Laxy, its a word...now (Lazy + Relax)

I finally gave up on being productive and have been spending my time at the $6- 24hour- spa across the street from my apartment. For those of you that know me and my fondness for spas, probably know that my 8 and 10 hour stints cannot be taken lightly. I've gone with a few friends, but they bail after 4 or 5 hours. I tell them with practice you can master 10+ hours. How do you not take full advantage of 8 baths (milk pool, rose pool, Chinese medicine pool, 3 whirlpools, cold pool, outdoor Japanese style hot spring like bath) swimming pool, sauna, stem room, lounge rooms with lazy boy with attached TVs, game room, and live show room. Its beyond my understanding how can one pass this up.

I left the spa yesterday day and didn't know what day it was. It sounds ridiculous but that’s what I do, apparently, for Chinese New Year holiday...

I've discovered an interesting phenomenon that happens when people leave for the holidays, you get the “what can I bring you back?” question over and over. I thought getting hongbao (red envelopes with money) was awesome, but this just adds to the holiday fun. I've requested spicy sauce from middle china, vegetables from the south, Taiwan and German medicine and some good old American Aveeno and hair care products. I will be better prepared for next holiday, perhaps a ready-made list is in order. All I need to say is “oh where are you headed, mind grabbing a few of these while you're at it...thanks”. Of course I need to be ready to transport crap back when I travel...the ying and yang of life you know.


4 Days left


Anne has become a vegetable
 

It always seems simple.

Seemed pretty simple, catch up on phone calls and emails, clean up/organized, try to get phone fixed. Also Buy a ticket to somewhere outside mainland for less than than $75, because this is the longest I've been on the mainland without leaving. I now understand the importance of those trips to Hong Kong were. The breaks are needed to keep you sane and it turns out 7 months is my limit. I wanted to go to Bangkok but my passport and visa had not been returned. Now that I have my passport, ticket are expensive and it would be INSANE to travel when 1 billion Chinese decide to travel. I know people that can handle that insanity, but I cannot.

Anyway, due to my poor planning, overzealous list making and non action taking method I forgot to buy IP cards from the guy on the corner (he went back to his hometown, wherever the hell that is). I was going to ask one of my Chinese friends to buy me a ticket somewhere for “the local price”, not the “the foreigner place” (alas, my friends have all left to go back to their hometowns throughout China)...The place I get the cheapest best quality cleaning products from, yup closed (all the folks have gone home). I'm not sure why I thought some of these people would be on my schedule and be accommodating. I thought I could go find the “Trash bag uncle”, but of course he's not around. Only thing I've successfully done is get my phone working properly. I spent 3 hours at the China Unicom (like Tmobile in China) store with a very determined man telling me that “he can do it”. I said “ok, lets see”. He was getting visible frustrated and cheering himself on in Japanese (GANBATTE! GANBATTE!) I asked if he was Japanese and most important, if he was going to be O-K. He said that it helped him focused. I told him “ok, you do you and what you gotta do”. He looked at me asked what did that mean. I told him “it means good luck”...

There is a big commerce conference coming with New Zealand, UK, African buyers. I imagine I will never see Joe again.


6 more days to go.


Anne is already behind.