Home Sweet Home

Well, we made it home. I have had good intentions to write about our last day in China and our journey home, but I have still been trying to get caught up (as if that ever really happens). Here it is, our last visit to the factory and our LONG flight home.


So here you see Jason (so pleasant in the morning) checking out one of the new Celsius boots. You can't tell from his expression, but he is really liking what he sees. This morning the factory had one of each of the boots finished for us to approve for the 2nd round samples. Overall they were on point and should be good to go for rep samples and rider samples too. I felt like the trip went well and we were able to improve the boots substantially from the first run, hopefully Kay does too.



It may not look like it here, but we are all still friends (I think). Jason hasn't been answering my phone calls or emails, but he is just busy, I am sure. I sent Kay a thank you note (because my mom taught me to do those sort of things) and she did respond (and not just because I buy her product, I think). The flight home was long, in reality it was shorter than going there and we arrived home the exact same day we left (thanks to the International date line). All of us couldn't wait to get home to our normal lives and families. The flights were full, and we all had to sit together in a row of 3 seats, sleeping wasn't happening for me as I had the middle seat (don't ask me about that, I blame Kay).

Once I got home, sleep became an issue. I would do my best to stay awake until 11PM or later, but couldn't sleep past 4AM. After 3 days of this I finally got smart, 2 Tylenol PMs and I was out for the count. I did that for 2 nights and I was good to go.

Overall China was amazing. I learned lots and had a good time, it was quite an experience. Hopefully it won't be my last trip to China.....

Last day in C-Town

So we are on our last day in China. We got up and went to the factory to look at the updated samples only to find out that they weren't quite ready. They were still in the process making the sample boots as well as finishing production for that company that shares the same # as Carl Malone, that other company that also makes food processors, and the company that sells to Costco. If you can't figure out who, then don't worry about it... Here is another peak at the factory.



I don't want to hear any of my employees complain any more. The photo above was from the factory at 10PM. They start work at 8AM and usually work until 11PM. Minimum wage in China is $1 an hour. Factory workers aren't the only ones working late. Even the retail shops are open the same hours.



Here is a sneak peak we got at one of the "competitor's" samples. I won't tell if you won't...



Did I mention that 900 employees live on the premises of the factory. That isn't all of them either. Some walk, others ride their mopeds to work. The factory makes a grip of shoes, flip flops, and boots. I am not sure exactly how many work there, but it is a lot.

So after going back to the office, heading to Starbucks for hot chocolate, political, philosophical, and religious conversations, we decided to do some more shopping. Jason found some sweet Levis, but there was a problem, they don't take credit cards and we don't have enough cash. The language barrier didn't really help make this transaction any easier. So we went to go get money, but we ran into a crazy down pour. I got soaked, went and found our driver, got the $ and saved the day.

After dinner we got the call that we were going back to the factory to check out the samples....



This is a photo of the agent (Mr. Min), and the factory guys discussing the production of the samples. Unfortunately they still weren't ready. You can only imagine how happy that made us, seeing that we leave tomorrow.



You can tell Jason wasn't too excited. Either was Kay. That brings me to my "Kay of the day" photo...



But they weren't really ready to commit to having our samples done until I gave them "the look".



They knew better than to piss me off.

We are going back to the factory tomorrow morning at 8AM to see the finished 2nd round samples. After that we are off to the airport to start our long trip home. Maybe in Korea I will write again if something interesting happens between now and then. What an experience. If only I didn't have to fly 26+ hours to visit here, I would do it more often...

Back to China

So last night we spent the night in Hong Kong. Today we got up and just hung out, did a little shopping, and got ready for the adventure back to China...


My mother will be happy. I finally bought a pair of dress shoes for Church to match (I hope) the suit my parents got me for Christmas. They were on a super Hong Kong special sale, they cost like $15 and are a really nice leather. Did I mention they are comfy too? Check em out.






I also picked up a pair of running shoes, you know for all the running I do, I just liked the looks of them. I think Ted and Grandpa Ted will appreciate the color. I am not so sure my mother or wife will aprove, but I am a big boy and can dress myself.

Not much else happened today. Jason also purchased a couple of pairs of shoes. It only took him 3 trips to the same store for him to decide if he was going to commit to purchasing them or not. Brenda knows how much I enjoy that (I am a go in and get it done type of guy).

The trip from Hong Kong to China was the same as before (but in reverse) except it only took 1 taxi and about 1 hour less time (because we knew what we were doing).

I received an email today that Cal didn't like the fact that we have eaten McDonalds so much. I tried to explain it to him that it was either McDonalds or a really bad version of Panda Express. So here is tonights dinner, enjoy. I know I did...

