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Published: August 30th 2008
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the mansion housing Face Bar, a giant patio, and 2 restaurants (1 middle eastern, 1 thai) Friday evening post dinner Ollie and I found ourselves sitting on the couch reading the new issue of Shanghai City Weekend. For you T.O.s out there it's kinda like a glossy NOW mag of stuff to do for the week in the city (ie: Nightlife, Dining, Film/Stage, Exhibitions, Sports/Fitness, Community, etc), except that you should multiple the amount of stuff to do by 10! Talk about overwhelming! Ollie and I decided then and there that while we're here in Shanghai we're gonna get some serious socializing in.
Well about 10 minutes after deciding that (but not really knowing where to start) we got in touch with two old school chums of Ollie's from back in his private school days, Alex and Eva, who (unbelievably) happen to have been working in Shanghai for the last 4 years. Spontaneously a reunion got planned for that night, 10pm, Face Bar. I was super excited, we'd discovered Face Bar during our research in T.O. - apparently it was located in the middle of a private park in the middle of the city, in a beautiful old mansion. It certainly didn't disappoint. You approached along this dark, windy drive, and around the bend this mansion
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glowing lanterns hanging from trees - eerie and so pretty appears, dimly lit, red lanterns hanging from trees in the dark, ambient music spinning. Surprisingly another old school chum living in Shanghai came out too (4 ex-classmates in the same international city!), Gabriel, and it was a great night. Drinks were flowing, conversation was about everything Shanghai and China. All in all an awesome night that lasted into the early hours of the morning, and an educational night at that! There is something very comforting and helpful about having friends who have been-there-done-that on the other side of the world, who have been living in Shanghai long enough to be locals, knowing the culture, the language, and the city.
Brunch for the next morning was immediately decided on (although only a few hours away), and M on the Bund it was. Alex and Eva picked Ollie and I up and drove down to the Bund where we had a very chic and leisurely brunch/lunch on a rooftop terrace over looking the historic Bund and the Huangpu river. Being such excellent hosts Alex and Eva spontaneously decided that we should follow brunch by going DVD shopping and getting massages(!).
Back in the car for a zippy 10 minute ride
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yours truly and we ended up at a DVD store where I purchased the entire series of Seinfeld, an Office season, and 7 movies for 195RMB ($30). After a short stop for refreshments we found ourselves in a Massage Parlour. Again, this was one of those experiences that you could never have if you were not with a) a local and b) someone fluent in the language. There's no way as a foreigner you could pick a good cheap massage place (there's probably a pretty good chance you'd wander into a brothel....), and you'd be unable to communicate with the staff and your masseuse.
So 60 minute full body massages it was, for only 80RMB ($12.40)!!! In Canada it's usually around $75-80 for a 60 minute massage . . . . this was $12!! Eva decided to get a foot massage so Ollie, Alex, and I were led into a massage room set up with three tables (this was definitely the first time I'd had a massage with two other people and three masseuses in the room with me - 6 people in total). We were each given a new set of "massage garments" - basically a one-size-fits-all pair of cotton
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view of Pudong across the Huangpu river, from brunch at M on the Bund (those shapes in the sky are kites that people were flying) capris and a cotton long sleeve shirt, which was great for hygienic reasons - the masseuse never actually applied skin-on-skin massage except for when she did my skull and forehead, and she also had a little sheet cover for when she was doing my feet.
It was unbelievable - my female masseuse had some serious talent and strength in those hands! She found every spot that was sore from my dance classes this week, and from lugging around backpacks and suitcases. So needed!!! She never spoke a word of english, but it didn't matter - besides if I needed to communicate with her Alex was just a table away to help out. It was such a strange but beautiful experience. In Canada when you go to get a massage you make sure that it's from a registered massage therapist, and you have to fill out all these health/claim forms, etc. Here I didn't have to fill out a single thing. But I was all for it (and trusted Alex and Eva's recommendation). It was only when I was face down and she was digging her elbows into me that it dawned on me, and I hoped she knew what the heck she was doing! But it all worked out great, and the 4 of us left the parlour well rested and kneaded like dough.
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