Fuddland
See, this is what happens when you don’t listen carefully. [Spotted in Carrefour Supermarket’s dog chews section, Chengdu.]
In: China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 10 / 13 – 18:40 | Comment [0] | Top
A new venture between the well-known hair stylists and a toy company of my youth?
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 10 / 02 – 15:16 | Comment [0] | Top
My new favourite sign in Suzhou, at a new Italian cafe. I like to imagine the meeting:
Right, what do we sell? Coffee … er, other drinks … ooo cakes, yes! What else? ‘Relax’? We don’t sell ‘relax’. That’s a verb! Oh all right, we sell relax. And …? Music? Again, we don’t so much sell that as play-the-same-mp3s-over-and-over. Okay, I suppose that’s all … Wait! Bread!
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 07 / 26 – 10:51 | Comment [2] | Top
We went to see Star Trek last night—excellent stuff, probably going to watch it again tonight. But one thing that doesn’t sit quite right is the Chinese name: the poster says
In: China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 05 / 24 – 17:44 | Top
My taxi had to wait [horn honking the entire time, naturally] which this chap scooped up the noodles that had spilled off the back of his bike. They were uncooked, and I can’t help but worry about where he was taking them. This street has a plethora of restaurants, some of which I have been known to frequent in the past. Rice for me from now on, I think!
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 05 / 07 – 21:11 | Comment [0] | Top
People transplanting trees and flowers is a familiar sight as Spring approaches and the city artificially increases the rate of blooming, but I think this chap has started a little early.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2009 / 02 / 09 – 15:25 | Top
I see this clothing shop every day when I wait for the bus, and every time I’m standing there I read the name in a kind of echoey voice: Bur-bur-bur… lur-lur-lur… oo-oo-oo … ee-ee-ee. [In my head, I hasten to add.]
The Chinese name
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 12 / 15 – 10:10 | Top
Despite repeated offers, this boy didn't want to go down the drain too. Coward.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 11 / 01 – 10:10 | Comment [2] | Top
A surprising member of the magazine rack at one of the training centres where I do some part-time work. I’m assuming it was snuck into the country in someone’s luggage.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 10 / 31 – 10:40 | Comment [1] | Top
On sale at the local supermarket—that's your bog-standard, huge, foreign-owned supermarket, not some small speciality fishmonger—a couple of whole hammerhead sharks, about three feet in length. Anyone got any tasty recipe suggestions?
In: Food and Drink & Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 10 / 18 – 19:45 | Comment [1] | Top
Today farmers and families here are celebrating Zhongqiu Jie—Mid-Autumn Festival. The celebrations have many aspects, but the most important of these seems to be the eating of moon cakes.
The nomenclature is a little misleading as the cakes can be meat- or bean-paste-filled as well as sweet, and to be honest I don’t find them all that palatable. But the extra day off work I get is pretty tasty.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 09 / 14 – 16:50 | Comment [4] | Top
After my comments on the conduct of the public when boarding the underground, in the interests of balance I took a photo of something I see every Saturday morning on my walk to teach: a long queue of people [mostly students], snaking several times back on itself, patiently waiting for Suzhou Library to open.
Like many important [or old] buildings, it uses traditional Chinese characters instead of the simplified versions that were introduced during the 1950s and ’60s. In traditional script, the first character of Suzhou is written
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 08 / 02 – 13:18 | Top
The only Western-style toilet in this public bathroom is used as a storage area.
As an aside, the Chinese for London
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 08 / 01 – 11:53 | Top
Indicating where to stand as the subway train pulls up, following well-established international norms: passengers wanting to board should wait on either side, in order that passengers wanting to disembark can exit along the centre—with handy footprints just in case you’re not a Chinese-reader. This was taken in Nanjing but you can see similar signs in Shanghai and, I imagine [and especially], in Beijing. I translate the characters on the far left
In reality, the people who want to get on crowd around the middle, and start to push their way into the carriage as soon as the doors open. I don’t think this is rudeness on their part—I think it’s just a mindset that has developed over generations in such a vastly-populated country: you’ve got to scramble to the front if you want to get a seat or a good place to lean, and the fact that you can see there is plenty of room in the carriage does little to change this behaviour, despite the best efforts of the government in the lead up to the Olympics.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 08 / 01 – 10:29 | Top
For China's nouveau riche, perhaps.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 07 / 31 – 22:06 | Top
Fifth flat in just over two years, I’m getting good at this packing lark.
My new place is much more convenient for work and studying at the university—I can walk to either in under half an hour—and, much more importantly, is a stone’s throw from most of my friends’ homes, as well as the majority of bars, cafes and restaurants I usually frequent. No more wasting money on taxis home at the end of the evening!
