(p.s the content below are subject to my personal preference)
i returned to shanghai last week - 9 years after my first trip - and even on the second visit my dislike for the city has not been swayed despite the fancy schmancy hotel i put up at. shanghai is another singapore, except far more globalized that many would argue. look above, below, to the left and right of you resides a far greater fraction of global brands than local ones (wayy more than what we have here and i dont just refer to retail boutiques but restaurants, bistros and what have you).
before my departure, i was intimidated by the thought of being alone in a dominant chinese-speaking country and not being able to communicate, but oh no need to worry for that because almost everyone speaks in basic english enough to get you around the city - a far cry from how it was back then. to my dismay, i honestly expected myself to bust the wallet with shopping by the second day (even with the available 3hours i had left of the day to shop) but na-uh(!) i overestimated my spending habits and arrived back home in singapore with a-third of what i brought over. perhaps i was at the wrong side of the city, perhaps but still ive never found it more of a chore to drag my feet along the dusty streets just to desperately pop into a decent shoplet and spend all the molah i have with me (in case you're wondering, even with the "bu jian jia" ethic they now practice throughout the island i had no where to spend my molah). this is by far the most disappointing shopping session ive had abroad.
albeit the disappointed there was one thing that caught my attention which inevitably transported my mind back to singapore's never-ending stretch of hay (stray stalks of grass sticking out all over) along the highways then.. goodgod found myself really hoping singapore would look to shanghai as an example. from the suburbs to the city of shanghai you'll find that each bush and tree along the roads is perfectly trimmed. so although you may be consumed by the choking pollution, your eyes feasts on those immaculately neat greenery which somehow .. and quite strangely balances the two. strange really and that was the only thing i loved about shanghai..
well anyway, said enough.. will prolly be another 9 years before i decide to step back in there. i tribute my trip to a true concrete jungle with the peektures below.
