What I Learn About Da Hu So Far - Part 5

In this final segment of the "What I Learn In Da Hu So Far" series, I am going to talk about the people in Shanghai.

I love them.

They are so much more civil than their counterparts in the South.

Let me tell you what happened a couple of weeks ago.

I followed my delivery crew to one of my client's warehouse for delivery as I wanted to see the actual operation first hand.

We were at the loading dock where it was elevated so as to be at the same height as the container for efficient loading/unloading.

When we got there, the warehouse crew was scrubbing and hosing the floor. Apparently, someone has broken something fluid during unloading before us.

The cleaning up was done just as we arrived as the cleaning crew was dumping the big bucket of water off the loading bay into the drainage grill below.

It almost got us as he didn't realise we were down below.

My driver jumped and blurted "哈哈. 没弄到我! 好险!" (Translate: Haha. You missed! Phew!)

The cleaning crew was most apologetic but at the end of it all it was no harm, no foul.

Had this happened in South QQLand, you'd be sure that your father, your mother and your mother's genitals would have been cursed to death.

Still, compared to the Capital, it still fell short, albeit a little.

I was at the subway train station where everyone was required to place their bags through the x-ray prior to entering the platforms for security checks.

What I noticed are the people just ignoring it and walking pass despite prompting from the security staff. It's the power of the masses in action, as the helpless security staff couldn't do anything about it. You can stop one but while doing that, you let the other 9 walk right pass you. The one that you stopped would start arguing why he/she is being victimised while the other 9 gets to just walk by? Earning minimum wage, I assumed, it was just too much work for the security staff to enforce the check.

I told one of the security staff, as I put my bag through the x-ray, that I feel sorry for his helplessness.

"人的素质问题吧." He quipped.

I nodded in agreement.

I have not encountered such situation when I was in the Capital.

The folks in the Capital, especially the elder folks, are affectionately known as 老北京.

There was once I stopped to ask for directions and this one old chap was so helpful that he was ready to climb into my car and guide me all the way there.

Bless his awesome big heart.


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- Voxeros

What I Learn About Da Hu So Far - Part 4

As expensive as Da Hu may sound to be, the food can be very inexpensive. It's a situation very similar to the Capital where a person may have a full, well fed stomach but still have to sleep on the streets.

• JayWalk Online (04 Jul 2012) - Bao In The Capital

In a way, that is your indication of the wealth-poverty gap between the haves and the have-nots.

While you can have dinner that goes easily go up to 4-figures, you can just as easily find food for mere pittance.

It very much depends on where you are in Shanghai. There are the expensive affluent districts and there are the more humble ones.

Due to the fact that I need warehouses i.e. large areas of land, my office-cum-warehouses are more often than not, located in some obscure ulu location. The up side is that the food is cheap there.

That was my breakfast above. A bun and a Chinese prata for a princely sum of RMB 2.00 (SGD 0.40).

The two tofu buns that I had the other day (picture left)? RMB 1.00 (SGD 0.20).


The problem with ulu places is the hygiene level. The place is damn dirty with folks simply sweeping their garbage out of the streets with their children playing in the dirt right next to it.

You know how when we were taught in primary school, during Health Education, to avoid street hawkers so that we don't kena cholera, typhoid and other types of food poisoning risk?

We were taught the perils, other than unhygienic practices, of dust, airborne diseases and exhaust fumes contaminating the food?

To be honest, it is not that we ignore these warnings but rather given the environment that we are in, we have no choice.

The place is like that. What can you do about it?

This place is definitely not for the likes of XiaoMing, Siti and Muthu.

So far, I have not encountered any runny tummy trouble since moving to Da Hu.

Perhaps, it's my stomach of steel.

Shrugs.

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- Voxeros

What I Learn About Da Hu So Far - Part 3

There are many property web portals and I have learned that they are all bullshit. I would even go to the extent of calling all of them crooks.

Nothing you see is real. Even if it were genuine, I have already lost faith in these web portals who purportedly claimed that they cut out the middle man and that any misrepresentation would have been easily exposed and reported since it is the web where everybody is free to leave a comment.

Again. Bullshit.

The above was a "picture" of an apartment within walking distance to the train station and at a rate well below my budget. Naturally, I was delighted initially but my skepticism soon crept in as I started taking a big pinch of salt. Still, there was this small part of me secretly hoping that I had struck the lottery.

Below is the front page where they advertised a studio apartment at RMB 2000 (SGD 400) a month. It is very cheap by Singapore standards but please be reminded that we are in QQLand. Shanghai. Sibeh ulu part of Shanghai.

(Click Here To See Actual Page)

I went down to a property agency and I asked about the market rate of a studio apartment of the above property and I was told that the rental on average was RMB 4600 (SGD 920), which I felt was a more realistic figure. Naturally, I was rather upset at the discrepancy between the advertised rates and reality.

I then asked about a few other properties in the vicinity and the discrepancies is about RMB 1000 (SGD 200). While SGD 200 may not sound like a lot but it is a alarming 30-over % discrepancy.

