14 Sep Friday night...

Aimless. That's how i feel on certain friday nights. Ironically, my social life comes to a standstill as the rest of the world celebrates the end of a work week.

Shanghai traffic is the worst on this day, rain or shine, hot or cold, no cabs everywhere. Our friends have given up on finding a central place for everyone to get to, so we usually only meet up after 9-ish when the traffic gets better. Its even worse when Lester has to work friday nights, so that means i'm usually stuck pretty much alone from 6pm to 9pm.

However, last friday i was determined not to let the bad traffic stop me. So i took MRT!! Which i hardly do cos its just not natural here. I set off from the office at about 7pm, just me and my camera, looking out for unique sights in Shanghai. Okay maybe not that unique but it gave me something to do.

First up...sign on MRT door. Hee hee, u can spot a million of these signs with weird expressions...

Introducing the FUWAs, mascots for the Beijing Olympics. They look weird initially but they grow on you, most interestingly, their names are Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, Ni Ni... (ie Beijing welcomes you...)

This is one of my favourite supermarkets cos it caters to the Lao Wai taste. Its where i stock up my Post cereals, breakfast bars, Sara Lee Cheesecake, u get the idea. Its double singapore price but then wht to do.

Isn't this the loveliest child? I feel really bad saying this, but this child is a beggar, he was so cute i couldn't resist a picture. Even worse, i feel like i've exploited him for my "pleasure" cos i didn't give his parents a single cent. It wouldn't matter anyway because the money i give will end up being aggregated within the begging syndicates, and the sole benefitor will be their big boss and not them. If I can do one thing to change the world, i want to change the life of these little ones, provide food and shelter for them, give them education, now where do i start?

This picture reminds me of Susan Sontag's On Photography essay, the subject is an interpretation of the hunter (photographer). Its a 2nd hand experience usually beautified, improved and cushioned by the photographer, its the same reason why some people make art out of warfare, poverty, natural calamities...But truth of the matter is, it broke my heart when i had to walk away doing nothing.

OKAY, enough of that.

Finally, 930pm came and i met up with Aileen, Daren and Jacko at Whisk, our favourite chocolate haven.

Quote on Mirror: Put "eat chocolate" on the top of your list of Things to Do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

I won't say its witty or wise, but it makes a cool picture...I did however learn something new from their menu. DID YOU KNOW, STRESSED is DESSERT spelled BACKWARDS? Brilliant... And i must commit to memory that a word like this is called a palindrome. Very cryptic... NICE...

So to DESTRESS, we had our chocolate glazed cupcake... Not too dry or too moist.

And Vanilla panna cotta... Light and creamy, with the right amount of chocolate sauce...My mouth is watering right now.

That's enough endorphins to make a good weekend. Hope u had a good one too.