Qingdao

August 22nd

Went into work around 11a and worked on finishing up the packing process. Spent about an hour doing that, then it was lunchtime. The catering is terrible, so I always skip lunch.

We were done with the packing of the graphics systems so Alex, Christina and I left around 12:30.

Went back to the hotel to change and took a taxi to Jimo Lu market. They had not been yet and wanted to check out the North Face place. I was able to find it again, which surprised me.

Alex is quite the negotiator and got excellent prices for him and Christina. Wish I had waited to make my purchased with him!

Then we went to the 4th floor where you can get designer luggage, purses, wallets, etc. Christina wanted a Lotus purse – or something like that. A brand that is popular (and expensive) in Greece. She found what she was looking for and Alex talked them from 700 yuan down to 200.

I checked out the Coach products at few of the booths. Coach is made in China – but this stuff was fake. It does look exactly the same – the fabric, logo, etc. – however, the leather and zippers are very low quality. So maybe it was real – just a cheaper version ?

Anyway – none of the stores have the Gucci, Coach, Louis Vuitton, etc. out on the shelves. You just walk in and look around and they eventually ask you what you are looking for. Once you tell them the brand, the open one of the many suitcases that are for sale and what do ya know – they are full of the designer brands.

So after a while, we decided to catch a taxi back to the hotel.

On the way, we saw the TV Tower and decided we wanted to go there. It is huge and is a place Christina and talked about visiting because it is surrounded by gardens and a temple. However, we had never gotten around to it.

We pointed to the tower several times and finally got the driver to understand that is where we wanted to go. He dropped us off and we walked up to the entrance. Closed for the Olympic period. That’s strange. It is a tourist attraction.


We walked around and took photos and noticed the gardens down below – so decided to try to get to them. There was a pathway down the side of the hill/mountain – it was kinda overgrown with brush, but we decided to give it a shot.

After a while, we saw that there was a ski lift – so we tried to find where we could get on that. Of course we asked locals who were also on the path and they had no clue what we were asking. They talked & talked and we just assumed they were mocking us. Or plotting to kill us – it would make for a good story – an American, Italian and Grecian kidnapped on the side of a mountain.

Eventually, we found where you get on the ski lift. We attempted to get on without paying by using our credentials – didn’t work. I think it ended up costing us 40 yuan (about $7 USD) to ride it down to the temple.


It was a very peaceful ride over a tea farm and the side of the mountain.

Once we got to the temple – we found that the grounds were not at all well kept. It was surprising as all the gardens and temples I had visited in other cities were immaculate.

Alex got some of the monks to pose with him, which we were very surprised about!


The temple itself was closed, so we didn’t get to see the Buddha.

I found the plastic grass to be strange


When we decided to return to the hotel, it was 5pm, so it took an eternity to get a cab. But we had fun with it. Afterall, the past few hours had been an impromptu side trip that we all enjoyed very much.

The 3 of us met up with Billy and Ben for dinner. We went to the buffet at the Shangri-La Hotel. Wow! First of all – we learned – just from the lobby – the difference between a 5 Star Hotel (Shangri-La) and a 4 Star Hotel (our hotel)! The smell alone was worth its weight in gold! It was the first time in almost 5 weeks I smelled something fresh & clean!

So the buffet was everything we had heard about and more! Just the décor alone was worth it!

It was around the dessert area that I got asked to stop taking photos. Which I knew was going to happen eventually – the same thing happened when Lili was here last week.

Endless variety of anything you could possibly want to eat and it was all delicious!

I am not a dessert person – I have tried a bite or two over the past month – and it has all been terrible. That has been the general consensus with everyone. They make pretty desserts, but the taste is awful!

However, the desserts here were not only amazing to see, they tasted fabulous!

A great day of working, shopping, playing tourist and dinner with an excellent group of (new) friends!

Qingdao – Day 13 of Sailing

August 21st

Today we had a crew meeting at 9:30a, so I had to go in early. All that was left was 2 medals races that were on live, so there was not any editing to do.

After the meeting, we took a group photo of our crew.

