I didn't know that a gmail account was anything special until I heard about being able to register through invitations only the other day. 1Gb of account space. Hmm. Interesting. I can store a movie and a half onto my email account: erik.chan@gmail.com

I went to Stanley for BBQ last nite. I don't think I've had a good time like that in a long long while. Although it was VERY hot, we got lost more than once on our way, had problems setting up our fire, etc... I had an awesome time. I love group activities. I love it all: buying our food at the supermarket...taking the time to cook the food perfect and having to drop it onto the floor afterwards...its a really awesome way to share and make moments in life memorable with your friends....cuz in the end, not everybody likes to go out and drink....as much as I have spent nights out, I don't think I have ever met a close friend out at a bar or club...
I personally think that I need more outgoing friends. People that are willing to do and try new stuff. People that don't let materialistic luxuries define their ways. I think its a big part of life to go out there to experience and discover. I know way too many (spoilt, conservative, lazy or/and boring) kids. My opinion is that they are wasting their life. I understand that its not upto me to decide upon how somebody lives their life and what they do every weekend. But I just think its really sad that it takes so much of my effort to get the people I am close with to join (not to even mention 'organize') some sort of group team work type activity.

~~~ Jars of Clay - Overjoyed ~~~

Will be heading to LA and NYC once again in a couple days!!

ERik.

Some cool online material to share:

Sport shoes artwork ~ www.davewhite.me.uk ~ check out the Air Max 97 in the 'latest section', thats my favourite.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ~ http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/1916/online.html ~ A story by a french writer that explores the purpose of our life, how our society affects it and other symbolic stuff about how we appreciate what we take for granted.

Web traffic Stats ~ http://www.visitorville.com/ ~ A cool and original methodology to indicate web traffic. I can really appreciate this IT geek culture originating from the valley.


Except for my two day excursion to Macau with my Dad, I've been busy with parties over the past week in Shanghai.....karaoke, clubbing, bar hopping and all of that sort. Mostly because the summer has begun here, the school year at Fudan is over and either friends are arriving back home in Asia (visiting or residing in Shanghai) or they are leaving back to their homes abroad.

THE DETROIT PISTONS rocked the Lakers to perfection. This is basketball. Team work, defense, and stepping it up. Although I am not a Pistons fan, I can respect their game and a championship to them. Go home LA, your time is officially over.
Its going to be nice to see Kobe and Shaq start all over again elsewhere. I don't doubt they will play any worse elsewhere. And to the rest of the Lakers? They might as well just sit around and rot.

Euro Cup 2004. I've been fortunate to stick around late enough into the morning to watch the games. The two comeback matches Czech Republic 3 - 2 Holland and France 2 - 1 England were classics.

~~~ Interpol - Obstacle 1 ~~~

I'm in a state of peaceful confusion. As confused as I am about my life and career at this point of my life, I am getting a good dose of time to analytically sort out and tackle my issues. Maybe in the end, I'll still be doing exactly what I would have chose to do half a year ago, but at least I'd know what i'm getting myself into now. I won't start asking the same questions I am doing now 5-10 years into my career.

I think I have explored and lived Shanghai long enough to know what its all about now. Whether I want to stick around is a completely different story. Maybe in 10 or so years.

Erik.

My excursion to Nanjing was a memorable one. Its these little things you choose to do in life that makes all the difference...cuz I definitely enjoyed this trip. Haha, we definitely live and learn.

I'm blank, motivated, and ready to absorb.

