Im picking up pieces now

I am picking up pieces now....
Pieces that I left behind, going back to pace where I started. Doing the things I used to do. catching up on my reading, listening to my music, sleeping on my side of the bed, eating the food I am used to eat, sleeping at my convenient time, waking up when I want to, watching my movies, writing my thoughts, catching up on all the things I need to do before I left it hanging.

I am picking up pieces now. It's been few hours since I started picking up my pieces.
A few more hours or maybe days and I will be back on track, but now....I am still picking up pieces. I am picking up pieces slowly to be able to move forward soon.


Song while I am picking up my pieces:
Warning Sign--Cold play

It hurts... But I know what won't kill me will only make me stronger.

Naomi

When I came to China to study last January, aside from Mark, my classmate and housemate, we have another classmate named Naomi. She is from UK. Though we had a few more classmates from New Zealand and the States, it was the 3 of us who became close. It’s because our ages are not that far from each other, compared to our classmates from New Zealand and US.

I have written something about Mark, and this post about Naomi is way too overdue already.













(few weeks after we all arrive in china Hairstyle no. 1)- winter-spring

Naomi is very independent and thinks and acts with sense. She likes to travel and has traveled fairly a good number of countries already. When we had problems with our visas because of the Olympic issues here in China, all of us had to leave the country. I went to Hong Kong and she went to Thailand.

She then became a great fan of Thailand and has speak highly of that country. One of the reasons why I chose to backpack there last summer. And true enough, I had a blast!!

Unlike before, we see each other almost everyday because of school and after school bottle of beers. Right now, Mark has gone back to Australia. Naomi is still in Suzhou living like a princess but on the opposite side of the city.

Though my apartment and her place is on the opposite ends of Suzhou, from time to time we do occasional dinner or lunch just to catch up.













(one of catch up meetings. Hairstyle no. 2) summer- autumn

This month, we have planned to do Shanghai and just get wasted and stay there for the night. But because of different schedules it barely came to reality. Naomi is spending Christmas and New Year in Japan. I felt bad for always postponing our drinking spree. I offered to go with her in shanghai to catch her flight to Tokyo.

It was interesting that even if we took the late train to shanghai, she managed to cause me to panic because she arrived at the train station very late, that we were the last passengers to get in before they close down the entrance gate. Not to mention the long run in the ramp as our seats are in the carriage number 16!

Anyways, we managed to catch our train and got to Shanghai.

(panic booking for a place to stay in Japan. Hairstyle no. 3) Winter

Looking at panic booking picture, I am reminded that I myself is travelling to Seoul on the last day of the year to celebrate New Year in South Korea. And until now I still have no place to stay. I don't want to be homeless in Korea for the New Year....

easiest gift for ladies

Tomorrow is the birthday of a friend of mine here in China. She has done some good things for me so I feel that I have to give her something for her birthday. The problem is I am not the type of person who likes to shop around.



So instead of punishing myself deciding what gift I should give, I decided to follow my principle about ladies and flowers. I hope I am right when I think that ladies feels special if they receive flowers.

Aside from it's quick, I think men never go wrong with giving flowers.
After work, I decided to look for some flower shops on the way home.
I saw one in Feng men lu, one of the first few streets here in Suzhou that I am very much familiar, since my school is located in that street and I used to walk along that street last winter.
The owner speaks "Suzhou hua" or Suzhou dialect, which is kinnda difficult for me to catch up. After a few minutes of hand gestures we agreed on a price. I chose peach roses to be safe.
1 piece is 4rmb (28 Php or $.58) I told him I want a bouquet and I don't want to pay so much. He then told me 40 rmb (280 php or $5.8) for 8 stems of peach roses. After converting the said amount to my known currency, I think it is cheap. Without trying to bargain, I said Yes to his offer. I was just thinking that it would be a simple arrangement because the price is not so expensive.
But as he was preparing the arrangement, he used a lot of papers and fancy decorations, which I really think unnecessary( thinking of all the trees that they cut down for producing such fancy papers) . He individually wrap each rose with papers, he then crumpled some fancy looking papers to serve as the division for each stem..... Honestly, I think it was too much for the price that I paid. For the finale, He placed the bouquet in colored woven light pot, I though I am to pay extra for the pot. But it is included in the 40rmb... I really think its a bargain. After he gave me the bouquet, the wife asked me for the occasion, I said its for a birthday, she then gave me a red card with a clear stick. I think if it were in my country, the pot, the card on stick would have to paid separately. But well, I told myself.... Welcome to China =)

