movie experience

Since buying dvd's in China is so cheap (5 to 10RMB), the movie theaters in Shanghai are not very packed. Also me, I never consider to go to the movies, even though I love the experience; sitting in a big sofa, big screen movie and 2 hours of total relaxation.
For Chinese new years, I received 2 free tickets from a supplier. This was a good reason to dig into the movie theaters again and see what is on the screen. After browsing on the websites, I understood why people are not going to the movies. Did you ever heard of the movie "Two Worlds"?? See the image below. Doesn't it look like a movie from the eighties, where we still want to find E.T. and E.T. wants to find his way back home?

Besides the fact that there is not a lot of good movies on the screen, the price is also not encouraging. This movie cost 60RMB-80RMB, 6-8 times as much as buying a DVD. Understandable that people will buy a dvd instead. After a good search, I finally found a movie which was worth to go: Valkyrie, with our one and only Dutch actress Carice van Houten. It was Friday night and about 10 people also had the same idea. So we had lots of space and not much of noise (very rare in China!). After the movie ended, I was still relaxed in my chair. Around me people were already up and queuing at the exit door, as if they were in a hurry. Even the "ayis" where inside the theater doing the cleaning. The movie just finished 5 seconds ago!! After I was kicked out of my chair I was wondering if I will ever go back to the movie theaters again in China.

Times flies when you are having fun! Last weekend I have discovered some new places in Shanghai. More than 4 years in Shanghai and still you find some new places you have never been before. Saturday an American friend of mine was in town again and we decided to gather together with a group of friends. We started at the Thai house, which was a restaurant inside a Chinese compound. It was not really a restaurant, but just some tables inside a residential apartment building. It felt like eating at home, but then with many people around you. The place was pact! My question was; how do people find this place?
After a good Thai dinner we went for some wine. Winebars has been popping out in Shanghai for the last 2 years. The first year I lived in Shanghai, not one winebar could be found in the city. Even getting some nice bottles of wines was difficult. Nowadays, having a winebars in Shanghai is challenging and in almost every convenient store you can find some OK foreign brand wines for about 80RMB ( which is cheap for China). The place we went is called Cuvee, tucked away in a small alley of Kang Ding Road. This place is a new urban development project in Jing'an, transformed from an old Church. The moment you get inside the alley, you can't imagine you are in China. With an Belgian Bar and another lounge bar Exit next to the winebar, this alley is a new gathering place for winelovers in town.