Shanghai

Yay i'm in Shanghai!

 

Got here on Thursday morning, leaving tonight... :(  back to Beijing....

 

What i've been doing here:

Wednesday:

- boarded the D307 (D = 'dong' train, i.e. fastest) from Beijing to Shanghai... The trains in China used to be green, all of them, but these new D trains are white!  i think it's supposed to look like the bullet trains in Japan... These trains are really long and actually really expensive compared to the normal trains.  I got the cheapest ticket which was 655 for the upper bunk - they're all 'soft berths'.  it was an ok ride, i slept for most of it, in a 4-bed room with 3 other guys.  They couldn't switch me.  :(  but i was fine cuz no one snored, shockingly. 

 

Thursday:

- Got to Shanghai, into the mugginess i came.  But it was all good.... I don't hafta tolerate the weather in Shanghai as much as Beijing cuz i get rides most of the time.

- I took the subway, then a bus, then walked to my JJ's place.  I got lost after i got off the bus tho, so i had to ask around and no one knew where anything was.  that wasn't so fun, but at least now i know what streets are near her place.  hahahaa!

- When i finally got home, JJ wasn't awake yet, so TT and I did some English homework together, and then some Chinese homework - my Chinese is better than grade 3 level!  YAY!!!  seriously, that's shoking and awesome.  after that, we played his Wii, which he never plays cuz the poor kid's only allowed to play it with his dad and his dad rarely plays it!!!! 

- My aunt also bought me my favourite 2008 food - JianBin!!  (can't type CHinese on this chinese laptop... dunno how...)  TWO of them!  and once again, it was proven to me how yummy Shanghainese food is compared to Beijing!!  Beijing charges more (3 cf. 2yuan) for their JianBing's, but it tastes like shit.  my JianBing's were a great start to my whirlwind shanghai trip.

- After my JJ woke up, we ditched TT and went to her company for oh... 30minutes.  the boss did her thing, and then we went out for lunch with her partner (in the company), and then we met with her cousin, SS.  Its always so much with the three of us.  We met her at this "LanDi" guy's place.  he apparently has his own company of some sorts and his own brand of extracts/oils from different plants.  He loves talking about the different extracts/oils and which one is good for what, etc etc.  he was sooooooooooooooooooo funny and so knowledgeable in an area that i have absolutely no knowledge in so it was very refreshing and fun and eduational all at the same time!!!  of course, i gathered very little from it cuz he used a lotta technical jargon and i had to dissect the technical from the normal and try to understand just the normal and all this processing is slow..... :P  He also had three doggies which he had to lock up for the guests and used his slipper to calm their barking down.  .... i guess that's not funny but it was very funny to watch at the time!!!!!!  oh, and he's also very very very gay.  it was very cool to see that in China.  We met at his house, where i guess he can be more natural, but i wonder if he tones down his gay-ness outside??  Talking to him was like talking a girl who knows a lot about make up, but he was just so much cooler than a girly girl.  (he knew science and shit!) 

- We went back to GuBei (kinda like the Forest Hill ritzy area in Toronto), to a DVD store that my JJ's friend owns.  They sell English DVDs of American and British TV shows and movies, all pirated but packaged to look really awesome.  It was like heaven for me!!!!!  I was explaining to SS all of the shows i watch ... we counted a total of 21!!!  but that number only includes shows that i've seen every single episode of and current shows.  They had Dexter, Grey's anatomy, ugly betty, house, true blood, BSG, prison break, How i met ur mother, etc etc etc!!!  They didn't have ER or Scrubs tho.... When i entered the store, my JJ was like "take anything u want", so i thought they were maybe like 5yuan/DVD kinda DVDs... but nope!  each set varied in price, but were mostly 300-600yuan for the whole series of anything!  ... i felt so bad that i was even taking one!!  as i was trying to decide between BSG and Friends, my JJ and the owner of the DVD store said "take both!  don't worry!!" .... omg, it was heaven.  I then asked SS to take me out of the store cuz the temptation was too grand.... she didn't, so i ended up grabbing a 007 box set, and two Planet Earth BluRay box sets - now i need to buy a BluRay player!!!  :P  my grand total from that store was >1500yuan!!!  :S  but ya, it was totally free and whoaaa so awesome!  i love Shanghai!  its like living in luxury.  this must be how expats live here, where everything is [almost] free!!  (i basically wanted to take the whole store with me... but.... i decided that i'd get the real non-pirated versions of How I Met Your Mother cuz its my favourite show of all time, and I decided not to get any show that hasn't ended yet... I didn't get SATC cuz i didn't want my mom to watch it and go "omg!!! this is the type of shows my daughter watches?!?!", and i didn't get Prison Break cuz i only like the first season... that's my reasoning, yup)

