07/31 My Visit in China, Art, Culture and exporation in Singapore, Hawaii & Thailand

[Jason Manley]

Two days ago, Yumiko and I arrived in China for a 3 month tour. We are focused on art, life, and biz here in Shanghai and are very excited to be here.

The trip started off immediately with a MB: Shanghai studio tour by the top executives of Sega China. We were still recovering from jet lag, fortunately so were our friends from Secret Level/Sega who were also along for the show and tell at MB. Later that night we went to a business dinner at the very fancy "Shangra La", courtesy of Sega, and were treated to great food, some cultural dance (much better than the happy birthday song at The Olive Garden), and a few fabulous drinks. There was a Prime Minister of whoknowswhere so we had to go through the metal detectors to get in. All in all, it was an awesome first day. I really enjoyed spending time with the artists of MB Shanghai as well. Strange to think that MB has been doing biz here for so long and this is my first visit. I wish I would have come sooner. Shanghai is a very exciting place.

Yesterday, a few of the talented guys from MB Shanghai brought us down to the gallery district of Zhongtan Road. The area has a very underground art sort of feel and there were a number of nice pieces on display at the various galleries. We visited about 20 galleries over the afternoon and explored some of the city. We ended up at a nice restaurant at the end and enjoyed some authentic chinese food. Fortunately no one ordered anything with eyeballs...well, except for the prawns. I got to try a lot of fruits that I had never tasted or seen too. New experiences, flavors, and sights have all been inspiring.

There are a few other silly observations so far...

1. The Shanghainese drivers will honk at anyone and anything. There are more horns going off here than anywhere I have ever been. In the USA when one goes to cross the street, we are taught to look both ways. In Shanghai I have to look both ways at least fifteen times each time I cross the street. Cars will barrel through the intersection full of pedestrians without even stopping. I have learned to walk at my own risk. The bikes will run me over too if I am not careful. I can still hear honking horns as I write this and I am on the 28th floor at MB Shanghai right now. :)

2. No one gets out of the way of ambulances, like they do in the US. I was watching people ignore the sirens today and was bewildered that no one cared to move out of the way of an emergency vehicle.

3. The water here makes the water in Mexico seem like it came from the fountain of youth. Holy moly...I have no idea what they put in it, or what got into it...I am afraid to ask...bottled water is the only way.

So far, there are some things I am really happy about.

1. Everyone has been very nice, and helpful too.
2. The food has been great...and is super cheap. I took all of MB Shanghai to dinner for the same price as Yumiko and I getting the same dinner in San Francisco. I am a foody so I love the fact that I can eat all sorts of things and not break the bank! Yummy breakfast on the street costs about 35 cents. :)
3. There are a ton of artists here. Just one of the gallery districts is bigger than the art areas of San Fran or LA. I can't wait to see the rest.
4. We have plenty of time to explore the city.
5. The insects are crazy here.
6. MB Shanghai has a new kitten! "little rabbit" is her name. She has devil horns. :)

Anyway, here are some pics from our adventures so far...I will update again soon.



Jason

PS...watch out for the Chinese garbage monkey. He will get you when you least expect!!

[unknown_epiphany]

That looks amazing Jason, I am sure you are getting alot of inspiration from all of your surroundings. Thanks to you and all the others who run and maintain this treasure trove of a website.

[sve]

Thank you so much. I love those and it was a very interesting read as well. I hope more to come and with national specifics as well! I read that Chinese people indeed manage to be fed any time in any state of poverty there.. quite an hard working nation.

[DanielC]

Thanks for sharing these pictures !
How big is that insect ? It looks like it could cover my whole hand :x

[Zord]

Thanks for sharing Jason. It looks and sounds like an amazing place. It's always interesting to hear stories and experiences from others first time visits. :)

P.S. - That bug is totally going into my reference folder.

[FlipMcgee]

Hey, I recognize those style of paintings (last series). Some from the same artists are actually on exhibit at the local art gallery here. Huge, visceral paintings.

The studio there looks pretty luxurious.

[blacky]

Cool,
thanks for the report. Makes me want to visit Shanghai some time even more.
Looks like you're having lots of fun there.

[Idiot Apathy]

Hahah, garbage monkey.
A trip isn't a good trip without good food, I can relate to that for sure.

[asoir]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=141122&stc=1&d=1179634557
wow, this is beautiful, could you elaborate on what it is exactly? awesome photos.

[corky13]

very cool fotos , thanks for sharing =) (btw. what cam did you use ?)

I especially like this "tree-thingie" asoir pointed out. Would like to know what it is ,to :) Have fun out there... =)

[Shantih]

Just to be a typical girl - awww, kitten :meow:

You're damn lucky, I'd love to go to China.

[Hookswords]

You're right about the water man. A little tip: Do not buy the mint flavored bottled water...not tastey at all. DOnt forget to haggle! its insulting not to. And go see that Optimus Prime statue while you're there. Thanks for sharing, cant wait to see more.

[Justin.]

That insect is nuts. Cool!

[Carnifex]

looks like some crazy city alright :) cool stuff.
and i gotta say (hope it's not disrespectful) yumiko is looking really gorgeous in this shot (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=141116&stc=1&d=1179633956).
enjoy your time and see you at the next workshop :)
(which i assume will be after summer sometime now)

[TheGnoll]

thanks for sharing those pictures Jason, very nice.
I didn't even know there was such a strong artistic community in Shangai, and since i'm probably going for a trip there next year, its good to know :D

that art show looked interesting, i wonder what that plant thing is asoi pointed out and man, that insect is weeeeeird.

keep sharing!
ciao

[kais]

Nice to see you like shanghai, been living there for 2 years now, I really like it.
About the cars, I see it this way: pedestrians never EVER have priority, even when it's their turn to walk. the bigger you are, the biggest priority you have. trucks>cars>bikes>pedestrians... kinda sucks but hey.. its what makes it so special no?
Did you get to eat jiaoz (dumplings)? If you didnt you should, its really good stuff. depending on what they put in though :)
I would have loved to see MB shanghai once... kinda sucks I have my exams and am leaving this summer back to france...
Anyways, I really hope you enjoy your stay in Shanghai,
cheers!

[Moai]

Ha! I like Trash Monkey. Finding little oddities like that is one of the great joys of traveling.

[Icon]

Wow!!! Enjoy it Jason, and Jess!!! ( I bet she's having a blast!!!!)

Very informative, and only strenghthens my desire to travel around the world and visit many many cultures! :D Especially with food that cheap!!
thank you for the pictures, I love the guadian tree sculpture, the twins babies, and holy crap that kitty is too cute...seriously. but she's not black like the deepest pit of hell? What's up? ;p

[Quinster]

Red China looks pretty interesting. :)

[Bowlin]

I can't get over the people living in those tiny cramped apartments. And photograph with a bazillion toys covering it.

Would love to see more of the massive black studio. Great pics.

[Jason Manley]

Thanks all...I will update again soon.

The carved tree roots were by a fountain with goldfish in it at the artist park (where we saw all the galleries). It was a beautiful piece and was just sitting there by the parking lot. Of all the art I saw that day, I would have wanted that more than any.

back to my breakfast!!


J

[Jessica Hook]

Thanks for sharing these pictures !
How big is that insect ? It looks like it could cover my whole handYeah that bug is a trip! All creepy like. :) It was hanging out on the sidewalk. The main shell of the body (not including antennae) is probably about 2 inches long. I uploaded a little video of it here:

Google video (funny thing is that I can upload to Google, but Google blocks China from watching any videos, so I can't tell if it works correctly. Go Chinese censorship!)-
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3656399689296066056
Youtube-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g7MozIYK9g

A few seconds after the video ends our concept artist Zan ('Zan Zan' on the forums) picked it up by the back of the shell and put it in the bushes. They aren't poisonous but apparently they DO bite. They have little incisors like a spider.

Carnifex- thanks yer too sweet :)

Icon- Yes, we're loving the culture here for all of it's goods and bads. If we don't get run over in the crosswalk I'm sure we'll find plenty of adventures to come! Jason & I stumbled into a market of sorts and I had the fortune of running across an old man selling magazines and books at a newstand. I found a bunch of cool art books that normally would have cost me between $35-50 dollars each in the states for like $4 each. Score! :D Granted they might be bootlegs but the printing is excellent and I can't tell the difference, hehe.

[Infinit]

the videos work just fine

+ I demand more kitten pics

"SHOW US THE MASSIVE BLACK PUSSY!"

[hito]

awsome pictures! thanks for sharing!

[JAG.]

man.. thats amazing stuff. what a great trip it seems. im envious. ;) have fun guys, and a bit for me too - JAG

[joelhinxman]

wow thats rad. that bug is crazy.
looks like you guys are haveing lots of fun and that just not fair.

[idyll23]

ouch!

yeah I know that kinda beetle well from Colorado! The species there has yellow spots and if it bites you, you NEVER forget it.

glad to see you guys having fun!

[Jason Manley]

So Sunday was the day that Yumiko and I realized we needed a break from the delights of Chinese food. Surely there is something to eat here that does not require chopsticks. For breakfast we found an awesome little pastry shop and ate until we were feeling fat and happy. Yum. Then it was off to explore the city and maybe do a little shopping.

One can find just about anything for sale here on the streets. Everything from firecrackers for sale at seven in the morning to baby chickens, knives, and spiderman 3 DVD's at 2pm. We randomly chose a direction and just started walking.

I realized by mid-day that my theory that one should look both ways fifteen times while crossing the street was not working all that well. I must become comfortable with the russian roullette of such endeavors. Unfortunately, I am not feeling at ease about it yet. We are living real life Frogger here.

About lunchtime we spotted a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now I am never one to eat that slop back in the states but after kung pao chicken and every other assortment of Chinese food the past days, it sounded kind of good. Fortunately we agreed to skip it. Unfortunately we ended up at McDonalds where we discovered that Ronald McDonald torments the Chinese children as he does those from the USA. Same goes for the folks at Starbucks, which is still priced like we are in the US. Anyway, two burgers and fries and one flat soda later, Yumiko and I were back out on the streets and headed home.

We both agree, we are very much enjoying our visit in China. If not for Ronald McDonald's flat soda, the day would have been perfecto. So, it was not a bad day at all.

[Icon]

:D What I wouldn't give to stuff myself with that food!!
Man I hope you guys stay safe on those crossroads, the drivers here in Florida like to aim for pedestrians, so I can say I know how it feels, but maybe on a minimal scale. Keep updating, It seems like such a wonderful trip, full of food, crazy cars, chicks and Starbucks.....fuck they're really everywhere...


Yumiko: Soak it all in and enjoy it! That's one of the things I adore about travel, the ability to suddenly see things in a new perspective...of course the different surroundings kind of help with that!
Holy crap on cheap art books!!! I guess now is the time to buy buy buy! ;p Hope you have enough space on your suitcase!

