Paradise and Hell, Meteor Shower

      So this past weekend was pretty exciting! On Thursday night, I was invited to go to karaoke with a government official! His name is Wallace and it is his job to make sure Americans in Shanghai love it! Karaoke was a blast! We had a great group and we got lots of food and whiskey and sang our little hearts out, or in my case, sang my voice out. And it was all paid for by the Chinese government! I got Wallace's number and I hope to get coffee with him so he can help me get an internship here next summer.
     After Karaoke, we went to a club called Fame. A guy in CIEE has an internship with them and they were having a free open bar until 11. Obviously we cashed in on that! After Fame, we went to a Blues and Jazz bar. It was my first time going and it was absolutely amazing!! The performers were really talented and we even hung out with them some! After that I went to Bar Rouge, which is a super nice bar on the Bund. The bouncer almost didn't let me in because I was wearing "flip flops". They were actually sandals. I didn't bother trying to explain the difference. Bar Rouge was super cool though. They have an outdoor patio with a view that looks over the Huangpu River and into Putong. It was pretty empty by the time I got there so I could really enjoy the view.
        Friday we had a field trip to the Pearl Tower.  The Pearl Tower is in Putong and it very interesting looking.  We went up to the observation deck and the view was pretty cool, but a bit hazy. On the upper observation deck the outside of the floor was glass. Walking on it really freaked me out. Especially when I noticed how there was a lot of tape where the glass connected to the floor.  There was a museum on the first floor that showed the progression of Shanghai modernizing. There were a lot of wax type figures and models of the city. It was really cool. That night we went to a nice dinner at Coconut Paradise, an Indian restaurant. Then we went to New Heights, which is a pretty upscale bar. It is also on the Bund and has a pretty good view. After New Heights, we went to Glamour, which is right across the street. It was super posh and they had amazing breadstick type things that I ate about 20 of.

The Pearl Tower

Ah! I'm falling!

      Saturday we went a had a dim-sun brunch at a nice restaurant. It was pretty good, but one of the custard filled buns exploded when I bit into it and burnt my hand.  Since it's China, there weren't any napkins and Laura had to pour water on my hand and then I just wiped it off on the table cloth. 对不起 (Duibuqi, Sorry) It was one of the funniest and most painful experiences of my life. After brunch we went to the Fabric Market.  It was my first time there and I had a ball. I am getting custom paid cords and a custom made coat. I have big plans for that place. That night we went to a bar near school called OZNZ and played Truth or Dare Jenga. Then we went to a club called the Apartment. It was not very fun. It was all Westerners and weirdly cold inside. However, we did go get late night Hot Pot right down the street, which was amazing and delicious!
       On Sunday, we got up and went to brunch at Malone's. That was an experience. The food was pretty bad. Lucy ordered a Salmon and asparagus omelet and they brought her the completely wrong omelet. When she told them it was the wrong thing, they took it away, but then bought back the same omelet with Salmon put in it. One of the waiters tried to convince her that it was what she ordered, even though it clearly wasn't. Finally they took the wrong one away and made the right thing for her. It was so ridiculous that we just had to laugh about it! After that we went back to the Bund to do the Bund sightseeing tunnel. It was one of the most Chinese things I have done here. The tunnel goes under the Huangpu River. We got into a glass cart that kind of looked like the elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It took us through this tunnel that had all these weird bright lights and odd narration that said things like "Paradise and Hell" and "Meteor Shower". Randomly, about halfway through the tunnel, there were 3 blow up people things. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever done in my life.

Our Glass Elevator 

Oracle Bones, Forbidden Cities and Great Walls

      A little over a week ago, I set out on my week long field trip with the China in a Global Context group.  The night before leaving was Alex's 21st birthday and most of us pulled an all nighter. Getting ready to get on the plane the next morning was a definite struggle. I forgot to put my liquids in my checked bag, so I had to go through security twice. When our plane landed, Drew was nice enough to push me through the airport on a luggage cart while I pulled my rolling suitcase along beside me.

