I'm sitting on the 31st floor of my apartment building, windows open, enjoying the worst summer storm we've had in Shanghai. The dark clouds rolled in about 4pm and it just kept getting darker and darker. The huge claps of thunder and lightening are a little nerve-racking so high up in the air. It now raining so hard I can barely see the building on the next block over. There is something about summertime in Indiana, sitting on the porch listening to a storm, music on - just one of the things I will miss about the Indiana summer this year.
The good news is, it has given me the time to catch up on blog posting for the last month. I'm all caught up and looking forward to my last 2 months in Shanghai.
Adam will be arriving for his 2nd visit on August 2nd, and stay for about 3 weeks. I'm so grateful we will be together for our first wedding anniversary - what a special one it will be and we will look forward to telling our kids about it one day.
I will try to stay active on here to share the last 2 months of this amazing experience. Miss you all!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
House of Roosevelt
Three of my audit colleagues have been in Shanghai this past week, conducting an audit of Anti-Corruption Due Diligence at the affiliate. I could not be luckier that the team ended up being 3 great people, including one of my best friends Gretchen! This was her 2nd tour of Shanghai, as she came to visit in April after an audit in South Korea. I enjoyed spending time with the team in the evenings over the week and had a chance to take them out and about a little bit in Shanghai.
On Saturday evening, the CFO organized a night out for the team and a few other financial people from the affiliate. Steffanie, Darren, Darren's boss in town from Indy, the audit team and I joined Richard and his wife at the House of Roosevelt. This place might have the best location in the city. It sits at the north part of the Bund, on the curve of the river, with amazing views of both Pudong and the Bund. Looking out over this amazing skyline, Gretchen, Joe, and I all took a deep breath and reflected on how lucky we are - just 3 years into our career and seeing the world in fashion!
The House of Roosevelt is actually owned by the Roosevelts. Originally, the 1920 building was built for Jardine Matheson, one of the seminal colonial British trading firms. Among many, many other things, they were in the opium business. Now the building has passed into the hands of seminal American power family, the Roosevelts. They are Presidents and tycoons, and instead of opium, they're trading a milder (and more legal) intoxicant: wine. The House of Roosevelt is a staggering, granite-faced investment to sell a bit of grape juice - claiming the biggest wine cellar in Shanghai.
We enjoyed a drink on the 9th floor terrace, then dinner on the 8th floor with views of the skyline. I couldn't be more grateful for a clear night with amazing views, great conversation and company, and yummy food. It was a really fun night!
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| Gretch and I at House of Roosevelt |
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| Looking out toward the Bund |
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| Pudong Skyline |
Random since the girls left...
My mom gave me an early birthday present - the Kindle! This has been so wonderful as I'm doing a lot of reading here - given that the TV is horrible and I'm often on my own - its nice to be able to just pull out this little machine. I'm hooked!
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| Kindle reading outside Starbucks on a sunny afternoon! |
I recently made the best purchase I've made in Shanghai yet. From 90RMB I picked up this fan. It has changed my life. #SOHOTANDHUMIDINJULY!!!!! sorry.. trying to ease back into twitter speak!
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| Thank goodness for this little guy! |
Finally, the other day at the office we ordered in lunch. They finally included me in a dumpling run! Below I have pork and corn wontons, red bean soup, and spicy bean curd! Love it! And all for about 10 RMB.
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| Wonton lunch |
Saying Goodbye!
It was truly amazing to have the two most important women in my life join me on this journey. We had a wonderful time together and my sister and I spent 4 weeks together without killing each other! We realized how lucky we were to have so much time together, given that it hasn't happened for the last 6 years and likely won't for a while - if ever again! I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to share this place with them. It will a trip we will remember forever...
