Category Archives: How-to

Places to eat: Xi Bei

Now that I’m leaving Shanghai in a few days it’s time to spill the beans on places we recommend to eat. First cab off the rank is Xi Bei (West North) – some of the freshest cuisine from the north-west area of China you’ll ever have. Delicious, fresh, and cheap are the three things you [...]
Also posted in Food, Travel | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Where to buy glasses in Shanghai

Need new peepers? If you have your script handy there are plenty of places around town to get a stylish pair of glasses at a fraction of the cost you’d pay back home. When I was a wee new expat I was scratching my head at some of the asking prices of glasses around the [...]
Also posted in Shop, Travel | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Where to buy musical instruments in Shanghai

One of the great joys of being a consumer in Shanghai are the areas dedicated to certain goods. There are tech malls, bathroom fittings malls, camera malls, fabric malls, fake stuff malls, and so on. For the musically minded Shanghai doesn’t disappoint either. There are a few music streets and areas but one of the [...]
Also posted in Music | 5 Comments

The best Indian curry in Shanghai?

Last weekend we headed over to what is being hyped as the next cool area of Shanghai: Cool Docks. Located at the southern end of the bund at 479 Zhongshan Nan Road, near Fuxing Road, one could easily drive past and not really notice the new area – its right next to a whole heap [...]
Also posted in Drink, Food, Travel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Taser tennis, anyone?

For one reason or another it seems like this summer we’ve had quite a few bugs visit our apartment. For a couple of Australians this isn’t such a big deal – back home you grab a bottle of mozzie spray and poison yourself and others around you so the bastards don’t eat you alive at [...]
Posted in How-to | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Alternatives to satellite TV in Shanghai

Chances are, if you had a western satellite TV provider then lately you may have noticed that just about all the channels have been blocked. Before forking out between 3000-5000RMB for an ‘authentic’ system – these won’t come with any guarantees by the way – maybe think about divvying up your budget with these alternatives. [...]
Also posted in Technology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Even more crazy ways to keep cool in Shanghai’s summer

Sweating your arse off? Me too. Being a ginger I get all beetroot- faced at just the thought of the dial hitting 30 degrees. This week it’s been clocked at over 40 – well over ginger exploding point. To help the stupid foreigners our apartment complex recently distributed a magazine in English with a helpful [...]
Posted in How-to | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

From the mailbox…

Every week I get literally thousands of emails from fans. Almost all of them giving insightful tips on how to be bigger, thicker, larger, and last longer. Oh, and the ladies! Boy, some of them aren’t backward about coming forward… In between all of this I received two emails which struck me during the last [...]
Posted in How-to | Leave a comment

How not to buy dildos in Shanghai

It’s one thing to eat street food from vendors and haggle for pet bunny rabbits in Shanghai. You’re cool, you’re local, right? But, purchase sex toys and the like from some guy who sells his wares on the street out of a wooden box?
Also posted in Odd | 5 Comments

Eat the yangmei, eat the yangmei, eat the yangmei

Well, it’s yangmei season once again in Shanghai. Known as the Chinese Strawberry, yangmei can be found in the fruit stalls and street vendors all over town this time of year. The furry-looking fruit looks similar to a lychee at first glace but is dark red in colour. Tasting somewhere between a strawberry and a [...]
Also posted in Drink, Food | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

5 tips for renting in Shanghai

After being here almost a year we’ve been going through the process of evaluating our living arrangements. With the current economic climate (ugh, yeah I just wrote that) rental prices have dropped quite a bit. Luckily our landlord agreed and we’re staying put for a bit less cash. Anywho, as a backup we looked around [...]
Posted in How-to | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment