God Jul, Maggie!
2009 12 24
God jul till mig! Jag spenderade julafton med att promenera runt i Shanghai och köpa julklappar till mig själv. Även om det var en höjdare med kanderade jordgubbar, nya vardadsskor och betala 13kr för en taxi hem... så suger det att fira jul helt själv. Här kommer då min julafton i bilder!
In English:
Merry christmas, Maggie! I spent christmas walking around in Shanghai and buying christmas presents to me. And even if it was nice to eat strawberries, buy new shoes and pay only 13 RMB for the cab home celebrating christmas by yourself really sucks. This is my christmas in 12 pictures.
My christmas dinner: tomato soup and a fruit salad from Organic kitchen. My favourite! The cupcake I got for free. Made me feel really lousy and pathetic. But the fruit salad was awesome! I had my dinner in bed and watched Stargate Atlantis. Then I spoke to my siblings and mom on skype for an hour.
A night to remember.
Wacom and smog and dust.
2009 12 23
Idag har jag spenderat hela dagen med att frilägga produktbilder. Fick låna denna Wacom medan jag jobbade med det. Wihoo! Såg också att man kan lägga in egna bakgrunder (eller teckningar) på den och sen rita av till datorn. Fatta vad smart?! Jag vill ha!
Idag har jag spenderat hela dagen med att frilägga produktbilder. Fick låna denna Wacom medan jag jobbade med det. Wihoo! Såg också att man kan lägga in egna bakgrunder (eller teckningar) på den och sen rita av till datorn. Fatta vad smart?! Jag vill ha!
Den andra bilden visar smogen och dammet i luften denna ljuva kväll.
The second pic shows the smog and dust in the air when I walked home on this lovely evening.
In English:
I've been working on product images today. Size adjustments and removing backgrounds. Not very creative, but still nice braindead work where you can listen to good music. Got to borrow this Wacom while working and noticed that you can change the white paper inside it for say... drawings you've made yourself? To transfer into digital images. Lovely! I want this function on my Wacom tablet!
The second pic shows the smog and dust in the air when I walked home on this lovely evening.
Happiness
2009 12 22
It hasn't been easy to keep my mood up here in China. Sometimes it is so frustrating not even being able to tell the cab driver where you want to go, all your Google results are in Chinese, you can't ask where the nearest western style bathroom is, read menus so you don't have to eat that yucky pigs throat again, not knowing the proper way to say "cheers" and have a drink with someone, listen to the radio or even go to the movies.
Yeah, some days I've felt really really low. One of those days I really need music. But when we got to Shanghai I noticed that none of my mysic was successfully copied on to the external hard drive. And Spotify isn't working. Not because I'm i a foreign country but the internet connection is too slow to stream music. And Youtube is blocked. And I can't have Spotify on my job computer because it takes too much of the bandwidth.
When things are that rotten. What do I do?
Well, I google a fragment of the lyricts from some of my favourite songs and look them up on youtube. Because youtube works in the office and I really need the pepp so I 'forget' that I'm not supposed to do that at the office. Now I'm sharing some of the pepp with you. Here you go! Listen to it at least once and think of me :)
Do not want!
Interactive displays
2009 12 20
This is one of the things I love about China: almost all taxis have interactive displays at the back seat. The display show commercials, movie trailers, maps, make surveys... pretty much anything but serve coffee. It's really fun to use and see. It's a great marketing channel, if only more of the ads were interactive! Now the only interactive about these touch screens are the surveys and the maps.
Anyhow, since taxis are so cheap here they're good. but I can't see a market for them in Sweden because taxis are so expensive there. But what if you put interactive displays on buses or trains where there are print ads now? That'd be something!
Okok, so I took one of the surveys. It was about drinking and driving, and the questions were a bit odd. But plus for faving the survey in both Chinese and English!
Also, after completing the survey you could have a look on statistics from older surveys... like this one!
This is one of the things I love about China: almost all taxis have interactive displays at the back seat. The display show commercials, movie trailers, maps, make surveys... pretty much anything but serve coffee. It's really fun to use and see. It's a great marketing channel, if only more of the ads were interactive! Now the only interactive about these touch screens are the surveys and the maps.
Anyhow, since taxis are so cheap here they're good. but I can't see a market for them in Sweden because taxis are so expensive there. But what if you put interactive displays on buses or trains where there are print ads now? That'd be something!
Okok, so I took one of the surveys. It was about drinking and driving, and the questions were a bit odd. But plus for faving the survey in both Chinese and English!
Also, after completing the survey you could have a look on statistics from older surveys... like this one!
Market day, the day of discoveries!
2009 12 19
After checking out the queue and the food store I headed on along Huai hai Zhong Lu (Huai Hai middle road in english). Huai Hai Zhong Lu is the main shopping street in Shanghai. Here you find H&M, Mango, Zara, Miss Sixty, Vero moda aming the cheaper brands. Then there's also a lot of malls holding the really expensive stuff. Close by is also Maoming lu, where you can find stores like Chanel etc.
Anyhow, as I headed east along Huai Hai Zhong Lu I came to this street crossing Huai Hai... a street filled with palm trees and tents. It looked like som kind of market or festival, so I figured... why not check it out? Looked pretty Hollywood-ish to me.
But as I came closer I realised my mistake. It was indeed a market. A food market filled with all kinds of wird things!
Living larvae, anyone?
Nuts and beans were sold everywhere, as well as dried goods.
More of the dried shrimps, octopuses and other sea food.
Chicken: run over by a steamroller and dried. Only 18 RMB per I-don't-know-what!
Tiny piggies run over by steamrollers and grilled!
Also: unidentified animal run over by a steamroller, grilled and put on a stick!
Dried cock? Yes? Special price, just for you!
Dried, grilled, steamrolled pigs heads.
These must have been some weird expensive medical stuff or...uh... something. The shop keeper hade a white robe on. Also, they had very few things on display and unlike the other shops there were no crowd outside it.
After checking out the queue and the food store I headed on along Huai hai Zhong Lu (Huai Hai middle road in english). Huai Hai Zhong Lu is the main shopping street in Shanghai. Here you find H&M, Mango, Zara, Miss Sixty, Vero moda aming the cheaper brands. Then there's also a lot of malls holding the really expensive stuff. Close by is also Maoming lu, where you can find stores like Chanel etc.
Anyhow, as I headed east along Huai Hai Zhong Lu I came to this street crossing Huai Hai... a street filled with palm trees and tents. It looked like som kind of market or festival, so I figured... why not check it out? Looked pretty Hollywood-ish to me.
But as I came closer I realised my mistake. It was indeed a market. A food market filled with all kinds of wird things!
Living larvae, anyone?
Nuts and beans were sold everywhere, as well as dried goods.
More of the dried shrimps, octopuses and other sea food.
Chicken: run over by a steamroller and dried. Only 18 RMB per I-don't-know-what!
Tiny piggies run over by steamrollers and grilled!
Also: unidentified animal run over by a steamroller, grilled and put on a stick!
Dried cock? Yes? Special price, just for you!
Dried, grilled, steamrolled pigs heads.
These must have been some weird expensive medical stuff or...uh... something. The shop keeper hade a white robe on. Also, they had very few things on display and unlike the other shops there were no crowd outside it.
