Landing in Shanghai and meeting my mate

---

Landed in Pudong Airport at 8am after a good flight with plenty of British comedy (Peep Show and Gavin and Stacey) and some fine cinema (Superbad and Hitman) to send me off to the East. 6 hrs sleep in 2 days and landing in dreary wet weather which after leaving a fantastically sunny Heathrow was slighty minor tho! Missing everyone already but over-ridden by a sense of thrill and dread for the unknown and well excited to see Ben and his family. I practised my 'good morning' (Zao shang hao[/i) that i learnt on the plane to the airport workers who looked surprised. Luckily a helpful Tourist Info girl at the airport managed to translate the English address into Chinese characters for the taxi driver. A hilarious moment followed when i bent over to pick up my colossal bag and loudly ripped the entirity of my camo shorts across the ass!! Shame cos i love those shorts but funny all the same. After a quick change and a long taxi ride thru Shanghai, which seemed endless and stretched as far as the eye could see. The roads were crazy and minimal signalling and plenty of cutting up was a good indication of what China brought to the table. Got to the hostel and went up to my room exhausted. Room 1312 was a fairly comfy 4 bed room with 3 French friends in. After a 6 hour kip I woke and got a taxi to an amazing hotel called the New Harbour in Central Shanghai, where his mum, aunt, uncle and cousin came to visit Ben, his cousin Carly and her boyf Paul.
Amazing to see the boy when he came into the lobby, must have been over a year since and great to see his fam. We then went to an all you can eat Japanese restaurant where our personal chef cooked in front of us including sashimi, sushi, steaks, veg and seafood. Constant topping up of beer by the staff and plenty of Saki which was instigated by 3 japanese businessmen made for a merry eve! Cambei! All of this was 15 quids worth.
We then went to a club namedJZ Club which had a live Latin Jazz band who were superb, more beer followed and a great first experience of Jazz in the high-end culture heaven that is Shanghai. We returned to the hotel stuffed, half cut and ready for bed. I slept on the sofa with Sam in bed next to me snoring like a pissed trooper. All in all a wonderful start to my time in China!

---