Victor emerges from censorship war

Hellooooo to anybody out there. I have returned. I'm still alive. I can't believe I went what, 2 weeks without posting? The Chinese government blocks Blogspot and Youtube and Facebook and twitter + more. It was sooooo annoying. I bet you're now wondering, so how is she typing this? Well. I outsmarted them. That's right, I defeated the Chinese government's seemingly ruthless censoring tactics. I may have gone to some lengths to re-obtain my internet freedom, though. I searched ALL over the net and was at my breaking point. I would've screamed if I saw another page that said 'The connection was reset'. But...KProxy Agent came to the rescue *blows him a kiss on my desktop*. So now, thanks to KProxy Agent, I have a browser that is fully, completely censored-free. Anyway, enough about the absolutely exciting and suspenseful manner in which I managed to outsmart the government's I.T department.

To be honest, Shanghai the second time around is not as thrilling as I thought it'd be. I guess I'm bored enough at night to figure out how to unblock Blogspot. So what'd I get up to today? Well. I was awoken quite rudely at approximately 7:30 am this morning. Of course, who else would it be but my mum, calling me and telling me all the details about my report and school certificate results. I must say, I'm...surprised. Both pleasantly and unpleasantly. I'm pleasantly surprised at my school certificate results, especially Science, English and History, considering I crammed for all my exams and was on the verge of numerous panic attacks. I'm unpleasantly surprised at my school report, ESPECIALLY French. I find it exceedingly annoying that I got in the 90s for all assignments this Semester and still managed a B...you just wait until I get my hands on that report and start dissecting it and cursing that annoyingly unfair blonde bi...ummmmm I mean, annoyingly unfair blonde bookshelf that held all the French dictionaries. I could go on and on about PD and Religion as well, but relax guys. I'll spare you the angst and suffering I experienced from that phone call. 

So,onto what I did today. Goody, I have the feeling this post is going to be a long one. I need to fill you in on everything that I've been up to! Well, maybe not everything. I sure hope everyone is still regularly posting on their blogs. I'd like to think that I haven't come back from my hiatus to blog to an audience of no-one. I now consider myself a Shanghai local. Almost. I know my way around the city, I haven't gotten lost once, my Uncle now has a job so I basically wander around the city by myself. I know how to travel by the subway, which is incredibly fast and easy (yay for the English). Unfortunately, I'm still working on my bus-riding skills seeing as there's no English at the bus stops so I have no idea where each bus goes. Today I went for a walk to the subway station from the back door of my Uncle's apartment complex (because I was bored of the walk  from the front door). Unfortunately Suzhou Creek bridge was closed for repair, so I took a long stroll through Suzhou creek park until I reached the subway station. I took the subway to Lujiazui, which is in Pudong across the river, and went to Super Brand Mall. Which is 13 crazy levels of moderate-expensive stores. Needless to say, I bought nothing. I have about 300 yuan on me, which is about $50, and I want to control my spending carefully. I haven't even been buying food in order to save the money so I can splurge on (fake) stuff before I go home. I had 200 yuan in 85 degrees vouchers (If you don't know what that is, it is a Taiwainese drinks and cakes store. There's one in Kingsford in Sydney that I used to go to regularly). So I've been eating Tiramisu and drinking British Milk Tea for lunch. My uncle has been more than generous and although there is an endless amount of crap I would buy in Shanghai if I had my own money with me, I'm learning to control myself so I don't have to keep asking him for money and feeling bad. I can't wait for America, when I have access to the money that I saved up for like 5 months and I don't have to haggle with shopkeepers if I want something, or worry I'm getting ripped off. My uncle's been so decent to me considering I am probably a huge pain in the ass, I mean I don't think I'd like it very much if a random relative showed up at my place for 5 weeks and I didn't have much privacy. He knows I've been sick of Chinese food so he took me to this incredibly expensive (well not really- about $10 for me to have a pasta, salad and drink but by Chinese standards it's the price of a luxury meal when the average meal costs about $2.50) Italian restaurant on the banks of the Huangpu River where I had this amazing pasta. I didn't take a picture because I didn't realise I'd defeat the Chinese government's ban on Blogspot.

Then I went on the subway to West Nanjing Rd, and wandered around for awhile. I know that sounds boring, but West Nanjing Rd is interesting because it's one of the 5 most upper-class and expensive shopping streets in Shanghai (the rest being Xintiandi, Xujiahui, East Nanjing Rd and Huaihai Rd). But it also contains some more normal stores, so West Nanjing Rd is filled with storefronts like Marks & Spencer, H&M, American Eagle, Zara, then crazy stores like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. I walked all the way home (see, I'm learning my way around this city). One thing I have to mention about Shanghai: I will never get bored of simply walking around. Shanghai roads may turn all car drivers into maniacs, though. It took me awhile to learn how to cross the roads. Basically, one thing you have to remember is the cars that are turning. In Australia, turning cars stop for you when there's a green pedestrian light, but in Shanghai you're expected to wait for those cars. And another thing: as soon as you hear a honk, look wildly around immediately. You never know when an annoying idiot on an electric scooter is honking at you on the pavement for walking in his way. Even though he's not meant to be on the pavement anyway. I stopped to line up and buy a paper bag full of sweet roasted chestnuts on the way home. It cost me 10 yuan which was sweet. Because that's less than $2. I love how cheap food is in China. My uncle and I can both have breakfast together for approximately one dollar. 

