Shanghai China Snippets

No matter how much I like Starbucks for their 12 rmb coffee of the day, how many people do they expect to type in this URL.

Source: ad in Cityweekend (Shanghai expat mag)

The irony. That was my first thought.

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What does a Talking Girl talk about? And do they have non-talking girls as well?

Crossposted on Shanghai Daily Photos

We’re having dinner at a friend’s place. As seems to be a Chinese must the TV is playing it’s noisy wallpaper role, in this case the SMG cartoon channel as a kid is present. Chopsticking into Chengdu dishes the cartoons are given a break and there’s an public harmony message aired.

The hosts of prominent Shanghai tv shows have participated in a “civic-consciousness” ad.

I see them waiting till subway commuters get off (opposite to barging in the moment the doors open), I see them standing on the right side of the escalator (opposite to blocking the escalator for anyone in a hurry).

Basically I see them applying all kind of forms of civilization that sometimes is hard to find here. It’s done nicely and I agree with the message although it may be slightly Utopian.

After another bite of some tofu I say, “Wouldn’t it be nice if every one in the world behaved like this”.

From the corner of the table the 8 year old son quips, “Never in Shanghai.”

Wandering on Weihai Lu we ran into the neon lights of Neo Cafe.

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Typos happen and I’m sure I have contributed many to this world, most of them online I guess. In many cases it’s just that but in some cases, like important mails for example or titles of articles I try to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Heck, I even re-read important mails to minimize the chance that an annoying mistake finds its way into my writings. It’s matter of quality control and the more important, the more scrutiny is required.

Josh from aCupofCha noticed that the English version of the Chinese Olympic Games website lacks this kind of quality control.

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Bread Prices - Two Ways of Dealing With It.

The price of almost everything has been going up in China, including the price of grain.

I buy my bread in 2 places and both shops have approached the price increase differently.

In the Portman bakery (inside the City supermarket) the ciabattas have a slightly smaller square cm size, and are half as thick as before. You can almost call it a ciabatta crust. The price is the same, 18 Rmb. For reference sake, the price of the same ciabatta was once 12 Rmb in 2005 in the Portman Bakery

In Paul’s they have decided to increase the price instead of halving the bread. A white bread that previously set you back 18 Rmb now costs you 22 Rmb. An increase of more than 22%.

Personally I prefer Paul’s approach. I have to pay more but at least you can still call it a bread.