sushipanda

• Getting my Shelter pre-game meal: two filet o’ fish and rubbery fries at the Mac. #
• @cmar55 honestly, you want to go even further BACK in time? in reply to cmar55 #
• @jennwong and @sammy6001 stood helplessly by while I did it. in reply to jennwong #
• @jennwong yes that was me. You made me down a nasty blue drink. Maybe punishment for not having a hat for you to steal. in reply to jennwong #
• @terencelau stop being me in reply to terencelau #
• Eating with mom of @jconceptz and looking at pics of his relatives. He’s not here, btw, so it’s kinda weird. #
• Another Xin Wang run at 3 am. “Calories are my friend, calories are my friend.” #
• The MC at the Adidas party looked like @danwashburn. It was kinda weird. #
• The DJ at Adidas party killed tonight. KILLED! *is that what all the kids are saying these days?* #
• heading to that foreign of foreign lands, Pudong. Free champagne at Adidas party is quite persuasive. #
• just finished writing 3 food posts for @shanghaiist. Now I’m hungry. #
• @JakeNewby thanks Jake! Turns out Weezer’s “Pork and Beans” did the trick. in reply to JakeNewby #
• i find myself unable to stop listening to Broken Social Scene’s “Swimmers.” Please, someone recommend another song, now! #
• @shanghailaine should refer to expert @danwashburn for all future sandwich considerations. in reply to shanghailaine #
• Getting started at Pier 39 with @jconceptz: http://twitpic.com/2ga6m #
• What a beautiful day for a hangover! #
• Trashed at xin wang with @jconceptz and @julieliu. @julieliu wants more pork. #
• At kuluska with @edmonkey01 and my banshee friend Vivian #
• @galexkeene i had a pwned iphone 1st gen 2.1.1, just upgraded through itunes to 2.2.1 and no problems with baseband in reply to galexkeene #
• It worked! That was easy. Debating whether I should re-jailbreak #
• @liyunfei wow, hope that wasn’t in Block 11. We are all good citizens here. in reply to liyunfei #
• updating iphone software right now while simultaneously peeing my pants. I’m talented. #
• know i’m late on this, but has anyone used quickpwn to upgrade iphone firmware 2.1 to 2.2? can i really just upgrade from itunes? #
• @galexkeene @John_Kuo Thanks for the tip. I was using tvrss and Miro, which worked great. Not sure why Vuze works and Miro doesn’t in reply to galexkeene #
• I am drunk, therefore I watch Kill Bill Vol. 2 #
• Listening to @peijinc dispense relationship advice at Bliss. Fucking surreal, man. #

It feels nice to be cared about. I’ve had multiple people tell me this week that they were worried about my liver. Part of building up a start-up studio like ours is to put ourselves out there, make people aware of who we are and what we do, and that entails me entertaining people a lot. Befriending one person can lead to being introduced to one or two more who might be interested in what what we do, and so on and so forth. It’s guanxi at its purest form, baby. But the byproduct of all this networking and schmoozing and making of new friends is that this activity usually takes place in the company of alcohol. Even last night, when my friends were encouraging me to take it easy and rest up a bit, it was at a bar. And right before someone ordered me a long island. Still, it’s the thought that counts. It’s not my liver that I’m worried about, anyway.

There was a post on Shanghaiist yesterday about how Asians who have an inherited enzyme deficiency suffer more than just public humiliation at having their faces turn tomato red upon imbibing. It also means that they’re at an increased risk of throat cancer.

An ALDH2-deficient person who has two beers a day has six to ten times the risk of developing esophageal cancer as a person not deficient in the enzyme.

Fuck…Me.

