The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Beijing's first snow of the season! We beat Winnipeg! Gotta get up early if you want pics of the city under cover cause it melts fast! Either way... it's cold! Got some soundtracking done this weekend, finally! NFTs... really? What's the difference between them and a royalty-free digital asset? I might be missing something here. Start of week, have a good one! Show notes on stevensirski.com

Foot is hurting on top, can't be a sprain can it? Forgot to press publish last night. NaNoWriMo2021, coming along. Weekend is here... and I work! Show notes on stevensirski.com Have a good end of week!

An extended disgression on learning Chinese, HSK 5 or 6, what do they really mean? 2500 characters or 5000 words, whatever! All that being said, should I be taking speaking lessons? $600 CAD for 30 classes. Commitment is not the issue, it's... is it worth it? Keeping creative, keeping the juices flowing. 1500 words a day NaNoWriMo. Get.it.done. Show notes on stevensirski.com!

Passport renewal process, should be easy enough. Can apply to RETAIN my current passport while it's being renewed... but I'll have to pay $45 CAD for that 'service'. Overall, doesn't look too difficult and should be rather straight forward since the Embassy is in Beijing. At least I can get a passport as Mainland Chinese citizens can't unless they can prove a need for it. Leisure travel isn't a va...

Feeling better. Chinese remedies vs the remedies I grew up with. Chinese remedies would be hot water, rest, then a pharmacy visit. Strange as most people I meet every day would say go to the hospital. Conflicting solutions? NaNoWriMo - You in? I might just try to write a couple thousand words a day just to get back into it. I'm more looking forward to December. Show notes on stevensirski.com Have...

November already and several Birthdays in the near future. Pipes are warming up in prep for full on heating in another week or so. Head cold or something but I'm fighting something so it's rest, fruit juice and garlic as treatment. How was Halloween? Maybe it was just me not going out? That time of year when you gotta be careful where you step, it could be a dried leaf or a piece of dog poop! Shan...

Back in Beijing no problem!... But the city is cutting itself off. Universities are shutting gates and the city is building what some would call is a 'Beijing Bubble' in preparation for the Olympics. // The process of an audio blog. // Getting into 2D animation cause... always been something I've thought about! // Hope your week has been good and your weekend is set up good! Happy Halloween to tho...

It's the Smog! Jinan is worse than Beijing right now. // Olympics coming up, will we be able to go? Vaxxed, not vaxxed, double triple vaxxed? // Beijing shuttering some places. For all my comments about Canada and now this... // Gaining weight while travelling? Change in workout routines aaaannndd.... egg tarts! // Hope we can get back to Beijing tomorrow! // Have a good one! // stevensirski.com

Another daily audio blog from the road... In Jinan, long time since I've been here!  //  Busy day but still got a work out in: 8 rounds, 45 seconds on, 10 seconds rest: Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Elephant Walks, Mountain Climbers, Bear Crawl, pushups, Kick throughs. Then did two rounds of my usual medicine ball workout but with my suitcase as a weight (almost 7 kg filled with towels).  //  THE VIRUS...

On the train again! This time high speed and on the way to Jinan! // Working from a home office or regular office? Which one is better these days? Which countries will benefit from this change up? // Reading How to be Rich by J.P. Getty. Great book. // Will we be able to get back to Beijing on Friday with the new * that is tacked onto our Health Code APPs?

Halloween as an expat experience. // THE VIRUS returns, will we be allowed back into Beijing if we leave? // USA's National Institutes of Health (NIH) discloses it's been funding virus research... oops? // Chinese study progress... time to hit the books? Will I make it before February or March of next year? And where can I even use this language if not in China? // Have a good start of week! // st...

How to order a full cup of coffee in Chinese? // Off to Wenshu Buddhist Temple, does a stopover at a temple count for anything in the Universal Order? // Over to Qing Yang Palace // Temple, Taoist Temple. Lao Zu was sitting there. He wrote the Tao Te Cheng, one of the main books of Taoism. // Then off to JinLi Street, similar to Beijing's Nanlu Guxiang street, but with ear cleaners! // Got my ears...