ERik

~~~ Air - Alone in Kyoto ~~~

Its only a matter of time until I switch to Linux. Not that I have any huge problems with the windows operating system, but I truly believe in open sourcing. I'm sure Microsoft has some incredible talent, but that can never beat 'the masses' behind free-for-all programming. Plus, you rid of any monopolies contained within our computer experience...
Its going to be a difficult fight for open sourcing though. Maybe the powerful will always stay powerful...

Erik.

Good Evening Shanghai. I'm back.

Spent most of today whizzing around downtown. I'm going to be honest here, but Shanghai (and most probably the rest of China) is a boring place for a recently graduated student from America just like me. Yes, this city is rapidly growing and incredibly dynamic but my future in this city is definitely not in the next 5 or so years. I don't have the experience to be boss, and neither do I have the expertise to be a professional here.
I'm trying really hard not to be bias here, but Hong Kong is so much more than Shanghai. As much as Shanghai is under heavy development to become the next asian metropolitan, its people are lacking. The typical Chinese still lacks culture, respect, education and free-thinking. I believe all that can only be developed in time. And I believe that may probably be the reason why I feel I am starting to dislike it here. I do, however, believe it is only in this type of market where you can make unreal profits from.

+++ ??? Demo Collection Volume 1 - Favorites +++ This is a must get CD. I love it.

Erik.

I'm back in Hong Kong after my "different moment" in New York City. The past 3 weeks has been intense, sane, and fun. I don't think I realize I traveled half the world in that time span. There was no post-trip time to digest what I experienced.

Although I would prefer a job in Manhattan, chances are that I will be better off staying at home in Hong Kong where my path can be cultivated more closely by my elders. Sometimes there is just too much I want to do in my life. In reality, I really am actually just another soul racing against time. But I know ‘success’ is the type of life I want to lead though. And I understand that only with loss, there is gain.

Not only do I have intense passion for music, I love people, women, sports, culture, knowledge, appreciation, experiences, my friends and family, and a list that will continue forever. If anything, it’s that I hate to have to choose only one path (yes, even though it is an individual and distinct one). The truth is I want to live them all. I can be seen as greedy, but I’ve always wanted to live in the shoes of every soul. Be it hardship, luck, or hope, I want to try and live it. Nothing is ever easy, be it you rich or poor, smart or dumb.

~~~ Evanscence – My immortal ~~~
~~~ Bent – Always ~~~
~~~ Murphy Lee – What da hook gonna be ~~~

Erik.

JHU Commencement day 2004

I had a blast. Seeing old faces, getting to know a bunch of new kids..what was I thinking when I said I didn't want to come back?

Commencement went through like a breeze. Bill Cosby put up a nice funny commencement speech/act. The weather was nice. It was a nice way to end college. Great senior week to give it a final touch.

I will miss Baltimore and life at Hopkins. I proved myself at many things during my time here. Not only did I discover a huge part of who I am, I realized many things about our world and society. I probably won't choose to take the same path I once did if I had to do it all over again, but I'm glad that things turned around just fine. I'm sure all things happen for a reason.

I'm now a Hopkins Alumni. Proud to say I graduated from this academicly intensive college. Now begin the next chapter of my life...

May 19th

Its Kevin Garnett's birthday today. On top of having lost my cell, I dissapointed my parents by arriving to dinner as late as I could have ever gotten tonite....
What else did I do today? Oh yeah, I ran around campus running errands one last fukin time...didn't even get to eat properly.

I still remember the amount of luck I was having a year ago from today....I suck.

Erik.

Just spent the last 30mins reading old entries on my blog. I've written 192 entries over the last 2 and a half years. Haha, I'm embarassed to say that I have plenty of typos and grammatical errors within them. My apologies to all my readers.

+++ Thievery Corporation - Mirror Conspiracy +++ One classic downtempo album.

I found the 'Mae - Destination: Beautiful' album here in NYC. I was so happy. I've been searching for that album for a while already. Only in NYC I can find all sorts of less mainstream and underground music. The album was everything I want and more. The lyrics are sooo worth checking out, its definitely my cup of tea.