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| Saying goodbye to the Ascott! |
LuPu Bridge Climb
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| View of Shanghai atop LuPu Bridge |
The day before Hannah and Franny left, we did the LuPu bridge climb. When I was in Sydney earlier this year, I really wanted to do the climb of the Sydney Harbor Bridge - but it was pretty expensive and my knee was only a few months out of surgery. So, when I realized there was a bridge climb here, I knew it was something I had to do. The LuPu bridge is one of 3 bridges that connect Shanghai's east and west areas separated by the Huangpu River. The LuPu stands for the two districts that it connects, Luwan and Pudong and it is the world's second longest steel arch bridge. If anyone saw the Australia special Oprah did, you know that she took 300 viewers up the Sydney Bridge with her, it was scary for some and they were all harnessed in with guides and tons of safety precautions. Naturally, this was what I was expecting for the LuPu Bridge. Then I remembered I was in China....
We made it to the base of the bridge, however, the cab driver was pretty confused why we wanted to be dropped off at the bridge and not go across it. We got out and paid the 80RB entrance fee. We were a little nervous because there were no other tourists, but we continued on. We rode up the elevator and exited out on to a platform area. Then, the employee said go ahead..... and pointed towards the stairs. No safety equipment necessary... We just looked at each other, laughed, and headed for the stairs!
The stairs were wide, not too steep and not scary at all. It was a great Saturday morning workout, and although it was a hazy morning, we enjoyed some great views of the city of Shanghai.
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| Underneath the bridge - it was a massive structure! |
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| Franny with the city behind her |
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| Amazing! |
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| Concrete Jungle - High rise buildings for days... |
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| Fran with Pudong skyline in the background |
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| Classic kite - Theta <3 |
More Hannah and Franny in Shanghai
Hannah's favorite place in Xintiandi quickly became Kabb - a small place serving all Western food. We discovered their yummy brunch!
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| Banana Pancakes and Eggs Benedict |
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| Fresh fruit and Cinnamon Roll |
Although we missed my Dad while the girls were here, we made time for Skype Sessions! Video chat technology has made this experience possible for me. So grateful for this!
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| Dad talking to all 3 girls! |
One night we went to the Chinese Acrobat Show at the Shanghai Theater. It was fun to see the acrobats, twirling plates, amazing balancing acts and the girls that twist like they have no spine. It was a little bit touristy and I probably won't take any other guests back, but we enjoyed it. We will never forget the act where, for about 5 minutes, all the woman did was pull playing cards our of her jacket and flip them on the stage. It was pretty interesting....
After the show, there was this statue of a Terracotta warrior outside the theater. Naturally, we did a photoshoot!
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| Cute girlies! |
For the 4th of July (which we worked, by the way), we figured the most sensible thing to do would be to have some USDA beef burgers! We joined Steffanie and Darren at their favorite burger joint in Tianzifang - New York Style Steak and Burger! There was about 10 Americans together to celebrate this truly American day.
Another major part of the Stewart Girls Take Shanghai was - My dad isn't surprised - SHOPPING! This is something the Stewart girls do really well and we obviously have it in the genes from the momma! The fake markets were a good time and we did really well. It was so fun to have my best friends with me to enjoy one of the my favorite parts of Shanghai.
So, I took Hannah and Franny to one of my favorite sunglass shops at the 580. We were chatting with the girls there and introduced ourselves. One of the girls got so excited and her eyes lit up - your name is Hannah? Like H-A-N-N-A-H? Yes! That my name too, she said! She could not believe it and wanted to take all these pictures with Hannah. They were the same age and she was really cute. We went back to the 580 a few times and always stopped to see Hannah :)
In the busy tourist areas, there are these older women selling what look like these little white flowers. They attach them to paper clips type things or tie them into bracelets. They have a smell similar to honeysuckle, very refreshing. They say that the help to take away the "summer scent", aka the smelly scent that you get from walking around hot, sticky, humid Shanghai.
Hannah loved the rice noodles.... And look at those chopstick skills! She was a pro after 4 weeks!
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| The burgers were, uh, AMAZING! |
Another major part of the Stewart Girls Take Shanghai was - My dad isn't surprised - SHOPPING! This is something the Stewart girls do really well and we obviously have it in the genes from the momma! The fake markets were a good time and we did really well. It was so fun to have my best friends with me to enjoy one of the my favorite parts of Shanghai.
