Well today started with the last of Amy’s German friends leaving to go home which was kind of sad… we then lounged about the apartment for a fair while before motivating ourselves (after some lunch) to go do something. We went to Amy’s favorite temple, which was really really neat. It had lots of practicing monks and others with not too many tourists… especially considering it is the weekend. It had a very special feeling there, it was quite something to see. We wasted some time milling about before going to the main event of the day: The Circus. It is a kind of cirque-du-soleil type thing and was a lot of fun to see.
After we headed over to a nice area of Shanghai (where we get our massages) to have some dinner. We got dropped off in front of a place which unfortunately closed in only a few minutes, but an Italian place next door was open. It seemed like an unimpressive menu for the money (how quickly cheap China prices seem unjustified as they start to approach western prices) so we kept walking around the blocks looking for somewhere else. No surprise, we ended up back where we started, except now we were wet.
We were brought upstairs after a confusing explanation that there was a big party coming in downstairs. Upstairs was more like a club or a bar, which was actually nicer (in my opinion) after getting over the weird feeling of eating a nice Italian meal in a dance club atmosphere. The food was good, and the place was empty despite being a really nice looking place. The only people milling about were staff members pouring themselves drinks and playing pool.
Also, we booked our hotel today. The New Siam II… plans for now are to stay there until the Saturday. We leave for Bangkok on the 2nd. One more night for Shanghai, then it’s beaches, 30 degree weather, and lots more adventure!