On Thursday and Friday at work, we had to finish our database, this required lots of work but we managed it -just about. Miguel and I decided we simply couldn’t face another salty ‘order in’ of Chinese food with its compulsory bit of ham and its salty half a boiled egg in its shell! So in our lunch break we decided we would explore the offerings on Hunagpu Road (where we work).
We stumbled across a restaurant with a riverside view of both Pudong and the Bund. It was very nice. We decided to sit outside to make the most of this view. I was pretty mortified that I had forgot my camera this day, but Miguel remembered his and so saved the day for my blog pictures! The restaurant was called ‘Seagull Binjang Seesingthting Restaurant’. (I think they meant sightseeing!) It had Roman figurines outside; everywhere here is so European! The food was so amazing and cheap, with such enormous portions! I couldn’t cope with the idea of wasting it, so I had to ask for a ‘doggy bag’! I thought that the concept of this might (a) be frowned upon or (b) be too difficult to explain what I wanted, but they were fine about it, and flattered I think. Miguel and I were so impressed with the ambiance and price of this place, we think that it would be lovely to come back at night time and see the skyline all lit up. Whilst we were having lunch the restaurant was playing very mellow soul music like Seal and Barry White. Miguel made me laugh because when one certain song came on, he jokingly said “Oh wow, we may as well just get married right now!” Ha.
On this picture above, you may be able to see the look of horror on my face. Im taking a picture on my phone of some of the items on the menu. These tasty treats include minced squirrel, stewed pigs feet, ducks face, braised bullfrog, frog saliva and steamed turtle - whole in its shell with its head and everything. Mmmm.
When we got back to work, one of our colleagues Justin was printing a document and told Miguel and I that we should take regular breaks because we were sat next to the printer. We were a little confused by this and asked him to explain why. He told us that printers are dangerous and should not really be sat next to you in the office because they emit formaldehyde and ash dust! You learn something new every day! Justin is funny, it made me laugh later on in the office because he was busy doing something and his phone loudly rang, playing Lady GAGA’s pokerface at full blast in the office! The binary opposites of the social constructs of what it is to be masculine and feminine is so different in Shanghai, it absolutely fascinates me.
On Friday, after our lovely ‘Seesingthting’ experience on Thursday, we decided to venture out again. We went further up Hunagpu road this time to a very grand hotel (Astor Hotel). This again matches the very European feel of this area near the Bund, however the Chinese take on the very Anglomanian look I think they were going for was rather erratic to say the least. The lobby and dining room upon first inspection appeared to fit the bill, crystal chandeliers, gold baroque frames with Aristocratic portraits inside. However upon closer inspection, there were a few amusing additions… These included Moroccan style lanterns on every table and cheap plastic cups to match the very English styled China porcelain teapots! It also charmed us whilst we were here, that passers by stopped to take our picture. It happened twice. It is so funny to be having lunch and then notice big cameras staring at you through the windows! We felt like celebrities!
Miguel and I have made a conscious decision to be more adventurous with the Chinese food here, we eased ourselves into this by ordering a ‘Rose Coffee’. I have to say, whilst bemused, I was a little disappointed when a sweet cup of coffee and whipped cream with ’99 ice-cream style’ strawberry topping sauce arrived.
The food here was not as good as Thursday’s and was double if not triple the price. They aimed for a more international menu I think, but maybe missed the mark slightly. I had a pizza, with a teapot of Earl Grey. To be honest, I loved it! In this hotel, there was also a gift shop, where the hotel sold jade carvings and other expensive items. I fell head over heels with a gold telephone I saw there, but it was 5000 yuan and I really couldn’t justify it. L I did buy a little Mandarin phrase book though. When we left, we passed a big wooden carving of a Buddha. Miguel informed me that it is good luck to rub a buddhas belly, so we both rubbed it and hoped for some good luck in my results (which I get back on Monday).
