Trekking
2010 01 03
There was another reason to go to Suzhou. In Shanghai there are city blocks in all directions for miles. In Suzhou we could take a day of trekking to one of the temples outside in the forests of Suzhou.
On the road again. Shame you cant get a taxi here :)
A nice little bridge over a stream. Just like you would imagine in China.
Nearly there! On top of this hill is the temple!
At the temple. Isn't it beautiful?
And here I am in front of the temple.
HA! Fooled you!
This is just another little garden of Suzhou, and there still is city blocks in all directions after all. Let this be a lesson, you can not trust all that you read on the internet!
Good Morning Suzhou
2010 01 03
After a good night's sleep we got ready for another day of sightseeing in Suzhou.
Fishes are a part of nearly any pond in china. And they always think they might get fed so you get a huge cluster of fishes when walking next to the pond as well.
Hungry fishes does not realize they are tasy themselves.
I'd like to order three duck heads.
Yes, that would be all.
Mag found this kid's bike, that reminded her of Louizas bike.
I think its a bit disturbing that the bear is holding the handles that have impaled his skull.
So you wonder if the fish we serve at our restaurant is fresh? How about going out on the street and inspect it?
Ladies and Gentlemen: Only in china.
Suzhou nights!
2010 01 02
Time to go and get some more food. We make this blog from your requests: Pictures of us, and pictures of food.
And we also add some pictures of architechture.
Main street of old Suzhou. Commercialized and lit with neon, the ancestors are proud!
Serious face is hungry.
I love the names of chinese stores...
Finally at a restaurant. We switched tables a couple of times, there had been a wedding earlier so the main room was a mess and pretty cold. Everyone is happy but me (no noodles yet on the table)
Mmm, noodles. The dish closest to the camera tastes just like chicken mcNuggets, and you eat it with ketchup.
Kiss, kiss.
At a chinese restaurant in Suzhou
2010 01 02
Before going further, we decided to get some food.
A nice bridge, notice the structures further down in the canal as well.
We ordered things that weren't on the menu (Ok, rachel ordered things) and it was pretty tasty actually.
Best part of eating chicken in China, you get the head as well!
Do not play with the food! It's for eating!
French chicken say: "Trés bon!"
Swedish chicken says: "You want to take it outside?"
Bluehaired chicken is not amused.
Cat and fish enjoys sombreros! Next place!
Tiger hill, part 2
2010 01 02
Welcome back. Here are some more pictures from Tiger Hill, Suzhou.
Openings in the walls to the temple. They came in many geometic shapes and designs. I really like chinese architechture.
Roofing. Very traditional style and filled with ornaments.
The bridge overlooking the bigger square.
For some reasons there were holes in the bridge over the little lake. The metal bars seems to have been a later addition. The water is about 10 meters down too so the question is why the holes were there.
And as always there are ugly fat french tourists ruining what would have been a great picture.
Mag wanted a picture with her in the foreground and the huge chinese characters that probably says: "Death to all Foreign Devils" in the background. Unfortunately so did all the chinese people except they wanted to stand next to the charachters, so trying to get a good picture whitout a billion chinese people in the way was quite tricky.
Some kind of drain inside the mountain, and in blue a menu from ancient times. The chicken soup was much less expensive in those days.
In the cave in the background lives the guardian dragon of the temple. The monks feed her a bluehaired girl every hour to avoid it's wrath.
A stone scroll over the passageway.
A Circular opening in the wall. Me and Arnaud and a some chinese people trying to figure out what we are doing.
This kid ran around with a huge hello kitty...stick? Really cute.
Mag and Arthur hurried downhill to search for a hello kitty stick to call their own.
Ever wondered how we get so much silly photos into the blog. Here is a behind the camera shot.
And this is the end result. Not sure why or what the purpose of this pose was. Never mind, put it on the blog.
Beneath the hill was a little street filled with merchandize that we had to cross to get to the car. Scam? Of course not!
One of us is better at posing, who it ids remains a secret.
The canals in Suzhou. Reminds a lot about Venice, the boats and how they are operated are just the same.
Mista! Mista! Wanna buy laser? Watch? Bag?
And also the chinese people trying to get through the overcrowded streets on their scooters.
