Fall in soldiers! Give me twenty --- and while you’re at it, bring me those crayons. No. These tiny tots in fatigues aren’t gearing up for the front line (yet). “Nanjing Experimental Military Playground in Shanghai” is a kindergarten located on Julu Road that aims at disciplining all those punks you’ve been hearing about who …
Category: Out-there Asia
That eccentric edge
Shanghai: Introducing Nivea Skin-whitening Cream — For Men?
Skin-whitening cream has been in vogue throughout Asia since cosmetics companies made it cheap and easily accessible. And, I had thought, it was a fad only popular with women. Yesterday while jumping onto South Shaanxi Road Station, I spotted an advertisement promoting the familiar-looking bleaching product --- for men. The cream claims it can help …
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Curiosity Crazed the Foreigner
In the kitchen doorway of a Harbin dumpling restaurant, a shy-eyed waitress gives me a flickering glance, steadily taking more strident pauses in my direction. Our eyes connect for one, two, three seconds --- more, before the inquiring grin of a pupil grows to fill her expressionless face. Laowai, or foreigners, in Shanghai tend to …
Water Under the Bridge
In the urbanizing Chinese mainland, thousands of years of unimpeded, highly idiosyncratic traits are being forced to conform under the weight of rapid social development. The result is a cultural rift that befuddles some, while making snobs of others. Since moving to Shanghai, I have conditioned myself to no longer place things on the ground. The …
Asia’s Strangest Food
This week I published a top 10 list with theexpeditioner.com about the strangest food I've encountered in Asia. When it was published, however, my photos weren't used because they were deemed too graphic/disturbing. You've been warned. The following are the photos that were omitted. To read the entire article click here. 10. Bamboo Worms — Bangkok, …
Justin Calderón 