So this blog has been stagnant with the few and far between posts of late, and I can’t promise that won’t change, but it looks like I’ll be having more ME time when I return to Singapore, which should be some time soon. Having more ME time should mean more blog time. As Connie once asked how come there’s no more blogging and to which I replied, “been busy”, her comment lets me know we can relive our bitching times when she visits Singapore: “You have a life?! No way!”. Bitch.

Despite the backdrop of looming exams and entangled relationships, I certainly had a good time with my pals when they visited Shanghai! Although they returned home with a sucky impression of China, I sure hope they learnt more about the environment I live in (wait a minute, these two clauses are linked and there shouldn’t be an “although” hahahaha).

What a stylish way to wait for a cab eh? hahahahaha

Reina and Celine had the opportunity to eat very good shaokao!

They are clearly from SMU. Though the pic turned out freaky haha.

Had to go multiple times to The Bund just for my pals.

And here’s the pictures I spoilt. I love them! hahahah

I look sooooooooo retarded.

Banana is a discotheque/bar in the vicinity of Fudan University, though it looks like most of its patrons are not part of the Fudan community.

When I walked in, I felt very comfortable being out of place, and I thought, “Hey! The Chinese really know how to have fun!”. It was packed with people grooving to the semi-techno music. Then there were firecrackers (!), dancers dressed in futuristic pvc costumes, dancers in qipaos, dancers in leopard bikinis, and a bottle-swirling-fire-eating bartender (whom we managed to get free drinks out of later).

Nice people there too, for they were patient with us two foreigners trying to say the drinks we want into their ears.

But the best part was still managing to get free drinks (I have charm lalalalala), and then crawling into the bar itself after lights on at 3am to fool around with the bartenders woot!

And here’s how I was like at 4:23AM, after several shots and beer and other drinks (Jason, as requested):

I think humans need their vices. It’s what we resort to and it’s what keeps various industries going and making money. These industries are surviving/profiting on our degeneration, but yeah, it’s a mutually dependent relationship.

Having lived in cities all my life, I’ve never really had the experience of being in absolute darkness, in a place where I 伸手不见五指.

But last weekend I don’t even know what the room I ate in looks like. I groped around for the chair, fondled the cutlery and caressed the plates and somehow managed to eat my caesar salad, my soup, my steak, and my cake.

It was a blind person’s world and I felt very displaced to be robbed of my ability to see what I was eating and where I was. My eyes were open but I only saw black. There were things in front of me but I only saw black. CG was in front of me but I only saw black. There might have been rats running around, cockroaches on my food, but everything was black.

I could only be comforted by the music, CG’s voice, and the clanking of our cutlery against dishes we can’t see, or else I might have freaked out if it was both black and silent.

We managed to eat as per normal without too much fumbling around, although we did resort to using our hands to eat our food for a bit.

A very extraordinary experience to try, to live an hour of being blind.

Served by visually challenged waiters/waitresses, the dinner will humble you when you can only laugh at your helplessness.

Black Cafe. Eyes not Required. Bringing in anything that has light is prohibited in the Dark Zone.

Before I let the reality of the impending arrival of 4 exam papers hit me, I shall recount how dot and I spent our time walking and spending money instead of studying for our upcoming exams (more so for me).

1st day: Ate a lot, did hair.

2nd day: Shopped at Shanghai Science and Technology Centre metro station.

3rd day: Made dumplings, and shopped at Qipu.

4th day: Dot shopped at Qipu, then we ate a lot again, then shopped at Walmart.

5th day: Shopped at Qipu, then at Nanjing Pedestrian Street.

6th day: Chop chop shopped at Qipu, before Dot’s flight home.

We learnt how to make dumplings at my hairstylist’s house.

Tiffany & Co. shop, Qipu style.

Fake brands’ catalogue. All the shops have their own catalogues, be it LV, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. etc. So don’t think that just because the product they have looks exactly like the one in the catalogue means that the item exists in the market.

Mont Blanc pens, Qipu style

Dot’s buys

My new Puma and agnes b. bag. Genuine?

Dot has to go, but I know she really wants to stay and shop some more, right dot? Haha.

