So far so good

I went to the tailor's today to check on my clothes and to get Theran to look at materials with me. I wanted him to look at the other red I liked, and help me scope out the shops for some nice blacks. Well, the pants and shirt weren't done yet, I have to go back on Monday, but the dress was ready. I like it better than I did the other day, so I don't think I'll bother getting the other red one made up. I am still contemplating a shorter black dress though, one that comes just above the knees. I think it'd be pretty. So...... here's the dress!

 

                    

 

 

disappointment and stress

So I went to get my outfits from the tailor the other day. It was so disappointing! The shirt was way to wide and gave me no shape, I just looked like a big thick tree trunk! The pants had the wrong colour flowers stictched into the bottom and instead of a nice cool sea green, I got hot pink! Plus, they're on both legs when I thought it would just be one. The style of the pants is also really horrendous. I specifically said I didn't like high waists, I'd prefer them to sit more on my hips. What did I get? High waisted Urkel pants! With these hideous pleats that bulge out making it look like I've got an ass in the front. ARGH! The ass I've got in the back is plenty thanks, I don't need another! As for the dress, it needed to be taken in a bit, but the traditional Qipao style was very nice. Unfortunately, I no longer like the material. I mean, i like it, just not for me. Instead I am bitterly jealous over my friend's dress which is the other material I was debating on. It's soooo beautiful! This is why I always take hours to choosesomething, because I need to be sure. Look what happens when I make these hasty decisions!

 

So here is my dilemma now. I am considering getting another dress made, same style, different material. Maybe the deep red like my friend has, or maybe looking for a nice black. The red is gorgeous, but the stupid dress I have now is also red (but with small goldeny flowers on it). Apparently nobody has black Qipaos, but only Chinese people will know that, no one back home will be any the wiser. What should I do? I want to go home with one dress that I'm happy with. And the lady has agreed to make it for a very reasonable price. Material + tailor will be about 250RMB. So that's like C$37. Pretty good. I wish I didn't have this dress, then I would get the dark red and a black one. But that's just silliness now. How many Chinese dresses can a white girl reasonably have! Yeesh! I go back there tomorrow, what should I do? Help help!

Today's video

Time for a change on the media player, so I thought I'd test out a video. Not the greatest quality or the most exciting, but who cares. This is from the beerfest, after Carmen and I had narrowly escaped being trampled to death. I took this video on my lovely Canon A95, which I still absolutely love to bits.

 

P.S. Ugh, I hate hearing my voice on video. I sound so whiney! 

 

Can anyone see the video? I don't know what I'm doing wrong. When I go to Preview My Space I can see it..... blast! I should have known I'd never be able to master this technology!

 

Okay, so I tried uploading my video to Walagata but it said it was too big. Although I never did any uploading for the song, and it seems some people could hear it. What do I do now?

 

ARGH!!!! Is it working yet? I trimmed down the video so it's under 5 whatevers, and tried the Yahoo briefcase thing, but I still don't think it's working. Shitgoddamncrap.

 

Okay. I THINK I got it working. But it takes a hell of a long time to play. So if you're patient, or you leave my page up in the background while doing other things, you should eventually be able to see it. Fingers crossed!

Kuai diar!

Despite the excessive amount of DVDs I own, sometimes I just want to channel surf aimlessly. Today that brought me across The Amazing Race in China. They don't actually show the entire show here, only the Chinese part, which is annoying that they only care about the part in their country. So I'll never know who wins. Oh well. Also, I could barely hear what the people were saying because Chinese was put overtop. But I got the gist of it. I could never be on that show, I find it infuriating just watching these people in their frustration. Not that that stopped me from watching of course. On the one hand, I totally felt for them. I know it's frustrating here sometimes, what with the language barrier and culture differences etc,  but some of those contestants were such assholes. "Faster, faster, what's going on, I hate China" blahblahblah. I know I'd be irritable and obnoxious too if i had a million bucks on the line, but that is one of the reasons i wouldn't want to do it. Money can turn people into such shitheads.

 

Anyway, I saw these contestants cursing China and I suddenly felt so defensive. Jerkballs, dissing my China. Like I said, I can sympathise with them, I often lose patience and get pissed off at things here, but I don't hate the place or the people. I'm in their country, I have no right to be angry if they don't understand me. Some of those contestants seemed to be getting so pissed off that their driver didn't understand what they were shouting at him. Yeah, say it louder, then it'll translate itself. Yeesh.

 

What was my point? Hmm, I don't think I really had one. I guess it's just that despite what I feel are some very justified points of dissatisfaction (crowds, inefficiency, rubbish), I like it here. Maybe I'm just getting overly sentimental and nostalgic because I'm leaving so soon. There's a lot I'll miss. And seeing those stupid, arrogant tourists that seemed to expect everyone to do things like it's done at home, kind of ticked me off. In fact, now that I really think of it, I don't like that show at all. Pushy, impatient people rushing through the most beautiful places on the earth, not appreciating their surroundings, just racing to get out so they can get their hands on a big pile of cash.

 

Stupid Amazing Race, who cares who wins.

