Last couple of hours before leaving China. I have tons of things I could write about but don´t know what to choose. I have posted 50 pages before this one. 50 pages is far from enough to express what has happened during these months. So, how should I be able to cover it all in this one. =)

At least I can say that it has been a very interesting and different experience. Feelings changing from loving to hating and back to loving this country, pending back and forth. Some things I will never get used to. Some things will be hard to live without. Last couple of days, passing places in taxi or by foot, I already feel that I am going to miss this place, that store, this road, that restaurant, this kind of food. Why haven´t I been here before? Oh, that place, never again.

2 or 3 weeks back home in Sweden, then Japan. I love that country. Wherever I am, I always miss being in Japan. I feel that Japan is my home as much as Sweden is. It´s great to actually have 2 places to call home. =) One thing will be a little bit hard though by moving to Japan from China. I´ve gotten used to live on 23rd floor in a 114.7 square meter big apartment, 18 minutes walk from the office. If I am lucky I will get a room one sixth of the size and at least one hour by train from work. If I am lucky. =) I hope the apartment gods in Japan are on my side. Well, as long as there is a kaiten-sushi restaurant, udon-ya or maybe a yakitori-ya close by I will survive. =) Cocoichi kareehausu would be nice too. Or what do you say Kuma? =) If you don´t know what all that is, don´t worry. I will show you from Japan. =)

I´ll try to get a couple of hours to sleep now before I have to leave and... sleep on the airplane. =) So, until next time!

Btw, I got my wallet and camera stolen last day. So I might not be able to show you any pics from Sweden. It´s not that I am going to buy a new camera in Sweden when going to Japan so soon.

See ya´ll!

Whilst sitting in the mess of my apartment trying to figure out what goes to Tokyo, how it goes and where in Tokyo does it go, which goes back to Sweden, carry on, checking in or handing it over to the Chinese postal system risking 90% disappear, I recall that I haven't written about KL yet. Yay! Don't do today what you can do tomorrow. Leave the packing behind and off we go! But first, this:

I hate mornings. After snoozing for an hour or so, you really have to lift your head those extra centimeters, and then your body to get into upright position and try to get your body mass all the way to the shower. I've found a way around that, but it only works sometimes. Roll over to either side until your legs falls down on the side of the bed, then your practically sitting upright. But most of the mornings my brain hasn't started to connect so I am not able to do that very complicated movement. Further, I am not very talkative in the morning, and I don't have breakfast. I wish I could skip the mornings and just fast forward 2 hours or so.

Maybe it is because I never go to sleep before 3am? But that wasn't any problems during the military service. Doing some totally unnecessary exercises until 2 or 3am, crashing into bed, and then bam!, before you knew it an officer had kicked the door, entered yelling like a pig, the floor is shining, the beds are made (drop a coin on it and it bounces up again), you've had your 30 second shower, shaved, had your breakfast, Corporal Hahus had his head polished while we only had them shaved, reveille sounded, morning exercises (BRAK) done, everyone lined up in attention having the clothes and shavings (And for a certain corporal a shining cueball of his) inspected, all before 0600. But at that time I never had any problems with that. I think I'm getting old. =)

It's not getting better when I get outdoors. Yes, it's warm enough to go to work without having a coat on. That's great. But the minute you step outside and the 17 minutes it takes to walk to the office (Or 18 if you keep walking Wu ding Road East instead of turning Chang De Road south, depending on the traffic lights) is like Ragnarok has hit us big time. Why? Well, first of all, all these drivers, bikes or taxis doesn't matter. I am pretty sure they are trying their best to disobey as many traffic rules in one time as possible meanwhile trying to run over you.

Number two is the lack of bicycle brake maintenance in this country. Whenever somebody hit the brake, it like you are trying to strangle ten piglets at the same time. The sound is horrible. And it's not that the go all the way to the crossing and the stop. Nopers, they start to brake like 20 meters before the crossing and, if no traffic guard on post at that crossing, slowly making the way out in the crossing, inch by inch, until the lights turn green.

Thirdly, if not being deaf already, everywhere you hear people reach down as long as possible in their throats and noses, clearing whatever with a loud "hrrhrhhrggerrrrrggghhhh" and lets whatever they find out on the street.

So, thank god the iPod is invented and this morning I was accompanied by F.I.R, Zhang something something, a little Offspring and some Gyllene Tider on my way to work.

Well, enough complaining. Evenings the conditions are the same but it never feels that bad. It's just that I am not a morning person.

the business men
Our ad agent, Sean, started his ad agency 6 years ago. He has also a burning interest in antiques and has a small antique store in Beijing. Last weekend during my trip to Beijing, I had time to go to visit his store. Really cool stuff, but finding out that I know nothing about such things, he gave me a short lesson. Now I know to tell the difference between a Qing and Ming vase. At least if they stand next to each other. =) His antique store is located next to a club, Club Mix that we later went to, and by the time we were finished in the store (around 11pm) the DJ got it going pretty loud next doors, and the vases were jumping around to the beats of Snoop's Drop it like it's hot. Sean didn't seem to be bothered at all, but I was kinda afraid that this vase or that statue would fall over just when I passed it. Well, the vases decided to survive for another evening, and I was a little bit relieved when we held the bottles of Heinis instead of those expensive pieces of cheramics.

