Jessica and I have been living in the FX Hotel in Haidian for the past 7 weeks and let me tell you, it is quite possibly the crappiest hotel in the world. I would rather stay in the one star place in Chiang Mai, Thailand that we stayed in when I was 8 years old that had geckos running around on the ceiling all night than the FX. If we had been staying there for a few days only, it would have been fine. The rooms were kind of interestingly designed (not your standard hotel room blah blah stuff) and we had enough places to put our stuff once we got an extra wardrobe... but the staff! The staff! They had ZERO concept of customer service. We had many fights with them, some of which I will describe below.
Upon my arrival, they wanted me to pay the entire stay (42 days) up front. Um, yeah, NO. What kind of hotel forces you to pay for a 42 night stay up front??? Ridiculous! I told them in no way shape or form. They put a deposit on my card, but forced my roommate, who got in late, to pay 5000RMB. Keep that in mind for later.
I broke my key accidentally when using the squat john (it was in my back pocket and was bent by my knee) and was told it was a 20RMB fee to get a new card. Since the card still opened the door, I just used it. About a week after this incident, the card stopped working. The front desk then tried to charge me again for a new key, we got into an argument about how it wasn't my problem that the broken key stopped working after a week, it was their problem. They alleged that my breaking the key is what stopped its functioning, but eventually I won out and got a new key.
Our original room was on the 7th floor with a bunch of T-birds and it was just too zooey with everyone there, the internet was slow and we had a loud guy living next to us. I asked them to switch us to a quieter floor and they tried to give us a smaller room on the 12th floor. I said no, same room. The front desk lady tried to lie to me and say no more rooms were available, but a different one said "Yes, there are rooms available" in Chinese, so I heard that and insisted they show me another one. We did eventually get our room, which was much quieter.
After 30 days of staying there, we came home at midnight one night after a long day of studying to find that the hotel had locked us out of our room because they claimed we owed them money. After another heated discussion at the front desk, in which I told them in no uncertain terms that I would pay for my stay on the last day when I left and not a minute earlier, and them insisting "No, you pay now!" the matter was settled by a larger deposit on my card. Fine. I wasn't giving them a penny of my money until the last day. I thought it was ridiculous that they locked us out with no warning. Then, the next day, someone else from the front desk called and said we had to pay again, requiring me to go downstairs and shoot dirty looks at the woman who made me pay the deposit the night before. She at least had the courtesy to set her coworker straight and they didn't hassle us about payment again.
On the last day they wouldn't give us extra check out time so we were running around like crazy people trying to get all our stuff packed before noon. When we went downstairs to check out, there was a huge cluster going on because the hotel had sent the wrong luggage to the airport for one of our classmates. Essentially this guy, Rabie, had suckered another classmate, Courtney, into taking back one of his bags to the US. She already had 2 bags to check (again, bringing up the question of why you would do this) but agreed to do it. Rabie had left his bags in the bag check at the hotel for Courtney to grab on the way out. Unfortunately, the FX gave her another classmate's bag and not Rabie's bag! So, when we came down, Hunter's bag was checked in to go back to Glendale, Rabie's bag was still in bag check and Hunter was, understandibly, furious. Some how the hotel got Hunter's stuff out of the airport and back to him and also paid for Rabie to go to the airport and ship his bag himself (and paid for the shipment as well). Amazingly when we checked out they didn't give us any hassle, probably because I was such a pain in the butt to them all the time I stayed there that they knew not to play with fire.
Jessica and I knew that we had to stay somewhere nice for our last few nights in Beijing to make up for the extreme crappiness of the FX, so we decided to stay at the Mariott City Wall, which is in the CBD, or Central Business District in on the Southeast side of town, the opposite from Haidian. Jess gets friends and family rate at the Mariott, so we snapped up the chance to get 50% off at the Mariott City Wall (it also is a cool looking building with big yellow turrets on top). For 530RMB a night we would be paying double the FX price, but would get about 1000 times the service.
