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Hunan Cuisine
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Last night The Dragon Lady (Ping) treated us to a Hunan dinner. Fish, spinach (kinda, sorta), and some crunchy awesome veggie dishes. Fantastic! Hunan cuisine is spicey, but not as spicey as Szechuan.
Shanghai Nights
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Here's a Shanghai evening photo from The Bund of the TV Tower and river. The smog in Shanghai is not as bad as Beijing, but it's worse than L.A. Some days it's quite clear. Most days it's the same as in this photo. There are some great places to eat on The Bund that overlook this very view. Our favorite is M on The Bund.
Shanghai Custom Tailoring Field Day
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
We saw Marc Lesnick off today. He picked up 15 shirts and 4 suits on his way to the airport. We stuck around and ordered 16 shirts, 2 three piece suits, an Asian dress and 4 ladies shirts. All custom tailored, all for 3900 RMB all in. That's $500! If you're ever in Shanghai, the place to go is Shanghai ShiLio Pu Clothing Market. There were three floors and over 300 vendors.
Riddle Me Sushi
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Last night Marc, The Dragon Lady (Ping) and Irena and I went to the Jinmao Tower for sushi. 56 floors up (out of 88) looking out over Shanghai. The conversation turned to riddling. "What's greater than God, worse than the Devil, poor people have it, rich people need it and if you eat it, it will kill you?" I'll tell you the answer tomorrow. The left tower is the Jinmao Tower, the world's 5th tallest building and the tallest in China at 1381ft. On the right is the new Shanghai World Trade Center being built complete with night welding lights. It will be China's tallest at 1614ft. Fyi, the tallest building in the world will be the Burj Dubai in 2009. It's scheduled for 2600ft and 160 floors and is over 129 floors in this recent picture.
Crank Fix
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Irena had a shot at fixing the bicycle crank. What's wrong with this picture? :-)
After...
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
The new Irena...with short hair.
Before...
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Irena's hair as at 11am Monday morning. She's having her haircut short at 2pm...
Bicycle Oops
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Poor Irena. We were cycling out to our favorite coffee shop and work hangout and the crank fell off her bicycle. Perhaps it's an omen that we shouldn't be working on Memorial Day.
Chinese Massage
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
We've been working hard, and don't have the luxury of our ergonomic office chairs so we treated ourselves to a three hour massage on Saturday. 90 minutes of shoulder and foot massage followed by a 90 minute European massage. They applied just the right amount of pressure and found all our 'guitar string' tight spots in our backs. The cost ~400 RMB (~$60) each for three hours.
Create Creates The Rich Winner
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
I'm constantly amazed at the English translations in Shangai advertisements. Case in point, this sign in our apartment elevator. "Zhong Fang - CRED leans the strength in Sanlin tectonic plates to create creates the rich winner."
The Glamor Bar (ii)
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
We got the best mojito since the night we met in October 2005 on Marc's
balcony at his Upadkovy (cz: decadent) party in Prague.
The Glamor Bar (i)
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Last night, we met up with our new friends Justin and Annabelle who run
FastLife.com, a classy high-end ($70 a ticket) speed dating service. They
will return to Shanghai for 6 months and set up speed dating services here.
View From Kathleens5
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Wednesday evening (5/23) a few friends met for dinner at the outdoor
restaurant, Kathleens5
This is the about one-third of the stunning panoramic view.
Jinmao Friday Night
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Inside the bar at the top of the Jinmao tower after the end of the
conference.
World's 3rd Tallest Building, Jinmao Tower
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
The Jinmao tower in Shanghai is amazing. Here's the view from the top of 80+
floors, inside the 5 star Grand Hyatt that sits at the top, looking down to
the bar below.
Final Panel, With Beer
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Marc's final panels are often the highlight of his conferences. 90 minutes+
of panel Q&A, complete with beer.
Done Deal at Blue Frog
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Shane from Userplane seals the deal with Alif.
East Meets West At The Blue Frog Party
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Two of the smartest guys at the conference. Dr Wuttke, CEO of Germany's
be2.com meets Dr Song Li, serial entrepreneur and CEO of 96333.com.
Conference Party at Blue Frog in Shanghai
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Myself, Marc Lesnick (conference organizer), and Justin Parfitt (CEO of
fastlife.com).
Asian Internet Dating/Social Networking Conference
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
Attending the two day conference in Shanghai. 45 or so in attendance. Lots
of great sessions. It's a tough market and few are making significant money
yet. The government halved the already low maximum SMS billing fees to just
10RMB a month (7 RMB to a $) which hurt some of the major friends-making
players. Most Chinese have direct debit cards which can't be auto-rebilled.
Consequently, Baihe.com and 96333.com switched to high-end offline services
and annual billing.
Business Visit
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
My first business visit in Shanghai. Headed out to visit the CEO of World
Friends Networks so I can complete a review of white label dating services.
Shanghai Shopping Run - Day 1
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
For the price of a regular grocery run we picked up everything we needed to get settled in. Two bikes, blanket, food...loaded it all up on the bikes and carried it home.
Eat Like The Natives
Originally uploaded by mcbrooks71
The local Carrefour offers up great local food. This is China's equivalent
of fast food. Healthy, fast and fresh.
Beijing Layover
Originally uploaded by mcbrooks71
We were ushered to a holding pen in Beijing at the airport for three hours.
At least they had beer in the vending machine.
Halfway To China
Originally uploaded by mcbrooks71
Halfway in on our flight to China. I wish I could sleep on planes. Not a
wink did we sleep.
Hiking With Ace Club
Originally uploaded by Mark C Brooks
We organized a club hike at Loch Lomond in Silicon Valley and swam in the
lake for half an hour. Perfect weather. We happened upon this wood nymph as
we were walking back.