I thought that giving flower is thoughtless and effortless. but for this time, I had to carry the bouquet walking to the bus stop, waited for the bus and forced myself inside the jampacked bus while trying my best not to disfigure the flower arrangement..... That for me was hardwork.... After all, it's always the thought that counts.
P.S.
I haven't been updating my blog, I have been reading again. This time it's House of Sand and Fog by Andrew Dubus III.
Highly recommend it. A tragic comedy of how a simple thing can go wrong on a wrong move.

sumptuous dinner

I just got back home from a very sumptuous dinner. My friends and I, from my part time work decided to have a dinner. They chose Holiday Inn.
I was expecting the usual Chinese dinner, where it is waaaaay different from how we do dinner. Rice is served last and soup maybe served last as well. But to my surprise it was a western style dinner buffet. Looking at the array of food, I tried to recall when was the last time I had a good dinner at a hotel, which we usually do when I was still working at a Bank. With the choices of food, the closest I can compare it to is Cafe Marco at Marco Polo Cebu.

(vicky digging on some ice cream)

I had Japanese for starters, just like how I do it back home. Tried a little bit of everything for the main course. Sweet and Sour pork, Beef with Pepper Sauce, Beef in Tomato and Blue Cheese and a lot more... I lost count of everything ( I am not a good food critique).
Best part they have cuts of beef for steak. Even if I was not sure if the chef understands english, I ordered for steak medium rare....( sluuurrp)

The Dessert was also good. The walnut pie and the pumpkin pie is really good! Because I had too much Walnut pie, I had no room for ice cream already...

(workmates and I looking at the Gingerbread house)

Price? per person is 98rmb($15 or 705php) not bad at all. Considering that they are doing a buy 4 plus 1 promotion. Since there were just four of us, I get the free coupon for next visit...Sweet!

Early morning Run

I took an early morning run to help me clear my mind.
Actually, it helped a lot. I ran despite the cold. I can see the air that I breathe coming from my mouth as I was running. It somehow eased me...

I remembered how much I used to take early morning runs when I was still at the University.

When I came here in China I used to run also during afternoons and evenings during summer.

While I was running, I noticed the beautiful sunrise, I quicken my speed so I can go back to my apartment and grab my camera and take some shots of the amazing view.

Here are 2 of the photos I took during that run....

I feel much better now =)

Tian Ping Mountain

I resumed to making my friday a Suzhou day.
Months before I had been anticipating to go to Tian Ping Mountain. A lot of my Chinese friends told me that it's a must see during autumn. It's the time when the leaves starts to turn red and yellow.
Thursday, I already asked a colleague at work how to get to Tian ping mountain by bus. (Aside from its the cheapest way, it's also a way to get to know the city well)
To Tian Ping Mountain:
Take bus number 3 to Carrefour Dong Huan Road(2rmb). Then exchange to Bus number 4 (2rmb) then stop at the last stop.
Unlike the Luzhi old town, I cannot escape the entrance fee to the park. Everyone is required to buy the ticket for 18rmb.
Thinking about it, for 26 rmb including return bus fare. It's relatively cheap to experience Autumn in China at it's best. Here are some pics I took when I went there.
By the way, best time to go the tianping mountain is during weekdays, it gets rowdy and crowded on weekends especially at this time of the year.


(log cabin with yellow leaves)

(an old tree with all its dead yellow leaves on the ground)

(chinese couple doing their wedding pictures behind the red tree)

(a view of the lake )

(red maple leaf)

Im Thankful for

Last Thursday, we had a thanksgiving dinner. It was a very good chance to take a break from eating chinese foods. The host made sure that all of us would have a good and comfortable dinner. Everything was planned and was carried out very well, we had our seating arranged, our names in our cups and again, very very good food.

Good conversations with friends, as we were about to wrap up the night, the host informed us that as a tradition in their house when they are doing thanksgiving, each one would say what they are thankful for. Wow we were place on the spot!

Our host started with the things that she is thankful for, so on to the next person....

When it was my turn, I was quickly trying to organise my thoughts on what I am thankful for.