Obviously, these so-called "apartments" are baits to entice you to call them and they lure you in for the slaughter.

Bait-n-Switch.

I found another 2 pages of 2 different properties.

(Click To View Actual Page)

(Click To View Actual Page)

See anything wrong with them?

Click on both properties and look at all the photos.

They are friggin' identical!!

How can two different properties have identical layout, furniture, everything??

All I can say is that this supposed agent for supposed Century21 (I keep saying supposed coz I can't even be sure if he is an agent of the said agency) is a swindler.

Scum.

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- Voxeros

What I Learn About Da Hu So Far - Part 2

It takes a while to figure out the public transport in every new place.

For those who are familiar with peak hour conditions of QQLand public transportation, can be a very big challenge.

• JayWalk Online (07 Nov 2012) - Peak Hour In The Capital

So it's the taxi service, in the interim, to get around.

I am putting up at a friend's place (rent free) but it is a wee bit far away from my office.

For now, cab fare getting to work and back is about RMB 50 (SGD 10) each way. Multiply that by 26 wucking days, it's a rather hefty RMB 1300 (about SGD 260) a month.

Still relatively cheap by Singapore standard but lest you be reminded, I am not in Singapore.

I was late the first day of getting to work on my own. I was waiting for cab at the wrong places. They were either occupied or heading in the wrong direction.

I did a search for taxi service apps for the mobile phone and discover there were many. I downloaded them all and tried then all.

None of them worked, as I was not able to secure a single successful booking. Getting home from work is even worse as it is damn ulu to begin with.

That was until I discovered 大黄蜂 (literal translation: Big Yellow Hornet).

I started to notice the few cabs that I took had their mobile phones mounted on their dashboard with this app on their screen. I had a good chat with the drivers and realised quite a large number of cabbies uses this app. This new app is rather popular among the cabbies due to their generous subsidies to the cabbies. I think it is good strategy to encourage adoption rate as long as the software developer has enough start-up capital to sustain the initial burn.

Unlike our Comfort-Delgro app which is run by the taxi company i.e. a surcharge imposed, this one is very much like Tan Kin Lian's Taxi Automated Booking System (TABS), which I suspect is defunct as I can't find it anywhere on Apple Appstore. It is an independent software linking up cabs and passengers, bypassing the taxi company.

Like TABS, there is also the option to add tips to entice the cabbies to take up your fare ahead of other passengers, especially during peak hours.

The downside, especially during peak hours, is that you need to book a little in advance as the wait for the taxi to actually show up is about 20 minutes.

If you need a cab right away, it is better to just stand out there on the street and try to flag one down. Again, you will need to figure where to wait for the cab.

Payment for me is via their EZLink card which is very good in the sense you don't have to deal with pesky change after you paid your fare.

Always, take the receipt regardless if you need it or not.

I made the mistake of not taking the receipt and the cabbie made off with my iPhone when I carelessly dropped it.

It was totally my fault as I let my guard down since Shanghai and Beijing are so much safer than cowboy town D0ngguan.

As the saying goes, low crime doesn't mean no crime.

It was a very expensive lesson

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- Voxeros

What I Learn About Da Hu So Far - Part 1

If there is one word to describe Da Hu. What would it be?

Vibrant? Modern? Sophistication? Exciting?

I supposed everyone has a different answer to that question.

Me?

The word is Money.

Yes.

Money.

The city is all about money and the thirsty quest for more.

Money opens any and every door ahead of you. You just need to have enough of it.

I have quite a number of friends in Da Hu and upon hearing my arrival, their phone calls came fast and furious seeking to meet up.

So one of the nights, I met up with some friends at this upscale place called Bund18 where it is an old UNESCO award winning heritage preservation building. The inside has been converted to high-end luxury goods store with Club Cuvve (see above and right), where I was headed, occupying the fourth floor.

The damage for one night of clubbing? About RMB 7000 (about SGD 1400).

Good grief.

It is easy to make friends when you have money as some of these folks are like sharks, who smelled blood from a mile away, making a bee-line in your direction. Where all credit is due, they are straight forward about it and made no effort to disguise.

Everything, it seems, has a price tag.

Ultimately, it is a transaction where you decide whether to go ahead with it. Or not.

I supposed it is fine if you have buckets and buckets of money stash in the crevices of your sofa but there are those who got caught up with the glitz of it all that they failed to understand that you need very very deep pockets to keep up.

These are the folks who get wiped out first. It is not that they don't know how to play the game but rather, the fact that they don't have enough chips to remain at the table to see the game to the end.

It is not before long that these people get themselves enslaved by credit cards and other form of debts that they eventually fall off the radar.

And guess what?

Nobody will notice their disappearance into oblivion.

It is just a matter of time, short time if I may add, before the next fool shows up and take the seat that was vacated earlier.

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Image Credit: http://www.zjgxw.com; http://api.ning.com/

- Voxeros