Goodness....

CL and RL in Shanghai

Goodness, these days are so long where we hurry up and wait to get to the plane and wait on everyone And  then wait on the plane to depart. All in all it has been 12 hours of waiting, and our wheels are not even up. What’s Up? Makes me tired….So, as it turns out the Chinese Government would only allow us to either have a 7am slot to depart or a 7pm slot which became a 10pm. This all had something to do with the fact that we are a private plane. As I understand the Chinese Government charges a premium for their air space. And, they have stringent rules regarding it. Our team chose the 7pm slot but we couldn’t fly until almost midnight putting us in Shanghai at close to 2am..then we didn’t get out bags until 3ish. I hadn’t planned on such an escapade so I didn’t have my things that make me comfortable…like PJs,  cosmetics, and our room was lovely but hot when we checked in. Chuck lowered the temp to about 55 and dropped right off to sleep. Me, being the nocturnal one, couldn’t go to sleep. I got up and grabbed the robe to use as a blanket as the one on the bed was so thin. That didn’t work out, so I got the second one and put that on and jumped back in the bed.…still I’m freezing! Finally, I heard the luggage arrive. Great, I could go and find my red cashmere blanket to warm me up. It was no use. There was no way that I would attempt to go through the bags to find it. So, I just suffered.  Finally, I went to sleep, but in the AM I felt like a truck ran over me. I had neck pains from the bad seat on the plane and even more pains from the cold and sleepless night.  

Chuck with Mike Franklin

this was a  day off so I can try to find myself…We have friends that live in China. Mike Franklin has been a musical ally of Chuck’s since the early 80’s when they both did Clinics at Music Stores around the US for KORG the keyboard company from Japan. Mike was musical director for a number of Oldie but Goldie shows spotlighting the likes of Fats Domino, Leslie Gore, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Coasters, etc. Finally, he settled down around Sarasota, Florida and built a studio and started a family. I think after splitting with his wife he met up with a Chinese woman and decided to move to Shanghai. I know that when we were last there in  2001 he was already a resident.  He saw all of the expansion going on  and he had the brilliant idea that the Chinese would love a circus. Living in Sarasota where all of the carnies summered he thought that he could entice them to come over and set up residence. It worked out to his advantage. He also got involved in the solar energy program developing cell phones, etc. Mike now lives on an island Chamin with his girlfriend NaNa who is a piano teacher.  They came down to Shanghai to hang out with us and go to the show. It is really great to have two interpreters while in China. 

Rolling Dim Sum

Shopping at the Yuyuan Garden and Bazaar is fun and they still have the Chinese buildings and markets. Not to mention some of the strang

Chinese snacks

est food that I have ever seen. Having been to China before I was not totally shocked, but lizard on a stick is a strange one! I bought some children’s PJs for friends who have had babies, and of course some chop sticks for my children. Also,  I bought myself some calligraphy brushes, an ink stick, and a slate ink well.

Calligraphy brushes....

Ronnie and Sally Wood so lovingly gave me a Wild Horses scarf which is a copy of one of Ronnie’s paintings, and I saw one of those carnelian stamps with 2 wild horses on the top. I just couldn’t pass that up as they inscribe your name in reverse on the bottom so you can mark your artwork.  It’s rather hard finding a special gift for folks who have everything. I do believe he really liked it!!  All in all, it was a fun afternoon on the town. Chuck and I returned to the hotel  for a bit of rest. Later in the afternoon we went to T 8 which is an Italian restaurant  close to our hotel in the Xintiandi district.  NaNa being the really small Chinese woman that she is had 2 sips of a cosmopolitan and got a bit ill. Bless her as she was very uncomfortable. We retired back to the Peninsula Hotel and hit the bed pretty quickly. Our traveling has made us very tired.  So, on Wednesday, March 12th…we have a show at The Mercedes Benz Arena and they are our sponsor there.  There was about 15,000 people in attendance and they really seemed to enjoy the show. It was a very mixed audience with ethnic and Europeans/Americans in attendance. It all went really well, but the weather was really cold and rainy that day in Shanghai.  When we settled back in at the hotel, and took the clothes to Isobel in Wardrobe, we headed up to the 13^th floor for a cocktail with Herren. There hadn't been much time to spend with him in Shanghai so we wanted to give him some love. Todd had retired for the evening. We enjoyed the time and said goodbye as we were departing in the morning at 4AM (Another weird and long flight). Then, we were arriving in Singapore around Noonish. We slept quite well on the plane awakening just in time to collect our bits and prepare for landing. It was about an hour to the hotel. Now, we are staying at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel www.marinabaysands.com which is a monstrosity with 3 towers, multiple shopping centers, etc. On our arrival I just couldn’t venture on a walk, but Chuck went out for several hours while I tried to nap. On our arrival,we had immediately noticed the sad state of the countryside due to a drought. Also, there was smoke lingering in the air. Chuck noted that there must be a brush fire in the area. Turns out it was actually in a provincial area of Malaysia but the smoke had drifted towards Singapore. Singapore is a tropical paradise.  I was so disappointed that all of the trees and flowers were suffering. It hadn’t rained since December and given the fact that it is on the equator and perpetually 95 degrees everything was scorched. Our friend from home Lynn Lavery was meeting us here, and I really wanted her to see the floral splendor. She wasn’t to arrive until late on Thursday night so we would see her on Friday morning…I had prepared her that we would not get up until close to 11am so she could make herself happy perusing the neighborhood. She is really great about finding

Rose Lane and Lynn Lavery

her own way around town. No problem. I had promised her that we would have lunch in China Town and dinner that evening in India Town. Nothing like visiting 3 countries all at once. Then, the next day we would have the show at the large ballroom in shopping center adjacent to the hotel. These are always easy events to work since we don't have the drive time to and from the venue. Plus you can set up and then go back to your room if there is any down town. The only problem here was that the dressing rooms were dysfunctional. Most of the principals were grouped together with Band 1 and 2 on the opposite side of the area which was quite a walk. Needless to say I was really sore at the end of the day. The audience was about 5000 strong. They really enjoyed the show, and I personally thought it was the best one of the Asian tour. Mick was really on top!! At the end of the show Lynn and I started out front to get her a t-shirt. We got separated as I had Caroline's bag and needed to get it back to the hotel. Somehow I got turned around in the casino area and it took me a while to get back to the room. Oh, well. It is a problem trying to filter through the throng of people after the show. Anyway, I made it and we all hooked up in the lobby for a cocktail. Lynn was staying over for an extra day so she could do some more sightseeing. Chuck and I left around 2pm for that long, long flight to Perth, Australia...12 hours. Good news for Sinagapore: it was raining as we were leaving. I could virtually see the flowers and trees coming back to life.