The fishing village and the Vue BarToday it's Sunday 16 September. The day started for me just like all other days this study trip at 12 o'clock at night. It lasted till an hour of 5 and renewed around half past 7. The first 5 hours I spent first with Freek, Robert and Maarten at an expat bar 'Brown Sugar'. It was a very nice, but expensive (according to Dutch standards) place and it didn't last long before we mixed with the rest of the company. Even though it was very nice, the place closed already at 1:10. I was just talking with some people to ask where it would be cool to go out. At the same time the others were also talking about the same topic. We all got the same answer: "The Appartment". That place had to be explored and so we found ourselves in a cab to this notorious place. Two whiskey and a snack, in the form of some barbecue sticks just outside the place, later we found us again in a cab to the SSAW hotel where Maarten and I around an hour of 5 fell asleep. Less than three hours later I wake up after a concert of very loud ringing alarms at the other side of the room. However, it was the soft beep of my own alarm clock which shook me awake. I called Maarten that he had to wake up and I took a shower. While I was taking a shower, someone rang the door bell. People in front of the door, a loud door bell, of course Maarten would open that... Or maybe not. Calling Maarten, shaking him and Rammstein at maximum volume of my laptop speakers were not enough to get Mr. Money awake. However, shouting super loud above his head did work. After a lovely breakfast we departed with all our baggage to get to the Shanghai City Central International Youth Hostel by subway. Arriving there we hurried to the rooms. Two floors per room looks really cool and of course you call dibs on the top floor. This is extra fun when you see that you may sleep together in a two-person bed. After depositing our stuff in the rooms, our bus was ready to go at half past 11 to bring us to Zhouzhuang. Unfortunately, Eric and Xiaoying didn't accompany us. Eric spend his morning in the hospital, but luckily he could catch up with us near the end and the hospital tests turned out alright. The ride brought us through the countryside surrounding Shanghai including rice fields and we arrived at an oyster/pearl-nursery. We walked into the direction of the city and we were welcomed with drums and a whole show. We had to look around a bit before we found exactly what we were going to visit, but we found it. Zhouzhuang is a tourist place where the streets are replaced by canals. some people took a boat tour and fare to the other side. It was also possible, after a small payment, to let the driver sing. My adventure started in a paper/carton restaurant with matching shop. After a lunch of french fries with ice cream at a table next to the tour of Pisa and the Eiffel tower, I spend the rest of the day by strolling in shops and bargaining on prices of trumpery. After Zhouzhuang we went to a noodle juggling restaurant where we consumed a hot pot meal. At my table we ordered among others some pig brains. I myself didn't like the taste so much and the structure resembled something of jelly, but not exactly. Anyway, another food bingo point for most people. The real noodle juggling was done when you ordered noodles. It was an impressive show, which had something of ritmic gymnastics. The noodle started as a short fat string and it became a string of about 2 meters after it was fling about. After splitting it in halves it was put into the hot pot and after a not too long time you could eat it. The toilet is also worth noting. Besides the holding you didn't have to do anything yourself, the tap was opened and closed for you, the soap pump was pressed, the towel was handed and even the door was opened for you. Good service! The dinner took longer than expected and therefore the Vue Bar called us to ask us whethere we would still come. The dinner was quickly concluded and with cabs we returned to the hotel. We quickly changed clothes and Xiaoying instructed the taxi drivers to the hotel so they knew where they would have to drop us off. Our cab arrived first and the elevator, which took us up, already took my breath away. A wonderful view improved every second while the lift took us upstairs in just 33 seconds. Over there we were welcomed and our terrace with jacuzzi was shown. More and more people arrived. One taxi driver dropped a group somewhere else, but after a few calls they joined us to start this wonderful evening with an assortment of three different white wines. It didn't take long before the jacuzzi was full with EL people and there were various bystanders who just had to make a photo of our group. We were shortly accomapnied by a group of ladies who were giving a bachelor party, but even those ladies didn't drive off the hardened engineers to leave the jacuzzi. The view isn't to describe in words and even the photos are a mere reproduction of how we saw it. There was a strong wind, but the air was clear and the lights of Shanghai were in abundance on. There is only one word for me to describe this evening with the amazing view, all the compliments about the organization and the whines, beers, 2 whiskeys and various snacks: Legendary. Joris Mosheuvel |