Sussan top. Replay denim shorts. Wittner boots.
Day 1 of our ‘fashion buyer adventures’ and we made a pretty
go of it. After what some would consider a lazy morning, especially our friends
and fellow interns getting up in the 6 and 7am time periods, we made our way
out into Shanghai. First stop, the Réel Shopping Complex (a giant, modern thing
filled with the likes of the ALEXs, McQueen and Wang, and the likes of D&G,
Lanvin and all their friends. Basically, couldn’t have afforded a sock had we
wanted to!). This is where we did some
of our research, looking at the respective accessory departments of these
design houses and analysing trends and ways we could reinterpret these ideas
for Chows. We especially loved the chunky, heavy metals, studs and skulls of
Alexander McQueen and the bright, bold pop colours of Ralph Lauren that
resembled the eclectic mix of beads at the bottom of some South American
child’s jewellery box. After visiting the centre, we made time to get cultural.
Jing’an Temple:
This temple is beautiful, right in the swing of things directly outside the
metro station of its’ namesake. That’s something I’ve always found so fascinating
– that especially in China, the most spiritual, historical, cultural landmark
can be smack bam in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of city life. While
the heat was intense, seeing the spirituality of the people as they
respectively prayed and bowed their heads, rocking back and forth swinging
incense sticks through the air, was soothing. Seeing groups of people throwing
coins in the air to land inside a giant urn/statue in the middle of the temple
square, we too had a go until our coins landed safely inside – although not
before our coins bounced and rebounded off the structure more than a few times,
hitting bystanders and ourselves alike as did the coins of everyone around us;
it was definitely trickier than it seemed.
A stroll through the park across the road also revealed a
few treasures. Not only were the gardens beautiful but, drawn in by the sound
of some kind of oriental music, my friend and I stumbled upon an impromptu
dance group of adorable old couples partnering each other effortlessly. The
music changed between classic slow dance tunes to more up-tempo, modern takes
on Chinese classical music. We may have even joined in for a little bit.
Beef & Liberty
Burger Restaurant: We stopped off for lunch at Beef & Liberty at
the Shanghai Centre on Nanjing West Rd. Apparently it’s one of Shanghai’s most
famous burger restaurants, a claim supported by the fact that the place was
packed with a crowd including food journalists obviously filming some tv review
segment. The burgers were admittedly pretty good and we’re already planning to
take advantage of the Monday 2-for-1 burger deals for next Monday night (after
6pm).
Next, we stopped by People’s Square and equally enjoyed
their gardens, boasting lakes full of lily pads galore. We also had a look in
the Raffles City Shopping Centre
which boasts a lot of great shops, although once again proving that the
majority of Shanghai shops are impossibly overpriced.
I ended up spending the later hours of the afternoon with
some other friends, enjoying the park with a Coco’s mango and green tea iced juice-thing and some Japanese
before our Chinese class at Mandarin
House Chinese Language school just a minutes walked from People’s Square
Metro Station. A solid 12+ hours out of the apartment later and I was ready to
crash. Until tomorrow.
Love Jess
xoxo
