The view from my window

So much to see and not enough time to write, but sometimes a picture's worth a thousand words.

If I had a fancy tripod and camera I would have gotten some shots of the awe-inspiring lightning storm that followed sunset.

Review: Jesse / Jishi

Since I obviously haven't been keeping up with the blog, check out Frenzied Palate's review of Jesse, a traditional Shanghainese restaurant.  I had the pleasure of her company (and her friend's Chinese menu interpretation skills) about a month ago, but apparently I'm not the only one procrastinating posts ;-)

Also, check out the "Fellow Travelers" links on the right for a sampling of some of the people who have made my travels that much more enjoyable.

Sad Panda is Tired of People Stepping on Him

In the back of the cab in Hangzhou:

Indulgence on a Shoestring

I'm not sure whether "destitute decadence" or "decadent destitution" is the more appropriate phrase, but Monday night certainly fit the (relatively small) bill.

I started the evening at LuLu Massage Center, a blind massage institution where, for once in China, my time budget was more restricting than my financial one.  After finally selecting the correct 597 Fuxing Zhong Lu (there were close to a dozen small establishments at the address, including another massage center), I stepped with trepidation into a dimly lit entryway, separated from the rest of the room by a thick curtain.  The woman at the front began to ask me what I wanted when it became clear that my near-total lack of Mandarin and her near-total lack of English were headed for an interesting interaction.

The menu offered, among other experiences, a 60 minute foot treatment paired with a 45 minute body massage for 70rmb (US$10.34), or the same foot treatment with a 70 minute body massage for 88rmb.  I would have taken the longer session in a heartbeat, but seeing as it was already 6:30 and I had plans to meet some Couchsurfing friends for drinks at 9, I had to settle for only 105 minutes of pampering.  The lady kept jabbing her finger at my feet and then the clock and articulating in Mandarin, but I had no idea what she was saying, and so proceeded to pat the parts of my legs and back that were sore and point to the menu with the massage packages.  Somewhat frustrated, she finally graciously led me through the curtain into a dimly lit, no-frills room where several people were being poked, prodded, and beaten on tables and in chairs.

Only once I was reclining on a dingy but not uncomfortable chair, soaking my feet in a warm tub, did I realize that all of the masseuses were busy, and she probably wanted me to make an appointment to come back later.  My anxiety over missing my drinking date soon subsided, however, as the session across the room from me finished, and the hostess led a masseuse over to start working on my feet.  Talking timers kept chirping out in robotic Mandarin to keep the process on track, and precisely 105 minutes later I emerged a new man.  I thought communication would be difficult (I unable to communicate verbally, and the masseuse unable to see my wild gesticulations) but aside from the occasional "Too hard?" ("Yes," I thought, but gritted through and said "No, thank you"), no communication was necessary.

I ended up at the bar early, and made my way across the street to Culture Matters, which offered Feiyue sneakers for around 100rmb (US$14.77) well under the 50-100 Euros (US$66-132) the brand's website charges European customers.  I made no purchases, but did enjoy browsing something that's actually in my price range for once.

Back at Azul, I quaffed the 10rmb (US$1.48!) mojitos (available in 9 flavors, including classic) that have become somewhat of a Monday night ritual.  This time I was joined by several Couchsurfers, and wound up seeing a half-dozen more throughout the evening.  Unlike my usual, ahem, moderate consumption, I slipped in my fifth order (lychee) just before the 11pm special cutoff.  Five delicious mojitos and 3 hours of good company: 50rmb (US$7.38).

Eschewing the pricey Peruvian tapas on the menu, three of us (on two bicycles) made our way to the corner of Changle Lu and Fumin Lu, where we were rewarded with not one, but two street food vendors.  10rmb more than covered a large portion of "ji dan chow mien" (egg fried noodles) and some stick food, including mushrooms, that stalky green vegetable I still can't identify, and what I hope was actually lamb :-)  We sat across the street where we watched monkeys for entertainment, careful not to appear to interested lest their handlers notice we are watching.

