Me and all my friends

I realised that in my last post I wrote a lot of stuff that you feel like you probably didn't need to be let in on. But the thing is, these weird crazy (scummy) things that exist amongst hyperspeed development, boutique shops, restaurants, cafes, clubs, modern art galleries and spaces, and an incredible public transport system make Shanghai what it is. Take Moganshan Lu below; a small bit of Shanghai tranformed into an art district. Along Moganshan Lu itself the walls are covered in graffiti, and then there are huge complexes like m50 and m97 completely devoted to housing galleries. It's a pretty incredible thing to see just tucked inside Shanghai's inner ring amongst the standard hustle and bustle of the city.

Here are some overdue photos on from when two wonderful boys came to visit me over Christmas and New Years. I lost most of my photos when my iPhone was stolen so these are just from New Years Eve. Thank you for making my first month of pain all the worthwhile!

1. On Yunnan Nan Lu/Ninghai Dong Lu. 2. A busy metro. 3. SNOW! 4. What a standard complex looks like. None of that 'house' rubbish. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Moganshan Lu Art District 10. 11. Inside M50 12. The Wuson River just inside the Inner Ring.

The two photos below were stolen off Facebook. I miss these guys!
Second one is the crew on New Years waiting for the midnight fireworks on the Bund.

I really miss my iPhone hah. Never thought I would say that.

The weird and wonderful.

Alright so I've been a little absent.
After New Years I finally started learning Chinese and went from working full-time to only the mornings so hence the limited time I had to really think and write about life. Though I don't think I ever really think about it, it always ends up coming out as word vomit regurgitated during my last 15 minutes at work.

Here are some stories that I thought I should share, mainly because I can't seem to erase the images from my mind.

• About a week ago I was walking home after class and came upon some used sanitary products strewn across my path. It was gross. I think a garbage collector's package thing must have exploded while riding past. It was gross and I felt a little sick. Actually this also reminds me of driving behind a garbage truck on the way to Zhujiajiao "The Venice of Shanghai", and when I say 'garbage truck' I mean a large truck, not a pick up, with huge netted sack of garbage just casually strapped to the back of the vehicle. It took about five minutes of open windows and heavy breathing to ventilate the car.

• A couple of days ago I passed some bird feathers scattered across the pavement and realised that the dark liquid around them was blood. I'm not sure where the bird went. But there was it's blood, and and some bits of it. Funnily enough, the first thing that came to mind was that maybe someone had killed the thing here in front of this garbage bin to cook and eat. 

• The other day I was waiting for my sandwich in a bakery on Wulumuqi Rd and got to witness a grown asian man throw a tantrum across the street. He was yelling and flailing his hands in the air, grabbed a street cleaner's hat and threw it across the road onto the windscreen of a car followed by a couple of empty cardboard boxes that bounced off other cars waiting for the traffic light to change.

• About a month ago, I got on the subway to go home. I noticed a dishevelled man staring weirdly at me but shrugged it off. Before I knew it he had moved over and put his arm around my shoulder, murmuring incoherently and reeking of alcohol and filth. I screamed and ran to the other end of the train.

• A while ago I was walking to the subway and spotted a huge white thing the size of an elephant drifting down the other side of the road. Turned out it was a man on a bike with bits of polystyrene tied down around him. There were five huge bundles and from a distance could have (I swear) been a huge white cloud floating down Xincun Rd.

Can I just say, the nightlife in Shanghai is incredible and shits on everything at home in Sydney. I mean I already knew that clubs back home weren't worth the cover charge, let alone free entry. And being a woman just puts the icing on the cake.

Ladies nights can involve free flowing champagne, free cosmos, free frozen margaritas, free sangria, free tequila, or just free EVERYTHING until the wee hours of the morn! How do these places make money? And this happens in incredibly nice places and not in dirty holes that people would not be caught dead in.

Seriously what is this place??