• heading to Pier 39 for a rejuvenating salad, which will be immediately offset by copious amounts of red wine across the street at Bliss #
• none of the torrents on tvrss.net seem to be working. I need my Colbert/FNL/Lost/Daily Show/Office fix very very soon. Help! #
• Could really go for a piping hot bowl of corn chowder right now. And you’re welcome for the profound tweet. #
• @galexkeene @peijinc as in…get a hawt. to put on your head. please in reply to galexkeene #
• @peijinc I am indded an asshole so I will thus proceed to click on your link and laugh…wow, this makes it so easy. in reply to peijinc #
• Listening to Natasha Richardson on Fresh Air. The whole thing is soooo sad. #
• Bigger Bang rocks! RT @splitworks: hearts Bigger Bang. They’re joining the line-up with P.K.14 and Battles at March 27 @ MAO (BJ!) #
• just found out @cmar55 is going to Laris tonight! So predictable, that one. #
• @jenniferchapman place made its name serving clam chowder in a bread bowl. It’s not bad, but salads and sandwiches are good as well. in reply to jenniferchapman #
• Chicken breast sandwich at Pier 39 is not bad at all #
• At my drinking hole constellation 2 with @terencelau. #
• At Yu Xiang Hai, David Wu from Talk da Talk sitting behind me. Sharts! #
• @jennwong the w+k dudes should have fight club with the TBWA dudes for cutting edge youth-oriented advertising supremacy in reply to jennwong #
• @peijinc @galexkeene i think @cmar55 would prefer “bohemian.” “foolish” is kinda harsh, how about “trapped in the 90’s?” in reply to peijinc #
• Seahorse giving birth http://is.gd/nE29. I really dunno why this cracks me up so much #
• Woke up to screeching cats. Turns out it was my mom singing along with to iPod. Technology can suck sometimes. #
• Bliss, constellation, Volar, m1nt, dragon, city diner, and now on cab home to my doting pillows. #
• Hmmm not bad. Maybe the food gods are smiling on me after all: http://twitpic.com/23ozk #
• @lparsons no, the club. Was shit tonight. At city diner now. Food gods, please forgive me. in reply to lparsons #
• Guess no tweeters wanted to come to dragon. I don’t blame y’all #
• DJ at M1NT is “off the hook.” Is that what the kids are saying these days? #
• Just checked out bcbg fashion show at volar. And I’m wearing my vans with holes in them. #

Republic officially started its Shanghai operation on July 1st, 2008. About a month and a half before that, Clint and I were still struggling to find studio space for our office. Through sheer luck and fortune, we came across our current location, 696 Weihai Lu, which is in the heart of downtown Shanghai, a block and a half away from the metro, and seriously a super bargain compared to the other places we had been looking at. I love that this happened to us; I always figured it was a good omen.

I just peaked out the window and caught a glimpse of Plaza 66 sheathed in the sometimes beautiful dusk of Shanghai. The weather has been so shitty the past couple of months that it was easy to forget awesome this city can look. This view on the left is one of the reasons why it was so tempting to open up our space for a grand opening party. The one that we were supposed to have but have yet to get to, even though it’s been nearly nine full months since we’ve grandly opened.

Then again, the view is just one of several considerations when deciding whether or not to invite people to a certain location. This picture on the right is of the men’s toilet, which is shared by us and the other artists and designers and frequent migrant laborers than reside on our floor. And this is a shot of it on a good day. It takes some getting used to, but obviously it makes one want to stay away from Indian food when one has to spend most of his waking day here.

Just saw this after walking back from lunch at Pier 39 on Jinxian Lu and I had to take a picture. There’s poignant symbolism to this woman going through this amount of trouble to dry her family’s clothes. Even though no vehicle short of a tank could knock these clothes off the wire, she still sticks it to modernity by insisting to hang her clothes this high. There’s an allegory about clashing with modernism for ya.

Once again, I’ve been MIA on this site as I’ve had a shitload of other things to take care of. Mainly, drinking a lot and shaving. Yes, I’ve been doing a lot of shaving, and not just on my face (that one was for you, ladies!).

Actually, Republic has been busy with three projects at the same time, so we’re doing some major juggling right now, but for my many fans I don’t want to leave you with nothing but measly Twitter updates (even thought hey are the best Twitter updates in the world), so here are a few interesting things I encountered in recent weeks:

- While having lunch with Terry and Charmaine, the topic of gym memberships came up, because Charmaine just signed up for one and I, obviously, did not. She mentioned to Terry that he was putting on some flab, to which he responded: “Non-flabby people are either gay or boring.” I nearly spit out my porridge.

- My friend Vivian twisted my arm and forced me to go to Laris last week for martini night. When she arrived, she gave me a hug, and then proceeded to ignore me the entire night while in the company of four other men. Non-flabby men. So, Vivian, as promised, I am exacting my revenge on you on this blog: Vivian hurt her back last week having rough sex. So there.

- The above paragraph was a joke. The rough sex part, not the dissing me at Laris part.

- On my way to work two weeks ago my assistant called. She sounded frantic. She told me that she couldn’t open our front gate for some reason. Since she has been charged with opening our front gate every since she started working for me in September, this was indeed alarming. I had visions of miscreants trying to pick our lock after I left the night before, so I asked the driver to speed up. When I arrived, she was squatting on her knees with my other employee, trying to force the key into the lock. I asked them to step aside and used my key, which worked perfectly. Yes, my assistant was trying to open the office gate with her house key. For 30 straight minutes. I hope that is not an omen of things to come for my darling company.

