A Bryson in China

Scenes Around Dongguan

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:38 PM Comments: 0

I Just Wanted a Burger!!

I’m hungry. I shouldn’t be. But I am. I guess in one way that is a good thing: my doctor tells me a loss of appetite is one of the first signs of kidney deterioration. So I guess, it’s good that I am hungry.

But I sure tried to get a good meal last night. Three restaurants and several attempts went totally in vane. All I got for two hours of dining was a basket of onion rings. Not that I didn’t try though. (Yep this is another story about the difficulties of eating out in Dongguan.)

A friend and I went over to the Pub last evening. But we decided to skip away after a beer to try a new restaurant. You don’t want to eat at the Pub every night, and Sunday can get a little noisy after the weekend local soccer matches and with F1 racing.

Our destination was one of the first western style restaurants in the area, and it was the very first I tried here in Dongguan City. Like so many establishments here, they had just renovated thoroughly and reopened on the previous Friday. Although the reviews I had heard were not so glowing, I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt and see for myself. I should have listened.

Place looked great, and we were ushered in to our choice of the whole place. (Should have been a sign right there.) Getting a menu, I was surprised how similar it looked to the one from the Pub. Even down to the color of the menu. (Did they just get some extra copies printed?) But I didn’t see a food menu. Suddenly, a waiter was moving a big blackboard over from the window. So that’s the menu. It didn’t have but about five very fancy items. I just wanted a burger like the first time I had dined here.

Asking the waiter for a burger, he took off to the kitchen to inquire. Returning quickly, he informed us that yes, they could do a burger. Good. Studying a little closer and letting my friend order first, I finally told the waiter I wanted a burger with cheese, lettuce and tomato. But then, he didn’t understand what cheese was. I had to look up the Mandarin on my phone translator. I still got one of those blank stares, and some response about the sirloin. Wait a minute! Steak? I want hanbaobao (Mandarin for hamburger)! A continued blank look.

At that point, I looked at my friend and we agreed that maybe we should come back when the place has things figured out a little better. So out we went.

Now I told ya that part to lead to the real story!

At this point we decided to step into another nearby western restaurant that had also remodeled a month or so before. I had not been too impressed at the Grand Opening, but that was just for drinks, and maybe they now had had time to work out kinks. And besides it was only a few doors away.

And you know, the menu looked good. Much better than I remembered. Only the waitress wasn’t so good with English. She finally understood that I wanted iced tea and hamburger, with an appetizer order of onion rings.

After a long wait, my friend’s order arrived first. Finally, I got my hamburger, but still hadn’t received the appetizer of onion rings and the plate had a big pile of French fries. So at this point, I just told the waitress to forget the onion rings.

But wait, I looked under the egg………. (Yep, the bloody Brits had an influence on this place too and they had put an egg on the hamburger). The burger patty was still very red. Now I go along with a lot odd things to eat in China, but I did not want raw ground beef, so I requested the waitress to take back to cook a little longer.

Back it came. Just rather quickly. I looked again, and it didn’t look any different! Are you kidding me! At least, the manager was here now, so I showed him.

Third time is the charm. Right? Wrong! Not here! The manager himself delivered this time, and the plate was really hot. Top of the burger did look a little more burned, so I took one bite. Sure enough, still red! Can you believe it? What had they done? I took one French fry too, and burned the upper plate in my mouth! I was really happy now!

At this point I told the manager to forget the hamburger and now just get me an order of onion rings.

Of course, it was about that time that a waiter was at another table trying to give them my original order of appetizer onion rings! Now, as you may remember, I had asked the waitress to cancel that order. Well, that never happened, so here I had the onion rings anyway. Only the waitress came over now and asked if I wanted a second set of onion rings! Are you kidding me!!??!!

So you see, we may have good parties and good dinners from time to time, but there is still a lot of hardship you have to put up with here. Particularly for anything western oriented!

And the most disheartening thing was that never at either location did I ever hear: “We’re sorry.”

Next time, I’ll probably just go to McDonald’s for a burger!

Labels: China blog, Chna food, Dongguan

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:35 PM Comments: 0

New Alliance Starts First Chain

Wish I could say I was connected to this chain, but it is at least refreshing to see new, progressive efforts underway to improve the lives of kidney patients. First here was the great report from ABC News highlighting the new chain giving the Gift of Life through the Alliance for Paired Donation.

