Shanghai between Dreams and Reality

Take a Facebook Break

lisa — 2009-5-26 23:28:41

About once a month, I log on to Facebook, to take a break from work. I don’t do it as often because it is quite addictive. This morning, I got up before 6am to send my parents to the airport. I was thinking about going back to sleep, but instead, I logged on to Facebook. Once I’m on, I’m gone. So much to do on it. Checking out friends’ messages, see what they are up to, look at their photos… It seems some of them are quite active. Hmmm, I wonder why they have so much time. Shouldn’t they be working? Don’t they have better things to do?

Then I uploaded a few of my photos, and I started to put books on my Visual shelf. Then I continued to tag cities to my world map, and couldn’t help to play the Travel IQ game...Ok, I do have better things to do, maybe just one more minute.

It’s a great way to relax and get updates about my friends. The games and Trivia are great, therapeutic almost.

But it does get frustrating sometimes cuz it can be so damn slow!

Picnic in the Park 共青森林公园野餐

lisa — 2009-5-25 22:25:06

星期天约了一帮朋友去公园野餐. 第一次去共青森林公园, 好大的一个公园! 一不小心走错路了,就走远了. 这次只是在一个很小的角落呆着, 都没有时间好好逛逛其他地方.

那天差不多来了50个人, 没想到这么短时间内聚集了这么多朋友. 这次活动真的是很即兴的. 我朋友Nam上周有一天问我周末有什么事, 我说没有. 她说那就去公园野餐吧. 我说好啊. 然后我基本上是1天之内召集了20多个人. 难得大家都有时间, 天气又不错. 今天来的人包括我以前在香港的同事, 我的大学同学, 我在上海认识的朋友, 我现在的邻居, 张樟老师的儿子…真是什么人都有. 从刚出生4个月的baby到我那75岁的老爸. Nam说最好不要去买现成的食品, 要每个人自己动手做点什么. 我老公就做了烤鸡翅. 我准备了很多水果. 本来还担心带的食品不够,结果到了那儿发现每个人都带了超多的东西吃, 特别是一些老外朋友们. 后来还剩下很多, 根本吃不了.

除了跟朋友们叙旧聊天, 还有很多人兴致很高的在玩frisbee, 玩杀人游戏. 我还陪朋友的女儿玩滑索. 其实我自己本来就想玩, 正好有小朋友需要我陪, 哈哈. 用小朋友的话说: 真爽啊!

发现这样的活动很受欢迎, 以后可以经常搞. 老少咸宜, 身心健康.

Happy 6th Anniversary! 六年结婚纪念日

lisa — 2009-5-21 23:52:47

昨天小铭哥在消息树上刊登了一个求婚启示。挺有腔调的。祝福他们!

今天是我和 ZZ的6年结婚纪念日. 真是一眨眼的功夫。6年前是非典爆发的年代，现在已经演变成猪流感了。去年结婚纪念日前夕，我和老公心血来潮的开车去杭州湾大桥兜风，半夜三更到达宁波。。。今年爸妈在，我们就不即兴出逃了。本来还想买张机票飞到厦门过个周末。。。

我们两个都很懒，几乎从来不相互送礼物。每天能够在一起，开开心心的，就够了。去年我们这个时候下决心去健身房锻炼，买了会员卡，找了健身教练，买了ipod。1年以后我们都瘦了，健康了。

今年我们把房子卖了，搬进了新的公寓。6年了，换了3个地址，还是那么爱折腾。老公说夫妻俩，要多折腾，多一起经历些事情，才更有意思。我同意。虽然搬家是个很辛苦的活儿，但我还是从中找到了乐趣。买我们房子的那家人是很好的人，很通情达理，很爽气，他们女儿跟我老公还是同一天生日。缘分那！然后前两天我把我的那些旧家具都处理了，买我家具的两家人也都很好，要是世界上的人都这样，那真是和谐社会了！一个买家是个刚来上海不久的尼日利亚家庭，还有一家是中国夫妻俩带着个1岁多的儿子。想想我的那些家具会在这些充满爱的家庭继续发挥作用，很开心。

晚上请我们双方父母去翠华吃饭. 这是我们最新的食堂, 每周都要去吃那里的鹿岛猪软骨和咖喱牛腩. 跟老人家们在一起聊天很开心. 我很满足.

