Always traveling...

I've noticed that amongst expats in Shanghai everyone is always traveling - whether it be to a nearby water town village, or to somewhere further like Beijing or to another Asian country or back 'home' to Europe or the States or wherever.. it seems that most expats are on holidays for a lot of the time, several times a year! I think this is definitely one of the perks of living here. It's easily accessible to other places and domestically it's fairly cheap to fly (or you can go by train if you want to go super budget!)

I love travel and love looking and everyone's travel pics on Facebook and drooling over them with jealousy (I have to admit I don't like other subjects as much.)

Random photos

Rail maps at People's Square showing the new lines.. crazy stuff.. the People's Square station has 20 exits!!






View of Cloud Nine mall through a taxi window



Some place I have no idea where but I liked the colour.



Qipu Lu





Gorgeous book cover of a children's storybook



Carrefour today:

If you translate "Spice girls" into Chinese and then back into English it becomes "Spicy Girls" so it's Chinglish I guess. I found it amusing because my mother calls that group the "Spicy Girls" too!





There was some crazy shoe sale going on. 10-20 RMB (about $1.50-$3) a pair! I did take a quick look and the styles weren't too bad but the queues were horrendous and the quality wasn't that great.. but the price is just unbelievable! Only in China, eh?



Something about giving away free bags. Carrefour's bid to help the environment. They are probably warming us up for when they stop giving out free plastic shopping bags. I feel so stupid now thinking it started tomorrow, when it started yesterday! (the 6th). I could've claimed my free enviro bag today but didn't :(



We got new kitchen taps! Yay for Mr Fang.



Some crappy dinner I made - lamb chops, fried rice and lettuce. The hubby liked it, though, amazingly.



I've also added photos to my Paul's post yesterday (the 6th!)

1 year in Shanghai

For some reason I've been out of it with dates since I got sick and hadn't been out much.. I thought today was the 5th! then after looking at my computer it told me it was the 7th. Then I realized that yesterday (the 6th) it was exactly one year since we arrived in Shanghai.

Freaky how time flies! But I've learnt so much and had a total blast :)

Canon G9 revisited

Related post

Last Saturday we took my mother who was here visiting to our fave massage place. I got into a discussion with my mother's massage girl (who I picked out for her) about my camera. Turns out that she had that same camera as me (Did I also mention that I noticed some girl at the Nanhui blossom festival also had the same camera - I had no idea it was so well-known and popular). Now, when I bought it it was a brand new model so the most expensive it'll ever be. It was more expensive than Hong Kong or USA, but cheaper than Australia. Anyway so this girl tells me she also bought the G9 and I was really shocked because to me it was a lot of money but to her it must've been a mega huge fortune.

Anyway, it turns out her 2 year old son threw it out a window!!! Can you imagine? He likes playing with things and throwing things.. I was horrified. Gosh this poor girl who spent her life savings on a fairly expensive camera (expensive for a point&shoot anyway, and very expensive for an average Chinese person). I felt so heartbroken for her. But he's just a little kid who doesn't understand so what can you do? :( My mother took it upon herself to give her a lecture on parenting and not keeping expensive objects within his reach. haha.

Anyway, I'm thinking of getting a flash unit. One that will be compatible with Canon SLR models too. The 430Ex Speedlite is the smallest unit (current model) with a rotating head. It looks hilarious and kind of stupid this tiny camera with such a massive flash on it though!

Here is a good article about flash units for the G9.

Stupid fashion

I've just had it with today's fashion. Nearly everything that is out there I dislike. I am sick of the baggy sack shapeless dresses that fall from the armpit to the hem. I am sick of empire-lines that make you look pregnant when you're not. I'm sick of strapless, I'm sick of plunging v-necks which I think are way too revealing and unflattering for both small and big-breasted women. I'm sick of tops or dresses that are baggy in some areas and lycra skin tight in others. Did I also say that I've hated hipster jeans/pants ever since they came out, and I'm so glad that that fashion trend is slowly dying... ARGH!

Why is today's fashion so damn hideous and ugly and uncomfortable? I'm not fat or pregnant and I don't want to look fat or pregnant! At this rate I may as well join the rest of the Shanghai locals and wear pajamas out in public!

On another semi-related note - what happened to Camper shoes? They used to be known for their cute, quirky and whimsical designs and comfort. Now they are neither that comfortable or cute and whimsical. Well I had a quick look at their website and hardly any of their designs are that interesting. They look like normal shoes you'd find anywhere! and with a high price tag, too!