Beautiful Sunday

It was gorgeous outside today.  A view from our balcony.

I got a membership today at a neighborhood gym, MegaFit, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  I realized that Chinese women typically steer clear from the weights so I felt awkward working out in that area.  MegaFit sure beats Lucilles with its plethora of treadmills, ellipticals, and bicycles.  I'm going to make an effort to go three times a week!  Ha!  We'll see how that goes.

I later met up with a guy I met through Craigslist in the French Concession area.  I never thought I would respond to an ad online (it fell under the "strictly platonic" category) but being alone in this city has forced to try to be more open and social.  He's a cool guy from Texas and has been living here for a year and a half.  He took me to Amokka Cafe for dinner.  The restaurant is a two story, traditional French building with vaulted ceilings adorned with exposed beams and rafters and furnished in modern decor.  Overall the ambiance beat the food hands down (like New York?!?).  My chicken was overcooked in my thai curry but I'll give it another shot and try something else.  After being there I wish I had found an sublet in the French Concession area.  Amokka is nice for getting coffee or tea, people watching, and free wi-fi!  I wish I lived closer to this place because I'd be a regular.

Saturday

I spent a good four hours today sitting and working in the corner of Coffee Bean.  It's located in Xintiandi, a new development aimed at expats, rich locals and tourists.  The developers renovated traditional shikumens, hiked up rent prices, and attracted high end restaurants, bars, and retail shops.  Think of Santana Row but with real architecture.  Anyways I went into Coffee Bean for lunch and tea because I couldn't bring myself to spend $10 USD on a meal alone.  

I begin my money rant now...

My most expensive meal to date has been $7.70 USD and that included a drink!  I guess I've become even more frugal since living in China.  But come on, ten bucks for a breakfast burrito?  I wouldn't even pay that in the States!  And even worse, I went into a retail shop last night and the prices were around $400 USD for their clothes.  The employee scanned my figure (I was wearing my puffy cream jacket so I felt like a chubby marshmallow) and then said they only carry small sizes: 0 and 1.  

Our 28 story apartment complex sits at the edge of Old Town, an area of intact traditional 1-2 story houses (talk about lack of zoning requirements).  There's such a divide between rich and poor.  Where's the middle class?  We have an Ayi that comes to clean the apartment three times a week.  I could have had her clean my room too but chose not to; she would have made my bed, done my laundry, cleaned my floors, etc all for 200 RMB a month or $2.50 USD a day.  I've heard the phrase "TIC" or "This is China" several times now.  My co-worker says the phrase was adapted from the movie Blood Diamond.  Ha!  My roommate is currently having a massage in her bed by her masseuse; one hour long massage with candles lit...60 RMB.  I've been very fortunate with my situation, I'm just confused as to what kind of lifestyle I want to have here.  I guess I'd rather spend my money on traveling...

Oh my!

Shanghai loves and promotes shopping (at least it helps stimulate the economy).  After my site visit to Hangzhou today, Huifang took me around Shaanxi Lu for some boutique shopping.  First of all, you can find any knock off you want (Marc Jacobs, 3.1, BCBG, etc) and then you can bargain your price down in the store.  If you know Shanghainese, you'll save a lot more money.  

We later went to Yang's for some fried soup dumplings and I met these two older Chinese American guys from Queens.  I met the father of a video documentarist for the New York Times, Jimmy Wang, who is living in Beijing.  I did some googling and Jimmy has a well established career at age 29.  I later found out that his father lives in my complex!  He said our complex on Xizangnan Lu is like a mini UN with over 50 nationalities represented.  

I'm excited for the weekend. 

Sounds

We're supposed to have torrential downpour tomorrow topped with lightning.

Current listens (band, album, song)*:

Earlimart, Hymn and Her, "Hymn and Her" or "Face Down in the Right Town"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz, "Soft Shock" or "Little Shadow"

French Kicks, Two Thousand, "Basement D.C."

*Thanks Sha.

Hello from Shanghai

I arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday night and I've been waking up at 6:00 every morning.  

I've walked a lot in the past two days...no wonder 98% of the locals wear flat shoes.  Yay to flats!  I'm a fifteen minute walk from the office or two subway stops south of Renmin Guangchang (People's Square) at the Laoximen Station on Line 8.  I borrowed my roommate's Lonely Planet Shanghai (3rd Edition, 2006) and discovered there were only three subway lines noted in the book.  Three years later, there are five more subway lines!  I wonder when BART San Jose will ever really happen.

