This is what I do Instead of Reunions

   On Wednesday, I went to Abbey Road for dinner with some co-workers as an informal send-off to one of the German interns here. It was a Beatles-themed restaurant, with lots of European paraphernalia, in the French concession area of Shanghai. However, the most important reason to go to the restaurant was 50 yen pasta meals, which was about 30% off, and happy hour half-off beer. It was pretty fun; it was the first English speaking meal that I’ve had in a while, and my uh, traditional, off color humor made another appearance. Everything was alright though. On an aside, I’m starting to be alright with drinking beer, as opposed to my previous college era self, who didn’t enjoy it at all. All in all though, it’s probably more it’s price rather than its taste. Definitely starting to enjoy it more though.

                  Speaking of which, the Chinese coworkers practically inundated the Canadian intern with tons of awkward (western culture-speaking) questions, such as “do you have a 6-pack,” “where did you get that scar,” do you have a girlfriend”. Kind of glad I appear Chinese enough to not draw such questions. All in all though, office life is pretty interesting. It’s hard to predict everything that will happen on a given day when there are so many people. Today I tried doing a soft hula-hoop, and our head passed out tons of cherries to people. Very odd, but endearing quirks of work. In addition, working in a lab has a huge perk, which is that it has to be air conditioned and dehumidified at all times, which means it’s a prime cooldown zone that only a few people in the company (including me!) have access to. Too bad they both aren’t working quite well right now.

While I was out with another, this time Chinese, friend, we came across yang mei, although not for the first time here. I haven’t had them in a while, but they have to be one of my favorite types of fruit, especially pre-soaked in salt water. It’s odd that I can never find them in the U.S, unless they are in ornamental gardens. What a waste. On another note, I also bought some instant coffee. For some reason I associate this, and canned coffee with asian dramas. I’m slowly growing partial to the taste. This is probably a good thing, as my slight (unofficial) narcolepsy hasn’t quite gone away ever since high school, haha.

My hair is getting extra long, but I’m kind of apprehensive about cutting it here. Perhaps I should just grow it out, haha. No, I’m not going to delude myself into thinking I’d look good with long hair. Perhaps I’ll get it cut after my Hainan trip, maybe even in a way that doesn’t involve pointy sides.

Shanghai weather is really weird these few weeks. The day after I made the post about how awesome the weather was, it started raining. It’s not exactly hot yet, but it is quite humid. Will have to look into lighter clothes soon. I was always under the impression that button down short sleeves were a fashion faux pas, but right now they are so tempting.

The landscaping outside my apartment is coming about nicely, although the immediate area still isn’t occupied and looks like a ghost town. For a while there were peach blossoms, and everything is still freshly planted. Unfortunately, every morning there is a mass exodus of millipedes, pillbugs, and snails that I’ve unfortunately stepped on more than ten times. Bug crunching is probably one of my least favorite sounds. Usually I can catch myself halfway so that it doesn’t fully grind itself into my shoe though. Ugh, the thought of this makes me uncomfortable.

I tried putting up my Mucha poster (de facto girlfriend) and nothing works, not even double sided tape. Must ask family friends to bring poster mounts, since I’ve looked and haven’t found them.

I drew this picture recently. Hm, it's not exactly the type of thing I draw on a regular basis... well, at least not the center part though. For not having a scanner for lineart, I think it turned out okay. 

Bastion is a good game, with a good art style and narrative. I recommend it to everyone. Napa cabbage is better than regular cabbage. Strawberry pocky with little chunks in it looks like barf but is actually my favorite type. Korra is outstanding as usual. Getting Diablo 3 in a week or so. Hainan tomorrow, hopefully I'll have quite a bit to write about.