Ron has been thinking a lot about sponsoring a child lately. We have been thinking of having a baby sometime next year and it probably triggered this thought.

We always see this old lady sitting on the pave way and begging for money. While I faithfully try to give her whatever small change I have, Ron is more skeptical. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he always tells himself that they are “fake” beggars or that they are part of some scam organization. Once, he did witness a “blind” beggar running to his favourite spot at a busy bus stop. It kinda reinforces his notion of “fake” beggars.

The thought of having our own child coupled with a moving article about the Bill Gates Foundation forced him to think and reflect again. It made him realize how lucky we are. It does not matter if they are really real or fake beggars. So what if we give some of our money to a fake beggar. It should not stop us from donating at all. There are people out there that really need our help, however small it is. It may mean a world of a difference to them.

Ron started to do some research on sponsoring orphans in 3rd world countries. We are really impressed by the stuff some organizations are doing to help orphans. www.childfundinternational.org and www.worldvision.org are 2 excellent sites. He hopes to start sponsoring a child by this year. Ron has also made a mental note not to pretend that beggars are invisible and donate some money whenever possible.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Shanghai Metro during rush hour. Drop your shoulder and push when the train comes!

When I was in Songjiang, I hate to get up early in the morning and play rugby with the Shanghainese at the metro station.

Everyone will wait patiently for the train to arrive. Upon hearing from a distance away a long screeching of the railway tracks, the crowd inevitably moved towards the ledge I almost thought they were going to jump down to the railway.

The carriages are literally like sardine cans. Passengers are standing so close to each other that there is no space to move at all. Even when the carriages seem to be full, passengers still manage to squeeze in when the train stops at every station. Squeezed in from the side, center, or even crawl in from the top and below to be the first to get into the train. Some of the passengers engage in a short 5 meter sprint just as the door opens and try to barge in. It gets warmer, crampier, and tighter inside the carriage.

Beside squeezing, pushing and hurling… passengers have to take note and be careful though. The rush hour period represents a good opportunity for thieves. There have been a few occasions where passengers find their valuables (mobile phones, wallets etc…) missing when they alight from the packed carriages. Ladies beware as there are bound to be some people who will take advantage.

It would be nice if the metro can introduce1 or 2 ladies-only carriages like in Japan.

The Shanghai metro can be the most crowded thing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life, with tremendous amounts of pushing and squeezing.

Popularity: 59% [?]

The hopes of 1.3 billion Chinese people rested on the shoulders of Liu Xiang, the golden boy of China’s Track and Field. Today, 90000 strong crowd cramped into the Bird’s Nest in anticipation. Many more had their eyes glued to the television. They expect him to breeze past the qualifying rounds and finally face Dayron Robles, the Cuban who broke Liu’s world record. Their hopes were dashed when Liu limped away into the tunnel, his hamstring apparently injured. It was not the ending everyone wanted. Watching him limping away reminded me of Britain’s Derek Redmond at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and Tanzania’s John Stephen Akhwari at the 1986 Olympic in Mexico City.

Sportsmanship and Fatherhood – Derek Redmond, 1992 Barcelona Olympic

Redmond was competing in the 400 meters semi-finals when he too, tore his hamstring. He fell to the ground in pain. When he saw stretcher bearers running towards him, he got up again and hobbled on one leg down his lane. He was determined to finish the race. His father barged his way past security to help him past the finishing line. It won a rousing ovation from the 65,000 crowd and the incident has become a well-remembered moment in Olympic history.

Finish the Race – John Stephen Akhwari, 1986 Mexico Olympic

Like Redmond, John Stephen Akhwari finished the marathon last. In fact, he finished the race one hour after the event had been won. He fell during the race, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Not deterred, the lone runner pressed on and completed the race to the standing ovation of the small crowd left in the stadium. When asked why he did not retire from the race and chose to continue running, he seemed confused but gave a simple answer:

“My country did not send me 5000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5000 miles to finish the race.”

