no title... just munkee rants

i dun remember if i mentioned everything that happened on july 10...

woke up, packed... then aunt came in to tell me that at 3AM, right before or after cassandra watched the world cup final (like i care what time it was), the "ahyi" called from the hospital (we pay her to wait on my yaya 24/7). she said that my yaya can't be waken up... she was very very concerned. ... so cassandra woke my aunt up cuz she was scared, and then my aunt called the hopspital, talked to the DOCTOR, and the doc said the same thing. so my aunt asked "is his heart beating?" doctor said yes, but still, that my aunt had to go to the hospital right away. ... so my aunt cabbed it to the hospital, and low-and-behold, my yaya was still alive! ... and he woke up and asked her what she was doing there at like 4AM!!! ... my aunt was too tired to yell at the doctor, but i would've!! his heart was beating, he was breathing, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO WAKE MY YAYA UP AT 3AM!?!? LET THE POOR MAN SLEEP DUMBASSES!!!! jesus christ... they're so dumb. how the hell are doctors in china trained?!?!? no wonder they can't be doctors when they get here... even tho some docs here are really dumb too, but anyways...

then i walked over to my JJs, had some "sang ji", talked with my JJ, then ate lunch. ... and then they told me that at like 4AM, they all woke up cuz there was a rat in my JJ's room!! a ginormous rat!! ... at first, since rodents are awake at night, it was gnawing on my JJ's curtains, and then in her closet, and her clothing was moving, etc etc etc... then my JJ couldn't handle it anymore, cuz it was being too annoying, so she woke up, moved everything in her closet out of the room, closed the door, went to get her mom and the maid, and then went to war with the rat. the maid was new, and already she's been behaving better than the last one!! the maid was very courageous, and beat the rat over the head with something, then my JJ took two mosquito paddles (they produce electricity and make mosquito popcorn when u press the button, i love this invention!!!) and electrocuted the rat, while my JJ's mom kept on beating it over the head with something... finally, the rat either died or went to sleep, and the maid once again showed ur courage, by taking the rat outside! ... she's from the farm, so maybe she's not really afraid of rats. it was a big black rat. disgusting. ....

then, i went home, unpacked and repacked cuz the idiot is sick here and too cheap to go buy drugs so i hafta carry it over the fucking pacific for him, fucker. ...
at the airport, they took my dumbells. on the airplane, i was stuck beside this guy with major BO... and the guy beside him kept on asking him "how do u say ____ in cantonese"... like the whole 13hours. it was uber annoying. ... and it wasn't even anything useful like "how are you", it was stuff like "potato", and "carpet" ... c'mon!!! ... but they didn't talk to me... only annoyed me.

in chicago, the other plane was uber delayed. my plane was supposed to leave for TO at 9:05. the earlier plane was supposed to leave at like 6:20 or something, almost 3hours ahead (the ride is about 1.5 hrs). ... but when i got there around 8, the other plane was uber delayed! to like 9PM!!! AHAHAHAHAA!! and guess what the reason was - cuz one of the flight attendants was late - by 3hrs!!!! holy!! talk about irresponsible! ... the pilot was realy pissed off, he kept on coming out and seeing if she was there yet ... in the end, my plane still left the gate before the other plane! ahahaaa!!! and my flight was only 1hr30min, their flight time (planned) was 1hr 45min. poor ppl... i guess i lucked out, i was supposed to be on that flight, but then got switched to the other one, cuz i didn't think i could make it onto that flight on time (i got the gates at 8, so if the plane was ontime, i would've been right). last time, four years ago, my plane was uber delayed... i was mad...

okay, now for my list... i typed this list up to dan (i like lists, and i was bored):

here's what i enjoyed from my trip:
- trinkets are cheap (clothing expensive)
- food relatively cheap
- karaoke rocks (and is relatively cheap)
- i get to see leehom on tv every once in a while
- my family will drop everything for me - i felt like a spoiled princess ('cept they gave me time, not much you can put ur hands on)
- my JJ took me out a lot, and her friends are cool and they're all older than me, so i'm always the youngest (i like being the youngest)

what i didn't enjoy:
- pretty much everything else - the weather [humidity kills all spirit], the people, the rudeness, their ignorance, the racism, the prevalence of pirated/fake stuff, the untrustworthiness of most...
life in general there must suck. no wonder most ppl are trying to get out...

seriously, with the amt of $$ that the average joe makes in china, it's surprising how they can live! ...

now for my recommendation and some other comments...

