Your sister

So hot. Despite swallowing two sleeping pills, can’t find sleep yet.

Just wanted to post an explanation of a few recent popular words that would make little or no sense to folks who are not familiar with the Chinese language. These are more often used on the net although some can also be found in the spoken language.

Chinese character (pronunciation in pinyin — literal translation) = real meaning
屌丝 (diaosi — penis thread) = loser, dickhead;
NB (niu bi — ox vagina/noob) = kick ass;
门儿清 (menrqing — clear door) = know it all, smart aleck;
土鳖 (tubie — land turtle/peasant) = redneck, hillbilly, FOB;
鸡贼 (jizei — chicken thief) = low life, cheap ass, sleazy, chicken shit;
你妹 (nimei — your sister) = My arse, Yo mama (in some instance can also mean ex-gf). Actually kind of hard to translate.

Weibo with no comments

Under the excuse of cleaning the Weibo sites (microblogs akin to Twitter in Chinese web space), the authorities have had the 2 main weibo sites (Sina Weibo and QQ Weibo) disable their comments function. Since the morning of 31st March, all users can no longer comment on posts although the creation of new post or sharing of posts are still allowed. The situation is expected to resume its normal service during the morning of the 3rd of April.

The authorities claim they are doing this to help weed out those who spread groundless rumors and illegal news on the net through weibo posts.

Of course, there have been rumors that crop up from time to time. It’s not something that is restricted to the Chinese webosphere. And it’s unlikely to be completely eradicated despite the Chinese having more power to impose restrictions on contents than in the West.

The latest high profile victim of abuse by Weibo users was Shu Qi, with swearings and threats as well as old nude pics of her showing up following her siding up with kungfu star Donnie Yen against his colleague Vincent Zhao, resulting in Shu Qi locking up her weibo account as well as deleting everything that was on it. Some people are waaaaay too engrossed in what celebrities do. Sigh.

Less known about it is the fact that the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), organism responsible for internet communications in China had 16 websites closed for spreading rumors at the same time as it severely reprimanded Sina and QQ about the spread of rumors on their sites.

Time flies 光阴似箭

光阴似箭. Time flies. It’s almost the National Day in Mauritius. I have finally got my passport back yesterday and I am good for another year in China. But I can’t see any real progress made from this day one year ago. Need a kick in the backside.

I am trying to do some exercise daily at home so that I don’t get more bloated. Time to get back into shape. Well, sort of. Will never have that slim and flexible body in my late teens. Hehe.

I am looking at this site: Life in London and I wish I could find the energy and drive to look for something to post on a daily basis, with pictures taken by the author accompanying the posts. Not that I would be able to do it with the size I have allocated to my site. But that’s something that can be negociated when such time comes.

Anyway, time to do some exercises now. Ciao!

心之何如,有似万丈迷津,遥亘千里,其中并无舟子可以渡人,除了自渡,他人爱莫能助。——三毛

80 things to consider before doing home fittings and decorations

Post is in Chinese as it’s just a copy/paste that I am keeping as it  might come handy after I have bought an apt in China.
装修以后很快后悔的80件事,房子装修前必看!

引导语:装修是件麻烦事,有房子的人有深深体会,没房子的人,将来也要买房子,人得有个窝,这个窝就是我们拿一辈子的辛苦去换来,所以一定马虎不得,看看装修以后很快后悔的80件事,给你一些借鉴哦! 

1.后悔搞开放式厨房,有油烟问题

2.后悔卫生间、厨房没搞小水宝,热水来得快,使用时比较方便

3.后悔吸油烟机用,欧式的,好看不中用,应该用中式的。

4.后悔电源插座装少了,家里到处都是拖线板。能装多少应该装多少

5.后悔马桶边上没有预留电源插座,卫洗丽没法装

6.浴缸PK淋浴,二选一的话,还是建议淋浴,浴缸装好,从来也没泡过澡的不是少数。淋浴不是指淋浴房,淋浴房的玻璃擦起来还是很累的,也可以选择挂根浴帘

7.如果有2个卫生间,装一个浴缸还是有必要的,泡泡大件衣物,帮小宝宝洗澡都是不错的选择,按摩浴缸就不必了,泡不了几回,还特别贵.

