Day 3 (25/6) - Shanghai: Old Streets, Temple of the City God, Yuyuan Garden, Craper (Part 2)
One very amazing thing I noticed in China was that there were NO Malaysian Mannikins. Even more reason to go to China rather than Malaysia.
I heard almost no English music played in China. Even France was playing more English music.
At the Bund there were also beggars and one even grabbed my bag. I was very pissed off at the nerve and was almost going to hit him with my umbrella.
I'm not sure if the person in black is male or female.
Mao Zedong poster I got for 30 Yuan (yes, I know it was overpriced even though I bargained it down from 40) and still haven't gotten down to putting up
Temple of the City God (Cheng Huang Miao)
Commercialisation
Entrance
Courtyard
Me and trough
Inside the sanctuary
I'm not sure why people were throwing in their joss sticks. I thought those were stuck into pots of sand.
The many fans (both paper and plastic) detracted from the sanctity of the ceremony
Gateway: 4 storeys of brand (?)
I saw an Ang Moh girl and an East Asian guy. Maybe he was her 'boyfriend'.
Then we arrived in Yuyuan Garden, with half an hour to spare due to various delays despite nagging: photographic, marketing and because 'we have a lot of time'. It was huge. Luckily we managed to cover most of it.
The Chinese like this type of ornamental rock. I can't remember what it's called.
I asked Johnny Malkavian to take some pictures for me and he went to zoom in on me ridiculously close, obliterating the background (the capturing of which was my primary intention and indeed would be the primary intention of all photographers):
He took some proper versions with his camera but he hasn't sent them to me yet (ahem).
Dragon Heads on archway. Of the last 2, I can't decide which to delete.
Frothing fish. Their activity was frightening.
Guan Yu
Luohan tree
Although the buildings outside were probably equally fake/restored as the ones inside, the removal from the atmospheric surroundings made them look more so.
"Here we have Chinese cakes preparing for foreigners. Foreign cakes providing for Chinese people. And Shanghainese can taste nationwide cakes."
The wonders of globalisation. I didn't check the menu too closely, but it seemed predominantly Chinese in scope.
For dinner, YuCheng, Lin and I had a ridiculously cheap Japanese buffet (108 yuan, including sashimi which I unfortunately don't eat) where I met the infamous Zhengjun, whom I had first heard of 11 years ago.
The Butt Plug at night