Tones Tones Tones Tones! That’s what the language of Mandarin revolves around. The actual pinyin (standard mandarin romanization system based on sound) is a helpful tool, however that is only half the battle. The more challenging part is to pronounce it correctly by hitting the right tone. (Mandarin has 4 tones.)
So in my first few weeks of extreme ignorance, I would hop into cabs and hand over my cheat sheet card of my address in both Chinese and English, and just hope the driver wouldn’t take me for a ride. After a few days, I opted to attempt to direct the driver verbally in addition to use the cheat sheet card… And of course, this laid out the welcome mat for mass confusion.
See, the area in which the school is situated is the “Green City International Community” or … “Jin Qiao” in mandarin…..
It took me a while to get the pronunciation correct… “Jin” has a super high tone. “Qiao” has this downward hook tone, and for a while I was mis-pronouncing the area to the likeness of asking the driver to take me to some beer - Tsingdao Beer to be exact. (I now invite you to share my dizzying pain of getting around town over here… Le Sighhhhhhhhh)
In (what has become) our little mission of hotel bar hopping, E & I had checked out The Four Seasons Hotel for an afternoon sidecar sip on one Sunday afternoon. Interesting as since this is the first sidecar that I have had that was served with brown/greenish tint. I mentioned its uniqueness in color to the waiter, however he took my observation the wrong way and double checked with the bartender to see if he made it correct. LOL. The waiter returned and informed us that the bartender admitted to following the recipe. LOL.
A few evenings later, we upped it a few notches by hitting up the luxurious Pudong Shangri-La Hotel. OMG -this place smells delicious!! I have never walked into a public place that smelled sooo wonderful!! Candles, flowers, whatever it was - the entire hotel was pleasantly perfumed. Anyway, we headed up to the “avant garde” Jade on 36 restaurant/bar on… you guessed it, the 36th floor… So, it wasn’t as high as I had thought it was to be. But an OK spot … view could’ve been better had the Oriental Pearl Tower been better lit….
My friend JJ had recommended this spot as a “must check out”…so I took his word and have to agree, it’s one of my favorite places thus far!!This sophisticated and intimate lounge has amazing views of both the Bund and Pudong. This two-floor bar at Hyatt on the Bund features an open jacuzzi on it’s rooftop!!
Despite amidst typhoony conditions, we went anyway… it was so windy! Look at my hair!
Meet Lisa below. Another fellow ABC!! and also a teacher at the school; this will be her 2nd year. Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, her rather thick NY accent cracks me up, all the while, make me feel right at home!! We’ve also concluded that she gets the “Chinese Pass” - meaning, she can blend in and be mistaken to be a local Chinese around here, while I, still get the foreign treatment. In my one month stay here thus far, I’ve pretty much learned that I am not Chinese by way of reasons: a) I don’t look Chinese. b) I don’t dress like a Chinese. c) and I don’t speak Mandarin, but have been told I have “perfect Cantonese pronunciation.” GO FIGURE!! However, what I do get is…. Are you mixed? Hawaiian? Spanish? Singaporean, Malaysian? Philipino? …..Lisa, on the other hand, can speak broken Mandarin, and this.. I definitely appreciate!! Many people either think she is my tour guide and/or my hired translator. HAAAAA! It’s GREAT for me! Bwahahhahaha!
Soooo sorrrrrry for being MIA… but I’ve been like Diddy in that I haven’t stopped
So, soooo much to say and catch ya’ll up on, and will just have to give you quick synops with flicks of last week’s adventures:
First, in my first few days of being bombarded with all sorts of tips and tricks of all that Shanghai has to offer, one in particular caught my ears - “an area that mirrors NYC’s Chelsea art gallery hops.” So last week, I finally got around to checking it out for my own self.
According to Lonely Planet: “Chinese contemporary art has been the hottest thing in the art world for the last few years and there’s no sign of the boom ending, with collectors paying record prices for the work of top artists. Traditionally Běijīng dominates the art scene in China. But Shanghai has its own thriving artistic community, centred on this complex of industrial buildings down dusty Moganshan Rd and edging up Suzhou Creek in the north of town.”
However, I was not so overly impressed with the work nor the area. But to each their own! Here are some random flicks anyhoots, but you can see more here via Flickr slideshow.
