Mao's Revenge on Black Monday

SHANGHAI, DAY 5 - MONDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2008

Not much to write about today. I was up very early. After my second cup of coffee, I could tell all was not well. By the time Dee and Scott were up, I was in the tight clutches of Mao’s Revenge. For me, the next 36 hours were miserable, foodless, mostly fitful sleep. We decided to switch our travel plans to Beijing from train (overnight) to plane (2 ½ hours), and Scott booked those flights. Dee and Scott headed out. They lunched in the swanky dinning area where we had previously lunched at the Bavarian brewhouse, but they selected “Va Bene”. Strange how they choose Italian in China. Scott took Dee to the shopping district, and did her negotiating. Scott’s plan is simple: Undercut their price until their mad and red in the face, then close the deal. Dee bought two high-end (knock offs, no doubt, but don’t tell anyone) leather purses, and some shirts and a sweater. They reported back to the hotel to see if I was still alive, and brought me some Sprite and water. I slept through most of their visit, then they headed out to the Bund, dinning at “M on the Bund”, on the seventh floor of one of the Concession era buildings overlooking the river front.. I, not being there, rely upon their sketchy reports - Dee had a large salad, a bean soup, and some huge chocolate desert. Scott had salad, “seven meat, seven vegetable cous cous” (he reports identifying maybe 4 of each) and a mixed citrus sorbet. I wasn’t even thinking food at the time.