MOJO IN CHINA

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Watch Debate Replay in Shanghai

admin | 08 October, 2008 14:40

Image taken from Newsday

Don't think I haven't been keeping up with what's going on with the Presidential Campaign. I'm all over it, and so is Shanghai.

For all those interested and you have the time (I doubt I can go cause I'll be at work, DOH!), you should check out the debates in Shanghai. This is from Democrats Abroad, China Chapter. (Yes, I am a Democrat and I am voting for Obama.)

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Shanghai, Puxi: Malone's American Cafe, Puxi. REPLAY @ 5P. [255 Tongren Ren Lu, Puxi. (021) 6247 2400]. For info contact David, 15801879271.

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Where I'm going tomorrow night:

admin | 07 October, 2008 13:34

The Blues Room

So today I got an invite from a bass player "bassed in Shanghai" named Jimy Graham to check him out at The Blues Room. I'm excited to go because I like the Blues Room, even though I haven't been there to listen to blues yet. (The last time I was there, I watched the world's greatest slam dunks, which is always awesome to watch.)

I spoke to Jimy on the phone and he's a cool guy, but what I really like are his blues lesson videos. They are great.I look forward to seeing him live.

Great place to get cheap and good sandwiches in Shanghai

admin | 07 October, 2008 13:21

That's right, City Shop!

Pre-prepped sandwiches are 15-25 RMB.

Take a day off, fool! It's Dragon Boat Festival!

admin | 03 June, 2008 10:46

Zong Zi -- WHAT, FOOL?!?!

Enough with th fool stuff... There's a holiday coming up and it's called the Dragon Boat Festival. All I know about the holiday is that people race on long boats kind of like crew but with dragon heads on the front of the boat and people eat lots of Zong Zi.

What's a Zong Zi? I don't have a direct translation, but it's a bunch of sticky rice filled with meat (or egg) and wrapped with bamboo leaves. it's really good, unless you find that your Zong Zi doesn't have enough meat (they can kep the egg)... grrr...

You can get a lot of Zong Zi in Zhejiang province in Jiaxing. Go Get YOURS.

I Heart Beca.

admin | 30 May, 2008 17:37

So Chill... Oh, So Chill...

As some of you guys might remember, I work in Redtown (Hong Fang) and it's a really cool place to work. It's not just because I can make the "big bucks" (not yet...) and record dope shows, there's a lot of cool artsy and fashionable stuff around here. What's in fashion now?

One word: BECA

Everytime I pass by this place for lunch, especially now that it's (just about) summertime, the place is packed! Zoe and I just had two glasses of white wine, apple crepes and a glass of sweet ice tea for under 10 bucks. (we used our Enjoy Card of course! Saved 7 kuai, fool!) The place is quite relaxing and there were no flies in the wine. Mad love.

The Last Time We're Going to Kowloon Ice House.

admin | 25 May, 2008 22:00

Sorry, I can't do it... I can't go back.

Kowloon Ice House is a prety popular snack chain in China (a lot in Shanghai) full of snacks, drinks and nice light foods. Once you step inside, the place is full of Hong Kong karaoke and pictures. It's a great spot, especially if you are a fan of HK pop culture, like yours truly.

But after tonight, I think the next time I'm look for that nostalgic feeling, I'll take a flight to HK instead...

After the gym, Zoe and I decided we would go for a snack. I ordered some soup, curry and some drinks. The first thing I noticed before I ordered is that the menu changed. Originally, it was one sheet with selections on the front and back. it was quite clear and easy to follow. Now, it's a thick book with old plastic covers for each page, new dishes (that almost look like a restaurant rather than a snack house) and the prices are sky high. A lot of the small dishes they used to serve... GONE. Now, I'm not a big fan of these changes, but I can deal.

The part that bugged me was there was a fly in the soup...

That's ok, fairly normal, it happens, especially in this weather. We told the staff about it, and they wanted to change it, but fearing that they'll just dump the fly out and give us the same soup, we decided they can just strike it off of our check. No big deal.

Next up, I found a fly in my iced coffee. That's enough. We told them about this too and they had the nerve to say that the fly JUST flew in. (Right so in between you guys walking from the kitchen over to our table, the fly flew in our soup...)

