Irreverently irrelevant.
Sysadmin, developer, web dude in a science research organisation. WordPress, Japan, planes, trains, Arduino, Raspberry Pi/Pico, puns, dad jokes, etc
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Pollution
We have experienced every type of pollution during our time in China. Air pollution so bad we can barely speak our throats are so irritated. The water we drink is always boiled or bottled. And as for visual pollution, well the list of ugliness is endless here. Guilin’s air has been the cleanest of our…
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No update
Network doesn’t work in our new room so no update tonight. Noisy Cantonese drove us out. Will take revenge tomorrow in HK.
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Floating on air
Is 431km/h the fastest we have ever travelled on land? I’m not certain it counts as we were actually floating above the ground. Today we caught the Maglev, the magnetic levitation train, between Shanghai and Pudong Airport. I think we finally worked out Shanghai metro’s ticketing system. You can’t reuse your ticket when interchanging between…
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Route Canal
Canals evoke the image of romantic travel in me. We passed through part of China’s extensive canal network during our approach to Shanghai. It looked very much alive, with barges and low boats carrying raw materials and finished products. Old wooden sampans moored beside decaying buildings or under low bridges illustrated the long history of…
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The Bizarre and the Bazaar
It’s much less effort to walk ten kilometres of the Great Wall than to spend an hour standing around clothes shopping. Oh my sore feet! At least the pain in the hip [pocket] was only mild, this being China. We were both feeling much better about China after a good rest and late morning! The…
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Shanghaied!
Something just snapped in me yesterday as we travelled through the yellow rapeseed fields from Yichang to Nanjing. Maybe it was the smoking, spitting, shouting, shoving migrant workers at Yichang railway stations. Or the polluted air, the disturbing sameness to the cities and the farms. Or frustration at my inability to speak the language or…
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Three Gorges
“I haven’t had enough sleep!” screamed my body as the alarm clock rang. No choice! We were meeting our guide Shirley down at the hotel lobby at 6am for our tour of the Three Gorges after only 3 hours sleep. It was misty, or smoggy, as usual as we drove out in our van on…
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The effects of globalisation on the Chinese culinary experience
We have been naughty. Very, very naughty. In our defence I can state that we were only following the instructions given to us by my colleague P2. But really, there is no excuse for our behaviour in a province with such reputation for its cuisine. For today we ate at McDonalds. We made a mistake…
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Panda Slam!
In one corner is Panda 1, The Bamboo Muncher. In the other is Panda 2, Backwards Walker. The battle begins with Walker waddling backwards into Muncher. They tussle in the bamboo, Walker on top, no Muncher, no Walker, Muncher. They chase around the enclosure. One climbs a tree, the other pulls him down. Back on…
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In the presence of a giant
As I write this a tradesman is in our bathroom attempting to get a decent water flow in the shower. I was expecting this in China, but the Minshan Hotel is rated four stars according to CITS. I’m not really complaining, for we have had a fantastic day, up there with our walk along the…