I am in the middle – about 4-5 rows from front. I am near another blonde who was wearing sunglasses.

Then my department had to sit and wait until the medals races were complete before we could start packing.

In our department, we also had 4 students (loggers) who were there to upload our video to a FTP site in Beijing. They also typed logs of the video, typed cue sheets, etc. The first few days were interesting because Billy, the head of our department, was never informed they were going to be with us. They had training on how to use their computer programs – but none of us knew how to use it. In the beginning, it was a little chaotic working with them, but we grew to enjoy their company very much.


The all spoke English, so it was great because they could translate stuff for us and tell us where to go and what to do. They thrived on helping us and enjoyed the little tasks we assigned them.

They were also very interested in Western music. Billy made them CDs of artists from the U.S. and they were so excited!

It is unbelievable that here are 20 year old kids that have never heard of any of our music or artists. I thought everyone in the world at least had heard of “U2”!

Anyway, because of their interest in music, eagerness to help us, etc. Billy bought them all MP4 players and gave them to them today. They were so excited!

Then they surprised us with gifts and thank you notes. They bought the 4 of us a little Chinese gift – which was so thoughtful of them!

They each told me how much they loved me and how they were going to miss us all and how the past few weeks have been the best thing that they have ever experienced. Which was so touching, yet sad.

While awaiting the sailing to end - Ben, Alex and Billy made about 70 photo CDs for the crew. It was a compilation of several people's photos over the past few weeks.

It started raining again – another deluge. So when we finally were ready to start packing the gear, we were limited by the rain and had to quit.

Tonight was the big wrap party at Club NY. It is a bar a few blocks from the hotel where the crew spent a lot of time over the past few weeks.

Several of the guys on the crew decided to start a band while here – they talked the bar into letting them perform for us. They were awesome!

You would never believe this group of guys had just met a few weeks before. They named themselves “Capsized”.

The Loggers were there and having a blast! They had never been to a party such as this. They were drinking and rocking out with the band.

Each one of them is so sweet. The experience with them was amazing and so hard to explain (and understand).

Other photos:

Qingdao - Day 12 of Sailing

August 20th

Got up early this morning to meet Billy & Andy to go to the “North Face” store – which is in the basement of the Jimo Lu market. I went to Jimo Lu last week to shop for souvenirs, but didn’t realize the “North Face” place was there as well.

You go to shop #17 in the lowest level (2 levels below ground). You tell them “North Face” and then they guide you down a maze of shops & hallways. You go in this back area and they open this sliding door that is covered with curtains.







Inside is a maybe 10x10 room with piles of North Face coats & snow pants.



There were maybe 8 of us in this tiny room with no A/C trying on winter coats.
They said no photos, but I snuck some anyway.

I bought 3 coats and 2 fleeces for 1,400 yuan (approx $230 USD). Which I couldn’t of gotten one of those jackets for in the U.S. It is said if you go alone or in smaller groups, you can bargain more. But I was content with the price.

Andy & Billy left for work and I continued my search for this item I had seen in Beijing. I wanted it as a gift for a few people and couldn’t find it anywhere in Qingdao. I even had asked our Chinese students in out office and they told me “only in Beijing”.

Well, when I become obsessed about something, I will get it!
Sure enough, I found.

It was not without incident, of course! For starters, I wanted 4 of this item. It took about 10 minutes to get that thru their heads. A crowd circled around to watch the “show”.

I didn’t have enough cash, so the lady escorted me to the ATM. I had already withdrawn 2,000 yaun the night before for other stuff. Since it was still August 19th according to the bank, it would only allow me to take 500 yuan because otherwise I was over my daily limit.

I still didn’t have enough, but the shopkeepers were sick of me – so they let me take the gifts even though I was 200 yuan short. Which actually was fine with me – because I ended up paying what I had wanted to pay – not what they wanted me to pay.

The items added up to about 40lbs since they are jade. I had to stop shopping because I had no way to carry the crap. The shopkeeper had to help carry to a taxi.

I get in the taxi and realize I only have 20 yaun. I kinda panicked and hoped there wasn’t a lot traffic, otherwise I would have enough. Thankfully, it only came to 17 yaun!

