MOJO IN CHINA

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Pudong Airport vs. Hongqiao Airport

admin | 27 May, 2007 16:25

Thought about this on my flight back from Zhengzhou and planning for my trip to Korea this week. Jia You, STO!!!

The JFK and Laguardia of Shanghai.

Fellow travellers, you make the call! Which is better: Pudong Airport or Hongqiao Airport?

Pudong Airport

1. The inside of this airport is huge as heck. It has tons of space.

2. There are very few shops and restaurants before you enter customs.

3. It is FAR from the center of Shanghai. (But you can try out that maglev!)

4. It architecturally appealing to the eye.

5. Got all the international flights you need for China and a few domestic flights.

Hongqiao Airport

1. Inside is quite crowded!

2. Got all the shops and restaurants you need before customs. Including your fast food favorites (McDonald's, KFC, etc...)

3. The taxi line is so long, I heard it can be seen by outer space satellites. (I don't believe it, but it is that long.)

4. Very central compared to Pudong Airport. (getting there is 3-4 times cheaper than Pudong Airport, regardless of taxi or bus and if you got a car, you'll save more gas!)

5. All the domestic flights you need. Very few international flights.

Saving stray cats on Nanjing Xi Lu

admin | 24 May, 2007 16:37

Poor Cat...

Once upon a time... (Yesterday, actually.)

I just got home from work, I'm kind of tired, my Ayi is home cleaning up the house and I'm ready to celebrate my day with a nice tall bottle of Tsingtao for my hard work. Suddenly, I get a call:

"Morgan, I need your help."

It's the doctor that saved my cat's life, Dr. Zhang.

"There's two ladies at the store that found a stray cat. We're super busy at the store. The guys downstairs can't help me. Can you grab her for me and bring it back?

So I think about it for a sec... "Well, this guy did save my cat's life. He woke up early and stayed up late to remind me to give the cat med, gave me a pretty big discount for Muffin's treatment and I know how busy he gets this time of the year. The warmer it gets the more diseases with the animals...

"OK...", I half-heartedly say and run downstairs to the petshop, get an apron so I can grab the feline and a cage to hold her in and me and the two ladies dash off to Nanjing Xi Lu.

We get there and there's tons of cars, buses and all that stuff. We find the cat on the ground out cold. She hears footsteps coming closer and starts to wake up. I come near her and the cat gives me one of the nastiest growls I've ever seen in my life! "HHHHHHIIISSSSSSSSSSS"

I back up to defend myself. The poor cat is dirty from head to toe, mouth covered in blood and teeth like the fangs of a lion. I think to myself: "I am going to get rabies and die on the table tomorrow."

But, I know I gotta get this cat and I gotta save it, who else will? One of the rescurers by the name of Sissy (who is NOT, by any means, like her name) walks to the other side of the road barrier to keep the cat from running away and I'm on the other side, on the block with apron in hand, ready to grab the little thing. (Nicky, the other rescuer is a bit scared to come near the homeless feline, but gives us plenty of cheerleading and emotional support.) The poor kitty couldn't really go any where... It looked like her legs were broken...

I'm way too nice to people. I can't just say yes to helping folks. What if I get some disease. My mom's gonna be pissed. Honestly, I'm kind of freaking out here, but I think about all those times I've seen Rescue 911 as a kid... They weren't thinking about their own lives, they knew that they got that one split second that they could save someone, to take someone out of the pain they were in and bring them to safety. For god sakes, this disabled and dirty cat was helplessly parked by one of the most dangerous and busiest streets in Shanghai, Nanjing Xi Lu!

"What the hell...", I say to myself. The cage is ready, these ladies have no idea how to handle a cat and I played high school football for four years... I know what it means to be a human crash test dummy.

I grab the cat with the quickness, think nothing of her sharp claws and teeth and safely dump her into the cage, slam it shut and get her to safety!

The three of us walked back to Mr. Zhang's office and get her back. Above is her picture.

I'll just end this post by saying that there's a lot of homeless animals out there. If you find one, give it care, safety and love. They didn't ask to be homeless.

On that note, check out the SCAA.

Looking for slick, snazzy business space in Shanghai? Check out Redtown.

admin | 23 May, 2007 11:06

Redtown: Artsy, stylish and new for Shanghai.

So I work in this new complex in Shanghai called "Redtown". It's pretty nice and large, tons of bricks and stuff like there. It's a lot like Xintiandi nightlife and Moganshanlu art mixed together.

Soulfire's office is here and there several other clubs and museums near by. The whole section is new and there's still some construction going on so tons of dust and stuff like that... But give it another year and it's going to look like a billion bucks. Lots of cool structures within the complex, a few trees here and there and a great grassy space (see above). I really like the red brick buildings. It's funky.

