This is my fortune several weeks before I leave!
It is 430 in the morning at PDX and the place is a ghost town.
The cats are ready to rock. Meow.
Waiting in the basement of the PDX airport, Ciao gets to stretch a little.
International travel... to the North Pole!?!
Pretty sweet aquarium in the Vancouver BC airport.
Our makeshift domecile for the next five hours in Vancouver.
Nickel getting watered while we wait.
The last view we get of North America as our plane taxies away from the Vancouver airport.
On Air Canada getting ready to lift off.
In Shanghai! Goodbye Air Canada.
Boxing Cat Brewery, the first place we eat and already Portland is following us!
The only craft brewery/restaurant in the whole city.
My first view of the city in daylight as I wake up on Anna and Kurt's living room couch.
Hazy and a little smoggy, this is the view from Anna and Kurt's living room.
Troy and Sierra using Skype for the first time, talking to Ethan in Missouri.
First authentic meal at Ajisen Ramen as we prepare to head out apartment hunting.
A mobile pet store on the sidewalk!
Traffic here is pretty scary with cars, buses, motorcycles, scooters, bikes and this guy!
Clothes dryers are scarce here, so many people hang their pink panties to dry.
The previous tenant in this vacant apartment left some beer in the fridge. Yoink!
America is everywhere. Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC and 7-Eleven.
My first Chinese beer, pilfered from a fridge in an apartment that we viewed.
Kurt takes one for the team.
I wondered if there were bowling alleys here, and this was on the third story of a club that we visited.
Shelter. This club was built in an old bomb shelter with a long, narrow tunnel as an entrance.
Seating area in Shelter, built in an old bomb shelter.
Read it and weep, Portland. Tomorrow you get a high of 44 and we get sun and 65!
Blue sky and a little haze, but this morning you can see the SWFC building from the living room. This is the tallest building in China and one of the tallest in the world.
More apartment shopping today, this door was along the path to a unit that we viewed. Insert psycho theme music here.
There are a lot of bikes here!
Troy walked right past this guy and almost didn't see him snoozing on his trike.
Checking out an apartment on the 5th floor of a building that T&S might live in.
King bed in the apartment that I might rent.
View of the nearby busy intersection of this 5th story apartment.
Just walking down the sidewalk here can be tricky!
That is the Grand Gateway behind, one of Shanghai's landmarks.
Grand Gateway, one of Shanghai's landmarks.
This intersection near an apartment we just viewed reminds me of Times Square.
Contrasting traffic. This guy sits patiently with his trike as traffic inches along. On the back of his trike is a selection of candies and nuts that you can buy bulk.
Just a random shot of the bustling city.
Troy and Sierra taking a break from walking, walking, walking.
I got the apartment! Here I am with the cash to pay three month's rent. Those are twenty stacks of 1000 RMB.
Hard to tell from this photo, but the taxi behind us smacked into us as my drier pulled a completely illegal and dangerous U-turn on a major street. I hopped out and caught the next taxi that drove by.
Blue sky contrasts the hazy, smoggy brown horizon on this windless morning.
One of the scarier residential buildings that I happened across while walking on my own through the city.
This is the entrance to our apartment building. Looks like a hotel!
There is very little space for parking. This is a TRIPLE level moveable parking machine, with the third level below ground. The cars go up and down and left and right somehow.
Here is a quick snap of a car that was being raised from the underground level.
This is a nice tiny little park near our front door and behind the car parking machine.
The view of our place from the sidewalk. We walked right by it the first few times!
Here is our building fron under the "Tasty" restaurant. This intersection is the one we see from our windows. My place is just at the tree line on the right, T&S are most of the way up on the left side.
My quest today is to travel by subway to the Shanghai World Financial Center, the 2nd tallest building in the world, but with the highest observation platform in the world. The sky is blue and the weather is warm, so it should be a fun trip.
The Jin Mao Tower looks small from the 100th floor of the SWFC in Shanghai. The Jin Mao building is the 7th tallest building in the world!
SWFC Observatory Level: looking west at the Jin Mao Tower in foreground-left and in the background is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower which is the 6th tallest free-standing structure in the world.
