I started the evening with dinner at a place near my hotel that bosts local home cooking called "Shanghai Grandmother". I opted to skip the fried bull frog in XO sauce and ordered the crispy river eel (28Y or 4.28$), the fried french bean with chili suace & minced pork (25Y or 3.82$) and although I thought I was ordering the 3 cup chicken I had actually ordered the fried pork feet with salt and pepper (38Y or 5.80$). To wash it all down a 500ml bottle of heiniken at 12Y or 1.83$. The food was great! If I go back tomorrow for lunch I think I'll try the braised abalone with mushroom and broccoli. Not sure I'm into the marinated pig tongue.
After dinner I took the subway to Lulu Massage Center in the French Concession where I had a top notch 70 minute massage by a blind lady for 60Y or 9.17$. I'm certain if she wanted to she could pull a Spock from Star Treck and put me out with one pinch in the right part of my neck. She dug into all of my Dragon Boat fatigue and when she was done I felt like I was walking sideways down the street.
A cab ride back to the Bund and a quick cocktail at Glamour Bar (125Y; twice at much as the massage) before heading back to my room.
What a great night.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tuesday August 3rd: Lost in translation in Shanghai
Yesterday I left Macau for Shanghai. The world championships had past by in a blink of an eye. 22 Dragons Club will be bringing home at least 12 medals and the Montreal Senior Women are now the Canadian team to beat. Strange how the presentations of the medals were not the most emotional moments for me but rather all of those "in between" moments stick out in my mind; the finish line of the 2k, beating Brisbane in the 200m heat, waiting for results, hearing the other 22 Dragon teams applaud as we paddled back to the docks after each race, being met with applause from the Montreal Majhong Men as we returned to our seats in the stands, having a team melt down, having an incredible recovery from a team melt down, hearing the last bit of coaching from Matt before the final 500m, and finishing 2nd and knowing that this is not the end but just the beginning. We are no longer the under-dog, staying on top is harder than getting there.
I flew to Shanghai with 4 other tean mates. I'd have a meal with them in Shanghai and then the next 2 weeks I'm on my own.
The Shanghai airport gave me a taste of what I'd be in for over the next 2 weeks. I really thought more people would speak English in this modern metropolis but that was wishfull thinking. No matter, I'm managing and the "lost is translation" aspect of this trip is turning out to be a form of entertainment for me. Take my cab driver from the airport for example, when I entered his taxi and showed him the address of the hotel he said something in manderin that could have been one of two things; either "You're very tall" or "that's a long trip and I finish at 5". Judging by the way he was driving I'd bet he finishes at 5. This guy was creating a 5th lane on a 4 lane highway in order to pass other cars, trucks and buses. Driving is an extreem sport here and motorcycles, scooters and electric bycicles (of which there are many) think nothing of driving on the sidewalk or going through red lights even if there are several pedestrians crossing. I've only seen one accident so far and I can not comprehend how it is possible that there are not more.
After checking in at the hotel I set out to find a restaurant that had come recommened by my foodie friend M. I was told it would be impossible to get a cab during rush hour and in the rain so I headed for a better hotel than my own and let them do the work for me. The great thing about being a westerner here is I can walk into any hotel to get information, use the bathroom or get a cab and they assume I'm a guest of the hotel.
I met my team mates at "Din Tai Fung" for xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). Everyone was tired and cranky but that quickly changed after a couple of beers (finaly we can drink again!). The food was great! My favourite dumpling was the truffle dumpling (YUM) and the drunken chicken and deep fried pork chops were absolutely mouth watering (I believe that was Sishuan pepper on the pork chops, I'll have to pick some of that up while I'm here). I didn't think the girls would go for the jellyfish salad (something I had eaten many times in mtl before) but they all tried it and we cleared off the plate. It was a fabulous meal. Thanks M!