After walking around in the gruesome heat and humidity in the day, I later met up with the usual suspects for some din din, then we headed off next door to Zapatas for some Ladies Night thing that R had been tipped on. I didn’t know anything previous to our attendance, but now know enough to not suggest it as a destination. LOL Walked into an outdoorsy area, but filled with some gray haired, big-bellied expats along with some super younguns, and I immediately felt this was to be an episode of Spring Break Shanghai. Moreover, the first track played in the umm bar/club was “Girl You Know It’s True” by Milli Vanilli with (really embarrassing) expat chicks dancing on top of the jampacked bar. But! I did meet a cool Singaporean, who is now studying at Columbia University for his masters, and chatted about the East Village and Brooklyn! As you can imagine, it felt wonderful to have this conversation!
Then, I finally made it to this spot called, Windows. There are 3 locations, and well, I won’t be in a rush to check them all after my first visit. The place was… oye, just not OK by my standards. Just look - this was during Souljaboy. Can you find him on stage?
On Thursday, I took random photo of crowded People’s Square station during rush hour.. (or could be, pretty much .. any hour…)
Later that evening, I shot down to the French Concession area to meet up with friend, Duane (courtesy Jonesy!) and eventually Cenk (Turkish DJ) rolled thru for some evening concoction of cool-me-down lemonade. D - a China resident for close to 4 years, introduced us to a fabulous Sichuan restaurant down his street where the waiter of course mistakenly thought I was the Mandarin-speaking one… and who can blame him, when 3 folks walk in - a Turk, African American and well, me. And the jokes continue since I’m the ONLY one that does NOT speak a lick of Mandarin and the “black brothah from LA” is doing the ordering. HA! (In any other normal situation though, I’m immediately the foreigner. More on that some other time.. ) Anyhoots, after din, us “talkin’ music heads” rolled to an awesomely chill spot called Face Bar. Me likeys mucho! Located in the heart of the city, behind bustling Mao Ming Road, it’s a gorgeous old country house within an enclave, with a huge lawn that makes you feel like you’re in some rural garden idyll - apparently a spot that THE CHAIRMAN himself chillaxed at! The old-world interior décor includes ancient South East Asian and Indian artifacts, arranged so tastefully you half feel you’ve stumbled into a Country Life magazine shoot. Also with an outdoor patio for sweet summer nights!
We got the master digs!!! Soooo comfy!!….
Here we are!
But seriously, it felt sooo refreshing and relieving to have a real music convo with these dudes! We all needed a good chill session… I felt right at home!
Friday evening started off with a lovely bbq dinner party, hosted by one of Ralphie’s colleagues, Daniel. His place was pimpingly located directly across from the Jin Mao Tower and Financial Center:
After who knows how many bottles of vino (Daniel’s Australian brother works for some vineyard), R & I met up with my nightlife insider, D and some of his peeps at another me-likey spot: Velvet Lounge. Will definitely check back there again. Relatively small, quaint with comfy couches, the place was rockin’ that night! (Sorry, no pics this time.. but I’ll definitely be hitting that spot again…) Thennnnnn, because I was the queen-foreigner who wanted to check other places and Duane and business partner, Denis weren’t going to let me down .. we hopped over to Club Volar. Owned by a Hong Kong film star, Volar originally penned as an exclusive member’s only club but has recently made moves to appeal to a younger Hip Hop / Dance crowd. The place was OK. We popped some Goose so that usually makes things all the better anyway. But yeah the music…. I think they just “discovered” Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray” as a “classic anthem.” SHRUG. But Lupe’s Superstar was heard…. Anyhoots, still had fun though….
Thennnnn let’s see, the night didn’t end there because the Double D’s wanted to show us “After Hours Shanghai.” The only troopers left were R and I. and R was a “barely”… LOL. We arrived at this secretly gated spot called Dragon Club or something like that (see, I can’t even remember right now). This spot apparently opens at 3am’ish..and goes on til…..We arrived as the early birds and eventually got home at 6 in da mornin’ - walked out into daylight, as since the sun rises here WAYYYY EARLY (at maybe even 4:30am).