In sum: a variegated night of pure hedonism for under $20.  Not.  Too.  Shabby.

Air Traffic Visualization

Likes:  watching the stream of eastbound transatlantic traffic in the U.S. East Coast's evening and the return spritz in Europe's afternoon; the way New Zealand and Hawaii stick out; also, it's just pretty to look at...
Dislikes:  the fact that domestic air travel (U.S., E.U., and Japan) is so tied to the diurnal cycle.  I guess peaking just irks the transportation planner in me.  I don't think red-eyes are anyone's favorite, but look at all that unused right-of-way! ;-)
[Thanks, Rye!]

String Quartet at M on the Bund

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to hear the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's "Meteor Quartet" play at M on the Bund.  A pamphlet informed me that the venue has entertained more than a few distinguished guests; sadly, neither Kylie Minogue nor Henry Kissinger was in attendance that day.  The venue was both posh and well-located—at number 5, The Bund, as the name implies—affording great views of the Bund, as well as the busy Huangpu river, where a cruise ship pulled up to dock during the concert.

Student tickets were only 10rmb (US$1.48), but didn't include any drinks; where's the fun in that?  For 65rmb (US$9.60) I got admission and a glass of wine (white, because it was scorching hot out) which ended up turning into two when the abstaining lady seated at our table offered up her ticket.  Alcohol being pretty unpopular in China, and wine even less so, this was the first time I had a chance to enjoy some fermented grapes without spending an arm and a leg for glorified vinegar.

The music itself was great – two quartets by Haydn, expertly played.  I also learned that Haydn was quite the innovator, introducing quartets with four movements and advocating a more balanced interplay among the instruments: rather than let the first violin run with the melody while the other instruments merely accompany, he gives each instrument its own unique voice and role in developing the theme.  Or maybe the host made all that up :-)

All in all, a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

View of the Bund from M's terrace.

Me on the terrace; Pudong skyline in back.

Shot of the skyline without my squinty face :-)

Chinese Cafeteria

Among the many benefits of my internship this summer, I get lunch and dinner in the company cafeteria.  It's a bit strange that they eat lunch at 11:30 and dinner at 4:30, but I've adapted now, with only the occasional need for an extra nighttime meal (sampling all the different ice creams fills the gaps nicely :-P ).  I initially thought the funky schedule was another cultural quirk, but it turns out we share the cafeteria with the nearby hotel, whose workers need to eat early to be on duty when the paying customers arrive at actual dinner time.  That being said, I've kind of gotten used to eating on the early side, and it's probably healthier...  Anyway, despite the institutional presentation, the meals in the company mess are usually quite delicious.  Here's what I had today:

Lunch

(Clockwise from Upper Right)

UR:  Pork, marinated in a delicious (but WAY spicy) garlic and pepper sauce.

LR:  Cabbage, egg, and mushrooms;  I think they're "wood ear" or "cloud ear" fungi.

UL:  Yay green beans!  Not sure what they cook them in, but they're darn tasty.

UR:  Steamed, white rice.  With every.  Single.  Meal.  In this case it was good for calming the spicy pork.

Dinner

(Clockwise from Upper Right)

UR:  Some sort of green vegetable.  No idea what it is, but much appreciated.

LR:  Cooked peanuts, with (I think) small strips of not-so-potent ginger.

UL:  Tofu and cabbage, seasoned with large strips of thick-cut bacon.

UR:  Steamed, white rice (again).

I need to start carrying my camera on my commute

Today's walk was particularly interesting.  I was running late and was still on the street at 9:15am.  It struck me that there were a lot more people than usual waiting at the bus stop when, all of a sudden, what I believe is called "Mandopop" began blaring from a speaker and half of the "passengers" broke into dance.  When I got closer, I realized they were actually the hair salon employees doing a little calisthenic warm-up to start their day.  Although they didn't bring quiiite as much energy as these Korean girls, the music was about the same, and their hand motions were not so dissimilar from the front girl's at 0:14:



After that excitement, I was surprised to witness my first display of violence in China: a security guard was holding back one man who looked like he wanted break another guy's neck.  It seemed like a typical bar-brawl scenario, only at 9 in the morning.  The scuffle drew a sizable crowd of gawkers, leading me to believe that this sort of thing is unusual - I've never seen any violent behavior or felt remotely unsafe on the street* at any time of day or night.  Here's hoping it stays that way :-)

*At least not from violence.  I have witnessed a hit-and-run accident from which I was advised to walk away quickly.  Apparently westerners are often blamed for incidents that don't involve them, especially when they try to help, because there's a chance the victim will get more restitution money than from a native Chinese.

