Meet Ups with Old Friends

     This week has been such a whirlwind; One of my friends from school ventured all the way out from Qinhai Province, China (one of the most western parts of China) to Shanghai (which is on the east coast), in part to visit me, and I was also able to meet with a friend I knew from my study abroad trip to Taiwan in 2016!

Some much needed guac and bean dip

     My story starts off with Melissa coming from Nanjing to pick up Sam, our friend from Taiwan, at the Shanghai airport. However, before we made our way over by subway, we decided to indulge in some western food first. Maya, a hard to find Mexican place with amazing brunch and great margaritas, became one of our favorite spots to eat whenever we found ourselves in the heart of Shanghai (Prior to dining at Maya for the first time, I hadn't had guac in over 6 months! A travesty!).
     After taking a walk around the city, we picked up Sam and caught up over some much needed hot pot.

Melissa eyeing that mushroom
bouquet

Hot pot round #2!

     The next day, Yeshe, my friend from Western China, came to hang out! Sam, Melissa, and a few other friends suggested that we go get hot pot (again). The array of food we ordered was nothing short of incredible; even the mushrooms were fresh cut in front of us! After we gobbled everything up, we
sat in our private dining room, digesting, and savoring the last bit of weekend that was left.

Xiaolongbao and some other dishes

     After the weekend ended, Melissa returned to Nanjing to be with Sam, and Yeshe stayed in Shanghai, so I was able to visit her periodically throughout the week. One night, I met up with Yeshe and some of her friends to eat a luxurious Shanghai style meal! I tried all sorts of delicious, somewhat daunting dishes such as jelly fish and crab roe tofu. And, of course, tried and true Shanghai style banquet wouldn't be complete without some xiaolongbao!
     As you can see, in the photo pictured to the right,  the xiaolongbao came in all different colors! This was to indicate which xiaolongbao was which flavor. It should be noted that, even for xiaolongbao connoisseurs, this is an extremely rare sight;  xiaolongbao are usually filled with soup, meat and maybe a hint of mushroom, but rarely are they seen filled with flavors such as "cheese", "loofah", and "foie gras". Needless to say, some flavors were better than others, but they were all gone by the end of the meal.

    My favorite moment of this week was when I was able to get a drink with just Yeshe. As we reminisced about old times, I realized that, even when I return home, nothing will be the same. This means that I won't be able to return to life how it was when I was in school; after I leave China, I will graduate, move to a new city, and I won't be able to hang out with my old friends like Yeshe, for they will have moved on as well. It was an ironically sobering moment for me. However, I realized that my college experience is not yet over, and I am determined to "live it up" until it finally does come to an end.

Me n Yeshe having a good time
 

     As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions, and stay tuned for next week's blog post about the fashion show at my internship!