Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Down again..

Sigh..

Mann, i dunno.. im just feelin depressed again... everythin just sucks right now...

i barely know anyone here, and any possibility of a social life depends on my mastery of the local dialect, since the locals arent ever gonna be even remotely keen on learning English.. atleast not in this decade..

i dunno where im going with my career.. ive resumed workin with dad for now, and there's hopefully hopefully some plans in the works, but i really dont feel like talking bout em since i) i dun wanna jinx em, and ii) it'll make me feel just THAT much worse if i talk about em n they dont happen... i guess i'll write bout em here once its confirmed...

Nothin's particularly happened to get me down all of a sudden.. i guess its just a sudden realization of a few facts... the realization that it all just seems to be tumbling downhill for me, right now... and wuts worse is i dun know who to talk to bout it.. cuz it doesnt seem like support's comin from anywhere.. i guess at these times men come to realize the one true fact: you really are alone in this world, after all...

oh well... if u find urself going thru this post, i sincerely hope you dont let it get u down... i guess this happens to me every once in a while...

i tend to get depressed... REALLY depressed... moody, and easily irritated... not to mention, sometimes repetitive..

i also tend to get REALLY depressed... oh wait i already mentioned that...

ah well... gotta go on somehow.. on my own...

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Coke...Cooke...Coore...Coors.... How'd THAT happen???

My powers of observation have been fooled.. yet again... On my way to buy some onions to prep lunch, I stopped at a supermarket, and, in a rush, picked up a can of Coke Light...


I came home, cooked up a decent lunch, grabbed a glass n some ice, n plopped down infront of the TV... i open the can, n thats where things start to go weird... fine, my observation isnt as keen 24/7, but my super-human heightened sense of smell picked up the scent of alcohol in the air... so innocently, i begin to pour the contents of the can into the glass.. n out comes a pale-yellow fluid, totally not what I expected from a can of Coke... turns out, in my rush id picked up not Coke Light, but:

When i picked it up I thought its probably Coke Light in some sort of local packaging... I wonder how much of a boost Coors has seen in their sales since adopting the Coke Font type...

Lesson learnt: Ppl will use almost any underhanded tactic to get a sale these days... n always be more observant...

N to the curious: No I didnt drink the beer... I absolutely hate the taste of beer, regardless of whatever wonder it appears to be to others...

All in a Hard Day's Work...

I always knew the Chinese were hardworkers, especially their women.. but this is just a bit too much for the mind to process:


P.S. Dont make me out to be an advocate of Child Labour.. That lil kid just happened to accompany her dad on a delivery run... Honest!!!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Shanghai in Pictures...

Well, enuff talkin bout Shanghai between the previous 2 posts combined.. here u'll find some of the pix i took... more (and better) pix r on my uncle's camera, which I will upload once i receive them:

1) the motel room we got... REALLY REALLY cheap for Shanghai.. n as u can see, not too shabby at all!! (another 10 points up for grabs if u can guess which bed was mine :P )

Guess which one was mine?
2) the first place we visited in Shanghai... Nanjing Lu!! we first visited this place at night-time, n it was beautiful.. for some reason I cant recall right now I didnt whip out my phone-cam right then n there to capture it... hence these pix were taken the next evening during our 2nd visit there:


3) Up next, is the famous Bund, also known as the Waterfront or Waterfront Road to some.. This place, I presume, is most famous for the dazzling view of Pudong u get from across the lake... hopefully these pix will support that statement:



4) We also spent a considerable amount of time at Cheng Huang Miao, famous for its old-looking buildings and, more importantly, its cheap markets selling stuff at HIGHLY-negotiable prices... a woman's paradise, in short :P..


5) We tried visiting the Shanghai National Museum (or sumthing by that name).. im not really a museum kinda person, but my uncle insisted we go.. so bein the good nephew (really!!), i tagged along... alas, we arrived there just a few mins after ticket sales had closed for the day.. nevertheless, the faithful camera still delivered:

6) and Finally, a couple of random pix:

Shanghai Continued...

