Categories
in china

say what?

the chinglish translations are everywhere in china, naturally. they’re so ridiculous that they never fail to bring a smile to my face. the best sign from our building looks like this* :

and the tagline reads “when in fire, please don’t use lift”. we’ll try to remember that next time we are… hum… in fire.

running-up to the pole position is also: “during the elevator is maintained, passengers should go up and down the emergency stairs.” sounds like fun! :)

* sorry for the bad quality of the drawing.

Categories
in china links and ideas

humidity = 100 %

i’m currently in love with so many threadless tshirts that it’s going to be hard to pick a few to order. there’s sounds of the sea, and camouflage, and bobshopping… good thing the dolar is so low these days!
plus i found a website that gather coupons for using on thousands of online stores – now isn’t that a great idea? if you’re thinking of buying anything on an online shop, make sure you pay retailmenot.com a visit first and check if they have any promotions, such as free shipping or a discount. uncle scrooge would be proud. :)

speaking of sounds of the sea, the other day i found this page about a sea organ built in croatia… strange concept: there are some steps by the sea, carved in stone, with pipes underneath. the waves come and blow the air through the pipes, producing a variety of sounds (you can hear them on their website). the chords are harmonious in their own way and make this place by the adriatic sea a special spot for locals and visitors. if only croatia was closer…

Categories
links and ideas music

pearls before breakfast

what happens when one of the world’s best violin players performs on his stradivarius at a metro station in new york, incognito?

find out on this brilliant piece by the washington post. it’s big, but it’s well worth it.

Categories
in china

little bits of updates

dear people,

the sun rises around 5 in the morning and we instinctively wake up too early because the curtains never seem to close well enough. we moved into a new place on sunday, after a full day of cleaning and scrubbing. my body is still aching, but the apartment is amazing – big, sunny, near the suzhou river and very close to both our workplaces, just beside a line 3 subway station, practically new.
i’m in love with it and in totally “nesting” mode, dreaming of bedsheets and colorful new dishes, and parties with friends and cupcakes. oh! and cats. two of them.

on other news, last week i had “may holidays”. the chinese have 3 “golden weeks” of national holidays per year: the chinese new year week (january/february), the labour day-week (may) and the national day week (october). i didn’t do much all week, but i did discover some interesting tips on my unread feeds:

* the keyboard waffle iron, via gizmodo. being a geek couple ourselves, we seriously need this (along with a rice cooker and a dumplings steam cooker). :)

* mind this gap: a collection of testimonies of portuguese people who work or used to work abroad. how and why, all explained. a big inspiration for those who are thinking about doing it… someday, i’ll add mine too.

* badfatsbrothers.com: a clever and neat flash site, made to teach with irony on the harms of consuming to much “bad” food.

and about the lack of photos: we are old-school people, with no digital cameras… (well, yet, at least). i’ve shot almost 2 rols of film since i arrived, but have had little luck in finding a place to develop them (black and white). shanghaiist recomends trying a fuji center in wulumuqi road. we’ll see.

ps – it’s been a month we’re around and, by coincidence, it’s been a year since we first talked about shanghai and coming to china… :)