Author Archives: leendertvandoorn

A good friend of mine, Thomas Molgaard, picked me up from the quarantine hotel and drove me to my Shanghai hotel where I was going to stay the rest of the 10-days. I was staying at the JW Marriot near people’s square. This is in the center of town with all its shopping centers. TheContinue reading “A night on the town”

The release process started last Tuesday when I got a WeChat message that indicated that I’ll get my COVID test on Friday morning 5:30am and that I had to be ready for it. So mentally that started the count down process for me and Friday couldn’t come fast enough. On Friday 5:30am I was showered,Continue reading “自由 / Freedom!”

Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference – Robert Frost I didn’t think I would have much else to write about during my quarantine stay because all the days are pretty much the same but last week, I was thrownContinue reading “Confusion”

One of my requests as part of going to China was to learn Mandarin. Especially conversational Mandarin. I had been teaching myself some Mandarin using textbooks and Duolingo, but the problem was that I didn’t get my pronunciation right. I could tell that when I heard myself back. I had a pretty thick American accent.Continue reading “Chinese lessons”

I started my 2nd week in quarantine today. I can’t wait for it to be over. It’s not so much the monotony of my daily life. Having a routine helps with that. It’s the lack of interacting with actual living and breathing human beings. One more week to go! I did WeChat with the medical/security teamContinue reading “Mid-way point”

This posting is about me geeking out and describing the gadgets and technical environment I use to work from Quarantine. If it is too much feel free to skip it.  I love my gadgets. I always tend to buy the latest and greatest, if only just to try it out. When I travel, I takeContinue reading “Working from Quarantine”

My quarantine hotel, the Wyndham Shanghai East Bund, is located in the Yangpu District in Shanghai. It is a neighborhood just east of the city center and I can see the famous Shanghai TV tower and the Grand Hyatt, the hotel where I usually stay, from my window. It’s a 5-star hotel but it has seen betterContinue reading “The Quarantine Hotel”

Before the plane landed at Shanghai Pudong International airport, we were all instructed to stay in our seats after we arrived at the gate. The ground crew would tell us when to deplane and in what order. We had to keep our customs health QR code ready for inspection. That was the code we gotContinue reading “Arriving at Shanghai Pudong Airport”

The trip to Shanghai started on Wednesday Cinqo de Mayo (May 5th) from Austin. It’s a cumbersome trip because China requires you to take two COVID19 tests. Both the PCR (nasal swap) and antibody (blood serum) test. Both need to be taken at the port of departure within 48-hours of your flight leaving at aContinue reading “The trip to Shanghai”

WeChat and Alipay are indispensable phone apps here in China. You use it for everything. To pay, to order food, to order taxis, to instant message, to tracking your health, social media, etc. It’s an integrated platform that is pervasive throughout the country. China is effectively a cashless society, and all its payments are doneContinue reading “Wechat and Alipay”