Call them what you will, they still wiggle on the way down

Octopuses?  Octopi?  Octopodes?  Yes, please :-)
[Thanks, BoingBoing!]

Run on Nanjing Lu: A Moderate Success

After snoozing my travel alarm clock for over an hour, I dragged myself out of bed, laced up my grungy NBs (thanks, Mud Run), popped in my headphones, and made my way down to Nanjing Lu.  Destination:  the Bund.

A 6:45 start was far from ideal; the streets were crowded with people and, thanks to China's one time zone policy, the sun was already high in the sky, pushing the garish neon thermometer on Nanjing Dong Lu past 30C.  On the bright side, the tai chi practitioners, badminton players, and dancers (fan, salsa, and tango) made for nice scenery.  Dodging trucks, taxis, scooters, bikes, and push carts is good cross-training anyway, right?  The ultimate silver lining:  every footfall reminded me of the fresh-baked baguette from Bread Talk that I would have for my post-run breakfast.

When I reached the end of Nanjing Lu, the sun glinted off the shiny towers in Pudong and baked the pavement under my feet, but the open expanse of the Huangpu River rewarded me with a cooling breeze, which held aloft colorful kites shaped like birds, dragons, and fighter jets.  I turned around at the anachronistic Peoples' Heroes Monument and took in the graceful curve of the Bund, adorned with charming, neoclassical reminders of the British settlement.

Making my way back down the pedestrian stretch of Nanjing Lu, things are starting to pick up, including the temperature.  The twin spires of Shimao Plaza beckon through the haze, and all I can think of is how much I'm sweating and how good my baguette will taste (hopefully with some iced milk tea if I play my cards right).  As I approach the atrium of the megamall at the tower's base, however, something is not right.  The bakery lights are still off!  It's 7:30am?  How is a bakery supposed to stay in business if it's not open by 7:30?  Not only was it not open, but no one was there, including the legion of bakers that was humming along last time I visited at 8pm.  Looks like my fresh bread hopes are dashed again.  Oh well.  Greasy, delicious street food breakfast it is.  A sesame ball with red bean paste and a slice of "jidan bing" (egg pancake) (In hindsight, I think this was actually cong you bing - a scallion pancake) for 2 quai (US$ 0.30).  Not too shabby :-)

Seoul: Noryangjin Seafood Market

Ok, ok.  I promise at some point this blog will not be just about food, but the Noryangjin Seafood Market was by far the coolest part of Seoul (and that's saying a lot!)
** Apologies that the videos aren't uploading properly!  Internet is slow here... I'll try to get them up soon :-) **

Also, Shelma and Mike have posted more pictures and a flowery narrative of the same sequence of events.

When we got off the metro, we could immediately see, feel, and smell that we were in the right place.  It just had a really gritty port atmosphere.

We crossed over this railyard/station, stepped over a passed-out drunk, and made our way in to...

The fish market!  

(more after the break)

[Mom, that means you click "Read more >>" to see the rest :0) ]

Review: Bread Talk

Location:  Nanjing Dong Lu at the west end of the pedestrian street, under Shanghai Shimao International Plaza  |  People's Square  |  Shanghai

Order:  Baguette
Price:  8 rmb (US $1.18)

Bread.  Glorious.  French.  Bread.  Not exactly France-level, but better than most I've had in the U.S.  I got a baguette at about 8pm, planning to save it for breakfast and lunch the next day.  It wasn't until I had eaten half of the loaf along with my Oreo smoothie (oddly satisfying combination) that I realized what I was doing.  I can only dream about what one of these would taste like fresh out of the oven, with butter.  The fresh out of the oven part, I plan to realize soon, but without a refrigerator, the butter part might be difficult.

