Shanghai

The arrival went without a hitch as Matthew met us at the airport and Sabrina's family drove us to our lodging. The Cham boys are living like high class businessmen at a swank hotel in the financial core of Pudong. The room is about twice as big as my humble one bedroom apt and maybe ten billion times the size of my brother's place in Japan.

Tired from the travel but excited to get our first fill of Shanghai, we ignored the advice of the hotel clerk ("Everything is closed") and braved the immediate area looking for snacks. It wasn't looking too good at first. The urban scale was like walking down a dark, empty Vegas strip. Everything was huge and took forever to get around. There were a few young couples and the occasional group of shirtless boys walking home, but other than that, places were indeed closed. We explored the train station and tried to follow the aroma of food and/or bright lights, which oddly took us to a foot massage joint. But around the corner, we discovered a "might as well be in Monterey Park" establishment where I was finally able to rid my stomach of the memory of airport cuisine. Pork fried rice, wonton soup and beer, just what the doctor ordered.