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  • in reply to: Panda House Cleaning Service #46803
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    Our ayi works from 8:45am-1pm. We trust our 1.5 year old with her. She watches her and plays with her. She also cleans up the dishes, cleans the house and cooks three Chinese dishes for us to eat for lunch, often with enough for leftovers. She has a really positive attitude and we enjoy talking with her. She was actually our first ayi and its a joy to have her back again after we had to let the last one go due to attitude issues.

    I think she has some extra time in July because some other families that she works for are going to be away. She and her friend, who has also worked for us in the past, have really amazing attitudes and are conscientious workers, a rare find!

    in reply to: Panda House Cleaning Service #46780
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    Wow, I guess we really have an amazing deal with our ayi who does four hour morning shifts three times per week for only 1200 RMB per month.

    in reply to: VPN Comparison #46774
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    Lots of VPN providers also sell routers flashed with either DD-WRT or Tomato to run the VPN through the router. The benefit is that the router processes the VPN tunnel. You get faster download speeds in my opinion.

    At first, I flashed the Netgear R7000 with DD-WRT but it was buggy so the VPN.ac tech recommended AdvancedTomato. I flashed it and now its been quite stable for over a month.

    In my setup, I also have another wifi router to use just for a plain China internet connection to use China sites like Taobao.

    in reply to: VPN Comparison #46763
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    I use VPN.ac with AdvancedTomato installed on a Netgear R7000 purchased on Taobao. Works great.

    in reply to: Internet Service & Speed in Chengdu #46488
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    20M upload on Unicom is pretty sweet, SergioDragon! Too bad Unicom’s broadband doesn’t my new apartment complex. I’ve been on China Telecom for 5 years with so-so speed. Anyone here have China Mobile broadband? What kind of speeds do you get?

    in reply to: Coworking in Chengdu #45002
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    How’s about Monday, March 16, 10am at the #2 Maan Coffee at Huaxiba to meet up and talk coworking?

    in reply to: Lego School…What's next? #44983
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    Lego has come a long way since I was a kid.

    http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/?domainredir=mindstorms.lego.com

    As a 43 year old, I’d love a Lego MindStorm robot kit.

    in reply to: Coworking in Chengdu #44822
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    Hi Federico, I don’t mind working together. In fact a really simple coworking idea or “jelly” as they used to be called is to just get together at scheduled times during the week at a coffee shop. I really love Maan Coffee. It’s a great place and they have big tables that seat 8 people. It would be perfect for a jelly meetup. Wifi is faster in the mornings when its not crowded. If anyone is interested, we could do meetups at the Maan Coffee near the Huaxiba subway stop 漫咖啡(2号店) . Opens at 9am but the door is open earlier. Guarded bike parking in basement (1 rmb for moped). DianPing OpenRice

     

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    in reply to: Coworking in Chengdu #44815
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    Thanks for the replies! When I’ve used coworking spaces before I remember thinking to myself that I’d much rather use one than run a coworking space. What I mean is that since there isn’t one yet established here in Chengdu, I’d be willing to put in some effort to get one started but I don’t want to make a career out of running one. I think the lowest maintenance set up would be to find a place with lots of rooms. Each key member could rent an entire room. They set up their own furniture and share the common space (living room, kitchen and bathroom). Each key member has a key to the office and to their private room.

    Once enough key members have been found to pay for the rent and expenses, the coworking space could be open to desk members who have desks in the common areas.

    To those interested, what locations and monthly membership fees would you consider?

    Take a look at this possibility in Nijiaqiao (near the US consulate).

    http://zu.cd.fang.com/chuzu/3_162029284_1.htm

    It’s got six rooms and is already equipped with tons of desks and chairs.

    This is a simpler example of a 3 bdrm apt for 3600 RMB/month.

    http://zu.cd.fang.com/chuzu/3_162285058_1.htm

    There would be three key members paying one third of the rent, maintenance fee and utilities to start. As desk members are added, the key members would pay less for their private rooms.

    A maid could be hired to janitorial work and her fees added to the coworking space’s expenses, spread out among the members.

    If there were enough members that were interested, a cook could be added to make lunch daily.