And then there was this recent article highlighting the efforts of the Alliance and its founder, Dr. Michael Rees of the University of Toledo. Thank you doctor! I have to look into this Alliance more carefully.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:19 PM Comments: 0

PKD and My Health

This month my creatinine crested 500 for the first time. I am getting ever closer to dialysis. I don’t feel any pain, and most people are surprised to hear I could be in need of a kidney. As I’ve often said, about the only time I can tell anything is wrong, is when I climb stairs or steep inclines. I really hate deep sand traps now! Especially in this heat!

I really don’t want to go through dialysis. Of course, I don’t want a transplant either, but know that I must. And if dialysis is necessary, I will do it too. I don’t even like to give blood, but I gave a unit a week for 12 straight weeks in the mid-80’s, when I found out my iron levels were too high. So I guess I can go through dialysis if I have to.

I just don’t know if I want to do that here in China. Again, I will if necessary, but it would sure be a lot better if I could just get a new kidney and be done with it all. They tell me it is better to get a new kidney before dialysis, if possible, too.

I recently got listed on the pkd.org as being a patient with PKD that writes about it in a blog. Some of the blogs of other patients (link from here) are far more uncomfortable as they have endured tougher situations than I. I just hope and pray I don’t get to the state of some of these folks.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:15 PM Comments: 0

Still HOT!!

Let’s see, whats the news? IT”S HOT!! I mean really HOT! A week ago I said that temperatures and humidity were unbearably hot. It just continues to get HOTTER! Today it’s cresting 100° F while humidity has remained around 80%. That’s very HOT!!

Usually this time of year, we would have a couple of breaks due to typhoons in the area. I don’t look forward to one of those, but some rain or winds from one would be nice.

What’s with things anyway? Floods in Texas and England. Even in China. But not even close to me. No here it’s just HOT!

And in North Carolina, its been announced that Baker is closing my former plant in Mocksville. It’s not a surprise. I think we all expected that sooner or later. Plants continue to close in the US. China is HOT! Some things just don’t change.

Labels: China, North Carolina

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:44 PM Comments: 0

And Another Birthday - Tony's

I walked into the office last Thursday and knew there was something very different. My nose told me so. It smelled like a florist shop! And there are many smells of life in China, but that is a rare one here.

I started quizzing the girls in the office about what was going on. One of the girls, scribbled out “birthday” on a sheet and pointed to Tony’s office. She knew the word, but didn’t dare try to pronounce it. English isn’t one of her virtues. BTW Only a couple of staff can speak the language.

Flowers kept showing up from several departments. By noon, they were separating to different vases throughout the office.

In the mid-afternoon, the office was buzzing again. Suddenly, a co-worker came in our meeting, and suggested we quickly get over to another conference room. There the conference table had been wrapped in shrink wrap and a cake was fitted with one of those unique Chinese candles. Ah! A good ole birthday celebration.

So Tony’s birthday again! Wow! Have I really been to three of Tony’s birthday celebrations now? How the years are passing! And oh a special dinner was of course planned. I just couldn’t pass up this one! It’s back to the Richwood Hotel with friends Chris and Barrett here visiting from the US.

[Are there too many birthday parties here? Or do I just party too much? …… I know you are probably thinking that………….. ]

The Richwood Hotel was divine again. We made the trek down to it about a year ago to eat in the Thai restaurant there. It is a relatively new hotel that looks like a resort hotel, but is located in industrial Humen area of Dongguan instead of on a tropical beach. The place is great. And the food was delicious.

Chris and Barrett and I were tested quickly on the first dish. As the plate of pickled white meat was offered to us immediately on getting to the table, we knew it had to be something unique. I thought octopus, until I bit into something hard in the center……. Ah, yes! That would be a bone. And that means it’s that favorite dish of China: chicken feet. Not bad really. Just still don’t like the bone and toenails. Rest of it was pretty good though.

The rest of the meal was less unique, but nonetheless delicious. The place is wonderful. Even down to the durian flavored naan bread.

I had wanted to revisit the Richwood. Glad I got too!

Happy Birthday Tony.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:48 PM Comments: 0

Snow's Birthday Party

Another party? Well, why not! Three parties in a week makes for one great week! (One for the Road anniversary and July 4^th were the others.) And this was the most special of all parties: It was Snow’s birthday!

Nothing like a party for a six year old! And this is one special little girl. Not often does a six year old get a special party in a British pub. (Okay, things are definitely different here!) But this is Snow! And she practically owns the pub! Well, her dad, Lucas does, and that means she may as well. She sure has the run of the place! ……. And everyone loves it!

