3 hours late compliments of the China aviation system! What really pissed us off was not the fact we were delayed but they boarded us then told us we would be delayed unlike all the other airlines who didn’t board their passengers until they were ready to take off. So we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours – you know you going to be delayed a while when the food trolley comes rolling down the isle while your wheels are still on terra firma.
Anyway Tegan met us at the airport where either the Brazilian soccer team of just Kaka was headed into town. I still think the warm reception was for the 6 fingered red headed kid from south Croydon….. Due to be already late we had to skip a few things and head back to Tegans place where we did the usual washing, drinking and eating. 30th floor had a great view the home was great tegan made us feel more than welcome. It was good to wind down for a couple of hours. That night was pretty low key went out for dinner and out to a bar called Dr. Wine for a few drinks before calling it quits.
Next morning Shanghai called its true name the ‘Shanghai Shits’ for obvious reasons. I trooped on as Tegan took us to a water town about 40min out of Shanghai. They are pretty much towns surrounded by canals and waterways etc hence the name. A lot of markets, foul smelling foods and people trying to get your attention. Some of them very half heartedly while they text on their phone rarely looking at you – when they did this I would walk in to their shop and seem interested and get their attention only to walk out. Rebel. The town was great but the weather and my bowels were getting the better of me. Life is put into perspective when your body doesn’t know what end its fluids want to escape from, all in a squat toilet – living the dream! I had to call it quits because of the shits, so we headed home so I could be left alone while the girls went out and did their thing.
After a kip for a couple of hours we headed out for dinner at Bar Barossa. It was Moroccan and it was good. Dinner was great but I was still wary of how much and what I ate. Walked upstairs for a few cocktails and a hookah a.k.a Shisha that was a first for me. Called it a night one the dragon stopped puffing.
Had a much needed sleep in on Saturday before we got our day started. We went to the Shei gardens, which were spectacular. Got to put the new camera in use which I had bought the day prior. We walked through old Shanghai where I lot of people felt the need to sleep in public. Unfortunately for Tegan I had passed my bug on, but as they say sharing is caring and family should always stick together. Funny event – went to buy a bottle of fanta and they lady would only let me drink it if I stayed their finished it and gave her back the glass bottle. SO here I am sculling a fanta so some poor little Asian lady could get her 10c back for the glass bottle. We walked along the bung, which was like walking alone south bank but on a grander scale.
We made the mistake of going to the Oriental Pearl Tower on a Saturday so it was an hour and a half later before we got up the tower. It was a pretty good view of the city but pollution here was also a problem, which limited visibility. The building also had a 360 degree Perspex flood that you could walk around.
That afternoon we headed back to the house to get ready for the Peking Duck dinner, where we met some of Steve and tegans expat friends who were great. Henry and Laura had just moved from England while Gio (who worked for Gucci) and his wife Katia had been I shanghai a similar amount of time as tegan. After dinner which was exceptional we headed to a bar overlooking the Bung which had lit up for the night. Had a few drinks their but this was only the warm up before we headed to a club.
Bar Rouge (a regular for Gio) was the ultimate club over looking the Bung in Shanghai. It was the first club I had been to where to get booths there was a minimum spent to sit down. We nearly got a table between the 8 of us which was around 1k for the night but some opted out which sucked. This club had great views, good mix of tunes and had a variety of ages due to the expat lifestyle in China. The deck overlooking the Bung was where we spent most of the night. Gio told me dancers would come out later in the night and boy they didn’t disappoint. First a tall blonde Russian and a Vietnamese girl got up on a catwalk like runway and danced wearing the bare minimum of course. Then later in the night two Philippine girls did a bit of pole dancing on the outside bar (photo on blog).
Henry the British bloke and I got on really well. We ended up having a look around to meet some new people (he wanted to get away from his wife). There were a lot of model looking girls in the club, who had paid for a few of the booths earlier talked about. Henry and I got talking to two of these girls who were from Ukraine who had been modelling in china for a couple of months. Well when I say we got taking to them it was mainly Henry and I talking. It was like talking to a brick wall. Anyway after our awkward conversation we realised yes these girls were models but they were ‘Sweat Shops Models’. Meaning an agency offered the 3k to come to China for a couple of months to model all around the country, 15 of them getting around in an 8 seater bus. So we ended up feeling sorry for them but only for a little while because they were stilling drinking in the Moet booths. Night kicked on till only around 3 before el and I called it quits long after steve and tegan had gone home ;). Wang their driving was waiting out the front of the club for us where he then took us home.
Sunday morning we had another sleep in before we had brunch at the Waldorf Astoria which I had never heard of before. It was very posh and proper. Could quite possibly be one of the best dining experiences I have ever had in my life. Perrie Jouer Champagne and freshly shucked oysters before our eyes. High tea with cooked delicacies, prawns, salmon etc. I thought this was great but this wasn’t all. After an hour or so of high tea with the champagne constantly being topped up we moved to another room where lunch was awaiting for us. A 4 piece percussion band played on the second level while we ate both from the buffet and food we had ordered from menus. Lobster, prawn cocktails, cheeses, fresh bread, ham and lamb carved off the bone in front of you – you name it they probably had it. Then came the piece de resistance! Dessert! It was the most exciting selection of treats I think ill ever see. White and milk chocolate fountains flowed, fresh fruit, double chocolate brownies, cakes, crème Broulee, macaroons, meringues, biscuits, mouse. Normie would have had a heart palpitation just looking at it – so I took a panorama photo for him haha. Although all that was missing was a big jar of lollies. Tegan and Steve paid for this experience and ill never forget it and really appreciated it. That afternoon we said our farewells and headed back to Beijing for the night before we headed to Paris