His words inspired countless people.

Credit: Beijing2008

Recently, he appeared in Beijing as a goodwill ambassador in preparation for the Beijing 2008 summer games. During his visiting, Akhwari encouraged the students to be strong-minded, just like him.

Liu Xiang limping cross the finishing line would have showcased his mental strength and humanity’s strength of character…

Popularity: 38% [?]

On Wednesday, I went to the Shanghai Visa Bureau in Pudong with Ron to extend his working Z-Visa & Resident Permit. In the past years, we never needed to go there in person to get an extension, but because of the new and tighter visa rules that you have probably read here, here, here and here, you now have to appear yourself for a computerized photo shooting.

We went there to apply for the visa extension by ourselves. Ron’s HR personnel was supposed to accompany him but she didn’t. Her reason: she did not want to spend the time waiting at the bureau and was afraid her superior would blame her for wasting company’s resources! But we thought that’s her job!?!?

In our car sleeping…

Ok, reached our destination!

Exit & Entry Administration Service center Public Security Bureau of Shanghai Municipality

It’s on the 3rd floor!

It’s queue number 302 when we reached, and ours is 337.

Camera in front of you.

Waited patiently at the waiting area, and everyone is looking at one direction…

YES! They are watching Olympic games…

Documents…

When it finally was our turn the procedure went “quite” fast. Ron’s HR had already filled out the forms and he had all required documents with him. The officer at the counter took a look at his documents and appeared surprised that he was applying for a 2 year visa. She also asked him to write an application form and acknowledge it.

We were a little surprised because Ron has been told by his HR that the documents he had should be the complete set. On top of that, he was supposed to draft the application form in chinese by himselves. We had no idea what to write and asked the officer.

She grumbled a bit and told us to copy the content in the application form the company had prepared. Now… here cames the most bizarre part. The only difference between the 2 application forms is that one is from the company (computer generated), and one is from us (handwritten). Both have the same content.

Ron drafted it, signed it and handed it to her together with his courier envelop. She took the forms, was satisfied… and folded it. Not just into half, but also diagonally and in all directions. She then insert the folded forms into the courier envelop, peel off the stickers, stick the receipt at the front…. and we can go now…

Photocopying, translating, faxing and courier service counter.

Name cards and advertisements distributing in a SHANGHAINESE WAY! You can find this scenario everywhere in Shanghai.

At the gate, there were quite a number of guys distributing small cards promoting air tickets. They are pretty active because lots of foreign expats come here to get their visa done. These guys can be very persistent and irritating. They shove the cards to you literally. They will place the cards in your bags, in your shopping carrier, throw it into cars with their windows winded down…. anywhere they can find. Before I knew it, they managed to slip 7 cards in my bag!

Popularity: 34% [?]

Does Nokia E71 looks like a Blackberry Killer? This 2.36-inch, 320 x 240 QVGA display is only slightly smaller than the iPod Classic’s.

After much survey, I finally decided to purchase a smartphone, the Nokia E71. The reviews for this phone have been good and I really wanted to try out a Nokia product. I had used a Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and a Motorola mobile before this. The later started to fall apart not too long after I bought it and it was time to replace it.

I was initially thinking about a Blackberry product or the iphone. The iphone’s touchscreen and functions looked out of this world while the Blackberry series have always being solid performers. However, in the end, I chose E71 because it had a really solid feel and professional look. Despite its obvious lack of an oversized touchscreen interface, the E71 had a metallic feel with chrome accents and a glossy screen. It can also protect sensitive corporate information with integrated security features such as device and memory card encryption, mobile VPN and more. Plus, it is one of the slimmest Nokia phone to date, at 10mm thick, and claims it’s the thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market.

At 10mm thick, it’s the slimmest Nokia phone to date.