[Jason Manley]

So Monday came and we caved in and ate KFC. Holy fark it was bad. Chinese KFC is twisted and rotted into some sort of demon barf. Never eat it. Poor Yumiko is still recovering. :) We did find a walk up McDonalds...never saw that before! We also found a fire hydrant buried up to it's neck in cement. Strange place this can be. :)

Now for the more interesting stuff. We are about to announce the Massive Black/ConceptArt.Org Artist's Workshop: ASIA. But before we put anything up that is official, we have to settle on the space. Our first stop was a place in the heart of a traditional district which goes by the business name of Creek Art. www.creekart.cn . The space was wonderful. Four floors of artsy goodness, a bar, a full restaurant on the sixth floor, and they even make cookies. The surrounding neighborhood is also great. However, the space is a bit small and will only fit about 200 of us comfortably. The inspiration of unchanged culture surrounding the area made my eyes light up. I could wander around for hours with my camera, lost in old world China.

On a side note, this is probably the safest city I have ever been in. We have been down some of the darkest streets at night, only to be greeted by the smells of chinese bbq and the occasional person wondering what two americans are doing wandering around here. :) Everyone says hello and has been friendly and polite. I have the urge to respond "Hola" or "Wie Getz", just to throw them off, but am being good and smiling and saying hello back. Even the taxi's don't let psychos ride in them! haha. See below.

Anyway, after seeing such a wonderful space on our first stop, putting on an inspiring event here will be very easy for us. Italy, which was not so easy to find a space, is going to have to wait til next year. I expect the event to be late summer, just before school is set to begin. Hopefully some of you all will make it out. We are going to keep tuition very very low and everything is super cheap. ConceptArt.Org is about to wake up the Shanghai art scene.

Can't wait!!!

Mucho thanks to May, my translator, and to Vivian from Creek Art, for the help today.



Jason

[Idiot Apathy]

*checks prices on tickets to shanghai*
hmmmmmmmmm....

[Icon]

Holy crap Jason, if this official I'll give up my rent, and other things i really shouldn't skip on! :D

I want to stuff my face with cheap food and go to another life changing workshop, immersed in a completely different culture!!! Hell yes!!!

...oh..and what the hell is the point of that fire hydrant?
:o

[Jason Manley]

*checks prices on tickets to shanghai*
hmmmmmmmmm....


Tuition will be cheaper...so that will help. We really want to make sure folks can make it to this. After visiting China, I am convinced it is a must stop for artists to visit. As far as other expenses...food costs here...5 bucks a day will take care of you easily enough...breakfast is 60 cents if you get a drink. :) Staying in hotels is also cheap. Airfare is the expensive part, but it should still be less than flying to SF and all related expenses of staying in a major US or Euro city.

Beers are 30-50 cents here, if that matters to ya. haha!

And taxis....a ride around the city today cost me 3 bucks. That same ride in SF would have cost me 40...just to put it all in perspective on how cheap stuff is here.

[Idiot Apathy]

30-50 cent beers?! I'm there.
Yeah flights aren't too bad actually. :)

[Jason Manley]

Yeah...LAX to Shanghai is 669 right now for August. From Denver was 883 plus tax and such.

[Sept13]

I'm getting more excited than I was about Florence! Great news Jason, can't wait for it to happen!

[Zaknafain]

nice photos, looks like you have a great time. I always enjoy travelogues
I think I will spend my money on that workshop, must be great in shanghai.

[kais]

oh noes.... why do you have to do it now? I'm going to leave China just before you do the event... too bad
anyways, great pictures, funny that water thing for the firemen :)

[paperX]

Massive Black/ConceptArt.Org Artist's Workshop: ASIA......
.......
..........
...............

OMG.....Mr.Manley sir.... you have no idea how excited I am about this right now, I'm so glad I'm in China right now :xpld:

Glad to hear that you're both having fun in Shanghai (watch out though, people in Shanghai have a reputation of being a pretty stingy bunch :P no offence to anyone :^^;:)

Hope everything goes well with finding a suitable location, I can't wait to hear more news about event :}

PS: kung pao chicken is actually a Sichuan dish...the flavour should be much different in Shanghai...maybe the MB crew can come over to Sichuan some time, we have one of the major fine art universities in China here :).

[Steph Laberis]

Oh my God you two! I would wish you both the time of your lives but you're waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of the game! I'm stoked that you set up this thread, I've never been to China and it's great to see your trip evolve like this.

JESS SEND ME A CRATE OF BABY CHICKS NOW!!!!

[Mitchell]

Amazing trip! I've never seen so many scooters in my life.

I'm glad you guys survived the KFCrap. I found a staple in my chicken once. ..a staple!

[Carnifex]

omfg those news are awesome! damn you got me stoked. i just hope you mean something around end of august...I'm SO gonna be there.
funny pics too,the box of chicks made my day :D have fun still,and watch out for those cars ;)

[Evil_Sloth]

Oh man a WS in china? Thats about as close to Australia as it's going to get. #Starts saving#

[S.C. Watson]

Awesome Jason. Some of those pics are really striking.

[sve]

Those ones are so interesting, eyes are running in all directions :). tasty textures:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=142211&stc=1&d=1179822514

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=142198&stc=1&d=1179822156
beautiful in a very special way.
Thank you for letting us see this too...
In the picture with little chicks... heh, my computer doesn't allow me to see it clearly at day lights... I thought it was the pastry you ate all day... :), looks very similar to fried deep dough...
Maybe we see more of this flea markets pictures and photos of street food and faces and situations on streets... the juice? thanks in advance, hoping for more...
Yumiko, you look gorgeous in all shots. You didn't buy this purse , I didn't see it in later photos :).

[Justin.]

The cheapest flight I could find is 1400!!! D:

Leave Aug 7, return Aug 22

[Jessica Hook]

Those ones are so interesting, eyes are running in all directions :). tasty textures:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=142211&stc=1&d=1179822514

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=142198&stc=1&d=1179822156
beautiful in a very special way.
Thank you for letting us see this too...
In the picture with little chicks... heh, my computer doesn't allow me to see it clearly at day lights... I thought it was the pastry you ate all day... :), looks very similar to fried deep dough...
Maybe we see more of this flea markets pictures and photos of street food and faces and situations on streets... the juice? thanks in advance, hoping for more...
Yumiko, you look gorgeous in all shots. You didn't buy this purse , I didn't see it in later photos :).

Yes the textures here are unparalleled! I have been taking pictures of the surfaces and building up a texture library for work (i'm a texture artist at MB). Every building seems like it has lived through so much, the dirt and ravages of time, polution, neglect, they're are crystal clear and rich with history in every corner of the street :)

We'll be sure to take more pics of our daily interactions. The street food here is excellent, I haven't been the least bit dissapointed yet. I still can't get over how cheap it is!

Thank you for the compliment! :^^: No, I didn't end up buying any new bags yet, I actually haven't bought anything yet... I've been doing more of "reconnaissance" or price checking at the different places. Many of the things you can find at more than one place and for different prices. But since I can't speak a word of Chinese I can't haggle too well, so I remember the places with the lower starting price, hehe. When we take our Chinese speaking co-workers with us, they haggle for me! When we went to a gallery, I saw an art book that I just had to have, it had the work of a Chinese artist (I assume he was Chinese) that I knew I wouldn't find anywhere else. But it was the last copy of the book so the gallery person said she would not sell the book to me, it was the "gallery copy," not for sale. That's when my co-workers stepped in and started haggling for me, I have no idea what they were saying, but after what seemed like a 2 minute heated debate, the woman gave me the book for FREE! with a smile no less. My co-workers had succeeded in convincing her how much I liked the book, and that the book was old and in bad condition because the pages were bent from all the people thumbing through it, and the cover was imperfect from people handling it since it was the last one. Haha! I was so happy! She musta been a good woman too :)

[Jason Manley]

The cheapest flight I could find is 1400!!! D:

Leave Aug 7, return Aug 22

thats silly to pay that much. you should be able to find a ticket to LA for 300 bucks or so and then you can get an LAX to Shanghai Pudong airport from there.

Dont buy tix til we get the dates set up though k?


J

[sve]

Lovely people :)
Thanks for more interesting info, Yumiko... that's nice memories already about this place :).the picture with the little doggy getting a shave... You didn't order it, right? for dinner ;).

[Ninja_ASSN]

o boy o boy... I really hope I'll manage to save some money for this. To visit Asia is one of my goals in life :) And here is another good reason to travel all the way there besides culture differences and sight seeing!

[Rudeone]

o boy o boy... I really hope I'll manage to save some money for this. To visit Asia is one of my goals in life :) And here is another good reason to travel all the way there besides culture differences and sight seeing!
Same here, my flatmate and I been talking about traveling to china (and japan) for a while now. I have always been fascinated with the far east.
I own a book about Shanghai with beautifull b/w photography, ever since I got that book Shanghai has been on top of my list of places to visit.
The workshop would be an awesome reason to finally do so, hopefully my budget will allow it too...and please let the dates be in the first or last week of august if it's going to be august, so I'm still able to visit Holland's greatest music festival heh:P...

Loving your stories and pics guys, I'm so jealous!

[Friso]

aw I guess the tablet-pc will have to wait

[GriNGo]

Nice, an opportunity to go to Shangai! I'll work my ass off to be there.

[Jason Manley]

So, after our rather yucky experience at KFC we decided to go on a quest, the next night, for great food. We found a place in a very beautiful and western feeling area (it could have been Laguna Beach or Scottsdale Arizona) after getting a suggestion from our friends at CCP Games (the makers of Eve Online) to hit up a massage spot called Dragonfly's.

We hopped a cab (riding in them feels like what I imagine riding a motorbike in TRON would feel like) and drove across the city. There are some very beautiful European feeling areas of Shanghai. It is almost like many cities within one city. It can be very old and antiquated or brand new with digital screens and flashing lights. One kilometer to the next is very different. The cab driver let us off at Donghu Road and we got out to find a spot to eat.

We settled on a new restaurant which serves Japanese Kobe beef and cooks it on hot stones. We opted for the "hot pot" and four waiters proceeded to cook for us, serve us, and tend to every need. We took a little pic of the setting, and it does no justice. It was world class food. As good as any I have eaten in San Francisco or NYC. Except, it was only 13 dollars each. HAHAHA! I love it. Next we went to get 2 hour massages from the Dragonfly Spa and Retreat. No, it was not "sexy massage". Amazing and sooooo cheap too. After all the stress of traveling, that was the best night we could hope for.

This morning we woke up to the rain, and went down to an old market with Abe (AKA Dirty Iron on the CA mainpage) for breakfast. We ate tasty breakfast treats called Tian Tang Tuan which look like boiled eggs with blacktop inside them but were sweet and deliscious. I ate them until I could fit no more. I found my new favorite breakfast item. At 60 cents per person, I can easily afford it too. Yay!


j

[Justin.]

Eew, your description was dead on... :X

Are those the same as those small white balls that people eat in anime all the time?

[CaptainInsano]

yeah, I forgot what those are called but they are served hot. They're soft and suprisingly sweet. MMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

Btw... great pics Manley.

[Interceptor]

Great photos.

Exciting information as well. Hopefull we'll have a bit more time to prepare for this. I know alot of people have already bought thier flights and tickets for Comic-Con. But Shanghai seems like a brilliant idea for a workshop.