As expected, the Mariott is FABULOUS. We get excellent service, English speaking staff (this is good for service related items and any issues that might arise with your bill), a NICE, CLEAN room (the cleaning ladies stopped emptying our trash and changing our sheets the last week) and a great view of the CBD. We're on the 15th floor and it's quiet as a tomb up here. The hotel does not appear to be full to capacity in the slightest, so we suspect that the staff are just sort of excited to have a chance to do their jobs. We have already booked our last night in Beijing to be here, so we are very excited to return after we go on our little junket around China.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
One Stop Copy Shop
With all the looming due dates, Jess and I have been parked in the Bridge Cafe all day. She is editing her marketing paper, and I am doing the same. I decided to take a mini break to go off and print all the required readings for my RBE exam tomorrow. It's easier for me to retain the readings if they are printed out instead of reading them online. Jessica had found a copy shop a couple of weeks ago in the area, so we decided to go on a printing mission.
The copy shop turned out to be in someone's apartment in a nearby apartment complex. This family has two copiers in their living room, along with two computers and a binding machine. While we were waiting their pre-teen son was playing video games on the computer and the husband was sitting around in the bedroom, reading. The copiers were in decent shape, although a little slow. The price was definitely right, however. Panos had all the same pages printed out at Kinko's and it cost him 47 yuan, my total was only 36 yuan. That included the price of binding as well. This is China!
The copy shop turned out to be in someone's apartment in a nearby apartment complex. This family has two copiers in their living room, along with two computers and a binding machine. While we were waiting their pre-teen son was playing video games on the computer and the husband was sitting around in the bedroom, reading. The copiers were in decent shape, although a little slow. The price was definitely right, however. Panos had all the same pages printed out at Kinko's and it cost him 47 yuan, my total was only 36 yuan. That included the price of binding as well. This is China!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
A Surprisingly Lax Communist Agency
If you recall from several posts ago, Jessica got a new passport from the US Embassy to replace her sad, tired and damaged old one. When we got the new passport, the American Consular Services ladies told us that we just had to go the Beijing Public Security Bureau and show them a letter explaining that the old passport had been canceled and a new one issued, and then request a visa transfer. The letter would be provided by the embassy, so that would help simplify matters. Easy, we thought. Famous last words...
We of course procrastinated on going over there until this weekend, when I realized that if they needed to hold Jessica's passport for a week or so, we needed to get it in as soon as possible.
Amazingly the PSB has a website with English that even explains their hours and provides directions (although, they were not that exact). The PSB is located just around the corner from the Lama Temple, but you have to head south on the 2nd Ring Road a couple of blocks before you see it (big Nouveau Communist building with a Chinese flag out front). The building is very new and shiny and even features helpful signs in English, I assume because many foreigners have to deal with the PSB for visa renewals, extensions, permanent residency applications, etc.
We waited in line and then got to the head of the line armed with the US Embassy passport letter, both new and old passports, Beijing University offer letter and JW-02 Student Visa Application Form (completed) as well as Jessica's Beijing University Student ID booklet (yep, it's a little red book, not a card). The officer, after much perusal of all the information, eventually decided that they couldn't transfer the visa. When questioned as to why, he said that it was because the visa wasn't issued in China, it was issued in the US. Well, of course it was issued in the US, because you can't get into China unless you get a visa beforehand! After a lot of back and forth, where I said that the US embassy told us that we had to get the visa transferred, and him saying that it wasn't necessary, we were very frustrated. He then changed tactics and said that she could leave the country with the new passport and the expired passport (which has had holes punched in it by the embassy staff) and it wouldn't be a problem. Since this sounded kind of like he was trying to get rid of us (I mean, really, a Communist country that lets you leave on an expired passport? That sounds very fishy!) we decided to regroup and check with a higher authority.
