#2 - Reason why i will NOT miss Shanghai, China
the air pollution...it has become ridiculous this year...and at one point the air looked brown and as you walked you could taste the pollution...pretty disgusting....here are some shots to show you what it looks like when it is bad out...the first three were not taken by me....
this picture was taken on the bund on december 5, 2013....that was the most disgusting day of this school year....we went up above 400 on the air index....which i will explain more about below....but as you can see, you can't see the amazing skyline that usually makes up the bund...it was nasty...let me tell you....in school the air in the hallways was visible and taste-able....truly gross...
this is what the air index is...and we who live here check it everyday...as i sit here typing the reading is 63....which is really good for shanghai....but its raining, which always lowers the air pollution here...many days we are above 100 and close to 150....and in many places in the world, they never get above 50 on the index....i just checked shanghai's ranking though....and out of all of the polluted cities in china...we are ranked as 113....not even in the top 100...scary thought....(day of posting....pollution index is 105...that's more like a daily basis in shanghai)
this is another shot from that way polluted day last december...but this one shows you just how bad it was...real time in the below part of the picture....a clear day in the picture in the upper right corner....i really do love this city....but i really do NOT love this pollution....
because of the really bad day in december, a bunch of teachers decided to do something about our breathing situation....a bought air filtering masks...not from china mind you, because they could be fake....we had them shipped from london....i am not happy i have to wear a mask...and my rule is that when it is above 150, mask goes on....it is not comfortable...but it does help me breathe better...stylish, don't you think....
and just a few weeks ago at the end of May, things got pretty bad again....here i am on the way to school...not a far walk...but a hazardous one on occasions....bleh....
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the amazing variety of restaurants and what they have to offer.....i have been to some pretty spectacular places in the past three years...yummy!!!! below are some shots from some of my favorites....
dumplings are what shanghai does best and these are some veggie ones from my favorite dumplings place....one i went to almost every week i was in shanghai, with one last trip last night!!!!! yummy!!!
many times when you go out for chinese food, no matter what type, you eat family style...this is from a sichuan place, where a friend was hosting a goodbye dinner...they have a HUGE table, with a HUGE lazy susan on it...we counted and at one point there were 22 dishes on this table of all types of food combinations....
here's a shot from a tasty korean BBQ place...now, if you know anything about korean BBQ, you know it is all meat....so what would a vegetarian eat there....well, just look at all of the things you can put on the meat....plus, they did some amazing roasted garlic and mushrooms...easy to find stuff when you know how to look around....
over the years i have had my fair share of fish....and when in china, you get the whole fish most of the time....so kiss the fish head and enjoy i say :)
this was one of the most creative dinners i had....they made my meal on a plastic box, with dry ice in side....so it was literally "smoking" when it came out....they made these little "islands" out of veggies and it was incredible....thanks t8....nice work for the vegetarian during restaurant week!!!!!
the place above was a simply ridiculous sushi place...they have a catwalk you walk into the restaurant on and then during restaurant week they gave us soooooo much food...it was insane....we had a hard time finishing everything....they also did some crazy pieces...like a ceasar salad in a martini glass and noodles in a paper bowl....very creative and interesting....and way too much food :)
the next two pictures are from my big splurge this year to a place called UV...i have no idea how to explain what this meal was like, except that it affected every one of your senses...smelling, listening, feeling, looking and of course tasting....this was my favorite course....the hypodermic needle actually contains a noodle...so when you squeeze it into the soup on the left, it is a noodle...incredible...
the picture below happened after we thought the meal was over...literally....we left the table (after 23 courses) and had after dinner drinks...and then were invited back in for breakfast....but everything you see here, even though it looks like breakfast, is sweet and a dessert from dinner...our third round of desserts....this dinner was insane...and totally worth every penny of the cost....this is a treat of a place...but it was one of the ways i decided i would say goodbye to this town and its amazing restaurants....this place, shanghai, is mecca for a foodie.....cheers!!!!
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