Fall~

Just FYI to all my peeps back home, the weather is absolutely beautiful now. Its about 65, sunny, blue skies (well what blue you can see past the haze) and breezy. This morning, on my way to work, dressed in jeans (an unthinkable action a few weeks prior) and a button up shirt, I noticed birds (or should I say bird-singular) chirpping. It was a pleasent 5 minute walk-if there were trees, I might see a flourish of colors-

And just so you all know, I'm in the tropics so that means-summer-hot as hell (pushing 100 and up), fall-like summer(65-70's) , and winter-like fall (45 coldest) and back again.

oh man, if only my kitchen had an oven, then I would bake pumpkin bread...

To my delightful surprise, I am getting comments and suggestions from other Shenzhen residents! To all my random readers- please feel free to email me at maddy.resnick@gmail.com

And now to add to the list of risque names:

1) Shwang Shwang-even if the spelling is off...the sound is there.
2) Metallica (i love this one!!!)


For all you who are planning to have kids one day, I highly suggest you refer to my wonderful list as a valuable resource for cutting edge baby names.

Further Chinese Names-

Thanks to my random readers (you should def tell me who you are) and more encounters...I proudly present the following additions to my 'Risque Chinese Names' list....

1) Apples
2) Agony
3) Coco
4) Venus
5) Gladiz (I like the 'z', excellent touch)
6) Cici
7) Ringo
8) Queenie
9) Angel

To the girl who asked about the Maddens-I have found other samples, not the exact ones in size 39..

There was this pair of leopard print heels in size 38...so hot, I wish they fit.

Cooking-

When you are as health conscious as I am, it only seems natural to want to cook. I am tired of the oily, msg filled Chinese food- so I decided tonight would be my maiden voyage for cooking. As you all know, my culinary skills are something to do be desired, but hey, it works for me and keeps me thin. Mom, I should have paid better attention to your instructions.

Tonight’s menu: Stir-fry Chicken, bok choy, mushrooms, tossed salad and kimchi.

The unfortunate reality of cooking is that you actually need to have utensils and ingredients, neither of which I actually felt the need to buy. So with nothing more than one cutting board, a small-ass pot (primarily used for boiling water for my coffee), one scary butcher knife, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and olive oil, I created the delectable masterpiece featured here. It tasted better than it looked, promise. My chicken was a little dry and my bok choy was def over cooked…in fact the best part of the meal was the salad (nothing more than iceberg and balsamic) and the store bought kimchi…whatever, it filled me up and I had enough for a dry, flavorless lunch the next day! Yum!

Next up, TOFU!!

A Miraculous Discovery!!

I found a small little grocery store that sells ORGANIC PRODUCTS AND HEALTHY FOOD!!!

Say what!?!!??!?! Yes, I bought, despite the hefty price, organic soy milk, muesli, brown rice, and whole grain crackers (the ones I used to eat at Aunt I's house)...

Total side note and shout out to Aunt I and Uncle H-

I remember going to my Aunt and Uncle's house and being hungry!! Yes, as a kid, you are always hungry, so naturally I would 'raid' (meaning carefully go through) the fridge and cabinets. Much to my disappointment, I would open the perfectly neat cabinets to find a single box of whole grain crackers, cheerios, pretzels and random organic/whole grain products I could not identify. The fridge was not much better containing immaculately packaged fruit, soup, and several bottles of water.

NOT EXCITING.

Disappointment being my obvious reaction, Aunt I would try, in vain, to get me excited about the whole grain crackers she had.
She would reach into the organized cabinets and extract the neatly sealed box.

"Maddy, these are SCRUMPTIOUS! Look, I'm eating them." She would nibble and chuckle, looking at me.

I always nodded in weak agreement, knowing I had no choice but munch on these dry, flavorless pieces of cardboard. If I didn't reach for them, Aunt I would continue to 'convince' me of the bountiful flavor bursting from the grains.

10 years later, these are one my favorite, light weight and crunchy snacks and you can imagine my delight when finding them in a little shop in the expat area (don't worry, they haven't expired yet).

