I love puzzles. The challenge of finding where a piece goes, reasoning what shape or colour fits a space, the satisfaction of making whole what was in pieces, that satisfaction of completing the picture. But when Margaurita gave me a Rubik’s Cube for Christmas that all changed. My excitement turned to frustration, followed by annoyance, then hopelessness and finally obsession.
My Rubik's Cube
It wasn’t long before I had mixed up the colours on the cube, and I was confident that I would be able to figure it out with a little patience but I was either wrong or I ran out of patience as the cube drove me crazy for the rest of Christmas Day. I couldn’t do anything else until I had figured it out. At best I could do one side but the other five had me stumped. So I turned to Google for some help and found out that solving a Rubik’s Cube is a matter of learning several long and complicated algorithms. After spending most of the afternoon following various step by step diagrams I was eventually able to restore my Rubik’s Cube to its rightful state and could finally put it down = the worst Christmas present.
Solving it once wasn’t enough though. Just like 15 years ago when I decided to teach myself to juggle (which came in handy for the EF Christmas Show 2009), I was determined to teach myself to solve the Rubik’s Cube. So my one and only New Year’s resolution for 2011 was to be able to solve a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube in under 5 minutes. Well a couple of months later, after memorising several complicated algorithms and lots of practice I have achieved my goal. Watch me in action in the video below = the best Christmas present.
It’s one of the first things you think about when you are going to a new country; what currency do they use and what the exchange rate is? So here is a breakdown of the Chinese currency, what it looks like and what it’s worth.
My wallet full of Chinese currency
The official currency of China is the Renminbi (RMB), while the unit of account is the yuán (Symbols: ¥ or 元 Code: CNY). One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo while one jiǎo is divided into 10 fēn. You don’t really have to worry about fēn though as you won’t ever see them. Sounds simple enough but when I first got to China I didn’t here the word yuán from the local store owner but rather kuài which is how the yuán is known colloquially, likewise the jiǎo is referred to colloquially as máo.
So with that all cleared up here are some photos of the various denominations notes and coins that make up the Chinese Renminbi. As well as pictures of each I have also included the equivalent value in US Dollars (US$) and South African Rand (ZAR).* Continue Reading »
The 6th of June in China this year was Dragon Boat Festival and we went to Shanghai for the holiday. I say Dragon Boat Festival but before you get your hopes up I must tell you we didn’t see any boats, never-mind Dragon Boats nor did we partake in any cultural festivities of any kind. Like most public holidays around the world, in my opinion, most people don’t care why or what they are about just that they don’t have to go to work. That was the case for us anyway so with a 3 day weekend we headed to Shanghai to stay with a friend that I had worked with at EF but who has now moved on to an editorial position with the Shanghai Daily Newspaper. Their apartment is in a nice area just a 15 minute walk from West Nanjing Road metro station and on Friday night we were greeted with this view from their balcony.
6 second exposure of the Yan'an Elevated Road in Shanghai
It might not be environmentally friendly but I must admit that the neon lighting along the elevated roads and overpasses makes for a pretty scene. Just after arriving we took a walk to see the centre of this 4 level highway overpass which is a pillar clad in a metal fresco. There is also a circular elevated pedestrian walkway over the intersection where I took this panoramic image from.
The Yan'an & Chongqing Road Multilevel Interchange, Shanghai panorama
We woke on Saturday morning to drizzly rain so after a quick coffee and pastry down the road we headed for the Shanghai museum, something neither of us had done yet and given the inclement weather why not? The museum is located in People’s Square and on our way there we chanced across Continue Reading »
Beigan Shan(Mountain) is more of a hill that divides Xiaoshan into North and South. I used to drive through it via tunnel to go shopping and now I can see it and the monument on top of it from my apartment but in all the time that I have lived in Xiaoshan I haven’t gotten round to climbing it.
Google Map of my area of Xiaoshan and Beigan Mountain
I could say that I was waiting for a clear day and there is some truth in that but you can count the number of days with high visibility in China on one hand so this last weekend the weather forecast looked descent and so we woke up early and set out to climb the mountain and see pagodas and monument up close.
Panorama at the bottom of the stairs of Beigan Mountain
With a backpack carrying water and snacks, and cameras in hand climbed the first set of stairs to this plaque of Chinese characters with the view slightly spoiled by the workers hut to the left and especially his underwear hanging out to dry. So we didn’t linger and headed straight up the stairs to the Continue Reading »
Taking advantage of the mild weather we were out taking photos yesterday afternoon in People’s Square, a large park just down the road from our apartments. Apart from a few youngsters having rollerblading lessons there weren’t many people and not much going on in the park but we did find a whole lot of white doves flying around in one corner of the park and so I took the opportunity to put my Canon 550D camera to the test and try to catch some action shots of the doves in flight.