A few hours after our catnap…. we were on our way to a POOL PARTY!! Much anticipated as since every Saturday prior had been rained out. So this was THE day that we had all been waiting for. Though, I had wish I was in a more energetic mode..and that I didn’t have to give a lecture later that evening. (Yes, I got pulled into giving a lecture to high school students looking to attend university in the U.S. on a Saturday evening!! But obviously, this didn’t stop me from having some poolside fun.)
Thanks to knowing a few people who can make things happen at the punch of a cellphone button, I got us the hookup with a bed and some bubbly… “Happy Campers Were We….”
Just when the gettin’ was good, and everyone was seemingly becoming best-friends-forever on that deck, I had to unwillingly mad dash outta there before trouble was to ensue…and zoom back to campus to get my act together for a 1.5hr lecture to high school kiddies intrigued with American university life. I felt downright guilty and awful for the condition I was in to be conducting class, but a cold shower and some caffeine helped whip me back into passable condition. After a quick classroom spin, I tweaked my focus and alllllll was good in the end! Phew!
The next morning, E & I met up with my local friend, Chen (Jeffrey’s wife) for some brunch at a new restaurant, LaTour in the Jin Mao Building. Food was just OK, so it’s not one I would rush to return to. Then we hopped over to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to check its observation deck. - The tower is 468 m high, the highest in Asia and the third highest in the world, next to the 553,33 –meter-high Toronto Tower Canada and the 533 meters high TV Tower in Moscow, Russia. The tower consists of 15 spheres of different sizes at different levels creating an artistic conception of “large and small pearls dropping onto a jade plate”. It has become a symbolic architecture and a great point of reference to the lost soul wandering the city streets! (Sorta like the Duomo in Florence.)
On top deck…
The view…
Then… E and I skipped over to the Shanghai Aquarium and met up Max and Cubes.
Of course, we saw all sorts of fishies and friends…
And boys will be boys in the aquarium arcade room…
I swear, I am blessed with the folks I meet and have in my life. Thanks to technology, it has indeed actualized media guru, Marshall McLuhan’s theory of A Global Village. (That’s my media degree at work.) Prior to moving out of NYC, I had connected with a native Shanghainese who was readying for her journey of life abroad to NYC. Since, she has helped me a great deal and I believe I have returned the favor as well by giving her top tips of survival in the island of Manhattan. Anyway, she has graciously linked me up with one of her friends in the ‘Hai, Jeffrey… and what a great host he was, to myself and new foreign teacher/colleague, Adam this past Sunday!
Here are some shots from The Old City / The Temple of the City of God (Cheng Huang Miao) - an area of tiny streets, two-story residential areas and street markets dating back to Shanghai’s 19th Century origins. It’ll look a bit familiar as this was one of the first areas Thomas had taken me on my 2nd full day here… minus the jet lag this time around! Renowned shops, top quality materials, handmade crafts, the list goes on….
Chopsticks and Combs! (in separate shops of course!)
The elders are held with high esteem here, so of course gramps and grams gotta be pimped out with fancily polished woods…
They even had instructions with pics, mounted on “How to Use a Cane”…
Sharp Knives..
Some famous um-brrr-ella, EH, EH, EH shop… They love their umbrellas here- rain or shine, literally!! (more on that in a bit) …and a candy shop…
Shoes, Silk Art, Masks… what else??
Complex musical instruments, of course!
And can’t forget about the fans!
Here, Jeffrey and I stand amidst the madness in the square, before we headed into a spot for some quick bites…
White Rice Wine Soup and Sesame-filled dumplings!
What’s wrong with this next picture?
That’s right, now back to some happy pandas…
And then we hit the famously preserved Yuyuan Gardens. A scholarly garden-residence in the midst of a crowded shopping bazaar. The large garden is a lovely but claustrophobic maze of covered corridors that wind their way past ponds, pavilions, rock gardens, sitting rooms and tiny theatres.
Adam and I…
The following photos are dedicated to GAB: These lil fishies in the pond reminded me of the mesmerizing catfishes in the Arno River / Ponte Vecchio, but these were not nearly as exciting!!!
The crazy line is for this famous dumpling stand - super cheap, super good and quite a bang for your yuans! We’ll be checking that out later…
But first some jumbo Shanghai-style dumplings…
Then we dined at some famous restaurant where former President, Bill Clinton and family once dined… (so if it’s good enough for the Clintons, it should be good enough for me!)… Here we are with our 7 dish meal!