Overall:  A.

Review: Mata Mata Bakery

Three cheers for serendipity!  After taking the wrong bus to Mojito Mondays at Azul Tapas Lounge, we stumbled across this lovely little bakery.


Location:  Urumqi Lu, south of Anfu Lu  |  French Concession  |  Shanghai
Order:  Bread ends
Price:  5 rmb (US $0.74)


For the most part, this is like any other bakery in China:  rows and rows of pastries; however, this bakery has one key feature that most lack:  BREAD!  Not wanting to look like a crazy taking a whole baguette to the bar in a few minutes, I just grabbed a bag of bread ends (the end of the loaf being my favorite :-) ).  I didn't actually eat them until lunch the next day, and I have a feeling they were on sale (day-old), so it's not entirely fair to complain that they were stale.  Even still, this was the first bread (non-sweet, non-pastry) I'd had in nearly  month, so I was grateful.   My coworker also enjoyed her wheat rolls.


Overall:  B.  Maybe I should give it another try when the bread is fresh.  If I didn't subsequently find Bread Talk, the rating might have been higher.

Review: SAPAR Uyghur Restaurant

Style:  Uyghur (from China's Xinjiang province)

Location:  No. 20 Yuyuan Access Rd. near intersection with Urumqi Lu (Just west of Jing'an Temple)  |  Jing'an  |  Shanghai

Order:  4 mutton kebabs, 1 chicken heart kebab, a large chicken specialty dish, two vegetable dishes, yogurt, and "naan" (not the same as Indian naan, but still delicious)

Price:  105 rmb (US $15.50) for three (full) people

Service:  Our Chinese-speaking coworker was with us, so that probably helped with the ordering, but we were also greeted with a hearty "hello!" and "welcome" when we walked through the door.  Most items have pictures and are described in English, but some translations are interesting ("detonation mutton") or misleading (the "pear" dish turned out to be a vegetable).  Complimentary tea was waiting for us, naan and yogurt came quickly, and the other dishes soon followed.

Atmosphere:  I felt like I stepped into another country (except for the eating-with-chopsticks part!)  The chandeliers, bronze teapots, music, and other decor lend a middle-eastern flare.

The Food:  The yogurt and naan were a delightful bread and dairy oasis in the rice-grain desert of Shanghai dining: usually, yogurt is saccharine and "bread" is some form of sweet pastry (exceptions:  Bread Talk; Mata Mata).  One interesting twist is that the yogurt tastes like the strained yogurt used in tzatziki or raita, but is instead topped with granular sugar.  The mutton kebabs were juicy and nicely seasoned.  I must say that the chicken heart kebab was not as good as those I've had in Brazilian restaurants, but it was still tasty.

The cucumber dish we ordered was simple and refreshing, basically just cucumbers sprinkled with salt and, somewhat surprisingly, sugar.  The "pear" dish was a bit of a shock, actually a vegetable known as "bitter melon" that was indeed bitter.  It was sliced and cooked with plenty of salt and sauteed garlic, creating a pleasant first flavor, followed by a bitter aftertaste; however, by my third or fourth slice, I didn't really notice the aftertaste anymore.  Our Chinese coworker told us that the vegetable is known in Chinese medicine to promote good health by cooling the inner fire, which was certainly provided by the...

Chicken dish!  Whole pieces of very moist chicken served in a translucent red-orange broth with green and red peppers, potatoes, and a few egg noodles.  The dish is also seasoned with what I believe are known as tien tsin peppers, making it quite spicy.  The broth provides a good savory balance, though.

Overall:  A-.  Great food, pleasant service, good prices, and a unique dining experience from a far-flung region of China.  The menu translations could have used a bit of work, but then it wouldn't be as much of a dining adventure – confusion is part of the fun!