I showed up a little late from a long day of work. At least I did arrange for a gift for her. And she loved it too – a yellow something. Lucas had a bunch of his friends all gathered at a big table, and Snow just made her rounds throughout the bar. She and some of the other kids spent most of their time playing with balloons in the former golf range. And the bar management had blown up the pub’s kiddie castle for some bouncy frolicking. But the heat had most everyone indoors.

True to One for the Road fame, we had large bowls of special appetizers for a filling dinner. And then we topped it off with a special cake prepared just for Snow. She reveled in blowing out the candles and even did most of the honors of cutting the cake. It seemed so much like any other party for a six year old. ………. Except we were in a pub…………. And oh yeah….. in China. Very special for Snow, nonetheless!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Snow!!

Click here to see more pictures from the party.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:55 PM Comments: 0

It's HOT!

Man, it is HOT! I thought I knew hot! But this is HOT!

They say it has been up to 37° almost every day for the last week. You know how much that converts to in Fahrenheit? It’s over 100°F!! That is extremely HOT! And that’s with humidity down!...... Yeah right! Down to 80% instead of 95%. Big deal!

I tried to play golf last Sunday afternoon in this heat. It was more than stifling! But how do the caddies do it? The Chinese seem amazingly immune to the conditions. I daily see workers in long sleeve shirts. And the caddies…. Their uniform consists of long sleeve shirts, long pants, and a vest-type outer garment too! I don’t know how they can stand it. You do see some Chinese with their shirts pulled up or off, but you still see about as many with long sleeve shirts on even the hottest of days.

They do use umbrellas almost religiously. They get a lot of use here. If it’s not to cover you from the rain, they are good for hiding you from the UV rays.

I know that most of you are probably thinking, “yeah it can’t be that hot.” Well, folks I keep a Google Gadget open with the weather in Advance, NC (back home – or at least my last real home) and Guangzhou, the closest city tracked by Weather.com on the Gadget. It’s amazing to see how the daily highs are similar, but the daily humidity is so different! I thought NC was really humid, but there the daily highs are around 95°F with humidity topping around 60%. Here its daily highs of 98°F with humidity of 80%. And I know you are saying the humidity gets higher than that in NC, but what I see is that whenever the humidity spikes higher, the temperatures drop! It don’t do that here folks!

And take a look at a Heat Index. There is a good one here. Now if you take today’s highs for temperature and humidity, the Heat Index says your body feels like the temperature is 66°C or a whooping 151°F! Tell me that isn’t hot!!

For Advance, the highs say 90°F and 63%RH for a Heat Index of 39°C or 101°F. Hot, but a lot better than what I’m working in here!

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:21 PM Comments: 0

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 8:59 AM Comments: 0

July 4th in Dongguan

But Independence Day is more than a little special. Particularly to an expat living in a foreign land. It always did mean a lot to me anyway, but now it is extra special. Only we expats don’t get the day off as a holiday. We do get to celebrate it any way we can. And we did last week! Just wish it hadn’t fallen on a Wednesday. Three parties in a week is tough. But last week was one of those weeks.

On Wednesday night, I returned home early and headed straight for One for the Road. Jason promised a special night of entertainment, even if it was an English pub. And he did a pretty good job too. The place was heavily draped in the stars and stripes. A special free barbecue of pork and sides was available. And the crowd was all excited about the day, even if it was in the middle of the week.

The highlight of the evening was the “war.” ….. The Americans, led by Captain Big Mike lined up on one side of the room, while the bloody Brits, led by Captain Jason, tried to gather in some kind of formation on the other. Soon the sides were “armed” with the famous OFTR confetti guns. And the shooting commenced!

Nobody seemed to win, but at least no one seemed to get hurt badly either. And that was a miracle of sorts. The blasts from those guns propels the confetti out with major force. And the outer liner did cause a few bruises on impact. But it was all in good fun, and we all did have a good time.

Of course, about half of the guns, mostly the first ones given out by Jason, didn’t work. I guess we Americans better bring our own ammo next time and not depend on a British pub manager. …. Lesson learned.

Special commemorative shirts were also available for the evening. A few drinks and you were the proud owner of the OFTR shirt with George Washington and George Cornwallis conversing about making of beer. They even included US and UK flags.

Festivities were also strong at the American bar, The Thirsty Dog. A late night stop topped off a great evening of entertainment with the local band and a good mix of friends.

Not bad for a Independence Day, even if we were in China.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 8:07 PM Comments: 0

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 11:17 AM Comments: 0

Wrong Way Home

It was a most interesting ride home! Most rides between work and my apartment in Dongguan City are pretty interesting, but yesterday’s was more eventful than most.