I called the US Embassy but of course ACS was closed. I made the operator (Chinese) transfer me to the Marine post on duty (my tax dollars at work!!) and the very nice and polite Marine transferred me to the duty officer (who sounded like they were at home with their kids). I explained the situation and she promised to get back to me in a couple of days. She agreed that it sounded fishy, so I do think there is something else we need to do. The other option is to change Jess' return flight to the US to be out of Hong Kong, and then take an illegal fishing boat to Hong Kong! Haha, just kidding.
We of course procrastinated on going over there until this weekend, when I realized that if they needed to hold Jessica's passport for a week or so, we needed to get it in as soon as possible.
Amazingly the PSB has a website with English that even explains their hours and provides directions (although, they were not that exact). The PSB is located just around the corner from the Lama Temple, but you have to head south on the 2nd Ring Road a couple of blocks before you see it (big Nouveau Communist building with a Chinese flag out front). The building is very new and shiny and even features helpful signs in English, I assume because many foreigners have to deal with the PSB for visa renewals, extensions, permanent residency applications, etc.
We waited in line and then got to the head of the line armed with the US Embassy passport letter, both new and old passports, Beijing University offer letter and JW-02 Student Visa Application Form (completed) as well as Jessica's Beijing University Student ID booklet (yep, it's a little red book, not a card). The officer, after much perusal of all the information, eventually decided that they couldn't transfer the visa. When questioned as to why, he said that it was because the visa wasn't issued in China, it was issued in the US. Well, of course it was issued in the US, because you can't get into China unless you get a visa beforehand! After a lot of back and forth, where I said that the US embassy told us that we had to get the visa transferred, and him saying that it wasn't necessary, we were very frustrated. He then changed tactics and said that she could leave the country with the new passport and the expired passport (which has had holes punched in it by the embassy staff) and it wouldn't be a problem. Since this sounded kind of like he was trying to get rid of us (I mean, really, a Communist country that lets you leave on an expired passport? That sounds very fishy!) we decided to regroup and check with a higher authority.
I called the US Embassy but of course ACS was closed. I made the operator (Chinese) transfer me to the Marine post on duty (my tax dollars at work!!) and the very nice and polite Marine transferred me to the duty officer (who sounded like they were at home with their kids). I explained the situation and she promised to get back to me in a couple of days. She agreed that it sounded fishy, so I do think there is something else we need to do. The other option is to change Jess' return flight to the US to be out of Hong Kong, and then take an illegal fishing boat to Hong Kong! Haha, just kidding.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chinese Laundry
Mike Logan went to Henan province for the weekend, so I asked him if I could borrow the keys to his apartment for the weekend as he has a washing machine. Jessica has not done laundry since coming to China (she brought a lot of clothes) and I have only done real laundry once along with strategic sink washing. Of course Mike does not have a dryer, but those seem pretty rare in China as every seems perfectly happy with crispy air-dried clothes. The water here is very hard, so everything dries very hard as well--in the case of my underwear it can literally stand up on its own.
Mike's apartment (site of the infamous good cop/bad cop shakedown) is in a supposedly "nice" apartment complex just next to our hotel. Let me just say that I think many years of absolute deprivation has resulted in the Chinese being somewhat willing to forgive situations that to Western eyes seem ridiculous. For instance, the apartment building has one main entry gate and then several side gates that are only accessible with an electronic keycard, both for entry AND exit. There are always at least ten people waiting on either side of the gate for someone to come through and either buzz them in or out. There are "guards" stationed next to the gate but they never let people in or out, or stop you from letting people in or out. Ridiculous! At midnight all the side gates are chained shut, which is really comforting should there be some kind of emergency and you can't reach the main gate.
