February 16, 2004
February 15, 2004
By now, many of you already know of the failed American Idol contestant William Hung. But did he really fail? He's certainly got a lot of publicity out of his revision of the Ricky Martin song "She Bangs". His "fan page" has garnered 7,578,730 hits and apparently he's been signing autographs on the UC Berkeley campus. While he seems overwhelmed, and happy, with the newfound fame, I really kind of feel sorry for him. To me, Will seems like one of those guys that just doesn't get it. I have my doubts as to whether his "fans" are really fans, or whether they're just mocking him and his televised antics. But I guess if he's fine with it all, all the power to ya, Will.
William Hung. But is he really?
William Hung. But is he really?
February 14, 2004
I think that one of the the most amazing pair of eyes belong to Claire Forlani. She doesn't really strike me as being beautiful, since she has kind of an odd look, but she's got eyes that a guy could lose himself in. They have an unusual shape, bending like an upsidedown U when she smiles, probably seen nowhere else but in Japanese animation; and they shine brighter than the blue waters seen off the coast of tropical islands in travel brochures. She's one of the reasons why Meet Joe Black was a great movie.
February 12, 2004
English is an awful language. It's filled with ambiguity and confusion that can only be sorted by tone and context. Pay attention the next time you read a book or something with dialog. And then there are words that are constantly mixed up because they sound too alike. How many times have you gone through the following dialog:
Person A: blah blah blah blah in 15 minutes.
Person B: In 50 minutes??
Person A: FIFTEEN. One-Five.
It's sillyness.
Person A: blah blah blah blah in 15 minutes.
Person B: In 50 minutes??
Person A: FIFTEEN. One-Five.
It's sillyness.
Why can't spiders crawl out of bathtubs? What is it about the material that prevents spiders from gripping, even when it's dry? I was watching a spider in my tub for about 5 minutes, as it crawled up the rounded bottom, scaled about 5-6 inches, then tumbled back down in failure.
I wonder if Spiderman ever slips in the shower. How embarrassing.
I wonder if Spiderman ever slips in the shower. How embarrassing.
February 10, 2004
The End of a Saga
Ok, maybe Saga is too strong of a word. My last day found me picking up my cashmere jackets and a couple other items at Dongjiabu and Xiang Yang Markets. I spent some time finding a specific Tag Heuer watch for my brother, which was an experience all in itself. Basically, I'd find a booth/store with a slightly wider selection of watches, and I'd ask if they have any better ones. They usually do, and they'd invite me a few steps into their store, where they'd open a few drawers with hidden slots, or they'd pull a metal suitcase out from under the shelf. When I don't see the watch I want, they tell me to follow them, and we'd walk to another booth/store, where that owner would pull out their secret stash to show me. But I didn't end up finding the watch I wanted to buy. Nevertheless, it was fun.
Anyway, I scooted back to the hotel and finished my packing, then checked out. Then I popped over to the same Shanghai Xiao Che ("Shanghai Small Eats") I went to yesterday. My last meal was 20 xiao long baos and 4 shen shao baos, which cost only 14 RMB ($2.30 Cdn). Got back to the hotel at 2:20pm, ready for my 2:30pm shuttle bus to Pudong Airport. I didn't see the bus, so I sat around a bit. Finally, I got up and went to where my luggage was being held for me. Turns out, the bus had left already!! See, they told me to get there about 15 mins early, but they didn't tell me it was at a different door of the hotel. So one of the Sofitel hotel workers took me and my luggage around the corner to another hotel, where my bus was parked (they pick up people from a couple hotels before going to the airport), and I was okay from there on in... until I got to the airport.
First, I casually made my way to check-in aisle J, for my flight back to Vancouver. When I got there, I read a sign saying I had to have my temperature taken at aisle H. So I walked back there, filled out a form, got my temperature checked via infra-red, got my form stamped, and lined up at J again. When I got to the counter, the lady said that it was some 800 RMB extra for a 3rd piece of luggage. My third piece was a sword I had bought, and it was fairly small and light. I was shocked and stood there "umm... umm...". Finally, she told me to weigh the sword, and it was light enough that she'd let it go for free. Whew!
