Mei Guan Xi（没关系）

Last week while having dinner with friends we lamented how Shanghai can just seem like a big urban city with nothing to do besides eating and drinking. To be honest, it’s not entirely off base - but with a little effort you can get away from it all.
So that’s just what I did yesterday. […]

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A couple years back, I heard about parents gathering at People’s Square (a well-known park in the center of the city) perusing for suitors, mind you via resume, for their sons/daughters when it was year of the pig – a particularly lucky year to get married.
Little did I know that the practice still goes on […]

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I’ve written about how black chickens (aka silkies) are good for you so I thought I’d actually make black chicken soup at home.
This is what a black chicken looks like defeathered…with the head and all.

I do a decent amount of cooking, but it’s the first time I’ve cleaned out the innards of a bird, much […]

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I don’t get much of a chance to travel with the startup and all, but I managed to get away for an overnight trip and all for less than $90 to boot!

On the train wasting time till we get to nanjing

Not exactly the most scenic train ride I’ve ever been on

See what I mean?

Only 2 […]

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What do these 3 things have in common?

It’s that they all cost 1 RMB!
Believe it or not, most restaurants charge you 1 RMB for napkins and for the really annoying skinflints, 1 RMB for chopsticks (even for reusable chopsticks and towelettes) ! Small Fat Lamb (hotpot restaurant) use to be like that, but I […]

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The earthquake in Sichuan happened a little over a week ago, but I was actually oblivious to it until 10 minutes later some of my friends IM’ed me asking if I felt it. Nada…but for some of my friends in high-rises, they said the entire building shook laterally at least 3 feet for […]

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At the behest of my friend to by a bicycle, I succumbbed and bought this bike last week. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner!
Mine is the shiny red one.

And it folds up too! Which is nice in case I get tired and can just put it in a taxi or head […]

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Happy Chinese New Year from Beijing!
It’s amazing to think that it’s already my second Chinese New Year in China, though instead of spending it in Shanghai, this year I spent it in Beijing.
The last (and only) time I was in Beijing, I didn’t have much of a chance to get my bearings since it was […]

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The topic of “do you like living in Shanghai?” inevitably surfaces in conversations with expat visitors and friends alike. I tell everyone I really like it here. It’s true. I wouldn’t rather be in any other city. Those who know me know I have a perpetual grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome, so this is no small […]

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Since getting an ayi (maid) I’ve been getting lazier and lazier with chores around the house. It’s gotten to the point where I am even too lazy to put my plastic bottles in the recycling bin in my building.
Then I found out from my ayi that there are people willing to come to you and […]

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