As Seen by TV

The newest edition to the Antwerp skyline is this new museum building located between the old docks and Antwerp city center.  Museum Aan de Stroom (map), which loosely translates to “museum on the river/flow/current” opens its doors in about 3 weeks to this post (May 17, 2011).  The 62m structure is made up of corrugated glass and a computer generated pattern of red sandstone, which twists a quarter turn at each floor, creating a giant spiral staircase, and will tell the story of the city, its harbor and its inhabitants.

I took the train from Brussels to Antwerp, and was absolutely stunned by the recent renovations done to Antwerp Central Station.  I had always been meaning to go check it out (like when I was in Belgium over Christmas), but kept putting it off, and now I see I was quite wrong to do so.  Newsweek even put it at #4 of world’s greatest train stations, and rightly so!

Original construction began in 1895, and the station had long been a terminus station, meaning that trains arriving on its 6 tracks had to reverse back out (not the smoothest of designs, especially considering the Paris-Amsterdam line runs right past Antwerp).  Renovations began back in 1998 (while I was still living there), and the €1.6 billion project was finally finished in 2007.  The station now boasts 4 levels… with more terminus tracks and through tracks built underneath the original 6.  A massive tunnel was dug out under the city to allow the high-speed trains that service Amsterdam and Paris to also stop at Antwerp CS.   The images I took cannot convey the beauty that this station has managed to keep, modernizing a magnificent structure without creating clutter and damaging its original splendour.

ps- the only other station I have been to that made it on Newsweek’s list is New York’s Grand Central (#2), and although yes, the main hall is magnificent, everything else is sheer crap.  Antwerp Central Station makes Grand Central look like a bus stop.  Visit it if you ever get the chance, they also do tours, which I now will make sure to do next time I’m there.

April 1st saw the kick off of the 2011 season of the Chinese Super League (CSL), the premier league of football in China.  It was a decent match, ending in a 3-3 draw… but the main reason for this post the utter LACK of information on attending a match.  The official Shenhua website is only in Chinese, and information in English is pretty much non-existent.  So here you go:

They play at Hongkou Football Stadium (metro line 3 & 8), located at 上海市虹口区东江湾路444号 (map). 
Tickets are available from hundreds of scalpers that hound you from the moment you exit the metro to when you finally reach the official ticket window.  Official tickets are 50/80/100/150 depending on seating location for league matches (they have a stadium diagram, just point), and season tickets are [I think] 300RMB.   I attended this weeks (April 19) Asian Champions League match versus FC Sydney (2-3, damnit) and tickets were priced up.  Exact seat is stated on the ticket, but like everything in China, no one pays any attention to that (seating section does matter).  Beers and sodas are available around the entire stadium for 5RMB, but you must have a paper cup if you want to bring the beer to your seat.  Smokers: don’t worry, they don’t confiscate lighters… actually a security check pretty much just doesn’t exist.  Official gear can be found all around the stadium as well, make sure to shop around and not just go into the first stall you see, there are more, you’ll just have to walk.  Prices range from 100-300RMB depending on which team jersey (they have several) and what add-ons (sponsor, number, etc). 
You can find more info on the Shanghai Shenhua (squad, fixtures, etc) here. 

As for the quality of football and stadium atmosphere, of course it doesn’t compare to Europe (the last worthy football match I watched live was Feyenoord-Ajax in the mid 90′s, the rioting before/during/after the match resulted in fans being banned from each others stadiums the following seasons, so yeah, no comparison really), BUT, it ain’t that bad, and I must add that for the price of a beer in Europe you can grab a seat in China and watch 90 minutes of CSL football.

Certainly not the most inventive name for a museum in Shanghai, but The Shanghai Museum boasts a collection of 120,000 Chinese antiquities.  I must be honest that it is a far cry from collections I enjoy and love, as this museum only showcases Chinese art, furthermore let us be honest here… there are only so many coins, stamps, pots, and scrolls of chicken scratch one can take (never mind the dull fabric and furniture instalations).   But, I did have a few fun hours of taking some decent photographs… so, enjoy.

Taken over a month ago (yeah, I know… but it’s been a busy couple weeks for me) this was one of the first spring-like days to hit Shanghai.  Originally I had wanted to see the “pr0tests” dealing with the Jasm1ne Rev0lution… but what we found were almost 100 “undercover” agents stationed all around the Peace (irony?) Cinema… it was a tense and creepy scene (made more so by getting stared at by each and every one of them; foreigner + camera = no good).  So instead, we just walked around People’s Square and enjoyed the nice weather. 

Another, somewhat coldish night… hit up Lujiazhui, Pudong [again] with the dope wide angled lens.  Booyakasha.