• Excellent brunching at Closed Door http://twitpic.com/22wqk #
• Picture from meeting with all the artists in our little art space at Maleonn’s studio: http://snurl.com/drra6 #
• @cmar55 you are what is known in professional circles as an alcoholic in reply to cmar55 #
• just got home from photographer Ken Goh’s opening party at his sweet new studio. Lots of wine and W+K people! http://snurl.com/dqpfs #
• Lunches at Otto sure are getting small. Here’s my grilled snapper: http://twitpic.com/1zv6n #
• Ugh I ate too much. Wondering how many calories I’m burning on metro line no. 2 #
• 7 rmb steamed egg at Soup Expert. Recession dining at its best. http://twitpic.com/1z5lf #
• My savory corn and rib soup at Soup Expert. 15 RMB, good deal: http://twitpic.com/1z5fh #
• Going to see if decent Taiwanese food other than Charmant and Bellagio exists in downtown Shanghai: 千秋膳房 on Baoqing Lu. #
• @peijinc @cmar55 there are hipsters in Orange County? in reply to peijinc #
• @sammy6001 watched it last night, too. Kauffman has gone even crazier. Nearly unwatchable for me. in reply to sammy6001 #
• @jennwong shameless indeed! Can you take it to work and give to @julieliu? She cares for it as much as I do and will keep it safe. in reply to jennwong #
• Lamb and polenta at Origin. Late and undercooked as usual. Why do i still end up here? http://twitpic.com/1xip3 #
• House salad at Pier 39: http://twitpic.com/1xfbv #
• At Pier 39 ready to get my salad on. #
• Nodding my head to Justice on cab ride home. Gosh, I’m soooo 2007 #

• Zen’s chicken in glutinous rice. Dry and oversalted. Needs more cowbell http://twitpic.com/1w92k #
• @terencelau I liked Crystal Jade until I saw a rat scurrying across the floor. Dan dan noodles were awesome. Still, go to Royal China. in reply to terencelau #
• Having dim sum at Zen in XTD. Boo. Royal China way better, read the @Shanghaiist review, it’s so well written. #
• @danwashburncom all the cool peeps at mokkos. Me (naturally), @peijinc and @cmar55 in reply to danwashburncom #
• off to dolce vita for lunch. good food, bad service, just need something to counter that depressing and hollow hangover #
• Just woke up. Thank god the chuck came up last night or I’d have even more of a monster hangover. @jennwong still has my hat. #
• @jennwong stole my hat #
• Smashed t’dashed at constellation 3 #
• Just ran into @jennwong and @sammy6001 at constellation 2. They’re both as adorable as I am. #
• Just finished up kabb steak dinner at Xintiandi with @stickkeydude. First ever dinner at kabb in my 5.5 years in shanghai. Meh #
• In bed, about to sleep to jad abumrad’s voice. Such is the life of someone with no life. Good night, sweet world. #
• the IT dude trying to repair our server smells like his last shower was during the Bush administration. The first Bush. #
• @peijinc have always wondered why Jews like to pet catz. 加油! Report back with findings! in reply to peijinc #
• @julieliu @peijinc you guys should both be asleep like I am right now. in reply to julieliu #
• Just finished watching rebroadcast of Superbowl on CCTV 5. Kinds weird that it was on, no? #
• Dear veal at le bouchon: you looked so good, why did your owner keep you away from me. 2001 bourdeaux helped with the sense of loss. #
• Heading to le bouchon for client dinner, you Frenchies have disappointed me before, hope not tonight. #
• 木村 on Beijing Lu: not worth it, stay with the katsu place around the corner on Jiaozhou Lu #
• @peijinc we’re looking for a 500 GB Firewire 2 drive. Let me know if you find one in your travels. in reply to peijinc #
• just walked up 30 flights of stairs. Wish there was a cheeseburger waiting for me at the top. #
• Just wrapped up cantonese meal at brand new 喜粤 near the Putuo Cash Box. Not bad, big new mall opening up here soon. #
• Just wrapping up great dim sum brunch at royal china with @julieliu. Trying to get our friend ling on twitter. #
• @shanghailaine you flake! Had one glass of champagne reserved for you. Had to take one for the @Shanghaiist team. Next round on you in reply to shanghailaine #
• Sad I didn’t get a chance to meet tech queen @christinelu at #sxswsh. Drinking beers at time passage now #