Stan gör Maggie osäker
2009 12 19
Haha, I'm so funny! Playing with the words from the otther headline, creating this! Haw haw haw!
Bjorn was really ill this weekend and decided to stay indoors. At the hotel room. The whole weekend. So I had to entertain myself. Well, well, these are some of the things I found at the store:
Hungry, anyone?
Dried mushrooms! All kinds! Onlly 72 RMB per I-don't-know-what!
Dried fish. Tiny tiny fish. Anchovies?
Dried shrimps.
Dried mini mini shrimps! So tiny that they were almost cute.
Dried octopus! Getting hungry now, right? I'm telling you, Chinese cuisine is all about fish.
Assorted dried sea-living thingies. Mostly sea weed in this picture I think.
Let's finish the market exploring with some relaxing pictures like this: CANDY!
No, I didn't buy any (which is funny because when I came back to the hotel Bjorn really wanted some).
And cookies. C is for cookie, that's good enough for me!
Didn't try any of these either because so far the Chinese cuisine hasn't offered any pastries or desserts worth trying.
Haha, I'm so funny! Playing with the words from the otther headline, creating this! Haw haw haw!
Bjorn was really ill this weekend and decided to stay indoors. At the hotel room. The whole weekend. So I had to entertain myself. Well, well, these are some of the things I found at the store:
Hungry, anyone?
Dried mushrooms! All kinds! Onlly 72 RMB per I-don't-know-what!
Dried fish. Tiny tiny fish. Anchovies?
Dried shrimps.
Dried mini mini shrimps! So tiny that they were almost cute.
Dried octopus! Getting hungry now, right? I'm telling you, Chinese cuisine is all about fish.
Assorted dried sea-living thingies. Mostly sea weed in this picture I think.
Let's finish the market exploring with some relaxing pictures like this: CANDY!
No, I didn't buy any (which is funny because when I came back to the hotel Bjorn really wanted some).
And cookies. C is for cookie, that's good enough for me!
Didn't try any of these either because so far the Chinese cuisine hasn't offered any pastries or desserts worth trying.
Maggie gör stan osäker
2009 12 19
Sorry, but this headline is only funny in Swedish and there's no good way of translating it. But it's about me going shopping alone in Shanghai.
Electronic market: I bought a air straightener for 50 RMB.
How this vest was sopposed to fit according to me. And yes, that is a clothes hanges stunck in to the vest hanging on to my pony tail.
How the vest is supposed to fit according to the shop: either you have boobs hanging by your waist... or huge ones like Pamela Anderson.
Hm, what's this? Some store with a huge crowd queueing! My colleague Lawrence is from Singapore and he said that Singapore-ians join the queue if they find one because if there's a long queue there's got to be something good at the other end of it! Sometimes they don't even know why or what they are queuing for!
I adapted to this mentality and got in to the shop... Dun dun duuun!
The shop was apparently a common food market or what you call it. Nothing extraordinaty... or was there?
Stay tuned!
Sorry, but this headline is only funny in Swedish and there's no good way of translating it. But it's about me going shopping alone in Shanghai.
Electronic market: I bought a air straightener for 50 RMB.
How this vest was sopposed to fit according to me. And yes, that is a clothes hanges stunck in to the vest hanging on to my pony tail.
How the vest is supposed to fit according to the shop: either you have boobs hanging by your waist... or huge ones like Pamela Anderson.
Hm, what's this? Some store with a huge crowd queueing! My colleague Lawrence is from Singapore and he said that Singapore-ians join the queue if they find one because if there's a long queue there's got to be something good at the other end of it! Sometimes they don't even know why or what they are queuing for!
I adapted to this mentality and got in to the shop... Dun dun duuun!
The shop was apparently a common food market or what you call it. Nothing extraordinaty... or was there?
Stay tuned!
Fancy Friday!
2009 12 18
Today I introduced my colleagues to the concept of Fancy Friday. Fionnie totally got it and had the most awesome shoes ever! Also, she booked a table for us at this Indian restaurant for all of us. We had REALLY spicy food and beer, and Johan and Mike tried to make the staff sing and dance for us, haha!
After the dinner we went to a bar named Constellation 2 and booked a table. While we waited we went to Izumi and had a drink, but the highlight of the evening were the drinks on Constellation 2. Those were really tasty!
Kim bought a bottle of whiskey for 1500 RMB and shared it with the other boys. They had soooo many whiskey sorts there, one costed 55 000 RMB per bottle!
Tourists beware!
I think the dirnks here are a lot stronger than in Sweden, because I only had two drinks and half a glass of beer and I was tipsy topsy turvy oopsie daisy when we got back to the hotel. You'll notice in the pictures! :P
The staff of the restaurand didn't want to sing or dance.
Restaurant decorations!
Almost the whole gang at Izumi. We lost a few on the way there. From the left: Darren, Fionnie, Kim, Bjorn, Jesper and Lawrence. Kelly was still with us but missing in this picture.
Kim wanted to try our camera, so here's a pic of me and Bjorn!
Kim and Kelly at Constellation 2, which is Kim's favourite bar.
55 000 RMB a bottle. Not even sold per glass!
Kim and his precious bottle of Knockando whiskey from 1996.
We left pretty early because everyone was quite tired. Everyone except me. Here's Kim before the taxi.
Bjorn and me in the cab. The driver was the worst ever!
Random drunkenness. And I was only trying to show off my glittery Fancy Friday pants!
Today I introduced my colleagues to the concept of Fancy Friday. Fionnie totally got it and had the most awesome shoes ever! Also, she booked a table for us at this Indian restaurant for all of us. We had REALLY spicy food and beer, and Johan and Mike tried to make the staff sing and dance for us, haha!
After the dinner we went to a bar named Constellation 2 and booked a table. While we waited we went to Izumi and had a drink, but the highlight of the evening were the drinks on Constellation 2. Those were really tasty!
Kim bought a bottle of whiskey for 1500 RMB and shared it with the other boys. They had soooo many whiskey sorts there, one costed 55 000 RMB per bottle!
Tourists beware!
I think the dirnks here are a lot stronger than in Sweden, because I only had two drinks and half a glass of beer and I was tipsy topsy turvy oopsie daisy when we got back to the hotel. You'll notice in the pictures! :P
The staff of the restaurand didn't want to sing or dance.
Restaurant decorations!
Almost the whole gang at Izumi. We lost a few on the way there. From the left: Darren, Fionnie, Kim, Bjorn, Jesper and Lawrence. Kelly was still with us but missing in this picture.
Kim wanted to try our camera, so here's a pic of me and Bjorn!
Kim and Kelly at Constellation 2, which is Kim's favourite bar.
55 000 RMB a bottle. Not even sold per glass!
Kim and his precious bottle of Knockando whiskey from 1996.
We left pretty early because everyone was quite tired. Everyone except me. Here's Kim before the taxi.
Bjorn and me in the cab. The driver was the worst ever!
Random drunkenness. And I was only trying to show off my glittery Fancy Friday pants!
Only in Red town
2009 12 17
I took a short walk around Red town before buying lunch. This is what I saw:
Leo Burnett has an office in Red town.
A bird in a cage. I didn't think it was real, and then it moved and I got scared.
A frame shop.
I took a short walk around Red town before buying lunch. This is what I saw:
Homeless bum taking a nap? No, actually construction workers having a siesta.