Now started the quest of getting bubble wrap so I could put them in my checked luggage. Dear God! Will explain the bubble wrap saga later!

Work was uneventful. It was our last day of editing, so that was nice J

I went to dinner with a couple of guys to this tiny Italian restaurant. It is fabulous but impossible to get in because they only have room for 24. They have 2 seatings – 8p & 10p. One of the guys I was with is from Italy and became friends with the chef – who is Japanese – but studied in Italy.
Anyway – excellent food!
BUT it takes an eternity because he only cooks 1 entrée at a time.


This is my crew:

Gary/Producer (Colorado)
Andy/Assistant Director (LA)
(Gary & Andy work in the live truck; the rest in photo work in editing with me)
Alex/Editor (Italy)
Billy/Summaries Producer (LA)
Nic
Ben/Editor (LA)


Here are some random photos:



USA getting the Gold (I forget type of sailing class)










I *think* these are the locals working on the nets to keep the algae out of the harbour






The locals go & get beer in a bag to take home - see the plastic bag he is pouring the beer into - you see them walking down the street with bags of beer.





This is Peter. He stands out front of the hotel and asks (the guys) if they need a girl. Allegeldly, he has had to move his "business" outside since they closed down the massage parlour here at the hotel. (It closed about 2 days after we got here - it's on the 4th floor)

Qingdao - Day 11 of Sailing

August 19th

Had another good run this morning on the treadmill.

I walked around a few streets near the hotel that I had not yet explored. Nothing too exciting.

Had to go to Carrefour to look for a bike tire pump so I could fill up my tire.








Exterior of my most hated store

You have to ride escalators inside to get to your level

Of course the bike pumps were all for the strange kind of valve. BUT, there was a girl there speaking in English to one of the employees, so, being the rude American that I am – I interrupted the conversation and told him I bought a bike there last week and have a low tire. He didn’t know what I meant, so the girl tried to mime it for me. He understood and started running around looking for the pump. I apologized to the girl, but she understood why I interrupted their conversation. She was from NY and was buying a bike.

The employee hands me a pump and I tell him no it wont work. So I took him over to the bike I had bought and pointed to the nozzle and then knew. He ran around another 5 minutes and brought one back that would work. I made him show me it work, and it did. It was just a little tricky on getting it on and using it.

Ok, problem solved. I then go and wait 20 minutes to buy it.

AGHHHHH. Worse than Wal-Mart.

Get back to the hotel and immediately go to the bike garage and want to get this done before I get ready for work because I know I will get all hot and nasty.

As soon as I kneel down, the garage attendants come out and try to put their pump on my tire – I mime no it doesn’t work. So they proceed to rip my pump out of my hands and try to use it. I saw the writing on the wall here – they wouldn’t know how it works.

Sure enough, they jammed the pump on there and started pumping… I could hear my tire emptying. I kept trying to take the pump back but “no, no, we”.
This went on for 20 minutes before they tell the security guard to tell me (he spoke a tiny bit of English) “it not work”. I say, “yes, let me do it.”

By this point they had the pump so jammed on, I couldn’t get it off to put it on properly.
Meanwhile, I am kneeling in dirt so now the dirt is mud from my sweat.

They couldn’t get the pump off. They called maintenance to come help. At this point, I knew they were going to either puncture the tire or ruin the valve. I was already late for work, so I tell the somewhat English speaking dude “I be back 1 hour”.

As I was walking back up to the hotel, I passed a maintenance man carrying a screw driver and pliers. I feared what my bike would look like upon my return.

I took a super quick shower and was ready in 20 mins. I go back down. They said – “you buy new one” and handed me the pump. I couldn’t even look at the bike. I left and walked to work.

Upon my return, I went and found the bike. Yep, valve still attached but I knew it was ripped from the tube.

The thought of going back to Carrefour and trying to find a tube – not doing it!
Not to mention taking the tire off, etc.

People were going out to celebrate on of the camera guys birthdays. Not me. I stayed in and did nothing. Enough frustration with the Chinese for one day!

Just some random photos....