21 December 2005

'31

Finally got home to Shanghai about a week ago after several weeks back in Blighty. And what a few weeks it was. Delhi Belly, strange encounters of the blurred kind (just ask the other dancers in the Newtown bars) and a night at the ballet were just of the experiences I won't forget in a hurry. I would have been back in the Whore of the Orient -- Shanghai, that is -- earlier, but had to stick around to watch my uncle dance ballet in The Nutcracker. Wow. I never realised he was that bloody amazing. Looks like I'll have to re-enrol at Jazz du Funk soon... Though the euphoria should wear off in a few weeks, for now it feels great to be home and settling down again. I've got a new job -- doing advertising sales -- and a new place, a circa 1931 building in the French Concession, a nice leafy area around several parks. Needless to say, it's a much nicer place than my last one, which I was paying through the nose for, and was right at the end of line two. Aaah, Zhongshan Park, I knew ye well. Oh yeah, it also has double-glazing, which is pretty damn astonishing, considering the usual sorry state of insulation in Shanghainese apartments. Am I the only one who finds it weird that my 75-year-old apartment is a hell of a lot warmer than the newest, flashiest places in Shanghai? Incidentally, they even get the floor numbers right. I'm on the second floor, but it's the third window up. Just one of the many benefits of British imperialism. Then again, there was that whole "No Dogs or Chinese" thing, which evens things out a bit. Cue ancestral guilt trip here. The staff at the local Kwiki Mart Alldays seems a lot friendlier than the convenience stores in my old part of town, and don't even have to be trained to say thanks and goodbye. Lots of cheap eats nearby and bars no more than a short taxi ride away, allowing for potentially explosive consequences if I mix the two in the wrong order. What joy.

1 Comments:

At 3:22 am , Anonymous Anonymous said...

where am yow our kid?

 

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