SWFC Observatory Level: looking south at barge and ship traffic heading out to sea in the Huang He, the 7th longest rier in the world.
SWFC Observatory Level: Looking northwest at large residential areas which will probably be bulldozed in the future to make room for more skyscrapers.
SWFC Observatory Level: Looking straight down through the angled windows. With the haze (smog) I feel like I am looking at photos and I don't experience any vertigo at all. Look closely at the window washers preparing to head over the edge in their mechanized winchy platform thingy.
SWFC Observatory Level: I am floating on glass!
SWFC Observatory Level: This is what the observation level looks like.
SWFC Observatory Level: angled glass is kept spotless for a perfect view of the smoggy Shanghai skyline. I can't imagine how beautiful this view might be on a perfectly clear day.
SWFC Observatory Level: Here I am with the Pearl Tower behind me.
SWFC Observatory Level: looking northeast
SWFC Observatory Level: looking north
I'm down on the 97th floor of the SWFC building now, and the window washers have gone over the side of the building in their platform.
SWFC from street level. You can see some window washers about halfway down the building, but if we look closer up top...
...you can see two more platforms for the window washers. Since the side of the building angles out, the farther down they get the farther out the mechanized arm has to hold the platform. Look closely at the glass on the front-facing side and you can see vertical lines of clean glass from previous passes.
These window washers popped out of the side of the building. What a way to earn a living!
The Pearl Tower with the sun reflecting.
This graphic shows a NEW building that is going up next to the other two, and this one will be even taller! When it is completed in 2014 it will be the 3rd-talles building in the world, with the 2nd also being in China and the tallest in Dubai.
Work starting on the Shanghai Tower, which will be completed in 2014 and will be even taller than the SWFC in the background.
The boardwalk next to the Huang He (Yellow River). Yellow would be an improvement, the water was a little too close to brown for my comfort.
Everywhere I look there is a Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Carl's Junior, Subway, Hagen Daz, Coldstone, Burger King, Dairy Queen or other American restaurant. No Taco Bell, though!
Huang He (Yellow River) boardwalk.
The Super Brand Mall is the largest mall that I have ever been in, but it isn't even the largest in Shanghai, let alone the world. Ten stories of shops!
I wandered into the grocery store in the Super Brand Mall and found one of my favorites. 15.90rmb is roughly $2.35 US, which seems pretty reasonable for one of my favorites.
Another shot of the Super Brand Mall in Shanghai. I am on the 6th floor as I am taking this photo.
Last photo of the day, I'm getting my locks chopped!
I have no hair! We are out for Family Dinner at a Korean Restaurant.
This is part of the expat family that Anna has adopted us into.
Shot glasses sitting atop pint glasses. Check my youtube account to watch the action.
Portland is everywhere. Columbia Sports, Adidas (technically European, but they have an HQ in PDX) and even Nike have a major presence in Shanghai.
I haven't seen but a small percentage of the city, but most places have very interesting skylines, although some of the residential areas can get a bit boring.
This is a city that reaches for the heavens. Each skyscraper has some kind of unique form that attempts to set itself apart from the rest.
The 580 Nanjing Road fakes market, where you can find everything counterfeit that you might ever want. Four stories of stalls, with probably 100+ stalls on each level.
Apparently the fakes market once had more floors, but when you try to take the up escalator from the fourth floor you just get some kind of stroller storage area now.
The atrium in the 580 Nanjing Road fakes market.
A friend of mine is jeans-crazy, so this shot is for him. There were probably eight or nine stalls that sold only jeans.
Carousel from Tim Burton's nightmares? I'm not sure, maybe we'll call these oil-vomiting sewer pipe leeches?
I found some good beer in my exploring, so my fridge is now stocked with my American basics: Portland beer, Tillamook cheddar and Pennsylvania chocolate.
My four pairs of Fakelys that I bought for 100rmb, or about $15. I could have probably gotten them cheaper, but I was too tired to argue any more.
A nice slim backpack that I bought for 60rmb, or about $9.00.
I suck at buying sunglasses, so let me have your voates on which set you like best. No fair making fun of the lump on the top of my head, I didn't know it was there before I cut off all of my hair!
The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (SSTM) shares a courtyard with the Century Park Fakes Market.