It has two separate customizable home screens. One is designed to house all of your work applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint while the other is geared more towards entertainment with programs for audio, video and gaming. Setting up the Nokia’s Mail for Exchange program required no IT help. QuickOffice lets you create, edit and send Word, Excel or PowerPoint files on the fly.

Battery life is basically a non-issue, with 20 days of standby and 10.5 hours of GSM talk, though the 4.5 hours of 3G talk might pose an issue.

Rear view of the phone – a magnet for fingerprints and smudges.

However, the metallic cover is a magnet for fingerprints and smudges. The key was pretty cramped and it took me some time to get used to it. This phone is really a business phone; hence it does not have stunning photo or music capabilities. For me the 3.2 megapixel camera was enough and the music playback was fine. I managed to use the phone to connect to our wireless network and surf the net, visiting my websites, checking my email, using Twitters and etc.

The unpacking.

Popularity: 45% [?]

The surveys are conducted based on cost of living expenses in US dollars. For example according to all the surveys, the cost of living in cities outside the US dollar zone becomes more expensive if the dollar weakens against local currencies even when prices remain unchanged or indeed fall.

Moscow, Russia.

In June 2008, based on cost of living survey, Moscow ranked the world’s most expensive city 2 years in a row for expatriates, followed by Tokyo. This costliest Asian city, overtaking London due to appreciation of the Yen against the US dollar over the past few months. Many China’s second tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai (ranked 20 & 24 among 143 countries around the world) has moved up the Asian ranking because of a combination of stronger currency and relatively high price increase.

The report measures the cost of 200 items such as housing, clothing and food in 143 cities on six continents.

The most expensive place to rent a luxury 2 bedroom unfurnished apartment was Moscow, USD$4,018 per month, and the cheapest Karachi, at just $412.

And while a coffee in Moscow will set you back $6.13, but in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, it will cost less than $1.70.

Top 25 Most Expensive Cities In The World.

Source:
Most expensive cities in the world
Most expensive cities in Asia

Popularity: 54% [?]

Aug 8th was finally here and the long awaited opening ceremony would be telecast lived at 20:08. The date and time of the opening ceremony have been carefully chosen to associate with the lucky number 8. The reason for this is that 8, pronounced as ba in Chinese – which is somewhat similar to the pronunciation of fa, means “prosper” or “wealth”.

Many restaurants and pubs installed bigger screens in a bid to attract more customers on this special night. We too made reservations at Katheen 5 (a posh restarurant in central downtown area) to have dinner while watching the event. On our way to the restaurant, we passed by the openair auditorium at Nanjing road. A huge crowd was gathered there expecting to watch the grand Olympics opening ceremony on the 2 gigantic screens.

It’s 7:30pm at Nanjing east road outdoor auditorium. More and more people gather here hoping to watch the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony. We thought that such a important event would surely be telecasted and shown live on the giant screens, so we stopped and waited anxiously with the crowd.

Unexpectedly… at 8pm sharp, they switched off the screen! Holy Crap! A bunch of people went up to the stage and shout “Au Yun.. Au Yun…” hoping they on the screen again.

Stand higher to get more angles? Professional photographer LiuJin from AFP GettyImages.

Jam-packed with people at Nanjing Lu. People started to grumble and leave.

It’s a great opportunity for the Chinese to make money. There’s people selling all sorts of toys, China and Olympic flags.

Watching opening ceremony through a small screen at a cafe in Nanjing Lu.

Watching through a small tv.

At Fountain Xintiandi. Even the cook from another restaurant stopped by to catch a glimpse of the ceremony. Everybody cheer… and it’s more fun sitting at home!

German pub at Xintiandi. The screen was hanging from the ceiling of the 2nd floor and barely visible. There was a live band on the first floor and everyone on the 2nd floor were straining to hear the live coverage. Customers at tables near the stairs and screen started banging on their tables and shouted for the band to turn down the volume.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Has anyone watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing Nest stadium? It’s the most amazing opening ceremony that I’ve ever seen! One of my favourite was “footprints” fireworks “walking” towards the Bird Nest. The arrangement for China National Gymnast LiNing to bear the last torch to light up the Olympic Flame was greatly done by “fly-walking” on top of the Bird Nest with ancient paper rolling as background.

