being localized in Shanghai

上海的生活习惯了吗？？

It's amazing what a month's worth of living in one place can do to a person and his habits! Seriously! So I figured that indeed, it is true nga pala!

I've been here in Shanghai for a month. And right now, all my Manila habits are coming back already. I got no more problems with my appetite, with the metro, with the sometimes rude people in the streets, and.. with converting the prices of the stuff I buy! I get what you mean now Steph. For some reason, when drivers here or store assisstants say 5RMB, in my mind, it does register as 5 lang! So that I only realized the amount of that in Philippine peso after a while.

So I am guessing that in the coming months, I will slowly get my old habits back. Esp. my shopping habits! Of course, it also helps that Wanda is very near Fudan. I am actually loving the fact that Fudan is quite far from the city! Coz then I get a taste of the Shanghai district life as well as of the Shanghai city life. And this makes me real happy!!

But I miss the food back home though! I felt so bad last week eating the same stuff everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Plus it doesn't help that we eat in prison-like plates in the 食堂 (cafeteria) everyday! I hatettttt!! Buti nalang we've discovered some nice places to eat just near or dorm. So that sometimes, whenever we really, really want to eat "comfort food" but are too tamad to go to Wanda, we know we can always go in front of the dorm gate or in the Korean street somewhere around the corner!!

and yes, we are also sanay na with the weather!! Compared to when we just arrived. This is definitely the longest winter Shanghai's ever had! And I guess right now, am loving it already!!

xoxo.

To my dearest parents,

Happy, Happy Wedding Anniversary!!

I figured since you always read my blog Mom, might as well greet you here.
And warn you to stop nagging me coz if not,
I shall ban you from my blog!
You bad user!!

So, Happy Wedding Anniversary Parents!
23 years of being our dearest benefactors!
Just imagine!!
loves ett!!!
真的！！

xoxo,

daughter.

i promise..

to upload pictures soon talaga! super sorry my family.. i always get lazy!

these days, you guys are either busy or not OL. Me, am just lazy..
to post pics, to go OL, and do whatever stuff.
But the camera's seriously nice and so I am inspired once again to take pics.
as well as go places to make the most of this trip.

I plan to show you guys the pathway I walk everyday to school,
my building, Guang Hua Lou,
my room, East Sub-Tower 406..
my dorm, the Fu Dan University Foreign Student's Dormitory..
my room, room 527
my classmates, friends..
all my favorite food (don't worry I keep my diet on track)
all my favorite places, people..
and my beloved school, Fu Dan.
and my beloved city, Shanghai.

The other day I got lost in this big city.
And while originally I thought that there was nothing much in here,
now I say..
Shanghai is nice.
It is for the arts.
A fusion of the old and the new.
I wish to explore all the best local places in here..
and come back to visit and tour my loved ones..
like that of a local Shanghainese's tour of this city!

to my dearest benefactors..

you know it's been awhile since I lost touch with my friend, Master.
Yesterday was my first brush of "keeping in touch" once again since I left Manila for Shanghai!
Thank you so much for giving me this chance.
And today for allowing me with my camera purchase.
which was done, of course, upon mama's pangungulit.
So that now, I promise to update you (coz yes, i can post pics here in my blog) with pictures na!
Yehey!!

xoxo.
daughter.

so glad there's blogspot!

i am super glad i found a way to blog once again here in Shanghai!
because when i'm restless and my mind won't stop, i blog!

i blog when i am,
restless..
happy..
excited..
ecstatic..
disappointed..
pissed..
and yes,
when i know that i need to keep my mouth SHUT!!

That's probably why only very few people close to me know about my blog!

first sunny day

today was the first day my beloved Mr. Sun came out in the skies. Woke up to the bright sunshine beaming from outside our window. But Cheng's call told me that NO! the weather was not yet friendly! True enough, when I went out, it was sunny but chilly!! super cold. so that still, i had to put on my coat. No more snow today though.

I seriously didn't understand a word my teacher in my reading class said. so i decided to go YM instead. My classmate told me that in here, studying has no pressures! coz' no matter what happens, you move up to the next level! So I say.. what the hell! just let me live up this moment!

My idea that Shanghai was gonna be about studying on the weekdays and partying on the weekends didn't last for a week! coz just earlier, we went to a party our classmate invited us to. In here, once you get invited, you can get everyone else in your phonebook to come with! Provided that they do wanna come with!! And being ME, I am lazy! I was lazy!! But with RG around, and with my being madaling mahatak to just about anything and everything, VOILA! I found myself in M1NT!!