The inside of the building is typically poorly maintained. The carpet is stained, the first time Mike moved in everything was covered with a layer of yellow sand (perhaps from a sandstorm?) and there are exposed wires in the hallways. On top of this, it seems that people rent out the apartments in the complex for businesses as well as living spaces. Just next door to Mike's apartment there is somekind of internet company cranking away, as the place is packed with people on computers typing busily away, and they are always shipping hundreds of boxes in and out every day. Not kidding, EVERY time we go to Mike's apartment there are at least one or two guys with a bicycle delivery pallet full of about 10-20 Lenovo desktops stacked (optional assistant for unloading on top of the boxes). These guys clog up the entrance gate with their deliveries and always bogart the elevator. Today one of these guys crammed in with a delivery dolly, and then refused to move when it came to my floor. I even said "excuse me" in Chinese and he just played dumb. I shoved him out of the way, which made me angry because I didn't want to come across as an ugly, rude foreigner, but come on, dude! Get out of my way on the elevator! I've noticed that elevator etiquette is nonexistent here, people will just shove in (this applies to the subway, too) when you're trying to get out and never hold the door for you. I imagine when you live with 1.5 billion people, you just don't have time to wait for everyone else.
Jessica and I have been running laundry loads for about two days straight here, and Mike's apartment is covered with drying clothes. He gets back from Henan on Monday morning, so everything should have plenty of time to dry properly by then. I won't be sad to never have to come back to this complex again. It's madness in here!
Mike's apartment (site of the infamous good cop/bad cop shakedown) is in a supposedly "nice" apartment complex just next to our hotel. Let me just say that I think many years of absolute deprivation has resulted in the Chinese being somewhat willing to forgive situations that to Western eyes seem ridiculous. For instance, the apartment building has one main entry gate and then several side gates that are only accessible with an electronic keycard, both for entry AND exit. There are always at least ten people waiting on either side of the gate for someone to come through and either buzz them in or out. There are "guards" stationed next to the gate but they never let people in or out, or stop you from letting people in or out. Ridiculous! At midnight all the side gates are chained shut, which is really comforting should there be some kind of emergency and you can't reach the main gate.
The inside of the building is typically poorly maintained. The carpet is stained, the first time Mike moved in everything was covered with a layer of yellow sand (perhaps from a sandstorm?) and there are exposed wires in the hallways. On top of this, it seems that people rent out the apartments in the complex for businesses as well as living spaces. Just next door to Mike's apartment there is somekind of internet company cranking away, as the place is packed with people on computers typing busily away, and they are always shipping hundreds of boxes in and out every day. Not kidding, EVERY time we go to Mike's apartment there are at least one or two guys with a bicycle delivery pallet full of about 10-20 Lenovo desktops stacked (optional assistant for unloading on top of the boxes). These guys clog up the entrance gate with their deliveries and always bogart the elevator. Today one of these guys crammed in with a delivery dolly, and then refused to move when it came to my floor. I even said "excuse me" in Chinese and he just played dumb. I shoved him out of the way, which made me angry because I didn't want to come across as an ugly, rude foreigner, but come on, dude! Get out of my way on the elevator! I've noticed that elevator etiquette is nonexistent here, people will just shove in (this applies to the subway, too) when you're trying to get out and never hold the door for you. I imagine when you live with 1.5 billion people, you just don't have time to wait for everyone else.
Jessica and I have been running laundry loads for about two days straight here, and Mike's apartment is covered with drying clothes. He gets back from Henan on Monday morning, so everything should have plenty of time to dry properly by then. I won't be sad to never have to come back to this complex again. It's madness in here!
You are the Haircut Master...
My hair had been getting very long and heavy, so I decided to get a haircut. I usually like to get lots of layers in my haircuts, so I figured getting one in China would be a great idea because everyone's hair here is straight, so they usually layer the heck out of it to get some movement.
Since my Chinese haircutting vocabulary is limited to hair, short and long, I purchased a local magazine to scope out good photos of Asian haircuts. I got lucky--I was able to find exactly the haircut I wanted.
