Sandy hits

3pm:
There has actually been some rain. And some wind. Not a big deal, but not nice weather to be walking around in. On TV, some of the reporters a half mile away on the coast seemed to be experiencing quite a bit of rain.

4pm:
Stronger winds now. Some sirens every now and again. The storm has sped up and may hit land (not at NYC, but south of NYC) around 6pm instead of 8pm. At 7pm all the tunnels and bridges out of NYC will be closed. But Manhattan seems like it won't be as badly hit as other parts of NYC. All the media is focusing on a crane that has broken 60 or more floors up and could collapse causing some buildings to be evacuated. The local power company has said it might cut of power voluntarily and it might affect us.

5pm:
Other parts of the East coast have snow or a few places are underwater. NYC seems to be fine so far, but we'll know more about 8pm here. The waters are rising and the reporters were talking with someone jet skiing on the waters. To be honest they didn't look too dangerous yet. Not much rain and wind still comes and goes because we're somewhat sheltered a half mile inland amongst the buildings. The tide is coming in and should be at high tide by 8.30 when they're expecting the water to be a meter deep across lower Manhattan. Matt and Lucy return from the hospital (where they work).

7pm:
Not too eventful in NYC; but other parts of the US are suffering. Atlantic City has several inches of water across the city. There are other parts of NYC with water surges and water has flooded some roads, including the FDR only a couple of miles away from me. Water has now flooded over onto the land at the southern tip of Manhattan too.

8pm:
We're expecting the power to go down soon as a precautionary measure so are eating dinner whilst watching the weather channel online.

9pm:
Power goes down. T-Mobile's phone network goes down but there is some spotty access on Verizon and AT&T every now and again. We light a couple of candles, watch a movie on laptop power and go to sleep.

4.30am:
Rachel (one of the friends I am staying with) returns from hospital (all 3 of the friends I am staying with are doctors). She reported the reason we lost power was that the local power transformer had blown up hence we had lost power. She had been at Tisch hospital when the backup generator went down and they had to evacuate all the patients. It meant trying to carry people down 15 flights of stairs. There were up to 20 babies at risk. They were trying to make calls and find somewhere to put them, but it was not easy. No lights, no power. It was chaos at the hospital.

7am:
Wake up, still no power. Use the gas to boil some water for team and porridge. Heat a croissant over the gas flame, trying to avoid it catching on fire. Success. Have a shower by candle light. Our water is still fine.

8.30am:

Leave the house on a hunt for power to get some work done and maybe some wi-fi. Heard it is necessary to go up town. There is a light breeze and light drizzle that comes and goes. We live on 2^nd street, which is about 30 blocks from the tip of Manhattan. I head north, walking along the coast to survey the damage. There was flooding all along the coast, up to a metre or two high,  that swept things up. Some small trees and branches had collapsed under the wind but nothing too serious.

I walk past the power transformer, now with a lot of trucks from the power company outside, hopefully trying to fix the problem. By the coast the wind is a bit stronger but manageable. I wonder past the hospitals where my friends were all working, trying to imagine what it was like last night. All the traffic lights are still down along with all the power. I continue north and see traffic light on in the distance. It's on 40^th street. I'd walked 38 blocks; so on top of the 30 or so further south of where we live about 68 streets north to south had no electricity (and west to east extends about 15-20 blocks at its widest). It's a lot of people without power.

10.30am:
I find a starbucks that is closed but has wi-fi on. Quickly check the news and emails outside. Arrive at Grand Hyatt hotel and manage to get in and grab a seat and power socket in the lobby.  A bunch of other people are here doing the same thing, but they're not letting anyone else in.  There is a rumor it will take 5 days before the power is back up. Type up everything you read here from 8pm onwards.

The power being down is a pain and means a lot of people can't do any work -- the subway is still down of course, as is the stock exchange (which is on wall st, near the tip of Manhattan and surely without power and probably close to the flooding).

Before Sandy

So hurricane Sandy is coming, apparently. It's kinda weird outside. Not the weather. That's just a bit windy. It's the people and the atmosphere. The City announced the subway system is going to shut from 7pm for at least 24 hours it seems, as a precaution in case of flooding (and because some of the subway lines are above ground so the wind also affects the subway trains) and so it's caused most offices to let people work from home (well, there's no choice, since there is no other way to get around--the buses will also not be running) and all kinds of media hype about the hurricane and how to get prepared. The subway people are even covering up subway entrances (and other shafts that could allow water to get into the subway) with wood and sandbags.

Of course it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared but it is somewhat surreal. There's two kinda people out of their houses. The people lining up in the big supermarkets queueing for a very long time to buy stuff (to prepare for a storm that might only be a day or two) and then there are the people out eating and drinking. Most of the chains of restaurants or cafes have now closed (it's 5.30pm) until further notice but all the independent corner shops and restaurants are open and doing just fine. While the big supermarkets are running out of certain stock, the corner shops seem just fine; and are planning on being open tomorrow too (well, i only asked 1, so i can't speak for all the rest!). We've bought some large bottles of water just in case, though i can barely imagine the underground water system being affected! We have candles too, in case we lose electricity. I think they did lose electricity last year. Well, so the internet won't work. I guess we'll just have to survive. We've got some alcohol to go with the candles!

Apart from that, it's just kind of weird. Everyone talking about it, everyone preparing for it, and just....waiting. wondering if it is all a storm in a teacup or if it's actually a storm! I guess we'll find out sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Unfortunately for my housemates, who are all doctors, they have to work overtime since we live fairly close to the hospital so they can walk in, whilst their colleagues who live further out won't be able to get in to the hospital due to the subway closures. I guess why most of us are a bit skeptical is the hurricane in New Orleans was a big deal because the walls keeping the ocean away from the city collapsed, hence all the flooding. Downtown New York is fairly far from the ocean (although the river was a bit choppy this afternoon). When I went for a run down to the tip of Manhattan, there was already two TV weather crews down there filming by the choppy waters. Anyway, more updates to come later I imagine. Maybe they'll be more exciting than this one, or maybe they'll be more boring!

New York, New York

Well it's been a rather busy week in New York. Although next week might be very quiet, with an impending hurricane likely to keep everyone working from home.

When I arrived I experienced the frustration of having to wait behind all the Chinese passengers who took over 5 minutes each to clear immigration, whereas when i finally got to the front, I took less than a minute. But that was soon forgotten as I spent some time re-exploring Manhattan with all it's incredible buildings, neighborhoods, eateries and diverse people. So far I've eaten at two Cuban restaurants, a Venezuelan restaurant and a German restaurant. I've managed to wonder around the East Village, the West Village and other bits in between; crossed the Brooklyn Bridge; experienced a not very thrilling walking tour of the Upper East Side; run all round and through Central Park (it's big - the run took longer than expected); run around the lower half of Manhattan; and spend some enjoyable time with some friends here.

It was interesting to finally check out the High Line, an old railway track turned into a public path, which I had read a great deal about. And it is very nice. It was certainly an expensive undertaking but it has been well executed and is incredibly popular. There's not much green space in Manhattan aside from Central Park so it's certainly welcome. All the runners and cyclists tend to hit the paths along the river, whilst the families take to the High Line. And in Central Park they all collide, making a very big park very crowded--especially at Halloween--as I found. I pity the cyclists and runners that choose a Sunday afternoon to exercise. Fortunately I'd gone running there early in the morning, and walking there on a weekday afternoon, when it was not too crowded. I also encountered a cute little haunted house put on the by the Park staff.

Last weekend I managed to tick a few things off my list. First was a visit tot he 9/11 Memorial (though the museum is not open yet) which is basically two large holes/waterfalls the size of (and in the location of) the old World Trace Center Towers 1 and 2. Nicely done as a memorial, but I'd not really want to work around that area and be constantly reminded of what happened. The memorial is so stark. It's not like a small fountain that could represent anything. I managed to spend some time in Whole Foods, a well-known grocery store that focuses on healthy, organic, and sustainable food. It's a wonderful shopping experience and they do sell great products. It's a bit like M&S but better, and more expensive! I believe there are a couple in London now too. I also managed to find a Chipotle, not yet in London but a copy of which recently opened in Beijing, which is a Burrito place that sells fast food but also sustainable sourced food. Again, my kind of thing since it's what i do for a living.

And I indeed spent 5 days in meetings, workshops and conferences, along with a thousand other people who work on making businesses more sustainable. There were some highlights, and many of these are on the BSR youtube page. Platon, a British Photographer with an excellent sense of humor and some incredible portrait photos; Jeff Jarvis with some thoughtful words on transparency and publicness in the internet age; the CEO of M&S talking about sustainable consumption and engaging consumers; and many others in between. It was as good as the conference last year in San Francisco and similarly nice to spend time with colleagues who we only normally communicate with by phone or email. There is no substitution for human to human interaction, especially when there's beer involved, or a German band playing covers of pop music!

