is getting closer. Thankfully, our days not only involve work: birthday dinner on Monday, Yashow market on Tuesday, dinner with Susanna and Gero on Wednesday at a terrific French restaurant, middle eastern dinner at Rumi and shopping at Carrefour on Thursday and office party at our place on Friday night. And what a party it turned out to be. First of all, Friday was the first day since we got here that Beijing got real soak. And this soak turn the city into chaos. People that had taken their bicycles to work had to take a cab or public transport. This meant that poor Zach was waiting out in the rain for 45 min trying to get a cab. By then it was 7PM. I joined him and we started walking home hoping to get a cab on the way. But NO! The streets were crowded with people trying to get home. We ended up walking home..40 minutes in rain. And we were supposed to host a party. Got back and already 20 people waiting in our livingroom...with their shoes on! Took the executive decision of asking everyone to take them off....bad decision!! The apartment got a terrible odor of wet shoes...to very refreshing. We finally got the party started. Some good music and food did the job. They do not drink here like they did in Sydney. The focus is on the food. We had ordered food from a nearby Chinese restaurant...the food was gone in 15 min. Had to order pizza from Annies. And more Chinese food.... the fridge did not get the same attention...full of beer. In total we had 60 people here. It was a success! Even got a visit of our GM and his wife. She brought Jello-shots! Went down fast, especially with the spa girls. Well...of course our lucky spree had to come to an end. The neighbours complained...and off went all our guests. And it was only 9:45PM. The dedicated people that stayed continued until around 12:30AM when Mr. Fournier fell asleep in the couch.
Our Saturday was spent at work. We were invited to Susanna and Gero to get a look at their new place and to battle it out on their Wii. Zach won the boxing match but I beat him in tennis! And he turned out to be as good a gokart driver on the screen as he is on the track.
So another week has run past...it is amazing how quickly time goes by. It feels like it is only Sunday-Monday and then Thursday-Friday. We got at great end to the week though. Woke up late, walked over to Chef Too, a local restaurant in the area famous for their Saturday and Sunday brunch. Place was packed so we had to go for a walk in the area while we waited for a table. There are soo much to see and explore. Every street has something to offer. We made a visit to Schindler Food Center. What a place! Meats, hams, cheese, bread, wine and all kinds of stuff from Europe. Found a good assortment of Swedish biscuits...Goteborgs Kex!! On the way back to the restaurant, we encountered a man doing the worst job in Beijing. They are cleaning up the channels in time for the Olympics. And the channels are filled with sewage. So this man is shovelling the sewage to that another man can use his machine to put the sewage on a little truck that takes it away...enough said. The brunch was amazing!! Good coffee, good service and great food!! I had my first eggs benedict in Beijing and I was not disappointed. To walk the food off, we took a tour through Chaoyang Park. It is the biggest park in Beijing and just next to where we live. 5 RMB entrance fee, but it was worth it. It is an oasis in the heart of Beijing. Large lakes, amusement park, soccer fields, basketball courts and of course ping pong tables. Most extraordinary was the kite fliers. Everywhere and what skills!! Think we will invest in one soon!
It is now Sunday night and time to start preparing for the new week ahead. It will be eventful as always. Have a look at the photos put up from this past week. It will put some meat on the sandwich! Ciao for now. Zach says hi...he is still a bit sleepy after an afternoon nap! /Martin

Beijing Belly

I guess I have been quite lucky. Zach got it the second week here. But now it was my turn. And it is not a great experience...I am talking about what they call...the Beijing Belly...or tourist diarrhea. I have been knocked out in my bed for 2 days now. I have a feeling it was the food that we ate for lunch on Wednesday. We get delivered lunch boxes to work from some dodgy local chinese place. And the food is crap! But since its for free and we are on a minimum wage...its what we eat. But no more!! From now on...we are getting Annie's, Tim's Roadhouse, KFC or any other western takeaway! I know that when being in Beijing...do as the Beijinger...but not in this case. Even the locals find the food disgusting. Anyway, I have finally got rid of the bacterias that invaded my stomach...now it is just the question what I will be celebrating with tonight. I need to have a bit of a treat. Leaning towards Schindler's Angestelle. Best German food in town. Spatzle with pork medallions and creamy mushroom sauce!!! There u go stomach...u deserve it!! / Martin

Moving day...

