15 July

A mellow day.

Breakfast, in part, with two moms from our bus on the tour, Corinne and Doris.

I stayed back while Shayna and Donna did the last round of gift shopping in Old Town.

We all did brunch with Sandi at M on the Bund. Shayna and Donna then returned to the Galaxy to chill while Sandi and I went to 50 Moganshan Road, a warren of buildings housing galleries and a number of artists' studios. (See this and this and this.)

We walked up the Bund from M, after checking out M's huge bar -- The Glamour Room and Bar -- on the floor below the rooftop restaurant. We then toured the restaurants -- M competitors (all... lacking something in comparison to M) -- next door in 3 the Bund.

We then waled up the Bund, along the river, through the Sunday crowd, towards the creek along which we walked (or tried to walk) towards 50 Moganshan Road until we wussed out and hopped a cab, me shooting the camera about every other step.

The art was generally interesting if, in its frequent derivativeness, short of engaging. (I should say most modern art is to some extent derivative; it is of course what's done with it that matters and little significant -- that is, new, unusual -- was apparent among what we saw. But still, it was an incredible "hot spot" of creativity, something lacking in N.Y.C., so many artists crammed so closely together.)

We then hopped a cab driven by a man with a wee command of English who tried and pump us for a little teaching of the language. He knew July and when Sandi told him it was 15 July, pondered, so to speak, the difference between 15 and its reverse, 51 - until Sandi got a little nervous with traffic and seemingly going the wrong way and got the driver to focus on, like, you know, driving. I, knowing Shanghai like the back of my hand, was almost certain that he was headed generally in the right direction all the way.

We were en route to KABB, home of Shanghai's best burgers (Sandi claimed) so Shayna could have a good burger, not Mickey D's sub-mediocrity. (Of course, she ordered lasagna because Donna wouldn't her to have bacon on her burger.) (Kabb is located in the hip and trendy Xin Tian Di district.)

Got to KABB almost a half-hour later than we told Donna to be there. No sign of the girls for awhile then Donna appeared sans Shayna. She told us that Shayna was playing a game of chess -- on a huge outside board with pieces 2+ feet high -- against a local 9 year old. Alas, she failed to bring honor to the U.S. (unlike at the sckool in Beijing), losing to the geeky little twerp.

After dinner -- adequate frozen Margharitas and burgers for the adults -- it was off for Haagen Dazs for S and D and then back to the Galaxy and bed.