Travel stories and photos and the occasional life lesson

Photos of the temporary residence prove that I now have peace of mind. Come visit! I mean it. I purchased kitchen and bathroom supplies already.  I intend to get the local experience more than in times past.

I just made the walk from my apartment to the Village in about 7 minutes. There is a fruit cart right outside my building. I think I’ll even hang things on the wall….  I thought the jet lag skipped me but I have just noticed that after sleeping through the night I am ready to sleep again at about 11pm Texas time. That’s 30 minutes ago. I am working through it by staying up and active.
I ate a most wonderful local dinner last night. I got my own subway pass. I spent two hours in a cab today going what seemed like about 10 km.  That’s enough to make me sick.  NO more cabs for awhile.  I love to walk and I love the subway.  I’ll call Tracy (my connector friend) this evening. I also need to see Steven, my new bowling buddy. They are both courtesy of Lucy.

I am GLAD to have my own place. It’s walking distance from all the social stuff for days and nights.  I walk to a grocery store too.  I am attending a Strawberry music festival this weekend in Beijing. You can google it. There is also a car show that I may pass on.
As usual there have been some road bumps and I take them in stride:

cell phone was locked and not working; I tried the back-up phone- no battery- paid $5 and got a replacement battery- no charger- got a charger- free – now the original phone got “unlocked” so it works fine now – the old sim card expired – I had to get a new one- no big deal – I spent 2 hours today in a cab going about 5 miles – That drives me CRAZY and I get car sick.  It’s a strange culture here- It’s cool to ride in the car. The subway is so much quicker- I got a subway pass. I’ll be using that when I am not walking from now on. With my slick apple computer it is nearly impossible to get it hooked to the internet.  It’s a bit frustrating. I’ll get it corrected to have internet in my apartment- otherwise I’ll spend days in Starbucks- that’s right – all the way to Beijing to spend hours each day at a coffee shop- I don’t even drink $5/cup coffee or free coffee.

In the grand scheme of things-  I am getting settled in Beijing. I know my way around – I have cash in pocket- I am all good. As soon as I figure the Apple computer/ internet thing I’ll need a new challenge- maybe I’ll leave it as it is.

That’s it for this very moment.  I am also finishing up a (potentially) very large project. All good things.

Right now I am down in the lobby using a cable out of another computer that I plugged into my laptop. I already purchased soap, shampoo, a knife, cutting board, fry/ boil pot/ pan and a few cleaning supplies from the supermarket. I also bought towels

Greg Gordon Uncategorized

I arrived nearly 24 hours ago. I was TIRED by the time I fell asleep. It was past 10 pm Beijing time when that occurred. The journey to get here lasted nineteen hours from the Austin airport to the Beijing airport. My trip from the Beijing airport to my first night’s stay lasted another hour.

I am now in the process of finding a residence for my time here. The first one that I picked out fell through. I’m not scared. Also, my old China phone number expired. My slick phone that I thought I would use is locked. These are all small issues. I had trouble getting on the internet for a good while as well.  Again, all small issues compared to other goings on around the world.

As of this moment I have a phone number and phone that both work. I am using the internet on my computer, and I am about to meet with a person to discuss my temporary residence. This evening I have exciting plans. I will attend an auto show tomorrow, have dinner with an old Austin friend Friday night, and then experience a local music festival on Sunday with more western friends.

In the meantime, my video editing skills will get better, the Partymachines.com website will get a full on overhaul, and several other projects will be tackled.

Photos will follow. The most important part so far is that I am safe. Secondly, I slept through the night and remembered where I was when I awoke.

Greg Gordon Uncategorized Beijing, china, excitement, first day

All sorts of things come to mind as I prepare for my next adventure in China. Each trip over gets more exciting and comfortable. This time I arrive during my busy season in the U.S. so it will be more challenging for me to be okay being away. As always, I am challenging myself to be more productive (work and play) than the last trip. I imagine the warmer (than January) weather allows for much more opportunity. My living arrangement will be much more “local.” I move into an apartment versus a hotel this trip.

My hiking trips will occur each Saturday. I intend to be bowling at least each Sunday, and I will explore more on Sundays as well. A Cinco de Mayo celebration will occur with my fellow Texans in Beijing. Photos to follow….

More to come soon….

Greg Gordon Uncategorized