a-l-i-n-e.com

My camera went kaput again, showing me that annoying memory card error message when I switched on my camera. I almost reached for the screwdriver like last time but before that, I shook the camera a bit and gave the bottom a few taps. And… it’s working again.
Now that the photos have been transferred to my computer, I can write about my Christmas.

All the students in my faculty (the students are all international students) got 3 days off for Christmas (24th ,25th and 26th Dec). As for the other faculties (Chinese students and a few international students), the students had to go to class. No hols for them.
Unlike the past few years, we didn’t have a Christmas show in International Students Building 1. Usually, Mrs Pei who organizes activities for the international students would be going from class to class, trying to get students to sign up for the Christmas show. The students would be the ones performing during the show. With exams coming up 2-3 weeks after Christmas, I’ve always thought that the timing wasn’t right. This year, there was surprisingly nothing to be heard about a Christmas show.
Instead, all the people from our faculty got a free lunch at the restaurant on the 2nd floor in International Students Building 1 as a late Christmas treat. Most of us never go there on normal days because the food is much more expensive than at the canteen which is right below the restaurant.
What was on every table when we entered the restaurant at noon:

The dish with the cherry on top was kinda weird. The bottom layer was tasteless, the middle layer was a bit salty and the top layer was sweet.

They brought around 8 more dishes after that, including dessert. Half the people at my table had already left when they brought the last 3 dishes. We didn’t know that there was going to be that many dishes. We were all full already. Pic taken halfway through the meal:

This sweet and sour fish was brought to the table when many people had left the restaurant already. Fortunately, my friends and I were still in the restaurant. This was good. Yummy. My camera was out of battery by then so no pics of desserts.

The Head and Vice-head of our faculty went from table to table during the meal, wishing everyone a Happy New Year in advance. When they came to our table, the Vice-head called me by my name. I didn’t know that the vice-head knew who I was. I wonder what goes on in those faculty meetings. He said : “You already have HSK 8,right?”. I said yes. The Head of the faculty then said to the rest of the people at my table that HSK 8 is part of the requirements to be able to graduate and encouraged them.

Note: Entry has been edited on the 29th to add the 3 above pics. There are 13 more pics in this entry.
Warning :Long entry.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s getting colder and colder. Instead of going out to eat lunch, my friends and I have been eating in the canteen, or rather, right outside the canteen because there were no more seats available inside. I don’t like the canteen food much and took a few pics to blog about but now that I look at the pics, I realize that the food doesn’t look that bad.

What we had :

My friend was already eating his food when I yelled Stop. Oops.

What my other friend had for lunch.

That’s what I had for lunch. I like the round ball on the left. Apparently, it is called rou yuan or shizi tou. As for the brownish thing on the right, I have no idea what it is called. I didn’t dare to try it before but my Japanese friend told me that it tastes good.
My verdict: a bit too sweet (cooked by Shanghainese people after all….) but good.

I was going to put my camera in my bag but my Japanese classmate started to make silly faces at me. I was too slow (was laughing!) and only snapped his pic when he made that V sign.

Yesterday Rosemary, Joanne and I went out after class. We walked for quite a long time and just when we were about to go back, we saw those two people selling food on the pavement.
We saw a girl who had just bought something from them and she was eating from a bowl. When we got closer, we saw that the board in front of the ‘tricycle’ had 八宝粥, 水果羹 written on it.

Rosemary and I wanted to try the 八宝粥 (ba bao zhou, Eight Treasures porridge). The woman told us that it’s RMB 1 for a bowl and we didn’t hesitate any longer and took out RMB 1 each. So cheap for such a big portion! We had 八宝粥 before but only the type sold in supermarkets at about RMB 3. This one looked a bit different.

I started eating and remembered that I have my camera in my bag. Joanne took this pic for me.

After that, I took a few pics of my portion of 八宝粥. I don’t know what that orange thing is. It tasted okay.

I pushed the orange thing to the bottom and took another pic.

A closer look. The white thing seems to be made of glutinous rice.

The 八宝粥 was good. Unfortunately, the portion was too big for me and I couldn’t finish it all. I only managed to finish 2/3. The 八宝粥 might not look as nice and colorful as the ones I usually buy at the supermarket but I love the taste. (homemade taste and not as sweet as the ones sold in supermarkets)

It was my first time around that place. I have no idea if the seller is usually there. Still, I took a few pics of the surroundings so as to remember the place. I find it difficult to find certain places sometimes.
Taking pics always help. hehe

I took pics of the middle school found on the opposite side of the road. (Name and address of the middle school: 上海同济初级中学 ,上海市杨浦区政通路260号)

My first pic was too dark and the color of the building looked weird.

I took two more pics.

Now I’m sure (okay maybe 99%) that I can find that place again.

I’ve been sick since more than a week now . My cold is almost gone but I feel like there’s something at the back of my throat. Now I also have some stomach problems. I’ve lost 3 kgs since I fell sick but I’ll probably gain back the weight after I get well.

Three days ago, I ate Japanese food ( no, I didn’t eat fish) and I had stomachache a few hours later. I didn’t feel like eating anything for dinner. The next day, I felt worse. I was thinking that my stomachache was worse because I hadn’t eaten anything for more than 12 hours so I ate a sandwich. I didn’t feel any better and felt nauseous. My bf had to go to the hospital to get some medicine (he has flu and wants to get better as soon as possible…) and made me go with him. It’s kinda hard for me to say no when he uses that tone of voice.

I went to the hospital in my university. I hate hospitals. My heart started to beat fast as soon as I stepped in there. I can’t help it. I still remember my one-week stay in a hospital in Mauritius back when I was still in primary school.
At the Tongji hospital, I saw a male doctor. He asked me a few questions, poked at my stomach, asking me where it hurts. He then told me to go to the test area. I had to do a blood test as well as a feces test. The first test was fast. There were 4 people before me. I stood in the line,waiting for my turn. My bf asked me if I was scared when he saw my face. He seemed to find it funny to see me like that. (Now that I think about it, maybe he was just trying to make me feel better.) When it was finally my turn, a nurse pricked my finger with some kind of needle and took some blood to test. For the 2nd test, I wasn’t sure what to do and asked the nurse. She pointed to the small,round boxes(with lids.. Fortunately.. ) which were on the counter next to the little plastic cups used for urine tests and told me to use one of those & added that only a small amount is needed for the test. There were small sticks near the boxes. I took two of those, knowing that they’ll come in handy. I went to the toilet and….. Well, I won’t go into the details here……
I went back to the same doctor I had seen half an hour ago and after going through my test results, he also examined my throat.
I left the hospital with some medicine; OTC acute bronchitis syrup and Levofloxacin(broad spectrum antibacterial agent). The doctor also told me to avoid fried food and milk (which I don’t drink anyway). I went to class after that. I kept feeling like I want to vomit but nothing was coming out of my mouth. I felt awful.
Hours later, I had dinner at my bf’s place.(We bought food at Burger King. )

(I had a normal Whooper with no cheese for dinner. I didn’t take any pics. This is a pic of a Whooper with bacon and cheese. Pic taken during the hols.)
I ate 1/3 of my Whooper and rushed to the toilet after that. Finally threw up. OUF. I felt better after that and finished my whooper. A few hours later, I threw up again. What a waste of a whooper!
I didn’t throw up again after that but till today, I still have stomachache and keep feeling like I might throw up at any time. I took some Talcid and I feel better now. Hopefully, I’ll be okay before Saturday. My friends and I are planning to go to a pizza buffet place on Saturday evening.