Our morning got off to a rather slow start as Alex was being a sleepy head. So much so in fact that Chris and I got impatient and decided we were going to make our first solo venture for food. Santana, one of Alex’s roommates (who is a Sun Devil as well) taught us how to “correctly” order what we wanted… “iga tsai bao zi, iga juru bao zi” for me and “iga tsai boa zi, suga juru bao zi” for Chris which means, “one vegetable bao zi and one pork bao zi” for me, and “one vegetable bao zi and four pork bao zis” for Chris. This was a pretty cool experience knowing that we could pretty easily make fools of ourselves, and if the conversation went in any way astray - we were pretty well screwed… anyone else thinking “you want fries and a drink with that?” Luckily the only deviation was when I tried to order a sticky rice thing. Basically I pointed and put up one finger, the lady said something, I repeated it, another lady who was trying to order looked at me and repeated it with some different emphasis, and I tried to mimic her, but decided it was time to take my $0.30US worth of food and leave when everyone around broke into laughter.

After enjoying them back at the apartment, Alex got up and at ‘em and we decided to bus it down to Alex’s campus. The bus experience was pretty interesting inefficient, as there was the driver (if you want to call him that) and there was a cashier (if you want to call him that)… basically double the necessary labor force. None the less, for 2kuai ($0.25US) we got a lift to East China Normal University and a bus ticket… which Chris and I ate… I don’t know why… Neither did the lady sitting right next to Chris and I.
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The first gallery of China Pictures are up at mahix2.com/china1/.

Enjoy

And now also please enjoy More China Pictures.

UPDATE: Bam! More Pictures are Here, and include as requested, more pictures of the architecture here in Shanghai - especially near People’s Square. These also include pictures from the Museum of Urban Planning and the Omar Galliani art exhibit in the museum.

I awoke this morning on Alex’s bed… and by Alex’s bed, I mean the ground… and by the ground I mean Alex’s bed… Which is a little stiff.

None the less, Chris and I came to after someone in the neighborhood (if that’s what you call 345634562456 40 story apartment buildings) decided to christen their new digs with an AK-47. Apparently it is Chinese tradition to set off fireworks when ever you move in to a new home, and at 8:30 this morning, some one moved in. Alex was still upstairs tending to some other Chinese traditions, so Chris and I were going to watch a dvd. Then we realized that during the night one of the other roommates made off with the dvd player, and instead we were forced to watch Mistrial on Cinemax - one of the few channels broadcast here in English.

Eventually Alex came back and we were on our way out into the city. It was drizzling most of the day and very foggy, but we trekked down to the Ritz Carlton and decided to eat at Element Fresh instead of California Dead Baby Kitchen, Mao Fried Chicken, or McD’s. I had some delicious lettuce wraps and a club sandwich while Chris insisted upon eating Chinese - some THICK noodles (as he does from time to time) which they should have in the states. Then we made our way through a Chinese Temple which was pretty sick. I found the profuse amount of swastikas pretty interesting, but as it turns out it is a symbol meaning “power” rather than any type of reference to the Nazis.

After the Temple we hopped our first Shanghai subway and moved in to the People’s Square where we strolled through a ridiculous park in the middle of the city and towards the Shanghai Palace Museum. It was at the entrance to this world class museum that I really got a grip on the value of the US dollar here. This museum I would estimate is similar in size to the Smithsonian in Washington DC, but admission to this one was only $0.60US - 5kuai. The museum had some awesome pieces ranging from swords, and daggers from 1800BC to a 116,000 carat amethyst crystal, and everything in between. The most amusing part of the museum though, was the Mandarin vocabulary we learned from Alex as we walked through.

After the museum we trekked back towards Alex’s on the subway stopping along the way for a bao zi. Basically Alex bought us these two lumps that looked something like a muffin or an onion. Then as we bit into them we found out that they were a very soft and lightly sweetened bread with pork and a pork sauce in the middle. Delicious! Oh, and these were 0.80… not $0.80US, 0.80kuai… about $0.10US.

We chilled at Alex’s apartment for a bit and met a bunch of his friends. Then headed out to dinner. It had begun raining pretty hard but we decided to rough it no jacket style… Not such a good idea as we found out while trying (unsuccessfully) for a good 15 minutes trying to hail a cab. Finally we got one and headed towards touristy restaurant/bar district. We sat down for dinner at a place called Kabb and Chris and I were looking forward to a Chinese meal. Chris got a burrito and I got fish tacos - both of the portion of the menu labeled “Tex Mex.” Needless to say this was a pretty well Americanized/foreignerized restaurant.

Next we were off to Windows, a different location of the same bar we went to last night, to meet up with some of Alex’s friends. We had a good time here drinking cheap spirits and telling stories about Alex to his friends.

Here we are about to pop in a movie and go to bed at 2:40am Shanghai time… a good day.

I told some of the rain here to head for the Phx…

PICTURES COMING SOON ARE HERE.

After 16 hours of flying, and plenty of shanannigans, Boxcar and I made it all the way to Shanghai. Less than 1-2days into the trip, we have already had some notable experiences:
1. Phoenix Sky Harbor Terminal 2 - SUCKS
2. Single Serving Friend #1 - In the tin can of a plane from Phx to Lax, some hombre that works for United (who definitely had a mail order Russian wife) gave Chris 20 quai… this guy was rediculous, but not really worth a full story… moving on…
3. Linda - On our behemoth of a flight from San Francisco in to Shanghai, we got HOOKED UP with exit row seats (because I’m tall). The only catch to the exit row is that for take off and landing we have to / get to sit facing the flight attendant in the jump seat. We were lucky? enough to be seated facing one Linda. Chris and I decided to make the most of the opportunity with a challenge on who could give/get the most high fives to Linda. This challenge faded because she abandoned us for some other bunk ass part of the plane. We quickly diverted our attention to some Chinese dude (with rediculous eye brows) who was thinking long and hard about opening the emergency exit for some fresh air.
4. Single Serving Friend #2 - Sat with us on the flight into Shanghai and gave us some pretty solid knowledge about how to handle the scene here in China. I never would have pegged him for a guy that would want to put up with Chris and I’s antics, but he was quickly keeping score on the high five challenge and threatening to punch chris in the face and stomp on his feet. He also gave me some knowledge about corporate strategy after I saw him drawing org charts in his notebook… I’m pretty sure this guy was a lot more of a baller than he led us to believe.
5. After grabbing our bags and navigating through customs (Chinese people are cutters… think. commit. do. is the theme here…) we found alex and were on our way to the mag-lev, the world’s fastest (and only) magnetic levItating train. Reaching speeds of 431km/hr we made our way into Shanghai pretty quickly.
6. Taxis. This subject will certainly require its own post after further research… Assuming that is, further research defies current odds saying such research will result in death.
7. It’s all about the quai. Basically, at an exchange rate of 8:1, the dollar is valuable here. Taxis (as deadly as they may be) are VERY cheap, and food and beer is cheeper… think $0.85 for a 24oz beer.
8. Wol sher megwa ren - which is the sort of phonetic spelling for the Chinese words meaning “I am an American person,” which according to Alex is Chris and I’s free pass out of jail, harrassment, basically anything… and also draws a good chuckle from the locals if you scream it while flexing.

More updates to come.

China, OUT.

I have heard a few people comment on my recent increase in the use of swear words on here. Well, get ready because this one is going to put me at the next level…

Hold Ctrl and click this CNN.com link (assuming you aren’t stuck in the 1990s, and have FireFox (which recently released an upgraded version)).

Bush - YOU FUCKING IDIOT.
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