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I am so excited!  We are finally in Shanghai and I get to see one of my dearest friends, Sam!  I have been counting down the days until this port because you have no idea what it is like to spend 24 hours a day with the same people, doing everything together; working together, living together, going out together… it is just a lot of “togetherness”.  But in Shanghai I am going to have the opportunity to break away from the ship and go out with one of my best friends from home… what could be better!

So the original plan was to have Sam come on board the ship as soon as we docked.  I would show him around, he would be able to see one of our dance sets and then we would go out.  However, Chinese customs had a different opinion of my plan and without going into all the details Sam was unable to get on the ship that first night : (  However, I was not going to let this minor hiccup ruin my excitement and good mood so we just planned to meet each other after my dance set.  With all the drama behind us we headed to a bar that Sam occasionally DJs at called Da Da.  It was a great night full of good music, good friends and lots of dancing!  As the night ended we made plans to meet up first thing in the morning and explore the art district of Shanghai, something I didn’t do the last time I was here.

Bright and early (well actually it was rainy and cold but still early) Sam met me in port and we hopped in a cab to head to the art district.  In this area of the city there are about a dozen old warehouses that have been sectioned off into hundreds of different galleries featuring artists work in every medium.  Alongside the road that leads up to these warehouses there is also a wall about a quarter mile long that is covered in a graffiti mural that is forever changing as graffiti artists can continuously add to it whenever they please.  We spent the morning wondering in and out of the warehouses and finally made our way to a cute little coffee shop to warm up and catch up since we haven’t spoken since Sam was back in Maine this past summer.  About two hours later we decided we needed a change in scenery and Sam suggested his favorite rainy day activity, foot massages!  That sounded like an excellent idea to me so off we went…

If I could get an hour long foot massage for only 5 dollars a day back in New York I would go everyday no questions asked.  Can you believe that is all they cost in Shanghai!  Sam says he goes once a week just to chitchat with the locals and work on his Chinese.  It was lovely and everyone in the massage parlor kept asking Sam questions about me and why I was here and what I was doing… It was fun being able to somewhat communicate with them through him.  After our massages we headed back to Sam’s apartment to make a quick costume change before meeting up with a bunch of his friends at one of their favorite Chinese restaurants.

What an enjoyable start to the evening!  Sam’s friends are wonderful and the food was great. (Not to mention super cheap!)  It makes me happy to know that Sam has so many good friends even though he is living so far away from home.  After dinner we split from the group to go back to the ship and pick up some of my cast mates before meeting back up with Sam’s friends.  We had a little extra time to kill once we got back to the ship, so Sam and I headed up to the Observation Lounge to enjoy a cocktail and the view of the Shanghai skyline and the bund.  It was very beautiful and reminded me of the last time I was in Shanghai visiting Sam and we had dinner at a restaurant that offered us a similar view…

Next it was on to Bar Rouge, a trendy roof top establishment on the Bund, to meet up with everyone else and really get the evening underway.  The place was packed but we managed to secure a table.  After lighting the bar on fire a couple of times (it was some sort of drink… don’t ask because I don’t really remember why) we decided to switch venues completely and head to an underground warehouse rave party Sam’s friends had found.  Talk about two completely different scenes!  The warehouse party was a lot of fun but had potential to be wicked if they had a bigger and better sound system that really filled the space.  Regardless, they were passing out two liter bottles of Heinekens so no one was complaining.  The night finally ended at Logo, Sam’s “home away from home” as he refers to it.  He says most of his nights out end at Logo so I was glad to have experienced a full and complete Sam evening. 

Exhausted from a full 18 hour day it was time to say good night and good bye to Sam… With only a few tears (I tried really hard not to cry, but what are you going to do, I don’t know when I will see him again!) I got in a cab and headed back to the ship… Thank you Sam for a wonderful day one in Shanghai.  I miss you already and love you more!

After a crazy day one, day two did not begin until around 2:30PM (oops!) when a bunch of the crew went to see the Chinese acrobat show at the Hilton Hotel.  It never ceases to amazing me what people can do with their bodies.  The strength, endurance, balance and focus that these Chinese acrobats display was unbelievable and I am pretty sure my mouth hung open throughout the entire show.  Afterwards, it was back to the ship for sail away.  Until next time Shanghai…

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