I finally said:

I'm thankful for this year. I'm thankful for this opportunity to be in China and the opportunity to travel around in my own way, though I'm looking forward to travel more. I'm thankful for this new experience, even if I'm not sure if I will still be in china next year. And lastly I'm thankful for the sumptuous food and for the people who took time to prepare it.

That was on the spot. But after saying that I realized, that I seldom think of the things that I'm grateful for. I most of the times complain on little things, not realizing that some people would be very happy to trade places with me right now.

And for that Thank You and Belated Happy Thanksgiving

(Video was taken by my italian friend I met when I went to Laos. This is one of the new experiences that I am thankful for...)

Friday is Suzhou Day

Yesterday, I realized that if I am going home for good early next year and my time here in Suzhou is ticking and would be ending soon. ( It would really make me sad)

I have decided that since I am free fridays, I would devout it in exploring and taking pictures of my current home Suzhou.

1st stop: Luzhi Old Town and waterways

Luzhi is an ancient town 25 KM east of Suzhou.

I asked my friend for directions on how to get there. As per her instructions take bus 518 from Guan Jian St. and stop at the last stop. From there navigate your way to the old town.

It was strange because for normal tourist they take a rickshaw from the bus stop, the rickshaw would bring them to the entrance of the old town. Entrance fee 60 Rmb.

I was lucky because I trusted my instincts and instead of taking the rickshaw from the bus stop, I decided to explore the town and walk around. After almost 20 mins of walking without any ancient town in sight, I decided to wait for any rickshaw that would pass by.

After I hailed a rickshaw and haggled for the price to take me to the ancient town, he asked me if I want to buy a ticket, I said NO. He dropped me off at the back side of the ancient town, which is not far from the Luzhi Middle school. From there I explored the town starting from the rear going to the front.

Luzhi Town is a small old town filled with shops, tea houses and tourists of course! They have chinese wooden gandolas rowed by chinese women in costumes.

One interesting thing about Luzhi is that chinese girls would like to have their pictures taken with the ancient town while wearing traditional chinese costumes, which a lot of shops cater to.

Until next friday

The Mysterious Notice

While waiting for my bus at the bus stop near my apartment, I noticed a paper posted on the wall. People were reading the notice. The curious me also took a look.

I got more curious and interested about the notice because it was handwritten and there was a picture of a young girl . It is written in Chinese and looking at it, there were some words that I understood, like Mama and Papa, telephone and some basic words. Being very interested what is it all about; I took the notice from the wall and I brought it with me to work.

Later in the afternoon, I had my chinese friend, Ken translate it for me.
He read the notice and the first phrase he said after reading it is.... It is a bad news.

Apparently, the notice was posted by the girl's parents because they are looking for her. They said that when they received her call on the phone, they immediately came to Suzhou, to look for her. I'm not sure if I heard Ken right, he said that the girl is sick. In the notice the parents are also seeking help to those who read the notice to help them find their daughter.

My thoughts:
The notice was handwritten and was photocopied to produce several copies.
Being it handwritten, my first thought is that the family might not be from a wealthy family, and the parents must be very desperate in looking for their daughter.

One child policy in China
It must be very difficult for the chinese parents considering that most chinese families are only allowed to have one child.

I asked Ken if this kind of situation is common in China. He told me that it is more common for chinese boys to run away . He added that there are many young boys and girls from smaller and poor towns coming to the big cities to look for jobs. If they are not successful in their job search, they prefer to stay in the big city and bear the hardships and difficulties than to go home empty handed and disappointed.

After knowing what the chinese notice is all about, I felt bad for taking the posted notice from the wall.
Today while I was waiting for my bus, even if it's a little awkward and embarrassing, people were staring at me as I posted the chinese notice back from where I got it.

Ah Yi

Ah Yi in chinese means Aunt.
Ah Yi can also be a cleaner.

In our apartments here in China we all share 1 Ah Yi. She does not clean our individual apartments, but she cleans the corridors and we call on her if there is something that needs to be fixed in our rooms, or for most of the time, if we lock our keys inside the apartment. She has all the keys.

Shiao Shuang is our Ah Yi. She speaks very very very little english. She knocks in our doors screaming "Hello" .
She says 'Thank You".
And I heard her mention the word "Banana" once.

One of China's advantage over the world is it's cheap labor.
I was able to talk to Shiao Shuang one time, I was complaining about work and compensation. She told me that I should not complain because chinese people like her are not paid very well. She told me that in a month she is getting 800RMB($115usd). And thinking of all the responsibilities that she has to do, certainly 800rmb a month is a meager amount.

