fatass

Never have I felt worse than when I ate American food in Shanghai. Even though my portions of cream of mushroom soup and fries were small, the food was very rich. That will be the last bit of Western food I have for awhile. My stomach hates me.

smart shanghai

let's play spot the NYU kids

we're all over it

rain

Donde esta el sol en China? No se. When will it stop raining in this city? Let's weather.com this shit:

Sunday - Rain, cold

Monday - More rain, still cold.

Tuesday - Slightly less rain, cold.

Wednesday - Possibly sunny, still not that warm.


Good weather for studying Chinese, I guess.

people under the stairs

By some stroke of luck or good fortune, I once again have internet access in my room. I know the internet in China is bad, but my computer's lack of ethernet port and resulting reliance on other people's wireless connections is worse. Buying a computer that lacks essential features... poor life choice.

Last night, a bunch of us headed to the Shelter to catch People Under the Stairs. It was an excellent show. Highlights of the night: when L's boyfriend was dj'ing and played Jurassic 5 - Red Hot, dancing and general craziness, abandoned building adventures with J and S, and meeting J's random Danish friends. What sucked: getting busted for bringing outside alcohol. All in all, a great night.

Went out to breakfast with M to Element Fresh this morning. Element Fresh is an American/expat restaurant in Shanghai center (collection of upscale stores/restaurants/apartments/bakeries/etc) that serves non-Chinese food that is basic, healthy, and delicious. By virture of timing (morning after partying), it was possibly the best french toast I have ever had.

Which reminds me... I'm hungry. It's street food time.

more pictures

ancient Chinese water town


Pearl Tower, Shanghai (Pudong)



Shanghai World Financial Center

View from SWFC

I take classy pictures

Jin Mao tower

Streets of Shanghai

one of the few old parts of Shanghai that I've seen

Eventually I'll get pictures of things like street food, clubs, all the crazy NYU kids I'm kicking it with, pictures of old neighborhoods, and maybe one of me on a mo-ped in Shanghai traffic.

What else? Let's see... class started Tuesday. After 2 months, I've almost forgotten what it's like to do work. My new obsession is "Milk Coffee" (more on this later). Unless I decide to stay in because I'm sick/lazy, I will be going to Muse 2/Shelter/De La Coast tonight. It should be a good time.

jinxed

It's currently 50 degrees and raining. Serves me right for bragging about the weather. Valentine's Day ended up being pretty chill. I forgot what we did during the day (probably went out to eat somewhere), but at night we ended up going to another club (Muse something, not the same as the first one). The place looked amazing, but there was way too many people for it to be manageable. Still a good night though.

Yesterday was also a good time. G, S times 2, and I checked out this sweet restaurant behind the back gate of our school. It was a Western Chinese Muslim restaurant. As the menu did not have pictures, and none of us spoke Chinese, we ended up just pointing at 4 random dishes. I think we got some tomato noodles with vegetables, a beef tomato and rice dish, eggplant vegetables and rice, and beef eggs rice in a brown sauce. They all ended up being excellent. It was $5 for the four of us.

black tambourine - beck

Why? Because this song is excellent. So was the other night. A bunch of us ended up going out to this club, Muse II. I told myself "no way will I be dancing on those tables. Fools." One guess as to what I ended up doing...

A bunch of us ladies should be going out tonight (we're leaving the guys behind this time). Maybe the Shelter? Maybe somewhere else. As long as there is no cover. I'm cheap. I realize. I'll be spending the $15 I will be saving on a massage. Happy Valentine's Day to me <3

Update on the tooth situation: September's filling was too close to the nerve, so I will be getting root canal in the next week. Dental surgery in China.. excellent!

But yeah, that's my life at the moment. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you back in the states <3

first week in Shanghai

While you've all been busy doing your homework/freezing your pants off, I have...

-caught a cab in Shanghai rush hour

-feasted on duck skin (Beijing kaoya!)

-crossed major intersections without being hit by a mass of bicycles/mo-peds/trucks/old chinese ladies

-kept it real/kicked it up with the rest of NYU Shanghai at Muse

-ate the most amazing sichuan food, and paid $1 for it

-fell in love with broccoli (?)

-took a cooking lesson from a master chef

Don't get jealous of my life just yet... I do have to the dentist in a bit. I just have to change into my t-shirt first.

China

I'm here. I am finally in China. It's absolutely nothing like I expected, in both the good way and the bad way. No way to say it, except... This shit is ridiculous.


I will try this again later when I gather my thoughts.

8 hours

...and I will be on a plane to China. Crazy. I will keep you updated on the status of this epic adventure.

As for last week's trip... Boston was, as usual, amazing. (For those of you still in the bean, check out this place and this place. Not as good as Umi, I know, but nice places to check out while our favorite sushi house is being rebuilt.)

I will be sad to leave my city (and all my ladies <3) behind, but duty calls. And by that... I mean my duty to make as much trouble on the Asian continent as possible. You know, when I'm not studying Chinese.