Leaving the pedestal
They were flying back and forth between this pedestal and a fountain where they were drinking water so there was lots of opportunity to capture them but it wasn’t that easy. They move faster than you think. Increasing my shutter speed to 1/4000th of a second made capturing them in focus easy and produced some great Continue Reading »
We were told only a week before that the school was having its sports day (or days) last week Thursday and Friday. Not only that but we were on the teachers team number 5 and were to report to the canteen after classes that day to practice jump rope. Needless to say I was hopeless with my timing as was always the one ruining the rhythm with the group jump rope so it was decided I would be running. How far was still unknown.
We all know stretching is important
It wasn’t until our 2nd and last practice the day before that we found out the running option was in fact a 6 x 150m relay. Each runner having to run half way around the slightly smaller than regulation track. It isn’t too far but the nerves then started to kick in. I can handle losing in a 100m dash, but dropping the baton and disappointing 5 other team mates wouldn’t go down well. So we did a few practice hand off runs at jogging speed and that was it. See you tomorrow. Friday came and it was 41 degrees in the shade; the hottest day we’ve had this year. Continue Reading »
and my first ever attendance of a Grand Prix after following it on TV for more than 10 years.
The layout of the Shanghai F1 Circuit Photo: carreracupasia.com
The Shanghai F1 Circuit was inspired by the Chinese character “上” (shang), the first character in the name Shanghai.
Last year I thought about going but didn’t get around to arranging leave early enough as then I had to work on weekends and had already put in leave for my attempt of the Great Wall Marathon. This year however, working a regular Monday to Friday week it was on; although getting tickets wasn’t all that easy.
I even went to the track 2 weeks before the race and was just given a phone number to call. I couldn’t buy tickets there but could reserve them over the phone and they would send them to me if I was in Shanghai, which I wouldn’t be 24 hours later. Eventually managed to get them via a local tourism website and not wanting to fight for a good spot on the grass went for next grade up in Grandstands B5-8 but you couldn’t choose your seat, it was just luck of the draw.
3D seating plan for the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix (Photo:smartshanghai.com)
Thankfully the Metro Line 10 was open for both days (which it wasn’t in 2010) so getting to and from the circuit was easy enough. The plan was to get out to the circuit for qualifying which we did and as we walked from the Metro station towards the circuit we could hear the whine of a F1 engine being revved and I started to get really excited. The queues weren’t to bad as we made our way into the track area and up to our seats which turned out to have a great view. We looked straight down the start/finish straight, could see the pit lane and the team garages, we were also high up enough to see most of the track and so could track cars as they sped around the rest of the circuit. Check it out…
The view of the Shanghai F1 Circuit from my grandstand seat
As I sat there, looking down on the track I couldn’t believe I was actually about to see a F1 car in person, witness a qualifying session live and hear the sounds so many commentators have referred to for myself. It was Continue Reading »
Apologies to my subscribers. It would appear even after 100 blog posts one can still make mistakes and I realised, too late, that several of the links in this new post email notification didn’t work or opened up a new page asking you to enter a username and password. I’m sorry for this error on my part but I have fixed it now so you can read any of the Top 5 List posts that I mention below with a simple click. Enjoy.
Many thanks, Rory
This is my 100th blog post and I suddenly felt under pressure to make it memorable and special to celebrate the milestone. Or is the milestone of 100 enough and should I just continue on as I have been? This last weekend we went to Shanghai for the Chinese F1 Grand Prix and while I’m working on a post with a full account of that experience I thought I’d share what I believe is the magic of Shanghai; the lights at night.
The Shanghai World Financial Centre shadowing the Jin Mao Tower as the full moon rose
We emerged from the Metro station on a clear night to catch the full moon rising into the night sky behind the Shanghai World Financial Centre (SWFC), the tallest building in Shanghai, beautifully lit with a blue trim and shadowing the Jin Mao Tower in front to produce this amazing scene.
After a sushi dinner and a coffee at Starbucks, luxuries we don’t have in Xiaoshan, we went for a walk on along the river where you can look across to The Bund. The buildings are all lit up at night making for a beautiful skyline with traditional buildings in amongst modern skyscrapers not to mention the endless stream of boats on the river with neon lights from aft to stern. It’s breathtaking and here is a panorama to give you a fuller sense of just what it’s like.
NB: Click the image to enlarge
Panorama of The Bund, Shanghai as viewed from the Pu Dong side of the river
While I work on my next post all about the F1 Grand Prix I thought you might like to check out some of my other blog posts that you may have missed over the last 18 months.
The numbers above can be skewed by google searches with people wanting to find out info on my camera of choice so here is a list of the posts which prompted the most comments.
The above were also skewed somewhat by being featured on the WordPress homepage as a result of their Freshly Pressed program that features blogs that they think others will be interested in so there was some overlap. So my final list is some of my favourite posts that I enjoyed writing.