M1NT was okay but not my type of place. It was kinda tiring and you don't really get to have fun with your friends! I am looking forward to exploring more clubs and bars in here. And I feel that I'll have no problem with doing that with RG around! I just really wanna make the most out of this experience I guess!! Well, big thanks of course to my benefactors whose making all these possible for me!!

and it snowed..

it snowed in Shanghai yesterday. The snow made my experience of the winter season, complete! i was super excited to blog all about it yesterday but then when i went home, hola! i found myself internet-less!! then the night became really cold.. and kind of a bore as we all had nothing to do!

the snow was fun. watching it fall on my coat was like being in a movie wherein i was the lead. i really felt like playing out there in the snow but decided otherwise because the cold beat me! i am no match to the cold weather Shanghai has now!

as i sat on my seat in class watching the snow fall outside the window, i felt sooo glad to be here. to just be here in Shanghai studying, living, and what-not. To me, this was a dream come true! a big dream come true. Shanghai was supposed to be my test to myself if i will really want to pursue studying abroad. Yesterday, i think i have found the answer. I do want to study abroad. I do wanna stay in Shanghai for a year. I do. I really do. I just wish that I can make up my mind before everything becomes too late. But right now, I just wanna enjoy and live up this moment!!

Steffyyyy...

Steffyyyy...

howdy how do I contact thee??
text me up through mom's old no. your no. alright???
coz up till now, I do not know my own no. here in China!
I know you don't check your mails.
so useless to email you.
pangit the FB here so I don't like.
but I know na you read my blog
like how you read your chuvaness!
so contact me sistah!!
am not really OL now all the time!!
coz it's kinda baduy here.. OL-ing!

xoxo,
Achi.

Dear Friend,

let me quote Ruffa G. my dear in saying na "sayang ka.. coz' I only fight for people who are worth fighting for."
In our case, it's more like "I only stick with people worth sticking with."

I've been good to you ever since. I know. I may not be there for you all the time as a friend, but dude! trust me when I tell you that I have been true to you. Still am. I gave you my genuine friendship when others advised otherwise and now, you do this to me?? Sorry. But friends don't do that to each other!!

Word of advice dear, iron out your issues first.. hwag mo na ako idamay sa issues mo sa buhay.. coz' I am sooooo not interested!!
Been there, done that. and NO! I have no plans of ever going back that way once again!
I'm just too happy now at where I currently am to care!!
Mean, I know. But it's better this way, I tell you!
Ang masasabi ko lang, is that.. ako...
walang ginagawang masama sayo!
and that's about it!!

my first Shanghai weekend!!

so remember I said I was shopping bound for the weekend as I was already bored BIG TIME here sa dorm?? Screw that coz any shopping plans of mine DID NOT PUSH THROUGH!! Sad! I know. I feel, deep in my heart that my Master misses me sooo much already! Peace Mom.

Back in Manila, when I get bored, I shop. And on the weekends, I shop whenever I find myself in the mall! As my mom wants to put it, "si Keisha.. whenever she sees a bag in the mall, para syang kinikiliti!!" But can you blame me? I AM MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER!! IT' GENETIC!!

When I was thinking about Shanghai, I thought, "wow! the longest shopping district in the world!" OVERWHELMING MUCH!! But who would've thought that I'll find myself in one of Shanghai's medyo outskirt-ish district.. and so you know me guys.. laziness comes before anything else! SERIOUSLY!! and it doesn't help that the weather is weird!!

So let me tell you then about my first encounter of the Shanghai weekend..

Friday came and we all pretty much decided to go to the International Students Party at Helen's just around the block. The place was cool but crowded. There were lots of people so you just really had to make friends. And then this guy announces on the mic that it was his friend's birthday and that everyone was invited at their place the next night (Saturday) somewhere out there.. What the hell right? It's not like am really interested to go partying with people who were virtual strangers to me!!

Then RG decided to go downtown as Helen's was getting kind of so-so. So downtown it is dahlings!! We were supposed to go to Muse, a bar that had a 100 RMB entrance fee but comes with 10 drinks na.. but since not everyone wanted to get wasted, we decided to go instead to the one beside it Sky where there was no entrance fee but the drinks daw were expensive! Once again, I say, peace Mom! or maybe I should be saying, THANKS "PARENTS" for being ever so kunsintidor and most especially for being MOI BENEFACTOR!

Saturday came in and yes I was planning on going shopping, I know! Even though I cam from a night of late night partying the previous night, I woke up early because Cheng woke me up!! She wakes up early then she talks to me so I wake up also!! Then chatted for a while and then I got a text to meet up with the people in Wanda to go to Walmart (I'm baduy, I know!!) and then downtown for Shanghai's mala-Greenhills shopping area. So knowing myself, you all know that I just REALLY wanna get out of this district and go downtown!! For Pete's sake, even my MOTHER is telling me na that I'm baduy coz the only place I go to is Walmart!! So we went downtown.

Then I got Constantin's text of his address! RG was excited to go! Once again, I had no escape. I'm lazy, I KNOW! I still am! But for some weird reason, ang dali ko naman mahatak! So at around 10, I met up with the guys downstairs to go to Constantin's place!! Party one more time!!

And today, Sunday, I am Wanda-bound!! Hopefully, for some shopping with RG! Because I am bored once again! Partying is good. But no therapy works as good for my boredom than a dose of my shopping therapy. Or should I say.. a dose of my parent's gift!! Don't worry guys.. all your favorite stores are kinda here..

