May 5, 2006
10 things I HATE about London
Might aswell continue the theme eh :)
10 Things I hate about London:
Unsafe Streets and High Street Crime
Overcrowded and Underfunded Public Transport System
Stealth Taxes (congestion charge, this tax, that tax and the other tax)
No parking spaces anywhere
Bad service in Hotels
Far Right Movement (BNP and friends)
Yob Culture (Grafitti, Vandalism etc)
Silly Questions about China (Do you eat Sushi every day ? is the best 1 so far)
Lack of Taxis
Breakdown of Law and Order
I hope the people outside of UK reading this get a bit of an insight into what life in the Great West can be like, not all Hollywood here you know. and as you can see above, some serious social issues need taking care of.
Posted by shak at 7:12 PM | Comments (1)
April 18, 2006
China in the eyes of a tourist
I have been pretty busy last 12 days or so, as I have had 2 very close friends visiting from the UK, namely JP Jones (my ex tech director) and Shakeel Sadiq aka Shak2 (Managing Director of my new UK company).
They came, they saw and they just went back, so I will let you read their version of events instead, a very entertaining read indeed ...
JP and Shak2 in China (read from bottom up)
Picture Gallery
Posted by shak at 9:58 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2006
I have a blog ???
I really should update the blog more often, but life in UK has been hectic with 7am > 11pm days over the last few weeks.
Anyway, back to China on the 1st of March for about 6 weeks, so am sure lots of trials and tribulations coming up as always.
So see you in a few days, and if you need anything bringing back, feel free to email me and I will do my best to oblige.
Posted by shak at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)
February 9, 2006
That Girl from Kobe
Now I'll admit to being ignorant at times and I never really knew that the "Kobe" in Kobe Beef was actually name of a place in Japan, that was until I met some girls in Shanghai from Kobe, who my flatmate and I had been given the task of showing the city in style 1 evening a few months ago.
Cut a long story short, 1 of the girls and I keep in contact by email and MSN and she always writes real long and deep emails in english about life in Japan as girl, and I always encourage her to set up a blog.
Well she finally has got her ass in action and launched it, do take a look, some good reading there.
Posted by shak at 12:03 AM | Comments (2)
January 25, 2006
Happy Chinese New Year - I'm off to London
Blimey, time flies when you are having fun, it's 8.20am and my flight leaves for London in a few hours to home sweet home as such.
Can I wish everyone out there a Happy Chinese New Year, don't drink too much Baijo or Burp too quitely, enjoy yourselves.
I hope to be back at the end of February for a 3-4 month stay.
London should be fun as it consists of 5 weeks of SOLID work every day, but I am sure it'll be worth it in the end.
Adios Amigos
Posted by shak at 8:20 AM | Comments (1)
January 15, 2006
The Best Holiday ever
30th Dec > 6th January was by far the best holiday ever for me, and this picture should give you a clue to what I mean:
The journey started at Shanghai's Pudong Airport > Bangkok > Koh Samed Island > Bangkok and back to Shanghai.
I think I along with a lot of other people have or had this igorant view of thailand being full of GoGo Bars and Tuk-Tuk's everywhere, and that is so far from the truth, NOT mentioning the fact that even Shanghai seems very expensive compared to most things bought in Thailand.
Some of the Bangkok highlights included watching Thia Boxing from the Ringside, my 3 friends doing a SEGWAY tour of Bangkok, Celebrating the New Year countdown at Bed Supperclub, finding the best ever Donner Kebab place in Asia, and a ride on the back of a Motorway to an urgent meeting for 4 of us which I can safely say is the most frightening thing I have ever done.
The Koh Samed highlights include going to a beach for the first time in Asia, Chilling by the Beach at night, Me choosing a paradise Island for Honeymooning couples by mistake as we were like the only single guys there and returning home in the early hours without keys was not fun.
Here is another picture which sums it up:
and these are links which you may find handy:
President Solitaire Serviced Apartments
Muay Thai Boxing
Bed Supper Club
Lima Coco Resort
Posted by shak at 6:27 AM | Comments (1)
January 6, 2006
Back from Holiday
Sorry for not posting lately, just got back from a holiday which I will blog about in next day or two.
Posted by shak at 4:59 PM
December 7, 2005
Here we go again ...
Just gone 8am in London and I am taking a break from packing my suitacases as I my flight to Shanghai leaves in about 6 hours time, I am looking forward to going back apart from 1 thing:
Cold Weather and NO Central Heating
I am so used to being in a nice cosy apartment here where there is heat 24 hours around the clock, and being faced with Cold mornings etc in Shanghai just don't put a smile on my face. Oh well, nobody said it'd be easy.