After a while in china, you will prefer this man that does not run up to you screaming in your ear that you should buy fake merchandize.
You find shops everywhere, looking like anything. The chinese are very creative when it comes to making money. This one is built on top of a bike, very handy if you cant get a shop at this tourist-filled street.
Note A) The scales B) The restaurant in the background.
Allright. That was it. Time to go to the canals o Suzhou!
And sorry for this blog entry being what, 3 months late. Mag blames it all on me not writing it, she may be right.
Ikea again
2010 01 01
First day of the year. To celebrate, we went to Ikea to pick up some more Swedish candy, batteries for our new Wii Fit and some more glögg. First we followed Arnaud to have a look at his apartment. He is sharing it with two others and its pretty nice.
Outside there was some kind of ballon arrangement and we decided to pose and make some love to the camera and not act like retards. Or was it the other way around?
Ok. Enough of that, lets go and have a look at Arnauds place!
The view from the living room window, a pretty nice view. You can see the city and in front of that the parks that are quite nearby. Unfortunately some of the other buildings in the complex blocks parts of the view but hey, can't have everything.
A view of the living room. The curved window in the back was quite nice.
Arnauds gift to Lilian, the owner of the apartment, was the fruit basket. She got angry of him because he had wasted money buying that instead of buying chocolates. Lilian seems to get very angry at a lot of things. So Arnaud bought a pair of soft boxing gloves so they could punch each other with them instead. I just had to try them on...
Look at my tiny hands! Know that its It's not the size of the boat but the motion in the ocean.
FINISH HIM!
Knockout!
So. We got into a cab, put four people in the back seat and drove off. Arnaud got the job of distracting the driver so he would not notice that we were four in the back of the car. However as soon as the dirver opened his mouth Arnaud quickly discovered that the smell in this particular cab came from the drivers dental hygiene. As he complained, Lilian started having a conversation with the driver instead, Arnaud was not too amused.
So we cheered him up by showing how tall he was compared to the chinese guards(?) of IKEA.
Of course the people on the other side wanted to see if they were tall enough. Of course they were not.
So, Ikea has swedish food. And this. We just had to get some.
And since we are in China, we eat them with chopsticks (kuai zi)
Raaaaaaawr!
Sad swedish potato man is sad because someone chopped him in half.
In the making of this blog post, no potato men were harm...ba! Who are we kidding? We ate them all!
In the making of this blog post, no potato men were harm...ba! Who are we kidding? We ate them all!
The last dinner of 2009
2009 12 31
After a long day at work it was time to find a place to get dinner before new years eve. We were supposed to met Rachel in Lujiazui to go to a restaurant there. However a million billion chinese were in our way and when finally in Lujiazui the restaurant was closed.
As non of us had eaten yet we were not too happy so the last quest of this year would be to get some food.
The salad was not cut and we experienced some trouble trying to eat it with just chopsticks. The tenderloin (bottom left on the first picture) was also quite tricky to eat with just chopsticks. Eventually we gave up and used our hands just a litte.
We headed towards a big mall. Mag stopped outside to photgraph the sign of the mall and then could not find us. She was so used to locate my blonde hair, and now I blend in with the local people.
with people! Here we set out to find a restaurant to have our new years dinner.
The inside of the "christmas wonderland" as they called it. We found neither christmas nor wonderland. Instead we found even more people! According to Rachel the people here were not waiting for new years eve but for the huge sales that starts 00.01 on new years day.
I'm not sure Mag looks like this because she has not had food for several hours or because the French people want Sushi and Mag doesn't like the idea of that one bit.
So the french people went to the Sushi place, and at the door we decided that sushi just wasn't what we wanted and ordering some chicken from a sushi place wasn't going to cut it either. Instead we went to the next restaurant and found a place where we had a hot plate in the middle of the table and could order meat, vegetables and potatoes and make it just as we want it. Perfect.
The salad was not cut and we experienced some trouble trying to eat it with just chopsticks. The tenderloin (bottom left on the first picture) was also quite tricky to eat with just chopsticks. Eventually we gave up and used our hands just a litte.
So much food. Maggie liked the beef bacon meat the most so I had the tenderloin and angus steak for myself! Also we made our own chips from the potatoes, tasted like heaven.
