downtime in Xiamen, rewind to Shanghai

That's not to say we are feeling 闷闷不乐, quite the contrary in fact. It's been a constant slot machine game with the weather: hot, muggy, cool, rainy, cloudy, sunny, windy, perfect. 老爷's mango dessert shop opened up in the quaint back alley near Xiamen University, its logo which I conceptualized and Shawna designed showing in all its glory. There have been hookah sessions, a private beach party, drinking games at home, chat roulette, coffee sessions, and a modeling photo shoot in an abandoned shoe factory for which I was "prop manager."
Now a quick rewind: Shanghai. Better than I expected since I let my expectations down. Jan's parents took good care of us and made sure we were well-nourished. One rainy night we went out on the town with my party-member friend Henry who works for Ernst & Young as an accountant. We had met in Nanjing in '08. We went clubbing and then continued the event back at Henry's cramped and crowded room until the birds were chirping in the morning, after which we slept in all the strangest contortions to fit in one room.
As for the World Expo, it took a day to recover in between, but we got our energy back for the 3-hour line to the Japanese pavilion. After that, lines weren't so bad and we fit in a number of other pavilions before the day was over. Of note was the old man with the pork buns tail-gating me, breathing down my neck in the Japan line. There is a photo-sequence which Shawna took that plays it out in a comical way and I will post these soon enough...