Furthermore, the rent is two-thirds that of my last flat, and the neighbourhood is quieter and more traditionally “Chinese” than the wide-streeted, characterless district that I’ve been living in for the past fifteen months or so. It’s good fun discovering all the local shops, getting to know the best places to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. The only apparent downside is that the landlady lives in the flat directly opposite, which means we’ll have to be model tenants for a while before we throw our housewarming party.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 03 / 24 – 21:56 | Top
The view from my bedroom window this afternoon. This is the first time we’ve had snow that actually settled since I moved here. Apparently, much like in London, it used to snow here most winters, but in recent years the December-to-February period has been merely very cold. It’s nice to have a bit of a pay-off for pulling on the thermals every day.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 01 / 26 – 14:49 | Comment [1] | Top
After a couple of months of unseasonal blue skies and warm weather, winter has at last descended onto Suzhou, with a very foggy past week and drizzly rain throughout the days.
The good news is: I have magically landed over a month’s holiday over the Chinese New Year period, so I can escape the dreary weather and head to warmer—or at least more visually-spectacular—climes in a few weeks. Time to start perusing my trusty Rough Guide once more.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2008 / 01 / 12 – 13:18 | Comment [2] | Top
…a shiny new washing machine! One that isn’t possessed by evil spirits, sings a happy tune to me when it finishes a load, and even has a self-cleaning setting. [I’m a bit scared to use that particular setting in case the machine implodes in on itself into a singularity, like a snake eating its own tail.]
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 12 / 31 – 10:24 | Top
And I just can't hide it.
On display at kindergarten at which I teach, a whole generation of children will express their excitement through the medium of winks.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 10 / 28 – 10:57 | Comment [1] | Top
One of my new teaching duties takes me about an hour out of Suzhou, to a technology company that insists I cover my filthy shoes with these fetching plastic socks.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 09 / 18 – 11:32 | Comment [3] | Top
So where’s all this rain I’ve been hearing about? Landed yesterday afternoon at Heathrow to blue skies and warm sunshine. I think you’ve been making it all up just get to me to come back.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 08 / 02 – 11:04 | Comment [2] | Top
Although “sandwish” is clearly a mistake, there’s a small chance that this trendy new coffee house really does have snake on the menu.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 05 / 07 – 21:22 | Top
Floral stationary “floats” are appearing all over Suzhou, some with an Olympic theme, and some, like this one, a little bit creepy. Reminds me of the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 04 / 26 – 08:27 | Comment [1] | Top
Pineapple season has arrived, and they’re particularly delicious this year. For just 30p you get a whole pineapple carved into this pleasing shape for your eating pleasure.
I’d like to take this opportunity to go on the record and say that pineapple—or indeed, any fruit—on pizza, is just wrong. [Tomatoes are the obvious exception to this rule.]
In: Moblog & China / Sinomoblog
2007 / 04 / 17 – 08:40 | Comment [2] | Top
Read the rest of “At least they wrote “every day” as two words”…
2007 / 04 / 16 – 17:23 | Top
2007 / 04 / 08 – 16:12 | Comment [1] | Top
2007 / 04 / 03 – 18:53 | Comment [2] | Top
2007 / 02 / 01 – 19:39 | Comment [1] | Top
Read the rest of “I don’t think they really thought this statue through”…
2007 / 01 / 29 – 21:28 | Top
2007 / 01 / 14 – 08:44 | Top
2007 / 01 / 04 – 16:06 | Comment [2] | Top
2006 / 12 / 21 – 05:28 | Comment [2] | Top
2006 / 12 / 14 – 13:16 | Comment [5] | Top
2006 / 11 / 28 – 14:44 | Comment [1] | Top
2006 / 10 / 30 – 14:21 | Comment [5] | Top
2006 / 09 / 18 – 07:00 | Comment [4] | Top
2006 / 08 / 25 – 22:32 | Comment [3] | Top
Read the rest of “Super-realistic brooches are all the rage here”…
2006 / 07 / 03 – 07:59 | Comment [3] | Top
2006 / 06 / 26 – 23:57 | Comment [4] | Top
2006 / 06 / 04 – 02:01 | Top
2006 / 05 / 27 – 01:28 | Top
Read the rest of “Probably the last thing I expected to see in Inner Mongolia”…
2006 / 05 / 10 – 03:07 | Comment [2] | Top
2006 / 04 / 07 – 13:37 | Comment [7] | Top
2006 / 04 / 03 – 07:44 | Comment [4] | Top
2006 / 03 / 29 – 02:06 | Top
2006 / 03 / 23 – 14:01 | Comment [1] | Top
2006 / 03 / 18 – 20:37 | Comment [2] | Top
2006 / 03 / 07 – 14:19 | Top
2006 / 03 / 03 – 14:09 | Top
2006 / 02 / 27 – 11:05 | Top
