On the flight in, I was quarantined minimally while on the plane and arrived in Shanghai, pretty much without issue. Seeing my friends, one of which I hadn't seen for two years was incredible. I have spent this time talking to her regularly and truly it didn't even feel like more than months, not years had passed since we had seen one another. Friends like Yaya and Katie really made me feel comfortable, hanging out with them felt like slipping on an old favorite t-shirt. Awesome, filled with memories, and definitely worth keeping for years to come.
The first night upon arrival, I ate delicious Chinese food at a ritzy place where we drank basil martinis, which could sound disgusting but in fact were rimmed with layers of hard sugar, that it would have been impossible for it to taste bad. We then went with a few other friends to watch a performance of the Laramie Project. The space that this play was held was intimate and inviting. Too much so, that the moment that the lights dimmed, I fought consciousness.
More than one time, I found myself nodding off, unable to control my jetlag, sometimes immediately after making eye contact with one of the performers. You see, it was so intimate that I was sitting on the 2nd row. My friend rationalized that perhaps the bright lights would keep them from seeing us. This was not so.
As a play that was set in Wyoming, all the actors had a tough time forming proper accents. A few of them resembled Southern accents, while others flitted in and out of British accents - it was confusing and later annoying.
The night ended early, as I was exhausted and readying for my all nighter the following night.
The next morning, I woke up at an ungodly hour and went around my friends' apartment to explore. I picked up a sweet tea!!!! and a few baozi for a pre-morning snack. It definitely hit the spot. Later, after everyone had woken up, we went to brunch followed by a visit to Taikong Lu, which is a restored, tourist street that included tons of cute things, new art, ceramics, restaurants, and various other interesting goodies.
A man here remarked upon the fact that despite my being from America, I still had a Chinese face. I responded with appreciations that he noticed. It wouldn't be China unless someone did remark on it.
We bought small goodies and wandered around Taikong Lu looking for pockets of intense air conditioning to cool ourselves in the summer humidity. Shanghai was definitely pushing 100 degrees. At the end of our trip, we treated ourselves to 50% drinks at the Esy Cafe where there were cute pillows, delicious drinks. Gigi did the honor of taking goofy photos of us and herself. We had originally planned on going to a soccer game later that night, but impending storms were making us wary. Meanwhile, across the city, our friends had reported that it was storming like it doomsday - we, in Taikong Lu saw sun and some darkening in the horizon.
As we joyfully drank our drinks (I ordered a mango smooothieeeee! Gigi - chocolate milkshake, Yaya - strawbaobao, and Katie - coffee), the alley way began to darken quite ominously. Gigi announced that perhaps we should consider leaving. Instead of heeding her advice, we overstayed our break by 5 mins, running out into the street as it began to storm.
How were we going to get home? The rain began to fall harder and I was regretting wearing shorts that were too big. Running becomes slightly when you have to clutch at the pants. As we ran to the closest street corner, I heard a man yelling "OHHHH yeah! OOHHHHHh YEAAAAAH!" I temporarily forgot that I was in China, thinking it to be some skeevy white dude. At least he appreciates thissss!
We are soaked to our skins and cannot find a cab that will take us. The first problem was that there were no cabs that were empty. Then, three times, as we walked up to their door, they locked them. The four of us found ourselves standing underneath an overhang of a convenience store as random other Shanghai-ers stared at our ridiculous attempts to get a cab. Finally, a cab relented and let us into his car. I laugh as my friends suppose that he must be retarded to let us get in his cab, as we are for sure going to leave him a present.
After going back to the apartment, we went out to a restaurant that had amazing jiaozi and really disgusting Harbin brand bitter beer. I wanted to throw it up but couldn't as I expected I would drink more and the lack of food in my stomach would surely lead to my death.
Stuffed, the four of us go to meet Heather and her dad at a brewery where they don't have wheat beer and instead I end up drinking this Helles - which was Helles on me body. When Ice ice cold, the beer had a no-taste with a bitter finish. As it gets slightly warmer, it becomes increasingly sour, to the point where it's nastay. Sadly, I ended up drinking this beer all the rest of the night. We finished the night at Shelter - an underground club where the DJ was questionable - we drank Tigers and played silly drinking games.
Then, Katie and I decided that we would play a dancing game - Where we close our eyes for 10 seconds - the other person can do whatever they want. It was ... then we late nighted at the Late Night Diner. 5:30 home arrival... and then I woke up at 7 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment