[My Weekender] with Rachel Chen

Rachel Chen is a contestant on The Amazing Race: China Rush, which airs on Sunday nights at 8pm on ICS.

The weekend's main event is the premier of the 2nd episode of The Amazing Race: China Rush, featuring my friend Charlie and me (amongst other contestants, of course). They're re-showing the first episode on Saturday at 11:15pm, if you happen to be near a TV and want to see the turtle-eating episode.

In case you don't know what it is, the show is China's version of the popular American Reality TV show, The Amazing Race, produced by Fly Films. In ICS's second season of their "Rush" series -- you might remember last year's Shanghai Rush -- this season extends across the country as the reincarnated Disney version of The Amazing Race: China Rush. The best part of this year's show is that they got the license to use the super suspenseful theme music... it's truly awesome, and makes boring scenes like trying to dig your poncho out of a backpack seem like the moment before the serial killer jumps out from the closet in a horror film.

Anyways, back to my weekend... This one is extra special for me as I have two girlfriends from California in town and will be taking them around, showing them all of Shanghai's gems!

Friday, I'm taking a cheeky half-day to shop for a bed and start to pack, as I seem to be moving into the only un-furnished apt in Shanghai next week. Before that, I get some formalities done at work and send off client Jessica from her Intern Asia program.

So, after the boring packing and errands, my friends arrive in the evening at PVG (got the driver to hold up a sign that reads "Hot Chicks" -- couldn't resist). They arrive at my apartment; we get ready and go to my favorite mellow spot on the Bund, Hamilton House (they've got a new bar there), for a late bite (fig and goat cheese tart) and my favorite espresso martini. Then we trek up to the penthouse of this historical building to my teammate Charlie's apartment to enjoy the 360 degree view of the Bund, have another drink, along with an impromptu dance party.

We wake up Saturday, turn on some tunes (Bret Dennen is my favorite weekend good-mood inducing music), and get ready to hit the pool! We meet up with a big group of friends at Riviera over in Pudong, and in the taxi I am already going through the Element Fresh menu in my head, trying to decide between my trusted cobb salad or the salmon honey glazed sandwich. Yum! In case you haven't noticed, my days revolve around food.

We throw on our dresses after the pool, hop over to Flare (at the new Pudong Ritz) for some sunset drinks, and scope the place out for my Bday next week. Then we have to take off our bikinis (regrettably -- this is one thing that differs from Cali where a swimsuit can go from day to night, but in Shanghai apparently this is not the case). After a quick shower, we go over to a house cocktail party to celebrate my friend Dave's birthday (happy Bday Boston Terrier!!). We inevitably end up at M1NT for a nice little boogie, but call it an early one with a big Sunday ahead.

Charlie and I wake up early and head over to SMG for a ride to a radio station out in Hongqiao. I honestly have no idea what we're expected to say for this two-hour show -- and just hope not to embarrass myself too much... we'll see.

8pm, and it's show time!!!! ...I love the intro, riding through the French Concession on our friend JB’s sidecar (he's got one of the coolest, most reliable ones in SH btw). We sit in nervous anticipation of embarrassing moments and I’ll let you guys see the rest for yourself Sunday night!

Have a good one, and stay tuned on ICS for a fun season of The Amazing Race: China Rush! It'll blow you away ;)