Buildings and sculpture in front of Century Park near the SSTM and Century Park Fakes Market.
Another fiew of the SSTM and the Century Park subway station access.
A very long straight path that leads down Century Avenue and through Century Park.
Hey, its me standing too far away from the camera!
This area was upgraded for the Expo that ended earlier this year. Here you see an elevator door that never had the protective covering peeled from the stainless and it is decaying. There is a broken window behind. It was a little spooky.
In the Fakes Market I see this, and other sheets, posted in a few places. I still saw North Face gear in some stores.
The Century Park Fakes Market was a vast underground labryinth in which I soon got hopelessly turned around and trapped in a sea of pleading merchants.
In the afternoon I decided to hit up Shanghai's only indoor gokarting facility. I had to take three subway lines and a ten minute taxi rode and I was dropped off in this mall parking lot. Luckily, that yellow sign in the middle of the lot showed me the way to Stampede Karting.
I rode an escalator down from the parking lot and ended up in this parking garage. The stairway ahead is the main entrance to Stampede. Very low key, I have low expectations.
Wow, this place was outrageous. Apparently it doubles as a night club and has a large bar and dining area that overlooks the gokart track from a raised platform.
View of the track from the VIP room.
The fully stocked bar.
Time to race, the karts were a bit larger than I was used to.
More of the track with the lounge in the upstairs windows behind it.
Race time!
The track was laid out pretty good, with some tight corners that you almost HAD to drift in order to make it.
Later that evening I stopped into one of the cities many bakeries. Yes, that is a lettuce hotdog next to an egg criossant. Hmmm...
Troy showing off Blue Steel with his new Fake-leys
The entire front of the Grand Gateway lights up at night with its supermodern tree.
This place was on a side street but still pretty decked out.
A shopping center near the Pearl Tower in Pudong.
Outside of a grocery store in the boonies.
Merry Christmas Shanghai!
My favorite display of all, eyeless reindeer masks on mannequins.
Just a week after 60 degree sunny days we get low clouds and snow.
Within an hour of the first snowflake the trees are already turning white.
Lunch at the Blue Frog. How can I NOT order this thing? And how could China possibly deliver on such a mouthwatering promise of deliciousness?
Wow, apparently you can get a good burger here. It's the equivalent of $12, but man was it tasty!
When I first saw bikes/trikes loaded up like this I laughed and stared. Now I see at least a couple every day.
The view from Chris and Flo's 27th floor patio. Pretty effing sweet.
As I walk around the city I have been noticing some really long lines at seemingly random places. A friend told me that if the Chinese see a line sometimes they will get into it just so they don't miss out on whatever is going on. So a short line can turn into a mob rather quickly!
Walking through some shops I spotted this in a window. A fantastic vision of where the city is headed?
An old European-style villa with a new skyscraper rising in the distance.
The front entrance to a club called Fame. I think I know what I want the front door on my next house to look like now!
Brave iron workers on an I-beam as it gets installed high on a new building.
Very cool rhino!
This is the apartment building that caught fire a month ago. Unlicensed iron workers, who were on the job because of local corruption, caused a small fire that spread to the bamboo scaffolding.
Many of the residents were told to rush up to the roof of this 30-story apartment building, but the fire engines that arrived only had hoses and ladders that could reach eight stories.
It was reported by local news sources that about 50 people died, but people here suspect that was propaganda put out by the Chinese government and that many, many more lost their lives.
I've seen photos of India where brand new glass and steel skyscrapers share a city block with plywood shanties. This isn't quite so bad, but everywhere you go in Shanghai you can spot the poverty-stricken hidden behind fancy walls.
Troy is affectionate to all of his food.
Cheers!
We visit Shanghai's Old Town, which actually is fairly new but styled to look like vintage China.
For about a dollar I purchased a tiny little chicken, complete with clenched little feet and neck/head/beack action.
Yes, I took a bite out of my little chicken. So did Troy. There wasn't much meat, so two bites and it was done.
I sat for ten minutes (which turned into 40 minutes) and had a local artisan create a clay sculpture of myself.
I sat for ten minutes (which turned into 40 minutes) and had a local artisan create a clay sculpture of myself that looks suspiciously look George W Bush.