Leo Burnett has an office in Red town.
A bird in a cage. I didn't think it was real, and then it moved and I got scared.
A frame shop.
Julklappar!
2009 12 16
When we got back to the office the mailman had been there... and left me a package! Wohoo! It was one of the green Posten-bags that every Swede recognizes. It was a julklapp (christmas present) from sweetest Sanna to me. Happiness!
Godis, en ögonskugga, ett anteckningsblock, ett litet kort och en tub hudkräm! Underbart!
Bara så ni vet, så är luften här så fuktig att även om det är 10 grader så känns det som 10 minus.
Och vattnet innehåller så mycket klor att kroppen blir jätteuttorkad, men kinesisk hudvård är "blekande" och det vill jag verkligen inte ha mer av så Sanna skickade en tub hudkräm som jag vågar och vill använda. TACK SANNA!
When we got back to the office the mailman had been there... and left me a package! Wohoo! It was one of the green Posten-bags that every Swede recognizes. It was a julklapp (christmas present) from sweetest Sanna to me. Happiness!
Godis, en ögonskugga, ett anteckningsblock, ett litet kort och en tub hudkräm! Underbart!
Bara så ni vet, så är luften här så fuktig att även om det är 10 grader så känns det som 10 minus.
Och vattnet innehåller så mycket klor att kroppen blir jätteuttorkad, men kinesisk hudvård är "blekande" och det vill jag verkligen inte ha mer av så Sanna skickade en tub hudkräm som jag vågar och vill använda. TACK SANNA!
First client meeting and terminator pics
2009 12 16
On our way to my first client meeting to present ideas. It was an exciting experience, though all in chinese. I picked up "eye nigga" and "beige norwegian"... but I'm not too sure that's what they actually said.
Life ain't easy, being a Swede in a foreign country!
One of the streets outside Red town. Most don't look like this, but apparently it is a good resemblance of what the rest of China looks like. Here Bob picked us up in his car and we went to the client meeting. But furst we bumped into a vespa!
Finding a parking lot ain't easy. Neither is finding your way out of it!
Terminator country.
The office!
On our way to my first client meeting to present ideas. It was an exciting experience, though all in chinese. I picked up "eye nigga" and "beige norwegian"... but I'm not too sure that's what they actually said.
Life ain't easy, being a Swede in a foreign country!
One of the streets outside Red town. Most don't look like this, but apparently it is a good resemblance of what the rest of China looks like. Here Bob picked us up in his car and we went to the client meeting. But furst we bumped into a vespa!
Finding a parking lot ain't easy. Neither is finding your way out of it!
Terminator country.
The office!
Accident
2009 12 16
I'm having a quite stubborn cold, that makes my nose all runny. So every five minutes I go to the toilet to blow my nose (the toilet paper is so sooooft!). Today there was a queue outside the toilets... why? We'll Marcus got locked in one of them. The one with the broken lock. Leo was nice though, he asked if he should order in lunch for him, haha! Poor Marcus, our toilets are so cold. Brr!
I'm having a quite stubborn cold, that makes my nose all runny. So every five minutes I go to the toilet to blow my nose (the toilet paper is so sooooft!). Today there was a queue outside the toilets... why? We'll Marcus got locked in one of them. The one with the broken lock. Leo was nice though, he asked if he should order in lunch for him, haha! Poor Marcus, our toilets are so cold. Brr!
2009 12 14
Monday morning meeting, we go through the past weeks events and the upcoming week. What are the statuses on our projects? And a few jokes. At AKQA Shanghai we're only about 30 people so we still fit in to the creative room for our weekly update meetings. Today I got the picture for my access card. The access card itself I got on my first day, but everyone has this cool image of themselves, along with the AKQA logo, their name and position on this card. Johan said I should paint the hair on mine with a blue pen. Not a bad idea!
Sushilicious
2009 12 13
Today we had lunch at this funny Japanese restaurant. There are sushi plates going around the kitchen where the chefs were making sushi and other tasty dishes. I ordered beef, but they were so tiny tiny so I ordered an extra dish: meat on a stick! The beef was great, the meat-on-a-stick was ok.
Bjorn had sushi. But not regular Swedish sushi but some kind of deluxe rolls that had salmon and avocado on the outside and fruit on the inside. Y - U - M - M - Y - !
I ate his avocado&fruit sushi.
Dish after dish going around. The colour of the plate indicates how expensive the dish is. From 5 RMB to 25.
On the 25 RMB-plates came this dish: tiny octopus! They were so cuuute! And dead. Hm...
PS not all the green plates had this dish.
One of the chefs preparing sushi and my watermelon juice.
The tastiest sushi I've ever had.
Arnaud took this picture of me and Bjorn on our way back to the hotel. He kept walking behind us thinking how funny it was when everyone stared at our pale faces and funky hairdo's so he grabbed the camera and... everyone stopped looking. Except for the girl on the left.
Today we had lunch at this funny Japanese restaurant. There are sushi plates going around the kitchen where the chefs were making sushi and other tasty dishes. I ordered beef, but they were so tiny tiny so I ordered an extra dish: meat on a stick! The beef was great, the meat-on-a-stick was ok.
Bjorn had sushi. But not regular Swedish sushi but some kind of deluxe rolls that had salmon and avocado on the outside and fruit on the inside. Y - U - M - M - Y - !
I ate his avocado&fruit sushi.
Dish after dish going around. The colour of the plate indicates how expensive the dish is. From 5 RMB to 25.
On the 25 RMB-plates came this dish: tiny octopus! They were so cuuute! And dead. Hm...
PS not all the green plates had this dish.
One of the chefs preparing sushi and my watermelon juice.
The tastiest sushi I've ever had.
Arnaud took this picture of me and Bjorn on our way back to the hotel. He kept walking behind us thinking how funny it was when everyone stared at our pale faces and funky hairdo's so he grabbed the camera and... everyone stopped looking. Except for the girl on the left.
Hey Santa!
2009 12 13
Guess if I felt drunk this morning when we suddenly saw a gang of santas on motorcycles pass by. They waved and smiled. What I thought at that moment was: either I'm high or drunk. I'm hallucinating. Have anyone heard of someone hallucinating when hungover. Is this real? They're smiling and waving. Should I know them? Uuuuuuuuum....
Also I found this cute candy shop in a corridor at Metro City. Very odd placement. But I'm a swede and this is China.
At Watsons (budget beauty supply store) I found a section of slimming products. Like slimming tea!
Also, I found The Face Shop. Apparently this is a Korean company. Anyone who recognize the theme?
Guess if I felt drunk this morning when we suddenly saw a gang of santas on motorcycles pass by. They waved and smiled. What I thought at that moment was: either I'm high or drunk. I'm hallucinating. Have anyone heard of someone hallucinating when hungover. Is this real? They're smiling and waving. Should I know them? Uuuuuuuuum....
Also I found this cute candy shop in a corridor at Metro City. Very odd placement. But I'm a swede and this is China.
At Watsons (budget beauty supply store) I found a section of slimming products. Like slimming tea!
Also, I found The Face Shop. Apparently this is a Korean company. Anyone who recognize the theme?
Insects, and mutant turtles!
2009 12 12
The cab driver took us too far down the road but eventually we found the insect market. We acutally found out that they sold a lot of animals there. Birds, cats, dogs, reptiles, rodents, and almost anything else you can have as a pet (or eat). And also, they sold mutated turtles. Lo and behold!
