Left for Tanzania on Monday, the plane punctually left at 3pm and we also arrived very puntually - a good start my other trips to African countries don't always go so well.
The flight was pretty uncomfortable as we traveled in a small Beoing 737 128 seater and there was little if any leg room in normal seats, however we got the seast right at the back of the plane and so it was even smaller and the seats can't tilt back to give us a better posture. Otherwise it was a smooth flight. We sat next to a white woman who has lived in Dar for almost 14 years and my boss was keen to get some local intel on the city. We asked many questions from politics to ecnomics and the price of real estate.
As far as we can tell from what she has told us, Tanzania is very much like every other country in Africa (we exclude SA from this classification for various reasons), the government policies are temperamental, people will try to cheat us, government officials are corrupt and generally speaking the population has started to take a dislike to more Chinese presence. Fun. More importantly it seems being a "outsider" trying to buy real estate can be rather challenging due to red tape and other rather opaque issues, we can also expect more than frequent power failures.
We arrived at the airport in Dar Es Saleem, the biggest, most populated and centre of economic power in Tanzania, however as we flew over the city we can see that there are little light lighting the city and I was a little surprised by that. The city was what I had expected after seeing the night lights. The traffic and roads are choatic with little or no rules much like parts of China and most of South America. Traffic lights can only be found in the central districts and we took a long time getting to our hotel in the Embassy district.
We were picked up by one of my bosses associates from China Steel. Apparently while there is a large Chinese presence here in Dar, little of them are there as individuals most of them are with big Chinese construction companies such as himself.
We arrived at the Golden Tulip hotel - it's more than adaquete, everything here tells of past glories that once was. Everything is still rather impressive but signs can be seen everywhere that renovations and upkeep of the buildings are kept to a minimum. It was a rather impressive swimming pool and we're right on the beaches as well, our room costs $135/night and including breakfast it's not bad at all. The room is what I would expect, two beds, tv, shower/bath, fridge and something that not everyone would appreciate toilet papers. :P
Went for dinner at the Chinese restuarant next door, and impressed by the selection and quality of the food. On par with JHB and with the added benefit of having good seafood fish selection.
The next day (today) we met with the Director of the TIC (Tanzania Investment Centre) and we organised the schedule for the next few days, gathering data and stuff. I also phoned up a few estate agents to get a rough idea of what the market is like here. I'm actually waiting for the first one in another 45 minutes at our hotel room. This will be interesting.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
My Old Family Home in Luisha
I walked to the front gate of the house whose name is partially inspired by my grandfathers pen-name while at school (they have different names for different stages of their lives and people in this district of China name their houses) and found a new and polished stainless steel front gate instead of the old rusty metal gate that usually greeted me.
The house has just been completely renovated by my uncle who paid close to R260 000 in the renovation and new furnitures. Upon entering the gate I found a stone tiled quad instead of the old cracked concrete and a new independent entrance to the 2nd floor. Inside, the ground floor haven't changed much except a new coat of paint and new 42 inch LCD tv. The 2nd floor has been reopened again for the first time in a decade and now has a new modern feel to it. There are three bedrooms and a lounge area here, one of the them an en-suite. Each room has a new bed, cupboard, desk, its own aircon and spacious to the point of being empty. The lounge is also equiped with a the same tv as downstairs but also with an impressive surround sound system and new comfy couches.
The third floor is still locked and almost as long as I have been in SA and therefore my memories of the 3rd floor is rather vague as my dad built it as a production area for pearls. I stood on the ground floor in the quad and felt a stab of regret that the old promagranade tree has been cut down - I remember that tree and it's fruits fondly. Ah, so many memories under that tree. Four generations of my family has had their picture taken under that tree. So sad to see it gone. No matter how far I go, no matter how long I will be away for - this place will always be a "home" to me.
