Weekends in Shanghai

Weekends in Shanghai offer no shortage of things to do and see.  For me, its a balancing act of exploring but not doing too many things that I want to share with Adam, my family and other guests in the future!

Luckily, on Saturday, I had a partner in crime - Kimberly, another Lilly 6 month-er from Indy, working in Global Health Outcomes.  She is about a month ahead of me, so we are both still exploring!  It always great to have someone to run around with.  Our first stop was at the South Bund Fabric Market.  I visited this for the first time last weekend, and I'm sure will have many more in the future as I get brave enough to have some clothes made.  However, today's task was Kimberly's first fitting for a traditional dress she was having made for a wedding coming up.

The beautiful silk patterns!

Next, we headed towards the Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar.  Mostly, I just wanted to see where this was and what was going on.  I've heard great things about the Yu Gardens and wanted to check it out before I attempt to take Gretchen next weekend!  More picture to come when we really explore it!

View of Pudong from outside Yuyuan Gardens

The streets of Yuyuan Bazaar 

Next, we headed to the Bund area.  The buildings along the Bund once housed numerous banks and trading houses from many different nations.  It was initially a British settlement, but was eventually combined with the American settlement as the International Settlement.  The architecture is very cool and it radiates with history!

Buildings along the Bund

The reason we headed to this area was because Kimberly had heard about this open mic thing at a place called Glamour Bar.  When she invited me earlier this week, I was like oh yeah great! I love live music! However, she said no actually its poetry! Oh wow - not really my thing, but ok well I've already committed so I just went with it.  Its better than hanging out by myself on Saturday afternoon!

Glamour Bar

I was skeptical as first, but the Glamour Bar turned out to be one of the coolest places I've seen in Shanghai.  The space is extremely unique and amazing views of the Bund area.  Aside from a being a really cool bar, they also have a ton of books and do a Saturday book exchange - I will have to remember this! The company also has a restaurant upstairs that has rooftop dining and the views.  This will be next stop for Brunch when I have my first guest!

View of the Bund from Glamour Bar

Beautiful backdrop for the poetry reading.

Next, we each headed home for a little rest.  We met back up and headed over to Steffanie's house (my boss).  They were having a potluck with several people from their church.  It was wonderful to meet some more new people and I'm so grateful that Steffanie and Darren opened their home to me! There were about 10 people from all over the world - Brazil, Korea, London, Singapore, and us! We had chili and Krispy Creme donuts - it was awesome!  Kimberly and I finished the successful day with foot massages at Green Massage! yes, please!

Ever since last Saturday when I discovered Element Fresh at the Kwah Center with an awesome outdoor dining space, I had been craving one thing on the menu.... the Elvis Presley, they call it.  Peanut butter and banana french toast! amazing!  I headed there early Sunday morning about 10am, because I know how busy they get and the outdoor tables are hard to get.  I had decided I would take the subway but when I got out of the building I realized it was too nice of day to go underground.... so I decided to walk the 25 minutes to build up my appetite.  Mission accomplished! I was starved when I arrived, but got a perfect table and camped out for a couple hours - reading and enjoying my bottomless cup of coffee.  

Brunch at Element Fresh

From there a decided to give it a second try at walking around the French Concession.  Last weekend, I was not really there - but I did a little extra research this time.  From the picture you can see the beautiful trees lining the street - I knew I had found it.  Really looking forward to when they bloom, even though my allergies will probably wig out.  I found a ton of cute cafes, restaurants, and shops - that I hope to go back to when Adam gets here!

street in French Concession

A few other funny things that happened today....

Well, I guess I know where to go if something doesn't agree with my stomach!

A local pharmacy advertising Cialis on the store window.
Somehow I don't think this is an approved promotional material!

I attempted laundry for the first time today.  I didn't realize that that 2.20 on the screen is actually the number of minutes that the wash cycle will take... 2 hours and 20 minutes! I have 35 to go - I'm anxious to see what took so long.  Oh, and then I will start the dry cycle, which will probably take double that.  So inefficient, but has to be cheaper than sending it all out to be washed! That "laundromat" style at the Continental isn't looking so bad after all!

Absolutely no English on this thing and really uninformative pictures! hmmmm...

And finally, bad news my friends... the day has come.  No more episodes of Glee available on Netflix. :( Guess I will have to get started on something new while I wait until my first episode of Season 2 downloads from iTunes (currently 5 hours remaining).  Boo for slow download speeds! 

Really looking forward to having my good friend Gretchen visit next weekend, after the audit trip to South Korea.  Adam will be here in less than 3 weeks, time is starting to fly.  Hopefully Hannah can come for a few weeks this summer! All visitors welcome - when else are you going to know someone living in an awesome apartment in Shanghai, China??? Make it happen!