Well today I worked from home and got quite a bit done. The datasheet has been submitted but for some reason Niko hasn’t sent back an edited version so I don’t know what else needs to be done. I’ve now started market research for the next project which I’m super excited about. On top of that I washed my sheets!
Then the Frenchies and I took off for some sort of “fake market” where they sell a bunch of fake merchandise. Quite honestly it was kind of… well sad. First off there were only white people shopping, and believe me, that’s a sure sign that the place is crap. There’s 20 million Chinese living in Shanghai, if you walk into a store dominated by white people then warning signs should start going off. The sellers were aggressive to say the least and the buyers weren’t much better.
We were even in a store talking to one of the merchants when two middle aged women tried to bargain with the seller to get some electronic item for two dollars, and they got mad when the seller told them no. Listen when you’re in China please don’t try and use dollars, take 5min to learn the local exchange rate and then exchange your currency, and don’t try to buy an expensive electronic gadget for some absurdly low price. Bargaining is one thing, but you need to be careful that you don’t throw a figure out that’s just insulting. Quite honestly the whole thing was just embarrassing because it was just so… just typical ignorance of the local culture. I will say it was fun to watch Nathan (the only other American on campus) haggle because his Chinese is pretty good and shop keepers really like talking to him.
Anyways we walked around for a bit but Clement, Sandra, and I quickly split from the group headed out. Which I must say was an excellent choice. First we popped into McDonalds, I wish we could have chosen place different but we need a rest, McDonalds was close, and I will admit I like their fries.
Soon we were off again and exploring. We passed by this big brown building that looked like something you would see in New York and Clement mentioned how he wondered if we could get to the top. Only one way to find out so I made a beeline for the door and pretty soon we were at a couple of floors from the top look out over a great view from an empty restaurant (it was like early afternoon and I don’t think the place was even technically opened yet). After that we went to the famous Radisson with its massive saucer on top (which is actually a restaurant) and o man the view was gorgeous. It was a clear day and we were just a little bit taller than the rest of the buildings and you could see for miles. Let me make this clear, Shanghai is MASSIVE, we’re talking 8+ story buildings as far as the eye can see. We also made plans to come back in May for Sandra’s birthday. All in all I say we make a pretty good trio.
Once we were back on campus we rested for a couple of hours and then it was off to the Brown Sugar, a jazz club. The club was so much better than the last one, though I’m hesitant to really call it “jazz” more like classic rock songs with a jazz vibe. Anyways we were right up front next to the stage and we just danced for several hours. Sandra even was invited to go up on stage and shake her booty! It was a great night, though I really need to go to bed, and I just ran out of water. :( Sadly my cough is still around and that means not having water is going to be really bad tonight when I start coughing. I’ll have to wake up and go get some water from the local store pronto, not being able to drink tap water can be a real pain.
Night everyone.
Picture of most of the gang from the club, sadly Luc got hidden
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