Well, well, well. I am successfully living in an apartment on my own in Shanghai! It's still very overwhelming, but very slowly it is becoming mine, need to make an Idea run yet to stock up the kitchen and get properly fitting sheets for the bed. The kitchen is...tiny... as well as the bathroom. Case and point:
No oven or dryer which is interesting. Because of the humidity and heat it takes a LONG time for clothes to dry. Something I didn't even think about before coming out.
Another thing I didn't think about was that this is Asia and they use chopsticks over here. Not forks, and at a restaurant it's not an option like the Western Chinese food places. Because I have always struggled with these wooden utensils it takes extra slow to eat. This is not good, people get annoyed to eat with me in the States! Yikes.
As far as eating goes, it has been interesting. I think in some ways I have lucked out not to have a terribly sensitive stomach. I have eaten a variety of things, from very authentic thin bubbly crusted Italian pizza, burger and fries (not courtesy of McD's..), pigeon served with heads on the plate, deli sandwiches, hot pot, yellow curry, wonton soup many different chicken and beef dishes, eggplant and of course lots of rice. Most has been tasty!
The weirdest thing so far was this fried/breaded beef dish with mayo on top with funfetti sprinkles. To put that in your mouth not sure what to expect- looks sweet with the sprinkles-then have it be beef.. boggled my mind.
Here are is an interesting item at local supermarket. Please note the flavor of chip- these oddities are found in all chips and crackers, even Lays and Pringles.
Living in a hotel for 3 weeks definitely did not lend me the option to cook, so now that I actually
have a half a kitchen, I get to try. Everyone says that it's actually cheaper to eat out- I just need to find these places. It really is amazing though, for this authentic lasagna I had the other night it was about $10 and that was one of the more expensive places I've eaten. Typically meals cost between $1.50-$5. Wow. Once I try my hand in the Chinese kitchen I'll let you know how it goes.
I did very recently (tonight actually..) find an amazing internet cafe right next to my apartment. Here's an inside pic as I'm sipping my delicious cab. This may become a regular weekly occurrence...
On the way to work the other day I got a bit sidetracked. Left early to explore the city a bit and
explore I did aside from the massive thunderstorm I trekked through. I found an amazing park that I would love to return to. It had trees and grass, a pond and little statues, here are photos from it to help show how unique.
Well that's about it for now folks. Again, any suggestions of places to visit are more than welcome! Next week with work we are going to a nearby water town, I'm so excited to leave Shanghai for the day. Can't wait to visit Hangzhou and Suzhou as well... those trips need to be planned soon.
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