Notice I even got dessert. I love cheesecake, and you can tell it loves me (my belly continues to grow even in China)...

Hong Kong

So we had our last down day until we see the 2nd samples so we decided to take a short jaunt to Hong Kong. We were told it was a mellow bus ride (2 and a half hours). 4 hours, 3 different buses, 2 customs stops, and 2 taxi attempts later we did make it to downtown Hong Kong. for those of you who know Jason will understand this next photo...

Happy was not his middle name.

This all changed once we found this:

You can tell that Kay wasn't quite as enthusiastic about another lunch at McDonalds.

After we got a little food in us and figured out where we were, we were all a little excited to go out and see what the world's most populated city has to offer.


This place has it all. Any major brand you have ever dreamed about, had a store here. I think I saw at least 3 Louis Vuitton stores within 3 blocks, and they aren't just small stores.

Sorry mom, I didn't even enter the store, you know these bags are out of my price range.

So we have our "Kay of the day" photo. Today, as we walked on the harbor, we realized they have a walkway similar to Hollywood with all the Chinese stars' names and hand prints. This was done for Kay's son, Michael...

Yes, those are Jackie Chan's hand prints.

Jason, also thinking of Kay's son Michael, decided to show off his new "Bruce Lee" stance for the camera too.


Tonight we had an urge for Nachos, mexican food is hard to come by in the industrial section of China. When we found this little restaurant, we felt like we were home, even if just for a minute.


After dinner at the Hard Rock, we walked on the harbor. All the industrial buildings across the harbor were all lit up and it was quite a scene.



Well, it is time for bed now. Tomorrow brings another adventure, trying to cross the boarder again back to China. Not sure how we are going to manage this one, since we don't even have a clue as to where we catch our bus. It should be fun....

Driving

So every day I am amazed that we (1) haven't been in an accident and (2) that we haven't seen more accidents. We have our own driver, we have dubbed him "Mr. Mute" because we have yet to hear him say a word. I am a big fan of Mr. Mute, as he has saved us from many near death experiences on the roads in China.


The driving situation is much like that of South America and Italy, the lines on the road are merely suggestions or guidelines as to how many cars can fit on road and which direction you should travel. This photo below is of a "3" lane road, I think there are 7 vehicles using it all at one time. It doesn't stop there, right before the light changes if there is nobody in the on comming traffic lane, they will use that too. Most intersections don't have stop lights and it is a complete barging sessions, every car/bike/pedestrian for himself...


Since there are over a billion people in China, they don't seem to worry about losing a few lives to things such as accidents. I haven't mentioned this in previous blogs because I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I am embracing their "no worries" attitude towards child safety. Look at these photos and you tell me what is wrong with these pictures...






I can't believe they just have their kids in their laps cruising around on the sketchiest roads. Aren't all child seats/helmets/protective gear made in China? All I can say is wow. Why don't they just steal a few car seats and use them, or if you are cruising on a bike leave the kid home (even alone would be more safe)...

On the same sort of line, I wrote about how many people they can fit on a motorcycle. It is very common to see 3 people on a bike or scooter, but you even see 4 people. It is straight out of the circus. It isn't like I have seen 4 people on one or two bikes, I have seen it 5+ times each day. Today I finally got a photo of the "4 banger", enjoy...


We went to visit a clothing manufacturer today. He showed us all the types of things he can make for us, then he modeled a few things for us too. I can't wait to get some milo gear that this guy can create, I think I am going to give him complete control of our soft goods.....


Can you say "fashion victim"? Just kidding that this was the guy we went to see, he just had an amazing outfit that I had to share it with everyone.

Tomorrow we are off to Hong Kong. It is a 2 1/2 hour bus ride and will probably be quite an event. We shall see how it goes...

Vacation is over

We enjoyed our mini vacation. I played another game of golf (not any better than the first). It was only 100+ with 90% humidity.


Yes, Jason did win. It was hot, but it beats doing nothing...


Did I mention they had an island hole? You can imagine I didn't quite make it, it went a bit to the right...


So the currency in China is called Yuen, you can get about $750 Yuen for $100. The hotel we stayed at on the golf course was a 5 star hotel, with 15 foot tall ceilings in the rooms (it's own version of the manpod) and people everywhere to help you with whatever you may need.



So with the Olympics coming to China, of course most advertising is already starting to be based on the olympics, here are my versions of their ads (specifically to the Cokes I have been drinking since there is no Dr. Pepper here).



Tomorrow we are back to the grind, we are going to go meet with a clothing manufacturer to see if we can't make our own tshirt and other goodies. We are going to play it safe tonight, have room service and get ready for another fun filled day here in China.

Drifting, ever heard of it?

