Category Archives: 上海

Moppets

Posted on January 28, 2015 by d4vid

Can’t see this creepy ad without thinking of them as the Danish equivalent of Dr. Girlfriend’s Murderous Moppets.

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Extras

Posted on January 28, 2015 by d4vid

Back in his absurdist 1990s period, Louis C.K. had a sublime joke: “Have you ever seen someone you don’t know?  Again?  It’s like God ran out of extras in the movie of your life.” The premise being that the chance … Continue reading →

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Hazardous

Posted on January 25, 2015 by d4vid

Ridiculous.

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Portmanteau

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

Can we clear the air? No, seriously, can we clear the fucking air? Shanghai is on the sea.  (The city’s name literally means “Upon-the-Sea.”)  Just like Los Angeles.  In many ways, the smog reminds me of growing up in L.A. … Continue reading →

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Deaf

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

The highlight of my visit to the Shanghai Bookstore was noticing two kids signing to each other in Chinese sign language. I saw that one — the older brother, perhaps? — was wearing earbuds, but the other one — the … Continue reading →

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Cryptanalysis

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

CCTV are the state-run television channels here in China.  Because of the Mandarin/Cantonese split I’ve discussed, they are always subtitled in Simplified Chinese.  I watch quite a bit of CCTV9 because it’s the documentary network. I’ve watched documentaries on… The … Continue reading →

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Tron

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

The Yan’an Elevated Road as seen from out my window at night.

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Rickrolled

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

At work this week, the Technology group had a party to celebrate the New Year (as it’s about halfway between the Western New Year and Chinese New Year.)  It was an American-style open-an-anonymous-gift-or-steal-from-someone-else gift exchange.  Surely you remember The Office … Continue reading →

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Bookstore

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

A coworker told me there were lots of bookstores along Fuzhou Road, so yesterday I went up there to check it out.  The biggest — with the catchy name “Shanghai Bookstore” — is seven floors high and was as packed … Continue reading →

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Dearth

Posted on January 24, 2015 by d4vid

There is a distinct dearth of blondes in this country.

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Futurama

Posted on January 22, 2015 by d4vid

The font on this glowing keyboard at work looks like something out of 1980s-era Tomorrowland.

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Alien

Posted on January 16, 2015 by d4vid

To quote Sting, “I’m an alien / I’m a legal alien”Finally received my employment and residency permit this week. It appears that the People’s Republic of China has decided to officially render my name as 杨戴维 (Yáng Dàiwéi) which, if … Continue reading →

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Propaganda

Posted on January 10, 2015 by d4vid

Last night, went to a North Korean restaurant.Knowing ourselves, Eli and I agreed that we would each pay Xiaohan 100RMB for any Team America references and 200RMB for any mentions of The Interview. The restaurant was nothing like what I … Continue reading →

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Heist

Posted on January 6, 2015 by d4vid

This is my closest market: Despite the dubious punctuation, I’m told it’s the Chinese equivalent of Whole Foods.  And, no, even here you can’t escape the “Whole Foods? More like whole paycheck” joke. City Super always has music playing that … Continue reading →

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Domicile

Posted on January 5, 2015 by d4vid

I was in a bit of a rush to pick an apartment because reasons. I checked out an order of magnitude fewer places than some of my coworkers did before picking one. I quickly opted for a serviced apartment in … Continue reading →

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