international trip means excuse to (finally) buy a pair of toms.
red for communist china(!).
actually, i got red cuz they were out of the blue sequins that i wanted.

plane food. ugh.
on the other hand, thank god for bloody mary mix.

they gots highways like us!
on the way from the airport to the hotel.

lobby of the dingdong hotel in puxi, shanghai. it was built for the 2010 world expo.

more of that lobby.

the mousepad in our room. totally effing random mousepad pic. srsly, wtf is all that?!

tea service. all asian hotels have a mini bar for the tea service.

the beds.

and the couch. that was one filthay couch. they probablyve never dusted that thing since it got placed there.

view outside of the hotel room. smack dab in downtown-ish puxi.
we were kinda in the brooklyn of shanghai.

restaurant of second nights dinner. omg there were so many dinners to go to.

fountain-ish thingie in the restaurant entrance.

some broiled duck thingie? dunno cuz i didnt eat it. anything with claws reeks of effort to eat.
on the other hand, the green stuff beneath were tasty.

mmm...cold cucumber dish.

meat gelatin. can never go wrong with meat gelatin.

its chewy, its spicy, and its got sesame seeds. not bad at all.

you cant not appreciate the awesomeness that is clams and shrimp baked in egg. ja mon.

veggies with lotus petals. fancy.

buds are popular in shanghai.

river shrimp. everyone and their mom served this dish.

stinky tofu. didnt really like the flavor...not the right type of stinky.

in a second floor restaurant on nanjing road. to partake of...

...soup dumplings filled with crab soup. with a side of jook and salty dishes. not bad AT ALL.

oink!!

entering the city god temple (cheng huang miao) of shanghai.
old skool buildings transformered into an outdoor crafts fair.

loved that the buildings were clean and thematically matching. musta been touched up from the expo.

like im in one of those wuxia flicks.

yieah, me and lights again. who says the chinese dont do paneled ceilings?

chopsticks store (hee!).

one of the big courtyards.

apparently THE dumpling place to go to in shanghai.

even if this place tasted horrible, i wouldnt have cared.
cuz they got a giant bao right at the entrance. WIN.

them baos flyin past me. restaurant was super busy and the servers were rushing everywhere.

the baos themselves. lookit them. so cute!

red lanterns. always got a soft spot for red lanterns. so happy.

model of the tianzi fang (at Art Streeet).
an artsy fartsy "village" where old skool brick buildings have been transformered (on the first floor at least) into art galleries, cafes, and boutiques.
if not for the icky humidity, i wouldve spent hours here on a photoshoot.

no really, MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN BABY. mmkay.

artsy shadows.

frederick warholed. cracked me up.

its an egg man.
im sold.

like 3rd street except with chinese brush art.

im all for chunky chikuns.

thats like green mold growing on the shell. but whatevers its a delicious shade of lime.

eeep panda invasion!!

parquet stone floor. WANT.

like that juxtaposition? wires and a fancy wooden sign?

i dont get this place.

i also dont get these two sitting around in their pjs either.
but everyone else was crowding around and taking pics so i thought, why not, cop a snap.

thats a rope holding up granpas pants. stylin.

not enough wires. what happens when it rains?!

euro chic. with a splash of chinese motorcylce.

only in china. underoos basking in the sun.

traffic lights. just like ours but not like ours.

sofa that was on my hotel floors lobby.
hate that thing, with the cracks and dust and general ugliness.

decoration at the reception table of my cousins wedding.

the venue was a fancy mansion in the french quarter. fresh flowers everywhere.

crazy hot outside. or i woulda sat down with a cold lemonade.
as it was, the metal chairs burned me arse.

we had to pay for those petals in the pool.

still, it was all a well done sorta pretty.

stairs leading up to the third floor chapel.

the spiral staircase inside the building that also led up to the third floor chapel.

half finished table decor. the color theme was purple.

drinks. im just mesmerized by the green and blue stuff (all alcohol, all the time).