回家电视正好在放<红磨坊>, 第一次看. 是爱情故事. 挺适合今天这个日子的. 老夫老妻就不出去电影院浪漫了,在家里看电视一样.

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been that long. We got married at the height of the SARS outbreak, and now 6 years later, we are in the middle of the swine flu. Well, we know now that it has nothing to do with pigs. :-)

Last year we celebrated by driving to Ningbo in the middle of the night. This year we used up all our energy on moving to a new apartment, so today, we decided to stay home.

I’ve known my husband for 9 years, loved him for 8 1/2. Ever since I realized I loved him, I’ve told him “I love you ” at least 20 times a day, every day for 8 1/2 years. So, let me find a calculator, now more than 60,000 “I love u”s later, I still say it every chance I get. Every time I look at him, I’m so happy, that’s all I know. Of course we argue, we get into fights over nothing, we are both too strong, we both want to dominate the other, but at the end, 90% of the time, we feel so happy and know that we are indeed two of the lucky few.

I just love May, cuz everywhere you go, love is in the air. So many people get married in May. My friend Liang just got married last weekend. I couldn’t go to SF to attend his wedding, but I heard it was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations again! So happy for you!

David, I heard the good news, I'm happy for you too!

Singapore

lisa — 2009-4-26 23:49:27

I went to Singapore on business last week. It’s been over 10 years since I last visited Singapore. It’s funny, I’ve been here 3 times before and I can’t seem to remember anything about this place. I guess I was just never a tourist here, never did any of the touristy stuff. I didn’t even know they drive on the left side?! First time was for business, second time was on my way to Malaysia, and third time was to play hockey. This time it’s again for business.

This time I really paid attention, and the first impression I got as soon as I got out of the airport is this place is a huge green lush garden. It’s so quiet, there’s no one honking. Everyone on the street looks Chinese, they speak Chinese, but they all follow the rules, and don’t act like people in China.

I stayed in a hotel on Orchard Road, the most happening road in Singapore, where there’s lots of shopping and eating. But frankly, I still prefer to shop in Hong Kong.

For dinner, we had a local friend take us to the East Coast Park Hawker Center. It was just a big food court with all kinds of great local dishes, like fried oyster and egg, wonton noodle with bbq pork, Satay beef, chicken wings, duck, stingray and all kinds of seafood, fresh Coconut, fresh juices…Just all amazingly good and really cheap! Just what I wanted.

Then after dinner we went to the top floor bar of the Swissotel Stamford, and enjoyed a beautiful 360 view of the city. I was really impressed. For my 4th visit, I finally got to see Singapore!

The taxi drivers in Singapore really made a big impression on me. They are all very nice and informative. I can tell they really care about their city, and they want all the visitors to like it. They are just like natural tour guides, so full of stories of the city, and history. They told us where to go to eat, what to order, what not to order, the new developments, the sights…They basically thanked us for spending money here.

On the second day, we went to Little India for lunch, at a little restaurant on Chander Road called Gandhi Restaurant. It was really great local food again, everyone was Indian and they all ate with their fingers. It was another very Satisfying meal.

The weather isn’t as hot as I had expected, which Is good.

We had dinner in the Chinese restaurant in Shangrila hotel. The food was really very good, which I didn’t expect from a hotel. Afterwards, we went to have a drink at a bar on Emerald Hill Road, off Orchard Road. We walked by a place called Alley Bar, which looked pretty classy, and exactly like a bar built on an uphill alley.