Last Wednesday, when I open my fridge to get some water, I was surprised to see something different ( I don't keep any food in my fridge, its just water..... Yeah I'm too lazy to cook since I got to China). I saw a can of Ice Cafe Latte, I can't remember buying this.... When I looked further I saw 2 ice cream cups on my mini freezer and 2 chocolate ice cream Popsicles.

I thought of a colleague, whom I always crash and beg for food asked Shiao Shuang to put the goodies in my fridge, because I am always out of site.
I sent her a message confirming if the Ice cream and coffee are from her. She said No, it's not from her.

I was wondering, who could be giving free ice cream and ice coffee now that it's starting to get cold.

I decided to call Shiao Shuang. I tried my best to speak chinese to solve the mystery.
Here goes ( English Version... very simple chinese words were used.. My chinese is not good)

Me: Ni Hao... Are you busy? I have a question
SS: Ni Hao.. I'm ok. I have time. What's the problem?
Me: Who gave me the ice cream and ice coffee?
SS: It's me. Do you like to eat Ice cream?
Me: Oh Thank you very much? Why are you giving me Ice cream? ( surprised)
SS: Because you are my good friend. I don't see you often anymore. Do you like Ice cream?
Me: Oh Thank you... Thank you... yeah I like Ice cream so much. Thank you very much

Mystery solved. It was Shiao Shuang who gave me the Ice cream. It's such a heartwarming experience, coming from a person I least expected.

Despite her not so much earnings Shiao Shuang appreciates my friendship and went an extra mile to surprise me...

Thank You so much Ah Yi... She is not just a cleaner... she can be an Ah Yi.... an Aunt

I will surely miss her when I go back to my country.

Opening a Chinese Bank Account

Having worked with Citi for more than 3 years, I can still remember how important an account opening process is.
Today I decided to transfer my savings from my payroll account which is the Bank of China to another bank. I chose another Chinese bank. I chose Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ICBC. I tried to access their website yesterday to check what are the requirements needed for a foreigner to open an account with them. I did this because I want to do everything in one visit and not having to come back for lacking documentations. Unfortunately their website did not indicate the requirements. I tried to phone their hotline. After the usual machine recording speech (in chinese of course) I was greeted by a lady on the line obviously with a “chinglish” accent. I inquired on the process of account opening and the minimum balance to maintain the account. She kept on asking me for what sort of like a number. I repeatedly said account opening. “I want to open an account with ICBC.” Finally after almost a minute of trying to repeat what I said. She gave up and said “wait a moment”. Again I was placed on hold with a chinese song on the background. I was almost tempted to just hang up. Suddenly another lady with still a “chinglish” accent came to the rescue. Finally she understood what I wanted to know, I felt relieved for a while. She talks really fast, now I’m having a hard time trying to catch up with what she is saying. I only understood, “only credit card”. Then I realized that maybe the hotline I called was only for credit card queries. She then gave me another number to call. I just pretended to take down the number she dictated so not to hurt her feelings. I don’t want to go through such long conversation and end up with nothing. I just decided to just walk in the bank with all my documents ready.

Sept 18
Lunch time

Armed with all my documents, I went to ICBC branch near my work place. I brought my passport, my working permit and some ID’s back home. I just walked in an inquired about where to open an account, I made sure I have enough time before going back to work. I don’t want to stay in the bank too long and be late in going back to work. A chinese lady assisted me and handed over a sheet of paper for me to fill up. I just filled up what I understood. Name, Address, Telephone number and ID number. I did not bother filling the other informations, which I don’t understand. I handed it over to her, she just examined it and asked me to affix my signature at the bottom. She got a copy of my passport, and voila handed me an ATM card. She just made me do the usual PIN number of the ATM card and I am ready to go. The process was less than 5 minutes. I am done.
She just asked me for 25rmb for the payment of the ATM card. It’s my first time to encounter a bank that requires a payment for ATM card upon account opening.
(Most Chinese if not all Chinese ATM card doesn’t display your name in the card)