I am literally mobbed by shop vendors when one of them notices the clay sculpture likeness that I had made at Old Town. Just moments before this photo was taken I was walking with Troy in a nearly empty market.
After Old Town we took a couple of motorized rickshaws down to The Bund, where the boardwalk area shows off the Yellow River across from a dramatically-lit skyline.
The boardwalk on our side of the Yellow River was just recently re-opened after a lengthy renovation. This area is called The Bund and is home to many trendy bars, hotels and stores.
Nanjing Road East is a mile-long pedestrian-only street that runs from the The Bund, at the Yellow River, to People's Square, which is considered the center of Shanghai. Wikipedia calls this one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, and as you can see it is packed on a Sunday evening.
Nanjing Road East, one of the busiest shhopping streets in the world.
I hear a BAM outside of my window and apparently a scooter rode out of his bike lane and swiped an oncoming taxi. I thought the guy was dead because he didn't move for several minutes, but now that the police are on scene he is walking around and looks just fine. I don't know why I am so amazed that this happened because they drive so crazy here, but really I am suprised that they happen so rarely!
Trivia Night Finals at The Bulldog in a cool neightborhood called The French Concession.
Today is the smoggiest that I have seen it. If this were in Portland I would think that there was a forest fire nearby or something. I'm clearing my throat a lot and I now understand why so many Shanghainese are hocking loogies everywhere.
I have transportation! Giant is the largest manufacturer of bikes in the world, something that I did not know before I came here. There are Giant stores all over the place. This was the equavalent of $150 and hopefully it doesn't get stolen! (and hopefully it doesn't fall apart or rust away before I leave!)
Seeing bikes loaded down like these never gets old.
Xmas Party 2010: White Elephant Gift Game
Xmas Party 2010: Kurt rocks his new Wolf slippers
Xmas Party 2010: Kurt rocks his new wolf slippers
Xmas Party 2010: Sierra tries on her sunglasses with built-in MP3 player
Xmas Party 2010: Anna plays Dance Central
Xmas Party 2010: Tu-Nga nails Dance Central
Xmas Party 2010: Tyler owns Dance Central
Xmas Party 2010: Coco schools Dance Central
Today's agenda, visit a new installation called 'Biennale' at the Shanghai Art Museum.
This carousel is in front of the Shanghai Art Museum, I posted a photo last week when I walked to the Fakes Market.
Shanghai Art Museum: Biennale 2010
Walking to the Qipu Road Market on Xmas Eve Day. Small shops on the left, a completely decimated block on the right and on the horizon you can see the SWFC and the Pearl Tower.
With clean concrete and glass buildings in the background, this Shanghainese woman forages for anything of value in this block of rubble.
Collapsed buildings all around, this lone standing structure shows evidence of the inhabitants inside.
Pre-shopping TsingTaos. This was a momentus occasion. It was the first time that we ordered food from a menu entirely in Mandarin with no pictures. Great success.
Yes, Jackie Chan really is everywhere. So is Jet Li and Yao Ming.
Ah, the magic of Skype. Travis can still insult me sixteen timezones and 8000 miles away.
If you know me then you know I always have a fully stocked fridge. It is a LOT harder to do here, and a lot more coin. I lugged 28 beers in a box back from Super Brand Mall on the subway.
Merry Chritsmas from Shanghai!
Christmas Eve in Shanghai
Ciao has settled into his new home.
There is no mincing of words in this country.
Shanghai Circus World, where the show ERA is playing through next year.
No photos during the show, so all I have to show is this intermission moment.
This is a photo I yanked off the net of ERA, a show like Cirque Du Soleil.
This is Helen. She and I went to ERA together.
Its hard to tell from this photo, but I had an allergic reaction to something and my face turned into one giant red rash and started flaking off. It was pretty gross, but after a few days I am back to normal. A mystery that may never be solved.
View from Chris and Flo's 27th floor apartment patio.
I was walking near a restaurant in my neighborhood and caught the staff during inspection just before opening time.
Yet another car and scooter collision visible from my window. This time a black Mercedes knocked the rider off. The car had the green and the guy in the scooter just zipped through the intersection without even looking.