- after DVD-heaven, we walked along a "food street"... usually, "food street"s in asia consists of little stalls with really fast food that's really cheap.  But not this "forest hill like food street"!  it was full of pubs and $$$ restaurants!  THey have a "Simply Thai" here, which i remember looking up and going "holy shit! mega $$$$!!!"... we didn't go there, but we went to a Persian restaurant.  I ordered a saffron drink that cost 50yuan on its own.  O.o  .... we got grilled meat, the pomegranate + walnut thingy, and their bread.  i loved it all, but my JJ and SS only liked the bread.  oh well!  i have no idae how much the total was, but i wouldn't be surprised if it was about 1000yuan for the three of us.  .... then we went home and i slept in 'my' room.  i love having my own room!!!  plus my JJ's place has central air - exceedingly rare in China, let alone Shanghai.  She also drives a Lexus GS350, so u know.  I also found out they're getting a Porsche 911 soon.  weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

 

Friday:

- After much "where is this place??  where are you???", i finally met up with my aunt on friday morning, to head over to my grandparents' place.  My JJ's husband's chaffeur dropped me off in an Audi A6 (made in China tho) and for the next two days, i rode around in a "Skoda" (its a car brand), instead of Audi's and Lexi... :P

- My aunt's driving is horrible.  i wanted to take over the wheel many many times!!!!!!   aaaaaaahhh!!!!  but anyway.  I spent all of Friday at my grandparents' place - the most time i've ever been there in recent time.  O.o  As always, i took them out for dinner, and as always, my grandma made a fuss.  My dad can get pissed here, i can too, but it looks way worse if i do it.... *sigh* ... my grandpa's still normal and awesome.  I miss my other grandparents.... :'(   i dream abut talking to my grandma... she's the smartest person on the planet, to me.  :'''(

- After debates and more debates with grandma, calling various ppl, and walking around with my grandpa, i decided i was too tired and therefore needed coffee.  So my aunt drove me to a mall for "coffee".  We walked aroud, and she fantasized about having a daughter - me.  We went to Sephora cuz i wanted to check the prices of things (not cheaper!), but ended up putting on some make up!  hahahaaa!  my aunt was like "wow... u can just use this stuff and put it on, for free?!?!?  wow!!!"... she tried and failed to put on eyeshadow, and i helped her remove it, then put on bronzer... she was much impressed by my "make up skills".... HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!  ME!  the one who only puts on make up for formals, interviews, and other major events that occur about 2-3x per YEAR!  my aunt's so funny!  We also did coffee later, but that was much more boring-er.

- We got back to grandparents' place after my cousin and my grandma's sister showed up.  Then my WuYiNai gave me another 2000yuan, in addition to the 2000 from grandpa and the 1000 from grandma.  I score big in Shanghai.  i guess they're making up for all of the missed red-pockets i would've gotten as a child if i had stayed in china.  O.o 

- Dinner was dinner, and after going thru the pictures my parents took of our house (very boring pictures!), we left to go back to my aunt's place... which does not have central air, and is therefore very very hot!!!  :(  i didn't sleep well that night, at all.