Now when going to my Aunt and Uncle's place, I fee like a kid in an organic, whole grain, healthy, border-line flavorless candy shop. As Aunt I once did, its now me trying to convince Jeff that these foods are truly delicious (and healthy) and he should eat them. His response was often like mine, only eating what I had prepared for him for lack of anything else.

Thanks Aunt I for forcing me to eat all those then-gross-now-delicious foods!!

So much for my party!! No one showed...Ranajit and I ended up watching some weirdo version of black dahlia and eating food. Next time, we should really invite people. I'm going to have to plan a big party and then find people I like enough to envite over to my place.

However, the night was not a total bust, around 10pm, I headed down to seaworld to chill with some peeps. Ended up going to a Halloween party and dancing until 2.30 am!! Talk about cardio!! It was a fun night of devil costumes and crazy chinese dancing rhythm (which is almost as bad as white-boy rhythm).

Also, side note, I think that sometimes this website is blocked...so if you don't hear from me, don't worry.

SHOUT OUT TO CHUNG AND ZAK!!! CONGRATS ON THE ENGAGEMENT!!

Halloween~

I'm totally hosting my first party this Saturday night at my place. Granted its going to be like 10 people, but hey, a party is a party!! I'm celebrating Halloween with food, booze, candy, cool peeps, and horror (harror-as you new yorkers say it) movies!!

I'll be wearing my red pumps :)

Brotherhood of the Wolf.

I'm so f-ing envious! My bf met the kickass Indian guy from Brotherhood of the Wolf-only one of my favorite movies EVER!!!!

English Names.

It is a strange fact that almost all self-given English names sound risque!

The most interesting ones:

1) Cherry
2) Lucky
3) Sparrow
4) Hero
5) Sheena
6) Rainy
7) Q-go
8) Excel
9) Sandbank
10) Mini
11) Seven
12) Yoyo
13) Candy


I'll keep adding to the list.

Look everyone, I'm dating a star!!!

If you don't know the story, this is one, of many lines that Jeff used to pick me up.

Jeff, "you know the foodnetwork?"
Me," Yes"
Jeff, "you know Iron Chef America?"
Me, "I've heard of it."
Jeff, "You know Bobby Flay?"
Me, "Who? I don't really watch TV."
So much for dazzling me with his stardom.

Shopping.

After two, close to three weeks of non-stop work, I decided to spoil myself with a little bit of shopping. Considering I moved out to China with little more than I could fit in one suit case, it was def time to revamp my wardrobe.

As we ALL know, good fashion is extremely hard to find in Shenzhen...and mainland China in general. I will get in to my theory of Chinese fashion later...but I did manage to score some serious treasures (my cousin and uncle phil will be so proud). Due to the inconsistency of fads and China's style backwardness, I decided to focus all my efforts on finding the 'basics'. What is amazing about China is that all sorts of samples and strange items fall off the back of trucks and wind up on the black market. The place I went to specialized in getting pre-exported samples...you can only imagine..


My scores were as follows:

1) leopard print ballet flats $25USD
HOT!!I def did NOT think I would find these here.

2) lipstick red, patent leather round-toe pumps (currently made by Steve Madden http://www.stevemadden.com/item_image.asp?id=13202 Retail $79-I paid $25-yes these are production samples)
What girl claims she is a fashionista without a pair of these!???!! Mom, back me up on this one.

3) Chunky stacked black heels made by Sam Edelman-
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2901573/0~2376778~2372811~6005157?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6005157&P=1
Being sold in Nordstrom for $98-I paid $25-again, yes, these are samples.

Like artwork

4) Lined wool Bermuda shorts from a brand called Community-not sure about this label. Phil?
$25USD
It never really gets that cold here so wool shorts are the perfect way to go!

5) Cotton peasant shirt
$6.25
Way IN this season...and cool for the heat.

6) undergarments (2 bras and panties)
$5.75
no comment

In case you are wondering, the price for these samples costs more than the cheap crap people usually buy...but if you are willing to spend a little more, the quality is remarkably better.