     

    in reply to: Coworking in Chengdu #44806
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    Hi Federico, did you ever open your coworking space? I’m a web application developer. I’m thinking to rent a small office near Ximianqiao (close to the Nationalities university). If I did that, I’m wondering if there would be any interest out there to rent the use of a desk. It would include wifi and water for around 600 RMB/month. Would doing this be legal? I don’t own a business in China.

    in reply to: Strange Pollution Figures Recently #27974
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    I’ve heard speculation that its because the farmers in Sichuan are burning their fields.

    in reply to: Skyfall #26063
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    Charlie, I just saw a deal for Lumiere. Just 18 kuai/tx.

    http://cd.meituan.com/deal/107428.html

    in reply to: Buying a Toaster Oven #24831
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    Here’s the Tomato oven we bought on Taobao: link

    It was a bit cheaper when I bought it last month, just 448 plus 50 shipping. The rotisserie function works great, that is as long as you don’t buy 老母鸡 from Trustmart like I did! That old hen was inedibly rubbery.

    in reply to: Product Manager wanted! #24765
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    Hi eenynis,

    Could you provide information about Hayes Corp? I couldn’t find much info on your company website or on your LinkedIn profile.

    thanks,

    Truman

    in reply to: Internet Service & Speed in Chengdu #23847
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    Heh, I live right next to that very China Telecom office. They tried to get me to upgrade a few months ago and I was dubious as to whether the 20M line would be any better than my current rated F+ 2M line. Maybe I should check it out!

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    in reply to: Air Filter Advice? Air Pollution at 299 Today! #23550
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    We bought four new house plants this past weekend; air feels a bit fresher at home. I did a little research about the health benefits of house plants. Did you know that plants are natural air purifiers? It’s really interesting.

    here are some articles:

    http://delicious.com/ascribe/house-plants

    in reply to: Need Help with the Language Barrier #23090
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    I like using the soufun.com website to search for rental listings. Here is a listing of 2bdrm units in JiuYanQiao between 2000 and 3000 RMB. What I do is use the Firefox browser with the Perapera-kun plugin which translates the Chinese in tooltips as you mouse-over characters. Or you could use the Google Chrome browser which does automatic translation of the entire page.

    http://zu.cd.soufun.com/house-a0130-b01196/c22000-d23000-g22-t24/

    Also check out their map feature which I’ve found super helpful finding units in the exact block or complex you’re interested in.

    http://zu.cd.soufun.com/map/

    When you find a unit with pictures that you like, I’d ask a Chinese speaking friend to help you call the agent’s phone number listed. Make sure to ask if the specific unit is still available and to confirm that any details described on the ad is actually true. Sometimes they will list that there is an elevator but in actuality its a walk-up. I think they just sometimes copy details from another agents ad without making sure its accurate. Also ask if they took the pictures themselves and/or have been to the unit. When scheduling a time to see a unit, ask if they have the keys to enter the unit or whether they have to still get it from the landlord otherwise you might arrive at their office and they will say they don’t have the key yet and do you want to see some other units while you wait for the landlord to come in a couple hours.

    in reply to: Sichuan Opera This Week #23056
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    I just went to see the Shu Feng Ya Yun show last night. Too bad they didn’t have the act with the lady spinning a jars with her legs. But there was a very interesting guy with a bugle making sounds I never thought possible! But by far the most entertaining was the emcee, trying to understand her English. I was amused thinking that perhaps she has perfect English and purposely slurs her words to sound posh.

    150 RMB bought us really great seats on the 3rd row just off center.

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    in reply to: Costca Coffee at Raffles Mall as a Wifi Hangout #23032
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    Starbucks at Raffles City scored an F today consistent with the last speed test.

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    in reply to: Air Filter Advice? Air Pollution at 299 Today! #22785
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    Despite Chengdu being only slightly polluted this morning at 141, I still decided don my brand new Totobobo mask for a run. It was mildly disappointed to not get many stares … must be that mask wearing is “old hat” since the SARS scare when people even used to wear bra cups with extra straps when N95 masks were scarce. Or maybe I didn’t get stares because a Totobobo is nothing weird compared to face kinis which some Chinese women wear on beaches! 😀

    Totobobo has no smell but its gonna take some getting used to the air-flow resistance of the filters. After only running for 45 minutes, my pristine white filter already turned a shade of grey.

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    Unused filter on the left and just-used mask on the right.

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 83 total)