The top 5 posts based on my own personal opinion (in no particular order):
So, thank you and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog over the last year and a half. Don’t forget to comment if you have something to say or share a post with your friends.
Three months ago I bought a Canon 550D with the 18-55mm kit lens, as you may have read about here, and haven’t regretted it since. However it wasn’t long before I wanted more. I wanted more options, more versatility and more zoom So the search for a second lens began. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m an amateur and newbie to photography, especially SLR photography but forums and reviews across the internet help out a lot these days and I embarked on an extensive research exercise. After months of looking at the options, reviews, test shots and user opinions I settled on this.
my new Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS lens
I still don’t understand half of the technical jargon, so I’ll spare you those details, but here are the reasons I chose this as my next lens as well as some test shots to show you the difference it makes. Continue Reading »
So we started the second semester at school which was bit of a shock to the system but there was light at the end of the tunnel because in a few weeks time the school was taking all the staff on a trip, something to look forward to. I asked where we were going only to be told some unpronounceable provinces and that we would see some flowers. What flowers I asked and the local teachers said “Rape Flowers.” At first I thought it was just an error in the translation of the Chinese name but I remembered our gardener in Zimbabwe used to grow Rape as a type of spinach and it is also known as Canola. So it has a very unsavoury name but a beautiful bright yellow flower which is what we were planning to see.
Rapeseed flowers
I say planning to see because the weather forecast wasn’t great and temperatures were still in the single figures, not conducive for blooming, as we left school on the Friday afternoon. We climbed onto one of the three buses only to discover that children were allowed too. The whole tour group totalled 160 people with lots of young kids hyped up on sugar and a 3.5 hour bus ride ahead, it wasn’t looking good. Continue Reading »
I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and click-through the 3000 odd photos I took while on our 3 week holiday in Africa. As well as choosing the good ones and deleting the many bad ones I have also taken the time to digital stitch several photos, that I took intentionally, to produce panorama images of some of the landscapes from Victoria Falls and Cape Town with some fantastic results if I say so myself.
NB Click on the images to see them larger
Panorama of the Devil's Cataract at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
I have been researching what lens to buy next for my new Canon 550D SLR camera. Of course it would be great to have a wide-angle lens for photographs like these but with amateur results like this from digitally joining photographs together perhaps I can put that off for a while. If you like the photo above check out the rest here. Continue Reading »
With only a few days left we had done most of the must see items on our list so it was time to just kick back and relax. That being said I had some doctor’s appointments, just checkups, not being daring enough to trust the Chinese medicine practitioners or their propensity to prescribe dried plant roots over FDA approved antibiotics. I got the all clear from the dentist but the dermatologist was a different story and I was scheduled for minor surgery the following day. I won’t bore you with the details but all went well.
my mom and Di catching up on the deck
By chance our trip happened to coincide with one of my mother’s best friends 60th birthday celebration. Her family and ours have been friends as long as I can remember as well as having gone on several holidays together over the decades so it was great to be there for that and catch up with some old (no pun intended) friends. The weather was just perfect for our last couple of days as you can see from the photo above. As is customary with the bigger birthdays, Di made a speech which was very funny as she ran through how each of the people there that night fitted into her life with the backup of a slideshow with a few surprises but it was after dinner that the party really started… Continue Reading »
With just one week left in Cape Town we still had a few must see things to do but as many of you will know the weather in Cape Town isn’t very predictable so when the day dawned clear and still we took the opportunity to go up Table Mountain.
The magnificent, flat-topped Table Mountain, Cape Town
We didn’t hike up the mountain but before you accuse us of being lazy, it was just because time was short and we had to make the most of it. So we booked our tickets online (a R10 saving), packed a cooler with drinks and snacks and set off for the cable station. Continue Reading »
Leopards, jaguars, white lions, hyenas, jackals, wild dogs, caracals, Serval cats, a honey badger and a reptile enclosure. All this can be found at Jukani Wildlife Predator Park according to their pamphlet that was lying around in the cottage.
Jukani founder Jurg Olsen with one of the lions
With a photo like that on the cover of the leaflet and a map on the back detailing that it was just off the main N2 highway, a mere 20 minute drive from where we were staying how could we not go? A quick phone call established they were open and 16:00 was the feeding tour. Continue Reading »
It was early as we started on the N1 highway out of Cape Town. Just the other side of the Huguenot Tunnel, which is nearly 4 kms long, we emerged to sunrise and a rather hazy morning however the Du Toitskloof mountains could still be seen towering above us on both sides.
On the N1 highway towards Worcester
Next up was breakfast on the side of the road near Barrydale with the backdrop of the famous Cape Fold Mountains (see photo below) that separate the temperate coastal region of the Garden Route from the Continue Reading »
Welcome to my adventure teaching English in China. This blog will document my journey to this foreign land, as well as photos and videos my experiences along the way.
Why Rory Alexander is in China 