Completely unrelated, considering trying Google Chrome, but I already have FF and Opera installed in addition to the default IE. Adding a 4th web browser would be too much. Maybe I’ll wait until it’s no longer in the Beta stage.

Not much to say, so I am pasting a Chinese joke instead.

人=吃饭+睡觉+上班+玩 猪=吃饭+ 睡觉 代入:人=猪+上班+玩 即:人-玩=猪+上班
结论:不懂玩的人=会上班的猪
Man = Eat + Sleep + Work + Play
Pig = Eat + Sleep
Therefore Man = Pig + Work + Play
Namely: Man - Play = Pig + Work
Which means Man who don’t understand the need to have fun = Pig who can work

男人=吃饭+ 睡觉+挣钱 猪=吃饭+ 睡觉 男人=猪+挣钱 猪=男人-挣钱
结论：男人不挣钱等于猪
Man = Eat + Sleep + Make money
Pig = Eat + Sleep
Man = Pig + Make money
Pig = Man - Make money
Conclusion: Men who don’t earn money are like pigs

女人=吃饭+ 睡觉+花钱 猪=吃饭+ 睡觉 代入上式得：女人=猪+花钱
移项得： 女人-花钱=猪
结论：女人不花钱的都是猪
Woman = Eat + Sleep + Spend Money
Pig = Eat + Sleep
Which means Woman = Pig + Spend money
Or Woman - Spend Money = Pig
Thus: Women who don’t spend money are all pigs

综上： 男人为了让女人不变成猪而挣钱！ 女人为了让男人不变成猪而花钱！
男人+女人=两头猪
In summary: Men earn money so as to prevent women from becoming pigs (they have money to spend)! Women spend money so as to prevent men from becoming pigs (they need to keep making money)!
Man + Woman = 2 Pigs

I was happy to see the Mauritian team coming out, and pointed it out to my friends. The opinion was that there were “a lot of black people” .

Laughed with all the laowais (foreigners) and locals when we saw Mark Roswell (aka Dasha 大山, probably the most famous foreigner in China) in the Canadian team.

Initially planned to go and watch the ceremony in a pub, but by the time my friends got there, the place was already jam-packed and we ended up watching it in 4 Seasons’s Jazz bar. Nice place though expensive. Pre-opening ceremony we had a group of ladies singing, a tad too loud for my taste.

I’m getting more and more sluggish at work. Need to pull myself to complete the June accounts asap.

A distant auntie wants to introduce me to a girl in Shanghai because an uncle apparently told her I am “lonely” in Shanghai.

At what point does the age gap between a guy and a girl becomes too important? Or is there no limit? No, I’m not talking of those gold diggers and old farts relationship, but real emotion/love relationship. And it’s got nothing to do with the point above.

Watched 《The battle of Red Cliff 赤壁》, like it so much that I decided to read 《Three Kingdoms 三国演义》, which is a classic Chinese romantic litterature. A bit disappointed as I discovered the movie is very different from the classic novel. However, the fact remains that as a movie it was great to watch.

Want to watch 《Storm Riders 风云决》 which is already out in the theatres. From the trailer, you would never have thought it not to be a Japanese manga. Looks awesome.

It’s so hot. 35-38C. Need to switch aircon everyday.

Want to buy an electric bicycle. Would cost about 1500rmb (about Rs6,000) for decent one. There is one model about 600rmb (Rs2,400), but might be of poor quality. Fearful of the risk of someone stealing it.

Haven’t played my Wii for ages. Nor watched DVDs for that matter.

The hairdresser that opened a few metres away from my apartment has massage services. Wonder if it is any good. Want to do a back massage. Or a foot massage. But I can’t remember seeing them advertising foot massage service.

Bought a new pair of shoes as the heavy rainfalls that took place in Shanghai last month resulted in my sole pair of leather shoes split open.

I agreed to have a friend staying at my apartment when she told me she wanted to move out from the house she shares with her husband. Later, I started thinking it might be awkward for me in the future if I have “guests” coming. But it was too late to withdraw my offer. I don’t want to reak my promise. Good thing she thought the thing over again and decided to stay with her husband.

Argh, switched the aircon off barely 5mins ago, now feel too hot and need to switch it on again.

Ok, enough pointless ramblings. Goodnight.

Yesterday the electrician came AGAIN, because there was a socket that was not working in my room. He came slightly before 7pm, and left around 9.20pm! All the while I couldn’t prepare dinner. Darn. Anyway, my guest room now only has ONE socket that works. The other 2 has been condemned because the original current circuit was no longer working properly. What else will break down in the last 6mths contract I still have? I wonder.

My laptop was starting to crash last week, and I finally gave up and sent it for repairs on Tuesday. Still haven’t heard any news about it, although the first indications are that it’s the Graphics card that’s fucked up. And the laptop’s less than 1 year old. WTF?

It still has a warranty, but the cost to send the laptop to HK for repairs would far exceed doing it here in China. Oh well.

Anyway, a few pictures from my phonecam.

Wii - more ads, looks more ‘fun’ with its stupid games, more ‘in’?
Xbox - better game resolution.
Both have Guitar Hero 3.

The glaring yellowish thing on the floor IS snow. Picture taken of the train depot opposite my house.

Misty pictures of the Ferris Wheel in Jinjiang Amusement Park. That’s how most days are in Shanghai currently. Try to find the wheel in the daylight picture. Haha.

The Caffe Latte I like to drink. Except I drink from the bottle model instead of can.

