6/9/02 2320
I arrived in Singapore 10PM last after an uneventful flight.
This morning I walked some of their Chinatown (an older section
of downtown) which is several blocks from my hotel.

I din't plan on writing but I just got caught in raging thunderstorm
after having lunch with several of my staff from the Dillingham
days in Singapore. Watched USA tie Korea 1-1 on a street TV
in one of the shops with a canopy. This was another upset for
the USA (one point, now they have 4) and it looks like they will
make the the semifinal round of 16 which starts Saturday. Walked
another couple of stores after it let up slightly and then took
shelter in Singtel's phonemart. They have high speed internet
access for $2/30 minutes so I thought I'd check my mail.

How refreshing to see everybody speaking English and obeying
the traffic laws. As you'd expect, its impeccably clean and
orderly. They've been in a mild recession as they closely follow
the US economy and a lot of their customers/suppliers have been
hard hit by the Asian financial crisis. They're moving very
aggressively in biotech research and riding China's coattails
now that they are in the WTO.

Tonight I have dinner with Billie Lee, an old business colleague.

The rain has let up so I'm going to try and make it back to the
hotel.

Aloha

Lenny

6/8/02 1650
Crossing the Streets/Traffic

After 3 weeks, I'm getting the hang of crossing the streets.
Go with the masses, the odds are with you. Stay in the middle
of the pack. If somebody gets picked off, it won't be you.
Watch 360 degrees as left turn drivers often keep cutting the
corner tighter and tighter so as to beat others turning left
and the mob of pedestrians and cyclists crossing from the other
side. Kind of a reverse S-turn: Sharp left, then use the cross
walk as a lane to the left of the on coming traffic and then
a hard left once the clear the median. (They drive on the right
here, same as America.)
Earlier I mentioned how everyone lays on the horn if traffic
slows. Actually, that is exceeded by the the constant squeal
of brakes (or the lack of linings) and noisy diesel buses.

Eating Out

Friday night we had our "Going Away Dinner" at a 28th floor revolving
restaurant overlooking the river and the city. A couple of new
Chinese dishes but nothing excessively expensive or rare. Some
of the volunteers thought it would be cool to have snake when
it was suggested by one of the YMCA hosts. It was a fair size
black snake steamed (or baked) and cut into 3-4" portions. Tasted
and looked like fish. Quite boney.
Last night, my last night in Shanghai,I went to T8, a restaurant
that Condenast (a popular American travel magazine) had chosen
last month as one of the top 50 new restaurants in the world.
I went Beth, the 30+ year old vegetarian social worker in our
group. Several vounteers had already split for Beijing and the
others thought it was "too upscale" (Not sure if this meant expensive,
decadent or Western). It was excellent: Euro-Asian cuisine,
much like we're seeing in the trendy restaurants in Hawaii (and
around the world). Beautiful decor ala Frank Loyd Wright, English
menu. The food was $60, a bottle of good Australian wine was
about $25.

Well, thats it. I leave for Singapore in about 4 hours. Wednesday
to Kuala Lumpur, Saturday to Bangkok. Then back into China (Kunming)
on Tuesday. Cross Yunan province and the into Tibet for a week.
I fly to Rochester July 1.

I may write if I get to a computer or see an Internet Cafe along
the way.

Aloha

Lenny

6/7/02 1531
Quite an emotional day yesterday. Piles of gifts "love" notes,
drawings, email address exchanges (almost every family in this
public school says they have email addresses in their family),
etc.

More Store Signs
French Woodpecker Dress, Ltd.
Amorous Feelings Hotel
Massage by a bland Person (on a Massage Shop that has blind
massagers)

Two shopping Tales

Thursday I went with one of the other volunteers to Fudan University,
one of the most prestigious Universities in Shanghai. We got
there an hour early for her appointment (she is a social worker
in the US and was interested in events in her field in China.
We asked our escort to go to the bookstore so we could buy some
merchandise with the school logo. We were directed (escorted
by our YMCA guide) to several locations in tha adjoining blocks
off campus but couldn't find anything. After a half hour, she
phoned one of the Y's Board of Directors, who has offices on
campus and is a world famous polymer chemist (he has lectured
and done research at Oxford and Princeton), for help. He took
us a half mile accross campus to a nondescript buiding. Each
room was filled with supplis, most of what I saw was for scientific
research: glass vials, testubes, various paper products, etc.
In the back of one of the rooms was a nondescript locked door.
One of the clerks let us in and viola, they had a couple of
sweatshirts, polo shirts (I bought one) and a bunch of souvineer
items. Kind of like a secret shopping area for the privileged
class. (Most of it was junk.) Wait until they learn of how much
American schools make off of marketing rights.