New Years Eve and we are walking down the sidewalk to a party. This chubby little Shanghainese baby was staring at Troy, so Troy started making silly faces until the kid started laughing.
On the subway headed to Boxing Cat for a New Years Eve party.
Troy won't hold still for a photo!
Cool wall in the men's room at Boxing Cat. Nick will appreciate this photo.
New friends at the New Years Eve party at Boxing Cat.
We move to a more celebratory venue (Park 97) after Boxing Cat.
Dude, I SO rock!
THis guy was from France and he was WASTED! Why am I making that face?
New Years Day and there is some kind of grand opening in the shopping center near my apartment. They lit off a bunch of fireworks and woke me up... at noon.
The place across the street had a band playing all day. It is 6pm now and they are still out there playing. Oh, it's about 30 degrees out there!
When I get rid of the Bondo Condo I think I'll go in this direction. Or maybe I just dress the Bondo Condo up to look a little cooler?
These are Chinese copies of the Smart car and the Scion xB.
You may remember the 1980s VW Quantum and the early 1990s Toyota 4Runner? Both are still produced as new cars here.
In my first month here I have seen about a dozen Ferraris, several Porsches a day and even a Lamborghini, an Audi R8, an Aston Martin.
Buicks are the rage here, and the truly elite are chauffered in a Ford conversion van. The unlucky get to ride in ambulances which are pathetic. And no large city is complete without a double decker bus tour!
Most people here ride scooters and bikes, so at every market and subway station you find large areas crammed with two-wheeled transports.
I sold my S2000 before I came here, so it was nice to see one here. (This is the only one that I have seen!)
We eat Hot Pot, a traditional Chinese meal. A pot of broth is heated over a flame at our table and we dump in raw meats and vegetables.
My Hot pot simmering nicely with noodles, mushrooms and lamb.
OK, I'll let you make up your own mind on this one.
I finally ride the Shanghai Mag-Lev train from the airport back into the city.
301 kmh is about 185 miles per hour on the mag-lev high speed train back in Shanghai.
Halftime at Bulldog Trivia Night and we are in second place with 42 points. Not too shabby considering the geography portion covered country locations in Africa and Emily, our Africa expert, moved back to Africa a couple weeks ago!
Week one of the Bulldog Trivia Night and we aren't smashed yet.
OK, we landed in second place out of about a dozen teams. Free champagne on the house!
This is our action shot. We are thinking hard.
Cheers, until next week...
Dinner at Spicy Joint: Do you like your pork sweaty? 18 rmb = $2.73
Dinner at Spicy Joint: What does a peasant family taste like? 22 rmb = $3.33
Dinner at Spicy Joint: The other five balls taste like crap. 22 rmb = $3.33
Some more tasty options to whet your appetite. Good, I like my sheep's stomach sliced!
Changning Pub Crawl: Our first stop is Kaiba, a Begian beer bar
Changning Pub Crawl: Our first beers of the evening!tro
Changning Pub Crawl: Call me Spot.
Changning Pub Crawl: Troy is feeling a little under the weather tonight, but he soldiers on.
Changning Pub Crawl: As is appropriate for a Belgian drinkery, each beer must be served in the appropriate glass.
Changning Pub Crawl: The crew has arrived!
Changning Pub Crawl: Bar number two is right next door.
Changning Pub Crawl: Loft was completely empty and the servers seemed very annoyed that we were making them work.
Changning Pub Crawl: C's Pub is bar number three and is underground.
Changning Pub Crawl: This place was cool, both figuratively and literally. All of the heaters were broken!
Changning Pub Crawl: Our room at C's Pub
Changning Pub Crawl: C's Pub
Changning Pub Crawl: C's Pub had an awesome back door that was 6-inches thick and sealed like a bank vault.
Changning Pub Crawl: Ian hams it up in Troy's ridiculously puffy jacket.
Changning Pub Crawl: Prasanna tries to teach the server how to use his camera.
Changning Pub Crawl: The crew at C's Pub.
Changning Pub Crawl: I am very excited to be in this photo, eh?
Changning Pub Crawl: Troy does his own surprise face.
Changning Pub Crawl: Bar number four is Cotton's.