The whole ceremony reminds me about my participation of performance in several national and world events like this when I was young. Beijing Olympics opening ceremony gave me a goose bumps because I was once in their shoes.

Dozens of rehearsals and lots of efforts… I still remember the smell of lunchbox and dinners provided by the authorities, and how many classes have I applied for absence in school. I am glad that I had those experiences and it make me impulsive when I watch the ceremony. The joy of success in performance just can’t be described in words.

Here are some of the backstage photos during the Olympic opening ceremony from my sis:

Popularity: 21% [?]

Since I make a post about “Where to watch Olympic opening ceremony in Shanghai“, I received more then 600 unique visitors these 2 days. I also notice a lot of traffic from the States typing the keyword “where to watch Olympic opening online”.

I founded on CCTV.com, they broadcasts the opening ceremony of the games live online. But due to IOC’s broadcasting regulations, only netizens in China mainland and Macau can access videos related to Beijing 2008 Olympic Games via CCTV.com. There are some interesting clips on the page as well. You need to use IE to load the page:

http://www.cctv.com/english/special/opening/02/index.shtml

If you missed the ceremony, here’s also a list of all Internet rights holders. You will find a list of URLs:

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080806/106217.shtml

CCTV schedule for Olympics live events:

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080807/109433.shtml

If you know somewhere to watch online and not listed here, tell us below in the comment form. Thanks!

Popularity: 20% [?]

People’s Square | Kathleen’s 5 (2 Indoor plasma, 2 outdoor big screen)
Add: 5/F, Shanghai Art Museum, 325 Nanjing Xi Lu. Tel: 6327-2221

While not the first venue that comes to mind for a raucous Olympic viewing, with its unique locale atop the historic Shanghai Art Museum K5′s glass-encased dining area is the perfect grandstand from which to watch the Opening Ceremony on the big screen in People’s Square. Expect to be joined by an upscale crowd while you enjoy dinner and drink specials (10-15 percent off on all drinks) on top of K5′s normal two-for-one happy hour from 5:30-8pm. “We probably have the biggest screen within the whole of Shanghai!” says General Manager Franck Crouvezier. This larger than life experience is definitely gold medal worthy.

Creek Kitchen (60″ ultra-large type projection screen)
Add: 6/F, Creek Art, 423 Guangfu Lu, Suzhou Creek near Datong Lu.
Tel: 63809172 / 63804150*11 Email: cecilia.chen@creekart.org

Creek Kitchen offer the Special Olympic Set, go with your friends and enjoy their delicious food here, with 60 inch ultra-large type projection screen and lucky draw for olympic. Reservation only, one free glass of red wine.

Jing’an & Pudong | Malone’s (2 large screen projectors and 13 LCD flat screen TVs)
Jing’an – 255 Tongren Lu. Tel: 6247-2400
Lujiajui – 1/F Ascott, 3 Pudong Da Dao. Tel: 6886-1309
Pudong – 2/F Thumb Plaza, 17 Fangdian Lu, near Yanggao Zhong Lu. Tel: 5033-6717

Celebrate the Beijing 2008 OLYMPIC Opening Ceremony with MALONE’S. With two large screen projectors and 13 LCD flat screen TVs, you can CATCH ALL THE ACTION LIVE HERE starting with the Opening Ceremony of the grandest and greatest Olympic event of all time. This American café may be the favorite of a lot of Kobe and LeBron supporters, but we’re sure you’ll be able to find a little (or a lot of) Yao Ming love as the basketball tip-off begins.

