Published by Swiss James on 03 Sep 2007 at 08:46 pm
Plans
In some ways, I did a lot of stuff this weekend.
I saw a guy called Jimmy Graham who used to play guitar with Hendrix, and must have been watching carefully because he now plays guitar in a very similar style to Hendrix every Wed, Fri and Saturday at a nice bar called Piccone. Ate dinner with Emma at a restaurant called Frankie’s (where they make a Pork chop that was definitely in my top 3 Pork chops of all time), played a lot of pool with Matt and a lot of table football with Fabien. I even went to the Urban Planning museum at People’s Square, a place Emma has been trying to convince me is good fun for about 6 months now, and that I finally now agree, actually is pretty good fun and not geeky (you were right Em, enjoy it while it lasts).
An enormous model of Shanghai at the Urban Planning Museum
Mostly though, what I did was waste huge swathes of time watching television on my sofa.
And here’s the rub. I like staying up late, and find it really really difficult to go to bed at a reasonable hour unless I have something important to get up for the following day. Work just about ranks on the ’something important’ stakes so I’m OK Sunday to Thursday, but at the weekend there’s nothing between the hours of 9am and 5pm that I’m keen enough on to warrant going to bed between the hours of 1am and broad daylight. I basically end up getting jet-lag every weekend by turning my sleep pattern upside down on Friday night, and then trying to pull it back to normal on Monday morning.
So my new plan is do find something good to do on either Saturday or Sunday morning / early afternoon. Good enough to get up for, good enough to go to bed for.
I’ve been looking through the ex-pat magazines and, whilst I’m open to suggestions, think I’ve got it nailed down to one of two things:
a Chinese Cooking Class and learning Kung Fu. Both have their pros and cons, and I suppose it really boils down to whether I want to end up fat and being able to swear in Chinese, or avenging the death of an old man.
Thoughts?
Looking at the guy in the black, I’m willing to bet that both options are open to you.
And the guy on the right looks like he’d fall over if you sneezed in front of him!
I’m the same. Even if I am not out at the weekend I still find myself faffing about till it’s light outside even if it’s just sitting on the sofa, opening up Yahoo Mail and hitting refresh every 60 seconds to see if there are any new emails (closer to the truth than you’d think!). That’s why for instance, it’s taken me two years to get to People’s Park on a weekend during the day to see the old folk match making phenomenon which you reported some time ago.
The difference between you and I though is that I do that during the week too, last night (Monday) being a good case in point as you rushed home to bed at, oh, what was it, around 9.15pm while I was on my second bottle of JD at Manhattens at around 3am this morning!
By the way, is that the Frankie’s by Trader Vics, opened by Frankie Dettori and Marco Pierre White which has a few branches in the UK?
TWG- you know, that guy was stood outside Starbucks at 8am doing some kind of breathing exercises with his buddy, and yet he seemed all hurt and angry when I took his photo. Personally, if I wanted to blend in with the crowd and not attract attention, I’d pick a different outfit and location.
If you tried that stuff in Manchester, they’d lock you up.
Woai- you can come along to my cooking class if you like, although I suppose you might have already picked up one or two tips at your parents restaurant. A second bottle of JD on a school night? You’re a bloody animal- and that’s swearing.
That’s the same Frankie’s, yeah. It’s a bit of a funny place, feels more like a hotel bar than a restaurant. Beef Carpaccio starter costs half the price of Mozzarella with tomato, and the wine is a bit steep. Main courses are good value though, I’d definitely go back.
Anyway, good to see you beating all of the girls between the hours of 9-9:15 last night.
Seriously, put some glasses on that skinny guy and you’ve got Syd Little and Eddie Large but without the humour. The big guy is definitely giving you the Mr T evil death stare though so you’d better watch your step.
Yes, the family restaurant business means I am qualified to teach cookery - how about you pop round this Saturday any time after 5pm and I’ll teach you some basic authentic dishes like sweet and sour pork balls and chop suey.
Beef Carpaccio is a favourite of mine. I’ve actually already been to Frankies and found it OKAY but not really great value for money and the menu is quite different from England, plus I was a bit annoyed that the Italian looking manager went round to all the expat tables asking if everything was okay, introducing the restaurant to them etc but completely ignored me and my Chinese dinner partner. As Ali G once said : is it coz I is black?
And in case your last comment was misinterpreted, I do not beat girls (unless they specifically ask to be beaten or shaved or whatever) and James was referring to beating them at the friendly game of pool.
All I knows is, you beat loads of girls, and some of them cried. Whether there were pool cues involved or not, I don’t recall.
Maybe the manager didn’t want to disturb the Father and daughter reunion which he assumed was taking place? Seriously though, that is a bit out of order, he came and said hello to us on Saturday. Are you going to teach me English Chinese food, or Chinese Chinese food? The number one dish on my culinary hit list is going to be 鱼香茄子, which I don’t remember ever seeing in blighty?
Bloody hell, it’s them!
You see!!! That’s what I’m talking about - white face = instant greeting from manager. Chinese face = completely ignored. But I’ve been in China for 8 years so I am well used to being invisible, like walking out of Zapatas the other night as about 10 street walkers mobbed my mate Jacob and completely ignored me even though we were walking together. Has benefit too though, like I’m less likely to get over charged at the market and those beggar children barely give me a second glance so I can’t complain.
