Food, Food, and more Food

I slept till my sister called me to wish me happy birthday. I was nice to hear from her. The conversation was short since I ran out of minutes on my phone. I went for my wanton meal, the last ones I would have since it would be my last day in Shanghai. Afterwards I went to Jujubee Tree and had afternoon tea and treats there while I killed time until Corey got off work to hang out with me. I had thought about going to “Long Hua Si” but it was in south Shanghai and I didn’t know if I would make it back in time to meet up with Corey.

Temperature just keeps dropping here day by day. The wind is icy cold and cuts sharply. It is almost 5 degrees C.

Corey met up with me at my hostel after her work and we walked at a nearby night market street. She and I both enjoy checking things out and trying things out. We both like to eat, look around, and just hang out. She’s heading to “QingDao”, yup the same place that invented the beer. I enjoyed hanging out with her and glad we were able to meet up in Xi’an and travel together.

Size 4 is a Size Large in China

Got up, had my usual wantons and afterwards I went shopping with Mrs. Hsieh and her friend Ellen at “ChiPu Lu” and “Henan Bei Lu”, a Shanghai International Clothing Distribution junction. I ended up spending 420 yuan for 4 nice jackets. I learned today that a female size Large is a size 4 or 5 in US. I had fun shopping and checking out the creativity of people in fashion design. Some of the stuff is pretty good. So much creativity, I like that.

Afterwards I went to Mrs. Hsieh’s for dinner. They had hot pot. I had a soup I made myself with roasted chestnut, cabbage, carrots, potato, tomato, bell pepper, tofu, shemeji mushroom, and turnip. While the soup cooked, a sweet aroma filled the air and I knew the soup is going to be excellent. It was the best meal I’ve had since I left the States. It was so good and healthy. I ate the whole thing and surprised Mrs. Hsieh. She later told me how I could think of even possibly eat the soup without any meat in it because it just didn’t look tasty to her.

"Glad you didn't"

Woke up with the alarm and couldn’t get up. Didn’t want to go to Mrs, Hsieh’s. I was extremely tired and needed more rest. I pulled myself out of bed and headed out for the metro by 8am. I made it to the ChungShan station by 8:30am where I met up with Mrs. Hsieh at Starbucks with my two bags of gifts for her to help me take back to US. All her neighbors were Taiwanese here for work. Mrs. Offered me breakfast and I had decided to accept tea and fresh grapes. She informed me the shuttle to the airport is 20 yuan and this is much better than what the hostel suggested which was to take a taxi for 150 to 200 yuan. I actually wanted to take the German hydro lift trains to the airport but my flight was too early and it would not be in operation then. Although she was very polite and a good friend of my mom’s and suggested to host me but it looked like it would of troubled her to host me. Glad I didn’t take her up on her I’ll host you if you needed to but glad you didn’t thing.

I decided to walk to Jade Buddha Monastery from her place. I knew it would take one plus hour. I ended up passing the airline office and talked to the agent. I bought fruits for yuan bananas and apples and pear. In case I ran out of money I figured I could just live off fruits.

While walking I felt the stagnant chi on my back and other places. I knew I had to walk to smooth out my energy. Since my meditation is weak, I have not been consistent in my practice. It has been more of a slow struggle but certainly effective through time.

Made it to Jade Buddha Monastery I stood in the main hall. I felt a light coolness in the air. It was a very familiar comfortable feel that consistently draws me near a monastery. I visited the old Jade Buddha image. It was pretty, a bit tilted forward. I asked the Buddha to help me see through my dears and not to be afraid in traveling in India via Bangkok and Nepal. I asked for continual guidance to the changes I would like to continue to make in my life.

I ate at the famous vegetarian restaurant in the monastery. They had DimSum and a lot of the dishes were sold out by the time I made it to the restaurant. I sat next to a Hungarian woman whose husband is here teaching business at a private school for 3 weeks. She said Eastern Europe is different not as wealthy as western but still very beautiful. We both had two things in common, time and digestion. We both had time so we both walk everywhere. Digestion isn’t that great so we are both very careful of what we eat.

After lunch I heard Dharma Instruments being played so I followed the sound. I saw services for the deceased being done in two halls. It’s a group of monks and another in red robe, usually an older monk in red. The chanting monks are easily distracted and some seemed a bit bored. I saw that dealing with energy of grief, death, and passing on is intense. So it is easy to loose focus and be drifting out of the body. In the Manjushri Hall there was a group of almost 10. The people just chatted away while the ceremony was being chanted as if they were not participants and as if the memorial service was not happening in front of them. It was such an odd sight. In the Earth Store Hall were two ladies, a mother and a daughter. They sat faithfully with their palms together quietly throughout the whole ceremony looking focused and attentive.