Shanghai subway system is really really cool. honestly, shanghai is my favourite major city in china, even tho i've been to two. :P beijing sux, basically. so yes, shanghai subway system: extensive system! and it's air conditioned, but not to crazy cold levels like some stores/malls. there are also TVs in every car, beside almost every door, and u can totally use ur cell phone in the subway (yes, even under ground) cuz the subway cars themselves have gsm technology or smt. it's so cool!!! ... and i love their pay-system - basically like scan-debit cards. they're building 2 more lines (maybe 3?) right now, and they'll be open by 2009 - at which point all of shanghai (or at least the parts i care about, i.e. the parts where my friends/family live) will be very accessible from cassandra's place. it'll be freaking wicked. and my aunt and my JJ both have houses in this one community, so it looks like i'll be spending a lotta time there next time - if they get rid of the mosquitoes there... i think all except 10 mosquito bites i got in that community... it's crazy. i had a total of 50ish bites... two french kisses on my lips. grrrrr....

Shopping in shanghai - u gotta know ppl to take u, otherwise, it's like buying stuff here, just as expensive, even after u do the conversion. contrary to popular belief, generally, stuff in china is not cheap!!! so, if any of u decide to go to shanghai without me sometime in the near future (cuz stuff changes fast in shanghai), here are some of the places... wait... first, "xiang yang" market is closed now (look in any book of shanghai and shopping, and they'll mention this market, but it's gone now... too much pirated stuff... actually no, ALL pirated stuff, so it got closed down)... okay, so: the curtain market (they have more than curtains), XuJiaHui, JingAnShi [near the subway stop, a market underground], and underneath RenMin Park. ... yay. and the mall near my place, but i have no idea what streets it's on... only know how to get there... directions for billy: go to my favourite park, walk along that street until u reach the end of the ghettoness (i.e. at the traffic left), go left, then it's on the opposite side of the road, across from the "hai shang something" restaurant... it's a mall... and they sell Esprit stuff for like 70% off - real esprit! it's great. i love that mall... didn't get to spend too much time in it, but i will next time!!! btw, KFC popcorn in china is sooooooooooooooo much better than the ones here. and mcdonald's chicken wings rock my world! and i don't even like chicken wings!!!! ... all of them are slightly spicy, perfectly spiced. yum.

Hacking prices - u hafta hack prices. tip: pretend like u don't care or want it, and they'll call u back to sell it for ur low-ball price. u're stupid if u don't hack it down to about half of what they wanna sell it to u for. especially if u don't speak chinese.... actually, if u don't speak chinese, don't buy it unless u hack it down to about a third of their asking price. ...
Also, don't buy any CDs, DVDs, etc there. even in the HUUUUUGE ass stores, they have a lotta pirated stuff, as i found out with my leehom stuff. basically, if a CD is under 20RMB, it's pirated FORSURE. ... no matter what the idiots in the store tells u. they're so dumb.

now for the food places (for billy, even tho i made u a list already, here's my list list, i.e. more comprehensive)... here's hoping i ddin't copy/paste this already into my blog...:

- best Shengjian = 小杨生煎 (xiao yang sheng jian), somewhere on "Wu Jiang" Road. on the 美食街 somewhere. Most ppl have heard of it, so ask anyone... there are two stores, sorta right next to each other. they say the one on the left is better, but i think they're the same... they have two cuz they're too busy - long lines all the time. no lines in front of any other stores. cost: 3RMB per "liang" or four little buns. four ain't enuff for boys, so boys: get at least two "liang". and their soup is good too (smt like 4RMB/bowl)