Although Sean owns 2 companies/stores there is one big down side about being self employed in this country. The last day before I returned to Shanghai, we had plans for the evening, that we had to cancel because of a late night visit by some "business men", appearantly regulars. Rumours you hear are true. More than that I can not say. By the way, we are soon going to have a governmental election back home in Sweden. I wonder if the red wins.

Laika
Laika is a Siberian Huskey. 7 months young. Laika is not allowed to live in China. Laika is too big and very dangerous. Laika has been threatened to be killed because of the regulations. But Laika lives with Sean and is beloved by him and his neighbours because Laika is the most beautiful and friendly dog.

Together with Heidi, Sean and some other guys (friends of Heidi's from her time at Nestle) we took Laika for a walk in the mountains (Or hills maybe, theyre not more than a couple of hundred meters high. Anyway they are called the Fragrant Mountains (Xiangshan)). There I saw a very interesting phenomena. It was like taking a foreigner, say a very blond one, for a walk in a city in China, you pick whichever you want. People are staring, pointing and taking pictures. A lot of people are also afraid and takes long detours to get around the dog (this usually doesn't apply to the foreigner) or they just freeze or hide behind a tree until the dog has passed. What I wonder is, are the big dogs not allowed because people are afraid of them or are people afraid of them because they are not allowed (and therefore people are not used to them)?

Sean has by the way a very cool jeep. Riding with it I almost felt like being back in the good old days on Fraser Island, Australia, the biggest sand island in the world with no roads but a lot of jungle and beaches, where Caroline, Alexandra, Kuma and I for 3 days changed our Camry -01 for the coolest wheels I've ever handled, The Land Rover. Check it out HERE. We had to share it with a German couple, 2 British girls and a VB (Victoria Bitter) loving British David, but as long as I got to drive it didn't matter to me. =)

Speaking of cars, I saw this car on the way to the airport. Don't remember the maker, some Chinese, but the model was CA7180T2E (I am not sure whether the 2 after the T was a 2 or 4). Very smooth and easy to remember. It's almost like the E-type, Mustang or Fit (Only if you know the Japanese way to pronounce it and know enough Swedish you will find this model name amusing. Sorry.) I wonder if I haven't taken a flight with number CA7180 (China Airlines). =)

Fish head/crocodile meat/duck tounge-hot pot
Some more things to add to my list of strange things put on the table. Fish head: Nope, not very strange actually. I've had it before. But this time is the first time I've had a taste of the eye, by mistake of course. I don't eat eyes and feet (I don't eat mushroom either, by the way, but that's for a totally different reason).

Eyes? it's just so yuuck. You are supposed to use eyes to search the street in front of you so you don't step in some phlegm, chicken bones, skewers or whatever people normally leave on the streets. No? Ah, now I remember, in Sweden you normally don't do that. =)

Feet? Well, first of all, for the same reason that you should never, never, never, ever put your bag down on the streets in China, not even indoors (I've even seen people letting their children, well, "let go" in stations or on the subway and then just letting it go), these feet may have been in contact with above mentioned slimy mucus (I don't say that I have tried human feet, but...). Secondly, feet are just bones, cartilage and a little fat around that. If you are lucky you find some meat deep inside all that. In the case of chicken feet, you don't. Anyway, I've tried some different feet, pig feet, soft shelled turtle feet, dog feet, chicken feet. It's all the same. It tastes feet. (But I still have that Harbin silk worm cocoon with silk worm topping my list of things to never have again. Feet has an honourable second place though)

The crocodile meat? Pretty good. Like chicken but with a hint of crab.

Duck tounge? Well, if you see it you'll have your doubts. It's not like the nice thin sliced gyutan (ox tounge) you get at a Japanese yakiniku (barbeque) restaurant. Nope, here you get the whole kit. Imagine your own tounge. From the tip of it down below that bell looking thingy dangling around in the back of your mouth. Stick your fingers down a bit further and then rip and you'll get the whole package out. Now it didn't taste especially bad, but it wasn't good either. It's just that there are other things I'd prefer to this. And there are a lot of ducks having to give up their tounge to fill that plate we were served. As soon as I get it out of my camera I'll show you.

Schweden here I come!
Tomorrow I have exactly one week left here at 29th floor, CITIC square, Shanghai. My work is practically finished. I've hade my last review meeting and next week will be spent killing off time. Although I have some preparations to do before leaving this country, heading for Sweden for two weeks or so and then flying to Tokyo.

How about the weather back home in Sweden? As for Japan, I think that I will be in time for hanami (Sitting under the cherry trees and watching the flowers snow down over you. Have you seen the final battle scene in The Last Samurai? I think it's in the cherry blossoming season, but with the difference that the cherry flowers are floating down over some very wounded Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe instead of friends sitting on a blanket eating, drinking and singing karaoke.)

Well, March 15th I am getting on the plane and March 16th I will go straight to the closest store from my mum's apartment (Which would be ICA Express at Statoil) to buy a bunch of "Röda ferraribilar" (Martin, thanks for the half time load of those you brought to me from Sweden. It helped me survive for a while longer. Same goes to you, Mum and Mika. =) ) Some "real" bread with Swedish cheese, a genuine Swedish pizza or kebab or mum's grilled chicken wouldn't be that bad either. And her lasagna. And, um, oh, there's a lot. Two weeks suddenly seems very short...

For the ones that though 33000RMB for a licence plate in the December auction in Shanghai was expensive: the HK madness.

Also read that out-of-towners are banned from the elevated roads in Shanghai during rush hours. Last week they caught and fined a bunch of the poor guys. =)