I would like to apologies for not writing for a long time. We have had some busy weeks and we have finally settled in to our new office...in the basement of the hotel. It has been a long way coming but here we are!! Very exciting actually. Good change from our old office...can not really call it an office...was more of a small meeting room with a table and chairs around it. Now at least we have a desk to sit at. And our own telephone!!!

As I was saying...it has been some crazy weeks. We are continuously working on our projects but at the same time getting more urgent tasks thrown at us. Like last week. Already feeling the pressure from our bosses, we are assigned to make an introduction video for all new employees of what not to do at the hotel. Zach was selected to be the bad employee who keeps on messing up. He was spitting (made of some old coffee), burping, picking his nose and other things that you should not do. Was extremely funny filming the whole thing. So Zach was the leading actor, Ivan the supporting actor as the angry manager and myself the director...behind the camera and the computer. The result was good. Could have been better but considering the time constraints we did a great job! And the new employees loved it...Zach is now a superstar around the office.

We were also assigned the wonderful task of punching...meaning that we have to check all areas completed and given over to us by the owners of the hotel. This turned out to be a monstrous task. Ended up spending two 14 hour days last week checking all rooms on level B2, where we are now housed. Got it done on time though.

Life here in Beijing is getting a normal routine...wakeup alarm goes off at 6:50. We take turns in having to wake up first. The other stays in bed until 7:15. Leave the apartment at 8:00. Buying a chocolate croissant in the lobby shop. Meeting our colleague Hilda and taking a cab to the office...shin fu dasha! The lucky tower!!! Working hard until around midday...then either down to the staff canteen or going out for some cheap lunch. It usually turns out to be the later...food in the canteen is not that good...not even the locals eat it. Pushing on until around 7:30-8:00PM. Leaving before this time is not possible. Our night routine is as follows: going to a restaurant nearby our apartment or stopping at Jenny Lou's supermarket to pick up some groceries or ordering in from home...the energy to cook at home is very rarely there. Bedtime is usually aroudn 11PM, Zach is first in bed...I am closely behind. Do not want him to fall asleep before me...he snores... So now you know how we spend our days. Its hard work but great rewards! Will be putting up some photos soon....keep checking!! / Martin

Day off...

Sleep in....started to forget how it feels. We finally have a day off. Week has been crazy. You can feel the pressure and stress building up. The air is getting thicker and thicker in the office as more and more people come aboard. We are now around 55-60 but will be 450 by Monday. Mass orientation! So this week as been spent preparing material and training schedules for next week. Zach, Ivan and myself got the job of making an movie about the personal grooming and hygiene and other things to think about. Do not spit, smoke in designated areas, shower everyday, wash your hands etc. So we did some acting and I am quite confident that Zach will receive an OSCAR for best actor!! He is incredible in front of the camera. We still have some scenes to shoot and the editing part will take some time but planning to have it wrapped up mid next week.
The hotel is taking shape. The basement areas that will house offices, training rooms and the staff canteen needs to be done by Monday. And they will. Hundreds if not thousands of workers work their backs off everyday to get the hotel finished on time. So I am confident that we can open on the 2nd of May.
Thursday night was spent at a alumni dinner with some old students from Cesar Ritz. We were invited by the Director of Marketing from Cesar Ritz and his agent. Great Shanghainese restaurant...the sweet and sour fish was very yummy! We also got a complete tour of the Kunlun Hotel that is located across the road from ours. Very 5-star chinese...marble, chandeliers, restaurants with waterfalls, restaurant built like a french palace...nice but too much! They have a revolving bar/executive club up the top. Great view!
The feeling of Friday really took us by surprise yesterday. Zach was very unmotivated and excited about having his first day off in 20 days. We left the office early...7:45PM...and went to Schindlers Tankstelle...conveniently located across the street from the Saudi Embassy. Service was awful....but the food......weissbeer...steak tartare.....pork medallions with spatzle!!!! My god! And prices are great! We definitely are going back!!
So today is Saturday. Just had brunch delivered from the American Cafe. We need to have some treats on the days we do not work. Looking at going for a massage as well. Our backs do not like our un-ergonomic work place. Tonight we are heading over to Susanna and Gero's place to celebrate Susanna's B'day! Will be good to meet some people outside of the office.
And tomorrow....back at work. / Martin