Good times in Shanghai

Last weekend was loads of fun! Here's a quick run-down of the things I did:

• Dinner at Casa 13 for Mike's birthday
• Lost my ATM card but found it later!
• Haircut from Kanako at EXY
• Lunch with Sally my Chinese teacher (Wu Lao shi!!) from SHS
• Massages at Kangjun on Dagu Lu
• Hotpot with the birthday boys and Maria & Valentina
• Party at Cotton's!
• Brunch with DSpear at Element Fresh
• Visit to the new Shanghai World Financial Center
• Dinner at FU 1039
• DVD shopping on Dagu Lu

Not a bad weekend eh? Here are some pictures:

We kicked off the weekend with dinner at Casa 13, on Hua Shan Lu and Fu Xing Xi Lu.

Our dinner - braised beef cheeks cooked in a Chianti-reduction sauce and sea bass grilled with olive oil and sea salt. I liked the beef cheeks better than the sea bass.

Here's Kanako, my hair stylist, student and friend!

Acting silly after getting my haircut while waiting for our other friend, Ayako, to show up.

Group birthday dinner at a Japanese shabu shabu place with Maria and Valentina, two Shanghai newbies studying Chinese at a local school

The birthday boys: Tam talking up a storm while Mike quietly drinking away his baijiu shots

Party at Cotton's! Who else did we see? Morgan! Apparently, Katie H. also had her birthday party there, and we also bumped into Zack, Mike the jazz musician, Nathalie and a bunch of other SHS teachers.

Hanging out with the new friends

Picture with Jess and Lily, the Qingdao crew!

More pics of the Qingdao crew. Why does Dee look like a sad puppy?

Now he looks like a vicious dog while DSpear looks confused...

I had to get back at him at some point for ruining the other pictures

Cake time! The birthday boys blew out the candles

Then drank birthday shots together, courtesy of DSpear and Dee

Little did they know, the double D's had something up their sleeves...

Until it was too late...hahahah

Picture with the trouble makers

Went to the newly opened Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong the next day. This is currently the world's tallest building by roof (if you count the spire on Taipei 101, then Taipei 101 is still the tallest building). Once the Park Hyatt Shanghai opens, it will be the tallest hotel in the world. For 150 RMB, you can go up to the 100th floor (top of the middle opening) and walk across the building. The neat thing with this building is that the floor is made of glass, which means when you step on top of one of the glass tiles, you can see straight down to the streets of Pudong. Not exactly for the fainthearted!

Other updates:

• Kanako will move to LA for career opportunities next year
• Sally now teaches 2nd grade at the Pudong campus (her kids are so cute!); Xiao Lei teaches 4th grade; Shirley is pregnant, Miss Hu and Maggie are still teaching 6th grade, and according to Sally, Johnson has been acting even more ladylike (Sally claims it's because Xiao Lei is no longer around to yell at him)
• I lost my brain on Friday night and left my ATM card at the ABC bank (STUPID! who does that!?!!?!?) - luckily the bank has it
• Enjoyed a long awaited "healthy start" breakfast - fresh yogurt, fruits and an egg white omelette at Element Fresh on Sunday
• Threw the healthy start out the window when I ate "dong pou rou" (fatty pork), hairy crabs, drunken chicken and hong shao rou for dinner at FU 1039

All I have to say is, I love Shanghai!

Back to Hangzhou for now...until next weekend!