8.后悔厨房没有装空调

9.如果喜欢上网,每个房间的每面墙上,都预留至少2个网口和2个以上的插座。无线路由的确可以解决问题,但是据说有时候还是不稳定

10.后悔厨房烟道没有打出去,现在只要楼里有人烧菜,自家的脱排油烟机就必须同时打开,不然满屋子的油烟味

11.房内各种插座的位置,与后来买的家具尺寸有偏差,浪费了很多插座

12.如果在商场里能买到的,就千万不要叫木工做!!!!!除非这个木工手艺相当的好

13.地板颜色要略浅的,不容易看到灰,厨卫地砖反而要略深,不容易发现到处都是头发,这样才最耐脏

14.餐厅最好装个吊扇,超级舒服

15.储物空间尽量多一点,入住后需要收纳的杂物会越来越多

16.阳台的墙面最好还是用瓷砖,比涂料更防水

17.后悔买了装了那么多灯,其实固定用的就那几个。。。

18.超级后悔厕所的梳洗台是玻璃的,超级容易弄脏,应该用陶瓷的

19.团购其实省不了几个钱,买的没有卖的精,要相信这个天上不会平白无故的掉馅鉼。一套房子装修下来都是以万元为单位的,还是多到市场走走看看,货比三家永不过时。千万不要在团购会上被所谓的“砍价师”吹得头脑一热当场下单。连亮居网都不敢说自己的商品绝对低价,何况别的所谓团购网?

20.后悔床头忘了装开关,每次都要下床关灯,冬天很难过的

21.后悔买便宜五金具,浴室五金件,龙头之类的绝对是一分价钱一分货

22.装修时尽量不要留擦不到的地方,死角卫生很难搞

23.将来打算要孩子的家庭,一定要算好尺寸,在床的旁边要预留可放婴儿床的位置

24.建议所有龙头都装冷热水管,装修时多装一点花不了很多钱,事后想补救超级困难

25.房间里的不实用的布置越少越好人民币贴上去就撕不下来了早晚过时!

26.买任何东西时注意家里面门的大小,别买好了搬不进去

27.实木地板脚感好但需要保养,复合地板清洁起来方便

28.后悔买隐形门。中看不中用的,想开着透气都麻烦

29.步入式衣柜好是好,不过比较容易积灰,敞开式的书架、置物架等(没有门的那种),好看是好看,但是擦起来好痛苦啊,特别是书,一层灰阿.

30.灯罩千万不能是冲上的,那个挂上去之后就等着积灰吧

31、安装漏电保护器和空气开关的分线盒的工程不能够省,而且不要放在室外要放在室内,原来想省工钱将就门外旧分线盒用的,电工建议放在室内换新的,现在发现他这一点建议很有价值。

32、漏电保护器和空气开关一定要用名牌的。

33、台下盆比台上盆秀气,好看,好打扫。配台下盆龙头要注意,考虑到盆边厚度,龙头嘴要长些。

34、墙面顶角不做任何修饰也很漂亮,不过要事先在找油漆工的阶段就和油漆工明确提出来.顶角弹线有助于把顶角线做直。

35、在线槽的水泥表面批腻子之前表面处理很重要,对于不结实的表面用清洁球处理很合适。

36、石膏适合补墙面上较大的洞洞,当然如果洞洞太大还是需要用水泥的。

37、毛玻璃背面千万保护好别沾上油漆,很难清洁!

38、菜盆龙头一定要能用手背开关的,那种必须用手指的不容易保持干净,手上有油的时候转动起来也有困难。

39、豪华自动晾衣架的价格水分太大,比较后发现一些不出名的牌子在结构设计上反而胜过了一线品牌,价格却低很多。

40、可以考虑采用安在地面的金属插座,这种插座很贵100多,但是挺方便,平时与地面齐平,脚一踩就可以把插座弹出来。适合大的客厅。或安在饭厅餐桌的下面,用来插火锅(防止来回走动时挂动电线)

