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Hi, what's your name?

My exposure to nightlife here in Shanghai is quite different from Toronto. Although there are some clubbing districts here (as I am told), the main ones don't seem to be concentrated all in one area (like Richmond Street). I have been to three clubs here so far, it definitely felt like an obligation to go out to one since I haven't been able to explore the nightlife here until now. But it's definitely not the same as home.

I live in an all boys residence right now, so the closest friends of mine are guys. Four of us on Friday went to an area of town where foreigners hang out to drink. The club we walked into was on Ming Mao Lu, perhaps a version of HK's Lan Kwai Fong? It was called Judy's Too and we were there for about 5 minutes. All these suits there, white rich business men who had only one thing on their mind. The music also didn't seem that good so we just hung out at a pub right outside of Judy's and drank. I was able to grab a copy of That's Shanghai, a foreign publication that lists all the goings on in Shanghai and found a club that played all hip hop. The advertisement claimed that it was the only all hip hop joint in Shanghai so I convinced my friends to come so that I could get a little taste of home.

The club was called Club Milk, it's a much smaller club, kinda like an Una Mas and was located on Chang San Lu, an area just on the outskirts of the Bund. There were only about 50 people in the club, it definitely looked like it needed help. The music they were playing was hip hop of all types. Korean, Japanese, Chinese and American. It wasn't until I heard Missy's Get Your Freak On being played did I get really pumped up. Unfortunately, a huge element was missing in my yearning for a taste of home. Everytime I club at home, I'm with Marv, Fred, Ken, Kirb etc. My gin and tonic didn't taste the same that night, it just wasn't right, I really miss you guys. My new discovery of a link that bonds many of us Asians here in Shanghai's Fudan University is the love of Hip Hop. I was hit by a great idea and was able to convince the manager that I could help him promote Club Milk at Fudan to the foreign students, it was quite apparent that he needed the help. He thought it was a great idea and took my number down. I told him that he'd have to increase the bass a little bit and add a couple songs to his playlist. I also told him that I could help him get the people there, but it would be up to him to get them to stay there. If things work out, I should be getting a VIP card to Club Milk. Kev, Stan, Sush, Marv, I'm trying to network, so wish me luck so that when you guys come we can have a crazy time.

Speaking of networking, last night's festivities brought me to Rojam(we got there at 11:30). It's about the size of Helium, maybe a bit bigger witha higher ceiling and has the stature of a Whiskey or Guvernment (very commercial). It was there that I met my first local friends. Actually, they're not that local, one is from Shanghai and the other two are from Hangzhou (sp?), about an hour or so North or West or North West of Shanghai. I'm a bit confused because they cannot speak English and our entire conversation was probably a painful experience for them. I actually noticed one of them first, smiles really hit me hard and one of them had a really nice smile, dimples and all. The Chinese here dance really wacky (as compared to what I'm used to in North America) flailing arms, awkward body gyrations... I'm reminded a bit by Elaine's dance in Seinfeld. Well, I noticed them looking at me (or maybe they were looking at me because I was looking at them?) haha... Regardless, I gathered the courage up to say hello to the one with a nice smile at around 12:30 or so. I asked her in English and she told me in her best English that her name was Summer. She introduced me to her other two friends, one who also happens to go to Fudan! Cool eh? Well, her friends and my friends ended up partying till 7am in the morning last night.

After the club, they took us to the Bund... looking into the Huangpu river across to the Pudong commercial area at night is truly breathtaking, I wish I had a camera. I learned a bit about Summer last night, but communication was extremely difficult. She had to repeat almost everything she said, and sometimes we had to ask my friend (who can speak Mandarin) to help us translate to each other. I'm not sure if girls here try to take care of their body odour though but if they do, and unfortunately it was quite apparent that Summer hadn't. A woman's fragrance is extremely important, a major turnoff is stinky women or people in general. I'll have to try to figure out a solution for that one.

By the end of the evening though, I think she was getting annoyed at having to repeat everything that came out of her mouth. Even I was getting tired, I don't think I've ever partied all night for quite a while. Well, my first encounter here has been interesting. The three girls are really nice people actually, and the one that goes to Fudan lives pretty close to us. My mom warned me about the selfish and evil Shanghainese girls here, but the ones we met seemed very friendly. They paid for a lot of the stuff last night, so it doesn't seem like they are using us foreigners for money. (Or perhaps they ARE selfish, evil and deceitful... maybe this is an early and inexpensive investment for future and much more costly plans they may have for us haha). Whatever the case, I definitely had a pretty decent time, and was even happier that I had made new friends.

Today, I woke up at 2pm and had dinner with my dad's friend that lives here. I also noticed that I'm almost down to my last underwear... I will tell you about this next time, but I think I might have to go commando for a day or two if I can't buy any soon. Let's just say that I've already started to use my emergency tighty whities. FACK.

Simon is still enjoying Shanghai, and hopes that he stays smiley.