Among several things, Architecture is a study of space and how we move through it. We spend countless hours examining space trying to coax beauty, meaning and function out of our built environment. Yes, we strive for that perfect balance of that ethereal aesthetic in a functional arena that one can navigate with physical, emotional and psychological comfort to truly celebrate the space.
Then, there’s downtown Shanghai….a city of 18 million people with another 4 million that commute into the city on a daily basis. Space what space! I actually saw a sign on the back of the taxi driver seat that said “please be patient with me, I will be serving 3 million people this year”!! Space what space…Brain dump everything that you’ve learned about space and thrash the idea of your 3 foot radius “personal space”…It doesn’t exist here! This has been one (noticed I said one cuz there’s more to come) of the most difficult things that I have had to deal with so far.
Christina and I were at Yuan Gardens on a weekend (strike 1) because we wanted to go to this “famous” (the Chinese love this term so I will be using often) Xiaolongbao (soup dumpling) restaurant (strike 2). Anthony Bourdain featured this place on his No Reservations Show on the Travel Channel so it was crowded with both locals and foreigners. Needless to say there was a really long line. So like a good citizen I got in the back of the line to wait for my turn at a table. I swear I literally had about 8” to 12” between me and people still saw that as enough space to cut in front of me. I was dumbfounded. Christina keep saying stand closer and don’t let anyone get in front of you to which my response to her was “ I’m so damn close to the lady in front I think I’m having sex with her”!
In the end, “no soup for us”! We finally gave up getting pushed and shoved every which way and settled for a Panini at Starbucks (strike 3).
1 comment:
Ahh...no soup dumpling for you, Grasshoper. You need to be more assertive. Can't believe how timid you are.
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