[sve]

Thanks... I feel I'm addicted to Shanghaii stories already... Hopefully you will write them even when you are back in SF and years later... Every evening, strictly at 10pm...
I never heard about this dish...is it made from milk? sort of cheese maybe? is it really sweet? was it hot? how it is on the teeth, soft?
My friends told me Shanghaii breakfast is a very cool thing.

The skyscrapers in fog are beautiful, city is melting in the air. May I ask where were you standing when you took those photos?

[Icon]

I have a friend who went to china for a month and came back 15 pounds heavier...now I understand why!!.... My god I don't think I could hold back! I'd eat everything that looks edible! Culinary delight! Add those magnificent cityscape, different architecture and an intensively creative culture!! This workshop is looking better and better!

man, I need to start working out and getting my metabolism to a crazy level... I'm gonna need it @_@; Yumiko good luck!!!

[Carnifex]

wow,wouldn't have thought there's so many different settings in shanghai-second pic looks like it was taken in prague or something. beautiful pics,can't wait for you to announce further details. :)

[Moai]

So, how long is a flight from California to Shanghai?
I'm having a bit of an internal debate right now, because I'm poor and I hate flying (I pretty much have to come to terms with my own mortality every time I fly on a plane), but I'd love to meet all you peeps in reality-space and experience China's culture and learn from all the art at the workshop and all that. :xpld: Gaah!

[joelhinxman]

wow that looks like so much fun.
yea i spent soo much money in sf and i dont even know what on.
so want to go to this next workshop.
plans for next few months. save 2,000+ dollors. learn chinese

[Earendil]

When, generally, is this event held? read: How long do I have? :)

[TheYellowDart]

Look at Ronald McDonald's wide American eyes!

These pictures are awesome.

[Jason Manley]

We are trying to hold the event in the middle to end of August...but until we have the space booked, we cant announce any dates.

the flight to shanghai goes well...just stay up all night the night before...zzzzzzz....its eleven hours.


J

[Sepulverture]

Hey Jason, these pictures are killer. I remember my trip to Shanghai. It was a blast.

[Carnifex]

well i'm hoping it will be either in first week of august,or after the 27th...but thats cause i'd be on family holiday inbetween...

[Jason Manley]

then bring the family to shanghai ;)

[Jens]

Shit, Shangai that's a bit too far and expensive for me:) Was looking forward to it, but now I'll just save up money to go to Studio Escalier in France after my studies and for the next one. More time to improve :painting:

Those Tian Tang Tuang things, what do they taste like? Looks like mozarella cheese :D

[Lohan]

If it really is that cheap it would be great to go to the workshop and then spend a few extra days there, to make the price of the flight worthwhile.

[Jessica Hook]

Thanks... I feel I'm addicted to Shanghaii stories already... Hopefully you will write them even when you are back in SF and years later... Every evening, strictly at 10pm...
I never heard about this dish...is it made from milk? sort of cheese maybe? is it really sweet? was it hot? how it is on the teeth, soft?
My friends told me Shanghaii breakfast is a very cool thing.

The skyscrapers in fog are beautiful, city is melting in the air. May I ask where were you standing when you took those photos?

Tian Tang Tuan - Have you ever eaten Japanese Mochi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi)? The outside is not cheese, it is just like mochi... rice pounded into a sticky chewy sweet confection. I haven't figured out what's inside the ball exactly, it tastes like sugar & cinnamon & some other unidentifiable spices. Very sweet and delicious! It's served hot, and the soup is just water. It cost us .21 cents for 3 balls, a very sweet deal! ;)

As for where I was standing when I took the cityscape pics:
This is the view from the MB Shanghai office window. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143101&stc=1&d=1179975168) Well, one of the views, as the office curves around and has a much bigger panorama view.

This is the view from our Studio Director Dan's apartment balcony. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143098&stc=1&d=1179975037) He lives across the street from the MB office.
So is this one. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143100&stc=1&d=1179975092)

This is the view from our apartment balcony on a rainy morning. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143102&stc=1&d=1179975188) A 10 minute walk away from the MB office.

:)

[Jason Manley]

Well, the day always starts the same here...the hunt for breakfast. Zan Zan (who does concept art at mb shanghai and is on the ca mainpage) helped yumiko and I get "un-lost" on our way to find morning food. He led us through a neighborhood which had some nice statues and very little vehicle traffic. Both being refreshing to see. We ended up having dim sum at a local hole in the wall and then it was time to work.

Later, the US govmt came by to see how they could assist us with doing biz in China. In the end we realized they would not be any help at all. Kind of a waste of time there, but was fun to share what we do with folks outside the industry. I spent the remaining part of the day working on negotiating a very big project and by the end we were ready to go out and have some fun.

We ordered understandably mediocre indian food (one can only eat chinese so many times in a row...I have no idea how they do it here). After so much chinese these past days, the chicken tikka masala was a gift from heaven. Now if I could only find some tacos for lunch today. :)

After dinner we went to a hip hop club where I was told to not ever order beer because it means I am "cheap and poor" and that we were only to order whiskey. The problem there is I love a good beer and the smell of whiskey reminds me of "hangover's". Rightfully so, considering the last time I had it I was 14 years old and pounded almost an entire bottle, not knowing what would happen. Fortunately, whiskey here is only fourty proof and is very watered down. It did get us up on the dance floor. It was too dark to get good pics. Everyone danced and played dice and danced some more. If only the music was not like Snap's "you got the power" mixed with gay dance beats. :) The Chinese patrons did not seem to realize they were mostly listening to horrible hip hop and were all shaking booty like it was the last night in Zion. Music aside, it was a blast.

I wonder what adventures today will bring?

[Diego]

Amazing pics jason so colorful and it seems your having such a great time, the art in the floor is amazing.
Thanks for let us being part, at least by photos, of your trip.

Cheers

[paperX]

Yumiko: I think you are in fact referring to Tian Tang Yuan, the "Tian" character simply means sweet, you can have all sorts of fillings in side them, it's a pretty traditional Chinese dish :)...also Shanghai is one of the most Expensive cities in China...so if you go to say, a smaller city, u may find the same 3 Tang Yuan for 10 or even 5 cents or less :P

Mr. Manley: I apologise for the "horrible hip hop" its something that I'm personally quite embarrassed about :^^;: (Chinese love pop songs are worse, 50% of the lyrics are made up of the word "love" and nothing else :P)
also, regarding beer...i dont know about shanghai, but here in Chengdu people usually buy beers by cartons per person...so staying sober might not be that easy either :^^;:
Hope you two continue to have fun in Shanghai (I'm glad to see China has left you with a good impression :) ) I can't wait to hear more about the workshop! :yayca:

[Jason Manley]

Yumiko: I think you are in fact referring to Tian Tang Yuan, :


not according to the chinese folks ordering them with us. :) perhaps it is because most of our crew is not shanghainese....but yeah...tian means sweet. the ones in the pic had pork in them too, which yumiko will eat (she eats just about anything), but I passed on.

[Myako]

Tian Tang Tuan - Have you ever eaten Japanese Mochi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi)? The outside is not cheese, it is just like mochi... rice pounded into a sticky chewy sweet confection. I haven't figured out what's inside the ball exactly, it tastes like sugar & cinnamon & some other unidentifiable spices. Very sweet and delicious! It's served hot, and the soup is just water. It cost us .21 cents for 3 balls, a very sweet deal!
You make me hungry yumiko XD ,I haven´t tasted it for years
Found a nice recipe Peanut Butter Mochi,
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/worldjapan/japan5.html

Great photos , beautiful city:^^:

[paperX]

Mr. Manley: ahh...sorry about that, at first i thought Yumiko had made a simple spelling error, but now that i think about it...i think in southern parts of China people DO in fact refer to them as Tang Tuan, it just didn't register with me at first as I've been calling them Tang Yuan for my whole life :^^;:

We usually eat it on Yuan Xiao Day on the 15th of the Zheng Month of the Lunar Calendar, or more famously known as when we hold Lantern Festivals :P

EDIT: after a bit more digging, it seems that they are named so because the characters Tuan and Yuan comes from the word TuanYuan which roughly means "to have a reunion", wishing happiness for the whole family to get together on the festive day. also literally, both Tuan and Yuan means circular or whole which corrosponds to the their shape. (TuanYuan for u know...the whole familly gathering together as a whole)....pretty interesting stuff :)

[Carnifex]

then bring the family to shanghai ;)

ahh,now that i'm afraid will become too expensive :bashful:
well,i'll just hope. (or fly directly or something)

[Ashrumm]

ahhh, you guys are making me so hungry!!! I love chinese food!! I keep telling my girlfriend that in a past life I must have been chinese. This thread is freakin awesome I always believed that the best way to experience a new place is from as many dark corners and alleyways you can find. And it seems you guys are doing that and some. Now all I have to do is dig up some monies for the summer august workshop!! Wow more exciting times lie ahead!!

[sve]

Good you posted... I already started to worry that you might have dropped your camera from the balcony in your hotel or something... Always wear it around your neck while standing on your skyscraper ;).

Thank you so much for photos of people socializing around street food. that's a great visual report there and nice to see their every day's life, Chinese youth and older generations...It seems that people on streets are not that fashion conscious... even in the post before I observed an interesting mauve color of socks on one of the owner of little eatery... it suggests me a strong mental health of the nation... they concern with every day more serious problems :). I loved those clouds of hot vapors for food and agitation, motion around it... Hopefully we'll see more of it...
Is there homeless people there? Homeless animals?

It seems that smoking is a very important part of nation's life, the same as street food and beer... even monuments are smoking... chain smoking because they are monuments.
This is the best photo from the bunch for me... life happening there and I love the interaction between a man with the sly smile and an agitated owner of the food booth. I like the pose of the guy taking a little break standing in vapors.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=143900&stc=1&d=1180161170

Thank you Yumiko, I love your enthusiasm for food ... isn't it one of the biggest life attraction? So it was rice.. hehe, silly me... I should have guessed... cheese, yeah right.. :).>:D .
Sweet powdered rice formed as a ball with pork! what an imagination this nation has!!! I love caramelized meat ... so it excites me :). awesome!
Do they have art books about Japanese art... you know ... those transparent watercolors with fish staring back at you, or cat prowling or colorful geisha under umbrella? or landscapes in fog? I still searching for good one... it is hard to find them on Internet. you need to look inside.
Hope to hear more! you're dealing with addicted people here...

[Icon]

It's interesting to see China in all aspects..we've seen the beautiful historic sections, solitary alleyways, and now night life. I think I'd never stay home, instead I'd be all over the place enjoying everything that China has to offer!

I think the thing I enjoy most about this thread is the fact that little by little, you both get used to things...the first step being Chinese food. I wonder how you'll feel at the end of your journey, when you literally become a part of your surroundings. ;p
Keep having fun guys and good luck with your business!

[Grumbledook]

august, when the flights from uk cost their most

have to see about costs but certainly would like to go if i could, looks amazing

[Jason Manley]

So every once in a while in life, I find something unusual that helps me to fall in love with the city I am in. The past two nights we have been down a dark and textural road, past the old bikes and tiny shops. A little ways further is a busy corner that has been taken over by the best bbq'ers anywhere.