Here is a very flat turtle with a spiked shell. His mouth also looks weird. Mutation probability: 74%.
This guy is colorful, but that's normal, I think at least. Mutation probability: 12%.
This guy however seems to be a dragon inside a turtle shell, that long neck and with eyes like Kaa from the Jungle Book. Check out thos claws as well. You do not want to get into a fight with this one. He wont pull his head back into his shell, he will hypnotize you and eat your head up.
Mutation probability: over 9000%.
Another view of his neck. These photos were taken with übertele from a safe distance of 2000 miles.
Small inferior non-mutated turtles.
Birds. Probably food for the turtles...
At last, the only thing humanity have to keep us safe from the turtles. Gigantic battlebugs. All sold in small jars.
Actually, these are crickets could be used for fighting. Cricket fights are not uncommon in Shanghai. Unfortunately we were too late to witness any fighting. Maybe next time.
The cab driver took us too far down the road but eventually we found the insect market. We acutally found out that they sold a lot of animals there. Birds, cats, dogs, reptiles, rodents, and almost anything else you can have as a pet (or eat). And also, they sold mutated turtles. Lo and behold!
Here is a very flat turtle with a spiked shell. His mouth also looks weird. Mutation probability: 74%.
This guy is colorful, but that's normal, I think at least. Mutation probability: 12%.
This guy however seems to be a dragon inside a turtle shell, that long neck and with eyes like Kaa from the Jungle Book. Check out thos claws as well. You do not want to get into a fight with this one. He wont pull his head back into his shell, he will hypnotize you and eat your head up.
Mutation probability: over 9000%.
Another view of his neck. These photos were taken with übertele from a safe distance of 2000 miles.
Small inferior non-mutated turtles.
Birds. Probably food for the turtles...
At last, the only thing humanity have to keep us safe from the turtles. Gigantic battlebugs. All sold in small jars.
Actually, these are crickets could be used for fighting. Cricket fights are not uncommon in Shanghai. Unfortunately we were too late to witness any fighting. Maybe next time.
What I did when Mag went back to the hotel
2009 12 12
So mag went back to the hotel and left me alone with the French guys. Traitor and coward! Well, I would not let them win this battle so easily, we went to the next place.
The French are happy to have decimated the Swedish forces to only 50%.
Grilled nuts anyone? It smells like gunpowder.
Mmm, chinese leftovers
A traditional church... I think
The girl with the suitcase couldn't wait for us in Red Town so she went here instead! Arnaud is such a gentleman as well showing her interesting things to look at.
So mag went back to the hotel and left me alone with the French guys. Traitor and coward! Well, I would not let them win this battle so easily, we went to the next place.
The French are happy to have decimated the Swedish forces to only 50%.
Grilled nuts anyone? It smells like gunpowder.
Mmm, chinese leftovers
A traditional church... I think
The girl with the suitcase couldn't wait for us in Red Town so she went here instead! Arnaud is such a gentleman as well showing her interesting things to look at.
After this, we took a cab and went to the big thing of today! The insect market!
Cosplay
2009 12 12
Now you think me and Bjorn went cosplaying, with such a headline. Right? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you! But cool places attract photographers and models of every kind. We found these cute cosplayers who were more than happy (not?) to pose with the Red steam insanity team.
Now you think me and Bjorn went cosplaying, with such a headline. Right? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you! But cool places attract photographers and models of every kind. We found these cute cosplayers who were more than happy (not?) to pose with the Red steam insanity team.
Shanghai, a city designed for parkour?
2009 12 12
Here is something for my parkour-interested friends, or maybe level designers for Mirror's Edge 2? Shanghai is so tightly packed with buildings so this would be paradise for you guys, however you need to be pratty fast since the police here would probably not like the idea one bit. Well, you can at least look at the pictures and dream of gap jumping between the rooftops.
So many routes to coose from!
It's almost liek they had travelling on top of the buildings in mind when designing the city.
Same area but another view. You can probably go all the way to the tall buildings in the distance over the rooftops.
And maybe you think that this is just one area in Shanghai that is like this? No, the whole city is like this! Take my word for it.
Here is something for my parkour-interested friends, or maybe level designers for Mirror's Edge 2? Shanghai is so tightly packed with buildings so this would be paradise for you guys, however you need to be pratty fast since the police here would probably not like the idea one bit. Well, you can at least look at the pictures and dream of gap jumping between the rooftops.
So many routes to coose from!
It's almost liek they had travelling on top of the buildings in mind when designing the city.
Same area but another view. You can probably go all the way to the tall buildings in the distance over the rooftops.
And maybe you think that this is just one area in Shanghai that is like this? No, the whole city is like this! Take my word for it.
Lunch!
2009 12 12
After a lot of time running around in the slaughterhouse we decided to get food (some claim that they were hungry because they spent too much time looking for me and other lies). We went to a place with a cozy atmosphere, and of course noodles!
The Swedes had to sit alone because the table was totally invaded by French people
Maggie is contemplating what to order, there was just too much tasty things on the menu
The French Armada. They only spoke french of course so during htis dinner and most of the day, we understood very little of what they were saying... probably something mean about us. Vive la France.... basterds.
After a lot of time running around in the slaughterhouse we decided to get food (some claim that they were hungry because they spent too much time looking for me and other lies). We went to a place with a cozy atmosphere, and of course noodles!
The Swedes had to sit alone because the table was totally invaded by French people
Maggie is contemplating what to order, there was just too much tasty things on the menu
The French Armada. They only spoke french of course so during htis dinner and most of the day, we understood very little of what they were saying... probably something mean about us. Vive la France.... basterds.
Charity
2009 12 12
The top floor of the centre building has a centre piece which is made of glass... glass that you can stand upon and look down. Or if you're at the bottom you can look up. it's a long way down!.
when we entered we heard music, and eventually we followed it up to this place, the top floor, and cound some kind of charity market. Young boys and girls selling varoius things, many of them hand made by themselves, for the benefit of the poor. There were a band playing music, auctions (I think), the market, a camera team and lots of other stuff going on. Me and Bjorn got filmed while writing a greeting of a wall. The market was nice and everyone was happy there so it was much fun. Bjorn however disappeared from the place with the camera so these are unfortunately the only pics I have from there.
Apparently Bjorn was outside taking pictures without any battery in his phone so we spent almost an hour or so trying to find him! Boy were we hungry when we did find him! Hehehehe...
The top floor of the centre building has a centre piece which is made of glass... glass that you can stand upon and look down. Or if you're at the bottom you can look up. it's a long way down!.
when we entered we heard music, and eventually we followed it up to this place, the top floor, and cound some kind of charity market. Young boys and girls selling varoius things, many of them hand made by themselves, for the benefit of the poor. There were a band playing music, auctions (I think), the market, a camera team and lots of other stuff going on. Me and Bjorn got filmed while writing a greeting of a wall. The market was nice and everyone was happy there so it was much fun. Bjorn however disappeared from the place with the camera so these are unfortunately the only pics I have from there.
Apparently Bjorn was outside taking pictures without any battery in his phone so we spent almost an hour or so trying to find him! Boy were we hungry when we did find him! Hehehehe...