Yesterday I saw one of the volunteers had a CD Rom of old Shanghai.
I went to the Museum bookstore (about 10 blocks) to see if I
could get something similar in DVD. They were "ot of stock" (not
uncommon here in a centralized economy) but referred me to the
Foreign Book Store "a few blocks away". They gave me a flyer
with its location on the back. It looked like 4 blocks but it
turns out only the major streets were shown and there were 3-4
minor streets in between each major. Up down, left right like
a rat in a maze. Everyone 2 blocks or so I should somebody the
flier and get directed in a different direction. One guy sent
me one way and then chased me a block to redirect 180 degrees
opposite. I even got conflicting directions less than a block
away. I finally found it and did get a DVD on modern Shanghai.
I noticed they had the same CD Rom on ancient Shanghai that
the Museum had 40% cheaper but hesitated as while there was some
English translations on the packaging, I didn't see "English"
in the upper right corner as I recalled the other one had. Several
clerks insisted it was in English but eventually everyone agreed
it was in Chinese. Back to the Museum where I bought the English
version.

Aloha

Lenny

6/6/02 1535
More on the teachers

Entry teachers make about $150/month. Senior (20+ years) make
less than $250. Mostly women teachers in the lower grades, men
in the upper. Women can retire at 55, men at 60. I understand
(you're never sure here!) that senior teachers can get discounted
housing (apartment).
Income taxes are fairly stiff. Everyone gets a $1,200 standard
deduction. After that, rates are 15% through 45%. I believe
there is a significant underground economy so teachers and government
works, where the pay is documented, get hit the hardest.

Large sign downstairs: YMCA Hair & Beauty SALOON. And in the
YMCA no less!

Last night we had the YMCA's "English Club". About 20-30 adults
(half who are regulars) and about 50 youngsters from a nearby
private school. With the childern, how many times can you say:
"What is your name?" and get a completely unintelligible mumbled
name in Chinese? How many times can you go through the animal
kingdom in English?
A group of about 20 Singaporean University students joined.
They're here researching "enviromental issues". They had a 10
page questionaire that native English speakers would struggle
with. But then, thats the way things are done here (and in Singapore).
The questions are the answers.
It's clear there are serious enviromental problems and it can
only get worse when you're growing at a 7+% clip. Fortunately
the government is aware of it (but the horse is out of the barn).
Concern & awareness is preached from grade 1, its all over the
media, experts are everywhere.

The first International Auto Show opened in Beijing this week.
Last year, they sold 750,000 cars in China. The market is growing
at 20+% clip which means it doubles every 3 1/2 years! No wonder
the world's manufacturer's are drooling.

Last day of school today.

Aloha

Lenny

06/05/02 1400hrs

Abbreviated session today as I'm going to The University this
AM.

US upset Portugal 3-2 yesterday. While they have to play Korea
(in Korea), they stand a good chance of making the second round.

Re: shopping. I forgot to mention a sight quite common in Asia.
2-3 women walking holding hands or with their arms linked. Nothing
sexual (so I am told), just friends. Its quite shocking to Western
women when their new found friend grasps their hand!

Re: CCS Program. Good idea but it needs lots of work. Lots
of communication problems between Shanghai and New York. Most
of the volunteers are backpacker type college students who are
quite naive and immature. Several think global marketing evidence
is exploitation. Continually complaing that Shanghai isn't Chinese
enough. "Conversational English" is a misnomer. Trying carrying
on a meaningful conversation with a classroom of 50 sixth graders
for 3 weeks! I enjoy it, though.

Aloha

Lenny