I was early, so I decided to go to a Watson ("Your personal convenient store") and spend the rest of my Chinese money. Besides, what would I need Chinese RMBs for anyway? So I spent 51 RMB on dried fruit, Panda chocolates, and bubble gum. As soon as I walked out of the store, I found another 6 RMB in my pocket. Doh! As I approached the departure gate (not the flight gate), I read that I had to buy a Airport Fee (like YVR's Airport Improvement Fee) of 90 RMB. Turns out, I can only pay cash. Well, ... umm... I had 6 RMB. So the lady at the till told me to go to a currency exchange to get money from Visa. 10 mins later, the lady at the currency exchange tells me that it's cash only exchanges, and that I'd have to go downstairs. Another 10 mins and I finally get 84 RMB from the Development Bank on the first floor. FINALLY, I pay the airport fee and get to the waiting area. Now, I KNOW I have a free pass to the Maple Leaf Lounge that came for having Aeroplan Prestige status... but I couldn't find it. So alas, I had to wait with the other commoners. What a dread.
Anyway, the flight was only 10 hrs, and I slept through 6 of them.
Now I'm home.
Kevin
Ok, maybe Saga is too strong of a word. My last day found me picking up my cashmere jackets and a couple other items at Dongjiabu and Xiang Yang Markets. I spent some time finding a specific Tag Heuer watch for my brother, which was an experience all in itself. Basically, I'd find a booth/store with a slightly wider selection of watches, and I'd ask if they have any better ones. They usually do, and they'd invite me a few steps into their store, where they'd open a few drawers with hidden slots, or they'd pull a metal suitcase out from under the shelf. When I don't see the watch I want, they tell me to follow them, and we'd walk to another booth/store, where that owner would pull out their secret stash to show me. But I didn't end up finding the watch I wanted to buy. Nevertheless, it was fun.
Anyway, I scooted back to the hotel and finished my packing, then checked out. Then I popped over to the same Shanghai Xiao Che ("Shanghai Small Eats") I went to yesterday. My last meal was 20 xiao long baos and 4 shen shao baos, which cost only 14 RMB ($2.30 Cdn). Got back to the hotel at 2:20pm, ready for my 2:30pm shuttle bus to Pudong Airport. I didn't see the bus, so I sat around a bit. Finally, I got up and went to where my luggage was being held for me. Turns out, the bus had left already!! See, they told me to get there about 15 mins early, but they didn't tell me it was at a different door of the hotel. So one of the Sofitel hotel workers took me and my luggage around the corner to another hotel, where my bus was parked (they pick up people from a couple hotels before going to the airport), and I was okay from there on in... until I got to the airport.
First, I casually made my way to check-in aisle J, for my flight back to Vancouver. When I got there, I read a sign saying I had to have my temperature taken at aisle H. So I walked back there, filled out a form, got my temperature checked via infra-red, got my form stamped, and lined up at J again. When I got to the counter, the lady said that it was some 800 RMB extra for a 3rd piece of luggage. My third piece was a sword I had bought, and it was fairly small and light. I was shocked and stood there "umm... umm...". Finally, she told me to weigh the sword, and it was light enough that she'd let it go for free. Whew!
I was early, so I decided to go to a Watson ("Your personal convenient store") and spend the rest of my Chinese money. Besides, what would I need Chinese RMBs for anyway? So I spent 51 RMB on dried fruit, Panda chocolates, and bubble gum. As soon as I walked out of the store, I found another 6 RMB in my pocket. Doh! As I approached the departure gate (not the flight gate), I read that I had to buy a Airport Fee (like YVR's Airport Improvement Fee) of 90 RMB. Turns out, I can only pay cash. Well, ... umm... I had 6 RMB. So the lady at the till told me to go to a currency exchange to get money from Visa. 10 mins later, the lady at the currency exchange tells me that it's cash only exchanges, and that I'd have to go downstairs. Another 10 mins and I finally get 84 RMB from the Development Bank on the first floor. FINALLY, I pay the airport fee and get to the waiting area. Now, I KNOW I have a free pass to the Maple Leaf Lounge that came for having Aeroplan Prestige status... but I couldn't find it. So alas, I had to wait with the other commoners. What a dread.