I ran a bunch of errands yesterday: got a cell phone card, exchanged money, went to the police station, shopped at Ikea, and met up with Josh and company.  We explored Wujiang Road and tried these amazing shengjian bao (fried soup dumplings): four for 4.5 RMB or 65 cents each!  I'm in love with street food.  Later that night, I discovered that the metro closes around 22:30.  Are you serious?  I guess coming from New York, I've been spoiled with 24 hour service.  I didn't bring my apartment address so I had to tell the taxi driver to stop abruptly in broken Cantonese/English.

Today, I went to the International Health Care Center today to get a physical for work.  The process was like an assembly line with different specialists in each room.  When giving the blood sample, I was afraid the nurse wouldn't find my vein on the first try but she was on target!  My last blood sample experience involved 7 tries.  There were three seats in the room and as one person finished, the other person rotated to fill the vacant seat.  Go Chinese nurses!  The whole experience was quite awkward.

Afterward, I had lunch with Fei at a well-known chicken place.  The service was quite slow so I didn't get my bowl of dumplings until much later.  But a bowl of noodles, a bowl of extra-chubby dumplings in broth, and boiled chicken came out to be 70 RMB or $10!  I ventured off into the French Concession area afterward and wound up in Fuxing Park.  I haven't seen the sun since I left California.  I'm waiting for the sky to gush out water any minute now.  

Beijing’s Naughty Sister

Thanks Alicia.

Come visit.

In-Transit

So when the hours started to dwindle yesterday night and this morning, I started to sense the anxiety, fear, and excitement of moving abroad.  Leaving New York was one thing.  I had a great experience with the city, the job, the apartment, and with Alicia.  Living there reaffirmed that I love cities.  I love exploring the city through the grid and subway map.  I love the convenience of the subways, not to mention the 24 hours of operation.  I love the semi-chaotic environments at the public squares and parks.  I love seeing people wander about.  I love walking on the sidewalks.  And I have learned to appreciate seasons and the art of consuming delicious burgers.

But leaving San Jose was equally as difficult.  My appreciation for San Jose has less to do with the city and more to do with the people and past.  It was harder to say goodbye to my family than I thought.  I don't know what it is about growing up but kids can act like dicks to their parents (I admit that I did and still do sometimes).  I need to stop being grumpy and start acting like a compassionate and reasonable adult.  Moving to Shanghai with the intention of coming back next year definitely made the departure less difficult.  I want to see it as an extended vacation but none of the people I care about will be there.  When I think about it that way, it just doesn't make sense that I'm moving.  I should just stay in the Bay Area to be close to the people I love.  I guess we all act out of selfishness sometimes in the quest for broadening in our so-called life experiences.  

Anyways, I'm in Vancouver right now waiting for my connecting flight to Shanghai.  Never ever take an international flight at 7am.  It's not worth it.  But in sixteen hours I'll be on the other side of the world where coordinating time differences will require some mental math.  

Good Times

I took the Bart up to San Francisco yesterday to get my work visa.  Entering the Chinese Consulate felt like entering a madhouse.  It was very systematic: security line, pick up a call number based on visa type, and then you wait, and wait.  There were Chinese people everywhere, with no place to sit or move around freely.  I was stressed and frustrated but then I realized that I'll be going to a city of 18 million people and that all the faces I will see for the next year will look like mine.

During my waiting period, I decided to wander around the Cathedral of St. Mary Assumption next door.  I forgot how amazing the building was and the potential power of spiritual spaces.  Although I have opinions on religion (in general) as a practice, there's no denying the strange and powerful sensation of entering a grandiose religious space.  Thank you Pier Luigi Nervi.

Countdown

It's official.  I'm leaving on Sunday to Shanghai.  I've been trying to sort out all of the clothes and gadgets I want to bring with me to a place that has everything already.  I went to New York with two checked bags and a carry-on.  A year and a half later, I left New York with four checked bags, an extremely heavy carry-on, and seven boxes shipped via USPS (I did bring more and more things each time I flew back home if that makes it sound any better).

The nomadic lifestyle never suited me.  I've been in the same house for over two decades and the walkable area in my room shrinks every time I come home.  So as I embark on this new "phase, chapter, journey, etc," I'm trying desperately to purge all the negligible things in my life.