[My Weekender] with Chion Sasaki

Chion Sasaki is a Visual Merchandiser at theory. Theory is a contemporary New York brand, with stores across the United States, Europe and Asia. Check it out at www.theory.com.

I have been in Shanghai for 8 months now, which is long enough to run out of new places to go to and have to repeat the previous cycle of restaurants and hang out joints. Let me tell you my version of a regular weekend in Shanghai.

Friday evening calls for drinks with my dearest friends at the roof of Waterhouse which opened last week. Ladies, don’t wear pin heels if you go as the wooden planks will ruin them! Wedges are usually okay though. I usually only drink under peer pressure, though there are occasions when I feel a little naughty and go for a Bloody Mary or a Rum and Coke. Pretty thrilled to be outdoors since we have been blessed with cool, breezy evenings this week, which is a nice treat.

As the wee hours of Saturday morning creeps up its time to go to Charmant on Huaihai Lu. This is my weekly pit stop to curb my addiction for their peanut coffee smoothie. It's seriously the most amazing slushy I have ever tasted. Don't be fooled by the fact that they call it a smoothie on the menu because it’s actually a dessert. I love this stuff so much, I took photos of it to have it be my facebook profile picture. I order it at the beginning of my meal and eat it during my main just in case I get too full for dessert.

Saturday, the day for errands!! Dry cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning up my closet, etc. all has to be done so I can proudly reward myself by completely melting into and becoming one with the couch on Sunday.

The 'to do list' for Saturday entails shopping for the long and awaited Sanya get-away that is going down in a week. First up will be getting super soakers in the chaotic mess of a mall on Renmin Lu and Sichuan Lu, right behind Yuyuan. I swear I saw a stall that sold them whilst rummaging through stalls and stalls of jewelry making knick-knacks a few weeks ago. Only one way to find out is to go and meander through the crowds of people, but there is always a sense of accomplishment after you have battled and overcome (hopefully!) a swarm of people.

For our trip, my friends and I felt that we deserve to indulge ourselves and so rented the biggest villa the resort had to offer which comes with a private pool. How awesome is that! Luxury comes at a price though and cost cutting efforts have to be made. Our tactic, BYOB!! My second stop will be grabbing two bottles of wine at Napa Reserve on Weihai Lu. 9 friends, 2 bottles each. According to our calculations, we should be intoxicated enough to write a rap verse. This would be one of the rare occasions where peer pressure kicks in and I intoxicate myself to a point that I think I am Jay Z or shamelessly start dancing around doing Beyonce impressions.

I always find it strange that on weekends, the minutes that go by seem to defy the concept of time. After running around town under the blistering heat for hours, the stamina and I are no longer one, exhaustion is at its maximum point and my mood is comparable to the red blinking signal of the dying battery of my laptop. At about this time, I usually see a mirage of an ice-cold glass of fresh home made ginger ale from Kiitos on Yongfu lu. It's a sign I need to recharge! I promise you it’s the most refreshing and cooling beverage you can feed your wilting body. This usually gives me enough energy to walk back home, narrowly beating out the option of a cab due to the risk of getting in a cab where the cabbie scent makes me nauseous and I have to resort to opening the windows to take deep breaths of mined substances floating in the polluted air.

Happy thought; I still have Sunday to veg out!!!!!

Have an awesome weekend you guys!!!