The house has just been completely renovated by my uncle who paid close to R260 000 in the renovation and new furnitures. Upon entering the gate I found a stone tiled quad instead of the old cracked concrete and a new independent entrance to the 2nd floor. Inside, the ground floor haven't changed much except a new coat of paint and new 42 inch LCD tv. The 2nd floor has been reopened again for the first time in a decade and now has a new modern feel to it. There are three bedrooms and a lounge area here, one of the them an en-suite. Each room has a new bed, cupboard, desk, its own aircon and spacious to the point of being empty. The lounge is also equiped with a the same tv as downstairs but also with an impressive surround sound system and new comfy couches.
The third floor is still locked and almost as long as I have been in SA and therefore my memories of the 3rd floor is rather vague as my dad built it as a production area for pearls. I stood on the ground floor in the quad and felt a stab of regret that the old promagranade tree has been cut down - I remember that tree and it's fruits fondly. Ah, so many memories under that tree. Four generations of my family has had their picture taken under that tree. So sad to see it gone. No matter how far I go, no matter how long I will be away for - this place will always be a "home" to me.
Watercube - Yet Another Top Notch Massage Parlour in Shenzhen
On New Years day, when all the relatives in Hong Kong visited my parents and me they recommended the Watercube （水立方） as the best venue for overnight stay and massage and so when I got to Shenzhen, I walked across the road from the Shenzhen - Hong Kong customs building in Lok Ma Chau （落馬洲） and walked into Watercube
Went through the whole checking in process, all my possessions was stored in a digital locker and the key was in a form of a wrist band with some kind of identification chip. Proceeded to the showers and bath areas. The decor is pretty well done, fancy but nothing about it really stands out compared to it's competitors in the area. Big spacious baths, heated pools, Sauna and Steam rooms, and people with towels who can give you a body scrub after you finished in the Steam or Sauna rooms. I had one of those scrubs before, it's rather interesting due to the heat and the moisture dead skin cells can be easily scrubbed off your body and in such quantities that it's rather scary, but don't feel like one of those this time round.
Once you're done with the baths you move onto another area where there are shorts and a robe for you to change into, you get a choice of normal ones where it's been washed and kept in an disinfectant closest (using heat and UV I was told) or a set of disposable robes that will cost you extra.
Proceeded to the communal area where guests of both sexes congregate. Here you can find big single sofa's that can transform into a flat bed and your own tv attached to it and comes with a remote. A restaurant that caters to almost every Chinese tastes ranging from the most mundane food to lobsters. Internet cafes, pool tables, Table Tennis tables and much more. The sofa can act like a bed, one of the reasons why these places are popular with HK tourists as a overnight spot is due to the comfort and price, these places cost a fraction of a normal hotel and it's comfy.
Naturally this is a massage parlour and so I looked through the choices of services that they offer. I prefer what they called "pushing oil" basically meaning that the massage uses oil as normal massage doesn't. I picked a slightly above average priced service because I see that I get a full 2hours 30min service. I didn't read all the description properly and thought that the entire time was a massage only to find that the first 45mins was some kind of full body scrub with a sand and lemon mixture. After the scrub I went to the showers to wash it off and was pleasantly surprised at how good my skin felt. Oh well...
After the massage I picked a couch that seems to be the most quiet tried to watch some tv but was quickly bored, lowered the backrest until it was basically a flat bed. Asked for a pillow and blankets and went to sleep. Got up an hour later feeling hungry and so ordered a preserved egg and lean meat congee, it was pretty good and went back to sleep
Checked out the next day and the whole thing costed around R300 (HK$280). Costly for the standards in Shenzhen but I thought it was worth the premium - the girl was actually pretty good at massages and hit most of the right places.
No I didn't get a happy ending. Not that kind of place :P
Went through the whole checking in process, all my possessions was stored in a digital locker and the key was in a form of a wrist band with some kind of identification chip. Proceeded to the showers and bath areas. The decor is pretty well done, fancy but nothing about it really stands out compared to it's competitors in the area. Big spacious baths, heated pools, Sauna and Steam rooms, and people with towels who can give you a body scrub after you finished in the Steam or Sauna rooms. I had one of those scrubs before, it's rather interesting due to the heat and the moisture dead skin cells can be easily scrubbed off your body and in such quantities that it's rather scary, but don't feel like one of those this time round.