I spent my day today walking around the Bund and making my way toward the People's Square. This place seems to be living in the future and the past at the same time. I would say the strangest thing I saw today was a street cleaner truck playing "Happy Birthday" rather loudly through some tin speakers. At first I thought it was an Ice cream truck, but no, it was a street cleaner cleaning the streets of the Bund. The Bund is where my hotel is located and it has lots of designer shops. I'm hoping to head out toward the French Concession soon and get a massage by a blind massage therapist (this is not a weird fantasy, there are real blind massage therapists here). A Shanghai massage is not relaxing but meant to replace one's "chi" (energy).
There is no way I'll be able to experience even a fraction of this place before I leave tomorrow night on the overnight train to Tunxi. Too bad, it's a great place to shoot.
I'm not sure what the internet situation will be over the next few days since I'm heading into small towns so you may not hear from me until I get to Beijing on the 7th. The internet here is a bit unpredicatble. I have no access to facebook or my email today but I did have access 2 days ago in Macau. Everytime I go to my blog the settings have changed so I have no idea what you guys see back home. Anyway, I'm still alive and I'm eating well.
5 things that are faster than the internet in China:
1. paint drying (oil based paint).
2. bread rising.
3. a trip across Canada on Via rail.
4. my roots growing in.
5. a small child growing into full adulthood.
I flew to Shanghai with 4 other tean mates. I'd have a meal with them in Shanghai and then the next 2 weeks I'm on my own.
The Shanghai airport gave me a taste of what I'd be in for over the next 2 weeks. I really thought more people would speak English in this modern metropolis but that was wishfull thinking. No matter, I'm managing and the "lost is translation" aspect of this trip is turning out to be a form of entertainment for me. Take my cab driver from the airport for example, when I entered his taxi and showed him the address of the hotel he said something in manderin that could have been one of two things; either "You're very tall" or "that's a long trip and I finish at 5". Judging by the way he was driving I'd bet he finishes at 5. This guy was creating a 5th lane on a 4 lane highway in order to pass other cars, trucks and buses. Driving is an extreem sport here and motorcycles, scooters and electric bycicles (of which there are many) think nothing of driving on the sidewalk or going through red lights even if there are several pedestrians crossing. I've only seen one accident so far and I can not comprehend how it is possible that there are not more.
After checking in at the hotel I set out to find a restaurant that had come recommened by my foodie friend M. I was told it would be impossible to get a cab during rush hour and in the rain so I headed for a better hotel than my own and let them do the work for me. The great thing about being a westerner here is I can walk into any hotel to get information, use the bathroom or get a cab and they assume I'm a guest of the hotel.
I met my team mates at "Din Tai Fung" for xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). Everyone was tired and cranky but that quickly changed after a couple of beers (finaly we can drink again!). The food was great! My favourite dumpling was the truffle dumpling (YUM) and the drunken chicken and deep fried pork chops were absolutely mouth watering (I believe that was Sishuan pepper on the pork chops, I'll have to pick some of that up while I'm here). I didn't think the girls would go for the jellyfish salad (something I had eaten many times in mtl before) but they all tried it and we cleared off the plate. It was a fabulous meal. Thanks M!
I spent my day today walking around the Bund and making my way toward the People's Square. This place seems to be living in the future and the past at the same time. I would say the strangest thing I saw today was a street cleaner truck playing "Happy Birthday" rather loudly through some tin speakers. At first I thought it was an Ice cream truck, but no, it was a street cleaner cleaning the streets of the Bund. The Bund is where my hotel is located and it has lots of designer shops. I'm hoping to head out toward the French Concession soon and get a massage by a blind massage therapist (this is not a weird fantasy, there are real blind massage therapists here). A Shanghai massage is not relaxing but meant to replace one's "chi" (energy).
There is no way I'll be able to experience even a fraction of this place before I leave tomorrow night on the overnight train to Tunxi. Too bad, it's a great place to shoot.