The NBA playoffs are really starting to get pretty exciting. All the series are tied 2-2. Lakers vs. Spurs, Timberwolves vs. Kings, Nets vs. Pistons, and Pacers vs. Heat. Haha, I know I'm making a bias comment but THE KINGS WILL WIN!! Although the Kings do not play the same style I used to admire 2 years ago, I will still root for them. They deserve a championship (ok fine, so do the Timberwolves...). I'm glad to be in America during this time of the year, staying or waking up early in the morning to watch the game in Asia has been driving me nuts.

Zero 7 is performing in the city on the 21st. Hopefully I'll be able to make it.

Erik.

Exert from my moleskin diary(yes, the more personal one):

At YVR. Chemical beats knock Business Week, AWSJ and other finance articles into my head. I read them all (soaking up every fact and given theory), and wonder once again how much of a slave I am of this society. I think I'm at this point where I constantly pursue knowledge for the betterment of my future rather than for myself. To better put it, I'm at the point where I've gotten in the habit of following up on all this finance, politics, economics and business shit without even second thinking whether it is to my interest of not. I personally think thats a little f'd up. I'm blood thirsty for knowledge cause I think it'll benefit me in the long run.
Maybe I'm just too driven to let anything stop me from reaching my goals.

To think about it, I am a biomedical engineer. Why start educating myself the materical I can learn studying a different major after I graduate? Or should I say, why major biomedical engineering? I really wonder...



I LOVE NYC. Thats a stone-hard fact. I will definitely miss this place a great deal if I end up spending the next couple years working somewhere in Asia. I like NYC for its style, its food, its numerous cultures, and its wide range of people from all over the world and in different social classes. Its a crazy place. They have top of the world art and design talent, broadways, and most important of all, its own metropolitan like culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
I feel alive everytime I step out from the apartment into the city. Theres the East and West village, SOHO, Times Square, Chinatown, little Italy, Broadway, Union Square, Saint Marks, Central Park, Upper East side, Columbia University on the upper west, Wall Street, and plenty more. This place is packed with everything.
What am I talking about? I'm gonna go out and breath more of this city right now.

Erik.

Back and relaxed on my bed in Hong Kong. What else could beat those tiny moments in your life - laying on your bed with a nice cup of ice cold nestea beside you as you type away your next internet diary entry on your laptop.
I've always had wireless broadband at home here in Hong Kong, although, I've never made any use of it until two days ago. I guess I've sort of changed into a traditional consumer over the years. Instead of adopting early new technologies that will supposedly make your life more efficient, I've slowly turned into the type of person where I like to stick to things that work. I will only switch to new technologies that are showing signs of maturing. Maybe its a sign of growing up.... realizing that stability has become much of a priority.

Another bit of truth of my life - I'm a spoilt brat. Over the past couple months, I've been constantly observing how easy my parents have made my life for me. From the type of clothes and accessories I own to the amount of work that is being done for me at home makes me feel sick of myself. I think I'm starting to really have problems accepting the way of my life. I feel worthless when I know that there are plenty of people in this world that need to take care of many more daily errands than I do. I have always had that extra budget inside my wallet to take care of problems for me. Sometimes, I don't think I even deserve this type of life. I didn't work for it. Its not good enough even if I appreciate and understand where its coming from. I don't think theres anything I can do to really change this around, I guess life just goes on, and you are given what you are born with. Maybe all things do happen for a reason.

Finally got a haircut today. I don't think I quite enjoyed my last hair cut at Tony & Guy in Shanghai. Haha, a little bit of anti-advertising here, but I advise you all to avoid T&G in Shanghai. Its cheap, but really not that great.

I'll be off to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in two days. I can't wait to get some good food. Yum.

The Spurs are gonna give the Lakers a smacking. Haha, was definitely worth staying up until 7am.

