Shanghai is everything you hear New York is supposed to be, but being from the New York area, I've yet to find. Beautiful Women, Fast Cars, and Out of this World Bars. Bootleg Products, Crazy People, and a Skyline that would stop the Heart of anyone over the age of 50 (or on hard drugs, think Johnny Depp in Blow, which I looked up on-line, has never happened in Shanghai, so its good to know that I won't be running into coke heads like you do in New York). Needless to say, I think I've found my new favorite city.
We arrived on Friday evening with the plan of meeting up with the rest of our crew (we were three at the time meeting up with a group totaling twelve). That plan only held itself together for maybe ten minutes at most. When going out to bars in groups its never a good idea to bombard a bouncer with a group of twelve people, even if they all are really good looking, which we were. So after splitting the group up buying some beers on the street at a market and making our way (now totaling six) to Attica, led by our Shanghai specialist, Charles Patrick Evans (now calling himself the City, btw) I was given the best view of a city, I've ever seen.
This place had every view in Vegas, any view from the bridges surrounding The City (New York still holds this name in my heart), and the only view that comes even relatively close is the one from Sky Bar in LA, which I experienced last year with my uncle Kevin and my Pops.
But even that is a stretch. This has a perfect view of the Shanghai television tower and the surrounding skyscrapers which are some of the most interesting architecture in the world.
If it just had that it would be a pretty cool place, but there was more to it, mainly three dance floors, indoors (main), indoors (dome), and outdoors (patio) all with their own djs and style. The dome was actually almost a full circle, with the floor slanted towards the middle to get everyone as close as possible.
We spent the night dancing, partying and eventually around 3:00 I made my way to the door, with Gao Li Fang. Gao and I then made it to MacDonald's where we discovered that not only is it also a late night destination for Chinese partiers, but they actually sleep there! Apparently it is more comfortable or convenient than home, (most homes don't have A/C, Micky D's does). After getting some girl advice from Gao, we took off for the hostel and were the first of our group back (which is saying something as we got back in at about 4:40).
The second day, Dan Lin, myself and Muzzy, aka Mike West, aka Wei Ran, made our way to the knock off market to do some shopping, where we spent three hours bargaining, fighting off salespeople and actually running from one after we ruined a sale (she was trying to rip off another guy for 10 shirts at 80 kuai a pop, when we got them for 30 kuai a pop). This actually resulted in her waiting outside the giant market for us and eventually hitting Muzzy, aka Mike West, aka Wei Ran, two or three times for spoiling her sale.
Saturday night resulted in similar shenanigans as Friday, except at a different bar (Muse) and with me sporting a fedora as opposed to my normal baseball hat. It also resulted in my first make out session of the trip (I attribute the hat for my luck) as well as the discovery on my return home that my new knock-off Hugo Boss button down actually gave me a huge allergic reaction. All in all a great weekend though.
Quick Recap: Shanghai: Amazing City; Bars in Shanghai: Also Spectacular; Girls: Always a Plus; Knock Off Clothes: Be Wary
Also last thing for this post as its getting long, I am going with three friends by train to Beijing and then Mongolia from October 19th to the 28th with the itinerary as follows.
19th: Hop on twelve hour sleeper train to Beijing
20th: Arrive in Beijing
20th-22nd: In Beijing, during which time we will be making ourselves to the only shooting range in China, where you A) Pay by the Bullet, and B) Have the option of Driving and Shooting a Tank (HELL YES)
22nd: Leave on 30 hours sleeper train for Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia
23rd: Evening, Arrive in Ulaan Bataar
23rd-26th: Spend at least one night out on the Mongolian Steppe with the hopes of seeing both the Northern Lights and the most gorgeous stars ever.
Also during this time my friend Pancake plans on entering into one of Mongolia's world famous drinking contests, which will be entertaining as all hell.
26th: Begin trip back to Hangzhou
We've all started play-off beards in anticipation of mid-terms next week as well as the already below freezing temperatures of Mongolia. We are also in the process of buying/renting a video camera so that we can record as much of the adventure as possible and create a cool story to bring back for the rest of y'all.
I thought China was wild, I can't wait to find out what Mongolia is like!
We've all started play-off beards in anticipation of mid-terms next week as well as the already below freezing temperatures of Mongolia. We are also in the process of buying/renting a video camera so that we can record as much of the adventure as possible and create a cool story to bring back for the rest of y'all.
I thought China was wild, I can't wait to find out what Mongolia is like!
No comments:
Post a Comment