I'll post pictures whenever my laptop, camera, and internet access end up in the same room :-)

Milk Tea Review: Sharing Commune Cafe

Location:  Changshu Lu (not to be confused with Changshou Lu), just south of Julu Lu  |  French Concession  |  Shanghai
Item:  Pearl Milk Tea
Price:  6 rmb (US $0.89)
Website:  None

Service:  English menu available; cheery and helpful staff.  It can get a bit crowded, slowing down the ordering process (people don't tend to form neat queues in Shanghai, but jockey to get to the front).  Apparently, the manager also speaks good English.  My coworker and I were admiring the pastries and breads while waiting for our drinks and I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice behind me in an American accent said "and they're pretty tasty, too!"

Packaging:  White and red.  Opaque paper cup with opaque plastic film lid, makes it impossible to see what's inside (and that's half the fun)!  The clear straw with colorful stripes clashes with the rest of the packaging, but does contribute to the enjoyment of watching the last third of each pearl's ascent.

Tea:  Pretty standard, but a bit watered down and not all that cold.

Pearls:  What pearls?  They should just call this "Milk Tea" and attach a warning "This beverage processed in a facility that may contain tapioca."  Oh!  No... wait for it... at the end of the drink there's still something left... ice?  But it doesn't clack like ice...[tears off opaque lid to see inside].  Oh, nice!  It's a big glob of tapioca pearls stuck together.  :-/

Overall:  C+.  I'm not really complaining; the initial flurry of pearls and tea still fulfilled my craving, but the lump of leftover tapioca was a big let-down.

Customer Service, China Style

I'm flying to Seoul to see some friends on Friday.  I booked through ctrip.com (pretty good deals) a few weeks ago and today I get this call (bear in mind, I still don't have a phone here, so my coworker hands me her phone with a slightly confused look, "I think it's for you"):


Roger?
  You mean, [I give my full name, which does not include Roger]?
Yes, hallow!  I just receive call from airline.  Your flight cancel.
  Ummmm, I'm sorry, could you repeat that?
Original Shanghai Air flight cancel.  New flight MU [XXXX] at ah [inaudible] 5
  5am???!??
Nine-oh-five Terminal 1 Pudong.  So take your passport there.  I suggest maybe you get there 2 hour.  Thank you. [click]


My head is still spinning.  So much for my Star Alliance miles.  At least I still get to go to Seoul (fingers crossed) :-)

Ode to bōbà nǎichá

波霸奶茶

A beverage rant isn't exactly the grand overture I had in mind for my travel blog, but what better place to start in media res than with my latest addiction?  Bubble tea, pearl milk tea (zhēnzhū nǎichá), boba milk tea (bobà nǎichá), or black pearl milk tea (hēi zhēnzhū nǎichá) ... call it what you want, this stuff is like crack.  It all started with a simple quest to cool down in the Shanghai heat (most days so far have been in the 90s and quite humid).  My first go-to was the ubiquitous ice-blended fruit smoothie, but my fellow intern always sought out "milk tea."  Not being one for tea or coffee (caffeine*), I was hesitant, but being fresh off the plane and in a mood to try anything and everything, I gave it a shot.

I have not looked back.

Pearl milk tea never fails to satisfy with its slight, but not overwhelming, sweetness, its non-dairy-creamer-esque suggestion of milk (I would kill for a cup of cold, fresh, skim milk), and its 1/4" balls of black tapioca that provide slight resistance to the suction of the oversized straw before flying to the top and satisfying the latent oral fixation that even the best of us harbors somewhere deep in his subconscious.

Anyway, most to-go dealers outlets serve the drug drink in a paper or plastic cup with a thin plastic film heat-sealed over the top.  Although many immediately puncture the lid with the oversized straw and begin slurping away, my preferred method is to shake the sealed container until the ice cubes have mostly melted, chilling the drink completely before I enjoy... so straw on the side, please :-)

*Uh oh.  Not as bad as most coffee, but it looks like milk tea contains about 20-30mg of caffeine, compared to 34mg for a 12oz Coke.