Sunday, April 17, 2005
wish i'd had my camera
be it for the sake of some small resource-rich islands off the coast, for some whitewashed textbooks, for the compounded anger of sixty years, to just have a voice for once in a country known for keeping a close watch on its public, or for the indignation of a possible seat on the security council, there were some angry people walking the streets of shanghai yesterday.
i had heard about this hubbub through many sources. my own high school was encouraging its local teachers to go along with the governmental policy and to not buy japanese products, while they were having a meeting in which tasty japanese treats were served as snacks. i felt it was kind of dumb, considering the amount of foreign aid china accepts from japan on a daily basis. i continued to buy my pocky and little chocolate-filled koalas, stuffing my face with sushi, and joking with the japanese kids in class.
just yesterday i was in a japanese restaurant with my friend scott, eating a bowl of rice and tempura. the staff had suggested we go upstairs and we complied readily. it was a new restaurant called David's (owned by an Australian, we were later told) and we were eager to try out the food. Scott went to the bathroom at one point and i scanned the room slowly. i had noticed upon entry that most of the people seated (few at that) were wearing caps that suggested they worked here. there was one group of late twenties adults imperceptibly speaking japanese in the far corner. something red caught my eye.
outside the window, there was a chinese flag flying pendant-style across my vision. i balked, immediately knowing its significance, and raced to the window. below i saw a huge crowd of protestors carrying banners that i could only guess the meaning of. a few characters were recognizable, of course. as one person, they all turned and stared at my little restaurant, faces transforming from mindless chant mode to the fury of the dragon. a bass drum boom pulled me away from the ocular trance and told me that this was no crowd of pacifists. they were chucking bottles of water at the windows. earlier i had heard that some stores on nanjing road had had their windows broken, so i hurriedly backed my ass up. the japanese? girl to my right eeped and moved behind one of her men. i just stood their in utter disbelief, muttering incoherent curse words to show my in group that i was on their side in this plastic vs. glass battle. it ended as quickly as it had started, the momentum of the crowd pushed from behind by the police cruiser kept the ralliers rolling.
scott came out of the bathroom to see the butt of the parade. we got some apologies from the wait staff and the manager, to which we said "mei guanxi" and smiled embarrassedly. the tempura was good and the centerpiece of the table had salt, pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, and a spicy form of karashi (japanese mustard powder), which are all rare in chinese eateries. the spring rolls had little bits of pork in them tho and the fruit soda drinks were surprisingly alcoholic unless you could read japanese. i give that eating experience a 7 out of 10.
i had heard about this hubbub through many sources. my own high school was encouraging its local teachers to go along with the governmental policy and to not buy japanese products, while they were having a meeting in which tasty japanese treats were served as snacks. i felt it was kind of dumb, considering the amount of foreign aid china accepts from japan on a daily basis. i continued to buy my pocky and little chocolate-filled koalas, stuffing my face with sushi, and joking with the japanese kids in class.
just yesterday i was in a japanese restaurant with my friend scott, eating a bowl of rice and tempura. the staff had suggested we go upstairs and we complied readily. it was a new restaurant called David's (owned by an Australian, we were later told) and we were eager to try out the food. Scott went to the bathroom at one point and i scanned the room slowly. i had noticed upon entry that most of the people seated (few at that) were wearing caps that suggested they worked here. there was one group of late twenties adults imperceptibly speaking japanese in the far corner. something red caught my eye.
outside the window, there was a chinese flag flying pendant-style across my vision. i balked, immediately knowing its significance, and raced to the window. below i saw a huge crowd of protestors carrying banners that i could only guess the meaning of. a few characters were recognizable, of course. as one person, they all turned and stared at my little restaurant, faces transforming from mindless chant mode to the fury of the dragon. a bass drum boom pulled me away from the ocular trance and told me that this was no crowd of pacifists. they were chucking bottles of water at the windows. earlier i had heard that some stores on nanjing road had had their windows broken, so i hurriedly backed my ass up. the japanese? girl to my right eeped and moved behind one of her men. i just stood their in utter disbelief, muttering incoherent curse words to show my in group that i was on their side in this plastic vs. glass battle. it ended as quickly as it had started, the momentum of the crowd pushed from behind by the police cruiser kept the ralliers rolling.
scott came out of the bathroom to see the butt of the parade. we got some apologies from the wait staff and the manager, to which we said "mei guanxi" and smiled embarrassedly. the tempura was good and the centerpiece of the table had salt, pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, and a spicy form of karashi (japanese mustard powder), which are all rare in chinese eateries. the spring rolls had little bits of pork in them tho and the fruit soda drinks were surprisingly alcoholic unless you could read japanese. i give that eating experience a 7 out of 10.