41、储藏室。后悔没做柜门,里面东西特别容易沾灰尘

42、后悔为节省空间,买了个下面带柜子的床。超级不透气

43、不实用的双杆毛巾架!目前和单杆用途一样,基本不会往里层挂杆上再晒毛巾

44、还有千万不要装门板式的垃圾桶和台面垃圾桶,夏天的时候打开柜门会很臭的。垃圾桶还是放在外面好。

45、餐桌旁小柜子的好,可放置些东东,很方便。

46、拖把斗在性能方面的要求不高,完全可以自己砌一个出来,铺上和周围环境相符的瓷砖或马赛克即美观,又省钱。

47、卫生间可钉点钉勾或者装衣勾用来挂点东西的。

48、卫生间设计了一个小橱放衣服,再也不用担心洗澡忘了拿干净的衣服。

49、洗衣机带烘干严重不实用,除了一年中仅有的黄霉天,又恶巨。厚衣服、浴巾还是烘不干,让太阳消消毒多好。偶已透支,需要节省点银子。

50、在洗衣房里做了一个洗衣池,用来手洗一些东西。原本以为用的较少,所以买了一个很便宜的龙头。没想到这个洗衣池真是太方便了,成了我家使用频率最高的一个洗涤区。什么抹布啊,袜子啊,地巾啊,统统在里面洗,就连洗手大多也在那里。

51、后悔装灯带。没个屁用,装修完了到现在没开过。有客人来也只是SHOW一下射灯,自已根本都忘了还装了个这玩意。原来是想开PARTY时浪漫下的,现在开射灯的机会都不多。

52、最大的心得就是其实装修越简单越好,少污染,少花钱,省心。

53、实用的东东:

①设计合理的储藏室。

②北阳台用的洗污物的水槽。区别与卫生间的洗脸盆和厨房的洗菜和洗碗的水斗。

③卫生间可以拔出来洗头的龙头。(从来不在面盆洗头的TX例外)。

④便于清洁的地板和合适的清洁工具。

⑤厨房的台面工作灯。

54、买马桶一定要量好自家的孔距,要不买了再去退货那真是……

55、卫厨地砖贴好后没干前最好量一下水平,看最低点是不是地漏处,要不等干了后再和装修队扯皮,死很多细胞的。

56、洗手间的淋浴房一定要尺寸够大,而且要用透明玻璃,这样在里面冲凉不会显得狭促。

57、瓷砖勾缝不该用白水泥勾。没有一个月就变成黑缝,难看死了。结果自己买了勾缝剂自己勾,那个累

58、橱柜的人造石下应该垫有后木板的,结果安装后发现没有,现在不敢在上面砍肉,答应给我补装都快两个月了还没装好(只来打磨了一次)。

59、后悔相信设计师的蛊惑。当然,可以多走访几家装修公司,从每家的设计里提取出真正有用的东西,关键是你自己想把家装扮成什么样子。

60、如果地漏原来生产商或者发展商已经装了那种防臭的“碗”,千万别取出来。

61、卫生间地面瓷片贴好后就试水,如果流水比较缓慢就立即返工。俺家的流水比较慢,当时心软了一下,现在洗澡时就总是有点积水,搞得我们的主卫几百银子的淋浴头都闲着,现在总在琢磨着怎么补救。

62、装洗手盆时要考虑好和镜子、放刷牙杯的架子、毛巾架的相对位置。

63、买镜子时考虑一下镜前灯的位置,如果暂时不想装镜前灯,镜子的大小要能遮住为镜前灯预留的线最好。

64、放洗衣机的阳台上做个小柜子,方便放一些杂物,如洗衣粉之内的杂物。既美观又实用

65、一定要盯着楼上做防水….不然楼上往下滴水,弄的吊柜,墙面一片狼藉….

66、不要盲目的跟从网上团购,后来发现,有些自己去砍价会比团购还便宜。

67、电视背景墙一定多设几个插座,电视,DVD….一摆上,就会发现插座不够用。可预埋一根两头弯的PVC管在里面,电源线从一头进,另一头出来直接接电视的背面,非常非常的有用。

68、改水路前就要考虑好将来所装的洗脸盆的大样,比如说是左盆还是右盆,进水和排水该设在什么地方。否则,改好后才发现相中的洗脸盆却装不下!

