Can there be such a thing as having too much of a good time? Maybe it’s not the time as much as consumption that is making me say that. It was a really fun night last night most of it I still remember. I think 😉.

  
I just had a great meal at “Old Shanghai Style” restaurant. Now I’m sitting at a Costa having a coffee trying to compose my thoughts. 

The day started early at about eight thirty. We met in the lobby of the hotel as we usually do and headed off toward the metro so that we could make it across the river to the financial district. The day was a bit more dreary and cloudy in contrast to the day before. It was a short journey just one stop. When we got out of the station we all had a look around as we bent our necks to look up at the sky scrapers. 

  
We were going to go to one of the buildings and see the view from the top but the clouds were to low. The majestic looking buildings were impressive I must say. Their variety is pleasing to see. The shapes and colors helped brighten the cloudy grey color of the sky. We slowly made our way around not really getting far. Some of us wanted to go off on their own while a lot of us wanted to go and travel on the maglev train. 

  
Getting to the maglev train required another journey on the underground. When we got to the station we first went into the museum that housed an exhibition detailing the technology employed by the system we were about to travel on. The line connects the airport to the city. When Harvey went to purchase our tickets he noticed that the train wasn’t operating at full speed at this time. There was no point to go on it when it travels at 300 km/h we wanted to travel at 471 km/h. These speeds are only in use at certain times of the day. 

  
As I was taking pictures I noticed that the shutter button came loose. In a way I’m fortunate to have noticed this as it could have easily been lost. I put the button in a safe place to fix it later. Since the day was going nowhere with the morning activities a lot of us decided to go back to the hotel. The next meetup time was two-thirty. This gave me some time to find crazy glue to fix the camera button with. The task was complicated by the end of the spring that was sticking out. I fixed it though. I then tried posting my update for the day. There was something weird happening with the VPN and I had a hard time connecting. I didn’t have enough time to post all the pictures that I wanted before our meet up at two-thirty. 

Sigh…

There were a few stragglers from the morning’s excursion and luckily for them they messaged us through whatsapp telling us that they were going to be late. I asked Harvey to wait the fifteen-twenty minutes. They came running in just as we were about to leave after waiting. We were headed to Yu Garden. It is a five hundred year old garden. It used to be the residence of important government officials but now it is a major tourist attraction. There were a lot of people inside as well as in the surrounding area that housed many many shops. 

  
The garden was fun to walk around in. There were many little buildings and alcoves. It was like a maze trying to navigate through all the passages. Then there was the wait for people to move out of the way firstly from the picture’s frame secondly, so they could finish posing. 

We went to the silk shop to look at genuine silk and I probably should have cleaned my hands better from the cotton candy. Then stood in line for a long time to get some really good dumplings. Finally we went to a tea tasting. Here we learned that the British don’t make their tea properly. It was educational and the teas were really good. 

  
The plan for the evening was to go clubbing. We didn’t know where but we knew that we wanted to. After all this is Shanghai and the clubbing is supposed to be really good. We headed back to the hotel to prepare. First though we were going to meet up at eight thirty and walk to the Bund. This is the riverside to take in the skyline. Some were going to go on a ferry ride but that went bust after realizing the length of time it was going to take to actually get on the ferry. 

  
The skyline is magnificent I must say. The lights and colors as well as the scale and variety of buildings make it a wonderful sight. What better place to serve as a backdrop for a group photo. I quickly set up the tripod and as we stood there for a second take the passers by admired the photo that was taken. 

We went back to the hotel for some pre drinks and found a club to go to. Elsie knew someone that worked at a club as a hostess and she managed to get us all in with free drinks for the night. Yes you read that right. The deal was that we had to get there by 1145 it was 1105 when we got the news. Some people were not at the hotel yet having stopped in at a bar. Somehow though all ended up being there by 1140 just in time to get in. 

  
The place was packed as we were shown to the table. The busser was busy at our table quickly exhausting the bottles that he kept bringing to our table. There were go go dancers and loud music booming from he system. We were sharing a table with another group. It was the only place we could be placed in. The club’s name is the M2. We partied and danced the night away. I vaguely remember getting back but I do remember doing multiple shots with Tom and some shady looking character. He tried to refuse one of them but I indicated that I would be insulted if he didn’t. He made us down the coke and something before we headed back to the group. 

I do feel it this morning and now but the hydration and fresh air of the park is helping.