The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Breakfast dian du de 点都德, a famous restaurant. Pretty good and we ate our fill for most of the day

Ming Ji (Ming Kee) Chang fen 明记 for dinner, another famous place

Snacks in between, included several pastry shops and a gelati shop

Walk around XiGuan district

Bruce Lee’s parent’s home… HE NEVER LIVED THERE!

-he had his sweat glands removed!

-conspiracy theories about his death but it may be that he simply was working too hard.

Beijing Pedestrian Road - no bikes! Oops! BUT, an ancient road built-in… or over?

Biked back to the apartment - how was the sleep? Should have an air filter, turns out there isn’t one here. Mostly quiet, though some noise until late. And COLD! Ha! Relatively speaking of course.

How is the sound today?

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for all the creative audio you can wish for.

And then we went to Guangzhou!

Trying out a bit of a different set up for this recording as I didn’t bring my iPad or big microphone.

Daxing airport

First impressions - big, air is more damp, LOTS of people, especially at the interchange Tiyu Xilu.

The apartment we’re staying in is like the AirBnb version of apartments: private rental done through a company. Used Fliggy to find it.

Smoggy, just like Beijing, doesn’t smell as much like it though.

iPhone hack: if you need to move a lot of photos or videos, connect your phone to your computer and then use ImageCapture to move photos.

Finally got a little Automator program to rename photos so this is awesome to use for some things.

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

And yes, skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com continues

Boxing Day, how does it go? I still worked.

Spent much of the day rewriting the newsletter, reflecting on Christmas as an expat.

Christmas songs, was trying to do a few traditional Ukrainian songs for December Drumming but my keyboard skills are that good. Got a bunch of other tracks done but stuck on 23rd and 24th.

-“There are two distinct groups of Ukrainian Christmas music. Koljadky (Ukrainian Christmas Carols) are sung in church alongside traditional liturgical texts and hymns from Christmas Eve (January 6, according to the Julian Calendar) to Epiphany (January 19). Shchedrivky (New Year’s songs), being much older and having pagan roots, are rarely sung in a liturgical setting given their secular themes of bounty and prosperity.”

https://www.vesnivka.com/e-library/dobrij-vechir

Called home to see how things are going, people are moving around.

-Don’t talk about vaccinations cause… then your internet connection goes wonky!

Plans for the New Year? Not much! Geez, how do people even find out about things that are going on?!

Show notes n tracks are up on stevensirski.com

Don’t forget to have a listen at skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

Have a good one!

It’s Christmas!

Have you ever seen the end of the NORAD Santa tracker? I finally did!

Trying out this web-based program called Repurpose, will help distribute content to multiple platforms. This is exactly what I was thinking of trying to build on my own. Looks very useful.

Taking a few days off at the end of the week so I can spend some time on a few projects and possibly get out of town for a bit.

Workouts in! 7.41km in 44.14? Not likely, but that’s what the watch shows. Rope work, is this why I gained weight after Canada? Because I stopped doing this?

So what did we do for Christmas?

Didn’t do too much food-wise as we were unsure when we’d be travelling. Plus, some work was still scheduled over the next few days. BUT, we did try to make cookies and… almost got them.

Saw a movie, 怒潮 nu chao, not a Christmas movie by any stretch, but it was free.

Don’t forget to call home!

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

What was thaaat??!

Working on Episode 43, may have to release it next week.

They say work will lighten up next month, we’ll see about that. Keep in mind, Spring Festival begins February 9th. 

Workouts in, cold! And barely moving! 5.74km in 41.52, barely got through any pull ups or anything else. Did get through the weights at the end of the day. 

I tend to do full body workouts, but I have been thinking it might be easier and faster to start doing workout splits instead.

It’s Christmas weekend! A few people have taken off for a few weeks. I entertained the idea but, like my other trips, have been hesitant to go. May still make a trip down south next weekend.

So what is it with the voice, Steve??

“Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of Sirski Unplugged, where I, Steven Sirski, tell you, my listeners, just what it's REALLY like to live as an expat. Join me for the next 25 minutes as I wank on about this, that, and the other thing right here, on this makes you 15 percent better podcast. Let's dive in!”

“And with that, we'll leave it there folks! Thanks for listening, I appreciate it! All the show notes and tracks are up and available on my website, stevensirski.com. Have a good one, Marry Christmas, get your runs in, and eat your broccoli with some mustard!”

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

Winter Solstice! Shortest day of the year! Did you do anything? I worked!

December Drumming tracks coming along, trying out a few things, but staying mostly digital.

Santa Claus Rally, what is it and why does it matter?

-Joined by First Five Days, January Barometer (aka January Effect)

-Careful about the percentages! If it moves 80% of the time, how much does it move? One percent? How much does that materially affect you?

Are China stonks worth it?

Foregoing Trello and instead looking into a free website called Notion which seems to be like a souped up version of Notes. 

Just updated iOS, a Journaling app??

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Don’t forget to have a listen at skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

More cold! Schools closing!

“Cities including Jiangsu's Nanjing, Changzhou and Zhenjiang, as well as Anhui's Lu'an, Wuhu and Chuzhou all have suspended classes or implemented flexible school hours”

“A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Jishishan county in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Northwest China’s Gansu Province on Monday midnight”

Workouts in! 6.5km at lunch in 43.32. Avg 6min 30 sec pace.

-could NOT lift after, did mobility work instead

-after work kbells

Better get moving on December Drumming

Figuring out ways to make social media posting easier!

Episode 43 in the works!

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

Have a good one!

Cold and snow! Longest it’s been like this since I arrived.

Babies being born, new China boom?

Newsletter in the works. Or is this just a blog by another name? Need to hedge this output.

Episode 43 has been tough to get around to cause of all these other projects.

How do I make my life easier in 2024? What tools can I use? What plan do I have? And yes, there is a plan behind this.

Reading the Power of Habit, all about building habits.

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

And don’t forget to check out skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com for the latest there.

A week till Christmas and three days till Solstice!

Half way through the month already?

Still cold outside

Workouts in:

-6.65km in 38.02

-Sunday’s run was 8.98km in 57.17

-After work workout today: mostly 14kg kbells

-tomorrow should be mace swings

Article on running: can you get faster or at least maintain your speed as you get older?

https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20848096/age-matters-for-marathoning/

Wondering if I have to go to the tax office to update my passport or if I can do this online. I somehow thought this would have been communicated to the necessary channels but I really can’t think why I even thought that.

Trying to sign up to SkyRemit, a new money transfer service here in China.

Here’s an idea for a bar night: Drink in Chinese: how to learn Mandarin Chinese characters while at the pub. Draw a character, explain a little do a shot. I wonder how long that would last.

Show notes up on stevensirski.com

Creative Audio at: skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

End of the week

Workouts in, lunchtime was a bit cold, need to roll out the back

December Drumming continues at skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com

Would you trust someone who’s trying to do a lot of different things, or would you pref someone be a specialist?

Nine, twelve, seventeen income streams , however many it is just how easily is it to generate them? And what is the reality of earning money through YouTube? Pay cheque, investments (how many?), products, affiliates, side hustle job (eg, consulting), and others.

Holiday season is upon us, could I do a holiday wrap up? Or keep going??

Show notes up on stevensirski.com