Zoe and I were in shock. Now, in the mall where this Kowloon Ice House is located, you can't find any flies around where we were sitting, and flies like to be around food, especially where there's lots of food... MAYBE, just MAYBE, their kitchen has some issues. I mean, when we found the bug in the soup, it was underneath all the lettuce, and I don;t think the fly was just going for a swim.

Heck, even the white spoon we recieved had all these black spots and marks all over it. Later w got two spoons, with half of the marks gone...

We wanted our money back, all of it. We weren't going to spend nearly 20 bucks (I'm talking in USD here, not RMB) on non-hygenic food. There are other people around ordering as well. After the fuss and battling between us and the waitresses, we finally got our money back... but not our appetite.

I can't go back there because of this. We go for the quality, but if it's gonna be like this, I'd rather go for street food instead. Stop cutting corners!

Last Stop - Xuzhou

admin | 25 May, 2008 17:44

Exhibit A - Dog Meat

So I am back as of yesterday from Xuzhou located in Jiangsu province. It was really hot over there and the place is surrounded by tons of mountains... Kinda reminded me of Nanjing, but a lot smaller.

Anyway, this was the last stop of the 10 day tour with Chivas 12 y.o. Honestly, I'll miss the people on the tour, the whiskey, the meeting, greeting and taking pictures of people. But one of these things I will miss the least:

DOG MEAT

Xuzhou is know for it's spicy dishes, particulalry their spicy dog dish. There are plently of restaurants that have the sings "GOU ROU" (litterally, Dog Meat) plastered all over their walls and store fronts. No, Zoe and I had no dog meat on our journey, and you will know why if you do a picture search for the words Gou Rou on baidu.com... Sick...

Anyway, Xuzhou was cool and the hotel were were at called the Yingdu New Jin Jiang was a pretty posh 4 star. There was a wedding happening at the hotel and at the lobby they were collecting money for the couple with a machine to check whether the money people were giving to the couple were real or fake. Welcome to China!!

If you are ever in Xuzhou and you want to find a fun time, you can check out Calvin Klein Club... Yes, it's called Calvin Klein (CK Jiu Ba... IPR is going well out here!). They have a cage there for scantlily clad male and female dancers with too much make-up (the male dancers too).

Glad to be back in Shanghai.

Nanjing... we back in tha building!

admin | 14 May, 2008 07:25

1912 in Nanjing

Once again, I returned to Nanjing and when I arrived, I realized so much has changed. Firstly, the town is a lot greener with more trees. Secondly, there are way more foreigners living there than I've ever seen. Lastly, 1912 has finally become a huge part of Nanjing's dining, nightlife and overall entertainment experience.

1912, as you might know, is called 1912 because in 1912, Nanjing became the capital of China with the country's first president, Sun Yat-sen. (Not far from 1912 is the Presidential Palace.) 1912 was a great time for Nanjing because it shows Nanjing at a time when it was bustling and becoming the true epicenter of China.

Almost 100 years later, it's getting back to that feel from 1912 at the formentioned entertainment district. Full of cuisines from Thai, local Chinese to KFC and more bars and clubs that you can shake a stick at. I perfromed there with Chivas last Saturday night at a place called Fei Bi Club (aka Phoebe Club). The place had a bit too much neon lights and metalic frames for my tasts (which is very common in Chinese clubs), so I did take a trip to Little Scarlet along with my wife, DJ Melkman, along with local friends Yuichiro (my Midd class mate and GT representer), Miki (From F&W and in-nanjing.net) and his girlfriend, and Kai.

If you're looking to move away from the 1912 spots, I would sugest two more places also worth checking out:

Nanjing's Underground Mall (aka Fashion Lady)

You want sneakers, high heels, dresses, shirts, hats and sunglasses for cheap (or relatively cheap), you got it all here. There's like 2-3 floors ful of tiny stores where you can bargain for all your clothing needs. I find that the fit for most of the clothes here is a bit small for me, particularly in the shoes department, but otherwise, it's great if you are a gal looking for a bargain and different styles that, chances are, other people won't have.

The place is full of people, I would recommend going on Sunday afternoon where it is a little easy to walk through. The spot is not far from Xinjiekou across the street from Dong Fang Shang Cheng Shopping Mall (which now has the real Gucci and Armani stores???) near the Jinling Hotel.