Then joined the long line for the famous dumplings and “smelly tofu”….
What’s wrong with this next picture?? We are clearly under roofing…
Annnnd after that full afternoon excursion, the next appropriate thing was to meet up with E and Cubes for an afternoon quencher at Stonegrill’s in Xintiandi…
OK super late night once again last night… crashing home at 5AM, after both E and I both fell into mini-naps right on the canopy-booth thingys at Bar Rouge. (more on that later…)
So my evening started with a welcome dinner for new foreign teacher from New Mexico, Adam along with my Dean at nearby “Expat-American-esque” type restaurant, Blue Frog… now I know where to get a decent burger when my tummy calls for one…
Then, I adventurously opted to meet the fellas after their dinner, for a night out via taking the metro into Puxi, getting off the East Nanjing Road stop. This strip is always super packed with people throughout the day and night. Think NYC’s Times Square meets Barcelona’s Las Ramblas - but shiny and clean. Here are some night shots of Nanjing Road:
I then walked over to The Bund (a good 15-20min walk) to at last, find the historic Shanghai building of Bund 18 where now, a variety of art galleries, luxury shops, restaurants, bar/lounges are housed.
We hit Lounge 18 first on the 4th floor - a bar/lounge that caters to those who wish to be seen. Very nice home-lofty feeling space with good size bar and a mini area for dancing in the back. It is clearly where the “beautiful people” show up. As the spot started to fill in with alotta expats, I felt like I was back in NYC….
Despite feeling a bit exhausted, we mustered up our way up a couple floors to Bar Rouge. To be quite honest, I was already feeling tired at Lounge 18, but my curiosity led me up to Bar Rouge. Crowded upon entrance (besides it was probably around 1 or 2am when we decided to go upstairs), indoor space became a bar-turned-club, and so the outdoor roofdeck was the place to be with its own bar stand in the middle. Very smart. On a good night, an incredible view of the Pudong skyline can be seen:
After scheming to steal the lounge pillows by throwing them off the roofdeck and our on-the-spot-invented-games of “Einstein, Frankenstein & She-Ra”… the inevitable happened and sleepies came a’knockin…
E was out for a good 40-45min, needing about 7 persons to later wake him up when the spot was closing up. I, on the other hand, made myself comfortable and closed my eyes for about 15min as I waited for R to hit the restroom and come back to round up us troops. I had a little fun with the knocked out …
In the pic below, on the left is our new friend (E’s colleague), “Ice Cubes” or “Cubes” or “Cubey” because he has a difficult German name to pronounce, so I blessed him with a nickname. (Inspiration came to me after he was adamant about getting ice cubes to finish his drink before leaving Lounge 18.) And to the right is another one of E’s colleagues, Johannes.
Overall, just another crazy night to record in the books…
So the other night, I met up with my new Turkish DJ/bud, Cenk for dinner at one of Shanghai’s hidden Italian gems, Trattoria Isabelle - a modest three-story house off the pedestrian street Yandang Lu. Charming, unpretentious and simple in decor, I was very impressed with its menu offerings. Our meal began with fabulous bottle of red wine (of course I can’t remember the type.. but it began with a V), along with an impressive bread basket - focaccia, brioche, bread sticks. (Having lived in Italy for a bit, I’ve got a special place in my heart for Italian delights.) We then moved onto Italian standards of well-prepped carpaccio and fresh mozzarella and tomato salad as appetizers. While Cenk opted for the grilled salmon, I went for the sliced lamb on top of a bed of potatoes and spinach drizzled with a light French honey mustard sauce. Deeeee-Lish-Shush!!
After din din, Cenk graciously took me under his wing to show me some spots in the city. He figured we would work our way from the top, downwards to the more chill. First stop, Jean Georges off of The Bund. Now, I love me some Jean Georges Vongerichten. As a matter of fact, one of my absolute favorite restaurants in NYC is of the Jean Georges family in midtown east, called Vong - amazing Thai/French fusion! Having lived in NYC for close to a decade, I am used to cities “building up.” Shanghai is no different in that upwards they build as well as across. However, along The Bund, they maximize on real estate and each floor of one building is often home to a different shop/bar/restaurant etc.
