I don't know where to start this, because I just have been crazily busy lately. And this is the first time since my first day to work that I feel things are quite messy, and I am quite caught off guard. I had a bad time last night in bed, even though the dinner with my senior high school classmates were awesome and before that I managed to get back to Shanghai from Xiamen where the typhoon was torturing the city. I felt like my head was exploding when I was lying on the bed, though thinking maybe the next day I would not feel the same. Yet it was just getting worse. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk the local wine in Xiamen, which, I believe, made my lips swell. It just got on my nerves that the landlord did not pay the Internet service bill yet, and with tons of work to do, I can't work at home. It's absolutely not too much to ask to have the normal Internet access. Maybe when dealing with a mean person, only by some evil means can you get things done eventually. Hope I am not losing my sanity when analyzing the current situation...So when tasks and hope are so challenged right now, doing things one step at a time might help to conquer the obstacles soon...Let's see.

I thought the tickets for the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix would be so hard to get as Christina Aguilera's concert, but when I tried to make a reservation for a ticket, the lady told me not to worry, because there would be plenty of tickets-and I could just buy one before my entering the stadium. Being a diehard sports fan, I have never had the chance to watch track and field in a stadium, and this time is definitely my perfect time. I played badminton for a whole afternoon, so the time was quite so tight that I couldn't buy the shampoo in Watsons. Since I did not buy the ticket, I needed to ask one of the policemen where to buy one. "You want to buy one?" He asked. I nodded, thinking you don't need to repeat my question, and for god sake, please just tell me where to buy one, instead of wasting the time. He looked at me up and down, and I felt kind of weird-typical old Shanghainese. But what he would do next definitely proved I was wrong about Shanghainese. "Here is a ticket, and just take it." He handed me one ticket, and let me into the stadium. Wow! Am I dreaming? I took the ticket, and thanked him. Trying not to show my excitement, I walked in as calm as I could possibly be. Maybe the lady in the ticket office is right-not many people would go watching the game while another concert is going on just beside the stadium in the Grand Stage. Anyway, I could finally get in to watch the game, and it's awesome. What a nice policeman.

A Short Opening Ceremony
World Record Holder-Isinbayeva Practising
Isinbayeva Getting Ready
She didn't break the record, but she still is the big star tonight.
Women's 1500M

After Nancy Lagat, Beijing Olympic Gold Medal winner, won Women's 1500 meters, she ran around the stadium to celebrate her victory. I saw her, and I waved to her, smiling at the same. Then she threw her bouquet towards me, but unfortunately maybe she tried quite hard in her competition-the flower dropped on the ground. :(  Still lovely though-The champion and I are just in zero distance. Of course, other champions passed my section too, but their bouquets must have been thrown to the audience right after their winning.

Men's 100 Meters Starting Line
Men's 100 Meters Winner
Lovely Volunteers

Sanlu milk formula scandal is a shame for this nation, and obviously we cannot have faith on anything here any more. The milk I just bought from the super mall must contain melamine as well, I am sure. Even though the box package milk from Yili is not listed on the blacklist reported last night, there is no difference between the milk in the bag and that in the box. I won't buy milk from Mengniu, Bright and Yili any longer! Also, in order to further optimize my food list, I decide not to have the food listed below:

That's not awesome. Paradoxically, instead of embracing the modern civilization human created in food industry, what I can do here is to avoid it to have a healthy life. For money, people lost their sanity and morality, but what goes around, comes around.

I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but I don't have other choices. The landlord did not pay the broadband bill, so the Internet service is suspended in the apartment, without which I cannot survive. The wireless Internet provided by China Mobile is convenient since it's quite fast and it worked well on my computer and yet the price is outrageous. And thanks to that, my cellphone service was suspended as well. So I had to recharge it in no time. Yet the return of Internet is not that fast-I was told he will go to pay the bill as fast as possible. Of course, I will need my Internet service repayment back next time he asks me for the rent, since he's been the pain in the ass, and I ain't that weak to be kicked around. It is quite difficult to live in the room without Internet, and it's like I am in the 90s again, only with the TV to watch. China Mobile's wireless Internet service seems to be ok, with 0.05yuan/min, but when it comes to reality, my 50 yuan in my cellphone was used up in just one day. I don't know how much I will have to put up with this landlord, who is stingy and selfish, but I think next year, if I am still here in Shanghai, I will definitely change an apartment. The furniture in the house is nearly worn out, and the pipes in the bathroom are leaking, so is my air-conditioner. He said he will repair them and yet he is always having the pretext to delay it. Or maybe he is really having some problems with his life-and we need to understand that-but who gave him the right to exploit us, who are inexperienced, just graduated newbies. I will not have my mercy on this guy. Plus I am the one who needs sympathy.

