Tasteless Produce

At the grocery store the other day I bought these plump bright red cherries. I thought about them the whole way home - how juicy & sweet & yummy they would be. But when I finally bit into one, it was tasteless. Bummer.

Actually, much of the produce I've found at the grocery store has been pretty tasteless. I've been eating less fruits & vegetables because of it. I guess that's what you get when you live in a big city: mass produced produce for the masses.

Chinese Finger Counting

Six!

Seven!

Eight!

Nine!

Ten!

Stuff on Sticks

My favorite street food in Shanghai is what I like to call Stuff on Sticks. These guys set up their barbeques on the street corner & display a wide variety of yummy food on wooden skewers.

You just pick out what you want & hand it to the guy who lays it over the hot coals. He brushes it with oil & soy sauce, & shakes salt & chili powder on it. A few minutes later it's done & you have a tasty treat. This time I got eggplant, tofu, mushrooms, & zucchini. Nom nom nom.

Those coals are actually red hot but it doesn't look like it in the first photo. Here's another one.

Pushing in Chinese

扑行 pu xing

扑 pu1: To throw oneself on, pounce on, rush on, attack; flap, flutter
行 xing2: To go, travel, prevail, do, perform, carry out, engage in

My new word to describe using public transportation in Shanghai.

Connecting to the Internet

After several attempts, I finally got the internet connected in my apartment today. It's astounding how long it takes to get these kinds of things accomplished in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar language. But now I have internet 24/7! (Danger. I may never go out again.)