We ended up going to the M1NT Nightclub, probably one of the most posh places in Shanghai on the 24th floor of an office building. I had been there last time I was in Shanghai too, but that was on a Tuesday and there was not much happening back then.
There was tonight though and a long line to get in. Luckily Lijun knows one of the owners and we slipped in after waiting just 30 seconds.
I am not a big fan of these places, but interesting to see so many foreigners high rolling in Shanghai, high on drugs and spending money left and right. Next morning, there were a couple of people in the apartment that had huge hangovers, so they didn't wake up until some time late in the afternoon. I was going to meet with a friend who I thought I was going to see in Beijing, but she was moving to Shanghai this weekend. Lijun took me to the bar where we met with Somin, we had traveled together in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2011. After a drink or two she had to go, it was her anniversary and her husband was waiting for her, haha.
Lijun and I went for food ourselves in search for this Szechuan style fish with chili that I had been dreaming about for many weeks now, but had to settle with something else.
Next morning I was on my own and I decided to take a walk around Shanghai. The weather was really nice, but cold. Coming from an environment with 35 degrees every day, 5-10 degrees felt like -20 instead. Still impressed about the elevated freeway system in Shanghai, why can't this be done elsewhere too?
There are lots of small shopping streets in Shanghai, selling everything fake from A-Z, not sure even Chinese people would trust the authenticity of the goods. It turned out I wasn't the only one who was sightseeing today, the Bund which is a touristic area near the river dividing the city center was buzzing with people.
Every now and then people stopped me and asked if I could take a picture of them, why didn't they pick some of Chinese instead, at least they speak the same language.
That's when I remembered about this trick widely used here in China, tea parties. You meet this person who seems very interested in your and where you come from, so you decide to go for a tea and have a chat. That's when you are presented with this humongous bill for some super expensive tea. Yeah, that's how it is done in China.
I remember having watched from Lijun's living room window which has a big construction site across. An entire neighborhood of small 1-2 story houses had been leveled and now there were 30-40 stories highrises.
I guess it is just a matter of time before the other neighborhoods are also leveled and converted into sky rise buildings. It has to happen because so many people are fleeing the country site and moving to the big cities in the search for a happy, richer life and an iPhone. I was amazed how much penetration the iPhone has here in China. In Thailand it seemed most people were on the Android wave, but China for sure must be putting a lot of $ in Apple's bank account.
We went to have a drink in a fancy bar while waiting for Lijun's friend to arrive. I was pleased to find the Rogue Dead Man Ale from back home, but it seems to be expensive to ship to China judging from the price. A beer later the phone rang, Lijun's friend had arrived at the restaurant. I had been at the restaurant last year, the phone was pretty good and very spicy.
The food this time though was not spicy, maybe it is my Thai taste buds coming into the picture again. The food was pretty good, but not like I remember. A few pictures of the of the Shanghai skyline at night and it was time to retreat. I was freezing my ass off. Has the Viking inside me quit? I feel so wimpy complaining about the cold, it is not even freezing
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