A bit of a delayed blog about the weekend, so I will accept if 
Normally my weekends are not mundane. Typically because we got stuff to do all the time, whether it's tennis or hanging out or even walks by the river are the most fun things for me, but even if I'm just sitting at home, I cherish the free time to do nothing. I am by far the most introverted person I've ever met (Note: This does not mean anti-social), so it works in my favour to just have nothing to do.
Well this weekend turned out to be the opposite.
For those who read my Drill, Baby, Drill blog, you'll know that my apartment building is cursed and diseased by perma-drilling, something that goes on all day, non-stop, every day. Thankfully this happens when I'm at work, but I have long vacations and my girlfriend works at home, and it can be paralyzing.
Apartment Shopping
So, this pushed us to look around the move out to a residential only building which should prove to be at least marginally more peaceful.
So, we looked around at 3 or 4 places. One place I really likes, though it was, I think, a tad smaller than the current one, and another one I liked a LOT, but my girlfriend loved.
Prices are admittedly very high here, but that takes into account average income. In terms of raw costs, the housing we're looking at is significantly cheaper than say, downtown New York or California. That being said, we are still in one of the top 3 least affordable housing markets on earth. So, for about $2,000/month, we are perhaps looking at this one (and if we're too late, something similar):
Pretty sterile eh? But we'll warm it up. that's how they all look.
Third floor, with elevator, small building (8 floors total), downtown, 5 minutes walk from metro station, in a posh compound with statues and water features (albeit pretty run down and unused)
What the pics don't really give away is that there are Three balconies, and being on the third floor means all the trees are right there for my peace of mind.
There's also another bedroom/office. In China, renting tends to come fully furnished, so this is another weird reverse culture shock I'll be getting when I'm in England, alongside the ridiculous concept of carpeted floors.
Like... that just seems nasty to me nowadays, especially given Westerners typically walk around indoors with their shoes on. Like, you gotta vacuum the whole house every day, and god forbid a cat pukes or a human spills anything whatsoever on it. A haven for bugs and allergens. No thanks.
Anyway, all that was just a fraction of the day. Next up:
Meeting an old alumni.
I remained friends with a student of mine who graduated a couple of years ago and went off to UC Berkeley, USA. We talk often, about philosophy, music, the absolute state of US college students and so forth. He gives me some terrifying insights to how obtusely woke the Berkeley culture is. Bear in mind this is a Chinese student who had no concept of woke before moving over there and was, well, pretty shocked to say the least, how much of a comical yet depressing joke the students over there seem to be.
Well, he is taking his vacation back here in Shanghai so we hung out for brunch and coffee, had a great time. It's a little unusual to see him all grown into a man, no school uniform and the like, but quite an entertaining afternoon!
He said several times his fondness of Royal Purple
Fat Cow
I got home and evening was already almost upon us. I had arranged for a posh dinner at one of the top restaurants in the city, to celebrate my girlfriend's finished work project that pretty much consumed every moment of her life for the last few weeks. It was obviously a difficult time for her, but even more for me, as I didn't get all the attention I deserved during that time.
So, I booked the day before but we had to postpone. Unfortunately, booking the next day didn't go so well, and the restaurant had some kind of event and had to reject me. So, last minute option was to go to one of our facourite restaurants: Fat Cow.
This is an incredible Burger restaurant with exceptionally cheesy cow-related names for literally everything on the menu. Family Friendly fun place, but damned delicious and fantastic drinks.
Playstation 5!
By now, it was approaching 9pm or something, and we were going home. I had spent the previous 5 or 10 minutes pining and whining about the new Final Fantasy XVI game coming out on the first day of a 3-day fakecation (because vacations in China are fake. You have to make up the days on your weekends so you have anywhere from 6 - 9 day weeks after as a punishment).
I wished I had a PS5 to play it, but I just hesitate so much to buy such an expensive thing that I'll only really use probably for 3 games over the next 5 years. I don't really consider myself a gamer anymore since I simply lack that kind of time.
But, I am a loyal Final Fantasy fan, so, the girlfriend suggested... let's go get one now.
So we did!
There was a shop about 25 minutes away, so we walked.
And it rained.
A lot.
And my phone ran out of battery. This is an important detail for later.
You see, you can't really pay for anything without your phone, so I had to get a portable charger from a shop, one that you can drop off at another similar shop later.
Long story short, we messed about at the store until I finally got the courage and paid for it, and headed home with this big-ass box.
But... I still needed to drop the charger back
The Portable Charger
It just so happened, at this point arriving back home with playstation in hand, the biggest storm for a few years decided to kick in.
Playstation is fine, but I had to drop it off, then go back outside, already half drenched, to then go gallivanting halfway across the city (Ok, about a 15 minute walk), just so I can avoid paying a late fee on the charger.
Of course, I gave up caring about staying dry at this point and just accepted fate, which is always the best thing to do because rain just becomes so much more fun.
But yeah, by the time I got home it was approaching midnight and I had no time to even touch the PS5, let alone do all the update BS.
Two days later, I've barely even touched it. Even though I got Horizon free with the bundle, I don't really have much inspired interest in that game, especially when FFXVI is coming out in like 2 days, so it's not like I can commit to it.
I'm such a cheapscape.
Crazy to think I've had a PS1, 2, 3 and 4, none of which I actually paid for, nor any of the plethora of games I've played over the years. My good friend james lets me share his account and he has HUNDREDS if not thousands of games he already paid for.
Alas, this privilege seems to be over with the PS5, which makes such a loophole so much more difficult to exploit.
Nevertheless... Can't wait to dig in! I'm like a kid again.