English Entries in Mid-July

7.19
My Plan for the Weekend

It has been extremely hot in Shanghai recently, so I have decided to cancel my hiking trip for tomorrow.

How hot is it? Well, there’s an insect called the cicada here. Normally, the cicadas make loud sounds at noon on hot days. But yesterday, I fell asleep to the cicadas’ sounds at midnight.

Anyway, I decided to cycle along the Huangpu River again tomorrow morning because of the weather. The earlier the better: the best time is to start the ride before sunrise.

I hope I can wake up before 5:00 AM tomorrow!

7.18
Some Books I’ve Been Reading Recently

Reading is one of my habits.

Recently, I’ve been reading three books.

The first is “Business Model Generation”, written around 14 years ago. Maybe it’s a little old, but it offers a good perspective to better understand my business.

“The Child in You” is the second one. It’s a book by a German psychologist. I’ve found many great ideas to reflect on myself and look forward to more.

The third one “Travels of Xu Xiake” is from a tourist in the Ming Dynasty. The writer described some places where I hiked recently. It’s interesting to know what happened hundreds of years ago in the place you just passed.

Reading books is a kind of rest for me because I find that it gives me the same sense of peace as meditation.

 

7.15
A Dish for Hot Weather

I sometimes don’t want to eat in the height of summer. The restaurant food seems greasy, and I am a little too lazy to cook at home.

But I have to eat something, so I make boiled vegetables for myself.

I just need to boil a pot of water, then rinse the washed vegetables with boiling water, and put them in a bowl with ice.

And that’s it.

You can eat it with some sauce, which is called 蘸水 in Chinese. Personally, I like sauce with chili, vinegar, and a little bit of soy sauce.

It’s quite easy and doesn’t taste bad.

You can add any kind of vegetable to it, even noodles if you want.

7.13
Another Rainy Day

It’s a rainy day today. Actually, it’s raining almost all around Shanghai, so I can’t go hiking today.

The temperature is around 26-31℃. It’s quite cozy compared to a few days ago.

According to the weather forecast, it will stop raining at 2:00 PM. I plan to cycle along the Huangpu Jiang River.

Right now I’m sitting in front of my desk, trying to improve my English and organize the pictures and videos I took during my last hike.

I also ordered some clams and vegetables. They will be delivered in around thirty minutes, and then I will make some dishes for lunch.

 

7.12
I Have a Little Fish

I bought a pet fish last month.

It’s a small betta fish with a beautiful tail. Its body is blue, and the end of its tail is red.

A few days after I bought it, the little one seemed lonely. I was told that I couldn’t buy another fish for it because they would fight to death.

So I bought three pieces of water snowflakes for it online. I realized that the container was not big enough when the snowflakes arrived, so I ordered a bigger fish bowl.

Now I have my fish in a bigger glass bowl with three water snowflakes in front of my yoga mat.

Every time I practice yoga, the beautiful little fish also seems to like to exercise with me.