Drew pushing me on the luggage cart

       Our first stop was Anyang, where the Oracle Bones were found. Our first night in Anyang we visited a Chinese high school. It was really awesome. The students were really friendly and we made dumplings (my fave!) with them!  The next day we went to the site of the Oracle Bones. It was pretty cool. We also saw the evolution of some of the characters from ancient Chinese to modern Chinese.  That afternoon we went to a Oracle Bones museum. It was pretty awful. It was basically plaster replicas of all of the real things we had seen earlier that day. The next day was our last day in Anyang (thank God!). We visited an old prison. It is the only place in China were fortune telling is legal. I don't know why this place was a prison because it was gorgeous and seemed very relaxing.  There was even a maze to go through for fun. I got my fortune told, but we were running out of time so I didn't get to do all of it. I did find out that I am special (which I kind of already knew) and that I will make a lot of money (which I am kind of expecting).

James, Lucy and I in front of the maze

        We took a train to Beijing and had Peking Duke for dinner when we arrived. It was Halloween so when we got back to the hotel we all got dressed up. I was a black sheep.  We went out to a club called Propaganda. I got a free t-shirt and VIP card! I didn't really like it though because it was wayyy to crowded and hot, so I left pretty early.
         The next day, we went to visit the Huhai Hutong district in Beijing. It is one of the few traditional Chinese neighborhoods that has been preserved. We rode rickshaws through the area and then one of the women, Wu Ayi (Ayi sort of means auntie) made lunch for us! It was amazing and she was really interesting! That afternoon we went on a boat cruise down the river to see the summer palace. There was a lot of weeping willows and trees with their leaves changing colors. It was some of the prettiest scenery I have seen in China so far.  That night Lucy and I met up with a friend of hers from San Fransisco and got burgers, which were delicious. Then we went to bar called Smugglers that was pretty awesome. We met up with some other CIEE people to go out to a club. I bought a balloon animal for 5 kuai from a little Chinese boy that hugged me. I tied it around my neck and wore it. Lucy and I got separated from everyone else and ended up at a club  called Latte. It was fun, but they wouldn't let us check our coats. And they made me take my balloon off before I ordered drinks :(  All in all, it was a good night.

Lucy and I in the rickshaw

With my 5 kuai balloon

         The next day we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I had been to both of those before so it was kind of boring to do again, but I had fun being silly with friends! We also had a really awesome dumpling lunch that day! That night we went to a night market. It was so cool! They had so many weird foods. Drew ate a fried scorpion. They also had tarantulas, some type of rodent thing, seahorses, bugs, pretty much everything you can imagine. Drew, Lucy, and I all got I <3 BJ shirts to wear on the Great Wall the next day!

M-A-O 

      

Drew eating scorpion. Yum!

        Even though I had been to the Great Wall before, this time was so much more amazing!! It was an unrestored, un-touristy part of the wall that was mostly deserted.  You could see the wall stretching on forever. I was absolutely terrified the whole time I was walking it because it was really high up and sometimes there weren't stairs. And even when there were stairs, they were pretty sketch. I bought an "I Climbed the Great Wall shirt. It was red. When I washed it, it turned my white towel pink! It made me happy.  That night we went out again to Smugglers. We also discovered a bar called Shooters that had 10 kuai shooters. It was awesome! After that we went to a club called Vix. There was a cover charge to get in, but we found the bracelets on the ground that people had torn off and stuck them on our wrists with gum! Then we danced the night away! So fun!

Drew, Lucy and I on the Great Wall in I <3 BJ shirts

        The next day was Rob's birthday so we went out to lunch for his birthday. Then Drew, Lucy, Rob and I went to see the Bird's Nest and Watercube. Sadly, we got there too late to actually get into the Bird's Nest, but it was still cool to see. Especially since it all started to light up at night! We went out again to Smugglers that night for Rob's birthday/last night in Beijing. It was a lot of fun! The next day was pretty rough for some people though! Myself not included! Beijing was fun, but I was definitely stoked to get back home to Shanghai!

Lucy, Rob, Drew and I in front of the Bird's Nest