Lao Wang!

Alright, so this isn't actually Lao Wang, but it is Lao Wang's friend who is now H and my new best friend. No really, we are going to his house on Wednesday night for dinner.


We met him on Qingming (Tomb Sweeping Day, Monday, May 6) at Xiangyang Park. We were sitting on our bench sipping coronas and enjoying the first day of spring when he moseyed on up and welcomed himself to the spot between us. He actually was born in Singapore and speaks excellent English. He used to export silk, and claims he is going to give us some when we come over on Wednesday.

He claims he has a 20 year old son, and when we guessed his age as 64, he squeeled "TOO OLLLD!!!" and laughed uncontrollably, claiming he is younger. He never told us exactly how old he is ... but whatever he would have said I wouldn't have believed him.

As she will report ... he was quite fond of H. Must have a thing for blondes.

RUGBY SEVENS!

Best weekend ever. That's it.

Obligatory Wynn and Emily Photo

Me and my new boyfriend

6th Grade BFFs

Me, Wynn, Erika

"Fags on Vacation"

FIJI players! Aka Champions

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I’ve been trying to decide, recently, whether or not it’s cool to be a regular. There have been times when I thought it would be great to have my very own version of Cheers, where I could walk in at ease and everyone would, well, know my name. But at what point does that start to get kind of awkward or depressing even? At what point does the bartender knowing what you want before you ask, or every staff member in your coffee shop saying “Hi Emily!” when you walk in become just kind of sad?

Thus far I seem to have managed to reach regular status at 3 venues in Shanghai: Wagas – the friendly coffee shop, Oscars – the ladies night destination, and the Beaver – the frequented bar.

At Wagas the progression was somewhat natural, and really only shows that I am a. extremely predictable, and b. addicted to caffeine. It started this summer when my intern and I used to take the subway to work and stop by for an iced latte to keep us cool on the ten minute walk to the office. Finally, after several weeks of our daily visits, Karen at the register asked us our names. A few weeks later, she told us that we were her “best friends” at work. After the intern left, and the weather started to get cold, I started taking the bus to work, and my morning iced lattes became midday large lattes with skim milk and one equal. Now whenever I walk in I am greeted by name by not only Karen, but also Emily (another register worker) and every single other employee in the café. A large latte with skim milk and one equal has become the “Emily latte” and I don’t even have to ask for it. They just know. Once they even spotted me at the ATM outside and my drink was ready before I even reached the register. I kind of liked it.

At Oscars it’s a little weird. H and I go there almost every Weds for ladies night, which means free cocktails and shots from 8pm to 11pm. The point of any ladies night is to draw the women, which will draw the men, who will talk to the women and spend money on their own drinks. Oscars isn’t like that, especially not for us. We walk in, bypass the open mic night and head straight upstairs to hide in a corner near the second floor bar. Within seconds, David the Chinese bar tender has placed 2 long island iced teas in front of us. We never even have to ask for refills … they just appear as soon as the glass begins to look low. Does that make us cool … or just lushes?

Nice shirt, David

The third locale is becoming somewhat controversial. I actually read about the Beav on City Weekend when I first moved to Shanghai, and so when H told me it was one of her favorites I knew we would be fast friends. Overtime, our somewhat frequent nights there turned into weekly visits, then multiple times a week, until we became friends with Kit the owner and eventually started getting VIP treatment (free drinks and permission to hoola-hoop and beat a piñata indoors). We still love the Beaver, we do. But it turns out being a regular at a dive bar in Shanghai doesn’t exactly get you access to the most eligible bachelors in town. Kit’s … interesting … love for H aside, we have started to realize that if we want to be among the best, we are going to have to start to class it up. Wish us luck on that one …

You'd think that with Shanghai growing so quickly in anticipation of the World Expo 2010, we would have an endless supply of new venues to try out. Perhaps we do? I think its time I stopped pretending to be set in my ways and start exploring again.