Chinese studies in the morning: characters, reading, socializing. // Depression and anxiety: these topics pop up from time to time. How to deal with them? // Have a good weekend and make sure to be good to yourself! // stevensirski.com

Headache to start the day!  //  Off to see the pandas!  //  Big ones, small ones, white and black ones and red ones too! I remember when pandas were sent as visitors to my home town back some years ago. What do I remember of that time? Footprints and ice cream.  //  Walked the whole park, took a full day, learned a little about how they are born and grow and... how th...

Deep clean of the apartment! Why? Got a new washing machine soooo, if the old one needs to go, chances are its surroundings haven't been touched in a while. Nine hours later, everything (most) things are clean. Baking soda and vinegar all day! Would professional cleaners do any better?  //  Aaaaaaand, it's that time of year again: shopping season! Alibaba kicks off its flagship APP's, Ta...

All about the document renewal process in Beijing! Get the paperwork, get the photos, fill in the papers IN BLACK INK, wait in line, submit the paper, don't lose the paper, pick up your passport in a week's time. And... next year don't forget to renew your passport! // Show notes on stevensirski.com!

Moving day, and it's raining again! No surprise there. ChongQing >> Chengdu.  //  Bought tickets online, train delayed, no Starbucks.  //  Hotel downtown, Chengdu is smaller, People's Park is busy with Elders playing cards, talking, and making deals?  //  Kuan Zhai XiangZi (wide and narrow alleyway, which are called hutongs in Beijing) for the afternoon.  //  Cycled down to Great Leap Chengdu to s...

It's COLD in Beijing! Temperatures have dropped seemingly OVERNIGHT!  //  Uploading more Episodes for last week!  //  Visa renewal process beings, always fun to go through, especially when transiting through train stations and airports!  //  New Apple computers, since when did "MAX" become better than "PRO"?  //  DJI might release a new drone in the coming w...

Late start, tired legs and feet. // Off to the Art Gallery, neat temporary collection of oil paintings. // Burning noodles. // The mask situation. // Southern tip of ChongQing City for a bookstore in a dying mall. // Then off to a famous tea house. Got interviewed? // Art district, university students everywhere. // Pig knuckle for dinner. // Old Street isn't old. // Night cap and an excited taxi...

Back in the Beej and recovering from the very busy journey! Is it possible to travel and publish? How do you keep sane and organized? Schedule over presence of the moment? Deadlines or dates? All things to think about if you're looking to publish on the move. // stevensirski.com

Planned: Three Gorges Museum and an Art Gallery. Got: Govt Museum, house and the Museum. // Neat metro stop built into its surroundings, including a forest park. // China ChongQing Three Gorges Museum is huge! Four floors, interesting to see. Learned about the city's bombing in World War 2. // Jiang Hu Cai for dinner: oily and spicey. // Have a good one! // stevensirski.com

What is your daily schedule like when you travel? Get up and get out, that's why it's sometimes good to have a travel group taking you around. // Got a painting done! Never done that before! // LOTS of walking, mostly downtown ChongQing. It's just shopping. Who buys this stuff? // Climbed a building without an elevator, lots of girls dressed up for those pics, don't know why. // Yugang Temple then...

Smoking smoking smoking, snoring snoring snoring! is true! 2.5 hrs of sleep total! // Cabin couple was nice to talk to. // Arrived in ChongQing, rain rain rain! // Hostel is almost empty! Hilly city! // In bed by 10! // Have a good one! // stevensirski.com

Smoking smoking smoking, snoring snoring snoring! That's how the hard sleeper train to ChongQing was described to me! And, given the price, 389 for a bed, yet flights could be had for 400, you might wonder why I chose this method. It's a bit more visceral, I think. Not as dirty as I thought it would be, but there is a lot of smoking. Not as noisy, but it is getting late and cell phone coverage has...

Pre-travel checklist? GoPro, drone, and a phone, right? // 18 hours to ChongQing on a Saturday night, should be interesting who we meet. // Four days ChongQing, four days Chengdu, as long as nothing changes with the health situation. // Only need a NAT if arriving from medium- to high-risk area. // Will try to post throughout, want to document the trip. A sign of the times. Follow me on Twitter @T...