Being that I lived in Texas, I am one who appreciates a good BBQ. These folks are masters of the craft. It is a friendly bunch who stand there surrounded in smoke and fresh food. They find it amusing that Yumiko and I speak almost no chinese and have done their best to take care of us. They hold entire conversations with us like we can understand and have been fascinated by the photos they see us taking. They are full of smiles and laughter and for being such a dingy dark place, the group is vibrating with simple happiness. If I was on this street at night in the US, I would have my guard up and my keys ready to poke out the eyes of a mugger. Here, we sit surrounded by nice people, bbq sticks and garbage at our feet, and hold no fear in our hearts.

By morning, these folks are gone, all trash picked up, like they were never there at all. We have found our spot, just a few blocks from home, that will draw us in for smiles and food at least a few nights per week while we are here in China. Yesterday, a rather wealthy woman told me that Shanghai was a soulless city. Apparently she has not been to the right parts of town.

[Jason Manley]

august, when the flights from uk cost their most

have to see about costs but certainly would like to go if i could, looks amazing


it looks like august...but we are still not decided on the final dates. there may be a chance that we will include many other companies in this event and if so it will be at least a month later. I will do an update on the workshop once the dates are nailed down.


Jason

[Carnifex]

:)


and now i'm really looking forward to this workshop. with each story and photos my interest and happiness grows :)

[Hanuka]

after having been in seoul, this so draws me back to asia. thanks for all the pictures, but makes it so much harder, that i can't go :(

[benzo]

i wish we had bbq stands like that on 6th street!

[Jason Manley]

i wish we had bbq stands like that on 6th street!



well if the games industry ever goes belly up we will go into biz together ben. ben and jasons bbq, sixth street. austin texas.

[CGMonkey]

It sounds like you're having a blast, which makes it more fun to read :)

You make me wanna travel to shanghai so much! see you at the workshop!

[ah.heng]

Eew, your description was dead on... :X

Are those the same as those small white balls that people eat in anime all the time?

sesame paste rice balls.
also comes in peanut paste and 1 other which i can't remember.

it's a chinese dessert, not japanese.

[James Kei]

Man, you guys are lucky. I loooove chinese BBQ!

http://www.funmansion.com/images/chinese-food-3.jpg

[purb36]

sesame paste rice balls.
also comes in peanut paste and 1 other which i can't remember.

it's a chinese dessert, not japanese.

that "1 other thing", isnt it sweet red bean (anko)? i think that might be it.
and its guuuuUUUUUUUUDDDDDDD!

[Mr Man]

Im actually really glad the dates have been pushed back for the workshop. As college is nearly over Ive got about 2 or so months to rack up some money, though It would help if I did have a job first :S
I absolutley love the chinese culture and I think this will be a fresh and exciting place to visit, im looking forward to this!!

I know its abit hard to judge but do you have a rough estimate of how much itll cost to live there for say a week?

Great work folks!

Rich

[sve]

I miss your updates. Are you very busy, not time to show more of what you see?
It was good to read and see the story about night grilled meat worshipers... Such a strange story really... they gather at night to eat and feed others, smile and feel peace and disappear at day light... Upside down subculture of a very busy city :).

I wonder if they marinate the meat and seafood before grilling... In Russia it was often marinated for 12-24hours in wine, pomegranate juice or even kefir (a sour yogurt)... with a lot of spices and sliced onion when it was marinated in wine.

My favorite photo is the two laughing owners of the grill.. they look sweet and a bit shy and happy and agitated in the good way.
Yumiko. if you want new textures for your work I can give you many photos of rocks and mountains and fields and grasses my husband and I did. I will be glad if they will be useful.

[Jason Manley]

awesome...party at James Kei's house!!!. All the crawlies you can eat!

Man, you guys are lucky. I loooove chinese BBQ!

http://www.funmansion.com/images/chinese-food-3.jpg

[Jason Manley]

So, we have continued to look for spaces for the workshop. I am learning to deal with the "lets charge the american guy extra" mentality that comes with doing business here. The latest space we found was gorgeous, and had quite a bit of nice spaces. It is a bit small though...max would be 200 people. So, we are going to keep looking. If we decide to do a smaller event..ala the european workshops...then either of the spaces we have found so far will suffice.

The next stop was macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, and good ole almost american diner food. It even had a huge menu to match the huge portions. I can only eat chinese food so many days in a row and opted to take a 45 minute cab ride to find American food. I have no clue how they manage to do it here, eating the same stuff all the time. I guess I am spoiled from living in San Fran where there is such a wonderful variety of great food from a variety of cultures. So far so good though. We have found some great spots. Though it was ok, this diner was not one of them. :)

I think my favorite time here is at night. There is such a rich moody textural quality to everything. Our favorite spot is still down with the bbq folks. They are getting to know us better, which means jess and I do a lot more charades as we learn to communicate here. haha. Right when we think we know a few words, we cross paths with someone with a different dialect and it's start from square one. So far, everyone is still being very very friendly. We are still enjoying it here.



J

[sve]

Hello. thanks for update... although I hoped it will be three times bigger in photos and stories... I wish you talked a bit more about mentality different from American that you mentioned ... that's a very interesting bit of information...
Is it true that China imports a lot nowdays. Did you see a lot of foreign products? I mean food products...
I saw yesterday 'Empire of the Sun', Spielberg's movie about Shanghai in WWII...although not everything was shot in Shanghai, they did show some... Eclectic looking city... From the side of the ocean it looked very grand, majestic, dome-like buildings...with little boats, sort of gondolas on the water... It should be a lot of Western looking buildings where British aristocrats lived before WWII in Shanghai.
Movie was very strange.. for many reasons...Japanese concentration camps were very strange for me to see.
Hope you will post more soon...
The two pictures of old half broken roofs with new buildings on the BG are great... And in general Shanghai feels like very extreme city from your stories and photos, tempo of life is very fast, many things don't' have a big value with this style of living... I mean fashion,,, I don't see it at all...They look preoccupied with something else... not aware of their own look...
I'm starting to think they don't have any homeless animals. I don't see any in your pictures... but I thought they should be there somewhere...
Do they have street music? I kind of doubt they have...
It was fun to read about your attempts to communicate with BBq people. funny :). Who are they at day time?

[Mr Man]

Hehe I hope your belly doesnt start disagreeing with your food jason.
The top area on the building looks awsome. If you do choose this space im wondering if a few traditional painters could paint on the rooftops depending on the weather? I can really imagine a Jon foster mech slowly rising out of those shacks :)

Thanks for the update!

Rich

[2100]

By the way, how's the heat?

[Jason Manley]

its about 75 degrees and cloudy most days....ie 20 degrees celsius.

[Jason Manley]

We have been so busy with work (it's deadlines and more deadlines around here at MB lately) that it seems life outside work has been revolving only around food. Not a bad thing in such an exotic place...but it has caused us to brainstorm some cool things we should do soon. This past weekend has been a big crunch for some of us (yeah we work the weekend from time to time), and so our adventure was once again to find our daily grub. :)

We went with the team to a Sichuan restaurant that was rumored to be quite good. We were told to expect it spicy. Being a guy who likes it hot, that was no problemo. On the way we stopped to haggle with a local vendor selling coconuts and then hit the restaurant. My eyes were rather bugged at some of the selections. Take a look at the black chicken (i think it is a chicken anyway). I am sure it tastes great but holy fucking shit there is no way I will eat that. haha. Anyway, I thought I had seen it all until they brought out what I thought was some sort of bbq and it turned out to be BBQ DUCK BILLS. The next pic is of MB Shanghai studio director Dan Staton enjoying it's tongue. After that, it was vegetables only for me. Later on we snuck over to another street vendor who made me awesome vegetarian stir fry at about 11PM at night. Wonderful.

Once Sunday came, it was time for them to get a little taste of western culture. It was time to find all the ingredients to make an american favorite...NACHOS!!! I had to find everything I needed to make baja style guacamole, homemade hot sauce, and the appropriate chips and queso. The trek started at about noon and took me until six o clock to find it all and Yumiko and I had to ride in taxi's all over town. Fortunately there was an american/euro market on the posh side of Shanghai. I paid about four bucks apiece for avacados (after eating chinese every day, nearly, one will pay just about anything for mexican) and found all I needed. Fresh garlic, beautiful tomatoes at the chinese market, cilantro, red peppers, white onion, limes (apparently there is only one or two stores in shanghai that has them), mexican cheeses, and real tortilla chips. I could not forget the corona's.

If any of you have ever been to Taco Loco in Laguna Beach, you will know what I made for the team. :)

Now in china, it is tough to know if people are being polite by eating what they are cooked. I can say that everyone who saw me cutting veggies and mixing stuff up were skeptical of what I was up to. There were giggles and comments about me making a mess...and then it was done. Within half hour it was all gone. It was everyones first time having mexican food. I hope they really liked it. For me, it was pure heaven as I eat that stuff in the states at least twice a week and havent had any going on three weeks. The only ingredient they had not seen before were the avacados. Everything else in baja mexican is fairly typical ingredients in Chinese food. Not a bad way to end el noche...beers...nachos...and smiles with new friends. Unfortunately I did not get pics of it all, as I was too busy enjoying the food...but that is what we were up to between working on the new conceptart.org upgrades and the work due for mb. busy busy...as always.

-j

[Icon]

that black chicken looks really frightening ... i'd eat it whole!

Sounds like a great time! Even if there is a lot of work, something so rewarding like a good meal, and new friends can be all you need to let go of the daily insanity. I'm glad you guys are enjoying yourself!!

I can't wait for the new space to be chosen, so we can all experience for ourselves your daily writings!

jess: I adore that black coat! :O I want one!

[Bowlin]

These adventures with pics are pretty fun to read, been looking forward to the updates. It seems so odd to see so much older parts of the city and no graffiti. Plus, after reading all of this, looks like your homesickness has really started to sit in ;) .

Thanks for the updates.

[Jens]

Jason, I always wondered.. how much trouble would a vegetarian have finding food there in Shangai.. I don't eat seafood, no red meat, no white meat, no fish.

It has always scared me about asian countries, that i can expect not to know what they put in the food.

[Dished]

OMG OMGOMGOGMOOMGOGMOGOOMG I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR DOING WORKSHOPS IN ASIA!!!

Any idea on how much the price range for tuition is?

Imna start selling my things and tutoring kids hehehe>:D

[Jessica Hook]

The two pictures of old half broken roofs with new buildings on the BG are great... And in general Shanghai feels like very extreme city from your stories and photos, tempo of life is very fast, many things don't' have a big value with this style of living... I mean fashion,,, I don't see it at all...They look preoccupied with something else... not aware of their own look...
I'm starting to think they don't have any homeless animals. I don't see any in your pictures... but I thought they should be there somewhere...
Do they have street music? I kind of doubt they have...
It was fun to read about your attempts to communicate with BBq people. funny :). Who are they at day time?

One thing you see a lot of in Shanghai is extreme juxtaposition off old and new. You can stand on the roof of an ultra modern building, and look down on the collection of broken roofs that look like they haven't been fixed in generations. Shanghai is growing extremely fast, there is construction going on 24/7 everywhere, you can hear a jackhammer echoing off the buildings at 1am in the morning. We've come across a few stray dogs wondering in the street, but with the way people drive around here, I'm surprised they last very long. We saw stray dogs on 2 separate occasions, each was strolling in the street and each almost got run over in the few minutes we saw them. :/
As for street music, I haven't seen any street performers of any kind so far. I've seen a few people with music blasting from their moped though, kind silly.

that black chicken looks really frightening ... i'd eat it whole!

