Recap of the week

Friday, July 30, 2010

Quick recap of the week’s highlights:

Tuesday – After work I met friends on the Bund at Vue Bar, which has become a favorite Tuesday evening hangout because of the great views and promotional deals. After enjoying some food and drinks, we took in the gorgeous view, which is still by far my favorite. This was the first time I’d stayed up there until after dark, and it was definitely worth it! From the 92nd floor we had great views of both Pudong and the Bund, with the buildings in all of their lit up glory. The lights really do look spectacular. I think Shanghai is so much more enjoyable at night. (During the day it usually just seems kind of dirty, because the sky is so rarely blue.)

I love walking to Vue Bar from the metro station because you have to go down the whole length of the Bund. The architecture is so nice :)

We stopped on the bridge over the Huangpu river to take some touristy photos.

Me and Henry at Vue Bar

The view at night (Bund is on the right; Pudong is out of the frame to the left)

Pudong (left side of the river) at night.

Wednesday – I went to Barbarossa with a bunch of friends. My friend Henry is always raving about Barbarossa, so we just had to check it out! Barbarossa is a restaurant/bar/lounge nestled in Jing’an Park. It’s in the middle of a lake, so to get there you have to walk across bridges. We spent the night hanging out on the rooftop. Luckily there was a nice breeze and noticeable lack of humidity to make the outdoors very enjoyable.

Thursday – Sam, one of my Swiss coworkers, invited me and a couple other people over for dinner. The company really does give employees on international assignment lots of perks to sweeten the deal. Sam’s apartment was HUGE and from the 21st floor he had a great view of the newly developing areas of Pudong. In true European fashion, we ate raclette cheese over potatoes, pickles, and little pickled onions. One thing I learned from eating with Europeans is that apparently you’re supposed to drink white wine or tea with raclette to prevent a cheese ball from forming in your stomach.