Departing Shanghai...
It has been an interesting journey here in Shanghai. I have to say that it really does feel similar to the Macau trip on my return back. I still remember my first day onsite. It was cold, rainy and miserable. I wasnt sure how things would end up. I remember Mclane showing me around and making me my lunch since there was nothing nearby or onsite. The time flew by. We must have worked an average of 60-70 hour weeks. The people that live in work in Shanghai are so much different than I ever imagined. Personal space isnt an issue, deodorant cannot be found and Im pretty sure the will not change their ways. Dogs run around on the street unleashed but are usually obedient following their master. Cabs are usually crazy and speak little english. The weather is normally rainy and windy. I actually really liked most of the food. We found some really excellent noodle and dumpling places for lunch. I always looked forward to lunch. This one place had these pan fried dumplings that were so good. I wish I had pictures. They would come in a small cardboard box that had a lid, and inside were 12 of these tubular dumplings very similar to blintzes. The flavor was hard to describe but a little garlicky and was filled with a pork mixture. You can easily pick them up with your foodsticks.
I was a little disappointed that I was not able to see more of the expo. I think Terrie actually saw more than I did. I didnt even make it over to the main site of the expo like Terrie did. The site was strangely barren without visitors later Saturday night, which was the opening day. I heard later, that its actually a holiday for the locals. Im really just mostly impressed with the architecture and the lighting on the buildings. There was one I noticed last night that must have had the most powerful spotlights I have ever seen. Of course since there is no regulations on what you do, you can put up anything. Across the bridges that span the river were hundreds of moving lights, big moving lights. I wonder where they all came from. None of them looked familiar, they must have been some chinese brand. Also, interestingly, each light was on its own scaffold, and had its own fire extinguisher right there.
I was not really able to see any of my friends work at all. I did go into the communications pavilion, which my friend Stephan worked on. It reminded me of Epcot about 20 years ago. Nothing spectacular. Two theatres with video projection. One had seat shakers with bubble machines and snow machines. The technology wasnt impressive at all. The pavilion only spoke about how communications has evolved. They gave you a little handheld device that didnt work very well. It would vibrate and flash something up on the screen. You typed in a username and password at first, that was never used for anything. I didnt see a sponsor, so im not sure what this pavilion was even for. I was hoping to see some technology, but I didnt see anything. I did however smell the most rank theatre ever. Its smelled badly of body odor. I almost walked out. I felt dirty after sitting in that seat.
So I am back in the US and happy to be with my wife again. I only hope that the guys that are still in Shanghai are able to make the system work reliably and not have many problems.