On the third day, I had a 4:30pm flight back to Shanghai. I don’t actually have that much time, so I had a choice between working out in the gym, swimming in the hotel pool, or take a walk through the Botanical Garden. I decided to just go to the gym and run on the machine, but 5 minutes into it, I stopped. I thought, what a beautiful day! And I’m here in Singapore, so why am I just running inside a gym like I would when I’m back in Shanghai. What a waste! I ended up walking to the Botanical garden, and spent about an hour and half there. It was really hot. So when I came back to the hotel, I jumped in the pool and swam for 20 minutes. I guess I didn’t miss a thing did I ? I even had time to go shopping and found a snowglobe of Singapore! For lunch I went to the Newton Circus Hawker Center. It was ok, the place wasn’t as big as I had expected, and most of the stands were not open. I guess it would be more happening at night.

So that's the full report on my short trip to Singapore. Till next time...

第一次去浴场 Shanghai bath house

lisa — 2009-4-12 23:43:18

上海有很多浴场,我听过朋友们介绍很久了,但是一直没有去尝试过. 我总是觉得一帮陌生人在一个大澡堂子里泡着又奇怪又不卫生.然后在都穿着同样的衣服到处走、吃饭、打乒乓球、打麻将…很难想象。而且以前我总是觉得这种地方只适合男人去，没想到其实全家人都爱来这种地方。

上个星期五我终于尝试了一次，主要是陪几位老外朋友们去体验一下中国老百姓的幸福生活。说真的,感觉很不错，跟我想象的完全不一样。我们去的是虹梅路的小南国汤河源浴场。我本以为是要很多人在一个大池子里泡，像电影里的土耳其浴室一样，但其实不是那样的。就像我平时去的健身房一样，可以去冲个澡，然后在Jacuzzi 里泡泡，或者桑拿房坐坐，那桑拿房里还有电视看，虽然在雾气中有些朦胧。然后可以找人给你搓背。完了换上夏威夷风格的衣服，男男女女都穿得像花儿一样的（跟我想象的白色浴袍有些不一样，但也挺可爱，挺舒服的），上二楼餐厅吃饭。朋友选择小南国主要是因为这儿的东西好吃，但是要单点。听说其他地方有自助餐。9点钟左右开始有演出。其他项目包括乒乓球、桌球、麻将、按摩。听朋友说别的浴场还有一些特殊项目，比如说有很多小鱼儿在水里吃你脚上的死皮，真想得出来！我们那几个老外朋友听了都说要试试。

吃完饭，已经10点多了。老外朋友们还没有尽兴，说要按摩。在4楼。一上去就看到满房间的卧椅，每个前面都有自己的电视，让我想起飞机上的一等舱。这里可以点吃的，可以按头、按脚、按背、按腰、挖耳朵。。。很专。我选了按脚，好像是60分钟78元。然后按摩师问是不是要先泡泡脚？我说可以，她说要加20元。做到一半儿，她问是不是再加20分钟，加28元，还可以脚底拔火罐。我说那算了。做完了以后，她又问，是否要用姜敷腿，很好的。我说好啊，她说要加28元。好家伙，每个项目都单独收费，这不知不觉地费用就上去了。你又不用马上付钱，只要把手上的牌号告诉她就行了，所以花钱一点感觉也没有。

There are a lot of bath houses in Shanghai, and I’ve heard a lot about them from my friends. I always thought it was a bit strange to take a bath with a lot of strangers, and then afterwards walk around wearing the same robes, having meals and playing ping pong together. I also used to think these places are more for men, but now they are supposed to offer a variety of services for the whole family.

So last Friday night when a friend invited us and a few English visitors to go to a bath house, I decided to give it a try. We went to one on Hong Mei Road, mainly because they have better food there. Actually, it turned out to be a pretty interesting experience, not at all what I had expected. There was a huge changing room, and each person gets a locker to put his/her things. You can choose to just take a hot shower, or soak in the Jacuzzi, or sit in the Sauna room. It’s the first time I saw a TV in the sauna, although it is a bit foggy with all the heat. You can also get a nice back scrub or salt treatment…My friend tells me some of the other bath houses offer special services like having little fishes eat off the dead skin on your feet. Hmmmm, interesting. Our adventurous English friends couldn’t wait to try that.

