We Wander

So after two fairly painless flights, I finally made it back to NYC last night.  After throwing down my bag and grabbing a quick shower, I headed over to my buddy’s apt for dinner/beers/catching up with Alex, John, Ryan and Dennis.  Running on zero sleep, I let them convince me to head out for a few beers which turned into a 330am dance party at Southside (obviously).  Great idea until I woke up at 730am.  Damn you internal clock.

It’s great to be back but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss traveling through Asia.  Shout outs to everyone who made my trip so amazing…Lisa, Charlotte, Aryan, Lorea, Michelle, Yan & Beijing crew, Dorian, Christina A., Vachu, Niki, and my travel amigos Sid, Matt and Mack.  Couldn’t have asked for a better travel foursome.  Thanks to everyone who followed my blog and emailed/texted me about photos/blurbs.  Totally made it worthwhile.

What did I take away from my travels?  I was consistently stunned at everyone’s willingness to go out of their way for me…whether it was providing advice, connections or just meeting up for a drink.  Made me realize I need to be much more giving of my time when similar situations arise.  Next up for me…Miami & Coachella before a whirlwind tour to Africa and Asia this summer.  Until next time good people…

So I’m almost home after 2.5 weeks traveling. Right now, Mack and I are kicking it in the SFO United airport lounge. Free wireless, access to facebook and blogs, ability to drink tap water…it’s nice to be back. The past two days were very similar with full class days followed by late nights ending at Mint nightclub. Other notable events were a poetry battle, the best massage I’ve ever had, an all night dance party with my california friend Michelle and a new group of Brazilian models that actually liked us. All in all a great few last nights in Shangai, despite the fact that i couldn’t get text messages from anyone and kept having to wake up for presentations at like 830am.

Im going to head to my gate soon and should be back in NYC in the early evening. Will update this blog with a few final posts/ pictures when I’m back in NYC. Asia….I love you.

Current songs
If I ever feel better - Phoenix
Angel - Ivana
Nothing but love - Axwell

My time in China is quickly winding down. In roughly 40 hours, I’ll be boarding a plane back for NYC. I’ll definitely be leaving with mixed emotions. Part of me is excited to see all my friends and to get back to the comforts of home but part of me wants to stay over here indefinitely. I feel I have so much more exploring to do.

Since my last post, the days have blurred together (mainly due to lack of sleep). We’ve had two full days of company visits, which have gotten significantly better but also have started earlier and earlier. I’ve been grabbing catnaps wherever I can (bus, lobby, etc). Last night, we headed out with Joyce, a local who Matt had been introduced to through a business contact. We grabbed some Hunnan food and Joyce helped us practice our Mandarin. “tiaowu hama” - let’s dance. Afterward, we headed to Barbarossa for some cocktails and then to M1NT, the world’s first shareholder club. Turned out to be a pretty fun night as it was “Model Wednesday” and the place was packed with Eastern European and Brazilian models. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to like Matt…as he got both the finger wag and the stiff arm. I’d like to add that getting home at 330am when you have a 9am meeting is never a wise decision. We all looked awful this morning. Looks like i’m actually heading out for another big night right now so I’ll have to cut this short. If you’re wondering why the title is called “False Idols”…it’s because we all got personal bobbleheads made today at a market.

So I have to wake up at 645am tomorrow for another exciting day of corporate visits (hooray school) so i’ll keep this short. I’m really digging Shanghai though, especially compared to Beijing. It feels more modern, more hip and less crowded/congested.

On Sunday, after our mandatory school dinner…we headed out with Aryan to check out Bar Rouge. Bar Rouge is situated on the Bund and has very impressive views of the Shanghai skyline..until 10pm when they turn off all the skyscraper lights. Snapped a few photos with my iPhone, pounded a caipirinha and headed to Muse2. Pretty impressed at the amount of people partying so late on a Sunday (every bottle service table was filled). If a Sunday night is this packed, I’m excited to see the weekend scene.

I’m in Shanghai for a class and thus all Monday and a few hours on Tuesday were filled with meetings with corporations. These ranged from the American Chamber of Commerce to multinationals operating in Shanghai. Our professor is great. Totally laid back yet very engaging and articulate. The meetings have been pretty hit or miss so far though. Anyway, not much to report on that front.

Post meeting Tuesday, we headed to one of the top bespoke tailors in the world. The four of us each purchased a suit, which involved measurements from an army of Chinese tailors. Fashion show in NYC when it arrives in 7-10 days post Friday fitting. We then grabbed a taxi, drove passed the diarrhea clinic (seriously this exists in Shanghai) and headed to the “fake market”. Products ranged from bootleg DVDs to Tory Burch purses to Victorinox backpacks. They also have all electronics from Rosetta Stone complete sets for ($8) to the new iPad keyboard case. The fact that they can rip off (or reverse engineer in the case of electronics) all this stuff is ridiculous. They had every Oscar nominated movie on DVD and several movies that are still in theaters in the states. We then proceeded to eat and shop more in the Xintiandi area. After an extremely man heavy day of shopping, eating lady burgers (chicken breast sandwiches), jacuzzing and getting massages…we ended with a drink on the 92nd floor of the Park Hyatt and dinner at Shanghai Hooters to redeem our machismo. Hopefully it worked.