Anyway, the flight was only 10 hrs, and I slept through 6 of them.
Now I'm home.
Kevin
February 09, 2004
February 08, 2004
The Last Full Day in Shanghai
Today was the first day on my own here in China. It was nice to be able to sleep in until 11am, although I slept only a little before 3am so I didn't get all that much sleep anyway. Could have been worse. I got a few things organized around my hotel room and headed to Victor's place for lunch. Victor, who is back in Shanghai after growing up for 17 years in L.A., lives with his dad, who came back to Shanghai from the US two years ago. Very nice people. We had some very Shanghainese foods prepared by Victor's "Ya yi" (translated: "aunt", which is what they call their maids out of respect), and then we went DVD/Karaoke disc shopping. The store Victor took me to is the largest DVD store I've seen, and they have all sorts of movies, but not at the best prices because they SEEM to be legit. I picked up a few Karaoke DVDs and VCDs, as well as a Romance of Three Kingdoms VCD box set. The deal with this store is that if you buy over 500RMB worth, you get a discounted price on each item. My items together would have totalled around 400RMB, but some other woman, who didn't have 500RMB either asked if I wanted to make the purchase with her. So we did, and with the discounted prices, I paid 220RMB. I parted with Victor and headed back to the hotel.
From the hotel, I went to a market off Nanjing Road that I had been to to buy a new piece of luggage to bring home all the things I spent money on during the trip (and there was A LOT to bring home). I got a larger luggage and a small "North Face" backpack for about $32CDN. Went back to the hotel, packed a few things, and went out to a Shanghai Xiao Chi (Shanghai small eats) for dinner by myself. For 14 RMB (~$2.30 CDN), I had 10 xiao long baos and a bowl of beef and noodles in soup. Cheap! Well, Spectrum's no longer paying for my trip, so I decided to be a little more thrifty.
Finally, I jumped in a taxi and headed out Southwest to meet Andy (whom I saw in Hangzhou before). We went for a foot massage upon my request, since I wanted one and Carol had recommended it the day before as well. It cost about $7.5 for about 1 hour's work. The funny bit here was that as the masseuse was working on my left foot, she was cranking pretty hard. I winced inside, but I held a straight face as I continued talking to Andy. Finally, I mentioned that I was only pretending it didn't hurt, and the masseuse piped up too, saying that she was wondering why it didn't hurt! She said she was putting a lot of pressure in there, and was getting tired. Guess I should have said something. But we had a good laugh. She was a blind masseuse, which is often advertised for some stores, but often not really true once you get inside. Anyway, the rest of the massage was good. Andy then took me to a popular pub called Paulaner Munchen, which is pretty close to the House of Blues and Jazz. This place seemed to be very popular with the foreigners (the majority of the patrons were), and the workers were dressed up in sort of a Dutch-styled dress. They had a Filipino band (two girls singing, a guy on the electric guitar and singing, and another guy on the keyboard). With songs like Dancing Queen, It's Raining Men, Moulin Rouge, and more, everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Shortly after, I jumped back into a taxi and came back to the hotel. Story over.
Kevin
Today was the first day on my own here in China. It was nice to be able to sleep in until 11am, although I slept only a little before 3am so I didn't get all that much sleep anyway. Could have been worse. I got a few things organized around my hotel room and headed to Victor's place for lunch. Victor, who is back in Shanghai after growing up for 17 years in L.A., lives with his dad, who came back to Shanghai from the US two years ago. Very nice people. We had some very Shanghainese foods prepared by Victor's "Ya yi" (translated: "aunt", which is what they call their maids out of respect), and then we went DVD/Karaoke disc shopping. The store Victor took me to is the largest DVD store I've seen, and they have all sorts of movies, but not at the best prices because they SEEM to be legit. I picked up a few Karaoke DVDs and VCDs, as well as a Romance of Three Kingdoms VCD box set. The deal with this store is that if you buy over 500RMB worth, you get a discounted price on each item. My items together would have totalled around 400RMB, but some other woman, who didn't have 500RMB either asked if I wanted to make the purchase with her. So we did, and with the discounted prices, I paid 220RMB. I parted with Victor and headed back to the hotel.
From the hotel, I went to a market off Nanjing Road that I had been to to buy a new piece of luggage to bring home all the things I spent money on during the trip (and there was A LOT to bring home). I got a larger luggage and a small "North Face" backpack for about $32CDN. Went back to the hotel, packed a few things, and went out to a Shanghai Xiao Chi (Shanghai small eats) for dinner by myself. For 14 RMB (~$2.30 CDN), I had 10 xiao long baos and a bowl of beef and noodles in soup. Cheap! Well, Spectrum's no longer paying for my trip, so I decided to be a little more thrifty.
Finally, I jumped in a taxi and headed out Southwest to meet Andy (whom I saw in Hangzhou before). We went for a foot massage upon my request, since I wanted one and Carol had recommended it the day before as well. It cost about $7.5 for about 1 hour's work. The funny bit here was that as the masseuse was working on my left foot, she was cranking pretty hard. I winced inside, but I held a straight face as I continued talking to Andy. Finally, I mentioned that I was only pretending it didn't hurt, and the masseuse piped up too, saying that she was wondering why it didn't hurt! She said she was putting a lot of pressure in there, and was getting tired. Guess I should have said something. But we had a good laugh. She was a blind masseuse, which is often advertised for some stores, but often not really true once you get inside. Anyway, the rest of the massage was good. Andy then took me to a popular pub called Paulaner Munchen, which is pretty close to the House of Blues and Jazz. This place seemed to be very popular with the foreigners (the majority of the patrons were), and the workers were dressed up in sort of a Dutch-styled dress. They had a Filipino band (two girls singing, a guy on the electric guitar and singing, and another guy on the keyboard). With songs like Dancing Queen, It's Raining Men, Moulin Rouge, and more, everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Shortly after, I jumped back into a taxi and came back to the hotel. Story over.
Kevin
Two More Days in Shanghai
Yesterday, the three of us started the day off at a clothing materials market called Dongjiadu suggested to me by my brother's friend Wil. The market has many booths, each with a variety of cloths, silks, wool, and/or cashmere. Most sellers seem to have a tailor they can grab on call to make clothing as well. I ended up at booth No. 82 (also recommended) and bought two cashmere jackets for a very affordable price. I was really happy with that purchase. I pick up the finished products on Monday.
After this, we walked around a short while before taxi-ing to the Jade Buddha Temple. The temple seems to be the busiest one I've seen in most my life, with a good number of people praying, and no lack of tourists. I bought some incents and did the "bai bai" (praying) thing. We spent about an hour at the temple looking at the statues and praying.
Then we met up with Robyn, who is friends with my brother, in the old town and went for some dimsum. The restaurant we went to is supposed to be rather well known, and the specialty dish there was the bun with crab ovaries; it's a larger bun (say 3 - 4 inches in diameter), with soup and crab ovaries inside and straw down the middle. Robyn's white, but has been in Shanghai teaching English for almost 6 months, so she's quite familiar with the surroundings and customs. She took us around the old town, where there're are tons of shops (like everywhere else in Shanghai) -- one purse store owner brought us into a little closet-like room in the back of his store through a hidden door, which was only large enough to fit 5 people uncomfortably, where he had his good stuff. Jan bought two LV bags for friends, and managed to get a fairly good price for it.
After the old town, Robyn took us to Xiang Yang Market, which was probably the best place for finding clothes, purses, wallets, backpacks, and the like. We got there via the underground metro, which was as packed as any moving vehicle could be. Anyway, I bought a few items for friends and myself, and was quite happy with all of that. It was great fun doing the bargaining, and I knew I'd be back to do more.
To end the night, Robyn took us to a place called the House of Blues and Jazz, not far from Xiang Yang Market. This bar/pub is a nice joint, catering to mostly foreigners, and was featuring the Sam Hooper Group. The group is composed of Sam (a black singer on the guitar), Jordan (a white guy on bass), and Akira (a Japanese guy on the drums). To say the least, these guys were amazing. Gord, who plays in a band himself, was really impressed by their abilities as well. Anyway, we had dinner there and stayed until about midnight before heading back to the hotel.
