London: Getting Settled in London

I have been in London for 11 days now. So far, things have been great. I am staying with my aunt, uncle and cousin until I move into my new house on October 1st. I'll be living quite close to the Turnpike Lane tube station, on the Piccadilly Line, which is exactly where I wanted to be.

I don't start school for a couple more weeks, so I may have some local (and less local) travel adventures before then. So keep watching the blog for more!

I have a really good feeling about living in London - there is a lot to like, especially when the weather is still nice. I like how there are little corner shops and local pubs everywhere. Even though the city is large, you never have to go far to get things that you need. I will be living in an area that's close to loads of shops, stores, restaurants, butchers, fish mongers, etc - many that mainly cater to Middle Eastern or South Asian clientele. So I'm pretty excited.

Here's a picture my cousin took of me today in the garden at their house.

London: Shanghai Photos

Here are three photos of Shanghai.

Texting in the metro, E Nanjing Rd pedestrian walkway, and view of buildings near Moganshan Rd.

I'm heading back to New York tomorrow....

London: The Fastest Train and the Longest Day

I'm back in London, and I've managed to stay awake until 9:30 PM GMT, so right now it's 4:30 AM in Shanghai.

Today has been the 2nd longest day of my life (beat by my day of travel between Malaysia and New York four years ago).....

The 20th of June began in a bar in Shanghai, near People's Square. I was there with Noelia and Belén, both Argentinians living in Shanghai. I connected with Noelia through a mutual friend in San Francisco, so on Friday night we went out for Sichuan food for my last dinner in China. Getting to and from the restaurant (and the bar afterwards) involved longs walks through the French Concession, which was fun to see at night.

The bar was close to my hotel, so I walked home, but not before stopping to buy some stir fried rice cakes from a street vendor near my hostel. By this point it was close to 1 AM.

I only ate about 1/2 of the noodles, then did some packing up, then eventually went to sleep around 2 AM. I woke up at 6:45, showered, finished packing, and then went out to look for a bit of breakfast. The street near the hostel was quite lively early on a Saturday - like my hostel in Kowloon, this hostel is near a street with lots of pet stores, and apparently 7:30 AM is a good time to go pet shopping, since many people were. But I also found a nice spot that sold cruellers, soy milk, fried sesame balls and other breakfast snacks. I bought a scallion flat bread, three sesame balls and a soymilk, then headed back to the hostel to check out and leave.

I took the metro to the Maglev train station. The Maglev, which connects the eastern part of Shanghai to Pudong Int'l Airport, is the fastest train in the world. However, it only got up to 300 kph on my journey - at other times of day, it goes over 400 kph. It was still a cool train though, and certainly an efficient way to get to the airport.

Airport check-in was a breeze, and Pudong Airport is quite big and nice. I used up my cell phone minutes saying goodbye to Leo and Kelly, had some dumplings and udon soup for breakfast part II, then at 11 it was time to fly to London.

The 777 was pretty comfortable, but full. But the seats on the 777 felt roomier than on the 747, so this flight was nicer. I watched 3 movies: A Beautiful Mind (I hadn't seen this, I thought it was good), He's Not That Into You (this ranged from good to nearly unbearable depending on who was in the scene - Scarlett Johansson was at the top of this spectrum, while Drew Barrymore was at the other end), and Jurassic Park (I'd seen this one before, but not in many year). I realized in the shower just now that not only do the first two movies star Jennifer Connelly, but they also both have scenes where she gets really angry, screams at the top of her lungs, and breaks a mirror.

I had the Asian Vegetarian meals this time - neither hot meal was very good at all, and the salad side dishes weren't nice at all. So even though it was vegetarian, it wasn't very tasty. The woman next to me had the normal meals, and they didn't look all that much better.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow, but at the moment I'm exhausted, so I'm off to collapse.

Shanghai: Xiao Long Bao Galore

I think the last time I posted to the blog was in Mangshi - even though this was Monday, it seems like ages ago. Since then, I:

Had dinner at a Bai restaurant outside Mangshi with two of Leo's friends.

Slept well in my fancy hotel.

Had excellent noodle soup for breakfast in Mangshi, and some pumpkin-like-flavored pancakes from the market.

Flew to Kunming (had excellent views of the Mekong River from the plane)

Met up with Miao Miao and Jakob (professor in London next year) and ventured to the outskirts of Kunming.

Ate cold noodles with Miao Miao and Jakob.

Ate at a mushroom hot pot restaurant in Kunming.

Spent a night in Kunming.