Architecture
2009 12 12
The architecture of this place was quite amazing! I can't imagine this place being a slaughter house, not when you see the windling staircases, arches and oddities of this place. Though I don't quite agree to the restaurants and shops taking this place over either... they remove the urban and cool feeling of this place.
Bjorn took most of these photos, however he's so slow when it comes to blogging that I did this post :P
The architecture of this place was quite amazing! I can't imagine this place being a slaughter house, not when you see the windling staircases, arches and oddities of this place. Though I don't quite agree to the restaurants and shops taking this place over either... they remove the urban and cool feeling of this place.
Bjorn took most of these photos, however he's so slow when it comes to blogging that I did this post :P
Poser challenge
2009 12 12
The first thing that greeted us when we stepped in to the old slaughter house was Aperican Apparel. The second thing was this cute and friendly robot. Just have a look at these pics!
The first thing that greeted us when we stepped in to the old slaughter house was Aperican Apparel. The second thing was this cute and friendly robot. Just have a look at these pics!
2009 12 12
The plan for today was to visit an old slaughterhouse where they had renovated the building with some art space and also some restaurants. Afterward we were to walk up to another art street and after that head to the insect market.
First stop, the slaughterhouse.
These small taxis with three wheels and an open back seat for the passengers are found here and there, not as common as the taxis so we haven't used one yet. Would like to, though.
The river we would follow to get to the second place.
The outside of the slaughterhouse, and the locomotive outside.
Sake at Izumi
2009 12 11
Mag's colleague Fionnie from AKQA invited us to have dinner with her and some friends at Di Shui Dong, a restaurant famous for their spicy food. Fionnies Swedish boyfriend Jesper, two brittish gentlemen, a german couple, four chinese, another Swedish guy and a Japanesse girl were there so there was a lot of talking and singing about in many languages. We ate lots of food (the spare ribs there are great!), drank beer and the bill ended up at 60 quai each. Not bad.
Mag's colleague Fionnie from AKQA invited us to have dinner with her and some friends at Di Shui Dong, a restaurant famous for their spicy food. Fionnies Swedish boyfriend Jesper, two brittish gentlemen, a german couple, four chinese, another Swedish guy and a Japanesse girl were there so there was a lot of talking and singing about in many languages. We ate lots of food (the spare ribs there are great!), drank beer and the bill ended up at 60 quai each. Not bad.
Afterwards we headed to Izumi, a Sake-bar where these pictures were taken:
Decorations at Izumi
What I drank. The blue drink is a sake-drink and the glass to the right is the remains of a sake/beer shot. We dropped a shot glass of sake into a halffull glass of japanese beer, and then quickly emptied the glass. Suprising taste, very good.
The germans and one of the brittish gentlemen discussed, they switched from german to english and sang songs in both languages. It was nice to see and hear.
Mag took some extra photos, of the drinks and decorations. Arty!
Fionnie to the left, Jesper to the right, and the second brittish at the far left.
The night ended with a promise that the british and Jesper would go golfing tomorrow morning at 7.30 in the morning, if the weather wasn't bad. I wonder if that ever happened and in that case how well that went....
Holy grail
2009 12 10
We went to seek the holy grail: IKEA.
Björn had julskinka for dinner.
I went for the traditional köttbullar with potatismos and lingonsylt.
FORKS! KNIVES!
You have no idea what a lovely sight this was. What comfort it is to see forks. Who could imagine they are so important for your feeling home and secure?
We went to seek the holy grail: IKEA.
Björn had julskinka for dinner.
I went for the traditional köttbullar with potatismos and lingonsylt.
FORKS! KNIVES!
You have no idea what a lovely sight this was. What comfort it is to see forks. Who could imagine they are so important for your feeling home and secure?
The Red steam office
2009 12 09
This is what our office looks like so far. The french basterds have taken the nice desks. I smell a conspiracy!
This is what our office looks like so far. The french basterds have taken the nice desks. I smell a conspiracy!
Nice new desks, for the four french concept artists.
Blue desks from the production studio, for me and the amrican concept artist. They say we will get new desks soon, but can you really trust the french? I think not.
Mag's mistake
2009 12 09
Mag ordered lunch by pointing at an image of food she thought looked tasty... she'll never be allowed to order ever again.
Mag ordered lunch by pointing at an image of food she thought looked tasty... she'll never be allowed to order ever again.
Now have a look at this photo, it looks tasty doesn't it? Do you want to know what it is. We had no clue and took a bit each, I guessed squid. It had about hte same taste and felt the same when chewing it, but something was off. It definately wasn't squid. So the only one knowing chinese asked what it was and immedately said
"Euw! You guys really want to know what it is?"
Now make a guess and scroll down for the answer.
Pig's throat
Actually, we got off kinda lucky. They also serve pig's intestines here which looks about the same. You can also find a lot of tasty things on the menu like eyes, skin, beaks, feet, brain, tounge, and all kinds of organs of various animals. Nothing goes to waste in China.
Dinner with the french
2009 12 08
Arthur knew of this good Japanese restaurant, and also one he wanted to try in Metro City. However it was closed due to them rebuilding the top floors so we never got to a Japanese place... Arnauds stomach instead led us all to this "wonderful" steak house that served medium steak pretty much raw.
Arthur knew of this good Japanese restaurant, and also one he wanted to try in Metro City. However it was closed due to them rebuilding the top floors so we never got to a Japanese place... Arnauds stomach instead led us all to this "wonderful" steak house that served medium steak pretty much raw.
So much food!
Mag didn't enjoy her food that was a bit bloody I must say, which is perfect for me! I was sooo full when leaving this restaurant.
Money money money
2009 12 08
Capitalsim at it's best. I don't think I've ever had this much money that belonged to me in my hands. It's my relocation bonus paid in cash, 16800 RMB. Soon they are in a safe, but for a little while I will have them as close to me as possible.
Way home
2009 12 08
Sightings on my way home from the office.
Sightings on my way home from the office.
This is a common sight, from what I've heard. That is, people walking around on the streets in their pajamas!
Fish shop! Fresh fish!
The tanks looked a bit empty today...
Crabs and such. Not many of them left today either.
A small hole-in-the-wall clothes shop.
Never ending food pictures
2009 12 08
"Beef and vegetables with noodles" more like noodles with some vegetables and traces of beef. Still, tasty! The fruit salad however was not. Chinese people seem to think that drenching food and fruits in mayonnaise is a good idea. I don't agree!
"Beef and vegetables with noodles" more like noodles with some vegetables and traces of beef. Still, tasty! The fruit salad however was not. Chinese people seem to think that drenching food and fruits in mayonnaise is a good idea. I don't agree!
Walking to the office
2009 12 08
These are a few of my sightings on my way to the office this morning. The first pic is a snapshot, I saw the guy and just had to take a picture. Can you imagine dragging someting that heavy along? Yes, considering size. He's so cool, I've seen him many times actually. And every time he stares angrily at me... :S
These are a few of my sightings on my way to the office this morning. The first pic is a snapshot, I saw the guy and just had to take a picture. Can you imagine dragging someting that heavy along? Yes, considering size. He's so cool, I've seen him many times actually. And every time he stares angrily at me... :S
Today was the first day since we arrived that it has rained. And it just kept pouring down.
This is a "pao", that kind of bun or steamed dumpling I've written about before (of facebook at least).