As I exited the Monastery I had this thought, “The method itself is solid and a sure thing. Just practice and walk the path, sooner or later, will reach the goal.”

Friends in Shanghai

I checked out of the hotel I was in and with a map in my hand I walked towards the Jade Buddha Monastery. I learned it was nearby. I decided to hit a whole bunch of errands along the way. I went looking about on how to load up on minutes for my phone. I went all over in circles recommended by different people. I ended up in a news stand next to a travel agency after attempting to withdraw US dollar at a nearby bank. My attempt was unsuccessful. The ATMs here is just not like the ones in Beijing at WangFuJing with RMB or US Dollar option.

I saw the travel agency and decided to step in and book a ticket to Bangkok, Thailand. The first available seat was Saturday morning, the first flight and the cheapest one available. While waiting for paperwork to go through I stepped out and saw the news stand right outside and loaded my phone with minutes. I saw Victor’s message about inviting me to lunch and lunch was happening in 30 minutes. I called him and he said he was already on the road actually heading my direction and could swing by to pick me up with his driver. I told him I was waiting for my ticket to be issued and we worked it out so that my ticket would be delivered to me at where we would be dinning so I didn’t have to just wait around and waste time. I like such services.

So I stood at the corner waiting for him to pick me up. I had not seen him for awhile. Victor looked thin, pale, and frail. He looked a lot more like his mother since I last saw him. Victor’s grandpa just passed away and he was busy with getting the funeral all set up and keeping the round the clock recitation going for his grandpa. He didn’t take my offer in assisting him with anything. I recited on my own and did transference for his grandfather and the rest of his grieving family. During a difficult time like this, what I saw Victor do was handle everything with class, and integrity.

I met a lady in the car who was introduced by Victor as her friend. Her name was Kim, she like Victor both study Chinese Traditional Medicine at the Shanghai school. She was a very sweet person.

On the ride over to lunch, Victor did his tour host thing by pointing some things out on the map. He even offered to set me up at a studio and it would be 300 yuan to cover the details. The place would be by the hotel I was at and it would be in the west side of Shanghai a bit far from the downtown. All the arrangements were done within a phone call of just inquiry. However, I politely turned down his good offer and decided to head for the youth hostel by People’s Park instead. I also asked Victor about how to get US dollar from the banks and shared my troubled attempts in the morning. He pulled out his wallet and handed me US dollars for my convenience. I just handed it to me just like that and said he’s got no use for it right now and it would be okay for me to return that money to him after I return to US. Well, this really took the pressure off of me to locate the currency.

We were dropped off at his Indonesian Friend’s farewell party for lunch. Well, as it turned out, Indonesian time is like Indian time, everything happens three to five hours later than the said time. We arrived at 12:30pm and we left at 5:30pm and lunch happened at 5pm and not 12:30pm. This friend of his is also a classmate at the Traditional Chinese Medicine school of Shanghai. They both agreed that they learned more from reading old classics on medicine than from their teachers and clinical practice. Victor had limited time since he was in the midst of arranging funeral services etc… He told us we were welcomed to stay at the party but he would leave first. Both of us did not want to try to find our way back downtown without Victor. This party is located in the southern part of Shanghai. It didn’t even looked like Shanghai. It would be the equivalent to “East” side of anything town in the US. So we quickly ate within 10 minutes and the party still had not started. We ate under cooked rice and curry that was cold. With the over starvation of lunch that ended up being dinner, everything cold, undercooked rice, and chucking it all down, all and all just made my stomach turn and I felt sick.

It took a long time to flag a taxi down. In the taxi Victor really took care to make sure we were all set for the rest of the night and whatever else he thought of that needed to be taken care of. In the taxi he told the story of his grandfather’s passing. He said when his grandfather died his eyes were open. After reciting a few hours his eye lids closed and cheeks were rosy. He became a believer in “Ju Nian” reciting for the deceased. He was really enthusiastic about this practice and recommended it’s existence everywhere possible. I reminded him that they do and they are. In fact his grandma is involved in a few herself. This was news to him and to his delight.

I checked into the hostel into a room full of guys from Europe. They were all very nice and took care of me. I heard this room had better heaters and it sure turned out to be nice and toasty.

The internet here is free and very nice. My family is upset that I am in need of borrowing money again and that I have no plans of returning yet and is heading to Bangkok. So they are a bit unfriendly right now.

I walked on NanJingDong Lu to the Bond. I enjoyed the walk. This part of Shanghai is creative, civilized, beautiful and clean. The building of 100 plus year old motifs were beautiful even in the dark with night light to highlight them. The modern buildings were nice too and the lights that lit them were beautiful. I took the 2 yuan ferry across to the other side of the bond. It was cold and windy.

