Yesterday was the New Year’s Eve, and I think it was a very memorable one. Basically the whole Shanghai was filled with firecrackers and fireworks and we were having a very busy time running between the two balconies of our house just to see the fireworks. It was that fascinating. Apparently some of these fireworks cost almost 500 RMB and all you do is light it up and see it explode in the sky. That’s literally seeing your money go up in smoke, but then again, it’s Chinese New Year!
Did our New Year countdown on bus number 37. As the clock struck 12, the few of us at the end of the bus started cheering and clapping and apparently everyone else on the bus turned to look in our direction. It was fun.
Comparatively today is a rather quiet day. Didn’t really do much for the whole day and it wasn’t until afternoon when I went out for a quick walkabout in the evening. Most of the shops are closed, but still quite a number remained opened – the convenience store downstairs is one of them. That suited me just fine cos I was feeling rather cold and bought a couple of boiled tea leaf eggs. The thing about today is that it rained for the whole day. It was extremely irritating. Why does it rain everyday?
Would be going to Hangzhou tomorrow with some of the other guys. As I won’t be bringing my laptop along, I don’t think I’ll be able to update immediately on my adventures in Hangzhou. But with my Nokia 6230 with me, you bet there’ll be something to see after I come back.
Our reunion dinner! Yum yum…
We went out to Nanjing Road in the hope of soaking in some new year atmosphere. In the end this is what we got…
And when we reached The Bund, this is what we saw of the other side of the Huangpu River: a complete darkness.
This was the type of fireworks that were tearing the sky apart yesterday. Absolutely brilliant but absolutely expensive.
And this is how the meat riceballs in Shanghai look like. The riceballs in Singapore have either sesame, peanut or red bean paste fillings, but in Shanghai people fill up their riceballs with meat. Yet another fasinating fact about Shanghai. Credits must be given to Madam Lu next door for preparing these great riceballs for us. Loved them to bits. Hohoho.
See you guys in a few days’ time while I enjoy myself in Hangzhou. I don’t know if I’ll really enjoy myself, but I’ll try.
Random Ramblings of the Robotic Renegade 