The salon I chose is right across the street from the hotel. One of my other classmates, who doesn't speak any Chinese, went there right at the beginning of the module with a photo and came out with a great haircut, so I figured it would be fine. As would be expected in a developing country, the haircut rate is extremely cheap, only 25 yuan. For that price you get a shampoo, cut, style AND a neck, back, head and arm massage while you wait! Good deal.
My explanation with the photo went very well, I explained that I liked the bangs and the length and that I wanted that haircut. The stylist kept asking me questions, that I know had to do with long and short (I think he was asking where I wanted my layers to start) but I had no idea what he was talking about so finally I said "You are the master, just do what you need to do!" As it turned out, my haircut is great! Everyone has been very complimentary. I put the photos up on Facebook. The best part is that I slept on it and woke up this morning and it still looks good! If only I could import this guy to the US... and make him charge me only China prices.
Since my Chinese haircutting vocabulary is limited to hair, short and long, I purchased a local magazine to scope out good photos of Asian haircuts. I got lucky--I was able to find exactly the haircut I wanted.
The salon I chose is right across the street from the hotel. One of my other classmates, who doesn't speak any Chinese, went there right at the beginning of the module with a photo and came out with a great haircut, so I figured it would be fine. As would be expected in a developing country, the haircut rate is extremely cheap, only 25 yuan. For that price you get a shampoo, cut, style AND a neck, back, head and arm massage while you wait! Good deal.
My explanation with the photo went very well, I explained that I liked the bangs and the length and that I wanted that haircut. The stylist kept asking me questions, that I know had to do with long and short (I think he was asking where I wanted my layers to start) but I had no idea what he was talking about so finally I said "You are the master, just do what you need to do!" As it turned out, my haircut is great! Everyone has been very complimentary. I put the photos up on Facebook. The best part is that I slept on it and woke up this morning and it still looks good! If only I could import this guy to the US... and make him charge me only China prices.
Last Train to Karaoke
Last night I was working on my Accounting problem set when I got a call from Jessica, who was out to dinner with a group of people. There was a crowd doing karaoke that night! Having done plenty of Karaoke in Taiwan and of course loving it I had been wanting to do some KTV but had not yet had the chance. I jumped at it, leaving Accounting behind (lest you panic, I was able to finish up my problem set today without a problem).
Since I'm cheap and I left the hotel at approximately 10:08pm, I figured I could make the last train to Wudaokou, which leaves Suzhoujie station at 10:22pm. I booked it down the street and kind of jogged some of the way and made it in good time. Better to spend only 2 yuan on the subway instead of taking a cab for 14 yuan (which was smart because I had to take a cab back alone later).
I met up with Rob, Ben, Tracy, Matt and Hunter at Red House, our favorite Bar in Wudaokou. It features a relaxed and friendly atmosphere (aka they don't stare at the whiteys) and 5 yuan Tsingdaos. You can't go wrong with 5 yuan Tsingdaos! After getting the boys to imbibe enough to sing out loud, we headed across the street to Lion King KTV. We chose it because it has a large selection of (covered) English songs and because it's only 80 kuai an hour.
Much fun was of course had by all, we sang a mix of English and Korean songs (Hunter is Korean)... loudly. I cut out around 1am, so I could get up early and study for the quiz (at 10am, not too early). Everyone else stayed 'till 3am. There were some tired faces at the quiz this morning! It was worth it though--I love singing!
Since I'm cheap and I left the hotel at approximately 10:08pm, I figured I could make the last train to Wudaokou, which leaves Suzhoujie station at 10:22pm. I booked it down the street and kind of jogged some of the way and made it in good time. Better to spend only 2 yuan on the subway instead of taking a cab for 14 yuan (which was smart because I had to take a cab back alone later).
