Winter Weekend Warrior

The recent Saturday was so heong, I thought I should blog about it before I forget how heong it was.  So I've mentioned how I was a summer weekend warrior. I thought I was done being a crazy weekend cheong-ster when summer ended, cos really, how do you cheong when it is so darn cold and all you want to do is eat rice and sleep under a mountain of quilts?  Boy was I wrong.  Turns out my penchant for perpetual activity did not die with the trees (browning and dropping of leaves, geddit?).  Here's a blow by blow account of what I did last Saturday, together with my fellow winter weekend warriors.   

Opened my eyes at 7.50am. Actually jumped out of bed at 8am.  Speed-bathed, sunblocked, changed and dashed out of house.

1.  Run by the Bund (8.30am to 11am)

Guess who is the real marathoner here? No prizes!

We look kinda pro right? It was with much planning and effort that we ended up
looking like we have done this a gazillion times.

Not just any run, mind you. It was a 5-km run.  And to all those crazy Ironmen/women, 5km is a milestone for me!  This was organised by Westin and New Balance, where Westin hotels around the world, organise a short run for their friends & fans in iconic locations.  In Shanghai, this would definitely be the Bund. So the all-girls run-team, Ying Ying, Ming Ming, Val, Mayuko and me, got to the hotel at 8.30am. Yes. 8.30 frigging am.  What was fabs about this run was this:

a. Every group got a room in Westin to change, leave stuff and bathe after the run. How absolutely luxurious right?

b. We ran (ok we huffed and puffed) alongside China's Olympic marathoner, Li Zicheng.  It helped that he was cute. Hee hee...

The beautiful view of the Bund. So amazing that I ran the Bund at 9.30am!

Despite the fact that we were the last 4, we still took time out for a shot.
Got the "arrow-holder" guy to take the pic. My hair looks so pong - evidence that I ran
because wind in hair makes hair pong!

c.  Post-run, Westin provided a sumptous brunch that was both healthy and yumms. Unfortunately, I didn't stay for brunch because I had activity #2 to dash to! ...

But I did kop a cookie...heh

In-between activity: Took a speed bath, blew-dry my hair (but not enough cos I suffered bad hair the rest of the day, but luckily, I never look ugly, just strange), changed into my latest hobo look for cycling.

2. Cycling and Ippudo (11.30am to 4pm)

In my latest blog post, I mentioned cycling in the dead of winter.  This is when it happened.  Eileen was visiting and we (ok, I) wanted to give her a quintessentially Shanghai BG experience, so I asked her to join the bunch of us on a cycle to Pudong. 

We have been wanting to do this route for sometime because the way to get over to Pudong is via the ferry.  Since they removed the ferry plying World Trade Centre and Singapore, we have been hard-pressed to find a more exciting mode of transportation between a small body of water, hence our excitement at getting onto a ferry in Shanghai.  So we biked to the ferry terminal, got onto the ferry after an interminable length of time, and then biked in Pudong to IFC where we had Ippudo ramen for lunch. 

Tickets were only RMB2.80. Cheap hor? But this ain't the Star Ferry or the Penguin Fast Ferry.

So we waited for the ferry to come...

Took some self-love pictures...

The ferry did this fantastic "drifting" ala Initial D before stopping smoothly beside the wharf. So impressed!

And continued waiting on the ferry for it to leave...

But some people were so KS they stationed themselves at the door
before the ferry even LEFT the dock!

We finally got to Brooklyn, oops, I mean Pudong.
The picture is sucky because... well, this is Pudong.

Verdict for Ippudo? Super huge portions (compared to Spore's measely 5 strands of noodles), great sides (more than what Ippudo Spore offers) and all at very reasonable prices (only 45RMB per bowl)!  

One large bowl of noodles each + a drink + shared 4 sides = RMB100 each only!  

We got home the same way we got to Pudong, by which time, it was almost 4pm...

Our beautiful Shanghai

In between activity:  Bathed again, this time very leisurely-ly... (bad English alert!)

3.  Catch a Chinese play (7.30pm to 9.30pm)

Time for some cerebral inspiration through a clever and funny Chinese play.  It was really clever and funny ... as we deduced from the rest of the Chinese audience's rapturous response to it.  I couldn't catch most of the jokes and laughed only at the corny and slapstick bits, which thankfully peppered the entire play.  The play, titled "当一女遇见男男男男男男男" (or "When a girl meets a boy boy boy boy boy boy boy") chronicled the ups and downs of a single girl's search for love. Apparently, at the ripe age of 32, she couldn't afford to be picky.  Says who?! But it was a good dramedy with very typical caricatures of the types of men/creeps we meet all the time.

The funniest parts were when one of the actors came out during the faux breaks to entertain and interact
with the audience as different characters including a delivery man (外卖) and a super busty lady.
"Her" shirt burst open in the middle of the show - that was how busty "she" was.

4.  End with ice cream at XTD
Topped off the exhausting but fun (my personal mantra) day with a scoop of Godiva's at XinTianDi.

If anyone is intending to follow this punishing Saturday schedule, I would advise you to work out for at least a month prior (treadmill and stepper recommended) and eat healthily (more carbo and protein) cos it is SUPER SIONG.  I took my first Sunday nap in eons the next day because a night's sleep wasn't enough for me to recuperate.

But still, I wouldn't have traded in any of those activities for sleeping. We can sleep when we are dead, right?

Xoxo,

Tracy



When I grow up, I want to be just like them! - A very happening and fit group
of senior citizens who have cycled around China on their expensive Bromptons.
Our bikes must have looked like child's play to them. 
We are now inspired to have our own BG tee-shirt/sweatshirt/windbreaker -
once we can agree on the colour, logo and slogan....zzzz...