 

Saturday:

- Went to 'work' with my aunt and cousin.  My aut's a doctor.  My cousin and i, but mostly him, helped me collect 20+ surveys.  :D  I also shadowed my aunt here and there for like 20minutes.... *sigh* .... doctor-ing here is very different and i can see many many loopholes... changes may come, but will come ver very slowly. 

- My coz and i got bored pretty quickly, so we ended up meeting my other coz in a mall.  We had sushi for lunch (pretty good!  even had scallop sushi!!!) where i also tested my cousin for his IELTS in august.  and then we went to a bookstore, where i bought a few English books... and then we watched Harry Potter.

- Watching movies in China is different than back home.  the prices for the different movies are different.... prices also vary by language (original or dubbed), and by times.  also, when you buy ur ticket, you hafta pick ur seat. we got stuck w/ the first row cuz we bought it so late.  :(  it was dizzifying.  HP wasn't as good as the book, once again.... they missed a lot.... and i didn't even cry when Dumbledore died... prolly cuz i already knew what was gonna happen and how it was gonna happen.  The ending also didn't do the book justice.  The book made u excited for the 7th and last book... the movie, not really.  so that's my movie review.  Oh, and the previews in China are just advertisements for restaurants, stores, jewellery, drinks, etc.  But i saw Leehom on the biiiiig screen, so its all good.  Was overly excited then. That commercial is overplayed in China now, even tho its only been out for a week and i love leehom.  hahaaa!

- I subwayed, then cabbed it back to my aunt's place after that, by myself.  me and my aunt and uncle then had dinner and had long discussions about how the Chinese medical system works.  they're both doctors.  I learned a lot, and really appreciate that i can talk to them about this stuff.  My parents don't undrstand and don't know, and i don't know anyone else with that much experience.  :D  talking with them rocks!!  plus my uncle is really smart and really funny so talking to hiim is always enlightening and fun.

- i can't emember the rest of the evening cuz i was too tired... but it involved going thru the survey and finding the stupid questions (there were many), and getting stuff from my aunt to bring back to Canada.....

 

Sunday:

- Woke up, had breakfast, and discussed stuff with my uncle again.  i like talking to him.  I can't do that with anyone else in their generation.

- my cousin then made me watch "Lie to Me" with him.  his friends recommended it to him.  It's ok.  not that great of a show, but not bad.  then we watched the first bit of Wall-E cuz i love Wall-E.... and then we went out for lunch - stinky tofu!!!  and then i went back to my JJ's place.... yupyup.  very boring day.  but i had fun anyway.  i don't know why... even in boredom, i'm happier in Shanghai. 

- I helped TT with his english homework again cuz he had a test an hr after i got there.  He did badly on the test.  Not because i taught badly, but because his teacher tested him on stuff that he didn't show me, i.e. stuff i didn't know he had to review.  his mommy then yelled at him cuz he was being so irresponsible when it came to studying... he cried, wrote a page in his journal, and then we had dinner and slept.  :D 

- Oh wait, before that, there was a Louis Koo interview on TV.  it was super dumb.  Louis Koo barely said anything.  super dumb.  but Danel Wu is on next week!!!!  July 26, 9:15PM, on Hunan TV!!!  i hope i remmeber and am home then!!  wonder what language he'll speak in.... the interviewer prolly doesn't know English, and i know he doesn't know Canto.  O.o

 

Monday:

- today is monday.  it is now 11AM.  I woke up at 8:30 and packed.... :(  last day in Shanghai.....

- The plan is: wait for JJ to wake up, then ditch TT once again and go out for lunch... then i wanna go shpping, but i'll see what my JJ has to say about it... and then we're gonna have dinner at home and drop me off at the train station.  only two more weeks in Beijing tho.  I plan on being a goodsport and enjoying my aunt's hospitality.  Hopefully my cousins will be more accomodating now and actually spend time with me.  *sigh*