Blocked, again

Blogspot is blocked in China at the moment. Perhaps it's because of a certain anniversary coming up this week...

In any event, I hope to find a solution (or that blogspot will be unblocked), so that I can update properly soon.

Thesis submitted!

72 pages later ... I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome.

I love you like a fat kid loves cake

As the photo above shows, I had a good birthday. Delicious cake and a fabulous party at Cotton's to celebrate mine and my friend Helen's birthday.

I'm now, officially, in my mid-twenties. Time flies.

Next week, there are more exciting things to come. On Monday, I will nervously hand in a printed copy of my thesis. After months of labour and now, a possible injury from working on my laptop too much, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And hopefully at the end, I'll see my MA diploma from Fudan as well.

Then, next Saturday I'm heading to Kunming in Yunnan province. My cousin Martin moved out there a few months ago, and my Aunt Mabel and Uncle Alan are coming to visit him next week. A mini family reunion is just what I need.

Straight Oota Canada

Get ready Shanghai, it's time for an injection of Canadia.

Starting next Friday May 1, a lineup of Canadian bands will be playing in Shanghai, including Creature, Socalled, Jets Overhead, and so on. And while doing research about said bands for an online Q&A piece, I also stumbled upon a Singaporean Canadian artist named Masia One, who I can't seem to get enough of at the moment.

I love the diversity of these artists' music: Creature is a Montreal dance-rock band that sounds like the B-52's, Socalled blends Jewish klezmer folk music with rap and hip hop, Jets Overhead is a indie rock/trance rock band from Victoria, while Masia One blends in SE Asian, Jamaican and west coast California vibes.

Go Canada go.

This is what I'm getting you for Christmas

Courtesy of the little shirt shop on Chengdu Lu by Xinzha Lu!

Vrooooooooooooom!

The rain wouldn't let up yesterday afternoon, but it made for a much more exciting Chinese Grand Prix.

We piled in with umbrellas, rain coats and ear plugs in hand.

Sitting at the Start/Finish line, we watched the race begin with a rolling start -- the race cars led by a beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful Mercedes Benz safety car.

A treacherously wet track with countless thrills and spills throughout the race.

The Jinqiao 8km run

Yaaaay, I made it!

The 8km race went swimmingly on Sunday morning, and I was left with a nice feeling of achievement after crossing the finish line. I came 159th in the race, and completed the run in about 48 minutes. A bit slower than I was hoping, but I'm just glad I didn't collapse.

The most challenging part of the run, I have to say, was boredom. I shouldn't have expected anything more. After all, Pudong's concrete suburbia doesn't really lend itself to nice scenery.

And here are my fellow runners... Phil, Weiwei, John and Helen (who just asked me to train for a half marathon in November!). Next time, we'll get Brett to lace up and run too.