Today, Gord, Jan, and I had a quick breakfast at a cafe next to the hotel. It was already a late start to the morning, so we just took a quick walk down Nanjing Road before returning to the hotel. Gord and Jan checked out and taxied to the airport to catch a flight to Beijing. I called up Carol, a family friend, and made plans to meet for lunch.
I met with Carol just before 1pm and had lunch in a restaurant on the top floor of the shanghai Grand Theatre. It was a nice lunch, and much cheaper than I had expected. Then we went to her office (Sony Music) where I got a few free CDs and stuff, and a great view from the 55th floor in downtown Shanghai. It's cool that Carol knows a lot of top singers/groups here in Asia. I got a coupled autographed items. :)
Carol and I then went to Xiang Yang Market where I had to pick up a few more things for friends. Before long, Carol's friend Victor came to meet us at the market and together we went to Xin Tian Di, an area of old heritage buildings that had been remodeled to catered to tourists. We had dinner there, and while the buildings look fairly new, as they're only 2 years old, they still had much of the original structure there.
After dinner, we walked around for a while before going to Carol's place to chat and relax. Called it a night late, and returned back to my hotel. I'm going to meet with Victor tomorrow for lunch and to buy some DVDs. :P
Honestly, since meeting the people I've met here on my trip, I wish I had had more time in Shanghai. I coudl really get used to this style of living. Mind you, I'm a person on vacation saying this and it would be totally different if I were working. It's really late now (2:40pm at this point), and I'm watching an old Wong Faye Hong movie. Should head to bed now.
Cheers,
Kevin
Yesterday, the three of us started the day off at a clothing materials market called Dongjiadu suggested to me by my brother's friend Wil. The market has many booths, each with a variety of cloths, silks, wool, and/or cashmere. Most sellers seem to have a tailor they can grab on call to make clothing as well. I ended up at booth No. 82 (also recommended) and bought two cashmere jackets for a very affordable price. I was really happy with that purchase. I pick up the finished products on Monday.
After this, we walked around a short while before taxi-ing to the Jade Buddha Temple. The temple seems to be the busiest one I've seen in most my life, with a good number of people praying, and no lack of tourists. I bought some incents and did the "bai bai" (praying) thing. We spent about an hour at the temple looking at the statues and praying.
Then we met up with Robyn, who is friends with my brother, in the old town and went for some dimsum. The restaurant we went to is supposed to be rather well known, and the specialty dish there was the bun with crab ovaries; it's a larger bun (say 3 - 4 inches in diameter), with soup and crab ovaries inside and straw down the middle. Robyn's white, but has been in Shanghai teaching English for almost 6 months, so she's quite familiar with the surroundings and customs. She took us around the old town, where there're are tons of shops (like everywhere else in Shanghai) -- one purse store owner brought us into a little closet-like room in the back of his store through a hidden door, which was only large enough to fit 5 people uncomfortably, where he had his good stuff. Jan bought two LV bags for friends, and managed to get a fairly good price for it.
After the old town, Robyn took us to Xiang Yang Market, which was probably the best place for finding clothes, purses, wallets, backpacks, and the like. We got there via the underground metro, which was as packed as any moving vehicle could be. Anyway, I bought a few items for friends and myself, and was quite happy with all of that. It was great fun doing the bargaining, and I knew I'd be back to do more.
To end the night, Robyn took us to a place called the House of Blues and Jazz, not far from Xiang Yang Market. This bar/pub is a nice joint, catering to mostly foreigners, and was featuring the Sam Hooper Group. The group is composed of Sam (a black singer on the guitar), Jordan (a white guy on bass), and Akira (a Japanese guy on the drums). To say the least, these guys were amazing. Gord, who plays in a band himself, was really impressed by their abilities as well. Anyway, we had dinner there and stayed until about midnight before heading back to the hotel.