Mag displays her chopstick technques. Don't try this at home kids! While we did not have knives which would have been a good idea for a place like this they did have salt and pepper on the table which is rare in China. I've actaully considered carrying around salt and pepper, because at some places the food really doesn't taste like anything at all...
It's amazing how a few peices of food transforms a girls facial expression from "I want to kill you, your friends, your dog and anyone who tries to stop me" to "I like you, thanks for giving me food, now I'm happy"
Yours truly at work, these pictures are taken with 1 second delay and I've already put two more peices of meat on the frying board. This is all true.
And here is what the French/Chinese people ate. Lets just say that we definately had a better dinner althoughmore expensive (but still cheap with western standards). We had four huge glasses of juice, two plates of lettuce, two plates of potatoes and four plates of very good meat for just 242 RMB.
At this point it was only 5 minutes left until midnight so we rushed out on the streets.
Read all about it in the next post!
Read all about it in the next post!
Massage at Dragonfly
2009 12 29
This was my christmas present from Mag. Massage at Dragonfly.
Dragonfly sure isn't cheap, you can get an hour for about 40 RMB here and we spent 450 each for two hours of massage. First hour was full body aroma oil massage and second hour a combination massage with one masseur for the head and one for the feet. It was simply amazing.
We left feeling as king and queen of the world. And we also took some pictures to show you guys how the place looked of course.
Thanks again Mag. I loved every minute. Love you lots.
The last minutes of "Ginger"
2009 12 28
Both me and Mag needed to bleach our hair so we can look like tall blonde swedes. However, the bleach here is not really made for hair like ours and work differently. I decided to be the test subject since I care less about my hair (as you might have noticed). The result was... interesting, I looked like a carrot. The french guys called me "Ginger" and I wore my hat every day.
The solution was to color the hair black to make sure the secret was covered. But before that I wanted to show you the last seconds of my wonderful orange hairdo (yes, I'm wearing a plastic poncho to protect my body from the black dye... yes, it's small plastic covers for the ears too)
Time to go black.
Art gallery (and pictures of food)
2009 12 26
Plans for today was to go to the fake market and get new shoes for me. The ones I was supposed to bring I left back in sweden so I have been using the ones I was supposed to discard when leaving Sweden! The french guys went with us but first of all, a pit stop at the korean place where we ate with Yohann earlier. By request we are posting more about the food, and this place is really, really good.
Plans for today was to go to the fake market and get new shoes for me. The ones I was supposed to bring I left back in sweden so I have been using the ones I was supposed to discard when leaving Sweden! The french guys went with us but first of all, a pit stop at the korean place where we ate with Yohann earlier. By request we are posting more about the food, and this place is really, really good.
Waiting for the food to arrive we already got some vegetables, tea and a cup of egg.
Mag dares to try the appetizers
Chopstick fight. Or just posing. Or both. You can't tell, you don't know.
And here is all the food, there is more on the right but we just can't fit all of it into the camera. The corn pancake or whatever it is that Arnaud is serving himself in the picture was amazing
Lets go this way Boss says, we obey
Flexible chinese grandparents in people's park
Arnaud ran around with his new camera, Mag and Arthur just wanted to go somewhere else it seems. They all have a look that would fit in a movie poster here.
Mag and Arthur in the small amusement park at People's Square
"Good doggie, now kill! Kill! Good boy!"
Yes, it's a boy
Maggie shows off her most serious face
And another posing before heading into the gallery of contemporary art. It was only 20 RMB so we did a quick detour before the fake market
A cute steampunk submarine
One of the coolest sculptures in the gallery. A mix between a shark and a F1 car.
Another freaky sculpture
A cute one. An orc sitting on top of a little moon, also notice the little spaceman.
Another cool idea for a sculpture.
And of course there was a lot of paintings too. This was one of the more funny ones.
After this we went to the fake market. I bought shoes and a new backpack at a bit too much money for being the fake market but good prices compared to Sweden. We met up with Rachel who took us to a restaurant close to the hotel where we had some delicious food for very little money. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of that food so you will just have to trust us that it was nice.
We will end this one with pictures of the posing outside of the restaturant instead.
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!
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.
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....
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.
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.
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!
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"
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!
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!
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!