Changning Pub Crawl: At Cotton's we talk our way into the VIP room, which they wanted to charge 1500 rmb! ($225)
Changning Pub Crawl: We are VIPs!
Changning Pub Crawl: The crew in Cotton's VIP room.
Changning Pub Crawl: Our final stop of the night is Zapatas.
Changning Pub Crawl: Zapatas had loud 80's dance music and a Star Trek movie playing simultaneously. Strange.
Changning Pub Crawl: Patrons dancing on the bar at Zapatas.
Changning Pub Crawl: Poster in the bathroom at Zapatas.
Changning Pub Crawl: Zapatas
Nedley's Medley at the second Quiz Night of the winter season. 1986 was an easy call!
I took this photo precisely when Rory opened her mouth.
Sierra's photos of The Bulldog English Pub in the French Concession area of Shanghai, Shina.
Gullty pleasures. They cost me about $1.50 each, and they don't taste quite the same, but still good!
Thursday morning and I wake up with my RSS feed saying that a Yellow Blizzard Warning has been issued for Shanghai. It has been snowing for a couple of days know, but not sticking. I guess that is about to change?
Grand Gateway towers at misty night
Photo from The Bund on 1990
Photo from The Bund in 2010
My three-year-old laptop is starting to hiccup, so I bought a new little baby laptop for the rest of my travels through Australia. The little one fits in my bag a LOT easier. The big one will get shipped back home so I can deal with it later. Isn't the Toshiba cute? Haha.
Sushi Ride: Check out this man-made rock monolith that is part of a residential complex.
Sushi Ride: Our first stop, Rainbow Roll Sushi, was out of rice and couldn't serve us.
Sushi Ride: Our second, stop was unplanned. Brothers Sushi was right on the river and afforded this tiny view.
Sushi Ride: The Brothers Sushi menu features BiBimBap. What? I like my BiBimBap with Streaky Pork, please.
Sushi Ride: The Brothers Sushi menu also features Special Vegetarian "Chicken" (with quotes). I don't eve want to know. 5 RMB equals $0.75 USD.
Sushi Ride: Check out this sweet trike with steering wheel and hand pedals.
Sushi Ride: Troy popped a tire, so he rides Christine's bike while she passengers.
Sushi Ride: Nathan doubles Troy's lame bike. Troy needs to stop skidding his tires to death.
Sushi Ride: Our second place was the best, both in charisma and in taste.
Sushi Ride: Check out the hats that the chefs wear.
Sushi Ride: Searing bacon with cheese as he makes us the Rolls Royce roll.
The eve of the Chinese New Year and the city has shot down. No traffic, businesses are all closed. This shot is an expirmental shot taken with a new iPhone app from my apartment on Tianyaoqiao Lu in the Xujiahia Disctrict of Shanghai China.
Chinese New Year: The panoramic view from the Tree's balcony.
Chinese New Year Party: Chris builds a small BBQ fire to keep us warm. Small?
Chinese New Year Party: Tu-nga takes photos of the early fireworks.
Chinese New Year Party: Homemade shuffleboard action on the balcony.
Chinese New Year Party: The Trees penthouse balcony on the 27th floor.
Chinese New Year Party: Midnight tolls and the city goes crazy with fireworks!
Chinese New Year Party: Midnight is at hand and fireworks are exploding everywhere!
Chinese New Year Party: We light off a few fireworks of our own.
Chinese New Year Party: Chris burns some plastic bottles and thick black smoke almost kills us!
Chinese New Year Party: The aftermath. As we rode our bikes home the streets were covered in firecracker debris.
Random photo on the side of a news stand.
Wandering around Xintiandi, an affluent shopping village within Shanghai. This new area put trendy shops inside of old buildings and displaced 3500 Shanghainese families. We bought nothing here!
For my car buddies, I happened across the Lambo dealer, which was next to the soon-to-be-opened Spyker dealership and...
...on the other side of the Spyker dealership was the Rolls Royce showroom.
Troy and Sierra take a moment to relax near the manmade lake in Taipingqiao Park
This was the cutest little poodle that was extremely well behaved. Until Troy tried to pet it, anyway, then it almost bit his fingers off!
Inside of Taipingqiao Park there is a lake. In that lake is an island. In that island lives a cat. Find Waldo.
