Reflexcellent

So I was lookin' around for some cool Chinese souvenirs to bring home--something other than a People's Liberation Army hat, the Little Red Book, fake antiques--any number of things found in YuYuan that are nifty to look at but really end up being dead weight in your luggage. My roommates know of my reliance on the good ol' internet, so after some putzing around I found out about these bad boys:

Feiyue. They've been makin' em in SH since the 1920's (take that PLA hat!) and are worn by young and old alike. The OG version is this style in white with the arrow part in red and blue, which is ironically very USA patriotic looking.









Every pair comes wrapped like this. No box, just a brown paper bag with a strange little Pinocchio mascot boy on it.














Chinese burrito anyone?

I also got me a pair of these Huili or Warriors--you can see the logo here on the back heel.

Feiyues have actually become quite trendy in France and are sold alongside big name brands. Feiyues are also favored by those who practice martial arts such as Wushu as well as Shaolin practitioners (apparently not all of them are monks). I took them out for a trial run (walk really) and I like how close they fit on my feet and the grippiness of the soles. I joke quite often with friends about my cat-like reflexes, but in these I feel like I'm bordering on ninja. The soles aren't thin per se, but I can feel the uneven flooring outside, which makes me wonder how easily and noiselessly I can scale the bamboo scaffolding surrounding all the construction outside on my street. These will be perfect for slipping shadow-like onto the subway to claim a seat before that old granny gets it.

Huili is another Chinese brand that's the equivalent of Chucks I'd say. They were the cool shoes to wear in the 80's when China was finally coming back from the black pit of despair.

I'm diggin' it so far: there's history, authenticity, usefulness, the trend factor, comfort, and the inexplicable desire to run stealthily through the night.

Douchebaggery

On a lighter note, I thought I'd put up some more nonsense since I have this little alcove to myself. I was hanging out with a friend from New Zealand and I asked her if guys there like to do this:



She reported that she hadn't particularly noticed it. I asked because I have been seeing it all over SH: the popped collar. Now I'm accustomed to seeing this on the occasional youngster in the US as well as the occasional DB but I'll get into that in a bit. But here it seems anyone in a polo is prone to it, as evidenced by this fellow, who looked to me to be of fatherly age (although you can't tell from the photo above). I explained to my friend, "When I see this in the US I automatically think db," to which she replied, "What's a douchebag?" Obviously my Chinese must have improved because somehow I was able to explain it. I don't know how this look has been propogated here as "cool", perhaps just by virtue of being associated with the Western world.

Anyway, I don't know how much longer I'll have access to blogger. It seems other people using the same method as I haven't been able to get on in a while.

NSFW

I never found out what led to this person having her whole exposed cornea covered by conjunctiva. Sometimes the doctors are too busy to answer all my questions, and sometimes I just don't know how to ask. Here they are cutting away the symblepharon in the lower conjunctival fornice.

Here they are preparing some amniotic membrane. This stuff can be stretched super thin and all you need is a little piece.

Now they are sewing the stretched out piece over the lower palpebral conjunctiva. I'm guessing this is to help prevent the regrowth.

Voila! New lower fornix. I don't have great pictures post-op, but this lady had crazy amounts of extra conj and they docs were cutting it all away. Sidenote, they left the cornea as is. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to see how they would be able to peel it away (if that's even possible). This was a chronic condition so the eye is pretty much useless/non-seeing anyway.



Sorry for the lack of eye-related posts. I keep forgetting to sort through them and sometimes I just don't feel like busting them out in a public cafe. But today I found a nice little corner to myself, so enjoy!

Sampler Platter

I'm resting at home again after coming down with yet another cold--I really do think it's the air quality here--ask anyone who's lived with me before how sensitive my nose is. Don't look at it!

Anyway, thought I'd throw up some random snapshots of the cityscape to show ya'll.

Ok so not technically cityscape, but here's a look inside one of the numerous malls in Shanghai. I enjoy my fair bit of shopping, but even I get tired just looking at places like these. This is only one wing of one mall.

Night shot of Metro City (the ball thingy), a mega-mall of electronics in the Xujiahui shopping area.

A street in the French Concession area, where the hospital I am at is located. I like this area a lot because of the European vibe and because of the TREES! Glorious glorious foliage.
A shot of some SH skyline on a relatively clear day--rare.

Nanjing Rd Day vs. Night. I'm not sure what the big deal is about this place, I suppose there's a lot of shopping on both sides, but I've never really felt the need to explore this area. I guess there are a number of historic buildings around this area, i.e. Shanghai's first department store and other old hotels that probably figured prominently into the social scene during the 1920's and 30's.

