Bonus: Australia Pics

A few pictures from my recent trip to Australia in February...

Our first day in Sydney at the Circular Quay,
Sydney Harbor Bridge in the background

The team after our weekend in Port Douglas.
We scuba and snorked the Great Barrier Reef!

Cool Reef life...

More Shanghai pictures...

In the future,  I plan to share more about the culture, the people, and the amazing experiences I am having, but for now just more pictures of my surroundings here in Shanghai.  I will head back to Indianapolis tomorrow, and be there until my long-term visa is processed so that I can re-enter China and apply for the residence permit.  Luckily, Lilly has a company that is helping me through this immigration process, so I have nothing to worry about!  Enjoy the pictures!

A view of the Langham Xintiandi hotel - which I have called home for the last 9 nights.  An amazing hotel that just opening in Xintiandi late last year.  Definitely top service!

A view of the streets of Xintiandi. Constantly full of people, there are great little restaurants, shoppes, and ice cream.  Can't wait until it gets a little bit warmer here to sit outside at one of the many spots.

A line of the many bikes and scooters that fly by daily on the streets of Shanghai.  And don't worry, they never stop for anything - pedestrians, cars, stoplights, nothing!  Have to look both ways about 5 times before crossing the street.  Also, you can see the Ascott building in the background - this is where my apartment will be! 

A closer view of the Ascott from across the street.  A busy area, but I want to be in the thick of Shanghai... also, the building has just been remodeled, so I will likely be the first one to stay in the apartment! 

Dinner with Retter, his friend Nate from Michigan State and the rest of the team at Gibson Consulting!  We were eating at South Memory, a traditional Chinese food place with great food.  I ate both frog and octopus in one sitting! Yum! 

 The spread of food.  The table was full!

I had met Retter and team at their office in the Jin Mao building (on right below) in Pudong.  This is a shot of both the Shanghai World Financial Center (SFWC left) and the Jin Mao building (right) the two tallest buildings in Shanghai.  They are building a third tower nearby that will be taller than these two. AMAZING!  There are observation desks on both, but I didn't make it this time.

 The Oriental Pearl Tower after dark.

The skyline of Pudong is really memorizing.  I can't wait to explore this area more when I return to Shanghai in April.

A few images from my first week in Shanghai

A view of the Lilly Office from my hotel room at the Langham Xintiandi.  Lilly is on the 15, 21, 23 floor currently, but is constantly moving due to the growth of the affiliate.  The Finance team and many others will be moving to the 16th floor in April.

On Saturday morning, I walked North from the Xintiandi area towards The Bund, a tourist spot on the Huangpu River that runs through Shanghai dividing the city into the Puxi (west) and Pudong (east) sides.  This view is from Puxi to the skyline of Pudong.  You can see the Oriental Pearl Town, as well as the Shanghai World Financial Center (bottle cap opener looking building on the far right).

While walking along The Bund and enjoying a "sunny" day - at least 3 people Chinese people asked to take pictures with me. "you are so beautiful they said...." haha we are all interesting to people that are different than us

A view of Najing Road - a major shopping street, that was very busy even on a Saturday morning

Michael Retter and Kathleen.  Retter and I went to IU together and had several classes together at Kelley, as well as a lot of common friends.  He works for a consulting firm based in Chicago, and was one of a few people that opened an office in Shanghai last year.  His girlfriend Kathleen is local Shanghainese and AWESOME!  They have made my first week in Shanghai very easy and its so nice to have a friend in a new city!

Lilly China Research and Development Company (LCRDC) site groundbreaking on Monday March 14, 2011.  John Lechleither, CEO, giving the welcome.  The site is located in Pudong in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech park, about 45 minutes away from the main office.

Lilly executives cutting the ribbon.

 Preparing the Champagne Toast.

The ribbon cutting event for LCRDC was a really great ceremony and a cool event.  The building was literally an empty warehouse with a beautiful foyer that they finished just in time for the event.  The decorations in this space worked out great and made it feel very local.

Much more to share.... headed home on Saturday!