Gravity in Xintiandi does not apply.
Jump shot outtake. Classic.
Neat glass and water feature in Xintiandi.
Inside the subway station Troy and I practice our karate kicks.
Jump shout outtake #2. Love my face long time.
It gets a little crowded in the subway sometimes.
Shanghai Aquarium: Entering the longest underwater tunnel in the world. (155 meters)
Shanghai Aquarium: The next 45 minutes of our lives were spent should to shoulder in claustrophobic tunnels that smelled of mildew, body odor and seafood. But cool fish!
Shanghai Aquarium: Spider crabs look alien!
Shanghai Aquarium: My favorite exhibit was the jellyfish aquarium.
Shanghai Aquarium: The jellyfish aquarium
Shanghai Aquarium: Troy and Sierra get intimate with the jellyfish.
Shanghai Aquarium: Hordes of people under schools of fish.
Shanghai Aquarium: Official vanity shot.
Shanghai Aquarium: Fattie shark with a slight overbite problem.
Shanghai Aquarium: Feeding time in the tropical fishy tank.
Heading home from the Shanghai Aquarium and I practice being a sardine in a can.
OK Deal Weekend: As we get ready to leave Shanghai for our weekend trip to Tongli Watertown, the smog has settled over the city. You can barely even see the SWFC building or the Pearl Tower.
OK Deal Weekend: On our tour bus headed through the city on a raised expressway.
OK Deal Weekend: Messed up panorama of the opulant lobby at our hotel.
OK Deal Weekend: Our five-star hotel was awesome. Troy enjoys a cup of coffee from his clawfoot tub.
OK Deal Weekend: Sierra tests out the bed. Yup, bouncy enough.
OK Deal Weekend: Jingsi Garden is a 33 acre privately owned retreat next to our hotel. Very beautiful.
OK Deal Weekend: A traditional entrance in Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Sierra goofing off on a rock bridge in Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Part of the "Strange Rock" collection at Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Part of the "Strange Rock" collection at Jingsi Garden. This rock looks like a cat face looking to the right.
OK Deal Weekend: Part of the "Strange Rock" collection at Jingsi Garden. This rock looks like a pirhana looking to the left.
OK Deal Weekend: The pirhana and cat face rock in the "Strange Rock" collection at Jingsi Garden is the same rock.
OK Deal Weekend: Troy and I discovered a cool manmade cave area in Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Caves in Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Jingsi Garden caves with three crazy floating white people.
OK Deal Weekend: In Chinese tradition the baby dragon eats fire, so adding a likeness to your roof will defend your home against fires and other natural disasters. On a building in Jingsi Garden.
OK Deal Weekend: Landmark bridge in Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: World's Largest Linbi Stone according to Big World Guinness, which I have determined is a Chinese invention that sounds like Guinness World Records. Whether or not this stone is an actual record, it was pretty big and had more than 1600 holes in it. Photo taken in Jingsi Garden.
OK Deal Weekend: A small structure in Jingsi Garden.
OK Deal Weekend: Panorama of Jingsi Garden
OK Deal Weekend: Zig zag bridge in Jingsi Garden.
OK Deal Weekend: Leaving Jingsi Garden, last view as we make our escape.
OK Deal Weekend: Felix and Elaine join the three of us for a nighttime adventure.
OK Deal Weekend: Although our next day was going to be spent at Tongli, our new troublemake fivesome grabbed some beers and roamed Tongli at night. The place was deserted.
OK Deal Weekend: Tongli at night.
OK Deal Weekend: Tongli at night. It was near midnight and we saw barely anybody walking, but a tiny little store was open and sold us some more liquor.
OK Deal Weekend: Tongli during the day looked much different.
OK Deal Weekend: Cruising the canals in Tongli Watertown.
OK Deal Weekend: Cruising the canals in Tongli Watertown. This fisherman would use birds to catch fish. Once a bird caught a fish the fisherman would force the bird to cough it up. Mmmmmm, yummy.
OK Deal Weekend: Tongly Watertown random shots.
OK Deal Weekend: In Tongli there was a sex museum with various interesting pieces of art. You be the judge.
OK Deal Weekend: The Sex History Museum had some interesting translations.
