On the other side of the Huangpu River, where the other outing with Drawing Shanghai was on the previous Saturday, is another fantastic example of the Shanghai government’s effort to redevelop areas that have been abandoned or neglected from closed down factories. What used to be polluted river fronts, now showcases footpaths, cycling paths, jogging paths, patches of parks and new developments to inject life into these remote locations. Weekends now see local population visiting these places, taking note of new developments in their city. So on this Saturday in November, our group of urban sketchers descended to the area near the former National Cotton Mill No. 9. It is…
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Great weather to be out sketching the city. It’s been some time since I actually went out urban sketching with @drawing_shanghai. Together with Lily, we planted ourselves nearer to the Lupu Bridge and near the silo (which now houses a contemporary art museum) located on the Minsheng Wharf. The areas along both sides of the Huangpu River has been redeveloped these past few years into a long park with space for cyclists and joggers and pedestrians. The factories that were on these shores have been closed, demolished or converted into museums. The 80,000-ton silo structure is a great example of a converted property although it has been closed during the…
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Last Friday, after weeks of planning, Vanessa (@dansmoncrane) and Kristina (@kristinaselhammer) and I carpooled to the Juqi Antique Market (also known as the Ling Shi Road Market) at 5:30am! Yes, it was still dark in the streets of Shanghai and when we arrived there. The antique market is located in a building at the back of the Flower and Bird Market, which was not open yet. The antique market comes alive on Fridays only, the rest of the week, except for a few sellers, the place is empty and quiet. Kristina had noticed that on the second floor where we first went, it was mostly men traversing through the stalls,…
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[This post is a bit long as I’ve decided to combine a travelogue and sharing with you the mini travel album I made to document the trip.] It’s summer… and the itch to travel has kicked in. My dearest friend, Kristina and I have been brainstorming about where to go and because of the ever-changing regulations due to the new cases that happened in Beijing back in June, it was not easy to make real plans. With so many things I have been dealing with, personally and professionally, I decided, I really needed a break, so I finally gave Kristina a definitive “yes” to travel. We came up with a plan…
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Over a month since the COVID-19 virus made China stand still, we are still taking precautions and even with almost zero new cases, although now the new cases are from overseas. Shanghai has started to have some normalcy and right now feeling a lot of gratitude that we can experience Spring even if it is not like the way it used to be. These days have been different, not just in China but I’m sure everyone else in the world. My kids have been e-learning since the beginning of February and so grateful how the school put these all together in such a short time. But 2 months of e-learning,…
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The Year of the Mouse started in a blur… or pretty much the entire January was a depressing one… Chinese New Year was especially since it was overshadowed with the novel coronavirus that has now gripped the world. A truly depressing one especially when this is the most important holiday for the Chinese. To be told not to go out, not to see relatives, not to travel, has been on the top of each government WeChat posts. No one could have known how this virus has impacted everyone and how serious it was. So yes, we have been in home quarantine for pretty much over 2 weeks. And work is…
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Part 2 of our Europe 2019 adventure was to Finland. After Russia, we took the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. The train was not full and we saw the wintry white landscape as we cross Russia into Finland. In a way we were excited to see what is in store for us in Finland where we have only a few days. Helsinki was full of snow when we arrived and we were fortunate that the AirBnB was not far from the train station although we took a taxi there. It was not difficult to wander around and find grocery nearby. The full day we had was spent with my…
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A long time coming, sharing here the travel journal I made for our trip to Russia. Actually this is part one of a series of 3 journals from our big trip to Europe last January-February of 2019. A big trip that took us to a lot of places in the dead of winter! Our first stop was Moscow. We flew in from Shanghai and arrived same day with heavy snow marking our arrival. We spent a couple days in the city and took in the important touristy sights, of course (!) like the Kremlin, the History Museum, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and more. Really cold and kids were pretty hyped to…
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Last Sunday, 25 August, 2019, was the Happy Little Moments and annual Postcrossing Shanghai meetup crossover event, held at the Shanghai Mass Art Center. The event was originally slated for 10 August, 2019, unfortunately, was postponed due to typhoon Lekima that hit Shanghai. As this was the third year running, the number of people coming to mingle, buy, browser, write postcards, listen to the talks and more has doubled since the first one was held 2 summers ago. What an amazing turnout that was! Feeling so grateful that some friends came to the event and I even managed to grab a chance to chat with old and new friends alike.…