Once you're done with the baths you move onto another area where there are shorts and a robe for you to change into, you get a choice of normal ones where it's been washed and kept in an disinfectant closest (using heat and UV I was told) or a set of disposable robes that will cost you extra.
Proceeded to the communal area where guests of both sexes congregate. Here you can find big single sofa's that can transform into a flat bed and your own tv attached to it and comes with a remote. A restaurant that caters to almost every Chinese tastes ranging from the most mundane food to lobsters. Internet cafes, pool tables, Table Tennis tables and much more. The sofa can act like a bed, one of the reasons why these places are popular with HK tourists as a overnight spot is due to the comfort and price, these places cost a fraction of a normal hotel and it's comfy.
Naturally this is a massage parlour and so I looked through the choices of services that they offer. I prefer what they called "pushing oil" basically meaning that the massage uses oil as normal massage doesn't. I picked a slightly above average priced service because I see that I get a full 2hours 30min service. I didn't read all the description properly and thought that the entire time was a massage only to find that the first 45mins was some kind of full body scrub with a sand and lemon mixture. After the scrub I went to the showers to wash it off and was pleasantly surprised at how good my skin felt. Oh well...
After the massage I picked a couch that seems to be the most quiet tried to watch some tv but was quickly bored, lowered the backrest until it was basically a flat bed. Asked for a pillow and blankets and went to sleep. Got up an hour later feeling hungry and so ordered a preserved egg and lean meat congee, it was pretty good and went back to sleep
Checked out the next day and the whole thing costed around R300 (HK$280). Costly for the standards in Shenzhen but I thought it was worth the premium - the girl was actually pretty good at massages and hit most of the right places.
No I didn't get a happy ending. Not that kind of place :P
New Years in the Middle Kingdom - Home Town
I arrived in Luisha, Puning in just over four hours - a record time since normally it's about 5 to 6 depending on the traffic and weather. But thanks to New Year, everything is still quiet.
Upon disembarking the bus I immediately flagged down a "bicycle" used as a poor man's taxi. It's effectively a bicycle that has been modified to attach a small coach at the back to allow seating to 2 - 3 people. Asked for the price in the local dialect aware that the chances of the biker understand the dialect being 50/50 - but a great way to tell him that I'm from the area and not to try to ripp me off. We settled on RMB6.00 double of the normal rate since very few bikers are working right now.
I stopped by a hair salon first - my hair while not messy by Capetonian standards has not seen a pair of sicossors in almost 3 months and lacked that neatness that can only come from regular trimming, dryer and comb. So again I paid a higher price than normal for a wash, cut and rinse (RMB30) and walked out feeling confident that this time my grandmother would not complain about my appearances. Long sleaves, black polished leather shoes, neatly trimmed and blow-dried hair, long pants without too much wrinkles.
Upon entering the house I was greated by my grandmother, my uncle and his wife. As social covention would dictate they asked if I had my meal. I said no and told them I would do my normal thing and go find my favourite dish in the whole wide world. A steamed rice sheets with lots of goodies rolled inside. My favourite dish since a kid and about the only thing I look forward to everytime I come to this hole which I once called my home.
The next few hours after my meal was spent talking to my grandmother. She is still incredibly healthy for a woman her age, but since being hit by a car a few years ago her mobility is badly affected. The injury wasn't the main problem, rather the treatment. The doctors there drilled a hole in her leg and tied a string attached to a brick to straighten and realign her bone. When my dad finally got back to visit her in hospital he was appalled and rightly called my distantly related uncles and aunts idiots for letting them do this to her. She was almost immediately taken to a major city where they gave her some proper medical treatment that wasn't obsolete half a century ago.
She would always complain about the one ocassion when I returned without extra cloths and wearing a pair of pants worn at the knees. I guess that occassion was a constant source of shame for her - one which she would never let me forget. She seems to enjoy our conversation and for the most part I return the sentiment. We talked of many things, mostly about my father and how much he is becoming more and more like my grandfather. However, I can't help but suspect that she is already making arrangements for her life in the afterlife with all the talks of offerings to ancestors.