The first day (and night) in Shanghai went great: Caught the train on time, no problems upon arrival in Shanghai, checkin in to the motel or finding my test center, The GMAT went well (with minimal prep, thank God), we got a really cheap motel, and i found a BK after the test!!

so here's how day 2 went:

i) woke up at 8.30am, got dressed, showered, n made sure i had all the necessary docs for my passport renewal before i left..
ii) arrived at bout 9.30 at the consulate in shanghai... had to make copies of docs, fill out forms, pay some fees, blah blah...
iii) contemplated going to the Zoo.. instead we decided to first hit KFC for some finger lickin Fun, and hit up Cheng Huang Miao to visit what someone told us was a bunch of old buildings..
iv) upon hitting Chen Huan Miao, was pleasantly surprised to find a HUGE bazaar, including a handicraft market, where i bought stuff..
v) bout 2-3 hrs later, decided to check out the Shanghai Museum.. got there just after 4pm, only to find out entrance tickets were no longer being sold..
vi) made friends with 3 girls at the park (who i believe were conmen.. or rather, conwomen) who convinced us to check out a tea-sampling festival... didnt do it, cuz i refused to pay the fees they were askin for.. walked right out...
vii)ended up at Nanjin Lu again (supposedly called Walking street as well), this time in the daytime.. again got approached by bout 50 pimps n DVD- hawkers... passed by an adult toy shop... phone ran outta power by this point, hence no pix... weird incident occurred inside the toy shop, mainly caused by language barrier issues..
viii) by evening, i had to rush off to meet a couple of ppl i discovered thru the net engage in capoeira training twice a week.. training was good, followed by a roda.. by this time my uncle was waitin downstairs ready to go, so i went thru just 2 games (with both their instructors) and rushed off after saying goodbye... a group composed of very friendly and welcoming indivduals, their training certainly provided me the workout my trip was missing..
ix) 10am: PIZZA HUT!!
x) to the masseuse!!! ahhh that felt good..
xi) tired from the walk all day, the capoeira session, and relaxed from the massage, i hit the sack at bout 1am..

Day 3, which pretty much concluded the trip, went like this:

i) got up lazily, and we packed our stuff up.. uncle's flight was at bout 4pm, so id take him to the airport around 1pm to get checked in... no time for breakfast, as it would require searching for a decent joint...
ii) took a cab to the railway station.. n caught a bus to the airport from there...
iii) hung around at the airport for a bit.. then ditched uncle once he was checked in :P
iv) took the bus back to the railway station, which took AGES cuz of the afternoon jam.. one sucky thing bout shanghai, there's alot of traffic, which can pretty much be expected of any metropolitan city, i guess...
v) bought a ticket for the last bus back to Yiwu, giving me time to scout shanghai on my own for abit..
vi) after varying between Nanjing Lu and Chen Huan Miao (see previous post), i decided on the former, since it was nearer to the bus station and wouldnt get me too caught up in the jam during peak hours.
vii) had some food (my ONLY meal for the day), and walked around Nanjing Lu with my bag..
viii) interestingly a business proposition with a hooker came up.. more on that some other time.. or not...
ix) took a cab to the bus station, where i oh-so-patiently waited for my bus to depart... n finally began the 4-hr journey home..

needless to say, day 3 was not as eventful (aside from the hooker incident) as the previous 2 days... just ended with urs truly comin home to find dad gone out for dinner...

PIX to be up Next!!! with a few captions here n there :)

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

SHANGHAI!!! You had me at 'Welcome...'!!!!

Tired, Tired, Tired...

Not gonna write much for now..just gonna say the day's been going good, and am FRIKKING TIRED now!!! here's how it went:

i) Slept at 2am after finishin off with packin (I pack like a woman.. seriously)
ii) woke up at 5.30am to get showered n dressed
iii) caught the train at 7.40am
iv) arrived at shanghai at 10.40am
v) Checked into hotel, then headed off to the testing center ASAP for my GMAT Test (which went well.. got the results already :D )
vi) bought a BK meal n went back to my motel room to enjoy it (my first meal since the previous night)
vii) went touring.. first Nanjing Road, then the Bund (will post up pix later... spectacular view!!)
viii) checked out Xin Tian Di, premier Bar-hopping joint here in Shanghai..
ix) am now sittin here tryin to figure out this PC so i can tell u guys bout it...
x) gonna go get some dinner (PIZZA!!!.. well, maybe) and probably hit the sack to allow my legs to recover from the entire day of walking, and my mind to recover from GMAT stress and staying awake during the test :P )

tomorrow morning: heading to the embassy to get my passport renewed.. and another day of touring...

annnndddd....

I've arranged to attend a group of capoeristas' training session in the evening!!! RODA, RODA, RODA!!! WOOOHOOOO!!! hopefully there will be pix and/or vids...

Will update in detail later... Ciaos!!!

oh, n Shanghai Women... Ahhhhhhh!!!!!! (Nuff said for now... ask me in private)

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I dont mean to sound Condescending but...

Hmm.. you know what???

