Category: in china

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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…

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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… :)

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in china photography

how convenient

ah, so many unfinished half-written posts that never made the frontpage of this blog…
we haven’t been lacking in adventures and errands to run… but they end up draining all our energy and force us to crash on the sofa whenever we arrive home.
the fact that we’ve moved here without a limit date to return gives us time to appreciate the city slowlier than usual. we don’t have to like it right away and smile so that we look good on the pictures. so we’ve been taking it easy and enjoying every little thing we stumble upon.

yesterday was rainy and cold outside. we reserved the day to reading hundreds of feeds, answering emails and resting our feet from the wedding frenzy on saturday. i was one of the bridesmaids on a traditional chinese wedding (our dear lulu and tommy’s wedding), which was a great experience and lesson on culture and traditions (more on that when i have my pictures). funny detail: 4 out of 5 bridesmaids had been in groningen (netherlands), studying. how small is the world?

also in the news, tomorrow i’ll start working here in shanghai. after two weeks of interviews, i’ve chosen a swedish company as my employer. they’re young, expanding and diversifying their product range, and they seemed like a good choice. besides, one of the bridesmaids has a swedish boyfriend and she explained how sweden is out and about to conquer the world through all the companies they own… we agree. a set of 3 sharp knives and a wok in ikea for less than 50 yuan (5 euros)? hell yeah!

bonus:
* durão barroso (a previous portuguese prime-minister) appears regularly on a spot on cctv9 (china’s english news channel) stating that china is a good oportunity for investment blablabla. we still laugh everytime he speaks, just because his voice sounds so familiar and nonetheless, so strange when he speaks in english…

* we found a place which sells b&w films (100 asa, 36 pictures) for 8 yuan (80 cents in europe).
just around the corner, a dvd stall sells copies of the latest movies for 5 yuan (50 cents) – considering a movie ticket in here can cost more than 10 to 20 times that, the alternative is quite attractive.

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in china

jiangning lu

has it been a week already? really?

we finally found our little corner away from the home inn. it’s located in jiangning road, somewhere near the shanghai railway station. a little apartment on the 19th floor, with a view to the nearest intersection.
we’ve been exploring the neighbourhood, and little by little, adventuring into other zones of the city, stumbling upon surprises in every corner. for instance, chinese people love “egg tarts”, that look exactly like our “natas” – they’re sold in almost every restaurant or subway station (oh yes, we wouldn’t believe it either…).
and today we discovered that we live just beside the famous jade buddha temple…

(image by 2 dogs).

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in china

ni hao!

things we did since we arrived, last sunday:

* took a ride on the fastest train in the country

* opened a bank account (on a sunday afternoon)

* learned the basic traditions regarding a chinese wedding (including matching dolls and a red egg in the bed, special sweets, three sets of dresses, dragons and phoenixes, etc… )

* ate a traditional chinese “banquet” cooked by a friend’s father in law and then another one by her own parents

* been on the subway close to the rush hour (but haven’t had the courage to try the real rush hour yet)

* only used chopsticks and spoons to eat, so far

* visited several houses looking for a place to live

* got chinese mobile numbers and transportation cards

* were driven on crazy taxis through the city

* sort-of learned how to cross a street (still not very clear though)

* i did two interviews and got a job offer

* plus i went through the wonderful experience of peeing in a typically asian restroom (not something i would like to repeat).

the first taxi ride was specially painful. we were extremely tired and jetlagged and no one warned us the traffic rules around here worked based on the car’s horn. they drive like crazy, switching lanes quickly, honking, as if saying “step away, here i come!!”. can you imagine me in the back seat, scared to death, grasping paulo’s hand, just wishing i could get out? (i suspect ever since, lulu has been asking taxi drivers to drive a bit better or i might start to cry.)
oddly, i haven’t seen a single accident since i’m here. i’m starting to think there’s some sort of magnetic repulsion between cars. that’s the only logical explanation i can come up with.

it’s been a daily surprise, and it’s only just started.