For all you folks looking to get premiun land in Shanghai for your business Redtown is the place, but I can bet you it will cost a pretty penny. On top of that, we got some big gov't buildings near by. This place IS important.

Zhengzhou

admin | 22 May, 2007 10:21

This is Zhengzhou.

So I am on an evening trip to Zhengzhou this Friday for a show (One night only, get off work-flight-food-show-sleep for four hours-flight... Such is my life.). I've never been there before, but I'm kind of looking forward to checking out Hunan, it's my first time there. Has anyone ever been there or currently lives there that could tell a bit about the city?

To the folks that listen to Soulfire...

admin | 21 May, 2007 21:17

So today I was at work and I had a second to do one of my favorite searches on Baidu: Soulfire, 99.6.

I like hearing what people have to say about the program and I found a few sites that gave us some love. So here's a bunch of roses for ya'll:

谢谢你们的支持! 我继续会努力为你们服务!!

The following are some sites that caught my eye.

http://negiup.spaces.live.com/

http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/4bb9514f010007yb

Anyone else that listens, feel free to drop a line. Thanks!

Charity in China (CIC)

admin | 21 May, 2007 07:40

Back to the Roots is going "Philanthropic" this Saturday

Don't let the shameless self-promotion fool you, this is still a post on CIC aka "Charity in China".

CIC is getting really big, even the events I'm involved in are getting in on all the action. It's not hard to find some commercial for UNICEF asking to help out those "poor kids in Africa". China's got money, time and care to give and people are giving it.

Remember those days when your mom told you to eat all your food from your plate cause there are "poor, starving kids in China that would kill to have your bread crumbs?" Those days are over.

Update: My Cat

admin | 15 May, 2007 21:40

You might remember this sweet thing from this post.

Muffin has given me 7 months of joy and happiness. But now, unfortunately, she's feeling a bit sick. She's got "mao wen". I can't explain this term too well in English, but it's basically the worst form of a fever for a cat.

No worries, the animal hospital is downstairs from our place and she's beginning to look up!

As I write this post, I realize that China's really gotten into having pets. It's a pretty cool and progressive thing to do out here. It's displays one's status (cause it costs money, time and knowledge to raise a pet) and love (Food, shelter and hugs!). From dressing them up, to styling 'em out, these pets get first class treatment.

So for all ya'll that think these cats are getting eaten up and chopped up at the local Sichuan style restaurant... WRONG. They get treated better than people. (But I still worry about the street barbecues!)

Work Stuff (Shang Ban Zhei Dian Shi)

admin | 14 May, 2007 23:18

Cao Qi Tai, host of "Work Stuff"

There's a show I watch religiously on CBN (China Business Channel) every weeknight from 10:30-11:00PM called Shang Ban Zhei Dian Shi aka "Work Stuff". It's all about how to deal with issues is work, business and finance.

Topics range from impressing your boss and how to handle your credit cards, to having foreign empolyees in China and if marriage can help or hurt your career. They go through it all and in a funny and interesting way.

This show is proof positive that professionalism is taking stage in China and there is a developing middle class in first tier and second tier cities in the mainland.

The Last 3 Months

admin | 14 May, 2007 13:58

So if you saw my last post, you can see I've been rather busy. And I have a lot more updates.. Firstly...

I'M MARRIED!!

Hard to belive, but yes. MoJo is now 100% taken. We haven't had a wedding ceremony yet, but we're making plans. A good wedding ain't cheap you know!

My wife, Zoe is born and raised in Shanghai and we got married here in this great city. Marriage in China's pretty wild: you say your vows by the Chinese flag, you get stamped, and off you go. I call it the world's most "no fuss" marriage.

Anyway, I love you, Zoe. For eveyone else... you'll hear more about us and our marriage life through the blog postings.

On other things... Soulfire is really taking off. If you're ever in Hangzhou, check out our show from 9-12. I've been recording like mad these days, please support us.

Speaking of Hangzhou, what a beautiful city, eh? I've been there about 4-5 times myself. I can't help but fall in love with West Lake (Xi Hu) everytime I'm there. Anyway, I better get ready for recording. Stay tuned.

calendar

recently...

Pudong Airport vs. Hongqiao Airport

Saving stray cats on Nanjing Xi Lu

Looking for slick, snazzy business space in Shanghai? Check out Redtown.

Zhengzhou

To the folks that listen to Soulfire...

Charity in China (CIC)

Update: My Cat

Work Stuff (Shang Ban Zhei Dian Shi)

The Last 3 Months

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