Team Fong takes on Shanghai

Happy days. My parents and grandma flew all the way from Toronto just to pay me a visit in Shanghai this week. We're missing Mini Fong (Jasmine), but hopefully she'll finally make a trip over here later.

Our first activity? Speeding up to 300 km/h on the Maglev train from the Pudong airport.

Grandma Fong loves it when I take selfies. And my mom, apparently, is very very Asian.

As usual, we're eating our way through the city. My mom called me one morning, bubbling with excitement about wanting to try all the soy milk, noodles and fried (上海生煎包) dumplings she saw on the streets. We've already made a stop at our favourite Shanghainese restaurant Xinjishi (新吉士) for lunch, and...

... on Friday we met up with my Shanghainese friend Weiwei and Hong Kong pal, Tony, in Xintiandi's SOAHC (鸿禧茶居)　restaurant for some Yangzhou cuisine. The place was opened by Lily Ho, a famous Hong Kong actress, which impressed my grandma and parents I suppose.

Their live piano player and singer, high ceilings and elegant decor make SOAHC (still don't know what that stands for) a stylish place, but the food is overpriced if you ask me.

Unemployment doom

I graduate in July and can't help but feel doomed about finding a job. And why shouldn't I, with the poor state of the economy and all? I don't know where I'll be next year, but returning to Canada to find work doesn't sound especially promising.

Tears are flowing, for example, over countless layoffs in the GTA. That story is about the auto sector though, so it doesn't have much to do with me.

But then again, I also have to consider Canada's poor exchange rate, so staying and working in China seems to have its advantages. More pertinent to my situation and career goals is news that CTV, one of Canada's national TV networks, just cut jobs like mad -- and I bet there's more to come.

Yoko Ono in Shanghai

For the first time, Yoko Ono is in China with a solo exhibition. I made a "reservation" for tickets to the show opening at Shanghai's Ke Art Centre, but unfortunately, so did a couple hundred other people.

Saturday night's exhibition opening (where the busty 75-year-old was supposed to be present for as well) looked more like some boy band event. Contemporary art with some traditional Chinese pushing and shoving.

When we finally got out of the rain and into the gallery, there wasn't even anything that impressive.

This collection included her usual elements, albeit sparse and scattered: wall writings to challenge your visual perception, and interactive components allowing people to be part of the art-making process.

Don't get me wrong -- I am a big fan of contemporary art. I also saw Yoko's show at the AGO in Toronto about six years ago, and remember feeling stimulated, amazed and refreshed by her work.

But this one in Shanghai is so simplistic that I wonder if it's is a reflection of how she sees her Chinese audience. Yoko's show has little to look at or be pensive about. The gallery's bar upstairs, however, was bumping.

Olympic opinions

When I was in Hong Kong last month, I received a comment on my old Banana Girl blog from a journalist based in NYC. She was writing a story about Beijing's use of speech technologies to help its Olympic tourists get around and wanted to interview me after finding my blog.

So, we had a short chat on the phone about my experience at the Beijing Olympics and now, instead of being the interviewer, I'm featured in a Speech Tech magazine article as an interviewee. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Kind of cool, but unfortunately, I'm identified as a student of "Shanghai’s School of International Relations and Public Affairs," which is actually only partially true. That's my department (not technically a school), but I'm a student of Fudan University.

Cocky Chen Shui-bian

Ex-Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian is now sitting in jail after being arrested for corruption charges this week.

The latest news is that Chen has been staging a hunger strike to call attention to the "death" of justice in Taiwan, and the regression of democracy on the self-ruled island. An advocate of Taiwanese independence, Chen has accused his successor and current president Ma Ying-jeou (who was elected on a platform centred on improving PRC-Taiwan relations) of charging him in order to appease China.

What came to mind when I saw this Associated Press photo of Chen's dramatic arrest? This is one cocky dude. I don't think I've ever seen someone look so victorious in handcuffs.

The former Democratic Progressive Party leader has been known for corruption and family scandals, and also criticized for the island's poor economic performance, deteriorating relations with mainland China, and dividing the Taiwanese people for political gain.

Arm & Hatchet

Ovens aren't common here, which also means baking ingredients are hard to come across too.

Luckily, my roommate is quite fond of desserts and baking as well, so we have a small toaster-sized oven in our apartment. The other day I decided to make banana bread t and needed baking soda. So instead of heading all the way downtown to go to the foreign import supermarket, I decided to give my local wet market a try. This is what I found.
Since I'm pumped up with all that melamine anyway, I decided a little "Arm & Hatchet" wouldn't hurt either. But now I'm just wondering what happened to the hammer . . .

Eats & treats

I had a fantastic weekend; a full on break from my poor student life. My Aunt Mabel and Uncle Alain are going on a month-long tour in China, and lucky for me, their first stop was Shanghai.

So where did I take them while they were visiting? To eat, of course! Hairy crab is Uncle Alain's favourite, but he still thinks Hong Kong does it better.

We then went up to Shanghai's new, humongous skyscraper, the Shanghai World Financial Center. Three observatory decks and a beautiful view after three days of rain cleared Shanghai's skies.

To top off my weekend, I spent my Sunday at the HSBC Champions golf tournament, checking out Mickelson and Garcia, while sipping on champagne.

The Great Firewall wins

I gave up.

After a year of struggling to get Wordpress.com to work in China, I decided it was time to make a virtual move.

So, here it is --- my (somewhat) new blog about being a Canadian student and writer in Shanghai. I hope that I can show you more of my life in China and blog more frequently from now on.

For archives, please visit my old Wordpress blog. And don't forget to comment here!