- best 麻辣烫 (ma la tang) place - 53 ShouNing Rd. (寿宁路), near RenMin Rd （人民路), which is south of （延安路） Yan'an Rd, sorta near the "Huang Pu Jiang" (river)... near the gas station on RenMin Rd. my instructions are so detailed cuz it's my favourite "restaurant" (rather, hole in the wall) in shanghai. What to do: take a basket, pick out what u want from the big fridge, give it to the dude at the desk to count the sticks, pick out what u want from behind the cooking area (pork blood, JinZhenHua [i think that's the name... the yellow 'flower' thing, it's long and yummy], vermicelli noodles, etc... all 50cents. stuff from the fridge: 50cents for veggie ones, 1RMB for the meat sticks. dunno about the mushrooms, i never paid. i suggest: all the mushroom stuff cuz i like fungus, not much meat (i.e. one skewer of the chicken is more than enough), and definetely definetely definetely, the balls that are empty inside (油面筋; "you mian jin"). and get drinks from the convenience stores at the end of the street. i suggest the cold teas (green tea, or DaMai tea) from the All Days convenience store.

- Only place i know of with the traditional shanghainese breakfast item "Da Bing" [billy's fav]: near our place, at the intersection of 杏山路 和 梅岭路 (XingShan / MeiLing Roads). they got everything - Da Bing, you tiao, etc etc etc... but their liquid stuff ain't good. go to the restaurant that has a red banner called "yong he" something something (永和——) - they have good liquidy stuff... it's the one with the dude that looks like the chinese version of Kernel Sanders (yes, kernel). it's a chain, it's everywhere.

- good restaurant: some place near my yeye's place ["da bai shu" area; billy ask ur aunt], a "Chao Xin" restaurant (i think "chao xin" is a place in china... i dunno... it could be "shao xing", i have no idea)... their 萝卜丝饼 is really good! and their mashed peas and pumpkin pastes are really good too. their signature duck ain't that good. but their fungus soup is really good. a lotta places have fungus soup now, and it's my favouritest thing to eat this time around in china. in '98, it was 耗油牛肉, in '02 it was 生煎, this time, it's 菌菇汤. yum. oh wait, and 麻辣烫!!!!

- hot pot in china: all the same now. no point picking and choosing the restaurant brand... just go to one that looks clean. suggestion = 小肥羊 cuz they use Mongolian lamb meat, not chinese lamb meat... if there's a difference... it's good regardless.

- good restaurant: 川妹子 (chuan mei zi) on 延安东路 (yan'an rd. east), right beside the 大世界 with the 哈哈镜 (this place we used to go to when we were little... dunno if billy went, but i remember going with casandra... they have those funny warped mirrors... we liked those when we were little). get the frog thing (干锅牛蛙, i think), and their hotpot with the live fish thing that i didn't taste, but is apparently really really good.

- best restaurant in Hangzhou: something like 红楼饭店 (HongLou restaurant)... we called it 小红楼 the whole time... or rather, my JJ did. uh, directions? go to the bottom of 雷锋塔 (LeiFeng "tower"), there's a 步行街 (pedestrian street) there... go left, shop, at the end of it, look up, there's a "highway" or just elevated road basically... keep walking straight away from the pedestrian street, and eventually u'll reach the restaurant on ur right. Order the: 醉虾 (ZuiXia; drunken shrimp), 小甜豆 (XiaoTianDou; little sweet pea), 菜耕蒸臭豆腐 (CaiGengZhengChouDouFu; plant stem steamed with stinky tofu. it's good. if u like stinky tofu). they're all super yum. the crab soup is good too. and if they have the "hairy clams" (mao2 han4 ... 'mo huuuu' in shanghainese), order that if u like. they don't sell them in shanghai no more if u like 'em... i dun like 'em... ...uh, drunken shrimp, btw, is live shrimp that are put in some sorta alcohol and they're alive when u eat them, but they're uber drunk... so they don't move - thank god!!! i was sooooooooo scared of them. to make sure they're really really drunk: shake the vessel it comes in... if u don't hear them splashing around in there no more, they're uber drunk and prolly won't wake up when u bite their heads off either. ... but some ppl like to eat them only when they're still able to respond ... i think that's a little gross, so i'll stick with method 1.

and that's it for my china blog. tata. gotta download that cockroach song now cuz it's such a dumb song but i like it.