New Years Eve fireworks and Donkey King

As previously mentioned, we watched the fireworks in Xintiandi. I'm not sure what the fireworks were like at The Bund but I am sure they would've been bigger there? I can't seem to find any decent footage only (only crappy home videos on Youtube).

Of course I am biased but I still think the Sydney NYE fireworks are always the best. The reasons are simple. 1) Good weather. It is always very moderate weather, never too hot or too cold. 2) Beautiful big harbour and the Bridge. Lots of vantage points to watch and lots of places to put fireworks. 3) Great artistic talent to 'design' the fireworks and make a story of some kind. From about 1997-2005 I watched them every single year. Yes. Every. Single. Year. I would go to some vantage point on the north shore with friends and sit and wait for them to start. It would be a LONG wait if you wanted a good seat, or a short wait if you wanted to squeeze in with all the last minute people. And of course it would be crowded. Very very crowded. And there would be those damn annoying teenagers blowing those big plastic horns that they sell and inevitably some drunken idiot causing a scene, or people stepping on my hair as I laid down on our picnic rug, but if I can wipe those bits out of my memory then it was a good time to be had by all.

You don't realise how BIG and bright and colourful they really are till you see them in the flesh. Then at the end of it all there would be a big symbol lit up on the bridge. It all started a few years ago when they did a smiley face, and ever since then there has been some kind of symbol. Last year it was a diamond, this year it was a sand egg-timer. It's funny because it's suposed to be a big secret what it is but if you drive across the Harbour Bridge you can see the wiring and you can see what sort of picture it is! Haha.



This year, Bart Simpson and Donkey Kong made an appearance in the fireworks. I had to chuckle when I read on some news sites they called Donkey Kong Donkey King.

http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/wild_weather_takes_spark_out_of_nye_537109

And for the first time cartoon characters will make an appearance on the famed Harbour Bridge during the display in the form of Bart Simpson from "The Simpsons" animated television show and computer game character Donkey King.

"This is the first time that we've had a bridge effect that is actually funny," said City of Sydney creative director Wayne Harrison, although he refused to divulge full details of the special effects.

"For the kids who are watching... you might be able to depict our version of Bart Simpson when you hear the Simpson's music and you see something darting around... think of Bart on his skateboard," he said.

And for your viewing pleasure... 2007/8 NYE Fireworks around the world

COLD WEATHER

I'm not going to let anyone tell me I'm exaggerating anymore. It is damn cold. This morning when I got up and looked at weather.yahoo.com it said it was -2 and felt like -2. Then, half an hour later it said it was 0 but felt like -4. What the-?

It is mentioned in the news too

http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/313974/cs/1/

Below-zero temperatures failed to deter Shanghai residents from welcoming in the New Year. Hundreds of thousands filled temples for traditional bell-ringing, or attended parties, and fireworks displays, mirroring activities in cities and towns across China.

http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/metro/userobject1ai3322383.html

Shanghai welcomes 2008 with fireworks, parties, temple-bell striking and a sudden blast of cold weather as temperatures dropped below zero, Shanghai Daily reported.

One of the coldest New Year's Eves in recent years and a freezing blustery wind were not enough to stop thousands of revelers celebrating, from Xintiandi's count-down party to the Longhua Temple's bell striking.

I don't know what they are talking about but I certainly didn't feel a 'freezing blustery wind' no matter how cold I was!

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200801/20080102/article_343604.htm

Warmer days ahead
By Steffie Lu
2008-1-2

TEMPERATURES will begin to rise gradually beginning tomorrow, but not before Shanghai faces the coldest day this winter today, weathermen said yesterday.

The low temperature will drop to minus two degrees Celsius downtown today. It will be even colder in the suburbs at minus three to minus five degrees.

According to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau it will be sunny and warm up to six degrees during the day.

From tomorrow, the mercury will slowly rise to 10 degrees by Friday, but the lows will still dip close to zero at night. Sunny skies are expected for the rest of the week, said the bureau.