I'm not sure what the internet situation will be over the next few days since I'm heading into small towns so you may not hear from me until I get to Beijing on the 7th. The internet here is a bit unpredicatble. I have no access to facebook or my email today but I did have access 2 days ago in Macau. Everytime I go to my blog the settings have changed so I have no idea what you guys see back home. Anyway, I'm still alive and I'm eating well.
5 things that are faster than the internet in China:
1. paint drying (oil based paint).
2. bread rising.
3. a trip across Canada on Via rail.
4. my roots growing in.
5. a small child growing into full adulthood.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 9: Final race day and a 3rd silver metal to complete the set
I woke up this morning wondering if I'd be satisfied with my 42 week journey if we did not take the gold in the 500m. Yesterday's race was not our best and we all knew it. Coach M lectured us on thinking about the race and not the podium.
The way the races work here is the first place team in each heat makes it to the final, the next fastest team overall also makes it to the final. All of the others have to battle it out in a semi final where the first two boats from the semi will make it to the final.
It was a humbling experience to have to race in the semi final without going directly to the final as we had in the 1st 2 events. I looked at it as one more chance to practise a start before the final. We won the semi final several seconds ahead of the other boats. We would be in the final with Brisbane Australia and Toronto Outer Harbour as our biggest competition.
Coach M gave us a motivational talk before the race that brought us all to tears. Everything felt so intense; the heat, the noise, the energy of the team. The start took forever (what a surprise). I pounded it every step of the way but I could see after the finish that we were not quite fast enough to beat Brisbane, the question was "did we beat outer harbour?".
It had been a good race. Regardless of second or third we all knew we had paddled well. The results finally came in; a third silver to complete the set.
While waiting for the awards ceremonies Brisbane, Outer Harbour and us all gathered and agreed how we all pushed each other to our limits over the past 4 days and we were grateful for the challenge.
Am I satisfied with the voyage? 42 weeks ago I was in the worse shape of my life. I had never raced on a sport division team before and I only had 2 years of paddling behind me. I had never done a chin up, and I had never benched over 100 pounds . Most of the women on the team are paddling in the sport division for the first time and when we started back in September we looked like a pile of potatoe ladies with legs. Last summer (the team's first season) they placed 3rd in Canada. This week we placed second in the world. I give credit for this amazing accomplishment to the inspiration we gave each other and the incredible coaching and people skills of our coach Matt Roberts.
The way the races work here is the first place team in each heat makes it to the final, the next fastest team overall also makes it to the final. All of the others have to battle it out in a semi final where the first two boats from the semi will make it to the final.
It was a humbling experience to have to race in the semi final without going directly to the final as we had in the 1st 2 events. I looked at it as one more chance to practise a start before the final. We won the semi final several seconds ahead of the other boats. We would be in the final with Brisbane Australia and Toronto Outer Harbour as our biggest competition.
Coach M gave us a motivational talk before the race that brought us all to tears. Everything felt so intense; the heat, the noise, the energy of the team. The start took forever (what a surprise). I pounded it every step of the way but I could see after the finish that we were not quite fast enough to beat Brisbane, the question was "did we beat outer harbour?".
It had been a good race. Regardless of second or third we all knew we had paddled well. The results finally came in; a third silver to complete the set.
While waiting for the awards ceremonies Brisbane, Outer Harbour and us all gathered and agreed how we all pushed each other to our limits over the past 4 days and we were grateful for the challenge.
Am I satisfied with the voyage? 42 weeks ago I was in the worse shape of my life. I had never raced on a sport division team before and I only had 2 years of paddling behind me. I had never done a chin up, and I had never benched over 100 pounds . Most of the women on the team are paddling in the sport division for the first time and when we started back in September we looked like a pile of potatoe ladies with legs. Last summer (the team's first season) they placed 3rd in Canada. This week we placed second in the world. I give credit for this amazing accomplishment to the inspiration we gave each other and the incredible coaching and people skills of our coach Matt Roberts.
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