KTV

Something I have avoided like the plague since the year dot, I’ve recently found myself partaking in a little too often here in Shanghai.  Karaoke (KTV) is a popular pastime with the Chinese, come rain or shine, at any time of the day or night.  And it turns out it’s damn good fun, even sober!

 

Luxuriously decorated rooms, usually furnished with leather sofas, large tables, flat screen TVs, percussion instruments and more food & drink than you could wish to consume, provide all you could need for usually 6 or so hours of good, clean, wholesome fun.  Should you want more munchies during the course of your stay, the push of a button will summon a staff member to see to your every whim… well, within reason.

 

It’s a particular favourite of the local staff at our school, who have recently taken to arranging team building events and birthday celebrations at different KTV venues around the city.  After each song, the press of a button or two leads to applause, laughter or booing resonating around the room.  The various disco light settings also add to the party ambiance.  Songs can be selected in English, Chinese, Korean and a few others, depending upon the venue.  And even better, it’s only about 20RMB per person, sometimes free if your friend’s parents happen to own the KTV joint! 

To my surprise, I find I now have my own back catalogue of tunes I can contently belt out, in the company of friends and co-workers!  Fabulous fun.

A xx

Typhoon Hǎikuí

Having heard lots of bogus threats about typhoons in the area, we were all rather sceptical upon receiving company emails about Typhoon Haikui.  We were all told to shut our windows and doors and invest in a strong umbrella!  The evening of Tuesday 7th August at 9pm saw the start of the rain in Shanghai.  The strong winds and torrential rain lasted until Wednesday evening, meaning a day of classes were cancelled and we had little more to do than kill time in our apartments watching DVDs, reading and surfing the net.  Venturing outside was interesting, and reminded me of a wet, rainy day in the UK!

 

Photographs of the area showed The Bund completely flooded and pedestrians wading knee-deep through rainwater.  Metro lines to Pudong were closed and over 2,000 people were evacuated.  Luckily, our area of the city didn’t suffer too badly, but it just goes to show the power of Mother Nature.  Further warnings have been mentioned since, but luckily these latest Typhoons have by-passed Shangers.
 

Here's hoping there aren't any more on the way.

A xx

Hangzhou

With schools in my region benefitting from a two week regular production break for summer, I suddenly found myself with far more time on my hands, teaching a mere 9 hours of summer course classes, spread over 3 days of the week.  Having exhausted the majority of summer activities Shanghers has to offer, it was time to take advantage of the time off and venture further afield.  Six of us booked a weekend away to Hangzhou.  Famous for the stunning lake and beautiful scenery, we boarded the bullet and headed to Zhejiang Province.

We opted for the healthy choice and hired bicycles (at a rate of £2 for the day) to cycle around West Lake, stopping off at local sightseeing spots along the way.  The usual pagodas, temples and gardens were on the hit list.  The heat & humidity left us with rosy glows as we pedalled against the occasional inclines and joked about our resemblance to The Goonies... 10 years on!  We were also very popular with the locals and found ourselves the main focus of many of their photographs, even posing for some with those who were polite enough to ask us directly.

The Goonies!

Even losing some of our group provided us with the opportunity for further fun, ripping down the pedestrianised causeway, dodging strolling families, in order to meet our mates at the other side.

Our last day provided a slower pace, watching an elderly Chinese gentleman performing on the promenade, seeing the beautiful Musical Fountain – even if the accompanying choice of music, ‘I vow to thee my country’, seemed a little strange.  We rounded off our day with a boat trip across the lake, again attracting the attention of local tourists shouting greetings to us in their best broken English – very welcoming indeed.

A trip back on the Bullet train ended our few days away.  Hanghzhou provided a refreshingly slower pace than Shangers and is definitely somewhere I’d return to in the future.

A xx