Yesterday, most parts of the city felt temperatures below zero, with Fengxian District recording the lowest at minus 2.3 degrees.

The average humidity in the city was about 30 percent yesterday, the bureau said.

The dry weather is expected to continue for several days, and the bureau reminded people to drink more water and eat more fruit.

Weather reports are available on the bureau's information Website: www.soweather.com/pubweb/Indexeng.aspx

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

What I've done lately...

23 Dec - Went to Xujiahui to take photos of the lovely Christmas lights and trees at night.

24 Dec - Went to a wedding. There were about 250 guests. It was nice and romantic but for us guests nothing really to do. Plus the room was just filled with smoke and making me quite sick. The food was very good though and the band (which was right behind us on a big stage) were awesome.

25 Dec - After a late night didn't feel like doing much. We swapped presents and that's about it.

26 Dec - Went to Novel Place, Xujiahui. First we went to Green Massage at Suite 102, 88 Xingen Lu just off Tianyaoqiao Lu (near Novel Place). We had a 70min all over body massage for 132 RMB each. The place was really nice. It looked like a spa you'd get in a 4-5 star hotel. The lighting was low, and everything seemed tranquil and nicely designed. They gave us silk satin robes to wear (mine was a purpley brown colour, and hubby's was a khaki green colour) and we put our own clothes away into a locker. The way the locker locked is the same at our gym, with a magnetic device.

Then, we were ushered into the massage room with 2 tables inside. They gave us a beautiful wooden Chinese oval shaped box to put our key inside and then this box was put underneath the beds. It was definitely the most thorough massage I think I've ever had and the best butt and leg massage. Afterwards we put back on many layers of clothes, paid, before venturing out into the cold air.

We had dinner at Blue Frog and we think we ordered exactly the same thing as the first time we went to Blue Frog. I ordered nachos (70 RMB). It is fantastic!

Afterwards we did some grocery shopping at City Shop just opposite it.

27 Dec - Stayed at home and bummed around not doing much.





28 Dec - Caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. We tackled the mega huge "Qipu Lu" wholesale stores. I'd read and heard about this place but never been because 1) it's a bit further out of town and 2) I heard how huge it was so I knew I'd need a lot of time, energy and MONEY. I had time but didn't have that much energy or money but still.. I went there with her and it was great fun. We saw some fake label clothes but I had a sneaking suspicion they were the real deal. I know skeptics would say "Sure, how can you tell? Are you sure?" but I really think I can tell. First of all the styling is Western, the sizing is Western, the quality of the fabric and the sewing, but also the tags both sewn on and the cardboard tags. The printing on fake clothing is usually pretty crap and riddled with spelling mistakes etc whereas on real branded items it's not. Sometimes there are even barcodes and prices listed on the tag (in American dollars).

Afterwards we went back to her place for tea and for dinner. We chatted about everything under the sun, watched a bit of tv, it was great fun and I didn't get home till almost 10pm.

29 Dec - Another bumming around at home not doing much day.





30 Dec - Met up with the same friend again and our hubbies met for the first time. We had dinner in a Japanese restaurant and then hubby and I had a massage (foot, since we'd just eaten). It was FREEZING as anything when we came out.

31 Dec - Wasn't quite sure what to do for NYE. Didn't want to go to the Bund as I knew it'd be mega crowded. Ended up having dinner in Itoya on Huaihai Lu. Yep that's 2 Japanese restaurants in a row! (Btw the food at the first place is good but not as good as Itoya. The service at the first place is really good and the service at Itoya was crap). Then we walked down to Xintiandi. It was pretty crowded with people and the roads were blocked off and there were police everywhere. Since Chinese people don't drink alcohol much it was very tame compared to what I'm used to in Sydney with stupid drunken idiots everywhere thinking they are 'funny'.

I recalled the first time we went to Xintiandi in September and how hot and humid it was and now it was freezing and very dry. So dry that hubby and keep on 'charging' each other every time we touch. Same with strangers too. My hair (now waist length) keeps flying everywhere too and sticking to things. Static electricity is kinda erm.... annoying?