See ya soon folks !
Posted by shak at 2:04 PM | Comments (1)
November 28, 2005
a few days in London
OK, so I missed blogging for a few days even after I promised I'd try and blog every day, sorry.
Anyway, it's like 7am Monday morning and I have been up for a few hours, planning my week ahead, which is full of meetings, taxi rides and traffic jams and lunch with some lovely people.
Last few days been kinda interesting, and here are some of the high/low lights...
a, my 4 year old niece asking "Do you eat sushi every day in China" ?
b, home cooked food, and also the best Doner Kebab in London
c, no creases in my Jeans
d, fast internet
e, yob culture seems to be growing on a daily basis
f, a female police officer gunned down (sad world)
g, level of dirt/filth on roads, pavement I walked down the other day was covered in Chewing Gum.
h, people who are very ignorant about China
Some interesting questions that I have been asked lately:
1, do the clubs play like 1980s pop music
2, are you allowed to walk around without a guide
3, do you have a bicycle
All the above aside, It's nice to be back.
Posted by shak at 1:11 PM | Comments (1)
November 24, 2005
Whilst I am away ...
So I made it back to UK in one piece, must say those flat beds on Virgin Atlantic flights ROCK, I managed to get a straight 5 hours of sleep no problem.
Anyway, so what to post about over the next 10 days or so?
tidbits of my life in Shanghai over the last few months
things which seem strange in UK when compared to UK
general chit chat
I'll try and do 1 post a day, I promise ...
and now I am off to Lunch at Nandos
Posted by shak at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)
November 23, 2005
Back to London ...
It's nearly 9am and I have a flight to catch headed for London in 4 hours, no need to panick, just gotta go back and put out some fires and supervise a small project which will take a few days, I will also be having my first few serious business meetings which include some joint venture stuff China/UK and some fund raising required for a project which I have been looking at for 6 months. I hope to be back in China in 10-14 days.
Sod's law though, as a number of people I really wanted to see are coming through over the next 14 days, so my buddies will have to the entertaining on my behalf.
It will be very interesting going back this time, as I am a lot more climatised to China, and landing in London and going home is gonna be a major change.
by the way, the plan is for my flat mate to fire the AYI (maid) in 2 days time saying I sent word from a London that my (non existant) maid from London would be joing us, I am sure she wont mind being fired as she has obviously been chosen to head up the MENSA Shanghai office.
See you in London, Online or Back in China.
Posted by shak at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
I'm off to London !
That's it folks ...
No more "Ni Hao", "It's my pReasure" or "Jeans with centre creases"
I'm off to London Today (Sunday 25th)
Only for 2 weeks in case you are interested though
Main reason is to go and attend Adtech London this coming week, and then some business meetings in Europe the following week, It's Chinese National Holiday anyway part of the period so I wont miss much.
fyi, I will be playing Host/Moderator for the Paid Search Session at Adtech SHANGHAI in November.
I hope to be able to post once a day whilst I am away, and this may include some stuff in general about China and the Chinese that I have learnt in the last few weeks.
===
The longer you live in China, the more you want to go home. Not that home was all that great when you lived there, but nostalgia catches up with you and the grass really is greener over there.
I just came across this on the TalkTalkChina blog and thought it was very apt.
See you folks in Europe, or back here in a few weeks.
Miss JB = Don't Forget dinner
Mr JP = How's Life
Mr Jat = Don't Forget to pick me up from Airport
Mr SS = Hope my apartment is clean
Mr CZ = No getting up on stage and dancing shirtless like New Orleans
and the rest of you better pay for the drinks, as I'm a guest ;)
Posted by shak at 7:21 AM | Comments (4)
August 30, 2005
China - Here I come ...
So here I am sitting at Heathrow Airport, about to embark on a journey, which 9 months ago would have seemed the craziest idea in the world.
My flight the VS250 London > Shanghai leaves in 60 minutes, so I shall enjoy the snacks provided by Virgin Atlantic whilst trying to remember what items on my "to do list" still need to be done.
I have been to China 3 times this year, but they have all been 10-14 day missions, not a full fledged 6 month trip.
I hope to be able to keep updating this blog with my experiences and adventures, and hope a glimpse into my life in China shall give you as much pleasure as I get from living it.
China - Here I come
Posted by shak at 3:45 PM