Up to my knees in Shanghai

So today I thought I would write about this Chinese wedding i went to on the weekend, but now I am wet, cold and worried I have contracted typhoid, so instead I will write about the flood I had to walk through to get to work today (who knew I was so dedicated ---really I am not, my chinese colleagues wouldn't give up, not me!).

We woke up to what was seriously, continuous thunder, at around 6:30, and steady rain.

At 10, I headed off to work. Since it is impossible to get taxis in the rain, I walked to Nanjing West Road Tube station and got the train. It was raining on the way, but not too hard.

While on the train, I got a call from my colleague Amy, asking where I am, if I am alright, and that she would wait for me at Hongqiao station(where we get off to go to work), because there is some water around the station.

I didn't really understand, and thought I would be fine, as i wore my cons today, not sandals.

Well, some water is an understatement. There were cars stopped and stranded in the street it was so flooded - right outside the station.

At this point, i should have just gone back home. But no. We walked through the one small alley which wasn't flooded (crowded therefore with bikes, people and many many cars), to Honqiao Lu trying to find a non-flooded way to get through.

Amy, before we left the station, suggested we hire a rickshaw guy to take us to work, but I thought we could find a safe way to walk. I thought it would be a rip off. I thought it would be dangerous, like we would get in an accident.

Eventually, we made our way to Huai Hai Lu, which is the road our work is on, only to discover it was also flooded. Finally, we had to suck it up and just walk through this dirty brown water up to our calves in some spots.

When it came to crossing the road/river, I just gave in, and we hired a bike to take us across. Not only did he take us across the road though, as the entire of Red Town (our work complex) was flooded, so he had to take us up the river to our building.

I am ashamed to say, that for three people, we only paid 10 Kuai. Why am I so tight?!?!?!

Admittedly, if I had been with Aidan, he would have charged us 200 I am sure.

So anyway, that was todays adventure...

Empire of the Sun

I have not written in this blog for ages. You know how life happens, and you think nothing interesting is happening, but really, I am sure there are interesting things going on that I will want to remember, so I will start writing more regular, shorter, blogs, in an effort to record my lifes happenings and not skip over my actual life. Isn't it ridiculous that I am only recording my travelling...I am living in Shanghai! there is so much I will want to remember just from here!

Similarly, I should really get round to putting up some posts about my time in London as well...

Where have I been the last 3 months? Well, I have still been in Shanghai - working, making new friends, and I even got to go back to Australia for three weeks to fix up my visa. My sister had a baby last week, so now I am an aunty...umm...I think that is the major news.

This little update will just be quickly about a discovery I made today. While walking during my lunch hour in the area surrounding my office (Huai Hai XI Lu, Hongqiao Lu), I passed by a heritage building sign which told me I was on what used to be Amherst Avenue (now Xinhua Lu). For those who don't know, Amherst avenue is where JG Ballard grew up during WW2, and where much of the book Empire of the Sun is set. I was very excited, as I love the book, and after doing a quick google, I found out that his actual house was a restaurant that I pass by every day!!

Now I will have to go and eat there!

It was just as you would imagine it, and I will try and remember to bring my camera to work so I can take pictures...an old french style house, in wide gardens, set on a tree lined road. The only difference is that now the entrance is on Panyu Lu, not Xinhua Lu (Amherst Avenue).

Also, both my offices in Shanghai have been on Huai Hai Lu, which I have just found out was previously Avenue Joffre, which also features in the book.

Since coming to Shanghai I have reread the book, but will need to reread AGAIN, now that I know the exact area they are talking about - right next to my office! how funny.

I can't believe that little boy pedalled all the way from Amherst Avenue to the Bund on his bike every day to see if the war had begun - it is no short distance! about half an hour in a car.

I bought the sequal the other day - The Kindness of Women - and I didn't like it as much. It is a lot darker, depressing, which you would expect considering his childhood, but it doesn't have the overall 'uplifting' feeling that Empire of the Sun does, which made me love it. (this is why I am not a book critic, and why I have refused to join my friends book club here in Shanghai).