Sounds like a great time! Even if there is a lot of work, something so rewarding like a good meal, and new friends can be all you need to let go of the daily insanity. I'm glad you guys are enjoying yourself!!

I can't wait for the new space to be chosen, so we can all experience for ourselves your daily writings!

jess: I adore that black coat! I want one!
The jacket is my favorite too! I regret that I never bought a second one for when this one wears out, haha. Oh well, by the time it wears out I should have my sewing skills honed enough to make a new one. The black chicken scares the pants off me, you're a brave woman! And yes, coming to China and making friends with the co-workers has been really great & refreshing. Even though Shanghai is a relatively fast pace growing city with lots of husle & busle it still has a very slow "country" feel amoung the people. There seems to be a clear divide between the street vendors & the blue collar office workers. When we use our digicam around the street vendors they think the lcd screen where you can see the pics is the coolest thing in the world. They ask us to take pictures of them, so that they can look at themselves on the screen. They giggle or smile and stand over our shoulder to see what we're taking pics of. So simple. It makes me appreciate all that we have, and the opprotunities that we're able to take advantage of. Before we leave, me & Jason are gunna print the photos of them out, and give it to them. I'll think they'll get a kick out of it. :)

Jens- I think if you're ok with boiled vegetables, there seems to be no shortage. Every place we go has plenty of vegetable dishes. But if you're vegan and sensitive to your food being cooked with the same cookware as meats, then I don't know :/ oh, and it helps to have a Chinese speaker who can tell you what the captions under the name say. The picture might look like string cheese but it turns out to be squid legs or something, haha.

[strych9ine]

Sounds like a hell of a trip you guys, got me jealous as hell over here. Great pictures...

[Jason Manley]

Jens: It is possible to eat here as a vegetarian. Though you might find that your veggies were cooked on the same grill as the chicken.

There are grocery stores all over the place here though and the produce at the local markets (if you wanted to cook yourself or make salads and stuff) is far superior to anything we get in the US usually. The fresh veggies here are awesome...and the fruit...we cant stop eating it. Just bring a little camping hotplate and you would be able to get by anywhere....or hit the more fine dining places. there are very western areas here, so you would be able to find some food at various spots. There are a lot of bakeries too...so you could get fresh bread and cheese and veggies easily enough.

You can get breakfast without meat here too...mostly fried breads and other interesting things.

I eat almost entirely veggies here....though I dont care if its cooked on the same grill as the meat...but I have mostly stayed away from most the meats.

[Monster in AZ]

WE HAVE YOUR DOG. IF YOU DO NOT POST RANSOM WITHIN 24 HOURS HE WILL END UP LIKE ALL THE OTHERS (http://www.eat-online.net/art/images/music/spaghetti_caruso.jpg). WE WILL CONTACT YOU WITH FURTHER DETAILS. DO NOT IGNORE THIS NOTICE. YOUR DOG'S WELFARE DEPENDS ON HOW YOU ACT NEXT.

http://idisk.mac.com/mebobbyb/Public/monster_kidnapped.jpg

[sweetoblivion314]

one question... do they serve Guiness? :)

other then that sounds like you guys are havign a good time and i hope the good times keep up. Hopefully i will join you guys again for this workshop :)

[James Kei]

WE HAVE YOUR DOG. IF YOU DO NOT POST RANSOM WITHIN 24 HOURS HE WILL END UP LIKE ALL THE OTHERS (http://www.eat-online.net/art/images/music/spaghetti_caruso.jpg). WE WILL CONTACT YOU WITH FURTHER DETAILS. DO NOT IGNORE THIS NOTICE. YOUR DOG'S WELFARE DEPENDS ON HOW YOU ACT NEXT.

He probably won't taste very good. Though you could make a pretty cool jacket out of his shag.

[Magic Man]

Some cool ass photos right there.

[Jason Manley]

WE HAVE YOUR DOG. IF YOU DO NOT POST RANSOM WITHIN 24 HOURS HE WILL END UP LIKE ALL THE OTHERS (http://www.eat-online.net/art/images/music/spaghetti_caruso.jpg). WE WILL CONTACT YOU WITH FURTHER DETAILS. DO NOT IGNORE THIS NOTICE. YOUR DOG'S WELFARE DEPENDS ON HOW YOU ACT NEXT.

http://idisk.mac.com/mebobbyb/Public/monster_kidnapped.jpg

Monster is a good boy. He is loved by his family. He is only there on a humani.....dogitarian mission. He is there to provide physical pleasure for the other hostages and to promote freedom to his people in the desert. Please post pictures of all hostages together with the missionary Monster so we know they are ok. There will be no negotiation until we see all the hostages. We trust in God that he will be well fed and respected as negotiations continue. Any physical or sexual abuse will result in further sanctions.

[zhuzhu]

yeah~ this is Shanghai~ my city who was born here. welcome to Shanghai~!this is a great city and best city in China.

[Craig D]

All funds raised go to the free Monster Fund

[Simon.Rain]

All funds raised go to the free Monster Fund

HAHAHAHAHA

[Justin.]

$1,000,000,000


Is that what he meant by posting a ransom?

[sve]

I have a feeling of premonition.. new photos and stories are coming...isn't Internet precious? once you posted your impressions...in few minutes they are read in Europe, America, Africa, Asia...And I'm looking at faces of people and buildings from the other reality I will never see otherwise. So... Thank you so much for that gift... that's a very kind gesture from you two, I hope you are not only giving but it is something for you too... feeling partly in California near your cat and dog and guys and girls with whom you work together every day. Hope you feel like you less traveling more at home.

I really enjoy your thread... so please continue and don't hesitate to post and write anything you want... all this is information and communication.
I wish it was photos of Mexican food preparation...I just can imagine the colors and textures on this one :), expectation on faces and involvement with process on the face of the cook. And hands. Sigh... yeah... that's a pity.

The best photos for me in this update:

Yumiko's close up photo in one of the funniest and sweetest hat I ever saw... you look so sweet, like a little pretty birdie looking up from the nest... and please don't feel bad abut this impression... I like it very much, very charming, a lot of personality, very refreshing... really pretty. And I forget to mention the photo in the update before with chain on your neck... caught my attention... looks neat.

Chinese children and their little playground with crumbed asphalt, trash in the corners, bicycle, and wet clothes hanging on the rope... lovely, especially those half destroyed steps and warm feeling.

Buddhist's colors of the Sichuan restaurant and their food. Life celebrating colors.
Black chicken... A lot of personality :).

The building in the center of the city with wet cloth hanging out of the window... Lovely as well.

Bicycles. they soften image a lot.

Yumiko's jacket and overall silhouette. Very sporty, streaming up away from the earth light figure..
Your dog's beard and huge wet nose... very impressive...
Sly humorous eyes of the MB Shanghai studio director when he nibbles on fried duck's bill.
Him again with all guards down after the finished orgies.

Jason's side-whiskers.

Colors of Shanghai... many tones of gray and blue with splashes of red and orange.

---------
Yumiko, thank you so much for your stories.. that's very interesting information ,,, no music on streets.. that's remarkable and very telling.. no idle people on streets I guess as well. Very busy life.
Maybe you can catch the people's reaction when you will present them with photos. :) that's really nice of you btw.
Thanks again.

[Android]

wow what an adventure, i really like living vicariously through YOU. thanks Jason, you continue to make all of us proud.

[Jason Manley]

Thanks Andrew, coming from one of the worlds most vicarious, that means a lot.

So, on to more adventures....

This past few weeks has been absolutely slammed busy at MB and I have been up to my neck with the new updates that I am working on for conceptart.org, as well as the workshop planning. Crazy. All this means is sometimes we must...and I mean must...get the fukk out of the office and into the world.

First thing is first, and that means food, as usual. On the way is where we find all sorts of interesting things. Everything from beautiful sculptures to kittens laying in a basket of childrens books...or a shaved dog with blue eyebrows. (or public bathrooms with no doors which face the street...YOWZA...which is fortunately very rare) Every corner turned in this city brings something that I have never seen before. There is a way of life in Shanghai that means staying alert and not falling into the zoned out drone that is typical in the west. It is impossible to do that as there is such a rich quantity of people, interesting things, noise, traffic, smells, folks bumping into you, and god knows what else...

Along the way, it is the artsy things that we stumble upon that makes me happiest. Dirty Iron and Zan Zan were kind enough to take us down to the art store district to find supplies for the MB figure drawing sessions we are starting up here. Yumiko and I managed to pick up about a thousand dollars worth of art supplies and art books for 150 dollars.

The book store was a complete and total surprise, and very very refreshing. We were walking by and Abe said "art books". We stopped and walked in. Surprisingly it was a very large book store filled with nothing but art books from the east. Now this might jump the subject a bit, but if one goes to art renewal center and reads up on classical realism there is this bitter hatred toward modern art because it destroyed the teachings of realism. In this book store I came to realize how ignorant those people in the classical realism community are to the art world outside of new york or paris. The book store was filled with hundreds of artists books...students and masters from Russia and China that illustrated to me how much traditional art has thrived and survived the 20th century. There were many (and I mean MANY) artists that I had never seen before, never heard of, and were of world class skill. The childrens books were filled with brush and pen thumbnail storyboards which were pushing composition theory which the west assumes died with Degas...amazing stuff...and It really opened my eyes to how blind the west is to the thriving culture in the east.

We also found some very western malls, and also some eastern flavored shopping areas. And managed to find a very good indian restaurant too!! Thank god, because I have no idea how the Chinese can eat Chinese food every day. I tell them that in San Fran, we like to eat different cultures foods each day of the week. I could not imagine eating american food every day...let along Chinese. We did, however, make the mistake of trying the mexican food here. Holy hell!!!!

Anyway...it has been a great experience being here. We ended the week with a banquet (the team from MB Shanghai were so kind to treat us to all sorts of interesting foods). While I did not, nor could, try everything, it was crazy to see the plates of jellyfish, pig elbows, and interesting desserts. I ate a lot of salad that day and had some stir fry too. Yum. Everyone enjoyed themselves, if for just a couple hours at lunch...

I will update again soon...hope everyone is doing great.


Jason

[emily g]

Jason, you are absolutely right about Russian and Chinese artists. They kept the traditional of classical realism alive as they were not allowed to paint modern (i.e. "western") art under communism.
We have a very nice collection of Russian art here in Utah, which I assume was bought for a good price when the style went out of favor after the fall of the Soviet Union.

[Shinryu]

Great pics and read Jason and Yumiko! The stuff in the books look awesome.

Cheers for sharing

[Onir]

geez beautiful pictures Jason, as others have said it really looks amazing there. would love to go some time (definitely gonna try to), though I don't think going to the workshop would be too possible for me this time around.. either way thanks for the pictures and I hope you continue having a great time there!

[Justin.]

please scan those books.

