Crossing it off the list

I am starting to realize that my time left in Shanghai is quickly coming to an end. I can't believe how quickly it has gone by and I hate to think about how little time we have left. We have already started reminiscing about things that happened at the beginning of the semester, as if it is already coming to a close. I decided when I returned from Beijing last week to make a list of things that I still wanted to do in Shanghai before I leave. The list is long and I hope I have the chance to accomplish most of them. This weekend I made great progress and got to cross 4 things off my list! First started with the Oriental Pearl Tower on Friday. 

Oriental Pearl Tower

 Laurie and I went to Xue You 学友 (my favorite restaurant) for lunch and the met the group at the Mao statue for our tour of the Oriental Pearl Tower. I was so excited. I had wanted to go up in the tower since before I came to Shanghai. Unfortunately we got the bus driver from hell. I don’t think he had ever driven a bus before in his life. I have become quite the transportation wimp since arriving in China. The driving here is so erratic and dangerous that I am afraid to ride in any mode of transportation on the ground. I refuse to sit in the front seat of taxis and I don’t enjoy going anywhere in them. This bus driver reinforced all of my fears. He would slam on the breaks so hard and fast that the bus would fish tail. He almost rammed another car into the wall in a tunnel. And his driving was so jerky and inconsistent that I started having a panic attack. I was miserable. I was almost crying and finally people started to realized and asked Yang Laoshi if we could walk the rest of the way. Needless to say, when we got off the bus my nerves were running a little high. The tower was amazing just from the bottom! We made our way up to the highest floor and looked out over Shanghai. The smog was a little too thick which was a bummer, but we could still see the city and I enjoyed it. That is I enjoyed it until we went down to the outside observation deck with a glass bottom. Everyone loved it, except me. Laurie and Brandon ran around on the glass saying, “Look down while you run! It is so trippy!” I said no. Laurie was even jumping on the glass. I stepped out on the glass twice to have my picture taken but I never looked down and I made sure that the camera was ready and I only had to stand out there for a matter of seconds. I even made other people take pictures of the ground through the glass for me because I was so afraid of looking down. As if my nerves weren’t running full speed already, being in that tower put them in overdrive. Walking through the lobby, I was shaking so bad I dropped my camera on the marble floor. Luckily it was okay, it was just another thing to decrease my level of enthusiasm for the day.

Bottle Opener Building?

Min, James, and Robert on the Pearl Tower

The group

Laurie and I

Middle school feet picture, but better with the city beneath us.

 After the tower, Laurie, Brandon, James, Robert, Drew and I went down to the Bund. We wanted to look for a place that made a good Bloody Mary. We didn’t find one but we did find the Bund Brewery. We got snacks, beers, and played pool for a few hours. Walking back to the metro we met up with Min and Drew decided to go out on his own in search of an art gallery. We found a little teashop with adorable teapots and tea near the metro and a Dunkin Donuts. While we were shopping the group split up and Brandon, Laurie, Robert, and Min went on to Dunkin Donuts and New York Pizza, while James and I took a long desperately needed walk where we had a great conversation. We spent two hours walking around the Bund and across the river. It was beautiful and we got a lot accomplished. After our walk we met up with Elliot, Drew, Laura, Lucy, and Emily at a Thai restaurant and had a great dinner where they made a decent (best in China probably) Bloody Mary. Finally!

Pudong at Night

The Bund at Night

Saturday morning I met with Jojo (my tutor) and then Laurie and I went to the fabric market. This is one of the most overwhelming places I have ever been to. Three stories of stalls after stalls of all sorts of fabrics and clothing types. Everything is tailor made to fit and you get it in a week. I had a pencil skirt suit made for myself for 50 dollars! I also got a pair of jeans hemmed and copied. There were placed entirely of sequin fabrics for dresses, some that were just denim, and other just of silk. You could have anything and everything you ever wanted made at this place. It was amazing and overwhelming all in one. I hope everything is exactly the way I want it to be. After the fabric market we went back to the fake market. It has officially become my favorite place in Shanghai. We loaded up on goodies and then went to Vegetarian Lifestyle for dinner. One weekend and the Pearl Tower, the Bund at night, the fabric market, and the fake market, all got crossed off my list. Lets see if I can keep up the trend next weekend!