Arriving late in the afternoon, I was taken to a long journey ride from Pudong to the city centre. I was hoping to take a peep of the Oriental Pearl Tower along the hour-long journey, which is such a symbolic icon of Shanghai's race to catch up with the rest of the world's financial capitals. Massive highways and vastness of land utilised for industrials, I began to feel the similarity to Kuala Lumpur. I stared at the window of my travelling vehicle and I observed a number of SUVs (mostly Japanese brand) and Sedans (also Japanese) and what a lovely sight to catch the Cherry sharing the road.
The air was misty and cloudy although the weather forecasted was sunny. My first breath of air, alighting from the vehicle was not so pleasant one. At once, I thought I was inhaling smoke, air which I was quite used to for about a month ago when the haze in the South East Asia region was such a pain. My first encounter of Shanghai almost began with an unpleasant one. Another thing to note is the traffic mannerism of Shanghainese which, I dare not comment as it is equitable to the one at home.
Venturing out alone in the street in the cold evening has always been a must-do for me. I could not bear being in a city and risk not knowing something about it. I need encounters, experiences, and moments which can be used as the ingredients for my story-telling. I walked and walked and I saw peddlers selling things like from cigarettes, DVDs to imitations (a form of flattery, really!). Shanghainese were in suits, if not trendy autumn-winter wears with their fancy boots. Sometimes, I wonder what is so bad about communism...
My legs and eyes brought me to the familiar Golden Archers where a row of trendy restaurants follow suit. I can even find Japanese desserts joints (run by Japanese), Italians and of course, Shanghai-HK cuisines. After a few walk-throughs of the menus displayed outside of each restaurant, I decided I should enter based of the crowd size. As it's quite early for Shanghainese to have dinner (judging from the crowd, that only built up once I left), it's quite difficult to choose. I braved myself to this restaurant as it had a reception with an usher to greet me. I told her I was alone and quickly I was directed to go upstairs. I opened the menu and it took me quite awhile to decide. I ordered braised beef noddles with seasoned vegetable and a simple Choy Sum blanched with black soy souce. I also brought my Off The Edge magazine (Nov issue) and read my way through the waiting time. What a lovely moment, reading an article about a Malay communist in Kelantan and being in a communist country (itself) by idealogy (but beginning to adopt free-market economically)!
Interestingly, I noticed there were metal or bronze sculptures around the vicinity. I began to wonder why it is so. One sculpture depicts a heterosexual couple with their child in hand holding a string of three baloons, the second one is a female comrade pulling a trishaw with an elderly man and another male by his side. And the third one is a male and female dressed in corporate attires in the most recognisable poses found in Wall Street. All these three sculptures represent what I decipher as a social engineering tool by the government, reinforcing the values like family, respect for elders and moving forward (towards free-market prosperity?) On this very day, George W. Bush is in Singapore and joining President Hu JinTao in Vietnam's APEC in two days time.
The very next day, I woke up with a thought of experiencing the Shanghai rush in the morning. The early day was a wet one but it did not damper me from venturing out. At 9.20am, I must say, the traffic looks quite okay and I would have expected more crowd in the street. Maybe Shanghainese are punctual people who loves showing up in the office early. I went into Wagas, a very contemporary cafe, judging from the very post-modernist interiors and artworks, coupled with chic and sleek ambience and not to mention the chill-out urban beat filling the air. With Wi-Fi facility and tonnes of city magazine to browse through, I wish I could have more time there. The cafe was quite quiet with only four tables occupied. I was greeted by an English-speaking waitress who told me that a muffin and coffee set was only 25yuan before 10am. What a perfect timing for me! I brought my Off The Edge but I diverted my attention to reading Shanghai Daily newspaper. I was very impressed by the quality of the write-ups and I fell in love with Shanghai intellectual advancement when I found Joseph Stiglitz's article got published in Shanghai Daily!
Braving the drizzle once again, I must get a copy of Shanghai Daily which costs only 2yuan for a tabloid-size newspaper. My desire was crushed when I only managed to get an expired copy. Hmm... I told myself, why is it so hard to find a newstand? Was the reading culture here still underestablished? I wonder...
My impression of Shanghai is incomplete and I wish for a time to stroll along the pier where the famous Shanghai Bund stood proudly for a time when the Venice of the East was a reality. I believe it is still is now...
