Exploring the City - Part II

Sort of a more "Food Adventures" type of entry, as well as a glimpse of subway during rush hour.


Pearis Hilton (Pear bun at this bakery called BreadTalk); Hello Kitty cheesecakes!

Subway Station at rush hour:



Cindy: Hiii!
Wes: *munch munch* Wh..whut?

Exploring More of the City - People's Square

Went out today with Cindy, Russell and Wesley to check out People's Square. It's one of those tourist spots to see. Basically, it's a huge park/square with a large fountain and the Shanghai Art Museum. But it's beautiful and very peaceful, considering that the surroundings were all huge skyscrapers and malls.

Shanghai is a city of MALLS.

Coming out of the subway...


A park near the subway - it had some small theme park rides too.


Samsung building!

Some more skyscrapers...


That tall building on the right picture resembles the Sauron tower in Lord of the Rings...=)

And amidst all the modern, futuristic, sci-fi skyscrapers, there were these dinky little buildings...


Countdown to Expo Asia 2010 - the mascot is called Haibao


People's Square

This old shack was technologically advanced with its solar-power panels!

Russell and Cindy check their phones while a man tries to fly a squid-kite

Shanghai Art Museum




There was this random line that formed to cross the street (we think) and it didn't seem like a tour group, so Russell decides to join the line...


Birds flock around this lady feeding them. This is the first time we've seen pigeons, or doves for this matter. The lady was crazy - she managed to grab a few feathers off of a poor bird!

People's Park

A man drags a cart full of branches...

Barbarossa - a famous lounge...in the middle of the lake



We saw a lot of men fishing in these dark green lakes within the park.

There was also the MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art - in this park. We visited it and checked out the exhibits, and we even sat in on a movie that they were showing as one of the art exhibits. It was the most excruciatingly hilarious experience we ever had - and if we had not left, we might have stayed for the duration of the entire movie - all 95 minutes of it.

My Second Cooked Meal in Shanghai

So I finally cooked my second meal in Shanghai - it's just fried rice, with bok choy, ground beef, and egg. It was a little dry (I overcooked the rice), and a little bland (which I like, but if it had a little salt it would have been ok). But yeah - I cooked! yay!

A glimpse of the public bus that I ride to/from school...

The decorations in Cloud Nine - I think for Chinese New Year...it's a huge mall, but there's not much in the actual mall. All the more interesting stuff - I feel - are in the basement and subway station.

NYU Student Lounge at ECNU

A view from my classroom; and my classroom:

First Day of Class

Ok, so I'm a nerd and I'm posting about my first day of class - was so excited I stayed awake the whole time, completely interested in both the lecture and the films. But the films were funny. Of course, I didn't take any pictures of the class or whatever. I also cooked my first meal today - as in actually washed the vegetables, cut up the Chinese sausage (which tasted differently than those in NY), and steamed them in a wok. And I must say - I did a not too shabby job!

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of it. When I cook my next meal, I totally will take a picture...

And so, instead, I leave you with a picture of some really good Taiwanese noodles - my roommates and I ordered the original braised beef Taiwanese noodles from the cafe that's right outside our dorm apartments. And I mean - it was REALLY good.

Around the City

Here are some random pictures from all over Shanghai.


Stephanie at the fabric market - trying on a fur hat

Train station - Shanghai subways are so nice! That's Gloria...

Ginny, Dana, and I (with my new [fake] Gucci glasses!) wait for the train

The train's here!

Some tasty dishes from the Vegetarian restaurant

The one with the red peppers is supposedly spicy, but not for me. It's imitation beef I think...

My favorite vegetarian dish! Don't know what it's called, but wrap the filling in the cabbage - more qing and fresh tasting than the one from Danny Ng's - less oily...

Curry stew/soup; Coconut tart!

I really liked this vegetarian spare rib - I think inside there was taro. Very starchy, but tasty and good!

Nanjing Xi Lu


Chinese Acrobatics Theater

Gloria, Emily, and Lara

The theater... ...and the stage

John P, Gloria, and Emily check out Gloria's new DS - the latest version that you can get in Japan

International Politics Seminar at Fudan University - "America's Role in Asia"

Fudan University is the top university in Shanghai. My professor is the head of Center of American Studies at Fudan. He was hosting a seminar that International Politics students had to attend...on an early Saturday morning.



Emily and Lara wait with me for the seminar to start - Lara looks infinitely more excited than Emily...