I made my second trip to Brasil Steak House at Jing An Si (静安寺) with some friends. The buffet is value for money with dish after dish of juicy meat. There’s plenty of beef, chicken, lamb, chicken heart, etc for everyone. The service crew will go around each table to slice the meat off the skewers and on to your plate. Of course, there is also the usual buffet spread of rice, vegetables, salad, dessert etc. Eat all you can for 55RMB for lunch, inclusive of one glass of coke/sprite/fanta (free drink only from Mondays-Fridays). Dinner is 76RMB I think. Just take the metro to Jing An Si station, and you’ll see the cosy little diner opposite the main entrance of Jing An Si.

At 新世界商城, New World Building (mall), 10F. 99RMB for adults (but someone distributes coupons for 20RMB off at the ticketing booth!? So it becomes 79RMB), and 75RMB for students.

Actually, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, unlike other museums, does not teach you much. The museum does not teach you how to create the wax figurines, nor does it give you information about the figurines displayed. If anything, the museum shows you who the most renowned people in the world are. So the challenge is, out of perhaps 50 or so figurines, how many can you identify?

It’s cool that they have a zero distance policy, so we can go ahead and hug the figurines all we want. As I appreciatively did.

There were a few simulus machines where you could play virtual reality games such as table-tennis, and the above — something akin to street fighter.

“Wa-tah…!!”

Squareface: In sooth, Wiliam, thy pen can write with speed twice thou feather.

Shakespeare: Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.

Squareface: So Einstein, tell me, what do you make of the air in Shanghai?

Einstein: Hmph.

Rowena (a friend I made on the plane back to Singapore last year) and I had fun goofing around with the figurines, when we had no intention of going to the museum in the first place. More pictures are with her, so I’ll entertain you again after receiving the pictures from her.

I’ve been to London’s Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (though eons ago, in 1999), and I remember it housed many more figurines, including our MM Lee and PM Lee. I am surprised that Shanghai’s Madame Tussauds doesn’t feature China’s premiere nor president. Perhaps in the next phase.

Some pictures of 朱家角 (Zhujiajiao).

It is quiet in my apartment. And very cold. My parents, after 9 days in Shanghai with me, have departed for home. Gone with them are their everyday grouse about the weather, the handy help cleaning around the house, and the company.

My apartment!

Oriental Pearl Tower on a cloudy day

We took a ride on Shanghai’s Maglev train, from Pudong International Airport to Pudong’s Long Yang Station. It costs 50RMB per person (40RMB if you have the same day’s boarding pass). The journey only takes about 7 minutes, and goes up to a speed of 430km/h. Although the wind produced a loud noise, it felt like we were in a flying capsule, so it was a really good experience.

We went on to patronize the new Xiang Yang place at 上海科技馆 Metro Station, Xinyang.

Instead of walking along tents and being subjected to weather conditions, the new Xiang Yang place now works like a shopping mall, just that prices are negotiable, and you’d better jolly well negotiate.

Here’s my mom trying out a pair of pants. This is a common sight. Since they haven’t got space for fitting rooms, they create a mobile temporary one as and when necessary.

My mom signed up for the Accor card, so she gets great discounts at Accor hotels. Near the new Xiang Yang place was Sofitel, so we had dinner there.

We dined in a private room of a Japanese restaurant with a great view of Pudong. The location worked well for the 15th day of the Spring Festival, for there were fireworks everywhere from 6pm till about 10pm. I’ve always enjoyed watching fireworks (especially fireworks festivals and Singapore’s NDP’s), but hearing it for 4 hours in the restaurant and back in my apartment compelled me to treat it as a nuisance. Firecrackers were also lit since the start of the day, everywhere.

The food was really good! We were the only customers though.

I discovered this place one day on the way home from 七浦 (qipu, a street of price-negotiable shopping malls, better than Xiang Yang or the new Xiang Yang for that matter in my opinion). Stepping in, you will find a long alley of stalls selling handphone or accessories and various electronic appliances. Behind this area is also the best place to purchase 2nd hand laptops. To get there, get down at 宝山 (baoshan) Metro Station and it won’t take you more than 5 minutes to walk there.

My mom brought 2 of my cousins’ old walkmans to repair, but when I asked the staff at the various audio appliances repair shops, they exclaimed that nobody repairs/uses these things nowadays. So think twice before saying (the whole of) China is backward.

My parents on Nanjing Pedestrian Street. We ate at Nanjing Road’s Sofitel hotel’s Mosaic Restaurant. Splendid selection of food. I had a wonderful dinner.