I guess I have to mention the scam I was involved in today. I was outside the Jade Buddha Temple, and was approached by what seemed to be a monk offering me a 'free' small metal card with a picture of Buddha on it. So I smiled at him and walked on, but he stalked me and asked me to write my name in a book and how much I'd be donating. I felt bad for him and I am technically Buddhist and figured I could spare the temple a donation, so I wrote down 10yuan (noticing another person who'd written 300 yuan but I'm not made of money).  I gave him the money but he noticed several 100 yuan bills in my wallet, so he started pressuring me to donating 100 yuan and even added a zero to the 10 yuan I'd written down. Anyhow, an old lady was passing by and she saw me putting back my wallet and she was like, "Silly girl, don't do that" and walked off. By then I realised it was probably a scam and it wasn't a donation that would go to the temple. Obviously I wasn't going to give the guy 100 yuan so I walked away. Only to walk down the road and 3 minutes later be approached by another 'monk' who offered me another 'free souvenir'. I showed him my previous 'souvenir', indicating I'd already donated, and walked away. So he began stalking me and was like, "but if you gave him money you have to give me some too". I ignored him and continued on my way. I can't believe I was naive enough to fall for that one. At least it was only 10 yuan. I'm sure now that it wasn't a donation, I mean I've been to that temple in Wollongong plenty of times and a monk isn't meant to be greedy enough to request 100 yuan, nor would I imagine other monks would guilt-trip you and coerce you into giving them money after you've already 'donated money to the temple'. Now I think about it, the temple gets its only donations from its entrance tickets and monks would not ask for money anyway (because they're not meant to be materialistic), the most they would ask for is food. I guess I must've had a bit of a dumb moment back there.

So...hmm...what will I be doing tomorrow? Probably wake up at like 8am (I have never slept in later than 8:30 here, my mobile screams every morning and I'm woken up by the pleasant sound of my mother accusing me of having a raspy voice and therefore I must have a sore throat so therefore I must be sick so therefore I'm not wearing enough clothes) and my uncle will give me a lift to the old couple with the piano (via electric scooter). Then I'll practise 2 hours (I've been practising every 2nd day since I got here). Because tomorrow's my uncle's day off he could take me somewhere. Shanghai Zoo! 

I have to complain for awhile about my Uncle's shower. It. Is. Tiny. The flow of water is smaller than my kitchen tap at home. It's impossible to wash my hair, not to mention I have to wait for the water to heat up first.So far I've been to my great aunt's place, my great uncle's place and my great aunt's granddaughter's place for showers to wash my hair about every week. Yuck, my hair feels gross even as I type this. 

I apologise for the excessively long, dull and confusing post. But what else is there to do at night when it's 3 degrees? IT'S FREAKING COLD. I can't go to bed without an electric blanket, my hands aren't warm even when I wear gloves and I can't take my hands out of my pockets when I'm outside. It's going to be minus 0 degrees soon and the coldest I've experienced prior to China this year was 7 degrees...I just checked the weather for Sydney, and Claudine and Olivia you lucky freaks, I can't believe the day has finally come when I wish it's 19 degrees. I checked the weather for Albuququ (Or however the hell you spell it) and yikes its minus 2 degrees - hang in there, dingoes. I can't imagine anything colder than what I'm experiencing now. Oh God it gets worse - haha minus 5 degrees in Seoul. Believe it or not, this 3 degree weather is actually making me feel better :)

Only in Shanghai would I ever find this...I was on a tall bridge in  Pudong and the glass barrier said "No begging and no vending". I'm not even sure what 'vending' means when used in this context...but it's China. I've seen funnier things, believe me. I was on a bus the other day and saw a clothing store called "Laura Tofu, New York"

I was at the Science and Technology Museum markets and picked up a little something for my mum to thank her for the $200 she put towards my spending money in America when I didn't have $2000, and the $400 she put towards my plane ticket...which was nice of her considering she didn't want me to go. Yes, I know. It's not much. In fact it's a fake Louis Vuitton. I semi bought it for fun. I mean, it looks totally real, it even has a real-looking dust bag to go with it and 'Made in France' inside the bag. I got slightly ripped off, because it was the first time I bought something that required haggling. I got it down from 650 yuan (slightly over $100) to 220 yuan (about $35). I probably could've gotten it for 150 yuan but oh well...I forgot to try the walk away and wait to see if they call you back tactic. They have tonnes of fake designer bags...they get caught frequently and fined for Louis Vuitton, though, compared to say Burberry, and don't display it in the stalls anymore so I had to ask the lady and she got me a catalogue full of fake models that looked real and asked me to pick. She then sent someone to fetch it. I've heard stories where they open up fake walls stocked full of fake designer bags.