01.31.08
black trouble N me.
where i grew roots in the last few days. Now that Tantan is around, the fish is as good to me as dead.
The cold continues…
For many days the evening newspaper had huge headlines about stranded travellers at the railway station. (I read newspaper on the floor, possible over a map Tantan’s dry pee formed). Last night even CNN covered a report. Poor people, worked hard all year through to save up just a bit for the end of the year’s family reunion, and now even this little basic reward can not be granted. There are poeple who spent the last 6 days in the station. Imagine how uncomfortable it is under this cold, this drizzle and crowd. Worse is that the weather does not look promising in the next few days…
For me, I stayed in whenever possible. In beautiful sunny days if I stay in I’d feel bad. But in winter days like this, I don’t even complain things like “my life has no purpose…”, just, stay warm. —And I am happy.
So as I have more time in home, I started to go through the CDs and music video, and found that we have a Sade’s concert. I’ve always liked her. Very unique, both her look and her voice. Somehow I just love women singer who have a deep/metallic voice, and men singers who have gentle voice…
Very nice music to listen in home under this weather–with cognac and heater: Flow. Lover’s rock. Somebody already broken my heart, the sweetest gift. Of course some slow jazz too…
01.27.08
Cold…
Weather like this… stay in, homemade hotpot, sofa, wine, cognac, movie, heater, nap, dog-hugging. Everybody is doing the same in home.
Thats why early in the afternoon the toufu in both markets were sold out.
Hotpot—>pimples growing like mushrooms after rain.
Got some Henna and tried to dye my hair in my favorite jetblack. Dyestuff dried up in the hair and made me look worse than Bob Marley(”s hair…)
too scared and washed it off immediately. But one clever idea came to mind: If it can dye my hair, it can dye my eyebrows, which I did.
Result: So much work for nothing.
01.22.08
Dinner in the city
My friends May and Yen took a trip to Yangshuo separately and both brought back a gift for me. So today we went out for dinner together.
Just running out of ideas where to eat and suddenly remembered there is a great Vietnamese restaurant at the crossing piont of Jiesheliu Malu and Dongfeng east. Price is cheap and food is good.
The 2 beautiful girls were standing over a bridge waiting for me in the night like glowing statues. When they saw me running up the bridge.
One of them—:”What happened to you?”
The other—:”What happened to your hair?”
Again—:”Just because you are seeing us does not mean you can dress urself like this, ew.”
Conclusion is that I look like shit.
Well…I thought I was not too bad. I look like a Christmas tree a bit–grey wool mini skirt over black leggings, orange sweater with a brown showl-like jacket over, a big purple scarf falling from the neck , long earings , my mp4, and my bag.
“But this is called layering.”I said. Apparently no one agreed. May was in a nice black trench coat, light brown linen tunic under. Yen was in a black sweater and wool cap.
Then we walked down Jiesheliu Malu, which is very pretty in the night. On a monday night the restaurant is not full. We stuffed ourselves by over-ordering–Curry chicken, Dong Yumkong Soup, fried rice, Spring rolls, Morning Glory, Fried Doufu, and one really funny dish (Chicken Salad as I see it) which the menu calls in English:”the tooth car is too fast.”What the….?
In the end a free dessert was served to each of us.
May’s gift is a silver bracelet, and Yen’s is Thai-dye picture on a piece of fabric. mm….Very nice.
One more thing to hang on me and one more thing to hang on the wall in home…
It was a 2 hour meal. One thing because food was extra, and also because conversation went everywhere. Wanna know what girls talked about–Gossips from work, boss, ex-boss–>plans for Spring Festival–>Plans for next year–>what is more scary, general anesthesia or local anesthesia or pure pain—>generation gap, 70″’s, early 80’s and late 80″s—>have children or not have children—>changes–>Is more painful experiences better for life or less?–>fake eyelashes—>where (or where else)to make a tatoo?—>where to meet Mr.right—>old songs…
Funny episode: On the way back waiting for bus there is this Pakistani guy ahead of me. He looked at me, and I looked at him. And I was thinking, is it because I am looking at him so he is looking at me too? Do not look. But then he looks really familiar. Then suddelly it dawned on me that he maybe my friend Jenny’s husband.