We shot up to Jean Georges and were surprisingly welcomed by yet a couple of other gentlemen who also had worked with a mutual friend in NYC! “It’s a small, small world afterall… ” One of the guys (British man, Seth, who has been living in Shanghai for 5 years and counting…) I believe called the shots at the spot, so of course - champagne and drinks were free flowing! Having dj’ed a gig there before, Cenk also knew the bartender, a cool Austrian who had been living in Shanghai for a couple years and up for nomination for “Best Bartender in Shanghai” in an annual contest held by famous e-zine, That’s Shanghai. After downing a couple of his self-concocted potions, I was ready to cast my ballot too! Very smooth blend with a good, tasty kick! (And get this, absinthe is apparently legal in Shanghai.) So after a fabulous time there with great music, we were almost afraid to leave.
We eventually left, and checked a few more locations… but on a Wednesday night after 1am… places start to close up shop. We called it a good night… but I will most definitely re-visit the spots, esp. this cozy little live jazz venue, J Z Club. Stay tuned!
Q. What does one do when thrown in a culture so beyond foreign to them?
A. One becomes open and appreciative of all, especially the most simplest of things. In this case, it is the English language.
Last Friday, this fabulous photo was taken of some cool ass, worldly folks, who clicked immediately and became quick BFF’s over the weekend, drawn to each other by the English language. Yeah, we look like a United Colors of Benetton ad, but what did you expect? Ya’ll know how I roll… Meet (from L-R), Germany Max, Boston/New York Moi, Zimbabwe/London/Houston Ralph, and Austria/London Eugen - all here in different lines of work.
Now that we’ve met the players, here’s the play by play. I first met up with Ralph and Eugen for some sushi in their hood in the Lujiazui area of Pudong. This is where the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao, Shanghai World Financial Center (looks like a bottle opener) and plenty of other incredible works of architecture stand tall.
After which, Eugen announced that his boss had asked him to hand deliver some “important” powerpoint document to him at the Rendezvous Merry Time Hotel in downtown. Let’s stop. The name of the hotel alone got us all kinda in the “uhhhhhh where is your boss??” but we didn’t dwell on it all too long. We picked up Max and hopped in a cab and were headed to to Merry Time for some KTV. (It wasn’t until we wayyyy later learned KTV can sometimes mean karaoke with “entertaining women.”) It was all really bizarre, but we figured this would be mightily interesting to see what Eugene’s boss was up to late on a Friday night at a hotel that had the words “rendezvous” and “merry time” in it.
The moment we arrived, we headed for the elevators where a bunch of older business were exiting. Pretty immediately, we were stopped by the elevator guards and were given the X-crossed arms and were told, “Fullah! Fullah!” (translates to Full! Full!) Eugen phoned his boss and his boss gave him the room number. Upon hearing the room number, the same jackass elevator guards smiled and opened the elevator doors and led us in. We got up to the floor and was greeted to the Diamond Club.The r-o-c-k was really in the building, see below:
Eugen stepped in, not really knowing what to expect. Max, Ralph and I were tip-toe, two-stepping out in the hall, unsure with what to do, meanwhile lady hostesses were waving for us to enter. So we said “F it! When in Shanghai!” Onward we stepped, and we were stared at by the handful of businessmen and probably 3 times as many women. HA! I personally felt the evil eye. HA! (makes me laugh just thinking about it) We weren’t too quite sure what we were gonna do there, but the folks seemed somewhat welcoming and encouraged us to karaoke along with fill our glasses with some really weak liquid. (Overall, by the way, alcohol content in bars/clubs is weak on the initial serving, but you can always return and request for another hit, is what I’ve learned. I was told they measure via shot glass.) Anyway, after about 30min of some awkwardness, and having listened to songs ala Mariah Carey’s “Hero” — slowed version — Funny, I pointed out to the fellas how the songs sounded slower than usual, and Ralph noted that they were probably slowed down in order for them to pronounce and keep up with the lyrics. HAAA!! We eventually made the dip out. It was then that attention was brought to me: the men to women ratio was somewhere around 1:3 or 1:4 in the room. However, when we walked into the spot, our own ratio was 3:1. No wonder, we were being stared at! HAA!