It's funny how it's not just what you see or hear that helps you understand a city, but it's also what you don't see or hear. And comparing London and New York with Beijing, there are certain things you just don't see or hear: ambulances, fire engines or (active) police cars for example. I always knew crime was low in Beijing, but i hadn't really thought about the number of medical emergencies or fires. It seems the Chinese are not as careless, or not used to using emergency services. You certainly see police cars all over China, but normally parked and rarely in a hurry to go somewhere and sort out anything other than yet another minor traffic accident as some idiot decided to cut across three lanes at the last minute, or reverse on a highway after missing an exit.

You also don't see anyone doing any exercise in China: on the streets or in parks, or anywhere. There are the odd sports grounds, but they are rare. Maybe a few gyms for individual exercising or indoor badminton. Not many people outside playing any outdoor team sports. And though Chinese parks are not designed for sports at all, even in the couple with paths and grass, there's not much active exercising going on. It's not that New Yorkers or Londoners are the healthiest people in the world by any means, but clearly there is a sizable (yet small percentage-wise) proportion of the populations that you do see, in certain places out and exercising. Would it make a big difference if China had more convenient spaces for exercising? I'm not sure. My canal in Beijing is perfect for running alongside and I've rarely seen anyone every using it for anything apart from fishing. It's really only left to the kids to run around in communities, the elderly to stretch and do exercises, and to a few youngsters to grab one of the very few basketball courts (which you usually have to pay to rent) to play in.

crawling, old villages and patriotism

The last week has been a public holiday in China, and a great time to enjoy the last of the warm weather (actually, it's more than just warm, it's 25 degrees in the daytime) with the family and friends. Hannah finally began to crawl properly a couple of weeks ago. For ages she'd only moved a few inches to grab something but then she just began going further and further and now she'll go all over. She's not quite as crazy as some other kids who are so fast they'd give Bolt a run for his money, but she goes when she has a need. So she's been motoring around in parks and on floors which keeps her entertained. She still prefers walking though, but needs some help which tends to involve her parents getting aching backs. Today she began to let go of us and try to stand on her own without holding anything, and may have managed 20-30 secs at best. Still a way to go!

On Thursday we went to Jinan, the capital of Shandong province. Jinan is a place that no-one stops in, and is mainly a place for transferring elsewhere. But we stopped there for a few hours to visit a mosque, some nice shopping streets and see the city whilst we waited for a lunchtime train to a small village nearby called Zhujiayu. It is a delightful village that was mostly abandoned around a century ago due to drought, famine, civil war and the like. For some reason it's not been destroyed and the couple of hundred families that still live there have not really touched the place. Now of course this is the draw for tourists, and there are of course some attempts to sell fruit, handicrafts and things to tourists, but it's not too bad, and the village is still, mostly as it was. Many of the houses on the outskirts are in complete ruins and are fascinating to walk around. The others near the main streets are in better condition and show what China really used to look like. It was a worthwhile half day walking around and into houses.

A few visitors have come by recently which has given us a good excuse to go some of our favorite places to eat and walk around, particularly some of the smaller alleyways that have so much life an authenticity to them. They are still what China really is like for most people that can't afford apartments or cars. And they seem happy, although seeing a blue-eyed baby makes everyone here happy! There is not a lot of other news to report, although it is interesting to see how different people raise their kids.

I suppose the most interesting thing that's happened in the last few weeks here is the inordinate display of patriotism that sort of came out of nowhere, fostered by the government, whipped-up by the media, and timed to coincide with the current political events and various anniversaries (of the founding of the PRC, of the islands themselves etc). The islands that China claims its own are currently occupied by Japan. Countries that don't really get on very well. In fact if there is one thing that every Chinese knows it is that China does not like Japan from historical reasons. And history is not just history. The past has influenced how the public view the present and relations with Japan. The dispute led to some significantly sized protests, drops in sales of Japanese companies' products, and a healthy distraction from the ongoing domestic political fiasco. One hopes things will die down in a month, after the initial political transition, although the transition may not be complete until Spring next year, so it could drag on. In the meantime there are plenty of other islands that China also claims, mostly in the South China Sea, and mostly islands that are, on a map, much much much closer to other countries than to China, so seem ridiculous for China to claim. The ones disputed with Japan are geographically more in the middle, so the claim is less unreasonable. That does not forgive the reaction of course, which is fascinating to watch as a foreigner. The issue is deeply felt by the entire population and rational conversation about it is not possible.

I'm slowly adding photos to my flickr account for those interested. Some from the May trip to Japan are up, as are plenty more of Hannah. You can check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamsphotos/sets/.