My New Year's Day was perfect.
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Even if I have the bare minimum of "work" to do for my agency, it's just not the same as having a whole day off. Even one casting can occupy a huge portion of daylight hours: I have to get ready and apply the excessive makeup that my agency demands, then it's totally normal for it to take an hour to drive to the client's office, and another forty five minutes to wait for the client to arrive, examine my and my colleagues' portfolios, make us try on clothes, etc, then another hour to drive home. Longer if it's rush hour (it's always rush hour). Ah, this holiday rules! I rose with Chanticleer and some 7:00am fireworks outside. My big plan was to take a random bus and walk around trying to find some lion dancers (MY FAVE). The bus dropped me off near a park in the former French Concession, where it was tai chi time.
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I walked and walked, and found no lion dancers. I ended up downtown, at People's Square. This area, usually a body-to-body teeming clusterfuck, was eerily deserted. I lamented the reduced opportunities for frottage, but...wait, no I didn't! I was puffing out my chest, breathing deep of the pollution, throwing my arms wide and singing "Edelweiss." I was sashaying. All the attractions were still open, so I went to the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. They had an awesome "virtual reality pod" with a 360-degree screen inside, showing Shanghai as if you were flying through it in a helicopter. They had a diorama of the whole city!
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That big park in the diorama is Century Park. I went there. I was less than enchanted by the "guano-smeared dovecote" attraction.
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I ate at a Manchurian restaurant. The menu had English translations, but the jiaozi, dumpling, section was only in Chinese. Bah! Only "fresh vegetable juice jiaozi" was in English, so I got that and was glad I did because look at it! Each color had a different filling. RMB20 = US$2.92.
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Finally, I love my Shanghai agency and everything, but they are DROPPIN THE BALL when it comes to getting me the good jobs. Hello? That should be me on that convenience store hot dog warmer.
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Even if I have the bare minimum of "work" to do for my agency, it's just not the same as having a whole day off. Even one casting can occupy a huge portion of daylight hours: I have to get ready and apply the excessive makeup that my agency demands, then it's totally normal for it to take an hour to drive to the client's office, and another forty five minutes to wait for the client to arrive, examine my and my colleagues' portfolios, make us try on clothes, etc, then another hour to drive home. Longer if it's rush hour (it's always rush hour). Ah, this holiday rules! I rose with Chanticleer and some 7:00am fireworks outside. My big plan was to take a random bus and walk around trying to find some lion dancers (MY FAVE). The bus dropped me off near a park in the former French Concession, where it was tai chi time.
I walked and walked, and found no lion dancers. I ended up downtown, at People's Square. This area, usually a body-to-body teeming clusterfuck, was eerily deserted. I lamented the reduced opportunities for frottage, but...wait, no I didn't! I was puffing out my chest, breathing deep of the pollution, throwing my arms wide and singing "Edelweiss." I was sashaying. All the attractions were still open, so I went to the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. They had an awesome "virtual reality pod" with a 360-degree screen inside, showing Shanghai as if you were flying through it in a helicopter. They had a diorama of the whole city!
That big park in the diorama is Century Park. I went there. I was less than enchanted by the "guano-smeared dovecote" attraction.
I ate at a Manchurian restaurant. The menu had English translations, but the jiaozi, dumpling, section was only in Chinese. Bah! Only "fresh vegetable juice jiaozi" was in English, so I got that and was glad I did because look at it! Each color had a different filling. RMB20 = US$2.92.
Finally, I love my Shanghai agency and everything, but they are DROPPIN THE BALL when it comes to getting me the good jobs. Hello? That should be me on that convenience store hot dog warmer.