69、关于窗帘,大家最好把那张尺寸自己留一份,对老板说明不能少尺寸。如果少了的话,怎么怎么的。或者自己看着他裁布。

70、装修的施工工序:

1)进场,拆墙,砌墙。

2)卫生间,厨房地面做24小时闭水试验(需开发商完成此任务)。

3)凿线槽,水电改造并验收。

4)封埋线槽隐蔽水电改造工程,闭水实验无渗漏开始做防水工程。

5)卫生间,厨房贴墙面磁片。

6)木工进场,吊天花,石膏角线。

7)包门套,窗套。制作木柜框架。

8)同步制作各种木门,造型门及平压。

9)木制面板刷防尘漆(清油)。

10)窗台大理石台面找平铺设。

11)木饰面板粘贴,线条制作并精细安装。

12)墙面基层处理,打磨,找平。

13)家什,门边接缝处粘贴不干胶(保护边)。

14)墙面油ICI最少三遍。

15)家私油漆进场,补钉眼,油漆。

16)处理边角,铺设地砖,实木或复合木地板,防水大理石条,踢脚线。

17)灯具,洁具,拉手,门锁安装调试。

18)清理卫生,地砖补缝,撤场。

19)装修公司内部初步验收。

20)三方预约时间正式验收,交付业主。

71、烟道的阀门装回去之前,一定要擦干净,保证阀片能够开关自如并能开到最大,否则会影响油烟机的排烟效果。可以在装吊顶时留两条不装,等油烟机安装完并试用无误后再把吊顶装好。

72、在客厅和餐厅这么大的空间,吊顶能不做就不做。

73、后悔走线时没想好空调位,应该将电源尽量移近空调,免得装空调时看到一截电源线。

74、亲自量度并记录房屋内可供使用的各个尺寸,可将楼书户型图上尺寸遮盖然后重新引线标注,最终的尺寸将直接影响装修设计和家具的购买。

75、线不好的小户型如果选黑胡桃总是不够大气,这时需要有取舍,或是迁就实际或是执着自己的想法,当然最好两者兼顾

76、开始寻找装修人员。如果不是特别大户型并且打算简单装修,似乎找游击队更合算些。最好是别人装过后介绍,你自己也去亲眼看过并认同,特别对装修负责人的感觉更是重要,责任心和欣赏水平怎么样,前者更关键些,因为如果只是简装,其实那些活差不多在外面混的都会做,然而质量的好坏可就视乎责任心了。

77、主要家具如沙发、衣柜、餐桌椅、橱柜等最好也提前多看看,若四处乱跑就太累了,可以找几个购物环境好的大型家居广场逛逛,基本趋势就看出来了,所以接下来你要做的就是根据自己预想的风格慢慢筛选出合适的东西。有些人对款式把握较好,有些人则对颜色把握得准,没关系,反正还有时间考虑,如果等到装修清场,虚位以待的步骤再去看家具难免最后会勉强接受而不是非常喜欢。

78、对已经看好的家具最好把尺寸记下来,然后到房里虚拟将来的摆设情况。

79、购买东西时必要的单据一定要保存好,此举对后期可能存在的退、换货情况绝对有益。特别是一些重要物品的购物小票、说明书等,因为好多东西是有保修期的,凭证丢了会比较麻烦。

80、后悔买了混纺的布艺沙发。家里摆在外面的任何纺织品都要买纯绵的,外观真的并不重要。尤其将来打算生小孩或已经生了的。

编后语:怎么样,这就是很多人装修房子后很快就后悔的事情,这些心得或许说到你的心里去了,或许这些经验能给你减少很多顾虑和麻烦哦。

Chinese holidays over

The holidays are finally over. The country had a one week public holiday for the Chinese new year, and yesterday was the Lantern Festival 元宵节 which marks the end of 2 weeks of celebrations. Unfortunately, yesterday it rained all day, and I don’t know how many people did go to watch the lanterns. Still, I heard quite a lot of fireworks going off, so it can’t have been too bad.

As for me, the temp the next few days are: today sunny High +3C Low-2C tomorrow H4C L-2C day after tomorrow H+6 L2C … following which will be days of rain. It’s hard to find the courage to get out of bed and leave for work.

