Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Shanghai Diary: Seventy Seven Days

I don't know if I miss doing the podcast or not. I think I do but it's tough as I'm just so busy here. I've gotten a break from the podcast but not from working. I'm also still doing a lot of audio editing between special episodes, bonus episodes, and The Kolchak Tapes. I've just not been doing all the recording and interviewing I normally do on a weekly basis.

I reached out to my co-hosts for the next episode I plan to record, though I also need to start setting up recordings for January, too, while I'm at it. I know I'd go crazy(ier) without a creative outlet but right now the idea of getting back into that grind seems rather daunting. I was hoping to cut down to doing an episode every two weeks but the lack of episodes while I've been here in Shanghai forced my hand and, starting in January, I'm back to one a week until at least July. Sure, I've got some interviews recorded for those but not many.



Saturday I went to see a film called Seventy-Seven Days about a guy crossing the Xinjiang province. It was good, though there were some very cheesy CGI wolves used a little too often. The real scenery was remarkable, however, and the direction solid. It reminded me a lot of Never Cry Wolf. I may have to see about getting a copy of NCW. I'm still in the midst of watching a lot of "comfort films". Over the weekend I also re-watched Raising Arizona and The Hudsucker Proxy, ya know, for kids.





Sunday I went out with my co-worker, Eileen, and her husband. We went out to lunch and then for a long walk down Nanjing Road which is (mostly) closed off to cars and a long promenade of shopping and food stands. It reminded me of a far-longer Fremont Street. We also walked a bit along The Bund before going back to the car and driving over to Jing'an Temple.



Oh, and to answer your question.. yes, you can use WeChat Pay or AliPay to buy your incense at the temple:

After that we walked a bit in the park across the way and then went for Hot Pot in Pudong and then beers and pool at the restaurant across the street from my apartment. They wouldn't let me pay for a thing which was nice but also maddening. I wanted to at least treat them to dinner but they wouldn't hear of it. At least I got to buy beers at the end of the night.

All in all, I walked almost 12000 steps that day, though I still came in second on "WeRun" which is a step-counter that WeChat uses -- you compete against your friends who have it and I never get close to the top except that day.



Random Things:

  • John Woo's latest, Manhunt is playing in the local cinemas (though not very often -- at least not as often as that awful Justice League movie -- though I don't know if it's got English subtitles or not.

  • Seventy-Seven Days is the first movie where I saw a few previews. Sure, not many and very quick, but it wasn't just all car commercials this time around.

  • In China there's not "an app for that," there's an "A-P-P" for that. I always hear it spelled out like that in English which is a bit disconcerting.

  • I signed up for Mandarin 1 at Schoolcraft college. It starts January 23 and runs 12 weeks on Tuesday evenings.


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