Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

FINALS!!!!!!!

Argh it's finals week!! first exam's tomorrow at 8am, need to start studying. Anyways, had to post this, which features the everyone's favorite (and most awesome) basketball player, Chuck Hayes



Best Quote? "No one's solid like me" lol

Not-so-awesome moment of the week: I was at Met foodmarket looking for food to cook dinner, and couldn't find the tofu, so I went up to one of the workers and asked:

Me: Excuse me, do you guys sell tofu?
Not-so-awesome worker: What's tofu?
Me, Yida, Ginny: uhh........
N-S-A Worker: is it like, something you eat? like... yogurt kinda?

Seriously lol WOW

Awesome Tally: Posting +1, Met Worker -2, Chuck Hayes +2
Total: +5

OMG IT"S ANOTHER BLOG POST

As per reader request, i believe my awesome tally is now at negative infinity +4. T_T

Anyhow, can't believe it, but just saw New Moon at midnight lol. Surprisingly pretty good. Waaaaaay better than the first one.


Awesome Tally: You guys decide lol

New Post!

Working on our infotech project again, so I thought I'd post again on the blog!

What's up in Charlie's world?

Broome Free Bagel Breakfast tomorrow,

ResCollege on Ice! ice skating at Bryant Park

AND...... Actuarial Exam FM/2.

It's gonna be busy.

Awesome tally:

New post +1, Failure to post -1, successful events! +1

Total: 5

Anime Fansite!

Hi Everyone, I know I'm not in Shanghai (that's gonna change) and I havent updated in a looooooooong time (hopefully that'll change) but here's a site I've created for our Infotech class.

I just need 100 unique hits!

https://files.nyu.edu/cwl263/public/Index/Index.html

ALIVE!??!

Yeah everyone, sorry bout the momentary (read: one month/predicted) death of the blog. Anyhow, we're leaving for Guangxi province, which has the vaunted Guilin area, in less than one hour. When we get back, imma post enough for a month lol.

School eats up a lot of time. that, and pokemon/battlestar galactica.

In the meantime, here's a picture from Quanjude, the most famous Peking Duck place, in Beijing, where we went for dinner!



Also......



Awesomeness? +1?, Total: 5

Post #2 of Week 2 - HUZZAH!

So yup, #2 of the week, making it two weeks with two posts. OH YEAH!

Nothing special this post, no pictures, etc.

We ARE however, going to Beijing for the weekend. Im not bringing my compy, so see you on Monday

Awesomeness: This Post -1 Total: 4

Week 2 begin!

And now..... Week 2 of More Awesome:

On Friday we went to the fake market, as promised. First, we had lunch at Cloud Nine Shopping Mall, at a place called Danbo Fun. Their specialty was danbo fun, or 蛋包饭, which is basically rice covered in an egg, with different sides you can get on it. We noticed the place because of its crazy seating arrangements, here's what it looked like:

Then this is us eating:



And two pictures of Cloud Nine, the first is looking up from where we ate:


and this one is what it looks like when you walk in:



Afterwards, we went to the fake market, which is actually located just outside the gates of the Science and Technology Museum subway stop, but it is still completely underground. The place is humongous, and we didn't even get to explore the whole thing, even though we spent 2-3 hours there.

First though, I have to comment about the Shanghai subway system. Obviously, the system is newer than NYC's, but it's amazing how much better it is. It may not go as many places, but the system is much cleaner, waaaaaaay quieter, and it's always on time. That's right, there's a SCHEDULE. Here's what it looks like:

As for the fake market itself, here's one of the aisles:



There're so many ridiculous Chinese manequins there too:



We left during rush hour, around 5-6, so even though the Shanghai subway is newer, it's not any less crowded



Here's the day's haul:

Two badminton rackets with cases, 130 RMB; Pokemon Box thing, 65 RMB; Fake LV Coin Purse thingy, 20 RMB; Fake Leopard Zippo, 60 RMB; Fake Market Trip, Awesome. (you were thinking priceless, weren't you?)

Finally, when we went to Lawson today for some snacks/drinks, I bought an issue of SI.

Guess who's on the cover?



Yeah.... Bonsi Wells.......

Awesome Tally: Bonsi Wells on cover of SI -3, Mall & Danbo Fun +1, Awkward Manequin +2, Fake Market Trip +2. Total: 5

P.S. I realize this is a pretty long entry, so thanks to all of you who made it to the end.

Next Episode: Who knows?

Update #2 = Success!

So this is the second time posting of the week, which means... #1 is accomplished. Success!

Sooo what's in store for the second update?!?! Simple, MORE FOOD!!!! XD

So on Monday? I think, Ginny and I went for some street food out the back gate, more specifically, kebabs. Yup. Or skewers if you prefer. Either way, yummy deliciousness, all costing a grand total of 25 RMB. It's pretty amazing how many different kinds of skewers/kebabs they have, ranging from classic 羊肉串 (lamb kebab) to vegetables, like mushrooms and enoki mushrooms, to crazy stuff, like chicken gizzards and chicken legs. That's right, CHICKEN LEGS. Anyhow, here are some pictures of our adventure to have a drool at:



mmmmm lamb kebabs.....



Charlie + Chicken Leg vs. Ginny + Chicken Wings 2x

Soo, 2:30 AM with class at 8:30.... homework still left for my 5:00 law & society class..... so naturally its blogging time.... nice......

Awesome Tally: Delicious Dining on the cheap +1, Failure @ school + sleep T.T -1. Total: 3

Next Episode: More food updates likely, + Trip to Fake/Fabric Market?!?

While I'm at it.....

So, since I'm posting anyway, and dont want to overload you with too many pictures in one post here are some more things to look at.

First, in the on-campus dorms we get very nice singles, the bed's about a full size i think. it's reaaally hard though:



Finally, and perhaps most importantly I bought this at a bakery today:



What is it? and how big is it exactly?



That's a chinese tissue box, but its still the same size as a normal box of kleenex. that's right it's a GIANT 菠罗包!!! (pineapple bun) (I can smell your jealousy from here)

Awesomeness: double the bun, double the awesomeness +2, Total: 3

And on the first day......

So..... orientation week and a week of classes have ended, so naturally, I've waited this long to start my blog cataloguing my Shanghai experiences.
Orientation was pretty good, and it was pretty well organized. Classes are, well, classes. They're pretty much the same as NYU classes, except we have each class for a 3 hour block, once a week. Chinese is 8:30 - 10:00 Tuesday-Thursday, so that's a bummer, but what can you do?
Weather in Shanghai has been really sporadic, and I think we just started a week of rain every day.

Since its my first post, I figure I should lay down a few goals, for my own good:
1. try to post at least twice a week
2. provide entertainment value
3. give my view of Shanghai, i guess
4. ......more to come?
5. oh and of course, to be more awesome every day.

Here are some pics so far:

I guess the thing I gotta point out first and foremost comes from the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center:

What's wrong with my camera you say? NOTHING. IT'S SMOG!!!!!

Then I had fun with exposure:


This is an interesting Pepsi cow thing at Yu Gardens,



And this is one of ECNU's scenic rivers on campus



Finally, a duck shaped pastry from Quan Ju De, 全聚德:

Woot! first blog post accomplished

Awesomeness: Shanghai smog -1, Duck pastry thing +1, cool room +1, Total: 1