Anyway we got there just before 10 and it was still OK. We realised we had 2 hours to kill. We didn't have a plan and just wandered into that small shopping centre at the end of the XTD block. We went up to the top and I saw a manicure place. I suddenly had this idea it would be good to do as I could kill a lot of time with it. So that's what I did and hubby just rested in a chair there.

After about an hour (including 20mins waiting for an available staff member and 10 minutes drying time) it was done. I got a hot pink colour (don't know the name) by OPI. It was pricey but heck we were in XTD! I also got little diamante thingies - one on each hand, but one of them has already fallen off :( It cost 150 RMB in total.





After that we went back out and went to the famed French bakery, Paul. (photo from shanghaiist). It's only a very small bakery (as most bakeries are!) and really really crowded. Nevertheless we were served quickly and we ended up getting a raspberry custard tart, a slice of apple pie, and two croissants for 90 RMB. Pricey - yes, delicious - you betcha!!

Then we went back to the other side of XTD to get ready to watch the countdown on the big screen. By that time it was about 11:40 or so and it was getting more and more crowded by the second. Towards the last 10 minutes it really was like sardines in a can. Stupidheads also thought they wanted to move through the crowd at the last minute and not getting very far. Also I couldn't see a great deal due to tall people, people wearing bunny ears and lit-up devil's horns on their heads, and people holding helium balloons. Still, the good thing about the crowdedness was that it made us all surprisingly warm. My hands (despite wearing thick fleece lined gloves) had gone from frozen to thawed our warmness. Mmm... toasty.

So we watched the countdown, they we saw and heard fireworks. The fireworks were only a block away but behind some buildings so we couldn't see everything but it was OK. Enough excitement for me I thought. :) After that there was a mass exodus of people pushing towards one direction so I guess we just followed everyone.








Hubby thought it would be impossible to find a taxi, I chose to think positively and what do you know. Voila! We got one almost straight away. The traffic wasn't too bad either. We passed Xujiahui on the way home and saw there must've been a big even there too. I was almost kicking myself we didnt go there instead! There was a massive stage outside Grand Gateway and lots of policemen around. They were just starting to pack up the stage when we drove past and I saw 20 policemen standing around.

Eventually, we got home at around 12:45am.

I will say one more thing - I'll never complain about Sydney being cold ever again. This is the girl who thought 15 deg was very cold and 10 deg is downright freezing. After surviving the last couple of days where it has consistenly hovered around the 0 degree mark I will never take for granted Sydney's moderate climate ever again. Also I still find it so hard to understand how a place that gets to 38 degrees in summer can get to -5 in winter!

Also I have been wishing and wishing .. why won't it snow?
I've tried to read up on why and now snow forms but find it all a bit complicated. I think it has to be rainy or cloudy for it to snow? Since it's been sunny the last few days and will also be the following few days, I doubt it'll snow. Boo hoo.

Shanghai - 10th most densely populated city in the world

According to Forbes Shanghai is the 10th most densely populated city in the world.

The others are:

1. Mumbai (Bombay), India
2. Kolkata (Calcutta), India
3. Karachi, Pakistan
4. Lagos, Nigeria
5. Shenzhen, China
6. Seoul/Incheon, South Korea
7. Taipei, Taiwan
8. Chennai, India
9. Bogata, Columbia
10. Shanghai, China

Density: 13,400 people per square kilometer
Land area: 746 square kilometers

A population of 10 million makes Shanghai the largest city in China. It's also the country's economic powerhouse, with financial, industrial, transportation and communication industries all growing. The city boasts the largest container port in the world.

11. Lima, Peru
12. Beijing, China
13. Delhi, India
14. Konsaha, Congo
15. Manila, Philippines
16. Tehran, Iran
17. Jakarta, Indonesia
18. Tianjin, China
19. Bangalore, India
20. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your Christmas isn't as boring as mine.

We did have a nice time at the wedding last night though (unless you count the part where I felt very asthmatic after breathing in too much damn cigarette smoke). They actually give out cigarettes to guests like they give out sweets.