The architectural composition of this Century Square with its immediate amenities of modernistic buildings all around superficially reveals the recent building boom of China. Beyond these urban facades are in-filled with many drab and shoddily built structures; many of which are residentials unfitting for this described context. Soon, expectantly, the old and structurally unsound will also be bulldozed to give way for modernity. 
Located at the corner of Century Blvd. and Rushan Road, this rather handsome People's Daily Building is fronted by a ginkgo tree. As the throat of the State, the People's Daily is one of the State controlled newspapers.
Jeremy
The pyramidal top hotel located on the other side of River Pu appears in monochromatic plane when contrasting the nearer tall buildings on this side of the said River. The late afternoon sun on November 28th at 16:21 p.m. generated the hazy atmospheric phenomenon - seen thorough the dust covered ceiling-to-floor length window - and piercing brightness captured on the building instead indicates the earlier than ever night fall of gray winter days. These tall buildings in receding diminishing scale are actually invariably located throughout different parts of Shanghai.
Seeing leaves swerving in space, and capturing sunlight with ever illuminating phenomenon and concurrently generating mysterious overlapping shadows, seems to make me feel warmer during this cold midday photographic moment.
When walking home by the greenest and my most favorite stretch of neighborhood, there are these loofahs dangling from a tree, apparently from some vine creeping from somewhere. For quite sometime since their growing presence caught my sight, I have been very curious about its name in other languages. Finally this afternoon on the way back home for my lunch, I took these few pictures. Browsing the internet, the following are found:The vegetable is imported from its origin India during the Ming Dynasty. There are other names such as Vegetable Gourd 菜瓜or Dangling Gourd吊瓜. In its dried state useful as body scrub, loofahs are usually sold in the bodyshops.
From Wikipedia:
The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah (from Arabic لوف) are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa.
Jeremy
Shanghai upon the Sea
November 25th, 2008
Well, since I cannot mail you out family picture, you'll just have to print this one out for your photo album.
Back Row:
Mark & Cheryl Roberts, William Crotser, Stuart Crotser, Robert, Michele & Heather Bosau.
Seated Back Row:
Noelle Roberts, Joshua Roberts, Phillip & Sharon Chiang.
Seated Front Row:
Amani, Serenity, Peter, Conleth, Jabiri & Brittany Crowley Hope all is well with you and your family!
Stu
Stuart lived in the same co-ed dormitory when we went to Kent State Unversity, Kent, Ohio, USA in mid-1980s. The Crotsers was a very loving Ohioan family; they invited me home to spend the month long X'mas break and we are friends forever...I salvaged the above photo and email Stuart had sent - to recollect memories dating back over two decades long. Every year, Stuart would send me a family photo to keep, before there was such a thing called email. The above photo was the first in digital format sent on on Dec. 31st., 2004.
This up and coming festive season, I wish the Crotsers
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2009.
With love
Jeremy
Greetings from Shanghai
November 23rd., 2008
