Mrs. Deborah is a former colleague of mine from International Paper. Often times, Matthew would often make special guest appearances at the office and I would always find him sitting in Deborah's office chatting with her for a long time. She's in town for business and we got to spend some time with her. She arrived into Shanghai late Saturday night and we arranged to see her on Sunday at noon. We had to give her time to adjust to the time difference. Matthew of course, had a difficult time understanding why she would need time to adjust. Ok- he hasn't figured out that we don't have the energy or the stamina of a 10 year old anymore. It takes me about 1 week to get over jet lag.
We arrived to pick Deborah up at her hotel. Matthew was very happy to see Deborah. We decide on the itinerary for the day and off we went. We took her over to the Jin Mao Tower for a view of Shanghai. Unfortunately, it was pretty hazy that day. We headed over to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Matthew was leading the tour through the museum. I'm not exactly sure if she really got to see anything. While at the museum, we were at the human body exhibit. It's a 3D ride. We hopped into a car shaped like a melon and entered through the mouth. We got to experience what happens to food in the digestive system. So, if we entered through the mouth....you know where we exited from right? After that experience, we took Deborah over to the Bund and then had dinner at The Door. Diane Staab, another colleague from International Paper joined us for dinner.I spent Monday with Deborah at the Shanghai Museum. She took a hair raising cab ride from Pudong to meet me at the museum which is on the Puxi side of town. Let's just say- she understands why I refuse to drive in Shanghai.
We toured the museum and then headed over to Xintiandi to get lunch. We had a classic Cantonese Dim Sum lunch where I must admit- I went a tad bit overboard when I ordered. She said we had two waiters running back and forth for us and that people were staring at us since they couldn't believe two women could polish off all that food. Ok- if you know me, you know that eating is a very serious thing for me. I can't help it if I enjoy good food and like to share it with my friends. After lunch, we made a pit stop at Haggen Daz. Then off we went to shop for pearls. Who can leave Shanghai without doing a little bit of shopping right?
Matthew returned home from school and Deborah joined us for dinner. Of course, it was something simple. Roasted chicken with risotto. Ok- so it wasn't Chinese. Then again, she'll be eating Chinese for a few more days before she leaves for Singapore. She'll have enough of Chinese. I figured a home cooked meal of a roasted chicken is something that anyone will enjoy. While I was preparing dinner, Deborah sat with Matthew and helped him with his homework. Thanks Deborah!
Unfortunately, because we really overdid it at lunch, Deborah and I couldn't eat each much for dinner. So, Matthew will be taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow. What kid can say that he has risotto for lunch? The school menu certainly doesn't offer that.
We were happy to have this reunion with Deborah. Matthew's counting down the days when we're returning to the States and we'll see our friends and family. He's only got another 7 weeks of school left. Who's counting right?