Can you imagine how much that art store would make if the workshoppers attended? Maybe they could open a branch in the US :D

[Lohan]

Hey.. maybe somebody can verify this. isn't that the mall Jackie Chan jumps down in Police Story??

[benzo]

http://www.fragglerocker.com/pics/characters_matt.jpg

[paperX]

Jason, you are absolutely right about Russian and Chinese artists. They kept the traditional of classical realism alive as they were not allowed to paint modern (i.e. "western") art under communism.
We have a very nice collection of Russian art here in Utah, which I assume was bought for a good price when the style went out of favor after the fall of the Soviet Union.

I'm not sure I quite agree with your comment emily, I'm do not know much about russia (what you say probably is true for them)...but to me I always felt like art in China has always been historically about freedom and self-expression (abstract) first and realism issues etc second...after the imperial dynasty rule ended i presumed more interaction from the west affected Arts in China and we're basically went through the whole exploring realism thing, whereas in the West people changed into more abstract...its more like the roles are reversed in a sense....:S

just my 2 cents

[emily g]

China definitely adopted the Socialist Realism style from Russia, though the Chinese government didn't enforce it as strictly as the Russian government did.
It also sounds like you are talking about Chinese art before the communist era? I'm not really sure.

[Jason Manley]

I believe the Chinese adopted the traditional path in the 50's. I am still learning. That adoption is why MB came to China in the first place. We looked at India and China and India did not have the traditional training methods in place in order to educate artists, while China did.


J

[LateNiteHype]

I could imagine being in that art store- just like freakin' Christmas. Mental note- when I go to China, bring an extra empty suitcase.

Seriously, though- cool pictures. Especially the art books with the realism. Didn't realize the classical style was so prevalent- though when you think about it, why not?! Looks like one heck of an experience. Seems like the type of trip that will definitely have an impact on a person, beyond art.


Hey.. maybe somebody can verify this. isn't that the mall Jackie Chan jumps down in Police Story??


Lohan- Jackie smacked the bad guys up and down the Wing On Plaza mall, which is in Hong Kong.

:perv:

(Hong Kong Action is tha $#!t).

[paberu]

Wow really cool photos, that art shop looks incredible - soooo many art supplies waaaaa!!! So does the art book store. What are the prices on the art books? Here in aus if you can find one, it will cost you an arm and a leg. Really want to attend this coming workshop :D, shanghai looks like a fun place.

[Icon]

it's settled. i'm bringing an empty bag for all the books i'll buy when I get there! <3

The jacket is my favorite too! I regret that I never bought a second one for when this one wears out, haha. Oh well, by the time it wears out I should have my sewing skills honed enough to make a new one. The black chicken scares the pants off me, you're a brave woman! And yes, coming to China and making friends with the co-workers has been really great & refreshing. Even though Shanghai is a relatively fast pace growing city with lots of husle & busle it still has a very slow "country" feel amoung the people. There seems to be a clear divide between the street vendors & the blue collar office workers. When we use our digicam around the street vendors they think the lcd screen where you can see the pics is the coolest thing in the world. They ask us to take pictures of them, so that they can look at themselves on the screen. They giggle or smile and stand over our shoulder to see what we're taking pics of. So simple. It makes me appreciate all that we have, and the opprotunities that we're able to take advantage of. Before we leave, me & Jason are gunna print the photos of them out, and give it to them. I'll think they'll get a kick out of it.


Man! I went to a sewing summer activity camp, and to this day I still suck at it. Arts and crafts are death to me. But damn, if you ever make yourself one, let me know, I'll buy one from you ! :3

As far as strange food....o_o I like trying out new things ...especially with food. But 90% of the time I never try it, because I'll always look for the tastiest thing. I’m a flavor nut.
But man, China sounds so special.. I’d never imagine such a giant and fast paced city to have that "country" touch to it. It's rather comforting to know that such a place still has that charm, that's hard to find around the U.S cities.

All this talking about how great China is makes me want to skip all these months and magically appear in at the workshop! You definitely need to give me a tour! ;p

[paperX]

Jason and emily: i agree completely about the fact that China adopted the traditional methods from russia, also i totally understand how Jason you feel when going into the art stores in china haha....everytime i go in i have to resist my urge to buy too many books...because once you buy one you cant resist buying more :P

[Monster in AZ]

No need to bring an extra bag when you can buy one for cheap when you get there.

[Jason Manley]

Well, we have been in Shanghai almost six weeks, which is a long time to be away from the pets. Too long. I guess that is what keeps drawing us to the animals around here. On our day to day walks through the most interesting and timeless neighborhoods we find all sorts of critters. The rabbit was the most friendly guy. He was a love sponge and loved his lettuce even more. I feared for a moment that he was for cooking, but when he was so friendly, I realized otherwise. He was the old woman's pet. The kitty was very needy and I almost took him home (which would have probably angered his owner...whom I did not realize was his owner), poor guy had fleas. We learned he was there to keep mice out of a little restaurant. We got him some sort of chinese bologna and fed him on the street. The lizard was not so lucky, he didnt get any snacks from us!! The Husky pup was gorgeous... all the different critters made me think of my bengal "moose...aka sir meowzalot" and giant schnauzer Monster Man. If we decide to stay for a while, which we may, then we are sending for the animals soon. It will feel a lot more like home here with my buds.

MB has been absolutely slammed busy these past months. We have had to make an effort to get out and away from work, and have managed to do so, even as the weather gets hotter here. We spent some time shopping and exporing the city and watching the local people over the past few days. Shanghai is an absolutely huge city of around twenty million. If not for the old, beautiful, dirty, and disappearing neighborhoods like those pictured here, it would feel a lot like Los Angeles. Some of the upper crust social scene is very LA too...where it matters what kind of watch you are wearing and that one is judged by their shoes or car (or lack of). Because of that, I have enjoyed spending time around the folks at MB Shanghai and in the more poor neighborhoods...which are absolutely fascinating. However, unlike LA, people here are, for the most part, VERY friendly. We strike up conversational charades and broken dialogues with just about anyone we feel like and are often greeted with smiles. One does not get the latter in LA. :) One does get Pirates in both cities though. :)

And finally...one thing has changed here. When we first arrived it was honking horns 24 hours a day. The drivers were COMPLETELY obnoxious after a while...but apparently there was something said by the govmt because one day it just went quiet. Now I can walk down the street in relative peace. Though, crossing the street is still a huge adventure! We finally have it figured out though. The streets here are like the ocean. If you are a pedestrian, you are little fish, best moving in schools for protection and the indimidation factor. If you are a car, you are like a barracuda who moves without fear. If you are a bus you are a great white and can do anything you wish. If you are alone and on foot, you are food for the fishes and best hurry to the shelters of the rocky sidwalks if you are in the street. :) When someone said earlier that the biggest vehicle is the one with right of way, they were absolutely right. However, if you are moving in a school of people, you can take some of your road rights back. :)

Anyway...the shopping around here is kinda fun too...everything requires bargaining and bartering. It starts with the shopkeeper inflating the price about five hundred times. We then offer 20 percent of the price. They feign being upset so we go up. Then, when we think we are at the right price, we walk away or I pull out the money and see if they take it. The system makes for a more interesting experience when we are out looking for supplies or souveniers. There is some chess to it. Anyway, here are some pics of late.


J

[sve]

Hello.. that's was a wonderful letter,,, really warm and open... not guarded at all ... and because of that it is very bright, colorful, full of your own personality, Jason.
I actually always suspect a presence of this lyrical and warm side in you... from the time of your Last Man Standing entry... with colors avoided on purpose to give some relieve to nerves and the object you chose... soothing and independent sea. You like silence a lot.
And how you lighten up when you see a beautiful art.

I liked this letter very much... it is very artistic too,,, seeing the street like a ocean... describing in images..want to be a barracuda for a change?

My granfather once had to be in busy Moscow for few days. (he lived in Siberia).
He was terribly afraid to cross streets there. So he was hanging around waiting fro miracle or moment of courage ... but ended up following closely a couple of people in love, a girl and boy. As he remembered he stretched his neck and inserted his head right between them and like a giraffe followed them to the other end of the intersection.
That gave him a feeling of some security I guess. I highly recommend it :).

Thank you so much for sharing your observations and wonderful generalizations about two cities... Judging people by shoes... heheh, high school mentality :).

Interesting shot where restaurant's staff is standing in perfect lines in front of people in white shirts.. The opposite sides are very similar in age and appearance... so steps are a good and needed indication who is who. And body language... Staff stretched as strings showing readiness to perform and predictability... executives... distanced, with hands hidden behind the back, unpredictable, enigmas and the tall leader...like Darth Vader.

So many great scenes you caught... Really a pity some of the best shots are blurry: the little Chinese guy with a slice of watermelon. He is all round and those wonderful sticking out ears... and expression on his face... mmm, tasty. Life is peeking from the photo.
The old woman and the rabbit... wonderful too... She btw has a very nice face features... had to be a beautiful young woman some time ago.

Slums, tunnels made from closely placed buildings... they are beautiful.
Mostly because they carry great deal of information about human lives and past stories, I think.
There is so much reality there...too much reality... I wonder if they don't want to open their eyes in the morning. You need to forget about art and sophistication living in the claustrophobic space. I think there the Oscar Wilde's quote applies: "All art is quite useless" in situation like this.

I read some interesting thought in A. Solzhenitsyn's book some time ago: "Farmers get an inspiration and restore themselves from earth, from nature... Scientists from a creative exploring process... but people living in huge cities, working in factories, repeating the same routine every day, holding dead metal in their hands... they have nothing."
Nevertheless I love the view... trash and beaten up asphalt looks expressive and reach brains and heart without any barriers.

Building with blue strips of fabric hanging on the main view is interesting... the are all different in quality and weariness. I recognize it from my home town memories... it was probably local authority order to hang them fro better view... Very formal order, looks very ironic, because it is pitiful in the attempt... Very funny though.
Beautiful monument of the mad horses... and rabbit is wonderful... so pure and soft.

Thank you so much for posting those... it's kindness and giving.

[Monster in AZ]

This is what a San Francisco dog does in the desert.

http://idisk.mac.com/mebobbyb/Public/monsterwithlola.jpg

Another prisoner
http://idisk.mac.com/mebobbyb/Public/sidhiding.jpg

Get me outta here!!
http://idisk.mac.com/mebobbyb/Public/monsterman.jpg

[Jason Manley]

hey who's dog is the little brown guy? That's not Fred. What did you do to Fred? oh god no...

[Monster in AZ]

I'm also holding hostage Ted's dog. Fred was smarter and stayed inside where it was air conditioned.

[AngryScientist]

I've been lurking here since the beginning but I have to say that the last set of photos is probably my favourite... I don't even mind the blurriness of some because it reinforces the realistic feel of the place. Thanks a lot for sharing more of your experiences!

[Noë]

Wow..!
Awesome pictures here. I'll just have to keep following this thread!
I'm sure the Shanghai workshop will be amazing, those spaces you photographed look really promising, and the cheap factor will probably attract people.
I guess I won't be coming because €750 as the cheapest airplane ticket (from Holland) is just too much. That can't beat the €70 it would cost me to fly back and forth from Holland to Italy.. So I'll see you next year somewhere around Italy (or how about a new Amsterdam workshop? :P that would cost me like almost nothing for travelling :P sorry, now I'm being selfish.)

