...non periodic oscillations...

New city. New experiences. Glimpses from our walk through the city yesterday, filled with the sun blessing us intermittently while the cold wind froze our fingers. An unplanned walk through a lunch time pop up food market, and Brick Lane with its mouth watering food joints, graffiti, and hot chocolate apart from some interesting built, and unbuilt spaces. Is it normal to get excited by the sight of a tower crane, reaching out into the sky while holding onto the skeletal framework of an under construction building? #london #newadventures #exploreuk #nonperiodicoscillations #walk #sun #popup #food #bricklane #graffiti #chocolate #crane #construction

During our trip to Wuyishan, once again, while the "youthful" were busy scaling another mountain peak, I found myself in a beautiful pavilion in a quite zone. As I lay within the pavilion, slowly drifting into a nap, the beautiful geometry of the roof captivated me. How these simple yet elegantly laid out octagons made of wood have stood for hundreds of years, witness to myriad human emotions and activities in the garden. Location: http://bit.ly/2kWR2YT Wiki: http://bit.ly/2m4bDuF #shanghai #newadventures #explorechina #nonperiodicoscillations #wuyishan #architecture #design #construction #geometry #pavilion #space #wood #nature #sustainability

Walking through the Bund area, along the side streets is highly recommended. Free from the insane crowd and extremely suffocating retail outlets, one can savour the juxtaposition of the old and the new as well as have the space to stand peacefully without being pushed aside. Everywhere you turn, you witness the constant conflict between the heritage and the effort to preserve it while the New gradually imposes itself in a bid to make its presence felt. There is a character in these buildings that reaches out to the soul even after so many years that no glass box can compete with. The raging debate of our time though is how long should we cling on to the past, and at what expense? Sometimes, annihilating the old and building anew may be the prudent thing to do. Then again, who am I to say what those with the means should do? #shanghai #newadventures #explorechina #nonperiodicoscillations #architecture #design #...

The privilege of being in my position is the freedom to explore the city on a working day. While it may sound very appealing, the need for constant and varied mental stimuli can quickly take the sheen off this. A weekday morning stroll through Nanjing West till The Bund without the maddening crowd gave me an opportunity to savour some Baozis (steamed buns with varied filling | http://bit.ly/2ksbTDh) and Jianbing (Chinese crepe/flapjack/burrito | http://bit.ly/2m256jS) as well as the time to appreciate the physical space and little details. The one thing I hate about this breakfast is the insane amount of single use plastic that is used. Imagine one plastic bag for (usually) one Baozi! Although the Nanjing West commercial area was not crowded I was a bit surprised to see so many people on The Bund promenade in the morning. Tourists, locals, school children practicing song & dance routines for the National Day (I think), fashion photography, jogger...

Shanghai's love for adaptive reuse of industrial structures is extraordinary and The Power Station of Art (PSA | http://bit.ly/PSA_Shanghai ) is probably one of the most interesting example. Originally founded as the Nanshi Electric Plant in 1897, it moved to its present site in 1935. The chimney and structure housing the PSA was built in 1985. Established on Oct. 1st, 2012, the PSA is the first state-run museum dedicated to contemporary art in mainland China. The structure houses various exhibition spaces and forms a great backdrop for art. Beautiful steel details peek out from various places reminding the visitor that the building itself is a piece of art. They still have an EOT on the rails and I wonder if it works? I don't particularly like the "thermometer" on the chimney though.  The adjacent buildings house commercial and retail spaces along with galleries. There are new additions with fabulo...

Lujiazui, formerly known as Lokatse, from its pronunciation in Shanghainese ( http://bit.ly/2JwXhLn ), is the new financial district of Shanghai. Strategically located on a peninsula across The Bund, it is the face of Shanghai that is sold to the world. Big buildings, big roads, big elevated pedestrian walkway, big everything. This is home to the most iconic buildings in Shanghai and as expected, packed to the brim even on a weekday. I had a great time walking on the elevated pedestrian walkway, safely above the vehicular traffic although I couldn't stop thinking of what one will go through while walking on it in winter when it is cold and very windy. The glass railings could have been designed as tall screens, maybe? In the midst of all this glitz and glass, three snails were chilling on the grass, probably laughing at the humans and their mad rush. #shanghai #newadventures #explorechina #nonperiodicoscillatio...