Kitchen Wench

So, I’ve been pretty bad about posting lately.  Needless to say, I survived spring break unscathed only to be hit with a paper when I got back. 

 This last weekend has been fabulous.  We traveled to Shanghai for the weekend, most of which I spent tromping up and down Nanjing Lu, the Bund, and French Concession, not to mention burning a giant hole in my wallet at the Yu Gardens bazaar (touristy stuff and some sweet clothes) and Xiang Yang market (a treasure trove of knock off handbags, jackets, and shoes).  I also soaked in a little culture at the Shanghai Art Museum, which is currently featuring a selection of works by modern Latin American painters.  

We also hit up some of my favorite spots from my last trip, including Simply Thai in Xin Tian Di, and Number Five bar on the Bund.  We also listened to the jazz band at the Peace Hotel, which is composed of adorable geriatric Chinese musicians.  The playing wasn’t the great, but I felt like I’d just stepped back in time (aided by the purchase of a retro-style dress earlier that day).   The jazz at Number Five was much better and featured a very nice vocalist, though the chill atmosphere almost had me passed out in my oversized leather chair.

However, the greatest amount of my time was definately spend stumbling around the JC Mandarin Hotel buffet, wide-eyed and drooling.  I don’t even like buffets.  I have eaten at an awful lot of buffets on this trip, and it’s safe to say that it was probably the best I’ve had thus far.  The food was actually so delicious that I became paranoid about supply shortages and began hoarding plates of pizza, cheese, and museli.  (Hey, everybody else was doing it too.)  The JC Mandarin was also the first hotel I stayed in that actually had a bathroom scale, allowing me to monitor the progress of my rapidly expanding waistline. 

Sadly, we left Shanghai on Monday, a little bit poorer and a little bit fatter.  I’ll miss the fabulous restaurants, trendy bars, shopping, glitz, glamour, European architecture, beautiful subway system, and cab drivers that wear uniforms and white gloves. 

I already miss the buffet.

To quote my Korean travelmate, “Really, where are we?”

I arrived in Dalian this morning, after having my intinerary reversed by the tour company.  Dalian is very modern, clean, and actually has trees.  A very nice Chinese coastal city.  We did some sight seeing things… then we drove out of the city… then into the new Dalian Development Zone… then out of the development zone… to nowhere, to these little cabin things… and this is where we are staying, an hour outside of the city (in clear traffic). 

There are no cars on the street here.  I am in this internet cafe that I had to walk like 20 minutes to find because we are literally staying in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by a beach.  Except we can’t even find the beach.  And it is not well lit here.

Most of our tour group is Korean.  I think most of the students on our tour are afraid to talk to us, except for these two clearly Asian people who are from France.  At least they blend in physically–they look Vietnamese or otherwise South East Asian.

I feel white.

Tomorrow night I leave for Qingdao via boat.  I hope I’m not staying 25 miles out of the city again.  Things are getting very Chinese, very fast.  This is definately ridiculous.