So, I took Hannah and Franny to one of my favorite sunglass shops at the 580. We were chatting with the girls there and introduced ourselves. One of the girls got so excited and her eyes lit up - your name is Hannah? Like H-A-N-N-A-H? Yes! That my name too, she said! She could not believe it and wanted to take all these pictures with Hannah. They were the same age and she was really cute. We went back to the 580 a few times and always stopped to see Hannah :)
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| Hannah and Hannah- peace signs obvi |
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| The damage... |
Another sushi night, this time at Haiku by Hatsune in the French Consession. This is my favorite sushi place in Shanghai! Nothing better than yummy rolls and cold beer. Hannah is wearing a new silk scarf she got in Shanghai - so trendy!
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| yummmmy! |
In the busy tourist areas, there are these older women selling what look like these little white flowers. They attach them to paper clips type things or tie them into bracelets. They have a smell similar to honeysuckle, very refreshing. They say that the help to take away the "summer scent", aka the smelly scent that you get from walking around hot, sticky, humid Shanghai.
Hannah loved the rice noodles.... And look at those chopstick skills! She was a pro after 4 weeks!
Stewart Girls Take Shanghai
I apologize my blogging has been so intermittent and unthoughtful this last month. I have been so busy with guests... which I'm certainly not complaining about. It was a blessing to have my sister with me in this big city for 4 weeks and my momma for 2.5 weeks. We had a blast together and I was so grateful to be able to share this interesting place with them. I've included a few images from our time together...
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| HCS arrives at PVG, how was business class sissy? :) |
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| Hannah's great pic of Pudong skyline with tour go-ers in the red hats |
Franny showed up a few days later, and although we were late to the airport to pick her up, she was so excited to see the girls! There aren't many things better that seeing your momma after a few months. She had a rough go of traveling - who knew you could actually get downgraded from business class? Poor Franny!
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| Lujiazui |
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| Park Hyatt - Living Room, Floor 87 SWFC |
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| Hannah on top of the world - Oriental Pearl TV Tower! |
Girls Night Out on the Bund. Aside from these great pictures, we were asked to take many pictures with local people. Its still flattering....
Below, Hannah and Franny posing with the Lujiazui skyline in the background. Also, Hannah and I doing the signature Theta Kite. Theta Magazine worthy? What do you think girls?
Dinner at Lost Heaven, serving food from the Yunnan region near Tibet. The girls were getting better with their chopsticks with every meal!
The girls enjoyed a sunny day out on the Shanghai Hop-On, Hop-Off tour bus. Here is Franny at the Yuyuan Garden and Old Town area.
One night, we decided Mexican was a necessity and we headed to Catina Agave for an evening on the patio with margaritas. When we arrived some workmen were jackhammering on the corner nearby - at 5pm on a Sunday! It was a bit distracting but after the first two margs they stopped, so we were able to enjoy a few more. We have a pretty good time together....
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| Me and Franny at Cantina Agave |
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| My amazing sister |
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| Headed home on the metro! |
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Bund after dark in May
Adam and I out for the evening in Shanghai. Just taking to the local culture and doing the peace sign pictures!!
I'll tell you one thing... we don't need those jackets in Shanghai anymore! July is hot hot hot! Talk about humidity!
Wow! I forgot the Great Wall!
On the 3rd day in Beijing, we took a trip to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall - about 2 hours outside the city. It was a nice drive and it continued to get greener and greener as we got out of the city!
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| all the tour buses - the actual wall wasn't too crowded though! |
The Mutianyu site is a nice site, as it is much less crowded than others near Beijing, especially Badaling. This site has been referenced as the one that Mao said all Chinese people should visit. Needless to say it is a very popular destination for many people from all over the country and world. Mutinayu was not very crowded at all and we mostly encountered foreign tourists during our morning hike at the site.
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| Skye, our tour guide - please check her shoes! |
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| View from the open lift up to the wall! |
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| Love my hiking buddy! |
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| It was breathtaking! |
The wall was so much more steep than we thought it would be! What a great 2 hour workout!
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| What a view! |
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