Planta

Planta is a Thai food/lounge/bar/club in Nanjing. It's pretty far away from other clubs and kinf of hard tofind because it's way behind some science building. When you areive at Planta, you'll find plenty of couches, dimmed lights and chill music. When I was first there with Aric in '06, there was noone there. Last Saturday, When I was there with Zoe, I thought I was at Glamour Bar on a Friday night. It was packed with people, Chinese and foreigners alike, all dressed in black with downtempo and acid jazz playing and folks schmoozing. Call it pretentious, call it cool, but this is a change for Nanjing, finally, an alternative for all.

Anyway, that's all for now. This Friday is Hangzhou at Lin Ping Ben Se.

China Street Food - Bing Tang Hu Lu (Part One)

admin | 24 March, 2008 09:14

Bing Tang Hu Lu

I got a phone call last night from my friends at Channel Young asking me to do a show on Bing Tang Hu Lu. When I first heard what Bing Tang Hu Lu was, I didn't know what they heck they were talking about, but then I heard that it's a street food, it's sweet, and the word tang (which means sugar) led me to think that it was those candied fruits on a stick.

I say it's China's original lolipop, my wife says it's candy on a stick, no matter what,it's a traditional part of Chinese culture. I first had 'em in Beijing in 2002, but they're everywhere in China, for now... Sadly, this historical candy is slowly fading away with the waves of the mainstream because most people believe that this street food is very unclean. Noone buys em...

Well today, Channel Young and your boy MoJo got an answer for this. I'll be heading to a professional Bing Tang Hu Lu maker and he's going to show me DIY Bing Tang Hu Lu.

I'll keep you posted with pics and vids from today's show and when the show airs.

(This isn't the first time I've worked with Channel Young, I've done a show with them on Foreigners that speak Chinese... They threw me on, beatboxing and speaking really broken Chinese... Now it's time for the "lao wai" to bring real Chinese culture back to China!)

(Update: Bing Tang Hu Lu's translation is "Sugar Coated Haws on a Stick".... What the heck is a Haw and how did it get that name???)

Deadly Delicious

admin | 23 March, 2008 12:59

"Women want to watch it... Men dare to watch it!"

That's what some critics say about this movie about love, marriage, affairs and food in this movie, Deadly Delicious. I saw this movie with my wife a couple days ago and I can't get it out of my head... Hopefully, a post will help me out!

The movie takes place in Shanghai. A rich and charming corporate guy has a relationship with a pretty and young flight attendant. The flight attendant realizes that it's hard to keep her man happy and learn from an older and strangely wise female stranger that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The stranger offers her hints on how to cook great food and even gives her a cookbook to help the young lady in her relationship, and he loves it! But he get's sicker and sicker...

What is making him sick? Who is this "friendly stranger"? All the answers are in the movie.

I really enjoyed all the emotional twists and turns through the movie and it has a great commentary on marriage and the intricacies of Chinese food.

Men... get ready to take a good look at yourself when you check out Deadly Delicious.

Happy Spring!

admin | 20 March, 2008 17:15

Not Spring Rolls!! Spring is here!

Yes... It's that time of the year again! It's spring time in China. The weather is still a bit chilly, so pack a jacket before going out, but the sun is out and beaming, blue skies even! (Something you HAVE to cherish out here!!!)

I don't have any special stories or anything like that, but just want to wish "yu" all a Happy Spring! (And do celebrate with me and my group Redstar tomorrow!)

Those Spring Rolls still look madd good tho'...

And China's Premier is...

admin | 18 March, 2008 14:42

Wen Jiabao (I think he's thinking... "You press guys give me a headache THIS BIG!!")

Honestly, I didn't know Wen Jiabao was going for re-election until today. I used to not understand why most people in China didn't know about Chinese elections... but now, I understand. It isn't like another election (slash paegant) happening this year that everyone in the world knows about.

(Actually, the news for the American Elections is bigger than most Chinese news... Shhh... Don't tell anyone!)

Anyway, I checked out the boob tube today and saw Premier Wen in all his glory while I was at my favorite Lanzhou Ramen place... It was so ironic because while in the Lanzhou Ramen spot, as an American, I listened to Premier Wen (in very clear and slow Chinese) talk about all my favorite issues (Both begin with a capital T...): Tibet and Taiwan.

I want to keep my blog, so I'll just leave it at that! But I'll say this... There a lot of changes and things happening here in China...

(But I loved being able to have a great Strawberry Milkshake with my wife last night at Metro Town.)

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