Underneath the Nanpu Bridge that takes you to Pudong. In the distance you can see some gaudily-lit attraction that I assume exists only to serve tourists, as this section of the road was pretty deserted except the large tourist buses dropping off the unsuspecting.

Requisite Oriental Pearl Tower picture: day and night versions.

Lots of buildings in the downtown area are beautifully lit up at night. It's actually a really pretty sight when you're on the freeway.

Bottom right corner is the SH Grand Theatre. Behind it is some building which I don't know the name of, but there's something Lord of the Rings/Star Trek about it--like there should be a sought-after jewel in the pincer-like vise at the tip.

Buildings around People's Square at dusk.

One section of the metro station at People's Square, which has 20 different exits. It is not for the faint of heart.

Since I am rarely up this early, I thought I'd document the occasion: sunrise in SH.

Holiday Happenings

Since we had all this time off because of the National Holiday + Mid-Autumn Festival, we took a 1 day tour to do some rafting on the outskirts of Hangzhou. Yes, bamboo rafting again. The scenery wasn't quite as picturesque as Wuyi Shan, but there were plenty other ways to amuse ourselves.







First, the ride to the start point on a water buffalo-drawn cart.














While floating peacefully on the raft, we enjoyed live Chinese opera accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu. This lady was singing some well known ditty about Mao and redness and the sun and may he live forever.







Then you get to enjoy a nice charcoal bbq by the riverbanks. You order whatever you want and it's all at your pit before you even sit down. We were noobs and didn't know to bring our own foil and fresh fruits and ample plates and proper tools. But we did ok I think.











Since we always have to have rice, we ordered these sticky rice steamed in bamboo cylinders. They come whole and you crack em open and scoop out the sticky insides.










These children were clearly disregarding the warning signs. You can see them playing with the water launchers that were for sale everywhere. I gave every kid that floated by our raft a menacing-if-you-squirt-me-I'm-gonna-wade-through-this-3-feet-of-water-and-destroy-your-gun-with-my-bare-hands-glare.

It worked very well.




If you tired of water activities, there was also some horseback riding to enjoy.

I'm not an expert rider, but have you ever seen yourself on horseback? You look very silly. I'm glad there was no damaging video evidence of this.









There were also several couples getting their wedding photos and video shot here. Not really my idea of a holiday.










If you got really bored, you could also play with dead fish. Sushi anyone?













I admit we were really stretching for ways to kill time--that's the only way I can explain how I came to happen upon a blow up doll in the middle of a forest maze. Did I win? Did I? I love prizes!









Highlight of the trip.









I've never tried archery before and was surprised how difficult it was. I finally nicked the top of the target after 8 shots.













Just as addicting as carnival games. Here Jimmy is aiming very intently at his target. A small crowd was gathered, giving unsolicited advice as Chinese are wont to do.













On the very last shot--success!












One very expensive rooster.


Sorry for all my friends and casual passerbys who love animals. Several were harmed in the process. Just be glad I didn't put up the picture of the bleeding duck.

What's wrong with this picture?

Wednesday evening Jimmy and I had dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall noodle joint and I noticed the pink glow coming from the shop next door. Take a guess at what kind of merchandise one might find in this shop.

Wuyi Shan Part Two

A shot of the country terrain: rows and rows of tea bushes. Greenery all around. A lot of my shots have this bleached out effect because it was actually a bit misty during the day.
The next day, we went on a hike to the 9 Dragon Waterfalls. As you climb higher and higher, the falls get larger.

To give some idea of relative height and size, look for the tiny people. My mom lay on this cool piece of rock next the the largest falls while my brother and I climbed higher. There's all this yellow caution paint because the rocks get really slippery from all the drizzle flying up from the falls. People lug bottles up to these falls to collect water for drinking and brewing tea. You can see our family friend gathering his supply down below. At the top of the climb there are teeny tea houses set up for such. The water is supposed to have excellent restorative properties, but I don't know. Chinese folk love things like that.

I had to add this adorable picture of my mom splashing her feet in the water. She was as excited as a 5-year-old girl and here I caught her unawares--if you click for a close up, you might be able to see the secret glow of satisfaction when you've discovered something you don't want to share with others. The water was super clear and fresh and perfect for cooling our tired feet. Also perfect for drinking...yum, sweet sweet feet water.

At the highest point we could climb to, you get this fantastic view--a bit like those mist-covered mountains you see in a lot of Chinese paintings. It might not look like much here, but all the drapes and folds of greenery was something I had been missing while living in the urban zoo of Puxi in Shanghai.

Afterwards we went into town to get some refreshments:

Mom bought some snake oil cream for her dry skin and for my brother's pus-filled mosquito bubble bite on his leg, not pictured for obvious reasons.