This one is filled with meat. Yummy yummy!
Camels & Kitty
2009 12 07
I just had to show you this little sculpture outside the office. This little caravan of camels made from gas cans and other scrap metal.
The last one, whatever it is, is my favourite.
Also, I just had to take a photo of this building. Shanghai is a strange place...
Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) night view
2009 12 06
As we went beck to the hotel, Arnaud asked if he could borrow the camera and take pictures of the view from SWFC tower. Of course! Though when we saw these pics we regretted not going... which is why we need you to come and visit us!
As we went beck to the hotel, Arnaud asked if he could borrow the camera and take pictures of the view from SWFC tower. Of course! Though when we saw these pics we regretted not going... which is why we need you to come and visit us!
In the elevator going up the photographer does the most important thing, gets to know the equipment he will use!
No need for Photoshop, this place already looks like something from Blade runner
The Oriental Pearl
Vertigo? But it's only 474 meters to the ground.
And they sell bottle openers in the shape of the tower. Some designer somewhere is really proud of himself.
We have been on top of the world! This calls for a burger!
Too much Sci-fi in this city, lets go....ENTERING HYPERSPACE!
Sorry, it's not Star Wars hyperspace, it's just a photo from the tunnel under the river.
A view from the bund of the buildings covered with enormous screens, we live in the future.
By eating a radioactive burger, I have developed voodoo telekinesis!
Enough of this sillyness, Arnaud signing out
A final photo taken by me, Björn, from the hotel window after we got the camera back.
Now it's time to sleep. I wonder what the camera will see tomorrow.
Blue lights
2009 12 06
Outside Shanghai World Financial Center tower there were a lot of fancy decorations. Most of them were made by light. The idea is fantastic and the visual effect as well... but all of these endless decorations outside every building, lighting up every building, bilboard and screens make me rather uncomfortable. Not only here in China but in every country they do this. Who is this for? And what is the cost? I'm not thinking about money but the environment.
Shanghai is very dirty. Ok, the streets are almost squeaky clean, there's seldom any signs of littering. But the smog and pollution! When we first got out of the airport it was really hard to breathe because of it. There's never any queues in the traffic which is a marvelous thing in a city with so many cars. But all these cars?
I wonder when there are cars driven by solar energy available to the mass public. How will that change the environment we live in? And will they be available in time for us to make a change?
Oh, well, let's look at the pretty pictures instead!
Outside Shanghai World Financial Center tower there were a lot of fancy decorations. Most of them were made by light. The idea is fantastic and the visual effect as well... but all of these endless decorations outside every building, lighting up every building, bilboard and screens make me rather uncomfortable. Not only here in China but in every country they do this. Who is this for? And what is the cost? I'm not thinking about money but the environment.
Shanghai is very dirty. Ok, the streets are almost squeaky clean, there's seldom any signs of littering. But the smog and pollution! When we first got out of the airport it was really hard to breathe because of it. There's never any queues in the traffic which is a marvelous thing in a city with so many cars. But all these cars?
I wonder when there are cars driven by solar energy available to the mass public. How will that change the environment we live in? And will they be available in time for us to make a change?
Oh, well, let's look at the pretty pictures instead!
Shanghai World Financial Center
2009 12 06
We headed for Shanghai World Financial Center. From the metro we took the wrong stairs and ended up on the far side from Shanghai World Financial Center... but that's and adventure! I thought when the guys ran off towards the tower. We did a few pit stops for funny pictures, but had to take The Longest Detour EVER to actually get there. All of Shanghai is being rebuilt for the expo so the roads were closed construction sites. So when we actually got there I was tired, hungry, frozen and whining. The french went up to see the view, but we headed for food instead thinking that it wasn't worth 150 RMB to see the view. We also thought that if we'd go we'd do it when friends or family come visit us.
Shanghai World Financial Center. The bottle opener.
Other buildings that looked cool in the evening light.
The red steam crazy people team.
A bunch of crazy people I meet wherever I go.
Amazing building...
...probably takes equal amazing amounts of energy to light it up every night.
We headed for Shanghai World Financial Center. From the metro we took the wrong stairs and ended up on the far side from Shanghai World Financial Center... but that's and adventure! I thought when the guys ran off towards the tower. We did a few pit stops for funny pictures, but had to take The Longest Detour EVER to actually get there. All of Shanghai is being rebuilt for the expo so the roads were closed construction sites. So when we actually got there I was tired, hungry, frozen and whining. The french went up to see the view, but we headed for food instead thinking that it wasn't worth 150 RMB to see the view. We also thought that if we'd go we'd do it when friends or family come visit us.
Shanghai World Financial Center. The bottle opener.
Other buildings that looked cool in the evening light.
The red steam crazy people team.
A bunch of crazy people I meet wherever I go.
Amazing building...
...probably takes equal amazing amounts of energy to light it up every night.
Workout
2009 12 06
We met up with the rest of the French armada at the other side of the People's Park. We hoped to go to the museum of contemporary art, but since it was closed we decided to head directly to Lujiazui. On the way ot from the park we discovered strange things:
We met up with the rest of the French armada at the other side of the People's Park. We hoped to go to the museum of contemporary art, but since it was closed we decided to head directly to Lujiazui. On the way ot from the park we discovered strange things:
A man standing on his head. For no reason at all.
The French Basterds decided to make fun of him.
Then we found a playground!
Actually, it was an excercise area for the elderly. Arnaud however decided to get a full workout!
Not missing Sweden
2009 12 06
I just wanted to show you how warm this day really was! Sure, I had a coat and a scarf, but underneath only a dress and leggings. Bjorn however felt it necessary to stroll about like this (see pics below) because it was so nice and warm.
I just wanted to show you how warm this day really was! Sure, I had a coat and a scarf, but underneath only a dress and leggings. Bjorn however felt it necessary to stroll about like this (see pics below) because it was so nice and warm.
Nope. Not missing the endless rainy, windy, cold and dark country of Sweden!
People's Park.
2009 12 06
After getting shopping supplies we headed for the People's Park. The aim was to practice some drawing with Yohann, but pretty soon it became apparent that the purpose of this day was to be photographed by chinese people... a lot! Somehow we became a curiosity to the local people, I wonder how that came to be...
After getting shopping supplies we headed for the People's Park. The aim was to practice some drawing with Yohann, but pretty soon it became apparent that the purpose of this day was to be photographed by chinese people... a lot! Somehow we became a curiosity to the local people, I wonder how that came to be...
Mag Next to the gigantic... glasses? that occupy the people's park.
It looks like it's summer! Its about 14 degrees (C) outside and it's December. Weird, but we enjoy anyway!
But Mag is still wearing a scarf.
So was Yohann, weak french people.
This kid was trying to get the kite to fly, she didn't do very well but it was very cute to see.
And this is me enjoying the sun and "winter"
Pit stop
2009 12 06
On our way to Peoples Park we made a pit stop at a small art supply store to get pens and paper. Then we also made a stop at a Korean restaurant for a yummy yummy lunch.
On our way to Peoples Park we made a pit stop at a small art supply store to get pens and paper. Then we also made a stop at a Korean restaurant for a yummy yummy lunch.
I saw something pink and shiny... I had to go there!
Christmas carneval? Hm, I think the Chinese missed out on some of the essential parts of christmas...
