I realize it is a Sunday night now, but for me it feels like the middle of the week. Not a jetlag but a National Holiday-lag. Why? This weekend was a working weekend in China. Each of the 3 official holidays (Spring Festival, May 1, and October 1) give Chinese 5 days off in a row. But in order to compensate that people have to work either the weekend before or after the vacation. This time it was the weekend after the holiday, so I spent the weekend in my office. Got lots of work done, as not many emails or phone calls came in, I suspect that most people took an additional two days off. The good thing is that I caught up with all my emails and other things that were waiting for me after my honeymoon. Also managed to upload all pictures from my wedding to www.flickr.com/groups/chinawedding (many people sent me there pictures, thanks!), and my honeymoon pictures to www.flickr.com/photos/chijs.

This is the view from our new office. On the forefront the Suzhou Creek, which has been cleaned up a lot during the past years. In the back the new Radisson hotel and the Marriot hotel, both on People’s Square are visible.

This is what the office looks like right now. It is still a big mess, with many years of dust and dirt on the floor. But Chinese workers can do wonders in a few weeks, and hopefully the warehouse will soon be a good place to work hard and to relax.

Toodou.com keeps on growing, and our current office is getting too small. In the next weeks we plan to hire about 10 extra staff, and therefore we will move our office to an old warehouse on the Suzhou Creek. The location is great, close to the subway and about a 10 minute walk to People’s Square.

The building is called Si Hang (Four banks, as it used to be a warehouse for 4 banks). I learned that it the building is famous for a battle that was fought here during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 (the Chinese army fighting the Japanese invaders). There is even a museum in the building (on the 7th floor) about the battle. Should you ever plan to visit the museum, feel free to come by. Our office will open by mid- to late November and is at the far end of the 5th floor.

After a few days without Skype and being able to read my own blog, things seem to be OK now. Skype started working again on Thursday, and last night I saw my posts coming into my RSS reader. I was talking to some people outside Shanghai, and they had no problem with Skype, but they were also not able to read my blog. Strange. Maybe the government decided to shut some sites down just for the National Holiday? Or, more likely, there was a problem with Shanghai Telecom and nobody was able to repair it due to the National Holiday. Anyway, things work again and that’s what counts.

I am back in Shanghai after a great honeymoon. When I checked my weblog last night I found that it did not load. But loading it using a proxy was no problem. Ergo, my blog is blocked in China, although I can still upload. Welcome home!

Then I tried to use Skype. My wife told me that she could not log in, but my Skype seemed to work fine (I had not logged off from the Skype application in days, only hibernating my computer). I called our home number with SkypeOut to see if it worked, and the phone rang. But when I logged off and tried to log on again I could not start Skype anymore. I hope it is just a temporary glitch. I read the reports that SkypeOut would be blocked in China, but not that the whole application would not work anymore. This really angers me. I use Skype intensively, both privately and for my work. If it suddenly does not work anymore I have a serious problem.

On Sunday we went to visit some friends (Josie and Mark) who are living in Discovery Bay. Although I have been to Hong Kong many times I had never been there, and it was an interesting experience.

Discovery Bay is a luxurious community on Lantau Island (not far from Disneyland – you can watch the fireworks every night!). Cars are not allowed in Discovery Bay, and you can only get there by ferry (25 minutes from Central) or by bus from other parts of Lantau Island. DB consists of many low- and highrises around the coastline and the beaches, with a central area with restaurants, shops and the ferry terminal. It looks a bit like a resort, but one where people live full-time, and is a huge contrast to the crowded city. Because there is a ferry several times per hour (after midnight less regular) it is a good alternative to living in the city.

DB has its own club with swimming pools, tennis etc., and there is a marina with some very nice yachts. Residents get around in golf carts (that apparently sell for around EUR 60,000 (!) because they are limited and need a license) or by walking or biking. You can literally start hiking in the mountains from your back door. I had a one hour run in and around the community and was impressed. There is still a small fishing village next, and from there the hiking trails start. Within a few minutes you are in the middle of nature! After my run I had a short swim in the sea to cool off. I loved it.

During the afternoon we took a small ferry from DB to Peng Chau where we had a one hour hike to the top of Finger Hill. The view from there over the surrounding islands (and Disneyland) is great. Peng Chau is still very laid back, and still is a bit like Hong Kong 50 years ago. Also here no cars, but that probably also had to do with the fact that there are no real roads, but only foot and bike paths.

Just before 7 PM we took ferry back to Central, and half an hour later we were shopping again in downtown HK. Should I ever decide to move to HK, then I will certainly consider living in Discovery Bay.

The last leg of our honeymoon brought us to Hong Kong. One thing we wanted to do there is check out the new Disneyland (opened on Sept. 12). After reading several negative reports in the newspapers (overcrowded, long waits, bad behaviour of ‘mainlanders’) I was prepared for the worst. However, we had a fantastic day, and I would recommend everybody to visit. Although Disneyland in Hong Kong is much smaller than Disneyworld in Orlando (the only other Disney park I have been to), it is big enough to spend a whole day there. We went there on Friday, Sept. 30, just before the weekend and the start of the national holiday in China. Because of the expected crowds we were there just before 10 AM, which was the opening time. Buying the tickets went very efficient, we had to wait less than 5 minutes. The price (HKD 295, about EUR 30) was quite reasonable in my opinion. We started by taking the train to Adventureland, in the northern part of the park. It is only a few minutes ride, as the park is much smaller than I expected. When we arrived we first watched a Mickey Mouse as a music conductor 3D show. We could walk in without waiting, which was nice, especially because I still remember the long lines from past visits to Disneyworld. The show was really good, and the 3D effects amazing. The show also used smell effects and you get a bit wet on occasions when water is sprayed on visitors. I recommend this attraction to experience what is possible in animation.

After this we went to Tomorrowland for a ride in Space Mountain. Also here the wait was very reasonable (about 15 minutes). In case you find that too long you can use the FastPass service. For this you insert your ticket in a machine that issues you a coupon with a time on it. When you return at that time you can immediately enter the attraction. This system was used for several attractions, but because there were not many people in the park we did not use it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was so quiet. Probably we had chosen a good day? Space mountain was great, and similar to the ride in Orlando. It is basically a roller coaster ride in the dark (in space, surrounded by stars) with great music and light effects.

We went to almost every attraction in the park, and did not have to wait anywhere more than 15 minutes. The highlight was the Disney Parade at 4 PM, a perfectly orchestrated parade from Tomorrowland through Main Street USA to the railway stations. This was the only time during the day that we saw some crowds. What surprised me was that there was no real waiting time in the restaurants either (articles in newspapers had warned about long queues there). The weather was also great, sunny and about 30 degrees, and all of this contributed to a great day out. A magical day, as Disney calls it.

Getting to and from Disneyland is very easy. It is located on Lantau Island and accesible by metro. By MTR you can be in the park 30 minutes after leaving Central. Soon there will also be a ferry service to the park. Tickets can be bought online, in some MTR stations and at the entrance of the park. We did not check out the two Disney resort hotels, but from the outside they looked great. Once there is a direct ferry to HK Island they may even be a good substitute for a hotel in the city center.