Happy Birthday!!

I wish I got upgraded to F for even one of the many crappy flights I have taken.

The growth stats on China...I think they are under-rated. I wish China allowed
immigration. But oh well, its more sunny here in SoCal!

I'll be back

Of course you'll be back. You are a foreigner!

MD, enjoyed meeting up with you, hope China sees you back reasonably soon. Happy Birthday! Enjoy F class homeward, and hope you are feeling back to normal after the dodgy dim sum.

Greetings from the F lounge in NRT. For a mere 10 point hit to my credit score, I'm able to avail of this pleasure, and I will figure out a way to get miles; the lounge ladies are currently printing out a new BP with no FF number. I would have requalified for MVG if I stuck it out on DL, but this is much better (for $133 and a few credit cards, you too can fly across the Pacific in style, and let your DL ticket roast).

Off to LAX in 2 hours.

Did Shanghai today in a big way. Saw everything and walked everywhere. Had dim sum at Ding Tai Fong, mmmmm steamed pork & crab buns.....topped it off with a harry crab.

Off to M on the Bund for dinner. The food throughout my 3 week china trip has all been amazing. I'm forever spoiled and will not be adjusting well to western food next week.

What impressed me most about my SH visit, was the amount of money I dropped. That place is seriously expensive! By contrast, BJ still represents a good value ($100 over 3 days). Quite sure I'll be back soon (as early as Monday, in fact).

M on the bund is a classy place, the weather has been good recently, hope you were able to get a decent table on the terrace. I'm a fan of their weekend brunch myself, and their pavlova (am i spelling that right?) is reallllllyy good. Then afterward go down a floor to the bar. Creative and god cocktails. (god i'm trying not to make this sound like an advert for them lol)

For dim-sum, and chinese food in general, I'd recommend crystal jade, over in xintiandi. Maybe its my fondness of it from my experience at the takashimaya location on orchard road, but either way its a great chinese food experience.

You are right, I've noticed I eat better here in China than I do in the USA, extremly spoiled by the choice and quality of cuisine here.

Yeah it is costly. I view shanghai as a black hole for my wallet.

Din Tai Fung is an excellent chain restaurant for the xiao lung bao. When I met up with an expat friend in SH, we ate at DTF.