One down, one to go.

After repeated delays, I finally got my first COVID-19 shot. So to knock the obvious questions out, yes it was the Chinese one, and yes the one with anywhere from 55-80% efficacy. It certainly sounds less good than the Pfizer/Moderna ones, and they probably are. But what people often don't see beyond the 55%-80% figures is that it is 100% in preventing severe cases of COVID, so I'm 100% onboard with that. I mean, I'm not a doctor. But I've been hearing a lot lately about how you can't compare studies because of different environments, and this and that. But hey, even though COVID is not a risk at all in China, it would be nice to travel this summer. So better to do what I can, be the solution and not the problem, etc. etc.

I'm actually a bit miffed it took so long to get it, because it sure seemed like we would be getting it months ago. Teachers were part of a high-priority group (only second to medical workers, I believe), so we were hearing murmurs back in 2020 it's coming soon. Because the priority is based on your job, they have to arrange everything. We signed the waiver in January. Then absolutely nothing happened. Asking HR produced a lot of "I dunnos". So I have to assume that, A) They decided because COVID isn't really a thing here anymore, it's not worth the bother, or B) Government Bureaucracy means it got delayed. Honestly both are possible, but I am upset at the lack of communication. And I'm inclined to believe Option A a little bit, because one day the news announced that vaccines are available to all foreigners now. Literally the next day, the school sent out an E-mail phrased in such a way like they were taking credit for pushing things along.

We can read the news, ya'll.

Anyway, I'm only with them for a few more months, so it's fine if they were idiots about it I suppose. So what's been going on? Well, Ella and I went to a slaughterhouse. At least, it used to be one. Now they've gone and turned it into a mall, because such a thing could only happen in Asia. It's a strange place, entirely made out of concrete with a lot of small bridges. It has a sort of MC Escher kind of look to it, and I can't imagine why this was the best design for a slaughterhouse. Now it's an Instagram hangout, complete with a Starbucks. Oh, Asia.

For more normal excursions, a group of friends decided to go hiking in Shanghai. If you know anything about the geography of Shanghai, that's like saying you want to go swimming in the Sahara. Dudes, it's flat. There is one hill of sorts out west near the border with Zhejiang province, so we thought to check it out. At the top is a really neat looking church and observatory. Unfortunately, the church was closed, and the sign on the gate had a date back in March 2020, when COVID was more of a thing. Still, nice church to look at. The observatory had a little museum that was nice, which was converted from the church's old monastery. Really, the "hike" took like 10 minutes to get to the top. Still, it's the highest point in Shanghai, so behold, in all its glory!

A bit anticlimactic, but oh well. After we went to the Botanical Gardens, which are very nice but way out in the suburbs. The weather was perfect that day, just slightly cool, because spring has sprung. You'll know because most of the parks have Japanese Cherry Blossom trees, and they're in bloom for another few weeks. We set out with a friend to Century Park in Pudong District to see a really big collection of them. There were a lot of people there, and I had never been to Century Park before, so that's cool. Nice place. You can even camp there. Kinda weird to get out of your tent and see skyscrapers a kilometer away, but hey, why not. Before, we stopped by a super super local restaurant to try food from her hometown province. Whew, it was spicy. But also really delicious. I had never had that style of Chinese food before, so it was a fun experience.

Pudong District is also home to the Science Museum, which I have actually been to many years ago. I don't really remember it though, so why not give it another shot? The Science Museum... it's okay I guess. It has a distinct 90s, early 2000s kind of feel, and maybe has not been updated since then. In contrast to the quite good Natural History Museum, I think the Science Museum needs some love - especially since it's just two metro stops away from some of the most modern buildings in the world. Maybe kids would be impressed, but for the most part, I wouldn't stop if you're a tourist. The highlight for me was the African animals diorama, for a completely unexpected reason. There is a lion at the aforementioned Natural History Museum which is sort of internet-famous for having a completely stupid look on his face, for which I will be oh so happy to include a picture of. However, what I did not know, is that there is also a dopey looking lion at the Science Museum. I think he (she?) deserves to be equally internet famous. So please, spread this photo far and wide for your "My face when..." memes.

