One thing that I really like about Shanghai is mobile communication. I have been using my Apple iPhone without any glitch so far.

To use an Apple iPhone in China, the phone needs to be unlocked. In other words, the phone has to be capable of accepting a SIM of another mobile carrier. The Apple Store in Hong Kong actually sells the unlocked version of the iPhone, which you use it with any mobile carrier. Unfortunately, iPhone in the Hong Kong Apple Store cost twice as much as US iPhone.

Once you have your unlocked iPhone, you can purchase a SIM card from any mobile phone (also known as hand phone in China) operator in Shanghai. There are 3 main wireless carriers in China to choose from: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. I picked China Mobile because it has arguably the largest coverage in the country. The company offers 2 types of SIM card: subscribed or pay-as-you-go. Each plan has its calling rates and features. Choosing a suitable plan really depends on your calling profile. Even though the calling rates for subscribed plan are more expensive, I ended picking the latter because I don’t use my mobile phone much in Shanghai. Also the pay-as-you-go plan is much easier to deal with administratively (no mail and bill payment to cope with). Buying a SIM card is a really simple process and there is no lengthy paperwork involved at all. In fact, you don’t even need to show identification if you purchase a pay-as-you-go SIM card.

Once you got your SIM card, just replace the SIM card in your iPhone with the new one. China Mobile pay-as-you-go SIM card even allows data communication in which you get charged for every Kb you use (I don’t have the exact rate, but check here for more information). To activate data communication, you need to go to Settings > General > Networks. Once there, select Cellular Data Network and then enter cmdata on APN. Once you do that, you can now receive emails and surf the web. But be warned, you need moderate your Internet usage. With the pay-as-go-plan, the more you use, the more expensive it gets.

So what do you are out of credits on your mobile number? There are many ways to add credits to it but I found the way to do this is to go to any China Mobile agent found all over Shanghai and pay the staff cash and your mobile phone number to add more credits to the account. Even if you don’t speak any Chinese, they will likely understand what you want. You will receive an SMS message indicating the amount you added after the transaction. In the message, it will also mention that you have 720 days to use your credits before they expire (which is a lot of time compared to other pay-as-you-go plans I have seen in other countries).

Personally, I find food in Shanghai to be way too salty. Worse, it is often packed with monosodium glutamate (MSG), to which I am intolerant. But eating out in Shanghai means that there is no escape from salt or MSG since every food available from restaurants and in the street is filled with them. I have often lost my appetite halfway through eating a meal because of the high salt content. This is why I can’t wait to move into an apartment and to get my hands on my personal kitchenware, which are in transit to Shanghai; that way I can start cooking and actually have a proper meal. However, I would be keen to hear from anyone who may know of any restaurants in Shanghai that serve meals low in salt and MSG content.

I have been in Shanghai for 2 weeks and finally after a very long, slow process obtained all the papers required for working in China. My experience in Shanghai so far has been ambivalent. There are certain elements which I really like and then there are something that I find disconcerting. My first impression of Shanghai is that the city is more Hong Kong than Beijing. Shanghainese enjoys the highest salary and standards of living in China. You can easily tell as people here especially the younger generation embrace consumerism and modernity effortlessly. Not surprising, everyone seems to be obsessed with the pursuit of money. On the surface, it all seems too easy; but the environment is fiercely competitive and quite unforgiving. People can be rather cold and downright rude. At the same time, I have met many amiable and courteous Shanghainese. 