After that, everyone is given a Hawaii style pajama to wear, not the white robe that I had expected. The food was very good. Here you have to order ala carte, but I heard other places offer buffets. The performance started at 9pm. You can also choose to get a massage, play pool, play ping pong, play mahjong…

You can get a head massage, a foot massage, a back massage, a shoulder massage, get your ears waxed…You get to watch your own TV while getting the massage, as if you are in first class. I got the basic 60 minute foot massage for 78RMB.Then when the girl came to do the massage, she asked me if I wanted to soak my feet first, I said yes. She said that’s 20RMB extra. In the middle of the massage, she asked if I wanted to add 20 minutes for another 28RMB, I said no thanks. Then at the end of the massage, she asked if I want to have some hot ginger put on my leg, of course another 28RMB. Wow, the bill can add up quickly, if you are not careful, cuz all you have to do is tell her the tag number on your wrist.

An old friend lost and found

lisa — 2009-3-1 23:00:14

I had this good friend from high school called Michelle, we used to play on the tennis team together. Over the years, I’ve come to lose touch with every single one of my friends from Cleveland High School, including Michelle. Even though when we sign our yearbooks we always say “keep in touch”, I guess I am really bad at it. So once a while, I’ll think about Michelle, and try to find her. I tried to call her old home phone, it had been changed; I tried to google her, but no luck. So, she remained lost.

Yesterday I got a message from Facebook, and it was an invite from Michelle! I can’t believe it! Just like that! And we are back in touch! After 17 years! She’s married, changed her last name, and now works as a public defender. I tell you, there’s no better feeling than finding an old friend!

But this is what happened to me in the past. I’ll find an old friend after many years, and I’ll get really excited at first, we’ll catch up, and arrange to meet up. Then I get too busy, then something else comes along, then our meet up gets pushed back, and back, and back, and we never end up meeting. And then maybe I’ll call her once every year on her birthday. And one day a few years later, I realize we’ve lost touch again! This has happened more than once, and there’s something very wrong about that. I really gotta learn my lesson and put more effort into keeping in touch. It’s really not that hard nowadays with email and msn and skype…

I’m not a big fan of Facebook, well, I don’t have a lot of time to spend on it, and it’s so slow trying to get on from China. But I have to admit, it has helped me get back into touch with lots of old friends.

Good story for a movie

lisa — 2009-2-16 20:52:19

在新浪网看到一条新闻，标题叫：情妇被裁后心有不甘制造坠崖案。不知道是真是假，这年头新浪的新闻也说不准。不管是真是假，我觉得应该拍成电影。故事大概就是说青岛那边有一个大款，养了5个情妇。但是经济不好了，他养不起了，就想出个馊主意，让5个情妇pk出一个包养名额。结果跟他在一起时间最常的那个情妇第一个就被pk下去了，她无法接受，就约了那个大款和其他几个情妇一起出去玩，结果开着车从悬崖上开了下去。这个世界真是无奇不有，让人看不懂。

http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2009-02-16/114417224445.shtml

I read an article on Sina today, the title was “Jilted Mistress cause cliff accident”. I don't know if it’s a real story or not, because these days you never know, I don't trust any news I get online anymore. But regardless of the truthfulness of the article, I really think someone should make a movie out of it.