After reading the previous 2 posts (both parts of 'Ever the Lone Gymmer'), I've sorta arrived at a conclusion:

This guy (The Manipulator) has something against me.. I dont know what it is, I dont know why, or for whatever reason, but I'm pretty sure he genuinely has something against me (he's already caused me to waste more posts on him than on She-Who-Greatly-Irritates-Me):

i) He keeps reminding me how built and muscular he used to be back in his home country
ii) He specifically came by a number of times to consider registering at the gym I work out at... finally succeeding, hence the pissed off Posts...
iii) He tries picking on me by tellin me I overeat and Im fat...
iv) He asks me to choose his clothes (WTF???)..
v) he asks me to choose his PC (WTF 2 ???)
vi) he wants me to advise him on his workouts (like there's ANY way in hell im gonna do that for him after all this shit... or maybe i cud screw it up for him.. hehehehe...)
vii) Heck, he bloody hell has nothin better to do than stare at me while im workin out in the same vicinity
viii) He keeps reminding me how un-social I am and how socially adept he is...
ix)He's bloody, friggin Rude!
x) All he can do is show off bout how much money he's made in life here and back in Pakistan...

Hmm... u know, im not brash, arrogant or cocky enuff to say it, but it seems like he's got some sorta inferiority complex he needs to deal with... n somehow it has somethin to do with me, or using me as a target to make himself feel superior.. but then y try to emulate me by asking for my taste?? maybe cuz he's SURE his taste in stuff SUCKS???!!! :P

Oh n did I mention that he rebuffed the same instructor who helped us out with the supplements previously?? She comes up to him to advise him.. sure, she had an alterior motive as she was trying to get him as a personal training client, hence more money for her (Cha-CHING!!!)... but instead he has to act the cheapskate n get her to write out an entire routine for him for free, and then tells her there's no way he's paying for lessons... he told me this himself, and I later found out, upon her confiding in me, that she was in trouble for not having sold enough lessons that month... so obviously u cant blame her for makin some money so she cud keep her job... if, on the off-chance, she happens to read this: Emma, youre HOT, and a GREAT instructor, and you'll have LOADS more clients in the future... but I still wont stop nagging u until u help me fix my stretching issues!! :P (guy's gotta improve his compassos, right?)

Sigh.. U know what.. after considering all of the above.. Ive decided I'm just gonna let him have it the next time I'm the least bit annoyed by his behaviour... hence, this quote from 'The Punisher':

- 'Sic vis pacem parabellum - If you want peace, prepare for war.'

(Hey, maybe it wasnt such a great movie, but this one quote stood out, dun ya think???)

Monday, June 04, 2007

Ever the Lone Gymmer (Part 2)

So here's what happened after he registered at the gym.. he drags me n the common friend out to help him buy workout clothes... Sheeeesh... talk about a complex... the only reason I consented to go along was cuz I'm on very good terms with the common friend, and the common friend agreed to miss Mandarin class along with me, so i wouldnt feel so bad bout it :P... neways, so 2-3 hrs later, he ends up with 2 pairs of training pants.. THATS IT!!! WHY??? cuz he cant F***ing make up his mind on what he wants... First, he asks us to choose a trainer for him to try on, and then he asks us to ask the salesgirl for a larger size, and finally he wants to buy XXL or sumthin, when he's barely like 5ft tall!!! sheeesh... despite numerous attempts at reasoning with him by sayin 'look, YOURE going to be wearing the clothes.. YOU decide what you want. we'll tell u if it looks good (thats the way it usually works, right ladies???)', he still wants US to choose his clothes for him... (this happened once before when he asked us to accompany him to buy a PC.. 'U choose a PC, guys, and tell me what u like, and I'll buy it'...)

N did I mention he now wants me to 'Help' him buy a workout bag... F*** Off, Mate!!! I've got better things to be bothered with... n he doesnt even have the nerve to ask me himself.. he asks the common friend to ask me to buy him a bag... sigh, the common friend's actually a very naive and innocent kid (compared to us), so either he doesnt realize when he's being used, or he's too nice a guy bout it.. i think its the latter, since he's a really nice dude n really smart too...

so neways, on to wut i mentioned at the end of the previous post:

So!! you wanna see wut my workout's like??? Suuure... Come Right This Way!!

So the Manipulator decided to drop in at around 5.30 or 6 the next day seein as thats when I told him I'd be in... n it just so happened that that was the scheduled day for my weekly Kicks/Pushups session... Here's how the routine goes: 16-20 sets of 10-20 reps of any kick, with each set followed by 10-15 reps of a variation of a pushup.. if all goes as well, i end up completing somewhere in the vicinity of 200 kicks and 200 pushups... peanuts for the average capoeirista or army recruit, im sure...

