Shanghai - The Posh Side

Huai Hai Lu (Hwhy-high-loo) is the most fashionable road in Shanghai, situated in the French Concession area of the city.

I remember this street back in 1997 when it was just starting to modernize. It didn't quite look like this back then.

My favorite Starbucks in Shanghai used to be the bottom floor where the dark Louis Vuitton signs are now.  It's only been in the last year or so that Starbucks moved out to make way for Louis. Starbucks I can afford, Louis Vuitton, not so much. 

All the photos taken in the following post are within a block or two of Louis Vuitton's store...easy walking distance. Such a contrast! I like the new look, but miss the old quaint Shanghai I first made friends with.

Shanghai - Cloudy Day in February

 An artist at a park near downtown

Right off the most fashionable street in town is a neighborhood that hasn't been torn down -- yet.  I love these quaint neighborhoods that are being demolished at an alarming rate.

More of the same neighborhood in the French Concession quarter of Shanghai.

More of the quaint neighborhood, with new modern architecture hovering above it.

It's February...no leaves on the trees.

A gaggle of girls in fashionable black walk through the Xin Tian Di area of Shanghai.

The painter has acquired an audience. The fountain in the park makes the gloomy day seem a little brighter (to me anyway).

A restored building in Xin Tian Di area of Shanghai. Xin Tian Di is pronounced SHEEN-tee-en-DEE and means "new heaven and earth," a common place name in the Middle Kingdom.

Another view of the park.

Another view of the area.

Humongous billboard in Shanghai

I hear you. I feel your pain. It’s a noisy place in which we live. The risk of going mad is all part of the package. Dear Pepto-Bismol-pink-shirt guy, I think you are already there. Did you know your billboard has no words and advertises nothing? 

Weathery Woes

I have four big picture windows in my apartment, and the view from all four is the same – gray skies. The blah weather is forever on my mind. And assuming you don’t want to hear about it, I figured it was best just to not write much during February.

That, plus my Internet hasn’t been working well enough to open my blog much lately. But don’t give up on my blog, it will all get better soon enough!

A word to February

A bike rider wearing a bright pink raincoat rolls down the bike lane
on a rainy day in February. Photo taken from my balcony.

It's dark outside, but the sshhhhhhsh-ing sound of tires pressing down on the wet pavement wakes me. I listening carefully, but the only other sound I hear is Mimi softly snoring at the foot of the bed. The usual noisy early-morning exercise routines at the park downstairs are not happening today. It is raining. Again.

February, you once again have failed to impress me. Your cloak of clouds, fog and rain are getting monotonous. If you could just intersperse your days with a bit of sunshine here and there, we could be friends. You are a stubborn month.

I just want to ride my e-bike without having to wear the big colorful raincoat and carrying a towel. I want to ride a bus without other people's wet umbrellas and clothes pressing up against me. I would like to flag down an empty taxi, which are never available during the rain. I want to take Mimi for a walk without having to wash the mud off her feet every time we return to my apartment. I just want to get out and buy groceries, pay my bills, visit friends, take photos, and have something interesting to talk about for my blog!

But no! The murky month of February taunts me with 29 blocks on the calendar this year, 29 chances to rain instead of the usual 28. The barometric pressure is weighing me down.

I just need a little ray of sunshine to cure whatever ails me! J

P.S. On the positive side, I'm glad we aren't suffering through a drought!