Chocolate fondue

Perhaps even better than 七浦(qipu), for custom-made clothes, head to 陆家浜(Lujiabang), and remember to bring either the pattern of what you want, a sample, or at least a very clear idea in your head!

These dressmakers really make anything, according to your requests, mostly good workmanship, and at reasonable rates. I ordered jeans!

You can tell, from one look, they are foreigners. If you’re a person with keener observation, I’m sure you can guess that they’re Singaporeans.

We went to 城隍庙(Chenghuangmiao) because my dad called this girl my parents once bought numerous bags from when her stall was in Xiang Yang market, and she informed him that she was selling “high-end” stuff at 城隍庙. I have been wanting to check out these kinda illegal stores, and was delighted at what I discovered! Previously, at Xiang Yang market, I never dared to follow people into their “warehouses” for fear of being kidnapped or robbed. But this opportunity was an eye-opener! Basically the interior looks like a shop, as you see above.

But the goods are actually showcased in one of these old houses.

The shop keepers have to keep watching out for the cops.

城隍庙, with an array of lanterns from the Spring Festival celebrations.

My parents and I went for a good massage session.

We also had a sumptuous lunch, and went 朱家角 (ZhuJiaJiao).

Hmm, I was supposed to spend New Year’s Eve having a good time with Vanessa, my Chinese classmate-cum-good-friend, but the day didn’t really turn out well. We had a good time when the sky was bright, talking and eating, eating and talking. We wanted to watch a play. We had to buy tickets from those scalpers. We were nearly cheated. He offered us the tickets for 50RMB, which was half-price, and we had to bargain quite actively for that already. However, we didn’t feel very secure about it, so I stayed with the guy whilst Vanessa went to try whether she could enter with the ticket. It turned out the tickets were expired. Fortunately we got our money back since he couldn’t run away with me staring at him. Nevertheless, it totally affected Vanessa’s mood because this incident stirred up her anger from her previous experience at some idol concert a few years back where she was cheated of 600RMB. Everything sorta went downhill with that. She was in no mood to do anything else, and we couldn’t think of anything else to do. We eventually went back, hoping to buy tickets for the play from the box office at a cheaper price since the play already started, but unfortunately not. Tickets for a musical was too expensive, and she didn’t want to watch the other play that was being performed.

Lots of walking and eating today. Wu Jiang Road has lots of snacks to indulge in!

Somehow I came up with the idea of going to eat Singapore’s Chicken Rice, which was around 2 metro stations away. However, she wasn’t too keen to stay outside anymore, and invited me over to her place. Apparently she had already arranged with her mother for me to stay over, although I kept refusing. But when she called her mother, it turns out that her grandmother and cousin was gonna stay over at her place, so there’s no room for me. She got really pissed at her mother then, and so the whole evening was kinda sucky for her, and by extension, for me.

I was sorta glad to just get going home since her mood took a turn for the worse, and so I spent the remaining night at WALMART at wujiaochang.

These pictures taken today better than previous pictures of mine. Taken with my new Kodak Z650, the images are sharper, and have richer colours. I’m still playing around with the camera, figuring out how to take better shots. Hope there’ll be plenty of great shots to share soon.

Shanghai’s Wujiaochang is being revamped! From a mere roundabout, it is being piled on with more concrete shopping malls. Friends and I have discovered this new shopping area today. There’s Walmart (!), McDonalds, Burger King (!) (very rare in Shanghai), KFC, Shanghai Book City, Haagan Daz, Pizza Hut, Paris Baguette (from Korea, apparently?), Breadtalk, cinema, etc etc, basically a shopping malls! Walmart! Cinema! We catched a movie today, The Painted Veil, which was good, and then we sneaked (or just walked stealthily) to another theatre to catch another movie, shang cheng (Hong Kong movie dubbed in Mandarin). We only watched the 2nd movie halfway though, ‘coz one of us got too frightened to watch on (sheesh). Nevertheless, it looks like we stand to gain from their unguarded cinema. And they are offering students half-price all day, everyday!

It also looks like I might not be patrionizing Da Run Fa (RT Mart, the hypermarket near my place that I frequent) that much, because the prospect of shopping at Walmart appeals to me better. This shopping area is about a 10-minute walk from my place.

How wonderful it is to have moved out from the foreign students’ dormitory!

Anyway, I look forward to spending time loitering around wujiaochang area after school, just like the old days back home with shopping malls heh.