ERIK.

great...3 hours of work down the drain.....I'm am not going to write it back all out......I should have known that my post was not going to go through.....

~~~ Daft Punk - Something about us (love theme from Interstella 5555) ~~~ Very very chill.
~~~ Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - The girl from Ipanema ~~~

Basically, I talked about my opinions of Shanghai. Its just too much work to type it all back out and go through the thought process. For once, it was a very written long paragraph citing my experiences here and there over the past year. sigh. F it.

this is bullshit

I've been sick this week. My Dad came to Shanghai on Thursday, and brought me along during his business trip at Hang zhou and Tong Li. So yeah...back to why i'm sick....I wore a polo out to this trip cuz it was bright and sunny during the morning (30+ celsius around here already).....I'm guessing I caught a cold cuz it suddenly started raining late afternoon and it got real windy at night (I continually resisted putting on the coat my dad offered me..haha)....or then again, it could also be due to the 2 bottles of red wine I had over lunch and dinner (DAMN Chinamen!!)....
But yea, being sick here in China is not fun at all. Unless you have the money to hire a private doctor, any other such medical help around here would probably do me worse than good....excluding the fact that I may contaminate other diseases and viruses at the hospital or ward, theres a good chance I will already get even more sick from waiting forever in line....

I feel like i've grown/matured/become more experienced since I arrived Shanghai. My study abroad is so worth it. Not only have I learned the language, more about the culture and other very factual entities...I've gotten to learn and realize a lot more about who and where I stand among this world.
I feel like I've been taking my surroundings and contempory lifestyle for granted over the years (and I think I will always do so). Having visited more rural areas like Yuan An (where people still live in caves, and nearly everything they own is made of twigs and branches), learning about the wages of the peasants in China, or maybe even going out with the local or other international students at Fudan really makes me realize how fortunate I am. It really puts things into perspective. The lesson I've learned, however, is not that I'm lucky though...its that I should be thankful for what I have and go make the best of the best of what I have been blessed with. (man, I starting to sound so religious...)
As I've been saying many times over the past couple weeks...you really don't need to have been to India to know what Nann bread is.....i mean, sure....maybe you dunt even have the resources to try it, its still not an excuse to not know what it is. I really don't know what to say sometimes. I may sound like Mr. Know-it-All, but I can't believe how uneducated, unexperience, ignorant some people are in this world. Its like, some people have no adventurous characteristics within them. They're satisfied with their life, their world, their friends, their routine.....they aren't curious about what type of lives other people around them are living.

On top of my belief that everything in this world is based on your perspective on it (how life can be great even during sad or non-eventful periods or how life can be miserable and gloomy even when you have the world under your feet), there are also plenty of things that can be learned around us depending on our perspective of it. Some things are obvious some others may not be. Letz say...... a trip to the local 'xiao long bao' restaurant for some xiao long......ok, maybe I just think too much, but over a simple trip like this for me.....I could look upon this event culturally, economically, from a business point of view, from my point of view (a foreigner), a local customers point of view, etc... The possibilities are endless when you use an experience like this to contrast and compare it with your previous experiences.

A tiny little thing like my name...'Erik'....and having been sent me to starters (an english kindergarten) and a chinese kindergarten at the same time really reveals a lot about what my parents were thinking when they were younger. 'Erik' with a 'K' is quite a bit of a twist for a Chinese family, and sending me to a German Int'l School is definitely also not a very traditional chinese either. Its like, my parents had set me a path different than a lot of other kids before I was even born. And only through these sort of roots, I can trace back out how and why I've gotten to become who I am. Its crazy. Things you don't realize until you grow up.

My cell got stolen today. Boo hoo. I lost all my numbers. I don't even want to mention how, why, and where.

