A day in China say more than a thousand anywhere else...

...another visit. :)

Today she looked a little cold, but used these old yarnpiece to keep herself warm!




And naturally we had to check some re-made knitted sweaters.




I love this picture. It truly captures our everyday life; computer addicted Swede, Chinese coordinator on the phone and a cold factory worker trying to steal a few minutes to get warm by the tea kettle in a winter-cold office.

It seems like I have been doing this for all of my life and I can't remember when I last lived in one place for more than 1 year... Hopefully it will happen soon though! But not until august or sth, hehe. Next apartment hunt will take place in, yes you guessed it:
Shish!!!


Homeless but not bedless! Ali and Rinko to the resque!

Finally we can go to a place not totally crowded by Swedish charter tourists (like the godforgotten Thailand)...at least, this is what I hope. Only solution to not run into Swedes is probably to get that private island of mine...still workin' on it;)


OK, some of you might think it was not so long ago since we last went to the sunny beaches of another Southeast Asian country, but then I still had to work, everyday. While Joanna was chillin at the beach, I sat inside infront of the computer, looking out through the window...
Now it will be Chinese New Year and not 1 factory will be able to make anything = I am free and can probably get off the computer for a few consecutive days. Yeah!!!

Dinner...




Late night work...




Waking up to a sparkling bright day...



Now, heading to the airport for a flight back to a -15°C Beijing.

Somewhat surprising product extensions...A Louis Vuitton "Kleenex box" and a "Car Parfume" from Mont Blanc...only in China!?

...Tila :)

Today Beijing was once again covered in snow. Luckily the flight still took of on time!



In Shishi I was greeted by rainfall, smog and a delicious meal including fish-stomach, frog etc. 非常 delish!!!



My office for the night.

Almost the same?! right?!

My New Years outfit was gonna be a Candy Kane combo, but the Candy & Caviar vest looked much better with a tuxido shirt, and its New Year so why not!



A old French friend makes a guest apparence at 7-Eleven, Beijing. Limoux and Sieur D'Arques are taking over!



We started the New Years Eve at Let's Seafood in Nali, Beijing. 8 Swedes, 2 Aussies, 1 Korean and 1 Chinese makes a perfect crowd for a New Years dinner... OK, maybe 1 or 2 too many Swedes but we leave no one behind;)



Rinko, Mirinae & Sebante.



Warren & Ali; the two of them dressed sharp as always!



Alex & Oscar; you never see one without the other. Possible office romance?!



The newly opened VIP lounge at d.lounge! Pretty damn sweet!!!




The Fantastic 3; H&M, Cheap Monday and Christopher Kane! Rooarrr!




Let's get it oooouun...






Warren - the dragon


Svante - the Sommelier...



Xinnian kuaile!!!


2010, is off to a fantastic start! This year it's finally turning!!!

This is a common sight in the IKEA stores in China; tired Chinese people taking power-naps...



So I thought after a hard days work:

"When in Beijing, do as the Beijingers..."

Sometimes faith takes you to random places... Today it took me and Ali to a small farmers-town, 1.5 hours outside of Beijing. To QC an order of knitted sweaters...


This surrealistic image I saw this morning walking to the subway. A of a group of fake deers gathered in a park among all the high-rises of downtown...



First a typical Chinese lunch. Cigarette smoke, phones ringing, heavy drinking and delicious food, just like any lunch in China!
Both me and Ali were lucky and got out of the drinking tradition, no baijiu or beer today:) It did not however, stop the 3 factory managers who all downed a whole bottle of 100° (50%) ricewine...



You know you are outside the downtown area when you have to wait for pigs to cross the "street"!




Still, a beautifully charming area...



Not exactly smokin' hot;)



After QC'ing several hundreds of knitted sweaters, we deserved a break!



And we found this poor little thing...





It was hard not to take her home with us, but I am sure she will have a great and playfull life in the fields of Pinggu!!!

:(

...for some QC at the knit factory. Let's hope that the factory now have managed to fix the problems, I do not want to have a 4th go at this order:(!

This is from last time:

The quality problems were a fact and as cold the factory...



The only highlight of the day was when I discovered this rare design stool in the factory... How's your design skills? Anyone? If I say: Kraitz?
Answer here!

Julegranen!!! Ohh va den doftar!




IKEA also dressed up for this fantastic evening...

and guarded the Christmas tree and gifts;)




Beijing Duck instead of turkey was not an option!




Last minute food shopping.




Busy in the kitchen.




We challenged the new talent from the Swedish Trade Council with the difficult task of peeling the potatoes. They surprised us and excelled! ;) (They are also great at rolling Swedish meatballs!!!) Talk about talent!!!




More kitchen duties...




This could have been anywhere in Sweden... Ham, knäckebröd, salmon, julmust, prince-sausage, meatballs, potatoes, red cabbage, julöl, egg, etc etc...

Collective massive amounts of "vuxenpoäng"!!! ("Grown-up points", makes sense or no?...)




The labor force finally sat down to enjoy!




J is Christmas happy!
Alex managed to put on a quick smile without loosing precious time chewing:) We were all surprised how well everything tasted. However, without microwave, it would have been a cold, cold Christmas..




Svante had been out all night trying to find Christmas gifts for everyone. What a champ!


Kalle Anka's jul on the projector!



Christmas gift gambling...

You ever wondered about all the Asians at casinos? Question has been answered, they are extremely lucky!!!



and this guy too, to have an Asian gf to win everything he wanted...




Easy come...

..easy go;)
The newly won Japanese golden lucky cat, broke into pieces, I think next year the rest of us will have our revenge!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Busy days, but the blog is still alive!

We wish our friends and families and of course our readers a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love you all!

/J & J

A common form of cayak battle...


JJ and the fifth wheel;)



Work was much easier with a cold Chang and in 30°C heat!




Respect!




Happy times!




Another cold Chang; less working...





This one's for you Nicky!





One of the rare moments of being a gentleman;)




Only one way to end a perfect vacay; With a smokin' hot Whopper!!!

Sometimes the different levels of evolution between the speices is hard to distinguish.

When we got back we decided that comfort and wifi was a higher priority than food on the table the rest of the month when we get back so we stepped it up a bit! Doubled the budget and ended up at a nice place for 1300 baht / night...



The closet was awesome, concrete and a cold, harsh light from a fluorescent lamp. Let's get inspired!






Wanted to try some mexican food for a change, landed at a Scandinavian rest, called Unni's.
Result: Weak mojitos, Curry with chicken tasting like chewinggum and a dry nachos plate. Going back to authentic food for sure! Not a hit! Or maybe if you're going Swede hunting, cuz it was like a real charter restaurant à la Gran Canaria...




This surprisingly fashionable store sold really nice tees, shirts, watches, shoes and as it seemed, a little kitten...

After 26 hours away from the island, we finally returned to the island life and away from all the less charming areas in Phuket...but now Erik is on his way back to Beijing via Bangkok... best of luck homes!