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Published: February 19th 2010
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Hello again from Shanghai.
I can’t believe my visit is nearly over, but Joanna and Ian have been arranging things for when they are home in July so that has made their visit seem a little closer. It has been really lovely to be here with the family and join in their day to day life and do some amazing things as well.
Last week we went to dinner at Sam and Linda’s and they cooked a traditional Indonesian meal for us. It was delicious and such an interesting meal, it made our meat and 2 veg English meals seem rather boring. There were lots of accompaniments to the meat, all of which were so good. Sam and Linda are good friends of Joanna and Ian and they have been very kind whilst I have been here and we have been to several places with them.
After our trip to M&S last week, we went to Pho Sizzling, another very different eating place which was Vietnamese. As you can see from the photos, William and Sophie love the huge bowls of soup with noodles and meatballs - and the huge spoons!! I can’t remember how many different types of food
I have eaten and restaurants we have been to but we have always punctuated them with visits to Ian’s favourite place - Starbucks!
As I said in my first blog, the fireworks had already started for Chinese New Year and as the 14th approached it really was unbelievable. Fireworks night at home will never be the same again! Apparently the fireworks are set off here to frighten away the evil spirits first. These are actually firecrackers which when lit just make the most horrendous noise and run along the ground. Then the fireworks as we know them began, only on a bigger scale. Joanna and Ian live in a compound with lots of blocks of apartments. They live on the 11th floor which is one down from the top in this block. The view of the fireworks from the balcony was just amazing as all the different blocks set off their firecrackers and then their fireworks and it went on and on and on, starting like there was a war on at about 10.45pm and continuing until about 1.30am, although they still went on all night on and off. Out on the balcony the sound reverberated all around the
blocks and it was deafening! The fireworks have continued since Sunday and are still going off. Last night was the 5th day after the New Year and the Festival of the God of Prosperity and so the fireworks began again in earnest, just the same as the actual New Year. In fact we were woken this morning at 7am with the most almighty bang just outside the block! Last night when we went to bed at 11pm they were really getting under way and it was a case of bury yourself under the duvet and wait for a pause in the bangs to try and sleep! And so they go on - as I say an unbelievable experience. The roads and pathways everywhere are now littered with the rubbish from the fireworks boxes, there is red cardboard all over the place. I don’t envy the cleaners!
Last night we went out again with Linda and Sam, who are from Indonesia, and their two children. They have been here 3 years and Linda has explored Shanghai extensively and found lots of interesting places which she has told Joanna about, for example a couple of book shops which sell English books,
albeit they are quite expensive. Last night we went with them to a super restaurant and yet again I tried different dishes. When we first sat down a waiter came with what looked like a watering can with a long thin spout and proceeded to pour hot water into a cup set at each place with tea leaves and berries in. It was really nice and I enjoyed several cups! After the meal we went to YuYuan Gardens to the Lantern Festival. What can I say - there’s no way I can describe the atmosphere and the spectacle of all the beautiful red lanterns everywhere. There was a bridge over some water and on the water were what Joanna described as like our Nativity scenes, only the Chinese scenes with the dragons and it was very colourful. We went into a Tea shop there and I bought some Jasmine tea for my friend Barbara as she loves it. Buying it was another experience as the young couple in the shop let us try some other teas as well. There were lots of shops and food stalls, with a queue a mile long for the Chinese steamed dumplings. On the way
home we saw lots more fireworks going off everywhere along the way and the children loved it, although by this time they were all very tired. Sophie and William fell into bed when we got home and didn’t move, even though the war was going on outside!!
Joanna is adding some photos to this blog and when we were choosing, I noticed that I had forgotten to mention the Hot Pot where we also went with Linda and Sam, Sarah and Sebastian. We were all given red aprons (as you can see) and we went to a counter where we made our own sauces from about 30 bowls of different ingredients. Back to the table and the girl brought meat which she put in the 2 boiling pans in the middle of the table - one spicy and one chicken stock (I think). These containers also had various herbs and she brought big bowls of mushrooms, spinach, beef and thinly sliced lamb, also tofu. These were all cooked together and everyone helped themselves. We all had a bowl of rice as well of course! It was all very delicious but not exactly a relaxing meal for Joanna and Linda who
were serving all the children continuously as they finished what was in their little bowls. I’m not sure how much they got to eat themselves actually! When we left there we went across the road to an Ice Cream Parlour where we chose from an array of flavours.
I have been supermarket shopping with Joanna and when we went on New Year’s Eve it was like Christmas Eve in Tesco at home only 100 times worse. The Chinese don’t have good manners in these situations and push their way in if given a chance. It was mayhem! There was a chilled cabinet with people crowded around it and when we got closer I could see them all picking over the whole chickens! One lady just picked one up by its legs and walked around with it, head dangling!
All in all yet again I have had a wonderful time here with Joanna, Ian and especially Sophie and William. The sights and sounds - and smells - of Shanghai are really something to be experienced.
See you all at home. I hope you have enjoyed a taste of my holiday.
Love to you all
Anne xx
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Terence LLoren
Growing Up With Shanghai
Hi! Great stories! I just want to tell you about my new project called- Growing Up With Shanghai. It lets you experience Shanghai as you may never have heard or scene. Please check out the project website http://www.growingupwithshanghai.com. I would love to hear what you think about it! Thanks! Terence