There's so much to describe and say about Hangzhou that I think it's going to require two separate posts. After all, I'm uploading about 200 photos to flickr for you to look at, and I have many fun stories to tell.
The short version: The trip was a rousing success. Hangzhou is beautiful, well, at least the Xihu area is. It was a welcome escape from Shanghai and it couldn't have gone better. We did so many things that my feet and legs hurt from walking. I got very little sleep, given that we got early starts on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. I think I improved my Chinese by talking to so many people (including Adeline). I ate some really good food at some great restaurants, (including chicken brains, yum), including one that is over 150 years old. I didn't get much relaxing done, but there was a bit of that. But who has time to relax when you have mountains to climb?
The long version: Well, I hope to start that tomorrow with a "Hangzhou Day One" post, with illustrations via flickr. The Internet is very slow here so I started uploading Day One's pictures just now. I hope they'll be done by the time I wake up tomorrow ;-) If you wanna be ahead of the game, you can check out my photostream now. I also have a couple videos to upload.
Oh, and I didn't get my phone back :-( Gonna buy a new one tomorrow or Tuesday ... luckily I think I have all my phone numbers written down somewhere.
Showing posts with label lost phones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost phones. Show all posts
April 20, 2008
April 18, 2008
I Suck at this Whole Not-Losing-Phones Thing
Seriously, this is the second time here in Shanghai that I've lost my phone. Tim, his wife, and a friend went out to eat at this new Jamaican place that a co-worker recommended. We were supposed to meet at the Shanghai S&TM stop, which we did. I called Tim from there and he said he was on his way. We then proceeded to meet up, take the subway to Century Ave., walk 15 minutes, go into the restaurant, and eat. As we were getting up to leave, I unconsciously checked (as I always do because I'm OCD about these things) for the Holy Trinity - keys, wallet, and cell phone. Well, Baby Jesus was missing! And by that, I mean my phone. Haha. I searched everywhere - messenger bag, pockets, jacket - to no avail. Tim called my number and got the dreaded "This caller cannot be reached" message, which signifies the phone is off and probably in a trash bin somewhere. Oh well. Lucky for me it was super cheap. And Tim said I could talk to China Mobile and get my phone number back, no problem.
Since I'm meeting up with Charles tomorrow morning to go to Hangzhou, I used Tim's phone to call him and let him know not to bother calling me. But who I really needed to call, and whose number I didn't have on me for Tim to use, was Adeline, who is taking us to Hangzhou tomorrow. Then I headed downstairs with my friends and begun to walk back towards the subway. We hadn't gone more than 10 feet when I saw Adeline walking our way! Imagine my shock. And the first thing she said was "You lost your phone!" My jaw dropped several feet, haha. ESP is real!
... or not. Seems that whoever had gotten a hold of my phone had called Adeline, because she's the first name in my list (seems there is some benefit to having a name that starts with A, after all.) Whoever had my phone doesn't speak English, so I guess he just accessed the Contacts list and pressed 'Call' on the first name he saw. So Adeline got this call from (supposedly) me, only it was some guy speaking English (presumably because he knew the phone's display was English, therefore the phone's owner was American, and therefore anyone he called would be American), saying 'I don't speak English very well" in a Chinese accent. She thought I was joking around with her, haha. But of course they figured it out and he asked her to meet him at a restaurant on Zhang Yang Lu which, obviously enough, is where the Jamaican place is. So that's why we ran into each other :-)
Very strange. As of that meeting, she hadn't met up with him yet, so it remains to be seen whether or not I'll see my phone again. I would be very surprised if I did!
But shit, really, two times in two months is a little excessive! I should chain the thing to my waist or something ...
Since I'm meeting up with Charles tomorrow morning to go to Hangzhou, I used Tim's phone to call him and let him know not to bother calling me. But who I really needed to call, and whose number I didn't have on me for Tim to use, was Adeline, who is taking us to Hangzhou tomorrow. Then I headed downstairs with my friends and begun to walk back towards the subway. We hadn't gone more than 10 feet when I saw Adeline walking our way! Imagine my shock. And the first thing she said was "You lost your phone!" My jaw dropped several feet, haha. ESP is real!
... or not. Seems that whoever had gotten a hold of my phone had called Adeline, because she's the first name in my list (seems there is some benefit to having a name that starts with A, after all.) Whoever had my phone doesn't speak English, so I guess he just accessed the Contacts list and pressed 'Call' on the first name he saw. So Adeline got this call from (supposedly) me, only it was some guy speaking English (presumably because he knew the phone's display was English, therefore the phone's owner was American, and therefore anyone he called would be American), saying 'I don't speak English very well" in a Chinese accent. She thought I was joking around with her, haha. But of course they figured it out and he asked her to meet him at a restaurant on Zhang Yang Lu which, obviously enough, is where the Jamaican place is. So that's why we ran into each other :-)
Very strange. As of that meeting, she hadn't met up with him yet, so it remains to be seen whether or not I'll see my phone again. I would be very surprised if I did!
But shit, really, two times in two months is a little excessive! I should chain the thing to my waist or something ...
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