The story is this: A rich boss has 5 mistresses, but with the economic downturn, he can no longer afford all of them. He decided to let them compete for only one spot. He first asked a modeling teacher to evaluate them, and eliminated one in the process. Then there is a singing and speech section, from which he eliminated two more. He asked the final two to participate in a drinking contest, whereby one finalist was selected. So one of the mistresses that was eliminated, the one that’s been with him the longest, felt very sad and in desperation, planned to commit suicide along with the man and all his other mistresses. She asked them all to go sightseeing together as a farewell for her, then she drove off the cliff with all of them in the car. She died but the others survived. She left a letter telling the whole story, so the boss had to pay her family 580K RMB as compensation. Doesn't this seem like something out of the movies? Should we laugh or should we cry?

牛年到了！感觉还不错！

lisa — 2009-1-26 12:56:30

一眨眼，牛年就到了。今年的烟火比往年还要厉害，从过年的种种迹象来看，还真看不出世界经济萧条对中国的影响。商场里都是人，年夜饭照样订不到，烟火昼夜的放，短信一个接一个的发。

希望所有人新年快乐，在牛年能够开开心心，心想事成！只要你相信，好事就会发生！

Chinese New Year is here again. This is the year of the Ox. And despite all the economic prolems in the world, everything here seems to be unaffected. The fireworks at midnight is still as crazy as ever, if not more crazy; the malls are still full of crowds looking for a good deal, the New Years Eve family dinner is still tough to book everywhere, and China Mobile continue to make a fortune on sms.

Wish everyone have a great year! If you believe it, it will happen! Just finished watching "Kungfu Panda" again with ZZ. Remember, there is no secret ingredient in the "secret ingredient soup"...

大家来为我爷爷祝寿！

lisa — 2008-12-3 22:46:42

再过几个星期就要回美国为爷爷庆祝百岁生日了。我爷爷叫黎子留，跟以前的广州市长同名，但不是一个人。他是个很了不起的人，这一辈子经历了很多，可能是唯一一位参加过5界世博会的中国百岁老人。他就是一本活的历史书。他亲眼目睹了汪精卫遇刺，他还从日本人的监狱死里逃生。现在他生活在洛杉矶，子孙满堂，四代同堂，喜欢唱唱京戏，写写打油诗。我希望大家到我的博客来为他的100岁生日送上你们的祝福，我想他看到一定会非常高兴的。

下面这首诗是爷爷写的，这就是我心目中的爷爷：

忠诚坦白受人敬   正大光明诺千金
为人奉公须守法   一言九鼎对众生

再贴几首诗：

老汉从来不饮酒   再好香烟从不抽
修身养性无嗜好   平生喜欢交朋友

为人处事和为贵   事不三思必有悔
气能一忍自无忧   若遇灾难当自卫

艺术上海

lisa — 2008-11-27 22:06:14

一转眼就一个月没有写东西了。时间怎么过的这么快？圣诞节又要到了。

最近几乎每天都去健身房，所以没有时间写博客。而且每个礼拜都有朋友从外地来，应酬不断。

当然再忙也要看戏。这段时间就看了几场挺有意思的演出。有一个是在南岸艺术中心演出的“Marriage Counseling”,还有英国盲顶剧团的表演《低级生活》。都是很有意思，很有创意，又有点另类的戏。上海好像越来越有艺术氛围，越国际化了。艺术生活丰富了，选择多了，可以今天去看京剧，明天去看英国木偶戏，后天去看摄影展。。。前几天在上班的路上，我看到一个男人在屋顶上吹萨克斯，突然不知道自己是在上海还是纽约。

我们的好友马良的个人摄影展-镜园这两天正在上海展出。
地点：上海美术馆3楼8-10展厅。时间：11/26-12/4。

还有金星和张磊主演的《阴差阳错》昨晚也开始在兰心大戏院演出，听说首演很成功。我去看过他们的排练，很喜欢。真得不错。可以说是个荒诞剧、爱情剧、也是哲理剧。最大的亮点当然是金星，但跟她搭档的张磊也非常棒。导演是田蕤。我推荐朋友们去看看。好像这次就演5场，11/26-30号，在兰心大戏院。票出得不错，要看的朋友们的抓紧哦！

http://www.culture.sh.cn/product.asp?id=5438