Also, after dinner, a friend told me about a tailor who will make me whatever clothing I want!! First on my list, the bustier by Prada.

So, what do you think? Good day of shopping?

Mijung.

After two weeks of non-stop work, I finally ended my run by going to dinner with an old friend from Penn, Mijung. I am not exactly sure when I met her, but it was during my Junior year. We have a mutual good friend in common and it was all her fault that we got to know each other. Mijung is currently living and working in HK as an I-Banker. When Jamie (the mutual friend) found out that I was 50 mins by ferry to HK, she passed me Mijungs info so that we could hook up. Even though Mijung has no life, she managed to squeak me in for dinner at a chic underground Japanese restaurant. Its so cool having friends around the world who will make time to go out for sushi and sake.

Hong Kong.

My introduction to the fabulous city of Hong Kong was slightly more hectic than originally planned. I came in Monday morning and the day started ahead of schedule. I dropped my passport off across town and made my way to the trade show by 10am-a full half hour early. My boss and I ran through the isles of booths and electronic goods and ended up at the Ritz for lunch. After eating, we met up with our art director and finished the show. We headed to a meeting, also a half hour early and when it ended at 4.3o, I had a full 2.5 hours before I needed to get to my ferry. Well, here is where it starts to go down hill. I jumped on the MTR (hk public transit) and arrived at the travel agency at around 5.30. After sitting around for 30 mins, my visa finally arrived. I stopped off at the local expat grocery and picked up the November Vogue (very important since I can't find English magazines anywhere in my area-especially ones with good fashion). After finding my literary treasure, I walked along the streets, samples and catalogs in hand. About 1o minutes later, my feet were so tired from the days events I decided to head over the ferry, which was supposed to be only 5 minutes away. I popped into the nearest taxi and asked to go to the ferry. The driver said,"ok" and sped off. I arrived in a chic little port area and tried to find my boat to the mainland. Unable to locate the signs for my desired destination, I asked the nearest police man...who did not speak English. After sputtering out a few sentences and garbled questions in Mandarin, the policeman pointed down the walkway saying my boat was down 'that way." They mostly speak cantonese in Hong Kong, much to my dismay. I picked up my samples and catalogs and trekked along the water...which was absolutely beautiful. If I wasn't in such misery, I may have enjoyed it more...but I was in a hurry, tired, and hungry. 15 minutes later, I stopped asked a random police man and asked where the boat to Shekou was...he looked and me and said, "you're at the wrong port." WTF!? I jumped in a taxi and sped across town to the right terminal only to discover I had missed the boat by 10 minutes. What did this mean, you ask? I had to jump in a taxi- samples, catalogs and purse in tow, and go BACK across town. One hour later (time being 8.00pm), I had my ticket to Shekou in hand and sat down to eat in Mc Donalds (only place to get a decent salad in the entire terminal). I shipped off at 9.00 pm and stumbled into my apartment at 10.45pm. Basically, it took me 6 hours to get home. Wow, that sucked-but at least I got to see Hong Kong at its best!

a little complainin'

As you all know, I pretty much love everything about my phat pad in China...however, there are two things I want to bitch about.

1) The motion sensor light. The hallway leading up to my door is very dark and I usually spend about 10 minutes fishing for my keys. Once I find my treasure, I blindly poke at the key hole until, out of frustration, I stick my noses next to door and use my cell phone as a flashlight. It is only after I put my key in and am in the process of turning it, does the stupid motion sensor light go on...and yes, I have tried to doing the 'motion' sensor dance. It is ONLY after I turn the key. All this wouldn't be so annoying if it weren't for my second pet peeve.

