Hey, Shanghai, I missed you, y’know?
December 7, 2017

Hey, Shanghai, I missed you, y’know?

  I wasn’t sure if China wanted me back. The fact that I managed to set the Contagious Disease Carrier detector off at immigration at Pudong Airport was a moment of concern. I had casually strolled through, feeling robust and healthy, albeit tired from having …

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We’re Not in the Middle Kingdom Anymore, Toto…
July 23, 2013

We’re Not in the Middle Kingdom Anymore, Toto…

I have a feeling I may need to change the name of this blog, or at the very least acknowledge that its impracticality is about to soar to new heights of uselessness.     I have, you see, buggered off. I’m actually in rainy, green …

25 Comments
Here Be Dragons: Laser Cat Goes to Pudong to Renew Her Visa (Comic Book Edition)
June 14, 2013

Here Be Dragons: Laser Cat Goes to Pudong to Renew Her Visa (Comic Book Edition)

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I’ll Be Lucky to Escape With My Waistline Intact: My Last Month of Eating Everything in Shanghai
June 12, 2013

I’ll Be Lucky to Escape With My Waistline Intact: My Last Month of Eating Everything in Shanghai

    This is going to be a major food porn post. I just realized that after over four years in this city, I’ve really never delved into all things foodie on this blog. Mops, cats, pollution, water monsters, bad maps– sure. Food, not so …

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I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on That Time I Square Danced to Chinese Punk Music in the Park
May 9, 2013

I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on That Time I Square Danced to Chinese Punk Music in the Park

  Back  in the early 1990s, back when I was an untravelled granola crunchy uni student living on an island off the west coast of Canada, I wrote a rather long and rambling term paper on the history of Chinese rock music. At that time, …

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I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Stuff, Self, Place and Ridiculously Sudden Life Transitions
April 25, 2013

I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Stuff, Self, Place and Ridiculously Sudden Life Transitions

  I moved most unexpectedly a few months ago, just after my life imploded in Bali. It’s taken me over two months to get all of my things from the old flat. Bit by bit, bag by bag, by taxi and by metro, I’ve hauled …

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I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Being a Tired Hermit With Possibly Unrealistic Expectations
April 15, 2013

I’ll See Myself Out: Notes on Being a Tired Hermit With Possibly Unrealistic Expectations

I’ve got approximately two months left in Shanghai.     After over four years in this city, most of which were spent trying to feel like it was home and trying to convince myself that I was in the right place, doing the right thing, …

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I’ll See Myself Out: Attempting Shanghai Nightlife (for Burnt Out Recluses)
March 19, 2013

I’ll See Myself Out: Attempting Shanghai Nightlife (for Burnt Out Recluses)

So I’m leaving Shanghai. Sometime in June, I’ll be handing in my Foreign Expert’s Certificate (actually a booklet, just to muddle matters) and sorting through my accumulated detritus to ship things home or to redistribute them amongst the neighbourhood rag-and-bone dudes. [Random note: Modern day …

21 Comments
It’s Beginning to Look Not Even Remotely Like Christmas: Faking Festiveness in Shanghai
December 25, 2012

It’s Beginning to Look Not Even Remotely Like Christmas: Faking Festiveness in Shanghai

Actually I lie. I live in Shanghai (which, if you ask the Shanghairen, is barely even China but rather its own magnificent autonomous kingdom of wealth and awesomeness) and oh, the shiny accoutrements of the festive season are out in a big way. Have you …

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Notes on Not Running Away Again: Dealing Sensibly With a Shanghai Winter
November 30, 2012

Notes on Not Running Away Again: Dealing Sensibly With a Shanghai Winter

It was some time midway through my London years that I found myself huddled in a phone box outside the Lords Cricket Grounds, surrounded on three sides by layers of postcards of hot, horny, available women who wanted to do dirty things to me. It …

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You look very terrible, Miss Mary: Unsolicited Advice for the Laowai
November 19, 2012

You look very terrible, Miss Mary: Unsolicited Advice for the Laowai

I’m still sick. Not sick like last week when I was horizontal and feverish, with my nasal cavity draining like Victoria Falls. No, this week I’m exhausted from working all weekend, sleeping terribly, and breathing in the disconcertingly opaque and smokey air all morning. According …

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Managing Your Plague in China: Brief Notes on my Stupid Cold
November 15, 2012

Managing Your Plague in China: Brief Notes on my Stupid Cold

So I finally made it in to work today, after two days spent under cover, barking my lungs out at home, destroying entire forests with my nasal detritus. I packed a little baggie with 2 boiled eggs and 2 small oranges (plus a massive coffee) …

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