I'm leaving back to Hong Kong next week!!! Ahh, I miss home. I can't wait to get back and get some real cantonese food. The sweet and strong taste of Shanghainese food is really driving me nuts. I can't take it everyday. But yeah, before I settle in, I'll be making a trip to Singapore and Malaysia(business field trip with Dad again!!)....can't really say much about that right now...maybe after I go (uh-huh..like i'll have the time to blog).....after that, its back to NYC (yes yes 2nd Ave 5th Street....you kno where the joint is....haha)....and then last of all, final destination, senior week at back at friggin Baltimore for my Hopkins graduation (did i ever mention Bill Cosby is the speaker?). Its gonna be a crazy month. And i'll be skipping school here in Shanghai all throughout this time.

~~~ Jurassic 5 - Thin Line (feat. Nelly Furtado) ~~~

its the small things we churn out in life...that makes it interesting

- Erik

Wanda De Sah & Sergio Mendes - So Nice
Nada Surf - Inside of Love
Rooney - Losing All Control
Something Corporate - Space
the Vines - Ride
Beta Band - Squares
Mae - Embers and Envelopes

Only til now I realize how much of a music promoter I am. I never realized until my friend was stating the obvious. I'm not only a music freak, but I constantly promote it to everybody around me with all my heart. Its like, I want to share this understanding and appreciation for music. I educate others to learn and love it, no strings attached. Damn, how come I never realized.
I think i've talked to everybody I know about music. I swear to god. Every single friend of mine.... I must have at some point spent time talking and recommending music. I've actually made a huge effort doing it too....ranging from burning CD's for other people, recommending music, playing music for others....wow. Haha, I can't believe how many of my family and friends have been affected due to my appreciation. Especially my close friends and two bros, it would never be justifiable how much I talk about it until you ask one of them about it....I talk about music every day.
I'm a music freak. I even categorize all the types of CDs in my CDS case into 'CD I haven't heard of', 'All-time' favourite, 'Giving it another chance', 'In the mood for it these days' and 'pretty good CD that makes it to the disk case everyonce in a while'.
Thinking back to all those things I have done to promote and appreciate music. I'm shocked. Its a huge part of my life.

Erik.

I'm at X'ian. Its my second day here. Fun? Hell Yea. Haha.

Been noticing all sorts of things over the past two weeks. Mainly the differences between Shanghai, Beijing, and the rest of inland China (haha..its really only X'ian and Yuan an..but whateva..LoL). I must say its quite different though, and I say this ranging from the standard of living to the local culture and attitudes....I don't feel like I should mention specifically how I feel about these cities though, mainly because I guess I don't qualify to evaluate them yet. Especially not with the short period of residency I've only had here in China. Maybe you could ask me personally......but yeah, anywayz, everyday in China has still been a bit of a brain drain for me....I'm still a sponge soaking up everything I see.....

I feel so bad. I really want to blog a lot more often than I do in China. I guess I just have no time, theres always something in the way...something more important or more desirable to do....Hopefully sometime, I'll be able to talk about my experience in more detail...Theres so much to talk about.

Tired as Hell. Went to see the terracotta warriors today.

~~~ Usher - Yeah! ~~~

Oyasumi.
Erik.

Haha. Its been a while since I've been back. Let me start off with a variety of music:

~~~ Zion I feat. Grouch - Silly Puddy ~~~
~~~ Elefant - Misfit ~~~
~~~ Duncan Sheik - On a High ~~~
~~~ ????? - ??????????????~~~

Been busy. Edwin was here. Edmund was here. Ronny was here. Seriously been exploring Shanghai quite a bit I must say. I dunt think it would be possible to even describe much of what I have experienced and went through over the past couple weeks....haha, I guess the best way to put it is that theres way too much to talk about and can't be bothered to. LoL.

Although I don't do that many things everyday, I often feel tired. I have a feeling its cuz I mentally work myself out everyday. Probably a combination of worrying, stress and striving to absorb everything my 5 senses allow me to. Even though my bed is stiff and hard, I somehow sleep incredibly well every nite. (Damn my hard bed!!)