I like all the shops here. I was happy to have fresh squeezed orange juice at one of the shops. My body likes fresh fruits and juices.

I went on a dumplings and wontons hunt. I stopped by a dumpling shop on the bond. I told them I wanted vegetable dumplings without meat. The lady nodded his head and but her eyes betrayed her head. I knew she was not quite straight about something. When my dumplings showed up it was meat dumpling. I took it back to her and she tried to wiggle her way out of it but there is no way out of a meat dumpling because it was not a vegetable one. They are clearly distinctly different. Finally she said they didn’t make vegetable dumplings but there are vegetables mixed in with the meat. She gave me my money back. I walked away disappointed in my dumpling wonton hunt.

When I returned to the square, there was a live band playing polka music and people were doing the polka on the street. It was cute to watch. Christmas is alive here in Shanghai with full decorations too.

The day seemed long and it really felt like two days spent in one. It wasn’t dragged out boring long. I just covered a lot of ground in one day.

Friendly Coffees

The French man on my top bunk complained about the one thing he despised in China, being approached by female prostitute 9am in the morning who wants to be his friend and talk it over coffee. In fact right before my eyes I saw a few of this happening on the street. The women all looked like common locals. They are young and they scout out single male alone, approaches them speaking English, very friendly and keeps talking and walking side by side with them. What gives it away is their scouting, their hunt and their over forward friendliness for a local Chinese girl. This French man and I had a fun show and tell of the souvenirs and fits we got. He has a seven year old daughter and he lives for her.

I took my time and didn't roll out of the door till 12pm. It was too late for my Shanghai wontons. I headed out to Jujubee Tree restaurant vegetarian restaurant. This one has Taiwanese flavor and I had a blast in checking out the picture menu. I sat in a table of collective single customers. I watch them eat a nice lunch box special for 16.5 yuan. It had a seaweed vegetable soup, rice, gluten tofu stew, fruits, fresh vegetables, cooked nuts, mushrooms bamboo stew. It was all very colorful, healthy and more than plenty to eat.

Afterwards I walked in HuaiHuaLu and discovered it was full of department stores. I just looked around. The hottest happening place was a pastry store that sold roasted chest nut. The line was long and it wrapped around the building outside.

"If only had I met you a few years ago"

Slept in. It was nice. I slept till 9am. My mom called me on my cell phone. She was choppy in her voice and reminded me how I’ve gone over board about prolonging my trip and refusing to go home when I have run out of money long ago. Her voice and energy was like needles and tooth picks stabbing my ear drums. It’s amazing how one can do that even over the phone across the distance of a big Pacific ocean. I realized my mom has a habit of making promises and is unable to deliver them and then goes into great distress. She kept telling to not buy anything for her but if I was to that I should buy clothes one size smaller and this and that. Moms can be very funny at times.

I discovered that “Gong De Lin” vegetarian restaurant is only around the corner from the hostel. They have lunch specials and they have wontons, Shanghai style with big stuffed pockets. A big soup bowl full of 11 wontons was 11 yuan. I felt so happy like I was in heaven. I learned that they sell out by 11:30am and I must get in to order it between 10:30 and 11:30am. The lunch special noodles were Hong Kong style. It was yellow ramen in soup with two bowls of vegetables and tofu goodies. You are suppose to dump the two condiment bowls into your noodle soup and eat it like that. I think I will just eat the wontons everyday because I cannot access Shanghai style vegetarian wontons back home.

Two Shanghai ladies sat across from me when sharing a table together. I shared my dish with them. The mom was nice and said she was a Buddhist and showed me her recitation beads. Her daughter lives in Paris and has returned to give birth to her baby girl here due on the 16th. They both commented on how I looked like a student not 32 years old. How amazing it has been that I traveled all over China myself. They asked if I would publish a book and is curious to see the photos I have taken. They also offered to translate it into Chinese for me.

We had a long conversation about how in Shanghai I would not have survived this long being single. It would not be approved by all the friends and relatives and it would not be the single life that would kill me but the chatter from the public that would. That I would just die drowning in the sea of chatter about reasons why I am not married. That I must have problems, deficiencies etc.. That woman at age 40 is liken to rotten tofu and men at age 40 is like a flower. That people see men single at that age as someone who has aspiration and has concentrated on a career and is to be admired for such focused pursuits. It was fun talking to them. The mom to be said,”If only had I met you a few years ago, I wouldn’t be pregnant now and married. It would be good to be like you with a backpack on and going all over the place.” Both women were nice and we chatted till the place closed at 2:30pm.