That’s my keyboard. Well, no. Actually that’s the wall of a block of houses. Cool, eh? I will try to take a better picture another time. It’s near Xujiahui, about 10-15mins walk maybe from the station.

It’s been a long time since I posted anything. Been busy/lazy/whatever ….

I am now in Shanghai, feeling darn cold. I will spare the rants about Air Mauritius’s lack of Chinese music and movie channels not properly identifiable. There is no HK destination on the list of flights.

I moved into a small apartment, which is not bad, although the toilet/bathroom could be better, and the kitchen’s got no window, meaning that the apartment would for hours smell of whatever I cook. Will decide whether or not to get satellite channels later. There is already a satellite dish affixed, courtesy of former resident.

I got internet back on, although I have to leave the darn modem on all the time. If I shut it off, the laptop has problems connecting to it for the first 5-10mins. I tried changing the network name and password of my wifi modem, but there was apparently a problem, and the password is no longer recognised. I tried resetting it, but that doesn’t seem to be working. WTF? No wifi for the moment, need to connect my laptop to the cable directly.

My HP laptop’s fingerprint scan recognition feature’s gone bonkers. Can no longer use it to log in or redo new fingerprint scans. The laptop’s only a few months old.

I still haven’t bought all my stuff. Too lazy to go out in the cold knowing I would have to fight to get a cab back home afterwards, while carrying awkward bulky stuffs.

Went to a bath/sauna/massage place last Friday. My friend, who is a flight attendant, had dropped by in Shanghai and we decided to go there as soon as she reached her hotel in Hongqiao. It was then around midnight, and after picking her up, we went to the place. Left there after 3am, went to sleep around 4am, then got up at 7am to get ready for work. Felt so sleepy on Saturday (I work full day on Saturdays). I dozed off several times in the afternoon. Good thing not much to do that day.

I now enjoy having a daily drink of Caffe Latte by Suntory. Best drunk cold. Doesn’t do much to your sleepiness.

Oh yeah, I did a physical test as part of the visa procedures, and among other things the diagnosis was:
Suffer from high blood pressure (well, that’s not surprising)
Fatty infiltration of liver (whatever that means)
Abnormal liver function (WTF? I am not a heavy drinker, what abnormal FUNCTION?)
Hyperlipidemia (i.e. likely to suffer from bad cholesterol)
Abnormal electrocardiogram (Didn’t precise what abnormality)
Abnormal cardiovascular system (WTF? Why no details?)
Just reading it makes me wonder if my time’s almost up in this life. Haha.

Looking for a gym in my neighbourhood. Part of my new year resolution of having a better lifestyle and be more fit. Didn’t find any interesting gym on the net. I should walk/bike around looking for those not on the web, but too lazy for that. Best option is to go to Xujiahui’s Physical (on 5th floor of Metro City, just above Xujiahui metro station). However, it is not that big and if I go there after work, the place would be packed and difficult to find free machines. I am considering going there early morning. Get up at 6am, arrive there at 7am when it opens, do an hour of exercise, take another shower, then get to the office by 9am. Feasible in THEORY, except that I know I’m so lazy.

Work has been slow because Mauritius office is closed till January 8th, so I can’t get the information I need to work.

I still have to open a bank account. My passport is currently at some governmental office where the work certificate thing is being processed. Should get it back tomorrow. Then, if there has been no problem, it will be a trip to the PSB to get my residence certificate, and I will be hassle free for about a year (I think).

So what are the news? My mother’s trying to feed me like one tries to feed a turkey before Thanksgiving. :D (Moi ki ti croire mo pou kapav plati ventre ene ti p :P)

Forgot about how bad traffic in and out of Port Louis can be. Got to work late 3 days in a row while trying to figure out the best route to get to work. Ok, first day I left home around 8.45am, when I was supposed to get to work around 8.30 ;) Anyway, now I’ve decided to go Mt Signaux then at Bel VIllage turn left to Pailles. Not going to be on the motorway directly from Caudan. One good thing though, more drivers seem to have adopted the ‘defensive driving’ method. More polite compared to Chinese drivers. Something one of my Chinese colleagues mentioned to me yesterday.

Also read about the government’s schemings. Nothing has changed. The latest outburst about tourists having to pay for Ilot Gabriel moved the focus away from the debate about Pamplemousses Garden no longer being free as from next month. The protestations about the island not being free + being poorly managed (some endemic trees have apparently been destroyed) have led to the government stating that they don’t have the fund/resources to protect and maintain these sites, and that the demande de bail’ was done in due form. Well, I don’t know much about these things, but I am quite surprised to see that more than half a year had gone between the company’s request to undertake the ‘bail’ and the submission of their plan for Ilot Gabriel. Aren’t companies supposed to have a thought out plan before submitting such requests?

Anyway, since the weekend, it has been our dear PM accusing and being accused of being racist. What’s new about that? Our dear politicians have been using the race card for years, if not decades. It’s just like the waltz that happen everytime before/after elections. Parties merging, making alliances and then deciding to break up to court their previous ‘opponents’. And one wonders why so many people have little faith in the governement (whoever might be ruling the country).

I have also learnt to get used again to the water shortages meaning no water supply for several hours a day (and practically all night). Almost no water/electricity shortage in China in the big cities of Beijing and Shanghai …..

Still seething with one of banks charging my bank interest income at source. Will be withdrawing a big lump and take it with me to China on my next trip. Now I have to figure out the Tax return and fill it before the end of the month to claim a refund. Plus I never got my tax refund from some 3-4 years ago. :WTF: :(