I met up with Rob, Ben, Tracy, Matt and Hunter at Red House, our favorite Bar in Wudaokou. It features a relaxed and friendly atmosphere (aka they don't stare at the whiteys) and 5 yuan Tsingdaos. You can't go wrong with 5 yuan Tsingdaos! After getting the boys to imbibe enough to sing out loud, we headed across the street to Lion King KTV. We chose it because it has a large selection of (covered) English songs and because it's only 80 kuai an hour.
Much fun was of course had by all, we sang a mix of English and Korean songs (Hunter is Korean)... loudly. I cut out around 1am, so I could get up early and study for the quiz (at 10am, not too early). Everyone else stayed 'till 3am. There were some tired faces at the quiz this morning! It was worth it though--I love singing!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Teddy Ballgame and the Case of the Curious Cough
During his three-day birthday party junket, Ted was coughing up a storm. We all chalked it up to just general unhealthiness due to sustained all night partying, but he wasn't able to sleep at night because the coughing was so intense and strong. We finally convinced him to go to the hospital, which proved to be an interesting adventure.
In China there are two levels of hospital--foreigner level, where the doctors have studied in America or some other industrialized country, the staff speak English and they charge Western prices or you can go to Chinese hospital, which is about what you would expect. Decent care if you are getting a basic service, no English and cheap, cheap, cheap! Ted called the Western hospital first and they wanted to charge him $200-450 for a consultation plus whatever services he required. What a rip off! He decided instead to brave the Chinese hospital and took one of our Beida office staff with him for assistance. Turns out he made the smart choice. He only paid 250 yuan total for his visit, which included consultation, chest X-ray plus prescriptions along with a diagnosis of lung infection. He got to keep his chest X-ray, which we eagerly inspected at the Bridge. I'm no doctor, but I've watched enough episodes of House, Grey's Anatomy and ER to diagnose a lung infection. His lungs were cloudy looking and full of what looked like spidery grit. Ick!
Ted is well on his way to recovery, he sounds great and is having less coughing bouts. They gave him two courses of antibiotics, so I told him to eat some yogurt to get some good bacteria back into his system. So far our group has not been the healthiest, so far we've had:
-Ted's lung infection
-David's kidney stone
-Nikhil's viral infection that required IV treatment
-Jenn went to the hospital last night for some kind of stomach issue, not sure what it was but she's out now (EDITED: It was acute pancreatitis)
-Laurie's knee is injured, but she's kind of a hypochondriac so I'm not sure what's up with that
-Various diarrhea/GI/upset stomach issues
-Phlegmy-ness thanks to Beijing
In China there are two levels of hospital--foreigner level, where the doctors have studied in America or some other industrialized country, the staff speak English and they charge Western prices or you can go to Chinese hospital, which is about what you would expect. Decent care if you are getting a basic service, no English and cheap, cheap, cheap! Ted called the Western hospital first and they wanted to charge him $200-450 for a consultation plus whatever services he required. What a rip off! He decided instead to brave the Chinese hospital and took one of our Beida office staff with him for assistance. Turns out he made the smart choice. He only paid 250 yuan total for his visit, which included consultation, chest X-ray plus prescriptions along with a diagnosis of lung infection. He got to keep his chest X-ray, which we eagerly inspected at the Bridge. I'm no doctor, but I've watched enough episodes of House, Grey's Anatomy and ER to diagnose a lung infection. His lungs were cloudy looking and full of what looked like spidery grit. Ick!
Ted is well on his way to recovery, he sounds great and is having less coughing bouts. They gave him two courses of antibiotics, so I told him to eat some yogurt to get some good bacteria back into his system. So far our group has not been the healthiest, so far we've had:
-Ted's lung infection
-David's kidney stone
-Nikhil's viral infection that required IV treatment
-Jenn went to the hospital last night for some kind of stomach issue, not sure what it was but she's out now (EDITED: It was acute pancreatitis)
-Laurie's knee is injured, but she's kind of a hypochondriac so I'm not sure what's up with that
-Various diarrhea/GI/upset stomach issues
-Phlegmy-ness thanks to Beijing
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