Shanghai and other stories...

I know that its been over a week since I've updated the blog and apologize for the delay. I hope that everyone hasn't been waiting anxiously at their computer screens for the last week.

This week has also been eventful: the highlights/lowlights being my new love for Chinese food, the visit to Shanghai, the theft/loss of my wallet, and numerous thrashings at the hands of local students at basketball.

Last time I left you, I had started watching 24 and my lectures had just started. My interest in 24 has since subsided - I'm sorry, its OK, just not as good as everyone else made out (just my opinion, don't crucify me for it).

In the first diary, I lamented the limited depth of my Mandarin linguistic skills. I am pleased to inform you that my Mandarin has improved vastly, with huge thanks to the waiters at the student restaurant.
I know that its sad, but I've found that if I have lunch by myself a few times a week, I can speak in Mandarin to these waiters for a solid hour. I will be sharing my Mandarin gems with you in the weeks to come!

I have also started to cook with the two other veggies staying here (much to the amusement of the meat eaters!). Our food has been excellent on every occassion, and our repertoire is always increasing.

Back home, I hope that everyone is doing well. The mighty Spurs are still going, and I'm loving every minute of it (watching it illegally over the internet). Dimitar Berbatov is "the beautiful game" personified.

Anyway, thats enough of the background stuff... I know that everyone wants to get into the meaty details:- Shanghai.

Four of us guys left for Shanghai last Thursday (a day earlier than the rest of our group) and we went with a boy and a girl from Hong Kong. These guys had an amazing appartment in Shanghai and they showed us around.
On the first night, we went to this incredible Dim Sum restaurant (maybe my best meal here so far) and then we went clubbing.

The clubbing in Shanghai is incredible. The music is all the latest hip hop, the DJs are very talented and the clubs are nice. Not to mention that Shanghai women are very beautiful too!! I have to say that I felt very homesick being in the clubs because I really missed DJing.
We stayed in the Hong Kong brother and sister's appartment that night.

For everyone that hasn't been to Shanghai, its an incredible city. Lots and lots of skyscrapers and lots of neon lights. The city itself is very busy and you can't move in the streets without bumping into someone.

The next day, we went for a walk in Shanghai during the day, did a bit of shopping and went to TGI Friday's for dinner. At night we went clubbing and that night was when I lost my wallet.

I lost my wallet sometime after the club and before we reached the hotel so the assumption is that it was left in the cab. This was a very upsetting for me because it had a stupidly large amount of American dollars in it and it also had my credit and debit cards in it. I have since cancelled the cards but I'm very upset about the money because I shouldn't have had that amount of money in it, and its my fault at the end of the day.

I was considering leaving Shanghai at that stage but luckily, my friends convinced me against it. I went to a market the next day and didn't buy anything but it was a good experience - lots of counterfeit goods!! That night we found a vegetarian restaurant, and the food there was amazing. Authentic Chinese food that is 100% vegetarian. It was the only time here that I had gone into a restaurant and not had to select from only one or two items.

The next day, we left Shanghai but it was a marathon trip back. We were supposed to get the coach back (same as we had done on the way there). We told a cab driver to go to the bus station but instead he took us to the train station half an hour outside the city centre and then got into another cab which took us to the wrong bus station. We ended up missing our bus, and had to wait two hours for another one. I ended up missing Spurs - Chelsea so I was most upset.

Also, aside from the loss of my wallet, within our group of fifteen people, one Ipod and three phones were stolen - proof that Shanghai is a dangerous place!

Since Shanghai, not much of note has happened apart from the three beatings that we have received from Chinese people at basketball. For those that don't know, basketball is China's national sport and for a very short nation, they make very skilful basketball players. With our three weeks of experience, we were no match for the Chinese wonderkids!

Aside from that, this week is nearly over. There's not much else to say but I want to say hello to everyone, because I can't say hi individually.


Missing you guys lots and lots



Nihal