And there goes my first Shanghai weekend guys. 2 consecutive nights of partying!! And I'm guessing, that more will come as I get to learn, breathe, and love this place!! Then again, I came here with a warning from Mom pala.. "hwag na hwag kang iinom sa Shanghai like what you do here Achi.. or else papauwiin kita dito ng wala sa oras.." But how can I resist Mom? when this is pretty much A PART OF WHAT YOU LEARN DAW HERE IN SHANGHAI!!

xoxo MY BELOVED PARENTS/BENEFACTORS!!

my first free day!

toorrow is my first free day here in Shanghai!! It's Friday, yes!! but as I've mentioned previously, I have no classes scheduled on Fridays!! except for our Intro to Chine which is not until 3 in the afternoon!! Yihee!!

Today I somehow toured the campus after getting my school ID. Yes, I got one and loaded it immediately as I am excited with it's level of ka-high-tech-an!! It's sooo high-tech!! Here in school, you use that ID to pay for everything! Esp. in the caf. So that, without a student ID, you cannot pay for your own meal. Yes, that's how high-tech they are. They don't accept cash!! How I wish my Alma Matter was this bongga!!

Made a few friends in class today. One invited us to the International Students' Party tomorrow somewhere around here and one invited us for a game of poker earlier somewhere in downtown Shanghai. We are party-bound tomorrow as it's kinda near our dorm lang.. but the poker game we passed for reasons as obvious as: 1. we don't know how to play poker. 2. we'll be playing in RMB. 3. downtown is like a 45-minute metro ride and the game is at 11 PM onwards. and 4. obviously, we all got tamad because of the weather!! But the weather, I guess is kind of okay already. I went out earlier with Prim wearing only my slippers and a borrowed jacket from Prim as I didn't have mine! Don't panic mom! That was not planned. I thought I was just gonna check out some chips at the convenience store downstairs but suddenly changed plans as there was nothing interesting in the convenience store.

I am excited for my first free day here tomorrow! I am shopping-bound in Wanda. Not downtown because I have to come back here obviously for Jed's birthday celebration. Hopefully, if I don't get tamad, I can drop by H&M and go buy a few stuff. I am in desperate need for some stuff. Seriously!! But I also have to go drop by Walmart for my Hanzi notebook! I wonder who's gonna go with me tom. though.. but shopping is an activity I usually do on my own so we'll see about that!

upon my Shanghai arrival

Arrived in Shanghai a few days ago. For a while there, I thought I was about to go crazy already when I wasn't able to access my blog from here but now I'm alive! Yes, I am back! You see, I wanna chronicle this particular chapter of my life. Every single teeny part of it. And so I got dismayed when I wasn't able to access my blog. But happy now coz last night Cheng, my roommate, told me about this oh, so wonderful way to access FB. And then I thought maybe I can also access my blog and tada!! here I am.

Anyway, more on Shanghai now.. Shanghai is big! It really is! It's also very cold! I am starting to think that there is really nothing much to do here. Or maybe that is also affected in part by the fact that my school is an hour away (almost) by subway from the city. But I am nevertheless excited. Excited to go explore this city on my own as well as with friends. Maybe, just not so much now when the weather is still very harsh!! It gets cold, then very cold when it rains, chilly when there's wind which happens almost everyday!

Fudan is really big. Somehow, saying that still feels like a big understatement for me. The first time we walked the distance from our dormitory which is inside the school to our building, Guang HUa Lou, it took us almost an hour! Now, on the third day of school, it just takes us 30 mins. That is the distance I walk everyday to class. I usually walk this with Sigh (my only classmate from GBF) or with others whose schedule is like mine. Earlier, I didn't go to class in the morning and so I walked on my own. It was okay. Give it a few more months and I'm pretty sure I will really be used to it already. This week, by the way, is what I would like to call, my "Shanghai settling in" week.

Class is okay. I got placed at Level C. I have no intentions of going down to B or up to D anymore. I am fine and happy just where I am. I know my Chinese is not so good, but I really, really, hope to improve it this time around. Hopefully, this time, it's for good le!

My classmates are mostly old students of Fudan. There are only 2 of us Filipinos in class. Which, I'm guessing, is also good as we are forced to converse in Chinese whenever we are inside the class which happens most of the time now given our schedule.

My schedule is one of the best among my fellow scholars. I get my afternoons free on Mondays and Thursdays and mornings free on Wednesdays. On Fridays, I have no class except for our GBF Lecture series at 3. Yes, I plan to attend this class provided I am lazy to go travel that 45 minute, at the very least, subway ride to downtown Shanghai.

Now it's almost 6 and it's still very cold. A few mins. from now I will wash my socks as I have none anymore! I have already bought a China sim, a laundry card, and so much more settling in stuff! Plus, I opened a China account yesterday! I feel so happy, all these makes me feel like a local living here in Shanghai! Soooo local that until now, I still haven't opened the pile of Shanghai maps I got at the airport as well as during our orientation! But in my mind, I know that truly, I am here to enjoy and make the most out of this experience! And by enjoy, I definitely DO NOT mean getting fat!!!