On cost of living, it is a mix bag. Food in general is cheap. Depending on where you eat, a meal in downtown Shanghai can cost you anywhere from 6 RMB (less than US$1) at a local noodle shop to $50 RMB (about US$7) at a decent Chinese restaurant (fan dian). Public transportation system in Shanghai is awesome. The Shanghai Metro is quieter and more efficient than the New York Subway. Best of all, I pay on average 4 RMB (about US$0.60) for a subway ride. I love the subway system here. My only gripe: the subway here operates till about 10:15pm. Imported goods like fashion goods are definitely very expensive. My Zara jacket cost 15% less in the U.S. than in Shanghai. You think that Ikea furniture would cost less in Shanghai, but surprisingly it isn’t so. Based on my only trip to an Ikea store in Shanghai (more visits needed to determine the price difference), prices here are almost the same as and in some cases higher than those in the U.S. Then there’s Starbucks. A grande (Starbucks’ speak for medium size) Cafe Latte cost 28 RMB, a whopping $US4. 

While I may be ambivalent about my experience so far, I do have a very positive outlook about my stay in Shanghai. The city is livable. Now that I have settled down, I can truly start discovering the city. There are definitely a lot to write about my job and adventures in Shanghai. So I plan to start blogging more regularly because there are many interesting anecdotes to tell.

Finally, I have given a clean bill of health by Google. My site is finally taken off from the list of unsafe sites that are known to contain malicious adware.

This website is still on Google’s blacklist of malicious sites. Apparently, I forgot to clean up another directory that created as a result of a recent hack into my site. I just removed the directory and its all junk malicious pages. I hope that this website will finally be operational by next week.

I didn’t blog the past 3 months as I was busy finding a job, interviewing for a job, and then involved in the logistics of moving overseas for a job. So neglected is my blog that it was apparently hacked and was blacklisted by Google as a unsafe site since certain pages of my website as found to contain malware. I did an overhaul of the website  yesterday and believe that the website should be clean for safe surfing now. I just need Google to perform another crawl on my website and take my website off the blacklist.

I maintained a blog while I was at MIT. When I migrated my blog to Wordpress, I deliberately decided to leave out all blog postings that I did at MIT. Instead, I cleaned up the blog postings by correcting typos and grammar before archiving them to a new location. For those who are interested in gaining insights to the SDM program, the blog archive should have the information you need.

In the past 2 weeks, the blogosphere has been rumbling with speculations and rumors about the new Apple Macbook. All those rumors have finally been put to rest with Apple’s announcement of the new Macbooks earlier today. Apple introduced a new generation of Macbooks that spot a new cosmetic look and hardware configuration. According to Apple, graphics performance on the new Macbooks is 5 times faster than that of the previous generation Macbook. Notably, hardware features on the new Macbook, like the new LED screen and the new glass buttonless trackpad that is capable of recognizing multiple finger gestures, look very impressive.

As someone with a manufacturing background, I am thoroughly impressed with the new fabrication process that is used to carve the Macbook enclosures out of a brick of aluminum. This fabrication is not entirely groundbreaking and has deep roots in the aircraft and automotive industry. But seeing it being used to manufacture consumer electronic goods economically is definitely remarkable. In fact, here is a movie that shows how the new Macbooks are manufactured.

I recently interviewed for a product manager position at Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo. In preparing for my interviews, I went back to reviewing old lecture notes from courses relevant to product management that I took at MIT. Not surprising, two SDM core courses that have enormously beneficial to my preparation for these tough interviews are System Architecture and System Project Management. In particular, I have found value from System Architecture and developed appreciation for the subject. Interestingly, when I was a student, I somewhat apathetic to System Architecture. While I didn’t dislike System Architecture, I never really develop a full appreciation for the class. So why the change of heart? I reflected on this recently and believe that it was the instructional delivery of the class. There was simply a lack of enthusiasm from the students for the subject. 

In efforts to improve the course, I met with Prof. Crawley earlier today and discussed with him how we could improve the class. He was earnest and open to new ideas. I suggested introducing cases as a format for in-class discussion and homework assignments. The professor indicated to me that since I left MIT, the course has become much more case-oriented than the time I took the class. But he agreed that there might be better integration of real-world case analysis in class assignments. Overall, the meeting was very productive. We brainstormed a lot of new ideas that will certainly improve the class.