In the past 48 hours I have eaten at McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. Last night it caught up with me. The day before yesterday I had a McDonalds for lunch because I was visiting my apartment to hand over deposits and such, then I was in a strange new place and hungover. You can't blame me! I had a 'Big and Beefy' burger which was basically a Quarter Pounder with Cheese but with cucumber in it. How does it compare to back home? Surprisingly good. I've never been a fan of McDonalds burgers, they are completely rubbish. Poor quality meat, not enough meat and they're just not big enough. This burger was of ample size, the meat wasn't good quality but there was enough... plus the cucumber was pretty good! Before I left the UK I had a 'Miami Melt', a limited edition burger that was actually a pretty high standard for fast food. Big 'n' Beefy wasn't as good as that, but it was ok. Definitely worth 15RMB (about £1.40)
That evening I really fancied some dumplings, but that obviously isn't a big enough dinner. So I thought I might as well compare BK to Maccy Ds so I can report back on the blog! Did it all for you guys! One thing about BK is that it SUCKS compared to its UK counterpart. The selection is rubbish, you get no Angus burgers (the 3-pepper Angus is one of mankind's greatest creations), no Bacon Double Cheeses either. Since the Big and Beefy was the biggest burger on McD's menu, I felt I should get the biggest burger on the BK menu to make the test fair. I got the Whopper with Bacon and Cheese. Sounds pretty standard right? I guess it might be. I never have Whoppers back home, I always prefer the Bacon Double Cheese or Angus burgers. It was pretty tasty. Much better than McDonalds, but that was to be expected... because BK shits on McD back home too. I inadvertantly got 8 dumplings instead of the 6 I was going for too, my bowels were starting to get pissed.
Last night I really wanted a Thai curry. I looked up some places in Shanghai and chose one on a road called Fulu Lu. I got completely lost. It sucked, I was walking around for an hour trying to find a Thai place but the problem with Shanghai is that if you're looking for something specific you're NEVER going to find it without help. I should have asked some white people (I was around Plaza 66 aka. New York in Shangers) but I couldn't be arsed. You never know if the white people you meet are staying or visiting, so you could end up asking someone as clueless as yourself. Furthermore I thought I could find something! I'm in the bloody Orient and I can't find a Thai restaurant?! There are more in the UK :(
So I got a KFC. Since I wanted to spend a decent amount on dinner I ended up splashing out on this Mega Bucket thing for 69RMB. The good thing about KFC here is that it still comes in a bucket! When buckets were forsaken in the UK it was a sad day. I got a medley of heart clogging poultry. I got 3x Original chicken, 3x Hot wings, 4x BBQ wings, 3x Fish Finger things, a box of Popcorn Chicken and a 1.5lt bottle of Pepsi. Now BBQ wings and the Fish Finger things are alien to the UK (if I recall correctly), they're pretty good.. give a nice break from all the southern fried flavour. KFC over here has a much better selection regarding plain old eat-with-your-fingers battered animal. Last year I saw this absolutely appalling looking burger in the window. My friend Nick dared me to get it. It looked like a chicken fillet burger, which was cross sectioned... with prawns inside the chicken. Prawns in chicken?! I was intrigued, disgusted and worried that this stage of evolution would disprove natural selection... unless the prawns gave the chicken the ability to breathe underwater I highly doubt it was a 'strongest survive' move by the chicken. Fortunately it wasn't prawns in chicken, but prawns in a seafood patty thing. It was good, but I kinda wanted to sample the freak of nature that lured me inside.
After finishing all but half the Pepsi, 2 of the fish fingers and a hot wing... I went to bed. I was bloated and had killer indigestion. Woke up 3 times during the night because I felt so rubbish. It wasn't pleasant. It's a shame that my last night in Le Tour was so rough! After this experience I am banning myself from fast food. Not sure how long yet, hopefully for my entire stay in China. Once I move into my flat I'm gonna join the gym and make use of all this free time (while I search for work).
See you tomorrow, from my new home
Monday, 27 July 2009
Friday, 24 July 2009
All about the Maos
So I got my first good sleep since I arrived last night. I've been napping a lot, might be the heat or really long jetlag but I've felt the need to have a few hours in the middle of the day. Then I wake up at 6am the next day and the cycle repeats. Indeed, last night I went to bed at 9:30pm because I'd been running around town looking for apartments. 6 hours and I found one I kinda liked, but it only had 3 bedrooms (and therefore only 2 people). Fortunately I was waiting on a response from a 6 bedroom flat I saw the other day and I got the greenlight to move in! So that's cool, gonna be out of this hostel in 3 days. That's just a little update on the housing situation. Now onto the main subject of this blog.