2) My neighbor has the three disgusting smelling dogs. This girl, her boyfriend and three dogs (two cockerspaniels and a lab pup) live in this really small apartment next door...and during the weekends and late at nights, they leave the front door open. This would be fine because I love dogs...except when the 'dirty-dog' smell comes wafting down the hall in the hot, stale air and slaps me in the face. It is so bad, I usually have to hold my breath during the 'motion-sensor' fiasco. However, you all know I can't hold my breath for 10 mins so I usually huff and puff in shallow breaths until I make it into the sweet smelling air of my own home. In addition, the dogs are poorly trained and ALWAYS bark like crazy whenever I walk past. Ug!

Ok, I'm done.

Hong Kong

Today I went to Hong Kong and stepped out of my bubble of China and back into modernization. I spent the day shopping...well at a trade show...which is kind of the same thing. It was awesome. I totally love trade shows and seeking out cool new products. I don't have too much to comment on but I am going back tomorrow and thursday and friday and saturday. I even got a HK cell. I'm so cool, I have two cell phone numbers now (well...3 because i bought the wrong kind of sim card the first time around).

Alibaba

In the sourcing industry, most vendors put themselves on Alibaba. This is one of the best outlets to find suppliers and buyers. My company, Digital Dynasty is there.

http://digitaldynasty.en.alibaba.com/

I wrote the entire 'About Us' section.

Pretty cool to see my work in action.

http://flash.eng-corner.com/FSong01-1/FSong064.swf

My Chinese co-worker sent this to me today. Weirdest thing ever. Take note of the subtitles.

Made In China


Tuesday marked my first overnight visit to a Chinese factory. My company had a 10,000pc order that had to ship Thursday and the factory was not going to get it done. My office head found out and gathered anyone who could help. Naturally, I offered my services...little did I know, I would be working in a factory on the assembly line. We pile into a taxi at 1pm and arrive at the factory an hour later. The order is for notepads and we start doing QC on the 2,000 pcs that have already been made. Once those were finished, I found out that we needed to help manufacture the remaining 8,000 pcs! Say WHAT!? Its now 5pm and we have to make these note pads from the cutting of the paper, to the QC on the pieces, to the pasting together, to the packaging, shrinking wrapping, stickering, and then packing. Yes, I did it all, through out the entire night...come 3 am, I needed to rest and fell asleep for a few hours. Around 5 am, I got back up and got back to work. Around 7 am, I had a melt down and by 8am I was crying (though I told everyone I was getting a cold). Finally 11 am I returned back to my house, showered and crawled into bed.

I'll tell you something you probably don't know...all those 'made in china' stickers that you see on the back of EVERYTHING are manually applied. There is no machine that puts them on...some poor person has to place those stickers on back of every single piece...and tuesday night, that poor person was me. I probably pasted 5,000 f-ing stickers on the back of those note pads. Going forward, don't simply disregard those sitckers...take a moment and appreciate the work that went into getting that sticker into place.

Overall, it was certainly an experience. I now have a greater appreciation of what it means to be a factory worker. Granted I only did it for about 15 hours...but trust me, that was enough. I'm so lucky to be where I am and it took a full day of rest and a 3 hour full body massage to get back on track.

Jeffy~

I swear, I have the most wondeful boyfriend ...

Look what my boy wrote about me on his blog-www.jnovich.blogspot.com ;)

'I was hanging out today with my friend Dave, a sound guy I met back when I worked on a National Geographic shoot. He's a really cool guy and very experienced and I was telling him about Maddy -- how we met, how things are going, the fact that she's in China, and possibilities for the future. He gave me some advice that I think was dead on.

He said when you're trying to figure out which girl is the right one, (he's been married for almost a decade), you have to recognize if you have the best hand possible and bet on it accordingly. I love the fact that he used a poker metaphor, since I'm a big fan of poker and two years ago when I was playing a lot of poker I started making that comparison between decisions in life and decisions at a poker table.

Anyway, he said you don't bet too much on a pair, but the trick is to figure out if it's the best hand you're going to be dealt. I believe Maddy is my royal flush -- the best girl, the most perfect fit for me. All the girls that came before her were perhaps a high pair or two pair, but certainly nothing I should have gone all-in for. Maddy may be that ‘all-in’ hand.

