Shanghai Shenanigans

Father and son have certainly made the most of our time together in Shanghai. – although some adventures have proven more expensive than others.

While enjoying a few cocktails at a bar on our first night Simon was approched by a man offering to exchange some New Zealand dollars. So amazed Si felt obligated to help him out and buy it.

What Si didn’t realize was just minutes before his father having no yuan on him had given a crisp NZ$20 to the same man when he asked for coins. Which naturally translated into Si unknowingly buying back Bryans own money. A strong start in the ribbing between them and another couple of rounds on Simon.

Oops… perhaps “rounds” was the wrong choice of wording considering the next competitive chapter of the trip unfolded at a golf simulator.

Confidence levels were high Excuses levels even higher.

Bryan later pleaded foul play after receiving what he described as “extremely poor instruction,” claiming this directly contributed to his devastating loss in the match. Independent review of the footage (mostly Simon laughing) was unable to verify these claims.

To be fair, the simulator may of been slightly biased, or perhaphs the Shanghai altitude affects golf swings.

Every great holiday has a moment where you embrace the local culture.

For Bryan, that moment came seated in a salon in the IAPM mall voluntarily handing over his eyebrows.

After the last few days wandering the bustling streets, discovering fun food spots, and navigating the beautiful chaos of Shanghai it was gently suggested the his famous “traveller brows”had reached their full potential – bushy had done its time

What followed was Bryan’s very first eyebrow threading experience. He was confident as Simon handed him over to Luna. There was considerably less confidence once the threading began. Somewhere between the first complicated interaction on how to hold his fingers above and below his brows and the first wince he realised this was not the relaxing spa treatment he had imagined and questioned his life choices. To his credit he stayed committed to the process even when they started down his nose which brought tears to his eyes.

Honestly – the results spoke for themselves. Gone were the untamed expedition brows. In their place clean lines, sharp edges and what can only be described as surprising sophisticated holiday eyebrows!

Shanghai may be famous for its skyline, dumplings and historic laneways, but this trip will also be remembered as the city where Bryan bravely entered a threading salon and emerged a slightly more polished version of himself.

Travel brings the unexpected – sometimes spiritually, sometimes culturally and sometimes …. One eyebrow at a time.

Still between eyebrow threading, accidental international currency distribution, cocktails for the boys and highly disputed golf results our Shanghai leg of the trip has delivered exactly what travel should – good laughs, questionable decisions and stories that will definitely improve with retelling over time.