Seems I've been talking a lot about Pudong district, which is really unusual for Shanghai people. Nobody really goes to Pudong, because it's considered kind of soulless. Actually, a good portion of Pudong didn't even exist a few decades ago, as it's reclaimed sea land. Most of the people live in the old part of town, called Puxi - where they have French-style buildings (at least, some) and most of the foreign food and bars. Unless you're going to the airport, or a tourist to gawk at the admittedly super impressive skyline, there's really nothing going on in Pudong. But actually on these trips I found it kind of cool, and I think it's reputation is a bit undeserved. We haven't given it a proper exploration, but we saw quite a few cool looking places. One would actually be a surprise to anyone from the US, we ate lunch at Red Lobster. As far as I know, this is the only one in China, so I guess it's not a chain after all. It is a bit on the expensive side, similar to US prices. I asked Ella when was the last time she ate lobster, and she said never. So, we had to try that. I think I've created a monster though, because Ella really really liked lobster. Admittedly it has probably been a decade since I had it, but it was better than I remember, even if we had just bits of it on flatbread. But yeah, all of Red Lobster's food was surprisingly good, much better than in the US - with the notable exception of the cheddar biscuits, which were not swimming in butter. I get why, butter is very expensive here. But still, disappointing. They made up for it by having an amazing beer from Yunnan. It tasted really unique, with a flowery sort of flavor. I had never had a beer like that before. I liked it so much that on the way back home I tracked it down and ordered a case online. Red Lobster, 9/10. Who would have thought? Lobsters are very uncommon in China, but I guess we'll be on the lookout from now on.

Sorry, lobsters.

Happy New Year again!

Yes, that's right. China is cool enough to celebrate new year twice - one western, one Chinese. To be honest, because of... (gestures broadly at everything), this Chinese New Year is a bit more scaled down. The government has discouraged people from traveling, and unlike (gestures broadly at everywhere else), people are keen to follow that advice. Maybe fewer are following that advice that otherwise would though, because a lot of people sat out last year. Asking Chinese folks to skip one year of going back home is a big ask, so twice is huge.

To be honest, the recent outbreak in China would seem comical in comparison to the US, with a few hundred or so cases that popped up in province near Beijing. In typical Chinese style, they got that under control right-quick by shutting down the entire city, banning travel, etc.. So far it hasn't gotten out of that area, and only a handful of cases (literally, like a dozen or so), spread in Shanghai. And now we're back down to 0 new a day. So personally, I'm not worried. But it has gotten people a bit concerned, sort of in the style of "Hmm... everything is cool, but out of an abundance of caution, let's delay our travel plans." I think we will as well, although we weren't exactly dying to travel during Chinese New Year, AKA The Fast and the Furious: Beijing Drift. If you have never traveled during CNY, consider yourself lucky. It's a madhouse that we always sought to avoid by taking advantage of our long break, by leaving/coming back early/late.

But with our staycation in place, there's some Shanghai sights we're keen to see. Let's just start with a little place of interest, this weird sculpturey thing along the river. It's sort of on the north side of The Bund, and I've seen it many times. Is it a giant pencil? A bar? Rocket launch site? Well, we were in the area, so I suggested we pop over and figure out what the heck this thing is. Turns out, it's a Martyr's Shrine. They had a little museum about it that was closed, so maybe we'll have a chance to come back. It does look kind of cool from underneath, but otherwise just sits there to be spiffy. It has a great view across to the river to Pudong, so it's probably worth stopping if you're in the area, especially if the museum is open. There's also a bridge across the Suzhou River, which looks "American" enough for Ella to comment that it looks like it's from Cincinnati. But aside form a photo or two, there's not much else to see here.

Another place we checked out is one just around the corner from our apartment. That's quite unusual itself, because our place is tourist-circle adjacent, but hardly within that circle. The Shanghai Aviation Enthusiasts Association, which is apparently a thing, have a smallish appointment-only museum with some old planes. I had been meaning to visit for quite a while, but seeing old planes is pretty far down the list of things Ella would want to do. But finally I convinced her to make the appointment, and we set out for the grueling 5 minute bike ride. And honestly... it's kind of cool! I mean, you really don't need to make the trip if you're visiting Shanghai as a tourist, there's not all that much there. The showpiece is a DC-8, a large passenger jet from the 60s. They've left the plane pretty much the way it was, except cutting a hole in the floor to let you see the cargo hold. Fun fact, this particular plane had a (non-fatal) accident at Hongqiao Airport, and instead of repairing it, they apparently thought towing it to a small park in downtown Shanghai would be a good idea. Which, I have to imagine that back in the 80s, that was feasible. Now it's wedged in between a couple of buildings, you'd have to take the whole thing apart to do that today. Just for funsies, I tracked down the report on this particular plane, and sure enough, it has the same photo (minus a few more buildings that have gone up since).

