A Productive Day

This morning I bade farewell to C., who is leaving me in Shanghai for a few days while he attends meetings in Hong Kong and Singapore.  What a start to my week in my new city!  I made the most of the morning by… sleeping in and indulging at the giant buffet downstairs, of course.  The drizzly rain wasn’t really inviting me to explore the city, so I unpacked, rearranged suitcases, and began cleaning up photos to make more space on my hard drive.  The exhilaration from last night has indeed faded, but only temporarily I’m sure. 

I made my requisite visit to Starbucks for lunch, just before meeting Elsa for an afternoon of villa viewing.  She’s such a spunky and eager agent, and has done a great job of listening to our requests and searching for the perfect properties. We looked at seven different places in four different compounds, and two are frontrunners for possible homes.  Regardless of which property we choose, one thing is for certain: we’ll have tons of space!!  Even enough space for a grill!

The house hunting was physically bearable, but left me rather mentally spent.  We had passed by the Pearl City, which is an enclosed sort of flea market, filled with cheap (but cute!) souvenir and knick-knack shops.  Up on the 3^rd floor was a massage place I recognized from a business card C. showed me, which he highly recommended.  Is there anything better on a Monday afternoon than a 90-minute body massage?  I don’t think so.  Again, I indulged.

My final treat for the evening was just across the street from Pearl City at the Hongmai Pedestrian Street, also known as Foreigner Street.  It’s lined with cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs, and offers just about any cuisine you could want: American, Japanese, Iranian, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, German, Indian, and more.  Naturally I moseyed down to Mexico Lindo for a refreshing frozen margarita and ooey-gooey enchiladas.  I ended my successful day with an episode of Mad Men from C.’s laptop, and rested well knowing that I got us one step closer to settling in to Shanghai.