A great pic circulated via email a few years ago. The subject was: ‘Never leave your child alone with a dangerous dog’. I opened the email with a little trepidation only to find a fantastic shot of a bull terrier lying on her side next to a little kid who’d drawn all over her in coloured pens. Google ‘bull terrier and child’ and you’ll find it easily.

This gorgeous female bull terrier was adorable. She was sitting next to her owner on the bench-style seat outside a local pub/restaurant and sat up to give me lots of licks when I stopped. She had no issue letting me pat her beautiful angular face.

Her owner and I had a brief chat about being in Beijing. He said he often wondered what the pollution was doing to his health. It’s a bloody fair question…

There was a little ‘good’ this week, but mostly, not so good:

Sunday 23 Oct 8am

same day: the morning's 'hazardous' status changed to 'good' thanks to some rain.

Monday 24 Oct 10pm

Wednesday 26 Oct 8am

Thursday 27 Oct 10pm

Friday 28 Oct 5pm

Saturday 29 Oct noon

Saturday window view

Sunday 30 Oct noon

I ate 3 before 10am. In my defence, the pollution outside is 'hazardous' so in the interests of my health I should not venture outside. Have to eat what's accessible in my apartment. Such a shame!

forest frog's oviduct

c'mon guys, say it in crystals...

street cleaning bike

The Place shopping mall with it's 30m wide x 250m long LED 'Sky Screen'

You can do it Beijing! Reduce those PM 2.5 particles!

vegan tofu 'prawn' noodle soup

from: http://www.wunderground.com/health/pm.asp

US EPA (http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/faq.htm):

Particulate matter, or PM, is the term for particles found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. Particles can be suspended in the air for long periods of time. Some particles are large or dark enough to be seen as soot or smoke. Others are so small that individually they can only be detected with an electron microscope.

Many manmade and natural sources emit PM directly or emit other pollutants that react in the atmosphere to form PM. These solid and liquid particles come in a wide range of sizes.

Particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM₁₀) pose a health concern because they can be inhaled into and accumulate in the respiratory system. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM_2.5) are referred to as “fine” particles and are believed to pose the greatest health risks. Because of their small size (approximately 1/30th the average width of a human hair), fine particles can lodge deeply into the lungs.

around noon Sat 22 October

around 6.30pm Sat 22 October

Maybe today is an indoor day?

Three of my local friends pretty much tag-teamed each other, taking turns to help handle conversations with tellers and visa staff.

In order to extend my visa, I needed proof of funds in my account. Simple enough – yes?

At 9.30am I went to the bank, asked (and paid for) a transaction history. My friend called the visa centre to ask what days they needed the history to and from and was informed they did not care, as long as it showed adequate funds in my account at this point in time, to support myself in the country. After over 2 hours of waiting at the bank, I had my form (showing transaction history from date of account opening to last transaction (2 days ago). Just before noon I was then in a cab, and on my way to the visa centre.

Upon arrival at the centre I was told the form was not adequate as it showed transactions from last month to 2 days prior – not today. Given I had not withdrawn funds from my account for two days, and the bank date stamped and signed the document, one would have thought the assumption would be that I still had said funds in my account today. Not the case.

Observation 1: I would like to suggest that the person at the visa centre giving previously mentioned advice, be retrained.

I was advised there was another branch of my bank a 10 minute walk away, so high-tail it there. I enter with my friend, who explains to a bank staff member what we need (he shows a carbon copy of the form we filled in earlier) and we are handed a new form. I fill it out, we wait and then are called to a teller who informs us that this branch is unable to perform my request.

Observation 2: the bank staff member at the enquiry desk also requires retraining.

SO…around 1pm it’s back to the same bank we went to this morning. I take a number and hand over the form I filled in at the other branch and am told that they don’t accept that form, rather I need to fill in their form. It’s worth noting that this is the same bank as the previous, just a different branch. Their forms have the same title and all of the information fields are the same, their layout is, upon close observation, only slightly different.

I fill in the new form and hand it over. I am informed I have ‘crossed’ a box instead of ‘ticking’ it, and am asked to fill in another form.

Another conversation (30 minutes) ensues. I explain that I require proof of funds as of today’s date, express the urgency of the document and am told I will be advised (by phone) in approximately an hour that the form is ready to collect.