My other gastronomic adventures up to now basely include the epic decision between flavours of Walkers crisp…’Cucumber’, ‘Lemon ice tea’, ‘Numb and Spicy Hot Pot’ and ‘Fish Stew’ are amongst the choice, I have only tried two up to now but I must say Cucumber crisps are literally the best in the world, a definite new favourite!
When we got back to work, I showed our boss David my new phrase book. I was amazed to hear that in Chinese there are only 4000 characters, from the past 5000 years. So David (and his 2 year old son) can read texts dated as far back as 5000 years as easily as he can a word doc at work! I was so shocked by this. I could just imagine David’s 2-year-old son sat at home reading the Chinese equivalent of Aristotle (Confucian) in his high chair! David said that his son finds it much easier to acquire the English language than the Chinese language. We were talking about language and Chinese customs when I mentioned the number 4 issue people have here. David told us that most numbers have meaning in China and that business men (and women) can manipulate this superstition during deals! He said for example, whilst the number 4 is ominous, the number 8 is lucky, so if a firm tries to sell for 4 million yuan, he would offer 3.88M instead – “to bring lucky”.
Although there are only 4000 characters in Chinese, they can still not be used for computer software and the pinyin has to be used instead. (Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into Western letters – and also shows the pronunciation). For example the Mandarin character for ‘China’ is 中國 but the pinyin (and how you pronounce it) is ‘Zhōngguó’. David was telling us though, that using pinyin for things can be very confusing. For example, on a building site, the pinyin for ‘Use water’ and ‘Don’t use water’ is ‘Yòngshuǐ’ which can obviously be very confusing and potentially hazardous, where as the characters are different.
After work, we all had the Friday feeling, so Miguel and I, plus Algis and one of his work mates Cath decided to have a taste of Shanghai nightlife. We had all heard good things about Xin Tian Di. Many people say it is a very trendy area to go out where both fashionable expats and locals mix.
Shanghai ‘XinTianDi’ struck me immediately as again, very European, however after doing some research on it, I found out that it actually retains the antique walls, tiles and exterior of the Shikumen housing of old Shanghai! However, its interior embodies a completely different world of international galleries, bars, cafes, boutiques and restaurants.
We decided to go to a Thai restaurant and the food was lovely; a refreshing change to Chinese food morning, noon and night. I have realized now how Chinese people remain so slender. I was confused because I appear to be turning into a hippo. They eat like Kings for breakfast, Princes for lunch and paupers for dinner. They also drink green tea all day. I have tried to adopt this style.
Algis’ workmate Cath is French. She is a bit older than the rest of us, has worked as an accountant and done a lot of travelling. She is currently learning Chinese and is very advanced. I was really impressed. She spent 6 months in China last year and started learning Chinese then. She did a 2-month course at London business school (which she said was a waste of time, overpriced and she would not recommend it) and now she is back. She is currently having lots of private tuition here and had a 4 hour session on Saturday, but it is definitely paying off! She is hoping to be near fluent by the end of this 6 months. She has been here 3 weeks and is great so I think she will achieve it!
After dinner, we decided to go to a bar in Xin Tian Di. It was a very stylish bar with a live cover band performing Western songs such as Rihanna and Eminems ‘Love the way you lie’ and ‘New York’ by Alicia Keys. When the band were performing a Sean Kingston song, they decided to pull me up onto the stage. I was pretty embarrassed but very flattered. I also made my first Chinese friend in this bar. His name is Bruce and he works in private equity in Pudong. He was educated in America and lived there for 5 years, close to Mexico. He said that when he worked in New York he found that it was not fast paced enough and he missed Shanghai so came home. This made me laugh because I wouldn’t consider NY as slow paced, but it does say a lot about Shanghai; it really is a city that never sleeps.
We made friends with the band and must have looked like groupies sat behind the stage with them! They were from the Philippines and were so talented!
(Major embarrassed face at being put on the stage! )
A brilliant start to my first proper weekend in Shanghai!
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