Shanghai Wednesday

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Shanghai. This picture was taken from one of the windows in my apartment, and I discovered for the first time in 8 months that you can actually see the Pearl TV Tower in Pudong from my place. If you look dead center in this picture, off in the haze is the Tower.

Clear days are rare. I spoke with several other tenants in the building who had been here far longer than me (one has been here 4 years) and they had no idea the Tower was within sight.

Given that we are on holiday and it was a fantastic day, I went to lunch with a couple of friends.



At the suggestion of the Icelander, we went to a place called the Blue Chair and sat outside. The Blue Chair is a French joint and specializes in Crepes.


Note the banner on the porch. Very appetizing. It is difficult to read on this site, but it advertises a special: 48 kuai for crepe entres and 35 for dessert during the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 02:00 a.m. On the menu, all the crepes sell for 58 kuai plus. Sounds like a deal.



The Icelander had been to this place before. He said that when asked about the special promotion, he was told that there was no promotion. They liked the pictures on the banner. The prices of the crepes are as they appear in the menu. My friend raised the truth in advertising issue. The waitress said: "When you go into a store and they advertise shoes for 100 kuai, do you really expect to pay 100 kuai for shoes. Excellent argument from a Chinese perspective. You are correct; I never expect anything to make sense. And the chairs aren't blue.