Mengniu again

Cartoon image of Snow white and Mengniu. Caption says “Mengniu, stepmother’s new choice”

The website of Mengniu hacked

Mengniu, one of the largest dairy product companies in China, has yet been involved in a scandal. Mengniu has had a batch of milk from  with M1 bacteria level 1.4times over the authorised limit being sold. That bacteria is highly cancerogenic. In Shanghai, they are saying the Mengniu milk sold are from different supplying area, therefore safe for consumption.

However, more damaging is the reaction of the company to the scandal. A bare official apology was posted on its website following the discovery of the batch of spoiled milk. Worse, when asked about it, Mengniu said that it came from mold in cow’s fodder, which they cannot control, trying to make similarities with the law not allowing people to kill, but people still do kill others, and saying there is no farm where the fodder can’t get moldy, just like if you are not careful your bun (baozi) at home can get moldy.

This has angered the people more due to their lack of pro-active response and responsibility, with questions being asked such as: why only one batch got moldy? Why the cows affected by aflatoxin only produced one day of tainted milk? How come it’s only one day’s production? If one cannot trace it to the farm that produced the tainted milk, how can one ascertain that it was the fodder that caused it?

A small interview of buyers in supermarkets on TV revealed that the people no longer trust the brand and do not plan to buy its products in the near future. Unsurprisingly, this has caused harm to other local producers also, as buyers are more willing to buy imported milk these days.

It’s a hard thing to decide on how much that will affect me. On the one hand, at home I have been using milk powder imported from Australia (thanks mum and dad for bringing these last time) during the last couple of years or so. On the other hand, when I go and have HK-style milk in restaurants or have the milk bubble/pearl tea that are sold at almost every corner of the street, I have no control over what milk is being used. And those pearl tea are so delicious. Dang!

As I said before, food hygiene sucks big time in China. It will probably play a big role in my health and lifespan here. Nothing else to add to this.

Wedding cost

As a natural stage of our life, most of us will end up being married. And as practically all girls dream of a white wedding dress and big dinner and cake, the cost of wedding can be higher than we expected.

According to a recent survey by Dongfang Daily, the cost of a wedding banquet in China is highest in Shanghai. A wedding banquet would cost on average RMB63,800, which is for 19  tables of about RMB3,360 each. This far exceeds the average cost of a table in Beijing (RMB2,200), Hangzhou (RMB2,500) and other cities.

Of course, due to the obsession of the Chinese with the number 8, there are wedding packages for the cost of RMB88,888 which would include the protocols, the decorations, the MC, make-up, photographer, cameraman, etc. (The package cost 1,000 less last year)

50% of wedding banquets were held in hotels, 25% in foreign villas, and only 10% in wedding halls. I knew that hotels were more popular, but had never known the percentage thereof. In fact, I’m trying to think of where the wedding halls are. Every time someone held their marriage, it was either in a hotel or a villa.

What is slightly interesting is the fact that the number of tables are going down. In fact, this is the first time the average number of tables have gone down below 20. Not so long ago, it was pretty common to have 40/50 tables banquets. The reduction in number of tables is probably because the younger generation (80s and after) prefer to have a more personalized wedding. A recent adoption, a wedding cruise, which accounted for 15% of the weddings is finding favour among the newly weds. They could go on a cruise to the gulf of Mexico (av. cost of RMB30,000 per person) while enjoying a romantic wedding over the ocean.

This said, the costs of weddings next year (2012) is expected to rise by some 10%, to around RMB72,200. In effect, that would make the total wedding costs about the RMB88,000 mark. 72,000 for wedding banquet,  8-10,000 for other expenses associated (thinking cigarettes, alcohol etc), 5,000 for dresses to be worn during the banquet.

Oh yeah, I need to add a comment on that. In China, the bride is expected to wear several gowns during the wedding banquet. Unlike in Mauritius where the bride usually just wear the wedding gown all night, or maybe change into a simpler gown later, in China it’s expected for the bride to change attire a few times. You would have the white wedding gown, a qipao, evening gown, etc…. I think it’s usually about 4 or 5 dresses, although someone told me the number could go up to 8 during the evening. Shocked!

Reservations for peak holidays (the May and October holidays) require on average 2 years’ advance. That is how hard it is to find hotels to book for your weddings. If you want to find a slot for some other time, one should try getting married during the working days (Mon-Thu) where there is a lesser demand for wedding bookings. Requests for weekend ceremonies (Fri-Sun) always exceed supply.