My thoughts:
I was surprised on how easy to open an account with ICBC, considering that they are a big financial institution in China. I can’t help but compare on the tedious requirements and the bloody account opening process we have back home.
Let me share with you the thing that I do best aside from learning all the investment options and some basics of the stock and financial markets.
The account opening. We would require at least 2 ID’s, passport and driver’s license is favorable. It is a must to have 2 identifications. I had some experiences of having to decline an account opening due to lack of acceptable identifications. Depending of the type of account a customer wishes to open, we do have other major documents needed. For example for some accounts we need to require a utility bill (credit card bill, a phone bill or any utility bill under the customer’s name). We also do the “call back”, meaning call the customer’s telephone number using a recorded line to ensure the validity of the customer’s identity and contact details. And the most important point prior to accepting an account opening is to check the customer’s identity against a data base we call the “negative file”. This file contains the names of people with pending court cases and unpaid balances with other financial institutions. Imagine the hassle if you have a very common Filipino name, like Jose Ruiz, there would be hundreds of matches. If this case happens then we would require an “affidavit of denial” duly notarized by a lawyer, denying that the customer is not the same person who appeared in the negative file.
Other important things we need to obtain from customer is what we call the KYC or “know your customer”. As the person responsible for opening the account, I should know the ff informations:
Source of wealth
Occupation
Nature of Business
No. of years in the Business
I need to know all these detailed information because we have a thing called AMLA or the Anti Money Laundering Act. As they say Philippines is one of the haven for money launderers worldwide. It would trigger a suspicious thought if someone unemployed would have $ 40,000.
With this I need to inquire the ff informations:
Purpose of account opening:
Are there expected incoming remittances from other countries
Is the account going to be cash intensive
Expected no. of transactions in a month.
Expected no of transactions in a month is a very important information. If the customer’s purpose for opening an account is for “savings” then after a month there were several deposits and withdrawals, this would raise a red flag for AMLA.

Being a banker is not an easy job. Account opening is just one of the many responsibilities of a person working in a bank. That is why I am just amazed on how fast and lenient Chinese people are when in comes to banking matters.

Solo Cafe

I always prefer to take buses over taxis here in Suzhou. Aside from it's cheaper, it is a way to really simmer myself into the culture of Chinese People. Taking buses and just random walking around town has a lot of benefits. One of which is discovering some unique places in Suzhou.

While walking 1 sunday afternoon, I decided to take the alleys of Siquan Jie instead of taking the main bar street. I passed by a very small coffee shop near one of the "mini bridges" in the alleys. It looks ordinary from the outside, because most of the houses in that areas were designed to look all the same, white facade and the ancient black chinese style roof. I was expecting it to be one of those small coffee shops that doesn't have english menus and no english word spoken. I just decided to try my luck and gave it a try. Surprisingly the Menus are in english, the barista can speak english and the place is really undiscovered and quiet, which is what I always wanted, a place to just read and quiet down.

Solo cafe has a small capacity. maybe max of 20 people can sit comfortably. The choices are limited. They serve just the basic coffee and just cheesecake for those who wants to grab something to eat. The toilet is always clean, the owner is very friendly, they have free wifi access and most of all it's still undiscovered by many people.

Solo cafe is an ideal place to just unwind and quiet down. Apart from the added bonus of the canal view when you peek through their windows.

Autumn in Suzhou

I was feeling light headed today, as it is my last day of work for the week. Because I was transferred to an office at SND Suzhou New District, which is more than an hour bus ride from my apartment. I spoke with my boss about the inconvenience of traveling to and fro everyday, to trade off for the inconvenience, he adjusted my working hours and cancelled my friday. I now have 3 day weekends... How cool can that be?



After finishing my work and declaring it a weekend for me, I decided to walk from the bus stop going to my part time job. It was a nice afternoon to walk with my ipod. While walking, I saw a lot of leaves on the ground. It's officially Autumn in Suzhou. A lot of dried yellow leaves are scattered beside their tree.
I remembered almost a year ago, I posted in my old blog a song that a colleague from my previous job introduce me. Autumn Leaves by ATB.
I can still picture the time when I was taking my sandwich at our pantry, listening to the same song and just wishing to disappear and be transported to another land.
Now here I am experiencing the first taste of Autumn in a foreign land.