OK Deal Weekend: Contrast between the clean walkways of Tongli Watertown and the seedy underbelly.
OK Deal Weekend: Cutest puppy ever. Ever.
OK Deal Weekend: Panorama from Tongli Watertown
OK Deal Weekend: Leaving Tongli Watertown. The masses push and shove their way out, as the affluent get a police escort in their luxury rides.
OK Deal Weekend: Heading to Hanshan Temple by boat, because the temple is built on an island in the middle of Tongli Lake.
OK Deal Weekend: Hanshan Temple panorama.
OK Deal Weekend: In the bell tower anybody could ring the large bell.
OK Deal Weekend: Coy fish populated the pond and were eager to eat anything dropped in the water.
OK Deal Weekend: Hanshan Temple photos.
OK Deal Weekend: Troy ponders while sitting in the lake at Hanshan Temple.
OK Deal Weekend: Eureka moment for Troy.
OK Deal Weekend: Hanshan Temple as the sun lowered in the west.
OK Deal Weekend: Hanshan Temple.
OK Deal Weekend: Tired, exhausted, slightly hungover and heading back to the mainland in the boat.
OK Deal Weekend: Hopping on our green tour bus to head back to Shanghai.
Spring Festival celebrates with fireworks again on day five!
Spring Festival celebrates with fireworks again on day five! This is taken from the intersection that I can see from my apartment window at Tianyaoqiao Lu and Nandan Lu.
Fast Food in Shanghai: Pizza Hut is a classier place than in the States and often I will see a line of 10-20 people waiting to get seated.
Fast Food in Shanghai: What can you do, Micky D's is taking over the world?
Fast Food in Shanghai: Not as common as some of the other US joints in town, but you can count on the Subway experience to be almost exactly the same as in the States, so you can head there when you need to eat without worry.
Fast Food in Shanghai: I didn't eat at Dairy Queen, but there were a couple of locaions that I saw here and there.
Fast Food in Shanghai: Starbucks are everywhere here in Shanghai, which helps make me miss home a little less.
Fast Food in Shanghai: Amazingly, KFC is the number one fast food restaurant in China! The fried chicken somehow translates well here and I can LITERALLY see three different KFC locations from the intersection near my house.
Fast Food in Shanghai: This is homegrown Chinese fast food. We attempted to eat here once, and although we successfully ordered and received the $2 meal, none of us could stomach the chunks of undercooked chicken with shards of bone, or the soup that tasted like rotting beef.
Fast Food in Shanghai: THis is the number one burger in China. The secret? It tastes EXACTLY like it does in the States. Every other restaurant has meet that tastes bad.
Fast Food in Shanghai: I never ate at Burger King, but it was around, just not very common.
Fast Food in Shanghai: Pizza Hut was a nigh-end restaurant here. I often saw a line forming just to get seated.
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Drinking Jenga!
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Ian drinks a pilfered "jug" of Heineken
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: moments before the server catches Ian with the accidentally stolen jugs of Heineken
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: I can't remember this guy's name, but he was British!
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Chinese champagne is on the house from Rob, the bar owner.
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: No sex in the champagne room, please.
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Did that just happen? The cork spontaneously erupts from one bottle of champagne and puts a quarter-sized dent in the ceiling. Jeff slams his palm on the top of the bottle and champagne starts spraying everywhere.
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Jeff makes a mess with the explosive champagne
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Hey, remember that time the cork popped off of the champagne bottle? It was SO funny!
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Rob, the bar owner from Australia, hangs out with us. Cool guy!
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Why is Sierra sad?
This is the affectionate little orange cat that lives outside of our apartment building in Shanghai.
My last elevator ride in Shanghai?
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Troy's shoe salad.
Troy's Birthday Party @ The Oz: Mattias and Jeff show up
At The Spot for my farewell dinner. Is it a bad sign that there is a fire extinguisher sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor?
Linda bought me a Flaming something... a shot that was burning for so long that the hot laval shot glass blistered my bottom lip! Hahahaha!
The Farewell-to-Darren crew, Kurt and Anna are missing because they flew to Seattle, but they called to say goodbye.
Farewell Shanghai, I'd wave if I thought you could see me from the air traffic control tower.