When I look at the figures, I just keep thinking, bloody hell, it’s a good thing it’s not that expensive in Mauritius. Over MUR300,000 for your 19-table wedding banquet? And here we were bitching about the costs back home.

The dangers of street food

I thought about this when I ran across a post from a friend on her mini-blog. It is something very common for the foreigners living in China, and even by many of those short-term and long-term tourists. Trying and enjoying the food prepared and sold by peddlers and hawkers on the street. But here in China, the food industry is continuously rocked by scandals of violation of health hygiene and usage of toxic materials in many food or items used for food preparation.

For those who want to know a bit more about what might be in the food bought from the stall across the street, let’s continue.

10 Street snacks that might possibly be contaminated:

1. Pungent tofu 臭豆腐 — iron sulphate
2.  Hot Pot 麻辣烫 — recycled dirty/heavy oil (as in recollected and recycled from washing pots and pans, or engines!!!)
3.  ’Fetus’ egg 毛鸡蛋 — parasites [sorry, no English term for that snack, it's egg that during incubation suffered a change in temperature]
4.  Kebab 烤肉串 — dead sick pork meat
5.  Deep-fried dough cakes and sticks 油饼油条 — excessive Aluminium, recycled dirty oil
6.  Seafood stalls海鲜排挡 — parasites, mercury formaldehyde
7.  Fruit/jelly pancake 煎饼果子 – recycled dirty oil, expired ham [snack is a thin pancake where you put other food or dough sticks within it as fillings]
8.  Baked sweet potato 烤红薯 – chemical barrels, black spot germs
9.  Fried chicken wings 炸鸡翅 – potato starch pills, stinky wings
10.  Steamed buns 包子 – dead sick pork meat, neck meat (since it’s the place where the blood is drained, if not properly washed and may contain lots of germs and viruses)

It is not an exhaustive list of food or possible contaminated items. I remember stories of buns being made out of carton, ingredients kept in really unhygienic conditions (think broken down factory, bogged toilets, water from rusted leaking pipes, etc together), kebab meat being supposedly from rats, pork/beef meat being faked as the other (I forgot which was fake), fake sauce, ….  It’s like playing Russian roulette everyday when buying food here in China.

Even the vegetables are subject to excessive pesticides, pets walking around the food, etc. Only the high members of the Party can escape this as they buy their rice and organic vegetables from exclusive and carefully screened suppliers. The rice/vegs cost more but are definitely of good quality and untainted. The common people basically do not have access to these.

We can try to reduce the risk somewhat by buying at ‘expat’ supermarkets like Carrefour and City Shop, but in this country, you cannot be too careful. I am sure I’m being slowly poisoned from the junk I buy on the street almost everyday. But I can live with it.

China’s public holidays 2012

New Year:
January 1-3. However, need to work on December 31st (Saturday)

Chinese New Year:
January 22-28. However, need to work on Saturday 21st and Sunday 29th

Tomb-sweeping Day (Qingming Festival):
April 2-4. However, need to work on Saturday 31st of March and on Sunday April 1st

Labour Day:
April 29 – May 1. However need to work on Saturday 28th

Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu festival):
June 22-24

Mid-autumn Festival and National Day:
September 30th – October 7th. However, need to work on Saturday September 29th

As you can see, the holidays seem to be a lot because you have a minimum of 3 consecutive days each time. However, for normal office workers (Mon-Fri 9-5 group) it’s just an eyewash as you need to work at least on the previous Saturday, thereby making the real holiday being the equivalent of weekend+1day.

I have never really been supportive of the govt’s persistence in keeping this arrangement. 3 day holidays are too short for the workers to go on holidays or for going back to their hometown to pay visit to their folks. I guess the govt doesn’t want to encourage the people to ‘faire pont’ as we say back home should the holiday fall on a Tuesday or a Thursday. These days the Chinese people are more and more willing to take local leaves to lengthen their holidays. This can especially be seen during the Chinese new year and National day holidays when the people will take 2-3 additional day offs so as to avoid the rush that accompanies these holidays.

As for me, it’s taking these annoying holiday arrangements on the chin and waddle through the weekend working hours.