Exhausted!

Well, not much time has passed since the last time I wrote, but today’s objective was to set myself up for a reasonable daily routine. Once work starts, I’ll be toast without one! To that end, I forced myself to stay awake all day – no naps! – and I’m continuing my nightly ritual of writing for the day.

Staying awake wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be. I thought I’d be ready to take a snooze around noon, but I was much more chipper than I expected to be. Henry, Casra, and Ryan (another friend from school), were visiting the French Concession, and I ambitiously decided to forgo a cab and take the 45-minute walk (according to googlemaps, but ended up being much faster!). After meeting at Sun Yat-Sen’s former residence (by the way, it is so confusing that in Chinese he is called Zhong Shan-Ling) and showing them Grammy’s old house right next door, we went for a nice lunch at a local French café. Casra isn’t a fan of Chinese food, so while I was sad to see him leave today, I’m looking forward to eating with people more enthusiastic about Shanghai cuisine.

Later we went up to the roof of the Grant Hyatt on the Bund. It was so pleasant! There was a hot tub to dangle your feet into, as well as big square beds for lounging on. It was still sunny and warm out, so that’s as probably as close to a beach as I’m going to get any time soon! While here, we met the Marketing Director for the hotel. She seemed to be a real mover and shaker, and if that wasn’t enough, she totally won us over by giving us the heads up about some secret upcoming events. I can’t say what they are now, but we intend on going, so stay tuned ;-)

Ryan, Casra, me, and Henry on the rooftop overlooking the Bund.

Now I’m back at the apartment and finally getting drowsy. I’m going to try to hang on a bit longer so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night. Wish me luck!