As Seen by TV

Crisis averted… although somewhat unluckily, as I was strangely looking forward to a good ol’ typhoon.  It’s a shame that Typhoon Muifa (link has impressive satellite images) changed its mind last minute and diverted course north-wards along the coast.

Anyway, here are the images I took over a 24hr period that Muifa [rather silently] passed by Shanghai.

March 2010… after over a 1 year of being closed, Shanghai’s most famous landmark reopened to the public; so is the tale of The Bund.

While “The Bund” usually refers to the buildings located along Zhongshan Road (and facing Pudong), my photography on the other hand, does not. 

The Bund is an amazing strip of structures from the [earlier] glory days when Shanghai was a huge financial and shipping hub (sound familiar!?!).  Consisting of a custom house, trading houses, and banks, which subsequently moved elsewhere after the Communist victory during the Chinese Civil War in the 1950′s.  The original institutions however, were given the opportunity during the 1980-90′s (with the thawing of the governments’  economic policy) to have the orignal buildings returned to their orignal uses.  It is truly an amazing strip of architecture, ranging from Gothic and Baroque, to Neo-Classical and Art Deco.

My walk originated from People’s Square through the hair-care area of Shanghai (every shop sells everything related to hair salons, from scissors to those rotating lights), along the Bund, and back down Suzhou Creek.

Also note, the two cars pictures are the BMW M3, and the Rolls Royce Phantom Coupé.  The Phantom is availible in 44,000 colors, which begs the question: is the owner color blind?  It costs about US$400,000, which is doubled in China due to the 100% luxury tax… ooh yeah, believe it. 

Which also reminds me… I’ve heard rumours there’s a Veyron floating around Shanghai.

I have to take Friday off which means that yes, I don’t get paid for working on Christmas Day… one of the negative aspects of living in a non-Christian nation.
My job almost sent me off to Chongqing for 2 weeks (for what, I still don’t know), but I fought back.
Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas.

Happy St. Nick’s Day (the real Santa)!

Random images from the week… the best damn fried dumplings in Shanghai (so far), meat piles at my local supermarket (Tesco), and among the winnings are stuffed animals or packs of cigarettes!

It’s slightly starting to get to me as to how disorganized this country is.   I love it here, but some of the smaller things are just aggravating.  Like how the Chinese are the most impatient people on the face of the earth, but only in certain situations.  They have it bad on the metro and in elevators for example, where people will put their nails in between the doors as if they’ve been burried alive and only have seconds of oxygen left (and then proceed to walk slower than death).  Then there’s the finger-jabbing of the close door button even when you haven’t gotten TO your floor yet.  It’s actually quite amusing to watch (from a distance).
Whereas on the streets, where for the most part its a dog-eat-dog world, people walk slower than anyone I’ve ever seen… and I’ve been to over 28 different countries across the world, and here they truly take the cake, both with impatience and with stride speed (or lack thereof).

Even things like a Google images search (which is a major source of inspiration, research and aid for designers), should yield 18 images a page, but here only half will show because of whatever reasons.  At this point I would show you a screenshot, but I can’t since I’m using a PC that was set up 8 years ago (yes, in 2001).   I’ll have to wait till I get home and use my personal computer, which I’m sure without a shred of doubt must be the fastest machine in the whole country… well, besides they’re maglev train, which I hear is pretty damn fast.

I have to go to work on Sunday, as then we get a week off the first week of October… apparently, as I was only just told.

Also, a big shout of a Happy Birthday to Arthur Guinness and his infamous Guinness, which turned 250 years young just yesterday!  They’ve been promoting the hell out of it here (everywhere else too I assume), so I’ll make sure to have one in his honor, although I might have to commit blasphemy and have a Stella instead. 

Guinness – “To Arthur” advert
Check out the glimpse of Shanghai!  …also bad that youtube is blocked in China.