Thirty, too!

The problem, with not immediately blogging events is that, you forget details. I've been trying to catch up on the events of the year and admit that the 2014 Nudierun accounts aren't exactly "realtime". So, as I go through what looks like an endless list of "draft" post I can see for this entry titled "Shanghai" that the prompts I left myself are "Birthday weekend" and "lightning storms"; they do little to stimulate the writing.

So, here goes, from what I remember, this was the celebration of Lewis' Birthday in Shanghai. It has been over 10 years of knowing Lewis. In fact one of the first conversations I had with him was when we were in our early twenties. The conversation went something like this "Hi, I'm Lewis", "Hi, I'm Derek", "I'm twenty", I'm twenty-two", "Oh, me as well, I'm twenty too". We had a laugh and I would never forget the age gap. Fast forward now, and 5 days ago, Lewis had surprised everybody by proposing that his 30th Birthday be celebrated in Shanghai. On a last-minute whim we booked our flights and hotels and headed to Shanghai.

So, that's the first prompt. The Birthday Weekend. Second prompt. I had arranged to fly from Hong Kong to Shanghai at 9:15 pm, scheduled to arrive at 11:40 pm. The plan was to meet the first group of people who had flown in the night before as well as the 7:15 plane earlier than me. It just so happened, that the weather wasn't going to let that happen. An evening of severe lightning storms had  all incoming planes in holding zones and outgoing planes backed up and delayed for hours.

I boarded the Dragon Air flight at 9:00 pm and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for the next two and half hours. By the time I finally arrived at the Astoria, it was 3 am. The earlier flight had been also significantly delayed and those who had arrived the night earlier were obviously drunk from all the waiting and preparation. Thankfully, Hollywood provided a haven for those looking to revel past 3 am. We stayed out and eventually called it quits at 7 am. We were shocked as we left the venue, not by the early rising locals walking their dogs but by the clearly anachronistic group of people still lining up to get into the club. It was a long weekend.

"I'm thirty, too!" - Lewis

T8 in Shanghai

It turns out touch football has quite the following in Asia. The migration of antipodean expats has expanded throughout the region with a large percentage of the major cities running domestic leagues. As a result, the governing bodies have put together and Asian Touch Rugby circuit, where teams fly to different destinations in attempt to win the country title and claim bragging rights for the year. These annual tournaments are held in Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok and even Hong Kong.

As a new joiner to the T8 Touch Team I was both flattered and thrilled to be invited to play in the upcoming Shanghai International Touch Tournament. The reality was, they were short players and it was an excuse to tell people the reason for traveling was to participate in an "international touch rugby tournament".

By the time we had landed in Shanghai, cleared Chinese Customs and checked into the hotel it was already time for bed. It's an odd feeling to be taking a Friday after work flight and going straight to bed. Most weekend trips have a set routine, after work flight, check into hotel, and head out to experience the local nightlife. It was one weekend, where we were trying to be athletes. No alcohol through out the week, calculated carbohydrate loading and going to sleep early.

The hotel we stayed in was less than desirable. Many team mates complained of cigarette infused bed sheets and the incredibly thin walls. The 6 am wake up call and strange "Continental Breakfast" interpretation solidified the fact that we would forfeit our second night's stay and look for a more appropriate abode. After a rushed breakfast we jumped into a minibus and were soon on our way to the rugby club for the tournament. The sun was out and the weather was amazing, a perfect day for sport.

For a lot of us, it was the first time playing together and the lack of cohesion was obvious. We were pooled in group A, and came out with 1-3-1 record. Despite feeling a little disappointed with our performance, we had adrenaline surging through the body which delayed the soreness and stiffness that would eventually arrive. We sat down in the cafeteria after the group stages and treated ourselves to a feed. Pizzas, pies, hamburgers, fries and beer. It was then when somebody ran in screaming "T8! We're in the shield semi-finals! All the teams are waiting for us to field a team!". We booted up and ran onto the field in a semi-dazed state only to lose in the semi-final by one point.

The rest of the trip was spent exploring the city, changing hotels and consuming a lot of dumplings. So. Many. Dumplings. Excellent trip with a nice balance of activity and debauchery.