so neways, he walks into the room, and catches a glimpse of me throwing Compassos, and just stands there staring... so once im done with my set, i say hi, n tell him alright, get changed n blah blah n i'll see u among the weights later... so he goes off to presumably get changed... n then after 20 mins or so he comes in, and finds me grinding out pushups of the Queda da Rins variety with my legs straightened out (for non-capoeiristas, its a twisted sorta pushup where ur legs swing about throu the motion), and once again I find him staring... n then finally he speaks up: I dont want to do this, I wanna go lift weights... I felt an inward smile growing :)

but that wasnt all... I had to prove to myself AND to him how much more intense my workouts are than he imagines...

so I finish off my capo workout (during which I noticed at several instances him loitering around the gym rather than training... laziness, or waiting for urs truly to guide him?? i dont know...), by which time i'm absolutely drenched in sweat.. I realize ive got time to hit some weights.. so i went out, and loaded up some barbells for some heavy Clean n Press sets... i invite him along to train, which he accepts, using the cowardly excuse 'Im not afraid of ur workout.. if i cant do it, ill just back off' (I mean CMON!!! wud Instructor Rafael have tolerated that shit in Capo class??? Hi Rafa, Im not afraid of doing handstands, but im just gonna back off if I dont feel like it...Seriously, I wont divulge into the details of wut wud happen if I ever did that)..

So neways, barbells r loaded up with light weights since I havent lifted weights in quite some time.. n the instant I start with the drill, he runs off saying 'Man this is going to make me tired, I dont want to do this'...

Needless to say, Me = Confused...

Isnt getting tired part of the satisfaction and a good indicator of a fulfilling workout?? I mean, do u wanna lift measly 2-lbs weights n expect to be bulging like Arnold in a couple of weeks?? Ohh yea, I do forget, he wants supplements, doesnt he... not to mention, all the instructors are supposed to combine all their efforts and prowess into sculpting his miniature 5ft frame into the next Franco Columbo.. Urgently needed: A lesson in Humility and Work Ethics!!! Once again, I invite my Bantus friends to ponder Instructor Rafael's reaction to this statement.. :)

so neways, workout completed, I met him at Mandarin class later... n while we're waiting outside for the previous class to conclude, he tells me 'listen what ur doing is not good for u at all, u should do stuff to lose weight, this is only for fitness, dont do this...'

At this point, my mind started going 'Ummm, weren'y u sposed to be the Dipshit who pretends to know nothing bout working out??' so I didnt exactly lose it there, but i decided not to hold back: 'Listen, I know what I'm doing, and what my goals are.. You wouldnt understand the way I train, but I do... Dont bother with changing my routine, Ive got my stuff under control'..I dont even think I wanna bother givin him an intro to capo, since he'd probably say weird stuff bout it which would only serve to get me ticked off and a lil bit vindictive...

n to top it off, I dont think he has the slightest HINT of how to behave in a gym.. i mean, im not saying u shud know which is ur shrimp fork and how to use a napkin, but u have to be aware of others' around u... YOU DONT GO UP TO SOMEONE IN THE MIDDLE OF A F***ING BENCH PRESS AND ASK THEM FOR THE TIME!!! AND YOU DONT START SULKING IF HE DOESNT GIVE YOU AN IMMEDIATE REPLY!!! AND YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DAMNED CLOCK FOR YOURSELF!!! oh n lemme add, for no reason at all, he starts gettin cocky n tellin me 'Just gimme 1 month in the gym, and I'll be great friends with everyone here and be much more social than u r n will know so many ppl'.. uummm ok.. like I even care, dude... :s.. i mean, i enjoy makin friends n all, especially with hot chicks with a common interest in workin out (ahem, ahem..), but my main reason for joinin the gym is to get in there, go thru my workouts, and get the heck outta there n attend to other stuff...

That was the end of that... but wuts pissing off is being picked on for having weight issues and being bulky... Hey, I can pick on ppl for being scrawny too, but I know everyone's different, just cuz ppl arent like u doesnt mean its bad... n most importantly, i'm not the kind of person who prefers socializing by picking on others' weaknesses... Apparently he thinks he's back in high school where ppl respect the bully... I guess im just waiting for the instant when things get out of hand and I can finally put to good use the few lessons in boxing I got from my aussie friend... but ive gotta be mature bout it, since I've got a reputation at the gym, and I dont wanna start fights there.... Heck mann, the gym's where I do most of my socializing.. not to mention, meet all the women.. but i digress...

I guess all im going to do the next time he starts acting idiotic is deliver a warning: Either learn to speak politely in public with the proper etiquettes, or dont bother comin up to me... I know most of the folks I know out there wud have knocked this guy's teeth out by now, but I actually prefer non-violence to the alternative.. n also that i like the current image i have at the gym... Plus I believe in the following quote I read off somewhere in Wikipedia:

- 'Violence is the last resort of a fool'


GRrrrr!!! This is SO Pissing OFF!!! Maybe I should just stop thinking and let him have it the next time he frustrates me...