I love poker metaphors. They make life so much simpler to understand. ;-)'

It is so endearing when your bf compares you to a card game.

Private Taxi

I was on my way to meet Aaron and I decided to take the bus. I can't really read the bus stops all that well so I usually just ask the bus driver if he is going to the area I am trying to get to.
After work on Sunday (yes I had to work this weekend), I jump on the first bus that rolled up near my office. "Are you going to Sea World?" The bus driver kind of grunted-which I accurately took for a yes, and I hopped on. Slowly, stop after stop, the crowded bus began to empty. About 20 mins later, there are 4 people on the bus-me and three young Chinese guys. The bus driver turned around and asked each of three guys where they were going...and the next thing I knew, the bus driver had kicked all the guys off the bus shouting at them to get out and go on to the bus behind us. The three guys stared at me in disbelief as they filed out of the vehicle. I laughed and told the bus driver that this was the most comfortable ride ever-it was like my own private limo.

The beautiful city of Shenzhen.

Yesterday my friend Aaron and I walked around Haishang Shijie (Sea World), the local expat hangout and scenic waterfront hotspot. It was beautiful. When you walk up to the beach front, you first notice this lovely statue of some water g-d who is making an offering of something to a g-d above or something like that. Basically, its a mermaid with boobs and since China has no real indigenous religion...its hard to say what g-d that really is. Maybe its just Ariel from the Disney movie.
Anyway, once you venture past this beauteous marble (or fake marble) statue, you make your way to the field. The rich green grass is offset with the rusty fence and broken down carts. Aaron tried to convince me so sit on the bikes...i almost did, but as I stepped up, I was like HELL no. I'm not getting near those things. Who knows whats on them! After we admired the stunning cityscape, we turned around to face the sea.

There were tons of people lined up, taking photos, and using the telescope to see the clear blue water. It was very hard for Aaron and I to decide the exact location that would capture the magnificent elegance of this fantasy wonderland. We decided to go with the garbage pile that best matched his shorts and hence, a photographic master piece was developed.

In case you weren't sure, I was being sarcastic. China can be so ugly...that it is disturbing.

Being Chinese~

Today was truly ground breaking for my Chinese, not because I improved drastically in one day, but because I was asked (twice):

你是中国人吗？

Are you Chinese?


Any person who devotes themselves to the mastery over a language is hoping, no dreaming, that they will one day be become as good as a native speaker. To be asked if I am from China is to realize that my Mandarin is actually good. Granted, this has been whispered to me over the last two weeks (i.e.-I was told that someone over the phone thought I was Chinese and my coworker said I am mostly American but a little Chinese), but to actually be asked the same question twice in one day is a definite indicator.

Naturally, I know that they don't think I'm Chinese per say, but they feel that my Chinese is fluent enough that I might actually be an American-born Chinese.

My answer is usually 'No, I am American'...but I think while I'm here in Shenzhen, I am a 深圳人
(shenzhen person)...so technically, yes, I am Chinese.

HOUSE

I am pretty much addicted to House (it's all Benny's fault-saw a snippet in RI and it perked my interest). I typically hate TV-its a total waste of time-but this show is good. Now that I have a lot of free time on my hands (i.e. no social life), I come home after work, plop down on the couch with my dinner and watch 5 episodes in a row. Thank goodness the entire first and second season cost me $2.50USD. Its a cheap addiction.

Outside my house there is this mobile shop of dogs...cute, purebred healthy dogs. They are there every night, and each time I go by, I pick up the same puppy.

This one.

I totally want him. What do you think? I'm home in the mornings, lunch time and evenings...

Anywhere else and I could carry him around, right?

(
Hua-Hua~
One of the craziest aspects of China is the labor-its talented and dirt cheap. Most people are not paid what they are worth--especially when coming from America.
Today was the last day of my mini-break and I wanted to pamper myself! I started by getting a 70 minute foot massage ($30RMB=$3.75USD) and then onto nails...

