Sunday was such a fun day! Robert and I had planned to meet Sunny at 1.30pm at the fakes market. We had both woken up much earlier, so we decided to get some breakfast at ‘Snack Street’ in Yu Gardens, as this was walking distance from where we now live! Snack Street was amazing, it is a whole road of street vendors selling Chinese ‘street food’. This includes skewered fruit coated in liquid sugar that has hardened and all kinds of little meals to take away. There was also a BBQ where Robert and I purchased skewered BBQ octopus tentacles. They were so good! I also got a portion of noodles with vegetables, the portion was so huge, and only cost 5RMB which is around 50p in English! After, we walked through Yu Gardens and bought some gifts for family and friends. I also got my phone blinged up like the Shanghai girls have!
From here, we took the metro to meet Sunny at the fakes market. Sunny was late, so we waited for her in a café, where I had some green tea! When Sunny arrived, she was still very tired from the Hangzhou trip! Walking around the fakes market was fun, there is fake everything, which is sometimes amusing! Next to the fakes market, there is also a fabric market, where you can have a bespoke fitted suit made for less than £50. There were some of the shops that boasted they could turn these around in 24 hours, but the higher quality ones generally take a week and I unfortunately do not have a week left L. However, the two other female interns Holly and Monika both got one made when they first arrived and were quite pleased with the result. Unbelievably, (considering the tiny size of most Chinese women) I found an already produced suit Blazer, which had traditional Chinese detail on it. I have really wanted to buy a traditional Chinese outfit, but knew that I really wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it, so this is a good compromise! After some serious haggling, plus the aid of two Chinese speakers, we managed to get a reasonable price!
Following the markets, we all decided to go home and take a nap! I managed to catch up on my blog! In the evening, Robert and I decided to take a stroll along the river on the bund side, giving beautiful views of Pudong at night. The air was really clear also, (which is a rarity) so the view was even better than normal. Whilst on our walk, we passed three brides and grooms having professional photos taken along the bund, outside the old European buildings. The wedding system is quite different in China. When a couple decide to get married, they go to a kind of registry office to get their marriage certificate found and then they don’t have any ceremony until 6 months – 1 year later! You would think this may be to see if they withstand the test of time, however there is no divorce law!
After our walk, Robert and I went for a meal at ‘Mr and Mrs Bund’, which is a gorgeous French restaurant, giving incredible views and amazing French food. There was also French staff! After our gorgeous meal (that we even got a knife and fork with) we went upstairs in the same building to bar rouge, which also offers incredible views.
After this, we decided to head for a massage at ‘Zen Massage’, which is a new place in the French Concession. Robert has a Shanghai app on his iPhone, which displays daily offers, which is how we found the 2-for-one 90-minute oil massages. Miguel decided to join us for this, but unfortunately, because there was only one of him, he had to pay full price.
We had got a taxi to ‘Zen’ and as it was on a one way street, we had had to walk for a while to find it, the street was very dark with people still working, eating, talking and generally living down dark alleys and back streets, making me a bit nervous. I was scared that it might not be reputable, however when we finally found the entrance, it obviously was. There was a long path leading up to the entrance that was lit by underground lighting giving an amazing ambience. When we went inside, we were given little wicker slippers to wear and asked to choose our favorite oil. I chose lavender. After, we were taken into a room – with 3 beds in it. This is when I started to feel a bit self-conscious. This only got worse, when the masseuse handed Robert a pair of normal boxer shorts and then handed me some see-through paper fiber knickers! I waited to at least receive a see-through bra to match but nothing! Robert got changed and then left the room for me to change, so I put my new paper knickers over my own and left my bra on, trying to think of it like a bikini – I can only thank God on that day I had a matching set on! My mortification increased even higher, when not just Robert entered the room, but also Miguel. Cringe.
The masseuse soon covered me in a towel and seized my bra. However, we were all soon lay on our fronts with our faces through the little hole and therapeutic music on, so it was all ok. I think we all fell asleep at least once. An amazing end to a lovely day!
No comments:
Post a Comment