If Shulman Can't Go to Shanghai, then Shanghai Must Come to Shulman!

Since we couldn’t leave the ship to go explore the great metropolis that is Shanghai, my dear friend Jacopo Stecchini, came to dine with Jacob and me, aboard the Voyager.  We chose to take him to Prime 7, one of the intimate specialty restaurants where the food and ambiance are a bit more, well, special than the dining room, Compass Rose (in this case, a steak and fish house…  The other, Signatures, features French cuisine). 

It was a whole megillah to get Jaki on the ship, but as with everywhere Jaki goes, it shortly took on a jovial party atmosphere (the fact that he speaks fairly fluent Mandarin certainly put him in good stead with the Security teams, in place).  He’d forgotten to bring his passport with him to work (he’s a partner at 3rdFloor, a boutique PR firm that handles communications, event management, and branding in China for a diverse client roster that ranges from  Ducati and L’Oreal to Lufthansa and the country of Mexico), so he had to swing by his place on the way to the ship, and – as he was running late and the restaurant was closing – I e-mailed him the entire menu via BlackBerry, in a series of quickly typed messages (course by course), so that I could place his order in his absentia.  BTW – he had the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and the Double-cut Lamb Chops (cooked rare) with a side order of the Cheddar Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes.   

Après dinner, Jacob, Jaki and I sauntered over to the nightclub and spent a couple of hours and a few rounds of drinks (I had three tequilas) catching-up and shooting the breeze about the life of an ex-pat in Shanghai versus how his life was in LA.  Jaki was a member of a group of ex-pats in West LA dubbed the “Italian Battalion” and they were (and remain) quite legendary in certain social circles. 

Jacob watching Law & Order  in our suite

After Jaki’s departure (which consisted of drunken man-hugs and shouts of “Baci!” due in large part to the fact that my three tequilas actually consisted of two doubles and a triple…), Jacob and I decided to head back to our suite and watch some more Law & Order on DVD.  We’ve completed Seasons One through Four, and are just getting into Season Five.  You’ve just gotta love what Jake now refers to as LO. 

It’s currently raining, and we are somewhere in the South China Sea, en route from Shanghai to Xiamen (pronounced Shah-min).  As you’ve probably ascertained by now, we’ll be staying on board for that port, too – but will be arriving in Hong Kong on the 10th, where we will be staying (at the new W Hong Kong) through the evening of the 16th, at which time we fly back to the States (San Francisco, to be exact).  What little I was able to glimpse of Shanghai – basically as far as my eyes could see from our veranda and from the Observation Deck – it is a fascinating city both architecturally and culturally.