LIVE Bar (6m wide TV)
Add: 721 Kunming Lu, Yangpu near Tongbei Lu.
Tel: 2833-6764 Email: livebar1@163.com

Get the best of all worlds as you watch the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony live on Live Bar’s (6m wide TV) and enjoy Huan’s tunes during breaks in the broadcast and the post-ceremony action. Those in Olympic gear receive a free drink. RMB25 for members, RMB30 for non-members.

New Heights (giant screens)
Add: 7/F, Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, Huangpu near Guangdong Lu, Metro Line 2 Nanjing Dong Lu Station.
Tel: 6321-0909 Email: newheights@on-the-bund.com

Feel the Olympic heat this Friday at New Heights’s Bar as the 2008 Opening Ceremony kicks off. Watch the action on giant screens as you enjoy free flow of Heineken, thirst quenching Vodka cocktails and a BBQ feast with friends. RMB 248, per person including BBQ and free flow Heineken and Vodka cocktails.

Elia restaurant (42′LCD TV)
Add: 479 Guyang Lu, Gubei/Hongqiao near Yaohong Lu.
Tel: 5175-3077 Email: eliarestaurant@gmail.com

Olympic fever happy hour all night long, late coverage of the opening ceremony on their 42′LCD TV. Buy one free one on all drinks. This Mediterranean restaurant draws from a number of sources for its menu but charms with its Greek-style hospitality. The great service and welcoming atmosphere, complemented some fine food, make for an unpretentious and enjoyable evening out. A real boon for the residents of Gubei.

Former French Concession | O’Malley’s Irish Pub
Add: 42 Taojiang Lu.
Tel: 6474-4533

If you didn’t score tickets to watch the games in Beijing, this Irish pub will immerse you in the action. Screens in the garden and throughout the pub create a “surround screen” experience. Grab a bucket of beer (Sun.-Wed., ¥120 for four different beers), take in “the atmosphere and camaraderie,” says Assistant Manager Jeya Ibrahim, “and get ready for a big crowd!” CW teams up with O’Malley’s on Aug. 8 (or the Opening Ceremony of course), 16 and 22 to host festivities and Olympic-worthy drinking games (read: more Olympics food and drink specials). See Nightlife events online details.

Multiple Locations | Blue Frog
Xujiahui- Lower Level, Unit 12, 131 Tian Yao Qiao Road Tel: 3368 6117
Maoming- 207-06 South Maoming Road Tel: 6445 6634
Jingann – 86 Tongren Road Tel: 6247 0320
Hongmei- #30 Hong Mei Leisure Pedestrian Street, Lane 3338 Hong Mei Road Tel: 5422 5119
Pudong – Ground Floor, 27 Super Brand Mall, 168 Lujiazui Xi Road Tel: 5047 3488

If you hate replays, this Shanghai favorite will be showing everything from the Opening Ceremony to the closing farewells live. Stop by with your family or the laptop for some burgers and beers and enjoy the Olympic event of the moment. The daily two-for-one happy hour from 4-8pm, Wi-Fi access and a menu of delicious favorites make this a great place to recharge during the Olympic frenzy.

Fiesta Latina ( big screen)
Add: 4/F, Kohler Building, 456 Nanjing Xi Lu, People’s Square near Huangpi Bei Lu
Tel: 6359-5367 Email: info@otto-restaurants.com

Celebrate the Opening Ceremonies Latin style with free-flow tapas (until 10pm) at one of Shanghai’s favorite wine bars. You don’t have to forgot the night’s big event, as Otto’s bringing in a big screen to make sure no one misses a minute of the action. RMB100 includes tapas and two glasses of wine.

De La Coast (120″ big screen)
Add: 6/F, 1 Yan’an Dong Lu, Huangpu near Zhongshan Dong Er Lu
Tel: 6330-2615 Email: dorce-gabbana@hotmail.co.jp

Beer garden with 120inchs big screen. Reservation only.

Popularity: unranked [?]