I've been culture shocking. Haha. Seriously, every once in while I go through these random culture shock moments. Its like, I'm sick and tired of all this chinese around me. I'm sick of pronouncing chinese words, sick of speaking it and seeing it all over me. I feel like I need a break from it all. Just one day of english..only speaking and reading english. Even my cantonese is starting to turn into mandarin, its insane. Sometimes, I have to cut back on what I say (haha, yesh, we all know I always have a lot to say) cause i just can't figure out how to say it in mandarin. Man, I'm sick of having to translate everything I say in cantonese or english before I say it....

I'm going to Beijing and Xian next week. Gonna be great.

Erik - haha. ended not talking about any of the acutal experiences.

- I mentioned that Chinese music is a long way behind other parts of the world. I think I have to take that back. Maybe I'll talk about it next time -

Its been a while already. But Chris Webber is back!! Sadly though, on top of an nonexistant NCAA basketball (MARCH MADNESS!!) TV program here in Shanghai, I probably won't get to watch that many games of the NBA playoffs this year. That really sucks. Any chances of me getting to watch any of these games is if I wake up early in the morning (assuming I skip classes), decide to stream it on my laptop (laggy and bad quality), and that Shanghai sports channel decides to air that game I want. So yeah, it sucks to be missing out on the sports life. All they show here on the sports channel here is soccer, ping pong and volleyball. Boo.

I got a hold of the new zero 7 CD. Not quite as good, but i'm satisfied. Theres a lot more going on around here that has taken me away from sitting down to appreciate an album top to bottom. But anywayz, my recommendations for the album are 'somersault', 'speed dial no.2' and 'the space between'. I've only heard of the album through once, so that list may change.

I joined the guitar club here! HAha. People are not especially good here, so I fit just good among them. They only play chinese songs....but its cool...I'm just glad there are people to play with.
I guess this brings me to the point.... that the music scene here in China is musically (in terms of its structure, style and form) still a long long way behind compared to the music from other parts of the world. Playing the guitar here in China has such a folk feel to it, its all about strumming very basic chords and singing along to it. Its very simple and it has a strong emphasis upon self satisfication from playing. Argh, I dunno. Whatevaz. LoL.

~~~ Watashi Wa - All of Me ~~~

Ok. Done With.
Erik.

- Letz all take a moment of silence for every innocent life that was taken away by the 'cruel realities of the world' in Spain yesterday -