So after sitting down, I sent a message to Jenny–:”Hey is ur husband out? I saw someone really similar but cant be sure. Didn’t say Hi but if he is then I’ll be so rude not to say Hi.”
Jenny:”Yes my husband is on Garden line getting back now, He is wearing a black leather jacket . My brother is together.”(Good wife, if Gordo is out i would never know what he is wearing!)
Me:”Then it’s him, sitting in front of me.Oh i am so sorry…”
Then I went and said hello back.
Conclusion: if they say all Chinese look alike, sometimes thats how we look at foreigners too.
01.20.08
Tantan report
Saturday night dozing over the movie “Merci por le chocolat”. Very few French movies can keep me awake. Most we’ve seen were narration of life, things happneded quietly, naturally, the way it is in real life, then I fell asleep. Hollywood movies have more drama, and if it is not super predictable or super stupid, I’d prefer them.
Sunday morning received a package of food from mom.Among them also 3 small toys for Tantan. She picked the pink one to get pissed with first. The apt is full of Tantan toys, rubber ducks, frogs, turtles, Olympics symbolic dolls, rubber bones,and now 3 more stuffed doggies. Tantan plays hard and rests hard. In the evening she always tries to pick a fight with me. She barks and bites and scracthes trying to intimidate me. And sometimes she does. Her teeth are all there now, and sometimes she has no idea how sharp they are. She never has a rabi shot yet so if oneday I gone crazy its her fault.
She sleeps with 4 leggs up in the air all the time. Right now she has no trusting issue. Very sure of herself.
I’m waiting for her to become pretty. I don’t think she is pretty. But she is funny.
01.19.08
Woo….
Just sent the link to Mary and here’s her comments:
—It’s Ok.
—No technicality involved.
—Please make something more complicated next time.
—Please wear a bra.
Heart-broken…
New Dress
Was talking to Mary on MSn today and the idea came on to me that I could make a dress for myself right away.
So I turned on my music and started making a simple dress. I have a left-over knit fabric.
After about 2.5 hours I got myself a dress that fitted very well. It’s too transparent to go out (against light)but in picture it looks ok.
Of course if anybody wants to buy, hehehe, add a lining.
Give a laugh
It’s funny. but i am not ashamed of being chinese. its cute.
“You Know You’ve Lived in China Too Long When…
A June 2001 Great Wall Cabernet (mixed with Sprite) is your vintage of choice
7- you get your haircut on the sidewalk.
8- You leave the ‘Garbano’ designer label conspicuously on the jacket sleeve.
12- You have grown used to the picture quality of pirated VCDs.
15- You find yourself “getting back to nature” in a park that contains nothing but concrete and a giant revolutionary statue.
18- You like the smell of the bus.
19- Open spaces make you nervous.
20- You find state-employed retail staff helpful, knowledgeable and friendly.
21- People with bright white teeth look frightening to you.
22- You no longer need tissues to blow your nose.
23- Other foreigners seem foreign to you.
24- You find yourself exiting a major highway…on your bike.
25- You find western toilets uncomfortable.
26- You throw your used toilet paper in the basket (as a courtesy to the next person).
27- You think that the heavy air actually contains valuable nutrients that you need to stay healthy.
28- Any discomfort causes you to think there might be something wrong with your ‘Qi’.
29- Your body no longer accepts dairy products.
30- You draw characters on your hand to make yourself understood.
31- You ask people in what animal year they were born.
32- You measure distances in ‘Li’.
33- You think you speak Chinese fluently.
34- Squatting becomes your favourite position, anytime, anywhere.
35- You think a 30 year old woman who carries a Hello Kitty lunch box is cute.
36- You can’t put a proper sentence together in your native language.
37- You developed an acquired taste for mooncakes
38- You have stopped noticing the grotesquely deformed leper on the Exchange Square flyover.
39- A sexual pervert is a man who prefers women to money.
40- Your building’s security guard is 4 times older than the building itself.
41- It’s OK to throw rubbish, including old fridges, from your 18th-floor window.
42- Thanks to karaoke, you know who has the most singing talent in your building.