It was Friday afternoon, and I was already expecting a difficult return. Traffic is getting more congested here. The infrastructure being built in China is great, but when there are so many new cars entering the highway daily, it is hard to stay ahead. They say there are somewhere around 400 new cars being registered to the Dongguan area alone on a daily basis! In Beijing I’ve heard its up to 1000 new cars a day. Like so many places around the world, Fridays seem to be the worse day for traffic jams.

So back to my story: On our way out I said my driver “yo bien,” meaning in my broken Chinese to take the route to the right out of our industrial park. The straighter direction is more commonly used by the drivers, but I figured there was less chance of a problem to the right. ………. WRONG!

All was going pretty good until we got to an interesting intersection as we got closer to Dongguan City. Another highway merges into the one we were on at a point, where there are also several exits. It gets about 6 lanes across, and someone was bright enough to put a stop light at this point to further confuse and stall traffic. Only on this day it didn’t look so good ahead either.

My driver was immediately eyeing the traffic congestion ahead. It didn’t look good. Again he looked at me for my input. This time I opted for “tsis zo” for go straight instead of a right option. Again: WRONG!

Soon we were looking at traffic stalled at what looked to be a complete stop ahead. But locals being who they are, they improvise quickly. You really have to give it to these folks sometimes. They are creative, if not necessarily safety conscious. Cars were quickly turning down the wrong way of an entrance ramp to get back to another ramp to go back anywhere that traffic was at least moving in some forward motion. Riders hopped out of cars to direct their cars backwards, while defying oncoming traffic to pass. All the while their friends positioned their vehicles for awkward turns to go in the other direction. The Chinese really are on one hand incredibly patient with each other in these situations, but at the same time impossibly impatient about any delay whatsoever. No problem to cut each other off up and down the highway, but don’t make ‘em wait an extra second or you’ll have horns blaring.

Of course, my driver followed suit with the idea of moving somewhere instead of waiting a few extra minutes. With a quick 180 with the van, we were headed back directly into the oncoming traffic from the entrance ramp – although it wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway pretty soon. And off we went to chase another route.

We had to go many miles to get back to the original route. But we were moving. That seems to be the most important thing desired here!

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 10:50 AM Comments: 0

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:22 PM Comments: 0

One Year Already!!

One year already? How could that be? No way! …………. But yep! Right there it is, One for the Road, our local British pub, has been open for a year! Grand Opening seems like it was just yesterday, but its been a year already.

So, we do what we do best in China: WE CELEBRATE!!

First Anniversary Party was last Saturday! In typical OFTR fashion, it included plenty of finger foods, hourly shots, and the famous confetti poppers! And this time it even included a special DJ and plenty of dancing.

The confetti got pretty wild. OFTR is getting renowned for the popper guns. They were blasting everywhere, and soon there was confetti deep on every table as well as down everyone’s shirt and in all our hair. Still trying to get those sparklies out of my hair!

We do know how to party! (For pictures click here!)

Labels: China, Dongguan

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:19 PM Comments: 0

Labels: Dongguan

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:24 PM Comments: 0

A Long Hot Day & Only 4:15

It’s 4:15 PM on Tuesday, and I am just sitting down to my desk for the first time today! What a day! Monday was a holiday here. Did you see the news about the 10^th Anniversary of the Handover of Hong Kong to China? Well, that’s a big deal.

Every year the first day of July is celebrated as SAR Establishment Day. And of course, since I work for a Hong Kong company, I get the day off. The factory still works mind you, but no Hong Kong management is on site. It is amazing how well things move along without all the management in place daily. But it does.

I did have to come into the factory for an hour on Monday. My luck, that some samples were running that required me to check them prior to shipment. Being the only person in management living in China, I often get that opportunity on holidays. It’s not fun to come in on a holiday when everyone else is off, but I’m not really into celebrating SAR Establishment anyway.

But what about today? Well, of course, after any day off, things are hectic. Today has been no exception. Guests arrived early from Greece, and I provided tour of the facilities. Three hours later, we have lunch, and then I commence another tour with Hong Kong staff to inspect products. After two rounds of this over 1.1 million square feet facility, I’m finally setting down to check desk items.

And in this heat, touring this big factory is no cakewalk. Ten interconnected buildings. Most up to six floors high. Up and down floor after floor. Over 3000 employees running around everywhere. It takes a lot to see it all. And temps are again over 90°F with humidity in the same numeric range! Translation = HOT!

Well, I’m finally back now. At least the office is air conditioned! I better check email.

Labels: China, Hot Days

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:31 PM Comments: 0