Dinner.

Traditional Chinese Dinner:

Chicken Feet

Stinky Tofu

Regular Tofu

Small Fish

Chicken (with bones)

Glutenous Rice Dumplings

Fish (Omelet/Pizza/Pancake) Thing

Spicy Green Beans

Cauliflower in salty soup

Tea

Various other things I dare not speak of.

Rock Climbing.

We went rock climbing at Shanghai Stadium.

There was this sweet statue of a heroic table

tennis player. Also, there were copy/fax machines

strewn about the stadium/rock climbing area.

I made it up to the top first time. I'll post pictures

once I get them from my co-workers.

Hi-Shanghai

Snagged some images from in/on/around

the building I work in. 

Hope you dig them.

You are doing it wrong.

Betman: Night Justice.

Colonel Sanders: Devil?

And the no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,

or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is

wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number

of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number

is Six hundred threescore and six.

I wonder if KFC global knows of this.

Sushi

I went to a sushi restaurant yesterday. 

Certainly doesn't look like the Kroger

sushi I am used to. Luckily, once you

put Chinese wasabi on it, you cannot

taste the shrimp head (or anything 

for the next 2 days).

Yum.

Lids

Instead of using pre-made rotational molded

lids, they have a machine with a spool of 

clear plastic that is heated up and then pressed

onto the cup. After the plastic is applied, a serrated

rind comes down and cuts away the excess material.

Then a sticker is applied and the beverage is served.

A thick straw with a pointed end is given to the 

patron to puncture the lid. The process takes about

45 seconds which seems like an eternity when you

are used to the roto-molded lid.

 

Just something I noticed.

Hey, China.

Stop leaving your children unattended.

On Sunday we went shopping at 1pm.

We passed by this shop and this kid was

sleeping on the floor. At 5pm we passed 

the same store and this kid was just

standing up looking out at the street.

The shop was not open for business.

The doors were locked and the lights

were turned off. 

China.

*le sigh*

Walks on Rainy days.

Took a walk to the supermarket today.

Saw a few interesting things on the way.

Picked up food to cook Chinese food with.

(or have the girls from work cook food

for me). First image is of clothes lines

that project from nearly every window.

Second Image is a duck for sale at the 

supermarket. Third image is an abandoned

coin operated play thing.

Sal(a)vation!

It has been 22 long days in Communist China.

But today I found a Burrito and all is well.

Photo Session: 1

It was a nice Saturday, so I decided it

was time for some Urban Exploration.

I took a 3-4 mile walk and documented

my journey. Here is a taste of what I 

experienced. I walked through some

housing developments and a few dirt

alley ways. Got stared at a lot. Felt

uncomfortable a little. Smelled things

that you would not believe. 

Looking forward to photo sesh: 2.

China is weird.

The was an entire section of this stuff at a media outlet.

Pornography is outlawed in Mainland China so they have

this stuff and "Sex Having Education" which is people 

fully clothed performing fake sex acts.

China is weird.

First Non-Food Purchase.

I needed a keyboard for my ModBook so I could

use the Space Key and ctrl+Z in Photoshop and

Alias Sketchbook Pro. Initially, I wanted to get 

a Apple keyboard but then I realized I will only

be using this occasionally for the next 5 months.

Decided on Hello Kitty. The lady started at 50 yuan

but I presbyterianed her down to 40 yuan. 

It is glorious.

Lunch

Lamian Noodles. 5 Yuan. Delicious.

Ryan Visits McDonalds

Escalator to Heaven

The Fries are Exactly the same.

The coke does not have refills. (Free or otherwise)

The McChicken was small and spicy.

Urban Clutter

Visual noise is killing me.

My eye sockets hurt from 

constantly looking around.

There are so many things that

draw my eye in that I cannot

help but look. 

One thing I keep thinking to

myself over and over is that 

Shanghai is a huge can of

industrial design problems.

I am really curious to see the 

progress they will make in the

upcoming months leading

toward the world Expo.

It's like the city grew faster

than it should have and 

things were forgotten. 

Lunch

Lunch today:

Bowl of White Rice

Broccoli Dish

Mushrooms in "brown sauce"

Squid with Garlic

Small container of Soy Sauce

16 Yuan. $2.34

After Lunch Snack:

"Light Purple" Flavored Gatorade

Alpenliebe!

6.5 Yuan  $0.95

To whom it may concern:

Today I killed my first box of Pop

Tart leaving me with only one box

in reserves. The new room mate is

bringing one box, but if we could

perhaps get some pop tarts en 

route to China. It would make

me happy.

José González

The show was dope. He was talking to the audience after 

he played "heartbeats" about his crash course in mandarin.

He said his favorite phrase is, "Yo Nigga Mayo" and not 

because it translates to, "do you or do you not have that". 

He probably said that because it sounds like something 

you might hear in a Soulja Boy chorus. 

Texture

Children's Art Theater: Shanghai

Row 10 Seat 17 Surroundings

Business Cards

Business cards are the keys to Shanghai. With the right 

collection of business cards, you can go anywhere in the

city. Mine came in today. I am going to be at TEAMS for

165 more days and they got me 500 business cards.

Rad.

Signage

I feel one of the things that interests

me most so far are signs. How information

is communicated. Shanghai is supposed

to be an international city and while

in some places there are shimmering

rays of hope, most places yourself 

stuck. I sometimes wish that I could

learn written mandarin and not be 

such an american with my "speak

english or else" mentality. After speaking

with several Chinese natives at work, 

I learned that there are Characters

that even as adults, the Chinese people

cannot read. Universal signage is the

only thing keeping me from getting

lost and it is sparse to say the least.

St. Regis Shanghai Hotel

This building is outlined with LEDs on all 

surface changes. It is an awesome sight at 

night as you drive by. It reminds me of TRON.

Shanghai Expo

This charming fellow, who bares a 

striking resemblance to a healthy 

squeeze of Colgate is the mascot for

the Shanghai Expo 2010. His name is

Hai Bao which roughly translates to

"treasure from the ocean" and judging

from his sticker, he is an Obama 

Supporter. 

*sigh* Commies. 

Apartment

View from my Balcony.

View of Shanghai in all its splendor.

23 Story. Apartment #7

Thou Shalt Not Covet

1.) FJ Bruzer (Fiona's FREE Nishiki)

2.)SuperBike (Ryan's 2007 Leader 735TR)

3.)Bike 1.1 (Ryan's 1968 Raleigh Competition GS)

The weather in Shanghai is perfect for shredding.

However, I find myself displaced from these weapons

of mass shred-duction. I think I am going to Speed Cats

on Saturday. Here's to hoping they have something in 

my size. 

Doubtful.