43- You believe that pressing the lift button 63 times will make it move faster.
44- The ultimate status symbol is a lawn-mower.
45- You know it is useless to protest when the lady at the supermarket
check-out wraps one toothbrush in 6 plastic bags.
46- You learnt to recognise Andy Lau, Leon Lai, Aaron Kwok and Jacky Cheung. AND JACKY CHAN
47- You aren’t aware that one is supposed to pay for software.
48- Pink bathroom tiles can make any building or public garden beautiful.
49- Your colleagues eat sun-dried cuttlefish coated in sugar and you don’t bat an eyelid.
50- You actually purchased a canto-pop CD
51- You actually played it several times.
52- A PhD in Nuclear Physics fluent in 7 languages irons your socks for a pittance but she is from the Philippines so it’s all right.
53- You are not surprised to see your tap water run dark brown.
54- You tell your parents their house back in your home country has bad feng shui.
55- You are not surprised to see 85-year old ladies pushing tons of garbage up the streets of the financial district.
56- You use the word “Ayyiieeaaahh” every few sentences to convey surprise, pleasure, pain or anger.
57- You believe you are really tall when you are only 5′8″.
58- You finally decide to eat at McDonalds to put some solids into your body.
59- You watch an american movie on HBO, with sub-titles, and try to read them.
60- You like to watch CNN or BBC News World on TV.
61- You eat a kebab on the street and call it “Cat on a stick” and keep eating.
62- You see a stray cat on the street and say “Hmmm… Lunch!”
63- You have a washing machine in your apartment.
64- You think that a $7 shirt is a rip-off.
65- You read shanghaiexpat.com and understand what people are talking about.
66- Your work buddy taps you on the shoulder to talk to you, and you say “Bu Yan” (no thank you!) out of habit.
67- You offer to sell your own watch to a $2 Rolex street vendor, to fend him off.
68. You think you should wear nylon sox with your Nikes, stilettos or sandals in the summer, instead of cotton ones.
69. You question the waitress who didn’t cut your steak piece by piece, and ask for chopsticks.
70. You always leave your tray and trash on the table when you are in Starbucks and Maccas because you insist that is the way to keep everyone employed
71. You’re a hardworking person, voluntarily doing over time everyday, because you only chatted with your friends on QQ during office hours.
72. You buy an XXXL T-shirt when you returned home.
73. You take large sum of cash whenever you go to the hospital in your home country
74. You are no longer flinching every few seconds in a Taxi ride.
75. You can pinch off one nostril and let it rip.
76. You chew on “Ducks blood” like a fatty piece of beef.
77. You have no reservations about spitting sun flower seeds on a restaurant floor.
78. You start reaching for a piece of fish with your chop sticks and don’t even notice the fish looking back at you.
79. Walking across the street, against the light, and in and out of traffic is a piece of cake.
80. Your brand new bicycle only cost you $20.
81. Your washing machine looks like it was made by Matell.
82. You are now washing your socks in the sink.
83. You get your ears cleaned in a public square by a guy with a two foot long Q-Tip.
84. You think it’s okay that your girlfriend has a chinese boyfriend too, cause she doesn’t like him.
85. You try to haggle over the rental price of a $110 a month apartment.
86. You accept the fact that the bathroom sink “doesn’t work” and just use the kitchen sink instead.
87. You think it’s silly to buy a new bike when it’ll get stolen soon and stolen bikes are half the price.
88. You relish the thought of pizza hut, but only go on special occasions.
89. You’d rather pay the 10 yuan for an all night stay at the internet cafe than the 30 for a taxi home.
90. You get up early for a backwards walk and thrust your hand at a 45 degree angle into the sky over and over for balanced excercise.
91. When refusing someone something they expected or counted on you just say “Sorry” (buhaoyise) with no explanation whatsoever.
92.When asked your reasons you just repeat “Sorry” (buhaoyisi).
93. You go to Carrefour to shop for girls.
94. You don’t ask your 30 year old girlfriend if she wants to stay over cause you know her mom won’t let her stay out past 2.
95. Ice cubes in beer actually make it cooler and more refreshing ”