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Slept in again and did some laundry and then read some more of my book. I’m feeling unmotivated today, probably due to the rainy gloom hanging over the city. I guess it was too much to hope for nice weather my entire trip. The plan for the day was to make another attempt to visit the Jade Buddha Temple and then meet some friends in the afternoon. But then Kent (of India fame) messaged me and said that he and his fiancée were free for lunch. It was 11am. Time to head out. The temple would have to wait another day.
We went to Yuyuan Gardens, which really isn’t a garden but rather a touristy shopping area with all the trinkets you can carry. But it made for good people watching and the buildings were great to look at. But it would have been better if it had stopped misting sideways, not making things wet, but rather just damp. Think flurries with rain instead of snow.
We went in search of a Starbucks. In Zhengzhou (where they’ve been this year) there isn’t one, and both of them really were in need of coffee. They’d just gotten into town the
Awww
Aren't they cute. night before and had been visiting Kent’s new school early this morning. Of course, I’m pleased because this gives me an excuse to visit Shanghai again. We managed to snag a table in Starbucks after circling the place like vultures—everyone just wanted to get in and out of the rain. When the rain looked like it had stopped we left, being out of coffee.
We set out walking on East Nanjing Road, the shopping area my wallet only dreams of. But this time I was cold because I had only brought summer clothes with me for my trip. Kent’s fiancée decided the massages sounded good and I was quickly in agreement. She had a discount card from a friend, but the place was quite expensive. Lucky for us, they have another branch not too far away that is a bit less classy and a bit less expensive. We were told it was either a quick cab ride or a 20-minute walk. It was neither. Trying to get a cab in the rain this close to The Bund is like trying to find the most popular toy on Christmas Eve. So we walked, and walked, and walked, and it was closer to 35 minutes.
Kent and I caught up over foot massages while his fiancée got a full body massage down the hall. It was funny at one point when our massage boys asked about cost, etc, and Kent said his wife had a discount card, and then I had to explain that, no, I was not his wife, she was down the hall. They looked thoroughly confused. I looked at Kent and said, “I told you that would happen.” But the foot massages were great and his fiancée said hers was excellent as well.
We enjoyed a variety of Sichuan dishes for dinner, some of which I’d never seen before. We just chatted and enjoyed some beer, and then we headed our separate ways on the metro.
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