I decided to tackle shopping today after another cup of freshly squeezed juice. I walked far and liked it. Having enjoyed hiking 8-10 hours at a time on mountains etc.. for a month and a half in China, my legs looked forward to continuing of such workout even in the city by walking everywhere instead of taking the metro, cab, and bus. I went to the wholesale distribution section of the town by the Garden Square. I walked and shopped until my legs were tired and my mind could no longer concentrate. Then I headed back for the hostel to call it a day. I stopped by the juice shop and had a cup of fresh melon juice at the Garden Square. Then by the time I made it back to “Bu Xing Jie” Pedestrian Street, I stopped by the juice shop and ordered another cup of fresh juice this time black plums with pear. I attempted to locate Jujubee Tree Restaurant but it was another half an hour away and I was not interested in walking another hour round trip so I stopped at “GongDeLin” again and stayed there till closing 9:30pm.

At the hostel I hung out at the internet area. I met a guy from Hangzhou studying French and art. He studies art in Hangzhou at the academy and is studying French in Shanghai. He dreams of going to Paris to further his study in oil painting. Met another man from Europe who teaches art history and is trying to get a job in Shanghai at a private school for 10 hours per week at 20,000 yuan a month plus housing and allowances etc… That’s good money I’d say.

I hung out till 3:24am and was still well caffeinated. But I decided to turn in to rest so I would be able to be up and running in a few hours instead of sleeping through a possible beautiful day for more walking and exploration. I turned on the heater in the room because I was the only one who knew how to use the remote control. I can’t believe everyone else slept in the room in the cold.

To Shanghai

Although I knew there was an option of taking the overnight ferry to Shanghai, I decided to pass. First of all it was sold out. But most importantly, the waves were chopping and it would not be a pleasant ride without getting totally nauseated or worse. I also learned from the Wu’s that there are buses directly to Shanghai from ShenJiaMen at ZhouShan. I quickly picked up my packs and checked out of the monastery. I waited at the bus stop properly but the buses just passed me by for an hour. Then I saw a person stepping out to the street to flag down a bus so I did the same. I guess I shouldn’t follow rules in this case since none of the buses were complying.

I took the 20 minute ferry to ZhouShan where ShenJiaMen was. There was a bus station at the wharf for those going to Shanghai but there would not be one till a few hours from now. I passed and just followed instructions Wu had told me which was to go to the main long distance bus terminal in town. He said there was a bus per hour to Shanghai. It was ten minutes away. I arrived at the terminal and the buses for the next few hours were all sold out. I had forgotten this was a weekend and that tickets were sold out in the morning. The bus at the wharf dock had seats for bus to Shanghai that was earlier than the one at the terminal. I decided that I would just stay at the terminal instead of going back to the wharf. I ended up getting the first available ticket departing at 4:20pm which allowed me to arrive in Shanghai 12am in the morning. It was not the best thing to arrive in the dark in a new town or any town but it was what I ended up with.

I started to call around to locate a place to stay. The two hostels in Shanghai I called were all booked. I found myself no where near a computer to research and my phone was running out of minutes. I could not upload minutes on my phone in the news stand outside of the terminal. It only took local phones, mine was set up in Shannxi. I realized I could text message but I didn’t have enough credit to make an actual voice call. I decided to change my mind about not connecting with friends in Shanghai. I text’d my friend Corey and Victor. Although I still needed to solve housing problem on my own, somehow being able to connect with people I knew made me feel better about arriving in Shanghai 12am in the morning. I guess this was also the only way I could push myself to connect with friends in Shanghai.

On the bus I met Lai Lu from Guang Dong. She now resides in Shanghai and her boyfriend resides in ZhouShan. She said relationships are hard to predict. Although she has been with her boyfriend for 6 years, she said she’s seen to many surprising breakups around her. Lai Lu is a buyer for clothes. In her twenties, she owns a store in Guan Dong. Now her sister manages it while she buys clothes at wholesale from distributors in Shanghai.

On the bus I sat next to a beautiful noble man from Zhou Shan. He just had the classic look of scholars from classic paintings. I borrowed his cell phone to call Victor after reading his text message that his grandfather passed away. I just wanted to give my condolences right away.

After landing in Shanghai, Lai Lu and I shared a taxi because the metro shuts down at 11pm. After Lai Lu was dropped off, the taxi driver started the meter instead of continuing the count. I showed up at a hotel somewhere in North West Shanghai. I checked into my room on the first floor. My roommate was an older British woman who bolted the door so my room key didn’t do much good. I had to wake her up and she was not pleased about that. She complained of not getting much sleep etc…. while I unpacked for the showers. After the showers she was still going at it. On top of that I realized the hotel rooms are either facing the dance bar or the very loud and big generator. I could feel the vibration on the bed. The room being across from the restaurant, café, the room smelled liked it too. I decided that I needed to get into another room and the receptionist was nice enough to put me on the second floor. I ended up having the entire room all to myself.