Sep/090
everybody’s working 9-to-5
inspired by one of andrew’s posts about his commutes in beijing, and probably of zero interest to anybody who is not me, this is my daily commute in shanghai.
(also starring my sony cybershot dsc t-9 which has recently been on the disabled list for almost 2 years, but is being pressed back into service)
here is my front door, where i can pick from about 30 pairs of shoes. as today is a work day, i pick up my falling-apart-9 year old pair of ballys and head out the door.
more after the jump
front hallway – i’ve never seen my neighbors, but the ones at 1601 (directly straight ahead) make chinese medicine every so often. it makes the entire hallway smell like death.
into the elevator and down 16 floors
and out my front door. it’s raining today, so the gray mist is heavy in the air and i have my uniqlo umbrella.
making a left turn out my door, we see the one piece of community property in my complex. a kid’s playground. and we can see how rainy it is today.
walking through my complex you pass the big water fountain and look out my complex’s large front gate.
out the front gate and turning right onto xinchang road. usually this road is super crowded with the wet market, the breakfast food stalls, bike and people traffic heading both ways and car traffic going from north to south. for me, it’s a five minute exercise in trying not to get hit. this morning, mike jones’ “back then” kicks in, it’s a little odd to go with houston hip hop when surrounded by soy milk and bullfrogs, but i go with it.
halfway done with xinchang road
now a left turn onto beijing road. there’s my bus stop.
and there’s a bus! actually i don’t get on the 21, because its overcrowded and there’s a 15 bus right behind it. i get on that instead.
now on bus 15 heading west on beijing road.
and we’ve reached my stop. north shaanxi road. have to hustle here not to get run over by the people anxious to get off behind me.
a look to my right back east down beijing road, as i backtrack half a block to north shaanxi road
here at the street corner. north shaanxi road and beijing road, looking south on shaanxi.
now walking south on shaanxi, the sidewalk is narrow here. made narrower by everyone’s umbrellas. (-ella -ella -ellla, eh, eh, eh)
here we are reaching plaza 66, where my office is located.
across the street, then a right turn up the driveway
and then into the lobby. don’t be distressed by the line to get into the elevator, this is about the 5th one i’ve seen in 1.5 years of working in this building.
and up to my floor and i’m at work. door to door about 25 minutes. commute soundtrack for this morning:
mike jones – back then
radiohead – paranoid android
stereophonics – i wouldn’t believe your radio
john cafferty – hearts on fire (um, it’s on my running playlist)
outkast – skew it on the bar-b
the replacements – sixteen blue