I'm finally on my way to Japan! It's been a little over a year since I was there last, and this time I'm headed to the south, to Hiroshima & Nagasaki, which I've never been to, so I'm excited. Only problem is I got to the airport very early thinking it would be super crowded, but it's not. And I'm not flying Star Alliance this time, so I don't even have a lounge to sit in. Lame. At least there's wifi and plugs.
Graeme and fireworks
I would have liked to go yesterday since I didn't have to be at the office, but I actually had a great time last night. For New Year's Eve I met up with friends for some Din Tai Fung. I used to have it once a week, but since my friend Candice moved away I actually haven't been. The place is great, so I have been craving it. Plus you're supposed to eat dumplings on New Year's eve, so very fitting. Only problem was we went to a new location and both the food and service were somewhat lacking. I'll have to stick to my neighborhood.
Afterwards the fun really began, when we continued with our drinking and brought out the fireworks. I'd say fireworks in Shanghai are much tamer than in Beijing, but there was still quite a bit going on. And we did our part to help out. I normally hate the fireworks, because they get lit at random times (like 6am on a Sunday...) and just annoy you, but when you're taking part in the fun, it's pretty great. So last night was pretty great. And the fact that you can actually drink and light fireworks at the same time here is even better.
Our firworking started on the walk back from dinner, and then one of my friends, Graeme, whose apartment we were at, had the wonderful idea to throw some of the smaller ones out of the window of his 9th floor apartment. We thought it was all well and good to watch the little swirlers drop down shooting off colorful sparks, until I lit the roof on fire. the roof of the building next to his has (well, had) grass on it for some reason, and my firework managed to continue shooting off sparks after landing. Then the grass lit on fire. Then the fire got bigger and bigger. Then we ran downstairs to get the guards to put out the fire, obviously not disclosing who had done it and pretending to not speak Chinese.
My handiwork
Fireworks!
It was all fine, it looks much worse than it was (although I have yet to see the damage in daylight afterwards), but at least the building didn't burn down. And the guards were very quick to respond. Generally these guards just sleep or sit around and wave at you, but apparently when there's a problem they actually do something. Good to know.
After that, we decided to have a break in our firework fun, but of course had to go down to the street for the big ones at midnight. You can actually buy proper fireworks, like Disneyland style fireworks, at booths on the side of the road in China on New Year's. It's nuts that they sell those things to anyone, Sadly we didn't manage to get any of the Disneyland style ones, but I've now learned my lesson for next year and will make sure to. We still had fun with ours, though, and enjoyed everyone who did have the real fireworks. And enjoyed a nice walk on the Bund. All in all, an excellent evening. And now, Japan!
But first, Ry X. I've written about this Australian before, but he's always doing different stuff. He put out a wonderful solo EP last year or the year before, but in addition to that he put out an album last year with a group called The Acid, which he's the singer for. Then he put out another solo single last year. Just a single, but the main song, Sweat, is wonderful.
And, since I'm sharing this one, it gets two songs. And it's fitting to pick Ry X, because he now has another new project, titled HOWLING, and they've put out their first single, also titled HOWLING. At least I think they call themselves HOWLING. It's all very confusing right now, but hopefully there will be more soon, because it's also a good sound.
I somehow almost forgot about my cab driver last night! On the way to dinner, my cab driver would get out of the car at every red light and do aerobics. It was magical. And also probably quite healthy for him considering he spends his entire day sitting and not being active. I took pictures.
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