Lost.

today was Get Lost day for me. i literally got lost at every possible juncture. my first mission of the day was to make my way to the Creative Garden Program where my company has a special ed school. 998 lane was my destination. well there are apparently more than one of those lanes. so i went down one of them and wandered into an indoor open market. it smelled pretty nasty, like decaying meat and seafood. i was hungry and searching for baozi, despite the rancid smell. pushing and shoving has become quite fun. well i got to the end of the open market and came out into a busy street. i found cong you bing, otherwise known as scallion cake and got that with fresh warm soybean. man that was good. next to that vendor, i couldn't resist the baozi stand and got a veggie one. i was so full after the scallion cake and soybean i never got around to the baozi, which now i think about it, is still sitting in my bag and probably rotten. :( i proceeded to backtrack through another open market then came out the other side to some alley and knew i was lost. i backtracked again, came out the other side then went thru the original open market. i started walking along a long alleyway parallel to the subway train. i asked a crippled man if this was 998 and he did not know. then i backtracked all the way back to the original main road, asked the guards if the next street over was 998. he said yes so i proceeded to walk thru that maze. it ended up being a neighborhood of residential tenements. i relented and called the program to ask for guidance and carolyn, the secretary couldn't figure out where i was. i decided to backtrack again to the main road after asking the guards again and learned that there are several 998 lanes! i went down the next street and finally was found. it was fun romping around with the different special ed kids. my new employer has their hearts in the right places. i had my first full on local chinese food today. my boss ordered kung pao chicken, jia chang tofu and garlic chili string beans. i wasn't sure if it was shanghainese food but damn was it goooood!! they deliver the food on plates not styrofoam. the ayis clean up after you and bring out sliced watermelon. it's great!

after touring the program, i decided to adventure thru the hong qiao area. first i stopped by a stand to get green tea red bean drink. that's like my dream combo except i couldn't get the damn straw thru it and ultimately the drink made me sick. i kept walking in an effort to subside my nausea. the milk was probably rotten. i entered an indoor bazaar which contained nothing i would ever spend any amount of money on and encountered the rainbow spray painted poodle you see in the pics. the owner wasn't too happy i was taking a pic and warned me AFTER i petted her dog that it bites. i continued to walk along the road and noted lots of spas, bars, clubs and several pet stores/grooming stores. i walked into one b/c i just couldn't resist my love for animals. i noted lots of poodles in there. i approached cages of cats and saw cats i absolutely fell in love with. i asked the worker what kind of cats they were. she said they were Garfield cats. i'm like, that's not a breed! either way, i wanted to sneak one into my bag sooo bad cus they looked like pug cats, with their smooshed in noses. the little ones kept playing with me. i was smitten. then this labrador snuck up behind me and kept following me around the store. there was another rainbow colored poodle and i had no idea why these chinese like to torture their dogs that way.  when i left the store, a customer who had just picked up her pekingnese from being groomed at the store was holding her dog and comforting her. she asked me to unlock her bike b/c her dog was scared. i did so and then went on my way. 

so i kept walking cuz i saw some sign for the Bund which was 1km away. i never found it. i kept going til i found the next subway stop from the one i was originally supposed to get on. there was a huge park next to it so i decided to walk around the park and see what locals were up to. i saw a couple making out, old men playing chinese games with black and white rocks, people smoking up a storm, a man doing tai chi, grandparents playing with their grandkids. it looked like some of the buildings were old temples. there was a stone bridge and it was quite peaceful. there are alot of stray cats that hang out in bushes and parks, i noted. i saw this old lady being wheeled in a wheelchair as she lit one up. my camera ran out of batteries so i headed back to the subway station.

i finally figured out which line to get on but got off one stop too soon. when i went back on, i went on line 3 instead of 4. good thing line 4 ends at a stop that interchanges with line 1 which was the one i needed. i really enjoyed lines 3 and 4 b/c they come up from underground and u get a neat view of the city, alleys, back yards, and huge high rises and tenements.

i feel like i'm an in the closest tourist who is only working here to support the habit. oh wait, i am!! i start work next week but am glad i am contracted so i will have days of meandering in between. i am looking forward to making some money and meeting these int'l families, which i've heard are quite fascinating.

in the meantime, laundry still takes forever, i smell bad all the time, i don't pass for a fobby local yet, i've developed callouses from my tennis shoes, and my stomach is starting to react to the local cuisine.

it's the weekend!