An hour and a half passes. Around 3pm I return to the bank and wait for 15 minutes before being able to see a teller to ask on the status of my document request. I am informed that it has not yet been handled. Another 20 minutes pass and I am handed a form that is identical to the one I received from them this morning.

I explain that I already have this document and have no desire to pay for it again, when it is of no use.

After further discussion it now becomes apparent that I need to freeze my bank account and obtain a different document showing proof of funds.

I fill in another form and wait. The visa centre closes at 5pm and it is now approximately 3.45pm. Another half hour passes and at 4.15 I am  handed this new version and return to the visa centre, where I am thrilled to say, it was all finally handled.

I am very fortunate to have low blood pressure.

Trust me, there's a sparrow in this photo...just squint a bit.

It takes a few days of wandering around Beijing before their absence hits you. The sounds, smells and sights of the city are a big adjustment, so I suppose it’s not too surprising that with all of these sensory changes, I hadn’t really acknowledged the lack of bird life, until I actually saw my first bird.

The first bird I noticed was a pigeon at the Ming Tombs (a bit of a drive out of Beijing). At this point I’d been here for 2.5 weeks.

Birds don’t really congregate in open areas like malls or squares. Maybe it’s really only pigeons that do that (and one look at a menu here will tell you why you don’t see that many pigeons)! Come to think about it – I’ve have not seen one pigeon in Beijing ‘proper’.

Very occasionally you see clusters of birds. I stopped dead the first time I saw 5 together (max I’ve seen in one group). I watched them and was, probably stupidly, a little spellbound. I live near the Airport Expressway and Third Ring Road, which is fairly built up, so it makes sense Beijing birds spend much more time in other parts of the city. The embassy district has quite a few trees and should probably win a ‘birdlife encouragement award’ for its landscape architecture.

It’s back to school tomorrow after the week-long National Holiday. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the intensity of classes. It’s almost 9pm on a Sunday night and I’m still to get through some homework! Best I stop blogging and get on with it, eh?

And I’m sorry, ddung, you’re wrong – not everybody loves you (not with a name like that). Although perhaps it’s appropriate that you feature on a box of tissues in a place where many loos have a byo paper policy.

Apple store Sanlitun

Just yesterday I went into the Apple store in Sanlitun. I was a little early and there were maybe 20 people waiting outside for the doors to open. As we entered, staff (in Apple’s international uniform – blue shirts) lined either side of the entrance and clapped us into the store.

It was a little strange I must admit, but I suppose it reiterated the Apple way of things.

I never met Steve Jobs, but Apple has certainly had a big impact on the electronic/communications aspect of my life. I am a geek who loves my iPhone. I think iPhoto still rocks, and a host of iPhone apps have made my life in Beijing much easier – the subway map, the offline street map, info on where to eat and Mandarin language tools that let me draw hanzi on my screen, or read anything, anywhere, by hovering my camera over the top. I’m sure most of those things are available on a Blackberry, but….meh.

Far be it for me to speak about someone I never knew, but from what I can gather, Steve and Apple were synonymous – the two were inseparable. Some will deem that to be unhealthy, but I think the opposite (unless you’re an arms dealer, human trafficker or seller of endangered species bits etc – I’d like people to be less passionate about those career options).

The concept of leaving a workplace at 6pm every working day and thinking ‘well, thank heavens that’s done, time for my life’ is my idea of employment hell. I felt a little like that in my early 20s, but by the same token, I didn’t care that much (fairly normal). I’m older and wiser now, and not willing to go back. Life is too short, and work takes up far too many hours.

A psychologist once told me I was a ‘human doing’ not a ‘human being’ – that I judged myself based on what I did, and valued others in the same way. I suspect that was supposed to be a wakeup call, designed to make me re-evaluate my behaviour. When I was told, it’s fair to say something inside me did click – but it only clicked into place. Not quite the shakeup for which he was aiming.

There’s no point constantly lamenting about something if you’re never going to make the effort to get it/change it – it’s just like crying wolf. Wolf criers are exasperating. If you want something badly enough, you go for it.

Three cheers for the visionaries and the go-getters.