Well, since my roomie always stays in the office for the meetings with the US teams, I thought I might as well give it a shot, as I could use the Internet to do some work. So I had some rice with meat and vegetables for dinner in the cafeteria. I also tried a bowl of milky tofu, which made me almost vomit, as the strong smell of cream was really disgusting. Thank god, I convinced my stomach not to throw up. To be honest, it's more convenient to stay in the office than in my room, where the chair is always too tall for the desk, making my back and neck hurt quite fast. Bad ergonomics! No wonder lots of people stay here longer whatever reason it is. Of course, I am sure only the singles have the guts to stay in the office after work, otherwise the other half's might kick their asses. Also, this reminds of my graduate years in the lab when we had to stay there no matter how late it was, some of them even put sheets on the floor to stay in the lab overnight, which was too much for me of course. To some extent, the current job is somewhat similar to what I was doing in school, and that's one of the reasons I am enjoying it, for I don't need to change too much to continue my dream just outside the campus. With lots of possible resources from the nearby university and most of my good friends there, that's not bad.

I didn't know I would go to Xiamen until the day before yesterday, and everything was just so fast. Yet however fast it might be, it never stopped my smart plan ahead of it. This time, I am so proud of myself that I couldn't wait to call my mom after getting back. Xiamen is the city I have been dreaming to go to for ages. The beach, the seafood, and the fresh air, it seems everything there is just so fabulous and the truth is Xiamen never disappoints me. In my memory, the most southern place I have been to was Kunming in the southwest, and obviously this trip to Xiamen could break my record-I love it. I was quite excited on the first day, and I just couldn't stop taking pictures, forgetting I was on a business trip.

Hongqiao Airport...Looks Crappy...
Xiamen Down There!!!
Xiamen Airport, Quite Small

Xiamen University
X.U.
The Beach
OMG!! She is NAKED!!!
Hy For Hylic
Sunset On The Beach
Dark Soon

I think I am lucky to have whatever I am having now, and I feel blessed. No matter how hard the road will be in front, I have to be holding on, because everything will be ok. My journey has not ended-it has just begun.

To remind myself of what I am supposed to do in the days when I am all alone and low...

Teambuilding during week days would be a great idea for everyone in the company, especially 2 days teambuilding. Living in the city for some time, people would like to have a break to embrace the nature in the wild to breathe some fresh air. We discussed a lot about where to go beforehand, and eventually we decided to go to a valley in Zhejiang Province, together with a wetland in Hangzhou. The bullet train is always a pleasure to take, steady and speedy. I don't really remember how many times I have been to Hangzhou, and the moment we got off the train, I knew where to go, since it's just so familiar to me. The next couple of hours of shuttle was not that enjoyable, as the winding road was making me sleepy on the seat.

2 hours ride took us to a place called Shangougou (The Valley)
Quite countryside, reminding me of 20 years ago
Puppy lying on the floor chilling, quite peaceful

Bamboo Dragon spraying
Chilly water from the spring through my toes
Bamboo road, scary when walking alone there

Xixi National Wetland Park
Typical Jiangnan Boat
Another boat coming towards us
Wooden road in the reeds
A temple on the water, I smelt wine outside...:\
Water Way

The Lotus and the Pavilion
Foggy and chilly

Geer left for the USA, and I went to see him off together with Water. Honestly that was my first time to see someone off at the airport as far as my memory is concerned. The new terminal 2 seems to be better than terminal 1, and yet China Airline's service is still quite shitty based the conversation I had with the workers from CA. The attitude was like you own them so much that you were inferior to them. Geer told me that CA service sucks anyway, so he doesn't give a thing about it as long as he can get to LA safely. I thought one of the the reasons I wanted to go there was to go shopping aftermath, and yet when the moment really came, I really felt a little bit something there. There was no better way to say goodbye, and I just waved in the end. I am sure at that moment Water felt something too.