Had super spicy noodle soup for breakfast in Kunming - too spicy actually, I couldn't even finish it.

Flew to Shanghai.

Checked in at my hostel in Shanghai, where I chose to get my own room - worth the extra $ since I can have room to pack and I control the AC.

.,....so I have been in Shanghai for two days now, and I leave tomorrow for London, then back the USA.

I have eaten three times at an XLB (xiao long bao, aka soup dumplings) place that was recommended by Colleen. I went once by myself on Wednesday, and I had the plain pork XLB. Then yesterday I went with an Irish couple I met, and we had the egg and pork XLB and the chicken and pork XLB. And finally, today I went back and had the more expensive crab and pork XLB. In order of best to worst, I would rank it: crab, chicken, plain, egg..........but they were all pretty good. Other than XLB, there is only soup (I tried egg and seaweed soup which is good) and sodas to drink.

Other food highlights have included: pan fried dumplings, sauteed river shrimp, cold beef noodles, and fancy dim sum with the Irish couple.

Aside from food, I've done some walking around and a bit of sightseeing. Thanks to Nathan's recommendation, I went to the Jewish museum in Shanghai - it cost 50 RMB, which is a bit expensive, but was well worth it because it was a good museum and I had a private tour guide. The neighborhood had a large Jewish population between the 1900's and 1940's, up until after WWII, and the museum told the history of the Jews in Shanghai during this time period. The museum is housed in the old synagogue, and in a nearby park there is a plaque in Hebrew, Chinese and English commemorating the Jewish people who used to live in the neighborhood.

Walking around the neighborhood near the museum was nice too - not touristy at all, and lots of local street life. I peaked into a wet market, and saw all the veggies, meats and fish for sale. Most was quite similar to what I had seen in Yangshuo, though there were some different products as well.

I went with the Irish couple to Moganshan Rd, an area with art galleries. This was interesting, and reminded me of Brooklyn. Overall, Shanghai reminds me a lot of New York City - I think it's the first time anywhere has reminded me of New York. There is a lot of construction going on here, and Shanghai seems to be frantically preparing for the 2010 World Expo - there are reminders everywhere that this is happening in 2010. I'm not sure what anyone will talk about once it's over.

Shanghai is a very interesting city - like New York, it seems like there are endless numbers of things to see, do, eat and buy. It's very hot here though, so walking around tiring. But I'm glad I got to see Shanghai, and I think it's likely I'll be back again.

I have to log off the internet now, and this is likely to be my last post before I'm back in the UK/USA.......so farewell China, it's been fun! I

Mangshi: A Few More Pictures from Ruili

Picture A) Crossing the Shweli River on the way to Ruili

 

Picture B) Night Market - I had two juices, some Burmese fried noodles and some Burmese pickled vegetables. Unfortunately my stomach wasn't feeling well enough to try the Myanmar beer.

 

Picture C) Park near the Market

 

Picture D) Wide palm-lined avenue

 

Picture E) Women dancing in the mall plaza

Mangshi: Posh Hotel

I am staying at a fancy hotel tonight. Leo, who is from Mangshi, recommended to me, and told me I could get a room for 80 RMB, which is about 12 US dollars - a splurge, considering I haven't paid this much for a room since I left Guangzhou.

 

But this room is worth it - niceness-wise, it's about equal to a nice Marriot hotel, except it has a huge bathroom (the bathroom itself is bigger than the entire room I had in Hong Kong) and a very nice sitting area. It's set back from the street, so it's quiet, and my room smells fresh and not smoky. I have my own water cooler (hot and cold), TV, DVD player, soft towels, good mattress, etc.

 

So hopefully I will sleep well tonight before my flight back to Kunming tomorrow!

 

 

Mangshi: Buying a Card Reader

I came into this internet cafe about 1 hour ago, and once I got settled on my computer, I asked if they had card readers to load pictures. Sometimes places do (like in Tengchong), but here they didn't. I really wanted to upload pictures, so I decided to just go buy one, so I have one to use for the rest of my trip (and afterwards too).

 

I went outside the internet cafe and found a nearby department store. Using sign language and pointing to my camera, I quickly found the camera section of the store, and identified the cheap card reader I wanted. There were two girls working at the desk, and I asked them how much it cost. They took the card reader, typed the number on the barcode into the computer, but nothing came up. Eventually, one girl said in English, "I don't know, sorry" and then they both just kind of sat there.

 

This was a big department store (multiple levels, kind of like a K-Mart) and I had a hard time believing that no one could tell me the price of the item I wanted. So I suggested (with sign language and noises) that they scan it using a scanner....or really anything, since I wanted to buy it!

