Yesterday Ron and I went for Hong Kong Cuisine along Dingxi road as I need to go to my bank to get some stuff done. We have been to this place before and the grilled pork was not bad. The service was… well… no comments.

This time though, the very gruff waitress kinda got onto our nerves. Good service in Shanghai is really very very very rare.

We ordered some famous HongKong dishes and a bowl of fish congee. The picture in the menu was rather appetizing with slice fish, nuts and you-tiao (or Chinese cruller). The waitress taking our order immediately snapped “Oh…. There will be no you-tiao in the porridge”. Despite the small disappointment, we were prepared to let it go.

waitress: zhe ge mei you yiu-tiao de ah… (There is no chinese cruller in this congee)

me: wei shen me? (why?)

w: wo men yi kai shi jiu mei you de ya! (We never put chinese cruller in our congee when we started selling!)

me: na wei shen me zhao pian li mian you? (Why is it in the photo?)

w: <<<MEI YOU JIU MEI YOU!!!!!!!!>>> (DON’T HAVE MEANS DON’T HAVE!!!!!)

me: na jiu bu yao fang zhao pian ah!?!? (Don’t show it in the photo then!?!?)

w: …

Why bother to show the photos in the menu when you are not selling the actual stuff. It can be misleading and even if there are any misunderstandings, a polite explanation would have been enough. We find it ok if they have no more yiu-tiao, but they insisted that this ingredient was not included from when they started business!?!?!

Things in China are improving and some things here are way better than they are in other parts of the globe. Service line isn’t one of them! Lesson that we’ve learnt, never trust a photo in a menu and don’t have means DON’t HAVE!

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Ron has been thinking a lot about sponsoring a child lately. We have been thinking of having a baby sometime next year and it probably triggered this thought.

We always see this old lady sitting on the pave way and begging for money. While I faithfully try to give her whatever small change I have, Ron is more skeptical. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he always tells himself that they are “fake” beggars or that they are part of some scam organization. Once, he did witness a “blind” beggar running to his favourite spot at a busy bus stop. It kinda reinforces his notion of “fake” beggars.

The thought of having our own child coupled with a moving article about the Bill Gates Foundation forced him to think and reflect again. It made him realize how lucky we are. It does not matter if they are really real or fake beggars. So what if we give some of our money to a fake beggar. It should not stop us from donating at all. There are people out there that really need our help, however small it is. It may mean a world of a difference to them.

Ron started to do some research on sponsoring orphans in 3rd world countries. We are really impressed by the stuff some organizations are doing to help orphans. www.childfundinternational.org and www.worldvision.org are 2 excellent sites. He hopes to start sponsoring a child by this year. Ron has also made a mental note not to pretend that beggars are invisible and donate some money whenever possible.

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Shanghai Metro during rush hour. Drop your shoulder and push when the train comes!

When I was in Songjiang, I hate to get up early in the morning and play rugby with the Shanghainese at the metro station.

Everyone will wait patiently for the train to arrive. Upon hearing from a distance away a long screeching of the railway tracks, the crowd inevitably moved towards the ledge I almost thought they were going to jump down to the railway.

The carriages are literally like sardine cans. Passengers are standing so close to each other that there is no space to move at all. Even when the carriages seem to be full, passengers still manage to squeeze in when the train stops at every station. Squeezed in from the side, center, or even crawl in from the top and below to be the first to get into the train. Some of the passengers engage in a short 5 meter sprint just as the door opens and try to barge in. It gets warmer, crampier, and tighter inside the carriage.

Beside squeezing, pushing and hurling… passengers have to take note and be careful though. The rush hour period represents a good opportunity for thieves. There have been a few occasions where passengers find their valuables (mobile phones, wallets etc…) missing when they alight from the packed carriages. Ladies beware as there are bound to be some people who will take advantage.

It would be nice if the metro can introduce1 or 2 ladies-only carriages like in Japan.

The Shanghai metro can be the most crowded thing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life, with tremendous amounts of pushing and squeezing.

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