Oh ehm just a question; are Jason and Jessica a couple?

I'll be checking this thread more often ^^ Pretty pictures.. (or maybe I should shut up and do the dishes, cook, eat, fold the laundry and draw! :teeth:)
Love
Marleen

[2100]

I've been lurking here since the beginning but I have to say that the last set of photos is probably my favourite... I don't even mind the blurriness of some because it reinforces the realistic feel of the place. Thanks a lot for sharing more of your experiences!

If this is your last post and your lurk forever, your post count will always be 666! =D

[kool-ka-lang]

Ah. you know, I've been lurking on this thread too, and I've gotta say, Thank you very much for these pics. I used to live in the philippines, and a lot of the photos look very familar to where I used to live. (manila.)

The old, poor neighrborhood mixing in with the high-class high-rises popping up everywhere....brings back good, good memories. :D

Ever since I moved to the U.S., I've always felt...a lot more...open space. not saying it's a good thing, but, if you go out of my home right now, you'll only pass by one or two people riding a bike. It lacks the busy-ness, the liveliness that I used to grow up in. these pics remind of that, so thank you for that.

[BOON]

i want those chinese art books that u have T.T

[Darktwin]

i want those chinese art books that u have T.T

Same here Boon, I've been following this thread since the beginning and I have to say thanks for taking the time and sharing your experiences with all of us Jason. The images and your descriptions are very inspiring for myself. Thanks for sharing.

[Jason Manley]

Today is our last day in China for a few months. Finally, I have a moment to post a big update of our latest adventures between our very busy workdays. We have been traveling a ton, so I will start with Shanghai.

Dealing with some things here is tough for me, being a country kid from the midwest. One of these things is the animals here, which have absolutely no rights. Living in this environment is downright hostile for stray dogs and cats.

One morning, we walked out of the apartment to find the skinniest and hungriest looking kitten trying to eat a worm which was doing its best to dig into the pavement. Impulsively I walked to the kitten as it was only about six weeks old and was clearly starving (I have never seen a kitten try to eat an earthworm). When I reached for her, she was out of energy and was very wobbly, unable to run away. I managed to woo her over and knew at that moment that she was one to save. I carted her to MB, doing my best to keep her racing heart from pounding. We realized that she had belonged to an older man who just lost his newspaper stand to development (the older areas of shanghai are being torn down daily here so that the skyscrapers can go up everywhere). We took her to the vet, bathed her, and fed her well. A week later she is nearly double in size and is already back to full strength.

I had promised myself that I would just fatten her back up for a couple weeks and then let her back out...but the team has adopted her..mascot kitty number two for the studio. I hoped to myself that we would not see any other strays needing rescue in the last few days we were here. Sure enough, she would not be the last.

Yesterday I walked in to find that the team had found a beautiful one week old kitten that had struggled out of the water at the park. Seems she escaped a terrible situation (animals are not treated well here often times) and was rescuted a few of the folks here. She has barely opened her eyes and is about as big as a mouse. I showed the team how to bottle feed her and get her to potty...and we are hoping to find a home for her as she grows stronger. They are taking care of her every two hours. Good folks around here...that is for certain.

Fortunately for all the strays, there are some very big hearts going around helping out. We watched as an older woman fed dozens of cats in the park and went around sharing some good lovin with those kitties who were starved for attention and still friendly. That day we felt very appreciated and enjoyed helping out to care for the animals in the park.

The duck pictured below was not so lucky. Seeing him tied up in the middle of the night, about to be prepared for that day's upgcoming lunch, I felt really guilty. He only wanted to get away and was clearly scared as hell. I know such things make me sound like a wuss, but had I known that there was a park and water area so close, I would have bought it right there and freed it in the park. I reasoned though, that it would just be re-caught and eaten a few days later so I did not intervene in fate. Since I had ducks as a kid, the urge to cut that string holding him was strong. However, a duck with clipped wings will not get very far in this city.

When not slammed with biz and work, we did have fun here too. GoKart racing in this unregulated city is a blast. In the US, bumping other cars is a big no no. Not here. We raced those tracks on a hot sunday night and I laughed my ass off as other drivers tried to run me off the course or at watching my car push them into the wall and off the course. Yumiko ended up with some bruises, but we were both grinning from ear to ear after such a fun little escape. Finally we got to give the horrendous drivers here some of their own medicine. :)

We have seen many sides of Shanghai during the past few months. We have been to the uber high end kind of places where people drink expensive martini's and cheers each other on their success in taking over the world, and the lowest end places one can imagine. The latter are still our favorite kinds of places as we see all sorts of interesting people and interesting things in the poor areas, void of industrial development. We also have no real interest in the world of Prada and Bulgari that exists here amongst the faux elite.

We have seen poor mothers and children laid out like the Pieta, children begging at two in the morning or noon in the hot sun (on the freeways). Everything from shirtless workers laughing and playing cards on the street late at night to smiling old women caring for dozens of stray cats in the parks. Shanghai is a very rich city for sights, smells, and experiences and we have tasted, seen and smelled quite a bit of it.

The atmosphere here is sometimes very overwhelming. There is a major problem with pollution and on top of that the smoggy mist and warm fog can hang like a horrible mood on the worst of weeks. Still, people do not let such things get to them. One thing I have seen is that the people of Shanghai can deal with just about anything.

We are going to miss the team here most of all, and we are looking forward to returning in a few months. For now, here are some pics....


Jason

[Jason Manley]

So...Singapore...where to begin.

It all started in the taxi-cab. I waited that morning in the heat as few taxi's were available. Finally I got one. With two and a half hours to spare, I asked the driver to take me to Pudong che cha. He understood that I wanted to go the the airport and took me in. I got to going through my things, making sure I had my passport and all. About fifteen minutes later I looked up to see where we work. From the tone of his voice as the driver jabbered on the cel, I knew we were lost. Fortunately we had driven in a big circle. Since it started to rain, I knew that it was going to be especially hard to get another taxi so I said the one thing I regret the most that day "I guess I will just stick it out with this guy". Now that was lesson number one. I learned why a few minutes later.

He got his directions from his friend (I was running late now) and sped toward the freeway on his balding tires. I started to notice him downshifting and upshifting for no reason at all. He accellerated into the exit rather than waiting to gas it when he began to exit the curve. It was then that I realized...TODAY IS THIS MAN's FIRST DAY AT THE WHEEL. He sped onto the freeway and then slowed to a modest 40mph. Cars zoomed by us as the rain poored down. After a few minutes I started to see signs for the airport so my mind relaxed. I would be late but I would not miss my flight. I would probably even make it since I knew that it was mostly a straight shot off the freeways. Thus, I put my head back down in my note taking and time slipped by.

About 45 minutes later I looked up, expecting to be at the airport but saw no signs for such. I started to say something to him when he reached for his cel and proceeded to begin what would scare the living hell out of me. He downshifted the car violently and while we were in the fast/carpool lane, he stopped the car. In the pooring rain, I stared out the back window for a moment, watching as busses and semi trucks rushed toward us at full speed. Horns started honking...I began to yell GO GO GO GO....he did not budge...he called his friend...got more directions....and I started taking pics with my camera phone as my own fate was finally going to be upon me. The thought "this is how it happens..." went through my mind as cars and trucks rushed by in the rain, some barely swerving to miss us as we parked right in the freeway. It was that "final destination" moment. What I did not realize while I was taking pics thinking that this was the end and someone will find my cel and know what happened...was that the situation was about to get worse.

I turned back toward him as he hung up the phone...watching as he looked over his shoulder and quicly turned around, directly facing into traffic on a Los Angeles sized freeway. Cars now were swerving voilently, honking and flashing lights...i hung on for my life as I yelled NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!! at him. He turned and looked at me in a blink of an eye and just shrugged. shifted lanes a few times...cars buzzing by...this was it...it was all over....surely I would not survive...we neared the previous exit and he cut all the way across the four lanes of oncoming cars to do a complete uturn back onto the exit. My grip on the seat relaxed. I shook my head in disbelief. Unfortunately the exit simply led back onto the freeway. We were now in the middle of nowhere. No buildings, no gas stations...no nothing. I was stuck with a terrorising cab driver and had no where to go. I let him drive me closer to the airport (after a few more wrong turns) and finally hopped out of the car and threw the money on the seat. I could not take any more.

Luckily, I caught another cab a few minutes later and made it to the airport...flight missed. Even luckier, I found one helpful person in the pudong airport (and there are few of those people) who lined me up with tickets to Singapore.

Off I went...It was business time. Interestingly, and accidentally, my travel agent booked my room in the middle of the red light district Geylong. I spent the next few days dealing with the fun stuff that keeps the mb wheels turning (secret secrets) and at night would eat street food surrounded by prostitutes and gang members near my hotel. The pic of me with the local singapore guys is blurry as we were all absolutely loaded on local beer. These guys were the real thing...singapore gang members with all the tats and lifestyle that such things bring. At first they were just harassing me as I walked by...once they asked me why I was in singapore and I told them I was there for training artists and that I was an artist, they took me in for free drinks. After the cab ride, I had no fears of anyone or anything. I shared stories of travels and they did the same. I enjoyed that night a lot.

Biz went well too. Singapore is an absolutely beautiful city...manicured and cared for...spotless. It has everything a city in europe or the US has...and the food was great too. I spent the final day walking the city, staring at the buildings and looking for art. The latter was not hard to find. I will go back soon.

I hope I never have such a cab ride again...just one more day to go.

[Jason Manley]

After such experiences I have been longing for a break to return back to the states. Yumiko was the same. Fortunately it was her birthday so we made plans to go back to Hawaii for a few days to see her family and for me, there was a lot of work to do too. It is a very busy time at MB. We are perhaps the busiest we have ever been...and I mean EVER. Thus, the hours spent in the beautiful waters were priceless. I had never been to Hawaii and being there with Jess and seeing all the wonderful things from a local perspective made it that much sweeter. Amazing actually.

On our last day I was snorkeling and a pod of dolphins we had been taking pics of passed all around and under me. I felt like a kid in a fantasy movie. Hawaii is absolutely gorgeous. The ocean there is perfection. We even managed to take a couple naps on the beach.

Time passes quickly when life is like that...hard work...great personal experiences...and being surrounded by the best folks while doing it. Happy times for sure.

It seems like a lot of fun from the pics, but I have spared ya from pics of me slaving on my phone and keyboard making wonderful excel docs and spreadsheets for biz...woo hoo!!!! Still, it was a blast and a welcome escape.

[Chermilla]

Great Pix Jason, looks like a fantastic place to visit....I really need to get out there and travel more!! :)

Cx

[Icon]

It's great to be a witness of this. :p it's one of those things that you know a person will never be the same from all the wonderful ( and near death ) experiences!

I'm sorry you guys had to go out with crazy cab driver.... but after that will you ever fear anything again!? That man made you stronger, the cost was being scared shitless! ( I can’t stop laughing at that drawing)

I hope you two have a wonderful time in Hawaii , there's something magical and healing about the aqua seas that you can only see in an island ;p I grew up in a little island too, so those pictures have a hint of home(just in a nicer place)! Have fun guys! And keep up the journalist streak; it's a real joy to read!

