A music video I enjoyed today

It is on the tip of every one's tongue. This song just sings it out. It's true, people just need to get a bit closer...

Bonus video: Travis - Closer

New apartment

Today I signed the contract with the new landlord for an apartment. 2 years in Shanghai it's the 4th apartment I will be moving in next week.

The interior of the apartment is a bit old, the building was built in 1990, I saw some neighbours today, they seem nice. The landlord wanted to have the apartment painted during the "Golden week" of May, My girlfriend and I decided to paint it ourselves and pick up our own color.

So golden week project 1. paint the apartment 2. decorate it a bit 3. move in.

Budget planning and pictures to be uploaded later.

So far, we need a dining table, 2 chairs, 1 reading table, 1 reading chair, 1 sofa, 1 microwave oven.

My current luxury (some may have seen) apartment's contract will end only in June, so I need to talk to my current landlord, hopefully she will agree to let me rent it out as the same price so we can end our contract earlier.

Virginia tech shooting

I got a message from Rachael telling me the shooting, then I looked up in CNN, then shocked.

Rumor says the gunman is from Shanghai, I am very worried, just like Bin Laden won't do any good to the image of Afghanistan student.I visited an apartment today, decor and floor is okay, price is also okay, location soso, but ok:), uploaded photo.

Here is a picture how my desktop look like:), I wanted a desktop PC, maybe after I move to the new apartment I will get one.

Update, confirmed from Metro news paper in Shanghai, the gunman is from Korea...

Belgium closing up

今天收拾房间翻出了比利时3年的房租合同， Tiensestraat 154, Tiensestraat 142, Fredrik Lintsstraat 59. 翻出了3年Fortis银行的Bank Statement， 还翻出了周老板给我做担保的担保书。
呵呵， 感叹岁月蹉跎啊， 转眼来上海也2年了。

Today I cleaned up my papers. I found my rent contract from Belgium, the addresses are Tiensestraat 154, Tiensestraat 142, Fredrik Lintsstraat 59, 3 houses in 3 years. I also found all my bank statement from Fortis bank, and the financial guarantee paper from Mrs.Zhou.

Life is like a box of Chocolate, luck is maybe at the next corner.

Take things for granted

Today my manager had some problem. Our video quality was not consistent over several boxes. The parameters were set by me. I received a report from our hardware engineer and later another hardware engineer told me to change them, I asked the later engineer if he is sure and want me to put on all boxes, he said yes, then I did the change.

The lesson learned here is that I took for granted the later engineer would communicate to the former engineer the change, which is now proven not the case:(.

I went to a restaurant and bought a take away for my dinner. When I got home, I found one dish I paid is not in the bag, I actually saw they put my fried rice in two boxes, and they gave 4 boxes. I ordered 4 dishes, so I took for granted they would put 2 of the dishes in one box.

Lessons learned, never take things for granted:). Always do some check, simple or complex, make your life a lot easier after wards

Back from Nanking

check out the web album

Pros

• Nice bullet-train ride from Shanghai to Nanking(though not as fast as bullet-trains in the rest of the world, well, not yet). 300KM in 2.5 hours, 3 stops in between.
• Hunan Rd is nice in the evening for food (if you like real Chinese food).
• Confucius temple, Qinghuai river are nice
  

Cons

• Youth hostel close to Confucius temple under poor management.
• Not as clean(organized) as other neighbouring cities

Rating: 3 out of 5
Conclusion: old capital, so it's old. Somehow not well maintained and developed in my opinion

Home sweet home

Time surely flys fast. Now I am home again for Chinese new year!
It's about 5 degrees Celsius here, and it's raining.
This is typical for my hometown. It feels very warm to be with my family. I take my camera with me so I will upload some pictures now and then.

Happy holidays everyone!

Back from Ningbo (宁波)

last last weekend, 2 days trip in Shanghai :) Pictures 2be uploaded later.
last weekend 2 days trip to a 4 hours away from shanghai city called Ningbo.

High

• Seafood is SOOO GREAT. I was so hungry and I keep eating eating and eating, so no picture of food taken this time. My apologies
• City is great too. A good escape from the hustle and bustle Shanghai.
  
• People are greater:). Nice and friendly (though I had a little water-fight using my paddle with a couple of local boys on the other boat)
• Taxi drivers are good. I mean they drive like F1 driver, yahoo!
  

Low

• A city like this should be 30 mins maximum from Shanghai~!
• Night life isn't as fancy as Shanghai
  
• There might not be enough high-end jobs for young professionals

Rating
4 of 5. Definitely a recommend if you have a few days to kill. I will visit there again, when there's plenty of seafood in autumn.

Check out the web album