 

(kuai diar means "quickly")

Music!

This is so exciting! Thanks to islandgirl I have now added this super cool media player! How fun! I'd been thinking of adding music to my space but this is way better. Now it's up to you if you want to have a listen or not, as opposed to music unexpectedly blaring through your speakers and scaring the beejeezus out of you. haha, beejeezus. And all those psychedelic sound pictures are mesmerizing. Ooooooh......

 

At the moment, the song playing is called SuperStar, by the hugely popular band S.H.E, who I have decided I love. Go on, have a listen. You can even sing along to the one English line "you're my superstar". I fill in the rest with "dadadas" and "bapbapbaps".

smoke 'em if you got 'em

 Here are two views on smoking. The one I'm used to, being from Canada, which is "SMOKING BAD, SMOKING GROSS, SMOKING KILLS."

 

 

 

And here is a demonstration of the Chinese attitude.* Slightly more laid back with a tad less emphasis on death. "FREE CIGARETTES, SMOKE AWAY, YUM YUM." These were samples being handed out in the bar one night.

 

*before I get criticized for being racist or generalising about Chinese people, here is my disclaimer: This is NOT the opinion or view of everyone in China, I am well aware of that. None of my Chinese friends smoke, all I'm pointing out is that the government doesn't condemn it and smoking is permitted everywhere. So don't go getting your panties in a bunch!

quit playing with your food!

Yes, I'm a big geek, I know that. But the endearing kind, right? Anyway, we went out for bbq the other night and it was so good. Basically it's an all you can eat place where the waiters come by with giant skewers of meats to give you.

 

 

skewers of chicken wings

Ordered a mug of beer and it turned out to be green beer. Don't know what made it green but it was so tasty!

 

mmm, green is delicious!

 

There's also a buffet with salad, veggies, noodles etc. It's so delicious. I had squid, chicken, beef, pork and I even tried tongue! It actually didn't taste that bad, but it was just knowing what it was that really grossed me out. Ah well, I'll try almost anything once! Besides, it made for a good photo op.

 

 

 haha!

 

Look, it's tongue! But not my tongue! I'm just pretending it's my tongue! Get it? Get it?? HAHA! Okay, maybe a bit too literal, not subtle enough. I'm just not up to my usual tongue-in-cheek wit today. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

Man, I am such a loser.

pic of the day

This is at the end of our lane. I'm really not sure how this works, but people are LIVING in there. Each section is just one room, some of them have the doors facing the sidewalk, I guess the others have access from the other side. I got a quick glance through the "window" with the light on and I could see a bed with a mosquito net hanging over it, and a few shelves piled with clothes and things. It's so strange. I could never sleep in there, I'd feel so claustrophobic! 

 

Update* I found out who lives here. It's a temporary lodging for the construction workers that are working behind it. Interesting.

I'm alive

Although still saddled with a dud of a computer. We were optimistic that it was just a clogged fan like a few people had suggested. We took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly. It was filthy and it seemed plausible that this was the cause of all our troubles. With renewed hope we set it up and turned it on. It was working, purring softly like a happy kitty! I plunked myself down to do some surfing, and not 15 minutes in it crashes. DAMN YOU COMPUTER!!!!

So here I am at work, using a relic from the cultural revolution for a computer and it's driving me bonkers! First of all, there's no wheelie on the mouse. Why would anyone want a mouse without a wheelie?? What good is that?? I have to scoot the pointer over and use the scroll bar, what a nuissance! Damn inconvenient scroll bar way over on the side of the screen. Of course I keep forgetting that the mouse is wheelieless so I keep giving it futile little mouse massages with my finger.

For some reason i don't get any options in my blog either. Hence the small, boring, black font.

The keyboard is all grungy too, black and sticky from so many dirty little fingers poking at it. That's just icky.

On the upside, it's on, so I'll count my blessings. One. Haha.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to pay my deposit on my trans-siberian ticket. It's such a big whackload of moolah. Even though I know it'll be amazing and totally worth it, blahblahblah, it's still hard to part with a large sum like this. And this is just the deposit - gadzooks!

Lemme see, what other thoughts should I jot down while I have the opportunity? Tomorrow is the last day of the beerfest, I'll either go tonight or tomorrow.

I hate this small font. It's giving me a headache. Besides, it's not nearly big or pompous enough for my deluded sense of importance. NOT EVEN LIKE THIS!

I'm starving. I'm so hungry that I'm eating a bag of soggy, limp crackers that have been sitting on this desk for god knows how long. After touching this grubby keyboard. I'm sickatating.

Alrighty then cowpokes, I'm off. It's been fun. For me. I've been checking in at everyone's sites when I get a chance. I don't always leave comments though, either because I don't have much time, or I'm uninspired. Or you're boring. Muahahaha! Hey, don't beat yourselves up, not everyone can come up with this riveting soggy biscuit material.

Ew, soggy biscuit. Heh heh.

Noooo!

My computer is busted! It keeps shutting itself down after about 5 minutes! It's so awful. Help!! This is why I haven't been able to visit anyone. Hope to get it fixed asap. I feel like I'm missing a limb!!