Pushing the Envelope
I pushed the envelope today. I took a ride on the public bus AND the subway in the same day. OK, that doesn't sound like much but getting on a bus, without a route map, in a city of 20 million is a leap of faith. I wasn't sure where I was going to end up - and sure enough I missed the target. A 30-minute walk solved that problem. The journey was made even more challenging by the pollution which hid the skyscrapers from view and eliminated their use as landmarks. I also learned that I need removable knees if I hope to sit in the bus seats without turning sideways. It took an hour to get downtown on Bus #911 (vs 20 minutes by taxi) but it only cost 25 cents (vs $4 for taxi).
In the afternoon I attended the only official Protestant church for foreigners in Shanghai, the International Community Church. The services are at 2 pm and 4 pm and only foreign passport holders are allowed to attend these English services. I went with a couple of visiting friends from Zebco - one of them a former student of mine at Peavine State. Before church we had lunch at Vegetarian Life restaurant where we had veggie Peking Duck, chicken balls, black pepper steak and dumplings. It was great. Tasty, cheap, clean. My only regret is they don't sell Coke to balance out all the healthy stuff. My understanding of the Yin Yang Principle is that one should balance healthy food with some soda pop or french fries to maintain that all-important qi balance.
On to the subway. It was not too crowded tonight and the system was similar to DC's. You buy a card from a machine and the directions are given in English and Chinese. It cost about 33 cents. Quite a few beggars on the subway though. After getting off at People's Square I walked down Nanjing Road's shopping walkway and fended off touts and innumerable fake Rollex (yes, Rollex with an extra "l") pushers. I'm thinking of getting a t-shirt printed up that says, in Chinese, "I don't want to buy any Rollexs so leave me alone, I really really mean it!".
I pushed the envelope today. I took a ride on the public bus AND the subway in the same day. OK, that doesn't sound like much but getting on a bus, without a route map, in a city of 20 million is a leap of faith. I wasn't sure where I was going to end up - and sure enough I missed the target. A 30-minute walk solved that problem. The journey was made even more challenging by the pollution which hid the skyscrapers from view and eliminated their use as landmarks. I also learned that I need removable knees if I hope to sit in the bus seats without turning sideways. It took an hour to get downtown on Bus #911 (vs 20 minutes by taxi) but it only cost 25 cents (vs $4 for taxi).
In the afternoon I attended the only official Protestant church for foreigners in Shanghai, the International Community Church. The services are at 2 pm and 4 pm and only foreign passport holders are allowed to attend these English services. I went with a couple of visiting friends from Zebco - one of them a former student of mine at Peavine State. Before church we had lunch at Vegetarian Life restaurant where we had veggie Peking Duck, chicken balls, black pepper steak and dumplings. It was great. Tasty, cheap, clean. My only regret is they don't sell Coke to balance out all the healthy stuff. My understanding of the Yin Yang Principle is that one should balance healthy food with some soda pop or french fries to maintain that all-important qi balance.
On to the subway. It was not too crowded tonight and the system was similar to DC's. You buy a card from a machine and the directions are given in English and Chinese. It cost about 33 cents. Quite a few beggars on the subway though. After getting off at People's Square I walked down Nanjing Road's shopping walkway and fended off touts and innumerable fake Rollex (yes, Rollex with an extra "l") pushers. I'm thinking of getting a t-shirt printed up that says, in Chinese, "I don't want to buy any Rollexs so leave me alone, I really really mean it!".
posted by Kevcham at 6:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home