Today, Gord, Jan, and I had a quick breakfast at a cafe next to the hotel. It was already a late start to the morning, so we just took a quick walk down Nanjing Road before returning to the hotel. Gord and Jan checked out and taxied to the airport to catch a flight to Beijing. I called up Carol, a family friend, and made plans to meet for lunch.
I met with Carol just before 1pm and had lunch in a restaurant on the top floor of the shanghai Grand Theatre. It was a nice lunch, and much cheaper than I had expected. Then we went to her office (Sony Music) where I got a few free CDs and stuff, and a great view from the 55th floor in downtown Shanghai. It's cool that Carol knows a lot of top singers/groups here in Asia. I got a coupled autographed items. :)
Carol and I then went to Xiang Yang Market where I had to pick up a few more things for friends. Before long, Carol's friend Victor came to meet us at the market and together we went to Xin Tian Di, an area of old heritage buildings that had been remodeled to catered to tourists. We had dinner there, and while the buildings look fairly new, as they're only 2 years old, they still had much of the original structure there.
After dinner, we walked around for a while before going to Carol's place to chat and relax. Called it a night late, and returned back to my hotel. I'm going to meet with Victor tomorrow for lunch and to buy some DVDs. :P
Honestly, since meeting the people I've met here on my trip, I wish I had had more time in Shanghai. I coudl really get used to this style of living. Mind you, I'm a person on vacation saying this and it would be totally different if I were working. It's really late now (2:40pm at this point), and I'm watching an old Wong Faye Hong movie. Should head to bed now.
Cheers,
Kevin
February 05, 2004
First Full Day in Shanghai
Shanghai's an awesome city. I liked it right from the taxi ride in last night. In every way, it feels like Hong Kong, with its tall creative buildings, its fancy skyline from both sides of a waterway (a river in Shanghai, a bay in HK), its copious amounts of shopping, its bargaining, its pushy sales people, its prostitutes, and its cars.
My hotel sits right on Nanjing Road, the large shopping road that leads to the Bund (a promenade that faces the river). Out the steps of the hotel is the pedestrian section of Nanjing Road, which I think is great -- with its obvious conveniences as well.
This morning, Gord, Jan, and I started out just after 9:30am, had breakfast, and went to the Renmin Square area to see some things around there. We first paid 2 RMB to see Renmin Garden, which wasn't too interesting; and then we walked around, saw the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Shanghai Art Museum, and finally went into the Shanghai Museum.
The Shanghai Museum holds a collection of old sculptures, paintings, calligraphy, coins, ceramics, furniture, and more. We probably spent 3 hours in there, walking around at a slow pace. Then we walked through Renmin Square and found a late lunch at a Japanese restaurant (what are we doing? I know, I know.).
A quick stop at the hotel and we were back out heading towards The Bund. Progress was slowed when we saw some markets through the small streets off Nanjing Road, and some things were bought (I didn't buy, but I will soon enough). I saw a white guy and a white girl there, probably early to mid 20's, and the guy was bargaining the heck out of the sales people IN CHINESE! I was most impressed. I kept my eyes on them for a short while, because of my intrigue. It was crazy to see how he was working these sales people, making them all squirm. Although I don't think I saw him buy anything.
By the time we got to The Bund, a dark sky was upon us. The great thing about Shanghai, as we discovered last night, is that we're at an lattitude such that the mooon goes RIGHT OVER the city (rather than a moon that goes over the Vancouver horizon). It's an incredible sight. We first walked along the Huangpu side of the river, then took the Bund Tourist Tunnel (a short ride in a tram the size of a small gondola, but on tracks) over to the Pudong side and walked around there. With the amazing skyscapes, it's impossible to not take tons of pictures. So I did. I have 488 pictures on my 1GB compact flash card, and another filled up 256 MB card. I'll consider emptying those out soon.
Not much else today. Pretty simple day.
I forgot to mention a funny story from a couple of days ago in Suzhou around the shopping area. Gord and Jan wanted to buy some stuff for their tea. So we were in a tea store, and while they were looking at the clay pots and cups, one of the older women working there asked me, "Are they your parents?" I exclaimed, "They're white! I'm Chinese!" A younger lady working there adds "She (the older one) said it, I don't think they're your parents." The older one said that I look like them. Totally weird. I told Jan and Gord afterwards, and Jan says "But we're white!!". Silly Chinese people.
