Lightning and Noodles

It is the wet season in Shanghai. Last week it was over 100 degrees most days. Luckily, it started to rain which cooled things down to the low 90’s. It is now finally cooling off to around 80 at night. I think it is like being in Houston Texas except there is a stifling layer of coal-based pollution and 24 million Chinese people yelling at each other.

Chinese ways to beat the heat include, fans (exotic?—maybe, effective?—absolutely), rolling your shirt up over your belly (it works), ice cream (I like the corn flavor; the bean flavor is an acquired taste), holding your brief case, purse or newspaper over your head in order to block the sun (again, it works), fanning yourself with your hand (doesn’t work and looks freaking silly), lounging in a chair on the sidewalk at 2:00 AM in a tank top and boxers while fanning yourself with anything (don’t know if it works but it happens a lot).

Anyway, today I jumped on my bike to go check out a new restaurant and see what band is playing at the Jazz and Blues club down the street. Halfway there, lightning rolled in followed by the gully washer to end all gully washers. I had to pull over into a doorway next to a torn up street. Eventually, I was sharing the doorway with 4 other people. They were all yelling at each other and calling people on their cell phones to yell at them about how they were stuck in a massive storm. Branches were breaking off the trees and I’m sure lightning was touching down in the neighborhood. We hung out in the doorway for about a half hour. There was a cafe about 30 feet away but it was raining so hard, I couldn’t bring myself to even cross the street.

The rain left the streets flooded. Cars and taxis were stalled. I rode around in a light rain while avoiding huge puddles until I found the restaurant. Keep in mind, I am wearing shorts and a T-shirt as it is still at least 85 degrees. I wasn’t hungry even though I stood around in the doorway for a long time. I went to a DVD store instead. The roof was leaking but luckily they had buckets. I bought the latest releases for 2 bucks each. Eventually I ended up at a small restaurant near my place.

A cool thing about being a white guy in China is that they usually think you are pretty freaking hilarious when you go to a Chinese place. I’m pretty sure these guys thought I was funny like a clown. Anyway, the food is brilliant. Once you get over the cockroaches and grease stains on the wall anyway. I was sitting outside, sweating…a lot. I was pretty sure the concrete wash basin outside was for washing clothes or auto parts; it had an old hose running into it. After some time, I came to realize that it was the dishwashing station for the restaurant. They used soap so it was cool. I’ll be back.

That’s all. Sorry it’s not funny or crazy. It just is. I thought I should write some stuff though. I’ll write some other stuff soon.