Fabian Perez Callesde San Telmo II painting

Fabian Perez Callesde San Telmo II painting
Howard Behrens Village Hideaway painting
finally pushed out of her body, as if I already knew there was nothing there for me to cheer for.
The old Shanghai, once upon a time, was a magnificent place, a bright pearl of East; a worldwide recognized the paradise for Adventurers for all walks of life. The old Shanghai was a grotesque shining mosaic and a powerful melting pot nurturing and culturing generations upon generations of good and bad men and women. If Hong Kong is regarded being hatched out from a sordid fishing village to today’s thriving and prosperous international Metropolitan City, whereas Shanghai certainly has had a great leap forward from a squalid coastal enclave to a gorgeously brilliant gem of Cosmopolis in the world.
My grandpa told me the old Shanghai was a famous “sink of iniquity”, for it had more than 600 brothels spreading across every corner of this dazzling human world with its myriad temptations. The old British Club was an eyewitness account of the decadent Shanghai. It was over there the great Taipans, once upon a time, sipped their “stengahs” with a big cigar between their fingers after sunset. It was over there the white Russian girls were twisting their curvy body on the toe-point and lustfully showing their sexy long legs on the stage. The racecourse, the numerous gambling houses, and the gaudy western-style abodes and skyscrapers with ever-lasting flashing neon-signs on the top of building made a life a sharp and striking contrast with the sweating, scrawny coolies pulling the heaviest load of carts crossing the garden bridge and the haggard-looking, flea-ridden beggars howling along the street in the blizzards. Grandpa once teased me saying that I was coming too late to enjoy the old good times they used to have, but at that time I didn’t quite understand what he really meant, as all I knew was the old Shanghai was the glorious birthplace of the Chinese Communist