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The amount stuff costs in Shanghai is really warped compared to the UK. I was speaking to an estate agent yesterday and she said that everything is quite affordable, except housing. I think it's the complete opposite. For example, in Manchester my 3 bedroom student flat in a decent location was £480 a month (around 4900RMB). In Shanghai my maximum budget (which I'm hitting) is around £240 a month (2500RMB). That is hella cheap if you've ever rented property in the UK. If I actually had a real job, I could live somewhere absolutely incredible... maybe something for the future ;)
After deciding to go out for lunch (as in, spend more than 4RMB on street food) I was in the main shopping area of Shanghai (well one of them anyway); Nanjing Xi Lu. This area has so many designer brands and podgy white people that you would think you were in New York if it wasn't for the humidity. Since I'm here on my own, and haven't got anyone to hang around with, I've just been leisurely exploring malls and seeing what there is. My primary goal is to find an arcade with a Drummania game, so I can get my percussion fix.. but alas I've come up short every time. Secondly I've been trying to work out what sort of stuff I can afford over here. In Shanghai I can get a very decent sized meal for about 50RMB (£5 now, £3.50 back then). On the other hand, if I wanted to get a Chocolate Sundae at some American chain it would cost about the same. So you can have a banquet or an ice-cream for the same price. Weird huh?
Things are a lot different now than they used to be. As a result of Gordon Brown dumping my UK-Chinese savings onto a slab and cutting a fat third off of the amount, things are expensive over here. Despite the fact that the majority of the higher end brands are made in China, it's often more expensive to buy clothes here than in the UK! Take Lacoste for example, in the UK a Lacoste polo shirt is likely to cost about £65ish? I think.. I don't actually own one but that price rings a bell when I was looking pre-departure. In Shanghai a Lacoste polo shirt costs around 900RMB (£85)... and that's a cheap one. Before the credit crunch 900RMB was only about £65, but now it's £20 more. In another shop I saw a Lacoste shirt (I think, it had the same logo) for 1100RMB reduced from 3300RMB.... reduced from 6600RMB!!! That's like £640 for a polo shirt. Even before the credit crunch that is absolutely ridiculous. If you compare that to my rent, I could get a house for 2.5 months (6250RMB) or I could get a polo shirt (6600RMB). Drinks are also way too pricey. Now £10 is only 100RMB, those bottles of beer for 50RMB are not so appealing anymore. £5 for a bottle of beer... you really do not realize how expensive things are until you convert them and think of where in England would you pay £5 for a bottle of beer.
What does the typical Chinese executive earn these days? It's absolutely ludicrous how high these things are priced. No-one can afford it! The mall (Plaza 66) is rather empty, at least all the shops inside, so it's obvious that these stores are just there to keep up appearances. Even if I earnt a decent salary, the price of even the lower range of luxury brands are unaffordable (affordability of course includes value for money, even if I could buy it I wouldn't). So I just browsed... from outside the stores. Some of it was the shame of walking into a place that expensive wearing messy Vans with shorts and a t-shirt that has seen better days. There are other problems with Chinese shops that I gotsta tell you about but that can be saved for later.
After a thoroughly depressing afternoon, realizing that my idea of coming to China and living like a pimp, I went to a more regular store; the Puma store near Nanjing Xi Lu Subway. I found a pair of trainers that I really liked, for 419RMB with 30% off. That's what I'm talking about! But they didn't have my size. Seriously, anyone who says that the 'All Asian men have small penises' theory is a myth needs to try and get a pair of shoes in Shanghai. They didn't have US11? Come on! I might go back and ask them to order in a pair, if they can.
My worries were confirmed when I left the subway heading back to the hostel. I walked off the train and saw a white guy, about 24ish, wearing a t-shirt with a huge hole over the left sleeve. Got a feeling that's going to be me by the time I leave Shanghai.