That night I went to my in laws house and waited for my sister to get back from a school reunion dinner. As I walked closer to the stair case I found my nephew and niece playing with their cousins - lighting fireworks and bangers - nostalgic since it was hard to remember New Years without fireworks there.
I spoke a bit with the in-laws and later that night my cousins phoned and we decided for a late night meal - can you guess what I wanted? My three male cousins and their wife and girlfriend went with me and my sister. I was surprised to only find one wive since the third one recently married and fathered a baby girl. He told me that we will met tomorrow morning just before I leave for Hong Kong again.
Morning came and I got up to have my breakfast - you guessed it: rice sheets. My cousin then came to pick me up so I can finally met the wife and daughter. I did so and was surprised at how tall his wife is, just slightly shorter than me. As for the 6 month baby old girl, well I always found infants to look a like a small monkey...and this was no exception.
I met up with one of my "aunts" at the bus stop as she was going with me to Hong Kong to visit my mom. She has never left the province before, completely illiterate and barely speaks even Mandarin. I was really worried about going through customs with her since I has a SA passport and will be in a completely different areas when going through customs.
I slept through the entire bus trip because I barely had 3 hours of sleep the night before. My aunt however didn't do so well. She suffered from motion sickness and kept throwing up the whole way. As swak as this might sound, I'm glad that I was asleep for most of it. The passage from Luohu was quick and painless actually and we soon found ourselves in the train going back to Hong Kong arriving at around 10:30pm.
Upon disembarking the bus I immediately flagged down a "bicycle" used as a poor man's taxi. It's effectively a bicycle that has been modified to attach a small coach at the back to allow seating to 2 - 3 people. Asked for the price in the local dialect aware that the chances of the biker understand the dialect being 50/50 - but a great way to tell him that I'm from the area and not to try to ripp me off. We settled on RMB6.00 double of the normal rate since very few bikers are working right now.
I stopped by a hair salon first - my hair while not messy by Capetonian standards has not seen a pair of sicossors in almost 3 months and lacked that neatness that can only come from regular trimming, dryer and comb. So again I paid a higher price than normal for a wash, cut and rinse (RMB30) and walked out feeling confident that this time my grandmother would not complain about my appearances. Long sleaves, black polished leather shoes, neatly trimmed and blow-dried hair, long pants without too much wrinkles.
Upon entering the house I was greated by my grandmother, my uncle and his wife. As social covention would dictate they asked if I had my meal. I said no and told them I would do my normal thing and go find my favourite dish in the whole wide world. A steamed rice sheets with lots of goodies rolled inside. My favourite dish since a kid and about the only thing I look forward to everytime I come to this hole which I once called my home.
The next few hours after my meal was spent talking to my grandmother. She is still incredibly healthy for a woman her age, but since being hit by a car a few years ago her mobility is badly affected. The injury wasn't the main problem, rather the treatment. The doctors there drilled a hole in her leg and tied a string attached to a brick to straighten and realign her bone. When my dad finally got back to visit her in hospital he was appalled and rightly called my distantly related uncles and aunts idiots for letting them do this to her. She was almost immediately taken to a major city where they gave her some proper medical treatment that wasn't obsolete half a century ago.
She would always complain about the one ocassion when I returned without extra cloths and wearing a pair of pants worn at the knees. I guess that occassion was a constant source of shame for her - one which she would never let me forget. She seems to enjoy our conversation and for the most part I return the sentiment. We talked of many things, mostly about my father and how much he is becoming more and more like my grandfather. However, I can't help but suspect that she is already making arrangements for her life in the afterlife with all the talks of offerings to ancestors.
That night I went to my in laws house and waited for my sister to get back from a school reunion dinner. As I walked closer to the stair case I found my nephew and niece playing with their cousins - lighting fireworks and bangers - nostalgic since it was hard to remember New Years without fireworks there.
