September 27th, 2006. Filed under: Blog
Hello hello hello…. Its me Justin blogging all the way from Shanghai. Tonight I’m just gonna lay out the facts that I’ve learned about this place.
Cars are left-hand drive. Just like USA. Ironic, if you ask me. But yeah, I learned that the moment I stepped out of the airport.
The bathrooms are also left-hand drive. The flush handle of the toilet is on the left side, the faucet knobs turn clockwise to turn on. And the worst part is the shower knobs turn the opposite way. So its doubly confusing.
There is a LOT of people here. In one minor street alone you can already find a hundred people. My dad says its the entire Malaysian population fit into a single city: Shanghai. I haven’t verified that fact but I believe him.
The subways are underground.
The food is here is pretty oily. You can put on a few pounds simply by eating the local delics next door. Oh, and the Peking duck in the Grapery Restaurant consists only of duck skin, prawn crackers, sauce and varnish. (Whats missing? The meat, dumbass)
The sun sets a little earlier. Its autumn now so it gets sunny up till only 3-4pm. Then its nice and windy.
The rent for apartments in the city center is DEAD COSTLY.
Pirated/imitation stuff is cheap and has a little more quality than in Malaysia. They know how to pirate things well. Apparel, DVDs, stuff.
There are more Western brands found here than in KL. Especially apparel. If you want to shop for clothing here you’d drop dead before you glancing at every single shop available. Of course, that includes imitations.
There are ads everywhere, like I mentioned in Part 1. TV screens outside the lifts, inside the lifts, inside the subway trains, inside taxi cabs, everywhere.
People here like Ikea.
For some reason, of all non-Chinese restaurants, I see more Italian food (ie Pizza). Not just Pizza Hut.
Starbucks. Everywhere.
Just because the pedestrian light is green doesnt mean you’re safe.
There are phone booths with doors. Superman must be nearby.
Some roads here are pretty long; the sign posts tell you which way is East, West, etc.
Thats all I can dish out for now. Pooped out. Till next time..
September 25th, 2006. Filed under: Blog
Hello, fellow readers. This is my first post written away from Malaysia, and my second away from my own room. My first time blogging outside the house was this post. I am currently in Luwan District, Shanghai, China. The season: autumn. Weather: windy+sunny/cooling. Internet: fast like hell. Culture: shocking.
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September 23rd, 2006. Filed under: Blog
Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. Guys and Gals. Dudes and Dudettes. Tonight will be my first time in seven whole years sitting on a real plane and step out of this country. Yes, seven years. In that time, the furthest I ever went was Penang. I didn’t even go to any Pulau whatever. Believe it or not. My old passport has a photo of some kid who looks eerily familiar. So I renewed it, of course.
I will return on the 9th of October, which happens to be the first day of the next semester. This means two thirds of my holidays will be spent in Shanghai. Grumble grumble. Of all places my bro had to find an awesome job in China and not some other cool place like Italy or Hollywood.
Worry not, I will try to post an entry or two while I’m there. Though I fear most of my time will be spent out and about, communicating using nothing but sign language and facial expressions. If you didn’t get that joke, I can’t speak Mandarin dangit. If you wish to catch me on MSN, my nickname will be ‘Shanghai Justin’ as adapted from the movie ‘Shanghai noon’.
Til next time..
September 22nd, 2006. Filed under: Blog
Bazzoommm Bazzowww!!! I have been given the fabulous priviledge of being an author+co-developer of www.xblogger.net. It is the first Malaysian made (As far as we have observed) blog network. What’s a blog network? It’s like weblogs.inc, and one of its blogs is the popular Engadget.
So far it’s still in its baby stages but you can just drop in and watch it grow. I will be writing for the tech, movies, and jokes division. Note that this blog is not a 100% reflection of my knowledge of blogging. It’s just that I did not devote enough to it. For example, I know enough not to ping PPS for the smallest of reasons. Please learn from that.
Also I want to mention again that I was co-creator of Robertchai, a Malaysian blog contest with real prizes. Seriously, real prizes. Seriously. Go right in and register. The first ever Robertchai winners in history will be announced and awarded in the next couple of days. Do check it out!
Enjoy.