-----
The amount stuff costs in Shanghai is really warped compared to the UK. I was speaking to an estate agent yesterday and she said that everything is quite affordable, except housing. I think it's the complete opposite. For example, in Manchester my 3 bedroom student flat in a decent location was £480 a month (around 4900RMB). In Shanghai my maximum budget (which I'm hitting) is around £240 a month (2500RMB). That is hella cheap if you've ever rented property in the UK. If I actually had a real job, I could live somewhere absolutely incredible... maybe something for the future ;)
After deciding to go out for lunch (as in, spend more than 4RMB on street food) I was in the main shopping area of Shanghai (well one of them anyway); Nanjing Xi Lu. This area has so many designer brands and podgy white people that you would think you were in New York if it wasn't for the humidity. Since I'm here on my own, and haven't got anyone to hang around with, I've just been leisurely exploring malls and seeing what there is. My primary goal is to find an arcade with a Drummania game, so I can get my percussion fix.. but alas I've come up short every time. Secondly I've been trying to work out what sort of stuff I can afford over here. In Shanghai I can get a very decent sized meal for about 50RMB (£5 now, £3.50 back then). On the other hand, if I wanted to get a Chocolate Sundae at some American chain it would cost about the same. So you can have a banquet or an ice-cream for the same price. Weird huh?
Things are a lot different now than they used to be. As a result of Gordon Brown dumping my UK-Chinese savings onto a slab and cutting a fat third off of the amount, things are expensive over here. Despite the fact that the majority of the higher end brands are made in China, it's often more expensive to buy clothes here than in the UK! Take Lacoste for example, in the UK a Lacoste polo shirt is likely to cost about £65ish? I think.. I don't actually own one but that price rings a bell when I was looking pre-departure. In Shanghai a Lacoste polo shirt costs around 900RMB (£85)... and that's a cheap one. Before the credit crunch 900RMB was only about £65, but now it's £20 more. In another shop I saw a Lacoste shirt (I think, it had the same logo) for 1100RMB reduced from 3300RMB.... reduced from 6600RMB!!! That's like £640 for a polo shirt. Even before the credit crunch that is absolutely ridiculous. If you compare that to my rent, I could get a house for 2.5 months (6250RMB) or I could get a polo shirt (6600RMB). Drinks are also way too pricey. Now £10 is only 100RMB, those bottles of beer for 50RMB are not so appealing anymore. £5 for a bottle of beer... you really do not realize how expensive things are until you convert them and think of where in England would you pay £5 for a bottle of beer.
What does the typical Chinese executive earn these days? It's absolutely ludicrous how high these things are priced. No-one can afford it! The mall (Plaza 66) is rather empty, at least all the shops inside, so it's obvious that these stores are just there to keep up appearances. Even if I earnt a decent salary, the price of even the lower range of luxury brands are unaffordable (affordability of course includes value for money, even if I could buy it I wouldn't). So I just browsed... from outside the stores. Some of it was the shame of walking into a place that expensive wearing messy Vans with shorts and a t-shirt that has seen better days. There are other problems with Chinese shops that I gotsta tell you about but that can be saved for later.
After a thoroughly depressing afternoon, realizing that my idea of coming to China and living like a pimp, I went to a more regular store; the Puma store near Nanjing Xi Lu Subway. I found a pair of trainers that I really liked, for 419RMB with 30% off. That's what I'm talking about! But they didn't have my size. Seriously, anyone who says that the 'All Asian men have small penises' theory is a myth needs to try and get a pair of shoes in Shanghai. They didn't have US11? Come on! I might go back and ask them to order in a pair, if they can.
My worries were confirmed when I left the subway heading back to the hostel. I walked off the train and saw a white guy, about 24ish, wearing a t-shirt with a huge hole over the left sleeve. Got a feeling that's going to be me by the time I leave Shanghai.
Monday, 20 July 2009
The Plan
It's the fifth day I've been here and I'm starting to feel like I should probably have some sort of plan. I mean, I'm currently staying in a youth hostel, eating out every night (although I'm not sure if this will change) with about £50 left in my wallet. Not exactly an ideal situation for someone who intends to make Shanghai his new home. I've also got really lazy and boring! Yesterday I had breakfast with a friend I met on Friday night in the Bund area. I checked out the stores and walked about for a few hours then I came back to the hostel and just crashed. I woke up at 5pm and just sat around on my laptop until about 12:30. I know I'm living here for a long time, but I do feel a bit embarrassed sitting around all day. It looks like I'm just the worst tourist ever.