So today is the weekend and we didn't have to go to the factory or the office. The agent who works with the factory took us with his family and like 5 other families on a little trip to Xuan Zehn Gu Dong. There is an ecotourism park with what I thought was white water rafting. Come to find out it is more like a ride at Raging waters, a man made river and lots of people. The ride costs like $2 and it takes about an hour and a half to go down. It took 2 and a half hours to get to it (driving) then it took an hour fighting through the crowds. Since we were going to get really wet, I figured I shouldn't take my camera. That turned out to be the smartest move I have made this trip. Being the only 2 white dudes at this place, we stuck out like soar thumbs. Every chance the kids had to soak us, they did. In every mellow of the river run, the kids would yell hello and toss buckets of water at us. Don't worry, we wrecked shop and used our helmets (yes, we had to wear helmets) to drench them back. I don't think I have ever had to say hello so much.... Here are a few photos from the park's website:


If you are really bored, here is the website for the park:

http://www.qyxzpl.com/pl-e.asp

After that was all said and done, we drove another hour to a resort called Quingyuan Country Garden Island Hotel. Again, this place is gigantic, and unreal. It is hard to explain it because I have never been to anything like it in the USA. We are on a lake and will be playing golf again, it looks like it is a very similar setup to the country club we played at yesterday. The people we are with are amazingly nice and patient with us. Since Jason won't eat anything I am the guinea pig, they love to spin the center part of the table to me and tell me to try it. The food is good, some things are a little strange, like a chicken cut in half (vertically) with the head still attached, or the fish, with eyeballs included, ready to eat. I guess I am playing golf again tomorrow, because they won't accept no for an answer, Jason doesn't seem to mind since he plays golf and doesn't make a complete ass of himself on the course like me.


Since the previous posts have all had a photo of Kay, I snapped this one at dinner while everyone was getting loose with the "best" liquor in China. I guess it is the Chinese version of sake. She told me she wasn't going to drink if I didn't...... But I didn't and she did.



Well, I don't have much more to add today. Time to relax and go to bed.

Wow!!!

We had a late night computer session, making revisions to boot designs, in preparation for our meeting with the factory people. Needless to say, we stayed up late enough to get us on track with a normal sleep schedule and woke up on Friday around 7AM.

Here is Jason, going through his ritual of Starbucks. Unfortunately there is no Dr. Pepper, so I can't keep my ritual of a DP for breakfast. I will survive, but I do miss my favorite drink.

Here is the "Kay of the Day" picture. I won't give all the story away, but I know her husband would be jealous of the course....

Here we are again, staring at boots and translating our wants from English/Korean/Chinese. I am not going to lie, it got a little intense at times. We could have used the gift of tongues today.

So last night we went to a Chinese restaurant, and it was myself, Jason, and Kay. None of us speak Chinese, and none of the staff speak english. Portions of the menu were in english and with much effort we did order some food. Anyone knowing Jason knows how picky he is. You can guess how much he ate (not much). For lunch he was determined to have McDonalds again, Kay didn't want him to starve, so we had the arches again today. I think he will suffer tomorrow, as we are heading out of the City and to some camping area...

I think I wrote about how many people they can fit on scooters and motorcycles. Here is documentation of 3 on 1. We have witnessed 4 on 1 multiple times. I guess they aren't to concerned about their lives. It is ridiculous...

So here is a photo from the Taj Mahal, or better known as Hillview Golf Course in Dongguan. This golf course is ridiculous. We rolled up to this place at 4PM to play a mellow 18 holes. On a side note, I have never played golf. I guess if you are going to learn, do it in style. The clubhouse was bigger and more grand than the White house. We each had a caddy, that would basically do everything but hit the ball for you. It was more like a servant and we were royalty. It looked like it was going to be fun. Golfing in China, what else would we be doing?

Looking like a pro, feeling like a fool and having some fun all at the same time. I learned today why I don't golf, it takes a long time to play (and I don't have much spare time) and I suck (no hand eye coordination at all). Did I mention there was a dude on the golf course with a machine gun? I guess he was some sort of guard.... (note, there is no photo of him, I was a little intimidated)

Here Kay is putting one in for an eagle, and Kimball is getting some shade from his caddy/personal assistant. Amazing!

Did I mention the golf course was lit up (all 36 holes)? This is what a $1500 (yuen) golf game feels like. Yes, you read right, $1500. Check the course out at http://www.hillview-golf.com and if you are ever in China I recommend playing the course, it is worth every penny (or yuen).

Big thanks go out to Mr. Min for making this happen. Tomorrow we are going with him and his family on a river rafting excursion. Monday it is back to the grind, so we are taking full advantage of our weekend in China...... Check back tomorrow.