Cat Cafes, A Soldier Boy, and Luke Warm Hot Tubs
Alright, so a friend of mine that I originally met on the plane to Shanghai from LA visited and both of us wanted to see what the hype was about with the Hyatt rooftop bar overlooking the Bund in Shanghai. It had been snowing that week, and we thought it would be a good idea to go because they have a hot tub lounge section outside of the bar with a fantastic view. I grew up snowboarding in Colorado and absolutely LOVED soaking in a jacuzzi after a day on the mountain and thought this would be just as awesome.
It was still within Chinese New Year so the bar was sparce (Shanghai becomes a ghost town during CNY because the city is mostly made up of Chinese from surrounding areas and they all go back during this time - it is the biggest time holiday of the year and so the foreigners end up leaving as well because the city shuts down for several weeks) Sooo.. the place had around 200 people in the bar, which is nothing for China, and we were the only ones outside. We had our bathing suits on under our clothes and so when we got out on the freezing roof with our complimentary drinks for paying a cover, we start to take off our clothes to jump into the tub - and a hotel associate stops us to let us know that it is not allowed to do this out in the open, but in the dressing room. Like it makes any difference... but that is Chinese culture. In America, I can't remember a single time when I already had my swimsuit on under my clothes and went to a separate secluded area just to take them off.... We didn't resist and came back out to jump into a tub that was LUKE WARM. Did I mention it was below freezing outside? I called out to the same associate enforcing the conservative rules of the place to do everything he possibly could to rip the temperature up as hot as it could go - it is the HYATT for goodness sakes! After a couple back-and-forths and a lot of giggles from the guests taking our crazy foreigner experience we decided that it just wasn't going to get any warmer so we jumped out laughing at ourselves and the situation we got ourselves in and I took probably one of the hottest showers I have ever taken.
That is my friend, trying to look like he is enjoying himself and me giggling behind the camera.
I am not going to lie, this place had great drinks, an awesome view (named VUE Bar) and I will probably do this again... in the summer time!
A couple days later we had scheduled to see the Lumineers perform at MAO Livehouse music venue. Which ended up becoming a reality because my neighbor. When I introduced myself as the new kid on the block on a Friday night when I heard a party going next door, I found out he worked for the company putting on the concert! You meet very interesting expats here in China.. the concert was a blast. Their first performance in China!
So anyone who knows me understands that I am a pretty big fan of cats…. I like dogs and grew up with them too but I have a special place in my heart for cats and I heard of Cat Cafes in Japan where you go to a café full of social cats and sip coffee while they sleep in your lap or run around and play. Well, I found one in Shanghai… and I thought I had about died and gone to heaven – it was AWESOME
My work station...
I wonder if this would do well in the US...
Also, I went out to buy some thermals that everyone had recommended to me by this Japanese clothing line (they saved my LIFE) and it had started to rain while I was in the store. While they were bagging my things, they also covered my shopping bag with a plastic bag specifically made for the shopping one to protect my things from the rain~ fancy. Such a small thing, but it makes all the difference because in China, since you walk EVERYWHERE therefore it takes more time to get where you are going (instead of conveniently driving) this bag would have fallen apart before I actually got home. I loved it – great customer service!
One of the Saturdays I had, before heading to a dinner party I stopped into a mall to check it out. On my way through the station I found my Chinese twin…. And I mean, if I was Chinese – this is EXACTLY what I would look like:
She and a friend have 2 desks attached to the wall in a subway corridor with a mirror and shelves and they do makeup and hair for women on the go – this was on Valentines Day and they did some of the most intricate hair braiding I have ever seen, cheap and quick!
I felt like I was in Austin again with all of its live music when I saw this guy as I was exiting the station
Where I also found an Ukrainian boy soldier:
More funny, weird, and awesome Chinese things to come!