They definitely have 鱼香茄子 in England. Try Charlie Chan (weddings and parties catered for) at 14 Regent Street in Cambridge for example and if you have any problems ask to speak to Peter Lee (senior). They do it but it might not be on the menu because we don’t want any Tom Dick or Harry ordering the good stuff.
And FYI I went to Frankie’s with someone who was at least 24, so your father / daughter remark is highly unjustified!
Oh my God, put your two kung fu buddies in those coats and they’re the spitting image!
I thought the blokes in the coats looked a bit like Kevin Keegan and John Major. Are they mates?
Have you considered lion dancing? Bit cooler than line dancing although maybe not so much fun if you’re the back
legfeller (bet there’s a technical name for that in Chinese).
WoAi- Ah but what if I went into Charlie Chan’s with a Chinese face?
I bet it’d be all secret handshakes, illegal poker games in the back room, and as much stewed Aubergine as I could shake a chopstick at. It cuts both ways!
Champers- blimey you’re not wrong, it’s turning into a chain of lookalikes that stretches from two guys standing outside XuJiaHui football stadium, to the very highest reaches of Sports and Government. WHERE WILL IT END?!?!
Is Lion Dancing that the same as Dragon dancing? When it was Chinese New Year, I was well looking forward to watching some dragons, but they told me it’s a Hong Kong thing. Tsk.
James the illegal poker games are supposed to be a bit hush hush if you don’t mind. We don’t make much from selling chicken chow mein so the 5% cut of each hand is what put me and my 11 brothers through college.
You’re actually wrong though about the Chinese face thing. Some mainland Chinese visitors popped in once and started speaking Chinese to the waiter assuming the eggplant would be free flowing. The waiter politely replied (in English) “sorry, I can’t speak Chinese, I was born in Essex [Saffron Walden]“.
I feel like launching a general knowledge website called Peter’s Answers with all the questions I respond to here about the correct spelling for Majorca / Mallorca and the various kind of dances. Basically, lion dancing involves two dancers while dragon dancing involves loads more as the dragon is a lot longer than a lion, apparently.
get some kids jim, theyll sort out any queries you might have on what to do and when, even quicker than ask jeeves.com
Were off to see prince in the london on sunday night. sunday night in london with work on monday morning, fucking rock and roll dad me. i might grow my hair real long and get hold of an iron maiden 1987 tour t-shirt. then the kids will really respect my cool.
I nearly went to see Pat whelan playing a bash in a warehouse in ancoats last weekend but i got lost instead and went home.
i would update my web log with all this but i seem to have given up. maybe one day i might go back. and besides a brazilian more people read yours than mine. I have no quarms about using you , you know that.
How about calligraphy or dragon boat racing? Out of the two you’ve chosen, I’d go with the Kung Fu. If you actually know how to cook chinese food, upon your return to the UK you will be so disgusted with takeaway Chinese that you will spend your time cooking from scratch….
What about urban planning, why not take that up as a hobby instead?
Flower arranging? Tofu sculpture?
Sleeping seems to be a very popular hobby here, widely practiced in various forms.
Wow…Shanghai, the land of my birth, in such a refreshing point of view. Love the sock bit btw. Was rolling gon the floor.
WoAi- you certainly do have some fascinating facts tucked into those satin sleeves of yours. Dragon or Lion dancing though, it all looks very energetic with a lot of standing up and crouching down, I think I’d be in a wheelchair by Christmas.
Bozzley- good idea, I’ll just pick up a couple of kids on the way home from work. You lucky swine seeing Prince, I really wanted to do that when I was in the UK, but there was just no way. He reckons this is the last time he’ll play the old (AKA good) stuff, 2 hours a show, 28 encores, guitar solos that make magical swans appear out of thin air. You lucky, lucky swine.
Pat was playing on his own was he? At Sankeys or something? I like his stuff on Myspace.
Daeguowl- Calligraphy would be pretty good, especially since I don’t study the characters in my lessons any more. Hmm. Dragon boat racing I don’t fancy much, too hard. As for Chinese food in the UK- well I find that for the authentic taste of the middle kingdom, it’s hard to beat Charlie Chan’s, 14 Regent Street Cambridge (English language only).
Dingle- Turban planning? Are you mad?
Champers- both noble pursuits, but I feel my talents lie elsewhere
Annie- welcome! Thanks!
James, the marketing team at Charlie Chan’s asked me to tell you the cheque is in the post or alternatively, unlimited 鱼香茄子 for life with just a few conditions (eat in only, no take out, rice and beer are charged at menu prices, service charge will be added, excludes holidays and weekends, prior reservation needed at least 24 hours in advance).
I’ll take the 茄子！
I may have mentioned it before, but do the Kung Fu, and if you get good enough, you’ll end up doing Lion dancing anyway….which is knackering, but gets you lots of free food whenever someone asks for your team to perform at the opening of his restaurant.
‘Course…you’ll have to practice biffing folk too…
Why not just be a mail order bride?