That day was pretty chilly, but fortunately winter seems to be on the way out. One day it was downright warm, or at the very least "cool", enough that we took a long walk around the city. We've had a bunch of places marked on our maps to check out, mostly restaurants, cafes, and bakeries. So this would be a good opportunity to cut a swath through the middle of the city to try them all. We met a lot of cats, and even a bakery that did authentic cinnamon rolls, which blew my socks off. But the trip started out in Tianzifang, which is a bit touristy but still one of my favorite places in the city. Basically, it's a bunch of alleyways with tiny shops and street food (overpriced snacks for tourists, but street food nonetheless). Honestly if there was an entire city that looks like Tianzifang I'd want to live there. The lanes are too small for cars, and they're packed with lots of outdoor bars and interesting boutiques. The closest I found to this feeling is Mong Kok in Hong Kong, or maybe the north part of Macau. Basically, anywhere that is designed for people and not cars, so walking for a minute will have you pass a hundred different places. Of all the places I have lived, Taipei came the closest, which is maybe why I like that city so much. I don't know - living above a cafe or bar makes me feel like I'm actually in a city.

Speaking of cafes, let's talk about something else we did, that was one of the coolest things maybe ever in the history of everything. You've probably heard of cat cafes, maybe even dog cafes. Many cities have those. But something that Shanghai has that your city may not, is a raccoon cafe.

Yes, raccoon. Oddly enough, this is not our first time in a raccoon cafe. Are they becoming more widespread? I hope so, because they're really fun. And this cafe was significantly better than the one in Bangkok. For one, admission included a surprisingly good hot dog and a drink. But also, they let you interact with the raccoons, and they want to interact with you. The Bangkok raccoons were a bit scared of people, and sticking pretty close to their owner. These raccoons were more chill, and loved to use their little paws to see what was up with you. We also got to feed them crackers and vegetables, and it was pretty adorable how they would reach out and grab it from you. One of them in particular I took a liking to, as he was just very chill. The others would quickly snatch food and run away, but he was very patient, and carefully took it from you. And then he would lick my hand to look for any spare cracker residue. And wow, raccoons are incredibly soft. I can see why people used to go for raccoon skin hats. I think their body is about half as big as they appear, they're just covered with a giant layer of fur. 10/10, one of my favorite things I've done in Shanghai, and totally worth the $12 or so. Any friends that visit - get ready, we're going back there. And for anyone else who is interested, it's at 462 Changle Lu, near Line 1 South Shaanxi Road Station.

Other than raccoons and planes, we've mostly been meeting up with friends for food and drink. Since most everyone stayed home, there's a lot of time to spare - not to mention taking advantage of the weekday lunch specials at western restaurants we'd usually think are too expensive. But I've never been much for taking photos of food, because A) I don't care about anyone else's food, so why would you care about mine, and B) It's mostly been western food, so I can't imagine it would be interesting. But I will post one photo, of "Mongolian" food. They're basically little oat tortillas covered in sort-of spaghetti sauce. But for the most part, imagine we've been eating pizza, nachos, and Vietnamese pho. Alright, I lied. The last one isn't western. We're on a quest to find the best Vietnamese pho in the city, and I gotta be honest guys - it's not going well. Nothing we've eaten is bad per se, but it just tastes plain? Or at least not Vietnamese. I refuse to believe nobody in a city of 25 million can make noodles as good as what a street vendor in Vietnam can do for a dollar. So far we're at about 7 restaurants down, and only 2 have even achieved "Eh, not bad - but not Vietnamese."

And speaking of Southeast Asia, let's take a turn into sort-of-serious town. If you haven't seen the news recently, Myanmar's military has taken over the country. Strangely, I have experienced a coup before. Although, we're comparing apples to oranges here, because it has been my impression that this move in Myanmar is very unpopular, and people are worried. And of course that really sucks. I have said a few times that Myanmar is the best undiscovered tourist destination in the world right now, and everyone should make plans to visit. In particular, I said (and still feel) that Bagan is the most beautiful place I've ever been to. It seems that unfortunately, now fewer people will get to see it. I remember when I visited Myanmar, I felt special to be one of the few tourists in the country, as the military had just given up control. I had a blast, because the country had that "undiscovered", "authentic" feeling that all tourists want but never find. And the locals I met there were incredibly cool, up there with Laotians and Malaysians being some of the chillest, most awesome people I've had the pleasure of meeting. And I worry about some of them, like the monks I chilled with at the top of Shwedagon Pagoda. Or the tuktuk driver Mao Mao, who was an amazing guide who took me all around his village, and then home to meet his family. It really is a shame what is happening in Myanmar, because they deserve better. And I can only hope this coup brings positive changes for their lives - I doubt it will, but fingers crossed. And on the other side of all of this, if there is another side, I hope other people will consider visiting Myanmar. Because it is an amazing place full of amazing people, and apparently you have a fleeting chance.