Christmas carneval on the inside of the mall. Also found a MAC store!
Laundry day?
Found a really cute t´shirt shop with lots of colourful tees and hoodies!
Lots of tasty food! My plate was bright red from chili. Burning hot on the lips, but perfectly fine otherwise.
Metro
2009 12 06
Today we are going to People's Square and also to Peoples Park! These pics, however, are from our stroll to the metro.
Today we are going to People's Square and also to Peoples Park! These pics, however, are from our stroll to the metro.
Shanghainese metro! Stuffed, crowded, packed, full...
Hotel window view on a rare clear day
2009 12 06
A panorama of the view on a clear day. In winter, the weather is often very foggy, and pollution and fog mixes to a grey mist covering the city so you hardly can see the buildings only a few blocks away. Even on these clear days you can see the brown smog in the distance. Now less talking and more pictures.
To the north: HuaShan Road.
To the northwest you can see in the distance the buildings around People's Square. At night these buildings all light up in different colors.
West. In the far west you can see the giant bottle opener, SWFC and next to it the Jin Mao Tower. They dont look much taller than the buildings next to it, but its at least twice as far away! The area with smaller houses is the French Concession, a very cozy but expensive part of the city.
Allright. Time to get some breakfast and see what will become of this day.
Yu Garden by night
2009 12 05
Björn here, most of the oncoming pictures are mine so Mag forces me to write about Yu garden after the sun went down. Our story begins when the sun is decending behind the tall buildings of the vast and buzzing city...
Almost dark, mostly we felt it by the cold creeping in on us. Fortunately there were many shops we could retreat into. There we were offered things made in jade, plastic and other ancient materials.
Contrasts no 1. Small buildings with the funny rooftops and in the horizon the first of the tall buildings of Pudong.
Contrasts no 2. Right in the old town of Shanghai, where we hoped to find the genuine chineese stores we find... a Starbucks.
and...
Contrasts no 3. a Macdonalds. Nothing is apparently holy.
Mag....
...and me. As you can see the Yu Garden getting lit up by a million small lights to aid us in the further exploration of new and wonderful things.
We were glad to be able to witness the Garden both at day and night.
Food! In china they prefer to know for sure what they are eating, leaving the head on is not uncommon...
...like this. Bird on a stick anyone?
Or they just put the head in the soup. Why not?
More tasty food on sticks. They like sticks here.
Not sure how this happened, but here is a dragon turtle.
Unfortunately, this is where the battery of our camera died, and therefore this is how the story ends for you. For us, the story continues and we will see toy shops, see Arnaud hold, balance an perform with a huge teapot. We will look at art galleries and eat the best food we have had this far in Shanghai at a small Japaneese restaurant in the small alleys in the French concession.
Neverending adventures ahead. Stay tuned for more!
Yu Garden
2009 12 05
Today we went to Yu Garden. It's Shanghais eqivalent of Stockholms Gamla stan (old town). And it is equally adapted to scam tourists as Gamla stan in Stockholm. Nevertheless the houses and the area is beautiful. I've seen pictures of it in the summer, and I can't wait to see it in spring and summer!
Today we went to Yu Garden. It's Shanghais eqivalent of Stockholms Gamla stan (old town). And it is equally adapted to scam tourists as Gamla stan in Stockholm. Nevertheless the houses and the area is beautiful. I've seen pictures of it in the summer, and I can't wait to see it in spring and summer!
We came pretty late in the afternoon, so you can notice dusk approaching in the pictures.
Lots of gold fish in the pond.
Arthur and his girlfriend.
Arthur bought one of those really strong green laser pointers. Funny thing, they tried to sell it to him for 300 RMB, but he said 10. Eventually they settled for 50, so he gave the seller 100, but only received 20 for change. He called the man back to change it to a 50... and didn't notice he got 50 Russian rubel instead of Chinese RMB. Tourists beware!
Lovely houses! Crammed with stores selling fake goods like jade, statues, qipao dresses and such.
Also the regular tourist stuff, funny cups, traffic signs, key rings... as well as stores filled with manga/anime/game figurines, stands selling weird foods, Starbucks, really expensive restaurants. You know how the tourist trap goes!
Masquerade!
2009 12 05
Arthur and his girlfriend met us at the Japanese restaurant. from there we were headed to Yu garden... but not without making a pit stop at this small hole-in-the-wall shop where Arnaud and Arthur got black face masks and Bjorn got a scarf. The masks were the kind that asian people wear when they are ill instead of coughing in their hands they cough in the mask. bjorn and I actually saw a propaganda/commercial for what to do when you are ill. I noticed this cartoon on one of the screens at Beijing airport... so I went and had a look. It was cartoon animals singing about taking responsibility and keeping your germs to yourself. Very weird.
Anyhow! The shopkeeper tried to sell Arnaud some earmuffs as well. Just check the pictures and you'll see how it went :D
Arthur and his girlfriend met us at the Japanese restaurant. from there we were headed to Yu garden... but not without making a pit stop at this small hole-in-the-wall shop where Arnaud and Arthur got black face masks and Bjorn got a scarf. The masks were the kind that asian people wear when they are ill instead of coughing in their hands they cough in the mask. bjorn and I actually saw a propaganda/commercial for what to do when you are ill. I noticed this cartoon on one of the screens at Beijing airport... so I went and had a look. It was cartoon animals singing about taking responsibility and keeping your germs to yourself. Very weird.
Anyhow! The shopkeeper tried to sell Arnaud some earmuffs as well. Just check the pictures and you'll see how it went :D
Saturday at lunchtime
2009 12 05
Today we went for lunch with Arnaud at this japanese style restaurant...
Today we went for lunch with Arnaud at this japanese style restaurant...
131 RMB each? Hardly, it was 131 RMB for our total order!
Lots of yummy yummy food. Plus the miso soup we had for starters...
All eaten!
All eaten!
There was an asian couple sitting next to us, trying their best not to laugh at me for trying to eat the chicken with chopsticks. Both them and my company tried to tell me to eat it with my hands. But I don't like getting my hands dirty, haha!
Stubborn as a donkey, as we say in Sweden, I ate them all holding them only with my chopsticks.
Swedish Friday
2009 12 04
Me, very happy, with Bjorns IKEA loot!
Today we were going to IKEA after work. Bjorn got there, but I got lost. And really mad, because I spent almost two hours walking around and trying to find my way there. No one that I asked knew of the street or IKEA. And none of the ca drivers either, they just kept kicking me out of their cabs! I was sooo mad, when Fionnie from the office called and asked if I wanted to go to dinner with her and a few others.
Sure! I said, and agreed with Bjorn that we should go but first meet up in Red town. From there we took a cab to the french restaurant where Fionnie and the rest met up with us. So we had dinner with Fionnie, Kim (swedish guy! who went to Hyper Island Karlskrona) and Kelly from my office, as well as Fionnies swedish boyfriend. Afterwards they headed out to a bar, but we were really tired and headed for the hotel instead.
And there we slept like angels!
<
PS: JAG ÄLSKAR DIG BJÖRN!
Good girl!
2009 12 04
Managed to do this to myself with my right hand thumbnail.
Take away: 10 RMB
2009 12 04
Take away Chinese food for 10 RMB. Real cheap, but not that tasty. I'd rather go to the place where you
get a lot better and tastier food for 20 RMB.
