whoa! another week rolls by~

So I haven't ridden my bike since day 1, but I have been running around supporting the cab drivers. It's been a busy, but I have been keeping a list in my notebook to write about.

1. Bikes are the main mode of transport. I don't mean just 1 person on a bicycle with their friend riding on the back. I mean rigged up tricycle's pulling sofas and poles the length of a car. Even the street cleaner is a bike rigged thing. One man bikes pulling a metal box on a trailer which pressurizes the water, while his buddy up ahead walks with the hose spraying the sidewalk. And when they run outta water they just hook up to a fire hydrant. Some trailery bike things are stores- a mini open pick-up truck loaded with hair stuff, scarfs, mittens, jewelry. And then there's the food vendors that I've mentioned before. They've got little BBQ's on the back of their bike, (yes, with coal and raw meat covered in paprika) Their illegal, so the bike part is more of a livlihood feature. And there's also the advertising bikes. A team of 4 or 5 people all in red wearing those sandwich boards with ads on red bikes. And there's a man with a bell who comes to collect recycling in his pick-up bike too. The "business" bikes ride in teh opposite direction in the bike lane. The food ones are usually by train/ferry stations.

2. Not only is construction constant, its temporary and quick. Driving around one will quickly notice the shambles and cranes. Now I've finally been here long enough to actually witness some progress from nothing-to something. There is a patch of land next to our office complex, that I walk past every day. There's a big factory, and then maybe 30 or 40 yards to the cement wall. In the 2+ months I've been here it has mutated:
a. They made the wall higher, knocked out a span and erected a gate in its place, plus paved a driveway.
b. They built a frame in the small space between teh wall and the factory. I think their almost touching!
c. The minute the frame was done, blankets and towels immediatly appeared on the railings to dry.
d. 3 mangey dogs showed up.
e. they put in the walls, and voila temporary living for construction workers. (that's our guess)
When we first moved in our apt, there was a mysterious tent ontop of the (tiny)gym next to my bedrm window. It would be glowing at midnight. And we'd see shadows. ANd it was SNOWING. and then one day, it was gone. Some building projects never get completed- like one high rise outside tucker's apt in pudong. His parents have been living there for over a year, and said there's been zero progress since moving in. Its completely stopped midway.

3. An old man poked me on the bus and told me to take the open seat. And then his wife pointed out the stains on his clothes and he pretended not to notice. That made me feel happy. In SF, all old people sit and all younguns stand. I'd willingly give my seat to teh old man, but he wanted to give it to me. I thought that was rad sweet.