So here's the plan:
1. Find an apartment
Definitely the first thing I've got to do. I'm a big fan of Le Tour (my hostel) but I should really get my own place, my own housemates (this is the main reason) and make this city my own. I've been emailing enquiries about rooms all morning, but it is only 8am so I'm not expecting replies for a while.
I'd like to live in the Jing'an area I think. It's a great location for entertainment and work, so I'm setting my sights on there. The great thing about Shanghai is that taxis are really cheap, so is the subway.. so no matter where I am it's not a big deal getting to work.
2. Get my money
This probably could take precedence over the apartment hunt due to a rubbish catch 22 situation. I need money to pay the apartment deposit and first month's rent. I can't get my money until I have a bank account. I don't think I can get a bank account without a residence permit.
My solution is to take out as much as I can from ATM machines. I think I get charged about £2 for every £200 I take out. I guess I'll withdraw enough for a deposit and month of rent, then I'll wire over the rest of my money when I receive it in England (people owe me a shit load). That should work.
3. Set up a bank account
Apparently it's quite easy. I need to choose a bank though. I like the sound of the China Construction Bank because it's a badass name, but I'll probably just go with the Bank of China because it's the biggest. Once I set that up, hopefully I can transfer all my savings to Shangers.
4. Find an internship
It's what I came here for. As I said in a previous post, I didn't get the uberjob I was hoping for. However I've just sent a CV in to a software development company for a position in 'Marketing & Business Development'. I've heard they need 6 trainees for 3 positions, so they're pretty good odds. My CV isn't as rubbish as it looks (I did get to the interview phase for uberjob) so hopefully I'll hear back within the next couple of days. I'll get paid about 4000RMB a month I think, which pays for rent and I'll still have spending money. It's a relief, because money worries were kinda getting to me.
5. Have the best 18 months of my life
OK I've probably jinxed it now, but I really do need to make the most of this. I think the next blog post I do, I'll come up with a list of all the ideas and opportunities I will look into while I'm here. After that, and an update on the items on this list... that's it! I'll be settled and will have to come up with something more imaginative that what is effectively my diary... online.
So here's the plan:
1. Find an apartment
Definitely the first thing I've got to do. I'm a big fan of Le Tour (my hostel) but I should really get my own place, my own housemates (this is the main reason) and make this city my own. I've been emailing enquiries about rooms all morning, but it is only 8am so I'm not expecting replies for a while.
I'd like to live in the Jing'an area I think. It's a great location for entertainment and work, so I'm setting my sights on there. The great thing about Shanghai is that taxis are really cheap, so is the subway.. so no matter where I am it's not a big deal getting to work.
2. Get my money
This probably could take precedence over the apartment hunt due to a rubbish catch 22 situation. I need money to pay the apartment deposit and first month's rent. I can't get my money until I have a bank account. I don't think I can get a bank account without a residence permit.
My solution is to take out as much as I can from ATM machines. I think I get charged about £2 for every £200 I take out. I guess I'll withdraw enough for a deposit and month of rent, then I'll wire over the rest of my money when I receive it in England (people owe me a shit load). That should work.
3. Set up a bank account
Apparently it's quite easy. I need to choose a bank though. I like the sound of the China Construction Bank because it's a badass name, but I'll probably just go with the Bank of China because it's the biggest. Once I set that up, hopefully I can transfer all my savings to Shangers.
4. Find an internship
It's what I came here for. As I said in a previous post, I didn't get the uberjob I was hoping for. However I've just sent a CV in to a software development company for a position in 'Marketing & Business Development'. I've heard they need 6 trainees for 3 positions, so they're pretty good odds. My CV isn't as rubbish as it looks (I did get to the interview phase for uberjob) so hopefully I'll hear back within the next couple of days. I'll get paid about 4000RMB a month I think, which pays for rent and I'll still have spending money. It's a relief, because money worries were kinda getting to me.
5. Have the best 18 months of my life
OK I've probably jinxed it now, but I really do need to make the most of this. I think the next blog post I do, I'll come up with a list of all the ideas and opportunities I will look into while I'm here. After that, and an update on the items on this list... that's it! I'll be settled and will have to come up with something more imaginative that what is effectively my diary... online.
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