[Jason Manley]

After Hawaii, we landed back in Shanghai, slept one night, and flew off to Bangkok to work MB biz there. It is my first visit to Bangkok (yumiko's too) and we went there specifically to strengthen relationships with the local art community, make new friends, and decide if we wanted to set up a home base there for a while.

Bangkok Thailand at first glance is a lot like Shanghai. The first impression is one of heavy traffic, a bit of a "developing city" vibe, and lots of hot weather. That is as far as it goes. They are ENTIRELY different cities in every other way.

Once we got settled in a quaint hotel on Sukhumvit, I finished up my work and we went out to see what the city was all about. We found wonderful food. We found very happy people and got plenty of rain on us. We found helpful and kind souls with more of a small town midwestern usa kind of vibe (throw in a bunch of buddhist vibes to round it off) and a peaceful community.

The Thai people are extremely polite and well mannered. After being in rude and crude Shanghai (not a bad thing in that city), it was a welcome feeling to hear the words "thank you" from complete strangers...or to see people hold doors open for you...or even hold the elevator when they see you coming (in Shanghai, one can expect that the door will get closed in their face if they are not sharp and on the ball). Then we ate...and man oh man fresh Thai food in Bangkok is wonderful.

Later that night we went out with some of the great folks from the MB Bangkok team and shared awesome food and some local beers. I became addicted to sticky rice and mango with coconut milk right there on the spot. When I balloon to three hundred fifty pounds, that stuff will be why.

Thursday, we rang up Randis, from here on the boards, and met up to find some interesting times in the city. He has been in Bangkok for two years and knows the city well. We got the tour on the river and headed straight for a wonderful open air market (where the crazy man with the pig faces freaked us the hell out!!). Yumiko picked up some cool outfits for about eight bucks or so...good times. We met up with Randis' missus for dinner and went to meet up with a good group of the Thai CA community and lurkers. We drank a bunch. Talked a ton...and were very happy to be in Bangkok.

We spent a lot of time exploring the city over the next days, visiting a local entertainment studio, and meeting up finally with MB Bangkok team for a night of great music, conversation, more food than we could eat and of course, giant pitchers of Thai beer.

We visited the weekend market on Sunday also (Randis and his lovely missus spontaneously picked out two kittens for themselves) and I picked up a bunch of antiques for Carl Dobsky's upcoming still life series.

The Bangkok trip came and went quickly. Biz got accomplished but even more so on this trip, we explored the city with every free moment. We were very sad to leave, when it was all done. The Thai's won us over with their kindness and decency. We are the type who appreciate all the little things. The Thai culture embodies those little things. There is no wonder they have had two hundred years of peace.

And finally...BNE sticker man has been to bangkok...after SF has been totally plastered with those stickers. Sighted!! and definitely brought me thoughts of home.

We returned to Shanghai and finally we are due to head home to SF tomorrow. I miss my dog and my kitty like crazy and am looking forward to seeing the MB crew. Can't wait. We miss you guys and are both looking forward to giving US soil a big fat kiss. MWAH!!!!



Jason

[Justin.]

hehehe pigface :D

The pics of the houses on the water are awesome.. saved to ref folder. It took my a long time to figure out what the chicken feet were...

[Jason Manley]

and some more...thailand rocks!

[Stark]

Jason, if you're not gonna send me some of that food, please stop showing it! It looks so damn good. You're having too much fun and you have way too much time on your hands...DRAW!

[Diego]

wow, GREAT pictures jason. Always a pleasure reading your comments and enjoy the colorful pics.
Thank you for sharing your adventures.

[Jason Manley]

Stark...I work 10+ hours (today I put in 16 hours) every single day including weekends....I sleep an average of 6 hours a night. If I choose to enjoy life in those few extra hours in my day and take lots of photos, then so be it.

Honestly, I have little interest in drawing right now and have chosen to pursue other areas of creative exploration, including constant business development for CA and MB. I have gained a hundred times more experience these past few months...life experience...spiritual experience...creative exposure...and all around personal experience than had I stayed in and drawn pictures while logged into the internet. One day I will settle back in and focus on pure art with no distraction...but not right now. But, for your information, I did spend a couple hours drawing today...and I spend a few hours doing art direction, art training, and other areas of creative development each day. I have lived to work for the past nine years. Hawaii was my first vacation to a place like that in years and still I worked every night and day. One must also live some life while working hard...and that is the balance I have found lately.

What did you get done today?

Thanks Diego.

[Noë]

Wow.. What an awesome report, with loads of pictures..
I got very sad by all the poor animals you were typing about in Shanghai. And then I saw that first picture ^^ so sweet. It looks like one of our kittens ^^ (with that I mean one of the kittens my bf and me have :P)
Ah well, I have so much to say about the pictures that I just don't.. Gotta sleep soon and I want to draw some beforehands. :P

I just want to applaud you (Jason) for showing us all these gorgeous pictures and for giving us such great stories to go with them. It really makes me feel like I'm on a small trip myself while reading and watching. Very awesome indeed!

EDIT;
I work 10+ hours (today I put in 16 hours) every single day including weekends....I sleep an average of 6 hours a night.
Oh my! I couldn't do that, 6 hours of sleep a night would euhm, well, make me really tired and emotional (I always cry loads when I slept too little for a while :P tonight I did 8 and I'm so tired!) Many kudos for you working so hard! Though don't kill yourself working please? :P
It's too bad you live to work, even though you like what you do a lot.. I would say "work to live" instead of living to work.
Is there some kind of nobelprize for selfless artists who are working 10+ hours every day to make the (art and normal)world a better place? You should get it, honestly.

Thanks!
Love
Marleen

[GriNGo]

Hopefully on you're next business trip you'll come by South America!

[Zaknafain]

This thread is the biggest source of inspiration for me today... thanks again for taking the time to write all this down and for posting the fotos.
:)

[Jessica Hook]

I got very sad by all the poor animals you were typing about in Shanghai. And then I saw that first picture ^^ so sweet.

To expand on what Jason touched on earlier...
We're a bunch of bleeding hearts at MB Shanghai, saps I tell you! :) These pics were just tooo cute not to share.
We started out with one office cat, Shau tu tu (means 'little rabbit'), she's the white one with 2 blacks spots on her head. Then, me and Jason came across a poor, starving, emaciated kitty only a few weeks old and took her in. She's the brown one, we named her 'Bean.' We simply couldn't let her die of starvation or exposure. :( And then just yesterday another co-worker came across a poor 1 week old kitten that looked as if she had been thrown in the pond, but was strong enough to pull herself out, still soaking wet. Surely a baby kitten with that much resolve, deserves a chance to live. Again, we simply could not let her suffer. She fits in the palm of your hand. She has had 24 hour care since we brought her back to MB. We hope she will improve and grow strong as quickly as Bean has. :)
Here they are playing:

[Jason Manley]

thanks noe...yer very sweet.

my life has good balance right now (took years to get it to do that). I have seen more in the past summer than in the past two years so my tank is pretty much full right now. all is well...work is fun lately...and things are on the up and up. no complaints out of me.

j

[Jason Manley]

we end our trip with a couple quick pics I found while cleaning up my desktop before we head to the airport. One is downtown Shanghai after we went and had hamburgers at a chain spot with decent food called Blue Frog. The second is a myna bird that said all sorts of crazy things in english and chinese...like...bye bye!

See yall on the flipside.

J

[Diego]

wow, more pics. Geez man, I'm enjoying everyone of them. And Yumiko, that's loads of cuteness. :)
Thanks again.
EDIT: I know what to do with savings. If the workshop is still running.

[2100]

OH my god... those kittens :' ]

I'm two hours behind in my day's schedule now cuz of this thread, but it was totally worth it. Jason, Yumiko, you two should make a scrap book and publish it! I would buy$.

[Icon]

Stark...I work 10+ hours (today I put in 16 hours) every single day including weekends....I sleep an average of 6 hours a night. If I choose to enjoy life in those few extra hours in my day and take lots of photos, then so be it.
exactly... art , no matter what shape or form is really bland if there are no experiences to back it up...so is life too, so you enjoy it, you guys deserve it!(but do I really need to tell you that?) And I’m sad your trip is over! It has been a plethora sights and written emotions/experiences that you don't get to experience everyday.. maybe Anthony Bourdain comes close .

To expand on what Jason touched on earlier...
We're a bunch of bleeding hearts at MB Shanghai, saps I tell you! These pics were just tooo cute not to share.
We started out with one office cat, Shau tu tu (means 'little rabbit'), she's the white one with 2 blacks spots on her head. Then, me and Jason came across a poor, starving, emaciated kitty only a few weeks old and took her in. She's the brown one, we named her 'Bean.' We simply couldn't let her die of starvation or exposure. And then just yesterday another co-worker came across a poor 1 week old kitten that looked as if she had been thrown in the pond, but was strong enough to pull herself out, still soaking wet. Surely a baby kitten with that much resolve, deserves a chance to live. Again, we simply could not let her suffer. She fits in the palm of your hand. She has had 24 hour care since we brought her back to MB. We hope she will improve and grow strong as quickly as Bean has.

You guys are so wonderful! There's nothing worse than seeing an animal trying to survive against all odds in a world that's not meant for them! :D I've given homes to so many kittens because of it...I can't stand it. So I’d send you all cookies out of love for your kindness but I'm not sure your taste buds could handle my delicate burnt to a crisp flavor :D

[SEIV]

LOL u visited Jatujak Market and Kaosarn Road

About Jatujak Market Im totally hangout there with friends like almost every weekend(Im working in one of the shop there also.)

I think you missed MBK and Pantip Plaza :P

[The-Mentat]

Wow, I've been following your thread since the start I must say it's been quite an experience. It's awesome to see the cultural difference with cities here in EU/US, and beautiful to see the different atmosphere and energy of Shanghai/Bangkok. I can only hope that one day I will visit those places too cause they seem awesome to me!:D Oh and it's damn nice what you've done for all the stray cats, I understand you couldn't just let them die:P.

All in all really really cool to see all those photo's (especially cause I make a loooot of photo's too) and hear the stories behind them! Hell you know what? Maybe I should make a thread about my vacation too (the Languedoc in Southern France)!:P

[kool-ka-lang]

Damn, this thread had me wishing you went to the philippines, to see what your impressions of the place is like. :P

someday, someday. :)

[Carnifex]

so many different emotions are floating around in my body i can't express em...awe,shock,heart-warming cuteness...wow.
thank you,alot alot alot alot for sharing this.
words can't express the awesomeness of this all,but your stories are pretty close to it.
thank you :)

must work harder...

[Bhrazz]

We ordered understandably mediocre indian food (one can only eat chinese so many times in a row...I have no idea how they do it here).

I couldnt stop laughing after reading that. HAHA nice one!:)

Your trip gave me some good feelings, thanks.

And you are far away from a wuss like you said for saving that cat, your just a man with a hearth. Welcome home!

[dorian]

wow
thanks so much for sharing all this!!

[erik-jan v/d schuur]

amazing pictures jason
thx for the share