PS: 1 RMB = 1 SEK
Busted!
2009 12 03
I just wanted an easy meal, some peace and quiet, some time alone with just me and Stargate Atlantis. Did I get it? No. I got busted by Bjorn when brining the McDonalds "food" back to the hotel. But honestly, can you blame me? The endless chase you go through every day to find some place to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner... after a while it gets pretty boring and frustrating when you just want something to eat. There's no such place in a foreign country. Unless you count McDonalds.
PS: Brendan from the office actually craves for McDonalds food sometimes, because he gets so tired of Chinese food. But he's american. And has been here for more than a year. But still!
Business
2009 12 03
I have business cards now! Pretty cool, huh? One side is in Chinese and the other in English.
Found at The coffee bean
2009 12 03
A box of really cute christmas cupcakes, found at The coffee beand & tea leaf (a cafe) here in red Town.
They had pepparkakor as well! The picture's not quite as bright as the cupcaces really are, but you get the idea. The funniest part is that you don't celebrate christmas in China. Yet there are christmas-y things sold everywhere and stores and malls are decorated and playing christmas music.
Cowabunga, Pizza at "Velvet"
2009 12 02
So, we went to get some of the best pizza's in Shanghai (We are europeans, can't expect us to eat anything else than european foood). So we took a taxi, like you do in Shanghai since it's very cheap to do so, usually it costs like 15 rmb (1.5 €) to go somwhere relatively close.
Some of us more excited than others. Me to the left, Arnaud my French colleague to the right.
The cabs have interactive displays for the people in the back seat. Great fun... for five minutes.
A construction site. Shanghai is full of them, everything is work in progress it feels like, but they also work around the clock at some places it seems.
Same construction site, but when Mag takes photos of it, it looks like something from "Terminator"
This is me (left) and two of the four french guys I will work with; Arnaud (middle), Big Boss Arthur (right).
At the street we ended up on, there were a lot of very "friendly" girls.
Entrance to some club were we didn't go tonight, maybe some other time. This night had a special purpose, and that purpose was the need of the mighty pizza.
Arnaud got exhausted after too much exploring, some times we though we would never get to Velvet, but the quest went on.
Inside Velvet, waiting for the pizza.
And now you think you would get pictures of the pizzas, yes? WRONG! When we finally got our pizzas we were so hungry we gobbled them up before we had time to take pictures of them. But they were very tasty, and if you want some, you just have to go to Shanghai, meet us and we just might take you there.
That's all folks!
Wednesday lunch with Lawrence
2009 12 02
Lawrence, my colleague, mentor, neighbour (he's got the desk next to mine) and guide to the chinese cuisine.
Thoguh today we ate chinese fast food. Exciting!
Beef, broccoli and egg. I didn't eat the egg but I tried it. It's boiled in meat sauce, hence the colour. And taste. Tastes like beef and soy sauce, nothing else. Oh, and the broccoli they serve here is great! It tastes so fresh and delicious. I have never eaten broccoli like it ever before!
Steamed egg with anchovy. Yum?
Shanghai Sculpture Space
2009 12 02
Red town, in which both of mine and Bjorns offices are situated, is a centre for art, sculpture, design and such. So you find different kind of creative and design companies here as well as contemporary art. In the middle of Red town there's a small field of grass where there are lots of statues and sculptures. I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite ones!
Red town, in which both of mine and Bjorns offices are situated, is a centre for art, sculpture, design and such. So you find different kind of creative and design companies here as well as contemporary art. In the middle of Red town there's a small field of grass where there are lots of statues and sculptures. I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite ones!
Office decoration
2009 12 02
Kim brought glögg and pepparkakor to the office. These cups are the remnants.
Living
2009 11 30
My dad was wondering how we live, so I thoguht I'd show you a few pics of the hotel room!
It's one room, with a huge window, a bed, desk, tv, closet, and bathroom with tub. It's pretty cosy, but I'm actually tired of it. Broadloom carpet on the floor, only one desk, no privacy from eachother, no fridge, no microwave oven, no nothing. And I only sleep in that room, I don't even spend time living in it!
Personalization is the key word ;)
Nightview
2009 11 30
These are some pics I took on Monday night coming home from the office. Our hotel room is on the 15th floor, so you get a pretty good view. You can say it was an exercise in holding the camera still because the time was between 15-30 seconds on these shots and I don't have a tripod!
First in
2009 11 30
On Monday morning I was first in at the office. Can you tell?
On Monday morning I was first in at the office. Can you tell?
Good Morning Shanghai!
2009 11 30
I will now and then hijack this blog to write about my experience of Shanghai. My name is Björn, boyfriend of Mag and I'm in Shanghai to work at Red Steam, a preproduction and support studio of worldwide mobile game developer Gameloft ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gameloft).
I wake up way too early now, around 4 AM. Jetlag still in effect, nothing else. Normally you could not wake me up without a sledgehammer to the back of my head until around 7.30, and even then you need to have the gods on your side and the planets aligned correctly for the magic to happen.
So I go back to sleep, and around 6.30 the sun rises here, and I wake up again. That is by far the best thing of living here compared to Stockholm. We get 4 extra hours of sun every day at winter. So this day I had a camera so I took some photos of the view from our hotel window, as you need to do.
Shanghai is very foggy/smoggy right now. First day we got here we could see all the way to the gigantic bottle opener ( Shanghai World Financial Center, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center) but since we didn't have a camera then, youy will just have to wait for better weather so we can show you the full skyline from our hotel window.
This is the view to the left, the street down below is Huashan Road.
And to the right, HuaHai Middle Road
And to the right, HuaHai Middle Road
And this is Mag connecting with the world, she has a Mac so she can't use Facebook at the hotel so now and then she steals my computer, and that's the reason she's blogging more than I am. This is all true.
So until next time, Záijián!
Pics from last Sunday
2009 11 29
Since my camera somehow got lost somewhere between Beijing and Shanghai I hated our first Saturday for not having access to a camera to record all lovely sightings. And since I complained so much me and Björn went and bought a Nikon D5000 on Sunday.
So, here is a picture from that day. More will come later today as I hopefullt will be able to upload them. The connection at the hotel is terrible.Since my camera somehow got lost somewhere between Beijing and Shanghai I hated our first Saturday for not having access to a camera to record all lovely sightings. And since I complained so much me and Björn went and bought a Nikon D5000 on Sunday.
But now let's have a look at pretty pretty Björn :D
One of the crossroads to Huai Hai Xi road.
A small hole-in-the-wall fruit stand. Open 24/7 it seems.
Red Town, the area in Chang Ning where the AKQA office lies.
In Red Town these companies (among others) reside. As well as the Shanghai Sculpture Space. The whole Red Town seem to be an art centre and is a tourist attraction. I have heard many swedish spoken words here!
One if the sculptures in Red Town. This is my fave, I think, but no pictures ever do it justice. Btw, I think Red Town is named for all the red brich buildings. According to Lawrence the area used to be a steel work industry.
Dinner at BECA café, where I most often hear swedish words. Fillet mignon for me and chicken cordon bleu for Björn. Below you see the view from upstairs at BECA café.
Our hotel: The Suites Hotel, Huai Hai Xi Lu. Pronounced: Huoa(h)ai Xì Lù.
At last, tired kittens back at the hotel!