I spoke a bit with the in-laws and later that night my cousins phoned and we decided for a late night meal - can you guess what I wanted? My three male cousins and their wife and girlfriend went with me and my sister. I was surprised to only find one wive since the third one recently married and fathered a baby girl. He told me that we will met tomorrow morning just before I leave for Hong Kong again.
Morning came and I got up to have my breakfast - you guessed it: rice sheets. My cousin then came to pick me up so I can finally met the wife and daughter. I did so and was surprised at how tall his wife is, just slightly shorter than me. As for the 6 month baby old girl, well I always found infants to look a like a small monkey...and this was no exception.
I met up with one of my "aunts" at the bus stop as she was going with me to Hong Kong to visit my mom. She has never left the province before, completely illiterate and barely speaks even Mandarin. I was really worried about going through customs with her since I has a SA passport and will be in a completely different areas when going through customs.
I slept through the entire bus trip because I barely had 3 hours of sleep the night before. My aunt however didn't do so well. She suffered from motion sickness and kept throwing up the whole way. As swak as this might sound, I'm glad that I was asleep for most of it. The passage from Luohu was quick and painless actually and we soon found ourselves in the train going back to Hong Kong arriving at around 10:30pm.
New Years in the Middle Kingdom - Leaving HK
The last time I wrote about my time in China was during the Olympics and how my pride of being a Chinese has swollen to unprecedented levels. It was there during the Olympics that I cemented what has been brewing inside of me for ages, yet I could not place a name to that feeling. Now I know - national pride.
This time round I found myself in China during the Lunar New Year for the first time since setting foot in South Africa in 1991. Red banners and paired poetry stickers decorate every front door of every house. For the first time ever I saw a Hong Kong that was quiet and without the usual buzz of activity. In Shenzhen and my home town, children and adults alike decorated the skyline with fireworks of varying sizes and shapes and the night was illuminated unlike any other way possible. Policeman running around in Shenzhen trying to stop people from setting off fireworks that flew barely higher than the average skyscrapers - yet I suspect that even they knew how futile the attempts are at stopping this cultural pastime.
I left Hong Kong on the 2nd for Shenzhen and stayed a night there in the "Watercube" massage parlour - the latest and most luxurious addition to the already impressive lineup. I got there at around 8:30pm after noodles at a fairly random restaurant I saw around.
The next morning I woke up and got onto the first bus to my home town. I brought the last ticket and so ended up at the last row sandwhiched between a family of four. The trip was fairly quick and painless thanks to plenty of reading and listening material (audiobooks)
This time round I found myself in China during the Lunar New Year for the first time since setting foot in South Africa in 1991. Red banners and paired poetry stickers decorate every front door of every house. For the first time ever I saw a Hong Kong that was quiet and without the usual buzz of activity. In Shenzhen and my home town, children and adults alike decorated the skyline with fireworks of varying sizes and shapes and the night was illuminated unlike any other way possible. Policeman running around in Shenzhen trying to stop people from setting off fireworks that flew barely higher than the average skyscrapers - yet I suspect that even they knew how futile the attempts are at stopping this cultural pastime.
I left Hong Kong on the 2nd for Shenzhen and stayed a night there in the "Watercube" massage parlour - the latest and most luxurious addition to the already impressive lineup. I got there at around 8:30pm after noodles at a fairly random restaurant I saw around.
The next morning I woke up and got onto the first bus to my home town. I brought the last ticket and so ended up at the last row sandwhiched between a family of four. The trip was fairly quick and painless thanks to plenty of reading and listening material (audiobooks)
More Race Stuff
Is race not one of the most interesting, controversial and most animated topic? I mean, it remains the staple subject matter for most comedians and remains to be a topic that is constantly researched, talked about, debated and rallied around despite what seems to be half a centuary of liberation and equality for all in all major Western countries.
Yesterday after lunch with Julia and Katlego while driving we were stopped by a police check point and was immediately asked to show our passports. I was at first perplexed by the request and when Julia and I presented our drivers licenses he once again asked for our passports. We spent a bit of time convincing him that we don't have our passports because we are all South African citizens and "he looked so bleak" quoting Julia when he realises that we are indeed South African citizens. Getting in the car Katlego told us that the police officer asked him in Zulu if he was runnig some kind of unofficial taxi service. I mean, he was a black guy driving a car with two Chinese in the car - he must be the chaffeur.