Let me share this with you:

Autumn Leaves
ATB

I woke under the cover of darkness
Looked up into the television sky Tonight
I wandered through the city alone this Rain wouldn't stop,
I couldn't dry my eyes I cried
Who is the one to blame
Why is it that you never say ...when the feeling leaves...if you're through with me
As I'm walking through the rain
Cold tears falling down my face...like the autumn leaves...on a windy day
I went to the edge of town
Over bright highways where the traffic was the only sound
Around
While my eyes were looking at the ground
I could see pictures of you floating all aroundI didn't doubt
Who is the one to blame
Why is it that you never say ...when the feeling leaves...if you're through with me
As I'm walking through the rain
Cold tears falling down my face...like the autumn leaves...on a windy day
Who is the one to blame
Why is it that you never say ...when the feeling leaves...if you're through with me
As I'm walking through the rain
Cold tears falling down my face...like the autumn leaves...on a windy day
Who is the one to blame
Why is it that you never say ...when the feeling leaves...if you're through with me
As I'm walking through the rain
Cold tears falling down my face...like the autumn leaves...on a windy day
Who is the one to blame
Why is it that you never say ...when the feeling leaves...if you're through with me
As I'm walking through the rain
Cold tears falling down my face...like the autumn leaves...on a windy day

1st Apartment in China

My 1st apartment in china is provided by the school, most of their students stay in this apartment in Su Dian Road in SIP. My apartment is on the 7th floor of the building. I am sharing it with Mark, my classmate. My apartment has common living room, dining room, kitchen and toilet. Although, it modern looking and with all the modern and compact amenities of an apartment, having no heater in the living room is such an agony. We cannot enjoy watching Chinese TV because the living room is dead cold. But the most agonizing part is after taking a shower and having to run to our bedrooms and passing through the living room with a temperature of almost 2 Celsius. What a punishment.

Our bedrooms has nothing in it except the AC, and a small cabinet and a single hard bed. Mark’s bedroom and my bedroom are connected with a mini terrace, which our bedrooms have access to. I also specified and I have to pay more money for having internet access in my bedroom. The apartment is not so bad except for the heaterless living room and the very hard bed.

1st day is Suzhou

While I was still waiting for results for my school application in Suzhou, I always check some facts and pictures about suzhou in the internet. I always google suzhou and what comes out are pictures of Canals and traditional Chinese houses built beside these water ways. Internet states that it is famous for its gardens, that are included in the UNESCO world heritage.
Waking up on the first day, it was freezing cold. I peeped through my terrace to look for the surroundings of my apartment. I realized that my apartment is in the middle of many large factories lined up. Looking at the left side, I saw a very small canal, and on the intersection of the street there is a big factory named Renesas. Looking straight I saw a company named L’oreal, should be the famous cosmetic brand. Then I felt so tricked by the pictures I saw in the internet. I chose to stay in Suzhou because of its traditional beauty and it seemed so peaceful and a very good place to start a full year adventure.

Su Dian Road in SIP Suzhou China

Coming back to reality, I later found out that my apartment is located at the expensive SIP or Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park area. I was expecting to wake up with a very good view of canals in my window, or probably be awaken by the sounds of Chinese people in their mini gondolas passing through the canal alleys. Lesson no. 1 Suzhou is not just all about canals and gardens. It is a modern city also, with a lot of foreign companies building their factories in this city.

To Blog or not to Blog?

Not so fresh start. I have been meaning to start a blog since the start of the year.

I have moved to a foreign country at the beginning of the year. I was thinking this would be a good chance to document an exciting adventure that I will be experiencing the whole year round. But when I get to my new apartment, I immediately checked my old blog to post something I wrote while I was waiting for my flight. There were some Chinese characters displayed in my screen, which I can't read. I later found out that we have some minor restrictions in accessing some websites here.

All the hopes died down..

Fast forward.... August 31 2008. While on the bus with a friend, she asked me what are some things that I used to do back home, which I miss doing here in China. I mentioned going to the beach, driving around, and post some nonsense in my blog. She told me that she just started a blog and it worked ok. I made sure I heard it right... You can access your blog here?... post a blog here? and she confirmed it was ok...

All the hopes of documenting a whole year of adventure suddenly resurfaced...

It's been 7 months now since I came to China. A lot of things has happened and I was not able to document everything.... I have been wanting to write about all the details in this adventures. Now I am not sure if I can recall all the things, people and events that happened since the beginning of the year. Now the question is......

To Blog or not to Blog?


Not a fresh start.... but will try to make the most of the remaining time here in SUZHOU CHINA, my new home for 2008

Welcome friends