Ok, then next stop was a bar/club spot along The Bund, called Attica. The club part was lame. Stupid neon lights and smoke machines. Crowd was wiggity. We completely skipped it and went upstairs to a decent rooftop deck where you can see a beautiful view of the Pudong skyline. Again, for a spot that was walled top to bottom with Absolut Vodka signage, the drinky drink was rather watered. (Sorry, that’s my events-programmed brain at work.) Chilled there for lil bit then opted to roam around for another spot. By now, we were approaching 1am and found ourselves at the House of Blues & Jazz. Not too bad of a spot. Restaurant/venue with black-white photos of jazzists outlining its decor, etc. We walked in and of course just my luck, the lead singer was roaming around the floor, and snatched me up on stage for a dance. Quite unnecessary especially since we had literally just stepped foot in the spot, but was venue was decent nonetheless. We had arrived so late, the band was closing up their set. We’ll check them out again I’m sure - The Charlton Wilson Band I believe… Here’s a shot of the stage set-up:
We stayed till beyond closing time. Lights were turned on for a while before we finally gave into the staff’s evil stares, and called it a good first night out!
Saturday came at the blink of an eye (literally) and I met up with the E & R, and we headed into Puxi for an authentic Sichuan style meal. Eugen took lead as he had dined there before with his pops. With multiple disclaimers on how we’ll probably not know how to read the menu, but instead will just look at the pretty pics and point - that’s we did. We went ahead and ordered all sorts of dishes, all covered in red hot chili peppers of course because Sichuan cuisine in renowned for being spicy, spicy! Nevertheless, I/We were all game: pork something, of course dumplings, some crazy fish that we couldn’t figure out type, general tso chicken (of all things), some other crazy spicy chopped up chicken dish with red bell peppers, grilled crawfish, crab in a sizzling pot, really good and spicy fried rice…. and we were their last customers for the afternoon… so the workers all passed out at the surrounding tables and chairs!! HA!!
After our delicious almost food-coma meal, we opted to be adventurous and find our way to one of the black markets because Eugen is all about the bargaining game. We befriended a family of 3 who helped us to the nearest metro station and got the fellas a transportation card. (You put money onto these magnetic-credit card size cards and they are good to pay off bus, metro and taxi rides. I already purchased one with Thomas when he first led me into Puxi.) Here we are at the booth and in the underground station of People’s Square. (Btw, the Shanghai trains and stations are super shiny here and very efficient. Too bad the metro stops running at at like 11pm or something like that.)
Some random shots along our way to the black market:
Eugen ended up buying about 25 dvd’s for 120 rmb = $18.. which comes to around 70 cents each! Now of course quality is at risk, and we later learned this when we popped in the discs to play. The first flick, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, was a clear bootleg in that we saw hands/fingers covering the camera, heard the audience giggling, then…… in mid sentence, dialogue would stop and/or change from English to Russian to German etc. Probably ended with a 1 good out of 5 deal. Stop-Loss is a pretty decent flick. Oh, but these dealers will exchange or take back the dvds if it’s a bad copy. Just good luck to you for remembering which dealer it was! I personally, have a good one (according to Thomas) on the corner of my street. I’ll check her stash more in depth at some point, but we’re already on a first name basis; her name is Jane. I gotta check that new Pixar film, Wall-E ; I’ve been hearing good things!
Ok back to it! Yeah so anyway, the black markets here are pretty much like Canal Street in NYC, only 3 floors full. However, they are equally annoying. Ralph and I went along with it while Eugen was having a field day.
This one back room even paid homage to The C’s!!
Needless to say, we were exhausted by evening. How to remedy? Well, we popped into the lobby bar of the fellas’ homebase, and met up with Max before his flight back to Germany. Consider it a “see you in 3 weeks” toast.
And now nooooo it doesn’t end there kids! I met up with another new bud, Jonathan (by way of introduction by Nick in NYC! Thanks Nick!) Jonathan aka JJ took us to this super discreet - behind a budget hotel, down a narrow alley, up the stairs to a very delicious Thai spot called, Thai House. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the camera mode.. so no pics this time.. but we JJ invited us to his crib nearby and introduced us to his other Canadian, now Shanghai resident friend Steve, as well as this potent Shanghai concoction called something like “Bai Jo.”