~~~ Mae - Summertime, Skyline Drive, Runaway ~~~ Recently made my fav bands list.
~~~ Belle and Sebastian - Seeing Other people, Burning Flies ~~~

I really should continue with my food experience in Shanghai right now. But i don't feel like it, i've already been a full day of work. So f*** it cuz its my blog and not yours.

I feel mellowed out. =) Its probably that 'Mae - Skyline Drive' song thats chilling me out right now. I like it....but anywayz, so yeah....where should i start...
Not much breathing room here in Shanghai, I've been constantly out and about most of my time here. Haha, in some way like the way I do in Hong Kong i guess, but different in another that I'm (supposedly) in school around here and I'm abroad in an environment very different than I have been over the past half of my life. I'm content tho. I don't ask for much in life...haha, ok maybe I should take that back...lets just say I am easily satisfied in the short run most of the time.....

Some japanese girls (maybe guyz too, but dunno them yet..wuhaha) are cooking dinner tonight. I think I'll take part in that. Haha. Hey, every man needs to eat too right? I'm too lazy and its too cold to go out anyways. As I said earlier, I'm tired...I had a full day of work. Pretty good class rate today. Went to 2/3 classes today, not bad considering I went to 3/11 last week when my older brother came to visit me.

ARgh. How come I always need to go half way during my entry?

Erik.

My diet has been very exciting over the past month. Yeah, and I think it would be safe to say that I've had an incredibly wide variety of food during my first month in Shanghai. Everything from the street food that can cost less than 2USD altogether, to the 20USD 'all you can eat' japanese cuisines.
Maybe I should start with the 'all you can eat'. HAha. Basically its all you can eat japanese cuisines or tepanyaki. Its pretty crazy stuff, on top of the 'all you can eat' you also get to order 'all you want to drink' too. And I'm talking about all you can drink hot sake, japanese beer, fruit juice, blah blah blah. I mean, seriously, 20USD for all you can drink is not bad already, but thats not even the best part. The best part is that the food is legit stuff!! Like, real japanese food. All you can eat japanese cuisine includes all you can eat uni, horse sashami, raw beef, raw prawns, and the list goes on just like every other japanese restaurant. This is same for the tepanyaki restaurant: private rooms, a chef cooks in front of you, and you can order anything on the menu (codfish, clams, different types of beef, blah blah blah). You point at anything on the menu and they will bring it up to you and cook it right there. So yeah, we're talkin about living like the king. Haha.

Crap. to be continued...

Maybe its just me, but I often feel like I am very different from the people I know. Typically, it is probably due to background circumstances, but even my peers that have went to an int'l school in Hong Kong most of their life do not possess traits similar to mine at all. For example, among my circle of close friends, each and everyone of them are very distinct in their own way that none of us are a good representation of our backgrounds. And I say this confirming that neither even everyone of us together would reflect a true representation of our background. Our personalities have already set us too far apart.

Its interesting to meet people from all over the world. Living abroad really gives you a chance to widen your perspective of this world. Ever since I set my foot here at the international cultural exchange dorm, I admit I have always ignored most European countries. Seriously, what was i thinking? Doesn't that seem quite fundamental? 'Too much BME for my own good' I would probably use as an excuse. Europe plays a huge 1/3 part of this world, yet when I read the wall street, I only goto the U.S and Asia section. I'm sure there are plenty of hungry men and women over there that are also planning to take over this world too. I must make a visit to the rest of Europe asap. Backpacking would sound fun.

Erik.

Still lov'in it. Theres a pretty good chance I'm going to settle here for good. Haha, maybe that statement will help re-emphasize my point about how much i'm lov'in it here. The three main reasons why I want to stay in Shanghai are:

1. Shanghai is not as developed as other metropolitans. Maybe it will be in the next 30 or so years, but wouldn't that be great? To live not only like a king with low living standards to start off with, but also live through the development of what will be one of the major cities in the future? The next New York City, but in China?

2. People here are generally more relaxed and easy going. Social ties and boundaries have not fully conformed yet. Locals and expatriots/foreigners get along a lot better than I've seen so far in my life. There isn't much of that uptite 'I'm higher class so I don't talk to you' thing going on. You don't need to know so and so to get into the door. I just feel that since everything is still going under rapid change, if I keep my head up and feet firmly on the floor, I have the opportunity to define my own world here. Have more things the way I want it to.

3. Huge second tier industry. Many more opportunities for a business man with a background in engineering and interest in developing/marketing high technology. How much easier can it get for me, I understand the Chinese culture yet I have an education overseas. I'm not trying to talk ego with you, but I'm money. As my friends put it, I'm already a chinese walking dollar bill around here.

~~~ Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Neptunes Remix) ~~~
~~~ Duncan Sheik - Barely Breathing ~~~
~~~ Eve6 - Inside Out ~~~



HA. Its Friday night tonite. Maybe I'll go out later, I need a nap. If anything, I would recommend 'Pegasus' across from Times Square Thursday nights. Its my third week here and I've been there every Thursday so far. So yeah, not a bad party at all.

Airik.
'Õâ¸öÐÇÆÚÎÒÔÚѧÓõçÄÔ´òºº×Ö, ÕæµÄºÃ²»ÈÝÒ×.'

Haha. A song Will and I wrote then played for Brian on the guitar. Its a rip off of 'Semisonic - Closing Time'. Not bad, considering a couple of us sang it to him in front of a small audience on his Birthday.