Today, at the little market off Nanjing Road, a seller asked me where I was from. I said Canada. And he asked me if my mom is Chinese, and so I said yes (I don't mention Taiwan to people I don't know to avoid any confrontation). Then he says, "You are what we call _________, which means your mom is Chinese and your dad is white". ???? I said, "My dad is also Chinese." so he asks "Is your mom from Guangdong? (well, he actually asked if my mom is a "Cantonese")... I said, for no particular reason, "No, my dad is". And he's like "yes, because your forehead is and your eyebrows are Cantonese. You can tell immediately." Bullshit.
Kevin
Shanghai's an awesome city. I liked it right from the taxi ride in last night. In every way, it feels like Hong Kong, with its tall creative buildings, its fancy skyline from both sides of a waterway (a river in Shanghai, a bay in HK), its copious amounts of shopping, its bargaining, its pushy sales people, its prostitutes, and its cars.
My hotel sits right on Nanjing Road, the large shopping road that leads to the Bund (a promenade that faces the river). Out the steps of the hotel is the pedestrian section of Nanjing Road, which I think is great -- with its obvious conveniences as well.
This morning, Gord, Jan, and I started out just after 9:30am, had breakfast, and went to the Renmin Square area to see some things around there. We first paid 2 RMB to see Renmin Garden, which wasn't too interesting; and then we walked around, saw the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Shanghai Art Museum, and finally went into the Shanghai Museum.
The Shanghai Museum holds a collection of old sculptures, paintings, calligraphy, coins, ceramics, furniture, and more. We probably spent 3 hours in there, walking around at a slow pace. Then we walked through Renmin Square and found a late lunch at a Japanese restaurant (what are we doing? I know, I know.).
A quick stop at the hotel and we were back out heading towards The Bund. Progress was slowed when we saw some markets through the small streets off Nanjing Road, and some things were bought (I didn't buy, but I will soon enough). I saw a white guy and a white girl there, probably early to mid 20's, and the guy was bargaining the heck out of the sales people IN CHINESE! I was most impressed. I kept my eyes on them for a short while, because of my intrigue. It was crazy to see how he was working these sales people, making them all squirm. Although I don't think I saw him buy anything.
By the time we got to The Bund, a dark sky was upon us. The great thing about Shanghai, as we discovered last night, is that we're at an lattitude such that the mooon goes RIGHT OVER the city (rather than a moon that goes over the Vancouver horizon). It's an incredible sight. We first walked along the Huangpu side of the river, then took the Bund Tourist Tunnel (a short ride in a tram the size of a small gondola, but on tracks) over to the Pudong side and walked around there. With the amazing skyscapes, it's impossible to not take tons of pictures. So I did. I have 488 pictures on my 1GB compact flash card, and another filled up 256 MB card. I'll consider emptying those out soon.
Not much else today. Pretty simple day.
I forgot to mention a funny story from a couple of days ago in Suzhou around the shopping area. Gord and Jan wanted to buy some stuff for their tea. So we were in a tea store, and while they were looking at the clay pots and cups, one of the older women working there asked me, "Are they your parents?" I exclaimed, "They're white! I'm Chinese!" A younger lady working there adds "She (the older one) said it, I don't think they're your parents." The older one said that I look like them. Totally weird. I told Jan and Gord afterwards, and Jan says "But we're white!!". Silly Chinese people.
Today, at the little market off Nanjing Road, a seller asked me where I was from. I said Canada. And he asked me if my mom is Chinese, and so I said yes (I don't mention Taiwan to people I don't know to avoid any confrontation). Then he says, "You are what we call _________, which means your mom is Chinese and your dad is white". ???? I said, "My dad is also Chinese." so he asks "Is your mom from Guangdong? (well, he actually asked if my mom is a "Cantonese")... I said, for no particular reason, "No, my dad is". And he's like "yes, because your forehead is and your eyebrows are Cantonese. You can tell immediately." Bullshit.
Kevin
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