Day 6

15/04/18

Blazers lost
It started off a great morning, sun was out, NBA playoffs beginning. Shit internet speeds at my place forced me to pay $5AUD (27RMB) for an iced lemon tea at the two-storey Starbucks at Catherine Park, 100m away from mine (not too bad after all). I wore my jersey. We played terrible. We'll bounce back next game.  

You da real MVP
Thanks to the aunty who gave me free soup along with my soup dumplings. Really appreciated this small gesture even though the soup tasted like seaweed and egg in hot water. 

Australian flags mean it's authentic
There's this store in Deji Shopping Centre that sells premium brand beef/steaks. They put Australian flags on the beef to make it seem more attractive. My friend paid $20 for like a small steak, which they cut up into bite size pieces and then add lettuce on the side. I found this both ridiculous but fascinating at the same time. 

Ready, Player One
Watched it at Deji Plaza IMAX. It was an interesting plot with a lot of references to pop culture. I saw it as an critique on how technology is transforming our lives and how, ultimately, we still need that human, face-to-face interaction. PM for more insightful commentary.

Internet-famous shops
A friend took me to one of those '网红店’ (translated to Internet Famous Restaurant), which is basically when some unknown shop gets mad exposure on the Internet and everyone goes there to check it out. This was just some small street cart selling fried noodles and rice - just shows the influence of the internet here.

Not bad for Chinese standards
Continuing on with the Western theme today, my friend Dolly took me to an American grill called Tribecca (张府园). It actually wasn't too bad. There was like a steak for 888 RMB on there (so Chinese). When I searched the reviews and top menu recommendations on Dianping (the Chinese Zomato), one of the top recommendations was Tiger Beer (which had 30 people give a thumbs up). Mate, you can literally get Tiger beer anywhere ?????? Also, shoutout to Dolly because we always have good conversations about life, keep grinding!

Chinese vocabulary of the day
榜样 (bang yang) - role model 
裹挟 (guo xie) - coerce people - we were talking about Chinese parents trying to coerce their kids at every stages of the kid's life - can also be used to talk about anyone on their higher ground trying to tell you what to do (sweep you along)