 

They brought the card reader over to another woman, who also didn't know what to do, so then they called someone on the phone, who eventually told them a price of 25 RMB. I bought it, since that's only about 4 dollars and will be useful for the rest of my trip.

 

So the whole process in the store took almost 15 minutes. But now I have a card reader.

Mangshi: Burmese Ruili Part III

After breakfast, I continued my wandering through Ruili and made my way to the jade market. Ruili is very famous for its jade market, and a lot of the jade comes from Burma. There seemed to be at least 300 shops selling jade, rubies, gold, silver and wood carvings - most too expensive for me to be at all interested.

 

It certain parts of the market, everyone was Burmese. There were Burmese food carts, where I spotted someone else eating mohinga. There were also stalls where Burmese men were preparing betel nuts - I took a picture of a man folding up the betel nuts in the leaves. Inside the jade market, I was summoned over my a Burmese man who spoke some English. He invited me into his back room to chat - I told him that I definitely wasn't going to buy anything, and he said okay. We were joined by several other younger Burmese men, so we all sat there chatting. Like I experienced in India, they all wanted to know why I wasn't married, and they asked me questions about what I do. I told them I study food and was very happy to have tea leaf salad and mohinga.

 

The men I spoke to were all Muslim, and they said that in Ruili about half of the Burmese people are Muslim, while in Burma it's a smaller percentage. One man asked if I had been to Burma, and I said no. He said that the government of Burma was bad, and that things were better in China.

 

During our conversation, we were interrupted because a man from Guangdong who was shopping for jade came into the shop. He came into the back room and was seated next to me, so I got to watch as the man who invited me in tried to negotiate a sale. He was able to speak some Cantonese to the shopper, but after inspecting various pieces of jade, he decided not to buy anything and left. I stayed around chatting some more, then I left when a second customer came.

 

I went to a stall outside the market and tried some savory sticky rice topped with shredded coconut. It was very good so I decided to try more - a small bowl of beef curry (realllllly good), paratha, potato and chickpea curry and some pickled vegetables. Tea was provided in thermoses on every table.

Mangshi: Burmese Ruili Part II

Ruili was an interesting place to visit. Parts felt much like other Chinese cities I've visited (though with more palm trees), while other parts felt really Burmese, and quite different than anywhere I've ever been. The Burmese culture that I observed (mainly food, dress and appearance) reminded me more of places like Chennai and Madurai in India than anywhere in China.

 

My hotel last night cost only 50 RMB and was very comfortable - I slept well, and this morning my stomach felt a bit better. The shower, I should add, was one of the best I've had in China! I took another one this morning since it was so nice.

 

After a successful search for tea leaf salad last night, I set out this morning to find mohinga for breakfast - a catfish noodle soup which is a very common Burmese dish. It was even mentioned in the small Burmese food glossary of my China guidebook, so I knew that I had a good chance of finding it in Ruili.

 

The search didn't take very long. I found an alley with Burmese writing on some of the restaurants, and lots of Burmese people (easy to tell because the men wear longyi and the women wear colorful skirts or sarongs). I asked at one place if they had mohinga, and although I couldn't tell for sure, I realized that they didn't, since I could look into all the pots they had cooking. So I continued down the alley and into a big market.

 

As I was browsing in the market, a Burmese man and his 2 year old son walked up to me and said "Mohinga" while signaling an eating motion. Apparently news had spread that the white dude was looking for mohinga, and he led me back into the same alley to a different cart run by a woman who was making mohinga. Score!

 

I got to choose which kind of noodle I wanted - I chose egg noodles - then the woman put the noodles in the bowl, added lime and cilantro, some crunchy fritter pieces, a bit of dried chili flakes, and the catfish soup broth. It was delicious, and while the broth was thinner than versions I've had in San Francisco, the taste was quite similar! My small bowl cost 3 RMB, or about 40 US cents.

 

I sat at the table in the picture, while the woman's mother (also in the picture in the background) poured me tea.

 

I got to practice my Burmese today too. Jayzu tinbade = Thank You

Mangshi: Burmese Ruili Part I

I spent the morning in Ruili, then came to Mangshi this afternoon. I'll be here tonight, then back to Kunming tomorrow on a plane.

 

Here are some pictures I took of the restaurant where I had tea leaf salad. Later, at the night market, I saw that other Burmese places also had these same packets of tea leaves and crispy garlic, so it's a food available in many places in Ruili.