At the end of this trip, Bay area actually feels like home to me now. Although I have always seen myself as a guest here for the past 4 years. Perhaps it still stems from the fact we don't yet own our own house here.
--- And I truly truly appreciate the speed of my cable connection from here. What a difference. :) ----
What I will miss from Shanghai:
- Definitely all the great Chinese food from breakfast items to great local dishes. There are so much more variety than what we can find here. Plus everything is freshly cooked whether you buy from from street vendors or fancy restaurants. Even the grocery stores has a lot more brands. It will seem like a drab to shop here in our local Safeway again.
- The endless shopping malls you can browse. There are just a lot more styles and brands of everything.
- Most of all, I'll miss Andy and Alex who stayed behind. Alex will be spending another month there to attend the local day-care. I'm hoping by the time he gets back, he will be fluent in Chinese. :P
- The terrible city air. The car exhaust is the major source of pollution on the street. Then there is also the pollution from the sewer system below.
- The hundreds and hundreds of pedestrians and bicyclists on the street.
- The taxi drivers who would not hesitate to scold a 3-year old child for stepping on the taxi car seat.
- The spits on the side walks every where. It's like a national sport for men there. I guess you can't blame them if they really have so much spit due to respiratory problem caused by breathing all the car exhaust every day.
Compared to the Shanghai I saw the last time I was back there in Dec of 2001, there are visible improvements every where, mostly in the form of new constructions and high rises. Also I find the store clerks are more friendly now. I guess the customer service quality is also improving.
On my flights back, I finished the "Fast Food Nation" book. In this edition's final chapter, it seems to me, Schlosser made a turn for the positive in his attitude toward the golden archies giant. He gave positive encouragement to McDonald's corporation to continue their endeavers for a positive public image and extending their influence to the meat packing industries to treat their employees better and improve their work safety. My conclusion after reading the book is that just don't eat hambergurs any more. If we must, just go to In & Out joints. In fact, it's better to just be a vegetarian.
Any way, I better hit the bunk now. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep through the whole night considerring I didn't sleep more than a couple of hours on the flights over.
No comments:
Post a Comment