Thennnnnnnn, we met up with a chic named Summer, an extended friend of Ralph’s who had just arrived for studies in the ‘Hai. We met at a very cool spot right in the heart of The People’s Square, adjacent to the Shanghai Art Museuem, called Barbarossa. Upon entrance, I had a good feeling about the spot. You walk into the park and through a sort’ve zig zag boardwalk atop of a mini pond into the bar/restaurant/lounge/roofdeck spot. Decor and ambience was lush and fed off a Mediterranean vibe; hookahs and glasses crowded the tables of patrons.
Music was to my ears’ liking as we passed by the DJ booth and upwards towards the roofdeck. Sounds of bossanova forced me to return to the booth to chat up the DJ. Turns out, he not only is familiar with one of my previous employers, Giant Step, but also had worked with one of my former colleagues. SMALL WORLD! Obviously, we hit it off and I was all smiles to be talking to someone who a) spoke English and b) wasn’t playing Lil Jon. So far, this is the #1 spot on my list.
Next up, we followed the college kids to a hip hop club, called Richy. Getting out of the cab and walking up, I knew this place was a bad idea. Neon lights and stupid people lingering outside got me shaking my head. But hey, I gotta take it all - the good and the bad. Walked in and I was certain this was a bad idea.
Flashing neon, smoke, tacky floor design and just overly jampacked with passed-out folks in the “VIP” booths. E and I opted to grab a seat at the front of the club like old folks and let the kids play on the dance floor, while watching sloppy drunks slip and fall all over the place.
We then made our way towards the exit and this is when it started to get much more entertaining. My words to describe does NOT do any justice to what we actually witnessed. E has PHENOMENAL footage of a chic-fight from start to finish (well till he was chased away from being up close with filming it. HA!), but I gotta wait for him to upload and send it my way, so I can share with you lovely people. Anyway, so OK let me try to explain: At first, we were all mesmerized by the many drunken falls among us:
But that was nothing compared to what happened next. We turned and saw 3 chics stumble down the steps and get into an all out b-slap fest!! The chic on the right basically slapped the living daylights out of the chic on the ground, being helped by bouncer:
After the bouncer got the girl to stand, that’s when slapping and pushing ensued for quite some time. A car drove by and hit the girl. The girl stood up and was dragged across the street to a park bench. And well here’s some footage that I took, which isn’t really the best because it is dark and only captured the tail end of the whole fight. I almost don’t even want to share it because Eugen’s footage is way better. But I can’t help it, so …. You can hear this Parisian dude in the background, who we later chatted up with - but obviously LOVED what he was seeing. You can even see how close Eugen got to the girls on the right side of the screen (white shirt). OK, here it is: “Ultimate Fighting Shanghai”
Here’s us being stupid westerners re-watching the video footage. I gotta also add, throughout all of this - no bouncers nor any bystanders interrupted nor leant a helping hand to the chic who was obviously need of some assistance. And it didn’t end there either. We turned and saw this other chic being carried out by 4 bounchers - one limb per bouncer - carried out of the club, down the steps, crossed the street and dropped her somewhere in the park. Then…. and as folks were exiting, we saw a dude with NO PANTS come out of the club. Didn’t I say this place was gonna be bad as soon as we had arrived??
We FINALLY called it a night.
Sunday came and Eugen and I decided to head into Puxi for some good ol dim sum in the Xintiandi district. This area has been renovated majorly to mirror European pedestrian friendly walkways and piazzas, lined heavily with chic shops and restaurants.
Here we are at Crystal Jade Restaurant:
Then an afternoon cocktail at Stonegrill Dining in Xintiandi….
Then off to the famous Fabric Market - when men and women can get suits, shirts, coats, pretty much anything you want tailor made for cheapo.
The Fabric Market works similar to the Black Market where it’s several floors of the same thing, and you bargain with each tailor for the best price and material etc. Tailors will take measurement, call you back for a fitting, and you’re off. And/or dissatisfied, they will mend till you’re happy. Some tailors will even come to your place for measurements, fitting and delivery!
Now, what is crazy about Shanghai is its rapid growth. You can walk down a district such as Xintiandi and think you are in Europe, then turn the corner and realize you are -insert 3rd world country-. Take a look at these shots and again, the crazy juxtaposition of high rises only a few blocks away… These were real houses and outhouses… as well sales of grasshoppers! We bought a couple watermelons and mangos to go…
And all of this happened in just my first full weekend!!