I get my nails done once a week because its costs $50RMB ($6.25USD) for both a mani-pedi. However, today I wanted Hua-Hua (flowers). This process takes about 1.5 hours and my nails are decorated with elaborate flowers in 10 different colors.

Total cost of my hand painted nails: $50RMB ($6.25USD). In the states, this would cost at least $45USD ($360RMB).

How is the labor so undervalued?

My thoughts are that when you live in a city of 11 million people, for every one job-there must be 10-20 people waiting in line. Kids and adults flood in from the countryside scavenging for work..and getting a position as a 'nail technician' probably pays next to nothing...along with almost every other blue collar (and white collar) job. Thus market competition drives the value into the ground and the cost of labor tanks. The sad reality is what little these kids (and full grown adults) make, close to half is probably sent back to their parents to help with their financial burden. Most people will struggle for their entire lives...especially young girls, whose only hope is usually to find a man, get married, and have 1 healthy baby boy.

Korean BBQ!!

Dinner with Ranajit and Jen--we went to Korean BBQ where they seated us in swings.

Ranajit kept cracking jokes including anything about 'swings'.


'This meal is going to move you.'
'We are going to have a 'swingin' good time.'
'We are such swingers.'

Anyway, they give us some bibs, bottles upon bottles of beer, piles of meats and veggies, and we did, indeed, have a 'swinging' good time.

The One-Stop Vending Machine.

I am walking to get coffee with Ranajit and Jen and I as I make my way through the metro station I see the one-stop vending machine.

Starting from the bottom up...

The first 2 levels have yummy snacks-chocolate, dried fruits, nuts, wafers, all the goodness one looks for in a vending machine!

The 3rd level has slightly more exciting and enticing items-like beef jerky, more yummy candy, pineapple juice, and gummies.

The 4th level, my personal favorite, has everything you need to complete your night after candy, dried fruits and pineapple juice...

cigarettes, gum, tissue paper and condoms (in that order from left to right)!!

wait..what!? you can buy these items in a vending machine!?

The 5th level returns to normalcy offering more chocolate bars, gummies, and gum.

What a machine! Who could ever ask for anything more from one mechanical goody box!?

Yom Kippur~

Today marked my first Yom Kippur overseas and, although there is no shul that I would want to attend, I did make sure to atone in my own way. I attempted to fast...which I did until about 2pm...thats a long time for a jewish girl that gets MAD cranky without food. I did, however, make sure to reflect on my sins and ask for forgiveness from those who are close to me. Once I got that out of the way, I felt I was in the clear to go about doing fun stuff for the rest of my day. Not so. I finished my atoning at about 2pm and then decided to have a little fruit (no major food-just the bare min.) anyway, I had a grapefruit type things is probably the WORST idea ever. My stomach hurt so bad that I had some crackers (which did nothing) and then had to crawl back into bed for a few more hours. I did not make it out of the house until 5.30 when I had plans to break fast with another Jewish girlfriend of mine. I wanted to go a little early so that I could buy a few more essentials (i.e. coffee maker). On the bus, I sat next to some random Chinese guy that decided he was interested in me. He got off at my stop and followed me to Walmart!! He followed me into the store-luckily, I'm quite keen, so I run inside, around a bunch of isles, down the escalator and out the door...and into a mall across the street. Thank G-d I blend...more or less. So much for my strategic plan to have a normal afternoon on Yom Kippur-filled with shopping and eating. Instead I get a stomach ache and then get stalked.
Trust me, I have learned my lesson.

However, once sunset hit, I had a fairly uneventful evening. Me and my friend Jen went to rotating sushi (Jeff is going to love it) . Basically the sushi is on these little colored plates that go around on a conveyer belt and you pull off the ones you want. So fun. About 30 plates and a bottle of sake later, we go back to walmart (i realized I still had no flatware and discovered my deep craving for dark chocolate...Jen needed some stuff for her cat). On our way home, we decide to get foot massages...which the place totally turned out to be cover for a brothel!! hottie chinese girls in low cut, sexy garb were sauntering into the backroom...and later being followed by Cantonese business men...very interesting...