balloons that each guest let fly.

flowers in the reception dining room. after all the roses, i wouldnt have thought theyd go cheap with carnations.

lunch the day after the wedding.
slices of lotus. that were gross. cuz they were sweet. ew.

greens from the tips of red carrots mixed with pine nuts. interesting mix but not really tasty.

the best thing ever...some sorta salty, sweet dried fish. i ate two plates full.

subway. on our way to seven treasures village.

entrance to seven treasures village.
yet another old skool village updated with A SHIT TON OF RESTAURANTS.

seriously, the mongolian lamb hot pot restaurant chain was everywhere. its like the mickey d's of shanghai.
admist crazy heat and humidity --- who in their right mind would want hot pot?!!?!?

river that flowed through the middle of the village.

the bridge crossing aforementioned river.

so starts a series of "Food That Looks Good But You Shouldnt Eat Cuz Its Sitting Unprotected In The Heat" photos.
meats Gaaaaalore.

chicken baked in mud and leaves.

jello stuffs chinese style (grass jelly and etcetra).

those pork thingies were nearly the size my head.

barrels of fermenting wine in the courtyard of the restaurant we ate at for lunch.

unwrapping a chicken baked in mud and leaves.

de-boning the chick was massive easy. meat just peeled off.

ta da!!

decor in the restaurant.

decor in restaurant, take two. notice All That Liquor.

fermented foods. each red tofu brick was as big as my fist.

grilling stinky tofu to order. smelled amazing.

chicken gizzards. w00t!!

chinese tourism waiting to be assembled.

they had tours into the buildings.

selling jade by soaking it in water (enhances the coloring).

cosplay!
i mean, peeps renting out qin style costumes so you can dress in heavy silk from neck to toe in sweltering heat and take a corny tourist pic.

statuary outside of a restaurant.

wandering through the seven treasures corridors.

yieah you read that right.

a stack of meat. the end.

along the bund. fancy buildins.

the oriental pearl tower (dong fang ming zhu) in day.

on the way to dinner. glass skyscrapers eveywhere.

close up of the oriental pearl tower. right before...

...dinner at japanese restaurant. steamed egg.

strolling along the pearl tower after dinner.

the tower with flags.

theres a giant elevated walkabout in the area. the better to soak up all the lights.

at the top of the walkabout.

looking down from the walkabout.

the can opener building. still cracks me up.

my camera has tilt shift function! you bet i went ape shiznit with that.

more view from the walkabout.

a lot of the trees in the pearl tower area had lightsabres hanging from the branches.
yes, i meant lightsabres.

at the shore of the bund. lights in the distance.

river edges were stepped. so it felt like a giant pool and not a river.

haagen daaz was everywhere. and im not complainin.

reflecting pool along the bund.

fancy lights eh!

filled with people on a thursday night around 10:30.

this boat is just hilarious. like a halved watermelon.

chilling at the starbucks along the bund.

hoofing it back to the car.

slightly fuzzy shot taken of the baidu bridge from the car.

uber neon light display in one of the malls.

their malls are vertical and many stories high.

fried chikun at mickey d's!

across the street from nanjing road.

crossing the tunnel beneath the street to access nanjing road on the other side. where we see...

...a mass of humanity.
complete with a shit ton of neon.

department stores everywhere.

but i was more impressed with them fancy sewer caps.

its like tokyo. but not really.

i like that the signs are all vertical and trying to out-reach one another. fight!

more shopping on saturday morning (the last day).

not the best tilt shift effect but i like how its also slightly a wonky fisheye.

one of those attempts at 3d painitng on the sidewalk. kind of a fail.

ahhh...! the fancy mall full of fancy brands built just for rich peeps and foreigners!
i just cared that their first floor bathroom didnt smell (too bad), was well lit, and CLEAN.

brands like burberry, coach, and blah blah blah i cant remember.
its like brea mall actually.

pudong airport. all aerodynamic wood panelling that hid ligts and air con units.