Shanghai: Day 2

We had a fun day, today... according to our itinerary, it was "Shanghai: free day at leisure, breakfast included". We had slept so much the night before that it was fairly easy to wake up when Cathy came to get us for breakfast. We went down and enjoyed the hotel's buffet. I decided to make my plate with half traditional western breakfast and half Chinese cuisine. It turned out nicely, pancake, french toast, bacon, a variety of dim sum dumplings and noodles:

My plate at Breakfast, Shanghai: Day 2

After breakfast we returned to the room to catch up with some emails, facebook, edit some photos and get ready for the day's activities.

Besides the Krinskys, I am traveling with another family, the Packards. David, the younger son of the Packards lives here, in Shanghai and works for David Krinsky's law firm. He was kind enough to spend our "free day at leisure" with us, showing us around a bit, we walked by his office, and took his commute (on foot) from work to see his apartment.

The Packards & Krinskys, Shanghai: Day 2

It was a nice spot, ground floor apartment with a great patio. He shares the place with 2 roommates, a fellow future law student from NJ and a Brit that he met through another friend. His bedroom/bathroom alone was the size of my studio, so it made me (and Lauren) laugh a bit. We used his internet to do some research planning the day, and made a brunch reservation for 2PM at M on the Bund.

David & his apartment building, Shanghai: Day 2

We took taxis over and walked around the Bund since we arrived early. They've been building up the area for the Expo happening soon, and it was very crowded since it was the first day it was open to the public. The restaurant turned out to have a fantastic view of the bund, the river and the buildings across the river. I don't really have the energy to post the photos tonight, but I'll get to it, soon, I hope. The brunch was great food, the views were fantastic, and the company was outstanding. Even ran into a few of David's friends who had brunch there as well. My favorite part of brunch, however, was the rehearsal happening in the new performance space. Most noteworthy was the rendition of "We are the World" with the dancing. They had a leader/choreographer trying to get everyone to make the same hand motions along with key words in the song, so he would sing over the soundtrack in his Chinese accent. Words like 'world', 'children' and 'place' were making me laugh so hard I nearly lost my brunch.

We are the World rehearsal, Shanghai: Day 2

After brunch we took a walk through People's Park back to our hotel. We wouldn't all fit in one cab, so we took 2, and had quite a debacle trying to get back together. Cathy's directions were using landmarks and the position of the sun. This will likely be more entertaining once I post the photos, but one of them was something like 'walk toward the building that looks like a phillip's head drill bit (the Marriott hotel) and we'll meet you in front of the Starbucks'. Turned out the men were in a different park and took nearly 30 minutes to find us, still standing in front of the Starbucks. Once we did finally start walking, it was a good time...

Cathy, in front of the Starbucks in front of the drill bit, facing away from the sun, Shanghai: Day 2

Tonight's dinner was hosted by the Gould School, where Richard Packard is Chairman of the Board of Directors. They host several Chinese students, so he had invited some of their parents to join us at the Ritz Carlton for a 9-course dinner. We had an interpreter that made it a good time for all and I thought the food was great... though not everyone agreed with me. I'll work on the photos, soon, but now it's time for bed!