It was an amusing encounter, Julia described him as such a big asshole/jerk that it actually funny, he was truly disappointed by the fact that he could find nothing wrong with us - depressed even. I understand that we were within 2km of about 3 different Chinese supermarkets and I have been told by my boss that there always tons of police check points around and they always pull over trucks with Chinese drivers and try to extort bribes from them. In my mind, he just saw two Chinese in the car and thought "cash-cow" on seeing Katlego he immediately thought "Aw! Illegal taxi-driver."
Now, I could be wrong in assuming his motives for being such a big dick, but I can't really think of any rational reason for him behavouir. Regardless of whether he was corrupt or not is another irrelevent point though. His actions spoke louder than words the current racial zeitgeist in South Africa.
Again the irony was that the three of us were on our way to the apartheid musuem.
Yesterday after lunch with Julia and Katlego while driving we were stopped by a police check point and was immediately asked to show our passports. I was at first perplexed by the request and when Julia and I presented our drivers licenses he once again asked for our passports. We spent a bit of time convincing him that we don't have our passports because we are all South African citizens and "he looked so bleak" quoting Julia when he realises that we are indeed South African citizens. Getting in the car Katlego told us that the police officer asked him in Zulu if he was runnig some kind of unofficial taxi service. I mean, he was a black guy driving a car with two Chinese in the car - he must be the chaffeur.
It was an amusing encounter, Julia described him as such a big asshole/jerk that it actually funny, he was truly disappointed by the fact that he could find nothing wrong with us - depressed even. I understand that we were within 2km of about 3 different Chinese supermarkets and I have been told by my boss that there always tons of police check points around and they always pull over trucks with Chinese drivers and try to extort bribes from them. In my mind, he just saw two Chinese in the car and thought "cash-cow" on seeing Katlego he immediately thought "Aw! Illegal taxi-driver."
Now, I could be wrong in assuming his motives for being such a big dick, but I can't really think of any rational reason for him behavouir. Regardless of whether he was corrupt or not is another irrelevent point though. His actions spoke louder than words the current racial zeitgeist in South Africa.
Again the irony was that the three of us were on our way to the apartheid musuem.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
New Chinese Stereotypes
The past week and a bit I have spent living with a Chinese family in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ironically it is here that I have experienced living a somewhat more typical modern Chinese family rather than my time spent in Hong Kong or China.
I suspect that this will be an on going article while I remember and document some of these idiosyncrasies and comment them to paper (or bits in this case)
1.) Shareholders meetings = getting shit face drunk and hope you don't sign any dodgie contracts in your inebriated state
2.) At braais/dinner parties the children will always been fed first so that they can run around like The Tazmania Devil in wrecking the place so that the adults can have peace and quiet in dinning.
3.) Mahjong - 'nough said!
4.) Gambling - there is a reason why every receptionist in SA casino's can say "ni-hou"
5.) The world is pretty much divided into Chinese and Non-Chinese... maybe even Han and Non-Han.
6.) Money spent that makes an good impression is money well spent. (think German cars and big ass houses)
7.) If you're male, wealthy, young (enough) and single everyone assumes and up to a certain extent condones you visiting prostitutes.
8.) The mother of your eldest son will always be your wife. Regardless that you've divorced and married a woman younger than the said son. Famous line from the mother of a Chinese billionaire after her sons divorce and remarriage- "This woman besides me is my daughter-in-law, everyone else I see them no more than prostitutes that my son frequent"
7.) If you're male, wealthy, young (enough) and single everyone assumes and up to a certain extent condones you visiting prostitutes.
8.) The mother of your eldest son will always be your wife. Regardless that you've divorced and married a woman younger than the said son. Famous line from the mother of a Chinese billionaire after her sons divorce and remarriage- "This woman besides me is my daughter-in-law, everyone else I see them no more than prostitutes that my son frequent"
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