Special Massage anyone?

So, this is what happens to you when you go for the "special massage for you" deal. Reeeaaal funny. At least they didn't try to give me a happy ending. I have seen it before in the states, apparently they call it "cupping", that is also real funny. They suctioned about 10 glass globes to my back. It was quite interesting. So now I am stuck with 10 giant hickeys on my back for a few days. Eh, no big deal. I have no one to impress. Too funny.

Anyway, other than getting 10 giant hickeys, the day was pretty uneventful. It is getting a little stressful but I can handle it. It's all part of the fun. Over half the bikes are finished in China. Only about 30 to go! Then it is off to Taiwan to finish the rest there.

Here is where I eat lunch everyday:

Kind of random I know, but after that massage I'm feeling a little loopy. The food here at the factory is great. It is my favorite food in China. We have our own cooks and everything. They call me the chopstick master. (not really, but they do always compliment my chopstick skillz) Actually, being here is quite good for the ego. Everywhere I go they like to tell me how beautiful I am. It's great. They don't see many female rounds eyes in these parts so I attribute it to that. That and I AM beautiful. hah.

I went to "Window of the World" yesterday. It was alright. It is basically miniature statues of the wonders of the world. Please see below:

Wait no, I'm sorry that is me sticking my head in a statues nose.

THIS is a miniature of a world wonder:

And again:It was cool. I went with one of the girls from the factory. She loved it. That made me happy since they never leave the factory ever. Then I took her out to lunch. It was a fun time. She said the day was unforgettable. That made me laugh...I wonder if she doesn't understand the word, or it really was unforgettable to her. Either way, I am glad she is happy. Plus, I got the sweet pic of me hanging out of the statues nose. It was an over all successful trip. I wasn't bored once over the weekend. I do miss everyone at home. So let me leave you with this photo to contemplate until my next post:

Chillin in China 4/19

If there was a photo I could show you guys who have never been here to describe China, it would be the above photo. It's high class or no class here. There is no middle, you either live in luxury or you live in a shack with rubble all around. Being that I am in the middle of manufacturing central, I see more rubble than luxury. I am however staying in a 5 star hotel for $40 a night. It's pretty crazy.
Nice eh?

Anyway, I am terrible at posting everyday, so I will just post when I can. It is Sunday morning here (Saturday night at home).

This is what I wake up to every morning.

(View from my balcony, yes, I have a balcony on the 15th floor)
It's crazy how incredibly polluted this country is. Of course everything in the world is made here, so it makes sense. Today I will be going to something called Window of the Worlds. Apparently it is a miniature park of the Wonders of the world. That should be quite interesting. I'll take lots of pictures.
Nothing too exciting has been going on. It's work, work, work for the most part. (Which is what I am here to do) The photoshoot is going well. We are done taking photos of at least half my models. They look great :)
So these are some of the people I work with in the factories over here.

Mark is our Senior Product manager. All the other people are the ones who make our decisions happen in China. They are very hard workers and are fun to work with.
OK, I am off the Window of the worlds. I will post more later.

Day1

(Picture 1-getting on the ferry to the mainland)

Hey guys, So I made it to China. The trip was looooong. It was quite uneventful really. I hung out in the Taipei lounge, then hopped a flight to HK where I caught a ferry to the mainland. (Picture 2-seen from the ferry that takes me from HK to mainland China)

(Picture 3-seen from the ferry. So many ships it almost looks like they are going into battle)
The factory is about 1 hour drive inland once the ferry lands in Shenzhen(Southern mainland China) As soon as I walked off the ferry the humidity hit me. Everyday here is like the most humid day in the summer time back home in Philly. Not as hot, but man is it sticky. I forgot to pack for this weather.

(Pictures 3,4,5-view from the car on the way to the factory)

Parts of China are very pretty, but as you can see from the photos, there is always a haze everywhere because of all the manufacturing in the country.

(Picture 6-Clothes hanging out to dry on balcony's.)

Almost every apartment building you see everywhere in Southern China will have clothes hanging out to dry. I don't know how they can dry with this humidity.

I arrived at the factory around 1:30pm(1:30am to me). I was really excited to see all of my mechanical babies. Non of them were completely built, but built enough that I could see how they would turn out. I was so excited. The photoshoot doesn't start till tomorrow.

By 4pm I started crashing and was ready for bed. We headed back to the hotel around 5:30pm and had a buffet dinner. The dinners here are little scary sometimes. You don't always know what meat you are eating. Around 7pm I went for an hour and a half massage that only cost $6. I get them almost every night when I'm here. They are great! I tried to stay awake to watch The Contender Asia (Muay Thai fight competition) but passed out in the middle of it.
That's it for Day 1....

DAY 0 (I am calling it that because I am still in the states sitting in the airport.)

This is the "Lounge" where I hang out until they let me on the plane. The coffee is to the left, food in the middle, and alcohol on the right.(thats my computer at the bottom, I am sitting) I attempted to get a free upgrade to first class, but they wouldn't have any of it. I have attempted several methods of getting to the airport. This trip was Amtrak. I arrived successfully, but was one hour late. I will no longer be taking the Amtrak. So, I still have to sit here and try to stay awake till 2am. My eyelids are getting a little droopy, but that could be the alcoholic beverage i just consumed. I did buy a copy of Bicycling magazine to entertain me, which you should all do, because I received my first bike review. Very Exciting! Go buy it and frame it...Cause its gonna be worth a lot of money some day.(I wish) I am pretty happy with the article. They had some good things to say. Anyway, I am going to eat some more food. I am pretty hungry. I will blog again later...Miss you guys already!