A nine-month Fairytail

The Shanghai adventure has come to an end. Hardly ever I felt so much freedom to do whatever. Yes I missed my babe, family, friends and home from time to time, but I would not let another such opportunity pass-by when it comes. Of course, I had my miserable moments, but these in now way overshadow the nine months of the project in which I felt so blessed and privileged to have the opportunity to live and work in Shanghai, one of the most vibrant and diverse cities on the planet.

This is a dump of some of my dearest and clearest memories of the past nine months:
Meeting new people and making friends - Risking my life while overtaking cars during city bicycle rides – Failing to pronounce a street name in Mandarin – Crazy nightlife with packed dancefloors during intimate after-hours – Over 500 different taxi drivers, and taxi rides – creative Chinese cuisine with its large variety of dishes you’ll find nowhere – Fancy dinners at Goodfellas or Mercato (or Hakkasan, El Willy, Nest, Tomatito, Garlic) – 6am over-priced beers in Amber (or Lola, D9 and Downtown) – Chill food and drinks at Green & Safe (or Dr. Beer, Café Le Stagiairs, D.O.C, Spice Bazaar, JZ Club, Liquid Laundry, Abbey Road, Cottons, Blues and Jazz, Element Fresh, La Petanque) – Late night hours to finish work – Tough client meetings and workshops – Horrible airplane food, especially in airport lounges – Raising my game in Cirque Le Soir, Bar Rouge, Apartment, Mint, Le Baron – Deep tunes and good times at Amber, Lola, Downtown, Arkham, Dada, The Mansion, The Shelter, Lune, Le Baron – Hiking the Beijing Wall – Good-priced but toxic gin tonics with late morning headaches in Dada (or Shelter, Perry’s, The Mansion) – Visiting the Terracotta warriors and cycling on the city wall of Ancient Xi’an – Early morning waters and green chai latte to avoid the ‘Chinese’ headache – Breakfast at home from Green & Safe – Coming home...