Monthly Archives: December 2014

Played Cards Against Humanity at the party last time. It was fun but took forever. You don’t realize how quintessentially American the game is until you play with Chinese people and have to spend every round explaining Maury Povich, Aaron … Continue reading →

This is the street I just trudged down for 45 minutes in the freezing cold. The vanishing point is about a third of the way to the small expat party I was walking home from. A taxi, a taxi, my … Continue reading →

Disappointed. It was just a bunch of tea cups and soaps and shit.

Some may remember the story of my epic quest to Pudong last year. To this day, the tale of the tubby gringo who braved a 45 minute subway ride and 45 minute death march in 99 degree heat & 99% … Continue reading →

In case there was a doubt about whether or not I moved into a cosmopolitan part of Shanghai, I just tried out the gym at my new apartment. It’s directly above an Apple Store and looks out at a Tiffany’s.

Our offices here at work are spread across three contiguous floors: the 12th, 15th, and 16th. In China, buildings usually skip naming the 13th floor (out of general triskaidekaphobia) and any floors with “4” in them because the sound of … Continue reading →

Inside there was a tiny chocolate Krampus.

Waiting at the gate for my Christmas Eve flight back to Shanghai. Since being here in China, the ubiquity of decorations and Christmas music has been one of the biggest surprises. But it’s Christmas divorced from its religious roots or … Continue reading →

So, I saw The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies with Traditional Chinese subtitles. The translation of some of the dwarves’ names would have horrified Tolkien. Balin became Ba Lin (巴林) and Thorin became Suo Lin (索林). “Lin” means forest. … Continue reading →

Which American movie will the good people of Hong Kong connect with better? They both have exclamation points on their posters, so I guess it’s a toss-up.

Just ate at an awesome dim sum place called Dim Dim Sum Dim Sum. You know, for clarity. It came highly recommended by both my coworker (whom I trust) and by Newsweek‘s “101 Best Places to Eat in the World” … Continue reading →