Brian's Song - 'Closing time' cover

[Intro]

[Verse]
Its Brian's song,
So put your hands together and give him a birthday cheer
Its Brian's song,
So take off all your tops and let him see your underwear
Its Brian's song,
One last call for alchohol so give him your whiskey or beer
Its Brian's song,
Wish him a happy birthday or get the fuck out of here

[Chorus]
We know who he wants to take home
We know who he wants to take home
We all know who Brians taking home
So take her home.....

[2nd Verse]
Its Brian's song,
Undress her slowly in the dark but don't fuck up the bra strap
Its Brian's song,
Light the candles, set the mood, and make sure to keep it wrapped
So gather up the courage and make sure you don't blow it
I hope you can make her come.
Its Brian's song,
Every kiss will get her body closer to feeling numb.

[Bridge/Solo]

[Chorus again]

Although I don't make it to my classes as often as I should, I feel incredibly productive here in Shanghai. I'm always out and about doing stuff having a good time. Be it shooting some hoops, biking around campus, out downtown for a stroll, checking out the local restaurants....the days fly by just like that. HAha, I've also been consuming a lot more alcohol than I should be too so far. I've been drinking everyday for the past week, sometimes chill drinking and sometimes out clubbing getting a good dosage of shots, cocktails or whateva...
Speaking of which, I like the clubbing scene here a lot. Over the past year or two, I thought I was done with going to clubs, but having second thoughts now. People here are generally pretty friendly, drinks are cheap, and they have Djs that play a good selection of mainstream to keep people continually bouncing off the walls. So yea, I like it.

My first food poisoning experience was not a good one. HAha, the story goes like this: So earlier this week I decided to grab a quick bite at the cafeteria before my class. I had pork belly ramen, fried rice with chinese sausage and bak choi, and a warm milk tea. I'm guessing it was most probaby the damn milk tea, but yea, I finished my meal real quick and headed straight to class. Probably around 10mins into class, my stomach started to feel like it wanted to turn inside out. My first reaction was like 'god damn, are you for real?'. It was coo though, I mean, I quickly sped to the washroom. But only to find out that behind the washroom doors was only a gutter!!! I mean, it was a gutter around 20cm deep, and that was it!! No drainage no nothing. Basically if you took a dump in there, all your belongings would just sit there in this shallow gutter, and would probably stench up the whole floor in the building. Ahhhhhh, haha...the gutter was bad enough already, but they didn't even have tissue paper either. Its not like they were out or anything, but tissue paper is just non-existent in the washrooms. So yeah, I had no choice but to go back to my class room along with my diarrhea to sit and wait. I was at the point I felt cold and had goose bumps...it was basically the real deal. I just sat there staring at the ceiling trying to think about something else to get my mind off it. Luckily, the teacher gave the class a break at some point, and I just took the opportunity to grab my bag and get the hell out. The bike ride back to my room took like another 20mins. So by the time I was in the elevator going up back to my room, I was jumping at the walls already. So yeah, lesson learned. Bring diarrhea pills and bring tissue WHEREVER YOU GO.


Airik.

Been somewhat busy these days. Juggling all sorts of issues. Dealing with my class schedule, apps, job search, my busted head, and all sorts of shit. On the whole, I'm still having a blast and making the hell out of my time here. Theres always a lot to do and explore when given a new fresh surrounding. This place has been my heaven so far.

My mandarin is coming along very well. I've improved significantly already over the past week. I don't doubt I shall be fluent within the next 2 months or so. Although I've been sleeping in throughout most of my classes so far, I'm making an effort to talk to pretty much anybody I see around here. Be it the locals or the students at my dorm, I'm getting a good dose of practice everyday outside of the class room.

~~~ Outlandish - Aicha ~~~ Heard it and loved it. Theres a whole bunch of european kids in my dorm around here that are very friendly. I really shall get them to recommend me more stuff like this.

Speaking about music. Zero 7 is coming out with a new album in 2-3 weeks. Where the hell am I gonna get it around here?

I should really make it to one class today.

Erik Chan.