Friday, November 11, 2005

The Spectacular Flight Home


I flew back to San Francisco the other day. The flight from Shanghai is simply spectacular, as you spend the night over the northern Pacific ocean, arriving on the Oregon Coast just as the sun rises over the Cascades. From there you follow all the way down the coast of California, with Mt. Shasta looming in the distance, eventually arriving in the bay area around 8 am.

Here are the pics I took from my window seat:


Mt. Shasta, probably about 500 miles away.

The San Andreas fault at Bodega Bay, just north of Pt. Reyes in Marin County. The fault has ripped an enormous gash in the earth, allowing the Pacific Ocean to flow in. I had a hard time explaining this phenomenon to the elderly Chinese women sitting next to me, but I think I got the message through.




Wing over Marin County


Now my heart was really pumping...

San Francisco from the sky!!

posted by Ryan Petersen @ 8:28 AM   0 Comments Links to this post

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Our Apartment in Shanghai

These are some pictures of the view from our 34th story (penthouse) apartment in the Putuo district of Shanghai. The place has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a huge living room, plus the amazing patio pictured here. The total rent is 9000 RMB, which comes to about $1,100 U.S.

When we pointed out the lovely old neighborhood of Chinese houses next door,
the landlord said, "Don't worry about that, it won't be there long." This is sad first because its really
a nice place to walk around and experience a taste of old Shanghai. It's also sad for the more
selfish reason that the new skyscraper they build is likely to block our view.




This is our patio, as seen from the Eagle's nest above the apartment, which is accessible by a long, scary ladder.




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posted by Ryan Petersen @ 7:30 AM   0 Comments Links to this post